#right. i was just checking how many kills i had with each weapon and i had like 4000 with the spear and like 200 with everything else

[mihotose]

the FISTS? i beat hades with the FISTS?

[krilati]

Tim, who is not Robin, but still feral

Okay, let's say Tim's parents decide that even if their child doesn't need a nanny, they want someone to check on their son's well-being. So Tim is required to go to the doctor once a week. And after he tried to bribe his first one to just tell his parents everything was fine. Janette decided it would be someone else each time.

Tim gets a car once a week that picks him up to see a doctor he doesn't know.

That way he doesn't have time to search for dirt, and he can't bribe anyone, since everyone drinks his mother more than him.

So after Nightwing turned Tim down (Dick later claimed the boy was black-haired and blue-eyed, but since he was often hallucinating Jason at the time, even he wasn't sure). The guy realized he couldn't go to Batman and insist on being Robin. The first fracture (which is 100% likely to happen in the early days of jumping on roofs and kicking angry adults) and the doctor would hand him over to his parents.

So Tim came up with a Plan.

Batman was angry, for a month now someone, every patrol, has been standing up for criminals. If he's lucky, he manages to land 5 hits (dude, your 1 hit can put a person in the hospital, Tim just has short legs, he still needs to run to the edge of the necessary roof) when someone distracts him.

Last time, they poured a bucket of paint on his head, it became almost impossible to see through the mask. Another time, they shot paintballs at his head until he left.

There was another memorable incident when something small landed on his head, and the next moment he was attacked by bats.

But today he finally cornered the attacker, it was a child whose face was hidden behind a mask that completely covered his face, and his hair was hidden behind a hood. He slowly approached the boy, he needed to find out who he worked for. Who decided that they had the right to interfere with him punishing criminals.

Only when Batman grabbed the attacker by the shoulder he felt dizzy and then everything around him went dark. Tim quietly patted himself on the head for the backup plan of the backup plan.

After waking up, Batman did not feel calmer, on the contrary, this meeting ignited even more rage in him.

How dare this child run around Gotham so carefree when his son was killed, how dare he protect criminals when one of them killed his son, how dare he..

That day, a file on a new criminal with high priority appeared on the Batcomputer, Alfred only reproachfully pursed his lips.

By the time Red Hood escaped from Talia (Yes, he escaped here, I don't know for sure, but I think Talia was pitting Jason against Tim to ensure her son had direct access to Bruce's legacy). Batman and Tim's confrontations became legendary.

Tim even had his own name and merchandise! Several names, actually, he was called Gotham's Whisperer, the Soul of Shadow, or Little Shadow. And in various Gotham stores you could find little figurines of him with various weapons that he demonstrated during this time.

Nightwing adored the little guy, although he had never met him in person. In fact, no one except Bruce had ever encountered the kid. And although Oracle never officially supported the boy, she never warned Batman if she saw a small dark silhouette through the cameras. Although Dick really wanted to know where the kid got the sniper rifle with tranquilizers, or how he hacked the Batmobile to put a sleeping Bruce in it and send him to the Cave, or how he got so many incriminating photos of Batman that he scattered all over the city when Batman didn't take one of his threats seriously.

Simply put, Nightwing was a fan, and had wanted the kid's autograph ever since the kid evacuated an entire alley, including Bruce, by playing the sound of a pack of rabid dogs approaching.

Batman, though he had passed the peak of his rage, still made Gotham afraid if he was spotted trolling alone.

Red Hood was furious, not only did his father not have the courage to avenge him, but he also dared to splash out his aggression on anyone who was not breathing smoothly on HIS Alley of Crime.

[galeorderbride]

The Forest For The Trees - Fic Request (Gale x F!Tav)

A Gale smut piece requested by one of my OG readers @meglet1. Thank you so much for the request and for being you in general!! I seriously hope you like what I’ve written for you <3

18+ MDNI (This is SMUT/tags below)

Summary:

After Tav is nearly killed in a fight at Rivington Beach, Gale lets his fear get the best of him and a new couple spat ensues. Leading to a peaceful resolution :)

Tags: PiV sex, semi-public sex, inappropriate use of mage hand, oral sex (m and f receiving, including some choking), words of praise/encouragement, creampie, fingering (vaginal & anal), multiple orgasms, self-indulgent, some references to Tav having body issues.

Word count: 4.7K

Mind the tags, everyone. Fic below the cut:

“I decided to choose you and live, then you go off and almost get yourself killed!”

Gale wasn’t the type to air out his issues in front of everyone, but this time, he couldn’t shake the nervous energy off. Panic and anxiety of balancing on an uneven precipice, powerless. Just days ago, he chose to stay with Tav instead of doing as Mystra commanded him, deep in that haunting colony, where the Elder Brain resided and, because he decided to live, remained a threat to the entire Sword Coast.

Less than an hour ago, he and Tav returned from the beaches of Rivington with their companions. Running into a gaggle of rival gangs ready to slaughter each other. The guild, run by the infamous Nine Fingers Keene, and the new recruits of this Stone Lord everyone was talking about. Gale cared little for whose alliance went where. Not when Tav had decided to intervene right in the middle of things, doing her best to settle scores and ending up having to fight both of them.

In the crossfire, Tav was hit with an electrified weapon, a hammer imbued with thunderous damage effects that nearly killed her with the impact against her spine. Knocked down, she spent the remainder of the fight unconscious, no one having time to revive her until they’d finished the fight. Across a landscape of crime syndicate corpses, Gale watched with intensity as Shadowheart struggled to revive her. The image of her near dissolved heartbeat still aching within him, harsher than the orb. Gasping for breath at the last second when he thought he lost her forever.

She’d regained balance quickly, the powerful healing of Selune now imbued within Shadowheart’s fingers, even if she hadn’t quite gotten to admit it yet. Tav was walking normally, a little fatigued but nothing more than that. Which gave Gale the opportunity to stop being worried for her welfare and be upset instead.

“Do you know how close you came to death? How much I worried Shadowheart wouldn’t revive you? All for a bunch of criminals who would’ve cared for the dirt under their boots more than you!” Gale exclaimed as he paced around the hay shed at their camp outside Rivington. Tav followed, arms across her chest as she tried to contain a frustrated sigh.

“I wasn’t trying to get all of them against us. How many times has convincing people to cool their heads worked on this journey? Times we never expected! I didn’t think this would be an exception,” she replied, her voice soft but assertive in her own defense.

“That’s what happens when you expect things to work in your favour! We can never assume anything is an absolute certainty, and I’ve been saying this from the beginning. I know it’s in your nature to stick your neck out for people, but do recall that I gave up on what might be the heaviest task of my life so I could be with you!” Gale continued, letting his panic get the better of him.

Tav’s eyes widened, now no longer trying to placate. “Don’t you use that against me! My encouragement to have you stay with me is not a blank check to use against me when I do something you dislike. I asked you to stay because I love you! And I had no intention of starting a fight today, nor did I plan to end up in the state I did!”

This was around when the rest of the camp began to hear them arguing. Frigid looks turned their way by Shadowheart, Karlach and Wyll. Eyerolls and mischievous scoffing from Astarion. Jaheira simply shook her head and mumbled ‘young love’ under her breath. Gale pretended not to hear it.

She looked at him with such offense, eyes dotted with the threat of tears from his fury. Any motivation to be cross with her slowly waning each time his eyes met hers.

“I love you too! Which is why I’m so off put by what happened to you. I don’t want to see you putting yourself in danger and disregarding forethought! I don’t think you understand just how much I can’t—”

Gale didn’t finish the sentence, brought on by a fear that he’d overwhelm her in saying such an intense thing. They’d confessed their love in a spur of the moment, when the culmination of all they’d been through was knocking at the front door. Emotions were high, and while he meant every word he said, he didn’t want to cross a line and compromise the start of a wonderful thing with Tav. Deep down, he’d loved her from the moment he saw her, and each day he got closer to admitting that out loud. Precisely why he reacted with such fear to what happened at the beach.

Tav crossed her arms, an expression of seriousness he’d never seen before. Well, not directed at him.

“Can’t what? Don’t let this be the time you don’t use your words, Gale. Because I am this close to storming off,” she said, pinching her index finger and thumb together in an impatient motion.

“I can’t…live without…you,” he said, his voice starting loud and then slowly quieting as he completed the sentence.

The two of them stopped short, silence washing over them as his words sank into both their minds. Memories of their first night together flooding back, when he showed her everything he could offer. A beautiful experience in the Outer Planes, where their souls entwined within currents of raw weave. Expressing their new love in countless ways, too many for one evening, but they did all they could. Loving, tender, but despite it all, not real. Not bodies together, the physical exertion of passionate, violently yearning intimacy. Just what Gale became tempted with after he spoke those long awaited words, as the anger melted from his system and replaced itself with carnality.

There wasn’t time for Tav to respond. Astarion cut in with his usual mocking tone. “Would you two get a damned room? Your voices are grating and I’m trying to enjoy a nice glass of wine I stole from Last Light.”

“I knew that bottle was familiar!” Jaheira cried out, no longer paying attention to Gale and Tav.

Tav sighed, bothered by the chiding of their companions. She felt on the spot, watched in all the wrong ways. Gale gently grabbed her arm.

“Come over this way,” he demanded, short and impatient. Quite possibly the briefest she’d ever heard him speak.

He pulled her away from the camp, a short but fair distance from their companions. Clusters of bushes and broken trees began to fill the space as he brought her forward. The sun was setting above them, hues of paradisiacal magenta and orange above them, beaming through the shaking leaves. Tav didn’t have much time to gaze upon the natural beauty, for Gale led her as if running to safety.

“Gale, where are you taking me?! You’re pulling too much, I’m going to lose my balance,” Tav questioned.

A few seconds went by, Tav’s curiosity getting the better of her as she’d never seen him so flustered. Trees surrounded them, but not enough to block the bustling city lights of Rivington on one side and the fire of their camp on the other. Voices of Karlach and Lae’zel talking could still be heard from the distance they stood. Tav had never been to this side before, but Gale had a way of making her feel safe no matter where.

“Come here, love,” he said, his arms moving to hook around her waist as he pushed her gently against a large tree.

She had little time to take a breath before his lips were on hers, soft but with an ardent passion once resting in bubbling irritation, now sprouting into lust. Their bodies pressed together, hips against hips as Tav began to melt into his wandering touch. Her knees nearly buckled when his index finger grazed the ridge of her jaw, tongue caressing her own. Temptation to run her fingers through his wondrous hair was too great, that strange sensation of a near death if she didn’t, silken texture on her skin enough to forget about everything they argued about.

But his words hung loose in her mind, and she pulled out of the kiss for a moment. Their faces still centimetres apart as she whispered, “I can’t live without you either. I’m sorry I wasn’t careful.”

Gale rubbed his nose against hers, that playful, breathy grin plastered on his face. “Let’s just look out for each other, alright? It’s so easy to get ahead of oneself, and I love you too much to watch idle by and pray you know the risk. You are a powerhouse of might, my love, but neither of us is invincible.”

“I know, I know,” she said in a hushed tone, so whisper thin the crickets chirped louder. Night fell fast, unburdened by clouds and blanched with a sea of stars. Everything was perfect, a moment in time that both of them longed for since their first time together. Opportunities never coming soon enough as their arduous adventures took precedence over everything. Now was the time, when the sky’s darkness masked them from the rest of the world’s troubles.

Gale answered with peppering kisses down Tav’s neck, shivering at the supple softness against such a sensitive area. For the first time since before Mystra, he wanted something purely physical—mortal. Covered in the finite flesh of his new love, giving pieces of themselves as a simple reminder that they remained alive. He’d forgotten the lure of that desire, powerful and impossible to satiate without going the full way, being as close to Tav as humanly possible.

Cracked bark scratched the itches of Tav’s back, pressed ever harder with each kiss from neck to collarbone. Desire budding at the touch points of her body; at the tip of her breasts, the heat of her ears, the tingling between her legs. Those parts growing more swollen with want when she felt the brush of his palms around her waist, fingertips dipping under the hem of her shirt to tickle her lower stomach. They were like teenagers sneaking around behind a schoolyard, eyes darting back and forth to make sure no one saw them enjoy each other. A thrill long forgotten on both sides.

“Gale, won’t someone hear us? We’re still close to camp,” Tav said between laboured, lustful breaths.

“With all we’ve been through, I highly doubt they care. But to ease your anxieties,” Gale replied, waving his hand to create a violet purple dome around them, “A silencing spell.”

“Perfect,” she said.

With a quick maneuver, Gale unclipped the belt of her wrapped shirt, slowly folding the fabric over her shoulders. He took his time, relishing in the pull of cloth from skin, little reveals each second until she bore herself bare to him. A maroon brasier remained, almost black under the moonlight and slipping low. Enough to catch a glimpse of her nipples, begging to spring free from constriction. Meanwhile, Gale spread her longer shirt across the ground, using clothes as a makeshift bed—if not to remedy the future ache of his knees. He unwrapped his robes as well, left only in a white, linen shirt and trousers.

He could hardly concentrate, the beauty of Tav under the moonlight too transfixing to not stare upon. Fitted perfectly in her under clothes, the rise and fall of her chest teasing him without trying. Watching like she didn’t notice, but she did, and began to strip for his pleasure. Removing the straps of the bra first, slow against her shoulders, the perk of her breasts peeking out before the clasp snapped free. Gale stood before her, watching with a subtle grin.

“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, Tav. Do you know how much? How I ache to the point of fever when graced with your presence?” He asked, voice dark with lust, a gruffness she didn’t hear when in the Outer Planes.

“Even as I am? No magic or beautiful strands of starry weave around me? Surely this can’t be as exciting as that time,” she said, not intending to be self conscious, but failing to keep that in check. Not a goddess, not a higher being in the form of a body, but just herself. Scars, blemishes, bad angles and all. Mortal in all the wrong ways.

“As you are is more than anything the weave could offer. Having you naked under the moon like this is a memory embedded in my mind for eternities to come,” he said, stepping over to her to help unbutton her pants. He ensured his fingers touched every part, no matter where, and his breath against her neck warmed and cooled.

“Oh, my, you give me no chance with words like that,” she said.

Between bountiful, romantic kisses, the rest of their clothes were discarded into the flattened pile. Too impatient to go somewhere with room to conjure a full bed, absorbed in the embrace of each other as they fell into the fabric. Tav straddled his waist, lowering down so she could still glide her tongue against his. Never wishing to part her lips from his for the rest of the night. Craving the push of his hands embedded in her skin, down her spine and over the hill of her ass, ending with a firm squeeze.

Not a single part of her didn’t feel something. Her nipples gliding against his chest hair, hardening them in seconds with the playful tingle at the tips. His hands finding purchase, amused enough to spank the right cheek with a hard enough force to have her yelp giggle and yelp out loud. And that irresistible grind of his growing erection pushing against her core, hastier than himself, simply begging to push into that tight, unoccupied hole. Just the beginning, and yet she already preferred being together like this, fully in tandem with each other, nothing but their beating hearts and heated bodies.

Eventually, both of them needed to take a breath, locked in a heated make out for a time they lost count of. Tav lifted her body up, back arched in pleasure as Gale followed teeth-first. Biting, sucking, licking her nipples, each side deserving of his equal attention. Delicate moans grew into hot, heavy woes of passion, caring little for noise control with the purple dome of silence above them. Saliva trailed down her breasts, her wizard so lost in the ecstasy of tasting those pink, round buds. Hugging her in his arms, moving his cock against her to feel the head getting wetter with her slick.

Tav whispered in his ear, fingers tangled in his hair, “Perhaps I should get into danger more often, if this is the consequence.”

Gale chuckled, muffled by the slide of his tongue around her earlobe, “No need. Should you want my services, all you have to do is ask. Nicely. With a very eager ‘please’. Now, I am on the precipice of sliding into you this instant. But I’d have you come first.”

Hands firm on her ass, he pushed her forward, legs buckling over as he laid down. Angling himself so her core hovered over his face as he continued, “On my mouth, darling.”

Unable to contain her giggles, she adjusted her legs to straddle the sides of his face. Too gradual for Gale as he grabbed her hips and pulled her down. Tav gasped from the heavenly sensation, his lips and tongue all over her pussy in seconds, nodding his jaw up and down to stimulate her slit with his stubble. His tongue moved with expert precision, letting Tav take control of the pace as he moaned into her cunt, slurping and sucking at her as if drowning himself in her essence. There wasn’t enough lip biting and stifled moans in the world to keep her from building up to a snapping orgasm, inch by inch as she swivelled her hips around his face. His nose jutted against her pubic bone, mouth focused entirely on her swollen clit, pushing her down to ensure she wouldn’t move away. Even as her inner thigh muscles shook with pleasured tremors.

Tav stuttered out, “Holy fu…ck…Gale, I’m s-so close. Keep going, keep going! Now, yes, now!”

At that point, she was using any superlative her blurred mind could conjure. An orgasm flowered within her, strong, hot and never felt in a very long time. She clawed his hair under her legs, twitching hips riding out a wet climax, dripping into his beard. A taste he’d never get enough of, buttery and sweet on his tongue. He’d be happy to suffocate under her in a bid to have her finish again.

Coming down wasn’t an option, continuing to flick his tongue against her clit even as her muscles relaxed. Sensitivity stung at her pussy, sharp hits of pleasure shining through with each feral moan he made. A sound so enticing, she melted for him, allowing his hands still on her ass to push her further forward, rear completely up. Behind her, he snapped his fingers, figments of magic beckoning around her in a light blue glow. Tav could barely pay attention, lost in the feeling of his tongue lapping at her cunt. Until two fingers pushed into her entrance, filling her quick but smooth in an electrified vibration. A mage hand, finger fucking her from behind. Taking her to a place of impossible pleasure, no choice but to let go.

As Gale sucked at her clit, muffled words came from below her, “Does that feel nice, my love? Can you cum all over my face again? That’s it, let the hand fuck you, good girl.”

“Gods above, Gale, I’m so sensitive! But fuck it feels so good!” She exclaimed, whimpering with each buck of her hips against his mouth, the hand following every angle so not a centimetre pulled out. Pumping into her tight walls, angling in just the right direction to have her shaking for a second climax.

“Let me help you even more,” Gale said, motioning his wrist to command the mage hand to push its thumb at the entrance of her asshole. Prodding in and out, gently easing in enough to thrust in the same rhythm as the fingers, slick sounds of sex invading her ears. She gasped at the hot tightness, cunt thoroughly stimulated in every way. It was perfect, hitting every spot just how she liked, and some she didn’t know existed. Gale was simply eager to please, laughing slyly as he felt her orgasm again.

Tav quaked at her second finish, overwhelmed with searing ecstasy. She cried out, “I can’t take it anymore, please! Too—too sensitive.”

The mage hand vanished with her command, easing the pressure of overstimulation palpating in her veins. Gale couldn’t resist one, soft kiss on her clit before letting her move off of him. Without her body to focus on, the ache of his rock hard cock snapped into awareness. Precum dotting the head, so stiff he feared it might break at the gentlest touch. Proven wrong when Tav brought her lips down to the tip, licking off the salty cum. Giving him a taste of his own medicine as he shivered in sensitive rapture. Both of them had a tendency to get carried away, as what was meant to be a simple tease with her tongue led to her taking his cock into her mouth. Using her hand to pump at the bottom of the shaft, too big to go all the way down.

Choking and sucking sounds filled the air as Gale writhed under the mercy of her mouth. Running her hand up and down his bare thigh, hypnotized by the lusty song of his satisfied whimpers. He wanted to tell her this wasn’t necessary, he enjoyed seeing her enjoyment. But as her throat coated his cock, he was rendered speechless. More so when she bobbed her head up and down, moaning through her nose as he gently joined her by fucking her mouth. Small, quick thrusts in fear of hurting her, but enough to make his calf muscles strain.

Spit and precum doused his cock as she lifted him out of her mouth, a raunchy ‘pop’ sound coming from her lips. Gale’s shaken, pleasured sighs covered the forest, stimulated by the cold air kissing the wet surface of his raised erection. Tav fawned over how it glistened, her core pulsing and tightening with the silent beg to be filled. Surely, she’d pass out if he wasn’t inside her immediately.

Gale exhaled deeply, shaking his head with unfathomable joy. “You will be the death of me. That felt…so good. I don’t even know how to describe it.”

She smiled, failing to contain the blush on her face. How she loved to know he was already satisfied. “We’re not done yet, my love.”

Her leg hooked back over his waist, straddling him again. This time, angling the opening of her cunt right against the desperate head of his thick cock. He looked so beautiful below her, gleaming with sweat and rosy with anticipation. Fingertips tickling up and down the sides of her thighs. Gods, when he laughed, that lusty chuckle of boiling desire had her foolish in his arms. She chased that sound, easing down on his cock until he bottomed out inside her. The stretch and slick of her walls fluttering around him forcing a high pitched whimper from her. Clit shuddering at the sensation of little hairs against it, nearly orgasming right there. Never had she wanted someone so much, craved another’s touch in a way she didn’t know was possible until meeting him. Everything about him was magnificent.

“Moan for me, love. I want to hear your every sound as I fuck you,” Tav demanded, locking her palms on his chest as she began to ride him. Fast, fervently, hips bucking back and forth so good he obeyed instantly. Husky, sultry, moans and even guttural growls with each grind of her pussy against him.

One hand stayed on her thigh and the other kneaded at her breast, his thumb flicking and pinching her nipple while her languid movements continued. By now, he could see when she was close, biting down on her lip to concentrate as she ignored her aching muscles. More warmth and wetness dripped along his cock. He nodded to her, let her use him as a toy for her own pleasure, moving pieces of hair from her face at the same time.

“Let me see you cum again, please. That’s it, ride my cock like that. So wet for me, I can’t believe it. Keep going, yes, very good. You’re doing so well,” he said, words of encouragement coming with his thumb moving to her clit. Rubbing the spot he learned she liked, just a little assistance in getting her over that impossible edge.

Tav’s body cramped up as she squeezed onto his cock, crying out Gale’s name as her third climax ripped through her lower half, felt even at the tingling peak of her breasts. He could’ve done anything in that moment, came anywhere he liked, and she’d be fine with it. Her orgasm all the stronger as she pictured being covered in him from face to pussy. A debauched mess on top of clothes, fully vulnerable to him.

Seeing her above him brought his own release closer. Unable to wait as he pulled her torso down to kiss her hard, pushing his tongue into her mouth with reckless abandon. Tav yelped playfully as they kissed, paralyzed by the ecstasy of being fucked into. Sore, sensitive and hedonistic, she relished in the hard thrusting and the heated touch of their perspired bodies together. Wishing this would never end but craving his release inside her at the same time.

She left the kiss to whisper in his ear, biting his earlobe, licking at him, “Finish inside me. Please, I want it so bad.”

“Oh, gods, Tav I’m going to—right…ah!” He groaned out the unfinished sentence, his impatient cock spilling inside of her tight hole. He pulsed within her, feeling his spine arch as he experienced likely the greatest orgasm he’d ever had. Reaching his entire body, lasting longer, an addicting taste of eternal paradise. Tav’s soft whimpers the final touch to the most wonderful feeling.

She moved off of him, laying flat with her legs open. Gale still felt trickles of desire in his stomach, not enough to get hard again so quickly, but enough to lean over her thoroughly fucked cunt. His breath warmed her skin as he caressed his tongue along her clit, letting his index finger rub her cum-filled entrance as he did. All she could do was wheeze, too tired for a full moan but adoring the feeling of his mouth on her again. He was gentle this time, careful not to bring out the growing soreness. No, he just softly licked, kissed and sucked at her clit, stomach sinking with carnal intrigue as he watched his cum dripping out of her. He wanted to mark his territory, give her one more orgasm to be certain she knew she was his. Even just a little one.

Tav concentrated with the full power of her exhausted mind, feeling herself ready to climax once more. She couldn’t believe how skilled he was, moaning his name out again as he pinched her lips together, pushing her clit further into his mouth. That, mixed with the amazing sensation of his cum inside of her, was enough to inch her into that little release. Her fingers clutching his hair, pulling slightly as she came for a fourth time. A tiny bit more of his seed poured out of her as she relaxed.

“Perfect,” he said, leaving her core and moving to lay beside her, “You are amazing. I can’t believe you’re real sometimes.”

Tav smiled, cuddling into the crux of his shoulder, “I should be the one to say that. No one’s ever been so attentive to me. And by the gods, I have never finished that many times.”

“Oh, my love, I am excited to inform you that wasn’t even all I can do. If I had you in a bed, with a private bathroom, different corners of the room to take you in; you’d have at least six, I’d make sure of it,” he replied.

“In that case, we must find an inn as soon as possible,” she replied, kissing his cheek as he scooped her body closer to him.

They cuddled for a few minutes more, letting the cool, night air dry their sweat-drenched bodies before returning to camp. Hand-in-hand, eyes doled with the fire of new romance and the comedown from lovemaking. What began as the rising moon, evening pink with sunset, had transformed into deep night, pleasantly dark and glinting with fresh, sparkling stars. Neither of them wished for a conclusion, but sleep beckoned and they had no idea what might happen tomorrow. Tav only knew that she’d refrain from taking too many risks, as now she’d become a fool for someone else entirely.

Gale and Tav agreed to share a tent tonight, and from now on. First, she went to the smouldering fire to grab a piece of sunmelon and her water canteen. The rest of the camp now silent as everyone retired for the evening, except for their most nocturnal companion: Astarion. Who had returned from the other side of the woods, pallid complexion brighter than usual, a sign that he just fed on an animal.

“Good hunt?” She asked, finishing off the last bite of her sunmelon piece and throwing the peel in the fire.

“Never as good as the real thing, darling, but enough to tide me over. Perhaps I should’ve saved some for you, tired little adventurer,” he replied, brow raised in that cheeky expression. Always present when he was about to take the piss out of someone.

“Fruit and water will suit me fine. Goodnight, Astarion,” she replied, turning to head for Gale’s tent.

Astarion spoke as she walked away, “By the way, remind your wizard to maintain his silencing concentration. If I’m going to hear your debauchery, I’d rather hear it from the beginning and not halfway through. Goodnight, Tav!”

Tav cleared her throat, swallowing down her growing embarrassment as she walked to Gale’s tent. Knowing fully well what kind of teasing she’d endure the next morning. For now, she would simply sleep in Gale’s arms and deal with the rest as they came.

[warblogs17282]

So, what relationship does Stella and Octavia have with each other exactly?

Short Answer: Evidence points to them having a really bad dynamic with each other.

Long Answer:

Let's just quickly address the fact that we've never seen Stella and Octavia actually interact with each other on screen yet. Yes, I'm aware of this, but I'm making this post thinking about what we actually know so far, and what I've gathered points to Stella not caring about Octavia. To be honest, I think the lack of elaboration on their relationship has been incredibly purposeful, with the purpose being to paint the image of what their relationship actually looks like in a sense.

Evidence 1: Stolas' Assassination Plot.

We know Stella wants Stolas killed, and at no point has Stella actually considered how Stolas' assassination would make Octavia feel, which is best evidenced by the time she screamed she wanted Stolas dead right in front of Octavia (the fact Octavia had headphones on is entirely irrelevant to the point I'm making),

and the conversation with Andrealphus in s2 e4, where both of them also did not give any fucks about how the assassination would make Octavia feel. (I'll get back to this point later on)

Evidence 2: Stella being abusive to Stolas in front of Octavia.

What this proves is that Stella is abusive towards Octavia. Many reputable sources say that what Stella is doing here is child abuse, which I'd like to mention, that it can negatively impact the child in a number of different ways, and I highly advise you check out the Barnardo's page about it if you want to learn more.

Evidence 3: "You leave with Via on weekends."

Notice how this never gets expanded on at all? It's just that, there's no specifics to it or anything, which in my eyes, potentially also points to the fact that Stella doesn't care for Octavia, because it could tell us that there's no attempt made from Stella to actually bond with Octavia, which would explain why that statement is never expanded upon. Plus, Stella literally sidetracks that statement from Stolas with "I like tormenting you. I want to keep reminding you of what you did."

Evidence 4: The beginning of s1 e2.

"Mmph. Via's calling us, Stella."

"You get up."

Notice how Stella is not concerned about the fact that Octavia is actively calling her out, and also when Octavia is clearly upset from the tone of her voice. Which shows us just how little Stella actually cared about Octavia, even when she was just a young child.

Evidence 5: The s2 e4 conversation.

"Because, my dear sister, you've already produced an heir; when he dies, his duties, his possessions, his legions, it'll all pass to.... Via."

"If you kill him, you would…."

"Laugh? Ha-"

Notice how Stella does not even pay Andrealphus any attention whatsoever when he brings up the fact that all of Stolas' stuff will go to Octavia. This alone shows just how much Stella is self-centered within her own desires, which in this specific case, was to have Stolas dead, as shown by the follow up line "Laugh? Ha-".

Which just further shows that Stella is only interested in what she wants, not taking how Octavia would feel about the assassination into consideration yet again, with that and the obvious display of her being self-centered in this scene, both of which showing further that Stella doesn't care about Octavia.

Evidence 6: "What? No! I'm not turning her against you--"

Let's be real here, Stella has already started screaming at Stolas over petty shit, so I highly doubt that Stella said this out of actual concern that he's turning Octavia against her, but instead, she said that to use it as a weaponized statement. Or you could also say that she's weaponizing that sentiment against Stolas.

Evidence 7: "I'm glad one egg fell out of me"

It's always irked me about the fact that Stella refers to Octavia as "an egg" here. Like instead of any other possible way she could possibly phrase that statement, she chooses the one that refers to Octavia as "an egg", instead of her actual name or even daughter for that matter. Which also could point to Stella not really caring about Octavia.

Evidence 8: The paintings.

The Loo Loo Land picture. Just compare Stolas' and Stella's faces in that painting, Stolas looks actually happy in it, most likely because of Octavia, while Stella on the other hand? Her smile looks quite forced to me, it's barely even there, which tells me that Stella doesn't even want to be at the family outing to Loo Loo Land, which further shows how little she actually cares for Octavia.

And if I recall correctly, that's the only picture we see both Stella and Octavia in, as shown by the other paintings where there's only Stolas and Octavia present, which combined with the forced smile in the Loo Loo Land painting, further shows us how little Stella cares for Octavia.

In conclusion: I have shown multiple clues and pieces of evidence that show that Stella most likely doesn't genuinely care for Octavia, with s2 e4 really showing how self-centered Stella is, and just how much she only cares for her own self-interests. While future episodes will most likely show us more about Stella's and Octavia's relationship, the evidence and clues within the show appear to point to the fact that Stella does not genuinely care for Octavia.

[readerstories]

When You Touch Me - Wolverine x male reader x Deadpool 4/?

Sorry for the short chapter with the wait, but! This was supposed to be a 5+1 scenario thing, and I got all of the 5 scenarios finished (other than a grammar read through), so that means I have stuff that I can actually schedule posting :3 Next chapter on Sunday! (AO3) (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8)

Warnings/tags: male reader, canon-typical violence, enemies to friends to lovers, eventual smut, slow burn

Wordcount: 931

Summary: You’ve heard many stories about how people met their soulmates. Everyone crazier than the last, ranging from typical meet cutes, meeting with one of them at death's door, in war, meeting at your soulmate's wedding to another, and everything in between and outside of that. You had just never expected to add yours to the crazy list, meeting yours in a fight, only realizing after trying to kill each other for at least half an hour. And you certainly don’t expect to have another.

You shouldn’t have left as quickly as you did, you realize in hindsight.

You had gone there to talk, to make some sort of deal so you could minimize the side effects, and the amount spent with your soulmate. Instead of the universe letting you follow your plan, you found out you had another soulmate, fought him (for less than a minute), tore your stitches, and then got stitched up by your first soulmate.

It was a lot of things. 

Confusing, a mess, weird. 

So you panicked, and ran.

At least it seems they are managing to tame their bonds to you somewhat, as you no longer constantly feel their feelings in the back of your mind. You absentmindedly wonder if it’s easy for them, if they’ve had training with each other. How long have they been together even? You shook your head, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that the bonds have turned to a low hum, almost like the noise of a fridge that you tune out as background noise, instead of everongoing chatter.

You are happy about that.

So you don’t seek them out again. 

You don’t want to. 

For as long as you can.

You know you will have to eventually, the side effects will not be pleasant.

But for now, you don’t want them near you.

However, it seems the universe has other plans for you.

Because of fucking course it does.

You meet Wade first, again. 

While working, again.

It’s only been a week, and though Evelyn had told you to rest, there is no rest for the wicked. Or something like that.

The job was supposed to be easy anyway.

Emphasis on supposed to.

Because the universe decides to send Wade your way.

Of fucking course.

It was just being a guard at some rich guy's house party, standing with another guard, keeping watch. Plenty of booze, food, drugs, women and men in skimpy clothing. So far it had gone well, the only thing you had had to do was turn down a few unwanted advantages from some of the aforementioned skimpily clothed people that had gotten terribly lost in their drunken and drugged state.

All you had done was go to the bathroom, checking on your bandages quickly and taking a piss.

When you return, it’s to find the other guard slumped against a wall. You swear, running over, checking for a pulse as you kneel down, gun now in hand. He’s breathing, you reach for your radio, but stop as you feel a gun pressed into the back of your skull.

Fuck.

“Should you even be working right now?”

Double fuck.

You turn around, the gun backs off just enough that it doesn’t brush your nose as you turn around. It follows you as you stand up, your own gun still in your hand, though you don’t aim it.

“Wade.” One of your soulmates- The man stands in front of you, dressed in a red suit like the first time you saw him, weapons and all. One of them currently pointing at you.

“Awwww, you remember my name!” The gun is aimed at your forehead. Around the muzzle it says “smile for the flash” in golden letters. You think you should feel some fear, but there’s none.

You lean forward, saying nothing while keeping a straight face, wondering if you will feel its cold kiss against the warm skin of your forehead. Before you can, Wade shifts the gun so it’s aiming at your shoulder instead, face still and unreadable to you behind his mask.

“You really should be resting, pookie, wounds like that don’t heal overnight, and even if you might get some of our healing eventually, we have not spent any time together for that to happen!” His tone is chipper, if a little strained. Your anger mixes with confusion, and though you want to ask what the fuck he means, you ask something completely different instead.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Now you can tell he’s pouting under the mask as you look him up and down.

“Boooo, keeping it professional. Oh well, I’ll get more of you later. I’m here to scare the ever living shit out of the shady guy that hired you, so he’ll cough up the fuck-ton of money he owes the shady people that hired me. Can’t kill him, but I can maim. And kill people in the way.” That last part is added as an afterthought, and if the universe was any part sane, you would feel a tinge of fear.

It’s not though, so all you feel is annoyance.

“God damn it Wade.” You rub your face, debating on shooting him just so he’ll do something about his own gun that’s still aimed at your shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, a phrase loved by many. Oh, since I’m at work, it’s Deadpool. Sorry in advance.”

“Wha-” You don’t get to say anything more, as the butt of Wade’s gun connects with your head, and the world goes black.

—--

When you wake up, it’s to the fire alarm blaring and the sprinklers going, soaking everything and everyone..

Wade, or Deadpool, you guess, did not kill the guy he was after. He did maim him though (he is missing a leg now), and then seemingly for funises, set a vase of roses on fire in the guy’s bedroom. 

Because of this, your clothes are still soggy by the time you make it home, and you curse up a storm as you peel yourself out of them, a headache forming.

Fucking Deadpool.

Fucking Wade.

(Part 5)

[prettyflyforawhitelie]

I wanted to request something for Husk, if that's alright! Their rooms are next to each other, and Husk just so happens to hear her cry. Reader is not being loud, she just couldn't hold back a particularly strong sob and he heard her. He keeps listening and now that he is paying close attention, he can hear soft sobbing. He goes to check in on her and she apologizes for waking him up, but is too shy to admit she was crying right away. I would love to see some fluff/comfort! Thank you <3

This is adorable! I love love love writing fluff. Thanks for the request! This turned out a bit angstier than I planned, but I think it balances out nicely with the fluff. If you want one that's just purely fluff, please message me and I will be happy to rewrite/write another! I hope you enjoy!

Pairing: Husk x Reader

Warnings: Violence, Weapons, Drink Spiking, Alcohol

Word Count: 1809

“This Night has Opened my Eyes” - Husk x Reader

Today had been a long day. And that’s the understatement of the year. This was the day that you and the other residents of the hotel had been planning on for months… the war against the angels. You had prepped weapons, defense, and plans all of yesterday, but nothing could have stopped the inevitable bloodshed that accompanied war. Angels were cruel, fierce beings that didn't care about the lives of sinners so long as they increased their “kill count.” They hunt sinners for sport, and nothing, not even the princess of Hell, was going to stand in their way. 

This was evident when Adam and the angels mercilessly broke through the forcefield that Alastor had cast around the hotel. Fuck. That was you and your friends’ only shot at winning this battle. As you scan your environment to assess how many angels are coming at you, you also assess the casualties among your newly found “battalion”. So many of Rosie’s cannibals were surrounding you, dead. The sight was awful. Families, all with hopes and dreams, lay crushed beneath your feet. You look around for any signs of life from your friends, seeing Angel wielding 6 machine guns and… was that Sir Pentious and Cherri kissing? Never mind that, you had one person and one person only on your mind… your boyfriend Husk. Last night, you were expressing how worried you are about the possibility that one (or both) of you may not make it out of this war alive. He assured you that he could hold his own, particularly worried about you. You trusted your fighting abilities, but if something happened to Husk and you weren’t there to help him, you don't think you would ever be able to forgive yourself.

You find yourself facing your worst nightmare after fighting off two particularly feisty exterminators. You turn a corner of the horribly wrecked hotel to continue your search for Husk, only to be met with your boyfriend’s injured body laying on the ground, struggling to crawl to shelter. 

“HUSK!” you shout, running to him and helping him up. 

When your hands moved to his back to guide him to shelter, you noticed that something was missing. His - his wings. They were brutally ripped off of his back, leaving only grotesque stubs where they used to be. 

“Oh- Oh my Satan, we need to get you the fuck out of here. Why didn't you call for me? For anyone?!”

“I- I didn't want anyone-” he struggles to finish his sentence, fading in and out of consciousness. “I didn't want anyone to get hurt”

You managed to essentially drag him just out of sight of the exterminators, behind a particularly dull-looking building. You used any loose pieces of clothing that you could spare to put together a makeshift-bandage, only half-stopping the blood that was seeping from his back. 

“I’m sorry… you’ll be okay. Please be okay. I’ll make you okay.” you say as he winces from the pain. 

And for the first time in your life, you prayed.

To whom, it was unknown. I doubt the prayers of the damned are granted, but you needed more than anything for this to just be a bad dream. 

************************************************************************

As you wake up, your body is drenched in a cold sweat and tears are streaming down your face. You realize that this was all some fucked up dream, but the fact that it could become a reality very soon terrified you. You simply couldn’t stop the tears from running down your face, small sobs escaping from your lips. 

You reach your side table for your phone, only to see that it’s 3:42 AM. Damn, you really hoped you weren’t being too loud right now. Stifling tears, you notice several missed texts from Angel:

_____________________________________________________________

[12:00 AM]

💬Angel: I saw what he put in there, i dont think its deadly… might give you a wild trip tho. but i gave the guy a good beat down on ur behalf lmaooo ;) Left u in ur room to sleep it off, didnt want any idiots to seeya like that

[12:34 AM]

💬Angel: bitch whyd you lock ur door :(

[1:00 AM]

💬Angel: Y/N are you up yet?????

💬Angel: shitshitshitshit

💬Angel: Pls text me when you get up!!!!

____________________________________________________________

Reading these texts suddenly flooded you with memories of the night before (or, really, a couple hours ago.)

You and Angel Dust had decided that, fuck it, if the extermination was coming in a few days, you might as well party like there’s no tomorrow. Heading to the nearest club, you guzzled beelzejuice like it was the last thing in Hell and maybeee fucked around and flirted with a couple guys. As one of the guys you were talking to brought you a drink while Angel was on the dance floor, you downed it and started dancing with him. It wasn’t until your vision started fading that you realized that this asshole spiked your drink. Luckily, Angel was able to spot the signs from across the way and immediately scooped you up and brought you back to the hotel, screaming at the guy as you left. According to his text, I guess Angel went back to the club and fucked the guy up a bit, which made you feel a bit better. Sometimes experiences like these remind you that, yeah, you’re still in Hell. 

Remembering this only made you cry more. The tears flowed for a multitude of reasons: you were so angry that someone had the balls to spike your drink - to spike ANYONE’S drink! You were also so mad at yourself for allowing some rando to buy you a drink without you looking. You were also so grateful that Angel had such a watchful eye and cared for you so much. You guessed that the hallucinogen the man spiked you with was the cause of your terrifyingly hyper-realistic dream. 

You then remember what time it is, realizing that you had let a particularly loud sob escape your mouth. Shit. You really hoped that nobody woke up because of your crying. That would be embarrassing… to say the least. This thought was interrupted by a knock on the door. Damnit. 

“Who is it?” you ask.

“It’s me,” Husk replies. 

Husk had heard your quiet sobs from the next room over and was listening by your door. As he heard that the cries weren’t dissipating, he decided to check on you. You quickly tried to hide any evidence that you were crying, wiping your tears on your sleeve and trying to eliminate any signs of redness on your face.

“What’s up?” you ask.

“Can I come in?” Husk replies.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” you say, waiting for him to enter.

“Hello?” you ask.

“It’s locked.” he replies.

You remember Angel’s text with a small laugh and get up to open your door, taking one more precaution to wipe your face before doing so. You open the door to see Husk’s tired yet worried face.

“You ok?” you ask him.

“I think I should be asking you that.” he says while entering your room, leaving you standing at the doorway. 

“Uh, I mean, yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“I heard you crying from my room.” he says, looking at you worriedly.

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I mean, it’s, like, 4AM.” you reply, trying to seem nonchalant and like he was the one interrupting your sleep.

“Okay, I may be tired, but I’m not dumb.” he says, matter-of-factly. 

“I wasn’t crying! I was probably just snoring or something.” You take his hand into yours. “But, I appreciate you checking up on me. Okaygoodnightseeyouinthemorningbyeeeeee!” you say while trying to lead him to the door.

“Sure.” he says, clearly calling your bluff. “You do know you can always talk to me, right? That’s what I’m here for, hon.” he says, genuinely looking into your eyes while holding both of your hands. His pure care for you overpowers any urge to hide your emotions from him, and you exhale.

“Fine. I was crying.” you confess.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I guess.” you lead him back to sit on your bed. 

“I- I went out with Angel last night. I think, if i can remember, some guy spiked my drink with what I assume is a hallucinogen.” You could see Husk becoming visibly angry. “Anyways, Angel got me out of there before anything bad could happen. I guess I came back up here and passed out, but I had a horrible dream.”

“You better have a description of the guy so I can beat his ass to a bloody pulp-”

“No. It’s not that.”

“What is it then?”

“The nightmare… it was-”

“That’s what this is all about? It couldn’t have been that bad-” he asks.

“No, you don't get it. It was extermination day… the angels were ruthless. I looked around and I… I couldn't find you anywhere. I fought angels and searched relentlessly for you, only to find you left for dead with your-” you shift in your seat, the mere thought of the nightmare making you upset. “-With your wings torn off. I tried saving you, but I just knew… I just knew you wouldn't make it.” 

As you stare into the distance, clearly bothered, Husk realizes just how much this scared you. When he first heard that all of this commotion was about a nightmare, he was surprised. You weren’t exactly one to get too emotional at the slightest of things, so this was new for you. But Husk realized why this was different. This nightmare was a very, very real possibility and a decently rational fear. There really was no telling what would happen come extermination day.

“How about this,” he says, placing one of his hands on your shoulder.

“Tonight, we forget about all of this. Extermination, angels, all of it. I’ll sleep in here and we can cuddle, you can talk to me or just fall asleep. We can sleep in as late as you want and just be here, in this room, right now. Just in this moment, you and I. How does that sound?” He asks.

This tenderness from Husk, though he is your boyfriend, was refreshing. He truly knew how to calm you down when you needed it most. 

Nodding your head, you both get under the warm covers of your bed. You rest your head on Husk’s chest, savoring the slow movements of his breaths. As he moves his hand to stroke your hair, you slowly start to fall into a deep and peaceful slumber. As you both basked in each other’s warmth, Husk’s soothing purring made its way into your ears, the music of your dreams. No amount of money in Hell could get you to gamble away the pure jackpot you held in your arms on this night.

[brucewaynehater101]

Okay so, saw you wonder “How does Space Emperor Tim handle war with his morals?” And I think that Tim doesn’t

More specifically I think he is able to accept that this is where he fails. He’s a master diplomat and great organization leader, and although he is great at tactics as a Robin, he’s not willing to lead a war. He’s not willing to sacrifice his moral compass in this way

And I think the empire respects this because, in spite of his personal objections to leading a war effort, he does not leave the planets stranded and defenseless…

He assigns Cassie as the many armies prime military commander

Each of the planets likely has their own military structure and command, as a mostly decentralized empire. But I think we also have a centralized mixed cultures/peoples/planets military to promote cross cultural exchange as well as the exchange of tactical knowledge

Cassie serves as the head of the military council responsible for overseeing both the centralized and decentralized military forces

Cassie has already been shown to be a capable leader with YJ and I think her Amazonian training has specifically well prepared her for commanding military forces (Idk her lore perfectly so correct me if wrong)

There’s obviously a lot of training and research needed to adjust Earth based tactics to space wars, but the JL and Batman likely already had some resources prepped for that. And as one of the Great Baby Emperors Glorious Consorts, the many leaders under her command are happy to assist in her training

Kon and Bart likely also help her, providing emotional support and serving as sound boards for her ideas, but she’s the military commander right now. And she’s gonna kick whatever alien equivalent of asses these attackers got

Tim probably also continues to help in his own way, managing logistics and supplies (really important for armies). He’s also probably assisting with developing new technologies to help in the battle given his skills in R&D (maybe it’s only medical advancements or maybe he feels okay developing ships or weapons, or maybe that’s where Bart gets to go to town making his fantastical sci-fi space lasers) Tim is not going to abandon his empire, they have stood by him through thick and thin, and he’ll give whatever he knows he is able to give them

So yeah, Tim might not be an Emperor who leads armies, but he doesn’t leave his worlds defenseless and gives Cassie the perfect opportunity to show the Timpire, and really the whole galaxy, just how badass she is !!!

Oh my gods, you are brilliant. Cassie would 100000% be the military commander (I don't know enough about her lore either, but that checks out).

Hmm... The only issue I can see is whether or not Cassie needs Tim's approval to go to war. She won't just do it for the hell of it, but Tim won't really approve of it either. Then again, maybe they should spend hours upon hours upon hours arguing about the necessity of going to war, considering how likely it will lead to casualties.

While Tim won't lead into war, I can see him going over "hypothetical" plans with Cassie. Maybe not in the middle of a war, but I could see Tim stealing GL/JL space war files and going over it with Cassie.

For angst reasons, YJ at first doesn't take going to war seriously. They're kids when this starts. Yeah, they've been through shit, but leading an empire to kill other people for whatever reason they deem is necessary? Probably not.

Instead, they train on space war strategy by making games out of it. Tim and Bart create a hallographic board game that incorporates various space war variables. It's a fun pass time of theirs with the excuse of "training" (not that they ever believe they'll need that kind of training).

After their first war, they never pick that game up again. They do provide it the generals of each planet, though, and have the planets compete against each other for friendly bonding.

Tim does help with the logistics and defense of the planets. None of it is lethal, but he does have extreme measures (I'm thinking about that one panel where he threatens to permanently deafen people).

Bart collaborates with the planets for space travel, war machines, and weapons for the military.

Kon may not lead, but he helps develop creative strategies and plans to assist Cassie.

Tim may be the emperor, but Cassie becomes the name feared among all enemy planets.

[wanderinginksplot]

Commander Fox + Mercenary!Reader

As a mercenary, you travel in and out of Coruscant a lot. You find it more than a little strange that Commander Fox himself always seems to be on the Coruscant Guard team investigating your transport when you come back planetside...

Commander Fox x gn!reader (platonic-ish, with a hint toward future feelings)

Thanks to @nowait-whathappened for the prompt!

Word Count: 3.4k words

Warnings: mentions of weapons, mentions of bodily injuries, implied lack of trust

Masterlist

---

“Transport 47816, prepare for boarding.”

The groans that echoed through the transport ship were instant and harsh. None of the familiar faces around you held an expression more pleasant than ‘irritation’, but you were well used to this by now. 

“Why?” Kann bit out harshly. You tried not to roll your eyes, but it was a close thing. As the Lament’s near-constant pilot, Kann knew exactly why you were being boarded just outside of Coruscant’s airspace, but that didn’t mean he was going to make things easy. 

“Transport 47816, you’re returning from a neutral star system. It’s protocol.”

Kann snarled. “Shove the protocol up your-”

“Shut up and let the troopers on the ship,” Skoh ordered. “I don’t have time for you to argue with the whole damn Guard.”

Despite his previous eagerness for a fight, Kann clenched his jaw and nodded. “Dropping shields now.” 

Kann was one of the more reckless members of the Lament, but Nakte Skoh was a force to be reckoned with. When the tall Togruta spoke, every one of the mercenaries on the team listened. Disobeying him was a good way to get killed - sometimes by the enemy and sometimes by Skoh himself. 

The troopers who boarded the transport were wearing the familiar Coruscant Guard colors. You even recognized a few of the patterns and greeted them with a slight nod. You wouldn’t have minded being a little more exuberant, but not among your coworkers. It would be unwise to show too much emotion surrounded by mercenaries. 

“Everyone stand.” Grumbling. “Leave all weapons here. We will be interviewing each of you separately.” More grumbling, even as everyone started to reluctantly comply. 

The trooper issuing instructions was none other than the commander of the Coruscant Guard, Commander Fox. You could recognize him by his visored helmet easily enough, but there was something in his voice. What exactly made his tone was hard to pinpoint, but if pressed, you thought you could pick it out of a crowd. Even if that crowd were made up of other clone troopers. 

So you stood with the others, smoothly pulling your blasters and blades out from their usual places. The pile they made on your empty seat was respectable, the wear on the weapons a mark of your ability to use every one. With a last quick count to make sure none of the other mercenaries decided to take something that wasn’t theirs, you followed everyone to the link between your ship and the Guard’s. 

“Hope they’ll be less stupid about their weapons checks this time,” Yarrex muttered to you. The Kiffar was impatient at the best of times, but she knew her stuff better than most. “Last time, they misaligned the power pack on my rifle. If I hadn’t checked, it would have taken all of us out.”

You nodded fervently, remember how close a call that had been. Yarrex’s rifle had been actively overheating by the time she returned to the transport ship and she had hissed loud curses the whole time she fixed it. You couldn’t blame her - the smell from the flesh of her fingertips burning had lingered in the ship for days. 

There was a Coruscant Guard trooper just inside the larger ship, ushering you to your ultimate destination. “This way, down the hall-”

“-And to the right,” you finished. “I know, I know.”

“Been here a few times?” Yarrax asked over her shoulder. 

You shrugged, glad there was no one else behind you. What you were about to say could easily turn into tales of bad luck, and eventually spiral into you not being hired onto as many jobs. “Every single time I come back to Coruscant.”

“That’s not fair,” one of the trooper protested. 

You aimed a dry look in his direction. “We both know it is, Chase.” 

“I didn’t know they had names,” Kann remarked as he was led to one of the interrogation rooms. 

Yarrax hissed disapprovingly at his back. The trooper stammered, “I- I’m not Chase.”

“Save it,” Skoh advised with a nod in your direction. “That one can smell lies.”

Chase glanced at you, clearly nervous even through the protective cover of his helmet. You gave him a broad smile and went to sit down. 

Chase and the trooper who had directed you to the interrogation area were watching the room. The unfamiliar one had a medic’s cross on one shoulder and you wondered idly whether the Guard was expecting trouble. 

They shouldn’t, honestly. The standard Coruscant Guard procedure was to pull everyone into individual rooms to ask questions about the most recent mission. The Lament had some latitude in the way they conducted business, but everyone made a point of being as vague as possible in their answers. It was an entertaining game you all played when you came back to Coruscant. 

Though, apparently, no one played it as often as you. 

There were two interrogation rooms being used at the moment. The ship had at least a few more, but Lament missions were made up of ten mercenaries by rule - no more, no less. With Kann and another mercenary in the interrogation rooms, there apparently weren’t enough of you to warrant using more rooms. 

Mercenaries weren’t the most lively and talkative bunch, especially not after a long mission. A few of them shut their eyes to catch a few moments of sleep. The lone Nautolan in the Lament, a female named Veng, worked on repairing a tear she had gotten in the shoulder of her shirt. The needle flashing in and out of the ripped halves was mesmerizing, but your attention was caught by Skoh. 

Your leader was watching the room, gaze intent as he studied the mercenaries and the troopers watching you. There was no real tension in him, not even the kind disguised by the specific relaxation he took on when a negotiation was leading toward violence. But he was awake and alert, so you decided that you should be, too. 

Not that there was any reason to, of course. Skoh and Yarrix were the next to disappear into interview rooms as the first two went back to the transport ship. You weren’t among the next two to be called, or the ones after that. When it was only you and Veng left on the Guard ship, the door opened for Khyr to step out. Commander Fox stood in the doorway, sternly announcing that you were next. 

Veng didn’t glance up to see the amused look you gave her, but that was fine. It hadn’t really been for her, anyway. The commander stepped aside for you to enter the interrogation room, then closed the door before following you to the table. 

“Commander Fox,” you greeted with a nod. “How are you? How’s the wife?” 

The commander removed his helmet, all the better for you to see the confusion and exasperation mingling on his handsome face. “The wife.” 

“Or husband,” you amended. “Or partner. Non-specific.”

“I don’t have any of those,” he told you. “Did you get hit on the head during this massacre?”

You rolled your eyes at him, the way you always did when he disparaged your line of work. “Not a massacre. Not this time, at least. We do things other than kill people, you know.” 

“Yeah? What was the objective on this mission?” 

It just so happened that the mission you were returning from had been far more violent than expected, so you stepped neatly around the question. “Anyway, the point is that I see you so often, I feel like I should get to know something about your life. With anyone else, I would know about their partner or children or pets or hobbies. I see you more often than my parents.” 

“That so?” Fox asked, tilting his head to deliver his skeptical expression to best effect.

“Not in the slightest,” you admitted easily. “But it has come to my attention that not every Lament mission gets investigated by the Guard when they return to Coruscant.” 

Fox stiffened slightly. “We do our best to stop every transport, but our team is spread thin…”

“I’m not doubting your work, Commander,” you assured, “just your selection methods. Why is it that my team is always the one to be stopped?” 

“Coincidence.” 

Now, it was your turn to be skeptical. “You’ll have to do better than that, Fox.” 

His eyes widened briefly and you wondered if you had offended him by dropping his title, but he recovered in the next instant. “Are you suggesting that we should be suspicious of you?” 

“No, but you are,” you countered. “Otherwise, why would you always be focused on my missions?” 

“I told you: we aren’t.” 

Despite the way Fox’s teeth were gritted, you pushed on. You had a trump card, and you intended to play it: “Then why are you here? You, specifically? The Head Commander of the Coruscant Guard, investigating a transport full of mercenaries? You have better things to be doing than this. It’s suspicious.”

“I’ve told you, it’s a coincidence.” Fox sounded overly stubborn, even for him. 

You lifted your hands innocently in front of yourself and leaned backward in your chair. “Fine, fine. Total coincidence. Your complete lack of supporting evidence or further arguments has convinced me. Proceed with your interrogation, Commander.” 

He scowled intensely at you, but sat in the chair across from yours and started with the typical round of questions. Name, address, interplanetary work-travel permit number, employer, job title.

When you had answered them all successfully, Fox set his datapad down on the table between you. “Now, tell me about the mission you completed just prior to coming back to Coruscant.” 

“We were on Raydonia,” you answered easily. “We were hired to protect a village.” 

Fox gestured for you to continue when you stopped. “And what were you protecting them from?” 

“They were hit by two unknowns a few weeks ago.” The explanation was a little shaky, but it was the only one you had been given. It was still more than you usually got for a job and you were fine with that, but Fox seemed determined to think you were untrustworthy. “They took some of the most powerful warriors in the village. The village elders were worried some of the surrounding people might take the chance to attack them. They were right.” 

“Were there any casualties?” Fox asked, carefully not looking at you. 

You smiled despite yourself. “No Republic citizens were harmed.”

It was a vague and a polite way of reminding him that he had no jurisdiction over things that happened outside of Republic-controlled planets. Technically speaking, Fox had no jurisdiction over things that happened outside of Coruscant, but you wouldn’t bet on that stopping him. 

“And among your team?” he asked. “No injuries or deaths?”

“Nothing major,” you told him with a shrug. “You can count. I’m sure you noticed all ten of us are here and accounted for.” 

“What about minor injuries?” he pressed. 

You knew better than to shift in your chair, or look away from the easy eye contact you had maintained up to that point. Fox was an expert, and a sharp one at that. The smallest possible tell and he would know everything there was to know. That was what made him dangerous.

“None to speak of.” 

Even your flawless delivery left him looking distinctly skeptical. “Then why are you limping?” 

Despite the surge of frustrated exasperation that rose in you, your lips curved into a smile. “You’re too observant for your own good, Commander.” 

“Which isn’t an answer.” 

That made you chuckle aloud. “No, it wasn’t. But since you’re so insistent on an explanation, I sustained a minor injury on the mission. I treated it promptly and it is well on its way to healing.”

“How were you injured?”

Dimly, you wondered if Fox realized that he had leaned forward slightly under the weight of his own intensity. But only dimly, because most of your attention was drawn to the way he was even more handsome from a shorter distance away. 

“Why?” 

Fox blinked, and it seemed to break the spell he had put himself under. An instant later, he was scowling again - a fairly regular expression for him during these stops. “Because I’m the Head Commander of the Coruscant Guard and I asked you a direct question.” 

“I don’t answer to you,” you reminded him, privately savoring the look of profound irritation blossoming on his face. “Not about missions that take place in independent systems. Even if they result in injuries.”

“Maybe I have cause to believe that you sustained that injury in Republic territory,” Fox proposed. “Maybe I need proof you aren’t lying to me.” 

For a mercenary, you were even-tempered. Remarkably so, in fact. It helped you get along with your more volatile coworkers. But you did have a temper, and when it sparked, you were far from subtle. 

The slam of the chair’s front legs reconnecting with the floor was loud. Fox didn’t jump - he had too much control over himself for that - but his eyes darted to yours in a way that made his surprise evident. Your hands connecting with the top of the table between you was loud, too, the sound specifically and purposefully sharp.

You leaned in toward Fox and the expression on your face was unpleasant enough that he looked concerned. “I like you, Fox. I think you’re a good man doing your best in the galaxy’s worst job. That’s why I’m gonna give you this one warning: I do not appreciate being called a liar.”

“I didn’t-” 

Your gaze was hard as you stared him in the eyes. Fox looked startled as well as concerned by that point. He had never seen you truly pissed before. 

“Yes, you did,” you said firmly. “I will be the first to admit that I exaggerate. I dramatize. I embellish for comedic effect. But I do not lie. I have never lied to you or any of your men, despite what is verging on harassment. I do not intend to lie in the future, and I don’t want to file a harassment charge, but all of that depends on you.”

It was honestly a shock when Fox didn’t take advantage of your pause to speak. It told you that he understood how deadly serious you were. With his attention sharp on you, you told him, “I’m a reasonable person. I am willing to overlook this misstep… once. And that offer is entirely dependent on what you say next.”

“I’m sorry,” Fox said, honesty ringing in the simple words. You waited for more and he obliged: “You’re right, you have never lied to me - to any of us. Not about anything big. It was unfair of me to accuse you of it.” 

“And why did you?” you asked. 

The question felt a little like twisting a blade in an injury, but you needed to know. You needed to know that it wasn’t going to happen again, and if it did, you needed to know enough to anticipate it. Because you had grown to respect Commander Fox, damn it, and it had hit surprisingly hard to have him misjudge your morals so dramatically. 

“I… don’t like the idea of you being injured,” Fox admitted, sounding mystified. You understood, since that explanation left you feeling a little mystified yourself. “I would like to know about your injury if you’ll agree to tell me.”

You watched the commander for another long moment, doing your best to gauge his sincerity. It wasn’t easy - especially since it required you to look past those lovely eyes and flawless bone structure - but you managed. It was one of your most reliable skills, after all. Fox seemed to be telling you the truth.

When you leaned your chair backward again, the tension in the room shattered. You sent him a cryptic half-smile. “You know us mercenaries,” you drawled. “We don’t give away anything for free. You ask your question and I’ll ask mine. A truthful answer for a truthful answer.”

Fox considered it for only a moment before he nodded. “How did you get injured?”

“One of the attacking villagers had better aim than I expected,” you said, smiling wryly. “After I pulled his vibroblade from my calf, I changed my previous opinion.”

“Do you have a bacta patch on it?” Fox asked. “If not, I can get you a fresh one before you go back to your transport.” 

“I already have one, thanks,” you assured him. “And I’m feeling generous, so I’m going to point out the fact that I let you ask two questions. Now it’s my turn.” 

Luckily for Fox, you really were in a good mood again. You only let him dangle in his discomfort for a few moments before you asked your question. “Do you always stop my transport on purpose?” 

“Yes.” 

For all that you had suspected that answer, hearing it directly was shocking. 

Instead of responding immediately, you paused for a moment to take a breath. If Fox was targeting you specifically, you had to believe there was a reason. And since you had already come this far, you may as well find out what that reason was. “Why?”

Fox looked reluctant and faintly uncomfortable. It was the look you imagined most of the troopers got when they were asked to do an unpleasant chore. But, to Fox’s credit, he gave the answer he had promised. 

“You’re not the typical mercenary.” You frowned, already opening your mouth, but he quickly went on. “Not that you don’t have your skills, but I’ve been keeping a close eye on the missions you’re a part of. That is, the Coruscant Guard has. There is a concern among the men that the Lament would leave you behind on a mission or allow an injury to go untreated.”

Well, it was an explanation, but you felt like it left you with more questions than answers. “Nice to know you guys worry about me, but I still don’t understand why you care.”

Fox shrugged, but the casual gesture was belied by the way his eyes were locked with yours. “You look at us like we’re human.” 

You frowned again. 

“And I… admire you,” Fox added quietly. “You have a code and you follow it. Unusual, especially for a mercenary.” 

“Again with the insults about my work.” Despite your heavy sigh, your tone was playful, and you knew he would take it as the tease that it was. “I look forward to seeing you too, Fox. That’s why I haven’t complained about being stopped every time we come back to Coruscant.”

He gave you a disbelieving look and you laughed. “Okay, fine. That’s why I don’t complain too much.”

Fox didn’t immediately reply. Normally, the two of you traded barbs and witty remarks back and forth so quickly that it would make an onlooker’s head spin. But you didn’t feel the need to say anything further and, apparently, neither did he. The room filled with a surprisingly comfortable silence, warm and cozy in a way that durasteel interrogation rooms rarely managed.  

“So you’ve decided against filing harassment charges?” Fox asked at length. 

“I have no intention of it,” you told him. “We made a deal. Guess that’s more evidence of my rare and admirable moral code…”

Fox rolled his eyes and you laughed. Before he could say something sarcastic, you added, “Besides, I think I would miss seeing you guys if you stopped checking up when I return from missions.”

“You would miss us?” You would have accused Fox of fishing for a compliment if he hadn’t sounded so charmingly stunned. 

“Of course,” you told him, narrowly stopping yourself from winking at him. He really was a very attractive man. “But I need to get back to the transport now. They wouldn’t leave without me, but one of the others might get a little grabby with the weapons I left behind. Especially since I have a sharp new vibroblade.”

Fox stood when you did, leading the way to the door with a suspicious look on his face. “This isn’t the vibroblade that…” He finished the question only with a vague gesture toward your injured leg.

“If someone stabs me with a knife, I get to keep it,” you told him seriously. “I believe that is common courtesy.”

“No new weapons on this next mission, then,” Fox said as he stood aside to let you pass. “No risks, no injuries, no killing.”

You shook your head in exasperation, already starting down the hall back to the Lament’s transport. “I’m starting to think you don’t understand what being a mercenary is, Commander.”

---

Author's Note - Happy Fox day! I knew I wanted to write something for 10/10, and big thanks to @nowait-whathappened for giving me this prompt! Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!

You can find other works on my masterlist or sign up for my taglist here. As always, I'm happy to remove you from the taglist if it's no longer in your interests.

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[gothic-thoughts]

Wrath

Lil homage to Supernatural lowkey (cuz i miss that show)

Ghost Riley x Black GN Reader Angst

Fallen Angel!ReaderAU, MeetUgly

CW: Ghost finds you, Reader wakes from a coma

TW: I, myself am not religious but that don't mean ion respect other people's beliefs and obviously this isn't meant to be offensive in terms of religion, killing mention, bad injury/wound description

Word Count: 1449 (give or take)

The ground finally stopped shaking like nothing even happened, but this wasn't some minor tremor. This was the most unlikely place to have earthquakes and yet a 5.2 just rocked the entire base out of nowhere like it was nothing; strong enough to shake the building but weak enough that nothing was broken, just knocked over. We tracked the origin to find it was only 20 miles from here in a random forest, deducing that it was some kind of weapon meant for us but thankfully missed by only a couple miles. And I was determined to find out who had the balls to threaten us in our own home.

Once the chopper landed, I cautiously led my squad across the field towards a huge clearing of knocked-over trees and scorched grass with a giant, steaming crater in the middle. We approach it to find nothing: no metal, no casing, nothing. Just somebody lying naked in the center.

"Oh, what the f--” I trail off as lowering my gun, “Who the hell is this? And why are they naked?"

I groan in frustration before ordering most of the squad to investigate the area while ordering a couple others to get a blanket from the chopper. I carefully walked down into the crater with my gun trained on the person, waiting for them to make a move but the only movement was the staggering rise and fall of their chest. I nudge their calf with my foot only for it to move limply.

“And what the hell were you doing all the way out here...? Whatever, hello?! Hello, hey!”

No response. Not even an eye twitch to let me know they could at least hear me...or alive. I put my gun away and kneeled into the now dissipating steam to examine the many, many cuts and bruises marking the front of their body that seemed to be already healing. I reluctantly reach down to shake their shoulder but again not even a change in breath; they’re out cold.

I roll them onto the side to check but the sight of two, large matching wounds between the shoulder blades makes my eyes widen. The skin around it was pulled outward, looking either melted or like they were ripped off of something hot. 

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Three days after we bring them to the medical bay, their eyes finally open, darting around the room and then to the cuffs keeping their right wrist chained to the gurney. The medics thought it was a bit much since they were so hurt but I couldn’t trust them just yet, if at all, given the fact that in 3 days, we still knew nothing about them: not their name, age, nationality; nothing, so I wanted to be extra cautious. Their eyes lock with mine and I give them nothing but a cold, skeptical stare as I walk into the room and stand at the end of the bed.

“Stop struggling; I don’t trust you enough as is.”

“So we understand each other then.” They snap, “Who are you and what have you done to me?”

“Done to you? I brought you to a medical bay and kept you even more alive than you looked in that crater so how ‘bout we start with your name and we’ll go from there.”

“I don’t have to tell you damned thing, I demand you release me. Now.”

“Yeah, that’s not how this works.” I cross my arms, eyes narrowing behind my mask, “I don’t care how pretty or rich you think you are, but--”

“Do I look ‘rich’ to you?”

“I don’t know what you look like, all I know is we found you at the epicenter of 5.2 earthquake only a few miles from our base, thinking you were some kind of missile. That was 3 days ago.”

“Three...? I... I caused an earthquake...? Was anyone hurt?”

“You must’ve hit your head harder than we thought if you think you could cause a damn earthquake, much less one that strong.”

“Wait, did you say ‘base’? Like a mortal military base...?”

Mortal? They're more entitled than I thought. "Yeah, sure a ‘mortal’ base. You’re being detained until we determine and learn who you are and what you are."

“What I am? So you do understand I am not from here...”

“I almost considered that since that's the only answer I can see after 3 whole days of trying to figure out why the hell you have no blood type, fingerprints or an even an SSN; so either you’re an infant, faked your death, or you’re a fucking spy. So as I said earlier, we’re gonna start from the fucking beginning.”

They sigh, no longer struggling with the cuffs, “Fine... I’ll comply.”

“And no lies; you may not have a blood type, but you have a heartbeat. If I feel like you're lyin', we do this the hard way, got it?"

They nod. I don't budge an inch, continuing to watch for even the slightest twitch.

“Name.”

“(Y/n).”

"See, easy. Alright; then (Y/n), what makes you so special that we can't read your fingertips?"

“Since you're already so skeptical, I doubt you will believe me if I tell you...”

“Try me.”

They rolled their eyes with a scoff. “Yeah, because you mortals are known for your trustworthiness.”

“What I believe isn't the point here, just spit it out."

Another exasperated sigh. “I'm an angel...or I was...”

I blink a few times, processing their words. “I said no lying.”

“Thought you said what you believe wasn't the point.”

“It is when you lie.”

“Whatever, if you're so smart how do you explain my lack of human information, Mr. Easter Bunny? The earthquake? You didn’t find anything else besides me in the area, did you?”

I scoff with a chuckle. Angel or not, they're a smart ass. "You're right, I actually can't. But I know that angels aren't real... and if they were, they can't be hurt. How'd you go from this invincible being to half-dead in the middle of a forest?"

“I said I was an angel, didn't I? I'm a fallen angel now.”

"So how'd you lose your wings then?"

“Simply put, I sinned.”

“Can you elaborate on that?” 

“A demon killed my best friend and wrath got the better of me..” Their voice cracked a little, “So I found that monster and showed him the exact same mercy he showed her...”

I pause, hearing the amount of stifled anguish in their voice. I relax my shoulders and uncross my arms, softening my eyes just slightly enough to let them know I believe them...enough...for now.

"You regret it?"

“I am aware of what I signed up for when the thought entered my head... but she was my best friend.” (Y/n) sniffles, avoiding eye contact, “It was worth it, though I am a terrible person for it...”

“Well yes...” I walk around the bed and unlock the cuff from their wrist, “And no.”

They gasp, doing a double take. “No? I killed someone."

"We have something called nuance down here on Earth. What you do matters, but the intent matters more."

"So you don't think I'm a terrible person? Are you serious right now?"

“Not a terrible person, just a terrible angel. You’d make a great person.”

"Right, because mortals kill more often than not."

"Hey, not all of us are serial killers, (Y/n). Most have legitimate reasons for killing someone, your case just so happens to be very common."

"Oh..." (Y/n) sits up against the pillows, "That doesn't make it okay."

"I never said it made it okay; I said it doesn't make you terrible."

"I never got your name..."

"Call me Ghost."

"Ghost...?"

"We'll work on real names when I trust you more."

"Okay then...Ghost. So what happens now? I stay in some special cell, treated like a freak while your army interrogates me?"

“I'm not putting you in a cell."

“You won't?”

"Unless you give me a reason to, no. You don’t seem dangerous, and besides, if we keep you in an actual cell... I think you'd just try and break out. You're just gonna have to live here for now."

“Thank you... I think..."

"Don't get too comfortable though, I'll still be keepin' my eye on you. But at least you get to not be cooped up in a cell. Until we figure out what to do with you that is."

“...And... just how comfortable are army barracks?”

I let out a soft chuckle. "They might not be the most luxurious, but I can give you a room to yourself. No one should bug you as long as you stay out of others' way."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet; you might hate it here. Not many people like being surrounded by soldiers in every direction."

"Better than the middle of a crater."

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

(a/n): Last mythical one i swear (prolly, maybe, not really)

[dyns33]

The Moms 4

Matt, Frank, Y/N and Peter were not ready for the blip.

I wanted to do another Matt x Reader x Frank, so the moms are back.

Reader doesn't have a gender here. They are all Peter's moms, that's it.

They weren't always together.

Of course they weren't always together, since they weren't really a family. Matt had his job, Frank was a wanted criminal, Peter had his aunt plus the school, and Y/N loved their independence.

They called each other the spider's 'moms', and they sometimes shared a bed, but they had never really discussed what that meant. Really meant.

This was not surprising.

The Devil had taken a long time to let them approach, focusing on his mission of protecting the city, and convinced that he was ruining the lives of everyone who approached him.

Frank didn't share this belief, but there were times when his gaze would wander into space as Peter spoke to him, and everyone knew he was thinking about his wife and children.

Y/N had no family. They had never had a family and they weren't sure how to behave in this situation. But everything seemed to be going well, so none of them had broached the subject of terminology, or the future.

It was a perfectly normal day when it happened.

Peter was at school, Matt was working, and Y/N had decided to follow Frank to prevent him from killing too many people while trying to dismantle an arms sales ring. Of course there had been problems, they had both almost been killed several times, and the Punisher was absolutely not happy when he returned to his hideout, yelling at Y/N like they were a stupid child.

No, not really, because Frank never yelled at children, even stupid ones, not even at Peter. It was just for Matt and Y/N.

“Do you realize you could have taken a bullet to the head ?!”

"Thanks, I was there. I was also there when that guy tried to stab you, and when another one threw a grenade at you, and when the last one wanted to hang you ! Don't try to lecture me , hypocryt !”

“Maybe all this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been there !”

“I saved your life !”

"No, you distracted me. If I hadn't had to check that you weren't in danger, I would have been more focused, and I wouldn't have gotten caught !"

"You don't know ! You could have died too, and I would have learned of your death on television ! What would Matt have said ? How would Peter have reacted ? Who would take care of Max ?"

“Oh, shut up !” Frank growled, throwing his weapons on the couch, before going into the bathroom to calm down and wash the blood off his face.

When he came back into the room, Y/N was gone. Typical, he thought at the time, considering he was right. He was always right to be worried and annoyed when the pup, Red, and the kid were in his legs, in danger of being hurt or worse, and why ?

Their methods were not effective. He was the only one who could truly protect the city. To be able to protect them.

Frank sighed as his phone rang. He didn't want to talk tonight, he was too tired. But the phone rang again and again, and when he saw Matt's name, he knew he couldn't ignore it. Red never called without having a good reason.

“… Frank ?” he asked in a small voice, almost a whisper, full of doubt and fear, which was unlike him.

"A problem, Red ? Because I just got back from a mission and I'm exhausted."

"… You're alright ?"

"Yes. Are you hurt ? In a trash can ?"

"… You didn't see the news. There was an attack. Aliens, like in 2012. The Avengers confronted them, they quickly left, but… Something happened afterwards."

“Red, spill the beans.”

"Foggy and Karen… They were there, and then all of a sudden I was alone in the office. I heard… I heard them all disappear, Frank. Suddenly. I tried to contact them, but nothing. Peter doesn't answer, neither does Y/N. Are they with you ?"

Everything Matt was saying made no sense to Frank, but it was clear that he was about to have a panic attack, so he did his best to reassure him, telling him that they would find what that it had happened, that Peter was on a school trip, and that Y/N had just left home after a slight argument.

"Are you sure ? Can you call them ?"

"Yeah. But I'll join you, okay ? You don't move."

Obviously, the Devil wasn't the only one panicking. No one paid attention to Frank as he made his way to Hell's Kitchen, while he didn't really bother to hide, everyone was too busy shouting the names of people who also seemed to have disappeared.

In his office, Matt was on the floor, shaking, and still trying to contact his friends, and the kid, and Y/N. But no one answered.

"They were with you, you swear ? Y/N is fine, and Peter just can't answer, and we're going to find out where Karen is, and Foggy, and everyone else ? You promise me that, Frank ?"

"Yes, Red. I promise." He said, hoping he really believed it so it wasn't a lie, while hugging Murdock.

In the end, Peter wasn't on a school trip. He followed Stark to the alien ship, and he didn't come back. Y/N was unreachable, but after mourning his wife who had also disappeared, Micro had confirmed that the pup had never left the hideout.

Five years passed without it being possible to clearly explain what had happened, or if there was any way to bring everyone back. They were always together, and as soon as one called, the other came right away, but something was missing.

Forever a martyr, Matt couldn't bear the idea of being left behind when almost everyone he loved was gone. It wasn't fair. This had to be his fault, one way or another, and he had to spend even more time than before in the suit, putting himself in danger to save others.

He wasn't listening to Frank who he was trying to reason with. On the other hand, Red was furious that he refused to accompany him on his patrols. He didn't understand why the Punisher wouldn't help him clean up the streets.

It was clear that Matt was losing his mind a little, lost in his grief and spiraling dangerously. There even came a time when he was willing to use Frank's methods, if it would get him to react.

"It's out of the question, Red ! I'm killing people, you're yelling at me and saying that's not the solution !"

"What does that matter ?! Maybe you're right !"

"Stop… I don't want to do this…"

"Do what ?! Frank, what ?!"

“I don’t want us to fight.”

The last time Frank had fought with someone he cared for, telling them to shut up, they had disappeared. If he had been less stupid, he would have hugged Y/N, happy that they were safe after completing their job, and they would have met Matt at his apartment to spend the night.

But he preferred to get angry, and that was the last time he saw them. He was afraid it would happen again with Red.

So he didn't shout. He refused to let him sink, and to come with him to this bottomless hole, because he had already been there after Maria's death, and he knew what would happen if one of them didn't stay strong.

When Matt wasn't yelling at him, and there were no more crimes to fight, he would stay in his arms, crying until he fell asleep.

“I miss them… Foggy, Karen, Peter… Y/N… I should have protected them.”

"There was nothing you could do, Matty. Nothing at all. It's not your fault. I… Maybe I could have saved Y/N, if I hadn't been such an idiot."

"No. I was right next to Foggy… When I felt something was wrong, I reached out and passed through his arm… Maybe it's for the best that you were not present at this."

The days and nights ended up being the same. Red was losing his mind, losing his faith, he was screaming, he was crying, and Frank didn't know what to do. He saw himself after the murders of his wife and children, he understood how Murdock felt, and he knew there was nothing he could do except be there.

Red had also experienced this, with his father, when he was a kid. No one had ever really been able to calm young Matthew's mind about this.

Not putting himself in danger helped a little, because even if he was upset at not being supported in the street, Matt seemed reassured to find him at home or in his hideout.

This time he was more upset than reassured, barking because he hadn't been able to stop a gang and it would have been useful if the Punisher had been there.

"Your problem is that you refuse to be on a team ! It's always been like that, you think the others are burdens !"

"I won't do that, Red, I already told you."

"You only think about yourself. You didn't mind killing those you thought were guilty, and now you're sitting here, while there's chaos outside. You think it doesn't concern you. But it does. Peter, and Y/N, and everyone we cared about ! We must fight for them, together !"

"Red, stop. Don't…"

"I don't understand everything, but Matt is right, you are a disaster for group work."

The screaming stopped right away, Red freezing in the middle of the room and Frank wondering if he too had finally gone crazy, as he stared at Y/N, who had just appeared in the very spot they were standing the last time they had seen them.

As if everything was perfectly normal, the pup defended Matt, even if it had to be recognized that Red was also not always good at teaming up.

Their phones then started ringing, Matt's screaming Foggy's name, Micro asking Frank if he was watching the news, and music from Y/N's indicating that it was Peter calling.

Matt's sob was the first thing to break the silence. He almost fell running towards Y/N, who hugged him with a grimace, looking at Frank with eyes full of incomprehension.

It took a little longer for the Punisher to remember how to breathe and move, moving forward to join them.

"… What is happening ?" Y/N whispered, continuing to stroke Murdock's hair to try to calm him down, as he repeated over and over that he was sorry, thanking the Lord.

Frank didn't know whether to scoff or join him in his prayers. After what had happened to his family, he had learned to live with grief, or at least survive, his body still moving. After the blip, he had stayed for Matt, for the few people who counted on him, but a part of him had been broken again.

"I don't know how to say it, pup. You disappeared for 5 years. Half the population disappeared."

"… What ? No. No, it's not funny, Frank. Don't say that."

"You were gone. But you're here now." he said with a trembling voice, doing his best to stay strong, and hold on, to allow them to break down without fear.

"Sweetheart… Sweetheart, I will never leave you again. I will protect you, I will protect everyone."

"Breathe, Red. Breathe. I'll… I'll tell Foggy and Karen that you'll meet them later. I'll tell Peter where to find us."

"No. Stay." Matt pleaded, grabbing his arm with one hand, while keeping the other around Y/N to make sure they weren't going to disappear again.

They stayed together until the Devil had completely regained his calm, accepting the idea that the world would not turn upside down if he relaxed. A bit ashamed, he pouted while trying to hide his tears, getting up to call his friends, but remaining in the room anyway, one ear turned towards them.

It was Peter who gave them the most explanation when they managed to reach him. The Avengers had found a way to bring everyone back, they had fought Thanos again, there had been deaths, but he was not injured. In any case, that was the information they understood, among the teenager's much too rapid flow of words.

"Where are you, kid ?"

"Oh, I'm with Miss Potts. Or Mrs. Stark ? I don't know if they got married. They have a daughter now ! I want to help, but I also have to go see May, and Ned. MJ ! Okay damn, I have to call lots of people ! I'll come see you as soon as I'm in New York ! I'll send you messages, I promise !"

The Spider kept his promise, no doubt knowing how much they must have suffered, sending them a message almost every ten minutes to keep them informed of the progress of his journey, until he came through the window of hideout.

He didn't have time to say he was there, Matt immediately threw himself at him to hug him, followed by Frank.

Only Y/N stayed in their corner, watching them. They didn't understand. They remembered arguing with Castle after a mission, and then Frank was fighting with Matt. There was nothing logical, and nothing sad either. Five years. They couldn't understand that they were talking about five years.

“…Mom ?” Peter asked shyly, bringing them out of their trance. Y/N got a better look at them, who were hugging each other tightly. But it wasn't complete, not yet, and Peter's wet eyes were enough to know what they needed to do.

Nothing really changed after that. They did not have a long discussion. But they knew they were a family, and that it meant something when Frank patted Matt's head and smiled, when Murdock came to sleep at Y/N's house even though he hated the sheets, or when Y/N called Castle to talk about their day.

And in the end, without them realizing it, they ended up almost always being together.

[d-dixonimagines]

can u do enemy to lover prompt five

Prompt: "Don't touch me!" "How am I supposed to bandage you up if I can't touch you?"

I don't know what to really label this as. It's mild angst? If you wanna call it that? Reader is more moody than I originally anticipated them to be. Also, I clearly don't know how to clean wounds or how they would do it in the show, so the way it's described here is probably wrong.

Right from the very start of the day you and Daryl had been at each other's throats, bickering and yelling like you'd been married for 50 years. So it was beyond you why Rick thought it was a good idea to make you two go on a run together. Surely he knew there would be a chance that only one of you came back, and not because of any walker. The run wasn't supposed to be that big a deal. A quick day trip scouring for supplies and literally anything that would be of use and that you could carry. Everything had gone surprisingly well until you were making your way back. There was a run-in with a small hoard of walkers that happened to wander through where you were at; too many of them for just two people to deal with. You both made your way towards an abandoned house, killing off as many of the walkers as you could, focusing only on the ones that were a higher risk. If you had tried to pock off every single one, it would become too easy to get overwhelmed and ambushed as they all crowded together. So your only goal was to retreat to safety.

"Over here!" You heard Daryl's voice over the commotion of the moaning walkers. Yanking your knife from one of their skulls, you turned in Daryl's direction and made your way over. You both were almost at the house, eyeing it just beyond the tree line. There were scattered walkers wandering the property, making it difficult to make a direct run for it. "We should just keep moving. See if there's another place further down." You suggested, not seeing any other option. Daryl just shook his head. "Nah... we don't know how far the next place could be. This could be our only option. We jus' need'a plan." "We don't have time for a plan," you rolled your eyes, using every will power you had to not raise your voice and draw more attention. "I can see that, that's why we ain't gonna waste our time lookin' for somethin' else." Daryl growled back. "There's gotta be about seven or eight up there.. if we clear 'em out, go 'round either side of the house, there's bound to be a way inside." Glancing behind you to see the other walkers closing in, you let out a frustrated groan, getting yourself ready to run. "Gah!" If we make it out of this, Dixon, I'm gonna kill you myself!" You yelled, running off towards the house before he had a chance to sass you back. Clearing out your half of the yard, you quickly checked the front door to see if it would open but had no such luck. You continued round to the side of the house, killing off any stragglers. Finding a window above a pile of old wood, you attempted to climb up it to get a better grip of the window. When it didn't budge, you went to smash it but was interrupted when you felt hands grabbing at you, knocking you unstable. You let out a startled yelp as you struggled to keep the walker at bay, fighting to hold it back so you could reach for your weapon. It was just out of your reach, you could feel the tips of your fingers grazing it, scrambling to get some kind of traction to get a better grip. Daryl rounded the corner, stabbing the thing in the head and throwing it off you. "Finally you show up," you snapped at him, standing up quickly and grabbing your gun. "That's a funny way of sayin' thank you fer savin' yer ass." You just scoffed, holding your arm, not having any time to check the damage. "Did you find a way in?" "'Course I did, Princess. This ain't my first rodeo." You ignored his comments and followed him to the back door, barricading yourselves inside. After checking the rest of the house, you allowed yourself to relax just a bit once you knew it was cleared. Daryl set his things down on top of the counter and looked around the kitchen, checking to see if there was anything edible to eat. You wandered off in search of a mirror to tend to your arm. Raiding through the medicine cabinets and drawers, you didn't find much that would help. Just a tolerably clean cloth and some gauze. You started cleaning around it, as best you could, wadding up the cloth, dropping it, getting frustrated with... just... everything.

"Need help?" Daryl's voice brought you out of your head. You only looked at him for a second, getting a glimpse of him leaning against the doorframe before looking at your arm again. "I got it." He scoffed. "An infection is what yer gonna get if ya don't clean it right." "It'll have to do until we get back, won't it? I don't exactly have a lot of options here." "Water might help at least." "You see any water lying around?" "Yup..." Daryl stated simply, holding up a half filled jug. You kept your gaze on him, your eyes narrowing at him in irritation. Snatching the jug from his hand, you set it down harshly on the sink. You struggled with getting the cloth wet, not really able to use your injured arm. "Let me help." He pushed himself from the door frame. "I said I got it." Daryl didn't accept that answer, knowing you were just being stubborn. He reached over and grabbed the cloth from you, getting it damp before raising it as a silent request to keep going. Without saying anything, you contemplated for a long moment before slightly turning your body so he could get at it better. "This'll sting a bit," Daryl spoke gently, taking the water and pouring it over the wound, causing you to let out a hiss and jerk your arm back. "That hurts!" "I told ya! Ya can't get mad at me after I warned ya." You just huffed, turning back so he could continue cleaning the wound. After setting the rag down, he grabbed the gauze and gently gripped your arm, but before he could place it, you jerked out of his hold again. "Don't touch me!" Daryl let out a breathy sigh of frustration. "How am I supposed ta bandage ya up if I can't touch ya?" You stared daggers into him but he just stared back. The longer you stared at him, the more realization set in that being angry wasn't going to help anything. You weren't even really angry, you were just frustrated and overwhelmed. Daryl was only trying to help and you needed to calm down. Going back to where you were, you turned your body so he could fix you up, letting him do what he needed to. He placed the gauze on your arm and wrapped it as neatly as he could, tucking the end piece in to the rest of the material. "There... now ya have a better chance of yer arm not rotting off." There was a faint hint of smirk at the corner of his lips that you would have missed if you weren't looking at them.

You glanced down at your arm as you pushed off the sink. "My hero," you responded sarcastically. There was a beat before you looked up at him again. "Thanks..." There was another pause as you examined his face, that playful smirk vanished. "I mean it. Thank you," Your voice was softer, more relaxed. Daryl gave a soft nod before leaving the bathroom and heading towards the kitchen. "I'm starvin', I think I saw an opossum on the back porch." The moment was gone. You let out a loud groan as you followed behind him, revving up to give him an earful!

[queen-of-the-avengers]

Everything Falls Into Place

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.4k

Warnings: fluff, worrying about not being able to adopt a child, anxiety

Request by anon: Aww if steve and vixen settle down imagine them fostering or adopting a child. In their words "adoption helps a kid"

Summary: You and Steve start the process of adopting a child. There are a lot of steps that you have to go through, including a background check. You're worried about your past as Vixen is finally going to bite you in the ass. This is it. This is the other shoe you've been waiting for to drop.

Cat and Mouse Masterlist

Squares Filled: social worker au (2021) for @star-spangled-bingo

Author’s Note: any and all comments are appreciated <3

x

Tick. Tock.

Tick. Tock.

Tick. Tock.

“What is taking her so long?” you sigh impatiently.

“She’s only been gone five minutes. Calm down,” Steve chuckles from beside you. Steve looks over at you to see you bouncing your leg from how nervous you are. You’re wringing your fingers together to keep yourself from biting your nails. “Y/N, you’re acting like a criminal who just got caught. Take a deep breath.”

“Steve, this woman is the decider on whether or not we have a child. Forgive me if I’m a little anxious.”

Your social worker, Amy, takes another ten minutes before she’s back in the office, and you let out a relieved sigh that she hasn’t kicked you out… yet.

“I am so sorry. We’re extremely backed up,” she says and takes a seat across from you.

“It’s no problem,” Steve smiles politely.

“So, you’re looking to adopt a child? It’s a big responsibility.”

“Yes, ma’am. We’ve actually been wanting this for a while now.”

“Why now? Why not then?”

You and Steve look at each other in thought. Maybe it’s because you two were out fighting in wars you had no business being in. Maybe it’s because you finally came face to face with Zemo again after so many years of being away from him, and you almost killed him. Maybe it’s because even though you think you’re ready to be parents… you’re actually not.

“We felt like the timing wasn’t right,” Steve finally answers and peels his eyes away from you.

“Have you always wanted to have children?”

“Yes, I have,” Steve answers honestly. “For as long as I could remember.”

“And you?” Amy asks.

“In the beginning, yes. I mean, when I was a lot younger. Some shit happened to me and I didn’t allow myself to feel that way until recently. Maybe in the last couple of years? I can’t have children biologically, but I do want one.”

“I never know how to ask this question despite how many years I’ve been doing this, but what kind of parents would you two be?”

“I can’t say for sure. How can anyone know for sure? We’ve never taken care of a child before. There will be obstacles that we might not know how to get over but I can tell you one thing. We will do our very best to make sure this child is loved, safe, and raised to be the best person they can be.”

“That’s a good answer,” Amy smiles and writes in her notebook. Steve rubs his thumb on the back of your hand comfortingly. “This is going to be a long process but I have confidence that it will go by quicker than you think.” She hands over a piece of paper to Steve. “Here is a list of everything I will be needing by the end of this week. Legal papers. You know how it goes. Next will be an extensive background screening for everyone living in the adoptive household. After that will be the in-home interview and inspection of the home.”

You don’t hear anything past background screening. What if they find out about Vixen? They won’t want to give you a child when they figure out how many people you’ve killed. What if they come for the home inspection and find your room of weapons? You’re not getting a kid.

“Okay,” you squeak out.

Steve notices your panic but decides not to say anything about it until you two leave the office building.

“What’s going on?”

“What if they find out about Vixen? The Winter Soldier? My time in Hydra?”

“They won’t--”

“What if they do?” you cut him off. “What if they don’t see me fit to be a mother? What about the guns and shit we have at the house? They’re not going to allow us to be parents with all that there.”

“Baby, you need to calm down. We’re going to do fine.”

His words go in through one ear and out the other. You hear him talk but you’re not listening to a word he’s saying. When you get home, you immediately head to the room with all your weapons and begin taking them off the wall. If you’re going to make this house suitable for a child, you have to make sure it’s safe for one.

“Y/N, it’s going to be fine.”

“No, it’s not. We live in a state where it’s illegal to carry outside your home. We aren’t even allowed to have this many weapons in the house.”

Steve knows you have to do this in order to make yourself feel better. He leaves you to box the weapons while he gets his phone out of his pocket. He calls Bucky, Sam, and Nat to come over because he thinks having them here is going to help you. He has always been the more level-headed one in the relationship which is why he’s being so calm about this. He has faith that everything is going to work out just fine.

“How long has she been like this?” Nat asks when she gets there.

“Since we left the social worker.” They know you and Steve have wanted a child for a while now. “Nothing I say matters.”

“Hey, Y/N,” Natasha says and walks into the room. “You doing okay?”

“No, I’m not. I have to get these weapons out of here. Can you keep them for a while?”

“Sure. You’re going to do just fine. If anyone deserves a kid, it’s you two.”

“No, it’s not okay. Amy is going to come in here and see all these weapons and she is not going to give us a child. This isn’t safe for one. Or she will know I’m Vixen and think wow, a mass murderer assassin doesn’t deserve a kid. Or she’ll know about Bucky, Thanos, and everything else we have done in our lives.”

“Would it help if we helped you?”

“Yeah,” you smile.

Bucky, Sam, Nat, and Steve help clear out the room until it’s bare. This is the room you’re going to use for the nursery. You don’t have any supplies since you’re not sure when you’re going to be getting a kid, so you’ll keep it bare for now. Bucky and Nat take the weapons to hold onto until this whole thing blows over. Your house has a basement that you can put them into only until after the inspections are done.

On the day of the interview and home inspection, you have cookies baking in the oven to give the home a sweet smell. You have been cleaning all day to ease your worries. Steve is nervous as hell but less than you are.

“I think this is the tenth time you fluffed that pillow.”

“It has to be perfect.”

“It is. You are. It’s going to be fine.”

“I know. It’s going to be great,” you smile. Amy shows up on the dot, and you let her in eagerly. “Welcome to our home. It’s good to see you again.”

“Thank you. Wow, smells good in here.”

“I have cookies that just left the oven. Would you like one?”

“No, thank you. I have two more visits to do. Not to sound rude but I’d like to get started right away.”

“Of course.”

You two lead her to the living room and sit across from her. Steve reaches for your hand and pulls it into his lap.

“To start with, why don’t you two tell me what you two do for a living?”

“We are employed with Stark Industries,” Steve says. Happy sends money to every Avenger on behalf of Tony. You don’t need a job when your job is saving people who need it. Does she not know you two are Avengers? “We make about two hundred thousand each every year.”

“Do you enjoy your work?”

“We love it. I can’t see myself doing anything else.”

“What are some of your hobbies?” Amy asks you.

“I love to sew. I love making my own clothes. I actually made my own wedding dress. It brings me peace whenever it’s just me, a needle, and some fabric.”

“And you?” Amy asks Steve while writing in her notebook.

“I like to draw, sometimes. I’ve been practicing more these days. I like to fish. We have a cabin up north that we like to go to when the weather is nice.”

“Tell me about your marriage, and how your relationship is with your significant other.”

You look at Steve and smile lovingly at him.

“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for this man. He has saved me in ways you can’t possibly imagine. He’s my best friend. Sure, we have our ups and downs, but there is nothing we can’t accomplish together.”

“She said it right,” Steve chuckles. “I love her with all of my being. Our marriage has been nothing but great for these past few years. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“That’s sweet,” Amy smiles and writes. “Tell me about your relationship with your parents.”

“Both our parents are dead. We don’t have any living relatives,” you answer. 

“To get with the technical questions, why do you want to adopt?”

“I’ve mentioned this before but I’m sterile. I can’t have children on my own. I know Steve wants a family. This is the only way I know how to give it to him. We don’t want to do fostering or a surrogate. We feel like it’s more our style to adopt.”

“What she said,” Steve chuckles.

“If granted the opportunity to adopt, what are your hopes for your child?”

“That they’re a good person,” Steve answers. “That they’ll see someone who needs help and will want to do that for them. Who will love unconditionally.”

“Alright,” Amy writes. “This is everybody’s least favorite section. I’ve done your background checks.” Your heart drops. This is it. This is where she tells you that you can’t adopt. “Now my main concern is your work with Hydra. You are the Vixen.”

“Were,” you correct. “I’m not that person anymore. Yes, I have done a lot of bad things in my life. Things you can’t possibly imagine. That isn’t who I am now. I have healed from that part of me. I got help. I made amends. I got Hydra out of my head. I don’t associate myself with those people anymore.”

“What about Bucky?”

“Bucky is healed, as well,” Steve takes over. “He went to Wakanda and underwent the same thing she did. They’re both trying to move on from their past.”

“That’s all it is, Amy. It’s my past. It’s not my present and it sure as hell isn’t going to be my future.”

Amy goes through more routine questions before she gets ready for the house inspection. You tell her the plans you have for the empty room which will be the nursery. She doesn't say much but she does write a lot of stuff down.

“Thank you for coming,” you say when she is done.

“I’ll be touch.”

As soon as the front door is closed, your smile is lost.

“God, we’re not going to get a kid. Did you see the look on her face when she mentioned Vixen? She knows I’ve killed before. What person would want me to be a mother?”

Steve pulls you close and lets you vent. “We won’t know more for a while. Let’s just try and keep a calm head. Even if she says no, we can try other avenues. We will be parents. You’d be a loving mother.”

And wait you did. For two long weeks. You thought that was their way of telling you that you weren't going to have a kid. Until your phone rang and changed your entire life.

“Hello?” you answer frantically.

“Hi, Y/N? I have some news regarding your adoption application.” You and Steve wait with held breaths. “I am very happy to say you’ve been approved. I can’t wait to work with you.”

“We can get a kid?” you ask tearfully.

“That’s the first part of the process. We have sent in your application to mothers who are looking to put their children up for adoption. If and when they pick you, I will call with the next steps.”

“Thank you so much.” You cry when she hangs up. “We’re getting a kid.”

Steve pulls you in and kisses the top of your head emotionally. You have to wait for a birth mother to pick you so until then, you just have to wait. Most couples wait months or even years to get called, but you get a call from Amy only a couple of days later with a date set to meet a birth mother who chose your application among a few others. You’re nervous as hell because what if she doesn’t pick you? What if she hates you as soon as she meets you?

You get to the office where the meetings are held and wait for Amy and the birth mother to come. Her name is Jessica and she is too young to be having a kid. She is only twenty-three and she doesn't want kids at this age. Maybe when she is older but definitely not now.

Jessica walks in and seems to be about six months pregnant. She just came back from meeting a potential couple, so you straighten up and smooth down your skirt to make yourself look more presentable.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you two. My name is Jessica.”

“Y/N and this is my husband, Steve. Thank you for seeing us.”

“Yeah, I was intrigued when I read about your hobbies and your work with Stark Industries. Did you know Tony?”

“Uh, yeah.” You look at Steve and have a silent conversation through your eyes. If she is going to pick you, she should know exactly who you are. “I hope this doesn’t affect us negatively but he’s Captain America and I’m… Vixen.”

It takes Jessica all of five seconds before she starts crying. This is it. This is where she runs for the hills and gets you blacklisted from ever adopting a child.

“Captain America saved my life,” she sniffles. “I was visiting a friend in Sokovia when Ultron happened. You saved me.” She turns to Amy and wipes her eyes. “I don’t want to see anyone else.” She looks at you with a teary smile. “I can’t think of anyone better to care for my child than you two.”

“I’ll get the paperwork started,” Amy smiles and leaves the room.

You can’t believe what you’re hearing. You’re getting a kid. You’re getting a kid. You’re finally able to start your own family.

x

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[villainsandvictimsalliance]

The itch for destruction, the hands of repression and my theories on AFO's involvement in Shigaraki Tomura / Tenko Shimura's past:

For all I prefer to interpret the hands around Tomura as AFO's way to control his grief and turn it into a weapon, there's another option to it.

According to the canon, Tomura was using the hands to keep himself in check*. Supposing that what AFO said is true and Tomura's itching is his urge to destroy*, then he was using the hands to remind himself of what he did to his family and why he couldn't let himself be left unchecked*.

Image for the orange text:

AFO, talking to Tomura:

" You carry an urge for destruction that you yourself can't even control. That itch is simply your body letting you know that your urge can't be contained any longer. "

Image for the green text:

AFO, talking to Doc Garaki:

" He wears the hands of his family as if he's restraining himself, reproaching himself. With his memories locked away, all that's left are residual emotions. He's insecure. Just look at him. He doesn't even realize he's holding back when he's using his quirk. "

Those panels raise several questions.

For example, we already know how suspicious it is that AFO was the one able to find Tenko. Chances are that he had been observing the Shimuras all that time, but then why didn't he kill them before? What was he waiting for?

Another suspicious thing is that the hands of the Shimura were in perfect condition.* Tenko killed them at night. He says he flew from his house, he ran away. *

No one, absolutely no one showed up.

It happened in seconds, of course. The backyard probably looked like a war zone or something.*

Images for the red text:

He decayed the house completely, to the point it was split in two when he left. He decayed the sidewalk in front of his house and if you look closely, the house next to the Shimuras too.

The question is: how was AFO able to search within that disaster for each individual hand of the Shimura family members before anyone could get there to clean it up? Those hands looked almost fresh, as sick as it sounds.*

You're telling me that AFO found Tomura— who was not speaking between, he went mute for a while after what happened that night— and he "coincidentally" found a way to get the hands of the Shimuras like it was nothing?*

My theory is that AFO manipulated Tenko more than we are allowed to know up until now.

Image for the blue text:

Doc Garaki talking to Tomura:

" These are your family members' remains. "

Did the police ever get there? To erase Tenko's existence just like that means that AFO had to either pretend Tenko died too or somehow he managed to erase the Shimuras altogether. What was said to Tenko and Hana's school? Or Kotaro's workplace? To the neighbors?

Were there any neighbors even? A house gets demolished at night with people screaming and no one even panics thinking that a villain can be attacking them?

Of course AFO had cops on his side. It's just a bit insane to me to think it worked out like clockwork just by accident.

Theory aside, it makes sense that the memory of his family kept Tenko anchored to his morals and the rights and wrongs of society.* He was a good kid, he wanted to be a hero to help people. He is also the type to hate injustice to the point he can't shut up about it. No matter how many times his dad punished him for following the hero ideals, he kept trying.

(I wish I could add more than 10 pics, but you should absolutely re-read My Villain Academia and pay attention to Tomura's general hesitation when it comes to hurting people— before AFO).

Like I said, there are several moments of Tenko avoiding his "destructive" side and holding the justice he knew from his childhood close to his heart.*

If what AFO says is true, then he repressed his memories in order to keep his quirk from being too aggressive towards others.* It was a defense mechanism that tells us that Tenko didn't want to hurt people, because he was fighting the urge to do so.* He was even becoming self-destructive in order to contain his urges.*

Images for the pink texts:

Panels show Tenko wondering on a street with his hands clasped together to avoid touching anything and therefore decaying it.

AFO talking to Tomura:

" What is that you want to do? "

Tomura talking to AFO:

" ... The two punks that hit me earlier... I want to kill them. "

AFO talking to Tomura:

" Aaah, poor child. What are you so afraid of? Just follow your heart. "

( notice that the encounter of Tenko and the two punks happens BEFORE Tenko had the hold amoral combo with AFO.

The panels show how Tenko almost reaches to decay the people who just hurt him, but he forces himself to back down, close his hand in a loose fist and leave it at that).

Like you could notice in the last image, it was AFO who gave Tenko the impression that he could give in to the urge to kill and destroy because it was okay.* Previous to that moment, Tenko was full of hatred. There are several panels of Tenko saying "I hate them all " the day he got his quirk and the Shimuras died. The difference is that he only killed the Shimuras because he couldn't even control his quirk and he killed Kotaro in particular with purpose, but while he was practically blind with the rush of all that was happening.

Never before Tenko killed someone premeditated. Never before he planned it.

When AFO gave Tomura the impression that the itching was because he wanted to destroy* and it was okay to destroy to get rid of the itch*, that's when it all went to hell.

It's a dangerous thing to tell an impressionable 5 years old who just got out of an abusive home in the most traumatic fashion. Especially because Tomura's hatred got mixed with the guilt over the way he killed his family. He was convinced that the fact no hero saved him was justice for what he did. He was throwing up over it. He ran away from home, scared because he was the culprit. He was 5 years old, I must remind you all.

AFO falsely liberated Tenko from his guilt by giving him the freedom to destroy*. It was clearly not the solution because Tomura's itch would only go away temporarily after destroying whatever was annoying him.

Listen, we all want to destroy things that annoy us on a daily basis. The problem with Tenko is that

A) He is very very little.

No one explained to him that he was allowed to feel pleasure over the fact his family could not abuse him another, while he could also feel guilty because that was not the way he wanted things to end. He lost his family. No, even worse, he killed his family. Even if they hurt him, he also loved them. Those feelings can coexist within him, but he shouldn't confuse one thing with the other.

B) All kids have tantrums.

If any 5 years old was given that type of power and I promise way more incidents like that would happen. They are kids for a reason, they don't know better. It's the job of the adults around them to teach them how to tolerate things and live in society.

Laws are there for a reason too. They are meant to keep people in check. No, you cannot murder everyone because you are stuck in the morning traffic. No, you can't murder your boss because they're an asshole. You cannot erase everything that bothers you from the Earth. Why? Because it won't make you happy in the long run. We need to learn to coexist with our surroundings, annoying as it could be.

AFO did the opposite. Just look at the way he speaks to Tenko. Even working on the assumption that Tenko always wanted to kill, it was AFO's manipulation who set him on the villain path.*

Image for the purple text:

AFO talking to Tomura:

" Otherwise, you'll be the only one suffering.

Integrity. Morals. Ethics. All of them are just social constructs designed by some guy who wanted harmony in the world.

There's no need to let yourself be held back by them. In the end, what you yourself want to do is the most important of them all. "

We know AFO is not the most reliable narrator and neither is Tomura, right? The bnha manga is currently on chapter 414. We're at the point where Tomura and Deku just started seeing each other's memories. Hopefully, the manga will soon clarify / reveal the truth and this meta would be obsolete.

Take this purely as a couple of people creating theories for fun, because they want to entertain themselves in hypothetical scenarios. Okay?

Time to close this endless meta post by saying I think AFO was wrong about the nature of the itch. It does come from a form of desire to destroy, but I think it's Tenko's reaction to seeing injustice and not being able to do something about it. It started at home, when he was unable to change the way his dad treated, when no one would defend him or try to stop his dad.

When Tenko killed the Shimura's, his hatred grew to everyone because he found them unfair. You could say hypocritical too. He learned to hate himself for killing his family, learned to hate the heroes saying something and doing something else, especially All Might because he is the symbol of heroism, but wasn't there to protect Tomura from all the pain. Isn't he "all mighty"? He hated Deku for the same reasons / for being a copy of All Might.

It's a twisted version of Deku running to save someone without even knowing what he's doing. an instinct none of them can deny. Where Deku's instinct was nurtured and taken care of, Tomura's was taken advantage of and corrupted almost beyond recognition.

But that's an entire meta I'll post later, so I hope you all enjoy this rambling. No idea if it makes sense, for which I apologize.

Any asks, to the inbox as always <3

[scoonsalicious]

Pocket MCU - Captain America: Civil War 1/?

In Which Pocket Tries to Stop Steve from Taking the Quinjet.

Word Count: ~1k

Scene In-Movie: 1:41:42

A/N: I took a break to write WFLT. It's pathetic how little writing for that story I've actually gotten done. Instead, I do shit like this. Idk; Pocket stuff just flows out so much easier than anything else. #sorrynotsorry #pocket4life

You opened the hatch of the Quinjet and slowly made your way down the plank, hands raised above your head in surrender as Steve and the Winter Soldier approached. You couldn’t believe that he hadn’t been able to see reason. That it had actually come to this, had come to blows. You couldn’t believe he had torn your family in two.

That he had betrayed you.

“Pocket,” Steve called, “we’re taking the Quinjet. You need to get out of the way.”

“Or else what, Stevie?” you asked through your tears. “You gonna fight me, too?”

“How many girls you got, punk?” the Winter Soldier asked him with a sidelong look, but Steve ignored him. 

“I don’t want to hurt you, Pocket,” Steve said to you, instead. “You know that, don’t you?”

“But you will if you have to, right?” you cried. If you could just keep him talking, keep him distracted long enough for Tony or one of the others to get to you, to stop this insanity. “If I stand in your way. Then all bets are off, aren’t they?”

“Pocket.” Steve took a step toward you, but you took a step back, further up the plank of the jet. You didn’t miss the look of sadness and hurt that crossed his face at your retreat.

“You’re acting like you’re afraid of me,” he said softly. Pained.

“I just watched you try to kill our friends, Steve,” you told him, your voice breaking as you spoke. “I don’t know what to think about you anymore.”

“We’re not trying to kill anyone,” Steve attempted to reassure you, his voice sounding desperate. But you’d been watching on the airport’s security feeds. You’d seen everything. “But I need you to get away from the jet.”

“I can’t let you just leave, Steve,” you said. You were doing your best to keep your voice from shaking, but your entire body was trembling. “If you want the jet, you’re gonna to have to…” you swallowed, hard. “You’re going to have to go through me.”

“Pocket, be sensible, please,” Steve said, taking another step toward you. “You can’t seriously think I’m going to fight you. You're a civilian.”

“I never thought you’d fight Tony, either,” you said, choking back a sob. “But look where that got us.”

Steve took another step toward you, and you retreated once more, reaching behind your back and pulling out the weapon you’d holstered in the waistband of your pants when you’d first realized they were heading toward the jet, toward you.

“Please don’t take another step closer, Steve,” you begged, pointing the gun at him. “Don’t make me do this. Please. Don’t make me do this.”

“You gonna shoot me, Pocket?” he asked, his tone almost condescending. “We’ve known each other too long. You’re not going to hurt me.”

“Maybe not,” you agreed, readjusting your aim so that it was pointed at the Winter Soldier, instead. “But I fucking don’t know him.” You pulled the trigger, sending a blast of sonic propulsion toward the man who had been the catalyst for breaking your family apart. 

“Bucky!” Steve shouted, diving in front of his friend and catching the blast square in the chest. The impact of the blast sent him flying backward, slamming him into the Winter Soldier, and the two went flying into the rubble of the collapsed air traffic control tower behind them.

Steve shook his head, disoriented, as he tried to get his feet back under him. He reached down to help the Winter Soldier rise, as well. “A shock gun, Pocket?” he asked, almost sounding amused once he had checked that his friend was unharmed. “Really? You think that’s going to hurt us?”

“I think I like this one better than the blonde,” the Winter Soldier said to Steve with a small grin, but his words didn’t even register to your ears.

“I’m not trying to hurt you, Steve,” you shouted across the hanger. “I just needed to slow you down.” You darted your eyes behind them to where T’Challa was making his way over the accumulated rubble and Natasha had appeared , seemingly out of nowhere.

Steve’s eyes narrowed, and you knew you’d fucked up– that he’d clocked your nanosecond of distraction. 

Natasha stepped forward to position herself in the line of fire between you and Steve.

“Oh, thank fuck,” you whispered, breathing a sigh of relief knowing your friend had come to back you up.

“You’re not gonna stop,” Natasha said

“You know I can’t,” Steve said to her with a shake of his head.

Natasha raised her arm in Steve’s direction, electronic propulsor at the ready. “I’m gonna regret this,” she said.

To your absolute shock, she aimed it between Steve and the Winter Soldier, shooting a burst of electricity straight at T’Challa.

“NATTY!” you cried out in disbelief as you watched T’Challa convulse and stumble to the ground in front of you. “What the fuck are you doing?!”

She turned to make eye contact with you. “I’m sorry, honey,” she said, "but we have to let them do this." Then she looked back to Steve. "Go!” She fired another blast of electricity at the Wakandan king.

Steve and the Winter Soldier rushed the gangplank, and you knew there was nothing you could do to hold them back. The sonic propulsion had barely kept them down for a single second, and you weren’t fast enough to get them both.

“Please don’t do this, Steve,” you pleaded, one last attempt to make him see reason. “There’s got to be some way we can work this out, all of us, together. Please.”

“This isn’t personal, Pocket,” Steve said, using the shield to knock your gun out of your hand. You watched as it went clattering into a pile of crates at the base of the plank, leaving you completely defenseless and the nerves of your hand singing from the impact of the vibranium.

With super soldier speed you couldn’t hope to match, Steve was behind you, putting you in a headlock, his arms pressing on your carotid artery, and you knew you only had seconds of consciousness left. If he let you live at all.

“I’m so sorry, love,” he whispered, so low you thought you might have hallucinated it, and as your vision tunneled toward blackness, you felt the press of his lips to your temple.

[mingiswow]

417 Hz | Kim Hongjoong

⇒ MINORS DNI ⇐

Pairing: Hongjoong x afab!gender neutral!reader

Words: + 7,7k

Genre: Dystopian/cyberpunk, smut, angst, a lil fluff

Content warning: Mentions of kidnapping, mentions of death, mentions of weapons, fighting against the system, probably wrong tech jargon (sorry, I tried, my best, I'm a designer), mentions of mind controlling, smut

Smut warning: reader is virgin and Hongjoong is a sweetie about it, reader has a vagina and boobs, oral (reader), fingering (reader), piv, unprotected sex, multiple orgasms, praising, sweet dirty talk, after care, just Hongjoong being wholesome and a simp

417 Hz is the Solfeggio frequency for the sacral chakra, also known as the sexual chakra. This frequency is known for being good for creativity increase as well as increasing sexual energy and pleasure for those who use it.

a/n: hey everyone! Another part of the dystopian series. I hope you are enjoying so far, It's been really fun researching and writing these. Hope you enjoy this one because tbh it was particularly my favorite so far. Love yall <3

You were taught to hate them, to hate the rebels, the Guerillas, how they call themselves. You never saw them, don’t know how they look, just heard about them and their actions. Every person in the small citadel that survived the test of time has a different description of them. Some say they are these big, enormous, scary-looking men, the size of mountains. Some others say that they have disfigured faces due to fight scars and accidents with their own weapons. Others say that they are infiltrated by the survivors.

The truth is you’ll never know who they are because it’s been years since they started going clearly, physically and psychologically against the government.

The world you live in is not the best, not at all, everything was destroyed decades ago when a nuclear accident happened. Nobody knew at the time that thousands, millions, of tiny nuclear bombs were buried under our feet, the governments of all the countries back then did without notice, ready to explode when something happened. The initial plan was to kill the poorest, to “purify” the earth, but it all went wrong when somehow all the warheads were activated at once, destroying basically everything around, killing more than half of the world population, rich, poor, it didn’t matter. The ones who survived had to reimagine and reinvent themselves, surviving from what was left. Over the years many more people died from radiation, hunger, and diseases. It was natural selection theory all over again.

Within time, the government, now the only one to rule all, found a way to control the population, an ancient technique with the use of frequencies and brainwashing. Chips were implanted in every kid that was born, being brainwashed with the government's ideas since day one, the frequency and subliminals, that once were used to help people, were now being used to control the population.

You were on the line to check-in on your boring work as a programmer when suddenly you heard a loud beep coming from your communicator, making you kneel in pain, then all went silent. No frequency. No subliminal. Pure silence. You felt dizzy, head spinning not being used to the silence, eyes slowly blurring until all went black.

“Are you sure they are the right one? They seem a little too young” you started to slowly wake up, listening to mumbles and whispers near you, but still too weak to move or open your eyes. People were talking?

“They are our age, Mingi” another one spoke with a chuckle. You don’t even remember the last time you heard people talk to each other.

You tried to move your body but everything hurt and you squealed in pain. Soon the sound came out of your mouth, you felt hands touching you and helping you to sit wherever you were.

“Don’t force yourself too much, yn. You have never been out of their control, it’s not easy to get used to the silence” you simply nod, the comforting velvety voice of the person making you feel somehow safe. “Can you speak?” the person asked and you tried to say something but nothing but grunts came out. 

The last time you remember speaking to someone was to your older brother years ago before he died in an accident at work. People usually don’t talk to each other outside of family and with the quick advance of the chips’ technology, people talked to each other through their minds. It wasn’t good since everyone had access to your thoughts, but that was another way of control. If you thought anything bad about the government, you were done. Executed.

“Don’t force yourself, I know it’s hard” you felt a hand caressing your hair and a shiver ran down your body, suddenly feeling safe, cared. You wanted to cry but even that you couldn’t do. “Hey hey, it’s okay. I know it’s hard, being deprived of emotions, from thoughts, it’s not easy” you simply nodded. “I’ll bring you water and some food, if you need help eating because of the poor sight let me know” you nodded again and you heard steps going away and a door sliding open and then closing.

You took deep breaths, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth, trying to calm down your nerves. You opened your mouth and tried to leave a few sounds and escalating to a few monosyllabic words like yes and no. Slowly you tried to move your fingers, the hands being the easiest. Then you moved on to your eyes, trying to open them, they felt heavy, not even your weak just moving hands were able to open. After what felt like hours of trying to recover yourself to your normal state you gave up, more because of tiredness than other things. You stood there, silent in the empty room, sat up in what you imagined was a bed, thinking about how deprived you were of so many sensations due to the brainwashing sound. When people told you silence was a scary sound you never understood them. But there you were, completely paralyzed by the sudden silence.

“If you try to listen to the environment sounds it will help you” a different voice came in, but no door sound was heard, so this man was probably there all along. “I know how scary it is, I was in your place once” you nodded and heard steps coming closer to you and a calloused hand touch your face. “I hope you can open your eyes soon”. You nodded, not sure why these men were being so nice to you after literally kidnapping you. What did they want from you? What did they mean by the one?

You took a deep breath again and tried to focus on any sounds you could listen to. The first one you noticed was yours and the man’s breathing, also the sound of the skin of his hand caressing your skin. You focused more, trying to catch any distant sound. You listened to some sort of buzzing coming from your left side, very very far away from you. Then you could pick some conversations, not enough to understand, but enough to make you feel at ease, there were sounds around you again. You heard laughs far away and you don’t even remember when was the last time you heard those, people so miserable that happiness wasn’t an option. You kept focusing on these sounds, making them your own frequency. 

You tried to slowly open your eyes again, and you managed to do it. Very slowly but you did it. Your cones getting used to the very dim light, and you smiled thinking that they might have left the light so low for you to get used again. The blackness in your eyes started to slowly turn into blurriness. You heard the door slide open again but no one spoke, just steps and the same hand that kept caressing your cheek, hair and arm. You don’t know how long it took but your eyes finally opened fully, focusing on the first thing in front of you, a very cute-looking man with red hair. 

“Can you see me?” he asked and you nodded.

“Can you turn your head?” it was the sweet man caressing you, you turned your head to the right and you thought that you were dead. In heaven. “Hey, little one” there he stood, the smile you loved planted on his lips, his figure taller and stronger than before, but it was him. It was you brother. It was really Seonghwa. Immediately your eyes watered and you managed to cry. throwing your weak arms around him and hugging him. He was alive. After all these years he was alive. You didn’t know if you were happy that he was there or mad that he lied. “It’s ok, you can cry as much as you want, yn. I’m here now, we are all here” you kept yourself hung on his neck for some time, scared that it was all a dream and he would escape again. “I have so much to tell you, I can’t wait for you to speak again” you nodded, still crying on his neck.

“Sorry to interrupt but your food is here, yn” the man with the velvety voice spoke and you were able to finally see him. His face matched his voice, he looked soft, yet fierce, appealing. His shiny black hair was down, almost covering his eyes. His lips, even smiling, were plump. You heard your brother chuckle at you, probably because you were staring too long at the man. You bowed your head in a way to thank him and he put the tray on your lap, careful not to spill the liquid, you imagined to be soup, from the bowl. “Sorry about kidnapping you, but it was the only way” you shook your head denying, smiling at him and drinking the soup. The warm liquid soothed your dry throat and the taste was something you never tasted, inexplicably delicious. “I’m Hongjoong, these are Wooyoung, San and Mingi” he pointed to the cute red-haired one, another one with black hair and a giant one that happily waved at you.

“I know you might have a lot of questions right now, but we brought you here because we need your help” your bother said and stood by Hoongjoong's side. “We are the guerillas, my little one” your eyes widened and you thanked you didn’t have soup in your mouth, otherwise you would have spit on them. “I know. I know. I have a lot to explain” you looked at him like you wanted to say ‘yes, you sure do mister’ and he just smiled at you. “But why don’t you rest for the day and we talk tomorrow, huh? I might have been dead but you’re still my little sibling and I know you. Plus, the first few days after the loss of the frequency are terrible, I experienced myself first hand” he pinched your cheeks and you nodded, finishing drinking the delicious soup.

After you finished eating, the guys left your room, Seonghwa left some books by your side, kissed your temple and left you all alone. You were so dizzy you felt nauseous, not only from the lack of the frequency but also because of all that was happening. Your brother was alive and was part of the Guerillas. He and his friends kidnapped you and took you out of your state of trance. They needed your help with something that you had no idea what it was. And on top of all that, they were really cute. You imagined them in many ways, but never to be cute, soft, kind - and honestly sexy - guys around your age. You looked out the window that was to your left and saw some vehicles moving and noticed that they were the buzzing you listened before. You closed your eyes, enjoying the newly discovered sound, and fell asleep, too tired to even read or do anything really.

Over the course of the weeks you were there, these men, Jongho and Yeosang, helped you with going back to your normal state of body movements, as well as going back to speaking again. You learned that the Guerillas were all over the continent, finding ways to overthrow the government, as well as learning how to revive the land and live out of it. You were at one of their many headquarters, the one where they kept their technological research, the facility hidden by a magnetic field that tricked the eyes into thinking it was all empty. You were shocked by their technology and the number of people working there. 

Seonghwa told you that he indeed suffered a work accident, but the company left him to die alone in the field and Hongjoong and the boys rescued him. He was alive only because of the Guerillas and he was in deep debt to them. Well, he felt as if he was, but the Guerillas were one big family, a community. Everyone knew each other, everyone helped each other, and people of all ages were living in their facilities, working in different areas, planting, and raising animals. The Guerillas created an invisible continent within the continent. 

They got you because they were planning their biggest attack so far, they were planning on invading the chips’ frequency, but all at the same time. And since you were a programmer at the company that built the chips, you were extremely valuable to them. And so were to the company.

“They are searching for you all over the country” your brother said as you sat in front of their computers, analyzing the data they had so far. “But don’t worry, you are safe with us here. Besides Hongjoong wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you” he messed with your hair, joking about the way the man treated you. 

He wasn’t lying, Hongjoong wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you, whenever he had the chance he’d be by your side, seeing your progress, or showing you around and introducing you to people. Sometimes he even tried to show off his battle skills out of nowhere, which you found cute and endearing. You grew very fond of your brother’s friends, specially Wooyoung. He became kind of your best friend. He caught you writing about Hongjoong in your diary once and he never let that go, but it was a nice starting point for your friendship.

“Can I go with you guys?” you asked once you saw your brother, Hongjoong and Yunho loading their truck. They were going to the other side of the country to look after the community responsible for the animals to see why some of the cows weren’t producing milk.

“yn, it’s dangerous, we are going to cross the country” your brother said, throwing another bag with guns inside the vehicle. “I’d kill myself if anything happened to you”.

“Joongie~” you grabbed the smaller one’s arm, trying to convince the man with the only trick you knew would work on him: your cuteness. “Please, I promise I’ll behave” you even tried to do puppy eyes at him, making your brother roll his own. 

“I’m sorry, yn, but your brother is right. You are not prepared enough to go out yet, you barely can use a gun” you pouted and left his arm. You understood them, they were right, but you couldn’t help but be sad. “Let’s do this” Hongjoong held your face and the heat crept to your cheeks. You loved when he touched you. “I’ll bring you a gift when we come back, okay?” you nodded, smiling happily. “Behave and you’ll get the gift” you rolled your eyes at him, like you weren’t going to behave anyway. He smiled at you and caressed your hair.

Wooyoung came by your side, turning himself so his back was facing you, and crossed his arms, pretending as if he was making out with someone. You hit his arms and heard him laugh at you. Little demon. 

The three men finished loading the vehicle and verified with the rest of the crew if everything was ready to go. Yunho turned the field around the truck and you saw the giant metal box disappear right in front of your eyes. It didn't matter how many times you saw it, the technology still amazed you. Seonghwa gave you one last hug and told you to keep studying the chips while they were gone. You nodded and wished him a safe trip. 

Hongjoong came to say goodbye to you as well, hugging you tight. “I have a gift for you too when you come back” you whispered in his ear and felt his hand tighten around your waist. You smirked to yourself and let go of the man. His hoping eyes smiled along with his lips to you before turning around and entering the truck.

“Is this gift of yours your body?” Wooyoung teased you quietly so no one could hear.

“What if it is?”

“God, you’re such a perv” he followed you as you left for your lab.

“You’re the one who came up with this idea” you chuckled at his murmurs behind you.

You smiled to yourself thinking about what gift he was going to bring you. It was going to be some long ten days without him. 

The days at the lab without Hongjoong or Seonghwa to help you, or to be honest, to bother you, felt infinite. Wooyoung was busy with his research, you basically only saw him during lunch or training. But you were decided to find the breaking point on the chips. For Hongjoong. And Seonghwa. And everyone else really. 

You spent the whole ten days inside the lab, working on the codes, working on the hardware and how they were implanted in the brain. The first guerillas discovered how to hack individual chips, but they needed to invade the whole system. And none of them found the break into the system. Somehow they had access to old programming books, old codes and hardware from when the world was different. 

It was during your lunch break that the eureka moment came, leaving your food - and a confused Wooyoung - behind to go straight to the library. You searched over the walls for one specific book, one so old that some of the pages had signs of the trial to destroy. It was in one of those pages that the solution was. You took the book to Mingi, who was a mathematician, and asked him to help you with the probabilities and which numbers and letters on the code it could be. 

Mingi and you spent three whole days on the research, trying and failing as the code wasn’t right. But the moment came and with just a switch of a coma you were able to find the way into the control center. You couldn’t hold your excitement, hugging Mingi and giving excited little jumps around the room. 

“Ok, next steps, boss?” He asked as he saved in different places the code, too afraid to lose the work. 

“We need to find some people willing to let us turn on their chips again and test on them” you stretched your limbs, the pain of spending days working without pause starting to kick in. “But the boys are coming back tomorrow so, let’s wait for them first. What do you think?”

“I more than agree, I need some rest and I know that Hongjoong will know what to do” you nodded. “Besides, he may want to try with his own frequency”. 

“He has his own frequency?” You asked and the tall man nodded. 

“He did his own research before you arrived and mixed a frequency that is somehow neutral but not too overwhelming as the silence as you could see for yourself” you chuckled remembering the sensation and nodded. “So his idea is to slowly start merging the frequencies and then leave only his own”

“But how are we gonna do this? Because we now have the access, but it doesn’t mean that they don’t know how long it takes for them to notice or even if they won’t notice right away” he nodded and started to push you out of the lab. 

“That’s why we’re gonna wait for them” he closed the door behind you and you pouted. “You and I both need to rest. Clear our minds, we are almost burnt out” he was right, you were working nonstop since the boys left and the last three days you and Mingi barely slept, you truly needed some rest. “And I know captain won’t be happy to see you tired and overworked, so go to your room, take a bath, maybe some scented bubbles, or whatever, just make sure you are hot, sexy, smelling good and well rested for him” he slapped your ass and giggled. 

“Mingi!” You scolded him. 

“Oh come on, yn… even your brother knows you two are pinning each other since day one” you felt your cheeks heat up on his comments, so you two weren’t as subtle as you thought then. “Just do as I say, besides, he’ll be happy enough knowing we cracked the code” you nodded and hugged him before running to your room to take a shower. Or maybe a bath like he said. You deserved.

You prepared the bath with some of the plants that were given as tea, the lavender smell being the strongest one. You laid in the bath, welcoming the warmth around your body and relaxing your muscles. Your mind wandered over the next steps of the research but soon was flooded by him. His face, his eyes, his smile, his voice, his body, all of him. The way he treated you, touched you, fingertips lingering more than usual whenever he had the chance. You felt all bubbly inside, just like a teenager in love for the first time. Which wasn’t entirely a lie. You never felt interested in anyone before, maybe the brainwashing hitting you too hard to actually think anything about it. So this new experience, the freedom of both your mind and body, the happiness of having your brother back and meeting nice people made you more easygoing and open to experiences. 

You looked over at your skin and realized that it started to look like raisins, so it was more than time to leave the bath. You dried yourself and put on your pajamas, ready to sleep until tomorrow. It was going to be hard with all the anxiety in your chest, but it was needed. You laid on the comfy bed, hugged the biggest pillow and smiled imagining how it would be to sleep cuddled up to Hongjoong, and with that thought, you drifted asleep. 

The sound of your door being slid open woke you up. What time was it? You slowly opened your eyes and found an overly excited Wooyoung. You just laughed at him and went to put on your clothes so you could have breakfast together and wait for the boys.

It was actually almost evening when they arrived, tired, and full of boxes with supplies, but nonetheless happy smiles on their faces. You ran to your brother, hugging him, happy that he was alive and safe. Yunho was the next to get your hug, taking you off the ground.

“You better brace yourself, tiny, Hongjoong even dreamt with you this trip” he whispered in your ear while hugging you. “He couldn’t shut up about you the whole trip, Seonghwa even said that if he didn’t shut up he was going to forbid you to even see him” you giggled at the newfound information.

“Oh, don’t worry, Yun, I’m more than ready” you told him, offering him a smirk and a wink, to which he responded with a chuckle and a nod of his head.

You stopped in front of Hongjoong, hands behind your back, waiting for him to notice your presence - as if he hadn’t noticed the first thing when he left the truck. He smiled at you, one of the many bags on his shoulder, and messed with your hair. 

“Missed me much?” he asked as he started to walk inside the building, probably to his office, you following behind him.

“Not really” you said, taking large steps to walk in front of him, turning yourself around to face him while still walking backward, grin plastered on your lips. “You know, it was easier to work without here to distract me”.

“So I distract you with my beauty?” you both entered his office, he threw his bag on top of the main chair and started to search for something inside.

“I never said that” you giggled and walked closer to him, seeing him holding a small box. “Is that my gift?” 

“It actually is indeed” he turned around and handed you the box. “I hope you like it”.

You grabbed the box noticing how pretty it was. The brown leather was scratched in many parts of it, the entails that once were golden now only held traces of the paint long gone. The close was rusty but still worked well enough for you to open the box and see a book inside. There’s no cover anymore, but you can read the name on the first page. The Giver.

“This is the book that inspired the government to implement the chips” he said seeing you reading the title. “I’ve read many years ago and it was what fueled my desire to end this dictatorship and made me join the guerillas” you nodded, smiling at him. “I thought you might enjoy it”

“Thank you so much, Joong, I loved” you kissed his cheek. “I have a gift for you too” he looked at you curiously. 

You grabbed his hand and pulled him to your lab, passing through curious eyes that have been waiting for you two to finally get together. You pushed him inside the room and guided him to the front of the main computer and pointed at the screen. He looked at you confused, he did not know a thing about coding, so it was just a bunch of letters and signs he did not understand. You rolled your eyes at him.

“Mingi and I cracked the code” he widened his eyes still not believing your words. “We spent the past three days working on it and we finally found the way in, we just need to know what our next steps are now, he told me about y-” Hongjoong cut you off with his lips on yours, kissing you out of pure ecstasy with the news.

You were caught off guard but nonetheless, you kissed him back, holding onto his arms that were holding your face. The man separated your lips and looked into your eyes, about to apologize for his manners, but you just attacked his lips again, kissing him with more need, your arms snaking around his neck and pulling him closer to you. 

Hongjoong reacted immediately, arms circling your body and pushing you flush against his chest. Your lips danced together, synchronized like they were used to the choreography. Tastes intoxicating each other, filling up your senses and making you high on each other. It was just a kiss, but the weeks of flirting and pinning on each other finally melted within your tongues that were soon enough added to the dance. Two of the most experienced dancers paired up. 

Your bodies moved like they knew where they were going, skillfully reaching the sofa. Hongjoong never broke the kiss, his lungs hurting without air but he was afraid of letting go of your lips and you would disappear. He gently laid your body on top of the soft cushions, supporting his weight in one hand while the other squeezed the sides of your tummy. His lips finally left yours but they met his new victim: your neck. He left open-mouth kisses on the skin, the taste and smell of the lavender bath from the night before still adorning your skin. He could taste the sweetness of it on his lips. 

Everything felt new, felt too much for you. You were in heaven. You died and heaven is this man’s body on top of you. You whined lowly at the feeling of his kisses on your skin, oversensitive from being touched like this. 

“Joong…” you whispered, hands tight in a fist holding his shirt. “I…” you moaned a little with the sudden bite he gave on the junction between your neck and shoulder. 

“Do you want me to stop?” He asked, stopping what he was doing and looking in your eyes. His plump lips looked even fuller, red, with the action, his forehead starting to show signs of sweat on it, his arm holding his weight on your side having its veins on full display for you to appreciate or even touch. No, you didn’t want him to stop but what if you disappointed him? You denied with your head, one of your hands caressing his side. 

“It’s just… I never did this and I don’t want to… you know, be silly” he chuckled at your innocence, biting the tip of your nose before planting a peck on your lips. 

“You’ll never be silly, it’s completely fine to never have had sex, it's a natural part of life” you nodded and he left his position to sit on the sofa, taking you to sit on his lap. “I’ll never do anything that you don’t allow me to. If you want to stop, I feel comfortable with just kissing you” he pecked your lips again. 

“I wanna try it” you said, cheeks burning hot with embarrassment. “I want to have sex with you” he smiled and kissed you once more. 

He grabbed your body bridal style and carried you to your room, which you were so glad to be two doors next to your lab otherwise, you’d die in embarrassment if someone saw you like that. He let go of your body to close the door and lock it, turning back to you and attacking your lips once again. This time the kiss was kinda messy, hungry, teeth clashing but you couldn’t care less, all you thought about it in that moment was that you needed him. 

Soon you two found your way to your bed and Hongjoong made you sit on the edge of the bed and lay back. He kept kissing you but his hands were riskier, roaming over your clothed chest, fingertips softly touching your nipples under the fabric, the muscle getting rigid with the touch. 

“Can I take your shirt off?” He gently asked, biting your ear shell. You nodded, chest rising with excitement.

He took your shirt off and he felt that you were the heaven. He tried to contain himself not to scare you with how hungry - and hard - he was for you. The man started to kiss your neck, going down to your collarbone and slowly going down to your chest, paying attention to all your reactions. You couldn’t hold a low moan when he put a nipple in his mouth and sucked the flesh. It was a whole new sensation, your body was feeling like it was on fire, overwhelmed by the feeling. Your hands flew instantly to his hair, holding his locks and pushing him flusher to your chest. He smiled at your reaction and decided to give the other one the same attention but substituted his mouth with his hand. 

Moans started to slip past your mouth. Having someone else touching your body was completely different than touching yourself, you’d never reach a third of the feeling. He kept playing with both of your buds for a while, your chest shining with his saliva. You started to grow impatient, hands pushing his head lower, the feeling in the pit of your stomach getting stronger each second passed. He chuckled at your eagerness which in any other circumstances he would tease you but that moment was all about you. About how you felt. So he followed your silent command and lowered his ministrations to your tummy and stopped with his fingers hooked on the waistband of your pants. 

“Can I?” He asked once again, always making sure you were consenting to everything. You nodded, a small whispered yes passing through your lips, almost inaudible. 

Hongjoong couldn’t deny the heat that was pooling in his own belly with the way you were completely given to him. Trusting your body to him. Allowing him to do all the dirty things he imagined to do with you in his most disgusting dreams. Your innocence was somehow endearing to him and he had to hold himself with all his will not to push you flush against the bed and pound into you like he wanted, how he desired. He needed to be respectful and careful not to hurt or scare you. Because it was what you deserved. 

He pulled your pants and underwear down, and he could die happily then and there. Your form all naked in front of him. All to him. Your core glistening with arousal waiting for him to feast out of you. Like everything he was doing, he slowly kissed your legs up, taking a little more time in your tights, squeezing the flesh and leaving little bites on the inner side. Huffs of annoyance and impatience leaving your lips without you even noticing. 

“Relax, little one, I’m taking care of you, don’t worry” he said while smoothing your skin, a little smirk on his lips. “I’m going to eat you out now, ok? And I want you to give at least one orgasm while I’m doing it” you nodded, eyes hooded with neediness. He had literally done nothing to you yet. Yet. You wondered what your state would be at the end of this. 

He finally touched your pussy, spreading the lips and spreading your arousal with it. You moaned with how his fingers would hit your clit every time they slid up, legs threatening to close on his head, but his open arms were holding them open. He then finally did what both of you wanted and licked you from bottom to top and sucked on your clit. 

“Hongjoong!” You moaned his name, the word coming stranded from your chest. 

He tried, he really did, to keep his ministrations on you slow but you just tasted so good on his tongue that he couldn’t help. He was eating you like a starved man, his tongue would go up and down a few times before giving its attention to your clit, sucking, licking, flickering. You were a whimpering mess, hands all over the place, the sensation being so new. So good. 

“Good gracious, sweetie, I could be here all day” he said, voice muffled by your pussy, nose hitting deliciously your clit every time he’d enter his tongue inside. “How are you feeling, babe?” He asked, genuinely curious but also to see you blabber between moans. 

“Good, so good, Joong” you managed to speak after a few seconds. You held his hair and pushed him more against your vulva and he noticed how your legs were trying to close more often. You were close to your release. 

He smiled to himself and decided to add his fingers to the mix, playing with your clit with his thumb while he penetrated his skillful tongue on your hole. The walls clenching around nothing. It didn’t take long until you covered your mouth with your hands, scared of being heard by anyone else, and convulsed around his face, your juices dripping down your hole and onto his mouth and chin. And that was heaven to him, you tasted almost bittersweet on his tongue, the best thing he tasted in so long. He was completely drunk by you. And he loved. 

Hongjoong waited for you to calm down after your orgasm, he didn’t want to overwhelm you or overstimulate you. At least not on your first time having sex. 

“How are we?” He asked, hands caressing your shaking legs as he lifted up from the ground. 

“Good…” you said, lifting yourself on your elbows to look at him. And if you thought he was pretty before, now, with your slick glistening on his chin and sweat dripping down his forehead, he was absolute perfection. 

“Now I’m going to prep you, ok? Get you a bit stretched so I don’t hurt you” you nodded, lower lip between your teeth. “Do you want me to stop?” You denied with your head. “There’s something you wanna tell me?” You nodded, cheeks getting even hotter than they already were from the previous actions. He signaled with his head for you to talk. 

“You’re still… fully clothed” he chuckled at your statement but nonetheless he started to undress, taking his shirt off. “Joong” you called him, making him stop in his tracks. “Can I… take it?” He smiled and nodded, waiting for you to do it. 

Your legs were still shaky so decided to stay on the bed. You reached for the button of his pants and opened it before pulling the zipper down. He smiled at you lovingly, caressing your head before pulling your face up and kissing your lips. Once again you melted under his touch, whimpering into the kiss. He broke the kiss and went back to his standing position and you went back to taking his pants off, pulling it down his legs. Your hands caressed the bulge under the fabric of his underwear, a low groan leaving his mouth and you felt his hand grip your hair tighter. You finally pulled the underwear down, revealing his cock. The tip angry red and already leaking pre cum from being denied attention for so long. Your hand went to hold his shaft in it without even thinking, you were just a little bit awestruck by seeing a dick in front of you for the first time. He wasn’t big or thick, just the right size. But you still thought he’d split you once he tried to enter you. 

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie, I’m going to prep you, okay?” He caressed your cheek and you nodded. “You can play with another time, today is all about your pleasure” your cheeks once again heated up, he was being so thoughtful, so caring, and made your chest swell with a feeling you couldn’t quite describe, but you were liking it. 

He gave you another kiss before making you lay down on the bed again, this time in the middle. He started to play with his fingers on your pussy again, collecting the wetness that was still there, and he wondered if it was from your thoughts about his dick. Hongjoong slowly entered your hole with his middle finger, pumping slowly to get you used to the intrusion. 

You had masturbated before, you were a grown adult, and you had your needs, you just didn’t feel interested in others before. But having someone else fingering you was a whole new experience. You were helpless, not knowing what he was going to do, with what pace, with what intensity. All you could do was moan and writhe under him. 

“More. Please, Joongie, more” you grabbed his arm that was supporting his weight. “I…”

“Such an eager baby, aren’t we? I barely put a finger inside and you’re asking for more?” You whispered yes and nodded, the knot in your belly tightening up. 

He inserted another finger inside, curling them up to hit that sweet spot that made your eyes roll back in your head. He started to alternate between curling them up and scissoring you open, walls hugging his fingers, back arching from the mattress. 

“Fuck you’re so tight, yn” he moaned with you, his dick twitching with the thought of entering you. “I’m gonna add another one, okay?” You nodded and pleaded, unintelligible words leaving your lips as your hips started to lift from the mattress. 

His free hand went to your clit, circling the bud to give you extra pleasure before adding his third finger, slowing down the pace of his fingers and trying to put them all the way in. You were past the point of no return, fucked out from just his previous actions and now from his fingers skillfully fucking you open. 

“Joongie~” you moaned, voice starting to crack. 

“Go on, baby, I can feel your walls flutter on my fingers. Go on, give it to me” with his words you came on his fingers, pleas of his name leaving your mouth as he rode your orgasm with you, legs shaking like you spent the last minutes squatting in the gym. “So pretty when you cum, baby. So good for me” he licked his fingers clean and gave you a kiss so you could taste yourself a little in his mouth. You couldn’t help but be even more turned on by that. “You think you can keep going? We can stop if you want” you denied with your head and pulled him for another heated kiss. 

“Please, Joong, now that you started, please finish it” he smirked at your neediness and hovered his body on top of you. 

“As you wish, sweet thing” he passed his dick between your wet vulva, coating himself in your slick, before lining his head with your hole. “Tell me if it hurts or if you want me to stop” you nodded and he slowly pushed past his head and you thanked him for prepping you first, otherwise it would hurt you. “You good?”

“Yes, keep going” 

“Can you take it all?” You nodded, caressing and holding his arms on your sides. 

He decided to take one of his thumbs to your clit to help you relax and feel more pleasure, so he started to slowly push his cock inside of you as he played with your clit. You opened your mouth but no sound came off, eyes rolling to the back of your head, and your back arching from the bed. It felt so good. The sting of pain was delicious, the sensation of being so full for the first time, the view of having the hottest man alive on top of you watching every reaction of you and your body to him. You could explode again just by that. 

He finally groaned when he was balls deep inside you, the tightness of your walls hugging him viciously. He just wanted to be permanently buried inside of you. He waited for a little for you to get used to the feeling, never stopping his work on your clit. 

“Move, please” you moved your hips and the sensation was indescribable. 

“Oh dear god, you’re so good for me, baby, I can’t wait to ruin you just for me” he said, words coming out of his mouth without him even realizing. You moaned at the thought, walls clenching. “Oh. Would you look at that” he nuzzled his nose on the crook of your neck, leaving a bite behind. “Do you like the idea of being ruined, baby?” You nodded, not thinking straight at this point. You pressed your nails on his back, bringing him closer to you. ”fuck, yn. I can’t wait to teach you everything to be perfect for me, I’m going to ruin your chances with any other man” he didn’t realize it, but his thrusts were getting faster. And you were loving it. 

You moaned his name over and over again, back sliding back and forth on the mattress with how hard he was fucking you. His thrusts were deep, not too fast, but hard enough to make you see stars. Now you knew what all the fuss about sex was. It was divine, delicious, mind-erasing almost. You didn’t have one thought besides the way Hongjoong was fucking you into oblivion, eyes getting blurry with the pleasure. 

Without warning, the knot in your lower stomach snapped once again, for the third time in the night, and your orgasm washed over you, making you see black. Mouth hanging open with no sound leaving. 

“Again already? Such a good baby for me” Hongjoong kissed your temple and slowed his thrusts a little for you to not get overwhelmed. “Can you hang a little more for me, baby? Just so I can cum too” you nodded, eyes closed, completely fucked out and limp on the bed. You were his now, he had all the control he wanted. He started to thrust a little bit faster again, moaning with the feeling of his member being squeezed even more by your abused walls. He wouldn’t take much longer to cum. 

A few more thrusts and he stilled his hips, his hot white seed painting your insides, the feeling of being even fuller making you cum again on his cock, mixing your juices together. When he mentioned moving, you held him in place, the feeling of having him inside of you too good.

“You did so well, baby. I’m proud of you” he kissed your forehead and took some sweaty strands out of your face, eyes still glassy but satisfied. “I need to clean us up, you need to rest, and so do I” you pouted but nodded.

You hissed at the sudden feeling of emptiness, liquids spilling down your hole and onto the mattress. You definitely had to wash that up. But that was a thought for the next day. Hongjoong appeared with a cup of water and a wet cloth from your bathroom. He put the cup on the bedside before cleaning you. The sensitivity of the prior actions starting to show up. After cleaning you up, he made you drink water and laid by your side, pulling you to lie on his chest. 

You two stood in a comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying each other’s presence and having your thoughts organized. 

“Thank you” he said, hand caressing your arm that was on top of him. 

“For what?”

“For trusting me” you smiled and switched your position to be looking at him, elbows holding your upper body. “I like you, yn. I think you already know that but I want it to be very clear for you” you nodded. “And if you’re willing, I’d like to be with you, be your boyfriend” you giggled and kissed his lips. 

“I like you too, Joong. And I am more than happy to be your significant other” you both smiled and he kissed you again, peppering kisses all over your face and lips.

You laid back on his chest and enjoyed each other's company. Both of you were almost falling asleep when you spoke again. 

“Joong?” He hummed. “Remember when you said you wanted to ruin me for the others? Can you teach me how to pleasure you?” He looked down to you and you had the most innocent and expecting eyes. 

“Jesus fucking Christ, yn, you’re going to be the death of me” you both laughed as he held you closer, soon drifting asleep to dream about all the things you wanted to do to each other. 

Masterlist | Feedbacks and requests

[faerybones3]

Which Witch

Fíli x witch!reader

cw: canon-typical violence, non-sexual choking

word count: 3k

prologue | series masterlist

Chapter One

three years later

Nothing could be heard above the screeching coming from the hundreds of goblins surrounding you, all clambering over each other to get a good look at the group of dwarves they had just caught on their front doorstep.

You sat, hunched at an awkward angle, with your head shoved between your knees, inside a makeshift cage made out of what you guessed were human bones. The commotion with the new prisoners had piqued your interest, and you tried to get a good look at who was being brought before the goblin king, a great hulking thing with protrusions and tumors growing out of every crevice on his massive body. He sat on a throne with a muck-filled bucket underneath, and several smaller goblins lay underneath his throne as a staircase for him. Your cage sat just to the right of him.

The goblin king stepped down from his throne and demanded to know who they were and how they had come to be in his kingdom. You wondered the same thing, privately, to yourself. As you watched the scene, you reflected on your own adventures and how you yourself had been captured by goblins. You had been traveling solo through the Misty Mountains when you stopped to make camp in a small cave. Exhausted as you were, you did not inspect the cave thoroughly. The goblins had sprung out of the walls and grabbed you in the middle of the night, taking your weapons and forcing you into this cage, where you had been sitting for days now. You had no idea why you were not already dead.

You also wondered to yourself if the dwarves had been in that same cave when they were taken, and if they had made the same mistake of not checking it properly for goblins.

When no one said a word, he became enraged and demanded that they be thoroughly searched. The goblins poked and prodded and searched thoroughly enough by goblin standards, ridding the dwarves of their weapons and throwing them carelessly to the ground. One sword in particular caught the king’s attention, and when he realized what it was, he jumped back and screamed, more infuriated than ever that these dwarves would come to him with Biter, the sword that had killed many of his people. You were quite surprised as well, as that sword looked to be made by elves and you knew quite well the enmity between their people and the dwarves.

Suddenly, the Great Goblin turned to you, fury in his eyes. You shrunk back.

“You know them don’t you, witch? They sent you ahead to scout out a way in!” He screeched. “You seek to destroy my kingdom!”

You shook your head furiously and shrunk back even further into your cage in a futile attempt to escape his wrath.

“I don’t know them, I swear!” You yelled.

The Great Goblin was seeing red, too enraged, too incensed to listen to reason. He started to bang and thump on the top of the cage, the bones threatening to break and crush you. Of course you didn’t know these dwarves, and you didn’t know how he had come to that conclusion, but the goblin didn’t need a reason to display his vileness. He wanted someone to pay for these imagined crimes, and you were the first person within reach.

“I don’t . . . believe you!” he squawked, before ripping apart the bones separating you and grabbing your arm, yanking you roughly out of your tiny cage. You stared at him, eyes wide and watery, as he lifted you up by the collar of your shirt and slammed you back down again to the floor of the rock his throne lay upon.

You yelped and tried to right yourself before the Great Goblin could grab you again, but he was too big and too quick for you. He pulled you up by your arm and twisted, making you scream out in pain.

By this point, some of the dwarves were yelling for him to stop, that you were telling the truth, anything to draw his attention away from you. Of course the goblin king did not hear them and did not care that they were speaking at all. He had you again, by the throat now, and he had started to squeeze as you clawed desperately at his bulbous arms, trying unsuccessfully to get him off of you.

You felt your feet start to lift off from the ground and you began to panic, eyes bulging. You were kicking and scratching at him and trying to scream but no sound left your throat. It could not end like this. You fought to keep yourself conscious, but the giant goblin was too strong, grinning as he squeezed the life from you.

The dwarves watched the scene unfold before them in shock and terror, but what could they do against such heedless evil? Some of them tried to fight off the goblins holding them down, but it was no use. There were too many of them, and they could not help you.

Your legs were twitching and your eyes were starting to close when suddenly there came a bright light from somewhere in the large cave and you were thrown to the ground before the dwarves, gasping and choking. You faintly saw a large figure wearing a pointed hat and wielding a sword in one hand and a staff in the other, from which the light seemed to be emanating from. You tried and failed to pick yourself up off the ground.

Everything seemed muffled and deafeningly loud at the same time, and your vision was blurry at the edges. The group of dwarves behind you and all the goblins had been knocked to the ground as well. The light dissipated and the pointy man started speaking, but you could not understand what he was saying. Before you knew it, you felt a pair of strong hands lift you from behind and saw the dwarves hurry to gather up their weapons.

Fighting had broken out amongst the dwarves and the goblins, the dwarves holding their own quite well. You, however, could do nothing but watch and try to catch your breath.

The hands that had lifted you began to half lead, half drag you in the direction you realized the dwarves had started running, following after the tall man who had saved you all. You found your feet and began to push the hands away, your vision becoming slightly stronger and clearer. A young, exasperated face stared back at you when you turned around, giving you an expression telling you that if you did not move quickly, you would most certainly be left behind.

“Come on, hurry!”

“Give me a sword.”

You knew he had heard you but he did not answer, instead grabbing your hand as if he didn’t quite trust that you were well enough to walk on your own. The two of you ran after the other dwarves, closely followed by the horde of goblins when they realized that their prisoners were escaping.

The man in the pointy hat led the group over the rickety wooden bridges of goblin town, trying to get to the winding tunnels that would lead them out of this hell hole. All the dwarves had retrieved the weapons that had been stolen from them, and were fighting off the goblins in their way. You had not been so fortunate, and you felt helpless when you had to rely on the other dwarves for protection while running. You noticed that the young dwarf leading you out had twin swords and considered just taking one from him, but thought better of it.

You had not made it very far when out of nowhere, the Great Goblin rose up and blocked your path.

He looked right at you and snarled, “You thought you could escape me!”

The Great Goblin swiped at the tall man, but he dodged.

“What are you going to do now, wizard?” He growled.

The wizard was quick as he thrust his staff into the goblins eye, blinding him. He then made two quick slashes in the goblin’s gut and throat, killing him. The goblin king fell and the bridge collapsed, taking you and all the dwarves with it, down into the black depths of the cave.

With a great crash, you all somehow landed safely, albeit piled on top of each other, on the cave floor and made a run for it into the deep and dark tunnels, looking for any sign of an opening or daylight.

At last, you came upon an opening in the rock, guarded by two particularly fierce looking goblins. However, the dwarves made quick work of them and in no time, you were out into the open, breathing in the fresh air of the early evening. You did not have very long to enjoy your freedom though, as the dwarves continued to run into the trees lining the mountainside. You followed them until they finally stopped to catch their breath.

The wizard started to count each of them, saying their names aloud and counting on his fingers. When he reached 13 of them, not including you, he paused and asked where their hobbit was. You did not remember seeing a halfling in their group when they were brought before the goblin king.

The dwarves start to argue amongst themselves about where he was last seen. At the back of the group, you tried to hide yourself somewhat behind the dwarf who had helped you, the younger one with blond braids. You suspected that they had not had the time to register your presence and you were not keen on being questioned at the moment. Some of them were blaming each other and one with three distinct braids shaped like a star claimed he saw the halfling slip away. It was then that one of the dwarves, the tallest of them and the most imposing, said in a displeased tone that he believed the hobbit had left them and gone home.

“We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone.”

You sensed that there was some deeper feeling hidden by his obvious resentment for their 14th member. Considering his tone, you also made a metal note to not get on his bad side if you could help it.

At that moment however, you saw a small profile walk through the trees toward them. You assumed this was the halfling as you saw all the shocked expressions on all of the dwarves' faces, especially the tallest of them.

They began to ask him how he got past the goblins but you had stopped paying attention. You could feel something moving in the earth now. You reached down and touched the soil with your fingers, which brought all of their attention to you. They looked at you like they had completely forgotten about you. Their eyes were kind though, and some of them looked at you with worried expressions, taking in your already bruising throat and battered body. The wizard took a step towards you with silent questions in his eyes, a little too knowing for your comfort.

“We need to move,” you said, so quiet that only the two young dwarves in front of you had heard. They exchanged a look.

“And who are you?” questioned one of the dwarves in what you could only describe as a fatherly tone.

“We need to move now,” you repeated, a bit louder this time. “Do you not hear it?”

Everyone looked around at each other, confused. You looked at the wizard, and he understood.

“Wargs,” he said. “Run!”

You heard them before you saw them, a great pack of wargs, advancing down on you from the top of the mountain. You ran as fast as your legs could carry you, weaving in and out of the trees. A few wargs ran ahead and tried to attack the group, but the dwarves fought them off. Up ahead, you saw that you were coming up on a cliff.

“Up the trees, quickly!” called the wizard.

The dwarves at the front of the group started expertly climbing the trees near the edge of the cliff, but you knew the wargs would catch up before they were all up and safe. The wargs were coming up on you fast, and they needed more time.

Without thinking, you stopped suddenly, and turned on your heel, ignoring the shouts from the other dwarves. While running, you had managed to get in the middle of the group, the two younger dwarves still at the back. The blond dwarf was right in front of you and you stopped him with an outstretched arm.

“What are you doing!” He shouted.

“Give me your sword!”

“What? No, come on!”

You sighed in exasperation. “I’m trying to help you, halfwit!”

Before he had time to be offended at your remark, you grabbed his arm and yanked him so that he was pulled ahead of you. When his back was facing you, you grasped the hilt of one of his twin swords and pulled it out of its sheath. Your movements were so quick that he barely had time to register what had happened before you shoved him forward between his shoulder blades. You yelled at him to run and turned back to the fast-approaching wargs.

Fili barely realized that he was missing a sword, and was too preoccupied with climbing a huge tree alongside his brother, as they had reached the edge of a great cliff and could run no more. He was halfway up when he noticed you, still on the ground, doing something peculiar.

A flash of indignance rose up in his chest as he looked down at you with his sword in your hand.

“What does she think she’s doing?” came Kili’s voice. “She’s gonna get herself killed!”

“Wait, look,” said Fili, leaning forward in the tree. “What is she doing?”

You were mumbling in a language Fili did not understand, repeating the same words over and over again, getting louder each time. The other dwarves were a mix of panic and vexation, all looking between you on the ground and the wargs who were getting closer and closer with every breath.

Fili’s indignance turned to awe as he saw a strange kind of rippling energy emanating from your fingers, spreading out through the sword. He did not have a word for it, as he had never seen anything like it, but it was beautiful and uncanny to his eyes. As the energy went through the sword, it started to give off a faint glow. Then it was traveling down your arms and encircling your entire body, and you were surrounded in it. As you continued chanting in that foreign language, a phantom wind lifted your hair from your neck and made your buttoned tunic flutter.

You were on your guard as soon as the wargs entered the clearing. They snarled and growled as they started to circle you, effectively taking your bait. They looked at you as if you were an easy meal. As the last of the dwarves climbed into the trees, you looked back to the wargs, and you smiled.

Two more tense seconds later and one of them suddenly charged and you exploded into movement, the sword in your hand almost invisible as it slashed and sliced at the beast. You were a flurry of skilled movement and Fili could do nothing but stare as one after another of the wargs rushed at you and were taken down.

Something bright caught the young dwarf’s eye and he looked up to see Gandalf throwing flames from his staff down onto the wargs, cutting off their path to you. Some of the other dwarves caught on and began throwing loose branches and pine cones down to the wargs as well. Pine cones were not nearly as effective as flames or a sword, but they hoped to at least distract some wargs enough to give you some time to fight them off.

Things, however, turned quite sour as the last rays of sun disappeared behind the skyline, and the goblins began to worm their way out of their holes and hiding places and into the cold dark of night. A great group of them, enraged by their king’s death, charged out of the mountain tunnels and descended on you.

You were skilled enough in combat and well protected by your magic and the fire sent by the wizard, but you could not take on a hundred wargs and goblins by yourself. While the wargs stayed clear of the fire, you knew the goblins would jump through it to get to you. Just as the pack of goblins reached you, you heard yelling coming from up in the trees. You looked up, and saw a dozen of the great eagles circling from above. Some dove and swooped, clawing at the goblins and wargs.

As you turned around to run, a stray goblin, half on fire and crawling on the ground, grabbed your leg and slashed at you with his jagged knife. You stumbled to the ground and suddenly it was on top of you with its blade raised.

“You’ll pay for this, witch!” It screamed.

At that moment, a great eagle swooped and easily plucked up the goblin, carried him several hundred feet into the air and dropped him off the cliff to his death. You sucked in a long and uneven breath, stumbling to your feet and limping through the trees. At the wizards command, the dwarves had begun to drop from the trees they had climbed, to be carried away by the eagles. There were only a few of them left now and you knew you needed to hurry.

Reaching the edge, you looked down the several hundred foot drop off the mountain. You took in a shaky breath, praying to any gods listening that something would catch you, and jumped.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

After what seemed like hours, the great eagles deposited you and the dwarves onto a great Carrock. You slid off the eagle that had carried you and stumbled a bit on the uneven rock beneath your feet.

When the two younger dwarves arrived, the blond one walked right up to you and snatched his sword from your grip with a slightly disgruntled look on his bearded face. You were too dazed and weak to protest, all of your energy now going into keeping yourself upright and standing. You looked around at the horizon lethargically, taking a step forward. Turning around again, the blond dwarf was now looking a bit worried and tentatively reached for you, perhaps to steady you. Your brain started to go fuzzy and your vision darkened. There was a sharp pain in your abdomen that you hadn’t noticed before, probably due to the adrenaline coursing through your veins. The pain felt like it was spreading up and through your fingertips, and you noticed that the magic you had used before had all but dissipated. You barely saw the other dwarves jumping onto the rock from their eagles, but they were giving you strange looks and you wanted to tell them to stop looking at you like that.

You started to stumble and fell hard onto the rocky ground, landing on your side. You heard someone curse in a foreign language from above you and yell for someone called, ‘Oin.’ But they were so very far away, and you just wanted to sleep now. The last thing you saw before everything went dark was a golden braid with a hand carved bead woven into it, dangling from a handsome face, and your own hand, reaching out to touch him.