#okay so probably not as noticeable i gave more info in the replies :3

[sailingseals]

TW a bit of spoilers and blood!!

Saydie!!!!

[natewriteslol]

Hey! Could i request the dorm leaders with an esper MC? Kinda like Mob psycho or Saiki k :) and maybe they don't really use this ability of theirs that much since in their world they're literally a teen who's trying to live a normal life(like Mob basically), so nobody knew about their psychic powers except Grim since the mirror said that he couldnt sense any magic in them(i'm pretty sure that psychic powers don't really count as magic but idk lol).

Feel free to ignore if you don't wanna write it! :)

 A/N: Ooh this was a fun one! I haven't watched Mob Psycho (I know about that fine ass blonde man-) but I have watched Saiki k and I loved it, still need to finish it tho jlafljhdas 

Characters: Kalim Al-Asim, Riddle Rosehearts, Leona Kingscholar, Vil Schoenheit, Azul Ashengrotto, Idia Shroud, Malleus Draconia

P.S: I’m so sorry this is so long omg but I guess this is a strong comeback-

Warnings: none except for language

Riddle:

-You wanted to stay as far away as possible from him

-Riddle was part of the trio of people you wanted to stay away from: Riddle, Vil, and Azul

-Riddle paid so much attention to fine details that if something was up, he'd definitely notice it

-But unfortunately you were best friends with the two goobers of Heartslabyul: Ace and Deuce

-And Riddle had started to pay attention to you and your habits, and something was off with you

-It's almost as though you tried too hard to be normal, like Jamil

-And he could never let something like that happen again, so yes he was watching you

-One day you accidently slipped up and was irresponsible with your powers

-Grim was bothering you since he got into a deal with Azul for tuna and they were standing outside with the twins, since Grim lost

-You told him to fend for himself and teleported, however you didn’t plan where you would go

-And you teleported into the Heartslabyul dorm

-What sucks is that your teleportation power was literally flashy with a bright ass green light every time you popped in somewhere

-Just when you thought you were lucky since the whole dorm was uninhabited...except for Riddle who watched the whole thing

-He was completely shocked, he didn’t know what to say other than “What did you just do?!” 

-You explained to him, and that just pieced everything together

-How you solved overblots with such ease, and that one day you had a “strength potion to test for Azul” was such bs!

-Riddle ends up keeping your secret, since he values your privacy but if you do something major and mess up then he will tell!

-”I understand but please be more careful with your powers. I need to institute discipline and you are no exception, Y/N.”

-He really does care about you and doesn’t want you to be found out 

-Goes the extra mile to cover for you often, and in exchange you help him out with things :)

Leona:

-He didn't really care about you at first but as you started to hang Jack and Ruggie, Leona started to get more suspicious

-Your scent had proven that you had some trace of magic, but Leona just couldn't put his finger on it

-So he sent Ruggie after you for a couple of days

-If you were a threat to Savanaclaw, Leona would crush you

-But Ruggie had only reported back that everything with you was perfectly normal

-"Just give it up Leona, they're just an ordinary human. The scent is probably weird because they're from a completely different world."

-But Leona still had that feeling, so he was keeping an eye on you

-You had made a deal with Crowley to keep your powers secret to solve problems on campus (it did cut repair costs and handymen costs in half so-)

-Your new quest was to rid the forest of the Angolo fungus that was manifesting into living fungus blobs 

-The one thing that gave you away was Grim, as you both had to stop by the Greenhouse to read some info about the fungus

-The cat beast was being far too loud, not understanding why he had to go and mess around with the icky fungus

-You simply replied “It’ll be quick, I’ll just use Hydrokinesis and dry out the fungus since they’re mainly filled with water. They become fertilizer once dried so we can just leave them there.”

-And there Leona was, ears perked up once he heard your voice

-Hydrokinesis? What are you talking about?

-So he set off, following you to the forest

-You started to fly, turning the once green and lively fungus to brown dust while Grim napped against a tree

-Leona for the first time in the while, was left speechless

-Once you noticed him, you realized you had to talk to him

-Confronting him later on, luckily Leona didn’t spill to anyone 

-He promised to never tell anyone about what he saw, and had no clapbacks for what you had to say 

- Leona doesn’t even benefit from this secret...besides mayyybee one day asking for your help if his pride lets him

-By the Great Seven why does everything have to not be in his favor-

Azul:

-Another one who you have got to be careful around, since he’s incredibly observant

-More observant than Riddle

-Azul noticed that you’re an incredibly average person, and were incredibly relaxed even during the most stressful situations

-And almost every single time whenever you were in a tight spot, it works in your favor

-Just how is that possible? Solving overblots left and right? Every single time you disappeared the infestation of magical beasts are gone? 

-One day, you were getting picked on by a three guys, their stature far above yours and incredibly strong. How could you possibly win?

-Just as he was about to scoop in a save you, you slammed one of the men into the concrete, taking on the other two by electrocuting them, the blue lightning buzzing in your palms

-They were completely knocked out, dusting off your palms and picking up your things only to face Azul’s eyes

-After giving an explanation of what that was, he was still speechless

-Azul at first was incredibly shocked and then since Azul is Azul... later on realized this had benefits

-He could just blackmail you to be his new bodyguard!

-Oh how he always manages to bend life to his will-!

-So you could just wipe his memory... or turn him into stone...nvm

-You’re now Azul’s arch nemesis since you end up saving people from his scamming and you’re basically untouchable and there’s nothing he can do about it

-But he does find your great strength admirable (and a lil hot, I mean what can u say seeing someone floating in the air with electricity flowing through them is a nice look okay Nate shut up)

Kalim: 

-Oh Kalim my beloved

-He just thinks that you’re incredibly talented and a little mysterious

-You have your little quirks and he has his! Who is he to judge?

-Until one day you wanted to make the load lighter on Jamil, since the berries that Kalim had requested for were only in season in one country

-You decided to just teleport and then come back with the berries so Kalim wouldn’t be pouty 

-You were outside the door ready to teleport when last minute you felt a hand on your shoulder

- “Oh Y/N you forgot-!”

-And there both you and Kalim were, in a berry field thousands of miles away from the Scarabia dorm

-Kalim screams, falling to the lush green of the field

-What happened?! Where are we?! How did you do that?!

-You quickly gathered all the berries at light speed, making sure that you got back before Jamil realized that you were gone

-Kalim wasn’t scared of you, rather impressed that you were able to keep a secret for that long, he could never!

-You’re already super cool, and on top of this you have otherwordly powers!

- “It must’ve been stressful living your life like this! But don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret!”

-Yes he sometimes asks you to perform some of your powers for him, sorry Y/N-

Vil:

-While you were his friend, he was incredibly suspicious of you

-Even though you wiped everyone’s memory, he still had the faint memory of when he was in overblot mode of you blasting him with a beam of light

-Vil was incredibly upset as one of his assistants had mixed up his items, and left one of his vital skincare items on the set of where they were filming a new commercial

-It was being shipped and would take 3 days to reach NRC

-His mood was horrible and you had to do something about it to give grace to the Pomefiore dorm

-So you went to the second story of the Pomefiore dorm, ready to use Apport (the power to pull anything before you) 

-However, Vil felt incredibly guilty

-He was acting like a child and he shouldn’t have taken it out on the people who he loves and values

- “Y/N, how I was acting was incredibly inappropriate and- is that my moisturizer? How did you get it?”

-Starts freaking out as this was impossible as it was on it’s way from being shipped from another country

-This was the last straw for him ther was no justification for this that wasn't done by some form of magic

-He takes you to his room to make you sit down and give him an explanation for this

-Once you finished, Vil understood but was still freaked out

-He cares alot about keeping your powers a secret and will cover for you

-"So my aport powers need to exchange something of equal value so... I exchanged it with that Scucci purse over there-

-"MY LIMITED EDITION SCUCCI PURSE?!"

-He loves you, but you're dead to him, Y/N dear

Idia:

-Before he knew you, he didn't really notice anything off with you

-A little quiet sure but he minded his own business, he had bigger things to focus on

-Until you hung around Ignihyde more often for a project, fixing a huge generator by yourself for one of your partners for a project

-They took a break only after you told them that they could and apprehensive went to go get food and water

-Anyone with eyes could see that there's an overbearing amount of energy flowing through the fairly large sized cube

-Wait, you were wearing no gloves, you could get electrocuted! Why would have your bare hands on something like that?!

-Just as he was able to yell, it was too late, your whole body was flowing with the bright blue energy... and then you let go

-You were walking completely fine, you went and held a random wire on the ground, placing the electricity inside

-The static from your hair was gone, and you looked completely normal. . .

-Just what the hell are you?

-He did hours of research trying to figure you out, even sending Ortho to monitor you

-Yet there was nothing, you were just a “regular teen” 

-Was ready to get S.T.Y.X.S on your ass- (is that too soon to joke abt my bad overblot boys-)

-Until one day he caught you again bending electricity to your will

-Is incredibly impressed with your power (lowkey wanting to experiment on you)

-After he realizes that you can read minds Idia is so damn frightened

- “O-Okay I promise not to say anything, just don’t tell anyone what I’m thinking a-alright?!”

Malleus:

-You were one of the only people who he trusted

-Malleus had always detected some form of magical aura that was otherworldly from you and it never seemed to fade

-And it wasn’t often, but it was almost like you knew what he was thinking

-Whenever he was deeply upset he felt a twinge of energy from you, and then you would insist and help him out with his problems

-And he flat out says “Are you reading my mind, Y/N?”

-You had never been directly outed like this before, you felt horrible 

-You never read people’s minds unless it was very necessary

-whenever Malleus felt deeply gloomy you felt like it was important to just read his mind and help him with the problem

-You explained it to him and apologized, but he wasn’t upset

-In fact, he was smiling?

- “It seems like we have alot of things that we’re hiding from each other. But... you always had the best intentions whenever you used your abilities”

-He let out a sigh and reluctantly admitted, “And, I know that I’m quite stubborn with revealing my feelings.” 

- “I will keep your secret as long as you keep mine, Child of Man,” the dragon fae said, you both shaking on it

- “I always had a feeling that you were special, but I never thought it would be something of this caliber...” 

[melodicmochi]

#62 and punkblade???

thanks so much for sending this in, anon <3 click here to read on ao3 or keep reading below ;) more info about my 100 drabble challenge can be found here

--

Marnie always loved the Wild Area.

The vast expanse of land gave her the freedom she often couldn’t afford with her position as the Dark Type Gym Leader, and she appreciated time away from Spikemuth whenever she could be spared.

Sometimes, when Piers was back home from touring, he’d step in and take over her responsibilities so that she could go out and roam Galar like she used to back in her Gym Challenge days. She was always more than happy to pack her bags and dig out her old camping equipment, ready for an adventure.

There was also the added plus of being able to see her boyfriend.

Whenever she got the urge to travel, Marnie would shoot off a quick text to Victor before catching a Corviknight taxi. Then, she’d meet up with Galar’s reigning Champion, and they’d find themselves wandering through the Wild Area hand in hand, like they used to do when they were kids together.

Now, they were camped by the waters of Bridge Field; they’d already pitched their tents right next to each other and were working on a pot of curry as their Pokémon played together close by.

“Hey, Marn… There’s something that I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Victor said suddenly, breaking the silence that had blanketed them.

As Morpeko toddled by, stuffing a berry or two into its hungry mouth, Marnie met his gaze from over the cooking pot. “What’s wrong?”

Victor’s brows furrowed as he adjusted his hat, something he only ever did when he was nervous. “Well… I dunno. I guess I was just wondering.” He stepped closer, fingers tracing along her wrist.

Arching a brow, Marnie just looked at him. “You were wondering,” she repeated, waiting for him to continue.

“Yeah, I was… Wondering.” Victor coughed awkwardly, though he didn’t move away. Instead, he let his hand drift down, lacing their fingers together. “You know, the next Gym Challenge is coming up soon…” His voice trailed off as he examined her features closely. “I’ve been thinking… If someone ever manages to win over my title, well… How would… How would you feel if I moved somewhere a little closer?”

Marnie looked up at him sharply. “What do you mean?” The soothing circles he was rubbing into her palm with his thumb were becoming more and more distracting by the minute.

“I’ve just been thinking, I guess,” Victor shrugged. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to move back to Postwick once my time in Wyndon is up.” He paused, glancing down at Morpeko who’d just bumped into his legs. “Would you mind terribly if I moved to Spikemuth?”

Taken aback, Marnie barely managed to reply, “I… I don’t know.” She pulled away from him, folding her arms over her chest. “I don’t know, Victor.”

“It’s okay,” Victor said simply. “It was just a thought. Nothing’s set in stone.”

A beat passed. “I wouldn’t mind having you closer,” Marnie found herself whispering.

“What?”

Marnie flushed lightly and hoped he wouldn’t notice. “Never mind.”

Pressing a quick kiss to her forehead, Victor just grinned, “Love you too, Marn.” Then, he went rummaging through his bag, pulling out a few Pokéballs. “I’m gonna go check out some of the Pokémon that are here, okay? I’ll be right back!”

“If you die, I’m going to kill you.” Marnie’s response was flat as a particularly strong looking Gyrados glided through the water past them.

Victor waved her off as always, a boyish smile spreading across his features. “If you wanna make sure of that, then you should probably just join me.”

“I have to make sure that I’m here when Morpeko gets hungry,” Marnie protested. “And someone needs to watch the camp.”

“The camp can watch itself,” Victor insisted quickly. He laced his fingers through hers again and lightly tugged on their locked hands. “C’mon, Marnie, please? I don’t get nearly enough time with my girl.”

That had her reconsidering, and she finally acquiesed as his grin returned. “Alright, alright, I’m coming,” she conceded with a reluctant smile of her own, allowing him to pull her toward the water.

After all, if she didn’t make sure her boyfriend didn’t die, then who would?

[ourloveisforthelovely]

Revelation Part 3

Harry Potter AU- Marauders Post Hogwarts 

Link to Part 2 

Pairings: Regulus Black x Reader 

Rating: E- smut and sensitive themes

_________

One question, is that my shirt?

You looked up from the refrigerator keeping your face as innocent as possible. Regulus stood in the kitchen doorway with his arms crossed in the dom-like manner that made your heart pound.

My plan is about to work so well.

You thought gleefully before looking down at your body.

“So it is.”

You replied with an innocent smile. Regulus crossed the room and lifted you onto the kitchen counter.

“You’re playing with fire, little girl.”

The tone was teasing...teasing and oozing with passion. Reaching out, you yanked him to you by his shirt.

“Maybe I want to...daddy .”

The word left your mouth before you even thought about it. By the way that Regulus smirked, you could tell that he was assumed. Your hand went to the buttons of the shirt When you put it on you had only buttoned it halfway now you were more than happy to take it off.

“Leave it.”

Regulus ordered as he forcibly spread your legs and shoved a hand between themes. You gasped as his middle and index finger stroked over your clit and down to your entrance.

“No panties? Love, you are definitely playing with fire. If we do this, you know there is no stopping right?”

“I don’t think that I would be sitting her butt booty naked on the kitchen counter if I didn’t need a good fucking. Now take my heart like a man.”

That was all Regulus needed to hear. The last thing that he needed was you getting mad at him after the two of you had mind-blowing sex but since you gave him the green light...he was about to rock your world.

Regulus’ mouth was on yours kissing you hungrily. A year of pent-up passion between the two of you was finally flowing free. If either of you needed any sign that there were still “feelings�� between the two of you here it was.

Your hands were fumbling with the buttons of the black button-down that Regulus was wearing. He groaned when you missed one button for the third time.

“Hold on.”

He said softly before yanking the shirt over his head and tossing it on the floor before going for the buckle of his pants. Tossing his hair over his shoulder, Regulus tilted your face back to his.

“Eyes up here, sugar. I have missed those pretty lips...fuck I have missed everything about you.”

“I’ve missed you too. Just fuck me already.”

You replied against Regulus’ mouth as he moved to kiss you again. Regulus pulled you off of the counter and gently shoved your top half down onto the surface.

“Soon.”

He commented before grazing your neck with his teeth. making your squirm against his body. It would be so easy to mark you up. Regulus could leave enough love bites so every man in the house would know that you were off-limits. Not that he really had the need to worry about any other man in the house trying to get you. Sirius was too busy charming Remus (that didn’t mean that Regulus had totally stopped worrying about his brother possibly developing feelings for you in the future). His cock was hard against your ass.

“Baby, you feel so good.”

Regulus moaned, rubbing his cock down the line of your ass. He pushed you forward, to push two fingers into your aching core. You cried out and was thankful no one else was home. Regulus’ fingers pushed deeper. Regulus finally placed his fingers with his cock...what you really wanted. Your pussy stretched to accommodate his size. Had you really forgotten about how good he felt when buried deep inside of you?

The two of you were so busy fucking that neither of you noticed Sirius step into the kitchen and freeze. He watched for a few moments, blinking, before turning and going to join Remus making a mental note on where to sanitize the next morning. Sirius at least had some gossip to share (Remus, you will never believe who I saw fucking in the kitchen. Okay, yeah, it was Reg and Y/n...I think she was wearing his shirt too.)

You, meanwhile, were so focused on the feeling of the head of Regulus’ cock cramming against your cervix that you couldn’t focus on much else. Regulus snaked a hand around your waist to toy with your clit.

“Come, princess.”

Regulus groaned against your back. The moment that he pressed down on your clit, you came without having to be told twice. You knew better than to make Regulus tell you twice. If he had to tell you twice, your ass would be red and raw. You weren’t for sure if he would do that tonight since this was the first fuck in so long. You decided not to press your luck as Regulus came inside of you. He collapsed on your back, holding onto you as tight as the pulsating died out.

“God damn, love, you know how to make me feel like a man.”

You pressed a kiss to Regulus’ wrist as he reached down his free hand to tug his pants back up.

“I’m sorry for everything that I did. This may be a shitty time to say it but I am.”

You slowly turned in his arms for a kiss.

“Let's just have fun. We can talk tomorrow.”

The next morning brought more drama than it did making up. You woke up with Regulus’ arm around you. The bed was nice and warm, almost encouraging you to snuggle back against Regulus and go to sleep, however, a voice caught your attention. It sounded like your old work partner from back in the states...Michael.

Wiggling out of Regulus’ arms you quickly pulled on your abandoned clothes.

“Where are you going?”

Regulus groaned, opening one eye to look at the clock 8:45. He never slept this late but today could be the one exception.

“I heard something downstairs.”

You quickly walked downstairs to where the voices were coming from. Sure enough, there sat Michael beside Moody. Sirius turned with a smile,

“Someone missed you.”

Michael jumped up and pulled you into a bone-breaking hug.

“What are you doing here?”

You asked with a smile. To say that you were surprised, would be an understatement. You assumed that when you told Michael goodbye, it was actually goodbye.

Michael was another interesting topic for you. He reminded you so much of Regulus (sarcasm) and Sirius (everything else) mixed together paired with an LA street smart cop. Had you not been so hurt over Regulus’ breaking up with you, you may have given Micahel a chance. The breakup had taken a lot out of you, including your ability to consider dating someone else. That didn’t mean that Michael didn’t try. He tried hard! The poor guy tried to charm you nonstop with no giving up insight.

“I woke up a couple of days ago and thought that it was time for a change of scenery. I heard London was nice, so here I am.”

“A move across the ocean is more than a change of scenery.”

You replied. Michael grinned.

“Well, a girl could have influenced my decision.”

Sirius was watching the whole thing with a raised eyebrow. You hadn’t mentioned some other guy that could be crushing over you….especially last night when his little brother was fucking you senseless a few feet away from where you stood now.

Before Sirius could say another word, Regulus stepped into the kitchen and his eyes immediately landed on Michael. He clearly saw the way that the dude had his hands wrapped around your waist.

“Y/n, what the hell?”

You winced before turning to face Regulus. One look at him, told you that he was pissed (even though he has no reason to be). It didn’t matter how good Michael was to you or how bad Regulus was to you, you would always choose Regulus.

“Reggie, everything is fine.”

You said before going to join him. Pressing a kiss to his cheek, you had the bright idea that this could be your perfect chance to show Regulus that you could easily be stolen from him if he didn’t treat you right. He would have to be willing to fight for you if the relationship were to work and sustain itself. Maybe it was cold and childish but it could work.

“Who’s the tool?”

Regulus asked slowly. Micahel frowned.

“My name is Michael. I’m her work partner from America. I’ve been transferred here on assignment.”

Regulus raised an eyebrow before letting himself regain his cool composure

“Well, isn’t that special. You’re an American? Just an FYI, the steering wheel in the car is on the other side and you lot drive on the wrong side of the road.”

Sirius quietly snorted and had to put his head down. That had to be one of the more savage takedowns that he had seen Regulus offer in some time...and it was brilliant.

You, meanwhile, were looking at Regulus out of the corner of your eyes while Michael faked a smile.

“Yeah, kind of figured that out. Thanks for the info. You are? I didn’t catch your name.”

“Regulus.”

Regulus kept his response basic. The least this idiot knew about him the better off things would probably be.

Michael meanwhile nodded suspiciously. He knew Regulus’ name well. This was the boyfriend. It all made sense now. Michael couldn't help but be curious if the two of you had already worked all of your issues or if this was just a “fuck and play” thing? If it was the latter of the two then Michael still had a chance with you...and Regulus could go fuck himself.

“Oh, you’re the boyfriend.”

Regulus nodded.

“Yeah, that’s me. I’m her boyfriend.”

You gently patted Regulus’ shoulder before focusing your attention back on Michael.

“Okay, that’s enough you two. Regulus, I’m going to take a shower. Sirius, make sure no one dies while I’m gone.

Sirius nodded. You knew that it was stupid to leave the room but the more Regulus and Michael got to know each other the better things would work in your favor. Should you feel bad for essentially using Michael like a piece of meat to make Regulus jealous? You knew the answer was definitely yes now.

You had been out of the room for a few moments when Remus decided to be the first one to speak.

“Let's all sit down.”

He had a feeling that things were about to get interesting. Remus caught Sirius’ gaze before motioning toward Regulus as if telling him to “mind his brother.”

Michael sat down at the table keeping his “sunny” disposition. His attention was on Regulus who was muttering in French to the male on his right. Michael had a feeling that they were talking about him too based on how the other brother, introduced as Sirius, was laughing.

“I think London is a lovely city. It's nice compared to Los Angeles but I don’t see as much to do.”

Regulus smirked up.

“Maybe you should have stayed in LA. I hear there are great street gangs to join.”

Michael’s pleasant smile faded.

“I’m an auror. That would be a little illegal. Is that a dark mark on your arm there Regulus? You were a dark wizard?”

Regulus glanced down at his left arm where his dark mark was clearly visible before looking up.

“Ah, so that’s what that is. There is no getting past you. To answer your question, yes I was a dark wizard...speaking of which would you like to see some real dark magic? I can show you…”

Michael’s cheeky smile faded as Regulus stared at him not blinking. Slipping his hand into his jacket, he decided to wrap a hand around his wand. Michael was still trying to figure out if he was actually in any danger or if Regulus was just screwing with him.

“Okay, Reg, that’s enough. You’ve made him shit his pants. Go take a shower with Y/n. I’m sure with her being all wet and slippery that she would love to see you.”

Sirius commented, breaking Regulus’ stare on Michael.

“Great idea, Sirius.”

________

@amelie-black @regulusslut @fandomsxxregulus @truly-insatiable @fific7 @realgaytrash @quuenofblacks @jessyballet @knreidy1 @hazncalsgal @teletubiswszpilkach @acciosiriusblack @mimisparkle12 @rubyroscoe1 @criminalyetminimal @whymyparentscheckmyphone @exhsle @bennyberry @spiderxalmighty @brokencasbutt67-writer @fandom-trash-worth-it @authoressskr @summer-novak @hankypranky @emiwrites3reads @shaylybaby2032 @marichromatic @shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @knight-of-gleefulness @stuckinsaudi1 @untoldshortsofthefandoms @sprnaturallover @deanwherescas @shitfaceddaniel @wontlookaway @mycuddlycorner

[echo-three-one]

Whatever It Takes : RELOADED

Ghost fights his hurt feelings and discovers something in the process. Could this be the key to locating Samantha?

Table of Contents

Previous Chapter : Delayed Flight

Chapter 18 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

Lurking in the Shadows

Simon "Ghost" Riley

Task Force 141 - Disbanded

400 meters east of Safe House 110197, Brazil

Ghost checked his phone by the hotel nightstand. It's 3:34 am and not a single notification from the team. They probably believed he was out to get intel and didn't bother to look for him. He was fine with that.

"What time is it?" a female groan murmured beside him as she circled her soft arms around his bare chest.

"3:34" he whispered, making the girl giggle as he ran his hand on her hair.

"We aren't supposed to be cuddling like this, remember?" She said, sighing as she got up slowly. Ghost immediately followed, groaning as well.

"I'm sorry Alexandra. It's just…"

"Don't worry. I know this sounds too odd for you at the moment. To be honest I got carried away too…" the interpol agent frowned and wrapped herself up with a towel, making her way to the showers. Ghost trailed his eyes at her and sighed.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Simon?" he murmured and turned to his phone, rereading their conversation.

It was as clear as day that they both agreed to this whole "No strings attached" thing together and he only said yes because he was too broken about France. He needed someone who could treat him well but this was the closest thing he could find. 

Sure, he had no regrets about the woman, she was amazing, but while his body was happy, the heart yearned for something more. It was getting worse every day especially when he woke up to see the two lovebirds chasing against each other around the house.

Just as he placed his phone beside hers, Alexandra's notification tone beeped and her screen lit up, as it showed a message from an unknown number.

Simon wanted to take a peek but the message itself is encrypted, his mind wandered more as the security detail of such a message meant that it was of high importance. It might've been from the EMP machinery they're still investigating on which could also be a lead to Nero. He's debating whether he's going to ask her for information just as he intended to, but he's scared that she'll think he's just using her.

"Hey, you got a message." Simon called her from the bed. 

"Who's it from?" she asked, her voice was faint as the shower sounds concealed it. Ghost wore his pants and grabbed her phone, leaning by the bathroom door as he announced the details.

"It's encrypted." he murmured. The water stopped pouring and the shower curtains peeked open.

She didn't even bother how she looked as she quickly wiped off her fingers and grabbed her phone.

"Shit." she cursed scrolling to the contents of text, which Ghost observed as very lengthy.

"Wh-" he paused and hesitated. He didn't tell her of their little rogue act so any questions might come off as suspicious.

"Shepherd wants to exchange Samantha for the I.P. Address." she mumbled, looking at Ghost.

"What's his deal?"

"To fund his EMP Nuke that he'll get from Nero." she replied as she continued scrolling.

"With New York already in chaos, the President would most likely be desperate enough to fund this, now that the economy is in shambles."

"What's stopping them from fighting against the New York attacks?" 

"We have no idea where the small EMP interferences are, and our strongest lead is that the missing persons are being manually controlled to travel and situate themselves near the stock exchange where they blindly emit blasts through their phones. Like the one we found back in Europe." 

"They walk and interact like normal civilians, so with millions of people around the city. It'll look like we're looking for a needle on a haystack." She added, wrapping herself with a towel and quickly dressed up.

"Where are you going now?" He asked as she walked past him.

"I'll try to talk some sense into someone who can talk some sense to the president. The EMP nuke is not a joke." She spat, the worry in her eyes made Ghost want to console her. But now was not the time for that.

"Can I ask a question?" Ghost said.

"Be quick." She said, putting on her jacket and collecting her stuff.

"Do you have any idea where Shepherd is?" 

~

The sun wasn't up when Ghost decided to return to the Safe house. He expected that it'll still be closed but it looked like Price and Jack were already sipping coffee by the balcony.

"Where have you been?" Price asked, his tone wasn't that strict so Ghost decided to lie.

"I just took a walk around the town." he replied, hoping that there will be no more follow up questions.

"For Twelve hours. Okay." Price noted as Ghost got inside the house. Ever since he started this little team of rogue soldiers, Price became protective. And Ghost knew that it was bound to happen. Any injuries under his care will not be funded by any higher department and they need to be careful.

He immediately accessed their little command center and began searching. He got two locations to research on, and he needed to act fast.

He did the best he could, hacking into public and unsecured CCTV footage, squinting his eyes over the poor quality videos just to look for Samantha. She was last spotted in Moscow about 30 minutes ago. Ghost had to admit his cryllic knowledge is a little low and his fingers were trembling in panic. He needed help.

He slowly creaked the door open and saw Alex, Soap and Roach peacefully sleeping, Roach was upside down and clung onto Alex's metal leg, a sight worth taking a photo on but he didn't. It almost made him guilty to wake John up, but knowing the guy, he'll understand the urgency.

"Psst." he nudged his shoulders. It felt very awkward now that he's still frustrated about the guy winning France's heart but he needed to act professional, besides no one but Alex knows about his emotions toward the duo.

Soap groaned and slowly opened his eyes, flinching at the skull face that woke him up.

"Bollocks!" he exclaimed, making Alex and Gary shuffle and reposition while Ghost quickly pulled his mask and shushed him.

"Sorry Soap. But I need your help." he whispered as he slowly got up and collected himself following him outside.

"What about?" his heavy accent echoed against the quiet halls while he rubbed sleep off his eyes.

"Russian Alphabet." 

"Okay." he murmured lazily. "What for?" 

"A lead on Samantha." he said. The expression on Soap's face changed from sleepy-scotsman to what-are-we-waiting-for as he jumped to the control center and began typing.

The two teamed up together translating codes of texts and typing commands on different kinds of webcams all across Russia, all they had was a barely readable plate number of a black van which allegedly housed Samantha and three of Shepherd's men which were designated to protect her.

Hours passed and they barely got through any possible lead. The rest of the team woke up one by one and slowly helped the duo. Once Alex woke up, they got another additional pair of hands to help and it made them more efficient. If only Ghost knew that Alex knew Russian, it would've been less awkward. But then again, he needed this kind of interaction with Soap, so he could finally be comfortable around them.

Then there it was. The first solid lead with Samantha's face on it. A hotel not far from the airport. Alex couldn't help but creep his head close to the monitor, his eyes had that longing look on the blurry screen. He was sure it's her.

They later reported their findings to Price and Jack, and it was indeed a lead worth pursuing. But when asked how they got such info overnight, they all turned to Ghost to which he said that it's still within the phone's encrypted messages. Price and Jack nodded and Ghost sighed in relief. He didn't want anyone to know about his little fling.

"Then let's have breakfast and have a little briefing after. I'll make calls to Nikolai to arrange us a visit to his homeland." Price announced as everyone, especially Alex's, face lit up and felt energized. 

HAPPY TRAVELER INN PARKING AREA

MOSCOW, RUSSIA

8:52 PM

Ghost set up his little command set up at the back of the van. The plan was easy, Alex, Soap and Roach sneaked inside her room, silently knocking down the three guards, taking their clothes and escorting her back to the van to safety. While Price would take down their driver and replace the getaway vehicle with this one. 

The group of five didn't bring any weapons so as to not raise suspicion, after all they're just sneaking Samantha from Shepherd's hands. No need for violence.

"Can you hear me, lads?" Ghost muttered softly against the microphone.

"Loud and clear, mate." Gary responded.

"Yes pal." Alex commented.

"Aye lad. I can hear ye." Soap added.

Price gave a thumbs up from the driver's seat. Ghost pressed some buttons and after a few moments, he now had access to the whole building's cameras and some controls. 

"Chuckles, I'm in." Ghost commented to which Gary snickered. It looked like he was the only one who understood the reference. 

"Okay lads. The janitors are on their break. They're inside that incoming elevator." Ghost informed as he looked at the live feed. The three carefully grabbed the janitors without intention of hurting them. Carrying some rope and cloth, they quickly tied the janitors and hid them on a blind spot away from the camera's eyes. Ghost could hear Alex muttering something to the three in Russian, he couldn't translate it fully but it had the word sorry, don't worry and okay in it. After that, they immediately wore their janitor uniforms and the janitors were already on their way to the 10th floor.

"I don't have cameras inside the rooms. But your hallway is clear."

"Okay. Your ride home is ready." Price muttered, Ghost never noticed the old man exit the van but apparently he already took care of the driver.

"Great. It's all on you three now. Let's save Samantha." Ghost said as the cameras show three janitors knocking on Samantha's room.

Next Chapter : Vlad the Janitor

Notification Squad my Beloved

@samatedeansbroccoli @smokeywhalee @ricinbach @enderio @beemybee @whimsywispsblog

[arr-jim-lad]

What do you think Kakyoin's fashion choices look like aside from his uniform? I mean since uniform is a kind of standardized clothes, it doesn't give too much info about that, except for color and silhouette. I think you are the best person to go to with such question!

This is an interesting but somewhat tricky question that I’ll try to reply to the best of my abilities because that is what Kakyoin deserves

The reason the question can be a bit tricky to answer is because the fashion choices in Jojo can sometimes be very unpredictable when compared to the character’s personality, such as Fugo for example. If you were asked what kind of clothes an incredibly intelligent guy with anger issues would wear, ‘swiss cheese and a thong’ probably wouldn’t be the first thing to come to your mind lmao

However luckily, Part 3 still had a fairly down to earth look compared to later parts, with none of the characters in the main team really wearing absurdly strange clothes. Based on that, I think Kakyoin’s casual outfits would likely fall into the realm of very normal-looking, much like Joseph’s.

I drew a few outfits for him, the colours of which are based on his anime palette, treating it as his ‘canon’ one.

Okay, to start this off, I drew Kakyoin in his uniform + unbuttoned uniform

Since he sticks so strictly to his uniform, I think it’s pretty much undeniable that he wears a dress shirt underneath, but I decided to make it a bit more interesting by adding a cherry picture on his pocket, calling back to his younger self in the anime flashback.

I also want to point out his purple belt, which is based on his SAS figure. Medicos got Araki’s input on all their figure colours, and the anime-coloured Kakyoin figure has a purple belt, meaning that we can make an assumption that anime Kakyoin does as well. I took this into account with my outfit designs.

Okay so, Kakyoin wears his uniform completely buttoned up, all the way up to the neck, and he makes it abundantly clear that he feels comfortable like this. That makes me assume he’d prefer form-fitting and modest clothes, nothing showy. I also took into account that he wore a scarf in his first appearance.

These are some of my ideas for what a part 3 Kakyoin could’ve worn casually. I know it doesn’t look very “JoJo” but again.. Part 3 really didn’t when you compare it to later parts, and I mostly looked to Joseph for inspiration.

I brought back the scarf for one of these, and I decided to use his preference for simple jewellery to add a necklace that matches his earrings.

I went for purple in the middle outfit so that it wouldn’t be all green, and with the third one, I decided to give him some sorta jacket to match his original silhouette better.

Basically, I really don’t think Kakyoin’s casual fashion choices would be very interesting in Part 3. He’d probably stick to simple and modest, matching his uniform look in spirit.

I wasn’t pleased with just this though. If I’m designing JoJo fashion then I want to design JOJO fashion, not... that. So I decided to have a go at what Kakyoin might’ve worn in Part 4, which had distinctly more style than Part 3.

I was mostly looking to Jotaro to help me with ideas here, since he very nicely shows how his Part 3 design grew into the Part 4 one.

One thing that’s important to note is that his silhouette practically stayed the same. He doesn’t wear a gakuran anymore, but he still wears a coat, and a very similar hat. I took that into account when designing a Part 4 look for Kakyoin, meaning that he also needed to wear a coat to help him keep his Part 3 silhouette.

One big difference I noticed in Jotaro’s design, as well as many Part 4 designs compared to Part 3, was that a lot of the characters wear very cozy, baggy pants. I didn’t go quite as far with Kakyoin because I don’t think it would suit him, but I did make his pants wider in the first two examples.

Part 4 was also big on pins, so I added a gem-shaped pin on his lapel, and a cherry one on the third outfit. If Araki designed a Part 4 Kakyoin look he’d probably give him something less predictable (think of Jotaro’s hearts and dolphins), but well, we sadly can’t make many assumptions about Part 4 Kakyoin’s interests, and I designed these in a rush so I didn’t really put as much thought into symbolism.

I kept the cozy turtleneck from the first design of his casual Part 3 look, because I think it really suits him, with his original uniform going up to his neck and all. He has a sweater vest on the first outfit, and I once again brought back the scarf on the second one.

After I did the first design, I realized that he’d likely wear his coats closed, seeing as, again, he felt comfortable in a completely buttoned-up uniform. Jotaro kept his open jacket, so it makes sense for Kakyoin to keep his closed.

I was gonna stop here, but then I took a look at Jotaro’s Part 4 outfits again and I realized I completely missed one huge element; the colour.

Jotaro went from black to white, making a massive shift in his palette.

Every time I see anyone design Part 4+ looks for Kakyoin, they always default to green, but looking at other reoccurring characters in the story, that doesn’t feel authentic to JoJo design. Basically: I don’t think Kakyoin would wear green if he appeared in the Part 4 anime.

Well, the opposite of green is red, but Kakyoin already has red hair, and too much red is... honestly probably something Araki could do and pull it off well, but I kept thinking about that singe drop of barely notable purple on Kakyoin’s SAS figure, so I decided to just go full purple, and I made this palette shift;

I think these colours would fit pretty nicely into the Part 4 cast. I kept plenty of green in the design due to green emeralds being Kind Of A Thing with Kakyoin, but I tried to push it in the background of purple, his new main colour.

Personally, the green variety third outfit is my favourite, but I think I’m clinging to my biases of Kakyoin = green. I could probably adjust the purple third outfit’s palette to make it just as nice, but again, I kinda rushed these so I didn’t really bring my A-game into the designs.

I’ve been planning to design Kakyoin’s Part 4 & 6 looks eventually, so I’ll probably be using these concepts as groundwork for when I finally do that!

That’s pretty much all I have to say on this topic for now, I hope I gave a satisfactory answer to your question, and thank you for asking it!! <:

[buzzykrueger]

How do you hope the reunion between Gon and Killua will play out? Sometimes I worry that Gon might seek Killua out but Killua might avoid him or something :(

Hii!

Hmmm that’s a tough one and I’ll try to say what I believe based on characters writing (this will be a bit long, sorry!) but yeah, I know how you feel because they got their communication messed up pretty bad, and it’s likely that Gon will have to approach Killua very carefully in order to regain their closeness. Probably they got some emotional distance between them now, but they still are friends, separated on “good terms” and have said they would keep in touch - this part is very important because makes a casual encounter more plausible! 

The second thing is bringing up the info we got from the separation, put them over the table and separate the ones meant for the audience from the ones meant for the characters. So, what we want here is the second one, right?

- They were fake smiling during the separation, and they are aware of that, because they stop faking it for a brief moment when Gon almost breaks and says “If you’re here any longer, I’ll...”. This is a literary figure speech that I absolutely adore, btw. When used correctly, can pass so much emotion without saying everything! But, back here, Gon knows Killua isn’t okay and Killua definitely knows that Gon isn’t either - but they have chosen to respect each other’s moments for now. 

- “Okay, Killua knows Gon isn’t okay, so what? He might not even care!” Yeah, but I think he does. That simple. It’s out-of-character to think that Killua would stop caring, because even at the very end of their journey together, Killua didn’t want Gon to feel bad and made sure his friend would have a nice moment with his deadbeat father Ging. Killua pretty much thinks he’s a nuisance, and like he was always respectful when it comes to Gon’s main goal, he cares that Gon has a good time and feel happy, believed and with his personal space respected - Killua always gave him those!

- Gon probably knows Killua kept most of his feelings to himself, because the only thing we see Killua goofing around with is the Pitou situation, while the “Am I a team mate or a friend?”, mentioned at the hospital scene together with the Pitou thing, remains untouched. So I assume they’ve only talked about shutting Killua out from the fight. And yeah, Killua stated that Gon already apologized for that, but if he’s not okay and didn’t want to separate, plus didn’t share all of his worries, makes sense that he’s still waiting for something to happen and that’s why he looks “unsatisfied” when leaving - but to make it real, can’t happen without a good ol’ thinking and Gon facing his consequences properly (don’t mistake as punishment, Killua made his mistakes too!). I don’t think he will prevent Gon from searching for what else he can do to from make up to him. Sometimes, it kinda looks like he’s waiting, you know? He doesn’t want to be the one who analyzes things for Gon right now, because this is part of a old and now failed dynamics that he, himself, needs to reflect upon and understand so he can be honest with his feelings.

With that in mind, if Togashi’s going to play with Gon’s most noticeable traits, I thought of a personal (but not exclusive!) ideal outcome, that is Gon wanting to reunite with Killua with no mission going on. 

Why? Well:

1. He’s perceptive of others feelings, especially Killua’s feelings gay gay gay. It happened a couple times through the story: like when Nobunaga took them in and Gon noticed Killua was acting weird, but then, Killua didn’t share his thoughts and claimed Gon doesn’t know how he feels, that’s when Gon replies that probably “he’s too idiot to know!” (teasing like “well, why don’t you try?”); the other moment I remember this happening was when they split before the Palace invasion, because Killua wanted to stop the Selection alone. Gon doesn’t like the idea, but respects anyway - while, later, he’s still questioning himself if Killua was okay and if letting him alone was the best idea (but again, Killua couldn’t say what he feels and Gon can’t work with things he doesn’t know - he’s a simpleton). Okay, to the point: he knows Killua isn’t okay. But Killua bottling up never stopped Gon from worrying, trying or from working on the subject the way he could. He’ll probably figure a way inside Killua’s heart.

2. About this “figuring a way”, it’s also well known that Gon always comes up with a creative solution, different from the options given to him, at first. So, if he gets to reflect, and with Mito’s help I’d like to think, he’ll figure out what he did, what he wants and what Killua might be waiting for. Gon’s amazing when it comes to say nice things, but he’s no way close to put everything into words because he’s not the person who usually analyzes things beforehand - this is Killua. He likes to compliment, but if that’s not an option or enough, what to do?

Now I can answer your question with my personal and subjective belief basead on characters traits: 

I like to think that he’ll invite Killua for a reunion way, WAY before a mission comes. Because, if Killua doubts that he’s wanted or needed unless he’s being useful in a mission, there’s no best way to prove than wanting him to be around when nothing is happening. After all, like Ging said, it’s the best opportunity for him to figure it out what he can do, the way he is now. And the way he is now, he can’t be of any help in missions. The way he is now, he could reflect upon Ging’s true worth to him, and how meeting him wasn’t exactly what he wanted.

Togashi built this relationship as the core of Hunter x Hunter, undoubtedly. And he did for +10 years. This is me but I do believe he wouldn’t end it like that, closing with a temporary indicative “See you around!” in a 3-page goodbye, including many hints of both of them being unsatisfied with the outcome and longing for each other like their visibly sad faces and cut-off sentences.

Sorry about how long this turned out to be, but I wanted to make sense, y’know? Because I don’t have a 100% sure answer and at this point anything can happen but not everything is plausible with the positive narrative around their relationship! So I hope I’ve answered you properly. :3 thankyyy

[iffeelscouldkill]

say what we wanna do, make it all come true (chapter 1)

A/N: It is! My fic for the Fiction Podcast Big Bang @podcastbigbang! I am a bit terrified to be posting this after working on it for so long! Also this is in the running for the Longest TSCOSI Fic I’ve Written So Far (not sure if it’s the longest because I don’t remember where my wordcount is up to for Adjusting, but like... it’s long, guys). This is Chapter 1 of 3, and the remaining chapters will be posted weekly!

You can read this on AO3 where the formatting is honestly much better, but here it is on Tumblr anyway. Also, please check out the FANTASTIC artwork made for this fic by the wonderful @bluereadingdolphin and @demonic-kitkats, who are my artists for this fic and their artwork is so good, you guys, I’m in love and they did such a phenomenal job with the honestly pretty vague info they got from me 😂 

bluereadingdolphin’s piece

demonic-kitkat’s piece (from Chapter 2!)

Please give them all the love!

Content warnings: There is a relatively brief physical altercation described in this chapter, but it isn’t graphic or bloody.

Also, I play a little fast and loose with POV in this; the first section is told from Sana’s perspective, the rest from Arkady’s.

---

“Hello and welcome back to Radio Indie, Folk and Techno, also known as RIFT, where we play all the bands that matter outside of the mainstream! I’m Piper Tanaka, and I’m your co-host for this programme! I’m joined as usual by the lovely Kestrel Colvin, with Reina Sakamachi in the booth! Now – where were we?”

“You were introducing our guests for this next section,” Kestrel replied in a slightly despairing tone.

“Right! Indie fans, I am joined today by two members of the fabulous up-and-coming indie band Rumor! With me in the studio are frontwoman and lead guitarist Sana Tripathi—”

“Hey! It’s a pleasure to be here.”

“—and bad girl bassist Arkady Patel.”

“Bad girl?” Arkady repeated, sounding halfway between taken aback and annoyed. Kestrel just shook her head.

“Ignore her. She’s got a thing for a certain… aesthetic.”

Next to Arkady, Sana was doing an incredibly poor job of hiding her laughter. “It’s the combat boots,” she whispered to Arkady.

“These are practical,” Arkady told her in a tone that suggested they’d had this conversation a few times. Sana said nothing, but straightened back up with a smirk.

“Sana — or should I call you ‘Captain’?” Piper began playfully. Sana grimaced.

“In hindsight, it was a poor choice to share that nickname in an interview.”

“You know, I think it suits you,” said Piper. “There’s something commanding about your aura. Sana, you and the band — which I understand you and Arkady originally started as a duo a few years ago—”

“That’s right,” Sana confirmed.

“You’ve always had a dedicated and loyal following, even from your early days — and we’re proud to have been playing your music here on this station for almost as long — but I think it’s fair to say the past few months have seen that rocket to a whole new level,” Piper said. “You got signed to a record label belonging to the mysterious but notoriously discerning Red Gregor, are working on your second album, and played a major gig at the CUI stadium just a few weeks ago. And we are definitely going to talk later about what went down at that gig, which is already the stuff of online legend — but first I want to backtrack a little, because I think the moment that everything started happening for you was when you added a new member to your band. In the middle of a gig, if the rumours are true. Can you tell us how that happened?”

Sana and Arkady exchanged a sidelong glance, and Arkady gave Sana a tiny nod. Sana took a deep breath, and began to tell the story.

---

“Jeeter, for the last time, put the keytar away,” Arkady said irritably as she and Sana entered the draughty, abandoned warehouse that the band was using as their current rehearsal space. The acoustics were pretty weird, probably due to all the broken windows, but it was otherwise hard to beat a free place to rehearse — especially a free place with no asshole neighbours who would yell at them to turn it down and threaten to call the cops.

Admittedly, it was in kind of a rough area, but Arkady had only needed to knock someone unconscious with her bass once.

In retaliation, Brian played another bright riff on his beloved instrument, accompanied by some jazzy keyboard chords from Krejjh. The two had been jamming together before Arkady and Sana arrived. “Dude, c’mon, can’t you hear how good this sounds?” Brian wheedled. “How many other indie bands do you know that have a keytar?”

“None. For good reason,” Arkady said, unzipping her case and slinging her bass around her neck. Sana, unpacking the sound equipment, smiled in fond amusement at their well-worn argument.

“It would give us such a great edge! Totally unique. And Krejjh and I have so many ideas that would sound great with both instruments—”

“Okay, Jeeter,” Arkady interrupted him, twiddling one of her tuning pegs. “You can play the keytar. Just as soon as you find us someone else who can play the drums.” She stooped to plug her bass into the portable amplifier that Sana had just unpacked. “Or are you planning to grow an extra pair of hands so you can play both at once?”

“Oooh! No, I should have an extra pair of hands!” Krejjh immediately (and predictably) enthused. “Then I’d sound four times as awesome! Four hands, all rockin’ out!”

“I think you mean ‘twice as awesome’,” Sana told them, as Brian reluctantly put away his keytar and picked up his neglected drumsticks.

“With me, twice the hands equals four times the awesome,” Krejjh replied with irrefutable logic. Brian laughed and held up a hand.

“Dude, high five.”

Sana waited for the two of them to finish their congratulatory high-five before she called the band to order. “Okay, guys — remember that we’re only a few days out from our gig at the IGR Corp function, so we need to have our crowd-pleasers up to standard.”

Arkady immediately wrinkled her nose. “Ugh, corporates. Why are we taking money from them again?”

“Because we need to pay for rent and food,” Sana said, bluntly. “And they’re giving us a lot for it. I know none of us love playing corporate gigs—”

“Understatement.”

“—but we are living a hand to mouth existence at this point, and if I can guarantee our survival as a band by relieving some corporates of their excess funds, then I’m going to do just that,” Sana continued. She waited a beat, and then added, “Also, we’re gonna let them get really drunk and then start playing our best anti-capitalist anthems, and see how long it takes for them to notice.”

Arkady broke into a shit-eating grin. “That’s more like it.” Krejjh cheered, and Brian did a little run-down on his drumkit, hitting each of the drums in turn.

“All right, let’s start with ‘Fear for the Storm’? One, two, three, four…” Sana started strumming the intro on her guitar, joined after a few beats by Krejjh’s melody on the keyboard.

“So long, can’t dodge the dawn, red light shines on and on and on and on and on…”

---

Arkady had been on edge ever since the band set foot in the agonisingly hipster office complex — excuse me, ‘headquarters’ — belonging to IGR Corp.

It wasn’t just the fact that these guys were extremely corporate corporates, or that the whole place radiated an almost aggressively minimalist aesthetic, or that the walls were covered in bullshit, chipper slogans that were all fancy ways of saying, ‘Work should be your existence – if isn’t, you’re dead to us’ — although those things sure as hell didn’t help, reminding her of the absolute worst parts of every soul-sucking corporate job she’d worked before Sana mercifully re-entered her life and suggested they form a band.

No, there was just this weird vibe, like everyone was super on edge and trying to hide it — the higher-ups were stone-faced, muttering into earpieces or barking orders at underlings, who scurried, terrified, to carry out their wishes. And everyone else, from the tech types in plain white T-shirts and jeans to the smartly-dressed sales reps in suits, looked like they were there on pain of death. Wasn’t this supposed to be a party?

The atmosphere didn’t go unnoticed by the other band members. “Kind of a weird feel to this place,” Jeeter remarked as he unpacked his drumkit on the raised platform at the front of the ‘rec center’ where they would be performing. Normally, setting up was a noisy, clumsy affair, with the band elbowing each other, tripping over wires, and getting in each other’s way in the tiny space they were afforded in bars and nightclubs. Here, the platform that would be their makeshift stage was huge and extremely visible — but everyone was completely ignoring them. There was also very little background noise for a room packed with people, and the band found themselves speaking in hushed murmurs, almost tiptoeing around. “You’d think there would be a bit more… chatter?”

“Maybe the alcohol just isn’t flowing yet,” Sana speculated, but she sounded uneasy as she looked out over the tense crowd. Even Krejjh, with their signature hot pink, heart-shaped sunglasses perched on top of their dyed-lavender hair, dressed in a clashing, flamboyant jumble of clothes and accessories, seemed subdued.

Arkady plugged in her bass with a burst of static, and deliberately played a loud riff. Brian startled and dropped his drumstick, but not a single member of the sea of blandly-dressed IGR Corp employees flinched.

Weird.

The sound equipment was all set up, sound check performed and instruments tuned by half past, but the set wasn’t due to start until o’clock. Normally, Arkady would be making a beeline for the bar, but she didn’t really feel like rubbing shoulders with any of these weird drones. She found herself reflexively checking the exits, mentally charting their fastest route out of there in case something really fucked up started going down. Sana half-jokingly called it paranoia; Arkady called it long, hard experience.

It was on one of her scans of the room that she noticed the woman with the septum piercing. Arkady chalked it up to professional interest — as a kid, she’d picked up some extra money working as an assistant in a tattoo and piercing shop, The Landing. She’d first met Sana there when the other woman came in on several occasions to have work done on an amazingly intricate floral sleeve tattoo — her own design. Later, Sana had led a campaign to save The Landing from being shut down over a bunch of bullshit health code violations so that the billionaire Cresswin family — who owned the property — could sell it off to a shitty corporation.

The campaign hadn’t worked, and there was now a high rise office block where Arkady’s home from home had once stood. But Arkady had never forgotten Sana.

Anyway, it was definitely the woman’s piercing and not anything else about her appearance that caught Arkady’s attention first. But then she noticed that there was something off about her body language and the way she was moving — something that Arkady recognised. She wasn’t scurrying about in a panic or affecting bored disinterest; her eyes were flickering around the room, carefully monitoring the comings and goings of the other employees while seeming not to do so. There were little devices studded around the room that Arkady had clocked as security cameras the moment they entered (it was the kind of thing she made a habit of noticing), and she saw the woman glancing up at them.

She was dressed like an employee – white blouse, dark rinse blue jeans – so why was she acting like she was casing the joint? Of course, Arkady reasoned, the outfit could easily have been chosen to blend in. It didn’t necessarily mean she worked there.

“Seen something interesting, ‘Kady?” Sana asked playfully. Arkady didn’t startle, but it was a near thing; she’d been so focused on watching this woman.

Unfortunately, Sana saw where she’d been looking. “You know, we’ve still got close to half an hour before we start our first set,” she said. “You can go and mingle.”

“I’m not here to socialise,” Arkady said witheringly. “Least of all with corporate drones.” She tore her eyes away from the woman to meet Sana’s amused look.

“I’m just saying, you seemed pretty absorbed there…” Sana said, and Arkady rolled her eyes, determined not to respond to her best friend’s teasing. She glanced back at the spot where the woman had been standing and found it empty.

A second later, Arkady had found her again, weaving through the crowd with her head ducked down. She was taking an odd route across the room that Arkady realised must have been calculated to avoid the security cameras. Occasionally she disappeared, behind people or objects (like a huge, obviously fake ficus plant), but it wasn’t hard for Arkady to spot her again. Clearly there was some kind of purpose to what she was doing, but the woman wasn’t a professional.

There was an elevator against the far wall, and as Arkady watched, the doors opened and a small group of people in suits – latecomers to the party – walked out of it. The woman mingled with them briefly, and then disappeared inside the elevator. The doors closed.

Well, that had been a way to kill five minutes, but now Arkady was stuck with nothing to do again. Krejjh and Jeeter had pulled out a pack of cards, and were playing one of their weird games on top of Krejjh’s keyboard. Arkady turned to Sana, about to make another comment about how much this place creeped her out, when she caught sight of the other person moving across the room.

Judging by the expensive suit, they were a higher-up, and were taking none of the precautions the woman had when making their way across the room, which suggested that they were confident about being allowed to do whatever it was they were doing. And to Arkady, it looked an awful lot like they were following the woman she’d seen. Based on the way the suit jacket fell, she’d also bet even money that they were armed.

Sure enough, the suit called the elevator, and disappeared into it a second later. Arkady swore under her breath.

It was none of her goddamn business whether a person she didn’t even know might be in danger, Arkady told herself. She was here to play music, not to get in the middle of whatever might be going down at this godawful corporation. Which again, was none of her business anyway.

Her resolve lasted all of ten seconds.

“I’m going to get a drink,” she told Sana, and placed her bass onto its stand.

“Oooh! Bring me a cocktail – no, a mocktail!” Krejjh said. Sana just looked at her quizzically.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Arkady nodded briefly. “I’ll be right back,” she said, and jumped down off the platform.

She wasn’t under any illusions that Sana wouldn’t notice where she was going, and just hoped that her best friend would trust her to be back in time for the set. She slipped through the crowd, following the same path that the woman had taken to avoid the watchful eyes of the security cameras.

This worked right up until she entered the elevator, where sure enough, a security camera was embedded into the top corner. How had this woman planned to avoid getting caught?

Arkady pulled out her smartphone, and began to quickly and expertly worm her way into the closed network that IGR Corp was using for its security systems. After just a few moments, she’d managed to identify the IP address that the lift camera was using, and wow, whoever had set up this system was either incredibly lazy or was trying to lay out a welcome mat for hackers. They hadn’t bothered to change the default access password.

Arkady wound back the last few minutes of recorded video, and watched as the woman with the septum piercing pressed the button for the top floor. Arkady did the same, and as the elevator moved upwards, she introduced a glitch that would cause the security camera to loop footage of an empty elevator instead of showing who was actually inside. Then she worked to edit out the archive footage of the woman riding up in the elevator, and of herself getting in.

If it turned out that there was nothing weird going on here after all, well, she’d had some fun exploiting the corporates’ shitty security system.

But Arkady was pretty sure there was something weird going on.

The elevator came to a silent stop, and Arkady silently thanked the deities she didn’t really believe in for the fact that this place was too hipster to have an elevator that made a noise when it arrived at the right floor. The doors slid open, and Arkady immediately spotted another security camera on exiting the elevator. God, these corporates were paranoid. But apparently not paranoid enough to pay their security person to do their job properly.

Annoyingly, the security cameras for this floor seemed to be on a separate network, and Arkady started another hack as she crept down the corridor, straining her ears for the sounds of a confrontation. Further down, she saw an office door swinging open, as if someone had gone through it in a hurry. Arkady approached it, being careful to stay out of sight of the doorway. Closer to, she could hear a voice coming from inside – the suit’s, if she had to guess.

“…sure CEO Golding-Frederick will be very interested to hear just what you’re doing in her office, Ms. Liu.”

“Seiders, I can explain,” the woman – Liu – replied, her voice high with tension. “Project ADVANCE – it’s not what we’ve been told. The company is using it to-”

“What the company may or may not be doing with Project ADVANCE is not your concern,” Seiders said smoothly, over her, “and is a long way above your pay grade. But I’d be very interested to learn where you got your information from.”

“Do you know what’s going on at this company?” Liu demanded, outraged. “And that’s – you have no problems with what they’re doing?”

The closed network for the top floor of the building was much less of a pushover than the elevator, and Arkady kept half of her attention on the conversation inside the room as she worked to find a flaw in the system. Finally, she made it in, and began trying different password combinations for the camera in the hallway.

“It’s not my job to ask questions, Ms. Liu,” Seiders had been saying. “Neither is it yours. And if you value your job – not to mention the safety and security of your loved ones – you’ll step away from that computer, and go back downstairs to the party.”

“Are you threatening me? Are you threatening my family?” Liu demanded. “No, I’m not going to stay silent about this. Someone has to take a stand against what this company is doing. And if anything happens to me, that’ll only raise more questions.”

“We’re very good at making those questions go away,” said Seiders, and Arkady heard Liu suck in a breath. She moved so that she could see inside the room and shit, that was a gun. Arkady rapidly began calculating her angle of attack. “Didn’t you ever wonder what happened to Connors from Engineering?”

“That’s not – you can’t just make a person disappear,” Liu said, desperately. “I – I have insurance! Documents that I’ve sent to a friend of mine. If I don’t check in with them in two hours, they’re going to send them to a journalist contact, and it’ll be all over the press in the morning.”

Arkady could hear the lie in her voice so clearly, and she knew Seiders could, too. “If you had enough evidence to be worth a damn, you wouldn’t have broken into this office,” they replied. “I’m going to ask you one last time. Step away from the-”

Arkady slammed into the room, deliberately making as much noise as she could to draw Seiders’ attention. She took two, three steps towards them and grabbed their gun hand, forcing it down and towards the floor. She managed to hook one arm around their throat, pulling back and applying pressure. Seiders choked, struggling and jerking against Arkady’s grip. With the hand that was holding their gun hand, Arkady twisted and pulled their fingers open, causing the weapon to drop to the floor.

“Liu, grab the gun!” Arkady ordered. She saw the other woman yank something out of the computer that looked like a flash drive, stowing it inside her blouse. She dove for the gun at the same time that Seiders managed to thrust an elbow back, driving it into Arkady’s midsection.

All the air left Arkady’s lungs and as she struggled to draw a breath in, Seiders took advantage of her loosened grip to twist free. They grappled with Liu for the gun, but Liu succeeded in kicking it away, where it spun underneath a nearby cabinet. Then Arkady was on Seiders again, jumping onto their back and choking them.

She heard the sound of running footsteps, and someone else burst into the room. Arkady didn’t get a chance to see who it was before Seiders slammed their head back, knocking into Arkady’s and making bright white lights explode across her vision. She dropped to the floor and staggered, trying to clear her head.

She heard an oof and a thud, and blinked rapidly, sure that she would open her eyes to see Seiders bearing down on Liu – or worse, standing over her unconscious body.

Instead, she was greeted with the sight of Seiders crumpling like a sack of potatoes as Sana flexed her fist, having delivered a powerful uppercut that knocked them out cold.

Silence reigned for a few seconds, broken only by Liu’s sharp, panicked breaths. Rubbing her head, Arkady said, “Hey, Sana.”

“The next time you decide to go off on a rescue mission,” Sana said, wryly, “you could at least tell me where you’re going.” She frowned as she took in Arkady’s dishevelled state. “Is your head all right?”

“I’ll be fine,” said Arkady. She was more concerned with Liu, who looked like she might be on the verge of a panic attack. “Hey, uh, it’s okay. We took care of them.”

“Who-” Liu managed, taking deep breaths in and out, clearly trying to steady her breathing. “Who are you?”

Sana smiled at her, warm and reassuring. “My name is Sana Tripathi, and this is Arkady Patel. We’re-”

There was a noise that sounded not unlike a herd of elephants storming down the corridor, and Arkady closed her eyes. She had a bad feeling she knew what was about to happen. Sure enough, in the next second Krejjh and Jeeter clattered through the door in all their clashing multicoloured glory: Jeeter in his signature loud paid shirt and those stupid khakis, and Krejjh with their… everything. Most of the clattering was coming from Krejjh’s many bangles.

“Cap’n Tripathi!” Krejjh said. “We’re here to assist you with – oh my god, are they dead?” They stared at the unconscious form of Seiders on the floor.

“They’re not dead, they’re just unconscious,” Arkady said, irritated. “Did you two really take off without anyone to watch the equipment?”

Sana turned back to Liu like nothing had happened. “We’re the band,” she finished succinctly. “I’m the guitarist and lead singer, Arkady here plays the bass, and Krejjh and Brian are our keyboardist and drummer.” She indicated each of them in turn. Jeeter waved, and Krejjh saluted for some reason. “And who are you?”

Liu blinked at her. “You… you just saved my life, and you don’t even know who I am?” she said. “Why would you do that?”

“For one thing, because you’d probably be dead if we hadn’t,” Arkady said. “You’re welcome for that, by the way.” She pulled out the phone to finish the hack on the security cameras that she’d started before she entered the room.

“I – no, I know that. I’m not ungrateful,” Liu said, sounding a little stung. “I’m just a little… in shock. My name is Violet Liu,” she added to Sana. “I, uh, work in IGR Corp’s neuroresearch division.”

“Good to meet you, Violet Liu,” Sana said, sounding like they were old friends catching up at the bar instead of total strangers talking to each other over an unconscious body. “’Kady, are you erasing the security footage?”

Arkady nodded.

“Good; Brian and I will carry our friend here,” Sana indicated Seiders with her foot, “into the hallway. I think I noticed a closet there we can hide them in.”

“Uh… are you guys really the band?” Liu asked, as Sana and Jeeter – who was much stronger than he looked – bent down to pick up Seiders. “You seem very…” She struggled to find the right words. “…good at this.”

“We have some unorthodox skillsets,” Sana said, beaming and dimpling at her. “We don’t normally make a habit of rescuing people in the middle of a gig, but Arkady has a soft spot for damsels in distress.”

Arkady fumbled her phone, and nearly dropped it. “Sana,” she hissed, mortified. Sana, who was already partway out of the door, winked and disappeared into the hallway.

After a moment, Arkady realised that she and Liu were the only ones in the room, Krejjh evidently having decided to go along and supervise, or something. She refocused her attention on the hack she was carrying out; she’d managed to hack the hallway security camera, and was erasing the footage from that, but she still needed to do the one in the office.

“Uh…” Liu awkwardly broke the silence. “Is there anything that you need me to…”

“Is anyone likely to be monitoring the security cameras in real-time?” Arkady asked her. The question came out sounding a little harsher than she’d intended, but it was hard to be diplomatic when she was focused on trying to break into a security system. Also, it was a little annoying that Liu apparently hadn’t thought about security cameras beyond the ones on the ground floor.

“N-no, the system is all automated,” Liu replied. Well, that was something, at least. “I, uh, I do have a virus that I was planning to use on the security system that would corrupt the footage. I just needed to find an access point.”

Fine, so there had been a plan of sorts. “This is quicker,” Arkady told her. “And the way I’m doing it, it won’t be so obvious that someone has tampered with the footage.”

“Thank you for that,” Liu said, quietly. “And thank you for – I mean, you don’t even know me, but you came up here to help me. Why?”

Arkady shrugged, keeping her shoulders hunched and avoiding Liu’s gaze. “You looked like you were in trouble,” she said shortly. And that was the office camera done. Arkady resisted the urge to change the password to something rude, and withdrew from the network. “And I don’t like corporations. What were you trying to do, blow the whistle on them or something?”

“Um, I-”

Before she could explain, Sana poked her head back into the room. “Arkady, are you done? Because I don’t think we should be hanging around up here.”

“I’m done,” Arkady said with a nod, pocketing her phone. The two of them joined Sana, Krejjh and Jeeter in the hallway.

“We need a plan to get Violet back downstairs and out of the building without her being seen,” Sana said quickly. “’Kady, do you think you two can make it out in fifteen minutes?”

Arkady huffed. “I can hack the security cams, but I can’t actually make us invisible,” she pointed out. “People are gonna notice us. If we waited until you guys started the set, then we might have a better chance, while everyone’s attention is on the band.”

“Listen – it’s not that I don’t really appreciate the help,” Liu cut in. Her face was set, like she was preparing to go to the gallows. “But none of this needs to be your problem. It’s my mess, and I can get myself out of it. You guys should go and start your set.”

“Oh, pshaw!” said Krejjh. “We’re not just gonna leave you to the bears!”

Jeeter smiled. “To the wolves,” he corrected Krejjh.

“Are y’sure? Because bears can be pretty terrifying.”

“We’re not about to abandon you now,” Sana said to Liu, gently. “Between the five of us, I’m sure we can figure out a pretty good plan.”

“Can’t we just pretend to be loading something into the truck?” Jeeter suggested. “And Violet can help us? We could give her a band jacket – make her look like she’s with us-”

“It’s too bad you don’t play!” Krejjh said to Violet. “We could add you into the set. The ultimate entourage!”

“Uh…” Violet said (at the same time as Arkady said, “Camouflage.”) “I mean, I do play something? But you guys already have a drummer.”

“Wait, you’re a drummer?” Jeeter said delightedly, as Krejjh straightened up so fast that Arkady thought they’d pull a muscle. Even Sana looked interested. “Are you good?”

“Have you ever played with a band before?” added Sana.

Liu smiled and shrugged awkwardly. “Well, drums aren’t really a solo instrument, so yeah. I used to jam with some friends in high school, and played some underground rock concerts in college. I was never really with a band – we just sort of used to form collectives based on who was around and wanted to play. It was fun, though.”

She’d avoided answering the question about how good she was, Arkady noticed, which probably meant she was good and was being modest about it. Goddamn it.

“So if, hypothetically speaking,” Sana said, “you joined a set without having rehearsed any of the music beforehand, would you be able to figure out a drum part?”

“Okay, hold on,” said Arkady, before Violet could respond. “Don’t you think IGR Corp is going to notice that one of their employees has just… joined the band?”

“We’ll swear up and down that it isn’t her,” Jeeter said. “And even if someone figures it out, what are they gonna do about it in front of everyone?”

“But wait, what about you?” Liu asked Jeeter. “Wouldn’t I be putting you out of a role in the band?”

“Nah,” Jeeter said happily. “I brought my keytar!”

“Oh my god,” Arkady groaned. She could tell when she was fighting a losing battle, but it didn’t stop her from making one last, token protest. “This is going to sound really goddamn weird.”

Sana grinned at her. “Well, you wanted to annoy some corporates,” she pointed out. “What better way to do it?”

---

The problem was, the new line-up didn’t sound weird at all.

It sounded good.

Liu, hastily disguised with an old band jacket and a spare pare of Krejjh’s sunglasses, fitted in with their set like she’d been rehearsing with them for weeks – months even. They did a quick sound check, Jeeter looking far too delighted as he amped up his keytar. Sana gave her usual cheerful introduction into the microphone, introducing the band as Renegade, the name they adopted for corporate gigs (Arkady was even more glad of it now, since it would make them harder to track down later). After a lukewarm reception from the assembled employees (none of whom seemed to notice, or care, that the band had grown an extra member), they launched into their first number, a reimagined cover of ‘What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor’.

It started off with Sana singing alone, before Krejjh joined in, their voices singing in close harmony, and then Arkady and finally Jeeter, the harmonies becoming increasingly layered as they went. The addition of the keytar made the song sound futuristic, almost the kind of thing you could imagine crews of space explorers singing together as they made their way into the unknown.

Liu picked up the beat easily, and as the song unfolded Arkady suddenly realised she could hear a fifth strand to the harmony, weaving in and out of the other voices, soft but distinctive: Liu was singing.

They moved on from the conventional crowd-pleasing openers to a more eclectic mix of songs, including some punk and anarchist numbers. Each time, Arkady was sure that the choice was going to throw Liu off, but she adapted smoothly to each one, altering her style to fit the vibe of the song. In one of the louder, heavier songs she even threw in an impromptu drum solo that had Krejjh whooping at the keyboard and Sana laughing as she riffed on her guitar.

Sana threw Arkady a look as the song ended, and there was a light in her eyes that Arkady knew far, far too well. It was the same light that Arkady had seen when Sana tracked her down at her latest deadbeat job and persuaded her to quit and start playing music with her; the same light that she’d had when they met Brian and Krejjh a year later and Sana had decided to turn their duo into a band.

Sana wanted Liu to join Rumor. And Arkady couldn’t even think of a good argument against it, apart from the fact that they barely knew anything about the woman other than that she could play the drums. And that she was a corporate, which Arkady thought was important not to lose sight of, even if Liu wasn’t on the greatest terms with her employer any more.

Speaking of which. Arkady was on high alert throughout the whole set, constantly scanning the crowd for signs of trouble, anyone who might be looking too closely at Liu or showed signs of moving towards the elevator. As they’d been setting up, Liu had told them that Seiders was middle management: someone who outranked her, but not someone who held a position of particular influence within the company or had the ear of the CEO. Someone who had ambitions above their station. It didn’t mean no-one would notice them missing, of course; but it meant that they might be someone who, for instance, would go after a rogue employee without notifying their superior, hoping to reap all of the credit.

The band moved into their final number, ‘Landers Never Stand Down’ – one of Sana and Arkady’s early compositions, whose lyrics Sana had written as a tribute to The Landing, and her and Arkady’s shared history. Normally, Arkady would object to wasting it on a corporate audience, but tonight, it felt like the right kind of ‘fuck you’.

“Landers never stand down,

Landers never bow,

Landers never stand down,

We don’t know how…”

They wound up the song in their usual fashion, repeating the chorus and getting fiercer and more defiant with each repetition, before ending in a final blaze of guitar chords.

“Thank you, everyone, you’ve been a wonder to perform for!” Sana said into the microphone as the chords faded away. She said the same thing at the end of every gig, but it had never felt more like a colossal understatement. “We’ve been Renegade, and we hope you have a great night!”

There was a small scattering of applause. Sana beamed out into the audience again, and then turned away from the microphone, sliding the power to ‘off’. “Well, that was-”

“Attention, all IGR Corp employees,” came a voice over the loudspeaker system. Sana froze, and Liu, who’d been leaning over to say something to Krejjh, paled visibly. “Please stay where you are. We will be carrying out a routine attendance check. Please do not exit the building.”

“Attendance check?” Arkady repeated.

“It’s a standard employee procedure,” Liu explained. “To make sure everyone’s… accounted for at corporate functions. Supposedly they’re optional, but it looks really bad if you’re not there and you don’t have a reason.”

“Do we think there’s a chance this is linked to…” Sana gestured towards the elevator. Liu shrugged helplessly.

“It could be, but even if it’s not, they’re gonna discover that Seiders is missing pretty quickly. And that I’m… unaccounted for.”

“Don’t worry,” said Jeeter, reassuringly. “We’ll figure out a way to get you out before that happens.”

“Dashing escapes are our speciality!” Krejjh contributed. This was true; the band hadn’t always played at the most above-the-board venues, and there’d been more than a few times they’d needed to get the hell out of Dodge before things got ugly. Well, uglier.

Sana nodded. “For now, just keep packing down, like nothing’s wrong,” she said.

As Krejjh packed down their keyboard and Jeeter helped Liu to disassemble the drumkit, Arkady said to Sana, “I’ll go with Liu, and we can sneak out a back entrance-”

Sana shook her head. “It’ll be more suspicious if we’re not seen leaving as a group.”

“We’ll just say we’re going to the bathroom,” Arkady said. “We’re allowed to do that, aren’t we?”

Sana started to reply, but then stopped, squinting at something on the other side of the room. Arkady tried to follow her gaze, but couldn’t see what she was looking at. “What is it?”

“I thought I saw…” Sana shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s try the front way first, and if they won’t let us leave, we’ll get creative.”

Unsurprisingly, when they carried the first load of equipment over to the rec room entrance, two stoic-looking IGR employees blocked their path, bouncer-style. Arkady eyed one of them, pretty sure she could take her in a one-to-one fight.

“Sorry, we can’t let you leave while an attendance check is ongoing,” said the employee, with a bland detachment. “Company policy.”

“It should only take about an hour,” the other added. “You can enjoy the free refreshments while you wait.”

An hour? Even if they hadn’t had a very pressing reason to get the hell out of there, Arkady would have been looking for the nearest fire escape to break out of. They were just supposed to cool their heels at IGR headquarters for an hour?

“Can we not at least load our equipment into the van in the meantime?” Sana asked reasonably. “This is a very heavy amplifier…” She made a show of struggling with the amp she’d been lifting with ease a few seconds ago, and Arkady suppressed a snort.

One of the corporates had opened their mouth, looking like they were about to object, when a friendly voice spoke from behind them. “Is there a problem here?”

They all turned to look at the person who’d spoken, and Arkady carefully masked her surprise: the tall, dark-skinned man dressed in an expensive-looking suit jacket, T-shirt and jeans combination was none other than Red Gregor, a close friend of Campbell’s. They’d met him once or twice, but what was he doing here?

“Who are you?” asked Corporate One, audibly unimpressed.

“Theodore Gregor; I’m the band’s executive producer,” Gregor introduced himself smoothly, handing Corporate Two a business card. Their eyes widened at whatever was written on it. “My clients have another engagement to get to tonight, so you can understand why it’s very important they be allowed to leave promptly. Additionally, their contract stipulates that they’re only obliged to perform for your company until-” he made a show of checking a gold watch, “-nine-thirty P.M., after which time we’ll need to bill you for every additional half-hour. Will your supervisors be signing off on the additional expenses?”

Corporates One and Two were visibly thrown by the torrent of information. Krejjh made a noise that was hastily stifled, while Arkady did her best to look bored and important.

“I… no, let me just contact my superior to get you the all-clear,” said Corporate One, reluctantly. “Johnson will help you to load your equipment into your…” She eyed the band’s battered van, visibly out of place in the parking lot full of sleek cars. “…vehicle.”

“Great!” Sana said brightly, handing the amplifier to Corporate Two, who took it and staggered slightly. As Corporate One spoke into a walkie-talkie, Sana and Red Gregor strode quickly ahead, the rest of the band trailing behind. Arkady lengthened her steps to catch up with them so that she could hear their quiet exchange.

“…doing here? Did Campbell send you?” Sana was asking Red Gregor.

“In a manner of speaking,” Red Gregor said. “He talks about you so much, I wanted to come and hear what all the fuss was about. Love the new line-up – you guys sound completely different to when I last heard you play.”

“It’s kind of a new thing,” Sana admitted. “New as of… today. I can fill you in, it’s just a long story.”

“I can’t wait to hear it,” Red Gregor said, and Arkady remembered that she’d liked him, the couple of times that they’d met. She could see why he and Campbell were good friends. “But let’s focus on getting you out of here. I’m guessing you need an exit?”

“And fast,” Sana agreed.

“Well, fast’s your speciality,” Red Gregor said with a grin. Sana smiled back at him, and Arkady wondered if Red was basing this off stories from Campbell, or if he and Sana knew each other better than Arkady had realised. It was a strange thought to have in the middle of everything.

Sana unlocked the van and slid open the back door. While Krejjh, Jeeter and Liu loaded their items into the trunk, overseen by Corporate Two, Red Gregor pretended to help Arkady and Sana with their instruments.

“So what now?” Arkady asked Sana. “I think I can probably take Johnson.”

“Arkady, you’ve already been in one fight today,” Sana said, disapproving.

“What’s your point?”

“I have a more bloodless suggestion,” Red Gregor said. “You’ve got a few pieces of equipment left in the venue, right? I’ll go back inside with Johnson to ‘collect’ them, say we’re going to check their supervisor has given you the go-ahead, and you guys make a break for it. I’ll bring the equipment in my car and meet you at the dive bar, half a mile down the road.”

“Are you sure you’ll be able to get away? What happens when they realise we’re gone?” Sana asked.

“I’ll come up with something,” Red Gregor assured her. “Just focus on getting yourselves out of here.”

He walked over to Johnson, who was slightly bemusedly watching Jeeter and Liu (who were clearly stalling for time) rearrange pieces of the drumkit in the trunk, and took him by the arm, steering him back towards the building and talking rapidly all the while.

“As soon as they’re out of sight, everyone needs to get in the van quickly,” Sana instructed. “And hang onto something. Okay? Now!”

Krejjh slammed the trunk of the van shut and everyone piled into the back without a word of protest. Arkady jumped into the front as Sana slid into the driver’s seat, reversing out of the parking space like a shot and executing an alarming hairpin turn to get them onto the road. Liu cried out in alarm, not used to Sana’s driving, and Arkady hung grimly onto the handle on the inside of her door.

“Everyone okay back there?” Sana asked, peering into the rearview mirror.

Arkady looked back to see Jeeter and Krejjh scrambling to put on their seatbelts, each of them having thrown an arm over Liu to keep her in place. “Oops, sorry, I forgot we don’t have a seatbelt for the middle!” Sana said cheerfully as they thudded over a speedbump. Liu closed her eyes. “There’s normally only four of us.”

“It’s not far to where we’re going, right, Captain?” asked Jeeter.

“Just a half mile down the road,” said Sana. “Red Gregor’s going to meet us there with the rest of the equipment, as soon as he can get away.”

“What was he doing at the gig? Did Campbell tell him where we were?”

“I think so. He said that he wanted to come and hear us play,” Arkady said, watching buildings blur past on either side of them. “I guess it was lucky he did.”

“We would’ve figured something out,” Krejjh said confidently.

“Uh, who’s Campbell?” Liu asked, cautiously opening her eyes again.

“He’s our… manager? Kinda?” Krejjh replied. “He doesn’t tell us what to do or anything, but he has a lot of contacts, so he gets us most of our gigs.”

“Contacts in the music industry? Or contacts in like… events venues, bars and clubs?”

“Yes,” Krejjh said helpfully.

“He just has a lot of contacts,” Jeeter said with a smile. Arkady smirked at Liu’s look of consternation.

“Tonight’s gig did not come through Campbell,” said Sana, spotting the dive bar Red Gregor had specified and indicating to turn off the road. “We got it through an agency, Fowleys. I guess that’ll teach us not to go outside Campbell’s network.”

“Hey, it worked out!” Krejjh said. “We got a new drummer out of the deal.”

“Well, for tonight, at least,” Sana said, now reversing into a parking space. “I gotta say, Violet, the way you fitted in with our sound? That was amazing. Our set sounded better than I could’ve imagined.”

Liu blushed. “They were great songs,” she demurred, as the van came to a stop.

“Too bad it was wasted on IGR Corp,” Arkady remarked, undoing her seat belt as they all climbed out of the van.

They got a table in the corner of the dive bar, which was pretty full and made it easy to blend in. As Sana went to get them all drinks, Krejjh and Jeeter started up some kind of nonsensical word game. Arkady and Liu glanced at each other occasionally, but otherwise sat in awkward silence.

Finally, Arkady asked something that had been on her mind since she intervened in the confrontation between Liu and Seiders, though it had taken a back seat to more pressing concerns. “What was it you were trying to get from that computer, anyway?”

“Sorry?” Liu asked, looking away from Krejjh and Jeeter, where she’d been listening in on the game with a slightly baffled expression.

“In the CEO’s office,” Arkady clarified. “I saw you take a flash drive out of the computer. What were you trying to get?”

“Oh,” Liu said, drawing out the little drive from inside her blouse. “Yeah, I was… trying to copy some files onto it. I’m not sure how much I got, though – I had to pull it out before the transfer was complete, and I think they’re encrypted.”

“What kind of files are they?” Arkady asked, thinking that she could probably break the encryption in an afternoon. Maybe less.

Liu hesitated, and Arkady narrowed her eyes. “You’re not still trying to protect your company, are you? In case you don’t remember-”

“No, no,” Liu said quickly. “I just – I’m not sure if it would be safe to tell you. Safe for you,” she added. “Right now, you have plausible deniability if anyone questions you. You genuinely don’t know what’s on this flash drive. So maybe it would be better to keep it that way.”

Arkady was a little bit pacified by that, but still – “Considering I’ve already aided and abetted you, I think that ship has sailed,” she pointed out. “No-one is going to believe I did it without having any idea what you were up to. Which I’m fine with,” she added, as a guilt-stricken look crossed Liu’s face. “I made a choice to help you, and so did the others. But I may as well know what the stakes are.”

“Yeah, that’s… fair,” admitted Liu. Next to her, Krejjh was doing a fairly poor job of pretending not to listen in. “They’re blueprints. My company – the company – has been developing… do you know what IGR Corp does? What kind of a company it is?”

“Some kind of a tech company?” Arkady said. She vaguely remembered Sana saying something about that when they got the gig. She hadn’t really been paying attention to the details.

Liu nodded. “Smart technology – specifically, smart home technology. We produce – I mean, they produce things like smart security systems, smart doorbells, systems that can detect when someone has a medical emergency. Systems that are designed to help keep people safe.”

Arkady had to work to keep from grimacing. She wasn’t sure that being monitored by a computer 24/7 fitted everyone’s definition of ‘safety’, but maybe Liu had never had cause to doubt that the people with power had her best interests at heart. Lucky her.

“But then,” Liu went on, her voice bitter, “I found out that the latest product we were developing – the one that was supposed to make everyone’s lives so much easier, so much better – is being created as a surveillance device. To eavesdrop on people and send their data back to the company. And I know that a lot of smart devices have audio capabilities, but – this was hardwired in. Impossible to disable. And this weird, secretive new division of the company has been set up to process the data.”

“What are they gonna do with it?” Arkady asked.

“Who knows,” Liu said. “They could be collecting it for the government, but – I think it’s more likely they’re just planning to sell it on to the highest bidder.”

Arkady’s eyes narrowed, and she wished that Sana had brought the drinks already so that she’d have something to down.

“You know,” Liu said, her voice suddenly much softer. “I, uh. I still haven’t thanked you properly for, uh, well-”

“O-kay!” came Sana’s voice, loudly, as she finally arrived at their table carrying a small tray laden with glasses. “Sorry for the delay, guys, there was a heck of a crowd up at the bar. Also, the bartender was really interested in talking to me while he pulled these drinks.” She made a wry expression, her dimple deepening in one cheek. “Cheer up, ‘Kady, I’ve got your favourite-” She slid a pint glass of raspberry ale in front of Arkady.

“Thanks,” Arkady mumbled, not looking at Liu.

Red Gregor arrived not long after, having apparently evaded IGR Corp by pretending that he was going outside to look for the band, and then driving off with the equipment before anyone realised what was happening. Sana passed him a drink from the tray; no-one asked how she already knew his preferred drink order.

“So look,” said Arkady, after they’d done some small talk and toasted to a successful getaway (Sana’s idea, of course). “Not that we didn’t appreciate the save earlier – you had pretty good timing – but why’d you go to all the trouble of coming to an IGR Corp function just to hear us play? How did you even get in?”

“I know a lot of people,” Red Gregor said mysteriously, with a fluid shrug. “As for why I came – you probably don’t know this, but I’ve been getting into the music biz lately.”

Arkady tried to remember what ‘biz’ Red Gregor had been in before, and couldn’t. He was one of those people who seemed to do a bit of everything.

“That’s awesome!” said Krejjh, looking delighted. “Are you going to start a band? Or manage one?”

Red Gregor smiled. “Actually, neither. I’m starting a record label,” he said. “And I want to sign you guys to it.”

Liu choked on her drink; Jeeter said, “Wow, really?” and even Sana looked taken aback. Clearly this hadn’t been the answer she was expecting.

“Us?” she said, as if Gregor could have meant anyone else. “As in…” She gestured around the table, including Liu.

Red Gregor nodded. “Look, your new sound is like nothing I’ve ever heard from a band before,” he said. “Campbell has always spoken highly of you guys, and I really liked your originals the last time I heard you perform. But with this new line-up? I think you could become really big. If that’s something that you want, of course.”

Sana sat back in her chair, looking thoughtful, while Krejjh looked practically ready to vibrate out of theirs with excitement. “That would be a pretty big step for us,” she said. “Not that we wouldn’t love – more exposure, better opportunities-”

“Gigs in legal venues?” put in Jeeter.

“More above-the-board performances,” agreed Sana. “But we’ve only played once with this new line-up. We don’t know for sure if we can replicate that – and I mean, we’d be asking Violet to just drop everything and join us full-time-”

Red Gregor held up his hands. “Like I said, it’s completely up to you,” he said. “I’m not here to pressure you into something you’re not ready for. But don’t underestimate yourselves. I wouldn’t be offering if I didn’t have faith in you guys.”

Sana looked around the table, taking in the mixture of expressions, ranging from Krejjh’s eagerness to Liu’s uncertainty to Arkady’s… Arkady didn’t know what her face was doing. “We’ll have to put it to a vote,” she said, predictably. “And if any of you need more time to think this over-”

“I’m in!” Krejjh said instantly. “We rocked tonight! I want to keep on rocking that hard. And we should totally record an album.”

Jeeter smiled fondly. “I’m on board with anything that will let me keep playing the keytar,” he admitted. “And I thought we sounded pretty awesome, as well.”

Sana looked at Liu. “Violet, you’re the one who this would be the biggest change for,” she said. “The rest of us are already playing in a band full-time. Well, with the odd side gig,” she added, because yeah, they did not yet make enough money from performing to cover the bills. “You barely know us, and you’re not under any obligation to stick around – or to switch careers.”

Liu gave a slightly broken laugh. “Well, I don’t really think I can go back to my old one,” she said. “That option evaporated as soon as one of my colleagues pulled a gun on me. Not… sure I’ve really had time to process that yet.”

Sana nodded. “If it’s too soon-”

“But no amount of processing is going to make my situation any different,” Liu went on. “I could try to get another job in my field, but… IGR Corp is a pretty well-known company. Word’s going to get around that I’m untrustworthy, especially if they put it about that I tried to steal corporate secrets.”

“They can’t do that,” Sana said immediately. “I used to do some union work; whistleblowing is a protected activity, and it’s against the law for them to blacklist you – to make it more difficult for you to obtain future employment.”

Liu smiled slightly. “I don’t think IGR Corp are too concerned with breaking the law,” she pointed out. “I appreciate it, but… this isn’t my first experience with a hostile work environment.”

Okay, so maybe Arkady should take back her earlier thought about Liu never having had cause to distrust the people in power.

“Besides, I haven’t even blown the whistle on them yet – I’m not sure if the information I have is worth anything,” Liu said, a little grimly. “And anyway… I think it’s time for a clean slate. So, if you’ll have me… I’m in.”

Which just left Arkady. She could see how pleased Sana was that Liu was willing to join the band full-time, even though she was trying to hide it. Krejjh and Jeeter, too, were excited – and not just at the prospect of getting better gigs and earning more money (though that was a very appealing prospect).

The fact was, Red Gregor was right – they’d sounded like a completely new band during their performance. Arkady had always liked their stuff (of course she did; she’d even co-written some of it) but the new sound gave it a flair she hadn’t even realised it had been missing. As much as she couldn’t help thinking of the dozens of ways this could go wrong, she wanted them to keep sounding like that. She wanted to see what else they could do.

“‘Kady?” asked Sana.

Arkady took a deep breath. “Sure. Let’s do this.”

[spooks-and-tea]

Entangled (Spencer Reid x femReader) [Ch.11] The Final Chapter.

Summary: You don’t know how it happened. One moment you were watching Criminal Minds, and the next moment you were literally in the show. Can Spencer be the key to helping you find your way back home?

Warnings: minor character death, mentions of su*cide, bad explanations of quantum mechanics, bad words, sexual situations (some non-con), the usual criminal minds-type content

A/N: Some big bad interrogation Spencer vibes. Thanks for reading. This chapter was short, so I just decided 2 chapter posts in one day. Let me know what you thought of the story~Pleeeeease no one repost on other sites without my permission.

Word Count: 2,015

Chapter 1.  Chapter 2.  Chapter 3.  Chapter 4. Chapter 5.  Chapter 6.  Chapter 7.  Chapter 8.  Chapter 9.  Chapter 10.  Chapter 11.  

************************************************************************After Spencer had disappeared, JJ was surprised, to say the least.

She held the unsub by the cuffs as he angrily spoke about Spencer's big genius brain solving an equation in 2 minutes which had taken himself a lifetime of work to figure out. She asked him where the machine had taken Spencer and he replied with all of this talk about quantum mechanics, particle waves, split dimensions, and voids. Stuff that Spencer had been info-dumping about for months, regarding the case.

All JJ cared to know about was if Spencer was safe, and to that the unsub just shrugged.

The first thing the team did when you all returned to the BAU was throw the unsub into an interrogation room.

Spencer was quick to volunteer as the only interrogator in the room, he argued this unsub would react the strongest to him.

The rest of the team were still flustered from all of this inter-dimensional information that Spencer had gone on about on the ride back. You had backed him up wholeheartedly and you were seemingly in great health after being gone for 5 months.

"Alright Reid, you seem to be the only one of us that has a good idea of what's going on. We'll watch from here, and if he gets too aggressive, we'll send someone else in," Hotch agreed.

You watched from the double sided mirror, the unsub was looking at it as if he could see you. You clenched your fists. He was the reason you'd nearly lost Spencer. He was the reason that Spencer looked sick from overworking and you had nightmares for 5 months straight.

"Hey, will you be okay in here?" Spencer lowered his voice to ask you. You had refused to stop holding his hand since you got here. He noticed your fist clenching tighter.

"I don't want him to take you away from me again," you replied.

"He's in handcuffs, and his machine is being collected for evidence. He isn't a wizard, he needs that machine like Nikola Tesla needs an inductor. He can't hurt us anymore," Spencer tried to comfort you, using the soft tone he knew you loved.

"Just don't take too long in there, and give him hell for me, alright?" You stood on your toes and kissed him.

He gave you a small smile and nodded.

You slowly slid your hand from his as he turned to walk out.

When he entered the interrogation room, he was no longer soft-Spencer.

The unsub didn't even turn to look at him, he was fixated on the double mirror. His eyes unnerved you.

You crossed your hands over your chest and leaned against the wall, deciding to keep your eyes steadily on Spencer.

"We know who you are." Spencer spoke. You smiled, recognizing that Spencer was turning the unsub's words to you against him.

Was Spencer purposefully trying to make you happy while he was in the middle of an interrogation?

"I know who you are as well, Dr. Reid," his gritty voice made your skin crawl.

"Good, then you should know that I understand the significance of the science experiments you've been conducting, Dr. Arnold Lynch. You've been labeled as a dangerous person to the entire world; a mad scientist." Spencer sat in a chair, his arms crossed.

"Now they listen." Lynch, rolled his eyes, finally looking at Spencer. His unimpressed gaze trailed up and down, sizing him up.

"I was like you once. Young, an impressive mind; maybe if I had found her sooner she would have loved me." Lynch added. He looked back to the mirror, you tasted bile at the back of your throat.

Spencer leaned forward in his chair, putting his elbows on the table.

"You're trying to change the subject." Spencer pointed out. "Tell me how all of this started. Tell me where your partner, Dr. Deborah Tryst, is hiding and how she helped you."

Lynch's eyes widened. "We were colleagues. She helped me build the machine, and I wrote the equations that made it work. We went in together, the first time."

"She tested the machine with you?" Spencer asked.

"Yes, we experimented. We tried to study the void space for years. Then, one day, a crack formed. Through that crack I saw her." The unsub looked towards you, seemingly locking eyes with you through the one-way glass.

"Y/N?" Spencer clarified.

"Correct. She was spectacular, the girl from a parallel dimension. We didn't know why the crack revealed her at first, but then we saw the string. It was barely noticeable, like a fishing line. It led from her dimensional crack to ours. All it took was a tug on that wire to know who the other end of that line connected to."

He was watching me? What a sick creep!

"Who?"

"Don't play stupid with me Doctor, I know you feel it."

Spencer swallowed, his eyes flicking to you for a moment.

"I should have gotten rid of you when I had the chance. My colleague thought differently. Now that the cracks were open, she observed you both, she knew you both would feel-" he sighed, "-incomplete until you were in the same space. She decided to play matchmaker and ruin everything. I loved Y/N first. Y/N was mine and she was a beacon, a magnificent anomaly! I took her back so she could be my pet; so she would never be yours!" He angrily spat, slamming his fists onto the table. Spencer stood, seething. You felt similarly.

"You had no right!" Spencer's voice was deep and angry. You'd never heard him so angry, other than in the show.

"No, Tryst had no right bringing her to you in the first place!"

"Y/N wants to be here. This is her decision. If you're so convinced you love her, you would want what is best for her."

"What's best for her Dr. Reid, or what's best for you? Is she any better off fighting criminals for the BAU? A job she isn't trained for." He cruelly laughed. "Is putting her in danger just so you can fuck her every once in a while off-duty not selfish? You think I'm the selfish one, look at yourself. You're just expecting her to be the lawful Bonnie to your Clyde, how long until you drive her into a hail of bullets?" Lynch smirked.

Spencer's eyes widened and he gripped the table.

No Spence, don't let him get to you.

"That's it, I'm going in there." Morgan spoke up next to you.

Hotch held his hand up to block him; his eyes on Spencer. "Wait, let Spencer speak. He's getting the unsub to talk, and that's good."

Spencer quickly collected himself, his expression going blank.

"Where is Dr. Deborah Tryst?" Spencer asked.

"Ooh, did I strike a chord, Doctor?" Lynch chuckled, leaning back in his chair.

"Where is Dr. Deborah Tryst?" Spencer repeated, angrier.

"Probably playing matchmaker. There are an infinite amount of dimensions for her to play with." Lynch shrugged.

"She's still in the void?"

"Yup, she's the reason the crack sealed when you two went through. She trapped herself in there and made sure I could never go back. Whatever she's doing, we'll never know for sure because it is impossible to recreate the initial crack. You should know just how improbable it was to create one in the first place, Dr. Reid."

"So there is no further possibility of danger?"

"Not cosmically, but, for our impossible girl over there, who knows what kind of dangerous situations you will put her in." Lynch nodded to the double mirror.

"She is not yours and she will never be yours. We're putting you in a maximum security prison where you will never see her again. So you can sit in your cell for the rest of your life and remember that she's with me, not you." Spencer's eyes darkened. You wanted to end this fight and get him out of there. He was only getting angrier.

Hotch walked through the interrogation room door, holding it open. "Reid," was all he said.

That was it, Spencer had gotten a lengthy confession from the unsub. The details would come up during his trial.

Spencer stood up, not caring about the wobbling chair as he did so. He walked out of the room and you went to the hallway to meet him. You met him as he was stomping down the hall away from you. "Spencer!" You called, hurrying to follow him.

He made his way inside an empty meeting space and you quickly slipped in behind him; closing the door.

He loosened his tie and ran his hands through his hair. You let him cool off for a few moments.

"He's right. I am selfish." He sounded beyond angry, even guilty.

He leaned forward on the meeting table, clenching his fists against the wood.

"He was just trying to get the last word in. Don't pay his words any more attention." You spoke, softly; placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You shouldn't work here. You're not properly trained for the high-intensity, high-risk situations."

"Then I can train. Anyways, I doubt Hotch is going to let me work here now that he knows," you said, sadly. You loved working here. You loved helping people and being with your BAU family. You loved Spencer's daily teasing.

"Being with me puts you in enough danger. I couldn't protect you. What's stopping something from happening to you again?" He looked up at you, though he was still hunched over the table.

"All the other times you protected me." You gave him a small smile. "When Chris threatened me, you confronted him. When I jumped into the lake, you stopped me from drowning. When I was stuck in my dimension, you rescued me from a life of being absolutely miserable without you. When the unsub first encountered us, you stood in front of me even though you couldn't see him. You've protected me far more times than you are choosing to acknowledge. I trust you with my life, Spence."

Spencer's shoulders fell as his breath evened out.

"I love you Y/N, I just don't want you to get hurt." Spencer whispered, his grip on the table loosening. He slowly stood up straight to look at you.

"We aren't some alternate justice-duo, Bonnie and Clyde. We're perfectly capable of protecting each other, and we aren't some crazy serial-killing, bank-robbing couple. We're Spencer and Y/N, the BAU's hottest couple." You spoke with exaggeration and winked.

Spencer gave you a small smile. His hair was a mess, his clothing was wrinkled, and his tie was undone.

"It's been a long day. Take me home?" You asked, giving him your best doe-eyes as you reached up to fix his tie.

"Oh. About that- you're apartment and all your money and assets are sorta gone now. You were presumed dead."

"I'm not talking about that place." You rolled your eyes; unaffected by the news.

You were used to being dirt poor anyways and that house was nothing but an empty shell.

"Home, with you," you explained.

"Oh."

Spencer broke out into a large grin. He wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you into a kiss. His coffee and woodsy-vanilla scent enveloped you like a warm hug. When he pulled away, he held his hand out to you.

"Come on then, I'll take you home."

Home, it was a strange concept. Your now-empty apartment in your dimension was once your home. You'd once almost drowned yourself to try to get back to that place.

Then you fell in love with Spencer, and living with him made you discover what a home truly was. It wasn't where you were from, it was the place you loved to be; the place you felt most comfortable, the most yourself.

Your home was in Spencer's dimension, Spencer's apartment, Spencer's arms, Spencer's everyday gestures, Spencer's smile, Spencer's late night chess games, Spencer's "I love you's," Spencer's raspy morning voice, Spencer's unruly hair, Spencer's hand kisses, Spencer's scrunched nose ticks, Spencer's info-dumps, Spencer's everything.

It was the most improbable circumstance and the one thing you were most thankful for. You got to spend your new life with Spencer.

In the end, Spencer Reid kept his promise; he did help you find your way home. Your way home to him.

[jomarchlover]

Heather

Hi guys! This is my first fanfic that I have ever posted, so sorry if it’s a little cringey or something. I hope y’all enjoy! Love you guys<3

Summary: You are a new member of the stranger things cast and you are getting interviewed with the rest of the cast.

Lots of fluff and gender neutral.

Trigger warnings: Mentions of anxiety and feeling less than.

—————————————————————————-

“So y/n were you scared to start working with your other cast members since you came in on the third season?” The interviewer asked looking over at you expectantly.

“Um yes I was extremely scared. I felt so anxious the entire casting process and then I was so happy to get the role, but then I started feeling really anxious again thinking about how I was going to be acting around some really talented people and of course I didn’t want to mess up and ruin the production. Before I first met the cast I cried for like an hour and finally my mom told me just be the best you can be and so I walked in there with my head held high and immediately went to the farthest corner away from everybody. I was so shy for about the first three weeks of filming but I realized it was affecting my acting so I decided to just completely go for it and be myself and I am so glad I did, because I have made some of the best friends possible.” You rambled on. Slightly blushing after realizing you had just revealed a lot about yourself.

“Oh y/n/n you're going to make us cry” Finn said wiping away fake tears. The heat instantly started rushing into your cheeks. You had liked Finn since the first time you met. He was so cute and nice and also liked similar bands to you. You guys instantly bonded over your love of vinyl.

“Yeah y/n was so shy when they first came on the show we all thought at first they just didn’t like us, but it didn’t take much for us to realize they were just nervous to talk to everyone. The duffers even came to us and told us that at first y/n would probably be very shy but would slowly begin to open up to us. I remember the first time they laughed at a joke and everyone just kinda stopped and looked at them. They have one of the sweetest laughs.” Milly said.

Your heart warmed to Millie’s compliment and you gave her a little kpop heart while blushing. You should really get this blushing under control. It was getting ridiculous at this point.

“Oh y/n/n don’t get all embarrassed on us.” Caleb says laughing reaching over to pinch one of your now inflamed cheeks.

“Sorry I just get so embarrassed remembering how shy I was. I have grown so much since then, and the cast has really helped me gain so much confidence.” You said honestly looking at the interviewer.

“Y/n is like the cast’s baby.” Finn says looking over you.

“I am not.” They reply sassily. Everybody busts out laughing.

“Okay now the next question is for Finn.” The interviewer says looking over at Finn with an evil glint in his eye. You began to feel nervous. He was going to get a bad question wasn’t he.

“Shoot,” Finn says nonchalantly.

“I heard a rumor that you had a crush on one of your castmates while filming. Is this true?”

Now it was Finn’s turn to begin blushing. You had never heard of him having a crush on someone before. Was it Milly? You had thought you and Finn were pretty good friends now why wouldn’t he have told you?

“Man where do you guys get this info? You gotta tell me your source man.” Says Finn jokingly.

“Oh come on now don’t be shy Finny, tell the nice man the truth.” Milly said in a sing-song voice.

“Yeah come on Finn,” said Noah in the back. “Don't be shy.”

“Umm well I guess I may have had a small crush on one of the cast members.”

“Can we hear any details?”

“Well I’m not going to give any details but they are one of the sweetest, most beautiful people in the entire world and I still can’t believe that I was so lucky to even work in the same room as them.

“Wow that doesn’t sound like a little crush that sounds a lot like love my friend.” The interviewer says jokingly to Finn.

After that little escapade the interview seemed to end quite shortly after. It had actually been a lot of fun. You had never been interviewed on tv before, but still even amidst all the excitement you couldn’t help but think back to Finn's crush. Who was it? Was it Natalia? Maya? Sadie? Gaten? There were so many options each of your castmates were extremely beautiful and talented and smart, in a way that you could never be. Your mood immediately dampened thinking of that. In the words of Conan Gray “I wish I were Heather,” right about now. You continued walking along with the cast back to the suv that had taken you to the interview. You were first to the car so you did the courteous thing and climbed into the very back row. Finn right at your heels. Noah and Millie sat in the next row and Caleb sat in the front seat. Each of you had a lot of space since Gaten and Sadie didn’t come to this interview due to scheduling conflicts, yet Finn still sat so close to you could feel your leg touching against his.

Not five minutes into the ride everyone except you and Finn were immersed into a very loud and heated discussion about their thoughts on whether or not the french fries from McDonalds tasted better than the french fries from Wendy’s. Personally you didn’t like french fries so you just continued to stare out of the window to look at the scenery.

After a minute or two you felt two eyes boring into the side of your head, you turned slightly to your right and saw that finn was staring at you. Why was he looking at you? Dang you had a booger didn’t you? Oh god if you had a booger and finn saw it you would probably die from embarrassment.

“Okay I can’t handle not knowing do I have something on my face? Please just tell me.” You said turning fully towards finn and looking deep into his dark brown eyes.

“You.. uh. No..you don’t.. I just.. ugh. “

You sat patiently waiting for him to finish. Still staring at him expectantly he visibly sighed and looked back towards you.

“I mean no you don’t have any thing on your face other than your facial features.”

You laughed a little noticing his odd wording.

“Well that is good to hear because I thought I saw you looking at me and wasn’t for sure If I did or not.”

Finn let out a small jittery chuckle “No. Nope. You're totally good. Everythings good. I'm good. YOu're good. You look goo-.”

Your eyes widened, was he just about to say you looked good? Did he think you were pretty? No get that out of your head he clearly likes someone else, someone you're probably friends with and like too. Now that you couldn’t get your mind off of the topic again you decided to be brave and ask him about it.

“So..” You said turning your head towards him. He looked back at you looking nervous about what you were gonna say next. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable because I know it’s none of my business, but how come you never told me you had a crush on one of our cast mates?

“Oh so you heard that.” He said, turning his head to look down at his feet.

“Well yeah I think everyone heard that.” You said sarcastically. “I don’t want to make you feel like you have to tell me but if you wanna talk about it I can keep a pretty good secret.”

“Oh I know that. Remember that one time Sadie whispered something to you and you couldn’t stop laughing for like three hours straight? Filming literally got pushed back a day, and you wouldn’t tell anyone what she had told you because she asked you to keep it a secret.”

You felt yourself giggling thinking about what she had told you trying to get a reign on yourself you forced yourself to stop focusing on the joke and start focusing on something else. “Wow I’m surprised you remember that if I'm being completely honest. I mean you weren’t even in that scene.”

“Yeah but I like to watch you.” His eyes widened and he suddenly turned to look at your reaction. “I mean I like to watch you act because you’re a great actor/actress.”

Your cheeks began to redden at his words. He likes to watch you. He liked to watch you. He thought you were a great actor/actress. You kept repeating his words in your head and you felt yourself get more giddy each time you rethought of his previous words.

“You’re a pretty good actor yourself Mr. Wolfhard.”

“Thank you.” Now Finn was blushing. He looked so cute when he blushed. Well really he looked so cute when he did anything. You suddenly felt like your heart was going to beat out of your chest. Gosh you wished you could just kiss his freckled cheeks. Sadly, you thought that might give away that you have a crush on him. You knew you were staring but you just couldn’t make yourself stop. He was so gorgeous.

You both quickly made eye contact and looked away at each other. He likes someone else you had to repeat to yourself. You felt nauseous thinking about Finn with someone else but you wanted your friend to be happy. You were so curious so you decided to bring it up one last time.

“So do I get to know who the lucky person is that you have your eyes set on? I’ll even guess and you can tell me if I get it right or wrong if you are comfortable with that.”

“Yeah I don’t think you’ll guess correctly but you can try.”

You sat for a second and tried to think of everything that was said about this person. “Okay well apparently they are one of our cast mates and they’re very sweet, beautiful and talented. That could really be anyone now that i’m thinking about it.” You began stroking your imaginary beard.

Finn was just watching you with an amused look on his face.

“Okay I have my first official guess.”

“And who would that be my love?”

“The only person who I truly believe matches that description is David.” You couldn’t help but laugh at yourself.

“OMG how did you know?!” Finn says dramatically.

Tapping your forehead you whispered in your best british accent, “Just a brilliant mind I guess.”

“You are so close yet so far away from the correct answer.” Finn said in mock disappointment.

“Hmm who could it be. Who could it be.” As soon as you finished talking Millie's joyful laugh ripped through the van, and as you turned to Finn as he turned to Millie. You immediately knew who he liked. He liked- no loved Millie as the interviewer had put it. You could never compete with her. Milly was confident, gorgeous, kind and smart. All things that you seriously lacked.

Once everything died back down Finn turned to you and said, “Okay final answer. If you get this one wrong I guess you'll never know who The Finn Wolfhard likes.” After seeing the loving look he gave Millie you really didn’t want to keep playing this stupid game. It was clear to you now all the moments that you had ignored between them but you couldn’t continue to do that. There was clearly a lot of chemistry between the two, and who were you to stand in between that?

“Okay but for real I know who you like.” You said suddenly leaned closer to make sure not to give away the secret to prying ears. As much as you loved them you wouldn’t tell Finn’s secret no matter what.

“It’s Millie.”

Finn suddenly gave you a baffled look. “Wow for a second I thought you were going to say the correct answer, but clearly not.”

“Don’t be rude and you don’t have to lie to me anymore. Jokes over. I know the truth and so do you.” You turned back away the second you felt the tears begin to burn at the back of your eyes. Oh no. This was just great you were going to start sobbing next to your crush just because he doesn’t like you. You felt so pathetic. You never thought a boy would have this much hold over you. How had you even let this happen? This is absolutely ridiculous.

Almost as if he could sense you getting upset Finn leaned in close to you and whispered into your ear, “I don’t like Millie. I only have eyes for one person and they’re sitting right next to me.”

You didn’t turn around but you knew he saw your back stiffen as soon as he said the words.

“If this is a joke I will never speak to you again.” You said slowly turning towards him wiping the tears away from your eyes.

“I would never joke about something this important y/n/n. The first time I saw you, I immediately knew I wanted to be your everything. You make me feel a way no one else ever has. I get all tongue tied around you and I get butterflies in my stomach, but it’s so worth it if I get to be by your side even for a second. I have loved you and will continue to love you for the rest of my life.”

You were in disbelief at his words. You would've never imagined he could have ever felt this way about you.

“I feel the same way about you, Finny. You’re the sweetest person I have ever met.”

And then you were both smiling like fools at each other. You probably stared at each other for ten minutes straight before you each turned away. But you let out a happy sigh when Finn’s hand found your own and you intertwined your pinky’s together.

That's how you sat for the rest of the ride. Neither of you spoke or looked at each other. You both just continued to look out of the windows and revel in the fact that you both liked each other.

[sparkle9510]

Baby Robins and Tiny Ladybugs Ch. 1

Okay, it’s been years since I actually wrote fanfics so let’s see how things goes from here. I’ve been reading a lot of Daminette and I think it’s really cute. It’s one of my favorite crack ships. (Yes, I get that some characters are ooc but you know what, this is just for fun, so let’s just enjoy it guys xd)

I give credit to @ozmav​ and everyone else who wrote daminette fics before this cause I probably read it and got very inspired. Y’all are amazing.

With that said, let’s begin~

(Let’s hope the writing makes sense and isn’t too rushed cause I wrote this at 3 in the morning)

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Masterlist

Next

Damian sighed. It’s been a few months since he had become Robin, a few months since his father had died and Grayson had taken on the role of Batman. However, that also meant guardianship over Damian. 

It was not... a bad thing, so to speak. Under Grayson’s tutelage, Damian is learning a few new skills. However, his upbeat attitude and lack of firm resolve to end people will probably be the end of him. After all, Grandfather and Mother had taught him that lethal actions are faster and more efficient to end crime. If only Father and the fake heirs he had taken in could understand. 

However, his heroic alter ego was not the reason for his annoyance. Currently, they were on a business trip in Paris. Grayson thought it would be beneficial for him to experience what it would be like, which Damian believe it would be. He was to inherit it (after he gets Drake’s name off from being heir to the company) once he was older. If only that was the case… No, he ended up being pushed aside, deemed “too young” by the business partner they were meeting. Now, he was stuck wandering around in the hotel.

Might as well explore, Damian tsked. Grayson wouldn’t mind. He knew Damian knew how to take care of himself. Turning around, he walked off, down the hallway. He passed by a huge room, seeing a short Asian woman and a huge French man set up baked goods. With no doubt this was the destination of the gala that will be held tonight. Before he could continue his thoughts, he soon felt a huge force rush into him and knock him onto the floor.

“S-sorry!” the girl in front of stammered. “Way to go Marinette, your clumsiness strikes again.”

“I would say,” Damian huffed. “Do refrain from knocking people over.”

“Here, lemme help you up,” the girl reached out with her hand. “I’m Marinette Dupain Cheng.”

“I don’t need help from elephants who cannot control themselves from running over others,” Damian pushed the hand away before picking himself up. “Your assistance is not needed.”

“You don’t have to be rude about it,” Marinette frowned. “It was an accident and no one got hurt. You should apologize for being mean.”

“I have no incentive to apolo-” Damian started before his ears was soon pinched and twisted. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Apologize,” Marinette demanded, earning a glare from Damian. “Maman says if you say something rude, you should apologize. So, until you apologize, I’m not letting go.” 

Damian muttered a curse, trying to pull himself away, but damn this girl had a good grip on his ear and even tightened it. 

“What was that?” she raised her eyebrow. 

“...I apologize,” Damian muttered reluctantly after a few moments of failed escapes. 

A minute or two passed before Marinette decided to let go, seemingly satisfied with his apology. Damain tsked before rubbing his ears, relieving it from pain.

“Anyways, you’re not from around here aren’t you?” Marinette asked, her expression no longer of annoyance, but of curiosity.

“I do not see the need to inform you of my status,” Damian huffed. “...but yes. My brother is currently negotiating a contract with a potential business partner and I was unfortunately seen as dead weight.” 

“Well then,” Marinette grinned, swaying in place, “why not hang with me?”

“For what reason do I need to hang out with some hooligan I’ve never met,” Damian narrowed his eyes, “and someone that is not worth my time?”

“Well, it probably would be nice to have someone familiar with the city,” Marinette huffed in returned, crossing her arms. “and I so happen to be the perfect candidate, so not a waste of your time.”

Damian glared at the girl. She refused to budge from her offer to show him around. Sighing, he crossed his own arms and agreed. 

“Perfect!” Marinette grinned, grabbing his arm. “Let’s go!”

-----

Damian had to admit. The girl was not as useless as he had thought. She did know her surroundings and gave him adequate info about each place. She showed him her school, the hotels, the Louve, the stores, the parks, anything that she knew, she ranted about in details.

And running around with her was surprisingly tolerable. Putting her first actions aside, she was not as rude or aggressive as he had thought. And she had even gotten him to open up a bit about himself as well. 

“What’s your name?” She had asked him while giving him the tour. “Sorry, after all this, I forgot to ask.”

“Damian,” he replied. “Damian Wayne.” 

“It’s nice to meet you,” Marinette smiled. “Bad first impressions aside. I hope you find Paris.” 

Damian was a bit stunned. He wasn’t exactly polite either, but she still had put in some effort to ignore that and continue talking to him. She didn’t even have a big reaction after hearing his last name. Did she know about how influential his name is? Did she not care? She didn’t pry for a lot of information as well and left many things alone. Perhaps she was not that type of girl.

“What kind of places do you like to go to?” Damian’s mouth moved before he even realized what he was going to say. 

Marinette looked a bit surprised, but took it in stride.

“I love going to the park or the museum to get inspiration,” Marinette grinned. “I love clothes, and I can’t draw well yet, but I want to be a fashion designer. There’s also a fabric shop I like going to cause of that.”

“Where’s the fabric shop?”

“Down the street over there! Would you like to come? It’ll be nice to have someone to go with.” 

“Don’t you have friends who would accompany you?”

Marinette frowned and looked away. 

“...I don’t exactly have friends,” she spoke quietly. “Chloe usually keeps everyone away from me that I can’t make friends.”

“Oh,” Damian simply said.

He inwardly cursed at himself. She says she’s being bullied, but all he can do is say ‘Oh’? He should probably do something. What did Grayson always do?

“You’re mistaken,” he fumbled a bit. “Since you’ve been gracious enough to spend some of your time to show me around the city, I guess you could say we’re more than acquaintances. You’re more tolerable than most I have met in my life.”

Damian felt his cheeks get a bit red before looking away. However, it didn’t take long for his attention to turn back when he felt her grab his hand. 

“Thanks Damian,” Marinette smiled brightly. 

He couldn’t help but notice her eyes were very vibrant and filled with life. 

“It’s nothing to be grateful about, Marinette,” he replied, choosing to use her first name. “Now let’s head over to the shop. I only have a limited time before I must return.”

-----

“So, how do you like these crepes?” Marinette asked. 

The two were at a small cafe, eating a bit of lunch. In an hour or so, they would have to return to the hotel they left. Damian, to return back to Grayson and Marinette, back to her parents. 

“It’s adequate,” Damian shrugged. 

“Are you sure it’s just okay, Damian?” Marinette smiled. “They’re one of my favorite!”

Staring at the food for a sec, he pushed his plate onto Marinette. 

“You can have the rest,” Damian said nonchalantly. “I believe you would enjoy it more than I would.”

“If you’re sure,” Marinette pouted. “but you have to have my Chocolate Mousse.”

With that, they exchanged their food and ate them. Though at some point, they did steal the other’s food to take a bite once again.

-----

“That was good,” Marinette hummed. “Though I guess it’s time to head bac-”

Before she can say any more, she was interrupted by a shout. They both turned to the side to see someone running towards them. The stranger had dark baggy clothes and a hat covering his face. In his hand was a purse, the purse of the woman he just robbed.

“Stay back,” Damian started, but before he could continue any more or get into action, Marinette was already on the move. 

She raced to the man and easily slipped under to trip him before wrapping her body around to restrain him. Her flexible and graceful act had Damian stumped and still, however the criminal’s grunt of surprised pain gave Damian a quick wake up call to get into action as well. As the man got up, Marinette slammed him down once again before grabbing his right arm and pulling it back. She then began leaning down to try to hold him there, but she was just 10 as well, too young and lightweight to keep him there. There, Damian went and kicked the guy in the head, knocking him unconscious.

“Angel, are you all right?” Damian asked, checking to see if there was any wounds. 

“I’m okay..?” Marinette was a bit shocked. “Angel?”

“Ah,” Damian’s face grew red once again. “I apologize. Your behavior today, how kind you were after I was rude to you and how righteous and graceful you are reminded me of an angel. I won’t call you that if it bothers you.”

“N-no no!” Marinette stuttered. “It’s fine! I don’t mind! I’ll just find a nickname you’ll be okay with too.”

“That sounds fair,” Damian nodded before turning towards the woman rushing after them. “Mademoiselle, I believe this belongs to you.”

“Thank you,” the woman sighed in relief. “I wouldn’t know what I would do without this. Thank you both!”

-----

“I guess this is it,” Marinette smiled sadly. “Our only day we could ever speak or see each other?” 

“Maybe not,” Damian smirked. 

He pulled a napkin he took earlier and a pen he kept on him. Writing down his contact info, he gave it to Marinette. 

“You can talk to me on this,” he told her. “Feel free to talk to me anytime about anything. Though if the talks end up being irrelevant or nonsense, I’d have half a mind to end it all.” 

“Thanks for everything, Damian,” Marinette hugged him before walking off. “I’ll be sure to contact you soon!”

Damian nodded and watch as she disappeared from view. As the only person he had as company, she ended up not being as bad as he would believe her to be. And she had somehow managed to worm her way into his soft spot, certainly faster than how Grayson and Pennyworth were, albeit reluctantly so. Perhaps what Grayson was teaching him had a bit of meaning. There were more to life than just the legacy and what the League of Assassins had taught him.

“Little D!” Grayson grinned. “How was exploring Paris?”

“It’s none of your concern, Grayson,” Damian replied curtly. “Though it wasn’t intolerable.”

Next

Masterlist

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Well I hope you guys liked it xd. I have some more ideas so maybe I’ll write more, but exams are coming and I’m gonna be busy for a bit. Though if I’m hit with procrastination, I’ll see if I can come back to this. 

Have a good day y’all!! <3 

[mcwriting]

Starstruck (6)

IT’S FINALLY HERE! After revision after revision, I’m done with ch 6! Thank you to everyone who has been soooo patient with me! I’ve finally found a groove with this story and am super motivated to finish. I promise the next chapters will actually include more of Tom and get us into the story resolve!

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9

Fandom: Tom Holland 

Ship: Tom Holland x Reader

Setting: LA area

Word Count: 1863

Warnings: some “bad” words as usual

Rating: Meh. K+

                            __________________________________

Days later you finally drove yourself to dance, even though it was only a short walk from home

It was a necessary evil to avoid the paps trying to harass you.

The studio would be full today, but you couldn’t keep skipping class. You talked to your instructor privately to ask that she help keep the class from getting “distracted” by your situation.

You were there pretty early and entered the large room to pick a spot on the barre and start warming up. As the time for class neared, students trickled in.

Some of your friends came to give a hug and say they were happy to see you, but the others just wanted to grill you. You ignored them and stayed silent, exchanging awkward looks with your closer friends. 

Class went somewhat smoothly, if you forgot every time someone tried to pull you aside during a water break to squeeze info out of you. 

By the end, you were tired and drained and ready to go home.

It wasn’t until you’d already begun to step out the door that someone tried to warn you about the paparazzi and journalists outside. 

You were immediately overwhelmed by people rushing forward, shouting out questions and statements. Shocked, you stood completely still as cameras snapped and microphones were shoved in your face. 

Obviously, someone had told them you were here, and unfortunately you knew they would be able to follow you home. 

Parents, teachers, and classmates kindly came to your aid, surrounding you to help push through the crowd to your car. 

You dreaded walking towards it and willingly giving away what your vehicle looked like to them because if they happened to capture your license plate number (which was very plausible) they could find you easily. 

As the people supporting you tried moving you forward, you finally sucked up your fears and stepped with them, head held high. You wouldn’t let yourself get caught looking dejected over a stupid, selfish celebrity.

It took a while to drive out of the lot because you had to avoid the sea of people. It wouldn’t look great for you to hospitalize a reporter because you ran over them.

Even if it was their fault for stepping in front of me? you asked yourself.

YES

Cars were tailgating you, as some of the people had been smart enough to hop in their cars when you did so they could follow you home. A sense of panic tightened your chest when you realized how dangerous this might be.

You wanted to call the cops but figured nothing could stop these story-hungry maniacs from trying to dig up the smallest speck of dirt on you right now and running to the police would make you look weak. 

Surely this media storm would end as soon as Kendall Jenner did another Pepsi ad or some rapper got arrested outside the US, right?

Wrong, of course.

Two days later, the tea was that Tom was going from LA to Seoul, and he had been bombarded at LAX with fans and journalists, while others still followed your every move, even going so far as to watching your parents go to work and back. 

Tom had pulled the same stunts as you, practically bending over backwards to avoid answering the difficult questions of what had happened. You had to give it to him, he knew what he was doing, but you couldn’t help but feel a fire in your body every time you caught a glimpse of his management team in the background of pictures. 

It had been so tiring being silent about the matter that you felt like you were bursting at the seams, and you did the only logical thing you could think of:

Pack a backpack and drive straight to b/f/n’s house. 

The only warning you gave was a text saying I’m ready, and I hope you are too. 

She responded with the okay hand emoji and you took that as the “good enough” signal to head over.

                             __________________________________

You knew people had followed you to her house and you would have to apologize for that later, but now you were on the doorstep, nervous to knock. 

Before you could reach your hand up, however, the door swung open. 

Standing before you was your best friend in the flesh for the first time in the longest week of your life. 

She looked at you seriously and then glanced behind you, raising an eyebrow. A small grin crept up your face.

“Sorry about them. They don’t really understand when to leave,” you blurted.

She looked you up and down for a moment, calculating a reply before a smile rose to her own lips. 

“Come on, let’s get you inside before they invite themselves in too.”

She shut the door behind you and locked it, and as soon as she turned around you both embraced in a long, much needed hug. You teared up 

You were still holding each other when a male voice called out. 

“Is that y/n?” her dad asked from the couch. 

You pulled away and sniffled. 

“In the flesh!” you called. 

“Come on, let’s go talk in my room,” b/f/n said, pulling you that way. You waved at her dad and sister as you passed the living room.

Boy did it feel good to be in that house again.

                             __________________________________

Both of you sat on the floor, backs leaned against the bed, sharing a bowl of chips.

You finished summarizing what had happened from the day you went to the premiere until Tom left the city and you were waiting for her to respond. She had been silently listening the whole time, and now you were silent in your wait, except for the occasional crunch of chips.

It had been a few minutes when she finally turned to you.

“Y/n… why didn’t you tell me?”

Your stomach dropped. Of course she would ask you that. You sighed and leaned your head back.

“I know it was wrong, and I’m sorry for that but, b/f/n, I was scared. I know how much you love Tom and I didn’t want anything to go public… even though that ended up failing. I never wanted to be in the public eye and I was afraid that if I told you, you might accidentally let it slip on twitter or insta.”

“You didn’t think you could trust me?” she accused, rightfully. You turned your head to look her in the eyes.

“It’s not that you aren’t trustworthy, I mean, you’re my best friend, I tell you everything. The problem is that this was the biggest secret… ever. No one could know, not even you. The only people who knew the extent of what happened were me and Tom. I don’t think he even told his brothers or best friend everything.” 

You both sat quietly again, studying each other’s faces.

“So when I came over last week? You lied to me about the car picture?”

You cringed a little, but had to tell the truth.

“Yes. You had just missed him leaving the house, too. That was the morning after he stayed the night.”

“WHAT!” she exclaimed. “You’re telling me I could have met him for real and you’re just telling me now??”

You couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“I guess if I would’ve just let you meet him I could’ve prevented this whole situation, huh?” you joked.

“Honestly, yeah,” she replied with a smile.

“I’m really sorry that I lied to you and hid all of this.” 

B/f/n sighed this time.

“I know I should be mad, but I weirdly understand. If I’m being honest with myself, I probably would have done the same thing. Let’s just promise to be real with each other from now on.”

“Yeah, I like that idea.”

You both leaned over in a hug.

“So, since I need to know everything… where did Tom sleep that night, and are you the reason he liked my post.”

You pulled away.

“First of all, rude that you would ask me about that in my time of need,” you joked, “and secondly, yes I told him to like your post. I told him allllllll about you. Also... we both may have fallen asleep on my bed.”

“YOU SLEPT WITH TOM HOLLAND??” she basically screamed.

You started giggling as you slapped a hand over her mouth.

“Shhhhh! If you aren’t careful there’ll be even worse rumors about me!”

You both spent the night recounting your night with Tom and the other times spent with him, only leaving the room for dinner and more snacks. After your time apart, it was like you were attached at the hips.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, you finally slept soundly, not tossing and turning with the anxiety of days past.

                             __________________________________

You sat at the dining table with b/f/n, laughing like things were completely normal again. 

“Hey I’m gonna grab some more juice, want anything?” you asked, standing up.

B/f/n shook her head and you headed out of the room, beelining it to the fridge. 

In the kitchen stood b/f/n’s older sister, Caroline, who was serving herself some pancakes as you pulled the juice bottle out.

“So… Crazy week I presume?” Caroline questioned.

“Like nothing you could imagine,” you replied.

Caroline was only a couple years older than you and b/f/n, but she had been a confidant for you many times when it came to things like relationships or just more mature topics. She also was getting her PhD in psychology, which came in handy for advice and discernment about different situations.

“Yeah, I’m sure. So do you actually hate him or are you secretly in love with him now?” she deadpanned, causing you to almost spill the juice.

“What?” you asked back, flabbergasted.

What kind of question was that? Was this girl out of her mind?

“Oh come on. It’s like the biggest fanfiction cliche of all time, ‘enemies to lovers’? Don’t think that we didn’t all notice that he had been crying in that live. Also you blushed when I said it.”

“Well obviously any normal person is gonna blush when someone says something embarrassing about them!”

“What does he smell like?” she interjected, and this time you were completely taken aback.

“I- WHAT? How is that relevant?”

“Answer the question, y/n.”

“Fine. He wears this Calvin Klein cologne. Hah, my whole room smelled like it for almost a week... Now tell me why that’s relevant.”

“Your eyes lit up and you smiled when you mentioned your room smelling like him. And you blushed again.”

Do I really? you thought. Sure he’s good looking and we had a great time together, but he was such a dick. He broke my heart and ruined my life. How could I like the guy that did that to me?

“I hate psychology.” you eventually replied, earning a laugh from Caroline. 

I’m gonna have to do some more thinking on this later you admitted to yourself, carrying your beverage back to the dining room.

                            __________________________________

Part 7 is done and hopefully coming soon. It’s looking like this is gonna be a 9 or 10 parter. Love you all!

Taglist: @marvel-lously, @jackiehollanderr, @one-big-fangirl, @dreamyvans, @lisannehus, @honeymoonpeter, @shootingstarsaretearsofheaven, @chenellearose 

[sophfic27]

The Mysterious Watch (You know the one)

Read on AO3

First, Previous, Next

Chapter 3: Small Talk and Ugly Curtains

Word Count: 1,735

The car was quiet for a few minutes as Yaz followed the directions from the phone. Yaz considered turning on the radio but decided against it. She wondered what kind of music Jo would even like. She glanced to the woman on her left, who was watching the scenery scroll past. She wasn’t sure she would ever adjust to Jo being Jo, it was just too weird. She kept going over the differences in her head. Most importantly, Yaz hoped she would have her friend back to normal soon, but she knew it was important to the Doctor that she played along.

She glanced over to Jo again, and she suddenly became curious about her. The Doctor implied that Jo was fully convinced she was a real person, which meant she would have a background: memories, attachments, a life Jo wouldn’t be aware wasn’t real. Yaz was curious about what she thought and knew, so finally breaking the silence, she asked a question. “So, Jo, where are you from?” she asked, figuring she might just start simple.

Jo glanced over to Yaz. She hesitated for a second before answering. “Huddersfield,” she finally responded. Yaz nodded thoughtfully, the answer made sense with the Doctor’s accent. She wondered if the Doctor had planned that specifically. If not, how much of Jo had been automatically generated by whatever process the Doctor had undergone to become human? Jo cut into her thoughts. “What ‘bout you?” she said.

“Here, actually,” Yaz replied, “I’m from Sheffield.”

Jo nodded, “convenient mission for you, then,” she commented.

Yaz looked at her briefly. “Yeah, it is.” So much for no aliens in Sheffield, she scoffed internally. She decided to press a little further. She was curious to ask about UNIT but decided to avoid it, in the case that asking triggered some realization. Instead, “chasing down aliens. Not really where I saw my life going growing up,” she said.

“No kidding,” Jo chuckled lightly, “when I was a kid, I wanted to be a Doctor,” she said. Yaz blinked but didn’t say anything. “How I wound up doing this, I have no idea.” Jo threaded her fingers together behind her head, leaned back in her seat, and turned her head to look at Yaz more fully. “What did you want to be?” she asked.

Jo was doing the small talk for her, Yaz thought with amusement. She considered how she would answer, and decided the truth wouldn’t be too dangerous. “I was a police officer, actually,” she said.

Jo raised her eyebrows. “You were a cop?” there was a hint of mirth in her voice.

“Well, I was a probationer,” she said. She cocked an eyebrow at Jo. “Why? What’s that look for?”

Jo shook her head lightly. “Nothing,” she said, “just, I’ve met a few police, had to deal with them on the occasional mission. So many of them are so stubborn, refuse to believe even what’s right in front of them.” She looked back at Yaz. “But not you?”

Yaz thought of the first time she met the Doctor. She wondered if Jo’s comment was based on some residual memory of that day, and of her. “Actually, I kind of was,” she mused.

“What changed?” Jo asked.

Yaz suppressed her instinct to respond, “you.” Instead, she went the vague route. “Saw something I couldn’t deny,” she responded. “Once I knew what was out there,” she looked over to Jo, holding her gaze for a moment, “well, there’s really no going back to normal after that, is there?”

Jo studied her. “Guess not.”

Yaz turned her eyes back to the road. “What about you?” she asked, “what were you doing before this?”

Jo looked back out the window of the car. “I was just traveling. Got dragged into this stuff by chance.” A very vague answer, Yaz thought. “We keep up this ‘getting-to-know-each-other’ talk, and this’ll start to feel more like a first date than a mission,” Jo quipped. Yaz scoffed, slightly shocked by the comment. She saw Jo drag her eyes over Yaz from out of the corner of her eye. “Not that I���m complaining,” Jo drawled.

Yaz felt her face get hot, and she looked over at Jo. A smirk played across her face when she met her eyes. Yaz looked away quickly. Her thoughts raced for a minute before she realized they had arrived at the warehouse.

“We’re here,” she blurted, looking for anything to kill the buzzing in her head. She parked and started to unbuckle and get out when Jo stopped her.

“Hang on just a second,” she said. Yaz stared at her in confusion. “We’re going to go in there and talk to the renters and find out what they’re using the warehouse for.”

Yaz suddenly remembered what they were her to do. “Right, so how do we get them to talk to us?” she asked.

Jo reached into a pocket of her jacket and produced a familiar leather object. “Psychic paper,” Jo announced, “this’ll get us in.” She smiled confidently.

Yaz nodded. “Okay, that’ll work,” she said.

Jo went to unbuckle her seat belt as she explained, “since I have the psychic paper and the info, I’ll do most of the talking. Follow my lead, keep an eye out for anything weird that you might see,” she looked up and met Yaz’s eyes, “and use those police skills to see if they say anything shifty.”

Yaz nodded again, “it’s a plan,” she said.

Jo grinned and climbed out of the car, Yaz following suit. She locked the car and they approached the entrance together.

The building was large and relatively plain. There was a set of steel stairs leading up to the door. She could see big metal panels she guessed could probably be opened for loading and unloading trucks. Jo and Yaz climbed the steps together. Jo tried the door, which opened easily. It lead immediately into the main warehouse. The ceilings were high, there were boxes all over the room on palettes, and there was music echoing around the place from a stereo somewhere in the back. The echoes garbled the sound too much to actually identify what was playing. Yaz and Jo scanned the room, but there was no one immediately visible. Yaz heard someone laugh from somewhere to the right of the large room. She and Jo exchanged a look, and she knew Jo heard it, too. They made their way toward the sound. They discovered a small office in the back right corner of the warehouse. Through the window, Yaz saw a man sitting in a chair, facing away from them, and on the phone.

They approached the office, and Jo knocked on the open door. The man turned in his chair to see them, and Jo gave a small wave. He turned to speak into his phone. “Hold on just a minute, mate, someone’s here to talk to me I think,” he said. He waited for a few beats, and Jo gave Yaz an exasperated glance. “Alright, I’ll call you back in a bit,” he said and tucked the phone into his pocket. He stood and wandered over to where Yaz and Jo stood. Yaz took in his jeans, ripped at the knees, his plain grey tee, and his ratty flannel jacket. Unimpressive, but not particularly alien, she thought. “Hi, can I help you?” the guy said.

Jo produced the psychic paper once again, showing it to him. “Hi, we’re from the rental company,” he squinted at the psychic paper and then looked at Jo, “we just wanted to ask a couple questions,” Jo explained. “What’s your name?”

He looked between the two women. He was only an inch or two taller than either of them. “Carl Mason. I’m not in trouble for anything, am I?” he said nervously, “I thought all of our rental stuff was in order.”

“It is, we just need a few details about your usage of the space,” Jo continued. Her voice was level, professional in a way the Doctor rarely was.

Carl looked confused and a little suspicious, so Yaz decided to add in, “don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. We just had an issue with a renter using a space,” she paused for effect, “inappropriately.” Carl nodded, as if knowingly. “So now we need to check in with the renters with more vague descriptions of usage in the application.”

Apparently satisfied, Carl started to walk over to a small filing cabinet in the office. Jo gave Yaz an impressed look. Carl came back with a manila folder. “Well, no issues here, just me and some mates selling our curtains.” He handed the folder to Yaz, and she opened it to find a series of curtain designs.

Jo leaned over to look at the folder. “Curtains?” she asked, looking back up at Carl. Yaz flipped through at least five pages of some of the ugliest curtain designs she’d ever seen.

Carl nodded proudly. “Yep! Me and my mates designed them ourselves!” he announced happily.

“It shows,” Jo muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Yaz to hear, but not so much that Carl seemed to notice. Yaz glanced at Jo, stifling a chuckle.

Yaz closed the folder and passed it back to Carl as Jo said, “Right, thanks, mind if we take a look at some of your boxes? And then we’ll be out of your hair.”

Carl nodded and said, “sure, go for it.”

Jo and Yaz split off to explore the warehouse. Yaz scanned the whole room, looking for anything out of place while Jo pulled open a few cardboard boxes and dug through their contents. Neither found anything noteworthy. They came back together, Jo shook her head and Yaz shrugged slightly. They turned to say goodbye to Carl, but he had already disappeared back into his little office, now typing something on his computer.

Jo looked at Yaz. “D’you just want to go get a drink or something?”

Yaz blinked at her. “Isn’t it a bit early in the day for that?” she said incredulously. Jo just shrugged and started to head for the door. Yaz followed her helplessly, wondering if the Doctor drank. She didn’t remember ever seeing her drink. Maybe it was just a Jo thing. Despite only knowing Jo for a few hours, she thought she was starting to get a better feel for who she was, independent of the Doctor.

[shadow-assassin-blix]

A Picture is a Poem Without Words

Chapter 3

A/N: Swearing. A lot more setting up the basic background of the plot. The museums listed are real museums. Gifs by @nomoregoldfish and @gif-hunts-for-you

‘Thoughts’

“Spanish”

The next morning Blix woke up lying on her stomach, her face buried into a very soft pillow. She became aware of slight tickling situation. It took her a second to realize it was a hand, the fingers tracing over her various scars.

“That tickles, handsome,” She whispered as she blearily opened her eyes, as she turned toward him.

She reached for the sheets and pulled it up to cover her naked chest as the chill of the room hit her. She looked him over as he rested his hand onto her hip and watched his eyes roam over her skin, pausing at various scars.

“Surely, not all of these are from work, are they gorgeous?” He asked with a frown.

“No. Not all of them are from work. Many are from my traumatic childhood that I am not quite ready to divulge,” She explained quietly as she tried not to think too heavily on the memories that tried to creep to the forefront of her mind.

He nodded once and said, “I can understand that. Maybe one day I’ll share my past with you as well.”

She smiled softly and stretched, wincing when she felt the aches and pains from last night make their appearance.

“Last night really happened eh? Guess I wasn’t that hard to get after all?” She conceded as she shifted onto her back.

“I wouldn’t say that. Most women tend to become putty within 5 minutes of meeting me. You made me chase after you and work for it,” He commented as he dragged her closer to him. “It was a bit exhausting.”

“Oh yes. How terrible it must be to have women and men alike fall for you at the drop of a hat, Pacho. What a horrid life you lead,” She teased him as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Truly. It’s awful. Can’t have a moment to myself at all,” He joked as well, with a chuckle.

They fell into a comfortable silence, and she almost fell back to sleep when she suddenly heard the sounds of rain pattering against the windows.

“Lovely. That will be fun returning home in,” She said with a sigh.

“Gilberto and Miguel will be here in an hour. They wish to talk out the details and finalize the deal. So, the storm may have passed by then,” Pacho replied as he sat up. “I had my men buy you a change of clothes, we should probably shower.”

Blix nodded her head and sat up as well. Her shoulder gave a twinge of pain at the change of pressure and she rotated her arm a bit to work out the kink. He glanced over at her as she quietly groaned as it continued to cause her pain.

He motioned for her to follow him and as she does, he leads her into the bathroom. He turned on the shower and allowed the temperature to heat up before stepping in, pulling her in with him. They washed their hair quickly, and as he gathered body wash into his hands, he gently began to massage it on her shoulders. He found a couple of knots and softly worked them out. She couldn’t help the moan of content as he worked out a particularly large knot. Once her shoulders had fully relaxed, they finished up their showers and stepped out. She dressed in the clothes that was provided, a camisole and some jeans, and new underwear/bra.

Once they were dressed, a light lunch was ordered for them both, and as they ate, Gilberto and Miguel appeared. They walked in and sat across from them in the living room.

She took a couple more bites of her sandwich, surveying both men before her. She finished it and took the initiative to start the conversation.

“So, shall we begin with your demands, or mine?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and glancing between the two.

“Please, tell us what you wish from us first and we shall see if we can work with them. Pacho told us some of it, but believed there were others?” Gilberto inquired leaning forward; elbows propped on his knees.

“I need assurances from the both of you that your men, will not interfere with my work. That means no dragging me to your places. No Marta or any other child of yours, to spy on me at work, as the first condition,” She began.

“Second, I am trying to gather info on art thieves, and various other crimes. I need to know who is moving what. What is on the market. That sort of thing. My bosses think that there are criminals selling art on the black market to fuel communism,” She continued with an eye roll at the last part. “I believe there’s something bigger going on. I just need proof of it.”

“I do not mind creating a deal for you with the government. Does it make my skin crawl to be even considering this nonsense? Yes. But you are far better than Escobar and his men who are absolute freaks,” She concluded taking a sip of her iced tea.

They both chuckled a bit at her and Gilberto conceded, “Those are acceptable conditions my dear. As Pacho told you previously, we do not wish to be in the cocaine business forever. We know that it’s only a matter of time before Escobar and his cartel are taken down. We want to be at the top, for a time, and do the bare minimum of prison time, before continuing our life.”

“Does everyone, aka all four of you, agree to this?” She confirmed with the three of them.

“Yes, and Chepe is aware of the plan as well and agrees as well,” Pacho verified as he lit up a cigarette.

There was something in the way he spoke and refused to make eye contact that made her somewhat doubt that. She, however, was not going to push the subject, just in case she was wrong.

“Okay. We can iron out full details in the future. This is all predicated on the idea that the Medellin Cartel will be gone, and as of right now, that is not the case. So, write down everything you want, and when the time comes, I will do what I can,” She assured with a nod. “Shall we shake on it?”

She held her hand out to them, to seal the deal. They nodded and Gilberto shook her hand firmly. As she moved to shake Miguel’s he held her hand and threatened lightly, “Remember Miss Lage, this also means that you do not rat on us. It would be such a shame, to see such a pretty face die because you didn’t respect us or show us loyalty.”

She cleared her throat, shoving the panic that tried to appear back down and shook his hand once.

“Now then, we have business to attend to. Pacho? We shall see you this afternoon, yes?” Miguel asked his tone doing a 180° as he spoke to him.

Pacho nodded and showed them out. Blix stood up and dusted herself off. Once they had left, Pacho walked back over to her.

“I will take you home now, and then in a few days, I was thinking about coming around and maybe we can chit chat over any information we find?” Pacho suggested as he stood before her.

“Sounds good to me. You do have something other than your motorcycle, right?” She inquired as the sound of the rain grew louder and harsher.

He chuckled lowly and nodded his head in response. She grabbed her things, and he handed her a jacket, that was slightly too big. As she put it on, she realized it was one of his, as it smelled just like him. She smiled to herself for a moment and then followed him out. He led her downstairs to the parking garage of the hotel, where a red thunderbird waited for us.

She snorted loudly as she looked at it, causing Pacho to look over at her and raise an eyebrow.

“A Thunderbird? Really? Really nailing that ‘bad boy” persona eh?” She teased as he opened the door for her.

“Hm. But you like that persona, no?” He hummed back pressing a kiss to her lips, as she stepped into the car.

She just shook her and buckled in as he got in on the driver’s side. The drive to her home took a few minutes longer due to the blinding sheets of rain, but when they arrived, she told him goodbye and ran inside, unlocking her door as fast as possible.

She closed the door behind her, and shook off the raindrops, as she took off the jacket and her shoes. She set her things down on the table by the door before heading over to her answering machine to check for any messages.

No messages played. She sighed in relief and then called Jacque at the bar, to see if he wanted her to come in tonight due to the heavy rains. He told her to not bother and enjoy her night off, since the rain was meant to last well into the night, meaning hardly anyone would be coming in.

She made her way into her office and looked over files. She looked over at her crime board, aka the entire left wall of her office. She read over some case files, trying to make more connections, and fill in more blanks.

Shipments of art meant for the Museo Nacional de Colombia in Bogota, Antioqua Museum in Medellin, and Museum of Colonial Art and Religious la Merced in Cali, have gone missing. However, the biggest concern was the heist done at the Gold Museum in Bogota. 20 crates full of gold artifacts, all valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, missing. There were rumors that there were buyers located in Medellin, but the sellers were hiding out somewhere in Cali for the time being.

Every time they got close to figuring out who was selling them, and where they may have hidden the art, they disappear. Blix suspected that there was a high possibility that there was spy amidst her team.  

She spent the next couples of hours going over her stack of files, noting details of each one that she found somewhat important. It wasn’t until there was a large crack of thunder that she looked up from her work. She glanced over at the clock and noted it was after 6pm. She stretched, before going into the kitchen to make herself something to eat. Her dinner consisted of some chicken and pasta drizzled with alfredo sauce.

She quietly ate and put away the leftovers before going back to work for a couple more hours. It wasn’t until about 11pm before she stopped for the night and went upstairs to change, sliding under her covers as soon as she was in comfortable clothing.

The next morning, she woke up and as she stepped out to pick up the newspaper, she noticed a yellow manilla folder peeking out of her mailbox. She pulled it out, looking around suspiciously. She slipped back inside, tossing the newspaper onto her coffee table. She flipped it over and saw the words “For your eyes only” in Spanish.

She walked into her kitchen and stepped up to her kitchen island; opening it after getting settled onto one of the seats.

She shook out the contents of the envelope, and out came a handwritten note along with a stack of photos.

“It appears you have spy in your midst, lovely. Do not trust this person with anymore information. I look forward to speaking with you in greater detail, in a few days. -Pacho”

She looked at the photos and saw that it was the one person she didn’t personally hire. It was someone that the ambassador had recommended and that her boss forced her to hire because of his political ties. He was the son of one of the senators here in Colombia, and stated he had an interest in law enforcement.

She glowered at the images before her and had to take a deep breath to calm herself down. On the back of one of the images there was a name written down: Augustus König. She looked at the name with wide eyes. She leaned over and grabbed her satellite phone. She dialed the one person she knew on her team that wouldn’t betray her.

“Hello?” A male voice came through after the phone rang twice.

“Theo. I have a lead but I need for this to stay between us,” She began. “Look up the name: Augustus König. Don’t let Marcos aware of what you are doing.”

“Do you think he’s the one spewing intel on our missions? And how do I spell that?” He asked lowly.

“Yes. In fact, I’m quite sure of it. Let’s just say, I have new CI and let’s keep it at that,” She explained vaguely before spelling out the name for him.

“Alright. I’ll let you know what I find and fax it over to you,” He assured as soon as he got the info he needed.

“Thank you. Hopefully, this is the break we need,” She said with a sigh.

“I know, right? I’ll get back to ya boss asap,” He replied with a small laugh.

She hung up and looked at the photos once more and got annoyed all over again.

She made another phone call and as soon as the phone connected, she started, “Horacio. Need a favor.”

“Hello, Blix. I am well, how about you?” He answered back in a mocking tone.

“Sorry. Hi, Horacio. I really need a favor,” She amended with a slight eye roll.

“What’s up?” Horacio asked.

“Do you know Diego Marcos?” She questioned.

“Yes. The senator’s son that’s on your team, correct?” He confirmed after a moment.

“I need for you to investigate him. I have reason to believe that he’s leaking intel on us,” She requested.

He hummed, “He has taken a recent interest in the DEA as well and has been loitering around the office randomly. Explains why a recent mission to find La Quica went to hell.”

She shook her head at that. “I don’t trust him. I didn’t even want him on my team but the powers that be said I had to take him. But… if we gather enough evidence to prove that he’s not on our side, then we can get rid of him.”

“Let me see what I can do, little fox,” Horacio replied, determination in his voice. “Anything else? And how is your Cali situation going?”

“Thanks. It’s settled for the most part. Had to make a deal with the devil but at the very least, I don’t have to worry about dying anytime soon,” She informed him with some bitterness in her tone.

“I hope you know what you are doing. Stay safe. I’ll keep you updated,” He stated before he hung up.

She sat her phone down and studied the photos some more, examining each one. She gets to the last two and paused, blinking rapidly. They were photos of both Miguel Gallardo and Pablo Escobar, meeting with König, paintings in the background; paintings that she knew very well. She had been staring at photos of them for hours just last night.

“Fucking hell. Those bastards. They bought from him… which would mean that… the Cali also probably brought from him. Those fucks. Imma kill them. That’s.. that’s what is gonna happen. I’m going to beat them all to death. Fuckin. Fuck,” She angrily spoke to herself.

She looked on the back of them to see if he had written anything, and there was one note that said, “He has tried to sell art to us before but after making it well known that he does not… tolerate men like me, we washed our hands of him”

She squinted at it with deep suspicion. ‘Uh huh. Sure. We will be talking about this when we meet.’

She tossed the photos down, sighing, a hand running down her face in exasperation. As she tried to decide what to do next, she heard her fax machine come to life. She got up and walked over to it looking at what was coming in.

The first page literally just read in huge handwriting, “Huge files. I found a great deal on him. Apparently, he’s wanted by several agencies. Prepare for a long week of reading, boss.”

‘Great.’

She left it to do its thing, occasionally checking on it to remove stacks of paper, and make sure that there was plenty of paper and ink within it. It took about 2 hours before the fax finally stopped. She began the long process of sorting the papers sent to her. Fortunately, Theo was kind of enough to code each paper with a specific number in the upper right-hand corner to note what files they belong to.

By the time she was done, several hours had passed, and she had 5 different piles sat upon her table. She only stopped every now and again to eat. She was exhausted by the time she had finished and was thankful for having work that night. She needed some space away from work or she was going to set it on fire.

That night at the bar was fairly normal, and she spent part of the night supervising the new bartender.

About 2am, trouble walked in, in the form of the Gentlemen of Cali. She ignored the three of them for the most part, allowing the newbie to take their orders, and see how he did with them.

She was busy jamming out to the rock n roll blasting from the stereos. Most of the time, the music was just a local music station. Every now and again, Jacque allowed them to play mixtapes. Currently, Uptown Girl by Billy Joel was playing, and Blix was singing along loudly. Some of the waitresses would walk up and join in with her. They would dance around and be silly between orders.

The night was coming to close; she was ready to go home and sleep. She watched as Pacho worked his magic on a guy that he settled up next to a few minutes ago. She chuckled when it barely took him two minutes to convince the guy to leave with him. She watched him walk out, with his arm wrapped around the guy.

Gilberto and Miguel stayed until bar closed and walked up to her. “Your tip. Thank you. You were very entertaining,” Gilberto said with a secretive wink. “Pacho also left his tip with us to give to you as well.”

He handed her an envelope and before he and Miguel walked out. She shoved the envelope into her bag, not bothering to look at it, as she gathered the rest of her tips, and stuff. Jacque usually had the new personnel stay behind to learn the closing process, like cleaning and such, so she was able to leave a few minutes early.

She made her way home and sighed in relief once she stepped into her home. She walked upstairs to shower and change. She chewed on her lip as she sat on her bed, thinking about the envelope she had in her bag. Curiosity got the better of her and she opened it up. Inside was about $1k.

“Ooh. Oh boy. Uhhh. Wha-“ She stammered as she stared at it wide-eyed.

‘Great. Now, I have to be responsible and return this when I see them again. This is... far too much… and is essentially a payoff.’

She threw it back into her bag with an annoyed sigh, throwing herself onto her bed. ‘One of the best tips I’ve ever gotten, and I cannot accept it… because it’s from… cartel members.’

She made herself comfortable and as she fell asleep, she thought, ‘New rule: no more ridiculous tips, which I can’t believe is a thing that needs to be discussed.’

As she slept, another museum in Cali, Museo La Tertulia, was in the midst of being robbed.

[themangoyogurt]

Clementine: Chapter 3

Kylo had to hand it to you. Despite your questionable business sense, you had a fantastic eye. The space you found was in a prime location, neighbored by a trendy womenswear boutique on the left and a hot new restaurant headed by a celebrity chef to the right. The space itself was a perfect mix of industrial and bright, with open white washed ceilings and a modern concrete flooring.

Watching you gush as you stood outside staring in through the window only steeled his resolve to help make your dream come true no matter the cost. After spending the entirety of his life stepping on the “little guys” to make his bottom line, he felt it was appropriate to atone for his sins.

The fact that you had a million-watt smile and an infectiously bubbly personality only sweetened the deal.

You continued to bounce between the left and right floor-to-ceiling windows flanking the front entrance. As you hopped back and forth, you rambled off all your ideas to transform the space into a warm and inviting neighborhood spot.

It was going to be equal parts trendy and homey. Shelves filled to the brim with new and old books alike, ready to be borrowed or bought. The scent of freshly ground coffee beans would permeate the air, causing a heady mix of warmth and relaxation. There would be nooks and crannies with the coziest chairs and sofas for patrons to gather, sip coffee, snack on freshly baked pastries, and catch up on reading.

Kylo admitted that even to an anti-social recluse such as himself, the concept sounded like a dream. If he had still been working, he would have enjoyed a little escape from the office to focus on work.

Despite his pleasant daydreams though, nothing could stop his spine from stiffening as soon as the landlord made his presence known. He was a sorry looking man, equal in width and height. The balding man had beady little eyes that narrowed into slits as soon as he caught sight of Kylo.

Kylo’s hackles rose even higher as the landlord completely ignored him and turned to give you a very lewd look.

“Hi Plutt,” you chirped, completely oblivious to the tension between the two men. “This is Kylo. He’s my friend and lawyer!” You gave Kylo an extra little eyebrow wiggle at “lawyer”, a silent tease at how different he looked today.

He had rocked up to your meeting far more dressed than he was the previous night. Gone were the fuzzy slippers. Instead, he was clad in a black suit with a matching black dress shirt that struggled to contain the man’s wide chest and thick arms.

Who would have thought that the slobbish raven haired man could clean up so well? While you weren’t really one to judge a book by its cover, even you couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when he had proclaimed himself to be a retired, yet fearsome, corporate lawyer.

It was adorable how the more disbelieving you looked, the harder he fought to convince you that he really was a big, bad, lawyer. You giggled at the memory of how he was so focused on the argument that Kylo didn’t even notice a drop of lukewarm tea dribble down his chin and land between his pecs.

His very defined and firm looking pecs, if you had to say so yourself.

You shook your head out of the memory, scolding yourself for getting distracted. It was time for business, and you were prepped to fight for the storefront of your dreams. During your walk over to the shop, you had divulged as much info as you could to Kylo. Things like your budget, business plan (although, business “plan” would have been more accurate), and even your credit score.

You probably shared way too much info, but Kylo didn’t indicate that he was bothered or overwhelmed. The man merely nodded while typing quick notes in his cellphone. He probably had enough info to steal your identity, but something about him just made you trust the man.

Maybe it was in the way his eyes always looked soft, balancing out his perpetual scowl. Or maybe it was how he hung onto your every word, and was one of the few people who seemed genuinely supportive and interested in your dream.

Or, maybe it was in how he defensively postured himself between yourself and Plutt, chest puffing out and stance ready for a fight.

Kylo stuck his hand out and impressively didn’t flinch as Plutt squeezed back with his own moist and grimy hand. Kylo didn’t miss a beat as he harshly dived right in.

“Kylo Ren. I’ve taken a look at your offer, and we are not happy with the upfront terms and conditions. A fixed lease would only...”

Kylo completely transformed within seconds. Years of working with the worst of the worst in the corporate world made him ruthless and unshakable when it came to business dealings. Someone like Plutt didn’t phase Kylo. He was ready to threaten, growl, and glare his way into getting you the best deal possible.

Plus, the caveman portion of his brain beat its chest and flexed at the chance to impress a pretty lady. And if your look of tender awe only spurred him on more... well, that he’d keep for himself.

The entire exchange was a blur to you, the two men exchanging barbs and threats so fast, you could barely keep up. Acronyms like “CAMS” and “TI” were used, and before you knew it, two hours had passed. Kylo was triumphantly squaring away notes in his phone while Plutt sputtered, red in the face.

Apparently the entire situation had gotten away from the man.

“Send over the contract by midday tomorrow,” Kylo lazily commanded Plutt, before leading your stunned body away from the building. His hand was warm in the crook of your elbow while he steered you towards the nearest Starbucks.

He seemed tense during the short walk over, letting out a huge exhale as he slumped into the closest empty seat. You felt concerned as his pale complexion somehow became even paler. Without prompting, you darted away to find some water.

“Are you okay?” you asked upon returning. He seemed calmer, but received the cool plastic cup with gratitude.

“Yeah,” he croaked. “It’s been a while since I’ve had to do that.”

“But you were so cool,” you gushed in response. You instinctively reached out to hold his shaky hands. Giving him a light squeeze you continued, “I’ve never seen someone talk like that before! Or...or stick up for me so fiercely. Like my knight in shining armor!”

Your eyes twinkled in excitement, so filled with joy that Kylo couldn’t help but be affected. He smiled and flipped his palm upwards so he could lace his fingers with yours. He squeezed back and laughed, “Well, you don’t seem like someone who needs saving. Just someone who could use someone in their corner.”

“Then I’m glad you’re in mine. Even if we don’t know each other very well.”

His heart fluttered at your shy smile, and Kylo replied, “Why don’t we start, then? Getting to know each other that is. Let me buy you some coffee?” Now significantly calmed by your touch he added a flirtatious eyebrow waggle and added, “Maybe even dinner afterwards?”

You playfully smacked him in the chest and argued, “I thought I was the one buying coffee.”

“Alright. You buy me coffee and we’ll go over the terms and conditions of your new lease. Then, I take you out for dinner.”

It was definitely a deal too good to pass up, so you happily bounded to the counter to buy his S’mores Frappuccino (the man really was full of surprises, wasn’t he?). You decided that it would be cute to match, and ordered one for yourself as well.

A few minutes later, and you were returning to the table with two icy and teeth-rotting drinks. Kylo was all but recovered, and lawyer man was back in full swing. You happily noticed that while he was all business while going through your lease, his expression and tone was far softer than what he had used earlier in the day.

You were shocked at how Kylo had cut such a favorable deal for you. The man was kind in explaining why certain things were more beneficial for the tenant, and even helped you understand places where Plutt was trying to take advantage.

The initial offer was apparently horrible, and would have surely trapped you into some serious debt. Kylo made sure that your lease was fair, and that you would have enough money leftover to help your new business flourish.

Kylo sipped on the last of his drink, unaware of some leftover whipped cream resting on his top lip. Without thinking, you reached across the table and wiped it off with your thumb. You instinctively sucked the digit between your lips, earning a blush from Kylo.

“Ah,” he stuttered. “All that’s left is to sign. If you could send me your business license and some tax documents, I could help you file everything.”

A little furrow appeared between your brow, causing Kylo to frown. He had a bad feeling about this.

“You do...have a business license, right?” he tentatively pushed.

“Depends on what you mean by ‘business license’...”

He groaned, dropping his face into his palms. You felt sheepish, and ridiculously uneducated. Just as you were about to die from embarrassment, Kylo finally looked up.

He cast you a small smile and calmly replied, “Alright, this is what’s going to happen. I’m going to take you out to dinner as promised. Then, I’m going to take you home. You’re going to change into something comfortable, grab your laptop and personal documents, and then we’ll hammer out the final details of starting your business.”

“You...you’d seriously do that for me? At the risk of sounding totally ungrateful... why?”

Nobody had ever been this kind to you. If even your own blood could laugh away at your grand dreams of opening a business in New York City, then how could a stranger be so supportive? Not only was he gentle with you, but the man went out of his way to help you in tangible ways.

Retired or not, what kind of high-powered lawyer took an entire day to go fight a small-time landlord like Plutt on behalf of a new neighbor?

Kylo asked himself the same question. Growing up as an only child and then going into a field like law didn’t exactly foster selflessness in his personality. He was used to putting himself first and stopping at nothing to achieve his goals.

Something about your bright eyes and hopeful smile made him pause. He spent so many years of his life tearing things down - people, places, relationships. Perhaps, he saw this as a chance to redeem himself. To finally use his skills to build.

And hey, if the object of his newfound efforts happened to be a very pretty and very sweet woman, then that was just a bonus.

He gave you a smile and replied, “Honestly, I don’t know. But something about you tells me that I won’t regret it.”

That was good enough for you.

💖 Masterlist

[sweetmemories2606]

Dangerous Game (Gruvia and NaLu fanfic) (Ch 4)

Hey everyone!

It's been a while, but I am back to writing! 😏😀

Here's the basic info of the story in case you've forgotten:

Title: Dangerous Game

Pairings: NaLu and Gruvia (main), Gajevy, Miraxus and MesCana (minor)

Summary: While Natsu wonders about all the times he failed to protect Lucy, Gray worries about the dangerous game that he's been playing. Who will have to pay the price for his decision to leave Juvia behind?

Timeline: Avatar Arc (SPOILERS if you haven't watched the first 8 eps of the Final Season)

Genre: Angst

Word Count: around 8000 words (all chapters)

Links: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

                         Freeing Herself

Two weeks. He had been gone for two weeks and Juvia knew that something was wrong. Whenever Gray took long missions, he would let her know in advance but this time he hadn't.

Was he in trouble? The thought made her deeply nervous and excited, but there was no wait to be sure. She tried contacting him, but there was no answer. Despite her urge to go looking for him, Juvia forced herself to wait for a little longer.

All this worry, fear and sadness made her vulnerable; it weakened her defences and magic but she didn't know that until it was too late.

She woke up that night covered in sweat and heart racing after another nightmare about Silver. They had been frequent over the past few months, despite her knowing that Gray didn't blame her for it.

After taking many deep breaths to calm down, Juvia looked around the empty room and her heart grew heavy.

She missed him so much. It was always weird and uncomfortable to be in the house without him. Their home. The place where they had built their lives after Fairy Tail was disbanded and created so many beautiful memories together.

She would cherish those forever, but what she wished most right now was for him to come back.

While preparing her breakfast; pancakes with chocolate and strawberries; Juvia decided that there was no point in waiting around the house anymore.

She needed to find Gray and make sure that he was all right. Even if that wasn't what he wanted. Thus she prepared a bag and had just walked outside the house when she saw it.

There was a book on the porch which had not been there before. The cover was midnight blue and there was a word written in silver. A name. Lilith.

Juvia looked around and suspicions, searching for the person who had left it there. Was it Gray? Was it a clue to where he was?

In that moment, the knowledge of how dangerous a book could be evaded her mind. Instead; as it often happened; her focus was solely on him and finding him. Against her better judgment, she opened the book.

                                 Nearly 6 months later

"You don't want to hurt Lucy." I really don't.

"Shut up!" Lilith yelled, tensing up once she felt the water mage trying to take over.

"Yes, there it is." Juvia watched as Gray smiled. He must know that she was trying to regain control.

Just a little more. But Lilith sure wasn't making it easy to focus. You're weak. You can't stop me.

"This isn't Juvia." Gajeel knew. He knew her better than anyone; he was her best friend after all.

Juvia glanced at him and that only motivated her to try harder. I have to protect him too.

"Gray, what's going on?" Erza sounded furious but also sad.

Juvia didn't want her to be like that. This was supposed to be a happy day for all of them; Fairy Tail's reunion.

But Lilith ruined it. She had threatened Lucy's life and the water mage would rather die than to see her friend get hurt.

I'm stronger than you. Finally regaining control of her body, Juvia wasted no time.

First she removed the dagger, throwing it to the side. Then, in one strong move, she pushed Lucy away.

"Lucy!" Natsu screamed, diverting everyone's attention from the nervous ice mage who had failed to answer Erza's question.

Clearly caught off guard, Lucy stumbled and would've fallen if it wasn't for Natsu.

Juvia watched as the two of them interacted, relieved that the celestial mage was safe for now.

She still has to die. Lilith's voice resonated in her head and the water mage panted, struggling to stay in control.

No, I'll protect her from you. "Get her away from here!"

Everyone went silent. Natsu and Lucy broke apart, turning to face her.

While the celestial mage seemed worried, his anger was clear. "No; you'd better get away from here."

"Natsu…" Gray warned.

Natsu stepped forward, glaring at the water mage. "Look, I don't know what's gotten into you, but you've threatened Lucy." Flames ignited the his skin. "And I can't forgive that."

"She's not the one doing this, Salamander." Happiness filled Juvia's heart when Gajeel came to her defence.

"Gajeel's right." Gray said, making Natsu look at him.

"Then who is?" Levy asked.

Juvia noticed Mirajane grew tense. Does she know?

Suddenly, Lilith took over again and the water mage screamed in her mind. No! Not now! "Not another word, Gray."

Gray frowned. "Damn it!"

"Shit!" Gajeel's eyes widened and he pushed Levy behind him, making her gasp in surprise.

"I'm done wasting time." Lilith acted quickly; trapping Lucy in a water lock.

"Lucy!" Natsu screamed her name again, trying to reach her.

Before he could, though, another lock encased him and because Juvia's magic had been amplified, he wasn't able to break free.

The water mage watched as both him and Lucy struggled to breathe, unable to escape from the spell. There must be something I can do.

"Juvia, seriously, stop this." Erza had re-equipped into Sea Empress Armour and seemed ready to take action. Maybe it'd be best if she did fight me. Could distract Lilith for a while.

"Why don't you try and stop me?" The demon challenged, smiling coldly.

"Okay, I don't know who the hell you are, but leave Juvia alone!" Gajeel yelled.

That isn't going to work. Juvia tried to think of another solution, another way to stop Lilith.

Meanwhile, Natsu finally broke free from the water lock and panted for a while, catching his breath.

Turning towards to see the celestial mage, his eyes widened. "No, Lucy!" She was coughing, still unable to breathe, and her eyes were closing. "You have to stay awake."

"I'm...trying…" Lucy whispered, weakly.

She won't last much longer. Juvia realised at the same time as Lilith voiced it. "It won't be long now."

"No!" Gray yelled. He looked around tensely, probably trying to come up with a solution too.

I can't let Lucy die. Suddenly, the water mage knew what she had to do. There was only one way to stop Lilith, but it came with a price…

"Lucy, please." Natsu was breaking. His hand reached for hers, but the demon had encased the lock with a barrier that prevented that.

"Lucy…." Levy whispered, stepping away from Gajeel's protection.

"Stay back." He scolded.

"I don't need you to protect me." She stared back at him, unwavering.

He sighed before his focus went back towards Juvia. "Come on, Juvia. You're stronger than this."

I have to protect them. Determined, Juvia concentrated hard.

"Yes, you are." Gray's words gave her strength. "I believe in you."

Almost there. Just a little more and I'll be myself again.

He took in a deep breath. "I love you."

"No!" Lilith yelled once she lost control again.

"What's happening now?" Levy asked, confused.

"She's taking control back." Gajeel replied, relieved.

"Gray…" Juvia took in a deep breath, trying to hold back tears.

Gray stepped forward, smiling. "You did it."

Their eyes met. Her hear broke as the tears came crashing down. "I'm sorry."

Everyone was clearly puzzled when she started sobbing. Then, as she knelt down to pick up the dagger, their eyes widened again.

"What are you doing?" Gajeel asked, tense again.

"Juvia…" Gray's face paled.

Her hands were shaking, but she wasn't backing down. This is the only way to ensure Lilith won't hurt anyone ever again.

The next few moments seemed to go in slow motion. Gray screamed and lunged at her, trying to reach her in time. Gajeel and Erza stared at her in stunned silence, Levy gasped and Natsu turned around to see what was happening.

Juvia barely noticed their reactions, though, too focused on the pain of stabbing herself. But it's okay. I can take it; as long as they'll be safe.

Even if she was about to die, this felt like a happy ending.