#small chance I just end up rewriting the whole damn thing and have to post it separately as. like. a reboot or something

[anonyanonymouse]

Okay I remember why I wrote the mallesil puppysilver ear infection fic now

[scarlettriot]

Along for the Ride PT 1

Pairing: KirishimaxF!Reader

Summary: A drunken mistake had you marking the little Plus One box to your snobby cousin's wedding. Kirishima told you not to worry, if you couldn't find a date, he'd go with you. When the wedding gets moved up, there's absolutely no time to find a date and you're now about to be traveling to America with Kirishima on a private jet no less, dreading having him meet your rude and impossibly arrogant family.

Contains: Kirishima and Reader both come from very well-off families. Plus-Sized Reader. Fluff. Hurt/Comfort.

Warnings: Kinda smutty for a minute. Minors DNI. Drunken Sex. TW: Manipulative Family Relationships. TW: Body Image Issues

A/N: This story has been rolling around in my head for a while now. I might rewrite this and repost. Or I might just post the whole thing soon. I dunno yet. It does get smuttier.

Word Count: 4,974

"What's up with Y/N?"

Eijiro stepped out of the locker room with a towel slung over his shoulder and made his way into the kitchenette where Mina was chugging a bottle of water before getting back to her patrol. His eyes were trained on their mutual friend out on the patio, pacing.

You had your phone pressed to your ear, the high neck of your hero costume unzipped to your collarbone and he noticed your gloves discarded on a chair.

"No clue." Mina shrugged. "She got back from patrol and she noticed a bunch of missed calls from her mom. She's been out there, flailing on the phone for the last fifteen minutes now."

The three of you had met in your second year at UA when you transferred into their class and were quickly accepted by their little squad of friends. You were a bit quiet at first but quickly found comfort in the group. Eijiro had grown especially close to you when you both interned with Fat Gum.

Late nights traveling on the train back to school, a few close calls while helping patrol, and days spent playing cards while you both healed up in the hospital left plenty of time for Eijiro to get to know you better than most. It was how he knew you had a pretty bad relationship with your family, why you hated returning home for the holidays almost as much as you hated any and all forms of tomatoes.

He considered going out there just to see if there was anything he could do but before he had the chance, you were sliding the glass door open. "Oh, good, you're back." He offered you a bottle of water for your throat that he assumed was sore after that argument. "I- um- can I borrow you for a second? Alone?"

Mina snorted a laugh. "If you guys wanna bang it out on the counter you can just say so. I gotta go to work anyways."

Eijiro threw the towel at her as she left the room leaving you two alone. "What's goin' on?"

You hoisted yourself up on the countertop while he leaned against the fridge. "You remember my cousin's wedding that's happening this winter?"

He nodded. He vividly remembered the both of you getting waste a few weeks ago when you were filling out the RSVP and accidentally marking 'plus one'. Then you ran around trying to find White Out but he'd told you if you didn't find a date or have a significant other by the time of the wedding, he'd just go with you.

You argued that your family was bat shit crazy, had more money than they could spend in their lifetime and because of that, they were among some of the rudest people you knew, and you didn't want Eijiro or anyone else around that.

The thing was, Eijiro already knew that and was still okay with going. He came from money too. A lot of it. His family was just more welcoming than yours, the wealth never really going to their heads. But, he reminded you that he'd ran into enough people like those in your family that he knew how to handle them. You finally agreed to let him accompany you, leaving the plus one box checked but the name line blank.

"Well, my cousin just found out that surprise, she's pregnant! And, obviously, she can't have a wedding while seven months along so they've decided to move the wedding up to this weekend."

He nearly choked on his own spit. "This weekend? As in four days from now?"

"Yup! Saturday at 4 in the evening. Oh! No one's supposed to know she's pregnant either. So, I'm just supposed to compliment her on how flattering her dress looks, how thin she is," Your hands strangled the water bottle between them, "And I have to find something flattering to my figure because my mother has seen me in my hero outfit and she's so glad I wear a mask because if anyone knew her daughter ran around looking like I do, well, it'd ruin her!"

You massaged your temples circling back to the actual point, "Anyways, I just wanted to bitch for a sec and let you know you're off the hook since four days is just a little short notice and I told her my plus one wouldn't be able to get the time off that fast."

He pushed off the fridge. "Well, wait, hang on! I'm not letting you go in alone to deal with them! Hell no! You need backup!" You looked almost taken aback by his abruptness, "Yeah. I can work this out. Is the wedding at the same place it was supposed to be or has it moved?"

"No, it's still that fancy lodge in California. I was planning on leaving Friday morning and then coming back either Sunday night or Monday morning since my mother insists I go to their brunch the following day. But, Eijiro, I already have this weekend off..."

"Denki owes me a favor or twelve. He's supposed to be off this weekend too, I'll just see if he can cover me."

"And if he can't?"

"Then..." He pressed the back of his hand to his forehead, "Y/N, am I feeling warm to you? I think I might be starting a fever!"

You folded your arms, shaking your head, "Thought you said lying isn't manly."

"Technically, correct. But, what would be real unmanly is for me to let you deal with your family's bullshit all alone." You watched him closely, "To be honest, I'm sure we could just explain you had a family thing come up and asked me to come along for moral support. I don't really think anyone would think twice about it. Hell, you took a few days off to console me when my turtle died suddenly!"

"Eiji, you refused to eat."

"And you brought me my favorite dumplings! Same thing!"

You might have shaken your head at him but your arms opened wide. The telltale sign you wanted affection. He walked forward, consuming you in a tight hug. Your arms latched around his neck, face buried in the hollow of his throat. "You're the best."

"I just do what I can."

>>><<<

You should have canceled. Instead of Eijiro faking sick to get out of work, you should have faked it with your mother so you didn't have to go in the first place. You crumpled to the floor of your bedroom in pure frustration amidst the twenty or so outfits and dozen pairs of shoes you'd thrown out of your closet trying to find something that your mother would deem appropriate.

It wasn't your fault you had a fuller figure. You worked out, ate right, not to mention your job kept you very active, and yet your, hips, ass, and breasts were by no means subtle.

Your mother had also insisted on the dress being floor-length and modern, "Do try not wearing all black. It's a wedding, not a funeral. And, get your hair looking natural, please." And, just like that, 70% of your wardrobe was out the window!

"It's open!" You called from the floor when the doorbell rang.

"You really should lock this." Mina tutted, walking through the door with a bag full of takeout.

"I do. At night."

"Honey, it's 9 PM."

"Night like bedtime."

Mina just rolled her eyes and walked into your tiny kitchen. "I see the dress hunt is going well."

"I actually figured it out!" You got off the floor, careful not to step on a heel as you made your way to the pink haired woman, "I'm just gonna go in my birthday suit. I figured, my mother made my body technically therefore she can't disapprove of it. Because, you know, she's never done anything wrong in her life!"

Your best friend snorted out a laugh and passed you the take-out container stuffed full of stir fry. "you're a wonderful person, you know that?" You loved the fact Mina didn't even have to ask what you wanted.

"If you'd just move closer to work then you could pick it up yourself and I wouldn't have to bring it to you."

"Too expensive." You declared after a mouthful. "You pay almost twice as much as I do per month and I just don't see the point. I have damn near the same amount of space you do for half the cost!"

You adored your small one-bedroom apartment. It was perfect. Right above a bakery that you visited each morning after your run and a little balcony that provided you with the most stunning view of the sunset.

"You and Kiri, I swear." Mina just shook her head and curled up with her food on the loveseat. "I thought he'd end up with the biggest house out of us all the moment we started making that real Pro money. You've seen his parent's house. It's massive! You could get lost in that place!"

Eijiro's place was barely bigger than your own. He lived in the same condo he had since you'd graduated UA, claiming it was perfect for him in each and every way. But, you knew that he donated a sizable amount of his paycheck every month to charities, the same as you. With savings to spare, neither of you saw the point in hoarding it and therefore the small condo was all he could afford with what he actually kept.

"Just don't understand how a guy that big can live in such a tiny little space. At least with you, it's you know, physically feasible."

Eijiro's bedroom was barely large enough to fit the king-sized bed the man needed to sleep comfortably and even then, his feet were dangerously close to dangling off the bed. And, as if the man's ears were burning, your cell phone went off under a pile of discarded shoes.

Shark-E: Figured out your dress situation? If not, I'm just gonna pack like ten different ties and hope for the best.

You: Yeah! I totally did! I'm just gonna wear this birthday suit I got and call it a night.

You chuckled at your own joke all over again. Watching the grey ellipses appear and then vanish, appear and vanish again. After a third time, you took pity on the man.

You: Joking, Ei. I still don't have it figured out but Mina's over so, hopefully, she can help.

Shark-E: Gonna give me a damn heart attack! Seriously, I wouldn't put it past you just to see the look on your mom's face. Tell Mina hi and good luck to you. I vote the dress from the Hero Gala two years ago.

You: Hi from Mina. Can't. Too much boobs.

Shark-E: You take that back right now! There is NEVER such a thing as too much boobs!

You chuckled to yourself, putting your phone down, and then finished off the last of your delicious dinner, thinking about the dress Eijiro mentioned.

You wondered if maybe there was a way you could make the thing work but it was so very low cut. So much tape had been used to make sure no slips happened but damn was it worth it! The beaded bodice with the sparkling long sleeves, gods, how you loved that dress.

"I'm inclined to agree with our shark boy. You're busty, who gives a damn. You looked hot as hell in that dress."

"My mother, that's who. As much as I'd like to not give a flying fuck what she thinks, for some dumb reason, I do. On top of her telling me that the amount of cleavage I would show would be vastly inappropriate for a wedding, she'd also say the way it hugs my hips makes them look too fat."

Mina rolled her eyes. "She's such a piece of work." Pushing herself up, she held her arms out to you, wiggling little pink fingers for you to take. "Come on then. Let's get you sorted."

"What about that one you wore to the charity art thingy with Kyoka last winter? The one with the silver top."

"Silver is too close to white." You called out from within your closet.

"What! Not true!"

"You know that. I know that. Every person with two brain cells knows that, which is why most of my family does not know that."

"Fine..." She whined and started sifting through the opposite end of your closet. "Oh, what about this?" Mina waved about the blue and green plaid skirt that made up your uniform from your middle school days when you lived in America. "Please try this on. I'm begging!"

You were pretty sure it wouldn't even go over your thighs anymore.

"It's got a better chance of fitting you!"

Mina threw it at you anyway. Slipping off the sweats you wore, somehow, someway, you were able to tug it on AND get it zipped, barely. It no longer covered your ass but you still enjoyed the way it swished around when you wiggled your hips.

"You could be fulfilling so many people's fantasies right now." Mina mused.

You pulled the skirt off and sweats back on, throwing the former back at her. "Yeah, you can take it and go fulfill Hanta's fantasies if you like. Not like I've got anyone to impress." You pulled down a dress you bought on sale a year ago but Mina was quick to dismiss it.

Too puffy, she said and then held up one that was from Momo. "I needed to get it shortened and I don't have time for that now."

"Wait..." She hummed and dropped the Momo dress. "I know what it should be!"

Mina hurried through the closet, grumbling about not finding it. "Just tell me which dress and I can tell you where it's at."

"It's that one you got for grad night and then you got sick and couldn't go!"

"Mina, Mina I can't wear that! That's actual vintage, not like, made-to-look-vintage!"

"But it's so elegant and has that off-the-shoulder sleeve thing. The wedding is at a damn sky lodge! It'll look so pretty in the snow! Ah! Found it!"

She yanked up the long, elegant gown from the garment bag you'd never removed it from. There wasn't a single wrinkle in the burgundy fabric. It looked just as beautiful as the day you found it in that second-hand store, on a mannequin with gaudy stage jewels that you just had to buy so the look was complete.

You ran the back of your hand over the velvety fabric, soft to the touch. "It'll be too tight now. If I was the same size I was at graduation-"

"Bullshit!" Mina cut you off with a dismissive hand, "You've got hips now. We aren't 18 anymore! It's not like it's some clubbing dress. And I bet no one would say a damn thing about your figure if they knew how easily you could crush them with those thighs!"

A smirk tugged at the corner of your lips. Without quirks, you gave every single one of your classmates a run for their money in hand to hand. Most were fairly easy to beat. You could usually take down Eijiro in about five or six minutes and Katsuki in half the time. Funny enough, it was Ochaco that gave you the hardest time.

"I'll consider it. But help me find something else just in case."

>>><<<

It was another two hours before you finally agreed on an a-line, empire waist green and gold number that had been the bridesmaid's dresses for Tetsutetsu's wedding. Mina thought they were a crime the first time they had to wear them, she had no idea what you were thinking.

That's why the moment you were preoccupied with trying to find yet another dress for the Sunday brunch, Mina pulled out her phone.

You: DO NOT, under any circumstances, allow Y/N to wear the green dress. She's bringing two because she can't decide. Red is the winner!

Jaws: Aw, come on. If she likes it, let her wear whatever she's comfortable in. She'll be under enough stress already.

You: Kirishima, it's the dress from Tetsu's wedding. The one that looks sparkly baby food.

It took him a second to respond.

Jaws: Alright. Understood. I thought you guys looked good but damn, she hated that dress.

You: We all did.

Mina looked at the message chain again and couldn't help but asked, "Are we just gonna ignore the fact that you and Eiji are flying all the way to America, last minute, to attend a wedding together, even though you're not together?"

"We've flown to the states before."

"For work!" She sat up eagerly. "This is different, Y/N! This is a date and not just a, like, casual date but a wedding date!"

You poked your head out of the closet. "No, it isn't. This is a friend helping another friend who stupidly mismarked an RSVP." You corrected very plainly but Mina wasn't one to give up so easily.

She whined, dragging out your name, "You guys have been doing this thing for ages. Why do you have to be so stubborn about it all!"

"What's that supposed to mean!"

Mina started ticking off points on her fingers. "He was the first person you opened up to at UA. You saved his life when he was busy saving Katsuki's life second year. You spent all that time interning together, became sidekicks together. Went to America together for three whole months, ALONE, and you honestly expect me to think there's nothing between the two of you!"

The truth of it all was simple really; 17 year old you had a massive crush on Eijiro Kirishima. He was sweet, always listening to you, providing comfort when you needed it, and always encouraging you to push your limits. He was bright and honest, a little slow in the head from time to time but that made him all the more endearing.

He was also head over heels in love with Katsuki Bakugo.

It was why you never made a move. Never spoke a word of the feelings you harbored. You didn't dare to cross that line with him because you couldn't ever hold a candle to the explosive man.

In the three years Eijiro and Katsuki spent together, your brain finally started registering Eijiro as just a friend, nothing more, and certainly nothing less. You thought your heart had followed suit but it was becoming more and more apparent that wasn't the case. Because the night he showed up at your door, tears in his ruby eyes, every lock you put on your heart broke open.

The same way you couldn't hold a candle to Katsuki, Eijiro couldn't hold one to Izuku. You knew exactly what he was feeling even if you never intended to tell him. Too overcome with fear. If Katsuki came back... that'd be it. Eijiro would go back and you wouldn't even blame him!

Still, the redhead consumed a decent chunk of your heart though, you couldn't deny that after the three months you spent together in America, gathering intel on a smuggling ring, living in the same apartment. The groggy, 'good mornings' when his voice was still scratchy with sleep, hair falling in his eyes. The late nights bandaging wounds and killing cheap bottles of wine while watching terrible American reality shows.

It was those bottles of wine that did you in on your second to last night in America. Supplying you with courage and draining your sense of reason, allowing you to crawl onto his lap, into his arms. You could still remember the pressure of his lips on yours, those sharp teeth gently dragging along your lower lip.

Scared hands tracing the curve of your ass before taking handfuls to squeeze. The laugh that came from you was unlike anything you heard before, something so genuine that you couldn't reproduce.

How it felt when he lifted you up and took you to his bed, laying you down taking his time removing your clothes, and watching with awe as you pulled away his own. The way he looked over top of you, his hair a curtain of red around you just before you closed your eyes, gasping while he filled you.

You also remembered the guilt that crept into your head during the wee hours of the morning, the doubt that was louder than the snores coming from behind you.

It made you slip from under his massive arm, gather up your clothes from his floor, you tucked the blanket around him, and pressed a kiss to his temple before padding out of the room.

You told yourself you'd talk to him about it if he brought it up, but he never did. Not the next morning, or night, not on the plane ride back home, nor anytime since. It was a memory you'd hold close to your heart, one you wouldn't let slip away or share.

"There's nothing there, Mina. We're just good friends is all." You lied with a smile on your face, something that had become surprisingly easy to do.

If only you knew that Mina saw right through it. That Mina already knew the truth of it all.

>>><<<

It was nearly one in the morning when your phone rang. The goofy picture of Eijiro with face half painted at a festival a few years back never failed to make you grin.

"It's a little late." You answered by way of greeting.

"Don't pretend like you were anywhere close to sleeping, you little night owl."

Chuckling at the nickname that had followed you since high school, "What's up, Eiji?"

"I was going over flights. You said in the office that you wanted to leave on Friday?"

"Yeah. I have patrol tomorrow and I didn't find any flights after 6 PM so, Friday is the earliest."

He was quiet on the other line for a moment. "Yeah, you don't have patrol tomorrow, or work at all for that matter."

You sat up a bit straighter in bed. "Um, yes I do."

"No, you don't. I called Mina, asked her if you'd mind taking that shift for you and, since she knows what's happening, she agreed the extra day for travel would do you some good. So, she's covering you tomorrow then you're off work until next Wednesday. As for me, thanks to all that overtime I put in when Denki, Kyoka, and Hitoshi got married, the three of them are splitting up my days so I have until Wednesday too."

Eijiro sounded impossibly proud on the other line, you could almost see the smirk on his face. "You've got this all planned out, don't you?"

"And a bag nearly packed. Just need you to tell me what ties to bring."

"Gold, burgundy, and black."

"Thought your mom said no black for you?"

"She said no black for the wedding. She said nothing about black at the brunch!"

You couldn't wait to put on the tea-length dress that had been a favorite for years. Satin with a lacy top and, best of all, pockets.

He let out a rumbling laugh that fell off into comfortable silence as you laid back in your bed, lights still on, the room still a mess. You tapped the speaker icon and laid the phone on the pillow right beside your head, listing to the various sounds of Eijiro moving around.

A door creaking open, a hanger clattering against another, and a zipper. "And just like that, I'm all set."

"Don't forget your passport or hero license."

"I have one in my wallet and the other in my backpack."

You swiped up on your iPad, off Netflix, and going to google, lazily searching through flights. "So, did you find any good flights since you've clearly been looking?"

Another chuckle, "Eijiro, why are you laughing?" More stifled giggles had you sitting up in bed again. "Just tell me a site you were on. They're just flights, what's so funny?"

"There isn't a site."

"You said you were checking flights."

"And I was... on my family's jet."

"Eiji! No! No, no, no! That is supposed to be for their business or hero things! My stupid cousin's wedding is neither of those things!"

"Relax, Y/N. My family has multiple and they don't have any business trips planned right now anyways. I already cleared it with my mom. Seriously, I just mention your name and she's likely to let me have it for a whole year at least. Plus Todoroki's is back up in working order so the agency is covered too."

Damn, why'd he have to be so good at planning from time to time! You'd completely forgotten about the second jet his family had. Always opting for the larger one since the few missions they needed it for required them to bring fifty or so heroes along.

"Besides, if we fly private, we can land at an airstrip closer to the venue and won't need to drive four hours on top of a ten-hour flight."

"Alright, okay, thank you but, let me take care of the rental car, please. It's the least you can let me do."

"Deal. I just have one more question for ya."

"What's that?"

"Wanna leave tonight?"

You nearly dropped your damn iPad in shock. "Eijiro! What the fuck has gotten into you! It's the middle of the night!"

"I'm excited!" He boomed, "I haven't had a vacation in months!"

"I hate to break this to you, buddy, but this isn't going to be a vacation. You really shouldn't get your hopes up. This isn't going to be a good time with laughs and fun memories... my family, they just, they aren't those kinds of people."

"But we are." He stated matter-of-factly. "If they want to have sticks up their asses then let them! We'll have a good time on our own, laugh and make fun memories! So, what do you say, Y/N? I can be at your place in fifteen. I just gotta put shoes on and grab my keys..."

"Wait, hang on. Are you forgetting that we need someone to, oh, I dunno, FLY THE PLANE! Actually, we need two someone's, can't forget about a co-pilot!"

He hummed happily and you rubbed your temples. "You, you have a pilot and a co, don't you, Eiji?"

"Mhm! There is a company we use. Two can be at the hanger in an hour and every hour after that. I just have to make the call and get the flight plan approved which will be done before I even get to your house."

There was literally no reason to say no. You had mostly everything packed, nothing you needed to get from the store, all you had to do was put on pants and pack up your hygiene bag and you were ready too. Maybe getting there quicker and getting the whole thing over with would be better than staying home dwelling on everything.

"Better put your shoes on."

The glee in his voice, that was enough to make this whole thing worth it, "I'll see you soon."

>>><<<

Eijiro reached into the backseat and plopped a bag down on your lap the very moment you were buckled in. "Had to make a pit stop." He explained.

"It's after two in the morning, where'd you have to..."

"Just open the bag and don't complain."

You found it filled to the brim with all your favorite snacks.

"I'm sure the plane will have a bunch of snacks we can raid but I know for a fact they don't have these." He held up a pack of cookies and creme flavored pocky that had been his favorite for as long as you'd known him, quickly followed by your favorite flavor too. You also found a massive bag of gummy worms and jolly ranchers.

"So, what you're telling me is our teeth are going to rot by the time we land? Not that I'm complaining."

You ripped open the bag of ranchers knowing that was what he'd go for first and sure enough his hand dove inside just as he pulled away from the curb. You could hear his dangerously sharp teeth biting through the rock candy like it was nothing while you still rolled one around your mouth.

Eijiro asked you about the resort you'd be going to, wondering if you'd been there before or what other stuff you guys could do when you weren't dealing with your family. "I figured we could fly back Monday night or Tuesday morning, you know, just play it by ear in case there was anything else we wanted to do."

More than anything, you wished you could just leech a little bit of that excitement from him. The glimpses of his smile you caught as you drove under the street lights made your heart ache.

"What?" He asked with that wide smile of his. You'd been caught staring, red-handed.

"I, uh, I just don't know what to tell you."

You could see the subtle change of his grin, watch as it softened and his hand came to rest on your thigh. "Hey, it's gonna be fine! And if we run into them while out doing stuff, you can just avoid them or hide behind me!" At least hiding behind Eijiro is an easy thing to do, damn mountain of a man.

His thumb slowly brushed back and forth. "'S gonna be okay. I'll beat 'em up if they're assholes!"

You snickered at his Katsuki impression and let the drone of the radio fill the air around you both. Enjoying the silence the rest of the way to the hanger with Eijiro's hand atop your leg.

[abusybuzzingbee]

Wendigo | Supernatural Season 1 Episode 2 Rewrite | Dean x Reader

A/N::: This is another reupload from my previous account under the same @. I hope you newcomers enjoy!

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Major Characters: Dean Winchester, Reader, Sam Winchester

Warnings: Canon level violence, language, Dean and the reader being assholes to each other

Word Count: 7,380

Summary: Post-Dean and the reader’s first big blowout fight, they’re still at each other’s throats, much to the disgruntlement of Sam.

Series Rewrite Masterlist

Season 1 Masterlist

You were sound asleep in the back of the Impala when you were rudely awakened by Dean slamming down on the car’s horn. 

“Jesus fucking Christ,” you groaned, squeezing your eyes shut as you blinked at the blinding sunlight. You slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep out of your eyes as Dean chuckled. 

“Morning, sunshine.”

“Fuck you.”

 Dean looked at you in the rearview mirror. “Aw, somebody’s grumpy.”

“I wouldn’t be if you would wake me up like a normal person.”

“But that’s not as fun,” he pouted. You could see a slight smirk tugging at his lips in the rearview mirror. 

“Asshole.”

“Bitch.”

“Guys,” Sam sighed. He turned to you. “You just woke up and you’re already fighting with him?”

“Yeah, Madelyn, take a joke,” Dean sneered like a bratty child.

“We’ll see how funny you think the joke is when I wake you up by banging pots and pans in your ears.”

“You don’t have pots and pans.”

“I’ll buy some just for the occasion, then.”

“Guys!” Sam shouted over you two.

“Sorry,” you muttered, lying back down across the smooth leather of the bench seat. 

“Nuh-uh,” Dean told you, stealing another glance at you in the rearview mirror, “Up. We’re almost there.”

“Where’s there?”

“Ranger’s station just outside of Blackwater RIdge,” Sam answered for his brother.

“Ranger’s station?”

“Uh, that’s what he just said,” Dean cut in.

“Fuck off, Dean. You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, he does, he’s just being an ass. Blackwater Ridge is in the middle of a forest.”

“Oh...” you trailed off. “And your dad would be there because...?”

Dean rolled his eyes. “If we knew, we wouldn’t be out here, would we?”

You scoffed. You didn’t want to admit that he was right.

***

You and the boys walked into the Lost Creek Ranger’s Station. You took in the various pictures of dead grizzly bears and their hunters adorning the walls, as well as the giant three-dimensional map in the center of the room. In the far right corner stood a desk, and to the left of that desk was a hallway that led to other rooms in the station. 

Sam immediately took interest in the three-dimensional map, speaking as he looked over it. “So Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote.” You watched as he hovered his pointer and index finger over the map, pointing at the different physical features as he spoke about them. “It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place.”

“Dude, check out the size of this freaking bear,” Dean called to his brother from behind you and Sam. You turned, seeing Dean focused on one of the many pictures of the grizzlies with their hunter.

“Would it kill you to focus for a second?” you deadpanned. 

You heard Dean take in a breath to respond, but he was cut off by a voice coming from behind you. 

“You kids aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?”

Startled, you whipped around to see a park ranger standing there.

The younger Winchester came up with a lie in a flash. “Oh, no, sir, we're environmental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper.”

Dean grinned and raised a fist. “Recycle, man.”

‘What the fuck, Dean.’

“Bull.”

‘Ha,’ you thought, ‘I knew he wouldn’t buy it.’

“You're friends with that Haley girl, right?”

You stepped out in front of the two boys. “Yeah, sorry about all this.”

“It’s no trouble,” the ranger replied. “But I’ll tell you exactly what we told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the twenty-fourth, so it's not exactly a missing persons now, is it?”

You shook your head. 

“You tell that girl to quit worrying, I'm sure her brother's just fine.”

“We will,” you told him.

The older Winchester spoke up from behind you as he moved to stand by your right side. “That Haley girl's quite a pistol, huh?”

The ranger chuckled. “That is putting it mildly.”

“Actually you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know, so she could see her brother's return date.”

The ranger eyed Dean curiously but ended up giving him the paper nonetheless.

The three of you walked out of the ranger’s station, Dean holding the permit and laughing to himself. 

“What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?” Sam questioned his brother pointedly.

“What do you mean?”

“The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge, so what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl?” Sam pressed.

Dean stopped on the opposite of the Impala from you and Sam, placing his hands on the hood of the car. “I don't know, maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it?” Dean watched his brother strangely.

“What?”

“Since when are you all shoot first ask questions later, anyway?”

“Since now.” And with that, Sam opened the door and slid into the car. 

“Really?” Dean asked more to himself than anything, shaking his head.

***

You rapped your knuckles against the door of the Collins house. When a pretty girl’s face appeared at the door, Dean swept you to the side with his arm, stepping in front of you. 

“Hey!” you exclaimed. 

Dean ignored you, speaking over your small exclamation. “You must be Haley Collins. I'm Dean, this is Sam, that’s (Y/N), we're rangers with the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. He wanted us to ask a few questions about your brother Tommy.”

Haley studied you all carefully, hesitating. “Lemme see some ID,” she finally said.

Dean pulled out his fake ID and held it up to the screen door. The brunette examined it closely, her eyes flicking from the card to Dean. She opened the door a moment later. “Come on in.”

“Thanks,” you told her. 

As the door swung open, you noticed Haley checking out the Impala. 

“That yours?” she asked Dean.

“Yeah,” he smiled.

“Nice car.”

Haley turns to lead you three into her home. You watched Dean as he mouthed, ‘Oh, my god,’ to Sam, who shook his head and rolled his eyes. 

“If all he does is eye-fuck her this whole hunt, I’m gonna scream,” you whispered to the younger Winchester as you walked into the Collins’ kitchen.

“Yeah, me too,” he whispered back.

You turned your attention from Sam to Haley, who grabbed a bowl off of the countertop. “So if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?”

Haley walked back to the table where a teenage boy sat playing mindlessly with his fork. She placed the soup bowl on the table. “He checks in every day by cell. He emails, photos, stupid little videos—we haven't heard anything in over three days now.”

“Well, maybe he can't get cell reception,” Sam proposed.

“He's got a satellite phone, too.”

“Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?” Dean questioned.

“He wouldn't do that,” the teenager snapped, surprising you. He looked down in embarrassment and grabbed the ladle out of the soup bowl.

Haley placed more dishes on the table. “Our parents are gone. It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other.”

“Can I see the pictures he sent you?” Sam asked her. 

“Yeah,” she answered. She grabbed her laptop and pulled up the pictures her brother sent her. 

“That’s Tommy,” she pointed out, gesturing to a young man with a bright smile on his face, sitting next to another guy you assumed to be a friend of his.

She clicked through another photo before stopping on the still frame of a video. She played the message for you and the boys. 

“Hey Haley, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge. We're fine, keeping safe, so don't worry, okay? Talk to you tomorrow,” Tommy told his sister.

You noticed something flick past in the background during Tommy’s speech. You turned your head to Sam, who seemed to have noticed it, too.

“Well,” the older Winchester started, “we'll find your brother. We're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing.”

“Then maybe I'll see you there,” she replied.

You quirked a brow at her.

“Look, I can't sit around here anymore. So I hired a guy. I'm heading out in the morning, and I'm gonna find Tommy myself.”

“I think I know how you feel,” Dean told her. He was watching her closely.

‘Damn, he’s really going for it,’ you thought. 

“Hey, do you mind forwarding these to me?” Sam asked Haley.

“Sure.” 

***

“You wanna talk about me whoring around with my puppy-dog eyes,” you scoffed as you and the boys walked back to the car after exiting the Collins’s house.

“What?” Dean questioned. 

“She’s hot, you obviously were trying to get in her pants in there,” you shrugged. You did your best impersonation of Dean’s voice. “All, ‘I know how you feel,’ and shit.” 

The three of you got into the car. 

“Oh, come on, (Y/N). We dished that out two weeks ago. And I’m just sympathizing with her, not trying to hook up with her.” Dean started up the car, pulling it away from the front of the Collins’s house. 

“I’m sure,” you deadpanned.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know.” You crossed your arms and stared out of the window, slumping down in your seat. 

“God, you are such a bitch.”

“And you’re a dick.”

“Know-it-all.”

“Man whore.”

“Guys, enough,” Sam begged.

The car went silent. 

***

You were sat next to Sam opposite Dean at a table within a dingy bar. Activity swarmed all around you. Busty waitresses carried trays, guys were going after their flavor of the week, and the buzz of talking and laughing in the building never stopped. 

You took a sip of your beer as Sam spoke. “So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic. Local campers, mostly. But still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there. They were never found.” 

“Any before that?” you asked.

The younger Winchester pulled newspaper articles from his dad’s journal to show to you and Dean.

“Yeah,” the brunet started, “in 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack--” Sam pulled out his laptop, “--And again in 1959 and again before that in 1936.” He opened his laptop which already had the window of Tommy’s video pulled up. “Every twenty-three years, just like clockwork. Okay. Watch this. Here's a clincher. I downloaded that guy Tommy's video to the laptop. Check this out.” He clicked through the three frames in which you saw the shadow appear earlier one by one.

“Do it again,” Dean told his brother, his brow furrowing in concentration.

Sam did so. “That's three frames.”

“That's a fraction of a second,” you noted.

Sam nodded. “Whatever that thing is, it can move.”

Dean smacked his brother on the arm. “Told you something weird was going on.”

“Hey, check this out,” you told them, looking down at the newspaper in front of you. “In 'fifty-nine one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive.”

Dean quirked an eyebrow at you. “Is there a name?”

***

Mr. Shaw led you and the boys through his cluttered, dark house. He had one lamp on in his living room, glowing dimly and doing nothing to illuminate the room. The only reason you could see anything was the moonlight streaming in from the window.

The old man spoke around the cigarette hanging from his lips, his voice gravelly. “Look, ranger, I don't know why you're asking me about this. It's public record. I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a—”

“Grizzly? That's what attacked them?” Sam interrupted. 

Mr. Shaw took another puff of his cigarette and nodded.

“The other people that went missing that year, those bear attacks too?” Dean spoke up. 

Mr. Shaw hesitated.

“What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing?”

Another momentary silence filled the room.

“If we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it,” Dean pressed further. 

“I seriously doubt that,” the old man shook his head. “Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make.” Mr. Shaw sat down in his plaid-printed chair. “You wouldn't believe me. Nobody ever did.”

“Try me,” you told him, your voice gentle. “What did you see?”

“Nothing. It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it, though. A roar. Like...no man or animal I ever heard,”  he told you.

“It came at night?” Sam asked.

The old man nodded. 

“Got inside your tent?”

“It got inside our cabin,” Mr. Shaw said, his face changing as he recollected the event. “I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't smash a window or break the door. It unlocked it.”

You quirked a brow.

“Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up till I heard my parents screaming.”

“It killed them?” you asked.

“Dragged them off into the night.” Mr. Shaw shook his head. “Why it left me alive...been asking myself that ever since.” The man wrapped his hand around his collar. “Did leave me this, though.” He pulled the collar down to reveal three gigantic claw marks. They looked like they had cut deep, as the scars were wide and raised above his skin. “There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon.”

***

You walked behind Dean and Sam down the hallway of your motel. Doors lined the dark, wooden walls. 

You were only half-listening to Dean and Sam’s conversation as you tried to figure out what the creature was. 

“Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. If they want inside, they just go through the walls,” Dean stated. 

“So it's probably something else, something corporeal.”

“Corporeal? Excuse me, professor.”

“Shut up. So what do you think?”

“The claws, the speed that it moves...could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog. Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature, and it's corporeal. Which means we can kill it.”

‘No, no, can’t be a skinwalker. The scar would’ve had four claw marks. Not to mention, puppy claws can’t cut that deep. Same thing with the black dogs,’ you thought as you completely tuned whatever the two brothers were talking about as you three walked outside. ‘Three long-ass claws, ridiculously fast, drags victims off to god knows where, left the little kid alive. Left the little kid alive... kid has less meat on his bones, parents will sustain him. Sustain... every twenty-three years... keeps food at the ready for twenty-three years til he needs more... drags ‘em off into the night...’ You stopped next to the boys by the Impala, still deep in thought as you stared off into space. ‘Too fast to see--’

Sam’s voice brought you out of your thoughts. “We cannot let that Haley girl go out there.”

Dean was loading guns and other weapons from the trunk into an army green duffel bag. “Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her? That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?”

“Yeah,” Sam stated as if it was obvious.

Dean gave an incredulous look to his younger brother. “Her brother's missing, Sam.” 

You reached into the trunk and grabbed two flare guns. 

“She's not gonna just sit this out-- (Y/N), hands to yourself,” he commanded, giving you a hard glare. “Now we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend.” 

“Finding Dad’s not enough?” Sam questioned.

You continued rifling through the trunk and loading things you thought were useful into the bag as Sam spoke. “Now we gotta babysit too?”

Dean neglected to answer Sam’s question as he turned to you. His conversationalist tone he used with Sam completely shifted to hard as he spoke to you. “(Y/N), I thought I told you to stay outta my shit.”

“I’m helping,” you threw back at him. 

“No, you’re not, you’re pissing me off.”

“Well, I think I have a better idea of what the monster is then you do, and you’re picking up the wrong damn weapons. So, yes, I’m helping.”

“And what exactly do you think we’re dealing with?”

“A wendigo.”

“Right, because those are only up in the Minnesota woods, or Michigan, even. They’re not out this far west.” He spoke down to you, and you did not like that at all.

“First of all, I’m not a dumbass, so don’t treat me like one. Second of all, I thought about that. But what else makes claw marks like that? Or moves that fast? Or drags its victims off before killing them?”

Dean went to say something in retaliation, but he seemed to realize you might be right, even though he would never admit it. He turned away from you, shaking his head as he zipped up the duffel bag and slammed the trunk shut. “The two of you, man.” He walked off, but not before chucking the duffel bag at Sam. 

You stared after Dean for a moment before shaking your head and stomping off to your own motel room. 

***

You were slumped in the backseat, arms folded as you stared out of the window of the Impala’s backseat. You chomped down on some mint-flavored gum, enjoying listening to the music that played through the car.

“Can you stop chewing your gum like that?” Dean asked, aggravation clear in his voice.

Truly, you were not being that obnoxious with your gum chewing. Dean just wanted to get pissed at you for something, apparently. Out of spite, you chewed your gum a little louder, making sure your lips smacked together with every chew.

“Mature,” Dean deadpanned. You smirked at him in the rearview mirror.

He parked the car near the place where two other cars were parked. You noticed Haley and the teenage boy standing with another guy. Haley shook her head, clearly disappointed to see the three of you.

You grabbed your duffel bag off the floor of the backseat. You tossed the one for the Winchester brothers to Sam.

“You guys got room for three more?” you heard Dean ask the other group as you shut the back door of the Impala. 

“Wait, you want to come with us?” Haley inquired.

The older man that you assumed was the guy Haley hired was the next to ask a question. “Who are these guys?”

“Apparently, this is all the park service could muster up for the search and rescue,” Haley deadpanned.

“You're rangers?” the guy asked.

“That's right,” Dean nodded.

“And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?” Haley pressed.

Dean looked himself over. “Well, sweetheart, I don't do shorts.” Dean walked past Haley over to Sam, who had passed all of you to get a look at the forest. 

“What, you think this is funny?” the older man snapped. “It's dangerous backcountry out there. Her brother might be hurt.”

Dean turned back to the guide. “Believe me, I know how dangerous it can be. We just wanna help them find their brother, that's all.”

***

Your pack trekked on through the dense trees over dead, fallen leaves that covered the forest floor. You brought up the rear of the group, just behind Sam. Haley and her brother-- whose name you still did not know-- were in front of Sam and behind the other Winchester brother. The older man, whose name you discovered was Roy, led the group.

You noticed Dean and Roy having somewhat of a tense conversation, but did not bother paying close enough attention to their chat to hear what it was about. However, things got interesting for you when Roy grabbed Dean roughly by the arm. 

You watched Roy as he picked up a stick and poked at something on the ground that turned out to be a bear trap.

“You should watch where you're stepping. Ranger.”

You snickered at Roy’s comment.

“It's a bear trap,” Dean announced to the rest of you.

You shook your head, rolling your eyes as you did so. 

You continued your walk as you saw Haley jog up to Dean, who walked a few paces ahead. She spoke in a hushed tone, and you didn’t hear her from how far back you were. She grabbed his arm and spun him around to get him to stop walking.

Dean indicated to Sam to keep walking, so you followed Sam forward. You hummed to yourself as you kept going. You loved music, and so did your mother. She, like you, had a lovely singing voice. The two of you used to sing together when you were little. You were humming one of her favorites, “Dream a Little Dream of Me” by Ella Fitzgerald. 

“Hey, princess!” Dean called to you from a few paces behind. “Keep the humming for when we’re not being hunted by something that finds us by sound.”

“And you yelling at me isn’t gonna attract it?” you called back over your shoulder.

‘Dick,’ you thought.

“This is it. Blackwater Ridge,” Roy announced up ahead.

Sam asked about the coordinates, and as it turns out, they matched the ones John had sent to the brothers. 

Dean walked up to his younger brother, and you followed. “You hear that?” he asked Sam.

“Yeah. Not even crickets.”

“I'm gonna go take a look around,” Roy told the rest of your group.

“You shouldn't go off by yourself,” Sam warned him.

“That's sweet. Don't worry about me.” He waved his gun around to display it, pushing between you and Sam to get back in the lead of the group.

“All right, everybody stays together. Let's go,” Dean commanded.

After a few more minutes of walking, your group decided to have a look around. You noticed drag marks in the dirt, following them to the tattered remnants of a campsite. The tents had been torn open, one of them splattered with blood. Backpacks were destroyed, supplies scattered all over the place, and things from within the tent, like sleeping bags, ended up in pieces on the ground. 

“Haley?” you called to her.

She rushed over to you, letting out a breath when she saw the scene. 

“Oh my God.”

“Looks like a grizzly,” Roy said.

“Tommy?” Haley threw her backpack down and ran across the campsite, calling for her brother.

Sam shushed her, but she kept yelling Tommy’s name.

He shushed her again, a bit of bite to his tone.

“Why?”

“Something might still be out there.”

“Sam.” You pulled him away from Haley.

“Yeah?”

“I followed tracks in the dirt to find the camp. I assume those were made by the bodies when they got dragged away.”

Haley caught your attention when you saw her crying out of the corner of your eye. She had what you assumed was Tommy’s cell phone in her hand. 

Dean walked over to her, crouching down next to her. “Hey,” he said gently, “he could still be alive.”

‘It’s amazing how sweet he is with everyone else but me.’

You were pulled out of your thoughts by a man’s voice yelling for help. His voice was gravelly, almost raw from shouting.

Roy ran after the voice.

You grabbed Dean’s arm before he could run after the rest of the group.

“Dean, I don’t think that’s a--”

He shrugged you off of him, running after Sam and the rest of the pack anyway.

‘Dick.’

You decided it was best for you not to be alone while a wendigo was on the loose, so you opted for running after the others. 

“It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?” Haley asked as you reached your group. They were looking around for the source of the voice but found nothing. 

“Everybody back to camp,” you ordered.

You were the first to reach the campsite, noticing yours and Dean’s duffel bags missing, as well as Haley’s and Roy’s backpacks.

“Our packs!” Haley groaned.

“So much for my GPS and my satellite phone,” Roy commented.

“What the hell is going on?” Haley questioned.

“It's smart,” you informed them. “It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help.”

“You mean someone, some nutjob out there just stole all our gear,” Roy challenged.

“No, Roy, I mean ‘it,’“ you responded.

You grabbed Sam and Dean’s arms, pulling them away from the others. “I need to talk to you guys.”

“Fine,” Dean said, “but I can walk on my own.” He yanked his arm out of your grip.

“Now,” you started once you got a safe distance away from the others, “I’m not gonna say I told you so...” you trailed off.

“Fuck off, (Y/N).” He turned to Sam, raising his pistol in the air. “Well, then this is useless.”

“Yeah,” you started, pulling a flare gun out of the back of your jeans, “but this isn’t.”

“Is that mine?” Dean asked.

“Yup,” you stated, popping the ‘p.’

“I thought I told you to stay outta my shit.”

“And I thought I told you that I knew what we were hunting. But ya didn’t listen to me then, did you? So why should I listen to you?”

“Gimme that,” Dean groaned, ripping the gun out of your hands.

“Hey!”

“We gotta get these people to safety,” Sam prompted, hoping to end the fighting.

You shoved Dean with your shoulder, and he shoved you back as you headed back to camp.

 “All right, listen up, it's time to go. Things have gotten...more complicated.”

Haley seemed slightly offended at the mere suggestion. “What?”

“Kid, don't worry,” Roy piped up. “Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it.”

“It's not me I'm worried about. If you shoot this thing, you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave. Now,” Sam explained.

Roy stepped a little closer to Sam. “One, you're talking nonsense. Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders.”

“Relax,” you told the two men presently competing in a glare-off. 

“We never should have let you come out here in the first place, all right? I'm trying to protect you,” Sam pushed back.

The older man got right up into Sam’s face. “You protect me?” he laughed. “I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you good night.”

“Yeah? It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you, and it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid, sorry ass out of here.”

Roy laughed again, venom dripping from his tone. “You know you're crazy, right?”

“Yeah? You ever hunt a wen—” Dean shoved Sam away from Roy, silencing him.

Haley went after Roy, trying to calm him down. 

“Chill out, alright?” you told Sam.

“Stop. Stop it,” Haley demanded. “Everybody just stop. Look. Tommy might still be alive. And I'm not leaving here without him.”

A silence settled over all of you before Dean spoke up. “It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves.”

“How?” Haley questioned.

***

You were drawing Anasazi symbols in the dirt, using the dim firelight coming from behind you to see what you were doing in the dark of night. 

You noticed Sam sitting alone on a fallen tree by the edge of the campsite. Dean made a comment about Roy’s skepticism about your whole situation before heading over to Sam. They seemed to be having a deep conversation, so you left them alone for a little bit.

You stood at the sound of a twig snapping, reaching for the flare gun, only to remember that Dean had it.

‘Dick.’

“Help!” the wendigo cried.

"He's trying to draw us out,” Dean told everyone, “Just stay cool, stay put.”

“Inside the magic circle?” Roy questioned, tone filled to the brim with sarcasm as he scanned the tree line.

“Help! Help me!” it tried one more time. When it realized none of you were coming after it, it growled.

“Okay, that's no grizzly,” Roy finally admitted, pointing his gun at the sound.

Haley was attempting to keep her younger brother calm as something rushed through the bushes right behind her. She let out a shriek as Roy shot at the rustling. And then again, he shot.

“I hit it!” the older man exclaimed, running to see what he hit.

‘Coconuts and tobacco,’ you thought as the scents filled your nose. You sprinted after Roy, yelling for him to stop. 

“It's over here! It's in the tree!” he yelled. 

You got there just in time to see the wendigo reach down for Roy. You leaped into action, grabbing onto Roy’s foot as the wendigo began pulling Roy upwards. You planted your feet in the ground under the roots of the tree, pulling as hard as you could, but the wendigo gave a hard yank and pulled you off of the ground, too. You knew there was nothing more you could do for Roy, and due to the fact that Roy hadn’t been screaming during that tug-of-war session, you assumed he was dead.

You dropped to the ground, landing flat on your ass. 

Dean and Sam ran up just as you stood up and dusted your pants off. 

“It would’ve helped if I would’ve had the damn flare gun just now, Dean,” you scolded him. “I could’ve killed it and saved Roy, too.”

Sam figured another argument was about to ensue, so he went back to the camp to check on Haley and Ben. 

“Well, maybe don’t be so reliant on me to have all of your guns for you. Get your own damn flare gun, and stay outta my stuff,” he threw back.

“Why does it matter to you so much? We’re a team now, we work together. Basically, we all have joint custody over each others’ weapons,” you argued.

“No,” Dean said gruffly, “we are not a team. You... are a stowaway. I don’t even know why you’re here! You don’t know our dad. Hell, you barely know us.”

“I stuck around because I cared and I wanted to help! You’re an asshole, but Sam’s my friend. So forgive me if I’m just trying to be supportive of someone who’s just lost his girlfriend.”

“Whose death you seemed to have predicted. I’m not ruling out the possibility that you didn’t somehow kill her.”

“Kill her? Are you hearing yourself right now, Dean? I was with you and Sam the whole time, how could I have killed her?” You stared at him incredulously as he ran a hand through his hair.

“How the hell else would you have known to turn the car around before Sam’s apartment got deep-fried?”

“First of all, that’s none of your business. Second of all, I had nothing to do with Jessica’s death.”

“I think it is my business,” he stated firmly, stepping closer to you.

“Too bad, dickhead. Let’s head back to camp before we kill each other.” You sidestepped him, storming away. 

***

You refused to sleep that night, too busy keeping watch over the camp and too uncomfortable to sleep inside one of the destroyed tents like the rest of your crew did. It felt disrespectful to you. 

You hugged your knees, resting your head on top of them against a tree near the outskirts of the “magic circle” as Roy had called it.

‘Roy.’

You felt so guilty for his death. He was a douchebag, but you still didn’t want him to die. 

‘If only Dean wasn’t a dickbag and let me keep the gun, Roy would be alive right now.’

You stood up, pacing around the area, trying to keep yourself awake. You yawned, rubbing a hand over your eyes.

“Why don’t you get some sleep,” Dean murmured in your ear.

You inhaled sharply, jumping away from him. “Dammit, Dean,” you breathed. “You scared the shit outta me.”

“I meant to.” You could see the smirk on his face barely illuminated by the pale moonlight shining through the trees. 

“You’re a dick, and I’m fine. I can’t sleep in those tents.”

“Well, sorry we don’t have a cabin for you, princess,” Dean sassed.

"It’s not about a cabin, Dean. It’s about the fact that the people who used to sleep in them might be dead,” you responded. 

A silence fell between the two of you.

“Well if you’re not gonna sleep, I am,” he told you, for the first time since you had met him speaking without an edge to his voice. He walked back over to the tents. 

‘What a weird dude.’

***

Morning came around, all of your group members minus Roy assembled in the clearing. You were dog tired, but you needed to power through the day. You sat next to Sam beneath the same tree you occupied last night, leaning your head back against its trunk. Sam held his dad’s journal in his hand, pulling at a lanyard attached to it. 

You were watching Haley, Dean, and Ben having a conversation about the wendigo and its origins when Sam spoke up.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” he asked you.

“No,” you groaned, squeezing your eyes shut.

Sam shook his head, chuckling at you. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I know you weren’t asleep either.” You rolled your head toward him.

He turned to look at you.

“I could hear you tossing and turning all night.”

Sam looked back down, playing with the lanyard again. “C’mon,” he finally said softly, “we should get going.”

He stood, extending his hand to pull you up.  You gladly took it, walking over to Dean and the Collinses. 

You noticed an empty beer bottle, a white cloth, and a lighter among the supplies scattered about the camp. 

“What are you doing?” Dean asked.

“Well, since you staked your claim over the flare gun, I get a Molotov cocktail.”

“Bringin’ that up again are we?” Exasperation was clear in his tone.

“Mm-hmm.” You shoved the cloth into the mouth of the bottle.

“Guys--” Sam butted in. “Focus, please.”

“I am focused!” you protested. “And productive. See?” You held up the lighter and the cocktail. 

“Impressive. You put a towel in a bottle.”

“You know what, Winchester--”

“Will the both of you stop?” You and Dean turned to look at Haley. “We gotta find Tommy. Now let’s go.”

The five of you started off, heading in the direction of the drag marks. They circled around the camp and stopped deeper into the woods. You and Dean walked side by side at first, before you noticed how close the two of you were. You sped up your walk, getting slightly ahead of him. Dean noticed what you were doing and walked in front of you, too. The two of you got angrier with each time one passed the other, and you noticed the two of you were leading the group. Everyone else had just let you through. You spotted something out of the corner of your eye, your angry expression softening. 

“Claw marks,” you noted, looking at the bloody ones on the tree in front of you.

“Yeah, no shit,” Dean chided.

“Dean--”

“Okay,” Sam said, dragging out the ‘o.’ 

You and Dean glared at each other but kept moving through the forest behind Sam.

A few minutes of walking had passed when you heard a chomping noise coming from behind you. You turned around to see Dean holding his bag of peanut M&Ms.

“Seriously?” you questioned monotonously.

“What?” he asked, mouth full of the chocolate candies. You slowed your walk, getting side-by-side with him.

“You’ve just had that the whole time and didn’t bother telling me?” You reached for the bag, but Dean snatched it away. “Hey!”

“Hands off my stuff.” He popped a few more into his mouth. “I think we've had a conversation about that before.”

“You sound like a grumpy old grandpa.”

“Dean,” Sam called, getting his attention.

Dean caught up to Sam, and you followed close behind. 

“What is it?” the older Winchester questioned.

Dean and Sam looked around the clearing you were in at all of the bloody claw prints marking the trees.

“You know, I was thinking, those claw prints, so clear and distinct. They were almost too easy to follow.”

A grin spread across your face as you snatched the bag of M&Ms out of the arms of a distracted Dean.

“Hey!”

You laughed, shoving a few in your mouth. You were silenced by a growl coming from above you. You held your Molotov cocktail in one hand and your lighter in the other, the bag of candy now tucked under your arm. 

You pulled your eyes from the tree leaves when Haley shrieked. You turned around and saw her scrambling to her feet and Roy’s body on the ground. 

Dean bent down and looked Roy over. “His neck's broke.”

A growl came from directly behind you. 

You sprinted further into the woods, yelling for the others to follow your lead. You took the M&Ms from under your arm before they fell, holding those in your left hand and the cocktail and lighter in your right.  

You turned your head around to check for the rest of your group, but you saw only Haley a few paces behind you. You did a double-take, yelling for Sam, when you slammed into something hard. You fell flat on your back, looking up into the face of the Wendigo. 

Haley screamed as the Wendigo grabbed you both, one in each hand. It had you by your leg, and you had managed to hold onto the M&Ms but not the cocktail when you fell. You ripped the bag all the way open with your teeth, dropping the candies as the Wendigo sprinted through the woods. You lifted your head up to see a miner’s cave a little ways off in the distance before the Wendigo carelessly rammed your head into a tree, knocking you out cold. 

***

“(Y/N)?”

You could barely hear Dean’s voice through the haze that seemed to cloud your senses.

“(Y/N)? Wake up.” 

You opened your eyes, blinking a few times. You noticed Dean’s hands on either side of your face, slightly squishing your cheeks together.

“Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?” you let out, your voice a little deeper and gravelly. 

“I am not short,” Dean grumbled as he began cutting you down.

Despite your still foggy state of mind, you found it within yourself to go through another argument with Dean. “Oh, come on, Dean. It’s a Star Wars reference--” Dean helped you down, tossing your arm over his shoulder. “--Don’t take it so seriously. And I can walk on my own, thank you.” You ripped your arm out of his grip, immediately stumbling as you took your first step.

“No, you can’t.” The older Winchester grabbed you again, putting your arm back around his shoulders. 

You groaned in pain as Dean set you down against the wall of the cave. 

“You okay?” Sam asked you.

“Yep. Yep. All good,” you groaned, trying to sound convincing. “Where is it?”

“He's gone for now,” Sam told you.

“Cut him down!” you heard Haley order. You looked over to see her standing next to Tommy, who was hanging from a meat hook by his wrists like you were. 

Sam and Dean rushed to help Tommy. 

You rolled your head to the side to see your group’s bags sitting in the corner. 

“Sweet,” you muttered, instantly perking up. You crawled over to them, grabbing yours and standing.

“Dean come get your shit since you don’t want me touching it.”

“Not a good time for this, (Y/N),” Dean sighed.

“Well if I would’ve touched it, you would’ve started the fight.”

He rolled his eyes at you, picking up his bag while Ben and Haley helped their brother walk. 

“Dean, can I pretty please with sugar on top borrow a flare gun?” you asked, dramatically batting your eyes at him.

“Fine,” he grumbled. He dug around for the other one you had packed in his bag, handing it to you when he found it. 

“Wow. Didn’t think you’d actually give it to me.”

“I hope you know how to use that thing.”

“Oh, puh-lease, I learned to use a gun before I learned my ABC’s.”

Dean shook his head. “Let’s just go.”

Your pack traveled down the mine train corridor, fear filling all of your hearts when a growl came from somewhere within the mine.

“Looks like someone's home for supper,” Dean commented.

“We'll never outrun it,” Haley stated.

Dean looked back at his brother. “You thinking what I'm thinking?”

“Yeah, I think so,” he sighed.

“Uh, he is, but I’m not,” you piped up.

Dean ignored you. “All right, listen to me. Stay with (Y/N) and Sam. They’re gonna get you out of here."

“What are you gonna do?” Haley questioned.

Dean winked at her and started walking. “Chow time, you freaky bastard!” he yelled. “Yeah, that's right, bring it on, baby, I taste good.”

You could hear him continuing to yell, but he was too far away at that point to make out what he was saying.

“All right, come on! Hurry!” Sam urged, leading the Collinses down the tunnel.

You got behind the family, your back facing Tommy’s, pointing your flare gun down the tunnel. 

You heard growling coming from within the mine. 

“Get him outta here,” you ordered Haley and Ben.

“(Y/N), no,” Haley protested.

“Go! Go! Go!” Sam pushed them.

“Come on, Haley!”

Her younger brother’s words finally got the brunette to leave and continue helping Tommy limp down the mine corridor.

You were poised to shoot, staring down into the darkness of the mine shaft. “Come on, you bitch,” you muttered under your breath.

The monster crept up from the shadows, catching you off-guard. You still landed a solid shot with the flare gun, watching the monster go up in flames. 

You scrunched your nose in disgust at the smell of its burning flesh but took satisfaction in watching the son of a bitch disappear. 

When all that remained of the wendigo were ashes, you could see Dean standing opposite you in the corridor.

“And you didn’t wanna trust me with a flare gun,” you commented, smiling proudly.

“Can it, (Y/N).”

***

You observed the scene around you as the EMT before you tended to your brush burns and cuts.

Sam and Ben were talking to the police, describing the “grizzly attack” they had just experienced.

Dean was leaning on the hood of his car and Haley stood in front of him. At one point in their conversation, Haley kissed Dean’s cheek, making a wide grin spread across his face. 

Sam came up behind Haley with Ben, and she put her arm around her younger brother’s shoulders. She said something to Sam before yelling to you, “Thanks (Y/N)!”

You nodded at her, smiling. 

“You’re all good,” the EMT said to you.

“Thank you so much.”

You walked over to the Impala.

“Man, I hate camping,” you heard Dean say as you got closer to the two brothers.

“Me too,” the younger of the two responded.

“Me three.”

The ambulance carrying the Collinses drove away behind you, its sirens blaring through the quiet of the night.

“Sam,” the older Winchester started, “you know we're gonna find Dad, right?”

“Yeah, I know.” He paused. “But in the meantime? I'm driving.”

Dean tossed his brother the keys.

“Aw, man. I wanted a turn,” you whined.

“Uh-uh, missy. It’s taken twenty-two years for him to let me drive. You got a long ways to go,” the younger of the two brothers smirked.

“Damn.” You climbed into the backseat, feigning hurt. “Someday.”

“How ‘bout ‘never,’” Dean quipped.

“I like ‘someday’ better.”

“Well, it’s not happening, so you can forget it--”

“Guys!”

Tags are open! Feedback is always appreciated!

Series Rewrite Tags:

@rach5ive​ @ppeachygemss​

[tev-the-random]

A casual Sonic Forces rewrite + some headcanons, because why not

Part 1 – Infinite and Episode Shadow

Just a warning: none of the images used here belong to me! They all belong to SEGA – the game screenshots, the official art and the comic pages.

Next Part ->

I have yet to see the Sonic Movie, because the universe seems devoted on not letting me do so, for some reason. Being as desperate for Sonic content but as determined to not receive spoilers from the movie as I am, I decided to go for the next coolest thing: writing really long and random posts about a game that came out three years ago and no one cares about anymore.

This shall be fun!

(Update: as of posting this, I have finally watched the movie! But I don’t want to throw this away, so I’ll post it anyway. We can have a nice talk about the movie later.)

*“Fist Bump instrumental” intro plays*

*“This is Our World: a New Hero” plays in the background*

I’m the type of person to always try and see the best in every game, and Sonic Forces is no different. Despite its obvious flaws, I love this beautiful game! Mostly the concept of it is one of the coolest things I’ve seen this last decade, but the execution… lacks on a few things. I mostly just fill in the gaps with my imagination and enjoy it nevertheless, but, upon going through the tag and seeing that some of my concerns were shared by other people, I decided to try my hand at rewriting Sonic Forces juuust a tiny bit. Just for fun!

For this first part (and I have no idea how many parts we should have), I’d like to share some of my ideas about…

*Infinite’s Theme plays in the background as I try hard not to sing along*

Oh, my poor jackal boy, what do we do with you? Despite being so heavily promoted and having an undeniably awesome theme song, Infinite’s backstory and general development throughout the game came out as lacking, having the self-proclaimed edgelord become a laughingstock amongst most fans. Nevertheless, I still love Infinite, and it saddens me how much wasted potential he had; it’s like they were trying to write a really interesting character, but gave up halfway through.

So yeah, let’s talk about it. And let us begin with his origin story.

I believe you are all familiar with this scene:

I… I want to defend my boy here, I really do. But honestly, the way this was portrayed, it just sounded like he was throwing a childish tantrum. It seems as if his entire motive for becoming a villain was “Shadow beat him and called him weak”; dude, you’re not the only one: Shadow does this to basically everybody who’s ever crossed his way! We’re not given a reason as to why Infinite gets so bloody offended, nor are we given a reason why we should care.

So, how can we fix this? I think we should firstly focus less on “I’M NOT WEEEEAAAAK!!! URRAAAAGHH!!!” and more on:

It doesn’t need to be – and I don’t even think it can be – as sad of a situation as the Rivaille Squad in Shingeki No Kyojin or anything, but I believe that showing us that Infinite lost something important would already do wonders to his backstory.

The simplest way – that is, the way that doesn’t majorly change how things go, but does give the jackal a clearer motive – to do this would involve the ever so humble inclusion of two new cutscenes and one new in-game battle, plus a few tweaks to some already existing scenes.

Episode Shadow begins not with the usual reading introduction, but rather, with Shadow’s voice. “I was a couple of months before the Doctor took over the world. The first time I encountered him… I didn’t know what he would become.” Then we open with what used to be a couple of months prior (aka where they presented Infinite’s memory, aka where they screwed up), so we’ll go through things in a chronological order instead of having a flashback inside of a prequel, because that’s confusing AF.

Now, instead of starting the Mystic Jungle level immediately, we should get a small cutscene: Shadow gliding through the jungle, cool camera angles/lighting and all – maybe something similar to the opening scene of Episode Shadow in Sonic 06? –, on his way to invade Eggman’s base as a voice coming from the hedgehog’s communicator reminds him about his mission (yep, that’s some subtle exposition to the audience so we don’t think Shadow is there just because). My idea for said mission would be the simple task of retrieving a Chaos Emerald (yeah, remember those?) from Eggman. Nothing too serious; just another day, another emerald stolen like usual; we’ve seen this before, there’s no need for a long dialogue.

As the black-and-red blur crosses the screen, the camera pans to a group of people hiding above in the trees: Squad Jackal. Infinite is not among them. One of the jackals asks “where’ the boss?” to which another one replies that he’s on the other side of the base/talking to the Doctor/whatever and they have no time to waste; their mission is to take down the intruder and protect the base. We get something in the lines of “the boss is counting on us. Expect no mercy, show no weakness. Let’s go!” and the camera fades out as the squad drops from the trees and runs after Shadow.

I believe that having the phrase “show no weakness” – or any possible reference to “I’m not weak”, really – appear earlier as seemingly common and then have it become something the character gives a lot of importance to due to consequences and parallels sounds a bit more interesting than having Infinite’s inferiority complex come out of nowhere.

The Mystic Jungle level plays as usual, except the dialogue in the background doesn’t say that “the Defence Squad has already been completely annihilated”, but rather that “the Defence Squad is on the case. They’re the best mercenaries there are, Shadow won’t stand a chance!” because Doctor Eggman is naive like that.

Once we reach the end of the level there’s another change: a boss battle against Squad Jackal. You see, we don’t want to hear the squad was taken down like some sort of lazy exposition, because it feels incomplete; we want to participate, we want to be the protagonist and see with our own eyes just what is Infinite’s squad. This gives faces and voices to something that will become an important plot point instead of just telling us “yeah, this happened or whatever”. This could also play as some sort of sympathy point for Infinite, because we, while in control of Shadow, took down his squad; it makes the villain’s animosity towards Shadow and his general anger at least a bit more understandable.

The idea is that this battle should play as some sort of field fight – that is, differently than most boss battles in Sonic Forces, this is not a racing track where you attack your enemy while running, but rather a large secluded area, much like the one we get in the fight between the Custom Hero and the DeathEgg Robot –, where squad members would attack individually in different patterns before going for a group attack. The individual jackals would have both projectile (perhaps something like a wispon, knives or some Eggman invention to keep it family friendly enough?) and close-ranged attacks, while the group attack would consist of this mass of wild jackals changing at you, trying to run you over. The opportunity windows could be either the moment when the opponents switch or band together for the group attack.

(I don’t know, maybe some of you can think of better ways to fight the Jackal Squad? This is just a random idea! I’d like to hear different ones!)

Once the fight is over, we get another cutscene: Shadow stands among the fallen jackals – don’t worry, they’re… sleeping… yeah, there’s no visible blood, they’re not dead… except they’re totally dead – and looks around for a second or two. His expression is indecipherable, and he soon leaves without saying a word – one might say he feels bad for them, or maybe he doesn’t give a damn; we leave that open to interpretation. Not a moment passes and we get to see the leader of the squad arriving at the scene. The camera moves in a circle around him as he looks at his fallen comrades in shock. How did this happen? They were the strongest, how could his whole squad be dead? This is a rather touching moment, where Infinite sticks his sword (because in his origins comic he used to have a super cool red sword and I want to pretend we have a reason for it not existing in the game) to the ground; there’s a feeling of anger and vengeance going on as we get a closer look at the last standing jackal. He clenches his fists and faces the direction of Shadow. “Expect no mercy, show no weakness,” he says in an infuriated, strangled voice. He starts to run and the camera fades out.

(Look at his sword and his squad, man. I do wish we could have seen them in the game…)

When the camera fades in again, we get that exact same cutscene from the game. Blah blah, “destroyed my squad”, blah blah, “ultimate mercenary”, a legendary ass whooping and Infinite falls to the ground, weak, pathetic and defeated.

Now, I’d like to add just a few lines to their dialogue, because this:

Doesn’t really sound like Shadow to me. I mean, man: you beat this random guy to the ground, called him worthless and pathetic out of nowhere and then you just leave? I know Shadow is rather apathetic and he’s supposed to be savage and all, but this just felt kind of out of place…

So instead of going full rude mode, what Shadow actually says is:

‘You’re part of the Defence Squad, aren’t you? Why would a bunch of mercenaries work for the Doctor? What is he hiding?’

‘The doctor paid well enough to not have his secrets spilled,’ Infinite retorts while trying to get up. He’s too hurt to do much, but he’s still willing to fight. He looks at Shadow with fiery eyes as he continues, ‘My squad… you took them down like they were nothing… why wouldn’t someone as strong as you be a mercenary?’

‘Mercenary work is for the weak,’ the hedgehog states matter-of-factly. ‘I’ve sworn to protect, not to follow the dirty line of work you did.’

This blows Infinite’s mind and he simply stares at Shadow, dumbfounded. He murmurs, ‘weak? How dare you, I’m not… We’re not weak! We’re the squad o-’

‘Where’s the Chaos Emerald?’ The jackal’s statement is completely ignored. However, Infinite is having none of this, so tries to attack Shadow once again in a fit of rage, only for the hedgehog to give him a signature roundhouse kick free of charge.

(Image merely illustrative)

‘What a waste of my time,’ Edgelord Number 1 says, aware that he’s not getting any useful information from this. He steps closer and Edgelord Number 2 flinches, ‘here’s some advice: don’t show your face around me ever again, or else I will finish you.’

And with that, Shadow teleports away, leaving Infinite to his existential crisis. He wasn’t able to avenge his friends; he wasn’t able to protect the base; heck, he wasn’t even able to hold his title of ultimate mercenary! How useless of a leader was he? Were mercenaries truly weak? Everything they’ve done… was it all worthless? Show no weakness… what did it even mean? They were all defeated, and Infinite can’t shake the feeling that he’s to blame for it. Wasn’t he supposed to be the best?

‘What is this? I’m…’ He looks at his hands, which are trembling ‘I’m shaking? I flinched? I... We failed… How pathetic… All because…’

Infinite stops as if he’s just gotten a moment of clarity. He then gets up and starts walking inside Eggman’s base. ‘I’m not weak,’ he says in a decided, chilling whisper; it’s almost scary. The view is set at the entrance, right in front of the jackal so that he starts blocking the light from the outside as he slowly walks towards the camera - while saying in that scary voice, “No mercy, no weakness”.

(I can totally see Liam O’Brien delivering this line perfectly…)

Then the last expository narrating happens about the same, except that Shadow narrates it – giving continuity to the fact that he was the one who started narrating this episode for a reason I will talk about later –, so we change a few words to match his speech more; it’s all in the third person and very husky and brooding, but with a subtle note of dread (oh, if only Jason Griffith would voice it… No disrespect to Kirk Thornton, but he just doesn’t hit Shadow’s perfect voice like Jason did; for me, at least. His Orbot voice is fantastic, though).

Now, instead of having Infinite looking forward for a few seconds before he gets the Phantom Ruby out of nowhere and places it in his chest very anti-climatically, we’ll do something different: as soon as he puts on the mask, he starts walking away, and we change settings to a dimly lit room, where we see Infinite from behind, fitting the frame perfectly. Following the beat of the background music, the camera changes to a close shot of his masked face as he’s holding the Phantom Ruby, which is glowing, reflecting on his mask and giving us a beautifully red-lit scene; it’s possible to hear very low, indiscernible whispers coming from the jewel. We then hear a small, evil chuckle from the masked jackal – he already sounds rather different from the guy who stuck his sword to the ground in honour of his friends earlier. The screen goes black, the whole “I was… Reborn!” thing dramatically happens in Infinite’s echoing voice and the not-flashback is over.

(I know this last part was quite specific and oddly detailed, but I had the scenes very clear in my head I wanted to try conveying how intimidating it looked to me o3o)

Ok, now that that’s done, prepare yourselves for an intermission. And by that, I mean prepare yourselves for a long analytical commentary on what I just wrote.

*”This is Our World: Phase 2″ plays in the background*

(Who is Shadow working for again? I don’t even know, man…)

Shadow isn’t just the guy who called Infinite pathetic. He’s the guy who killed Infinite’s squad (his friends) without any apparent remorse – and to be hypocrite as to say he’d sworn to protect when he just did something like this (yeah, Infinite doesn’t know any context of Shadow’s life, so of course he doesn’t understand what he meant); the guy who ruined everything he had going with his new job as leader of the Defence Squad; the guy who put him several levels under what he thought he was; the guy who questioned his entire way of living and the guy who put him under a lingering threat; “don’t show your face around me ever again” feels more intimidating now. Not only that, but, despite how Infinite might hate Shadow, he recognizes him as strong, admirable even – “why wouldn’t someone as strong as you be a mercenary?” Remember that Infinite himself is a mercenary; to actually acknowledge someone would be good at something you’re good at, specially someone you don’t like, has to be a sign of admiration, albeit a frustrating one. All of this puts a lot more of weight on how Infinite thinks of Shadow and why being stronger than the hedgehog is so important to him.

I made it so that “expect no mercy, show no weakness” is something like the Jackal Squad’s motto, their philosophy. I like to think it means that they should never count on someone’s mercy, for their enemies won’t spare them; they should always go into battle aware that they might actually be fighting for their lives. At the same time, they should always stand their ground and never let anyone think they can take advantage of a squad member. This is what the jackals live for. But seeing as Infinite’s world has just been shattered and he failed hard on everything, he revises his mentality. “No mercy, no weakness” is what he’s going for now, as he wants to be above everyone, he wants to effectively be the strongest and for people to know that; he will be the one who doesn’t spare others, and he won’t be weak at all. Never again would a failure cost him that much, for never again would he fail.

To have Infinite place the Phantom Ruby on his own chest in Episode Shadow contradicts the opening scene of the main campaign. Remember the episode is a prequel to Sonic Forces’ main game, so it shouldn’t be completely detached from it; things must make sense when put together. As the main game begins by showing us Infinite inside of a tube in Eggman’s lab, we can assume one of two things: he’s either a robot/biological experiment created entirely by the scientist, or he’s a guy who’s been experimented on, thus Eggman was the one who placed the Phantom Ruby on him. With this in mind, it wouldn’t make sense to show us Infinite doing something if you’re going to tell us that he couldn’t have possibly done it on his own. But to have him hold the ruby as someone who deeply desires its powers and who listens to its ominous whispering? Not only does it line better with the aforementioned scene, but it also makes Infinite seem more prone to the ruby’s power (instead of just… you know, “random angry dude”).

As this intermission has gone on long enough, I’ll only make a brief commentary on the Phantom Ruby: I like the idea of the ruby being somewhat alive and exerting influence over Infinite. Now, I won’t say it’s the kind of influence where it justifies his horrible behaviour or the awful things he did. It’s less “mind-control” and more “that best friend who always encourages you and never calls you out on your bullshit”. Its grooming Infinite’s ego and just nudging him to keep making bad decisions, to keep shutting himself in this new reality where he’s all powerful and above everyone else. So it’s the jackal’s pride, spite and grief, along with Eggman’s overall encouragement and the Phantom Ruby’s influence all put together that, in a general sense, make Infinite what he is. (I can go into more detail about this idea once I make a Part 2.)

Mission Accomplished: “angry bitchy boy turned edgy, OP and unimpressed” changed his status to “tragic boy turned edgy, bitter and extremely power-hungry”.

Intermission’s over, let’s get back to the story!

With Infinite’s backstory slightly redone (or rather, shown under a different light), I could stop right here. But I don’t want to, oh no! I say we take this a few steps further and just finish Episode Shadow! Yeah, I told you this was going to be a long post.

*”Battle with Infinite: Second Bout” plays in the background*

Ok, now we cut to a few months later, where Episode Shadow would originally begin. Rouge comments that Omega was on recon mission in that “unknown base of operations that seems to be totally outside the chain of command for Eggman’s army” (whatever that is supposed to mean) when he spotted an unidentified masked person with strange energy readings and an unknown battle ID. Omega reported a “large scale troop” and… that’s it, he just stopped talking. Rouge then talks about that “new weapon” Eggman was supposedly developing and sends Shadow to the base to investigate along with Omega. She makes a remark about how they should get the entire Team Dark together for this (“It should be fun”), but Shadow dismisses the idea, saying that he’s enough on his own. “Omega said the same thing. You two go together like chilli and hot dogs.”

We can keep this at the whole “dialogue on screen” thing. I don’t really mind and it sure spares the budget.

The City stage plays as usual, except the dialogue in the background changes a bit, because Team Dark bickering (or just talking in general, I love this team so much) is my jam.

‘E-123 Omega here. Extermination proceeding without incident. No problems to report.’

‘Omega!’ Rouge exclaims, ‘Why have you stopped responding earlier? We- wait, extermination? This is supposed to be a recon mission, what are you doing?!’

‘I was spotted. Priorities conflicted; therefore I decided to eliminate the enemy altogether. New Mission Objective: Defeat Eggman.’

‘But you can’t go making a scene like that!’

‘See, this is what happens when you send the giant killer robot for this kind of op,’ Shadow sasses. And I’ll imagine Jason’s voice for this too, thank you.

‘I have several reports of recon missions where you retaliated, Shadow.’

‘I might have to join you boys soon enough. I turn my back for five seconds and this happens…’ Rouge comments in a tired voice.

Omega is ready to start robotically recounting the reports of failed recon missions where Shadow retaliated, but he is suddenly cut by static and the vague sound of the Phantom Ruby. Rouge tries to contact him again and we get small bits of his original lines here – “All sensors offline”, “Casualty report”, “Unidentified system intrusion. Emergency withdrawal!” and “I am E-123 Omega, the most powerf-sjfpstswq”, that stuff – before his communication is completely cut. Shadow asks something like “what’s going on?”, but his communication with Rouge is cut as well. We play whatever’s left of the level in silence (except for the sweet background music).

(Oh yeah, this happened or whatever…)

Now, I know the next scene is a screen dialogue again, and I know I just said I don’t mind it, but watching this:

… Is so bloody uncomfortable. This feels dumb. This is so dumb. I feel like they robbed us an epic scene in exchange of some awkward reading with absolutely no context. What the hell is “!” supposed to mean?! What did Infinite do?! If I wanted to imagine the action scenes all on my own, I’d spend my time daydreaming! What, did they not know what to do here so they just threw in some random lines to fill the gap between this and the next level?!

… Sorry, I got a little carried away. This simple scene frustrates me a lot by not existing. So yeah, we’re throwing in a cutscene.

(I just noticed how salty this post is getting. This was not my intention at all, I still love this game, oh dear…)

Shadow reaches the edge of the city and encounters a dark silhouette hovering just above the flames that cover the ground; there’s debris scattered everywhere. The figure has its back turned, and the world seems to glitch ever so slightly around them.

‘The world’s most powerful robot is no more a challenge than crabmeat. Even the Doctor’s most daring designs can’t compete with my power… It is without peer,’ the figure chuckles to themselves.

Shadow starts approaching silently, analysing the situation. Despite this being Omega’s location, he can’t see the robot.

‘Wonder how easy it would be to end this entire planet. Don’t you…’

Suddenly, the voice speaks close to the hedgehog’s ear:

‘…Shadow?’

He turns around to see that the unknown person has appeared behind him, which throws him off. The hedgehog takes several steps back and puts himself in a fighting stance.

It’s hard to see past the jackal’s mask, but he seems amused as he looks down on Shadow. Twistedly so.

‘How wonderful to see that our not-so-tall, dark and brooding guest has arrived. I’ve been waiting for you, Shadow~’

‘Tell me what you did to Omega. Now,’ the agent demands.

‘Oh, come now, Shadow. Our long-awaited reunion and still you spout such nonsense.’ Infinite floats down to stand a few meters away from his enemy.

‘I don’t know you,’ Shadow states. The masked jackal tilts his head, but doesn’t say anything, so he asks again, ‘what have you done to Omega?’

‘Only what is ought to be done when someone stands in your way. Weaklings like E-123 Omega are of no consequence, don’t you agree?’

‘The only thing of no consequence is that big mouth of yours.’

Shadow launches himself at Infinite, who easily avoids his attack. The jackal starts laughing manically.

‘Ah, I suppose you would think so,’ he states. ‘After all, it’s not so funny to be the one losing the battle, is it? I am Infinite. You say you do not know me, and yet I remember you so very well… I’ve lost all I was, I’ve become what I am because of you. Savour that thought as I return the favour.’

Guess what happens? That’s right, we get another boss battle! I think it’s only fair that Infinite gets to have his rematch with Shadow. Besides, it establishes a comparison with the “old” Infinite and how much stronger he’s now – from Shadow’s perspective, that is.

I have no idea how this battle would play out. Maybe something similar to his second battle in the main story (no, don’t worry: we’ll talk about the exceeding amount of Infinite battles in the next part), with the 2D layout. Let’s say Infinite is surrounded with his Red Cubes of Doom while he’s not attacking, so you can’t touch him. Maybe he makes the fire glitch and get closer to you at some point. Maybe he makes clones and you have to defeat each of them to get to the real guy, I don’t know! Tag your ideas, I’d love to see them! ^^

Anyway, once the battle’s over and Shadow “wins” (because Infinite is not defeated, he’s just done with this fight), the jackal might say something in the lines of “I suppose I’ve let this duel go on for long enough. I have other matters to attend to, Shadow the Hedgehog.”

We get back to the cutscene and Infinite is glitching a bit, quickly recomposing himself, laughing. Shadow is panting.

‘What’s the matter, Shadow? Can’t take down a measly jackal anymore?’ The masked one says sarcastically. ‘It seems like I’ve overestimated your strength. You’re no fit to be a mercenary at all.’

There’s a beat and Shadow realises what this is about. He looks at Infinite, frowning. ‘It’s you… Defence Squad Jackal…’

Infinite stares at the hedgehog. He doesn’t seem to be as amused anymore. His golden eye’s glowing under his mask, and so is the Phantom Ruby on his chest. A tense background music plays as Infinite answers dryly:

‘Yes.’

‘I’ve spared you, but now you’re going too far. It’s time to finish this! Chaos Spear!’

The spears of light simply go through Infinite as if they didn’t exist. Shadow goes for a spin dash/homing attack/kick to the face or whatever you can think of, but the masked villain glitches out of the way with ease and lands an almost perfect copy of Shadow’s roundhouse kick.

The hedgehog glides across the floor, almost falling over. Infinite scoffs.

‘This new “me” has limitless power. I have no mercy; no weakness! I am the true ultimate force that will tear this world apart, and what may have worked to bring me down before…’ the jackal starts floating again; thousands of red cubes start dancing around him and, as he raises a hand, they all group in the sky not far above them. ‘… No longer does.’

(Why yes, this is a reference to Mephiles the Dark and that time he destroyed the Sceptre of Darkness!)

Infinite throws his “Take THIS!” and Shadow does the “!” – which is him frantically trying to get out of the way as the thousands cubes of doom come crashing down on him.

The screen goes black.

Scene ends.

The Virtual Reality level should play as usual from there. I don’t even want to change the background dialogue, because I really like it: it’s confusing, it’s weird, it’s unsettling and it slaps Shadow in the face in a way that we rarely see. I love it! (Although, I do think the gameplay should have a tiny little bit more of 3D parts. We love Green Hill, but we also love the freedom to move on more than two directions when playing as the Ultimate Life Form. But it’s cool)

After that, we could get another cutscene (we’re full of cutscenes, huh? Well, this is a hypothetical rewriting with a hypothetical budget. Also, Episode Shadow is more of an exposition episode anyway). In this cutscene, we would start with some shots of different known locations: Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Crisis City, Mystic Jungle, Kingdom Valley, Babylon Garden, you name it! And all of these places are somewhat “corrupted”; they’re glitching out, full of those red cubes, and there’s just this ominous atmosphere in them, as if they’re abandoned, desolated despite looking roughly the same as ever. We then see a black-and-red blur cross the screen, and a short narration takes place:

“I’ve been here for longer than I can remember. This… alternate reality, this fake world. There seems to be no escape. Rouge and Omega talk to me occasionally…”

We see Shadow leaning against a wall. His communicator plays only white noise, then Rouge’s voice comes in; it’s strangely echoed as it calls out to him. Shadow throws the device far away and sighs.

“… They’re fake too. No matter where I go, no matter how much I run…”

Shadow is skating through Pumpkin Hill or something, when the world suddenly starts to glitch out massively; we hear the Phantom Ruby’s noise and suddenly, we’re on the ARK.

“It’s like this place was made to torture me. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.”

‘I’ve moved on from this a long time ago,’ Shadow says to the void of the Universe as we hear gunshots in the distance. He’s not being completely truthful. ‘Putting me through this scenario dozens of times changes nothing. Don’t you have anything more creative at this point?’

There’s silence, except for the shouts in the Space Colony. A voice calls out to Shadow, and he promptly ignores it, albeit with a pained look in his eyes. He’s visibly tired, almost hopeless, if one could ever describe Shadow the Hedgehog that way.

He sighs.

‘Alright, how do I get out of this one?”

We then get a start of a short level in the ARK. Don’t worry, it’s not one of those hellish mazes that usually haunt every ARK level there ever was; this is more straight forward, with doors closing all around you so that you know where you shouldn’t go, and some G.U.N. robots trying to kill you, simple thing.

The catch happens when you’re halfway through the level: as you’re crossing a long corridor, the game begins to “crash” – in the sense of you losing control of the character, the visuals beginning to glitch and the soundtrack going weird, all in a way that makes the soul leave the body of the player for a terrifying four seconds of “HOLY SHIT, I BROKE THE GAME”. But nope, you didn’t break the game: the Phantom Ruby is trolling you. We soon find that out as the signature noise plays and the glitching effect on screen disperses to show a new scenario: Mystic Jungle. The real Mystic Jungle. Congratulations: you get to play in a totally different zone for the rest of the level.

‘My head…’ Shadow murmurs to himself. ‘That was too quick; this can’t be right, it- ugh, why is it so bright here? Where are all the red things? This place seems too normal… is it… am I back in the real world?!’

We then finish the level, get our nice score and head to the last scene of the episode.

Shadow is going through the jungle, taking in everything that isn’t an illusion. He passes by a red sword stuck to the ground and leans against a tree, still a little out of it, still struggling to believe that anything is real anymore. The hedgehog then takes his communicator – surprisingly intact; hadn’t he thrown that away? – and tries to make contact. There is static for a moment, when suddenly…

‘Shadow? Oh my- Shadow, is that you?!’

He’s startled for a moment, but so relieved to hear Rouge’s normal voice again.

‘It’s me, Rouge. What’s the situation? Where’s Omega?’

‘Omega? We lost contact with him months ago; the Resistance says he must have been shut down after the Doctor took over!’

Shadow raises both his non-existing eyebrows in surprise, barely holding a gasp. He then frowns.

‘Shut down? Resistance? What do you mean “the Doctor took over”? What the heck happened?’

‘What happened? What happened?! I should be the one asking you that! You’ve been offline for six months! Everyone keeps saying you’re working with Eggman and Infinite, and I couldn’t contact you or Omega, I thought… I thought we’d lost you for good…’

‘Nonsense,’ Shadow states. We start hearing voices in the distance, and the hedgehog starts looking around while still talking ‘I’ll tell you the details later, it’s long story. What’s the current situation?’

‘Shadow…’

The (Tired) Ultimate Life Form spots something from behind the trees. Still in hiding, he looks closer only to see the Custom Hero holding the prototype Phantom Ruby they just found and talking to Tails and… Classic Sonic, much to Shadow’s confusion.

‘… We’re at war.’

Shadow takes a moment to process what’s just been said. He doesn’t even pay attention to what Rouge says next (neither do we, as the background music starts getting louder than the bat’s voice). He still watches the avatar, Tails and Classic Sonic as they leave; he focuses on the Phantom Ruby.

‘Meet me in the City. I’ve got a lot to tell you,’ Shadow says.

And with that, he leaves, the scene fades out and Episode Shadow is over!

*”The Light of Hope: Menu Version” plays in the background*

Now, a few more analytical notes before we close this ridiculously gigantic thing:

The immediate reason why we have Shadow being stuck in the Virtual Reality for six months is to indicate to us why he doesn’t show up earlier in the main game. It’s not like he was being useless this whole time and just decided to show up whenever it was most Ex-Machina of him; much like Sonic, he was trapped by the enemy. A mental trap that put Shadow on survivor mode for months without any way of communicating with anybody; with twisted versions of his friends trying to get to him and remind him that, hey, they’re still out there, probably in high danger; with these illusions mocking him, reminding him of painful memories, isolating him in familiar places… I say: if you want to emotionally hit a character, hit them hard. And this experience is bound to leave Shadow with some emotional scar, alright.

(Ever heard of conveniently coming out of nowhere?)

Shadow is bound to lose his sense of reality and sometimes it should be hard for him to acknowledge that this is the real world. I hope I can showcase some of his reactions in the later parts of this o3o

The Virtual Reality isn’t all glitchy by mistake. No, no: Infinite is perfectly capable of making a “perfect copy” of the real world, but he doesn’t want to. He wants Shadow to know this is a fake world and to know that he’s completely trapped in it while his real friends and allies are out there doing who-knows-what in a world run by the enemy. He wants to throw Shadow off-balance as much as he can, because he’s spiteful and doesn’t just leave the hedgehog to the side without a second glance.

In the game, Infinite says that they didn’t really have time to tune his power yet, so we can tell putting Shadow in the Virtual Reality was more of a practice of sorts. But man, I think this is too much of a cool concept, so I’ll say Infinite did put his power to the test before all of this; because Eggman, sir: you don’t simply throw your super-secret, amazing, unparalleled weapon in the battlefield without testing it first. This is something that can be inferred, it doesn’t need to be directly told, it just- I’m telling you this right now, ok?

I know Shadow is supposedly “over” this conflict with what happened in the ARK and it probably feels over-used to add it in again, but… it’s a thing the games haven’t tackled in such a long time, I feel like this would be a nice call-back. Besides, Infinite would want to know what would bring distress to Shadow; what happened in the ARK isn’t exactly a secret, especially if he’s working with Eggman. And Shadow can be as “over it” as he wants: it’s still a scar that will never truly leave him. Even if he watches it happen dozens of times, it’s still at least a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster.

ALTHOUGH! I also think this ARK level could be easily replaced with some other random level if you want to argue that Forces happens in Mobius or something, where Gerald and Maria and G.U.N. maybe never existed and whatnot.

What brought Shadow back, you ask? Well, it probably has to do with a certain someone spontaneously activating a Phantom Ruby. Maybe the avatar was thinking of Shadow and how it’d be nice to have him on their side again? Maybe they were thinking of undoing Infinite’s evil deeds? Maybe the raw power of the Phantom Ruby prototype being suddenly activated by the Custom Hero just crashed something another Phantom Ruby user did, like magnetic waves interfering with each other? Who knows?

I also find it important to show the Custom Hero here not only to show that there’s a connection between Shadow’s sudden freedom and their actions, but also to establish the tiniest amount of early familiarity between Shadow and the original character. Then maybe (maybe) I’ll give them a bit more of interaction in the main game, because it’d be nice to have a cool interaction with Shadow; and as endearing as his smile after the avatar does their thing with the sun of destruction is, it feels like it comes out of nowhere, if you think about it…

(I mean... Does he even know who we are?)

Infinite’s sword stuck to the ground goes completely over Shadow’s head, as he has no idea what that is or who it belonged to or what it means. It’s really just there for the viewer to reminisce the beginning of the episode and have a slight existential crisis.

When playing the main campaign, we get some pretty convenient information from Shadow once he finally shows up. Episode Shadow should give us a sense of how he knows those things. Want it or not, he did spend a long time studying the Phantom Ruby’s power far more closely than anybody else – well, maybe Sonic spent almost as much time as Shadow in a similar state, but that’s something to cover in another part.

The fact that Shadow is the one narrating this entire episode is supposed to allude to him telling Rouge exactly what happened during those six months he was gone. But if you want to read it as him talking to himself in the Virtual Reality as he slowly descends into madness, then be my guest!

I don’t know if it’s noticeable, but I’ve tried to tune Infinite’s cheesiness down a bit. I don’t think I can rid him of it entirely – after all, he is somewhat of a pompous, edgy, over-the-top character in general; he’s a full-on drama queen 24/7 and the only character cheesier than him is Sonic. Now, what we do with Infinite is to at least give a base to what he says. Also, I wanted him to sound a bit more like he lets the power get to his head. Oh well, I surely hope we’ll be tackling more of Infinite in the future!

Episode Shadow is extremely short, even for a DLC. I mean, it’s about only 20 minutes long – even less, if you’re good at it! With the addition of the cutscenes, the small changes, the boss fights against Squad Jackal and Infinite, and the added levels, the episode shouldn’t get overwhelmingly longer, but longer enough for it to feel more satisfying!

And with that, we’re done! I hope you enjoyed this massive thing. Despite me really liking Sonic Forces, I do think a few things could be improved. It’s not like it will happen, but rewriting is a lot of fun!

And why, no: I don’t take myself seriously.

[gunnerpalace]

So how would you rewrite it? I think you said something about doing that?

That would be the subject of Hyperchlorate Part III. (Part II again being detailing everything that went wrong, and Part I being going over what made the story unique.)

In essence there are the four major changes I would make to Bleach:

Radically expand upon (and show, don’t tell) character relations in the story. We are repeatedly told that so and so are friends, or family, or colleagues, or whatever, and we essentially never see it (outside of Tatsuki and Orihime at the very beginning). It’s critical to caring about and interlinking the characters and seeing them grow and develop. For example, someone made a point that the Xcution arc demonstrates Ichigo’s bonds with Soul Society are stronger than with his own friends. That’s true, and you can see it in the Japanese cultural context of him using their first names (even for Toushirou!) whereas he keeps calling Uryuu and Orihime by Ishida and Inoue. There’s a definite social distance there. But it’s a subtle thing. And it really needs to not be subtle. There needs to be a lot more interactions between characters; plenty of characters literally never interact at all, and plenty of characters look fucking terrible for their apparent gross negligence that serves zero point other than to maintain the Mystery Boxes (here’s looking at you, Isshin, Ryuuken, and Kisuke).

Recontextualize everything after the Soul Society arc. I am not opposed to certain places, people, or concepts (e.g., Hueco Mundo, the Espada, Fullbring, the Soul King, etc.) but the way they were introduced and handled was, frankly, garbage. Arrancar, at least, were set up rather early on. The rest… was a bunch of ex nihilo shit. It came out of nowhere with no setup. I also don’t really enjoy the thematic inversion of Hueco Mundo seemingly purely for the sake of subverting expectations. So, I would restructure everything that happens after that point in gross detail.

Refit, standardize, and clearly and consistently implement and allude to the grand plot. If there was going to be some grand purpose to the Bleach universe, it needed to be made clear textually, not just thematically, throughout the story. It needs to be set up to the reader, if not to the characters, very early on so they “get” what everything is building toward. That absolutely was not done.

Having a real ending that actually involves our protagonists making a substantive change. I’ve definitely been over this before.

That’s all well and good, right? So what sort of things would I actually look to change?

As an example of the high-level stuff… In terms of narrative, internal consistency, and plot, the whole Substitute Shinigami thing makes no fucking sense. It makes literally zero sense that Ginjou was the first one in several thousand years, and Ichigo was only the second. It makes zero sense that a technique to transfer powers to humans exists and is taught at the academy, can be known to have a “low chance of success,” and then made a crime when it’s happened a grand total of two times, unless it was all a long con just to catch Ginjou, and in that case it’s dumb because he doesn’t matter. (We’re supposed to believe Soul Society allows Hollows to run roughshod everywhere but they’re really obsessed about catching this one dude but not enough to actually task anyone powerful to go do it? No, none of that makes sense.)

It also doesn’t make any sense that there are only a grand total of 6,000 to 7,000 Shinigami to patrol its nebulously defined area of responsibility. (Is it the whole world? Is it just Japan? If the latter, are there other Soul Societies? If the former, where are the foreigners? Sure seem to be a lot of people who look foreign, but they all have Japanese names and speak Japanese in a manga that clearly at least recognizes Mexico. Why would foreigners accept a feudal Japanese afterlife? This is another small example of what I mean by the grand plot being fucked.)

It also doesn’t make a lot of sense that the only Shinigami worth a damn are Captains, Lieutenants, and the occasional Seated Officer. (This is canonical, by the way.) Almost all of them are total trash who would lose to the most basic bitch Hollow, let alone an Arrancar. Meanwhile, your average Quincy can mop the floor with all three.

You know what would make a lot more sense, and work better with what’s on paper? Here are some ramblings from my notes on this subject:

i think it’s sorta like… you wanna mirror the structure of the Hollows; Shinigami as a whole are like Menos, although they are almost all Arrancar (there could be some very low-ranked/new Shinigami who do not have shikai, these would be the “rookies”), whereas substitute Shinigami are like masked Hollows, with some overlap into Gillians/Menos Grande

- Captains (General Officers) are at the level of the Espada (with obvious differences among them correlating to Espada generated from Vasto Lordes and Adjuchas)- Lieutenants (Staff Officers) are at the level of the Privaron Espada and some of the stronger fracciones- Seated Officers (Officers) are at  the level of most fracciones and wild Adjuchas [sometimes from the 4th Seat up are more on the level of the above, e.g., Ikkaku and Yumichika]- Unseated Officers (NCOs) are at the level of weak fracciones, or on the order of holding off a Gillian- Substitute Shinigami (Enlisted) are at the level of individual Hollows

Substitute Shinigami are basically what Soul Society sets up to deal with the Living World rather than directly intervening, because “they have better shit to do;” they’re probably set up like a secret society of beat cops, and yeah, if the Shinigami proper notice spiritually sensitive people while setting up new districts or maintaining their assigned ones, they shank'em and induct'em (usually these people attract Hollows anyway so it’s a “become one of our grunts or die” type deal; maybe if they refuse, the Shinigami kill them instead for shirking their duties?)Hollows aren’t the only spooky thing running around in the night either; they’re probably relatively rare, and other weird shit like revenants and ghosts are more common

i also have some notes here about how it’d be cool if Substitute Shinigami were like, an established thingand were expendable gruntswith actual Shinigami being rather more elite, even if they’re not seatedlike it’s XCOM with supernatural shithaving shikai should be a big fucking deal; even knowing kidou should be like, impressiveyour average Hollow should be equivalent to a Substitute Shinigamian unseated Shinigami should be like a Menos Grandea Shinigami good at kidou and a weak zanpakutou should be like a weak Arrancara seated Shinigami should be like a medium Arrancar and know shikai for surelieutenants should be like Privaron Espadaand captains should be like the Espada (or higher)

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. My first big change to Bleach would be dispensing with the concept of substitutes as being rare. They should be the main interface for the human world (and expendable, and have a high turnover rate). Rukia being there should be A Big Deal. (Have her sent there specifically to monitor things, like a Commissar? To look for Grand Fisher? Whatever.)

Ginjou, were he to exist, would then need a different backstory, but that would be real easy to build out.

As an example of additional character interaction, I’ve already detailed my idea that Kisuke and Yoruichi should be Rukia’s surrogate parents. (And solving the problem of when Rukia got the Hogyouku.)

As another example, it has never made sense to me that Rukia is the one that stays to fight Shrieker while she tells Ichigo to take Karin home. Rukia knows her powers are iffy at best, and should know better. She damn near almost dies (along with Chad) for no reason other than… ??? For dramatic tension and to reveal Chad can attack Hollows, I guess. Even Ichigo calls her out on it. It should’ve been flipped, with Karin revealing things to Rukia and learning about her, and that should be built into Karin repeatedly noticing the two of them (which was never, ever paid off in any fashion whatsoever). This is just one example of more moments of character interaction outside of fights.

As an example of reworking things, I like the ideas of turning the hunt for Aizen into something more like Apocalypse Now, that Aizen kidnaps Karin and Yuzu instead of Orihime, and that his hideout is deep in Rukongai instead of Hueco Mundo:

in one of these posts, @icchiruki was like, Aizen shouldn’t have run off to Hueco Mundohe should’ve run into Rukongaiand that’s geniusbecause it makes him more sympathetic because they have a legit reason to be aggrieved with Soul Societyand also lets us see the other side of the coinwhich, conveniently, leads toward my idea of the HM arc as being more like Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now, with Aizen as the equivalent of Kurtz out among the Montagnardsand also lets there be some spooky eldritch shit like whatever was going on with Ukitake and folk belief in TYBW, but less out-of-nowherebecause it’s pretty clear that whatever’s going on with the divine in Bleach is fuckin’ weird and Lovecraftianwhich can tie into that other bit of work i was doing with “where does all this come from anyway”so you stitch it all together and pull the seams snug and you get an actual expansive worldthen you keep the focus squarely on Ichigo, Rukia, and co., as they navigate through itthe further out into Rukongai you go, the weirder it should get; Shinigami should also routinely get sent to Hueco Mundo (both of these being the more important shit they gotta deal with) and recon and do stuff there; Hueco Mundo itself should be less empty wasteland, more kind of weird dark mirror of Soul Societylike a Kill Six Billion Demons type deal

These are just examples. I could go on.

tl;dr Make Bleach much longer and more personable and personally relatable, show your hand on some of the mysteries and backstories much earlier, and make it simultaneously more fuckin’ weird and more human.

[huntertales]

Part Two: I Just Want To Be Good. (The Great Escapist S08E21)

Episode Summary: When Sam, Dean and the reader receive a distressing video message from Kevin Tran, they set about trying to uncover the third trial. The boys and the reader make a discovery that sends them to a casino in Colorado, to find a mysterious recluse who may be able to fill in the holes in Kevin’s research. Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader Word Count: 4,949.

Previous Part | Supernatural Rewrite Masterlist

The path to finding someone who could translate a demon tablet you didn’t even have was growing colder with each passing day. Kevin was the only one who knew where it was, and somehow he ended up dead. All the prophets who were in line after him were still going on with their daily lives. You were at a near dead end, but you had one more shot at figuring out what the final trial was before you threw in the towel for good. It was an ambitious move, and probably even a little bit stupid, to track down this Metatron guy. He was the messenger of God who came in contact with this Native American tribe centuries back. It was a long shot, but you didn’t have many left. You were hoping the Two Rivers hotel might have some answers to your questions. 

You followed behind the boys when all of you headed into the casino and hotel, your eyes wandering over the many machines with their flashing lights and noises, enticing anyone who dare take a chance at gambling away their money. For a place like this you were guessing to see old folks gambling away their retirement fund. Maybe even a few people enjoying themselves with a weekend away. But the place was like a ghost town, not even an employee was around to greet the three of you. Dean hit the bell placed conveniently on the counter, hoping it might draw some attention. Sam waited beside his brother, casually glancing around to see if there was any other guests besides the three of you. 

"Morning. Hi. Uh, we'd like a room?" Dean gave whom he presumed was the hotel manager a smile when he saw him emerge from the back office to see who was ringing the bell. The offer for business didn’t seem to make the manager move, he just kept staring at Dean, causing the older Winchester to be more specific. "Here, please." 

You found yourself drifting away when you became curious about seeing the rest of the hotel, wondering what else there might be to do here besides playing a few slot machines. When you noticed a door that lead into another room, you began walking forward to it. You winced slightly in annoyance when you noticed a buzzing sound that you couldn’t describe. It was hard to tell if it was coming from the other room, or your ears were starting to ring. You poked a finger into the canal in some kind of attempt to make it go away, but it only got worse with each step you took away from the boys. It got louder and louder to the point where it felt like white noise. 

For a second you felt like you were in your own world from what happened next. You blinked a few times when you noticed your vision was starting to go blurry, making the game room you spotted hard to see. And the damn ringing was getting louder. You were experiencing something you've never quite felt before. You quickly turned around in your spot and took a step towards the boys, and just like that, suddenly the noise disappeared and you could see just fine again. You furrowed your brow slightly from what just happened. 

“Did you guys hear that?” You asked them, wondering 

"Hear what?" Dean asked you. He listened for any odd sound other than the slot machines and birds chirping outside, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. He looked over at the manager and gave him a friendly smile, explaining your behavior. "She has the flu."

The manager barely showed any changes in his facial expressions, his brow furrowed together at your behavior, causing Dean to awkwardly chuckle and smile once again. When the man still wouldn't even crack the slightest of emotions, Dean rushed out a forged signature and booked it out of there. Dean wasted no time getting out of the lobby and onto one of the double beds.He couldn't stand another night of sleeping next to you with you being like this, your skin hot to the touch. You laid down after complaining that you were thirsty, Sam took on the task of grabbing you a drink while Dean mentioned something about checking around the place. You waved him off when he asked his brother if he was okay with watching you for a few minutes.

Sam watched you as downed a glass of water in mere seconds, acting like a woman dying of thirst before asking for another one. With the fever running through your body, you were bound to be dehydrated. He got up and went to the bathroom sink to get you another. You smiled and tried to somehow take a sip while lying on your side on the bed farthest from the door. The cold water felt amazing down your throat. All though you were hot to the touch, you felt awfully cold. And suddenly so tired. Maybe you were getting the flu. Because you were feeling weird lately. It was different when you were back at the bunker, but you were discovering that your body was feeling more unusual, almost like you were moving in a fog.

“Regular tourist mecca we got here.” You turned your head to the door when you heard it open to see that Dean was back from his sweep around the hotel. “We’re the only guests in this whole place. Last entry in the registry was in ‘06.”

“Mmm. Anyone else getting ‘Psycho’ vibes?” You cracked a joke that you thought wasn’t even the slightest bit funny, but it was enough to make you smile. You tried to put the empty glass on the nightstand, too tired to sit up and make it easier on yourself, only your attempt ended with you missing and accidentally dropping it to the floor a quiet thud, the carpet managed to save it from breaking. Your smile grew wider at your clumsiness and rested your head back into the pillow, you placed an arm over your face, trying to block out the sun peeking out from the blinds. “Hey, Dean, you remember when uh… when John and my mom took us to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, on that pack-mule ride?”

“The what?” Dean asked you, not sure where this conversation came from. 

“And you’re, uh…your mule kept farting, just—letting go, like, gale force?” You weren’t the one to laugh like a school kid at jokes like that. But the memory made you let out a series of laughs that made the boys look at you with an odd expression.

“Y/N, you were like four years old.” Dean said. “I barely remember that.”

You giggled to yourself and turned your head to look at Sam, “Your brother rode a farty donkey.”

“Okay. Uh, since Sam has some background on this kind of stuff, him and I are gonna check out the Two Rivers Tribal Museum and Trading Post.” Dean said, telling you the plan.

“Yeah, yeah! I’m gonna…I’m gonna—“ You were finding it hard for you to sit up on your own, for a second, it seemed like you forgot you were almost six months pregnant with a belly that was far past being a small bump like you remembered. You got yourself up and pointed a finger at the boys to tell tell them what you were going to do while they were gone. “I’m gonna follow the hotel manager. D-Dr. Scowley-scowl. He’s like a villain from Scooby-Doo.”

“No, hey, uh, how about no?” Sam put a stop to your plans, watching as you tried to gather some energy to stand on your feet. You continued to sit on the eye of the bed, trying to force your eyes to stay open to keep this conversation going. “You should get some rest.”

“Yeah,” You mumbled with no resistance at all. “I can do that too.”

And with that, you fell back to the bed, suddenly losing consciousness a little too quickly. When the boys made sure you were still breathing, they made their way out of the room to conduct some of their own research while you to some much needed rest. 

+ + +

You weren’t sure how long you had been sleeping for after your head hit the pillow and lost consciousness in record time. From the way your body was feeling and the thin layer of sweat covering every inch of you, you took a wild guess that it was a while. You groaned softly when you tried to get yourself up into a sitting position, moving slow as possible, not sure why your body aches so much. You looked around the room to see if the boys had returned, but you were still alone. The room was quiet for the most part considering there hadn’t been any other guests since ‘06. You thought that’s what Dean said. Maybe you didn’t hear him right. 

You had been pretty out of it when you got settled into the room, talking about some family trip you took with the Winchester’s decades ago when you were still in each other’s lives. You forgot about it until just recently. The memory was crystal clear in your head, like it happened just the other day. If you had to think about...things had never felt so much clearer. You slowly got up to your feet thinking you just needed to stretch your legs from sleeping in such a stiff position. Maybe even see what the hotel manager was up to. You did mention something to the boys about tailing him to see what he was up to. It was odd enough this place wasn’t crawling with at least a few drifters. Something weird was definitely going on here.

Somehow you were able to get yourself to the door and opened it just enough for you to stumble your way out into the hallway, not taking into consideration how your appearance must look at the moment. There was no doubt in your mind your hair was a mess, your skin felt clammy and sweaty. Not to mention you had a sickly color to your skin. You felt like how you looked right at this moment. But every instinct was telling you to get off your ass and do your job. 

You moved at a gruelingly slow pace, making sure to steady your hand against the wall to keep yourself from falling and the other to block out the extremely bright florescent light. You stumbled your way down the hall and to the corner, wondering the hell the manager was, not taking into consideration you really shouldn’t have been out in the open like this. You took a few steps down the hall until you heard it again...that ringing you noticed when you checked in. This time, it was louder than before. Everything felt off. 

The hallway you stood down of suddenly appeared like it was spinning around you, the ground beneath your feet felt like it disappeared. You couldn’t hear your heavy or even anything else, all you could concentrate on was that chiming noise ringing loudly in your ears. For a second you were caught up in the rush of feeling, not realizing the manager was closer than you thought. Quick as the dizzy spell came, it vanished right after you saw the elevator doors slowly opened, giving you a small window to find a hiding spot. 

You managed to press your backside against the nearest door’s alcove just as the manager stepped off the elevator, pushing something that sounded like a cart from the squeaky wheel that echoed down the hall. You slowly peeked your head out from the corner to see he was crouched down on the ground with his back towards you, giving you a chance to see what he was doing. You noticed he was stacking delivery boxes on top of at least a dozen others. You furrowed your brow slightly in confusion. Why the hell was he delivering packages? There wasn’t anyone else here besides you and the boys. Maybe the previous guests before you checked in and loved the place so much they never wanted to leave. 

When you saw the manager push the cart away and back to the elevator without seeing you, you began moving when you heard the ding of the doors closed shut. You slowly made your way over to the hoard of boxes, wanting to know what was in there. You grabbed one of them to read the mailing address, only to discover it was the same as the hotel’s. All these boxes had to be filled with something important. You ripped open the box to see what was inside. What you discovered was...not what you expected. 

Books. At least a half dozen of them stacked neatly inside. You picked up a hardcover that was a pretty pale blue with silver swirled details engraved into the cover. You read the title, “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickerson. A classic you remembered reading in English class years back for an essay. Then was more, books of all kinds, from different genres to different decades published. Classics. Mysteries. Self help books to quit smoking. You put them back where you found them, wondering why the hell the manger was dropping them off in another room. That’s when it hit you. 

What do writes love more than creating their own work? Reading other adventures. You pushed yourself back up to your feet and headed to your own room quickly as your body would let you. You didn’t know why you figured it out sooner. He was under your nose the entire time, hiding in plain sight. And yet hidden away from the world, probably spent centuries reading. An introvert’s dream to spend out their days. Their own company fictional beings. Endless worlds that weren’t their own. 

You shut the door behind you and pulled out your phone, you scrolled through your contacts until you found Dean’s number. You blinked a few times to get your eyes to focus when you noticed your vision was starting to grow blurry again. You managed to hit the send button and heard the first ring before you felt yourself starting to get light headed, to the point where you were starting to get nervous you might fall. 

You took a few steps to make it over to the bed closest to you in some kind of attempt to sit down before that could happen. You felt your knees give out on you could make it there, causing your body to stumble to the floor and your phone mere inches from your grip. You didn’t hear the sound of Dean’s voice when he picked up on the second ring.

+ + +

All you remembered before passing out on the hotel room floor was that you were in the middle of trying to make a phone call to Dean after the discovery you made. It was too important not to wait on. You managed to make it back to the room and dialed his number before you found yourself losing consciousness, probably from the fever that was some kind of effect from doing these trials. Everything felt blurry, like you were in a fever dream. During the time you were passed out for a short while from the time the boys discovered you and when you woke up you were bombarded with all sorts of memories you either forgot or compressed down. Things about who you used to be, and the horrible things you did. 

When you finally came back into consciousness you weren’t exactly sure where you were for a split second. Your senses started to pick up on the fact that you felt like you were floating in water, freezing cold from what it felt like. You suddenly realized your lungs were starting to burn, the familiar sensation that made you start to panic. You felt your brain starting to scream for air as you felt your arms suddenly shoot up, feeling for a surface you could grab a hold onto. You grabbed each side of the tub you were lying in and quickly pulled yourself out of the ice cold water, your body freezing cold to the bone and your lungs burning for the need of air. When you finally managed to get yourself up into a sitting position, you quickly realized you were in a bathtub full of ice cold water. 

You inhaled a wheezing breath before the next few came out in short and quick pants from the temperature your body wasn’t used to. You looked up to see the boys were standing above you, the ones who were responsible for putting you here in the first place. You felt your teeth starting to chatter and your body shaking from how freezing you were, you needed to get out of here before you got hypothermia. You slapped away Dean’s hand when he tried to help you out of the tub so you wouldn’t risk the chance of slipping and hurting yourself.

“Get off!” You shouted at him, your voice coming out shaky as you managed to push yourself up to your feet and stumble your way of the tub, only to make yourself feel worse at the even colder feeling room. You stood in the middle of the bathroom with your clothes soaked to your body and your entire body violently shaking. “What the hell?! God!” 

“Take it easy.” Dean told you. You tightly crossed your arms around your chest to try and warm yourself up before you could get anymore freezing. Sam grabbed a towel to wrap around your body to start warming you up best as he could. “We found you on the floor, passed out. Your temperature was a hundred and seven. I had to force it down or you were toast.” 

“He’s here, guys. Metatron is here.” You stuttered out the news you wanted to tell them over the phone before you passed out. Sam momentarily stopped grabbing another towel to try and help warm you up from the words he heard come out of your mouth. Both of the boys gave you a confused expression. “I know it. I can feel it.” 

“What are you talking about?” Sam asked. 

“All I know is that I’m connected to it somehow.” You tried to explain it as best as you could to them, figuring it explained the ringing in your ears and the dizzy spells that you had earlier. 

“What, like you got a link to him, like a prophet?” Dean went on with his questions, wondering what the hell you were talking about. 

“I don’t know! I just know he’s here.” You said. “Metatron is here.” 

“Okay. Where?” Dean decided to amuse this idea of yours, wondering if you were still delirious from the fever you had earlier today.

“I can show you. I can show you.” You muttered to them, sounding a little bit worrisome as you started to get a look in your eye. “The manager—he was delivering books to him.”  

“Books?” Dean repeated what you just said. 

“Books. Hardcovers, paperbacks, novels—books.” You practically spelled it out for them, trying to make them understand the point you had figured it out on your own. 

The boys took a few seconds before you realized why the books were such a factor into figuring out that it was Metatron the entire time, stories were something he would have enjoyed. You shrugged off the towel and wasted no time at all changing into a new set of clothes, wanting to hunt down and have a talk with the angel yourself. The boys kept insisting that you should have kept it easy and rest, but you shrugged off their concerns, saying that you were perfectly fine. Your stumbling around and odd behavior before wasn't exactly proving you were in good shape to keep on going like how you wanted. 

You managed to get dressed and make your way out the door with the boys following right after you in some kind of fear that you might fall again and hurt yourself this time. You took your time getting out into the hall again, steadying yourself on the wall while Sam kept his arm stretched out just enough to catch you if you were to take a tumble, Dean shut the door behind him and began following behind you as you slowly made your way down the hall to the room you were trying to show them that supposedly belonged to this angel. 

“I should be taking you to the E.R.” Dean said, sharing his concern for your wellbeing. 

“They can’t do anything for me. I have to get worse before I can get better.” You found yourself mumbling the last sentence to yourself, but Sam managed to catch your rambling. “You know, I’ve been remembering things—little things so clearly.”

“What?” Dean asked you. “Donkey rides?”

“You used to read to me, when you were still learning how to, from this really old Grimm's fairy tale book. My favorite one used to be 'Little Red Riding Hood.' You read it so much that I'm pretty sure you had it memorized. You would always make up these voices for all the characters. You always told me that you were the hunter. And I was Red.” You found yourself reminiscing on a memory from times when things were much simpler, when you still lived in Lawrence and the boys were in your lives. You and Dean shared a small moment of childhood innocence that was long lost from the years. Until you started to remember all of it. “I thought I was for a long, long time. Little Red Riding Hood, I mean.” 

You steadied one hand on the wall as you kept on walking with the boys following behind you, for a second you wondered why you were saying any of this. But another part of you felt like you needed to get the past off your chest. "I used to be obsessed with that stupid book. You know that? I forced my mom to read me a story from it for the first year when I moved to Y/H/S. It was the only thing that would help me fall asleep. Mostly it was the ones where the princess or some pretty damsel was cursed. They had something wrong with them. I thought I was one of them, too. How stupid was that?” 

You found yourself smiling at the things that were coming out of your mouth, finding your childhood innocence on things so stupid. “Yeah. It’s normal for little girls to believe in fairy tales. Happy endings and Prince Charming. But that wasn’t it. Things happened to me that nobody could explain. I thought it was easier to believe that someone cursed me. And that one day it was all going to disappear. I didn’t know what was really wrong…” You felt a lump form in your throat at the clear memories flooding back to you, things you tried so hard to forget. “I should’ve.”

You used to hear voices. See things nobody else could. And have blackouts of rage that you didn’t even remember doing. All of this was things turned into a blurry memory before you subconsciously buried deep down inside of you. Every trace of hints that you were a monster were hidden from daylight for long as possible. You settled into a safe and normal lifestyle your mother sold her soul for. Maybe she knew the entire time what kind of monster she made. She tried her hardest to keep it chained up and brainwashed you into keeping away from the very thing that brought you into this world. But one could only do so much beyond the grave. 

When you’re a kid, you’re taught the things that go bump in the night were just figments of your imagination. Characters in a story that was made up by someone to scare little kids. But kids have the mindset to believe these things. Because at that age anything is possible. For a short time before society and adulthood tricks us into thinking, you know about the evil in the world. And yet you’re still innocent enough to believe there is good as well. When you grew up you learned the truth. But the part of optimism where you get a happy ending dies. You had to take off your rose colored glasses and see the world for what it was. The monster you always were. 

“What are you talking about, Y/N?” Sam asked you, wanting to make sense of all the things that were coming out of your mouth. 

You stopped walking and stood there for a second with your hand pressed against the wall. You slowly turned around in your spot to face the boys to continue on with what you were saying. “I thought for the longest time I was Little Red Riding Hood, walking through life and being tricked by monsters who pretended to be my friend. Deep down. I thought I was good. But I wasn’t. I was never...clean.” The way your lips twitched at the word, it made it seem like you were saying a vile thing. “I was the wolf hiding in plain sight. I lied to you guys. I lied to myself. For the longest time I tricked people into thinking I was capable of making good decisions. But everything I touched turned to crap. I was tainted. Evil.”

You felt your lips twitching into what looked like a smile, but your eyes told a different story from how you were feeling at the moment. The boys had felt their fair share of emotions over the years, Sam had empathized with your pain about feeling unclean. At the end of all of it, you weren’t to blame for how you turned out. “Y/N, it’s not your fault.” 

“For the longest time I thought it was. I blamed myself for the horrible things that happened. Sam dying. You going to hell. Lucifer being set free. The apocalypse. Everything could have been avoided if I made different decisions. I mean, knowing that I was a half-demon didn't really bother me. I could control her. I did my entire life. You know what really hurts the most?” You asked them, but not giving them a second to take a guess. They would never get it.” “It’s the fact that Lucifer made me. The most evil thing out there created me. I felt so alone. Isolated.” 

“You’re not alone, Y/N.” Sam reassured you. He placed a hand on your shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze, hoping a touch would break you out of this head space. “You never were.”

“I’m the only of my kind. And there was no changing that. But I don’t feel like that anymore. Because these trials..." You felt yourself inhaling a deep breath, taking a pause between what you were about to say next. The look on your face from the things you knew for the future made you seem like you were suddenly at ease, despite all the things you admitted to just a few minutes earlier. A sense of hope followed after, it bloomed in your chest from the three words that followed after. "they're purifying us." 

Dean felt himself being taken aback from the last word that slipped out from your mouth. He found himself standing there for a moment, trying to wrap his head around what you meant by that. Even though in the back of his mind he knew the answer, he wanted to hear it out of your mouth. The different answer than he suspected. You had been acting strange since you started the trials, and you were only getting worse. He watched as you made it down the hall and to the last door on the right. You stood there for a moment, trying to find something that was no longer there. 

“They were here, the books, the boxes!” You pointed at the empty ground that no longer had the things you seen earlier today. Your voice was growing frustrated at what was happening. All of this was making you look like you were going crazy. “They—They’re gone.”  

What you didn’t discover was the fact that room three sixty-six was opened just the slightest to anyone who dared walk inside. Dean took it upon himself to push open it wider and took a look inside to the hotel room you claimed belonged to Metatron. He stepped inside first to see the place was empty, you followed after and Sam trailed behind, discovering a collection of books that must have taken decades. You felt your anger slowly subsiding when you discovered the stock pile of books all around you. Piles that were taller than you, neatly stacked on tables. You read every title you could as you passed by, wondering to yourself if they had all been read. 

The more you traveled into the place, the more you discovered thousands upon thousands of books from what it felt like. All neatly packed together on the floor and shelves. Someone was a bit of a bookworm. You and the boys traveled farther into the hotel, trying to find this angel you had traveled all the way here to see, not taking into consideration he might have been one step ahead of you. You felt your gaze going straight forward when you felt someone’s grip around your arm tug you back slightly, stopping you from walking into the barrel of a shotgun. 

[Next Part]

Rewrite Taglist:

@deansquirreljerkwinchester // @everything-i-tried-was-taken // @starswirlblitz // @albot-e // @supernaturalismydrug // @we-are-band-sexuals // @angiewinchestercas // @kaylinfayezink  // @owhatshername1 // @kgbrenner  // @cleo-is-my-doggy // @eeyore1988 // @dakota-dream // @lilylovelyxo // @timetravelingginger // @holahellohialoha //   @quicksilver123456 // @natashacamillas //@lexi-anastasia //@kaylinfayezink //  @deanwnchstr @albot-eh // @rashinyx2002 // @shellybeans //  @icantfindacreativeurl //  @becs-bunker // @oreosatmidnight // @bands-and-shietz // @fabulousmustachesonapolarbear // @clarewinchester // @releasethekracko // @alex-zeppelin // @mega-mrs-dean-winchester // @theskytraveler // @notmoose94 //@assassinofmasyaf // @caswinchester2000 // @savannah-m-99 // @sunlight-dean // @strayrosesbloom // @that-slytherin-over-there // @1000roughdrafts // @its-medeanwinchester // @simplyhemmings

Message me if you would like to be added!

[ediblenapkin-moved]

That's the Thing About Dreams- Chapter 5

A/N: CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 2-

So hey! I’m back, and it’s time for cHAPTER MOTHERFIPPITY 2-

Anyways. This is gonna be either fun, or a complete and utter pain in the neck to write (my bet’s on the latter…). Who knows, though? (Future me. that’s who. future me what’s your status) (future iteration 1- i am not doing well. i am having small difficulties. oh my i did not spell that right what is wrong with me what time is it) (translation: it is 10:26 PM, i am covered in mosquito bites and this story is a pain.) (future iteration 2- i took a break. it’s a whole new day… and I’m ending the chapter. why? because me, that’s why. chapter 2’s gonna be in at least 3 separate pieces… and chapter 3???? hahahaha yeah that’s gonna be in at least 3 too. at least. i’m not even gonna try for ch4. not yet.)

Edit: I thought this chapter was gone today. So far, I’ve been writing all these little shits offline, google docs, you know? Well, today I got online- and when it went to sync my offline changes… three of eight documents I’d created/edited offline had vanished. Ofc, this scared me to no end- these things weren’t fun to figure out, in terms of all the little pieces and bits- and I was flipping out. I thought I was going to have to rewrite at least three different stories.

Thankfully, I waited a little bit and they reappeared. Which is good. But that was terrifying…

But now I'm on mobile. I just gotta mess with the formatting every damn time I go to post... I don't know if it's better or worse this way.

Enjoy.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

The first thing Joey was aware of was that his head was pounding.

“What hit me…?” He groaned, slowly pushing himself up. Once he was standing, he put a hand to his head. The throbbing was going away, but not fast enough.

He shut his eyes, waiting for it to go away. It didn’t, but it became manageable.

He finally reopened his eyes, looking around the small room- and quickly stepping out of the pentagram. It hurt to look at for some reason- the pulse in his head got worse even thinking about it.

He found himself picking up the axe, which, oddly enough, was now leaning against one of the coffins… and he knew he hadn’t left it there as he’d passed out. Which meant someone had been here and they moved his axe… but was that all they did?

Joey sighed. It wasn’t helping anyone to ask all these questions that- at the moment at least- had no answers. With that in mind, he looked towards the closed door in front of him.

Guess I’ve got no choice now… I’ve got to keep moving. Keep moving forward…

He chopped the boards off the next door and started walking.

Another stairwell. This one proudly displayed a little sign that read UTILITY SHAFT 9. As he walked down, a board collapsed and fell from the ceiling- nearly causing Joey to slip and fall down the stairs. Thankfully, he caught himself.

As soon as he reached the bottom step, he looked up- and another line greeted him- HE WILL SET US FREE- scrawled next to a smaller version of the cutouts that were everywhere. The little shelf was filled with candles, and cans of bacon soup, some closed, some open and poured in bowls. A banjo was leaning next to the shelf, slightly dusty.

He walked further in, noting that most of the shelves were in a similar state to the first- except one had another cassette tape. He clicked play.

“He appears from the shadows to rain his sweet blessings upon me. The figure of ink that shines in the darkness. I see you, my savior. I pray that you hear me. Those old songs, I still sing them. For I know you are coming to save me. And I will be swept into your final loving embrace. But, love requires sacrifice. Can I get an amen?”

The tape clicked off, and Joey frowned. He made to step back-

“I said, can I get an amen?”

He spun around- and stopped.

Sammy Lawrence- his voice- it had just been here, right behind him. Joey was sure of it- he was here. Somewhere.

After a minute of silence, Joey took a deep breath and kept going. He’d never in his life heard the songwriter like that- and it was genuinely creepy. It was wrong, it was too calm, it was too… off.

By nature, he tended to be loud, impatient, and was easily distracted at times. He was also an amazing composer- the studio’s only composer. With him around, there was no need for another. Sammy worked best alone, but made an exception for the lyricist- who, at first, he’d shown no mercy to. But eventually something had happened- and they were able to be in the same room and actually talk to each other.

Joey reached the next hallway- and stopped. It was flooded with ink. Knee high at least, and it looked positively repulsive. After taking a moment to sigh- his shoes and socks had finally been dry when he’d woken up- he stepped in and began wading to the other side.

And then, halfway down the hall, he heard muttering. Whispering- and then a dark figure clad in white overalls appeared, walking past the doorway- carrying a Bendy cutout under its arm.

The voice, while quiet- was unmistakable.

“Lawrence? Lawrence! What the hell-” He pulled himself through the rest of the hall as fast as he could, nearly jumping out of the ink to turn the corner the songwriter had vanished around-

Only to see a dead end… and the Bendy cutout sitting in front of a pentagram scratched on the wall.

Joey looked around, noting the trail of ink- but where the hell had he gone?

The voice in his head whispered, It’s got something to do with this ink. It’s everywhere, and that’s unnatural… ‘Who needs that much ink anyways?’ Something is really off with all this.

It’s not right…

He turned around, noticing a closed metal gate- much like the ones that had penned him in upstairs- and a panel next to it, featuring three blinking lights.

Seems like the gate needed power.

He found himself searching for the three different switches- two of them were back down the flooded hall, and after coming back through it for the third time he sat down, took off his shoes, then wrung out his socks. It was a pointless move- there was ink everywhere, and it was more than likely he was gonna be covered in it at some point, and more than just knee high or waist high- probably neck high or above head.

He slipped his slightly less soaked socks back on, then his shoes. He stood and walked over to the switchboard- all three lights were on. He threw the switch.

With a rumble and a lot of groaning, the metal gate slowly lifted- and just as it clicked into place, a low moan sounded- followed by the sound of a light flicking on.

Joey walked closer to the boarded up doorway- seriously, what was up with all these boarded up areas- and listened, but there was nothing else. Quickly, he hacked his way through the wood, and walked in.

The music department kind of looked like shit at the moment.

Ink puddles scattered everywhere, only a few candles- god it was dark- and most of the lights were off. Looking around, Joey sighed before noticing the tape next to the sign- in the dark, it was hard to see, but this tape was labelled- Lawrence. He turned it on.

“So first this Ink Machine is installed over our heads. Then it begins to leak. Three times last month we couldn’t even get out of our department because the ink kept flooding the stairwell. The solution? An ink pump to drain it periodically. Now I have this ugly pump switch right in my office. People in and out all day. Just what I needed. More distractions. These stupid cartoon songs don’t write themselves, you know.”

Now that sounded like Sammy…. the stairwell, right. Turning around, Joey walked to the stairs- and what do you know? It was flooded. The main power switch sat on the wall to the right, though- thankfully. He threw the switch, hearing the clicking of lights turning on- then wincing as the room suddenly filled with harsh light.

And then, the sound of ink dripping filled the room.

He turned, and walked back into the main room-

And a glob of ink dropped from the ceiling, forming into a humanoid shape.

Almost instantly, it swiped at Joey, who raised the axe and swung back.

Only one of them made their mark.

The body- he assumed- melted, and returned to a regular puddle of ink.

And then there were more.

Before he got time to think, he was fighting the inky creatures as best he could- he wasn’t a perfect aim with the axe- but eventually the last one took a hit and vanished, leaving Joey, panting, alone in the room as music began to play- and as a metal gate began to open.

And, finally, he got a chance to think, and a chill ran down his back.

Those things… weren’t right.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

A/N: jesus fuckin shit this is gonna be hard

i just rewatched someone play through it… fuck. I THOUGHT I WAS DONE SHORTCUTTING CRAP-

Nope. Apparently not. Sorry, suckers, but we’re shortcutting the hell out of this chapter… and Chapter 3. Saying it now so you don’t wonder, because no way in hell am I writing out that entire fucking annoying ass errand list. The Angel can go suck a lemon.

(Am I reading too many fics these days…? I’m actually not swearing as much as I usually do. wow. thanks for the influence, fics.)

I can already tell this fic, if it gets finished porplery, (porperly????? pfft), will be about 8 chapters minimum. so yeah. probably around 12 or 14…. excluding bullshit…

Is it crazy that I’m already looking forward to transcribing Chapter 3? Yes? No? Maybe, so? (hahahahhahahahahahahahahahahaahahah sorry)

next up: cutouts. why.

[kiss-my-freckle]

Red’s Warnings

Red has yet to be and is not going to be wrong about Tom.  

Given the subject, this post is going to be considerably long. An in-depth, season-by-season look at Red's statements and warnings with regard to Tom, Liz, and the Keen2 relationship. How Tom has been proving Red right all along.

For those who don’t like to read things quite this long, let me know and I’ll try to work up a summary of this post. 

This will also include bits of my theories. 

Season One

1x1-

Red knew that Liz was trying to rewrite her past through the adoption of a child.

Liz: I’m board certified in forensic psychology, and yet I operate under the delusion that I can rewrite my past by having kids of my own.

Red: Is a child really what you want? But a baby won’t fix what happened in the past.

And it certainly won't fix a man like Tom Keen.

Red: The truth is, despite your feelings, your husband doesn’t matter. Zamani did you a favor, Lizzy.

I find this hilarious. He straight out told her that her husband doesn’t matter. You know why? Because her husband never existed. 

When Liz stabbed Red in the neck with a pen, he stated, "But if I die, you’ll never know the truth about your husband."

A truth, given Tom would've had no reason to reveal it. He's all but proven to only reveal things when it benefits him. In season one, it was the photograph of Red at the hospital, which I believe he'd gotten when he claimed to go for that job interview in 1x11. I believe that job interview was a lie, and he went to get proof from the hospital. 

Tom: I applied for a job in Lincoln. Liz: You’re leaving? Tom: Well, the interview’s tomorrow. I’m flying out this afternoon. 

At the end of 1x11-

Red: Tom’s at the airport.

Tom gave her the truth in 1x12-

Tom: I didn’t go. I mean, I got there, but I couldn’t. Because all I could think about was you and your dad. (To get that photograph). 

Coincidentally offering up this photograph when Berlin's plane was about to take flight. So he had this photograph from episode 1x12 to episode 1x19. Gave it up when he knew she found the key in the lamp, knew that she put a tracker in his keys, and realized she was investigating him rather than accepting his spy life. In season two, it was his reveal that Red hired him. (Forget about the passports Liz asked him about, as I'm 100% certain they came from someone other than Red and Berlin). Tom coincidentally offering up the information of Red having hired him when The Director was looking to have him assassinated in the street. In season four, it was the DNA report that supposedly sat in an SVR file for 30 years. Yet Masha Rostova was never more than suspicion and rumor all that time. Yet the Cabal didn’t find her until season two. Yet Anton Velov failed to even know her name. Coincidentally offering up this DNA report after he screwed up his mission in Gaia, and Kirk was considering a stem cell donation from Agnes.

1x2- When Liz asked Red about the passport box, he knew nothing of it. He told Liz, "If you confront him, what good does that do? He’ll deny everything, and you’ll continue to doubt him."

And that's exactly what happened.

Red: Tell me about your husband. Does he know you as well as you know him? Liz: Your contact is late. Red: Does he know about you as a child? Liz: It’s been 35 minutes. Red: Does he know about the fire?

Because he was slated to die in the pilot, but was kept around and thrown into a spinoff that would've eventually led to a redemption-type story, I believe Tom's story will remain as it was had he died. That being the reason Red turned himself in, and why I feel they've headed back to the pilot in season four. Because whether he died or went through a redemption story, something would've eventually led him into that. I know the writers have said that Tom is always going to be part of The Blacklist family, but that's not necessarily a good thing. To me, that doesn't speak to what will or won't happen to his character. And it’s my belief he'll always be a part of it because he's tied to the core of it somehow. To the story surrounding Red and Liz. Not to their future, but to their past. Katarina’s, to be more specific, given what Red said in Requiem. And I feel that connection came out in every episode following the pilot. Episodes like the very next- The Freelancer. The first time Red got to question Liz about her husband, and he chose to ask her whether Tom knows about her as a child, does he know about the fire. Let's not forget that Red blocked her memory. So either he was testing Liz's memory, or he was wanting to know about Tom's knowledge of things long passed. The only thing Red knew she remembered for herself of that night despite him having blocked her memory... was with regard to her scar. And in the season one finale, they had him telling Liz that her father's alive. For someone who was slated to die in the pilot, it felt to me like they already knew exactly where they were taking him.

At the end of this episode, Red offered Liz an option he knew she'd take. The third option, to investigate her husband herself.

"We never really know anyone, do we? What are you gonna do, Lizzy? About this situation with Tom? It seems you have two options. Either you turn him in or confront him. Or perhaps there’s a third option."

1x5- Red: Tell me what you’ve learned about your husband. Liz: The gun that I found in the box is connected to an open homicide. Red: Of whom? Liz: It’s classified. I can’t read the file. Red: I imagine you’ve found ways around that particular obstacle. Liz: I know it happened in Boston last year. I think it was a Russian tourist who was murdered. Victor Fokin. Red: You lived in New York at the time. Why would you think your husband would be in Boston? Liz: Because I was there with him. He supposedly had a job interview, and we made it into a small vacation. Red: A few years ago, some of my associates encountered the Courier in an opium den in Cairo. He killed two of them. If he still has a taste for the poppy, there’s a man who may be able to help us. Liz: You’re talking about a drug dealer. Red: I’m talking about a friend, a philosopher who practices an ancient ritual going back thousands of years. There’s a good chance he could be helpful in locating the Courier’s safe house. Liz: All I care about is finding Seth. Call your friend. I want the Courier’s safe-house address. Red: Thank you. Liz: For what? Red: For being honest with me. In my life, I don’t encounter that frequently.

I believe Red already knew the truth, but was checking Liz's honesty meter.

1x6- Liz: Why? Does she know Tom? Red: Because she’s Tom’s lover.

And she was. Considering they didn't give a specific date to when Tom broke it off with Gina, I'd say Tom and Gina were still dating while Tom and Liz were together, especially with Gina's statement about Tom having dumped her for his mark. In order for Tom to dump Gina for his mark, Liz had to already be his mark, which tells me that he was with Gina at least until after Tom aligned himself with whoever hired him to play the boyfriend. Liz was considered his mark from the moment they met at the cafe in 2010, to the point she realized he was a spy in 2014. So Liz was his mark for four years. This in mind, he could’ve been with Gina for quite some time while still making this statement true. Gina having a photograph of Tom in a book beside her bed supports them being together up until Fokin’s murder in June of 2012, since it's one from Keen2′s "small vacation.” Red did not plant it, Tom surely wouldn't plant it, and I highly damn doubt Gina stole it. It was given to her. But it's my full belief that Tom broke it off with Gina when he framed her for the Fokin murder, as I believe they were actually still together when Red blacklisted her. I believe that's why she went from keeping his picture by her bed... to letting him get shot up in the back of a van in season three. I also believe that’s why her body language spoke as it did when she confessed to the murder. And since they’ve yet to specify when Tom actually broke it off with her, that bit is still open for theorizing. Gina’s statement is also one of many that speaks against the whole "He hooked up with Liz out of love" crap. Nope, it was a job. 

Red: Have you found the connection to your husband? Liz: We have looked through all of Zanetakos’ phone messages, all her records. There wasn’t a single message from Tom. Red: Perhaps they exchanged letters. Liz: There’s nothing between them. My husband is innocent.

Red offerered up the idea of the two exchanging letters, and the first thing Liz checked in Gina's place.... was the mail.

Tom: That’s him- who I met with. That’s the guy who interviewed me for the job.

Red: I heard about Tom. Liz: Yeah. Zanetakos confessed. Red: Or took the fall. Liz: The passports? Forged. The money in the box? Traced to an offshore account of yours. Red: I can only lead you to the truth. I can’t make you believe it. Liz: The truth is that you’re a sick, twisted man. This, your obsession with me -You put Tom’s picture in Zanetakos’ apartment. Red: No. Liz: You hired her to kill Victor Fokin. You set my husband up by having your errand boy lure him to Boston. Red: Is that what Tom said? Liz: I don’t understand why you would do this, any of it! Go to hell.

Red knew that Gina took the fall for Tom, and he knew that it was Tom who told Liz about Newton Phillips luring him to Boston. But Red wasn't giving her this information out-right. He was giving her this information in the form of alternative options and questions. This removed his need to admit having hired Tom.

Kinda like how Red told Liz that Kirk is her stepfather without having to say it out-right: “Just because he was your mother’s husband doesn’t make him your father.”

This type of thing is what I call Red-Speak. His wording is always purposeful. 

1x7- Red: I might do the same in your position. It’s easier to blame me for framing your husband than face the truth of what he is. Liz: Tom teaches 4th grade. He’s overworked and underpaid and still wakes up every morning with a smile on his face. You know why? Because he knows nothing of the terrible world you and I live in. End of story. Red: Oh, that’s not the end of the story. I’m confident you’ll come to see that. But in the meantime, we need to find a way to move past this. Because for me, there’s just no fun in it unless you’re there. And if there’s no fun to be had, I’m not interested.

But Red also understood where Liz was coming from.

1x10- "Lizzy, be careful of your husband."

1x13- Red: You’re arriving at a point of no return, Lizzy. If you have any doubts about your husband, you can’t go through with this adoption. When you get there, if there is even one shred of doubt…

Red knew that Liz was having doubts about Tom.

Liz: Honey, you can’t tell me that there’s not one shred of doubt, one shred that wonders if this is broken.

Doubts about Tom? Definitely. Not one question mark, but four for Tom on her baby pro-con list.

1x17- Red had Kate locate Jolene's body and decided to report her missing. He spent days working on the Sorrento music box, all-knowing she'd be led to the truth and in need of a father's comfort.

Liz: You spent days building that damn thing. You knew about the song. My father. You knew I’d find out the truth. And you wanted me- Red: -to know that everything is going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.

1x18-

Red: Right now, the only thing that matters is the immediate threat- your husband- finding out who he is and who he works for. 

“Who he is” and “who he works for.” Red had no idea who he was nor who he worked for at this point. But here, Red also spoke of Tom being an “immediate threat.” I’d say so, given he held a gun on her and took her to the man who planned to kill her.  Liz: He wants to renew our vows. Red: Things are unraveling for him. He’s desperate to keep you close.

This is exactly why Tom proposed. He was acting on Liz's belief in 1x19 ("He knows something’s off."), which turned out to be true. That's why he was seen spying on Liz, and his suspicions were confirmed when he caught her at the end of the episode- placing the key back in the lamp.

1x19- Liz: He knows something’s off. Red: What makes you say that? Liz: I can feel it. I know him. Red: Tom is on his heels. He’s behaving erratically. Liz: He killed Jolene Parker. Red: Yes. Liz: You knew? Why didn’t you tell me? Red: I felt if I told you, it would inform your behavior with him. I found her body, called the police, and reported a missing person. I was confident, in the course of their investigation, they would reach out to you and Tom, and they did. Jolene Parker undoubtedly worked for the same organization as Tom. In what capacity, I have no idea.

Red had reason to withhold this, given Tom already knew something was off, so yes.... it would've informed her behavior with him all the more.

Liz: If they worked together, why would he murder her? Red: Perhaps he was ordered to. Or perhaps he’s just out of control, irrational, paranoid and reactionary.

"Or." Red knew, since he hired Cowboy ... Tom was out of control, irrational, paranoid and reactionary. Tom knew Jolene was leading Red straight to him, so he killed her. She was a threat to his mission.

1x21- Red: This case relates directly to your husband and why he was here. I have reason to believe an attack is imminent.

"Why he was here" as in "Why he was in Liz's life to begin with" since Red didn't hire Tom to play the boyfriend or to marry her. Someone else did that.

1x22- Red: Well, that simplifies matters. Just the three of us. Tom, put the gun down before you do something you’ll deeply regret. I’m the one you want. Make the right choice, Tom. But make it fast because when I get over there, I’m gonna take that gun away from you.

Red believed Tom would've killed Liz, and I feel he had every reason to believe that, since I believe the same. I feel that's why Red had no choice but to shoot Fake Berlin. He knew the man wasn't the real Berlin anyway. But Red had a better chance of talking Tom out of killing Liz with his superior shot dead and out of his head.

Liz: No! Red: We can’t leave him alive.

"WE can't leave him alive." I take that as a warning. But I believe Red knew here that Liz was going to save Tom. I believe that's why he left her and why he chose to hire Ezra. To believe that she'd kill Tom, he'd have to believe her not only capable of cold-blooded murder, but capable of killing her husband, despite him being a fake. Do I even need to go into how difficult it was for Red to make his Hobson's choice even with having a child involved?

Season Two

2x2-

Red: It’s funny. When I was standing there wondering if you had decided to let me die, a thought struck me. How did you know that Berlin had his money in that bank? At first, I thought it was the girl that she told you. But the accounts would be coded, moved through shell corporations. Layers of protection. And then I realized, “No. Somebody has a secret Santa. A source.” Bravo, Lizzy. When you’re ready to share, I’d love to hear.

While I do believe Red knew she was going to save Tom, I don't believe he knew she'd be holding him prisoner on a ship and using him for intel. Here, I believe he knew she was getting information from Tom, but didn't know how.

2x4-

Red: So, how’d your case go? Liz: I think you know the answer to that. Who is he? Red: Who is who? Liz: The gunman, the sniper. He works for you, doesn’t he? Red: Yes. Liz: How long has he been following me? Red: Since the day Agent Malik died. Liz: I want him gone. Red: My associate saves your life, and instead of saying “thank you,” you try to get him fired. If I knew better, I’d say you were hiding something.

Red said Ezra had been following her since the day Agent Malik died, but he didn't say why he hired him. I believe Red hired him because he knew that Liz saved Tom.

2x5-

Liz: I told you to get rid of him. Red: Lizzy, I’m not getting rid of him. Your safety is of great concern to me.

Red doesn’t trust Tom, nor does he trust Liz...  it’s personal. 

Red: It’s about Agent Keen. Ezra: Sir. Red: She seems unusually agitated. I’m not sure why, but I believe she’s hiding something from me. Ezra: Hiding what? Red: I’m not sure. But I think she’s worried you may expose her. She’s made it clear she wants you gone. I told her that’s not an option. I think she may try to manipulate the situation. Ezra: Don’t worry. I’ve got eyes on her as we speak. She’s not going anywhere. This is where Liz’s double took her top off in front of the window. I find it interesting, given I believe this was the move that led Ezra to discover her secret. 

2x6- Red: What is it? Liz: Uh, Trierweiler, right? Judy Trierweiler, aka “Elsa.” Red: You all right? Red could sense something was wrong with Liz. She was trying to decide what to do with Ezra. She decided to have him arrested and put under a no-contact order so that he couldn’t speak to Red or any of his contacts. 

Red: Was all this really necessary? Liz: Tell you what- How about I find someone to follow you around 24/7 and see how you like it? Red: You know as well as I, this has nothing to do with being followed. This is about being found out. You’re hiding something. Why else risk my capture? Liz: Ezra’s not gonna talk. Red: I know that, but you didn’t. And now you’re holding him in a cement box under a no-contact order. Congratulations, Lizzy. You’ve plugged the hole, but the dam will fail. It’s only a matter of time.

Two episodes later, the dam fails. I find his reference interesting, given Tom is on a ship. 

2x8- Red: Elizabeth, we need to talk, now. Tom. Liz: What? Red: You told me Tom is dead. He’s not. Liz: Who told you he’s alive?

Red gave no answer here, but he knew. He gave her several chances to come to him with it- until he had no choice but straight-out confront her. And he had no choice because Fitch’s life was at stake.  Red: I’m disappointed you haven’t felt that you could trust me enough to tell me this. Liz: Look, okay, I lied. But I only kept it a secret because I know you want him dead. Red: No, you kept it a secret because you didn’t want to admit to yourself that you still love him, that even after everything he has done, after how horribly he treated you, you still can’t let him go. So you’re playing house. Liz: I’ve been using him as a source, and he’s been incredibly valuable. Red: Normally, any intelligence you could gather from Tom Keen would be yesterday’s news, but Berlin has gone to ground and is likely dependent on former assets he used when your husband was in his employ. So it seems Tom may be of some value after all. I need to know everything he can tell you about Berlin’s former safe houses, former contacts. All that matters is finding Alan Fitch.

“So it seems Tom may be of some value after all.” Reminds me of Red speaking of Ressler in Eli Matchett: “Agent Ressler may be of some use after all.”

Red: Your gentleman friend with the earring said he moved the body. Mr. Kaplan is with him now. We’re trying to contain the situation. You should have come to me. Liz: I didn’t need to. Red: Look around you, Lizzy! Liz: We found Fitch because of Tom. Red: It wasn’t worth it. Not if the cost was you, here in this. Filth.

For a man who said, “I never wanted you to be... like me” ... Red would take this hard, seeing Liz in the filth of his world. Moreso, since all she did was put herself through more pain and humiliation.  

2x14- Red knows all about Madeline Pratt and the way she operates. That’s why he chose to be Liz’s plus one back in season one. It’s a back and forth with those two.  

Liz used Tom’s advice and fake-sneezed.  Red: Oh, the Dinky. No matter the time of day, that damn train is always full of hungover frat boys and co-eds in the throes of morning-after regret.

Red already knew, and I’m sure he knew just where she got that bit of advice. 

2x15-

Red already knew that Tom turned to Major for another job. He knew because Red knows that Tom “can no sooner choose to stop than a great white shark can choose to stop swimming and eating.” The Major: He hasn’t been in contact. Red: Cut the crap, Bill. You acquired Tom Keen when he was a boy. You trained him to be a deep-cover operative. It’s all he’s ever done. It’s all he knows. When one operation ends, he comes back to you for another.

2x16- Red: In what may be Agent Keen’s single greatest lapse in judgment, she saved the imposter pretending to be her devoted husband, opting instead, to hold him captive in the rusty hull of an abandoned ship.

Red: We can handle the perjury count. It’s the murder charge I’d like to avoid.

Here, Red spoke as if believing she'd still get charged with perjury, so no, he didn't know that the Cabal would let both of them walk without charge just to protect the task force. Probably because that's not the reason they let both of them walk.

Liz: How? Judge Denner’s right. I covered it up. At the very least, I’m an accessory after the fact. Red: Listen to me. Juries care about intent. You didn’t intend to kill the harbormaster. That was Tom’s decision. Right now, that judge may think you’re guilty, and it’s not easy to let a cold-blooded killer go free, even in the name of national security. But a cold-blooded killer, you are not. If we can prove Tom is responsible, it might just tip the scales.

Red's wording here is rather interesting. "You didn't intend to kill the harbormaster. That was Tom's decision." I believe Red knew why Tom "intended to kill" the harbormaster, and I believe it goes to the question Judge Denner asked: "The harbormaster would have saved you. Why kill him?" 

Because Tom wanted off that ship.

"But a cold-blooded killer, you are not." Which is how Red knew she didn't kill Tom in the season one finale.

Liz: It’s my fault. I never should have put him there. He’ll go to prison for the rest of his life because of me. Red: One step at a time, Lizzy.

"One step at a time, Lizzy."  Another huge indicator that Red didn't know they'd let Tom walk in order to protect the task force. Probably because that's not the reason they let him walk.

Liz: He’s not gonna come back. Red: He will.

Red knew Tom would come back because he and Ressler would be leaving him without a choice. Even Ressler said it: "We found Tom. We’re gonna make him come back, tell the judge that you’re innocent." All of Tom's "clean" passports were locked up in evidence. The passports he did have were burned because of Red and Ressler.  He couldn't get in touch with Major- and didn't get in touch with him until Major was actually looking to kill him. So where else was Tom going to hide from the most ruthless drug dealers in Europe? Yeah... he turned himself in because he had nowhere else to go.  

Red: Whatever you think you know about Tom Keen, forget it. The bookish elementary-school teacher was a masterful illusion. The man is an extremely talented covert operative. I’m not surprised he convinced you that his persona was real. Once he takes on a new identity, he convinces himself.

“Masterful illusion.” I’m going to be referring to this bit of dialogue a time or two later in my post. I believe this would be why Tom appeared to “snap out of it” with Jolene in the hotel room just as Lord Baltimore snapped out of her sister-alter. Because he’d fallen so deep into his cover. 

Red: You know, they say you can judge a man by the company he keeps. Tom: Do you have any idea what you just did? I was in. Red: Yes. And now you’re out. You didn’t seem inclined to leave your new friends willingly, so I had to improvise. Tom: I was on assignment. I had a contract. Red: Circumstances change. Think, Tom. I’m the one who told you to go and never come back, so for me to be responsible for your return, you must know I don’t have a comparable option. Tom: No. I am not going back. Red: She’ll be indicted. Not just for perjury, not just for obstruction – for murder. The local authorities think she killed the harbormaster. She’s going to prison. Tom: I’m the only reason she’s not in prison already. That harbormaster was gonna call the cops. Red: Yes, but that’s all beside the point. You know what to do, Tom. Are you gonna let a crime you committed to protect Elizabeth be the reason she goes to jail? Tom: Like you care. Red: What does that mean? Tom: You are using her. You have been using her from the very beginning. You need her on the outside so you can keep your little task force up and running. Red: I’m glad we had this talk. I know you’ll do the right thing. Tom: Listen to me. I am gone. Lizzy did this to herself the second she threw me in that hole. I am not going down. Not for her. And sure as hell not for you.

“You didn’t seem inclined to leave your new friends willingly” ... “What you just did” ... “for me to be responsible for your return”

Red and Ressler forced Tom to come back. Tom told them he wasn’t going back willingly (”That’s not happening.Tell her she’s on her own.”) So Red had to “improvise.” 

Liz: You knew about Tom - that if he came back they’d exonerate him to protect the task force. He’d get his life back. You saved a man you hate to save me.

No, Red didn’t know this.

2x17- Red: A bottle of wine you made with Sam when you were a child. Happy birthday, Lizzy. You’ve become everything Sam dreamed you would and more. Share it with someone special. That said, it’s probably undrinkable by now, so I also brought you an ’82 Brunello as a backup.

Red knew she wouldn’t be sharing the wine with Tom, so gee... I wonder who Red was referring to. Interesting, since he said it was undrinkable, yet I saw two people drinking it. Makes me wonder if he said that purposefully. 

2x18- Red: Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear. Liz: I came home, and Tom was here. Red: He’s back in your life.

Red knew that Tom was back in her life. That’s why- when she didn’t get her way with Red, she turned to Tom for help. Because he was back in her life.  Liz: He is not in my life. Red: I understand what it’s like to be drawn to something that is unhealthy, to a part of yourself that you are afraid of. But I want you to remember what your life really was with him, and imagine all that it could be without him.

I find this bit interesting, so I’ll be putting it to gif at some point. This coincides with Liz’s statement to Cooper in the S4 finale, as well as what the writers have been saying in interview. Liz: I don’t have to imagine. Red: Good. Because I have a case.

“Because I have a case.” Let me just put this in here, so people understand my interpretation of Red’s statement. The last we saw of Red, he was in the back seat of the car, looking at photographs of Liz throughout her birthdays. He went from his car to her motel, bringing her this case as if he couldn’t wait to give it to her. I feel Vanessa Cruz is rather important. But also important I feel, is Tom not being in Liz’s life... something about this statement makes it feel as though Tom being in her life is a conflict as to why Red hired Vanessa Cruz.

Red: What’s wrong? Liz: I just spent the last 42 hours dealing with a man who is a lifelong habitual, pathological liar. Red: Tom.

lol ... he knew who she was talking about.  Liz: Yes. Tom. Red: Lizzy - Liz: Don’t give me advice. 

I don’t know why Liz told Red not to give her advice, it’s not like she’d take it anyway. But Red sees what she’s doing to herself, searching for truth in the lie, trying to find something that was never there.

2x19-

Red: When I hired Tom Keen, it was at a time of profound transition in your life. You’d already left behind the relative safety and innocence of youth. Sam’s care as a father had served you well, but you’d outgrown him. And I knew that eventually my life would jeopardize yours. So, in an admittedly presumptuous and ultimately futile effort to keep you safe, I hired Tom simply to be there as a friend of a friend to look after you from an arm’s length. When I learned that your relationship had become intimate, I fired him. I should’ve removed him, but you were already in love with him. And Tom, he shifted his allegiance to Berlin in part to protect himself from me, but also because it allowed for an inextricable intimacy and commitment to you. And so you were married. And I couldn’t stay away any longer. A confluence of peril had entered your life, and I wanted to be within reach, to have influence. I turned myself in to the FBI to point you toward a truth that inevitably you would have to discover for yourself.

Red's reference of Tom as a “confluence of peril.” Not one of two, but the joining of two perils. Here, Red is basically saying that two perils had entered her life, and they entered her life through Tom- when he married her. Serious and immediate danger, Red couldn’t stay away. This marriage spoken of again in Requiem. Something about this marriage bothered Red. My opinion on what bothered him, is in knowing Tom married her as part of a job, and so he knew Tom was marrying her purposefully so that his employer could get at him. It’s the perfect way to draw Red out of the shadows.  

2x21- Red: Where are you on Karakurt? Liz: Where? Nowhere. The Cabal just took out an entire substation of the CIA. They put a bullet in your chest, and you have no idea how. You’re the most cautious person I know. The FBI couldn’t find you for 20 years, but they did. They’re three steps ahead, and that’s exactly what I’m gonna tell the AG. Red: Tom Connolly is there? Liz: No, he’s on his way. I assume he’s expecting to be briefed. Red: Connolly made the Harbormaster investigation go away. Liz: All we have on Karakurt is a recording and a grainy photo that’s gotten us nowhere. Red: You have far more than that. Liz: Like what? Red: I’m glad you’re safe, Lizzy. I’ll be in touch.

“Connolly made the Harbormaster investigation go away.” Again, Red didn’t know they’d exonerate Tom, but I find it interesting that he knew it was Connolly who made the harbormaster investigation go away because both Liz and Tom claimed the judge let him go, as if the judge had a choice. They’ve connected everything that happened back to the harbormaster investigation. 

2x22- Red: Yes? Tom: Where’s Liz? I can’t reach her. Red: I can’t help you with that.

I found it interesting, the way Red worded this. I believe he was trying to hide the intent of the caller, hoping beyond hope that Liz wouldn’t find out it was Tom on the other end. He didn’t want Tom involved.  Tom: I can keep her safe. I can help her disappear. Red: Your assistance is not necessary. 

“Keeping her safe.” What Red’s been doing for the past 25+ years. “Help her disappear.” What Red gets paid for. Like... literally: "You don’t believe Raymond Reddington could cease to exist in 60 seconds? I offer that particular package to clients." Liz: Who was that?

And Red had no choice but to be honest.  Red: Tom. Tom is calling to take you away, start a new life with a new identity. But if you run now, before clearing your name, there is no place you can go where they won’t find you. Face this now, fight it, and you’ll be free to make any choice you want.

And Red was right. Had Liz taken off with Tom on his boat, the Cabal would’ve killed her. The idea of Tom protecting Liz while fighting off the Cabal alone...one of the most laughable. 

Season Three

3x4- Liz: I have to believe Ressler wants the truth about who attacked our country just as much as we do. If that’s true, he’ll accept help anywhere he can get it. Aram: He wouldn’t take it from Tom. Liz: What? Tom? I-I don’t understand. Aram: He knows you’re in trouble. He came and offered to help, and Agent Ressler turned him down. Red: The Djinn- we need to find The Djinn.

Red was rather annoyed with Tom inserting himself in the quest to clear Liz's name after he told him on the phone that his assistance wasn't necessary. Because it wasn't, and I believe Red had the same fear as he had before they went on the run: That Tom would get her to diappear with him. I believe that’s why he gave a bit of attitude when he cut them off in conversation here. 

Red: If you’re thinking of reaching out to him, don’t. Now that he’s on the FBI’s radar, they’re likely monitoring any communications. This is important, Lizzy. Promise me you won’t call him. Liz: I promise.

Red knew Liz wanted to reach out to Tom, and he knew that she would reach out to him despite having promised she wouldn't. And I'm sure Red understood why she did. Looking for hope anywhere she can get it. 

3x7-

Liz: It’s Tom. He wants to meet. Red: That’s not a good idea.

And Red was right. Had Tom not been tipped off,  Liz would've been taken into custody...and  died. At that point, they didn't have the most important part of the plan: Diaz's reason to charge The Director with war crimes.

Red: Harold, Agent Keen tells me you have the man they call Karakurt. Cooper: Yes. And I intend on turning him over to the bureau as soon as possible. Red: Don’t. I have a better idea.

Apparently Liz spoke to Red about having met with Tom. Good thing, since Tom was trying to push past Red and Ressler, wanting to take Karakurt in before the plan was put together. Had Cooper taken Karakurt in like Tom wanted him to, Karakurt would’ve been killed.

3x11- Liz: I- I know I’m lucky the way things turned out, but I can’t even rent an apartment because people think I’m a criminal. Tom thinks we should just go away and start over. Maybe he’s right. Red: Tom. There’s something you need to see.

Red was bothered again by Tom’s want for her to disappear with him, as he should've been. Red knows of the dangers coming for her, and he knew Tom wouldn’t be enough to keep her safe. 

Red: You will not marry her. Tom: Why? Because I didn’t ask daddy’s permission? Is that really why you called me here? Or did you just want someone to play go fish? Red: You married her over my objection once. It will not happen again.

Red is right again, and he didn’t have to stop the wedding. Solomon came at the right time. 

3x12- Liz: Tom. Red: What I did was for your protection. Liz: Taking his job away. Red: I’m not a threat to your safety, Lizzy, or your child’s. On the contrary, I can guarantee it, but I cannot do that if you run away. Liz: You’re the only reason I need protection. Red: I wish it were that simple.

Red warned her that if she ran away with Tom, her and her child would be in danger. Right again. 

3x14- Red: You think your life is too dangerous for a child. But what is your life without one? I can tell you from personal experience- not much. What? Liz: You and Tom agree on something. Red: He wants you to keep the baby? Liz: Oh, yeah. 

I don’t feel Red is shocked in Tom wanting her to keep the baby. After all, it would put him in a position to manipulate Liz even more. I believe Red’s issue is in Tom’s reason for wanting to keep the baby, since Tom isn’t a “real parent.” It only speaks to Tom’s willingness to raise a child in the kind of life that a child doesn’t belong. I think Red was more shocked at Tom being so selfish as to want that kind of life for Agnes. 

3x15- Liz: Where is he? Do you know? He’s not answering his cell. Red: I’m gonna take a shot in the dark and assume you mean Tom.

Of course he knew she was speaking of Tom, since everything Tom suffers is Red’s fault, never of his own doing.... smh.  Liz: Did you hurt him? Red: Why would you think that? Liz: ‘Cause the last time I spoke to him, he told me we’d be free. Of you. Red: I am not your Tom problem, Lizzy. Tom is your Tom problem. I’m sure he’ll turn up soon enough.

Red already had planned to allow Liz the choice of discovering those perils for herself. I’ll be referring to this bit later in my post. 

Liz: Don’t you get it? The only reason Tom did what he did is because he had to do something desperate to get away from this.

I find this bit interesting, since she spoke only of Tom, not of herself... not as if she needed to get away from “this.” Red: You made yourself clear this morning, Elizabeth. You can blame me if you like. Liz: Damn right, I blame you. If he dies… Red: If he dies, it’s because he put himself in exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong time. He did this, not me. And that robbery the police want to ask him about– diamonds. He was part of a team that stole tens of millions of dollars’ worth of diamonds. A team I hear included his ex-girlfriend Gina Zanetakos. He’s reckless, dangerous. He’s not worthy of being your husband, and he sure as hell is not worthy of raising that child.

A warning. 

Red: People say youth is wasted on the young. I disagree. I believe wisdom is wasted on the old. All you can do is part with it, but very few will take it. Least of all, the people closest to you. They want no part of it. No matter how often I warn you about Tom, you seem intent on discovering those perils for yourself. Liz: Thank you.

Another warning. Red: I know… I say things that unsettle you about the dangers that lie ahead. I know I anger you with things I say about Tom. But if I’ve ever given you the impression that you won’t survive this, that you and your child aren’t going to have the simple life that I know you long for, I’m sorry. Because you are going to have that, Lizzy.

Liz will have a normal life, but that normal life won’t include Tom Keen. 

3x16- Red: How are you feeling? Liz: We’ve decided to keep the baby. Red: We? Liz: I’ve accepted Tom’s proposal. We’re gonna get married. Red: Right. Liz: I know how you feel about him. I hope you’ll keep an open mind. 

Red’s response here doesn’t come across to me as him being upset, but of him realizing she’s doing a reverse. In the pilot, it was having a husband and adopting a baby. Now, it’s having a baby and adopting father-Tom for her child. 

Red: There is one thing that I can’t seem to… wrap my head around. Liz: What? Red: Tom. After all the lies, all the deception and humiliation, how you can just forgive and forget. Liz: I haven’t forgotten. Forgiveness can’t change the past, but I believe it can change the future. Red: That’s a charming sentiment. But as far as I’m concerned, some things are unforgivable. 

Liz apparently believing everything is forgivable. 

Red: Harold, forgive Charlene. A friend told me recently that forgiveness won’t change the past but could very well change the future. Apparently, nothing is unforgivable. 

Red: What you said about forgiveness changing the future- it comforts me to know you’re looking forward again. The future holds such promise. The past- so many regrets.

Red’s focus all along, spoken of since The Freelancer. It’s about the future, which is why Red wants Tom gone. 

Liz: You said the name Masha Rostova had been lost to history until the manhunt. Now it’s out there, and someone’s looking for me. It’s my mother. Who else would care? Who? You were right. Some things can’t be forgiven.

Until she believed he was keeping her from her mother. 

3x17- Red: I’m here to ask you, to implore you, please, don’t do this. I’m telling you, no matter what you believe, Tom is not the man you think he is. Liz: You’re wrong. You don’t know him. Red: He’s a criminal. Liz: No. He’s changed. Red: Men like Tom don’t change. You’re attempting to build a life with a man who is fundamentally dishonest. Liz: No. I am attempting to build a life with the father of my child. A normal life with two parents who love one another. With everything you know about me, can’t you see that? Can’t you see how important that is to me? To my child? Red: You were wrong about him once. What makes you so sure you’re not wrong this time? Do you really want your child to pay the price for that mistake for the rest of his or her life?

That’s quite a warning. 

"He's a criminal." &  "Men like Tom don't change." Red was right, as shown in their on-screen and deleted scenes in season four. In one deleted scene, Liz had to bail him out after he attacked a drug dealer at the park. In another deleted scene, he was basically asking Liz to respect his want to be Red's side-kick-criminal.

"Fundamentally dishonest."

Proven right again. As shown in hiding his delivery man dropping off painkillers and a gun in The Caretaker. As shown in lying to Liz about how he'd spent that day. As shown in him STILL not telling Liz the truth about his past relationship with Gina, his involvement in the Fokin murder, where he really got those passports, and the murder of Jolene. As shown in his mission in Gaia. Yeah, I could keep going with this one.  

“Do you really want your child to pay the price-”

Proven right yet again. Tom’s putting Agnes in danger. His removing Red’s “goons” from the hospital in the deleted scene. Had it not been for Scottie, Kirk would’ve gotten to Agnes sooner. His helping to fake Liz’s death put Agnes in a car crash, then up on a damn rooftop. His mission in Gaia had Kirk considering her for a stem cell donation. And Tom flat out swore on Agnes’ life when he got the SVR file. 

3x18-

Red: She never should have been at that Godforsaken church.

That spoke well enough. 

3x19- Katarina: He was her father. Red: And to harm him would be to harm her. A mortal sin. Her mother is gone. The father is what she has left in the world.

This is where Red spoke of sparing Tom, though he felt Tom deserved to die. I’m going to revert back to the dialogue in Drexel while I’m at it. 

[Drexel dialogue]- Liz: Did you hurt him? Red: Why would you think that? Liz: ‘Cause the last time I spoke to him, he told me we’d be free. Of you. Red: I am not your Tom problem, Lizzy. Tom is your Tom problem. I’m sure he’ll turn up soon enough.

Red already had planned to allow Liz the choice of discovering those perils for herself. In Cape May, he spoke of Tom deserving to die, but sparing him for Agnes. 

So Red felt Tom deserving to die BEFORE Liz fake died, but spared him because Liz was intent on disovering those perils for herself. Red then felt Tom deserving to die AFTER Liz fake died, but spared him for the sake of Agnes. 

And while I’’m here, I believe Red is giving Liz the choice to discover those perils for herself because he didn’t give Katarina that choice all those years ago. I believe he’s trying to avoid repeating the past, and he probably feels himself capable of keeping her safe during this discovery anyway.  3x21-

Red: Yes, Tom? Tom: Stay out of the airport. Don’t go inside. We intercepted a call from Hargrave to Stalder. It’s a trap. Red: Can’t say that I’m surprised. Disappointed, perhaps. Kill or capture? Tom: Kill. Your head is a peace offering for them botching the job with Liz. Red: Thank you, Tom. Dembe: Shall we turn around? Red: No. Let’s keep our appointment. Scottie hates to be kept waiting.

Red thanked Tom, which allowed Tom to believe that he was actually doing something for Red. But Red already knew-

“One quick look at the airport schematics revealed why Scottie chose the lounge on Concourse F. Conveniently located near a little-used loading dock.”

3x22- Tom: I don’t want your money. I don’t want your protection. I want answers. The woman who killed Liz, you walked right into her trap after I warned you. What happened?

Tom may not have wanted Red’s protection, but he needed it. Had it not been for Scottie, Kirk would’ve gotten Agnes sooner. In the deleted scene, it was Red who spoke to Scottie about it to begin with.

Red didn’t walk into her trap, he set her up in his own. Again, he already knew- “One quick look at the airport schematics revealed why Scottie chose the lounge on Concourse F. Conveniently located near a little-used loading dock.”  Tom: I can’t stand by and watch that happen. You want me to accept your offer to help with Agnes, then you need to accept my help with this. 

Tom using his own daughter as leverage against Red, pushing Red to give him want he desires... a new mission. 

3x23- Red: It’s under control. Tom: That’s not how this works. We have an understanding… I let you into Agnes’ life and you let me help bring down Kirk.

Again, using his own daughter as leverage against Red so he can play spy.  Red: If you have the spare time, I would think you’d be spending it trying to learn about your parents. I understand Scottie Hargrave offered you a job. Tom: She’ll have to wait. Red: You must have many questions. Tom: Yeah. But right now, the only question that matters is where are you on finding Kirk?

Yeah, Tom had many questions, but at this point... the action was with Kirk. Getting answers didn’t sound like a mission. But find out the man who claimed to have killed him years ago is dead, then it’s another story altogether. He needed a new mission, something that sounded like a mission, and he found it. 

Liz's faked death-

As there were three players in this act, there were three reasons for Red to believe it.

Kaplan allowed Red to bank on her trust. A trust that had been built in working together for the same cause for almost 30 years. Betrayal requires trust, and Kaplan had it. Nik allowed Red to see it for himself, allowed it to happen before his very eyes. Used machines that would allow him to see what he needed him to see. Red literally watched Liz die.

"I sat over her body… and watched her die."

Forget falling for it. Tom's role in Liz's faked death only proved Red was right about him. Referring back to dialogue from Tom Keen's episode. The masterful illusion. 

“Whatever you think you know about Tom Keen, forget it. The bookish elementary-school teacher was a masterful illusion. The man is an extremely talented covert operative. I’m not surprised he convinced you that his persona was real. Once he takes on a new identity, he convinces himself.”

While people may think it cool that Red fell for it, that Tom was able to dupe him... know that Tom didn’t dupe him alone, and I believe this dupe will come back to bite Tom, as I think he’s truly going to lose his own daughter along with his “wife” and life: “You have a wife and a child and a life. Leave well enough alone.” 

And that’s aside from this faked death painting them all monsters. They just allowed a man who’s entire purpose in life was to protect his daughter... to believe she died and it was all his fault. Then took away the only light he had left... Agnes. All for the sake of getting them kidnapped and put in danger. I’d say Tom losing his daughter would be karma at its best. 

Season Four

4x1-

Red: As you well know, one of the keys to my success is a clear and consistent understanding of my own limitations. So often people overestimate themselves, misapply their gifts. The cleaner suddenly fancies herself the strategist. Wisdom is learning the boundaries of one’s designated lane. For instance, this, I will do poorly. Clumsily, with more mess than necessary. It’ll take longer and be considerably more unpleasant to boot. But I can’t very well have you do it, can I?

I believe this statement to Kate fits just as well with Tom. He's not a strategist, as his faking Liz's death and failed mission in Gaia have proven that.  

4x2-

Tom: Where are they? Red: In danger. 

Red telling Tom exactly where he placed Liz and Agnes. 

Kate: This is my fault. If anything happens to Elizabeth or the baby… Tom: You have nothing to apologize for. You tried to help us find a normal life. I’d take that risk again. 

And he's taking that risk again with the suitcase, banking on what trust he has in Kate. 

Tom: I don’t regret trying to get away from you. Red: Of course you don’t. Regret requires age or wisdom.

A great statement, considering. 

Tom: We were trying to protect Agnes. Red: I guess that didn’t work out. When we get to Amarillo, I think it would be best to do as I say, both of you.

Red: I’m not gonna hurt you, Nikos. You’re a good man. Loyal. Protective of those who are protective of you. I admire that in a person. Unfortunately for you, I’m surrounded by people who don’t. Tom, I’d like to introduce you to Little Nikos, the man who’s protecting the sociopath who stole your baby. Good luck with that surgery, Nick.

Red flat-out insulting Tom. Tom isn't loyal, nor is he protective of those who are protective of him. 

4x3-

Tom: Time for our feeding? Red: Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. He’s here for your protection.

Tom is still upset over the fact they're being protected by Red. I find it funny, his complaining. He doesn't want Red's protection, yet time and time again, it's been proven that he needs it. The fact that Tom complains, even after having his own "family" kidnapped, and still has no regret. At the end of this scene, Red gives him a nice harsh look. I believe that's because he knows Tom is digging into Liz's past. I put this to gif before, the scene with Kirk's files and photographs on the floor. Aram overheard their conversation, and given what he heard, he only knew about Tom being in on the plan to get the evidence. 

4x4-

Red: We must find this man… unless you have a better lead on Kirk. Has he reached out to you? Liz: No, he hasn’t. Red: Gaia then.

I believe Red knew Liz was lying to him, as I believe he already knew Kirk had reached out. Whether Red knew he reached out on his own or through Tom, that's another theory post entirely.

Tom: What do you mean, you don’t want to trace the link? Liz: You don’t think he’s thought of that? The second he discovers we traced it, he’ll take it away, take her away. Tom: Liz, the only way we’re gonna get her, is by finding where that link is coming from. Liz: I don’t think he’ll hurt her. Tom: Of course he will. She’s his last chance of survival. Liz: If he hurts her, he loses me. Tom: Yeah, and lives. Liz: What does Kirk want more than anything in the world? For me to trust him… to care for him. And because it’s what he desires most, it’s the easiest way to deceive him. He’ll see what he wants to see… my affection. He won’t see what’s real… my deception. This link is an opportunity for me to get close to Kirk. And I can’t do anything to jeopardize that. Tom: Liz, I think you’re being naive. Liz: I know you think that. And I’m asking you to trust me. Tom proves Liz to be right, as it plays out exactly as she said it would. 

Liz: I’m looking at our little girl. It’s almost like a baby monitor, like she’s in the next room. Tom: Only she’s not. Kirk has her. Liz: I know. I asked you this morning to trust me, not to trace the link. I want you to know it means everything to me that you are okay with that. Thank you. Tom: Everything’s gonna be all right, Liz. Blow her a kiss for me. Liz: Okay. I love you. Tom: I love you, too.

Proving Red right again. Dishonesty from Tom, pulling this mission. 

"You’re attempting to build a life with a man who is fundamentally dishonest."

Liz: We talked about this! We agreed! Tom: Yeah, on how you felt. I told you I disagreed. Liz: What you didn’t tell me was that you were gonna do something about it. Instead, you went behind my back and did exactly what I told you not to do. And with Reddington’s help, no doubt. Tom: It wasn’t Reddington.

I love how she went straight to blaming Red, as that's typical of her. 

Liz: Then who? Tom: A guy I used to work with. Liz: When was this? When you were a skinhead? One of Berlin’s thugs? ‘Cause I’m guessing it wasn’t an elementary-school teacher. Tom: I’m not gonna fight with you about this, Liz! I did what I thought was best! And nobody is sorrier than me that it didn’t work! Liz: Oh, no. I know someone who’s sorrier. Our daughter… who now, because of you, is God knows where.

Liz proving more and more that she didn't fall in love with Tom Bond, but actually despises him.

Red: You asked me how this case is connected to finding Agnes. Owen Ayers and his son Skyler share a rare blood disorder. But Dr. Sebastian Reifler is one with a particularly relevant distinction. He treats both Skyler Ayers and Alexander Kirk. If we can get to his doctor, we can get to Kirk. We’re getting close, Lizzy. It won’t be long now. Liz: I lied to you. You asked if Kirk had reached out, and I told you he hadn’t. That wasn’t true. He set up a link… a video feed so I could see Agnes. Red: How incredibly cruel. Liz: Tom tried to trace the link, tried to find Agnes, but Kirk found out, and now, uh… Red: She’s gone. Liz: I thought I could make it better, that I could protect my baby. I mean, that’s my one job… to protect my child. Make her feel safe at any cost. To hold her. To tell her everything’s gonna be okay. But now because of me, because of what I’ve done, I can’t even do that.

This scene cuts straight to Kirk, contemplating a stem cell donation from Agnes. My Agnes stem cell theory is still up somewhere. Tom acted on Liz’s behalf in pulling that mission, so Kirk took it as Liz betraying him.  4x5-

Red: What’s this? Liz: A DNA report. Proof that Alexander Kirk is my father. You told me my father was dead, that I killed him. Everything you’ve said from the start, from the very beginning… all lies.

I believe Red knew exactly where that DNA report came from, and he needed to cut him out. 

4x6- Red: I just wanted to thank you for trusting me, trusting the plan. I understand what a…a leap of faith it must have been. Liz: Not really. Considering what was at stake.

And I believe Red and Liz kept this plan to themselves, cutting Tom out.

4x7-

Liz: This whole time, Reddington was right. Tom: Yeah, but he was wrong about one thing. Kirk is never getting out of here alive.

Red: I’ll tell you what he won’t do. He won’t die alone in that hospital. I promise you, the plan is already in motion. All of Kirk’s resources will be brought to bear. Every angle has been calculated. Every obstacle considered and accounted for. Men are coming, Elizabeth– men who kill every living thing that gets in their way. Tell Harold, and then you get out of that hospital.

Guess who was right and who was wrong? You got it. 

4x8- Tom: Hey. Hello, did you hear me? I need to find her, and I need your help. Red: No. The FBI needs to find her. We need to focus on keeping Elizabeth alive once they do. Tom: What are you talking about? Red: I’ll call you on this number when I know more.

Tom has no flipping idea, which is why he shouldn’t be meddling in Liz’s family secrets. 

Tom: So it worked? Red: Yes. Tom: I’ll take that as a thank you.

Red lies to Tom, allows him to believe that he helped save his life. Reminds me of Scottie’s trap for Red at the airport. 

4x9-

Tom: Yeah. So, I know we’re moving out, but just a quick gut check here. Kirk is gone. But according to Reddington, he’s, what, dead? Not dead? He’s definitely not in jail. Liz: I don’t know. With Reddington, I don’t assume anything. Tom: He kept you from getting answers about who your father is. Liz: You’re the one that told me that’s in my past. Tom: I know, and it is. But I don’t know. Maybe now that I’m a dad, I’d… be lying if I said I didn’t wonder who my father is.

My belief in Tom’s constant flip-flopping in season four. He doesn’t care for his own answers, he needs to sell the idea that he does so that he can talk Liz into getting hers. He doesn't want his own answers until there’s actually a mission to be had. 

4x10-

Liz:  I’ve been working on this, so let me know what you think. Tom: Yeah? Smells pretty good. Liz: All right, bon appétit.

A nice trip back to the flashdrive video of Tom at the adoption agency, talking about Liz screwing up a spaghetti dinner. I bet Liz put more effort into improving her spaghetti cooking skills than Tom did in giving up the spy life.

Liz: What is this? Tom: It’s a promise. I lied when I said it wasn’t a lot to give up. Liz: Yeah. It wasn’t a lie, it was a hope. Tom: Yeah, I… I want this to work. Liz: And wondering whether or not that’s possible is totally natural. Tom: Right. But what isn’t natural for me, anyway, is talking about that, so… it’s my promise, to share this doubt with you. Liz: Thank you. Tom: I threw those out this morning, yet here they are.

Promises made, promises broken. Over and over and over again.

Liz: Good. This is exactly where they belong. David… Lucas, and… Kaya. I used to be scared of those guys. Not anymore.

From the woman who said they represent everthing she's trying to forget. The woman who once had a nightmare of Tom choking her to death because of them.

4x12-

Liz: Just like everything else is to you. A game. Where’s Tom? Red: Belgium. Liz: You know, Tom and I were just starting to find some semblance of normalcy. And you had to just sweep in, drag him back down your rabbit hole. There must be dozens of contract operatives just like him. Why him?

”Some semblance of normalcy.” Liz knows that the spy life isn’t normal and it will never offer a normal life. Not the life that she wants, that she truly desires- her Djinn fantasy. 

Red: Tom is very good at what he does. It defines him. He can no sooner choose to stop than a great white shark can choose to stop swimming and eating. He will do what he does. But at least if he’s doing it for me, he won’t risk a double-cross, unlike with the vast majority of his prospective employers. Because unlike them, I genuinely care for him. Or rather you, and your daughter. Holcombe’s game commences precisely at 6:00. You don’t have much time.

A nice claim to care about Tom, but ehm... nope. It’s always the “or.” Or rather Liz and Agnes. That’s who he truly cares about. 

Getting to how Red was right on this one, and it will be quite the list. 

Instead of spending time with his daughter, Tom chose to go on a mission to take photographs of Panabaker and Scottie. Instead of spending time with his daughter, Tom chose to go on a mission to seduce and betray Amanda Bigelow, then waited around with Aram at the post office until they caught Scottie’s phone call to Stalder. Instead of spending time with his daughter, Tom chose to go on a mission to fake-rob a bank. Instead of spending time with his daughter, Tom chose to go on a mission to poison Pruitt. Instead of spending time with his daughter after her christening, Tom chose to go on a mission to almost kill Scottie. Instead of spending time with his daughter, Tom chose to go on a mission to set up Kirk with his oil trucks. Instead of staying with his daughter, Tom chose to chase a hooded woman down the street. Instead of wanting to spend time with his daughter, Tom tried to get Liz to include him in The Forecaster case. While spending time with his daughter, instead of focusing on her, Tom chose to focus on his passports sitting in the garbage can. Instead of spending time with his daughter, Tom chose to go on a mission to play Edgar Legate. For the past four months, instead of spending time with his daughter, Tom chose to go on a mission to put his mother in prison. Instead of going to see his daughter first, Tom chose to go on a suitcase mission.

Red was right, Tom will do what he does. That’s why Red flat-out insulted him in this S3 deleted scene-

Red: I don’t trust you. Tom: I can do this. Red: What? Complete this mission and come back alive? Maybe you can, maybe you can’t. Or do you mean: Complete this mission alive, come back and raise your daughter as if you were a real parent? Her only parent. Because that, I know you can’t do.

Red telling Tom that he's not a real parent, and he can't be a real parent because he'll always choose the next mission. 

And Tom confirms Red was right. 

Liz: How’d it go? Tom: Honestly, it was great. I was thinking about what you said, about why I needed that. Truth is, I still don’t know. 

Liz: I know this family is the most important thing to you. But it’s not gonna work if you can’t be who you are. I guess I’m just scared. Tom: Of what? Liz: I’m not gonna love that person. She’s not going to love that person because she already knows she doesn’t love that person. She didn’t fall in love with Tom Bond. She fell in love with Tom Keen, a man who never existed. Referring back to The Pavlovich Brothers dialogue with that one. 

4x13-

Red: I heard about Tom’s father. How did Tom react? Liz: Disinterested. Red: Good. Let’s just say, I don’t trust Red’s claims... ahahaha 

Red: My question is “why not?” You have a wife and a child and a life. Leave well enough alone. Tom: I told Liz I would, that it doesn’t matter. And it doesn’t. It wouldn’t, except that you told me not to let Scottie Hargrave know that I am her son, that if I did I would never find the truth I’ve been looking for. What does that mean? Red: He’s dead, Tom. Tom: What truth? You knew my father. Red: I had a brief professional relationship with your father, a man who wrestled with significant demons. I know his wife, your mother, is a manipulative creature whose own husband didn’t trust her, whose answers to the questions you want to answer could never be trusted. All that really matters is that you vanished off the face of the earth nearly 30 years ago, and yet here you are. Leave the past in the past, Tom. Nothing good will come from digging up secrets. Like putting drugs under his nose and telling him not to snort it because it’s bad for you. You know what this sounds like to Tom? His next mission... lol

Red: You’ll find your time with her goes by too quickly. That’s why cuckoo clocks are perfect. I don’t really care what time it is. I just want to hear the birds sing.

For some reason, I believe this relates to Tom, that Red is watching him somehow. 

4x14-

Tom: I didn’t really care what Richard Game had to tell me until I find out he was dead, and now it’s all I want to know. Who my father was, who I was, why somebody wanted the world to believe I was dead. That’s what I was wrong about, saying it didn’t matter to me. But you were right. It does. I’ll call you if I find anything out.

As I said earlier, let Tom find out the man who claimed to have killed him years ago is dead, then it’s another story altogether. He needed a new mission, something that sounded like a mission, and he found it. Again, proving Red right. 

4x17-

Red: As I feared would happen, elements from Katarina’s past are circling Elizabeth like a pack of wolves in the night. I put Tom Keen in her life to keep an eye on her, and he married her. Kate: This isn’t about Tom Keen. It’s about your need for control. Red: Indeed, I need to control the danger to Elizabeth. I’ve built a vast criminal network predicated on that very principal. It’s time to live up to my mission statement.

Connecting Tom to elements from Katarina’s past, and this is most definitely about Tom Keen. 

Red: Tell me, how’s Tom? Liz: He’s having a hard time, actually. Red: Is he?

I swear, he’s pretending to care. I mean... who knows how long it will take Liz to realize her idiocy.

4x19- Red: I’d think that would be a difficult distinction for you to make. Speak with him if you must. All I ask is that you don’t do it in anger. I wouldn’t want you to say anything either of us would regret.

To think this statement could be part of the reason Red doesn’t tell Liz much of anything. Which is why I feel he’s using reverse psychology with both Tom and Liz. 

4x20- Liz: I know Mr. Kaplan said that the two of you can’t coexist, that that was her truth, but I still hope it can change. Red: I have found in my experience people rarely change. And when they do, they’re not to be trusted.

This fits well with “Men like Tom don’t change.” And Kate... proved Red’s statement well. She was not to be trusted. 

4x21-

Liz: What’s goin’ on? You’re supposed to be here with Dixon. Our meeting with Kaplan’s in less than an hour. Red: I’ll be taking that meeting alone. Liz: You lied about the location. You’re gonna kill her. Red: I don’t know what the outcome will be. Liz: I asked you not to do this. Red: You asked if I could promise you that I wouldn’t. I said no. Liz: That was Dembe. He said he can’t find Reddington.

Look at how Liz still isn’t trusting Red not to hurt Kate. Funny too. Red gives her a straight-out truth, she turns around and lies to the task force. Even to the point of the bridge, she still believes he’s going kill Kate. 

4x22-

Red: Four years ago, I surrendered to protect you. From Tom, Berlin, Cabal. And now you may go to jail because of me. It appears Kate may be right after all. Maybe I am the person you need protection from.

Tom listed first as a person she needed protection from, and listed among the likes of Berlin and Cabal. Yeah... and that need for protection was shown in scene when Tom pulled a gun on Liz and took her to the man who planned to kill her. And when Red killed that man, it then became Tom's job to kill her.  

Tom heads home with the suitcase. His next mission, proving Red right again.

"It’s all he’s ever done. It’s all he knows. When one operation ends, he comes back to you for another.”

“Tom is very good at what he does. It defines him. He can no sooner choose to stop than a great white shark can choose to stop swimming and eating. He will do what he does.”

Liz wants Tom Keen, but he’s gone because he never existed. All that’s left- is Tom Bond. 

“The truth is, despite your feelings, your husband doesn’t matter. Zamani did you a favor, Lizzy.”

Despite how Liz feels about Tom, about him being stabbed and dying in a hospital bed, Tom doesn’t matter because his “feelings for her” were part of the job. They never existed. 

As I’ve said, I’ve yet to see Red be wrong about Tom, and I don’t believe he’s going to be. 

[6ix-dragons]

Fairy Tail Fan Impressions (FTFI): Chapter 538

(Be aware; spoilers for the most recent FT chapters can be found below!)

“OH MY GOD! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S TRUE! HE SUDDENLY DISAPPEARED LIKE THAT!”

Me: I know, right?!

“I feel bad for the others...especially for Lucy and Happy, too!”

Me: Yeah, well...surely, things can’t get any worse than this.

“Ohhh, I’m not prepared for what’s next!”

Me: I mean, it’s not like Acnologia’s gonna come back, and wreck some stuff—

“.....”

Me: (blinks) Uhhh...hello? (looks around) Where’d ya go? (a pause) I swear—you were here, a second ago!

If there was a reaction that I would usually use (from my days watching The Creatures on YT) for this chapter, it would be: “damn, dude”! After the major contentions of the fandom, that were the last two chapters... we finally get treated to a whole new chapter—in which I will say, is quite an interesting one. Well, an emotional one, too.

Let’s get it started, shall we?

So, the chapter picks up from where we last saw Natsu, after he had defeated Zeref. Before we can even get to see our favourite pink-haired dragon-slayer, we see that Lucy is still working on the Book of E.N.D., which is still in her possession. Accompanied with Gray and Happy, she continues to re-write everything there is about him, on that book. In fact, she states that she’s “written down all the experiences he shared together”, with her. By doing so, she’s either: a) saving Natsu, or b) preventing him from transforming into his demon form. And, as I get to that part, later...it was seemingly all for naught.

As she does, however, she finds herself struggling against the powers of the book that have taken influence over her. Fortunately (and, rather, conveniently), she happens to be situated beside an ice mage, who also happens to have demon-slaying abilities. Gray notices that she’s on the brink of collapse, and manages to catch her from falling to the ground. Sensing a demonic presence affecting her, he finally manages to put his new potential, to some considerable use (if not for Mashima’s quality of writing)—and that’s to free her, from the book’s influence. 

Now, there’s quite a problem with that. If you recall back to when Lucy started to rewrite the contents of the book inside, after being in possession of it, you’ve already known that Natsu’s life is no longer linked to Zeref (who was originally the possessor and writer of said book). His life, instead, is linked to Lucy, through the book. Without any links through the source, which is the book itself, Natsu would have a nigh-probable chance of not living at all. So, when Gray managed to free her from the influence of the book, he also ended up breaking the link between her, and the book! In fact, even Happy himself already knows this, too! And, what do you know? The Book of E.N.D. disappears without a trace!

However, before I can talk about what happens with them, after that...I want to take this part of my post, to talk about how Mashima addresses Jellal and Erza. Yes, while the situation surrounding Natsu and the other three is still going on, we get to see a moment between those two. They’re still with all the other people who had just fought Acnologia moments ago, like Wendy, and the remaining Blue Pegasus members. All of them are still trying to recover from their encounter with the villainous dragon-slayer himself—which ended with Ichiya, Anna, and him, into the Timelapse. 

I actually enjoyed the moment that the both of them shared together, after what they had just gone through. Even though Jellal’s antics of sacrificing himself—in the notion that he must redeem for his past trangressions—are a little too much for me...at least I was satisfied with the way he realizes about them, in this chapter. I think he’s finally going to remember about how he has to keep on living, in order to redeem himself. I mean, Erza already has brought that message to him, heavily-handed, by herself! What more can be asked for him, by this point?

Anyway, back to where Lucy and the other two are. I mentioned above, about the Book of E.N.D. disappeaing, right after the link between it and her was broken. Not before long, we finally get to see Natsu, still battle-scarred from his fight with Zeref. It’s a moment that I just like, when they’re all finally reunited with each other. I mean, it all gets light-hearted from there, like all those moments from earlier in the story. Man, don’t you just love them?

So, they’re all talking to each other about what was going on beforehand, in which Natsu shares the news that Mavis has passed on, for real. Despite this, ‘though, they’re still grateful to have each other making it through. I even liked that Gray wanted to apologize to Juvia, for what went down between them, and the ensuing fallout from that. Also, Happy still remembers about what Natsu and him were going to do, when the war was going to be over. With all this light-hearted talk, amongst the jubilation of all involved, you would’ve thought things would have wrapped-up, in the typical way of (almost) every single story arc, right? I mean, all of them would carry on with their lives, just right after this, am I right?

Well, not really...and, it’s all because that next part happened!

While all of their eyes are turned away from Natsu (I mean, come on—at least one of you should have kept check on him!), Happy brings up the whole thing about what Natsu and him plan to do, which is something I already mentioned above...before he puts it as a question towards his long-time, pink-haired companion. 

And then, that’s where all the angst and tears begin. 

As they all turn their focus back towards Natsu, he suddenly disappears out of plain sight, nowhere to be found! In fact, one of the last times they all saw Natsu, before he disappeared, was when he gave a great big smile to them. I mean, I really felt something about that, from what I was seeing.

From then on...it doesn’t take long, before Lucy, Gray, and Happy become greatly devastated over his sudden disappearance. Lucy, especially, since she was the one who tried to save Natsu herself. She believed that he wouldn’t be up and away like that! 

You know, there have been more than a handful of moments in the entire story that have moved me quite emotionally. It was those moments, such as when Gray’s tragic past was explained. There was another one, this time with Erza’s background. And then some, with Igneel dying right before Natsu’s eyes. But those moments, all of those moments—including the ones aforementioned...they have nothing compared to the moments that mainly involve Natsu and Lucy. 

Lucy calling/crying out his name, in times of desperation and sorrow, just happens to get me, each time it comes up. I could faintly remember that time, when Natsu got caught up in the Tower of Heaven’s destruction, and she was the one who cried out his name. It just feels chilling to hear it, let alone, imagine it. And, to me, it’s rather significant, because those two have cared so much for each other. I mean, both of them have been through quite a lot, ever since they first met. I think that, after what they’ve been through, recently...she needs him more than ever. 

I have to admit that, with this one scene in this chapter, it kinda got me a little bit teary-eyed, you know? (takes a deep sigh, and sniffles) Yeah...

Oh, and after that scene happened, we get a good look at Wendy. She’s...sullen, from the looks of it. She has a forlorn facial expression, too. It’s all pretty much, because she has seemingly lost her mentor, who got caught up in the Timelapse. But, that’s not all.

As she slowly takes a look at the sky, she could notice that something’s not right about it. I mean, that’s no moon—it’s a tear in the sky! A large, dark ripple opening up, rather. Aaand, then, we end the chapter on that suspenseful note!

Okay, so...here are the Questions of the Chapter: How do you think Natsu might return to the story? And...what do you think that tear in the sky could be about? 

To me, for the first one, I’m not entirely convinced that Natsu is a goner for real. I have a feeling he might return in some form, somehow. I mean, consider what Mashima did, in his previous work. Those of you who had read Rave Master, already knew what happened to Haru, the major protagonist of that story. He was thought to be killed-off at some point, in the story’s conclusion, but he ends up living in the end, anyway. I have a growing suspicion that the same thing could happen to Natsu, in the remaining final chapters of this story. It would be really surprising if he doesn’t come back, for those concluding chapters. 

For the second one, I’ve heard from a lot of folks, who say that Acnologia might be coming back from being in the Timelapse. Then, there are some, who say that Anna and Ichiya may be the only ones to return. And then, there’s a smaller portion who say that all three of them may come back. I’ve also heard from a few people, who say that it might be Ankhseram who may be coming in from there. Finally, there are a few of those who say that, instead of any of the above making an appearance from there...it may as well be some sort of black hole that destroys the entire world!

If I had to choose one that I think is more convincing, it would have to be the first answer. I mean, it’s possible that Acnologia could return from the Timelapse, given how powerful he is (and, I personally doubt that he can ever be stopped EASILY, by a ship that’s nearly about his size!). This, I believe, also sets up the potential for a final fight (the “final boss” battle, if you will) between him, and the surviving Dragon Slayers. Despite the small number of chapters remaining, I think something like this, would still be do-able. I would also hypothesize that Natsu may play a role in this, as well, should it happen. 

It would be rather disappointing if Ichiya and Anna are the only ones to return, but I would be okay, if both did return along with Acnologia. As for Ankhseram, well...I don’t expect him to really make an appearance, if I were to take Mashima’s words for granted. He mentioned somewhere that Ankhseram would not be an actual character in the story, and would not play any more major roles in it. I would be really surprised, however, if this deity seriously appears at this point in the story. Finally, as for that very last answer, I don’t really think that’s going to happen at all. But, with the next chapter being titled “World Collapse” (or “World Destruction”, rather), anything’s possible! 

Alright...what do I think about this chapter, overall? Well, I thought it was a good chapter. Okay, maybe not good enough to overcome the disappointment of the previous two chapters, but certainly enough to make things a bit interesting. We got a Jerza moment—and a hint of Gruvia, too. Lucy crying out his name, after he disappeared without a trace...well...as I mentioned above, that kind of moment truly got me there. And then, there’s that mystery of what beholds in that tear in the sky. That needs to be answered in the next chapter.

Okay, so that is it, for this post. I want to thank all those who have read this, from the top. Click like, if you like this post; follow my blog, if you like it, too; reblog this to all of your friends...and...please come back, Natsu! Everybody in the guild needs you! Gray needs you! Happy needs you! Heck, even Lucy really needs you! Just come back, Natsu—please! This whole story won’t be the same, without your...abilities...that lack the power scaling and limitations!

[gilbertandanne]

AU College Fic. Farkle never figured out how Riley really felt about Lucas, so it never got out. Now she’s turning 21 and the gang decides to go to Las Vegas to celebrate. Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

Rating: M

Pairing: Rucas

Word Count: 8,708

Cross-posted at ff.net            

Soundtrack (although not at all organized and subject to edits)

A/N: This song got dropped today, but it’s P E R F E C T to listen to as you read this chapter: “It Won’t Kill Ya” by The Chainsmokers.  

Also, 21 is now rated M.  And yes, I do take a little advantage of that switch in this chapter.  This chapter is dedicated to @gmwpluto because she held my hand and kicked my butt throughout multiple rewrites and edits.  She is the best sounding board ever cause she makes you kinda fight for what you’re doing and explain the reasoning behind it and yeah, I’m gonna get killed for this chapter, but I stand by everything that happens and considering the meltdown I had about it, I’m pleased with the result. Thank you Amy.

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | J | Q | K | A | J |

                                      Chapter Ten: Tension

Her brain couldn’t process anything that was running through her chaotic mind.  She had hurt him.  She knew that much, but he had hurt her too.  He accused her of trying to pit Asher against him, of trying to create this buffer between whatever was growing between them, but that wasn’t true.  It wasn’t true because she knew that whatever this was couldn’t possibly last longer than the next few days.  He had always been non-committal when it came to his girlfriends.  A few weeks or even a few months would be the most she could possibly hope for.  She wasn’t willing to sacrifice her friendship with him when they were in middle school, and as strained and practically non-existent as it was now, she still didn’t think she could bear it if he completely vanished from her life.  That’s what would happen next, wouldn’t it?  They would go out for a while and he would realize that she wasn’t what he was looking for, so he would break up with her.  Afterward, she wouldn’t be able to be around him because it would hurt too much.  Their friends would be forced to take sides, and the entire group would fall apart.  She couldn’t let that happen.

As tears streamed down her cheeks, she knew that one day, she’d look back on this whole experience and know that she made the right decision by walking away from this before it was too late.  As she watched the fountains dance to the beat of the music, her heart finally declared war on her brain.

She wasn’t sure how long she stayed on the patio by herself.  Part of her had hoped that he would come back outside so they could go ahead and completely annihilate one another with more accusations and resentment.  Maybe it would be better to get it over with in one fell swoop as opposed to prolonging the inevitable.  It was her fault, anyway.  She was the one who suggested they play ‘seven minutes in heaven’ for real.  She was the one who could have walked away after her alarm went off the first time.  Maybe then, they wouldn’t be like this.  Maybe then they wouldn’t act like two complete idiots who, if she didn’t know any better, seemed to be completely in love with one another.

She scoffed as she wiped her eyes.  That was impossible.  While she knew that it was true on her end, she knew that if he wanted to figure everything out, if he really wanted to work through it, that he wouldn’t have left her the way he did.

She didn’t even want to have the stupid conversation in the first place—not now anyway.  She was drunk.  He was drunk.  She knew it would end badly, but he kept pushing her until he finally figured it out.

As Riley turned away from the show to go back inside, her head was spinning.  He knew now.  After seven years of hiding it from him, he now knew that she didn’t step back from him because her feelings for him had changed.

She took a deep breath as she made her way back to the table.  She had never felt more sober in her entire life.  She hated it.  She was never a huge drinker, and didn’t anticipate that trend changing just because it was suddenly legal for her to do so, but the battle her heart and brain waged was beginning to take its toll on her.  All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep through the next 48 hours.  She wanted to wake up in her dorm room in New York and chalk this whole trip up to being a bad dream—a cautionary tale about the perils of giving into temptation.

Her eyes locked on to Maya’s as she slowly approached the table.  She wrapped her arms around her body as a shiver rippled through her.

As soon as Maya saw Riley, she stood up and quickly made her way toward the quaking brunette.  “Riley?”  When Maya reached her, she rubbed Riley’s arms in an attempt to warm her up.  “You’re freezing.  Are you ok?”

Riley shook her head.  She was the complete opposite of ok.  How did everything get this complicated?  She just wanted to go out and have some fun and now she wasn’t even sure which way was up anymore.

“What happened?”

Riley shook her head once more.  She didn’t want to talk about it, not now anyway.  “Maya, I-I need…I…” She looked all around them.  What she was in search of, she didn’t even know.  She suddenly wanted to claw through her own skin, shed herself of her own body and simply float away.  This was all too much right now.  

As her frantic eyes continued to search the room, she spotted him.  He was seated at the main bar, and he wasn’t alone.  He wasn’t with the same woman as before, but it was another blonde woman and she wasn’t alone either.  A brunette woman had her arm looped through the blonde’s as they giggled at something Lucas said.  Riley felt a fresh batch of tears sting her eyes as her mouth fell open.

Maya furrowed her eyebrows together when she noticed anguish slowly seep into Riley’s eyes.  “Riley?  Riley, what is it?  Do we need to leave?”

Riley blinked several times as she stared at the three people who didn’t seem to have a clue that they were being watched.  Lucas seemed completely unfazed by their earlier conversation.  He laughed at something the blonde woman said, and made no move to remove the hand that the brunette woman had placed on his arm.  Riley’s throat ran dry as the blonde slid onto the barstool on the other side of him.  He was perfectly nestled between both girls now.

What a happy little threesome they seemed to be.  

The agony Riley felt when she stood outside rapidly faded.  Her desire to finish their conversation evaporated as she watched him take a sip of his scotch.  From where she stood, their conversation was over and he seemed more than content enough with the outcome.  

She’d be damned if she’d ever allow him to see how deeply he had gotten underneath her skin and into her heart.  If he was about to fulfill his quest to bring multiple women back to the suite, then she was hell bent on doing what she had set out to do the entire night—not think and not second-guess a single move she made.

But first, she needed to reclaim the buzz she had before she stepped outside with him.

“No,” she finally answered as she turned back to Maya.  She wiped her eyes.  “I want to stay.  I-Is my makeup ok?”

Maya wiped underneath Riley’s eyes to get rid of the slightly smudged eyeliner.  “Yeah.  You’re fine.  Why?  Riley, if you’re upset, then maybe we should—“

“Drink,” she offered even though she knew that wasn’t what Maya had in mind.

“No.  Maybe we should call it a night?”

Riley shook her head.  “No,” she answered as a slow smile tugged at the corners of her lips.  “The night’s only just begun.”  She glanced at the bar.  “I just need to find my buzz again.”

Maya was grateful that Riley’s master plan only seemed to consist of more vodka and dancing.  She had no idea what had transpired during Riley’s dance with Lucas, and while she wanted nothing more than to lock both of them in a closet and let them duke it out, she also knew that tonight wasn’t the best time to do it.  Everyone was intoxicated and she knew that Riley’s emotions were at an all time high.

Although Riley had taken to dancing with any guy who showed a remote interest in her, Maya knew that it could only go so far as long as she were nearby.  She was grateful that Zay and Farkle had joined them a few songs in.  Initially, Farkle had only shown up to give them each another drink, but Riley insisted that he stay with them and dance for at least a few songs.  She batted those beautiful brown eyes and told him that all she wanted for her birthday was to dance with her friends.  Farkle never stood a chance.  Her entire group of friends always ended up giving in when she pouted.

Maya noticed that not once since they hit the dance floor did Riley look back at Lucas.  She considered it a small victory.  She wanted nothing more than to see Riley and Lucas give it a shot, but she also knew nothing good would come out of a drunken conversation right now.  They had a lot to work through and discuss.  If they could make it through tonight, then maybe, just maybe, they would be able to work it out when their heads were a little clearer.

Riley laughed as she wrapped her arms around Zay’s neck and pressed her body against his.  “Dance class has really paid off, huh,” she grinned as they moved to the beat of the club music.

“You all laughed at me in middle school, but it’s always been a lady magnet,” he answered a he focused on the best place to hold Riley.  The last thing he wanted was to get in between whatever was going on with her and his best friend.  Incurring the wrath of Lucas Friar was one thing he did not want to do tonight.  He glanced over his shoulder as Maya cozied up behind him.  He turned back to Riley as he gestured at the blonde behind him.  “See?  Total lady magnet.”

“You’re in the middle of a Riley and Maya sandwich,” Riley laughed as she wrapped her arms around Maya as the trio rocked to the beat of the moderately slow R & B song.  “Do you know how many men would kill to be in your shoes right now?”

Zay chuckled nervously.  She was right.  He was nestled in between two beautiful women, and he knew damn well that if Lucas caught a glimpse of him right now that he might not live to see the sunrise.  “I know of one guy who probably would like to kill me right now if he saw this.”

“Make way for me,” Farkle announced as he ducked in between Riley and Zay.  The entire group laughed as Farkle slithered in between his friends.

“Farkle, I’m not that drunk yet,” Zay smiled before he spun around to dance with Maya.  The genius was one of his best friends, but his dance moves could prove to be lethal.  Farkle needed space to dance, and in his currently inebriated state, Zay wasn’t sure that he would understand that he only had a small space to work with.

Riley laughed as she placed her hands on Farkle’s shoulders.  “Oh Farkle…how are you doing?”

“Pretty good right now,” he smiled as he placed his hands on her waist.  He wasn’t really sure what he had been drinking or even how much he had.  He had placed Zay in charge of everything he consumed since he had never been much of a drinker.  “I can’t really feel my face right now.”

Riley’s eyes widened for a moment before she nearly doubled over in laughter.  “Oh my God,” she snorted as she gasped for air.  He couldn’t feel his face?  She had never been that drunk in her life.  That couldn’t possibly be normal, could it?  “I am so not on your level yet, Farkle.”

“Try me,” he grinned.  “I’m not kidding.”

“So, you can’t feel this?” She lightly touched his cheek.

He shook his head.  “Not at all!”

She tapped his cheek as her smile widened.  “And that?”

He shrugged.  “Nope.”

She lightly smacked his cheek.  “Still nothing?”

He laughed.  “Not a thing.”

“Wow.”  She was more than a little impressed.  Maybe she should get Zay to dictate the rest of her drinks for the night?  She moved her hand back down to his shoulder.  “If you were ever going to get into a fight, tonight would be the night to do it, Farkle.  Only…please don’t do that because then the night would be over and I’m having way too much fun to get kicked out of this club.”  She spun around before she placed her hand over top of his as she moved her hips from side to side.  “I love that you’re dancing right now,” she called out over her shoulder to him.  She couldn’t remember the last time she had been able to dance with him.  It had to have been high school.

“I told you guys that I would loosen up once we got here tonight,” he called out from behind her.

“I know, but I haven’t seen you have fun in a long time.”  She spun back around to face him as the song ended.

He shrugged as a more upbeat song began to play.  “Comes with the territory, I guess.”  He leaned in to speak directly into her ear as the DJ increased the volume of the music.  “I know you wanted this trip and it was your idea, but I needed it.  I needed to spend time with you guys…get out of New York for a few days.”

Riley frowned at his words.  He never talked about the breakup—not since the night it happened.  She turned her head to speak in his ear.  “Does it hurt?  Seeing places that you shared with her day after day?”

He nodded.  “Not as much as it used to, but sometimes I’ll walk past a coffee shop or restaurant or even somewhere that we only went to once, but I’ll think about her and it’s like…it’s like I can’t breathe.”  He sighed.  It was the worst form of torture he could possibly think of.  “For six months I felt so claustrophobic everywhere I went.  I thought I was going crazy.”  He rubbed the back of his neck.  “Maybe I am.”

“That’s how you know it was real.  I know it doesn’t help anything, but we’re here for you.  We’re all here for you, Farkle.”

“You know, the worst part is that…she’s gone.  She’s still in the city, but Riley, she might as well be in another country.  I haven’t talked to her since it happened…I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to be friends again.”

Riley nodded slowly.  It made sense.  Even in her muddled thoughts, it all made perfect sense.  Her heart broke when he called her that night and told her that Smackle broke up with him.  There wasn’t any build up or longstanding issue between them.  She simply told him that her feelings for him had changed and while she wasn’t sure how or in what way, she needed to take some time for herself to figure it all out.  Six months later and Farkle hadn’t heard a word from her.  “So you not only lost someone you loved, but you also—“

“I lost my best friend.”

Riley’s eyes scanned the club.  She couldn’t see much of anything past the dance area.  Was he still here?  Had he already left with those girls?  She had easily been on the dance floor for half an hour, maybe longer than that.  As Farkle’s words echoed through her hazy mind, her heart ached.  Her brain was winning the battle, despite the fact that she had subconsciously turned off both organs the moment she saw Lucas with those women.

It wouldn’t take her long to find out where he was.  As the small group made their way back to the table, she spotted Lucas, the blonde woman, and the brunette woman at their table with Asher and Dylan.  Instead of sitting down or even acknowledging the strangers who seemed to be latched onto him, Riley headed directly toward the bar.  The conversation with Farkle still rang in her ears as she ordered a shot.  As soon as she downed it, the bartender smiled at her.  “You’re the birthday girl, right?”

She cringed as her throat burned.  She nodded as she sat the glass back down.  “Yeah, I’m Riley.  And you are?”

“Mark,” he smiled.  “Listen, I know this might sound a little weird, but are you willing to help us out with something?  I can guarantee you that you’ll have fun and you won’t have to pay for another drink tonight.”

She raised her eyebrows.  She came here to have a memorable birthday.  Judging by the smile the bartender gave her, she knew that she had to do whatever it was he wanted her to do.  She needed some fun.  “Mark, you had me at fun.  What do you need me to do?”

Lucas looked up at the bar as he watched one of the bartenders whisper in Riley’s ear.  When he saw her laugh in response, his jaw twitched.  He couldn’t stand this.  The air around them felt so thick.  How was she able to laugh and carry on like this when the entire future of their already fragile friendship seemed so uncertain?  He reluctantly looked away from her when he heard the cackling of the brunette seated next to him.  Why did Dylan insist on inviting them back to their booth?  He had hoped to pawn the women off on Asher and Dylan and kill two birds with one stone, but Dylan didn’t quite get the hint that Lucas had no interest in either woman.  How could he when the one woman he wanted was so close, yet so far away from him?  

He hated the way they left things outside.  He hated that he stalked off, but he was so frustrated and so mad that she would think, for even a second, that if they became something more, that he would eventually end it.  Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that he had earned the reputation he had for a reason, but she didn’t know the whole story.

“Why is she standing on top of the bar,” Zay suddenly asked as he watched one of the bartenders help Riley climb on the bar.

“Seriously?”  Maya stood up as she turned toward the main bar.  “I thought she was only going to get a drink…not let the whole world see up her dress,” she groaned as she watched Riley run a hand through her hair.

Lucas snapped his head up to look at Maya.  “Excuse me?”  He turned his head toward the brunette.  Sure enough, Riley Matthews had climbed on top of the bar.  Apparently the members of their table weren’t the only ones to notice as a group of guys crowded around her.

Maya glared at the back of Lucas’s head before she walked toward Riley.  The others followed closely behind.

“Tonight at Hyde, we are very fortunate to help celebrate this beautiful woman’s 21st birthday!”  Mark gestured to Riley who grinned when the crowd cheered.  “And she has so graciously decided to help us deliver a round of shots for anyone who might be interested.  It’s an apple pie shooter and the way it’s gonna work is that Amber will pour some apple juice into your mouth.  After that, I’ll come by and add in some vodka, then Miss Riley over here will top it off with a dab of whipped cream!”

“Well,” Farkle smirked as he watched the bartender hand Riley a can of whipped cream, “She said she wanted to have fun tonight.”

“She’s making memories that she might not actually be able to remember tomorrow.”  Zay glanced at Lucas.  He could practically feel the anger and jealousy billowing from his best friend.  At least that anger couldn’t possibly be directed at him.

As Mark grabbed a bottle of house vodka, he gestured to the area around them.  “So, line up around the bar if you want one.  First come, first served!”

“I don’t know about you guys,” Maya smirked as she slid up to the middle of the bar, “But I’m getting a free shot.”  She couldn’t believe what was happening, but she had to admit that it would definitely make one hell of a story.  Riley Matthews was serving whipped cream to a bunch of strangers on her 21st birthday.  As she heard Riley laugh, Maya figured that maybe doing something a little crazy like this could be good for her.  She had played it safe for her entire life.  She was due for a semi-wild night—as long as it didn’t involve some sort of exchange of bodily fluids with a random stranger.  

Most of the group followed Maya’s lead as they stood in front of the bar.

Lucas didn’t want to do it, but he knew there was no way she would willingly climb down and forget the whole thing.  If he could prevent her from spraying whipped cream into just one stranger’s mouth, then he’d stomach what was sure to be a disgusting shot.  Instead of lining up with the rest of his friends, he moved to the end of the bar.  If he had any luck, he would be the last one.  If he had a little more than luck—and if his brain hadn’t been completely thrashed by the jealousy he knew he’d have by watching her doing this—then maybe he could get her attention long enough to apologize for running away from her earlier.

He watched her slowly bend down to spray the whipped cream in the first few guys’ mouths.  Lucas noticed that there were a few women by the bar, but most of the patrons consisted of guys—guys he knew couldn’t wait to get their chance to hit on Riley.  Lucas’s focus never wavered as she moved from person to person.  She laughed when she saw Maya and the guys about midway through her trek around the bar.  After she squeezed some of the contents of the can into the blonde’s mouth, she kissed her cheek.  Both girls giggled as Maya swallowed the shot.

Lucas noticed that Riley seemed to be getting more and more into what she was doing as she skipped down the line.  He clenched his fist as she slowly slid her index finger down Asher’s cheek before she squeezed the whipped cream into his mouth.  Did she know he was watching her?  Was she purposefully trying to drive him insane with jealousy?

It was a great exercise in patience and test of his growth as a person to watch her casually flirt with about twenty-five random strangers.  It felt like an eternity had passed by the time she reached him.  Luckily, their friends had retreated back to the table, as had most of the other people who had gotten a shot.

As he opened his mouth for the apple juice and vodka, he wondered if she even noticed that he was there.  As the two bartenders turned back to make drinks for the crowd that awaited them, Riley’s eyes finally locked onto his.

She was surprised to see him.  She thought that if he had wanted a shot, he would have been lined up with the rest of their friends and the two girls he had been with for nearly an hour.  She had never been so tempted in her life to drown the two women in whipped cream, but she managed to avoid a murder charge as she breezed by them.  Now, as she looked down at Lucas, she wasn’t so sure she’d be as successful with him.  She crouched down as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.  She wasn’t sure that she had ever been this angry with him.  It was new territory for her, but she gladly welcomed it compared to the agony she felt when she first saw him with the two girls.  “Thanks for proving my point by walking away earlier,” she snarled before she sprayed the substance into his mouth.

Lucas swallowed the shot the moment she began to spray the cream into his mouth.  He thought for sure she would try to use up whatever was left in that can on him in an attempt to cover him in the frothy concoction.  While she did end up giving him more whipped cream after he swallowed, it wasn’t nearly enough to make him choke on it.

As she turned to leave, all thoughts of an apology escaped him.  He wanted to apologize, but he couldn’t remember the speech he had formulated as he watched her dance around the bar.  So, he acted completely on instinct when he grabbed her arm and gently tugged her back down to him.  He lifted his head slightly as his lips met hers in a searing kiss.

The first thing Riley could taste was the whipped cream in his mouth.  She was shocked that he had pulled her to him, but as she felt his tongue slip into her mouth, her anger melted into an unbridled passion that she had no idea how to subdue.

When she heard herself moan into his mouth, she snapped herself out of her daze.  She pulled back from him without saying a word and turned to the bartenders.  “Is that it,” she asked as she wiped a little bit of the whipped cream from her mouth.

“Not quite,” Mark smiled.  “It is your birthday, and what good is a birthday without a birthday cake?”

Riley smiled as she spun around to see one of the other bartenders bring a cake over to her table.  She quickly climbed down from the counter as she walked over to the chocolate cake lit up with sparkler candles.  Lucas trailed several feet behind her as her friends sang “Happy Birthday” to her.

She pushed the brief interlude with Lucas to the back of her mind as she looked at the friends who surrounded her.  This was the moment she knew she’d remember for the rest of her life.  She had made it to twenty-one.  She had no clue what the future held, but if this group of people remained in her life, she knew she’d be ready for anything.

After the song was over, Riley closed her eyes as she made a wish.  Her wishes over the last eight years hadn’t changed, but this one was slightly different.  It still centered on the Texan she had just kissed, but instead of wishing to be with him, she wished for some sort of sign to know what to do, whether to let go or to hang on.  She pulled her hair back as she leaned over and blew out the candles.

Everyone around her cheered as she raised her head back up.  “This is so incredible,” she happily smiled as she sat down in the booth.  She turned to Farkle.  “It’s perfect, Farkle.  The place, the cake…everything.”  She glanced around the club.  “You know…if I had to pick anywhere in Vegas to celebrate my 21st, it would have been here…the fountains, the dancing, the ambience…it’s perfect.”

He smiled.  “I wish I could take the credit for it, but I can’t.”

She frowned.  “What are you talking about?”  She thought Farkle had planned the entire trip out.  If he didn’t set all of this up, then who did?

Farkle searched the club for his friend.  He couldn’t believe that after everything, Lucas missed the cake being brought out, especially after how specific he had been about where and what cake to get.  “I thought for sure he would have told you, but it makes sense why he didn’t.  He’s not one to really brag, but…Lucas set up the whole thing.”

Riley glanced at Maya before she looked back at Farkle.  “What are you talking about?”

“I had no idea where to even begin to look for a place.  Lucas told me that he wanted to plan your birthday celebration.  He’s the one who booked the table here, got us all into VIP, and he even picked out the cake.”

“He planned it?”

Farkle nodded.  “I thought I knew you better than anyone…well, except for Maya, but…I think Lucas beat me on this one.  This place screams Riley to me.”

Just then, Lucas walked around the table as he sat down at the other end of the booth.  Riley couldn’t help but to stare at him.  He planned the whole night?  How did he pay for this?  Riley didn’t even want to think about how much it all must have cost him.  

She watched as the two girls she still didn’t know the names of turn their attention away from Dylan and back to Lucas.  As she reached for the drink Maya ordered for her while she was on the bar, her inebriated brain began to weigh her options.  On the one hand, she could continue to ignore him to the best of her ability and watch him accomplish the mission he had set out for himself at the beginning of the night—or—maybe she could be the mission.

As the vodka slipped past her lips, she figured that it would actually be pretty poetic to lose her virginity to him in Las Vegas on her 21st birthday.  He had been her first everything—first date, first kiss, first boyfriend, first love.  Why not complete the circle?  Why couldn’t she be the hookup he craved tonight?  It was only sex, right?  If she could keep her heart silent, then maybe it would actually help her begin to move on.  Maybe they wouldn’t be physically compatible?  Maybe this was the first step to letting go?

She smirked as she continued to consume the contents of her glass.  There wasn’t enough liquor in the world to convince her that sex with Lucas wouldn’t be good.  A few heated kisses told her everything she needed to know about their physical compatibility.  Still, she was feeling completely light and free.  Maybe she needed one night of passion with him in order to finally close the door on her first love.

Once she finished the drink, she slowly stood up and walked to the other end of the booth.

Lucas’s attention immediately shifted to Riley the moment she stood up.  He was more than a little surprised when she stopped right in front of him.  He had no idea what to expect.  Was she going to yell at him in front of everyone?  Was she going to get back on the bar and do something else that would surely test his self-control?

“Hey Huckleberry,” she smirked as she casually drummed her fingers on top of the table.  “Are we dancing or what?”

He knit his eyebrows together in confusion.  He knew that he must have misheard her.  She wanted to dance with him?  After their argument outside and after everything that had transpired between them in the last 24 hours, she actually wanted to dance with him?

“It is my birthday.”  Her smile never wavered as she watched him reach for his drink.  She raised one inquisitive eyebrow at him as she waited for him to finish drinking the amber substance in his glass.

Lucas finished off his scotch and sat the glass down next to her hand before he looked back up at her.  “Lead the way.”

He thought for sure that she would take him to where she had spent the better part of the night with most of their group.  Instead of going to the dance floor, she led him back outside, back to their hidden corner, back into the darkness.  Only a few people mingled outside, as the temperature must have dropped another five degrees in the hour since they were last out there.  Riley felt a chill ripple through her as soon as she stepped outside, but she didn’t care.  This was the only place she knew of that they could have a little bit of privacy.  They were nowhere near the music, although they could still hear the bass beat as clear as day.  

Riley didn’t say a word as she spun around and placed his hands on her waist.

“Riley, what are you doing?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck.  “I don’t want to talk.”  She knew that this would go a lot better if neither of them said a word.  Every time one of them opened their mouths, they ended up in some ridiculous fight.  If they could just somehow float together, let things happen naturally without having to discuss the past or what it all meant, then maybe they could work this out without a fight.

“What do you want to do?”  Lucas swallowed as he stared at her.  He had no idea what was going through her mind.  She didn’t want to talk.  That was fair enough.  Every conversation they attempted in the last 24 hours was disastrous to say the least.  He never wanted to ruin her birthday.  If she wanted to dance with him in silence, then he would take that time trying to commit every millisecond of it to his memory.

“Have fun.  Not think.”  She shrugged her shoulders as she glanced at the fountains for a moment before she looked back at him.  “I’ve spent the first twenty one years of my life thinking about every move I made…doing the right thing…saying the right things.”  She shook her head.  “I don’t want to do any of that tonight.”  She was tired of having to be perfect all the time.  She was tired of her brain stopping her from doing the things she wanted to do.

He sighed.  Despite the canyon between them, he knew who she was.  He had always known.  “And what happens tomorrow when you wake up?”  She was saying all of this now, but he knew that once she sobered up, she would regret it if she did something completely reckless.

She shrugged.  “I don’t want to think about that.”  Didn’t he understand?  She wanted to give into her emotions for once.  Maya always led with her heart while Riley had always led with her brain.  Leading with her brain had only made a huge mess of everything, so why couldn’t she simply give into her feelings for one night?  What was so terrible about that?

“But I do.”  He wanted to step back from her.  He wanted to remove his hands from her waist and go back inside, but he couldn’t.  He wasn’t strong enough to separate himself from her right now.  He was a man who had been starving for a third of his life over the woman who stood before him.  At this second, he was holding the only thing he had ever really wanted.  He couldn’t let go.  Maybe if he was a little more sober, he could.  Maybe if she wasn’t looking at him in the way he had always wanted her to, he could let her go and walk away.  

“You’re not pulling away from me,” she murmured as she stepped forward and pressed her body against his.  She lowered her right hand to the nape of his neck as her fingertips brushed through his hair.  She bit her bottom lip as her eyes lowered to his lips.

“I need to,” he groaned as she leaned forward to kiss his cheek.  The alcohol in his system worked against him as he felt himself slowly give into whatever she wanted to do.  He knew that he was wrapped around her finger, but he never knew how much until tonight.  He’d die to try to give her the world if she wanted it.  He’d move heaven and earth for her if she asked him to.

“You don’t need to do anything,” she responded softly before she began to plant open-mouthed kisses along his jawline.  

Lucas felt his earlier anger dissipate with every connection her lips made to his skin.  It wasn’t fair.  None of this was fair.  Every single emotion he had felt tonight was placed into extremes.  He was certain he had never been angrier with someone in his entire life, but at the same time, he knew that he had never loved her more.  It wasn’t just the fact that she was stirring up every single hormone he possessed, but it was the fact that for the first time ever, he finally realized that she wanted him just as badly as he wanted her.

He swallowed as she moved her attention to the other side of his neck.  He craned his neck back and stifled a moan as she scraped her teeth against the base of his neck.  He was rapidly becoming putty in her hands.  Whatever she wanted, he was prepared to give her.  Anything—everything.  He just had to know that she wanted him and only him.  

Finding some inner strength that he didn’t know he possessed, he slowly moved his hands up to her shoulders as he nudged her back slightly.

Confused, Riley lifted her head.  “Isn’t this what you want?”

The way her eyes had darkened nearly set off an explosion in the Texan’s mind.  Dear God, he knew that no matter how much alcohol he consumed, he would never forget the way she looked at that exact moment.  Her cheeks were slightly flushed, her breathing had become slightly labored, and the way she pursed her lips immediately made a certain body part of his throb in sheer anticipation.  He knew he had to maintain his composure for at least another minute.  He had to know she really wanted this and she wouldn’t claim it was some drunken mistake tomorrow.  “Is it what you want?”

She smiled as she slowly, purposefully so, closed the space between them once more.  “Yes,” she purred as her lips quickly covered his.  She wanted to silence him before he had a chance to think, a chance to ruin whatever moment they could have together.  

Lucas felt most of his remaining defenses slip away as her fingers slowly danced down his chest.  As her tongue slipped into his mouth, his hands slid up her back as he quickly guided them further into their little oasis.

As soon as her back hit the wall, she shoved one of his hands down to her thigh.  “I want to feel your hands all over me,” she murmured as she hooked one of her legs around his waist.  She smashed her lips to his once again as she wanted nothing more than to feel him explore her entire body.

He squeezed her thigh as her tongue met his once more.  When she moaned into his mouth, he felt the last shred of ‘Lucas the Good’ slip away.  Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that while whatever they were doing was completely and utterly right, the timing of it and the location of it was not at all how he had imagined it.  Still, the alcohol in his system and eight years of dreaming about the woman in his arms night after night tipped the scales into Lucas the not-so-Good’s favor.  When she placed his hand on her thigh and told him that she wanted his hands all over her, he nearly took her right then and there.  As soon as she moaned into his mouth, ‘Lucas the Good’ ceased to exist all together.  His hand slowly crept up her thigh.  He knew that if she didn’t want this, she would push his hand down, pull away from him and tell him that they were going too far.

But she didn’t.  As her nails scraped across his back, she wiggled against him in a desperate attempt to get his fingers toward their destination quicker.  She needed to feel him. She needed him to touch her in a way that no one else had before.

Up until that moment, Lucas didn’t know that his brain possessed an off switch.  As his fingers slowly disappeared under her dress, Riley whimpered in sheer anticipation.  How many times had he dreamt about them like this?  How many times had he woken up and taken a cold shower because the woman he fantasized about wasn’t next to him?

“Please,” she murmured desperately in between kisses.  “I want you to.  I need you to.”  Goose bumps peppered her entire body as she felt his fingers graze the outside of her underwear.  “Please, Lucas.”

All he wanted to do was to make her happy and to make her feel good.  She wanted this.  He wanted this.  As he opened his eyes, he noticed that hers were already opened as they continued to kiss one another.  He looked for a sign of hesitation, any indication that it was merely the alcohol talking and not something she really wanted.  It was the only thing that could possibly hold him back from doing this.  A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she lightly bit his bottom lip.  “Please,” she begged once more.

At that moment, no one on Earth could have resisted her.  

She gasped as soon as she felt his fingers slide into her underwear.  She dug her nails further into his back when his lips reclaimed hers while his fingers slowly explored a new uncharted territory.  Was this real?  As his fingers paid homage to her most private of regions, Riley sighed into his mouth.  God, it felt so much better than she imagined, and it wasn’t even the real thing.  Her entire body felt completely electrified by his motions.  As insanely wonderful as it felt, she wanted more.  This was becoming an addiction.  He was becoming an addiction.   She had to have more of this.  She had to have more of him.

Lucas wished that she had left with him earlier when he mentioned it.  It was a mile and a half back to their hotel, but with traffic, it could easily take 20 minutes to get back to their suite.  He wasn’t sure about her, but he knew he couldn’t wait that long.  He wasn’t even sure they could make it to a room at the Bellagio at the rate they were going.  

Riley couldn’t stand it anymore.  She thought she could be placated with a tease, with a glimpse into a world that had been forbidden for so long, but it only made her demand more.  She dragged her fingernails down the length of his back before she brought them in between their bodies.  As she lowered her lips to his neck, her fingers grazed the outside of his pants.

He groaned the moment he felt her fingertips against him.  Did she have any clue how close he was to taking her right then and there?  All it would take is one word, one indication of consent and he would happily spend the rest of the night—the rest of forever—worshipping her like the goddess she was.

He used his free hand to run through her slightly tangled hair.  As she lifted her head up, he pulled her face to his in a scorching kiss.

Lucas quickened his pace as his mouth desperately sought contact with hers.  Riley could hear her heart race in her ears as the pressure within her began to build more and more rapidly.  She wasn’t exactly sure how she was able to pull in any oxygen between the breath Lucas commanded and the fact that his ministrations had already labored her breathing.  She felt like she could pass out at any moment from sheer pleasure.  If she died right here, she would die the happiest woman in the world.  She never wanted this feeling to end.      

He kissed her with every single feeling she was giving him in return.  A lethal combination of love, lust, anger, jealousy, and passion swirled within him as he desperately tried to tell her everything she was doing to him without ever saying a word.  He was a man possessed.  He couldn’t control anything anymore.  “Tell me,” he commanded as he slid his lips across her bare shoulder.  His free hand fell to her lower back in order to support her when she threw her head back and desperately gasped for air.  “Tell me that I’m the only one you want.  Tell me you don’t want him.  Tell me, Riley,” he pleaded as his lips brushed against her collarbone.  “Tell me that when we wake up tomorrow, we’ll be together.”  He kissed his way toward the base of her neck as he waited for her answer.

Riley’s heart pounded even harder as she listened to his pleas.  As her mind desperately tried to fight through the thick fog of alcohol and lust, she replayed his words again.  Be together as in dating?  Her mind raced as the logical side of her brain tried to dissect his words and the meaning behind them.  She couldn’t do this right now.  She was hammered.  She told him that she didn’t want to talk.  She didn’t want to make a life altering decision while they were intoxicated.  

She thought this would be easy.  She thought that maybe they could get whatever this was out of their system tonight—chalk it up to the city, to the alcohol, to being young.  She knew that on some level, she had waited for him, had wanted him to be her first because he had been her first everything else and that maybe she could begin to move on if she got some sort of closure from the last seven years.  She knew that at least for her, it wouldn’t be so simple to walk away, but maybe it would be for him.  Maybe getting the tension out of the way could somehow pave the way for them to repair their friendship.  At least, that was what the inebriated side of her had foolishly thought.  

She closed her eyes a newfound embarrassment filled her.  For one moment, she had successfully turned off her brain.  For one moment, she led with something other than the sense that had kept Lucas Friar at arm’s length for a third of her life.  In one foolish moment of weakness, she might have just wrecked an eight-year friendship.  

She slowly opened her eyes when she felt his lips slowly pull away from her neck.  They weren’t on the same page at all.  She knew that couldn’t risk this anymore than she already had.  Her body still cried out for him, but her mind had finally taken control once again.  She thought she could give into this for one night, but she wasn’t that kind of girl.  She never was.  “I can’t,” she answered weakly as she braced herself for the fallout she knew she deserved.

It felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on the Texan.  He felt completely paralyzed as the weight of those two words fell on his shoulders.  She had driven him completely insane.  He never would have allowed things to get this far between them if he thought that she didn’t want to be with him when morning came.  As he slowly pulled away from her, it felt as if a thousand knives had penetrated his heart.  He couldn’t do this anymore.  He couldn’t be around her while he was still in love with her.  If the last seven years were any indication, he knew that trying to get over Riley would be nearly impossible.  As he shoved his hands into his pockets, he knew that he had to get away from her, but first, before he threw himself off a cliff, he had to know why.  “Why,” his voice cracked with the weight of emotion that flowed through his heart, “Why is it so hard for you to understand that I want to be with you?”

Riley slid her dress back down before she wrapped her arms around herself.  She wanted to tell him it was because of what she had overheard earlier that night, but the real problem extended beyond that.  “Because,” her voice shook, “it was so easy for you to accept what I told you we were and move on.”  She looked down.  “If you did it back then, I know that you’ll do it now.”

“But I didn’t accept it!”  His eyes widened as he waited for her to say something else.  Was there no other reason than the stupid label that she put on them when they were in middle school?  “Don’t you get it, Riley?  Everything that’s happened since then has been because of this ridiculous idea you got into your head that Maya and I liked one another.”

She cut her eyes up at him.  “Didn’t you?  Even for just a second?”

“No!”  He shook his head as he tried to pull himself together long enough to explain to her what actually went on in his confused fifteen year old mind.  “I thought that…that maybe there was…or that there could be…but I realized later that I only thought about that after you told us there was something there.”  He scoffed when she said nothing in response.  “Do you not understand that Maya and I only dated because the person we loved the most in this world told us that we had to see how we felt about one another?  I’ve been chasing you ever since then.”  He shook his head as he looked away from her.  This was completely ridiculous.  Was he supposed to pay for her decision for the rest of his life?

Riley furrowed her eyebrows.  “What did you say?”

His eyes fell to the ground.  “I’ve been chasing you, Riley.”  Was she going to laugh in his face?  Was she going to completely pulverize the last shred of hope he had for them?

She shook her head.  “Before that.”

He took a moment to think about what he had actually revealed to her.  When his words came back to him, he realized that after seven years, he finally told her how he felt.  As he lifted his gaze, he knew that he had never intended for it to come out like that.  He had always imagined some huge romantic reveal—something that would rival the white horse he rode in the gymnasium at John Quincy Adams Middle School—but perhaps some of the purest moments didn’t need to come with pomp and circumstance.  Maybe they were best received when spoken from the heart, even if it’s outside of a club at 2:00 in the morning.  “Maya and I only went out because the person we loved the most in this world told us that we had to see how we felt about one another.”

Riley was convinced that the entire earth was currently spinning at a rate that would perplex scientists for the rest of eternity.  She swallowed in a desperate attempt to ensure that her voice didn’t shake when she finally asked him the most important question she had ever asked anyone.  “You loved me?”

“Yes!”  He looked all around them as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  Had she not been listening to anything he had said or done in the last 24 hours?  Could she not see it before then?  Did she never suspect how destroyed he was over what happened to them in middle school?  Did she never catch on to the fact that his gaze always seemed to stay on her no matter where they were, who they were with, or what they were doing?  Did the woman before him have zero clue that he not only wanted to give her the world but that she had been his entire world for the last eight years?  “I loved you then,” he finally declared.  As she lifted her eyebrows in surprise, he realized that she really had no idea what he had sacrificed just to be able to continue to orbit around her.  “I love you now,” he confessed.  She had to know.  She had to see that this wasn’t some random hookup to him.  She had to know that this was the culmination of seven years of emotional repression.  “I never stopped loving you, even for a second…even though you told me that you only saw me as a brother.”

[samleheny]

The good that can come from this crappy Ghost in the Shell remake

I’m a big Ghost in the Shell fan. I love cyberpunk, transhumanism, Eastern design sensibilities, all that good stuff. It’s no surprise I didn’t expect this Hollywood remake to be any good, nor that critics so far are pretty unanimously reporting that it isn’t, nor that I’m not interested enough to find out for myself and send the message “Yes Hollywood, my curiosity will get the better of me and you will end up getting my money regardless of whether or not you did a good job”. Whatever. The word is it’s visually engaging but that the action is dull and it’s emotionally and philosophically desolate (the very latter is a death knell for any GitS project as far as I’m concerned). I’m less sad that it had to happen to this franchise in particular and more so because I yearn for those days when Hollywood sci-fi knew how to be both thrilling and intellectually stimulating at the same time. Now days it’s one or the other, or sometimes neither. But I’m trying to look to the good, and I think there is some good. About this whole white-washing controversy of casting Scarlet Johanson as Major Motoko Kusanagi. We all should understand that people are less pissed off about the particular instance of casting a white person in the role of an east Asian character than they are about the larger issue it points to. No movie executive at any point sat down and said “This 1995 Mamoru Oshii classic is brilliant! But it could be even better... It could be... white!” No, they just wanted a big star in the lead role and they valued that more so than artistic authenticity, which only becomes a practical issue when one realises that when it comes to big names in the English language film space, the only actresses of Asian ethnicity with that kind of ticket selling star power are... um... Lucy Liu, and... uuuh... ...that’s about it I guess.

How did we get here? The implications aren’t nice to think about unless you want to make unfounded claims that “Dude! White people and a smaller contingent of black people are just genetically more inclined to pursue a career in acting! I know science, I have the best science!” But the studio has actually bent over backwards to try and placate an internet crying bullshit. Do you think just five or ten years ago said studio would have given a shit what we thought on the matter? Probably not. Reports were that they at one point considered ‘yellowing’ Ms. Johanson up in post production, but quickly decided away from that, since unless you’re Cloud Atlas, that’s only going to make things worse. The solution they actually attempted in the end is a bit more... amusing.

I’m going to spoil the twist of the movie here. So they ended up renaming the character Mira Killian for this adaptation, perhaps reasoning that it’s slightly less damning to rewrite the character then to have people sitting in the theatre shuffling uneasily in their seats, subconsciously wondering “Why does seminal Japanese heroine Motoko Kusanagi look remarkably like white as hell Scarlet Johanson?”. This time around she has amnesia and can’t remember who she was before having her brain put into a prosthetic body. I’ve seen people in forums already taken to referring to the character as “MINO” (Motoko In Name Only).

The twist? Turns out she really is Motoko Kusanagi, and her brain was put into a Caucasian body and she was renamed by your standard big evil corporation, robbing her of her past and identity. ...Wait, what? You can see what they were going for, attempting a clever meta-narrative, shaking a finger at the internet and saying “Isn’t it what’s on the inside that counts?”. But it just amounts to the studio basically calling themselves out for their casting inflexibility. The evil corporation taking a Japanese character and dipping her in Caucasia being noticeably, almost deliberately analogous to what the film makers did with the character in the first place. Are they trying to tell us they know they did wrong by vilifying themselves in their own movie? Drawing attention to the issue, without actually doing anything about it?

To be fair, it isn’t a bad idea for a story, in the abstract. Highlighting things like race as being rendered truly tertiary and unimportant by cybernetic augmentation separating the identity and the flesh further apart then ever before in the human experience. But it’s depressing that they didn’t write that first and then reason “well that means we perhaps need an actress who doesn’t match Motoko’s traditional appearance.” But instead only conceived of this plot point as a way of retroactively justifying their casting choice. Just like it’s all well and good to talk about how The performance is what matters, and if race really shouldn’t separate us, then why do we insist a character’s ethnicity must remain rigidly consistent across the various reimaginings? But as soon as it’s the other way around, and a historically white character is being reimagined as black, or Latino, or what have you, then that philosophy gets switched out for a very different one. One that says race isn’t important, but race issues are, and when the western and usually Caucasian perspective already dominates huge chunks of the international pop culture, then it’s good, perhaps even necessary for concessions to be made to welcome people of other backgrounds into that dominant culture (a philosophy I find much more agreeable.)

Because this was never about white or Asian or American or Japanese or Japanese specifically or will any East Asian actress do? It’s about sharing the spotlight. Hence why taking one of the few international properties widely recognised and celebrated outside of its country of origin, sucking out the ground breaking Eastern philosophical tones, and bolting Scarlet Johanson onto the project because ‘She’s so hot right now!’ may not be a travesty or the end of the world, but it’s a disappointing waste of an opportunity. It feels like taking gruel from hungry orphans and feeding it to Bill Gates.

Plus... you know. A lot can be forgiven if the end product turns out really really good.

But the good in all this? Well like I said: even if their efforts just made the situation all the more laughable, they did go through pains to try and placate the backlash, which means they do care. Okay. Yes. The thing they care about is protecting a brand’s profitability in the face of an audience whose wallets are proving harder to seduce than anticipated, but now as opposed to yesteryear they might see that issues of diversity in the arts shouldn’t be shoved off to the side just because we gotta get dat sweet Scarlet Johanson money!

Because the cash-cow of Hollywood now, for better or worse, is the nerd. And nerds by definition care a lot about the minutiae. But perhaps more importantly than that, Hollywood is increasingly aware that the future looks a lot less western and a lot less white than the present. Why do you think Marvel is introducing all these Black, Latino, Middle Eastern, Mixed race, Gay, Asian, etc, characters into the comics? It’s because in ten years, when they still want to be making big superhero blockbusters, they’ll need new characters to replace the expired contracts of Captain America and Iron Man, etc. And they figure it behooves them to build into their future a lot more appeal for the increasingly diversifying movie going public.

I believe (with no small amount of chagrin) that we’re only going to see more and more adaptations of classic anime. Hollywood has a horrible track record with them of course, but consider that Hollywood is increasingly interested in courting the ever growing Chinese market, and making more films with Eastern themes, settings, and styles is a pretty good way to accomplish that. And consider also that there’s nothing the Hollywood genre-film machine fears more than spending money on new and untested ideas. With both of those factors in mind I think the solution for Hollywood will become obvious in time if it isn’t already, and it involves a crappy Akira remake, a crappy Sailor Moon remake, a crappy Evangelion remake, and crappy Studio Ghibli remakes (Oh you don’t think they'd dare? You wanna make a wager?). Japan is, after all, the most successful entertainment producer on an international scale outside of the English speaking countries. (Hmmm, possibly after France. Vivendi has its tendrils all over the place.) I don’t look forward to it, because I don’t look forward to a lot of remakes, because I find the current landscape of aversion to new ideas and forced franchise perpetuity incredibly depressing. But as far as learning how to do a better job of adaptation in the future, for once the studio didn’t just notice the backlash to white-washing a beloved foreign classic, they actually fretted over it. And perhaps they will next time. And with the memory of this “MINO” character fresh in their minds, hopefully they’ll have those frets before making a casting choice. At which point I hope the solution will be as obvious to them as it was to the fans.

Live action Akira will probably happen (it already almost did, and they wanted to move it from Neo-Tokyo to Neo-Manhattan) it will probably suck despite being a big blockbuster, but at least there’s a better chance now it will be a blockbuster that could be the breakout role of some talented young Japanese American somewhere who doesn’t otherwise have much hope of being offered a role as the latest superhero. And some young kid from Asian immigrant parents might see him on the silver screen and feel impassioned.

[huntertales]

Part Three: You Can’t Cheat Death. (Two Minutes to Midnight S05E21)

Episode Summary: Sam, Dean and the reader confront Pestilence, but when he unleashes a deadly virus upon them, a very weak Castiel must intervene on their behalf. When reader has a meeting with Death to discuss Lucifer, an unholy alliance is formed at a very high price for the reader and her chances of saving herself from becoming a demon. Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader Word Count: 6,785.

Previous Part | Supernatural Rewrite Masterlist

Your name: submit What is this? // <![CDATA[ function replaceAll(find, replace, str) { return str.replace(new RegExp(find, 'g'), replace); } function myHandler() { var input = document.getElementById("inputTxt").value; document.body.innerHTML = replaceAll('Y/N', document.getElementById("inputTxt").value, document.body.innerHTML); } // ]]>

Slowly, but surely, things were coming to their conclusion. Several months ago you were given the opportunity to see what would happen if the brothers continued to deny their true purpose in life—saying yes to Michael and Lucifer. If they failed to do so, the world would crumble as consequences for their selfish behavior. It started off with the croatoan outbreak that turned people into mindless, bloodthirsty zombies. Then society began to fall apart, turning it into a wasteland that you’d seen in post-apocalyptic films and read in books, thinking those other worlds were just fiction. Something like that could never happen to you. But it was. It was the reality that you could be blamed for in the next five years. And that was only the beginning of this nightmare.

The worst came for the three of you. Dean turned into a shell of a broken man worse than ever, hellbent on revenge. So much so, he would kill the people he once tried to protect. Sam had said yes to the Devil. And somewhere in the mix of things you ran off, turning yourself into a demon. The more you thought about it, you began to wonder if there could ever a happy ending for the people that fought this battle for the greater good. Anywhere you turned, no matter what action you took, the ending was going to be bleak and painful. But, like always, you kept going, trying to change the future to something a little bit better in hope you could have the same for yourself one day.

You made your way down to Bobby's van with another duffel bag filled with ammunition and guns, just a few things that you might need for the adventure you were about to embark on. It was decided that you would ride along with Bobby, Cas and Sam as extra backup. You'd seen the virus close up and personal before. Even though it only required a single bullet to the brain, it wasn’t the humans you were worried about. It was the demons that were going to do just about anything to make sure their precious plan continued on without any bumps that might cause a delay.

You adjusted the strap of the bag as you neared the open van door and got ready to toss in the heavy cargo. But your attention ventured away for a moment and to the angel standing next to the sliding door with a shotgun in his hands and a defeated look on his face. Cas let out a heavy sigh as you tossed the bag, relieving your shoulder of the pain, but it seemed that he had his own that wouldn't leave that easily.

"Hey," You turned your attention to the angel and gave him a concerned look, "What’s wrong? You act like something’s bothering you.”

“This is what they mean by the ‘eleventh hour,’ right?” Cas asked. You shrugged your shoulders and nodded your head. You looked around to see that night had fallen not that long ago, leaving the place in complete darkness besides the lights Bobby had spread around the place. “Well, it’s the eleventh hour, and I am useless. All I have is this. What am I even supposed to do with it?”

“It’s a gun, Cas.” You couldn’t help yourself but let a small smile spread across your lips at how he lifted up his weapon to inspect it before putting it back down to his side. “Point it and shoot. I learned how to use it. So can you.”

Cas didn’t seem to find your advice useful as he shook his head, wanting to spend a few more time sulking in his own misery for a life that he might never get back. “What I used to be—”

“You have done more in these past few months than you ever have as an angel.” You cut him off before he could continue on with this self doubt. You gave him a smile when he looked up at you with that sad, little expression. “I know how it feels to be powerless. And it sucks. It does. But what sucks more is letting yourself sit in your own misery, feeling sorry for yourself when you have a new family that needs you. You didn’t rebel against Heaven for nothing. You did it for a purpose. And that purpose is to kick some ass and save the world.”

"All right. Show's over. Quit pining for the varsity years, you two." Bobby's voice coming from behind you made you look over your shoulder to see that he was wheeling himself over to break this little heartfelt moment that was giving him a toothache. You curled your lips inwards to keep yourself from smiling as you stepped out of the way, giving the man direct path to the opening of the van when you noticed that he was coming over with some extra supplies. The hunter decided to make the angel useful by tossing the bag over to him without warning. "And load the damn van."

You let out a quiet laugh as you began walking back to the house to get some other supplies that you might need. You crossed paths with Cas, who was still holding the bag, watching as Bobby continued on his way without complaint. You placed a hand on the angel's shoulder and gave him a smile, as if to remind him that the hunter who was paralyzed from the waist down was doing more than sitting around and listing all the woes that he had. The five of you worked together to make sure you had all the things you would need on your separate journeys. Dean slammed the trunk of the Impala as Sam tossed in one last bag into the van. You stood in the middle of where the cars were parked. Ever so slowly, you were about to depart on your own mission.

“All right, well,” Dean headed over to where you and his little brother stood. You crossed your arms over your chest and gave him the smallest smile that you could form without showing him your apprehensiveness for this plan. He wasn’t thrilled himself at the idea of running off alone to take Death’s ring, but all of you had to step out of your comfort zones. “Good luck stopping the whole zombie apocalypse.”  

“Yeah. Good luck killing death.” Sam said. The three of you fell into a moment of silence as you let out a quiet breath from how things quickly escalated in just a few short amount of years. The younger Winchester looked around at the people he was surrounded with to see how the journey had shaped them. Along with a new face that he'd never thought would be apart of this family. He let out a quiet chuckle, making you look up at him with a bit of curiosity, wondering what was so funny to him. "Remember when we used to just...hunt wendigos? How simple things were?”

"Remember how much you guys fought tooth and nail to make sure I never turned into a hunter? It was supposed to be that one weekend, the three of us." You added a memory that made you and the boys smile for just a second about how different the dynamics were before. But the happy memory only lasted long as your own happiness. It was quick and short, doomed to be lost in the bitterness of the reality around you. “Felt like a lifetime ago.”

Sam let out the faintest sigh, finding himself caught up in the nostalgic memories of sitting in the Impala with you and his brother, fighting about where their father had been running off to as he dealt with the loss of his girlfriend and life that he created for himself. He thought that was the worst pain he could ever feel. If only he knew. Sam shifted his footing, causing him to feel the cold steel press against his backside, making him realize what he was holding onto.

“Well, um,” The younger Winchester took out the demon knife and handed over to his brother with the wooden handle pointed in his direction. “You might need this.”

“Keep it. Y/N’s covered.”

Crowley was making a habit of coming out from thin air. You nearly jumped out of your skin to see that he was standing right next to Dean with a casual expression on his face. But from what he said, you furrowed your brow and looked at him with a confused expression. He handed over what appeared to be a scythe, something Death himself had been associated with in myths and paintings as a reaper. Instead of being made of a sharp blade on a long wooden stick, the hook was made of what looked like rusty iron kept on a short handle. You stared at the foreign object, wondering why the demon wanted you to take it.

"Come on. It won't bite.” The demon reassured you. You kept your distance from it as you began to wonder why he wanted you to only hold it. “It’s Death’s own. Kills, golly, demons and angels, and reapers, and, rumor has it, the very thing itself. Of course, it comes with very specific instructions. It seems our surly hunter can't save the day. Word on the street says only a true serpent of evil can do the trick.”

“How did you get that?” Cas asked the demon, his eyes lingering around on the scythe you were holding.

“Hello—King of the Crossroads. How the hell do you think I got the bloody grace in the first place? I get hands dirty when I know it’ll benefit me. And if we want to kill Death, we need to have our lovechild to do the deed.” Crowley explained. But you only stared at him with a confused expression that wasn’t leaving your face. Everyone didn't understand what was going on as the demon found himself being bombarded with confused faces. He rolled his eyes from the morons he had to deal with. “Do any of you happen to know someone who's got a badder rep? She's the bloody offspring of a demon and a human. Not to mention, Lucifer's lovechild that he plans on using to destroy humanity. The very thing he hates the most. If anyone can do this, it's Y/N. I don't make the rules. However, I bend them to my own liking.”

You scoffed and looked up at the demon, “So we’re just throwing theories out there and hoping this one will stick?”

“Haven’t been wrong yet, love. Now, since all of this confusion is cleared up, shall we?” Crowley asked, raising his brow as he scanned the crowd. You tightened your grip on the wooden handle as you looked over at Sam, suddenly realizing in that moment there was a change of plans. You could feel your heartbeat pounding faster when you were about to face a challenge that you weren’t sure was going to work. The demon turned his gaze to the older hunter, who continue to occupy his wheelchair that he needed. What Crowley said next seemed like he was being a dick for the purpose of it. “Bobby, you just gonna sit there?”

“No, I’m gonna riverdance.” The hunter retorted back with a sarcastic tone.

“I suppose if you want to impress the lady. But I don’t think she’ll be swooned. You're not exactly her type.” Crowley said as he looked in your direction. Your eyes narrowed in suspicion from how he was acting. “Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. Really wasted that crossroads deal. Fact—you get more if you phrase it properly. So, I took the liberty of adding a teeny little sub-a clause on your behalf. What can I say? I’m an altruist. Now, you just gonna sit there?”

Your eyes wandered over to Bobby, who still remained in his chair, slowly wondering if the demon was pulling his legs that he couldn't feel over the past several months. But it seemed that Crowley was smarter than he appeared. You watched as Bobby's right foot began to do something you hadn't seen happen in what felt like forever. Ever so slightly, it began to move until it dropped to the ground. Bobby put some weight on it to see if he could balance himself without falling down. But that was only the beginning. You could feel your mouth parting open as the man easily got up on his own two feet. A smile spread across your face as you stared at the sight, like it was some kind of twisted miracle that you thought would never come.

“Son of a bitch.” Bobby muttered underneath his breath, astonished himself at what he just did all on his very own.

“Yes. I know. Completely worth your soul. I’m hell of a guy.” Crowley said. You glanced over at the boys for a short moment of time. If the demon held up to his end of the bargain like this. You  wondered if he could deliver just as well for yours. Bobby mumbled a thank you with genuine feeling, not only for the ability to be given back something that he never thought he could. But because he could help you and the boys like he’d always wanted. Crowley, however grimaced slightly at all the feelings that were being thrown around. “This is getting maudlin. Can we go?”

Crowley headed for the Impala, deciding to exclude himself on this heartfelt moment. You didn’t care as you stared at the hunter who you could stare at directly in the eye without having to strain your neck looking down. Now he stood a little taller than you remembered. Without giving a warning, you quickly stepped forward, wrapping your arms around his neck and gave Bobby something that you didn't think you ever had the chance to do very often, which was a hug. He’d done so much for you over the past several years, made sacrifices to save your skin too many times. As a wise man said once upon a time, family didn’t end in blood. Bobby was the father you never had, but was gracious enough to treat you like a daughter when you needed it the most.

“Guess there’s a change in plans.” You said as you pulled away from the older hunter. You felt a little bit nervous to being leaving the three men to fight on their own. But you knew damn well they were one of the best hunters around. You let out a quiet sigh and looked over at Sam, a small, nervous smile spread across your lips. “Kick some demon ass for me, okay? And please teach Cas how to shoot.”

"I’ll make sure he gets a good run through. And have fun killing Death." Sam said, returning the smile as he shifted around in his footing again, as if he was trying his hardest to keep the four of you here for a little while longer. You let out a quiet chuckle and looked down at the weapon you held. You slowly grew nervous as your smile began to fade at the challenge that was ahead for you. “When you first hit the road with us, yeah, I was pissed. I thought you weren’t made for the lifestyle. So I gave it a month. Tops. I thought you would grow scared or end up dead.”

“Wow. Thanks for that confidence boost.” You scoffed at the younger Winchester’s words that came off more hurtful than what he intended. “I feel so warm and tingly, Sammy.”

"You didn't let me finish, Y/N." Sam chuckled at your response to only part of what he was trying to say. You looked up at him, wondering what he needed to get off his chest. "But I was wrong. You turned into one of the best hunters I’ve seen in my lifetime. You've got the patience of a saint for dealing with me and Dean. You kept this family together. And if anyone can take down Death, it’ll be you. Shrimp.”

"Sasquatch." You muttered his nickname with a growing smile. For someone that was supposed to have a soul that was black as night, you were having an awful fluxgate of emotions tonight. You waved your hands for him to bend down so you could pull him into a hug since his height was so ginormous compared to your own. You squeezed him tight as you could and closed your eyes for a moment, trying your hardest not to let yourself cry at the thought of doing this for the last time if something went wrong. You squeezed him tighter at the thought, he embraced you closer and let out a quiet breath. The bitter thought crossed his own mind. Before he could pull away, you turned your head, and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "I love you, Sammy. You're the best friend I could ever ask for."

You didn't realize the little affection that you had given him as Sam pulled away from you, trying his hardest not to show much emotion as he absentmindedly looked over at his brother. Dean stood there with a bit of an annoyed look on his face from how you were acting, but it wasn't due to jealousy, but because of how you had no problems showing your emotions. You stepped over to Cas, deciding that you couldn't leave the angel out of this. You gave him a quick hug and reassured him that he was going to be fine. You let out a breath and stared at the three men, a small smile spread across your lips. For the very last time, you warned them.

“Be safe. And kiss some demon ass for me.”

+ + +

Nine hours stuck in the car with the brothers had its grueling moments. But having a demon as a backseat driver was your own personal hell. You and Dean didn't make any pit stops on your trip to Chicago from Sioux Falls, and the conversation barely made it past small talk. Your mind kept worrying about everything that could go wrong with Sam and Bobby. And whenever you looked at your lap, a rush of anxiety would hit you at the thought of taking down the last horsemen by yourself. Dean would reassure you every so often by taking his hand off the steering wheel and intertwining his fingers with yours before lifting up your palm and brushing his lips against your skin, mumbling that he loved you. While the moment was sweet, it would only be ruined by a snarky remark by your unwanted guest. Who could have easily transported himself there with his abilities. Crowley wanted to sit in the backseat and see the experience for himself.

Luckily the car ride was over, and after parking downtown in the windy city, the three of you had finally arrived. You knew Bobby wasn't lying about there be a storm brewing. The sky was growing darker with clouds and wind was picking up, causing you to wrap your jacket tighter around your body from the unexpected chill that ran down your spine from the temperatures that were low considering the time of the year.

“Hey, let’s stop for pizza.” Crowley suggested out of the blue.

You scoffed and looked at the demon with disbelief at what you heard just come out of his mouth, “I’m on my way to kill Death and you want pizza?”

"Just heard it was good." Crowley said. "That's all."

"You want good pizza? New York has the absolute best, hands down. Each year I went to the city as a kid and made sure to eat at a new restaurant each time. I ate so much one year I almost got sick.” You carried on the conversation without much thought, as if just being around Crowley this past week had turned casual. You looked away from the demon and to where you were walking. But you suddenly found yourself stopping in your tracks at what you saw. Dean furrowed his brow and looked at you with concern. “Up ahead. Big, ugly...building.”

“Ground zero. Horsemen’s stable, if you will.” Crowley said, staring at the same scene that had spooked you a bit. The last time you had seen this was back in Missouri, the town where Ellen and Jo had died. Not to mention, the entire population slaughtered for Lucifer’s sake of pulling Death free from his own personal cage. “He’s in there.”

"How do you know?" Dean cautiously asked, his eyes scanning what appeared to him as an empty street abandoned by a single soul besides his own. "Have you met me?" Crowley responded. “‘Cause I know.”

You rolled your eyes and looked away from the twenty pairs of eyes that seemed to fixate on you. Like they knew who you were and what you were intended to do. None of them moved, they just stared at you with their emotionless and cold expression. "The block is crawling with reapers. There's at least twenty of them."

"I'll be right back." Crowley said. You turned your head to look away from the reapers and at the demon as he began to take a step forward before disappearing from sight. You let out a sigh and got yourself mentally ready for what was about to come in the next few minutes. But the demon worked faster than you gave him credit for when he appeared just a second later, standing right behind you and Dean with some disheartening news. "Boy, is my face red. Death's not in there." "You want to cut the cute and get to the part where you tell us where he is?" Dean asked, not in the mood for whatever kind of games the demon had in mind. "Sorry." Crowley shrugged. "I don't know."

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute.” The oldest Winchester stormed over to the demon who was starting to casually walk away from a dead end. He grabbed the man by his shoulder and made him stop in his tracks. “You don’t know?”

“Signs pointed.” Crowley said, trying to defend himself best as he could to you and Dean. “I’m just as shocked as you are.”

The demon began walking again, thinking it would be the end of the conversation. But he only managed to make it a few feet before you reminded him of a deal that he had yet to hold his end up. "Bobby sold his soul for this, you son of bitch!"

“Relax. No need to resort to name calling. All deals are sold back or store credit.” Crowley said. You narrowed your eyes as you let out a sharp breath for his cheap excuse that he thought could hold you over. “We’ll catch Death in the next doomed city.”

“Millions, Crowley.” You called out to him, making the demon stop himself from taking a step to remind him how much was at stake here. “Millions of people are about to die at any minute.”

"Demon with a heart of gold. How refreshing. While it's sweet to see that you've got a bit of humanity left in you, let me remind you, you're not immortal." Crowley said. "If you want to reap Death, which I know you do, I strongly suggest we get out of here. Or the roles will be reversed. We’ll be out of options and the world will be doomed. All thanks to you.”

You clenched your fists and tried your hardest to control your anger from lashing out at the demon. And it was more than just speaking a few nasty words. You tempted yourself away from killing him right here in this warehouse parking lot. No. His time would come a little bit later. Just like the rest of these poor souls, he would never know what hit him.

+ + +

You leaned back in your seat and shut your eyes to try and fight this headache that was starting to form in the front of your head. Your stress level had never been this high before, and your anger was boiling inside your body slowly, clawing at your insides like a wild animal, demanding your attention. You pressed your eyelids tighter together and let out a long, drawn out sigh. As you got yourself starting to concentrate on something peaceful, you found yourself being able to loosen your muscles and the pounding inside your head going away just the slightest. But it was only brought back by the feeling of the Impala shaking from Dean’s weight when he threw himself down to the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut.

“So, what? Call in a bomb threat? Thousand bomb threats? I mean, how the hell am I supposed to get three million people out of Chicago in the next ten minutes?” Dean asked. You didn’t respond as you rubbed your temples with your fingers. The hunter looked around to see that you were ignoring him as Crowley disappeared from the backseat. “Come on!”

“Is he gone?” You opened up one eye to see the demon was in fact gone. You pushed yourself up right in your seat and let out another sigh from everything that was going on. When you were about to suggest the idea of making a run for it, you stopped yourself. You furrowed your brow to see that Crowley didn’t make it that far. He stood outside of what appeared to be an Italian pizza place and tried to get your attention by pointing at the door and saying something you couldn’t understand. “Either he really wants pizza...Oh my God. What? We can’t hear you!”

“I said I found him. Death—he’s in there.” Crowley popped himself into the backseat, not taking you by surprise this time. You looked over your shoulder to see the demon was pointing his finger at the restaurant he was just standing next to. You slowly looked away from him and to the man sitting next to you. The both of you nodded your heads before you reached for the door handle. But before you embarked on your last hunt for the rings, Crowley offered a word of advice. "When I said Y/N is the only one that could do this, I meant it. She has to do it alone.”

You were tempted to ask him what would happen if Dean would join you to meet Death, but the demon vanished from your sight again. The two of you stepped out from the Impala and onto the city streets that were starting to grow thinner as rain began to fall from the sky and wind picked up. A crack of thunder could be overheard as you made your way around the car to join Dean. You let out a quiet sigh and looked over at the man. Dean looked at you with a worried expression at where he had to leave you. You tried to give him a smile of reassurance, but you ended up nervously swallowing, knowing it was hard to hide your fear for what you were about to do all on your own. It was Dean who always handled the big monsters.

Dean reassured you by leaning over and pressed his lips against yours, getting you lost for a moment in passion as he kissed the breath out of your lungs. You pulled away when you heard another roll of thunder, as if it was a warning to get moving. “Sammy was right. If anyone can take down Death, it’s you. You’ve cheated it enough times.” Dean said with a smirk. You smiled ever so slightly at his joke, but you still remained quiet. “I love you sweetheart.”

“I love you, too.” You whispered to him.

The both of you gave one another a kiss before you pulled him away, warning him to run for the hills if things happened to go south. You inhaled a deep breath and pressed your hand against your backside to feel the scythe where you had left it. It was time to kill Death.

You crossed the street and found your way into the back alley, no demons greeted you as you pulled out the scythe. This was the moment you'd been dreading. You used all your skills you'd learned from the brothers when you opened up the door that lead into the restaurant. You stopped breathing when you opened the door inch by grueling inch and stepped inside on the black and white checkered floor. From first glance the restaurant was cute. It had a little "Lady and the Tramp" vibe with the dark wooden furnishing and tables decorated with red checkered cloths paired with candles. But what made you come crashing down to reality was the dead body of a young woman slumped behind the counter with a tilted over bottle of whiskey. She was his first victim.

You shut the door behind you and started to make your way forward to see the sight ahead of you. Dead bodies were sprawled everywhere; from a waitress lying face flat on the floor to customers slumped over their tables and into their food. It seemed that Death didn’t like to dine alone. You tightened your grip on the handle as you slowly made your way forward, each step was precise and quiet as possible when you descended forward to the front of the restaurant and saw him sitting there.

Death sat quietly at a table, enjoying the view of people power walking through the streets with their umbrellas that soon would be useless as the sky illuminated with lightening. You nervously swallowed again and took one step forward again, your feet moving in front of you until you were at least twenty feet away from him. You didn’t seem to notice how the handle was growing warmer with each step you took to get closer to the owner of the scythe. You ignored the burning feeling best as you could until it felt like you put your hand on a hot stove. You looked down to see the handle was growing bright orange and threatening to burn your skin if you didn’t let go. You forced yourself to, not realizing the heavy metal would fall straight out of your hands and land on the floor, with the loudest clanking sound as possible.

“Thanks for returning that.” You quickly looked down at the floor to see that the scythe was gone and now at the table where Death sat. “Join me, Y/N. The pizza’s delicious.” It was a friendly offer, but you had a feeling it wasn’t negotiable. You inhaled a deep breath and continued down on your way to meet Death. He sat quietly at the table, enjoying a late lunch. He didn’t look up when he gave you one more command in a calm tone for you to sit. You did as you were told, sitting yourself across from the last horsemen that remained. “Took you long enough to find me. I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

“I gotta say—mixed feelings about that.” You tried to hide your nervousness by cracking a joke that wasn’t even funny, but you chuckled anyway and flashed him a smile. Your eyes wandered down to his ring that laid on his right hand. The reason why you were here in the first place. “So, is this the part where...you kill me? Because, I gotta warn you, it won’t end well.”

Death placed down his utensils at each side of his plate and finally looked up at you. You began to mentally beat yourself up for saying something that made you sound pretentious when you meant something completely different.

“I know what you meant, Y/N. You die, Lucifer goes back to the cage. If only it were that simple. But, still. You have an inflated sense of your importance. Yes, you’re one of a kind. Something I have never had the pleasure of seeing up close before. It’s nothing of spectacular amazement. Why, to a thing like me, a thing like you, well…” Death reached out to to grab his drink and took a sip. You furrowed your brow when he started to slurp loudly, getting the last of his beverage before continuing on the conversation. “Think how you’d feel if a bacterium sat at your table and started to get snarky.”

“Well, I’d be amazed.” You said, keeping up what luck you had to make a sarcastic joke that you meant as you gave the horsemen a tight smile. “I’d ask him how it felt to be so powerful. I mean, he's the cause of diseases that keep you in business. He might be small, but it doesn’t mean that he’s insignificant at destroying millions of lives.”

“Listen with your ears, Y/N. You have a lot to learn about the cycle of life. This is one little planet in one tiny solar system in a galaxy that’s barely out of its diapers. I’m old, Y/N. Very old. So I invite you to contemplate how unfunny and insignificant I find you.” Death said. It seemed the horsemen could feel a tension forming between the two of you. He decided to offer you a slice of pizza when he put one on your plate and nodded his head. “Eat.”      

You stared at that piece of pizza. It was raining outside, storming harder than you had ever heard in your entire life. Millions of people were about to die...and here you sat, enjoying a slice of pizza with Death. You tempted yourself as you grabbed the slice from the table and sank your teeth into the food. You began to chew it slowly and looked at the horsemen, waiting for him to pull a trick on you, make you choke on your food or something. But there he sat raising his fork to his mouth and arched a brow, as if he knew how good it was. You swallowed the bite with ease and put the slice back down to the plate.

“Well, I got to ask.” You said. “How old are you?”

“Old as God. Maybe older. Neither one of us can remember anymore. Life, death, chicken, egg.” Death said, not seeming to be bothered at the facts as he cut himself another small bite of food. “Regardless—at the end, I’ll reap him, too.”  

“God?” You repeated what you had just heard, suddenly as if it he was speaking another language you’ve never heard before. “You’ll reap God?”

“Oh, yes.” Death reassured you. “God will die, too, Y/N.”

You let out a breath as you looked around the room, not sure if you wanted to laugh or start crying again from what you landed yourself into. “Well, this is way above my paygrade.”

“Just a bit.” Death agreed.

“So, then why am I sitting here with you?” You questioned the horsemen. “What do you want?”

“The leash around my neck—off. Lucifer has me bound to him. Some unseemly little spell. He has me where he wants, when he wants. That’s why I couldn’t go to you. I had to wait for you to catch up.” Death said. You felt your brow tighten slightly at the situation that was becoming more clearer. “He made me his weapon. Hurricanes, floods, raising the dead. I’m more powerful than you can process, and I’m enslaved to a bratty child with a temper tantrum and a wild imagination.”

“And you think…” You trailed off for a moment. “I can unbind you?”

“There’s your ridiculous bravado again. Of course you can’t. But you can help me take the bullets out of Lucifer’s gun.” Death said. Your eyes wandered down to his right hand when he pushed himself forward and placed his elbow on the table, showing off his ring. “I understand you want this. I’m inclined to give it to you.”

You raised your brow at how he worded it, “Give it to me? How thoughtful.”

“That's what I said.” Death responded.

While you could feel a bit of the boulder that had been sitting on your chest lift itself, you couldn't help but think about what was going on around you when you heard another roll of thunder and bolt of lightning illuminate the restaurant. "What about Chicago?"

“I suppose it can stay. I like the pizza.” Death said, deciding to be generous today. You let out a small breath and felt a bit of a smile grow on your lips. The horsemen ever so slowly began to remove his ring for you, and while it stood in armsreach, he withheld it from you. “There are conditions.”

“I’ve learned with every deal I make there is.” You said.

“These are different, Y/N. You have to do whatever it takes to put Lucifer in his cell. Whatever it takes.” Dean explained. You nodded your head slowly, thinking that was the plan, but it seemed he thought that it was too close to call it such a thing. “Sam. Dean’s brother. He’s the one that can stop Lucifer. The only one. And before you ask, I know. But there are things keeping him from making the leap. Certain people holding him back.”

You swallowed, not wanting to ask. “Who?”

“You, of course. It's always been about you. You were the reason Lucifer was unrightfully set free in the first place and started this whole mess. It's bothered you all your life that you were brought into this world for the sole purpose to see it destroyed at your sake of just breathing. But you want a different purpose for your sad, dark little life. And this is it. One person has to fulfill their role to make sure the world sees better days.” Death said. You slowly looked over at him, your stomach tightening up from what you heard him say next. “You want to save the world? Give yourself to Lucifer. It will be the reason Sam jumps into the fiery pit. Because he think it'll save you.”

“Will it?” You couldn't help yourself but ask the question that had been burning in the back of your mind. You swallowed as you found yourself growing eerily silent and staring at the ring which took you months to finally get. You wondered if what Gabriel had said was true. "If he does jump...if I let myself turn into a demon. Is there a chance I could go back to normal?"

"Who's to say. 'These violent delights, have violent ends.'" Death took a quote from the infamous play of Romeo and Juliet to answer your question, but you felt yourself puzzled even more at what he meant. “You and I both want the same thing, Y/N. To be free of our ball and chain.”

Seven billion people or one person? You let out a nervous breath at the thought of choosing one person that you cared so much for the sake of humanity. He wanted to do it anyway. What's wrong with indulging into a part of you that you wanted to have a taste for after all this time? And you had the grace. Gabriel said it might work. It might. Those two words made you stared at the ring for another few seconds more. What if you couldn't go back? What if this was the step to the future that you had been fighting so hard to stay away from? But if you said no...you would turn into a demon somehow. You would join Lucifer, and in five years, on that fateful night after he used his friends as bait, you would find him once again. And you would use the heel of your shoe to break his neck like a twig. You stared at the ring for a few seconds longer. You knew your decision. But you didn’t want to say it just yet, afraid that he might not believe you.

"Well, do I have your word?"

You outstretched your arm as the other snuck underneath the table so he wouldn’t see. Sam wanted to do this for you. It was only for a little while. The world will be safe, you and Dean could live a life that you never dreamed of. You could keep lying to yourself, but crossed your fingers together, hoping he wouldn't notice when you did it to him. "Yes." 

“That had better be ‘Yes,” Y/N. You know you can’t cheat death. Not this time.” A look of panic was about to spread across your face from Death’s haunting threat, making you think that he had almost caught onto your childish ways. But you felt a sigh of relief hit you when you felt the weight of his ring hit your palm and the rain quietly began to let up outside. “Now, would you like the instruction manual?”

Rewrite Taglist:

@deansquirreljerkwinchester @lotsofspnshitposts @everything-i-tried-was-taken @starswirlblitz @albot-e @supernaturalismydrug @we-are-band-sexuals @angiewinchestercas @kaylinfayezink @owhatshername1@kgbrenner @kartuziprincessofhorrors @cleo-is-my-doggy @eeyore1988@dakota-dream  @lilylovelyxo@timetravelingginger @flaurityxoxokokooxox @holahellohialoha  @quicksilver123456  @natashacamillaus @nadanidea @falloutofmymemez @lexi-anastasia @kaylinfayezink @deanwnchstr @albot-eh

(Message me if you would like to be added!)

[huntertales]

Complete Edition: There’s Something About Sam. (Swap Meat S05E12)

Pairing: Sam x Reader  Word Count: 13,475. Summary: Sam’s been a little bit different lately since he went missing the other night. Little do you know, the man isn’t quite like himself. Warnings: Spoilers for Swap Meat, as this is a total rewrite of the episode, Sam centered for my Sam!Girls out there. Canon violence, that’s it!

GUESS WHAT? There's an entire episode rewrite dedicated just to my Sam!Girls. This is a whole whooping TWENTY-ONE PAGES in length. I've been writing this on and off for the past few months. Tonight I spent a little over six hours just finishing it up and writing it. But I decided since my rewrite is exactly on this episode, to just finish it up and post it tonight. Why it's so long is that I normally post an episode rewrite into four different parts. This is all smacked into one. Grab something to drink and don't prepare to read this before bed, because you're gonna be here for awhile. I really hope you guys enjoy. I had a lot of fun writing this, as there's almost no episode rewrites dedicated to Sam. (Far as I know. People have been vocal about wanting to see some. So...) I decided to give him a bit of love. And if you guys like this, maybe I'll do a few more with other episodes!

And is this rewrite going to be cheesy AF at times? Probably. But this is purely for entertainment. Enjoy! ^_^

Your name: submit What is this? // <![CDATA[ function replaceAll(find, replace, str) { return str.replace(new RegExp(find, 'g'), replace); } function myHandler() { var input = document.getElementById("inputTxt").value; document.body.innerHTML = replaceAll('Y/N', document.getElementById("inputTxt").value, document.body.innerHTML); } // ]]>

You quietly sat at the motel desk with your laptop propped open to a few internet browsers displaying the research you should be doing like you had promised, and not staring at your cell phone. Which was still burning hot after being used just a minute ago. You stared at your laptop and tried to get yourself on focusing again to the more important task at hand. But you knew it'd be impossible to think about at a time like this. Your gaze slowly drifted away from the website about a possible ghost you were hunting and to your damn phone, wondering for a split second if Sam might have called you in the past thirty seconds. But you knew it was impossible you would have missed it.

The volume on your phone was up all the way, you even put it on full vibration for extra caution. Sam had been missing for the past three hours, and despite knowing the giant hunter could take care of himself, your anxious mind wandered to the worst case scenario. Dean tried to reassure you that his brother probably got distracted by something at the library right as he was leaving, that's why he hadn't answered your dozen text messages or five voicemail. Maybe it was a bit of an overkill, but you were dealing with the end of days. You couldn't be too careful.

Dean was growing a bit worried himself when he headed out about an hour ago to check around town to see if he could find his brother somewhere. But even he wasn't answering his damn phone to give up a much needed update. Maybe Dean was onto something, Sam could have found something when he ended the call and found himself suckered into reading. You leaned back in the rickety old chair and pondered on the possible situation, but you found yourself slowly denying that it could be true. You'd spent every single day with the man and his brother for the past year and a half, he was smarter and more cautious than this. When he called about coming back from somewhere, he meant it. Something was wrong, you knew it.

Meeting the Winchester boys was...an accidental mishap that lead you down the rabbit hole of what they were calling the apocalypse, despite your best efforts of trying not getting here. You've been hunting now for five years, since you graduated high school and packed up what little belongings you had. Like most hunters, you were dragged into this lifestyle after someone you loved had been killed at the hands of a monster. For the Winchesters it had been their mother, which spiraled their father into a lifelong obsession he handed down to his children. You weren't so lucky to just have one person in your life die. For you, it was your entire family at the hands of a demon you still hadn't had the chance of tracking down. While you had met a few hunters of your own over the past several years by chance of taking the same hunt, how you met the Winchesters and their blue-eyed angel friend was a whole other story.

You had been working on a case in a small town that looked to be like it was a demon possession, jumping from person to person, leaving a body count caught your attention. While you had been happy to work on your own, the rare times when you had met up with another hunter, both of you worked together to get the job done. But it seemed this time you hadn't stolen a case from just any old hunter, you had two legends of the hunting world at your motel doorstep. You had heard rumors of the the two men over the years and was told about stories when you had stopped at a little bar known among hunters as the Roadhouse, a place which they had been frequent in before it burned down.

One thing lead to another, you learned the real reason why the Winchester brothers weren't letting you take care of some low-level demon you almost had a chance to exorcise again. You attempted once after tricking it into a devil's trap and saving a woman from being killed. While you had gotten her to safety, things had turned south when you realized the demon wasn't alone. But you had managed to get away with only a few marks you had been cleaning back in your motel room before the Winchesters were knocking on your door. It seemed they wanted you gone, not because they wanted to steal your hunt, but because this wasn't some run of the mill demon. You had met the big boss, the first demon ever created, Lilith. She had been the reason why people were dropping like flies, and it wasn't bedside she was bored. It was for a ritual to break what they were calling a seal.

After trying to explain the situation best they could, and meeting Castiel, a once very judgement angel, you learned you had stepped into the disaster of the sixty six seals. Each one that broke would lead closer to Lucifer being free, and this little thing called an apocalypse would become a reality. You had managed to stop the one seal, but you hadn't been efficient from letting the others break. Since Lilith had put her pale white eyes on you, it would only be a matter of time before she would try to seek revenge. So, you and the boys agreed that it might be better if you tagged along until this entire thing blew over. And much as you tried, you couldn't stop it, leading to this exact moment.

“What the hell is this?!”

Your head snapped up from the cell phone you were tempted to grab again when you heard the shrilling sounds of a female voice coming from just a few doors down grabbed your attention.  You pushed yourself to your feet and headed for the window, putting a finger between the blinds, cautiously peering out to see what the commotion was about. Three doors down in the motel room from yours stood the maid you had suspected was starting her graveyard shift by heading for the boys' room first. You furrowed your brow when you noticed she was scurrying away fast as she could with her cart. You nervously swallowed, wondering what could have been so frightening that made her run off like that as you walked to the door. Swinging it open, you scanned the parking lot, only to see the Impala was still gone. If someone was in the room, that meant only one thing.

Without thinking about grabbing a pair of shoes on this winter night, you tracked across the cold concrete and ignored the shivers ran down your spine. You counted down the numbers until you spotted 102. Pulling out your arm from the crook of your armpit that was keeping your fingers warm, you were taken by surprise when the door showed to be unlocked, but you stopped yourself from pushing it open. Every worse case scenario rushed through your mind while you stood outside in the freezing cold weather and began wondering what caused the maid to be so frightened like she had become. Maybe Sam was severely injured to the point of gruesome wounds. What if a few demons jumped him on his way back? Or maybe it was worse. You inhaled a deep breath and prepared yourself for the worst when you pushed open the door, stepping inside the room without announcement. But you stumbled upon a sight you weren't expecting to witness in a million years.

You opened your mouth to speak the man's name in a worried tone when you caught sight of him with his back turned to yours. But when you realized what he was doing, you stopped dead in your tracks in slight confusion. Sam was standing in front of the full length mirror without his flannel shirt he was wearing earlier today. He was left in his undershirt he'd always paired with. At first you thought he was inspecting himself for any possible wounds from an attack that might have happened. It could have explained his absence over the past few hours. Yet, you soon discovered that wasn't it.

You raised your brow ever so slightly when you noticed the fabric around his upper arm was stretched out, showing off the muscle he’d gained from years of a healthy regime and hunting. Sam always made you feel a bit inferior when you stood next to him. He towered over you with his six foot four frame, not to mention the muscles that barely could be contained in his flannel shirts he wore religiously. He looked like the kind of guy who could take down just about anyone, and he could. But he was more of the gentle giant. And far from showing any signs of vanity about his own body.

"Sam," You managed to find your voice, forcing this moment of privacy to be broken when you caught yourself staring like an idiot. Stepping into the motel and slamming the door shut, it was enough for the man to be taken out from his own personal thoughts. You watched as he jumped out of his own skin, startled by the interruption he wasn't expecting. You gave him a confused look, wondering what had gotten into him. “What the hell? Dean and I have been trying to call you for hours.”

Sam's response was to stare at you with almost a bewilderment look, as if he was wondering why you were scolding him. The younger Winchester should have been used to your over the top worrisome behavior. You and the boys had gotten close over the past year since you started hunting with them. Dean had turned into the big brother, Sam was like your best friend you had back home. Both of you shared the same sense of interest in research, and humor. He could make you laugh when you needed it the most. Not to mention Sam had the type of personality where he could make you spill just about anything he wanted to know about you. He knew all of your deep dark secrets, as you known all of is. After all, you seen him withdraw from his demon blood addiction.

But despite seeming him make so many wrong decisions over the past year and regretting every single one, it didn't stop you from longing for something more from the younger Winchester at times. What wasn't to like about Sam? He was handsome and had brains that could outwit just about anyone. Not to mention he was so damn tall. But you brushed off the feelings as loneliness all hunters faced. Sam was your hunting buddy, just like his big brother, Dean. And he should have been prepared for the wrath of your worried behavior you were lashing out at him tonight.

Before Sam could respond with a logical excuse, your gaze lingered over to the motel door when it swung wide open. You let out a sigh of relief when you saw that it was Dean, who looked pissed off as you had been. Sam, however, had a second of massive confusion to what was going on, and who all of you people were. “What the hell, man? Y/N and I’ve been trying to—”

“We’ve already been through this. You can cut the speech.” You said, letting the older Winchester save his breath for a scolding you already gave a few moments ago. A slight shiver passed through your body from the small breeze that came from the still opened door. “Mind closing the door? It's freezing enough in here.”

“Put some pants on, sweetheart.” Dean remarked. You furrowed your brow from his words, but when you glanced down at your ensemble, you quickly realized what was making him smirk like he'd just heard a funny joke. It was late enough at night for you retire with the thought of not having to go out in public. You glanced down to see you were wearing your favorite ensemble of an oversize shirt you'd stolen from Sam what felt like forever ago and some pajama shorts you wore to bed. You scoffed and crossed your arms over your chest. when Dean got a look on his face. He was like a big brother to you, and he would take just about every opportunity he could to harass you. It was a relationship you had grown to love from him over the past year. But the mood only lasted for a split second before he looked over at his little brother, curious for the reason of his brother's absence over the past few hours. "Where you been, man?"

“I picked up some food. Bacon burger turbo, large chili-cheese fry, right?” Sam tried to make up the situation by walking over to the motel bed, grabbing a fast food bag from the same greasy joint you had eaten at earlier this afternoon. You had grown used to the unhealthy diet of being a hunter, it was one of the perks of living on the road, but your stomach felt queasy at the thought of eating the same stuff twice in the same day. Dean, however, shrugged off his leather jacket and tossed it to the bed, all before grabbing the peace offering from his little brother without question. "Sorry, man. Really. I-I just—lost track of time. I didn't mean to freak you guys out."

"Thanks." Dean said, seeming a bit skeptical of why his brother was acting a bit out of character. You crossed your arms tighter around your body and looked at Sam, watching as he grabbed his button up from the bed to put it back on. "Don't know why it took you two hours, but thanks."

"Oh, you're gonna want to eat that on the road." Sam said as he pointed at the white paper bag Dean was about to open up to grab a fry. He then gestured a finger to the assortment of weapons that had been out for a cleaning, the usual drill, but it seemed the younger Winchester forgotten the discreteness of what it meant to keeping outsiders out without causing trouble. "The maid came in, saw that, and now they're all kind of freaking out."

“Why’d you let the maid in?” You asked him, a hint of disbelief could be heard in your tone from how accidentally careless he was acting tonight.

“It just happened.” Sam answered you not even a second later.

You furrowed your brow slightly as Dean looked at his brother with a bit of suspicion. You decided to let this little accident pass without much question. These past few months of traveling with the boys had been a stressful one, unraveling a situation that you had never thought would come to be. Stresses had made everyone do a bit of stupid things, that’s what you made yourself believe of why Sam wasn’t acting quite like himself.

“Whatever.” Dean said. “I got to hit the head and then we’ll take off.”

You pointed your thumb over the door, "Give me five minutes. I'm gonna go change."

“Alright.” Sam agreed. “I’ll be outside.”

Sam watched as his brother headed for the bathroom and shut the door behind him. You took a few steps forward to the motel door, but you found yourself stopping in your tracks for a moment as you looked over your shoulder to stare at the younger Winchester. He looked exactly like how he did when he left, and while nothing seemed physically different about him...you just felt like something was off. It seemed Sam had found out you were staring at him, he gave you a small smile and a wave, you returned the smile before making yourself walk back to your own motel room, thinking that maybe you were a being a little bit too paranoid for your own good.

Five minutes later you emerged from the motel room with a new set of clothes and your duffel bag packed up. You walked down the familiar path that lead to where the Impala was parked without much thought. As you stepped down from the sidewalk, you spotted the Impala was parked just across the way, next to a dumpster. You didn't think much of it as you began walking over, presuming that Sam was sitting in his usual spot in the passenger seat, but it seemed he was a little busy. You stopped in your tracks for a moment to see that he was cautiously getting something from the car before walking towards the dumpster and suspiciously tossing the content in. He didn't waste a second of brushing his hands clean from the evidence and heading back to the car, acting as if everything was fine.

You summed up the situation to thinking that he could have been throwing away some trash before his brother could find it. You headed over to the Impala when you heard Dean following behind by the sound of his shoes and the jingle of his keys. You opened up the backseat door and threw your bag inside before slipping yourself into the seat. Everything seemed normal again as all of you had taken your regular position, but it seemed that Sam was seeming a bit tired of sitting in the passenger side from the question he asked out of the blue.

"Hey, can I drive?" Sam curiously asked. Dean was a bit thrown off from the question that he never heard his brother ask. Sam was the only one out of the three of you that was allowed to drive the Impala. And mostly he only did that on occasions when there was long drives. All of you were just heading for another motel, but Dean decided to take over the wheel on this one. You sat in the middle of the backseat with Sam’s gigantic frame in your left view as Dean was to your right. Sam turned on the car, which triggered Baby’s usual purs from the engine that you heard every single time. To the younger Winchester, he acted like it was the best thing ever. “Oh, this is so sweet!”

Sam decided to have a little bit of fun by pressing on the gas pedal a few times while the car was still in parked. You slowly looked over at Dean, who wasn't growing confused at this situation, he was more annoyed at the lack of progress. "You want to get the lead out, Andretti? Come on." Dean complained, motioning for this situation to wrap up. Sam reached out to change gears, seeming to forget how to drive, too. Dean warned the man about the mistake he was going to make, but Sam pressed his foot lightly on the gas. "Reverse. Reverse!"

Sam didn't listen in time. You heard the tires squeal against the blacktop before the Impala was accelerating backwards, making you be the victim as you roughly hit the seat when the car backed into the dumpster. Luckily the Winchester managed to break before there was any damage to the Impala. You winced in slight pain as your hand reached around to touch your aching neck, Dean was nothing more than pissed at what had unfolded. But in a calm voice, he turned his head to look at his little brother.

“It’s in reverse.” Dean stated between clenched teeth.

Sam tried to apologize for what happened, but Dean wasn't having it. Both of them switched spots, putting them back to where they had started. Normally you would have laughed at any sort of accidental mishap Sam Winchester, the famous hunter known for his intelligence and quick reflexes, but you found the same pit in your stomach. You kept your feelings to yourself, thinking that it was, yet again, the paranoia from the bigger situation that was making you worried. 

+ + +

The next morning you and the boys checked into another motel just across town, but it was still little progress in the case. The boys had taken a simple salt and burn after hearing an old friend of their dad was in trouble with some nasty spirit. You had spent most of last night trying to find any sort of lead that could help solve this case that should have been one of the easier ones you've worked on this year. It was just early in the morning when you headed down the busy street with the boys to start on the busy day you had ahead for you.

“So, uh, where we going, anyway?” You looked over at the younger Winchester that was standing on your right. A small smile spreading across your lips from the question he asked. You told him you were going to work, which then required you to specifically mention the case. He nodded his head as a small smile spread across his lips, causing his dimples to pop out from each of his cheeks. “Oh, right. Yeah—the case. Of course. Where, uh, do you want to start?”

"Well, since you or Y/N couldn't find where Maggie Briggs was buried, now we have to do an all-day tombstone roll to see if we can dig her up." Dean said. He headed for the driver’s side of the impala as you followed behind to get into the backseat.

“Wait. Maggie Briggs? You mean like—like, the witch Maggie Briggs?” Sam asked. You looked at him with a funny expression as you nodded your head. But it seemed he knew exactly what he was talking about from how he started rambling on next. “Yeah, she’s in the basement. Isaiah Pickett’s house. Okay. there’s this legend that he hung her, but he didn’t. The real truth is that he was carrying his illegitimate child, and he killed her and then buried her in the basement.”

“Her ‘murdered chylde.’ That would explain the scratches.” You noted, remembering the terrible marks on the little girl’s stomach. Maggie wasn’t doing it at a vengeance, maybe she was trying to tell you something. “Wait, how do you know all of this?”

“Oh, I’ve done all kinds of research on it.” Sam said, shrugging off your question. You raised your brow slightly, wondering how he managed to squeeze in the time. All of you had been busy over the past few hours. But it seemed he hadn’t left the library empty handed before coming back. “I mean, you know...last night.”

You nodded your head at his excuse, thinking he must have kept this information to himself last night after the antics from last night after finding some lord in one of the local books at the library. You opened the backseat door and slipped yourself inside, the boys following behind. Dean turned on the Impala and reached out to turn on the radio as per usual, leading to a classic rock song to come on. While you and the oldest Winchester had bonded over the love of rock, Sam wasn't a personal fan of it like the both of you were. He had grown used to it over the decades of listening to the same rock tapes that were handed down from his father. But it seemed he had grown for a fondness for it today when he turned up the volume to start jamming out to it. You cocked up a brow when he caught your reflection in the side mirror. When he looked over his shoulder, he gave you another smile, the kind in which that seemed to have made his entire face light up. It'd been awhile since he had seen so positive, maybe the Sam you were seeing today was a newer version that you just needed to stop questioning.

+ + +

 About twenty minutes later, you arrived at the Pickett residence that had been abandoned long ago, thanks to Sam's knowledge on the place. He told you all sorts of information on the guy, which you listened, like always. Sam was like a sponge when it came to research, he soaked up just about everything, and he loved telling you about it. "So, get this..." was one of his most used catch phrases you had grown to recognize him by, as Dean's infamous "son of a bitch" when he got angry. You might have only been traveling for a little over a year with the boys, but after spending every waking moment with them, you grew to know a lot about them and develop special relationships with them. You and Dean were more like brother and sister. You bonded over the simplest of things, like your similar taste in music and your obsession with his car, and in return he teased you and treated you as family. Sam was a bit different with you.

 You found the relationship with Sam a bit different from his older brother, as the both of them were far polar opposite in their personalities. But that wasn't the case. When you first met Sam, he had a lot of...bad things going on for him. He found himself trusting a demon named Ruby and following her down a dark path of drinking demon blood to heighten his psychic abilities. The Winchesters had a past that was horrifying and filled with pain. But you never looked at Sam differently, not even when he freed the Devil himself from Hell. Because that wasn't the Sam you had grown to know over the past year and a half.

 Despite all of that, you had a friendship that was developed from hours of research in dimly lit libraries and bars when Dean was off trying to find himself a lover for the night. When Ruby wasn't around trying to mess with his head, you had seen the real Sam Winchester. He was smart as hell, yet he was empathetic enough to make just about anyone spill their dirty secrets without feeling ashamed for what they done. He was a giant with a set of puppy dog eyes that you wanted to stare into all day. There was something about Sam that drove you crazy. He wasn't any guy you had met before, but up weren't exactly a skilled romantic. The only real relationship you had was when you were in high school, and only that lasted a few weeks before he dumped you for another girl. Yet it didn't stop you from growing a fondness for the man, there was something about him that made you feel good and more like your old self before you started hunting. But the man you had grown to fall for seemed to have been absent since last night. He’d been acting a bit strange.

 You busied yourself with heading for the trunk when Dean tossed you the keys to fetch the supplies he already had packed after he wanted to take a quick sweep of the place to make sure it was really abandoned. You shoved the key inside the lock and opened up the trunk, you reached inside to pull out the duffel bag that on most days you could handle. As you yanked out the bag, you didn't realize how heavy it was, causing you to nearly stumble to the ground when gravity decided to play a part again. You were about to get a face full of dirt, but before you could, you felt someone reach out and grab the bag and then took the other to wrap an arm around your waist. Sam was quick enough to catch you before you could fall, but it took you a moment to realize how close you were as the result.

 You didn't realize Sam was at least a few inches from you, giving a rare chance to stare into his eyes, which always were a bit interesting to you. On some days that seemed green, but other occasions, in the right light, they looked blue. The both of you spent a few moments in this position as a bashful smile began to spread across your lips at the embarrassing situation you had landed yourself in. Sam let out a nervous chuckle and started to give you a smile, but the moment didn't last very long, as it was ruined by Dean's obnoxious attempt of clearing his throat. You quickly stood back up straight as Sam took ahold of the bag. Dean rolled his eyes, turning his back on you as he let out a quiet chuckle, finding the situation a little too amusing for his own good.

 All of you headed into the house and found the staircase to the basement, as Dean traveled first and you trailed after, leaving Sam to be the last in line. You cautiously made your way down the steps with one hand wrapped around the flashlight and the other carrying the shotgun loaded with nothing more than rock salt. Nothing seemed to have popped out as you took the final step down to the basement floor, you continued on your travels, wondering where Isaiah Pickett buried his ex lover’s body. But you found your search going quiet when you looked over your shoulder to see that Sam was having a bit of fun on the job. You furrowed your brow slightly when he was bent over at the waist with the shotgun, pretending to aim at invisible ghosts.

“Boo-yah!” He whispered to himself with a smirk. “Master chief in the house, bizatches!”

 “Feeling all right, Master chief?” You teased the younger Winchester, finding his behavior a little bit strange. But nevertheless you gave him a smile, trying to keep up with the lighthearted attitude he seemed to have been trying out. Sam nodded his head as his cheeks began to grow a bit rosy from the flashlight you had on him. You turned forward and continued on walking through the basement, until you stumbled upon a spot on the floor that wasn’t dirt like everything else. “Well, I’ll be damned. Willow moss.”

 “Yeah, right.” Sam agreed with you. You looked over your shoulder again to see that he was standing across the way from you and Dean, but he could see the shallow grave and its lightly green moss from where he was standing. “It’s, uh, supposed to grow over witches’ graves, right?”

 Dean found himself looking at his brother a little funny, wondering why the man seemed a little unsure of the piece of information that he should have clearly known. The oldest Winchester brushed off the coincidence as nothing. He dropped the duffel bag to the ground and got to work himself on digging up the grave, knowing it was the first part of wrapping up this hunt. While Sam remained as backup, you watched as Dean got to work, your hands were full of the salt and lighter fluid, itching to get this hunt wrapped up for good. It took only about fifteen minutes before you could see bones peeking through the shallow grave were about to peek through. While the process unfolded, you had your back turned on Sam, not seeming to notice what sort of fatal consequences might lead to, as the man you had thought was Sam...wasn’t really him.

 You leaned your back against the wall, giving Sam a perfect aim of Dean, who had no idea what was about to come. The younger Winchester took the shotgun and aimed it at the man, little did he realize there wasn’t actual bullets in the chamber, just salt rounds. “Hey, man,” Sam whispered to what he had grown to realize what his brother. But he spoke too softly for either one of you to hear him. “I’m really sorry about this.”

 Before the man could pull the trigger, it seemed that he was about to meet Maggie Briggs, who wasn't too happy about what you were doing to her grave. Your head whipped over your shoulder when you heard a crashing sound coming from behind. Sam had been taken by surprise when the spirit had thrown him across the room and crashing into a shelf that didn't look too comfortable. You called out the man's name in a panicked tone, causing Dean to quickly stop what he was doing. He headed over his brother to help, as you followed behind to see if he was all right. Dean pulled the man to his feet and asked if he was all right. 

“Let’s get the hell out of here!” Sam shouted with a panicked tone.

 “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Dean stopped his little brother from making an escape, silently wondering why he was acting like a coward all of a sudden. “We still got to burn the body, you idiot.”

 Dean gave his little brother a look, wondering why he had been acting so strange since last night. He began walking forward to the grave, it still had to be dug up a bit more before anybody could salt the bones. You followed behind the older Winchester to wrap up this a little faster. But you only got a few steps ahead before you found yourself meeting the same compromise Sam had just been in a few moments ago. You found your back being roughly thrown against the wall, knocking the air out of your lungs, as you had accidentally hit your head roughly against the wall, making your vision turn a bit blurry. Faintly, you heard Dean call out your name in a panicked tone, but before he could come to your rescue, the man had been thrown across the room, leaving Sam to somehow find the courage to save the day.

 You closed your eyes for a moment when your head felt the headache begin to form, little realizing the attention that was soon to be focused on you. You slowly parted an eye open when you felt like someone was staring at you. You realized a second later that it was Maggie herself, and she wasn't exactly happy at the early retirement you were putting her into. Without a weapon to protect yourself with, you shield yourself to keep the pain to a minimum. You squeezed your eyes shut, expecting to feel her wrath be scratching a message into your skin or throwing you against the room, but there was nothing. You dropped your arms to your lap as you opened your eyes to see that Sam was standing over the grave with a bottle of lighter fluid in his hands and a toothy grin spread across his lips.

 “That was sweet!”

 + + +

 There was no better way to celebrate a job well done than a few rounds of beer. You weren't much of a drinker, you preferred to sip on something more non-alcoholic, but you wouldn't pass up the chance to do a few shots with the boys to at least congratulate yourself. Dean pressured you into at least doing one before he ordered around round and soon disappeared himself, saying something about seeing a pretty face at the bar, and needing to scratch an itch. You blocked out what he was saying and pushed him away, letting him have a chance to enjoy himself, leaving you alone with Sam. Which was something that he had done frequently when the restaurant he chose wasn't some diner or greasy fast food joint. He needed his alone time, as you never complained about being alone with Sam. You always enjoyed his company, no matter what the two of you were doing.

You sipped on your drink and watched the man get to work, a smile crept at the end of your lips, wondering to yourself of how the man always managed to get what he wanted. The waitress that had been helping you since you got here brought over the round of shots that Dean ordered. "Oh, would it be too much to ask if I ask for a cheeseburger? Everything on it, extra onions." You asked the waitress as you gave her a smile.

 “Absolutely, sweetheart.” She said as she cleared out the empty shot glasses.

 “Ooh, that—that sounds good. Ditto.” Sam joined in on getting himself an early dinner. “But make mine a bacon cheeseburger. And hell, why not put a fried egg on top?”

 The waitress nodded her head and walked back to the kitchen to put your orders in. You slowly glanced over at the man sitting across from you, his behavior over the past day was starting to grow more stranger, and this was just the final straw for you. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Sam?" You questioned him with a serious tone. You looked at him straight in the eye, making him look at you with a slightly panicked look, as if you had caught him red handed. You raised a brow slightly as he shifted around in his seat. "Bacon cheeseburgers now? That's not like you, Sammy."

 "I don't know. I eat them, don't I? Anyways, we are celebrating." Sam said, managing to divert the conversation as he lifted up his shot glass.

 “Yeah, I guess.” You agreed with him. You grabbed your own glass and lifted it up, you gave him a small smile. “Another one bites the dust. Nice work today, like always,”

“You too. I had a, uh, really awesome day, Y/N. Seriously." Sam said. You reached out to lightly clink your glasses together before you downed your shot with ease. Sam, however, struggled a bit to make himself shallow it before letting out a rough cough from the burning. "Whoo! Sweet."

 “A really awesome day?” You found yourself lingering on what the younger man had said. Sam wondered what the fuss was all about when he managed to take another sip of his beer to wash away the taste of the shot. "It was a random, d-list ghost hunt. That's...that's awesome to you?"

 “I can’t be in a good mood?” Sam questioned you back.

"Yeah, I guess. It's..." You trailed off, trying to reason with his attitude that was all foreign to you. But you looked up from your drink, stopping yourself from taking another sip. "No, actually. In all of the time that I've known you, it's really not your style, Sam." 

"Well, then, it's a new me. I mean, come on. Why shouldn't I be happy? I've got a gun, I'm getting drunk, and I look like this." Sam gestured to his face, making you let out a quiet chuckle from his attitude. You bit your bottom lip as he let out a quiet sigh, finding himself getting lost in a small rant. "I don't know. You ever feel like your whole future is being decided for you. No matter how much you fight it, you can't stop the plan. The stupid, stupid plan."

"Not particularly." You said, knowing exactly what he was talking about without him needing to say it directly. “But I like to pretend I'm a pretty understanding person."

"So, I don't know. I guess it's, uh, it's just nice to do a little ass-kicking for a change, that's all. I've got a brother that's totally cool. And a best friend who's probably one of the prettiest and coolest chick I've ever met.” Sam found himself lost in his rambles, and without a warning, he let something slip out that you weren't expecting to hear in about a million years. Your eyebrows shot up in curiosity as the man suddenly began to turn the darkest shade of red you've ever seen. You tried covering your mouth to keep the small chuckles from his behavior to a minimum, but the grin that was peeking out from the cracks of your fingers was unavoidable. "Uh, you know what? I—I'm drunk. Sorry. Just—Just forget it. I'm making a complete ass out of myself, aren't I?"

 You swallowed down a laugh at what you heard, it was something that you would have never expected to hear from the younger Winchester, as he looked a little mortified. It was something that was starting to make you blush a little bit, but you brushed off the confession as a tipsy compliment. "It's, uh...I'll drink to that." You reached out to hit your shot glasses against his, enjoying the very rare moment together with him. As you swallowed down the shot with ease, you couldn't help yourself at how much the alcohol burned his throat. “Hey, is it me, or are we actually drinking together?”

 “We don't do it that often, huh?” Sam asked, a small smile spreading across hips lips.

 You shook your head as you reached for the straw to your drink, you stirred the ice around, making it quietly hit against the glass cup. “Not really. Most of the time when we’re alone it's because Dean abandoned us with the research. Not a lot of time for...just hanging out.” You said, shrugging your shoulders. “Guess it's just perks of the job.”

 “Well, we should do this more often.” Sam said. He seemed more lighthearted today. Maybe it was from the three shots he took and a beer he drank, but you were starting to find this new Sam very interesting, to say the least. “You're a pretty cool girl, Y/N.”

 “Sam Winchester thinks I’m pretty and cool? Well,”  You snickered at your attempt of teasing him as you reached for your drink to take another sip to cover the laugh you were about to let loose. “You really are drunk.”

 The waitress disrupted the moment between you and Sam when she arrived back with your food, the smell alone made your mouth water. You thanked her before she headed off to attend the rest of her customers, and as you reached out to grab one of your boiling hot fries, it was Sam that stopped you when he spoke up. “No, but I mean it, Y/N. You really are a good person.” Sam voice was trying to be serious, yet it was soft enough, as if he was trying to tell you something more. You gave him a smile of appreciation, finding his words rather touching. He rarely spoke to you like this, wanting to keep things between you professional. But it made something spark in you to hear that he thought of you as a good friend. Sam reached down to take a bite of his burger, which soon turned into a man who had never eaten one before in his life. “Mmm! The bread alone!”

You shook your head as you let out a small laugh from his reaction, it seemed that he wanted to steer away from salads for a while for something his brother would have picked. It's not like he needed to try and work so hard. The both of you talked while you slowly ate your meal, mostly he kept the conversation on normal topics as Sam let you do most of the talking. He was a good listener,  you told a few stories about hunting on your own before joining the boys and even about when you were still in school. Things between you haven't been this personal before, as over the past year, there hasn't been much time to have a little heart to heart. Maybe it was the inner girl that was making you blush ever so slightly at this moment.

 Sam had met a lot of different hunters through his life of hunting, and you were sure he’d met a lot of pretty girls during his time, some which might still haunt him to this day. He told you briefly about a girl named Jess when he was in college, both of them had been going steady until she was killed in a fire that was caused by Azazel, the yellow eyed demon who ruined the boys life. And then he had said there was another woman named Madison that he briefly started to take a personal liking for. But whenever you tried walking about it with him when it was brought up, Sam gotten all defensive, immediately wanting to change the subject. You didn’t press on any further, and from the conversation that Dean casually brought up at lunch yesterday, Sam wasn’t looking for anything serious. He might be young, but he was a drifter, with no intentions of settling down.

 The both of you continued on eating in mostly light talk, focusing mostly on the atmosphere that seemed different than normal. You kept your gaze mostly on your plate, but whenever you glanced up to take a drink from your beer, you noticed that he was staring at you when he thought you weren’t paying attention. And when your eyes happened to wander over to him, he would bashfully turn his head away, as if he was trying not to get caught. You looked at him from the corner of your eye and raised a brow, curiously wondering what he was up to. Sam opened his mouth to try and say something, and while it came out as “Uh...I, um—So…” He attempts soon died off when he decided the effort was worth it. You gave him another chance, thinking it might have been something important, but he shrugged it off as nothing.

 “We’re good friends, right?” Sam asked you out of the blue.

 “I would hope so. I mean, I spend almost every waking moment with you and your brother.” You said, a small chuckle escaping you as you took another sip of your beer. You slowly let your laugh die off as Sam kept staring at you with a serious expression, you licked your lips. “Why?”

 “And what about Dean? Are you two dating?” You found yourself choking out your beer when you made the mistake of taking another sip. Sam’s question took you by surprise, causing you to let out a laugh if you weren’t in the middle of washing down your dinner. Dean might have given a few the idea that you might have been a couple from how many things you had in common, along with the constant teasing he brought on. But he was like your older brother. You only saw him as another hunter. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“What possessed you to ask that?” You wondered as you managed to clean up any sort of liquid that escaped your mouth.

 “Uh, I was just wondering.” Sam said, shrugging off your concern. You balled up the damp napkins and glanced up to see him smirking to himself, as if he'd gotten the exact answer that he was hoping for. He quickly snapped out of thoughts and looked over at you. Pointing a finger over his shoulder, he suddenly needed to leave. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna go release the hostages."

 “TMI, Sammy.” You muttered at him. You gave him a playful wink as he gave you a weak smile, he made a mental note to himself not to say that again if he wanted to keep this going. You watched as he headed for the bathrooms that were right behind you in the bar, disappearing into the crowd that was slowly starting to grow bigger as the dinner rush started to arrive. You kept yourself busy by reaching for your beer as you reached for your phone. You patted around in your pocket where you always kept it, but you noticed that it was gone, you thought you might have left it back at the motel. As you reached out to eat one of your lukewarm fries, you noticed a hand was being greedy at stealing what few remained. “Get your own fries, Winchester.”

 You slapped Dean's hand away, making flinch back at what you'd done, not exactly you to be so territorial of your food. You smiled in victory as you popped another fry into your mouth. “So, how's your little date with Sam going?"

 You rolled your eyes at Dean’s cheap attempt at of trying to tease you, which had turned into an ongoing theme over the past few months. One night you gotten drunk with Dean at a bar, trying to be his wing woman so he could quit whining about the dry spell he was having. The town you were staying in didn't have what he was looking for, so it ended with the both of you enjoying each other’s company and drinking until the room started spinning. While you woke up the next morning with the absolute worst headache, Dean felt completely fine, he even told you about what you had rambled on about while you were under the influence. He mentioned something about how you thought his little brother was smart, handsome and a total catch. He’d been harassing you about it until this very day.

 “Just peachy. He confessed his love to me and we’re going to get hitched in Vegas. Wanna come?” You asked him as your voice dropped with sarcasm. He let out a slight chuckle as he leaned against the table to and sipped his beer. You could see the shake of the head and he rolled his eyes, obviously not amused with your answer as you had been. “What are you getting at Dean? Sam’s my hunting partner. I—”

 “Oh my God. You two are so much alike it's creepy sometimes. He said the exact same thing.” Dean muttered. You furrowed your brow and looked at him with a slightly confused look. The Winchester quickly eyed the bar, taking notice his brother was spending a rather unusual amount of time in the bathroom, giving him the perfect opportunity to play matchmaker. “Look, I’m not dumb. I may have a terrible track record with women, but I know puppy love when I see it. And Sam’s just oozing with it when he's around you.”

 “No, he's not.” You brushed off what Dean had said to flick a piece of hair out of your face and looked around the room, trying to find anything just smallest enough to start a conversation.

 “Yeah, he does. You're just too stuck in your head to see it. I mean, you know how many times he told me how much he enjoys hunting with you? Or how smart you are? He tripped over himself trying to not make an ass out of himself when he first met you. Granted, he really wasn't himself back then. Still...he told me himself of how much he likes you. I mean, really likes you. The guy hasn't been like this about a girl since…” Dean told you straight of how his little brother viewed you. When you heard him trail off, you could see the bit of happiness spark in his eyes, hopeful something good would come of this from what he was about to say. “Well, Jess.”

 The name took you by surprise, as you knew how much Jess had meant to Sam. She was someone he had met during his few years at Stanford, the woman he was going to marry after tagging along on a hunting trip when their father went missing. He told you a little bit about her, and while it had been a bit painful to remember, he was at peace for what happened. But Sam was head over heels in love with the woman. The woman he wanted to spend a normal life with. You were a hunter, someone that was compatible with if this day continued on turning out to be Twilight Zone episode.

 “I’m sure he said those things to be nice—”

 “Sweetheart, my brother is a lot of things. But one thing I know about him is that he becomes a truthful son of a bitch when I get him drunk. He told me while you were doing that solo hunt down in Pennsylvania. He said how worried he was about you. Then...it all came out. You should have seen it. It was cute to see him admit that he's crazy about you, Y/N. Dean said. You inhaled a deep breath from what you were hearing as a small smile spread across your lips. “The only reason why he hasn't made a move is because of this whole apocalypse. What might happen if somebody gets wind that Sam likes a girl. He's scared of you getting hurt. But I saw screw that. Life's short. Get what you want.”

 Dean’s words were for more the just you and his little brother, it was advice that he could have used a month and a half ago. Jo was her name, while the both of the hunters had flirted back and forth, things took a tragic turn when her life ended. But Dean was right. Hunting wasn't a career you did for a few decades before you retired. One day you're hunting, the next you're dead. If Dean was right about this, which, why would he lie to you? He had grown to be like your surrogate big brother. The man wanted you and his little brother to just be happy.

 “Okay.” You admitted, knowing there was no point in denying the feelings you had for the man. You only lived once, and Dean was right, you had to get what you wanted. “I’ll ask him out first. We’ll take it from there.”

 “Atta girl.” Dean gave you a wink as he turned around to nudge your knee with his own.

 So you waited for Sam to get back from the bathroom. And waited. And waited. Fifteen minutes or so passed when you looked over at the clock to see what was taking the man so long. Your nerves were beginning to get the best of you. What if he said no? God, what if he said…”I like you, Just not like that.” Which you would respect. You let out a quiet sigh, knowing your mind was getting the best of you. If it was meant to be, it’ll happen.

 Dean had headed back to the bar a few minutes ago to get a refill, thinking he was going to be here a bit longer after some pretty brunette came walking in here by herself. You looked over your shoulder to see where Sam could have been, maybe he was at the bar himself trying to get another round, but he wasn't there. You furrowed your brow and looked straight ahead, from where you were sitting you had a perfect view of the exit. Strangely enough, you spotted Sam’s hard to miss large frame heading for the double doors. But he wasn't alone. You could feel your stomach drop when he was being pulled out by a woman that looked to have had a good fifteen years on him. He caught your gaze, and in a surprising move, the man gave you a grin as he pointed his thumbs up, as if you should have encouraged him.

 “We’re gonna do it!” He whispered with delight.

 You looked at him a bit funny, but you managed to snap yourself out of it, not dwelling on the sheer second of happiness that you once thought could have been. Your mind began wandering, thinking about how strange Sam has been acting over the past day and a half. It wasn't because he didn't reciprocate the same feelings as you when he decided to go off with that woman. It was how bad at driving he suddenly became, the attitude. Hell, the drinking and eating a burger was all out of character for him. And you doubt Sam going off with that woman was a way of making you feel jealous. Suddenly you didn't feel so sad anymore.

+ + +

 He didn't return until midnight. Sam, whoever this person was, lurked in the darkness of the motel room, trying to find his way around. He fumbled a bit, but never managed to wake the sleeping body in the bed. The stranger found a loaded pistol just lying on the untouched sheets, a smirk spread across his lips, silently thinking to himself of how easy this was going to be. He never shot off a gun before, but he’d never been six foot four before with a masculine body. Today was all about doing the unexpected. He took a few timid steps forward to the bed, unaware of the chair, and put his finger on the trigger. He sucked in a breath and pushed down on the trigger, preparing himself for the noise that was to come.

 But there was nothing. Nothing but a faint clicking sound. Gary furrowed the man’s brow and tried again, thinking it might have gotten jammed. Still, nothing.

 Suddenly he felt a grip around the barrel of the gun, and before he could realize what was happening, someone punched him directly in the face, taking him by absolute surprise. He felt one of his legs swing up from behind him, making him panic slightly as he thought he was about to fall backwards, but someone grabbed ahold of him by the collar of his shirt and sent him forward to a much lower level. His eyes adjusted to the darkness to see that he was staring directly at a familiar face, it was you. "You're not Sam." You hissed at him, he could hear the venom dripping in your voice as your eyes narrowed on him suspiciously. "Who the hell are you?"

 “Ow!” Gary shouted, affected by the pain that quickly settled in.

 You weren't feeling sympathetic from the punch, you were going to do far more worse things to him than you could imagine. Gary could tell from that scary look on your face that his gig was up. But before he could try and explain himself, there was a sharp pain to the back of his head, and his vision went black.

+ + +

“You have thirty-eight messages.”

“This is gonna sound crazy—really crazy—but, um, I think I’m in the wrong body.”

“Y/N, the guy right next to you and Dean is not me!”

“Y/N, check your friggin’ voicemail. Damn it.”

You cradled the motel phone against your ear, listen to just a few of the voicemail that had been left on all of your cell phones, which had magically seemed to disappear from sight. Dean took a few minutes to see if this pubescent voice that was on the other line claiming to be the younger Winchester explain what was going on. Dean stood next to you and watched the body he tied to chair, slowly beginning to come back into consciousness. You looked over at Dean and nodded your head slowly, informing that you had gotten the same kind of messages. Your first guess at what was going on was demonic possession, but Sam's tattoo was intact, and his body didn't react to the holy water you'd splashed on him. And he wasn't a shifter when you pressed a silver knife against his skin. Sam appeared to be himself, but he wasn't...himself. This was some weird, "Freaky Friday" stuff if you had to give your honest opinion.

 "All right, pal." Dean started talking when you hung up the phone, not needing anymore evidence to figure out that something dangerous wrong was happening here. He walked forward to the man that appeared to be his brother as he slowly rose from consciousness. "Either you start talking or I start waterboarding."

 “Oh, my God. Please, don’t hurt me. Please! I’m sorry!” The stranger wasted no time in pleading for his life, thinking you would have actually done something to hurt him. You would have, but you didn’t want to ruin such fine packaging. “I’m so, so sorry!”

 "Okay. Hey," Dean was taken back himself at how easy the kid gave up in defeat. He leaned over and slapped a supportive hand on his shoulder, it only made the stranger jump in fright, thinking he was going to harm him. "Pull it together, champ."

 “I don’t want to die.” He muttered as his eyes glazed over. “I don’t want to die.”

 “Where’s Sam?” You asked the stranger, not beating around the bush.

 “In my—my friend’s basement.” The stranger explained to you. “His parents are out of town.”

 “Parents?” You repeated after him, finding the answer was nothing you would have suspected. You slowly looked over at Dean as your brow furrowed even closer together. As if things weren’t getting any weirder, you decided to figure out who this person was that was walking in the younger Winchester’s skin. “How old are you?”

 “Seventeen.” He told you.

 Your eyebrows shot up from the answer you would have never guessed, "Seventeen? You’re a—”

 Before you could finish your sentence, you could feel yourself being thrown across the room, giving you a sensation of weightlessness, but the feeling only lasted when your body roughly hit not a wall, but the mirror of the dresser. Shards of glass pricked at your skin as you landed on the carpeted ground, you could feel it for a moment, your other senses were being bombarded with too many things at once. Your head was pounding as a trickle of blood seeped out from your wound. The sound of someone shouting your name could be heard, all before Dean was thrown into the same predicament. It seemed there was a special guest who wanted to make a terrible first impression.

You winced in pain as you tried to roll over on your back to figure out who the hell managed to get into the motel room without you or Dean realizing it. Whoever it was sure wasn’t here for good intentions. You sucked in a breath and forced your eyes open. From across the room you noticed a teenage girl was standing right next to Sam, but it wasn’t hard to see from the inky black eye color and how she was talking about promises, she a demon. She didn't waste anytime in freeing Sam's body from the ropes and helping up to his feet. You noticed her back was turned to you, without thinking of the consequences, you forced yourself to move to your stomach, so you could army crawl to the duffel bag that just so happened to be lying on the floor.

 It seemed the demon was here strictly for business, but this was more than just about some measly demon deal. The kid switched bodies with Sam because he wanted to be all mighty and powerful, in exchange, he would take Sam's body to the Devil himself so he could get exactly what he wanted. It'd be a win, win. But it seemed the kid was having a bit of cold feet as he tried to back out of this. It seemed playing with dark magic had its downfall. You snatched the demon knife out from the bag and pushed yourself to your feet, thinking you might have a chance at taking her by surprise. You didn't want to really hurt the poor girl as your arm swung up just in time for the demon to figure out what you were doing. But you never really had a chance to feel that regret when she grabbed you by the arm and threw you against the ground.

 “I was having a very important conversation. Didn’t your parents teach you manners, little girl?” The demon asked you, as if you were going to respond. You found it comical that she viewed you younger, as she was possessing the body of a teenage girl that was at least six years younger than you. But the demon decided to show her strength in choosing a young meat suit when she started kicking your tender stomach, not caring for the little noises you were making. You pretended to endure the pain, little did she realize that you were mumbling the fifty words of latin that would save the day. Yet it was getting harder when she didn’t stop. You stuttered the words, but it seemed the stranger knew a thing or two.

 You could feel the pain in your stomach suddenly stop when the demon realized the person she’d been working with turn against her. The man that took over Sam’s body continued on with the exorcism, focusing the demon’s attention over to him, and then getting the wrath that was brought from trying to send the black-eyed bitch to Hell where she belonged. She grabbed Sam by the throat, but you didn’t let her hurt the man. You managed to push yourself to your feet, and working through the pain, you finished the exorcism, before somebody could be left with more than just bruised and cut up bodies.

 You smirked at the demon with blood stained lips, "Adios, bitch."

“Uh,” The stranger looked over at you, deciding it’d be the best time to correct your Spanish. “It’s Audi nos.”

+ + +

 The man that you had been spending all day and late last night with wasn't in fact Sam Winchester, but a teenage boy named Gary Frankle. He told everything that had happened before his friend had come back around, thankfully, unharmed from the possession. She was curled up on the motel bed with a soft blanket around her. You sat next to her and gave you a reassuring smile. The girl was obviously freaked out from everything that had happened, as she learned a valuable lesson about dabbling with Satanic rituals for something that wasn't much worth it. Being a teenager was far harder than you remembered. At least you knew the consequences of what would happen if you tangled with demons and the Devil himself.

 Sam had came back to the motel after somehow getting himself out of the bonds Gary’s friends had tied him up in. It seemed that being a scrawny teenager had its advantages. Now the two sat in the middle of the floor, trying to reverse the damage that had been done. Gary sprinkled a bit of the herbs he needed into the pot, continuing on with the ritual as he changed something in Latin you didn’t quite understand. You reached up a hand to shield your eyes when a bright light suddenly filled up the entire room for a brief moment before fading away.

 Sam looked down at himself for a brief moment as he lifted up his arms, trying to remember what it felt like to be in control again. You watched as the man pushed himself to his feet and headed over to the mirror, wanting to see it with his own eyes. "So," You pushed yourself slowly to your feet as you quietly hissed in pain. "We all good?"

 “Yeah. We’re good” Sam said. The real Sam that you have missed over the past forty-eight hours was in his own skin again. You felt yourself growing a small smile, happy for everything to be back to normal. “Oh, man, it’s nice to be back.”

 “Yeah. Awesome.” Gary muttered. He obviously wasn’t too pleased to be back to his normal physique that was nothing like the younger Winchester's, but it was a lesson he learned. The teenager pushed himself to his feet and turned around to face you and Dean. You crossed your arms over your chest and looked at him straight in the eye. Oh, the trouble he was in. But Gary thought some half-assed apology was going to be enough to get him off the hook. “Yeah. I know—my bad.”

You let out a chuckle as you raised a brow from his answer. "Oh, kid. You have some nerve. ‘My bad’ ain’t gonna cut it. The things you put us through over the past few days…”

“You deserve a good ass kicking, kid. But we’re not monsters. See, if you were of voting age, you’d be dead. Because we would kill you.” Dean told the kid straight out. Gary was taken back from the answer. He looked over at you with a bit of surprise, thinking you might have been trying to scare him, but you nodded your head at the plan if he were just a bit older. “So either you straighten up and fly right or we will kill you. Are we clear?”

Gary vigorously nodded his head, “Crystal.”

"Good. Now get out of my sight." Dean said. Slipping a hand inside his pocket, you felt your arms stretching out so you could catch the keys to the Impala when Dean decided to throw them in your direction. "Y/N, take them home. I'll clean up this mess."

"Wait, really?" You clutched the cold metal in your hands, feeling like Dean had just handed you a million dollars. Baby was his most prized possession. He wouldn't let anyone drive it, not even you. But it seemed that he was starting to warm up to the idea.

 "Yes, really. Only on two conditions. You don't crash her, 'cause I will kill you. And second, life's short. I know it's what you've been dying to do." Dean said. You clutched the keys tighter, knowing exactly what he was trying to do. You gave him a small smile, the man returned it with a wink when his little brother wasn't looking.

+ + +

It started to rain when you slid yourself into the driver's side of the Impala, but that didn't let you stop from enjoying every single second of this precious car. Nora gave you directions to their friend's house, where his dead body still laid. You told them a bogus story to tell the police, that should have been enough of a punishment for the both of them for what they did. When you saw the house Gary pointed at to you, you slowly pulled the Impala into the driveway, cutting off the engine. All of you slipped out of the car and back into the pouring pain. You clutched your jacket tighter, watching as Nora began walking to the front door, Gary lingered behind, still pouting at the life he was forced to go back to. 

“Gary, look.” Sam stopped the teenager, deciding it wouldn't hurt to leave the young man with a few words of wisdom to help cheer him up. “Take it from someone who knows—chin up, man. Your life ain't that bad.”

 “Uh, you met my parents.” Gary said.

 “Yeah. So what? It's your life. You don't like their plan for you, tell them to cram it. Rebel a little bit.” Sam said. “In a healthy, non-satanic way, of course.”

 “By the way,” You leaned over the car to give the younger man a piece of advice coming from the opposite gender that he probably still had no clue of how they functioned. You nodded your head at Nora, who was quietly waiting for Gary, and gave him a smile when the both of them made eye contact. “You know why Nora’s into witchcraft? She doesn’t like Satan, you moron. She likes you.” 

"Really?" Gary asked, a little taken back at the assumption. A small smile spread across his lips as he bashfully looked over at his friend. "You—You think?"

 "She followed you into making a deal with a demon and then got possessed by one. Yet, she's still friendly towards you. Yeah," You nodded your head to give him the reassurance he was hoping for. "I think she likes you."

 "I'm telling you, kid—I wish I had your life." Sam said. Gary honestly didn't believe the man, but it seemed the younger Winchester was truly envious of the lifestyle he was never given. "Get out of here."

 Gary gave all of you an apologetic smile for the trouble that he had caused before he was joining his friend. When the two of them disappeared, you looked over at Sam, just as the rain began to pour down even harder. “That was a nice thing for you to say.”

 “I totally lied. That kid’s life sucked ass.” Sam admitted a second later, you let out a quiet laugh from his honest response. Not everything was what it was made out to be. You watched as Sam decided it was time to get inside the Impala after he was starting to get soaked from standing out in the rain for too long. You followed not too long after him and got back into the driver's side. “All that apple-pie, family crap? It’s stressful. Trust me—I didn’t miss a damn thing.”

 "It's not all that bad. I mean, sometimes I miss some aspects of it." You retorted back. Sam looked over at you, a bit thrown off guard from your response. You outstretched your arms and placed them on the wheel. "I mean, I know I'm never gonna have the white picket fence and kids. That’s just the consequences of hunting. And I'm fine with that. But there’s some things that I can still feel from my old life.”

 “Like, what?” Sam asked.

 "Like...have you ever wanted something so bad, but you were afraid to go after it? You were so scared of what might happen, you just keep yourself at the sidelines. I mean, I'm a damn good hunter. I can go just after anything/ But this is...This is stupid." You found yourself somehow going off course from what you were about to say. The words were at the top of your tongue. You've practiced them during the entire drive here. It sounded so easy in your head, but getting yourself do it was so much harder. When you found the courage to look at Sam, he was amused from how you were acting in front of him. He asked you what you were talking about to try and see what was making you so flustered. “It’s just...seeing Gary and Nora. It got me thinking. That’s all.”

 “About what, Y/N?” The younger Winchester pressed you a bit harder. You looked over at him to see that his expression had changed. It turned into a softer one, like how it always did when you and him got speaking into deeper conversation. You still kept your lips pressed shut as you slightly shook your head. “Come on. Nothing you say is stupid. You can tell me anything and I won’t look at you any differently.”

 You tightened your grip around the steering wheel, the words he told you fueled the fire in your stomach that was starting to grow with butterflies. The rhythm of rain hitting the roof of the Impala chimed in with your rapidly beating heart. You turned your head slightly to look at Sam from the corner of your eye, you took notice of how handsome he looked with his damp hair pushed back after he ran his fingers through it. Biting your bottom lip slightly, you let out a sigh, knowing you were going to regret what you were about to do. But like Dean had said, if you wanted something, you had to just go get it. You couldn't die with regret.

 Sam opened his mouth to try and tease the answer out of you, thinking it was something stupid about your teenage years. He was going to make a remark about you being into some satanic stuff, but he never quite got the chance to even let the first word out. He felt himself leaning slightly back in his seat when he felt your weight shift onto his body. Without a warning, you pressed your lips against his, giving into the desire that had been growing in you for over the past year and a half. You felt your eyelids flutter shut, enjoying the sweet taste of everything about him, along with the rain droplets that had remained on him. You wanted to stay like this forever, but reality came on knocking, and you realized what the hell you were doing.

 “Oh, my God.” You muttered underneath your breath, cowardly pressing yourself against the driver's side door as your eyes began to grow big. You didn't realize you had decided to launch yourself at Sam. Ever so slowly, you looked over at the younger man to see what sort of deviation you had caused. You could feel your cheeks ignite with fire at the sight of him staring at you with widening eyes, not sure of what happened. "Oh, my God. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. It's just...You—No, Gary. I'm an idiot for listening to your brother. He told me that you really liked me. And I really like you. Then something about going after what you wanted. So I thought, what the hell? It's just...this is stupid. I'm so—"

 You tried your hardest to apologize for what you'd done, thinking you had ruined a friendship and hunting partnership. You wanted to crawl out of the car and die in a corner, but it seemed that Sam didn't a chance to show you how he was going to respond. Your words became muffled when you felt his lips coming down on yours after he turned your head to look at him. The second time around of kissing Sam Winchester was so much better. You felt yourself melting into his embrace as your eyelids fluttered shut, enjoying every single second of this moment that you thought would never come. Sam kissing you back was a good thing, right? Or how he opened his mouth and slightly growled when he tried pulling you closer to him. You'd hadn't had many chances at kissing different boys, but one thing for sure, Sam was the absolute best. He wouldn't let you go, disregarding the fact that the both of you were still in Gary's driveway, and you were running out of air in your lungs.

You pressed your hands on the man's chest, giving yourself a moment to enjoy the feeling of foreign territory, but that's not why you were touching him there. You managed to get yourself out of the hunter's grip and inhale a deep breath that you'd been needing. You stared at him with half hooded eyes and tried your hardest to figure out what you were saying. But you weren't exactly sure. You were concentrating on the sight of Sam with slightly swollen lips, and how his chest kept heaving up and down as he tried to catch his breath.

 "Nothing you do is stupid, Y/N. You're one of the, if not, the smartest hunter I've ever met." Sam spoke up, a small smile spread across your lips at his compliment. He knew there was more to say as he shifted around in his spot when the cat was out of the bag. "And...y-yeah. I do like you. It's just, people like me—we don't get happy endings. I’m not a good person. There’s things about me that you shouldn’t have to see. The people I love tend to die pretty viciously."

 “Sammy, you tend to forget that I’ve seen you at your very worst. I’ve seen you when you were hooked on the demon blood. I know you’re supposed to be the Devil’s vessel.” You said. Sam winced slightly at what you had brought up, as they weren’t the man’s best moments. Reaching out a hand, you squeeze his. “But that doesn’t mean you’re getting rid of me that easily. I would kind of like to see what could happen if we don’t let the world end.”

 “Who says we have to wait until it’s over?” Sam asked.

 You glanced over at the man to see that he was staring at you with a smirk. It didn’t take much for you to lean over and press your lips against his, deciding for this moment, you would forget about the world around you. You didn’t realize how cramped the Impala was, but with a quick shift of the seats, you were sitting comfortably in Sam’s lap. You gave him a soft giggle as you bent down to press his lips against his, wanting to spend a few more minutes on the theory that Sam was a good kisser. As you were barely millimeters from his, you stopped at the sound of a phone going off. You leaned back and looked at Sam with a confused expression. You thought all of your phones had been thrown out, all except for one. The younger Winchester managed to have found a single flip phone that had managed to slip underneath the seat. As he flipped it open to answer, you heard that it was Dean, and he wasted no time into what mattered.

“I’m guessing the reason why you two are taking forever is because you’ve finally come to your senses. And while that’s great and all, let’s get one thing straight. You guys bone in my car, and I’ll kill you. Now, get your asses back here.”