#scar tries to piece together what she can each week

[fortunxa]

The symbol

Jinx x fem!reader

summary: “Piltover saw her as a terrorist, and Zaun’s rhetoric had twisted her into a martyr while she was still alive. She was a ghost haunting two cities, a myth both sides needed alive or dead.” Jinx. The loose cannon. The symbol.

cw: angst, >4k words, buckle up

author’s note: This whole fanfic is based off of ONE (1) clip of Jinx looking sad in the s2 trailer, call me dramatic.

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At first, it was animosity that sparked between Jinx and you—a collision of egos in a city that thrived on confrontation. You weren’t a stranger to her troublemaker reputation, nor were you safe from her seemingly endless pranks. Your every encounter was charged, filled with barbed comments and sharp glances. She reveled in your irritation, finding joy in ruffling your feathers.

Yet each time you clashed, you also learned a little more about each other. Your differences started sparking curiosity instead of just annoyance, and beneath the surface, something began to shift. There were moments when you caught a glimpse of the vulnerability that lurked behind Jinx’s bravado—a fleeting expression that hinted at a deeper story.

As the weeks turned into months, the sharp edges of your relationship began to soften. Your bickering became more playful, the insults laced with laughter rather than anger. Slowly, what had once been hatred turned into friendship. You became an unlikely duo, navigating the mayhem of Zaun side by side. Jinx introduced you to a world of spontaneity and mischief. She taught you how to embrace the chaos rather than fear it. In return, you grounded her, offering a safe space amidst the storms of her life—a place where she could let her guard down. Where she was wild, you were steady; and together, you balanced each other out.

It was only a matter of time before your friendship gave way to something more complex, of course. You spent countless nights together, talking until dawn, revealing pieces of yourselves you had long kept hidden, and sharing dreams that stretched beyond the gritty streets of Zaun.

Jinx carried a lot of scars, some visible, most hidden. You never pushed, never demanded to know the whole story, never made her relive it, never asked for more than she was ready to give. You had a quiet understanding of her, a patience that she found both infuriating and comforting. She wasn’t used to people sticking around, and she didn’t think she could care about someone like that again. But you made her believe, if only for a moment, that there was something more to life than just survival. You would sit beside her, stitching up wounds in silence, your touch gentle and reassuring. You knew how to handle her moods, the unpredictable bursts of frustration. You never tried to fix it. You just were. And somehow, that was enough.

But that was before Jinx blew up half the council, and everything went to shit.

“You have the chance to rally the undercity together.” You can still recall Sevika’s words. “You’re a symbol.” And you almost scoffed at the idea. Your Jinx becoming a symbol for the city that villainized her to no end? They didn’t deserve that. How could they, after already dooming her once before? But sticking inaccurate labels was their forte. In the end, this one stuck, too.

And so Jinx disappeared beneath the weight of their faith.

For Zaunites, she had become more than just a rogue with a penchant for destruction—she really was a symbol, a rallying cry against the oppression of Piltover. They thought she fought for them, for a cause bigger than herself.

But she never asked for any of it. She never wanted to be anyone’s icon. You knew that better than anyone.

To her, it was just noise.

Your Jinx never cared about the revolution—not in the way people expected her to, anyway. She wasn’t in it for justice or freedom. Her motives were rooted in something far more personal: revenge. She had no grand vision, no dreams of liberation. All she had was the cold satisfaction of making Piltover suffer the way it made her suffer. She wanted to tear apart the illusion of perfection that cloaked the grand City of Progress, to make its citizens feel the same fear and destruction that had once consumed her. It was the only time she felt in control. In the chaos, she could forget the nightmares, the past, and even herself for a while. She could become the whirlwind, unstoppable and feared, rather than the broken girl who used to beg for things to make sense.

Yet now, Zaun saw her as its hero. Its champion. And Jinx couldn’t stand it. The citizens looked to her like she had some grand plan, like she would lead them to independence. The weight of their expectations pressed down on her, suffocating her more than any chain or cell ever could.

On the flip side, the enforcers wanted her dead. Posters with her face plastered the city, patrols hunted her down relentlessly, and there was nowhere left to hide. She was clever and cunning, but there were only so many laps she could run around them before her lungs would give out.

So, you did your best to push Jinx to stay one step ahead of everyone trying to either kill her or claim her. You dealt with the little things—finding safehouses when it was too dangerous to stay in one place, gathering supplies, and making sure she had somewhere to disappear when things got too heated. You were resourceful, calm under pressure, and always thinking ahead. But how could you be anything else in those dire times? You couldn’t afford to falter. Not now. Not when Jinx needed you to stay afloat. You had unwavering loyalty despite the harsh words that slipped past her lips when her emotions overflowed. Beneath it all, she was still the same girl—the one who still dreamed of something better, who still laughed with you in the quiet moments, who still loved you.

You could see her exhaustion, the way her mask would crack just a little when she came back home bruised from another close call with the enforcers. And you’d hold her during those times, let her cry and sob and shake in your arms. It was just the two of you—she was safe. But no matter how real and vulnerable she was in the small hours of the night, the morning always came, and with it, the chaos behind Jinx’s name.

And in that chaos, she would live. And in that chaos, she would die, little by little.

Piltover saw her as a terrorist, and Zaun’s rhetoric had twisted her into a martyr while she was still alive. She was a ghost haunting two cities, a myth both sides needed alive or dead.

And in all of it, Jinx wanted nothing more than to disappear—to vanish from the world she had once desperately tried to belong to. She wasn’t anyone’s leader or scapegoat—she didn’t even want to be remembered. She was just tired. Tired of running, tired of being the person they all demanded her to be. You could see it in the way she looked at you sometimes, like she wanted to say something, like she was planning a way out that didn’t involve pulling you down with her. But you had made your choice a long time ago. You weren’t going anywhere, you wouldn’t walk away from her.

“Whatever happens, I’m here,” you’d tell her when the world outside felt too loud. “I’m not leaving.” And the tension in Jinx’s body unwinded, even if just a little, as if those simple words were the only thing keeping her grounded. It was in those moments that you knew you were doing something right, even if you couldn’t fight her battles for her.

At night, when the adrenaline of violence faded, she was haunted by the memories—ghosts of those she’d lost, faces of the people she had once loved, and the echoes of a life she could never return to. The nightmares were relentless, dragging her back to the moment when everything fell apart. She would wake drenched in sweat, hands shaking, reaching for a gun or a bomb that wasn’t there. No amount of chaos in the streets could drown out the chaos in her own mind. The terror that gripped her in her dreams was not something she could outrun or fight. It clung to her like a second skin, a constant reminder that no matter how much destruction she caused, it would never be enough. She was still the broken girl beneath the explosions and the mayhem. Or that’s what she thought of herself, at least.

And there was no way out. Not anymore.

“It almost feels like the only way for you to find peace is through death,” you worriedly whispered once as you cradled her in your arms. “And I can’t have that,” you added, but Jinx’s mind was already reeling. Unbeknownst to you, she had thought about it more than once. Ending it all in one final explosion, letting the flames consume her just like they had consumed her heart so long ago. It would be easy. One pull of the trigger, one detonation, and it would all be over.

But even death had a bitter edge, and the question that haunted her, night after night, was whether even death would be enough to set her free. Or would they find a way to twist that, too, turning her final act into another legend for the revolution? Paint her as the glorious martyr who died for Zaun’s freedom?

Jinx didn’t know.

And that uncertainty kept her alive, if only for a little while longer, though she didn’t know why—she couldn’t even die on her own terms. The irony made her laugh sometimes, in the moments when the absurdity of it all was too much to bear.

If she was going to die, she would make sure they all remembered why she had never been their hero, why she had never fought for anyone but herself.

And so it started with a bang—because of course it did.

But this time felt different. There was something almost methodical about the way Jinx moved, the way she set her traps, as if she knew this was the last time she would walk these streets. The last time her bombs would rip through the orderly facade of the City of Progress.

She didn’t laugh as much that day. The usual gleam in her eyes was dimmer, her movements more controlled. The sun was setting, casting a harsh golden glow over Piltover’s spires as Jinx climbed to the top of a high rooftop, overlooking the heart of the city. This is where it will happen, she thought. The grand finale. She had spent weeks preparing. Every bomb was precisely placed, every escape route meticulously planned. The city was on high alert—word had spread that Jinx was planning something big. But no one knew exactly where, or when, the storm would hit.

The first explosion tore through the night just as the clock struck midnight. Fire lit up the streets below, throwing debris into the sky while the enforcers scrambled to contain the damage. Then came the second explosion, larger, closer to the city’s industrial district. Smoke filled the air as panic spread through Piltover like wildfire. The citizens ran in every direction, knowing that when Jinx was involved, no place was safe.

She stood on the rooftop, watching the chaos unfold beneath her. She felt nothing. No excitement, no satisfaction. This wasn’t the same thrill she used to chase. Her fingers hovered over the detonator for the final bomb—the biggest one, the one that would make the others look like fireworks. She had rigged it to collapse an entire section of the city, to leave Piltover scarred in a way it would never forget.

But tonight wasn’t about the explosion. It wasn’t about the destruction.

The enforcers were closing in. She could see them swarming through the streets below, moving toward her position. They had found her. They always did, eventually. Jinx glanced at the timer on the last bomb. She had set it for just long enough to make her escape—or so they would think. But the truth was, there wouldn’t be an escape tonight.

When the enforcers reached the rooftop, they found her standing there, framed against the night sky, the city burning below her. The air was thick with smoke, and in the chaos, they barely noticed the subtle smile that crossed her face.

“Time’s up,” she said softly, her voice lost in the wind.

She pressed the detonator.

The explosion was deafening, a wall of fire and debris engulfing the rooftop in an instant. The force of it sent the enforcers flying, tearing through the structures around them. When the dust settled, the building was gone—obliterated along with everything and everyone on it.

The news spread fast.

Jinx is dead.

There was no body left to recover, no remains to mourn, and no trace of her. Just the rubble of the building she had destroyed and the twisted wreckage of her devices. The enforcers confirmed it—there was no way she could have survived.

“Target neutralized” were the words bitterly spoken through the ranks with a cold efficiency. There was no name attached, but everyone knew who it was about. The official statement came shortly after: “A threat to the city has been eliminated.”

Days passed and Piltover began to rebuild, as it always did after Jinx’s attacks, the destruction slowly being replaced with gleaming new structures. Streets were cleared, debris removed, and life returned to a semblance of normalcy. There were no coffins for the fallen enforcers whose bodies were lost to the fire—only statues erected in their names, cold monuments serving as both tribute and reminder of the price paid for order. The city moved on—or at least tried to. Some celebrated, cautiously, though few were willing to believe the news completely. There had been too many close calls, too many times they thought they had her. But this time, it felt different. This time, the destruction had swallowed her whole, leaving behind an eerie silence where her chaotic laughter once echoed.

Zaun, on the other hand? That was a little bit more complicated. For the people who had seen her as a reckless force that harmed their city as much as Piltover did, her death came as a relief, and her absence promised a fragile peace, however fleeting. But to others, the more sensitive ones, tears had to be shed, heads shaking in disbelief. Candlelit vigils appeared in the undercity, graffiti of her wild grin painted on the walls. People would whisper, looking for the next symbol for their revolution—anything and anyone they could place their hopes on. Amidst this emotional turbulence, a third reaction emerged from the more organized factions who saw it as the opportunity they had been waiting for. With Jinx gone, they could finally rise to the storefront. The power vacuum left in her wake ignited their ambitions, and the streets buzzed with the promise of a new era, one that could either heal the wounds of the past or plunge the city into an even deeper turmoil.

The cities spoke of heroes and villains, grappling with the complexities of Jinx’s legacy—a legacy that blurred the lines between destruction and freedom, chaos and control.

That being said, everything unfolded exactly as she had predicted, but the victory felt almost hollow.

“It almost feels like the only way for you to find peace is through death.” And it really was, so she had faked it perfectly. The plan was reckless, audacious—everything she embodied. The explosion had served as the perfect cover, and in that moment of chaos, she had slipped through the cracks, hidden among the shadows of her own creation.

For Jinx, this was not just an escape; it was a calculated act of liberation. Her liberation. The city that had once been her playground had turned into a gilded cage, and she had grown tired of the endless games of cat and mouse.

Now standing on the edge of the city, Zaun stretches out before her like a memory she can’t quite shake. Her eyes trace the tangled streets below, the dark alleyways, the flickering lights, and the twisted pipes, burning the sight into memory. She inhales deeply, her nostrils filling up with the familiar smell of smoke and oil. A wave of nostalgia washes over her. She can almost hear the echoes of laughter and the distant sounds of explosions that had once filled her days with exhilaration. A tear wells up in her eye, but she blinks it away, wiping at her eyes quickly, almost angrily. Jinx doesn’t cry. Not for anyone. Not for anything.

Not anymore.

With a heavy heart, she grips the railing tighter, her knuckles turning white as the memories swirl like smoke around her before she relaxes—a conscious decision.

“I’ll miss you, you filthy, broken place.” She chuckles dryly. She had spent years running wild here, feeling untouchable. But now, it’s time to go. “You were everything, and yet, you were never enough.” The words hang in the air, a promise to herself that she would carry the spirit of Zaun wherever she went, even as she turns her back on it. Her heart clenches, a strange ache settling in her chest as she realizes this could be the last time she’d see it—the city that had been her home and her battlefield.

“Are you sure you want to do this?" you ask, your voice soft and gentle. “You’d be leaving everyone behind.” The blue-haired girl knows exactly who you mean by that.

Vi.

Jinx could almost see it—her paling face when she heard the news, the way her fists clenched and her heart broke, crumbling beneath the grief, believing that her little sister was gone forever. The thought cut deep, deeper than Jinx was ready to admit. Vi had been her everything once. And after everything they’d been through, after everything they’d lost, Jinx hated herself for causing her more pain, for inflicting yet another wound—and this time, it’s a wound that’ll never quite heal, the cruelest cut of them all. A part of her wanted to run back. To find Vi and tell her the truth. To stay.

But Jinx knew that wasn’t an option.

Not now.

So why does it feel like she’s tearing herself apart?

The soft touch of a hand on her shoulder brings her back to the present. She turns, meeting your gaze. You stand beside her, quiet but steady, the anchor she didn’t know she needed until she had found it. She takes a shuddering breath.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” you ask again, your voice filled with nothing but understanding. You know how hard this is for Jinx, how torn she really feels.

She swallows hard, glancing back at the city one more time. It all feels so distant, yet so close—like she can reach out and touch it, like she can run back and undo it all if she tries hard enough. But she can’t. She pictures Vi again, her strong, fierce sister who had always fought for her, always believed she could be saved. Jinx hated the thought of what this would do to her, of the hole it would leave in her heart. But deep down, she knew she couldn’t be the person Vi wanted her to be. Not yet. She had tried. She had failed. And now, she has to move on, even if it means breaking the last connection she has to her past.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready,” Jinx whispers, her voice catching in her throat. You nod, your expression softening even further as your hand intertwines with hers, and the warmth of your touch reminds her why she’s leaving—for a chance to start over. To be something else, someone else, outside of the chaos and violence that had defined her for so long.

Vi would survive, like she always had. She would grieve, but she would move on. And in time, Jinx hoped that she’d understand why she had to go.

“I just don’t want her to hate me.” Her voice is small, almost fragile as the confession falls from her lips before she can stop it, the rawness of her words cutting through the silence. You frown as you take a step closer, pulling her into a gentle embrace.

“She won’t hate you,” you murmur against her hair. “She’ll hurt, she’ll be angry, but she’ll never hate you. Vi loves you, Jinx.” She leans into you, burying her face in your shoulder for a moment, letting herself feel the comfort she so desperately needs.

“I just wish I could explain.” The angry tears threaten to spill out again. “I wish I could tell her why I had to do this.”

“She knows.” You can only hug her tighter now, hoping it’ll keep her from falling apart.

Slowly, she pulls back, her breath still shaky but steadier now. “I guess it’s too late to change my mind, huh?” she asks with a weak smile, though her heart isn’t in it.

“This doesn’t have to be permanent, you know? We can always come back when the time is ready.” Jinx nods, but the guilt still gnaws at her, sharp and relentless.

Turning fully toward the road ahead, her hand finds yours again as she laces your fingers together like an unspoken promise. “Let’s go,” she says, her voice almost resolute as if she’s still trying to convince herself that this is the right thing to do.

Jinx’s heart aches for what she’s leaving behind as the both of you walk away from Zaun. But then she glances at you, walking calmly by her side, and—albeit briefly—she feels a sense of peace. For the first time in a long time, she isn’t running alone. She isn’t running from something either, despite the way it seems. She’s running toward something—a life she could build, not destroy, with someone who sees her for more than the broken pieces. Someone who’s willing to leave everything behind to be with her.

You give her hand another gentle squeeze, pulling her out of her thoughts. “We’re almost there,” you say softly, gesturing toward the darkened outskirts of the city where the world feels smaller, where the noise of Zaun fades into a distant hum. Beyond it, freedom awaits—freedom from the past, from the wreckage you’re leaving behind.

The night stretches out before you, vast and uncertain. Jinx had never been good with the unknown; she thrived on chaos, on knowing how to manipulate it. But this? Walking away from everything she’d ever known, stepping into a future that isn’t filled with explosions and destruction—it terrifies her.

But it’s also the only thing that makes sense anymore.

You lean closer, your warmth cutting through the chill of the night. “You don’t have to look back if you don’t want to.” She wants to look back. She wants to go back. But she knows it wouldn’t do any good. So she straightens up, fixing her cloak and pulling the hood further over her head.

“I’m not going to,” she replies, her voice firmer now. “I’ve spent enough time looking back.” You nod in understanding. You had talked about this moment for weeks now, about what it would mean for Jinx to truly let go of Zaun, of everything she had once believed she needed to hold on to. It isn’t easy, but it’s necessary.

Finally, you reach the edge, where the lights of the city flicker out entirely, swallowed by the darkness of the wilds beyond.

This is it. The point of no return.

Jinx turns to you, searching your face for strength, for the resolve she so desperately needs. And there it is, shining back at her. She feels the tension in her chest begin to loosen, the weight of her decision finally starting to lift. She can almost taste the adrenaline, the sweet rush of possibility that awaits her beyond the city’s borders—no rules, no limits, and most importantly, no one hunting her down.

The two of you step into the darkness together, the twisted streets and memories of Zaun falling away with each step until all that’s left is the quiet sound of your breathing, the crunch of gravel beneath your feet, and the sense that something new is beginning. She feels something unfamiliar, something almost foreign—hope. It flickers faintly deep inside her, small but real, growing with every step she takes.

Jinx doesn’t look back. She doesn’t need to. She’s finally moving forward.

And as you disappear into the night, a thought echoes in her mind, settling like a truth she can’t ignore.

Nothing ever stays dead.

[munariplans]

is there someone else? | n. romanoff

synopsis: you and natasha have been going through a rough patch lately. wanda comes in and shows you everything natasha is unable to offer.

natasha romanoff x reader | slight wanda maximoff x reader

word count: 4.9k words

read part 2 here and part 3 here

warnings: angst, almost(?) cheating, discussions on pregnancy and treatments

masterlist

“nat, you have to be patient!”

“i am patient!” the woman before you screamed, red hair almost matching the redness on her features, as she gripped the edge of the table in your shared bedroom. “i have been patient; for days, weeks, months, i have been patient! but this is not working; whatever tony and bruce have been cooking in that lab, is not working!”

“these things take time; natasha, you cannot—”

“—no, not for me,” again, your wife cut you off; hot tears brimming in her eyes now, “not for me. It’s not a timing issue, it’s my body’s issue. the reverse hysterectomy doesn’t work, and the IVF won’t work either.”

this time, you knew better. reaching out towards her, you ignored her flailing arms half in protest, half in desperation, to push you away. you embraced natasha with all that you had; holding on to her as if it would piece her broken pieces back together. and it was precisely then that she broke down; her body physically melting against your own and her sobs filling the atmosphere of the quiet, bleak room. the room that had once been the sanctuary for the both of you; late night rendezvouses against the knowledge of the other avengers, patch-up sessions where natasha would trust you over any medic to see her scars and wounds and not judge, it was even the safest place for natasha to run into after particularly hard missions. 

the place still looked all the same, with the addition of natasha’s belongings now taking up eighty-percent of your space (in what was essentially a room for one, but the both of you had been reluctant on upgrading to a bigger room in the compound with the memories made in your room). but the feeling was not the same. 

you held her tighter. “it’s only our fourth round, so what if it doesn’t work? we can always try again.”

“what if i’m tired?” she asked, voice too small, too fragile. “what if it doesn’t work again? what if it’s just a me problem? i can’t have children, i can’t give you a baby, and i never will.”

“don’t say that, don’t say things like that.” were the only comforting words you could offer, a little tired, a little irritated, at her repetition of insecurities being voiced after each IVF round the both of you went through. 

you led her to your shared bed, and when natasha tried to reach out for you in the night, she felt you shift closer to the edge of the bed, and away from her. 

–

common side effects of natasha’s fertility treatments included frequent mood swings, this you knew from bruce’s multiple warnings before. he had taken special care to explain it to you, and had even advised you to seek help from clint if necessary. you remembered brushing him off with, “i think i can handle my wife’s emotions just fine.”

if only you knew what you were getting yourself into, you chided yourself now, staring at the back of natasha’s head, sighing. a little pissy and agitated would be a fine understatement. 

you were the assigned leader for the mission; you had thought it was natural that everyone followed your instructions and heed your warnings. not for natasha. 

she had taken a path that was more direct to the enemy’s line of fire, and considering her complete disregard for her own safety, and the fact that it was right around the time that she could be pregnant from a previous round of treatments, it was very clear from your point of view that she was putting herself in imminent danger, and that you had to step in. 

you remembered steve asking why natasha was so far off from her tracker, and it was the moment everything clicked. you knew your wife. you knew precisely why she had taken off her tracker. 

“nat, fall back.” you spoke into your comms, knowing full well she had heard you. there was no response. 

“natasha. ”

two enemies had thrown themselves at you, and in the time taken to take them down, natasha still had not responded. 

you were about to call her for the third time when her comms crackled to you. “kinda—busy—here.”

behind her was the sound of gunfire. screams, cries, the occasional thunk of metal hitting against bones. you thought it was natural that you freaked. 

“natasha, i am this mission’s leader. i am ordering you to fall back, i repeat, fall back!”

“no! i can get the chip faster this way, i’m right in their comms room!”

“agent romanoff, this is not a request. if you don’t fall back now, i am reporting you to fury for insubordination of a direct order.”

she had turned her comms off. the whole team practically heard you scream through their comms, “fuck!”

steve was kind enough to cover for your spot, while you ran headfirst into the comms room to extract natasha. and although her being swarmed and outnumbered by a large margin of enemies was something you expected, it could not compare to the horror that spread through your system at the sight of her pinned down, gasping for air as an enemy tried to wrestle her for the gun she was holding.

he was gone in the next second, as natasha rolled over to catch her breath. she cursed under her breath, preparing for the onslaught of another one tumbling towards her, but when it was you that filled her vision, helping her stand and leaning her onto your body, she wasn’t so sure if it was any better.

“i—told you—” natasha tried to say, but you cut her off. 

“—you disobeyed a direct order, nat. you could’ve gotten killed.”

–

though, back in the quinjet, it felt as if the roles were completely reversed. natasha was berating you in plain view of everyone else, while you could only sit back, and accept the harshest words that were coming out of your wife’s mouth. 

“do you not trust me? how many missions have we been on together, and how many have i parted to take care of things on my own? how many missions have i gotten injured, or killed? i am not some fragile, brittle object, you know! i am—”

“—romanoff, i think she gets your point,” tony tried to cut in, but the glare shot his way was enough to make him shut his mouth faster than he had opened it. 

“—i am capable, and you know i was, of extracting the chip myself! we could’ve avoided so many casualties! and now, look where we are, no chip, building destroyed, and civilians dead. all because you wouldn’t trust me to be able to take care of myself.” natasha jabbed her finger to your shoulder roughly, as if to only rub in your humiliation deeper.

but you only sighed, and stood up. a resigned look on your face, you called peter forward, and as he approached the table nervously, eyes darting between you and natasha, she spotted it. spider-man pulled the chip out of his suit, and handed it to you. 

you showed it off to her, and the rest of the team, and shook your head. “we would’ve gotten the chip regardless. you didn’t have to put yourself in unnecessary danger, and you didn’t have to undermine my leadership.”

you retreated back to the darkness of the quinjet, hearing natasha sigh irritatedly and march right up to the front again. 

–

halfway on the trip back home, natasha finally made the decision of risking seeing you to get herself some water, seeing as the supply was all the way at the back of the jet. she had unbuckled her seatbelt, ordered peter to step in for her, and made the short, but agitating journey to where you were. 

but you were not near your designated seat near the supplies, or anywhere where she thought you would be, as she unscrewed the water bottle and discretely scanned the jet for you. i’m not worried for her, i'm glad she’s not in my line of sight, is all, she tried to convince herself.

but what she saw next, as she was walking past another part of the jet, made her stop in her tracks. you were next to wanda in the makeshift medical bay, your suit unzipped and tied around your waist, fireproofs lifted up to reveal a huge wound that Wanda was tending to. 

you seethed as the scarlet witch tried to draw back the bleeding with her magic, grabbing her hand and chanting, “gentle, gentle, please.”

fuck. natasha couldn’t believe she missed out on the fact that you were injured. she had thought your gait looked a little strange when you were escorting her to safety earlier; and there was blood in her hands as she let go of you, but she had chalked it up to being an enemy’s. you had sat through her beration, her humiliation, and had said nothing to her of your injury.

your eyes were shut, as wanda navigated the stab wound, but her own eyes then drifted up, catching natasha’s. the scarlet witch didn’t budge, looking up at natasha almost in defiance, mostly in resentment. 

a weird feeling settled within the woman, but she shut the curtain to the medical bay, and returned to her seat. 

–

natasha watched yours and wanda’s friendship begin to bloom. It seemed as if the avenger had found a solace within your company, as she naturally gravitated towards you in most social settings; team dinners, tony’s outlandish parties, even during team meetings and discussions. in those moments, natasha held your arm against hers closer, putting extra effort to drape her body as close to yours as possible as a warning. if you noticed (you did), you didn’t say anything to her, merely welcoming her into your open arms and letting her find comfort at the same time. 

however, no matter how much natasha wanted to keep you close and all to herself, her own hormones got the best of her on her worst days. more IVF sessions had passed with little to no success, brimming and breaking hope simultaneously, and natasha was finding it harder and harder to sit through you merely reassuring her that it takes time. on her worst nights, she would find even your mere presence in the room an abhorrent sight, instead shunning you out into the common areas or mentioning that she wanted to sleep alone tonight. 

natasha never missed the heartbreak, or desperation, in your face. perhaps you had been too nonchalant towards her mood swings, perhaps you had paid too little attention to her needs, or perhaps, and you hated yourself for thinking about it, natasha was slowly growing out of love for you. you never missed the mixed emotions on hers, as you so often grabbed your pillows and headed out to sleep on the couch. 

–

one particular night, where a stupid argument about paperwork that you had syphoned off to natasha, preventing her from going out into the field had ensued, and finished, it ended once again with her yelling at you to get out of the room and sleep somewhere else for the night. the both of you were certain, by that point, that the whole compound could hear all of the words exchanged and screams torn. but natasha was headstrong, you never were, and you gave in, as always. 

left with nothing but the bitter taste of natasha accusing you of underestimating her, and the fact that your relationship was on such a thin thread that was affecting the morale of the whole team as well, you exited the room. 

but when natasha tossed, and turned, and tossed again that night, the absence of your body beside hers and only the coolness of the sheets on her skin, the guilt began to settle in. as it always did. she could have been more thoughtful, should have considered your own workload, should have cared more about your feelings too. 

with tears hot in her eyes and a resolution to apologise, she left the room, still in her nightgown, to search for you in the common area. when she did find you, however, you were hunched over said paperwork that you had thought to pass off to her, the stack that she screamed would prevent her from going on her mission the next day.

you had wanted to ensure that she could still go, eventually. 

she called out your name, but when you turned, all the apologies that she had wanted to spill, the invite to return back to your room, were silenced; for wanda’s own head had popped up beside yours, evident that she had been laying on your lap and accompanying you at work. 

she realises that wanda is there for you in all the ways she never was these days. she realises the outlet for you to share about your day, your frustrations and worries, was not her now. no, of course it wasn’t her, why would it be her? not when she picks a fight for every little concern you voice out, not when she dismisses your every attempt to talk to her now. a scarier feeling began to form; natasha realises that wanda may be your home now, not her. 

“yes, nat?” you said, your face devoid of any emotion. 

she could have screamed, could have cried, could have threatened wanda with death and tore her away from you right away. she could even have accused you of doing something you promised you would never do to her when you got together; but she didn’t. natasha wanted to trust you, and she didn’t want her own insecurities to get the best of her, and the worst of you, again. 

instead, all she did was nod towards wanda, swallowing a huge lump in her throat. “n-nothing. come back to our room when you’re done with that. the bed’s too cold.”

–

it was in the way wanda voluntarily paired herself up with you for missions. the way you could conveniently shove her out of the way of raining bullets, putting yourself in the line of fire for her without a second thought. 

the way you were the first person wanda looks for at the end of said missions. the way you allow wanda to ease her worries by laying her head against your shoulder afterwards. 

the way wanda hugs you just a little too tight, too long, right after the team worries of your cut-off comms from a particularly hard mission. 

natasha hates herself for noticing all of it. 

–

tony called out your name to the common area one night, despite you and natasha agreeing to have an early night-in for a round of doctor’s visits the next day. she was a little annoyed at you for being so ready to heed his request, but followed you anyway, hoping it would be quick. 

“as you can see,” tony spread his arms, gesturing around the room to the other avengers, “your best friend isn’t around. she’s been gone from us for exactly two nights in a row now, and we want to know why.”

his game show host-style of speaking ticked you off, but you swallowed it down in favour of everyone else around, and smiled politely at him. he continued, “rogers says it’s her time of the month, which, might be true, is totally boring and not helpful to this discussion at all. danvers says she’s probably just sick of our shit, which, might also be true, but is being a debby downer and i do not stand for it. with the amount of vomiting vision hears from his room, he says it’s because i gave her food poisoning when I tried to cook dinner on monday, which is the least likely option there is, so i’m disregarding it. what do you say, huh?”

“she told me she has a stomach flu.”

this time, thor chuckled from the corner of the room. grinning, he sneaked in with, “classic pregnancy symptoms, i say. natasha’s been the one trying for a child, but have you accidentally knocked the wrong woman up, kid?”

he didn’t need your furious glare and natasha’s choked sob behind you to know he had voiced out every insecurity of hers so perfectly, as the black widow practically stormed straight back to your room, with you hot on her heels, trying desperately to call out her name. 

–

“it was just a joke, nat, and he knew it! you and i know it!”

“was it really?” natasha’s eyes were red and raw, throat hoarse from screaming, “was it really a joke to you? or have you really gone and fucked her and gotten her pregnant?!”

“that’s impossible and you know it!” you retorted, taking one step closer. natasha took one step back. your hands had raised, trying to reach out for her to see reason, but seeing her retreat only sent a knife straight to your heart, and you threw them up in the air, giving up. “nat, i—i—wanda’s a friend. that is all she is, all she will ever be. i don’t understand why—”

“—do your friends touch you like I do? do your friends get to lie their head on your shoulder, hug you goodbye and welcome home after every mission, be the outlet for your frustrations and worries, your celebrations and joy? do your friends matter more than I do?” she cut you off, shoving you against the wall this time. 

you took the opportunity to grab her wrists, tilting your head so you were directly at her eye level. “natasha.”

she refused to meet your eyes. “natasha. look at me.”

she shook her head, refusing to give in, refusing to let you see the insecurity, heartbreak, and jealousy in her green eyes, now dull and wearier than the emerald they once were. “fuck you.”

“natasha, what is going on with us?” you asked sincerely then, begging her to see reason, to see you. “we fight everyday, we barely spend any time together, and you don’t even bother trying to listen to me. to help me help you see reason. you hate me on most days, you despise what i am, what i do, and i don’t know how to fix this. have i become so broken, so unlovable, that you cannot even stand to be in the same room as me anymore?”

natasha slowly lifted her gaze, blinking away the tears. “you don’t seem to mind.”

“because I don’t want to ruin whatever we have left!” you shouted, exasperated. “i don’t want to lose whatever shred of love my wife has left for me, i don’t want to make things worse, and i don’t want to make you feel worse. tell me, is it the baby? is us trying for a baby too much for you, nat? is this not something you want anymore? because ever since we’ve started trying—”

“—it’s not the baby, it’s me,” natasha freed her wrists from you, turning away. “it’s me, and my inability to be a wife, a proper wife, to you. fuck, i can’t even give you one thing every married couple wishes for, a fucking child, and now you have to run off to an actual woman who can. i’m a fucking failure, that’s what i am.”

“nat, not every couple wants—not every couple needs—a child. i’m perfectly happy with—”

“—are you really? are you really perfectly happy with the way things are? do you not wish for more, something I can’t give? someone who can understand you, love you, better than I can?”

you knew where this was going, and you rubbed your forehead in frustration. “what are you getting at, natasha?”

“don’t tell me you don’t see the way she looks at you.” 

you sighed. “i honestly don’t.”

“of course you don’t!” natasha’s voice broke, uttering the next words, “but I do. because she looks at you the way i look at you. the way i wished you looked at me.” 

“nat, don’t do this. don’t do this to yourself, and don’t do this to us. i can assure you wanda is…is…” you trailed off, not believing the incredulity of it all. 

“is what?” natasha hoped with all of her heart you could finish the sentence. “is what…? tell me. younger? better? easier to love, than i am?” 

but you could only shake your head once more, furrowing your eyebrows. “you know what, nat? i give up. i truly give up. if you can’t get over yourself and your own insecurities, even though we are married, even if you knew i only love you, i cannot help you. i need a break…we need a break.” 

you didn’t tell her for how long, you didn’t tell her what you were going to do, or what she could do to fix things. you merely brushed past her body folding in on itself in anguish and absolute heartbreak, and packed your things. that night, you had left her all to herself, and she had only felt loneliness like this once. 

suddenly, natasha was twelve again, all alone in the red room to fend for herself. she had lost her parents, she had lost yelena, and now, she had lost you too.

–

wanda was browsing through the menu, seated in front of you at the hotel balcony, celebrating the end of another successful mission together. it was a few weeks after the incident with natasha, and with no end goal or date in sight of when you were returning to her arms, you had resigned yourself to stick to wanda, much to the scarlet witch’s pleasure, too. 

“an aperol spritz or a negroni?” she had asked, but you were busy staring right at her. 

wanda’s eyes were blue, wide and ethereal. Her hair was a lighter colour than natasha’s, hands softer as they wrapped around yours, hugs tighter. 

natasha was all that you had ever known, and loved. you have been together for so long, you find it hard to believe that what you feel for wanda could ever be real. 

she was kind, patient and understanding; wanda never complained, never screamed or raised her voice at you. you remembered when the feeling began; the very night where natasha had practically banished you from your room, and her footsteps came pattering down to the common area where you were. wanda had just returned from a mission with thor and sam, but still insisted on staying up with you. as her head laid on your lap that night, her big, blue eyes staring up at yours, you felt something stir in your stomach; a feeling that you hadn’t felt in a long while with natasha. butterflies anew. 

you became concerned, protective, of wanda during missions. always worrying if she had eaten before a gruelling day, taking extra patience in training her for combat practice, you began wondering if you had really looked at her as just a friend all this while. when wanda and natasha both came home with a bullet graze on their arms on one mission, you found yourself worrying for wanda almost as much as you did for your wife. 

perhaps that was the moment you knew, and so did natasha. 

–

wanda called out your name lovingly, half-laughing as you stared into blank space yet again, dissociating as she stepped out of the shower. 

“you still upset that I chose the negroni?” she teased, and you rolled your eyes playfully. 

getting up to change, you tried hard not to hyper-focus on the beads of water dripping down wanda’s body, as she bent down to find a spare change of fresh clothing. “of course. criminal, that you order everything but an aperol spritz in Italy, of all places.”

you found the t-shirt that she had been looking for, and whistled for her attention. but right as the woman stepped forward to take it off of you, you tugged it under her grip, side-stepping further into the room.

“apologise, for the spritz, for me, and everyone else in italy.”

wanda shot you an incredulous look, before your own serious resolve broke too, and the both of you ended up laughing, nearly tumbling forwards towards each other.  somewhere along the line, wanda decided to take the opportunity to try to take the shirt, but your reflexes kicked in, and right as she reached forwards, you went for her legs; throwing her onto the bed to dodge her attack. 

giggling, still, wanda tried to sit up as you pinned her down. but the woman managed to take one of your own, as she grabbed your hand, and with one swipe, had your wedding band in her left hand, taunting it over you. 

“got something of yours, too,” she grinned, handing out her other hand for an exchange, “now give me my shirt.”

your eyes widened at the sight before you then. wanda, dressed only in a towel that was barely hiding anything from view, the compromising position you were in, the wedding band she had taken off of you at that moment. 

heart to heart, yours beating as fast as hers, wanda finally noticed too. slowly, but surely, her red magic came up to envelop the both of you, the warmth in them flowing through your senses, making your head fuzzy and lightheaded. 

she leaned up, mouth just inches from yours, hoping, begging, for you to close the distance. her towel had almost fallen off her body then, arms around your neck. if you dared look down, nothing would be hidden from view. 

“come on,” she murmured against your lips. 

you hesitated, the grip on her waist suddenly disappearing. “i…no.”

wanda pouted, you remembered shaking your head. “i’m married, wanda.”

“please.”

you snatched back your ring this time, throwing the t-shirt onto her body and looking away just as quickly. opening the door to the balcony, you found it hard to catch your breath. “i can’t. i’m sorry.”

–

though, that night, watching her sleeping figure sprawled out on the shared king bed, you took another swig of the gin leftover from the bar, wondering if you had made the right choice. 

the opportunity had presented itself, and yet you didn’t take it. 

natasha had left a text earlier on your phone, and you cursed when you remembered what date it was. it was almost an asshole move to simply text her back ���happy anniversary to us�� too, when she had sent a long paragraph apologising for what she had done, and begged you to come back to celebrate your five-year wedding anniversary together. 

–

sleeping on the couch, and as far away from wanda as possible, you felt your phone vibrate in the middle of the night. 

getting up groggily, you had almost thrown it back to where it was, until another text came in, and another. they were from Natasha. 

i have to tell you something. you had texted her back with a question mark, but her only reply had been that she refused to tell you over text, and that you would only know when you got back. 

considering the state of your relationship with her, and the way you had practically ruined whatever hope of rekindling her affection for you with the anniversary text, you almost knew what it would be already. she would be taking the first step in ending your relationship, and marriage. 

looking back at wanda’s sleeping form then, you selfishly thought again if you should have proceeded with the kiss.

–

natasha was already waiting with the other avengers when your quinjet landed. wanda had gotten off first, looking back at you awkwardly, reaching her hand out to help you disembark, after an injury to your right rib. you smiled at her, but rejected her help. 

natasha strode towards you in two cool, calculated steps. you offered her a half-smile, but her face was determined, and hopeful. her arms were around your waist in the next second, and for the first time in the last year or so, the black widow tipped you over, pressing her lips against yours in the most passionate, loving kiss. In front of everyone, in front of fury, in front of wanda, natasha claimed you as hers. 

“what—” before you could finish your question, she was already dragging you to your shared room, leaving you even more confused than before. perhaps it was a goodbye kiss, perhaps natasha had felt the need to claim you one last time before parting ways, perhaps she had simply missed you over the time you were gone. the last one seemed most impossible. 

“sit.” she had gestured, forcing you on the bed. “close your eyes.”

you groaned, the injury on your ribs resurfacing. “nat, i’m really tired, the mission was a success but my side is—”

“please,” natasha begged this time, “please.”

you relented, and closed your eyes anyway, hoping whatever this was, would be over soon and that you could have a full night of uninterrupted sleep for once.

natasha rummaged for something in her bag, and opened your palm up. three small, plastic sticks were placed in them, leaving you more confused than ever. 

“open your eyes.” 

your heart sunk into the depths of your stomach when you saw what they were. time came to a standstill, the glaringly obvious image before you the prophecy for your past, present and future. three pregnancy tests, all positive. 

you finally looked back up at natasha, her eyes brimming with tears of joy and hope. her arms encircled your neck again then, tears fresh on your shoulder. 

“i’m pregnant,” she murmured into your skin, as if it would solve everything. as if it was the answer to all of your problems together. 

a/n: who's side are you on?

[ladyelissarose]

‘More Beautiful You’

Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley x partner female reader

Callsign; Delta

Summary; After a rough mission that you barely escaped alive from left you with new numerous scars, you’ve grown very insecure about your body. You’ve kept quiet about it, fighting your demons in silence, but how much longer can you hold it in when you have to attend a military ball and all you want to do it cover them all up and hide? Warnings: mentions of terrible scars, insecurities, some angst. Bullying words, Simon being a sweetheart :)

“DELTA!! DELTA-“

“-GHOST!! SHE’S HERE!!”

Ghost heart dropped and shattered into pieces when he saw your limp form all tied up with heavy chains and ropes on a wooden chair. You looked very small, and in terrible shape, nothing compared to what he had seen before. Your head was hanging down as your hair covered most of your face, but Ghost knelt down right away and pushed your hair away as he carefully lifted your face. Soap came close to Ghost to see you too, but he mid stop when he saw your face, and began to rake his eyes all over you, regretfully seeing the permanent damage. Your eyes slowly blinked but still stayed mostly closed as your tried to whimper out,

“I-I... I know nothing- I’ll say.. nothin-“

Ghost sighed sadly as he shook your head a little, trying to jolt you out of it as he cooed,

“-shh shh... it’s over-“

To his familiar British voice your eyes immediately shot open as best as they could, due to how bloodshot and swollen they were as you instantly began to cry,

“S-Simon?”

 “Yes lovie.. I’m so sorry-“

You shook your head violently, not wanting to hear him blame himself for something totally out of his control. 

“No- stop. Just help me out- I-I want to hug you.”

“oh.. ok hold on- Soap help me out!”

It only took minutes until you were finally let loose and now being cradled close to Ghost’s chest, as he carried you bridal style out of the basement, the one you had been kept in for the past 6 weeks. An undercover mission had gone wrong and they had taken you with them, and kept you hostage, beating the living daylights out of you, desperate for information you unwillingly gave. As the days passed the questions kept on repeating, and torture increased with every single question you didn’t answer according to their liking. It was always strong enough to make you pass out on them, but not enough for them to actually kill you. Everyday that ended and began, new bruises and wounds appeared along with the healing scars, you could never tell from day to night for the whole time was an entire living nightmare.

What kept you going was the faith you had in your team, and the heart you had for them. They were your only family, and you had grown extremely close, also you loved them all, much enough to the point where you now where sacrificing your well-being for them. But the biggest and number one reason to fight through it all, was for your love, Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley. The man after your own heart. You had stolen each other’s hearts without realizing it, after months of working closely with one another, after nights of comforting talks or silent midnight snacks after heavy nightmares, after stitching the unreachable gunshots, after you both held each other’s hands after an especially hard day, and lastly... after confessing your love at the same time during a fight about not selflessly throwing your life away for the other. Ever sense that clarifying day, you two devotedly and openly loved and cared for each other.

So, a lot of the nights as you were crying for Simon after a torture session in the dark, haunting basement, Simon was back at base endlessly crying, while searching day and night for any signs of you, refusing to give up. Now he sobbed another night away alongside you, but they were grateful tears as he held you carefully close to him, kissing your hair or any place that wasn’t hurt while laying together on the hospital bed, safe and sound, but haunted and scarred for now.. or perhaps forever. 

After everything you had gone through, the Cartels weren’t able to get anything off of you, but you sure as hell got a lot of information on them. Hence leading the 141 to a successful rescue mission of dozens of women and children who were being hurt by these people too. You were able to remember what they had said, once you woke up from who knows how many surgeries. The first thing you did was write down on Simon’s hand the location place, and on his other hand you briefly explained what they’d find there. Laswell was extremely pleased and grateful with your help, although it cost much of you, that’s why she planned on a large ceremony, to award you for your loyalty to the team and your bravery. Simon kindly urged you to agree because as he said,

 ‘You deserve it, this you deserve. Please.’

So finally you did say ‘yes’, but thought it was going to be a simple ceremony at base, but you came to the conclusion that it wasn’t when you got the formal invitation to a large Gala looking saloon. It was in 3 weeks, close but not that close. You were ok with it only because you’d be wearing your dress blues, that covered 99% of you and your new scars. But, after you agreed to it all Laswell mentioned that there was going to be a large fancy dinner, that required for night gowns to be worn.. something that would probably show than you were willing to let go. Now that devastated you, because you so badly wanted to wear a dress again, claim that feminine part of you... but some new changes made that look ugly and impossible.

Simon had spent the last days and nights locked outside of your restroom as you cried in the shower, refusing for him to see all the deep, dark scars that covered your stomach, back, arms and legs.. even the large one that started at your jaw and came down to your collarbone. Once you came out you’d be dressed in his large black turtlenecks and loose sweatpants. Even for bedtime, you didn’t wear just his t-shirts anymore, or just your tiny shorts.. now it was his whole dress attire that covered every part of you. He had gently and slowly tried to coax you out of your insecurities, promising you that he’d love and accept you anyway, as you did him with his, but as fresh as your scars were, so was your shattered heart. It’d hurt you to see Simon frown a bit when you refused bath time with him or to change in the same room anymore, but you couldn’t help but agree and stand by your choices every time those clothes went completely off.

You at one point were the one who had devoted all your time to help Simon out of his dark thoughts about himself, teaching about self love and acceptance, but now you had forgotten about what all that meant, as you rejected and hid your new self. Simon wasn’t good with words ever, he was the more ‘actions speak louder than words’ kind of person, which you liked because his love language was touch and boy was it the most loving and gentle part of him. So at times when he didn’t know how to express with words how you looked ‘stunning’ in his large hoodie that practically covered all of you, he’d only come close to you and press a soft, balaclava covered kiss on your temple, and send you his best heart eyes that showed he was pleased with how you looked. You did understand what he didn’t say, and honestly it made you feel somewhat better, knowing he still loved you and feeling seen by him. Now came the dreadful day of the ceremony, you knew it was going to be an emotional, and stressful day for you, hence why you insisted Simon that you could go dress shopping on your own, and handle it. You could of gone dress shopping any other day that wasn’t on the ceremony, but it had been a battle with your inner self, which ended in your insecurities winning and you leaving it for the next day. And that next day stretched to being on the ceremony. You made it a point to go the most expensive place for evening gowns, thinking that the staff would be perhaps more professional and helpful to find exactly what you wanted, but you were so wrong. In heart wrecking tears you say in the ground clutching your self together like a ball, sobbing like a baby, feeling absolutely humiliated by the surrounding customers. At first you thought you had found the most perfect gown, forgetting all the flaws on your body as the gown spoke loudly with beauty and fine elegance, until a random mean girl called out in her bitchy voice,

“Awwww we got Frankenstein’s wife here!!” Soon after that comment many followed after, as her pretty friends joined in, thinking that their supposed low voices weren’t going to be heard at all.

“Does she really think it’ll look nice?”

“Oh my Gosh that one on her neck is so huge! No necklace can out do that look!”

“I think it’s a bad drunk tattoo? Cause it looks so freakin ugly!!”

“No she was struck by the ugly lightning, look at her arms and her leg through the slit on the dress!!”

Oh if you thought that a physical punch to the stomach hurt, this felt so much worse, like a punch went deep into you gut and into your heart. Now as you drank in their words and stood in front of the mirror, all you saw were your scars, peeking out everywhere, definitely looking like chopped up meat or like the lady had said, Frankenstein’s wife. If only they knew exactly how you got those, or what every single one of them meant to you, they would probably shut up or have new insults to release. This wasn’t even the dress you actually wanted to wear, but it was the one that covered most of your scars, so you were initially going to stick with it, but not anymore after that. There was only so far you could go to cover everything up, if not you’d look like a nun in the summer. You refused to let anyone in your changing room as you cried rivers away, not feeling up to moving or even trying to get out of the dress, too busy mind swirling your thoughts that were only hateful and sad.

‘They are so ugly... all of them. I’ll never be the same again or perfect. Just look at them. Oh god I hate this so much- I hate myself-‘

“Love? Baby it’s me Simon.”

‘Simon?’

Unbeknownst to you the store clerk picked up a phone call from Simon himself, being told that he would pay for your gown of choice. When she asked for your name or information so she could tell you, she realized that it was you of whom he spoke of. Without hesitation she told him that you had locked yourself up after a little scandal with some customers who they had kicked out due to their insults. She didn’t need to say more when Simon demanded to not let anyone near you and that he’d be on his way immediately. So it was indeed his soft voice that called out to you, and to which you replied too with a tearful cry,

“Si?”

“yes love... please let me in.”

“but-“

“-Delta.. it’s either a walking in, or a breaking in.”

You let out a whine as you lifted yourself off the go round and dragged your feet to the door, right away unlocking it but tucking your arms around yourself, as you still stood in your other dress, exposing everything. He carefully walked in and closed the door behind hm, locking it right away and keeping a distance, for just in case you weren’t ready for more. You noticed this and beckoned him closer with a small gesture with your head, wanting to have him close. Simon raked his eyes slowly around your face, sympathy was read all over his expressive brown orbs as he quietly asked,

“what’s wrong baby girl?”

With a small kick to the bottom of your dress you relied shyly while wiping some tears away,

“was going to wear this one... but not anymore..”

Simon nodded understandingly as he took a look at your dress, he couldn’t help but feel like the dress wasn’t you, it didn’t speak or represent you. But it still looked gorgeous, it really did, so he worded,

“why not? It looks beautiful on you-“

“Not with all the scars Simon.”

He shook his head at your words and slightly raised his voice to show he didn’t like where this was heading,

“what about the scars? They’re you and it’s ok!-“

You slapped your hands to your sides as you insisted with a tone that matched his,

“But they’re all so ugly!-“

“-who said they were ugly? Hmm?”

He lowered his head a bit to get at your level somehow, while you only shrugged, not willing to answer him.

He then extended towards you and ran his hand down your arm to get a hold of your hand, and intertwine his fingers with yours as he looked at you attentively and understandingly. You could feel your lips trembling and the heavy ball in your throat weigh even heavier, making it hard to say what you wanted to say. All that could escape was a broken sob and a new rush of tears as you now hid your face behind your free hand. You kept your head down as you wept sorely, all the thoughts of the worst nightmare of your life came back like a hurricane, drowning everything else that was in mind. You heard shuffling behind the sobs that filled the room, and soon Simon let go of your hand, and before you could fear him leaving you, you felt his warm and loving touch rest on your hips. He gently squeezed there as he cooed softly,

“Please, look at me baby girl.”

You shyly opened your eyes as he caressed you there, and you could only see pure adoration in his eyes as he was now kneeled in front of you and looked up to you. That only made your heart feel so many more things at once. You then found the strength to rest your hands above his, as he began to worship you,

“Listen love, I’m not good with words... but, what I can for sure tell you that I know will help you... is the fact that you’re a diamond in the rough. And when you pass through rhe fire and it’s all over, you’ll be the most beautiful jewel that nature has ever bared. You’ll be so strong and bright, that nothing in this world can ever break you, or consume your light. Ok?”

You were left breathless by the time his last word was said, as you took in and held onto everything he said like it was a promise. If there were words that you’d burn on your heart or carve them into your skin so you’d never forget them, they’d be the words that Simon just said. You wiped your tears away as you shook your head slowly, and whimpered,

“ok... thank you Si.”

He sent you a wink and squeezed you hips one more time, before standing up to his full height, that was of course way taller than you. But it didn’t look or feel intimidating, if not the total opposite. Simon then looked around you and asked,

“So angel face.. what do ‘You’ want to wear? Not what others say eh? You. I want to see what Delta wants to wear.”

You felt a small spark of confidence hit you as Simon made it clear that he wanted to see you in your dress of choice. So while still feeling a little shy though, you took his hand back into yours and cradled it close to your body, as you pointed towards the white flowy dress in the corner. Simon glanced at you and smiled warmly, then he followed your finger, and soon his eyes found what it was you wanted. He gently tugged you towards it as he complimented,

“It’s lovely... definitely looks like something you’d wear. Daring yet Delicate. Like you hmm?”

His rare but sweet words got you to giggle a bit as your nodded, he then took that moment of your mood to put forth,

“let me put the dress on you.”

“what-“

“-please... I’ll be gentle hm? What do you think?”

But this would be the first time you had him see you after everything. What would he think? What would he say? Once he saw them all and how real they looked and felt?

“I love you. Even if I haven’t seen the rest-“

“Exactly. You haven’t seen it all- what if you change your mind-“

“I wont. So let me fall in love with that new part of you too, all of you. I want to see and love all of you. Please baby.”

You don’t know what took over your body And mind , it was probably his sincere pleading and kindness, that had you shimming off your dress and letting it fall to your feet in one breath. You didn’t miss the way a breathy sigh escaped Simon’s lips through his mask, or the way his eyes lit up at what was beheld in front of him. You squeezed your eyes shut, not wanting to see more, it scared you, the reality of what could actually happen in the next seconds as his eyes found one new scar after another. The new scars that overcame the small few ones that were there when he first had seen you. You didn’t realize you were holding a breath until it was released heavily when you felt a soft touch press against your leg. Your eyes opened in shock, and there Simon was still... now planting a sweet, uncovered kiss onto the first scar that rested on your leg, right under your knee. His hands carefully caressed you, his thumbs rubbing cute circles where they could reach, as his lips traveled all over under your waist. His eyes locked on yours for a second, while he let his lips stay in place, showing you love in unspeakable words. He then began to reach higher, getting close to the scar you personally hated the most, and before you could think or say anything he mumbled against it after kissing it,

“Ahhhh this one… this one is my favorite angel face.”

And there, he planted a soft sweet kiss. His calloused fingers drew imaginary shapes and things on your plushy thighs as he went on to kissing up his way up your soft tummy, where your longest and deepest scar laid. What looked so terrifying and sad to you, look so magnificent and beautiful to him, as he worshiped its meaning and dove deeper into its feeling. None of this felt sexy or hot.. it felt so adorable and healing. 

 “No lovie… magnificent piece of art you are… could hang you up to keep you safe and untouched by anyone else but me forever.”

 You shyly but the tip of your pointer finger as he continued happily kissing very part of your body, smiling against your skin when he’d hit a ticklish spot and you’d let out a cute giggle if not a full chuckle. Soon Simon was able to pull the dress above your hips, now focusing on your upper body as he carefully started to put your arms through the dainty, lacy sleeves. One arm at a time he devoted his attention on, he’d kiss his way from your wrist to your shoulder as he pulled it gently through the sleeve. He intertwined his fingers with yours as he pulled you close to him, so he could access your neck and plant sweet kisses there too. His true love and passion for you was beginning to take an emotional toll on your heart, tears began to grow in your eyes and without second thought you threw your arms around his neck and hugged him tightly against you. Simon was a little shocked at the sudden change, but he nonetheless melted into your arms and cradled you close, whispering heartfelt promises,

 “I got you lovie… I got you.”

You let the dam of tears flow out freely when he went on with his sweet words and gentle touching, reminding you how beautiful and unique you were, no matter what had changed or stayed the same. Slowly he let his arms roam down on your back, to reach the zipper so he could pull it up carefully, so he wouldn’t pinch your skin or catch your hair. You held onto him tightly and kept your face hidden in his neck while he worked on dressing you up, swaying you side to side so slowly you barely caught it, but it was enough to feel the sweet move. With a soft peck to your head Simon called out to you,

 “Ok my love, your ready… let’s see it.”

You pulled back a little to see his loving eyes, and gulped down what was left of insecurities as you replied,

 “Ok… let’s see it.”

 Simon’s eyes crinkled as he smiled under his mask, and held your hand to spin you around.  Once fully turned around, you found yourself in front of the large 10ft mirror, adorning the white dress ever so beautifully. Your arms from the wrist up to your shoulders were exposed, and from your neck to the top of your breasts you were exposed as well. But seeing the scars poke out from different directions on your skin didn’t sadden or hurt you anymore, instead you felt.. like a tiger. Boldly wearing your stripes while holding such a pride of being different than any kind, and knowing that no one get through you. Simon must of seen the boost of confidence you held in your silence but in your eyes as he complimented,

 “There’s my brave girl…”

You smiled to yourself as you admired the view of you in white, in front of Simon who was way larger than you and sporting black. You didn’t want to say it or admit it, but you liked how it looked, how it appeared. Warm hands snaked around your waist as deep words were breathed against your ear,

 “Wear this one tonight… I’d want to see you walk in this one.. please?”

 How could you say no to his sincere pleading? 

 “Of course… thank you Simon.”

 Through the mask he kissed your head softly once more, before pulling away and said in a little serious tone while looking in your eyes through the mirror,

 “I paid for it already, so just pick up the change at the counter. Then I had one of the ladies make an appointment for you at their salon place… you just walk in under my name and say what you want. And they will give it to you. Get everything you need.”

 You spun around and held your hands on his chest as your protested with worry,

 “But Simon- oh… are you sure, please don’t feel pity for me and waste all your savings on me-“

 With a finger on your lips he stopped your worried rambling,

“No no no… I didn’t waste, or feel pity. I simply just want to do this for someone I care about. Hm? I want to see you happy and all dolled up… you deserve it more than you know.”

 A smile made its way onto your face as you teased lightly,

 “The Ghost wants to see me all dolled up?”

 He looked away from your eyes for a second before finding your collarbone more interesting to look at as he admitted,

 “yes. After seeing you being drag to hell and back… yes. I don’t like black and red on you… white… I prefer the white.”

 You took his words in seriously, as he was being sincere and vulnerable with you. You nodded and kissed his covered cheek,

 “I do too… I like white… Um, are you going to-“

 “Yes lovie, Johnny is taking me with Gaz to go find a tux they said. So don’t worry your pretty head. Just take care of yourself. And remember what I told you.”

 “I will… be safe.”

“You too.. see you tonight, beautiful.”

 “See you later handsome.”

With one last squeeze to your palm in his, Simon walked out, leaving you missing his touch but not forgetting all his words. Who knew the big bad Ghost… had such a pure and golden heart?

Later that night….

The ceremony for the rewarding of your works was the absolute best and tearful. Price and Laswell stood by your side the entire time, and Simon was the one to pin your new medal, holding his gaze on you the entire time, allowing you to find peace in his eyes as your emotions swirled around inside. Having him there kept you together for the most time, and you were most grateful when it was finally over. For many people wanted your attention and asked one too many questions, some that you replied too and others Price had dodged due to protecting you. But now that passed and officially came the actual challenge... the ball. 

Simon tugged at the collar of his tux, already regretting going with Soap’s choice of tux for him. It wasn’t ugly, no, but it was well fitted and very spiffy for him, who usually found joy and comfort with large hoodies and Henleys, with a pair of either loose sweats or dark cargo pants. What he was glad about, was the fact that they let him in with a medical mask, that covered him from his nose down, at least. Everyone there understood his reasonings and never questioned him about it, and instead did their best to treat him like one of them, and not stare at its difference too much. Johnny stood in front of Simon as he tried to re-straighten his tie for the one millionth time, because Simon kept pulling at it every other second. 

 “No mate, ye got to stop pullin’ at it, makin’ a mess of yourself eh-“

 “-fuckin hell…’

Soap stopped his movements when he heard Ghost mutter such, and he couldn’t help but turn around to see what had caught he usually quiet pal, but his jaw dropped as well, when he finally saw it.

“Damn thas’ a fine lass… wait… thas’ Delta-“

“-fuckin’ sure is. Now excuse me Johnny, thanks for the help yeah?”

Johnny was left speechless at the sight of you, so he only shook his head and half-assed a salute to his Lieutenant. Simon smirked at his reaction and tugged at his suit a bit as he took confident strides towards you, as you walked down the stairs, that led to the main ball room. Simon let a sigh of shock escape his lips when he came closer, and fully saw you. Your hair looked lavishly full and bouncy, beaming in the light in every direction, resting ever so nicely above your shoulders, your skin glowed like it was covered in glitter, appearing so soft and shiny. Your makeup was light, but enough to bring out your very prominent features that Simon found absolutely breathtaking. And your dress, damn that dress. Simon was more than proud to see you in it, as it hugged your gorgeous being adoringly. It flowed all the way down to your feet, and from your waist up it hugged you tightly and finished up with a heart shaped top, that had hanging sleeves resting on your upper arms. The simple but beautiful jewelry you wore couldn’t ever compare to how precious and bright you looked right now, if not ever according to Simon. You glided down the stairs in confidence and in grace, taking each step slowly but steadily. Simon could feel his face grow red and hot, when you locked eyes with him and sent him a sweet, toothy smile. He shyly looked down at his shoes for a second before you squeaked delightfully,

 “Oh Simon! You’re matching me with a white tux?”

 Your feet finally touched the ground after the last step and you came to a stand in front of him, taking in his overly handsome appearance. Simon scratched his neck nervously and asked,

 “Do you want me to change?”

 You reached out to him and held his cheek as you reprimanded him softly,

 “Where’s your confidence Simon? Hm? You look absolutely amazing, thank you for doing this.”

 He finally grew the courage to hold eye-contact with you as he chuckled at his words coming out of your mouth. He then followed your eyes as you quickly looked away towards the magnificent place before your eyes. Elegant curtains in a ruby color draped everywhere, golden statues stood here and there. The carpets beneath you were made with fine hands and had the most antique designs on them. The place was pretty lively and loud for some time, everyone gathering at every table to chat with one another, or some meeting old friends with cheerful greetings or scoldings. The casino tables were filled with the best gamblers of the military who had a beauty warming their lap and stealing their cigars for a whiff of it. Upbeat yet homey music filled the room in every corner, keeping the spirits up and the demons out, lighting up the face of every worn out soldier and soothing down the most worked up ones, matching everyone’s mood. Simon then caught your attention as he stretched his arm toward you and asked politely,

“Come with?”

You sent him a cheeky smile, doing your best to feel confident while taking his warm hand into yours,

“Where to handsome?”

“Let me show you?”

“Lead the way.”

The saloon itself was breathtaking, but where Simon led you too was far more beautiful. In the back they had the most decorated garden, covered with different kinds of flowers, and a sweet little stoned pathway that led to a nice gazebo, covered in lights that looked like fireflies. You then looked back and thought about being in the wrong for leaving the party behind, but Simon tugged you on as he truthfully said,

“A lot of them are here for the food and loads of gossip. I’m here for you. Come on.”

And he was right. Most of the people there you didn’t know, and those that had approached you only came close enough to see you in the flesh and ask about certain uncomfortable things, then they left. All the nice people were at the first ceremony, now it was just the rich that stood around pretending they participated in the military work, when they actually only gave some money at times to make themselves feel good. Anyways, you now stood under the lights inside the gazebo, loving how lit it was. You forgot you had let go of Simon’s hand as yo reached up to touch the flowers that hung around on the pillars, touching and feeling their different textures, yet admiring how uniquely beautiful they all were. Simon’s hands covered yours as you cradled a specific one, and you leaned into his touch as he murmured into your ear lovingly,

“You see how these are all so different?”

“Hm hmm..”

“And how they are still so beautiful?”

“Yes...”

“Like you.”

You chucked a bit as you felt a bit shy, looking at the scar that covered your hand, while holding the flower,

“But Simon... I’m not beautiful like them..”

A kiss was felt under your ear as he persuasively said,

“Of course not.”

‘Of course not-‘

“You’re more beautiful than them. And none of them look like you... no one ever will..”

You turned around and held your hands on his cheeks as you then asked,

“You believe so?”

A sweet chuckle escaped his lips,

“Of course... there will never, ever... be a more beautiful you- oomph!”

That was enough said, as you suddenly ripped off his mask and planted your lips on his, while embracing him tightly from the neck. Simon smiled through the kiss while he hugged you back, and deepened the kiss, proud to have finally broken through your barriers, and convince you to believe the truth. He could feel the way you melted into him and into the kids, finally let him feel and receive you, love and adore you. Truly he knew, that there could never be a more beautiful you.

[afyrian]

no. 8 - googly eyes masterlist

    glue, glitter, and googly eyes, the three main components of any good craft time. you can supply kids with an array of supplies, but none will ever as integral as those three. which you learn rather quickly when you head down for your scheduled time. 

  the table is already covered in glitter and cut up pieces of paper. popsicle sticks are violated behind belief and little girls are destroying each other's creations. after seeing the sight that sits before you, you breath a sigh of relief knowing that your group will likely be a little more mature. however, you can't help but feel bad for yachi.

  she sits at the corner of the table, right besides the one your group will be sitting at. she has some bags under her eyes and is clearly regretting choosing one of the younger groups of kids. they're going crazy around the table and are occasionally spilling things on her and not caring. "you doing okay?" you sit next to her, pursing your lips. 

  "i'm so tired, please distract me with something that is adult related,” she grabs your shoulder with her hands, resting her forehead on them, sighing out loud. 

  you tap your chin, narrowing your eyes, “ooh yeah, i’m stuck with atsumu all week if you didn’t see the plans. like last night, we had a scary campfire night and like we laughed together.. it was wild.”

  she raises her head up with her mouth wide open and her eyes staring into yours. “oh my gosh, you were flirting with atsumu miya?!”

  the volume of her voice immediately makes you cringe, hands reaching to cover her mouth. the idea of ‘flirting’ with him makes you want to laugh and roll your eyes. “no! we were just laughing, nothing more! besides, for one, he doesn’t even remember me. and two, he was such an.. ass,” you try to whisper the last part, looking down at some modeling clay in front of you.

  “you totally were,” yachi shakes her head, grabbing a pencil and doodling on her paper, “and who cares! he could be this new person, i mean you wouldn’t be laughing with him if he is as he was years ago. like yes, you’re totally valid for how you feel about how he treated you. so talk to him about it or something! especially because i can totally tell you’re freaking out.”

  you shake your head slightly, pulling at the clay and squishing it back into a ball. “it’d just be awkward, i mean i acted like i didn’t know either.. just to save from the embarrassment,” you lean forward, resting your forehead on the table, letting out a short sigh.

  “oh my gosh, y/n, i can’t believe you. you’re so lucky i have to leave soon because i want to be hounding you so bad,” she leans against her hand, elbow resting on the wooden table. 

  you roll your eyes at her words, acting like they didn’t make you feel something. last night, even if it’s your worst nightmare come true, you did have fun. pretending to argue with him, proving him wrong and watching as he tries to hold back a truthful apology. something about it stirred a feeling within, and yachi certainly isn’t help you understand what it may be. 

  “well you’d be hounding about nothing.. we do have archery after this so i will let you know how it goes. but nothing is happening between us,” you lean over and bump her shoulder, trying to ignore that feeling in your gut.

  yachi looks over at you, shaking her head. she’s always known you a little better than you’ve known yourself. she’s intuitive like that, ignoring the activity just to give you advice, “ooh something will definitely happen, trust me. you just watch.”

  she gets up from her spot to bring her group with her to their next activity. looking back at you she points her finger at you, “you’ll see! especially if you tell the truth!”

a/n: this is so short but i wanted to get something out!! it didn’t post last night this is fantastic D: taglist (open): @lemurzsquad, @froyaoya, @localgaytrainwreck, @guitarstringed-scars, @girlkissersco, @hyenagoated

[itsscromp]

can i have a story where reader is a girl with spider powers and she gets in a fight which red hood comes in to help and that’s there first meeting? and then it turns into coming over to his apartment for medical attention and training sessions (she’s a rookie and he just feels the fatherly urge to teach her how to actually fight) and then movie nights or trips to the library for their shared interest of books tyy have a good one🫶

Jason Todd/Red Hood x reader

Ahh jason, good to see you again my friend, Thank you so damn much for your patience anon, I am sorry for the delay on this. But here is your request :D if its ok with you, can I do it as a gender neutral reader ??. Word count:726

You began to hone your abilities by the time you were about 15, Fearing for your safety. Your parents had moved to Gotham City as they were more meta-human friendly compared to the city you were in. Your powers you may ask ?? You had superhuman strength and agility, You also had the ability to sense danger around you and climb walls, and with some tech, you were able to craft you own web shooters.

When you saw the out-of-control crime in Gotham, and with Batman dead, It was up to you to bring peace to the city, so crafting your own suit you began to head out and fend off all the criminals. But one night, you bit more than you can chew as you were surrounded by thieves who were also armed to the damn teeth, no matter how many times you tried to fend them off, you couldn't be able to stop them.

Fearing that this was it, you didn't see one thief get grappled and pulled away, and then another person dropped down in front of you, wearing a red mask and he was built like a Brickhouse.

"Get behind me kid !!" He said as he pulled out his dual pistols.

"I can fight too !!" You turned around and saw more thieves emerge from trucks, so the two began to fight together, stopping the group. You and the mystery man were like a well-oiled machine, like you two just clicked like two puzzle pieces.

Once you two defeated the enemies, the two then made their way to a nearby roof top and caught their breaths before introducing each other properly.

"Holy shit that was awesome !!!" You said excitedly fist pumping the air.

"What are you doing out here kid ?? You can't just go around playing hero" he warned, but it was more of concern from how young you were.

"Dude I've done this for almost two weeks now and no one has had any... OW !!!" You felt a sharp pain in the side of your torso, looking at it, you saw they must've gotten you and you didn't feel it.

"Crap, come on I'll patch you up" The man offered, which you accepted. Bringing you to his apartment he took off his mask, you saw the scar on his cheek as he came back with the first aid kit.

"Lift the shirt up a bit" He asked which you obliged, gently hissing at the pain when the material let go off the wound and got under way.

"What's your name kid ??" You didn't say anything fearing he could be working for someone else. "Relax, I'm not gonna tattle on you, I'm in the same boat as you" He chuckled.

"Y/n" You said quietly.

"Jason... But if we run into each other on the streets again, It's red hood"

"For me, Its *superhero name*"

"You know kid, you're not so bad out there, but some things can be improved on"

"So you're gonna become my coach now ??" You chuckled

"Maybe just maybe"

After which, he began to help train you, learning new techniques and fighting styles. In return, you shared some of your smarts with your gadgets and whatnot. He didn't know why he offered to train you, he just felt a sense of... familial essence in him to wanting to help you.

But overtime it grew to more than just training, It became movie nights and trips to the library where you gushed about your favourite books.

"Dude you haven't read paper towns, It's one of my favourite books of all time" You practically shoved the book in his face.

"Alright alright I'll give it a go" He chuckled, taking the book. "If you give this book a go" He then handed a book to you called the terminal list. "Deal"

For movie nights, it depends on what genre you two were feeling like this week you two were feeling like horror, You gathered some movies. "Ok I got black Christmas, Nightmare on Elm Street and M3GAN."

"I haven't seen M3GAN, let's give that a go" He smiled softly and sat down on the couch, throwing a blanket over the two of you as the movie played.

You were grateful for the mentorship and friendship that came with Jason, You were incredibly grateful for him.

Taglist: @callofdudes @fun-k-board

[bcolfanfic]

hi! argue for the agents prompts for ev and helen because i love helen and i’m so curious to what their dynamic looks like in the yv au

this is kinda slice of life from larger plot line @swifty-fox and i have been developing. abusive bf never got a name lmfao we have been calling him "fuckface" exclusively but. just so no one is confused it's *not* nash. this takes place post-afghanistan war being over and him being dead. ev stayed in the military and does flight instruction at a base in west va around where helen lives (where nash was from, and in this au her too) which is how they got connected and became friends post-war to begin with. curt is kickin around here because he went on a field trip to whop fuckface's ass. (and sees a lot of his own mom in helen which is a whole curt lore Thing but that's more rachel's zone).

They had settled into a routine of sorts. Blakely went to work in the morning while Helen stayed at his house with Wyatt. She pattered around, did laundry- did anything really to make his base housing one story feel less cagey.

When he got back, they'd eat together and spend a couple of hours doing what Jean had tenderly dubbed "playing house" during her last phone call to Helen. After putting the three-year-old to bed, they'd settle down on opposite sides of Blakely's bed and it was nothing more or less than that. Save for Wyatt waking up a little past 2am and wanting B'akey every other night.

For a woman who had been roughed up by her piece of shit boyfriend two weeks ago, Helen seemed to be doing marginally okay. The scratches on her face were healing and didn't seem like they'd scar. She told Blakely his flight uniform looked nice on days he had to leave for work in it, laughed over dinner and smiled at him when she crawled into bed- seemingly inching closer to his side each night.

But the routine wasn't supposed to include him giving Curt permission to go beat on the guy only to get a text that he'd shown up to Wyatt on the front porch with Helen inside telling him to leave because they were just talking.

---

“And what if he is sorry, why’s it such a big deal to you if I forgive him?” Helen said, scrubbing a cup as bitterly as it was possible to do such a thing.

It was the third day since Tuesday that they'd had this fight, and he wasn't even sure who was picking it first anymore.

“Cause I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him and I don’t understand why you do. Look at your arm- all he has to do is says Oops! and you'd go back to him?" He said, voice going up an octave. "You'd bring Wyatt back around that piece of shit after he scared him so bad?”

Helen put down the cup she was washing, furling and unfurling her fingers. She spoke at the kitchen counter more than she was him, her back still turned.

“He never touched Wyatt, I already told you that. People can change.” Helen said, her voice softening slightly. “And I still don’t see why it's any of your business,” she continued.

“Because it's my preference that you don't go back to someone that put his hands on you? Kinda feels like common sense to me Hel, what type of friend would I be if I just sent you on your way to him."

Blakely was exasperated, and felt his face tightening.

Curt had tried to get across to him, in other words- that growing up in a stable home made him sheltered.

"You're doin' a good thing Blakely, but it's not always so cut and dry. If you don't think you got the patience to stick it out when she wants to hit reverse y' gotta look after yourself too."

But that was silly, he thought then. Helen could never be too much for him.

He saw Curt's point now.

Helen still wasn't facing him, but he could see the tension in her shoulders, the way she inhaled and gulped, like she was trying to choke something down.

If she had been trying to bite her tongue, it didn't work.

“You’re not my boyfriend Ev, it’s none of your business who is.”

“Yeah, cause you really know how to pick ‘em.”

The second those words left his mouth he wanted to shove them back in. But he couldn't now- not when all the air had been sucked out of the room in a millisecond.

The folded flag sitting on the windowsill that they'd taken from her house for safekeeping seemed to have grown eyes, which glared at him accusatorily.

A little noise escaped Helen, like a hurt animal, and Ev pressed his face into his hand, dragging it down.

“That’s not- shit Hel, I wasn't talking about Nash,” He said, inhaling when he sensed her turn around, taking a couple steps closer to him.

“No- you were talkin’ about him. Cause you’re jealous, been jealous of him since you started coming around. Everyone wants something and- you aren’t any different.”

Her voice was tight, and she was so close to him now that he could feel her breath on his face- her eyes searching for something in his.

There were things he wanted, a lot of them. But it was a prioritized list. It always had been.

"I want you to be safe, Helen," he said quietly. "For Wyatt to be safe. You want me to apologize for that?

Helen wrapped her arms around herself, thumb rubbing at a tender mottled yellow-green mark on her bicep.

"I want you to be honest with me," she whispered, looking at Blakely with a faint sniffle. "Because right now, you're not being that and you know it."

"Are you?" he asked back, his voice barely above a whisper.

Helen started at him, inhaling, crossing her arms over her body a little tighter.

"I don't know what that's supposed to mean Ev."

"You know what it means." He replied, locking eyes with her- trying to soften his gaze. "I want to be honest, but you have to work with me here hon, cause I- I don't wanna overstep. Kinda means you gotta go first."

For a second it looked like she was going to respond- lips parting to speak. But there seemed to be some sort of override and a flash of panic flashed over her face.

Helen took a step back, breath catching in her throat.

"I- I need to go get Wyatt ready for dinner, I'm sorry," She stammered, brushing past him and away without waiting for a response.

[sixseasonsofodestawithatardis]

Odesta Week Day 3- Free Space

Summary: Two poems by Finnick Odair- unseen by the general public. The first was given to Annie, and the second was a draft in his writing journal. No specific timeline other than post-70th Hunger Games!

A/N: I've tried several times to correct the formatting for the second poem. The singular line between stanzas two and three is meant to be on the right-hand side. The moment I get AO3 set up, you can read it there with the right formatting.

Senses

I've been warmed by sunsets held pretty seashells to my ears like a child to hear the waves and gulls

they’re lovely to see lovely to hear lovely to feel

but it doesn’t compare to the warmth in your vibrant laughter the pearls of your smile or the enchanting depths within your ocean eyes or how I feel at home when we're alone yet together in a cove or exploring a cave with bonfire lighting the place.

Whether my love is detached, distant, or bright and joyful I love to lay a piece of lavender in her hair or we swim and dive united by the water creating comfort within the chaos

I've been warmed by sunsets cupped seashells to my ears heard the gulls and currents smelled the green bread from afar

but it can't compare to you.

Claws and Surgeons Knot

everyone uses their pleasure to tear and claw at my body they're worse than hawks leaving me hollowed bloodied bruised other indentations burn and scar when I get home and see the coast and feel the seafoam on my skin the burns and scars refuse to settle I remain hollowed, bloodied bruised and scarred

at least I am home.

Annie tells me stories of what I was made to miss Mags’s new knitting pattern a seashell she collected how she redecorated her boat love, longing, regret and remorse mix together and strikes at my heart I couldn't be here to experience it yet I've kept them alive but Annie’s hands find mine calloused and scarred at the knuckles tracing a Surgeons knot gently on my palms and wrist calming the scars and burns

we're both broken, bruised and bloodied at the clawed hands of the Capitol damaged by the Games.

we're shipwrecks doing everything to be each other's lifeboats.

[dragon-creates]

She Was Like A Sunflower

Read on AO3

Read Part 1 Here

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12

“Just your imagination!”

.

“Trust your imagination…”

Jax and Pomni remember who they used to be, the childhoods they grew up from, the lives they lived and the love they shared. But it doesn’t mean their journey is finished yet. They still need to find a way to escape and return home. Things become more complicated in the real world when Riley starts to investigate further into the disappearances with the help of Samual. The more everyone tries to piece together the puzzle, the more C&A keeps breathing down their neck. But one thing is for sure, time is becoming limited each day. Will Pomni, Jax and the rest of the circus be able to escape before it runs out? Or will they fade away into nothing but pixels?

Bet ya thought this was gonna be Royally Screwed chap 5? Well guess what, I LIED MWAHAHAHAHA. THIS WAS THE REAL APRILS FOOLS JOKE ALL ALONG!!!

So strap yourselves in, cause if you thought chapter 5 was bad then you are in no way prepared for what I have planned. Chapter 5 was child's play my dude, we going straight into the deep end hehehehe

Hope you're prepared 😈

Willow

Wait for the signal and I'll meet you after dark

Show me the places where the others gave you scars – Willow by Taylor Swift

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Three Months Ago

“Penny?” Amber knocked on the door of her daughter’s apartment. “Penny, it’s mom!”

Throughout the past week, Penny had been eerily silent. Normally she would let in her mother or sister, or occasionally answer the phone if they called. But every time Amber reached out, she never replied. She tried to cook it up to her daughter grieving, but she was a mother. Mothers worried.

So here she was, outside Penny’s home and trying to get her to answer the door.

“Look Penny, I know these past few months have been stressful,” Amber said, “But everyone is getting worried about you. I had to stop Riley from charging down here to get you out. We all just want to help you, please.”

Amber gave her a moment, to see if she would hear someone saying they were coming, or have the door unlocked and revealing a messy haired brunette. But nothing. Amber sighed, she didn’t want to do this, but she had to make sure Penny was okay. She reached into her purse and pulled out the spare key her daughter had given, opening the door slowly.

The apartment was in a state, dirty dishes and dust gathering on the countertops. It had been a while since the woman visited, who would usually help her daughter clean. Maybe she would do that today. “Penny!” Amber called out, still no answer. “Penny, we gotta try and get up today.” She walked to the bedroom, “Maybe we can get some coffee or go to the park or-”

Her stomach dropped. The moment she stepped into the bedroom, the bed was empty, without a body in sight. But what scared her more was the turned-on computer with nothing open and a damaged headset…just like Riley’s cases.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” Amber chanted, running out of the room, scouring every inch of the place. “Penny?!” She reached the bathroom, no one. “Penny?!” she checked her sewing room, still nothing. “Penny!” the centre of the living room and kitchen. Again, void of anyone there.

She went back into the bedroom, pulling off the sheets, praying her eyes were playing tricks on her. But deep down she knew the truth. She covered her mouth, tears stinging in her eyes. She was gone. Her baby was gone.

She reached into her purse and grabbed her phone, hastily dialling until an operator picked up. “Yes hi! My name is Amber Reed!” she cried, “I went to visit my daughter Penny Reed but when I got there she was gone! All that was left was a broken headset and computer just like…just like.” Her voice broke off into a cry.

The operator understood immediately, asking for an address and told the woman that the police would arrive shortly. Amber thanked them and hung up, before dialling a new number.

Riley’s number.

“Hello?” Riley answered, “Mom, is everything okay?”

“Riley…Penny,” Amber sniffed, unable to say the words.

“What?” Riley asked, her voice starting to lace with concern. “Mom what happened?!”

Amber gulped, “It’s Penny…she’s gone.”

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Jax stirred, now that it was confirmed that he could actually sleep here, it was certainly something to get used to again. He didn’t mind though, it was something that made him feel more alive, more sane, more human. Especially now that he remembered who he was. Jack Bloom, he missed hearing that name. But he missed another even more.

A warm body stirred next to him. Penny he lovingly threaded his fingers through Pomni’s short hair. He still couldn’t believe she was here! That she went all through that for him! He was going to get them out of here, no matter what.

Pomni hummed at the sensation of his fingers, mumbling and kneading her pillow beneath her hand like a cat. Jax chuckled, he missed watching her do that, every night she would do it. It was the cutest thing to him. Her eyes blinked open, taking in the purple rabbit before her and smiled sleepily.

“It wasn’t a dream,” she hummed, “It was real.”

“As real as it can get sweetheart,” Jax pressed a kiss to her forehead. “God you’re so beautiful.”

She giggled as his fur tickled her skin, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing him in for another kiss, “Not so fast bunny boy.”

He chuckled against her lips, giving her bottom lip a small nip, “I’m definitely not complaining.” He pulled her closer to him, revelling in her warmth. Jax missed this, he missed this so much. He missed her so much. How could he ever imagine losing all of this? He literally had the world in his hands and the future ahead of his path was a bright one, and because of Luke, he was so quick to throw it away.

He pulled his lips away, he almost lost his person. He was such an idiot. Jax buried his face into Pomni’s neck, breathing in as much of her scent as he could and keeping her close. He never wanted to lose her again.

“Jack?” Pomni brought her hand up to stroke the back of his head, “Hey, talk to me. What’s going on?”

He shuddered, he feared what to say next, feared that the next wrong move would ruin something. But he shook that thought away, those were the same things in his head that drove him away from Penny in the first place. He wasn’t going to make that same mistake again. “I shouldn’t have made that deal with Jason,” he murmured into her shoulder, turning his face to look at her. “I’m the reason we’re in this mess. You deserve to be home, with your mother and sister, making your dreams come true. And I…I’m really sorry Pen.”

“Hey,” she cupped his cheeks in her hands. “You didn’t know any of this was going to happen. There was no way you could have known that you were gonna end up here after putting on that headset. We fought, yes. But I know that if this whole place didn’t exist, we would have figured out the situation we were in. I put on the headset too, you know. I don’t blame you for anything. I love you so much Jack.”

He sighed, how did the world give him the sweetest soul ever created? She was perfect. “I adore you,” he pushed himself up onto his forearms, leaning over her.

“You’re trying to out do me mister,” she pouted.

“Oh am I?” he smirked, “Can’t I not express how I have the most beautiful, perfect fiancé in the world?”

“I know you mister,” she stuck her tongue out at him, “I’ve known you long enough when you’re trying to be a show-off.”

“So you think I’m being a show-off when I’m doing this?” without warning, his lips were fluttering little kisses against her neck, reaching all the spots where he knew Pomni was most ticklish.

“Jack!” Pomni snorted, trying to shove him off her, “You asshole! Don’t make me bite you!”

“Oh no,” Jax drawled, he knew he was pushing her, “Whatever shall I do?” He didn’t stop his kiss attack.

Just as they both expected, Pomni launched up and bite him on the shoulder, making the rabbit laugh out loud. There was a bit of rough and tumble, with both the rabbit and the jester fighting for control, until Pomni eventually pinned his arms down while straddling his waist. “You can sweet talk me all you want,” she jeered, “But never think that I don’t get even.”

“I mean, I’m definitely not mad about these current circumstances sweetie,” Jax grinned, “As long as I get to look at your beautiful face.”

Pomni groaned, shaking her head, “What am I gonna do with you?”

“Hmm, how about marrying me the moment we get back home?” the rabbit suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

The jester giggled, her annoyance vanishing, “Yeah, I guess that can be arranged.”

His hands were moving up to the back of her head, caressing the soft strands between his fingers. Her short locks were a contrast to her usually long hair that he loved to bury his hands in whenever they kissed, but she still looked beautiful, nonetheless. He lifted his upper body off the mattress, watching as her face softened with relaxation the more he massaged her scalp. His lips inched closer to hers, ready to press them together when-

“-Jax, are you in there?” Ragatha asked on the other side of Jax’s bedroom door, giving it three sharp knocks. “I need to talk to you.”

“Eep!” Pomni squeaked, rolling off her partner and buried herself under the covers. “She’s probably looking for me since I’m not in my room!”

“Shoot!” Jax cursed. Well, as best as he could without triggering Caine’s censorship feature. “This isn’t how I planned to tell everyone about us!”

“I didn’t intend on having a plan at all!” Pomni hissed, “Get in front of me! I’m short enough to hide behind you!”

She found herself regretting those words when she saw a smirk creep on Jax’s lips, “Oh so the little lady finally admits that she’s small.”

Pomni growled, “Keep talking like that and you’ll see how much damage a small person can do to your shins!”

“I’m coming in!” Ragatha called.

Jax immediately sobered up, using his height to cover Pomni behind him, he could hear the rustling of his sheets as she tried to cover herself up with them. He leaned his cheek on his palm, trying to appear as relaxed as possible as Ragatha cracked the door open. “Doll face,” he really hoped he sounded casual, “Don’t you know its rude to break into people’s rooms.”

“Look who’s talking,” she deadpanned, “Besides, you weren’t in your room when I went to check on you last night. I was gonna look for you but then Caine started pressuring us to get to bed at a ‘proper time’.”

Jax face faltered a bit, she cared enough to look for him? After he treated her like nothing but garbage? Little things like that made him all the more grateful that Pomni found her way back into his life. For those last few months and memories, she had managed to get him to open up in ways that no one else could. Maybe deep down it was him trying to get back out or her just being her most sweet and honest self that he couldn’t help but let his edges soften. But either way, it gave him so much more clarity with how he was with the others, and how ashamed that he was blind to the fact that they actually did want to help him. That it wasn’t a cruel trick that someone like Luke would pull. God he was an idiot.

“Guess I got tired of sleeping on a hard stage so I came back to bed,” he gulped down any nerves that were rushing up. “See, no big deal.”

“Well, I hope you’re feeling better,” Ragatha smiled softly. “Pomni was really worried about you when you didn’t come back.”

He felt the jester shuffle behind him when her name was spoken. He wanted nothing more than to smother her with affection right there and then, to show her how much he appreciated even the smallest pieces of kindness she had to offer. “Don’t worry, I’ll see her later and show her that I’m fine,” he told the ragdoll. “But…how was she? After the whole…”

He felt Pomni stiffen, Jax suddenly felt guilty about bringing it up. But seeing her scared little face, how she felt the sensation of dying…Even if she was alright now, it didn’t mean that the trauma of it all was erased. It was just another part of this hell that they were forced to be part of. A hell that Caine was either too naïve or stubborn to fix.

“I won’t lie, she was pretty shaken up. And that’s me giving the sugar-coated version of it,” Ragatha tod him, sighing. “You’d think that we’d be used to it all by now, or at least, we are. But Caine just has to one up himself every time. I know she didn’t – you know. But I was there once, I know how she felt and-” She stopped herself, her voice edging on sounding tearful. Jax watched as she danced the same routine that she always did when she felt as if she was about to cry.

Ragatha closed her eyes, breathed in forcefully and gripped her hands so tight that Jax swore that were almost about to rip. She beamed, as though she wasn’t even sad in the first place. But her smile was just too fake to be considered real, “Anyways, have you seen Pomni? I was going to fetch her for breakfast but she wasn’t in her room. Have you stumbled upon her while going back up to your room.”

Stumbled was definitely a loose term. I mean, if you believed tearful kisses, a long-awaited reunion, the bringing back of lost memories and the passionate promise to return to the real world was just a little stumble then yes, perhaps he did stumble into her. “Uh, nope,” Jax shook his head, “I haven’t seen her. But then again, she is pretty short. It would be hard for anyone not to see her.”

He bit his lip as Pomni kicked him in the leg. Despite her small and light structure, Riley had definitely taught her a thing or two about strength.

“Right,” Ragatha hung her head with worry. “I’m sure she’ll show up eventually. Oh and once you see her again, please be nice to her, for some reason she really likes you. If I didn’t know any better I’d think she has a crush on you.”

“Is that so?” Oh how Jax wished he could see how red Pomni’s face could be turning right now. “I did not know that at all.”

“Unsurprisingly, men are pretty dumb about that stuff,” she scoffed, turning before shutting the door behind her.

When he was sure the sounds of her steps were far away enough, he burst out laughing, echoing off the walls as he fell onto his back.

“Shut up!” Pomni’s was flustered head to toe, grabbing a pillow and smacking him. “So what if I was crushing on you before we got our memories back?! We’re already engaged!”

“It’s the principal little lady!” he snickered, grabbing the pillow and throwing it away. With nothing to hold onto, she fell forward onto his chest with a yelp while the rabbit encased her in his arms. “But I think it’s pretty cute that you were crushing on me even if you didn’t know me.”

Pomni whined, burying her face into Jax’s fluffy chest as she continued to mumble and groan with embarrassment. Jax patted her hair gently, deciding to take pity on her…for now. “There, there,” his fingers combed through her short locks, “I’m sorry for teasing you Penny.”

She went silent there, looking back up at him slowly, “Huh.”

Jax raised on eyebrow, slightly confused, “What? Did I say something weird?”

“You always say weird stuff,” she grinned, earning her a flick to the forehead. The couple giggled as Pomni snuggled up against him more, “It’s just…still getting used to hearing my name again. I feel like I’ve denied of myself for so long, it’s nice knowing that I am someone. And that I do have importance.”

Jax felt himself smile softly, looking at Pomni with all the love he could muster, “That’s my girl.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead, “And I’ll say it as many times as you want as long as it makes you happy. Penny-Penny-Penny-Penny-Penny-” He started smothering her with kisses again as his fiancé squealed.

“Jack!” she snorted, “You can’t say it all the time! The others don’t know yet!”

“I guess that means I get to keep you to myself a little longer,” he chortled.

“Ugh,” she grumbled, “Dumbass.”

“Shortie,” he retorted as she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Well, I think ‘keeping me a little longer’ is gonna have to wait,” Pomni told him, “I gotta head back to my room so no one else gets any more suspicious.”

“You sure I can’t keep you for five more seconds,” Jax pouted.

“Jack Bloom you will learn to be patient,” she poked him on the nose. “Once today is over I’ll be right back.” She cupped his face in her palms, “As long as we see each other throughout the day, then that’s enough for me.”

He took her hand, kissing the inside, “And it’s enough for me too.”

Pomni smiled, pressing one last kiss to his forehead and began to swing her legs off the bed until a long purple arm pulled her back. “Changed my mind! I want five more seconds!” his lips began to attack her neck as she screeched and squirmed.

“Jack!” Pomni cackled, “You asshole!” She couldn’t stop giggling, tackling the rabbit to the bed again as the two began to scuffle about, kisses and laughter filling the room.

Five seconds turned to five minutes…then ten minutes. They made it to breakfast eventually, with Jax having to wait a while after before joining the table in order to erase suspicion. Everyone raised a brow at him, usually the rabbit would be there before anyone, ready with a prank and make everyone else’s morning more miserable. Yet he was late, with a carefree smile and said nothing as he sat down (he was grateful that he as least still got to sit next to Pomni).

It still didn’t stop everyone from raising an eyebrow at this sudden new development, and even whispering about it while eating. “See,” he spoke in a hushed voice in Pomni’s direction, “I knew we’d be good at this whole secret thing.”

Pomni never wanted the ground to swallow her up whole as she did now.

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The smell of warm coffee filled Riley’s nose as she filled two mugs. Winter was still at work and now she had this stranger in her house. She was still trying to wrap her head around things, the whiplash of finally being able to get her sister back had thrown her for a loop. Did she trust this Samual kid yet? Not really. But she would wait and see if he was bluffing or not. As long as there was a chance to find Penny, she didn’t want to waste it.

She carried the mugs back through to the living room, where Samual was waiting patiently on the sofa. His eyes scanned the room, widened with curiosity. His gaze landed on a small picture frame with three women, two with red hair and one with brown hair-

“-Take it,” Riley shoved the mug in his face, the boy nearly jumping of his skin.

“Ah, sorry, sorry,” he apologised, taking the coffee gratefully. “I usually get distracted. Um, that girl in the photo, is she-?”

“-Aren’t we here to talk about why you should help me?!” Riley snapped. She didn’t mean to sound so cruel, but right now they were here to discuss business. They weren’t friends, and she certainly didn’t want him to familiarise with Penny.

“Sorry, you’re right, I-I’m sorry,” he cleared his throat, gripping the warm mug as the heat washed through his hands before beginning his story. “I always had a funny feeling about Jason since my parents disappeared. At first I thought he was fine. Whenever my aunt and uncle were unsure with how to help me, Jason was always there to try and cheer me up. Before they went missing, he was close with me and my parents, even letting me see games that weren’t finished yet. But when I started getting older things got…different.”

He shifted in his seat in discomfort, his hands tightening around the cup, “He became more controlling, restrictive. He was very vocal about the stuff that I should be studying like coding and computer science, stuff that my dad used to do. He also kept breathing over my shoulder with where I would go and why I wouldn’t spend time with him. Like, he was angry that I wasn’t always in the building. I chalked it up to thinking that maybe he just wanted me to take over C&A, like my dad did, and maybe this was his own way of grieving his loss. But whenever I tried to talk to him about my parents, he always shut me down. I remember this one time where it was just us, I was begging him to tell me at least one thing about my parents. I…I never saw him so angry in my life. It was the last time I brought it up. Whenever I tried to talk about them to someone else at C&A, they’d either bring up a different conversation or not talk to me at all. If someone did talk to me Jason would either get super pissed, and sometimes even fire them.”

His knuckles started to turn white, “I tried to talk to my aunt and uncle about him, how I didn’t want him in my life anymore. But he was always really good to them and helped them out since I was a kid so they didn’t see anything wrong with him, even saying that I was being dramatic. They even supported him when he tried to pick out what college I should go to and what I should study there! As if it wasn’t my choice!” He cringed once he realised the volume of his voice, shrinking a bit in his seat. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”

“It’s fine,” Riley muttered, gathering more information in her head while listening to him.

“Um, well. Everything kinda changed a few months ago, after Jack went missing,” he continued, “Before…well…your sister went missing. I started getting these anonymous messages. There was never any email address attached, just words on a page. I asked them who they were but they never gave me a proper answer. The only thing they mentioned was that they were trapped and needed a way out. I tried to figure out what they meant, asked questions about how they could get out. Anything else they told me was about bugs, keys and trying to find an escape. I don’t think they meant to be confusing, their whole tone made them sound really scared. However one day…there were no more messages. I tried to email them back but they never responded.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of paper. “This was the last thing they sent me.”

He handed it to Riley, taking it carefully while still feeling slightly suspicious. The whole thing so far had sounded extremely bizarre. She unfolded the paper, blinking in shock at what she saw.

GAME

ITS ALL A GAME

TRAPPED

HELP

THE EXIT IS NEAR

WE NEED A KEY

C&A IS A LIE

FIND THE BUGS

It seemed to be written in a panic. Each sentence quick and at least trying to get to some sort of point. “You sure they didn’t at least have some sort of name?” Riley asked.

“Well, kinda,” Samual shrugged. “The only thing they referred to themselves as was Queenie. But that’s all I got from them.”

“Queenie?” Riley deadpanned. She sighed, running a hand over her face. As if it was realistic for a sane person to have that sort of name. “Look kid, I get your giving me what you know so far, but it’s not realistic for be to see if literally anyone has that name.”

“I know, I know,” Samual told her. “Believe me, I wish that there was more that I could tell you. But that fact that it stated that C&A did something raised so many red flags for me, and it would explain why Jason is so tight lipped about anything relating to my parents.”

“Do you even have proof that you didn’t just make these up?” Riley questioned, her tone harsher as she raised her brow at him.

“N-no,” Samual’s voice wavered slightly. “B-but! I can take you to C&A and show you that I’m telling the truth! I could say that you’re helping with the case and they’d let you in!”

Riley didn’t say a word, taking a long sip of her own coffee. She didn’t know what to believe, everything that this kid had mentioned just seemed off the walls insane! But he spoke to earnestly that a part of her almost felt inclined to believe him. “One chance,” she said, “Got it?”

He was practically radiating with joy the moment those words left her mouth, “Yes! Yes! Absolutely! I promise I won’t let you down!”

She nearly smiled at him, but she forced it away. She wasn’t going to celebrate anything yet until there was solid evidence that he was telling the truth. But she wasn’t going to lie, this was the first time that Riley felt a glimmer of hope with finding Penny.

After so many months of disappointment.

So

Much

Disappointment.

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Three Months Ago

Riley was on a mission, her knuckles white as she gripped onto the steering wheel of her car. It was barely a day since Penny was announced missing, and she wanted to confirm that the worst-case scenarios didn’t happen before focusing on anything else. Did she like what she was planning to do? No fucking way. But if it meant getting rid at least part of her worries, then it was worth it.

The car pulled up on a shoddy looking house, the white paint on the bricks fading into grey with chips cracking along the surface. From the windows it didn’t even seem like the place had been cleaned, with grease marks all over the window and what seemed to be a pile of dirty clothes from the corner. She jumped out the car, slamming the door shut before going up to the front of the house.

Riley hammered on the door, not ceasing until she heard an angered, “Alright!” from a male voice.

After the sound of a lock turning, the door opened, revealing a haggard man in a tank top stained with sweat. He seemed like he’d seen better days. Riley cringed at the scent of cigarettes on his breath, “Is David here?”

“Yeah, so?” the man shrugged.

She shoved past him, ignoring his cursing at her. The stronger scent of whiskey and smoke hit her all at once, like a gentlemen’s club that served only the strongest of liquors and lacked any type of windows for air. If the house already seemed messy on the outside, it was so much worse on the inside.

On the floor was more dirty laundry scattered about, dust was collecting on the furniture and there was a build up of unclean dishes nearly covering the kitchen surfaces and sink. In what was supposed to be the dining area, a group of men were huddled round a table, with opened cans of beer, cigarettes and each one was holding a handful on playing cards.

She ignored them, there was only one person – hopefully two – that she was looking for. “David!” she yelled, venturing into the hallway.

“Woah, woah!” one of the men stood up, “Who’s this bitch?!”

“Dunno,” the man from the door scratched his stomach, “Just came in here liked she owned the place.”

The second man scoffed, “Listen lady, I don’t know who you are but you’re a real cunt for interrupting our-”

He tried to reach out and grab Riley’s shoulder, only for the woman to whip back round and grab his arm. She twisted it behind her arm, smirking at his yelp of pain, “Or what? What would you do to a member of the FBI?” That seemed to scare the others off, the men sinking into their seats with Riley’s silent threat. “That’s what I thought.”

She let the man go as he staggered back to his seat. “David!” she went back into the hallway again, stepping over the piles of fabric on the ground.

A body came hurling towards her, but Riley was quick to react as she pushed the body to the wall, the back of head hitting the hard surface. She sighed, she found the idiot she was looking for, “David.”

The man came to, a delirious grin spreading across his face the moment he recognised her. “Well, well,” he drawled, the stench of beer hanging of his breath, “Fellas! This is my oldest, Riley!” He was drunk, obviously. But it didn’t make it hurt for Riley any less, “Come here kiddo!”

He tried to reach in for a hug, but Riley was quick to push him back against the wall with a growl, “Where’s Penny?”

“The fuck are you talking about?” he slurred.

Riley rolled her eyes, if he was playing dumb then she wasn’t going to risk it, “Didn’t you even at least here from the news? She’s missing. I figured that could be the only way you would find out since you like to pretend she doesn’t even exist.”

“Yeah I did,” he scoffed. “She ain’t here. Why would I drag her sorry ass out here?”

That stung more than it should have. His daughter went missing yet he treated it as though as he had a speck of lint on his shoulder. “Dunno,” she scowled, “You always wanted to make sure she was miserable as possible. Wanted to make sure that she wasn’t here.”

“Riley you gotta stop being dramatic,” David said, “It’s a bad habit you got from your mom. You guys always freak out over Penny.”

“Right,” she balled her hands into fists, “Her daughter and my sister went missing and no one can find her but sure. We’re being ‘dramatic’.” She walked away from him, she couldn’t stop searching yet. “Penny!”

She searched through each room of the house, even checking in the wardrobes. Maybe it wasn’t plausible, but that fearful section of her mind wouldn’t let go of that fear until it was confirmed that her father wasn’t a complete monster to her baby sister. He still was, and Riley would never forget that. She could still hear him trying to get her attention, trying to give her some sort of ‘apology’ (which mostly resulted in him trying to avoid any type of blame whatsoever).

Once she made sure she didn’t miss anything from the inside, she ventured back out, gulping in as much fresh air as she could in order to erase the stink of cheap booze and smoke. There was only one more place she wanted to look. She went over to David’s car, unsurprised to find it unlocked, and opened the trunk. Was it a stretch? Honestly, she could never tell with him. The way he treated Penny was enough to make her this fearful. She could feel relief swarm her when there was no one in there. Penny wasn’t here, that’s good.

Worry was quick to fill Riley again, then where was she?

“You’re really being paranoid Riles,” David muttered, stepping outside.

“I’m doing my job,” she spat at him, slamming the trunk closed.

“Don’t use that tone on me young lady,” he scolded, “I’m just trying to help.”

“Seriously? You decide now that you want to attempt at being my dad?” she snarled, “Because that stopped happening the moment you wanted nothing to do with me and Penny after she was born! You held a grudge over a fucking baby! And if you really want to help, you can get off your lazy ass and help Mom with the search parties or even pitch in any ideas to help find your daughter!”

“Come on Riley,” he groaned, “You know your sister has had her freakouts before. She’s probably having one of those after her little boyfriend dumped her.”

Riley grit her teeth, no one spoke about her Winter’s brother like that, “Jack didn’t dump her, he’s missing too. And you’re seriously calling what Penny went through ‘freakouts’? Especially that you’re the reason behind most of them? How fucking dare you?!”

“Oh come on, the car accident was years ago, you should be over this by now,” David crossed his arms. “It’s not my fault your mother was too lazy to pick up that little brat. It was my day off but Amber just had to be a bitch about it anyway.” Riley felt her fist balling up again, her veins raising to her wrist at the intensity. “And if I’m being honest, it’s probably a good thing that she’s missing! It’ll finally teach her to stop being so fucking selfish-”

Riley’s fist collided with David’s nose, sending him to the ground. He screamed as he clutched the now bleeding appendage. Riley flexed her fingers, that felt good. “That’s all I needed,” she muttered, “See you around David.”

She ignored his cries, opting to go round the side of the house to reach her car. She sighed the moment she shut the door behind her and started the engine, not bothering to look back at the dingy old house.

Riley hated him, she hated him so much. She hated that she shared his blood. She hated that he threw away the chance to be her father because of his own entitlement. She hated that he made her baby sister so afraid of being touched despite him not laying a hand on her. She hated how he spoke about her kind, sweet mother in the vilest ways possible. And she hated for wishing for the potential of the relationship they could have had.

She hated him she hated him she hated him sha hated him she hated him-

SHE HATED HIM

The tires of her car screeched to a halt on the empty road. Riley let out a blood-curdling, painful scream, banging her hands on the steering wheel. This always happened whenever she saw David, all the anguish and hurt he fed to her over the years coming full front and forcing their way into her heart.

But this time it was worse. This time Penny was gone. Riley had spent the last few days burying down the panic, the fear, the intrusive thoughts that plagued her mind. Now it was rising like bile in her throat.

A tear ran down her cheek as she pressed her forehead to the wheel.

She just wanted her baby sister back.

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.

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“Uh, Miss Riley? Are you okay?”

Riley snapped out of her gaze. She turned to face Samual’s brown eyes. Huh, there the exact same shade as Penny’s- No! Enough! She wasn’t going to get soft on him. Where was she again? Oh, right. After the information that Samual gave her, they had driven up to C&A to carry out the kid’s plan. Right now they were parked outside, with Riley just snapping out of her daydream. “I’m fine,” she murmured.

“You sure?” Samual asked, “We can wait a few minutes in case you need a breather-”

“-I’m fine!” she snapped at him, his eyes widening with panic. Riley sighed, she didn’t mean to snap at him, but right now was more tense than she ever believed she could be capable of. “Just tell me what you want us to do.”

“R-right, okay,” he fidgeted with his hands for a moments. “Um, so I’m able to tell them that you’re still working on Jack’s missing case. You know since he used to work here and all. Then I can take you to where I found the emails, I still have them hidden.”

The plan seemed plausible enough, and Riley was still working on Jack’s case so her boss wouldn’t have any complaints with her being here. “Okay, let’s get started,” she stated.

Samual nodded eagerly, already jumping out the car. Riley sighed, this kid’s energy was too difficult for her to catch up to. She followed him into the building, taking in the familiar site when she first started working on the case. She didn’t think she would get used to the size yet, she knew this company was popular but it was definitely noticeable with the size of this place.

Samual walked up to the desk, Riley already reaching into her pocket for her badge. “Donna,” he greeted the receptionist, “I’m here with Agent Reed from the FBI.”

“Sorry to disturb ma’am,” Riley spoke, holding up her badge. “But I had to come back here to make sure there wasn’t anything I missed for the Jack Blossom case.”

“Oh, uh,” the woman seemed startled, her eyes almost panicked. It already raised a few red flags for Riley. Sure Jack’s case was still going but C&A seemed to have their hands clean so far. This didn’t seem like a reaction for concern, but rather like a child having their hand stuck in a cookie jar.

“Yes, yes of course,” the receptionist finally answered, running a hand through her hair anxiously. “Go right ahead agent, do what you need to do.”

Riley gave her a brisk nod, with Samual leading her further into the building. When they reached the elevator and the doors were shut did Samual begin to grin again, “Woah! That was amazing! Is this what it feels like when you’re undercover? You’re all mysterious and secretive, it feels like being in a play!”

“Easy kid,” she put a hand on his shoulder.

“Right, right, sorry,” he panted a little bit from the excitement. “I’ll be calm. It’s just – so freaking cool!”

Riley rolled her eyes. And if there was a smile slowly quirking at the corner of her lips then she was quick to get rid of it.

With a small ‘ding’ of the elevator, the duo found themselves on the floor they were looking for. Samual led her down a few hallways before stumbling into some sort of office. Samual looked back and forth in the hallway before shutting the door between them. “Okay, this is the place where I started getting the messages,” he informed her, “I kept them on this computer to make sure that it was safe.”

Samual logged onto the monitor, scanning through each folder until he finally found what he was looking for. He clicked on the first file, an email detailing the start of a conversation.

Hello?

Is someone there?

Please

You can see this

Can’t you?

My name is Queenie

I need your help

“You see!” Samual pointed to the screen, “I told you.”

Riley felt her heart flutter a bit, hoping filling it once again. Samual clicked on another email.

You’re back!

Something is happening with the insects here

They’re acting strange

What did you find?

Don’t worry it’s gonna be okay!

We’ll find something

He clicked on a few more pages, each one detailing something similar. Both Samual and this ‘Queenie’ person were trying to find something, something that could somehow set this mystery person free from whatever prison they were in. Samual finally clicked on one more.

It’s all a simulation

Like a game

I remember the headset

I know that I had a life

I know that I am trapped in the amazing digital circus

Riley raised a brow at that, it sounded familiar, “The amazing digital-”

“Samual! What do you think you’re doing?!” a male voice thundered.

Both Riley and Samual jumped, turning to the source of the voice.

Samual gulped, “J-Jason.”

Jason Wood stood at the door, his arms crossed and his face holding nothing but fury, “Donna told me that you were bring an agent here so I rushed out of my meeting to deal with this nonsense. You better explain the meaning of this.”

“I-I, y-you, um,” Samual stuttered, the words not being able to form.

“I can explain sir,” Riley walked over. “It’s for the Jack Blossom case, I got in contact with Sam to see if he could help me out since he knew Jack before he went missing.”

Jason’s eyes furrowed more, looking past Riley to deepen his frightful gaze onto Samual. The boy felt and looked smaller than he ever did, wanting nothing more than to disappear. Jason walked past Riley and over to the computer, “What is this?”

“I-it’s just something to help with the case!” Samual said, “I only wanted to help, I promise!”

“Oh, Samual, not this again,” Jason computer.

Riley looked to Samual, again?

Jason looked back to Riley, pity drawn all over his face, “He did this when his parents disappeared. He created an imaginary version of them to talk to out of grief, the poor kid.”

“Well, kids need to find their own way to grieve, right?” Riley pointed out, dreading that this conversation wasn’t going where she thought it was going.

“Sure for kids,” Jason nodded, “But not for teenagers.” He turned back to Samual, “This is probably another one of his episodes. Last time this happened we had to admit him to the psych ward. I really hope this isn’t another one of these situations, it nearly broke me, his aunt and his uncle seeing him like that.”

A pit formed in Riley’s stomach. Of course she was being naive! The recent cases must have been making this kid act up again, and she only made it worse by selfishly indulging in it.

“No, no!” Samual yelled out. “That’s not true! Riley this isn’t true!”

“So you weren’t admitted to the psych ward?” Riley demanded.

“Yes but not for the reasons you think?!” Samual sniffled. “It was him!” he pointed at Jason, “I stepped out of line and he punished me for it! That’s what he does!”

Riley pressed her fingers to her temples, massaging them. How could I be such a fool? “I’m sorry for wasting your time Mr Wood,” she sighed, “I should get going.”

“That’s quite alright dear,” he smiled warmly.

“No, no, wait!” Samual cried out, chasing after Riley as she went back into the hallway. “Riley please believe me! Those emails were real! I can help you!”

“STOP!” Riley screamed, “Just stop! I can’t believe I was so stupid enough to trust what random kid had to say in order to find my sister!”

“It wasn’t a mistake, please!” he begged, “Riley I can help you! We can find her! We can find Jack! We can find my parents!”

“Enough!” Riley growled, “Enough. You need help Samual, I’m sorry for what you went through but this isn’t going to bring your parents back.”

“You think I haven’t gotten help?!” his voice broke, “You think I didn’t want help?! I had to threaten to leave C&A in order for Jason to let me go to therapy before he weaponised the psych ward in order to get me out the way! This isn’t a deranged theory, this is me finally asking for help after months and months of denying it because I was scared people didn’t believe me! You were the only person I could trust who wouldn’t betray me! Please Riley! Please stay!”

Riley closed her eyes. She couldn’t make the same mistake, “Goodbye Samual, have a nice life.”

With that, she turned on her heel and walked back to the elevator.

“Riley please!” she heard Samual sob. “I don’t want to be alone again!”

She walked into the elevator.

“Please! I can’t!” Tears were streaming down the boy’s cheeks.

Riley tried to ignore how much it reminded her how Penny used to cry for her as the elevator doors shut.

.

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Seven hours should never feel this long!

Jax wanted to sob as the adventure finished up for the day. It was some sort of fast-food type of adventure, where he had to take multiple orders at once, get yelled at by an NPC manager, and wasn’t allowed to take a single break. Worst of all? He hadn’t seen Pomni once. It felt like some sort of crime to deny him of his fiancé’s beautiful face.

He laughed to himself, he wondered what the others would think of cruel, sarcastic Jax having such sappy thoughts about the love of his life. A few days ago, he would ignore these thoughts in order to keep up his act of the heartless joker. But now? He couldn’t care less. He loved Pomni and he wasn’t going to change that one bit. Not when he had been refused of her for so long.

Speaking of Pomni, she was currently talking to Gangle. The body of ribbons was held back by Ragatha while the former tried to give Pomni a hug, still clearly concerned for her after the pool incident the other day. Pomni smiled, stating that she was perfectly fine and that the masked lady didn’t need to worry.

Jax felt himself smiling. She was here, as hellish as today was, Pomni was all that mattered to him. He didn’t want to interrupt her yet, besides, the scene was quite funny to watch. Although it seemed to be only them and himself in the ring, he wondered where Zooble and Kinger…oh, right.

Kinger.

“Stop speaking to me as if you know me! You’re nothing but an insect-obsessed, stupid piece of wood who can barely remember his name!

He still remembered the sting of saying that. He wished he could take it back. He wished he took take a lot of things back. Before everything he thought he was fine. He was a prankster, sure, but he never wanted to be cruel like the people who hurt him. But here, without the memories, without something to lean on, without all he built after years of therapy – of course it would cause his scars to bleed again. But he shouldn’t have scarred others along the way.

Jax gulped as his eyes finally caught the chess piece talking with Zooble. He wanted to try and make this right. He walked up to the duo, “Hey hoo-haa, Zoobs. What dumb thing are you talking about now?” Seriously! You try and makes things right and this is how you start the conversation?!

“What do you want now Jax?” Zooble crossed their arms, already annoyed.

“I just wanna talk to the old royal over here for a sec, okay,” Jax replied, trying to seem his usual, casual self.

“Why? So you can kick him down another hole again?” Zooble questioned bitterly. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

Jax looked to Kinger, the chess piece was avoiding eye contact with him. “Kinger, I wanted to say-”

“You don’t get to say anything!” Zooble growled, “Not after how you talked to him! Yeah, I overheard your conversation while I was giving Caine an earful! The f&*k did Kinger even do for you to say that?! He was just trying to help!”

“I know, I know!” Jax ran a hand over his face. “I know that I shouldn’t have said that I was scared and I lashed out. I didn’t think-”

“You don’t think at all Jax,” Kinger spoke softly. Both him and Zooble turning to face the chess piece. “You believe everything that you do here is just mindless fun for you. But every time you push us down, every time you call us names, every time you grin cruelly at us, we all remember it. But sometimes there’s a glimmer of hope in you, I saw it when you talked to me about - you know. And every time I see it, you always try to squash it, as though you’re afraid. As though it makes you brave to deny yourself the slightest chance of goodness, but it doesn’t…you’re a coward Jax.”

It felt as if all the air had been knocked out of Jax, he nearly stumbled on the spot. To hear that from Kinger, the only person he felt close to other than Queenie, brought him a shame that he never knew existed. “I…I really am sorry Kinger,” he said with all the sincerity he could muster.

Kinger sighed, “I wish I could believe that.” He pulled out a paper butterfly, red like the old cloak that Queenie used to wear. His eyes smiled softly at the familiarity. “But Queenie always had an eyes for the diamond in the rough. And I trust her more than anyone. I might forgive you, but not today.”

The chess piece’s eyes held the same wisdom as they did back when he and the rabbit built the fort together. A pair of years with decades of knowledge. But as soon as he blinked, he was back to normal old Kinger, “Oh look, a butterfly! That will be perfect for my collection.” He looked back up to the rabbit, “Oh hi Jax…bye Jax.”

With that, he turned away, leaving Jax starstruck again. Zooble gave him a final glare before walking away too. Jax sighed, while that conversation didn’t go the way he wanted it to, he wouldn’t lie and say that it wasn’t unrealistic. Of course Kinger wouldn’t forgive him right away, not after Jax had mistreated him and the others for so long. He felt a hand curl into his, he tightened his hold onto it.

“You okay?” Pomni asked.

He lifted his head to the side to face her, those beautiful and unique eyes already bringing him peace, “I will be.” His eyes scanned the room, everyone was gone. “Remember my promise with getting us out of here?”

Pomni nodded.

“I need to show you something,” he told her, guiding her back to his room.

He made sure the door was locked behind him, erasing the risk of getting caught. “I don’t show these to anyone else,” he said, walking over to a chest and pulling another key out. “But I think this might help with our situation.”

The lock of the chest clicked open, the lid falling back as a hundred of different golden keys were revealed. “Woah,” Pomni’s red and blue eyes widened, “That’s…that’s definitely a lot.”

“Yup, I told you I got keys everywhere here,” he smirked.

She nudged him slightly, “Could come in handy for us sometime.”

“Watch it little lady,” he snickered, his face falling serious again. “I’ve used these keys on every single door I could find but I haven’t found an exit. But with you here, maybe there’s a better chance of finding one.”

Pomni was lost in thought, taking out a singular key and fiddling with it in her hands. “Yeah,” she replied absentmindedly. “I think it might be closer than you think.”

Jax whipped his head round to her, “Come again?”

“Uh…” Pomni trailed off, realising that she had been speaking out loud. “So, remember when I said to Caine a while back that I stopped seeing exits doors? Well…”

Jax raised a brow at her.

Soon enough they were in her room, the chest of keys laying by the wall while both the rabbit and jester were pushing her wardrobe away from the other wall. Jax’s jaw dropped at what he saw once the wardrobe was pushed away. Right behind the piece of furniture was a bright red exit door, the green sign glowing above it. “It appeared here after my first dinner here,” she explained, “I tried to see what was behind it but all it led me to was another maze of weird office hallways.”

“Another?” Jax asked. “Wait, you really did see other exit doors when you arrived here?”

“Yeah, three times actually,” Pomni said. “The only time I went through one it led me to the maze I was talking about.”

“That’s…I,” Jax, for the first time here, was rendered speechless. He thought Pomni had arrived at the void some other way. But she really had seen exits doors and no one believed her, not even him. “There has to be a reason why you’re targeted. If it didn’t do this to us, why you?”

“I wish I knew,” Pomni glanced down, shuffling her feet.

“Hey, hey,” he took her chin into his palm, lifting her head up to face him. “Don’t feel bad, okay? Sorry, I didn’t mean to come off as harsh.” He stroked her cheek gently, “We’re gonna figure this out together, okay? And with our memories back we now have an advantage.”

Pomni sighed, leaning into his touch. It had been too long since she last felt his gentle touch, “Yeah, we do. We’re gonna get out of here.”

He pressed his forehead to hers, giving her a wink, “That’s my girl.”

They settled there for a few moments before Pomni turned away again to look at the keys. Jax wanted to be greedy and pull her back, but right now there was business to attend to. “You said you tried every key with every door, right?” she asked.

“Yup,” the rabbit nodded, “Yet it always never worked. They would either be a room that was part of the circus or would never unlock.”

Pomni hummed in curiosity, picking up another one, “Maybe…” she peered to the bright red door on her wall.

Jax followed her gaze, a grin playing on her lips at what she was implying, “Maybe what?”

She rolled her eyes at him, “Maybe it could work on an exit door?”

“God I love your brain,” he exclaimed.

“Phhh, by making a suggestion?” Pomni snorted.

“By making a smart suggestion, like you always do,” he corrected leaning into her face and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.

“Okay mister,” she retorted, pushing him away with her index finger as the rabbit chortled. She looked down to the key in her palms, it had a circular end with four holes in the middle. This no doubt had to be Ragatha’s key. She looked back to her fiancé, “May I have the honours?”

“It would be my pleasure little lady,” he bowed dramatically.

Pomni huffed, pretending to be annoyed but didn’t force away the smile that tugged at her lips. She breathed out slowly, her breath slightly shaking as she did so. She slid the golden key into the hole, turning it once as they door clicked open.

Jax’s tail twitched with anticipation, awaiting what could possibly be behind it. Pomni reached up to the handle, twisting it and pulling the door open slowly. Her heart plummeted when the familiar office structure appeared again. She shut the door, “I’m sorry I got your hopes up.”

“No, no,” Jax’s voice was gentle as he took her hand. “You didn’t do anything wrong, okay? Let’s try two more, how does that sound?”

The jester bit her lip, nodding quietly in agreement. Jax pulled out two more keys from the chest, the first had the shape of some sort of castle on its end while the second had a jester hat – Pomni’s key. “You’ll probably need this back once we’re done,” he told her, referring to the object. “In case you need your privacy, I know how Caine can be.”

“Aw, honey,” she cooed. “You’re playing favourites.”

He flicked her nose, the jester rubbing it while giggling, “Yeah, yeah. You get your wife privileges.”

“I’m not your wife yet,” she retorted.

Jax grinned, “But soon you will be.”

She shook her head, placing the next key into the lock. She felt a twinge of disappointment when it led to the same grey hallway again. Pomni closed the door again, taking her own key from Jax’s paw, “Maybe third time’s the charm?”

Jax gave her a gentle smile, wanting to keep her as hopeful as possible. But both of them felt the intensity of the situation, if this didn’t work then another dead end was hit, then neither of them would know what to do. Please, please work.

She slid it in, the lock clicked, the door creaked open.

Pomni shut her eyes slightly, she didn’t want to be disappointed again.

“Oh my god,” she heard Jax gasp.

She peeked one eye open, then the other as they widened at what she saw.

It was a hospital room, void of the cold grey scale of the office hallway. The walls were a warm light brown with a lamp switched on by a bed, contrasting with the midnight sky from the window. Pomni’s breath hitched when she saw who was laying on the bed.

“Mom,” she whispered.

A younger Amber was sat up in the hospital bed, her red hair was messy and bags were under her eyes. But she looked so incredibly happy. Next to her was a glass case with holes and inside a little baby with brown curls wrapped up in a pink blanket slept.

“Is that…” Jax trailed off.

“Yeah,” Pomni felt her spirits lift ever so slightly when she looked at the date on the small clock next to the lamp. “That’s me. This was the day when I was born.”

She watched as the woman’s fingers trailed across the glass, marvelling at the tiny human inside. “Hi Penny,” she exhaled happily. “Welcome to the world. I can’t wait for Riley to see you, she’s been so excited to have a little sister. I don’t know where your daddy went but I’m sure he’ll be back soon. When you get better, we’re gonna have so much fun together.” A tear of mirth ran down Amber’s cheek, “Look at you, you’re perfect.”

Pomni felt a tear of her own escape as she watched the scene in front of her. She had been told about how her mother was glued to her side as a baby, watching her every move when the doctors told her how sick and weak she was. Amber had spent every waking moment making sure her daughter was healing. It wasn’t easy with a sickly newborn, an absent husband and a rowdy four-year-old, but she did it anyway.

“I miss her so much,” Pomni sniffled.

“Oh, Pen,” Jax wrapped his arms around the smaller woman’s body, pressing a chaste kiss at the back of her neck. “You’re gonna see her again, I promise.”

She turned and pressed her lips to his cheek, agreeing silently.

Another door creaked open, drawing the duo’s attention. It was the door of the hospital room opening, but instead of leading to a hallway, it seemed to be leading outside instead. The rabbit and jester shared a look before moving ahead, for them it was the most plausible thing to do.

The moment they stepped out, they had to squint from a beam of sunlight shining in their eyes. It seemed like they were in some sort of back garden, with real soft grass beneath their feet and fresh air filling their lungs. It made them feel human.

Pomni let out a shocked yet excited laugh when she saw what was in front of her, this wasn’t any ordinary back garden. It was the one where she grew up in where she and Riley would play when the sun was shining and dried up the rain. The ground was scattered with toys, with a trampoline at the right-hand side and a swing on the left.

She gasped, for on the swing was a girl about ten-years-old, wearing a long-sleeved pink shirt and purple overalls with white butterflies on the pockets, her brunette hair was short and ended by hair jaw as she stared out into the garden with her chocolate brown eyes. “T-that’s me!” Pomni said, startled. “I remember this!”

Jax was going to say something, his smile widening seeing the jester so happy when another voice cut him off.

“Marco!”

The little girl snickered at the new voice, jumping off the swing, “Polo!”

A girl around fourteen years of age, with red hair tied into a ponytail, ran into the garden, dropping a school bag in favour of chasing the younger of the two. Pomni pressed her hands to her mouth, “Riley.” 

The older girl snorted as the younger ran around the swing set, reaching out in order to grab her, “I’m gonna get you!”

“Nuh uh!” a younger Penny retorted, “You’re too slow Riles!”

“Oh, now you’re gonna get it!” Riley smirked, the two squealing as the chase continued.

Unfortunately it came to a halt when Penny tripped over a toy and landed on the concrete path leading to the house. Riley gasped, rushing over to her as the little girl picked herself up, her palms bloody and staining her skin. Fat tears ran down her cheeks as she began wailing, “Mommy!”

Riley wrapped her arms around her, rubbing her arm and rocking her slowly. Amber ran out of the door, kneeling down and gently taking her daughter’s hands, “Oh baby. Don’t worry, we’ll get these cleaned up.”

She scooped her youngest into her arms, walking back into the house.

“Mom I’m really sorry!” Riley panicked. “We were playing and she tripped, I should have kept a closer eye on her.”

“Riley, Riley, it’s okay,” Amber spoke calmly. “This was an accident, it’s not your fault, okay?” That didn’t seem to make the older girl feel any better. Amber hummed in thought, “How about you go get the bandages while I clean Penny’s hands, how does that sound?”

Riley nodded furiously, already running in and up the stairs. Pomni followed her mother and younger self into the kitchen, Jax tailing behind her. Amber sat Penny upon the countertop next to the kitchen sink, running the tap while Penny tried to gulp down her cries. “Oh Penny,” Amber ran her fingers under her daughter’s eyes, wiping away the tears. “We’ll get you fixed up, it’s alright baby.”

Penny shook her head, trying to quiet her crying as much as possible, “I-I’m being a b-baby! I n-need to be s-strong!”

“You’re not being a baby for getting hurt,” Amber’s brows furrowed, concern lacing her voice.

“B-but Daddy said t-that crying i-is w-weak,” Penny sniffled.

Amber inhaled sharply, her jaw tensing before slipping into her relaxed position again, “Your Daddy isn’t always right about a lot of things. This is one of them. Even the strongest people in the world need to cry Penny, never feel like you aren’t strong for doing so.”

Like a magnet, Penny clutched onto her mother, wrapping her arms round the tall women’s neck. Amber kissed the top of her child’s head, rubbing her hands up and down the little one’s back. There was probably blood on the back of her shirt, but she didn’t care, not when her child needed comfort. “How about we wash that blood off, okay?” Amber suggested.

Penny nodded against her shoulder, unwrapping her arms. Amber led her hands under the running water, Penny hissing at soon as the liquid touched her skin.

“I know baby, I know,” Amber ran her fingers through the child’s hair, “You’ll feel better soon, I promise.”

“I got the bandages!” Riley announced, running back into the kitchen.

“Perfect,” Amber switched off the tap once Penny’s hands were clean enough. She patted them dry with a towel and took the bandages from Riley. Slowly and carefully, she wrapped up each hand in the white gauze, finishing it off with a small bow on the top of each hand. “See, much better.”

Penny rubbed one last tear away, holding her hands out for her mother again, “Thank you Mommy.”

Amber cooed, picking her up and holding her close, “Always baby.” With a spare arm, Amber pulled Riley into the hug, rubbing the older girl’s shoulder, “Thank you for your help.”

Riley let out a trembling breath, burying her face into her mother’s shoulder, the woman holding her daughters in a vice grip as though they would disappear if she let go.

Pomni felt her stomach twist, Amber’s daughter did disappear. And her mother had no idea where she was.

Jax placed a hand on her shoulder, Pomni touched it as pressed her cheeks onto it, “It still hurts, knowing she doesn’t know where I am.”

“I know,” Jax agreed. “I know how much you mean to your mother. She’ll see you again, I know it.”

The back door creaked open like the hospital door did, this time is showed the inside of a living room.

Walking through, a wave of familiarity hit them both at once. It was their old apartment. Everything was the same, from the furniture to the wallpaper to even the starry mug that Penny loved to use all the time. Said mug was on the coffee table, steaming rising from the top.

Laughter broke the two out of their trance, for in the middle of the living room from was…them. Their human forms, engagement rings on their fingers as they danced while slow romantic music filled the room.

“Watch your speed!” Penny giggled, “I can barely keep up!”

Jack snickered, “Says you! You keep tripping over yourself!”

“It’s not my fault I have two left feet!” Penny retorted grinning.

Jack ran a hand over his face, another laugh escaping his mouth, “Imagine if we danced like this on our wedding day.”

“We’d certainly attract a crowd, that’s for sure,” Penny sighed wistfully, her arms curling round his neck, “How about we just settle for swaying?”

“Yeah, swaying sounds good,” Jack’s hands settled round her waist, the two moving from side to side. “I guess this isn’t so bad.”

Penny hummed in agreement, “Looks like our wedding dance won’t be a complete disaster after all.”

“It was never gonna be, I’ll make sure it will be the best day for you, promise,” Jack’s nose rubbed against hers, earning him another giggle.

Pomni looked up at Jax, the latter looking on longingly at their past selves. Life could have continued like this if he hadn’t been so selfish, so entitled, so cowardly…Kinger was right.

“Hey,” Pomni spoke up, it was his turn to listen to her. “It’s not your fault for what happened, okay? If you believe that we can get out of here, then so can I.”

Jax felt warmth spread about himself, this was why he loved Pomni so much. Despite her own fears and anxieties, when her kindness shone then it shone brightly. Many actions that she had done spoke loudly than any word she spoke. And if she couldn’t see how amazing she is, then he could do it for her. “You’re incredible, you know that right?” he said.

Pomni blushed, trying to hide behind her short hair, “Maybe.”

Jax chuckled, he never wanted her to change. The sound of another door creaking made them turn. Just like they did many times before, they walked through.

They were back in Amber’s house, though this time it had aged, they were in the living room instead, although furniture seemed more recent in memory than Pomni expected. “Is this ringing any bells?” Jax asked.

“No, no this doesn’t seem that familiar, aside from the room,” Pomni replied.

Footsteps entered the room. It was Amber, now older and more tired. Pomni watched as her mother sat on the sofa, there were bags under her eyes and dried tear stains on her cheeks. In her hands was a small pile of papers, Penny’s face printed on the very top and well as the words ‘MISSING’ written in bold black letters.

“This isn’t a memory,” Pomni murmured. “This is now.”

Jax let out a tiny gasp of realisation, they had come so far they were teetering on the border of the outside world, something that no one could possibly imagining happening in the circus!

But the circumstances weren’t as bright. Right now they were watching Amber mourn over her lost daughter, the one thing she feared the most.

Amber gripped onto the papers tighter, her lips quivering as more tears hit the posters. She let them go, each one scattering across the floor as she brought her hands up to cover her face, muffling her sobs.

Pomni’s heart twisted, she wished for nothing more than to reach out to her mother and engulf her in the biggest hug she can manage. “Mom, I’m here,” she spoke, “I’m okay.”

But nothing, it could be as though the wind had spoken. It was silence.

Pomni wanted to cry, to yell, to scream IM HERE. But it was pointless, wasn’t it?

The jester lifted her hand to a switched off lamp next to the sofa. When she was young, Amber would always turn on her bedside lamp, telling her that she would feel safe as long as that was on. Pomni’s fingers grazed the handle of the lamp, that was what she wanted for Amber, for her to feel safe like she did for her.

Without even realising, her fingers lightly pushed against the button, the pressure making it flicker on. Pomni jumped back, did she do that?!

Amber turned to the sudden light, sighing, “Lights are acting up, great.”

Pomni looked down at her hands, Amber couldn’t see her still. But what if…

She looked to Jax, the rabbit looking just as surprised as she did. He turned to the light switch on the wall, quickly moving towards it and flicking it on. Just like with Pomni, it shone throughout the room. He let out a strangled laugh, he could do it too!

Amber’s brows furrowed in confusion, “What is happening?”

Pomni held onto the lamp again, determination on her mind. She wasn’t going to leave until her mother knew that she was here and she was alive. She flicked the lamp on and off again, feeling guilty when Amber jumped in surprise. She did the same with another lamp on the chest of drawers at the side of the room, flicking it on and off while Jax did the same with the room light.

Amber whipped round, watching in shock as this bizarre event unfolded before her. She knew that lights had a habit of acting out, but never to this extent. “What’s going on?!” she exclaimed, “Is someone doing this?!”

Pomni bit her lip, she had to let Amber know that she was here. She scanned the room, trying to see if there was something, anything that could help. Her traveling eyes came to a stop when she spotted Amber’s computer tucked away into the corner, a printer next to it with missing posters on top of it. She must have moved it down here when making them.

Pomni rushed towards it, pressing the ‘on’ button and praying that her plan would work.

Amber yelped as she heard the sound of her computer switch on, panic rising in her chest.

The jester pressed a few keys on the keyboard, searching until she landed on a blank document, here goes nothing. And so, she began to type.

Mom

It’s me

Penny

Amber took a few steps back as her missing daughter’s name appeared on her screen, it felt like a horror movie unravelling in front of her. She let out a broken laugh, “Okay you got me! Whoever’s here better piss off with their sick joke before I call the police!”

Pomni winced, she had to keep trying.

It’s okay!

It’s Penny Mom!

You don’t need to be scared!

Amber shook her head, this had to be some sick joke. ���My daughter’s missing!” she felt insane for talking back to the computer. “How could she be able to do this?! Whoever you are, you better show yourself!”

Pomni wracked her brain, she had to think of something, anything. A lightbulb went off in her head, she began to type again.

I was born on August 13th, 1999, at 11:59 PM

I was born too early so I had to be incubated at the hospital

On my fifth birthday you gave me a purple teddy bear and I named her Candy

You always sang ‘Silent Night’ to me to help me fall asleep even when it wasn’t Christmas

You brought a giant sign at Riley’s graduation saying ‘YOU’RE AN AGENT NOW RILEY’ when she completed her FBI training

Riley hates carrot cake but she always brings some for Winter whenever they go on dates

You took time off work just so you could help homeschool me when I left high school and helped me when I struggled to eat

I’m terrified of bees but I love butterflies

I hate the water, I always have

I always wanted to go into costume designing

When I finally felt confident in myself you asked me to make you a promise

I promised you that no matter what I am Penny Reed

I have a role in this world

I am worthy of greatness

And I have always mattered

Mom

It’s me

Amber’s breath hitched, nearly stumbling back a bit. No one could know something so personal about one person. Could it really be… “Penny?”

Pomni felt her own tears escape.

Hi Mom

Amber’s knees dropped to the ground, tears of relief and joy escaping. “Oh my baby!” she sobbed, “You’re here! Are you…Are you alive?”

Pomni sniffed, letting out a small laugh.

Yes Mom

I’m alive

Another cry tore from Amber’s throat, her daughter was alive. And somehow, she was here. “Penny where are you?” she asked, wiping away her tears. “What’s going on?”

It’s hard to explain

And I don’t know how long I can stay

“No, baby don’t go yet,” Amber begged. “Just stay, at least until Riley gets here.”

Jax’s ears twitched, a soft voice calling from the distance.

“Jax?”

“Pomni?”

He could recognise that voice from anywhere. Jax grasped Pomni’s shoulder, “Ragatha’s looking for us, we gotta go.”

Pomni was startled for a second, but she knew that he was serious. She turned back to her mother.

I’m sorry Mom

I have to go

“Penny please!” Amber panicked, “Don’t go!”

I’ll come back

I’m so sorry

But I’m okay

I promise

“Stay!” Amber cried, “Penny, stay!”

It felt as though Pomni’s heart was being ripped from her chest, but she couldn’t risk her or Jax’s safety. What if Caine was with Ragatha? Then they would really be in trouble.

She and Jax rushed to the door, the room outside of it reverting back to Jax’s bedroom. Pomni looked back to her sobbing mother, guilt stabbing at her. “I’ll be back soon,” she promised, even if Amber couldn’t hear her.

She forced herself to tear her eyes away and ran back into Jax’s bedroom, the rabbit closing the door behind her. “Hey,” he placed both of his hands on her shoulders, “I know that must have been really hard for you, but we can go back. We’re able to now, we finally have a chance to try and get out of here.”

“I just,” Pomni sniffled, “I just miss my Mom.”

Jax brought her into his arms, letting her cry out as much as she needed to. He wasn’t going to let go, never again. Both mother and daughter were terrified of this bizarre situation, the mother fearing that she would never see her child and the daughter wishing for her mother to hold her. Until they were back, Jax had to protect Pomni. It was serious now, bigger things were at play and everything was different. No matter what, her safety was his priority.

“Jax?” Ragatha knocked on the door. “Come on, open up please.”

Pomni let go, her eyes darting to the door with worry.

“It’s okay,” Jax reassured her, “Take the keys and hide behind the side of my bed, I’ll take care of doll face.”

Pomni looked to the keys and back at him, “O-okay.”

He kissed her forehead, stroking her cheek lightly before the two pulled away. Pomni picked up the chest, taking it and ducking behind the bedside while Jax pulled the wardrobe back over the exit door as silently as he could.

The door knocked again, he smoothed down the fur on his head I’m cool and collected, I’m cool and collected. Once he had slipped into his persona again, he opened the door. He gulped, apart from Caine and Bubble, everyone was there.

 “So, Rags,” he leaned against the side of the door. “How can I help you?”

“Pomni’s in there,” Ragatha crossed her arms over her chest. “Isn’t she?”

I’M COOL AND COLLECTED, I’M COOL AND COLLECTED! Jax’s tail twitched nervously as he let out a laugh that seemed fake even to him, “What? No, of course not!”

“I saw you go in her room a while ago,” Gangle mumbled. “I didn’t know if you were pulling a prank on her but I had to get the others just in case.”

“And imagine my panic when I found out the door was locked!” Ragatha growled. “You better explain yourself, Pomni better be okay!”

“Ragatha,” Pomni peered above the bed, jumping over it and made her way towards the door. “Don’t worry I’m fine-”

“Oh Pomni you’re okay!” Ragatha gasped, reaching out her hand to the jester. “Come here, what type of prank did he pull on you?”

Pomni surprised everyone when she jumped back, opting to stand beside Jax instead. “Ragatha,” she spoke softly, “You don’t have to worry, I’m completely fine. Jax didn’t do anything.”

“T-then why is he in your room?” the ragdoll asked. “You two have been acting strange for the past couple of days and we’re all getting worried, what’s going on?”

Pomni and Jax shared a look, a silent conversation between the two. Pomni, without breaking eyes contact, nudged her head towards the group. Sparing the others a glance, he looked back to Pomni with a nod.

“You guys come in,” Pomni said, opening the door wider. “There’s a lot you gotta know.”

.

.

.

This had to be the second time Riley was emotionally exhausted while driving back home, the first was when finding out Penny was missing. But her hopes had gone up too many times and had blind faith in someone who was hurting like she was, maybe even more. It was strange, everything Samual said felt true, but Jason Wood was a prominent figure who helped raise him after his parent’s disappearance, who was she to have a say in that situation?

Perhaps the wish to have her sister back was overtaking her logic. But now anymore, she was going to put her headfirst and figure this out the way she always did. Her phone began to ring in the cup holder next to her seat, it was Amber. She put the phone on speaker, keeping her eyes on the road, “Hey Mom, what’s up?”

“Riley!” Amber panted over the phone. “Riley you need to get here now!”

Riley practically kicked the break to stop the car, ignoring the other honking cars behind her as she pressed the phone to her ear, “Mom! Is everything ok?! What happened?!”

“It’s about your sister!” Amber blubbered. “You need to get here as soon as you can, please!”

Before Riley could say another word, the line was caught off. She pressed on the accelerator, her heart pounding. If her mother was speaking in that panicked and it involved her sister, she was going to drop everything and be there first thing.

The car skid to a stop when she arrived at her mother’s house, running to the door as fast as she could and slammed it open. “Mom!” Riley called out, “What happened?!”

Amber was collecting posters off the floor, dumping them down on the coffee table before pulling Riley inside. “Riley!” she gasped, “You won’t believe it! I know it sounds insane but I saw it happen in front of my eyes!”

“What? What did?!” Riley was starting to worry now. “Mom you’re scaring me, what does Penny have to do with this!”

“Everything!” Amber bellowed, a wide grin forming while more joyful tears leaked down her face. “Penny was here! She’s alive!”

The whole world went still for Riley, “Penny?! She’s alive?! Wait-wait, what do you mean ‘was here’?! Where is she?!”

“That’s the thing!” Amber pointed to the computer. “She wasn’t ‘here’ here, she was speaking to me through that!”

Riley’s palms began to sweat, this was beginning to sound familiar, “What do you mean by through the computer?”

“She wasn’t here in a physical sense, but she was messing with the lights, writing to me on that computer!” Amber exclaimed. “I don’t know how it’s possible and I know it sounds crazy, but your sister is alive! My daughter is alive! And she needs our help!”

Riley nearly staggered on the spot, Amber’s concerned calling for her name falling on deaf ears. Her mother wasn’t someone who spouted nonsense (that was more of David’s thing) and there was no way this type of situation could be a coincidence, it wasn’t something that anyone could make up on the spot.

She looked past Amber and to the screen behind her. Her breath hitched, on the screen was basically what Samual had showed her. Someone trying to communicate through anonymous messages with no email attached. Except this time it was different, this time it described parts of her life that no one else could know about, this time there was undeniable proof that someone was talking to her mother, this time there was a name.

Penny’s name.

Riley gasped.

Samual was telling the truth…and she pushed him away.

[queeniecook]

June 8

Naya Grant has a rare day off, so she decides to take her family to one of the local beaches. Granted, they literally live on the water but it’s more private. This is public, more chance for Apollo to hang out with his fellow merfolk and perhaps a chance for AJ to hang out with some other kids. Sometimes she worries about him not having enough interaction with other kids his age. They’ve started giving Lily three days off a week so AJ can experience daycare with other children. Not being able to have another baby still hurts Naya at times, though her and Apollo haven’t stopped trying.

AJ is a happy little duckling in the water, just like the duck he insists chewing on after he splashes it in the water a few times.

Hours of fun later and some grilled out hamburgers, thanks to Lily, AJ is busy building a sand castle – Lily has pulled her employers aside. She knows it’s time to tell Mr. and Mrs. Grant about her true nature and who she’s related to. Thankfully, Caleb, his wife and Lilith had left it up to her to tell them. They may fire her, she knows this. She will miss AJ if that’s the case. She’s grown very fond of the little boy.

Lily has tried to figure out how to tell them since her visit from Lilith but still isn’t sure what to say. She knows they’re no stranger to the supernatural. Apollo’s family has merfolk spanning back generations and his brother-in-law is a vampire, who also happens to be her cousin.

Naya and Apollo for their part of worried Lily is going to quit, she does an awesome job taking care of AJ and makes amazing food. They’ve felt spoiled.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed the scars on my chest.”Lily starts, she rarely wears anything that reveals them. They both nod, curiously. “I’m a werewolf. I got those in a fight years ago.”

Apollo slow blinks while Naya just stares at Lily. They’re both processing the words out of her mouth. “That’s why AJ kept saying Wily every time I’d show him a picture of a wolf on his flashcards…” Apollo comments, mostly to himself. The pieces were coming together.

“And why he calls you woof woof.” Naya supplies, slowly catching up to her husband’s train of thought.

AJ had toddled in on Lily in her werewolf form one day and figured it out, even at his young age. “He’s a smart boy.”

Both of AJ’s parents nod in unison with smiles on their faces. Lily takes a breath, they seemed to be handling it okay but she wasn’t done.

“Just like merfolk, werewolves age more slowly…but even slower than your kind, Apollo. I was actually born in the 1800’s.” Lily pauses, letting that sink into their minds for a few moments.

“Wow! So you got to see the rise of all the greats in the fashion industry!” Naya exclaims. Fashion is her job after all. 

Lily wasn’t expecting that comment but nods. “And some of their falls too.”

“Wait….that means you’ve been around as long as Caleb and Lilith..” Apollo comments, thinking out loud. He squints at the older female next to him. 

The werewolf nods her head. “I’m their cousin. Their mother was my Aunt.”

There’s complete silence outside of the waves splashing to shore against the sand beside them.

Apollo slowly smiles “This really is a small world. You gotta meet my sister! She’s about ready to pop but you should meet her. Family is extremely important to merfolk and it looks like you’re part of it.”

“Does Vera know about all of this?” Naya questions, glancing over at her son who is still happily building a sand castle, oblivious to all the adult stuff going on around him.

“I’m sure Caleb told her, those two rarely keep things from each other. Caleb was here not too long ago so you two have seen each other, right?” Apollo asks Lily, who nods at him.

“I’ll set a meeting up.”

[spencermyangel]

could we get a fic where old videos of Spencer being abused and tortured as a child surface and the emotional fallout (relapse maybe? w/ self harm, starving and dilaudid) and comfort from the team esp. morgan and hotch?

CW - CSA, self harm, eating disorder, drug addiction

I totally forgot about Hotch, Sorry 😬

The investigation that had started by Spencer thinking his dad had killed Riley Jenkins, had now led them to a man named Gary Micheals. 

“Listen, we already know you raped and killed Riley Jenkins,” Rossi said, wasting no time, “Your DNA was a match and we found pictures, and home videos. Do I even have to guess what is on those videos?” Rossi paused meaningfully. He watched with satisfaction as Gary shifted and gulped, panic setting in his eyes. 

“But,” Morgan cut in, “there were signs of long term abuse. If you tell us what was going on, if anyone else was involved, we can make a deal.”

Gary was silent for a moment, eyes glancing between the two. He swallowed hard and soothingly rubbed his closed fist with his other hand.

“There were a few guys in our circle,” Gary muttered, “We got pictures and… stuff for each other. Got most of the vids from William Reid.”

Morgan and Rossi turned to face each other so fast, you could practically hear the swooshing of the air. They locked eyes before turning to the one way window mirror, where they both knew the rest of the team, including Spencer stood. 

Spencer felt his stomach drop, he clenched his teeth to stop the tears from falling and his panic breaths from coming out. Because he knew what was on those videos, he had known what were on those videos since he was a little kid. He, of course, didn’t know Gary had them. But he knew. 

The rest of the team's eyes were on him, no one knowing what to say. Hotch cleared his throat, knowing Spencer wouldn’t want attention on him right now. 

“Were we able to find something to watch the videos on?” 

“Uh, yeah,” JJ replied, her voice somewhat distant as she pulled her eyes away from Spencer, “they have a TV and VHS player for us to use.” 

Hotch nodded, “okay, let’s go.” 

Spencer reluctantly followed after the team, his throat closed and dry and he knew if he tried to speak he wouldn’t be able to. 

*

Spencer looked down at the floor as the video played on the screen. He tried his best to contain his panic as he heard the little boy on the video cry as he was violated, scream as he was whipped, and finally sniffle as the torment finally ended. He only hoped the team wouldn’t put the pieces together. Wouldn’t think William was evil enough to not only use his own child, but allow his sick group of friends to as well. But then the voice of his father on the tape said three words that made him freeze. 

“Good Job, Spencer.” 

*

Morgan glanced over to Spencer’s desk, where he was writing in a file with his hair falling in his face. Ever since the case a few weeks ago, he had been distant and closed off. The team had all tried to approach him, to help him deal with the trauma and the old wounds that had been opened by the discovery. But Spencer had only shut down more. 

Morgan wished more than anything he would have seen the signs. How cases with abused kids affected Reid deeply, how he was skittish and jumpy, he had even seen scars all over Spencer’s back when he walked in on him changing his shirt one time. Spencer had told him they were from Tobias. 

The entire team was worried. Spencer was snappy, he had lost weight. None of them wanted to admit it, but it was scarily similar to those months after Tobias Hankel. But, as Morgan watched Spencer he made up his mind. Spencer had been through so much and he had survived. He wasn’t going to watch Spencer suffer alone again, he wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. 

*

“Hey, pretty boy,” Morgan called after Spencer after work, jogging to catch up to him “I’m going to give you a ride home.”

“No thanks, Morgan,” Spencer mumbled, his face downcast and his hand scratching his elbow.

Morgan swallowed, before resuming his cheery voice, “too bad, come on.”

*

Morgan glanced at Spencer as he drove. He was closed off, tightly clutching his bag to his chest. 

“Reid… I really need to talk to you.”

Spencer tensed even more than before, “why,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. 

Morgan sighed, pulling the car over on a small empty road, “because I know you’re not okay.”

“I’m fine,” Spencer said, his voice shaking. 

“No, you’re not, kid,” Morgan plainly said. He bit his lip in hesitation, “let me see your arms.”

Spencer’s eyes flashed up, panic in them. And he leaned away from Morgan.

“Listen, I already know you’re using again. Show me,” Morgan firmly demanded

Spencer’s face crumbled in a mix of sadness and shame. He turned his head away and held out his left arm. 

Morgan took his arm gently into his hands, his heart sunk at how frail and thin it felt. “Have you been eating?”

Morgan blinked back tears as Spencer shook his head. Morgan slowly rolled up his sleeve to his elbow. He stared at Spencer’s arm in horror. He expected the track marks, but what he didn’t expect was the cut, scratches, and bruises that littered his little brother’s arm. 

“Spencer, why?” he whispered. 

Spencer blinked back tears of shame “because I’m so dirty and horrible. And now you know.”

“No,” Morgan’s voice broke, “no, you’re not. I would never think you were dirty. Something similar happened to me, you know that. I would never judge you.” 

“But, it wasn’t your fault. I let multiple men touch me, so many of them…” Spencer trailed off, a far off look in his eyes. “I let him tape me.” 

“You didn’t ‘let them’ they raped you, Spencer.” 

Spencer flinched at the word. 

Morgan tilted Reid's head up, “I’m going to help you.” 

Spencer’s eyes finally met Morgan’s, his tear stained face filled with confusion, “why? I’m just a stupid junkie.” 

Morgan shook his head, devastated, “No, kid. You’re my little brother and I love you.”

Morgan slowly pulled him into a hug as he felt Spencer sob against his shoulder. 

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[booman86]

Jungle Queen Griep in Greip vs Skyscraper

When word gets the news about an uncharted Island called Savage Island. A lot of billionaires decide they should explode this island for its research. Many had tried to research on this island, but those who still put on this island I never returned. But one billionaire decided that he is going to make a profit off this island. As years went by, a young billionaire named Thomas Davis who is the owner of a powerful company called Global-Tech Enterprises. Thomas has been sending many drones to Savage Island to collect data and study its landscape and its environment. But only one particular day, Thomas drone had discovered something living on Savage Island. He couldn't put two and two together but on the video he sees a large figure moving through the jungle. "Call Dr William," said Thomas.

Two days later Dr William was contacted by Thomas. Thomas explains to Dr William about what he discovered on Savage Island. Dr William watch the video very closely, he noticed the large figure in the video has a feminist body. She has blazing red hair down her back. While she was muscular, she still had a very feminine body adorn with scars signifying that she had been in battle before. She stood over 120 tall and was wearing a tiger skin two-piece outfit. "Fascinating," said Dr William and he looked excited. "You know what this is?" asked Thomas. "Yes. This species we are looking at right now. Is none other than a Gigantitan." said Dr William. "A Gigantitan?" said Thomas as he looked confused.

Dr William began to explain to Thomas about the Gigantitan. He explains to him that the Gigantitan have been around since the beginning of mankind. He believed that the Gigantitan could have evolved for humans in 10,000 B.C doing the Paleolithic Period. "This is very rare. We must head to this island and catch this Gigantitan alive and bring it back so we can show the world that we discover." said Dr William. "Are you kidding me! How in the world are we going to be able to catch something like that!" said Thomas. But Dr William has an idea. He convinced Thomas to hire a mercenary, and use his technology that his company made to catch Greip. "I like that idea. Spread the news, to any mercenary the payment is going to be $400,000. If they're able to catch this Gigantitan they're going to get paid 10 times more than double," said Thomas.

A few weeks fast passed since Thomas was looking for some mercenary for hire. Unfortunately luck will smile upon him, as a young woman with long blonde hair appears. "I am looking for Thomas Davis," said a young woman. One of the security guards contacted Thomas and informed him that someone is interested to see him. "Let her in," said Thomas.

He was busy having her breakfast in bed. As he was eating, the young woman had just walked in with a News Paper. "Good-morning Mr. Thomas," said the young woman. So I see you're interested in the job" said Thomas. "Let's just say you caught my attention. But first let's get down to business," said the young woman. Thomas answers the young woman for her name. It turns out her name is Robin Grant, a.k.a Skyscraper. She was once a scientist who worked for the government on a secret project called Project Ultra. The purpose of Project Ultra was trying to replicate the natural super powers of Ultrawoman. After unlocking some of the basics of Ultrawoman’s super powers, for maximum efficiency and security the scientists were split into two separate groups with no direct contact with each other. This was in case some unforeseen circumstances happened to one of the labs; the other lab could continue the work. Good thing there were two labs because the first lab was destroyed and the Ultra powered researcher Dr. Andrea Van was taken into custody.

One of Robin’s main duties was to make sure all the data is backed up, she made a copy for herself right before she were to be experimented on. Since the human body was not good at retaining the energy that gave Ultrawoman her powers, the scientist tried to compensate for that but things didn’t work out as they planned. The second the scientists started the experiment, things went wrong. Robin’s vitals immediately went off the chart, they though that part was normal due to the nature of the powers of Ultrawoman. The next thing the scientist’s saw was Robin unexpectedly starting to grow in height. Robin outgrew the small containment room she was in and once that failed, the energies filled the room and overloaded the computers and equipment. With the equipment exploding all around them and a growing researcher, the scientists tried to escape but a very large explosion rocked the facility.

Realizing with her new found power Robin uses a powerful evil as many criminal organizations hire her to do their dirty work. Thomas explains to Robin about the information he found on Savage Island. He showed Robin the video of a giant woman with fiery red hair. He explained to Robin this video is a living proof of a Gigantitan and he wants her to travel to Savage Island to capture her. "You must be joking right. Do you have information where she's located on this Island?" said Robin. "Don't worry about it. I have my drone to follow every move she makes," said Thomas. "That's not the main problem. The problem is that you want me to go to an uncharted Island to catch this Gigantitan," said Robin.

"Look, this might be tough right now. But with my technology. You will be able to track her down with ease," said Thomas. He began to show off his technology to Robin. You use one of your satellites to scan the island as he tracked down the Gigantitan he's looking for. "Look! This is the area where she used to be. This area must be her territory, because she hasn't left this area in a week," said Thomas. "Move over," said Robin and she began to use her knowledge on computers. Thomas is amazed seeing how skilled Robin is as he watches her use his satellite. She began to scan in closer as she took a good look at this young Gigantitan. "Fiery red hair, tiger skin outfit and body cover and battle scar." said Robin. "Okay then. If you want me to catch her. You're going to pay me 20x more. And this technology you got, it needs some update," said Robin. "Hmm this might bring in more money," said Thomas. "If I can capture this Gigantitan. The world will pay me double to see her!" Thomas then gets up and heads over to her closet. "If you need any muscle to help you on this journey. I can hire some free poacher" said Thomas..

In the next couple of days Robin along with several workers get numerous boxes some full of weapons and others full of supply's loaded upon her ship, a large White 250-meter long 80.5-meter-high Yacht like boat. "Let's go, people! Time is money! Get this stuff on the boat!" she yelled out to her crew. As she gets on her boat she sees several people prepping the ship and. While everyone is boarding the ship, Dr William decides to come alone. "This will be fascinating. Now I can get to study a Gigantitan and their habitat" said Dr William. The Whistle then blows as the ship then leaves the harbor.

SOMEWHERE IN THE SOUTH SEAS 2 DAYS LATER

Robin had been eyeing a map with several other crewmates that worked for her. "Miss Robin, where exactly are we going?" asked one of the sailors. "We're close. Head south-west." said Robin. "Ma'am there on land south-west for thousands of miles." said another sailor "We can't go sailing blind like this there's probably nothing out there," said another sailor. "Then you've nothing to lose." responded Robin. It had been over a few days until one of the crew members had rushed over to her. Miss Robin! We've arrived!" said the crewmember.

Robin then walks out and then sees the island.There it is Savage Island," said Jessica. "So, what's so special about this place?" asked one of the men on the ship. "There's been stories about Gigantic creatures that roam the island," said Robin. "And among them is a Gigantitan. A fascinating creature who hasn't been seen in decades," said Dr William. The crew then handed out several guns and munitions due to Savage islands rumored fearsome inhabitants that dwell there. Robin along with 50 armed mercenaries had all gone into a Van sized Hovercraft and had made their way to the side of the island. On the way they managed to follow a river through the jungle. Several multicolored bird-like creatures were seen flying throughout the foliage. "What the heck are those things?" asked the mercenary. "Archaeopteryx a genus of bird-like dinosaurs'' said Dr William "Dinosaurs?" asked one of the mercenaries. "Savage Island was quite known for its prehistoric life according to the legends," said Dr William.

Savage Island

The group then lands over by a lake and then goes on to explore more of the island. Just then, a loud inhuman groan was heard. "What the hell?" said one of the mercenaries. "What in god name is that!?" asked another mercenary. Everyone then gets their guns ready and prepares for the worst. "It's coming from over there, keep your guns ready!" shouted Robin. They then see a group of Dinosaurs that resemble a cross between the Stegosaurus and the Kentrosaurus but with a Violet color scheme to them. "Is that a dinosaur!" said one of the mercenaries. "It's a herd of Dinosaurs!" said Dr William. "Amazing if I could only bring back one of those things alive. I could sell it in the black market" said Robin to herself. Not too far from the herd of stegosaurus like Dinosaur, they then spot a group of massive hairy creatures that resembled modern pachyderms. "Are those Woolly Mammoths over there!?" asked one of the mercenaries. "This is crazy!" said Robin.

As they continued, they see much more of Savage Island's menagerie of wild life Dinosaurs as well as Prehistoric mammals living together. While sightseeing they have then come across a massive 20 foot long Monitor Lizard known as Megalania. "Jesus can't we catch a break on this island!?" said Robin. She and the mercenary get their guns out and proceed to fire upon the Megalania. "OPEN FIRE!” shouted Robin. However, the creature’s skin was far too thick to penetrate with regular bullets. The Massive lizard swung its tail and knocked away several sailors. While this was going on a large figure who was sleeping nearby had managed to pier over a nearby hillside and see what was going on. The Megalania then stops in its tracks when it sees what is in front of it. The mercenary then looks at what stopped the giant 20-foot lizard. It had green eyes and green hair. It possessed strange markings on its shoulders and belly; it wore a light blue two-piece and stood over 80 feet tall! Everyone then sees the second creature and notices that it resembles a 13-year-old girl! "What the hell!?" screamed one of the mercenaries. "That Gentlemen is the lost species of hominid known as Gigantitan," said Dr William "So who's she supposed to be?" asked Robin "I thought Gigantitan was supposed to be bigger". said Robin. "No. She is just a juvenile," said Dr William. The Giant Girl then roars (very meekly) at the Lizard. "Me Thea!" She howled. "So that's not Greip but Thea?" asked one of the mercenaries. "You think she's connected to this Greip thing?" asked another mercenary. Just as Thea and the Lizard were about to fight, The Lizard then winds up being attacked and snatched up by a much larger creature. The creature was well over 100 feet long and 130 feet tall towering over Thea. It resembled a Tyrannosaurus Rex but far larger with green skin. The Savagesaurus Rex had arrived, and it was hungry!

"This day just gets better and better," said Jessica sarcastically. As the Savagesaurus Rex had just finished eating the 20-foot lizard. Thea upper lip curled up, allowing her to expose her teeth and fangs. The Rexes sneered in contempt, deeming her a threat not to take lightly. In defiance, Thea raised her arms and pounded her brawny fists against her chest as she slammed both fists into the ground. "It seems both Thea and the young Rex are juvenile," said Dr William. "How can you tell?" said Robin. "A young Tyrannosaurus Rex has long legs," said Dr William. Thea fist impact had caused Robin and the mercenary to fall to the ground. The Rex opened its massive maw; ready to snap them shut on Thea neck and rip out her windpipe but was met when Thea whirled to the side and a large; fist slammed itself into the side of the Rex head. The dinosaur veered sideways but pivoted to turn and face Thea, who was advancing fast for a quick follow-up. She had just gotten close when the young Savagesaurus Rex met her with a powerful tail-swipe. It hit her full in the ribs and knocked her sideways, allowing the young Rex to turn back around and greet her with a mouthful of teeth. A large hand met its jaw and slammed it shut, forcing the beast head up as the aforementioned hand wrapped around the young Rex's neck to hold the now-struggling dinosaur back. The young Rex thrashed wildly, trying to move its head closer to Thea and take a chunk out of her, but Thea arms were doing their job well to hold it back.

As the young Rex struggles to snap its jaws at her. Thea then latches her teeth around young Rex's small arm and then rips it clean off. "Holy SHIT!" said one of the mercenaries. The young Rex rears in pain, letting out a loud scream. Thea takes this opportunity to uppercut her adversary making it fall on its back. Thea immediately tackles the Meat eater to the ground, but the young Rex quickly kicks her off with its incredible hind leg strength, but Thea was able to circumvent this by injuring one of its legs. As the young Rex attempted to get up, Thea grabbed its skull from behind and beat the reptile's head, shattering many of its teeth. The young Rex attempted to thrash Thea off to the end when she snapped its jaws.

"Jesus," said a mercenary. "She learns that from someone?" said Dr William "Yeah no kidding, she took out those big lizards like it was nothing to her!" said the other mercenary. "It would take an army to bring her down!" said one of the mercenaries. "Well then that's why I paid you all for it!" said Dr. William.

But unknown to Thea the two parents of the young Rex slowly walk towards Thea with hunger in their eyes. "It seems like these two are the young Rex parents," said Dr William. As the Rex closed in, these jaws open wide and ready to make Thea their next meal. Suddenly a humanoid fist blindsided the titanic reptile, plowing the Rex's lower jaw into the ground. The Rex raked the ground, flattening small trees and splitting a nearby path asunder. The massive reptile dug its powerful legs into the ground, prompting the titan to rise erect off the ground.

Thea turns around to see an unfamiliar person standing behind her. A massive, humanoid beast landed between the Rex and Thea. She has blazing red hair down her back. While she was muscular, she still had a very feminine body adorn with scars signifying that she had been in battle before. She stood over 120 tall and was wearing a tiger skin two-piece outfit. "It's her, that Greip!" said Robin.

Yes, it was Greip in all of her glory. She saw the Savagesaurus Rex and immediately wanted a fight. Greip’s upper lip curled up, allowing her to expose her teeth and fangs. The Rexes sneered in contempt, deeming her a threat not to take lightly. Greip let out a huge roar as one of the Savage Rex charged to attack Greip. Greip fist slammed lf into the side of Rex's head. The dinosaur veered sideways, but pivoted to turn and face Greip, who was advancing fast for a quick follow-up. She had just gotten close when the Savagesaurus Rex met her with a powerful tail-swipe. It hit her full in the ribs and knocked her sideways, allowing the Rex to turn back around and greet her with a mouthful of teeth. A large hand met its jaw and slammed it shut, forcing the beast head up as the aforementioned hand wrapped around Rex's neck to hold the now-struggling dinosaur back. The Rex thrashed wildly, trying to move its head closer to Greip and take a chunk out of her, but Greip's arms were doing their job well to hold it back.

While the fight was going on the second Savagesaurus that had Thea cornered had then heard the commotion going on had then left to help its compatriot. “Looks like Greip is going to be double teamed” said one of the mercenaries. Thea then saw the Savagesaurus getting ready to attack Greip from behind. “Mama! Look out!” Thea screamed. Robin looked on in amazement as they just heard her speak! “So, she can talk!?” said Robin. '`Greip is that girl's mother!” said another mercenary.

Greip kicks one of the Rexes off her and tackles the second one. As the Rex struggles to snap its jaws at her. The giant then latches her teeth around the Rex's small arm and then rips it clean off. The Rex rears back in pain. Greip takes this opportunity to uppercut her adversary making it fall on its back. Greip then proceeds to grab a nearby boulder and slams it repetitively onto the reptile's head until it stops thrashing about. She then turns his attention to the second Rex. Greip immediately tackles the Meat eater to the ground but The Rex quickly kicks her off with its incredible hind leg strength, but Greip was able to circumvent this by injuring one of its legs. As the Rex attempted to get up, Greip grabbed its skull from behind and beat the reptile’s head, shattering many of its teeth. The Rex attempted to thrash Greip off to the end, when she snapped its jaws.

"So that's how that girl knew how to fight," said Dr William. "She's no joke". As Robin looked on at Greip, she couldn't help but eye Greip's. "It's time to get our plan started," said Robin. William noticed something wasn't right with Robin as you kept stirring at Greip. "Something telling me you're not happy with what you see," said Dr William. "Please you think she's all that there because she got a little muscle on her body and little scar on her body," said Robin. "I would wreck her giant ass out" said one of the mercenaries.

"Mama!" yelled Thea in tears. Greip then sees her daughter running toward her for a hug. "Thea Ok?" asked Greip in a broken English dialect. "Me was scared Mama!" Said Thea whose head was buried under her mother cleavage. Greip then cares her daughter back into the jungle. After she leaves, Robin and her crew then come out from hiding. Robin who had just seen how Thea and Greip were close had then gotten a wicked look on her face. She had just found Greip's weakness.

"Boys," said Robin. "Get those two on to the ship, and try to find some other creatures," the sailors then carry out their orders as they take the remains of the two dead Savagesaurus while the others then go deeper into the jungle. "Oh, I got big plans for you Greip Big plans indeed," laughed Robin. After seeing Greip in action, Robin and her crew had just set up camp over one of the lakes on the Island. "Jesus that Greip chick seems to be the strongest thing in the world" said one of the mercenaries. "Yeah, no kidding, she took those two big lizards down like they were flies!" added another mercenary.

"It would take an army to bring that bitch down!" added another mercenary. Robin then stood up and faced her crew. "We don't need an army to bring her down," snapped Robin. "We know that she has a weakness" everyone then looked at her with confusion. "What weakness is that?" asked one of the mercenaries. "It's that brat of hers. Her name is Thea!" said Robin. "She would never let anything happen to her." Robin was not wrong, Greip was fiercely protective of her, willing to take the fight to anyone or anything that wanted to bring harm to Thea. "How are you going to get Thea away from her mother, and more importantly how are you going to take her down?" asked one of the mercenaries. Robin then brings out a box and opens it to reveal a collection of darts. "These special Tranquilizer darts here are filled with a sedative that's strong enough to take down 1,000 bull elephants, these should be enough to put Thea asleep" said Robin. "Now then you try to keep Thea away from her mother and bring her to the ship, leave Greip to me." with that said Robin and her crew then go on and carry out the plan.

Over at the waterfall near one of the rivers Robin then stumbled upon a river. Drinking the water to refresh herself. However, Robin was then interrupted, by the appearance of the jungle Queen herself Greip. Robin then hides under a nearby cave to avoid being spotted by Greip. "Jesus Christ she's even bigger up close!" said Robin to herself. Greip was a remarkable sight. Greip then crouches down and gets a drink from the lake.

As she continues to drink, Greip then notices something stuck in her bicep. (Where one of the Savagesaurus bit her) she then pulls out what appeared to be a tooth from the fight with the Savagesaurus. "Stupid lizard" grunted Greip "Greip strongest there is!" Greip tosses the tooth away (coated with Greip's blood) which lands near where Robin was hiding.

While Robin looks at the blood-coated tooth, she then sees Greip taking her two-piece off. "God Almighty!" said Robin as she saw the 120-Foot-tall Voluptuous Muscular Giantess stark naked! "Not bad for a jungle girl," said Robin. Greip then walks into the lake and goes underneath the waterfall. The cool soothing water felt nice against her bare skin. Greip started to massage her breast as the water cascaded off her body. As she continued to wash herself, Robin took out a sniper and arm at Greip. PAW! Robin fires a tranquilizer hitting Greip on the butt, but it didn't seem to affect Greip as she looked to see what hit her butt. "Dammit. I should have expected this for her. It seem like I had to use more tranquilizer to take her down," said Robin.

Meanwhile in the jungles, the mercenaries had just killed four giant Boars and had those roasting over a fire on a large manmade roasting spit. "There it’s all set," said one of the mercenaries. "This giant size barbecue will get Thea's attention," said another mercenary. "Let's just hope that it won't attract her mother, or we are all screwed," said another mercenary. Just then, loud thuds had been heard from the jungle. In addition, they were getting louder and louder. "Is it her!" said one of the mercenaries. "She must've smelled the bait!" said another mercenary. "Quick hide!" the crew did just that. As they had hid themselves, Thea had arrived on the scene sniffing the air. She then sees the four large Boars cooking. "Yum yum" said Thea licking her lips. Thea immediately takes the bait gobbling up the roasted meat. "She's taking the bait as planned," whispered one of the mercenaries. "Now's our chance." Seven of the mercenaries then pull out the guns that were loaded with the special Tranquilizer darts. They then proceed to aim at Thea. "Steady," said one mercenary. "Now!" shouted one of the mercenaries. Like clockwork, they opened fired and the darts had landed in Thea's skin!

"Ow!” hollered Thea as the darts hit her. "Keep firing!" shouted one of the mercenaries. "Thea angry!” yelled Thea. Thea then picks up a nearby rock and throws it at the mercenaries shooting at her. "Jesus that bitch isn't going down yet!?" asked one of the mercenaries. However, Thea continues to fight back until tranquilizers start to take effect as she slows down. "Mama!...Thea fe…el f..u..nn..y" Thea calls out albite weakly. Thea then falls over and her eyes close. “Ok she’s out cold” said one of the mercenaries. Just then, a large hover carrier then arrives and slides underneath Thea’s unconscious body.

“Ok let’s head back to the ship, I’ll call Robin up” said one of the crewmembers. With that said and done the mercenary then heads back to the ship with Thea in tow. One of them then pulls out a communicator to contact Robin. “Miss Robin, come in Miss Robin,” said the mercenary. “What is it?” asked Robin on the other end. “We have Thea and we’re heading back to the ship”. Answered the mercenary. “Excellent now we need to get Greip over here, leave that to me,” said Robin. “Waits are you sure?” asked the mercenary. “Trust me I've got a few new recruits to get her attention,” laughed Robin.

Soon Robin begins to grow bigger and bigger as she continues to grow her outfit begins to rip apart. Robin is wearing a red and black jumpsuit. Now reaching 100 ft tall. Skyscraper is ready to challenge Greip. Greip realizes an unknown scent as she begins to sniff the air. Skyscraper reveals herself as she challenges Greip to fight. Unfortunately to Greip she seemed a bit confused. She wondered who this woman is standing in front of her wearing a weird outfit. "You call yourself the Queen of this island. Let's see if you live up to that name," said Skyscraper. Greip shouted back "Me Greip. Me not weak". Skyscrapers just laugh at her. "Her intelligence is lacking. I'm sure she won't be a challenge for me," said Skyscraper.

But unfortunately, Skyscrapers spoke too soon as Greip charged at her and full speed. Greip swipe at Skyscraper but barely miss. Skyscraper was amazed to see Greip moving at that speed. Greip went in for another attack but this time Skyscraper counterattack as she punched Greip in the face. Greip back off for a minute as she stares at Skyscraper. "You might be strong. But you're no match for me," said Skyscraper. Skyscraper jumps out of the way as Greip tries to hit her once more but Skyscraper dodges.

Skyscraper then knees Greip in the stomach knocking the wind out of her. "Too slow" gloated Skyscraper. Skyscraper then knees into Greip's back causing the Jungle Queen to howl in pain. "Ha pathetic I thought you were this great Jungle Queen" snapped Skyscraper "But now you're just my bitch." Skyscraper then proceeds to toss Greip around like a rag doll. She later performs several wrestling moves on her from suplexes to clotheslines. Skyscraper seems to enjoy herself seeing Greip suffering. She began to make a mockery of Greip by telling her that she was nothing more than a joke and how she called herself Queen of the island. Greip slowly begins to get up but Skyscraper once again attacks Greip by kicking her in the face. "Me don't fe..e…l well," said Greip as she felt dizzy. "Ohh what's wrong. Not at your full strength like you usually be," said Skyscraper.

"Well I'll tell you a little secret. While you were busy washing yourself under the waterfall. I shot a little tranquilizer at you which you weren't paying attention," said Skyscraper. Greip began to feel dizzy right after she passed out. "This is Skyscraper. I have catcher Greip," said Skyscraper. "Roger that," said one of the mercenaries. Skyscraper tied up Greip to make sure she try anything funny. Once she was done tied Greip up. Skyscraper carry Greip back to the ship. "Hate to say this. But you're heavy as hell," said Skyscraper.

Meanwhile back at the ship, everyone is sitting up to leave the island. Thea was loading on the second ship as the crewman chained her up so she wouldn't be able to move. Skyscraper soon arrive with the biggest prize of all Greip. It didn't take her long enough to load Greip on ship while the crewman chained her up. "Make sure she chains up tight. We don't want her to top size the ship," said the captain. "She will be a problem," said Skyscraper. "How would you know?" asked Dr William. "Because I shot her with a full dose of two tranquilizers. She would still be out cool until we arrived back to America," said Skyscraper.

"Let's get off this prehistoric island," said one of the mercenaries. The two ships begin to leave Savage Island at the ship that sails back to America. Skyscraper meanwhile was getting in contact with Thomas over the computer to discuss her reward money. "Well, Mr. Thomas. I aspect my reward money once I arrive back to America," said Skyscraper. "You don't get money once I see proof you catcher that Greip," said Thomas. Skyscraper show him the proof that she catcher Greip. "Amazing. A lot of specimens of a Gigantitan," said Thomas. "I'm catch two. So, I'm bringing two of them back. I expect my reward to be double," said Skyscraper.

Angel Fall City

Over in a massive football stadium in Angle Fall City, Griep was fast asleep due to the constant drugging. Thomas then walks in where Greip was past out. "Everything is going according to plan," said Thomas. "And, you, my dear, are my greatest discovery!" Thomas places a hand on Griep's leg. Griep murmurs in her sleep as Thomas smiles. "Seems like to me you are really enjoying yourself," said Robin. "You're still under my payroll. Even though I already paid you the money I promised. I just kept you around just in case things don't go right," said Thomas. "You're afraid that she might break free," said Robin. Thomas just laughed at her "She wouldn't be able to break in chains. These chains I made out of titanic steel. Even her brute strength won't be able to break them chains," said Thomas.

Meanwhile, as the show is about to start Dr. William then greets everyone at the front entrance. "Ah, welcome everyone to the biggest discovery in history!" said Dr. William. "Please, please come on in." Everyone then goes inside the stadium and heads for their seats, while Thomas then goes backstage and checks on Greip. While backstage, He then sees Greip waking up! Greip groaned as she began looking around her in confusion. "Where..Greip at?" said Greip. "Ah, you're awake my dear," said Thomas. Greip snarled, tearing against her chains, albeit still weak. "Struggle all you like but you're not going to get out that easy," said Thomas. "I had these chains made out of titanic steel to hold you down." Greip glared at Thomas angrily. "Now get ready for your big unveiling," said Thomas.

As everyone was seated, Dr. William came up on stage. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls of all ages," Dr. William called to the crowd. "I have for you the greatest discovery in history, from the mysterious Savage Island she was a Queen, now she is here before you a living remnant of the past! I give you the hominid known as Gigantitan, Greip!" The currents then rose up and to everyone's amazement, Greip was standing in a cage in chains. Greip the bellows in anger, The once-mighty Queen of Savage Island now on public display for all to ridicule. The flashing of cameras angered her, as did the shouts of the crowd. She had to get free! She put all her force into tearing at the chains but could not so much as move. Greip once again let out a mighty roar of fury at her situation before relaxing, having exhausted herself. "Oh my god!!" said one of the patrons. "This can't be real," said another patron. "Look at the size of her!" another patron called out. "DAMN THAT GIRL BE THICC!!!" said another patron eyeing her cleavage and hips. As the camera flashes continued Greip had continued to get even angrier. So much so that the next tug she did on her chains they were torn from the ground, setting the massive redhead loose.

Greip let out a huge roar as she ripped through the cage. As the audience begins to run in fear Greip continues to go on the rampage as she destroys the giant TV monitor. Now that Greip is on the loose she began to sniff the air. Dr William realize Greip you trying to pick up Thea scent. "Robin, I need you to stop her," said Dr William. "I already did my job catching her. But if you want me to, you need to pay me double," said Robin. "Ok fine. I'll pay you $60,000,000 to recapture her," said Thomas. Robin begins to grow to 100 ft tall ripping her normal clothes off to show she is wearing her red jumpsuit under her normal clothes. "Time to show this jungle bitch who the real Queen is," said Skyscraper.

Downtown City

Meanwhile Greip is running through the city as she continues to track Thea scent. Greip looked around as she began to get confused from the strange activity going on around here. Greip couldn't focus on herself as she tried her best to feel and Thea. "I found you," said Skyscraper.

Skyscraper swings her giant fist at Greip, who is able to dodge it and uses the opportunity to punch Skyscraper in the back of the head. Skyscraper falls to the street with a crash as people scatter away to safety. Skyscraper gets back to her and lunges at Skyscraper in anger, grabs her by the waist and tackles her to the ground. The ground shakes as the two giant lands fall to the ground. Greip pushes the way up, interlocks her hands together, and then slams her fists on Skyscraper back. This sends Skyscraper falling into the ground and slamming into the sidewalk. Greip lifts her leg up and prepare s to stomp on Skyscraper, but she rolls out of the way and dodges the attack. Grabbing onto a nearby building, Skyscraper lifts herself back up to her feet.

"All right, jungle girl, no more misses, nice woman," said Skyscraper. "Me not girl," said Greip. Greip quickly charges in again and punches Skyscraper but is countered by another punch. Skyscraper kicks Greip with her left foot, sending Greip crashing down onto into a building. The jungle Queen gets up, races forward and delivers a double-fisted overhead punch to Skyscraper, then punches her two more times before tossing her onto the ground behind her. Greip then prepares to stomp on the giant villain.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" sream Skyscraper. Skyscraper uses one of her devices to electrocute Greip, giving her a chance to get back on her feet. Skyscraper begins to approach Greip, who picks up and throws a small building at her. Although the pointed antenna stabs her in the shoulder, Skyscraper catches the building with both her hands, and breaks it in half with her knee. Afterward, Skyscraper proceeds to pick up two buses and strikes Greip in the head with them until they are smashed to pieces. Skyscraper then grabs onto Greip and slams her face into a building twice. The first push damages it and the second knocks it over. Skyscraper then grapples and tosses Greip over her, knocking her into another small building on her back.

"You call yourself a Queen? I fought stronger opponent than you," said Skyscraper. As Greip tries to get up, Skyscraper puts her foot down on her, pinning Greip to the ground. Greip grabs onto Skyscraper leg and sinks her giant fang into her leg, causing her to scream in pain, shattering several windows. Angered, Skyscraper grabs a nearby chimney and slams it into Greip head causing her to let go and fall to the ground, creating a shockwave in the process. Greip then grabs a nearby building and stabs Skyscraper in the leg, causing the Giantess to stumble backward. This allows Greip to get to her feet, jump in the air, and punch Skyscraper in the face.

Skyscraper grabs Greip by her hair, pulls her back and throws her down the street. Greip stumbles backwards and falls to the ground. Skyscraper grabs Greip legs and begins to spin her around in a circle before throwing her into a building. As Greip struggles to her feet, Skyscraper walks over to her and lifts up a small building, prepared to drop it on her. Greip then pulls her feet back and kicks Skyscraper in her stomach, causing her to stumble backwards. This gives Greip her chance to get to her feet, runs towards Skyscraper and punches her in the face. This makes Skyscraper drop the building she was holding on to her foot, making her jump up and down in pain as she holds her injured foot. Meanwhile in a helicopter Thomas Davis along with a pilot flying above the two giantesses. He hired a sniper shooter to shoot Greip with a tranquilizer. "We need to get closer to the one with the red hair," said Thomas. "Are you insane? We would end up getting crushed," said the Pilot.

Growling in anger, Skyscraper rushes at Greip when her back is turned and tackles her to the ground. The Two women began rolling around in the street, struggling with each other to try and land a punch to the other. Greip then gets on top of Skyscraper, but she is kicked off of her into the air, falling onto a nearby restaurant. Greip gets to her feet and sees that her hair is covered in condiments. She shakes her hair clean, while the crowd laughs at her new look. Enraged, Greip charges at Skyscraper, who at first looks frightened, but then runs at her too. They both prepare to punch each other, and both land the blow at the same time. Their blows send both giant women falling backwards and crashing to the ground and creating a cloud of dirt. When Skyscraper regains her sight, she notices that Greip is gone. She gets to her feet and starts looking for her. "Where are you little pest, where did you go," said Skyscraper.

Unnoticed by her, Greip is on top of a nearby building after climbing up. She gets to the far edge of the building where Skyscraper is and whistles at her. When Skyscraper turns around, she notices Greip right as she jumps from the edge of the building landing right on top Skyscraper knocks the wind out of her and sends her falling to the ground. Skyscraper kick Greip off her. Greip grabs a crane with a wrecking ball and garbage truck to use as weapons and Skyscraper grabs a streetlamp and street sign. Greip begins to spin the wrecking ball as Skyscraper begins to swing the lamp and signs at her, while she uses the truck as a shield. Skyscraper lands a hit on Greip head and uses the street sign to knock the truck out of her hand. Greip then use the opportunity to throw the wrecking ball at Skyscraper head twice. She tries to do it again, but Skyscraper catches the ball in her hand and crushes it with. "Uh-oh," said Greip.

"Oops I'm sorry for breaking your little toy," said Skyscraper. Greip prepares to land a punch, but Skyscraper catches her fist before grabbing her arm, flipping her over her shoulder and throwing her to the ground. Skyscraper then grabs both of Greip arms, pulls her back up and kicks her in the back to a building. Greip grabs the parts of the building and throws them at Skyscraper, one piece hits her and the other she catches, but before Greip punches her in the cheek. Skyscraper falls to the ground and Greip jumps into the air to deliver the final blow. But Skyscraper we're able to move out of the way as Greip punched the ground so hard causing a massive earthquake. Skyscraper snuck up behind Greip putting her in a chokehold. "I never expect someone like you to give me trouble," said Skyscraper. With all her might, Greip tries her best to get free, but Skyscraper continues to hang on tight. Meanwhile Thompson in the helicopter flew around Greip so he could get a good aim to fire the tranquilizer. "Keep her steady," said Thompson. The sniper aims his gun as he has a good clear shot to shoot Greip. Out of nowhere a giant hand grabbed the helicopter and the sniper fired the tranquilizer. The tranquilizer hit Skyscraper in the arm causing her to release Greip. "That idiot Thompson," said Skyscraper as she began to feel dizzy. Greip sees her opportunity as delivering a powerful uppercut knocking Skyscraper out cold.

"Well that was a close one," said Colossa. Greip was confused at first until she recognized Kaila standing by Colossa. "Good thing one of your friends contacted us about the situation," said Kaila. Greip was happy to see her old friend along with Thea who was in safe hands with Kaila. "Mama" said Thea as she hugged Greip. The mother and daughter finally reunited, but for Thompson he has to answer to the police for his illegal activity and going to the island for smuggle the dinosaur off the island and try to sell the animals to the black market. As for Skyscraper a special military squad arrested her for her legal activity on Savage Island and kidnapping Greip and Thea. "You think the prison cell is going to hold me. I'll break out," said Skyscraper. "Sorry Angela but we're going to make sure you're not going to break out this time," said one of the police.

A couple weeks have passed and Greip and Thea are back on Savage Island. Greip is relaxing under a tree as she enjoys eating a nice meal of bananas.

The End

[waltwhitmansbeard]

#1 with Vaxleth Vampire Au?

1. "I know it hurts, love. You'll be okay."

Vax should have guessed that it wasn't going to be the physical scars that haunted Keyleth. For starters, she and Pike whipped up all manner of creams and tinctures to layer over various wounds, and after several weeks of application and crusting and emergence of new skin, so little evidence of the worst thing that has ever happened to her or Vax remains. There's one crescent moon over her left scapula that still shines when it catches the light, and sometimes she inhales sharply if she sneezes too hard, but it takes a shockingly brief amount of time for the proof of his failures to fade from her skin.

But when the moon is high and they are wrapped in shadows and her mother's blanket, he sees the wounds still open, still festering. Even before he was a vampire, he always woke easily, startling at the smallest sound with an instant vigilance. Now, it's not the creaking of his father's house or the squeak of rats in the rundown shack he once shared with his sister that pulls him from sleep, but a quiet, sharp whimpering. His eyes flash open, and it takes but a moment for him to identify the source. Keyleth is twitching in his arms, eyes darting around violently under her lids. He knows a nightmare when he sees one.

"Kiki." He rests a hand against her cheek, tapping as gently as he can. "Kiki, wake up."

She lets out a small, pained whine. There's some unintelligible mumbling, but Vax manages to make out one word: hurts.

Bile rises in his throat. "Keyleth." He raises his voice above a whisper, reaching down to squeeze her hand as hard as he dares. "Keyleth, wake up, please."

Her return to consciousness doesn't happen quickly. It is a slow, confused thing, her eyes searching in the dark, the tremble of her body coming to a gradual end as she finds him curled over her. "Vax?"

He's not going to cry. He hears the quiet desperation, the broken relief in her voice, and he is determined not to cry. "You were having a nightmare."

"Oh." Her eyes slide closed again and she presses her head back into her pillow. "I'm sorry."

If she apologizes one more time for the mess he caused, he's going to scream. "You know that you have nothing to be sorry for." He rests his head onto her pillow, knocking his forehead to the space just above her ear. "I just didn't want you staying in there longer than you had to."

His arm is across her torso, pulling her tight against him, and she grips onto that arm like it's a life raft in the ocean. "Yeah," she breathes, "it...it still hurts."

And he doesn't know if she's referring to the scars or the memories, but his heart shatters in his chest all the same. He presses a kiss to the shell of her ear. "I know it hurts, love," he whispers. "You'll be okay."

There's a sharp sniffle in the dark. "What if I'm not?"

"I've known a lot of people in my life, Kiki. A lot of people who were strong or brave or tenacious or resilient, even in the face of some really scary shit. None of them hold a candle to you."

She breathes a long, shuddering breath, in, then out. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Those...monsters did what they did to you because they saw it. Because they feared it. Because they knew that you were better than them, and they had to convince you that you weren't. But I know you, too, and I know that you're not gonna let them succeed."

A silence settles over them, and Vax thumbs circles into her far shoulder, letting her stew on his words. He can practically hear the whirring in her mind, the gears turning as she tries to put all of the pieces together. Finally, she breathes, "What if I can't move past it?"

"Well, good news." He lifts his head, presses a slow, lingering kiss to her lips. "You won't have to try by yourself. You have me, and Percy, and Pike, and even Vex, when she isn't, y'know, being Vex. You have us, and we'll pull you out of the dark each and every time, I promise." He sets his forehead down onto hers.

Keyleth's eyes shut again. "Okay."

And he can only hope that she believes him, can only hope that she understands that he has a long eternity ahead of him to help her piece herself back together. He settles back down beside her, keeping her tucked in close to his chest. He knows he's not going to be able to frighten the nightmares away, bare his teeth and snarl until they cower back into the shadowed corners of her mind, but if he is to make right what he set so horribly wrong, he is going to make sure that each time she wakes, he is here, a north star for her to follow in the dark.

[shivunin]

Ficlets Masterlist

A list of all my various fic etc. on tumblr, organized by pairing and internal chronological order. I've named ask memes by the general topic of the prompt and the others by title, if they have them.

(Edit: If there is an issue with a link, please let me know--I've gone through and fixed the ones I've found with issues, but they might always break again)

Arianwen Tabris/Zevran:

Only a Kiss: (1215 Words, T) Arianwen has never been kissed; Zevran offers to correct this

Without a Name: (857 Words, T) In the aftermath of their kiss, Zevran watches Tabris and considers what comes next

Liar, Liar: (459 Words, Hurt/Comfort, T) Zevran is feverish and Arianwen offers care

Hart of Hearts: (535 Words, Fluff, T); A moment in the Brecilian Forest, briefly before they decide to be together

Saccharine: The night Zevran and Tabris decide to be together; full AO3 fic here (explicit)

And Eat It, Too: (1,257 Words, T)Arianwen admires cakes in the city; Zevran makes sure she gets what she wants

Scars: (539 Words, M) Wen notices a scar that Zevran will not discuss. 

Look At Me: (this and The Last Thread are collected into one fic on AO3 here) (973 Words, Hurt/Comfort, M) Wen leaves the Deep Roads with a bad infection, haunted by the ghosts of all who’ve died along the way.

The Last Thread and the Long Drop: (3.171 Words, Hurt/comfort, M); Arianwen is wounded. Zevran can only watch as she is sewn back together. 

From the Depths: (1,321 Words, T) Zevran delivers a piece of good news after Arianwen spends a week recuperating in Orzammar

Rest Now: (1,631 Words, Hurt/Comfort, M) Post-return to the alienage, Zevran urges Tabris to put down her blades and let herself rest

Fang and Thorn: (883 Words, T) Arianwen decides what to do with her mother’s dagger

Breath of Life: (3,658 Words, M) Zevran confronts Taliesen and nearly loses his life in the process; Arianwen grapples with the idea of losing him forever; explicit version on AO3 here

Have This Dance: (928 Words, Fluff, T) Zevran and Wen find a moment of respite on the palace rooftop in Denerim

Vincit Omnes: (1,049 Words, T) Arianwen and Zevran finally admit they love each other.

Breaking News: (297 Words) A reporter attempts to discuss the Temple of Sacred Ashes with the Warden-Commander and the researcher who located the place

The Heart Grown Fonder: (1,133 Words, T) Letters between Arianwen and Zevran about how they’re doing apart.

Regarding Spiders and Caves: (403 Words) A letter from Arianwen to Zevran regarding current events at the keep

Reunion: (1,528 Words, M) Zevran comes back from his travels; Arianwen plays a game

A Letter from Kirkwall: (506 Words, T) Zevran re: his absence from Amaranthine, set immediately after his role in Act Three of DA2

Lock and Key: (2,298 Words, Hurt/comfort, M); Zevran is captured by the Crows and tortured. Arianwen frees him.

A Red, Red Rose: (1,952 Words, Fluff, T) A wedding scene

Dawn and Gold: (905 Words, Fluff, T) Tabris helps Zevran get ready for the day

Maria Hawke/Fenris:

Lend a Hand: (965 Words, T) When Hawke is struggling with an injury, Fenris offers some assistance with the pain

A Fond Farewell: (2,548 Words) Hawke is fond of casual touches and long goodbyes; Fenris tries to understand why he likes this about her

The Small Hours: (1,496 Words, Fluff) Fenris comes to Hawke's manor to read, but he stays because he doesn’t want to stop listening to her.

As Two Reflected Stars: (12,438 Words, Hurt/Comfort/ T) (AO3 Link) No matter how close Fenris and Hawke come to each other, they never quite seem to connect—unless one of them is already hurt or bleeding. (An exploration of healing as a proxy for affection/touch)

Do You Want to Hear a Joke?: (1,459 Words, Angst) Fenris helps a drunken Hawke home shortly after her mother’s death. Hawke tries to prove that she isn’t in love with him.

Grief and Memory: (1,493 Words, Angst) Hawke is stricken by a memory of her mother during a night at the Hanged Man; Fenris cannot offer her comfort.

An Interview for Posterity: (449 Words) Kirkwall's chronicler tries to make sense of the events surrounding the Viscount's death

To the Last Drop: (1,682 Words, this one is all yearning) Fenris observes Hawke closely on an excursion to the coast

A Fool and His Gold: (1,932 Words, Fluff/more yearning) Hawke throws Fenris a surprise party

Between Strokes of Night: (2,601 Words, fluff) The second night together; full version (explicit) on AO3 here

Poppy Red: (1,273 Words, Fluff) Hawke and Fenris experience their first date

At the Dead Drop: (624 Words, epistolary) A series of letters between Hawke, Carver, and Fenris regarding Hawke’s relationship with Fenris

Know When to Hold ‘Em: (792 Words, Fluff) The first night of cards after Fenris and Hawke decide to be together

Flow Gently: (1,036 Words, Fluff) Fenris talks Hawke to sleep

Nooks and Crannies: (1,164 Words, Fluff) Hawke shows Fenris where she's hidden the weapons in her home

Stack the Deck: (1,310 Words, Fluff) Hawke bolts after a card game and a puzzled Fenris follows her back to the manor

Corpus Animaque: (1,138 Words, Fluff) After Hawke falls asleep, Fenris continues to speak to her in Tevene, knowing that she could not understand him even if she could hear him.

Wake Easy: (555 Words, Fluff) Fenris feigns sleep so Hawke can kiss him awake.

Winter's Grasp: (4,834 Words, Hurt/comfort) (AO3 link) Hawke takes an unnecessary risk in Lowtown; after they return to her manor, Fenris tries to discern why

Pour Forth: (3,830 Words) (AO3 link) Hawke makes the same misplaced joke across the span of her relationship with Fenris. He does not, in fact, cry about it. (Or, five times Hawke tells Fenris it's okay to cry and one time she doesn't.)

Ebb and Flow: (705 Words, Hurt/comfort) Hawke is having trouble resting; Fenris helps her to bed

Ash and Salt: (798 Words, hurt/comfort) After the destruction of Kirkwall, Fenris finds Hawke and offers what comfort he can.

If Sorrow I Let In: (1,344 Words, Hurt/Comfort) Hawke has a nightmare about almost dying in the Fade. Fenris is there when she wakes

A Letter From Home: (403 Words) Letter resting on a counter in a cottage near Amaranthine, as yet unopened, dated nearly six months ago

*Sleight of Hand: (7,734 Words) (AO3 Link) Magician AU: Hawke is a stage magician who's never asked much about her grumpy assistant. When Fenris spots his pursuers during a show, it may be time for the two of them to face the likelihood that this may be his very last performance.

Emmaera Lavellan/Cullen:

A Bond Beheld: (1,710 Words) The Commander pledges fealty to the new Inquisitor

Tipsy: (209 Words) Conversation overheard while drunk

Lavender Cakes: (236 Words) A codex entry describing a special request from the Commander; (collected with a codex entry on a marriage offer post-Inquisition and rumors circa Trespasser)

A Letter from the Viscount: (368 Words) Varric writes to see how the Inquisitor has been, and to deliver an offer

Entanglements: (704 Words, Fluff) A quiet, simple morning in retirement

Just a Hair: (676 Words, Fluff) Emma trims Cullen’s hair

From Behind: (513 Words, Fluff) Cullen reflects on life as a father and husband

Structural Integrity: (4,300 Words, Fluff) Cullen and his daughter build a pillow fort—now all that’s left is to test it (also collected in my anthology fic here on AO3)

Letters from Adhlea: (527 Words, epistolary) While Cullen visits family in Ferelden, his daughter writes him a letter with updates.

Elowen Lavellan/Cullen

Summer Tea: (897 Words) The Inquisitor takes a moment away from a party to rest on the balcony; Cullen joins her

A Storm’s Aftermath: (786 Words) Elowen tries to be normal after nearly kissing the Commander (she…doesn’t quite manage it, but neither does he)

At Your Side: (678 Words) As Elowen returns to her room in Skyhold, Leliana notices a new mannerism

Disarming: (773 Words) The Commander and Inquisitor spend a morning training

Falsehoods: (851 Words, Hurt/comfort) Elowen takes a wound in battle; Cullen visits her room at the inn to make sure she's alright

Call Your Mother: (515 Words) A letter from and to Elowen’s mother regarding her choice of beau

Daybreak: (615 Words) After the events of Your Fate for Mine, Cullen wakes in bed with Elowen and finds himself with a small predicament.

Salshira Lavellan/Cullen

Slander: (547 Words) Codex entry detailing several complaints about the Inquisitor

The Fire at the Center: (556 Words) Cullen tries to focus on his prayers, with some difficulty

Wait: (621 Words, Fluff) Salshira passes through Cullen’s office on the way to other tasks

Fires of Battle: (846 Words) Salshira closes the last distance before the Temple of Mythal and meets the Commander on the battlefield

News from Wycome: (740 Words, Emotional hurt/comfort) Cullen rushes to deliver a crucial bit of news

Don’t Look Down: (448 Words, Hurt/comfort) Salshira regains consciousness after a nasty fall

After the Dark: (841 Words, Hurt/comfort) Salshira returns from the Deep Roads; she is not doing well

Adahlena Lavellan/Cullen (aka the arranged marriage au):

Pip: (2,611 Words) Adahlena Lavellan and Cullen meet for the first time in the Elvhen lands at Halamshiral

The Morning Mist: (820 Words) Cullen and Adahlena take breakfast together in the gardens

Misc:

Hounds and Strays: (4,521 Words, T) A young Arianwen tries to protect a stray dog and fails; as an adult, Alistair realizes they share a connection to animals (the first thing they have in common)

Something to Cry About: (954 words, G) Following the events at Redcliffe, Arianwen begrudgingly admits that she might be friends with Alistair.

Shut-Eye: (996 words, G) Arianwen and Alistair discuss happiness on a sleepy night before the fire.

[books-and-some-other-stuff]

To all the girls who said fuck Prince Charming,

give me a scarred knight.🔥

"I do not become involved in my clients’ personal lives. I am here to safeguard you from physical harm. That is all. I am not here to be your friend, confidant, or anything else."

“Luckily for us both, Mr. Larsen, I have no interest in being your friend, confidant, or ‘anything else.’”

Princess Bridget von Ascheberg of Eldorra would be the death of me.

“You gonna keep ogling me, or you got something I can help you with, princess?”

“How’s the book?”

“Riveting.”

“Sure seems that way.By the way, princess, the book is upside down.”

"I’d rather you hate me alive than love me dead."

“Second time you’ve tried to get me to take my shirt off, princess. Careful, or I’ll think you’re trying to seduce me.”

“Because I understand what it’s like to be alone.”

“Mr. Larsen, we might not kill each other after all.”

I could handle getting shot. I couldn’t handle Bridget getting hurt.

“It’s nice”

“What?”

“Your real smile.”

“Princess, you couldn’t look horrible if you tried.”

“Was that another compliment, Mr. Larsen? Two in two years. Careful, or I’ll think you like me.”

“I suggest you stop lookin’ at me like that, princess.Unless you plan on doing something about it.”

“Remove your hands from her before I remove them for you.”

"Either fuck me, or I’ll find someone else who will.”

“Do that.And you’ll be responsible for a man’s slow, bloody death. Is that what you want, princess?”

Bucket list number four.

Being by her side without actually being with her would be a special form of torture, but it was better than not being near her at all.

“If you think I was anything close to happy these past six weeks,You couldn’t be more wrong.”

None, except for the fleeting moments when he looked at me like I was his whole world, and he never wanted to blink.

looking at me through his eyes, I believed I was the most beautiful woman in the world.

“You don’t need a crown to be queen, princess.”

“Perhaps...I was always meant to find my way to you.”

Ours was a story destined for a tragic ending, but when you were already on a train headed off the cliff, all you could do was hold on tight and make every second count.

Bridget von Ascheberg was mine and mine alone. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t mine to take. I was taking her anyway, and if I could tattoo myself onto her skin, bury myself into her heart, and etch myself onto her soul, I would.

From this point on, you’re mine. No other man touches you. If they do…I know seventy-nine ways to kill a man, and I can make seventy of them look like an accident. Understand?”

"We always end up where we’re meant to be, and you were always meant to be here.” With me.

“Trust me, princess. I would rather end my own life than ask you to do anything that might hurt you.���

She wasn’t mine to take, but I was taking her anyway.

"Crawl to me.”

“We never got to dance at the wedding”

“You don’t like it when I dance”

“I love it when you dance. But only with me.”

“You don’t dance.”

“Only with you.”

“Careful, Mr. Larsen, or I’ll think you actually like me.”

“Baby, we’re way beyond like.”

"Goddammit Bridget, I need you. In any way I can have you.If you think I’m leaving you to deal with this bullshit alone, you don’t know me at all.”

“You asked me if I’d ever been in love. I said no.Ask me again, princess.”

“So we’re over. Just like that.”💔

“I never thought I’d see the day. Rhys Larsen in love.”

"I’m as much yours as you are mine, princess, and a law isn’t keeping me away. I don’t care what a piece of paper says. I’ll burn down the entire fucking Parliament if I have to.”

I wished she could see herself as I saw her. Fucking perfect.

“If we do it, we do it together. You and me against the world, princess.”

“I wouldn’t have anyone else by my side, Mr. Larsen.”

Bridget was, after all, my greatest risk and my greatest reward.

Bridget felt better than heaven. She felt like home.

Good thing I was, and always will be, a soldier for one queen.

“Mr. Larsen, I do believe you’re a secret romantic after all.”

[lovingyouislikeafairytale]

love letters?

1

I look in her eyes and my heart tells me to leap and the parachute would be her. Somehow I can see how I wanna be when I'm with you. My thoughts are destroying me, I tried not to think. Scars in my body, telling me to give up, voices in my head so juvenile. She thinks I'm too reckless, and promised you I won't fold. Would you care? care at all? Why won't you ever be the first one to break? Why won't you ever say what you want to say? We haven't talked since I boarded the train. I hurt myself a thousand times to feel smth in my soul, feeling like in the end we'll be good together no? no. Why did my head just hollow out?

I hope you're happy with him.

I'm feeling like a stone, waiting by the window for you, it's hard to move, I'm living in the blue. I can't sleep anymore, no point in turning off the lights. I have to learn to let go, it kills me a little, it's okay. can't believe i lost you within all of them or is it just my thoughts? our smiles turned to tears, our moment's gone? I was hoping it hasn't. you're no longer here. We've lost it all, I could've said something that could've saved our fall. we could've stopped it this time but we stalled. I'm going insane, I can't live this way, without you? I wish I could let go of this mind you know? Who have we become? Begging myself to change god knows I tried. Please don't leave me behind. I love you now matter how much you take. Just don't leave me behind? We got to each other just in time. I can barely see shit, I might be forever gone. can we not rearrange the pieces? an empty theater with me playing you our song?

I know I can make it, but not without you. I've been writing paragraphs about you, I hope you get to see them one day. Your memories are playing in my mind, am I going insane? 

I'm tired of being stranded, hope I get to see you holding my hands again, you know?

What does love mean when the end is rolling in since it has started? Did we even love one another? Can none of us save each other? Weren't we the same? We were one in the same. Blaming myself, alarming myself before I fall in love, with drunk eyes, can we never be together? If you'll be mine, let me see my madness, but I know you're not in love anymore. When the dusk comes in everytime you're the fallback. Am I even made for you?

2

I'm talking backwards,

sprinting with my eyes closed

We can wait until the sunrise

Let your heart just rest on mine

Got you dancing in my room,

but were in space though,

we're floating off a cliff

It's still in my head.

Staring at the city lights,

On the brightside, think I'm about to fall in love with you.

Girl I ain't mad at this, cause none of this is real

I'm sober for the night, I came to lie

It's 5 am on the brightside,

I'm thinking of you

I'm in love for too long.

3

i get anxiety everytime you're online. this life I've lived is full of regrets. we used to be so close, we used to never have hours apart without one of us hearing eachother regardless if it was a text or our voices. you were like a pretty dream far away from reality. reality that hits me everyday. now we don't talk for weeks and yeah it's probably all in my head but i really think i lost you long ago. i can't pretend anymore. i've fallen into emptiness, now i just watch you from afar. i know there's nothing after this. you'd rather leave me than to watch me die in your arms. your hands there on my face, there will be no better place. staring at the freeway, thinking about what you said. see you while I'm asleep. nineteen, suffocating in my sheets, how could i be scared with you right by my side. now you're passing like the seasons. I compromised when i knew you wanted more, girl i try. we've got some problems i can't find. you're all that i needed till my last day. have i been walking through your brain, girl?

rerouting

i guess she was all in my mind, i'm parched, so i'm drinking your lies. why can't you wait till you fall out of love? i don't wanna cry, i just can't get you out of my mind. don't tell me you cried cause i know that you didn't. cause you tore apart whatever i had and i listened, why did i listen? if i don't see you anymore, just send your heartbeat, I'll go. to the stars. where they don't find us no more. i know it's not my place to say I love you, but who's it up to? i've loved our good times here. there isn't enough room for you and i. only you. maybe in another life?

i wrote you some notes, they're atrocious.

(frozen, oh hopeless)

4

we're out of time my love

my only one

looking at you smiling through my polaroid

I'm so in love.

I wanna feel your touch

while we fall apart, looking at stars

in a pink sky

we go far

in the deep end

girl hold on to me

hold on till we make things right.

(look at the stars tonight, they all just remind me of you)

I fly in my head

you be by side,

let your heart just rest

on mine

Got nowhere to go

let her rain just pour

let me look at you

while we're slow dancing

in my room, with the dim lights on

girl we'll be alright

looking at the moon

on the brightside

we'll be alright.

I don't want to cry

have them butterflies

loving you even if it's play pretend

till I feel nothing at all.

5

I don't feel you anymore but I'm scared to feel what you made me feel ever again. i can't see you, just our glimpses, of us walking, of us holding hands in the rain, you hugging me till i was warm, our first kiss in your room, i tried to let you go, but you never did. did you? I'm walking through your street with sweaty palms like it was the first time, i don't feel them anymore. I've had a heart that don't speak to me no more. you knew how long it'd take to fix my heart, my heart is still in love with you, i lie in my bed hoping you're okay wherever you are, whoever you are with. I've finally run out of runway i guess, above ground level, i feel a crash coming. you should've found your own way home you know? i never went to prom but I'm waltzing with my miseries now, somewhere makes me feel I'm right where i belong. misery is default, i can't run away from it if that's only part of me i still recognise. i think about you all the time. I've waited for you my whole life, i need you here by my side, just holding my hand, and I'll be just right. you're everything i dreamed of, being friends didn't make it much easier. you can't i get you out of my head? my friends say i threw my life away, no shit i did. i don't wanna come back home, to an empty home. i had a different one for i was with you. who am i now that I'm lonely? only if those cherry trees blossomed, that'd finally cure my heartbreak. your memories have faded, I've let go but i wish i could quit you. this screen will never let us hold hands, a perfect hand to hold on imperfect lonely roads. when you wanna let go, I'll be back when you're lonely. why you gotta let go? why you gotta move on? our love didn't survive through the winter time. a broken heart led me to you back when darkness was all i had to hold to darkness all over again. I'll just have to keep needing you. Now I'm making my way home, nearly passing out.

( i wish you thought of yourself, the way i thought of you. )

[one-spaceship-to-historia]

Writing Snippet #1

This is a discarded prologue. It is written from a POV that quite frankly had no impact on the story, it also doesn't help that I wrote this approximately five years ago now. It's also the second attempt at this sequence. It also portrays a discarded version of the character Auden, before they had finished unfurling into the being they are in the current narrative. Enjoy this clunky old piece of writing.

It started like any other day. 

  Well, at least it seemed to. She woke before the sun rose, was listening to the radio through her head set and looking out the hotel window. She was fully dressed, off in whatever fantasyland she’d been reading about that week. If at that moment I had bothered to read her expression. I would have noticed that she was frowning. But I sat up and sent my gaze into the adjoined hotel room where I could hear my other friends grumbling as they woke. I had called out to them, asking what today’s plan was. Asking her specifically what café she wanted to visit, because I owed her a raspberry tea. 

We had decided, being young and infallible, that going to the beautiful city of San Francisco after Graduating High school was a good game plan. A couple weeks pretending to be preppy shopaholic city girls. All while getting to see the sights with the eldest of our group being the tour guide. Then head off to college ready to start our next step in life. We drove in an older minivan that could seat the nine of us. Chatting, laughing, screaming, crying, yelling, and most of all singing our way from a small town east of Yellowstone a couple hundred miles to California. Nothing could go wrong, we had told ourselves and each other. We’re all together ready to take on the great big world of adulthood. 

We were oh so wrong. 

We had left the hotel that slightly brisk summer day, with smiles on our faces as we went to the nearest open book shop. We had a good deal of fun skimming the newer books, laughing at the clichés we were finding. Werewolf men and drama queens, fighting over some poor nerd who wasn’t even interested. Ha! 

 Now that I think about it, she didn’t laugh as loudly that day as she normally would. Her lips were extra red from her nervous chewing, as she walked the shelves with the books of legends bound in gold. The tales of heroes such as those were always a favorite. Her fingers had been gentle, as if she was saying goodbye to one of her art pieces. Her hair, once again cut short, hung in a messy gold curtain over her face as she looked at an antique copy of The Sword in the Stone. Her eyes had been sad. For something that I now know had yet to happen. 

After a couple more stops, Fate found us crossing a street. Sometimes I swore I could see the magic that exploded from the oldest of my friends at that moment. After it was over, she told me that she had been looking up at the sky as a butterfly flew through her vision. That she had felt the pull on her right hand as I tried to pull her out of the way. The harsh sting of the man’s magic as he tried to teleport back to his home world, to avoid the car; when he slammed into her shoulder. Sending her into the car's path. How she registered the scent of the burning breaks. Acidic in my own memory. But she stressed, that wasn’t what had her attention as her body fell asleep and her soul was ripped away to another world. No she was focused on the horror and regret in the poor woman, who was driving the cars, eyes. 

Looking back. I think she knew that this was only the catalyst. That she had seen the aliens that morning while she watched the sunrise. That she had been waiting for it. I think that she knew she was going to lose her mortal life. I think she knew she was going to die that day. 

All I can say on the matter now is that wherever she was taken, when she came back she was a hero. Even if her scars told a different story. And as her friend I had just held on to the fact that she would return because I owed her a raspberry tea.