#probably used for missiles later too

[swan2swan]

YES.

More evidence for my "Daniel/Masrani purchased this island from the military and now Daniel owns it personally" hypothesis!

It wasn't even Mantah Corp's island, it's Daniel Kon's island!

[celestialtrolls]

*barely resisting urge to type that rennra has hacked his way into knowing nuclear launch codes*

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Cats

Alien: Thanks for inviting me over. Alien: I’ve never been in a human’s home before so this will be- *sees cat sitting on couch* Alien: What is that? Human: That is Fred. *Turns to cat* Human: Say hi Fred. Fred: *MEOW* Alien: I was not aware you had a roommate. Human: What? Human: No, he’s my pet. Alien: You keep a sentient being as a pet? Are you a monster? Human: No; but Fred is. Fred: *MEOW* ----------------------

Alien: *goes to sit down, accidentally steps on fluffy ball* *Cat’s head shoots up* Human: You need to run. Alien: What? Why? Human: You just stepped on Fred’s favorite toy. Alien: So that means I am in danger? Fred: *low growling sound* Human: It’s too late….. --------------------------

*Thirteen stitches later* Alien: How can something so fluffy be so angry!?!?! Human: Domestication probably. Alien: Is that not meant to breed out the violence? Human: Normally yes, but with cats it just condensed it. ------------------------

*Next day* *Door slowly opens* Alien: Is it safe to come in? Human: Let me check. *Picks up Fred and holds him in front of alien* Fred: *Low growling noise* Human: No it is n- Alien: *Slams door shut quickly* ---------------------

*Two days later* Alien: *Sipping drink* Alien: What can I do to win over your furry slave? Human: First off, he is a pet not a slave. Human: And even if that was the situation I technically am Fred’s slave. Alien: *Surprised* You are one of the most advanced species in the galaxy; having mastered space travel and the manipulation of matter itself. Human: And yet I am the one cleaning up his shits. Alien: *Opens mouth to counter, then sips instead when nothing comes to mind* ----------------------

Human: Why does it matter that you want Fred to like you? Human: I thought you hated him? Alien: Were he not an animal I would have sworn a blood oath to destroy him and his family for what he has done to my face. Human: I ask again; why does it matter? Alien: Because for reasons beyond my understanding I feel compelled to have that little death machine love me. Human: Welcome to being a cat owner. ------------------------

*Three days later* *Door slowly opens* Alien: Are you ready? Human: I’ve got Fred. Alien: And you’re sure this will work? Human: Positive. *Alien walks in and Fred starts growling* Human: Get ready; I’m releasing Fred. *Puts Fred down who begins sprinting towards alien* *Alien holds out tiny tube with goop pouring out end* Fred: *MEOW!* *Stops murder sprint and begins sniffing and licking tube enthusiastically* Alien: So you bribe him with food? Human: Works on us humans as well. ------------------

Alien: Do you think I have won him over? *Fred walks up and brushes against Alien* Human: I think you’re good.

Alien: It felt like being embraced by the goddess herself. --------------------

Alien: So besides eating, sleeping, and acts of disproportionate violence; what else do they like to do? Human: Fred loves to play. *Picks up laser pointer and flashes it around room* *Fred’s head shoots up, does the butt wiggle, then lunges at the laser* Alien: What fascinating technology. Human: Yeah; we also use this to guide missiles for air strikes in wars. Alien: Your pet enjoys playing with tools of death? Human: I think that’s one of the reasons he enjoys it so much. ------------------

Alien: *Looks down at shirt* Alien: What is this? Human: Oh yeah, forgot to mention he’s a heavier shedder. Human: Sorry about that. Alien: Do not worry, for I too shed my skin. *Proceeds to peel off skin until raw muscle and bone is left* *Casually tosses aside empty skin suit which Fred walks over to and cuddles in* Human: Thank you for that fresh nightmare material. Alien: *slurring words due to no lips* Yoooou’re welllllcoommme.

[hyoukanee]

Probably the most annoying thing is that all the ships got good and dramatic moments, but not Meljay. I was sure that Jayce would die (both with Vik) and Mel would return to Noxus so I expected a breakup. But they could have done it… better? I so wanted a reunion after Act 2 and in the end what did we get? Jayce yelling at Mel and accusing her of things she didn't even know about??? Literally a couple of minutes later he quickly and dryly apologizes, but it really sucks. I feel bad about how it all ended. I can't believe that Jayce didn't genuinely fall in love with Mel in s1. All their scenes, his touches, kisses, gentle smiles. And Mel. I don't dispute the fact that she used him at first. But they became something more for her too. Did she care about him? Yes. Did she truly love him too? Yes. How did she protected HIM (not technology) from her mother? HOW did they smile at each other before Jinx fired the missile? And it all ended LIKE THIS? I honestly feel like the other couples were made for the fans and since no one likes Meljay (thats not true lol) they decided to just ruin them completely. Because even the breakup could have been done better. Without the screaming and accusations. Without those dry one-second scenes. Not after season one. overall I am ok with this season. there are some problems, rushing and some other complaints, but what they did with the Meljay is a disappointment. IMHO.

[gatitties]

HEYYYY I hope ur doing fine!! And that ur having a happy thanksgiving/ Christmas! I got a request for u!! I saw ur rules and saw that you can write for demon slayer too! And i wanted to ask.

Can I request a Strawhats x Teen!Tanjiro! Reader? Where the reader is a sweet, compassionate and kind kid. They have a heart of gold and they’re very responsible and respectful!! Though they can get annoyed when someone is rude or being cowardly. But they’re so sweet and encourage others so much!!! They always go around doing chores, cleaning, helping out without needing to be asked. They’re so lovable and cuddly!!! And the crew loves their youngest member!! They’re not afraid to ask for help and they know when to let others handle it without a complaint, always smiling and being gentle and sweet with others!!

Take your time with the request!!! I love your writing sm and I hope u never stop! Please and thanks!!!❤️

─Strawhats x teen!Tanjiro!reader (Platonic)

─Summary: You are the most admirable and educated person on the ship despite being the youngest person, your senses make you stand out in addition to your kindness.

─Warnings: none

I'm sorry it took me so long to answer this, but a lot of things accumulated, I hope you like it and that you had a nice Christmas 😭🫶🏻

─ You are probably the most trustworthy person on the entire ship even if you are the youngest.

─ You are so reliable and kind, you always sit and listen to Nami's problems when she gets irritated, you solve the fights between Sanji and Zoro, you have long talks with Robin about books that she recommends to you…

─ Everyone appreciates your presence because you are reassuring, no matter what problem they are in, you will always make sure that before acting, everyone thinks with their heads, at least almost everyone since it is impossible to stop Luffy's impulses.

─ You practice your sword movements with Zoro, although you have no one who can teach you or guide you better in your breathing methods.

─ Chopper is stressed when you decides to risk your health for the sake of others, which is, most of the time.

─ You are young and you still don't know many things about the world, which is why you are always hanging around the ship, asking random questions in order to learn more, Jinbe is always your trusted source when you don't know about something, Brook and Robin also help because of who are from the elders.

─ You love playing with Luffy, Chopper and Usopp with anything they propose, however you are out of pranks if you know they might bother someone, it's fine if they are innocent pranks.

─ You are willing to help with anything, Franky loves that you are his little helper even though you have no idea about the materials he asks you to give him.

─ When Sanji discovers your good sense of smell, he decides to train you in the kitchen so that you can not only smell danger, but also good food.

─ The first time they saw you hit your head on something they thought you would have a concussion later, however you got up shaking your head to remove the remains of the thing you had broken.

─ Luffy wants to launch you like a missile after seeing that, just to see how many things your hard head can break.

─ Don't worry, Nami will hit him kindly just for thinking about using you as a weapon of destruction.

─ This crew loves you, but seriously, you can't take pity on all your enemies, some will take advantage of your kindness.

─ The least they want is for you to be affected by your gentle personality, they will fight to maintain that warm smile that makes them melt as if you were the sun itself.

[oinkinpigprince]

Charlie and Pim x pregnanthuman!reader!!?? nf/ ofc

Idk if you mean like, polyamory or separate but I’ll go w/ separate just in case. I think it’s so funny how the internet forms its language. Using x to mean shipping and ! As a form of tagging a specific thing, so silly :33c

Pregnant!Human!reader headcanons

Pim

So excited!! He’s ALWAYS wanted to be a father, he plans everything for the kid. Kinda over plans shit and you have to step in lest you have no say in the baby stuff

Loves all the maternity things like gender reveal, baby shower, ultrasound pics. He’s so ecstatic for everything. Pim will gladly help with anything you need too!

Pim will help you with anything you need, he is on your beck and call. Need a hot bottle? got one in the micro wave, want peanut butter and onions? Disgusting! Right away. He doesn’t questions anything

Pregnancy hormones are a bitch but he’s willing to soothe you about anything. He can’t understand how hard it is, but wants to help you.

When the first kick happens he’s so excited! Asks what it feels like and is, kinda horrified, it actually feels like being punched in the stomach? That’s bananas

Shows everyone in the office the ultrasound photos, he has a picture in his wallet, he has it as his phone screen. He doesn’t care who they are they WILL see his baby.

Will gently rub your tummy when you two cuddle. He just finds it soothing. Knowing his baby is in there, and you’re right here.

Pim is truly delighted to be having a baby and he couldn’t be happier to have it with you, the love of his life. No matter what he’ll try and be a great father.

Charlie

When you first told him you were pregnant he literally said “oh, for how long” “uhh, nine months probably.” “Oh, that’s cool that’s cool.” Reality didn’t hit him yet

BUUUT when it did he freaked the fucked out, in a good way. He couldn’t believe it! You were pregnant! With his kid! That’s bonkers! He picks you up and spins you around

Charlie isn’t as on hands with the baby shit but still eager to help with planning, just tell him to do shit and he will. He also tries to make it to every doctor appointment just to be with you

When they found the first signs of a heart beat he started to tear up, it was so real for him. He never felt more happy than that moment just to be with you and his child

Loves putting his hand on your stomach, kinda a like a way to say “that’s MY baby, and MY partner.” It’s a subconscious thing to him tbh, just does it out of instinct

He likes to talk to your belly, especially during the later stages of pregnancy. He pretends he’s talking to the baby to make you laugh.

He keeps joking that you two should set off a missile for your gender reveal. Maybe go higher than California and destroy the moon. For funsies :33c

He never realized how excited he’d be to be a father and is really happy to be there for you, when ever you need him

[missbunnybunny]

* You have a new message from Widow.*

*Ghost opens message*

Widow:

Ghost: Who's driving? How did that happen?!?

Ghost: Widow respond! What the fuck is happening??

Widow: soap, and I don't know🤷🏽‍♀️.

Ghost: my office, NOW.

_ in the office_

Soap: she lied ! It was her. *pointing at Widow like a kid *

Ghost: Widow's taking the video. 😐😑😐

*Widow :You have activated my trap card*

Widow: hehehe, ya played ya self. * Snickering behind gaz and König*

Soap: I can't believe you.

☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆

*Widow watching soap and Ghost train while eating her Popsicle*

*Ghost does this to soap*

*Widow, almost choking on her Popsicle*

Widow: Kaff! Kaff!

*König hitting her back*: You alright, maus?

Widow: Is he dead 😨???

Ghost: No, he's just being dramatic 🙄 😒.

Soap: Grandma, is that you? am coming.

Widow: No- she Dead.

* My guy soap, seeing the light*

♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•

Ghost: What are you laughing at?

Widow: It looks like the recruits are having a good time. * 🤣🤣*

*Ghost looking outside the window.*

Ghost: Huh,was that Graves? * points to the person getting attacked*

Widow: si, best hilight of my day. *Wipping tears off her eyes* Ah~...hahaha!🤣

Widow: Can I have the recording later?

Ghost: Why not. I'll get a copy, too.

☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆

*Widow explaining what happened to ghost*

Ghost: Repeat that again.

Widow: Wait - no, ma. You see what had happened was😅.....

Ghost: 😶

Ghost:......Your ground.

Widow: Come on, am not 12!!

Ghost: to your room, young lady.

Widow: Fine, but soap was the one that did it. I didn't take the missile and blow up grave's house it was an accident.

*Ghost was left even more confused than when this started. Being a parent is so hard.*

🎶A single mom who works two jobs

Who loves her kids and never stops

With gentle hands and a heart of a fighter

I'm a survivor🎶*

♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•°♡•

*Saop and gaz doing stupid shit *

Ghost: I'm surprised you're not doing it as well.

Widow: Nah, at the top, they have to pass a bush. That shit poison Ivy, no way am touching that!

Ghost: Why didn't you stop them?

Widow: cuz, they having fun, and they look happy😊. Also, if they get sick, I get to eat their snacks.

Ghost: That's vail. Good on ya, kid.

Widow: i think we should probably stop them. I think gaz is gonna go flying at any moment now.

Ghost: ya right.

* A few seconds later, gaz did go flying for a few meters or so* ( super Mann 🦸🏾‍♂️ wushh)

☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆•°☆

See ya next time. - missbunnybunny

Please like,reblog, or boost this post, THANK YOU!

[writeforfandoms]

Waking Lions 14

Find the series masterlist

We learn more about Ace's past and her connection to Kate. Also, she finally gets a meal.

Warnings: swearing, past violence, mention of past murder, Ace is still morally gray, Price still needs his own warning.

Word count: 1.7k

Captain went out first, making sure the way was clear for you as you locked up. You hiked your bag a little higher up on your shoulder and followed him down and out to the street, where an SUV was waiting for you. 

“Ma’am.” Garrick nodded to you from the driver’s seat, and you settled in the back. 

You looked out the window, tired and a little detached after everything. A quick look showed that you’d been working for nearly twelve hours straight. That was… less than ideal. 

“Here.” 

You blinked and refocused your gaze on Captain, who’d twisted enough to hand a water bottle back to you. 

“Thanks.” You took the water, twisting the cap off slowly and taking a drink. You were definitely dehydrated, but you drank slowly, sips at a time, gaze unfocused. 

It had been a hell of a couple days. 

Honestly, now that you were thinking about it, you were surprised Laswell had noticed so fast. Was it just timing? Or had she gotten word of Gray poking around? 

“Nearly there.” 

Captain’s voice made you blink rapidly, lifting your head. Both men were facing forward, which was a bit of a relief. 

You still weren’t sure how you were going to deal with Captain yet. 

Garrick parked and a moment later Captain was opening your door for you. You almost made a teasing remark about him being a gentleman, but… Well, that was too much effort, and you were tired. You just shuffled after him, watching for Kate. 

Kate spotted you first, your eyes locking across the distance. You sighed, long and slow. Oh, this was not going to be fun.

But you still let yourself be herded to a seat across from her, plopping down ungracefully. That didn’t matter. You didn’t need to be graceful right then. 

“What happened?” She looked between all three of you. 

You picked up the menu and held it in front of your face. Captain could start this one. 

“Found her working,” Captain said after a few moments of thick silence. “No evidence of anyone else watching. I doubt anyone knows she’s here.” 

“And why are you here?” Laswell pulled the menu down to stare at you. Damn. She was too good at making you admit things. 

“Gray found me.” It was not any easier to admit aloud, even after all the work you’d put in burning three aliases. “Got a call from one of my clients, she informed me that he was asking around after me.” You let the menu fall to the table, exhausted all over again. Your hands were shaking. Just a little. 

Laswell frowned, leaning back a little in her chair. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure I’m not willing to risk it,” you shot back, tucking your hands under your thighs. Not that you really thought they had missed your shakiness. 

“Which contact?” Laswell tapped her fingers on the table. “Who told you?” 

You frowned at her. “No.” 

“I need to know where to start looking.” 

You sighed, tipping your head back. Valeria had called you, but she’d said he had been asking around. Okay. Gray wasn’t the type who went to underlings, so he hadn’t been asking Las Almas in particular. He’d been asking around that layer of criminal organization. Valeria knew some Russians and some AQ, which was how she’d gotten mixed up in the missile business. 

It was possible that White was just a coincidence… But now you weren’t so sure. Especially given that the last place you’d heard about Gray was in the Middle East. And the Russians had ties to AQ. 

In retrospect, you were amazed you hadn’t put the pieces together sooner. 

“He’s probably working with AQ, or adjacent to them.” You spoke quietly, without looking at any of them. 

“He wasn’t that eager to watch the world burn,” Laswell pointed out.

“Last conversation either of us had with him was years ago,” you pointed out, dull, flat. “It’s likely his morals have further skewed. Or he’s decided the ends justify the means. Or he thinks he’s using them for his own ends.” You shrugged, just a little movement. 

Captain nudged you, and then again when you didn’t straighten up fast enough for him. “You need to eat.”

You thought about arguing, you really did. But he wasn’t wrong. You flapped a hand at him, letting the others order first as you scanned the menu until you found something vaguely appetizing. Good enough. 

“So who is this guy?” Garrick asked, glancing between you and Laswell. 

“Crazy asshole,” you muttered, leaning back in your seat again. Your eyes burned a little from too many hours spent staring at a screen. 

“Bad news,” Lazwell added. “He’s got ties to weapons smuggling, but he hadn’t previously been a terrorist.” 

You grimaced but shrugged. Eh. Close enough. 

“And why does he want to kill you?” Captain spoke quietly. You could feel his gaze on you. 

“He’s wanted to kill me for years.” Your voice was too flat. This was a tone you hadn’t heard from yourself in years. You didn’t like hearing it now. “He decided to take over my father’s business a long time ago, had him killed, tried to have me killed. Didn’t work, obviously.” 

“The fact that you turned witness against him didn’t help his opinion any,” Kate pointed out. 

You huffed softly. “And you still couldn’t keep him locked up.” But there was no vitriol in your voice. This had happened a long time ago, you’d come to terms with it already. 

“You’re staying with someone until we get this sorted.”

That got you to lift your head and glower at her. “No.”

“If he knows you’re alive and he’s searching for you, you’re in danger. Until we can deal with him, you shouldn’t be alone.” 

You grimaced. She wasn’t wrong, exactly, but you hated it. “Don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

“You can stay with us.”

You blinked at the unexpected offer from Captain. “I dunno,” you drawled. “Sure you won’t try to kill me?” 

He huffed out a soft laugh. “Not on my to-do list,” he agreed glibly. 

“Good.” Laswell looked between the two of you with something very much like satisfaction, which was setting off all kinds of little alarms in your brain. Kate trying to meddle in your life was very much not a good thing. “We can discuss what you still need to do.”

You narrowed your eyes a little at her. “In terms of…?” 

“Your research.”

You blew out a soft breath. Right. Research. The thing you were supposed to be doing before you heard about Gray. “Dunno what more I can get,” you admitted, rubbing your forehead briefly. Now that you were actually paying attention to your body, you definitely had a dehydration headache. “Especially not without getting any closer to Gray.”

“You think he’s involved?”

“I think I’d be a fool to assume otherwise at this point.” You rolled your shoulders, drinking half your water in one go. 

Laswell was silent for a few long moments, just watching you. It didn’t make you nervous, not after all this time. Sure, you didn’t want her meddling, but you trusted her. 

“We’ll discuss this more after you’ve slept on it,” she decided. 

You scoffed but didn’t argue. You didn’t have the energy for that. Food arrived and you all ate, though Captain and Garrick talked quietly. You just focused on your food, working through it with a sort of exhausted determination. 

“I’ll do some looking on my side,” Laswell said, looking at Captain. You forced yourself to pay attention, though you were fading fast now that some of the frantic desperation of the situation had faded. 

Captain nodded. “Tomorrow, then?” 

“Tomorrow,” Laswell agreed. 

Captain stood, as did Garrick. It took Captain nudging your chair for you to stand as well, holding back a groan. Yup. You’d definitely spent too many hours hunched over your computer. The three of you were silent as you walked back to the car, Captain opening the door for you again. 

“Do you have everything from that apartment?” Captain asked you. 

You blinked, slow and sleepy. You needed to not be, but you’d hit your limit. The food had really cemented your fate - rather than invigorating you, the food was sending you on the fast lane to snooze land. So it took you longer than normal to answer him. “Yeah.” 

He nodded once, glancing back at you as Garrick started to drive. “You’ll stay with one of us.” 

“Bossy.” You made a face but couldn’t muster the energy to truly fight him. Not on this. Not now. 

He huffed softly. But he didn’t say anything else. Something you were rather grateful for. 

You weren’t up to your normal verbal jousting just at the moment. 

The drive to their hotel was silent, and you slowly tipped sideways into the door. Your blinks got longer and slower as you struggled to stay awake, the quiet climate controlled air too soothing. 

The car stopped and your door opened. You probably would have slid right out except for Captain bracing you, chest firm under your shoulder and temple. 

“C’mon,” he rumbled softly. “Just get upstairs and you can sleep.”

“Not sleepy,” you grumbled, just to be contrary. But you could barely peel your eyes open, instead listing harder into him until he reached across you to unbuckle your seatbelt. 

You did make sure you had your bag, though. You needed that. And you refused to give it up. 

“Up we go,” Captain murmured, soft and amused and rumbly and entirely too pleasant. You stumbled a little, but Captain held you upright and kept his arm around your waist, guiding you inside. 

You didn’t pay much attention to anything, too tired and out of it to bother to try. Captain wouldn’t let you get killed. Or grabbed. Not while he was right next to you, anyway. 

A door opened and Captain pulled you through. A moment later he was gently tipping you into a bed, and you sighed as you went entirely limp. He huffed and pulled your shoes off for you. 

“Sleep well, love,” he murmured, one finger gently touching your temple. 

And you were out.

[mariyekos]

New DMC Anime Trailer Breakdown Part 2

Hit the image limit on Part 1 so to a new post we go!

This guy that Dante punches has a bunch of metal on his face, and what might be a prosthetic, might just be a metal glove. What's interesting is this anime has Dante fighting a lot of humanoid characters, which is a little bit of a departure from some of the games, but honestly not that crazy. He does fight people from time to time across various media, and in the DMC1 Novel we even hear about the people who hunt him down. What has me interested here is whether this guy is fully human, or if he's been modified in some way, and if he's been modified, if he'll have any demonic traits or it'll just be the metal. It would be interesting to contrast a human trying to transcend normal human limits through human means (by making themself into a machine) with Arkham, who is a human trying to transcend humanity by using demonic power to achieve godhood.

Skipping a bit so if you want to see the things between the last two images please go to my previous post where I ran out of room. As for the two green/turtle-like demons Dante fights on the rooftop, I've got to say I'm a little disappointed in some of the demon design. I love how creepy/demonic a lot of DMC demons are, and while some of them would probably be hard to animate, I feel like they still could've been more...I don't know. Creepy looking? Compare it to the Hell Gluttony from DMC3, which is a much creepier/more scary DMC cloaked enemy. Not sure if the demon above was meant to call back to these guys, but I think it would've been fun to have some references to DMC enemies even with the generics.

As for the shot above this, seeing this shot all I could think was "infested chopper" and I haven't even played DMC2. I've just seen the memes. '

Zooming in I'm not sure who this guy is supposed to be. (Right image comes from later in the trailer). It can't be Agni because we've already seen him and the blade doesn't match. This demon wields a sword and has something in the middle of his chest though. I have a feeling that's going to be important. (Also complete crackpot theory: this guy's hair is a similar color to the pendant(?) from earlier, but surely this can't be related). He looks mutated, with more spikes emerging from his right arm, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was a human turned demon or something.

Looking at the gatling gun and missile heading toward an armored truck, I wonder if the military is going to get involved in this one. Police officers showed up a few times in the old anime, and the military DID come for the Qliphoth incident in DMC5, so it's possible the military may intervene in this one. That the missile is heading for an armored truck is interesting though. Are there two human factions at war with each other? Will this missile be deflected? Will it be just the military, or will there be groups like the ones we see Dante fighting that may get involved? The giant portal to Hell that opened up in the sky could definitely draw attention.

Then we have red eye/ red sclera Dante while fighting mysterious red guy from above! Interesting. We see that in the DMC3 manga too (assuming his sclera are meant to be red here instead of black). Both he and Vergil do it.

I'll probably also do a write up on overall thoughts, but I'll cut it here so I can link these posts. Edits to come!

[winterchimez]

The Spy Who Loved Me | Lee Sangyeon

SUMMARY: you had a clear mission: find out what happened to the missing submarines and get your hands on the microfilm being sold illegally on the market. it was a fairly straightforward task, and you were certain that you would be able to complete it in no time—that is until you crossed paths with the infamous Agent 007 himself.

PAIRING: 007!Sangyeon x agent f!reader

GENRE: james bond / 007 au, spy, crime, angst, suggestive

WARNINGS: nc-17, its a james bond / 007 au so...expect it to be action-packed, mentions of blood, murder, mentions of gadgets and weaponry (guns, missiles, snipers), petnames (honey, sweetheart, princess), violence, Sangyeon is so goddamn flirty here i had a hard time writing this folks (expect loads of teasing and flirting from him 😃), kissing, making out

WORD COUNT: 9,276

A/N: here is my submission for the 007 files collab!! i've chosen the film the spy who loved me & obviously sangyeon (which later on i realised that i should not have wrote this film for him bcs i was going through a crisis...yall would know why as you read this 🫠) i tried my best...wished i could've executed it better but its done and dusted!! shoutout to @momhwa-agenda for always, ALWAYS, beta reading my works for me & that she's always there for me throughout the entire process 🥹🫶🏻💗

You weren’t too sure how you even managed to get yourself into the mess you were in.

Your mission was as clear as day: find out what happened to the missing submarines that had been stolen from the British and Russian army and to get your hands on the microfilm which contained illicit submarine tracking systems that were being offered for sale on the black market.

It all started out fairly smoothly—leave Russia at 5 in the morning to catch the earliest flight possible to Cairo and meet up with a man named Max Kalba, who apparently has his hands on the microfilm itself. By evening, you had safely arrived at the club after tracking his movements while scouring the bar. Sure enough, you eventually find him sitting at the corner of one of the rooms, enjoying the performance that unfolded right before his eyes.

After a few attempts to talk your way out with the club workers, you finally made your way towards the infamous man himself. You sat beside him and tried your best to coax him into handing over the microfilm.

That was until you heard a thud coming right next to you. The individual took a seat down with his glass of whiskey in hand, spinning his alcoholic beverage. At the same time, he attempted to cut right into the conversation you were having with Mr Kalba.

“Why, good evening, Mr Kalba. I’ve been eager to reach out to you-” he paused momentarily before moving his free hand to pick yours that was laid on the hems of your dress, leaving a gentle kiss on your hand. “It’s also my pleasure to meet such a beautiful young lady like you,” he winked.

The male was dressed in a full tuxedo, the suit tugging on his skin a little tight, which obviously shows that he has been hitting off the gym for quite some time. His brunette hair was parted to the sides, his shiny forehead out and shining brightly. He also paired his look with a pair of glasses, and you could’ve sworn that he probably wore a little lip tint, given the fact that his lips were a little too bright red than the usual men you have come across.

You were used to men swooning over you or using all sorts of methods to impress you because, respectfully, you weren’t labelled as one of the wisest yet most beautiful KGB agents in history. It was also part of your tactic to get them to fall for you first before you eventually turned the tables and used them to your advantage.

However, something in this person’s eyes seemed a lot different than the men you have encountered in the past. Something tells you that this man isn’t someone to be taken lightly off, as he looks back up to you with this malicious intent.

It was as if he was trying to tell you to challenge him.

What was he then? Was he after the microfilm just like you were?

After a few minutes of the male trying his best to break the ice between Mr Kalba, this whole facade that he has been working hard on finally comes to a halt as he leans over, intertwining his fingers, and stares intently at you.

“I would like to purchase the microfilm.”

As far as you knew, only the KGB agents were aware of the missing submarines and the microfilm being sold on the black market. You were certain that the general had made it clear to you that none of the other agencies or associations were aware of this matter, and it was strictly up to the KGB agents to deal with the case privately.

So who was he? Why did he know about your supposed mission?

The adrenaline came rushing all over you, and you needed to do something and act fast before the microfilm fell into the wrong hands.

“I would like to bid for a higher price, Mr Kalba,” you announced, leaning in close to the infamous man to give him a little whiff of your perfume, hoping he would fall for you. Sure enough, the man couldn’t resist the scent or your outfit before responding to the other male waiting patiently at the side.

“I’m sorry, gentleman. You heard the woman, and clearly, you’re at a disadvantage right here, don’t you think?”

“Well then, I suppose I just have to bid higher than the stunning woman herself, no?” he said confidently.

Mr Kalba was certainly intrigued and was ready to hear the male’s proposal before he got interrupted by one of his servants, ushering him out to another room to pick up an urgent call. Once he was out of the room, the male suddenly moved closer towards you, to the point that his shoulders were touching yours, leaving little to no space between you both.

“Who are you exactly?” you bluntly spat out, not giving him the opportunity to start the conversation, at least like normal strangers would.

“Aww sweetheart, that’s some very bold language you’ve got there coming straight out of your mouth. You don’t trust me at all, huh?” He leaned in closer till you felt his hot breath on your bare skin.

“You’re a spy; which agency are you working for?”

“That’s too blunt.”

“I’ve got no time to waste,” you replied.

Before the male could even give you a proper response, something made him turn his head immediately towards the other room. He stared at the locked door for a good couple of seconds. He immediately examined the room, not caring about your presence, causing you to trail him from behind.

Once he did manage to pick the lock, the both of you were met by the lifeless body of Mr Kalba, lying in a pool of his blood. The male immediately bent down to examine the body up close, shaking his head when he did not feel a pulse on his wrist. Before he was ready to leave the body, he noticed the marks that were left on the side of his neck, causing his eyes to widen at the sight of it before he began marching down the hallway.

You wouldn’t get your potential witness or suspect off that easily, so you decided to jump onto the vehicle he had stolen from outside the party—a food truck.

As you easily opened the passenger door and slipped right into the vehicle, the male glanced at you before diverting his attention back to the road and driving off into the darkness.

It seemed as if the male could tell that you had so many questions to dump on him, but he beat you to it before you could even open your mouth.

“Major Y/N is working for the KGB. An agent who has never failed a single mission and is always on the hunt for the most notorious criminals across the globe. A seductress, seducing men has always been your primary method to manipulate people and get them to cooperate with you-”

“Okay, you made your point,” you cut him off. “Now, tell me what made you decide that driving into the darkness in the desert is the most plausible reason, given the situation that we’re in now.”

“Honey, you’re a high-ranking agent from the KGB; I’m sure you have noticed the bite marks on the late Mr Kalba’s neck,” he replied nonchalantly.

Bite marks? You were confused. You definitely saw that the source of the blood was oozing out from his neck, but you never did witness bite marks upon the wound with your naked eyes. Could it be that you missed a crucial detail? And how was the man able to catch onto something you couldn’t?

Your stunned behaviour and look gave the male more than enough reason to believe that you couldn’t examine the body up close, so he did you a favour by telling you all about his thoughts and predictions.

“Those bite marks belong to a notorious criminal that you and I have been trying so hard to catch over the past few months, and I’m sure that will certainly ring a bell now.”

Sure enough, it did, and there was only one person you knew of who also committed crimes with the same modus operandi.

“Jaws.”

“That’s right, honey. Let’s go meet our man of the night, shall we?”

After hours of driving through the desert, both of you arrived at a seemingly deserted site filled with tons of broken-down monuments and statues.

There was absolutely no reason for anyone to come here at all, so you knew from the back of your mind that this would be the perfect hunting ground for Jaws as there was also barely any signal out here, making it nearly impossible to contact the headquarters if something tragic were to happen.

As the two of you stepped out of the vehicle, the male immediately took one of his free arms to keep you in place behind him. His other hand was busy reloading a Walther PPK 7.65mm to ensure that he was armed and ready should Jaws ever strike back. You decided it was best to follow in his footsteps while trying to be his other pair of eyes to scour the place.

The place felt eerily silent, almost way too silent. It was an abandoned site, and no one would be in the right mindset to come to a place like this. But the fact that both of you were on the hunt for a wanted criminal paints the situation differently.

Just when the both of you have reached the other end of the site, your sixth sense immediately tells you that something is going to happen within the next few seconds, and that is when you look up to see a brick falling right on top of the both of you. You immediately push both of you out of the way with your quick reflexes before a looming shadow falls upon the male himself.

It was Jaws.

The criminal was already armed with a broken wooden board in hand and began swinging violently at the male to hurt him. The unnamed spy was trying his best to dodge by landing a few punches onto the criminal, which was clearly deemed ineffective, given that Jaws was known for their brute strength and solid defence. Unlucky for the male, he actually took out quite a few hits from the wooden board—you were surprised that he was still standing strong despite having a few cut marks on his bare skin.

You quickly backed away and hid in a corner, trying to take out your revolver where you hid on the holster that was wrapped around your thigh and reloading it with bullets. You have encountered the criminal a couple of times in the past; you knew that normal bullets would do little to no damage to that man; his body was as solid as steel.

Instead, you looked around to see if there was something you could aim at to ensure that the criminal could be stopped momentarily while trying to save the agent who was fighting for his life. A minute passed when you finally landed your eyes upon a rope close to breaking off several metres high from the brawl between Jaws and the agent. There are a few stacks of abandoned materials that would knock them out for a while if they were to fall upon someone.

Quickly running in closer without being detected, you aimed your gun at the rope before mentally counting down for a few seconds before firing the shot. The shot was loud enough to make both males divert their attention towards you, and thankfully, the agent was able to catch on with your doing before he quickly ran towards you and grabbed your wrist to take you away from the site as the wooden boards and abandoned materials came crumbling down directly onto Jaws.

Rushing right back to the vehicle, you offered to drive as you deemed the male himself to be unfit for the driver’s seat (given the injuries he had sustained). As you peered through the rearview mirror, you could tell that Jaws was slowly making his way out from the crumble and would start charging towards you. Not wanting to allow him to do so, you stepped onto the accelerator and quickly sped away from there, not caring if you were going beyond the given limit.

After minutes of driving at full speed, you finally slowed down when you decided you had lost him far enough. Now, you can drive at your own pace while taking in everything that has happened throughout the night until that voice cuts you off from your train of thought.

“Geez, can you female agents not drive at an average speed? Where’s your sympathy for us sitting on the passenger seat?” He sulked.

“I think you owe me a “thank you” instead for what I did back there,” you replied bluntly.

The male could only respond with a smile before he took his hands off the handle and leaned back into his seat. “Actually, I think you might want to thank me instead.”

Right after he finished his sentence, he pulled out a little black USB containing the sole mission you were tasked with for the night.

The microfilm.

But now, it was in the wrong hands, and you needed to negotiate with the agent to find out how he knew precisely about this and who he was working for.

Composing yourself, you took a deep breath before politely asking the male, “What do I have to do to get my hands on the microfilm?”

“Huh, look at you, ready to pounce on me already? Did they not tell you to behave as an agent-”

“Cut off the wild thoughts. I’m only here from the microfilm, and that’s it.”

That was when the male began twirling the USB device on his fingers, giving you a little Yes-I’m-currently-thinking look, trying to rationalise with himself on what to do with you. “How about a glass of red wine while we gaze at the sunrise next morning?”

“What are you, a romanticist?” You growled back, feeling a little annoyed with the answer that he gave.

“Of course, darling. It’s one of the many reasons I always succeed at my job.”

“Clearly, those young ladies need to check their eyesight at the doctors.”

“Now, now…” he pouts before almost laying his hands to rest on your thigh but retracting when he saw that you were giving him the death stare as if you were about to ditch him out here right in the middle of nowhere if he ever had the guts to do so. “Hmph, you’re no fun.”

“What exactly do you want, Mr Agent.”

As you said those words, his flirtatious image began dying down, and he looked at you as if he were being drop-dead serious. You intrigued him, and he was now resting and leaning his arm on the winded-down car windows while he stared right into your soul.

“You’re not bad, Major Y/N. You definitely live up to all the expectations people label you as.”

So, he knew about your identity.

Instantly, you stepped on the break vigorously before pointing your loaded gun right into his face, forcing him to spit out whatever else he was hiding before anything else.

“Time is up. I’ve been patient enough to deal with your nonsense, but I’m done playing pretend. So you better tell me who exactly you are before I pull this damn trigger,” you threatened.

As he looked up and down from the gun to your face, he gently placed two of his fingers right on top of your gun before pushing it down gently so that he could lean in closer so that he was merely inches away from you now.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Major Y/N. The name is Agent 007, better known as Bond. James Bond. You will be coming with me instead, my princess.”

You couldn’t believe it when the general informed you that the Soviet agency would collaborate with British Intelligence. Right after that confrontation in the desert, Agent 007 took over the wheel and drove you both to a secluded area near an oasis, where he informed you that both generals from your respective agencies were already expecting your arrival.

As soon as you both met your superiors, Agent 007 wasted no time briefing the team about what he had found on the microfilm itself (apparently, he could examine it while you were speeding off from Jaws). Unfortunately, the crucial evidence from the film has been removed, and there isn’t much to go on with it.

That was until the infamous agent discovered a faded-off crest at the far end of the film. With Q’s help (the quartermaster of the M16), they could track down the source, which belonged to the famous scientist Karl Stromberg. However, his lab was located in Sardinia, which required a train and a boat ride to reach the island.

Luckily for you, you were pretty familiar with the place itself since you have spent much of your time there hunting down wanted criminals for the past decade, so you practically knew your way around the entire island.

However, it was also unlucky for you that both agencies decided that two brilliant minds like you two would prove to be worthy and crucial for the mission to succeed, causing them to make a pact, and they agreed that both agents would work together to fulfill the mission.

So here you are now, sitting in Agent 007’s car as he drives the both of you up to the highest mansion in Sardinia, making your way towards Mr Stromberg’s lab while posing as Agent 007’s wife.

Yes. Wife.

That idea irked you so much at the beginning, knowing that both of your first encounters with one another weren’t the best, and you certainly did not return the favour of him trying his best to woo and flirt with you. But you knew that taking on multiple identities was part of your job, and so was keeping your personal feelings and emotions out of the way while you were on duty.

With that, you decided to casually guide Agent 007 around the city, securely infiltrate Mr Stromberg’s lab, obtain the necessary information, and quickly leave the islands to return to headquarters.

It shouldn’t be that hard.

Right?

“Say, princess, tell me a little more about yourself.” Agent 007 broke the silence between you two, desperately trying his best to break down the solid wall of ice between you both since that first encounter in Cairo.

Yet, you had no interest in returning the favour and tried your best to turn him down. “I would suggest you drive safely instead. The rocky roads up to Mr Stromberg’s lab are pretty nasty if you’re not careful.”

“Oh, honey, don’t worry about me. I’ve driven pretty much every single vehicle or transport out there. I could take you up in my very own helicopter for a little ride after this whole mission is complete.”

“Don’t bother. I will cut ties with you after we secure the microfilm.”

“Shame. I thought we were getting closer now that we’re partners.”

As soon as you heard the word “partners,” you couldn’t help but feel a sudden wave of anger rise upon you. You began raising your voice to respond to the male while swiftly turning your entire body towards his direction as well.

“You’re insane for thinking that we could ever be partners. Clearly, you don’t prove yourself to be worthy as Agent Seryozha-”

That was when you instantly slapped a hand to cover your mouth, trying your best to calm yourself down as you readjusted your sitting position. You have no idea why on earth this man irks you so much, to the point that you’ve messed up and even brought your lover—well, ex-lover—into the picture.

Agent Seryozha unfortunately passed when he was on a mission in Austria, and a week later, the missing submarines happened, and you were sent off to Cairo. Hence, you barely had time to grieve over your actual partner in crime before you had to convince yourself and everyone else that you’re nowhere near as affected by the sudden news.

But your now bright red face proved otherwise, and Agent 007 was able to catch on pretty quickly to what happened, and he immediately handed you a napkin from his side pocket while his other hand was still on the wheel.

“W-What?” You sniffled.

“Take it, honey. Wipe off the teardrop dripping down your face. It doesn’t look good on you.”

That was when you realised you were crying, and you quickly snatched the napkin away from his hands before drying your eyes. Things went quiet for a while, but he decided that you probably needed some comfort after all that had happened over the past several weeks.

Without saying a word, he instantly intertwined his fingers with yours, holding them tight while giving you a little squeeze to let you know that everything would be alright and you were more than welcome to let out those tears if need be. At this point, you desperately needed this for so long, someone who wouldn’t judge you, and that time could slow down for a little bit. With that, you shut your eyes tightly while letting the remaining tears fall straight down onto your hand as well as his, all while you tightened the grip of your hands with his, too.

After a good minute or two, when you finally could calm down, you mustered up all of the courage left within you to give him a simple answer: “T-Thank you…”

“Call me Sangyeon instead; we’ve now made a pact that we’re partners in crime on our new mission together.”

Thankfully, both of you could easily infiltrate Mr Stromberg’s lab without being detected. Once you got out of the car, you immediately showcased your professionalism by taking on the role of Sangyeon’s wife and linking your arms around his. He introduced himself as Lee Sangyeon, a scientist who was also into marine biology like Mr Stromberg. He was eager to share his recent discoveries with the infamous man himself.

Mr Stromberg strictly requested that only a few people enter his lab one at a time, so you had no choice but to stay in the common area with his assistant while your “husband” went off to attend some business.

Before he left, he quickly turned his attention to you and pecked you on the cheeks, which caused them to heat up fairly quickly. Then he smiled and gave you a little wink.

“I’ll be back real soon, honey.”

As Sangyeon and Mr Stromberg entered the elevators and brought them down to his official lab, you sat on the couch and quickly placed your palm on your cheeks to feel the heat. Unfortunately, your actions did not go unnoticed; his assistant remarked on them, making you feel ten times worse.

“Seems like you both are a newlywed couple, huh?” She smirked.

“W-What! No! I-I mean…what makes you say that?” You tried your best to keep your composure.

“Oh, sweetheart, it’s how you both look at one another, especially your husband, as he came back to peck you on your cheeks. And look at you now, trying your best to reduce the redness and heat that’s rapidly rising,” she commented while moving her fist to cover her mouth as she giggled.

As much as you hated how she taunted you, you couldn’t deny every detail she had just pointed out in her speech. It was true, and you hated how Sangyeon was making you feel things and that you weren’t keeping your cool as usual.

You have made out with many men before this because of your mission, so a little peck on the cheeks would prove to be little to no concern for you. But it was different this time. It was the James Bond, his real name being Lee Sangyeon, who was actually making you feel this way, and you’re not sure what exactly your viewpoint on the man himself is anymore.

Not wanting to create more of a scene, you quietly looked down the entire time while playing with the hems of your dress, trying to calm yourself down and not having other unnecessary thoughts. Mentally, all you wanted was for Sangyeon to get the microfilm and get out of there quickly.

Perhaps this is something you have to discuss with Sangyeon about? You certainly can’t be going on like this forever; it would definitely be best if you both came clean and-

Wait. No. Absolutely not.

There’s no way the KGB's Major Y/N would be vulnerable to small matters like this. You have fought armies, destroyed nuclear weapons, and guided the Soviet army into war; there’s no way a little flirting or romance could crumble you like this.

Because that would be humiliating for you.

After what seemed like hours of waiting, Sangyeon finally returned. He immediately approached you, causing you to get up frantically from the couch before clearing your throat to get back into your supposed role.

“H-How was the discussion with Mr Stromberg, my love?”

“Oh, I assure you, honey, that everything went very well, and it’s time for us to move now.”

With that, you linked your arms with his before you bid farewell to the assistant as she showed the way out. Instantly, you both got into the vehicle and drove off from the lab, heading straight to the docks.

Again, it seems as if Sangyeon hasn’t had enough of the breaking-the-ice talks with you. He decided to keep the ball rolling and would constantly come up with something to discuss when all you wanted was peace and quiet.

Especially after what happened back at the lab.

“Honey, you’re still blushing,” he teased.

“Cut the crap, Sangyeon. We’re no longer in our role-plays.”

“Aww, and I thought we were both finally partners now? What’s with the foul mood once again?”

“Shut up and drive, I swear,” you huffed.

“Or else?”

“I will actually throw you right into the ocean right now.”

“Feisty. I love it.”

Oh, hell no, you were definitely frustrated, alright.

Just before you could make your following remark, a bullet instantly grazes through the vehicle, causing you both to turn your heads behind to see that you were now being chased by several vehicles, all of whom were part of Mr Stromberg’s bodyguards.

“Guess the infamous man himself isn’t so dull, after all,” Sangyeon commented before speeding up the vehicle. As he was about to reach for his revolver, which was hidden on the side of his seat, you immediately stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

“Don’t bother, just continue driving up ahead. I’ll keep them busy.”

With that, you instantly took out the gun that was hidden inside your purse and reloaded the weapon within seconds before you peered your head out from the windows and began shooting at the bodyguards.

It was fairly easy for you, being KGB’s best sniper, as you were able to hit all of the vital spots of the vehicles, causing each of them to lose control before either crashing right into the slope of the hill or into the ocean. However, it seemed as if the vehicles kept coming, for you were not coming any closer to knocking them out for good.

“It seems like Stromberg has way too many henchmen on patrol,” you commented before resuming your work.

At this point, Sangyeon has already driven you nearly half the distance to the docks, and you were coming far from eliminating all of them. Suddenly, things were about to get from bad to worse when a big truck came crashing into you, trying its best to damage your vehicle in hopes of attempting that the both of you would surrender. That was when the driver peered their head out from the windows and immediately aimed his gun towards you.

Jaws.

Sangyeon clearly saw what had unfolded, and he quickly swerved the vehicle to the left in hopes that the criminal would miss the shot (which he did) before pressing onto the accelerator once more to head as fast as he could to the docks. At the same time, the sound of a helicopter's thrum came flying in, and you both peered your heads up to see that it was the same assistant from before driving it.

“Agent 007 and Major L/N, I would highly advise you to hand over the microfilm and surrender quietly right now,” the assistant announced out loud through the radios before aiming her gun towards you both.

You both were stuck in a tight-knit situation: a car chase from Jaws and his men while Stromberg’s assistant was above the high ground. Now, there was nowhere to hide or run.

Or so you thought. 

“Say, Y/N. Can you swim?” Sangyeon asked swiftly.

“W-What? What are you saying-”

Before you could respond, Sangyeon quickly pressed one of the many buttons on his steering wheel, causing his vehicle to launch a missile from the back towards Jaws and his men. The missile instantly hit the cars, and they all blew up within seconds before Sangyeon drove the vehicle straight into the ocean.

Once the vehicle came into contact with water, it seemingly transformed itself into a mini-like submarine, making it easy to navigate and drive through underneath the water.

“Well, it also seems that we should eliminate our unwanted guests, no?” Sangyeon questioned before pressing another button. He launched a missile that shot straight up out from the waters and right towards the helicopter, making it explode almost immediately.

Now that all enemies were gone, Sangyeon rolled his shoulders to relax the tension that he had gotten throughout the car chase before driving smoothly through the waters.

Throughout your time as an agent, you have witnessed and experienced crazy things, but nothing came close to what you had just seen with your very own eyes.

Grabbing onto the handle upon your seat, you turned to Sangyeon and let out a little huff before shaking your head. “You’re insane.”

“I know, sweetheart. That’s why people adore me.”

It has been about an hour since the both of you got back to your accommodations, and you were now just writing in your journal as a time to wind down for a little bit. Both you and Sangyeon had a little chat about the findings he had gotten through the microfilm, and talking to Mr Stromberg himself was that he had a hidden supertanker in the ocean called The Liparus and an underwater base named Atlantis. In order to proceed, both of you needed to wait for your next orders from both generals specifically to arrange a much more suitable transport and disguise to head over to the locations.

So here you were, relaxing with your journal while Sangyeon was busy taking a nice hot bath after all the chase from Stromberg’s henchmen hours ago. When you heard the water supply being turned off, the male stepped out of his bathrobe and took a towel to dry his hair as he approached you.

Once again, your cheek began burning red as you took in the sight before you—his hair dripping wet, his bare face as he just got out of the shower, and the slightly exposed chest from the bathrobe.

It’s illegal to look this good, Lee Sangyeon.

“Like what you see, princess?”

With that, you immediately snapped back into reality, clearly your throat, before ducking your head back to your journal. “In your face, you idiot.”

Just when you thought that returning to your journal would help you escape his torments and flirty comments, you suddenly felt the need to lift your head to see what was happening. You felt that someone had been eyeing you up close for a while now.

Turns out your instinct was true, and you could’ve sworn that you were about to explode anytime now due to the immense heat rising rapidly up to your head as Sangyeon had positioned himself entirely on top of you, both of his legs on either side of yours as he leans his head forward, making you lay back down on the couch.

“W-What on earth do you think you’re doing!” You screamed, covering your face with your journal before the man himself removed it.

“You have been acting strangely since this morning, Y/N. Care to share with me why exactly that is?”

“I-It’s none of your business!”

“Unfortunately, now that we’re no longer strangers but partners, I deserve to know every single detail about what’s going on in that little mind of yours,” he retorted while lifting his fingers to rub your nose, making your stomach feel even worse. “Tell me, princess. Pinky promise that we won’t keep any secrets from each other, no?”

“Jokes on you, we’re spies. We’ll always live a double life. You’ll never get to know about my secrets, ever.”

“Hmm, maybe I can make that happen.”

In the blink of an eye, he immediately leans down to kiss your lips directly, slowly increasing the pressure as he lowers his body to yours. You were too stunned to react and could only open your eyes to see the whole thing unfold before you. Within seconds, he pulled away before rubbing his thumb across his lips, savouring your taste on his.

“Hmm, mango lip balm huh? That’s my favourite kind of flavour,” he smirked.

Goddamn you, Lee Sangyeon.

“I swear you’re so-”

Before you could finish your sentence, a knock was heard from the front door, and Sangyeon immediately got up from you and headed towards the source of the sound. He then unlocked the door to see that a messenger had arrived to pass him a note.

As you squint your eyes to examine the letter from afar, you clearly see the stamp on it, and you know that it is time to cut off all of this nonsense and get back to work as soon as possible.

Sangyeon immediately returns to the living space and opens up to read the letter in his hands. Thanks to Q’s examination, it seemed that The Liparus and Atlantis were keeping something far more threatening, and it was up to you two to head there as quickly as you could before it was too late. The two of you were to board a US submarine that would be passing back to Sardinia early the next morning, with the general already informing the crew abroad about your presence.

“Alright, that seems plausible,” Sangyeon replied before burning the letter into the fireplace (it was what spies usually do after receiving a message about the next mission or crucial evidence anyway).

As you took on the next mission, you stood up before heading back towards your room to pack up for the trip before Sangyeon stopped you in your tracks by posing a question.

“That nightgown sure does look pretty on you.”

You figured you were done trying to escape his comments, so you took a deep breath and tried your best to respond properly. “Yeah, I got it in Austria a few weeks prior. It’s such a beautiful place.”

“Indeed. I miss travelling there; I’ll have to head back there soon.”

“Oh? So you have been to Austria? When was your last trip?” You asked.

“Two weeks ago.”

Just then, that comment suddenly rang a bell in your head. Sangyeon was there two weeks ago, just like you did, but both knew very little about the other. But what if…there was a possibility that he knew about your ex-lover? You were all spies; surely you must’ve known about one another, even in an auditory manner.

Instantly, you marched towards Sangyeon, pulling up a picture of your ex-lover and shovelling it into his face. You desperately wanted to find answers and a conclusion to the case. “Do you recognise this man?”

It took Sangyeon a while to look at him before he stepped away and started pacing around the room. “No, what makes you say that?”

“He was Agent Seryozha, my lover,” you bluntly replied.

After a few moments of what seemed like Sangyeon trying to find the right words to respond to your comment, he placed both hands on his hips and slowly walked towards you.

“Hear this out, Y/N. If you’re out trying to enjoy your little break and someone comes up behind you in an attempt to murder you, you don’t always have the time to remember who the individual may look like. In other words, agents like us must always be prepared to give up our lives in the line of duty. If I knew that, then so did he.”

With one final step in front of you, he stares down at your face before he humbly whispers to you with a “Yes, I did kill him”.

Your facial expression immediately sank and tightened. Both hands balled up into fists, resisting the urge to lose your cool for the millionth time before him. Instead, you calmly tip-toed up to bring his neck down with your hands as you leaned into his ear.

“Well then, thanks for finally putting a closure to this case. So when this mission is finally over, I will kill you with my own bare hands.”

Once you had made your point, you immediately shoved him away and stomped towards your room, slamming the door shut loudly before leaning against it. Taking a deep breath, you just wished this nightmare would end soon.

Just when things finally looked good for us, Sangyeon.

You knew from the back of your mind that kiss meant something, or at least you thought it was. Sure, he was a womaniser, but the Sangyeon you knew wouldn’t go around kissing random women like that. As much as you wanted to ask him about it, you had your ego and pride to keep, not wanting to show that he was winning the little game that he was playing. Hence, you kept your mouth shut and spared little to no glance at the man since the day before, even as you were slowly let down into the submarine sent by both of the generals for you to board to head to Stromberg’s The Liparus to find out what exactly he was hiding truly.

The commander was surprised to see a woman like you on board, but Sangyeon jumped into your defence, and you were immediately let loose, given that they were now aware you were the Major L/N of KGB. After some time of meticulous planning of how everyone would proceed, the alarm started going off immediately, sending everyone on the submarine into a frenzy.

It wasn’t long before you and Sangyeon realised that the tanker had captured the submarine, the vehicle slowly rising from the waters to the docks. Immediately, Sangyeon nudged your shoulders and quietly said that the missing submarines had been found, each hanging up on both sides of the docks.

Now, you have plenty of evidence that Stromberg was the man behind the disappearance of the submarines and the illegal distribution of microfilms.

But the question of why Stromberg did it still remains a mystery.

Why?

“All crew members of the USS Wayne, surrender yourselves immediately with your hands behind your back right this second,” one of the commanders announced out loud from the speakers.

This was when you knew it was time to put your feelings aside and that working with Sangyeon for now was best. You both needed to devise a plan to release the two submarines and save the crew simultaneously. Time was ticking as you were now being escorted out of the submarine to the docks, but Sangyeon managed to take off his cap and place it right on your head, pushing it down to ensure it was intact.

“Stay close to me; I’ll keep you safe from Stromberg’s men.”

You didn’t give him a proper response but managed to walk right in front of him as you exited the submarine, lining up with the crew as Stromberg’s men carefully examined every single one of you. They pulled out batons and immediately started landing a few blows directly onto the crew members as if to torture and humiliate them.

Your blood was boiling, and you couldn’t wait to take these men down with your bare hands. You have done it countless times, taking out an entire army alone; it was easy for you. However, Sangyeon notices that you are about to jump right onto the men and perform a takedown; he snakes his hand to intertwine with yours from behind, putting a slight pressure to tell you this wouldn’t be a good idea for now.

The only thing was: were you going to take up his advice?

As one of the men stood before you, he looked suspiciously at you, examining you from top to bottom before commenting on your body: “You look far too slim and weak to be in the navy, youngster.” Just then, he took his baton to lift your cap, causing all of your long, brown, wavy hair to fall straight down to your shoulders, and his eyes widened upon the sight.

Within seconds, you quickly landed a strong punch into his abdomen before running to do the same to the other men, instantly knocking them out cold. All of the other henchmen on duty on higher grounds quickly started aiming their snipers towards you, shooting recklessly in hopes of one of the bullets hitting you eventually. Little did they know that you are the best sniper in KGB, so obviously, reading and sensing where the bullets were coming from was a breeze in the park.

When you have taken down all of the men at the docks, a shadowy figure emerges upon you, yanking both your arms behind your back, leaving you no room for escape. Suddenly, you felt that familiar breath hit the back of your neck, and you slowly turned behind to look at the familiar figure.

“Jaws.”

“My my! What a sight that was!” Another shadow emerges on the top of the deck, accompanied by a hand-clapping sound that the individual was producing. It was the infamous man himself. “I’ve always wanted to see the infamous Major L/N in action with my own eyes.”

This can’t be good.

“Now, it’s very brave of a woman like you to board my tanker, but I think you’ll be far more useful if you quietly come with me. I could definitely use some help in my office.” He steps in front of you and takes a strand of your hair before he starts twirling it around his finger. As much as you want to retaliate and land a blow into his face to break his jaw, you are stuck and unable to move even in the slightest.

Jaws indeed was an exceptional human being.

“Hate to be the party pooper, but I’m sure I could be of better use to you than she will be, Mr Stromberg,” Sangyeon cuts in as he slowly makes his way towards you both, aiming his revolver right at the mastermind himself.

Mentally, you were sending him death stares, thinking that he was out of his mind to aim his gun at Stromberg when dozens of snipers were already aiming right at him from above. Instead of putting up another joke to ease the situation (which he usually did to tease you), he glared right into your eyes, signalling a code only high-ranking agents like you could understand from the get-go.

Don’t miss my signal, and do it right away.

With a gulp, you carefully examined his body movements and speech, studying his demeanour to explore the opening that would let you know that you could finally retaliate and defeat the criminals themselves.

“Ah, Mr Bond. Your disguise as Dr. Lee the other day certainly did not go unnoticed. I assure you that my men are far more ready to deal with whatever tricks you are about to pull,” Stromberg responded confidently.

“Now, that makes me so happy to hear you have been expecting my arrival. But I must first and foremost deeply apologise, for I probably would not be meeting your expectations.”

That sent a confused look in Stromberg’s eyes, and it was then Sangyeon pointed his gun up and fired a shot, causing the entire electricity to go off in the tanker, making all of the henchmen panic and lose their cool.

Now that it was dark, you had a bigger advantage of taking down the criminals, starting with Jaws. You lifted your legs to land a solid kick up on his thighs, causing him to yelp in pain as he released you from his grip. You quickly climbed up to Jaws and gave him a headlock, knocking him out temporarily so that you had time to deal with the other henchmen for now.

Before you could even make your way up, you noticed Sangyeon’s absence and began hearing multiple men grunting on the upper docks. This gave you more than enough hints that your partner was up there dealing with the mess.

Instead, you decided to follow and hunt down Stromberg, following his faint shadows as he disappeared into the bottom deck. Many obstacles were in the way, such as laser fields and sleeping gas. Still, thanks to your flexibility and agility, you avoided each one, narrowing the distance between you and the mastermind.

Eventually, you reached the control room, where the man stood before the panel, his hands inches away from pushing down on a huge red button.

Aiming the gun right at him, you weren’t going to waste any more time and let him run loose again, and you were finally going to get him to spill all of the motives and deeds he had done up till this point.

“You want to know why I stole the two submarines in the first place, sweetheart? I am going to use the missiles in both submarines to destroy Moscow and New York City and create a whole new underwater world where people could reside.”

“You’re just going to trigger a global nuclear war.”

“And what about it? As long as I have the Atlantis, it’ll all be possible!” He screamed, inches away from pushing the button down any second now. “So say your last prayers to these beloved cities, and join us to start a new civilisation underwater!”

No, you don’t.

Without a thought to spare, you instantly aimed and pulled the trigger at his wrist, the bullet penetrating right through the skin and causing him to pull back as he yelped in pain. You weren’t going to let him live just like that, and you were more than ready to throw the man right into the cold, rising ocean water that was now slowly filling up the tanker.

Right when you were just about to do the deed, someone grabbed your wrist and held you back. It was Sangyeon. “Women like you shouldn’t get your hands dirty; let me do the honours.” With one swift push, he was immediately thrown into the waters, trying to survive the best that he could until the water completely engulfed him.

Sangyeon then turned his head back and walked straight to the panel, typing in a few things that you could barely make out yourself. This made you squint your eyes and try your best to read his fingers on the letters he was typing.

“Don’t do that; it doesn’t look pretty on your face.”

“Mind your own business; what exactly are you doing now?”

“Honey, I’m trying my best to contact the respective submarines to pull back and not fire the missiles, but it turns out that it’s not really plausible since the missiles are already loaded and ready to go.”

“So, what do you plan to do now?”

“Well, there’s only one option left. And that is to make both submarines destroy one another.”

Destroy one another? You have got to be joking. Your mission was to find out the locations of both missing submarines to ensure your respective agencies were safe and sound. So why destroy them now?

“Because that’s the only way to prevent a war from happening, sweetheart. It’s now or never,” Sangyeon made his point loud and clear, and he would not take no as an option. Reluctantly, you finally accepted his decision and gave him a nod, allowing him to proceed with what he was doing.

That was until Jaws interrupted you both once again, this time holding a broken piece of cement from the flood on the upper floors. He quickly aimed and hit you with it, but you dodged it swiftly. It seemed like he wouldn’t go down without a fight, and you certainly couldn’t let him distract Sangyeon while he was trying his best to send coordinates to both submarine commanders.

Then, you noticed an opening where a wired fence had broken apart, leaving a hole that someone could easily fall into if they weren’t careful. Then you decided to take the chance, moving slowly towards that spot while still dodging Jaws’ attacks.

Slowly but surely, you finally began to see an opening, and you immediately moved out of the way, causing Jaws to run right towards the edge of the opening. He started to lose his balance before finally falling straight into Stromberg’s shark tank, which he kept handy while running his illegal business.

After ensuring that Jaws was busy with the shark in the tank, you quickly ran back to Sangyeon, who was now staring intently at the screen with his arms crossed. With that, you clearly got the message that he had successfully sent the respective coordinates and was now waiting for both submarines to launch the missile against one another instead.

“How much longer?” You asked the male.

“Hmm, I’d say in T minus…10 seconds.”

“W-What? 10 seconds? Then-”

“Yes, sweetheart. It’s time to get the hell out of here.”

Immediately, Sangyeon quickly grabbed your wrist and pulled you away. He returned to the docks and found the nearest exit before jumping straight into the escape pod. Sangyeon wasted no time navigating and getting the thing to work as you both quickly got the hell out of the tanker that was about to sink.

Apparently, he could also free the other crew members beforehand while you were busy chasing down Stromberg and had them returned to their submarine. With his signal, the commander on board was to shoot down both The Liparus and Atlantis. In order to do that, both of you needed to get far away enough to make it happen.

After navigating through the open waters for about ten minutes, Sangyeon sent the commander a set of coordinates via the mini-control panel on the side of the escape pod. Two missiles were then launched immediately, shooting down both Stromberg’s hideouts.

It all happened so quickly. Now that both submarines were destroyed, and so was Stromberg’s valued tanker and hideout, the mission was finally accomplished.

Or was it?

Instantly, you pulled out a revolver from your holster and pushed it right towards Sangyeon’s skull. You have always kept true to your promise, after all.

“What is this all about, princess?”

“Like I’ve said before. Once the mission is over, and so will we, I will kill you for what you have done to my past lover.”

Sangyeon immediately shut his eyes and took a deep breath. “Sweetheart, you clearly said that it was your past lover. Would killing me do any good or bring him back to life?”

You hated how much his words stung your heart. You were too blinded by rage and revenge to determine right and wrong. Since the beginning, Sangyeon has always been there and kept you safe while completing the mission. Sure, he was a womaniser and could be a pain in the ass sometimes, but he always kept his word, no matter what he did.

If it wasn’t for him, you weren’t sure you could complete this whole mission alone. Yet, you couldn’t bring it out from your mouth to actually acknowledge his presence in your life and how he was somehow able to give you a sense of comfort throughout the past couple of weeks as you mourned over the death of your ex-partner.

Your grip on the revolver loosened, and Sangyeon made a move to grab hold of your wrist and slowly pull it down. It was evident by now that your tears began flowing again, and he reached out to brush them off with his thumbs before lifting your chin with his fingers to make you look straight into his eyes.

“You have done so well, Major Y/N. I couldn’t be more proud of you as a partner.”

“P-Partner?” You sniffled.

Instantly, his eyes brightened, and he leaned in close to you. “Unless you would like to proceed further than that?”

Not wanting to lose the fight, you placed both hands behind his neck, pulling him in closer to you so that both lips were now inches apart. “Don’t be stupid.”

You had no idea what made you return the favour this time when you have been actively rejecting his comfort and touch for so long. Perhaps it was because you have finally decided to accept reality and move on with life; you didn’t even know much about yourself. But you needed one thing so badly: to feel his lips on yours again.

You couldn’t enjoy it much during your first time with him (well, it was his fault for teasing you and thinking that it would be a good idea somehow to manipulate your thoughts and emotions in a bathrobe). Still, he also wore a cologne that smelled way too good for him, one that would lure you in if you weren’t careful enough.

His lips, god. Never in a million years would his nasty mouth actually hold such plump and flavourful lips, and he definitely knew his way around kissing a woman. He knew the right pace, movement and pressure to please someone, and he was also wearing a mango-flavoured lip balm, very similar to the one you would often wear yourself.

When you both finally broke apart for some air, Sangyeon gave you a grin, and you returned the favour with a slap on his shoulders, knowing that he was going to say something about you.

“So you finally admitted your feelings for me, princess? It took you long enough to do so,” he teased. 

You knew all along that your feelings for Sangyeon weren’t normal. It definitely did seem like Sangyeon was an escape for you to get over your ex, but eventually, it blossomed into something more, and you fell for his charms. At this point, you knew there was no longer a way to hide your feelings, and it was time to face reality the way it is. 

“You could’ve just told me you wanted me this badly, Y/N,” he continued. 

“I’m still going to kill you someday, Sangyeon. Don’t get all cocky,” you deadpanned.

However, the male wasn’t affected in the slightest, and he leans back down to reconnect your lips with his once more.

“Tempting, and I’ll very much look forward to the day when it happens.”

the 007 files masterlist

masterlist

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[petermorwood]

Sound FX oopsie or not?

I was watching a couple of episodes of "The Crown" last week, and picked up yet again on something I'd noticed - heard - before. Unless there's something going on that I don't know about, the sound the show used for phones is incorrect.

They (w)ring wrong. In fact they ring American.

UK / Irish bell-ringer phones, the ones I grew up with - and which you'd expect to hear in Buckingham Palace, Balmoral etc. - had a short double ring, like so: Brringg-Brringg ... Brringg-Brringg ... Brringg-Brringg.

US bell-ringer telephones had a single long-ish ring, like so: Brrriiinnng ... Brrriiinnng ... Brrriiinnng.

It probably sounds unimportant for those too young to have heard these phones unless they've installed a "old phone ring" in their mobile.

However for people who grew up with a particular ring (not that long ago, the phones in those pics brring'd on in homes and offices on both sides of the Pond well into the 1990s) the incorrect sound can be as odd as, for instance, seeing US or Irish / UK cars driving on the wrong side.

It takes a couple of seconds, and then "Oh, that's not right..." (or not left, as appropriate).

Despite more on-line searching than I should have wasted time on, I haven't found either "goof" or "reason why" to explain how those phones in "The Crown" rang the way they did, and it's an itch I'd love to scratch.

*****

Another sound error is depicting modern British emergency vehicles as having two-tone (dee-dah-dee-dah) horns. Not any more - even though an EV going somewhere in a hurry with lights and sounds on is AFAIK still "running blues and twos".

Nowadays "twos" have been replaced by wailer, yelper and oth-er kinds of electronic siren - none of which, IMO, are as efficient as the two-tone either for cutting through ambient noise or indicating which direction the sound and vehicle is coming from.

I've also got a memory of a documentary sometime in the past year about the Battle of Britain and the Blitz (i.e. 1940-41) where whoever dubbed in the sound-effects clearly assumed that a dee-dah tone has always been the British police-fire-ambulance warning.

Ahhh... No.

British emergency vehicles in the 1940s didn't use sirens, horns or klaxons; they were fitted with hand-operated or electric bells. At that period, the two-tone warning called a Martin-Horn...

...was AFAIK exclusively German...!

All this sounds picky-picky, but while using the wrong plane or ship or vehicle because no example of a real one exists any more is one thing, making a mistake in something as inexpensive and easily-reconstructed as a period sound is another matter.

Of course it's a well-known truism that while the contract for a movie / show's historical consultant says they must be paid, there's no matching contract clause that says they must be heeded, so for the sake of their scholarly reputations those consultants sometimes demand to be removed from the credits.

Looking at you, Ridley...

*****

ETA: Some days later, with that original post still queued, I may perhaps have found an answer. :->

I've just watched "Thirteen Days", that rather good, properly tense movie about the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which Kevin Costner's character had two phones at home. The black one was domestic with a US single ring, the red one was Official...

With a UK-style double ring.

Without bothering to re-watch each relevant episode of "The Crown", I'm now thinking those "incorrect" phone-rings may all have been internal lines and - like the Official phone in "Thirteen Days" - had a different ringing pattern to denote they weren't a "civilian" call.

In addition, the Costner character and his wife both react to the double ring with alarm, indicating they know its significance.

All of the above makes sense when you consider that custom ringtones were half a century in the future, and there's only so much the electrical pulses driving a pair of metal bells can do...

[kneelingshadowsalome]

Man-Sized

8/9 God's Away on Business

Pairing: Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley x F!OC

Tags: Explicit content, +18 audiences only. Smut, romantic angst, fluff. An unapologetic LOVE STORY. Sexual tension, mutual pining, banter, flirting, developing relationship, strangers to lovers. Simon Riley has a dark past (partly inspired by Modern Warfare 2: Ghost comics).

CW/TW: References to PTSD, depression, past torture and abuse in later chapters.

Summary: A uni student who pole dances at a strip club to pay her rent encounters a mysterious giant of a soldier seemingly incapable of falling in love.

I'm 20 minutes away. You home?

Sure! You're always welcome.

Simon never told her if he was a minute away. Something was different here.

The key turned on the lock of her front door sharply 20 minutes after he had sent that text, and she went to greet him.

Their hug lasted longer than usual, and she could feel the relief and sadness just pour from him. He embraced her like a 200-pound shadow, then kissed her gently on the cheek, not mouth — that kiss spoke of companionship rather than lust, and her heart melted against his chest.

He looked like hell. Not only drained but like he had been through hell. Something awful must've happened if a man like Simon couldn't conceal the emotional maelstrom he was evidently in.

"You just got back?"

"Yeah."

"How was it?"

She didn't usually ask How was work. It wasn't really work. It was something else.

Simon didn't answer, he just took off his jacket and shoes like he was sleepwalking. He continued that sleepwalk to her couch. It had become some sort of a safe place he had carved out from the world to curl in, even if he never curled in anywhere, simply sat down with a manspread that usually made her mouth water. But seeing him stare off into space like he had just seen a mushroom cloud in the distant horizons didn't make her want to jump his bones. It made her want to close him in a hug and shelter him from all the pain in the world.

"I lost people yesterday."

"Oh. Oh shit."

Something like this was bound to happen at some point. Her first feeling was relief from knowing that Simon had survived unscathed from whatever horror he and his team had been through.

"That's… I don't know what to say."

Now that he had poured some of that exhaustion on the floor of her hallway, she noticed that he was enclosed in a shroud of latent need for revenge. The air seemed to thicken around him: of course he would deal with heartbreak by silent wrath. His eyes reminded her of the Antarctic stare; they just kept staring off into the void while also appearing sharp and aware, like he might burst into action from the slightest little threat such as a sudden sharp sound. Her tiny little home, soft lights, and messy book piles seemed childish and nonsensical compared to the ominous man who had seen too much.

"23."

"What..?"

"23. The number of people I have lost in total."

Shit… Fuck. She tried to remember something useful from the psychology books she had gobbled up not too long ago. But she couldn't turn into a therapist and offer him treatment. He might only laugh at such tries, anyway. Surely they offered counseling services or trauma therapy in his workplace for these kind of situations… But Simon probably steered clear of those, too.

"Is Soap alive?"

"Yeah. Wounded."

Compassion took over, and she finally walked to him, sat down, and reached to place a hand over his.

"Sometimes I wonder if thousands of people are worth one good man," he said with a deepening, impending fury, a tempest barely held in confinement. "Not to talk about three."

Thousands of people…

That meant… Wow. Okay.

He was definitely working on preventing missiles or some shit. Saving the world.

Sweet Jesus… And she had just joked about it.

"This world could use another flood."

The shroud turned into a whole cage that prevented her from comforting him. The hand underneath her palm seemed to tingle and burn as if it was coated with tiny spikes.

He was always so dramatic, but it didn't make him sound whiny or childish. It was actually scary. He was the weapon of mass destruction, an atom bomb in one man, about to detonate and level a whole city with a blast and nuclear winds.

"Have you ever thought about… quitting, you know? Doing something else?" She offered him a choice like someone would offer a doughnut to a murder victim, hoping it would make the pain go away.

"I was an apprentice to a butcher before I enlisted."

"Well, that's… a bit different from what you're doing now."

"Is it?"

Another sliver of information about his past, and she wasn't necessarily surprised. The worlds they lived in were like night and day. She had a safety net, friends who didn't kill or fear being killed, she had a degree, access to education, a promising career in the culture field ahead of her. Simon had a rough childhood and a dark past; he had chopped corpses of dead animals for money and then pursued a career in killing humans. He had lost 23 and killed God knows how many people.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"You got any food?"

"Sure. Um, no. But I'll order something."

She moved to rise from the couch, but he turned his hand and seized her by the palm. The warm fingers closed around hers and gave her a soft squeeze.

"I like that pasta sauce you make."

"The Bolognese?"

"Yeah."

"Then that's what you shall have."

There wasn't much else she could do. He wouldn't, or couldn't talk about it, so she ran to the nearest market to grab minced meat and some fresh herbs because dried ones simply wouldn't do right now. She made him food and seasoned it with as much love as she could while he put up a floating shelf she had gotten for books that didn't fit in her bookshelf anymore.

The scene was domestic, almost traditionally so. She had never thought of herself as a woman who would happily cook for a man. A man who put up her furniture for her. But then again, she had never thought she would date a man like Simon in the first place.

She suggested they watch a few episodes of a new tv show she was binging while they ate. Then he went to the shower, and she soon stood at the door, asking if he wanted to be alone. There was no answer, which in Simon's case meant it was safe to proceed. He was facing the cascading water as she stepped in to hug him from behind.

Perhaps it was the simple things. Even when the world was burning or war was raging or families were being torn apart, it was the simple things even then: some good, homemade food, some distraction, no matter how brainless and meaningless, some skin-on-skin connection and a good night's sleep.

It wasn't much; it wasn't a therapy session or a resurrection or anything life-changing. It wasn't much… But on the other hand, perhaps it was perfectly enough.

She gathered he might not be in the mood right now, but when he grew hard just from her embracing him, she slithered a hand down and stroked him shyly. He didn't stop her from pumping him to a release filled with weary sighs while he merely leaned on the tiles as she tried her best to alleviate his pain. He grabbed her hand after and laced their fingers together, used her hand to hug himself while a single, almost inaudible sniff pierced the sound of running water. It immediately turned into him clearing his throat — Simon didn't know how to cry.

He usually slept with boxers, perhaps a shirt on too, but this time he wore a whole set of sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt into bed.

"You got that Glock here somewhere?"

He checked the mag and gave the gun a routine inspection, which seemed more like a comforting procedure than having anything to do with actual necessity. He had left it to her fully operational and with a weighted note to remember to rack the slide before firing.

It dawned on her that his gift served a whole other purpose too. It had been planted in her apartment, and not just for her protection.

A bleak thought passed through her mind about whether she would die that night in the hands of a traumatized, paranoid soldier, but she crawled into his arms nevertheless. He fell asleep right away — a sign of deep exhaustion. She wanted to caress him, hold him, but he rarely let her. Even now, when he was at his most vulnerable, he was the one who spooned her as they drifted off into sleep while there was a knife tucked under his pillow and a gun sitting on the headboard of the bed.

But instead of a possible homicide victim, she felt like a sleep toy when he tightened his grip on her through sleep with a sharp, irritated rumble when she tried to change position only slightly. It was then that she cried the tears he could not.

***

The darkness woke her up with a nightmare. Not a cold sweat one, but the kind where you were free falling and woke with a jolt just before the impact.

It was a familiar dream where she tried to hide from her abuser, the one who was supposed to love her but had turned out to be a grooming hunter. The most nightmarish thing wasn't that she was being chased again. No: the most aggravating thing was that she still felt weak. She was a grown-up now, she had more grit, she should've been perfectly capable of fighting back with words and fists. She wanted to voice her will, shout at him to leave her alone, even hurt that man, find some weapon to stab him with, just fight back somehow — but her muscles never worked, and time was running out: he was getting inside the building she was hiding in.

This time, it was different. With ecstatic thrill, she realized she could call for help. This time, she had a weapon called Simon. But the rotten thing was that he didn't answer the phone. He didn't come to her aid even when she sent distressed texts, and she was alone, weak, nothing but trash to the man about to come and bend her under his will again.

It was just a dream, but waking up was always a relief. She was breathing like she had just been saved from drowning. To her surprise, Simon was fast asleep, probably too spent to stay vigil, which was both unsettling and heartbreaking. He was hard against her, and she realized it must've bled into her dream, adding to its menacing nature.

Still, the relief was immeasurably sweet as she noticed Simon was physically here, holding her. Trauma was a bitch, but it didn't get to her this time. Nothing could hurt her. No one could come and take her away from the heavy, safe cage of his arms. The ripples of the nightmare slowly turned into something entirely different. How she could get wet just from feeling him thick and pulsing against her back after such a night terror was… well, it was new.

What had happened in the shower before they retreated to bed was fucking hot. Despite the evening full of grief and loss, that simple, urgent, shiver-ridden handjob in the shower was so beautiful that she could've cried from that alone. He was so done in that she finally got past the wall that seemed to prevent her from touching him. The connection was so pure that she didn’t quite know where she ended and he began.

She had never felt this kind of bond with another human being before. She hadn't even known that there were men like Simon, and perhaps there weren't. He was one of a kind.

Curling up together amidst a burning world, a selfish world, a world sinking like a ship, was so utterly beautiful that it was breaking her heart into pieces.

She shifted, sure of Simon waking from her turning around, but he only stirred a little and fell back asleep. Her hand seemed to have a will of its own as it found its way under his pants and caressed him. The thick flesh pulled against her palm, calling her to give him more of that stress relief, to drown him in love. Surely he would only be pleasantly surprised if she woke him up with her mouth.

She didn't get far before a hand shot out. Fingers scraped against her scalp and grabbed, yanked her by the hair, then raised her from between his legs.

Fuck… Of course.

How could she be so stupid?

"That's not a good idea, sweetheart," he said with a sleepy, slightly alarmed grunt. "Even though I appreciate the gesture."

He gentled his grip on her as if it had only been something naughty that had accidentally, in the spur of the moment, turned into too rough a treatment. Her scalp was burning, but what shocked her more was witnessing how quick his reflexes could be.

She was dealing with someone who had gotten used to being touched only with violence, with pure intention to cause harm. The darkness was the time for phantoms; they appeared in her bedroom as if she had called them forth with her mouth. The nightmare was still fresh on her mind, giving ground to having another talk about things neither of them wanted to discuss… But she had wanted to ask a certain question from the moment she had seen all those scars.

"Have you ever been tortured?"

The hand caressed her hair now, and she cursed that they almost always made love in the darkness. She wanted to see him, needed to see him, to make sure that that hand belonged to Simon instead of a ghost.

"Just ask how many days."

"How many days?"

"98."

She had expected the answer to be something like two or three days. That Simon had survived full-on torture without breaking for a week, at the very maximum.

98 days covered over 3 months.

He took her hand and brought it to his ribs, on a protruding scar she had seen many times. It wasn't the most prominent, but it was, apparently, one with the meanest memory.

Shouldn't have asked… Shouldn't have asked…

"Got slapped up on a meat hook like those pigs back there in the butchery. You believe in karma?"

"Simon.. Jesus Christ."

"Nah, the hook was the nice part. It's the brainwashing that really gets to ya." He rubbed himself with her hand as if to relieve a long-forgotten pain.

"If the mind breaks, you're done."

Simon wasn't living in the same world as her. He lived in the same realm as Roman slaves who were slaughtered for entertainment in the Colosseum, as soldiers freezing to death on the Eastern Front of World War 2, as political prisoners tortured in North Korean internment camps.

"This is horrible."

"What's horrible is you wakin' me up like this and not finishing the job."

Shivers of ice seeped down her spine. He was so unfazed… and it wasn't just denial or a defense mechanism. He was simply in terms with what had happened to him — what had been done to him. He didn’t turn his gaze away from the abyss. She wouldn't call it healthy or normal, but it was mature as hell, something so profoundly self-sufficient and fearless that she knew she would never meet a man like Simon.

Feeling both scared and aroused, she granted his wish and took him back in her mouth. They had just talked about meat hooks and psychological torture, but he was hard as a rock. The moan that left him as she went deep and flattened her tongue against him was an exhausted and deprived sigh, and she felt tears welling up.

He was broken and perfect and beautiful, he simply wouldn't yield. Not in any storm, not before a hurricane, not amidst a fallout, not in the thick of whatever apocalypse would come and rain upon this world. The least she could do to honor such a man was to make him sigh like that.

The moans that left him were different from when he was fucking her. They sounded fragile, arduous, and brought pain to mind. His enemies had tried to break him for nearly 100 days and failed. She couldn't stop thinking about where all those scars had come from — mutilation, beating, cutting, flagellation, not to mention being suspended on a meat hook…

Had it ended in him being buried alive? Or was that a whole other story? And who had been in the coffin with him? An enemy or a friend?

He said the physical torture wasn't even the worst of it…

She thought about how he always looked so incredibly tired, was so paranoid about someone coming to get him. He had most likely been subjected to sleep deprivation and constant interrogation, other slow methods meant to break someone psychologically. Methods that escaped her imagination.

Tears ran down her cheeks, and she sobbed against him, like a pathetic woman who knew nothing of the world’s darkness. A killer's hand found its way in her hair again, this time with the gentlest caress.

"Dove… C'mere."

Whatever test this was, she felt like a total failure when releasing him and letting him pull her into another staunch embrace.

"I'm sorry," he said softly while petting her hair like she was a child who had had a nightmare.

He shouldn't be sorry for anything. He shouldn't be consoling her for his own torture. Her own past seemed like a walk in the park compared to this, her depression was laughable. Even when she knew these kinds of things shouldn't be compared.

"Sometimes forget that you're a civilian."

How on earth he could forget that was beyond her. What Simon had forgotten, though, was what civilian life was like. What ordinary, day to day life looked and felt like. Why would he want to continue his job after everything he had been through?

Unless he didn't care if he got killed.

Unless he wanted to get away. Had been wanting to get away for years now, just like her…

The tears were running in streams now, and her nose was stuffed, broken sighs passed through her mouth as he kept her in one piece with a simple hug.

"Gotta say it gets me fuckin' hard when you shed tears for me,” he said, amused, while she was crumbling under the weight of their darkness.

"You're always so cocky," she sighed, trying to get air through her mouth because her nose was clogged from the tears.

"Isn't that what you like about me?"

When she wouldn’t speak, he turned her around to lie on her stomach and started to caress her back. Slow and steady, purposeful. He cherished her from neck to waist, rubbed the knots between her shoulder blades, soothed tension in places she didn't even know she had any. It was the gentlest touch she had felt since childhood, a caress of her entire being.

How poetic, that a butcher was the only one to have touched her with such mercy.

She should be the one doing the comforting, but here they were again. All those psychology journals, all those books, all that education, and he was the one who knew what to do, how to handle his shit. And her shit too.

"C'mon... Tell me you like it."

The callous hand cupped her ass, slid down her thigh, beckoned it to lift to gain access to her. It was just an inspection due to her not having said a word, and he must've taken it as a sign of her being proud and stubborn... And then the night laughed at her with a gratified haze as his fingers met her wetness.

"Alright, have it your way. But you're always drippin' for me… That's how I know ya like it."

He relished in what he found, spread the moisture all over her folds, causing her hips to rise up to present her pussy to him — like it was normal that she was soaked after such a sad evening and a fright of a night.

But Simon didn't seem to regard it as perverse at all. To him, it was quite natural, mostly an endearment, as he climbed on top of her like a god of war about to get a taste of bliss after a hard day on the battlefield.

The bulged tip found her entrance with a familiarity that was only sublime. He was such a tease when he wanted to be, coating himself with her before going straight in.

"Got your eyes and your cunt wet for me. If that ain't love, don't know what is."

Words escaped her again as he stretched her wide, and she could feel his hunger, both their hunger. He simply had more patience than she did to not act upon it right away. He set a pace that was sweet and slow, so greedy that it made her grab the sheet in a tight fist.

"You're hopeless," she sighed while her back arched to meet him in perfect sync, the rhythm they had established long ago was the most divine for both of them. Perhaps he wanted to feel alive too, especially on a night like this. His hand found hers, the one grabbing the sheet, and she opened for him, interlaced her fingers with his, and squeezed. The sadness turned into a lazy, warm pool of love and arousal, even euphoria.

"That's it sweetheart… what else? Tell me how much you like me."

It was never straight-shooting with him. She couldn't just say that he was driving her insane. It had been embarrassing enough to spill all that love in the air when she had been drunk, with him between her legs like a bloodhound that had caught scent.

So she told her what he disliked about him. Those things happened to be the ones she absolutely loved about him as well.

"You talk too much," she offered, already out of breath.

"Never hear that at work."

"Probably because you don't fuck your co-workers."

He laughed at that, so uncharacteristic and unbridled that it made tiny bubbles brim all over in her, too.

"Know a few dolls who wouldn't mind if I did."

Jealousy bled instantly. No — it clawed at her insides. Simon had women on his team? He had discreetly left them unmentioned up until this point.

It crossed her mind that maybe he was the lovesick one now. But that couldn't be true… He was just being arrogant, as always.

"Don't worry darling. I'm all yours."

That husky purr drove her only more nuts. He even sent his hands down to her waist and held her steady while making it known to whom she belonged.

"Think you can handle me?"

The next thrust was punctuated, his balls pressed against her clit, rewarding him with a tight moan she simply couldn't hold back. The appeased rumble above her told her that he only got a kick out of this childish boasting.

"I don’t know. Your ego is too big for me," she tried to sound dry during yet another delicious fucking.

"Got somethin' else that's big," he bragged, voice covered in molten gold. "Right? Just for you."

On that, she refused to entertain him. He knew perfectly well just how big he was. Simon didn't do relationships but had surely had his fair share of women who had run into his arms more than gladly. Far more eagerly than her, or at least, with far less dignity. It was despicable, but she was jealous of his past too and envied every single one of them, whether the women he'd had amounted to dozens or hundreds.

"You like big men?" He brushed her hair aside from her cheek as if wanting to see her face to read the answer from her expression, even if it was too dark to see anything.

"I like men who know when to shut up," she blurted.

A laugh, rough but hearty, echoed in the bedroom.

"Marry me."

Her eyes went wide, her jaw opened, a quick gasp passed through…

"Or don't. 'S not worth the pension."

A joke… He was joking.

Her eyes fluttered closed, but her mouth was left hanging open; then it slowly but surely curved into a quivering little smile. This goddamn man would be the end of her.

He caressed her again, then brushed a thumb over her lip in a soft, yearning gesture that told her he wanted to kiss her but couldn't from this position. The gentle lovemaking in the dark thick of night was sweeter than any pain, and she did something rebellious: she reached for that thumb, captured it in her mouth, and sucked.

"Fuck…"

It was a surprised huff. Completely taken aback.

She swirled her tongue around it, gripped it tight, mouthed it like it was his cock — and could feel his hips buck unexpectedly.

"Not gonna last long if ya..-"

The hurried explanation ended in a lengthy groan, and the body above her went rigid, then shuddered. He came without warning, the thumb was pushed even further into her mouth, and he was buried in her to the hilt, hissing and moaning like it caused him pain.

He was always a gentleman when it came to her pleasure, never chased his own before she had gotten hers first. It must drive him a bit mad to spill so soon — especially when it wasn't even the first time today.

It was the softest cataclysm she had ever seen, another stealthy peek behind those high brick walls. His body crushed her, the massive arms closed in around her, he rubbed his face somewhere in her neck… and he was trembling. Perhaps it was his way of weeping since he couldn't cry actual tears.

He was finally speechless, gathering himself after an unusually weak moment. He swallowed, panted, then swallowed again. Struggled to regain control, snatched it back like an injured soldier. But he wasn’t angry, nor was he ashamed, he was pretty damn delighted.

"Now look at what you did," he scolded, but the tone was playful. He slipped out of her mouth, the heavy chest was throbbing against her back, and she mourned the fact that her skin only met cotton.

"You had it coming."

Arousal made her voice thicker than usual, and he buried his face further in her hair.

"Really…"

And again, he wouldn't pull out. She was just gathered in his arms and dragged to lie on her side. Her back met a solid chest, and the hand traveled up her throat, making her expose her neck for him to wolf from behind. It was probably her weakest spot – and as soon as he noticed it, he took advantage of the knowledge. He even used teeth on her, made love bites like they were some horny teenagers. She would have to wear high collars for classes next week…

"Does that feel nice?" The attentiveness was nearing unbearable proportions, his voice so close to her ear that her eyes rolled back. He was big, even when soft, and continued to rub against her after slipping out. Another hand dove down to assist her reach her own peak.

"Judging by how wet you are, it does."

He was right, as always. The tears were dry, but her pussy was not; she was so wet that it was a miracle how he was able to be as precise as he was.

How the hell could one man be so good at everything…

"You're too sweet for your own good," he whispered when she shattered against that chest and those fingers, her own flexing against his arm as she came. She let him carry her to the shore, break on it like a wave. The broken cries were such a signature, the music of them such a tell, that it really didn't matter that she didn't, couldn't use words with him.

This was the best therapy either of them could get, no matter what any book or professional said. They were wildly alive, they had found each other through horrors and blood and tears. Somehow, he had found his way to her orbit, collided with her in that dark, grimy, degraded place where she danced for money for a tortured killer like him. Her job was a good workout, and it paid the bills, but it had also brought Simon to her, and she had never been more grateful for deciding to go on those pole dance classes years ago.

"I have to wear high necks to school again," she said afterward in his arms, all snug and prepared to glide back to sleep.

"Serves you right."

He was hard again while she was feeling sore and puffy and content — and slathered, with both of their juices, which he used to lazily guide himself through her folds.

"Ready for another round if you are," he offered.

That would be his third one already… The ungodly amount of stamina on this man was frightening.

"I- I don't think I can."

It was mostly an acknowledgment of his size, and they both knew it. Simon just tightened his hold on her, appearing quite pleased with this outcome. Won another round, the gloating, lovable bastard.

"Alright, dove. Let's get you some sleep."

***

The next morning, when she was making him an omelette he suddenly began to speak.

"I usually fuck everything up when shit hits the fan, no matter the cost."

She turned off the stove and moved the pan away to stop the hissing sound threatening to drown his voice.

"This time, I just wanted to get back."

It was a confession of another kind… A compliment. Might even be the highest compliment she had ever received from this man. Simon wanted to stay alive and return to her rather than avenge his fallen ones.

Still, there was bound to be recoil, some survivor's guilt — or a bitter self-reflection moment of a superior.

"Are you blaming yourself?"

"I don't know. No, that's not what I meant."

"I realized…" His brows drew together in an attempt to search for the right words. "I realized there that… You might be the only person I can trust."

She was moved, ripe for walking to him right then and there and relieve that tension in his shoulders. Freaking finally give him that massage he had yearned for since autumn. There was something profoundly wrong with her that she hadn't done it yet.

He always attended to her. It was supposed to be a display of authority, but she knew that the best leaders didn't lead with fear; they served. It was high time someone served him.

"It's not a good sign," he muttered.

"I would see it as a great sign," she said with a shy smile, but it died on her lips as she saw how he only appeared to fall deeper into misery.

"Right? Simon?"

"I thought I already dealt with this shit 10 years ago."

That sentence sent ice down her back. Her skin broke into goosebumps, they seemed to travel all the way up to her head. Her palms were already sweating by the time he spoke again.

"You see, everyone I trust either dies or…" Simon was staring inwards into some distant memory she knew nothing about. She went to sit on the small piece of furniture that could almost be called a dinner table. Not necessarily because she wanted to get closer to him, but because her stomach was churning and she feared she might faint in her little kitchen.

"Everyone I love, dies."

She forced a hand reach out to grab his as she tried to call him back to the present moment and back to her.

"That can't be true. I mean, that can't be set in stone kinda true."

"Who knows."

The walls were suddenly so high that she couldn't get to him even when they were holding hands like this.

But this was the most precious thing in her life. She would fight for it if she must.

"I'm willing to take that risk," she said without fear.

"I admire your courage."

He didn't say he was willing to take that risk too. She hadn't quite prepared for that, nor for what came after.

"I can't do my job if I'm…"

"If you love someone?" She offered when he wouldn't continue.

She fucking hated his job at this point. She hated his dead father, and she hated the Manchester slums, she hated everyone who had hurt him and betrayed his trust. But it was like peeling an onion when it came to Simon: there was always a new layer underneath the one that was shed away. Who knew what was hidden at the core, or if she would ever even reach it?

"Well, what about… your mom?"

"Dead."

"You have siblings?"

"Dead."

Holy shit. Things were even worse than she had thought.

"What about friends? Like, off work?"

"Not anymore."

Terror began to swell and roll inside her like a tidal wave. A menacing calm before the storm, an eerie silence a split second before the explosion.

"You have nobody?"

He stared off into space, telling her with that look alone that he had no one. He released her hands, or rather, forced her to release him. Then he dropped the atom bomb.

"I didn't mean for things to go this far."

All her fears, long since lulled to sleep, crawled through the earth to suffocate her.

It was true after all: she had been just a bit of fun, a one-night stand that had turned into a plaything. A plaything who had latched itself onto a man who didn't want extra baggage.

"What a nice thing to hear." Her voice was metal, and Simon wouldn't say anything, proving her worst nightmares true.

He had had enough of her and now wanted to end things. The beautiful dusk had rolled into a knifelike dawn, and it was time to finish the show.

"Then why are you still here?" She finally dared to look up at him, and he looked confused, like he didn't know the answer to that question.

Things spun out of control so fast that she felt faint in the head. It was hard to think rationally when all their shared memories were suddenly covered in a wicked haze of shallow fucking, noncommitment, and her being an absolute fool for having believed that Simon would want her for the rest of his life.

"I get it that you're a super secret soldier spy, that you have to sneak around and give me a heart attack every other week. I get that we can't be together as much as I would like. But if you don't even want this, then what the hell are you doing here?"

His eyes were wide, his throat worked an arduous swallow. He looked more hurt than ever, more in pain than he had been last night due to the death of his teammates.

But to her, it was the look of a poker player who had got caught red-handed in cheating.

How dare he joke about marriage and elaborate on how sweet she was during the night, only to set everything on fire the next morning?

She was just a sweet little stray cat he liked to pet and pamper and fuck when he had the time, a nice little vacation from work filled with excitement. Everything needed to be exciting to him, he needed a dose of adrenaline and knife play and showering bullets to make him hard so he could fly back to grey London to get a go with his pole dancing little school girl.

Putting up shelves, seeing pictures of her spending Christmas with the family, tea and omelette in the morning were too mundane, too boring. She had been another kind of adrenaline shot.. But now she was only a dry syringe with the words I love you spoken in the air.

She got up and took a few steps back, tried to cut off a love that she already knew wouldn’t die, would never, ever die.

"This is so fucked up. If I'm just some momentary lapse in your life, then…" she shook her head at a loss for words. He had been silent for the whole outburst, but at her last suggestion, he cut in.

"No. Never. You're–"

She was so riled that she couldn't even hear his words. "You know what? Go do your job then. I'm sick and tired of waiting for you to come home to me, only to hear something like that. God…"

He snapped his mouth shut after she cut him off and simply raged on, all the longing and confusion of whole months streaming out of her mouth with an annoying high-pitched account. If she hated her voice right now, she could only imagine how it must sound to him. Her irritating hysteria only worsened the situation, especially when Simon remained so fucking calm.

"This is just…" She laughed through tears she didn't want him to see. With sheer willpower, she fought those tears back to the abyss. He would probably just get off on seeing her cry.

After all, she was the sweetest girl there was. Too sweet for her own good. The most gullible, naive piece of shit.

"I don't know how this is gonna work."

He stared at her with chest heaving, then his breath settled into a calm, ordered roll, his expression turned to stone. The rage was directed inwards before it could lash out at her. The man called Simon turned into Ghost, a professional killing machine, so quickly amidst a raging storm that she could hear the eye of it reach them, the whole world around her go silent. Or perhaps she was momentarily deafened by that cold-hearted stare that turned away from her with a final, lingering tinge of sadness. Even that was gone by the time he rose from the table and walked to the hallway.

Her heart was struck with a blade; she bled dry before she could even take a step to follow him. She saw him put his shoes on, then reach for his jacket, which he flung on with heavy shoulders and a broad back turned to her like a shield.

Simon was resigning.

He was fucking leaving.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. He reached for his pocket and drew out a cigarette and a lighter, the flash of cold steel stinging her eyes although there was little sunlight because the day was grey. The Zippo was something she had found for him from a thrift store, and it had the tusked Snaggletooth logo of Motörhead on it. It felt like the perfect gift after noticing Simon had played the band's music from some old, burned cd when he had taken her on that shooting trip. He had ruffled her hair when receiving it, evidently pleased. "Knew you were a keeper," he had said when she told him she loved Motörhead too.

Her eyes were brimming with tears, the cigarette was sent between his lips, and he wouldn't look back, only marched to the door with heavy steps.

The fear wouldn't die even when she tried to tell herself that he was only going for a smoke to calm his nerves from her sudden fit. They would talk things through when he got back.

Which was why she never said anything, didn't follow him.

The door slammed shut, and she swallowed and turned to get a sip of her coffee. Her hands were shaking, the coffee was cold, and she realized she had just basically told him to get out. That cold-blooded stare still haunted her, and she wanted to go check if Simon was truly there, smoking on those steps and being a wall, her wall, against the cold, uncaring world.

She played the conversation over and over in her head, what was spoken, and the frost of horror turned her senses sharp, her ears started to ring from the silence. Simon had told her he trusted her and she had just freaked out — hadn't even let him finish what he had tried to say.

She wanted, needed to tell him right this second that she was sorry for being such a lunatic. She turned for the door, then walked back, forced herself to remain calm.

He needed space, and she didn't want to upset him more than she already had. He was older than her, used to nuclear seasons and warheads and blunt trauma, he was sharp as a whip. He wouldn't get rattled so easily. He would come back, smelling of fresh smoke, he would tell her what to do. That they would make it work no matter what. Flesh out a plan.

Because that’s all she wanted to hear. That he was serious and wanted this to work as much as she did. That it was just some miscommunication.

But her instinct told her that something was terribly, horribly wrong.

Minutes passed, and she finally went to open the door, and there was no one there. The streets were silent, the grey clouds even darker still, hanging over her like doom. She was feeling nauseous, a shudder went through her whole body, then her teeth started to rattle.

She closed the door and turned and tried to take a step, but her knees gave in and she slumped somewhere on the floor of her hallway filled with shoes and dirt and emptiness.

#simon riley x oc#ghost x oc#ghost smut#simon riley smut#simon ghost riley x oc#mw2 smut#ghost fanfiction#simon riley fanfic#cod fanfic#simon ghost riley#simon ghost riley x female oc#simon riley x female reader#ghost x female reader

[blackrevell]

CDPR being CDPR: dropping information on in-lore historical events once and then never bringing it up again. Now we have a brainrot anchor for the events of December '71 a.k.a. the Burning December. Although the text keeps it rather vague, it seems plausible to assume that this particular period of time was the peak of tensions between Barghest and every other fraction involved after Kurt's My Little Pony club goes rogue in summer 2070. There is an NPC conversation that mentions Myers™ dropping bombs on the district during the same time period, but given how salty Hansen is over being dumped by his ex corps, you can easily imagine him whining about the NUSA over comms, while a regular citizen in the area probably wouldn't be bothered to distinguish between Arasaka/Militech/else missile, because whatever it is, it is flying at them right there, right that second. This event also supports the "recruitment" of Jago in 2072 rather nicely. After 2~ years of spending everything Barghest had from Militech, it would be a high-time to hire someone with a powerful trade braincell and start looking for profits. Especially so with the wall shielding the district from the rest of the world and giving the "insiders" a much closer supervision of what goes in and out of the area. Which also makes it more so impressive that Barghest somehow managed to build the wall (holding myself back from orange man jokes) after they had lost Militech's backing. One could theorize the wall was built back in 2070 when the Unification War was still going on, but everything points back to the Midnight Storm being a proceed-at-all-costs offensive op — not defensive. Building up fortifications of such scale would simply be inefficient for the task, although there surely could've been some smaller structures that were built up upon later. And last, but not least: it is quite intriguing that NCPD had the gut to poke the beast too, even with all the NC's funding (since it wasn't transferred to private ownership until 2076).

Kudos to @cyberholic77 for making me look twice at Barghest's Net page & to the entire Baddieghest team for the morning brainrot tennis on this topic. CDPR could give us one (1) more little shard to elaborate on what the Burning December was, yet they didn't.

[merlinfromberlin]

Of Beasts Swimming In Green

Bumblebee did his best to remain calm while he waited for the rest of Team Prime to rescue Ratchet. His attempts were feeble at best.

Warnings: graphic description of injuries, very high levels of anxiety in general, Dadchet, hints of Dadimus Prime Chronology: S01E22 - Stronger, Faster Wordcount: 990 words

Written for @angstober - Day 04: Blood (or rather energon in this case). Prompt list can be found here: X

Story below the cut or on AO3.

Bumblebee had anxiously been pacing the main area of the Autbot base ever since the rest of the team had left to retrieve Ratchet little more than a breem ago. Even as he walked, his gaze kept wandering over to the monitors, constantly checking that his caregiver’s life signal had remained online during the nanocycle he had dared to look away. Realistically, staring at the medic's profile on the screen did absolutely nothing. The breaking of their sparkbond would alarm Bee of his caregiver's death much faster than his optics ever could.

Still, the scout could not get himself to look away. As long as he was stuck at base, awaiting news of the rescue mission, he was also alone with his fears and doubts and the dreadful fantasies about Ratchet's fate his processor continued to conjure up. Bee had been fighting in this War his whole life, he had been sparked in a hail of Seeker missiles and crawled his way out of the Well while Megatron sought to eradicate every sparkling of his generation unwilling to join the Warlord's cause. Thus, neither Bumblebee nor his imagination had any illusions about the things Decepticons were willing to do even to non-combatants such as medics. Without Optimus here to shield and reassure him, staring at tangible proof of Ratchet's continued existence was his only defence against being devoured whole by the beast invading his processor.

Bumblebee's spark, too, failed to cease its anxious movements. Instead, it continued to swirl erratically, spinning ever faster in a desperate attempt to strengthen its gravitational pull and lure the piece of light binding him to his caregiver closer. It had, of course, no effect. The distance at which sparks orbited each other could not be influenced that easily. 

Nervously, Bee sent a burst of love across his connection to Ratchet. He received no answer.

On the gallery, the children stood huddled together for comfort, whispering amongst themselves as Bumblebee continued to pace. In the beginning of their vigil, the three of them had done their best to try and calm him down. They had stopped once they realised that the bot was barely registering any of their words. Later, Bee would probably feel bad about it. Right now, he did not particularly care. His processor was focused solely on his caregiver's possible demise.

In lieu of anything better to do, Bee walked over to the medbay to check, once again, on the equipment he had laid out there earlier. Cleaning and sorting all the tools necessary for emergency surgery had been among the first things Bumblebee had done after the medic had stormed out of the Autobot base. It had been a somewhat ridiculous action, of course. Out of their team members, only Ratchet even possessed the ability to perform surgery. The rest of them had only ever been trained in basic battlefield first aid. Nonetheless, he youngling had done it anyway. The familiarity of a task he had performed so many times before for the medic driving his actions more than any belief in its actual usefulness.

“Bumblebee.” He jumped to attention immediately when finally, finally, Optimus’ voice came in over the comm line. “Open a ground bridge to our coordinates.”

The portal swirled open before the Prime had even finished his sentence. Anxiously, Bee clenched his fists as he stepped up to the tunnel. It was only mere moments later that Optimus carried Ratchet into the base. As he caught sight of the familiar form in his caregiver's arms, the youngling froze, spark caught in the vice-like grip of terror.

Ratchet was limb and unmoving in the taller bot's grip. His optics were closed, only the dimmest of glows emitting from below their lids. Vicious, slimy green energon was oozing plentifully from cracks in orange-and-white armour where a crater had been dug into the medic's chassis. The repugnant liquid ran down Ratchet's sides in rivulets, dripping onto the floor in small splats that rang impossibly loud in Bumblebee's audials.

Bee could only imagine the kind of excessive force necessary to cave in a bot's plating like that all too well. His own frame must have looked similar in the aftermath of Tyger Pax. A warning lit up on his HUD, blinking aggressively at the side of his visual feed. His vocoder had short-circuited. He cared surprisingly little.

Had the spin of Ratchet's spark not still been intertwined with his own, swirling weakly but steadily inside of his chassis, the youngling would have been convinced that the medic had been offlined. Behind him, Raf emitted a small whimper. Miko gasped. Optimus' EM field, full of worry and void of its usual quiet confidence, enveloped them for a short moment as the Prime hurried past in the direction of the medbay. 

Still, Bumblebee was unable to tear his gaze away from the puddle of viscous green that had formed on the ground in front of the bridge, licking at the Autobot crest they had engraved there. His servos were shaking, his audials buzzing incessantly. It was just so, so, so much energon-more than Bee could fathom anyone losing without returning to the Allspark.

His stupor was only broken when Arcee touched his shoulder. There were smudges of synthetic green on her digits, too. He could not tell how much time had passed, how much the beast in his processor had devoured. Probably barely more than a few microcycle. 

"Go with them, Bee."

Slowly, he cycled his optics, but it took him another nanocycle of staring at the two-wheeler before her words fully registered. Once they did, however, he nodded, flaring his EM field in silent gratitude. Then, he ran after his caregivers into the medbay.

Hopefully, together, Optimus and Bumblebee would figure out how to best help and fix the medic. And if they did not... They would. They had to. 

Bee could not bear to think of a world where they did not.

[random-sparks-98]

Sunlit Gotham Universe Notes

Batfam Notes:

- Due to moving around the batfam timeline a bit, Jason is the only one who has died who has been fully buried and then revived (Steph’s heart stopped for about three minutes when Black Mask captured her, and Damian has not been killed.)

- Damian came to Gotham earlier than canon, and is currently 10 years old and in 4th grade at Gotham Academy

- Jon Kent is also going to be the same age as Damian in this AU

- Jason Todd is going be announced as Legally Alive before the beginning of the story (Yes, he is still Red Hood, but he doesn’t kill anymore (most of the time))

- Bruce will NOT be going missing in time

- This means that Tim never drops out of high school, gets emancipated, and becomes CEO of a company at the age of 17. It also means that Dick will not have been Batman

- Selina and Bruce are dating - he’s gonna probably propose soon, but big life events keep happening (like adopting new children every few months) so he hasn’t yet. He claims he’s waiting for a time when everything is calm. His children call bullshit and say he’s just scared she’ll say no

- Selina totally knows that he already has the ring and is honestly just teasing him and stressing him out more by making comments and jokes every so often

How does Wonder Woman not know about the demigods?

- When the Greek Amazons went to live on Themyscira they became cut off from the rest of the mortal world. This means that they weren’t aware of Camp moving around to follow Olympus

- Diana was born WAY before the First Great Prophecy, and technically isn’t a true demigod because she was sculpted from clay - therefore not really part mortal

- By the time Diana had left the island, demigods had gone underground and general society forgot that they existed. Both camps are kept secret so that the demigods are safe, so Diana hasn’t heard about them and assumes that the demigods are just no more

- Due to the Mist, Off World League Missions, Rescue Ops, and the fact that she lived in Paris for a while, Diana hasn’t been around during any of the major battles - or her focus was elsewhere

- Donna Troy might show up at some point, and the same logic about leaving Themyscira works for her too. We’re going with the Magical Duplicate origin story for her, so again, doesn’t quite count as mortal enough for the prophecy

- Cassie Sandsmark originally used magical artifacts to help Diana fight crime and was later ret-conned into being either a daughter of Zeus or a granddaughter of Zeus. The ret-con is going to be brought up in the story and we can all thank the Flashes for messing up the timeline. But basically she doesn’t become a proper descendant of Zeus until after the Titan War and therefore the prophecy doesn’t apply to her either

Children of Apollo have the following abilities According to the Riordan Wiki:

- They can curse others to only speak in rhyming couplets that can take days or even weeks to wear off (depending on strength and number of people in the spell)

- They are expert archers, inherited from their father. However, the children of Apollo who are healers tend to be less skilled with this (as seen with Will Solace)

- They also excel at anything involving throwing or shooting stuff, like shooting hoops or shooting firearms or other missile weapons 

- They are skilled in physical contests and games

- They excel in the arts

- They are skilled musicians

- Vitakinesis: As the children of Apollo, they are natural healers. They can heal people by singing a hymn to their father (in Ancient Greek).

- Audiokinesis: As the children of Apollo, they have the ability to control sound waves and music

- It is extremely rare that a child of Apollo can possess complete photokinesis, as only Apollo himself and the Titan of Light, Hyperion, and the Titan of the Sun, Helios, have been known to use the ability

- From what can be gleaned from The Demigod Diaries, it can be presumed that some, or even all of Apollo's children possess a limited form of precognition

- Thanks to a curse, all the children of Apollo have a terrible fear of snakes

In this AU, souls have auras that are unique to each soul. Demigod children with parent’s who deal with light (ex: Apollo or Iris) can see the auras if they focus really hard. Children of Apollo will often use it as a way to check how well a patient is healing as the brighter the aura the healthier the person.

[dreamingcloudie]

❛❛If Loving You Means Hurting Me, I'd Gladly Suffer More❜❜

✎ ❛❛ It hurts to see you die over and over. But no matter, I'll still love you the same, even when you forget about me each time ❜❜

Pairing(s): Creator!Dottore x Creation!GN!Reader

Genre/Format: Angst + fluff (One shot)

Warning(s): reader dying, probably some grammar mistakes, blood, maybe an OOC Dottore? (Then again, I tried to make him soft here, so...)

wc: ~1.1k

Note: Was scrolling through some tags and I saw someone posted a concept/idea of creator Dottore and creation reader. And that got me thinking...

I usually don't write angst because they hurt me 💀 BUT, I'll make this one an exception. I love this idea a little too much. I hope you guys will like this one :) Any feedback is greatly appreciated ♡

“Open your eyes, Dove,”

You felt a hand caressing your cheek as you stirred awake. Beside the bed, there stood the man who had taken the lives of many.

“There you are, sleepy head,” spoken in a gentle voice, Dottore pressed a quick kiss on your forehead. You slowly sat up with the help of Dottore and you lifted your head up to look at him. His usually hardened gaze soften upon meeting yours. Ah, how familiar, just like the other times, here he was again…

It was funny, the time when you were created, he intended to make more of his clones. After days, or even weeks of making sure that he had the correct formula. He was expecting to see a clone of himself step out of the machine, but instead of his clone, it was you that appeared.

He stared at you in bewilderment, muttering a curse under his breath.

“Darn it, were my calculations of the formula wrong?”

At first, he wanted nothing to do with you. But just like a duckling to its mother, you followed him everywhere. The other harbingers would often tease him about it, saying things such as:

“Hah! look at mama duck go!”

“Hatched an egg, Doctor?”

He was not amused, however. Constantly calling you “an annoying pest” with a scowl on his face. Later on, he had to accept his defeat because no matter what he said, he could still find you behind him. Observing him with a glint of curiosity. He gave up on trying to shoo you away, and just let you stick around.

“Let’s head out now, there’s something that caught my interest,” Dottore said as he opened the door for you.

Like usual, you tagged along with him to go to a spot where he found interesting things to tinker with. Dottore stopped on his track as he couldn’t hear your footsteps anymore. He turned around only to find you being distracted by a bed of flowers on the side of the road.

“What now?” He sighed and walked over to see what caught your attention. As he got closer, he noticed a look of adoration on you. Following your line of sight, a crystalfly was situated on one of the flowers. Feeling his presence, you turned to him and tilted your head, as if you were asking what this magnificent creature was.

“That’s a crystalfly,” he explained.

Upon hearing his answer, a smile graced your face.

“Crystalfly…” you repeated after him.

He was taken back, that was the first time he has ever heard you talk. He was so used to his test subjects screaming in fear and colleagues yelling at each other. Hearing such a tender tone for once was oddly a nice change…

Shaking his thoughts away, he pulled your arm and got you back on your feet.

“You’ve stalled long enough. Come on now, I got work to do.”

Finally arriving at the research site, mechanical parts were scattered around the place. Striding over to one of them, he started to examine it. Out of nowhere, he heard a yelp which brought him out of his trance. Turning to the source of the noise, he found you laying on the ground and an activated ruin guard hidden underneath a shade of trees not far from here. The ruin guard launched its missiles again, aiming straight at Dottore. He dodged left and right, charging at the machine before blowing an attack toward its core.

After making sure it was deactivated, he rushed over to you.

The sight before him was making his stomach twitch and turn, an alarmingly large pool of blood was surrounding you. He placed his fingers to where your neck was and checked for your pulse.

But he felt nothing.

‘Why the hell am I shaking,’ he asked himself.

You were just an annoying pest. He could’ve just left you there so he wouldn’t have to deal with you anymore. You meant nothing to him and he did not care about you. So why? If he didn’t care, then how come every time you showed that toothy grin of yours, he suddenly felt all fuzzy and warm inside? If he didn’t care, then how come every time his fingers slightly touched yours, he could feel the heat slowly creeping up his face? If he didn’t care, then why was he carrying your body back to his lab in a hurry, trying to bring you back?

He stood there and watched as you laid on the bed. Waiting for you to wake up. He could see a little bit of movement before you opened your eyes.

“Finally awake, I see?”

And that was the first time, the first time where he witnessed your death. It did hurt him a little, but he didn’t think much about it as he was able to bring you back to life.

The second time was when you drowned in a lake. His heart ached a bit more this time. But he was successful in bringing you back to life, again. And that’s all that matters.

The third time was when a new Fatui recruit who has never seen you before mistook you for an intruder and killed you. The wound of his heart reopened itself once more. But nonetheless, bringing you back was still manageable.

And there’s a fourth.

A fifth.

A sixth…

Just how long did he have to endure this constant torment? It hurts having to watch you die over and over, not even knowing if he was able to bring you back. And even if it was a success, every time when you were greeted by the world once more, you’d forget about him. Dottore never thought he would get attached to someone. Let alone you, an accidental creation. He was someone that has witnessed countless deaths, and none of those affect him at all. Ironically, he was also someone who has killed a lot without an ounce of regret.

What was so special about you?

What made him so drawn to you?

Dottore sat there on the edge of your bed, berating himself for not doing a good job at protecting you. You may not remember who he was, but your body definitely did. It somehow always acted on its own whenever you saw a frown on him. Somewhere at the back of your mind, you remembered seeing a crystalfly before. And watching it flutter made you happy. You tugged at Dottore’s sleeve and pointed at the jar filled with crystalflies that he got for you on the bedside desk.

“Crystalflies!” You beamed with a grin, hoping their hypnotic movements could make him feel better. Just like how they made you happy.

Ah… there it was, that cute little grin of yours. The way your eyes would always lit up whenever you saw him. The way that you would always cared for him even when your memories of him were long gone...

If loving you means hurting him, then he would gladly accept all the pain the world would throw at him. All he had to do was simply bring you back to him, a small price to pay just to see you smile.