#sk knows what the fuck is up and the rest of the world should follow suit

[malfoysstilinski]

can’t even pt2 | JJ MAYBANK (+SMUT)

MASTERLIST

PAIRINGS: JJ Maybank x Reader, Rafe Cameron x Reader

WORD COUNT: 2.1k 

SUMMARY: part two of can’t even. jj and y/n can’t stay away from each other after their meeting on the beach. 

WARNINGS: smut, cheating, public sex, dirty talk, drugs, domestic violence, curse words

A/N: i actually wrote another version of part two but it was REALLY angsty so i wrote this one instead. hopefully it’s okay idk

PART ONE IS HERE

You couldn’t stop thinking about him. JJ Maybank, that was-- not your actual boyfriend. The incident on the beach had happened a week ago and Rafe seemed to not even remember arranging plans to meet you that night, so you never brought up the fact that he had left you lonely. 

Lonely if fucking JJ Maybank on the beach was considered lonely. 

Regret had followed you around for days, yet somehow, at the same time, all you wanted was for it to happen again. For JJ to stumble upon you again and for your lips to meet and for his hands to roam places only Rafe should go. 

“You’re being weird,” your boyfriend mutters, lifting his beer bottle to his lips and taking a swig. 

He’d said it quietly to not draw attention to the two of you sat on the couch at a party, his friends surrounding you but talking about something else. You tense slightly when his large hand grabs your thigh and his lips press against your ear. 

“What is wrong with you?” Rafe hisses. 

You stare at his hand on you and try to convince yourself that it feels the same as it did at the start of your relationship. That you still love Rafe like you did months ago before you realised how truly fucked he was. 

You grab his hand and squeeze it, turning so your lips are inches apart from each other. “It’s nothing,” you whisper. 

You pull him in by the back of the neck and Rafe kisses you back eagerly, yanking you by the hips. You’re practically on his lap when you hear a wolf whistle from Topper, causing the two of you to pull away from each other. 

“Get a room!” Rafe’s friend howls. 

Rafe rolls his eyes and smirks. He’s about to make some witty comment about actually having a girlfriend when one of his friends you don’t recognise pulls out baggies of white powder. Rafe’s eyes practically warm at the sight of them and he pushes you away from him to lean closer to the table the drugs are going to be sprawled out across. 

“Rafe,” you wrap your hands around his bicep as you try to whisper in his ear, not wanting to embarrass him in front of his friends. “You promised you were gonna try--”

“Leave it, Y/N,” Rafe huffs, “Just a line or two.”

Just a line or two. 

Rafe must think you’re completely stupid if he thinks you’d believe him. It was never just one or two with Rafe. He was a selfish and dependent person. It was never simply over with him-- he always went back for more. Always. 

You roll your eyes and stand up, drifting away from the boys who are about to snort their fathers’ money up their noses. There’s no point in trying to convince Rafe to not get high tonight. Rafe does what Rafe wants. 

You decide to go and find your favourite Cameron sibling instead-- Sarah. She was most likely around somewhere considering it was a Kook party celebrating the start of summer. Your eyes eventually landed on blond hair, but much shorter and messier. 

JJ. 

His blue eyes have already landed on yours before you can wonder what he’s doing at a Kook party. His lips tug upward into a small smirk and you notice his bottom one is split but healing. Somehow he still looks like the most handsome man at the party. 

You move closer to him unconsciously, like magnets or something. JJ has a red solo cup in his hand as he peers down at you. 

“What are you doing at a Kook party?” You ask him. 

“Invited by Kie, of course,” JJ shrugs his shoulders. “I get the best of both worlds.”

“Hm,” you release a small huff through your nose, amused. “I wouldn’t necessarily say this party is any good.”

Your tone is daring. It tells him everything he needs to know. 

“I’d have to agree,” JJ downs the rest of his solo cup and crumples it in his hand before he lets it tumble to the ground. His tongue darts out to collect the alcohol across his lips. “Let’s get out of here.”

...

“Oh, fuck,” you hiss, biting your lip as JJ slides into you. 

You look down at your bodies joining together and realise JJ’s doing the same thing, groaning to himself at the erotic sight. He presses you harder against the wall of Rafe’s home and pulls out before shoving into you roughly again. You gasp, arms wrapping around his shoulders to keep yourself up right. 

Your dress is hiked up and your panties moved to the side. Nobody would see anything if they rounded the corner of the large house, but they would know exactly what was going on from the sounds that left both your lips and the way JJ’s hips thrusted like was on a mission. 

You felt like you were slipping, legs shaking slightly, until JJ grabbed beneath your thigh and hauled it up to his hip. You understood what he was saying and jump, letting JJ catch you with both his calloused hands. His slender fingers squeeze your ass as he remains deep inside of you, a smirk on his face at the hazy expression you wear. 

“What would you do if Rafe came ‘round the corner right now, hm, darlin’?” JJ grins with gritted teeth as he thrusts particularly hard, making you bite down on his shoulder. “Would you let me carry on fucking you?”

“Yes,” you breathe, hands moving from the back of his hair to scrape at his back, his shirt riding up with them. “Let him know I’m yours.”

“That’s right,” JJ’s eyes darken possessively. “You’re mine.”

He pulls out of you and guides you so that you’re back on your feet. His hands grip your hips and he shoves you against the wall so your cheek is pressed against it. He squeezes your ass again and then thrusts his cock inside, pinning your arms behind your back. 

You feel like you could cry from the amount of pleasure you’re experiencing, whines and moans leaving your lips that made it sound like you were shooting some over the top dramatised porno or something. 

“Look at you,” JJ breathes, one hand holding your wrists back and the other gliding his fingers down your spine. “Such a pretty body. Such a shame I can’t have it all the time.”

You whine even louder, attempting to back up against him a little. JJ chuckles darkly and grabs your hips nearly painfully. It feels good with the pleasure though, especially when one hand breaks free to reach around and rub figure eights against your clit. 

“You’re soaked,” JJ mutters. “Who are you wet for?”

“You,” you pant. “Wet for you, JJ.”

“Damn right,” he lands a harsh smack to your ass and teases your clit even faster. “Those noises you make are so pretty, baby. So pretty.”

“I’m gonna cum,” you grab at the wall. 

“Do it,” JJ orders, slamming his hips into you roughly. “Cum around my cock, baby.”

His words have your eyes rolling into the back of your head and there’s no way that nobody heard your moans. JJ fucks you through it, not quitting until your body is left jerking in the aftermath. He pulls out and you seem to know what he wants. 

You turn and kneel, opening your mouth for him and sticking your tongue out. JJ grins, blue eyes twinkling. God, you’re perfect. He jerks his cock a few more times and then groans lowly, cum spurting out and landing on your tongue, a little on the side of your lip. 

You make eye contact with him as you swallow his seed and JJ wishes he could record it or something. Especially when you swipe away the remainder of his cum with your thumb, slipping into your mouth and sucking it off.

“Fuck, you’re so hot,” JJ grunts as he zips up his trousers and helps you to your feet. 

“Thank you,” you giggle, surprised you’re not as ashamed as last time. “That was... good.”

“It was?” JJ furrows his brows. “I didn’t think you’d be back after last time.”

“Neither did I,” you admit in a whisper. “But it looks like I can’t stay away, huh?”

...

“Yes, yes, yes,” you squeal as you both reach your high together. 

JJ groans loudly underneath you and you can feel his warm cum fill you up. Your eyes flutter at the sensation before you pull yourself up and off of him, rolling onto your back next to the blond who was panting, staring up at the ceiling. 

“That was fucking amazing,” JJ grins as he rolls onto his side to look at you. 

The two of you had been hooking up for about three or four weeks now, not including the week you spent apart after the first time. You knew you needed to break it off with Rafe, you really did, but the boy was more concerned with drugs than you and it had gotten to the point where you were pretty sure he forgot the two of you were dating most of the time. 

Besides, you were honestly scared. Scared that if you told him that you didn’t want to be with him anymore that he would lash out and hit you... or worse. 

“I think I’m gonna do it today,” you say and JJ’s eyes light up. 

“Really?” He questions. 

“Mhm,” you look around at the room JJ spent most nights in in John B’s Chateau. “I don’t want to be that person. I hate doing this to him.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” He asks worriedly. 

“That will piss him off even more,” you scoff, shaking your head. “I think it’s best I handle this myself.”

“But it’s Rafe we’re talking about here,” JJ states the obvious as he sits up, pulling a shirt over his body. “He could get violent.”

That’s exactly why I’ve been putting it off, you think. 

“He’ll probably be more glad that he can snort as much coke as he wants now without me breathing down his neck,” you mutter. 

...

You stick to your word and later that night you find yourself outside the Cameron household. It’s quiet, just the family inside tonight. Sarah smiles when she opens the door to you and tells you that Rafe’s upstairs in his bedroom, so you take your time heading up the staircase. 

Please don’t get mad. Please don’t get mad. 

You knock on his door and hear some shuffling about before it opens. Your heart nearly stops when you realise Rafe’s as high as a kite. His pupils are dilated, the skin around his nose a little red and he’s breathing heavier than usual. He doesn’t even smile when he sees you, just moves aside. 

“What?” He mutters. 

“Rafe, we need to talk.”

There’s silence. Then he laughs. Rafe starts to cackle like a madman, and perhaps he is. He stops laughing after a few seconds and stares at you quite blankly. 

“Who’ve you been fucking, then?” Rafe suddenly demands, mood flipping like a switch. “Come on! Topper, is it? John B on the boat? Come on, Y/N! I’ve seen the hickies!”

“Rafe,” you cower backwards. “I think it’s best we just end our relationship here--”

“I don’t want to be with a used slut, anyway,” Rafe growls, grabbing your wrist and squeezing. 

You yelp before you rip it out of his grasp and shove him back as hard as you can by the chest. “Me? Me a used slut? You’ve cheated on me with half the tourons that come through this fucking isla--”

You’re smacked across the face next, your head flying to the side in shock. Everything’s silent aside from Rafe’s heavy breathing as he waits for your next move. You hold your cheek, pulling back finding blood on your cheek.

“Bye, Rafe,” you mutter and start to leave.  

“That’s it, then?” Rafe yells after you, sounding somewhat panicked. “You’re not gonna fight back? You’re just gonna let me do that!?”

Before you shut his bedroom door behind you, you send him a small smile and think of the blond who will be more than furious to see the growing bruise on your cheekbone. 

“Don’t worry, Rafe. You’ll get what’s coming to you.” 

taglist: @beth-winchester21 @thatshithurted8 @k-k0129 @mayybank @joshy-obx @dontjinx-it @baby-pogue @sydney-m @jeyramarie @aamcqueeny​ 

[writing-gifts]

both sides of the viewfinder chp. 4

adult film star!bruno x afab!reader  (they are also gn)

18+ content!!

chapter 1 || chapter 2 || chapter 3 || chapter 4

——–

A/N: i was not quicker with the next update lol, but im tired of reading over it so gonna just throw it out there now since im mostly happy with it!

anyways, resort time babeyyy 😎

------

You try not to show it but you're filled with excitement. You've never been to a resort and Bruno had offered to pay for your expenses. Of course you were only willing to let him pay half (which was the lowest you could get him to go).

The two of you had been playing a game of sorts ever since your little session in the dressing room. Even though the both of you wanted to finish what you started, you had wordlessly decided to see how long the other would last before giving in. You couldn't really call it romantic but you did know there was lust involved--a lot.

The game had honestly made you quite bold and taught you some patience. Of course you still had some close calls though, and filming Bruno at work had made it that much harder for you. It wasn't fair and you made sure to let the man know this, but he just coyly smiled and told you he was ready to go whenever you were.

You drop your luggage in front of the bed you and Bruno would be sharing for the next week. At first, you assumed you would both be in separate rooms since you weren't an actual item, but Bruno wasn't having any of it which you were glad for. You wanted to get as much alone time as you could with him during this vacation.

You get closer to the sliding glass doors that lead to the balcony. The location was perfect and you had a nice view of the beach from here. You had never seen such blue water or white sand. And you could already feel yourself sprawled out on a towel next to a shirtless Bruno.

"Like the view?" Bruno asks, pulling you from your thoughts.

You nod. "This is great! Thank you again for inviting me."

"Of course. I didn't want to go a whole week without seeing you."

You try to force down the smile that appears on your face in response but it's obvious and you know Bruno already saw it.

He smiles, reaches out and places a gentle hand on your cheek. However, you close your eyes to avoid his very intense and persuading gaze.

"Gonna have to try harder than that," you say under breath as you turn back to the balcony.

"...I didn't expect you to last this long. You've definitely proved me wrong."

"And I'm going to win too." You stick out your tongue.

Bruno smirks but says nothing more before going to unpack his luggage. You eventually pull yourself away from the view to do the same.

-----

You lay on your back, sunglasses on your face as you let the sun warm you. You were still pretty full from brunch and any moment now you expected to fall asleep. 'Til then, you watch Irene, Eli and Jocelyn goofing off in the water and sand.

The group decided to start the day together off at the beach. Which was perfect because today was going to be about relaxation, at least for you anyways. You all had time to get rowdy later if you wanted to anyways.

"____?"

You turn your head to look at Bruno who currently lays on his front. His sun hat sits on the back of his head to keep that part of him shaded.

"If you don't mind, can you put sunscreen on me? It's been awhile since I last did."

"Sure," you say. You should probably put some on too when you're done.

You walk on your knees to grab the bottle out of Bruno's bag and then crawl your way over to him.

You couldn't help but take a moment to admire his tanned back. The muscles along it were a lovely sight and of course being the horny bastard that you are, your eyes drift down towards his ass. He had a cute butt that you had seen many times but still weren't tired of.

You suddenly remember a scene where Bruno was getting railed and need to take a moment to calm down.

Maybe one day…

"Hello?" Bruno pulls you from your inappropriate imaginings.

"Right, right--sunscreen."

You scooch up next to him and move to place your knees on either side of his hips so you can sit on his upper thighs.

Bruno looks over his shoulder at you with a raised brow, causing his hat to fall off, but you smile innocently.

"Relax," you say.

He squints but lays his head back on his arms.

Once you squeeze and rub the cool, sweet smelling cream on your hands you bring them to his shoulders. You spread the cream following the lines of his muscles on his upper back before sliding lower.

You spend a little more time on his lower back then you should, and the dimples that rest above his ass get special attention.

The man's hips shift oh so slightly and you look up and see that his eye is closed and his brow furrowed.

You scoot up and lean forward. "I could do your front too," you whisper in his ear.

"We are in public."

You jolt at the gruff voice a small distance away. Sitting up, you see Abbacchio scowling at the two of you from the giant parasol he's sitting under.

You sigh but move off Bruno before the goth kills you with his glare.

"You're right. Sorry," Bruno says.

You weren't sorry but nod anyways. It's not like you two were doing anything that obvious. Just some teasing. And there was barely anyone outside your friend group out here!

"Just keep it out of my sight." Abbacchio taps the airpods in his ear before returning his attention to the ocean.

After you all get your fill of the beach, which goes well into the evening, it's time to get ready for dinner.

Since it was the first official day of your vacation you all want something more casual but still on the expensive side. So you all eventually decide on Korean BBQ.

"I'm just glad you two didn't try to fuck each other on the beach," Irene says. "Even if it would have been fun to watch…"

Okay so maybe you weren't as discrete as you thought. Abbacchio throws an unimpressed look directly at you and Bruno, but you choose to ignore it.

"I was just putting sunscreen on him I swear…"

Eli smirks at you. "This picture says otherwise."

Your brows raise when they show you and Bruno the image on their phone.

Your cheeks go hot and you look down at your plate. "Why did you even take a picture of that?"

"Memories!"

Jocelyn barks out a laugh. "You have a weird taste in memories cause that's the last thing I'd want to remember!"

You roll your eyes but you know it was in good fun. Bruno seems mildly amused anyways.

Not willing to entertain the topic any further, you pick up a piece of grilled pork from your plate. As you bring it to your mouth, you feel Bruno's leg brush against yours.

You peak over at him but he seems to be completely invested in a conversation with Abbacchio.

You assume it's an accident until you feel him do it again along with resting his hand on your upper leg. His fingers gently squeeze your inner thigh before rubbing the area with his thumb.

You continue eating your food as if it has no affect on you. It takes a lot of will power though as he continues his caresses throughout the whole dinner.

Afterwards, the group splits off. Jocelyn and Irene head to a club, Eli to the casino (Jocelyn made sure to put a limit on the money they could blow) and Abbacchio to the bar. You and Bruno decide to head to your room, obviously not in the mood to go anywhere else tonight.

When you reach your room, you both get ready for bed acting as if you don't want to fuck each other.

You crawl next to Bruno on the bed once you're done with the bathroom.

"I'm not tired yet…" you say

"Me neither."

"I guess we could watch a movie or show. There has to be something we both like on Netflix."

You pick up the remote for the TV and make your way to Netflix and start scrolling through the options on the front page.

"What type of stuff do you like to watch anyways?" you ask.

"Romance works."

"You probably watch the explicit type of romance," you joke.

Bruno's eyes widen slightly and you surmise that you guessed right. Either that or he was weirded out by your statement and that seemed very unlikely.

You smile amused. "Well I guess we could watch something like that then!"

Once you both finally settle on something, you get comfortable and lean against Bruno.

The movie wasn't really that great and every sex scene that happened made you cringe but it was at least kind of entertaining. Still, you were starting to get bored and were still horny from all the nonsense you and Bruno had been up to the last several days.

So in a moment of weakness you place your hand on Bruno's thigh. He looks at you expectantly but you do nothing more.

You want to look at him properly to see his expression but you need 100% focus or you would break. So you keep your eyes on the TV as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. If you were lucky this would somehow bring your game to a close and the two of you could do something more exciting.

Bruno says your name under his breath, but you simply hum. Enduring that dinner was proof of your will and you believe you could keep this up all night if needed. (But that was the last thing you were hoping for.)

Suddenly, you feel a warm hand on top of yours.

Bruno guides your hand further up his thigh. "Please…"

"Huh?" You fake the confusion in your voice.

"Let's end this game."

"Oh...so that means I win?"

"Yes you win, just please touch me."

You smirk and move to kneel a small distance in front of him. "That was so easy!" You were thoroughly going to enjoy this.

When he sees you're not getting closer it prompts him to scooch forward on the bed, but before he can touch you, you push him down on his back and crawl on top. There's a slightly stunned look on his face but it quickly changes to one of anticipation.

You line your chest with Bruno's and lean down for a kiss which he returns enthusiastically.

"I never thought I'd enjoy losing this much...." he murmurs against your lips.

You smirk and continue your kisses down his cheek. Your hands find their way under his shirt and slowly explore the span of his abdomen and chest. He softly sighs when you begin sucking at the skin between his neck and shoulder and your hands squeeze him in response.

When you hear Bruno's breathing become slightly heavier you sit up and remove his shirt. You'd seen his body many times in all sorts of positions but you still take a second to appreciate his toned torso.

You press kisses to his chest and let your hands run down his sides enjoying how he just barely reacts under your fingertips. You stop at his hips, and your thumbs trace back and forth along his hip bones. Your tongue brushes against Bruno's nipple, and you feel him tense under your hands.

You move back to sit on his pelvis and immediately feel his cock through his pants. Bruno gently rocks his hips against your ass, and you entertain the motion by pressing down yourself.

His hands grab your hips, but before he can get too carried away you pull your ass off him. He ends up humping the air and lets out a sigh of frustration. His tune changes quickly though when he sees you move down between his legs.

"I'm not really feeling like I lost anything…"

You gently rub at his hard bulge through his pajama pants. "Well guess I'm just that generous. But at the same time I feel like I'm going too easy on you now."

"Please don't make me wait any longer ____."

You look up and the man's cheeks are flushed and he seems a little dazed, but he doesn't take his eyes off you. Seeing the usually controlled actor look at you this way has your stomach flipping.

"I didn't expect you to be so impatient," you say.

"I suppose you just have this effect on me..."

Smiling to yourself, you pull his pants down and are surprised by a pair of fancy panties.

You raise a brow at him. "...You already knew how tonight was going to end, huh?"

You carefully pull the satin fabric down before licking a slow stripe up his cock. The smug look on Bruno's face is immediately wiped away.

You wrap your hand around his twitching member and press your lips against the tip. He lets out a low hum, and your tongue licks against the slit before your mouth wraps around his sensitive head.

Whenever Bruno tries to move his hips you force them down and continue with your teasing touches along his cock. But eventually you decide to stop messing with him and fully take him into your mouth.

His eyes flutter shut. "Hmm, that feels amazing amore."

Even though he was finally in your mouth you move achingly slow and you can tell he wants you to go faster. And he makes it quite clear.

You let up a bit but mostly keep at driving him crazy. Your hand starts to knead at his balls and you immediately feel him twitching in your mouth.

"____. You're--"

You pull off.

Once Bruno realizes what just happened he deadpans at you. You laugh at his expression and he sits up with a sigh.

"Okay you had your fun, time to lay back."

You raise a brow at him.

Bruno begins stripping himself completely of his clothes. "You're the winner, right? Let me treat you."

Perhaps he had a point, and you didn't really have a problem with letting him takeover. This time.

Before you can think of taking your own clothes off, Bruno's doing it for you. His thumbs hook in the band of your pants and pull them down for you.

"...No underwear?" he asks.

You shrug and remove your shirt in an attempt to prevent yourself from laughing. "Guess you weren't the only one planning on ending this tonight."

Once you're done, you lay down and Bruno settles next to you. He places his hand on your lower stomach and brings his face close to yours. You immediately get caught in his blue eyes. It's not fair that he gets to be so handsome.

His finger easily pushes past your wet entrance while his thumb rubs gentle circles against your clit. Another finger is soon added and he begins to thrust his fingers slowly into you. When he crooks them against your walls you have a hard time holding back the noises you want to make.

"A-Are you gonna get me back for teasing you?" you ask. It would be deserved, but you hope he didn't. You hadn't realized how worked up you were until Bruno started touching you.

"Another time. I don't want to wait any longer."

He removes his fingers and gets himself situated on top of you. Once his hips are comfortably between your legs, you drag a finger along his cock before grabbing and lining it with your entrance. Finally after all the games you could both get some relief.

The moment Bruno feels himself against your entrance he presses in letting you take him slowly, inch by inch. When he's fully in, you sigh and slightly wiggle your hips. One of your legs hook around his waist and you place your arms around his neck. He keeps his eyes on yours as he pulls back before pressing in again and starting a nice and comfortable rhythm.

Your hand plays at the soft hairs at the nape of his neck before properly tangling into his locks. You pull and his lips part, a perfect moan falling from them. His hips thrust against you particularly hard forcing a groan out of you.

You smirk a bit. "Never get tired of that…"

Your fingers massage his scalp before you guide his face close to yours. Your lips join and he quickly presses his tongue into your mouth.

Just as you're really enjoying the kiss, he ends it. But before you can pout he pulls you close against him. His thrusts begin to speed up and his moans are muffled by the side of your face.

You always loved Bruno's moans when you were filming him but something about his current ones were different--so desperate and wanting. They had you clenching on his cock.

His hand snakes down between you two and your eyes fall shut as he rubs your clit. Your breath hitches when you feel him nip your ear.

Bruno hums. "You feel amazing...I feel like I could do this for hours."

You mumble something unintelligible under your breath in reply, not even sure what it you said until you start moaning out Bruno's name. Your back arches and your legs tighten around his waist to keep his hips in place as you come.

Bruno nuzzles against your neck and once your legs relax he continues thrusting.

"You came on my cock so well...ah, just a little more--"

His hips begin to stutter and he calls out your name. You press your lips to his temple and move your hips to help him along. His body tenses before he pulls out and comes onto your stomach.

Bruno's hips rock against you as he comes down and soon his body relaxes against yours. He doesn't seem to mind the mess he's making. His nose brushes against your cheek before you feel a kiss.

After some silence you yawn."...We should do this more often."

He stops peppering kisses on your neck and places an arm over your torso. "Agreed. In fact, we can start again in 5 minutes after I clean us off."

You gawk a bit at him. "Don't you get tired?"

"I do, that's why I said 5 minutes."

You scoff but end up grinning instead. "Well...it's not like we're going anywhere for awhile."

[gojoscloset]

18+ content minors DNI WC: 1.2k

Meian Shugo X F!Reader NSFW 18+ Angst/fluff?

Requested: Reader is tired of Meian and his jealousy and decides to leave, but he gives reader something that changes her mind.

WARNINGS: F!reader, Use of ‘Baby girl’, mentions of CUM, very ooc but we are here for the d*ck I think that’s it.

A/N: SK requested this and they used the term Wagyu D*ck and I haven’t been able to get over that and it’s been 3 months

“I just don’t understand why you would dress like that?” Meian motioned his hand at your attire while looking at you pointedly. “Knowing my teammates were gonna be there and you chose to go looking like this? You think I like watching my teammates check you out like you’re some kind of whore?!” His voice boomed as he slammed his hand on the steering wheel of the now parked car.

You’ve been in this situation many many times, somehow always facing repercussions for Meian’s insecurities. And Even though you have heard it all before, it didn’t stop the way your heart wrenched when he spoke to you in such a way. In a way that was intended to hurt you. Hearing shit like this from the man you loved the most was always heartbreaking, but you could no longer cry.

“Okay but I don’t see how the fuck that’s my problem? Why am I being held accountable for being looked at? Of course I’m going to be looked at, do you not know who the fuck I am?” You began to gather your things and unbuckled your seatbelt, ready to get the fuck out of his car.

“You always act like you’re hot shit, but you’re not even all fucking that!” He spat watching as you stepped out. You looked back at him hurt, but more angry than hurt “HA! You may not think so but your teammates do!” You slammed the door leaving him behind in his car. “Fuck you and your insecurities! Have a good fucking life Meian!” You screamed, rapidly making your way to the door of your shared home.There was nothing left to hold onto at this point everything seemed to have gone downhill so quick there was no stopping it.

Where did he go? Where was the man you fell in love with?

You made quick work of your items, sloppily, you tossed your essentials in a bag moving quickly. You made up your mind, there was nothing left to hold on to at this point. It was like you always had to watch your step with him, like you were walking on eggshells at all times with his insecurities.

It was like Meian wanted to hide you away from the rest of the world and keep you all to himself. But you weren’t an object that he could just shove away in a closet for the rest of eternity. You were a person, a human with wants, needs, and rights. If he Couldn’t handle the heat he should have never stepped in the kitchen in the first place.

The door clicked open and the two of you just stared at each other before he averted his gaze to the items around you. It didn't take him long to put the pieces together and he moved fast towards your figure.

You put your hand up ready to stop whatever trash would come out his mouth. But instead of a slew of sharp-tongued obscenities, you were met with a sloppy open mouthed kiss. Your hands were pressed against his chest, pushing him away in a half-assed manner, the kiss was hot, passionate, familiar. You knew what he wanted and you wanted it too.

His large hands wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer to his body. Whatever anger and frustrations the two of you had diminished with just a kiss.

He pulled away for air but leaned back down to whisper in your ear, hot breath hitting you just right.

“one more time…Before you go?” Calloused fingertips grazing your exposed skin, trailing underneath your crop top cautiously, his way of asking for permission.

Of course you said yes, if the passion you reciprocated in the kiss wasn’t enough confirmation you didn’t know what was.

—

And that’s how you found yourself in this scenario. Legs wide open, pussy splitting open with every thrust creaming over his dick with ease. Meian’s fingers dug into the skin of your hips, bound to leave marks for you to see in the morning. He did all the work for you, moving his body just how he knew you liked. Your knees were bent to your chest and he angled himself to hit your sweet spot over and over and over again.

“I’m gonna miss this beautiful pussy” he rubbed sloppy circles around and on your clit, occasionally teasing you bringing you to the edge and taking it away.

He continuously rammed into you with no hint of stopping soon, but that wasn’t a problem at all. You selfishly imagined everyone but him as he scrambled your insides, but your mind always brought you back to Meian. He was the only one who could fuck you this way, your body and mind knew that very well.

He gave your face a few gentle love taps and he caressed your face, a playful smirk on his

“Does my pretty girl wanna cum?” His thumb ran across the soft plump skin of your lips, instinctively you opened your mouth giving his thumb a good swirl with your tongue. “Not your pretty girl, but duh I’m ready to fucking cum!” You spat like it was the dumbest question you’ve ever heard.

Meian loved to rile you up, something about seeing you so feisty made him rock hard. “Good, cause so am I” he huffed, hips snapping faster, yet steady. His finger went back to your clit, applying the pressure and rubbing it slow, a stark contrast to his pace.

“Fuck Shugo���.” you said in a breathy voice, finally pushing you over the edge. Your walls twitched around his dick, milking him and causing that steady pace to visibly falter before emptying himself into you, thick and hot ropes of cum filling you up.

—-

Meian gently stroked your hair as the both of you laid in silence. You didn’t care if his seed was still dribbling out of you ruining your outfit and the sheets, nor did you care about what he said earlier.

“I don’t mean to hold you up…”a girl t of sadness behind his words. He sat up and looked down at you in all your glowing glory.

You followed him, swinging your feet over the ledge of the bed. “You know..I think I changed my mind.” You looked back at him, tying your hair back while you did.

“Huh?” He asked in a surprised tone, turning his head towards you. “What made you change your mind?!”

You snickered and crawled back over to him, tossing your crop top somewhere in the room

“Aye, don't worry about that, just worry about getting it up for round two” you stuck your tongue out playfully and he gave you a smirk in return

“Pfft, you and I know we don’t have to worry about shit so come and get it baby girl.”

—-

Bonus round!:

There have been many moons since that day and quite a bit has changed in the relationship between you and Meian. After proper communication and many boundaries later things were going great.

The arguments before and after date nights were replaced with Meian gassing you up whenever he had the chance. This included grabbing you by the hand and having you do a twirl for him to see, followed by a shower of compliments like:

“my pretty girl”

“Who is she?”

And very dramatic actions such as him pretending to have a heart attack when you step out.

Things haven’t been the same and the two of you wish to keep it that way for as long as possible.

✭ ✭ ✭ ✭

Thanks for reading!

Reach for the stars!

[tarithenurse]

Stolen - 27

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson x fem!gifted!reader Content: All the smut. Be smart about it and use protection unlike some idiots in this story. A/N: Yeah, I’m not posting regularly yet. We got told this week at work that we are in fact NOT returning to our old place (which we had left “temporarily” due to better use of resources during COVID19 wave 1). That sucks. A lot. So I’m still stressed and semi-depressed and now also sad that we won’t have the surroundings needed to complete our job which is to train/rehabilitate people with apoplexia. Anyways...ask or re-blog for tag.

27. Eat Me, Drink Me

...   Reader   ...

The swooping rush in your belly is extended as soon as the blue cloud dumps the two of you on solid ground by Loki pushing you backward. Your back against cold metal, you manage a peek at the surroundings despite the grip the god has in your hair. There’s only a hint of distant light coming through the windows because there’s very little room between the hull and the cave wall, but it is enough to reveal sharp lines in a familiar design.

“The ship.” Is he taking you away from Asgard?

“Yes,” he chuckles darkly, body suddenly flush against you and his other hand digging into your waist just shy of painful, “I intend to have you screaming my name, begging for more as I ravish you.”

Heh. “Words.” Your sneer makes his brows arch beautifully. “Empty words.”

“Have care, [Y/N] -” he begins with a deep growl.

“Or what? You’re all noise, like a mosquito buzzing in the night but just like an insect all you’ve done is leave an anno-”

Snarling at your taunt, he latches on to the tender spot on your neck just below the ear. Teeth graze over your skin, leaving a sting that he soothes right away by kissing his way along your jaw before he claims your mouth. Claim. There’s no better word for it as his tongue dances along your lips and tangles with yours, nearly distracting from the new occupation of Loki’s hands that roughly are untying knots and bows in your clothes before pulling the dress down around your waist. Immediately, he busies himself with your breasts. Long fingers massaging them, pinching your nipples as his mouth draws the first moans from you by sucking, kissing, licking, biting.

Half-dazed, you begin to fumble with Loki’s clothes, enjoying the simplicity of the tunic and leather trousers he has been wearing under the disguise, and it takes little time before his torso is bared to you and your hands skim the smooth skin of his ass (trousers abandoned mid-thigh).

“Impatient, pet?”

You love the smirk on his lips as he teases. Clearly, you’re not the only one wanting more because his erection is pressing against your pelvis, long and hard with the promise of filling the emptiness within. Managing to squeeze a hand between your bodies, you grab his cock and deliver a slow stroke from balls to crown. Fuck, he looks good. The thought makes you smile at the god who’s eyes have closed in bliss at the sensation...but then the trance breaks and he steps out of reach, yanking the dress so it pools around your feet before literally lifting you over his shoulder as though you weigh nothing.

“Enough of your taunts,” he growls against your hip, allowing his teeth to dig in as he carries you to his cabin where he tosses you on the bed. “I’ll ruin you for all other men. I’m a god. You’d do well to remember that.”

“There you go with the talking again.”

Moving up in the bed, you’re hyper aware of the state of undress Loki is seeing you in. The only scrap of fabric clinging to your body is the underwear – a flimsy scrap of silk barely covering you pussy and held on to your body with some lace – and, oh, does he like what he sees! Following you on hands and knees (trousers now discarded), the raven-haired man is upon you mouth first, kissing his way up your legs while paying extra attention to your inner thighs after noticing the sighs it elicits.

The only problem is, every time you reach for him, the god bats away your hands. It’s annoying. I’ve not gotten him this far only to be denied touching. Cool, smooth skin that screams for caresses of fingertips. Ropy muscles, bunching and rolling with each movement as a testament to the strength he possesses even if he isn’t bulky like his brother. No. The god’s body is made for endurance and flexibility. For fucking you into tomorrow in positions you’ve probably not even dreamed of. And you want it.

You’re just about to do something about it when the tip of his tongue delves between the folds, dragging the pooling wetness to your clit where he pauses, adds pressure, and then flicks it with a satisfied chuckle.

“You will get more...if you behave,” Loki smirks.

The taste of pleasure is still buzzing along your spine and you’re almost willing to do anything as long as it gets you more. Wait...You had had a plan before getting swooped up and dropped onto the bed. Push him.

“Of course,” your mocking tone makes him arch a brow, “throwing in some distraction rather than act. I should have known.” You’re aware that he’s allowing you to push him back with a foot against his chest, permitting you to get onto your knees and hover over him. “If I wanted a talker, I’d go to Fandral.”

The sound of the blond man’s name ignites something in Loki. You can see it instantaneously because his eyes flood with the colour of blood and the teeth revealed as he snarls looks more like those of a predator. Large hands grab you by your hips and drag you on top of him, expertly positioning your soaked cunt against the tip of his cock.

“Never...” he pulls you down, the slow drag against your inner walls delicious - “...compare me...” with a last tug and thrust, Loki bottoms out - “...to him.” In a heartbeat, he’s got you back against the wall, lips growling against your mouth. “I’m a god.”

Holding you up, he pulls back almost completely before rutting into you at a pace that has your back arching and eyes rolling. The sheer force pushes you to the very edge because you know that a part of him is still trying to rein in some of the power in an unspoken wish not to hurt you.

... Loki   ...

His breath had been stolen and each attempt to regain it is shattered by the magnificent tightness of [Y/N] and her reaction to every thrust. Warm heat undulates around the Jotun’s cock in an attempt to draw him over the each prematurely while the gorgeous woman arches, presents her bosom for Loki to prey on greedily. Who am I to deny her?

Eagerly, he licks and bites at the nipples but barely manages to coax more than a half-swallowed moan from her lips. Loki grabs her by the jaw, forcing her to meet his eyes. I see. The challenge is blazing like a fire in her gaze.

A squelch fills the dim cabin as he withdraws, tossing the insolent woman onto the bunk again. This time, however, he leaves no time for her to taunt but embraces the straight legs against his own chest before leaning over her. For a split second, the male lingers with the tip of his cock at the entrance to heaven as he looks for the moment realization dawns upon her...all he gets is a wicked smile, empowering the thrust of his hips as he slams in.

Ravishing. Open mouthed, yet silent. Perfection. Hands clawing at his shoulders, nails leaving angry trails. Mine. Tight, wet, already quivering with the need for release.

But Loki keeps the speed controlled this time as he sheds the last layer of disguise and reveals the real him. The Jotun. The monster. Ridges rise, flooding his skin with the wintry colour and for once...he embraces it rather than hate it as his claws on one hand curl around her wrists, stretching [Y/N], exposing her even now as she willingly succumbs to the mercy of the beast within. A whimper breaks the relative silence as the Jötun markings have decorated his erection.

“Look at me,” he growls.

She obliges. Had he expected fear? Confusion? What Loki is treated to is an appreciative smirk.

“I see you.” Slowly bottoming earns him a gasp. “Finally.”

Cock punching out a steady speed – fast enough to make the woman breathless and slow enough for her to feel each inch and ridge – Loki fucks her steadily further up the bed until the each roll of his hips elicits drawn-out moans and ragged praises that never could have sounded sweeter than they do coming from the mortal’s lips. Balls tight, abdomen clenched, he drags her to the very edge and keeps her there until...

“Please! Loki!” [Y/N] begs with lust-blown eyes locked on him.

Claws scrape lightly towards her pelvis, drag through the short curls to where their bodies meet and he finds her clit with the pad of a finger. He has to fight himself to keep the pressure steady as the new stimulation sends a shudder through her perfect body. Almost. Aaalmost.

Then it happens. The epicentre of an earthquake buried inside [Y/N] sends the shock waves into Loki too, causing him to thrust deep and hard as she clenches around his cock.

The moan transforms into a scream, “Loki! Yeah!”

The tremors sends the Jotun tumbling after the human over the edge of bliss.

... Reader   ...

Gasping for air, you don’t even feel close to being in a real world. Fuck...that was amazing. Slumped on top of you, resting with his hips between your thighs lies a god whose appearance fades back to the pale person you first met in your own apartment. You had hated him then. Now I love him.

“Mmmm, my dear,” Loki mumbles against your neck, “your scream was sweet music.”

[starfirette]

Chapter Five: Clearing Trost Part II

Alstroemeria, Chapter Five:  It seems impossible, but you can’t argue with what you’re seeing. You work with the others to defend Eren.

grand masterlist | previous chapter | more levi | join the taglist: inbox | next chapter coming soon

tags: @kuxredere | @luvelyxp | @fan-g0rl | @levisbrat25 | @a-dream-is-reality | @89staytinyzen21 | @cqptainlcvi | @the-average-mastermind | @carlyandthechocolatefactorsugar

a/n: LEVI IS HEEEREEEE. Some more minor Reiner x Reader interactions. but more importantly, LEVI  

Armin’s plan is practically flawless. 

That being said, Jean’s point on the guns is too resonate to ignore. 

Seven titans, roughly four-to-five meters, had taken over the entire supply room. Armin’s plan devised to send down an armed group of cadets, on the lift, who would then capture the titans’ attention. As soon as the titan took the bait, the group fires in all four directions to effectively blind each titan. From there, seven cadets would have to drop down from the ceiling beams to take each titan out. 

Armin seemed to think it could work with the amount of ammunition you’d all found. He also ensured you all that if the plan got screwed up, you’d all likely die. 

You held your face in your hand, massaging from the bridge of your nose to the space between your eyes. The seven most “gifted” (as Armin put it) would have to take on the role of taking down each titan. 

The others seemed to glance at you, half expecting you to take on the role of one of the seven. With your injury, you doubted that you could do your best. Considering it would be putting everyone’s life on the line, you stepped down and passed the roll onto Sasha Brauss. 

She sent you an apologetic look, which you tried your very best to ignore. You didn’t like that she tried to sympathize with you--then again, you don’t like a lot of things.

“It’s a brilliant plan, Arlert,” you commend him, nudging his knees with the toe of your boot. 

“And when it comes down to it, the risk is the same for everyone,” Annie added. “No one can get out of this.” 

“I mean,” Armin stammered, “I’m willing to here other plans. I’m not going to force anyone to do it.”

Marco sniffed, rubbing his nose with the inside of his wrist as he pipped up. “You know, it’s a good plan. Especially considering it’s our only option. If we all try then we can pull it off.” 

The enthusiasm made your stomach lurch. You felt like an outsider watching everyone else through thick, frosty glass. You didn’t feel outrageously confident that the world wouldn’t end tonight. You don’t even know where you’re going to be sleeping tonight. You could be dead tonight. 

The lift creaked as it came to a stop, the gate falling down to the floor with a slam. It was ready, and it was time. You begrudgingly grabbed a rifle and a handful of the bullets from the crates. 

Your thumbs ached as you loaded the rounds in, one by one.

You tucked the rifle under your arms, looking around to find Reiner standing nearby. 

“We’re getting ready to head out,” he explained as you stared with a silent question in your eyes. 

“How are y’all going to do it without your gear?” you asked. You held your hand out quickly to stop him from answering. “Just joking,” you hurried. “I don’t want to know. I should just focus on my job.” It would stress you out more if you knew exactly how Reiner and the others were going to pull the little stunt off without their gear. 

Reiner’s eyes softened as he looked down at you clearly contemplating your existence within the regiment. 

“Don’t take it so personally,” he says kindly, but firmly. “You’re injured. You need to take a rest, not just for our sake but also for yours.” 

You pout. “It’s not really a confidence booster when you can’t even take out a four meter bastard because of some goddamn cramps,” you spat as you angrily hit the cemented floor with the toe of your boot. 

“Chill out,” Reiner huffed. He rested a hand atop of your shoulder, “You’re still good at what you do. It’s not like this is an exam, or anything.” 

“Not an exam,” you agreed, just as you stomped over to the lift. “Just regular life or death.” 

“Yeah,” Reiner laughed in agreement. “Regular life or death.” 

Reiner had been elected as one of the seven who would be taking care of the titans once they were blinded. He followed behind Annie and Bertholdt, who you swore was too smug over the fact you were being left behind. 

But you tried to tell yourself this wasn’t an exam; it wasn’t at all an evaluation of your character. 

You were on the very front lines, right in the center of the north facing gunmen where you would be face to face with the filthy little shits. The ride down on the life was too, too quiet for your liking. 

You looked back and forth to those who were on your sides. They were all practically green with nausea. 

You rolled your eyes. Part of you almost chastised them all for being such worry warts, but you knew that was merely your own way of coping with the fact that you weren’t good enough to be one of the seven strikers. 

“Watch it,” you suddenly snapped. The cadet on your right stumbled and hit you in the side with their boney elbow. “You’re making me all sweaty,” you added as you lifted your nose in the air. 

But you did not realize that you were sweating all on your own. Your conscious weighed heavy with anxiety that cloaked itself as frustration. 

You could feel the lift racketing under your feet as if lowered through a plain column of dark walls. You gulped, the knot in your throat refusing to disappear as you imagined what would be awaiting you all in the main room of surprises. 

The lift cranked to a slow stop. You could see the seven titans, which seemed to glow under the torchlights that still burned on the walls. When they walked, the floor groaned, and you feared their big heads would hit the structural beams that supported the building. 

They all noticed to arrival of the lift, especially when it clicked into place and the gears stopped moving. 

You shot your gun outward, the hilt of it hitting your shoulder as you stood tall and with a raised chin. The others around you did the same, their muskets clicking into place. 

You shivered as Marco led the others with calm words, keeping everyone at ease. 

When the first titan whirled over to look at you all, you nearly pissed yourself. It’s disturbed face was twisted into a smile as it took one step closer. 

You couldn’t fire yet; no one could. It would have been a waste of ammunition. “Fire only when they’re within range,” Marco reminded the others, as if on cue, like he could read your thoughts. 

Hell. Maybe this titan can read your thoughts. He is looking at you like he can. He’s looking at you with beady, bright eyes, like he’s fucking excited to see what you’ll taste like, or how you’ll sound when you scream at the sight of your friends being devoured, torn apart, and thrown, like rag dolls. 

It’s then that you noticed just how heavy you’re breathing. You’re chest heaves like you’ve been running for miles, and a wheeze is coming from the bottom of your lungs like a broken accordion. 

“Now, Marco,” you said. You tried to sound firm. Brave. 

But instead, you sounded helpless. 

“Wait,” he insisted. He sounded only mildly worried, as if this were a regular day for him. 

“Marco,” you plead. The titans have gathered all around, now, and they’re literal inches away from you. 

Your heart fell into your stomach as the titan waddled closer. His smile burned into your eyes, and you knew, then, that you’d see that thing’s face every night when you closed your eyes. 

His breath reeked like nothing you’d ever smelt before. It was like a million deaths in that thing’s mouth. 

Bile rose in your throat, bitter on your tongue as your finger slid across the golden trigger. 

The titan took a step closer and the soft squish his eye made as he touched the barrel of your gun pushed you over the edge. 

“MARCO,” you shriek. Your voice sounded foreign in your own ears. It was dripping with panic. 

The guns blasted, shooting off like thunder cracking all around you. It was such a chaotic noise. You couldn’t describe the aura of it all, with the thundering booms of each fire that stayed in time with the muzzle flares. 

Each titan went down with a boom. One, two, three, you counted. 

You felt instant relief flood your body like a sweet drug. 

The relief was dried up when you realized that Sasha missed. 

Sasha missed. Sasha, who wouldn’t have even been up there if it weren’t for your injury. You wouldn’t have missed. You would have made it. 

For a split second, you could see all the death before your very eyes. Your entire squad, gone. The plan, failed. 

The titan stumbled to his knees as he reached for Sasha, who shrieked and tried to run. 

You had been so caught up in your inner grief that you didn’t even realize-Connie missed his titan, too. 

While the room got all shrouded with steam from the killed titans, you watched as Annie and Mikasa came to the rescue. Just in time. 

You were helpless from your spot on the lift. You wouldn’t have been able to do a goddamn thing if Sasha were to have gotten picked up and swallowed like a pill. Instead of worrying, or even thinking about what to do next, you were feeling jealous and bitter. You were feeling competitive. 

You couldn’t revel with the others as they cried out in joy. They all moved to fill up their tanks.

You moved around like a puppet. One half of your body felt completely numb as you filled your tanks. 

Reiner noticed. He tried to encourage you. He tried his very best. 

And still, you felt like a failure. When had you turned into someone who didn’t care about the wellbeing of others? You felt dirty. 

You’d have to face that dirty part of yourself some other time. Your pity party is cut short as the others gather together in preparation to once again venture outside.

The sun shone on your face as you stepped out of the main doors. It was a slap in the face of reality. The bad weather had come and gone; the day’s breeze was gentle, and the sunshine warm on your skin. And yet, looking around, the entire district was in utter ruin. The world would continue on. The world doesn’t care about triviality. To Nature, titans and a selfish solider girl were on and the same: nothing. 

You went to speed towards the rendezvous point. 

Reiner managed to stop you by taking hold of your blood stained elbow. “You alright?” he asked. 

“It’s not my blood,” you assured him. 

“That’s not what I mean.” His eyes narrowed, as through he were trying to see straight through you.

You stared up at the blond for a few moments before abruptly breaking the stare. “I’m fine,” you insisted. “But I appreciate you looking out for me.” 

“Well, what else are friends for?” he said with a crooked grin.

You couldn’t think of anything to say. His smile was dazzling. It was bright, genuine, and filled with honest hope. 

You just didn’t realize what he was hoping for. 

You fled to the rooftops. You were completely prepared to make a quick flight back to the wall; but it was the abnormal titan, the one who’s eyes glowed powerfully, that distracted you from making your full getaway. He was weak, you realized. He was tired. Like you. 

He was slumped up against the ruins of a building, and around him were the greedy, chubby figures of titans that were feasting on his flesh. 

Cannibalism. 

You hadn’t known that titans could exhibit such a trait like cannibalism. 

“It’s a little bit...strange. Isn’t it?” you murmured. You didn’t have to look behind you to know Reiner was there, like your constant shadow. 

“We should help it,” Reiner suddenly suggested. 

You whirled around. As you argued, Jean did as well. Both of your voices screeched at the very same time. 

“We’ve finally gotten a chance to get out of this nightmare,” Jean was saying. “And now you want to stay?” 

“The titan’s no good to us dead,” Reiner said, sounding completely calm. “I think we could genuinely learn something from it.” 

“He might be right,” Mikasa admitted as she shifted into the conversation. “I, myself, am hoping that this titan is the key to a new way.” She tugged her scarf down to exhibit her mouth, which was turned into a tight frown.

“A new way of what, exactly?” Jean asked her exasperated. 

She shot him a daggering look, her dark eyes filled with something you couldn’t label, but were afraid of all the same. “Of fighting for survival.” 

You sighed heavily. “Do you really think it can help us?” you asked. “I want to hope, too. But how can we be certain it’s not just a really strange abnormal?”

“Think about what you’ve said,” Annie cut in, her icy eyes piercing into your own. “It is an abnormal. Just how different would things be if we had an abnormal for an ally? A canon’s got nothing against a titan’s brute strength. 

“Listen to yourselves!” Jean clamored. “It’s not a shiny, new toy!”

Your eyes shot straight past Jean’s shoulder, to the sight of the abnormal who was suddenly grunting and groaning. He sounded angry. He sounded as if he were trying to speak. It was crazy, it was absolutely crazy, but he was conveying some sort of emotion as he took off to a wild charge. The titans that feasted on him earlier flew off as he went racing into another titan that had just happened to be passing by. 

The abnormal launched and tackled him. His jaw unhinged before clamping deeply into the titan’s neck. 

You gasped. 

“That’s the titan that killed Thomas,” Armin said. He didn’t sound as much regretful as he did studious. 

“What, you think the abnormal went to get revenge?” you asked. The notion was ridiculous, and you expected Armin to say as much, but he sent you a long stare that said a million words. 

“Speaking of shiny, new toys,” you muttered. The abnormal flung the titan in his mouth around like a dog would do with a bundle of rags. Even without arms, and with half of his flesh missing to reveal his ribs, he was still powerful enough to swing the titan around and make a mess. He took down others, all without even having to punch or kick. 

It was gruesome. 

It was violent. 

It was terrifying. You wondered when the abnormal would snap out of it. When would he-or IT- realize his natural enemy are the humans? The damage he would be able to do if humans were his target is unimaginable. It might be enough to destroy the entire world...

The abnormal released another cry, one that you suspected to be some sort of victory thing. 

And then it collapsed. 

“Well,” Jean was saying, sounding vaguely regretful, “it’s too late now. Let’s get a move on while we still can.” 

You would have told Jean to get shoved up a titan’s ass if you weren’t so mesmerized by the steam cloud that burst from the abnormal’s corpse. You’d seen titan’s deteriorate, but they never seemed to go out like this one is. It was releasing steam, like it was some sort of a vent, as opposed to other titans that seemed to just evaporate. 

Mikasa suddenly slipped off the roof. 

You reached out to her, shocked she would have lost her catlike balance in the first place. 

No, you realized. She didn’t slip. She was racing towards that titan’s body. Armin called after her, as stunned as the rest of you. 

“It’s nothing we’ve never seen before,” Jean said. He didn’t sound very convinced with his own reasoning. 

As the steam clouds parted, you strained your eyes to see Mikasa’s little figure perched atop the titan’s nape, cradling something in her arms as she sobbed. You’d never seen her cry before. It was a surprising display as she rocked back and forth, clutching tightly to- 

“That’s Eren Jaeger,” you exclaimed. 

Upon hearing the words, Armin rushed to join his good friends, leaving you and Jean to look at each other utterly bewildered. 

What frightened you was how un-bewildered Bertholdt was. His complexion got all grey when Armin and Mikasa struggled to get Eren’s body up to the rooftop. 

“I thought Eren was...well...I mean I’m glad he isn’t,” you quickly said, “but I-I mean-”

“Yeah,” Reiner said. “So did we.” 

Mikasa returned, her face still dripping with steady tears as she tenderly set Eren down. “He’s alive,” she said carefully. She sounded so calm. You couldn’t have guessed she was crying unless you’d been watching her. 

Armin dizzily fell against a structure of rock that was built into the roof. “This can’t be,” he gasped. 

“What’s wrong?” you instantly asked him. 

“I watched,” Armin said. His eyes were wide, filled with horror and curiosity alike. “I watched him get e-” He broke off, covering his mouth with a fist as he seemed to gag on the words. “I watched,” he recovered, “him get eaten. His arm...his leg...”

Armin started to cry, too. 

You tried not to feel too annoyed by this. 

It’s not their fault you have no friends. No way you could really relate. 

“How is this possible?” you asked when no one else did. 

“That’s not what I’m concerned about,” Jean said, sound eerily calm. “Eren did all of this.” He looked out to the destruction; the corpses that steamed and the buildings that still settled to rubble. 

That’s right; Eren did all of that. 

“Eren’s a titan,” you gasped out. 

Someone had to say it. 

Jean’s eyes looked as if they were about to simply roll out of his skull. “That’s impossible.” 

“It’s not,” you argued. “The colossal. The armored. The two most dangerous abnormal in the entire world. They behave with the same intelligence Eren was obviously displaying not even thirty minutes ago.” You waved a hand out to gesture to the entire city. “Eren’s a titan. The other bastards are human, too. And now we have to figure it the fuck out.” 

“Calm down,” Reiner eased you. He rested a heavy hand on your sholder, which you instinctively shook off. “Don’t tell me to calm down,” you seethed. “I’m RIGHT.”

“You’re having a breakdown,” Reiner said, blatant and uncaring. “You’re crying.” 

You touched your finger to your cheek,

Oh. 

So maybe you feel a little bit bad, now, for looking down at Mikasa and Armin for crying. You’re crying to. 

You do have a heart. 

“What do we do now?” Jean asked. “Who are we going to tell?” 

“The captains. The corporals. The captain-corporals,” you listed off as you wiped your eyes. You looked away, turning a shoulder to Reiner. “But I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” 

“Why not?” someone demands.

“What person in their right mind is going to be alright with Eren being a-well, a whatever the hell he is? We should just law low for a while,” you said, using your hands to gesture the laying low. 

For once, Jean looked more angry than confused. “So we’re going to keep it a secret? That’s so awesome, Y/n. We can all just have a little camp right here on the goddamn roof. We can build a fort. There’s enough of us to reproduce for a good two or three generations.” 

“We’ll get in trouble,” you snapped back. 

“Why would we get in trouble?!” Jean shouts. “Eren’s the one who’s a titan!”

Mikasa turned a stark glare onto Jean before he could take the words back. She clutched Eren’s limp body close to her chest. “You’ve never liked Eren,” she scowled. “It’s not a surprise you wouldn’t care what happens to him, even though he’s saved your life a good number of times today.” 

The group fell silent. 

You gnawed on the inside of your cheek as you looked out to the destruction of what was once Trost. 

Knowing what you know about the assholes who call themselves captains, they wouldn’t take a matter like this lightly. You folded your arms over your chest, lightly stretching out your muscles which ached. Your back felt like the hoirizon at times, sitting unnoticed until you see that one gust of sunshine that burns your retinas. 

The pain burned through your hips now, as you roughly massaged your back with your fist. 

“I guess we have to split up,” Mikasa said after some minutes of pure silence. 

You didn’t have to ask what she meant. “I will take responsibility for Eren,” she said. “I’ll speak for him while he cannot.” 

“And me,” Armin interjected. He was determined to stay with his friends. 

“Mikasa” you said carefully. You looked at Mikasa with an eyebrow raised. “We should move.” 

Armin and Mikasa looked to one another; they were so close they could communicate with simple glances and stares. 

The two hoisted each of Eren’s arms over their shoulders, able to carry him like a puppet as they prepared to move. 

You didn’t speak much as you followed the group towards the wall. Eren remained unconscious the entire trip, even though he was soaring high in the sky. The  general plan is that Armin and Mikasa could convince the commanders of what had happened, and that Eren isn’t a threat. Even before that, they’ve got to convince the commanders that their tall tale is true. 

You know what will happen. They didn’t even want to help a group of stranded cadets. They’ll turn on Eren before Mikasa could even blink. 

Not even she can protect Eren from an entire regiment. 

You’d hoped that you would have been able to return to the wall with pride, and explain to Captain Brezenska that you’d succeeded in saving your friends. Maybe you were hoping you could have gotten full credit for that. But rather, it’s Eren who will be getting the attention. 

You’re not jealous. 

At the retreat center, there were soldiers bustling around in an undirected frenzy; people panicked, but they didn’t know exactly what they were supposed to panic for. 

You were lined up with Jean, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie, all of you remaining silent as Armin dutifully explained the entire situation. Mikasa sat with Eren strewn on her lap. 

You listened, and realized that Armin has such a good way with words. You would have believed him if he told you the sky was yellow and cats could fly. 

But his talent was hardly a gift; not  now, at least. It took a little bit of blinking and opening, then closing their gaping mouths for the commanders to realize what they ought to do next. They seemed just as shocked as everyone else. Obviously there’s not protocol for when a human turns into a titan. 

Despite Captain Brezenska’s presence, there was nothing she could when a tall, hawk~like captain with a nose twice as big as it should have been, stared all five of you down. His thin nose had elliptic nostrils that sagged practically to his moustache. 

“You are all to receive immediate medical attention and rest. There will be no talking about this, to anyone. There will be sever punishment if this rumor gets out. We will know who leaked it.” 

You meekly nodded, saluted, and agreed. There wasn’t much else you could do. You were dismissed with Reiner, Jean, and Annie-and how could you forget Bertholdt? As you five had retreated farther away from the group that studied Eren, you could see that a practical pond of sweat was forming on Bertholdt’s brow. 

At the bottom of the wall, on the safe ground, where you were surrounded by your comrades, you doubled over, as if you were about to spew vomit all about, but rather, you laughed, a hysterical sort of sound that made Annie shuffle uncomfortably. 

“Y/n,” Reiner said, again in that doting kind of voice, which you couldn’t really help but dislike. 

“I’m going to get water,” you said through your teeth. “We’d better not say anything, to anyone.” 

“Duh,” Jean sneered under his breath. As tou were walking away, you heard Jean note to the others, “She’s manic. She’s lost it. She’s all covered in blood...what happened to her?” 

You would have told him to get shoved if you were in a better mood; but right now your back ached like utter hell, and your tongue was so spectacularly dry that it felt like a porous stone against the roof of your mouth. 

You took a seat somewhere in the far corner where the perfect sheet of shade had been cast. You sat on a crate, guzzling down the water from the canteen you’d been supplied. 

You could see Reiner and the others lurking around the other cadets they were closer with. Ymir and Krista were apart of that little group. You would have gone to say something, but you simply didn’t have the energy. You’re glad to see the two young women are alive, at least. 

Not only were you too exhausted to meet them, but you were certain that the moment you joined Krista, the entire story would pour out of you. Krista had that strange sense of familiarity which effected everyone. She felt like a natural member of your family, even though you’d only known her a matter of three or so years. You’d without a doubt spill the entire thing, from Fable to the way Mikasa trembled with Eren’s body in her arms. 

You’d heard that Mikasa was Eren’s sister, though through adoption. But Mikasa held him with such a higher regard. She didn’t hold him the way you would have held little Freda. There was something more between those two. 

Perhaps just the way there’s something more than friendship between Ymir and Krista. You can see them across the lot. Ymir lingers over Krista like a guardian angel. It’s clear Ymir cares for Krista, maybe more than Krista cares for Ymir. 

But when it comes to Krista, you know to never assume. 

She’s as complex as she is beautiful. 

You watched your old group sit around, looking ashy and sullen. Ymir and Krista’s figures leaned towards Jean as he spoke. His mouth barely moved when he spoke. 

Something prickled within you. Did he tell? 

He didn’t. You guessed this because Krista set her hand on Ymir’s arm as she looked back you. She touched Ymir so gently, as if she were saying a quick goodbye. She made her way through the little maze of resting cadets, calling your name a few times to catch your attention. 

You took one more guzzle from your canteen as you leaned up against the brick wall. 

“You didn’t come to say hello,” Krista said as she approached you. She sounded a bit saddened by this. 

“I’m sorry,” you said weakly. “I’m just...tired. Glad you’re alive, though.” 

Krista frowned deeply. You regret how sarcastic you sounded just then. 

“What happened out there?” Krista asked you, her voice soft. You would have rather she expressed her anger. It is salt in the wound to know that she’d still be kind to you, even after you were consistently rude. 

You took a deep breath. Your eyes shifted back to the foreground, focusing on Reiner, Jean, and the others. “What did they tell you?” you asked her. 

“Absolutely nothing,” Krista said sorrowfully. “They’re being so ominous. What happened?” 

You groaned. You thought about telling her. “Something spectacular,” you said carefully. 

“Then why all the doom and gloom?” she fretted. 

“It’s spectacular,” you amended, “but not exactly good. It’s not for me to tell.” 

Krista frowned , her blonde brows furrowing. She looked deeply like a little rabbit as she thought long and hard. “Jean said you got a gag order,” she said. 

“Jean’s right. I can’t say.” 

Krista sighed. “I hope that everything will be alright, in the end,” she said. 

You were flabbergasted. How could she be so positive in such a time? You weren’t so much concerned with the ‘end’ as you were with where the hell you were going to sleep tonight? 

The little camp was doing its very best. Makeshift hospital stations dotted every few buildings. Carts that carried the dead and wounded rolled through the streets, past the little resting compounds where soldiers drank and cried and rested. 

“You’re too good for this world, Krista,” you told her as you rested your head back against brick. “Get used to it.” 

You immediately passed out. 

Water rushed over your toes. 

This water stretched out to the vast horizon, right where the sky took a dip and a curve down. This water was cold, yet refreshing. It washed your feet from the dirt and blood that caked your skin, all the way beneath your toenails. 

You walked forward, the crystalline waves splashing so delicately it sounded like chiming bells. Your reflection followed you clearly, flashing with the scarlet blood your bare skin was soaked in. Despite all that blood, all the pain you’d felt, you felt utterly happy here. You waded deeper into the water, the waves splashing to your breasts now. 

There was no sun in the sky. The only light came from deep within the water, which was so clear it gleamed bright white. You dove into the waves fresh water. The taste of fresh water on your tongue was sweet. You swam towards the source of light. It called out your name. It was a deep, baritone voice, but it rang gently, beckoning you. 

In the very deepest grove of the water was a large pit. It was sculpted into thick, dark rock.  

A pair of hands emerged from this pit, reaching out for someone to help them escape. 

You swam forward, closer to those slender, pale hands that waited for someone to rescue him. 

You reach out, your fingertips touching his-

“Wake up,” someone shouted. 

You got jerked up to your feet, by the collars of your button down blouse. You met Ymir’s harsh eyes. 

“What’s wrong?” you demanded. 

“You’ve been sleeping,” she said bitterly. “Time to wake up, princess. Mandatory meeting. Krista didn’t want you to miss it.” 

You were a bit stunned, and disoriented, as Ymir sauntered off to likely find Krista again. One hour of sleep seemed enough to get back to the job. Your back did ache, from the ignorant position you’d slept in slumped up against the brick wall of a building. You cringed as you walked, the pounding pain flying down your back and into your bottom as you struggled to make it to the line up. 

It was a large square of a line up, right before the wall that was being walked upon by Eren, Mikasa, and Armin’s small dots of figures. 

“That’s him,” a voice pipped beside you. Krista had joined tour side, and she pointed upwards to the bald man that was looking down at his domain. “That’s the commander, Pyxis.” 

Pyxis called for an immediate attention. Your head was still fuzzy from the nap. The dream stayed lodged in the back of your mind, replaying like a theatre play over and over. Even as the rescue operation for Trost was explained, you were only half listening. You didn’t know what your peers knew, and what they didn’t. 

Eren being a titan was announced for all to hear. Pyxis vouched for Eren, which alone was enough to convince the regiments to at least be not afraid of him. 

The recovery operation labeled Eren as a research project. Pyxis would play it off like Eren’s being a titan was a secret that all the most important higher ups knew about, including the commanders at the Survey Corps, and the royals at the Interior. 

Connie was the most shocked at the emergence of information. You just kept your mouth shut, trying not to let any reaction show on your face. 

Eren, as a titan, would be lifting a boulder and using it to block off the hole in the wall. It would be your job (the collective ‘your’) to fend him from other titans that tried to get in the way of this being done. 

Not many people believed this. You weren’t entirely positive they would appreciate you trying to vouch for the plan. Perhaps, if you did, you’d be marked as a liar, too. 

“Someone’s asking for you,” Krista said in your ear. 

You wrangled out of the crowd, being drawn to the side of a nameless solider whose hair was bright red. “You’re being requested at the expense of Captain Brezenska.” 

Shocked, you folded your arms over your chest. “May I ask why?” 

“She vouches that you are capable of being apart of the elite squad who defends Eren Jaeger.” 

“We’re all defending Eren Jaeger,” you argued. 

“Some more than others, maybe,” he agreed. “I have nothing else to offer aside from a direct escort to the captain and the commander.” 

You nodded, offering a quick salute before following him like a puppy through the crowd. 

At the top of wall, there was a little congregation of soldiers who gathered around Armin, each of them nodding and listening intently to whatever it was the blond had to say. You joined the group, resting on your knees and hiding a groan as your the muscle in your back stretched out uncomfortably. 

“y/n!” Armin said, looking cheery. It was a strange display of emotion in the middle of what felt like a living Hell. 

“Armin? Where’s the captain with the white hair?” 

“She’s not here,” Armin explained. “I was the one who asked for you.” 

So the captain hadn’t vouched for you. Although Armin did. 

“You could have called for anyone but you called for the paraplegic?” you said. Armin looked bashful, as he looked down to his scroll of Trost. 

“To be fair, the captain backed me up on it,” he added. 

Oh. So the captain did. 

“We’re just reviewing the plan for Eren.” 

“And we decided to let you do that?” you asked. You were frankly puzzled that Armin, a cadet, was being trusted with such a major task. From the looks of it, the other soldiers agreed. 

You regretted opening your mouth at all because Armin turned red all the way to his ears. “They trusted me because I have a long history with Eren,” he said. It was terrible that he didn’t even sound offended. Rather, apologetic that he’d caused you such a problem. 

You would have rather he called you a bitch and told you to mind your own business. “So where does she play into all of this?” someone asked, pointing their finger at you. 

“Y-Well she-” Armin stammered as he looked all over the map, as if trying to fit you in somewhere. “I’d like Y/n to be right beside Eren, but more realistically, she’d be better at the further ranks. Y/n, it would be ideal for you to be on Eren’s backup team. Can you do it?” 

Sweat coated the back of your neck. You nodded. 

If this plan failed, the world might as well be over. 

Wall Sina could not protect humanity, alone. It simply wouldn’t be enough. Armin used a red detailing pencil to fit you into the map, and he looked to you for confirmation. 

“You’re the man with a plan, blondie,” you told him, your words carefree but your tone stone-dead. “Wherever you want me is where I’ll be.” 

After dismissal, you regrouped with Armin and his friends. You greeted Mikasa and Eren awkwardly. 

You couldn’t help but drag your eyes down, unable to look the Jaeger boy in the face. 

He laughed, the sound bitter. “I guess they’re all scared of me, right? I don’t know why, since it’s not even certain I can transform again.” 

Your eyes shot up, growing wide. “Excuse me? Tell me we’re not taking a gamble on you transforming.” 

Mikasa sent you a sharp glare. “Eren will be fine,” she said firmly. 

“Will he?” you asked. “He was half dead when he did it the first time. I don’t want to offend you, but we have to be realistic. If Eren can’t transform again then the entire plan is lost.” 

Mikasa took half a step forward before Eren stopped her. What would she had done if he hadn’t? Could you even take her on in a fight? Her skills were unparalleled, no matter how talented the others thought you were. 

“Y/n’s right,” Eren said in a low voice. 

“I’m sorry,” Armin suddenly cut in. “I’m sorry that you’re being burdened of all this responsibility.” 

You didn’t have the same ideas Armin did. You weren’t concerned with Eren’s “burden” at the moment. It felt like you all had a burden on your shoulders, but when you looked at it objectively, the entire mission relied on Eren. He’s hardly an adult, and he’s only turned for the first time an hour ago. 

“No,” Eren said, shaking his head. He became so gentle with Armin. “I told you before that you have a gift for strategy. I believe in your plan.” 

“Eren,” Mikasa said quietly. She reached to take hold of his sleeve. “I think it would be best if I went with you.” She seemed so confident as she spoke, that normal Mikasa fire burning in her eyes.

“No, dammit,” Eren said firmly. “You’re apart of the decoy team. “

Mikasa looked genuinely saddened. It was like rejecting a puppy’s nudge for cuddles. “I can’t leave you alone,” she said, her voice wounded. Her fire was doused. 

“I’m not your brother,” Eren said, his voice raising slightly. “I’m not your child, either.”

Your eyes met Armin’s. He looked just as uncomfortable as you did. You both seemed to bond over the fact this was a private conversation.

Mikasa really looked like she would burst into tears at any moment. “Okay,” she said softly. She yielded, though it seemed to be against what she considered her better judgement. You looked between the pair before you nodded yourself out. “I will see you out there,” you muttered before walking away. It would be better to just stay out of their personal affairs, especially right now. You only hope that Mikasa won’t let her feelings cloud her mind out on the field. The last thing you need is her being too distracted to save you from the grasp of a titan. You joined the line up, standing straight as Captain Bresenzka looked you over. 

“So you succeeded, cadet,” she said, her narrow eyes glinting behind her lenses. “All of your friends made it. Is that thanks to you?” 

“No, ma’am,” you said. “Armin Arlert deserves more credit for that. He devised the plan that rescued everyone.” 

She quirked her brow before nodding.

“Alright, everyone,” one of the captains boomed, his voice demanding your attention. “I don’t care what they say about Eren. I don’t care if he really is a human weapon, or not. All I want is that hole sealed. We’re counting on you all to make this work.” 

The large group took off into a run down the wall’s path. You looked out over the horizon that was a crisp gold. It showered light over the titans that clamored over the town. 

As the group closed in on the boulder that was picked for the mission, you noticed that the titans grew more and more sparse. The decoy team on the other half of the town must have been working. Your lungs burned as you saw Eren make a jarring leap off the edge of the wall, his mate Mikasa following a split second after. 

Captain Bresenzka pulled a flare pistol from your belt and fired a signal into the air, the green fumes smelling like smoke in your nose. 

You had one opportunity to catch your breath as the Elites on the squad awaited Eren’s transformation. You didn’t know what to be watching out for. You’d never seen a titan transformation up close. 

But moments later, a familiar zing filled the air, followed by a violent strike of lightening so bright it was unnatural. The taste of the electricity filled the air as Eren’s titan stood up tall and released a war mongering cry. He looked more human than any titan did. Rather, he had a body of correct proportion. Titans are either thin as ice, their skin clinging onto their ribcages grossly, or their bellies are round and wide, filled with their choice of prey. 

But Eren was neither of those. He was muscular, tall, and his hair even had a graceful sort of way of blowing in the wind around his jade eyes. 

You followed the Elites to the rooftops to linger close behind. You watched with anticipation. No amount of humans would be able to lift that boulder, but for Eren in this form, it would probably be like lifting a bale of hay over his head. 

He lingered close for a moment. You frowned, half expecting him to struggle for a few minutes. 

Then, he spun around and took a winding punch at one of the buildings Mikasa rested on. And it wasn’t enough for him to miss. His eyes followed her as she darted up, like a lizard on a wall, and he struck again. 

“We failed,” Captain Bresenzka swore as she jostled around for her tin of flares. “We never should have pinned our hopes to something we don’t fully understand.” 

The red smoke fired into the sky as you scaled a chimney. You called out Mikasa’s name. She was gripping Eren by the hair, her feet pushed firmly onto his large teeth for support. “Get out of there!” you shouted to her.

She split a second before Eren lunged-at you.

His body seemed to be falling over you, as if he was trying to take the entire house down. You slipped off the chimney, a piece of brick shredding deep into your leg as you did so, and you narrowly escaped. 

Mikasa pulled you to safety, helping you stand as one of Captain Dietriech swore loudly. “So the kid’s been a regular titan this entire time?!” he exclaimed. 

You looked at Mikasa deeply in the eyes as she held you up. Your chest heaved as you tried to catch your breath. “What happened?” you wheezed. 

“I don’t know,” she said quietly. Her voice is filled with regret. 

“We need to leave,” someone else exclaimed. “We’ve got a 12 meter bastard coming on us. The kid’s out of the play.”

“He’s right,” Captain Bresenzka agreed. “We should withdrawal immediately. We’ll have to leave Eren as he is.” 

Mikasa became vicious upon hearing the words. You could feel her desperation as clearly as you could feel her thin hands gripping your sleeves. 

“How could you say that?” Mikasa hissed. Her teeth ground together on their edges, and you had to wrench your arms out of her iron like grip. Captain Dietreich even seemed to shiver under Mikasa’s gaze. 

“We did the best we could,” Mitabi urged Dietreich. “It was a bust. We’ve got to accept that it isn’t going to work!”

Mikasa took a flourishing step, her arm already swinging to catch velocity so she could push Mitabi to his end.

“Enough, Ackerman,” Dietreich eased her. 

You looked back to Eren. He said up against the boulder, shoulders and head slumped down as if he were contemplating his entire life. Maybe he was. 

“Change of plans,” Dietreich said gruffly. “Defend Jaeger until he recovers.” 

Bresenzka made a floundering stumble towards the captain, her eyes wide behind her glasses. “Are you out of your mind?” she cried. “We-”

“We,” Ian said firmly, “are replicable. Eren is not. He’s the last chance we have to make things work. His gift is a remarkable one, even if he can’t utilize it right now. It’s our duty to do so.”

“He’s a failure,” Bresenzka bemoaned. “He got soldiers killed. Good soldiers, soldiers I’ve known since my days as a cadet. Look at him! He’s punched his own hands off. You want to get more of us killed, just so you can save that?” 

The captain had a point. Eren had lunged at Mikasa, and he’d lunged at you, and he’d been so violent that his hands broke off. He was smoking from where the bones in his wrist had splintered. 

“That’s correct,” Ian bit back. He was holding back spasms of anger as he clenched his fists by his side. “I expect you to do the same. Hell, I’m making a judgement call. That boy’s power is all we have. You know it. So unless you’ve got a better plan, keep your mouth shut!”

Bresenzka’s chin dimpled as her jaw clenched hard enough to break her teeth. “If by better plan, you mean a way to get rid of these titans, than no. I don’t know. Obviously.” 

“And that,” Ian said, “is exactly why we’re not retreating.”

The staggering silence that followed was deafening. You could practically hear the thoughts churning in the captain’s mind as she visibly mulled her friend’s words over. 

“...Fine.” 

“Fine?” Ian repeated. 

“Yes,” the captain said sharply, “fine. It’s not as if I want to disagree with you. Don’t you think that I also want to avenge my lost friends? I also want to live in a world of peace. I would like to have just one fight that doesn’t end in our attrition.” 

She used a shaking hand to brush her light bangs from her face. “If this is what my orders are, then I will follow them.” 

Bresenzka leapt away to take care of the 12 meter, while Mitabi cracked his fingers and neck. “I guess we’ve got this,” he said to Dietreich before rushing towards the other titans that were approaching. 

Mikasa cleared her throat to capture Deitreich’s attention. “Thank you,” she said. “That was brave, standing up to them the way you did.”

Dietreich could hardly make a joke out of it as he passed Mikasa’s words off. “It wasn’t bravery. I was speaking the truth. Fact of the matter is,” he said as he cast a look towards Mikasa, “I was afraid of the mess you might have gotten yourself into. But you’re free to go, now. Make use of your natural skills, the both of you.” He addressed you, now, and you were shocked to hear it. “You’re both on this Elite squad for a reason.”

He looked at Mikasa next, a strange sort of smile on his mouth. “Now, go. Protect the man you love.” 

Mikasa’s pale face became red as her scarf, which she tugged at to hide behind. “It’s not like that with Eren,” she was stammering; but Ian already left. 

You looked at Mikasa with careful regard, half afraid to say the wrong thing. “Well, it’s not!” Mikasa exclaimed again. You couldn’t help but find it amusing-she’d never been the ‘normal’ type of girl. She had never shown any sort of emotion before. But now, even during the chaos of the day, she was blushing like crazy, all because her crush on Eren was finally acknowledged. 

“At least you have someone to love,” you pointed out. You hadn’t considered it before, but it must be nice to be in love. 

Especially to have someone be in love with you. 

That thought weighed particularly heavy on your mind as your gear zipped while you tore through the sky. Not many titans were drawn to the sight of Eren, or even the sight of you twirling around the air. The decoys must have been doing an excellent job on the other side of the district. 

What would happen? What would they do, especially now that the red flare has signaled Eren’s failure? 

Your blades steamed with the blood of three small titans whom you had killed consecutively. Your lungs burned as you latched your gears onto the side of a taller church and rested your head against the rough stone. 

With a wheeze, you looked out to the sun once more. It would have to be low noon by now. There is still several hours till nightfall, but you can’t help worrying that you won’t survive to see your bed. 

There came a crash and puff of debris in the air each time a titan went down. The sounds were reassuring enough, but you still couldn’t catch a break. It started to seem that when you killed two titans, four more would appear. The numbers were slowly increasing. Had they become bored by the display of prey they could not catch? The decoys must have slowly lost priority, as they burned more energy trying to catch what would just be a light snack. 

You hear your name being cried out, and before you can look around, you feel the large fingers of a titan pick you up by the hair. You screamed and thrashed, your blades cutting into his palms enough for you to slip out of his grip. 

“Y/n!” someone shouted again as you scrambled to the rooftop Mikasa was watching Eren from. 

You bit your tongue, trying not to cry as you palmed the crown of your head. Sticky blood stained your hand, and you could feel it slipping down your neck. “It’d be great if Eren woke up, now,” you said with a taut voice. 

Mikasa did look after Eren’s large form, slumped against the boulder that had once been a beacon of hope. You noticed the splintered ends of his arms had not yet formed hands. “I thought he would regenerate,” you told her as smeared your blood onto your pants. 

“I thought so, too,” Mikasa said coolly. “I thought...well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. There are more and more titans drawing in.” 

“I noticed,” you groaned. “They must be getting sick of the decoys.” 

Mikasa pointed her blade out, towards the gate where four 10 meter titans were stumbling in like drunkards. “Two and two?”

“Why not?” you grumbled. 

Mikasa’s running steps were in complete unison with yours, and together, you both leapt off the roof and tore through the wind. It stung your eyes as you navigated to the titans. 

You don’t want to be angry with her, or with Eren, or even with Armin. You’re angry at something, or someone. Someone had to get Eren to snap out of it. You don’t care who. You’d go over yourself to cut him out and slap some sense into him if Mikasa would let you, but she’d likely kill you before you got the blade mounted in his nape. 

You took out your two titans with ease. As you wiped sweat from your brow, you could see that more and more were trampling the distract grounds. It felt so close to being done. 

Yes, you’ve felt that way several times in the past few hours, but right now, it feels real. It’s a suffocating feeling of dread that passed over you, leaving you to burst into a fit of trailing tears. Your life would end today. It would, right? It wasn’t Eren’s fault, it wasn’t a matter of ‘fault.’ It is a matter of the world being the way it is. 

You thought of the dream you’d had not but forty minutes ago, of the slender hands stretching towards you from the water’s floor. 

The rumbling and the crash caught your attention. Half of you expected to look up and see the wall crumbling to pieces. But your eyes beheld a most beautiful sight. Eren Jaeger’s muscular titan body cradled the boulder on his shoulder. 

His steps boomed across the district and as they did you couldn’t help but scream and jump with joy. You cupped your hands around your mouth and yelled as strongly as you could, “Go, Eren!” 

You’d marry that boy. That’s how happy you are at the moment. You zoomed into the air, seized by the sudden confidence that life would be great; that you’d die an old woman surrounded by friends and family and content with the world you were leaving. You conquered every titan you came across, their corpses toddling to the ground like babies walking down the stairs for the first time. 

For such a large figure, Eren moved awfully slow. You wheezed for air as you followed after the titans that Mitabi’s team was distracting. The floundering humans must have been like mice to a cat sine the titans turned a blind eye to Eren. He moved to goddamn slow. You silently urged for Eren to burst into a quick sprint. For a titan it would take no more than ten seconds to jog across the lot and block the wall off. But Eren was already feeling weak anyways. That’s all you can assume since he’d been out of order. 

His body steamed as he shook across the way. You flocked to the outer rim of the formation that focused on distracting the titans. A smaller, flightier abnormal crawled down the roads like a lizard up a wall. You flew into the air, surfing the windstream and landing uneasily on the titan’s back. He didn’t stop like you’d expected to. You staked a blade into the titan’s shoulder to steady yourself as he galloped straight for Eren. Your arms burned as you crawled up the way to his nape. You held onto the handle of your blade as you stood. For a moment it felt like freedom in its most euphoric form. You rode the titan as it raced to Eren and at the cusp of him leaping into Eren’s path, you sliced a large chunk out of his nape. The titan shuddered beneath your feet, and you clutched onto the rough strands of hair to keep from flying off the corpse and into a building. 

You rolled to the ground with a cough as dust kicked up into your face. 

You stumbled out of the burning cloud of steam, coughing into your elbow as you looked around. You saw Eren just reaching the gape in the wall. With a roar that made you clutch your ears, Eren doubled over and set the boulder straight into the wall. The wall rumbled as stone grated against stone, pieces of dust flying up around Eren’s face. 

Your sank to your knees, clutching your back that screamed out in pain. You were grateful. Grateful to be alive, even if the stabbing feeling in your back made you want to die. Grateful for the people that had given their lives for this mission. 

You limped towards Eren’s kneeling figure. “Mikasa!” You called as you clutched your back. “We’ve got to get back.” 

The green smoke had been shot out as a sign that the mission was successful.  But as much as you’d wished it was over...

Captain Bresenzka alerted you as she jogged straight to your side. “The reinforcements will be on their way, but there are still titans that haven’t cleared out of the city.”

“She won’t leave without Eren,” you told the captain. You ran unevenly down the walkway of loose wood, falling in line with Mikasa. “Armin...?” you asked her through a gasp. 

“He arrived to help with Eren,” Mikasa told you. She cupped her hands around her mouth as she called to the blond. “How is he?!”

“H-He’s passed out,” Armin called back, sounding breathless as he struggled to cut Eren free from his second form. “He’s also scorching hot.” 

Captain Bresenzka followed you and Mikasa to sit on the hunched back of Eren’s second body. You were in awe at the sight. His limbs were engulfed in the inflamed tendons of his other self. It felt twice as hot by the open nape than it did in the sauna. 

Armin tried to tug Eren from the fusion, and the sound was like a thick rubber band being stretched to the max. “He’s fused to the carcass!” Armin exclaimed. 

“We could cut fifty centimeters past where his hands should be,” you said, running your hands down the steaming muscle and trying to feel for Eren’s limbs. 

“There’s not time to be so safe,” the captain said stonily. “We cut him out now.” 

“Wait!” Mikasa exclaimed frantically. “We don’t know what that could do! What if he heals wrong?” 

But the captain didn’t listen. “Move over,” you said to Armin, taking your arms around Eren to pull him back and make the muscle as taut as possible.  The captain sliced through the stringy mass while Mikasa closed her eyes, beads of tears slipping into her long eyelashes. You could tell she cared deeply for Eren. 

Perhaps she did love him. 

You couldn’t imagine withstanding the sight of the man you loved in such a state. 

Captain Brezenska sliced too quickly before you could push Eren down to his side. You tumbled down the carcass’s back with Eren’s limp body falling on top of you. 

Your skin burned as you were wedged between Eren’s feverish body and the hard ground. Tears formed in your eyes as you felt a sharp stone puncture the skin of your back and molest that goddamned spot that bothered you daily. 

You wriggled beneath the young man. “Wake up, Jaeger,” you said firmly. 

Your eyes went wide as they caught sight of the anomolies that covered all the sunshine the setting sun was casting. 

“Wake up, Eren!” you screamed. 

Two large titans beamed down at you. 

You shook Eren as hard as you could, screaming for help from someone, anyone. 

That dream flashed before your eyes. Those pale hands were reaching for you out of love; they were going to drag you down to the pits of hell. You’d mistaken their beautiful nimbleness, their delicacy, for kindness. 

Just when you thought everything would end, a large splash of blood splat from the two titans, promptly dropping dead.

You dropped your head back against the stone, sobbing in relief. 

Eren stirred in your arms, sitting up so that you were both supporting each other’s weight. “We’re saved,” you rasped in Eren’s ear. “It was Mikasa,” you said as you watched her kneel on her kill. 

It was not Mikasa. Mikasa had leapt from the shoulder of Eren’s titan, kneeling beside you and Eren. She scooped him into her arms, quietly thanking you. But thanking you for what? 

“Who is that?” Mikasa asked as she hastily brushed Eren’s hair from his sweaty forehead. 

You looked up to see your savior, whose figure blocked out the setting sun. The forest green cloak did not wield solemn red roses, or even the gaudy blades that announced the cadets. 

The figure gracefully navigated down to the ground. 

You were in shock when you saw the face of the person that had saved you. He was starkly beautiful, his face all sculpted, fine edges, and his eyes steely grey. But they were narrow, glaring at all three of you cadets as he sheathed his steaming blades. “This is the part where someone tells me what’s going on,” he said sternly. 

You stammered for the words to answer the man as you staggered to your feet. 

“Y/n!” Mikasa shouted. 

She rushed to your side, Eren miraculously forgotten, and placed a warm hand over your back. “You’re bleeding,” you told her, feeling her fingers smear warm, sticky blood into your back. 

“That’s you,” Mikasa said. 

You strained to look back at your wound. A large stain of blood certainly did cover your shirt. The rock. You recalled that puncture you’d felt when Eren fell on top of you, but it hadn’t felt that bad. 

“It’s nothing,” you brushed it off, attempting to salute to the new man. 

The earth seemed to tumble beneath your feet. You slipped on nothing and fell to the ground, becoming a crumpled heap of blood and sweat at Mikasa’s feet. 

The strange man knelt above you, his intimidating eyes peering deep into yours. “She’s already half gone,” he said plainly. 

“I’m not,” you argued, your voice raspy.

The man turned you to your side. He pulled your shirt up to catch sight of your wound. “She needs immediate medical attention,” he said before he pushed you to lay flat. 

“Bad day, lieutenant?” he said, gripping you by the hand tightly to keep you awake. 

“’M not a lieutenant,” you rasped, wrenching your hand away. “I’m a cadet.” 

“Color me shocked,” the man said, looking mildly surprised. “Hey shit heads,” he said, looking after someone else. “Get someone!” 

“Who should we get?” Armin’s voice replied at a vague distance. 

“Fucking hell,” the man said. He looked down at you with a pinched expression of frustration. “I’m sure death feels like a better option than working with those idiots,” he told you. “But you’re not going.” 

“I’m not going to die,” you told him. “I’m not...”

“Hey!” He shook your shoulders hard, your head rattling about. “Get your eyes open, that’s an order,” he demanded. 

“I’m not dying,” you scowled. “I’m just slipping,” you said. “I’m slipping in the water. I think that it’s you.” 

“Who’s me?” he asked. 

“I think you’re the man from my dreams,” you told him before finally closing your eyes. 

[we-want-mini-mini]

Since I have no self restraint, I’m writing another prompt/one shot.

Essentially, normal girl Lia (or some OC) whose a big fan of DC comics and the like ends up in a weird inter dimensional accident and ends up in the DC universe (it can be a mix of canon because fuck canon, up to you).

But, where did Lia end up exactly? Fucking Gotham.

The moment she realizes this is decides: Nope. Nah. Nada. No sir-y. This is NOT happening. Fuck this. I might end dying, or, worse, BECOME A FUCKING MAIN CHARACTER IN THE BAT CLAN. NAH. HELL NO.

Lia decides that, no, she will not involve herself in the Bat Clan/Wayne’s at all. Nope. Nah. Too much drama. Too much angst. Too much fucking skin tight suits and my poor Pan heart can’t TAKE all the HOT, RIPPED hero’s like what the fuck.

Now, this can play out in a variety of ways:

Lia is, say, around the same age as one of the Batboys. It can be any of them, up to you. Now, she some how ends up in Gotham Acdemy and begrudgingly befriends them. Cue angst (especially if its Jason. Considering in canon, if Jason survives he becomes Red Robin thats all I know lmao). If Lia is friends with the second Robin, it’d bring up the deliemma of: does she tell him that he’s gonna fucking die and then come back to life. Oh and, she’s actually from an alternate world were everyone thats like a superhero/vigilante is a fictional character. Honestly, if done well, can definitely stir the feelings of the poor saps who read the moral deliemma of Lia. Now, who is Lia? Someone who doesn’t want to get involved. If she avoids Jason in the beginning, does she have doubts and wants to warn Batman of Jason impending death or not? Like, that sort of shit panic attack inducing. There’s a lot of things you guys can do to torture not only Lia, but also the readers who might be like: “TELL HIM! TELL HIMMMMM!!!” or, “fuck, even I don’t know what I’d do” and etc. There’s a lot of leeway.

They are grown, and are in college (let’s say the events of Death in The Family happened and everything surrounding Red Robin striking out to find Bruce whose lost in time). This Lia is much older, recently graduated from college and currently interns for Wayne Enterprises. See, Lia is just another intern in a global colgomerate cooperation, there’s no way she’d ever run into any of the Wayne’s. None at all. But. But. She does. Some how she becomes the Executive Assistant to Tim (he once saw how she managed an entire fucking department’s schedule even though a group of people spontaneously quit. She was able to somehow salvage that shit in under three hours. And, Tim might or might not have fallen slightly in love with her—). Lia, now, a fresh 20-something year old, is now the Executive Assistant to another 20-something year old who happened to run one of the most rich and powerful companies in the entire world holy shit. Now, we follow the adventures of Lia, whose now one of the most powerful persons in the entire company (and proxy the world, I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️). Lia, let’s say, is a fucking god at manipulating people, making connections, accounting and management, and also a Very Tired Recently Graduate of GU. She, cannot, and will not deal with the constant bullshit that the Bats pull regularly. So, Lia can either passive aggressively hint that, yeah Tim, you definitely got that broken arm from a golf accident. Oh hey, I also heard the Red Robin foughy Killer Croc and also sported a broken left arm like you! What a coincidence, right? And she’d say this with a straight face. Tim knows that she knows, and Lia knows that Tim knows and yeah. Alternatively, she could outright tell him: “look, Tim, I swear to god, if you put off another meeting without a day notice just because some gang member got the better of you.” “Wait, gang member—?” “—do NOT interrupt me. Look, I know Bruce Wayne is Batman. Not the whole, ‘Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same person! The butts match!’ type of thing. I know he is Batman, you Red Robin, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Red Hood is the weirdly alive Jason Todd, etc etc. There’s no point in feigning the fact that I don’t know. Because, I do.” They stare at eachother for a bit, and Tim falls just a little more in love. “How... Actually it’s dumb to ask you how you know, but, how long?” “Good tactic to ask me how long I’ve know instead of how I know. But, to answer your question: I’ve know since I was around...” THE FRAME FREEZES now, should Lia say 8, since, technically, she’s know since she was 8 that Bruce Wayne is Batman, considering the whole parallel universe thing. Or, does she say 18, the age in which she arrived into this world? Now, that decision can prompt many things to happen. For one, if Lia says 8, Tim is gonna be so awestruck and also be dry curious. If 18, Tim is still amazed (that she knows at all). Either answer would also illicit this response: “...you’ve known for so long, yet never told anyone?” Lia shakes her head. “You guys have a secret identity for a reason. Plus, I’m not in the business of becoming a vigilante or whatever. I’ve tried my best to steer clear of all of that, in all honesty.” “Huh. Makes sense. Wait. Then... why did you start working at WE, if you knew our identities?” Lia stares at him like he’s grown three heads. “Dude. This is WE. One of the most powerful companies out there, why wouldn’t I work here? But, the ither fact of the matter is that I didn’t expect to become your fucking Executive Assistant. Like, I couldn’t just deny the offer, my mother would’ve disowned my ass the second she heard I turned down such a prestigious position.” Lia shuddered. “Fuck, I can hear her curse me out in like, five different languages.” Let’s also say, at one point or another, Lia’s mother arrives, and say, is the most terrifying person Tim has ever met (and Tim’s faced off against Ra’s al Ghul, a functionally immortal man with a fucking army of highly trained assassin at his disposal).

Lia is tame honest to god tame compared to her mother (if her mother is like, 5’3”, that’s even more hilarious tbh). Essentially, if Lia’s older and somehow become Executive Assistant to Tim (or Bruce, because, fuck canon) it would be so god damn funny (read “The Executive Assistant To Batman” in which Tim nene became Robin but still knows the identities of the various Gotham vigilantes. Oh, and, he’s the Executive Assistant to Batman. It’s so fucking hilarious and y’all gotta check it out. It’s on AO3).

Number 2, is a lot more light hearted compared to the moral deliemma of Number 1 (as, is Lia is the same age as Robin!Jason, and knows that he’s gonna die, but she also doesn’t want to get involved with the vigilantes presents a very large problem). Number 1 is great for angst and a character study for this OC. Number 2, is a more light hearted, fun scenario (as it avoids the can of worms called “Do I Warn the Bats of Robin!Jasons impending death or not because I honestly don’t want to get involved with the Bat.”.

I, personally, would love to read Number 2 (please make Lia, or whatever OC, a god damn Tired of Your Bullshit, amazing assistant to the CEO of WE, competent af and very, Very Tired of the Bats BS, and, PR is Going To Skin Me Alive and Roast Me Over A Flame). Maybe some drama, angst sprinkled in (there’s the blatant fact that, Lia is a completely different world. One that has superhero’s, aliens, magic and so, so much more. The fact that she’s in her doppelgänger’s body could cause some dissociation/body dysphoria and that sort of stuff. It’s a great opportunity for a character study for Lia/your OC).

Regardless of you choose 1 or 2, the basic premise is:

Some rando kid (or young adult, whichever strikes your fancy) who loves to read Batman/DC in general. Ends up in some weird ass accident that lands them in the DC universe, specifically Gotham. Everything about their pervious life and the life in his world is the same (or not, up to you), only difference is that there’s an alien powered by the Sun and that cannot he injured (unless it’s by a glowing green rock). They decide, pretty early on, that they want nothing to do with the vigilantes of Gotham (which also means they have to avoid the Wayne’s and Co, which should be ways right? Right?? Gotham is really big, I’ll probably only ever see them in passing, I’ll be fine—). But, the universe said, LOL, nope. And they end up befriending the Wayne’s somehow. The rest? Up to you. If they befriend Robin!Jason they have to cope with the moral deliemma of getting involved to save his life or not. Or, maybe this is the world where Dick is still Robin. Do we save Jason early on, or not? What about Tim? Cass? Stephanie? Or, what if, they end up in a world in which Jason died and came back, Bruce came back from being lost in the time stream and Damian is now Robin.

Essentially: OC ends up in the DC universe, specifically Gotham. Decided not to ever get in involved with the Vigilantes/Wayne’s. However, the universe said nope and they become friends with one of the Bats/Waynes regardless. Now, how the fuck do they cope?

BONUS: Lia manages to avoid the Wayne’s/Vigilantes of Gotham completely. How? She ends working for LexCorp. As Lex Luthors Executive Assistant (basically the same way as she became the Executive Assistant to Tim). Now, she has to cope with the fact that she works as the Executive Assistant for Lex fucking Luthor of all people. She can hear her mother shaking her head in Disappointment™️. She hates the universe. Also, Lex Luthor is pretty open about his Evil, Bastard Schemes with Lia for whatever reason (much to Lia’s utter fucking chargin). She discreetly sends info about these Evil, Bastard, Devious plans to the Bats. Cue her realizing that, to ensure Luthor doesn’t suspect her, she’s gotta get GOOD at hacking and computer science. And get good she does. Like, her utter fucking Done-ness over Luthors Supervillain ways and her wanted to never be found out by the Bats is like taken to Infinty in the 10 dial scale. Somehow, she manages to both avoid suspicion from Luthor (cue intense moments in which Luthor is talking to her, and he’s speaking in a weird direct way that makes Lia think he found out and she mentally plans for her subsequent “death” and fleeing of the country and when Luthor finishes his sentences it just him praising her or something else innocuous. Lia felt like the sun was lifted off her shoulders.) She’s always on edge. Her hair is slowly turning grey. Luthor notices and makes a comment and Lia simply laughs while making a underhand comment about how Luthors bald so he doesn’t need to deal with greying hairs. Lia stops laughing realizing oh shit I just insulted my boss in the most underhand way. What ghe fuck. But Luthor just laughs, much to Lia’s relief. Her hair is still greying from the stress. Anyways, she inadvertently becomes a techno vigilante that can rival the famed Oracle (let’s say, for the sake of this prompt, Lia’s code name is Reaper because she was drunk and apparently in the mind of her 13 year old self when she came up with it). Reaper’s name is slowly growing, as Lia does some other stuff with her new found skills in hacking. She mostly helps the Bats by giving them crucial info on Luthors dealings and the like.

One day, she realizes, that, oh shit. I became the one thing swore I’d never become. What type of Shakespearean shit is my life—

If someone does the situation in which Lia/their OC becomes Luthor Executive Assistant and then inadvertently becomes a Vigilante themselves because, sure, they don’t want to get involved, but, fuck Luthor and Eat the Rich. Also, I would love it if said fic included the most stress inducing scenes were it seems like Luthor found out about Lia and the whole Reaper situation but he actually DIDN’T and Lia is here like, sweating god damn bucks while her hair slowly falls out. Please. Write this shit. It would be

✨Immaculate✨

Anyways, hope you like this prompt/one shot because I damn well enjoyed writing it!

[chubbyooo]

Blurred Lines: Cursed Past Chapter 85 - Love Over Great Distances

Hey all Gacen is back its been so long since this orange oaf has done stuff which kinda makes sense since he's been with Risha Gacen begins the search for Sumalee but makes sure to keep Risha close

Gacen felt calm, he hadn’t left Risha’s side since arriving on Gabredor Prime, the planet was so weird it was so remote but also so beautiful, he had to admit he hadn’t been looking at the planet's beauty much though. He looked down at her lying in his arms and smiled, she really had waited for him, their love was real, he stroked her hair as she looked up at him still looking as smarmy as ever but clearly happy he was here. It was impressive she’d managed to get this set up in five years but not surprising, she could do anything when she set her mind to it and he’d help her whatever it took, he wasn’t a coward anymore.

Gacen frowned thinking to himself “so how do you think Sumalee is going to react when she sees me, throw me down the stairs or just groan” Risha laughed shaking her head at him

She smiled “she doesn’t hate you that much just the right amount, that sweet spot I found too” Gacen faked a gasp acting all offended “oh come on don’t make me feel bad dumbass” she sat up putting her forehead against his

Gacen smiled “I know I’m just kidding I’ll do my best to convince her despite the fact I’d rather just stay here with you, I only just got back and now I have to go again” he pouts at Risha who to no surprise doesn’t jump to comfort him

She tapped the comm link she gave him “you may go but I’m not letting us seperate that easy you better talk to me the whole time i spent ages getting these encrypted so it’s safe for us to talk” Gacen smiled at her 

He teased “awwww you did that for me you must really love me” Risha smirked rolling her eyes

She leaned forward “don’t flatter yourself or I’ll be forced to divorce you” Gacen chuckled right back to their old routine

He faked surprise “you wouldn’t dare” Risha chuckled to herself clearly happy to have her ‘dumbass’ back

Risha winked “oh just watch me” she pulled him in close for what he assumed would’ve been a snide comment but as she did her face softened and she just hugged him tight

Gacen hugged her back “aw Rish I guess we can’t quite go back to what we were, a few things have changed after all” she nodded squeezing him tight “it’s ok it’s ok though I promise I won't turn this off ok” She let him go wiping her eyes and smiling

She punched him playfully “you better not we can’t have anything bad happening to the future Queen's husband” Gacen smiled at her laughing to himself what an odd nickname

He tested his comm “testing one two, ‘Rish...loves... me’ you getting that ‘best...I am…the...best” Risha put her hand on her forehead

She chuckled “I’m already regretting giving you that but yes it does work” she tests her own “and you should be able to hear this ‘No...he...isn’t’” Gacen gasped comically as she spoke

He smiled “well it seems to work Rish” he looked out the window “has M4-SK prepared the ship” Risha nodded following him to the door “and he understands his ‘role’ right he seems eccentric even for a droid” Risha shrugged holding onto his hand

She sighed “I dunno probably he may be weird but he gets really in character so is much more reliable if he gets caught just don’t give him too much backstory or he’ll try to work it in” Gacen made a mental note to avoid that

Gacen took her hands and smiled “thanks Rish I promise I’ll be back in a flash with Sumalee” he pulled her into a long kiss after which neither really wanted to let go holding each other for a few minutes

Risha eventually broke away “well you best be back soon I have other things I need you for” Gacen gave her a quizzical flirty look “I don’t mean that! I mean other missions, come on Gacen that stuff goes without saying” Gacen chuckled squeezing her hands before turning to walk to the ship

Once in the cockpit he turned on the comm link leaning against the wall “hey girl I hear your home alone want some company” a long elongated sigh came back through with what sounded like a stifled laugh as well

Risha tutted “you are the worst I swear” Gacen strolled to the cockpit and sat down in the pilot's chair

He responded “yeah but I’m your worst it’s too late to back out now you admitted how cute you find me” M4-SK looked at him quizzically but didn’t press the issue 

Risha groaned “are you gonna be like this the whole trip” Gacen knew what the answer was but just whistled innocently…

Later they were coming up on Wayland and M4-SK had been asking questions “if I may I’d like to know a little more about my character” Gacen had done his best to avoid answering questions so far but he couldn’t hold out forever

Gacen groaned “you’re a protocol droid for me a travelling mystic” he gestured to the robes he was wearing that vaguely resembled the Jedi robes he’d seen during his time in the republic

Risha came through the comms “ooo wow what a mysterious hermit of course he has magic powers why not show me a few” Gacen rolled his eyes she’d been making fun of his outfit non stop

M4-SK rubbed their chin “yes I’m aware but do you really think people will buy you as a mystic what if I played the mystic” Gacen frowned at him what was so unconvincing about that

He put his hands on his hips “um first of all rude and second of all droids can’t do magic it’s literally impossible” M4-SK tutted clearly disagreeing

He continued “maybe in your small minded universe but in the acting world anyone can be anything” Gacen had a look of disbelief on his face and leaned back whispering into the commlink

He asked “does he have any idea this isn’t a play?” why of all the droids was he stuck with this one

Risha responded equally unsure “Honestly I don’t know I’ve told him over and over but he just seems to ignore me so eventually I just gave up” Gacen sighed of course

He sat back up “hmmm maybe a good idea as an experiment but for now we need to nail this so I’ll play the mystic” M4-SK shook his head going back to co-piloting

He tutted “fine but it’s your funeral when the reviews come in” Gacen just decided to ignore him as the planet of Wayland came into view, it was a mainly mountainous planet with many trees dotted around and as they brought the ship down they found there was a decent number of inhabitants they landed close by and soon encountered the Crystal skinned humanoids.

After a quick translation from M4-SK and a crude drawing of a togrutas montrals they were directed towards a mountain with a flat plateau in the side of it, overall it seemed promising now it was just about convincing Sumalee to come with him

As he walked up the mountain he continued to talk to Risha “so why do you think Sumalee came here I thought she was a respected member of the jedi” Gacen put his hand up against the wind as it blew his cloak back he felt very out of his element

Risha responded quickly “I’m not quite sure apparently it’s one of those ‘strong in the force planets” Gacen got that vibe he wasn’t sure why “and you know she was never really the most ‘by the code’ Jedi” that was true 

Gacen smiled “I mean she knew us that’s pretty not by the book” she had given them far too many favours and pardons over the years

Risha agreed “exactly it may just be that she wanted to strike out on her own” Gacen guessed that was possible

He shook his head “well let’s just hope that she’s more agreeable to smugglers named Gacen than before” Gacen hoped so anyway he didn’t ever appreciate being on the wrong end of a lightsaber

He made his way up the mountain and by the end his feet were as sore as can be he was not a climber, he leaned on the stick he’d found to use as a walking stick. “Yes I made it oh my god I’m so tired” he took a moment to rest 

Risha teased him “oh you poor thing whatever will you do” Gacen rolled his eyes looking up at the rest of the Plateau

He saw at the end there was a figure floating in the air seemingly meditating, he recognised the montrals and hoped this had all been worth it.

She turned and lowered herself to the ground “you have come here seeking answers mystic? Well go ahead ask away” she lifted her hood revealing the red skin of Master Sumalee

Gacen gritted his teeth ready “well not exactly” he took his own hood off with a cheesy grin “I actually came here seeking you, what’s up girl how’ve you been” Sumalee’s expression dropped

She sighed “oh fuck” she strode towards him “what do you want Gacen and if you’re going to ask me where Risha is I don’t know” she folded her arms and turned away

Gacen held the back of his neck “weeeeeelll I actually may have the answer to that question” Sumalee turned around her face softening “and I’ll tell you if you listen to my proposition” Sumalee seemed to consider it for a few seconds

She took a long pause “you get five minutes otherwise I throw you off my mountain” Gacen nodded that seemed fair, he’d have to talk fast...

[yellowsugarwords]

TWAU headcanons of Bigby rescuing Snow after she’s been shot/injured?

TWAU headcanons of Snow getting shot and Bigby blames himself while he’s watching over her as she’s healing?

omg the angst the anGST. I’m combining these two requests kindaaaa because yesssss pls also this is so long I’m so sorry

I’m also totally willing to do a sequel if y’all want :))))

Bigby knew she shouldn’t have gone out on her own.

In fact, he insisted that she didn’t.

That she waited for him.

“Bigby, I can handle it.” She had said on the phone on hour prior.

“Snow, don’t.”

“Stop belittling me, Bigby.”

“I’m not belittling you, Snow. I just know what they’re capable of.”

They bickered for half an hour.

Bigby hailing a cab to take him down to her office.

“Snow--”

Then the line went dead.

By the time he got to her office, she wasn’t there.

The door was hanging open, the office neat and in order.

She’d left.

“Shit.” Bigby snarled under his breath.

And took off running.

They were dealing with a huge black market glamour bust.

And, finally, they had nailed down a location.

Snow called him in a panic, rambling off everything they knew.

He’d asked for her to wait until he got there.

So they could storm it together.

Prepared.

But she insisted.

“We can’t waste time. They’re about to send out another shipment.”

“Snow.”

She hadn’t listened.

She rarely did.

Bigby knew how stubborn she could be.

Bigby sat in the back of his taxi.

Nervously lighting another cigarette.

Immediately finishing and lighting another one.

The driver eyed him in the rearview.

But said nothing.

By the time Bigby arrived, he practically threw himself out the door.

Tossing cash the cab driver’s way.

Barely batting an eye.

Their base was in the garage behind a laundromat.

And Bigby kicked open the front door without a second thought.

Immediately making his way toward the back.

He didn’t care about the noise.

He hadn’t thought about that.

He hadn’t even considered it.

He could hear shuffling.

Scuffling.

A struggle of some kind.

But to avoid as much chaos as possible, Bigby slowly made his way down.

No matter how badly he wanted to run.

He needed to approach slowly.

Calmly.

For Snow’s sake.

But it didn’t matter.

As he neared the door leading into the garage, he heard it.

A gunshot.

A muffled scream.

Then frantic footsteps.

His heart stopped.

But his legs refused to.

And he threw himself down the remainder of the stairs.

Just in time to spot a figure dropping Snow to the ground.

He was masked.

Gloved.

And stuffing his gun into his back pocket.

Before spotting Bigby and darting away.

Out the back door.

With the rest of them.

They were all masked and gloved.

Loaded in the back of a UHaul.

Crates upon crates surrounding them.

In their wake, they left Snow on the floor.

Clutching her bloodied stomach.

The room trashed and abandoned.

Never to be used again.

“Hey!” Bigby snarled.

But they were already pulling away.

Closing the UHaul door behind them.

Abandoning everything behind them.

But at the moment, he could care less about that.

About them.

“Fuck.” He breathed.

Darting to Snow’s side.

She was clutching her stomach and whimpering.

Groaning.

At first, Bigby only held her.

Brushing her hair out of her face.

Running his fingers down her hands.

Drifting down her arms.

Setting on top of her wound.

He peeled her hand away.

Trying to get a better look.

And saw just how much blood was gathering there.

“Snow…”

She coughed.

And Bigby realized just how pale she was becoming.

He rummaged around in his pocket.

“I’m calling.”

Snow’s eyes widened. “You can’t--”

She reached up to grab his phone.

Winced.

And clutched her stomach again.

Bigby hold grew tighter.

Abandoning his now-bloodied phone on the ground for an instant.

He held her face.

And realized just how much blood had pooled into his hands.

Onto his legs.

And he frowned.

“I am.”

The fable world had strict rules regarding mundies facilities.

Fear of exposure was the last thing any of them wanted.

But Bigby didn’t know what other option he had.

He was willing to risk it for her.

Risk him for her.

But then, a call.

“Beast,” he yelled into the phone.

The other end went dead silent.

“I need your help.”

“Bigby I--”

“It’s Snow.”

Snow was falling in and out of consciousness.

She could barely hear what was being said.

“She’s been shot….”

“Losing blood…”

“Hurry….”

“We can’t risk it…”

She felt his hands return to the side of her face.

She felt a pressure against her wound.

And she weakly opened her eyes.

“I got you, Snow.” He was saying.

His voice distant and lost.

“Help is coming. I got you.”

She closed her eyes.

“I’m not leaving you.”

And by the time they did arrive, he didn’t leave her side.

“I’ll carry her to the car.”

“Bigby--”

“I’ll carry her.” He snapped.

Eyes golden and wide.

Shooting Beast’s way.

He only nodded.

Beauty was in tow.

Staring at Snow’s limp form.

Praying that something could be done to save her.

“She’s lost so much blood.” She breathed.

Bigby said nothing.

He didn’t need to be reminded.

He closed his eyes and tried to remain calm.

He held her in the back seat.

Her head tucked into his neck.

His arms wrapped around her.

One palm resting against the temporary bandage Beauty had thrown on in the car.

“It’s not great.” She said. “But it’ll do.”

“That’s enough.” Bigby grumbled.

Bigby hated walking into their office like this.

With her in such a state.

It felt as though they were delivering her to her death.

Not preventing it.

“Swineheart’s on his way.” Beauty said.

Her voice was muffled in the background.

Bibgy couldn’t take his eyes off Snow.

Gathered in his arms.

Weak and faintly breathing.

“He should be here soon.” She finished.

As they waited in her office, Bigby could barely think.

He settled her on a couch.

Brushing her hair away from her face.

Studying the state of the wound.

Checking to ensure she was still breathing.

“Bigby,” she whispered out.

He jolted upright from his slouched position.

“Hey,” he hushed, “don’t talk, save your energy.”

One of her hands flailed.

And Bigby watched it hesitantly.

Confused.

“Bigby--” She whimpered out.

Muffled by a faint sob.

Her eyes squeezed together.

And slowly, as not to break her, he took her hand.

“You’re gonna be okay, Snow.” He whispered.

And she nodded.

His free hand slipped forward.

Brushing a tear away from one of her paling cheeks.

As the sound of footsteps working their way into the room.

Swineheart forced them to wait in the hall.

Despite Bigby’s yelling and arguing.

“The longer you debate with me, the longer it will take to help her.”

That shut him up.

And Beast and Beauty escorted him out.

Bigby sank to the floor and popped a cigarette in his mouth.

“I don’t think you’re allowed--”

He lit it.

Staring Beauty dead in the eyes as she did so.

The three hung in silence.

Bigby sitting.

Beast and Beauty standing.

“Bigby--”

“I don’t want to talk.” He scoffed between puffs.

“I know you’re blaming yourself--”

“Beast.”“But this isn’t on you.”

Bigby slammed his fist into the wall.

Cracking the boards and tearing the wallpaper.

Beauty jumped.

Beast crossed his arms. “Bigby.”

“I said I didn’t want to talk.”

Beast stared.

Surveying him.

Knowing that he was right.

And took a seat on the floor beside him.

In front of the dent in the wall.

They stood around silently.

Killing time.

Praying that time was the only thing slipping away.

Bigby could hardly think.

Not about the dealers that had escaped.

Not about the paperwork.

About everything Snow would need to deal with the following day.

He could only think about her.

About Snow.

About praying she would make it.

He closed his eyes.

Killed his cigarette.

And lit another one.

An hour passed.

And by the time the door to her office opened, everyone was on the

floor.

But Bigby jumped up.

Forced his way past him.

Not waiting to listen.

Behind him, they talked.

“How’s she look?” Beast asked.

Bigby stood in the centre of the room.

Staring at her.

At her bloodied jacket lying on the floor.

At the tear in her blouse.

At the bandages peaking through underneath it.

At Snow.

At how fragile she seemed.

“She’ll be fine.” Swineheart said. “But she’ll need lots of rest.”

Beauty sighed.

Bigby wasn’t looking.

“She lost a lot of blood and tore her stomach lining.”

Bigby blinked.

Barely listening.

Swineheart began rattling everything off to the two.

The rules surrounding eating and medication.

Sleeping.

How she was to move around.

What she was and wasn't allowed to do alone.

While Bigby wanted to listen, he couldn’t.

So he didn’t.

He nervously watched the only sight before him.

Praying she would stir.

Her eyes began to flutter.

Silently receiving his prayer.

Her head swaying from side to side.

Trying to get a reading on the room.

But her eyes landed on him.

And she smiled weakly.

Her eyes vague and distant.

But there.

He threw himself forward.

His hand working itself back into her own.

His eyes soft and delicate.

Warm against Snow’s cool skin.

“You’re here.” She said softly.

And Bigby, for the first time that night, smiled.

“I told you I would be.”

[lyndexv]

Just A Nice Moment.

Louis starts to feel weird about a certain ginger girl...But does she feels the same ? (Drabble challenge by @stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale, Day 3 : ‘You Make Me Laugh’)

Louis liked giving joy to the others.

It wasn’t new, he always did that since the apocalypse happened.

After everything went shit over the years (the adults abandoning them the first days, Ms.Martin’s death, and other kids’ deaths…) It was just unbearable. The general ambience was sinister, sad, depressing...It just felt wrong for the other kids to be happy while some of their camarades/friends passed away.

But Louis knew it wasn’t exactly true. What’s the point of always fearing an unguaranteed future ? The only moment we have for sure, is the present, the actual day. Enjoy the present as much as we can. It wasn’t about forgetting the dead, but living as much as we could, for them, was more faitful to their memory than just grieving until death arrives…

Of course, while he sure managed to light up the mood sometimes...His belief was mocked. In general, he didn’t get recognition for his acts. Instead…

« I wish your mouth would cease. »

« You get more and more stupid every day. »

« Shut. up. »

« Can you use your brain for once, instead of joking around ? »

He was insulted. Even by Marlon, in his back. But...They were his friends (Marlon was like a brother)...They don’t insult him for nothing... At some point, he thought : Maybe I deserve it.

I deserve to be insulted.

So, as much as it hurt him to listen to those insults, he never talked back with spite, he just...took it.

Out of the Ericson kids, 4 of them weren’t as much annoyed by him as were the others.

Shaun, the sheepish blonde autist. Louis was his best friend, sometimes he had troubles to dissociate a joke from a quote, sure, but he was supportive of his effort to light up the mood.

Idryssa. The co-leader with Marlon. If Marlon was like a brother for Louis, Idryssa was an elder sister. She was a music fan herself, not to the point of playing an instrument, but still. Idryssa always took care of the kids, whatever their age, whatever where they came from. She always liked some Louis’ jokes as she rested from her ‘job’.

And finally, the twins. Minerva Elenore and Sophie Marie Evergreen. The gingers from Dublin, with their adopted brother Tennessee. (well, not exactly from Dublin, they came from NYC, but their family was originally from Dublin.)

Minerva was an excellent singer, with a voice made for blues. Eventually she composed some songs with Louis (inclunding ‘Don’t Be Afraid’, when the others couldn’t sleep after the adults left.). She was nice, beautiful, and she like some Louis’ jokes. She was one of most popular girls in school, but at the end Violet, out of everyone, seemed to have won her heart (Louis was surprised by that, but not in a bad way. Minerva seemed to make Violet happy. And Louis cared a lot about Violet, so if Minerva gave Violet the happiness she always deserved, Louis would always support their couple.)

And there was Sophie.

Sophie, at first, wasn’t as popular as Minnie was. She was perceived as a ‘goody-two-shoes’, always ranting about the others’ slurs, intervening in their arguments to try and stop them...

« Can’t you just fuck off, Esther ? »

« Only when you’ll give me my stuff back ! »

Louis feared the following of this argument, since everytime Mitch and Esther get into one…

« For fuck’s sake, for the last time IT’S NOT ME !! I’m not into stealing girls’ stuff... »

Mitch smirked. « Or boys stuff, I don’t know with you... »

THIS element is mentioned.

« If I were you, I’d take back immediatly BEFORE I CRUSH YOUR SK-- » Esther dashed to Mitch.

But suddenly Sophie intervened and put herself between them, pushing Esther back.

« Can you both just STOP fighting for a day ?!  You don’t think we have enough...»

Sophie retained herself from swearing.

« Mess to deal with already ? The food, the walkers...And such ? »

Esther and Mitch looked at each other, seeming to calm down. But sadly it was an impression.

« We didn’t call for you, Goody-shoes ! »

« Mind your fucking business Soph ! »

It pained Louis to see Sophie get insulted like that, she didn’t deserve it…

Louis looked beyond her supposed ‘goody-shoes’ personality. And he discovered an artist, an excellent painter, drawer (she liked to draw portraits of some kids, including him, Shaun, Minnie and Violet...They were so living!) Her entire dorm was covered of drawings she made, when he walked into it he felt like he was transported into an other dimension, full of colors, of dreams, where he could go anywhere he wanted...It made him forget about how dark and sinister it was outside.

And he admired Sophie for that.

Sophie had the same sense of humor as him, the same taste of music, that same will of preserving the arts (well, as much as two teenagers can do in a boarding school cut out of the rest of the world by an apocalypse…) So it surprised nobody when they cracked some jokes together and giggled while dinners or card games, or when they passed days in the music room, composing and drawing together (Louis was terrible at drawing, but Sophie never minded, ‘Drawing is a matter of learning and doing’ after all).

But, as months passed, and as Louis got closer and closer with Sophie, the admiration, the friendly feelings he had for her turned into something...Different.

He sometimes surprised himself at doing nothing, just admiring her drawing some new countrylands, noticing her red freckles on her charming face, her blue-sky eyes, her long ginger hair that went to her waist…

As he tchatted with her, he had a weird feeling in his stomach, he felt more...free, happy, calm.

When she smiled, he smiled too. He liked how bright she was when she smiled. He wanted to make her happy, more than the others…

« Louis ? »

« Yes, Idryssa ? »

« I think...You have a crush on Sophie. A big one. »

Love.

If he had expected that…

Apart from supporting Violet on her crush on Minnie, the last time he dealt with love (in a way) was when...He caused his parents’ divorce.

He didn’t want to ruin his relationship with Sophie. And...If he has a crush on her...Does she return his feelings ? Does she loves him back ?

Everything in his head said no, she just sees you as a friend.

One night…

They were in the music room, Louis writing a music of his own on the music sheets.

Sophie was sat on the piano stool, close to him. She had concern in her gaze.

Usually, they tchat a lot, about anything, when they are together.

But it wasn’t the case today, Louis barely talked.

« Louis ? »

He didn’t seem to listen, still focused on his music sheets, but he looked lost, sad…

« Is...Are you allright ? »

« Yeah... » Louis finally said, with an unsure tone.

Sophie grew more and more worried.

« Louis, I’m...You can tell me everything, you know that ? »

Louis finally stopped his writing and turned his head to her, meeting her concerned gaze.

« I...I know. »

« So...What’s wrong ? »

Louis turned his head. « I... »

Sophie was definitely worried. Louis was her best friend, she cared for him, like, A LOT. Everytime he wasn’t his ‘Happy goofy jokester’ self (God, this nickname was just ridiculously funny), she didn’t felt okay, at all. When he was happy, she was, but the opposite was also true...It felt weird.

« What do you...think about me ? »

What ?

Louis must have seen her shocked face, as he stuttered, trying to change of subject « N-Nevermind, that’s not imp-- »

« I t-think you are... a good friend, Louis. »

Louis turned his head back to her. Did he hear it right ?

« Do you -- »

« Mean it ? Yes, I mean it Louis. You are a good friend. You always care about the others, you have such a big heart, whatever Mitch... » Sophie spited as she looked at the tag Mitch carved on the piano ‘You suk at playing’ (God she wanted to punch him sometimes...Mitch might be a big brother for Willy, but he was still a douchebag when he wanted) « or Marlon, or Esther….or Vi...Or anyone says about you. You’re not careless, nor stupid, even if you joke around, even if you play piano all the time...You just, try to light up the mood and make the others smile for once, and they should be grateful to you for that ! »

Louis had his eyes wide open. Never, in all his life, someone respected, heck, COMPLIMENTED him for his efforts. He expected no one would.

« A-And... » Sophie felt her cheeks heat up for the first time, as she shyly scratched her neck « Your jokes themselves are funny. You make me laugh. »

Louis was freezed. He knew she made Sophie laugh, that wasn’t the surprise. The surprise was that she admitted it, like it wasn’t a problem. Sure, Violet, when she didn’t do her usual eyes roll (he liked making her do it) laughed, but it was kinda rare, Louis assumed his humor annoyed her and the others more than anything…

But to hear Sophie liked his jokes…

« Louis ? » Louis went back to reality as Sophie called her. She looked concerned, scared, like she feared that she said something wrong.

« Sophie... »

Sophie felt her breathing changing, growing more and more itched, stressed.

« I’m serious Louis, I mean every word I just said. »

Another unbearable silence.

Louis turned his head back to the music sheets, then to Sophie.

« Honnestly, your humor might be lame for the others, but...It makes me laugh, genuinely. »

Louis took an heavy breath.

« Sophie...Thank you. For everything. » He finally said.

« You’re welcome, Louis. »

« I mean » Louis cut her, trying to find his words « Thank you for...your kind words. I mean...Not everyone is mean at me, b-but...Sometimes, it’s just... » Louis suddenly felt Sophie’s hand on his.

He looked down, and noticed how close Sophie was to her, her hand on his and her beautiful blue sky eyes laid on him.

fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckdon’tpanicnow

« Hey, it’s okay.. » Sophie felt her cheeks heat more « Calm down, you don’t have to panic about that. »

« I don’t panic because of that... » Louis shyly said « It’s just...I’m not used to it. Everyone hears the jokes, the piano...and after that, they stop listening. » Louis smiled at Sophie « You didn’t . »

Sophie smiled back.

« I’ll never stop listening to you, Lou. I-I... » Sophie blushed so much, she prayed that Louis wouldn’t see it.

« I love you. »

Louis went mute again, his eyes wide open. He turned his head back to the piano.

He couldn’t believe it. She returned his feelings. She loved him back !

He laughed out of relief, she loved him ! Him, out of every boy (and girl, he doesn’t mind) in the school !

« I love you too, Sophie ! » The ginger girl gasped. « I love you since a long time, but...I-I was scared of being...I was scared that you’d only see me as a friend... » Louis confessed.

« Of course I see you as more than a friend, you dork ! » She lightly punched him in the arm.

« I care a lot about you, Lou. I love you, since the beginning. »

They looked at each other, deeply into each other’s eyes, Sophie into chocolate browns Louis’s eyes, him into her blue sky eyes, matching her backwards cap and her denim vest.

Eventually, she put her hand on his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss. As their lips met, both felt that weird twist in their stomach finally disappearing, replaced by a nice, warm feeling. As Sophie read into a book, that feeling is called ‘butterflies in stomach’ and the nice feeling is the ‘butterflies’ flying out.

She liked that poetic metaphor.

As they ended the kiss, they looked lovely at each other. Deep in themselves, they sweared they’d stay together as long as they could, to do everything to make the other smile. Because it was worth it.

[blkmxrvel]

If I Die Young

Pairing: Kara Danvers x Female!Reader

Words: 4,959 (I got carried away)

Request: Hi may i request angst kara x reader? In which reader work as a technician like winn. Shes shy n having a crush on kara. shes always awkward around kara its almost painful but amusing 2 watch. Kara got mission dat require a tech expert n reader won from winn n get 2 go. She n kara get 2 know each other more n finally ask each other out much to the relief of everyone who is listening in open comm. But something got wrong n reader ended up dying in karas arms. Pls do this.🙏

Warnings: Angstish, Death, Not edited

A/N: My longest post yet! This took me a while to write, mainly because I don’t do well with death and really angsty things. So this took a bit more inspiration and energy out of me, but I can’t put it off anymore, so here you go! I’m sobbing. ALSO THANK YOU GUYS FOR 100+ FOLLOWERS! CAN’T BELIEVE YOU GUYS ACTUALLY LIKE MY WRITING I LOVE U ALL SO MUCH THANK YOU

Masterlist | Fandom List/Who I Write For

“Agent Y/LN, show me what you’ve come up with.” You whipped your head around to look at Alex, who had come up behind you and placed a hand on your chair. You jumped a little at the sudden presence but quickly gained your composure. “Were you able to hack into the database?”

“No.” You stated bluntly which made Alex sigh. “They had it locked down tight, and as soon as I made the tiniest bit of progress, they shut it down.”

“Did you at least find some other way?” A grin slowly made its way onto your face. The clacking of keys was heard as you began typing on your computer, random numbers and letters that Alex couldn’t decipher were running across your screen.

“Of course, I did. I managed to get a little bit of the base code that they used for the last one, and you know how nothing is ever gone forever right?” Alex nodded her head. “Well, I used that the base code, put into along with my base code and used that to hack into one of the mainframe computers, I linked my database to theirs. It’s sort of a hybrid To them, it looks like a backup disc, but now we can see everything they see. Everything they type or file or even say, we have got it.”

It took all of Alex to not jump and give you a celebratory smack on the shoulder. Nobody knew how you did it, not even Winn, but they were all grateful for you.

“That’s... Wow! Y/N, you’re fucking amazing. Do we have eyes on them now?” You bit your lip to hold back a proud grin.

“Not physically,” You responded, beginning to type again and pull up something else. “But I found this email, between Kara’s aunt and Lillian, it’s Kryptonian, and I can’t read it.”

“What about the translator?”

“It was able to decode a bit of it, but I’m guessing this dialect is ancient because the translation is broken and doesn’t make sense.” You looked up at Alex who was staring at the screen. “You read Kryptonian, don’t you? Do you think you could decipher what it says?”

Alex was silent for a minute before shaking her head. “No, I can’t.”

Just then, a whoosh of air was heard, a soft thud right after. Footsteps made their way towards you and Alex, but you didn’t pay any attention, you were focused on this email. You plugged different algorithms into the translator, but nothing could give you a clear enough message.

“You have great timing, I was just about to call you.” You kept typing while vacantly processing what Alex was saying. “We need your help.”

“What happened?” You froze, you knew that voice. Your eyes bulged out of your head and your fingers slipped causing you to accidentally erased what you had of the email. Alex explained your current situation to Kara, while you tried and failed to recover the missing fragments.

“Shit!” Your voice rang out. There were no backdoors in your database, you had to start from scratch. “Dammit!”

“Woah there, Y/N! What’s wrong?” Kara’s voice rang out again. A lump formed in your throat, and you placed your head in your hands, disappointment leaving your lips.

“I fucked up and erased what I had of the email, I can’t get it back.” Alex stepped away, knowing that she wasn’t needed anymore.

“Do you still have the email? It’s Kryptonian right?” Kara said as she walked up behind you. You became increasingly more aware of her presence as you nodded your head. With a few clicks and clacks of your keyboard, the email popped up on your screen yet again.

Kara bent down, her head right next to yours while her hands came to rest down on your shoulders. You nearly passed out, holding your breath and trying to not to scream. You tried your hardest not to lean into her, and to lean forward.

“This so cool, Y/N. You did all this?” Kara turned her head a few degrees to look at you, and you looked down at your hands, forcing yourself to be more fixated on them.

You nodded your head, letting out a sheepish “yep” and not daring to look up. You could still feel Kara’s eyes on you, and that made you all the more nervous.

“Don’t get quiet on me now, Y/L/N. This is really great. You were right, it is ancient Kryptonian, most people don’t even study it anymore, let anymore speak it.” Kara reached across your body to grab the pen and notepad that was beside you.

You let out a squeak, followed with an “oh, my god.” You had hoped that Kara hadn’t heard you, but with her super hearing, she probably did. So you had just hoped she would ignore it. She did.

She began writing on the notepad, her head alternating between the screen and the paper. About a minute later, she had a full paragraph accompanied with an address written down.

“They’re going to meet here, Havana’s Hilltop in two days. Apparently, there’s some kind of mass arsenal hidden there, and they’re going to use it to wipe out the city.”

Your head snapped up at that. “Havana’s Hilltop? Are you sure that’s what that says?” Kara stood up and crossed her arms, nodding her head.

“Yeah, I’m pretty positive. Why?” She looked down at you and you immediately averted your gaze yet again.

You started typing on your computer again, scooting closer and pulling up pictures. Alex walked back up to the pair of you, cluing herself in on what you two were talking about.

“Before Lex went to jail, he spent all his time on Havana’s Hilltop. That’s where he engineered all his kryptonite and weapons to take out Superman?”

Alex chimed in. “I thought he did all of that on the White Portuguese, and at his lab.”

You shook your head. “Some of it, yeah, but for the most part, Hilltop was his favorite. He still probably has stockpiles of kryptonite there.”

“And if Lillian and Astra get to it, knowing that Supergirl is coming...”

“Don’t we already have a rapid antidote for Kryptonite, the one Winn engineered?” Kara rubbed at her eyebrows, visibly sighing and trying to keep her composure. 

“This time it’s different.” You shook your head, bringing up a diagnostic and a few tests. You waited a few seconds before the test was done, you wanted to punch a wall.

“You’re definitely going to need a new suit.”

“What is that?’ Alex asked. Kara leaned into you again, which made you blush, again. Alex noticed, but she didn’t really say anything. There was a picture of something that looked light rock candy on steroids. It was bulging at the edges, looking like it was alive.

“That, my friend, is Sapphire Kryptonite. That kind would pierce right through yours.

Alex scrunched her face. “There are different types?!”

You nodded your head nervously. “Yeah, as soon as Lex figured out how to genetically modify the original Kryptonite, he had a field day. SK is way more lethal, it targets all your major artery and nerves instead of just the veins. It can shut down your nervous system in minutes. The smallest dose is lethal.”

Kara pressed her face into a stoic expression. Her face hardened while she stared at the image.

“Don’t even think about it, Kara,” Alex demanded while staring at her sister. “It’s too dangerous, we can figure out another way to stop them, one that doesn’t involve you dying.”

“There has to be another way.” Kara hoped. She snapped her head towards you. “Y/N?” You looked at her. “Is there another way?”

You felt Alex’s eyes on you. You darted your eyes quickly towards her and let out another hopefully inaudible squeak.

“Y/N....” Alex warned. “Don’t you dare.” You looked away from Alex, ignoring Kara’s question and focusing back on your hands.

“Alex, stop it. If there is another safe and promising way to do this we will.” Kara moved so she was standing in front of you. She knelt down to be on your level and placed her hands on your knees. Your heart skipped a beat and your breathed hitched.

“Is there another way?” Kara asked you again. You were pretty sure she could hear the banging of your heart and the way your eyes were glued to her hands where they rested on your thighs. “Please, Y/N.”

You sighed, rubbing your face with your hands before nodding your head slowly.

“Hypothetically and probably, yes.” Kara smiled her biggest smile at you, almost leaning in to hug you but stopping herself.

“How?”

“Well it’s pretty simple, we just need another antidote and Kara needs a more vamped up suit.”

“How are we going to pull that off in two days?” Alex pressed. You shrugged like it was the easiest answer in the world.

“Well, not to tell you how to do your job or anything, but you could take a team up to Havana’s HIlltop and get me a sample of the SK. All I need to extract it’s DNA and reverse engineer the effects, use the helix pattern to formulate a new antidote, along with soothing factors and boom.”

They both stared at you blankly, not understanding a word of what you just said. You blushed again before reaching for your phone.

“Winn is out of town but I’m gonna call him. Tell him he needs to come in immediately to make you a new suit and try and come up with another antidote. He should be able to have it done in time.”

“No,” Kara shook her head and stood up again. “You do it, Y/N. You’re way smarter than Winn and this was your idea. It’s time for you to work your magic.”

“I don’t think so.” You started to fold your body in on itself, turning yourself in your chair to face away from the two sisters. “Winn is way smarter than me and he can have it done more efficiently. I don't’ wanna mess up and cause you your life.

“You can do it. Please Y/N.” Kara begged. “I trust you, I believe in your, You got this.”

You thought about it for a minute, weighing the pros and cons. Winn was the one who was more experienced at inventing things, but you were already here and could get started on the work ups quicker. Soon enough, you nodded your head and looked at your crush.

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

.

You were in your new lab, googles on your face, lab suit around your body and syringe in your hand. Alex had just gotten back from Havan’s Hilltop. She was able to successfully extract a sample of white Kryptonite, but they were definitely on Lillian and Astra's radar now.

You were about to apply a reagent on the sample before the sound of your lab doors opened. You didn’t really pay much attention until the alarms in your lab sounded. You jumped, accidentally squirting too much of the reagent before lifting your head to see who set off the alarm.

“Y/N! What happened? Why can’t I come in?” Kara. Your breath got caught in your throat as you looked at her. You knew you had to get over this crush. You didn’t do much around her, which you hoped that she didn’t notice. Most times you avoided her at all costs. You weren’t really fond of how clammy your hands got and how nervous you became when you were around her.

“Oh! Kara, Hi!” You waved at her before making your way towards the entrance. You smiled at her while taking off your goggles. Kara was standing outside of the glass doors, being pushed out and not allowed inside.

“Hey,” She breathed out, returning the smile that you gave her. “Why can’t I come in?” She spoke through the intercom.

Your ears perked up at her question. You rubbed at your earlobes, a nervous habit you had. “Well, I kinda sorta programmed the door sensors into recognizing Kryptonian DNA. So when you walked in, the door locked down.”

“Why would you do that?” She asked you and you felt your neck getting hot. You rocked back and forth on your feet while staring at the floor, another nervous tick. “Y/N?”

“I just- I don’t-” The word got stuck in your throat, so you took a deep breath, thinking about what you were going to say before you actually did. “I’m dealing with pretty lethal stuff. For you at least. This isn’t like other Kryptonite. It’s more complex, more stubborn and I’m just taking the most possible precautions. As you can see there’s an airlock.”

You gestured toward the space between Kara and yourself. “That brushes and takes off any residue of the Sapphire Kryptonite so that I’m not exhaling it or spreading it when I leave. I do not want Alex to kill me for accidentally killing you.” You raised your hands in mock surrender. “No, ma’am.”

Kara looked at your fondly, biting her lip to hold in her smile. Nodding her head, she swept her head back from in front of her face. “Are you sure that’s the only reason you made it? To keep Alex off your  back?”

You opened your eyes in disbelief. “Have you met your sister? You may be used to her but she scares the living hell out of me.” Kara laughed wholeheartedly at that, tossing her head back before staring at you.

“I’ve met her. But if you say so, I’ll believe you.” She smiled at you. “I’ll let you get back to your ‘labbing’ then, have fun, love.” You visibly froze and nearly choked at her words when she walked away. Watching her figure, you couldn’t help but want to keep talking to her.

“Kara, wait!” You blurted out before you had a chance to think. She turned her back away from you, coming to where she just was.

“Yes?” She tilted her head, and you had gotten lost in her eyes, smiling softly before she cleared her throat. You jumped, your cheeks becoming red hot and your hands sweating.

“I um... I also built the airlock because...” You rocked back on your feet again, avoiding Kara’s eyes.  “Isortakindahavefeelingsforyouandidontwantyoutogethurtandiwouldbecrushedifyougothurtbecauseofmesoiwantedtodoanythinginmypowertopreventthat.” You said in one breath. You stared at the floor. “I also have your new suit ready.” You smiled smugly before turning around and walking away, hyperventilating with what you just said.

“Y/N.” You whipped your head around, looking her in the eyes and fighting the urge not to melt into a puddle of love. “I would love to see the suit when you're done with the antidote, don’t rush just for me okay? I’ll be fine, you’ll be fine, everything will be a’okay, alright?”

You blushed a little more, nodded your head in agreement. You had to admire, you were a bit disappointed and disheartened that she didn’t acknowledge your confession. Just when you turned around you had heard Kara’s voice again.

“And, you in your science gear and the goggles on your face and your hair on top of your head makes my heart stop everytime I see it.” You blushed again, opting to smile to yourself instead of audibly gushing. You assumed Kara had left because you didn’t hear anything. “I mean it.”

You smiled to yourself, happier than ever before your realized one more thing.

“Oh, Kara! I need your DNA!”

.

“Are you sure we should be doing this? I mean I- I’m not physically trained, I’m weak and I’m just the tech girl.” You high in the air, secure in Kara’s arms while she flew to Havana’s Hilltop.

The day had come where it was finally time to stop Lillian. After 60 hours of no sleep, all you had wanted to do was go home and rest while Supergirl saved the day, but of course, they had other plans for you.

“Me?”

“Y/N?” You and Winn had voiced at the same time. He had just come back from the future, thrown into a whirlwind when it was filled in on what was happening. He was pleasantly surprised when he found out what you had done. He liked to claim that ‘student has finally surpassed the master,’ but you all knew that you were always the master, and him the student.

“You can’t be serious. Why does anybody have to go? I showed you how to use the antidote, the suit is literally more bulletproof and protected than anything else, the antidote works, why do I have to go?” You began pacing back and forth in front of Alex and Kara. “I’m not strong, I’m short, I’m nerdy, I would never be able to defend myself, I’m clumsy, I might just end up falling off Havana’s Hilltop! This is not a good idea.” You crossed your arms set in your ways while you sat back in your desk chair. “Not a good idea at all.”

“Yeah, for once I agree with Y/N. This is way out of any of our caliber.” Winn interjected. Kara followed suit.

“Alex, they have got a point, there are way too many risks and I wouldn’t want Y/N getting hurt,” she paused and spoke again. “or anyone for that matter.”

Alex groaned. “Need I say this again, Y/N is the only one who can troubleshoot anything if either the suit or antidote doesn’t work-”

“Gee, Alex, thanks for the moral support.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it. You can hack into the weapons system and override it.” Alex pointed at you and you shook your head, letting out an anxious sigh.  “Nobody is perfect. And we have no idea what Lillian and Astra could be up to! They already know we came by once and stole some, who knows what they could have for us.” 

“So you want us to walk in blind, with Y/N!?” Kara snapped, glaring at her sister. “We’ve talked about this.” You turned your head towards Kara, confusion taking over your face.

They’ve talked about this? About what? Me?

“I know we have, but I still think Y/N should be there. If anything happens, I will take the blame but Y/N is a vital asset to this whole mission.” Everyone but Alex sighed.

“Fine, but If I die, I’m coming back and haunting you forever.”

“I regret saying yes, I wanna go home. Kara take me home please.” You clung to her body tight, face buried in her neck and body trembling. You were getting close to your destination and your heart was racing.

“Y/N,” Alex chimed in through the intercoms. “You will be fine. You’ve got this okay?” Kara landed a few miles from the entrance. You still didn’t let go, and Kara didn’t try and move you either. She rubbed your back, soothing you for as long as she was able to.

“I don’t want to die.” You whimpered. You knew you weren’t ready for a mission like this. You wish you could take it back.

“Hey, don’t talk like that.” Kara pulled your face from your neck, soon making you stand up. She faced you, hands on your cheeks and wiping away tears. Her heart broke at the sight of your face. She really wanted to break protocol and take you home, but she knew she couldn’t. 

“You will not die, okay? I will protect you with my life. I promise.” You both stared into each other eyes, but you being you, you got nervous and subconsciously drifted your eyes toward her lips. She smiled once she noticed, and her eyes were on your lips as well.

“Just kiss her already and get on with it!” Winn shouted. You forgot that he was connected through the body cam on Kara’s suit. (another one of your flawless innovations. Beat that, Schott).

You both giggled before you placed your hands on Kara’s leaning in and connected both of your lips. They moved together in sync, conveying everything you didn’t have enough time to say. You both pulled away breathless, smiling at each other.

“If this mission doesn’t kill me,” You gained your shy voice again, shrugging your shoulders. “Would you like to go out sometime?” Kara nodded furiously, kissing you again.

“Thank God! I got tired of Y/N running everything Kara came around, it’s about time. Both of you have got this. Kara, you lead, take out anyone in the way. Y/N take cover until Kara says it’s clear. Y/N, you need to go to the main lab and shut down everything. If SK happens to Kara, shoot her with the antidote. Okay?” You and Kara both agreed, beginning your trek towards the entrance with held hands and crossed fingers.

You prayed for the best.

.

You could barely concentrate. The noises of Kara’s fighting along with the cries of her hysterical aunt, you weren’t sure how you were going to do this.

The plan had started off without a hitch. Kara and You had it through the first few floors easily, her taking out all the enemies while you hid in different alcoves and nooks. Being short had its advantages, you had it admit.

Things were going great... until they weren’t. You had made it into the mainframe lab, quickly accessing the arsenal launchers. Knowing that you had a database hidden inside their own made things easier for you: you didn’t have to search for different backdoors.

“Y/N, please tell me you’ve gotten inside already.” You scoffed at Winn’s comment.

“Of course, I have. I already had a database inside theirs so all I have to do is backlog to when the launch codes were uploaded and erase them.”

“What-”

“Who’s the student now, Schott.” You smirked, continuing the assault on the keys. You could hear the wooshes, and the zaps and the grunts coming from Kara. She was doing good, and so was your suit.

“And....” You began to type faster, permanently deleting one-hundred percent of the launch codes. The words “DELETED” and “ERROR 248: CODE NOT FOUND” appearing on your screen make your heart leap. “I’ve got it! They aren’t going to launch! Kara!”

“One second!” She panted out and she blasted another enemy with her sonic punches. “Hide!”

Nobody needed to tell you twice. You quickly got down under the desk, lucky that you were enclosed. The sounds of guns and punches stopped, but you waited until it was clear.

“Okay, Y/ N. Let’s go, we don’t have that much time.” Kara grabbed your hand, swiftly lifting you up into her arms and running. You held tightly onto the antidote gun, you had a feeling that this mission wasn’t quite over yet.

“Kara, Kara, Kara, when will you ever learn. When it comes to me, you won’t win.” Kara stopped in her tracks, putting you down and standing her ground.

“Just give it up, Astra. Working with Lillian will get you nowhere fast.”

“That’s what you think.” Suddenly, you heard a rumbling, and a power charge noise, and your heart sunk.

“Lillian, what is that?” Astra whipped her head. “I thought we agreed that we wouldn’t use that.”

“Oh yeah, forgot to tell you.” She pointed the gun at Kara. “Change of plans.” Kara was still in the same spot as she was before, but you could tell she was terrified. Her hands were clenched and her knees, buckled. This wasn’t good. Not good at all. 

“Y/N! What the hell is going on.” Alex yelled at you through your ear comms. “What happened? Why aren’t you back at the extraction point?”

“Uhm...” You whispered. “Astra, Lillian is a backstabber, she has the SK gun ready and pointed at Kara.” You took the antidote gun out of your holster, vibrant red and orange colors bulging at the center.

“Don’t worry,” You reassured. “Kara won’t be dying. The suit is already recognizing the SK emissions of radiation. It’s getting stronger.” That much was true; the red, blue and gold suit was quickly turned black orange and grey. You smirked to yourself. Another win.

You pointed the gun at Kara, ready to take the shot if things went south.

“You, Supergirl, have caused me so much anguish and turmoil. It’s time for you to pay.” Lillian cocked the gun. Your heart slowed down.

“What about all the people you’ve caused turmoil to. Your daughter, Your son, even yourself. You’re the one who needs to pay.” There was a slight waver in Kara’s voice.

“That’s it!”

Everything stopped.  Your heart. Time. Life as you knew it.

Lillian had pulled the trigger, it touched Kara’s suit, but it immediately disintegrated. “What the hell?!” Lillian exclaimed. Kara smirked, a surge of pride flowing through her non-poisoned veins.

Lillian had aimed for her stomach, then again at her neck. Both times, she had failed.

“It worked! Holy shit, it worked!” You whisper yelled. “Lillian fired three times and it didn’t even make it past the suit. She’s gonna make it.”

“Who’s there!?” Your mouth zipped shut. You had failed to realize one important fact. Astra was also Kryptonian, which means she also had super-hearing. Your cover was blown.

In an instant, Kara pressed a button on her suit, the rest of it protecting her head. You had really thought of everything. Kara blew her heat breath on the Sapphire Kryptonite gun, causing it to explode.

Astra screamed, holding her hands and face. The SK had impaled her skin, and she began to inhale its fumes. Two seconds later, just as expected, she died.

Kara began to work on Lillian, fighting her in hand to hand combat. “Y/N run!”

You didn’t want to leave Kara, but you knew she could handle herself. Yo on the other hand, not so much. You made a quick run for it, sprinting towards the stairs when a loud bang! rang through the air. You barely recognized it, but then, you lost your balance, tumbling down the first flight of stairs.

“Y/N!” Kara yelled, tears already brimming her eyes. “What did you do!?”

Lillian smirked at kara, laughing cynically. “I told you you were going to have to pay.” Kara's eyes turned and she picked Lillian up and slammed her into the rock wall, killing her instantly.

“Y/N!” She ran to you, finding you at the bottom of the steps, in an awkward position. You were holding your wound, sobbing profusely.

“Kara! Y/N! What happened!?” Alex yelled. She could hear screaming and crying, and she couldn’t help but think the worse.

“Y/N! Y/N’s been shot. Lillian shot her.” She carefully scooped you up in her arms, making sure to keep the pressure on your stomach.

“Fuck the stupid extraction point. I”m flying back to the DEO!” Kara ran down the steps or floated rather. From your perspective, it was like she never even touched the steps.

“Kara?” Your frail voice rang out as she got outside.

“I’m here, baby. I’m here. We’re gonna get you to the DEO and you’re going to be fine okay? Everything’s going to be fine.” Your vision started to blur and you weren’t sure if that was because of your tears or the amount of blood you’d lost.

“I don’t wanna die, Kara. I don’t wanna die.” You were already in the air, halfway to the DEO.

“You are not going to die. We still need to have that date, remember?” She flew faster, noticing you were starting to go pale.

You smiled a weak smile. “I really wanna go on that date.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “You and me both, love. But we can’t do that if you let go. So keep holding on for me yeah?” You nodded as best as you could and that was all Kara needed.

Your actions began to contradict your words, your eyes slowly closing. “Y/N!?” Kara yelled, flying into the DEO. “Y/N?. No, no, no, Y/N please stay with me. You can’t leave me!”

Agents swarmed you both, Kara flying you to the med bay.

“I’m not going to leave you, just resting my  eyes for a bit.” You groaned, the pain becoming ever more present now that the adrenaline is wearing off.

“Not yet. Keep them open for me.” You nodded and reached for Karas hand/ She grabbed it.

“At least the suit worked. You were right, my brain is good.” You smirked. Alex came rushing in, yelling her apologies and regrets. If it wasn’t for her adamance, you wouldn’t be in this situation.

“Your brain is phenomenal. And you’re going to be back using it when you’re better.” Kara promised. You shook your head.

“I’m not gonna make it, Kar. I’m no doctor but I know that much blood should not be coming out of me.” You smiled lightly.

“No, no. You’re going to make it. You do not have a choice.” Kara demanded. She pulled you into her.

“You’re right. I don’t have a choice. If I did, I’d be at home watching TV. But life just works out weird.” You were touch and go for a few minutes before you asked Kara a question.

“Do Kryptonians believe in the afterlife? Like a heaven or hell?” Kara squeezed your hand harder. Ignoring the physicians coming in and out, all she cared about was you.”

“Yeah, we do. No one is ever gone forever. They always stay with you.”

“I like that. Remember that okay?”

“BP’s dropping. Heart rate increasing. Abdominal embolism!” Kara was full on sobbing at that point. Your eyes closed, you mustered up one last squeeze to Kara’s hands, before releasing your final breath.

 Everything stopped.

Kara’s heart.

Time.

Your heart.

Hope.

Life as you both knew it.

At least your suit worked.

[niskrp]

:// SEARCHING OPERATIVE …

… searching for AGENT 006 / KING OF SPADES. classified files indicate that they go by KO YURA. born in SEOUL, SK, in 1986/30/01, further investigation makes it clear that they joined the agency FIVE YEARS ago. they are a CLANDESTINE AGENT who specialize in MARKSMANSHIP. higher clearance is needed to access further information…

… ENTER PASSWORD TO ACCESS THE COMPLETE FILE.

:// ACCESSING BACKGROUND FILES …

rumour has it they were happy back in the day.

her father owned a successful business which meant a large home, an array of expensive gifts, not to mention a pristine reputation. they were apparently a family envied by many for being seemingly perfect; hardworking husband, pretty wife, prettier daughter.

but then they crash and burn in spectacular fashion, a glittering empire crumbling in a matter of weeks; a fall said to be inevitable for a multitude of reasons.

from here the details become murky, truth lost among the gossip and rumours. people preferring to offer their own side of the story rather than seeking out the exact details on what went on behind the scenes.

bankruptcy. rival business. gambling addiction. shady connections. plain greed.

their standard of living takes a dive—and so does she, dragged face first into a world absolutely nobody wants to be a part of.

/

sometimes home is a cramped one bedroom apartment on the outskirts of seoul. sometimes home is the living room floor of an acquaintance. sometimes home is the backseat of the family’s car. never pleasant, never comfortable. never hers. somehow they manage: father, mother, and her. a miserable trio scampering from one dilapidated house to another, desperately clinging onto any hope that they’ll make it through another day. which they do, barely. she doesn’t question it. grows accustomed to finding bills hidden beneath old newspapers and waking to the landlord’s demand for rent at 1 am. believes it’s normal to live on three day old rice and whatever else her mother can prepare from a near empty fridge. doesn’t blink an eye when her father announces they have to move somewhere else for the second time that month.

too young to understand the reasons why they’re subjected to this hellish experience. not young enough to realise that she deserves better, they deserve better.

/

poor girl. dirty girl. sad girl. it’s the norm to address yura by anything but her name. not that she minds—or more specifically, not that she has any say in the matter when classmates are adamant on frowning upon her very existence anyway. poking fun at her lowly status and tarnished reputation, like it’s her own damn fault that the world has it out for her at every turn. so she feigns ignorance, redirects her attention to her studies and other activities where her questionable family history isn’t the main topic of conversation. no easy feat when everyone is insistent they know more than she does. bad girl. violent girl. bully girl. she can’t be blamed for snapping when a “joke” crosses the line and hits a nerve. word spreads fast of an incident involving her fist and the jaw of a popular upperclassman, and previous judgemental looks quickly turn into that of disgust, of borderline fear.

as much as yura despises the way her name is dragged through the mud, she begrudgingly admits it isn’t too bad. it’s better, maybe, to be feared than pitied by complete strangers. those who don’t even care.

/

they say she shares a lot of similarities with her father. don’t you see it, they ask. by the way you both smile and laugh, they point out. no way anyone can ignore the fact you’re his daughter, they tell her. but she struggles to see it. only associates him with helplessness and failure, both traits she’s certain they don’t share. perhaps they’d been similar once, at a time when they weren’t burdened by the need to make ends meet. laughter would’ve come freely then, and she might’ve been able to revel in the very details that brought them together as a father and daughter pair. for now they couldn’t be anymore different. him, regularly found in a drunken stupor, mourning his fall from grace with the assistance of cheap soju. her, reading outside a nearby restaurant when the electricity is suddenly cut off at home, trying to avoid following in his footsteps.

her mother tires of their situation and never hesitates to threaten walking out. makes a scene of packing her bags and announcing her imminent departure before quietly returning hours, days later.

normally she refrains from asking why. pretends nothing has changed and goes about her usual routine, except she’s ever curious today. thinks the whole packing and unpacking business is more trouble than it’s worth.

“it’s because i love him.” “that’s sad.” the words roll off her tongue, and a single glance over to her mother is enough for yura to regret opening her mouth in the first place. the answer she receives is only confirmation of that. “yeah.” a long pause. “it really is.”

/

graduation will be it. better life, better pay. money to buy an actual home that’s free of mould, creaky floors, and disgruntled landlords. maybe there’ll be enough to relocate to a high end suburb she’s read so much about and forge a brand-new identity, a sought after fresh beginning. study hard, this will be hers. knows it can be, sees it to be true by the amount of stories she’s heard of people like her. bottom of the rung folks who’ve worked their way up and now lead a life starkly different to what they started with. an escape can be granted if she tries. uses her brain for more than breaking the landlord’s locks (out of necessity, obviously) and wandering the streets with a ragtag group of friends in tow.

alas, normalcy doesn’t bode well for her.

she dreads the daily grind of day-to-day life. climbing up the corporate ladder isn’t as appealing as others make it out to be, nor is abiding by what society insists is in order for a young woman like her: marriage, motherhood, filial piety until death. even now, with nothing to her name, the prospect of settling for stability is amazingly out of the question. if it means sacrificing her own enjoyment for the sake of fitting in and catering to what’s expected of her, she’s happy to go without it. teachers tut over her eventual choice, as if she’s making a massive mistake over signing her name to join the police. maybe she is, maybe she isn’t. either way, she doesn’t think it’s anyone’s business but her own over what she chooses to do with the rest of her life. then again, why should it?

/

safe to say, training brings her to her knees. meaning: she really, really likes it here. potential bad habits are all but crushed beneath the heel of superiors eager to see what she’s worth, what she can do; this gangly thing with a smart mouth and chip on her shoulder. if anything, the reason she provides for joining the force (“the uniforms, i’m a fan”) simply gives them the incentive to run her ragged. which they certainly do, in an almost sadistic fashion, except to their surprise, she manages to flourish—and then some. strict discipline is all she needs and it does well to shape her into a deadly weapon. talents are already there: dogged determination and reckless sort of fearlessness. they just need to polish each and every one of it up until she emerges gleaming, shining; much like the framed college degree on her wall.

an uncanny knack to remain cool under pressure becomes the draw card for many. throw her into the most difficult of situations and she’ll pull through. slightly battered, a little bruised. but most importantly: alive. it’s commonly assumed that she simply thrives in chaotic environments such as these. the type who isn’t distracted by irrelevant details and can be solely focused on the task at hand. capable of adhering to instructions while simultaneously preparing a plan b for when things don’t quite click.

kinda stubborn, kinda risky. all round lethal.

she supposes she only has her tumultuous home life to thank for getting this far.

/

he’s impressed.

“i think you should apply though.”

“is this your way of getting rid of me, sunbaenim? i’m hurt.”

it used to be perceived as an ominous sign whenever the superintendent bursts out laughing, though she’s long come to see it as a reassurance of sorts. that, she hasn’t completely fucked up in his presence and her body won’t be thrown into the han river at dusk for ruining his usual foul mood.

a very, very good sign indeed.

”you know what i mean. you’d do well elsewhere, with them.”

“guess i’ll think about it.”

“is that a yes?”

“it’s honestly a ‘i have to compare salaries first and get back to you’ kinda yes.”

“yura.”

she grins, decides to cut back on the jokes before he dumps her in the river for real. “i’m kidding, i’ll do it. want to see if their coffee is as good as ours, too.”

god knows what the coffee tastes like at nis. they could be drinking the elixir of life and she’d still be reluctant to relocate, uncertain of what they could possibly offer her when she has everything she needs over here. a steady career, wide social circle, glowing reputation.

can’t say the hesitation is enough to deter her from completing an application out of plain curiosity, though.

/

after much deliberation, the application is sent through without dwelling on what might occur if she’s accepted. doesn’t hold much of a hope she’ll make the cut when there are bound to be others who would be better suited for the role. candidates who are more experienced and fulfil the criteria nis have set out, whereas she may fall short somewhere along the lines.

she prepares for rejection. reality, however, has another thing coming.

training puts her through her paces once again, but she digs deep and holds on in the exact same way she’s been taught to do, learned to do over the years. rides with the punches until she adheres to their lofty expectations, leaving nothing to be desired—besides keeping her smartass comments to herself.

experience is taken into consideration when they ultimately usher her to the role of marksman, and it’d be a lie to say she isn’t somewhat perplexed by their decision. it’s not what she initially had in mind, especially with the position she’s just left behind, but she bites her tongue and accepts the offer anyway.

we need someone like you here though, they explain. someone focused, someone calm, someone with a damn good aim.

can you do this for us?

she can, and she does.

:// ACCESSING PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION …

they deem her bright, diligent, ruthless; a woman in possession of a sharp mind but sharper tongue. such ferocity is hidden beneath a calm and collected demeanour, only resorting to violence in situations where negotiation is no longer on the cards. rumour has it her anger is especially volatile, bloody even, though no one’s been fortunate enough to bear witness to such a scene to be able to confirm.

despite her line of work, yura manages to maintain a happy go lucky approach in regards to delegated tasks and interactions with colleagues. first to crack a joke, first to suggest heading out for a round of drinks, first to distance herself from serious and stressful situations. it’d be far from beneficial to be constantly preoccupied with either past or present missions, and she never fails to emphasise the importance of being able to ‘switch off’ once the job is complete.

many frequently mistaken her laid back nature to be that of pure laziness instead, what with her tendencies to move around at a leisurely pace and taking things in her stride. could be seen as not caring enough, or half heartedly doing whatever necessary before quickly shifting her focus elsewhere—which couldn’t be further from the truth. she’s always watching, always listening, and always willing to defend when the time calls for it.

rest assured that the success of the agency is a main priority, and yura has every intention of ensuring the safety of those involved won’t be jeopardised.

… END OF FILE. CONTACT THE AGENT DIRECTLY FOR MORE.

[bonkaisecretsanta]

Happy holidays @shayspencer from @fuckitimfangirling​!

Summary: They're doomed, probably. He still wants that heartbreak anyway. Warnings: Role reversal of sorts; pre-show/S1/S2 AU; alternative Salvatore backstory to fit the story and bc some things in canon did NOT fit Civil War era customs; bg DE; KC and SK if you squint; dark themes; abuse; bullying; murder; violence; underage not-quite-smut; dead and dying characters; angsty bullfuckery; mentions of suicide; anachronistic storytelling 💔🔫 = past, 💀🔫 = present (s1/2 AU stuff); de-aged Kai (b. 1991)

Grams makes her put on her nice dress, the one reserved for special occasions at church. It's pretty, yellow and red, and super fluttery - it makes Bonnie feel like a princess - but it's also too layered and itchy for the muggy weather. The AC in the old courthouse is down, and the windows are open while electric fans whir. The relief is transient when the rotating air cools her form. Bonnie, in all her seven year old discomfort, feels oppressed. Wearing so many layers of cotton and gauze in such heat is probably against the law. She'll ask Judge Kincannon.

But Grams had been stern and left no room for argument when she woke Bonnie early to braid her hair and get her dressed, so Bonnie suffers in silence. The older Bennett woman seems anxious, looking at her watch repeatedly as they wait for someone to arrive.

Truthfully, Bonnie is confused. They arrived nearly an hour ago and after speaking briefly with Old Sheriff Wilson and Mrs. Forbes, who quickly disappeared, Grams told her she would make a new friend soon. It was exciting news. But it's been an hour and she's bored.

Her legs kick the air in patterns. Left, right, left, right. The swinging makes them feel heavy and cold, like metal. Bonnie is made of steel, like Superman. She bet she could be a hero like him too, save lots of people and everyone would love her like they love him.

“Bonnie! Bonnie!” the crowd cheers in her mind. Her imagination is distracting, to the point she misses when Grams stands up. She doesn't miss the sharp swat on her shoulder or the side-eye from her Grams as she hops to attention. Bonnie smoothes her dress out and clasps her hands behind her back like they teach in school, and smiles pretty. Her knew friend must be coming!

Mrs. Forbes is back, this time without Old Sheriff Wilson. Bonnie can't really see him at first, because he's half hidden behind Mrs. Forbes’ legs, but then the police officer comes to a stop and Bonnie can see the little bruised hand gripping at her belt loop.

“Come on, honey,” Mrs. Forbes coaxes. It's the same voice she uses at sleepovers, when it's time Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena to settle down into bed. Blue-grey eyes peek out out from behind her, small face as bruised as the knuckles. The other little person is a boy, smaller than even her. Bonnie thinks he must run around a lot, if he has so many scrapes. Grams is always yelling at her not to run for fear of getting hurt.

The boy glances between her and Grams then retreats back behind Mrs. Forbes.

“No, no, Malachai,” the blonde officer states. “This is Miss Sheila Bennett, your foster mother. You'll be staying with her now.”

She moves herself so that she's standing behind the boy, her hands on his shoulders and patting soothingly. Bonnie can see the sling that holds his left arm and the patch of gauze taped to his head. His hair is buzzed short, to the point where she can see a scar zigzagging across the top of his head. It takes her by surprise and she can't stop the tumble of words from leaving her mouth.

“What happened to you?” the question sounds almost accusatory, even to her own ears and she flinches at herself even before Grams swats her again. The boy grimaces as well, looking down as Grams tells her to apologize. He swallowing hard and he looks like he's biting back tears. Bonnie is instantly apologetic.

She steps forward and tries to take his good hand, but he pulls it away from her. Bonnie doesn't pursue it.

“I'm sorry,” she says. “I didn't mean it. I'm Bonnie. Want to be my friend?” This time she holds out her hand, leaving the choice up to him. The boy stares at it and takes a breath and reaches out and Bonnie feels hope flutter. And die, when he pushes her hand down gently and walks past her to her Grams.

“May we go now, please ma'am?” He says politely. Grams looks between her and the boy - Malachai Mrs. Forbes had called him - and nods.

“C’mon Bon,” in her Grams’ voice, she can hear the implied try again later and so she follows dutifully behind, anticipating an awkward drive home. Bonnie's hand burns where Malachai touched her.

💔🔫

The drive is awkward and so is dinner. Kai (he asked to be called this instead of Malachai) is her age, but where he is polite and obedient towards her Grams, he all but ignores Bonnie when he can. When he must interact with her, his responses are short and he avoids her space like she's diseased. It's infuriating. He acts like she isn't there and it makes Bonnie’s temper flare. She wants to shake him and scream at him until he looks at her, says or does something. It's the most destructive feeling she's ever felt and it overwhelms her.

By the time her dad arrives to take her home, Bonnie’s fists ache from being clenched. She doesn't know why she’s so angry. He wasn't even mean - Tyler Lockwood had dumped a bottle of glue on her head once, the meanest thing anyone’s ever done to her, and they were friends. She shouldn't be so put out by Kai’s non-reactions.

But the anger is still there when she gets ready for bed, when her dad tucks her in, when she goes to sleep. It seeps into her bone marrow, takes over the fresh blood cells that enter her body. It remains when she wakes up the next day.

If Kai doesn't want to be her friend, fine. Bonnie will hate him like no one else has before.

💔🔫

Maybe he should've tried harder to be her friend. From Miss Sheila’s sighs and and heavy looks, Kai knows that she at least thinks he should have. But her perfect little granddaughter looked so pristine in her dress, like some sort of rose, green eyes pricking him like bramble. It was uncomfortable at best. Then she looked at him with something like disgust twisting her pretty face as she asked what happened to him, the likes of which she couldn't possibly fathom...Kai hated her in that moment. He'd never felt so low for what his dad did, never fell victim to self-blame, never thought he could have done anything to prevent it until that question.

What happened to you?

And shit (and he knows better than to use that word around Miss Sheila, he can tell how strict she is) maybe it was. Maybe if he wasn't what he was, maybe if he'd still been of any use to the coven.

What happened to you?

Joshua Parker did. It's not his fault. His dad was crazy.

Kai insists on doing the dishes, but Miss Sheila only allows him to clear the table because of his arm. He wants to help and his arm is healing nicely - it's his head that's killing him - but she hears none of it. When he finishes, the older witch shows him where he'll be sleeping and he gets ready for bed without prompt or protest. He doesn't want to cause any trouble. But sleep tugs heavy at him and his bad arm is starting to ache real bad along with his headache and he just wants to take his medicine and go to sleep. The faster he finishes his self-designated chores, the sooner he can do that.

When his head hits the pillow he decides he'll try once more with Bonnie. He'll apologize for his behavior and they'll be friends and when he starts up at school with her, she'll introduce him to her other friends and he can be himself without any worries about covens or merges or restoring family honor. It will be a fresh start, a new life better than the last. An adventure. Kai likes adventures.

His will start in the morning.

💔🔫

Joshua’s house is a gory mess when Jason finishes his walk through. He's back where he started, the spot where he found his brother attempting to beat his own son to death.

The Supreme feels sick, staring down at the small puddle of his nephew's half-coagulated blood.

He'd felt Melissa go first, then Josette quickly after. It was sudden and felt so violent that Jason doubled over from nausea and pain as he felt his coven members leave him. He'd summoned his Enforcers and the Board of Regents immediately then ported to his brother's house the second he was able. He'd been too late to save Joey and he'd barely been able to save Kai. Kai, his favorite of his nieces and nephews, whose tiny body felt so light when Jason had scooped him up. If it hadn't been for the boy’s shallow breaths and their faint connection, he might have thought his nephew dead like the rest. He can still hear his older brother's mindless, angry rants.

It should have been me, he had screamed. If you weren't an abomination, you could have made it right, he'd yelled at Kai.

Jason scowls at the memory. Josh hadn't ever deserved Kai. Any of his kids, really. His crazy older brother had been right in some respects. Coven leader was his potential birthright, but his own twin had died in a freak accident. Jason and Isla had been the spares.

But Kai was not an abomination and Jason would fight tooth and fucking nail to prove it to anyone who said otherwise.

He peels his eyes away from the browning puddle. Kai is safe now and the Gemini Supreme intends to keep it that way. Joshua is in coven holdings, preparing to be dealt with. Jason hopes he goes crazy trapped alone in the prison world he has ready for him.

For now though, there's an injured little boy that needs him.

💔🔫

He’s not able to talk to Bonnie the next day. She has school and he has a doctor’s appointment and a meeting with his uncle’s lawyer at the police station. The other man is a Gemini witch that Kai vaguely recognizes. He talks to him like he’s very slow and Kai doesn’t know how to tell him he has a prodigious IQ, that his dad’s break down didn’t erase it.

Although maybe his head injury did.

The police set up a camera and Kai answers all the questions as best as he can. Getting his head cracked open with bat didn’t make him dumber (luckily), but it made that night fuzzy. He can barely remember anything, just the fear and the stink of Joey’s pee. Even that memory makes him sad. He misses his brother.

“And where was your mother when you and Joey were hiding in the wardrobe?”

“She was with my dad in the room, trying to get him out. She was asking him to stop. She kept saying ‘calm down, Josh,’” Kai answers mechanically. He feels distant. Like he’s watching TV, but the TV is his body. His own hands don’t look real. The doctor used fancy words for it at the hospital. Trauma dissociation. Kai is dissociating because he suffered trauma.

He answers the rest of the questions like a robot, pretending he’s the Terminator. He wants to go home, back to Portland, before May ninth, before his dad hated him.

When it’s over, the lawyer thanks him and tells him he’s a strong boy. That he should focus on living a good life and that he’ll never have to worry his father hurting him again. Kai doesn’t want to know. Ever. The camera is off, so the lawyer blesses him and the familiar heat of friendly magic feeds Kai. The feeling wears off soon, but it’s enough to remind him of home.

By the time he gets back to Miss Sheila’s, it’s late and he’s started shaking. Kai falls in the older witch’s arms like the little boy he is and cries himself to sleep. He never gets to speak with Bonnie.

💔🔫

Kai doesn’t get to apologize the next day either. His head hurts and he’s sick from the magic being worked on him at a distance. Sheila explains that his coven leader is severing Kai’s connection from the Gemini Coven so that Joshua can’t track him that way. It’s for his safety, she assures. Kai still feels abandoned.

The boy cries himself to sleep. He never gets to speak with Bonnie.

💔🔫

When the connection breaks, it wakes Kai up. It’s very weird, like something he’s suddenly been dropped into ice water when he’s always been warm. He doesn’t like it. His back itches, feels colder than the rest of him, and it tastes like magic, so Kai gets up and goes to the restroom.

He has to take his sling off to remove his shirt and he jostles the cast slightly. He hisses quietly, rubbing at it until the sting fades, then he turns and twists so he can see his back.

There’s an intricate scar on his upper back. It looks like someone branded his skin with clock cogs, but when he runs his fingers over it, the skin is smooth and cool and sensitive to the touch. Kai shivers, retracting his good hand. The design looks very familiar, like something he might have read before. Kai racks his brain, but he’s tired and can’t think of it. It’s magic related, so maybe he can ask Miss Sheila later.

Curiosity satisfied, Kai puts his shirt in the bathroom hamper and goes back to bed. He feels better now, still a little sad, but he thinks tomorrow, he’ll finally be able to set things right with Bonnie.

💀🔫

Things never really get right between Kai and Bonnie. For that interim between when they first met to when they'd been able to spend more time with each other, the combination of Sheila’s initial focus on him and Kai’s dismissive attitude had poisoned Bonnie to the idea of building anything fruitful between them. Sheila’s refusal to divulge anything magic-related to Bonnie was another point of contention between all three of them. Kai disagreed with Sheila, but kept the secret, and Bonnie, nobody's fool, could tell they were keeping something from her, which led to her jealousy and resentment.

By the time Damon Salvatore swaggers into town with his bourbon and black leather and blacker moods, the animosity between Bonnie and Kai is a well-fed beast. Kai had resigned himself to merely keeping it contained between the two of them.

💀🔫

Bonnie didn't have a lot a people she cared about. She could count them literally on one hand: Elena, Caroline, her dad, Grams, and in some weird way, stupid Kai Parker. To some extent, she cared for Elena and Caroline’s families, but only in that they belonged to her best friends and were a part of them. Her relationship with every single one of her people was complicated.

Elena and Bonnie were closer to each other than Caroline, but they didn't always like each other either. Caroline was too insecure and competitive towards Elena and too dismissive of Bonnie. Sometimes, she preferred other cheerbots to them. Elena wasn’t coddling enough for Caroline’s ego and too often took Bonnie for granted. Bonnie wasn’t trusting enough towards either of them sometimes, because Elena was too selfish and Caroline was too controlling. Blonde and brunette both agreed Bonnie could be too ruthless or too passive with no in-between. They were best friend from childhood though, with a deep platonic love, and any of the girls would kill for the other two. It was a weird tumultuous relationship between the trio. Sometimes they were more enemies than friends.

Rudy cared, but he was a textbook workaholic. If Bonnie kept herself out of trouble and Grams didn't report any misgivings, Rudy Hopkins was content to give his daughter all the freedom and funding in the world. Grams was something weird. She was Bonnie's favorite person in the world, no doubt, but she was always lying to Bonnie about something big - something Kai knew about - and it angered Bonnie. At first, she figured it had something to do with Kai because whatever happened to him had been so bad that the records were sealed and the newspaper clippings had limited information regarding the events. Regardless, Bonnie had some resentment towards both parental figures.

Her dynamic with Kai was the most convoluted. They were arch-nemeses, their antagonism comparable to what Elena had with Jeremy, but worse. Bonnie used to do everything she could to get him kicked out, before she learned the timid truth. Over the years, they’ve had friendly moments, because he was Grams’ foster son and Bonnie was often at her Grams’ home when her dad wasn’t around. They’ve seen each other at their worst, in states no one else ever got to witness, not Elena or Caroline, or whoever Kai’s Elena-or-Caroline was.

But they were never friends. Bonnie can’t be friends with Kai, and he can’t be friends with her, and neither one can pinpoint exactly when the opportunity passed. No matter what weaknesses she sees and let’s him see, it was only ever between them. Bonnie had her friends and suitors who never stuck around. Kai had his little flings. None of their people were able to get in deep with them the way they got in with each other. So much of Kai occupied Bonnie, because so much of who she was hinged on negating him. It was the same for him, she could tell. There was no room between them for anyone else.

Bonnie cares deeply for very few people and she's not incredibly receptive to strangers. They tended to fuck things up.

💀🔫

Which is why, that Wednesday night when that bourbon-drinking, wearing-leather-in-the-summer freak shows up on Grams’ porch, she hates him immediately. Her mood is already at an all time low. Her Prius is getting a tune-up and because Grams’ works an hour outside of Mystic Falls, Kai is the one taking her home from Elena’s parents’ funeral.

Caroline had offered, but the blonde’s own absentee parent had showed up and Bonnie encouraged her to spend time with him. Between Bonnie’s AWOL mom and Elena’s orphan status, both girls wanted Caroline to soak up her parents’ presences.

Kai drives them from the funeral, says nothing to her and expects nothing from her. The air in the old Toyota is somber and Bonnie doesn't even look up from her phone until she hears him mutter “who the hell is that?”

He's squinting up at the porch, where a dark-haired man is sitting on the porch swing, elbows braced on his knees. Even in the dusky twilight air, his blue eyes are bright and piercing and focused on them. It unnerves her.

“Friend of yours?” Kai inquires. Bonnie wants to snap at him, but his tone is neutral and the question makes sense. She shakes her head in a negative.

“Let's go somewhere else,” she tells him. It's unlike her and Kai eyes her and turns off the car. She scowls.

Of all the times for him to be contradictory, it's when a potential murderer is gawking at them from her grandmother's porch. Typical.

She follows him out, sticking close. Bonnie hates Kai on a good day, but he's familiar to her. She trusts him to antagonize her, to annoy her, and hurt her feelings. She also trusts him to keep her safe. This guy? She doesn't trust him at all. He watches them watch him.

“Someone die?” he greets. Bonnie's opinion of him plummets more. Kai just hits him with the quirked brow. The Gilberts were a pretty beloved family - their funeral procession had been huge.

“Yeaaaah,” Kai stretches the word out. “Did you know the Gilberts?”

The guy's face does something weird. He appears mildly amused. “I knew some Gilberts, yes.”

His expression becomes serious and he stands. “Does Sheila Bennett still live here? I need to ask her something.”

Bonnie peeks from where she's been using Kai as a human shield and glares at the guy.

“What do you want with Grams?”

The guy assesses her, tilting his head and letting his eyes wander up and down her form. It’s predatory and makes Bonnie feel like meat before Kai rearranges himself between them. He's thumbing at his rings like he tends to do when he's agitated. The guy in leather smirks and answers her as though Kai wasn't there.

“Well, little bird, I'm in need of a Bennett witch.”

Bonnie almost laughs, but the way Kai's body stiffens in front of her chases off her amusement. She can see his default devious expression shift into something dark and angry. It sends Bonnie's belly to the floor.

With a grunt, the man follows Bonnie's stomach, crashing to his knees and clutching his head. Kai ushers Bonnie into the house, quickly following her.

“You need to leave,” Kai snaps at the stranger. “Your kind isn't welcome in this town, let alone at this residence. If you come back, I'll report you to the Council.”

With that he slams the door shut, leaving Bonnie with dozens of questions on her tongue.

💔🔫

About a week after Kai's banishment, his coven leader shows up on Miss Sheila's stoop. She lets him in with a smile, then leaves him and Kai alone with a pitcher of lavender lemonade and a round, blue tin of old lady cookies.

Kai picks at a thread hanging from his shorts. His uncle, feeling just as awkward, chugs two glasses of lemonade then plays with the cup. Man and boy peek at each other and are surprised to catch eyes. Jason makes a funny face and Kai chuckles. The tension eases.

“Kai,” the Supreme starts. “You know it's not your fault right? None of this,” he waves his hand around, indicates the general this. “Is your fault. Josh was sick and he heard something he didn't like and he snapped.”

Kai pulls at thread. “Dad said I was an abomination. He said if I'd been worth anything, the Regents would have let you name me and Jo as your heirs.”

Uncle Jason’s face gets dark. “That’s not really your fault Kai, no matter what anyone says.”

“If I was a normal witch and not a siphon, they would have said yes and dad wouldn't have done what he did.”

Uncle Jason grimaces. “Fuck Josh,” he growls lowly and runs his hand over his face. He looks so much like Kai’s dad (Like Jo and Joey. Like Kai.), it physically hurts Kai to look at him, some odd mixture of fear and longing hitting the child.

“Kai, I want you to listen to me carefully,” the Supreme reaches out and clutches his nephew's shoulders. The hold is firm and gentle and Kai basks in his uncle’s warmth.

“The Regents gave a conditional no. They wanted you to go through some intense training before naming you a prospective heir. Your dad was for it, but I vetoed the option.”

At Kai’s dismayed look, Jason wiggled his fingers under the boy's chin and smiles when Kai squirms.

“The training is very dangerous and an extremely outdated and prejudiced practice. The point is to overload a siphon with so much magic they absorb it permanently. It doesn't work. Most siphons die, slowly and painfully, because the spell leaves them open to all kinds of magical backlash, the constant influx of which causes deformities and madness. Do you understand? You would have been tortured to death by your own family.

“Trust me Kai, none of this is on you. Josh was sick. He was willing to let you go through torture and very likely die just for the prospect of being named heir.”

Jason ruffles Kai's dark hair. “You think I would’ve let that happen to my favorite nephew?”

Kai shakes his head. He feels happy and sad and angry and warm. He used to always wish to himself that Jason had been his dad. The thought used to fill him with guilt, but now Kai utters it without any thought.

Jason looks sad. “Me too,” he mutters. “But only if I just got you. No merge to lose you to.”

Kai feels...a lot. He launches himself at his uncle, who grunts, but hugs the kid. He pretends not to notice Kai’s sobs.

Jason strokes his back and stands, walking around and letting Kai cling to him. It's embarrassing. Kai’s eight, a smart and mature third-grader, not a baby. But he feels safe for the first time in months, so Kai lets the embarrassment go.

“No matter what, Kai, you've got me okay?” the Supreme rubs his back, where the intricate pattern adorns Kai’s skin. “This means you're safe. From the coven, the Regents, your dad. But you have me, whenever you need me, okay? Not just as your Supreme, but as your family. I love you, kid.”

Kai holds onto those last four words like a lifeline.

💀🔫

Bonnie screeches like a damn banshee when she's angry and Kai's tight-lipped disposition has her incensed. His ears are fucking ringing like bells by the time Sheila slips through the front door and takes control of the situation.

“Sit your behind down,” she calls after Kai when he tries to slip away.

Kai makes a face while his back is to her, careful not to let her see it. Sheila is a good mother, for all intents and purposes, but she's quick with discipline if she senses disrespect. It's mild to what Kai’s dealt with before, but she ran a tight ship that he’s careful not to rock.

“Now what happened?” she questions and holds up her hand for silence. when Bonnie starts up again about strange men, witches, and Kai being a freak.

“Speak up,” the Bennett matriarch commands him. Kai feels a headache coming on. He tells her everything about the visiting vampire anyway.

Bonnie’s obviously in a state of disbelief listening to him, except she had witnessed Kai drop the vampire with a thought. The mundane denial she'd been raised in wars against her nature and witch’s intuition. The inner conflict makes her waspish and snarky, to the point even Sheila loses her temper.

The fireplace blazes to life and the dining set levitates.

Bennett fire, Kai thinks watching Sheila watch Bonnie. Both generations of women are tense.

Instead of addressing her grandmother, Bonnie turns her attention to Kai. He's not even surprised. It's easier for her to spit vitriol at him than her beloved grandmother.

“Is this what you've been lying to me about all these years?”

There's a challenge in her eyes and a plea in her voice. Kai can't tell what she wants from him, but he gives her what he can. He ignores Sheila’s warning glare and tells Bonnie the truth.

💀🔫

Sentimentality and a sense of masochism made Damon stop at the bridge in the sleepy Virginian town again.

Mystic Falls was still a hole-in-the-wall, barely a blip on anyone's map. The grand return of The Comet was around the bend, bringing with it a slew of hatred and bitterness Damon had housed for the better half of a century. His grudge against Katherine Pierce had become a lifelong companion, his food, his bedmate, his liquor. Take away everything from Damon and he'd still have his hate.

His mood is dense. It settles on him like the fog he conjures and he thinks maybe killing someone would ease the hurt. It used to help. He'd find a pretty brunette and pretend she was Katherine and torture her to death. Soon enough the practice lost its appeal, but the indulgence of bloodlust was cathartic. Klaus had always encouraged it.

He sips bourbon a silver flask said Original has gifted him. Damon had been loyal to him for decades now - since the first Great War. World War. Whatever. It had been nice to meet another vampire on the front lines, to tell his story without any edits or omissions. To miss Stefan and have someone understand that depth of grief, how it had consumed him for centuries, how of course he could never forgive the conniving devil woman that led both brothers to their respective ends.

Imagine his surprise to learn that Klaus had also had it out for Miss Pierce. Petrova. Bitch wonder. Whatever.

So Damon agreed to work for him in pursuit of Katherine. The doppelganger had been his white whale, and he'd waited patiently for the advent of a new Petrova doppelganger. Imagine this surprise when that line guided him back to his hometown.

He almost didn't come. But he's already established that he's a sentimental masochist. Damon downs the last of his bourbon, stares out at the yellow DO NOT CROSS tape and orange roadblocks that wall off the broken bridge.

The night he ripped the human doppelganger out of the car...it had been his bad. He'd wanted to see her, wanted to frighten the family, have bit of a laugh before compelling them to forget the encounter. Instead he'd frightened them right off the bridge and into the water below.

Honest to god, he almost just walked off. He'd sped to the edge and spent almost two minutes just staring at them, wondering if anyone would come by and save them. When it became clear no one was around, he had dived in to save the girl.

Klaus would probably kill him if he found out Damon was the reason he had to wait another five hundred years to break his curse.

He pulled her out of the wreckage and breathed life back into the girl. Wet eyelashes fluttered and he compelled her to find help, that an animal ran out on the bridge and her dad instinctively tried to go around, driving off the bridge. He told her to stay safe because he was coming back for her.

And now he's stuck here, waiting for Katherine to show up like a mouse to a mousetrap. Waiting to give Klaus the green light to snatch her ugly heart out of her chest and for both men to get their revenge. Waiting until the Bennett witch (witches?) can be persuaded to lift Klaus’ curse. It's been so long and having the end in sight is a welcome thing. Soon it will be over and he can rest.

Damon is so tired after all.

💀🔫

He arrives after the kids leave for school. Sheila is tired and not in the mood for company, so she putters around inside before she finally decides to meet him. The vampire Kai described the night before is waiting on her porch swing when she steps out and Sheila pauses in her motions, facing him. He tips an imaginary hat to her.

“Morning ma'am,” he greets. “I'm Damon.”

The old antebellum accent he speaks with sounds completely natural on him, as at odds as it is to his appearance. Sheila studies him, her brow wrinkling in thought.

“You look like that Salvatore boy that runs the boarding house.”

He chuckles, seemingly surprised.

“Zach?” he questions, accent gone. “He's my great grandson.”

Sheila takes a seat in the rocking chair adjacent to him and indicates that he should continue. Damon licks his lips.

“You're not afraid of the big, bad bloodsucker?” he questions. His tone is something odd. Amused and apathetic. Bored and tempestuous. Even when he'd been hamming up the accent, he'd been both too distant and too emotional about it.

“I heard you were looking for me. Seems unlikely you'd attack if you need a Bennett witch to do your bidding.”

The vampire smirks, stretching his arms out along the back of the of the swing. His leather jacket sits in his lap, black like the rest of his attire. Boot-clad feet push the swing as he tips his head back, eyes closed. The gloom in his aura matches his look. Mighty handsome as he is, those angelic looks hid a soul blackened by the worst of human emotions.

“In 1864, I was doing quite well for myself. I'd done all a good first-born southern boy was supposed to do at the time. Married well, had a boy I adored, partnered with my father in the family business, funded and fought in war I didn't believe in, and came home due to injury,” here he pats his shoulder sardonically.

“The ideal Virginia gentleman, even though I hated myself for it. I never wanted to do or be any of that, but I loved my little brother more than life itself. I had few freedoms so Stefan could have them all. That's what older brothers are supposed to do, you understand.

“1864 was also a year when Mystic Falls was infested with vampires. It was quite unbeknownst to us Council members, but one of your mighty ancestors Emily had teamed up with a vamp named Katherine for one thing or another -”

“Safe harbor,” Sheila interrupts. “Suspicions about Emily being a witch were high, I'm sure you're aware. Especially after she turned down Jonathan Gilbert’s...employment offers. Katherine was to make sure Emily and her children made it safely to the Gemini coven in Oregon. She got the children there, by the way.”

The vampire stares at her and nods slowly.

“Noted. Anyway, Emily had made these nifty daylight rings for Katherine and her friends,” he waves his own through the air. “So they went undetected by the Council for a while. My own father housed Katherine as a refugee displaced by the war. It was during that time, she got her hooks in Stefan. When the Council discovered her true identity, she was captured with the other vampires with the intent of burning them all alive.

“Stefan attempted to rescue her. I attempted to stop him. But he was my brother and he fancied himself in love, and he pleaded with me to let them go. Said she was his heart…,” the vampire trails off, lost in thought. “I let them go, but my father was nearby and witnessed the whole thing. He shot us both to death rather than risk the family name being tarnished. Katherine ran off, saved her own skin - and your ancestors’ as well, I reckon - and I watched my brother die reaching out for a woman who didn't look back once as she left him there to die.”

Sheila is quiet. She can sense the anger brewing under his skin, but had Katherine not left the brothers, she and hers might not be here. She understands his pain, but it is what it is.

“Imagine my surprise,” Damon continues. “When I wake up in transition. Emily was there and explained that Katherine had been sneaking me her blood and compelling me to forget. I was to be a surprise for Stefan. Or leverage, depending on your perspective. To convince him to transition for her. She'd wanted him to choose to be like her, so he didn't have any vampire blood in his system when he died. But in doing that, she took my choice away. She left Emily behind to die as well - or whatever they had worked out - and your ancestor offered me a monster’s ring and told me what remaining options I had.”

“Why did you choose to be a vampire?” Sheila inquires, curious. “You seem to not be your kind’s biggest fan.”

Damon shrugs. “It is what it is,” he unknowingly echoes her sentiments. “I'd already lost everything - my father had spread word Stefan and I died trying to stop Katherine’s escape, so I couldn't go home. But I could have revenge.“

The silence that follows is heavy. Sheila absorbs his.story, filling in the gaps of his story with what she'd read in Emily’s grimoire. No matter how she turned it, Katherine’s role in moving Doris, Eileen, and Charles to Oregon had been fairly minimal. Emily had had back-up plans, which she wrote like Katherine had been aware of, so Sheila finds herself having a hard time condemning the man.

“And you need me for this revenge?”

Damon smiled coldly. “Why yes ma'am, I do,” he replies. The accent is back.

💀🔫

Bonnie ignoring him isn't anything new. Neither is her bullying him or encouraging her friends to bully him.

He doesn't know what he expected. This weird combination of making him miserable and pretending he doesn't exist wasn't it though. After he drops her off for summer cheer practice, she finally deigns to look up from furiously messaging on her phone to let him know Caroline would take her to pick up her car.

When she gets out, she greets Tyler who looks after her like a hungry puppy before turning a hard gaze on Kai.

Shit.

Kai tries to pull out but another car is blocking him. He's trapped. His car door is slammed open and he's yanked outside. No magic on mundanes, he tells himself right before throwing a punch at whoever had him gripped.

It's like six on one, but he refuses to be the only one leaving with bruises, so he doesn't bother holding back his temper. Kai is six feet, one-ninety pounds but the football players are all his size or bigger, so the fight back is difficult. He makes sure to nail Lockwood in the fucking face though. Jerk.

Tanner’s whistle blows and the players dissipate, leaving behind Kai and the asshole history coach. The two men eye each other before Tanner speaks.

“We have a wrestling team, you should consider trying out.”

Kai frowns at him. He can't tell if that was sarcasm or a legitimate pitch, but he doesn't care. He gets in his car and drives off, angry and biting it back.

Leave it to Bonnie to punish him for telling the truth. Nevermind his good intentions.

💔🔫

The next time he finally sees Bonnie, it's his first day at school. She's a grade below him, but she's one of the town’s three sweethearts, so everyone in nearby grades sat as close to her table as possible.

“Hi Bonnie,” he greets when he's able to push to the front. A blonde-haired boy eyes him suspiciously, but Kai ignores him. Bonnie, in turn, ignores Kai.

“I wanted to say sorry for the last time we saw each other. I was really rude to you and it doesn't matter what else happened, I shouldn't have been so mean to you,” Kai apologizes. Bonnie doesn't look away from her chattering friends. Kai's temper rises.

“Bonnie, listen to me!” he snaps, grabbing her wrist. Temper flaring, he forgets himself. He forgets that for all Bonnie's magic is latent, it’s still there, just beneath her skin, in her blood and part of her very soul. He forgets he's a soul eater. In his anger, Kai unintentionally siphons her.

Bonnie yowls, yanking her arm away, but Kai had thrown her away at the very first taste of Bennett magic on his skin. She looks at him with betrayal, clutching her arm to her chest. Everyone is staring at them in shock.

“I-I'm sorry. I didn't - I didn't mean to, Bonnie, I'm -,” Kai stammers. Bonnie interrupts.

“Go away! I hate you, just leave me alone! You freak!” At her outburst, the chatter picks up.

“Yeah, go away, freak.”

“Did you see what he did to Bonnie? What a jerk.”

“A monster.”

Someone grabs his lunch tray and dumps the contents on him. Someone else shoves Kai off the lunch bench.

“Go away.”

“We don't want you to sit here.”

“Disappear, freak.”

Food and wrappers are tossed at Kai, and he stumbles away, out of the cafeteria. Two lunch aids, talking to each other, stop him when they see him trying to leave. Kai says he slipped and dropped his lunch tray, and that he was going to the restroom to clean up. They let him pass.

Kai spends the rest of the lunch period quietly crying in the big stall.

💀🔫

She said no. Of course, she did, Damon had expected no less. Regardless, the comet is weeks away and Damon is on a mission. If Sheila won't do it, maybe her pretty little granddaughter might find incentive. He doesn't particularly care if Sheila gets the Council sniffing after his tail. He just needs the girls, the wolf boy, and Katherine, then finally, finally he can rest.

Through his ravens, Damon watches the Bennett girl and her blonde friend through cheer practice. The doppelganger isn't with them, probably still grief-stricken. They leave for the town garage and the blonde drops the little bird off. They make plans to meet at the Mystic Grill and when the blonde girl is sitting alone in her booth, Damon slides in opposite her.

“Mind if I sit here?” he croons, meeting her gaze. He watches as a familiar carnal hunger fills her face and her pupils dilate. Hook, line, and sinker.

It pays to be patient.

💀🔫

School starts. Kai is a senior, so his last science course is one of three electives and he chooses astronomy over psychology and forensic science. Kai’s had his fill of both over the years. Of course though, Bonnie is fast-tracked and an honors student. They're in the same class and Mrs. Galloway partners them for the course.

Kai’s still bruised up from two weeks ago, an ugly yellow settling under the bags if his eyes. Whatever. Prickwood’s nose is still splinted.

They get their syllabi and look over it as Mrs. Galloway explains the year long partner project. They're supposed to track the progression of a constellation over the course of the school year and make a presentation at the end of the year of what they tracked. And of course, because it's Mrs. Galloway’s class, she wants three written reports for the project, the first being a five-to-seven page partnered paper on their constellation’s history and the last two being individual reflective papers on the project that they'll turn in with their final presentation.

Kai sighs internally and considers dropping the class along with the other chattering seniors. He doesn't really want to do so much work in his last year, let alone have to partner with Bonnie. But Mrs. Galloway comes by with a cup of constellation names and a warm smile, and dammit she was Kai’s favorite science teacher. Physics with her had been bitchin’. Bonnie draws out their constellation and Mrs. Galloway writes down what they got.

Of course. They get Gemini.

💔🔫

A pretty little blonde thing opens the door when Klaus knocks. A frown mars her face.

“Who are you?” she questions, almost rudely. Niklaus is charmed.

Damon appears behind her, pulling a thin, black v-neck sweater over his damp hair. At least he seemed to be ditching his infernal jackets, Klaus muses as the younger vampire grips the girl's chin and makes her face him.

“Caroline, this is my friend, Klaus. Klaus, this is our host, Caroline. She was just about to invite you in,” he compels her.

“Please come in, Klaus,” Caroline says in that dreamy way compelled humans speak. Stepping inside, Klaus smiles at her and presses a kiss to the back of her hand.

“Please call me Nik,” he insists and gets taken in by her immediate flush. She'd be so lovely to paint. Damon rolls his eyes.

“The Bennett Matron said no, but she has a granddaughter on the cusp of an Awakening and a ward who also appears to be a witch. If she won't do it, I'm sure they can be persuaded,” Damon informs him, crossing his arms and leaning back against a wall. His eyes dart at Caroline, indicating to Klaus what he means by “persuaded”.

Klaus nods, then turns to Caroline, compelling her to forget anything she might hear them say and not to mention them to anyone at all. He tells her to occupy herself and she leaves them be.

Damon is staring at him.

“What?” Klaus asks.

“She'll probably die,” Damon states bluntly. “It's very likely I'll kill her at the end of all this.”

Klaus scowls at his friend. “I was just being friendly, since you seem to be your usual charming self.”

Damon shrugs. “She's a dead girl walking - what's the point in being pleasant? It's not like she'll remember.”

The Original is over the discussion and waves a hand, telling Damon to move on. The antebellum vampire reports everything, from his findings, to his confirmations, to his tentative plans, which they work through together. Klaus’ phone beeps and he answers without looking. Very few people have his number.

It's Elijah, informing him that Katherine has made contact about a Petrova doppelganger. The excitement in Damon’s face is immeasurable. Klaus soon ends the call and looks over his old friend and follower. He clasps his shoulder.

“Lay low and wait for my signal. Don't give away your presence,” he hands a stone beaded bracelet to Damon, who slips it in without question. “Let the witches think you left and wait for my signals. Soon, your hunt will be over.”

Damon nods, striking blue eyes practically glowing. He closes them off and sighs. “Just a few more weeks,” he mutters. “And it will all be over.”

Klaus heart breaks a little for Damon. But Damon Salvatore the man died over a century ago. In his place is little more than a vengeance seeking wraith. Death would better when it all ends.

💀🔫

It must be a year of bad luck, Bonnie muses. Maybe the town's chakras are misaligned. Maybe she should ask Grams and Kai, if they decide her worthy of any honesty.

She sighs, comforting Matt. She knows she's being harsh, but things are just so fucked up lately and she doesn't understand how two - maybe three, if her father knows - of the people she cared about more than anything else could lie to her face like that for so long. Maybe Kai, but it was unlike him. He preferred to hurt her with the truth than with lies. And he wasn't the type to use lies to protect anyone. He didn't care.

So that left her grandmother.

Bonnie almost wishes she didn't know shit. Ever since the night she learned about vampires, and witches, and werewolves (oh my!), shit in Mystic Falls had gotten so odd over the last few weeks and it seemed to center around her. First, Elena's parents. Then Tyler ends up hitting and killing a drunk and high Vicki Donovan when she wandered out of nowhere to end up in front of his speeding car. Matt is having a hard time looking at his best friend whom he both blames and doesn't blame for his sister’s death. Tyler's made himself scarce, wrestling with his grief and guilt in his own way.

On top of that Caroline has been acting weirder than usual, like all of this bad shit is just a pesky manicure that needs to be fixed and not, like, actual life and death.

And now, sitting in the police station holding a sobbing Matt, she overhears Sheriff Forbes talking to a distraught Jenna Sommers.

Elena’s been missing for 24 hours. No trace of her anywhere. Her phone, her car, and her keys left behind. Kidnapping is suspected.

Bonnie wants to rage. Apparently she has all this power, but she's never felt so helpless. Her people are falling apart and missing and lying to her and all she wants is to find a familiar place to feel safe. She thinks about calling Grams. Instead, she calls Kai.

💀🔫

Nervously, Katherine twists the napkin in her hand until it shreds. Her water, which she ordered for show, sweats for her in anticipation. She really can't stand Klaus. Waiting to bargain her freedom from him in a small booth isn't at all on her list of things she likes to do. But a small public diner is better than being alone with him.

A man slides into the booth seat opposite her.

“About time,” she mutters, looking up. Klaus smiles.

“I would apologize for keeping a lady waiting, but alas,” he indicates her. Katherine smiles tightly.

“Ha. Ha. I take it you found my information sufficient, then?”

“Indeed,” Klaus nods. “My people have apprehended the girl. Consider your debt to me paid.”

Debt, Katherine mentally scoffs. Choosing to live over letting herself be sacrificed for some stupid curse she had nothing to do with had put her in the Original’s debt. Only a Mikaelson.

“So if I leave, you won't pursue me? No revenge chase, no take backs, nothing? Our business is done?” the vampire doppelganger checks.

“Like I said, Miss Pierce - your score with me is settled.” His eyes flick over her shoulder. “With me, that is.”

A cool body flops down next to her. Katherine has time to take in black hair and clothes, pale skin, and flashing blue eyes before a butter knife is rammed through her wrist and into the table below. She cries out loudly, but no one turns.

A trap. Fuck, she should've known better.

“Hey, Kat,” Damon drawls. “Long time no see.” He slams her head into the table several times and the last thing Katherine sees before her world goes black is cold blue eyes shifting to a warm hazel. She almost calls his name, but then she remembers.

Stefan’s dead.

💔🔫

Bonnie can't stand her grandmother's foster son. Grams had gone out of her way to give Kai a nice birthday - taking them both to the amusement park in Whitmore, buying him a delicious mint chocolate chip ice cream cake - Kai's favorite, and gifting him with a plane ticket to Portland to visit family members who should've been taking care of him instead of Grams.

But he was ungrateful, and Bonnie can't stand him. He was turning unlucky thirteen, finally taller than her and about as sullen as can be.

His birthday is mid-April and it's warm as hell. Bonnie is sweltering in the eat, so she swallows down as much of the creamy Baskin Robbins cake as she can. Kai only picks at his. They're waiting for Kai’s case worker, and Bonnie has a mouthful ready to report about her “uncle's” living conditions. He's been extra snappish lately, escalating their usual bickering to all out brawls. He bruised her ribs, but she sprained his wrist - the same one he wore a cast on when he arrived almost five years ago. She'll lie through her teeth if it meant him finally being out of her life.

Kai's case worker finally arrives and she joins the for ice cream cake and pleasantries. She even brought a gift for Kai, a small collection of graphic novels that he must have told her he liked to read. Bonnie is itching for their interview. Anything, anything, if it meant he'll be gone and taking this uncomfortable feeling he elicits in her chest with him.

Her plan fails. His case worker is looking at her pityingly by the time Bonnie finishes her rant.

“Honey,” the case worker says softly. “He can't go home to Portland. His family want him as far away from his father as possible and the one they trust with him is your grandmother. He’s not going anywhere.”

Bonnie snaps. “But I hate him! He's weird and quiet and mean, and he creeps me out! Why can't one of his family members move here? Why does he have to take mine?”

The case worker softens. “Bonnie,” she soothes. “He's not taking away from your family, he's adding to it. Give him a chance, I'm sure you'll find that you enjoy his company more than you despise it.”

The Bennett girl is stubborn. She may have no choice but to accept Kai in her life, but she refuses to enjoy his presence. The next day she looks up abusive fathers in Portland in 1999. She finds a short newsclip about a man named Joshua Parker who killed his wife and two of his three children. None of the children's names are released so as not to reveal the survivor's identity, who was first in protective services, than the foster care system. The child's records were sealed.

Bonnie eases up on Kai. He's still a freak, but at least she has a better grasp on why. She'll let him stay. It's not like she has to like it.

💀🔫

Kai had picked her up from the station, drove Matt home, held her through her break down, then guided her to his room at Grams’ place. The older Bennett woman is out with the search party. The Sheriff had issued a curfew for everyone 17 and under to be home by 7 p.m., so Bonnie's sitting in Kai's room so that neither teen is alone.

He turns on his TV, leaves it on Chopped Jr, then goes downstairs to make dinner. Bonnie's hands shake. She feels cold, even bundled up in her warm PJ's under Kai's down comforter.

His room is cozy and masculine, shades of navy and light blues and soft greys and creams everywhere. Framed comic posters are lined up sharply on one wall, between two neat but overfilled bookshelves. His bed is in the corner opposite his nerd wall and his desk, the second largest furnishing in the room, is by the bed’s headboard, lined under his window. There's a clean desktop computer and game system set-up on it. The TV is on the dresser between his closet door and the entrance, which are both on the wall facing across the windowed wall. There's textured fabric everywhere, down comforters, knit pillows, microplush throws, a rough carpet rug on the wood flooring - it makes the room cozy.  She's never really been in here before. It was an unspoken rule between them that bedrooms were off limits. His room is kind of like a nautical watercolor, themed and clean. Bonnie smiles to herself as she realizes just how domestic Kai is.

Think of the devil - her foster uncle opens the door. He has two bowls of mac’n’cheese casserole and he hands her one before sitting at the desk and wolfing his own down. He says nothing, watching the TV as though having a red-eyed Bonnie Bennett in his room were a regular occurrence and not weird at all. Bonnie picks at her bowl - it's good, Kai's a pretty decent chef - before she sets it on the desk next to him.

Her adoptive uncle looks at her from his periphery. It's a creepy little habit he's adopted, watching her while pretending he's not watching her while she pretends to not notice. Bonnie's done with pretending.

“Kai-,” she starts.

“Not hungry?”  he interrupts. “I'll go wrap it for you.”

Bonnie purses her lips, but remains silent when he grabs their bowls and disappears again. She can hear downstairs, but then it's quiet. She lowers the volume on the TV and waits. Almost three minutes pass. Nothing from downstairs. Bonnie glowers.

Did he leave?

She gets up and throws open the door only to find Kai leaning against the frame. She starts, clutching her chest. Watches him peer up through his lashes at her.

Something in her belly flutters and her pulse speeds. Kai's hot. Distantly, she was always aware of this, but it's disconcerting to push away her feelings towards him - the vast majority of them negative - to acknowledge odd truths like that.

“You leaving?” he asks her. His voice is soft in the hush surrounding them. Bonnie shakes her head.

“I thought you left. I was going to look for you,” she answers just as quietly. Kai smiles sardonically. Holds up his clocked wrist.

“It's eight-thirty,” he replies. Right, she thinks. The curfew. Kai straightens up and walks into the room. Too close to her personal space and she steps back at an angle. He follows. Bonnie stops when her knees brush the bed. Kai stops when his chest brushes hers. He reaches out and Bonnie closes her eyes.

“I'll scream,” she whispers. Kai’s hands cup her face. They're warm and large and a port in the recent crazy. She's fes safe, with Kai of all people.

“As loud as you can,” he agrees. His thumbs rub at her erratic pulse. Bonnie's breaths come in ragged and a heavy, loud in the air.

“I'll hurt you,” she mutters, finally looking at him. His eyes are dark and focused. Whatever he sees on her face must encourage him because he brings them closer. His lips brush hers, teasing when he whispers back.

“I'll like it.”

💔🔫

Jason had buried his sister-in-law, his niece, and one nephew two days after he sent the other nephew to Virginia for safety. Kai's visiting for his thirteenth birthday and the Supreme had wanted to see the coven members he failed before picking up the one he won't from the airport.

Three pristine headstones look up at him, the two smaller ones with dates that break his heart. 1993-1999. 1991-1999.

Joey hadn't even made it to six yet, dying a few months short of that birthday. Josette barely made it to eight. And the boy who shared her birthday? Jason can only hope he has many birthdays to come.

Sheila's calls had alarmed him. Kai was acting up, skipping therapy, flushing his meds, contemplating suicide. He was fighting and being bullied, one of the perpetrators being Sheila's granddaughter no less, although Kai never ratted her out. Sheila intervened when she could, forced them to spend time together, but fixing that relationship was between the kids.

Kai had a particular fascination with death and death mythology lately. It might have been a phase of it might be serious suicidal ideation. Either way, Jason and Sheila split the cost of a roundtrip ticket for Kai, so that the Supreme could spend time with his favorite nephew.

Jason picks Kai up and they go shopping first, because none of the clothes Kai has really suits his personality. Then they hit up Voodoo Doughnut and a Trail Blazers game and Jason relaxes when he feels the gloom and doom in Kai’s aura lift.

“What about girls?” he asks when Kai finishes telling him about what he likes about Mystic Falls. His nephew’s face falls.

“Or boys!” Jason rushes to assure him. He didn't think Kai was gay, but it's better not to assume anything. “Or whomever you like! I don't care! I mean, I care, but you know in support, not because I think anything's wrong with you or-,” he's rambling, but it's okay. Kai's having an uproarious laugh at his expense.

“I like a girl,” Kai says, still chuckling. His face falls. “She doesn't like me though. Pretty sure she hates me, actually.”

Jason looks over Kai, feels out his aura. It clicks.

“Oh damn, kiddo,” he says. Kai grimaces. “Is that why you never try to get Bonnie in trouble?”

Kai frowns. “No, it's because I'm not a snitch.”

Jason stares. Kai shrugs. “At least when she hates me, I'm on her mind. And she's weirdly possessive about me. It's better than her not caring.”

That….that is fucked up. Love isn't supposed to be like that, let alone someone's first love. Jason says as much. Kai shrugs again.

“I have her,” he says. “It's better than being Tyler Lockwood, who does everything she says in hopes she'll finally do something about his boner only to be disappointed every time she doesn't even notice. I'm in her and she hates it, but I'm there. It's better than every other guy who likes her, but doesn't even ping on her radar. At least she sees me and thinks about me.”

Kai shoves another doughnut in his mouth and Jason sighs, letting the subject drop. It'll either change for the better or get worse until it dies. He just hopes it doesn't leave either child too scarred.

💀🔫

Bonnie's mouth is painful on his and their embrace goes from warm to hot, and she's wet under him, then wet surrounding him. He has to slow down, first for safety (That safe driving slogan, “better safe than sorry” plays in his head when he slides a condom on.), then for consideration, because he hadn't realized popular, beautiful Bonnie Bennett had made it to her junior year of high school without letting anyone have her like this. She clings to him and his kisses soften from bruising to comforting when her tears come. He’s not small, and he never wished he was, but maybe she wouldn't be in so much pain if he had been. He rubs her back and holds her and when she wraps her legs around his waist and encourages him, he feels like he's finally come home.

It's good. Not great, but Kai's nervous and Bonnie's never done it before. He makes sure she cums. Touches her and licks her until she screams, just like she told him she would. Just like he encouraged her to. When they finish, he discards the bloodied condom and offers to run her bath. She shakes her head and holds him instead. Kai traces shapes on her back and closes his eyes.

“What's going to happen?” she says into the dark.

“We'll be safe,” he replies. She shifts, sitting up. Naked flesh moves on naked flesh and Kai's cock stirs awake again.

“How do you know?” Her green eyes glow in the dark like a cat's and he strokes down her dark curls. The sight of her like this makes him ache. Kai’s hated and loved Bonnie in equal measure for most of his life. He has no idea if this is her using him for comfort or her finally giving in to their weird chemistry now that she fears she might lose the people she loves.

He almost doesn't want to know. He certainly doesn't want to think about it.

So he tells her about his coven in Portland instead.

💀🔫

When Elena comes to, she has no idea where she is or how she got there. The house is unfamiliar, but nicely furnished and clean, if not obviously abandoned. Her head throbs and she assumes that's the reason for absent memories. Slowly, the brunette sits up and looks around. She tells herself to stay calm even as horror stories about human sex trafficking and slave trades come to mind. Checking her limbs and body over, Elena is surprised to learn that she's relatively uninjured and unchained.

Another girl with dark hair is slumped over in the corner. She’s looks like a similar height and build to Elena, reinforcing the girl's thoughts of human trafficking. Even her hair shade is very close Elena's own chestnut locks, the only difference being that the girl’s is curly. Unlike Elena, she is chained up. Maybe she fought. If Elena can help her get out of her chains, maybe they can work together to get free.

Looking around, Elena quietly makes her way across the room to the other girl. She's a few feet away when a voice rings out.

“Ah, ah, ah! I wouldn't do that if I were you.”

Elena starts, whirling around. A tall, dark-haired man with piercing blue eyes is sitting on a chair Elena is one hundred and ten percent sure was empty, just seconds ago. He looks comfortable like, he's been there for a while.

He cocks a brow at her. “She bites,” he informs her nodding at the form behind her.

“Fuck you, Damon,” a woman's voice replies behind Elena.

It sends a shiver through her body. It's eerily similar to her own and Elena recalls the obvious similarities she noted earlier. She whirls around and is nearly floored.

The woman behind her...looks exactly like her. Doe-eyes meet doe-eyes, one set surprised and the other mocking. It's like looking at a mirror. Or an identical twin. Except Elena didn't have a twin.

The woman mirrors Elena’s dumbstruck face. “Oh, poor girl. Not only are you not as pretty as me, you're dumb and mute too.”

Elena shakes her head and steps back, looking between the two dark-haired strangers.

“What the hell is going on?” she demands. The face-stealer grimaces.

“Not so loud,” she rebukes. “And you're a human sacrifice. Welcome to the not so glamorous life of a Petrova doppelganger. My advice is to go vampire and not look back.”

“Because that worked out so well for you, right, Kitty Kat?” At he man speaks up and stands. He moves to where Elena is and grips her elbow. She tries to pull away, but he seems unmoved, merely tightening his grip and staring at her unnervingly. His grip becomes blistering painful and Elena cries out, falling to her knees as she tries to get away. She hears the chains rattle behind her.

“She's not me, asshole. I'm right here. If you want your revenge so bad, meet your maker like a man and stop picking on little girls.”

Damon lets Elena go, turning his icy gaze to her... doppelganger?

“Hush, Kitty Kat. No need to act like a jealous old crone,” he sneers. Katherine smirks.

“No need to act like a jilted lover. So what Stefan chose me over you? Your brother was a man grown, not your child or your wife. You already had one of each, but apparently they didn't occupy you like they should've.”

Damon's face grows hard, dark veins filtering onto his face. The chains rattle again as Kat stands.

“You should act like your doppelganger, Katherine, and keep your mouth shut.” He smiles and it's not friendly. “You'll both be dead soon anyway.”

With that, there's a rush of air, and he's gone. The doppelgangers stare at each other. Katherine tugs at the chains but they merely creak in protest. Steam rises from where they press her skin and the woman hisses.

“I don't suppose you can grab me stiff drink, can you?” she asks Elena. Elena just stares and with a shrug, looks for a kitchen.

💀🔫

“Oh my god, I'm a South Park Canadian,” Bonnie says, pulling her sweatshirt back on.

“What?” Kai questions, amused. Bonnie shrugs.

“I'm an uncle fucker,” Bonnie smirks at him. Kai lets out a shocked chuckle.

“What?! I'm not your uncle,” he laughs. He's beautiful, but she is stupidly, stupidly disgusted with herself. Why, she's not sure yet. She strokes his hair and kisses his cheek.

“I don't know...my grandmother adopted you. For all intents and purposes, you're my mom’s white little brother.”

Kai laughs again, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her between his legs where he's sitting on the edge of his bed. He smiles up at her.

“I'm fostered, not adopted,” he corrects. “Therefore, not your white uncle or anything. No incest here, Bonster.”

She starts at the nickname. He used to call her that when he would catch her crying over her dad choosing to work on holidays than spend time with her. He rarely calls her that, and it's always said in soft tones of comfort, never used in moments when she's dead certain he probably wants to kill her.

“Well damn,” she teases. “There goes that forbidden factor.” Kai laughs again, then pulls her back on the bed, spinning so that he's on top of her. His hands nestle beneath her shirt, playing with her belly button.

He kisses up the column of her neck. “Still very forbidden, lover.” He nibbled at her ear. “Sheila would probably kill me for defiling you.”

Bonnie snorts, but it's like Kai's words were a summoning. The front door slams open and Grams is shouting her name. Both Bonnie's and Kai's eyes widen comically and Kai practically launches himself into his desk chair and grapples for the remote to turn the TV on. They both hear Grams start up the stairs and Bonnie wraps herself up in one of Kai’s many blankets and pretends to be immersed in Tony Stark’s misadventures.

Kai's door bangs open and both teens sit up with a jump, not even faking their startle. Sheila’s hands go to her hips.

“You two deaf?” she demands. “And since when are you hanging out in each other's rooms? With the door closed?”

Kai stares at her, convincingly innocent. If Bonnie didn't know better, she'd believe his next words. “We're just watching a movie. Waiting to hear news.”

Sheila snorts. “Mhmmm. And I'm Barbra Streisand. Both of you get your tails downstairs. There's much to discuss.”

Grams turns sharply down the hall and Bonnie and Kai glance at each other before following.

In the kitchen, Grams is heating herself up some of Kai's casserole. Her back is tense and Bonnie can see the weariness that lines her body. A bad feeling settles in the girl's bowels.

“Grams?” She ventures. “What's going on?”

Sheila sighs and turns around. “You eat already?” she asks them. Kai nods and Bonnie shrugs, and Grams nods like this was about what she expected.

“Sit down,” she commands. When they're seated, she crosses her arm and states matter-of-factly. “We've found that along with Elena, Tyler Lockwood and Caroline Forbes are also missing. Since all of the appear to be friends, at first it's suspected they've run away together. But there was blood found in Tyler's house that matched his DNA, indicating a struggle. Caroline went missing on her way home from the mall in Talon Falls. Her car was found in the parking lot.”

She keeps talking, but her voice is drowned out by a loud ringing in her ears. Her breaths come in gasps. Her friends are missing. Her friends are missing. Her friends are missing. The room is too light, then too dark and Bonnie feels clammy and cold. She grips the table in front of her. A sharp slap to her face snaps her out of it.

Bonnie rubs her cheek as Grams lowers her hand.

“You okay, sugar pie? I wasn't trying to alarm you but I needed you to know the truth. Have you noticed anything strange going on lately?” Grams asks her.

Bonnie shakes her head. “No,” she states, her voice cracking. Her face crumples into tears.

This is too much. First, the uncovering of the supernatural, now her friends dying or disappearing left and right. She's never felt so powerless. The afterglow from her time with Kai fades. The self-disgust from earlier settles. She was letting Kai fuck her while her friends were going missing. How could she be so selfish like that, seeking out happiness from a guy she didn't even know how she felt about when her friends’ futures became uncertain? Her distress overwhelms her and she feels hot, like fire was boiling in her veins.

Strong arms wrap around her. “You need to calm down, Bonnie,” Kai's voice rumbles by her ear. “It's not your fault, okay? I understand, but you need to calm down before you burn the house down.”

His words don't make sense, but when Bonnie looks up with teary eyes, she sees her grandmother frantically waving her arms over flames that keep popping up.

“Hold it together, Bonnie!” she calls out.

Kai grabs her face and soothes down her hair. “I'm going to have to siphon you if you don't calm down, Bonster. Deep breaths okay? Don't let your emotions overwhelm you.”

Listening to his words, Bonnie let's herself be calmed. The flames die down. The young witch looks around the charred kitchen.

“I did that?” she whispers. Kai smiles softly and nods.

“Happy Awakening, Bonnie. Let's figure out how to save your friends.”

💀🔫

Greta arranges the casting circle in the field and spells the occupants asleep. Damon dumps Katherine - the vampire, the Lockwood boy - the werewolf, and Elena - the doppelganger in the cages where Greta indicates they should go.

“Bennett blood needs to be spilled from the eastern end, where the comet will enter the Gemini constellation,” she informs Damon. When he looks at her blankly, she sighs and a flaming ‘X’ chars the ground several feet from them.

“Over there,” she tells him. Damon grins and salutes, then takes a moment to look around. The three main ingredients for the “sun and moon curse”, all trussed up and ready to die. How beautiful.

He can hear Caroline crying as Klaus gently guides her back to the field. Damon frowns at that. It's weird, Klaus’s sudden fixation with baby Barbie, but to each his own. Damon doesn't know and doesn't want to know what the hell is up with that.

Movement catches his eye and Damon turns to look. The human doppelganger is stirring. She's been eerily calm about this whole ordeal, taking to the supernatural like a duck to water. It’s nothing at all like Katherine, reminding Damon of his brother's calm disposition and his widowed wife's faithful practicality. Her dark eyes meet his light ones. Warm earth to winter sky.

They study each other in silence, before she breaks it.

“Do you think this will make you happy?” Elena inquires. Damon shrugs.

“It doesn't have to. It just has to be over. I get revenge on Katherine by handing her over to die in away she never wanted to. Klaus gets to break his curse. Klaus compels me to forget and I get to rest.”

“To die.”

“Indeed,” Damon shrugs. “I wanted revenge and now it's here. What more after that? I never wanted to be a vampire.”

Elena’s somber face twists him with guilt and he glares at her.

“Maybe you should learn to live again,” she said. “Save yourself like you saved me that night on Wickery Bridge.”

Damon huffs a laugh. “You know I caused that accident, right? I didn't save you out of guilt or some hero complex. I did it because letting you die then would be an inconvenience.”

Elena's conviction seems to falter, but then Damon watches her literally arm herself with determination.

“You're not a bad person,” she insists. “And you can't convince me otherwise. I know what it looks like when grief kills who you are inside. To feel like the walking dead.”

Damon turns his back to her and closes his, but he's a vampire. He has super hearing.

“And I know that grief can be overcome. Maybe not now or tomorrow, but someday, you'll feel alive again and you can only do that if you keep trying.”

Damon opens his eyes. “What do you know?” he jeers lightly. “You're dying young.”

💀🔫

Shortly after her meltdown, Bonnie's phone rings and she hears Caroline's desperate voice pleading in her ear.

“Don't come Bonnie okay, they have Tyler and Elena and they want you to do something weird, please Bonnie don't come, they're gonna kill us, just call my mom.”

The phone gets taken away but she hears Caroline scream something about the woods and Bonnie writes that down for Grams to see. Kai grabs her hand when another voice, make and British, fills her ear.

“Nonsense, love. Caroline will live so long as you're willing to play your part, miss Bennett. All you need to do is prick your finger and recite some Latin. Very easy.”

“Who is this?” Bonnie asks. “You don't sound like that other guy.”

The man chuckles. “My apologies, darling. My name is Niklaus Mikaelson. That other guy was my associate Damon. He can be a little hard to like, I will admit. But he was only acting on my behalf. I need a Bennett witch for a favor, and I promise you handsome compensation.”

“Like my friends back home safe?”

“As many as possible, darling,” he replies. “But none at all if you or grandmother refuse compliance.”

Kai gets up and grabs his phone. He's texting someone furiously, listening as closely as he can to their conversation. He nods at Bonnie, backed by her Grams’ nod. Bonnie takes a breath.

“Okay,” she tells him. “I'll be there. You're in the woods?”

Klaus hums his agreement. “In a lovely little meadow near the falls. I'm sure you're aware.”

At Bonnie's quiet “yeah” he continues. “And I'm sure there's no need to tell you what will happen to any interlopers you bring along.”

He ends the call and Bonnie looks between the more experienced witches in her family.

“Who’s Niklaus Mikaelson?” she asks them.

Grams is eyeing the liquor cabinet. “Bad news,” she replies. “A very old vampire, one of the first.”

“An Original,” Kai said. He sounds excited. “I texted my uncle and asked him what an Original would need a doppelganger and a Bennett witch. He wants to break the hybrid curse!”

Both women look at him, unable to comprehend his excitement, or in Bonnie's case, what the hell he was even talking about. He smiles.

“It's enough for a powerful coven to run intervention. Like say, the Gemini Coven.”

“Let my coven stop the beasts. We're going to save your friends.”

💀🔫

The Original looks up when the Bennett girl and her grandmother step into the clearing. Damon comes to stand beside him and looks over the women.

“No Prince Charming tonight?” he presses.

“Your friend said no interlopers,” the younger one speaks up, glaring at Damon. He glares back.

“And you didn't even consider being non-compliant? Not to save your best friends?” The raven-haired vampire demands. This time the older Bennett woman smiles.

“Have you considered that we don't need them?”

Damon’s hackles, which had been raised all night, appear to settle.

“Touché,” he concedes and steps back.

Niklaus smirks at the exchange, amused. He nods to the Bennett witches.

“Ladies,” he greets. “This way if you will.”

Bonnie glares at him, but follows to where he leads them. It is Sheila who takes the spellbook from him, reading over the incantation. She looks at him sharply.

“You do know what you're asking, don't you?” she queries.

“Of course,” Klaus replies. “And I understand the risk you're undertaking. I promise to reward you well.”

Sheila scoffs, shaking her head but she turns to Bonnie and guides her through the beginnings of the incantation. Klaus watches them, puzzled, but goes to take his place where Damon is holding the human doppelganger.

“This is too easy,” Damon voices his thoughts. Klaus nods, agreeing. But magic is heavy in the air and it's affecting him like it should, do he decides to accept this lucky streak for the time being.

“We will watch,” he tells Damon. “And should they betray us, we will extract the price in their blood.”

Damon nods, still appearing tense and Elena stares after him pleadingly as he passes her along to Klaus.

“Please, don't do this,” she pleads, but Damon is stone tonight. His attention is focused on the older doppelganger.

He's barely focused on the younger one when he replies, “I have to.”

Klaus grins down reassuringly to Elena. “It's just a little bite, Elena. You’ll barely feel it.”

The magic is rough inside his body. The Bennett's reach the first crescendo and there's a cry from where Damon rips out Katherine’s heart. There had been a brief exchange between them, but Klaus was too preoccupied to take notice of the context.

The next crescendo comes and Greta raises her knife to sacrifice the world not. As it descends, Klaus's eyes close and he leans forward fangs extended for the last influx of magic. He can feel the chains on his inner beast being shredded and the world narrows to Elena's neck and the magic filtering his blood. The final crescendo hits and he bites into the doppelganger, who tries to flinch away.

But his body is breaking apart and coming back together all at once, so he doesn't notice Damon’s warning cry. Not until an ash-covered dagger is jammed in his back. Damon is rushing towards him, but as Klaus falls, he sees the other vampire fall to his knees, a magic whip putting bloody stripes down his back.

Klaus looks up to see Caroline, eyes teary as she grips Elena and pulls her away from him. Clutching her bloody neck, the brunette stumbles after her tall friend to the edge of the clearing. The desiccation takes hold and the last thing Klaus sees is a coven of witches apparating into the clear, glowing green Gemini mark overtaking the clearing.

No Prince Charming tonight? Damon had asked.

Therein lies their answer.

💔🔫

Joshua stares up at his little brother’s projection, the little crown stealer. The Supreme fiddles with his belt then sighs, stepping back to reveal the Ascendant. Hate surges through Joshua Parker

“This is Kai’s,” Jason informs him. “I modified the spell. Your little abomination will hold your life in his hands. This Ascendent will tie you to him, and when he chooses, your life will be sacrificed to fulfill whatever function he sees fit and not one moment sooner. This is your punishment.”

Jason’s projection begins to fade.

“Blessed be, big brother.”

💀🔫

Two weeks later:

Elena watches the weird new dynamic between Bonnie and Kai, before the witch (and that's weird as well, to think of her best friend in those terms) breaks away from his embrace to come sit with them. Caroline is still withdrawn. Her memories from her own kidnapping had returned slowly over the past two weeks. At first Damon had merely used her as a means of food and shelter, virtually ignoring her until he needed a human touch. With Klaus, her treatment had been upgraded, but it meant posing for hours on end for paintings. In their private moments, Caroline had said she can't really explain why the interactions with the Original left her so shaken, only that his attention both frightened and aroused her.

Oddly enough, both Elena and Bonnie could relate.

That night, Kai had murdered the witch working for Klaus and sacrificed his father to protect the Bennett's from the blowback of the spell. Elena didn't exactly understand it all, but she knows it meant a lot to Bonnie. Some tide had shifted between Elena's friend and her grandmother’s ward.

They have lunch. Elena's neck is still healing, but it no longer hurts to swallow or talk, which means she's ready for that spicy avocado ranch chicken wrap from the Grill. Which she's having now, because oh god, yeah. Caroline picks at her food, but she eats more than she has been. She's taking the supernatural reveal hardest, wanting nothing more than to go back to her normal life. But she can't forget and it's left her shaken to know how easily creatures that go bump in the night were willing and able to throw away her life.

She ends up leaving first, being picked up by her mom. Bonnie follows soon after, some kind of magical training she and Kai have to do now that Bonnie's magic is awakened. Elena waves after them, intending to enjoy a second wrap without judgement. It arrives quickly and as Elena takes the first huge bite she looks up to see blue eyes watching her with mild disgust.

She has to laugh at his expression.

“You came,” she greets. Damon nods, sitting opposite her.

“I did,” he said. “You don't think your little friends might see this as a betrayal? I'm pretty sure Blondie would be willing stab me like she did my oldest friend.”

Elena smiles. “Of course she would. You made her feel unsafe.”

Damon leans forward, bracing his cheek on his hand. He's almost devastatingly handsome.

“I'm not sorry,” he declares. Challenges. Elena meets it.

“Neither are we.” She takes a bite of her wrap. “How's living treating you?”

It doesn't sound right through her mouthful of chicken, but Damon seems to understand, making another face at her manners. He huffs and rolls his eyes.

“You shouldn't have interfered,” he chides. “You should have let the witches kill me.”

“What kind of punishment is that?” Elena teases. “Death isn't redeeming. You can't make things right with anyone from the grave.” She takes another bite. Damon watches her.

“I spent a century waiting to kill a woman who looked just like you,” he informs her. “When she died, she thanked me for giving back her heart right before I ripped it out of her chest.”

Elena stares at him and swallows her food. A lump stays in her throat. “Are you going to kill me too?”

He smiles. “Now, now. What kind of punishment is that?” He leans back.

“I think I'll stick around. Hang out with x-greats-grandson Zach. Uncle Zach?” he muses. “He looks older than me: I was only 25 when I turned. Uncle Zach.”

Elena smiles. “Well in that case: Welcome to Mystic Falls, Mr. Salvatore.” She holds out her hand. “I'm Elena.”

“Damon,” he replies after a brief hesitation, shaking her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

They share a smile. Neither really notices when he doesn't let her hand go.

💀🔫

Kai wakes with start when someone small and cold slips into his bed. He grumbles, but shifts so that Bonnie can make herself comfortable.

“Shut up, freak,” she mumbles and pulls his arm around her. Kai presses a kiss to her head. She's quiet, stilling long enough for Kai to start to drift off.

“Do you regret it?” she asks. Kai grunts, not opening his eyes.

“Killing your dad? Killing that witch?”

Kai shakes his head, burying his nose in her hair.

“Them or you, Bonnie. I pick you any day.”

“Even though I was awful to you for so long? Even though you hated me?”

Kai sighs. “I never really hated you. Hush before Sheila pops in to yell at us.”

She back-elbows him gently. “I mean it.”

“Me too,” he grunts. “It doesn't matter, Bonnie. I'd still pick you, any day. Over anyone. Even Grams. Even my uncle.”

Bonnie's quiet. “Why?” she chokes. He pulls her closer.

“You know why.”

With a sigh, she settles to sleep. “I never really hated you either,” she whispers. Kai hums, relaxing.

After a moment Bonnie sits up straight, wide-eyed and distraught.

“Oh shit,” she wheezes, scrambling out if the bed. Kai sits up slowly, somewhat cranky now.

“What now?” he croaks. Bonnie glares at him, then snaps:

“Our first constellation report is due in astronomy tomorrow!”

💀🔫

A/N for shayspencer: Hello shayspencer! I'm donutworry (fuckitimfangirling on Tumblr), your Secret Santa. Feel free to call me Allie. I hope you enjoyed your fic, it was pretty fun to write. It was a little tough to write, bc I think I tackled each of your topics at least once in other works and I didn't want to produce anything too repetitive. I'm also sorry for any typos, this is unbeta’ed and was written during bouts of free time - I work in healthcare and holiday season is the busiest. When I wrote it, I kind of focused on how Bonnie was the one to pursue the bad blood between them and Kai being the one to always offer the olive branch, even if it was after he hit back. I know the high school AU aspect was pretty loose, but I wanted to focus more on how their lives are supposed to revolve around school and how the supernatural disrupted that. Hopefully, I managed to do so.  Hopefully, the Delena was enjoyable. I did my very best, even though I'm neutral towards most non-Bonnie TVD ships. I know KC and SK where probs not what you wanted, but I think it's important to show how push-pull ships like this don't always work out. I did get pretty into Steferine because of you though, lol. It seemed you would be okay with darker stuff, so I went pretty emo because I wanted to bring you the feels. Did it work? If my sadism here wasn't enough, I've got two other WIPs inspired by your prompts to bring the pain. 😝 Happy holidays, enjoy any breaks you might have and any holiday pay you might make! Happy BK Secret Santa! I'll post this on FFN, Tumblr, and AO3 in 2018 after you've had a chance to enjoy for yourself.

[lifewithoutmeds]

october 16th

much has changed.

i don’t actually know where the last i was.  i didn’t re-read my last entry.  but i know in general i was losing my mind and mooning over this LA character.  as i’m learning through my Attachment book, i am anxious attached and she is avoidant attached and that makes us so intrinsically incompatible.  everything i did was to get to know her better, to draw her nearer, and i really needed a lot of reassurance that she wasn’t going to leave me etc. but she prized individualism and wanted to focus on her studies etc., and so she drew away and i freaked out and i freaked her out and now it has been one full week and she hasn’t and will likely never text me again and that is that.

it made me pretty crazy for a while.  all i could do was think of her and quasi social-media stalk her to see what she was liking, what she was following, calculating when she’d get home, in what window of time she was most likely to text me, at which window it was likely she wouldn’t, and my hopes would undulate like some fucking rocky ass ocean as i waited and pined and hoped beyond hope.

go out! gg said.  meet other people, widen your dating pool, meet more people in your community! he said.  so i looked at my phone, found a bowling meet up of like minded individuals at the bowling alley two miles away that was happening THAT NIGHT (friday) and said, OK!  i will go!

and so i showered, did my hair and make up, rsvp’d with the knowledge that i was on the waiting list and would just hang out at the bar and say hello to people as they got their drinks and would just mingle as much as i saw fit.

but of course i fucked it up.  I ALWAYS FUCK IT UP.

i drank a whiskey and a half before i ubered my way over, and it started out fine enough.  i chatted with people, got bumped up the waitlist and ended up bowling a game or two, ordered a pitcher or two of beer, and then somewhere along the line i apparently got wasted and was either ‘comatose’ or like harassing the DJ who i had apparently “fallen in love with.”  GEEZ!

i went outside to see if i could smoke and someone handed me something that was not quite a cigarette but like a skinny skinny clove that i think had some weed in it and shortly thereafter i blacked out.  one of the gals drove me home and i somehow stumbled in and made a ramen before passing out, and woke up five hours later even though i was supposed to get up two hours later to head to fresno UGH.

although good thing i didn’t because i was likely still rather messed up.

so yhea, quite embarrassing.  the whole blacking out, being comatose, talking up the gorgeous Lana-Del-Rey lookalike DJ who was very likely straight, and even making some random 12:41 call to someone i do not know, and just. UGH just being a fucking wreck.

i’m pretty embarrassed of my behavior and kind of ashamed of like the person i am and i also think that i have to very seriously consider the possibility that i may have a drinking problem.  that i drink to self placate, to self medicate, that i drink beyond comprehension, that i drink without knowing i’ve drunk too much, that i drink to the point of blacking out and doing things that i would not likely have done knowingly.  these are concerning items.  also it’s likely doing some sort of damage on my poor liver that i actually don’t want to think about.

i feel bad that i may have alienated certain potential friends in the meet up.  and i feel bad that i called and had no idea i called someone for 41 seconds and when that person called back i had no idea what they were talking about and when i figured it was the group leader i texted apologetically but got no response.  i’m sorry that i said whatever i said to her because i’m a crazy person who’s been insanely repressed for way too long and she was pretty but she was pining over some girl who didn’t love her and i hated her for loving someone who didn’t love her and i hope to GOD i did not tell her that.

and i feel bad for being all up in the DJ’s face and i must’ve asked her a million questions because i know so much about her.  i know where she lives (the city, not the address), i know where she’s from, that she was married, that she goes to school at SMC that she’s taking pre-med classes, that she DJ’s at the gdale bowling alley but also at Matador bowling alley by CSUN.  oh fuck what did i say to her what kind of a monster am i SHIT SHIT SHIT.  not that i’ve blown my chances with her because there were no chances and i was just this random drunk ass bitch who wast just in her face all night long and fuck it i can’t believe i was THAT GIRL.  SHIT.

so i feel fucking bad, i don’t know what bridges i’ve burned, and though SK whose number i apparently got and didn’t alienate enough for her to not invite me out for a movie the next day, said that they’d all been there and sort of understood what i was going through which was reassuring but damn it did my unraveling have to be so damn public and so damn ... basic.

i feel bad and i know i should feed bad and i deserve to feel a certain level of badness and i should feel the full weight of the consequences of my actions and i should just know to stop being such a shitty person and learn from my mistakes but i hate that my mistakes involve other people but i also have to realize that my life and my impact is likely not as big as i’m making it out to be and i was just a sort of annoying drunk girl at the bar and it isn’t the end of the world.  and i guess i have the rest of my life to sort of be a decent human being, if i can do that.

but one thing i’m going to do is stop drinking for a month.  until november 16th i’m going to not drink.  no beer, whiskey, wine, etc.  just club soda and mineral water.  i need to see how bad my problem is because i’ve been drinking like a fiend lately and i’ve been drinking as a crutch and i gotta stop it because this crutch goes swinging madly and becomes a fucking liability.

i need to get better.  i will be better.