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lonely-ey3s · 1 month ago

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With All My Love : Chapter 4 | casualties

Chapter 4: Casualties

Pairing: joel miller x f!reader, no outbreak

Word count : 14.1k

Chapter Summary: You and Joel have your first Skype call together and continue to do so in the following weeks. You both get closer and fall deeper for each other, hinting towards a definite future together. A few weeks later after an incident that happened between you and Terrence's replacement, you open up to Joel about your past abuse and you two become closer by how he talks you through it but also by acts he demonstrates to show you what you mean to him. In the following weeks, just when you think things have calmed down, you and Maria are told you are going on a special assignment to rescue a higher-ranking officer, going to a location you aren’t sure if you will make it out - as you’ll be heading into no man's land.

Chapter warnings: fluff, flirting, mutual pining, language, mentions of combat and war, blood, violence, hand-to-hand combat, mentions of guns and a knife, hate speech (not by either of our babies), anxiety, panic attacks, use of Y/N, mentions of abuse, descriptions of injuries, angst.

A/N: oh my, this one is a big one but it was necessary for chapters to come! i hope you enjoy it as much as i loved writing it! please like, comment, and repost if you want to see more! thank you for all the support you've given me with the first 3 chapters, i've loved to see and hear everyone's thoughts and love! i love these two and am so happy their story is coming together - ugh love it! xx

Dividers by: @saradika-graphics

Main Masterlist

As soon as Joel hit ‘Accept’ you came onto the screen, earbuds in your ears, smiling brightly. You had an oversized shirt on and your hair down, flowing to one side. “Hey there handsome!” you said smiling and talking in a soft voice, like you might have been trying to stay quiet.

“Wow…” he said out loud without realizing.

You softly giggled and blushed, “Joel, can you hear me?” you asked as his response was a little unexpected but had butterflies erupting throughout your stomach.

“Y-Yeah, I can hear you darlin’...” he smiled and chuckled, shyly dragging his fingers through his hair.

“Darlin’...? I’ve been wondering what that southern drawl sounds like, and I must say, I will most definitely never tire of it.” you smiled brightly.

He smiled brightly, “I’m sorry if I woke you up, I uh… I did the math and thought you wouldn’t maybe see my message for a few more hours.”

You shook your head and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, “You’re sweet, you didn’t wake me. I woke up cuz it’s so damn hot here, couldn’t sleep.” looked up hearing someone stir in the room then looked back down at the screen, “Sorry, I’m tryna keep quiet, everyone else is asleep but I wanted to see you as soon as I could after finally seeing you were able to message!” you bit your bottom lip, “Sorry it took so long, it’s been a busy few weeks here.” you looked at him, he was in awe and captivated by how beautiful you looked.

“So you’ve said darlin’. I’m just glad to know you’re alright.” he licked his lip and smiled softly, “You had me worried for a while, can’t have that pendant of yours failin’ me…”

You blushed “No we can’t have that, can we?”

Joel smiled and shook his head, the silence and tension between the two of you palpable.

You cleared your throat softly, blushing, “Did you and Sarah have a good 4th of July weekend?”

He nodded, “Yeah, we did. She had a soccer tournament on Friday out of town so we took a little getaway with my brother, Tommy, he has a boat, and so we spent all of yesterday on Canyon Lake just outside of Austin… we took lots of pictures for you.” he winked.

You would never get tired of hearing his voice. You nodded along as he talked, “That sounds like a lot of fun. Did you guys get to barbeque on the lake or eat any good food?”

“Yeah, we did some burgers and hotdogs on a portable grill we had, wasn’t so bad.” He smiled, “What about you? Didn’t you guys have somethin’ like Spam and potatoes or somethin’ like that?” he hadn’t realized he may have let part of Tommy and Maria’s conversation slip, he was just so focused on you, his brain shut off somewhat.

You chuckled and tilted your head confused, “Yeah… we did… how did you know that? You spyin’ on me somehow Joel Miller?”

Joel’s face fell a little, realizing he slipped, “I uh…”

You looked at him and chuckled, “You ok handsome? Cat got your tongue?”

He took a deep breath, he wasn’t going to start this off with dishonesty, so he anxiously scratched his scruff and then looked down a his lap, “Uh… so funny story…” he lightly let out a chuckle nervously.

You had learned with your ex and parents to pay attention to body language and tone, so you sat up a bit straighter, anxious, a weight instantly dropping in your stomach, ‘Shit, he just got nervous’ you thought. “Joel, what’s going on?” you said softly.

He noticed your immediate reaction, looked back up at you, and then softly smiled, “Oh no, sweetheart, nothin’ is wrong…” he bit his lip and thought of how to say what he was about to say, “You umm… you have a nickname for Maria’s pen pal…” he paused, “Reginald right?”

You nodded slowly and then started to put the dots together, Maria had already suggested that they were related, you just didn’t think it could happen. Then you realized how the hell he knew that name then you turned bright red, “You… oh my god.” you laughed and covered your face with your hands, embarrassed. “Oh my god, you saw me make a fool of myself on Maria’s Skype call yesterday!”

Joel laughed and bit his lip at your reaction, finding your embarrassment and shyness so fucking cute. “I um, I didn’t see you, but I was in the room when Tommy Skyped her, I heard your sweet voice though, it drove me mad to not be able to see you and say hello…”

You peeked through your hands, blushing madly, “Oh god, I’m so embarrassed… you weren’t supposed to see that side of me already!”

He let out a deep gut laugh, leaning his head back against the headboard, and you started to giggle back, covering your mouth, trying not to wake the others.

“Stop laughing, I’m serious! You’re only supposed to see the lady-like side of me before you see the goof that Z and Maria have brought out in me..” you smiled at him slowing down your giggling, tucking your hair again behind your ear.

He slowed down his laugh and smiled softly at you, eyes bright and cheeks red, thinking, thanking the universe for hearing your laugh so much tonight, “Nah, I like the goof in you, it made me smile like a fuckin’ idiot hearing you. Tommy gave me so much shit after…” he admitted.

You smiled brightly knowing you had that effect on him, “Like an idiot huh? I’ll have to keep that up, I wanna see that type of smile on your handsome face.” you threw at him, he instantly blushed then jumped slightly when he heard Sarah knock on his door.

“Dad? Are you good? I see we have a casualty of pasta on the floor downstairs…” she said through the door.

You listened closely, smiling hearing Sarah’s voice, and chuckling at her joke.

“Yeah, I’m good baby girl! I’m just on a Skype call with Y/N, umm, I left my wallet on the counter, could you order some takeout? Your choice!” he smiled down at you, watching you listen.

Sarah smiled brightly hearing that he was talking to you. “Yeah of course Dad! Tell Y/N hi for me and thank her for my bracelet! And I will bring in your food when it gets here!”

Joel looked down at you, “You hear all that?” he asked.

You nodded, “Can she hear me?”

He shrugged, “Maybe?” he chuckled.

You grinned and then put a finger up to signal to hold on, you set the laptop down on the floor you had been sitting on and then stood up, Joel seeing you only had that oversized shirt on and some very short shorts on under, his breath hitched and felt himself instantly grow hard. His throat went dry, “H-Hold..” he swallowed, “Sarah hold on a sec…!” he shouted at Sarah through the door, voice cracking a little.

She peeked her head in and giggled hearing the voice crack, “Yeah Dad?” he pulled a pillow quickly over his lap, and held up a finger like you, “Wait one sec.”

He saw you pick up the laptop and then quietly tried to walk through the dark room, only to stub your toe on something, “Ow, fuckin’ shitballs.” you winced, hopping on one foot.

Sarah snorted holding in a laugh at your remark. Joel looked down at you and chuckled at your phrase as well, “You ok darlin’?”

You nodded and whispered, “Yeah, yeah just stubbed my toe. Sorry for cussing Sarah…”

You walked out of the room and quietly shut the door and looked around, one soldier saw you a few feet away and wolf whistled your way, “Damn Y/N, didn’t know you had that fat of an ass! Come over and sit on my lap mama!”

Joel visibility got jealous, jaw clenched and zeroing in on the piece of shit talking to you that way.

“Martinez, the only woman that would ever touch you without a ten-foot pole is your mama. Shut the fuck up and keep your eyes off my ass.” you shot back without missing a beat, walking away from him, finding somewhere to sit that was a bit more quiet.

Joel smirked, and whispered under his breath, “That’s my girl..”

You smiled and blushed to hear him say that, looking down at him. You looked around and then sat down against an abandoned house, and then let out a sigh, “Sorry, that took longer than a minute, is Sarah still able to hear me?”

“I can hear you!” Sarah shouted from the doorway.

“Oh! Lovely! Hi Sarah! I’ve heard such good things about you. I’m glad you like your bracelets, I’ll be sending something else for you and your dad in my next parcel.” you smiled at Joel and winked.

He smiled brightly and then looked at Sarah then at you, “Do you guys wanna say hello? You don’t have to shout at each other...” he chuckled.

You smiled and tucked your hair behind your ears, “I’d love to but only if Sarah is comfortab-” Before you could finish your sentence Sarah had jumped on the bed by Joel, hugging his arm and leaning into the screen. “Hey there!” she smiled, “Oh my gosh, your hair is so pretty down! Is that your natural color?”

You nodded and smiled, “Thank you! Yes, it is! I love your curls- I’m envious of them! I’ve always wanted curly hair!” you giggled.

Sarah giggled, “They are a lot to manage but I do love ‘em!” she smiled and looked at Joel who was soaking in the moment, he was practically glowing.

“I heard you had a soccer tournament this weekend, how did it go? What position do you play?” you asked.

“We placed second and I scored two goals, one of them won the game for us! Dad took pictures…” she looked back at Joel, “Can you send them to her?”

Joel nodded and then looked at you, “Yeah I’ll message them to you later.” he smiled.

Sarah smiled and looked back at you, “I play a center forward, do you play soccer?” she asked.

“I played a little as a kid with like my schoolmates but never competitively like you. However, I did just learn some tricks that some of the kids here taught me, I’ll have to show you someday and you can show me what you can do!” you said softly smiling and messing with the hem of your shirt.

“I’d like that. Do you know when your tour is over?” she asked abruptly.

Joel didn’t even think to ask that question. He perked up and looked at you.

“I’ve been told that if things keep going the way they do, I’ll be home in the spring. If they get better, I could be home either right before or after the holidays but it’s been crazy here, so I’m keeping my expectations low, you know?” you said looking at the hem of your shirt, the thought of you not being home til spring made you anxious.

Joel could tell your mood shifted, “Well Sarah and I will hope for sooner, home for the holidays, yeah?”

You looked up and softly nodded and smiled, agreeing.

“I have one last question and then I’ll go order take out…” Sarah said curiously.

“Alright kiddo, shoot.” you looked her way.

“Why Reginald?” she tilted her head.

You let out a laugh, “Oh jeez..” you began to chuckle, “Ok, so when Maria and I sent our letters at first to your dad and your uncle, we knew nothing about them. I teased her because she sprayed hers with her perfume. I said she had no idea who or where her letter was going, it could be an old guy in a nursing home and said his name is probably Reginald or something… as that was before I knew her pal’s name, but the joke stuck and it continues to push her buttons.” you chuckled.

Joel chuckled at your sense of humor and Sarah did as well, “I like that, it’s like you're calling him an old man… I’m going to call him that now too, especially when he’s being annoying… which is all the time.” she emphasized.

You giggled and nodded, “You can tell him that Maria’s lovely, awesome, never annoying at all roommate said you could use it if he gets mad, he can take it up with me.” you winked.

Sarah nodded and smiled, “Will do, thanks for the ammo!” she giggled and then slid off the bed, “I’m going to go order food, I’m starving! It was nice meeting you, have a good rest of your night- well day for you!” she said smiling brightly at the camera before running out of the room shutting the door behind her.

You chuckled at Joel “She’s a fun kid. I can see a lot of you in her…” you smiled at him.

He smiled warmly, “Thanks darlin’, that means a lot.”

You sat in silence together for a moment before you spoke up “Sorry to have crashed your dinner plans, did I hear there was a pasta casualty?”

Joel chuckled lightly and looked down shyly, “I may have heard your message notification ding, and may have dropped everything I had in my hands to run over to my laptop, then after seeing your message, may have ran upstairs to call you, abandoning the mess…”

“Oh I see… so there are only allegations against you, no concrete evidence tying you to the scene of the crime, innocent until proven guilty, am I right?” you teased.

He looked up at you and chuckled, “Exactly.”

You smiled warmly and sighed contently.

“In my defense, and all honesty, I will drop whatever I’m doing to give you my time and attention… you know for the record.” he winked, smiling brightly.

You blushed and looked down shyly, smiling from ear to ear, “Now here I go smiling a fuckin’ idiot.”

He chuckled and then bit his bottom lip, “Look at me when you’re doin’ that darlin’, I wanna see that beautiful smile.”

You blushed harder and looked at him, laughing at how silly you must’ve looked, “God, you can’t keep sayin’ things like that, Joel Miller!”

He loved the way you said his name, but even more, he loved your laugh. He would forever have it programmed into his brain, on repeat, along with the image of your smile tattooed right beside it.

He bit his lip, loving seeing you like this. He thought he was out of practice with his flirting but clearly, he had quite the effect on you. “You keep smilin’ and laughin’ like that, and we are gonna have a different problem with what you're doin’ to my heart darlin’...”

“I could say the same about you cowboy…” you said as you came down from your laugh.

Before Joel could say anything back he heard someone call your name in the background, you looked up, looking around, and he heard them say ‘We have 3 wounded coming in and could use the extra hands if you’re awake, can you help?’

“Uh, hold on one sec Benson!” You looked back down at Joel, clearly torn on what to do.

“Go, it’s ok sweetheart, they need your help. How about we do this weekly, yeah? Keep the letters coming as usual, and just do this in addition at least once a week… more if we are feelin’ freaky” he chuckled and winked.

You nodded and softly smiled, “Yes, let's do that. I’ll message you later, ok?”

He nodded, “Go save some lives! I’ll talk to you soon.”

You smiled and blushed, “I’ll talk to you soon.” you stood up and ended the call.

Joel sat in his bed, beaming, feeling happier than he’d ever felt before.

He heard a ding and looked at his laptop:

‘I know it's been less than a minute but I miss you and your voice already, wanna Skype again later? ❣️🥺’

He chuckled and typed back:

‘I was just thinkin’ of messaging you the same thing, beautiful 😘 Just message me when you’re free and I’ll call you! ❤️’

Reader’s POV

2 weeks later

You and Joel had Skype called a few times in the last couple of weeks, more than the once-a-week foundation you laid out.

You could tell that not only yourself, but he was addicted to hearing from each other. It was the highlight of your day when it happened and made your whole chaotic world slow down.

Z and Maria met him on the last call two days ago when they crashed your call, just like you did to Maria. You couldn’t help but laugh at the karma.

Maria and Tommy Skyped more often than you and Joel, they even started to flirt themselves as you heard eavesdropping on her last call. You and Z would giggle at her attempt to flirt outside of the window while listening together.

You sent your disposable camera back to Joel a week ago along with another letter and parcel. This one included little candies that Z had shown you that you decided you had to share with Joel and Sarah.

Z and you were glued at the hip, now that he was back to pretty much his full health, he helped in the clinic when you’d work if he wasn’t off playing with other boys in the village. He would help gather supplies and translate if needed between you and injured or sick village folk.

He taught you how to say things so that when he wasn’t around you knew what to say or ask. He was patient and admired how you wanted to learn the language instead of being ignorant like most other soldiers.

Since Terrance had been discharged to go home, Reggie got a new partner, right after you guys got back, his name was Braedon. However, something about him just didn’t feel right to any of you. He only cared about himself and Reggie even felt something off about him, he just couldn’t place it other than he was self-centered and only worried about climbing the ranks, not about saving the lives needing it or making personal sacrifices. You couldn’t stand him as he always had something smart to say or just wasn’t useful, someone always having to babysit him.

—

July 20th, 2004

13:09

You were cleaning out a wound in the medical tent, a small group had just rolled in from a camp 2 miles north that was overrun. Maria and Reggie were on the other side dealing with their problems while Braedon stood there, not jumping in to help with the obvious load.

You were tired, hungry, and frustrated, and you didn’t have time to babysit.

“Hey Braedon, there’s a head lac in bay 2, can you take care of that?” you yelled at him over the screams of pain from your patient and the normal hustle and bustle of the med tent.

He looked at you and rolled his eyes, annoyed, “Yep.” then said something under his breath as he walked over to bay 2 and began working.

Z was standing next to you and saw the reaction as well, he looked up at you, “What’s his problem?”

You narrowed your eyes at him, glaring, you scoffed, “I don’t know Z… but it’s about to be an earful from me…” you clenched your jaw, temper starting to boil.

You addressed the wound you were cleaning. You began packing it, starting a line of fluids, and making sure the patient was comfortable, when you looked at Z, “Start to gather gauze and a pair of gloves for the guy over in bay 9, and then wait for me there.” Z nodded and then left to do what you said.

Your blood was now boiling, fists balled. You were done with his selfishness and shitty attitude. He tended to hit the right buttons and now that you think about it, he reminded you of your ex. The difference between the two was you didn’t take that bullshit anymore and were a United States Army medic, which had given you a newfound confidence, and a ‘fuck around and find out’ attitude.

You walked up and stood across from him as he was working on a patient that seemed to now be unconscious, “Alright, I’m just gon’ cut the bullshit and say what I want to say to you because I am for one sick of the bullshit fake ‘team effort’ you seem to put on only when commanding officers are around for you to brown nose.” You clenched your jaw and narrowed your gaze, “I’m not here to fuckin’ babysit you, neither is Reggie and neither is Maria. The four of us, we are a team - hell you and Reggie are partners, start acting like it.’ You raised your voice slightly, frustrated by his lack of urgency with Tier 1 trauma patients like this one below you, “Next- if you see someone fuckin’ bleedin’, you need to put the two goddamn brain cells you seem to possess, together, and jump in - do your fucking job.” You make eye contact with him, eyes dangerous and threatening, fists balled so tight you are putting nail marks into your palms, “Lastly, the next time you roll your eyes at me, say some backhanded comment, or cop an attitude in the slightest, I’ll knock your head so hard, it’ll fuckin’ spin.” you said lowly, giving him a fake two-second smile after. “Glad we can now be on the same page…” you bit out and then you turned around to walk away towards the bay you told Z to go to, shaking your hands out at your side, letting that energy go.

Just as you were walking around the outside of the tent, several feet away from Z, you felt a tug at your left shoulder before you were spun around and a fist met the left side of your jaw, disorienting you for a moment, knocking you to the ground, and then immediately being kicked in the ribs a few times. “I’ll talk to you however I fucking want, you fucking bitch!” then a glob of spit landed on your cheek. “You and that dirty fuckin’ terrorist kid can fuck off!” he said referring to Z.

You’ve never seen red and felt so much rage before. Your heart began to pound in your chest so loud you heard it in your ears, and heat rose from your back to your head.

You grabbed a fist full of dirt from the ground and threw it up into his eyes, then grabbed his foot and knocked him to the ground, straddling his waist. You landed a blow to his nose, then another, harder, hearing it crack. You grabbed him by the jaw to center his face with one hand and then punched him again in the cheek, blood now running from his nose and mouth.

Z screamed your name, telling you to stop.

You didn’t hear anything, adrenaline muting out your surroundings, only focusing on him.

Braedon flipped you off of him and tried to straddle you, to pin you down, but you did a maneuver to get out from under him and instead on top of him, putting him in a chokehold, then flipping around to one side and slamming yourself on the ground on your back, holding him against you, wrapping your legs around his knees, locking your ankles to immobilize him. He began elbowing your ribs over and over to get away, scratching at your arms, but you just tightened your grip, numb to the pain with the adrenaline coursing through your body. He started gasping for air, and you felt his body go slowly limp, so you let him go, he rolled to the side and choked for air.

You stood up and felt blood coming from your lips and nose. You touched your lip and saw blood, “Made me bleed… big mistake.” you said to yourself, eyes focused on him like he was prey.

He was on all fours, coughing, trying to catch his breath, Z ran to get Maria or Reggie after seeing the look you had in your eye.

Your chest was heaving, breathe heavy, but slow and controlled. Rolled your shoulders back, and stepped forward, kicking his tailbone, knocking him flat on the ground, he whined, “Please, I’m sorry…”

Your gaze was cold and numb, not caring about anything he was saying.

“Get up.” you said plainly, unemotionally. He didn’t move. “Get the fuck up!” you raged.

He rose slowly and backed up raising his hands in defeat. “Please Y/N.. I said I was sorry…” he pleaded.

You walked him up against a wall that was behind him, crowding his space, grabbing the collar of his shirt, “Sorry would have cut it if you just went after me, but you went after Z… no apology will take that back, you revolting piece of shit.” you punched him in the jaw as he did to you which made him lean to the left to fall to the ground but then you grabbed him by his shoulders and kneed him in the groin.

You stepped back as he toppled over and fell to the ground, holding his groin and crying in pain, you repositioned and kicked him twice in the torso, cursing him under your breath, you stepped back, he was coughing up blood and gasping for air. You took another step towards him, fist still balled and bloody at your sides, calculating to kick him again in the stomach or face, you didn’t know which, you would just swing.

That’s when you felt Maria. She pulled you back, arms wrapping around your midsection and trapping your arms, picking you up to move you back, “Stop… you need to stop!” you fought against her, not grasping it was her. Rage still taking hold of your senses, “Let me go! Let me fucking go!” Maria looked at Reggie, holding you still, who then went and checked on Braedon.

Z stepped in front of you to block your vision of Braedon which made you snap out of it.

Your vision cleared and you were aware of what you had just done. Your breathing was ragged and uneven, then the pain hit you like a train, “Ah fuck..” you felt your ribs on fire with each breath.

“Ok… there we go… there you are.” she let you go and came in front of you, touching your cheek and shoulder, “Fuck…” she grimaced at your face. “What the hell happened?” she looked over you, assessing you. She knew this wasn’t your fault, something was said or done to provoke this level of violence from you.

You fell to your knees and gripped your rib cage with one hand and your head with the other, in too much pain to understand what she had just asked before you heard Z speak.

“He hit her first.” Z said softly, “I saw it. Then called her a bitch and spit on her… and then called me a…” he stopped and looked down sadly.

Maria looked back at him, “Z, what did he call you?”

You looked at Z who was saddened and most likely ashamed by the slur, “He called him a dirty fuckin’ terrorist, Maria.” you looked past Z, Braedon still on the ground, bloodied and in pain. You clenched your jaw angrily, and took a deep breath, “You don’t say shit like that without consequences.” you looked back up at her, anger in your eyes.

Maria looked back at Braedon and Reggie, “Reggie, get him bay 6 and then get Sarge… a report needs to be filed against him for assault and hate speech.” Reggie didn’t care to question, he also knew you weren’t capable of this level of violence either without being provoked and you all knew there was something off with this guy.

He nodded and had another nearby soldier help him load Braedon onto a transfer cot and then took him to bay 6.

You shook your head to refocus yourself and stood to your feet, starting to walk away, to bay 9, wiping the blood from your nose and lip on the bottom of your shirt.

“Uh, where do you think you’re going?” Maria asked, shocked to see what you were doing.

“I’m fine Maria. We’ve got work to do.” you stopped walking and looked back at Z, “Come on Z, I need your help.” then began walking again, slowly, obvious to everyone you were in pain.

Z looked at Maria, unsure what to do.

Maria sighed at your stubbornness. “Keep an eye on her, we only have a few hours left on shift then I’ll make her get checked out.”

He nodded and ran to catch up with you. You hugged him to your side protectively when he caught up and kissed the top of his head, “No one gets to call you those names, not ever Z.”

He nodded and hugged your side gently back, “Yes, khahar…”

You finished your shift and then snuck away to your bunkhouse as you saw Maria still knee-deep in a patient and Z left about an hour ago to play soccer with some of his friends after you put on a brave face to convince him you were fine. You closed the door with a chair up against it and started to take off your shirt, wincing in pain. You took it off and looked at yourself in the mirror, accessing the damage.

Your ribs were lightly bruised which would be the start of an ugly sight. You had scratch marks up and down your forearms from when you had him in a chokehold. You took a deep breath through your nose and then looked at your face, your nose had dried blood coming from it, but no signs of it being broken that you could see. Your lip was swollen and broken slightly, but not the worst it’s been.

You tilted your head back and forth to stretch your neck as there was a pain in it from the punch, most likely whiplash.

You saw the picture you had of Sarah and Joel taped to your mirror and sighed sadly, “Crap, he’s going to lose his shit.” you pinched the bridge of your nose and closed your eyes, a raging headache starting.

You heard the door handle twist and then try to open, “God damn it. Y/N, let me in!” Maria sighed, shouting through the door.

You came to the door and moved the chair, twisting the handle to open the door, “I’m not going to the med tent, I already did an assessment. In conclusion, I got fucked up. Bruised ribs and whiplash but that’s it.” you said as if that was going to stop her from dragging you to the clinic herself.

“Nice try, you need to get checked out. Sarge’s orders. He needs it for the report, he also needs your statement.” She argued.

“But I-” you looked at her to protest.

“No, now. I came to get you. Go.” she said, not budging.

You sighed and grabbed your shirt, swinging it over your shoulder, walking out of the bunkhouse towards the med tent in your sports bra, subconsciously proud of your battle wounds, wearing them like a badge of honor.

Maria logged onto her computer quickly and sent a message to Tommy:

‘I need you to get a message to Joel as I know it’s their day they Skype. There was an incident today involving Y/N and that other medic that we all knew was a snake. She’s fine, she just has orders to get checked out by the medics and give her statement to our sergeant. I’m not sure if she’ll feel up to Skyping but I just know you told me about Joel's anxiety. I just don’t want him to worry if he calls and she doesn’t answer. Thank you, talk soon. xx’

She then ran to catch up with you.

Joel’s POV

He woke up that sweet Sunday morning at 6 am, excited to hear from you today at around 8 am, which was your normal scheduled time if Sundays went easy for you.

It had only been two days since you two last spoke but for him, it felt like an eternity, he loved the normal scheduled Sunday Skype sessions, but the ones where you or he would randomly say, ‘I miss you, do you have time to talk?’ made him begin to fall in love with you more and more, and the comfort you brought to him, he had no words for it. Even from thousands of miles away, you became an integral part of his life, of his being.

He saw that you messaged him earlier in the day for you before you started your shift:

‘I can’t wait for tonight cowboy! Hope you are sleeping well! 😘’

He smiled and typed back:

‘I’ll see you soon sweetheart. I miss you. ❤️’

A few moments later as he was walking down the stairs he got a text message from Tommy:

‘Hey, you up?’

He texted back almost immediately:

‘Yeah, just about to cook some breakfast before I Skype with Y/N…’

Within seconds he had an incoming call from his brother, he answered, “Hey what’s up?” he smiled softly, walking the rest of the way down the stairs.

“Mornin’... hey uh.. I just got a message from Maria about Y/N...” Tommy said sadly and softly, trying not to set off alarm bells for Joel.

Joel felt his heart drop into his stomach, “What? What do you mean? W-what’s wrong?”

Tommy sighed softly, “Maria said not to panic or worry, she’s fine, she just wanted me to pass along a message to you. I’m going to text you a screenshot of her message, ok?”

Joel put Tommy on speaker and opened up his messages from Tommy, “Yeah, send it.” he said, feeling sick to his stomach.

Tommy sent it, “She sent this about 3 hours ago. I’m not sure what’s going on. Maria said she’d keep me updated, I just messaged her asking for an update but she’s still offline.”

Joel read through the message, twice. “Fuck, what’s that weasel's name, Braedon?” he could feel his anger bubble up, the want to protect you but not being able to from this distance was something he was constantly battling internally.

“Yeah, that’s him.” Tommy sucked in some air and sighed, “Maria has said there was something off about him for a couple of weeks now. He must’ve shown his true colors.”

Joel huffed, frustrated, “Yeah, just did it on my girl… god if I was there I’d-”

Tommy let out a chuckle, “I know, you and me both brother.”

Joel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Thanks for the update, just let me know if Maria messages back and I’ll let you know if I hear from Y/N…”

“Sounds good, will do. Talk to you later.” Tommy said softly before ending the call.

Joel sighed and shook his head but then decided he wasn’t going to let his consume him, if Maria said you were ok, you were ok.

He started to make breakfast for himself as Sarah had spent the night at a friend's.

About an hour later he heard from Tommy via text:

‘Hey, Maria just messaged me, she said she has 2 broken ribs and a bunch of bruised ones, a fractured nose, a small split on her lip, and a small concussion. They gave her a sedative and she’s sleeping for the rest of the night.’

Within ten seconds he got another text from Tommy:

‘HOWEVER…’

Then another paragraph came through:

‘She said you should see the other guy. I guess Y/N beat the shit out of him. He has 3 broken ribs, several bruised ones, a broken nose, a broken cheekbone, missing 2 teeth, a concussion, a bruised trachea, and get this… a testicular tear. 🤣 Maria said she hit him so hard in the balls that he has a severe bruise and it has torn the protective tissue. He needs surgery for it, LOL. Atta girl 🎉’

Joel chuckled which turned into a guttural laugh the more he read the injuries you inflicted on this piece of shit.

‘Shit. Remind me to never piss her off… haha. Did Maria say when she might be awake? I’d like to check on her.’

‘She said she’d be out the rest of the night for them, I’d say send her a message later tonight, maybe she’ll be awake tomorrow morning for them…’

Joel nodded and sent a thumbs-up emoji back to Tommy before thinking of what to do to fill the rest of his day, then he got an idea.

He grabbed his truck keys and headed to the store.

He got back home a few hours later and started putting everything together. He had grabbed a big box, a sympathy card, a nice fluffy blanket, some of your favorite snacks you had mentioned to him, some icy hot cream, some fuzzy socks with whales on them, some face masks he found on sale, and a candle that he thought smelled like him.

He wrote in the sympathy card:

‘Rest in Peace: Braedon’s ball sack. Cause of death: his own damn fault and my girl standing on business.

I’m sorry to hear you got hurt darlin’. I’m sending this while you’re sleeping off being sedated. Hopefully, you’re feeling much better by the time you get this, but I just wanted to send some stuff that I’d get you if you were actually, well here.

Sarah says you can never go wrong with a nice fluffy blanket. I also got you some of your favorite snacks that I know you’ve been missing since being there. I thought some icy hot would be something ya’ll don’t have on hand and thought it might bring you some relief. Fuzzy socks, with whales, obviously. I thought since Sarah likes these face masks, you might enjoy them too… you can do them with Maria, I sent a few. Finally, a candle. Now something that brings me comfort when I am hurt or sick is cuddling someone that brings me comfort and just inhaling in their shampoo or perfume, their scent. I thought maybe since I can’t be there, this might be a good placeholder. It’s the closest I could tell that smelled like me. Sarah said a mix of eucalyptus and spearmint, so this was the closest to that. :)

Get well soon. I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself, just know in the future, I’ll be the one breaking bones for you. I’ll protect you so you don’t ever have to go through this again. I promise.

With all my love,

Joel’

He didn’t hesitate or think twice about the last part, he meant it with every part of him. He knew neither of you was ready to say the big three words, but this was close enough to express it.

He packed everything in nicely and tightly and then wrote your address and left with it to go to the post office to drop it off.

By the time he got home from the post office, it was 5 pm and the Cowboys game was on. Ironically playing the Broncos.

He kept checking his phone and laptop for any update or message from you or Tommy, but nothing had come in.

It was 9 pm when he started to head upstairs to bed. He started to brush his teeth and wash his face when he heard the beautiful sound of a ‘ding’ from his laptop. He dried off his face quickly and got into bed, sitting against the headboard, eagerly opening up his laptop to see a message from you:

‘Hey cowboy, you still up? ❤️’

He immediately hit the call button, desperate to see you.

Within a couple of seconds, a dark screen came on, and your camera turned off. “Hey handsome.” he couldn’t see if but you were smiling softly.

“Hey sweetheart… I uh… I can’t see you… can you turn your camera on for me?” he said softly.

You swallowed, and took a breath, “Joel… it’s bad… I…”

“I don’t care, I need to see you, please let me see your beautiful face darlin’...” his brown eyes pleading with you, he looked so damn cute when he looked at you like that.

“I… it’s going to be hard to see me, the lights are all off due to my concussion.” you tried to make excuses, you knew it would be hard and upsetting for him to see you like this.

“Baby I don’t care if I can only see that bright smile of yours, I just… I need to know you’re ok. Please?” he smiled softly, trying to plead his case.

You gently chuckled but then winced at the pain caused by that in your ribs, “Ah.. fuck… right, can’t laugh.” you let out a breath.

You turned on the camera, you had an Army hoodie on, hood over your head, Joel could see your face fully due to the brightness of your screen being illuminated against your skin.

His eyes turned sad and he winced, “Oh god… sweetheart. I… what happened?” he reached out and touched the screen like he was trying to touch you, “Tell me what happened baby…”

You rolled your shoulders back and tried to stretch your back, sore. You sighed gently then softly smiled at how he was being, gentle and loving. “Long or short story handsome?”

“Tell me everything baby, I have nothing but time for you…” he softly smiled back.

You told him everything, at least the details you could remember, some of it was fuzzy, but how it started, you would never forget. You explained how he most likely will be dishonorably discharged if you file charges against him for aggravated assault and hate speech. Sarge wanted you to think about it and let him know later today.

“You are filing charges against him, right? I mean he… he put hands on you, fuckin’ spit on your face.” he started to get upset as he realized the utter disrespect he gave you by spitting on you, that alone didn’t sit well with Joel.

You nodded, “Yeah, of course I am. I don’t much care about me getting a few bumps and bruises, I’m more upset about what he said about Z. That’s what filled me with rage, not by being knocked on my ass, it was that fucking…” you visually were getting more upset, anger festering up.

“Hey hey, it's ok baby, take a breath…” he said softly.

You sighed and gripped the bridge of your nose, “I just… I’ve never felt so angry, you know? I… I don’t remember doing half the things I was told I did. I almost killed him at one point they said, one slight movement and boom, broken neck.” you closed your eyes, softly chuckled and then immediately winced again. “I mean, I’ve been beat up before, I know how to take a hit, I know how to take one and stay down, hell that’s why I joined. Came into boot camp with bruised ribs, I’m sure I had a concussion too from the jackass, but that’s not what fueled me.” you shook your head and clenched your jaw. “Sayin’ something that vile, about Z? A kid? That doesn’t just slide off so easily…”

There was a pause, some silence followed by Joel softly speaking up.

“Darlin’, what do you mean you were beat up before you joined?” Joel asked, sadly looking at you.

You hadn’t shared that part of your past with him yet, you never found the right time, it just seemed too heavy to bring up.

You looked at him and sighed before instinctually looking down, embarrassed and for some reason nervous, “I umm..” you swallowed the lump in your throat, tears starting to surface, “His name is Charlie. I, unfortunately, was trapped with him for quite some time. He was my ex, that turned into… well a monster.” you bit the inner part of your cheek, “There’d be days he’d lock me in a room or I’d be so beaten I wouldn’t be able to move. He uh.. he was very emotionally, and mentally abusive but mostly physically abusive.” you looked at him, tears streaming down your face, and took a breath, fiddling with the string of the hoodie, you hadn’t thought of him since meeting Joel, you found such solace and security being in his life. He never made you feel unsafe or undesirable. “The night that I left for good…” your bottom lip quivered.

“Baby, it’s ok, you don’t need t-” Joel softly began.

“No, I do. You deserve to know Joel.” you cut him off and then bit your lip gently, “The night I left, he beat me within an inch of my life. I was coughin’ up blood, barely passed my physical.” you scoffed. “I honestly only made it out alive because he stopped beating me to get the damn takeout he ordered.” you swallowed hard, tears streaming down, you wiped them gently. “When he passed out, I took my shoes, keys, and wallet, and never looked back. I don’t even have a phone when I get back… hell I don’t even have a home to go back to.” You hysterically let out a sad chuckle, then instantly reached down and held your rib cage and groaned, “I just drove and drove and when I saw the recruiting office, I parked my car there, signed on the dotted line, and took the bus to Fort Jackson.” you let out a heavy sigh, “I joined so he wouldn’t find me. I… I filed charges against him numerous times but his buddies worked at the sheriff’s office and nothing ever seemed to stick. I knew I needed to disappear. Plus, I thought that I would have some job experience for when I would get out in the real world if I joined.” you shrugged. “I’m sorry I never told you, it just seemed too heavy to bring up randomly and I guess I was just avoiding letting you know that dark part of my past.”

Joel just sat and listened, supportively nodding and taking in everything you shared with him.

“Baby, have nothing to be sorry for.” he began, “No one will ever hurt you like that, ever again, do you understand me?” he softly said when you finished speaking, and you nodded.

“I will never lay hand on you, and if I ever do, you better leave me after you did what you did to that fool, Braedon. What was it? Testicular contusion with a scrotal tear?” he questioned.

You chuckled and nodded through tears, wincing again. “Stop makin’ me laugh, it hurts!” you teased..

Joel chuckled and apologized and then smiled lovingly at you, “I promise, this will be the last time, at least until you’re here with me, that a man will ever lay hands on you, yeah?”

You smiled lovingly back and nodded, that three-word phrase edging itself on your tongue for the first time. Neither of you had made anything official but it felt like it was an unsaid thing, you know? You both adored each other and from a distance took care of each other. You had both just seamlessly fit together, into each other's routines, expectations and so much more. He felt like your best friend and you were sure he felt the same about you. You had never felt this way about someone before, it scared you but it also felt so freeing. He made you feel like yourself again, she had been lost for so long since Charlie, but Joel brought her out.

He looked at you like there was something worth looking at.

He blushed softly, “You make me really happy, you know that?”

You shrugged and looked away shyly, “Never coulda’ guessed…” you teased and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, “You make me really happy too, cowboy.”

He bit his lip trying to contain his smile, “I like when you call me cowboy too, it uh..” he cleared his throat, looking down shyly, “It’s somethin’ only you have called me. It uh… makes me feel all types of ways darlin’.” he peeked up at you with those big brown eyes, you felt your cheeks heat up and a heat start to form between your legs.

You shyly looked down, “I can relate to that same feeling when you look at me with those big brown eyes of yours...”

He chuckled softly and licked his lips, “I’ll be sure to remember that for future reference.” he started to smirk.

You blushed and smiled widely but then winced, “Ah, damn it, can’t smile and laugh, this sucks.”

He looked at the time, “Do you have to work today?”

You shook your head, “They are tryna tell me to take the day off but we are short-handed already with Braedon now being in critical care adding to the load we have to deal with. I think I’m fine, I’d take it easy.”

Joel raised an eyebrow, “You? Take it easy? Darlin’ takin’ it easy is somethin’ I’ve never seen you do since you’ve been there.” he chuckled, “Take a day, rest. I’m sure if the world turns upside down they’ll come to get you but you don’t need to work, you need to get better.” he softly said, “Please, at least take today off, for me?” he used those big brown eyes.

You shook your head and softly chuckled again, “You are awful cowboy…” you winced. “Usin’ those brown eyes to your advantage, again. But I’m sure you also just saw the time and know if I don’t work, you’ll get more time with me…” you looked at him with your arms folded, raising your eyebrow, which he found adorable.

“You are not 100% wrong sweetheart, but no, I’d let you rest, get some more sleep…” he grinned, “And just call you again later.” he winked.

You bit your lip and shook your head, looking down, “You’re lucky I like you so much cowboy.” you looked back up at him, “Alright, deal. I’ll rest up and then call you back again when you get up to talk shortly before you have to go to work.”

“You seem to forget darlin’, I own the company, I can be as late as I want to if it means I’m talkin’ to you.” he smiled.

You raised your eyebrow and smirked, “Mmm I seem to remember you have a consultation and monthly meeting tomorrow with your crew, all before 9 am. You sure you can just… roll in late to those, handsome?”

“For you, absolutely…” he said with zero hesitation or doubt in his voice.

You shook your head smiling like an idiot, not caring that it hurt, and teasingly rolled your eyes, “Get to sleep handsome, you’ve got a big day tomorrow. Call me after your meetings, and I’ll get some more rest. Sound like a plan?”

He nodded and sighed dramatically, “Fine, deal. I’ll talk to you then.”

“Good. Sweet dreams cowboy.” you softly said.

“I will sweetheart, as you’re always in ‘em” he winked.

You bit your lip shyly, “And you in mine. G’night”

“Goodnight sweetheart.”

You hadn’t slept so well in a long time, and just like you said, you were with him in your dreams, wishing it would soon come true.

2 weeks later

You did as you promised and took the rest of that day off, in fact, Joel convinced you to take another day as your pain management was still balancing out. He would check in on you via video chat or messages. He continued to prove he was your rock. He wasn’t going anywhere and even from a distance he provided you with a level of comfort, security, and love that you had never felt.

When you got his care package a few days ago, you have never felt so happy in your life. This man went out and not only gathered things but things with a purpose and reason behind them. He remembered the candy and chips you missed. You had only mentioned them in passing, but he remembered. The candle sent you over the edge emotionally. You laid in your bed that afternoon, tears streaming down your face, eyes closed, holding the candle by your face, wishing, dreaming it was him next to you. You prayed the smell would last until you were back home and could travel to see him. You said you wouldn’t light it for that specific purpose, to make it last.

You hung the card next to his picture on your mirror and looked at the last part constantly, ‘with all my love’... your heart was so full and you knew as soon as you could get home, you wanted nothing more than to be with him. You loved him too, and couldn’t wait to tell him when you were able to say it against his lips or in his arms.

Your injuries slowly but surely healed. You still had issues with your ribs, but you would for a while, but your face and nose healed up nicely.

You pressed charges against Braedon, and after he was medically released he was sent back home. Maria said that she had heard he was trying to press charges against you when you went and discussed it with your commanding officer, they agreed with you, you were acting out of self-defense, and just because he couldn’t defend himself, didn’t mean your actions were like his, assault. However, your commanding officer and you did have a laugh and he told you if there was ever a next time, maybe pull back before you hit them in the balls so hard you lessen their chance to have kids. You said you’d try.

Joel had sent you pictures of the rocking chair he was working on, Sarah even took some of him sanding some wood down and you couldn’t wait to thank her personally for them as it was Joel in his element. Not only that but you couldn’t help but note that he had his biceps flexed, his shirt tightly fitted, he was somewhat sweaty, and wore the most irresistible jeans that hugged him perfectly. You may have kept that one under your pillow and used it late at night when you couldn’t sleep and needed to relieve some tension.

You went back to work full time and continued writing letters to Joel, sending photos you and Maria took. The last few were a little shorter than normal as you two had already spoken to him 3 times this week for at least 2 hours each time, there wasn’t much to write about, but you still wanted to keep up the routine you had, as you loved it was something just between you two.

He mentioned in his last letter that when you got home he would take some work off to spend time with you and wanted to know what you wanted to do in that time, he had a few ideas he said but also wanted to do things you wanted to do as well. You wrote back a few days ago that you wanted him to take you dancing as in one of the last calls you had, he was cooking dinner and had music on in the background and started dancing to make you laugh, he also told you that he and Tommy knew how to line dance and won an award when they were younger, so dancing was a must. You told him you also wanted to host a barbeque with him for Sarah, Tommy, and Maria, and maybe some neighbors too, you wanted to try his baby back ribs he kept going on about and you mentioned you made a really good mac and cheese, the two could be good together. You also asked what his ideas were, wanting to know a sneak peek.

—

August 4, 2004

14:43

You were taking inventory of supplies when your commanding officer came over, you stood to attention and saluted him.

“At ease soldier.” he said sternly.

You stood and put your hands behind your back, still standing respectfully, “Sir?”

“Pack your things, you and your partner are going to aid Delta 42.”

Delta 42. Instantly your stomach sank.

You all had heard of the destruction and loss of lives that happened there. You all called it ‘no man's land’ - no one made it out.

“Sir, may I ask how long this assignment is? To prepare?” you could feel your anxiety rising.

“3 days. You have 3 days to find a superior officer that has sent a distress signal and transport him back here before we pull you out with or without him and god willing with both of you still alive…” he said so unemotionally, so matter of factly, he knew he was sending you and Maria to your possible death.

“Sir, do we have coordinates?” you said, starting to disassociate.

“Everything will be given to you en route. You have 15 minutes…” he nodded and then turned to leave.

You felt your heart race start to race and your breathing became quick and panicked.

‘Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth’ your mind annoyingly reminded you. You did so a few times and focused on calming your heart rate down.

“Ok… 15 minutes.” you put your clipboard down and ran out of the supply closet towards your bunkhouse. You changed quickly into your gear and then packed what you needed into your bag. You grabbed the photo you have on your mirror of Joel and Sarah and put it into your vest pocket that laid over your heart. Maria came running in shortly after, doing the same thing. Both of you frantically getting your bearings, panicking internally.

You looked at the time, 8 minutes.

Joel and Z. You needed to alert both of them to the situation.

Joel first. You did the math quickly in your head, it was close to 1 am where he was, so you tried calling him, no answer.

“Fuck. Please answer…” you said to the screen.

You tried calling again, no answer, status: offline.

You looked at Maria, she was trying the same thing with Tommy, “You getting him either?”

She shook her head and sighed.

You slammed your hands against the desk, frustrated, feeling so much pressure, “Fuck! 15 minutes isn’t enough!”

You looked at the time, 5 minutes.

You frantically typed:

‘Joel, I was just notified that Maria and I are being sent on an immediate field assignment. Please answer… I need to talk to you.’

You waited for 30 seconds, watching the clock climb closer to the time you needed to leave.

‘Joel, baby, please answer me.’

You tried calling again, no answer.

You sighed heavily and tears began to fall against your cheeks. You had so much to say to him in case you didn’t make it back. You needed to hear his voice one more time.

You took a breath and looked over at Maria, she had no luck either.

You swallowed and debated telling him how severe this was, you didn’t want him to stress for the next few days, but you wanted to say things that would only be said in the event of something serious happening.

You were having an internal battle with yourself that you couldn’t afford to have with the little time you possessed.

Fuck it.

‘I will be back in 3 days. 3 days. I’ll come back to you, I promise. And if by some cruelty I break that promise, just know, you have never left my mind since we met and you won’t until my last breath. You are my waking thought, my sweet dream, and everything in between.’

‘You will always be the one I long for, the love I would cross the universe to find.’

You sobbed, genuinely not knowing if you would now get the chance to say those three words to him, the words he deserves to know you felt for him.

‘I love you cowboy, and I’ll do everything I can to get back to you to tell you that in person.’

You looked at the clock, 3 minutes, you cursed as you shut your laptop “I need to find Z.” you said to yourself and Maria before grabbing your bag and rifle and running out of the bunkhouse. Maria running after you shortly after.

You had no idea where to find him, you hadn’t seen him all day.

“Z?” you frantically looked in the med tent for him, but he wasn’t there.

“Z!” you shouted, Maria as well.

Reggie looked at you both, confused and now concerned seeing how frantic you both were, “What’s going on?”

You looked at Reggie, and you had tears welling up, “We are going to no man’s land. Where’s Z?”

Reggie’s face dropped, “I uh, I don’t know, he usually is by the field if he’s not here…” You instantly bolted that way, you had less than two minutes before you needed to be on that aircraft.

“Z! Azzami!!” you practically screamed, trying to spot him as you ran.

Maria shouted at you “Y/N, we gotta go! We can’t wait any longer… Reggie will tell him!”

You stopped and looked back at her “I- we… what if we don’t make it back?” you sobbed.

“He knows. He already knows we love him.” Maria said, tears streaming down her face as well.

You dropped to your knees, feeling defeated by the situation, so you yelled out loud in frustration, hurting your lungs and ribs. This isn’t supposed to happen.

Maria felt the same way and came up to you and touched your shoulder, “We need to go. We are going to be late.”

You looked at her and took a deep breath then wiped your eyes and shoved everything down and stood back up. “We’re making it back, together, yeah?”

Maria put her forehead against yours and nodded, “Yeah, you and me. We got this.”

You nodded, “Ok, let’s go.” then you both took off running towards the aircraft waiting to take the both of you to the next three days of absolute hell.

Joel’s POV

Joel woke up to getting texts and calls from Tommy, at 5 am. He had at least another hour to sleep but when he turned over and looked at his phone he saw he had 4 missed calls and 9 messages from Tommy.

His heart dropped, his breathing hitched and he immediately thought about you.

He scrambled out of his bed, knocking things off his nightstand, and ran downstairs to his office, opening up to laptop.

He saw 8 notifications on his Skype.

“Fuck.” he opened up yours and his chat log and started reading.

Tears started to gather in his eyes, his heart pounding as he read, panicking by how you were talking. Where were you going? What danger are you getting thrown into? Thousands of thoughts swarmed his mind and then they all stopped when he read,

‘I love you cowboy, and I’ll do everything I can to get back to you to tell you that in person.’

He couldn’t help but smile for a moment, holding onto that feeling, that you love him, but he was brought right back to reality and fell to his knees and softly sobbed.

This can’t be happening. I can’t lose her. I love her and never got the chance to say it back. He thought to himself. He didn’t know what to do, he felt so helpless, everything was out of his control.

His phone buzzed again against his desk, a call from Tommy.

He grabbed it and leaned up against the wall behind his desk, the room dark, the house silent, Sarah still peacefully asleep.

He sighed and leaned his head against the wall behind him, “Hey…”

Tommy seemed just as distraught to Joel’s surprise. He knew Tommy and Maria liked each other as you told him in confidence but he didn’t know it was like this.

“What did Y/N say? Maria said they were going on a field assignment, some idiot general sent a distress signal and they are sending them in to get him, she said it would be a few days… Joel she was sayin’ things...” his voice cracked.

“I know.” Joel sniffled. “Y/N said similar things…” he chuckled sadly. “Things you only say if you think you’re about to die.” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Tommy please tell me what the hell is going on, what did they get thrown into, what are their odds?” he said softly.

Tommy sighed, sniffing as well, “Depending on the area, they could be going into an active combat zone, or they could just be going on a wild goose chase, with the possibility of being an open target. I don’t know man, I just know for them to send only two medics means they want less attention drawn which to me means they could be going into active combat for which they’ll most likely be going in with a combat specialist to assist.”

Joel sighed, “Ok, so if they do go with someone trained in combat that’s better than nothing, right?”

Tommy bit his inner cheek, “I guess, I just… why them?”

“They are some of the best in their area and Reggie right now is partnerless. Y/N said he isn’t supposed to get someone ‘til next week, they can’t send him solo.”

Joel was right, they won’t send Reggie alone and they weren’t going to separate you and Maria. However whether you liked it or not, you two had the lowest mortality rate in the region and worked well as a team. It was a no-brainer to send you on this assignment.

“Will you keep me posted if you hear anything sooner and I’ll do the same?” Tommy asked.

“Of course. I’ll uh.. See you in a few hours at the office, yeah?” Joel scratched his head, he was now up for the day, and he wouldn’t be able to sleep with this news. And he didn’t sleep very well for the next 3 days.

Reader’s POV

As soon as you and Maria got into the aircraft and buckled in, it took off.

Maria and you looked down at the open door, watching you fly away from what you knew as safety.

You turned your head and noticed another soldier across from you, looking stoic, and composed.

The pilot came on the intercom, “We are headed to Delta 42, this is an active combat zone. Everything will be there, tanks, snipers, missile strikes, you are going to no man’s land!”

You took deep breaths, trying to stay calm, get into the zone, and focus.

“Private Coleman is Special Forces, para-rescue. He’s going to be your protection and guide. Your jobs are to not only get out with Captain Williams but get all 3 of you as well out alive.”

Coleman nodded at you both and gripped his rifle closer to himself, “Good to meet ya’ll. Let’s make it back home, yeah?”

You and Maria both nodded, cracking a smile, “I like your attitude.” you said over the comms. “We are on a first-name basis, I’m Y/N and this is my partner, Maria.” you tapped Maria with your elbow, and she nodded.

“I’m Jack.” he looked out the window. “We are going to touch down, we are all 3 going to get out and run to the southwest wall, from there we will gather our bearings and make a plan. We have at least a 5-mile radius to cover before we get to Captain’s coordinates.” he looked back at you two, “Any questions?”

“Yeah, how are you not shitting yourself right now?” Maria asked, internally freaking out.

Jack laughed, “I’ve been in and out of here 4 times ladies, I’ve already done that the first two times…”

A brief wave of relief washed over you. He’s been here 4 times. Someone that knows the area and threats, we’re gonna be ok, you told yourself over and over internally.

The pilot came on comms, “Alright, we are descending, get ready!”

You all three unbuckled and grabbed your things, strapping your backpack on and putting your rifle over you, pulling out your necklace charm from under all your gear, putting it to your lips, and kissing it.

You grabbed a bar above your head to hold on and watched as the aircraft descended slowly towards the ground.

You took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“I have heat signatures coming from your east, take cover as soon as your feet hit the ground!” the pilot said through the comms system before shouting “Now! Go! Go!”

You all three jumped out, the aircraft about 3 feet from the ground.

As soon as your feet hit, the aircraft took a sharp turn and started firing rounds to your east. You all three ran immediately to find cover.

You felt a bullet fly past your left arm. You fell to the ground to take cover then rolled onto your back and sat your head up to look through your scope, saw the target, and pulled the trigger, landing a blow the their shoulder.

You stood back up and ran towards Maria and Jack to catch up.

You all made it to the southwest wall. Explosions and gunfire happening all around you.

Jack shouted, “Ok, the sooner we get this sack of shit, the sooner we can get out of here! We are to move up south to these coordinates, that’s where his distress signal was sent from.” he showed his GPS.

“What happens if we get there and he’s dead?” you asked.

“Still need to get him home! We call for an airborne rescue and take the body…” he shouted back.

You nodded and ducked as something hit the wall above you knocking debris onto you.

“Alright, let’s get to work!” he smiled and started walking towards the destination.

–

For the past two days, you’ve been shot at, missiles and grenades exploding around you. You don’t know if your hearing will ever be the same. You helped those that were wounded around you and then would instruct them if they could make it out the southeast wall and travel north there was a safe haven camp 2 miles that way. Anyone however who was not an Allied force and injured was immediately killed by Jack. He had no empathy for the enemy, and after what you had seen, neither did you.

You were less than a mile from the Captain’s coordinates when you heard someone from behind you, as you turned to see, you were cut in the arm by a knife, “Fuck!” you saw a man with a hand knife make another swing at you, you stepped back and shot his knee cap to disarm him, he fell to the ground and then before you could do anything else Jack shot him in the chest.

You stood there in shock for a second, breathing sharp and fast.

That could have ended so much differently, I could have died. You thought. You gripped your rifle, trying to ground yourself, but then quickly turned to the side and vomited.

“You good?” Maria asked, touching your shoulder.

You nodded and wiped your mouth with your hand, “Yeah, just nerves and starving… not a good mix.”

Jack looked at you both then you, “You’re bleeding…”

You looked at your arm, “Shit.”

Maria looked at you and pulled out her kit, “I got it. You’ll need to clean it when we get home but here…” She sprayed some bacterial spray and then wrapped it with some gauze and tape. “That’ll hold.” she softly smiled at you and you smiled at her, “Thanks partner.” she nodded.

“We have until the morning to get to the coordinates. Let’s take a 2-hour break, get something in our systems, rest up, and then push through the night, yeah?”

You nodded and so did Maria.

You all found a small abandoned house and took turns taking 30-minute naps, grabbed something to eat from your packs, and got something to drink.

You took off your helmet, put it in your lap, and leaned your head against the wall behind you. Almost there, just a little bit longer.

You pulled out the picture of Joel and Sarah and smiled softly. The house you were in shook as a nearby explosion happened, you ducked your head down and instinctually grabbed your necklace.

Once the shaking stopped you looked back at the picture and gently brushed your finger against it, thinking of what life will be like with them once you’re out of here. Holding onto that, keeping that in the back of your head for the next 24 hours.

Jack stood up and pulled a map out of his pack, “Ok, we are right here.” he pointed to an area on the map, “Williams is here.” he pointed to another location a little further south. You and Maria looked at the map.

“What if we went down this road? It's covered by overhead coverings… looks like it may have been a marketplace before…” you pointed to a road to the east of your location which would lead directly to the coordinates, “It would give us cover to move faster and avoid getting hit potentially from above?”

Jack looked at your suggestion, “Maria, any suggestions?” he looked her way.

She shook her head, “If she suggests we go that way, I trust her suggestion.”

Jack looked at you, and took a breath, thinking, “My only concern is if it was a marketplace and has that overhead coverage, it might be a camp base for the enemy.”

You thought for a second, “What if we threw a smoke bomb in? If anyone would be in there, it would create movement, and if it’s invaded, we just walk away and go just up here?” pointing to the main road. “Main road will take longer but it’ll be plan B. The hope would be this road works…”

Jack nodded, “That’ll work. How many smoke bombs do we have?”

“We each have two, that’s 6 total. We have maybe a thousand yards to location… if we throw one every 150 yards we can scope out targets and create a cover for us.” Maria said.

Jack looked at you and Maria, “That’ll work.” he nodded, “Ok, pack up, we can use the lack of light tonight for further coverage.”

You both nodded and gathered your things. You put your helmet back on and put the photo back in your vest pocket after kissing it gently.

Jack looked at you then Maria, “If anything happens to me, you need to grab my radio, and once you get to Willams, carry him to a rooftop nearby and turn to channel 5. Call for Alpha 402, tell them where you are, and they will send a rescue aircraft within minutes.”

You both nodded.

He nodded back and then you all started heading to the road you hoped to take. Praying this would be a simple task now that you’ve made it this far, hoping this would be over soon.

—

You made it down the road with 4 smoke bombs and no movement, you had around 200 yards to go. You kept telling yourself that was easy, that’s 2 football fields.

Jack threw the 5th smoke bomb and waited, scoping out and watching the terrain in front of you. No movement, no sound, it was quiet.

Too quiet.

“We need to run…” Jack said all of a sudden.

“What?” Maria said, not grasping what he said.

“There’s no sound, no birds, nothing, something is going to happen. We need to run,” he said quietly.

All of sudden you heard sirens, sirens signaling only one thing.

“Fuck. Run!” Jack said running, you grabbed Maria’s hand and pulled her with you.

You ran for your life. The sirens got louder the more you ran.

Jack yelled “Over here!” he cut to the left and like a miracle you saw someone peeking out for the rubble, it was the Captain.

You and Maria immediately ran over to him and knelt, you quickly checked his pulse, it was weak but there.

You looked and saw he had an abdominal injury as well as a broken leg.

“Maria, splint the leg fast, I’ll pack the abdominal wound.” you looked up around you for the tallest building.

“Jack, call for air support immediately after we finish addressing these injuries to that building…” you nodded towards a tall building.

He nodded and kept a lookout, “We need to get him moved, hurry!”

You packed the wound as best you could and gave him a shot of morphine quickly. Maria splinted the leg and also sprayed it with that same antibacterial spray.

“Ok done.” you said, looking at Maria.

“Me too, done.” she said.

Jack pulled out his radio and called for air support, expressing that you were in the middle of a possible missile drop and that air support was needed immediately.

You stood up and grabbed Williams, picking him up like you did with Terrance. “Let's go, we have stairs to fucking climb, and I wanna get the fuck home…” you said straining starting to walk towards the building. As you entered the building you heard gunshots from behind you, you turned to find Maria on the ground, bleeding.

“Maria!” you shouted.

Jack shot back towards where the shots were coming from and then took cover in the building you were in, “Let’s go! She’s gone.”

You shook your head, you could tell she was still alive, “No, she needs help! Jack, she needs help!”

“Listen I’m not here to get her to safety, I’m here to get him. We need to move.” he pushed you towards the stairs.

You looked at him in disbelief, anger brewing, “Then you get him out. I’m not leaving without her.” you set the Captain down, grabbed the radio he had on his belt, and started walking back out.

“You’ll never make it! Don’t be stupid!” Jack shouted as he lifted the Captain over his shoulder.

“She’s my sister, I’m not leaving her…” you said as you ran back out to her.

Maria was 20 feet from the building. A few shots went past you, you shot back a few times and then threw the last one of your smoke bombs to create some cover.

You got to her and dragged her to some cover nearby. She was shot in the shoulder and stomach.

“You need to go, leave me.” she said, breath ragged and uneven.

“Maria shut up. I’m not leaving you.” you said, putting pressure on her stomach.

You looked up at the sky and didn’t see a plane coming in yet, you had time.

You hurried and gave her a shot of morphine and then packed her abdomen, “I’m going to carry you. We’re going to make it. I need you to take my pistol and shoot anyone you see behind us until we get into that building, got it?”

Maria shook her head, tears streaming, “Y/N, please, you need to leave me, I’m dead weight.”

“Maria, I made a promise to your parents I would take care of you, and you and I made a deal on that fucking plane we were both making it back, now shut up and say you’ll cover my back!” you shouted at her, focusing on packing her wound.

She looked at you, tears streaming, she was scared.

“I’m not leaving without you.” you looked at her, and shook your head, “You would do the same for me.”

She nodded, and chuckled, “You’re so annoyingly stubborn.”

You chuckled and smiled at her, “Yes I am, which is why we will make it out of here.”

You finished packing her wound and then zipped her vest back up to cover it, keeping it in place, “Ok, ready?”

She nodded and you handed her your pistol. You then grabbed a grenade you had and threw it to make some cover. You grabbed Maria’s arm swung her around your shoulders and started running to the building.

She fired a couple of shots and from what you could tell hit something or someone.

You got inside and looked up, you had at least 12 flights to climb, “You owe me.” you said with a chuckle before you started climbing the stairs, adrenaline driving you. More than halfway up you heard the sound of a plane nearby.

“Fuck we gotta move. Hold onto me!” you shouted.

She wrapped around you as best she could and gripped your vest.

Your legs were burning, your heart pounding so hard you felt like it was going to burst, but you knew you needed to keep pushing.

You made it to the top floor and Jack was loading the Captain in.

“Wait!” you called slamming the door open.

Jack looked back and saw you, yelled at the pilot to hold on, and leaned out of the cockpit to help you load Maria in.

You stepped and grabbed the handle to load yourself in when you felt something hit the side of your leg, you looked down and saw blood, “Fuck.” you looked behind you and before you could react or shoot, Jack fired a round, “Get in!” you pulled yourself in and sat on the floor.

“Ok, Robbie let’s get the fuck out of here!” Jack shouted and you felt the plane pull up and turn towards safety.

You immediately assessed your leg, starting to spray bacterial spray and then wrapping it with gauze and a wrap, hard-wired when seeing blood to address it.

You looked over at Maria after and she was already looking at you. You started laughing, “We did it.”

You chuckled which turned into a laugh, “Fuck, yeah we did!”

Jack joined in, and you looked over at him, sarcastically saying “Fuck you, saying I wouldn’t make it.”

He chuckled, “Shouldn’t have underestimated your stubbornness…”

Maria laughed louder, “No, no you shouldn’t have!”

You all three were in a fit of giggles when the pilot came through the intercom, “We need to divert to Delta 27, Delta 30 is under attack.” you all stopped laughing and you looked at Maria.

Z and Reggie.

You pulled yourself up and limped towards the cock pit, “What do you mean under attack?”

“I just got a message that the enemy opened fire on it, with several casualties, it’s not safe to land.”

Your heart immediately dropped, “But… I got people there… we have family, please, just… just drop me down, you don’t have to land, I can do a drop-off. Take them to 27… Please.”

Jack came up behind you, “Drop us down, they’ll need reinforcements.”

The pilot looked at you both and nodded, “Fine but just so you know you’re going back into an active combat area.” He started to turn the craft back towards your camp.

“No disrespect sir but we were just in no man’s land, this will be nothing...” you said looking at Jack, he nodded, agreeing.

You went back and knelt by Maria, taking her hand, “I need you to get in contact with Tommy and Joel. I need you to tell Joel I will be ok and I will call him as soon as I can but I needed to get Z and Reggie. Tell him…” you paused, thinking of what to tell him, “Tell him I meant my last message with everything in me and I’ll keep my promise, it’s just taking me longer, but I’ll make it back.”

She nodded and looked at you, “Promise me you’ll call me when you’re somewhere safe.”

You nodded and gripped her hand. “I promise. You get some help and stay alive until I get to you, deal?” she nodded and chuckled.

You stood and looked at Jack, “We are looking for a kid named Z and the medic here, his name is Reggie. We get them to safety first then we reinforce.”

He nodded, “Got it.”

You let out a shaky breath and looked down at the camp, explosions and smoke everywhere.

“This as close as I can get!” the pilot said. He hovered over a building, you let out the rope ladder and slid down, Jack following behind you.

“Alright, follow me, I think I know where to find Z.” you said as you headed down the stairs.

Previous chapter - Next chapter

Taglist: @vod80 , @sarahhxx03, @blahkateisdone, @sunnytuliptime, @pedroscurls

#joel x reader #joel miller #joel miller fic #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller series #joel miller smut #pedro pascal #pedro pascal character fanfiction #pedro pascal joel miller #pedrohub #the last of us hbo #the last of us #joel tlou #tlou hbo #joel x y/n #joel x you #withallmylove

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void-wolfie · 2 years ago

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You Drew Stars Around My Scars

summary: Jenna comforts you on a bad day.

pairing: Jenna Ortega x gn!Reader

tw: mentions of self harm, anxiety

words: 560

a/n: a bit short and not my best work, but i've always loved this idea and wanted to write something for it

You hated your appearance. Every time you looked in the mirror, it didn't feel like you were looking at yourself. Ironic for someone working in the acting business.

You thought you hid your insecurities well, burying yourself behind fake confidence and oversized hoodies. No one knew the pain you carried with you, that is, till you met Jenna.

Jenna saw through it all. She could look past the smiles and one-liners and see the tired mess you truly were. She could see the signs that no one else cared to. The constant long sleeves and baggy clothes, the dark circles under your eyes, the way you'd zone out in the middle of conversations or bite at your lip when met with a little too much scrutiny.

Jenna quickly became a source of comfort for you. She was always there, supporting you even when you refused to talk about what was bothering you.

It was the first day of the convention, where you and Jenna, along with a few others, were set to talk on panels and interviews about your upcoming project.

You'd forgotten your meds. You were a mess. Anxiety through the roof. All those self-deprecating thoughts you'd managed to subdue coming back at breakneck speed. How you'd survive the day was beyond you.

Jenna was watching you from the corner of her eye. Your knee was bouncing up and down rapidly, your bottom lip between your teeth as you chewed on it, twisting the pendant of your necklace between your fingers. You were a nervous wreck.

Jenna picked up the spare Sharpie sitting on the table, spinning it between her fingers as she thought of what to do, how she could help. There had to be something...

You were busy distracting yourself with your phone when an earbud came into view. You looked up to see Jenna holding out an airpod to you, the other already set in her ear. You took it, putting it in. She handed you her phone, already opened to Spotify, letting you pick the music.

You picked a song from her playlist, the soft sounds of a Taylor Swift song filling the silence.

"Can I draw on your arm?"

Your head shot up; voice caught in your throat as you tried to think of some answer.

"Sure..." The others weren't around, and you trusted Jenna with your secrets. Besides, you didn't have the heart to say no to her anyways.

You rolled up the sleeve of your jacket, setting your arm on the table. She flipped it over and your heart caught in your throat. You saw her hesitate at the sight of the faint white lines and fresh pink scars that littered your skin, clear evidence of your bad habit. But she didn't say anything. Instead, she uncapped the sharpie and got to work, drawing little stars between all the scars.

Jenna had known about the scars, about your little vice. But she'd never mentioned it and she'd never seen the scars up close before. It hurt her, to know you were hurting yourself. But she couldn't judge you for it, not when you meant so much to her.

When the others finally arrived, none of them said anything about Jenna doodling all over your arm. Nor about the way you sat next to her, head on her shoulder, fast asleep.

#jenna ortega x gn!reader #jenna ortega x y/n #jenna ortega x fem!reader #jenna ortega #jenna ortega x reader #void-wolfie

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guemarasims · 5 months ago

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Elevate your Sim’s style with this bold Star Necklace & Earrings set! Featuring oversized star pendants on a chunky chain, this statement accessory is perfect for those Sims who love to stand out. The matching star earrings complete the edgy look, making this set ideal for alternative, punk, or gothic styles. Available in 20 swatches to match your Sims’ unique fashion sense.

Thank you very much for your support!

Download (Patreon, Early access)

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maladaptive-ninja-returns · 4 months ago

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It’s The Avengers (04x10)

Loki x Reader Avengers The Office AU (Slowwwwww Burn)

Season 4 Episode 10: Million Dollar Baby

Series Summary: Living in the Avengers facility post-apocalypse in a better timeline Tony Stark has decided to capture every moment by pulling The Office on the Avengers. All of the housemates are pretty used to the idea except for you, who had just come here to finish her degree, and the newest member- Loki.

Warnings: crazy rich white people, and perverts

Word Count: I am suffering from some kind of allergies that are making me cough incessantly (did I use that word right?)

MASTERLIST in bio, darlings. Tags are open (check bio)

The camera recorded darkness before a few familiar voices came up. “I ain't never rep a set, baby (Tsk, tsk) I ain't do no wrong I could clean up good for you Oh, I know right from wrong 'Cause I wanna make it so badly I'm a million-dollar baby, don't at me-“ Another voice cut the whispered sing-song. “Scott, Shhhh!” “Sorry,” Scott whispered. “Javi, are the cameras working?” The screen lit up with Scott’s face looking right into the lens. He wore a white t-shirt under an oversized light blue shirt with beige trousers. The broad-rimmed black glasses sitting on his nose were hard to miss. The frame cut to Peter’s face as the boy tried to set his now overgrown lush hair so they rested right above his pair of broad-rimmed brown glasses. This time a pair of olive-toned arms came into the frame to correct the gold necklace with a beetle for a pendant resting around Peter's neck. The frame cut to Javier this time, who was the one correcting Peter’s concealed camera cum ‘necklace’ before giving the spider man a thumbs up. “Are the mics working? Are our earpieces working?” Scott whispered into his necklace, getting a thumbs up from both the boys. Javier’s device was a ‘green gem’ embedded in a teddy bear pendant. The boy was looking clean in an olive blazer and trousers over a black t-shirt. The boys were dressed to impress. “Everyone remembers what we have to do?” Sam’s voice crinkled through the earpiece. Peter and Scott nodded before affirming with their words. Javier simply gave a thumbs-up to Scott’s body cam. “Where’s our fourth player?”

The door to the van opened and the six feet tall figure of Loki stood outside. The God was dressed in a sky blue shirt with its sleeves rolled up to show his entire left arm freshly tattooed. Javier could be seen twisting the edge of his digital watch to let the spy cam inside the watch focus on the intricate designs of dragons, daggers, the portrait of Loki’s mom and one tiny Ice Bear from Bare Bears. Our boy made sure he recorded the movement of that veiny tatted arm rising and running his long pale fingers through his hair pulled back into a ponytail. His wide-ankle navy blue jeans added to the effect of making him one irresistible bad boy who was about to steal your girl. “Oh my God, Loki,” Scott let out an exasperated whisper, shaking his head in disbelief before going into his fanny pack and pulling out a golden tear drop earring and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and putting them on the God without hesitation. “That’s better.” There was a second of silence when everyone else waited for Loki to react to the invasion of his space. But all the God did was look down at his attire and then back at the boys with a genuine question. “Does this look convincing enough?” The lens focused on the unadulterated concern in his eyes.

Sam: I almost feel bad for sending Loki on the mission. *concern spilling from his eyes* look at him. He thinks he needs to look convincing for the part of a mafia boss wanting in on a new drug deal. *squints in frustration* Bro’s already got the gangster shoulders for that. All he has to do is run them hands through his hair and people are going to drool all over the floor *exhales with a mocking tone*

The boys walked to the entrance of a huge metal gate with intricate design, wherein they were stopped by a Caucasian guard with a heavy build. "This is a private property," he stated, never blinking. Loki's glasses caught Scott giving an air of offence at those words. "And we are private people," the Ant-man declared with a soft tone that had weight.

Peter: *wide-eyed* it's like I was looking at a different man! It's like someone super rich who buys buildings because someone told him he couldn't.

"You don't even have a car." The guards did not blink until the last minute. Scott put his hands in his pant pockets and exhaled for the act. "Would you bring your car to this private evening, Beau Coolberg?" The guard lost his composure, suddenly blinking and sweating. "The password, sir?" he asked politely before bringing out his tablet to punch in a few digits. Scott rolled his eyes at the man before stressing the words through his teeth. "Tiki Mori." The guard nodded and pulled himself aside, signalling the other guard under him to bring forward the golf cart. "Enjoy your evening, Mr Antony," he fumbled the words. Scott took a step towards the man who was sweating. "Oh, I will, Beau. The question is...will you?" And with that Scott sat himself at the back and the boys followed. "You're gonna get fired, bro," the mics picked the other guard declaring to his senior as the cart moved towards the mansion's front door. Peter looked at the Ant-man wide-eyed. "How did you-" Scott shrieked. "OhmygodIthoughtIwasgonnagettased."

The inside of the mansion looked less like a luxury abode and more like a frat house with a spoiled brat' vibe to it. Young men and women walked about with drinks in their hands, talking, smoking, arguing, vaping, getting high, getting freaky. There were a few older men. greys in their hair, flirting their way to girls half their age. Older women loved the attention from young men and women alike, not to mention their lungs' unrivalled capacity to out-smoke the little ones surrounding them. "Perk up, boys. Our mans is entering at eleven o'clock," Scott declared to his team, alerting them to get ready with their act as they spread through the room and act as if they do not know each other. All was quiet and bougie till Loki furrows his brows and looks down at Scott. "Did you just say perk up?"

Sam: *takes in a lungful* *camera zooms in* *shakes his head* his therapist has failed us.

*Natasha's voice comes from somwhere outside the frame* Who? Loki?

Sam: No! Scott!

A blonde man who could be in his late forties entered the hallway. The tan on his face did not match the tone of his pale under eyes. His smile exposed his exceptional white-washed teeth while his clothes only spoke French. "Bonjour, Antony!" The rich white man walked towards Scott with his arms wide open. "Please, Teflon," Scott rolled his eyes, "call me Antonius." "Only if you call me Musk," Teflon added before guffawing the laugh of a gold-spooned nepotism baby. The boys' cameras caught the Ant-Man visibly getting uncomfortable while matching the rich man's laugh. "And why are your friends scattered away from you?" he pointed out at every single one of our men in the room. 'Antonious' pulls out another rich man guffaw. "They are not my friends, Teflon." "But you registered them all under your codename." "DAMITT SCOTT!!" Sam could be heard through the comms. "They are my boys," Scott hopped in quickly for a save. "They are my brothers, Tef. They might not be my blood but they sure as hell will draw it, if need be. So-" Scott reflected a serious demeanour in front of the host- "do not insult them by calling them just my friends." The camera zoomed in on Javi and Peter's horror-struck faces already stuffed with cream lobster.

Peter: For a moment there I felt our cover would be blown this time. For. Sure. *camera zooms out to show Javi sitting next to Peter* Javi: *signing* I think our cover was blown but Scott was too proud to admit it and instead asked Dr Strange to reset the time. Peter: *looking at Javi in shock* BRO! *exasperation suddenly turns into a calm demeanour* You know what, that can happen *looks back at the camera* *nods* That can happen.

"Come, meet my boys," Scott told Teflon, before signalling the 'boys' to come over. "This is my boy Theo, short for Theodore. This is Luther. This is my boy Dan. Dan does not speak because he has taken a vow of silence to show respect for the souls of the poor kids who lost their homes in the recent...curfuffle." Javi automatically folded his hands and did a little bow. Teflon reacted with a pippy 'oh!' and mimicked Javi for a second. "Sad, isn't it, Antony? If it were to men like us, there simply wouldn't be a problem like this." Scott is halfway through his nod when Teflon chimed, "Because we would have simply nuked that country!" and added roaring laughter. Scott mirrored the roar as well, but his sounded more like a realisation of horror. The man threw his head back at his own joke, never noticing Scott turn his fingers into a fist and launching himself at him. The boys stopped him, grabbing onto his arms and waist and forcing him to not break character.

Two Minutes Later The man was still laughing. "Come on, man. Just let me hit him once. I'll make it look like an accident!" Scott begged. Loki simply gestured him to shush by putting his finger on his lips, making the Ant Man go quiet sooner than anticipated. Javi's camera glasses zoomed in on the coy man.

Scott: What? *lowers his voice a little with a hint of softness* You shut up when Loki tells you to shut up. *shrugs his shoulders* I regret nothing.

"I thought Teflon threw great parties," Loki finally spoke- but with an American accent- acting as though he was disinterested in his surroundings, "if I knew you were bringing me to some old ass mixer I would've gone to my neighbour's orgy, Ant...ony." Teflon looked at the man who was a foot taller than him and patted him on his shoulder. "Big boys don't show their toys at the mansion gates, Luther. They keep them hidden away for special people and special occasions." The man flashes his pearly white smile and led the way. "Come, I'll introduce you to some of my special guests."

One Hour Later The 'boys' were scattered throughout the place. Scott was outside in the garden, charming his way through the old men crowd. Peter was sitting in between the old white ladies, never breaking a sweat as they fed him everything and chatted with him like they knew him from ages. Javi was on the first floor trying to get away from the three white girls stoned out of their minds, constantly wanting to touch the poor boy. Loki was on the first floor too, standing in a corner that was close to the entrance as well as the balcony, and it had a clear view of the door that led to Teflon's son's office. The God was nursing his drink, letting the ice clink with the thick glass as his whiskey watched him never touch his lips. "Nice tatts," a girl complimented the God; who did not bother responding. "I said nice tatts," she raised a tone, inching in closer, instinctively forcing Loki to scooch away from her, only giving her a single-second stare of judgment before returning to his drink. "Rude," she snapped before her offended expression turned into a smirk. "I like it. Do it more," she purred, inching closer to Loki. Javi ignored the ladies and started walking towards the God upon seeing him in trouble. "Back off, bitch! He's mine!" Scott growled from behind the girl, scaring her away by pretending to bite her with a feral look in his eyes. The moment she was out of the frame, Scott transformed back into his usual self. "Nothing downstairs," he concluded to Loki as well to Sam. Both looked at Javi, who simply shook his head before joining the two. "Uh, guys?" Peter's voice crackled through the comms. "All that recon and still no leads?" Another familiar voice came through the earpieces, this time taking everyone's attention. "Natasha?" Loki was the first to answer. "Just like all the rizz and still no gals," Natasha cooed, laughing at her joke. Javi rolled his eyes. Loki squared his lips. "Hey! I got my gals," Scott hissed through his mic, "and my gal got me. Don't include me in this dry hoe group." Loki and Javi looked at Scott with murderous stares. Scott showed no signs of regret. "Natasha, please tell me you have some information on the package before I rip Scott's skull from his shoulders in front of five hundred people," Loki pressed, never taking his eyes off Scott's head. "Did you check Leo?" she sounded bored. "Teflon's son?" Scott mocked a laugh, "Of course, we did. That druggie has zero clue about who is sitting next to him. I'm sure he is the last person who would know where a bunch of super important papers are, Nats." Loki leans on the decorative table behind him, putting his free hand inside his pant pocket. "Unless he rolled those papers to smoke some pot," he casually added. Javi and Scott stared at Loki with a hint of horror. Loud music and elated screams of the guests could be heard in the background.

No one spoke for a good stretched moment. "Guys-" Peter tried to speak again -"you're not gonna believe who's here." "I do have information on the package, Loki," Natasha cut the boy short. "In fact, my apprentice has obtained the code to the safe where it's locked." "Apprentice?" Scott, Loki and Peter questioned in harmony. Javi, on the other hand, was slowly feeling his eyes widen and his lips parted in a mild surprise. Correction: the surprise, it seems, was not mild. "Wait-" Scott's eyes lit up momentarily- "is your little sister here? Oh my Gosh! Guys! Nat's little sis is here! I finally get to meet Black Widow Jr!!" "Guys!" Peter nearly shouted through the comms. "There is someone else here too!" It almost felt like his voice was cracking in his throat. "And...and-" The speakers in the house changed the song to a familiar track by Rusha and Blizza. The intro to 'Pashu Gudwan' amplified with every passing second. Javi was the first one to freeze where he stood. His eyes were stuck on something in the distance. His lips parted in mild shock, his elbow automatically nudging Scott. Scott whipped his head at the boy in confusion before following Javi's line of sight. The constricted brows behind the glasses were raised in exclamation. His mouth too went agape. Javi walked forward, the instinct of the camera guy in him wanting a closer look. But the poor guy tripped over a hungover frat boy, nearly falling face first if not for his own strong biceps stopping him. "What are you talking about?" Loki was still trying to get the words out of Peter, pressing his earpiece to see if something was wrong with his gadget. He turned to Scott to wonder that out loud. "What is Peter talking-" One look at the surprise on Scott's face and the God was turning his head to see what more had made the Ant-Man drop his jaw. And when he did settle on his friends' line of sight, he could not believe what he was seeing either. "...uhhhh guys?" Sam was the only one unaware. The camera following Sam in the 'control room' somewhere nearby recorded the confusion and agitation on the man's face. Natasha- who stood motionless next to him- turned her head towards the camera and gave a suggestive smirk before turning to the screens.

From the outdoor lobby walked a pair of fine legs, covered in tattoos. If not for Javi lying halfway on the floor, no one would have guessed that all those tattoos were One Piece references beautifully decorating a pair of toned legs in booty shorts. The camera rose to capture the slightly visible abs adorning the abdomen with some fine curves. But that was not what made the frame visibly shake. It was the moment when the figure with those fine curves raised her arms to tie her hair, and the finely sculpted muscles on her back popped up to say hi. And when they walked past the camera, the backless top let the back muscles glare down at you and say 'you wish that were you, huh'. Peter too joined the two men staring at the figure walking towards them. It was you. Covered in tattoos. A naval ring. A nose ring. Dense kajal in your eyes. Deep purple hair with fresh bangs and a high ponytail. And gold-rimmed glasses. Loki too felt his jaw drop a little. His eyes blinked fast for a moment, considering whether you were a hallucination.

Scott: *flailing his hands as if pointing at the situation he was just in* *mouth agape* *shrieks* WHAT???!!!!! Peter: *screams in the background* *runs past the camera screaming* NOOOOO!!!!!! Scott: *falls on the floor sobbing* how can someone so innocent look so good in those goddamn tattoos!!! Peter: *screaming from a distance* LIKE A LESBIAN GODDESS!! Scott: *raises his tears-smeared face, snot falling from his nose* *whispers* Oh my God, she's a lesbian now

Before you could reach them and Scott could finish saying your name, a boy emerged and swooped you up in his arms, gathering a unified gasp from Scott and Peter, and Javi in the background. "Babe-" the 'boy' in question sang, before putting you down and kissing your bare shoulder- "you came!" "Isn't that...Leo?" Scott whispered to Peter. Blonde curls with a buzz cut for the sides, a ruby stud in the left ear, a tattoo in Korean reading 내 다리 사이의 열반 on the arm, a gold bracelet on the right wrist and a bulky bodyguard within three feet of that man. He was right. This was Leo. "Hey babe!" you cooed mildly, cupping his face as you brought it away from your shoulder and towards your own before wrapping your arms around his neck. The mics could hear the multiple pauses of breaths clear as a bomb explosion. "You promised this party won't be boring." Your fingers teased his lips before taking his mouth in a playful grip. "And you have like five minutes to impress me before I leave. Alone." You had an accent; a mild accent, nothing like the way you usually talk. Your body language was different too.

Javi: *signing* something is different about Y/N. She isn't walking with her usual shrimp back. Scott: *from outside the frame* Yeah, her back's straight. And arched to compliment her butt. *camera pans out to show Scott wiping his snot while still sniffling* Scott: *with freshly cried soaking voice* she has a straight back and an arch! Who the f@&$ hoe-d up my precious baby?

Leo growled at the proximity. With one hand on the small of your bare back, the other travelled to your ass, giving it a good squeeze. "I'll do it in three and you'll be begging me not to stop," he whispers in your ear before going in for a bite of your shoulder. Scott's grandmotherly instincts involuntarily took over as he grabbed the candlestick from the decorations behind him and started walking towards Leo. Before he could take even two steps, Loki's arm stopped him, putting him back in his position without much difficulty. The boys had their eyes on Loki, waiting for his reaction. The God did not flinch. He stood there, observing you. And Leo. You grabbed Leo's curls and pulled him away from your shoulders, earning a wince from his lips. "What did I tell you about my body?" you questioned him patiently, never breaking eye contact. "That I do not get to touch it till I've been a good boy," Leo gave you his best puppy dog eyes before letting his hands slowly leave your ass and your back. "Good boy-" you complimented him, making him smile the widest smile before he licked his lips and let his eyes roam all over your skin- "now, you seem to be keeping your guests waiting." Leo followed your gaze and saw the three men standing there stripping him with their stares. "Hey, I'm Leo. Teflon's my father. Welcome to the party." "Ah, Leo," Scott was back into his character as if on instinct. "These are my boys Theo, Dan and Luther-" he announced but never pointed out who was who- "and I am Antony. And who might this beautiful lady be? Your sister?" Scott raised his hand to take yours, to which you obliged, and let him plant a little kiss before patting the top of your hand with his. You passed him a smirk. "This is my babe, Zenia." He was about to wrap his arm around your waist but reverted at the first sign of your piercing gaze as if remembering your rule. Javi's camera caught Loki hiding his smirk whilst he pretended to adjust his glasses. "Nice to meet you all," you acknowledged everyone before turning to Leo. "How about you make them feel welcome and I'll freshen up." Leo sucked in the air through his rounded lips. "Are we going to continue from where we left off that night?" he whispered; unfortunately, loud enough that the boys could hear it all. Peter averted his gaze, looking at anything but the two of you. Scott was still holding the candlestick but was gradually removing the holding plate from the rest of the stick.

Peter: *never coming in the frame* *groans weakly* somebody please pour acid in my eyes Scott: *sitting in front of the camera with a death stare* I'll continue from where you left off, Leo! *raises the candle stick with a menacing chuckle* Peter: *groans* somebody please pour acid in my ears

"Maybe," you nodded, building up a smirk, "if your office can take it." And with just that you left. At least that's what it felt like, save for the tiny second where Loki's camera caught your eyes staring directly into his before walking away.

Natasha sat in front of the screens that had mapped all the security cameras of the Teflon mansion. She watched you walk with the same sensuous gait you had bewildered the Avengers with just a few minutes ago.

Natasha: *proud smile* I taught her that *smile slowly turns into a frown* in ten hours. It took me ten hours to teach her a stupid walk because she hadn't walked like a woman. Ever. *pissed* *inhales* *exhales through her mouth* *in a calm voice* but she is doing better now *smiles again*

"I'm proud to see you not letting go of your character after five minutes, Y/N. Good job," she announced through the comms. A low growl came from your end as you turned a corner and waived at a blonde high as a kite. "I hate that son of a bitch. I swear to God, Natasha, I will break his teeth if he tries to bite my shoulder one more time." Before Natasha could respond to your anger, Sam muted her end of the comms. "Seriously, Nat? Y/N?" Nat blinked at Sam before nodding, making Sam lose the air in his lungs from the mock laugh involuntarily coming out of him. "You sent Stark's daughter on a mission with the world's creepiest pervert. What were you thinking?" Natasha blinked again, this time furrowing her brows. "Aren't your boys on the same mission?" "That's different," Sam brushed the air with his hands. "So is she," Natasha shrugged. "Your boys can't enter Leo's bedroom. She can." She pointed at the screen just as the security guards opened the door to the entire wing that was Leo's, where only a select few people could be seen. Taking the drink offered by the waiter at the door, you walked up the marble stairs as if you belonged there. No one second-guessed your presence as you walked through the corridors to the end of the hallway. The music was loud here too. The crowd here was less drunk and more high. You could hear moans and groans coming out of different rooms. But you walked past them all. Dropping the contents of your glass in the nearest potted plant, your legs increased their speed a little when they got close to the door. What you did not notice- but the cameras did- was a man following you. "Nat-" Sam's voice reflected the worry of watching a stranger follow you. "He's not from Leo's security," Nat responded, watching the feed as his hands went to his belt. Both Natasha and Sam unmuted the comms in unison. "Y/N, there's-" Before they could finish shouting their sentence, a gust of wind- with a dark figure- came from the left door, and pushed the man into room to the right. "What?" you stopped right outside your destination for a second before turning back. "What?" you asked again. "Nothing," your guardians declared in unison. You nodded, turned around and entered through the door. Muting the comms, Natasha and Sam stared at each other. "That was..." Natasha did not finish her sentence, looking at Sam for confirmation. Sam blinked at the footage a few times before looking at Natasha. "It better be someone on our side because I swear to God I ain't got time to deal with ghosts." Natasha shrugged, brushing the air around her, "It's probably Loki." She then turned away from Sam and looks right into the camera to whisper, "I pray." Sam whipped his head in her direction, looking at her with deep offence stuck in his neck.

Leo's private room camera feed took the main screen, showing you entering the door and turning right to where the bedroom was. You kneeled down by the bed to open the bedside drawer and click something on the underbelly. Natasha and Sam watched as the drawer hissed, and a false hood opened inside. Your hand went inside and brought out a transparent one-by-three-inch plastic plate. "What's that?" Sam had to ask. "It's a floppy or memory plate of some kind," you answered while walking to the other end of the private wing. You opened the door to the office and walked straight to the cabinet on the opposite wall. Natasha cursed under her breath as she noticed something in the corner of the live feed, going for the mic. "Miss Y/L/N?" a voice from behind you made you jump. It was one of Leo's security detail. The screen showed you immediately hiding the memory plate in your back pocket. "Hey!" your body language changed again, the arch in back coming back again and the sultry in your voice getting heavy. "I thought I was alone in here. Well, at least that's what Leo told me when he said he'd join me." But the man did not flinch. Instead, he took a step towards you. "Ma'am, what do you have in your pocket?" "Hmm?" you tried to act all innocent. Letting your hands dig into your pocket, you bit your lips and took out something shiny. "Not very discreet, am I?" "She has a condom," Sam whispered through the anxiety in his lungs. The security guy was still unfazed. "Ma'am, I need you to step out of the office," he made it sound like a request but his tone had other intentions. Natasha tried to get a read on the guy, who had his back to the camera, while you walked to your left towards the desk and sat on it. "Oh, come on, now. Don't be a prude. Leo's coming in like five minutes. So, you can leave me be." The man stepped towards you, taking his earpiece out. "Ma'am, this is a private study. I cannot allow you in here till Mr Teflon is present." He took another step, closing the gap between the two of you. "And if you don't walk out that door, I will have to take you out forcefully." "Wow! Did not even bother to mention Leo's name. No respect for the dude," you tsked at him before getting down from the desk and walking towards the door. "I work for Mr Teflon. I have seen whores like you dragged out of this office in bodybags just because they could not keep their attitude in check." Natasha could see a shift in your pace at those words, though you did not let that affect your composure. But the moment that man touched your buttcheek, Natasha could see your elbow making an impact into his rib. Your upper body turned to land a punch in his already grotesque expression before your knee cracked his balls. "Too bad for you, buddy," you whispered into his wincing infant form, "this whore knows how to fight." You hastily entered the memory plate into a slot hidden behind the books. The desk hissed and unveiled a glass case that housed the blueprints. You looked around for any openings to the case but could not find any. "How the f*&# does this thing open?!" you growled in pure rage. You jumped the desk to look for something to break the glass with, only to be tased by the security guy in the ankle. You fell on your knees. The man grabbed you by your ankle before climbing you to let his hands grip your neck. You tried to break the hold but this six feet tall animal had all the intentions of killing you right there and then. "CODE VIOLET!" Natasha screamed through the comms. "CODE VIOLET!!!" The camera watched as Sam struggled to get the boys on the comms before turning to Natasha; a hint of fear crawling into her eyes as they watched your grip loosen with every passing second.

#loki #loki x reader #loki x you #loki x y/n #loki fluff #loki smut #loki series #It's The Avengers #mcu loki #mcu loki fluff #avengers x reader #mcu fluff #loki fanfic #loki fic #Maladaptive Ninja Return #The Office AU

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timelessfineries · 2 years ago

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Boucles d’oreilles bohème surdimensionnés ::: Timeless Fineries

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acewritesfics · 1 year ago

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He Is A Beautiful Man | Bradley Bradshaw

⚠️ THIS IS A REPOST FROM MY MAIN BLOG @/DLMLUFICS. MORE INFO IN MY PINNED POST.

Pairing: Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw x Seresin!Reader

Request: from @rainydayteacups

Prompt: "You're staring."

Warnings: Fluff. Mentions of Hangman x Phoenix pairing. Summer fling. Two fools falling in love hard and fast.

Word Count: 1,777

Tag List: Open - acewritesfics taglist sign up

Top Gun: Maverick Masterlist

"Hey sis, I hope you packed your cowboy boots because we're going dancing tonight," Jake calls out to Y/N as he walks through the front door of the beach house she's leased for the summer.

While he's stationed in San Diego, he persuaded her to come spend her summer under the Californian sun. Despite being nothing alike, the Seresin siblings are close, and she couldn't pass up the chance to spend the summer at the beach with her brother.

"When are we leaving?" she asks as she walks out of her bedroom.

He informs her, "You've got an hour to get ready."

Y/N spends the next hour showering and getting ready for the bar that Jake plans to take her to. She wears a short-sleeved black dress that is adorned with tiny pink and white flowers. The skirt of the dress flowed freely over her thighs and ended just above her knees, while the top of the dress hung loosely from her shoulders. She wears it with a belt that is the same dark brown color as her cowboy boots, which were a birthday gift from Jake two years prior.

She leaves her hair alone, not bothering to do anything special with it, and then applies a little make-up, aiming for a "no make-up" make-up look before putting on her jewelry. Her jewelry included a set of small, hooped earrings, her watch, a bracelet, and her horseshoe pendant necklace, which she wore every day.

"Are you ready to go?" Jake inquires, standing at the doorway as she clips her earrings into her earlobes

She nods and retrieves her clutch from her bed, double-checking it before following him out of the little two-bedroom beachfront bungalow. "Where are we heading tonight?"

He sheepishly answers, "The Hard Deck."

After being here for 10 weeks, she gives him a little smack on the arm as they arrive at her rental. "Here you were getting me all excited that we were going someplace new, finally asking me if I packed my boots because we're going dancing."

"I thought you loved the Hard Deck," he chuckles as he takes her keys and walks over to the driver's side. When he's around his sister, his country twang always comes out more strongly. "Oh, I'm sorry I forgot, you like going there to see the rooster that's there."

"Bless your tiny little heart, Jake Seresin. How's Natasha doing, by the way? Have you chased her away with your oversized ego yet?" she retaliates as she climbs into the passenger seat. He glares at her, shaking his head, as he climbs into the driver's seat and drives to the navy bar they frequented.

"You're staring," Y/N hears Natasha say from beside her as they're sat at a table watching Jake, Bradley and a few of the others around the pool table.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she denies glancing at her before returning her gaze to Bradley and raising her bottle of beer to her lips to take a drink. "He is a beautiful man," she continues, not denying that she finds him attractive.

Natasha scoffs, smirking at her and says, "Oh please, you and Rooster haven't exactly been subtle."

"I didn't think we were trying to be," she replies, looking back at her new friend, who just so happens to be her brother's fellow naval aviator and girlfriend. "How are you and Jake doing?"

Natasha looks across the bar at her Jake, smiling from ear to ear, "We're doing great."

With a tinge of seriousness, Y/N jokes, "It's nice he finally has someone who can keep him and his ego in check."

Natasha was the first of her brother's girlfriends she loved and got along well with. Before realizing he felt serious feelings for Natasha, Jake didn't have the greatest taste in women often going for ones that didn't have many brain cells and stroked his already massive ego.

The navy pilot beams, "I'm glad I have your approval."

They tap the necks of their beer bottles together in cheers before taking another drink. Natasha turns to face the men after noticing a woman who wasn't wearing a navy uniform stroking Bradley's arm. She looks past the woman, seeing Jake's scowl as he eyes the hand that doesn't belong to his sister.

"Are you going to let her know that he's already taken?" Natasha asks, gesturing towards Bradley and the unknown woman.

When Bradley shrugs the woman's hand off his arm and says something to her, Y/N knows that Bradley has it handled. "I don't have to, but I'm going to make it known."

As a slow song starts playing on the jukebox, she gets out of her chair, leaves her empty bottle on the table, and walks towards Bradley. She approaches him and places a hand on his shoulder getting his attention as she stands in front of him. He hands Bob the pool cue and moves his hands to her hips, tugging her closer.

"Dance with me?" she asks, looking up at him through her lashes.

"With you, always," he replies and takes her hand, leading her onto the small area that's cleared for a dance floor in front of the jukebox.

Standing in front of her, Bradley moves wraps an arm around her waist, placing his large hand on the small of her back as the other takes her hand in his and holds it to his chest. He pulls her close as she lays her free hand on his shoulder and starts swaying to the music.

Never did she think coming to California would lead her into the arms of her brother's 'friendly' rival. From the moment Jake, reluctantly, introduced them, she knew her, and Bradley would become great friends. Little did she know that they would become more than that.

She wasn't in San Diego two weeks when Bradley asked her to dinner, ignoring Jake's threats of shooting down his jet if he even dared touch his sister. Jake tried to convince her that Bradley only asked her on a date to spite him but once he realized that there was no stopping the two, he gave up. But that didn't mean he didn't keep a close eye on them.

The more time Y/N spent with Bradley, the more she could feel herself falling in love with him. She tried to stop it, but it was impossible. Both her and Bradley had agreed that this would be a summer fling but the thought of leaving to go back to Texas in two weeks made her heart hurt.

"What's on your mind, sweetheart?" she hears Bradley voice cut through her thoughts. She looks up at him, her eyes meeting his pretty ones.

"Let's go for a walk along the beach," she says stepping out of his hold, keeping their hands interlocked as she pulls him out the bar doors.

As they walk along the beach, Bradley lets go of her hand and slings his arm across her shoulders and pulls her to his side. Y/N reaches her hand up, covering his hand with her own.

"What's got you so quiet?" he asks after a few minutes of them walking in silence, the only sound coming from the crashing of the waves and the music slowly fading in the background as they move further away from the bar.

"I don't want this to end," she tells him looking towards the beach, not wanting him to see her sadness as she is thinking about her approaching departure date.

"Who says it has too?" he asks her as he stops walking and turns her around. Placing a finger under her chin, he tilts her head up, so she'll look at him. "Who says it has to end?"

"I'm leaving in two weeks," she reminds him.

"Cancel your flight," he says like it's the simplest thing to do.

"I can't just cancel my flight," she says as though it's the most difficult thing to do.

"Why not?" he asks. "We can find you a house here. You're self-employed so you don't need to find a new job. You'll be closer to Jake and Nat and this," he pauses, pulling her closer and buries his head in the crook of her neck, his lips brushing against her sweet spot, his moustache tickling her skin. A soft and pleasurable sigh leaves her lips as she runs her hands through his curls, before gently tugging his head back. He smiled, seeing that her eyes had closed as she enjoyed his affection and planted a soft kiss to her lips. "doesn't have to end," he finishes when he pulls away.

Her eyes flutter open, and she bites the inside of her cheek as she thinks about what he's said. He did make a very convincing point.

"How can I say no to that?" she asks, a lazy smile on her lips as she looks up at him.

"You can't," he says, pecking her lips.

"Want to get out of here?" she asks, running her hands down his chest.

"You know I do," he says stepping back from her and takes her hand, leading her back the way they came.

Y/N giggles against Bradley's lips as they stumble through the door to her rented beach house.

"Sorry," he mumbles against her lips, kissing her hungrily.

"No, you're not," she chuckles after breaking the kiss, stepping away from him. "There's one thing I need to do before this goes any further," she continues, holding her hand against his chest to stop him from advancing on her.

Y/N turns on her heel, taking her phone out of her clutch, dropping the clutch to the floor as she pulls up her flight info. Bradley comes up behind her, his hands on her hips as he places soft kisses along her shoulder and up her neck to her ear. She bites her lip, stopping the moan of pleasure from escaping as she tilts her head giving him more access.

"What are you doing?" he asks, his warm breath hitting her ear and sending a shockwave down her spine.

"I think you know what I'm doing," she smiles as he rests his head on her shoulder, watching her finger hover over the cancel option before pressing it and confirming it. She turns back around to face him, dropping her phone on the couch before wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "After all it was you who convinced me to do it."

"No regrets," he smiles and kisses her again, as he lifts her off the floor and wraps her legs around his waist. Walking them into her bedroom, he kicks the door shut.

TAGGED: LINK TO TAG LIST SIGN-UP ABOVE.

#acewritesfics repost #bradley bradshaw x reader #rooster x reader

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starcrossedxwriter · 2 years ago

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Date Night (MBJ x Famous Black OC)

Warnings: it's just our favs being horny as hell lol NSFW

A/N: Fluff was requested because of what I put y'all through in Part 9 lmaoooo so here you go! Enjoyyyyyyy!

“What do you think?” Charlotte spun around in her third outfit of the night. She did a couple fake model poses as if she were in front of a photographer.

Michael glanced up from his cell phone, a whistle escaping his lips. He was already dressed, a graphic tee, black jeans, jacket and boots. He had been ready for the last 30 minutes. His girlfriend, however, had brought half her closet to his house and between those clothes and the ones she kept there, she still could not decide on an outfit.

“Sexy as fuck… just like the last two outfits. We gotta go soon if we actually want to make the game.”

She turned in the mirror, ignoring his urges to hurry. “None of these are good. I dunno. I think this makes me look a little pudgy. These jeans barely fit anymore. Look at my legs… short and stubby… And my waist is huge.” She gestured down at her body, which had gotten a bit thicker since Michael first met her. But unlike Charlotte, he loved it. Relationship weight, happy weight, looked damn good on her.

“I like it, your body looks great. Just gives me something good to grip when I’m fuckin’ you from the back.”

She rolled her eyes and smiled at him, “You are so vulgar for no reason,” she laughed. “Ugh.” She stepped out of her jeans and threw the sweater onto the bed.

“And you won’t be saying that when I get fat… then you won’t be attracted to me anymore and you’ll be dragging me to the gym with you,” she mumbled as she walked into his massive closet and went to her side. Michael had cleared out a nice section for her to keep clothes there, making it far easier for her to stay as many nights as she wanted without having to pack a new bag. “It’s just our first date at a public event since the premiere. I wanna look nice.”

“That’ll literally never happen. You’re sexy at any size and every outfit you’ve put on since you started getting dressed an hour ago. But if you need help choosing,” he jumped off the bed and jogged to her side, pulling out a black mini dress she had in the closet. “This dress with those thigh high boots, andddd,” he jumped off the bed and jogged to his side of the closet before pulling out a dusty rose colored bomber jacket that matched one of the many colors in his t-shirt. “This. I bought it during filming so it’ll be oversized.”

She raised her eyebrow before stepping into the fourth outfit. Even she could not deny that she looked damn good. The dress accentuated her shape and curves, the boots made her legs look longer, and the jacket pulled the whole look together. It was clearly a men’s jacket, which she knew would turn a head or two, but its oversized nature made her look chic and cozy. And their coordination was just subtle enough that it wouldn’t look like they tried too hard.

“What do you think?”

“You look better in that jacket than I did,” he remarked as she stood in front of the mirror. “Sexy and sleek. Comfy and will look good in photos court side.”

“Look at you. A secret stylist too?? I might have to keep you around, Mr. Jordan,” she mused, her hands working to put on her earrings. with a playful smile as he grabbed her hips and watched her.

“That’s the plan, beautiful. You know what would look good with that dress?”

“Hmm? More of your clothes?”

Michael produced a thin Tiffany blue box, a perfectly tied white ribbon and bow surrounding it.

“What’s this?” Charlotte moaned pitifully, her heart soaring at his thoughtfulness. “It’s not my birthday o-or Christmas or anything.”

He shrugged. “I don’t need a special day to give you a gift. I just saw it and thought you’d like it.”

You couldn’t have wiped the smile off of her face as she opened the delicate box to reveal a rose gold necklace. The diamond pendant set at the center was large and beautiful but the whole piece still had a certain understated quality about it. It was not gaudy and loud but it still drew your eye like moths to flames. She was surprised at how well he knew her style. She was not even a big jewelry wearer on an everyday basis but it fit the simplistic vibe of the jewelry she did own and was subtle enough that she did not need a special occasion to put it on.

“Bakari,” she took a sharp breath. “I-It’s beautiful. Bu-”

He immediately shook his head. He was still trying to get Charlotte to accept him spoiling her without questions. “No buts. You like it?”

“I l-love it. It’s amazing and so timeless. It’s perfect.”

“That’s all I need to hear. Turn around for me.” She turned to face the mirror again, her eyes trained on his hands as he placed it around her neck and fastened it for her.

Her hand immediately went to caress the pendant, studying the most expensive piece of jewelry she had ever had in her possession.

“It’s…” she was at a loss for words as she looked at herself.

Michael pressed a soft kiss to the back of her neck before he let her curls fall back into place. “Perfect.”

She turned back to face him, his hand adjusting the piece on her chest.

“Thank you, it’s beautiful.”

His fingers lingered on her skin for a moment, her breath hiking slightly. She leaned in and kissed him, the pair’s lips and hands exploring each other as he lifted her into his arms and carried her to his bed.

“W-what about the g-game?” She asked in a teasing tone as he tossed her down. “Weren’t you j-just rushing me about being late?”

He smirked at her as he hooked his hands on the fabric on her thong and pulled it to her knees.

“You want me to stop?”

Cocky mother fucker, she thought to herself. He knew exactly what she wanted him to do. Feast on her, love on her, send her to other dimensions. However, she merely gave him a noncommittal shrug that she knew would rile him up, pretending she did not care if their quickie continued or ended.

“Oh really? Aight, ma,” he muttered as he dove between her legs.

Charlotte’s thighs clamped around his head as he slid two fingers into her pussy, which was already dripping with need.

“F-fuck!” She cried out as he curled his fingers into her g-spot, his tongue spelling out his name against her clit. He pulled out every trick he knew, every action he knew turned her into a blubbering weeping mess. And it was not his usual slow build, he hit the gas pedal hard, going 0 to 100 in seconds. “J-just like that… fuck. I l-love it.”

However, Michael was, too, in a teasing sort of mood. The moment he noticed her telltale signs of cumming, he slowed down, stealing her orgasm from her. The first time, she merely groaned, realizing his game fairly quickly. An expletive or two might’ve slipped, her words calling him a few colorful names. But she refused to back down. She knew what he wanted and she was convinced she would not cave.

However, what she did not account for was how much stronger the sensations would feel every time he restarted. Each flick of his tongue and stroke of his finger felt amplified by 10. She bit down on her lip to keep the pleas from falling from the tip of her tongue.

She knew when he finally let her cum, it would be heavenly but the build up was nothing short of torture. Glorious torture… the type she would gladly sign up for again and again but torture nonetheless. However, when he stole her orgasm from her the third time, all that ego and pride flew out the window.

“B-Baby, p-please,” she begged as he brought her to the edge and slowed for the third time. Tears started to spring to her eyes as he detached his lips from her clit.

“You want me to stop?” He asked again as his hands continued fucking her, slow and deliberate, this time knowing exactly what the answer would be. She rocked her hips to meet every thrust, her mind wishing she would will him to speed up, add another finger, or fuck her harder. However, it wasn’t enough. She knew she would have to give in. “Tell me what you want, baby.”

“N-No. D-don’t stop… P-please don’t stop,” she begged, a loud sigh of relief escaping her as he devoured her clit once again. And this time, he did not stop.

Her hands gripped the comforter on his bed, the fabric bunching up in her hands as he finally took her all the way to her peak. He was a God carrying her to Mt. Olympus and she wished she could stay in that moment forever.

A gentle tap to her thigh brought her back to Earth and reminded her to release him from the confines of her thighs.

“S-sorry,” she whispered.

He shook his head as he leaned over her lucid body and kissed her. “That’d be my preferred way to die, if you were wondering.”

“Noted.” His hands grabbed her arms and helped pull her up so she could stand.

“You ready?”

Her eyes grew wide and her jaw fell. She assumed the game was a thing of the past. “You still expect me to go to the game after that??” She gestured toward the bed.

“Yes, and there’s more of that when we get back.”

She wiggled her eyebrows. She did not much care about this basketball game but she most certainly liked the sound of that.

***

Charlotte stayed close to Michael as he weaved them through the crowded stadium. She had never been to a basketball game in person but she had certainly never expected to go to one like this. Security escorted them through back doors and hallways directly to their seats, they did not even get to see the stadium. She had to keep reminding herself that while the perks of fame were new to her, they wasn’t to her boyfriend.

She appreciated that Michael could tell she was a bit overwhelmed. Their hands stayed interlocked, his body close to hers as security directed them. She did not think his sexiness could increase in her eyes but in this light, it did. He was a true Hollywood star. It radiated off him, seas parted as he walked, she watched as he drew the eye of almost every woman they passed by. And it was effortless for him.

By the time they reached their seats, Charlotte was so taken and turned on by his energy that she did not really care to watch the game at all. She wanted to drag him back to his place and finish what they started before they left.

She tried to resist it, resist the way lust always curled in her belly at his smirks and playful glances her way and his touch. Fuck… his hands. Even the most mundane, chaste of touches sent jolts of pleasure and longing through her body that made her want to rip his clothes off. She was just overwhelmed at times by her lust for him. It seemed to never end and was never satiated. But thankfully, she knew it was not one-sided. He seemed just as smitten and taken by her, just as turned on by the simplest of tasks, looks, and touches.

However, one downside of fame was that she had to, at least, appear as though she was not fucking him with her eyes every five seconds. She knew they’d be on camera throughout the night, which meant a level of decorum was required of them both. However, in this honeymoon stage of their relationship where lust and longing were at their peak, decorum was a feat in and of itself.

“This your first Lakers game, right?”

“My first NBA game at all, any team. Another first for you to collect. I’m excited. Don’t really understand it though…”

“Well good thing you got an expert with you.”

She nodded and pecked him on the lips. “Good thing I do.”

Charlotte’s body leaned into his as they settled into the game, one of his arms on the back of her seat while the other rested across her thighs. His hand gripped the meat of her outer thigh and rubbed the soft exposed skin throughout the game. Every so often, he’d lean over and whisper facts or explain things in her ear, his basketball and Lakers knowledge appeared limitless.

She settled back and watched the game and watched Michael and Kevin Hart who sat next to her. They were both thoroughly invested in the game in a way Charlotte was not but found more entertaining to watch than the game itself. They were hilarious and animated, acting as if they were coaches on the sideline instead of spectators. But she imagined it felt that way to them watching from their seats, up close and personal.

Michael’s tutorials throughout the game did not stick, Charlotte too taken by his voice and the discreet but sensual touches on her thigh to retain any of the information coming out of his mouth. By the time halftime started, she realized she had little to no idea what was even happening in front of her as her mind had floated away thinking about the bliss that awaited her when she and Michael finally got home.

They both started chatting and joking around with Kevin Hart and his date as halftime progressed, their conversation cut short by cheering throughout the crowd. The two couples glanced up to find the Kiss Cam on the Jumbotron. It caught a few unsuspecting couples, each one playing along and offering a very cute but conservative kiss for the cameras.

“Awwww… they’re really cute,” Charlotte whispered to Michael, pointing at one elderly couple.

However, she was shocked to look up again and find the camera suddenly on them, the Jumbotron already having their names across the bottom of the screen.

Michael leaned in and whispered, “What do you say we give ‘em a show?”

She pretended to contemplate as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to kiss him, which made him scrunch his face up in faux offense. She laughed and gave him a quick peck before the announcer called out their chaste kiss.

“You two can do better than that!”

Michael’s finger went to her chin, lifting her gaze to his, before he grinned and pressed his lips against hers. It was sensual and slow but still tamed as he knew the entire stadium watched. However, she savored the few seconds it lasted. His lips lingered against hers for a moment, such a featherlike touch that let her know he was exercising extreme control and restraint.

Her legs tightened together as they pulled away, offering a polite wave to the crowd before the camera moved on to spotlight another couple.

“What’d you say we get outta here before the fourth quarter?” He whispered in her ear, his intentions clear with every word.

“I’d say even that’s too long but I’ll manage.”

“Y’all two are nasty,” Kevin remarked, teasing the couple, which caused both of them to turn their heads in embarrassment. “Been a couple in public for 10 minutes and don’t know how to act. Get some couth about you, damn.”

What came next were the longest 12 minutes of Charlotte’s life. Followed by the longest car ride of her life and the longest walk into Michael’s house. By the time they entered, they did not even make it to his bedroom. They just stumbled into his kitchen, their limbs moving on pure muscle memory through his dark house and into the kitchen. As soon as his hand met the counter, he hoisted her up and got on his knees between her legs.

However, before he could hook one leg over his shoulder to continue worshiping her, she sat up.

“No,” she shook her head, pulling his face to hers. “I don’t want that. I want to taste you.”

He stood up, allowing her to fall to her knees below him, licking her lips as she unbuckled his jeans. She had been dreaming about this for the last hour. It had taken her a few days to get over her own hangups about giving head. She was good at it but it was a chore to her. Now she laughed at how nervous she had been the first time, surprised that Michael laid back and gave her complete control. Control over his pleasure and the pace. Since then, she found the act made her feel powerful and sexy. She had control, his pleasure at her mercy, and she loved every second of it. And she could tell he did too. It was far from a chore to her now, it was something she looked forward to and craved almost as much as Michael did.

She started off slow, the tip of her tongue lightly licking the underside of his dick. She basked in every moment of it as if he was the best lollipop she had ever tasted in her life. She gathered all the moisture in her mouth and spit on his dick, her spit sliding down his shaft. She slid her lips over the head, just taking the tip of him and sucking lightly as her hand massaged him, spreading her spit along his length. She could feel him twitch beneath her, a groan escaping his lips.

“Don’t tease me, baby.”

“Not enjoying a taste of your own medicine?” She asked, reminding him of his little game earlier that almost had her weeping for release.

He chuckled, nodding. “Aight. But when you don’t get a break later, I don’t wanna hear shit.”

“I think you’re underestimating how much I like a challenge, baby.”

She grinned before enveloping his length into her warm, wet mouth. Though she wished she could tease him, the reality was… she lacked his patience. She wanted to feel him cum and not even proving a point would stop her. She kept her eyes trained on him, loving his facial expressions as she sucked him. His eyes were the most expressive, windows into his soul. And when she was on her knees beneath him, she saw it all: desire, bliss, pleasure, pride, and love.

Her eyes watered as she worked to accommodate him, light and lewd gagging noises filled his kitchen. She was thankful for weekends like this when his parents went back to New Jersey because they could utilize the many surfaces and rooms throughout his house with no fears of interruptions. Lazy sex on the couch while watching a movie? Say less. A quickie bent over the counter while they cooked dinner? More of that, please.

“You take me so well,” he moaned, his hand twisted in her curls. As much as he wanted to take the reigns and fuck her throat, he restrained himself, allowing her to maintain the pace and control she wanted. “You like sucking this dick?”

He could tell she lit up at his praise, a moan vibrating around him as she nodded.

“You look so fuckin’ sexy… that’s right, Els. Take all this dick, baby.”

He panted lightly as Charlotte increased her efforts. Her gagging and slurping sounded filthy as it grew louder and louder as she sucked him, sneaking gasps of air every chance she got.

“I’m g-gonna cum,” he warned her, Charlotte increasing the intensity for a few moments until she felt him bust down her throat. He held her head against him for a moment as she swallowed before releasing her, both of them panting for a moment. However, he did not give her much time for a break.

He did not even give her a chance to strip down before he helped her to her feet and pushed her, face down, onto the counter. She hissed as her bare arms came in contact with the cold granite, thankful she still had her dress on though it was now bunched around her waist. He did not even take her thong off this time, he just pushed it to the side.

She moaned as he filled her, his nails digging into the skin of her hips. There was nothing slow and sensual about it. This was pure fucking. Fast. Rough. Uninhibited. Their bodies were the other’s drug and they were in an outright chase to get their fix of each other.

She used her forearms as leverage to throw her ass back to meet every thrust, not allowing him to do all of the work and proving she still had some stamina to play with. However, Michael would never be outdone so he lifted one of her legs and pressed it against the counter.

Charlotte let out a gasp at the position, the stretch of her hips and how deep she could feel every stroke. All she could do was pant and beg for more as he fucked her fast and deep, her one leg almost giving out beneath her as she came around him. But his grip and strength kept her standing as always.

“I’m cl-close, baby. You want me to cum in this pussy??”

Lost in the clouds of lust and desire, Charlotte did not quite calculate the long term implications of that statement. She could only think minutes ahead and she wanted to feel him fill her.

“Y-Yes,” she moaned.

She let out a content sigh as she felt him fill her, warmth spreading inside her. Her arms collapsed beneath her for a moment as Michael leaned against the counter opposite of her, his eyes never leaving her ass, which was still perched high in the air for him.

As the haze left them both, realization seemed to hit them both like a train.

“You took your birth control today, right?” He asked, scratching his head as Charlotte immediately busted out laughing.

“You know, I feel like it would’ve been smarter to ask that before you came inside me?” She joked, pushing her dress back down her thighs and adjusting her underwear. “But yes, I took it. We,” her voice dragged out the word as she contemplated before deciding it was better to be safe than sorry. “Should still probably pick up some Plan B though… unless you want an oops baby?”

He let out a belly laugh. “If I’m gonna have an oops baby, I’d want it to be with you.” He kissed her on the cheek.

“Awwww,” her lips twisted into a little pout. “That might be the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.” She kissed him. “But we are definitely going to get the Plan B,” she whispered against his lips. “Can’t have your mom and the rest of the world thinking I’m a whore trying to trap you. Put on your shoes.”

He groaned, his body exhausted, “We gotta go right now?? Isn’t it a ‘morning after’ pill? Like it’s still gonna be effective in the morning right?”

She nodded, teetering on her heels. “Yes,” she admitted. “But… I’m starvinggggg. So on the way back from the drug store, we’d already be out and we could stop by… In & Out Burger?”

“I can’t eat that stuff… my diet remember, babe?”

“Come onnnnnn… one cheat meal for me?? We just put in serious work just now, Bakari. We earned a few extra calories.”

He laughed, knowing his trainer would not accept such flawed logic. “Fine but when Calliet gets on my ass tomorrow, you’ll owe me.”

“Deal.” She pulled him in flush to her body. She nippled lightly on his ear, teasing his favorite spot for a moment before whispering. “Tomorrow, I’ll give you a massage.”

“I dunno if that’s gonna be enough.”

She offered him a sly smirk. “Well, I’m sure I can get creative about how to make these calories worth it.”

He nodded and grabbed his car keys. “Come on. I already got some ideas I can tell you in the car.”

Tag list: @certifiedlesbianbaddie @bangtanxmegan @reelwriter19 @prettyisasprettydoes1306 @hi888888sworld @msniaimani @destinio1 @lynaye1993 @chaoticevilbakugo @blackerthings @pipsqueak-98 @miyuhpapayuh

***

A/N: I hope this helps ease the pain! And I'll go ahead and write some fluff to accompany part 10 cause y'all are just gonna hate me again lmaooooo

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