#sniper fixes things around the house that scout never got around to and he has to take the trash out for ten to twenty minutes.

[coweringnarcissus]

continuation of my post about "kiss city" blondshell sniperscout.

i think the realization would do something to scout. how easily sniper fell back into his life, for just an evening, after so many years apart. he's distinctly without the feeling that he needs to go, go, go, and do all the right things, and make it happen, and keep doing these things, just to keep it right, to keep him around, as sniper's simply there. in his house, lingering in empty corners, or sitting at the table and helping clean up when everyone else already left, standing in front of the sink as if he's been there before and helping jeremy with his housekeeping was no big thing.

i think the longing would swell inside him, then. a yawning chasm. he's had a few glasses, and the kids are put to bed, and he's drifting in the warm, lazy contentment of a smissmas celebrated with the people who've meant the most to him in his life - but he's tired. it's a little after ten thirty and he's already thinking about tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, and how he has to keep going, and he's so, so tired.

but snipes is there, rinsing off one of his nice plates and gently setting it aside, the overhead light casting a dark shadow down his back. rough hands that held rifles and gunned men down with precision that could only be gained through expertise, washing stains off his fine china with the same degree of efficiency, as if that's just something they can do now,  that the sight of it doesn't send him reeling from the archway, distantly wondering why this feels so different from when sniper would be assigned dish-duty, or when he'd wait anticipatingly for him to clean his own plates in the rv after an early breakfast to go running before the heat breaks. 

despite knowing mick heard him the moment he stopped outside the kitchen, he approaches quietly and snags a towel off the stove to stand beside him, drying off the dishes as they go.

[trashcanband4]

The Revelation of the Other Woman Ch. 16

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15

Chapter Title: Settling in.  Pairing: Daryl/oc. Setting: The Prison. Wordcount: 4,837. Warning: None that I can thing of.

 After Rick, Daryl and Merle got safely inside the gates we all gathered in the cell block. Daryl, Carol and Beth stood on the perch and catwalk above while Michonne, Glenn, Rick, Maggie, Carl and I stood on the ground below. Hershel sat on the stairs. Merle was locked in the holding room. “We're not leaving.” Rick spoke with finality.

“We can't stay here.” Hershel argued the same case he had been arguing.

“What if there's another sniper?” Maggie asked. “A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds.”

“We can't even go outside.” Beth spoke up as if what she said wasn't already understood by everyone.

“Not in the daylight.” Carol added.

“Rick says we're not running. We're not running.” Glenn spoke up still playing the part of leader even though Rick was back.

“No, better to live like rats.” Merle spoke up through the bar door holding him back from the rest of us.

“You got a better idea?” Rick asked him.

“Yeah, we should have slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day. But we lost that window, didn't we?” Merle asked. “I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now.”

“We ain't scared of that prick.” Daryl spoke up from the catwalk, but I didn't even bother looking at him.

“Y'all should be. That truck through the fence thing? That was just him ringing the dinner bell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers. And if he takes the high ground around this place, shoot, he could just starve us out if he wanted to.” As much as I hated to admit it, Merle had a point.

“Let's put him in the other cell block.” Maggie said ringing a rag in her hands.

“No. He's got a point.” Daryl said.

“This is all you. You started this!” Maggie yelled at Merle who wasn't affected by it.

“What's the difference whose fault it is?” Beth spoke up loudly. “What do we do?”

“I said we should leave. Now Axel's dead. We can't just sit here.” Hershel said for the millionth time and Rick started to walk off. “Get back here!” he yelled at the ex-cop who stopped, but didn't turn to look at the old man. “You're slipping Rick. We've all seen it. We understand why. But now is not the time. You once said this is not a democracy. Now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in your hands. So get your head clear and do something.”

After Hershel yelled at Rick he just stared at him for a second then walked off. With him gone, people scattered. Most went to their cell's so that's what I did as well. I wiped the dust off of the metal mirror and looked at myself for the first time in months. Dark circles shadowed my eyes, my skin was darker than it used to be from the amount of sun I'd gotten during the winter and my hair had grown two inches, now touching my shoulders. I didn't look like the me I remembered. I was still studying myself when I heard someone clear their throat and looked over to see Daryl standing with his arm propped up on the door frame.

A pain shot through my chest at the way he was looking at me. With hard eyes and straight lips that gave nothing away. He was different than I remembered, everyone was. I guess we'd all changed over the winter. “Whatever you're selling I don't want any.” I told him emotionlessly and crossed my arms over my chest.

“That your way of tellin' me to go away?” he asked quietly.

“If you're going to call me more names...yeah. That's exactly what I'm telling you.” I said as I sat down on my bed, pulled my legs up and hugged my knees to my chest.

“I ain't good at sayin' sorry.” he said quietly looking more like his old self.

“Good then don't say it. 'Cause I don't want to hear it.” I practically growled at him still hugging my knees to my chest.

“Joanna, I really am-”

“No.” I interrupted him letting go of my knees to scoot to the edge of the bed. “You don't get it. I dreamed about you. Every night that we weren't together was another dream that had you in it.” His face flushed at my words and it was cute, but it didn't put a damper on my anger. “At first they were nightmares. I blamed you for me getting left behind and stuck with that bitch Andrea. But then I realized that you told me to stay behind because you wanted me to be safe and I stopped being mad at you. The nightmares turned to good dreams. I would be hunkered down in a house somewhere and you would find me or vice versa.” my voice was shaking holding back tears. “We would find each other, you would wrap those amazing arms of yours around me and give me the best kiss of my life.” a tear slid down my cheek as I watched him cross his arms over his chest and lean back against the wall.

“Then imagine my surprise when my wildest dream came true. You found me, hugged me and kissed me and...” I closed my eyes and smiled sadly at the memory of his arms around me and his lips on mine. “Damn it that felt heavenly.” I opened my eyes and let the smile fade as I glared at him again. “So stupid me, I think that means you actually missed me as much as I missed you, that you wanted me back. But then your brother comes in the picture and you no longer give a damn about me. I'm just some weak, uppity, booty call. And you leave.” my eyes glared at his hand to his mouth, chewing on his cuticles. “That hurt.” I glared at him with tears slipping down my cheeks. “I never thought you would hurt me. So don't expect me to jump into your arms at the first “I'm sorry.” because it ain't gonna happen.”

He just stared at me for a second as if he were trying to think of something to say before he nodded and walked out. A few minutes later I heard people talking down stairs, practically under my cell so I walked out on the catwalk to see what was going on. “I didn't see any snipers out there, but we'll keep Maggie on watch.” Rick said to everyone.

“I'll get up in the guard tower, take out half them walkers, give these guys a chance to fix the fence.” Daryl suggested.

“Or use some of the cars to put the bus in place.” Michonne suggested.

“We can't access the field without burning through out bullets.” Hershel added.

“So we're trapped in here. There's barely any food or ammo. Glenn added not helping one bit. Honestly his negativity was grating to everyone.

“We've been here before. We'll be all right.” Daryl tried.

“That's when it was just us. Before there was a snake in the nest.” Glenn directed at Daryl.

“Man, we gonna go through this again?” Daryl asked, getting in Glenn's face. ?Look, Merle's staying here. He's with us now. Get used to it.” he looked up at me then at the rest of the group. “All y'all.”

“Seriously, Rick, I don't think Merle-” Glenn started, but I interrupted him.

“Just stop it Glenn.” I spoke up from the cat walk as Daryl came up the stairs. “No one likes him being here, but as much as I hate to admit it, we need him. He knows The Governors tactics and he has military training. So just get off your high horse and deal with it.”

Glenn looked from me to Rick. “I can't kick him out.” Rick said with a shake of his head.

Rick's words seemed to piss Glenn off even worse than mine did. “I wouldn't ask you to live with Shane after he tried to kill you.” Glenn's words pulled a look out of Rick and I tilted my head at Glenn's words. Shane tried to kill Rick?

“He may be erratic, but don't underestimate his loyalty to his brother.” Hershel defended.

“What if we solve two problems at once?” Glenn asked. “Deliver Merle to the Governor. Bargaining chip. Give him his traitor, maybe declare a truce.”

“No.” I said as I walked down the stairs to be a better part of the conversation. “We're sacrificing people now?” I asked with a twisted faced look at Glenn. “Delivering him to The Governor will be no different than leaving him on that roof to die. We couldn't do that back then and we can't do this now.”

“Who put you in charge?” Glenn asked.

I leaned back and raised my brows. “I could ask you the same question mister high and mighty.”

“Guys, cut it out.” Hershel cut off our building argument. “Look, Glenn, Joanna's right. That's not who we are.”

“We're not gonna figure this out now. Let's take a break.” Rick suggested and Glenn and Hershel walked off. Rick jerked his head for me to follow him to his cell so I did. “What all happened out there over the winter? I know you said Michonne found you two while you were running from the farm, but I don't know much more than that.” he asked as he sat down on his bed.

I sat down in the chair in the room with a sigh. “Not a whole lot up until Woodbury. I answered vaguely. Just a lot of running, scavenging and hunkering down for as long as we could. Michonne and I are pretty good friends, we don't communicate a lot, but we work well together. She and Andrea got closer though.” I said with a shrug.

“What about you and Andrea?” he asked looking curious.

“Oh we still hate each other as much as we always did, if not more now.” I said with a small laugh before it faded. “Bitches can't befriend bitches I guess.”

“You're not a bitch.” he said with a shake of his head.

“Really? Because I feel like one after the things I just said to Daryl.” I said looking up from the floor to his blue eyes. I had forgotten how blue they were and the fact that I was apparently a sucker for them. His and Daryl's... the same color yet so different. “But that doesn't matter. What about you and the rest of the group? There's some things I've been wondering since I got here.”

“Like what?” he asked and I sat up straighter.

“Like I hear Shane tried to kill you?” I asked and he nodded with a sigh.

“The night the walkers came through and we all got separated, he killed Randall to lure me into the woods and kill me.” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I killed him first.” he said before his dropped his hand and looked at me. I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything. “He wanted Lori, thought killing me was the only way to get her and Carl.”

“I'm sorry you had to do that.” I said and he waved me off. “So... I have to ask based off the way Beth spoke to me, did you and Lori ever work things out?”

He shook his head no. “What did Beth say to you?”

“She blames me for Lori's death.” he just tilted his head in confusion. “I guess she thinks that if I had never...been, with you that you and Lori would have been happier. I guess in her mind if you two were happier then you would have been there to save her or something.”

Rick sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Those aren't only her thoughts...” when he lifted his head to look at me I tilted my head to the side in a questioning manner. “She's just copying what I've heard Carl say.”

“Wait, Carl's mad at me too?” I asked getting tired of being everyone's whipping post.

“Yeah.” Rick sighed and dropped his hand from his face. “He didn't put two and two together until recently...after Lori...”

“I don't know how to handle this... Should we talk to him, try to explain things?” I asked as I shook my head in confusion.

“No, I'll talk to him and Beth. You don't deserve all that hate.” he said as he stood up.

“No, I think it's totally justified.” I sighed as I stood up as well. “I'm a home wrecker.”

“You know that's not true. Lori and I had our problems long before you even came along.” he said taking a step closer to grab my hand.

“I know, but...” I said giving his hand a small squeeze. When I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye I looked out of the cell to see Daryl walk by and glance in our direction. His stopped when he saw Rick's hand in mine and shook his head. I could hear a scoff as he walked off.

I dropped Ricks hand and scratched the back of my head. “What else have you been wondering about since you got back?”

“Daryl and Carol.” I said crossing my arms over my chest

“What about them?” he asked.

“She seemed really upset to hear that he didn't come back and then she blamed me for him leaving like I pushed him into it or something.” I said and he just looked at me. “Are they...together?” I cautiously asked.

“Honestly, I don't know. It's hard to tell with him.” Rick answered with a shoulder shrug. “You'll have to ask one of them.” I sighed and placed my head in my hands. He placed his hand on my back. “Hey,” I looked up at him and he gave me a small smile, “If I hadn't said it yet I'm glad you're alive.”

I gave him a small smile in return and he engulfed in a hug. “I'm glad you're alive too.” I said with a small laugh then pulled out of the hug. His hands lingered on my neck and mine on his sides. In a split second every tender intimate moment we'd ever had flooded my mind. Then came the bad memories and all the arguments. That made me remember why I chose Daryl, why I love Daryl more than anything or anyone. So I let him go and gave him a sad smile. “Thanks for filling me in. I'm gonna go to my cell and try to process things.” he let me go without a word.

Daryl's cell was on the way to mine and Carol's voice made me stop just outside of it. “This is a tomb.” I heard Daryl say as I made sure I couldn't be seen by them.

“That's what T-dog called it. I thought he was right till you found me.” Carol said and it got quiet for a few seconds. “He's your brother, but he's not good for you. Don't let him bring you down. After all, look how far you've come.” she said making him laugh. God how I'd missed that sound. It got quiet and I was about to go to my cell when Carol's words stopped me. “I've never thought Joanna was good for you either. She's too weak, those panic attacks of hers...they'll only slow you down and make you weak.” I felt my teeth grind together as I bit down, forcing back more tears and made myself walk by as if I hadn't heard a thing.

About an hour later I heard some one approach my cell and I thought it would be Daryl or Rick, but instead, it was Merle. “What do you want?” I asked sitting up to pull my knees to my chest.

“Just thought that if we're gonna be under the same roof, we should clear the air.” he stated and I just stared at him. “The whole hunting you two down thing... that was just business. Carrying out orders.”

“Sure, whatever, just don't hurt my people.” I said and he just smirked at me. “What?”

“Good taste.” he answered making me immediately think of what he said back at Woodbury. How his brother had good taste. He just smirked again as he walked away.

I was still in my cell when I heard Rick yell for Daryl, Merle and some others to join him outside because Andrea had been spotted. So I ran out behind Michonne and watched as Rick let her in a treated her like the traitor she was. He pushed her to her knees and took her things before she confirmed that she was alone and she was eventually let into the prison, but just the holding room. Andrea greeted Carol first. “Hershel, oh my god.” she sighed, spotting the old man's lack of a limb. “I can't believe this.” she said as she looked around the room and let go of Carol. “Where's Shane?” he asked still looking around the room before she looked at Rick.

“Why should you care? You're sleeping with The Governor now right?” I asked earning a glare from her before she looked at Rick who simply shook his head and looked away from her.

“And Lori?” she asked and Rick just gave her a hard look.

“She had a girl. Lori didn't survive.” Hershel spoke up.

“Neither did T-Dog.” Maggie added and I made a mental note to find out exactly how he died.

“I'm so sorry.” she said before her eyes landed on Carl. “Carl...” the boy just glared at her sympathy. Then she turned to Rick. “Rick I-” she started to walk over to Rick but he backed away from her. So she looked around the room at other people. “You all live here?”

“Here and the cell block.” Glenn answered.

“There?” she asked pointing to the door to the cell block. “Well, can I go in?” she asked.

Rick stepped in her way. “I won't allow that.”

“I'm not the enemy here, Rick.” Andrea defended.

“No you're just sleeping with the enemy.” I said and this time she didn't even look at me.

“We had that field and courtyard until your boyfriend tore down the fence with a truck and shot us up.” Rick said still standing in her way.

“He said you fired first.” Andrea defended.

I wanted to point out that he was a liar, but I knew I wasn't the person to point that out. She wouldn't listen to me. She never did. “Well, he's lying.” Rick answered and she just stared at him.

“He killed an inmate who survived in here.” Hershel spoke up.

“We liked him. He was one of us.” Daryl said making her attention turn to him.

“I didn't know anything about that.” Andrea said with a head shake. “As soon as I found out I came. I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shoot-out.” she said looking around at everyone.

“That was days ago.” Glenn said and now I agreed with his angry tone.

“I told you I came as soon as I could.” Andrea defended herself and looked around at everyone just to be met with glares and looks of mistrust. She turned to me “What have you told them?” she asked angrily.

“I didn't have to tell them anything.” I said from where I sat at the metal picnic table.

“You poisoned them with lies about me.” she yelled.

“She hasn't bad mouthed ya.” Daryl of all people defended me from where he sat at the table across the room from me.

“I don't get it. I left Atlanta with you people and now I'm the odd man out?” she asked getting mad at everyone.

“He almost killed Michonne and he would have killed us.” Glenn started.

“With his finger on the trigger.” Andrea yelled with a point at Merle. “Isn't he the one who kidnapped you? Who beat you?” she asked then sighed and placed her head in her hands for a second. “I cannot excuse or explain what Philip has done. But I am trying to bring us together. We have to work this out.”

“There's nothing to work out.” Rick said cutting her off. “We're gonna kill him. I don't know how or when, but we will.”

“We can settle this.” she said taking a step closer to Rick.

“God, Andrea!” I yelled at her. “When are you going to open those ignorant eyes of yours and realize that there is no settling this. He will not stop until we are dead, that is just the kid of man he is. Merle kidnapped us, but it was under the orders of your boy toy. He is sick and twisted.” I said walking over to get in her face.

“There is room at Woodbury for you.” she said not giving up on the idea of peace.

“You're blind as a freaking bat.” I scoffed and walked back to the table.

“There's room for all of you.” she said looking around at everyone now.

Merle laughed at her. “You know better than that.”

“What makes you think this man wants to negotiate?” Hershel asked. “Did he say that?”

“No.” Andrea answered.

“Then why did you come here?” Rick asked.

“Because he's gearing up for war. The people are terrified. They see you as killers. They're training to attack.” Andrea warned.

“I'll tell you what. Next time you see Philip, you tell him I'm gonna take his other eye.” Daryl warned back.

“We've taken too much shit for too long.” Glenn spoke up. “He wants a war? He's got one.”

Andrea turned to Rick. “Rick? If you don't sit down and try to work this out, I don't know what's gonna happen. He has a whole town.” she heaved out a breath as she turned toward us. “Look at you. You've lost so much already. You can't stand alone anymore.”

“You want to make this right, get us inside.” Rick said walking around her to be in her line of sight.

“No.” Andrea said shaking her head rapidly.

“Then we got nothing to talk about.” Rick walked around her.

“There are innocent people.” she yelled after him trying to get him to stop.

With Rick gone Michonne and Andrea went outside to talk. So with her out of the way I went back to my cell.

I don't know when she left, I didn't go see her off like everyone else did. I didn't even leave my cell until I heard everyone getting together down stairs and the smell of warm food hit my nose. It turned out to just be rice, cooked with a chicken bullion cube for flavor. It wasn't much, but I sat on the floor next to Michonne to eat it. Not long after I finished my bowl Beth started singing. After listening to the song enough to recognize a pattern and pick up the chorus I started to sing along. “You gotta hold on, hold on. You gotta hold on. Take my hand I'm standin' right here. You gotta hold on.” I sang back up catching a few people's attention, but I didn't look at them. Beth glared at me, but I ignored her too. She wasn't going to put a damper on my fun.

When the song was over most people turned in for the night. So I followed suit. As I passed Daryl's cell he spoke up, stopping me. “So it's you and Rick again, huh?”

I stopped and leaned my back against the frame of his door. "Maybe." I replied with a shoulder shrug.

"I ain't interested in none of your games." He practically growled as he sat up on the side of his bunk.

"Are you and Carol together?" I finally asked and he looked at me like I was crazy. "She was more broken up about you leaving the group than everyone else and people around here seem to put your names together a lot. On top of that you two were close at the farm, so what am I supposed to expect when I find you." I explained deciding to leave out the fact that I heard her badmouthing me and Daryl didn't defend me. He just stared at me, biting his nails. “Was I supposed to expect you to just wait around for me to show up out of the blue? I mean as much as I missed you and longed to be with you I supposed you would move on at some point.”

"Did you move on?" He answered flatly.

“Oh, yeah, didn't you hear? Andrea, Michonne and I got real cozy on the road together.” I popped off and he rolled his eyes at me with a scoff. “No, I didn't.” I answered truthfully. “Have you?”

“Na. She's just a friend.” he answered quietly.

“Good.” I told him with a nod and pushed off of the door frame to walk away.

“You gonna give me a straight answer 'bout you and Rick?” he asked stopping me and I turned to see that he had stood up.

“He's just a friend.” I answered with a sigh. “Now if you don't mind I'd like to get some sleep.” I started once again to walk off but he grabbed my hand pulling me to a stop.

“Sleep here.” he suggested, not dropping my hand.

“Why, so I can be your booty call?” I asked sarcastically.

He bit his lip and shook his head. “Cause I love ya, Woman.”

“W-what?” I asked too shocked for his words to fully sink in.

“Come on, I ain't good at this shit, don't make me say it again.” he practically begged.

What he had done and what he had called me...it was all washed away by those three little words. Three little words that when said separately or with other words between them meant nothing. But when one sentence was composed of just these words they seemed to heal the worst of wounds and mend broken hearts. So what did I do when they finally sank in?

Laughter burst from my lips and I fell back to lean against the door frame again. When I managed to stop laughing I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. “Even in my best dreams you never said that.” I whispered then looked at him to see him looking at me like if I rejected him he would crack. “I love you too.”

A smile spread across his lips as he closed the space between us grabbed the back of my head and pulled me into him. The kiss was hard and passionate. A moan escaped my lips when his tongue found mine starting a battle with no winner. His hand moved from the back of my head to grip my sides and lift me up and pin me to that wall. My legs wrapped around his waist and my fingers embedded themselves into his soft hair.

Thirty minutes later we lay on his bed sweaty and breathless, but still tangled together like an unkempt line of string. “How do you do that?” I asked, not looking at him, but comparing the size of our hands instead.

“Do what?” he asked quietly.

“Make me lose my mind but stay perfectly grounded at the same time.” I said and he scoffed at me.

“Ya ain't makin' since.” he grumbled sleepily.

“Yeah, I guess my minds still a little lost.” I chuckled as I dropped his hand and rolled over to look at him. “It has to be, because I feel crazy for giving you a second chance.” I explained, resting my hand on his taunt chest. “I felt something for you before, I wasn't sure what it was, if it was love or lust or if it was just simply trust, and companionship. So when you told me I was nothing to you and chose to leave me, it hurt but I lived. Barely, but I did. And now, after tonight, after we said what we said? You have my heart, you're capable of destroying me.”

“Ain't gonna do that.” he promised, low and gruff as he placed his hand on my cheek and ran his thumb over my cheekbone. “Can't make the same mistake twice.” from my face his hand slid down to my neck where he touched the mark his brother had left on me. “Let's get some sleep, missed havin' ya by my side.”

I smiled to myself as I tuned my back to him and he tossed his arm over my side. “Goodnight, Daryl.”

“Night, Ballerina.”

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[tf2-hellhole]

Grim af but I kinda like angst- okay so the either rsepawner stoped working and the mercs had to watch their s/o die or they some how got into the crossfire and died

Bless your soul homie, I love writing fluff but I’ve been itching to write some angst-

I imagined that the S/O was exploring the battleground but didn’t know that a match was about to start. They’re killed about a third of the way into the match but their merc finds their body near the end

Warning: Death, emotional trauma, alcoholism, etc

Scout:

At first, another teammate told him his S/O was on the battlefield but doesn’t know they’re dead yet. He spends several minutes running around trying to find them. He doesn’t try to attack any enemies or cap the objective and is sent through respawn several times.

But after a little while, he finds them. He doesn’t realize they’re dead and tries to bring them a health pack, believing they’ve only passed out. It’s only when he grabs their wrist that he realizes there’s no pulse.

When it hits him, he just freezes. He just stares down at them and tears form in his eyes. He stays there with their body until another BLU comes along and takes the free kill. He spends the rest of the match in the back of the spawn room crying quietly and shaking violently. No one even notices him there until the end of the match.

When the rest of the team finds out, Spy and Sniper (who is heavily implied to be Scout’s good friend) sit with him while their body is retrieved. He doesn’t say a word the whole time.

But the moment he gets back to his room, he has an absolute meltdown. It lasts a very long time and he breaks a lot of his stuff. The other mercs can hear him and all feel horrible. Spy has to leave because he doesn’t want the others to see that he’s on the verge of tears for his son.

Heavy has to come in and stop Scout before he accidentally hurts himself. As soon as he’s in his arms, he stops thrashing and just sobs. He stays in a depressive state for several weeks after this.

He’s a lot quieter afterward. He eventually gets his cocky personality back several years later, but he’s nowhere near as loud or confident as before. He never truly recovers and doesn’t try dating again for a long time.

Soldier:

Soldier, like Scout, doesn’t realize his S/O is dead and tries to shake them awake. But the moment he realizes his S/O is dead, he flies into a violent rage.

He thoughtlessly attacks the BLU team. He doesn’t consider the objective and just attacks the BLUs. He’s so reckless that he just dies several times and barely gets any kills. His team loses the match because of him.

After the match, Soldier brings their body to the med bay himself. He demands Medic make them come back. When Medic tells him there’s nothing he can do (this is before he had the funding to learn to revive someone) he attacks him, saying that he’s lying. The others have to subdue him before he kills someone while respawn is off

After he’s calmed, he spends several weeks just replaying the moment he realized they were dead in his mind. How could this happen? He was supposed to protect them! He was supposed to protect them and he failed… He never gets over that thought.

He pays for most of his S/O’s funeral to make sure it’s beautiful, because they deserve it

Over several years he eventually heals and turns back into the normal Soldier, but for the rest of his life he always carries a photo of his S/O everywhere and dedicates every match RED wins to them.

Pyro:

Pyro’s entire world quickly turns grey and dark when they find the body of their S/O. They drag their S/O’s body to a safe place and hold them to their body, just sobbing quietly into their mask. But after a few moments, they’re filled with fury and go on a rampage similar to Soldier’s. They charge directly into enemy fire, only caring about taking revenge for his S/O. But unlike Soldier, theirs is slightly more calculated and results in RED winning a match they almost lost.

After the battle, Pyro won’t leave the body alone. They pick up their S/O and carry them back to the base bridal style, shaking and sobbing the whole time. They take the body to the med bay and just sit there crying into their arms. They’re there for several hours and would’ve sat there for days is Engie didn’t lead them away

For a couple of weeks, Pyro refuses to participate in combat, leading to many additional losses for the RED team. All they do is sit around and don’t have the motivation to do anything for a while, though they eventually return to work after the other mercenaries encourage them to.

For a very long time, Pyro’s world is lifeless and dull and nothing can fix it. They just feel horrible and live in despair for a long while. They spend most of their days sitting outside or in their room in the base, completely silent. Over a few years they heal, but their world turns grey and sad much more often than before. Some days they feel really guilty about not being there to protect their S/O, and they feel so horrible about it that even flames can’t lighten their mood.

Demo:

Demo is in absolute shock upon finding their body, but his first instinct is to pick up their S/O and run to Medic, desperately begging for him to do something. When the medigun doesn’t do anything, Medic and Demo instantly know that it means they’re gone, and Demo goes completely silent.

Demo carries his S/O to a safe spot for the rest of the match to just hold them against him and ask them to please, please wake up. His life was hell before he met them, what is he gonna do without them? They can’t leave him, not now, it’s not fair! They had so much ahead of them!

His mental state goes downhill after this. His S/O had practically kept him sane; They encouraged him to cut back on drinking, comforted him after his mother would insult him over the phone, and complimented him after every RED win. He spirals back into a state of thinking about all of his regrets and insecurities and drowning them in alcohol, then repeating the process in the morning.

He falls into a severe depression and just falls apart. The only things he has the motivation to do are go to the kitchen to grab all the alcohol he can find, take it back to his room, drink it all, and spend the rest of the day sleeping. He eventually has to be moved to the med bay to be cared for by Medic due to his refusal to eat. He’s in this state for a very long time and it’ll be months before his team sees him on the battlefield again.

Demo never really recovers. He starts to eat again after a while and becomes depressed less often over time. But he will often drink a lot more when his S/O is on his mind and never seeks another partner. Sometimes alcohol can’t make the image of them in his head go away and he just sits in silence, tears running down his face, trying to clear the image from his mind. It hurts him so much.

Heavy:

When another teammate tells him his S/O is on the battlefield, he absolutely panics. He can’t let anything happen to them. He immediately turns to Medic and tells him to pocket him and help him find his S/O. They spend a little while running around and trying to find them, and after a few minutes find the enemy Soldier standing over their body.

Heavy immediately revs up his gun and mows down every enemy in sight to get them away from his S/O, starting with the Soldier. Once he’s done he drops his gun and rushes to their side with Medic, desperately hoping they’re still breathing. You can practically hear his heart shatter when he realizes they aren’t.

You’d expect him to get angry and use the rest of the match to get his revenge, but not yet. He runs back to base with his S/O in his arms and spends the rest of the match holding their body and whispering to them in Russian. He refuses to let them go for several hours after the match.

The next match is when he gets his revenge on the BLU Soldier. He gets the other mercs to help him kidnap the Soldier, and tortures him for a while before sending him back to respawn.

Heavy is allowed to leave work for a little while and goes to his family for a few months. He isn’t depressed while he’s with them, he helps them around the house, but he spends a lot more time alone and reads for hours and hours to get the image of his S/O’s body out of his head. It isn’t until a few weeks after his S/O is killed that he breaks down in his bedroom. He doesn’t scream or sob, he just sits at his desk with his head in his hands with tears running down his face for hours.

Engineer:

When Engineer was told that his S/O was on the battlefield, he went pale. He was terrified because he knows he’s not the best fighter and he can’t run out there and get them. He just has to stay focused on supporting his team and hope Scout or Soldier finds them.

It isn’t until RED had already won the match that one of his teammates brings the body to him. He lets out a pained cry and runs over to take his S/O into his arms. He asks in a shaky voice who killed them, but none of the mercs know.

Engineer just throws himself into his work for months. He gets up in the morning and goes to his workshop, only leaving for things like showering and eating, though he does these things rarely, and goes to sleep at around 2 AM. He’s extremely quiet now and rarely interacts with the other mercenaries, usually only speaking to them when he has to. He doesn’t work for the first couple of battles after his S/O’s death but after a few weeks he joins his coworkers. He does his job as efficiently as before but he rarely speaks and is still very, very distant. He’s even distant to the merc closest to him, Pyro.

Over a long while, probably a few years, he heals. He gets back his extroverted and kind personality but he’s a little quieter than before. He won’t ever seek another partner.

He makes sure to visit his S/O’s grave regularly and tell them how he’s been doing. He always makes sure to leave them fresh flowers, and he makes sure their grave is kept pristine even after he’s gone.

Medic:

Medic is pocketing Heavy and is about to pop Uber when Heavy yells, “Doctor, look!”. He turns to see where his friend is looking and lets out a surprised cry when he sees his S/O’s body. He immediately abandons Heavy and runs to them.

He drops down in front of them and immediately checks their pulse. For a moment after he realizes there is no pulse, all he can do is squeeze his eyes shut and bow his head over their body. But he quickly grabs his minigun and runs back to Heavy. He pockets him and growls at him to push forward, since his Uber is ready. They go in and he gets his revenge as all of BLU is mowed down in seconds. He’s not satisfied but he can’t do much else

Like Scout, he has a complete meltdown in his lab after the match. He destroys tons of equipment and attempts to destroy his medigun. In his mind, if it couldn’t save his liebling, then what point does it have? But luckily, the other mercs stop him before he damages it too much.

Once he’s calmed, he focuses every waking moment on trying to bring his S/O back. This is before the comics, and at this point he does not have enough funding to invent a way to revive them. He spends months trying to work out a way to bring them back.

During this time, he is very aggressive towards his teammates. He doesn’t attack them, but he yells for them to get out the moment they enter the lab. The only person allowed in his Heavy, but even he can’t be in there for more than ten minutes before Medic is growling at him to leave too. The team actually has to hire a real doctor to look after the mercs while he’s in this state. He still participates in battles though, he just doesn’t take care of their general health.

Sniper:

Sniper is the only one to actually watch his S/O fall. He was forced to watch through his scope as the enemy Spy put a bullet in their head before he could get a clear shot. The moment he’s killed the Spy, he’s running from his nest to his S/O

He scoops up the body before more BLUs show up and drag them back. He wants to bring them a health pack or yell for Medic, but he knows they wouldn’t be able to do anything. For a while, he just sits there holding them and shaking. But after a short while, Medic comes nearby and notices Sniper.

Once Medic is beside him, something snaps in Sniper. He tells Medic to take care of his S/O and he runs back to his nest. He proceeds to perform better than ever before, landing every single shot. He’s always waiting for the enemy Spy and never fails to blow his head off every single time he uncloaks.

At some point during the match, the Spy tries to get rid of Sniper. Before he can backstab him though, Sniper spins around and pins him down with his kukri to his throat. He uses his weapons to make the Spy pay for what he did before killing him.

After the battle, he becomes extremely distant. He goes to his camper and stays there for days, never leaving, not even to eat. He just lays in his bed, his face buried in his pillow, replaying what he saw in his head.

He turns to drinking to make the moment leave his mind. He had already been through so much in his life, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He becomes an alcoholic very quickly and just spends his free time drinking in his camper. His performance suffers drastically in battle and the REDs have several losses before the other mercs make him go through rehab before this becomes a permanent habit. He relapses several times but eventually recovers.

Out of all the mercs, he recovers the least. He permanently becomes more distant to the other mercenaries because he’s terrified of losing people he becomes attached to. He becomes much more introverted and often takes trips out into the wilderness for weeks.

Spy:

Spy happened upon his S/O’s body while he was cloaked, trying to sneak into the enemy base. When he noticed them, he threw himself around a corner and covered his mouth to stifle the surprised cry that came from it. There were several BLUs nearby, trying to push forward. He had to wait for several minutes crammed into a corner until the BLU pushed forward before he could go to his S/O.

The moment he was able to, he ran over to the body and picked them up, his voice breaking as he mumbled in French to them. He ran to safety and threatened Medic to make him bring them back somehow. He almost attacked him when he said he couldn’t. When he finally accepted that his S/O was gone, he slumped against the wall, holding them close and apologized over and over in French.

(Part of this point is based on another headcanon, though idk who's because I read it before I made this account.) After the battle though, he was very composed. He stayed with the body for several hours, just holding their hand and speaking softly, but he didn’t cry or sob. It was when he went to his smoking room that he lost it. He yelled in anger and shattered several bottles of alcohol. It was short and was over as quickly as it started. When he’s done, he stalks over to his chair and chainsmokes late into the night. Over the next few months, he has several short meltdowns in private.

He absolutely hates sleeping now. He just lies there and stares at the empty space in the bed where his S/O used to sleep. He remembers them snuggling up against him and smiling up at him before cupping his cheek in their hand. He often falls asleep crying.

Like Sniper, he tries to stay away from others a lot more after that, because he couldn’t bear to have another heartbreak like that. His ability to trust is also severely ruined. He never finds another partner.

[writeawayjake]

New Robin Hood chapter!!!

Robin Hood Chapter 8 Ahab

                             After they'd seen to the injured and passed out as much as they could, they decided to camp on a nearby ridge, close enough to keep the village in sight. A campfire was out of the question - they couldn't afford to give their position away.

                             Most of the group slept except for the "officers", if you could call them that. Her, John, and Tuck, sat watch, all perched back to back on a large rock in the center or camp; Robin however, had hunkered down on the lip of the ridge. He just sat there like a statue, cradling that long rifle in his arms, never taking his eyes off the village, like he was afraid it would burst into flame if he did. She figured he wasn't taking it well that he missed Nottingham.

                             "So where'd they dig you up?" John asked, his voice somehow so soft and comforting for someone that huge.

                             "Army." She replied dryly, trying to sound as distant as possible. She still wasn't sure about these guys and she damn sure wasn't about to start making friends just yet. 

                             "Aaah, army puke I see." He replied with a chuckle.

                             "Careful Sergeant." 

                             "Gunnery sergeant," he corrected with a smile. "Former gunnery sergeant."

                             "Fascinating…" she sighed, shifting where she sat. Trying to navigate around an uncomfortable pebble. 

                             "Tuck here. We got him imported."

                             "Fucks sake John." Tuck grumbled. 

                             "We got him from the SAS." John continued. 

                             "So your deserters." Mari growled.

                             "Some of us," Replied Tuck. "Others were mercs, some were just concerned citizens who'd retired from the life. We're all just trying to be the good samaritan. Ultimately the only authority you should answer to, is your own conscience. Robin taught us that." 

                             "Sorry, Tuck has a bad habit of sermonizing." John said with a smile.

                             "Speaking of "the Robin"," she said with a bit of a sneer. "What's that guys deal? Is this some kinda Manson family shit? Is he your guru or something?"

                             The other two burst into laughter, Little John almost doubled over. 

                             "Oh shit - ugh thank you, I haven't laughed like that since I was a little girl." John wiped a tear from his eye as Mari sat there scowling. "Robin and I were squadmates way back when. We've known each other since basic. Eventually we'd had one too many completely fucked missions and well... He wouldn't want me talking about his business. Long story short after our time was up we just kinda stayed here, trying to help. We kinda just picked people up as we went."

                              "Well that just creates more questions." She frowned. "So...you only fight Sherwood?"

                              "We've had run ins with Taliban and other contractors, but so far Sherwood's been the hardest zit to pop."

                              "Why's he got it in for Nottingham? He has to know if he kills him they'll just bring someone else in."

                              "That's… well that's personal. Nottingham hates Robin Just as much,at this point - well let's just say he's Ahab."

                              She looked back to Robin, he hadn't moved an inch, eyes still fixed on the small collection of houses. 

                              "So what's the plan?" She asked finally, continuing to stare at Robin's silhouette.

                              "Not sure. Ideally wipe that Sherwood firebase off the map, but that's wishful thinking. We'll probably do something insane in the morning." John mused.

                              "Tha's one thing you've gotta give to Rob, he's definitely unpredictable." Tuck chimed in. 

After a long pause, Mari continued with her questioning, “So you guys were in the corps. I’m guessing he ended up a scout sniper.”

“Yes ma’am.” John replied, matter of factly. 

“Where were you based out of?”

“We were outta camp Leatherneck mostly. Visited Bagram a few times. You?”

“I mostly operated here, in Shahikot.” 

“Damn, deep shit. This is definitely a nasty place to fight.”

Not this wasn’t a stirring conversation, but her curiosity was just too hard to ignore. “Is he seriously gonna sit there like that all night?”

“Oh you kiddin’ me?” John leaned back, running a hand through his thick blonde hair. “Rob’s a Marine Scout Sniper; I’ve seen him stay in the same spot for three days, didn’t move a muscle. Fourth day he popped his target. Guy’s the best shot I’ve ever met.” 

“That good huh?” She asked, her voice heavy with sarcasm.

@emdop @hannahs-creations @themerrywriterreturns

[andieperrie18]

OSIRIA ROSE: KUROSHITSUJI FANFIC (MANGA BASE)

This is just a sample

• o n e •

OSIRIA FOUND HERSELF at the same spot in the hallway where she stuck her ground as she had once watched her brother's small fragile frame fade and the sound of running neared to her left ear. The difference with this one was it is unbelievably peaceful though she didn't give any mind. But she knew it wasn't long before the small chaos would come uninvited by the Phantomhive manor.

"They are now scouting around the house miss Rose." she turned to Tanaka who stood by her side right at the moment. She nodded her thanks as before turning her view back to where it was.

"HAHAHAHA!!!"

The butler stared at the laughing circus hostbefore him and his master. Joker, who cackled like a mad man as he laid sprawled out on the cold concrete in the of his own crimson liquid. His maniacly laughter bounce on every wall and pillar of the large torture hall.

"However, you will also have some important things stolen from you from you tonight." the cackling mad man quoted as he waited for the smuggness on the their discombombulate to pieces. And when they did and it only brought up Joker's confidence more.

"My fellow circus members are paying a visit to you manor tonight." he continued

The two servants stood side by side under the light of the moon as they waited. The maid's onyx orbs shot open as she heard the rustle of shrubs from across the estate's yard.

"Mister Tanaka, please be on guard by Lady Elizabeth's room. I'll take it from here." the said butler bowed before ushering away. After a good distance, the maid pulled out a red hard-bounded book with the words 'Danse Macabre' embedded on the front portion. It revealed pages of writings and pictures with a stamp that quoting "completed" on every page. The flipping came to a halt as it landed on a blank page. She stared at it from for a good minute before a set datas appeared on the once blank pages.

Five new victims.

A smile crept on her lips, she loved the idea of how her victims likes coming to her web unknowingly and making her job easier to collect their precious memoirs. Ever since she entered the business of being a fairyman or woman of death, she hadn't have the need to obviously chase the souls assigned to her. They would always be aroung her ten meter radius.

She closed the small diary and waited for the perfect time.

| • | • | • | • |

"My servants?" the young earl trailed as his butler bursted into a small fit of giggling after finding such an amusing intel. The poor man's turn to be morphe in disdain, he turned to the two gentlemen.

"what's so darn funny?"

Slamming the metal tip of his cane to the ground, the earl stood with a fierce complexion. His worry completely thrown out the window and his butler by his side smiling maniacly.

"Just who do you think your dealing with? They are Phantomhive servants."

A cheshire smile was etched on Osiria's face as she watched the gardener give the large bald man a harsh blow sending him flying to the walls of the stair case of the front porch.

She could feel her hands itched with the need to pull a heavy object but she mustn't intervene with the cause of a human's death.

"How unfortunate souls~" she breathed.

The brawl continued as the young gardener came face to face with two trapeze artists. He was a bit out numbered at the moment, Osiria took the liberty to make the numbers fair as she now stood by the roof with the once clumsy maid by her side. Surrounded by a number of riffles and loaded with ammo. The raven haired maid whisked to the sniper's back and her lips neared her left ear.

"What is a maid's duty Mey-rin?" her tone etched with somewhat playfulness as she eyed the sniper's targets as the bullet was released to the air aiming a perfect mark.

"Always follow the young masters instructions, welcome the master every day with a manor that is spotlessly clean." the sniper dressed in a maid's outfit voice transitioned from a muffled voice to a sly tone.

"Very good, now what do we do with filth?" Osiria inched away as she let the femme before her do her job.

Little Elizabeth sat up from the bed's comfort as she was woken by the sound of some glass shattering from outside her door.

"what was that sound?" the door of her quarters opened to the old butler with a candle lit. Asking what was the matter to the young girl.

"Wasn't their just a huge sound by now?" she asked with curiousity and confusion for she was sure there was a sound since it was very loud.

The butler spoke with an unmasked tone of calmness as he assured her that there was no such sound was heard. Finding assurance from the words of an old man young lady descended to the comfort of her bed unknown to her that behind the frame of the old man and her door laid the bloodied body of one of the manors threatening visitors.

"Yo! I was waiting for you. I gotta tell say that you're both lucky to come face to face with me because if you had to face Miss Rose. It would probably messy."

Bardroy rested himself by a frame of the staircase as he eyed the two circus perpetrators before him. He continued to blabber until one of the two threw a set of knives towards him.

"Hey! That was dangerous! I was in the middle of talking!" the chef was now being attacked by woman with a whip. He continued to dodge until he called the aid of a familiar blonde gardener. The said gardner replied by throwing countless statues towards the infiltrators.

The two unwelcomed guest dodged every rock. It was a bit tricky to create diversion for the two but once they did, they dashed out.

The sound of chaos got louder and louder as every second passes. A figure sat restlessly from one of the roofs of the manor. Along it was a figure of a long scythe the it owned. The shadow revealed a pair of bright green orbs staring down at the three servants that stared down a hole that they created with the unwelcome guests were. The climax has been reached as the shadow stood up and swung the huge modified garden tool to the air.

| • | • | • | • |

"My servants, those are actually private soldiers hand picked to guard my manor."

The look of terror shook Joker to his core. He had sent his family to their unknown doom. He sent them armee with baby knives in a war. He could only mutter one word as he stared at Ciel with disbelief.

"They'll protect Phantomhive secrets and Phantomhive pride from any thing."

The moon was the only witness to the horror. The amusement on head maid's face remained as she watched the chef throw a lit match to the whole, leaving no evidence of murder.

Osiria had finished cleaning up the other messes around a few parts, meaning disposing and leaving no traces as well.

"After all, thats what makes a Phantomhive servant."

| • | • | • | • |

"WAAAHHH!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH MISS ROSE!!!"

"WE COULDN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR THIS!!"

"MISTER SEBASTIAN WOULD HAVE KILLED US IF HE FOUND OUT!"

"HOHOHO!"

The mayhem of last nights events may have left a big mess on a portion of the mansion. The three servants would have to face the wrath of the head butler but then came Osiria to their aid.

"Don't worry, I just had a friend come by last night to fix the mess. We don't want miss Elizabeth worrying now won't we?" the maid quoted as the three servants fervently nodded to the sweet lady. It's been a long while since the woman came to the Phantomhives and they never felt so thankful in their life. They often compare her to Sebastian as they both carried perfect qualities of a servant but a plus side to her since she always helps and covers for them at all times. She was much kinder than Sebastian, much like the indian prince's servant but a female one.

She had become the big sister of the manor as despite of her height. She was a lot older than what her looks give out.

"Now I'm sure that you all are hungry from last night's events so I have prepared breakfast for all of you at the kitchen. Go get yourselves stuff then proceed to your jobs." as she said the words breakfast, the more their eyes sparkled in delight and they ran inside the unscratched manor to receive their prizes with a skip in every step.

"RIA!!" a high pitch lively voiced call from behind her. The maid spun to greet the young fiance of her master as she was glomped on the process. The lively blonde nuzzled into her embrace.

"WHEN IS CIEL COMING HOME!!?? TELL ME! DID HE TELL YOU?? WAAAHHH!!" the sweet child cried to her as she could only chuckle.

"Don't fret now my lady, he is already here." she cooed as the girl spun to see her beloved fiance stepping off of the carriage with his butler. Lizzie got off the maid's arms and ran to the small boy to glomp him. Smiling, she met the innocent eyes of the butler. She nodded to him as he did aswell. Sebastian had no doubts of leaving safety of the Lady Elizabeth's to her and the other servants for she was extremely different like him.

"Oh Ciel! I've missed you so much! Let's get inside! Ria made us teas and cakes!"

| • | • | • | • |

Mey-rin sweeped the remaining rubbles that was left on the floors as she hummed in delight after a wonderful meal. Then came a knock on the door, running to attend it the maid greeted the guest but only to be cut off to find out who it was.

"Ca'va!" the tall woman dressed with the most flamboyant clothings as it screamed different seasons to every eye.

"Miss Nina!" the said woman jumped on the poor maid kissing her cheeks in delight for seeing her again. She was the one who designed the maid outfit the Meyrin had found quite handy in times of need like last night. It allowed her unrestricted movements from any type of brawl. For it was only crucial for the home of the Queen's guard dog to have a well guarded household. If he can't protect his own household, it will quickly reflect to what might happened if he serves the queen. The tailor fumbled around the maid's frame as she was overcomed by delight from having the people she dresses find comfort and a sense of exploitable to any type of situation.

"Ms. Hopkins, what a delight to finally see you again." the tailor gasped and turned to the person who greeted her. She removed herself from the poor maid and launched herself the girl, purposely ignoring the other two male servants who have been calling for her attention for quite a while now.

"Oh how cute you look!! Why don't you lead me to where Ciel is while share to you my new ideas that are inspired by you!" the woman said in delight as the raven haired maid happily lead the woman to the stair case.

"Your clothes are in the horse carrige." she ushered to the two males as one of them seemed to have had enough of her rudeness.

"What with this different in treatment!!?" the chef claimed.

"Miss Hopkins." Sebastian's voice echoed around the hall as tailor and the head maid stared up to find the man by the upper wing of the stairway. The woman grumbled in disdain to find the familiar butler. "I believe I told you many times that merchants are to come in through the back door." he said coldly. "So you've come out huh.. Mr. Stiff." the woman muttered under her breath.

"Mr. Sebastian please do calm down. I'll escort Ms. Hopkins to drawing room while I speak to her about going to the back door. Would that be alright?" Osiria politely intruded as she placed a hand behind the Nina's back. The tailor completely sweeped off her feet with the maid's sweet voice, "what an angel you are Osiria!"

With that, they head off their way to the said room with the maid letting the tailor babble.

"Young Master and My lady, Miss Nina Hopkins is here." the maid slide the door to the side to reveal the said woman to the couple.

They went along with their greetings and discussion about the what the young lord would like to add in his line of outfit at the moment. Sebastian who came in a five minutes after they entered started to state the demands of what the Ciel would like to have.

| • | • | • | • |

[imagining-sio]

Escapism IV

Escapism IV 

Rising Tides

 “You’re a vet?” I asked as I took off my helmet. We had just arrived in his driveway from the trip back to the auto-shop, which I was beginning to suspect was merely a ploy to get me to interact with him more. 

“Yeah, 107th, where I met Wilson.” He hooked the bottom of his helmet on the handlebar of the Matt black cafe racer. 

“And Steve?” I asked again. 

“Nah, that pain in ass has stuck with me since we were kids,” he chuckled run his hand through his hair. 

“What position were you?” I inquired whilst we strolled down to my inhabitance. His grip tighten on the small box, and he moved his other hand into his pocket. 

“I was a scout sniper,” I watched as his chiseled jaw clenched tightly. 

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, you know?” I told him, setting my hand upon his arm. He stopped as I walked up to the bronco, propping up the hood again. I looked back at him, and he had an odd expression on his face. He looked as if he was contemplating on actually telling me. He stood unmoving, unflinching, yet his expression travel as if it were a million miles a minute. And just like that, the walls went up; and the charming smile came back. 

“Yeah, but I don’t wanna dampen your sunny mood.” He nudged me. 

“Yes, because I have such a bright disposition around you.” I deadpanned, eyebrows raised. I crossed my arms over my chest, rubbing my arms.

As I did, a weight fell upon my shoulders. I peered over to find Barnes had placed his jacket on me. It would seem it wasn’t up for a debate let alone a conversation as he went right to work, as if it was completely normal.

“Uh, Bucky?” I asked. 

“You looked cold, so hang on to it while I get this in.” He took on a serious more mature tone. He was headfirst into the engine, his tattooed limb about halfway down in the machine. He was in his work mode, and I knew that he wasn’t coming out of it until he was done. 

Doesn’t mean I couldn’t have fun with it. 

“So Barnes? Who was she?” 

“Rumlow’s ex-girlfriend.” He answered, pulling the malfunctioning device out. 

“Are you telling me all this fighting between you two has been over a girl?” I scoffed, pulling the jacket on through the sleeves. 

“Ha! He wished, then it would make me look like the asshole of the community,” he laughed, unscrewing the wires where it was connected; “They broke up six months ago and she’s been trying to get back at him by flirting with me. Though she keeps saying that he’s had some new interest in someone new in town. Care to guess who that is?” He looked straight me, clearly aware of the game I was playing. I paled, making a disgusted face. 

“If he has interest in me, I’m afraid it’s not your concern,” I gave him an expectant expression. I watched with satisfaction as he clenched his jaw and continued working. 

“Well, if he tries anything; lemme know.” 

“And what qualifies and ‘trying’.” 

“You know, anything that makes you uncomfortable.” 

“What if you make me uncomfortable.” I smiled as I asked. To which my neighbor promptly shot up, banging his head upon the underside of the hood. I started cackling so hard I doubled over. 

“That’s not funny.” He rubbed the top of his head. 

“You’re right; it hilarious!” I held my stomach with one arm, pointing at him and laughing even more. 

“You’ve been spending too much time with Wilson,” he grumbled, turning back to the project at hand. i had to force myself to stifle the copius amount of giggling from my lips, opting to merely hold my hand in front of my mouth. 

“You haven’t been spending enough time with Wilson,” I raised a brow. he glared at me, before his expression changed again. It softened as he held my gaze. 

“You’re smiling.” he stated blankly. 

“Yeah, I can do that Barnes,” I chuckled, a slight tin of pink oainting my cheeks. 

“It nice.” he responded; “I haven’t really been able to see it until now.”

“T-thank you.” 

“The jacket makes you look lke a scrawny kid,” he gestured to all of me. Finally completing the operation, he slammed the hood shut. 

“Gee thanks,” I deadpanned, though the smile upon my face had a different view. 

“No really its cute,” he chuckled, ducking nhis head down and shaking his head. We both started laughing together, trying to get each other to stop before bursting into giggles as soon as we looked at each other. 

My phone going off broke us out of the endless cycle. I dug the rectangle out of my pocket, seeing the contact on my screen, paling at the name. 

“One second, I gotta take this.” I said solemly, clearing my throat as I walked to the end of my own driveway. I took a deep breath before my thumb hit the green button on the right side. 

“Hello,” I said into the device. 

“Hey, this is Detective Danvers, not sure if you remember me but I gave you my number before you left town.” The voice explained. 

“No I do, I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.”

“It’s been almost a whole year,” she stated; “We’ve made progress. We have enough to indite him on charges.”

“Why do I hear a ‘but’ at the end of that sentence,” I sighed, looking down at my feet. 

“You will have to testify for us if we want to go ahead on the charges.” she sighed as well, I could hear the faint sound of bustling noise in the background of the audio. 

“Look I’m not here for a direct answer right now, we havent brought the case to the DA yet. but I just wanted to let you know before we offically come across the country to ask you. I want to give you time to think about it, you can call me when you made your decision anytime, I know how hard it is for you.” 

“Thank you detective.” I said; “I appreciate it.” 

“So hows life in the middle of nowhere.” she asked. I snorted through my nose, a fond smile appearing on my lips. 

“Not terrible.” 

“That’s great! OH- I gotta jet kid, take care,” she ended the call before I could say a word. I placed the phone back in my pocket. I inhaled a deep breath, the weight I commonly felt somehow appeared back upon my shoulders. I could never escape it, I honestly don’t know why I would bother to try sometimes. 

“Who was it?” my neighbor strode into my peripheral vision. 

“No one important,” I started shrugging the jacket off, folding it over my arm. 

“Lemme buy you lunch,” he stated, declining my extended offering of his jacket. 

“Wait, I should be paying you for what you just did,” I protested. 

“How many times do we have to go over this, it’s on the house,” He laughed, returning to his driveway. 

“I’m buying then!” I yelled across the street. 

“Like hell you are!” he shouted from his garage, although I could not see him. 

“Really? Got a problem with a woman paying for you?” I tried inciting him, only to have the hum of the motorcycle echoing through the street. I watched as Steve, Thor, and Clint pulled up on their respective motorcycles. Steve barely kicked the stand out before he hopped off and ran toward the garage where Bucky was pullign out the bike. 

I trotted across the street, my cocern amplifying with each step. 

“What’s wrong?” I asked the large bearded man. 

“WHAT!” Bucky shouted from the garage. 

“There’s a problem at the Witch’s Covent,” Clint said simply, a tight expression on his face. 

“What happened?” I pressed them, but they didn’t have time to answer as my neighbor was storming out of the garage with his motorcycle in tow. 

“What’s going on!” I asked, my tone sounde slightly frantic. Steve approached his bike, starpping his helmet on. 

“No time to explain,” was all the blonde said as he sat on his bike, making me back away a few steps. I locked eyes with my neighbor as he revved the engine of his vehicle. I could only back into his driveway as they all drove out of sight in mere seconds. The cold breeze a stark reminder of the loneliness that becme oh so present. The only thing I had to cling to was his leather jacket.

In the coming days, they became more and more solemn in nature. No one came into work to order coffee. I was too busy to try and see what was going on at the shop. Enda and Thomas only said that something had happened at the Witch’s Covent. No one was saying anything, it was getting aggravating at this point. 

It was either I had to accept I would’nt find out or I had to start finding out for myself. 

I stared out the window, gazing at the sunset of my backyard, the lake was still as the sun glistened over its surface. Everything was still, secure, stable. I couldn’t take it anymore. 

I missed my neighbor. I missed him greatly. 

I chuckled at the thought of how he would respond to me admitting it. He’d probably make it his ringtone, constantly replaying it over and over at my expence. To my own dismay, I wouldn;t be objected if he did. Annoyed maybe, but in a sentimental way. 

I couldnt take it anymore, I had to find out if he was ok. I grabbed his jacket, to which I had been wearing a lot more often than one should; especially when they accidentally stole the item that doesn’t belong to them. I snatched my keys off of the counter, making sure I had a few twenties in cash before I hopped into the newly revived Oliver. 

The turning of his engine had never sounded better. It was refreshing to not have to worry about his health since Bucky had fixed his temporary illness. I backed out of the driveway, shifting the gear to drive down the road. 

It wasn’t hard to find the place, Edna was right in that I drove by it coming home from work. The place looked like every biker bar would, given the fact that a line of motorcycles were placed out in the parking lot alongside the byway. I pulled into the dirt lot, careful to give enough room from the line of motorcycles. The last thing I wanted to do as anger anyone of the owners, even if I knew them or not. There were some cars strewn in the lot, but not many. 

I took the jacket off, setting it in the passenger seat before I hopped out of the driver’s side. I adjusted the grey sweatshirt over my ripped black pants. I strode toward the entrave with a purpose, the dirt chrunching beneath my bright red sneakers. the wooden board creaked as I ascended the steps, the distorted music growing louder. I could easily recognise the sound of glasses slamming to a wooden surface. The rattle of balls breaking over a felt surface. The melodic sounds of laughter and light. A classic dive bar full of locals who had gone there for years. 

Upon entering, it only confirmed my suspicions. They were all there, everyone from the auto-shop, wether they were seated at the one large booth in the corner, or playing pool, even throwing darts. They hadn’t noticed me by the looks of it, though the woman behind the bar had looked up from the mug she was cleaning. 

“Welcome to the Witch’s Covent, I don’t think I’ve seen you before,” her accent was eastern European from the soudns of it; although not as thick as most. I’ve heard Natasha talking to her mother over the phone and that woman’s words are indecipherable even when she is speaking english. 

“I new around here; even though its been quite a while since I’ve been here.” I shrugged. 

“So you’re the one I’ve been hearing so much about.” she lit up like a light bulb. Her long brown hair bouncing slightly at the movement. 

“Whose been talking about me?” I could chuckle awkwardly in response. 

“Oh please, the whole town has been a buzz. Ever since you stood up to Rumlow, no one has been able to get enough.”

“Are you sure it’s not from those idiots,” I gestured to Sam and Scott trying to play pool while giggling like drunken school kids. 

“Actually it’s you neighbor who won’t shut up about you.” She slid out glass, preparing to pour a dark liquid in its contents. 

“I’ll have whiskey if you don’t mind,” I said before a drop cold pour out. She tilted her head back, eyeing me with a smile. 

“I see why he likes you,” she said with a sly smile as she went to grab a bottle of whiskey. 

“Wait, he likes me?” I snorted. 

“Given from what his friends tell me; yes he does. I heard he let you ride with him last week.” she poured the desired drink. I gratefully took in in my hands, tracing my thumb over the rim. 

“I did, though he didn’t really give me much choice.” I nodded my head to the side; “When we got there Steve looked paler than a ghost.”

“That’s because Bucky never lets anyone on his bike.” she said, returning to her taks of cleaning the glasses. My head shot up, eyes wide. 

“Really, cause he doesn’t have a car.”

“No he does. He never uses it though.” she chided. 

“It’s not in his garage.”

“No, he keeps it in his backyard. One of his continous projects.”

“You know him?”

“Everyone here pretty much grew up together. We’ve all known each ohter since we were kids. The only acceptions are Sam, Scott, and Thor. Sam was in Bucky’s squad. Scott moved here to be closer to his daughter, and Thor? Well, no one really knows with him.” She shrugged. 

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but did anything happen last week?” 

“Its a roadside bar, you will have to be more specific,” Wanda gave me a mischevious look. 

“Look, after Bucky fixed my truck; Steve and the others pulled up. All I got out of them was that there was a problem over here.” I gaged her reaction, watching as she stopped cleaning the glass in her hand. 

“There was a fight,” she shrugged, “One of Brock’s buddies sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.” she set the glass back with its companions. 

“Is that all you’re going to tell me,” I sighed, knowing she was still hiding quite a bit. 

“It’s best if they tell you yourself,” she smiled, going back to some other customers who sat at the bar. I recognized one of them from when Brock tried to intimidate me back at the coffee shop. I gave him a hard glare before sipping on my whiskey. 

“Well, well, if it isn’t the mysterious new girl,” Speak of the devil. Mr. Local pulled up a stool on the other side of me, effectively blocking me from moving away from his croney. 

“Rumlow,” I heard Wanda ground her teeth, “You know the rules. This is neutral territory.” she said sternly. 

“I know, Salem, calm down. I’m here to have some fun.” he slung his arm over the back of my stool, causing to move awkwardly in order to avoid it. 

“That remains to be seen,” she poured a low grade beer for the man and slammed it down on the counter infront of him. 

“How’s your brother? Do you still use a oiuja board to talk to him?” He arched a brow as he brought the mug up to his lips. I exchanging glances between the two, watching as Wanda’s nostrils flared up before she walked away, muttering something in her native tongue under her breathe.

I could only hunch my shoulders, keeping a firm grip on my glass of whiskey, carefully eying either man beside me. 

“So, not so defiant out in public are you. What’s on your mind sweetheart,” Rumlow asked, his voicemaking my skin crawl. 

“Wether or not I should punch you into next week.” I sipped my whiskey, my gaze burning into the shelves of alcohol before me. 

I heard the door open, well, slam was more like it. The light casting my shadow over the numerous bottles. I looked over my shoulder, finding my neighbor heaving for air as his hand was upon the door. 

“So, you got the message I take it,” Rumlow swivled around in his chair, a smug expression on his features. I looked over my shoulder again, utterly terrified at the murderous glare my neighbor sent him. 

“You got some fucking nerve Brock. If you wanted your ass kicked you sure got one,” Barnes began marching toward him. The burly man on my left, the croney, stood up ubruptly, his chair falling to the floor with a loud thud. As a couter, everyone from the shop stood up, their chairs schreeching loudly. 

“Ah, ah- this is neutral territory, Barnes.” Rumlow scolded the man mockingly. The arm across the back of my stool suddenly pulled hard. Yanking me around to face my neighbor. 

“Wouldn’t wanna ruin the neighborhood now would we?” Rumlow asked. I could only stare wide eyed at my neighbor as his nostrils flared. 

“She has no part in this Rumlow, leave her alone.” Steve said from behind his friend. 

“Oh, really? Last I checked Rogers, your hand ain’t up his ass so stop speaking for him.”

I watched as the two men glared at each other. The tension was like gasoline, itching for a match. Any reason to fight was a good reason, no matter how stupid it was in concept. I was not about to be that cause. 

I smacked Rumlow’s hand off my shoulder, standing up from my chair. I paid Wanda for the drink, even though she said it was on the house. 

“You won’t mind if I do something stupid would you?” I whispered to her.

“Please do,” She smiled, as if she already knew what I was about to do. I smiled, with my hand still on the glass. I looked to the side, seeing that Rumlow was still glaring at Barnes. 

“Hey Rumlow,” I called him, making the man turn around. I threw the whiskey directly at his face, watching in satisfaction as fell out of his chair in pain. 

“You fucking bitch!” He writhed on the floor, flailing as he tried to get the alcohol out of his eyes. 

“I’ve had enough of this,” I muttered, brushing past my neighbor, delibrately ignoring the look he was giving me. I walked out the door, grumbling as I went toward my vehicle. 

“Hey, Y/N! Wait up!” I heard my neighbor call after me. 

“Oh, so now you wanna talk to me!” I said, not bothering to turn around as I continued toward Oliver. 

“Hey, hey, hey,” His footsteps grew louder and I felt his hand grasp my arm. I yanked myself out of my grip, finally turning to face him. 

Why the hell did this man have to be so good looking. 

“What!” I said, the anger boiling throuhgh my veins. 

“What do you want, Bucky! One minute you are being all nice and neighborly, and the next you don’t even give me the time of day. I don’t care how you and Rumlow started fighting, I really don’t. But don’t drag me into your bullshit!” I ferociously poked my finger into his chest to annunciate my point. 

I was snapped out of my reverie when his iron clad grip encomassed my wrist. The dull pain from loss of circulation was growing, sure to leave a bruise tomorrow morning. His expression was turning dark, and he had yet to say a word. 

“Barnes, let me go.” I said, desperately trying to keep all of the memories from flooding through my head. 

“No,” he said; “You need to listen to me.” 

“Let. Me. Go.” I tried to pry out of his grip, but to no avail. He trudged through the heavy wind back toward the bar. I dug my heels into the earth, creating evident drag marks in the gravel lot. 

“Bucky,” my tone turned desperate as he slung me around him. My back hitting the wall of the building that was cast in shadow. 

“No! You listen to me.” His palms slammed on either side of my head; “Brock is dangerous, I don’t like his interest in you, and you need to stay away from him. I know you don’t like being told what to do, but for once in your stubborn life; just do this one thing.”

“What happened last week.” It was more of a statement than a question. 

“He was here when I got there; bragging about how he had you wrapped around his finger. He was very explicit on what he wanted to do to you.” he ducked his head down, the light showcasing the faint yellow and greens of his bruised chin. 

“I don’t care, you were with me the whole day practically. Why the hell were you marching off to war with him that day.”

“He was rubbing salt on an open wound.” 

“Bucky,” my hands cupped his chin, guiding his line of sight back to me; “You don’t have to talk about it.”

His bright blue eyes locked with my own. They glistening in the fading sunlight. He released a sigh through his nostrils, his gaze still turned downwards to his feet. 

“Well aren’t you two sweet.” Sam’s voice made both of us jolt. Bucky clamored away from me, his chest heaving. 

“We tossed Rumlow out, by the way. Not sure if you saw it while you were lost in each other.” He crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Any reason why you wanted to tell us?” Bucky grumbled, hands upon his hips. Sam shrugged in response. 

“Not at all, just nice to get the jump on you for a change.” 

“You’re a dick.” 

“So are you.” 

“I’m gonna head home,” I decided to make my exit. I walked toward Oliver, pulling out Bucky’s jacket. Even a few feet away I could still here the two bickering.

“Shut up Samuel!” 

“You first James!” 

Thankfully, my footsteps caused the two to cease as I walked toward them. As soon as Wilson saw what I had in my hand, he smirked at Bucky. 

“I hadn’t had the chance to give this back to you.” I handed the leather item to Barnes, who only gazed at me earnestly. 

“T-thanks,” was all he could muster. 

“I’ll see you round,” I hugged Sam goodbye. I turned back to my neighbor, giving him a small peck on his bruise. I pulled back to find him wide eyed and turning red as a tomato. 

I smiled as I walked backwards, “See you around, neighbor.” I waved, getting into my vehicle.       

[artist-of-indecision]

Shadow Tracker

This post is inspired by numerous writing prompts and the game “Love Nikki Dress Up Queen”. The story is told me an enhanced human and soldier named Rica and it takes place in the futuristic sci-fi world. 

https://youtu.be/WyjeWEYYp8k (listen to this for the first half of the story, I wanted to reflect on her experiences and background)

https://youtu.be/W2TE0DjdNqI (listen to this for the second half of the story, I wanted to give a sci-fi feel and to show her heartbreak)

https://youtu.be/5mGmbSRayEU?t=30 (example of robot dog functions 0:30-0:45)

Dog-napped

I limped, staggered, heavily breathing, panting unevenly. I held on to Hemis for support while Kaiser walked on ahead. Crimson droplets dribbled from my wound and formed a path, tracing my steps. The mission was completed successfully, however, an enemy scouting group returned sooner than we had expected so my term suffered injuries. 

Hemis was the one mostly intact, just missing a part of his left ear. Kaiser was missing a leg and I got stabbed in my abdomen. I made sure to either retrieve or destroy their lost limbs so the enemy does not get their hands on any information. 

No one glitched or lagged. 

Right now, our priority is to find a safe spot to do first aid and report back as soon as possible. My visor got cracked but it should still work. Staying in enemy territory is not an option, more forces could be coming and I have not yet called for backup. I probably cannot take on a skirmish against another group, but I could perhaps handle one or two people. Kaiser and Hemis can still function, no problem. 

We found a seemingly abandoned and damaged space pod, after scouting for signs of life, I went in and sent Hemis to keep watch. I reached behind me to grab my right cable and Kaiser automatically sat upright. I placed down my gun. I attached the cable to his back so he could scan my vitals while I improvised first aid. I did not bring a kit with me because I thought it was obstructive. 

I tore off strips from the sleeves of my top and tied it tightly around the gash. I would check if there was anything stuck in the wound but attempting to remove anything could result in more blood loss, not to mention that getting blood on my hands would hinder my grip on my gun. A notification from Kaiser blinked across my goggle screen; his scan revealed that my life might be in danger if I continued losing blood. I removed the cable.

I sent a coded message to Lieutenant Lucia, my superior.

<MISSION COMPLETE, REQUESTING MEDICAL BACKUP> 

Almost immediately, I got a reply.

<REQUEST ACCEPTED, GOOD WORK RICA> 

That’s odd, the lieutenant is not the type to compliment people randomly. 

A few minutes later, Hemis detected a presence approaching. It could be an enemy so we quickly exited the space pod and found different hiding spots.. Even though the pod provided cover, any vehicle could explode if shot in the right places. I quickly assumed my sniper’s position - this strained my wound - aimed at the direction Hemis detected movement. A standard spacecraft grew larger in the distance. 

I sent Hemis ahead to test if it was friend or foe, and kept Kaiser on standby. When they were about 100 meters away, Kaiser and Hemis suddenly turned off and collapsed. On high alert, I aimed at the vehicle. Suddenly, it felt as if my nerves were electrocuted and I blacked out.

Mad Dog

There are two cables attached to my back. They keep me sedated, calm, under control. The drug is probably why I am expressionless most of the time. They are my sustenance, they keep me alive. Both cables are frayed, due to wear and tear and the conditions of my missions - the harsh environment, the constant battles - yet they are still somehow secured together. I have not yet had a chance to see Doctor Sophia to get them fixed. Either I was busy with duties and missions or she was busy with her latest experiments. There should be no harm in delaying it more. You can see the black external layer and the glowing, fluorescent, neon green and yellow electricity flowing through the exposed fine lines of wiring. They match my dogs, Kaiser and Hemis. I should give them a scan too when I finally see Doctor Sophia. I always get a two weeks’ notice before my next mission, so I can prepare, train, rest. The higher ups value skilled personnel, after all. 

I take on solo missions often. “You’re like a lone wolf, Rica” my comrade and roommate Angelika once said.

Apparently I bit someone when I was a kid. I went crazy for some reason and started attacking people. Like a mad dog, they say. That is one of the reasons why I wear a mask, Angelika said it looks like a muzzle that aggressive dogs wear. I like dogs. Another reason is because it hides my face when I have orders to kill people. They do not need to know my identity, I am just a [Shadow]. 

I never found out if they held a grudge because they did not survive one of their missions. It is not like I do not get dangerous missions, I think. There are only standard things like infiltrating enemy bases, finding and defusing hidden bombs, run-ins and battles with foes. Losing a limb or two is not a big deal, either. Some are even proud or excited because it means they get an enhanced artificial parts. That opinion is not very popular but also is not uncommon. Doctor Sophia gets excited because it means she has more materials to test on. 

Doctor Sophia basically raised me when the organization took me in. She gave me an education and performed the risky numerous surgeries when I was heavily injured from perilous missions. That is why I have stitches all over my body. I was a guinea pig for her experiments but I did not care because it made her happy. Now I am stronger than normal humans; my bones are enforced with metal, my senses are heightened, there are ports in my back to attach cables to my spinal cord. The doctor created Kaiser and Hemis, specially made and customized for me and my missions. I cannot always have them around with me in my dorms unfortunately, because it is like always carrying a gun around, Hemis and Kaiser are weapons after all.

Involuntarily Tamed and Adopted

I was pretty good at finding lost things. I was a quiet kid who did not like talking to anyone but I enjoyed exploring whenever I could. I found objects such as key-chains and their owners praised me for it. 

I once found a collar, which Doctor Sophia explained belonged to the organisations tracking dogs. There are no more dogs because it took too much time and resources to train them. She showed me the newly developed mechanic canines the organisation was going to use.

That was when I started liking dogs. 

This event led me to train in scouting with Hemis and Kaiser and I eventually became the Vice-Captain of the [Shadow Trackers], our organisation's specialised tracking team. My dogs were less advanced back then. They are metaphorically and literally part of me. I can connect to their systems with my cables. I trust them more than I trust my superior-do not tell the lieutenant that.

But I have never been back-stabbed by the organisation. Doctor Sophia was like a mother, Angelika was like a sister or a best friend. Lieutenant Lucia was a tyrant-again, do not tell her that.

So what was this feeling of betrayal? 

I woke up in the house of a girl and her brother, the artificial intelligence student prodigy, who I was supposed to assassinate. So why were they nursing me back to health? Did they not recognise me as their enemy? The brother could have hacked my equipment. That means I cannot contact anyone.

If the organisation did not kill me, that means I am still useful to them. Therefore, I decided to wait, secretly collect information from them while my injuries heal, and keep an eye out for orders to return. Weeks after I recovered, the siblings foolishly gave me freedom to do as I wished, without asking for compensation, allowing me to live with them.

I cannot let myself adapt to this mundane lifestyle. How can ordinary people be so naive and vulnerable? I needed to report back, it has been too long.

On my way back from ‘taking a walk’, I noticed a secret message in today’s newspaper. I grabbed one and rushed back to the house. Impatiently waiting for the doors to open after punching in the entry password, I looked at the paper. The last time I saw this type of code, it was for an important mission. I ran to my room-which I had already checked for cameras-and deciphered the message.

<RICA: YOUR FINAL MISSION IS TO LIVE A NORMAL LIFE-S, L, A>

Surprisingly, tears streamed down my face; even if I was in pain, I would not cry. I would never again see Doctor Sophia’s familiar lab ceiling, Angelika’s bouncing pink curls, or Lieutenant Lucia’s death glare, calling me weak. 

I had never asked for this, yet those three risked their positions and lives in order to give me something they will never have themselves.

Crushing the newspaper in my shaking fists, I whispered “Mission accepted”. 

[ask-chaos-kin]

Chaotic Adventures in Babysitting Chapter 3

This is one of the longer chapters being over 5000 words. Co-written with @royalbabble (I only own Wolves Bane, Chaos Kin, and Roseflame)

Everyone was slowly waking up from yesterday, Intelligent Heavy having been woken up by Rose hoping they would be able to make breakfast. Ass Pancakes was jostled awake not long after by both Intelligent Heavy and Rose.

“Huh? What?” He woke up in a slight daze.

“Can you make breakfast?” Rose asked. He nodded and got up with a groan, he had been taught how to cook by Chaos before. The easiest thing he could make was given in his name, though eggs and sausage where also an easy breakfast meal. While he started to cook he heard the front door open. He looked back to see Roseflame enter the house with Brutal, he wasn’t surprised to see Brutal covered in blood again.

“Yo if you’re joining us for breakfast, take a shower first and wash your clothes,” Ass Pancakes stated simply, Intelligent Heavy kept Rose from seeing Brutal by using his larger frame as a barricade. 

“There was some spindly little piker lurking around out near Spypers van,” Brutal said, hooking his thumb back outside, “Thought I’d take care of ‘em for ya,” He remarked. 

“Yeah, thanks for dealin’ with him,” Pancakes said, flipping a pancake to impress and distract Rose. Brutal took off his hat to observe the mess he’d made on himself.

“Where’s the showers?”

“Down the hall, third room to the left. I’ll bring you a spare T-shirt and jeans,” Pancakes started on making a special shape pancake for Rose. Rose caught a quick glance of the bird shape and began climbing the oven to get a better look. 

“Nope, don’t need you burning your hands kid,” Pancakes scolded, setting down the spatula and scooping her and handing her over to Intelligent Heavy. 

“I wanted to see the birdy,” She protested.

“You’ll see them soon. In the meantime. Why don’t you go wake up the others?” He asked her.

“Okay!” She giggled. Intelligent Heavy set her down, letting her wander away to wake up the others.

“Watch her. Please,” Pancakes gave a worried look to Intelligent Heavy. Intelligent Heavy glanced back and gave a reassuring smile as he followed after the child. Brutal sauntered off to the showers, slapping his bloodsoaked hat back over his head. Ass Pancakes prodded the food in the pan, scooping it up to flip it onto a nearby platter. He looked back and saw Roseflame still standing in the doorway. 

“What up?” He asked going back to the food.

“Nothing, just. You know, social interaction isn’t my-”

“You’re going back to your home aren’t you?” Ass asked looking back at her after moving more pancakes to the other platter.

“Yeah… yeah I’m heading back,” She rubbed the back of her neck.

“You stayed yesterday, you’re good,” He turned the heat down to low and walked back to her, “Just keep in touch, you and me know Chaos well. She has anxiety about being a freak even nearly 2 years after being one,” She nodded.

“I’ll visit daily,” He nodded and returned to food as she left to return back to her home, as secluded as it was.

***

Deep in the woods a shadow was slithering to a corpse, engulfing it in it’s shade and shimmering, amorphous form, slowly piecing it back together. All the meanwhile it was taking a form on the nearby tree stump, shaking its head in disappointment.

“Well, That plan went horribly,” Knenus remarked as Wolves Bane gasped for air.

“You couldn’t have intervened! You’re a demon!” He kept coughing up blood.

“Yes, but he’s a demon hunter. So no, I couldn’t intervene until later. Anyways nothing should be broken anymore. My guess is to head back and plan another attack. We’re some of the only demons around here for now,” Wolves Bane gave them a questioning look before returning to coughing up blood.

“Who’s the others?” He asked once he was finally done.

“Writhe and his host, Dr. Grave. But right now they’re out of commission, Nightmare Medic, and a few others,” Knenus started to list. Wolves Bane stumbled up, only to topple back to the ground with a whump. He spit out some dirt and rolled over on his back, thinking about the first Freak Knenus had listed off. He’d never heard of a “Dr. Grave” before now.

“How Strong was that ‘Dr. Grave’ guy?” He asked after getting more dirt out of his mouth.

“Extremely. It took a whole gaggle of Freaks to take him out,” Knenus looked to him knowing where his mind was going. She helped him up and took the two back to their base using a portal. He could rest up, no use in him wandering around in his dazed condition.

***

Brutal finished his shower just as the others were getting ready to eat breakfast. Just as Pancakes had promised. There was an extra large T-shirt and a pair of jeans waiting for him. His actual clothes must had been thrown in the wash. He rolled out the clothes and slipped into them, each article just a bit too big for his body. As he got dressed, he could hear jingling coming from the other room.

“Oh boy,” Brutal sighed, “Jester’s awake,” He could also hear a young girl giggling, must have been why they were so pressed on having him take a shower and wash his clothes; Don’t scare the little kid. Though he admitted that sometimes it was fun to do exactly that. 

He came into the kitchen and was none too surprised to find Count Jester up to their usual antics, flying around the room while bringing to life inanimate objects and making them move about. And sure enough, in the midst of the chaos was the little ankle biter herself. He just wasn’t sure who she belonged to. The moment Brutal stepped into the kitchen, Jester grinded to a halt in midair and zipped over to Brutal, faster than the homicidal Freak could react. Jester threw their arms around Brutal and pulled him into a bone breaking hug, lifting him clear off the ground with an uncharacteristic strength. Jester quickly set him back down, making Brutal stumble for a moment. For whatever inexplicable reason, Jester had taken to viewing Brutal as a sort of father figure, along with Pure, Gentle, and RED. Pure waved it away as Jester imprinting on them somehow, despite Jester being an adult, so no one really thought about it further than that. 

“Hey Brutal,” Chaos gave a small hello as she gave the child the drink she choose. There was no way the kid was hers, despite clear similarities in their faces.

“Who’s Brutal?” The child asked, by the sound of the voice, had to be in the middle of single digits. Around five, if Brutal had to hazard a guess.

“That’d be me,” Brutal said, stepping around into the child's view. 

“You have a weird name,” Rose squeaked. Pancakes laughed, who didn’t here?

“Rose that was rude. We talked about this,” Chaos sounded slightly disappointed in the child.

“Ah she hasn’t even heard my full name. Christian Brutal Sniper,” Brutal said, pulling up a chair, grinning at the child's confusion. She wondered why someone would be named Brutal Sniper. Chaos shook her head, she gave him the look to say don’t tell Rose her freak name. Before Brutal could say anything else, Jester scooped her up and flew around the room with her. Chaos just smiled warmly at the scene then turned her attention to Brutal.

“So, what brings you to this neck of the woods?” She asked, sipping her morning cup of Dr. Pepper.

“I’ve been lookin’ for more people to kill. I was humiliated back in Grave Manor and Im not going to let that pompous asshole make a fool out of me. So I was walking by to see what blokes were nearby that I could get my hands on when I found this Scout Freak lurking around outside the base,” Brutal explained. 

“Wolves Bane? The guy who sent us to the Slender dimension?”

“Yeah that’s the bloke,” Brutal said.

“Guessing you chopped him into little bits?” She said, was keeping an eye on Rose as Jester flew her around the room.

“Yep,” Brutal snickered, “I’ve been itchin’ to get back my killin’ spree ever since Jester broke me out of that weird trance. Thanks for that by the way,” Jester gave Brutal a thumbs up as they flew by.

“Have you seen Roseflame by any chance? The girl we dragged here from that Slender Dimension? She was around here yesterday but I have yet to see her this morning,” Chaos asked him. She appeared to be worried for Roseflame, even though the newcomer has proven she can handle herself.

“She was here this morning. Don’t know where she headed to after that,” said Brutal, rubbing a crick out of his neck. 

“She headed back to her own base. Social overload,” Pancakes set down a bowl containing scrambled eggs.

“She has her own base?” Asked Brutal, leaning over to peer into the bowl. 

“She found an abandoned place and set up a home there. She says it has something to do with her not used to being out in the open with so many people,” Chaos explained. Everyone at the table promptly ducked as Jester flew by again, shaking the table and everything on it. Pancakes grabbed the bowls and platters to keep them from falling off the tabletop and huffed after the jovial Freak before they darted back into another room, Rose hanging onto their back. 

“I don’t blame her,” Brutal observed, getting back up and fixing his hat, “Especially with them around,”

“I’m half tempted to bring them down a notch-” Pancakes began, opening his hand to summon his warhammer.

“Hit Rose. Those eggs will be your grave,” Chaos snapped, her voice a harsh growl. Pancakes slowly backed off, mindful of the threat. 

After the brief exchange, Pancakes set up everything at the table, with Jester finally setting Rose down in a chair before hovering down to sit beside her. While everyone ate, Rose was curiously hanging around Brutal, trying to find out more about him. She reached up and tugged on his shirt to get his attention. Brutal glanced down to the small girl in the middle of eating a large portion of pancakes and eggs. 

“What?” Brutal asked, taking a napkin from the center of the table. 

“Where are you from?” Rose asked, Chaos knew that now that he’s responded he will never get away from the questions about him.

“Australia,” Brutal said bluntly, taking another bite of his food.

“Do you kill people?” Everyone went silent for a moment, worried she already knew about Brutal. Then again his name didn’t help in this current situation.

“Yep,” Brutal said so nonchalantly that one could be forgiven for thinking he was guilty of only some trivial wrongdoing. 

“Why?” Chaos was about ready to either leave the room or smash her head into the table. Pancakes was preventing either of them from happening however. Rose seemed genuinely curious of Brutal still instead of fearful of him.

“I just do,” Brutal said with a shrug, wiping his hands with a napkin. 

“He’s tried to kill me!” Jester piped up, grinning, “The only reason he can’t is because my body isn’t actually made of flesh like everyone else. The only way to really hurt me is to break my artifact,”

“Can we not give my niece nightmares!?” Chaos barked slightly angry at the two for being so nonchalant about it, “She’s not like us, she’s full human,” That’s when Rose looked to Chaos.

“What do you mean Aunt Lily?” She sighed, she didn’t know how to explain it to her. Spyper raised a hand, gesturing to Chaos to let him explain.

“We’re what are known as Freaks. We have powers and abilities that make us not entirely human. A lot of us have superhuman strength,” Spyper started, looking to Brutal, “Some of us have a heightened knack for inventing,” Spyper looked to Intelligent Heavy, “Some of us can alter the very fabric of reality,” Spyper looked to Count Jester, “Some of us have extremely powerful magic,” Spyper looked to Chaos, “And some of us can teleport,” Spyper pointed to himself.

“That’s my gimmick to Spyper,” Chaos intervened.

“What about him?” Rose looked to Pancakes.

“I’m unique, got quite a few powers. Including summoning weapons out of thin air-”

“Most of us can do that,” Chaos elbowed him in his side.

“He can go inside a can and jump around with it!” Jester added, “I can do something similar, but I can’t move my artifact around when I’m in it,” Rose seemed interested to see what all the others could do.

That’s when the phone started to ring. Chaos answered it and moved into another room.

“Can you guys show me some of your abilities?” She looked to everyone else around. Pancakes shrugged, he didn’t see any harm in it. Pancakes started by going into his can and hopping onto the table.

“See? I can move around in this thing,” He said as he bounced around the table. Intelligent Heavy was stacking forks, spoons, and knives to make a small tower.

“If I had actual mechanical parts, I could make something much more impressive,” He said, pulling his hands away from the utensil tower. Spyper pushed his chair out and got up.

“Watch this,” He grinned. His body began to shimmer, and Rose went wide eyed when his form became so translucent that she could see straight through him. Then with a loud hiss, Spyper disappeared. Rose gasped and looked around, standing up in her chair. Another hiss came from behind her, and Spyper tapped her arm, having teleported right behind her. She started to giggle as she came to realize exactly what was going on.

“Show off,” Ass Pancakes groaned coming out of his can of Bonk. 

“Oh come on show us what else ya got!” Brutal laughed, smacking Pancakes arm with the back of his hand. Pancakes summoned his warhammer not a second later.

“With pleasure,” He screamed and directed an attack at Brutal. Intelligent Heavy went over to Spyper who now had Rose in his arms. 

“This could get a little ugly.” Spyper commented as Pancakes missed hitting Brutal, there was about to be a fight for sure, at least everyone got some food in their system before this. Brutal rolled out of the way.

“‘I’ve been itching for a fight since mornin’!” Brutal cackled, pulling his Tribalman's Shiv out of nowhere and charging Ass Pancakes. Before the two could really cause damage a purple cloud of particles appeared and the mass inside punched Brutal directly in the jaw, making him stagger backwards. Brutal has plenty of brute strength, but not much physical toughness.

“Not in front of my niece!” Chaos rolled her arm before angrily glaring at Pancakes. His warhammer disappeared and he retreated to his can and went to hide on a high shelf, “Anyways,” She started, “Slight change in plans for today. My team found Nightmare Medic’s lair. Apparently a group of BLU’s have gone off the grid and that’s where they are. They requested backup. I know it’s only been 6 months since the whole Grave deal but you guys mind helping out?” She asked the rest in the group.

“What about Rose? You don’t plan on taking her with to take on Nightmare Medic, right?” Spyper asked with concern in his voice.

“No, god no. I’m gonna leave someone here I know can protect her from Wolves Bane while we’re out,” She explained looking to Brutal.

“Him? Are you sure that’s a good idea? You do know who Brutal is right?” Intelligent Heavy asked calmly, questioning her thought process. Brutal glared at him but shrugged either way. 

“What about Jester?” Brutal said, craning his head up to look at the flying Freak, “They’re pretty good with kids,”

“Jester was also the reason we were even able to have a chance against Grave in the first place,” Intelligent Heavy protested, standing up, “They were the one able to reverse the effects of Termination, they were the one that came up with the plan to even kill Grave in the first place, they were the one able to see inside his mansion. They had the magic and firepower we needed to take Grave down. If anyone’s going with us, it’s them. If Jester can defeat Grave, they can defeat Nightmare Medic,”

“Then who the Hell is staying behind?” Brutal asked indignantly, throwing up his hands. 

“I could if Brutal is too much of a pussy to stay behind,” Ass Pancakes stated getting down from the shelf, promptly being smacked upside the head by Brutal himself. He was shocked by the fact that it happened so quickly, not with an immediate retort. He sulked while Jester snickered at him. 

“I would do anything if it meant I could go back to massacring blokes like you,” Brutal snapped. He stormed off to the laundry room to fetch his clothes, “I’m comin’ with ya! I ain’t stayin’ around here and lettin’ you have all the fun,”

“I’ll let you show Rose how to throw a knife properly if you stay,” Chaos called out, hoping to persuade the murder happy Freak. She knew that if it worked she’d regret it but at least then she’d have Pancakes with her to help rationalize out a plan. Then again, Brutal was the one with the strength to pose a physical threat to Nightmare Medics host. Whether or not he could actually win in a fight was a different story however. 

Brutal came back in his usual black and red attire, brushing himself off.

“Nope, i’m coming with ya. I’ll probably get thrown around a lot because that seems to be a running thing with me these past six months, but I’m not letting you have all the fun,” 

“Looks like your stuck with Rose then Pancakes,” Chaos jested, patting his shoulder. He just shrugged.

“Oh well, I’ll keep an eye on her. Don’t get too hurt out there,” Pancakes said, shrugging off the gesture. “But fuck you,” he looked at Brutal with anger in his eyes. Brutal clenched his fists and stepped toward the smaller Freak.

“I could break you like a motherfuckin’ twig right now-”

“Alright that’s enough!” Jester shouted, punctuating their annoyance by slamming their fist onto the table, a surge of blue energy sparking up from them, shoving Pancakes and Brutal away from each other. Everyone stared at the Freak, a bit taken aback by their sudden outburst. Yellow sparks flew off of their body for a moment and their cape and the ends of their hat shook on an invisible wind. Jester took a deep breath and raised their hands to either side of their head  before angling their hands towards Pancakes and Brutal, as if to shout something at them. Spyper looked at the child in his arms, she had fallen asleep at some point during the arguments.

“You three are lucky the child is currently asleep,” Spyper huffed before handing her off to Pancakes. He brushed himself off and fixed his hat.

“I’ll go start the van,” He said, “We can stop by a scrapyard so you can grab whatever you need to make something that could help us along the way,” Spyper said to Intelligent Heavy. 

“You guys can catch up. I’m teleporting there. I’ll take Mr. Stab first ask questions later here with me,” Chaos said, grabbing her sword. She stepped over to Brutal and clapped her hand over the Freaks shoulder, concentrating on the location that her team had described. She craned her head to Jester and Pancakes, who were now the only other people in the kitchen. 

“Both of you be careful, I’ll see you there Jester.” with that her and Brutal were gone in a puff of purple flecks.

“Welp, since you’re gonna be the only one here, lemme give you a parting gift,” Jester said, pulling off their hat and reaching into it like a magician, their hair puffing up in the process. They pulled out a small cube and handed it to Pancakes and placed their hat back on their head. 

“What’s dis?” He looked at it, confused. Out of all things to be given, some random cube was Jesters thing. He swore he would never be able to grasp their mindset.

“Twist the top,” Jester snickered. Pancakes sighed. He swore to God, if this was another one of Jesters tricks… He tentatively opened it and peeked in. There was a bright orb inside it that glowed blue.

“It’s a little pocket of my own powers!” Jester cheered, “If you come across a problem that needs some finessing, just open that up and the magic will take care of everything else,” Jester explained.

“Huh, thanks Jester!” Pancakes closed it and put it in his bag, “Good luck against Nightmare Medic. Heard he’s pretty close in power to Grave,” He rubbed the back of his head. 

“Or is Grave close in power to Nightmare?” Jester asked with a doofy grin. Pancakes sighed and walked into the other room, “Who put you on the planet?” Jester scoffed.

“My Momma,” He responded while putting the sleepy Rose on the couch.

“Well, anyways, I’m off!” Jester waved and turned into a cloud of blue smoke and darted off outside. Pancakes heard an engine start up, and he peered through a set of windows, watching a van take off into the sky with Jester flying along beside it. He hated that he wasn’t going to be able to see the action first hand but then again, he’d rather not nearly die.

***

Wolves Bane watched as Spypers van took off with Jester flying right beside it. There was no way he could resist trying to mess up Chaos’ base while she was gone. Slipping into the underbrush, he snuck up to the house and peered through a window, watching Ass Pancakes lounging around the living room scrolling through TV channels, Rose was asleep on the couch.

“This couldn’t be any easier.” Wolves Bane smirked to himself. He grabbed the clasps of the window and pulled up, but the window didn’t budge. He then kneeled to his shadow in defeat, “Hey Knenus, mind getting in there to unlock the window?” He asked her, they rolled her eyes.

“Just get your shadow in there and I’ll take care of the rest., She sighed. He raised up just enough to get his shadow casting into the living room. The shadow shimmered and shook for a moment, and the latch holding the window came loose. Wolves Bane carefully opened the window and started to crawl through with a slight crash. He scrambled to get up and right whatever it was he had knocked over.

“What the hell was that?” Pancakes called from the living room. Wolves Bane scrambled to a hiding spot, if he was caught there was a very high possibility he’d never be able to get back in. Pancakes walked into the kitchen and looked around. He turned his attention to an overturned potted plant. He sauntered over to it and placed it back on it’s table, peering around the curtains near the window to check for anyone who was hiding. He frowned and closed the window, latching it again before returning to the living room. 

Walking into the room, Pancakes found that Rose was gone from her spot, leaving a small indention in the blankets. Pancakes ran over to the couch and looked around.

“Oh fuck I don’t need this shit now,” He groaned, sprinting off to Rose’s room. 

Wolves Bane peered from behind the sofa, Rose strapped to his back, still fast asleep. Wolves Bane looked to where Pancakes had run off to and back towards the front door. He booked it from his hiding place and violently jiggled the door to try and unlock it, waking up his passenger.

“PANCAKES!” She screamed from the living room, now kicking to wrench herself free. Wolves Bane tried to cover her mouth, but he was too slow. Pancakes came crashing through to the living room, his warhammer in hand. 

“HEY!!” Pancakes shouted, making Wolves Bane jump. The Freak stared at him for several seconds before Wolves Bane throw open the door and made a wild break for it towards the woods. Pancakes sprinted after him, waving his warhammer around with frenzied wrath.

“HEY!! BITCH GET BACK HERE!” Pancakes screamed, lunging at the other Freak.

“Nice try Pancakes! I’m off!” He spread his wings open ready to fly off.

“No you’re not,” A woman’s voice called from behind a tree. Not a second later a square shovel came out of nowhere and smacked Wolves Bane directly in the face with a solid whack. Rose was sent flying off his back as he fell backwards. Pancakes rushed forwards and caught Rose just before she hit the ground. Wolves Bane on the other hand was sent sprawling to the dirt, knocked out cold. That’s when Roseflame came out from the shadows.

“Troubles?” She asked stepping over the knocked out demonic freak.

“Fucker came into the base and tried to kidnap her,” Pancakes said, shaking his head. 

“Yeah, seems like the kinda low life to do that, You okay Rose?” She looked to the child in Pancakes arms.

“N-no...” She strained, starting to cry as the shock began setting in. Pancakes looked down at the crying child and bit his lip, unsure of what to do to calm her down. Then a lightbulb went off in his head. He slid his hand into his bag and felt around for the cube that Jester had given him. Pulling it out, he twisted the top off and let the magic do its work. A few streaks of sparkly blue and yellow magic twisted its way out from the orb, dancing around in the air in a spiral, slowly floating over to Rose. Pancakes and Roseflame watched as the magic condensed and puffed into a miniature, translucent version of Count Jester. The Jester clone came up to Rose and waved to get her attention. It raised its hands up and before their very eyes a stuffed bunny plush puffed into existence with a soft pop in the air. The tiny Jester handed the plush-which was larger than it-to Rose. Rose smiled and took the bunny, holding it to her face as she slowly stopped crying. The tiny Jester gave a slight bow before disassembling back into strands of magic that blinked out of existence.

“Now that’s Grade A magic,” Roseflame smiled as Rose fell back asleep in Pancakes arms. Pancakes clipped the cube close again and grinned at it.

“Jesters magic really can do anything huh? If only it wasn’t so damn inconsistent,” Pancakes remarked. 

“It’s Count Jester we’re talking about, I only heard about them until recently and everything points to them being a bit beyond all of us in the crazy side,” Roseflame chuckled as she looked to Wolves Bane behind them. He was slowly getting back up, took him a while to even become conscious,  “You got him or should I?” She asked, getting her bat out.

“Nah I got ‘em” Pancakes said. He handed Rose back to Roseflame and summoned his warhammer and began marching towards the gangly Freak, “Just stay down buddy this will only take a second. FORE!!” Pancakes drew his warhammer back and swung with enough force to send the Freak flying skyhigh off in the other direction. Pancakes put a hand over his eyes to keep the sun out as he watched Wolves Bane go, “Damn, I never get that much air,” Pancakes snickered. 

“Hole in one if he lands in a trash can,” Roseflame betted, walking over while keeping an eye on the silhouette in the distance.

“Either that or lands right in front of one of the other Freaks. How much ya wanna bet if he comes across Painis or Cakehole?” Pancakes joked, his warhammer disappearing. 

“20 he lands in trash, 40 He lands in front of Painis, 60 he lands in front of Cakehole, You owe me 80 he lands ass up,” Roseflame had her wallet on hand.

“How much for all four?”

“Add it up, I’d owe you 200,” She cou;dn’t see where he was thanks to the trees, “Think the mini jester can help out with this little bet?” She asked her partner in crime.

“Um…I don’t really know how much power Jester put in this thing, but I can try,” Pancakes said. He took out the cube again and twisted the top off. The orb inside glowed for a moment and the magical strands danced their way out and collided together to make another mini Jester, this one pink and orange. It grinned and turned to the trees and raised its hands to them. With a series of booming snaps, the trees shook and trembled and bent out of the way to give a clear view of where Wolves Bane would be landing. At the same time, two pairs of binoculars popped into existence right in front of Roseflame and Pancakes. The pair took their binoculars and looked forward.

“Thanks Jester,” Roseflame smiled to the mini Jester. The tiny replica smiled and bowed again, it’s small form deconstructing back into pure magic as it disappeared like the first tiny Jester, “I should get to know them a bit more, they seem like a nice person,” Roseflame thought aloud. She re-adjusted the napping Rose with her left arm while using her right to look through the binoculars.

“Yeah, they’re real nice. To be honest the only other Freak I can think of that’s even close to Jester in that way is Polite,” Pancakes remarked, watching Wolves Bane as he began hurtling to earth. Both watched in a mixture of anticipation and worry.

He landed ass up in a trashcan. It tipped over and Wolves Bane came tumbling out, right in front of two Freaks who had been walking by. From the looks of it, they were neither Painis nor Cakehole, but two other completely different Freaks. 

“Uh...Looks like he landed in front of Soupcan and....a BLU Vagineer, I think?” Pancakes queried. He snickered, “You owe me 100 bucks though,” Pancakes laughed. Roseflame groaned, handing Rose back to him to get out her wallet.

“Here, take your money like the bitch you are,” She took out one hundred dollars worth of twenties and stuck it in his shirt.

‘-EY! I have pockets! And a bag!” Pancakes protested struggling to both hold Rose and get the money out of his shirt. She snickered as she watched him struggle. After she had her fun for a second she took the money and moved it to his bag.

“I ain’t getting close to your thing to put it there,” She said, pointing to his pockets, “Anyways, we should probably head back to the base. A lot of people have tried to get the stuff in there from what I heard,” Roseflame suggested, walking back to said base.

[izazaa]

[sniperspy] x3

another comment!fic on Date Night 

flower shop au + two clones walk into a bar (the fics i’m actually working on are awful -- tentaspy (lo), sex pollen (lmao), and pseudo slave fic (o no) -- so i was hoping to start on something more decent, but.)

comment!fic to the prompt, "gift giving or holidays”

In some strange facsimile of a normal company, the goings-on of RED slow down during the winter holidays, and its mercenaries are left to languish in the rec room, no bloody mission to entertain them. On one such slow day, crammed together on a couch in the back, watching their teammates' hijinks, Spy leans over and drawls into Sniper's ear, "I suppose your accuracy only extends to bullets."

He's turned to Sniper, and his face is so close – they are pressed so close on this couch, how did this happen? – that it makes Sniper's heart hitch, but he's got on this idle expression, as though he's already dismissed the possibility of Sniper's skill, and Sniper cannot abide by that. So keeping eye contact the entire time, Sniper plucks the toothpick from his sandvich, and whips it at the dart board across the room. It whistles through the air, and thocks soundly in the dead centre of the bullseye.

The corner of Spy's mouth twitches, an almost smile, almost delighted. From his jacket, he discreetly pulls out a small knife, and, inexplicably, a sprig of mistletoe. "The doorway on the right. As soon as Miss Pauling takes two steps towards it."

It's tricky, with the added weight and resistance of the mistletoe, but again, it hits its target precisely, just as Miss Pauling reaches it, and just as Scout returns from his toilet break. The both of them look up, and their eyes widen, and then Miss Pauling has to shield herself with her clipboard from Scout's bluster.

Sniper cracks up, shaking with silent laughter. Beside him, pressed up against his side, Spy finally smiles, smug.

There is an outbreak of mistletoe on base after that. The sprigs appear as if by magic, even in places that were empty just a second ago, and their other teammates are happy to bully its latest victim into compliance. Heavy is made to kiss Natasha twice. Pyro headbutts Engie hard enough that the muzzle of his mask sends Engie's hard hat flying. In her efforts to avoid Scout, Miss Pauling has kissed so far, a can of Bonk!, a sandvich, a lvl 2 sentry, and Archimedes, instead of him.

It's the most festive fun he's had since Christmas on the farm all those years ago, sneaking around the base with Spy, armed with the tiny bow and arrow set that he'd procured from god knows where. But as with all good things, it has to come to an end; Spy soon runs out of mistletoe.

In a secluded corner of the base, Sniper holds up an arrow forlornly, the last sprig dangling from its tip. "I hope you have something planned for the grand finale."

"Ah, I did have something in mind," says Spy, then leans in and kisses his cheek. His nose nudges Sniper's sunglasses crooked. He chuckles at the sight it makes, then pushes further into Sniper's space, one hand at his face ostensibly to fix it. "That grand enough for you?"

Sniper stabs the arrow into the wall behind Spy so that the mistletoe hangs above them proper, and then presses Spy up against the wall. "Grander," he demands, then leans in to kiss Spy proper.

flower shop au (i once saw fanart of this au, wherein spy inexplicably had his mask on still -- it was hilarious, but i never found it again orz)

When Mundy storms into the flower shop, slams down twenty dollars, and makes his demands, he feels less like an unreasonable asshole customer when the florist turns, and what Mundy thought was a head scarf, is actually an equally unreasonable blue ski mask, wrapped around his entire head, and down his neck.

"What." Sniper looks around but the newly opened flower shop remains just that, with its bright bursts of colourful blossoms, and lush leaves. Nothing suspect about it, save the blue masked man behind the counter, whose name, when Sniper squints at the tag pinned to his matching blue apron, is Spy.

Spy furrows his brow at him. "I believe those words are mine. Could you repeat your request?"

Sniper repeats, enunciating carefully, "I need flowers that say fuck you."

"Ah," says Spy blandly, very professional. It endears him to Sniper immediately, mask or no mask. "Of course. Might I inquire the recipients...?"

"My parents."

To his further credit, Spy still doesn't even bat an eyelid, only slides out from behind the counter to regard his shelves of flowers. "Family feud?" he asks absently, plucking long stemmed flowers and placing them on brown paper.

Mundy shrugs, then decides, what the hell. It isn't like he'll ever need the services of a florist again, what with his toddling love life and the way his relationship with his biological parents is going. "We'd been estranged for 30 years. I only just found them. Doesn't make for a chummy relationship."

"I'm sure they had their reasons." Inexplicably, Spy's chosen this part of his story to stiffen. He stares resolutely at a single yellow carnation, and says with practiced informality, "After all, did they not ultimately reach out to you?"

"I reached out to them," Sniper grumbles, but concedes, "I'm not sayin' leaving your child makes you a bad person, but if your child tracks you down through no effort of your own, and the first thing you ask for is money, that might."

On a more expressive, non ski mask clad person, Spy's face might have read yikes. Instead, he goes, "ah," again and busies himself with arranging the chosen flowers into a small bouquet. "Yellow carnation, a fanciful way of saying 'you have disappointed me,'" he explains, slender fingers nimbly bundling them together and securing them with a ribbon, "foxglove for insincerity, and lastly, an orange lily for hatred."

The bouquet glows gold when it is completed. Sniper isn't a flower type of person, but even he can tell it's a job well done. He thanks Spy earnestly as he pays.

"Glad to hear it. And I hope your meeting goes well," Spy offers.

Sniper knows it won't, but with his bouquet in hand, he isn't dreading it quite as much as he had before.

two clones walk into a bar

It takes the BLU Sniper a good half year to sort through the nonsense left in his head after Medic's brain scooping, matching half remembered memories scrapped together with what he could dig out of his… original's file, so by the time he makes it to the house, it is dilapidated, and his parents are dead.

He sinks to his knees in front of their tombstones, traces the inscriptions in the hand carved stone. They were not his parents, technically, only the parents of the man he was cloned from, but they were good people either way, and worthy of grieving over. This is what Sniper has to tell himself when his vision begins to blur and fat tears drop onto his fists, clenched tight atop his knees.

There is a rustle behind him and it may well be twigs to a fire because Sniper is snarling with blistering fury as he launches himself at the intruder, kukri drawn. His rifle is left before the graves; he wants a fight.

The intruder parries his blade, but not before it slices through the thick fabric of his mask. With a grunt, both men topple over from Sniper's momentum. Sniper takes a blow to his shoulder hard enough that it knocks his kukri out of his grip, but he twists and slams the intruder's hand into the ground to dislodge his knife, and then they are grappling like children in the dirt.

Despair makes his movements sloppy and the mam bores Sniper into the earth. As Sniper thrashes under his weight, they locks eyes for a split second, and all the fight drains from him. With the last of his strength, he plants a boot into his stomach and punts him to the side. Then he lies there, gasping for breath, staring blankly at the sky. Taking his lack of resistance as cue, the intruder collapses down next to him.

For a moment, all is quiet. There is only the wind hissing across the expansive land, and their harsh breathing.

"Feeling better?"

The voice though feathered and panting is painfully familiar. Sniper would laugh if he had the breath for it. Of course it is the BLU Spy. That idiot of a clone who had the audacity to make passes at him before he decided against a counterfeit, then returned to mooning over his original, the RED Sniper, for the rest of their years as teammates.

Despite his better judgement, Sniper demands, "What are you doing here?"

"There are not many of us left."

That is true. Medic and Engineer had been terminated permanently for knowing too many of the company's secrets. There hadn't been enough of Solder to piece back together after that horrific experiment to fragment hikm into an army.  Pyro hadn't resisted the purge, and the rest had disappeared before the robot war began. Not a lot left, indeed.

"Why'd you come here?"

"The RED Spy locked me out of my – his contacts. I do not have any money nor property to return to."

It doesn't answer his question, but Sniper decides he doesn't want to press for answers. "As if that would stop you," he says instead.

"As a matter of fact, I have a suite in town." Despite his two broken fingers, Spy fishes out a cigarette and holds it delicately between his thumb and forefinger. "It is easily large enough should I bring back a guest."

Sniper prickles with distaste at the heavy suggestion in his tone. "Why the bloody hell would I go with you?"

"For old time's sake?" At Sniper's scoff, Spy shrugs easily. "Why would you stay here?"

Sniper cannot answer that, and it unsettles him so much that when Spy rises, brushes himself off, and offers him a hand, he takes it.