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tomurasprincess · 5 years ago

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Corruption Zone (Dabi x Reader)

Summary: You and your little group of surviving heroes are trying to make the best out of survival in a decaying city, torn apart by Shigaraki and his League of Villains. You’ve weathered many storms and many hero hunting villains, but as it turns out, the worst is still to come.

Pairing: Dabi x Reader Rating: E+ Warnings: Apocalypse AU. Dubcon, coercion, blackmail, mind break, major character deaths (I mean, hello apocalypse AU), yandere. Word Count: 8k+ Note: My entry for the BNHarem Discord collab! The theme this time around was apocalypse AU, and I had a lot of fun world building. I feel like I pushed myself out of my comfort zone with this one, so I hope you all enjoy it! The full masterlist can be found here, so make sure you check out the fics from all of the talented writers!

You sigh heavily as you glance around an old abandoned warehouse where you and your party are hiding out like rats in filth. You've been working on making the place habitable for you and your group, cleaning out some of the trash, unpacking what little supplies you have, and shoring up the place's defenses. It's not particularly hard work, but it's time-consuming and has left you exhausted.

But when you hear one of the doors open, all your exhaustion leaves you as you turn quickly on your heel to see who the intruder is. You breathe a sigh of relief when you see Shouto enter, fresh off a supply run. Your relief quickly turns to concern as you see that he's bleeding, and you rush over to check on him.

The fact that both Shouto and Katsuki were injured on a supply run is terrifying to you. They are your two most skilled fighters, and the ones doing the heavy lifting when it comes to protection. You merely help out as you can, acting as leader and support of your little band of fugitives.

"What happened," you ask as you begin to check out the wounds. You realize you graze a particularly sensitive spot as Shouto hisses out a curse under his breath.

"There were no supplies or food at our usual spots. Bakugou decided to go deeper into villain territory to try to find something."

"And you just decided to go along with it," your voice comes out sharper than you mean, your concern for both of them showing through your anger. "We've discussed this, villain territory is too dangerous to just waltz right into."

"You know how he gets," Shouto gives a deep sigh. "And he hates the fact the group is so hungry."

"I know it's been a while since we've had real food, but it's not going to do us any good if you get yourselves killed. "Unfortunately, this is a massive understatement. The fact of the matter is your group is starving, and if something were to happen to Shouto or Katsuki, your group was done for.

"You try telling him that. He thinks we should be taking the offensive against the villains instead of hiding, anyway." Shouto sounds worn down, exasperated by his fellow pro-hero's attitude.

You know how right Shouto is. Bakugou believes that your group will be wiped out, one person at a time, if you continue on your current course. If you don't stop trying to simply survive.

Secretly, in the deepest darkest part of your heart, you agree. You have been losing members of your party slowly but steadily, and every loss seems to ripple through the group like an open wound. Worse than the starvation, worse than the hiding, was the heartbreak of all the friends and family your group has lost.

You hear the door slam open, and then closed as the explosive male himself storms into the room. He's also injured, but looks far better than Shouto does. "You're damned right, Icy-Hot. I'm sick of this hiding shit, we're not getting anywhere with it. We need to take the fight to them."

"And how are we supposed to do that, Bakugou? We don't know enough about what happened that day to keep blindly running into villain territory. For all we know, Shigaraki could still be alive."

You know Bakugou has been railing against stealth, against the hiding ever since hero society broke down. But Shouto has a point, as much as it terrifies you to admit it. The notorious League of Villains leader is MIA as far as you're all concerned, and you have no idea if he still lives or was killed in the spread of decay that happened on that horrible day several months ago.

"Tch, he could also be dead," Bakugou scoffs. "With all communications gone, the only way to find out for sure is to go into the Corruption Zone."

The Corruption Zone was the epicenter of it all, the place where this whole thing was believed to have started. The only reliable information anyone could get was that a catastrophic event spread across the city center like a creeping rot. There was no telling how many innocent people were caught in the crossfire, no reliable death toll.

"Yeah? You know that we have no information to go by. We'd be rushing in blindly." Shouto snapped back. You place your hand on your forehead, feeling a headache coming on with the argument you know is about to happen.

"We have reports from heroes coming out of that area," Bakugou pointed out.

"The reports are unreliable and conflicting. Until we know more, we should be cautious."

"The fuck is the use in being cautious? If we don't have good information, then we should get it on our own!" Bakugou storms towards Todoroki, and you begin to make a move to step in between them. But you're saved from having to break up a fight when Bakugou abruptly turns and storms to the door leading outside the building.

"I'm doing a perimeter search. There might be villains around."Todoroki glances at you before falling into step with him as he moves to follow. Despite their differences, the two work well together, and you have been with them for several months now. You had met up with them as you were fleeing the destruction on the west side of the city, being one of the few heroes to make it out. Some might call you lucky for surviving and meeting up with them. You call yourself cursed.

You make a move to go with them before Bakugou gives you a death glare over his shoulder. "I sure as hell don't need you to come with me, so stay here," the words coming out in a growl. His words sound gruff, but they come from a place of fear. Fear that something will happen to you and the rest of the group. "Icy-Hot, let's go."

"We'll be right back, I promise," Shouto reassures you with a small smile after he sees your look of worry, and you nod your head at both of them. You trust both of these men with your lives. If they say they're coming back, then they will be.

While they're busy outside, you're about to do your own quick search of the warehouse when you hear a voice rise up from behind you. "Well well well, what do we have here, fellas?" You turn around to see three men blocking your exit. They were all dressed in black, with black combat boots and so many weapons strapped to their bodies that you could barely count them all. "Such a pretty little whore, running around all by herself." He glances at the other two men before smirking. "You a hero, little thing? You don't look like one."

Ah, low-level villains, obviously. Annoying, but not truly a threat to you. Your quirk isn't exactly the best for combat, being a supportive and not an offensive quirk, but you have a group backing you up and you're no pushover. You simply need to stall for a bit of time before the rest meet up with you.

"Would be a shame to leave her on the streets like this, don't you agree," the shorter of the men chuckles. "I don't think this one looks cut out to be a hero, do you?" The third simply nods his head at the question directed at him, his expression barely changing. He appears to be the follower of the group, content to simply await his next command.

Encounters like these aren't so uncommon. Some villains have moved on, content to rule their little territories in whatever way they liked. But others still have a grudge against heroes, choosing to continue to satiate their bloodlust by hunting them down and making examples of them.

These were obviously the second type, and that usually meant they had more rage than common sense. The type to hunt down heroes were never usually the brightest of the bunch, and were equally as prone to dying by the hands of other villains than they were of actually killing anyone. They have no ideology, nothing keeping them going but their pure rage.

What seems to be the leader of this ragtag group makes his first move, lunging out at you with surprising quickness for a man as large as he is. But you're quicker, and you launch yourself easily out of the way and use his momentum to throw him off balance and down to the ground. The shorter one lets out a disgruntled noise before making a go at you himself. This one is quite a bit faster, and you're not able to dodge in time before he's on you. You do a sharp twist before bringing your heavy steel-toed boots down towards his ankle. You connect and hear a cracking noise as he begins to howl and attempts to limp away from you.

You glance over at the remaining one, confident that he won't make a move on you after his partners humiliated themselves so badly. And you're proven to be right as he gives you a quick, respectful nod before turning and fleeing. He barely makes it two steps before ice covers his feet and crawls slowly up his legs. You grin as you see Todoroki, but your grin falls as you see his look of cold fury at anybody daring to attack you.You're pulled away from Todoroki by the sound of cursing and explosions as a loud, angry male comes flying down from a nearby ceiling. You can't help but roll your eyes at his sense of overdramatics before you notice the leader of the group out of the corner of your eye. You're going to be too late to dodge, you think with quiet fear, as you see him running towards you with a knife in hand. But Bakugou has already noticed, activating a burst of explosion from his hands to launch himself at the villain and throwing his arm out to block.

You see the skin on his arm split as blood gushes from the wound, but it doesn't even phase him as he throws a hard punch to the leader's head. There is a sickening crack as he connects, and the villain falls to the group unconscious.

You give the man an unimpressed stare. "Do you always have to be so damned loud, Bakugou?""Tch, fine then, don't thank me for saving your ass." He scoffs at you with no real venom in his voice. "And next time, I won't."

"You shouldn't have done that, you know," you give a long-suffering sigh as you grab what little medical supplies remain. You take out the gauze, disinfecting the wound before starting to wrap it up in bandages. "I had that covered just fine without you."

He gives you a snarl before pulling his arm roughly away from you. He's anything but dumb, and he knows how much of a lie your comment is. He knows how much of a skill gap you have between the two of you, even without taking his arrogance into consideration. "Yeah? Should I have let you die?"

"No, that's not what I -"

"Because that's what would have happened," he glares at you. "You're support, not offense. You need people to shield you, and he was closing in. Bastard had you, and we both know it. And I can't - we can't afford to lose any more people."

"I know that you feel responsible, that you weren't strong enough, but none of the losses were your fault -"

"Tch, whatever, I have shit to do," he scoffs as he quickly stands up to walk away. To avoid the conversation that he didn't want to hear. "I wish that he wouldn't blame himself so much." You glance over at Shouto, standing there with a stoic look on his face. "He has done everything in his power to protect this little family of ours, same as you. Beaten himself up over every loss we've had."

"You know how he is. Thinks if he were better, stronger, than we wouldn't have lost anybody at all."

Tears sting your eyes at the thought of everything and everyone that you've lost up until this point, all the friends you've watched die. But you are still carrying on, still surviving. Your group has united together, your places and your roles all sorted and running smoothly.

But things have changed recently, a strange atmosphere seeming to fill the air. Nothing that could be described precisely, but something the entire group felt. As if the world was holding its breath, waiting for some event that would yet again change the course of this world. Something was coming, something big. And you have no idea what it was or what to expect.

But you are all still heroes even in these circumstances, and you have long ago learned to trust your instincts. So you began to move more frequently, find better hiding places. You don't stay in any one place for long, because staying still means villains being able to hunt you down. Staying still meant death.

You're pulled from your thoughts by the sound of someone rustling through their bag. As you glance up, you see one of your group pulling out a rope to tie up the villains. She notices you looking and smiles. "I don't think these two will be any sort of threat anymore." You mentally curse yourself for getting distracted enough to forget you still had villains in the area, even if they are unconscious.

You glance at Shouto, the more level headed of your group, and he gives a quick nod. "I agree, I think they are too much of a coward to come after us again." You give a nod as you quickly move to help the woman tie them up, trusting his expertise on these things.

You all know that this could either be a cruel or a merciful action. If other villains, even a few other heroes find these men, they could be killed outright. But if they can escape, then they earn their freedom, provided they don't come back after your group to take revenge. Villain or not, you feel the weight of this, having to make these decisions to protect your group.

Shouto sees the look on your face, and knowing your thoughts, walks over to put a hand gently on your shoulder. "It's getting dark soon, and we need to bunker down. We all know how dangerous it gets when it's dark." He gives you a meaningful look, but doesn't point out the painful truth. Doesn't mention the night a month ago when your group lost several members due to being caught after dark. That incident is what led to a group decision never to let that happen again. It was simply not worth the risk, even with your group at full power. And lately, none of you can claim full power.

"Everything is clear, right?" You ask both men. At their nod, you move to leave the area.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Bakugou snarls at you as he makes his way to stop you.

"There are a few people still outside," you explain as patiently as you can. "I'm just going to grab them really quickly. It will be fine." You wait to see if Shouto will agree, being the more relaxed of the two. He's not any less protective than Bakugou, but he is usually the more reasonable of the two.

He gives a quick nod at you. "Just make it quick. We'll go the other direction and grab the rest. I'm not sure what's taking them so long."

You turn on your heel quickly as you make your way out of the building, hurrying before either one of them can change their mind. You know they're concerned about you, but you've taken on the role as leader within your group. It's your responsibility just as much as theirs to keep everyone safe.

But as you make your way to the area where everyone was gathered earlier, you hear nothing. No chatting and laughing as they keep themselves entertained like they were earlier. Pure ice seeps through your veins as you run the rest of the distance. But you stop cold at what you see there.

Blood. Blood on the ground, blood on the chairs, blood splattered everywhere. There are no bodies anywhere that you see, only the blood. "No no no," you whisper to yourself in horror. "Please, this can't be happening. Please don't let us lose anyone else."

But before you can decide what to do, you hear the sounds of battle and the crackling of distant fire. Shouto and Bakugou, you think with alarm, they must have gotten into some danger back at the warehouse. But as you run in that direction, you see something alarming.

The crackling you heard are flames, bright, dazzling blue flames. The scent of smoke is heavy in the air, fog covering everything as you stop to stare at the devastation. The warehouse that was to be your hideout has gone up like kindling, fully engulfed by the strange blue flames. A distant memory hits you, something you read during a news article about a villain with a flame quirk that was described similarly. But those thoughts all fly from your head as you see something that makes you stop in your tracks.

A still smoldering dead body was lying on its side away from you. Please please please, you send up a silent prayer, please don't be any of my group. But your hopes are dashed as you run over. The outfit looks familiar, jeans and a pink shirt with sneakers and a backpack lying behind her. You know this woman, have known her since the beginning. She was kind, gentle, and like you, she was not a front line fighter. For her to be dead, the enemies had to have cut a swathe through your defenses. Had to have gotten through Bakugou and Shouto.

You stand up quickly as you scan the area looking for enemies. As much as you'd like to cover her up, mourn her, you know that this is not the time for that. You have to protect the rest of the group from meeting the same fate. After their safety is secured, you can either count your losses and grieve, or you will no longer be around to care.

You creep slowly into the warehouse, trying not to jump at every shadow you see. You see no villains, but you do see more bodies—all from your group, all smoldering with that same blue flame. The smoke begins to fill the room, causing your eyes to burn and a coughing fit to start.

Before you can try to leave to get some fresh air, you hear dark laughter from behind you, and a wave of heat rush towards you. You throw your body to the side as you roll to prevent any injury from slamming into the concrete ground. As you whirl around to face your attacker, you are shocked by what you see.

It's a tall, lanky man dressed in black leather pants, a white shirt stretched tight against his chest and a black leather jacket over the shirt. Most distinctive, however, were the noticeable burn scars covering most of the exposed skin you see. His face, arms, and hands are all littered with them, with staples buried in the skin as if to hold it in place. You unintentionally meet his eyes, and you see they are the same shocking blue of his flames, staring directly into you as if trying to analyze and exploit every weakness you have. And his cocky smirk says he has the confidence to do just that.

This isn't one of those aimless villains you've encountered before. No, this is a hero hunter with a purpose. With an ideal. One that genuinely believes in the deaths of all heroes, who will stop at nothing to end his target. You instantly know that this one would fight to the death for his ideals, and in this tragic landscape of a former city, that was exactly what had to happen to make him stop. You are hopelessly outmatched. He knows it too, by the way he carries himself so casually, by the way he looks at you like you are nothing but an obstacle in his way.

"I don't know what you want, but you need to leave." You back slowly away with your hands up as you try to convince him you're not a threat. "The rest of my group will be here any minute now." It's a bluff, a large one at that. You don't know how many of your group are left alive or where Katsuki and Shouto are. But it's the only option you have. There is no way you can fight a villain of this caliber on your own, not with your pure support quirk.

"Aww, princess, you're a terrible liar." He tsks at you as he begins to saunter towards you. You back away a few more steps as you make your way to a back exit. You remember where it is even without having to look, having memorized the warehouse hours before you even decided to stay here.

The villain's smirk widens when he sees your body tense, and flames rise to his palm as he lifts his arm. This is it, you're dead, he's far too close for you to dodge the flames that are about to come for you.

But instead, he sends the fire towards something behind you and your blood freezes in your veins as you hear a blood-curdling scream behind you. You whirl around and see another member of your party on fire, but before you can run to him a wall of fire surrounds you, trapping you in with the villain.

You turn to stare at him in horror, unable to comprehend what is happening. Unable to understand that you just watched someone else you care for die a brutal death.

"Speechless, sweetheart? I know I have that effect on people."

There is no way out, flames surrounding you on all sides except for where the villain is standing. As you study him one more time, you realize you've heard of someone matching his description before. You sort through all the information you have of known hero hunters, trying to match his flashy appearance with a name. But when your shocked brain supplies it, you almost wish you didn't know.

"I know who you are," you try to sound confident, but your voice lacks power and comes out timid. "You're the League of Villains member, Dabi. The one who attacked the training camp at UA. Known for arsons and murders across the city even before this began."

This man is one of the League's most elite members, and happily took to the task of hunting down remaining heroes after the catastrophe began. He is well out of your skill range, and even with Katsuki and Shouto, this would be a difficult battle. With you alone, you stand no chance.

"Oh? So nice to be recognized," he grins at you. "I keep killing the stupid ones who don't know me. A little disheartening, I must admit."

"Where is the rest of my group? Are they - "You can't bring yourself to finish your sentence, to ask the burning question of how many of your friends are still alive.

"Hmm, and what would you say if I told you they're not all dead?" He cocks his head to the side as he stares at you.

"I'd say you're probably lying, or they'll all be dead soon." "

Wrong on the first count, right on the second. Unless…" he drags out the last word, watching your expression as it turns to cautious hope.

"Unless what?" The words stumble out too quickly, making you seem too eager, and his expression sharpens with amusement to see it.

"Unless you do a little favor for me, doll." A sense of dread crawls up your spine at the thought of doing a favor for the villain standing in front of you, but you feel like you have no other option but to hear him out. At worst, it's something you won't do and you'll die here and there with the rest of your group. At best, it's something you can tolerate and you all live to see another day.

“What's the favor? I'm not saying I'll do it, but I'll hear you out."

"Don't really have much of a choice there, do you?" He rolls his eyes as he waves his hands around to indicate the fire spreading across everything.

"Just get the fuck on with it," you hiss at him, not wanting to play this little game with him anymore. "Tell me what you want."

His smirk turns dark as he gives you a long, lingering glance up your body. "What I want is you, doll."

Your eyes widen at his words, and you try to think of something, anything else that he could possibly mean by such a statement. But you know deep down exactly what this man wants from you. "I - I don't, I mean…"

"You're acting like a blushing virgin, doll." But he looks surprised when you do blush, eyes shifting away to look at anything but the man standing before you.

He throws his head back and lets out a deep laugh. "You really are a virgin. Fuck, I lucked out finding you, didn't I?"

You want to back away, run, and get out of this situation, but the fire behind you prevents you. So you're forced to simply watch as he begins to approach you, coming to stand far too close for your comfort. He reaches out a burnt hand to cup your chin as he forces you to look up into his eyes. They are even more of a brilliant blue this close, and you can't stop yourself from staring into them.

"What will you do if I say no," your fear preventing you from raising your voice above a whisper. "Then your group dies, simple as that." A casual statement, as if it means nothing for him to wipe out an entire group of innocent people. You begin to tremble at what you know you're about to do. You don't want this, not at all. But you want your group to die even less. What is a little indignity if it secures their safety?

You give a quick nod, not wanting to say the words that mean you agree to this.

His hand goes to your neck as he squeezes, putting enough pressure into the movement that your breath is forced out of you. "Use your words, doll."

Not surprising that he'll be cruel about this, making you utter the words that agree to this proposition despite the fact that you have no real choice in the matter. "I agree."

His grip tightens on your neck again, even harder this time as he doesn't immediately let go. He waits until you reach a hand out to grab his arm, trying to pull it off you before he finally lets go.

You take a quick gulp of air before talking. "Fine, I'm yours, is that what you want to hear?" You snap the words out at him, fear making you bolder than you should be.

Your question is answered as his hand comes to tangle into your hair, lips crashing into yours as he pulls you roughly into him. He forces his tongue into your mouth as he dominates the kiss, teeth nibbling at your lip as he massages your tongue with his own. It's a sloppy, heated kiss that has drool dripping down your chin when he pulls away, lips already looking red and swollen from his biting.

"God, I am going to enjoy ruining you, doll," he growls into your ear.

He wraps an arm around your waist and pulls you closer into his body, hand going under your shirt to rub up your back. His hand is almost hot enough to burn, and you try to wiggle away only for him to clamp down harder. He drags you over to a clean area of ground as he shoves you down onto the hard cement, settling in between your thighs.

"You - you want to do this here?" You manage to choke out in shock.

He grinds himself against your core as he laughs. "And why not? Good a place as any." He runs his hands along your sides as he pushes your shirt up, leaning down to kiss the skin around your stomach.

"But - the fire, and what if any of my group comes in -"

His hand glows blue for a split second as he grabs your shirt, burning it off of you and throwing it to the side. "Then I guess they get to see you fucked like the whore you are." He pulls you up enough to place heated kisses along the column of your neck, sucking dark marks into the skin as he continues to grind against your core.

You pant a bit, feeling like you're burning up yourself as sweat rolls down your body from the heat of the fire and the heat of him. He traces a finger along your bra, a plain white number that you found when you were desperate for new clothes. "Nice bra," he snickers as he unhooks it with one hand, throwing it aside just as casually before taking a breast into his hand. "I should find you something prettier than that."

He kneads the soft flesh of your breast and tweaks the nipple with his other hand, taking it into his mouth. He sucks just the side of too hard, and you squirm at the slight stab of pain as he grazes it deliberately with his teeth.

"Would you just get on with it already," you snapped, wanting this experience to be over with as quickly as possible so you can move on.

"You agreed, doll," he smirks, "and that means I'm going to take my time with you."

He reaches down to unzip your pants, tugging on them as he looks at you. "Unless you want me to burn these off of you, I'd suggest taking them off."

You quickly raise your hips and wiggle them down a bit, not wanting him to use his fire so close to your skin. It's a bit hard to pull them off, the heat of the room causing you to sweat. Eventually, Dabi gets impatient at your progress and rips them off with one quick movement.

He spreads your legs quickly with one hand as he runs a finger up your clothed sex. You quickly look away from what he's doing, only to feel his palm on your legs get hotter. You snap your eyes back at him as he stares at you with a menacing look.

"Don't you dare look away, doll," he growls, "I want you to watch as I eat this pretty pussy."

His vulgar words cause a jolt of arousal within you, and you timidly look into his eyes as he pulls your panties to the side. He rubs two fingers up your folds, causing you to let out a small gasp.

"Mmm, doll, you're already so fucking wet for me." Dabi groans as he licks his fingers. "You DO want this, you little hero slut."

"N-n-no, I don't, I really -" But the rest of your sentence is cut off as he dives down in between your legs, licking along your folds as his nose prods against your clit.

"Oh shit, please stop," you moan as you throw your head backward, trying to ignore how good it feels. But the feeling only gets more intense as he spreads you apart enough to take your throbbing clit into his mouth. You let out a surprised shout, the pleasure of it taking you by surprise as you feel yourself getting wet.

Dabi doesn't mind as he licks up your juices before lashing his tongue against your pearl, slipping a finger into your tight heat at the same time.

"Oh fuck doll, god you're so tight." He works his finger inside of you as he tries to loosen you up, sucking at your clit the entire time and making you feel dizzy with pleasure. You can't stop your panting, hips bucking almost against your will as you try to seek the feeling you sense building up inside you.

"I bet you've never had someone do this to you, huh?" He slips another finger inside of you, this one going in easily because of how wet you're becoming. You whine at the feeling of his fingers scissoring inside you, opening you up so that he can slip a third finger inside. This time, the feeling stings as he forces his finger past the tight ring of muscles at your entrance. You can't stop yourself from clamping down on his fingers, trying to push them out.

He pumps three fingers inside of you as he takes your clit back into his mouth, curling his fingers inside of you until he finds that sensitive spot that has you writhing against him. He slams into that spot over and over again as you feel waves of pleasure building. You don't want to cum, you really don't. Not for this man who is forcing you into this. But you don't seem to have a choice in the matter.

"Fuck, I know you're close doll," he lifts up just enough to whisper, the vibration of his words only causing more pleasure against your throbbing clit. "Don't fight it, just cum for me." His fingers increase their pace even more, pounding his fingers inside of you against that spot that has you seeing stars. "I want you to cum all over my tongue."

Your legs are shaking from trying to hold off against the pleasure, but as he grazes his teeth lightly across your throbbing clit, you squeal as you finally reach your end. Your walls flutter around him as you feel liquid gush out of your cunt. Dabi happily laps it all up like a starved man as he lengthens your orgasm, refusing to stop his fingers from moving inside of you.

When he pulls away, you feel ashamed to see that his mouth is coated with your juices. "Taste yourself, doll, don't you taste delicious?" He chuckles as you try to get away, simply forcing his tongue into your mouth.

He lifts up to undress himself, pulling his jacket and shirt off and revealing a scarred but toned chest. His pants are next to go as he unzips and pulls them off quickly, revealing his lack of underwear when his cock is pulled free from his pants. He is an average length, but girthy with a bead of precum already leaking from the tip. Even more concerning for you are the metal studs that run down his length and a Prince Albert piercing at the head of his cock.

You shiver in fear at the thought of those piercings rubbing against your insides, but it also sends a bolt of arousal straight to your pussy. You quickly glance away, not wanting to look any longer. But Dabi doesn't appreciate you looking away from him. He reaches out to grab your chin, digging his fingers in as he turns your face to his. "You like what you see doll," he whispers, reaching down to pump his cock a few times with a closed fist. "Because this is about to be inside that wet cunt of yours."

You blush furiously at the vulgarity of his words, but you don't dare to look away from him. "You can stop here," you plead in a quiet voice, "you don't have to continue."

"Mmmm, but I want to continue." He grabs your legs as he drags you closer to him, pulling a gasp from your throat as your back is scraped across the cement. He settles himself firmly in between your legs as you feel something prodding at your entrance. "You have no idea how much I want this, doll. Ruining a little hero like you is a chance I can't pass up." He drags his length down your folds as he gathers up your juices to lubricate himself, and the feeling of one of his piercings rubbing against your sensitive clit has you letting out a small moan.

"See, doll?" He grins darkly as he spreads you open with one hand and begins to push in slowly. "Don't try to deny it, you want this. Ahh fuck," he hisses at the feeling of his cockhead breaching your entrance, "god, you're so damned tight."

You let out a whine as you feel him slide in, little by little, into your throbbing cunt. It hurts a bit more than you expected, and you throw your hands up to his chest to try and slow him down. But he simply laughs as he makes a small but hard movement to thrust himself even further into you. You let out a little whimper, head lolling to the side as you try to ignore the pain.

He finally bottoms out inside you before stilling for a second, his legs shaking with the need to be moving inside of you already. You're surprised that he paused at all to let you get used to his size. But your gratefulness vanishes quickly as you feel him grab your hips, shifting into a position that allows him to enter you even deeper. You squirm in pain as you feel him press right against your cervix.

"Am I too rough, little hero?" He mocks as he begins to thrust into you, tearing a small scream from you at the pace that is too quick to be entirely comfortable. "I want this tight little cunt of yours to be sore for days once I'm done with you." His hand runs up and down your body as he fucks you, feeling so hot that you feel like you're on fire. Your skin is drenched with sweat at the heat of his body and the fire still blazing around you. Even the cock pounding away at your throbbing cunt feels too hot. But the piercings dragging against your inner walls are cold, and the contrast in temperature has you moaning unintentionally, feeling pleasure despite yourself.

"That's a good little hero, moan for me." He reaches down to tweak your aching clit between his fingers as he pulls you up just enough to plant open mouthed kisses down your neck and chest. "I want you to cum around my cock, doll, think you can do that for me?"

"N-n-no," you choke back another moan, "I'm not gonna cum for you, you bastard." But you feel the telltale tightening of your lower abdomen, feel the throbbing of your clit like a heartbeat at the need for orgasm.

"Is that so?" His smirk turns vicious. "Guess I'll just have to try harder then, won't I?" You scream as his hand between your bodies gets hotter, two fingers rubbing tight circles around your clit. He begins to change the angle that he's thrusting, watching your reaction closely as he seeks that sensitive spot inside you. He chuckles darkly when he finds it, pulling a loud squeal from your throat as he begins to aim for it mercilessly.

The slap of skin against skin becomes louder, balls smacking against your ass as his fingers rub against your clit even faster. Your cunt clenches down around his cock, and you let out a choked sob as his piercings grind even harder against your inner walls, catching on that sensitive patch inside you.

"Please, fuck," you plead with the villain, not knowing if you're begging him to stop or never to stop. "Please, I need -"

"I know what you need, doll," he hisses out a curse as your pussy contracts around his cock again, lewd wet noises filling the room. "You need to cum, don't you, babygirl?"

When you don't respond, his fingers lashing against your clit suddenly come to a complete stop. "Tell me, is that what you want," he snarls into your ear before trailing lower to sink teeth into your neck.

“God, please yes, I need to cum" you sob out, wrapping your arms around the villain pounding you into submission as you trail your nails down his back. "Dabi, please -'

His fingers instantly go back to your clit, grinding hard against the sensitive bead as he continues to suck bruises into your neck. "Then cum for me, doll, cum all over this cock."

As if on command, you're thrown over the edge, screaming out your orgasm as your cunt flutters around his cock. He doesn't slow down, continuing to move his hips as he fucks you through your orgasm. Tears are running down your face from the overstimulation, chest heaving as you try to catch your breath.

"Too much," you gasp out as you try to catch your breath, "it's too much."

"Aww, doll, would you be that cruel," he tries to taunt you before cutting his sentence off with a choked curse. Fuck, your cunt is squeezing me so hard, fucking shit."

He no longer cares about your pleasure, wrapping your legs around his waist, thrusts going erratic as he seeks his end. You're so oversensitive that you feel another orgasm building up directly after your last one, and you wail as you feel liquid splash out of you and onto Dabi's chest.

"Fuck yes, good girl," he grunts, "squirt all over my cock as I fill you up."Your eyes widen in shock and alarm as you furiously shake your head. "No, shit Dabi please not inside, I'm not - "

But it's too late, the look on Dabi's face turning into an evil smirk as he locks his hips in place. He lets out a deep groan as you feel thick ropes of cum coat your inner walls, almost burning you with how hot it is. It seems to take forever until he stops cumming inside of you, and tears run down your face as what just happened comes crashing over you.

He pulls out of you with a sigh, sitting up as he looks down at you. "You make such a pretty sight, all fucked out and dripping my cum like a little slut."

You shiver at his words, looking away so he doesn't see how his words send a thrill through your still tired body. You sit up slowly, wincing as you feel how sore you are between your legs. "That's it then, I'm free to go and my group is safe, right?"

He doesn't answer immediately, choosing to dress as slowly as possible with a look on his face that says he's considering the question. "Hmm, I don't recall saying you're free to go."

Your veins turn to ice as you stare at him in confusion, desperately hoping you're misunderstanding. But a deep, dark part of you tells you this is no joke, no misunderstanding. Tells you that you were stupid to trust a villain. "But that was the deal, that my group would be safe and we'd all be free to go."

"Ehh, I changed my mind." You're rendered speechless at the casual tone to his voice, as if he were telling you what the weather was.

"You - what the fuck do you mean, you changed your mind?" Your rage is blinding, leaving your vision to turn red and fury to boil the blood in your veins. You leap up, ignoring all the aches and pains of your body as you rush at Dabi. "Do you mean you're going to kill them?"

He seems unphased by your outburst, merely choosing to laugh at you. "I mean, dear old Shouto is probably already dead."

Your hand flies up to your mouth to stop the scream bubbling up in your throat. "You're lying," your voice comes out barely above a whisper. You shake your head repeatedly, backing up away from Dabi as if to ward off his next words.

"Go see for yourself then." He barely finishes pointing towards one of the exits to the warehouse before you're off, door slamming behind you as you hope and pray that he's lying, that it isn't true.

But it is now fully dark outside, and you're unable to see where you're going. You're in too much of a blind panic to care though, continuing in the direction you think you may find something and not caring about the dangers. You come to an abrupt halt as one foot slips out from under you, causing you to land roughly on your butt.

Your hand lands in something sticky, and you raise it to your face as you try to determine what it is. It's so dark in this area with the power cut off that you can't make out anything besides a mysterious substance. But then a blue flame catches a nearby trash pile on fire, and the blazing light from the flames illuminates the area.

As you slowly look at your hand again, you don't want to acknowledge what's there. Your brain tries to stop you from processing the truth, but it happens anyway. With sharp clarity, you recognize that your hands are covered with blood. That's when the smell comes in, the entire area reeking of iron and smoke.

But the thing that catches your mind the most, that makes you want to scream and never stop screaming, is the body that you see at your feet. Shouto Todoroki, the man you saw just hours earlier, full of life and willing to risk everything to protect you and your group. The man who now lays lifeless at your feet, sightless eyes staring into the sky at nothing. His complexion already looks ashen, and you reach out gingerly to touch him only to realize that he's still warm. This must have been recent, you think.

"Wondering how long he's been dead, doll?" You were so absorbed in staring at Shouto that you didn't even hear Dabi approach.

You slowly nod your head, not able to trust your voice.

"Oh, he was hanging on to life when I found you earlier, doll," Dabi's smile widens into a truly devastating smirk."No no no no no, that can't be the case, it's not true, you're lying, you have to be -" You can't stop the words from tumbling one after the over. You want this all to be a horrific nightmare, but you know this is reality. And you know deep down that Dabi isn't lying this time.

You glance down at the body - no, Shouto, not the body, never the body - and you notice there is wetness on his face. You wonder when it started raining, until you see another droplet hit Shouto's face. You reach your hand numbly up to your face to realize that you're crying, not even realizing when you started.

You feel nausea churning up in your stomach, and you barely stop yourself from throwing up. Hot shame courses through your veins at the thought that while he was dying, hoping for help, you were in there -

Dabi appears in your field of vision as he kneels beside you to peer at your face. "Ohh, that look on your face. Guess you realized the truth, huh? That you were getting off around my cock while my poor, sad little brother was out here dying."

"Brother?!" You're surprised you're able to say anything at all, but the word spills out before you can even stop it."Yeah, brother," he scoffs with disdain. "I was the black sheep of the Todoroki family, the one that got discarded. Always said I'd get my revenge, but I never thought it would be so satisfying."

You know some of the missing persons cases, having researched some of them yourself while you were a student. So you're able to supply the true name of the man in front of you with relative ease. "Touya, you're Touya Todoroki, aren't you?"

"I'm not that man anymore." The villain looks surprised at you knowing that name, although you can't tell if he's impressed or angry. "Just call me Dabi, dollface."

"If all you wanted was revenge, then why your brother? He suffered too," you fail to choke back a sob. The pain of knowing that someone went through so much only to end up like this pushes you into more despair than you thought possible.

Dabi simply shrugs his shoulders. "I already killed dear old dad when this began. It wasn't enough."

This is news to you. Although you never personally cared for Endeavor, the fact of the matter is that he was the number two, and then the number one hero. His loss would be a massive blow to whatever surviving hero community was left. "What about the others then? The other heroes, what happened to them?"

"Your little group really was ignorant, weren't you? Don't you know the truth? You have to suspect it, at least."

You lose your patience and snap at him. "How the fuck would I know what happened to the hero community? I wasn't there!"

"Well then, I'll let you in on a little secret, doll." He leans in towards you as if whispering a juicy secret. "There IS no hero community left. That damned hand freak won."

Pure chaos swirls through your brain. All along, your little group hoped to one day reclaim the city. Reclaim hero society, build it back up to be even better. But maybe it still wasn't all for nothing, perhaps if a hero had taken Shigaraki out, things could still be okay.

You stare closely at his face as you ask the next question. "And Shigaraki?"

"If you're asking how he's doing, then I can tell you he's doing just fine. Alive and well in his little den of filth within the city." He cracks up, laughing at the look on your face.

Everything was hopeless. Everything and everyone you loved, dead and gone. The villains won, Shigarkai was alive, and Shouto was lying dead at your feet. Bakugou was probably dead as well, and you can't muster up the courage to ask the truth.

You cover your ears with your hands as you rock back and forth, trying to ward off all of the information coming at you. But Dabi takes your hands into his as he pulls you into his lap. "Shh, shhh," he tucks a strand of hair behind your ear. "You still have me, now don't you doll?"

You whimper as you curl your face into his chest, trembling with unshed tears that no longer want to come. "Yes, I do." As sick and fucked up as it is, it's not a lie. He truly is all you have left.

"And you want to stay with me, don't you?" He whispers his poisonous words directly into your ear, all the while rubbing comforting circles along your back as he holds you like a child.

"I do want to stay with you, Dabi." Another horrifying truth.

"Such a good girl." He kisses along your face and forehead, cooing at you in such a mocking way that it makes you feel sick to your stomach. "My good little girl, aren't you?"

You give an empty nod at his words. This is fine, you think. You'll be fine. It's better than wandering the wastelands alone, better to have someone to talk to. No matter what he wants you to do, no matter what you end up becoming at his side. It's still better than being alone. And as one last tear falls down your face, you cuddle up into his arms, close your eyes and pretend you believe it.

~~~~

Tags: @trafalgar-temptress, @thewheezingwyvern, @animewh0re, @dee-madwriter, @lildreamer93, @tamakisprincess, @yaoyorozuwrites, @redbeanteax, @kittygonyan, @bat-eclecticwolfbouquet-love, @daedaep69, @heyybrittannia, @groovydreamertrash, @hisoknen, @chou-maitresse, @shoutogepi, @k-atsukidayo, @gallickingun, @togasknifes, @kingtamakimurder, @1-800-callmekatsuki

#dabi x reader #dabi smut #bnha x reader #bnha smut #mha x reader #mha smut #yandere bnha #yandere dabi #tw: dubcon #tw: coercion #tw: yandere #bnharem collab

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writefasttalkevenfaster · 4 years ago

Text

Take My Hand (Part One)

Summary: a secret relationship was enough, being with rafael was enough. and it was. until it wasn’t (one of three parts)

Pairings: Rafael Barba x Reader, Sonny Carisi x Reader (more in next parts)

Word Count: 3,417

Song: I'm begging for you to take my hand / Wreck my plans, that's my man (willow by taylor swift)

Warnings: T, implied sex, some sexual situations (but just kissing and touching, nothing explicit), fwb relationship essentially, rafael’s commitment issues,

A/N: thank you to @bucky-of-the-opera and @qvid-pro-qvo for letting me bounce ideas off and not annoy you (hopefully) with my incessant obsession with this mini-series.

“Barba, it’s time to go home,” the illustrious A.D.A. didn’t bother to look up from your brief he was revising, the margins bloodied with red ink and edits, as you watched, pressed against his doorframe, “you can tear my work to shreds tomorrow.”

“Since when did you become my keeper?” he murmurs, his brow wrinkled much like the carpet that lined his floor —- and the rest of his office wasn’t much better — dimmed and dark much like the bags under his eyes, takeout containers from Forlini’s stacked in his trash can, printed briefs and case files stacked like a wall around the perimeter of his desk, some even stacked up on the larger conference table, a few scattered on the floor.

“Oh it was in the job description,” you step forward, picking up the files that had jumped ship, likely to escape your boss, “assistant district attorney needed to assure SVU’s lead ADA is not found buried in an avalanche of cases that decided to take their revenge.”

He snorts, still flipping pages through the memo, his tie loosened around his neck, sleeves pushed up to reveal his forearms, “I didn’t know you were a comedian before law school,”

And for once you’re grateful that he doesn’t bother to look up — it means he doesn’t notice your eyes lingering on his forearms, “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Barba,”

And you expect a biting response, a quick retort, but instead you get honest reply, “Well I’d like to, if you’d let me,” you blink a moment, as he glances up for a moment, his look nearly earnest, “you know you do have a habit of keeping people at arm’s length.”

“This isn’t about me,” and he smiles, looking back down at his work.

“And the deflection begins,” you huff, scowling at him, though he still paid no mind.

“Well my office doesn’t look like the aftermath of a legal aid implosion, and I’ve actually been sleeping 6 hours a night, can you say the same?”

He frowns, lips pursed, “I can take care of myself,”

“Clearly,” you crossed your arms, straightening the rug with the heel of your shoe, rounding his desk, “this case was impossible today, it will be impossible tomorrow.”

“Well maybe if I worked a little harder it wouldn’t be so impossible, maybe we’d even get a little justice,” he sighs, lips pressed to the knuckles of his fist.

You tilt your head, “You know this system is not always getting justice — sometimes it’s just about closure, and that’s all we can do sometimes.”

“I want to do more— I—” he breaks off, knuckles white against clutching his pen, “I knew the system was full of grays, I know but—”

“It’s different when it’s SVU, I know, but,” your fingers reach for his tentatively, easing the pen from his fingers, “you can only do what the system lets you — it’s not our job to legislate — it’s our jobs to advocate, to let the people’s voice be heard in court. But you can’t do that if you work yourself right into the ground.”

“I know, I just—”

“Barba, you know there’s no point of self-flagellating, no matter how tempting it might be,”

He lets out a bitter chuckle, “It’s one of my many talents,” before rubbing his hands up and down his face, as if that would erase the exhaustion pressed upon his shoulders.

“Oh I know,” you say with a sigh, “but you have other talents, don’t you?” and he finally looks up at you — most times you didn’t know what to make of his looks — sometimes it was easy — amusement when the defense counsel tripped up or frustration when the detectives kept pressing him to take the case further when it already sprung a leak — but other times it was a glimmer, a hint at something you could barely grasp onto before it disappeared between your fingers. But now, it lingered, his gaze raked over you until it left your skin blaringly raw under his steady look.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” and now, you barely remember to breathe, the air sucked from the room, instead replaced with a heat — thicker as it settles, but still he sends shivers down your spine, your eyes barely flickering over his lips.

“I do,” the words falling from your lips, a rushed, thoughtless whisper.

His eyes molten, he leans forward, he mutters your name, barely a whisper — an ask for permission, as his palm dares to rest on your cheek, carefully, as if you would recoil from his touch — but you didn’t. You leaned into his palm, basking in his affection.

His hand slips down, thumb brushing your lips and then resting on your chin, tilting it downwards, “Are you sure you want to know me this well?” he asks, as you lean forward, your backside pressed against the edge of his desk.

“I do, if you’ll let me,” his breath warms your lips, “Rafael,” you whisper right before his lips brush yours.

It’s chaste at first, tentative and gentle, but when your fingers find purchase on the back of his neck, you chase his lips. You taste coffee — bitter and rich, as rich as the passion and urgency of his kisses. Soon he’s standing, and you’re sitting at the edge of the desk, his body between your legs. His hands trail down your body, and his lips follow — pressing fervent kisses to your neck. And your hand grasps at the edge of his to keep yourself steady, the other on his shoulder, digging into his crisp button down.

“Someone could walk in,” you gasp, hissing as his teeth gently graze your neck, “Raf—”

He pauses, leaning back, “You’re right,” and you bite your lip, as he steps back, grabbing his jacket, glancing between you and the door, “it’s late, we should—”

“Right,” your face burns, you round the desk towards the door, fuck, what if he thinks this is a huge mistake? What if he doesn’t—

He grabs you by the wrist gently, smiling as he brushes past you, holding his office door open for you, “Your place or mine?”

“You have to make our case, counselors, so what are you going to do about it?” Liv crossed her arms, looking between you and Rafael.

“We need more evidence Liv, there’s no way around it,” you sigh, “we go in guns ablazing and odds are we don’t get it because a) he destroys it, or b) fruit of the poisonous tree. He’s smart and his lawyers are smart, we need this by the book.”

“I agree, we need more — have you managed to get into contact with his ex-wife?”

“Only many unreturned phone calls,” Amanda shakes her head, “I’ll try again, but she retired to Florida—”

“Do one better, fly down there and talk to her,” Rafael replied, sliding the divorce proceedings across the table, “I think she may be the key to our case, and the warrants we need.”

Rafael walks them to the elevator, chatting about the case, as you glance at the stacks of motions you needed to get through still. The door clicking shut behind him, he slides next to you, as you slink down, sighing, “Thanks for backing me up on the case,”

“Of course,” he replies, “we need more evidence — taking a half baked case against someone like Rita? It’s like begging to be ripped apart in front of an audience.”

“Well, I know you dabble in masochism,” and he shot you a glare, his thigh pressed against your own, “How long do we have before you think we’ll have a case?”

“A while — it will take them some time to get down to Florida and get something usable,” he flipped through more packets, before tossing them flippantly onto the coffee table, leaning back, his eyes flickering to the door, and he leans over, pressing a chaste kiss to your lips, “which gives us more time to ourselves.”

“Rafael—” he swallowed your protests with a kiss, and it was enough for your worries to fall away — he was enough to make everything fall away for you, your eyes flickered to the door, “the door—” “I locked it,” the words reverberate against your skin, “I wouldn’t be so careless, counselor,” his use of your title sent a shiver down your spine, “now are you going to let me take you home?”

It had been a few weeks of this — sneaking kisses in between work, stolen glances across rooms, small smiles that quickly melted away under another's look, and many nights spent in the other's arms — but still you didn't know what this was.

"Let's go," you smiled, pressing a teasing kiss to the corner of his mouth.

But you didn't care.

As the two of you stepped into the elevator, his hand brushed yours, because you didn't want to lose it.

"Yes sir, I understand. I'll be there," your eyes flicker up to see Rafael standing in the doorway, "okay goodbye."

"Was that McCoy—"

"Chewing me out for not attending yet another gala, unfortunately yes, and it looks like I'm being shanghaied into attending," you shake your head, groaning, "doesn't he have better things to do than force me to schmooze with the affluent and influential?"

"So close to his re-election? No," he sits down, checking his phone, "he needs to have his best and brightest there, and that's why he wants us there."

"'Us?'" the corner of his lip tilts upwards.

"You're not the only one who got an irate phone call," he locks his phone, tucking it away, "we should both leave the office early so we can arrive on time,"

You check the time, cursing, "I have to get my outfit dry cleaned, but I have to write a motion—"

"I can do it— my suit is ready and I told Liv I wouldn't pick her up until closer to the start—"

You blink, your chest squeezing, "Liv?"

He frowns, "Yeah I'm taking her tonight — as a favor — there's a case—"

You waved him off, “You don’t have to explain, it’s fine,” you grab your coat and your bag, “I should go now and drop off my clothes—”

He says your name, “You know I would want to go with you if we didn’t—”

If you didn’t work together, if your hypocrite of a boss didn’t have a chip on his shoulder for workplace relationships— “I know,” you reply, offering a small smile, if this was something more than what you knew it was— “I’ll see you tonight.”

But it wasn’t.

This was a nightmare.

Truly.

Forced to attend a gala alone with people you didn’t know very well, stuck in the corner by the bar, forced to watch the one person you wanted be with someone else. But you didn’t want to want him — you downed your drink, asking for a refill — the alcohol wasn’t the only thing bitter on your lips.

“Glad to see you could make it, counselor,” Jack McCoy greeted you with a grin, offering you his hand in a firm handshake, “you look lovely.”

“Well, my boss didn’t give me much of a choice,” you purse your lips, “something about my future at the District Attorney’s office and if I wished to have his support,”

He chuckles, ordering his drink from the bartender (“a scotch, neat”), “I sense good things in your future. You have been a great addition to SVU — you challenge the detectives to bring better cases and you’re giving Barba a run for his money.”

You spotted Rafael out of the corner of your eye, Liv on his arm, and you glanced away, sipping at your drink, tucking away your frustration behind a mask of boredom— “I suppose I am,” —albeit, maybe not fast enough.

McCoy followed your gaze. He doesn’t say anything, instead offering his hand to you, “May I have this dance?” you raised an eyebrow, leaning against the bar.

“You’re not trying to make me one of your famous work affairs, are you, Jack?” and he laughs, shaking his head, tilting his head.

“I think I know better than that, counselor,” your eyes find Rafael again — dancing with Liv, quietly talking, and you take Jack’s hand.

“I’d love to,” you follow him onto the dance floor, his hands resting respectfully above your waist just a new song began, “I should warn you I’m not the best dancer,”

“Just follow my lead,” he assured you, a smile playing on his lips, “and if you step on my feet, well I’ll have a good case for assault.”

You rolled your eyes, before pursing your lips, “What’s this about, Jack?”

“What do you mean?” it’s your turn to tilt your head, your arms resting on his shoulders, “I just wanted to say, I’ve been down that road before,” he spares a discreet glance at Rafael, “and it never ends well.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you keep your voice steady and confused, but Jack only raises an eyebrow, “There’s nothing going on—”

“A whole of lot of nothing is what I’m worried about,” He kept the friendly smile, “I’ve done this enough times to know when nothing is actually nothing — and I know the look you had wasn’t nothing—”

“Jack—”

“I’m not speaking to you as your boss, for now,” his words were careful, a sharp edge of warning that slid harmlessly across your cheek, but you knew it wouldn’t again, “but I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“I don’t want to either, but I know what I’m doing,” and Jack nods.

“I know you do, and I’m not telling you how to live your life, but-- “ he shakes his head, “you deserve better than someone who hides you — take it from an old man who lost someone they loved when they were too busy hiding them.”

You frown, “I—” and you felt a tap on your shoulder, Rafael standing between you two.

“May I cut in?” he offers Jack a smile, who steps back.

“Remember what I said, counselor,” Jack shakes Rafael’s hand, keeping his eyes on you, “a bright future.”

A slow waltz begins to play, and he grins at you, “Are you going to keep me waiting?”

“What about Liv?” he jerks his head and you see her dancing with that attorney, Trevor Langan.

“She’s busy, and she’s not the one I want to dance with,” and his smile falters, raising his eyebrows, “unless you don’t want to—”

You deserve more, Jack’s words echo in your ears, and you wanted more — you wanted him, more than you wanted to admit — more than he wanted you to want him.

“Of course I do,” you take his hand, a soft smile on his lips, his palm warm against your back, pulling you close.

“You look so amazing,” he remarks, murmuring in your ear, his dulcet tones sending a shiver down your spine, “I couldn’t take my eyes off of you.”

“Really?” his fingers tilt your chin up to meet his gaze.

“Yes, because I couldn’t stop thinking about what I wanted to take off,” his voice liquid heat, and your breath stuttered in your chest — his hands on your body were no longer enough, “what do you do to me, mi amor?”

“I could say the same to you,” you mutter, as he tugs you a little closer, blurring the line between professional and personal, “Do you think it’s a good idea that we’re dancing this close?”

“What do you mean?” and you look around, scanning for any sight of Jack.

“Our jobs — people could talk,” and he just shrugs, emerald eyes shining, as his lips quirk upward, as he dips you, pulling you back up with ease — the same ease he did everything with — the same ease he always put you at.

“Then let them.”

And you bite your lip, a small smile on your lips. Maybe this was enough. You knew what you were doing. You glance at Jack, who now stands at the bar, his brow wrinkled.

Right?

“Rafael,” you can’t catch your breath with him, his lips insistent and plying, as he presses you into the soft cushions of the mattress, “we have motions in—” you gasp as he sucks your skin above your pulse, “an hour and half.”

But really you didn’t care about the motions — you didn’t care about being late —- you wanted to talk to him, about you — about the both of you — but he didn’t want to talk.

“That means we have at least half an hour,” his hands squeezed your hips, and your body responded in kind, head tilting back, exposing your neck for his lips, “that means I can do what i was planning to do more than once.”

“You’re awfully confident,” you sigh, your fingers knotted in his soft hairs at the base of his neck, and he presses a kiss right between your collarbone, his lips smiling against you.

“I have an impressive track record, no?” he grins, “I don’t recall you complaining last night,” you rolled your eyes, tugging him higher, so his hair brushed your forehead.

“You do, so much so that,” and you wonder if he can feel your heart pounding against your chest, “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

He raises an eyebrow, pressing a kiss to your lips, “What about?”

“What are we doing, Raf?” the words leave your mouth in a whisper — a single, gentle step onto a frozen lake, waiting for the ice to give way beneath you, “what is this to you?”

He hesitates — the first crack resonates through the still morning, “I don’t know, what is it to you? What do you want?”

I want more than just this, I want to be able to take you to galas, to kiss you outside of dark corners and corner booths— “I don’t know either—”

“Then let’s not waste time by defining it,” his hand cups your cheek — the cracks splintered under your feet, the water erupting from the fissures, “Mi amor, I’ve had relationships before, I’ve seen them fall apart, I’ve watched people who love each other hurt each other, over and over again. I don’t want to do that to you,” he sighs, “I don’t want to lose you.”

“I don’t want to either, but don’t you want more than this?” He holds your face in his hands, his thumbs brushing the length of your cheeks.

“I just need you — no more, no less than just this,” Rafael presses a kiss to your palm, “can we keep it this way for a little longer?”

You deserve more. You want more. You need more.

He says your name again, and you offer a small smile, as you sink beneath the emerald colored water of his eyes.

“Of course, Raf.”

There’s a knock at your office, and you glance over at the call of your name, “Hey, I’m from SVU, I’m looking for Barba,” his lanky figure is standing in your doorframe, his dirty blond hair slicked back, “I’m here to pick up a—”

“A warrant?” you nod, rifling through your files, “I got it right here for you, Detective…?”

He offers a hand, “Dominick Carisi, but you can call me Sonny,” you shake his outstretched hand, “You’re Barba’s number two, right? I heard about you from the squad.”

“Not how I’d like to be remembered, but essentially yes,” you shrug, before handing him the warrant, “just make sure to keep your search restricted to the places in that warrant and catalog everything properly— we don’t need to need to deal any issues—”

“Chain of custody, yeah I know. I’m actually in law school right now,” he adds, “Fordham.”

“That’s a great school,” you raise your eyebrows, “I’m sure it’s tough balancing it with your work as a detective — I barely survived my first year and that was without a full time job.”

“Well, what can I say, I’m determined,” he nods, holding up the warrant, “it was nice meeting you, counselor.”

“You too, Detective Carisi—”

“I told ya, call me Sonny,” he smiles from the doorway, and you chuckle, a warm smile blooming on your face.

“Only if you call me by my name too, Sonny.”

#rafael barba #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba imagines #rafael barba x you #svu #svu imagines #sonny carisi #sonny carisi x reader #sonny carisi imagines #law and order svu #rafael barba fanfiction

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cocastyle · 4 years ago

Text

Robin — TWO

Pairing - Joel Dawson x reader

Word Count - 4,476

A/N - new update for Robin!! yay!! this series as been so much fun writing so far and I’m overwhelmed by the unexpected love for this series so far! I hope you all continue to enjoy it as much as I! I have a lot in store for our very own Batman and Robin duo :))

if you would like to be added to the tag list, let me know!

R O B I N

Robin Series Masterlist

⭒❃.✮:▹ TWO ◃:✮.❃⭒

Dear Aimee,

This week has been especially shitty.

We lost Connor to what looked like a really big ant. It helps me to draw them. I try to capture their essence, scribble down some notes on how to kill them.

Turns out Robin's katanas can pretty much solve anything. Although, I'm pretty sure it's just because Robin's the one wielding them.

Sometimes I think drawing them is the only way I know how to cope with these things. That and having Y/N. She helps me a lot more than I give her credit for.

I owe her my life.

We've lost a lot of people over the years. You'd think you'd get numb to it after a certain point.

You don't.

- - -

Y/N walked through the hallway with a small skip in her step. Despite everything that had happened in the past week, she still managed to feel happy just at the thought of being with her best friend. With her activities for the morning already done, she was determined to spend some time with Joel who she knew was still a bit down on himself about what had happened during the breach.

She had set up the target in the room where Gertie and Mav1s were, knowing that the boy had been begging her to teach him how to shoot for a while now. She had about a half an hour before she had to be back with the hunting squad, so she was hurrying to get to Joel so that they could have more time working with the crossbow.

She was almost to his room when she heard his voice echoing down the hall. Furrowing her eyebrows, she picked up her speed and went pass his bedroom until she was at the radio room. She poked her head inside, her eyes landing on the boy who sat at the desk with the radio turned on.

"This is 7045. Come in, 3022. I repeat, come in, 3022. Over," Joel said, his eyes flickering over the map in front of him where he had 'X's marked everywhere except for the circle around their bunker and 3022.

"This is 3022. What is it now, Ray?" a voice replied over the radio making Joel sit up a bit more.

"Hey, Janice. No, it's actually. . .It's, uh, Joel," he told her making Y/N smile softly as she watched the boy.

There was a long moment of silence before the woman chuckled, "Oh. Joel."

"Yeah," he replied, smiling slightly.

"All right. Hold on one second," Janice said. "Aimee, it's Ray!"

Y/N’s smile faltered at that, muttering softly to herself, "Aimee, of course."

"Joel," the boy corrected with a small sigh into the radio. "Thanks, Janice."

"Joel! Hey!" a new voice said, instantly making the boy perk up as a big grin took over his features.

"Hey, Aimee! Hi!" Joel exclaimed. "How are you?"

"Hi. Yeah. I, uh. . .I'm good," Aimee told him.

"It's so good to hear your voice," Joel admitted, relaxing a bit at finally being able to hear her voice once again.

Y/N watched him for a moment longer before smiling sadly and turning to walk away. She knew how much getting to talk to Aimee meant to him, so she wasn't about to interrupt him with something he honestly probably didn't care to do. Besides, she wanted to give him some privacy to talk to the girl he was in love with. After all, that's what she would've wanted if it were her having to talk to Joel over the radio.

The girl walked aimlessly down the hallway, lost in her own thoughts about Joel before she was snapped back to attention when a voice softly called out, "Y/N, are you alright?"

She came to a stop, her head lifting up to notice Kala standing in front of the memorial they had for all the lost colony members. The girl's eyes were on her, concern evident despite the sadness in her eyes.

Y/N gave her a forced smile and said, "I'm fine, Kala."

Kala just stared at her before giving her a sad smile and whispering, "Joel's talking with Aimee again, isn't he?"

Y/N looked away at that, swallowing thickly before asking, "How. . .how are you?"

Kala went quiet and glanced down at the hat in her hands that had belonged to Connor. When she continued to not respond, Y/N walked across the room and pulled the girl in for a hug. Kala melted into her embrace, her body shaking a bit as she softly cried.

"I know," Y/N whispered, holding onto the girl tightly in hopes she would realize she was no alone. "Connor. . ." She trailed off as she felt her own sadness bubbling into her throat. After all, Connor and her had been close. He was a part of the hunting team with her. He had been like brother to her and she had lost him. "He was a great person and he loved you so much. He died protecting you."

Kala sniffled and nodded her head. "I know," she said, her voice cracking a bit.

The sound of footsteps approaching pulled the two apart and they turned to see Joel walking in. He plopped down on a seat beside one of the tables, a numb and upset look on his face that made Y/N’s heart break.

"I'm going to go put Connor's hat up," Kala muttered, her hand gently squeezing Y/N’s arm in order to pull the girl's attention back to her. "Thank you."

Y/N nodded and Kala gave her a small smile before walking back over to the memorial while Y/N walked over to Joel. She sat down in the seat beside him, the boy instantly looking her way while she offered him a small smile.

"Hey," she whispered. "How are you?" Joel looked away at that and Y/N sighed, "Joel, you need to put the breach thing behind you, okay? No one was expecting it, so you can’t blame yourself for being scared."

"But you're not scared," Joel retorted, his head still hung low.

"Are you kidding me? I'm always scared," Y/N told him, her words making him look up at her. "It's my fear that keeps me going.It's my fear that pushes me through whatever challenges may come my way."

Y/N didn't go into the fact that her fear was never truly about herself. Her fear had always and would always be for Joel's life. For if she died, then that meant Joel could die simply because she wouldn't be there to protect her. And that's what scared her more than anything in the world.

The thought of Joel dying.

So in her mind, she survived for him. She survived so that Joel would survive.

The boy was looking at her, still not saying anything. Sighing, the girl reached out and placed a hand on top of his own. She gave him a reassuring smile before saying, "Even Batman was afraid every once in a while, Joel. That's what makes him human."

Joel smiled a little at that, squeezing her hand and rubbing his thumb over the top of her skin while Y/N smiled back.

She let go of his hand and leaned back in her chair, propping her feet up on the table as she looked to the boy. "How's Aimee?" she asked.

Joel looked at her in surprise, not sure how she could've known he was talking to the girl, before saying, "I think she's fine. We. . .we didn't get to talk much before the radio cut off."

Y/N frowned, "I'm sorry, Joel."

Joel smiled weakly and looked down at the table before whispering, "I just miss her."

Y/N felt her heart ache at the sight of him and she quickly dropped her feet to the ground before wrapping an arm around his shoulders and leaning her head against him. "I know," she whispered softly, ignoring the way her heart slightly broke knowing that even after seven years of not seeing her, Joel still loved Aimee.

Y/N had gone through seven years of watching him pine after a girl who barely even seemed to understand what she had when he was her boyfriend. Yet she still stuck by his side even though she found herself falling in love with him even more with each second that passed.

Joel let out a soft sigh and leaned his head against her own, relishing in the comfort of his best friend while his heart ached for the girl he loved.

Still oblivious to the fact that the girl holding onto him loved him more than Aimee ever could.

- - -

"I wanna know how it got in," Karen demanded, frowning from where she sat down at the table. The whole colony was there, the discussion about how the monster had gotten in finally being brought up after giving everyone enough time to mourn.

Y/N was watching Joel, her eyes flickering over the boy who sat on the opposite end of the table with his gaze on the table and a numb look upon his face. Frowning, she pulled her gaze away and looked to Karen. "You sure about that?" Y/N asked. "Sometimes it's better not knowing."

Karen was hesitant, knowing that what the girl said was true. After all, the hunting team didn't always tell them what went on unless everyone agreed on it. It was better for some people to have to worry about certain things over others. When she gave a small nod in response, Y/N looked to Tim and gestured for him to go ahead.

With Connor gone, Y/N was one of the designated leaders at the moment. She had a bit of a reputation in the colony anyways, having worked her way to top hunter on their squad within a matter of weeks. So Tim didn't hesitate to comply to her orders, looking around at the others as he explained, "It appears to have ripped through one of our perimeter defenses."

"What, it ripped through steel?" Anna Lucia asked, having not known that bit of information.

"Y/N, Anderson, and I resealed the breach point and the vent. Nothing's getting in that way again," Tim assured them.

"And if they do, we'll be ready. I set up triggers around possible breach points to help alert us when something's attempting to get in. Next time one tries to strike, the team and I will be out there ready to take it down," Y/N said.

"But why did it happen?" Karen asked.

"It was a freak occurrence," Ray told her. "There's no reason to think it'll happen again."

"Ray's right. We only took precautions just to be safe," Y/N spoke up. "We should try to stay calm. There's no use worrying—"

"How far away is Aimee's colony?" Joel spoke up, his voice making them all go silent while the boy looked over at them.

"What?" Tim asked.

"Aimee's colony," Joel repeated, ignoring the fact that everyone's eyes were now on him including Y/N who looked like she didn't understand what was happening. "How far away is it?"

"About eighty five miles," Ray answered.

"How long does that take to get there?" Joel questioned. Y/N sat up a bit, her feet that she had propped up on the table falling to the ground as she stared at her best friend.

"Joel, you're not actually thinking of going?" Tim said confused.

"Tim, just. . .humor me," Joel pleaded. "How long?"

"Seven days," Y/N spoke up, causing the boy to look her way. She was watching him, her eyes flickering over his face while she had a completely blank look upon her face. It was enough to make Joel still, for he had never seen her act that way, but he was too focused on her words to speak up about it. "Minimum."

"An armed and trained hunting party would be lucky to last fifty miles on the surface," Anna Lucia said, the others all looking at each other and mumbling in agreement while Joel looked off in thought and Y/N continued to study him with narrowed eyes. "But you, Joel. . ."

"All right," Tim spoke up, noticing the way Y/N had obviously gotten distracted by what her best friend was saying. "Now I need volunteers to help reinforce some of the outer perimeter."

Everyone began to speak up, agreeing to help out, but Joel spoke out again, his voice making everyone freeze as he said, "I'm gonna go."

Everyone was dead silent as they looked to him, Y/N’s face growing a bit pale while Joel ignored her gaze. "It's an impossible journey, Joel," Tim told him.

Joel shook his head and stood up. "No, I'm serious," he said. "I love you guys, but Aimee is one of the only people in this world who ever truly made me happy, and she's only eighty five miles away. And I'm gonna go see her." He let out a breath he had been holding before smiling slightly. "That felt awesome." He then turned and walked out of the room, leaving everyone staring after him.

All eyes turned to Y/N who was staring at the place Joel had just been with tears in her eyes. All she could hear were Joel's words playing over and over in her head.

Aimee is one of the only people in this world who ever truly made me happy.

It took her a moment, but Y/N was up and out of her seat without a second thought. She ran out of the room, leaving the others to sigh and exchange a look for they knew Joel's words had hit her harder than he meant to let them.

By the time she reached Joel's room, her tears were long gone and her mind was already made up. She appeared in the doorway, her eyes instantly locking on Joel who was shoving his few belongings into his backpack. He glanced up at her, his eyes hesitating on her form for a moment before he looked back down.

"I have to go, Robin. I can't stay here anymore and just wait for something to happen. I'm done waiting," he told her, shoving his journal and pencils into his backpack as he did so.

"I know," Y/N replied. "You have to do this. You should go." Joel looked up to her at that, his face displaying a look of shock for a small second. She smiled softly at him before walking towards him and saying, "But I'm coming too."

"You're. . .you're what?" Joel asked in surprise, his eyes flickering over her face as she came to stop in front of him.

"Joel, you're the only person who makes me happy," she began, her words making his heart skip a beat which he quickly pushed aside as nothing. "I can't let you just leave without me."

Joel was reminded of what he said earlier and his face softened as he reached out and cupped her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. "You know I didn't mean that you don't make me happy, right?" he eyes searching her own to make sure she understood what he was saying. "Cause you do, Robin. You're the one that keeps me going every day."

He let go of her and turned to his backpack which he zipped up, missing the way Y/N’s face heated up for a second due to his words and display of affection. She quickly pushed her feelings aside, knowing Joel always had been an affectionate person. It was just how their friendship worked.

"But I have to go see Aimee," Joel continued, letting his gaze fall back upon his best friend. "And I can't just make you come with."

"You're not making me do anything," Y/N assured him. "I'm coming. We stick together through everything, remember?" She took a step forward before holding her hand out to the boy. "Batman and Robin, right?"

Joel hesitated as he looked to her, a smile slowly making its way onto his face while he felt his heart swell with an emotion that he pushed aside as nothing else but relief in getting to keep her by his side.

"Batman and Robin," he agreed, clasping his hand in her own while they exchanged small smiles.

Y/N gave him a short nod before taking a step back which caused Joel to frown because it suddenly felt like he was missing a warmth he hadn't known had been there when she was right in front of him.

"I'm going to go grab my things," Y/N said. "I'll meet you by the exit." And with that, she ran out of the room, leaving Joel to stare after her. He was a bit confused as to what he had just felt, but didn't think much of it as he turned back to his bag and smiled.

"I'm coming, Aimee," he whispered, thoughts of reuniting with the love of his life running through his head.

- - -

Dear Aimee,

I am done hiding. I am done waiting for things to get better.

It's time to take matters into my own hands. Time to let someone else make the minestrone.

I'm taking a radio, even though it doesn't have power. But I'm gonna take it anyway.

Robin's coming with me. She's just the best, you know?

I didn't want to admit it, but the thought of leaving her behind had scared me. Knowing she'll be there with me every step of the way, it provides me a sort of comfort that I can't even begin to describe.

I can do anything if I have her with me. Walking eighty five miles through a monster infested world will be a piece of cake.

- - -

When Y/N was done packing, she went off to find the rest of the colony, knowing she would have to explain to them that she was going with Joel even if they might not want her to. Muttering rehearsed lines to herself, Y/N walked into the main room where the colony was all huddled around a map and writing things down.

"Guys," Y/N began, letting out a shaky breath. "I'm—"

However, she didn't get a chance to finish before she was being tackled in a hug by Kala. Y/N fell into a stunned silence, hesitantly hugging the girl back in confusion before Kala pulled away to look at her.

"You're going with him," Kala stated. "We know." Y/N blinked in surprise before looking around at the others who all just nodded softly despite the sad smiles on their faces. The girl looked back to Kala who just smiled softly. "It's okay, Y/N. We knew you would."

"I didn't want to do this to you guys," Y/N admitted. "I know we just lost Connor and losing another person on the hunting team isn't ideal, but I have to go with him. He's my best friend."

They all nodded in understanding before Tim reached out to clap a hand on her shoulder. "You don't need to explain to us, Y/N," he told her. "We get it. Just know that we'll be waiting for you two when you get back."

Y/N smiled softly at that, falling into Tim's embrace while everyone smiled at the exchange. "So," Y/N began as she pulled away from the man, "what are you guys doing?"

"Attempting to make a map for the two of you. Well. . .mostly for Joel in case he somehow gets lost," Anna Lucia said making Y/N chuckle softly before she walked over to the table.

She smiled softly at the sight of all the notes on the front before noticing that there seemed to be something on the back. She flipped the paper over, her smile growing even more at the notes the crew had all written on the back for the boy.

"We were going to make one for you too," Kala spoke up. "But I think Joel needs more of a reminder of how much we love him than you do. I have a feeling you already know that."

Y/N smiled and looked up at the people who had become her family. "I know," she whispered making them all smile before she looked down at the paper snd grabbed ahold of one of the pens. She scribbled down a small note on the back to go along with the others before Karen folded the map up.

It was when she was almost finished folding it that they heard Ray call out, "He's not joking."

They all walked out of the room at that, Y/N catching sight of Joel making his way over towards them with his backpack on and two crossbows and her katanas in hand. His eyes locked with hers and he smiled before holding out her weapons. "I think you may have forgotten something," he mused making the girl roll her eyes.

"Thanks, Joel," she said before grabbing the katanas and strapping them into her back and under her backpack. She then took the crossbow and the two turned to head towards the ladder that led to up above when Tim stepped in their way.

"We're not letting you two leave. You're needed here," Tim told them, even though Y/N knew that he understood he wasn't going to be able to stop them.

"Tim, Y/N may be, but I'm not. Come on. I don't do anything," Joel said.

"Joel, that's not true. You fix the radio. You make the minestrone," Tim stopped after that and winced slightly at his own words. "Okay. Doesn't sound as important when I say it out loud."

"I appreciate you trying," Joel assured him. "Really, I do. I just don't feel like I belong anywhere. I don't really wanna die all alone at the end of the world, so. . ."

Tim stared at the boy for a moment, his eyes flickering over to Y/N who gently shook her head at him to let him know he shouldn't say anything about her feelings for the boy. Tim sighed and turned away, allowing the two to walk by.

Joel moved forward, but paused before looking back at the others. "Look, I know you guys all just think of me as, like, some little, pathetic, adorable hedgehog. But I can take care of myself. I'm actually probably a lot stronger than you might think," he told them.

Y/N smiled softly at the boy's words, knowing how badly he wanted to prove to them all that he could do this. She placed a hand on his arm and Joel looked her way, smiling as she squeezed his arm before looking to the others. "We'll take care of each other," she assured them. "We've survived seven years. We can survive seven days."

The colony didn't say anything until finally Karen stepped forward and held the map out to Joel. "We made you a map," Karen told him.

"Thanks, Karen," Joel whispered before the girl reached up to hug him. Joel hugged her back and Karen pulled away with a sad smile before going over to Y/N and hugging her as well.

"Just. . .take care," Karen whispered before she pulled away and backed up to join the others. Y/N stared out at the people who had become her family, her eyes tearing up a bit as she knew that there was a possibility she would never see them again.

She felt a hand latch onto her own and Y/N looked to her left to see Joel giving her a reassuring smile as his fingers intertwined with her own. Y/N gave him a shaky smile in return while Joel rubbed his thumb across the skin on top of her hand.

"Everything will try to kill you," Ray told them.

"Oh," Joel muttered, making a small face which made Y/N chuckle softly.

"Be observant. Use the advantages that you have. You're fast and small and Y/N is one of our best hunters, so, Joel, don't fight. Just run and hide. Y/N, you should do that too, but if you need to, use those katanas and crossbow like your life depends on it cause it does," Ray said.

"Don't fight," Joel repeated, making another face before looking to Y/N. "So Robin fights, but Batman doesn't?" he whispered to her. She just smiled shyly at him.

Ray reached out and pulled the two into a hug, Joel and Y/N hugging him back while their intertwined hands still stayed by their side.

"You're both assholes if you get eaten," Ray told them.

Y/N smiled at that before saying, "And you all are douchebags if you don't answer our call when we get there."

The group all chuckled while Joel went to hook his crossbow to his backpack. Everyone fell silent as they watched him, their smiled falling as he struggled to simply latch the crossbow to his back. Y/N sighed and brought her free hand up to facepalm herself while Joel just awkwardly laughed and tried to latch the crossbow one more time.

This time it latched into place and he smiled before saying, "Okay."

"Nice," Ava muttered.

Joel ignored her comment and squeezed Y/N’s hand before turning to climb up the ladder. "I love you guys. Tell Aimee I'll see her in seven days," he said before climbing up the ladder.

"We believe in you," Karen called after him.

"Love you, buddy," Tim said.

Y/N walked over to the ladder before hesitating at the bottom. She glanced back at the colony, her eyes flickering over each of them. Karen and Kala were softly crying as they hugged each other, the others all looking at her sadly before Tim just gave her a small nod.

"Take care of him," Tim said before hesitating. "And yourself."

"I will," Y/N whispered, smiling at the group one last time. "I love you guys."

"Love you too," they all chorused as she began to climb up the ladder like Joel had. The latch was already open by the time she reached the top and she was blinded by the sunlight until Joel moved himself above the hole and looked down at her.

"You sure about this?" he asked, his eyes flickering over her face for any signs of hesitation.

Y/N smiled softly, "I'm sure."

Joel smiled at that before holding his hand out, the girl looking to it for a moment as she realized just what it is they were doing. Was she really about to help the boy she loved reunite with the girl he was in love with? It was crazy. She knew that. Yet seeing that smile on Joel's face and knowing that this was what he wanted, what he needed, to be happy was enough for her to know this was the right thing to do.

Then, without another second thinking about it, Y/N took ahold of the boy's hand and he pulled her into the world above.

- - -

Tag List

@simplybarnes

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#love and monsters #love #and #monsters #joel dawson imagine #joel dawson #joel dawson x reader #Aimee #clyde #minnow #boy #apocalypse #dylan o’brien x reader #dylan o'brien

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bleachanimefan1 · 3 years ago

Text

The Song of the Titan

Chapter Nine!,

In a secret room of the castle, Belos stood in front of the repaired door of the human realm, that he had managed to salvage and recover. He ordered an abomaton to turn on a switch and it did as it was told. Glowing green goo flowed down from the pipes of the machine and headed towards the door, powering it up. Belos took out a handmade key and stuck it into the keyhole.

It disintegrated almost immediately as soon as he turned it. Hidden in a corner, behind the emperor, Hunter quietly watched, curious about the portal. Lil rascal had managed to sneak into the room as well and landed on Hunter's shoulder and let out a small chirp.

"Shoo!" Hunter brushed his hand to get the cardinal to leave.

"Would you like to see how this works, Hunter?" Belos called out. Hunter gasped and went tense. He had heard him. The cardinal went ridged and turned to wood and Hunter quickly put the bid inside his cloak, hiding it. Hesitantly, Hunter stepped out approaching Belos.

"I didn't mean to hide, Emperor Belos," He murmured.

"We found every piece of the door, but without the power of the real key, it refuses to open," He told him.

"Is true that rain doesn't boil in the human realm?" Hunter asked. Belos turned to Hunter with a surprised look.

"It is. But, how did you know that?" He asked, smiling.

"I ran into the other human the other day. She told me," Hunter told him. He saw his uncle's smile immediately drop. Hunter immediately shifted his gaze away from Belo's cold and dark eyes as they stared intensely down at him. Hunter nearly jumped as he felt his uncle's fingers tuck under his chin, tilting his head up, making Hunter look at him.

"Hunter, I need you to promise me that you won't see that human girl again." Hunter's eyes widen a little as he stared up at Belos confused.

"What? Why?" he asked.

"She is a bad influence, especially since she's hanging around with the owl lady, learning about wild magic," His uncle told him. "She's dangerous, so promise me that you will stay from her."

"I-...I promise, Emperor Belos," Hunter said, his eyes dropping a little as he looked down.

"Don't make that face, you know how I feel about that, Hunter."

"I'm sorry, Uncle," Hunter replied.

"You know I've been there before, the human realm, did I ever tell you that?" Below asked, immediately changing the subject. Hunter looked back at him, and shook head. Belos had a soft smile on his face.

"The trees they're green, nights are quiet," He told Hunter. "I look forward to seeing it again." Then he turned Hunter as he walked down the stairs with him. "Were you spying on me just to hear these boring stories?"

"The operation at the knee, why did you switch me out with Kikimora?" Hunter questioned. Belos smiled.

"Everyone has a use, Hunter. Kikimora has her intricate little plans, the scouts carry out orders, and you, well..." He wrapped his arm around Hunter, placing his hand on Hunter's shoulder as they continued walking down the stairs. "The Titan has BIG plans for you and it would be such a hassle to try and find an replacement." Hunter's eyes widened. He was going to be replaced? No! He worked so hard to get where he was! If he was replaced then what use would he be? He wouldn't be able to help his Uncle.

"So right now you can be useful by staying "safe" here in the castle," Belos told him as he led Hunter out.

"If this is punishment for failing my last mission, I swear that I can do better!" Hunter insisted.

"Good night, Hunter," Belos smiled, closing the door.

Hunter stood in front of the door for a minute, before making his decision. He was going to help his uncle, no matter what happens. He had to prove that he wasn't a failure...not again.

Hunter turned around and ran, heading straight to his room and dropped off Lil' rascal. The little bird made a confused chirp as it looked at Hunter.

"I'll be back," Hunter told the cardinal palisman. "Just STAY here and don't be seen. I have to do this on my own."

As he turned around to leave, Hunter heard the small red bird began chirping frantically before he saw Lil' rascal beginning to fly straight towards him. Quickly, Hunter shut the door, before Lil' rascal could get out. It nearly broke his heart hearing the frantic and coming from the small bird as it heard it pecking and clawing the door.

Hunter shook his head, making up his mind and quickly grabbed a coven's scouts uniform as a disguise. So no one would recognize him, since his own had been eaten and was getting the uniform and mask fixed and replaced. He put the scout's clothes and cloak on and left the castle, heading to the Knee.

Back at the owl, Amity was prepping and fortifying the security of the house. She walked past the window, seeing Hooty outside.

"Hooty, what's your status?" Amity asked.

"The perimeter is secure nothing's getting past me!" The owl beast told her as he broke the window, coming in.

"Good! Clean up that mess," Amity smiled.

"Ma'am!" Booty saluted. He sweeped the broken glass aside, using his neck. Amity walked into the living room to see Willow coming in and placed some groceries on the table.

"Willow have you gathered the supplies?" Amity asked.

"Yes! We're ready to attack this at all fronts!" Willow told her.

"Excellent!" Amity smiled. A small white car walked over to her. Amity bent down petting the cat. "Aw, Ghost, did you help, too? Who's a good palisman! Great, now all we is-"

"Rain? Beach wave?" Gus suggested as he and King walked up behind the two girls.

"Something called "Lo-fi beats to study and relax to." We've got it all!" King shouted.

"Eda was rummaging through her basement and gave us these soothing human noises!" Gus explain.

"That's, great," Amity replied. "Wait, Eda's still here? Eda you're supposed to be helping Hooty build up our defenses." Then she heard Eda scream.

Amity walked into a room to see, Eda screaming loudly at nothing, while Azara and John watched in amusement. "Whoo! Don't mind me, I'm just learning how to turn into Harpy Eda on demand. According to this human workout, you just got to scream a lot until you forced your inner beast out." Eda said.

"Eda, this is a cartoon," Azara told her. "Of course, it's not going to work."

"Gee, you just love to suck the fun out of everything, do ya kid?" Eda teased.

"This looks ancient," Amity replied picking up the tape.

"What? No! You're telling me-Thirty years old? I remember seeing this in theaters," Era frowned.

"Yes, you're old. Who cares? We have a crisis on our hands!" Amity exclaimed.

"Chill bossy boots. Everything's fine," Era reassured her. Amity gestured Eda to follow her, along with Azara and John as she walked them to Luz's room, opening the door.

"Does THIS seem fine to you?!" Amity asked gesturing over to Luz.

"It's like I have snake for arms!" Luz exclaimed, as she wildly waved her arms in the air at nothing. Luz's hair was a mess and she was inside of a sleeping bag. Her nose was red and her eyes looked blood shot and tired. She was sick.

"Please, she just has the common mold," Eda explained. "it's harmless."

"But, she's a human," Amity said, worried. "We have no idea how this will affect her!"

"If I eat the portal key, would I return to the human realm?" Luz questioned. Azara's eyes widen.

"Luz, no!" she tried to stop her. Luckily, Amity made a small abomaton and it quickly took the key from Luz, walking away, and gave it to Amity.

"I am not giving this back until you are better, okay?" Amity told her. Luz whined and took out a small device that looked like a tomagachi and started to type something on it. Amity had one as well as it pinged. She looked at it seeing the strange emojis, not understanding them.

U R PRETTY...

"Uh, you got it!" Amity smiled and winked at Luz. Luz stared at her confused and disappointed as she closed the door.

"I got to admit, Amity, seeing you around more often is different, " Willow told her as Gus, King and her approached the them.

"I know but I was taught to see every situation as an opportunity," Amity told them. "And today I am going to show Luz that I am an awesome girlfriend!"

"Feels like is it a few months ago you almost got her dissected by your crazy principal," King pointed out.

"She did what now?" Azara asked, interested. Amity blushed and looked away.

"That was a few months ago," Gus added. Suddenly, everyone jumped as they heard Luz scream.

"AAH!" They quickly opened the door to see Luz frantically grabbing a pen and paper. "Luz!"

"Mouse! Uh, Philip's dairy entry!" Luz exclaimed, frantically. They saw the echo mouse projecting something on the wall, in black and white, like an movie from an old film reel. Azara a strange man dressed in weird clothes that looked like from the 16th century. His hair was tied up in a pony tail and had two long strands of hair hanging from his face.

"After five years, I have finally found it. A power source so potent it can pierce through realms, Titan's blood. There are old tales of lakes reflecting green trees and blue skies. The Titan's veins run through the land and many believe that these wild portals are created when a little of It's blood leaks into the water. That is how I came here, so that is the first place I shall look. I will journey back to Eclipse Lake."

"I have to go to Eclipse Lake!" Luz shouted as she finished the drawing the location down and quickly got up, practically jumping out the door. Willow and Gus quickly caught her, dragging Luz back inside the room, putting her back into the sleeping bag.

"Luz, no! You are not well!" Willow told her.

"She is shockingly strong!" Gus added.

"Alright, Luz. Me and King will get your Titan blood," Eda told her. "if you just calm down."

"Yes! Perfect chance to take our new powers for a test drive!" King cheered.

"You guys are the best!" Luz smiled. She handed Eda the paper, however it looked like it had some snot on it as well. Eda cringed in disgust and took it, holding the map in front of her, walking away.

"You might want to get that disinfected," Azara chuckled.

"I volunteer as well, as Luz's girlfriend, I must -" Amity immediately volunteered, following after Eda.

"I get, Boots. Just grab a coat," Eda told her.

"I'm coming too!" Azara replied.

"Well, if you're coming, you're going to have to wear boots. Where we are going is cold and I can't afford to have another sick kid on my hands," Era told her.

"Fine," Azara pouted but agreed.

"I'm coming as well!" John shouted. Azara frowned and shook her head.

"No, you're not. You're staying here," she told him. John whined.

"You're not the boss of me!" he complained. Azara smirked.

"Actually I am, since mom's not here," she reminded him. "Therefore, I am in charge of you." She approached him and bent down to his level. "And if YOU get into trouble, "I" get into trouble, and WE don't want that, do we now?" John pouted, crossing his arms, before sticking out his lips.

"Fine," he replied.

"I need you help look after Luz, okay?" Azara smiled. John nodded his head, understanding.

"Willow, Goops, watch after Luz," Eda told the two. "She thinks she has snakes for arms." Willow and Gus looked back at Luz who had her arms in the air before she noticed them and hissed.

High above, on a snowy mountain, Kikimora and the coven scouts were digging around outside in the ruins of an abandoned mine.

"Dig faster, scouts!" Kikimora ordered.

"Kikimora, these tunnels are unstable, maybe we should slow down?" One of the scouts suggested.

"Not now, captain. This could be my last chance to show Belos what I can do! And I just know that brat golden guard will try to spoil it!" Kikimora said. "Hey Steve! Jump over that chasm before I throw you into it!"

"She's getting so paranoid," the captain shook her head.

Not too far off, from the scouts, Hunter was hiding behind a tree as he watched them. He leaned back against the tree and pulled back the hood his cloak, only to be startled as he saw the cardinal palisman right there next to him.

"Why do keep following me?!" Hunter hissed. "How did you even get out!?"

I'm.....h#r% to h#lp! Lil rascal chirped. Hunter frowned as he looked at the bird.

"I don't speak palisman," He replied then continued to explain his plan to the bird. Lil rascal was nodding his head the entire time, listening.

"Here's the plan, I slip in with this disguise, I find the Titan blood before Kiki, I give it to Belos. Boom! I'm useful again!" Hunter smiled. It suddenly dropped as Hunter heard one of the abomatons fired in his direction. He and Lil rascal quickly ducked and took cover as the blast exploded the tree that they were hiding behind. Hunter gulped nervously and quietly crawled way before the scouts noticed him. That blast almost blew his head off!

"Ma'am, is everything alright?!" The captain asked. Kikimora's eyes narrowed with a dark glare.

"I just thought I heard an annoying voice!" She hissed.

"Uh, another way in! We'll find another way in!" Hunter stammered, nervously. He ran got up and ran away while Lil rascal rode on top of his head. Lil rascal 's eyes widened as it sensed something nearby and happily chirped.

Hunt*& Th%$ #ay!

Hunter stopped and saw the cardinal land on a branch in a tree and walked over. His eyes widen in surprise to see Eda, King and Amity, approaching.

"The owl lady and her dog and is that the youngest Blight?" He questioned to himself. Then his eyes noticed a familiar pair of green eyes as he saw Azara walking with them as well. Hunter's eyes widen and he had almost fallen off from the steep slope, slipping on a small patch of ice, as soon as he saw her. He nearly lost his breath and felt his cheeks burn as he felt strange feeling in his chest. Hunter's heart began to beat faster, watching Azara as she and the others got closer. Her again!?

"This place is crawling with tools! What gives?!" King asked.

"Titan blood is the most powerful source of magic on the Isles. I'm not surprised Belos wants it too," Eda explained.

"Well, we can't afford to mess this up," Amity said. "Luz is counting on me! I mean, us!" She blushed.

"Well, as soon as we find this Titan's blood the sooner I can get out of these boots!" Azara complained. She was shaking her feet as she walked along side them. Eda and King laughed.

"She's like a small cat!" Eda chuckled. Azara frowned, as her cheeks turned red, embarrassed.

"I heard that!" she yelled out.

"Alright, new plan," Hunter smiled. "They can lead us to the Titan blood."

Lil rascal stared at Hunter for a minute before he lunged out and pulled on Hunter's strand of hair.

I'm doing Th&$ for you# #wn &ood!

"Hey! Hey! AH!" Hunter screamed and he lost his balance falling right in front of the group. He groaned as he sat up. That little sh-

"A coven scout!" Amity exclaimed. Hunter's eyes widen underneath the mask as he looked up at the group. Eda and Amity had their staffs ready and pointed at him.

"Uh, yes, I am but a humble scout and I surrender," Hunter surrendered holding his hands up. Azara's eyes widen, recognizing the voice.

"Heh, that was easy!" King smiled. Eda narrowed her eyes at the strange scout in front of them.

"Not so fast, King. Don't you recognize that annoying voice?" She asked.

"Why does everyone say that?" Hunter replied, sadly. He quickly took off, running away, trying to escape.

"Don't let him get away!" Eda shouted. Amity made some abomaton goo fly out of her flask with a wave of her finger. It shot out, wrapping around Hunter, knocking him off of his feet, and he flipped over, falling down to the ground. His mask had fallen off, as well, revealing his face. The group walked up, looking down at him.

"This is none other than-"

"Hello, Hunter!" Azara smirked.

"Wait, you know him?!" Eda asked, confused.

"Yeah, he's the guy I've been telling you guys about." Azara told them.

"Well, did you know that he's Belos right hand man?" Eda frowned. "I thought I told you to stay away from them!"

Azara smiled sheepishly, shrugging her hands.

"The golden guard!" Amity gasped. "He is a lot scrawnier than I've imagined." King laughed.

Hunter growled and glared up at them.

"Did I do it? Did I go into harpy mood?" Eda asked, excitedly, busting through a wall of ice.

"No, you just screamed "Hoot!" and ran head first into a wall of ice," King told her as he walked into the mines from the hole Era had made, along with Amity, Hunter and Azara, "It was pretty funny actually."

"You can put down your staff, I won't run," Hunter said.

"Too bad, because I don't trust you," Amity answered, still pointing her staff at him.

"Huh? This stuff is old," Eda commented the old abandoned mining equipment that was left behind, lying about near them.

"Ancient witches used to mine the veins for titan blood-" Hunter tried to explain.

"They're not listening," Azara told him.

"Go on, fire it! Maybe the adrenaline will kick in and bam! Harpy Eda!" Eda insisted. King jumped on top of the mine drill, getting ready to activate it.

"Sounds perfectly safe!"

"Wait! Don't!-" Hunter tried to warn them. But, King had already activated the drill and it unleashed a blast of magic. It barely missed Eda and started to ricochet off the walls bouncing around wildly like a ping pong ball!

"This isn't a normal cave! These walls are made from the veins of the Titan any magic that you shoot will bounce right back at you!" Hunter shouted.

"Oh, you must be fun at parties," Eda teased. She turned back to King. "Hey, King How about you use your new power to echo-locate the lake?"

"Okay!" He jumped off the drill running to the tunnel in front of them. King opened his mouth and let out a sonic blast. There was silence, then King turned around to them, shrugging his hands.

"Nothing," he replied.

"These two are definitely going to get us caught," Hunter frowned.

"Us?" There is no us! Now, keep walking," Amity said.

As they started to head deeper into the mines, walking further in, Azara stopped when she heard a voice whisper in her ear.

Azura...

Azara eyes widened and she wildly began looking around.

"Who said that?" She asked.

"Who said what?" Amity asked. The others stopped, as well seeing Azara looking around at nothing. They stared with confused looks on their faces.

"We didn't say anything, kid." Eda told her. She frowned seeing the uneasy look on Azara's face. "Is there something wrong?"

Azara shook her head. "It must have been my imagination. Let's just hurry."

"Oh hey, look! People died here." King added. Everyone gasped as they saw a couple of skeletons lying on the ground.

"Okay, this is getting too creepy. Let's just find that Titan blood and get out of here." Amity said.

"Maybe, it's the lost souls of the witches who died here in the mines?" Eda joked. "And now they're angry that their tomb is being disturbed!"

"Eda! You're not helping!" Azara shouted. "I know that I heard someone! They said Azura..."

"Azura? You mean, the the good witch Azura?" King asked and chuckled. "But, she is just some storybook fantasy. She's not real!"

"I know what I heard..." Azara replied.

"Maybe, you're crazy," Hunter sneered and commented. Azara frowned, looking at him.

"Alright, let's just keep going," Amity told them. "Hearing voices is never really a good sign. Let's just find that Titan's blood then get out."

"You know, Luz told me about her trip to Latissa, where she met someone very interesting," Eda explained as they walked further into the mines. "A beat-up blond with no magical powers. She called him and these are her words, "A bad but sad boy," She snorted as she finished and chuckled. Hunter cheeks and ears turned red, blushing, embarrassed.

"If I ever see that human again," He muttered.

"Hey, watch it!" Amity warned him as she narrow her eyes.

"At least I'm not delusional to think that I can turn into a harpy!" Hunter retorted. Eda turned around and hissed.

"Hey, come on, give it a rest, you two!" King said, although he looked amused at the fight between.

"Yeah, listen to your rat," Hunter replied.

"Whee!" King screeched angrily and jumped off of Eda, pulling on Hunter's hair.

Suddenly, Amity shushed them telling to be quiet. She motioned them to take cover and they did. Everyone saw Kikimora, along with two abomatons and two coven scouts had made their way into the mines, too.

"Why are we stopping?" Kikimora demanded. "Is it the golden guard?!"

"No, ma'am, this is a dangerous area," the captain told her. "We need to move carefully."

"Careful takes too long! My butt is on line!" Kikimora shouted. "And so help me Titan, if you ruin this, I will throw you off of the peak of the tallest knee with a smile!"

"She definitely has issues," Azara cringed.

"That poor girl is going through something," Eda commented.

"She's also blocking the path to Eclipse Lake," Amity added and pointed ahead.

"We should create a distraction," Hunter replied.

"We should create a distraction!" Eda shouted. "You kids wait for my signal!" She and king jumped over the edge, getting into place to create a plan.

"Ha, that was easy! When they're caught, you two and I can take the Titan blood for ourselves," Hunter said as he leaned against an old mining machine.

"Stop talking like we're a team!" Amity shouted.

"Why not just quit the emperor's coven and come with us?" Azara asked. Hunter's and Amity's eyes widened in shock.

"Are you kidding me?" Amity asked in disbelief. Hunter chuckled and sneered.

"That's an attempting offer, but no thanks," he replied.

"Better than being miserable." Azara commented.

"I never said anything about being miserable," Hunter frowned, looking away from her.

"But you are, aren't you?" Azara asked. "Why can't you just admit that you need help?"

"I..Don't..Need..Help," Hunter replied, coldly, as he narrowed his eyes at Azara. She sighed.

"Everyone needs help every once in awhile," Azara told him. Amity stared at the two in silence with a disbelief look on her face.

"This is crazy," Amity said, shaking her head. "I am not working with the emperor's coven just because you two have a crush on each other."

"WE DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON EACH OTHER!" Hunter and Azara yelled at the same time. The two blinked and looked at each other.

"But we might as well work together," Hunter replied. "The owl lady and her pet have nothing at stake unlike us."

"You have no idea what you're talking-" Amity's tomagatchi bleeped in her coat pocket, interrupting her. "I was going to say, you have no-" It bleeped again. Hunter and Azara stared at her, blinking and raised their eyes staring into the witch's pocket. Amity huffed and turned around, her back facing them, and pulled out the device. Azara walked closer peeking over Amity's shoulder. She saw strange emojis on the screen but couldn't understand them. She was never really any good with that kind of stuff, it was from confusing.

"Oof, that doesn't look good," Hunter replied reading over Amity's shoulder. Amity jumped as she saw Hunter and and Azara behind her. She glared at Hunter.

"Stay back!" She demanded. He stepped away as she wanted. Amity frowned, wondering what he had meant. "But, what doesn't look good?"

"Seems clear to me, come back with results or else....you can figure out the rest," he told her.

"That doesn't sound right," Azara replied. "That doesn't sound like something Luz would do."

"No, Luz wouldn't make that kind of threat." Amity agreed, shaking her head. "I'm an awesome girlfriend!"

"Has she told you that?" Hunter asked. "We have a lot in common, Blight. We both trying to show what we can bring to the table. And we can't fail cause there's nothing worse than disappointing someone who thinks you are special." he finished. Azara stared at him, silently.

Amity bit her lip and looked down, with an uncertain look on her face.

Suddenly, a blast of purple magic bounced near Kikimora and the scouts. The abomatons deployed a shield to protect them.

"Why didn't you wait for our signal?!" Eda called out as she and King, ran to catch up with Hunter, Amity and Azara, heading straight into the tunnel ahead of them to Eclipse Lake.

"We don't have time to play around! We are getting that titan blood!" Amity shouted.

As they ran, Amity's tomagachi had fallen out from her pocket and landed on the ground. Kikimora spotted it and picked it up, inspecting the device with a crazed look in her eyes.

AS the group walked down the tunnel, the cardinal palisman had been following them the entire time, unnoticed by them. Lil rascal landed on Hunter's shoulder and made a small chirp.

"Hey, find a different perch, bird," Hunter replied, shrugging his shoulder. Lil rascal flew off of him. At the end of the tunnel, everyone walked out to see some strange dried up crystallized dark blue liquid surrounding all over the room.

"Is this titan's blood?" Eda asked.

"But, Eclipse Lake is farther ahead," Amity said, confused, checking the map again.

"Who cares!? We did it!" King shouted. Eda and King began to approach it.

"STOP!" Hunter shouted. "That's fools blood. Don't touch it!"

"Oh, so you can keep it all for yourself?" Eda smirked. "Pfft! Hard pass!" She slammed the end of her staff into the crystal. It cracked and suddenly the ground began to shake beneath them, before ripping open giving away under their feet. Eda and King fell into the huge chasm below.

"No!" Amity and Azara cried out. Amity was about to hop onto her staff to go after them but Hunter stopped her.

"Wait! Take me with you!" he shouted.

"Yoo hoo! Golden guard!" The three heard Kikimora call out, getting closer to them.

"Can you at least untie me so I can escape?!" Hunter insisted. "Please, I don't want to be replaced."

"Fine!" Amity groaned. She waved her finger and released the goo from Hunter, freeing him. Hunter stretched his arm as she glanced behind her, seeing the shadows getting closer. "So, where will you go now?"

"Now..." Hunter sweeped his leg and knocked Amity and Azara off of their feet, knocking to the ground. He ran and hopped into a mine cart and wheeled off. "I get to Eclipse Lake before anyone! BYEEEE!"

"That little-!" Azara growled as she got up.

"That jerk!" Amity shouted, angry as well. Just as the two were about to get up, a spear pointed at their faces. The two girls froze as they saw Kikimora and the coven scouts in front of them.

"Would you look at this, captain?" Kikimora said "We find our little fire starter." Then she noticed Azara, and glared at her. "YOU! You will pay for blinding me!"

"Well, you shouldn't have walked so blindly to my trap," Azara scoffed. "Some coven scout leader you are."

"Silence!" Kikimora shrieked angrily. The abomatons aimed their cannons at Azara, ready to fire. Azara's widened and she gulped. She stared at the end of the cannon, glaring up at Kikimora. "But, after a deal with another little pest. Then I'll deal with YOU!" The abomatons lowered their arms. Azara felt a sudden relief rush over her as they did.

"So, the golden guard is also looking for titan's blood and he took off to Eclipse Lake," Kikimora said. "I knew it! That little snake is always making me look bad. Well, now I can get my revenge!"

"Ma'am, what about the Titan blood?" The captain asked.

"Oh, yes, I'll get that too," Kikimora replied. "This is going to be a good day!"

"What should we do with these two?" The captain asked.

"Oh, I don't care," Kikimora replied. The two abomatons transformed into carts and she rode in one, as well as the other scouts as they went after Hunter. The captain aimed her spear at Amity and Azara.

"So, did you come with anyone else or...Ugh! This is boring!" she picked up Amity and tossed her into the cavern.

"Amity!" Azara cried out. She felt the captain push her as well as she kicked Azara into the hole. Amity and Azara screamed as they fell down into the dark depths. Suddenly, several hands grabbed the two girls, catching them. Eda and King pulled them up as they hang on tightly onto Owlbert. Amity quickly grabbed onto the tomagachi, catching it, just before it fell as well.

"Guys, you're okay!" Amity said in relief.

"Just barely," Era told her. "Owlbert's knocked out so we can't fly."

"I'm just like throwing it out there, but, this would be a great time to bring out harpy Eda!" King said.

"I don't know how! I tried yelling at it, scaring it-" Everyone gasped as they saw Owlbert was starting to crack.

"Did you ever think about talking to it?" King asked.

"Ha! I-I guess I didn't, but it's a wild animal," Eda said unsure.

"You thought I was a wild animal, once," King commented.

"Okay, I'll try. Just give me a second," Eda agreed. "What?! You want to make a deal? I-I don't know if I can." Owl was beginning to crack more as a large crack appeared on it's head. "Okay, okay, I'll do it! Just change NOW!" Her eyes turned black and golden irises appeared.

"Haha! Yes!" Eda cheered as she flew out of the pit in her Harpy form, carrying Amity, King, and Azara.

"What did you promise to do?" Azara asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Eda told her.

"I can't wait to see a real life mine cart chase!" King exclaimed, excitedly.

As they reached the end of the mine tunnel, everyone had saw that Kikimora and the other scouts had gone off the rails and crashed.

"Ooh..." Everyone cringed.

"I guess mine cart chases are a lot more dangerous than videogames make them seem." King commented.

"There it is!" Amity pointed out.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed Eda as she was caught by an abomaton. The captain of the coven scouts got up.

"I don't know who you freaks are, but that blood belongs to Kikimora!" she yelled. The abomaton slammed Eda to the ground with the others.

"Get to the lake!" Eda shouted, telling them to go on. "I'll take care of-" The abomaton pulled Eda away from them and slammed her into the wall.

"Eda!" King cried out in worry. Azara grabbed him and ran after Amity. The captain of the scouts threw a spear at them but Eda caught it and snapped it with her hand, breaking it in half. She turned to the captain and smirked.

"Alright owl beast, let's see what we can do!" Eda flew up high into the air and began spinning around as she corkscrew straight towards the captain.

Azara caught up to Amity and looked ahead to see a large crater of what appeared to be a pool in front of her. However, it was dried up and there was no Titan's blood. The trees that surround the pit were dried up as well as roots extended all over the area. She froze as she saw Hunter, desperately digging in the dirt.

"Don't worry, I won't pick a fight," He told them. "There's no titan blood."

"Then why are you digging?" Amity asked. Azara eyes widened as she saw Hunter turned around. His eyes looked a little off and a little crazed. Great, she was dealing with a crazy person. This guy was literally digging his own grave.

"It's simple really. Belos needs Titan's blood, to make a new portal key. Can't get to the human realm without it," Hunter explained.

"There's blood in the key?" Amity questioned. Azara's eyes widened in surprise. This trip had been for nothing! The key had Titan's blood all along...and it was the one thing that Emperor Belos needed. It can't fall into his hands!

She frowned, staring at Hunter, concerned.

"Since, I failed my last mission, I thought "Hey! A chance to make up for it!" But, I can't go back empty handed!" Hunter let out a hysterical laugh. "Not again. Long story short, this is my grave! Do you want me to make you one, too?"

"This is really bumming me out," King replied.

"That's just life, rat. Everyone has a use and if you don't-Pfft! Bye-bye! Your friend gets it!" Hunter said.

"What's he talking about?" King asked confused.

"Luz has been sending me these strange human codes. I don't understand all of them, but this one seems pretty clear," Amity explained and showed King the emojis. "Come back with results or we're done." King frowned until he saw something strange about the emoji's. He turned the device sideways and the emojis appeared to spell out words. Amity's eyes widened surprise.

"U ARE RAD," She read. "FOOLS BLOOD BAD. U OKAY. COME HOME."

Amity laughed and smiled overjoyed and happy. "Of course! This is Luz we're talking about!"

Suddenly, the three heard frantic chirping and turned their heads back to see Lil rascal trying to pull Hunter out of the hole that he had dug. He swatted the bird away from him.

"Hey, go find a better witch to be with!" He groaned, falling back into the dirt face first and shoveled some more on top of his head.

"We need to help him," Azara told King and Amity. King frowned.

"I don't think that he's your type," he replied. Azara blushed a little.

"I don't care, we still got to try and help him," she insisted. "You told me how your parents treated you. You and him have the same experiences, maybe you can get through to him." Amity nodded, understanding. She knew how he felt. This was a chance to help him. Amity and Azara walked over as they approached Hunter. Amity bent down to Hunter and Lil Rascal landed on her shoulder.

"You know, you were right. We do have a lot in common. I grew up thinking that everything was an opportunity to justify existing. But, there are people out there who won't make you feel worthless. You just got to let yourself meet them." Amity smiled and held her hand out to him.

Hunter opened his eyes and looked up at her then turned his attention towards Azara. He saw that her eyes were pleading at him to take it.

"We want to help you Hunter," she told him softly. "Come with us."

Hunter's felt his chest began to grow warm as he heart began to beat faster at the sound of her voice. It relax him, made him feel safe. Just as Hunter was about to get up, something shined in Hunter's eyes. He gasped a little and his eyes widen as he slowly got up.

"What are you?" Amity questioned before glancing down to where Hunter was looking at. The key!

Hunter lunged at her, and Amity quickly rolled out of the way. He quickly turned back towards her, with a desperate look in his eyes.

"Oh, come on!" Amity complained. "Being nice usually works for Luz!"

"Hunter, please don't do this!" Azara cried out. But, Hunter ignored her and ran towards Amity. King quickly jumped in front of her.

"Weh!" King shouted unleashing a sonic wave.

Hunter's eyes widened as it came closer. Lil rascal quickly jumped in front of him, reflecting the blast. Hunter grabbed the staff but Amity shot out some abomination too at him, wrapping around Hunter's body. Hunter struggled to get it off when suddenly he teleported out of the binding then started to teleport uncontrollably a little unleashing a yellow burst of energy.

"The staffs are weird," Hunter frowned looking at the staff. Hunter teleported again as Amity shot an abomination goo at him again to catch him. Now high in the air, Hunter aimed the staff down at them and unleashed several burst of yellow magic, and it began to bounce wildly all over the room. Azara quickly made a ice pillar as she made a spell circle with her finger just before a ball of magic hit her.

Hunter teleported next to Amity and she tried to block his attacks as he teleported wildly around her, trying to break through her shield. As he stopped in front of her, King tried to jump at him and knocked Hunter to the ground. Amity created a giant bubble with the goo encasing Hunter inside of it. She quickly got on her staff and grabbed King, heading towards Azara.

"We are leaving!" she shouted, getting ready to grab her. Azara shook her head.

"Not without Hunter!" she shouted.

"We HAVE to go! NOW!" Amity urged her, grabbing her hand. "Forget him!"

"No!" Azara argued, pulling back. "I won't turn my back on people who need my help!" Amity's eyes widened in shock.

Suddenly, the abomination cage exploded and a giant hand made out of earth smacked right into Amity, knocking her off of her staff.

"Amity!" Azara cried out trying to reach her but Hunter sent another ball of magic at her, stopping Azara in her tracks. King had managed to land safely but his horns were embedded deep in some tree's roots. Amity used her goo to make a slide and slide down to the ground landing on her feet. Then Hunter quickly appeared beside her. Amity's eyes widened.

"You really want to help then gimme that key!" Hunter shouted. He used the staff to rip the necklace off of Amity's neck and Amity quickly caught it before he could get it. She quickly made a sharp weapon and aimed it directly under Hunter's neck as he pinned her hand with his staff, glaring up at him. Hunter panted completely tired and exhausted and sweat dropping from his face.

"Listen your strong and I'm tired. If this continues, you'll probably escape. But here's the thing: we know where to find you and your human." Amity gasped. "So just, hand over the key."

"Fine," Amity said. "Just stay away from Luz." She let go of the key and Hunter took it from her.

"I appreciate it," He told her. "I, uh, mean that, too." Just before he was about to take off with Lil rascal, Azara stopped him. She stepped in front of Amity, clasping her hands together.

"Hunter, wait. Just think for a a minute," She tried to reason with him. "You don't want to do this. You know that this is not right. I know that your not happy there. You know that your not happy there. So, come with us..."

Hunter turned and stared at her for a minute, silently.

"Can you really turn your back on your own family?" Hunter asked. Azara's eyes widened. Hunter took off flying away with Lil rascal.

"Hunter! Stop!" She cried out. But, he was already gone.

"HaHa! Yes! I heard fighting!" Eda smiled as she flew in. "I'm ready to go! Where's the nerd?" She stopped when she saw everyone.

"Weeh!" King whined as he tried to pull his horns out from the tree root that he was still stuck upside down on. Amity looked like she had made the worst decision in her life. Azara was still standing where she was, frozen. Tears were slowly beginning to fall from her eyes as they run down her cheeks.

"Oh, dang it." Eda sighed.

Back at the owl house, in Luz's room, Luz gasped and suddenly shot up with a surprised look on her face. "Huh?! I feel great!" Luz exclaimed before she realized that she had mushrooms growing on her head. "I wonder if this is permanent?"

"I got to find everyone!" She yelled. She quickly got up, the mushrooms fell off from her head as she did, and she quickly ran into the hall. Luz bumped into Willow who was carrying to bowl of soup, knocking it out of her hands, along with Gus. Hooty caught it with his head. "Have the others returned?"

"Ow, ow ,ow! Just get an elixir!" Luz gasped as she heard Eda shout and ran into the living room . She saw King and Azara trying to pull on her wing go get her inside, but she was stuck at the door. "I got into harpy mode and now I can't get out."

"She also ate like nine voles on the way home?" King added.

"Hey, I had to keep up my end of the bargain," Eda said.

"Amity!" Luz ran over to her, knocking her down, and hugged her tightly. She smiled. "I'm so glad my awesome girlfriend is okay!"

"Me, too!" Amity smiled back.

"No king hug? What is this?!" King complained. "You are a swindler and a thief!"

"Come here, buddy!" Luz rushed towards him and swooped King up in her arms hugging him.

"I regret this!" King shouted. Eda leaned in closer to Amity.

"You want to break the news or should I?" she asked.

"News?" Amity asked, confused.

"The empty lake, the golden guard, losing the portal key?" Eda told her. "Today was an disaster."

"Actually, we might be okay." Amity said, as she showed Eda the Titan's blood that was stained on her glove.

"How did you get the Titan's blood?" Azara asked, surprised.

"I broke the key." Amity told her.

Nighttime was beginning to fall, and stars were shining in the sky. Hunter stared at the key in his hand as he held it in front of him. He had an unsure and confused look on his face. He felt terrible and guilty about taking the key. Then Lil rascal landed on his hand and happily chirped at him.

"Oh, hey. You stuck with me the whole time, huh, bird?" Hunter asked. Lil rascal made another happy chirp.

Orion.

Hunter's eyes widened in surprise. He had understood what Lil rascal had said! He can understand him!

"I think I understood that!" He smiled. "Is that your name? Can you say it again?"

My name is Orion, Hunter.

"Weird." Hunter chuckled. He thought it was a funny name to name a bird after a star constellation. But, it did seem to suit him. Hunter's life had been brighter since the little bird came into his life, even leading him to Azara. Hunter's eyes widen as her name came into his mind.

It didn't matter. She must hate him now. He quickly shook it off and looked back at Lil rascal.

"Can you say other things?"

Hunter continued on ahead, heading to the castle, as Lil rascal continued to chirp talking to him.

#the owl house #hunter #hunter the golden guard #kikimora #little rascal #hunter belos #emperor belos #the owl house oc #eda clawthorne #king the owl house #amity toh #Fanfiction #eclipse lake #Magic #witches #read more

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sweetsreverie · 4 years ago

Text

figure eight

25 days of christmas prompts

day 10: ice skating

pairing: katsuki bakugo x reader

length: 675

✧ main masterlist ✧

“Katsuki, I wanna go ice skating,” You had said one day, and he looked up from his phone and made a face, but you couldn’t tell if he was surprised or disgusted with what you said.

“Ice skating? Okay… So why don’t you just go?” He said as if it were obvious, and you groaned lightly and shook your head.

“No, Katsuki, I wanna go ice skating with you, like, on a date,” You told him, and his eyebrows raised slightly in realization.

He was definitely hesitant at first, but you had managed to convince him to go ice skating with you.

Now here you are on the weekend, you and Katsuki had taken the train into the city and to one of the larger parks that had a temporary skating rink set up for the winter time. You two pay to rent some skates before you sit down with them, and Katsuki huffs while trying to lace his up.

“What the hell- Why are these so damn hard to put on?” He groans, and you laugh lightly before you lean down and help him get his skates laced up.

“Have you ever been ice skating before?” You ask him while you lace up your own skates, and he scoffs and leans back on the bench you two are seated on.

“Of course I’ve been ice skating before. It’s easy as hell,” He says almost defensively, and telling by how quickly he answered your question, you’re guessing that he’s either never gone ice skating before, or… He isn’t very good at it.

“Okay, let’s go over to the rink then,” You say with an excited smile, and you grab his hand tightly and begin to pull him along behind you. He follows you reluctantly, a little wobbly from the skates but he’s not close to falling just yet.

You step onto the ice with ease and turn around, and you raise your eyebrows when you see Katsuki standing still, and his hand is gripping the ledge that goes along the perimeter of the rink.

“C’mon, you said you’ve skated before, right?” You ask him and tilt your head in curiosity before he makes a small noise under his breath.

“Yeah. I never said I was any good at it,” He grumbles, and you laugh lightly before you pull on his hand and bring him onto the ice. He nearly falls on his face when he first steps onto the ice, and his hand grips your arm tightly while trying not to lose his balance.

“You’re good at literally everything else- you have better grades than most of our class, and you’ve got a killer quirk. But you can’t ice skate?” You snicker, and he groans.

“Don’t think that I won’t bring you down with me if I fall on my ass, Y/N,” He warns, because he definitely would pull you down with him if he fell. You laugh anyway and link your arm with his, and he takes his hand off the wall while he skates along with you, albeit pretty slowly for now.

You grin to yourself before you push off of your right foot and begin to quickly skate along the side of the rink, and Katsuki’s eyes are as wide as quarters while you pull him along and he tries to keep his balance.

“What the hell are you doing! Are you crazy?” He yells, and you just laugh and continue to skate, before you soon come to a stop and allow Katsuki to gather his bearings.

“God- You’re insane, you know that?” He murmurs while leaning against the wall beside the skating rink, and you’re just grinning from ear to ear at him. Sure, he was scolding you for quickly skating away, but you could also tell that he’s actually having fun even if he won’t admit it.

“Yeah yeah, whatever. Let’s go out to the middle now!” You smile and take his hand again, and you tug him towards the center of the rink while he protests the entire way.

#25 days of christmas prompts #katsuki bakugo x reader #katsuki bakugo #katsuki bakugou x reader #katsuki bakugou #bakugo x reader #bakugou x reader #bakugou x gender neutral reader #bakugou katsuki #bakugou katuski x reader

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girlboss-molina · 4 years ago

Text

Be Who You Are (No Compromise)

A Julie and the Phantoms Modern Royalty AU

Chapter 3: A Demonstrative Lesson in Simping

AO3 Link

Words: 12.8k

-----

Alex POV

...

It had been a week, and Alex hadn’t seen Willie since that fateful night when he’d earned the nickname “your royal pancakeness.” It was probably better that way, to be honest. The way Willie moved, everything about him, the energy that surrounded him, it made Alex feel weird and fluttery. If his anxious reading through the random romance novels on the bookshelf in his room, plus his constant googling of “do I have a crush” quizzes (on incognito tabs, obviously; treason wasn’t very high on his bucket list) said anything about his current situation, though, he was royally screwed.

No pun intended.

It didn’t help, either, that every time he thought about the baker’s smile, his long hair, the way his dark eyes crinkled at the edges when he laughed, a shiver ran down Alex’s spine. It was so confusing. How the hell could he have a crush on someone he barely knew?

He dragged a hand down his face, staring at the ceiling. Laying on the floor and questioning his existence had become a daily occurrence, oftentimes - like today - with Luke by his side.

“Emotions are the bane of my existence,” he said plaintively, not bothering to look away from the high ceilings, letting the flecks of dust in the air blend in with the tiny spots in his vision after not blinking for so long. “Like,” he continued, “how is it logical that a couple little zaps to the brain can make your stomach drop, or make your palms sweat, or even a week after something happened, still make you feel cold and warm at the same time?”

He wasn’t sure if the question was meant to be rhetorical, but he was still grateful for Luke’s reply, however unhelpful it may turn out to be.

“Bro, I don’t know,” he agreed. “Like, one minute you’re fine, and the next you’re about to accidentally commit treason.” Alex let out a dry laugh.

“Tell me about it.” A few moments passed, and he blinked, finally letting new moisture clear his vision. “Also, called it.”

“Wh-” Luke started, clearing his throat. “What do you mean, ‘called it?’”

“You like Julie?” Alex assumed, ignoring the swelling bubble of treasonous worry in his stomach. “I might’ve overthought every possible aspect of this, and your comment about accidental treason confirmed what I already thought.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luke drag a hand down his face, heard him groan.

“I barely know her,” he started, “but I’m already so… I don’t even know the word. Intrigued? Infatuated? In-something.” Alex nodded, letting his head smack back down on the carpet. “I’m sorry,” he added.

“Why?”

“I can only imagine how much this must be on your anxiety, and this doesn’t help.”

“It doesn’t, but it’s not the first bit of accidental treason.” His eyes finally flicked away from their spot on the ceiling as Luke bolted upright.

“No way,” he said. “Who?” Alex’s cheeks flushed. Before he could respond, though, Luke spoke again. “Wait, let me get this straight. Well, gay. You’ve liked a guy for an entire week, and you didn’t tell me? This is a betrayal of our friendship!” Alex knew he was being dramatic.

“You say that as if you didn’t do the exact same thing,” he countered. Luke considered that for a moment.

“Whatever. Okay, details.”

“His name’s Willie,” he said. “He’s a baker down at the kitchens behind the grand hall.” Alex saw a huge grin spread on Luke’s face, but couldn’t bring himself to share his friend’s ever-blooming optimism. He sighed. “Do you think there’s a way to go through with the marriage but like, platonically? Like, just tell the people ‘yeah we’re getting married, just not romantically.’ I just think that would work out better for everybody.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Luke said. “Not sure how it would work out, but I agree.”

“On the plus side, being criminals automatically makes us at least 50% cooler.”

“Dude, aren’t you the one with anxiety?”

“I have my moments.”

A familiar knock rang on the door. How, in one week, it had become so familiar, they would never know. But as Alex told Reggie to come in, his infectious smile permeated through the room like the smell of vanilla on a cold day.

“Did I hear something about treason?” he asked excitedly. “Because I am always down. Tell your friends; you need a treason buddy, I’m your guy. But of course, for legal reasons, that’s a joke.” Alex snorted.

Reggie had managed to weasel his way into both his and Luke’s hearts in a matter of days. He was so sweet, so loving, and such a dork, how could he not? Luke’s interactions with Reggie reminded Alex of two best friends who supported each other unconditionally. Alex’s own interactions with the princess’s brother? They were more like bantering siblings who loved each other so much, but were not above toilet-papering the other’s room.

“Well,” Luke began, “the arranged marriage was already a major fuck-up on the council’s decision. We could add in some treason to the mix. Just for funsies.”

“You just want to hang out with Julie, don’t you?” Alex prodded. Luke flushed, and Reggie grinned.

“Called it.”

“Oh come on, you too?”

“Dude,” Reggie said. “I love you, but you’re not exactly subtle.” Luke pouted, and Alex cracked up. “You, on the other hand,” Reggie added, “I’m not sure who your treasonous crush is.”

“A baker named Willie,” Luke interjected before Alex could reply. “And I still haven’t heard the story of how you met, I might add.” Alex groaned.

“I assume there’s no way I’m getting out of this?”

“Not a chance,” Luke and Reggie replied in unison.

This was going to be a disaster.

…

After explaining the details of how he met Willie, and enduring multiple agonizing minutes of Reggie and Luke gushing about an “adorable, treasonous meet-cute,” Alex finally prodded Luke for details about his feelings for Julie.

“Uh, well, it’s not really feelings, plus, I doubt Reggie wants to hear about hypothetical feelings someone might have for his sister.”

“Wrong,” Reggie said. “I want to know everything.” Alex laughed.

“See, I would explain, but the self-defense class starts in a minute-”

“Thirty,” Reggie corrected.

“Like I said, it starts in a minute, so I’d better run.” Without another word, he bolted out the door.

“You can’t keep running from your feelings forever,” Alex called to Luke.

“No, but I can run from you two goons!” Alex and Reggie couldn’t contain their laughter by that point, so they let that simp of a man get out of it for a little while.

…

After hanging out with Reggie in the recording studio, Alex was walking down the corridor behind the great hall, for old time’s (a week ago) sake, pacing back and forth. He didn’t actually know what he would do if someone asked why the prince was pacing the hallway near the kitchens for no apparent reason, but what happened was simultaneously both better and worse, because who would he run into (thankfully not literally this time) but a familiar brown-eyed man with a crooked smile.

“Hey there, your royal pancakeness!” He called, and oh, how Alex wished Willie didn’t have such an endearing smile.

“Hey, Willie!” He ignored the butterflies rising in his stomach. “How’s it going?”

“Pretty good! Just got on break. You okay?” He asked, a flicker of concern in his eyes.

“Oh, yeah,” Alex assured him. “Just walking.”

“Cool.”

Alex tried not to stare, but Willie made it impossible. The way he flipped his long hair, the way his dark eyes sparkled with flecks of gold in the light, how his smile lit up every time he spoke. The adorable smudge of flour on his nose didn’t help, either.

“You sure?” Willie asked, the faint flicker of concern right back to the furrow in his eyebrows. “You look a little dazed.”

Yeah, that’s because you’re gorgeous and I already have a crush on you despite only meeting you once.

“Just a little tired, I guess.” The lie was a classic one, and Willie could surely see through the bullshit, but if he did, he didn’t prod.

“Well, make sure you get some sleep tonight. In the meantime, I’m off to skate a little. You wanna come?”

Skating? There was a 100% chance that Alex would fall flat on his ass and humiliate himself. He’d never once been on a skateboard, at least, not since he’d sprained his wrist when he was seven, and his mother had banned all skateboards from the palace. And yet, the adorable look in Willie’s eyes still had Alex saying, “I’d love too.” He mentally kicked himself, but that annoyance was quickly replaced with another swarm of butterflies when Willie’s smile lit up even brighter than before.

“Sick! Follow me.”

…

The skate park wasn’t technically a skate park by any means. It was an actual park, hidden away in the vast garden grounds of Dahlia, and it really said something about the size of the palace grounds that Alex didn’t even know it was there.

Concrete sidewalks lined the perimeter, with swirling roundabouts at the corners, plus unoccupied metal benches and sliding railings that Willie didn’t hesitate to jump over. He even did a move where he jumped and the skateboard did a flip, before landing right back on it, steady as ever. But when Alex watched him let out a whoop and skate quickly around the roundabout as it sloped, not losing his balance once, he was sure Willie was just showing off.

Alex did his best to cool his blushing face as Willie made his way back.

“Want to try?” He asked.

“Oh, no,” he deflected. “I’ve never actually skateboarded before, and I’m pretty sure I’d just look stupid.”

“You’ve never skated before?”

“Not once.” He knew it was technically a lie, because he’d skated once when he was seven but that didn’t really count, but it still wasn’t true and what if Willie found out about the lie and hated him for being dishonest and what if he seemed like a bitch for lying about something so miniscule and-

“Well, there’s an easy way to fix that,” Willie said with a grin, making all of Alex’s previous anxieties melt away. They were, of course, quickly replaced with new ones because cute boy, but still.

Before Alex knew it, Willie was extending his hand and stepping off the skateboard, that beautiful, crooked smile still plastered on his gorgeous face. And then, despite the voice in the back of his head, screaming to play it safe, he listened to the whisper, barely audible, telling him to go for it. So, before he could change his mind, he took Willie’s hand. It was rough and calloused, with a few scars peppered on his fingers, but it was perfect. Slowly, tentatively, he stepped onto the skateboard, and…

Immediately fell flat on his ass. Or, he would have, had Willie not been quicker and run behind him, catching him by the shoulders with a laugh. Alex’s cheeks did their best to catch fire, and he immediately apologized.

“No, bro, you’re good! Just glad I caught you,” Willie said. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Alex replied, only just noticing how long Willie’s eyelashes were. He wasn't sure if he imagined it when Willie’s cheeks looked darker the longer he stared. Alex cleared his throat.

“Okay, let’s try this again.” Willie outstretched his hand again, and this time, Alex didn’t hesitate before taking it. He took a deep breath, grounding himself before stepping onto the skateboard, squeezing the other man’s hand and using him for support.

“I did it!” he exclaimed, very excitedly, considering all he’d done was step onto an immobile skateboard. But Willie shared his excitement.

“Hell yeah, dude! Want me to push you so you move?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Understandable, have a nice day.” Alex and Willie stared at each other, deadpan, before bursting out laughing. But, because the universe hated him, Alex fell forwards, right on top of Willie, chests pressed together and noses barely apart.

He tried to move, but he was too caught up in how fucking close they were. Willie had caught himself, leaning backwards but standing, and somehow his arms had gotten wrapped around Alex’s waist, holding him tight. It was clearly just to make sure neither of them fell, but Alex couldn’t shake the feeling in his gut.

Neither of them moved. Alex took a steadying breath, not looking away from Willie’s beautiful eyes. He cursed his stupid heart for fluttering, for suggesting treason because of a guy he’d just met, a guy with eyes so beautiful it should’ve been illegal, a guy with a perfect sense of humor, a guy who was so energetic and kind but also understanding, a guy who was now standing upright and steady, as was Alex, but who was still holding him close, arms wrapped around his waist. A guy who was surely just making sure he was still steady, but who looked at him with such intensity that it made him weak in the knees.

Finally, he cleared his throat and stepped back.

“Sorry, I kinda… Fell.” Willie gave that perfect laugh, and oh, if Alex wasn’t already smitten, he was now.

“Yeah, I caught that. No pun intended.” Alex let out an extremely undignified snort.

“That,” he said through giggles, “was so bad.” When he looked up, Willie’s cheeks were red but he laughed too.

Maybe treasonous feelings weren’t so bad.

…

As he made his way up to his quarters, Alex flopped on his bed, a giddy grin still over his face. His cheeks hurt from smiling, but he just couldn’t stop. Willie was so… he didn’t even have the words. His laugh was like sunshine in the Summer, warm and bright and the source of all life in the world. His eyes were dark but somehow bright as well, and in the light they looked like bowls of honey as they twinkled. Everything about him was so ethereal, and Alex was completely gone on him. Which was, of course, extremely illegal, but he somehow couldn’t bring himself to care.

As Luke walked in, the aroma of shampoo floating with him and giving away the fact that he’d just showered, he heard a laugh.

“How was your date?” Alex didn’t bother denying it.

“He tried to teach me how to skateboard,” he said, eyes dreamy as he remembered the fond look in Willie’s eyes as he’d fallen. “I almost fell but he-”

“No way. Did he catch you?”

“Twice.” Alex laughed when Luke squealed.

“Well, dude, you know it’s your turn to ask him out, right?”

What?

Alex bolted upright. “What do you mean?”

“I know you weren’t the one to ask him out today. That means it’s your turn to find him and ask him out for another little outing.”

“Fuck.” How the hell was he supposed to do that? He couldn’t just keep wandering the halls behind the kitchens, people would get suspicious. But… maybe he could find Willie again at the park. He’d seemed to know it well.

But what if that made him look creepy? That was Willie’s area that he’d brought Alex to, Alex was merely a guest in Willie’s beautiful domain, even if it was part of the palace. He still felt like he would be intruding.

“I’ll let you deal with that,” Luke said with a laugh.

“Yeah. In the meantime, though, how was self-defense?” Luke had a dopey grin as soon as he thought.

“Amazing.”

Alex listened to his best friend ramble on and on about how incredible it was, or rather, she was. Apparently, Julie had been instructed to go early, so Luke wasn’t able to avoid her. But it didn’t matter, because Alex got to hear his lovestruck best friend rant about how badass she was and how incredible their fights were when they sparred.

A knock rang on the door. Alex cleared his throat, standing up. Luke straightened his back. When he shot Alex a look, Alex nodded.

“Come in.” As the handle turned, a pit in Alex’s stomach formed as King Ray Molina stepped through. He scrambled into a bow, as did Luke.

“Your majesty, is everything alright?”

“It’s okay, mijos, there’s no need to bow.” Alex stood straight again. “You are needed in the royal office. Well, technically only Alex, but Luke should come too. And put on something respectable but comfortable. It might be a long night.” With that, Ray left, leaving the two of them there.

A sinking pit in Alex’s stomach told him that something was very, very wrong.

-----

Luke POV

...

Laying on the floor with Alex was a daily occurrence. It truly was the best spot to have a crisis.

“Emotions are the bane of my existence,” Alex declared. Luke had to agree. “Like,” he continued, “how is it logical that a couple little zaps to the brain can make your stomach drop, or make your palms sweat, or even a week after something happened, still make you feel cold and warm at the same time?”

“Bro, I don’t know,” he agreed. “Like, one minute you’re fine, and the next you’re about to accidentally commit treason.” Alex let out a dry laugh.

“Tell me about it.” A few moments passed, and Luke stared at the ceiling. There were small knots in the gently stained wood planks, with no particular rhyme or reason. “Also, called it.”

“Wh-” Luke started, clearing his throat. “What do you mean, ‘called it?’”

“You like Julie?” Alex assumed. Luke fumbled for an answer that wouldn’t be treasonous. “I might’ve overthought every possible aspect of this, and your comment about accidental treason confirmed what I already thought.” Luke dragged a hand down his face and groaned. How obvious was he?

“I barely know her,” he started, “but I’m already so… I don’t even know the word. Intrigued? Infatuated? In-something.” In love, maybe.

“I’m sorry,” he added after a moment.

“Why?”

“I can only imagine how much this must be on your anxiety, and this doesn’t help.” Luke mentally kicked himself for adding another worry onto his best friend’s anxiety.

“It doesn’t, but it’s not the first bit of accidental treason.” Luke took a moment to process that before bolting upright.

“No way,” he said. “Who?” He ignored Alex’s blush. “Wait, let me get this straight. Well, gay. You’ve liked a guy for an entire week, and you didn’t tell me? This is a betrayal of our friendship!” How dare he? That was cruel. Luke could’ve been teasing him for seven fucking days and Alex had the gall to hide it?

The lion, the witch, and the audacity of this bitch.

“You say that as if you didn’t do the exact same thing,” Alex countered. Luke considered that for a moment.

“Whatever. Okay, details.”

…

After hearing the adorable details of Alex’s meet-cute with Willie, Luke had officially decided he would be officiating their wedding. He could already see it. Of course, he didn’t have much time to imagine his best friend’s future husband, because soon Alex and Reggie were giving him shit for his “crush” on Julie, and he hightailed it out of there, deciding to go to self-defense early. He could just sit on the bench and wait, be free of anybody who would make his thoughts race-

But of course he couldn’t, because right there was Julie, walking into the arena.

"Hey Luke!" She called with a wave.

"Hey, Julie, what’s up?” He dearly hoped he wasn't blushing.

“Not much,” she replied. “Just came early because Lady Athena wanted me to show the trainees my upside-down move.” She tightened her ponytail. “Why are you here? The main session doesn’t start for another thirty minutes.” Luke blushed, his stomach flipping. What if she thought he was annoying?

“Oh,” he said with a shy laugh. “Alex and Reggie were giving me shit for… something,” he explained, hoping she didn’t catch his slip, “and I decided to escape.” Julie nodded.

“That’s valid.”

“Julie?” called Lady Athena. “You ready?”

“That's my cue,” she said with a smirk, hopping away and over to stand next to the coach. Luke couldn’t keep his eyes off her. The way she moved was ethereal, like a butterfly given human form.

She began explaining her move to the trainees, who were all looking very confused, which Luke understood. It looked super complicated, and you would need some serious core strength to pull it off. But somehow she did it in slow fucking motion.

He found himself migrating towards Julie’s friends, who thankfully greeted him with a smile.

Whispering introductions between them, he met Flynn (the girl with the braids), Carrie (Flynn’s girlfriend), and Mira (Julie’s lady-in-waiting). And as if Luke didn’t already have a healthy amount of fear and respect for the princess, she happened to surround herself with other badasses.

Flynn had an air of confidence around her. The way she squared her shoulders as she walked made her long, dark braids sway behind her back, and the bold style she always had just added to the effect. Carrie, Flynn’s girlfriend, was proof that some people were born to be royal. Everything Carrie did and wore, no matter how simple - like her current athletic clothes - screamed royalty, even though she wasn’t technically royal. And Mira was kind and confident, but there was an air about her that told Luke, this is a powerful woman. Not that he was surprised; He’d seen her fights against Julie.

But he just couldn’t take his eyes off of Julie. She moved so cleanly, never stumbling no matter how difficult the position must’ve been, and even as she held herself sideways on one arm and spun, she landed with uncanny grace.

“Okay, Julie, why don’t you get some water, and we’ll do the demonstrations with opponents?” Lady Athena’s long ponytail swished as she walked towards her, and Luke blushed when Julie smiled.

“Sounds good.” She spun on her heel, jogging to the group and catching Luke’s eye. He could’ve sworn her cheeks darkened, but then again, that move made for an intense workout.

“Dude, I don’t know how you managed to do that spin in slow motion,” Mira told her. Julie laughed, and Luke had never heard a sound so beautiful.

“Practice and good core strength.” She sat down on the bench, Mira by her side. So he was right; core strength was a necessity.

“Hey, uh, Julie?” asked Luke shyly. She was drinking water, so she hummed a questioning tone. Luke cleared his throat. “Would it be okay if I joined them and tried to learn the move?” he asked, gesturing his head to the group of preparing trainees. Julie put down her water bottle, smirking, and Luke felt his own smile rising, though he was also nervous. He wasn’t sure why.

“Technically, you’re not a trainee.” Oh. That was why. Luke opened his mouth to apologize, before Julie cut him off. “But, you could be one of the demonstrative opponents if you want to,” she offered. “I’m supposed to show how the move works against different fighting styles, and I think a Tamborian fighting style would add some variety.” Luke grinned and nodded, hoping his cheeks weren’t as red as they felt.

“Sounds good, boss.” That time he did see Julie blush, and couldn’t help but feel proud of himself.

As Julie made her way over to the front of the mats, with Carrie by her side, he sat on the bench next to Mira, enchanted. Before they started their fight, though, Mira elbowed him in the ribs. When he glanced over, she didn’t say anything, but gave him a knowing smirk that made him flush. Was he really that obvious?

“What?”

“You’re not as subtle as you think,” she said. Luke stammered, trying to find an excuse. Mira laughed.

“Don’t worry, dude. I’m not sure if they would exile me for saying this, but you guys would be cute together. Might be illegal, but then again, I’m always down for some treason.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, but he knew he was joking. Evidently, Mira did as well, because she snorted and went back to watching Julie and Carrie.

Luke eagerly did the same, watching as Julie made the first move. Carrie hopped out of the way, striking and giving Julie and opportunity to lean forwards. The princess hopped and landed on her right hand, spinning and tripping Carrie. Luke didn’t pay attention to what she said, but was entranced by how she moved. He vaguely remembered something about a dancer.

“That’s my cue,” Mira told him as Julie finished the round against Carrie. “See you later, lover boy.” Before Luke could come up with a comeback for Julie’s kind but blunt friend, she winked and walked away.

As Julie fought Mira, she mentioned something about a ninja, as well as the way the word “lithe” sounded on her tongue. He watched as she danced around the other girl, twisting and tripping her before winning the fight.

Flynn strutted over to Julie, a confident smirk on her face. She was catlike when she fought, something both Luke and Julie noticed, and he was very proud of himself for thinking of it as she pointed it out.

“However,” Julie said as she made the final spin, pinning Flynn and grabbing her collar, “it turns out, cats don’t always land on their feet.”

Whoa.

Not only was she a complete and utter badass, but she was good at bantering with her friends. Luke wasn’t sure why he loved that so much, but a grin broke out on his face, blushing as he caught Julie’s gaze.

"Next,” Julie said, snapping Luke back to the present, “I'm going to fight with Luke. He's from Tambor, so this will be new." She nodded, and he obeyed, practically floating over to her.

As Julie stepped into fighting position, Luke winked, quite pleased with himself for flustering her, then struck. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get the upper hand. Julie took advantage of his opportunistic nature, when he left himself vulnerable as he attacked, she struck back with twice the confidence.

Soon, though, he tripped. As he lost his balance, Julie spun upside down and tripped him. Luke’s back hit the ground and he let out a gentle “oof,” but couldn’t recover before Julie was on top of him. Luke was extremely aware of the way her leg pinned his hips down to the mat, the way her shoulders moved as she breathed evenly but quickly, the way her hand curled into a fist as she grabbed his collar and pulled her other arm backwards to finish. He tried to move his arms, but the way she’d positioned her torso made it impossible for him to defend his head from her possible blow. He was completely at the mercy of this girl, trusting her not to strike with finality, but not trusting his own unruly heart to steady as he found himself lost in her eyes.

But then, because the universe hated him, Julie winked. His breath caught in his throat and he flushed bright red.

For a moment, the world seemed to still. Luke was acutely aware of the shine of her dark skin, the single loose curl by her ear, the confident smirk on her face. But just as quickly as it had happened, it was over. Julie got up, extending her arm, which Luke took. Everywhere her hand touched left tingles on his forearm.

“Nice job!” she told him. He rolled his eyes.

“Oh, please, I just got my ass kicked and you didn’t even break a sweat.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I knew you were awesome, but I didn’t know you were a human wrecking ball.” Of course, when Julie blushed, he felt a surge of confidence and accomplishment.

“I- well, I don’t-”

“He’s right,” Carrie insisted. You were awesome.” Luke grinned and nodded, reaching over to high-five her.

“Okay, trainees,” called Lady Athena. “Pair up and spar. If you want, spot the other and try the move. I’ll be hovering to make sure nobody gets hurt.” She clapped her hands with finality, and the trainees did as they were told. “The rest of you,” she added, directed at Luke and the Badasses, “practice while you can. Oh, Julie, I want you to practice with Luke today. See if you can work out some similarities and differences between Dahlian and Tamborian fighting styles.”

Oh.

Fuck.

How the hell was Luke going to survive sparring with Julie multiple times, purely for practice and not staged? He wouldn’t be able to go one minute without completely losing it every time she looked at him.

Luke noticed Carrie, Mira, and Flynn all giving him a look that made him fidget. It turned out he was the opposite of subtle. And as Reggie walked towards them, a knowing smirk on his face as well, Luke knew he was dead. He quickly tried to compose himself.

“Alright, boss,” he said after a moment. “Ready to kick my ass?” Julie laughed, and Luke could’ve listened to that sound for the rest of his life.

“Let’s do it.”

Luke struck first, a playful grin on his face. Julie quickly deflected, twisting his arm and twirling behind him, causing Luke’s heart to flutter. It didn’t last long, though, because then she was shoving the backs of his knees and pinning him as he fell down, kneeling hunched over with her holding his wrists behind his back.

“That’s one for me!” She laughed as he groaned. Way to humiliate yourself, Patterson.

“Damn, and to think I ever thought I was good at hand-to-hand.” Luke took her arm, letting her help him up. An idea formed in his head, a cruel one, but it would work. He had to quickly hide the grin on his face. “Wait, I want to try that spinny move thing.” As Julie stepped back. Luke smirked to himself, hopping forward and purposely falling during the spin. It wasn’t like he needed to try to fall, though; that move was impossible.

“Gah, my wrist!” He feigned injury, but his heart still fluttered as Julie rushed over to him. She cared.

But, he couldn’t play nice. He grinned and quickly took her arm, pulling her down to the ground and flipping on top of her. Luke pinned her shoulders, shooting her a cocky grin, but ignoring the look on her face. It was so soft and surprised, but playful and… he daresay impressed.

“And that’s one for me.”

“That wouldn’t work in a real fight, you know,” she informed Luke as she rolled out from under him. She wasn’t humiliated, as far as he could tell, which was probably a good thing. Humiliating the heiress to the Dahlian throne wasn’t a great idea. But her cheeks were darkened with a blush, and she was certainly flustered. Luke patted himself on the back.

“Oh, I know,” he said calmly. “It’s just fun to annoy you.” He could’ve sworn she blushed even more, but she looked away too quickly for him to confirm.

“Alright, rematch,” she decided, her voice confident. Luke nodded, and Julie hopped into fighting position. Luke did the same, noting how adorable it was as she bounced on the balls of her feet, before striking. She moved quickly and unpredictably, but when Luke dodged a hit to his shoulder and she hopped forward, he knew what was coming. He leaned backwards and, as her legs swept underneath his ankles, he jumped and avoided the killer move.

As he avoided her spin, he noticed Julie trying to recover as quickly as she could, but she stumbled, and Luke quickly took advantage of that. He grabbed her arm, spinning her around almost like a ballroom dance, and then holding her back against his chest, his arm pinning her shoulders. He felt his own heartbeat against her back, her rapid breathing making her shoulder blades prick his stomach.

“I win,” he whispered, a grin on his face- one that was quickly replaced with a look of shock when Julie reached up and grabbed his wrist, leaning forwards and throwing him to the floor upside down. As his back hit the ground, he let out a soft “oof” and didn’t get the chance to move before Julie was on top of him, flattening her body over his to make sure he couldn’t move and pinning his shoulders with her forearm. He knew he’d lost the fight, but currently he was more interested in the quirked eyebrow on her face, the shine of sweat on her forehead, and how very close they were.

“Actually, I win.”

…

Luke stood in the shower, letting the cool water wash over him. He normally took warm showers, even after working out, but today he needed the familiar feeling of cold shivers down his spine. There was something about Julie that made him so warm, like he’d known her his whole life. Julie was like the feeling of a sip of warm cocoa on a winter day, like sunlight peeking over the mountaintops. She was intriguing, so complicated and layered, like a mystery that he desperately wanted to solve. Luke couldn’t piece together just why she had that effect on him, though he had a few ideas.

Quickly drying himself off, he changed into a lightweight guard uniform. It was more of a casual suit than a uniform; the guardsmen dress codes in Dahlia weren’t nearly as strict as they were in Tambor. They were more focused on abilities rather than looking like guards. So long as you looked respectable, that was enough.

The cool fabric of the white dress shirt felt good against his skin, and the heather grey vest was a light pressure, keeping him secure. The matching jacket was tailored to a slim fit, but, given that he was a guard, there were also sheaths built into the inside, with simple but deadly daggers within them.

If he was being honest, Luke hated carrying weapons. He felt cool, sure, but he still hated it. No matter how well they were hidden - and well hidden they were; not even the outlines were visible from the outside - he always knew they were there. That, even though they should be safe, there was always a possibility. A possibility that he might end up using one of the cruel blades strapped to his chest.

…

When he walked into Alex’s room from his quarters across the hall, his best friend was sprawled out on his bed, a dopey grin spread across his face. Luke immediately knew he’d been with Willie.

“How was your date?”

“He tried to teach me how to skateboard,” he said. Luke grinned to himself. That was the cutest thing ever. “I almost fell but he-” Luke gasped, knowing his best friend’s disaster-gay-levels well enough to know where this was going.

“No way. Did he catch you?”

“Twice.” Luke squealed, bringing his hands to his cheeks. Alex was getting a classic boyfriend meet-cute and pining stage. It was like something out of a romance novel.

“Well, dude, you know it’s your turn to ask him out, right?” Luke laughed, practically feeling Alex’s nervousness, which was confirmed when Alex bolted upright.

“What do you mean?” Luke snorted. Dumbass.

“I know you weren’t the one to ask him out today. That means it’s your turn to find him and ask him out for another little outing.”

“Fuck.” Luke could see the thoughts running a million miles an hour in his friend’s head, and soon he would be spiraling into gay panic and anxiety.

“I’ll let you deal with that,” Luke said with a laugh.

“Yeah. In the meantime, though, how was self-defense?” Luke didn’t bother hiding the huge grin that spread across his face as he remembered his time with Julie.

“Amazing. I got there early since you and Reggie were being assholes-”

“Love you too.”

“-But it turned out she was there early as well. Well, her and her friends. She has this super badass move where she jumps and lands on one fucking hand and spins twice, tripping you backwards and then pinning you, and she was teaching it to the trainees. Holy fuck, Alex, I don’t know how she does it. And she did it in slow motion!” He raked a hand through his hair. “She was going to demonstrate the move in fights with Mira, Flynn, and Carrie, and I asked if I could join the trainees to learn the move, because of course I did, and then she said that I ‘technically wasn’t a trainee,’ but then offered to let me be one of the demonstrative opponents.”

“And I’m guessing that went well?”

“Yeah,” he said with a grin. “And then, when the trainees were practicing, Lady Athena paired us for the rest of the session, so I got to spar with her.”

“Oooooh!” Luke gave a light punch in mock offense, but he was still glowing.

“Bro, she’s amazing.”

“I can see that.” Luke ignored the shit-eating grin on Alex’s face.

A knock rang on the door, and Luke straightened, looking at Alex as he stood up.

“Come in.” When King Ray walked in, Luke hastily bowed.

“Your majesty, is everything alright?” Alex asked.

“It’s okay, mijos, there’s no need to bow. You are needed in the royal office. Well, technically only Alex, but Luke should come too.” Luke nodded as Ray looked at him. “And put on something respectable but comfortable. It might be a long night.” With that, Ray left, leaving the two of them there.

Something was wrong.

-----

Reggie POV

...

Suit vest long abandoned, sleeves messily rolled up, Reggie fiddled with the stim toy in his pocket, humming to himself as he wandered the long expanse of the Dahlian palace gardens, letting the different scents envelop him. Sometimes this would’ve pushed him into sensory overload, with all of the overlapping smells from the flowers, the sound of chirping birds, bright sunlight, breeze and stim toy, but today it just felt right. He hummed a familiar melody to himself, trying to place it as he wandered, spinning around and occasionally dancing with his steps.

His lips moved to words before he knew it, and he was finally able to place the song: Wake Up. Julie had written it with Rose before she passed away. A sad smile quirked the corners of her mouth. It had been a few years since it happened, but a pang of grief still struck Reggie’s heart. He’d lived at the palace since he was nine, and Rose had become like a mother to him. For seven years she’d raised him like one of her own, a kind, gentle woman. She was the one who taught him to play the bass, too.

Reggie missed her. But Julie looked just like her, and she was so strong, his chest still swelled with pride every time he looked at her. And her voice, her music, it was like Rose in every way, and yet so uniquely Julie.

The lyrics to Wake Up were so inspirational that, even when humming to himself in the gardens, they still brought the familiar prickle of tears to his eyes.

Better wake those demons // Just look them in the eye // No reason not to try

Those lines in particular were the most powerful to him. They were the lines that helped him confront his grief after Rose had passed away, and the ones that made his heart grow and ache every time Julie sang them.

Reggie sighed, letting the memory of Rose wash over him, both melancholy and bright. Every step was filled with happiness and longing, but he knew that if it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t be the person he was today. He might’ve still lived in the palace with Julie, sure; it was Ray who had found him and taken him in. But Rose had guided his love for music with Julie.

As he danced around the garden, a strong breeze whipped his hair. He noticed something flying towards him - a leaf, probably. But as he saw it flutter against the wind, he realized that it was a butterfly.

Without thinking, he reached up, letting the butterfly stop against his palm. He shielded it from the wind with his other hand, letting it regain its balance. He giggled as it crawled across his finger, the faint tickling sensation like dandelion wisps on his nose in the Summer. Then, the butterfly took flight against the wind, this time able to push back and fly.

…

Reggie, after finding his suit vest draped across a rosebush, wandered through the corridor to Alex’s room. He, Alex, and Luke had become close friends in the past week. Something about the three of them just clicked.

He knocked on the door in a rhythmic pattern that matched with the song stuck in his head, sauntering in, the word treason filling his ears. A grin spread across his face; he knew exactly what the treason was.

“Well,” Luke began, “the arranged marriage was already a major fuck-up on the council’s decision. We could add in some treason to the mix. Just for funsies.” Reggie nodded. He might’ve been seen as a goody-two-shoes to some people, but he wasn’t opposed to breaking some rules.

“You just want to hang out with Julie, don’t you?” Alex asked. Luke flushed, and Reggie grinned.

“Called it,” he said.

“Oh come on, you too?”

“Dude,” Reggie began. “I love you, but you’re not exactly subtle.” Luke pouted, and Alex cracked up. “You, on the other hand,” Reggie added, “I’m not sure who your treasonous crush is.” He knew Alex was gay, but there weren’t any guys he knew of that he would like.

“A baker named Willie,” Luke interjected before Alex could reply. “And I still haven’t heard the story of how you met, I might add.” Alex groaned, and Reggie clapped. A baker. That was so cliche, but so adorable. He could already see the wedding.

“I assume there’s no way I’m getting out of this?”

“Not a chance,” Luke and Reggie replied in unison, and Reggie high-fived him without looking. Alex groaned.

“So, you remember the feast the night I got here? I was kinda overwhelmed so I stepped out the back door, and this guy just fuckin… Ran me over.” Reggie laughed.

“He pancaked you!”

“Exactly that. Anyway, that happened and I kinda froze because he was really cute. And eventually we were just… Chatting. And I can’t fucking get him out of my mind and now I’m royally fucked because this is treason.”

“Well, like I said, I’m always down for a little treason,” Reggie repeated. “And might I add, that is adorable!!!”

“I know, right?” Luke asked, grinning at Reggie. He nodded enthusiastically.

“It’s an adorable, treasonous meet-cute!!! I swear, this is like something out of a romance novel.”

“That’s what I thought!!!”

“You two are the worst,” Alex informed them.

“You love us,” Reggie said with a grin.

“Unfortunately.”

“Now, Luke. What’s this I hear about some more treasonous feelings for a certain Princess Julie Molina?” Reggie poked his friend in the ribs, laughing when his blush went all the way to his ears.

“Uh, well, it’s not really feelings, plus, I doubt Reggie wants to hear about hypothetical feelings someone might have for his sister.”

“Wrong,” Reggie said. “I want to know everything.” There was no way he was getting away with crushing on his sister without Reggie doing some well-meaning meddling. He didn’t mind that Luke liked Julie, of course. He was a nice guy, and Julie clearly liked him as well. But, Luke was also one of his best friends, and therefore required to spill.

“See, I would explain, but the self-defense class starts in a minute-”

“Thirty,” Reggie corrected.

“Like I said, it starts in a minute, so I’d better run.” Without another word, he bolted out the door.

“You can’t keep running from your feelings forever,” Alex called to Luke.

“No, but I can run from you two goons!” Reggie cracked up, along with Alex.

“Simp,” Reggie declared.

“Definitely.”

“Hey, you mentioned you play drums, right?”

“Yeah,” Alex said with a smile. “And you play… bass?”

“Yep! There’s a recording studio in the basement, you want to go play?”

“I’d love to! Luke keeps getting on my case because I tap on the desk when I’m working through sim files.” Reggie nodded. It was understandable for him as well; even though he wasn’t a drummer, he had ADHD, and sim files were such a pain. They were cool, sure; they were files in which you developed a country similar to Dahlia, and there were social issues, economic questions, political queries, all of which would affect how your practice country developed, even with the details of foreign relations. Reggie wasn’t bad at them, per se, but it was probably a good thing that he wasn’t becoming king. He always got distracted, and while he was quite good at it, especially diplomacy, it just wasn’t what he wanted to do. And it wasn’t a matter of ADHD, either. Julie had ADD. She was just better at it, maybe because she’d been raised for it since birth, and Reggie had lived here for a considerably short time compared to her.

His most recent sim file was on economic development, concerning poverty, disproportionate wealth, and tax rates. Dahlian wealth was relatively evenly distributed; much better than some countries. But he just didn’t like the way the sim files were set up.

…

“Dude, this is sick!” Alex’s enthusiasm was practically tangible, and Reggie smiled.

“I know, right? Just be careful not to touch the handshake prank things on the shelf,” he added, pointing to a small stash. “They’re Carlos’s. One time he added some static electricity and zapped me, and it felt just like the time I was fixing my amp in the rain.”

“You shouldn’t… Okay.”

“Anyway, how do you like the drums?” Alex played a rhythm on the bass, snare, and hi-hat, grinning.

“They’re awesome,” he decided. “In a lot better shape than my set back in Tambor. I’ve had them since I was seven, and they’re pretty beat-up.”

“Oof,” Reggie said. “These are a bit old, but none of us are any good at playing, so they’re just like new!”

Reggie hopped across the room to grab his bass, strapping it around his shoulders and playing a riff. It started with a slide down the A string, and when he began adding more notes, Alex joined in with a rhythm. Reggie gasped.

“Alex, that sounds perfect!” When Alex gave him a confused look, Reggie realized he hadn’t given context. “Julie and I have been writing a song called Icarus, and trying to learn the drums to add in a beat, but that riff I was playing was the baseline for it, right? That beat you were just playing sounded perfect. Dude, we gotta get Jules in here later. She’s gonna be pumped.” Alex grinned.

“That sounds awesome, dude! What’s the song like?”

“It’s pretty upbeat,” Reggie started. “It’s got a sort of inspirational vibe to it. The guitar we’re trying to add has kind of a rock and roll sound, but not metal. I’m trying to figure out how to play it, but I always strum wrong since I’m so used to bass.” He laughed, remembering how he’d tried to strum with the outside of his index finger.

“No way,” Alex said. Reggie gave him a confused look. “Luke plays guitar. He’s insane at it, too. What if the four of us played it? You on the bass, me on drums, Luke on guitar, and Julie on piano and vocals?”

“And you, Luke and I could be backup vocals! Alex, you’re a genius. We’ll be Julie’s Beyonce girls.”

“Yeah, okay.” Reggie grinned. This would be perfect. He just needed to get Julie and Julie’s Future Treasonous Boyfriend (Luke) to join them in the studio later.

…

Self-defense was interesting to say the least. Reggie had the honor of watching his little sister teach a bunch of nervous trainees a move that, if he was being honest, was impossible to do for anybody but Julie. He only caught the last demonstrative round, though, which proved to be just as entertaining as watching her whole teaching session would be.

Why? Well, because she was sparring with Luke. The tension was tangible as they ducked and dodged and struck, and as Julie ended up on top of him, his collar in her fist, a confident smirk on her face, Reggie grinned to himself at how oblivious they both were. They oozed chemistry.

He approached as Lady Athena instructed the trainees to pair up and practice, and luckily caught the flustered and excited look on both Luke’s and Julie’s faces when Lady Athena paired them for sparring. He shot a knowing look at them as he paired with Mira to spar.

They made idle conversation as they practiced, occasionally interrupted by a quick “duck” as the other sent a strike their way.

“Did you know your sister was this oblivious?” Mira asked him. Reggie laughed.

“Nope, though I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. She has a habit of ignoring things she doesn’t like, which probably includes treasonous emotions.” Mira laughed, and Reggie took advantage of it, flipping her over and pinning her, winning the match, laughing as she rolled her eyes but took his hand, pulling her up.

“Believe me, I know,” Mira said. “She once got a sim file from a nearby sim country in her foreign relations packet that was questioning the ethics of her country on LGBTQ matters, and she just ignored it because it annoyed her.” Reggie snorted. That did sound like Julie.

Twisting around Mira’s next attack, but quickly regretting it as she hooked her ankle around his knee, knocking him over and winning, Reggie wondered if he could somehow set them up.

“Hey, Mira?”

“Mhm?”

“You know how one of your jobs as Julie’s lady-in-waiting is to help arrange her outfits?” Mira nodded, a smirk growing on her face.

“Say no more.” Reggie grinned. Reggie was his name, and meddling was his game.

…

Reggie was working on a new riff for the bridge of Icarus when someone knocked on his door.

“Come in,” he called, still bent over his notebook, scrawling down notes as he hummed.

“Hey, mijo?” Reggie whirled around to see Ray. He smiled.

“Hi Ray! Everything okay?”

“Not exactly, but I’ll explain that later. We need you in the royal office. I’ve already been to see Julie, Luke, and Alex, they’re coming as well. Just… It might be a long night, so put on something respectable but comfortable.”

“Okay,” Reggie agreed, concerned. “Did something happen?” Ray bit his lip nervously and nodded, walking away without another word.

-----

Willie POV

...

“Hey, Alyssa, how’s that dough looking?” Willie asked from across the kitchen, where he was gathering ingredients for the Hawaiian style shredded chicken.

“Almost done rising,” she called back. “Probably needs about five more minutes.”

“Awesome, thanks!”

“Yep!”

Willie gathered the ingredients in his arms, doing his best not to poke his eye out with the leaves of the pineapple. As he reached his counter, he set down the huge fruit, spreading out the other ingredients, many of them spices. He grabbed a knife from the block behind him, chopping the leaves off of the pineapple, then spinning it as he scalped the rough, pointy skin off as well. He chopped the rest into small pieces and brought them to Alyssa, who was in front of a large slow cooker with chicken inside. He set the bowl down on the counter, nodding from her thanks and running back to the dough, separating and rolling it to create rolls, sticking them in the oven.

“Willie, why don’t you go on break,” Lilian suggested. Willie jumped; Lilian walked silently, and she’d appeared right behind him.

“You’ve been working really hard today,” she added. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good! Thanks.” It was the truth, he was fine. But he was working extra hard today because, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep Alex off his mind. He always worked best when he had something else to think about; the actions practically did themselves. He hadn’t even realized how much he was doing.

“I think I’ll take you up on that break,” he decided. “Be back in an hour or so?” Lilian nodded, patting his shoulder.

“Relax, child.”

“Who are you calling ‘child?’” he asked. “You’re only twenty-five.”

“And you’re nineteen. You’re a child.” Willie rolled his eyes but laughed.

“See you later!”

…

As he ran out the door, leaving his apron swinging on a hook, who would he see but Alex? A grin broke out on his face and, despite his better judgement, he called out to him (after he’d settled his blush, of course).

“Hey there, your royal pancakeness!” He called, butterflies rising in his stomach as Alex looked his way.

“Hey, Willie! How’s it going?”

“Pretty good! Just got on break. You okay?” He asked, noticing the nervousness in Alex’s (beautiful) eyes.

“Oh, yeah,” Alex assured him. “Just walking.”

“Cool.” He fixed his hair, flipping it away from his shoulders. “You sure? You look a little dazed.”

I am too, but that’s just because you’re adorable.

“Just a little tired, I guess.” The lie was a classic one, and Willie saw right through it. He could tell that Alex didn’t want to talk about it, though so he left it alone. He always hated having people up in his business.

“Well, make sure you get some sleep tonight,” he told him. “In the meantime, I’m off to skate a little. You wanna come?”

Willie wasn’t sure if Alex would say yes, no, or just walk away laughing. Skateboarding wasn’t something you would expect a prince to do.

But then, Alex replied, “I’d love to,” and Willie’s grin stretched even wider, dearly hoping his cheeks weren’t as red as they felt.

“Sick! Follow me.”

He led Alex down the back of the corridor, thankful that Alex was behind him, because that meant he could let his gay panic show on his face without letting the person causing it know. His long hair blocked his jaw from view, as well, so he was confident that Alex was oblivious to the fact that Willie was currently aggressively mouthing cute boy cute boy cute boy.

Willie took Alex’s hand, grinning when Alex smiled. He brought him out the back door, into the streaming sunlight and to the park in the gardens. Hardly anybody knew of its existence, which was just how Willie liked it. He’d been given permission to skate there, and never once had he seen another person there. Bringing Alex there felt strange, but right. This had become Willie’s area, where he would go to get away from people when he needed to, and now he was letting Alex in. He wasn’t quite sure what compelled him to do it, but he was glad he did.

Willie shot him a glance, getting on the skateboard and flying down the sidewalks, jumping over metal rails and benches. He did a quick kickflip after he landed, skating back around the roundabout, his grin wide as ever as he made his way back to Alex.

“Want to try?”

“Oh, no,” Alex replied, “I’ve never actually skateboarded before, and I’m pretty sure I’d just look stupid.”

“You’ve never skated before?” Willie’s eyebrows knit together. He wasn’t necessarily surprised, given that Alex was a prince, but still, every boy he’d ever met had skateboarded.

“Not once.”

“Well, there’s an easy way to fix that,” Willie said with a grin, extending his hand as he stepped off the skateboard. His heart fluttered as Alex reluctantly took it, his hand cold but soft as he held on, stepping on.

But before he could say anything, Alex was stepping onto it lopsidedly, and Willie instinctively ran around behind him, his hands bracing Alex’s shoulders as he fell. Willie had rather large hands, and as his thumbs stretched to his back, he felt Alex’s racing heartbeat. He knew it was because he’d almost fallen off of a skateboard, but he couldn’t help but grin.

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry,” Alex said. “I-

“No, bro, you’re good! Just glad I caught you,” Willie said. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Alex replied, and Willie tried (and failed) to calm his blush. He noticed a few freckles across Alex’s nose, barely there, like stars in the sky just after sunset.

“Okay, let’s try this again.” Willie outstretched his hand again, and grinned when Alex took it, stepping on steadily, squeezing his hand.

He liked this, holding hands with Alex. He could imagine doing this every day, casual affection, maybe playing with his hair-

No. He shoved those thoughts out of his head. Alex was in an arranged marriage. To get in the way of that would be treason. Plus, Willie didn’t even know if Alex liked guys.

“I did it!” Alex exclaimed, a grin on his face as he stood on the skateboard. Willie broke out into a huge smile, his chest swelling with pride. Alex was a nerd, but he was his nerd.

“Hell yeah, dude! Want me to push you so you move?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Understandable, have a nice day.” Willie and Alex both cracked up, tears in his eyes. But he heard wobbling, and soon he was catching Alex right in front of him as he fell. Willie leaned back, stopping himself from falling on his back, but the main thing on his mind was how close he and Alex were. Their chests were pressed together, and Willie could barely tell whose racing heartbeat was his. He was close enough to count Alex’s long eyelashes, close enough to...

It was a nice thought, but it would never happen.

Willie’s arms were wrapped around Alex’s waist, holding him steady as he stood up straighter, but not letting go. He held his gaze, steadying his breath, lost in Alex’s eyes. They were a mixture of blue, green, and grey, light but mysterious and beautiful, like frost on a garden, twinkling in moonlight. Without meaning to, his eyes flicked to Alex’s lips for a split second, and Willie could’ve sworn Alex’s did the same.

Finally, Alex cleared his throat and stepped back. Willie wasn’t surprised, but he was disappointed. He liked holding Alex like that.

“Sorry, I kinda… Fell.” Willie cracked up at the bluntness.

“Yeah, I caught that. No pun intended.” He hated himself for the pun, but all of the hate was replaced with love when Alex let out a snort.

“That,” he said through giggles, “was so bad.” Willie blushed but laughed too, caught up in the mirth in Alex's eyes. He looked so young, laughing like this, free and happy. And when he’d finally composed himself, his cheeks were rosy from laughter, small lines around his eyes.

It was official: Willie was smitten.

-----

Julie POV

...

Julie groaned.

It had been an entire week, and all of her interactions with Luke were minimal and cordial, but there was something in his eyes that she couldn’t shake. Every time he bowed, his eyes would flick up to meet hers, every time he smiled, they would crinkle and smile with his lips. Julie couldn’t get rid of these stupid feelings, no matter how hard she tried, no matter how many times she told herself that she was literally about to commit treason every time she was tempted to act.

“That’s the fourth time you’ve groaned in the past ten minutes,” Flynn pointed out. “Care to tell us what’s going on?”

“Jules, we know something’s wrong. You can try to hide it all you want, but that won’t change it.” Carrie examined her perfect nails, which were painted gold and shimmered in the light.

“I don’t know,” she lied. Flynn and Carrie shared a look.

“Alright, what’s his name?” Julie bolted upright from her spot on her bed, flushed.

“What do you mean?” Her two friends shared another look and laughed.

“You’re a horrible liar,” Carrie told her, “you know that?” Julie groaned a fifth time.

“So I’ll ask again,” Flynn decided. “What’s his name?” When Julie stayed silent, she added, “dude. You know that if anyone’s down for a little treason, it’s us.” She wasn’t wrong, and Julie knew that. Flynn was ride-or-die, Carrie too. Neither of them would hesitate before committing war crimes if it meant helping Julie, and she didn’t take that for granted. She was still emotional about it, though.

“You know Alex’s guard, Luke?”

“The one who was showering you in compliments at self-defense last week?” Flynn asked, a shit-eating grin on her face.

“He complimented me once, Flynn.”

“Tell yourself whatever you need to.”

“I think I will.”

Carrie snorted. “Jules, you clearly like him. Make a move!”

“Carrie,” Julie said calmly. “I say this with love. Are you out of your mind?”

“I mean, probably.” Flynn cracked up and Carrie’s perfect face had a smug little smile that pissed Julie off. She flopped back down.

“This whole thing sucks.”

“You’re not wrong,” Flynn agreed, though she still had a grin on her face. “You know what would help?”

“Treason?” Carrie suggested.

“Nope! Well, yes, but I was going to say getting ready for self-defense. Lady Athena wanted us to go early today, remember?”

Unfortunately, Julie did remember, and she was dreading it. Lady Athena had asked if she could practice her upside-down move some more, and then show it to the training guards, plus a demonstrative spar with each of the other three girls to show how to use it against different fighting styles.

Before she could respond, Mira walked in, piles of fabric in her arms.

“Who’s ready to go?” She asked enthusiastically. “I just had these tailored,” she said, putting down the fabric, which turned out to be matching athletic clothes. Soft, high-waisted capris leggings, with matching tops that were slim-fitting and cropped at the ribs. The halter neckline was gentle and hemmed, nothing fancy or tied.

“They should be nice and cool so you don’t get too sweaty,” Mira explained, “and they’re form-fitting to make movement easier.” She handed a set to Julie, violet in color. Carrie’s was hot pink, and Flynn’s was jade green. Mira wore a sky blue set.

“Mira, have I mentioned that you’re the best lady-in-waiting ever?” Julie asked, a huge grin spreading on her face.

“Not in the last five minutes.”

…

As she walked into the training arena, flanked by Flynn, Mira, and Carrie, Julie pulled her hair into a ponytail, giving Lady Athena a grin.

“Alright, ready to show these guys how it’s done?” she asked confidently, her bronze skin shimmering in the light. Julie nodded. Lady Athena patted Julie’s shoulder and turned back to the group of about twenty young people, ranging from about thirteen to twenty, of all genders. She scanned the eyes, recognizing some of them from her previous self-defense classes, before she stopped on a pair of hazel ones.

Luke wasn’t with the group of trainees, rather standing on the sidelines. Without thinking, Julie approached him.

“Hey Luke!” His cheeks flushed.

“Hey, Julie, what’s up?”

“Not much,” she replied. “Just came early because Lady Athena wanted me to show the trainees my upside-down move.” She fidgeted, tightening her ponytail. “Why are you here? The main session doesn’t start for another thirty minutes.”

“Oh,” he said with a shy laugh. “Alex and Reggie were giving me shit for… something, and I decided to escape.” Julie caught his slip, but didn’t say anything.

“That’s valid.”

“Julie?” Called Lady Athena. “You ready?”

“That’s my cue,” she said, hopping away and over to stand next to the coach. Her eyes travelled to Flynn, Carrie, and Mira, who were standing behind the eager trainees, all giving her The Look and glancing at Luke. Julie gave them a quick death stare, before going back to smiling at the trainees.

“Okay, everyone,” Lady Athena called, quieting the chatter amongst the group. “Princess Julie is here to show us a new move she came up with. We haven’t come up for it yet, have we?”

“No, not yet,” Julie responded. “But I’m working on it. Oh, and you can all call me Julie.”

“Right. So, Julie here is going to demonstrate the move, first on her own, then with a few other people she’s brought, to show how it works against different fighting styles. Julie?”

“Okay,” she said, clapping her hands nervously. “So, the first thing is knowing when to do it. You generally do it when your opponent has you in a position where you have to lean forward.” She demonstrated, bending a bit forward. “Then, you jump, land on your hand - and it’s important that it’s the hand that matches the direction you’re facing. If you lean forward to the right, your opponent’s left, you jump on your right hand, and vice versa. Then, you spin by using momentum in your hips. This is mostly to distract them. Then, after the initial spin, you spin again, but rather than upright, you bend your elbow, lean like this-” she went through the previous moves then leaned to the side, putting down her leg to hold herself in the same position- “and spin, swinging your legs behind your opponent’s ankles to trip them backwards.” She demonstrated that bit as well, as slow as she could while still doing it correctly. “Then once they’re down, you use your spinning momentum to get on top of them and finish the fight.”

As she stood back up, she noted the confused or scared looks on the trainees’ faces, as well as an approving smile from Lady Athena and silent applause from Flynn, Mira, and Carrie- and Luke. At some point during her demonstration, he’d made his way over to her friends, and they were quietly chatting as she moved.

“That looks really hard,” one of the trainees piped up, “but super badass.” If there was a way to verbally keysmash, Julie did it.

“Thanks so much!!! Though I should tell you, the first time I did it was completely by accident, and I sprained my wrist doing the initial spin. Afterwards, the only reason I tried it again was because Flynn bet me I couldn’t.” She shot a glance at her best friend, and her smirk and nod make her laugh. “But eventually,” she continued, “Lady Athena saw me trying to do it and gave me some tips, and one thing led to another, and here we are.”

After a few moments of stunned silence, Lady Athena spoke.

“Okay, Julie, why don’t you get some water, and we’ll do the demonstrations with opponents?”

“Sounds good.” She spun on her heel, jogging over to her friends, ignoring the butterflies as she caught Luke’s eye.

“Dude, I don’t know how you managed to do that spin in slow motion,” Mira told her. Julie laughed.

“Practice and good core strength.” She sat down on the bench, Mira by her side.

“Hey, uh, Julie?” asked Luke. She was guzzling water, so she hummed a questioning tone. “Would it be okay if I joined them and tried to learn the move?” he asked, gesturing his head to the group of preparing trainees. Julie put down her water bottle, smirking, a sudden bubble of confidence welling up inside her.

“Technically, you’re not a trainee. But, you could be one of the demonstrative opponents if you want to,” she offered. “I’m supposed to show how the move works against different fighting styles, and I think a Tamborian fighting style would add some variety,” she reasoned, ignoring Carrie’s eyebrow wiggle from behind Luke.

His cheeks flushed, but he nodded with a grin.

“Sounds good, boss.” Julie flushed at the nickname.

…

As she sparred with Carrie, she spoke between her moves.

"See, Carrie fights like a dancer. She's graceful and quick-" she dodged a blow from the girl, taking the opportunity to jump on her hand and twist, spinning and quickly tripping Carrie- "but not quick enough. No opponent is going to expect you to pull a breakdancing move on them." As she got on top of Carrie, pressing her elbow across her shoulders and pinning her down, a grin spread across her face.

Julie got up and extended her hand to Carrie, who took her forearm and Julie took hers, pulling her up.

Mira was up next. She jumped into a fighting position, her flaming red hair swinging behind her. Julie smirked, making the first blow.

"Mira, on the other hand, fights like a ninja. She's lithe and graceful, but deadly." Julie leaned forward, spinning on her hand and tripping Mira, quickly pouncing over her to win, before helping her up again. Next, Flynn.

Flynn made the first move, striking near Julie's shoulder, she bolted out of the way, turning to strike back.

"Flynn is catlike when she fights," Julie explained, dodging another blow. "She's light on her feet and quick, with amazing reflexes. However-" she jumped and spun on her hand, tripping Flynn and ending the fight- "it turns out, cats don't always land on their feet." She shot Flynn a wink.

She glanced at Luke, whose cheeks were bright red, but he had a confident smile on his face. Julie grinned.

"Next I'm going to fight with Luke. He's from Tambor, so this will be new." She gestured with a quick nod for him to come over.

As Julie stepped into fighting position, Luke winked. Julie ignored the butterflies in her stomach, overwhelmed with confidence as Luke struck. She dodged and blocked, striking back any chance she had.

Luke was surprisingly competent, but very opportunistic, which Julie took advantage of. As he lost his balance, she spun upside down and tripped him, quickly using her momentum to get on top of him, pinning his hips with her leg. She grabbed his collar and pulled her fist back in a final move, but froze. It was just training, after all.

Now it was Julie's turn to wink, which seemed to fluster Luke even more.

They stayed like that for a few seconds before Julie got up, outstretching her hand to Luke. He took her forearm and she took his, pulling him up.

“Nice job!” she told him.

“Oh, please, I just got my ass kicked and you didn’t even break a sweat.” Luke rubbed the back of his neck. “I knew you were awesome, but I didn’t know you were a human wrecking ball.” Julie flushed, stammering.

“I- well, I don’t-”

“He’s right,” Carrie insisted. You were awesome.” And God, Julie wished Luke hadn’t grinned at Carrie’s agreement, because he had the cutest eyes ever. Honestly, it should’ve been illegal. Her first order of business when she was crowned queen would be to make it illegal to fluster her.

“Okay, trainees,” called Lady Athena. “Pair up and spar. If you want, spot the other and try the move. I’ll be hovering to make sure nobody gets hurt.” She clapped her hands with finality, and the trainees did as they were told. “The rest of you,” she added, directed at Julie and her group, “practice while you can. Oh, Julie, I want you to practice with Luke today. See if you can work out some similarities and differences between Dahlian and Tamborian fighting styles.”

Julie nodded, ignoring the way her heart pounded, ignoring how Luke started fidgeting, and especially ignoring the incredibly annoying looks from Mira, Flynn, Carrie, and Reggie, who had just popped in to join.

Digest those butterflies, Molina. D i g e s t t h e m.

“Alright, boss,” Luke said after a moment. “Ready to kick my ass?” Julie laughed.

“Let’s do it.”

Luke struck first, a playful grin on his face. Julie quickly deflected, twisting his arm and twirling behind him, gently (since it was training, and he was cute) shoving the backs of his knees and pinning him as he fell down, kneeling hunched over with Julie holding his wrists behind his back.

“That’s one for me!” She laughed as he groaned.

“Damn, and to think I ever thought I was good at hand-to-hand,” he said with a grin. Julie blushed and helped him up. “Wait, I want to try that spinny move thing.” Julie stepped back, letting Luke jump onto his hand, but as soon as he spun, he fell.

“Gah, my wrist!” Julie rushed over to where Luke was now sitting, reaching out to help him-

Then, that little shit grinned and grabbed her arm, pulling her down and spinning on top of her, pinning her shoulders.

He shot her a cocky grin. “And that’s one for me.” Julie rolled her eyes, hating the way her heart was fluttering.

“That wouldn’t work in a real fight, you know.” She rolled out from under him, fixing her hair.

“Oh, I know,” he said in a relaxed manner. “It’s just fun to annoy you.” Julie’s stupid heart fluttered again, and she looked away, sure her face was on fire.

“Alright, rematch.” Luke nodded, and Julie hopped into fighting position. Luke did the same, and Julie didn’t hesitate to strike. She moved quickly, remembering her forms and the movements that Lady Athena had drilled into her since she could walk. She spun, aiming for Luke’s shoulder. When he leaned to the side to dodge, she jumped onto her hand, twirling and tripping him-

Or, she tried to.

Luke had completely jumped over her legs, anticipating the move. She really shouldn’t have been surprised, but it caught her off guard. She tried to recompose herself, but Luke was quicker than he looked, and had grabbed her arm, spinning her with her back against his chest and his forearm across her shoulders, pressing tight enough to prove that he’d won, but not as hard as he would’ve if it were a real fight. If it had been real, his arm would’ve been over her throat, anyways. Julie could feel his heartbeat between her shoulder blades, and it sent a shiver down her spine.

“I win,” he said softly, but Julie could hear the shit-eating grin behind the words. She smirked to herself. No way was she going down that easy.

Before Luke could move, she reached with her arm and grabbed his wrist from its place near her collarbone, bending forwards and throwing him over her shoulder. As his back hit the ground, she spun, pressing her forearm against his shoulders and flattening herself over him so he couldn’t move.

“Actually, I win.”

…

“Okay,” Flynn said after everyone had changed and gathered back in Julie’s room. “If you can’t tell by now that Luke is in love with you, I don’t know what else to do.”

“Flynn. He’s not in love with me, nor am I in love with him.” Flynn, Carrie, and Mira all shared a look and laughed. But before Julie could respond, a knock echoed on her door.

“Come in.” Julie smiled as her dad walked into her room. “Hey dad! Everything okay?” she asked when she noticed the crease between his eyebrows.

“Not exactly.”

“Uh oh,” she replied, standing up.

“We need you in the royal office.” Julie’s stomach dropped. “Your friends can come if they would like,” he added, shooting a kind but worried glance at Flynn, Mira, and Carrie, “but this is a tense situation, and they would be required to keep it all classified.”

“We can do that,” Carrie said, a single crease between her brows. Mira and Flynn nodded. Julie couldn’t shake the nervousness in her stomach.

“Did I do something?”

“No, no, don’t worry, mija. Está bien, it’s nothing that you did. But it’s not good. Just… put on something respectable but comfortable. It might be a long night.” He turned to walk out the door, but Julie grabbed his sleeve.

“Papá, ¿qué pasó?” Ray sighed.

“Do you remember Caleb Covington? He’s the king of Krypto.”

“Yeah, but it’s been awhile.” Ray sighed again, the crease between his eyebrows deepening.

“The kingdom of Krypto has declared war on Dahlia.”

#be who you are (no compromise)#blue writes #bwya tag

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flightlessangelwings · 4 years ago

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Billy Russo x Powered!Reader (fem, she/her pronouns)

Chapter 1

“We got some new recruits today, Mr Russo. They look promising.”

Billy watched the room full of recruits from his vantage point on the upper balcony. Most of them looked like the usual people who applied to work for Anvil: hair buzzed, muscles abound, a take-no-shit attitude. But there was one in particular who caught Billy Russo’s eye.

You stood among the others as you waited for your performance evaluation. Billy knew better than to judge someone based on appearance, but you looked so unassuming that he wondered what you had hidden behind your eyes. He didn’t have to wait long as you were up next. Your opponent was the toughest trainer Billy had, and he was nearly twice your size. But you didn’t look intimidated at all.

With a smirk, you sparred with the trainer as Billy watched with an intense gaze. He noticed your patterns fairly quickly, and he could tell you picked up on the guy’s weak spots right away. You put up more of a fight than the other guys thought you would, and soon you had him on the defensive. He tried to turn the tide on you, though, and pushed back at you until he backed you up against the wall. He kept his aggressive moves up until your back slammed against the wall and his hands wrapped around your neck.

The other guys cheered him on, but Billy stayed silent. He saw the fire in your eyes that everyone else missed. The man you fought smirked; he thought he had won. But you stayed still and waited for the smile on his face to fade. Slowly, his gaze dropped down to finally notice the knife you held against his stomach. He didn’t even see you pull it out. The only one who noticed was Billy.

The trainer backed off and raised his hands in surrender until you shielded your knife, then he reached his hand out to shake yours. You had kept your guard up the entire time, but for the first time you let yourself relax. With a soft smile, you accept his hand with a strong handshake.

“No one has ever been able to beat me before. Well done…”

You gave him your name as you straightened your posture again, “Thank you sir.”

“We’ll have to get the final word from the boss,” he motioned up to where Billy watched from the second floor overlook, “But I’d be happy to welcome you to Anvil.”

Of course, Billy immediately offered you the job and before you knew it, you found yourself alone with him in his office.

“I don’t normally have newbies in my office so fast, but there’s something about you that I really like,” Billy said with an alluring smile on his face as he handed you a drink, “That fight was impressive.”

You accepted the drink but kept your guard up, “I see your reputation precedes you, Mr Russo,” your words were light, as if you were playing a game with him.

“I hope you mean my reputation for being delightfully charming,” he cocked an eyebrow and flashed you a devilish smile.

You took a sip of your drink and relished how smooth it was, “More like I did my research. I don’t go into anything unprepared.”

“Smart woman,” he quipped back with a wink.

You furrowed your brows for a moment. It was one thing to hear about Billy Russo’s exploits and flirty nature but it was another to have it directed right at you. You weren’t used to someone acting like this with you, especially so soon after you met. Part of you thought it was flattering, but you pushed the thought down, “It’s kept me alive all this time,” your voice was heavier this time.

He noticed the change in your demeanor so he changed the subject, “What branch were you?”

“Marines,” you answered simply.

Billy’s face lit up, “I knew there was a reason I liked you,” he refilled both your glasses and raised his to clank them together before he took another drink. “What’s your story?”

You smiled at him as you drank with your new boss, and you got the feeling this would be a regular thing, “I joined when I was 18. The whole pay for college, see the world, get opportunities deal, you know,” it wasn’t the whole story, but you still weren’t exactly sure why you told him that. Yet, you felt comfortable with him. You wondered what his story was like as you finished off your second refill.

And Billy was definitely curious about you, “Where were you deployed? Iraq? Afghanistan? Somewhere else?”

Your face dropped as the playfulness disappeared from your demeanor, “I can’t tell you.”

He noticed the frown on your face and decided not to push it. He knew all too well the horrors that stay with you, “I understand,” Billy took a deep breath, “Either way, I’m happy to have you with us now. I think your skills will be a great asset,” he paused to take a sip of his drink, “And if you don’t mind my asking, what brought you to Anvil?”

“Thank you, Mr Russo,” you replied with a faint smile, “I just wanted to use my skills to do some good, you know? I tried the whole ‘normal life’ thing and it didn’t work out. So I thought, I have the means to protect people, might as well put it to good use. Someone recommended Anvil to me at a support group I was in.” The fire in your eyes was gone, replaced with a vacant expression. If he only knew the weight that your words carried.

Billy found himself completely intrigued about what you had gone through to affect you like this. He had only just met you, but he could tell that you were a strong person, and you had a good head on your shoulders. You didn’t strike him as the type to take any shit from anyone or to break down easily. Yet, you completely closed off when he asked just a simple question about your past.

We all have our demons, he thought.

Time went by in a blur and before you knew it, you had been at Anvil for almost two months. You quickly impressed everyone around you, and Billy always looked forward to seeing you. In fact, you had done so well for a new recruit that you were already assigned to your first protection detail.

Billy led the squad of course, and you followed with several others to the hotel where you all were tasked with protecting a visiting ambassador. Word was that there was a threat to his life, and Anvil was the first call the ambassador’s people made. You and the others were all in the lobby, dressed in your tactical gear with your weapons ready as you waited for your next instructions.

“We pair up and cover the building,” Billy spoke to the group in an authoritative tone, “Ludgate and I will stay at the ambassador’s side,” he motioned to you and said your last name, “you and Maxwell cover the stairwell,” he went on and assigned each pair a position before the group broke and took their positions throughout the hotel.

You stood alert at the stairwell door with your partner, Maxwell. He was a quiet guy but he seemed ok. He was nothing compared to Billy though. Wait, where did that thought come from? You spoke to Billy pretty much every day since you had drinks with him in his office, and he left you confused about your feelings after almost every time he spoke to you. But, now was not the time to dwell on your boss. You were here for a job, and you had to be focused.

Everything was quiet so far, no sign of any threats. The team at the doors checked over every person who entered the building and the team had eyes everywhere. Comms were clear, and you started to wonder if the information they were given was a false lead.

Then, out of nowhere, an explosion from the roof shook everyone off balance. The previous calm was gone and replaced by shouts through your comms and people in a panicked state. The men placed throughout the lobby quickly worked to evacuate the civilians out while those placed around the perimeters kept their guard up for the next wave of attack.

“They’re coming from the top,” someone shouted through the comms, and half the team in the lobby rushed up to meet their enemies.

“Shit, they hid in the rooms,” another said.

“Fuck,” you muttered under your breath. You and Maxwell stayed at your post, which was now more important than ever. You positioned yourself to face the stairwell door while you let your partner watch the lobby when another explosion tore through the lobby.

Smoke filled the area as a group of men wearing masks and dressed in all black rushed in. You and Maxwell raised your guns and easily shot down any of the threats who tried to reach the stairwell. You could hear the shouts of your other teammates in your earpiece and it sounded like the men also got in from the roof to cause a distraction before their reinforcements burst into the lobby.

That meant that your job was more important than you thought, and you and Maxwell had to protect the stairwell and make sure none of your enemies' backup made it up the stairs. You clenched your jaw as you thought about how it was just Billy and just a few others up there with the ambassador and they most likely would need more backup.

“Maxwell,” you shouted over the sounds of gunfire, “I’m going up the stairs to help Russo. Guard the door.”

“You don’t get to give me orders,” he raised his voice to you in reply.

He glanced over at you, but that split second was all it took for him to become distracted. In that one moment, one of the infiltrators fired directly at him. You kept your focus, so you were quick to react.

You pushed Maxwell aside and once your body blocked his field of vision, you raised your hand and formed a small energy circle in front of you. A subtle hue of blue and silver formed in your hand that created an indestructible barrier. The bullet hit your small shield and you immediately recalled the energy to keep your power hidden. In another swift movement, you fired your gun and hit the man right in the head.

With a heavy exhale, you turned to him, “You ok?”

Maxwell looked at you wide eyed; he clearly did not expect that from you, “Go,” he said after a nod, “I’ve got the door.”

“Thanks,” you replied, “Make sure no one gets by,”

“You got it,” he said as he raised his weapon. You then disappeared into the stairwell and once you were gone, a scowl came across his face. Maxwell glanced behind him and noticed something odd: there was no bullet lodged in the wall. If you pushed him out of the way, it should have hit the wall. Instead, he looked down to find the shell on the floor right at his feet. He furrowed his brows as he tabled his inquiry for later.

As soon as the door closed behind you, you raised one of your hands to ready your powers while the other held a firm grip on your gun. You also kept your knife strapped to your waist so you could easily grab it if you needed it. The echoes of gunshots could be heard from the upper levels and you ran up as fast as you could. You made it up almost five flights before bullets started to rain down on you.

You were ready, and you raised your arm above you and called on your energy shield to block the hail of bullets. The men who shot at you cursed loudly, frustrated that they couldn’t hit you no matter how hard they tried. They were so wrapped up in their anger that they didn’t even notice the soft blue and silver glow of your energy shield above you.

As soon as there was a break in their shots, you raised your gun and hit one right in the face. The other man dodged, and immediately shot back. You raised your shield again as you waited for another window. When it didn’t come, you decided on a different strategy. You pulled out your knife and concentrated your energy into the tip of your weapon. It was a newer trick you learned, and the knife helped you to focus your energy to push it forward like a whip or a bullet. With a flick of your wrist, you lashed your energy up towards the man, which glowed a deep blue in its more concentrated form.

He knew he was done for, and right before your burst of energy hit him, he pulled out a grenade and tossed it down towards you. You didn’t see it until it blew up a couple floors above you, and with a deep breath, you raised your energy shield again. In your earpiece, you could hear yells from your team but you ignored it to focus all your strength into your shield. You pushed forward to get yourself out of the stairwell, but it was harder now that you had railing and concrete to hold up with your powers.

With a grunt, you finally made it to the door and pushed yourself through. You crashed through the door, and completely pushed it off its hinges in your rush to get out of the stairwell. All your breath was forced out of your body as you landed on your side on top of the door. Luckily, you dropped your shield before you burst through because a familiar voice greeted you with your name in the hallway.

When he heard the pound at the door, Billy raised his gun in anticipation of unwelcome company, but immediately relaxed when he saw it was you. “What are you doing here?” his voice was tough, but you could hear the concern as he rushed over to help you up.

“Thought you could use some backup,” you strained as you stood to your feet. You noticed right away that it was just Billy and the client alone in the hallway, “Looks like I thought right. Where’s Ludgate?”

“He’s injured. He ducked into one of the open rooms,” Billy replied with a frown, “So yeah, I could use your help,” he added in a lighter tone.

Luckily for you all, the majority of the attackers were already taken care of by the time you reached Billy and the ambassador and the two of you easily took out any stragglers who tried to come at you as the two of you led him down to the lobby. You and Billy seemed to read each other’s minds and easily anticipated each other’s action. It was refreshing how well you worked together.

Once all the threats were taken care of and the ambassador was confirmed safe, Billy finally relaxed. He put on his usual charm as he spoke to the ambassador and some other men you didn’t recognize but guessed were high ranking officials. With a final handshake, Billy sent them off on their way before he came to speak to you.

“I should say something about leaving your post,” he said your name, “But I couldn’t have gotten this job done without you. So, well done,” Billy extended his hand to you.

With a soft smile, you took it, and you were grateful that he couldn’t feel the surge of energy that pulsed through your hand.

Notes: I’m a little nervous about this because I really want to get this story right, but I’m also really excited for this little series. This was originally supposed to only be one or two chapters but it got away from me while I was working on it, so as of now I’ve got it outlined at 5 chapters. Next chapter will be some fluff and cuteness, since this was a pretty explosive opening to the story lol. As always, let me know if you’d like to be added to my Billy Russo taglist

Billy Russo taglist: @witchygagirl @runawayolives @morriganwarrior

#billy russo x reader #billy russo imagine #billy russo x you #billy russo #billy russo fic #billy russo x y/n #the punisher #the punisher fic #the punisher fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #ben barnes character fanfiction #ben barnes #protect

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psalloacappella · 4 years ago

Text

tempo rubato

Day 7 Prompt: free prompt // “From now on . . .”

@sasusakublankperiodweek

Ao3 | FFN | ↓

It is a divine and breathtaking thing, to be untethered from their earthly expectations.

The rhythm of the world is a universal hum, an unbroken orbit consisting only of two.

(we write a story)

Hewn halves of the same whole, shadow and light.

They tell themselves to keep it simple, take it slow. This, whatever this is.

The dynamic shift between them is not sudden nor gradual, but something permanent, piquant, and passionate.

Arcs of exploration, personal and entwined: They roam the edges of the world they know and the enclaves they don’t, hoping that their bonding will reveal the hidden map — time reigning at the helm, the pilgrim cartographer.

But they’ve never been blithe or unfocused, not in their goals or in the shaping of their destinies. Certainly, nothing between them has ever been anything other than a dramatic affair, enduring, and a love that every other eye can see.

“How many days has it been?” she asks him across an inn table, watching him in the dim light.

Sasuke knows damn well she’s aware of the hours and seconds that have elapsed together; she’s far too precise for sly questions of time. Does it matter?

He pauses before answering, already so taken with the way she levels her gaze at him, unadorned, and knows bringing her along will be the ultimate undoing of his penance journey, the taking apart of his hard heart. Sunrise cleaving through his endless dusk.

“Months, now.” Gathering up the last shreds of meat from his bowl, he places it in hers and meets her eyes in the manner of setting dry kindling alight.

And so it works, this restrained and sentimental pace, for a while.

(we speed up)

Whispers in firelight will be their foundation, the tales that will shape their future. They speak of mundanities (flowers), practicalities (weather) and dreams, some past, lost, and others transforming into hesitant, potential plans. They speak of scars, this one that one, from the one they called Sasori she breathes, his fingertips tracing a swift cleaving crescent, from him, he mutters, and he knows she’ll know which man simply by the smolder in his sloe and violet eyes.

Some damage gossamer, passing marks on the skin, and others rugged as mountain ranges, raised in affront. Shapes distorting and flickering in the flames. A reminder of the world they hold up, the home they must decide to recommit to, if they can.

They travel and retrace their own history, craving and dreading the point at which they meet the end if only to know the epilogue.

But this love is unbridled, moves at breakneck speeds — years piled up with unsaid things, so it’s easy to melt, crumble, learn and map every single vulnerable inch of one another. Hearts, minds, skin. Whispering one another’s names in constant refrain.

It is a divine and breathtaking thing, to be untethered from their earthly expectations.

The rhythm of the world is a universal hum, an unbroken orbit consisting only of two.

(we slow down)

Swimming in a lazy river, circling as fish in palty ponds consisting only of their dual halves, they speak of coulds: Could we settle somewhere new? Is the place that birthed us a sort of destiny? Is that home, or is this, you and I, enough of an identity?

Could our future thrive in the same place of our trauma?

Could this system, somehow, become better?

Balancing a brush between idle fingers, Sakura drips dry in the parched heat and nibbles the end of it in thought.

“Anything to add?” she asks.

Sasuke swats at an insect, squinting in the high noon.

“For Kakashi?” Thinks a moment, then glances sidelong at her; at the way she holds things aloft so delicate in hands that break the earth. Heal men, and kill them on occasion. At the way she imbues such seriousness into her letters to their ex-sensei, frown rivets dashing across her forehead. At the fading water evaporating from her skin. “Ah, just to share it with the idiot.”

Lips drawn in moue, Sakura struggles not to laugh. “I can write separate letters; Kaka-sensei is busy now. Hokage things, you know?”

She watches him throw his arm against his eyes to shield them from a dazzling sun, and his quiet snicker contains multitudes, echos in a song. The expression just in that reminds her how little friction remains between them, that they’ve caught fire.

“He can dictate to Naruto — you’ll burn out here if I let you write two,” he chides, noting the red dusting on her cheeks, suffused with glow. “I’m not quite sure how well he reads on his own anyway.”

Erupting into giggles, she shades her own eyes to stare at him with bewitching and stripped abandon. “Be nice. You know he’s next in line to lead, and no matter what he says, he’ll need you.”

Duty. It sits between them occasionally, considered and sometimes unwanted.

“You as well.”

Before she’s laughed it off, brushed it away to avoid its grip, but he’s correct. They are fever-bound in fire to the village that will shape the future. A daunting prospect.

“And I’ll need you too.”

Sakura’s so sure she’s misheard, but he’s closer now than a moment ago, sweeping into her orbit with his infuriating and silent speed, thumb resting gently on her blazing bottom lip.

Bringing the question into being, a fruitless thing he’d never deliberate but she never has qualms about speaking into being.

“Do we have to go back?”

In answer he kisses her on a simmering, sunny riverbank in a way that would make their mothers blush, an apology, a wish, and this day becomes an axis even if they won’t know it for many cycles of the moon.

A pin is pressed into a shared soul map, becomes a burgeoning accompaniment, another rising phrase in their endless song.

From now on, they are in harmony, particularly with something much larger than themselves.

Somehow it seems the village feels them coming, whispers paving the way.

Beginning with the far-flung ranging scouts and flying fast to the spry perimeter lookouts, on to the first inner circle defensive squads and, once the shinobi are identified, the hostile caution drops from their voices in a game of telephone to be replaced with a slightly manic curiosity.

“Two,” one of them says, yanking a sweaty flak collar from his neck.

“No,” the other says in a strident tone, waving his answer away. “There’s another with them. Three.”

Details drip in Ino’s ears, and she leaves her post in a whirlwind, a tornado of emotion whose witnessed story springboards from house to training ground to alcove to inn.

It’s fitting that the first encounter, or reunion, occurs in the middle of a main road beginning as ringing, if loving insults but dwindling to potshots from gritted teeth and smoothing into cooing whispers as the two women, these best friends, encircle one another with shaking arms and a bundle pressed between them; the accompanying men linger at awkward edges, Sasuke betraying so little with his usual impassive expression and Shikamaru, who was tripped up in Ino’s anger along the way, keeping his hands in his pockets.

“Oh, how could you?” Ino sniffles, wiping away tears with the heel of her hand. “Can’t do anything by half-measures, no subtlety, you never could! No letter, no warning.” Here she glares at Sasuke for a moment, enough for him to cast his eyes away in at least a modest show of humility.

The moments pile upon, become stranger and more surprising, as Ino presses her lips to the bundle in Sakura’s arms and Shikamaru sighs in not-unhappy resignation, ah, so it is, and extends his hand to an unusually startled Sasuke and for a fleeting sliver-second, the corners of his mouth aren’t quite so dour.

“Who’s next?” Ino asks, tenderly flicking away a lock of Sakura’s hair. “Though by now, the whole damn town knows.”

The men shake clumsily, wary, bereft of custom.

“I’m sure you had nothing to do with that. The honorary uncle, it's only fair.”

“We have to report regardless,” Sasuke supplies quietly. Bending over the bundle and his new wife (which, Ino will rant in retrospect, seems obvious now — his unusual tenderness, his glow, men don’t glow like that for just anyone, any reason!), he whispers, begins to lead her away. They walk with high heads and radiant faces.

Her jade eyes behold their new bundle, but his eyes stay, mostly, on her.

By now the gossip’s reached his stuffy office, and though he’s never been one to put on airs or prepare for visitors, he does try to clear a free spot to be able to see over the mess of his desk, before an aide takes pity on him and handles the rest.

He will have to get a full, unadorned look at this.

She leads, of course she does — this is the love at twelve she forcibly took into her own hands, even when it pricked and bruised. Wrestled it until she won. The newlywed glow is obvious. As a shadow Sasuke sweeps in behind, but the tiny uplift of his lips is still evident.

True, then. Differences all around.

“The kids do things differently these days,” Kakashi jokes. “Have you at least considered getting married?”

“Have you?” Sasuke snarks.

Sakura shushes him gently, thumbing away some errant speck from their bundle’s chubby face. Eyes bright, they seem to dim the rest of the room as she raises them to Kakashi and asks, breathless, “Do you want to—?”

And despite his aide’s effort to clear his desk he gets up and comes around it, to them, closing the loop around a future he hopes is halcyon and new, shepherds of peacetime.

He wonders if they’ve had their real homecoming yet, the true test — but no, he’d be able to tell. Not that the joy in Sakura’s face could possibly be more evident, and by the careful way Sasuke presses his mouth to her temple, nudges her with his nose (and there’s the glow, the one that paints great men often only because of exceptional women they love). Naruto, busy and climbing for his Hokage position but with his own recent arrival, his own legacy coming in the form of something tiny, blond, and confusing.

The third point of their legendary triumvirate, no doubt unaware of what’s coming to his doorstep and in tow, the new member of his full life he’ll meet anew.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” Sakura whispers, eyes shining.

A gloved hand on each head, as if they’re genin again: He’s gentle with Sakura, ruffles Sasuke’s hair with a roguish twinkle if only to provoke his trademark scowl.

Subdued, but their sensei’s happiness sings through in the crinkles in the corners of his eyes.

Perhaps they don’t expect Naruto to be the one they see as the door swings open; after all the last letter he sent in his untidy scrawl is still in Sasuke’s cloak pocket, unread in the wake of their universe shifting to this perennial birth that’s brought them across the world and then to their best friend’s doorstep, clutching this thing that did not exist and now does, borne of them and their love; he stands there, blond hair in chaos and a strange smattering of dirt on his cheek and a rag over his shoulder covered in fluids that his friends now know will be constant, streaming, the aftermath of infants; Hinata behind him, carrying her own bundle, with the same look of frenzied-excited exhaustion but now her mouth falls into a small, round ‘o’ as she sizes up the scene faster than her darling, ditzy husband, who’s bereft of speech and straightens up from his sagging position against the door frame, stunned.

“S-Sakura-chan!” Bright ocean eyes ping from her face — beaming, because she’s already understood this wonderful coincidence and can deduce now what his message contained, she begins to weep a little, overwhelmed — to Sasuke’s, hesitant but with its own subtle change, a fleeting expression of love and pride.

Hinata makes a comforting noise behind them, a reassuring response to Sakura’s tears, the language of women a bit quieter, something less decipherable.

“‘Ay, Sasuke you total bastard, showing up like this! Didn’t respond to my letter—”

“You ass,” Sasuke hisses, tugging fabric over one tiny ear belonging to his daughter. “She can hear that.”

“She’s in trouble anyway, with my mouth,” Sakura sighs, brushing away a tear.

Naruto’s eyes grow so wide they push the earthly bounds of his sockets. His head whips ‘round to look at his wife, their son, and snaps back just as fast to stare at his best friends.

“She?” The word comes out croaky, and Naruto’s already sniffling.

Sasuke and Sakura exchange a glance, the ghost of a knowing smile: His sentiment has always been equal parts maddening and endearing, his adoration broadcast to the entire world.

Sasuke assents with a nod, but his own voiced response emerges with surprising vibrato emotion. Perhaps to hide it, he drops his chin onto Sakura’s head, resting it there. “Yeah. A little girl.”

They should expect it, but it’s still a scuffle like old times, Naruto tackling them both, gathering them close in his way, welcoming them home from the outside world and back into his magnetism, his heart.

“Can’t believe you — didn’t even — you just come home like this—”

Their greetings and scoldings and expressions of love mesh together, can’t believe Sasuke managed it, Don’t squish her, Naruto! You idiot, It's you who’s managed it, how old, how long, where did you travel, what have you seen, how old is your son?

“How did you know?” Naruto asks, finally allowing them to breathe. He stares at Sakura, quizzical. “Betcha missed my letter. So how’d you know it’s a boy?”

“I’m a medic, remember?” Readjusting her daughter, she extends her other hand to Hinata, gesturing so she comes closer, anticipating a deeper appreciation of a friendship they’ve already begun, a new language they’ll learn together. “Had a feeling. I just know.”

But Naruto’s tugging on them again, drawing them close and tight, rooting them to the earth and the place they sprung from, flourished and fought in, and now, where they’ve returned.

Time slackening and quickening though never lost or stolen, occasionally rhythm-robbed but always arriving expectantly, weaving their life legends into knots.

The codetta they’ve always managed to sing together in the end.

#SSBlankPeriod2021 #SSBPDay7 #sasusaku #T7 #psalloacappella:SSBP

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openheart12 · 4 years ago

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A New Beginning

Summary: Tony and Michelle are once again thrown back into the chaos that is CTU. The same place that tore their family apart, is the same place where they get their second chance at a life.

WC: 4,441

Michelle never thought she would be standing in front of him in the same place that tore them apart, but here they were. She hadn’t seen him in six months and even though this is the hardest thing she’s had to endure, it was better this way.

Especially since he was the one who asked her to leave.

Her heart ached at the memory she tried to bury deep within her but it always found a way to bubble up to the surface.

They locked eyes and she noticed how much different he looked compared to six months ago, hope fluttered in her chest that maybe he finally cleaned himself up.

If not for her, then for Avery. She deserved to have her father in her life.

Michelle had found out she was pregnant just less than a year after they had gotten married. Both of them were beyond ecstatic although nervous.

Tony had ensured that Michelle stayed out of the field and he only went as a last resort. When they found out they were having a baby girl, a mini Michelle, Tony had been adamant on her name much to Michelle’s dismay.

But when Avery Michelle Almeida made her entrance into the world, during a national security crisis nonetheless, she was deemed perfect and healthy. At six pounds and seven ounces, and nineteen inches long, she already had her parents wrapped around her little finger.

Michelle recalled the moment, remembering how Chapelle was pissed that he had to come in as their replacements, but neither of them had cared in that moment. She remembered all the congratulations they received from their friends, how happy everyone was for them.

CTU had played a big part in the course of their relationship. It was where they met, where they shared their first kiss, where he actually ended up proposing, where they had to come in the middle of their honeymoon, and now the place where their baby was born.

And it was going to be the place where they reunited, unbeknownst to them.

Almost everyone knew of their history so they were inclined to see how the day would go. The people they worked with before knew about their daughter, but the newest employees had no idea. Most of them knew that this was the first time they’ve seen each other in a while since the divorce.

Almost all eyes were on them when she made her way through the bullpen and into the center next to Secretary Heller.

Secretary Heller asked Tony to bring her up to speed and he told her of the events at McLennan-Forrester and Jack and Paul. After he finished, he started to walk away as she called after him.

“Tony, I need the access codes for CTU and Division.”

He nodded and handed them to her, their fingers brushed against each other for a brief second. She thanked him and as she turned around to go, he asked her, “what do you want me to do?”

“Division’s sending over a supplemental list of terrorists who supposedly had contacts with Habib Marwan. Check any names that have been flagged by other agencies, including overseas.”

“Given what’s happening right now, it doesn’t seem like the best use of my time.”

“It has to be done and I’d like you to do it.” She started to walk away when he reached out and gently grabbed her arm.

“Michelle, Jack and Paul have information that could be vital to ending this crisis. I should be helping us find them, Michelle!”

“The last time I saw you, you couldn’t stay sober long enough to keep a job.”

“That was six months ago.”

“This is what I need you to do. If you don’t like it, you can resign.”

He let out a sigh, scratching the side of his cheek. “I’m gonna need a security clearance,” he relented.

“I’ll make sure you get a level three.”

“Level three?” He scoffed. “I used to have a six.”

“Right now, all you need is three,” she turned on her heel and walked into the situation room where a woman was sitting. She was looking through the files in front of her when the woman started speaking to her.

“Is there a problem with Agent Almeida?”

“Not at all.”

“It’s just that Secretary Heller is very sensitive to personal conflicts on the job. I know your history. I know that you guys were married and that he sacrificed his career to save your life, but if this is gonna be a problem-”

Who the hell was this woman, parading around like she knew anything about her and Tony’s relationship. “His being here will not affect my work. I won’t let it. Now, if Secretary Heller wants to speak to me about it, I’ll be more than glad to,” she said, signaling the end of this conversation.

With Sarah gone and Chloe back in play, the two of them found a way to put their personal problems aside and work as a team again. Michelle regretted not listening to Tony’s insight about Jack, knowing that he knew Jack and his tactics better than she did. But she couldn’t tell if she did it out of spite or not and that bothered her because she never let anything interfere with her work.

She tried apologizing, saying that she valued his input, which she did, but the damage had been done and the worst of it was yet to come.

Bill Buchanan strode through CTU and Michelle quickly introduced him to everyone else there. Her and Tony were standing close together talking after their failed attempt at capturing Marwan when Bill walked up next to them.

“Did you secure Marwan yet?”

“No, he must’ve slipped through the perimeter,” Michele explained.

“How the hell could you let that happen?” Bill accused, taking Michelle by surprise.

“It doesn't matter how it happened,” Tony defended. “What matters is that he’s gone and we’re doing everything we can to find him.” He and Michelle might not be together anymore, but he’d be damned if he let anyone talk to her like that, especially since it was a situation out of her control.

“What exactly are you doing to find him?” Bill asked, turning his attention to Michelle.

“We widened the perimeter, set up a search grid, state police and LAPD are conducting a sweep,” she answered as they were interrupted.

A few minutes later, Bill walked up to her, placing his hand on her shoulder. “Listen, um, I’m sorry if I snapped.”

“It’s okay, we’re all under a lot of pressure.”

“You holding up?” He asked softly.

“I’m fine,” she smiled, hoping to convince him and herself of that.

Michelle wasn’t aware that Tony had seen their interaction. Tony knew something had probably transpired between the two and wanted to know the extent of it so he made his way towards Chloe.

“How long has Buchanan been at Division?” He asked her.

“Well, it took awhile to fill Chapelle’s position… six months.”

That’s how long ago she left, he thought. That wasn’t fair and he knew it since he told her to leave. “Where was he before that?”

“Seattle, I think.”

“Seattle?”

“Yeah, that’s where Michelle was posted while you were in jail, right?” Chloe asked, piecing it together. She was one of the few who didn’t know what had happened between Michelle and Tony, it wasn’t her business so she stayed out of it.

“Yeah… thanks.”

Tony had debated on confronting her about it or not and his curiosity ended up getting the better of him. “Michelle,” he called to get her attention, “when were you planning on telling me?”

“About what?”

“About you and Buchanan.”

She immediately became defensive, already knowing she wasn’t going to like where this conversation was headed. “Never because it’s none of your business.”

“Michelle, before you worked with him at Division, you worked with him at Homeland Security restructuring, right?”

“Yeah.”

“We were still married then.”

“Legally… yes.”

“Did you sleep with him while we were married?”

She stared at him in disbelief. “No, I didn’t.”

“But you are now?”

“Like I said, it’s none of your business. You know, it’s not like I have time to do anything between work and raising my daughter,” she retorted.

That jab took him by surprise and he hung his head low and walked away. She felt guilty, but he accused her of cheating on him while they were still married. She couldn’t even look at another man, even now, she was still completely and utterly in love with Tony.

Hours had passed by since their encounter and he wanted to clear the air between them, the tension was at an all time high.

“Michelle,” he began, “I was out of line a couple hours ago about you and Bill. It’s your life and I’ve got no right to judge you.”

“I appreciate that,” she said sincerely.

“And whatever tension there is between us, I would like to apologize for my part in it. I’d like it if we could just let it go so we can do our jobs. Leave the past in the past,” he finished. “And if it would be okay with you, I’d like to be in Avery’s life and I know I don’t deserve it, but she’s all I have left,” he added, sadness lacing his words.

“That sounds good,” she lied with a smile. “I know Ave would love to see you. She misses her daddy.” I miss him too, she thought to herself. Not to mention that she wasn’t ready to let go of their past just yet, she may never be ready to.

“We can talk about it later,” he said before going back to work and she did the same thing.

Both of them seemed to be working together better after their conversation, just like they used to. They became one again, putting their time and effort into the crisis at hand.

“Anything new?”

“Yeah, White House just authorized adding Iowa army reserve units to the ground search.”

“Have they widened the perimeter?”

“Yeah, they locked down a 60-mile radius around the area where the warhead was stolen, but I’m concerned Marwan’s people might’ve managed to sneak it outside that perimeter.”

“Well, we closed all major roads and air traffic immediately, but there is a chance they got it through.”

“Homeland Security’s faxing over casualty projections based on that possibility,” he said just as the fax started to ring.

“That’s probably them right now.”

“Yeah, I’ll get it.”

Another phone started to ring and she answered it, “CTU.”

“I’m calling for Tony Almeida. Who’s this?”

“This is Michelle Dessler, a colleague of his. May I ask who’s calling?”

“The woman he happens to be living with. Is he there?”

She felt as if she had just gotten kicked in the stomach. “Yeah, hold on. It’s for you,” she said, handing him the phone.

“Who is it?”

“The woman you’re living with.” She answered, hurt was evident in her eyes.

“Jen,” he answered with a sigh.

“I’ve been calling everyone we know going crazy looking for you. Then finally I thought maybe Jack Bauer took you back there. God, do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I should’ve called earlier. I’ve been very busy.”

“Really busy with Michelle Dessler?”

“I’m working, Jen.”

“Oh, for CTU?”

“On a provisional basis, yeah.”

“I thought you hated that place.”

“Things have changed a little.”

“Yeah, I guess they have.”

“Look, Jen, we can talk about this later. Right now, I gotta go. All right?”

“Tony, what’s your ex-wife doing there?”

“Jen, I’m sorry, but I gotta go,” he said before hanging up. He rubbed his face, knowing how big of a jackass he had been earlier. “Michelle, um, I’m sorry you had to find out like that.”

“It’s really none of my business.”

“Yeah, it is,” he countered. She started to walk away and he followed after her. “I should’ve told you I was living with someone else.”

“I don’t wanna talk about this right now.”

“Yeah, well, I do. Listen to me,” he gently grabbed her arm, turned her around, and backed her into the wall. “When you left, everything fell apart. Jen happened to be there for me.”

“You don’t have to make excuses for your relationship.”

“I’m not making excuses. I’m just telling you how it is.”

“Do you love her?” She asked, afraid of his answer.

He didn’t hesitate before answering. “No.”

“Ms. Dessler, the new protocols from DOD just came in. Should I send them to your screen?” Edgar told him, quite aware that he was interrupting something.

“Send them to station sixteen,” she answered and with one last look at him, she walked past him.

She didn’t know how much time had passed since Jen called and she hadn’t talked to Tony since and truth be told, she had been avoiding him to try to sort out her feelings.

Her phone started to ring and she answered automatically, “Dessler?”

“Hey, Michelle, it’s Allison.”

Allison was Avery’s babysitter and panic immediately started to set in after seeing what time it was. “Is Avery okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. She just misses you and wants to talk to you. I tried to tell her you were at work, but you know how stubborn she is.”

Michelle smiled for the first real time today, leave it to her daughter to be the reason. “Let me talk to her, I have a few minutes.”

“Momma?” She heard her daughter's tinge voice say.

“Hey, sweetheart. What are you still doing up?”

“I miss you a bunch. When are you coming home?”

“Not for another couple hours, but what if I told you I have a surprise for you when I get home?”

“Ooohhh, what is it?”

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, now would it?” She laughed at her excitement. “But you have to go to sleep to get it.”

“Okay, okay. I love you, momma.”

“I love you too, baby. I’ll see you soon.” She reluctantly hung up. She swore she had to have the easiest five year old who actually listened to her.

“Everything okay?” She turned around to see Tony’s worried expression.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. That was Avery.”

“Is she okay?” He asked as worry started to set in.

“Yeah, she just wanted to talk.”

“Leave it to our kid to be awake way past her bedtime,” he joked.

“I wonder who she gets that from,” she teased back with an easy smile.

“Hey, my sleeping habits have gotten a lot better,” he defended himself with a laugh. “At least I don’t take up half of the bed when I sleep.”

“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it, Almeida,” she shot back. They were treading into dangerous territory by bringing up the past but before either of them could say anything, Michelle was called away and she gave him an apologetic smile.

After the news of the attack on the Chinese Consulate circulated through CTU, it only made finding the warhead a bigger priority and it didn’t help that Cheng Zhi demanded to come to CTU to get some answers.

Michelle was just getting off the phone when Tony walked into her office. “This situation with the Consulate is dragging us down. We shouldn’t be diverting resources away from finding that warhead.”

She was amazed at how they were thinking the same thing. “Well, hopefully this is just a formality and we can get rid of him quickly. If we don’t get information from Lee, Audrey’s husband would’ve died for nothing,” she said, leaning against her desk.

“What is she still doing here?” Tony asked, staring down at her through the glass panel.

“I think she wants to stay busy so she doesn’t have to think about it,” she answered softly. She was familiar with the concept herself.

“It’s funny, when I met Audrey this afternoon, it seemed she and Jack were totally together… a few hours later and everything has changed.” Just like it had with them. He turned to look at her before speaking again. “Michelle, I hate being without you,” he said softly.

“I never wanted it to be this way,” she answered honestly. “And Avery… she deserves to have her dad around.”

The phone rang telling them that Chang had arrived and just like that, they were back in work mode.

Later, they were up in her office once again. “Tactical is at Richard’s house, they’re going through his things right now.”

“What about Jack?” Tony asked.

“Jack and Curtis are on their way back right now.”

“Someone has to tell Audrey that Jack is going to be interrogating her brother.”

“Audrey’s not going to want Jack near her brother,” Tony pointed out.

“Can’t be helped… I mean if Richard knows something about that missile…” she trailed off.

“It’s funny, this morning Jack and Audrey were planning their future, now he’s responsible for her husband's death and he may have to torture her brother.”

“Yet, every move he’s made has been the right one.” She went over and sat down on the couch.

“Not if he wanted to be with her.” He took a seat beside her. “Look, Michelle, everything that’s happened today, it’s been hard going through it with you again.”

“It’s been hard for me too.”

“I look at what this job does to people in our positions and I realize,” he met her eyes, “I want us to be together again, but it’s gotta be away from all this. We shouldn’t have to put our country over our family.”

Getting back together didn’t come as a surprise to her, she had been expecting it, but leaving the job completely took her off guard.

“You want us to leave our jobs?” He nodded. “We’ve spent the last twelve years of our lives doing this. Where would we go? What would we do?”

“I don’t care… Look, people start over every day if it’s important to them and you are important to me and so is Avery. I want my family back, Michelle.”

“You’re asking me to leave the only thing I’ve ever done?”

“Yes, I am,” he answered. She turned her head away from him, her thoughts scrambling all over the place.

He went to walk out her door when she stopped him. “Why did you want me to leave?”

“I thought it was for the best and plus, Ave didn’t need to see me like that. I wasn’t the husband or father that I needed to be and I was humiliated and ashamed of myself. I thought I was helping you and that you would eventually figure out that you deserved so much more than I could offer you. Prison was the worst time of my life and I just, I don’t know, I guess I didn’t want you to be ashamed of me like I was of myself.”

“Do you ever regret it,” she asked hesitantly. “Saving me, I mean.”

“Michelle, I never once regretted my decision to save you. If I had to, I would do it again because I love you. If it hadn’t been for you, I never would’ve had the best three years of my life. Our girl wouldn’t be here either if it wasn’t for you. The only thing I regret is telling you to leave, thinking that it would help both of us when it only made things worse.”

“But look where we are now because of me.”

“Exactly, Michelle, Avery has both of her parents. I’m willing to fix us, if you are. I love you more than my life itself and I love our little girl. Nothing is ever going to change that fact. This job isn’t worth it anymore, it’s not more important than you or Avery.”

“Okay,” she smiled, tears in her eyes.

“Okay?” He mirrored her smile.

“I’m ready to leave here. I’m ready to go with you.”

He swiftly walked over to her and cupped her face in his hands, stroking her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Are you sure? Because I’m not letting go of you again.”

“I can’t spend another day without you,” she confirmed and that was all he needed to seal his lips over hers. It had been six months since he saw her, six months since he last touched her and even longer since he last kissed her. The kiss spoke more than words could ever say.

After a minute, he pulled back, both of them breathless with huge grins on their faces. Stupid love drunk grins.

“I love you from now until forever,” he told her.

“I will love you always,” she choked out. He knew repeating part of their vows would make her emotional, but he wanted her to know that he was serious about trying again.

This is forever.

“Come on, let’s get back to work so we can go home.”

Home. It sounded too good to be true, but nonetheless, she was ready to start fresh. A new beginning was exactly what they needed.

Hours passed by, Marwan was dead, the missile had been destroyed, and they had just helped Jack fake his death with the help of Chloe and President Palmer.

Dropping Jack off for the last time was hard for both of them, but Michelle could see the toll it took on Tony. They were friends for years and had come to trust each other like brothers.

She covered his hand with hers and he intertwined their fingers together.

“Let’s go home.”

“Let’s go home,” she repeated with a smile. She gave him the directions to her apartment and they arrived twenty minutes later. Looking over at him, she could tell he was nervous. “Come on,” she nudged him slightly.

The afternoon sun bathed the building in a golden glow with white clouds drifting lazily in the breeze. It was a beautiful day in California.

They got out of the SUV and Michelle led him up the stairs to her front door. “It’ll be okay,” she reassured him.

The keys turned the lock, a soft click was heard before she opened the door. A woman who Tony didn’t recognize was seated in the kitchen.

She nodded in acknowledgment before turning her attention to Michelle.

“Avery’s in her room playing and we did all of her homework, she hasn’t eaten lunch yet because she wanted to wait to eat with you,” she laughed softly. “Are you going to need me tomorrow?” She asked, looking between her and Tony.

“Probably not, but I’ll give you a call if that changes. We’re supposed to have a couple days off,” Michelle explained. “Thank you, Allison.” They bid their goodbyes and Tony wandered over to the living room, where the pictures of Avery caught his eye.

“I can’t believe I let things get this bad,” he said, choking back tears.

“Oh, Tony.” Michelle strided over towards him, wrapping her arms around him as he clung to her.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” he kept repeating.

“Shh,” she soothed him gently, rubbing small circles across his back.

“Momma?” A tiny voice asked and she felt Tony tense in her arms.

“Hey, sweetheart,” she greeted, turning around to face her daughter. Her little eyes were trained on the person behind her who was now trying to stifle his sobs.

“Daddy’s home?” She asked, a hint of hope in her voice.

“Daddy’s home,” Michelle smiled as her eyes filled with tears.

Avery tentatively walked up behind him and placed her arms around his legs. Tony stood there for a few seconds, soaking in the feeling of being home before squatting down to her level.

“Hey, pretty lady,” he greeted with a smile, placing a kiss on her cheek.

“I missed you,” she cried out, throwing her small arms around his neck.

“I missed you so much.” He told her.

Michelle watched the two of them, her heart swelling with joy. Her family was together again, her perfect little family.

“Can we watch The Little Mermaid?” She asked after a few minutes, making her parents laugh.

“I see not that much has changed,” he teased, referencing Avery’s favorite movie since she was a year old. Avery led Tony over to the couch where they plopped down on it together, her talking animatedly about anything and everything that came to her mind and Tony listened intently.

These were the moments she missed the most, just the three of them together. She watched them for a few more minutes until she headed towards the kitchen to make some popcorn.

She didn’t even know Tony was in there until she felt his arms wrap around her and his chin resting on her shoulder. “Are you already tired of me? It’s only been a day, Michelle.”

“What?”

“You’re making popcorn… ya know, it requires using the microwave, right? Are you trying to kill me already?” He teased her.

“I think I can handle a microwave.”

“I don’t know, sweetheart. I recall a time where you almost set our house on fire when you heated up that Chinese food without taking it out the box.”

“Shut up!” She laughed, turning around in his arms. “I’ve gotten better since then because-” she stopped, her smile faltering. She learned how to cook, to the best of her ability, after leaving Tony so that her and Avery wouldn’t have to survive off of takeout for three meals a day.

“I know,” was all he said.

“We have to be able to talk about it instead of just pushing it aside. Not like what we did last time.”

“And we will, but now, we have a movie to watch. We’ll talk tomorrow, I promise.”

“Okay,” she relented with an easy smile, her cheeks were starting to hurt from all the smiling she had done within the past couple of hours.

They heard Avery come back to the living room, calling for Tony and the two of them together grabbed the popcorn and snacks and sat down on the couch with Avery between them. She was dressed in her The Little Mermaid pajamas to match the movie.

As the movie started, Michelle stole one last glance at them and smiled yet again. This is what their life was going to start looking like from now on once they left CTU, the place where this all became possible, but the same place that could take it all away in a split second.

This was their second chance, their new beginning, and she wasn’t going to waste it.

#tony x michelle #tony almeida #24 fanfiction #24 the show #24 #tony almeida x michelle dessler #michelle dessler

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rose-demica · 4 years ago

Note

Once again I went overboard/ way too long, but hey. This also ended up being Pietro x Reader rather than Clint x Reader. The reader is roughly the Maximoff’s age. It was meant to be Clint x Reader, so there are a few hints towards that, but it turned out not working as well.

Head’s up; 3333ish words long, and Italic’s is speaking a different language, Sokovian.

“DON’T SHOOT!” You raised your hands as a man wielding a bow spun out from behind the tree, quickly glancing behind you to make sure the six kids you were escorting were doing the same.

“What are you doing out here?” The man slowly lowered his arm, but didn’t un-notch the arrow, eyes scanning over all of you.

“I’m trying to rescue these kids from Dr Strucker's experiments, we needed a destraction, and the Avengers appearing to take the compound seemed like the best we’d get.” You replied, eyes widening in fear as he lifted his bow and released an arrow.

“GET DOWN!” He flew forwards, grabbing you and pulling you down to the ground, before you both turned to grab the kids. You barely had time to get the last down before an explosion rocked the ground, heat flying past you. “We have a jet, I’ll escort you all there, we can get you all out of here safely.” He jumped back up, eyes scanning around.

“We have a place to go, people waiting for us.” You protested, starting to stand, a hand on your back kept you down, before it was gone, notching and firing a few more arrows.

“Guys I got civilians in the line of fire, and after that explosion, they’re converging on us, I could use a hand.” You reached down to your boots, pulling out two knives that you’d managed to steal on your way out.

“There’s a bunker that’s empty over to our right, I was planning on hiding in it until the battle passed.” You spoke softly to the archer, glancing back at the kids. “This guy is a hero, he’s going to help us escape.” The kids seemed slightly reassured by your soft words, looking up at the man, before nodding.

“They don’t speak English?” The man asked softly, looking back down at you for a moment.

“No, Sokovian and Ukrainian only, they were supposed to learn. If they survived the experiments.” You replied,

“I’ve got back up incoming, Nat speaks Ukrainian,” He was looking around again, eyes settling on the bunker you had mentioned. “Tell them to fall in, stay low, move quickly. You lead the way, I’ll bring up the rear.” You nodded, turning to tell the kids what was happening, flinching as the sounds of arrow firing emanated from above your head.

“Ready when you are.” You looked up, waiting until the man stopped firing to start moving. You stayed crouched, semi-crab walking towards the bunker. You could hear the children following suit behind you, but you didn’t look, forced to trust the archer would do as he said and protect them. You needed to keep your eyes forward, needed to look out for any threat coming from ahead of you.

You jumped up with a scream as a man in navy blue with a shield ran up to you, swinging your knife towards him. He made to grab your arm, so you dodged, instead sweeping out with your other hand to slice at his legs. He jumped back, but it didn’t stop you, you had to protect the kids, you’d promised you would get them out, protect them.

“Whoa, whoa, I’m with Clint.” The man made no move to attack you, using his shield to block your attacks, dodging those he couldn’t.

“Me! I’m Clint!” The archer grabbed your left arm from behind you, as you raised it, giving the other man the chance to grab your right, stopping you. “He’s a good guy, I promise. Here to help.” They waited, holding you as your breathing calmed and the fight left your body.

“Nat’s running a perimeter, so is Thor. Tony’s mildly annoyed that we’re diverting from the mission, but Hulks got the onslaught covered, we need to clear the field of civilians.” The man in blue spoke as he let go of your arm, grabbing his shield and throwing it away. The hold on your arm also loosened, going from preventing you from attacking to simply being a gentle reassuring touch.

“I can hear him Cap.” The man behind you laughed, before his fingers slowly slipped from your arm. “We should keep going, even with reinforcements I don’t like having these kids out in the open.” Your eyes followed the navy blue man as he took off in a run, grabbing his shield off of a body on the ground and jumping into a fight with a small squad of armed men.

“Should we?” Clint, they said his name was, laughed, shaking his head.

“Cap will be fine. Let’s keep going.” You nodded, glancing to check the kids were still near you.

“Everyone alright?” You got a myriad of nods and yeses in response, the kids moving up to fall in line behind you as you crouched down again, ready to keep going. You watched as Clint scanned the area, before going to stand behind the kids, his head nodding to you so you knew it was time to move.

You made the bunker with relative ease, the kids happily piling into the concrete structure, huddling against the wall for warmth.

“I’m going to go scout the route to the jet, and help clear out some of the attackers, will you be okay here with the kids?” You grasped the two knives in your hands tighter before nodding. Here was safe, defensible. “Can you use a gun?” He was already offering you a pistol from a thigh holster. “Safety’s off, so just point and shoot, it should have 12 bullets. If you need backup, scream.” He told you anyway, looking up and around before pressing the gun into your hand.

“How do I know who to trust?” You whispered, realising he was about to vanish.

“Iron Arse says to use a passcode, if we say-” Clint winced, recoiling to the left. “Not smash Hulk, everyone knows you do that. Baby Starlings.” He decided, nodding to you before rushing out of the bunker. You quickly ducked closer to the kids, keeping them to your back and the only way into the bunker in front of you.

“Maybe this wasn’t the smartest escape plan.” One of the kids whispered, reaching out to curl up around you, you felt the other kids join the pile. All scared and cold.

“It was the best distraction we were going to get. I’m sorry I led you onto the battlefield, I was trying to avoid it.” You replied, turning slightly to wrap one of your arms around them in turn. The other still tightly wrapped around the gun

“It’s not your fault.” Maria, the next eldest at 8 assured you, hugging the kids as well. “You’re saving us, being out here is better than in there, even if we don’t survive it, at least we were free.” All the kids murmured their agreement, they’d heard the screams, seen the other kids as they returned from whatever ‘experiments’ he was using them for.

“To freedom.” You jumped as another voice spoke Sokovian, a figure not visible in the doorway, but close enough to overhear your conversation. “My name is Natasha. I’m one of your escorts to the jet. Clint said to call you ‘Baby Starlings’.” You let out a shaky breath, lowering the gun.

“It is safe.” A red haired woman stepped around the door, a soft smile on her face.

“Alrighty, let’s get you moving. Clint’s just ahead of us, and Steve’s going to bring up the rear, Thor’s acting as rear guard, so both are waiting outside, please do not be afraid of us.” You stood first, helping all the kids up before leading the way out of the bunker, the gun held down by your side as you did. Natasha stepped back out of your way.

“Hello baby starlings!” A booming blonde haired armoured man greeted you, a hammer in his hands. “I am Thor, God of Thunder. This man is Steve, or Captain America. We are honoured to be your escorts today.” One of the boys pushed past your leg excitedly, going right up to the man named Thor, stopping barely a step away to gaze up at him.

“Nikoli-” You stepped closer, preparing to pull him back to the group.

“It is fine.” Thor knelt down in front of the boy, smiling. “You have heard of me?” Nikoli nodded shyly, still staring in wonder.

“Starlings, we should get a move on. Tony’s reported another wave incoming.” Steve interrupted, reminding you that you were still on a battlefield, still had six young children to protect.

“Of course. Please will you stay close to me, if I tell you to run or duck, I need you to do so quickly. Okay?” Natasha watched all the children, making sure that they nodded or vocalised their agreement and understanding. “The jet is only a short way away, we will be there shortly.” Nastasha started walking, and you motioned the kids to go ahead of you, taking Nikoli’s hand in yours and leading him away from the God of Thunder. Perhaps they could speak later, for now they needed to get to safety.

The first part of the trip was quick, the kids moved as quickly and quietly as they could. Steve, the man in blue, was walking behind you, turning often to make sure nobody was coming up behind them. Natasha was doing the same at the front, constantly keeping an eye out for any danger. It left you the middle, and you watched it, glancing back to the kids in between each sweep.

It was how you were the first to notice when one of your charges went missing. The youngest, Peter, was there one moment and gone the next.

“PIETRO!” You knew instantly how it had happened, calling for the man who moved faster than anyone could see. “PIETRO! GIVE PETER BACK!” Sure the speedster worked for Strucker, but surely he wouldn’t take the children back, surely he knew how bad it would be if you didn’t escape. All eyes were on you as you yelled, but at Peter’s name all eyes flicked to the group of children, noticing one was missing.

“We have enhanced on the field. Barton just saw one.” The man behind you spoke, eyes darting everywhere for the threat.

“You won’t see him coming, he’s too fast.” You turned around as you heard a strangled cry, praying it wasn’t Pietro or Peter.

“Barton's been hit, Nat-” Whoever Barton was, it sounded bad.

“I’ll get him, and meet back up. I have to go, follow Steve, Y/N will take the back.” Natasha broke into a run towards where the scrambled cry came from.

“I have to get Peter back-” A hand on your shoulder stopped you from turning.

“You will, I promise I will help you, but we need to get these five on the jet first. No man left behind.” Steve spoke softly, gesturing to the five children who remained, clutching on to each other so no one else could be grabbed.

“I can convince Pietro, I just need-” A tug on your hand stopped you, looking down to see Nikoli’s hand still clutched in yours.

“You promised.” He whispered, and you knew you had to get these five to safety first.

“Alright. Hold onto each other, try your best not to let go, if Pietro does grab someone you scream okay, scream and tell him off.” The children all nodded, reaching out to hold hands with each other, you kept Nikoli’s hand, nodding to Steve that you were all ready to go.

“We’ll hold hands, so it is harder to steal us.” You told him, and he nodded, moving up the line and offering his own hand to Maria, even though it would hinder his ability to fight. Maria took it, and you all continued forward, the kids much more aware, eyes darting around in hopes of spotting Pietro before he stole anyone else.

“PIETRO! NO! PLEASE!” You heard Nikoli’s scream first, feeling his hand being ripped from yours, and for a moment you thought it was Nikoli he had snatched, but as the world spun violently around you, you realised your mistake. Your knees buckled underneath you as you were placed back on your feet, but you were caught before you could crumple into the snow, gently placed back into a sitting position, a weight settling in your lap.

“I thought we had agreed, no more of this silly talk of escape.” The first thing you saw when you opened your eyes was Peter, the small boy curled into a ball in your lap, crying. You quickly started running a hand down his back in an offer of comfort.

“We had not. I told you I needed to get the children out, they couldn’t go through what we had to.” You disagreed immediately, looking up to see Pietro pacing, at human speed, in front of you, stressed.

“What Dr Strucker is doing-” Pietro tried to repeat the same defence he always used, but you didn’t let him.

“Is torture. Child torture, it’s not worth it.” Pietro shook his head, refusing to listen to you.

“So you were just going to leave me? Run off without so much as a goodbye?” There were tears in his blue eyes.

“There wasn’t time, the battle struck, it was my best opportunity to get them out. I knew you weren’t going to come with me. That you would stop me. I had to-” You couldn’t stress enough how much it was about the kids, not him and whatever you had. “At least take Peter back, you can keep me, but let him go. The archer promised to keep them safe; so did Steve.”

“They’re here to destroy Dr Strucker, you think the children will be safe with them?” You nodded, hugging Peter closer to you.

“I know they will be. Safer than if I left them here.” Pietro moved closer with a sigh, holding out his hands for Peter. You scrambled up, slowly placing Peter in his arms, making sure the small boy was secured to his side. “Thank you.” You pressed a kiss to Pietro’s cheek, before he took off, returning a moment later without the child.

“Come on.” He held out his arms, and you stepped into them, feeling his arms fold around you and pull you into a tight hug. “I will take you to them, I will let you go.” He whispered, tears falling from his eyes as he pressed his head to the side of yours.

“I do love you Pietro, If it was just me I would stay for you, but I can’t leave them, they're just kids.” You wrapped your arms around his neck, cuddling him closer to you, trying to assure him that you weren’t leaving because of him.

“As I love you. I will find you, once we are all free.” Pietro moved a hand up to cup your cheek, pulling your face away from his chest so he could stare into your eyes as he made his promise. His lips brushed against yours, and you could feel his tears on your cheeks.

“I’ll wait for you.” He pulled you in for a bruising goodbye kiss, clutching you tightly to him, not parting until you were both gasping for air. You raised a hand to his face, wiping away his tears. “I’m sure it won’t be long.” He smiled sadly at you before, bending down and sweeping you up in a bridal hold.

Pietro dropped you off outside of the jet, you felt the ghost of his lips pressed against yours, opening your eyes to see all six children in front of you. Natasha and Clint hobbling towards the jet, Clint clutching at his side.

“I see you convinced him to bring you back.” Steve was the first to acknowledge your return, trying to get the children onto the strange aircraft.

“I knew I could, come on.” You ushered the children onto the aircraft and into a corner, trying to stay out of the way as Steve helped Natasha bring Clint on board, both grasping for medical equipment.

“How bad?” Steve asked. You stepped forward at the question, trying to see around them at Clint, trying to see what was happening.

“Very, thankfully it was a glancing blow, but it’s still not good,” Natasha replied, using a knife to cut open Clint’s shirt.

“Let me help.” You stepped closer, seeing the sheer amount of blood they were trying to stop from leaving his body. Steve instantly stepped aside, knowing Natasha was the one applying the most pressure to his side.

“Tony need’s help, do you need me?” He asked, a finger raising to his ear, you ignored it, grabbing a cloth and wiping away the excess blood, you needed to see the exact wound. Natasha looked to you, before shaking her head in answer.

“We’ve got this, go help them.” She lifted her hand at your prompting, instead grabbing hold of Clint’s, giving him something to clutch onto as you peeled the fabric away from where he’d been hit by one of Strucker's new ‘plasma turrets’. A muffled cry of pain leaving his lips as he bit down on them.

“Y/N.” You dropped a hand down to your side, and one of the children pressed something into it. You lifted it back up to see a necklace, the same one you used to control your powers. You hadn’t thought to grab it as you left. You would figure something else out, you didn’t have time to hunt down a necklace, you all needed to get out of there as soon as you could.

“Thank you.” You didn’t even put it on, sliding it into your pocket, and returning your attention to Clint. You felt your magic humming to life as soon as you saw the open wound, wisps of light already starting to escape your fingertips, probing at the wound.

You let your eyes fall closed, and let the magic flow through you, ignoring the shocked gasp that came from the others as your whole body started to glow and float.

The second it was done you collapsed, falling to the aircraft's floor and gasping for air, trying not to let your magic overwhelm you. You felt a hand on yours, pressing your necklace back into your hand. Slowly you gained control, forcing it all into the necklace, until the faint burn left your body.

You blinked as you opened your eyes, instantly looking to Clint and smiling when you saw he was healed.

“Wow.” You didn’t look at anyone else, people didn’t tend to like it when you used your powers. They were strong, they burnt you from the inside out with energy, it was hard to control, and it often lashed out and onto others as you forced it to heal one injury.

“Amazing.” You looked up in shock at the sentiment Natasha and Clint echoed. They were staring at you, but both had a hand on Clint’s newly repaired skin, looking like it hadn’t even been injured in the first place, all the blood had even been cleaned away.

“Did I hurt anyone?” You whispered, looking away again just as quickly.

“No, only healed,” Clint replied, before looking to Natasha with a tilt of his head. “We can talk more about this later, we just need to round up the last of our teammates and we can get you somewhere safe.” You bowed your head, slowly getting up and moving back to join the kids. “Not a bad thing Y/N, just a conversation best had later,” Clint assured, slowly getting up.

You nodded, the kids crowding around you in a tight hug, the drain from using you power drawing you into a deep sleep.

#pietro x reader #escaping Dr Strucker #Marvel fanfic #Clint Barton

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