#she doesn't take the fact that one of us murdered her dad in front of her personally

[general-sleepy]

Eamon, before the Landsmeet: Time to make Alistair the rightful King of Ferelden!

The HoF and crew, all in their matching ANORA 4 QUEEN t-shirts: Ah.

[thatweirdbitchjax]

Muti slasher with an child reader headcannons request

The slasher learns about the fact their child is growing a part from them cuz of their murdering. The child has shown that they feel feel force to

plz

OK! I'm gonna choose the characters randomly through wheel and do a few of them. And I am so sorry it took me so long to get done with this.

Characters: v.sinclair, b.sinclair, c.spaulding, art, d.sawyer, b.sawyer

Warnings: teen!reader, slasherchild!reader, mentions of murder, mentions of manipulation, teen!reader runs away, theft, underage drinking, possible underage driving, drinking and driving, underage smoking, drug use, underage drug use, gn!reader, suicide mention, angst

Runaway

V.SINCLAIR

He doesn't exactly like it either, but what Bo says goes

He tried to sypathize with you, but the further you pushed yourself away, the harder he found to communicate with you

He tried taking you downstairs to his "art studio" once so y'all could spend time together but he chose a bad time to do so as Bo came downstairs carrying a dead body which sent you into a frenzy

You locked yourself in your room and cried most of the night while Vincent, silently, went off on Bo

After awhile Vincent walked upstairs to your room to apologize, just to see you not there and the window wide open

He also noticed tons of empty beer bottles and medicine containers

He runs over to the window and notices your getting into his truck and quickly rushes out after you

By the time he makes his way downstairs, you've already drove off and almost out of town

He is absolutely crushed

His darling child ran off, and it's all his twins fault

He's gonna get Lester to go looking for you, and he his going off even worse on Bo now

Bo actually feels bad now, although he is calling you a little priss, he does feel bad for scaring his brothers child away

So now Bo is looking for you too

Needless to say, they find you eventually on the side of the road throwing up

They take you home, however you start staying with Lester on the outskirts of town so you are less likely to encounter victims or the bodies of victims

B.SINCLAIR

He doesn't care

He does, but he doesn't

He loves you, but no child of his is going to be a little priss

He eventually tries manipulating you into killing people

^Like he done with Vincent

He tries talking to you about how proud he'll be of you, how proud uncle Vince will be of you, how proud Grandma will be of you

And eventually he wears you down, getting you to agree to kill

However, what he doesn't realize, is he also drove you into drug use and abuse

He only figured this out when he noticed three bottles of liquor gone from the freezer

It was a pretty rough night

A mother and her daughter had found their way into town and instead of going out himself, Bo sent you

He handed you the shotgun and sent you on your way

Well, you killed the mom, but couldn't kill the little girl (not like he would make you kill a child) so you instead took her to your dad's (Bo's) truck and told her to sit there

Anyways, at first, not thinking you would do such a thing, he asked Vincent and Lester, receiving the same answers from both of them

"I ain't seen no liquor in a while."

After a while of thinking he had drunk it and forgot, he heard a thud upstairs, in your room

The thump was followed by a small "Ow" and some giggles

He slowly made it up the steps, calling out for you

He goes to push the door open, but he hears a truck start outside

He rushes out just to see you in the front seat of his truck with a little girl in the passenger seat

You pulled out of the driveway and handed the little girl one of his liquor bottles to throw at him

And throw she did, it landed directly between his eyes, knocking him out on contact

You had stolen his wallet before leaving, so it's safe to say, you're not coming back

C. SPAULDING

He doesn't even really kill unless he's like protecting his family, himself, or his gas station

He doesn't mind you not wanting to be around the violence and won't go out of his way to shield you from it, but he'll place his hand or arm across your eyes if your close enough

Overall, possibly the best parent

ART

Definitely mimes empathy then (silently) laughs in your face

Makes sure you see so much gore it's a bit much even for the gore enjoyers

Once snatched a still beating heart out of someones chest and shoved it into your mouth, forcing you to eat it

The worst parent if you don't like killing

And you aren't running away either, he and (I'ma refer to her as ghost girl) will find you no matter where you try to go

And don't even think about killing yourself, Ghost Girl will just reincarnate you

D.SAWYER

*eats you*

I'm just kidding, but seriously?

You are in a family of cannibals, but you hate violence?

I imagine since he doesn't really like it either, he'll just keep you at the gas station with him when Nubbins, Bubba, and/or Chop-Top are killing people

He tries to be more sympathetic with you, but gives up eventually and hits you with his broom until you stop crying or Bubba runs him off

Don't get me wrong, Bubba is scared of him, but he will push him away from you or fuck something up else where to get Drayton off your back a little bit

Leave it to uncle Bubba to take a beating for you

Nubbins also tries to help sometimes by spitting at Drayton and getting him to chase him, but it doesn't really work half as much as it does with Bubba as Nubbins just runs off and hides while Bubba actually takes the beating

Chop Top doesn't really care but if he does see it getting excessive, he will throw something at Drayton and run

Once again, not as much of a relief as Bubba's unless Bubba rushes in, picks you up and hides you from him

B.SAWYER

100% the most caring one

He tries to shield you from it, can and will go out of his way to shield you from it

^A few victims have gotten away because of that

He kinda feels like if you're around it long enough then you'll get used to it (desensitized to it like he is)

He tried testing the theory once, but after witnessing you go through a panic attack so bad he was scared he almost killed you, he never done it again

He definitely shields you from Drayton too

He makes sure to send you into the field of sunflowers when he knows that they are gonna kill people that night

That ended after a victim tried to kidnap you tho, so now you are sent to your room with a pair of headphones and Chop-Tops records

Tags:

@puppet200 @zeroisreallygood @purpleeggyboi @th3-r4t-48 @im-a-simp898 @aflairforthemelodramaticc @luciluck2046 @caretaleandotherstuff @evry1h8s-me

[kitchenisking]

Sterek Fic Rec

Second night of chunnuka!

As it Should Be by KuroKitty (HaleYes) - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 7,240, sterek)

Stiles comes home from his 18th birthday party at the bowling alley to find a surprise waiting for him in his room.

Or, the one where Derek has no chill.

Daddy. by Krose_16 - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 1,430, sterek)

Stiles smells like someone else. A certain alpha doesn't like it.

Daddy's Boy by Snare - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 2,822, sterek)

Stiles has been blushing around him all week, sputtering and cheeks going red. It’s only after a pack meeting when Derek finally sees the soft pink lace peaking out from under his waistband.

you're still you by EvanesDust - (Rating: T, Words: 7,292, sterek)

[excerpt] Stiles takes a deep breath and follows the pull of their bond to the kitchen. He stops short when he sees Derek sitting at the table. His brows are furrowed with worry and his eyes are closed. But that’s not what makes Stiles’s heart skips a beat.

No, it’s the fact that Derek, his thirty-two-year-old husband, looks half his age now. As in literally half his age. There’s no way that the man sitting in front of him is older than sixteen.

“What the fuck?” Stiles blurts out, and Derek’s eyes shoot open, the chair clattering back as he stands as if Stiles surprised him. And that just goes to show that something is seriously wrong because Stiles has only ever been able to do that when Derek’s stressed and lost in thought. “What the hell happened?”

…or the murder husbands fic that’s mostly sweet while bby Derek takes care of his pregnant mate.

Neither Here Nor There by FelOllie - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 7,083, sterek)

"Yeah." Stiles ran a hand through hair he hadn't washed in days, not since he'd come home from his dad's to find the loft littered with shotgun shells, black blood staining the floor and the heavy scent of wolfsbane cloyingly thick in the air, with Derek nowhere to be found. "We'll get him back. But..."

"What?" Scott asked, crossing the floor to stand before Stiles, lifting a comforting hand to his best friend's shoulder.

Stiles met Scott's eyes, his own orbs glittering with terrified tears. "What if he's just ash by then?"

Bright by thedevilyousay  - (Rating: Not Rated, Words: 4,102, sterek)

"The strongest warlock in all the land uses his power to constantly kidnap the princess. Most people believe it’s because he’s in love with her, but they have it all wrong. He’s in love with the knight who always comes to save her."

or

Allison finally lets out all the air that’s been trapped in her lungs to giggle, a noise she quickly tries to cover with her hand. This is all too much though, honestly. Stiles isn’t even dressed, Derek has no idea that the mage only does this to see him, and she suddenly can’t remember if she took the kettle off the fire in Stiles kitchen before walking out here to greet her Knight. She tries to gather herself before she speaks.

Nothing Gory Means No Glory (but baby please don't bore me) by DefNotForWork - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 13,537, sterek)

“I don’t like them touching you,” he rumbled. “I don’t want anyone else touching you.” He leaned forward, and Stiles’ eyes went wide, thinking for one crazy second that the wolf might be leaning in for a kiss. He stood, frozen in place as Derek pressed in close, chest to chest, dragging his nose and then his stubbly cheek against the corner of Stiles’ slack, shocked mouth, down over his jaw and then to his neck. Stiles recognized it as scenting, but damn did it feel like so much more.

Or

Stiles puts himself in the way of a succubus, gets munched on, Derek talks about his feelings, and then they find true love. Not strictly in that order.

At Peace by RisingQueen2 (FallenQueen2) - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 1,801, sterek)

Stiles spies Derek looking adorably soft and can’t help but go to him.

The End is the Beginning by AClosedFicIsNeverRead - (Rating: Mature, Words: 6,496, sterek)

When Chris returned to the living room, rifle in hand, Stiles – God help him – looked so relieved. 

“Thank you,” Stiles sighed. He sat up and closed his eyes, trying to hold himself somewhat still as he waited to die.

Chris clenched his jaw. Raised his rifle. Aimed with tearful eyes. And pulled the trigger. 

- OR - 

The one where Stiles is bitten and left for dead by a rogue Alpha without anyone knowing, becomes increasingly unstable, and asks Chris Argent to put him down. It doesn't go the way he expected it would...

let the tension seep from your bones by To_fill_the_sea - (Rating: Mature, Words: 3,510, sterek)

Derek comes home from tracking a rogue alpha that was encroaching on his territory and threatening his town. When he finally fixes the problem and comes back home he finds Stiles crying in the shower. He then does what he can to soothe and help him.

[bruciemilf]

Okay besties, I have an idea for you;

AU where the justice league was rooted in a small town; everyone knows everybody and no one knows anyone. Not really. But them? Oh, they know eachother.

They knew Clark and Bruce would tie the knot right after graduation.

They knew Diana would take new York museums by storm. They knew Hal would grow into his dad's aviator jacket. They knew Barry would wear gold around his neck in the Olympics. They simply knew.

Except for the fact that Clark had no idea Bruce would go on to divorce him just to marry an old sparring buddy, -- Khoa something; he doesn't know to this day, and he refuses to learn, -- for reasons he wouldn't divulge.

And bruce didn't anticipate his ex husband being the one who would investigate his husband's murder.

Funny how death brings people together.

Not until Dick, their boy, his boy, too, - He's Jon and Kon's brother just as much as he's Jason's, Tim's, and Damian's, and no piece of shit paper could take that from him, - told him, a bone white paleness to his cheeks the day of his weekend.

Their home is chaos; Not a chaos he knows, a chaos he loves, but a disservice on their once home.

Four different cars parked in front of Bruce's manor, dark enough to blend in the depth of night, give Clark a pretty good idea of what he'll find.

" This is bad. This is really bad, right? Oh god, is he moving? He just looked at me, I SWEAR he just looked at me,--"

'' Who gave Barry coffee?" Clark doesn't want them to be shocked when he enters, because really, he's not supposed to be here. The spark of twisted pleasure when they see him Is small, but it's there. " Who died?"

Hal skips over the corpse currently occupying the living room carpet, a frenzy in his eyes, " We do NOT have time for your shit, Kent. It's bad enough Wayne dragged us along to his little graveyard shift,--"

Clark doesn't particularly want to know who's that Oliver tosses Russian words with over the phone, but he takes a pause, only to point sharply at the pilot, " As if you have anything better to do you plane crushing fuck--"

" One time! One time!"

" Quiet down! You're upsetting Bruce," Command and order came to Diana as naturally as flight does to birds; Out of them all, -- jaded and secretive and wore out by life like a pair of shoes, -- she holds the crown of stability for sure.

Clark envies her. Maybe because she's her, or because she has an arm around Bruce.

He's tired; And scared. Clark's pretty little ghost.

Blanket over his lean, strong shoulders, knees nestled to his chest, shivering under Diana's arms. His eyes haven't left the living room.

Not until Clark walked up to the bottom of the stairs, where he could catch a better view of purple and blue rendering Bruce's sharp cheek.

There's something undeniably demure about Bruce Wayne; Youngest of them, softest of them. Clark adored it; He's always been a beast of a man, -- granted, raised with Martha Kent's southern loving ways, but you can't make a puppy from a wolf.

Bruce very much disagreed, and told Clark as such. That they compliment eachother.

Clark can't help but be sad at Bruce's softness now; But he's not stupid enough to think Bruce weak, and God help you if you're that man. Maybe Khoa was that man.

Bruce's eyelashes flutter like a butterfly's wings, " ...Clark." You came.

" Hi, baby." You called.

He closes his eyes, silently letting embarassment take him. Hal facepalms behind him.

" Not to interrupt your weird Eye Make Out slash Emotional Hug contact, but seriously, we need to call the police!"

" No!" Bruce raises to his feet, fingers twisting and fiddling, a nervous habit. Clark wants to capture him in his arms and never let him move, " No. No police."

Diana's voice is gentle, " Why not?"

" Because he did it!" Hal says, " I mean, it's pretty obvious!"

" Oh shut the fuck up-"

" That's absurb--"

" Hal, you're scared I get it, but Bruce would never,--"

" I did," Bruce declares, sentencing them to silence. " I did it. "

A tension filled cloud slowly drips over them. Hal begins pacing even more. Barry joins him. Oliver's yelling gets louder, and the Bruce's fingers shake worse.

Clark, wordlessly, pulls him upstairs, hands gentle on his smaller wrists, ignoring the call back from downstairs, where death still lingers.

Bruce won't look at him when he asks, " Did you do it? Really?"

" He was going to hit me."

" He was already hitting you," Clark spits the hateful truth, acid hissing over his tongue like a well-sharpened knife, " He was already hitting you. And you didn't kill him then. "

A shiver, a tremble, Bruce turning his back as if to protect himself. Clark's heart hurts. He's never been someone Bruce needed protection from, " Please, --"

" So you were either going to stop him from hitting you... Or from hitting someone else," Bruce's frame moves from him, departs again, and Clark follows, because he let Bruce walk away one time and it got them here, " ...Or someone was gonna stop him from hitting you."

Bruce freezes, gaze wide. Only he's not looking at Clark. He's looking at what's behind him.

Clark follows the line of sight.

There's Jason, their youngest, their tallest, terrified, and teary, and blood soiling his hands.

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Our Darkest Hour: Part One

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.9k

Summary: Rolling blackouts cause a serial killer to rape and murder his victims. He taunts the police and even brings Derek into it. The public has dubbed him the Prince of Darkness. Meanwhile Frank is livid that you didn't stay in jail so if he can't get rid of you that way, the only way to do it is to kill you.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Season Five Masterlist

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them.

x

"And out of darkness came the hands that reach through nature, molding men." - Alfred Lord Tennyson

You sit at your desk looking at your phone with thought. The text from your dad was sent ten minutes ago but you're not sure why he's so pissed. All you did was ask him if he could come down to visit you this weekend. Ever since you've gotten out of prison, he's been pissed about anything and everything. You're not sure why. Is it the kids he's fostering? Are they not doing their chores? Is it his construction company? Is he not getting enough money from it? You tap the corner of the phone on your bottom lip in thought.

"Are you okay?" Spencer asks,

"Yeah. My dad is just having one of his bad days, I guess. He's pissed about something and it looks like he's taking it out on me. All I did was ask if he wanted to come down this weekend to visit."

"Does he normally get like this?"

"Sometimes. Usually, I ignore him until he calms down. He'd buy me dinner and we'd talk it out or he'd get me a gift and he'd be fine the next day."

"I'm sure it's nothing."

"Yeah, maybe."

Strauss comes out of Hotch's office, signaling to you that he's free for the briefing. You pass her by on the way to the briefing room.

"What did Strauss want?"

"She needs us in Los Angeles. There was a home invasion homicide last night. Officers found Gregory Everson, fifty-six, beaten, with a GSW to the head. His wife, Colleen, was equally beaten and raped repeatedly."

"She survived this?" you gasp.

That makes your heart heavy. You know for a fact that this woman doesn't want to be alive anymore. You didn't for a long time.

"He chose to keep her alive like an intentional witness. Everything but that points to an organized offender, an experienced one."

"Was she able to identify him?" Spencer asks.

"She said he was white with mean eyes and repulsive breath."

"Rotten inside and out. Did he rape her in front of the husband?"

"Yeah," JJ whispers.

"Oh, no," you sigh sadly. "Poor Colleen."

"I'm touched but one home invasion rarely warrants Strauss personally sending us out," Derek says.

"No, there's more. Ballistics match a double homicide in Downtown LA forty-eight miles away. Three days ago, two women were raped and killed there. Last night was in the suburbs. LAPD's afraid of another Night Stalker."

You don't waste any time getting to the plane. You need to be in LA before this guy strikes again.

"This guy's way too good at this to have just started. He pulled off hours of torture and a homicide without disturbing the neighbors. Not to mention, he robbed the house."

"That could be a habit."

"Do you think he started as a burglar?" JJ asks Hotch.

"If it was just about the killing, he wouldn't bother robbing them."

"How did he get in?"

"Mrs. Everson said there was a noise outside their door. They were outside of their room for a few minutes. When they came back, he was there. He distracted them so he could climb in through their bedroom window."

"I'll have Garcia, see if that MO was used in any other home invasions," Spencer says.

"Victimology is all over the map. He committed three murders and they were both men and women, old, young, black, white, and Hispanic. That's about as random as it gets."

"Randomness implies a lack of predictability. I think that's the point. All the varying people in his message. He wants them all to fear him."

"They will," JJ sighs as she looks at her phone. "The press got ahold of last night's home invasion."

"JJ and I will set up at the station. Dave, you, Y/N, and Reid go visit Mrs. Everson at the hospital. Morgan and Prentiss, the LAPD detectives are waiting for you at the Everson house."

You know why he chose you to go to the hospital to talk to Mrs. Everson. You're the only one in the group who knows what it's like to be raped and survive it. Detective Matt Spicer and Adam Kurzbard met Derek and Emily once they got to the house. While it may look random to most people, Matt has a different view of it. He and Adam are on the Robbery-Homicide task in the Newton division since the first two victims were right in the middle of it. The only things that brought them out to Los Angeles were the bullets and the assault.

No DNA was found at any of the scenes because the unsub cleans up and he cleans up well. The reason the Eversons weren't able to see the unsub when he came in was because the electricity was out. Not because he cut the power but because of the rolling blackouts in LA. The city has them scheduled to get through the heat wave without the whole city going dark. The more people use their air conditioning in the blackout, the more it'll cause the system to overload. These blackouts help prevent that.

You're not sure what Mrs. Everson is going to be able to tell you. You're going to try and make this as painless for her as possible. Her doctor escorts her to her room and you gasp when you see restraints on her wrists.

"Why is she restrained?"

"She tried to kill herself. Twice."

Your heart breaks.

"Maybe you two should wait out here. Let me talk to her." Rossi and Spencer wait outside knowing you've got this handled. You walk inside and slowly approach her bed. "Emma? Mrs. Everson? My name is Y/N and I'm with the FBI." She moans in agony and looks away from you. Your heart bleeds for this woman. "I know you talked to the detectives, but do you mind answering some questions for me?"

She turns her head to you with tears in her eyes.

"Why didn't he kill me?"

You try your hardest not to cry but two tears slip past your eyes. You look down and touch the sidebar on her bed.

"I ask myself that same question every day."

"Were you...?"

"When I was ten." She sobs not only for herself but for you. "I want you to know something, Emma. The reason these men do things like this is because they're cowards who crave power. They leave us behind to watch us tear ourselves from the inside. I know it's hard, believe me, I know, but it won't be like this forever."

"When Greg looked at me... the way he always did. I... We didn't need words. We... He just... looked at me, and we would know." She starts crying. "I tried to be strong, but I... I... shut my eyes... when the gun went off, and... That's the last thing Greg saw. Now every time I shut my eyes... I see him. How long will that last?"

You can't tell her that you still see your rapist's face whenever you close your eyes. Most nights, you're able to push him so far back into your mind that he disappears but you know he's always there haunting you. You want to tell her it's going to be okay but you can't lie to her. That's all everyone is going to do to her. They want to make her feel better but you want her to know what the reality is going to be like.

"I don't think you'll ever forget what he looks like. I don't. That doesn't mean you will hurt every time you see his face. There will come a day when you picture his face and you won't be scared anymore. You'll see his face and feel empowered because you're better than him and he's still the coward he was when it happened. I know it doesn't seem like it now but you will survive this. Survive it for Greg."

She closes her eyes and cries, and you decide that's all you can take from her. You wipe your tears away and rejoin Rossi and Spencer in the hallway who heard your every word. You don't say a word and they don't ask. When you get back to the station, Rossi steps into an office and talks with Derek and Hotch.

"Hey, wait a second," Spencer says before you can go into the conference room where everyone else is. "Do you really see his face?"

"Every day. I'll never be able to erase the look of him with or without my abilities. I believe one day I will come face to face with this man, and I'm going to prove to him that I won, not him. I'm stronger than him and he's still a coward."

"I know you will. I'll be right here with you every step of the way."

You reach up and touch Spencer's cheek gently.

"I know you will."

"Hey, where's Rossi?" JJ asks, popping her head out of the conference room.

"With Derek and Hotch." On the bulletin board are all types of bullets that Matt put on there to compare them all to the ones found at the crime scene. "Wow. This is incredibly detailed."

"Yeah. Matt and his partner are the go-to guys for Robbery-Homicide. The Central Bureau in the Newton division is the busiest in LA." Spencer's phone rings and he answers Penelope's call. "Hey, Garcia, I have JJ and Y/N here."

"Praise the Gods. Los Angeles has a weirdly low rate of home invasion burglaries. I snagged a case in Westchester where a guy violently knocked down the front door, kicked the dog, and took off with the TV."

"Not the dog," you gasp.

"Breaking down the front door sends a message. He's trying to intimidate the victims."

"Yeah, and as horrible as this dog-kicking burglar sounds, I think the guy we're looking for is even more horrible."

"Garcia, this unsub's had practice and a lot of it. Maybe not in LA but he's definitely done this before."

"You're telling me. This is not his first crime party. I seriously can't find a single case in LA that equals this level of emotional destruction."

"We need to expand the search to all of Southern California. He can be in other cities with a quick ride on the freeways."

"Will do," she says and hangs up.

"We're going live on the 11:00 news. Do you think he'll be watching?"

"No, it's already late. He's probably hunting."

"Do you ever look at why this victim, why this day, and why this crime?"

You turn to see Matt and Emily walk into the conference room.

"Always."

"Do you ever think they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"Sometimes."

"Well, I don't believe in coincidences."

"How come?" you ask.

"Don't get me wrong. It's not like I talk to the universe or anything. I've just always believed that things happen for a reason. It's hard to find the reason for this, though. Utterly meaningless crimes, no obvious motivation. Pure evil."

"Evil can't be scientifically defined. It's an illusory moral concept that doesn't exist in nature. Its origins and connotations have been inextricably linked to religion and mythology. This offender has shown no signs of any belief." Matt looks at Spencer weirdly. "I'm Spencer Reid."

"Matt Spicer."

"I'm Jennifer Jareau and that's Y/N. The media's been asking for you."

"Yeah, well, nobody else around here wants to talk to them. I figure it hasn't hurt me yet."

"They'd like an interview for the 11:00 news. Can we go over a few points?"

"Absolutely."

"Great."

Derek, Rossi, Adam, and Hotch step into the room as Matt and JJ step out.

"Are these the first two victims earlier this week?" Derek asks, pointing to the photos of the two women.

"Yeah. We discovered them Downtown in the morning but they were killed around two."

In the pictures Derek grabs, the alarm clocks read out 12:00.

"Not at noon?"

"No, I dragged Spicer over there around six."

"Both these clocks are stopped at 12:00. Was there a blackout?"

"No, they started that last night."

"The unsub cut their power but he let the blackout do it for him last night," you say. "Where's the next rolling blackout?"

"In about thirty minutes."

You're not prepared to prevent anything from happening so you know there will be a victim dead in her home when you wake up. Sure enough, there is. 

x

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[gibor-zolel]

Why I like Keneeka better than Stella

So something I've been stirring in my head for awhile is the question "why do I like Keneeka more than Stella?" and I think I finally have an answer.

Stella's presence in the game was always mildly off putting to me because early on you find out that her and Tabby used to be friends; and while some people just took it at face value; I suspected they might have been more than that on Ep 1.

The reason it's mildly off putting is because it creates this weird dynamic and tension between you and Tabby. If you play the game like I do (wanting to be besties with Tabby) then this creates a bit of a problem if you attempt to pursue a romance with Stella. Something about dating my cousin's ex when said cousin clearly still has feelings for Stella and couldn't pursue those feelings because of her abusive mother rubs me the wrong way.

No hate if you do this; it's just too weird for me. And not the good kind of weird.

But even with all that said I just don't connect with Stella. Maybe there will be more to Stella's story later on (fingers crossed!) but so far it's basically this;

>Stella fun and friendly

>Parents die

>Stella puts up a front of still being fun and friendly but secretly hurting

>Stella unreliable because she chases danger in pursuit of something she doesn't really want to face. In other words; she's a dog chasing a car.

Now there's nothing inherently wrong with this but I connect with Keneeka's story much much more!

Keneeka to me is a bit more complex or at least I see her that way. I know some people in the fandom don't like her, some for legitimate reasons...and others because of unchecked biases.

But really let's examine her character for a sec!

Keneeka had this promising career as a vet and was one of the top students in her class and IIRC 1 semester away from graduating. She could finally leave this dying town and the Scarlet's ironclad grip on it behind. She could finally escape her controlling mother and annoying younger brother who is clearly mom's favorite who can get away with anything.

Then her dad dies. We don't get much information about her dad other than he's dead. In fact if I remember, that's all we know.

So Keneeka puts her life on hold to "do the right thing" and her personality trait of being self righteous undoubtedly pushed her to make this decision too.

After all; how could she call Tabby out for being selfish if she left her family to grieve by themselves and lose their livelihood?

So she goes back home to this dying town, convinces herself it's only gonna be for a few weeks....then a few months...then oh look it's been a year! And she realizes Scarlet Hollow is sinking it's claws back into her by virtue of her guilt if she leaves.

And then there's Tabitha. Wouldn't things be so much easier if Tabitha wasn't in charge of everything? I imagine as a black woman in a rural area that was built by an ex confederate soldier and being run by a rude and controlling white woman doesn't help Neek's opinion on Tabby.

People get so bent out of shape whenever Keneeka attacks Tabitha but from Neeks POV her life was uprooted not only because of her dad's death but because Pearlanne has repeatably tried to buy out her family's store. The Scarlet family legacy is all about cheating, stealing, lying, murdering, and doing whatever awful act to take control of an entire town and hold it under their thumb.

I also think Keneeka's trait of being self righteous leads to her seeing the worst in people and not being open to hearing the point of view of someone she considers an oppressor.

Which I mean...fair.

Remember; Tabby can build a relationship with us and even be nice towards the end of episode 4 but she is not like that with anyone else besides us and Stella. Maybe Sam Wayne but we don't know what their relationship looked like and from what "Wayne" said; it ended pretty nastily.

Keneeka's home life isn't much better either. With her mother forcing all these responsibilities on her and never asking Miles to do the same. While we can't know for sure; I get the impression that even when Keneeka was a teenager that her mother did this. I'm getting real "parentification" vibes from Sybil.

And something about wanting to be free from your family but feeling guilty about leaving them behind.....yeah that just hits different for me.

Also she's the best dressed character let's be serious.

Anyways that's the mood and I'll write up my theory about Sybil and Wayne possibility trying to frame Tabitha on Sunday. Stay tuned!

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

Madoc is such a fascinating character to me.

Like, this is a guy who really, truly cares about family. Not even in the warrior sense of family honour or loyalty— although that too— but in the most like, cereal-packet, Saturday Morning Cartoon way possible.

On some level Madoc's main goal in life is to come home every evening to a well-cared for, loving stay-at-home wife, and a gaggle of well-behaved, happy children.

It's just that his other main goal in life is unending war and bloodshed, and he seems to be incapable of understanding why those things don't mesh.

Dude has two wives and four kids (that we know of). He loves/loved all of them deeply. He murdered one and almost succeeded in murdering another. Two of them ended up having to be hidden from him in the mortal world for their own safety. Three of them have faced him in direct combat. Literally all of them have at some point either conspired against him or aided somebody else in conspiring against him.

Madoc literally murdered Jude, Taryn and Vivi's parents in front of them. And then took them in and started acting as their new Dad.

He mortally wounded Jude and then asked to be allowed to help her.

He basically tried to invade Elfhame, laid out a plan to establish Jude as a puppet-queen (and we don't know that he didn't know the true secret of the Bridle) and then said that it would be “good to be a family again”.

We're told repeatedly, by Jude, that Red Caps need to shed blood, but we're never really told exactly what this means. The fact that Jude doesn't have any qualms about banning Madoc from using weapons suggests that he probably isn't going to actually die if he doesn't meet his Blood Quota for the century.

Is it an addiction? An instinct? A spiritual obligation? Just something he really, really likes and doesn't want to give up?

Is all the fucked up stuff Madoc does on his path to the throne really just his Red Cap instincts getting the better of him?

Or is it just that we're getting all this from the POV of his daughter, who needs some way to explain in her mind the separation between 'Madoc her Dad' and 'Madoc the General-Turned-Traitor'?

Regardless of how in-control of it he actually is, Madoc's Red Cap status is fundamentally treated by everyone around him as a blank-check for him to be as bloodthirsty as he likes. Even when Jude is actively working against him, she still takes time to clarify, in her internal monologue, that this is just Madoc's nature, that he can't be anything else.

But how much of an issue is it really? Is Madoc incapable of having the family he wants because he's a Red Cap, and Red Caps are incapable of anything other than violence, or because he's a Red Cap, and thus assumes he's exempt from having to make the choice between 'family-man' and 'gore-soaked warlord'?

Is banning him from ever picking up a weapon a punishment because to stop killing people is somehow inherently detrimental to Red Caps? Or because if he survives doing so then it proves that he could have stopped at any time, and thus that everything he's done so far was the result of his own, personal choices?

What would these stories look like from his perspective?

[cr33pz-mck3nna]

Some creepypasta headcanons/facts!

Warnings: Not canon as these are my versions of the Creepypastas

Jeff

• He dyes his hair black to look like his stepmother more, he's actually a blonde as well as both his parents

• He and Liu have different moms, Liu's mom being deceased, Jeff's mom having been a one night stand who abandoned him with his father. They have a stepmother by the time Jeff's dad took custody of him, Jeff was closer to his stepmom then his father, his father loving Liu just a bit more due to him looking like his mother but he'd never say that in front of his kids.

• Jeff and Liu have a half baby sister who was less than a year old when Jeff killed their parents, Jeff killed them just before Christmas but one thing he could never do was hurt his baby sister, he carried her to the police station through the snowstorm and was almost caught by the police leaving her there.

• Jeff only was going to kill his parents, Liu's "murder" was self defense as Liu attacked him to make him stop.

• Jeff knew Nina and Jane had just moved into the neighborhood and heard through the grapevine that Nina had a crush but he never actually met them, the only one he ever met was their father who he wound up having to kill after he tried to shoot him.

• Early days "Jeff the Killer" didn't like killing, he did it for survival, like a wild animal, in his eyes life is kill or be killed, now he doesn't so much take "joy" from killing, it's just a habit, something familiar and something he was sure of.

• Jeff still loves his stepmother and he regrets killing her and Liu, he has a distrust and dislike for his father due to the separation he made between them, as for his biological mother...now THAT is who Jeff hates. His ultimate goal, he will not rest nor will he die until he sees his mother does first. Jeff will never see that THING as his mother.

• Jeff is close with BEN because he reminds him of himself, back when he was the video game nerd with a love for call of duty and being left alone, sometimes he wishes he never killed his family but than he remembers his mother and bullies and it reminds him of why he is here.

• Jeff considers Sally like a sister to him And the feeling is mutual, she reminds him of his sister and in Sally's words "I always wanted a big brother!".

Hostility: 5/10, if you leave him be he'll leave you be.

BEN

• He has a hatred for pools and swimming as it reminds him of his death.

• He hates talked about his siblings, especially his older brother who killed him(His brother was mentally handicapped and hit him over the head out of jealousy at a family reunion since he was the focus of all his relatives, he was temporarily paralyzed from the hit and the fact he didn't know how to swim so when he fell into the pool he wound up drowning).

• He can't sleep most nights as his dreams are filled with the screams of his family as he drowned and the sound of his brother laughing.

• His mom put his brother in a mental asylum after his murder but hung herself out of shame, he doesn't know what became of his father and sister after that but he doesn't care, he's too busy haunting his brother.

• Once sold his soul to Zalgo to get his mother back, Zalgo did not keep his promise though and used him as a slave instead, he was saved when Slender bought his soul from Zalgo.

• He originally feared Jeff, thinking he was like his brother but eventually became closest to him out of anyone.

• Was unaware he was an uncle, or just how many damn kids his sister had, until he met his nephew Todd(oc of mine and a MC in my original story,named after Todd from Sally Face and has a similar personality) who is so much like him when he was alive they do NOT get along-

Hostility: 2/10, he only kills people when he doesn't like them or he's bored

Sally

• Sally had never met Uncle Johnny but she trusted him so much because how different could he be from her favorite uncle!?

• Her favorite uncle..that was her mother's sister(AFAB, Agender) Sally(whom she was named after) but she called them Uncle Sal(another oc, also named after Sally Face character).

• It was her first time staying at Uncle Johnny's place and was just supposed to be overnight until Sal could pick her up in the morning for a day out. Johnny the drunk bastard he was claimed she walked off in the middle of the night and he couldn't find her, in truth she lost her Teddy her mom made her and wouldn't stop crying so while looking Johnny being drunk got angry at her crying and hit her with his bottle which accidentally killed her, he buried her in the woods behind his house.

• Sally has a love for the color blue, her uncle Sal was considered the "eccentric" one of the family and was known for their wild hair colors, the most common one being a deep royal blue which is now Sally's second favorite color.

• Sally was the first one to meet Slender and the one to convince him that not all humans were horrible people.

• Sally has a strong hatred for adult men and will try to kill 99% of the ones she meets though she doesn't like killing anyone else.

Hostility: 7/10, she'll only attack you if you run and try to tell about her, though if ur a man start saying your prayers-

Let me know if you want any more or who you wanna hear about! And remember that most of the time I will NOT write for the canon versions of the Creepypastas but for my versions of them. Even if you ask for canon, I will 89% of the time reject the request for the canon versions or I will just write about my versions as I do not like the majority of the canon Creepypastas.

[moonlightguidesky]

Heyyy!!!! New chapter released (wrote like weeks ago, please just go with it.).

Anyways, as always let me know what I can improve on. Repost if you can, as always have a good day, afternoon or night.

WARNING: METION OF BLOOD, ALCOHOL, ABUSE, DRUGS, CURSING, and GUN Violence

You have been warned about the contents of this chapter.

Chapter 2: The kid Problem

Marc wakes up gasping for air, his chest rising up and down heavily as he panted.

He sat up quickly before he looked around his apartment, the apartment itself barely looked homely.

A couple books and maps he had traded with ration cards. The only real color in the damn place was the couch which was blue.

He sighs as his heart calms down now, another nightmare.

"Always the damn same one."

He grumbles under his breathe as he gets up and walks to his small kitchen before he feels a hard tug on his ankle and the next thing he knows he is flat on the ground as his cheek burned.

"Steven! Again, seriously!?"

Marc exclaimed as he pushed himself off the floor, a scowl making its way onto his face.

"Mate, you had it coming. You broke your promise, you know I hate it when you do that."

Steven surfaced as Marc looked at the dirty mirror they owned with his eyebrows furrowed.

Steven had his arms crossed against his chest with one lifted eyebrow clearly not sorry about what he did.

"Look, it wasn't that I didn't want you to front. Just, he needed me Steven."

Marc tried not to get angry, he knew he screwed up, he always does.

He looked at the cuffs that were on his ankle and already went to look for the keys. He lifted the floor board and there was the silver key to his freedom.

He uses the key and gets his ankle out of the cuffs before he got up again and rubbed his head.

The smell of liquor still hanging in the back of his throat. He overdid it again, he always does when it gets bad again.

"So, was the whiskey worth it?"

Steven said almost scolding knowing that this was hurting not only him but Marc's body.

"Can we not talk about it, I already have a headache."

Marc sighed as he felt like shit right now and didn't need a reminder of how shit it was to be like this.

"I wonder why."

Steven mumbled as his head lowered and he shook his head as he left the mirror into another space, Marc's jaw harden as he tried his hardest to not punch the mirror with his fist.

He tells himself that he doesn't want to have to replace the mirror again, also he didn't want to be alone.

Steven and his relationship was damaged after everything that happened in the last 15 years.

Fight after fight yet by the end of the day they had each other and that's all they really had.

Wendy and dad weren't in the picture anymore. The smacks and vemoned words that came out of the women they called their mother left her mouth he knew she would never be the same.

Steven,eventually, after lots of convincing had finally gave into to the fact that they had no mother anymore. Their dad was not any better honestly, he tried to keep the beating to a minimum but it could only hold on for so long.

So when they turned 18, they went to join FEDRA and stayed employed for a while before he got into a nasty fight and was terminated from the job.

It's been 14 years since they last saw the people they once called parents. Every once in a while though he would just follow them, more his dad to make sure no one tried to hurt them.

Eventually Layla came into their life for a while and things were to some type of normalcy, domestic even, of course they had to skrew that up too.

Both went their separate ways after a nasty argument and haven't seen each other in a year. Both men still worried about her, they know she is capable of taking care of herself, it's one of the reasons they fell for her.

Still, that didn't mean their wasn't any worry that she could have gotten killed of murdered after they separated. She had left England to go to Egypt.

Her strength was something they admired, how reliable she was, how she always had their backs. But more than anything it was her heart, how even after everything she has been through she was able to still love them for wow they were and how they were.

Sometimes they wished they could have worked it out better.

"Ey, hermano, door."

A voice called out and there was Jake, they had figured out Jake a couple years into their time in FEDRA, he took over when an invasion of infected managed to escape. He kept them alive and they were thankful for that.

"Shit, who?"

Marc whispered as his head pounded again at the noise of his door being knocked on.

"Marc Spector! "

A voice boomed, a familiar sense of dread filled the apartment. It was Khonshu, fuck.

"I'm coming! I'm coming."

He shouted as he walked over to the door, he really didn't want to but didn't exactly have much choice since he knew the damn man wouldn't stop the banging.

He took a deep breathe before opening the door and in came Khonshu, the man had platinum white hair and his eyes were empty with almost not shine to them like he had no eyes.

His clothes match his personality honestly, he was wearing some black jeans with a white button up that had grim and some pink splatters which he knows where it came from.

His jacket has a patch of a moon on it.

"Where were you yesterday night, we had somewhere to be!?"

The man shouted as Marc closed the door and locked it, he knew what was coming, all of them did.

"Look, I just got sidetracked, okay? Something came up and something was going on with Ste-"

He didn't even get to finish before the sound of Khonshu's cane hit the floor of the apartment was shaking slightly.

"You swore he wouldn't be a problem, that he would cooperate with this. Maybe you should have had Lockly front more often, that is a man who can get the jobs done quickly."

Khonshu retorted as he looked out the window and turned to Marc before motioning for him to come closer.

Marc looked at him before he walked over to thw window and seeing people, just people.

"You see these people, they rely on us to keep them safe. You are in debt to me Marc Spector, I saved your life and therefore you must now save theirs for me."

Khonshu said with no hesitation, sure Khonshu could be an asshole but he was okay every once in a while like this.

Sure he had imprisoned Marc and the alters in his escapades of "saving" people but he really did want to just help, he was just really shitty at doing it.

"Fine, fine. I promise it won't be a problem again."

Marc finally replied as he sighed and Khonshu only hummed as he made his way to exit the apartment building.

"Let us see Marc Spector, tick tok. Make sure not to skip this times patrol, I will see you then."

Khonshu finally said before he closed the door behind him. Marc sighed, he really hated the guy sometimes.

"He's an asshole."

Steven remarks, Marc holds back a smirk.

"One thing we can actually agree on."

Marc shakes his head as he goes and starts to get ready for the day of labor he's gonna have to do.

"El tiene razón."

Jake voice echoed in the back of their head. At least this is something they could all agree on.

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

Jake shoveled the ashes from the firey pit that raged on, buring their skin but not enough actually do damage.

"Ey, Marc. Got a minute."

A man called out, Jake's eyes went to the back of his head as Marc fronted. Marc blinked as their eyes focused again and turned around to face the man that called for him.

"Yeah, what's up?"

Marc answered as he pulled down the bandana that covered their nose and mouth from all the ashes that were made from the burned body of infected and Ammits followers.

"I have a job you might be interested in."

The man whispered as he slipped a paper into Marc's hand.

Marc sighed as he pocketed the note into his jeans.

"I told you I don't do that type of work anymore."

He whispered back as he bent down to "tie his shoes" and the man looked down and did the same action.

"It's good pay man, lots of ration cards and maybe even a bit more."

The man said as he tried to convince Marc to do the job, he and this man didn't really know each other very well but the guy did owe him something for saving his life.

"Look man, I told you I can't take the job. No matter how good the pay is."

Marc remarked as he got back up from "tieing his shoes" so that he could back to work.

"Just, just think about it. Alright."

The man muttered before he went to the other side where another hall of bodies came in trucks to be burned.

He sighs as he grabbed the shovel again and starts to dig the ashes and putting them into barrels.

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

Drip

Drip

Her brown eyes watched as the water leaked from the floor above and dropped in the wet puddle that formed.

"Nomas querría ir a dormir, es mucho para pedir."

Katalina groaned as she looked at the chains they put on her, her ankles and wrist were starting to bruise red from the amount of times she tried to slide them off.

She slouched on the wooden walls as the rumble and sound of FEDRA trucks were coming and going.

The places wasn't the best, but honestly better than the hole or cells they put the orphans if they couldn't follow the rules drilled into their brains.

Creak

The sound of the door opening got her attention as she scooted back into a corner and got up from where she was sitting.

Two people walked in, one male, one female. The female had a sort of limp on her left foot, her eyes seemed lively yet so dull.

The man had a scar across his face, a mustache and a beard to compliment it as well, his eyes seemed more glossy along with slight puffiness to them.

"We are here to test you again."

The women's started as she has a clipboard.

"How many more time do I have to do this?"

Katalina asked as her eyebrows furrowed with both frustration and impatience. She has been here for 3 weeks now in this room and it was starting to get to her.

"Just until we know."

The man came forward slightly which made the girl take a small step back, the two adults noticed and took a step forward.

"Why do you always have to get closer?"

The girl asked not really as a question but more as a confused threat of some way.

"testing something."

The women said and she clicked the pen and started to take notes on the piece of paper stuck to the clipboard.

"No soy tu maldito guinea cerdo."

She grumbles under her breath as she picks at her nails, she's been doing that alot. Honestly she has nothing better to do right now and it went on like that for the weeks she's been here.

"What was that?"

The man spoke up which startled the girl for a second before she looked at the guy and responded.

"Nothing."

The guy sighed as he rubbed circles at his temples.

"Alright, let start. One hand steady and coun-"

The lady started before she was intrupted.

"Count from 1 to 10, I know. We've done this hundreds of times already."

Katalina says as she puts her arm out and starts to count, she finishes quickly.

"Alright then, now speak sp-"

"Spanish, I get it. Don't need to keep repeating it."

Katalina remarked .

"Me nombre is Lisa, tengo trece años."

She replied as her boredom and tiredness was kicking in.

"Alright, that's it."

The man said as he put down something from behind his pocket, it was good for the evening. A can of peaches and water.

"Great, a feast for a queen."

Her sarcastic remark gets her a look before she put her hands up as of saying "I'll back off.".

They look at each other before a knock takes their attention away, with a small "Come in." was heard and suddenly a man with cane came in.

He was dress with red button up shirt and brown pants to help contrast the tan color jacket he had on.

His cane made small noise as it the ground softly he came into the room, his hair was pretty long and almost looked slight disheveled.

"How is she doing?"

The man said as the others hand him the clipboard and he starts to read it before he nods and they nod back before leaning in and whispering something she couldn't make out.

The other two left the room and it was only Katalina and this man who looked over the clipboard again before looking back at her.

"How are you doing then, Katalina?"

Her heart skipped for a second, how the hell did he know her name?!

Never once has she given out her actual name.

"Como sabías es-"

The man chuckled lightly before he sat down across from her.

"I know a lot of things child, many, many things that many wished they could possess."

The man said as he reached behind his back was pulling something out of his back.

Katalina senses went off and she closed her hand into a fist, her nails dug into the palm of her hand, her knuckles white.

Then man noticed this.

"It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you, just wanna return something that I believe is yours."

The man said as he pulled out a picture, a locket, and a small switchblade.

Katalina eyes widen at the sight of her most precious objects, the only picture of her family that was given to her, a locket that her first love bestfriend gave to her, and the only weapon her parents left her with.

The man gaze was on her reaction, he got what he wanted.

"Do you want them back?"

The man had said softly as he looked deep into her brown eyes that were slightly softer, more emotional.

Vulnerable.

"Y-yes, yes I want them back."

She stuttered for a second but quickly regained herself.

"You can have them."

He simply said, she was hesitant and skeptical on his words that lingered in her ears.

Have them?

She can just, take them?

No consequences, not "but" or "if"?

Nothing?

"Go on, take it."

The man encouraged as he gently laid them on the ground in front of her, easy for her grab.

Her breathe hitched, she reached out for a second before looking back at him, nothing, she couldn't read him.

"I don’t bite, I swear."

He adds as his gaze lingered on her.

She is quick to grab the things before he second guess to grab her things and held them close to her chest, to her heart as it thumped hard for the return of something that truly only belonged to her.

She puts the necklace back on and the locket is tucked into her shirt, the picture is in her clutch and the switchblade was in her back pocket of her navy jeans.

"Who are you?"

She asked as she looked at the man, really looked at him, he had slight eye bags, his posture was almost straight but also crouched, the cane had a wooden carving of a crocodile on its handle.

The man smiles.

"My name is Arthur Harrow, I am the right had man of the organization that's gonna save and clean the world."

Arthur answers as he puts his hand out to shake hers.

She can't really understand why she a little scared of him, he hasn't done anything really since talking to her so why does she have a sense of dread in her stomach.

She slowly leans in and shakes his hand, the sleeves that covered his arm was slightly lifted and the tattoo of scales is there or from what she can make out.

"Your timsaeh people?"

She stated as she takes back her hand.

"I am indeed."

He answered back as he lifted the sleeve up to show the scale in full. He seemed proud to be called that almost.

"I am sure you have multiple questions."

He says as he scoots a little closer and puts a hand on her shoulder.

"I will try my best to give you answers to any question you give me."

They looked at each other in the eye for a long time before she is the first to look away down at the ground, she thinks.

And thinks before nodding and looking back at him.

"Okay."

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

Jake huffed as the sound of the alarm went off to tell everybody that working hours were over.

He pulled the bandana off and walked over where the rest of the workers were heading to get their pay for the day.

"Next!"

The holder said as Jake was next and waited for the guy to give his ration cards of the day.

The holder grabbed a 20, two 5, and four 1's.

"Here's your pay."

The Holder said as Jake took them and counted them, less than usual.

"Any better paying jobs tomorrow?"

Jake asked as he put the ration cards in his small wallet that they had managed to find in the garbage one day, and in good condition too.

"Probably the one with the shit, if your up for it?"

The man said looking up at him for a response.

"Really, shit. No way we are doing that job, that would take weeks go get rid of the smell! We barely even get rid of the smell of burned ashes off our clothes."

Steven said in the back of the mind, Steven was willing to work hard, they all know it, but even then there was a line he crosses and it was this.

"Any other trabajo?"

Jake sighed as he put one hand on his hip.

"Well, there is one with electricity, dangerous but pays better than this."

The Holder says as he looked up at Jake who is deciding, it's better pay but it would put them in danger.

"I'll go with the shit."

Jake says and the Holder nods before ripping a slip off and handing it to him.

"Take that tomorrow to sector 5 and they will give you a position to work at."

The Holder yelled for the next person and Jake left, he knew Steven would probably complain and maybe even Marc but it would pay better and less dangerous.

"Why did you take the job!"

Steven exclaimed as his image slid on and off the mirrors and window that he passed.

"Because the amount we are making isn't enough hermano, nosotros necesitamos otro trabajo que pagarán bien."

Jake says as he looks at pair of gloves that caught his attention.

They have enough to make trades and for smuggling still, so he buys it the gloves for 2 ration cards. He thanks the seller and put the new gloves on putting his old ones in his pocket.

"Did you just spend 2 ration cards on another pair of gloves, I swear you ware those our way too fast man."

Steven comments.

"You have your books, I have my glove, Déjame en paz Steven."

Jake says as he walks into the allyway and makes his way to the place where smugglers thrive on the ones willing to pay the right price.

Jake finally leaned against his usual spot where people can find him usually, he waits and not a second later as a FEDRA soilder comes over looking almost new at this whole thing.

"Your the guy with the goods, right?"

The man asked in a hushed tone, Jake could see this guy was new to this, he wanted to mess with him but was too tried right now.

"Yeah, I am. What are you looking for?"

He ask as the guy slips him a piece a paper.

What was it with people slipping paper to them?

Jake took the paper and opened it, the guy fidget with his vest before looking around.

"So you got it or no man?"

The guy was getting inpatient now.

"Sí, le tengo."

Jake answered putting the paper in his back pocket.

"Does it look like I know Spanish man!"

The guy was getting on his nerves but he tried to calm himself down. There doesn't need to be drama right now.

He pulls out a baggy from the pocket of his jacket and out came the blue pills.

The man sighed in relief about to grab the bag before Jake moved it away.

"Gotta pay Hombre, can't give you it until you pay."

The guy eventually scoffed before digging into his pants pocket and pulls put a wad of ration cards.

"How much?"

Jake saw the ration cards, enough to maybe get them through a couple months.

"Three 20's, six 5, and eight 1's."

He said as he put his hand out, the man just nodded before handing him the pills and Jake takes the ration cards.

"I'm gonna need the bag back though."

He added as he counted to make sure it was the right amount, it was. The man may have been new but he has what they need to keep them afloat and some what comfortable still.

The man dumps the pills into his vest pocket and gives the plastic bag back, Jake nods in a silent thank you before the man comes close.

Jake get ready the beat the absolute shit out this man before words were said.

"Don't come out for a couple nights, FEDRA soilders aren't right in the head right now. Might make a mistake, easy to make one in the dark."

The man whispered before walking away, Jake looked as the man walked away. He unclentch his jaw and fixed the shirt.

"Maldita sea."

He grumbled under his breathe as walks away, it's almost time to get to patrol they need to get moving before Khonshu yells at them again.

‐------------------------------------------------------

"This is Cameron, Cameron this is Lisa."

Harrow says as he introduced Katalina to another one of "helpers" of the place.

They have walked around for a whole now, she kepted rubbing her wrist as she nodded in acknowledgement, she needed an out.

She can't stay here, FEDRA will kill her if they find out she left. Maybe they would hung her, beat the ever living shit out of her even just to get the anger out.

"And here is the cafeteria where we keep the helpers fed, are you hungry?"

He asked as he got a plate and handed it to her, she slowly reached out for it and took it as she got into the line and he got behind her as his hands were on her shoulders.

"Give this young lady our best please Beth."

The man said to the younger looking lady who just smiled and nodded before grabbing a big metal spoon and scooped up a chunk of soup.

"Thank you."

Katalina whispered as she looked at the soup, looked like tomato soup, haven't seen that one in a while.

He gave a small nod in thanks before pushing her slightly to start moving which she did, slowly her tray filled up with 2 biscuits and an apple.

How the hell they had fresh fruit and biscuits was a damn mystery to her.

Soon they sat down at a small table near some statue, it was a statue of a crocodile that held a scale in one hand.

She looked at it before she looked down at her food, this was the most food they have given her in the 3 weeks she's been here.

"You can eat, no one is gonna take it away from you."

Arthur said as he pushed the tray closer to her, she was skeptical about it though, everyone is hungry. She could see that people were staring at her and him.

He notices and looks at the people who look away immediately and go back to their conversations.

"They just haven't seen you before, no need to worry."

He said as he nudged his head a little to signal to look at the bowl of soup and not the people looking at her, their eyes burned into the back of her head to her body.

She picks up the spoon and holds it close to her mouth before looking at everybody else, they were eating fine so she takes a bite.

The soup was rich and flavored to the right amount or as much as soup can be flavored. She hasn't had anything this nice in, well, never?

"Gracias."

She says as she eats more going for more of the soup, they sit in almost comfortable silence.

She feels a little bad for being skeptical about the guy, he hasn't done anything to her yet, maybe.

"Aren't you hungry?"

She ask him as she shallows the warm soup down and wipes her mouth with her hand.

He hands her a napkin before he responding.

"I am alright, thank you for worrying about me."

She grabs the napkin and wipes her mouth with it, she nods before thinking. She has one more biscuit to spare, she already full anyways.

Grabbing the biscuit gently and held it out for him to grab.

"Here, you can have this. Estoy llena."

She reassured as she pushed the biscuits towards him for him to grab.

He took it from her hands and smiled softly, it was nice.

"Thank you."

He said as started to eat the biscuit and she looked around for anything or anywhere there was a weak spot here.

She couldn't stay here, she has to go back.

30 min later...

They were walking up a hallway, they had made their way back to where she was kept, she kinda was glad as messed up as it was.

She was use to, this. Even if she hated the damn leaks it was something she was familiar with.

"I will come by later to come check on you, alright."

Harrow said as he opened the door and Katalina looked at him for a second before nodding and went inside the room.

"Buenos noches Katalina."

Was all he said before closed the door behind her not even noticing the way she turned around, a chill went down her spine.

That usually was a nice thing to say, even a more enduring thing to say. The way he said it though didn't feel good, didn't have the warm essence to it.

She didn't even know how the hell the man managed to make those words sound like soul less lies.

She sat down on the floor and looked out the window that showed the evening sky, the colors of orange and yellow coming together to make a warm essence over this dull gray world she was brought into.

She laid on the wall and pulled herself up against it a little so that her back hit the wall.

Taking off her sweater and using it as a pillow, she wasn't given much of a living space to really get rest but the corners were comfortable.

1 hour later...

BOOM

The room shook as Katalina was woken up by the sounds of gunshots and screams of people.

The sound of a thousand of footsteps were everywhere that she could almost feel them. They made her stomach turn.

Maybe 5 minutes later it was silent, completely and utterly silent.

She feels for her switchblade and gets ready to fight if she has to, she knows she probably will have to.

Slowly walk towards the floor as it slightly creaks with every contact the shoes and the floor has. She leans in and can hear footsteps, two to four people are still here.

She hears one is getting close, she'll just stab them and then get out of here.

Once whoever was on the other side was close enough she opened the door and gets ready to stab whoever was on the other side.

However she unsucessed at it and got thrown to the wall, her back stung now. She needed to get up before whoever she tried to stab now tried to return the favor back.

She looks up to see a man, his hair was curly and short and his eyes were like hers, or whatever she remembers since the last time she looked in a mirror.

The brown eyes started back at her confused before looking down and seeing the switchblade, she saw it too and tried to grab it but he got to it first and kicked it away.

"Asshole."

She grumbles as she pulls herself up and looks at the guy who eyebrows were furrowed and he had a gun.

He has a gun, she now noticed the blood on his fist, the beaded sweat that was falling from his forehead.

His attire wasn't something she had seen before but has heard, a man with white attire would come during the night and "protect" the different divisions of the QZ.

They called him Moonknight due to the fact most his weapons were the shape of moons.

Maybe calling the guy who looks like he went through hell an asshole wasn't her best idea.

The man still has the gun pointed at her and she just stares at it, the hole in the middle pointed to her chest.

If he did shoot her at least it wouldn't be too painful and end quickly. She puts her hand up in surrender.

They just stare at each other, brown on brown. Both had slight eyebags to compliment each other.

"Who are you?"

The man said as the sound of footsteps were heard, both heads turned to the direction.

"Marc Spector."

They both recongnised the voice, Harrow.

Another sign of footsteps appeared and a man in almost just white and back came in with a gun.

"The 4 and 5th floor have been cleared out, Spector we must leave. FEDRA might be here soon!"

The man said as he turned around to see the scene of Marc with a gun pointed to a teenage girl who seems confused and her hands up above her head.

Then there was Arthur with one of his men.

"Arthur Harrow."

"Khonshu, Marc."

The whole thing was awkward, everything about this was confusing, they had history but Katalina wasn't sure how.

"Me, now what in the fucking hell is going on?!"

She exclaimed as she put her hands down in exhaustion and honestly tired of people in a whole.

"I strongly urge you to point the gun away from the child, Marc."

Harrow said as he stepped closer which in turn got two guns pointed towards him instead.

He slowly put his hands.

" Keep that gun at me, not her."

He says as he looked at her and she looked at him with clear annoyance in her eyes.

Marc looks at her one more times before looking at Khonshu.

"So this is who that maggot went to trade our supplies for! The Che Guevara of Cairo."

Khonshu retorted as he stepped forward, now next to Katalina and Marc who watched the interaction.

"How I haven't misses that voice. Let just say that he didn't like the response he got from us when we saw what he brought to us."

Harrow says as he winced and put a hand to his side, Katalina finally could see that small drops of blood that had fallen from him.

"Oh, shit."

Her voice softer and eyes filled with concern as she took in the injured man, her eyebrow furrowed as she was about to get up.

Harrow looked at what she was about to do and shook his head which made her falter.

"On another note though."

She speaks up on which attention is all on her again.

"I agree with the old man over here, FEDRA would have heard all that gun fire so maybe get this going or we are all going to die like this."

She states as she stands up and rubs her shoulder, it wouldn't really bruise but it would be sore for a while.

"Old!" Khonshu exclaimed.

"The child is right. We we're gonna have her out of here tonight."

Harrow says which caught her attention.

"You never said anything about moving me?!"

"Sorry kid, thought you'd run."

She sighs and rubbed circles on her forehead.

"What does this have to do with us?"

Marc asked as he ans Khonshu looked at the girl and then back at Harrow.

"We don't have a group to go and protect her like we had planned, so now I am think you both are gonna do it."

Harrow says as he gets a paper out, it's bloody but still legible.

"Wait a minute!?"

"I'm not gonna go with him!?"

Marc and Katalina shouted at the same time, their reluctants overlapping with each other.

"Listen, if you do this we can not only give you weapons, but also much more. We can show you if want but you have to take her away from here."

Harrow says as he stares at the three who just stand there in shock.

"We aren't babysitters parasites."

Khonshu said as he took a step closer now infront of Marc who is still standing there with a gun held up towards Harrow.

"Not asking you to do charity for me Khonshu, I need you guys to move cargo cause that is what she is to you."

Harrow said as he looked at the girl who eyebrows were furrowed.

"You show me the reward we get for this then I will give you a response. Marc, take the girl back to your apartment and keep her there until I return."

Khonshu said as he lifted his cane and hit it on the ground causing the ground to shake slightly.

Katalina flinched at the noise for a second and so did Marc.

"We are seriously considering this."

Marc whispered to Khonshu as he looked back at the girl who hasn't really moved since getting up.

"Do this before I make you."

Khonshu hissed back at him which made Marc falter.

"Go grab your bag."

Harrow said as the girl just looks at the three men.

"Su pinche madre."

She grumbles under her breathe making sure they still heard her as she goes back into the room she came out of.

They waited until she came out the room again. She comes out with a green jacket and her backpack, she looks at Harrow who just sighs.

"This is for your good kid, trust me. It's better you go with them than with me, for better or worse I am aware of what they are capable of and know they won't let anything happen to you."

Katalina stared at Harrow for a while then at the man next to him, she really has no choice in that matter anyways, it was all planned for her.

"What are they capable of?"

She ask as her eyes stay at him.

"Alot, many things someone your age shouldn't see."

Is all Harrow says to her.

Her gaze goes to the floor before she shakes her head along with a dry chuckle.

"Little too late for that."

She turns around and grabs her switchblade and walking towards the stairs walking over the dead bodies that laid there.

The blood now on her shoes as she see the bloody footsteps that were being left behind now.

Harrow sighs.

"Show me the weapons now."

Khonshu said as he stared at Harrow who nods before walking to another hallway.

"Follow me."

Is all he says before he dissappear.

"Make sure to not let that child out your sights you three, understand."

Khonshu orders as he walks away and follows Harrow.

The men sigh, it was a long night already.

The followed where the girl had went as their shoes were now painted in red sticky blood.

This is the end of chapter 2!!!!

This one took a little longer but I am happy with how is came out!

Anyways, see ya in the next one!!

-Sky 💜

[snarkylinda]

I should be studying, showering, sleeping, doing literally anything else but instead, I am going to do a long post about a mentally ill blorbo because I am mentally ill myself.

SO! We all make fun of Spencer let me take my vest off and lower my gun for no reason Reid, it's a meme at this point- but that....tendency is a consequence of what I find the most fascinating about his character as a whole....his relationships- or more like, the relationships he makes up in his head.

Before I go into details I want to leave something very clear that anyone that has seen even one season of the funny cop show has noticed: Spencer is highly obsessive.

Now I am not talking about his fun little facts or that he likes star streak and doctor who obsession- those are hyperfixations, and even tho MY hyperfixation it's ruining my life, his are actually harmless and overall make him happy.

His obsessive nature had almost cost him his career, if not his life, multiple times.

If you stop to think about it in depth, why does Reid abandon all common sense when it comes to certain UnSubs, certain cases? well the most evident answer is that he projects whatever trauma of the week they decide to explore onto them- and yes, that is the nick of things. He pulled that stunt on Elephant's memory because he related to Owen's harassment story, he wanted to help Nathan because he understood being afraid of your own mind turning against you, he wanted to help Adam because he couldn't save Tobias. You get the drill- but....that is not always the case.

With the guy that Lindsey's dad murdered- Spencer didn't relate to him, he was just a piece of shit. How about Samantha? (I know there is a theory about William....doing shit to Reid when he was younger and while I can see it, for the sake of argument I will take her case into consideration) The father of the victim on "Identity"? I can name another example but this one I am going to save for last since it's the reason for me making this post-

And one can argue "Well, he is just a really nice guy" and while that is true- what I named before doesn't always apply, Spencer's compassion has a very clear, marked limit.

His relationships.

When Cyrus was killed in front of him by Morgan, Reid barely blinked- hell, he fucking SASSED him. Why? because he hurt Emily.

All sympathy he could have had for Cat before she ruined his life DESPITE kind of empathizing with her story based on what HE was going through went out of the window because she and her lil gang terrorized Penelope for months.

He felt compassion for Adam, but not for his father who he claimed was the true monster of this story in the aftermath.

When Maeve told her her ex was dead, he quickly brushed that aside to ask her if SHE was alright.

And ofc, we all know what happened in prison after his friend there was murdered.

Reid is often associated with UnSubs not only because of how his backstory aligned with their motivations (mental health issues, bullying, absent parent, losing a loved one) but because most of these crimes are passional responses- and Spencer can be extremely passional, to a point where it clouds his judgment.

Now...you might be thinking "ok that is all nice and good, but where does the obsession come into play? all that I know is that he is a cinnamon roll that loves his friends and has some really deep projection issues he really needs to work on" and you are not wrong, but what made me make this fucking thesis in the first place its something else....one of my favorite things to analyze about fictional characters in this kind of setting it's "the needs of one vs the greater good" thing.

Now let's be fr, we all as human beings will always, ALWAYS prioritize those close to us over literal strangers. Even among the best, most empathic people that is just how it is, that emotional hierarchy will always be there- what differentiates us is how much it affects our actions.

Now with a job like this, there will always be this conflict among the menbers- obviously, their families and even each other will always be a priority, but on working hours their focus HAS to be on doing their job, following the rules and just being as professional as humanly possible- even tho it sometimes kills them inside since it just doesn't feels right.

Reid actually doesn't face this debate that much- because all common sense, respect for authority and protocol goes out of the fucking window whenever he obsesses over a new blorbo lmao.

Had you heard the phrase "One death is a tragedy, a hundred is a statistic"? nothing rings more true that with Dr. Reid right here. He is able to keep his cool while touching mangled corpses and discussing all the shit that happened to them- occasionally looking horrified if it's messed up enough, but other than that he is able to keep the same level of professionalism and compartmentalization as his co-workers.

Annnnnnd then he gets to know a victim, a witness, or an unsub and the vest leaves his torso, his gun folds itself and his IQ lowers. Alot.

Let's get back to the example I put of the guy that was murdered by Lindsey's dad- in that moment he wasn't a murderer to Reid, in that moment all he saw was a teenager begging for his life and HE could be the only to save him- he couldn't. He obsessed over that instead of what the guy did and that lead him to desire to insert Diluid inside of him after 10 months of sobriety, not to mention being A BIG factor in what he does on Elephant's Memory.

"I thought I could save this one" was his response when Hotch scolded him.

Spencer literally can't forget shit. So he tries to make sure that when he knows someone, even if is on a dying moment like the mentioned UnSub, he can save them. He forms some kind of bond with someone and they stop being an face and a name adhered to his board that he is determined to save/get justice for because is his literal job and he is overall a good person. In his mind, it becomes his responsibility whenever that person it's saved, and when that crosses over obsessive territory and his job, that makes it mandatory to always put the need of the many vs the one (especially if it's an unsub) well....

It's when he spiral and puts his career/the case in jeopardy at best, and his life at worst, no to mention what that shit does to his already questionable mental health.

In the second ep of the tenth season, Reid confesses to Morgan that after killing the LDSK, it suddenly hit him and he obsessed over all the "what ifs", at that moment that guy wasn't the LDSK that almost got him, his boss and a hospital full of mortal hostages in danger- he was the man that Spencer Reid killed- and it only ended when he stopped obsessed over HIM and started to put his victim's faces on his wall, forcing his focus on them instead.

He was more focused on the father of the victim on "identity" than the actual unsub himself because years before he had stopped him from seeing his daughter, and had made enough of an impact to be remembered by him in the present. Thanks to that bond, that little relationship, Spencer was able to put himself between a highly emotional distraught father's gun and the man he wanted to kill, to protect him.

He didn't get to personally know Samantha until the end- but he got to meet the scumbag that raped her. Add that to the already soft spot he has for children and you have a very angry Reid ready to do literally anything to make sure this woman that didn't even knew him was safe.

And ironically enough, what prompt me to do this thesis wasn't even one of those nice touchy feeling moments Spencer had with someone he bonded over- either personally or on a parasocial level- but one where he was wrong, but was about to risk a whole case over it. Rock Creek Park.

In that episode, Spencer and this other girl are keeping watch over this mafia thing so this politician guy's wife cane come back (as you can see I pay attention to certain scenes more that others lmao) and you can see the exact moment where the mission....stops being Spencer's priority.

After hearing this girl's conversation with her mother, she stopped being "the maid" and became someone Spencer's "knows" and so this leads to....this

....why did I bother with that text block when this scene spills it out- Anyways.

I dunno why but Rossi's reaction always sends me to the stratosphere- he knows.

Anyways, turns out that the helpless maid was actually on it all along and Reid almost throws the entire case off over nothing- *slows clap*

Ok ok, this might seem like I am slandering my boy but as fun as it is to make fun of him, this is exactly why I love him. This recklessness as a result of tunnel vision it's....concerning considering his line of work, and his eagerness to go far and beyond for someone he barely knows just because he knows them, above everything else and he is there, and can't bare the thought of not doing anything for them., to have their death's imprinted on his memory.

In conclusion- he ain't lawful good/neutral like the first few episodes want to make you think, he is chaotic good. And a mess. And I love him.

[blackjackkent]

Hey, found the circus!

Astute observers may note that there is a GHOUL hanging out by the front gate. A nearby civilian and his son are discussing it; the dad claims it's a man in a costume, the kid points out that it is drooling.

A nearby conversation is happening between a Flaming Fist and someone who appears to possibly be the circus owner; they're discussing the fact that the owner apparently employs redcaps in the circus and that some of them are on the loose. (Most, the owner asserts, are "perfectly harmless," but the escaped ones had been caged temporarily for attacking a kid.)

Did I mention before that this circus is called The Circus of the Last Days? Everything about this is sketch af.

Another bit of ambient dialogue states that Dribbles the Clown, who seems to be pretty well-known, always travels with a group of animal friends. So that's something to look forward to anyway.

Talking to the ghoul, we learn that it is apparently security, since the "Steel Watch" can't be bothered to patrol out here in the sticks.

We approach as it is being very rude to a random townsperson. "*SNIFF* STINKS OF CHEESE! *SNIFF* BETWEEN HIS PIGGY TOES."

Lovely. The townsperson was pretty displeased about being spoken to like this but stepped back to let us also get sniffed so's we can all go in.

"Hello, hello, and welcome to the Circus of the Last Days! The finest extraplanar circus there is!"

Karlach, hearing this, immediately gasps and gets super excited:

"Ah! A circus! Can we go?!"

Karlach continues to be the cutest thing in the world. And Hector is a sucker for anything that gets her excited, so even if they weren't going to go in before, they definitely are now.

Questions first, though. "I've never heard of an extraplanar circus."

"We travel from plane to plane, thrilling all blessed to see us! From tempestuous djinni to belligerent redcaps - you'll find them all here! But enough of this - the circus is a place of joy and distraction! So come inside and forget your worries."

Privately Hector suspects there is not a circus big enough to make him forget all his worries, and also he kind of wanted to ask about the ghoul. But sure.

"All right. I'd like to enter the circus."

"Not a problem, dear patron!" the barker says cheerfully. "Benji just has to check if you're a vicious murderer. Benji!"

The ghoul comes over and gives Hector a deep sniff.

"Huh," it grunts, then sniffs, and sniffs again. Then it squeals harshly, "BRAIN JUICE SMELLS LIKE PISS AND IRON. NO. LIKE."

The barker blinks, then laughs nervously. "That's a first. Usually I'd allow you in, but in these times I can take no chances. Move along; no circus for you."

Hector winces. Of course. It can smell the tadpole. He's not sure he blames it for its skepticism either, under the circumstances. He isn't too fussed about the circus himself, but it's been a long day and he really doesn't want to see that sad look that Karlach gets in her eyes when she's disappointed.

So he puts on his most placid, unthreatening smile and nods understandingly at the barker. [PERSUASION] "I'm not a threat to you or anyone else in the circus," he says gravely. "I swear it."

The barker sighs good-naturedly. "Oh, damned if I'm not a sucker for big eyes and a heartfelt plea," he says. "Very well. Welcome to the Circus of the Last Days! Have fun, and be sure to catch the star of our show, Dribbles the Clown!"

The gate swings open and he steps aside to let them pass.

-----

"Well," Hector says dryly as they walk into the circus area. "That was terrible security."

"Who cares?!" Karlach says brightly. "We get to go to the circus! I want to see that clown he was talking about."

Shadowheart tries, and fails, to mask a slight smile; Hector gets the impression that, secretly, she might be almost as excited about this as Karlach is. Jaheira, though, is looking quite serious.

"Keep your wits about you," she mutters. "I would not spoil your fun but... the last place of this kind that I saw turned out to be not what it seemed. Do not take your guard down."

[tobiasdrake]

Here we are. No employees, no jobs, and the mafia shaking us down for rent money. I'm surprised Yakou even made it to Blank Week.

Don't mind me. I'm just having a long, poetic depression at the spot that will one day become the location for the submarine I'll be so proud of, symbolizing how far I've come from this moment. Well, my homunculus will. I don't actually know if I'll get the sub before or after I'm torn to pieces in gruesome, apocalyptic violence.

I hope he enjoys it.

If you're the coroner, you should know that you're a day early. I still have until the end of the day to get the mob boss his cash, so you and I won't have business until tomorrow.

D'aww, is this going to be the story of how Yakou and his wife met? I thought it'd be the story about how she died, but I like this better. We know enough about how she died. I want to hear about how she lived.

What I'm hearing is that if you turn out to be a sketchy fucking bastard and I decide, upon knowing the facts, not to solve this case out of spite, I still get paid a cool 100k.

That's a good deal. Given the look of you, your stern-sounding voice, and the context of being an old man hiring a P.I. to hunt down a young woman without explaining anything about who she is, what her relationship to you is, or why she's ghosting you? I'd say there's a strong chance of this being sketchy.

Like. Best case scenario, this guy's her dad who she bailed on because he's a domineering prick. Worst case scenario, he's a romantic stalker who she ghosted because he's a gross asshole who won't take no for an answer. Maybe it's more complicated than that. Maybe she stole something of value from him or something. I dunno. But those are the immediate kneejerk assumptions that leap to my mind.

There are very few good reasons for wealthy old men to go to these lengths to track down young women that vanished from their lives. He's gonna pay Yakou a million shien to un-ghost this woman. That's not a great sign. We should look into him as much as we are looking into her.

Yakou, of course, smells nothing out-of-place with this business transaction because a) he's desperate and b) his values are too patriarchal to even consider anything amiss about this. It just doesn't occur to him.

He even knows her place of business, but can't approach her himself. He wants her brought to him.

We're literally taking on the role of a paid thug.

RED FLAG

Yeah, this guy's definitely the bad guy here. Yakou's going to have a change of heart when he meets her. You can feel it.

And when he does, we still get paid 100k! ~( ˘▾˘~)

WHAT THE FUCK IS OUR RENT!?

I'm sad now. ._. If a million only covers six months, then that 100k won't even cover one. The math doesn't work out to that.

Maybe, if we play our cards right, we can trick the mob boss and the client into murdering each other.

Wow, he found her fast. To be fair, this is his specialty. He's highly trained in tracking down lost pets and cheating spouses, and both of those vocations offer skills that are transferrable to finding a "missing" person that's just out living their life.

The hard part's going to be convincing her to come with us. I'm pretty sure the client is expecting us to simply club her over the head and stuff her in a van. But you know Yakou's going to talk to her instead. As he should. This is sketchy as fuck.

Good man. Get her perspective before you decide what to do with the case.

ABORT. ABORT. YOU HAVE FAILED THIS SOCIAL INTERACTION.

It's such a... rare treat for Kanai Ward! A ha ha ha ha I'll leave you alone forever now.

There we go. Coming right out with it.

There's no subtle way to bring up in casual conversation, "Do you know why someone might hypothetically want you dragged in front of them against your will?" Especially as a stranger. If we want her story, this is the only way to get it.

She's surprisingly chill about this. Is this encounter more harmless than I'd suspected? Or is this simply the resignation of someone who has been harassed multiple times and is used to it by now?

I appreciate how forthright Yakou's being here. Laying all the cards on the table. If the job's harmless then I'll see it through but if this is shady then please tell me and I'll bow out. That's his position, and it's exactly what he's conveying with no room for misunderstanding.

It's. Refreshing to see such clear and open communication happening in a story.

Alright, that's a fair reason. By "rival organization", she's probably referring to the Unified Government's own homunculus research lab. We're five years after both labs began their experiments but two years before UG's lab will create their first successful homunculus, and Huesca will manslaughter the entirety of Kanai Ward trying to keep up.

Oh, I hope she is an unparalleled visionary in the field of homunculus research. Just for the bitter irony of Huesca having her killed and then dumbassing the experiment so hard that he killed himself and everyone else in the city.

"An ass" is underselling how awful Huesca is. It's nice to know that even before this became a fascist police state, Amaterasu was still just as awful as--

HOLY SHIT SHE'S WEARING PANTS.

Y'ALL. Y'ALL.

SHE'S WEARING PANTS.

I. Think. This might be the first female Kodaka character in history to wear pants. This DLC is a momentous occasion.

Still doesn't have a name, though. She may have had to trade her name for pants.

[faislittlewhiteraven]

Fai's Fic Ramble: The GorseTale AU (bare basics)

Ever since roughly... 2017 I think, there been a single Undertale fanfic I've been tapping away at and though it's nowhere near done or even organised enough for me to think about posting chapter 1 on A03, I recently posted a spinoff fic related to it called Eight Coloured Picture about the deaths of all the fallen humans and how some monsters each time were effected by their passing, and well.

I wanna ramble about the main story that fic comes from for a bit!

So.

Working Title: 'Gorse, Blackthorn and Buttercups' I also call it GorseTale in my head for short since Gaijin Goombah's rather fun video on why Undertale's Golden Flowers are most likely Gorse was a HUGE inspiration for the fic back when I started out (it's er changed quiet a bit since then but I'm keeping the flower vibes because Chara likes them and I did way too much research into both practical and symbolic uses for plants in the Underground for this fic not to use at least some of it at some point XD).

Core premise: Story is a Slice of Life/Drama AU set around Frisk being born in the Underground and taken in by Toriel right around the time of 'Undertale canon' (for Undertale Yellow fans, roughly a year or so after Clover's death), and through a series of domino effects stemming from that, various monsters of the Underground are confronted with the flaws of both themselves and their kingdom, and as a result start putting in effort to try fixing things so the little human child they've become so attached to can actually live their life to the fullest without fear of being murdered just for being born a non monster.

Aka: Toriel and Sans experience the joys and terror of co-parenting a child who only survives past the age of 3 because they have phenomenal cosmic power. Papyrus discovers the Royal Guard is NOT in fact something he wants to join (and accidentally becomes politically active in an effort to right by his new nibbling). Undyne takes some time to really rethink her career path and motives. Alphys somehow manages to turn former mistakes into miracles (oh and cures death maybe). Mettaton learns to take time off and share the spotlight, and finally King Asgore gets a surprising amount of hope in encouraging peaceful rebellion against his own accidental dictatorship.

Main cast: Rotates a bit since every major monster (and Flowey) matters in this and who's most in focus depends on the exact arc but Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Chara and Frisk are the ones who I have the most planned scenes for since well, they're where the 'domino effect' starts.

Ships: Fic is pretty gen for the most part but leaning Undyne/Alphys, Papyrus/Mettaton (who knew all Paps needed to become popular was to openly try convincing monster kind that killing all the humans is wrong in front of a very specific underground star XD), and some very very very slowburn Sans/Toriel (is teased throughout the story because Sans IS Frisk's other parent Sans just means 'Dad' in Frisk speak and I find various Monsters' "Wait Sans has a kid- Wait Sans is married?!" reactions hilarious (Paps giving 'context' to why he suddenly has a nibbling to Undyne especially) but actual, real Soriel doesn't happen until near the very end because Toriel is Not Ok, Sans leans AroAce/Demi and both agree that while the odd kiss, hug or 'real talk' is fine neither up for anything more than that right now. Also Toriel has yet to get a formal divorce and er, she can't even think of him for much of the fic without wanting to set him on fire so... Yeah). Also considering Mad Mewmew/Asgore (because funny but also oddly sweet), and Mettaton trying to get over a crush on Alphys at the start (due to Mettaton's Winter Alarmclock dialogue reframing all of Mettaton's actions in canon in a whole newlight for me), but for the most part romance really isn't a focus.

Things to set it apart from every other 'Frisk grows up in the Underground' fanfic:

A LOT of worldbuilding focus on stuff how monsters get food and materials.

Toriel teaching everyone how Monster society was before the War vs now (aka lots of cultural trauma themes here).

More emphasis on how little Monster society these days really knows about things they really should given their Kingdom's plans.

Sans 'timeline trauma' getting tossed out the window for joining Toriel in 'worried parent' stress (hard to be upset about LOADS when they're specifically stopping a toddler you love from getting murdered).

Papyrus accidentally making everything better just because for the sake of his nibblet he can't back down.

FLOWER SYMBOLISM AND DISCUSSING THE UNDERGROUND'S VERY IMPORTANT PLANT LIFE!

Undyne having a character growth arc triggered by Papyrus.

Mettaton having a character growth arc triggered by Papyrus (and a passing mention of Napstablook).

Alphys not being fired post Amalgamite reveal making her realize she has in fact actually kinda created the cure for death (by 'Falling Down') or at the very least is only maybe three steps away from that and actually works on that alongside a bunch of other stuff with other scientists because working alone sucked.

Lots of focus on the humans who fell before Frisk because their lives mattered! and also the Blue Soul was Kris because damn if I don't feel the need to really hammer in Toriel's trauma caused by Asgore here

NarraChara and Napstablook being ghost buddies =D they suck at it but Chara will take literally anyone who can hear them for company and Napstablook feels bad about that

Snowdin being secretly a hub of human sympathisers! (None of them knew they weren't the only ones).

MONSTER RADIO and ANIME/WESTERNS ON TV!

Tems and the Riverperson mattering while still being true to their very weird selves!!!

Asgore learning that he DOES in fact have a lot of influence and that maybe, juuust maybe, that his screw ups were worse for his Kingdom than he already thought (don't worry Asgore fans, despite my having to write a lot of Asgore grr due to Toriel being a major character, saving him and showing how much he loves his people is a major goal of mine <3). He still f%cked up majorly though XD

Frisk dealing with, well, the stress of growing up in a place that says their death would make everyone (except their immediate loved ones) happy and constantly having to live in hiding/disguise...

Flowey being a murderous little shit but also not having reset power and both Frisk and Chara in his life again.

Undertale Yellow and Deltarune characters! Who probably won't be in focus a lot but they've helped me out a ton for fleshing the out my setting so I will 100% be giving them at least a little screen time to make up for that (like Amalgamate Kanako playing with Frisk, and Martlet and Noelle being VERY interesting in Papyrus's 'Lets not kill the humans' movement for reasons our main characters will eventually learn <3).

Oh and a huge amount of 'Unseen in game' areas I made for the Underground which include:

SnowDen: a 'town' of Dog and Rabbit made tunnels underneath the ENTIRE Snowdin region (connects to every dog sentry post, the 'Toby Fox secret area' and the 'very efficiently laid out' travel tunnels seen in canon Undertale). Generally requires those living there to get through given how winding and confusing the tunnels can get (all guideposts are puzzles made with scent markers...).

TooHot: basically a 'lethal lava land' housing district for fire monsters below general Hotland. Predates the Wat and is too hot for most non fire monsters to go anywhere near (the current name was given by Asgore though).

Cliffstop: a 'thin' vertical crevice monsters in New Home unearthed a while back that goes from from all the way to the very top of Mt Ebott down to the dark of the Abyss below (locals there call the top of the area Clifftop and the lowest safe for travel Cliffdrop). Gets a fair bit of sun and has flying room so it's popular with plant and flying monsters but the cliffs are very unstable so the bottom is covered in rope nets to prevent accidents. Most puzzles about the place are moving rope bridges, loading up vertical conveyer belts with the correct weights and 'light and mirror' puzzles.

Riverfolk Waterway and True Tem Village: settlements hidden deep within Waterfall's 'unreachable in canon' winding waterways. The former is a small inlet where 'Riverfolk' monsters like the Riverperson have a small collection of boathouses they dock at, and the later is exactly what is sounds like, with the 'Temmie Village' we see in canon being merely a Temmie trading outpost. Can accessed only by Riverperson boat or the Temmie's secret tunnels and is home to all sorts of cool things like the Temmie 'Colleg' and 'DEEP HISTORY mUSEEum'~ XD

WebbInn 'the Spider district': Mostly a giant communal spider web hanging Hotland's ceiling but also connected to a tunnel that goes up near Mt Ebbot's peak (the spiders have been digging upwards in hopes of getting a 'sunspot' they can use to advertise their 'sweet little town' to tourists). Has a... Very distinctive culture compared to the rest of the Underground and the 'puzzles' there tend towards being 'social' in nature (aka fey logic games where how you speak and act gets you directed every which way).

Starlite Strip: A little connecting area right underneath the path/cliff Monster Kid and Frisk see the castle while travelling through Waterfall in Undertale Canon. Not a big settlement on its own but something of a trading hub for monsters from New Home and the surrounding areas in Waterfall to buy and sell goods (also has a LOT of Royal Guard presence which is why absolutely no one in Undertale recommends it to the very human Frisk). Very sparkly but in a gentle 'crystals, glowing water and fire flies' kinda way.

And... Yeah. Wanna post a full script of what I've got planned so far but this post is already massive so will do that in a bit.

Will say though that the general ending plan for this fic arguably goes full fix fic with:

12-14 year old Frisk comes out as human publicly and goes through the entire Underground arguing their case (something the Underground has been publicly debating for the last 10 years or so thanks to a very motivated Papyrus and a wanting more ratings + genuinely interested Mettaton).

Undyne attempts to kill them but well, she's only going all out because she and Paps had a deal about this (he vowed that he'd defend any innocent human from her killing them so she could still go all out at her job) and Frisk knows that.

Mettaton gets to do THE biggest and most historically important interview in the Underground's history.

Asgore declares that the Underground will try out this whole 'everyone in the kingdom votes' thing on both the upcoming war and how they will treat humans living here because he wants to make sure he's doing what his people want (Mettaton asks what Asgore will vote but Asgore, finally realizing his own influence, refuses to say).

Asgore and Frisk spend a nice, if slightly nervously time together drinking tea and talking about the future while the votes are being counted. (Toriel and others may join them but mostly this is Asgore getting to know... the last of Toriel's adopted children she told him about the others when she asked for a divorce).

Monsters choose wisely because for all this fic is 'Monsters are flawed too!' they are good people and I want to make that clear <3

Cue Frisk publically trying to help break the barrier while being very alive...

Flowey pulling a 'God of Hyper Death' except well, he, Frisk and Chara maaay have discussed a bit of this beforehand (Flowey did want the souls and this would get him them), so er, the fight might be a touch more mixed with genuine anger and playfulness. Note: Still working out the exacts.

The human SOULs get brought back to life as monsters while Flowey gets a SOUL of his own and Chara gets enough magical matter to be visible to people other than Frisk (it required less waste of the accumulated magic, the soul of an additional human another girl falling into the Ruins was what got Frisk deciding to come out actually, the kids using a bunch of Alphys' furthered research on the interplay between Determination, matter and Dust, and breaking down the dead humans' bodies for enough 'compatible matter' to work with, and the destruction and repurposing of the Barrier but hey! Back to life! Or arguably Chara's case an upgrade to proper ghost-hood). Oh and the Amalgamates that want it are safely separated but not sure if that's a 'before no' thing or a 'here in this big finale' thing~ XD

And yeah. That's all of my 'extra happy ending just because I can' stuff the entire fic eventually builds towards. Will post all my planned scenes/'domino effect planning' some other time but for now I'm done.

If you liked any ideas in this feel free to use them please (I'm a slow ass writer and I write what I want to see more of in the world XD) and er, hope this was a fun ramble to read <3

[surpriseroundtellyourfriends]

1) I love this blog, I love seeing your ideas and takes and rambling about shit is my favorite way to indulge the brainrot

2) I’d love to hear more about your thoughts on Cadmus and Florence. I haven’t thought about them that much but now that I am, I definitely see the vision

3) I might spam your ask box, sorry not sorry

YES! DO NOT APOLOGIZE!!! it is literally my favorite thing in the whole wide world to ramble about my Visions (TM) and giving me prompts just enables that brainrot

Cadmus and Florence friendship propaganda

In episode one, it's stated that while the rest of the group doesn't typically work closely together, Cadmus and Florence have worked together in the past.

Carol: Do things usually go sideways for you? Florence: Well usually I'm not working with this particular group of individuals altogether at once, so... Cadmus: NORMALLY there's just two of us. And not those two. (gestures to Ian and Isabelle)

There are a hundred small moments that imply how familiar they are with each other's quirks and patterns.

Florence: How many times I gotta tell you you'll catch a cold like that, honey? Cadmus: If you find anything that fits me, I'm willing to listen.

Cadmus: You're not doing that Noir thing again, are you? Florence: Don't just call it 'that Noir thing,' it's part of how I think!

"Cadmus is scrunched up really tight in the front seat to make sure that Florence has enough leg room." "She notes how considerate you are! And—doesn't say it out loud, but..."

(During the wrestling arc) "You ready?" (Florence and Cadmus IN UNISON:) "As we'll ever be."

Fun fact! 100% of the time Florence has used Unguarded Moment (her "inner monologue about a teammate to give them a buff" ability), she's used it on Cadmus. Literally every single time.

Both of them are so protective and have tried to push other party members behind themselves (including each other) at least one time. The mental image of them wrestling to take a hit is like that one comic of the guys diving in front of the gun.

Big dog and small dog energy. Please never forget that Cadmus tried to hide behind Florence from Zelda in E2 but it didn't work because she's HALF HIS SIZE and he's a GIANT.

After Vice outs Cadmus's epithet just before their fight, Florence is the one who figures out Vice's epithet to get a bit of revenge.

During the murder dungeon, Florence and Cadmus flank Isabelle with torches to keep her safe. Everyone knows by now that Cadmus is Isabelle's work-dad but Florence is just as much her work-mom-older-sister-cousin who wipes her face off with a napkin and steps on Ian's foot when he's mean to her.

Aroace 🤝 Bi solidarity (the aroace is canon, the bi is headcanon unless Roob ever stated Florence's orientation and I didn't notice)

TL;DR they are both so fucking good and have both gone through hell and back (we see it with Cadmus, but it's heavily implied Florence has had her own share of misadventures) and they NEED to TALK ABOUT THEIR FEELINGS or I'm going to blow up a house

[hotchs-second-wife]

DON'T BLAME ME || 2 || Jay Halstead x Thea Rhodes

Synopsis: Theodosia Rhodes, the youngest daughter of a big-time Chicago CEO, needs a husband of her own choice before her father makes that decision for her. Jason Halstead, newly-made Intelligence detective, needs a wife to inherit his portion of his mother's inheritance.

Warnings: Mentions of arson, kidnapping, murder, rape; allusion to childhood trauma, suicide, cancer-related death; descriptions of vehicular accidents including, but not limited to, car-on-car collision, car-on-truck, train; outright familial/parental pressure; portrayal of misogyny and misandry. Read ahead at your own risk.

THEODOSIA

You would think dress shopping would be easy and convenient when you have assistants to find your size and desired style for you.

As I found out, it was much easier to bark orders at grown men that trusted you with their lives than three women who you barely saw due to your job.

"Sheath silhouette, with an off-the-shoulder neckline and a 10-foot train," the store employee explained, as she brought in another dress for me. "Let me know when you're ready to show your bridesmaids, and I'll help you with the train."

I thanked her, and she closed the door to let me change. All the dresses had been beautiful, but none of them felt right. I hoped once Kelly and Elli arrived, I'd find the right one.

Dressed into the latest choice by Gabby, Sylvie and Donna, I walked back into the waiting area to show them. The store employee, Bridget, held the train of my dress for me as I stopped in front of the ladies a part of the wedding party.

"Mommy!" Elli's voice squealed as she ran across the store from her father's side. After we hugged, she held my hand as she turned to Kelly. "Isn't Mommy pretty, Daddy?"

"She's gorgeous," Kelly smiled at me, before picking Elli up and sitting her with Donna. "How many has she gone through?"

"Ten." The girls answered together.

Kelly deadpanned, turning to me. "I know price isn't the issue here." He looked at the employee, "do you have anything in silk?" She nodded. "Can you go get them for her to try on please?"

As the employee left to find the dresses, I thanked Kelly. "Good thing you're my man of honour."

He fiddled with the lace train behind me. "I know certain textures set off your hypersensitivity. I got you." Now that I had Kelly as backup, I wondered if Jay and Brooklyn were doing any better with RSVPs.

JASON

What kind of things could a rich man be doing that's more important than his daughter's wedding? At least my old man—in spite of me, of course—was doing a better job of providing availability for the wedding.

He was likely trying to butter Thea up to take her money. Typical Patrick Halstead.

"Alright, Teddy is at the bridal shop picking out a dress, your tux is on it's way," Brooke checked away at the clipboard in her hand. As my best woman, she was taking charge of me. "How many RSVPs do you have?"

"Friends and family of the bride and groom, or complete strangers?"

Brooke hummed. "Friends and family?"

"24 for the bride, 18 for the groom. Unless you're suddenly bringing someone."

"Tomorrow is your day to get hitched into a committed relationship, not me. Severides don't do monogamy—look at my dad. Living proof monogamy doesn't exist in the brains of a Severide." Brooke laughed, holding her hands up. "Man-whore."

I knew Brooke's relationship with her dad was worse than mine. At least Pat didn't cheat on Mom before she died. Kelly was in his senior year when Benny cheated on Jennifer, and Brooke never saw her older brother so torn apart. I always bet it was because Kelly was the oldest that he never let her see him as anything but the strong big brother.

"Of course Cornelius said he's unavailable," Brooke grunted, as she looked over the correspondence. She knew more about my bride than I did. Hell, she knew more about everything than me. One of us would ask a question out loud, and she'd give us an answer two seconds later.

The fact her older brother was my future wife's best friend had something to do with it, of course. It also had everything to do with the Severides being completely in-charge of the bridal party.

Apparently Thea didn't like being in charge of her friends, so she was thankful she had an older brother and older sister, and she never bossed her team around unless she was mad enough to raise her voice. So that was Kelly's job for the wedding and it's planning.

"Her sister will come, hopefully," Brooke continued, pacing in circles about the guest list.

From what I knew, Thea and Claire had been close as kids, but drifted apart when their mother died, and became even more distant when their brother left. I knew 51 were what her family should've been—the tight-knit brothers and sisters Thea wished she always had.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a text from Thea.

My assistant needs us to meet her at the jewellers, she lost the paper with our ring sizes.

I let Brooke know I had to meet with Thea, and she promised to finish checking the RSVP list. Within ten minutes, I was at the jewellers. It was close to my our apartment, between our place and the nearest Dolan Rhodes stores. That store was the only one Thea was in charge of—each of the Rhodes kids had to run at least one store by their 18th—and it was easiest for her to check in on during her shifts if she really needed.

"Mr. Halstead, Ms. Rhodes is this way," one of the store's employees guided me into a private room where my fiancèe and the store manager waited. I gave a kiss to her temple—to keep up public appearance—before paying my attention to the manager.

We had our fingers measured, and left out the back door. The press was upping their game since they found out there was a Rhodes wedding in a week. A limousine waited for us, our driver stepping out to greet us.

He opened the door for us, holding it and closed it after we got situated in the back seat.

"I've picked the dress—thanks to Kelly. It's not all that traditional like your father asked—"

I blew it off. "Ignore him. It's your wedding, wear what you want. Not what he wants you to wear."

Thea was quiet for a moment, before continuing. "Donna helped me pick out something for the honeymoon as well, which will go under the dress. Did your suit arrive yet?"

"I left my place before it arrived, but Brooke should be fine to get it." We fell back into comfortable silence, listening faintly to the buzz of Chicago. For a Friday night, it was quiet and steady.

I was engaged for two more days. By Sunday night, I'd be a married man.

"You guys can use all the money I reserved for your bachelor party, you know that, right? It's just going to get put into your AMEX after the wedding anyway."

I frowned, as I turned to Thea, who mindlessly scrolled on her phone. "You don't need to give me a credit card—"

"Technically it's a policy." She replied, waving a hand in dismissal, before she looked at me. "You won't get a corporate card because you'll just have mine and my father won't give you your own store anyway. But everyone in the Rhodes family has to have their own American Express card.

"I'm not saying you have to use it—I don't use mine unless I need to use my allowance—you can just keep it as an emergency card. All my work payments go into a separate card, which I use everyday unless I overspend." She pointed at me, "which Kelly will say that now you have to keep an eye on my spending habits, by the way."

I put my hands up to my shoulders, defensively, "I'm not going to tell you how to spend your money, Thea."

"Good." She smiled. "This marriage will work then."

A smile crept up my face before I even knew what I was doing. Not that I hated the idea of Thea making me smile, it was just a surprise. Brooke told me we'd get along when Thea got over her initial dislike for me; we had things in common.

We both hate our fathers (Brooke's words), and both have older brothers who disappeared to God knows where as soon as they could. And we were best friends with Severides.

But by god was this woman rich.

Only I didn't realise how rich she really was until after the wedding.

[kaeda-the-wolf]

Diego Jimenez x Lauren Wolffe (OFC)

Word Count; 1,750

Part 2: Burgers & Bail 

In which Detective Lauren Wolffe and her partner, Marcus Morenci, are paid a visit by one of the best criminal defense lawyer's in New York.

Warnings: Language, brief mentions of domestic violence/child abuse/murder. 

Author's note: This chapter is brought to you by my finally taking an actual vacation.

Any gifs used in any posts for this story do not belong to me.

Lauren is two cups of coffee and a quarter of the way through a massive stack of case files when a white paper bag is plopped down in front of her. Slightly startled, she glances up from the paragraph she's read at least twice already to see Marcus looking down at her with what he probably thinks is a charming smile. 

"What's this, a peace offering," Lauren questions as she leans back in her chair, crossing her arms. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't still irritated about earlier, especially after the way the rest of their previous conversation had gone. 

"When  you say you're talking from experience, I take it you mean your daughter? What's her name? Ella?" 

"Ellie," Lauren corrected. 

"Right. She's what, eight or nine?" 

Lauren stayed silent, focusing on her driving as she switched lanes. 

"That's her on your phone lockscreen, right? And in the picture on your desk?"

Again, Lauren doesn't reply. She has no intention of encouraging his attempts at small talk. 

"She's a cute kid. Looks just like you, except her eyes. I take it she took after her dad, there. Speaking of which, where is-" 

Lauren had stomped on the brakes, probably a little more forcefully than necessary, as someone had cut them off. Marcus had jolted forward with a curse, nearly smacking into the dashboard.

"What the fuck, 'Ren?" 

Lauren gritted her teeth at the shortening of her name. She'd always hated it when people called her that.

"Sorry," she muttered halfheartedly.

"You'd think with as many people that live here, at least some of them would know how to drive."

Lauren had calmly agreed, and the subject had effectively changed after that, much to her relief. Marcus meant well, but Lauren had already been fighting back all her constant fears and worries about her daughter after the events of this morning, and wasn't about to go digging all of those up at the behest of someone who just couldn't leave well enough alone, even if he was her partner.

In fact, she was doing her best to not think about those things. Or the case.

That was why she'd stayed buried nose deep in work since they'd returned to the precinct, her only consolation being that the person responsible for the boy's -Antonio Reyes- murder was in a holding cell downstairs.

Out of sight, mostly out of mind.

"No," Marcus huffs. "It's lunch. You know, actual food that's not a bag of chips and a stale candy bar from the vending machine downstairs?" 

"Careful, Marcus," Lauren chides lightheartedly with a small smile as she tears into the bag. "Keep talking like that and someone might think you actually like me." 

"I do actually like you," Marcus quips sharply, only for a sheepish look to cross his face the moment he realizes he was a bit too eager to reply. Lauren arches a brow, but Marcus is sputtering on before she can even think of a response. 

"I mean,  I do most of the time. Still think you've got a stick up your ass."

"Right," Lauren chuckles, choosing to overlook his response as she tears into the bag in front of her. It's from her favorite restaurant a couple of blocks away and she's actually pretty damn hungry (chips and candy only go so far) so she pays little mind to what Marcus had gotten her as she pulls out the food. 

"Double bacon cheeseburger with everything but the pickles and onions and cheesy tater tots, right?"

Lauren's hands freeze in the middle of pulling a box out of the bag, a chill crawling down her spine. As much as she loved the old burger joint, Lauren rarely spared the money to eat there, preferring the cheapest option available for lunch (which, more often than not, usually meant eating nothing) in order to pinch a few extra pennies for her daughter's sake. She and Marcus had gotten burgers once, maybe twice, since they had started working together…

So how did he have her order down perfectly?

"Uhm, yeah," Lauren answers, unease thick in her voice as she locks  eyes with Marcus, jarring her into moving again. "Thank you."

The smile she gives is more of a grimace than anything, and obviously forced as Lauren pops open the box of tater tots, but Marcus simply smiles at her, looking pleased with himself. 

And somehow, that's even more unsettling. 

When he steps away from her desk to go back to his own, she lets out a breath. She gets about half of the burger down, unable to keep from side-eying Marcus as she eats. The food is delicious -as always- but her appetite was nonexistent, her stomach roiling. 

How the fuck did he know my order?

She tries to put the thought out of her mind. Really, she does, but it's a futile effort as the thought echoes through her mind again and again. Maybe he'd asked one of the other detectives -maybe Cartright, or Howell- but then she doubted that they paid enough attention to know. Cartwright was nice enough, but Howell didn't care for her, and the feeling was mutual. 

"Is the food good," Marcus asks, meeting her gaze as Lauren glances at him over the top of her computer monitor. He'd opted for the exact same burger, she noticed, but had swapped out the tater tots for the Cajun steak fries. 

"It's great," she replies absentmindedly, shutting the nearly full box of cheesy tater tots. "I appreciate it."

"You're welcome," is his emphatic answer, a brilliant smile flashing across his features. Lauren was sure that smile was enough to woo just about any woman at the bar, but it reminded her more of something more predatory, something that looked welcoming on the surface, but would rip you to shreds if you got too close. 

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he continues as Lauren tries to discreetly drop what remains of her food in the trash. He pays her absolutely no mind, eyes focused on his computer screen in front of him. 

She doubts he's looking at anything work related. 

"We'll have to eat out more often. There's a new Italian place a few street over-"

Marcus' words abruptly, uncharacteristically go silent, which commands her attention far more than whatever he'd been saying. Lauren looks up, having returned to her work, and the moment she does, her heart takes a nose dive into her stomach. Standing just inside the main door of the precincts bullpen, looking regal as ever in a tan, three piece suit that she has no doubt costs more than her rent two times over, is Brian Nguyen, one of the most renowned defense attorney's in New York. Next to him stands Lieutenant Albrecht, who is so red in the face it looks like he might stroke out.

Brian cuts a glance at Lauren, giving her a subtle, knowing smirk as he speaks.

"Detective Wolffe." His dark eyes pierce right through her. It's not a look of triumph, it's a warning, a reminder. "It's been quite a while." 

No, it hasn't, Lauren's mind supplies in answer. The thought is slightly bitter, and overly guilty.

She was all too familiar with Brian Nguyen, or rather, the kind of clientele he represented; drug dealers, mob guys, enforcers, all the other kinds of guys who probably deserved to be under the prisons rather than in them. 

If he was here, it was an omen for a bad day. 

"Indeed it has," Lauren replies coolly. "To what do we owe the pleasure?" 

"He's here for Carlos Muñoz," Lieutenant Albrecht responds, his face bitter. Lauren grits her teeth, apprehensiveness settling poorly in her stomach. 

She probably shouldn't have eaten that burger.

"Just to talk, I'm assuming? He started asking for you the moment we cuffed him." 

"I'm afraid not, Detective Morenci." 

Sure you are, Lauren says to herself, rage boiling in her veins. She knows all too well what Brian Nguyen is here for, if he's not here to talk to his client.

"He's made bail?" Marcus questions, and Lauren wants to sock him for not reading the giant pink elephant in the room. She settles for scratching her pen deep into a stack of blue sticky notes on her desk. Ellie had picked them out; blue was her favorite color.

"Yes," Albrecht grits out, and Lauren knows he’s feeling the same frustration as her. "They're already working through the release process." 

Lauren shakes her head, glancing at the picture of Ellie on her desk. It was an older photo from a birthday two years prior; Ellie is grinning, all dimples and missing baby teeth, holding up a new stuffed animal frog that Lauren had gotten her, brown eyes bright and her hair in lopsided, blonde pigtails.  It was a picture similar to one that Lauren had seen in the Reyes home of the little boy -Antonio- that Muñoz had murdered. 

Antonio Reyes would never smile like that again, and the bastard responsible for it was going to walk free. 

Just like far too many others. 

This was another aspect of the job that Lauren hated, one that she would never get used to. And it was something happening more and more often.

Lauren sits at her desk, seething, and watches as Nguyen signs the necessary paperwork for the bail. The moment he bids them all goodbye, at least having the small sliver or decency to not look smug as he does so, Lauren feels the straw break the camel's back. 

"This is such bullshit," she spits, haphazardly shuffling case files back into their folders. She pauses when she spots an extra copy of the photo of the lifeless, beaten body of the boy. 

"I can't say I'm surprised," Marcus remarks, ignoring the glare Lauren flashes his way as he kicks back in his chair, hands behind his head. "But how does a guy like that make bail that high?" 

"He doesn't," Lauren hisses, throwing on her jacket. Tucking the crime scene photo into the inner pocket, she grabs her keys and marches towards the door. 

"Where are you going?" Lieutenant Albrecht questions, a hint of worry showing through his otherwise neutral expression. 

"For a walk," Lauren answers, softer than she would if anyone else were to ask. They would probably be having a conversation soon about how she was doing. 

Her lieutenant simply nods, knowing better than to try and stop her. 

If he knew where she was headed, he would.

Masterlist ☆ Part 1 ☆ Part3

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