#so glad I went in blind (except the official recordings)

[shitpostingfromthebarricade]

4.5 years after I was originally supposed to see it, ya bitch! Is! Here!!!

[silkylious]

Pro heroes Katsuki , Deku, Kiri trending on Twitter after posting a video of them and their s/o doing the baby mama dance how they react and

A/N: Thank you for the request! since you didn’t specify if you wanted a scenario or headcanons, i’ll do headcanons since they're easier for me to write, hope thats okay!

also i have a todoroki oneshot in the works, so stay tuned for that!

Kirishima Eijirou

Kirishima was probably the one to bring up the dance in the first place. A toothy grin stretched his face as he leaped over the back of the couch, where you’d been enjoying a quaint read, a dainty hand caressing your engorged stomach. His hand snatching the book right out from your grasp, he didn’t give you a chance to respond before he practically shoved his phone in your face. An eyebrow raised skeptically at his antics, shifting your gaze to the screen in front of you. 

“Eiji, what’s this...?” He explained the challenge, his sharky smile only widening the further he explained. You were a little hesitant at first, and as you were about to voice your apprehension, your eyes caught sight of his smile, childlike and boyish. Fuck. How could you say no to that?

You spent a good half an hour trying to get the dance moves right, Eijirou cheering you on while fucking up his own moves. 

Kirishima can’t dance to save his life. You can’t convince me otherwise. But did that stop him? Nope.

He adjusted the camera on make-shift tripod, consisting of boxes and other random objects. he started the timer and you two began busting out moves, Eijirou still lacking all the skill needed for this exercise, his moves choppy and uncoordinated, though his enthusiasm made up for his amateurism. The precious grin adorning his face made you glad you took him up on his offer.

By the end of the routine, both of you were left panting for oxygen. He heaved a breathless chuckle before pulling you into his grip from behind, his large hands gingerly stroking your tummy, his lips pressed lovingly to your cheek. With his signature million watt smile ever present on his face, he sighed out words of tranquil, “Thanks for doing this, babe,” he pressed another exaggerated kiss to your face.

The video was posted on his official Twitter, right before you went to bed.

The next morning, no words could articulate the sheer affection you felt bubbling up in your chest when you opened your eyes to the sight of Eijirou’s pure jubilation. Just the look of unbridled happiness on his face made you fall head over heels for him all over again. While you were busy ogling him, his own heart accelerated with uninhibited pride and love as his eyes scanned the screen in his hands.

Kirishima loved to show you off, how could he not? you were amazing in every sense of the word, and you were all his, to love and to cherish. So you can only imagine the utter joy he felt when he saw #TinyRiot trending on twitter.

He skimmed through the countless replies and comments of people congratulating the couple and clowning on his less than impressive choreography, some were from his coworkers, some were from his fans, he replied to them as best as he could with delight radiating off of him. He continued going through his mentions until he eventually felt the heated stare on his face. Turning to his side, he finally met your eyes, your rounded figure peacefully nestled beside him on the bed, your stare so full with love and mirth it made his chest tighten, almost suffocating him.

Kirishima has always been good with words, and people in general but in that moment no matter how hard he tried to speak nothing would come out of his mouth, captivated by your adoring gaze. You looked at him like he was your entire universe. And he couldn’t handle that, the feeling building in his gut becoming too much for him.

 He had to let it out, less he spontaneously combust. Since he knew his voice would fail him if he tried to speak, he settled for pulling you in for a passionate kiss, hoping it would convey all the words he couldn’t say.

Midoriya Izuku

When you first approached him with the idea he had been a bit apprehensive. Don’t get him wrong, heaven knows he’d do anything to keep you content. But being in the position he was in, Izuku was painfully, sadly aware of the target put on not only his back, but his family as well. 

He didn’t want to expose you and his child to the danger that came with his blinding spotlight.

Izuku wears his heart on his sleeve. No matter how hard he tried to mask it, the boy was an open book, so you could immediately sense the reluctance on his face when you mentioned posting the video online.

You knew of the complications that came with dating a Pro-hero, the number one Pro-hero, so you were perfectly understanding of his hesitance and didn’t push it further. Though you couldn’t help the disappointment that flooded your features either.

The look of mild discontent on your face didn’t sit well with him, his conscious already conquered by guilt. As his green irises descended onto your pregnant belly, something in him snapped.

He wanted to provide his unborn son with a normal childhood, well as normal as someone like him could. And he wouldn’t be able to do that if he kept barring his family from enjoying the simple delicacies of life in fear of getting them hurt. He was a hero, for god’s sake! The arrival of a new addition in his tight-knit family only meant that he’d have to work harder to forge the perfect world for them, for his son.

His habit of mumbling his thoughts had you fully aware of the dilemma going on in his head, and you knew if you didn’t stop him now nothing else would. His forehead was flicked by dainty, soft fingers, snapping him out of his trance, “It’s fine, ‘Zuku, don’t worry about it.” too late, he’d already made up his mind.

Now with his previous dread thrown out the window, he grabbed your hands and hopped off the couch where he’d been previously watching some All Might docuseries, a determined look in his wide verdant eyes.

You spent a good hour practicing the moves, Deku was holding up just fine, the dance classes he’d taken with Mina during the Cultural Festival doing a good number on him. With enough effort and unrelenting obstinacy, he’d mastered the routine in record time. Now with the camera set up, it was time to preform.The whole dance, a gentle twinkle lit up his face, he truly couldn’t be more content watching you dance your heart out without a care. 

The clip was posted, and you two were off to prepare dinner, ignorant to the fucking storm of notifications blowing his phone up. 

Now hear me out; Deku absolutely fanboys over All Might in interviews or in public. His fans had already noticed the striking similarities between their quirks and they were well aware of his love of the retired Pro, so he was dubbed “All Might Jr.” His heart almost went into cardiac arrest when he saw #SmallMight trending on Twitter. Poor boy had just finished washing the dishes, he went to check his phone only for all colour to leave his face before he was red as a damn tomato.

You peered over his shoulder to see what had gotten him so flustered only to bring your fist to your mouth in a fruitless attempt at silencing your fit of giggles.

Now as blissful as it was to have a combination of his fans and colleagues (who had already known about the pregnancy) congratulating him, he knew it wouldn’t take long for the media to scrutinise his decision, bringing unwanted discourse into his personal life. But he was more than ready for that, after all, he had vowed to himself that he would protect you and his child, whether from villains or from mainstream media, he would let you both live your lives without any inhibitions.

Bakugo Katsuki  

Katsuki flat out refused when you initially asked him. Which was to be expected. Katsuki is private person when it comes to personal matters, you literally had to beg him to tell your friends about the pregnancy (honestly you were about ready to pull up a PowerPoint presentation on why Friends Matter and They Deserve to Know Important News™) 

The rejection didn’t stop you from nagging him about it though. 

He was in a similar situation to Deku, being the number two Pro-hero and the symbol of victory shined a light on him, for better or worse, he didn’t want to expose you and his daughter to the dark facets of his career. That and he did think it was stupid. He didn’t understand the appeal of sharing something so special with the general public, it was your private lives dammit! 

“Why do you wanna do it so bad?” it was a valid question, though phrased with overbearing aggression, he was getting fed up with your persistence. He immediately dialed down his abrasiveness when you flinched, your gaze descending to the floor, your hormones making you more susceptible to his harsh mannerisms.

“I just thought it would be cute to do...” Your voice trailed off, and his mind berated him as he watched your bottom lip quiver. He just couldn’t resist you, could he?

Eventually, he gave in, but he made it a point to spend as little time as humanly possible on the dance. Which was honestly very easy for him, the guy is a natural at almost everything, fucking figures he can dance. It made you a bit jealous how good he effortlessly was.

Bakugo did nothing half-assed, this was no exception. As the routine progressed, he loosened up more, almost enjoying the exercise, wouldn’t admit it though, he’s very adamant about making this seem like a chore even though he relished in that bright smile of yours. Tsundere headass.

The recording went by without a hitch, Katsuki putting his all into the choreography and slipping you a few gentle caresses here and there. Overall, the cheeky grin on your face made it worth the trouble.

He spurned posting the video on his account, so it ended up being posted on yours, you had a decent following and in minutes the #MiniSplosion was trending. 

Even he couldn’t deny the wave of pride that puffed up his chest, reading the influx of comments bleeding in. He loved showing you off, but his position made it damn near impossible to do that. He wanted to protect you, he figured after this he’d just have to work harder to keep his family safe.

You totally teased him about being a softie on the inside, but you didn’t push it too much, not wanting to tarnish the mood. He’d reply back with some empty remark but the soft tug at his lips, the tenderness in his stare and absence of his usual frown betrayed him, god he was such a sap for you. Pulling you in for an abnormally sweet peck, vastly different from his usual ferocious, passion filled kisses, he flicked your forehead and muttered, “You happy now?”

The surmounting adoration in his heart partially scared him, he couldn’t believe he fell that hard for someone. Yet he wouldn’t have it any other way, he couldn’t even imagine the idea of being without you, without his daughter. He was lucky to land himself such a strong, patient and kind partner, one that would stick it out with him through the end, and now he was undoubtedly going to flaunt it.

@Ground_Zero: My babygirls <3

...

Let’s just say it didn’t take long for #SoftGroundZero to go viral too.

[strawbwrry]

prologue  ❥ under the rose

teaser one  ❥  teaser two

words count：2.1k

warnings：slight swearing (literally like four cuss words)

the series has officially begun! i have been brain storming this series for about two years, and never had the chance to write it so a little goal of mine is going to be completed!

I hope you enjoy it! :))))))))))))))))

 ❥❥❥❥

I stood in front of the school, the cool wind blew by sending goosebumps up my arms. Ignoring that, I walked towards the planters instantly veering to the right. This planter was special, we planted the roses that grew here together. I began to examine the mess of stems occasionally pricking myself with a thorn. There was nothing there. There had to be something there. There had too.

I had been all around town today, looking and searching by wherever there were roses. The flower shop, the park, by restaurants, outside the ice cream shop, but to no avail. A sudden rush of emotions came over me, I felt defeated. But before I could officially give up on looking a bright light shined, blinding me momentarily.

There laid a delicate silver necklace across the dirt, a small petal from a wilting red rose falling near it. The necklace was instantly familiar, it’s Minhee’s.

I picked it up and my hands began to tremble, I stood there in total confusion, that had just shown up.

But before I go into what happened next I should probably tell you how this happened, and why I’m here.

❥❥❥❥

last year

“Y/N! Y/N!” Yunseo yelled, quickly running towards me as I fiddled with my food waiting for her to arrive. I looked up at her, very confused wondering what news was so important. She caught her breath, panting before she began, “Minhee has a crush on you! He’s going to ask you out!”

My eyes widened, he was a tall, funny, attractive, not to mention popular, boy who I sat next to in my math class. We had come to be pretty good friends, but I would’ve never expected that. “No way.” She sighed rolling her eyes before nodding, “I’m not lying! He asked me what your favorite flowers were and I didn’t know what to say so I blurted out roses.”

“Really though? He for sure likes me? I find that very hard to believe.” I said gradually starting to believe her more. She sat down, grabbing the food I hadn’t wanted to eat and nodded, with her mouth full she began, “Yes! For sure. Look he’s walking over here, and he has roses! Oh fuck this is actually happening Y/N!” I looked towards his direction, my heart beginning to race, before turning around, “Shut up you’re so loud!” She laughed at me, still chewing. “And nasty, can you please close your mouth!”

“Hey Y/N.” Minhee said smiling, his hands gripping onto the bouquet so tightly his knuckles had gone white. I could feel my face getting warm as I smiled at him, “Hey Minhee.” I said nervously, my voice going up an octave. He chuckled quietly before asking, “Can I talk to you outside Y/N?” I nodded before standing up and following him, turning my head to see my best friend shoot me a big smile and a thumbs up.

Once outside he handed me the bouquet of red roses, they were gorgeous. Their petals not completely bloomed but just about ready, a very light sheen of water droplets coated the petals, I’m not one for flowers but I could make an exception for these. He cleared his throat before he started talking, “I know this is kind of random, but will you go on a date with me? I think you’re really cool and I’d love to get to know you more.” I smiled shyly my head hanging low as I tried to get myself together. I looked up with a smile still on my face and nodded, “I’d love too Minhee.” He smiled brightly before turning to look at his multiple friends who stared at us intensely witch grins on their faces and their phones out recording the whole thing. My face went hotter as I covered my face with the roses he had given me. He chuckled, I followed soon after and began to laugh shyly.

“Y/N’s going on date! Y/N is going on a date! I’m going to tell your mom!” Yunseo chanted loudly, I quickly pulled the roses from my face to see her with her phone also out, stood next to Dongpyo. I turned to Minhee and quickly moved to stand behind him. He turned around wrapping is arms around me and pulling me closer to him. I smiled shyly moving my arms to wrap around his waist, making all our friends cheer, and my face flush.

❥❥❥❥

“Bob has balls!” We chanted as we walked out of the movie theater. He laughed as his hand swayed both of ours back an forth. “Daniela should’ve never let her out.” Minhee said thinking back to the movie, “I mean obviously, but to be fair she ended up getting possessed.” He hummed in agreement.

“How were you two not scared? I wanted to cry.” Yunseo said in a state of shock as she walked out of the movie theater right beside us. I giggled softly at my friend but smiled apologetically, “Thanks for coming Yunseo.” She looked at me and smiled, “You’re welcome Y/N.”

Minhee and I decided to treat Yunseo to an ice cream as a thank you for tagging along on our date. “I still can’t believe I’m giving up being able to sleep just so you two could go on your date.” She said sighing heavily before digging into the ice cream in a cup with a small blue spoon. Minhee laughed slightly, “I mean we were going to watch Aladdin but you got here late.” Yunseo’s head shot up and rolled her eyes, “Look I have to eat!” We all laughed, I looked outside to the red roses that grew outside and smiled before turning around to rejoin Minhee and Yunseo’s playful bickering.

“Y/N and I should head back to her house.” Yunseo said after looking down at the time on her phone. I instantly did the same curious, “Oh fuck it’s 7:30.” Minhee smiled gently and stood up so I could get out of the booth. “My mom is picking me up from here, I’ll see on Monday?” He said giving me a charming smile. I smiled up at him giving him a shy nod. I reached up and gently pecked his cheek before saying, “I had fun, let’s do this again?” He nodded. I walked out and turned to the left and began the walk to where I lived.

“I officially give Minhee the Yunseo seal of approval!” Yunseo exclaimed once the two of you had gotten far enough away from the ice cream shop. I giggled, “Not many boys have ever received the Yunseo seal of approval, what about him made him earn it?” Yunseo was quiet for a while as we walked, we came to a stop light and stood there before she finally answered my question, “You could tell he was really excited to be on the date with you. Plus he didn’t try and just totally ignore me, he actually included me unlike the last asshole you went on a date with.”

I shivered at the memory, “We dont talk about him. I’m glad to hear you like him more than the last guy, cause so do I.” I said smiling at her. She gave me a wide grin before leaning in and wrapping her shirt arms around my waist and playfully grinning close to my face, “Y/N really really really likes a boy!” I laughed along with her, “Maybe I do maybe I don’t!” She let go before taking my hand and dragging me across the street, “I’m pretty sure you do.”

❥❥❥❥

Minhee’s larger hand held mine as he scribbled little drawings onto my arm during math. I turned to look down at my left arm pleasantly surprised to see a cute star drawn on it, the star had thick straight eyebrows, a wide smile, happy eyes, and dainty nose. I giggled quietly. “It’s you.” I whispered quietly. He let out a suppressed laugh before smiling, “Wasn’t the goal, but also isn’t the worst thing ever.” I took the marker from his hands and began to adjust myself to draw on his right arm. I began to draw my own version of his star, but instead replacing its features to resemble mine, eyes, nose, mouth, eyebrows. “I love it.” He mumbled under his breath, I smiled up at him, “I’m glad you do.”

Now lunch had become quite odd after Minhee and I began dating, I’d still sit with Yunseo, but now he’d sit with us and occasionally bring along a friend, most of the time it was Dongpyo it Hyungjun. “Hey Y/N! Hey Yunseo!” Dongpyo greeted us brightly before plopping himself down on the bench besides Yunseo. Minhee plopped down beside me placing a kiss on my cheek before turning away to greet Yunseo. “Do you guys want to do something this weekend? My parents are doing something and I want an excuse to not go with them.” Dongpyo said.

“We could to the mall and mess around.” Yunseo suggested as she bit down on a piece of bread she had bought. I nodded in agreement, “I’d be down to go.” I replied. Minhee agreed, “I have nothing to do this weekend.” Dongpyo smiled before nodding, “Its a plan!”

❥❥❥❥

“You’re not going Y/N.” My mom said. My jaw dropped and my head whipped around to look at her, “Why not?” I responded walking towards her. “Because I know you’re going out with that boy again.” She said as her voice began to get louder, her calm demeanor being lost. My breath hitched, I swallowed before attempting to find my voice, “There is no boy! Yunseo and I just want to go to the mall.” She laughed, rolled her eyes and looked at me straightly, “Do you think I’m stupid? I know you’ve been dating that Minhee boy Y/N.”

I couldn’t speak, I was frozen in place. “I don’t know what you’re talking about Mom.” She looked at me in shock, her jaw dropped and she put down the cup of water she had been drinking, “Really Y/N? You’re going to lie to me like that? Your uncle told me after he saw you two kiss goodbye after one of your dates to the movie theater.” She paused before she began again, “I expected so much more from you Y/N. I thought you’d be so much more than your sister.“

The tears that had threatened to spill began to pool up in the corners of my eyes. “Y/N you are going to break up with Minhee. You-“ Before she could finish I had already ran out of the living room, I began to race up the stairs up to my room, my mom following closely behind me. I ran into the room and slammed the door, quickly locking it before I slid down the door onto the floor. My tears were falling and I couldn’t help it. The back of my head began to throb with pain, my eyes stung the more I cried. My nose began running and I let out ragged sobs each time making my body shake more than the last time.

“Y/N open this damn door!” My mom yelled from the outside as she began to bang the door. I continued to cry until I just couldn’t anymore. When it stopped I just sat there on the floor, and sniffled. “Y/N I know you can hear me.” My mom said, I could hear her let out a sigh before clearing her throat, “I shouldn’t have said that about your sister, but you know what I mean.”

Pent up frustration began to unleash itself and before I knew it I regained my voice, “But what if I don’t know what you mean? I never know what you mean! What happened to her wasn’t her fault! You fucking know that it wasn’t! You can’t just let me be happy for once? Mom you say you want the best for me. It really doesn’t feel like you want the best for me though.”

“Y/N you’re going to break up with Minhee. This is for you Y/N.” I chose not to respond. After a while I heard her walk away most likely to start making food. But now I sat on the floor of my bedroom and just looked down at my hands. I stood up, and headed to my desk where my phone laid, just barely alive with a grand total of 22%. I moved to find Minhee’s number in my contacts. I pressed call, the rings felt like they lasted an eternity, but when he answered it felt as if they had gone by much too fast. “Hey Y/N!” He greeted me happily. It killed me inside to say what I had too say next but did I really have a choice?

“We need to break up.”

[richiestoziers]

so emotional (chapter 11)

summary: eddie kaspbrak is crushing on the school’s radio host ‘records tozier’, it’s too bad they’ve never met

warnings: cursing, sexual tension, etc

read on ao3 here

eddie was on the moon, and everyone could see it. he felt like he was walking on a cloud, drifting through heaven with every breath he took. he now got that song, heaven is a place on earth, or at least it is now that he’s kissed richie tozier.

“what’s up with you?” stan asks one day, sitting across from him as the group went out for dinner.

“what do you mean?” eddie questioned, glaring at stan, a look that said ‘you know damn well what’s up, and i’ll tell you later.’

he’s starting to regret allowing stan to know, but in turn he somewhat knows his secret crush.

“nevermind.” stan smiles, mischievous, glad he knows.

“you guys are being weird” ben points out, wrapping pasta around his fork and eating some.

“no we’re not.” eddie and stan say in unison, both cursing themselves in their mind for seeming so suspicious. 

“weird.” bill mutters under his breath, laughing and elbowing eddie for it. “anyway, back to the conversation of stan getting his own car.”

“if you think i have the money to get my own car you’re crazy.” stan shot back, rolling his eyes and taking a drink from his water bottle.

“well if you stopped wasting your money on uber you could use that to save up for a car.” bill pointed back, and as eddie watched he started to see more of them together.

and he started to see more that stan was much better at hiding crushes than eddie.

“if i stopped using uber and waited who knows how long to get my own car, i would never have a way to get around.” stan spoke, an informal debate going on between the two.

“well i’ll just give you rides, stan. you know that.” bill’s voice was softer as he spoke, looking into stan, and hell even eddie felt the tension between the two.

“really?” stan questioned, looking up at bill with stars in his eyes and his heart on his sleeve.

eddie liked this, looking at a romance develop, it was almost as good as being in his own.

and looking at ben, who loved love so much and was so happy for all his friends, and not getting someone to love on his own.

eddie owed it to ben to help him with beverly, ben deserved that at least.

so he did that, pulled out his phone and began to text beverly.

hey, my friend ben needs some new clothes and i’m horrible at shopping. wanna help?

never did he think he’d feel so comfortable texting beverly marsh something like this, and yet here he was.

setting his phone aside as he awaited his reply he went back to the conversation with his friends.

“well thanks bill, it means a lot.” stan looked down, trying to hide his blushing cheeks underneath his curls.

“no problem, stan the man.” bill reached over and messed up stan’s hair as he said this, inevitably starting a fight with stan who always kept himself perfectly groomed, but eddie knew he secretly loved it.

eddie’s new favorite song is so emotional, whitney houston of course, because now that he continues to think back on it that was playing when richie kissed him at the party.

he feels ridiculous, over emotional, and maybe a bit psycho to go this far and inevitably listen to it on repeat and pretend that richie’s lips are on his once more.

he is crazy, he hates it, but he can’t stop thinking about it.

richie richie richie richie richie richie richie.

it’s all the runs through his mind since the kiss, more so than usual.

he feels so crazy, and delusional maybe, because a kiss in a frat party doesn’t mean a future and yet it means something and he can only be hopeful.

he was never very optimistic, but suddenly he’s found himself all sunshine and rainbows and ready for hope in the world.

maybe that’s what potential love does, or at least a damn good kiss.

he had a few hours to get to work, until then relaxing in his apartment alone until bill came back to give him a ride, and for once in his life not having any work to do. he was tied between sitting in bed and wistfully listening to the radio station, or watching tv.

hell, he knew what to do like the back of his hand, he had been obsessed with the radio station for two years and knew marsh and records wouldn’t begin speaking for another hour. it was just music right now, and he could get in an episode of a show before going to listen to two people he now considered friends.

or at least beverly was a friend, he had no idea what richie was to him, except that there was something.

sitting upon his shared couch with bill, usually filled with all his friends but alone to himself for once, and making it easy for him to watch whatever he wanted without a fight from his friends. failure to launch or pretty woman?

pretty woman.

playing the movie and risking missing some of their radio show to finish it, which he considered some self control on his part. a well needed break from his richie tozier addiction, one only heightened since he got a taste of his lips.

though his control wasn’t complete, because once the movie ended and the credits played, he jumped to his bed and turned the radio on, losing himself in the voice of the boy he was crazy for.

he woke up with a jolt, having dozed off after the show and still in his jeans with drool falling out of his mouth. he recoiled in disgust, rushing to the bathroom to clean himself and wash his hands, even his own saliva disgusting him. he was so busy getting clean he almost forgot what it was that woke him up, the loud ping from his phone and an awaiting text on the screen.

wiping his hands dry and clean he eyed his phone, following it like a moth to the light, confused as to who could be texting him at this time. it’s only when he sees the name he remembers the text he sent early to beverly.

yeah, wanna go this weekend?

perfect, things were going just as he planned. if he was going to be happy shouldn’t his friends be too? it’d be unfair for him to be the only one finally getting some attention from his unattainable crush.

see you then! 

life seemed so perfect, felt so perfect, the way richie’s lips felt perfect against his own. eddie was in heaven.

too bad he didn’t remember they weren’t official, they had only kissed once, but even just that tiny kiss was enough to blind him from the potential that things might not go how he expected.

only time would tell, but either way eddie kaspbrak wasn’t prepared for the future in the slightest, he was too busy living in his perfect present.

and just when he thought nothing could get better than this, that familiar ding of his phone getting a notification rang in his ear, fully shooting him into the sky. 

mind if i bring richie? 

he responded right away to beverly’s text, not even caring about seeming cool anymore.

not at all.

“hey ben,” eddie started his devious plan with positive intentions breeding through, planting the seeds to set everything up. “wanna go shopping with me this weekend? we both need some new clothes anyway, and richie and beverly are coming.”

he tried to make it sound nonchalant, like richie and beverly were the same as stan and bill, not the two people they had been crushing on since they first saw them walk by. it was nice to say it like that, making eddie think of a future where it is casual, where they are normal friends or maybe more. if this plan went the way he wanted, then they would be.

ben choked on the water eddie had given him, the liquid splashing on his face and falling to his shoes, and he rushed to get a towel as he wiped his face clean and coughed the rest. eddie tried to suppress a laugh, knowing he would have given the same reaction, but he couldn’t hold a chuckle back enough. 

“oh thanks, asshole.” ben teased, finally composing himself and shoving eddie for laughing at his misfortune.

this only made eddie laugh more, tiny tears falling out of his eyes and he quickly wiped them away and took a deep breath to calm down. “sorry, sorry, but it was funny. you gotta admit that,” he teased, giving an amiable smile to ben. “anyway, do you wanna go or not?”

eddie can see the apprehension radiating off ben, and he was more sympathetic for his plight that he himself has been through so many times than annoyed at him. ben looked down at his feet, like he was thinking it over but eddie could see the wave of insecurity flash over his eyes.

“i don’t know eddie, it might be weird?” he tries to give a reason why not to go out of nervousness, but they both know there’s no real reason that could work.

“oh come on, ben. it won’t be weird. i’ll be there, and beverly’s so nice, and you’ve already met. it’s going to be fine.” it was weird for eddie to be like this, but the world be damned if anyone got in the way of him seeing richie that night.

ben’s demeanor didn’t change even after eddie’s attempt at comforting words, and he continued to repeat “i don’t know.” to him.

“ben, i already told beverly you were going. you can’t back out, please. it’ll be fun.” eddie was never once to advocate for going outside ones comfort zone, but desperate times called for desperate measures. anyway, his most uncomfortable zones had to do more with germs than socializing. he can go shopping with them, he’d just make sure he had a mini hand sanitizer in his fanny pack.

“are you sure?” he questioned, but eddie could see he was finally getting through with him.

“yes, i’m sure, and if you hate it we can find some excuse to leave early.” eddie might have to do that himself, not fully sure how things would go with richie and him after their last interaction.

ben rubbed his face with his hands, hiding it behind them for a second before dragging them down with a huff. “fine, i’ll go.” 

eddie almost squealed with excitement, almost, but he kept his cool and just smiled at him. “it’ll be fun. trust me.”

the rest of the days leading up to saturday maintained his normal schedule; work and study. all he did was work and study, that’s all he’d done for so many years of his life, but this saturday would be a reprieve from the mundane routine of his life and hopefully further push him into a world where he felt fulfilled or like he was doing something to be remembered.

or at least he would get to hang out with his crush, which is something he never could’ve said before. he had requested the full day of saturday off, not wanting to feel rushed or have to ruin what he hoped would be a good day with rowdy customers and cleaning sticky tables. while he had gotten much better with his hypochondria, the idea still threatened to push him into a borderline panic attack.

him and ben were waiting at the mall food court for their more popular counterparts, both of them twiddling their hands with nervous jitters, trying to find something to do as a distraction. they could barely even talk to each other, so busy being in their own heads to talk about their same feelings to each other.

finally they spotted them, both their postures immediately straightening as their eyes were drawn to the bright red hair like a flame that stood out amongst the crowd. eddie quickly looked to the right of her, being drawn to the boy who towered over her, black curls unruly and unkempt, and begging for eddie to touch them.

the two pairs waved at each other as they drew near, eddie and ben much more uncomfortable as richie and bev moved with ease, seemingly not a thought in their head. if anything this made the two more nervous, and while they both tried not to show it on their face, it was plastered all over it.

“hi guys.” bev greeted them, giving them each a hug, and eddie could see ben shaking at something as minimal as that.

both of the boys said hi together, and it felt like slow motion as eddie turned to look up at the one he had really been looking forward to seeing. there he was, the man who had taken over his mind and clouded all his judgement. 

“hi richie.” eddie stuttered out, wanting to smack himself for seeming so pathetic.

richie hadn’t even fully looked at him until then, but when he did eddie almost melted on sight. those big brown eyes warm as they looked down at him, scanning his body with a look eddie had never seen before but it made his knees weak and he knew it was something good.

his smile was always wide, his big mouth causing it to be, and eddie found that fitting that not only did he have a big mouth figuratively but literally too. perfect for trash talking, heart stopping smiles, and the best kiss of his life.

“hey eddie.” richie’s voice came out almost in a sing song tune, teasing, flirting in such a subtle way only eddie could tell (and maybe beverly if she really focused). if eddie had taken a step back from richie’s deep brown eyes he would see beverly was too busy attempting a conversation with ben who mumbled under his breath as he tried to find the proper words in response to her. richie’s cool voice was broadcasted to the entire school, but for now it was just eddies to hear.

that tiny part of his brain that was reckless (and never got used) was now wishing it was just them two. wishing he had reached out to richie himself and asked him to hang out, or on a date, but he knew without the other two there he would be like ben and just clam up around his crush.

then again he didn’t need to worry about his words if his lips were pressed against richie’s.

he wanted to chastise himself mentally for these thoughts, feeling dirty for focusing too intently on richie’s lips and wanting nothing more than to leave this place and make out in his car. he had to remind himself there was no reason to feel shame, they were technically adults, and his mother wasn’t here to judge him. 

“it’s nice seeing you again.” eddie stumbled out while in his trance at richie’s mouth, finally breaking himself out of it to turn to beverly, “you too beverly.”

she smiles back at him, glad to have someone break the awkwardness between her and ben. 

“well let’s chow down, i’m starving and if we don’t get some food in me my stomach will revolt.” richie rushed to the group, imitating the growls of his stomach as he rubbed it, only stopping when bev slapped his hand away with a quiet laugh.

“i’m supposed to help ben shop, and i’m not that hungry. we can, if you want though?” beverly turned to ask ben, who was glaring down at eddie for using him as the excuse for them all to hang out.

eddie could only hope ben would open his eyes and see he was helping him.

“um i’m not really hungry, we can shop.” ben forced out, unable to fully look at beverly only looking at her through brief glances, meanwhile his eyes begged eddie to come with them and not leave him alone with his crush.

eddie opened his mouth to agree and leave with them, but the feeling of richie’s arm falling around his shoulder and his loud voice cutting through stopped him dead in his tracks. “you two can shop and ed and i can eat. don’t make me eat alone, come on.”

he looked up at richie, who towered over him and who’s arm felt like a weight on his shoulders, as if he was an angel. an angel with unruly hair, a big mouth and crooked nose, but an angel none the less. his angel, if he was going to go full cheese (which he always did).

he couldn’t even bring himself to respond, just nodding his head in agreement and happy to see that made richie smile even more. 

“okay, eddie and i will go eat while you two shop, perfect. i’ll text you when we’re done and want to meet up?” richie asked beverly, his arm not leaving eddie yet.

“sounds good, see ya later.” bev responded, smiling and waving at them, while ben gave eddie a look of distress.

ben, this is good for you, and this is definitely good for eddie.

once they were alone richie picked up his long legs and began to strut towards the food, his arm around eddie’s shoulder dragging him along and forcing him to go at the same speed of him, of course eddie didn’t mind. “come on eds, we’ll have some fun.”

“some fun just watching you eat?” he questioned, trying to ignore the racing heart and anxiety in his veins and talk to richie like he wasn’t the guy he had been crushing on for forever.

“well after i eat we can have some fun, duh.” richie stated as if it was so obvious, which it might have been to anyone but eddie.

“fun doing what?” it came off flirty to richie, like eddie was playing coy on purpose, when in actuality he was truly just clueless.

richie cocks his head to the side as he looks down at him, ordering his food quickly before answering his question. “what do you think?”

eddie honestly still had no idea, but stayed silent at the risk of sounding like an idiot in front of him.

they stayed silent as richie waited for his food, which wasn’t too long before he grabbed the tray and brought them to one of the few empty tables in the food court. looking around eddie wondered how anyone could eat here, the tables were rarely clean and people always left a mess, and it was so crowded. just breathing in the air here made him feel sick and want to run to the bathroom to throw up, but years of trying to heal from those instincts stopped him and instead he rubbed his hands on his thighs as a nervous tick.

“are you okay?” richie questioned, his mouth full and making eddie grimace in disgust.

“i’m fine, and you shouldn’t talk with your mouth open.” no crush would stop him from chastising such disgusting behavior.

richie answered back with a full, open smile showcasing every bit of food that was in his mouth. eddie shrieked with disgust making richie laugh, and if it was anyone else eddie would be running for the hills but since it was richie it was kind of...charming. how little he cared, how no stress or anxiety got to him, and how he didn’t care what people thought of him. it was refreshing, it was everything eddie liked about him.

eddie was surprised at the speed at which richie could eat, and the amount of food he could fit in his mouth. he ate like there was no time for it, like he had to rush and do it quickly, and not leave even the smallest bit on his plate.

he wiped his mouth quickly with a napkin as a pathetic attempt to get clean, getting up without a word and throwing the food away and setting the tray down. he walked away, leaving eddie to chase after him with plenty of questions.

“do you want to text beverly or do you want me to? or do you want me to text ben? so we know where to meet up with them?” he rushed the questions out quickly, the speed at which richie walked creating an odd sense of urgency.

richie walked through one of those doors that were spread around malls that were for employees only and didn’t lead to any stores rather the hallways things were exported. eddie had no time to ask what they were doing there as he followed him in before he felt his back be pressed up against the wall and richie’s lips crash onto him.

he shrieked at the suddenness of it all, his back hurting a little from the sudden force but all that was numbed once he realized who it was that was kissing him. maybe dreams do come true, and maybe they come true multiple times, and somehow kissing richie got even better.

richie was crouched down to meet eddie at his shorter height, making it able for eddie to wrap his arms around his neck and card his fingers through richie’s curly tangles.

his heart was racing so fast he thought it would burst out of his chest, both because richie was kissing him and out of fear that at any minute a worker could come in and yell at them or ban them from life. when looking at the two options, the fact that he was kissing richie made the risk of getting in trouble so worth it.

they only pulled away once they were out of breath and richie’s back ached from bending over to meet eddie’s height. eddie could feel his cheeks burning up, quickly touching them with the back of his palm to feel how hot they were and to hide the blush from richie, who was already back on his phone texting someone.

“bev’s on the second floor, let’s meet up with them.” hearing how quickly he changed subjects and moved on from what had just happened was disheartening for eddie, leaving him to wonder what exactly had just happened.

he stood where he was as richie went back to the door to leave, turning to look back and wait for eddie to follow. he did silently, dejected and hurt and ready to leave. he reached the door, waiting for richie to move the handle and let them out, because being so close to him was suffocating after all that just happened in such a short amount of time.

his body tensed up as he felt richie’s hot breath on his ear, whispering something down to him. “i hate to leave, because you’re just so addicting.”

every time he thinks he’s out, richie draws him back in again.

then again, eddie doesn’t mind being played like a yo yo if richie keeps kissing him like that.

[miraclejune]

HERO’S SOUP: Chapter 1

Antique Shop

Sunlight seeped through the curtain. Painting the white walls with vivid hues of orange and yellow. A figure groaned, rustling underneath the duvet. Sleeping wasn't really an option.

He sat up from the bed. Fluffy brown hair ruffling as he did so. With a wave of his hand, the curtains close, engulfing the room with darkness. He connected his phone to the charger, reminding himself not to spend his 'sleeping' hours playing that stupid farming game.

Lifting himself up from the bed he made his way towards the shower, not bothering looking at his faint reflection on the bathroom mirror. After a quick shower, he threw on a black shirt and wore a black hoodie over it, slipped on some denim jeans and walked out the room.

After tying the knot of his sneakers, he continues downstairs. Taking his time switching the lights on and making sure the heater was at the right temperature. Of course by doing so he had to search the weather and compute the right temperature to balance out the freezing temperature outside. 

As he was walking to the counter, he noticed a pool of red liquid on the floor. Panic sets in. He disappeared abruptly and came back with a mop and a bucket full of water, casually cleaning up the mess.

"I need to get me one of those anti-spill tumblers. This is the 3rd time this week this has happened."

Pretty sure you have a gentle grasp on what's going on. No, he didn't murder someone. No, he's not a psychopath. No, he doesn't work at a hospital.

Any guesses? While you try to figure it out, let's get back to the story.

The smell of old stuff and books somehow masked the scent of blood. He was relieved that opening up an antique shop has benefits. Aside from the money of course.

After cleaning up, he disposed of the 'evidence'. Went around the counter towards the door and flipped the sign “We’re Open!” 

He sighed, loud enough for the voices in his head to hear how boring his life is. Although he's still surprised by the fact that he has a lot of customers, it never occurred to him that people these days still consider buying old and vintage stuff even for a hefty price.

As soon as he placed his hands on the counter, the bell rang, indicating a customer. The faint smell of cherries tickled his nose. Cherry shampoo. He hummed, pushing himself to the door. Momentarily, he stopped in his tracks. There was no one there. 

Usually people would stand there like meerkats peering over tall cabinets to see if the predator is out there to hunt them and take their money in exchange for a vinyl record they won't even have a purpose for but in this rare occasion, no one was there.

He made his way around the sections of antique clocks and saw a tall figure with his or her back facing towards him. “What can I do for you?” the customer yelped and spun around facing him.

“I’m sorry for startling you.” His voice was low and casual. The guy looked at him with widened eyes, shaking his head vigorously. 

"It’s okay!” the guy smiled.

“So, what are you trying to find?” again, he asked, eager to finish the transaction and be left alone. The guy's curious eyes scattered around the place. He hummed. “I’m not really trying to find anything.” the owner raised his eyebrows at him. 

“Oh.” he was about to turn his back when the guy spoke again, “How long have you been here, sir?'' The sudden curiosity annoyed him. But he had to make a good impression on his customers.

“I’ve been here for quite a while now.” the guy nodded and proceeded to look around. “Huh, that’s weird. I have never seen this place before, and that’s funny because I was born and grew up around this area.”

“Well, it’s not really an eye-catching place so you might have never noticed it.” okay, that was stupid. A shop with big glass windows that sells vintage stuff and has a ton of customers each day is NOT noticeable? A whole ass store doesn't normally pop up that instantly! He has to come up with a much better excuse.

Well, it's too late.

He tried to sound as casual as he could. The guy shrugged and gave him a smile.

“Maybe you’re right!” ok, this dude is dumb as rocks. 

"Why don’t you look around? Maybe you’ll find something you’d like.” the guy nodded.

Before he can even escape the scene (temporarily). The guy spoke again.

"Oh! I'm Jeongin by the way."

"Chan." He briefly shook the guy's hand, turning to his heel quietly. 

‘This is gonna be a long day…’

-

It’s been weeks since Jeongin first visited the antique shop. He completely forgot about the fact that the store suddenly popped out of nowhere. Chan was a bit bothered by his daily presence but eventually got used to it. He found himself waiting for the guy.

“Chan! I brought you donuts!” the familiar voice resonated around the shop. Chan was busy tending to a customer, he excused himself and shouted back at Jeongin. “Hang on, Jeongin. I have a customer.” he knew the guy would just walk towards the counter and sit there and wait for him. 

The bell rang again, Chan almost groaned, he hadn't rested until this morning except for the lunch break. Customers have been in and out for the past 6 hours. “I’ll get it, don't worry!” Jeongin shouted, racing to the door. Chan was thankful, although he doesn’t express it quite often.

Jeongin has been helping him for almost a month now. The guy was convinced that Chan wasn’t really a people person, that's why he didn’t hire other employees. Partially, he got it right. Jeongin wanted to change that, so he started coming into the shop after his classes and on his free day. He can clearly tell the shop owner was annoyed but he pushed further, until 1 week after his frequent visits, Chan offered him some tea. Feeling accomplished, he started coming into the shop even on weekends.

Jeongin was practically an unofficial employee at Chan’s antique shop.

He made his way to the customer, following them from behind. Answering their questions about the products. After almost a month of working there, he already knows almost all the vintage stuff, where they are located and how to price them. Not unlike the first time he made a beeline around the shop and ended up confusing both himself and the customer.

“Oh that, Sir, is a locket from 1882. It belonged to a farmer who was deeply in love with this rich woman. He sold half of his land just to buy that and gave it to the lady.” the customer was in awe and mentioned something about his wife liking vintage jewelry. Jeongin beamed at him. “Well isn’t that great! She would love this!” that was genuine happiness. Chan gave himself an imaginary pat on the back. ‘I have trained him well’ he thought.

Jeongin handed the customer the paper bag with a small box in it containing the necklace. With a bow and a smile, he thanked the customer. He didn’t even notice Chan creeping up beside him. “Nice work.” he flinched. He could never get used to Chan just popping out of nowhere inside the shop. It’s like he teleports. 

“Thanks!”

The customer Chan was tending to, wanted to be left alone so he went back to the counter. When he heard the customer call, he pushed Jeongin back into his chair. “I’ll get it.” earning a soft smile from the guy. Chan made his way to the customer to answer his question about the vase he got in China or Japan? Honestly, he can’t keep track anymore.

Jeongin watched Chan’s figure vanish into the clutter of stuff. He smiled. The guy was clearly lonely here. And he felt good about himself, making Chan befriend him, although the man hasn’t officially said it and he kinda annoyed him into this so-called ‘friendship’. 

His eyes rested on the flask that was sprawled onto the counter. He stood up to see if it was open. Glad that it was sealed shut, he arranged the container just to make sure it didn't spill. But curiosity drowned him.

This was the first time he ever saw that container on the counter, or even around the shop. He really didn’t take Chan as someone who drinks. He started turning the lid. Chan, on the other hand, hadn't noticed what Jeongin was doing because he was busy explaining to the customer. Jeongin expected to be welcomed by the strong smell of alcohol, with a final twist he removed the cap of the flask and took a whiff. His eyes went wide, and the flask slipped from his hands, falling onto the floor with a loud clang. Painting the marble floor in a deep shade of red.

Chan’s head snapped towards the counter right after Jeongin opened the lid. Chan prayed to his ancestors, wanting the boy to not try to see the contents of the flask. “Um, excuse me?” the customer piped, waving his hand in front of Chan’s face. Chan faced the guy and apologized; he tried his best to answer the question. If he was capable of sweating, he might already be standing in a pool of it.

A loud sound made him panic. With the blink of an eye, Chan vanished into thin air. Startling the customer.

“What do you think you’re doing?” His voice was low and deadly. Jeongin fell onto his butt with the sudden figure of Chan standing in front of him. He swore to himself that the man just magically appeared. With a surprised face, his gaze went back and forth from Chan and the mess he just made.

The customer screamed and started running towards the door. Chan snapped his hands, the door locked by itself and the blinds were also pulled down. He did that while staring right into the boy’s eyes like he was ordering him not to move a muscle. He slowly made his way to the customer, leaving Jeongin in a trance. 

“Forget.” the customer's face was stoned. Again, with a snap, the door flew open. “Leave.” The customer slowly walked out of the room. With the loud thud of the door, he was back to his senses. Clearly forgetting a whole chunk of his day as he walked home.

Chan sighed and popped back in front of the fox.

Chan noticed the guy’s erratic heartbeat, but that didn’t stop him from moving closer to him. His mind was clouded by anger. Jeongin should’ve never visited him here. He shouldn't have entertained him. He should’ve just pushed him away. He even warned the boy multiple times to not touch his stuff. Chan felt betrayed and at the same time, he was mad at himself for letting the boy soften him up.

Jeongin’s breathing was hitched and he could feel every muscle in his body stiffen. He couldn’t move because he was terrified. “Wa--you---” with a small voice he tried to make out the words: What are you?. Chan’s face appeared right in front of him. Jeongin noticed the absence of his usual soft stare. Chan slowly opened his mouth. The boy saw how 2 large fangs grew from Chan’s canine teeth. And at that moment he knew…

He’s gonna be killed by a vampire.

_

“CHRISTOPHER!!” a loud voice appeared out of nowhere. Jeongin still couldn’t move, he heard the voice, but his attention was focused on the situation right in front of him. There was a flash, out of reflex he covered his face with his arms and braced for impact. When the bright light vanished, he slowly peeled his eyes open. Chan has vanished in front of him. His wide eyes looked around, searching for the vampire.

“Jeez, you can never control your goddamn temper---Yang Jeongin, right?” a tall boy appeared right in front of him, his hand outstretched. Jeongin’s gaze slowly lifted up to the unknown person’s face. His mouth went agape.

“Aren’t you gonna take my hand?” Seungmin’s voice had a hint of annoyance. Not waiting for the boy to respond, he withdrew his hand and started waving it. Jeongin was suddenly lifted up in the air and with a soft thud, his feet were back on the floor. He never thought that one of his seniors in university would be saving his ass. Maybe because he doesn’t know what the fuck is happening.

Chan found himself laying on his bed with a gag on his mouth. With muffled screams, he easily broke free from the shackles on both his feet and hands. His eyes were blood-red as he looked at the door. “That fucking witch.” within a millisecond he appeared right in front of the scene. His frantic eyes found Jeongin facing the witch with a bewildered look. Chan stomped his way towards them.

Jeongin recoiled at the sight of Chan, his eyes were red, fangs were shown, and he also noticed his claws. The sight terrified him. Never in his life did he imagine encountering something like this. Sure, he believed in some fairy tales because they wouldn’t exist if they weren’t true. But he never begged to see them in real life. Oh god, he wished he never even encountered any of those… those monsters. But here he is, standing in front of Seungmin, which seems to be somewhat magical and Chan who is a blood-sucking monster.

Seungmin saw how the guy's face grew pale. He sighed and turned to Chan. Their faces are only centimeters apart. His expression didn’t change. “Who the fuck do you think you are to sto-” Seungmin held up his finger and lifted Chan of his feet. The vampire’s eyebrows furrowed as he struggled in the air. “Put me down, you witch!”

Seungmin looked the devil right in the eyes before sighing. He chuckled a little, making Jeongin more uneasy with the situation. Seungmin clearly knows Chan is beyond mad and now he still has the audacity to chuckle, Jeongin prepared for the worst. “It still doesn’t make sense how useless a powerful vampire like you becomes feeble when being levitated in the air by magic.” Seungmin laughed a bit loudly, making Jeongin shake in fear. He tried stealing a glance from Chan but was stopped by the witch.

“Don’t, he can kill you with his stare.” hearing the seriousness behind Seungmin's voice, he  nodded and looked away. The witch was exaggerating of course. 

Seungmin turned to Chan. The vampire’s expression was terrifying, even he earned goosebumps just by taking a small glance. He knew Chan could easily control him, so he avoided the vampire’s gaze. “You have to calm down.” the vampire continued to growl in a low tone. Jeongin was still shaking but he felt bad about what happened. It was all his fault if he had not opened that flask, both him and Chan would have been enjoying the fresh donuts he got from the bakery. Jeongin looked down on his bag, thinking to himself that they’re probably soggy by now.

Seungmin waited for the vampire to calm down. Chan, on the other hand, had no plan on doing what the stupid witch said. Seungmin furrowed his eyebrows.

“I’ve never seen you this angry whenever a human finds out you’re a vampire. What’s up with you?” Chan's eyes faltered. Seungmin had a point. He continued to soften up a bit until Seungmin finally let his feet touch the ground.

The witch turned to Jeongin who was still standing and catching his breath. He gave him a casual smile while putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “This will not hurt.” 

“What would not hurt? What are you planning on doing to me?” Jeongin looked at both of them with wide eyes. Seungmin gave his shoulder a light squeeze.

“We’re just gonna have to remove all your memories starting from when you entered this shop up to the present.” That made sense.

Jeongin accepted his fate. He knew what was gonna happen, he felt sad and defeated. Chan was the only person who was nice to him. He knew the man was clearly annoyed at first by his frequent visits, but Chan never said anything that would offend the boy. He didn’t push him away. It was a shame that their friendship would end like this.

All of a sudden, the door shot open, alarming all three of them. Chan knew he locked the door but who would be powerful enough to bring down an antique door sealed shut by magic. His query was answered when Woojin came dashing through the store with a strong smell of blood that was visible when he arrived in front of the counter. His eyes were full of worry and anger as he looked into the eyes of the vampire. 

Chan's displeasure towards the boy had vanished. “Woojin…” those were the only words that were exchanged between the two. Woojin held back his tears and approached Chan, ignoring the two unknown presences watching the scene unfold. Chan's eyes traveled from the man’s face to his bloody shirt. “It’s Jisung…” Chan's head snapped back to Woojin’s face. His face was stern and serious. He didn’t need an explanation. Both sprinted towards the door, leaving a baffled witch and Jeongin.

Seungmin let out an exasperated sigh and gripped the guy’s wrist before dragging him outside the shop, shouting “REALLY CHAN? WEREWOLVES??!!” as he did so.

[musetotheworld]

I'm glad you're still taking prompts because I have one, lol. Set after the Adam fiasco. Supergirl rescues Cat after an alien attack but a chemical secretion/reaction from the alien means they're literally stuck together until the effect fades. Quarantined at the DEO, they can't be 'professional' any longer.

Kara spends the first hour wishing teleportation were one of her abilities. That, or maybe J'onn’s ability to fade through walls. Anything that would get her out of this situation.

They’d tried to keep up the charade, of course. Sent agents to CatCo rather than bring Cat to the DEO. Spoken about Kara as if she were just an innocent bystander. There was no familiarity with any of the agents Kara knew so well by now, no bright smiles or questions about family. Everything stayed perfectly professional. They brought in a few DEO medics to act as ‘emergency responders’ and did everything possible to make it seem like a routine response to a strange situation.

And of course, none of it impressed Cat. She seemed impossible to please, sighing endlessly as she pulled away from Kara as if hoping the mysterious substance would suddenly release its hold. She didn’t yell at the agents, not beyond a few snapped comments here and there, but even without that it was profoundly uncomfortable.

Because no matter what happened, Cat would not acknowledge Kara’s existence. She avoided looking at her, the tugs at their joined arms were never commented on, and any time an agent spoke to Kara the pretense extended to that agent as well. For all the attention Cat paid her, Kara might as well have been a mannequin.

It had Siobhan smirking all afternoon until the DEO banished her from the office citing contagion concerns. Likely one of the agents had seen Kara’s barely suppressed anger after a particularly pointed interaction between CEO and new assistant, but whatever the reason, Kara was grateful. Even if it meant sitting next to Cat in awkward silence as the agents gathered samples and the medics ran their tests.

“We’d like to call your emergency contacts,” one of those medics says after the first hour, approaching with caution as Cat stiffened. “It’s been an hour, and protocol states we’re to reach out to the designated individual if the situation continues past that. Do either of you need to update that contact?”

“You can call, but I highly doubt she’ll bother answering,” Cat says. She sounds dismissive, even bored, but Kara hasn’t spent this much time learning her tells for nothing.

There’s a layer of hurt beneath the calm, and Kara wishes things were better between them. Wishes they still had the ease and familiarity from before Adam, before things went to hell and “strictly professional”. If this had happened then, she could have reached out, offered some form of comfort or understanding. Anything but sitting awkwardly and pretending she didn’t hear how much this was affecting Cat.

“No, Eliza is fine,” Kara says quietly when the medic turns to her, hoping they’ve been briefed well enough.

Alex is Kara’s official emergency contact in the CatCo system, but they can’t risk her showing up here. Not when the agents react with an instinctive respect, not when Alex commands it without thinking. Not when Alex has been around CatCo more than a few times since Kara started here. And not when Kara knows her sister’s image has shown up in several Supergirl shots over the last few months as DEO agents respond to whatever alien threat is looming.

Cat isn’t blind, and with the recent appearance of Bizarro so soon after only barely convincing her Kara wasn’t Supergirl, there was no sense in tempting fate. Better to keep Alex out of sight.

Except it turns out Alex might have been safer, all things considered. Because Cat goes politely cordial when Eliza arrives, asking questions and making casual conversation. And when Eliza makes a suggestion to the medics, Cat asks about her work.

“Oh, I’m a bio-engineer,” Eliza says with a smile. She seems fairly charmed by Cat’s friendly demeanor, even if she’d been a little wary at first. “This particular situation isn’t my area of expertise, but I do know a few things here and there.”

“Well then it’s a good thing you’re Kara’s emergency contact,” Cat says leaning forward a little in the way she does just before springing a trap. Kara wants to jump up, wants to do something, anything to stop whatever is about to happen, but she doesn’t know what it is. What if she just makes things worse?

“I doubt she ever considered they’d call for a situation like this, but I suppose it is,” Eliza says, looking at a sheet of paper one of the medics hands her with a slight frown. “I’m just grateful I can help, even if my doctorate isn’t really in medical fields.”

“I suppose that runs in the family,” Cat says, sounding interested but relaxed, as if she’s splitting her focus. It’s her way of putting people at ease, and it scares Kara more than any alien she’s faced before. She can’t stop it, doesn’t know what’s coming, but she knows something is about to go wrong. “A scientist mother with some medical knowledge, one daughter following in her footsteps, and the other flying her own path.”

“I’m very proud of them both,” Eliza says without looking up from the report in front of her, totally missing the way every agent in the room freezes at her words.

The worst thing is the way Cat reacts. Rather than anger, or gloating, she’s silent. Even Kara can’t tell what she’s thinking.

The agent in charge reacts first, phone out and calling the DEO and giving an update now that Cat Grant has proof of Kara’s identity. Even if she didn’t have a recording or the words in writing, she had enough information to run the story anyway. The lack of concrete evidence wouldn’t matter at that point. The story would be out, and millions of eyes would be on Kara. Irrefutable proof would follow soon enough under that kind of attention.

The relocation to the city DEO base doesn’t take long, and if the situation were any less serious Kara would be seriously put out at the fact there’s been a closer base all this time. The flight to the desert base takes no time at all, but getting the dust off her boots and cape is a pain. Every time she forgets and collapses into her bed or onto the couch she has to spend the next day cleaning up the mess.

“Well, thirty minutes alone in a shadowy government building and no one’s come to threaten me,” Cat says once they’ve been settled into the med bay. The medics have all scattered to run various tests on the substance now that they’re in the same location as the labs, and the two are alone for a moment for the first time since the alien had attacked. “I’m starting to think I might make it out of here after all.”

“Give it a bit,” Kara mutters. “This time of day, Alex is probably just stuck in traffic.”

“Ah yes, that would be the Danvers sister with a spine, correct?”

The words hurt, and for once Kara doesn’t push down the emotion. She lets it boil over into anger in a way she’s never dared before. But she’s never been both Supergirl and Kara with Cat before. She’s never been able to show every side of her, she’s had to hide no matter what face she presented to the woman.

“If we have to be stuck together, you could at least try not being insufferable,” Kara grits out, raising their joined arms to make her point. “You might be the Queen of all Media, but this is a shadowy government organization that doesn’t exist. This kind of fight wouldn’t be as easy as you’d like to think.”

As soon as the words leave her lips Kara wants to take them back, horrified she’d spoken so frankly. But she’d impressed Cat, Kara can tell that much, and it keeps her from immediately backtracking. Beyond that, she gets nothing.

Settling back in her chair with a disgruntled sigh, Kara resigns herself to a very uncomfortable few hours until the scientists come up with something to break them apart.

At this point, she’d rather go five rounds with her uncle.

***

“Kara!”

The worry in Alex’s tone, as well as the fact she’s using her real name, tips Kara off that someone has filled her sister in on the latest developments. Which means things might get very awkward very shortly.

Well, more awkward than they already are, she thinks as she moves to stand and gets pulled back by Cat’s weight against her. She’s consciously dialed her strength back to human levels to avoid hurting her boss, which means the tug nearly pulls her off balance and has her staggering slightly to regain it.

“I’m okay, Alex,” Kara says, resolutely ignoring the way Cat rolls her eyes. They haven’t said a word since Kara had snapped at her, and this doesn’t seem like an auspicious time to break that silence.

“You’re not okay! Mom gave your secret away to your boss, who happens to be the head of an international media conglomerate. Oh, and you’re also physically stuck to that boss. So no, Kara, don’t tell me you’re okay.”

Kara can’t blame her sister for being upset, but she’d hoped it wouldn’t be this bad. Right now, she’s not sure whether to be embarrassed or frustrated with Alex, even though Kara understands where her sister is coming from.

“It’s handled, okay?” Kara tries to reassure her, still hoping they can keep the situation from devolving further.

“Not yet it isn’t,” Alex says darkly, turning her attention to where Cat is still sitting looking fully composed. How she manages that with one arm stretched in front of her and attached to Kara’s is anyone’s guess, but she does. “You have a single good reason I shouldn’t lock you in a cell so deep they never find you?”

“You mean other than the inconvenient detail that I’m currently attached to your sister?” Cat fires back. Alex is in full tactical gear with a rifle slung over one shoulder, probably to make a statement, but Cat doesn’t flinch. And if not for a small flicker of fear in her eyes, even Kara would think she was perfectly calm in the face of Alex’s anger.

“Alex, relax,” Kara orders, trying to sound authoritative in the hopes it will make Alex trust her. “She didn’t tell the world last time she figured me out, what makes you think this time will be any different?”

“We don’t know she wasn’t going to tell the world,” Alex argues. “We convinced her before things got to that point.”

“Oh, please,” Cat says, finally standing and moving to Kara’s side. It presents them as a unified front, something Kara has missed and hopes isn’t temporary. “Do you really think I would let a story like that just sit around if I had any intentions of publishing?  Like hell I’d risk the Planet scooping me. If I’d intended to expose Supergirl’s secret identity, the article would have been written and posted that night.”

“You could’ve been waiting for proof,” Alex argues, refusing to back down even when Kara raises a calming hand. “The way you’ve treated Kara lately, you really expect me to believe you were somehow looking out for her?”

“I had all the proof I needed to at least raise the question in people’s minds. The rest would have followed.” Cat is just as determined as Alex, and considering the agent’s earlier threat, Kara is impressed. It takes a strong soul to stand up to Alex when she’s feeling this protective.

“No more arguing,” Kara tries again.

“You’re right, no more arguing,” Alex says, eyes narrowing as her hands tense. “Because there’s nothing to argue about. If she tells anyone who you are, or if she so much as hints at holding this against you in any way, I might not bother with that cell.”

“Alex, out!”

This time Cat’s reaction isn’t subtle, though she mostly hides it behind a scoff. But Kara knows her too well, and Alex is too well trained to miss this one. Cat is legitimately frightened Alex might actually carry out her threat.

“I see what you mean about the sister,” Cat says, turning as far as their linked arms will allow. “She’s certainly convincing.”

“She’s worried,” Kara defends, wanting to make this right but not knowing where to begin. It’s not just Supergirl that’s between them now. It’s betrayed trust and buried hurts freshly resurfaced. It’s secrets and confidence and failed communication. There’s too much to fix with a few words.

“I did manage to catch that, beneath the bluster,” Cat says with a deep sigh, turning back to meet Kara’s eyes. “And loath as I am to admit it, she’s right.”

“What do you mean?” Kara asks, not sure where this is going. Cat almost never admits she’s been wrong.

She can show it in a hundred different ways, but the words don’t come easily. And when she’s in situations that put her on the spot like this, she usually defaults to pretending she’s completely in control.

“God, Kara,” she groans. “Even you, with all your Sunny Danvers optimism, have to admit I’ve treated you like shit lately. I can’t blame Agent Scully there for thinking I’d do the same in this situation.”

“Then why did you push Eliza for my identity?” Kara asks, confused. “We could’ve sat in your office until they solved the problem and skipped all of this.”

“I saw a chance for the truth and took it,” Cat shrugs. “I didn’t think much beyond that. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised your sister wants to lock me in some cage somewhere.”

“I won’t let her do that,” Kara says immediately, daring to reach out with her free hand to rest it on Cat’s shoulder. “She’s worried about me just like she always is, but I won’t let her do that to you, okay? In fact, I’ll make her bring you a phone so you can call Carter. And Adam, if you want.”

She’s not blind or an idiot, she knows why Cat is scared. If it were only about herself, she would have fought. She would have reminded Alex who she is and what pressure she can bring to bear. She would have demanded to speak to the director, to the President even. The fact she hadn’t speaks just as much as her threats would have.

“You aren’t my assistant here,” Cat says with an attempt at her usual dismissiveness. But Kara can see the thanks in her eyes, and she knows how much the offer means.

“I am unless you’re firing me,” she dares to say, one brow raised in something like challenge as she stares Cat down.

“I believe that would fall under the ‘holding this against you’ clause of your sister’s threat,” Cat points out with a wry smile.

The moment stretches on, full of unspoken communications that Kara doesn’t think any of the languages she knows could encompass. It’s them, purely and completely, and nothing else. Something has shifted, something has changed, and for once they’ve both decided to let it happen, trusting it’s all for the better.

“So we think we have a solution,” Alex interrupts. She’s removed most of her tactical gear, and is holding an opaque container in one hand and a stack of papers in the other. “So we’ll see about getting you free, then we can move on to making sure none of this makes headlines tomorrow.”

Cat sniffs at the sight of no doubt every NDA the DEO has on hand, but doesn’t protest. Kara knows any protest would be solely for show, but she’s grateful they won’t have an argument about this as well as everything from before.

As Alex directs them towards the sink and begins to scrub at their joined arms, Kara narrows her eyes down at the foam. “Alex, is that dish soap?” she asks incredulously, recognizing the blue liquid from years of household chores.

“Something about it negates the adhesive properties of the alien secretions,” Alex says with a shrug. “One of the scientists suggested it after remember something her kids did a few years back.”

“Soap and water,” Cat says in disbelief. “We were glued together for hours because no one thought to try soap and water.”

“Would you rather we tried that first and the soap had a negative reaction with the substance?” Alex says sharply, looking a little defensive of her science division.

Kara’s just glad to finally be free, and as soon as they’ve dried their arms off she pulls Cat into a hug, unable to resist the need to hold her close. They’d been stuck together for hours, but this feels different.

And from the way Cat doesn’t fight, just wraps her own arms around Kara, she thinks the need is mutual. Whether it’s just catharsis, or whether it has something to do with the shift in their relationship, Kara doesn’t know. But for the first time since Cat had insisted they be purely professional, she’s hopeful they’ll have a chance to figure it out.

And when Cat’s lips press just barely against her neck before she finally pulls back, Kara thinks they both know what’s changed.

[sequoiann]

❧ c.sc | bad fame

pairing; seventeen s.coups x reader

genre; angst, fluff, a bit of swearing?

synopsis; you knew it was going to be hard, but not to this extent. you never imagined that it would be even half as bad as it was now — the idol life. seungcheol is your senior under the same agency, and with your bubbling popularity in a bad light, he recognizes you as you two cross paths in the office building.

but he knows you aren’t what the media makes you seem to be.

word count; 2.8k 

notes; i’m so sorry that seungcheol wasn’t there from the very start of the scenario, but this one is much longer so the front is more of a build-up! this scenario is much longer than my usual ones so i hope you guys enjoy it !! i haven’t been posting bc i was working on this HAHA do let me know what you thinkk ;)

As soon as you stepped out of your hotel room, you hastily slipped on your grey mask and sunglasses, pulling your hood over your head as your hand clutched onto your luggage handle. The need to hide your face has gotten more and more prominent as days passed, and it almost became a habit for you to not show any facial features of yourself when you stepped out into public. Even though you knew no one was going to be in the hallways of the hotel room you stayed in, you still did it as a precaution.

Your stylist, Rachelle, came out after you, and used her fingers to comb through the odd strands of light brown hair poking out of your hoodie, smoothing them out and letting some flow naturally down past your shoulders, so you looked less like you just got out of bed. A small exhausted breath escapes your lips.

“It doesn’t really matter anymore, doesn’t it?” you said softly, head tilted downwards.

Rachelle furrows her brows and presses her lips together in disapproval. “Of course it does, love,” she coos gently, and you manage a small smile even though it’s not seen. “Don’t think like that.”

You assume she could see your smile through your slightly risen cheekbones, because she returned the smile reassuringly.

Your manager comes out of the room next to yours, and he grabs the heavier hand-carry luggage you were holding on.

“Let’s go, the car’s at the lobby. It’ll take us straight to the airport,” he mutters, walking ahead of you.

You mumble a quiet note of acknowledgment, glancing at Rachelle for a second before following close behind your manager.

The three of you took the lift downstairs, where your two other co-managers were already waiting. The two were often not with you; they were the ones who just settled admin matters.

You knew it was going to have to take more than just three people around you as you made your way to the car at the lobby area.

Just as you predicted, the second the lift doors opened, your were greeted with five (or were there six?) bodyguards who worked at the hotel, and they immediately formed a barrier around you.

Fans, or rather, a mix of anti-fans and fans, swarmed around you, but the staff around you made sure they couldn’t come in direct contact with you.

It is the agency’s responsibility to take care of the physical and mental well-being of their artists, they say. Of course.

Random words were thrown at you, and you couldn’t decipher much except for the usual “I love you”s and “Look over here”s. You politely bowed as you were slowly led towards where you were supposed to be.

A few hands reached past the guards and started flapping around, and some had hit you lightly, brushed past you, nothing serious.

Until someone throws a relatively heavy bag of something at you. You stumbled back in surprise, and you felt someone hold you to stop you from falling. Although there wasn’t exactly any space for you to actually fall to the floor — you were legitimately surrounded.

“Oops!” you heard someone call out, before snickers erupted from a group. The insincerity, sarcasm, and deliberateness were almost deafening. You felt bright flashes hitting past your sunglasses and onto your eyes. You blinked a few times, the repeatedly blinking lights blinding.

“Please put your cameras away and make way! We have a flight to catch!” one of your managers shouted over the loud chatters, and you felt yourself being nudged forward a little. You shook your head and quickened your footsteps.

After five long minutes, you finally get to your car, and you scramble to the back seat as your managers and stylist took the front ones. You thanked the guards before your manager closed the car door, and you leaned back onto your headrest, pulling off your mask so that you could breathe easier, and let your eyelids fall close.

Rachelle glances back at you, assuming you were asleep, then sighs softly.

“Shouldn’t we do something about those kinds of threats?” she asked your manager, her voice awfully soft. You could almost visualize him shrugging it off.

“What can we do? What’s happened has happened.”

You squeezed your eyes shut, as if it would block out your hearing at the same time — and was then driven to the airport; to head back to Seoul.

The minute you arrived at the airport, you checked in quickly so that you could avoid anyone who was finding trouble. You knew they’d come chasing sooner or later.

The plane ride back to Seoul was peaceful enough, and you managed to get some well-needed rest while up in the air.

When you landed, you geared back on, your usual hood, sunglasses, and mask back on shielding your face. You knew full well of what was ahead of you the moment you step out of the arrival hall.

The same scenario happens. Guards encircled you, and screaming people flocked to you, immediately sensing your presence.

This time, it was worse than whatever that had happened previously. You heard no positive words; no words that would’ve come from a fan’s lips. Instead, all you heard was —

“Get out of Pledis!”

“Don’t blame others for your wrongdoing, you shameless person!”

“You call yourself an idol?!”

And the next thing you knew, you see an oval egg flying in your direction. You raise your hand in defense and it smashes into your arm, cracking and leaking its raw contents onto your sleeve.

“Ooh”s and “Aah”s were heard, and tears pricked the corners of your eyes. No, Y/N. No crying.

You let your hand fall to your side as if thinking nothing of it.

The guards became more aggressive after that, pushing everyone aside, and you briskly walked to the exit where the car that would take you back to the company building was.

You got into the car, your face still kept straight as you remove your sunglasses. The car drove off, back to the company building, and silence hung in the air during the drive. All that was heard was the light panting sounds from Rachelle and the managers.

The car reached the company building in approximately 30 minutes, and you grabbed your backpack, while your other luggage was handled by your managers.

“Go to the practice room and change into the spare clothing there. You have vocal training later,” your manager told you monotonously as if nothing ever happened.

“Right,” you answered, turning to Rachelle as you became aware of the worried look she was shooting you.

You shook your head as a translation of “I’m alright”. Rachelle wasn’t convinced, but you just went in first, to the lift lobby.

That’s when you felt yourself start to shake ever so slightly, and your muscles were aching as if you’d been holding yourself still the past hour.

Your unsteady hand hit the lift ‘up’ button, and you let your head hang low as you waited for it to come up from the basement. Your thoughts started to wander in flashbacks.

When you auditioned to become an artist under Pledis, you already knew being an idol wasn’t going to be easy. You knew the cons that would definitely come along with it, but you didn’t expect it to get so bad.

The debut album you released received a fair amount of positive attention. You were glad, you got off a good start. However, the second album you released was nowhere near that. The composer of the song had apparently plagiarized the introduction from another official soundtrack, but you were oblivious. No one knew, until your album was recorded, packaged, released.

Fans of the original soundtrack noticed the similarity, and it became your fault. When you tried to defend yourself by saying that you were not the one who had made the song you sang, it became a situation where you were trying to push the blame.

It resulted in horrible, unwanted fame.

You heard a soft ‘ding’, and the elevator doors opened in front of you. You sucked in a breath of air, stepped in, and noticed another person who was in there with you. You didn’t bother to check who, though.

You used your other hand to cover the stains that had been made on your sleeve by the raw egg, and teardrops started rolling down your cheeks.

“Hey.”

You flinched a little and turned to the person standing beside you, widening your eyes as your recognized him.

S.Coups. The leader of Seventeen. Your senior.

“S-sunbaenim,” you stammered.

Seungcheol — which was S.Coups’ real name — frowned, surprised at the sudden formalities you displayed.

“You alright?” he asked, cocking his head to a side as you looked ahead, naturally avoiding his eyes.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” you laughed a lightheartedly, surprised at how genuine-sounding it came out as.

You had signed in as an official Pledis trainee about six months before Seventeen had made their debut, so generally speaking, you had trained with them for that short period of time. You knew them well enough to hold casual conversations with them, but not to the point where you guys actually hung out.

It wasn’t supported by the company, after all. They didn’t like the male and females in the company to mix or to get too comfortable with each other. It sounded logical since you were aware of how fans outside easily misjudge and rumors would start floating.

Seungcheol was one of the trainees you talked to the most back then. When the two of you were still trainees. You were told that you suited debuting as a soloist, instead of being a member of a full group — which was what you aimed for at first — so you gladly accepted that position.

And you debuted a year and a half after Seventeen did.

Knowing that Seungcheol was the leader of the 13-member group, you often went to him for help and advice; since you knew you’d be all on your own.

Seventeen received a baffling amount of attention after they made their official debut, partially because of the promotions that they had been doing even before releasing their first album. Through all those, Seungcheol gained experience quick. He helped you tremendously, guiding you through what you should refrain from doing, and what you should daringly do. He mentioned the tiniest of details that you would’ve never thought about.

No matter how negative it sounded, he’d tell you. Because he knows if he doesn’t, it’ll be harder for you to handle when it happens.

He told you everything and anything — from how you should control your really hyper behavior to how you should never show your sadness to the public. He said that’s what they really wanna see. And you were aware that as an idol, you’d have to do what they want.

But Seungcheol never imagined that such a thing would happen to you at such an early stage of your debut. The online articles about what happened to you were endless, and unsightly videos of you were reposted and reposted, again and again until it went viral. Undoubtedly, Seungcheol saw them.

And seeing you in the lift, holding yourself up when he can see right through you and see your own walls breaking apart…

It hurt him.

He watched you more than you knew. He took care of you more than you knew. He peeks into your dance studio every now and then when he passes by to make sure you could cope. He even leaves random bottles of water by the door to make sure you stayed hydrated. He ordered food takeaways and anonymously delivers them to your photo shoots.

He silently took care of you like an older brother would.

Seungcheol’s eyes darted over to the discolored patch on your sleeve that you were uncomfortably trying to hide. That’s when his sense of smell kicks in and he effortlessly identified its origin.

“You need some new clothes,” he said, the elevator coming to the level that you were supposed to arrive at.

“Manager Do said there’re some in the practice room,” you told him, stepping towards the door that was going to open soon. “I’ll change into those.”

“They always say that,” Seungcheol mumbled softly, shaking his head. You didn’t hear him, though.

The elevator door finally opens, and you let out a quiet, heavy breath as you took stepped out. As soon as you did, Seungcheol grabs onto your arm from behind, pulling you back into the lift and pressing the ‘close’ button, and only letting you go after the lift doors closed shut.

You looked at him in annoyance. You weren’t in the mood to continue being polite and cheery like you usually was.

“I have practice, Seu—” you paused for a mere millisecond as you lowered your tone. “—sunbaenim.”

“That can wait,” he said easily, as if not listening to whatever you were saying.

The elevator proceeds up two more floors, before the doors open and you’re nudged out softly by Seungcheol. You unwillingly followed him to another practice room — the one you recognized as Seventeen’s. He pushes down on the door handle, opening it, and you catch a glimpse of the other members. You instinctively took a step back, your feelings mixed. You felt guilty, ashamed to see them in your state.

“Come in,” Seungcheol says, almost ordering you to.

“What for?” you questioned, your patience level running low.

Seungcheol raises an eyebrow, and, once again, pulls you in by your wrist. It wasn’t a forceful drag, but you weren’t happy with it.

You stumble in and the other twelve members turn to you. They recognized you instantly and wide, bright smiles formed on their originally worn out features.

“Y/N!” they chorused messily, Seungkwan actually running over to crush you in a hug. You smiled slightly — this time with it being a little more legitimate. Your clean arm wrapped back around him as you let your other stained arm hide behind your body. It was an awkward position, but Seungkwan doesn’t notice.

Seungcheol smiles at the sight,, but quickly tells them to get back to practice, and that he would join them in a while. They nodded and shot you a few last looks, before turning back to the mirror in front of them and returning to their practice.

Seungcheol then leads you to the vocal training studio that was connected at the back, and you lifted your wrist to check the time on your watch.

“Seungcheol, seriously, not now. I only have five minutes,” you deadpanned, getting more and more irritated as time passed.

He pays no attention to you as he grabs a beige hoodie from a chair, passing it to you.

“Change into these,” he said, and you declined.

“No, it’s okay, I don’t need it,” you said, pushing it back into his hands as you clenched your jaw. Your eye level was to the ground again.

“Y/N—”

And you just burst.

“I said I don’t need it!” you raised your voice. You knew at the back of your head that the vocal studio was soundproof.

“Stop being so nice to me! Stop asking me questions and looking at me like you actually care! I’m sorry I’m doing nothing for this company, I’m sorry I’m being a burden. I’m trying, I really am, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m guilty, I’m trying to avoid all of you, every single one of you, and you dragging me here isn’t making me feel any better! I don’t want to see any of you, don’t you get it!?”

You were screaming, your internal words just pulling themselves out of your throat without any sugar coating. Your tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down your face. There is static at the side of your head once more, the side effect of living with this constant stress and fear every single day. The muscles of your chin tremble like a small child’s, and you bit in your lips as you looked away from Seungcheol. Your fists balled so tight that you could feel your own nails digging into your palm, and then your fists, too, started shaking.

Seungcheol stands there, for a few seconds, just looking at you. Then he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close, gently rubbing your arm as you just cried into his chest. You couldn’t hold it in any longer — you just couldn’t.

His embrace was warm, and his arms seemed protective around your frail self. He softly cooed you, swaying you side to side a little as an attempt to calm you down.

“It’ll be alright,” he whispered. “It will be.”

For the first time in the past five months, you felt like nothing could hurt you. Nothing at all. 

[thewitchandthebeasthimself]

The Witch and The Beast Himself: Chapter 8

While I was very excited to finally meet Celty, the Headless Rider, I couldn’t stop thinking about what Izaya had been doing to us the past couple of days. What was the reason for this? Why did he feel the need to want to tear BOTH of us apart?

“Hey, are you okay?” Shizuo asked we reached the Shinra and Celty’s apartment building. His energy showed that he suspected that there was something genuinely wrong with me.

“Yeah, um, I’m just nervous…” I quickly made up. “...about meeting her. I don’t wanna seem like an idiot or anything.”

He laughed and wrapped his arm around my waist. “Don’t worry about it, (your name), Celty’s a great person. If anything, she might feel more weird about meeting you than you do about her. But you’ll be fine. And,” I perceived that he still wanted to pry into what was wrong with me; my energy changing spell must’ve been fading. “If you ever need to talk about anything, just tell me.”

I took a deep breath in, breathed out, changed my energy to neutral again, and flashed him a smile. “Of course, Shizuo, I appreciate it.”

He led me into the apartment building, then we took the elevator up to the 38th floor.

“How do you know her so well?” I asked along the way. While I could answer that question myself by using a quick Past spell to see into his past, I wanted to keep our conversation fresh by letting him answer those questions for me.

“She and Shinra have been friends of mine since middle school.” he said. “Both of them are great people. Just don’t tell Shinra what you are; he’ll try to convince you to let him dissect you.”

I laughed, “That’s so weird, why?”

“He’s an underground doctor and surgeon. He usually takes home calls to patch people up when they don’t want to go to the hospital.”

“Ohhh, I see.” I said.    

When we reached the apartment door, Shizuo rang the doorbell.

“Coming!” yelled a muffled man’s voice. I felt his very energetic and curious energy as he came up to the door. The man that answered had brown downward spiky hair, glasses, wore a long white lab coat, and appeared to be around the same age as Shizuo.

“Shizuo!” he then glanced at me. “And you must be his new girlfriend! Come in, I’ll put some tea on!”

He let us past and shut the door behind us. We took our shoes off at the door and walked further into the apartment.

Oh my god, there she is.

I spot Celty, sitting up straight with her hands folded in her lap, in an armchair close to their huge window that overlooked the brightly lit city. She was extremely slender, wearing a long black bodysuit and a yellow and blue helmet with cat ears. I noticed that she had absolutely no energy coming from her body. I followed Shizuo over to the couch that sat adjacent from her. He allowed me to sit on the far left end, closest to her while he sat next to me on the right.

“Hey Celty,” Shizuo said. “How was that job?”

I watched her as a cell phone flew up from her sleeve as if she summoned it, and fell into her hand. She began typing very quickly into it then showed it to us:

[It went okay, I'm just glad to be back home. Is this your new girlfriend?]

“Yeah,” Shizuo replied. “This is (your name).”

“Um, hi,” I said rather awkwardly.

She typed quickly on the keyboard again then showed it to me:

 [I'm Celty, nice to meet you! ^_^ Good to see that Shizuo finally has a girlfriend! You're not human either, are you?]

My eyes widened, “How did you know?”

She used her left hand to flip up the black visor on her helmet, allowing me to peer inside. I looked into it in pure astonishment and wonder, seeing that she in fact had no head but instead, black smoke rising from the top of her severed neck. I never thought that I would get to see this for myself. Somehow I felt more comfortable with her after she volunteered to let me see into her helmet.

She flipped the visor down, then typed on her phone:

[I’m a dullahan, minus my head at my side. I could tell the moment you walked in the door that you weren’t human either. It's alright though, your secret is safe with me.]

I smiled, “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

[No problem, us Supernatural beings have to stick together :) ]

“So how did you get to meet an American, Shizuo?” Shinra yelled from the kitchen.

[Shinra! Be nice!] Celty typed into her phone and faced it at him.

“No it’s okay,” I said. I decided to show off my quirkier side by saying,“ I met him on the street a little while after I got here. I obviously thought he was cute so I decided to ask him out, now here we are.”

Shizuo smirked at my clearly made up story. I nudged him with my elbow playfully.

“That’s pretty ballsy of you to walk up to a guy like him and ask him out!” Shinra remarked, poking fun at Shizuo.

“You better rethink that remark,” Shizuo said in a challenging tone, crossing his arms.

“Aw come on, let me joke around with you for once!” Shinra whined. He came back into the living room with three steaming mugs of tea and set them all down on the coffee table, then picked up his mug and began blowing at the cup so he could take a sip. I bent over and grabbed my cup as well. Shizuo waited a sec for his to cool down before he bent over to grab his. Celty then turned on the TV and flipped it to the news, where a Blood Diamond attack story was being covered.

“Dammit, those bastards are starting to get a name for themselves,” Shizuo grumbled, gulping down every last drop of his tea.

[That’s their fifth attack this week.]

“Yeah, me being one of them,” Shizuo remarked. “I’m gonna find a way to put an end to their little bullshit gang. And I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that fleabag is behind it all.” I felt his angry energy rise as he unintentionally shattered the cup in one hand while he spoke. The sight shocked everyone in the room.

“Shizuoooo! I really wish you’d stop breaking our cups, we just bought these!” Shinra frantically set his cup down on the coffee table then jumped up to grab a broom and dustpan out of the kitchen.

“Huh?” he looked down and realized what he just did, his energy falling back to neutral. “Oh, sorry, I’ll buy you another one.”

“Whatever, just don’t forget to this time,” Shinra said in a huffy tone. He quickly cleaned up Shizuo’s mess with the broom and dustpan, slid the broken glass into their garbage can, put the cleaning supplies back into the kitchen closet, then came back and sat down next to Shizuo.

“I don’t think Izaya would have anything to do this gang, though,” Shinra continued the conversation about the Blood Diamonds. “Last I heard he moved to Saitama and vowed to never return here.”

“No, he’s back, I saw him before I met her,” Shizuo grumbled as he nudged me. “When I find that bastard I’m gonna make him wish he never showed his face here.”

[Izaya’s back?!] Celty responded.

“Oh jeez,” Shinra facepalmed and shook his head in shame. “Hopefully he’s not gonna be stupid enough to mess with you right now.”

I wish you were right… I thought, thinking about everything that’s happened with Izaya so far and everything he said to me on the phone earlier. As I finished my cup of tea and set it down on the coffee table, the news caught my attention:

“In other news, this morning an anonymous source sent in amazing footage of an American woman here in Tokyo turning invisible next to an alleyway, becoming visible, and running into the alleyway to a blonde haired man lying on the ground covered in blood,” the news anchor stated. Everyone in the room watched the news as my eyes widened in fear and disgust. Before me played footage of the night that I saved Shizuo, mirroring exactly everything I did from what looked to be from above.

“Wait a minute, (your name),” Shizuo said, “Is that… US?” anger rose in his voice and energy.  

The newsman continued, “She appears to be spreading a green light through her fingertips and onto a local man, which appeared to have pulled bullets out of his back and made his neck snap back into place. We haven’t gotten any details on who this woman is; officials are currently looking into finding the identity of this woman and ….” I became blinded with anger and my body shook violently to what I’d just seen; everything around me disappeared as my blood boiled. I put my head into my hands, bent down and collapsed onto my lap to keep myself from exploding with rage.

Izaya has just exposed me to all of Tokyo, possibly to the entire world. I tried so damn hard to keep what I am a secret with the exception of Shizuo and Celty, but he was one step ahead of me. He did tell me on the phone he watched me on the rooftop but he didn’t tell me he had recorded the whole thing and sent it to a fucking news station! This is what happened in my hometown all over again. People in Tokyo will fear me, I now have the officials here looking for me, trying to kick me out of Ikebukuro. I’ll lose my job, I’ll have to become confined to my house, and all of it is because of him.

Fucking… Izaya… Stop… My thoughts became jumbled. I’m…. gonna make him pay…

“(your name), (your name)!” Shizuo’s voice broke through my thoughts and brought me back down to earth. “Are you okay? What the hell is going on?!”

I lifted my head up, looked at him for a second, then broke down into his arms. He wrapped his arms around me, understanding how I felt but still not understanding why someone had recorded that very moment.

“What is going on here?” Shinra asked. “Was that actually you two on TV?”

“Yeah, to be honest, that video is how we actually met,” Shizuo explained. “I was just hit by those Blood bastards, then she came in and used healing magic on me to save my life.”

“Healing magic?! Like, dungeons and dragons, healing magic?!” Shinra adjusted his glasses, wide-eyed and fascinated by the whole story. “Are you kidding me? How is that even real?!”

I sighed miserably, Might as well spill the beans .

“I’m a witch, I have been for most of my life.” I said.

“No way, that’s… that’s phenomenal! I've met other kinds of entities before, but I never thought I'd get to meet a witch! Can I ask you something? Would you be willing to let me dissect you and…” Black smoky shadows suddenly came up from behind Shinra and covered his mouth, causing him to stop talking and to try to pull them off. “Aw Celty, come on!” his muffled voice came through the shadows.

Celty summoned her phone from her sleeve and typed into it:

[Sorry about him, you know how he is with this stuff, Shizuo.]

Shizuo sighed and nodded.

[Let’s get to the bottom of this right now.] She turned off the TV then typed into her phone:

[Do either of you know who might’ve recorded you two during that?]

“I know exactly who it was….” I said, preparing myself for what I was about to say. Everyone in the room looked at me, waiting for my answer.

I’m sorry, Shizuo… I wish I had more time before Izaya pulled this shit…

“It was… Izaya.”

“Huh?” Shizuo let go of me so that he could look me in the eyes, his fury rising again. “What makes you think it was him?”

“He told me everything on the phone before you got me at work earlier,” I said. “He has been messing with us almost the entire time we’ve been together. He also told me that he is the leader of the Blood Diamonds.”

“He... WHAT?!” Shizuo stood up, believing my story instantly. Just like Izaya had said, he stomped towards the door in anger to go after him. I jumped up to grab his arm and the back of his black vest to attempt to stop him.

“No, don’t go after him!” I cried. “You’ll make it worse! He told me he was plotting something deadly for you once you found out it was him the whole time!”

“I don’t give a damn!” he growled angrily. “He’s gonna pay for ALL of this!”

I was suddenly held back by something, causing me to lose my grip on him and watch him open the door and slam it behind him, also forgetting his shoes. I looked down to see that Celty had taken her shadows off of Shinra’s mouth and wrapped them around my waist to keep me from following Shizuo. I looked at her in confusion as she took her shadows off of me.

She typed into her phone and showed it to me:

[Let him go so he can cool off. After pulling a stunt like that, Izaya’s likely hiding somewhere that Shizuo won’t be able to find him, so he’ll be back here in about an hour or two.]

“Also, try not to worry too much about that tv footage,” Shinra said, putting a hand on my shoulder for reassurance. “I’m sure a lot of people will ask you about it but they’re also going to assume that it was heavily edited or for show.”

I sighed, “I really hope so. I… I just can’t believe he's doing this. All I did was save Shizuo and now Izaya’s attacking me for it.”

Celty typed some more into her phone:

[I have an idea why he might be attacking both of you]

[Shizuo and Izaya have been down each other’s throats like that practically since they’ve met.]  

[Every so often Izaya would show up to taunt Shizuo, causing a huge mess in town and Shizuo would chase him around until Izaya loses him or he attempts to get him killed.]

[Nothing has killed Shizuo yet, but I imagine Izaya plots to do harsher things to him every single day.]

[But now that you’re with Shizuo, and Izaya knows what you are, he sees both of you as “monsters” and will try to make both of your lives miserable.]

[I think he’s gone a bit too far this time though.]

What have I gotten myself into by coming here? This is absolutely insane, I thought.

[But don’t worry, we can get this taken care of in some way or another.]

“You should stay the night here since the cops are looking for you,” Shinra said. “It’s probably your best bet until this all blows over. We have an extra room you can stay in.”

“Okay, I’ll do that,” I said, breathing out a sigh of relief.

Shizuo was right about them, I thought. Celty and Shinra are definitely great people. And Celty’s more human than any human I know.

I walked up to Celty and hugged her like she was a long friend of mine. I felt her body tensed up to my sudden reaction. I then walked over to Shinra and hugged him too. He had the same reaction, but then hugged me back.

“Thank you so much for everything,” I said to both of them, letting go of Shinra. “For not being afraid of me, and for helping me out with all of this. I’m thankful that I don’t have to face this alone.”

“It’s fine!” Shinra smiled. “We run into this kind of thing with him a lot. He likes to stir up trouble just to observe people’s reactions but he’s really gone off the deep end this time. Usually this kind of thing resolves itself but we’ll see if we can help it before it gets any worse.”

Shinra led me into their spare bedroom so that I could find it once I was ready to go to sleep.

“Honestly, I had to work today so I’m pretty worn out,” I said. “I hope you don’t mind that I go ahead and try to get some sleep.”

“No, not at all,” he replied. “Help yourself out to whatever in the kitchen if you’re feeling hungry or thirsty. Celty and I are going to head off to bed too.”

“Okay, goodnight,” I said.

“Night!” he walked out of the room. I shut the door behind him, then took off my socks, pants, and folded them up into a neat pile beside the laid out pallet. I then crawled underneath the covers, allowing my mind to wander about everything that’s happened, about where Shizuo is and if he’s okay, before I passed out in exhaustion.  

[amoretheiwa]

The Dark Knight and the Boy Scout

I’ve had an incredibly long weekend and a party tonight and tons of homework so sorry this is a little later than planned, but be grateful I remembered to post at al.

Read on AO3

While meeting with newly appointed GCPD Police Commissioner James Gordon, Batwoman is introduced to the Prince of Crime when a man calling himself the Joker appears on TV, killing a woman. Signs and clues begin to pop up and make sense as wealthy members of Gotham’s elite are targeted and begin to drop dead. Batwoman is officially introduced to the public and the world as Gotham’s personal hero when inmates from Williams Medical Center are released into the streets—but there are still no answers. When Breanna Wayne is targeted, Batwoman finally makes the right connections: but is she too late to save herself, and Gotham?

Chapter 1: A Laughing Man B

While she was inside the Processing Plant, Breanna had heard the newest targets with the rest of the workers. Judge Thomas Lake—and Breanna Wayne. In the car ride back to the Manor, and as she changed, Breanna shared her new information with Alfred.

“Someone has taken a few of the chemicals at night, but none that combined together would create any known toxin or poison. They’ve wiped the cameras thoroughly and nothing suspicious has happened there for a few months. About a year back there was a worker who had just been fired who fell into one of the vats and died, but other than that the workers and employers are pretty much clean.”

She sipped out of the class of water with a lemon in it that Alfred had just handed her. She was lounging in one of the front rooms, sitting in an armchair.

“I’m glad you’re endeavors paid off with at least some information, Miss Wayne, but are you not worried about the threat this Joker made against your life? Nothing has been able to stop or help the other victims and the Commissioner is with the Judge, not here.”

Breanna, dressed in a comfortable pair of jeans with a loose pale blue blouse, grinned up at her butler.

“There’s already a team on their way, and besides! Batwoman will protect me.”

Alfred rolled his eyes and turned to head back to the kitchen.

Once the police officers arrived Breanna found herself surrounded and making polite conversation with them until their radios began to go off. The sounds and shouts formed one conclusion—some of the goons working for the Joker were attacking Judge Lake’s residence, and there was a shootout going on that instance.

Breanna was about to make a quip one might expect of a threatened billionaire when she felt herself start to giggle. She couldn’t stop herself, even when she put her hands over her mouth. Fear stabbed her heart as she and Alfred shared eye contact. She started to laugh and laugh but couldn’t figure out why she was laughing.

The police officers around her were shouting and hands gripped her arms in an attempt to force her to calm down. Alfred appeared in front of her, the spinning room focusing around him now. She grabbed his arms tightly, gasping for breath as the laughter turned hysterical.

“Forgive me, Miss Wayne,” he said before stabbing her with something. She looked down and felt everything begin to slow and still. Her sight became fuzzy, and soon dark, and Breanna Wayne fell to the ground, almost another victim of the Joker.

 Breanna was confused. Everything around her was blurry but for right in front of her. It was like looking down a dark tunnel and being blinded by the small amount of light at the end. She saw three figures, two tall and one obviously, that of a child. As she drifted closer the sound became clear.

“It’s not so scary now! Now I want to be just like Zorro,” the young Breanna Wayne said as she waved a crumpled program like a sword. “But a girl Zorro!”

Older Breanna looked with horror at her parents as they laughed and murmured. She stumbled forward, arms outstretched.

“Mother, Father,” she whispered through numb lips.

But it was with horror that she saw the towering man wreathed in shadow appear and raise a glinting gun.

“No!” She screamed and fell forward.

She sat up with a racing heart to see Alfred on one side and a paramedic on the other.

“She’s up!” Someone shouted and Breanna let Alfred push her back down to lie on what had to be the gurney inside of an ambulance.

“What,” she tried to speak, her mouth dry and rough. “What happened?”

“Your butler was a smart man and gave you an injection of a beta blocker, slowing your heart. Somehow that did the trick and you survived. Here.”

The paramedic handed her a glass of water and Breanna sipped from it gratefully, slowly sitting up.

“And Judge Lake?”

The paramedic stilled, and Alfred answered.

“Dead. Gordon’s men told us how he died like all the other victims, and most of the men shooting at them got away.”

Breanna nodded sadly, and made to stand.

“We need to make sure you’re completely of out danger, Miss Wayne! It’ll only take a few tests.”

 When she was finally released back into the Manor with Alfred Breanna lost no time. She immediately went to the cave and began to get dressed.

“Going out so soon?”

“I know how he’s doing it Alfred, I know how he’s got each of us.”

“Oh?”

She looked at before pulling on the cowl.

“He’s poisoned the water.”

As her car zoomed out of the cave, the ringing tone echoed inside the vehicle. When Gordon finally answered she wasted no time with pleasantries.

“Breanna Wayne survived, barely. It’s the water—he’s poisoned the water. Get the Water Reservoir shut down.”

She hung up and sped towards the source of Gotham’s drinking water.

She flung herself out of the car and ran inside the closest entrance—Gordon had contacted her and explained that no one was answering at the Reservoir.

 In less than ten minutes, after doing something elsewhere in the reservoir, she found her way up to the control and saw someone who could only be the Joker standing there, looking out over the room.

“About time you showed up, Bats. I thought you’d snub me on our first date!”

Batwoman didn’t reply, just walked closer. The Joker was tall but not taller than her with a slim figure and what looked like very little muscle definement.

He turned around and grinned, a wild look in his eyes. Up close he looked just as he had over the television and Breanna was glad that her cowl recorded everything.

“What, no hello? No introduction?” He cajoled, leaning against the control board.

“You’re too late you know,” he said quietly. “I’ve already poisoned all the water you see here! All of Gotham is gonna take a ride tonight—a ride with a smile on their faces. It’s only a matter of time before the effects get to you too.” He sidled closer to her, casually making his way to the center of the room.

“I wonder how that Wayne woman survived, she must have some smart people close to her. Maybe some…creatures of the night on her side.”

Joker leaned forward, suddenly in her face.

“Does she have you at her beck and call? Do you answer like a dog? Tell me, Batsy,” he moved back in a twirl, laughing with raised arms, “What are you going to do when it’s just you and I left in Gotham?”

Batwoman raised a hand, one that had a button or device of some sort clearly displayed, and showed it to the Joker.

“Oh goodie, what’s this? A toy for us to play with? Some maniacal way to stop me?”

She narrowed her eyes as she pressed the button.

“Yes.”

Something exploded beneath them and the room shuddered. The Joker stumbled backwards and anger crossed his face.

“What have you done?” He asked, all the mischievousness and laughter gone from his face. It had been replaced by a violent expression full of rage.

“Blew the viaduct. Now all the contaminated water is stuck in here, with us.”

His eyes grew wide even as the floor started to crumble in the corners of the room before bursting into laughter.

“Oh good one! We’ll have some fun times, I just know it!”

Batwoman jumped forward and tackled him, pushing their bodies through the crumbling ground to the level beneath them. She landed on the Joker without remorse and rolled off of him into a standing position mere feet away as the floor they had just been standing on came tumbling around them. The room they had landed in was roughly the same size of the control room above but empty, except for the rubble and sparking wires littering the ground.

He lay there, coughing and groaning, for a few seconds before pushing himself up causally. He ran towards her, pulling out a gun that looked more like a party prop than the real thing.

“Clever Bat!”

He pulled the trigger and Batwoman rolled out of the way, behind an extra-large piece of cement, away from the very real bullets that seemed to be dripping some green liquid when they hit the concrete wall behind her.

“But clever won’t get you out of this,” and the Joker continued to shoot at her, laughing raucously, even as the support beam holding up the control room collapsed next to him.

Breanna took a quick look at the room as she dove and rolled, staying in a crouch as he took time to adjust his aim. It was more of a basement, really, than an actual room. Not one meant to be occupied let alone at a time when the building and all the water was about to become one. She calculated that they had maybe five minutes, if not less, to get out before they were crushed or drowned.

She threw three batarangs in quick succession at the Joker and did another dive-roll that she came out of with a swinging fist. What had worked on a thug just early that same day did not work on this villain, as he had been cut by two of the three batarangs and grabbed the last one. The punch threw him back some but not before he swiped with her weapon, tearing a deep gash from her shoulder to the inside of her collarbone.

Batwoman did not scream, but a loud noise of pain did escape her throat. She took a step back before spinning in a high kick, holding her shoulder where she was bleeding profusely. Joker fell to the ground and giggled before licking her blood off of the batarang. He hummed and closed his eyes as if in ecstasy.

Disgust filled Breanna in a way it had not in years, if ever. She stepped back further and threw another batarang with her right arm, keeping her left arm as still as possible. This one sliced the back of his hand and he dropped the stolen weapon with a howl.

“Not fair, Batwoman. Not fair at all,” he growled as he cradled his hand to his chest, something akin to hate gleaming in his eyes. He picked up his gun and without warning started firing again. Breanna heard the walls begin to crack and spared a glance behind her, fear of death by suffocation gripping her heart. Distracted as she was, for that split second, that the last of four bullets the Joker had fired actually hit her in the hip.

With a gasp of pain, she stumbled back, looking down in minute horror only to realize that her armor did protect her and that the bullet had bounced off, melting into a pool of metal on the ground. Batwoman looked up at the Joker, who’s mouth was open in a pleased “O”, but before he could say anything she tossed a smoke pellet. The room was quickly engulfed in a darkness not even she could see through, but Breanna knew she could hear through.

“Come out come out wherever you are,” Joker sang before cackling, his voice echoing some. Batwoman moved forward silently until she knew she was just in front of him.

“Good job, Bats,” he whispered before shoving something into her hip, right where the bullet had bounced off her armor. Whatever it was tore through what the bullet could not and Breanna screamed in pain, stumbling backwards, her hands pressing against the wound that was now also bleeding heavily.

“Enough,” she growled when the smoke had finished clearing. In his hands Joker held one of her batarangs and she was ready to just get it all finished and over with when, with a loud crack, water threw her forward.

In that same moment, she fired a grappling hook at what was left of the room above them, the floor almost entirely gone. Her feet were still somewhat caught in the sudden rush and they clipped the Joker on the side of his head of their own accord. She swung there for a second and contemplated the idea of letting this madman die, drowned and crushed by his own doing. The thought left as soon as it arrived and with a roll of her eyes and sigh of exasperation she lowered herself just enough to grab the now-unconscious clown by his armpit.

 After waiting on some higher ground with her “sleeping” companion for the contaminated water to stop flooding and begin to soak into the ground—no one would be able to use it for anything for a very long time—Batwoman finally saw some police cars making their way towards her location. From start to finish it had been a long day (a long week, really), and she had field dressed her wounds as much as possible but knew that Alfred would insist on Leslie taking a look when she finally got back to the Manor.

She pushed a button on her belt, summoning her car, and stood as she waited for Gordon and other officers to finish their mad rush up the hill.

“What happened here, Batwoman?” Gordon asked, shouting.

She waited until he was standing next to her and staring wide-eyed at the Joker to speak.

“He had poisoned the entire reservoir so I destroyed the viaduct. Something tells me the building was no longer up to code, as it came down a minute later. We fought right before that and he was knocked out.”

“And is he…” Gordon seemed afraid to answer and Batwoman wondered if she would regret her decision, her new rule.

“Alive but unconscious. I want him to wake up in an Arkham cell, Commissioner. Understood?”

Gordon nodded and turned around, giving his men orders. Clean up was going to be a nightmare but Batwoman did not have it in her to stay and help.

“You alright, Batwoman?” Gordon asked quietly. His blue eyes, set below bushy eyebrows, showed copious amounts of worry.

Breanna began to wave him off, taking a step forward as the unique lights of her car came into view, but stumbled. Gordon caught her, and helped her to sit down. He pushed her cape back and hissed at the very obvious wounds.

“You gonna be alright? You have someone to help you?”

“I do, thank you.” She murmured. The car rumbled to a stop just a few feet away and Gordon helped her get in.

“We’ll handle it from here, Batwoman. Go home, wherever that is for you. Gotham owes you.”