#only thing I was able to find was that he got arrested for speeding one time decades ago

[m-a-d-e-l-e-i-n-e]

Angry Republicans were already pulling at straws trying to find things to criticize Kamala for and now they have absolutely nothing on Tim Walz lmaoooo

[lucyrose191]

Hi!!! I loved A Shared History so much!! Would you consider writing a prequel of how Sebastian and Reader got together and/or a sequel of their lives after retirement? I love you so much!

A SHARED HISTORY: AFTER RETIREMENT |S.VETTEL

Pairing; Sebastian Vettel x wife!driver!reader

Summary; Sebastian and Y/N try to navigate their new life after retiring from formula one. The world is dying to know what their favourite couple is up to but the next season has already started with no appearance from the Vettels.

No Warnings. Quite long.

F1 Master List , Part 1 , Part 3

February 2023

It had been 3 months since saying goodbye to the very thing that Y/N lived for, racing had been all she had ever known and leaving it behind had felt like she had left part of herself on the track.

Her decision had been rash, she was still at the height of her career when she walked away. Y/N still felt like she had so much more to give to the sport and so much more to achieve.

Sebastian had embraced this new life he had chosen, he was handling the separation much better than her. There were so many things he had been able to do; there was now a designated area on their land for him to grow all of the crops he desired and he was loving it, he had always had a green thumb and now he had the free time to experiment.

The difference between their circumstances was that Sebastian had been ready to retire, he had lost his spark and found himself having more love for things outside of motorsport but Y/N had still been winning, she was still coming home with a trophy ever other week and was still revelling in the thrill of the high speed battles and being showered in champagne.

But when Sebastian had approached her that one afternoon with an apprehensive look on his face and told her that he was thinking about retiring it felt like the world has stopped spinning for just a moment, a heavy feeling had settled in her chest as he continued to speak.

I just think it’s time for me to say goodbye to the car, it doesn’t give me the thrill that it used to.

There are so many other things that I find myself enjoying more.

It seems selfish of me to stay when I’m not enjoying it, if I stay then I’m denying younger drivers the opportunity to reach their dreams

She remembers the conversation like it was yesterday and not over a year ago, she remembers the million thoughts running through her head all at the same time. She simply stared at the blanket over her lap as he continued to speak, looking at her helplessly as he waited for her to say something, anything to let him know what she was thinking.

But despite all the thoughts running through her head, her mind could only focus on one.

How could she drive without Sebastian there with her?

She had only ever drove in formula one with Sebastian Vettel on the track with her, that’s where met, where they became friends, where they fell in love.

Y/N couldn’t imagine driving without Seb and the more she thought about it over the next few days, few weeks. She didn’t want to drive without Seb.

It was a quick decision, she’d admit that but Y/N had always been impulsive.

She had been watching Britta set up for Seb to make his video that announced his retirement when she blurted out the words nearly sending both of them and herself into cardiac arrest.

I’m retiring with you.

Her words were heavy and had hung thickly in the air as Seb and Britta simply stared at her, not believing what had just left her mouth, quite frankly she wasn’t sure she had believed it either.

But hearing the words aloud she knew it was the right thing, she was six world titles in and at the height of her career but she’d have to say goodbye eventually and why not go out on a high?

She hasn’t told Sebastian about the empty feeling in her chest, a feeling that felt so close to regret, she knew it would only make him feel guilty knowing that it was because of him, she had retired because of him.

What could he do anyways? It was done, she had made her decision and it was too late to take it back now. The 2023 season started in just a few weeks and George Russell was now in her seat, she wasn’t bitter about it because he deserved it, she was maybe just a bit envious.

May 2023

Y/N groaned as she rested her head against the toilet seat, the nauseating feeling in her stomach remained despite throwing her guts up. The feeling of Sebastian’s hand gently rubbing up and down her back didn’t help the sickness subside either.

"Are you feeling any better?" The German asked his wife so gently, as if fearing if he spoke any other way it would cause her to throw up again.

Y/N merely grunted which have him the answer he needed, he was getting worried, in all the years he had known her he could count the number of times she’d been sick on one hand and yet here she was for the fourth day in a row hunched over the toilet.

"How can I help you?" He asked desperately, hating to see her so weak.

Y/N’s eyes fluttered as she felt the energy drain from her body. "Can I have a hug?" She sluggishly held her arms out towards him, removing her head from its resting positing on the loo only for it to roll into her shoulder. All she wanted right now was comfort.

Sebastian smiled at his wife and lowered hs body to sit on the floor, spreading his legs and holding out his arms to which she immediately crawled into them, curling her body into his and resting her body against his chest, sighing in relief from the immediate comfort she got. Seb wrapped his arms around her and simply held her, he didn’t say anything knowing that his actions were simply enough, if all she needed was a hug then he’d happily provide that for her. Although he was definitely calling the doctor later.

A couple of days later

Sebastian and Y/N walked through the front door of their home, Seb had the biggest smile imaginable on his face due to the news they had just received. Y/N wished she could share the excitement but it was a bit hard when the news was the reason behind the fact she couldn’t even look at food without wanted to throw up all over the place.

Seb looked over to her and seemed to finally noticed the lack of happiness in her expression because for the first time since leaving the doctors his smile finally dropped. "Are you okay, liebe? I thought you wanted this?"

Y/N sighed as she lowered her body into the couch. "I do want this, Seb, I promise. This was our plan after retirement, to start a family. It’s just hard to smile when I feel like my organs are moving around inside of me," she explained, not wanting him to feel like she didn’t want this baby of theirs, she did want it.

They had spoken over the years and had agreed that they wouldn’t have children until Y/N gave up racing because she didn’t want to have to take a break for two years and then come back, they also didn’t to be absent parents.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Sebastian asked, he was feeling really useless having to watch his wife swallow the urge to throw up at the sight of anything and everything as a result of their new found pregnancy.

"A cuppa would be nice," Y/N smiled sweetly at him as she settled herself under a blanket, she looked rough, she knew she did but looking into Seb’s eyes she saw nothing but love for her and the child she was giving him and although she had a million other reasons as to why he was the one for her, in this moment it reminded her just why she married him.

This man had hugged and kissed her without hesitation whilst she was all sweaty at the end of a race and now when she looked like she’d been hit by a bus he still looked at her like he had never seen anything more beautiful.

There were still a million thoughts and worries running through her mind, that lost feeling was still in her gut but she knew that with Sebastian by her side she’d be able to figure everything out, maybe not now but eventually they would be fine.

July 2023

"And there is your baby," the nurse turned the screen so that Y/N and Seb could see the black and white image of their growing baby. It was already so much bigger than from their last appointment, time was flying so quickly for the pair of them and it was frightening.

Seb had gone to England to see the British Grand Prix and do a small interview with the Sky Grid Kids leaving Y/N in their Switzerland home. He had asked her multiple times to go with him because he didn’t want to leave her alone but she had denied every time.

They were eleven races down in the 2023 season she hasn’t watched a single race, not in person or on the tv. She just couldn’t bring herself to do it, whilst she had many things to occupy her mind with now that they had a baby on the way such as decorating a nursery, building furniture and baby shopping, she was scared of watching a race because she didn’t know how it would make her feel.

She was scared that watching a race would truly make her regret her decision to retire and that was something she didn’t want to feel so whenever Sebastian sat down on a Sunday and turned on the tv, Y/N would get up and go to another room, what she didn’t see was the defeated look on Seb’s face every time she walked out.

Y/N thought she was being subtle but Sebastian always caught the lost, empty looks on her face as she stared out the window. He caught the fake smiles she’d give him when she tried to pretend she was okay and it was breaking him. He wanted his wife back, the one that was filled with energy and humour, it was defeating to see this shadow of a woman in front of him.

He hoped that he could persuade he’d to attend a race with him before the season finished and their child was born because he knew that it wasn’t the actual racing she missed, it was the sport and the atmosphere. Y/N just didn’t know right now that she hadn’t lost that when she chose to retire.

"Are you wanting to find out the gender?" The nurse asked, looking between Y/N and Seb.

Sebastian looked at Y/N with a raised brow to which she nodded causing him to burst into a large smile before turning to the nurse. "We’d love to know."

The nurse looked back at the screen for a moment just to be sure before looking at the couple with a kind smile. "Well then, congratulations you’re having a boy."

Sebastian looked at Y/N in amazement and soothed a hand over her hair, he loved the care free smile of pure delight that was taking over he face. Whilst he himself had been hoping for a girl, she had wanted a boy and as long as she was happy Seb couldn’t find it in himself to be disappointed in the slightest, he was looking forward to having a mini him.

"Oh, thank god. I don’t think I could’ve handled a girl," Y/N laughed, boys were so much easier in her opinion. She had met so many babies in her life and girls were just crazy.

The nurse and Seb both laughed at her words before the nurse asked "I know you suffered quite a lot with morning sickness, has it gotten any better since the last time I saw you?"

Y/N nodded "Way better, now that I’m in my second trimester it’s pretty much disappeared."

Too right it had, Seb thought. As soon as her second trimester hit his wife had turned into a different woman. She was much happier in everything she did and it made him wonder if some of her negative feelings were due to her hormones, he would never ask her though.

What he had noticed though was that as her morning sickness vanished, it had been replaced with something entirely different. Over the last few weeks his wife had turned into- well, a horn dog to put it lightly.

The only way Seb could think of to describe it was that Y/N had turned into a sex maniac, she wanted it all the time and he would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying the new side of her but he was worried he couldn't keep up. What he will say is that he didn't think he would be doing this much cardio after retiring.

August 2023

"Are you okay, liebe?" Sebastian asked in a worried tone, taking notice of the grimace on his wife’s face. The bread dough was long forgotten on the kitchen counter as he turned all of his attention onto her.

"Your son is using my ribs as a football," Y/N sighed, rubbing the side of her stomach where she had felt the kick. She was six months along now and whilst the sickness has gone she was now slowly entering the stage where everything was getting uncomfortable.

Her bump wasn’t overly huge but it was now hardening and it was very clear that she was pregnant, not that anyone outside of their family and the doctors knew.

Seb tried not to show his amusement at her words, he hasn’t failed to notice that whenever the baby did something that she wasn’t overly fond of, their son suddenly became his son.

He never commented on the habit she had picked up because she was going through so much to give him the life he had always wanted. Obviously, she had wanted a family too but for Sebastian it had been his dream, he had always been a family man and now- to have his own, it was still hard for him to believe at times but what he did know was that watching his wife, who he had loved for years, grow their child had only made him fall in love with her more and so he would happily take the blame for the brunt kicks their son forced into her ribs or bladder.

He walked closer to where she was sitting on a bar stool and placed both his hands on the sides of her stomach, caressing it gently, before leaning down and placing a firm kiss over her shirt. He laughed when he felt a force being returned from the inside of her stomach, it felt like a slight nudge, like when Y/N would press her index finger against his lips to shush him whenever he was sprouting anything silly.

"He’s partying in there," Seb looked at her with his cheeky smile.

Y/N scoffed "He’s got two racing drivers for parents, he’s bound to not want to sit still. Honestly, i dont know what we were thinking."

Sebastian nodded "You’ve got a point, this has never happened before has it? God, our son’s going to be all over the place with racing genes coming from both sides. We’re going to have quite the handful."

Y/N hummed in agreement "It’ll be worth it though, I’m glad we retired now, I’m happy with where we are." Over the past few weeks she had found that the gap in her heart had slowly shrunken and barely did she worry about the decision she made, her and Seb were starting a new life together and the love she already had for their unborn son made it clear that she had made the right choice.

September 2023

It was silent between the pair of them as Y/N folded some of Seb’s clothes on the bed, helping him pack his suitcase for his trip to Japan. The approaching Grand Prix had always had a special place in Sebastian’s heart and he had always planned on attending this one.

"You know, you could always come with me," Seb hesitantly broke the silence.

Y/N was seven months pregnant now, all their baby had to do now was grow. Soon, it wouldn’t be safe for her to fly so now was really his last chance to encourage her to attend a Grand Prix. That and he really did not feel comfortable leaving her home alone.

Just as she was about to protest, Seb started speaking again. "Mick will be there, he’s been asking a lot about you and the baby. He said he misses you."

It was a poor move on his part, he’s well aware of the soft spot his wife had for the young German. He hasn’t lied, Mick had been asking about Y/N a lot, he’d been thrilled at learning he’d become an Uncle and had hoped that he’d have the time to fly out to Switzerland to visit but he hasn’t.

Every Grand Prix that Seb had attended since they had found out they were expecting he had been forced to watch Mick’s glances over his shoulder wondering if Y/N was going to appear, he had actually been forced to watch every driver do that, albeit none of the other driver’s knew of the impending Vettel baby.

"Fine, I’ll come," Y/N relented and for a moment her words hadn’t clicked but then Seb froze and looked at her in disbelief.

"Seriously?" He asked, praying she wasn’t pulling his leg.

Y/N nodded. "You’re packing my bag though," she told him.

"Done. Great." Seb smiled widely, still in disbelief that she’d agreed but nonetheless he turned and walked into their closet to get her suitcase to pack it before she had a chance to change her mind.

A couple of days later.

"So, how’s the season gone so far, what have I missed?" Y/N asked Seb from her position on the hotel bed, she should’ve probably asked this question sooner rather than an hour before they left to the track for the race. Seb had went to the qualifying sessions yesterday but she had chosen to stay behind, no one knew that she had been here for the weekend or that she would be ah the track today.

Seb sighed "Well, at the beginning of the season RedBull was dominating with Fernando getting a few podiums but then it was Max dominating and everyone else pretty much a lap behind but now the McLarens have seriously improved with their upgrades and are closer than anyone else even though there’s still a large gap."

Y/N was glad that RedBull was winning again, they hadn’t really since her and Seb left the team in 2014 but now they were back and better than ever. "What about the Mercedes?" She asked, wondering how her team of six years were doing without her, she had won five of her titles with that team.

Seb grimaced at her question. "Not very good if I’m being honest."

"What!?" Y/N looked at him shocked. "How?"

"There car hasn’t been as good as it could be and they aren’t used to not winning so there’s been a bit of tension within the team, especially with Lewis. He said some things he probably shouldn’t have and the media isn’t really helping. Mick told me that there’s a lot of people saying that it’s not a coincidence that you’re not there and now they’re not winning."

"I definitely did not miss the media since I’ve been away from the track," Y/N said.

"Well, I just run away from them," Seb said when a cheeky smile.

Y/N looked at him deadpanned "I’m seven months pregnant, I can hardly run with this stomach in the way."

"We’ll speed walk," Sebastian shrugged, trying not to laugh as his wife rolled her eyes at him.

Suzuka circuit

"This was not a good idea! Why did you have to pick the lowest possible car? You’re going to have to help me out." Y/N huffed, the car was so low to the ground and the seats were so deep that there was no way for her to get out because her stomach was in the way.

Sebastian burst into high pitched chuckles as he saw her the and move forward in her seat, he had already been spotted and could see a few cameras waiting near the entrance for him but he was sure they had no idea that Y/N was in the passenger seat.

Still chuckling, he got out of the car and worked his way round to the other side, ignoring the cameras that were recording him. He opened the passenger door and tried to bite down his laughter when he met Y/N’s unimpressed face, he held out his hands for her to take and pulled her up and out of the car.

As soon as she stepped out they both heard the gasps and murmuring from fans and media workers, not just at the sight of Y/N but also the baby bump she had. "You ready?" Seb whispered.

Y/N took a deep breath and nodded "Ready." She told him.

Sebastian didn’t let go of her hand once as they made their way towards the entrance, they ignored the cameras and questions but smiled politely and couldn’t help but laugh at some of the excited fans that had spotted them.

As soon as they got into the paddock it was crazy, every garage they walked past, they were greeted and spoke to by mechanics and engineers that were over the moon the two were here.

Sebastian led the way to the RedBull garage and as soon as they stepped inside they were crowded, bombarded with ‘congratulations’ and other sweet messages before eventually people got back to their jobs.

Christian Horner soon found them and embraced them with a welcoming smile, his two prodigies that had pretty much up started RedBull in formula one. "It’s good to see you, Seb," he said before turning to Y/N "And you, it’s good to have you back, finally."

Y/N was feeling all sorts of happiness being back at the track and she was glad she came, or glad that Seb had persuaded her to come. "It’s good to be back," she replied.

"Congratulations on the baby, I’m really happy for you both. God, Seb, you’ve kept this under wraps," Christian looked between the two in disbelief.

"We’ve enjoyed the privacy and going through it without the interruptions," Seb said for the pair of them and Christian understood, it was easier without the extra stress.

"Hey! Heard there was a baby Vettel in the garage!" Daniel barged into the place, loud and drawing attention to himself as usual.

Y/N smiled as he wrapped her into a bear hug before placing his hands on her stomach "my god, they weren’t joking. Congratulations guys!"

"Thanks Daniel," Y/N laughed.

"I didn’t know Seb had it in him to procreate"

Sebastian scoffed as everyone around them laughed at his expense. "It didn’t take long," he smirked as everyone laughed more. Y/N rolled her eyes at his witty response.

"It’s good to have you back, it’s like you fell off the face of the Earth! Seb kept saying you were doing good and that you were fine but i didn’t believe him, I was worried. Turns out he was right, you’ve been having lots of fun," Daniel eyed her baby bump with an amused smirk.

Y/N lightly slapped his arm at his words, she truly hadn’t expected anything different from Daniel.

"So, who’re you supporting? Me?" He asked.

Y/N shook her head "Honestly, I’m just here to get out of the house, I haven’t been watching so i dont know what the cars are like but I heard Lando was doing good which I’m looking forward to seeing."

Daniel looked at her offended "I see how it is, he was always your favourite."

"That’s not true!" Y/N laughed, "Kimi was my favourite but he left and then I hated everyone," she joked.

"You know I thought it wasn’t a coincidence that you left only a year after! I have Kimi to blame then," Daniel replied.

"Anyways, are you happy to be back in the car?" Y/N asked.

Daniel nodded "Very, the break was nice but the car is where I belong."

"Well, I’m glad your back at it," she told him before he left back to AlphaTauri to get prepped.

Y/N turned to Seb who was watching her with a smile, happy that she was happy. "Can we go to the Mercedes garage for a bit before the race?"

"Of course, whatever you want," Seb replied, they both waved goodbye to the team before leaving and heading two garages down to the Mercedes garage.

It seemed that the team had been waiting for her because as soon as she stepped in the mechanics all cheered for her, the atmosphere buzzing as the team was happy to have their star driver back in the garage.

Y/N saw Lewis was already in his car and walked over, she crouched down even though it was a struggle but she braced herself on the side of his car, he slid his visor up so he could look her in the eyes.

She reached her hand inside and grabbed his "Are you doing good?" She asked.

Lewis nodded "It’s been a rough season so far but we’re getting better, it’s good to have you here." His voice was muffled under his helmet.

"Yeah? I’m glad you’re doing good, how’s George as a teammate?" She asked, looking at him softly.

"He’s great. Not as good as you of course but he’s a great driver, you made the right call choosing him." Lewis said.

Y/N smiled "That’s good, I’m glad I didn’t sabotage you."

"No, no. Might need some of your good luck though," Lewis eyes crinkled to show he was smiling inside his helmet.

"I’ll try my best," She told him before letting go of his hand and using his car to stand back up. "Have a good race, I’ll be cheering you on."

She turned and found Seb a short walk away, talking to Mick although his eyes were trained on her, making sure she was okay and didn’t need any help. She pointed over to where Toto was sitting in front of a few screens to show him where she was going and he nodded.

She walked up behind her old boss and placed her hands on his shoulders causing him to jump, he looked over his shoulder and once he saw it was her he smiled and removed his headphones. "Y/N! It’s good to see you," he turned around in his seat and wrapped one of his arms around her in greeting.

"It’s good to see you as well," Y/N told him. "How’s everything?"

"It’s okay, could be better but could certainly be worse," Toto replied.

"I heard things hadn’t been too great but I’m glad to know they’re improving," She said.

"Barely," Toto scoffed.

"Well, improvement is still improvement," she said.

"I guess it is, congratulations on the pregnancy by the way!" He nodded towards her bump.

"Thank you," She said, brushing a hand over her stomach. "I don’t want to distract you but I’ll be around"

Toto nodded at her words before turning back to the monitors in front of him.

She was getting a bit tired now and made her way over to Seb and Mick who were still conversing, Seb wrapped his arm around her waist when he felt her at his side but continued his talk.

Mick soon turned to her, glancing at her stomach before looking back up at her. "It’s good to see you again, Y/N. Im glad you finally made time for me" he teased.

Y/N shrugged "How does the saying go? Always save the best for last."

Mick smiled and nodded "How long until my nephew’s here?" He asked quietly, knowing that only family knew the gender.

"Two months, they can’t go by quick enough," Y/N replied, leaning her head on Sebastian’s shoulder as she felt all of the socialising start to take a toll on her body. The race hadn’t even started yet.

"Where are you two watching the race?" Mick asked.

Y/N shrugged and looked at Seb.

"We can watch from here?" He proposed.

"I don’t care as long as I can sit down," she replied honestly and Seb nodded before Mick turned and showed them where they could go and sit down.

Y/N sighed as she felt the pressure disappear from her feet the moment she sat down. "You okay, liebe?" Seb asked from beside her.

She nodded "Yeah, I’m just tired," she told him.

"Are you glad you came?" He asked, knowing she had been resigned about it.

Y/N hummed "Yeah, I needed this. Thank you for persuading me to come. I know I’ve been a pain lately."

Sebastian soothed his hand over the side of her face "Don’t worry about it, liebe. I’m just glad you’re okay."

"I love you," Y/N told him.

"Ich liebe dich auch," Seb replied before he leaned forward and placed a kiss on her lips.

2 months later

Y/N looked down at her son, who was resting against her chest, in awe. She could not believe the life she was living now.

He was utterly perfect, he looked exactly like his father and she couldn’t find it in herself to be mad about it.

Y/N looked up at her husband who stood beside the hospital bed, his hand was resting over their son’s blonde curls but he was looking at her like she was the most gorgeous sight he had witnessed, even with her messy hair and sweaty face from giving birth. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her temple and sighed. "I love you so much," he whispered.

"I love you more," She replied.

Seeing the sparkle in Sebastian’s eyes as he looked between her and their son, his family, she knew she had made the right decision in retiring.

The baby in her arms was everything to her, so much more than racing could’ve ever been and it was all thanks to Seb.

She couldn’t have done it without him.

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Not A Verstappen: A New World {2}

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x fem!driver!reader x Lando Norris Summary: Unexpected allies and strange changes are happening both on and off the track. Warnings: 18+ only, mature content, we got another period WC: 2.4k F1 Masterlist NAV: Sibling Rivalry One || Two || Three NAV: Gridlocked One || Two || Three || Four || Five || Six || Seven || Eight || Nine NAV: A New World One || Two || Three

Round One - Bahrain 2023 “Nice work out there,” Lance said as he clapped you on the back as you began your return to the motorhome smelling like champagne. 

“You too, not a bad start at all,” you said with a grin. It was the first race and already you had scored a podium for Aston Martin, albeit behind both Red Bulls. 

“Not sure your boyfriends would agree. Have you seen them yet?”

You sighed and shook your head. Charles had out-qualified you, both Ferrari’s starting a row ahead, but in the end he hadn’t been able to finish the race. Lando wasn’t much better, coming in last with who remained in the race. 

“I’ll hunt them down after I find my mum. She’s probably lost and confused by now.” 

“She’ll get used to the paddock soon enough. It must be good to have her finally come to your races.”

“I’m not sure she would say the same thing,” you chuckled. “Did you see how nervous she was at testing last week? Thought she was going to have an aneurysm when she heard my top speed.”

“Dad was like that when I started too.” Lance opened the door for you to the Aston Martin motorhome and grinned at the cheer that erupted. The race had only finished an hour ago and already the motorhome was being dismantled to move on to the next destination.

“One more race like that and we’ll already have more points than we had all of last year,” Lawrence said as he threw his arms around both you and his son. “Sensational! That’ll show the bastards at Red Bull they have a competition on their hands this year.”

“Can’t wait,” you smirked at the idea.

Lawrence squeezed your shoulder. “Show them what a mistake they made, alright?”

“With pleasure. Thank you for giving me the chance.”

Lawrence sighed and took a seat at an empty table, pointing you to the one opposite and he sent Lance off to get changed. “You’re a great driver, there’s no disputing that, so I’m happy to have you on the team - especially if you keep performing like you did out there. You could have an entire harem for all I care.”

“I’m happy with two, thanks,” you said with a laugh. “It does suck not being able to go out and celebrate though.” 

You had received a warning letter before the season began with an outline on which countries you would be arrested in for showing any PDA, same with Lando and Charles. Bahrain was one and the next stop in Saudi Arabia was another. Lewis had tried to speak up but his influence couldn't change the laws that were going to be upheld and there would be no leniency. 

“I’d rather not have to bail you out of jail so early in the season.”

“I can cover bail, just don’t rip up my contract,” you joked. “Please.”

“That wasn’t right. I have a daughter so I know full well the different treatment you ladies get no matter what you do.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice as he jutted a thumb over his shoulder, “They don’t even seem to remember Checo’s scandal in Monaco last year. It just goes to show that it wasn't because their ‘core values’ were breached. Red Bull is led by misogynists. End of.”

“Well don’t hold back, Mr Stroll.” You grinned at your boss and sat back in your seat feeling even more comfortable with your choice in employer. You had offers from Williams and Alfa Romeo, as well as a reserve driver for Mercedes, but you were glad you took the Aston Martin seat, even if green wasn’t your best colour. “I feel like I should set you up on a soap box outside their garage.”

“I’ve found they don’t pay much attention to words, we’ll just have to beat them instead,” he said as he rose from the table and wrapped his knuckles on the wooden top. “Have yourself a good evening.”

“You too, boss.”

After showering and searching the motorhome and failing to find your mum, you went in search through the paddock, finally locating her in McLaren’s hospitality. 

“One race and you ditched me already,” you said to her as you stole one of their bottles of water from the fridge. 

“I knew you were fine, so I thought I would check in on sweet Lando,” she said with a sad smile. “He’s not too happy with his result.”

You snorted a laugh and she slapped your arm as she shhh’d you. “What? No one jumps for joy at last place. It’s kind of obvious.”

“Just go and check on him okay? I’ll see you all for dinner later.”

You watched her navigate her way out and trusted that she could find her way back to Astin Martin. Kristian was staying in the same hotel so she was going to get a ride back with him while you rode with Lando and Charles after finishing the debrief and interviews. She had the endless patience of a saint, except when it came to the media.

You rapped your knuckles on the door before opening it and found Lando pacing the narrow space, his phone to his ear. “-least yours was a mechanical failure, my car is just shit. Oh, she just got here. We’ll see you soon. Love you.”

He tossed his phone onto the table and opened his arms, welcoming a warm embrace after the terrible performance he had endured. His chest was still damp from the shower and he smelt edible like a key lime pie when you kissed his collar bone. 

“Proud of you,” he murmured into your neck where he buried his face and inhaled your body wash too. 

“Proud of you too.” 

He pulled back and shook his head like he didn’t believe you and you caught his face in your hands, forcing him to face you. “I am proud of you, baby. What you did today was much harder than me…the fact you still finished the race and held your head high shows how resilient you are. I probably would have done a Kimi and just fucked off mid-race.”

His chest bounced with a small laugh because you both knew it was true. 

“You are going to be a world champion one day, I know it,” you swore as you pressed your forehead to his and felt him shake his head. “You don’t have to believe me, Lando. I believe in you. You deserve it, you have the raw talent - and one day you will have the car to match. Then you will be unstoppable.”

The door swung open as Charles let himself in and you delighted in the way his face lit up upon seeing you both opening your arms for him to join. “Mmmm,” he sighed as he closed his eyes and tipped his head onto Lando’s shoulder. “What a fucking day…Can we go home yet?”

Round Four - Baku 2023 You were a shoo-in for a podium place. It was in reach for the fourth race in a row, until the pain began. Sudden and strong, you nearly missed the corner as the ache in your abdomen grew to a point you couldn’t ignore it. You felt even bump in the road, every force of the turns, the pressure from your harness.

“Fuck,” you growled through gritted teeth. “How many laps left?”

“Five, why? Woah, your heart rate is through the roof,” Chris exclaimed, not nearly as calm as Nicholas would have been.

“Yeah, kind of happens when I’m in pain,” you retorted as you thought you could probably handle five more laps. There wasn’t another option anyway. 

By the penultimate lap Charles had overtaken you and you saw his helmet turn your way ever so slightly, like time slowed as he passed. There was no way to see under his visor but you knew there would have been a look of concern on his face.

“Try to at least maintain your pace, Sainz is currently gaining.”

“I’m fucking trying alright.”

You managed to remain in fourth position as you crossed the finish line and then returned to the pits to see Charles’ Ferrari taking the last podium parking spot. You would have liked to have parked there but if it had to go to someone else you were glad it was him. 

“Where’s Lando?”

“Ninth.”

You laughed happily at the news that he had also made it to the points again and turned off your engine to start unstrapping yourself. You reached between your legs for the buckle and swore under your breath as you felt the sticky residue on your race suit that was definitely not sweat.

Charles had been celebrating with his team before the final weigh in but when he returned to take a drink of water he noticed you still hadn’t climbed out of yours. He could see Lando’s car a few behind as he arrived but even he was touching down on the tarmac and pushing his steering console back into place.

“Charles, you’re up,” Max interrupted the step he took towards you. “What’s she doing? She’s not crying because she lost, right?”

“I don’t know,” he muttered half distracted before realising what Max had said and rolled his eyes. “She’s not crying.”

He seemed proven wrong when you pulled your helmet off your head and he saw tears streaming down your face. Max turned to Sergio and pointed to the interviewer waiting by the Sky News cameras. “Mate, can you go first?” They didn’t wait for an answer as your face contorted with pain and your head fell forward. 

“Baby, you alright?” Lando asked as he reached you first, reaching in and taking your steering wheel out for you as you shook your head. “Here, let me help you out.”

“I can’t get out of the car,” you admitted as tears of embarrassment wet your hot cheeks. 

“That's okay, I can carry you,” he murmured as he reached for you but you slapped his hands away. 

“I can’t get out of the fucking car!” you snapped, immediately getting the attention of Charles and Max who had arrived too, only increasing the anxiety that you were feeling. “Please, just get my pit crew to jack up the car and wheel me to the garage.”

“Why?” Max asked as he crossed his arms, but then they dropped as he barked a laugh. “Did you pee in the car?”

“Fuck off, twat,” you grunted as Charles hit him on the shoulder with a, “Mate, it happens, leave her alone.”

You hunched over and clutched your abdomen as a cramp wracked your body and a pained groan slipped out. “Oh, oh shit,” Lando reacted first, knowing exactly what was happening after surviving three of your menstrual cycles over the winter break. 

“Charles, Max, interview time.” 

They both glared at the FIA official but Lando nodded his head. “Go, I’ll take care of her.”

Three Days Later Your knee nervously bounced as you sat in the doctor's room. “I never get periods during the racing season, something must be wrong.”

“Well, your test results were all normal.” She pushed her glasses back up her nose as she changed the folders she was looking at. “Are you feeling stressed?”

You pondered the question for a moment, not really having realised how different life was in Aston Martin and not having to hide your relationship. “Not really, no.”

“But you used to be,” she noted as she read through her past comments on your file. “Stress, as you know, can upset your hormonal balance quite significantly.”

“So I’m getting my period again because I’m not as stressed? That’s inconvenient.”

“It’s how your body should function.”

“I need it to stop.”

Reaching into her drawer, she grabbed a few pamphlets and laid them across her desk. “There’s certainly options, but they could have other side effects.”

You left the office with a prescription in hand but you weren’t sure how your boyfriends were going to take the news. They were always concerned about your health and wellbeing that it could go one of two ways.

“I thought the hormones would mess with you,” Lando said as he shook the box and heard the rattle of the foil trays inside.

“They are messing with me now.” You dropped down onto the couch as he passed the box over to Charles to read. “Who knew Red Bull could be so stressful?” you mused.

“Pierre, Albono, Kvyat,” Lando listed with a smirk. 

“I think you should take them, if you think it will help,” Charles decided as he placed the box back in your hand.

“There’s only one way to find out,” you shrugged, cracking the foil seal on the first tablet. “Plus, we’ll save a fortune not having to buy condoms.”

“Wait, what?” Lando’s face lit up like a kid at Christmas. “I thought this was to stop your period.”

“I mean, it stops them, as well as having babies, like a two-for-one deal.”

“I could get on board that.” His lips curled up into a sexy smirk as he dropped into the space beside you and draped his arm across your shoulders. His body was already stirring at the idea and he looked up at Charles who had gone to get a glass of water for you. “Tell me you haven’t dreamt of this day.”

Charles rolled his eyes but didn’t refute him as he handed the glass over and watched you swallow the little pill. “Of course I have, mon cher.”

“Sorry, boys, it takes seven days to work. You’ll still have to wrap it if you want to tap it.”

It was mean but you took some pleasure in the collective groan they made.

“Block out your calendar,” Charles chuckled as he bent down and kissed you. “Seven days and we plan to absolutely ruin you.”

You squirmed at the thought, imagining the feel of their cum dripping from you after they filled you and it drove you feral. You grabbed Charles and pulled him onto the couch as he laughed at the sudden urge you had to feel his body on yours. 

“Tell us what you need, chérie,” he teased while Lando’s lips found your racing pulse.

Your core clenched and reminded you of the emptiness within. “You,” you begged as your hands disappeared up their shirts and felt the hard muscles beneath your palms. “I need you to ruin me.”

Click here for part three.

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[befuddled-calico-whump]

Abandoned

For Angstpril, Day 6

cw: aftermath of torture, mentioned hand whump, death mention

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

Hero was troubled.

It wasn't the fight. He'd gotten better of the five supervillain-wannabes without breaking a sweat, stripped them of the tech they were using, and watched as they were all led away in handcuffs.

He'd dusted himself off, briefed law enforcement on the scenario, then started collecting the gear the criminals had used so it could be turned in as evidence.

It wasn't until he was holding the first piece—a cuff that let its wearer manipulate electricity—that Hero's blood ran cold. It was inch-for-inch identical to something he'd seen Villain use.

He collected the rest of the gear in a hurry, giving each item a quick once-over, and each piece further confirmed his suspicion.

Villain had made the tech that outfitted the aspiring criminals of the day. Dammit. He should've realized this was bigger than an attempted robbery. Villain was always a step ahead.

And he'd been missing for months. Plenty of time to plan something big. How many other petty criminals had he outfitted in that time? Would the city see a spike in crime? Or…

A chill washed over Hero as he remembered the last time he'd seen Villain. Running away, tail between his legs after a crushing defeat at Hero's hands.

Was this revenge? Had the robbery been a distraction?

He handed the rest of the gear off quickly, trying not to let the worry show on his face as he took off. 

What if Villain had attacked his base? His team? His family? Even in route, he called back to the team's headquarters in a hurry.

"Hero?" Sidekick sounded half asleep.

"Sidekick! Are you… tell me you're okay."

"M'fine. Why? What's going on?"

"Check the perimeter. I think Villain's up to something."

"What? I mean, okay."

"I have to go. I'll be there soon."

"Hero?"

He hung up before she could finish her question. First he had to check on his parents. His brother. It felt unlikely, unreal even, that Villain would be able to find them, but he couldn't risk it.

It wasn't as if Villain wouldn't stoop that low. He'd taken hostages before, and had proven time and time again that he didn't make empty threats. If he'd hurt any of them…

But he hadn't. 

A thorough search of his parents' house, his brother's apartment, even the surrounding block, yielded nothing.

Nothing at home, nothing at his base.

So what was Villain planning? It was so unlike him to do anything without it being part of some grander scheme.

Maybe he'd just handed off the tech to a random gang and told them to go wild. Spread some fear. A promise of a chaos that would plague the city.

Or maybe it was all a mind game, a way to get back at Hero without ever having to touch him.

Dammit. If that was it, it was working. Even after assuring the safety of his family and friends, Hero couldn't sleep. He had to get to the bottom of this. Find Villain and imprison him for good. Prevent any further weapons dealing. Protect the city.

Hero got in contact with the police first thing the next morning. They'd managed to get an address from yesterday's delinquents, and it was as good a starting point as any.

Before taking off, Hero got one more look at the gear the group had been using. If nothing else, it would give him an idea of what he'd be up against in the weeks to come. Villain was an engineer. An innovator. His only power was his intellect, but that was enough to let him go toe-to-toe with the likes of Hero.

The police had locked everything up in a vault, but he had no trouble convincing them to grant him access. After all, this could finally lead to Villain's arrest. An end to a reign of terror.

There were five items locked away, one for each criminal. Two electrokinesis cuffs. One pair of vision-enhancing goggles. A pair of boots designed to increase speed. And a belt that equipped its user with near-invisibility. 

A collection of Villain's favorites. Hero could identify all of them on sight. None of them seemed new, but why would Villain bother making petty thieves custom stuff? He'd probably just tossed them his hand-me-downs.

Or more likely, he'd given one of them his hand-me-downs. The collection seemed more designed to outfit a single person, not equip a full team.

And wasn't this the exact setup Villain had used in their last encounter? An odd coincidence, but Hero tried to shake it off. Once Villain was safely behind bars, he'd ask about it directly. Right now it was time to investigate the address. Maybe by the time he returned, the police would have more information for him.

The address didn't lead to some secret base, or shady warehouse; just a one-story house on the edge of city limits.

It felt a little odd to knock on the door, knowing who this place was affiliated with, but Hero was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. What if it was just one of the robber's mothers? A grandparent? He wasn't about to bash in the door and give some poor old lady a heart attack.

After a few tries with no answer, he forced the door open. A standard deadbolt was no match for superhuman strength, and if the homeowner did end up being an innocent bystander, a lock would cost him less than the whole door.

Inside… there was no one. All the lights in the house were off. The front room held nothing but a beat-up easy chair, and the rooms beyond didn't offer much more. No spare tech, no mysterious notes, not even an unlabeled phone number or address. Before Hero could call it quits, a shed in the backyard caught his eye.

Not much, but it was worth a look.

He tore away the padlock that held the shed closed, taking a chunk of wood with it. The door swung open, sunlight spilling in to illuminate the area. There was a tool chest against one wall, with a workbench directly across from it. A wooden chair sat beside it, speckled with something that looked suspiciously like dried blood.

Hero stepped inside cautiously, wanting a better look at the part of the shed where the sunlight didn't quite reach. A small scraping sound stopped him short, and he held his breath and listened.

Whatever the noise was, it was coming from the back corner. A box. No, a large dog crate.

Did the bastards from the robbery keep their dog locked up in here? Stale air and darkness, no protection from the elements… He muttered a curse under his breath, and the thing in the crate let out a quiet whimper that sounded almost human.

No way…

Hero reached the front of the crate, letting his eyes adjust as he peered through the metal bars, taking in a silhouette that was definitely not a dog.

He knelt, a little too quickly, and the figure inside flinched back, as far as the cramped space would allow. The scraping noise followed them, a sound Hero now recognized as chains.

"Dammit… don't panic. I'm going to let you out," Hero said in a low voice, crushing the locking mechanism with one hand and pulling away the front of the cage. What the hell had the bank robbers done? He knew they were reckless. Stupid and selfish enough to put people in harm's way in order to get what they wanted. He never would've guessed they'd be keeping a person in a dog cage? And who…

He clenched his jaw. No. He already knew the answer to that.

"I won't hurt you," he said. "Just come out, and I'll get you out of here, okay?"

He couldn't bring himself to think about it. Not right now.

The figure in the cage began to crawl forward on bruised, bony limbs. A short length of chain linked their ankles together, and a longer one hung from their neck, like some kind of leash. A muzzle glinted from somewhere beneath their dark, matted hair. Hero took a step back, giving them room.

He could leave now. Call the police. Call an ambulance. Leave and never confirm what he already knew to be true.

"Come into the light," he said instead. "Let me get a look at you."

The captive seemed to be in pain as they crawled to the other end of the shed, stopping just short of the door and staying there, head bowed.

Daylight reflected off of their chains and lit up the bruises scattered across their naked torso. A few sloppily-stitched gashes cut across their legs, and welts ran across their shoulders, but the worst of it was their hands.

Bloodied bandages wrapped around mangled fingers, most of which looked like they'd been broken or dislocated.

Hero knelt next to them. He could still go. He could still get away with pretending this was someone else, some innocent victim—

"Look at me," he said, trying to soften his voice.

He wasn't surprised when it was Villain's eyes that met his own, half-shrouded by dark strands of hair.

Villain, who'd once held a daycare hostage to get the City Council's attention. Villain, who'd murdered the mayor's wife to get her to take his threats seriously. Villain, who now looked up at him with tired, fearful eyes.

Whose body was a testament to the cruelty he'd lived through.

Who was chained and muzzled and broken.

Dammit, why couldn't it ever be easy?

"I'm going to take the muzzle off okay?"

Villain nodded, eyes downcast as Hero tore through the leather straps like they were pieces of paper.

Villain reached up, rubbing his jaw awkwardly with the back of his hand.

"Please…" came his voice, rusted with disuse. "Please, Hero, just arrest me. Please. I'm done. I c-can't—"

"You're okay. I won't… I won't hurt you," Hero said, the words coming out stilted and wooden. How was he supposed to comfort someone like Villain? He'd made his fair share of assurances. Accident survivors, rescued hostages, Villain's own victims. But they were always innocent, undeserving of whatever misfortune had befallen them. Villain on the other hand…

He took in his nemesis. Gaunt frame, hunched shoulders, unable to stand, barely able to crawl—

Did he deserve this much?

"Let me see your hands," Hero said quickly. He was no healer, but damage assessment was better than contemplating whether or not the man before him deserved his pity.

Villain shifted, holding both hands out, wrists bared. Like he was expecting to be cuffed, Hero realized.

"I'm not arresting you. I just want to see them," he clarified, reaching out to unwind the bandages, one-by-one. Both hands were spotted with deep puncture wounds, some of which looked infected. The marks were strange, and Hero was unable to guess at the cause until he removed the last bandage, revealing a small screw still embedded in Villain's palm.

"Dammit—!" he almost dropped Villain's hand.

The hand of an engineer. Someone who tinkers and builds, someone who uses their hands to create— The notion sickened him more than anything else he'd seen today.

"Why?" was all he could say. 

Villain didn't answer.

He couldn't sit here and dwell on this. Villain needed a healer, or at least a hospital. And then— and then, he'd need to be arrested. He'd pay for his crimes, but not like this.

But what if it happened again? Villain had plenty of enemies. Rivals and ex-henchmen who were in prison now, ready to take revenge. Guards and cops who'd been personally wronged who would look the other way. He'd have to take preventative measures against that.

"Alright," he sighed. "Let's go then." Hero knelt, taking Villain into his arms and cradling him to his chest as he took off. The beaten man curled in on himself as they flew.

"Please…" he said, barely above a whisper.

"No one will hurt you," Hero replied. "Villain, you're under arrest." After a moment, he added,

"And under my protection."

[tezzbot]

congrats on finishing your essay! :))

Love your Sonic Underground au, btw! I need some lore drops on my boy, Manic, tho. It doesn't even have to be a long explanation. Something goofy like, how many times has he been arrested?

Also! Do the triplets eventually form a band? [side-eye]

Oh my goodness, hello!! I love your art so much it's all so cool!!!! Thank you lol!

Some stuff about Manic in the au lets see...

He was kidnapped as a baby after the triplets had been sent halfway across the continent for their own safety, whoops lol, he's quite charismatic, must always have been since he managed to endear himself to Ferral pretty much immediately lol, he grew up pretty much similarly to the canon of underground, getting by stealing where he has to bartering and stuff, he's part of his own found family within the city and they're all very close, a tight-knit little community of thiefs sfgdhj, though every so often one or two of them decide to spread out (though they stay in touch), which is actually the reason for Manic's being on the train alongside the others, he has family he misses! And he has some things to get to them! (little does he know he'll be meeting more family than he anticipated lol) Though he's never actually been out of the city he grew up in himself (despite what he may claim lol), uhh he is very technically minded he loves to tinker and making little thingamajigs and doohickeys that look like they wouldn't have any practical use but he usually finds a way lol, nothing, like, robotic like Tails does, he's more a manual guy fdsgfgdf, aaand just a random headcanon he's fairly dyslexic n has some trouble reading, he usually has someone help him. There's also gender happening to him :thumbsup:

As for how many times he's been arrested lol uhhhh I think that early on he was pulled up a few times, probably spent some time in juvie, but he hasn't actually been caught in quite a while, I don't imagine Manic gets caught all that often lol you know those videos of kids running from cops and the police just making absolute clowns of themselves trying to catch them? That's Manic JHGJFG

So wrt the band, I'm sort of playing around with ideas right now? The main idea that I'm running with is that, the medallions only react to them when the triplets are getting along, when there is harmony between them (eehh? geddit? lol) that's the only time that they are able to be activated. Which, given the rocky start that they all have with one another obviously takes time, with Sonic being reluctant to share pretty important info with them and generally keeping his distance from them, Sonia's frustration with him and her being Very mad at Manic for scamming her, not much harmony going on for a fair bit of the journey. Eventually the three of them do get along and discover the powers of the medallions and they do perform a few times throughout. Eventually Sonic does spill that they're family and after the reactions they come up with the idea to use their music to get their mothers attention, Sonic is hesitant etcetc. I DUNNO! I'm still futzing with it lol I'll decide on stuff eventually fdghfg

Oh and I do want Sonia and Manic to have their own powers like a lesser version of Sonic's speed but, again, still deciding LOL

Anyway! Sorry this got so long lol, I've thought a lot about this AU! Thank you for the qs!!

OH ALSO Manic uses "bro" and "brother" on Sonic just as a casual thing but the first few times Sonic is like .Does He Know... GJFHG OKAY I'M DONE

[eldritchaccident]

Timing: Just after Under Cover Location: Teddy’s Car Feat: @mortemoppetere & @eldritchaccident Warnings: Allusions to Child Death tw (Past, remembrance of) Summary: : )

He pulled the passenger door open for them, going around to slide into the driver’s seat and turning the heat on full blast. Emilio put the car into gear, driving back towards home. For a while, he drove in silence. Then, as the scenery shifted to something more familiar… “I’m sorry. Probably shouldn’t have dragged you into all this. And… should’ve warned you what I was doing in that closet. And in the office.” He’d probably made them at least a little uncomfortable. “I appreciate you, uh… going along with it.”

— 

Going along with it. 

Four words were all it took to shake Teddy from their stupor. To tune them back into reality, to the car speeding along icy streets back to their neighborhood. Back home where they’d have been able to retreat to their room and put their heart on a defibrillator. It must have stopped beating long ago, they must have been in cardiac arrest. The events of the night swirled into a big mass, but one stood out. Of fucking course it stood out. 

Going along with it. 

As if him just asking for them to come along wasn’t enough to make their heartbeat spike, as if they hadn’t been practically fantasizing about a kiss like that since they were old enough to know what a kiss should feel like, as if the idea of Emilio being on the other side of a kiss like that wasn’t– fuck. They were still thinking about it. Probably wouldn’t ever stop. Teddy turned, and got a full glimpse of Emilio’s face in the passing streetlight. And for a second they were back, pressed up against the coffin, breathless and wanting. But all he thought was that they were– was he just “going along with it” was that all just– 

There had been moments. Glimpses of something that seemed– Teddy knew hope was a dangerous thing. Knew the dangers of wishing someone would feel for you the same way you did for them, only for disaster, distance, or the eventual realization that nothing was ever there to begin with to ruin everything. But this was different wasn’t it? Something had felt different all night, and for the longest time Teddy would have sworn it was just them. That it was their imagination, their dreaming, and yet he kept calling them pet names long after it was necessary. Kept their hand in his even when shrouded from the view of onlookers. Kissed them harder than acting would have necessitated. 

It was fumigating their mind. Pushing out any and every other thought. They’d spent the silent ride staring out the window, watching the small town rush by, just… thinking. 

“You– keep calling me querido…” Teddy’s voice came through even if they didn’t want it to. Even if asking could be their undoing. “At first I thought you–” Their tongue was ahead of them, when their thoughts caught up the ex-demon pulled back. A hand that had been reaching over the center console of the car hesitated, then resumed drumming along their thigh. “I don’t know. Nevermind, It doesn’t–” Backtracked. Receded. Back into the void. “I had a good evening. Really. Despite y’know– everything. Was– fun. I’m glad we— helped those people.” 

—

The adrenaline was still pumping, though Emilio wasn’t sure it was the fight that had his blood singing. It was hard not to let his mind go back to that closet, to the too-small space and the hands on his back. He should have found another way to convince the employees that nothing suspicious was amiss; he knew that now. Teddy was quiet in the seat beside him, looking out the window and stiff as they sat. He wondered if he’d crossed a line they couldn’t come back from now, if he’d managed to finally find the thing that would get Teddy Jones to kick him to the goddamn curb. 

(It would have been something eventually, he knew. If not this, then something else. His own mother had figured the best thing to do with him was to get rid of him after knowing him for thirty-two years. How long could he expect anyone else to last?)

He gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as Teddy spoke, licking his lips as he stared out the windshield. It was imagined, the idea that he could still taste them there. Any real physical trace of the kiss had faded somewhere between the fight and the bailout of the captives. But he felt it all the same, that faint tingling. He brought a hand up, rubbing a thumb at the corner of his mouth absently. 

“Guess it just slipped out.” His tongue felt heavy in his mouth. “Know it’s not what we talked about.” He was misunderstanding on purpose, pretending he hadn’t used the term of endearment after the ruse was over, pretending he hadn’t used it long before there was a ruse to uphold at all. He’d gotten so used to calling Teddy soft nicknames when he hadn’t known they understood them. It was a tough habit to break now that he realized they could. “Yeah. No. It was good to help. And you — You did good. Really good job. Definitely fooled them.” Almost fooled me, he thought. There had been moments, after all, where Teddy’s act was so convincing that Emilio nearly fell for it. But this was who Teddy was, wasn’t it? They’d said so themself, time and time again. They became what the people around them needed in order to remain desirable. Emilio had no intention of making them feel the need to act like something they weren’t for his benefit. 

—

“Could– talk about it now..?” Teddy's fingers curled into the fabric of their pants, painted fingernails digging at the fibers like the tiny strands of some mystery cotton blend were the problem. Like anything but Teddy themself was the problem. Headstrong and lovesick, obvious as a young teen pining after an unrequited love. He noticed. He'd noticed, of course he had to have noticed. The man was a PI, he was a hunter. Two life paths that merged at the point of needing to fucking notice things to stay alive. So he must have. 

Maybe the nickname was a joke. Something like how Teddy always called him detective. Teddy didn't really have another moniker, what else could they be called, unofficial temp agent?? Didn't exactly roll off the tongue in any language. Maybe it was admonishing, or he meant it like you'd say to a strange kid, or a little brother. The possibilities ate away at their mind. A caustic acid of anxiety, pooling in caverns that normally lay empty. 

Fear wasn't something that came to the ex-demon easily. Few things needed to be feared when you were raised thinking yourself immune to death. Instead it crept in by disguising itself as smaller evils. Weariness, obsession, then avoidance. Always keeping themself at a distance from anyone else. Never really showing their true face, because if someone saw it, if they saw and they left it would hurt just so much more. Everyone left, or they made Teddy think they were going to leave so Teddy beat them to the punch. The patterns were always there. 

Fear might not have come easily, but when it did, it came in force. Teddy’s eyes stayed glued to the window, maybe because the darkness beyond was comforting, maybe because they'd occasionally catch a glimpse of his reflection, painfully close to theirs. Their throat dried, despite attempts to gather any spit in their mouth. Were they wrong? Was it just another side effect of their stupid crush, making everything seem far brighter, far more saturated, far more beautiful than it actually was? They were starting to think they'd prefer the company of the blood thirsty vampires to the pair of eyes that bore into the back of their head, surely thinking of a way to let them down. A way to admit that it wasn't that kind of thing, wasn't something they should put their heart into. As if they weren't already consumed by it. 

“Fooled something for sure.” Themself, mostly. Thinking that this conversation was going to go any other way. That this wasn't a disaster, the crash after one of the best nights of their life. (A sad conclusion to come to, considering it wasn't actually a date, wasn't actually a trip to a couples retreat, wasn't really a kiss. Just a ploy, just a means to an end.) “I'm– sorry, Em. Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I shouldn't have– I mean, I should have kept it more– kept my hands to myself–I don't know, I'm just– I'm sorry. Might need to ask someone else for a couples thing next time if you don't want– I understand if you don't want me around after–” 

—

“We don’t have to.” His throat felt dry. It felt like he was doing something wrong, like he was pressuring them into things they might not want and definitely didn’t need. His eyes darted down briefly to the fake wedding ring still sitting on Teddy’s finger, and he thought of Juliana. Of the way she’d looked in her wedding dress, of her laying in bed sweaty and small and staring at the tiny bundle in Emilio’s arms with an unreadable expression on her face, of the quiet mornings of feeding the baby before the sun came up, of her blood under his fingernails and her corpse on the floor. 

And he knew — he knew that things were different. That Teddy was not Juliana, that they had a healing factor that beat out even a hunter’s accelerated pace of recovery, that they could be okay so long as there was someone there they could touch. There was blood on their throat, but no puncture wounds. They’d gotten the shit kicked out of them in that concrete room by Joy’s thugs, but they hadn’t been the one nursing a concussion for days after the fact. Teddy was durable and strong and tough and knew how to take care of themself — but they weren’t invincible. Even if they sometimes acted like they were.

That wasn’t even the root of the problem, of course. The root of the problem went even deeper than that. It was the fact that Emilio had these feelings, and if Teddy knew about them, they’d pretend to feel the same. It was the fact that Teddy didn’t want to be left, that they’d do anything to ensure that they weren’t. They’d act like they loved him back until it rotted inside of them. They’d suffer for a game of pretend that they wouldn’t even really want to play. How could Emilio excuse something like that? How could he pretend it was all right? 

The steering wheel creaked under his grip, and he forced himself to loosen it again. At this rate, not even Teddy’s car would survive him. The thought might have been funny if it weren’t so goddamn depressing. 

Teddy apologized, and Emilio tasted ash. The way they were talking… Maybe he’d gotten it wrong. Maybe they’d known about his feelings all this time and just hadn’t wanted to acknowledge them. It made sense; Teddy was so much more observant than they pretended to be. They’d known about Flora without Emilio being forced to recount the story, knew about Juliana just by looking at the ring on his finger. It made sense that they’d know about this, too.

“No,” he said hoarsely. “No, I — I’m the one who should be sorry. It wasn’t fair for me to ask you to do this. I mean I — I know how I feel, and I know how you feel. It was… wrong for me to make you pretend like that.” Maybe this was a good thing. Maybe it meant Teddy wouldn’t fake it for Emilio’s sake, wouldn’t force themself into something they didn’t want just to make him stay. “And it doesn’t have to change anything. I meant what I said when I told you I wouldn’t go anywhere. It’s okay that you… feel the way you feel. But if it’s not okay that I feel the way I feel, I get it. If you need space or something, I get that. But I won’t leave unless you tell me to. Okay?” 

It was simple — Emilio felt what he felt, and Teddy didn’t feel the same. Emilio was stupid, fell for someone knowing that he was who he was and had the baggage he had, and he couldn’t blame Teddy for not falling back. Fuck knew Emilio couldn’t fault anyone for not loving him when he was like this. But they could be friends, still. And it was better that it was out in the open now, better that Teddy knew. He liked to pretend it made it ache a little less.

—

“Pretend?” The word barked from Teddy's sore throat, half incredulous and overwrought with a sardonic sense of humor. Their brows came together, crashing upwards like two tectonic plates. Teddy barely had to stretch the truth the whole night, the only time they lied was when they went on about their ‘honeymoon’. When they called him ‘hubby’. A thought that sent a wave of pressure through their chest, making their head light. Spinning like a top. It was a part, a bit, a means to an end, that’s all it was supposed to be. Still, Teddy didn’t have to pretend much at all. 

A shiver ran down their spine, while shadows stretched beyond the streetlights. They were close to home now. The houses began to greet them, welcome with the warm light of familiarity. But the closer they drove, the louder the canon of Teddy’s heart began to beat. The words coming from Emilio’s far too perfect lips didn’t make sense. 

It was like looking at a ship on the seafloor. 

A part of them knew so keenly the forces that put it there, the massive structure rendered to nothing more than a decoration for fish to find shelter in. A manmade coral reef, not quite alive itself, but living in the ways it sheltered, the ways it blossomed. There was more to the words than the foggy outline one could see from the surface. He spat riddles like a viper spat venom, both bringing Teddy’s blood to a boil, bringing the bristle of tears to their eyes. 

“Gonna need you to pull over.” They commanded, like a general at war, so sure and deliberate that their order was the one to bring peace. To end a centuries long conflict. Resolution, resolute. Teddy swallowed what little spit had gathered as well as the heart that had come up to greet the swollen lump that sat in their throat. “Gonna need you to answer something pretty plainly okay?” Switching to Spanish gave an excuse for the other to do so as well, for the pair to speak on common ground. A frightened footing neither was really prepared for, but one that needed to be addressed. 

“How exactly do you feel about me, Emilio?” 

—

Pull over? It was like every time Emilio thought he’d figured things out, the rug was pulled out from beneath him again. Was Teddy angry after all? Had he gone too far, said too much, given something away? He pulled to the side of the road, putting the car into park and unbuckling his seatbelt. They were close enough to town that it wouldn’t kill him to walk home, even if it would leave him aching in more ways than one. It would give Teddy time to get his shit packed up and set outside, too. His apartment was empty now, it’d be easy enough to go back to it. Teddy could repurpose the building they’d thrown together for Axis, make it a craft room or whatever they needed.

He didn’t look at Teddy as he sat in the quiet of the car, waiting for them to tell him to go. He meant what he’d said, after all — he wouldn’t leave unless they asked him to, wouldn’t be another person who abandoned them and gave them no say in the matter. He was tense, the stillness settling around him but unable to touch him completely. His leg bounced, his finger tapped the wheel, his eyes darted to the road and to his lap and to the woods beside the car and to anything that wasn’t Teddy, because he didn’t want to look at them when they said it. He thought of Rhett, who left even when Emilio asked him not to. He thought of himself, who once planned to leave everyone and everything behind with no warning. Wasn’t karma a bitch sometimes?

Teddy spoke in Spanish, and Emilio didn’t know if it would soften the blow or make it that much worse. They probably didn’t want to risk any misunderstanding. It was a kindness, he knew; he wasn’t sure if it was one he deserved. “Okay,” he said quietly, staring at his hands. His wedding ring gleamed in the streetlight like an accusation. 

But when Teddy spoke again, when they asked a simple question with a complicated answer, he couldn’t bring himself to speak right away. He sat in that stifling silence, surrounded by that suffocating stillness, and he looked at anything and everything other than the person beside him because it was easier and Emilio was so good at taking the easy way out. It was all he ever did. He let the silence stretch too long, swallowed against the lump in his throat, forced his mouth to open. “Are you really going to make me say it? You can just tell me to go, you know. You don’t have to… I mean, I get it. Okay? I understand. I’m the last person anyone would ever…” 

He trailed off, and his limbs felt heavy. There was a stone in his chest, there was water rising up all around him. He’d never been a fan of drowning. He’d heard it was a peaceful way to go, but he couldn’t stomach the sensation of being unable to breathe.

—

“No, you have to say it.” Wide eyed and searching, Teddy was doing the exact opposite of Emilio. Far too much eye contact. Going over every detail in his expression, like it was a map with a cipher. If they could just figure it out, treasures unbound. Blinking was a thing of the past, far too painful to endure. Their heart was beating so fast, but they needed to hear the words from his mouth. Needed to know, definitively, decisively, and directly what was going through his mind. 

But they could see the tension building too. Could see how Emilio was doing what he was best at. Getting caught up between his head and his heart, self-sabotaging all the way. Tentatively, softly, their hands crept forward. Finding the man’s, holding it tight. A squeeze to ground him, another to show their sincerity, a third just to tease. Teddy’s lips parted slightly, like they were going to say something more, but the wall between sat stoic and ever too tall to cross. 

He just had to say it. Just had to confirm the thing too heavy to dream, too daring to hope for. Teddy felt frozen and on fire. Felt like a whole new kind of cliff to be pushed off of. Only this time they were begging for his hands to be the one to shove. Begging for him to fall alongside them. They needed to hear it. 

“Please.”

—  

The thing was, Teddy wasn’t cruel. Even when they’d been at odds in the beginning, even when Emilio was a dick to them every chance he got, Teddy didn’t tend to take things too far. The closest they’d ever come to that had been when those damn crystals worked their way under their skin, turned them into something they weren’t in more ways than one. They’d had every right to respond to Emilio’s constant poking and prodding with cruelty, and they never had. Time and time again, they’d treated him with kindness. Logic dictated that it wasn’t cruelty driving them now, either. If they were asking him to say it, it was because they needed to hear it. Maybe they wanted to know how bad things were, wanted to make sure they were telling him the right thing and saying it plainly. There was a reason for everything Teddy did. Emilio had always known that.

Still, his throat felt dry. Still, his hands gripped the steering wheel too tightly, despite his constant attempts at loosening them. He wanted to say forget it wanted to say let’s talk about something else wanted to run away the same way he always had. But this was Teddy, and who was Emilio to deny them anything at all? Who was Emilio to refuse to give them something when he owed it to them, when he’d crushed his mouth against theirs at the first sign of a flimsy excuse to do so.

Say it, he thought to himself. Say the words. Let them rip the bandage off. They’ll do it kindly. Somehow, the promise of a kind rejection was so much worse.

“I’m in love with you,” he admitted quietly. “I don’t know when. Figured it out in that cabin, but I think it’s been there for a while. And I know — I know you don’t feel the same. That’s okay. I don’t want you to pretend for me. I don’t want you to… stuff yourself into a box so that I won’t leave you, don’t want you to force yourself into something you don’t want so you don’t have to be alone. I’m in love with you, and I’m not going anywhere until you tell me to. You say the word, and I’ll get out of this car right now and walk back to town on my own, okay? But if you want me to stay, I’m staying. And I’ll — I won’t make it your problem. The things I feel are mine to deal with, and I’ll deal with them. It’s not on you. So tell me what you want me to do, Teds, and I’ll do it.”

—

Wind whistled around the parked car, echoing the ringing in Teddy’s too warm ears. Breath slowed, heart swelled, staring. A shuddered exhale slipped between their parted lips, they repeated the words over and over in their mind. Memorizing each intonation, the cadence, the crescendo. It was music. It was a symphony. Everything else melted into bright splotches of color and light. Bled into one another with him singing hymns at the center. Illuminated and softened by the halation, the halogen glow of the half-frozen streetlights. 

The tear was the first thing to move. 

Not a sad thing, not by a long shot. Relief came just as quickly as excitement. Hand in hand, walking through fields of imagined possibilities. Each somehow pale in comparison to the clumsily given, but fervent admission of–

He loved them. 

Teddy’s expression bloomed into a smile, widened to a grin, then broke down into a fit of giddy laughter. Rough, scratchy barks of mirth as the tears wouldn’t stop. “I’m an idiot.” They wheezed. “You’re an idiot.” Their hands squeezed harder, pulling his from the steering wheel. Holding them against their chest so they could feel the heartbeat daring to surface. “We’re both fucking idiots Emilio.” Their eyes opened, glistening dark pools. Nearly black in the dim light of the roadside. The laughter continued, a one sided joke at their own expense. How– How had neither of them noticed? 

“Do you know what I called you before? That old Greek word?” Teddy inched closer. Attempting a war on their sniffles, the steady stream of relief still pouring like rain. Their cheeks were ruddy, flushed, and warm. Their smile was uneven and cracked, so wide it hurt their cheeks, but they didn’t care. They had just won the goddamn lottery. “I’ll give you one fuckin’ guess what it means.” 

They couldn’t tear their eyes away, couldn’t break the spell, as if to even blink was enough to make them wake from this beautiful fantasy. “Means I know exactly what I want you to do, right now. I want you to kiss me again, like you fucking mean it Mr. Jones.” 

— 

They were quiet, and Emilio still couldn’t look at them. He didn’t turn his head, didn’t want to see the expression on their face. Would they be angry, he wondered? Disgusted? Afraid? The thought of Juliana crossed his mind again, of that body lying still on the living room floor. Teddy knew, better than most people, that Emilio was the kind of bomb who could explode far more than just once. They knew that his blasts were a continuous thing, that he spewed shrapnel and gunpowder with a radius so wide that it was impossible to get to anything resembling a safe distance if you were close to him at all when the fuse ran low. They’d seen the carnage, seen the damage, seen all of it. So they were quiet, because there was nothing to say. Because when you were this close to a ticking time bomb, all that was left to do was duck for cover.

There was a sound from the seat beside him, a quiet bark that didn’t quite make sense. Laughter? Teddy wasn’t cruel. He reminded himself of this, hammered the point home. They weren’t laughing to be mean. It had to be an unintentional thing, something they’d apologize for later. 

Their hands tugged his off the steering wheel, and Emilio let his grip go slack, let them guide his palms over to their chest, glanced up to their face in question. Their eyes were watery — had he upset them? — but there was a smile stretched across their face. Emilio’s brow furrowed. “I’m not an idiot,” he protested, but he must have been, because he didn’t understand this reaction at all. If they were going to kick him out of the car, he wished they’d just do it already. He’d never much cared for living, but he’d never wanted to die slow, either. 

“I…” He trailed off uncertainly as they leaned in close, feeling the warmth of their breath against his skin in a way that was nice and pleasant and painful. Why were they drawing it out? “I don’t speak Greek,” he reminded them. “I told you that. I speak Spanish and English and not very well. I don’t…” He trailed off. They wanted him to guess? It still wasn’t clicking wasn’t making sense. Emilio was a detective, but right now, he felt like a bad one. He couldn’t fathom any answers that involved him being loved. Even with all the evidence was there supporting it.

But then, Teddy spoke. Told him to kiss them, called him Mr. Jones in a tone very different than the one they’d used while undercover. It was a tragic kind of comedy, the evolution of expression on Emilio’s face — from grief to confusion to question to understanding. He blinked. Slow, careful. And then: “Fuck. I am an idiot.” 

He pulled his hands away from theirs, off their chest and onto the back of their head so he could yank them forward across the center console. He let his lips meet theirs somewhere in the middle, fingers tangling themselves in that stupid pink hair. This time, it felt a little less like an apology.

—

Teddy fired off like a rocket, pushing themself out of their spot in the passenger seat to clamber into the too-tight spot between Emilio and the steering wheel. A frantic hunger in the way they kissed him back, in the way they let their hands cup his face like a chalice of water after a week in the desert. The horn honked, more than once. A silly whining tone, sharp and short, and Teddy was all giggles again. They reached down, pulling the lever that all too abruptly sent the pair tumbling backwards as the seat flattened. Feeling their weight shift, Teddy went along with the rollercoaster, colliding with his chest and just laying there. 

Halfway delirious from the sudden elation, Teddy peppered every inch they could reach with kisses. “We-” kiss. “We’re so–” kiss. “So fucking–” kiss. “Dumb.” Desperate, hungry, overjoyed. The trail led them upward, his neck, his cheek, his stupid little forehead, and his lips again. Lingering there, savoring and mourning all the time they could have spent doing this. 

Teddy lifted themself off, not without some protest, but only so they could stare down at him, gauge how he was feeling now. Would they even know the signs, if they hadn’t seen them all this time? Had they both been so wrapped up in worrying about the potential of losing the other that they buried their heads in the sand? Apparently so, if it was obvious that others noticed, that people commented on it. But– fucking hells this was nice. This was great. Teddy wanted more. But not if he wasn’t ready. 

“I– Me too.” They realized, to some degree of embarrassment, that they hadn’t actually said it back yet. Hadn’t  returned the favor in kind. Actions over words, which despite their incessant talking, seemed to show their heart better than they could actually describe. “For a while. I– I’ve loved you for a long time, Em. I love you. I’m always going to love you. I thought you knew, I thought–” Tender hands collected Emilio’s face, one thumb smoothing over the lines of his cheek, the other brushing a curl from his forehead. “I thought I was so obvious.” A string of curses, in various languages came next. Teddy’s eyes screwed shut with the airy laughter, then they leaned down. Pressing their forehead into his. 

“Jade is gonna give us so much shit for this… Fuck me, Arden too. And Nora. And– void below we are the dumbest creatures on Earth.” 

— 

They were across from him and then they were on top of him, and Emilio pressed himself against them with a desperation that had been building for months now. That stupid horn was honking, and he took a moment to feel grateful that, for all the strange things Teddy had added to their stupid yellow car, they hadn’t put a musical horn on the steering wheel. It didn’t matter much, anyway. There was no one to hear it, no one in the universe except for Emilio and Teddy. Their lips on his and their weight in his lap were the only things that existed now.

“You know,” he said around the flurry of desperate kisses, “it really is a turn on to hear you say how stupid I am. Keep going, come on.” Dry wit in place, even now, amusement sparking alongside the deep hunger shining in his eyes. 

He let out a low sound of protest as they removed themself from him, already missing the sensation of their lips on his skin. He didn’t miss the way they were looking at him, wondered what they were thinking. He used to think he was pretty damn good at guessing that kind of thing, but… maybe he’d been a little off base for a while now. Maybe he couldn’t read them half as well as he thought he could. There was something a little scary about the thought… but it was a little exciting, too. It came with the smallest of thrills. 

Dark eyes darted across their features as they spoke, but without the usual flutter of paranoia. There was something softer in his expression, something more at ease. The paranoia would return — it always did — but for the moment, those eyes looked a little more peaceful than they usually did. “Are you sure you don’t want to say it in Greek?” He smiled, swallowing as he looked away again. 

The natural inclination was to tell them how bad an idea it was to love him. To warn them against making a mistake that had gotten people killed in the past, to think of the love Lucio had carried and the bodies it had left behind or of Juliana’s body laying still on that floor or of Flora or of Rhett or of all of them at once. But Teddy argued every time he reminded them of what he was, and Emilio wanted so badly not to argue now. He loved them, and they loved him back. The rest could be a conversation for a later time. For now, maybe it was okay just to sit with what they knew.

What… everyone knew, evidently. Emilio let out a quiet groan, leaning his feet against the steering wheel and closing his eyes. “Maybe we don’t tell them,” he offered. “They’re going to say ‘I told you so,’ and we won’t even be able to tell them they’re wrong. What if we go live in a shack in the woods? I can fake our deaths if you can give me a few teeth.” 

—

With permission, Teddy returned to making up for lost time. Finding it hard to keep from smiling, finding it hard not to explore in ways that’d get difficult in the confined space of the car. Steam began to build up on the glass, without the air circulation to clear them, the heat inside was more than enough to make voyeurs of precipitation. Clinging to the windows just as tightly as Teddy was to him. A dumbstruck anger at themself for not asking sooner. For not being more selfish. They sure as hell were going to be selfish with him now. 

“Which part, that you’re an idiot, or that I love you? Cause I’ll say ‘em both in Greek. Say ‘em both in every fuckin’ language. I love you, Emilio. No take backs. You’re my idiot now.” As instructed, the phrase repeated, bouncing between languages just as they bounced between pressing and nursing on any bit of exposed skin. Drinking him in and declaring their love through the roster until physically stopped by their lips on his. 

The proposal wasn’t in earnest, at least Teddy didn’t think it was. As tempting as a trip out into the woods to live in a shack where they wouldn’t be bothered by the knowing looks and smug expressions on their friends' faces, they knew neither of them could leave the folks of this town any better than they could leave each other. Still, they grinned, baring their pearly whites with a mischievous gleam. 

“Oh yeah? I’ll give you some teeth, agapitós.” The mix of tongues rolled off their tongue, blended into something odd, but enthusiastic. Just like Teddy themself. The ex-demon moved from Emilio’s mouth down to his collarbone, to his shoulder, scraping the skin there against their teeth as if they still had their unholy sharpened fangs. There was still a bit of blood, dried now. Weaving around the wounds inflicted by the vampire, barely a pink scar now. Slayer healing, something that definitely drove a new sort of curiosity through them, a new sort of thrill. 

“Y’know, I think if you tried, you could be the world’s first to give himself a hickey by testing out my new powers.” Not exactly helping the hiding part. But who cared? No one else was around, they hadn’t even seen another car all night. With his healing factor soaking it all up, there'd be no trace by the time they reached the front door. Teddy tugged on his shirt, trying to roll the both of them over, only to find the center console rather than a flat surface. Another laugh spouted out of them. Being home right then might not be the worst idea. “Think we can make it home without… getting distracted? Think I know a much more cozy place to talk about these very serious misunderstandings we’ve been having.” 

—  

He didn’t really want to do this in a car. It was cramped, it was uncomfortable, and those things were making it a hell of a lot harder to let his focus stay where he wanted it to be. But he also didn’t want to let Teddy settle back into the seat beside him long enough to put the car back into gear and drive back to the house, so it was what it was. They’d lost enough time already. Emilio didn’t want to give up any more for something as stupid as driving. 

“Mmm, could say all of it. I’d like to hear more about how you’re an idiot, too, though. Liked that part.” He grinned, rolling his eyes fondly as they made good on the request and repeated the phrase in languages he couldn’t pretend to recognize. It sounded best in Spanish, he thought; the way it rolled off their tongue, the way it settled into his ears. 

Maybe it would be better to stay in the car indefinitely after all. The world outside of it was so much more complicated, wasn’t it? It wasn’t just the smug ‘I-told-you-so’s from their friends they’d have to worry about when they got back to the world outside this liminal space, and Emilio knew it. There were obstacles that hadn’t disappeared when they’d said the words they’d apparently both been thinking for months now, things like their shared penchant for self destruction, things like Teddy’s issues with abandonment and Emilio’s ghosts. There was still Juliana’s blood beneath his nails, still her corpse on the floor. Sooner or later, they’d need to break the spell to talk about what all of this meant, how they intended to move forward with it.

But Emilio was pretty content to leave it for ‘later.’ At least in the moment. It was a little difficult to think of the ramifications of anything with Teddy’s teeth scraping his skin.

He moved, shifting so that he was positioned horizontally in his seat now, but the center console of the car put a halt to anything substantial. Emilio let out a low, dissatisfied grumble. “Things like this are why I say you need a different car,” he pointed out, back to English for just a moment. “I think I can manage the drive if you think you can talk us out of a speeding ticket if any cops are out.” 

—

In the moment, at least for Teddy, things were clear. Crystal. There was no future, no past. There was no one else but them. Something that had been building all these months, something that had pushed them towards the realization. Time didn't exist for them whenever they were around Emilio. Something in him just answered a call Teddy's heart was constantly dialing. Constantly searching for. They had spent so long on and in the ocean that their whole being was engulfed by the waves. Perpetual motion, turbulent at times but never still. Never finding peace except when whatever spell Emilio cast afforded them the opportunity to find tranquility. Peace. The waters quelled, the surface a mirror that Teddy could finally see themself in. 

Because Emilio could see them, could look at them like it was the simplest thing in the world. Slipping past the colorful masks, and finding them amidst the storm. It had confused them at first, Teddy didn't know what to do under a microscope, they were much more at home on a stage. Spotlight illuminating the show but distance bleeding out the details. 

Emilio always picked up on the details. He knew things about them, things they hadn't even realized. And yet he was still so clueless about others, namely that Teddy had the biggest fattest crush on him for more than half the year at this point. Part of the reason they had refrained from actually saying anything was because he was so good at figuring out the little things. This big, glaring, gargantuan, all consuming one was sure to be seen. But no. The sweet self-deprecating asshole didn't see love because he didn't believe he deserved it. Well, Teddy was keen on making him a believer. Making him understand with ever fiber of his being that Theodore Jones fucking loved him. All of him. Every bit. 

The drive was going to be a problem. 

Teddy whined a little as they settled reluctantly back into the passenger seat. “Think I can handle that if it comes up. Just a few streets now anyway, why'd you stop again?” They asked, a cheeky smile gracing their features. Teddy leaned over, thankful that the car was small enough that they barely had to stretch. Their head on his shoulder wasn't enough though, so their hand found its way to his thigh. Testing the muscle there a little mischievously. “If I had a bigger car, I couldn't do this while you drive.” 

—

“Ah, some idiot told me to pull over,” Emilio replied dryly. He felt refreshed, in the strangest way. The closest comparison he had to it was winning an impossible fight, coming out of something that should have killed you with little more than scrapes and bruises, but even that wasn’t quite right. Victory was always preceded by violence, in those cases, and even someone raised in violence the way Emilio had been tended to feel that all-too-human tug of guilt when enacting it. There was none of that here. No emptiness to the joy, no hollow undertones. He felt good, and it was good.

Later, he knew, that would change. The dark feelings always crept to the top eventually, even in the happiest of situations. He knew that loving someone only ever meant losing them, knew that there was always another shoe waiting to drop, always a living room floor just waiting to be stained with the blood of someone you couldn’t live without. He was still a bomb, and Teddy was still too close to the blast to be spared the shrapnel. He knew that. But right now, in the quiet confines of the too-small car with their hand creeping across the middle console to find his lap, it felt like nothing could touch him. It was always the hope that would kill you in the end but, for the first time in a while now, Emilio felt like he wasn’t quite dead yet.

It was a good feeling.

He let out a quiet sound from the back of his throat as Teddy’s hand moved on his thigh, and the car sped up just a little. “You’re terrible,” he complained, but there was no heat to it. At least… not the usual kind of heat. “You are going to make me go into a wall.” 

By the time the house came into view, it was a miracle that they hadn’t. 

[cattyanon]

Since I'm distracted by working on a fic, and I saw a somewhat similar AU in the Sonic au tag, I've decided to just go ahead and post about it...

Project Lightspeed (aka Wisp Sonic)

Note: I messed up on some of the color positions with the first drawing but there's another drawing that's more accurate!

(Above picture is his modern design)

The second artificially made lifeform on the ARK, Project Lightspeed Sonic uses a combination of the Cyan Laser and Ivory Lightning Wisps that were forcefully infused to him to run at the incredible speeds he's able to reach.

He isn't actually aware that he'd been infused with the power of the Wisps or his origins in general until Sonic Adventure 2 happens. To say he react well to everything is kinda an understatement...

As for how he ends up on Earth and all that? Well first we need to establish a bit of background.

Peoject Lightspeed, as he was referred to on the ARK, didn't get the same treatment as Shadow. In fact his treatment was much worse. While he was also created with the help of Gerald his double purpose was different from Shadow's. As for why I say double purpose? Well there's the main purpose they're presented as and then there's GUN's true purpose for them.

Project Shadow's main purpose was presented as finding a cure for Maria, while GUN's true purpose was for him to be The Ultimate Lifeform.

Project Lightpseed's main purpose was presented as being able to quickly help people get to safety or to a hospital, while GUN's true purpose for him was to be an improved version of The Ultimate Lifeform. And this time they'd ensure everything they could to keep him away from Gerald's much too caring hands in an attempt to mold him to their liking.

While technically Sonic is more powerful than Shadow, he's unaware of certain abilities he possesses which makes it so when they fight they're on more equal footing. He can not only do everything Shadow can but better, but he's also got his own unique chaos abilities... that I still need to figure out.

Btw the reason he only has one inhibitor ring is because, due to secretly being an improved version of The Ultimate Lifeform, his energy is much more stable than Shadow's.

So due to how kindhearted Sonic is, their attempts to mold him to their liking made them very unhappy with him. He'd constantly get punished for not obeying their orders. Punishments started out as more grueling testing and hurting him. When that didn't work after a while they decided to try some different methods, eventually finding that submerging him in water was the most effective in getting him to do what they want. At that point the only thing he'd still try to refuse to do is kill.

The reason it was so effective is cause he's not only made up of mostly energy, but it so happens that one his main components is lightning. So combine those two things with the fact that water and electricity don't mix well? Well needless to say that constantly submerging him in it causes his hydrophobia to become extreme.

And then eventually the ARK raid happens...

Knowing he's likely going to die anyways and since he was in the general area, Gerald takes pity on Sonic and helps him escape. Sonic easily trusts him since he's one of the only people to not hurt him. Gerald does his best to escort him to one of the multiple escape pod zones, informing him of what he'll need to do if Gerald is unable to make it with him. Which is good since he doesn't. The way it happens is that he ends up having to stall some guards, subsequently resulting in his arrest.

Sonic makes it to the pods and manages to escape, but not before obtaining even more trauma. So much so that he ends up repressing his memories of the ARK in general.

Unfortunately the pod ends up malfunctiong because of Sonic's powers going on the fritz due to the stress of the situation. Speaking of stress, he manages to essentially short circuit himself and enters a self induced coma as his body tries to fix itself. It doesn't help that he's subconsciously using a fraction of his energy to power the pod's essentials. Most notably life support and stasis.

The pod ends up crashing into Westside Island, causing the locals to investigate. Locked from the inside and short circuited, the islanders are unable to open it or see inside. Eventually they give up and, being too heavy for them to move, wind up just making a scrapyard around the pod.

Fast forward a little less than 50 years when a certain two tailed fox comes across it while looking for some scrap to use. Curious as to what could be inside when he's unable to open it, he makes something to tow the pod to his shack and it ends up becoming his own little pet project.

One day, while the fox is out, the blue and yellow hedgehog in the pod finally wakes up.

The amnesiac stumbles his way out of the pod and falls onto the ground. And of course it's that moment the fox finally returns home.

And while the fox had no idea what to expect from the stranger, something he defientely wasn't expecting was for them to be terrified upon seeing him.

(The red rings aren't inhibitors but rather cuffs that they used to help keep him in line aboard the ARK)

It takes a while for the currently nameless hedgehog to even think about trusting the fox. People meant bad things happen to him, even if he doesn't remember why. He ends up subconsciously curling into a ball and stays that way for a while, baffling the fox as to when he eats or drinks.

(They much later learn that he doesn't need to eat or drink as he's able to sustain himself with his own energy)

And while the hedgehog doesn't talk he eventually gives the fox a chance, who he'd nicknamed Tails in his head, and becomes overprotective over him. From there they slowly but surely come to view each other as brothers.

[elijahhendley]

７月15號 Day 4: A Day of Walking

Today was another slow start for me. I woke up around 8:30am and had breakfast in the hotel. The breakfast at the hotel is very strange. It is not the most normal American breakfast, but it is not a very traditional Taiwanes breakfast. They have noodles and rice options as well as sausage, bacon, and eggs. My favorite item on the menu is the pineapple. It is so good!

After my breakfast, I went back to my room to go back to sleep. After sleeping for a bit and talking on the phone to my people back home, I started to get hungry. So, naturally, I start my wondering activities. I walk a path I am fairly familiar with, looking for someplace to eat. I am in a hurry because we have a classroom meeting at 1pm and I left the hotel at 12:33pm. Definitely did not give myself enough time. Oops. But I walk past this place that looked pretty good, but the menu was all in chinese so I did not walk in at first. But after 8 more minutes of walking, I circle back because I need to find food quickly. I talk to the shop owners and ask them what is the best thing on the menu because I could not read it well lol. It was a good chance to practice my chinese but I eventually use google trranslate to translate the menu. They were super nice and recommended the scallion pancake and I also ordered a burger on top of that. It was all very good. But by the time I got my food it was 1:06pm. I was LATE! I speed walk back to the hotel in 4 minutes and find the room we were meeting in. That was when I noticed there were also like 5 others missing. I felt a little relief that I was not the only one late.

After classroom time, we went out to the Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall which was very cool. The court yard, the arches, the statue, and the buildings were all so big. I also loved the traditional style used to make the buildings as well. While there, we were able to see the changing of guards and the museum as well. They did the changing of gaurds out side, and it was scorching hot. I was sweating so much and I know the gaurds had to be hot as well.

After the chiang kai-shek memorial hall we were able to see the Taiwan "White house" which the president does not acually live at. Then we went to the grand hotel, which indeed was very grand. It was awesome to see all of the history of the place and how many important leaders in the past have stayed in this hotel. Also, how many important meetings happened in this hotel as well. Such as the negotiation for the US to break diplomatic relations with the Republic of China(Taiwan, R.O.C). After the Grand Hotel, we went to the night market where we ended our night eating so much great food.

ACADEMIC REFLECTION

Reading about Chiang Kai-Shek and how he came to political power was very interesting. Many people liked him during his time and were very radical when it came to keeping him in power. But, at the same time, a lot of people did not like him. As peter told us today, your view of who Chiang Kai-Shek was, whether he was a good or a bad person, depended on your own family history and how Chiang Kai-Shek treated your family in the past. People like him because he lead the rupeblic of china to victory over the japanese. He also was a martyr, survivning warlords, coups d'etat, japanese invasion, and communist rebellion(taiwan review). In the 1940s, even president Franklin rosevelt sent over billions of dollars to support Chiang Kai-shek. But others do not like him because under his rule, the White terror happened. The White Terror was a period of time when 10s of thousnads of Taiwanese people were killed, and hundreds of thousands of people were arrested and treated like animals. And it was all done to anyone who seemed to oppose the KMT(Chinese National Party)(Jamison).

Memorial Hall-freedom square where many protest happen.

Grand Hotel

Taiwan's "White House"

Chiang Kai-Shek statue and a replica of him in his office

Shilin night market - Bao and Winter Melon Tea :)

Until Next time, 再見！

[androidcharles]

Deafeating the Androids (Act 2): Chapter 3

A makeshift team is formed from the Toppats with the Triple Threat and the game is afoot. But once the team reaches the Project SAI complex, they find that things aren't as they seem.

Not many tws in this, but if you're not a fan of implied brainwashing then you're not gonna like this.

Team Triple Threat got the authorization to go on this mission with a small group of Toppats as they headed to the Toppat manor to meet with their group.

Amelia sat on the hood of the car as Carol tapped on the steering wheel. Sven and Jacob stayed behind as Rupert paced in front of the car before they glanced at the rooftop to see Charles’ helicopter landing. The Triple Threat team gathered at the edge of the roof before they grabbed Charles and he leapt down, activating his hover tech at just the right moment before hitting the ground. Ellie was able to hop off of Charles while Henry slipped and fell on his face, causing the nearby Toppats to chuckle a little.

“Alright, you guys, it’s time to get to work. Dad… Reginald let us borrow this car so we can get to the Project SAI complex in one piece. Hopefully we won’t need to put up much of fight. All we have to do is talk to the androids there and maybe they’ll listen to reason. Hopefully. Once they do, we’ll apprehend the scientists, arrest them and split the bounty.

“Yep, split it seventy-thirty!” Carol said.

“Who gets the thirty?” Ellie muttered, narrowing her eyes at Carol.

“None of your business,” Carol said.

“I thought we agreed to sixty-fo- OOF!” Jacob was suddenly slapped by Sven as Rupert chuckled a bit and Amelia rolled her eyes.

“C’mon guys, there’s enough room for everyone,” Amelia said. The remaining three piled into the car and tried make conversation as Amelia started to head towards the car before her shoulder was grabbed. She turned to see Reginald smiling at her, a worried look in his eyes as the Right Hand Man hovered behind him.

“I’ll be fine,” Amelia said softly.

“I know, but… please be careful. Don’t hesitate to call if things go south,” Reginald said, “And…” he rushed forward and hugged her, “I love you OK? Please… please come back safe…”

“I will,” Amelia said. She walked over and hugged the Right Hand Man as well, who was trying to keep his tears in as he hugged her.

“Please come back safe, princess…” he said, planting a soft kiss on her head.

“Don’t worry, I’ll come back alive. And if we’re lucky… with a few new recruits,” Amelia said, winking at them.

“LET’S GO, SQUIRT! WE DON’T HAVE ALL DAY!” Carol shouted. Amelia groaned as she headed towards the car, waving to her fathers as she walked towards the car and got in the passenger’s seat.

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Amelia asked.

“You’re my little sister Amelia. Grudge or not, I have to protect you. Plus, you’ve been on your best behavior lately…” Carol said. Amelia rolled her eyes as she glanced at the back.

“Are you guys really sure you want to do this?” Amelia asked.

“As nervous as I am… I have to,” Sven said.

“Look I’m only going because Charlie’s going. And I care about Dave too,” Rupert said.

“In all honesty, I had nothing better to do today,” Jacob said.

“Wow, Ellie, he really is your cousin,” Charles said.

“In what way?” Ellie asked, a little offended.

“Alright guys, fasten your seatbelts. Where’s the other android?” Carol asked.

“She’s at the government base right now. She said she really didn’t want to come back,” Charles said.

“Well, that’s up to her. Let’s get going Carol,” Amelia said.

“Roger that!” Carol began to put the car in gear as she sped towards the gate as it opened, the car speeding away from the manor.

For about a few hours, Amelia gave Carol directions while the Toppats and the Triple Threat team sat together, trying to have a few nice conversations but in the end, it was honestly a waste. The group was a little worried to say the least about the mission at hand and what would transpire there.

Finally, they pulled up about a mile or so from the Project SAI site B. They had to have a decent plan if they were going to do this. After all, if they ran in head first, then they would definitely be blindsided.

“Carol, stay here and be ready to go when things go south. With or without us,” Sven said, “Rupert are you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be…” Rupert said softly.

“What about you, Jacob?”

“Ready…”

“What about you three? Are you ready?” Sven asked.

“I just wanna know who put you in charge of this operation,” Ellie said snidely.

“Ellie, let’s try to get along for the androids sake,” Sven said, “I’m not as happy with this collaboration as you are, but we have to remember why we’re doing this…”

“Geez, fine,” Ellie said, “But no one put you in charge.”

“Whatever. Just get ready,” Sven said as they all piled out of the car. Amelia and Charles stepped forward as they looked out over the horizon.

“Is it out there?” Charles asked.

“This is where Bea said it was. I don’t see anything though… Wait…” Amelia suddenly gasped as she screamed:

“MOOOOVEEE!!!!”

Like a bolt of lightning, a rocket suddenly launched at the group, making a sizable crater in the ground where Henry and Ellie were standing. Charles gritted his teeth as the next rocket came towards him, but he was quicker, grabbing it and jumping over it swiftly.

Meanwhile, Amelia put up a protective shield as Sven used the binoculars to see where their target was.

“I don’t see anyone!” Sven shouted.

“Who are we supposed to attack then?” Rupert yelled.

“The guys that are firing the rockets at us!” Jacob said.

“Yeah, obviously!” Ellie cried out as she tried to spy out the attackers as well. Henry, meanwhile, was trying to focus as he tried to consider his options. He needed to find a way to get to the site so he could help Charles and Amelia.

Finally, he pulled out a rocket launcher himself and started to fire it randomly at the attackers, one of the rockets colliding with another as Sven noticed two figures over the horizon.

“THEY’RE COMING!!” Rupert shouted as he pulled out his gun and started to shoot.

Charles and Amelia already recognized Adam and CJ charging towards them as they ran towards them with the intent to fight.

Charles charged up his lasers, ready to fight before he was suddenly hit with something. His UI started to glitch as he collapsed on the ground, unable to move.

“Charles!” Amelia shouted before suddenly being hit by the same thing.

“Amelia, Charles!” Ellie shouted as she ran towards the androids, ready to fight them.

“Sorry about this…” Adam muttered as he pulled out a tranquilizer gun. Before Henry could even act, Adam had fired a couple of rounds into the nearby humans. Carol hopped out of the car, ready to fight off the androids as she was suddenly shot as well.

“Sorry about all this guys. Once everything gets going, maybe you’ll understand…” Adam said softly, “CJ, take CC and AM to Dave for… reprogramming.” CJ let out a reluctant sigh as they grabbed their bodies before Adam tossed a grenade under the car, blowing it up in the process.

“I hope Theo is right about all this…”

- - - - -

Henry groaned as he opened his eyes, his head throbbing as he glanced around the cell he was in. He let out a small sigh as he looked around for some options and realized there wasn’t really much to do here. No ventilation shafts, no cracks or dents, just a small cell with one door with a window. He stood up, feeling dizzy as he glanced out and saw everyone in cells all around him.

“Is everyone alright?” he heard Carol say somewhere.

“I’m fine! Sven is panicking though. I can hear him rambling from here,” Jacob said.

“Don’t make fun of him! We should try to be calm for his sake!” Rupert shouted, “Dave?! Are you there?”

“I don’t think Dave is here…” Ellie said softly from the other side of Henry.

“What about Charles?” Jacob asked.

“I don’t hear him.”

“I don’t hear Amelia either…” When Carol said that, Henry felt a chill go down his spine. He didn’t know what was going on or what was happening, but he couldn’t help but feel like something horrible happened to them.

“Henry, what are we gonna do?” Ellie asked.

“I don’t know…” Henry said softly as he tried to think of something.

“Stickmin…” Henry jumped to see Theodore at his door. He unlocked it as he beckoned for Henry to step out of the cell.

“You don’t have anything with you, do you?” Theodore asked. Henry shook his head as Theodore sighed.

“I told Daxton that there’s no point in surveying this area because you’ll just escape no matter what. I can’t seem to understand it either. How you’re so crazy prepared for any situation, any crisis. I wish I was more like you. Maybe I wouldn’t be in this mess.” Theodore sighed as he gazed at the cells, glancing at the humans glaring at him.

“Well, I can imagine that you’ve got better things to do then hearing me ramble. Like escaping for instance…” Theodore had this look in his eyes that Henry couldn’t quite identify, but Theodore just let out another sigh as he pushed Henry back into his cell.

“Well, have fun. You’re probably gonna be used as scrap for the new android revolution, so you might as well get comfortable!” Theodore shouted. The cell door shut before Henry could even jump up, as he gazed at Theodore leaving, the panic rising through the room as he heard a small voice in the back of his head.

Wow, you listened to him talk about all that! What fun!

“WAIT WHAT?!” Henry shouted as his eyes started to glow. The universe was giving him options! He was just not paying attention.

Let’s retry…

“You don’t have anything with you, do you?” Theodore said, as Henry shook his head once again. Better to lie so he can consider what to do first.

And already, as Theodore began to repeat himself, he already saw a good option. Tackle!

He tackled Theodore down and tried to incapacitate him only to be blasted in the stomach by a laser gun.

You just tried to tackle an android… with weapons…

No need to be smart… Henry thought as he reset once again, waiting a bit as he listened to Theodore ramble before another option appeared.

Taser… couldn’t hurt to try. Henry pulled out a taser as Theodore jumped, trying to dodge before he was suddenly shocked. He felt the shock going through his body as he collapsed on the ground.

Immediately, Henry began to search his body for the cell keys as he grabbed them and started to unlock the cells as the others began to file out into the hall, treading carefully as they glanced around.

Henry beckoned for the others to follow as they filed into another room, Rupert already scanning the room for security cameras before taking it out from below.

“Nice work, Rupert,” Sven said, “Maybe now we can come up with a plan in peace…”

“So what are we supposed to do? Dave and Dr. V weren’t in any of the cells. Who knows where they are right now…” Ellie said.

“And Charles and Amelia weren’t in the cells either. What the heck is going on?” Carol said.

I THINK IT MIGHT HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH WHAT THEODORE WAS TALKING ABOUT. HOW THEY’RE GOING TO WIPE OUT HUMANITY AND STUFF… Henry said.

“WHAT?! When did he say that!?” Jacob shouted, “I remember him talking down to you, but wiping out humanity…”

“That doesn’t sound right. Why did Project SAI go from selling androids under the government’s nose to eradicating humanity?” Ellie asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t wanna stick around to find out. We need to find the androids, Dr. V, and Amelia’s little boyfriend before they carry on with that plan!” Carol shouted.

“Alright, then we’ll split up,” Sven said, “Ellie, Henry, you should go and look for Charles while me, Carol, Jacob, and Rupert go look for Amelia.”

“Um, I hate to go against orders, but I’m going with Henry and Ellie,” Rupert said, “Charles is my boyfriend and I wanna make sure he’s safe too…” Rupert said.

“Um, well… alright, I guess. But just be careful,” Sven said, “Considering the fact that we didn’t find them earlier and what Henry just said…”

“Don’t worry. If he’s been brainwashed, I’ll be able to get through to him,” Rupert muttered as Henry beckoned for Rupert and Ellie to follow him.

“For your sake, I hope you’re right,” Sven said, “C’mon. We have a princess to rescue,” Sven said. Jacob and Carol went in the opposite direction as their hearts raced, feeling a wave of anxiety wash over them.

Just what happened to Charles and Amelia?

- - - - -

Henry glanced around as he entered what looked to be a supply room, dozens of crates and parts scattered across the room as Rupert stayed behind him, gazing around as Ellie looked around the corners.

“I have a feeling this is where they get all their supplies…” Ellie said.

“No shit…” Rupert muttered, “Still, it’s pretty creepy…”

“Enjoying yourselves, prisoners?” They looked to see Adam standing on top of one of the tall steel racks, his eyes glowing bright blue as he gazed down on Henry and the others.

“Well, Theo did say that if we’re trapping Henry Stickmin, we’re not gonna keep him imprisoned,” Adam said.

“Wait, so Theo knew we were going to break out? What was the point of trapping us then?” Ellie said.

“I can’t divulge that right now…”

“Just come down here and fight us already you coward!” Rupert shouted. Adam chuckled as he shook his head.

“I’m not gonna fight you.”

“HENRY LOOK OUT!” Ellie shouted as a crate suddenly rocketed towards him. Henry felt the full force of Ellie tackling him as he landed on the floor, Ellie on top of him as they gazed at the direction the crate came from.

“Charlie!” Rupert shouted.

“Hello, humans! Let’s have some fun, shall we?” Charles said, his eyes glowing red.

“Charles, it’s us! Ellie and Henry and Rupert! C’mon, you’ve gotta remember us!” Ellie shouted before she narrowly dodged a laser blast.

“The only thing I know about you guys is that you’re filthy humans that need to be exterminated at once!” Charles shouted.

“Charlie! What about- GYA!” Rupert was suddenly grabbed by the throat as Charles gave a menacing grin, chuckling as he squeezed his throat.

“Charlie… we’re… please… stop…” Rupert choked out as Henry rushed at Charles, taking out a baseball bat and hitting him clear in the stomach. Charles rocketed back as Rupert dropped to ground, gasping and choking as he gazed at him, watching him get up with a snarl.

“Charlie, what about… we’re supposed to be…” Rupert said.

“Charles, that’s Rupert! Don’t you recognize him!? Your boyfriend!!” Ellie shouted.

“Boyfriend… why would I fall in love with a dumb human!?” Charles shouted, “All I know is that you guys need to be eliminated as soon as possible. And I think I’ll start with Henry Stickmin…” Charles sneered as his arms turned in laser swords. Henry himself pulled out a laser sword, staring down his former best friend, who was now under Project SAI’s control.

Don’t worry Charles… I’ll knock some sense into you if it kills me…

[mister-leonn]

Coming on another story, here's one of my most gentle and kind Pokémon, Lapras, the last Pokémon I caught in Kanto. I got her on Road 19 while leaving Fuschia City, at the time Laprases were still a rarity and hunted by poachers, with my travelling friend we attacked them with our Pokémons and were able to get Lapras out of the net they caught her in, unfortunately she was wounded and too big to be carried to a Pokémon Center, she was really scared of humans but with the help of our Pokémons they eased her and I guess told her it was for her own good and so she agreed to let herself get caught in a ball. Back in Fuschia City the nurse told us she saw from the shore a school of Laprases at large and she was scared they would get attacked, she was relieved only one was caught freed and the entire family was probably safe somewhere else. i promised Lapras to help her find her family and help them go back in the ocean once reunited. Sadly it's a promise I wasn't able to keep, we looked for them for days but there wasn't anywhere they could he found, Lapras was obviously scared they met a worse fate then her, I told her they probably escaped fast and far before getting caught too, I assume she bought the thought but she didn't look very convinced, however I asked her if she would want to stay with us, being her new family until the day we can find her school back, having nowhere else to go she agreed, becoming a valuable member of the Kanto team and a honorable aquatic steed, taking us everywhere we asked with smile and speed. I thought Lapras finally agreed to the life with us, until one day, between my Hoenn and Unova journeys, I heard of a lost Lapras school in Sunnyshore City waters, I brought Lapras there, with the hope to find her family, it was the first Lapras group I ever saw, it was a beautiful scene, they were majestic and so kind with each other, really revealing Laprases true nature, sadly, it wasn't mines family. Altho, we met a marine biologist who especially came to watch them, she explained she has been following them for a while, making sure they don't get hurt by poachers but she has been tasked with another mission, and she couldn't take of them anymore before a while, if she came here it was to try and put a tracking ring on one of them. Seeing my Lapras getting along with them very well, and how strong she became over the years, I asked Lapras if she wanted to stay with them for a while, leading them from seas to seas and oceans to oceans and protect them, until the day life would he easier to Laprases, the biologist put the tracker around one of her fins, and explained if she was in trouble one of her new friend could press the middle button and it would call the closest help, and not only that, she added an app on my Pokédex, I will be able to know her positions anywhere she will be and it would start ringing for both of us when she comes to a relatively close distance. I wasn't exactly ready to let her go, but I felt in my heart it was the best thing to do, no need to mention I checked the app for days until I was able to let her go. Luckily I met her again soon after, in Unova, at Undella Town, she was doing great for sure and was teaching her friends how to defend themselves. And later on, unfortunately this time, I met her in Alola, she called for help with the tracker and was rescued by Æther Foundation, who rescued her and her school, but one of the babies had been captured and taken away, leading me with her on a hard at-sea trip and battle to rescue the young Lapras, there the Shy Lapras I knew showed herself mightier and stronger than ever, protecting herself with Shell Armor, and showing a mastering at her Ice Beam, Body Slam, Sing and her recently new learned move Sparkling Aria, leading us to marine authorities to arrest the poachers. I like to think my Lapras really helped in the recovery of her specie, even tho they are way too many now.

[lovelyladyabsinthewrites]

Love Song for a Vampire Pt.10

Pairing(s): Edward Cullen x Wolf!Reader, Edward Cullen x Bella Swan, Jacob Black x Bella Swan

Warnings: none

Words: 2543

Summary: Bella goes missing and you help in the search for her.

Part 1    Part 2    Part 3    Part 4  Part 5  Part 6  Part 7  Part 8  Part 9  Part 11  Part 12  Part 13  Part 14  Part 15  Part 16  Part 17  Part 18  Part 19  Part 20  Part 21  Part 22  Part 23  Part 24  Part 25  Part 26  Part 27  Part 28  Part 29  Part 30  Part 31  Part 32  Part 33  Part 34  Part 35  Part 36  Part 37  Part 38  Part 39

 The vision had grabbed Alice by the throat just as Bella had left the Cullen house. The tumbling of Bella’s red pickup truck and a pale man with red eyes pulling Bella from the wreckage. She couldn’t see the face though. It was covered with shadows and despite Alice trying to look further to see where Bella had been taken, there was no luck. Frantically and not wasting time, she startled a sullen Edward as she threw open the door to tell him what she had just seen. Not long after, the Cullen siblings hop into their respective cars and speed off; following the route where Bella had taken hundreds of times. They sniffed around the perimeter to no avail. She was gone without a trace. Whoever took her knew that the Cullens would promptly be out searching for her.

Uncertainly, Jasper glances at his mate who fretted about; willing another vision to come but there was nothing else to help them find her.

Edward slams his fists against the already dented hood of the pickup. “Damn!” Black had overtaken the gold that usually tinted his irises. Black and glaring into the trees as if the kidnapper was still there. It had to be Victoria’s doing. Who else?

“Ed. . . we have to tell her father. It’s late and if he tries to contact her. . . he’ll know something bad has happened.”

The last thing they wanted was to involve humans in this Victoria mess. Charlie Swan was an officer though. If he suspected foul-play on Edward’s behalf, he could very well arrest him under the suspicion of his daughter’s disappearance. And he would be partly right. If only he hadn't let Bella leave while emotional and upset.

Reaching into his back pocket, Edward pulls out his phone and searches for Charlie’s number.

With a groan you toss to your side and glare at your phone as it begins to ring again. Fingers curl and snatch it with a type of viciousness reserved for birds of prey. Bleary eyes focus on the tiny screen and the name that was lit up. It was Jared. Weird, really weird. What did he want so early in the morning?

**

Your phone was ringing nonstop as you tried to push yourself further into sleep. Early morning light played peek-a-boo with your blinds. That’s what you got for forgetting to turn your phone off but no one ever actually called you. Kids your age insisted on texting. The only people you called on your phone were your parents and grandparents.

You flip open your phone. “What?”

“About damn time! Get your butt over to Sam’s immediately! We got a problem.”

That was enough to wake you up as you pressed your phone closer to your ear. “What happened?”

“The Vampire Girl is missing.”

Brain still foggy with the residue of sleep, it took you a moment to register who Jared was talking about. Your stomach twists uncomfortably inside of you. “Bella?”

“Yeah! They found her truck early this morning off the side of the road. No sign of her. Jake is going crazy.”

Stumbling out of your bed you tell Jared that you were on your way as you struggle to put on a pair of pants.

The whole pack was already there by the time you arrived. In human form you weren’t quite as fast but you were still able to make it to Sam’s in record time. Inside of Sam’s house Jacob was on his feet in the middle of the living room. “I have to go look for her! Those leeches may not be able to track her down, but I can!”

“We can’t just run into the heat of things. Humans are interfering now. According to Edward, the police are on the search for her. They’re infiltrating the forest in their efforts. Unfortunately until they leave, we have to keep our heads down. It wouldn’t do if they were to see us out in the open. What with the recent string of missing people and murders, there’s too much going on.” Patient as ever with his pack brother, Sam stared down Jacob.

He grimaces in reply and clenches his jaw. “So we just let Bella die then?”

“Who says she’s dead?” Paul points out. “If it was the Cullen’s enemy then she might still be alive.”

“Probably being used as bait.” Adds in Leah with her monotone voice. Of course she wouldn’t care about the welfare of some leech lover. “The battle will be in a few days. Just wait until then.”

That was the exact opposite of what Jacob wanted to hear and he showed it as he vehemently glared at her.

Wanting to diffuse the tension, young Seth pipes up. “The police aren’t even patrolling near our territory yet. Technically they’re still on Cullen terf. We can still look around our side.”

Sam thought differently though as he shakes his head. You forgot a lot how young Sam actually was. He was still a young adult, not even 30 yet. Weary lines are deep under his eyes and you knew being alpha was taking its toll on him. “No, eventually they’ll come to our side when they don’t find anything. Her father is part of the police department. He won’t stop until he finds his daughter. We need to wait until the battle.”

Jacob had had enough. “Well I’m not waiting. I’m going to look for her.”

“Don’t be stupid Jacob. I understand you’re worried about her, but we have to use our heads and not rely on our emotions.” Sam served Jacob with a calm look that made Jacob even more upset. Everyone squirmed; you didn’t go against the alpha. Never. His word was law and by the way Jacob’s body froze, it was clear the wolf in him wanted to obey it’s alpha. “We stay here and let the humans run around until they’re tired.”

That’s when Sam realized you had been standing near the front door. “(y/n). Come here.”

A deep breath to steady your nerves, you carefully make your way beside Jacob and avoid everyone’s penetrative eyes. “Have you heard anything from the Cullens?”

You frown and feel a hint of a blush on your cheeks. “Um. . . No. I don’t really have their phone number. . .”

He nods and sighs. “I know I’m asking a lot from you, but I need you to go to the Cullens. We at least need one wolf representative to keep an eye on things on their side.”

Protests heavy on his tongue, Jacob fired off at Sam for being unfair; making you shift uncomfortably from foot to foot. Like you wanted to. You knew why Sam was assigning you to this. You weren’t hotheaded like Jacob. For the most part you had controlled your emotions perfectly in front of the Cullens. But you also knew that you being there would be a sensitive topic since Bella was missing.

Sam snaps back at Jacob. “Enough Jake. I’ve made my mind up and you need to step down. Now.”

The younger boys nervously glance at one another, even Seth was growing apprehensive of a fight. Taking it upon themselves, Embry and Quil usher a pissed off Jacob outside. After the front door slams shut everyone lets out a collective sigh of relief.

You gulp down the dry lump in your throat. “Sam. . . I don’t think it would be a good idea sending me. Like you said, we shouldn’t use our wolves in front of humans. If I did find something, well, I couldn’t interfere. What good would I be over there?”

“(y/n), residents of Forks are disappearing left to right. All around. If you can scout around town and the Cullen perimeters, we might be able to keep the newborns within our boundaries. We need to keep an eye on the police who are entering dangerous territory.”

There still had to be some kind of patrol. You understood that but still felt helpless.

Helpless.

Always helpless.

Especially as you walk through the woods all the way to the Cullen’s side of town. You stayed clear of any patrolling human cop. They didn’t know the woods quite as well as you did.

Heartbeat thundering in your ears, you approach the front door of the old Victorian house. Alice readily opens the door and greets you with a small smile. “(y/n).”

“H-Hey Alice.” You fiddle around with the belt loops on your pants. “I heard about Bella. . . Sam sent me to see if you guys needed help or anything. . . Also to scout the area.”

She nods and steps aside so that you could enter. He was home. You had smelled him when you were a mile away. Scolding your fluttering heart, you reminded yourself that

Edward’s girlfriend was missing and in trouble. There was no time to deal with your stupid imprinting feelings.

“Edward has been a mess. He feels guilty.” Alice tells you once you are seated on their couch, trying to avoid your reflection that was caught in their large screen tv.

“Why would he feel guilty about it?”

Pressing her lips together, she quickly glances back to the hallway that led up to the stairs. You noticed that her eyes weren’t quite as gold as they normally were. Bright gold was tainted to a dull shade. “Bella broke up with him before she left.”

There had to be a mistake. Certainly Bella would have never broken up with him. They were in love.

A vindictive snarl in your head pointed the finger at you. Accused you that their broken relationship was your fault.

Alice furrows her brow and reaches for your hand. “I’m sorry. It must be a conflicting thing for you.” Her hand was cold against your warm blooded skin. Not in an unpleasant way, but it was nice. Like a soothing cold breeze. She goes on “We picked up a scent of another vampire. It’s not Victoria’s though. I’ve looked into the future as far as I could and I don’t recognize the vampire she’s with. All we’ve been able to deduct is that she’s tied up in a small space. That’s the thing with visions. They don’t show the whole picture.”

That’s right. Alice could see into the future. Crazy to think that you knew someone who could actually do it.

“Good, (y/n)’s here.” Jasper enters the living room, hands in his pockets. To you, he always looked frazzled with messy hair that was oddly perfect. Heavy shadows hang from his lower lid perpetually. “Are you scared of heights?”

For a moment you gawked at him. “Um, not really.”

He nods, liking the answer you gave him. “Follow me.”

Everything about his approach was odd, but Jasper had to be the oddest of the entire Cullen clan. You rolled with it and followed him up the stairs toward the door at the farthest end. The one that reeked of Edward. Your footfalls slow down before altogether stopping a foot behind Jasper. He turns and gives you a soft smile.

“It’s okay.”

“It doesn’t feel like it.”

Hand on the knob, a swift twist opens it and reveals Edward's immaculate room and large bay window that looked over the vast legion of trees that made up the forest. In a close by tree you could make out the large body of Emmett hoping from tree to tree like a spry monkey. The closer you looked, you could see Esme having just pulled herself up onto one of the thick branches. Her horse riding boots dug securely into the bark as she prepared to fling herself to the next rung to get her higher up.

Edward has his back to you and Jasper, both he and Carlisle have their heads outside of the bay window. “Get higher Rosalie. Otherwise they’ll see you.”

Slowly the bobbing of a gold crown emerges. “Shove it, Edward!! We could just wait for them to leave!”

“We can’t take the chance, Rosalie.” Carlisle patiently reminds her. “This is time sensitive.”

Rosalie growls and abruptly makes eye contact with you. Gold against (e/c). You could feel all of her disgust and resentment. The expression she gives you makes the other two turn around.

Carlisle does his best to muster a welcoming smile but it falls short. Warmth floods your cheeks despite you trying your best to stay neutral. It seemed your body had a will of its own now. Your wolf chemistry was desperately reaching out to him no matter the circumstance. The pull was instantaneous and you found yourself angry and bitter about not having any control.

“Sam sent you.” Edward states. Even though he couldn’t read your thoughts anymore he could probably still read Sam’s. You knew Edward was able to hear thoughts that were miles away.

“Yeah. I guess I’m, like, neutral ground for both our sides.” you awkwardly reply, a bit embarrassed by the way your voice came out.

There was a flash of a pained look on Edward’s face, though it was brief. “Like Switzerland. . .”

“Uh, sure. I suppose you could say that.”

Rolling his eyes, Jasper pushes you forward. “We need you for tree patrol.”

“Does that mean I don’t have to?” Rosalie calls out.

Shaking his head, Edward shouts “No, Rose!”

“We need all hands on deck at the moment if we are to cover as much ground as possible.” Jasper explains. “It never hurts having as many people as possible. Plus wolves have an exceptional tracking nose. It surpasses even that of a vampire tracker.”

Hesitantly Edward hands you an oval shaped ring. “Bella was wearing this before she left.”

An engagement ring. The sinking of your stomach was so rapid that it nearly pulled down your heart as well. Gingerly picking up with your thumb and forefinger, you give it a deep inhale. Even in your human form, you vividly smelled Bella as if she was standing beside you. You allow the scent to overcome you so that when you opened your eyes you could practically see the trail. Barely visible like a strand of thread, you struggled to zone in on it as the other scents around you were threatening to cover it up.

“Look, you don’t have to-” he begins but you cut him off.

“No. It’s okay. If we find her then we’ll find who took her. Maybe even find Victoria and ruin her army before they advance. This isn't just about Bella. There are other human lives at risk too. Others have gotten killed because of Victoria.”

Gratitude radiated in his eyes that just made you want to die. Alice must have been wrong. They couldn’t have broken up so easily.

You climb onto the windowsill and adjust yourself before leaping from the safety of the window to the tree across from it. A simple feat. You had been jumping off of the cliff for months with the rest of your pack. Splashing hard into the ocean was the fun of it all. You’re surprised that you stuck the landing as it was the first time that you had jumped onto a tree. Looking ahead of you, you follow Bella’s scent.

-----------------------

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[tumbling-darkling]

Date Night

Bruce got the call early in the evening, Gordon’s voice practically shrieking over the phone in anger and confusion. It took Bruce a moment to calm the man down so he could manage to get something coherent out of him.

Apparently, Harley and Ivy had broken out of Arkham, all in a blink of an eye. Even more, no law enforcers could get close to the pair as they publicly paraded around Gotham. Luckily, no one was getting hurt, but the pair generally being out of Arkham was concerning. Especially how they escaped.

Shortly after the call, Bruce dawned on the suit and went to do some quick pre-vigilante research to get a clearer picture of the situation. Which only made the situation of escaped villains more concerning.

He pulled the security footage and found that their escape was just as Gordon described it. They straight up disappeared.

One moment they are in the prison, the next they disappear into thin air. Not at the same time though, one at a time. Ivy being the first before Harley. Which was a smart choice, since Ivy had heavier security in regards to her meta status, if Harley had vanished first, Ivy’s security would only have gotten heavier.

The two then reappeared outside of the prison just as they disappeared, by popping into existence one at a time. And they skipped off.

Then there was the fact that no police force or even vigilante could manage to get close, Tim calling in shortly after to report that he tried to approach only to blink and find himself in a library. All officers reported the same thing, that upon getting too close or entering an area the two were currently residing, they would blink and find themselves somewhere else completely. Other officers reported the officers that woke up in random areas acting weirdly before they entered these areas. Freezing up, turning, then running in the opposite direction.

There was also the report that many officers felt a chill in the air before these instances would happen, a feeling like they were trespassing would take hold, and many of them even began to jump at the shadows. Reports of green eyes blinking from the shadows by those who said ‘fuck that’ and went home right after.

So Harley and Ivy were running around town while some sort of entity protected them.

Batman didn’t know much about Magic, it was something that was difficult to grasp or understand, but this had magic painted all over it. He decided now was the time to act though as he stood up and leapt onto the batcycle, speeding into the city as he connected to another league member who may be able to help.

The line clicked as it indicated that he was connected to the other side, “Constantine, I need you at Gotham immediately.”

-

-

-

John stared at the phone in his hand, blinking slowly before he slammed it into the floor after Batman hung up on him.

That fucker did this every fucking time.

-

-

-

Bruce arrived in front of a Carnival, the pair of villains' last seen location. Constantine should arrive shortly, but he might as well see if he could get more information regarding this escape.

He took a step towards the gates when a voice stopped him, “oh fuck Batman himself showed up. Probably should have expected that after encountering a Robin.” Bruce spun towards the unfamiliar voice, a batarang in hand as he searched for the source, surprised that he couldn’t seem to spot one. “I don’t suppose you would leave if I asked?”

“Are you the one keeping people from arresting Quinn and Ivy?” Bruce demanded.

“Oh yeah, that’s me,” the voice sounded young.

“Why? Did they hire you? Threaten you?”

“What? No! No, I just owe them a favour is all. And we have an agreement! It’s just a date night, no killing or crime or nothing. Only couples stuff.”

Batman couldn’t help but lower his batarang, “… you broke them out… for a date night?”

Suddenly a white haired teenager with glowing green eyes popped into existence, floating above the gate leading to the carnival, “well I’m not going to just let them out to cause crime! That’s the opposite of what I normally do. Nah, it’s like their one year anniversary and I wanted to do something nice cause they helped me out once.”

“So… no crime,” Bruce deadpanned.

“No crime,” the kid shrugged.

“What about after the date?”

“Oh I’m putting them back where I found them. That’s part of the agreement.”

Bruce had to process this for a moment, then grumbled under his breath, “and Gordon made me think they were planning on destroying the city.”

“Oh they totally wanted to blow stuff up but I said nope, the moment they want to try any crime stuff they go back sooner than promised.”

“And they listened to you?”

“Well they can’t really stop me,” the kid grinned. “So you can go back to your batcave or something, it’s handled. Oh and tell the police dude to stop sending his officers after them, overshadowing gets pretty annoying after the 20th time.”

Bruce just stared at the kid, then sighed and turned around, walking away as he spoke into his comms, “Robin, keep an eye on them for the rest of the night but do not engage.”

“Already in position.”

Bruce would never admit that he was relieved to leave the scene, he didn’t fully trust this kid, but there was something foreboding about him. An energy that twinged every flight instinct he had trained to push down. He didn’t trust him, but he did believe the kid, if only because he felt that if he didn’t, then that kid could easily take him out without a thought.

It wasn’t until he reached the cave before the goosebumps finally faded and the chill disappeared.

-

-

-

Just as promised, the two villains were returned to Arkham before sunrise the next day.

The only thing that indicated their disappearance was their more cheery moods, and odd gifts left in their cells.

A plant that Ivy couldn’t seem to control, but also couldn’t be picked up by any guard in the facility, Ivy being the only person who seemed able to touch the plant.

And some sort of glowing green dog that came and went as it pleased. A dog that seemed to especially like Harley.

-

-

-

Bruce was relieved that the kid kept his word, but a nagging bit of missing information still ate away at Bruce’s mind.

Why did he owe Harley and Ivy?

It drove him to visit Arkham just to ask the pair.

He asked Harley first since she was more likely to talk.

“Oh, Danny? Yeah! He is such a nice kid! Wish more men were like him, honestly. Yeah, the poor kiddo was being thrashed by some sort of vampire dude who was saying some really creepy shit. You know? Like, the kind of language that makes you think: that dude is straight up possessive and psychotic! Ives and I were doing some good ol’ vandalism when we saw him and he got knocked down in front of us. And oh boy that kid looked so scared! Biggest eyes I’ve ever seen, looked like he was hurting real bad based on how beat up he looked. We couldn’t just let that kind of abuse happen to a kid! We may like crime but we have standards, Bats!

It’s really funny though because when we tried to smack him around our punches just went through the fucker. And then, this kid, this absolutely best to shit and back kid, stood up and tried to defend us from this fanged dipshit! Real hero type, honestly if he had black hair I’m pretty sure you would have recruited him as another Robin by now. Tried to get us to run away or something, dropped this weird ass thermos, so I did the logical thing! I picked it up and threw it at that vampire! It hit him too! Left a huge ass bruise on his head! So then I picked it up, tied it to a stick and beat the shit out of him while Ives covered me! Turns out that normal vines can block whatever pink shit he was throwing around.

It was great, I basically had him running with his tail tucked between his legs! We forced Danny to stick around so we could patch him up, and he was practically passing out on us! He actually did pass out! And he-! Oh wait I’m not supposed to tell you that part, I am a woman of honour! Anyhow, we patched him up, fed him some of the best fucking food he could ever taste and we got pretty close to adopting this kid. Seriously Bats, I thought you were crazy for having so many Robin kiddos but man, it all makes sense! Helping out a kid that could kick ass and having them look so happy and greatful? Best fucking feeling. But he had other places to be, so we said farewells! He visits every few weekends or so for brunch, bringing us nice stuff. Oh did you see that plant Ivy got from him? Told us it’s a ghost plant! Crazy, right? Ivy is fascinated by it. It’s a shame he doesn’t lean more towards crime, super goodie goodie. He came to us and told us he could let us have a lovely date night as long as we don’t cause trouble. A little disheartening that not even a tiny explosion would be allowed but! A night out was perfect.

We are gonna get out again on our own anyway, cause some mischief, blow up some pollution plants, that kind of thing. Apparently he has a friend who totally admires Ives. Best kid we could have helped out.

Oh! And he’s dead!” Harely finished her long story.

Bruce nodded with a grunt.

“Thank you for your honesty, Quinn.”

“Any time Bats, I’ll see ya next week!”

Bruce paused, then glanced slightly behind him, “what makes you think I’m coming back?”

Harley grinned as she leaned against the bars of her cell, “You’re addicted to knowing everything. And the fact that the kid is a ghost is gonna drive you crazy.”

Bruce turned his head back towards the exit, but didn’t move.

“I’ll tell you one thing. Me and Ives don’t know how he died, and neither of us killed him either. Again, we don’t really try to kill kids. Just rough them up if they are being little shits.” Bruce didn’t make a noise at her reference to fighting his kids. “Oh and Batsy? Don’t ask him how he died when you find him. It’s fucking rude.”

Bruce continued to walk, not commenting on how she seemed confident that he would find a way to find the kid.

Somehow he was leaving with more questions than answers.

-

-

-

John Constantine glanced around the city, then felt his phone ring and picked it up and growled, “where the fuck are you and what is this emergency-?”

“It’s been taken care of. I no longer require your services for now.”

Batman hung up.

John Constantine slammed his phone into the pavement, “THAT ASSHOLE!”

[hanasnx]

❝𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠❞

anakin skywalker x fem!oc

2nd person pov version: link

summary: seeing her cozied up with general skywalker caused the clones to talk about what they’d do to her if she were theirs. anakin stands by and listens, smug that he’s allowed to do anything he wants to her, and his battalion can only fantasize about it.

MINORS DNI 18+

character(s): tcw!anakin skywalker, anatares (oc)

pov: 3rd person

word count: 4k

notes:

there are two versions of this fic! one in 2nd pov and this one in 3rd. i wrote both cos i know ppl have preferences

i do not condone the behavior shown by the characters i wrote, this is purely a fictional writing about something that is morally wrong in irl but hot for my own self indulgent purposes, do not allow real ppl to treat you this way without ur consent lmao. also i had to make up clone names bcos i didn’t want to use any existing clone names and risk mischaracterization

specifically written for the clone wars' characterization of anakin.

warnings: please read

dead dove do not eat, established fwb relationship, lowkey clone slander, clones speaking about a woman sexually that theyre not involved with sexually, lowkey unedited, anakin skywalker having a filthy mouth with his clones, dirty foul mouthed vile delicious “locker room talk” towards love interest, clones bet whether or not general skywalker bangs love interest, ooc anakin, ooc clones, speaking explicitly and sexually about someone behind their back, also explicit content if that wasn’t already clear

“I’ve got something for you,”

Anatares had come here to exercise, but all she had done so far was play on her holo-tablet to find the right music for the occasion for ten minutes. She looked up at the sound of the voice, straightening her back when she realized who it was.

“General Skywalker,” she addressed him properly, since they were in public. From his attire, she guessed he was fitting this visit in between meetings. With a wave of his hand and a soft smile, he dismissed the title.

“Look,” His hand came out from behind his back, a long, wide blade revealed. “Don’t have much time, but this,” he lifted it into to eyeline, twirling it by its hilt in his grip, the overhead lights glinting off of it. “is a vibroblade.” He met her gaze, brow raised, proud of himself for acquiring it.

“It’s for me?” she asked, setting her tablet aside to stand, approaching him. He hummed in confirmation. For safety, he downturned the blade, handing it to her by the hilt. It was a fine sword, but she was confused, knitting her eyebrows together as she tested the weight of it in her hand. She glanced between him and the weapon questioningly. “Thanks, but I don’t usually… use stuff like this. Knives are more my speed this feels very…” she raised the sword, in a way she thought a pirate would, “‘swashbuckle-y.’” she dropped her arm. Anakin scoffed.

“You’ve been here a while, and we’ve run into plenty of siths by now. Figured it was high time to get you something to defend yourself with in close quarters.” He pointed a finger onto the weapon as he explained, “Watch,” His large hand came to fix atop hers on the hilt, and she inhaled. Her reaction went unnoticed as he brought his saber over, igniting it. The blades of both met each other, and Ana witnessed how the lightsaber didn’t cut through the vibroblade. “If things get hairy, and there’s no escape, you’ve got a backup plan.” They were hard to come across, Anakin was lucky to have this one, and he was relieved to be able to give it to Ana, smiling down at her expectantly for her answer.

Ana broke out of her impressed stupor. It was a thoughtful gift. The fact that she was untrained with a sword of this size arrested her from expressing her full gratitude. That, and the warmth of his hand was still on hers.

This fitness center was made out of a repurposed hangar so it was cavernous, with expansive floor space. It had the usual: weights, punching bags, a closed off shooting range, etc. There was a lot of unused area, and spare supplies would often be dropped off. A ways away, a few clones had escorted boxes of dry rations on a hoverboard, unloading it here until it was time to relocate it if there was room in the mess hall kitchen. Ko, a clone officer, sat a box down, before taking notice of a familiar head of hair across the room. “Hey, men,” he said through a grin, “is that General Skywalker over there with Anatares?” His comment caught the attentions of his fellow soldiers, halting what they were doing to spy.

“Ha! Skywalker,” Dice laughed, assumptions forming as to what their General was up to, “You don’t think he’s trying to butter her up, do you?”

“C’mon, guys,” Stringbean huffed, “I wanna get this over with.”

“Look, ‘Bean, they’re basically holding hands.” Copper pointed out, leaning against the cargo behind him and lulling his head in Stringbean’s direction. “Who’s gonna win the bet if we don’t pay attention?”

“Maybe making a bet about whether or not General Skywalker— a Jedi— is trying to get close to Anatares—“

“Ah, ah, ah!” Dice wagged his finger at Stringbean, correcting him, “Whether or not they fuck, ‘Bean.”

“Well, how are we supposed to tell?”

“By watching.” Ko hissed, warning them to hush up and pay attention to the pair over on the sparring mat.

Anatares bit her lip, meeting Anakin’s gaze who was unfaltering in his eye and physical contact. “I don’t know how to use a sword.” she admitted, her tone coming out meaner than she meant to, saying it like it should be obvious to him.

Anakin didn’t seem to notice it, “Here,” instead rounding her body to stand behind her. “I’ll show you.” Directing both of her hands onto the hilt, replacing both of his hands atop hers. He was such a wide shouldered man. That, and by doing this he curled and enveloped her almost completely. She swallowed thickly, letting him move her. There was no way that she didn’t note how strong he felt, how tall and toned with thick muscle he was. His rigid chest against her back, his flexed arms pressing into hers, his chin hovering over her shoulder, cheek against her hair— she felt dizzy with excitement. No doubt she’d ask for his help in relief later when it was time for ‘lights out’. She had a sneaking suspicion he knew exactly what he was doing to her.

He changed her positioning effortlessly, angling the blade to the imaginary opponent, “You’ll block like this. Center yourself,” Impossible to center herself without thinking about shoving his cock into her center over and over— “When you attack, you’ll come down like this,” He raised their arms, bringing the sword down slowly, with purpose. When he stepped forward, his hips pressed into hers, and she stepped forward, not before feeling something familiar and half hard poking into her. A tingle traveled down her spine and she smirked. “If you can afford leaving yourself open, you can thrust,” Another step forward, and he shoved the blade into the air in front of them. Anatares hadn’t been listening at all— mind occupied with General Skywalker’s perfect body pressed up against hers, fitting together like puzzle pieces— but she perked up when he mentioned thrusting. She can very much afford to leave herself open right now, if only he had the time to properly reintroduce himself to the space between her legs. Overwhelmed, a deep blush bloomed onto her cheeks and ears.

A mischievous smile stretched out onto Copper’s lips, “Mates, is it just me or she turning red with ol’ Skywalker over there?”

Stringbean, forgetting his past protests at the notion he could be losing the bet, leaned forward, “No way,”

Dice rubbed his chin with his hand, “That she is, Copp, this is too good.”

“I’ve never seen her blush before,” Copper muttered, unable to deduce if it meant the General was making her uncomfortable, or she was attracted. She wasn’t pulling away at all.

“Oh, to be in his position,” Ko chuckled, the General had to be enjoying himself. Any of them would if they switched places.

Anatares cocked her head to look at Anakin, who’s gaze lingered on hers. He stepped away, his warmth leaving her when he detached, clearing his throat. “I’ll be sure to give you more formal lessons on it another time.” She hoped he would, turning to face him with a hand on her hip. “Obi Wan and I have already agreed to switch off sparring you. You should get experience with different fighting styles.” Beginning to walk backwards off the mat, “It won’t be easy! We’re gonna fight dirty, like a sith would. Okay? I’ve gotta go, I’ll see you around,” he said, pointing to her, voice growing in volume as he furthered from her.

Ana nodded at him with a knowing grin, shaking her head from his ramble. “Bye, bye, Skywalker,” She gave him a flirty wave as he dismissed himself. He faced forward, and the spying clones pretended to be busy.

“Officers,” Anakin nodded at them in acknowledgment as he walked past, “I’ll see you guys later for deployment?”

Ko nodded back, saluting, “‘Course, General.”

Dice managed to slow Anakin’s stride, unloading the last bit of cargo and leaning his hand on it, “Oi, Skywalker, I saw you getting all up close and personal with Anatares over there. Seemed cozy.” It was his special interest in poking at things his fellow soldiers thought it best to leave alone. Especially because they didn’t want their commanding officer to know they’d been spying on him.

Anakin didn’t think anything of it, expecting observation in a public area, especially when Anatares was involved. “Just showing her some moves, that’s all.” he answered innocently, moving on to get ready for his next mission.

The men’s heads followed him as he scampered off. This was all too fishy. Copper hummed lowly, “Oh, he showed her a couple of moves, alright.” Stringbean hit his shoulder with the back of his hand playfully.

“We don’t know that yet.”

Ko scoffed, “He’s trying to move in on her.” He was certain.

None of them knew he had already moved in on her, countless times.

Their deployment was within the hour. Tasked with bringing aid to a neutral planet in order to secure their alliance with the Republic. The troops expected a resistance from the opposers, which didn’t bode well for their moods. There always was a hill to climb in order to reach victory, it was the hill that proved fatal for some. The clone troops were prepared to lay down their life for their cause, but they preferred not to focus on the possible tragedy awaiting them. Instead, they sought distractions. Distractions that made them feel normal, like there wasn’t a war occurring, that they weren’t waddling in the trenches of it.

This squad (who affectionately referred to themselves as the “Groundhog” squadron) swapped stories, knowing this would be a long ride in a shuttle, having entered the atmosphere of the planet. Their helmets in their hands or underneath their arms, seemingly reminding everyone how human they were. The conversation served its purpose, taking the men’s weight off. Anakin leaned onto the wall of the shuttle, eyes closed as he attempted a crude form of meditation. Jokes were cracked when they got onto the subject of what they’d do after the war, but nobody pointed out it was wishful thinking. Having a lover, or a wife, was a common fantasy amongst the group.

Stringbean hops up to sit on some armory cargo, resting his blaster on safety beside him. “Maker to think…” he voices his thought aloud, picking up his leg so he can rest his elbow on his knee, shaking his head with a soft smile. “Having a plot of land to myself. A family. That’d be the life.”

Copper piped up, “I don’t even care about the family part, ‘Bean, sign me up for a wife.” It makes the other clones chuckle with him.

“Ah, a wife…” Ko sighed in content from the idea, fixing his back against the cargo and resting his head back. “… beautiful woman, got a good head on her shoulders, capable, resilient. Sharing a home with her would be the dream.” Imagining it, his fantasized wife, and Anatares’ face surfaced in his mind. It didn’t necessarily surprise him. Visualizing her offer him a meat pie she prepared for him was doing something to him.

Dice snickered, “It’s been a while since you troops’ve been laid.” Anakin smirked to himself. He shouldn’t be eavesdropping but he couldn’t help it when he felt so proud to have gotten some this morning. The officers didn’t take notice, continuing their conversation. Dice copied Stringbean, jumping up onto a box to sit, but crossed his arms. “Hell,” he scoffed, “it’s been a while since I’ve gotten laid,”

“Well there’s slim pickin’s in our line of work, Dice, don’t go feelin’ sorry for yourself.” Copper patted him firmly on the shoulder, and Dice nodded knowingly, elbowing him back.

“Let’s see,” Ko started counting on his fingers, “there’s a bunch of Jedi,”

“Bunch’a prudes, more like. No offense, General,” Dice chimed in. Anakin waved his hand dismissively, downturning his lips, knowing he was probably the only one in this battalion getting any tail.

“None taken,” The Jedi insisted, without breaking his meditation.

“But it’s not like we’re not a ‘bunch’a prudes’ ourselves,” Stringbean interjected, outstretching his hands in a defensive gesture, and it earns him a laugh from the squad.

“I hear that.”

Anakin shook his head with a smile, unable to steel himself from listening in.

“Alright, so we’ve got the prudish Jedi, our fellow Clone brothers, and…” A smirk stretched out onto Copper’s lips as he finished the sentence Stringbean started, “Anatares,”

A chorus sounded of groans, chuckles, sighs, filthy comments amongst the troop… She was a popular subject revisited yet again by the squadron. Anakin peeked open an eye, observing his soldiers’ reactions to his informant-turned-commander, who begs for his cock almost every night.

“Don’t get me started on Anatares,”

“The things I’d let her do to me,”

“Oh, the things I’d do to her if she’d let me,” A clone responded with a dark snicker.

“It’s like she doesn’t even know she drives me crazy.”

“Oi, you’re not the only one, mate.”

Anakin closed his eye before someone caught him spying. It was best to stay as far removed as possible.

“Stringbean, go back to that farm fantasy of yours.” The men wanted to hear it again, and Stringbean added a revision.

“Like I said, just a plot of land to myself.” ‘Bean gazed at the ceiling, visualizing his regaled tale in his mind’s eye. “Anatares as my spoil of war,” These touch starved army men exhaling at the wording made Anakin scoff silently through his nose. War deranged men, showed their true, darker selves, and the Jedi witnessed it firsthand. Experienced it himself. The urge to step in rose in Anakin’s chest, but he denied it. He wanted to hear what these depraved creatures really thought of his lover. As if imagining it themselves, the boys followed Stringbean’s example and looked to the ceiling. “We’ve got two kids: a boy and a girl. Ana and I share yard work, and at the end of the day, cook dinner together—“

“Oi, get to the good part!” Dice jeered, and some men snickered.

“Okay, okay,” Stringbean grins sheepishly, motioning with his hands to settle down. It seemed his fantasy was seeping into Anakin as well. “After dinner— kids asleep— we start cleaning up. She’s doing dishes, I’m clearing the table. I get a look of her in that apron,” Some guys suck in a breath. Anakin cocked his head, furrowed his brows, and exhaled through his pursed lips at the image of Ana in a little apron and nothing else. “Can’t help myself. Come up behind her, start fondling her. Then I nail her on the kitchen table.”

“Stringbean, you dog!” A clone shouted, and the troopers began weakly beating on him, tossing their helmets at ‘Bean while he grinned and flinched, knowing he deserved it. Being the first one to spell out a dirty fantasy meant facing certain scrutiny.

Once they had settled down, Copper wanted to share, outstretching his arms to gesture the men to quiet. “Alright, alright, that reminds me, lads.” he introduced, dropping his arms once he’d gotten everyone’s attention. “There was one day I got ahead of myself in training, Anatares was there. Picked me up, dusted me off, brought me down to the medical bay. That night?” He raised a brow, cupping his chin in his hand, “I had the filthiest dream about her.” Being watched with bated breaths, he wasn’t sure if he should even tell this story.

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense.” A clone told him incredulously, but it was all in good fun.

Copper went on, “I dreamt she snuck into my room, told me she couldn’t stay away from me. She couldn’t keep her hands to herself, kept palming me through my pants.”

Anakin recalled an exact moment when she told him the same thing, did the same thing to him when he was recovering in the medical bay. He knit his eyebrows together, biting his lip to keep from saying anything.

“Got excited. She took care of me, sucked on me a bit, mounted and rode me ‘til I had nothing left. Fat tits bouncing. I’m surprised I contained myself while I was sleepin’.” Copper finished, leaning his elbow against the cargo.

Dice dissolved into laughter, pointing to Copper and looking amongst the group, “Mate says he’s surprised he didn’t jizz himself like a teenager,” The group followed Dice’s suit, laughing, including Copper.

Anakin felt himself perspire because he was stuck on the imagery of “Ana’s fat tits bouncing”. He swallowed thickly.

“Oi, the body on that broad, eh?” Dice reminisced, “Went to the fitness center and she was there. Had on a little bra, barely strapped in that chest of hers,” He cupped the air around his chest comically, he bounced his hands, causing a few snickers. “She didn’t notice me practically drooling like a hound. She’s glistening with sweat. Hair sticking to her forehead and neck. She’s jumping rope and I can’t tear my eyes away… the tightest yoga pants I’ve ever seen, if she bent over bet I could see her pretty little hole. The woman’s gotta know what she’s doing to us,”

Anakin, like the rest of these sleazy soldiers, was visualizing the whole damn thing. Except he knows he tore apart those yoga pants as soon as he saw her bent over in front of him. Of course she was pissed at him for it, but knowing now all these filthy perverts were waiting for the day she’d wear ‘em? He was glad he did it. Put them to one last good use getting her nice and wet for his cock. To hide his guilt, he rested his hand over his face.

“Hourglass figure, wit as sharp as a tack, looks that could kill, I wish she’d get over that crush she’s got already and get with a real man.” A clone added and an intrigued smile broke out onto Anakin’s lips, concealed by his hand.

“A crush? No way,”

“Say it ain’t so,”

“It’s obvious! A woman like that hasn’t hopped on anyone’s dick since she got here— and we’re all strapping young men— I’m tellin’ ya, girl’s hung up.”

“I could make her forget him. Gimme one night with her, she’ll forget he even existed.”

Anakin scoffed. That was highly doubtful.

“What about you, Ko? What do you think of Anatares?”

“What’s to say that hasn’t already been said?” Ko shrugged, but the encouragement from his squad changed his mind. “I just wanna stick my dick in that cleavage. C’mon, you all have seen it. She displays it like she wants attention,” he spoke defensively, as if he had a case to defend, “Wonder if she likes being called a slut.”

She does. Anakin thought with a smile.

“Wonder if she is a slut.” Dice leaned back against the cargo with a wolfish grin.

She is. Anakin thought in response once more, smile widening.

Anakin wrestled with himself. On one hand, he could join the conversation, bond with these disgusting depraved men and their dark fantasies, or stay indifferent and detached. He knew that war changed people, and this was an outlet. They weren’t interested in taking advantage of someone when they were bred to be docile and trained to protect the innocent. Anatares was particularly extroverted, and a bit of a tease— he had learned that first hand. Her flirtatious speech was smooth and confident, and she moved in an aesthetically poised manner, Anakin found her beautiful no matter what she did. Unashamed to admit he’s gotten stiff watching her fight alongside him on the battlefield. No wonder her image fell victim to this merry band of neglected soldiers. Attractive and available so she had become a popular, relatable object of fantasy. A prize to focus on to get through tough times, to get through the possibility of dying tomorrow. Never in a million years would he justify it, but he could understand it. Especially because he could hear his praise of Anatares through the voices of these men. He could sense their intent. None of them, would cause her physical harm. Briefly, he pondered if Anatares sired these feelings in them on purpose, knowing the gross comments they made with each other when they were alone. An image of her getting off to it flashed in Anakin’s mind. It wasn’t far off from her personality to pleasure herself to the idea of power.

“Oi, awfully quiet back there, eh, Skywalker?” Dice called, and Anakin looked at him. “We didn’t scare you or nothin’, did we?” On the contrary.

“No, just listening.” The Jedi replied nonchalantly, crossing his arms and legs as he settled against the hull wall.

Dice wanted to ask if Jedi had dirty thoughts too, but he didn’t want to shatter the illusion that Anakin was one of them— human— if he answered no. Sometimes they liked to pretend Anakin was not a peacekeeper, did not adhere to an oath, in a way Anakin liked to pretend that too.

“You ever get off to the thought of Anatares, General Skywalker?” Stringbean blurted out, breaking the silence. Immediately, the platoon scolded him playfully.

Anakin pinched his chin, “Anatares, you say?” Yes, he has. Yes, indeed, he has. More than he cared to admit. More than he thought a Jedi ever should. “Oh! You mean Commander Tares,” He pushed off the wall, leisurely striding to the center of the group. His inflated ego had gotten to him, having completely overshadowed his more jealous traits ages ago. His tone and correction of her title made his squad nervous, and they watched with bated breath. They questioned if he was cross with them.

“I wouldn’t say,” Anakin started, a mischievous glint in his eye. He folded his arms behind his back, pacing as he noticed their worried looks. Maker, he wished he could tell them, witness their reactions when he tells them he’s been banging the “broad” they fantasize their filthy little minds about when they’re alone. His head was so big it was a mystery how it fit into the hull of this ship.

“We know you’ve got a little soft spot for her, sir, it’s obvious.” Copper ached to break the tension, and he desperately moved it into the direction necessary for him to win the bet. “We’ve all got one.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” The clones averted their gazes from the Jedi once he spoke, shuffling nervously in place. “but Maker, if I were simply a man, I’d do whatever it took to make her mine.”

Grins broke out on their faces at the fact Anakin played a trick on them, and some cheered their agreement with his case.

“Isn’t she other-worldly?”

“Extremely.” Anakin replied.

“She makes it so hard—“

“Maker, don’t I know it…” Anakin mused, reminiscing how hard she makes his cock rather than what the clone was referring to.

“Has she ever hit on you, sir?”

“Oh, all the time. She’s shameless.” And Anakin meant shameless. Downright blasphemous, the words that would come out of that pretty mouth of hers.

“Easy?” One clone asked with hope.

Anakin gave him a look. “It wouldn’t be a problem for me either way.” he responded smugly, acting out the role of the indifferent Jedi who’s confident he could get her if he really wanted to.

His battalion goes wild over the fact their leader is in on their little crush. Like they brought him down to their hellish level, innocent from the knowledge Anakin has put the body they covet the most in every position and every location. Painted her with his cum countless times. Has witnessed her pleading gaze and expression twisted in pleasure when he hit that perfect spot inside of her.

General Skywalker rode on that ego high, “Gentlemen, nothing quite like comin’ home from a battle, and Anatares greeting you with open arms, open legs, and an open mouth.” He stood in the middle while his clones cheered thinking about that imagery, thinking their general is merely joining the conversation, and making it all up.

To keep the charade going, to find out more about how Anakin really felt about Ana, Ko yelled out, “Skywalker!” Anakin hummed in response. “Fuck, marry, kill: Anatares, Master Luminara, and that cute Pantoran Senator Chuchi,”

At the mention, the other clones joined into the game, muttering their answers in a big jumble. Anakin waited his turn to speak, “C’mon,”

“Don’t be like that, it’s just a game.” Ko assured, moving to sit at the edge of the cargo.

“Alright, alright. Let me think. Okay, one’s easy: Marry Anatares. Make her my little trophy wife.”

Like a pack of hyenas, they chittered with laughter.

“Sir? You wouldn’t wanna just ’fuck’?” The question was asked to serve a purpose, to nail in the bet.

“Why would I want to fuck once, when we’re hitched I get to fuck always?” Anakin answered. Once the hollering died down, he added. “Doesn’t matter the time of day. She shouldn’t be walking around with an ass like that if she didn’t want it split open twenty-four-seven.”

[bi-bard]

Tragedy in a Pair - Winchester Brothers Imagine (Supernatural/Criminal Minds Crossover)

Title: Tragedy in a Pair

Pairing: Winchester Brothers X Sibling!Reader

Requested: nope

Word Count: 1,993 words

Warning(s): major character death, mentions of violence, gunshot wound, and demons

Summary: (S2, E1 in both) (Y/n) Winchester faces tragedy on all fronts.

Author's Note: I'm happy that people seem to be enjoying this character as much as I am.

More about this character here!

Hey! I did a rewrite of the ending of Supernatural. It took a really long time to complete, so it would mean a lot to me if you check it out. Here’s a link! (it’s on my personal account)

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It felt like I had been hit from all angles.

First, there was the Fisher King.

We were meant to go on a vacation. We were supposed to get time off of the normal flow of cases. My brothers told me that they had tracked down my dad, so I was ready to find them and finally put an end to my dad's obsession.

Then, an unsub latched onto the team.

We were all on edge.

Elle was arrested while on vacation with Morgan. We were given a set of rules and puzzles. It all just felt so... ridiculous. It was something out of some story you read in high school and think is just the coolest thing.

The bastard even shot Elle because we "broke his rules".

I wanted to be with her and the rest of the team.

And then Sam called.

Some demon had possessed a truck driver and hit the impala at full speed. Sam only had a few bruises and scrapes. My dad had a few more serious injuries but was mostly okay. Dean, however, was in a coma. And there wasn't a lot of hope.

Hotch tried to push me to go. I refused. The case wasn't over.

He finally put his foot down. No longer a friend. He was my boss telling me to go see my brothers.

When I got to the hospital, Sam was waiting for me in the lobby.

"Oh, Sammy," I muttered when I saw how bruised up his face was.

"Trust me," he replied. "I look better than the other two."

He led me back to Dean's room.

I walked in slowly. I was acting like my steps could wake him up. Maybe it brought me some comfort to think that he was just napping. I touched his hand.

"Hey Dean," I mumbled. "Don't know if you can hear me. I'm sure my friend at work would know how promising the research had been on those in comas being able to hear those around them."

I chuckled.

"I just want you to know that I'm here," I continued. "Sam and I are right here."

After that, I walked out. Sam walked with me to my dad's room.

"I'm gonna go be with Dean," Sam mumbled to me before leaving.

"Hey Dad," I said as I walked in. I only took a few steps into the room. He wasn't much of a hugger. I knew that.

"Hey kid," he replied.

"How are you feeling," I asked. "Need me to ask the nurse about some more pain meds?"

"No," he shook his head. "How's work?"

"Fine, fine," I nodded. I hadn't seen him since I went off to college. I wasn't shocked at how awkward it was. "We're... We were in the middle of a case actually. Interesting one."

"You're just doing a different kind of hunting," he tried to joke.

I nodded, "I- I guess we are."

There was a long pause between us.

"You should've been there," he spoke up. "With us. The thing killed your mom."

"I was planning on it," I explained. "We got the case on the same day I was going to leave. I... I had a job to do."

"Your job takes priority over your family?"

"I didn't say that-"

"But it's what you mean-"

"That's what you did," I stopped him. "Don't act like we're the same. I wasn't working that case because I chose to. This unsub was threatening my team and everyone around us. I called Sam and told him where the hell I was. More curtesy than you showed us."

There was another long pause between the two of us.

"Nice to know what it takes you to visit," he replied.

"What," I asked, shocked. "If you had bothered to call, I could've helped, Dad. Stop blaming your lack of communication on me."

He rolled his eyes, "You ran from us the first chance you got."

"You told me not to come back."

"You were selfish," he scolded. "You only came to see me now because I nearly died."

"Don't get confused," I snapped as I stepped toward his hospital bed. "I am not here for you. I am here for my brothers. One that's fighting for his damn life and the other that needs someone to do more than treat him like a disappointment."

I turned to leave the room, planning to go check on Dean.

"What would your mother think if she saw you now," he asked quietly.

I froze in the doorway before turning around. I didn't walk closer, I just looked at him.

"Don't you dare bring Mom into this," I replied through gritted teeth. "You are the only reason that I left and didn't come back. Don't blame me for your fuck up. Treat your kids like they're your kids, not your soldiers."

I left the room without another word.

Sam was only a little way down the hall. He was looking down, playing with the zipper of his jacket.

"Have you gotten your cuts checked," I asked as I walked over. He nodded, not looking at me. "Thank you for calling me, Sammy."

"I shouldn't have made you face him," he muttered. "I should've known better."

"No, no, no," I pulled him into a tight hug. "You didn't do anything wrong, Sam. My relationship with Dad wasn't something you could've fixed. That was up to me and him."

He tightened the hug and I heard him take a deep breath, "I heard you talking. Mom would've been proud of everything you've done."

I blinked back a wave of tears, "Thanks, Sammy. She would've been proud of you too."

I stepped back and grinned at him. He grinned back before looking down the hall toward our dad's room.

"Don't, Sam."

"I... I'm just going to see him," Sam explained, not looking back at me.

"Okay," I mumbled. "I'm gonna go see Dean."

He nodded.

We both walked in opposite directions.

As I made it to Dean's room, I pulled out my phone and dialed Garcia's number.

"(Y/n)," I was shocked when there wasn't an interesting greeting. "How are you? Is everyone okay?"

"Umm, yeah, yeah," I nodded, not wanting to go into details. "How's Elle?"

"She's good," Garcia replied. "She's out of surgery and stable."

"Good," I let out a relieved sigh. "And the case?"

"Spencer is running off of pure caffeine," she said. "Surprised he's functioning."

"He does have a tendency to hyper-fixate on finding solutions," I replied with a chuckle. "Let me know if I can help."

"Focus on your family," she instructed. "Hotch has instructed me to not give you anything more than basic updates. No clues."

I chuckled again, "Thank you, Garcia."

"Good luck," she said before hanging up.

I walked back into Dean's room, pulling a chair up to the foot of his bed.

"I'm not going anywhere," I promised. "Not until you're back up."

--time skip--

It wasn't until the next morning that anything happened.

Dean waking up was sudden and terrifying. I threw the chair back and yelled out the door for someone to help.

The doctor removed the tube from his throat and checked his vitals. By that time, Sam had made it back to the room.

"So, you found a reaper after him," I looked at Sam as I sat on the edge of the bed. He nodded. "And Dean just managed to escape?"

"I guess so," Sam shrugged.

"And you can't remember anything," I asked Dean.

He shook his head, "All I've got is this sinking feeling in my stomach. Something's wrong."

There was a knock. We all looked over to see my dad in the doorway. He was in his normal clothes now with a sling on his arm.

"How're you feeling, dude," he asked Dean.

Dean shrugged, "Fine, I guess. I'm alive."

"That's what matters," he replied.

"Where were you last night," Sam asked him. I looked at Sam. Dad had left last night?

I truly hadn't left Dean's room the night before. Any conversation with my dad was going to spark another argument, but Sam tried to keep me updated.

"I had some things to take care of."

"God, do you have a copyright on vague bullshit," I asked. I felt Dean nudge my leg with his hand. I waved him off. "Did you go after the demon?"

"No," my dad replied.

"You know, why don't I believe you right now," Sam joined in.

My dad took a few steps forward, "Can we not fight?"

Again, I rolled my eyes, looking back at Dean. Some things never changed, and my dad was the best example. Dean grabbed my hand. Quiet comfort.

"Half the time we're fighting, I don't know what we're fighting about."

I closed my eyes and looked down. How was he full of such bullshit? I didn't understand it. I felt Dean squeeze my hand. I looked over at him and nodded with a forced grin.

"Look, Sammy, (Y/n)," I looked over at him when he said my name. "I've made some mistakes. But I've always done the best I could. I just don't want to fight anymore, okay?"

"Are you alright," I asked, noticing the tears in his eyes.

"Yeah, just a little tired," he nodded. "How about you and Sammy go grab some coffee?"

I saw something in his eyes. Something different. It made me nod and stand up. I gave Dean's hand one more reassuring squeeze before nodding at Sam to follow me outside.

My dad grabbed my arm before I left. He used his good arm to hug me. I slowly hugged him back.

He muttered in my ear, "I'm sorry for earlier. I was wrong to say those things. Your mom would be so proud of the work you're doing."

I knew then that he had done something stupid.

My father's pride was too important to him to apologize at all, let alone in front of other people.

I just stepped back and grinned at him. No fighting.

Sam and I walked down the hall in silence for a while.

"He did something," I said. "Something stupid."

"Yeah... I know."

On our way back, we found our dad on the floor of his room, dead.

"Dad," we both said at the same time.

Sam ran to get help and I just fell to the ground next to him. I turned him onto his back and tried to find a pulse.

"Shit," I muttered, going to try to start chest compressions. I blinked away my tears, trying to focus. "What the hell did you do?"

I was yanked away by a few nurses. I was pushed outside where I saw Sam walking down the hall with Dean.

I must've started shaking when I saw them both.

They met me at the door, Sam pulling me into his other side.

We watched them try to revive our dad.

The flatline wasn't the scariest sound. The scariest sound was when the doctor told them to stop compressions.

And just like that, with three words, the three of us were alone.

Completely alone.

--time skip--

I made it back to D.C about a week later. I had spent a few days with my brothers at Bobby's before making the drive home.

I came back to find a bunch of flowers on my desk.

"Hotch didn't go into detail," I looked up when Garcia walked over. "He just said things had gone wrong. I thought these would be nice."

I let out a quiet sob and looked down again. Even without knowing why, she was so willing to help me.

She pulled me into a tight hug. I felt another hand on my back. I looked over at J.J. as she gave me a comforting grin. I looked over to see Morgan and Reid walking over too.

I grinned back at them.

Maybe I wasn't as alone in this as I thought.

---------------------------------

Masterlist (Includes links to All Writing Challenges)

What I Write For

Some Original Characters

[cjsinkythoughts]

Rocks, Shoulders, and Ears

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Reader

Word Count: 3501

Warnings: !FATWS SPOILERS!, Cursing, Major Angst in this one, guys, Loads of Feels (sorry not sorry), John Walker being a douche (I really don’t like the guy)

A/N: I’m SO SORRY! I promise I was planning on it being shorter, but I went a little overkill with the angst! There’s just so many feelings and not enough space in my heart and soul, so I had to pour them out here! You get to see more of Reader and Sam’s relationship in this one and there’s major Bucky Feels towards the end (in my defense, this is based on the Couples Therapy half of the episode).

I’m really hoping we get to see Bucky go to Louisiana next episode! I’m holding out for it! I have a few ideas that include Sarah, but I need the episode! Ugh! Now we have to wait a whole ‘nother week! I really shouldn’t write three chapters on one episode in one day. I just couldn’t help myself!

Anyways! Please enjoy this part and thank you so much for all your support! Seriously, it’s meant so much to me, especially after the week I’ve had! If you haven’t checked out the previous parts, my FATWS Series Masterlist is HERE, so please go read those first. Like always, this isn’t beta’d so please excuse any mistakes! Enjoy, babes!

!SPOILERS UNDER CUT!

The last thing you remembered was falling asleep in Bucky’s arms after walking a few miles. And a hospital in DC wasn’t exactly what you preferred waking up to, but it’s what happened. Turned out, not only was your shoulder dislocated and your thigh was strained, but you had a mild concussion. Your arm was in a sling and your palm, which you had completely forgotten about after you wrapped it while on Bucky’s back, was wrapped properly. Luckily, your thigh wasn’t too bad, but they wanted to put you on crutches, which you refused immediately.

You had to get out of that building. You had no idea where the guys went, which was weird because you were sure they’d never leave you alone. Especially in a hospital.

You quickly snuck your way through the halls after grabbing your bag which - thank God - was left on the seat besides your bed and changing into an extra pair of clothes. 

You tried calling Bucky’s phone, the one he had specifically for you, which he always always answered. He even made an excuse to go to the bathroom once when you accidentally called in the middle of a therapy session. Nothing. You called the number four times before trying Sam’s phone.

It clicked on the first try.

“Hey. Listen, sorry for leaving-”

“Where the hell are you?”

You heard him sigh. “I was just about to explain, so hang on a second there. You weren’t waking up, probably because that concussion you forgot to mention to us-”

“In my defense, I didn’t know.”

“Sure you didn’t.” You rolled your eyes, throwing your free hand up, exasperated. “Anyways, Bucky wanted me to meet someone, we’ll talk about that when you inevitably get here, put we had a bit of trouble and Bucky was arrested-”

“What?!”

“Chill your pants, Y/L/N. Just listen. We’re in Baltimore. I’ll text you the address. Get here soon and I’ll explain the whole thing. We’ve been here for a couple hours, but there’s people on their way and we’re getting everything situated right now.”

“Okay. Fine. But you’re in trouble.”

“Don’t I know it, babe. Now hurry your cute little ass here. We’ve got stuff to talk about.”

*****************

The ride from DC to Baltimore is usually an hour or so, but you’ve got resources, especially in the nation’s capital, and riding the bike you got, being able to go way over the speed limit? You got there in half the time. Being an Avenger really does have its perks.

The moment you got there, you hopped off the bike, not even bothering to turn it off, and stormed into the precinct. You headed straight over to the desk, but a pair of hands caught you by your uninjured arm before you could make a scene.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Sam spoke softly, squeezing your bicep gently. “He’s okay, alright?”

“Why is he-”

“He missed his court-mandated therapy session.” Sam informed you, pulling you over to where he had been sitting previously. “There was a warrant out for his arrest. They had to bring him in, but it’s fine. His therapist’s been contacted. She should be here any minute to get him out.”

Your head fell back at his words. His therapy. How could you forget? You let Bucky complain to you about it and played along sometimes, but you really did think it was good for him and you tried supporting him. Yet you made him miss it and now he’s in trouble.

“Hey. Y/N. Look at me.” You found Sam’s worried eyes, his hand coming up to hold the side of your neck. “He’s okay. He’ll be out in just a bit. It’s fine.”

“It’s my fault, Sam.”

“No. It’s not. He’s a grown ass man who made the decision to skip.”

You shook your head, holding his wrist for something to anchor you down. “No, Sammy. I brought him along. I should’ve been more responsible-”

“I know we’ve joked around about you being in charge and stuff, but…you know it’s not all on your shoulders, right?” Sam tilted his head slightly, eyebrow pinched in confusion making his eyes narrow. 

You turned your head, not wanting to look at him. You didn’t need another set of deep eyes to fall into. “Sammy…I promised him I’d look after you.”

“I know. And that’s fine. But looking after us - looking after him - doesn’t mean you have to be there to hold his hand and take the fall for him. He’s not a child. Hell, he’s a hundred years old. Tell me you understand that.”

Licking your lips, you closed your eyes and shook your head again. “I-I can’t-”

“Is that why you’re obsessed with finding Wanda?”

You frowned at his question, eyes snapping to his. “I’m worried about her, Sam.”

“I am too, but she can handle herself. And if she doesn’t want to be found, you have to let her be. I know the Avengers were your only family. I know how much Steve meant to you-”

“No.” You pulled away rather harshly, digging your nails into your palms, trying not to cry, ignoring the wound you were irritating. “No, you don’t. How could you understand my feelings for Steve when I don’t understand them myself?”

Sam always had this ability to make anyone feel important, just by looking them in the eye. It was something you always admired about him; the way his smile could light up a room, those warm eyes making everyone’s fears go away. They reminded you of hot chocolate. Something that could soothe your worries, comfort you, warm your very soul from the ice tragedy and heartache tend to big on.

You promised yourself you wouldn’t cry in front of people, but with the way he was looking at you, it was hard to keep the tears from slipping.

“You loved him, Y/N. Why is it so hard for you to see that?”

“I didn’t - I wasn’t in love with him, Sam.” You argued, wiping your cheeks aggressively and turning, crossing your arms defensively.

“What do you call it then?”

It was a rhetorical question, Sam copying your movements and sitting straight to watch for Bucky coming out. A rhetorical question that you didn’t know the answer to. Because you weren’t in love with Steve. No. Maybe you had been, but somewhere along the way he passed your heart to Bucky. So why did it hurt so bad?

You refused to dwell on it anymore, clearing your throat and dabbing at your eyes one more time before changing the topic. “Why are we in Baltimore?”

“Bucky wanted me to meet someone. Isaiah. You know him?” Sam turned back to you, his warm eyes shifting into something else. Suspicion? A bit of anger? Annoyance? You couldn’t tell.

“Isaiah? I don’t think I know any Isaiahs. And definitely not here. Why? Who is he?”

Sam shook his head, eyes darting around the lobby. “We’ll talk about it later.”

You nodded, although now your curiosity had peaked and you wondered who this guy was that made Sam so agitated. While you waited, you felt your eyes drooping and you let your head fall onto Sam’s shoulder, who chuckled.

“You’re still tired? You know you slept for, like, twelve hours, right?”

“I haven’t been sleeping much.”

Sam turned his head to kiss yours. “Y/N, I know you want to care for everyone, but you’ve gotta take care of yourself too.”

“I know.”

“Okay.” And with that, the subject dropped, Sam pulling out his phone while you rested your eyes.

It was another ten minutes or so before Sam’s name was called and the both of you stood up to greet the speaker. A woman, Dr. Raynor. Bucky’s infamous therapist.

And speaking of infamous. The moment you heard his voice, you squeezed your eyes shut, hoping it was just your brain malfunctioning. And then he was walking towards you, calling Bucky ‘Bucky’ like they were old pals and he was saving him from something terrible.

Your face scrunched up as Walker talked about stopping Bucky’s regular therapy sessions. “He’s too valuable of an asset to have him tied up-”

“Don’t call him an asset.” You snapped. “He’s a human being with needs, and therapy-”

“He’s a super soldier with skills that we need.” Walker cut in, making you scowl as he turned back to Raynor.

You scoffed in disbelief at his words, turning on your heel and walking away before he did, heading straight for Bucky, who lifted his right arm, wrapping it around your shoulders once you were close enough.

“Are you okay?” You whispered, closing your eyes and trying to relax in his hold, breathing him in.

“Are you? Should you be walking? What did-”

You shook your head. “I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Promise.” You sighed out with a nod, squeezing him once more before pulling back as Raynor stepped forwards, ordering Bucky and Sam to do a session with her. You almost laughed when Sam tried refusing, a little chuckle actually leaving your lips when Bucky slumped, dragging his feet like a kid going to the principal’s office.

You followed, Bucky holding the door open for you. “Thanks, Buck.”

“Of course, doll.” He gave a small smile, before walking in after you, Sam letting out a, “hey!” when Bucky shut the door on him, making you roll your eyes. You let the corners of your mouth tick up slightly in amusement. Yes, they annoyed the hell out of you, but you had to admit it was pretty funny sometimes.

“I believe I asked for James and Sam, Ms. Y/L/N.”

“It’s Agent, actually, and I think I’m gonna sit in.”

Raynor narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think-”

“That wasn’t a request.” You threw her words to Sam back at her, making Sam smirk. You shot him a wink as she relented with a sigh. 

“Fine. Just as a spectator. Don't interrupt.”

You raise your hands in surrender, slipping around the table to stand in the corner as your fellas sank down into the seats across the table from her.

A small puff of laughter came from you at the lack of response when she asked one of them to start. She shot you a warning look over her shoulder, but you shrugged. You couldn’t help it; it was like all those times back in grade school when a teacher asked for a volunteer to read in a classroom full of rowdy kids and crickets followed.

Once she mentioned the next exercise was used for couples, you had to laugh, making both men shoot you begging pouts.

“Y/N.” Raynor glared at you, so you controlled yourself, gesturing for her to continue.

Her miracle question did work so well, neither of them cooperating well.

She didn’t even bother with you when you started cackling after she mentioned the “soul-gazing exercise” and Bucky thanked her, Sam commenting that he would like this one. You gave a teasing wolf-whistle when they got close, one of Bucky’s thighs between Sam’s and vice versa.

“Doll.” Bucky whined at you.

“Listen here, smartass-”

Raynor cleared her throat, cutting Sam off from finishing his statement towards you. You leaned back against the wall, crossing your arms with a smirk. After all the bickering and side taking they’ve put her through, letting you enjoy this was the least they could do, and they knew it.

Of course, this exercise didn’t work out either. A staring contest. Children. She was best friends with literal children.

But then something happened. Something you never thought would happen. Raynor asked Bucky why Sam aggravated him, and Bucky looked over to you, his eye growing sad in a way they only did when Steve was involved.

“Steve believed in you.” Bucky told him earnestly. “He trusted you. He gave you that shield for a reason. That shield? That is…that is everything he stood for. That is his legacy. He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing.  So maybe he was wrong about you. And if he was wrong about you, he was wrong about me.”

You heard his voice crack a little at the end as he slumped down in his seat, you jaw dropping slightly. You listened to the rest of the conversation, catching the way Sam grew irritated again, something that you didn’t previously think was possible, but was happening more and more now.

Why wasn’t Sam talking to you? Why was he holding all this in suddenly? And why…Bucky…he didn’t tell you that. Why didn’t he say anything? How could he ever feel…

But you knew how he could feel like that. Yes, Steve believed in him so much that he tore the Avengers apart for him…but he was the only one willing to do that for him. Yeah, you and Sam and Wanda and Clint, you all joined their side but, being honest, it wasn’t because you believed in Bucky. It was because you believed in Steve. Of course, it was different now. You believed in Bucky with your entire being, and you believed in Sam with your heart and soul, but…did either of them know that? Did they believe you when you told them? Or did you not tell them enough? This whole time you thought you were doing right by Steve - trying you damn hardest to watch out for them. But it obviously wasn’t enough. And that was on you, no matter what Sam said.

You read people. That’s what you’ve always done, that’s what you’d always do. It was the reason you earned your spot on the team. You read people and situations and could figure your way into their heads in a second. Years and years of undercover work taught you how to do that and how to protect yourself while doing so.

So why? How? How did you miss something this big? How did you miss the way Sam was holding onto something? Why did you ignore the vexation in his tone for the last couple weeks? How did you miss that Bucky was hurting that deeply? Why didn’t you do anything more for him?

You left the room before either of the boys, but you heard Sam standing up as you walked out the door.

You should’ve known you weren’t the only one holding things in. Of course they were. The difference is, you were supposed to be their rock, the thing they could hold onto to ground themselves, the shoulder for them to cry on, and the ear lent to them whenever they needed someone to listen. That was your job. It wasn’t their job. Not for you. Your rock - your shoulder, your ear - he left you. And you thought, after all he did for you, if you just returned the favor for his best friends, you’d…you dunno. You’d be closer to him, maybe.

But you couldn’t. Because you weren’t Steve Rogers. And you knew that from the start, but you had to try. You tried. And it wasn’t working. He made it seem so easy when he did it for you. Clearly you didn’t give him enough credit for dealing with all your shit on top of his own.

“Doll.” You didn’t stop walking, needing to get outside for some fresh air. “Doll, hold on. Wait a minute.”

He grabbed your arm as you made it outside, spinning you to face him. “You didn’t tell me.” You spoke quietly, your voice fragile as you stared at him, confusion and hurt in your eyes. Were you really that bad at doing your job? Did you really already fail him? He asked you to do one thing…

“I didn’t…I didn’t want you to deal with my problems.” You opened your mouth, but he shook his head, holding your face between his hands. “I’m not stupid, Y/N. I know something’s going on with you. You’re good at hiding your nightmares at night, but I’m better. You’re jumpier than usual. Quieter. Every time Wanda’s brought up, you turn away. And the other day? On the truck? You froze. I was watching, doll. It was just a second, but you froze. You never freeze.”

“It’s not your job to worry about me, Buck-”

He frowned, tilting his head. “Not my job? Aren’t we friends? Isn’t that what friends do? Or am I just a job to you? I know you promised him to look after me. Is that all I am to you? A responsibility?”

You shook your head vigorously, holding onto his wrists. “No. No, Bucky, I just-”

“Do you think he was wrong about me?”

Salty diamonds ran down your cheeks as you clenched your eyes shut and shook your head. “No.”

“Did you ever believe in me? Did you ever care or was it all just because Steve? Is Steve the only reason you tolerate me?”

“Don’t say that. God, please don’t say that.” You begged quietly, meeting his gaze again. Every beautiful detail was laced with devastation, eyes imploring her to make him feel better. “Of course I believe in you. I have since Wakanda, you know that. Yes, okay, maybe Steve is why I helped you at first, but-but…I care about you, James. So much so that it hurts sometimes. He wasn’t wrong about you. Or Sammy. You both mean so much to me. Okay?”

You watched his Adam’s Apple bob as he swallowed thickly, nodding slightly. You both simultaneously moved to get closer, him pulling you while you stepped into his chest, arms around his waist. His arms were tight around your shoulder, holding you just as firm as the kiss he planted on your forehead.

Sam came out, planting himself besides you as you pulled away, Bucky wiping your eyes. “I feel better.” He huffed out sarcastically, making you smack him in the arm. “Ow! Yeesh. Women these days.”

The sudden siren of one of the parked police cars made the three of you look over, spotting Walker and Hoskins. You groaned. “Did he see that?”

“Hey,” Bucky caught your jaw between his fingers, shaking his head. “Who cares? It’s between us and us only. Right?” You nodded, making him kiss your forehead again, a whisper of “attagirl” against your skin. You hadn’t heard that from him in a while.

“Gentlemen!” Walker waved them over, nodding at you. “And lady.” The three of you reluctantly walked over, Bucky going to lean on the police car Walker and Hoskins were near and you hopped up to sit on the hood of the police car across from them, Sam besides you.

You got information from Walker, who was once again trying to get you to work with him, but Sam summed it up nicely, explaining that the three of you didn’t have to follow the rules he did. You started to leave, Bucky tucking you under his arms once you slid off the car, when Walker stopped you once more.

“A word of advice, then. Stay the hell out of my way.”

You grumbled under your breath as the faker and his lapdog walked off. “I’m gonna kill him.” You vowed as the three of you started in the other direction. “I swear to God, I’m gonna rip that shield off his back and use it to beat him in that stupid face of his-”

“Down, girl.” Sam jested, flicking your ear. “We need a game plan. What’re we thinking?”

Your eyes narrowed as Bucky piped up, talking about the Isaiah character - who you still didn’t know - before HYDRA entered the equation.

“Absolutely not.” You shook your head, tugging his arm to make him stop once he mentioned Siberia. “Do you remember Siberia? Because if you’re actually suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, we remember Siberia very differently.”

“He’s our best bet-”

“So you’re just going to go sit in a room with this guy?”

Bucky scrunched up his nose. “Ye-yes…”

A beat of silence passed before Sam gave his stamp of approval, but you still disagreed. “There’s no way this’ll end well and I refuse to let you-”

You found your face between Bucky’s hands again. You really wished he’d stop doing that and just ask for your attention. You didn’t mean that, of course. You’d be held by him every second of every day if you could. “Don’t you trust me, doll?”

You licked your lips, looking around the darkened street. This was not a good idea. A bad plan - a terrible plan, really - but, unfortunately, it was the only one you had. “Dammit. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.” You finally sighed, running a hand through your hair after Bucky let go of you, his eyebrow quirking.

“Is that a yes?”

Sam nodded. “We’re gonna go see Zemo.”

You tugged Bucky’s hand when he nodded back and went to walk after Sam, who started walking around the corner, making him stop. “And yes. I do trust you. With everything I have, Buckaroo.”

[whetstonefires]

heavier than a mountain, lighter than a feather

[my take on @misskirby's not-prompt about obi-wan beating palpatine to death with an office chair]

-

Obi-Wan had once touched the cold-burning edge of the Dark Side to give himself the extra edge he needed to cut down the Sith who had cut down his Master. He had fought with rage pushing him, he had fought with all the fear that Qui-Gon lay expiring on the reactor floor, that he might yet win and find himself seconds too late to bring the emergency med-treatment necessary to survive a lightsaber to the chest.

(Not that it had mattered; all he’d gotten from his desperate, hasty win was a few seconds of farewell bereft of comfort, and the burden of Anakin hung around his neck, and oh, he wished his padawan was not a burden. There had been no option but to take him and thus taking him must have been right, but no one should take on a student they did not feel ready for, and he had.)

If he had fought that way this time, he would have lost.

The Sith Master would have done what the apprentice could not, and twisted the Dark Side within him as it rose, and snared him in it, so he could not find his way back to the Light, and used that grip to bear him down with Sidious’ greater power, because the Sith said the Force will free me but it was the way of the Dark to place one will over another by pure force, so even what narrow freedom there was on the dark path was offered to one alone. Even in the best case, he would have been overwhelmed too heavily to fight for more than long enough to finish him.

Perhaps he would not have been killed. Perhaps he would have been kept alive to be used as leverage against Anakin. But assuredly he would not have been able to win.

Obi-wan however had what he would have thought of, if he had allowed himself to think about it, a trick for using his attachments and the desire not to lose them as fuel without reaching into the destabilizing, consuming whirlwind of the Dark Side. It was a dangerous, stupid trick, really, at least the way he used it, although Obi-wan thought of that way as fundamental to being a good Jedi, which would have explained a great deal about him if anyone had known.

The trick was this: it was easy to push yourself to where your limits should have been and beyond using your attachment to a person, without falling into the hungry selfishness of the Dark Side, if you simply did not intend to survive.

When he was thirteen, he had tried to persuade Qui-Gon Jinn, who had not yet been his Master, to use the bomb in his recently fitted slave-collar to blow open a door, killing Obi-wan but allowing him complete the mission, which was not Obi-wan’s mission

It was not difficult to return to that place, that space in himself where serenity came easy because soon there would be nothing left to go wrong or to lose—Anakin had made it difficult, for a long time; Anakin he was obliged to raise and train. Anakin who needed him.

All his obligation to the war and the Council and all the men under his command had not pinned him to himself the way his duty to Anakin had, and—knighting him had been helpful. It had been a relief, to finally cast off that weight. There is no death, there is the Force was much easier to believe of oneself than of those one grieved, and some weeks Obi-wan breathed it in and out with every breath, and there was no fear.

He knew several things, as he entered the Senate through an entrance that was technically, perhaps, a window. One that did not open, at that. That the Chancellor had some kind of failsafe embedded in the GAR’s brains. That the Chancellor was a Sith Lord. That the Chancellor had been using his access to Anakin all these years to hurt his Padawan.

That if he took the time to assemble the rest of the Council and try to stage this as a proper arrest, word would have time to reach Palpatine of Obi-wan having been publicly informed, because Maul was the least subtle sentient Obi-wan had ever had the misfortune of meeting more than once, and that if Palpatine knew the jig was up he would use his fail-safe.

So Obi-wan needed to do this alone.

It was possible, of course, that it wouldn’t be difficult. Sidious was a creature of stealth and insinuation. He spent most hours of his life maintaining a posture of harmlessness. When could he have found the time to do regular lightsaber drills, let alone practice live combat?

But Maul probably feared the man for a reason. So Obi-wan was going to do this as quickly as possible, but he wasn’t going to be hasty.

Spring the trap.

He’d closed himself down in the Force before he got near the Senate building, jumping through the hole he’d sliced into the window with only his physical strength and no Jedi edge, and only when he got near the Chancellor’s office did he reopen his senses just a thread, to make sure there was no one in there meeting with Palpatine whom he needed to keep alive. The Force didn’t slam into him with a warning, which would have to be confirmation enough.

Obi-wan yanked the door open, hurled five primed thermal detonators in the direction of the great ship-like slab of an occupied desk, slammed the ornate portal shut again, and threw himself to the ground at the foot of the wall, as far away as he could get, head tucked under his arms. He was fairly sure he’d seen Mas Amedda in there, standing beside the desk as the Chancellor in his thronelike chair raised his head with a gratifyingly startled look on his face.

Pity. The Vice-Chancellor could probably have explained so much of what had been going on behind the scenes, all this time.

The blast left the office door half-shattered, belching smoke, but Obi-wan escaped with just one splinter, not terribly large, in the back of one calf. His robes and boots had absorbed the rest of the shrapnel that had made it that far. He tugged it out as he got up—no time to do anything more, it wasn’t bleeding much. He drew a deep breath of half-clean corridor air and dashed into the opaque ruin that had been the Chancellor’s office, senses fully unfurled now that the time for stealth was over. Though in the interest of not being an irresistible target, he did not ignite his lightsaber just yet.

The Force guided him through the smoke, and he brought his sword to light even as he swung it through the murk.

It stopped, humming, against a bar of red light that hissed into being at the last instant, and that felt equally inevitable.

“You.” Sheev Palpatine’s face looked like a Sith Lord’s now, twisted with hate and lit red from below. And, gratifyingly, somewhat scorched. His hair had sizzled from the heat, and his left arm seemed to have something at least mildly wrong with it. Obi-wan hoped the explosions had affected at least one of his legs, as well, since his own maneuverability was cut by the shard of door to the calf.

“Me indeed, Chancellor,” he said, taking advantage of his two-handed grip to bear down against the block with extra force. Palpatine bore up admirably, but as his snarl tightened it was clear that it was not without cost. “Or should I say, Lord Sidious?”

The smoke was starting to thin, leaking away out of the shattered room. Sidious was still behind his ruined desk with its weakly sparking console, which seemed to have taken much of the impact for him—he was standing, anyway, sadly. Mas Amedda’s corpse, on the far end of the desk from the one Obi-wan had circumnavigated, was one of the things that was still smoking. Most of the brocade and other decorative fabric in the room must have been thoroughly treated with fire-retardant, but he had not been.

“I thought you might have learned my true name,” Palpatine said, far too complacently for someone whose long deception had been uncovered and who was staving off death one-handed. “But what brought you racing here in such haste?”

“Well, you see, they used to call me Sith-killer because of Maul, and since that’s been proven regrettably in error, I thought I had better—” Sidious tried to fling him back against the opposite wall with a sharp jerk of his wounded hand, and Obi-wan had to push back with the whole of his will and stance to slide back only a few feet.

This had freed their lightsabers, though, and Sidious chopped low with a terrible speed. Obi-wan leapt clear, knowing the blood soaking into the pale fabric of his pants was betraying the weakness in his leg—Anakin had had a point, he admitted grudgingly, about black hiding all kinds of stains.

For better and for worse.

He tried to catch Sidious with an overhead slash while he was up, to keep that red lightsaber busy for the most part, and when it was intercepted used the force of that impact to somersault back in a momentary return to his master’s old Ataru style—not too far, though, at all costs he must prevent the Sith Master’s escape.

Sidious wouldn’t need to get far, just to a room with a working holo transmitter, to destroy everything.

He flung himself back in.

Palpatine sidestepped his next attack, parried another, stepped back with the third. His single arm was telling against him, and while he was regrettably fast his movements were stiff enough that he had clearly taken at least one other hurt. Probably somewhere in the right hip. Obi-wan stayed on the offensive—it was how he’d beaten Maul, after all, though he was at pains to avoid overreaching to the point of recreating Anakin’s loss to Dooku.

His attacks did more damage to the sparking desk, bisected the thronelike monstrosity of a chair, which turned out under all the gilt, padding, and chromium to be mostly of durasteel, got close enough to put additional charred rents in Palpatine’s ornate sleeves. Nearly a minute had passed since he threw those detonators, and Sidious was still alive. Too long.

“Really,” said the politician, dropping his stance to one that would allow him to parry more from the shoulder, his first hint of fatigue. His style was not quite Makashi even as he adapted to the one-handed approach that was clearly not his preference, but there were some notes to it that rang so strongly of Dooku they could come from nowhere else. “What do you hope to achieve?”

“You won’t have Anakin,” Obi-wan said, the plot that had been in retrospect laid so horribly bare with just a few sentences from Maul, supported by a few more from some of their most trusted troopers, put together with a hundred hints and oddities and he should have guessed on his own.

Sidious grinned, the amiable wrinkles of his face lying deeper and more correct, somehow, in this attitude of wild, infinite gloating. “Possessiveness, Master Jedi?”

“No,” said Obi-wan, and it was true because he had given Anakin up, given everything up before he came here. He was holding onto nothing, he was an object in free-fall but not falling, because he was at exactly the right place and momentum at the outer edge of a gravity well that would let him remain at a constant height.

Orbits degraded, given time, if not carefully maintained. And if they were disrupted sharply enough it meant a violent, flaming spiral down into explosive doom, or sometimes out into the fathomless dark. This was not a true, secure serenity like a Jedi should strive for. But it would serve. For today, it would serve.

He fell on Sidious again in a flurry of blows, pushing his physical advantage, but although the Chancellor was clearly straining to keep up this defense, his stamina continued to fail to run out or even noticeably decline, as though he had learned to subsist on some constant well of the Force alone.

Probably he had, because it was welling up out of him, filling the room, an endless pit of the Dark that had lain concealed like a trap under pinned canvas and scattered leaves all this time. He was drawing heavily upon the Dark Side now and that wasn’t precisely goodbut it was promising.

He was beginning to develop something that was not quite optimism or confidence but approached both by the time the progress of the humming, crashing process of the duel took them past the far end of the desk, back into sight of what had been Mas Amedda. Palpatine angled his next fractional retreat toward the corps, away from the cracked and blackened windows, avoiding the treacherous footing of a shattered vase that had probably been a valuable antique.

Obi-wan tried to take advantage of the change in angle in the next rapid, whirring clash of lightsabers.

Unlike every other time they had crossed blades this duel, Sidious simply—shut his off in the moment before contact.

Obi-wan had committed a little too much of his weight to the blow to abort it entirely. Sidious ducked away from the remainder with a sinuous grace even as he activated his weapon again, now on the inside of Obi-wan’s guard—trakata, executed with terrible excellence.

The need for the dodge was the trakata maneuver’s great weakness, and gave Obi-wan time to avoid the worst of the stroke, but even still the red lightsaber clipped him across the wrist—not a clean sweep slicing off the hand entire, but a glancing blow, that seared through the skin and flesh and took a significant bite out of the ulna.

Obi-wan didn’t try to repress his strangled scream, and Sidious leaned into it in the Force, pressing at the pain, stoking it and encouraging it to drag him down into the Dark, where he would be the Sith Master’s plaything. He was smirking now, more deeply and honestly than ever, a laugh rising into his mouth, for if Master Kenobi had had a slight edge in their fight with two hands to one, with the Jedi’s primary weapon-hand incapacitated, the Sith would surely dominate.

In that moment, Obi-wan moved to rebalance the odds. His blue lightsaber chopped down—not onto Sidious’ flesh, which it was clear he guarded with the preternatural awareness of a being whose own self was as valuable as all the Galaxy else, but to sheer through the emitter end of the crimson lightsaber.

It spat and burst but, unfortunately, tragically failed to explode.

As Sidious raised his eyes from the ruined weapon looking like he might explode in its place out of pure outrage, Obi-wan brought his sword back up to go for the decapitating blow now that the Sith had no weapon to block with, but in that moment Sidious’ burnt and broken hand jabbed up, and shot a gout of lightning into his face.

His back arced so violently it threw him off his feet, and it was all Obi-wan could do to keep hold of his lightsaber in his good hand and deactivate it as he went down, to avoid doing himself a worse injury than Sidious had yet managed. The lightning followed him down, scouring its way from just beside his left eye down every nerve ending he had in a screaming, jerking chorus of pain.

The deep lightsaber burn on his right wrist somehow hurt more now than it had to receive, but the force of his constant convulsions kept him from screaming again.

Then it stopped. He had no idea how long it had been, and wondered if Palpatine had become too fatigued to keep up the electrocution. There had to be a limit to how long he could maintain that kind of power output. His chest was heaving, trying with animal need to make up for lost oxygen. Smoke and the scent of dead Chagrian weighed down his sensory world, since his eyes declined to open and most of his body would only say pain.

The whisper of expensive Senate slippers crunched toward him over the rubble of the ruined office with a surefootedness that no one would have expected of the elderly Chancellor. At least he was still here; Obi-wan had angered him enough to bother sticking around to kill him rather than running off to activate the troops.

Or maybe he was confident he could spin this whole event to his benefit—Obi-wan had destroyed the security cameras that would have recorded his Sith activities, after all. Maybe he would say Master Kenobi had been tragically killed defending him from the dreadful Sith Lord. Maybe he would ask Anakin to become his constant protector in Obi-wan’s memory. Anakin would do it.

He was struggling to turn his lightsaber back on and raise it, though getting it between him and the next round of lightning seemed unlikely when he was exposed in a supine position, when Palpatine kicked it. Kicked his hand, actually, so hard at least one bone cracked and the lightsaber went flying.

This weapon is your life.

“Should I summon it back and use it to kill you?” Palpatine murmured, with a deadly, vicious good humor that suggested he knew very well Obi-wan had no backup coming, that the only interruption they could expect would be Commander Fox and his men in red, here to protect the Chancellor. “Or should I step on your throat until you breathe your last? Or should I keep you alive and put you on trial, and drag the name of the Jedi in the mud through you, so that when your Order falls it will be your name that the Galaxy uses to call the killing just?”

Horror twisted in Obi-wan’s chest and Palpatine chuckled, a whispering foul sound that still resembled his polite politician’s laughter. “Yes, very good. I’ll make young Skywalker believe you tried to kill me out of pride and greed and because you despised him, until he curses your memory. Everything that happens now will be your doing.”

The rage and the fear that he had left behind when he entered were flaming up now in Obi-wan, the orbit deteriorating, the gravitational pull of abandoning them and letting the Order down and ruining everything and too little, too proud, the same hopeless arrogant padawan and of that terrible, world-tearing no dragging him down to shatter in fire against them, like he had on Naboo all those years ago but so much more utterly and irrevocably and--this wasn’t all him.

He sucked in his breath, shaking through teeth still clenched too convulsively tight to pull apart for a witty retort to all that poison, and melted away inside himself.

Over him, Sidious frowned, feeling the Jedi escape his grip in the Force. “Are you dying already, Master Kenobi?”

He thought Sidious had mentioned summoning his lightsaber through the Force to encourage him to try it. It wouldn’t be impossible. He knew the feel of it in the Force like he did few other things in the Galaxy; he didn’t need sight to reach for it.

But it was too small, and too far away, and his senses were too scorched and blasted by that awful lightning. Long before his weapon could make it to his hand, Sidious could kill him, even with no working lightsaber of his own. He couldn’t win that way, or even (that far lesser goal) live.

Instead, Obi-wan grabbed for the closest large object he knew to look for that wasn’t a corpse: the sliced-loose upper half of that baroque monstrosity of a desk-chair, conveniently bulky and only a few long steps away, just behind the desk he’d fallen from behind.

It came, and in coming swept Palpatine’s legs from under him, knocking him not quite sprawling, and then the curve of it had smacked into Obi-wan’s outstretched left palm, jolting the broken bone which did not matter in the slightest, and he rolled up onto his knees, graceless but fast, the slab of steel and leather still moving with the momentum that had dragged it to him, and clobbered the sitting-up Sith Lord across the face with it.

One of Obi-wan’s many faults was his tendency to take a vicious glee in striking low his enemies, but he did not think he had ever taken quite the joy from any beautifully executed maneuver that he did from watching Palpatine knocked to the floor by a slab of office chair. Obi-wan lunged after him, not bothering with niceties like getting to his feet, and brought the chair-slab down on his face again, this time with the strength of both arms—his right hand was mostly numb but for hurting, only the thumb and forefinger would move at all, and it was very weak, but none of that interfered with placing his whole forearm against the upholstery and slamming the searing-hot, bare metal inner side down.

There was a crunch, probably nose, and then instead of diminishing the awful seething presence of the Dark Side rose like a hurricane, and Obi-wan felt his throat close as from a powerful phantom hand, cutting off all breathing.

This caused him not an instant’s hesitation, because he had come here fully intending to die.

He raised the sheered-off slice of chair, adjusted the angle so the sharp edge where he’d cut the durasteel was pointing down, and aimed for the throat.

The ensuing explosion threw him after his lightsaber, and he knew nothing after hitting the wall.