#so i think once i've rested i'm gonna go back to the drawing board for that transgender house of wolves backpiece.

[moe-broey]

Jacket!!!! Ye olde varsity I got at the very beginning of my transition thinking "Oh fuck yes I am going to pass so hard in this" and. Well. It never worked I just have never passed a day in my life I don't think 😔 Eventually it just became a beloved test subject and has since gone through a bit of a transition itself LMFAOO

Some Notes:

> A lot of the decorations are taken from old backpacks I loved dearly that got absolutely fucking destroyed by the weight of all the shit I'd lug around in highschool LMFAO (sketchbook, diary, all kinds of notebooks...). Never had the heart to get rid of them. Specifically: The pink zippers, the holographic pockets, the glow in the dark stars, and the holo angel wings!

> The pink/blue checkers are from a small decorative quilt I thrifted years ago, I wouldn't be surprised if it was handmade (it's super soft material, btw! Important LMAO). I only took out one line of squares, I plan on stitching the rest of it back together (haven't done it yet though LMFAO). The reason for this was to upsize the jacket, so I can button it without it clinging. The pockets were added for funsies ESP cause it lined up very well and aren't really practical LMFAO (BUT YOU CAN PUT THINGS IN THEM! If you want!! 🎉🎉🎉)

> The patches (esp the name/pronouns one) were the first additions actually. Eventually more and more things were added, but I will say all the pins on the opposite side of the patches were haphazardly placed for a concert I VERY BADLY wanted to look good for LMFAOO (that's when the stars were added too! Fighting for my life on the car ride over speedrunning sewing and trying not to throw up about it AHAKHSKSHDK)

> Spike placement may be odd and I'd like to add more, but also I do frequently still carry around big heavy backpacks so I have to take that into consideration. Which is also why the wings have been bolted on. Those motherfuckers are NOT going anywhere LMFAO (has a really cool visual effect too!!)

> The material of the jacket itself (sort of a swishy windbreaker fabric) IS ABSOLUTE ASS TO WORK WITH. BY THE FUCKING WAY. IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING. I would NOT recommend it to anybody ESPECIALLY someone who is just starting to fuck around and find out. I literally am just sticking it out bc of the sentimental value this fucker has to me 😭😭😭

This jacket was my first plunge into customization and punk fashion, I didn't have a plan and still don't have one (and I think it kind of shows lmfao). I do worry that it's too soft and cutesy. Kind of the whole point for me, when it came to leaning heavy into punk, was to feel sharper, like I had some bite to me. I might be getting closer, but I think I'm still just kind of a silly guy LMAO. But, I do think in a way, esp as my first project, it represents me well -- where I started, what I loved before the beginning, what I tried desperately to be, what I still wish for, reuniting with the things I loved and embracing them in a brand new context. It's still an ongoing project too! So maybe as I keep growing, it'll grow alongside me, maybe finding that grit I've been striving for along the way.

[matrixxsystem]

Terrapin Soup Part 12

Usagi met back up with Leo after his talk with Raph, and after Donnie managed to get the lights back on. They sat in Leos room for a bit both sharing what they'd talked about.  "And he took it really well I think, I mean he didn't kick me out so.."

"D-Did you tell him about.. Me?"

"No no, I wouldn't do that without your permission. I just told him about me and Hyo, I left you out of it for the most part. But I was very honest still." Leo laid back on the bed letting out a relieved sigh, "I still don't know how I'm gonna tell them.. If I ever do..." Usagi chuckled softly and laid beside Leo, "Well if you ever do I'll be with you for support. And if they can accept me, I'm sure it'll be easier to accept someone they're much closer to. I didn't talk about the dinner thing yet but I think I'll let them all sit with this information for a bit before I try to do anything like that for them. We can't rush these things after all. What about the pins, did Donatello agree?"

"If I can get the supplies, but that's the tricky part cause.. Apparently to make enough for all of us is gonna be dangerous? But if we had them Donnie could go to school- A real school with smart people like him, Mikey could draw the city *during* the day.. He could go sit outside with real people and make friends! Raph could even go topside, maybe find a gym or somewhere to go train at- Hell even dad could go do things.. It's worth the risk. I know it is..." It looked like Leo was about to say something else but his phone started buzzing, he pulled it from his waist pouch and saw Donnie had sent the list of everything he'd need to get started. Yes! "Donnie's in! I might be a bit busy till we get these made but.." Usagi nodded, resting his head against Leo's shoulder, "I understand, once its complete we should go on another date topside, there's so many other things I want to show you.. But for now we should rest here for a bit, I want to spend all the time I can with you before you get too busy."

Leo smiled a little, taking Usagi's hand in his rubbing the back of it with his thumb, how in the fuck did this man get so soft..? "Agreed, and- Oh! I just remembered someone else who's eaten yokai- That bad guy Meat Sweats! He's like a famous chef and Mikey loves who he used to be- He followed him into the forest once to get one of his secret recipes and is like, obsessed with that guys career." Usagi made a confused expression for a moment wondering why he'd bring it up so suddenly, but then it clicked, that maybe it wouldn't be that difficult to get the other brothers on board with trying new things. If Mikey already idolized someone who had a history of questionable meals, who knows what he'd be willing to try..? "I see. Ill have to look into this person when I get home, maybe if I can find some information Michelangelo doesn't know we could have a conversation about it later. That's a good idea Leo"

  ~Time Skip cause I'm really unoriginal~

Over the next few days everyone chipped in to acquire that parts Donnie needed, The last part was the main power source. Out in a heavily guarded building out in the woods on the outskirts of a city a little ways from where they were, Leo had his portals so naturally he was the one to go. He was so close to having everything.. 

"Hey, Leo." Donnie called as he came out from his lab, a stack of empty coffee cups in his arms, "You sure you don't want backup? I mean Mikey could-"

"Chill Dee, solo is better for stealth. I'll be in and out, I'm not gonna have signal out there so If I need anything Ill just hit that emergency button on out communicators. I've got this."

"I know I just.. Don't love the idea of you going off alone, to some far off place, where we don't really know what's gonna be there waiting in defense.. Oh, and Hannibal texted asking when you'd be free again." Leo rolled his eyes, Donnie had been calling Usagi various nicknames since he found out about the eating yokai thing, "Not funny Dee. Just tell him I'll go visit him when I get back tomorrow. My phones been.. Well you saw how Raph's a.. H-How Raph fell on my phone.." Donnie rolled his eyes and nodded, "Yeah yeah, just go so you can get back." Leo gave a reassuring pat to Donnie's shell before he swung his odachi opening up a portal. "Awww you looove meeee~" He said with a shit eating grin as he stepped through, fast enough he couldn't hear Donnie's retort. He let out a little laugh as the portal closed leaving him in a wooded area, the sun was on it's way down so he'd have to wait a bit before heading forward. "Let's see.. Its just a small government building in the middle of the woods with maybe twenty people max, including guards. I mean the amount of like, smart people there is only like five or ten probably.. I'd assume you need like, two guards for the front door, a body guard for each science person... And there's one inside guarding the stuff. So we just wait till the shift change at night.. All the science dorks go home and cut the number in half.. Hopefully... Then I can get home to my cute boyfriend and we can cook together again~" His stomach rumbled at the mention of Usagi's cooking, he really should have eaten before leaving- 

He started making his way towards the building in the distance, there was a small clearing where it was built to I guess make it easier not to get infuriated, not like that was going to stop Leo. He climbed to one of taller trees to keep watch of the building as the sun set, waiting maybe an hour before he saw the lights of a car starting up from behind the building. It was about time! Once all the cars were gone or so it seemed he opened a small portal onto the roof of the building, laying low and listening for the sound of anyone outside.

There was nothing, this was going surprisingly well.. He traced along the panels on the roof with his sword, tapping a few that looked older till he found a weak spot where it caved slightly under the weight. He pried the asphalt panel from its place revealing a sizable hole, he could work with this. "Guess you can't hire a contractor for secret outposts huh.." He muttered as he knelt down peeking his head into the hole first to make sure it was clear. Once there were no signs of lights or life he cut more around the edges to avoid getting scraped and shimmied into the darkness. He touched down in a dark room, using the flashlight function on his watch to get a good look, there were no lights or cameras in the room so he figured it must be a storage room of some kind, or a bathroom? Looking around there were lots of boxes, most covered in dust and a bucket to the left half full of water, yeah, this was just a storage room.. At least they had the sense to try and keep the contents dry with the bad roof- "Now is not the time to compliment them Leo, c'mon-" He whispered to himself as he continued looking around, carefully reading each box's label without moving them too much to avoid making noise or getting dust on himself. "Okay.. Wires, wires, wet specimens.. Dry specimens? No.. It probably wouldn't be in this mess.. Donnie said the power source would be in it's own room-" He set one of his swords down behind a few bigger boxes so he could get back here for a quick escape if he needed it before finding the door. For a moment he stood there, listening again to make sure the coast was clear then opening the door slowly, using the reflection of his odachi to look down the halls, nothing.. There didn't seem to be cameras either, which was really odd.. But it didn't matter as long as he was able to get what he wanted and get out. "What would Usagi do..?" He asked himself, smirking at the thoughts that came to his mind. He's just really gay alright- 

Leo aimed his sword out and threw it into the light overhead, killing the dim lights in the hallway before stepping out, he reached up grabbing the sword and doing the same to all the lights down his path, this would make it so no one would see him, or they'd have a hard time at least. He chuckled a little at the thought of a bunch of nerds scrambling in the dark as he strode in, and out, with ease. Till of course all the surrounding lights went out, and a ominous red glow filled the halls. Either that was the back up power, or he was proper fucked- "Haha... This is fine.." He walked a little faster dipping his head into each room he passed making sure there was nothing he missed, no one seemed to be around so he was really hoping that he was alone here. There was no sound or people, no voices, or shoes against the tiles, no clinking of keys or flicking of switches. It felt like he was in a horror movie, the cold hall stained red from the lights along the walls. This was fine.. Suddenly he saw a faint glow from a room as he turned down another hallway. That had to be it right? He eyed the door, it was shut and sealed tight, "Who in the world needs three card readers on a single door? You guys are doin' too much-" He said as he shook his head, slicing the air between him and the doorway, lighting the hallway an awkward tertiary mix of red and blue. He stepped through glancing around the room. He sighed a little and stepped up to the island table in the center of the room, on it was a cylinder probably the size of a soda can on its own small pedestal, it was maybe a little smaller then a soda can, he wasn't really able to tell with just the small light from his communicator. The pulsing glow from the device didn't ease him any. "Whelp- This is probably it, I'll just grab this and skedaddle like so~" 

Except when he reached for the device he heard a loud click from behind him. The lights all shut off for a brief second before starting to blink, the bright red then pitch black made it hard to navigate the room as he tried to leave. He pushed against the door but it no longer budged when confronted with his weight. "Okay- I can just portal back- And get out the way I got in, easy!" He swung his sword as he heard footsteps approaching the room, a distant "What the fuck is that-?" Could be heard from the hallway, he rolls his eyes as he kept waving his sword, "C'mon.. C'mon please-!" Finally a portal wide enough to fit though opened up, he rushed in as soon as the door started to open. He poked his head into the empty store room ready to let out the biggest relived sigh he could muster but froze when he felt something on his leg. He slowly turned his head to see a pair of hands around one leg and some kind of syringe being injected in the other. "Wha- Wait-" Was all he said before a heavy feeling took over, he heard the clang of metal on the floor as he was pulled back through his portal, his hands were empty, he couldn't even feel them at this point. Fuck- Fuck fuck fuck this can't be happening, how could they catch him? What where they going to do to him? He felt his hands trying to hold each other for some sense of comfort, with the last of his strength he pressed the emergency button on his wrist tech, he promised he'd be okay.. He promised...

-_-_-_-

"No faiiir! It's my turn to pick the movie!"

"Mikey no, you picked last time. It's Leos turn, whenever he gets back." There was a loud 'ping' that came from Donnie's wrist first then to Raph and Mikey's right after. They all paused as Donnie checked, ready to hear that Leo was on his way back if not about to head out. But the look of Donnie's smug expression falling into confusion then panic made the others look at their notifications too. It was the panic button, why would he have hit the panic button? There was no other texts or notifications not even a meme- There was a sound from the hallway that made everyone shoot up from their seats to go check, hoping Leo was pulling some awful prank and was about to walk into the room any second.

"Hey- Sorry for intruding Leo said I was allowed to just let myself in so I-" Usagi stopped in the doorway, a bit surprised by the three turtles standing not even a foot from him all with intense looks, "I- Sorry, was I.. Am I interrupting something?" Donnie took a step back, giving Usagi a few feet to come into the room as he spoke, "No- No no its.. We just weren't expecting it to be you-" Mikey pushed past his brothers to throw his arms around Usagi, "Leo's in trouble!!" He cried as Usagi halfheartedly tried to comfort him, he didn't really know what was going on yet, but he was still glad Mikey felt comforted by him. "We don't know that for sure Mikey- We should get to my lab and take a look at the new tracker I put on him to double check." Usagi nodded along till he heard the mention of another tracker, he gently patted Mikey and let him back up before stepping closer to Donnie, "You what? Did you seriously put another tracker on him after what happened last time??"

"What you expect me to just.. Let him go that far without anything?"

"Yes!!" He didn't mean to raise his voice but he could see why Leo was so upset about it now. "Don't you know how important it is to him for you to just trust him? How upset he was last time? How I had to help remove the last one so he wouldn't hurt himself??" Raph winced at the mention, mentally seeing all the self inflicted marks on his little brothers arms..

"Okay wait." He said, putting a hand on Usagi's shoulder, "I know it seems.. Insensitive, but that's just how Dee is. He means we'll, and he's just worried about his brother. That's just how he shows it. We can settle that later though, if he's in trouble that takes priority." Usagi let out a little huff and nodded, "..Okay, okay fine. You're right. Let's find him first." They all nodded and headed to Donnie's lab, gathered around his chair as he first tracked the wrist tech and crossed it with the tracker on Leo. "Okay so they're still in the same area, but the stupid signal is getting messed with.. Not good, it means he's still in the building. Its too far for any of us to walk, and the tank is pretty big.. But the panic button was no accident..."

"Ill go."

"Usagi no offense but I don't think-"

"I wasn't asking for permission. I have a cloaking pin, I know short cuts to get outside the city, I'm trained to do stuff like this. I'll go." Donnie huffed turning back to the screen muttering, "I hate it when he's right" As he pulled out a drawer and tossed another wrist cuff to Usagi. "Its still in beta so don't break it, but you'll probably need this, its a Raph sized escape pod, the interface is fairly simple so once you find him you'll know what to do but it should be wide enough to fit the two of you and fly you back here safely." Usagi looked at it for a moment, wondering how something that was big enough to fit the two of them could come in such a compact design. "Thank you. I'll bring him back, and we can all yell at him afterwards"

"Oh wait- Here take this too." Donnie added giving him another kind of wrist cuff, "I guess if you're going you should have a way to communicate with us and him if need be. And if all goes well I suppose I may let you keep it for future endeavors.." They all nodded and Usagi put his pin on before leaving the sewers, heading through his short cuts through the city, hoping nothing bad would happen.

In all honesty he wasn't worried for Leo, he knew if it came down to it that man could beat every one there and then some. He was more worried of what this kind of stress would do to him, if he'd be able to hold back long enough for Usagi to get there.. He looked to the trackers position and kept going, he wouldn't be there till sunrise.. If they really managed to catch him the place would be on high alert, day or night wouldn't matter when he got there. He shook any negative thoughts from his head, instead trying to think about what a nice reunion it'd be between them, and how happy Leo would most likely be to see his boyfriend come to his rescue. Yeah, that was a much more motivating train of thought to follow..

Part 13 Part 1

TS Master Post

[shelbystales]

Best Aid - Part Two

Modern Tommy Shelby x Reader - Masterlist

Previous parts: 1

Summary: you are a young doctor in Birmingham. After a crazy incident, Thomas Shelby shows up at your hospital. You don’t know much about the man everyone seems to fear, but you definitely will.

Warning: Swearing, mention of blood

A/N: i don’t know if i will continue this… comment and interact, tell me what you think! it means a looot thank you very much

English is my second language so I apologize in advance for the grammar mistakes.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

You were surprised to see Thomas' name on the patient chart when you got back. Still in room 7. You assumed he would have discharged himself by now.

The doctor before you explained that he showed signs of infection on his blood test, and for some reason, his blood protein levels were higher than normal.

"Hey, ready for another long night?" Jeremy asked, sitting across from you as you read the exams, trying to understand what was going on with Thomas Shelby.

"Yes, after 24 hours of rest, I feel like I was born again," you joked.

"I heard there's a college party going on nearby," he said, and you took a deep breath.

"Oh god, we will be taking care of teenagers throwing up all night," you said already tired

"Well, not exactly. They're in college," Jeremy said, and you looked at him smugly.

"Are they any different?" you asked, making him laugh "I'm going to do my rounds," you informed and got up.

As soon as you entered Thomas' room you were surprised by the presence of his two brothers and a lady.

"I thought I told you about our visiting policy," you said irritably. It was already after 20:00, and the time for the visit ends at 18:00.

"You did," he said.

"gonna threaten us with hospital guards?" John asked, mocking you

Taking a deep breath, you kept your cool. You ignored the younger brother's comment and took the syringe from the drawer.

"I need some blood," you said

"You guys are bloody vampires, taking blood all the fucking time. He's gonna run out," Arthur spoke as you took Thomas's arm and prepared for the blood draw.

"Can you tell us why you are doing it?" The woman asked behind you

"Well, he has some signs in his blood that indicate an infection. So we need to follow up and see how he's developing. Unfortunately, hospital infections are common and aggressive," you explained while taking the blood 

“But is he at risk?” she asked

“I can’t affirm anything yet. There we go," you said as you finished, getting up 

“You have very delicate hands,” Thomas said as you labeled the blood sample

“It should be ready in a few hours. I’ll come back when it does” you said ignoring him and leaving the room.

"I hate him and his annoying brothers," you said, sitting next to Jeremy

"Who?" he whispered to you

"The Shelbys," you replied

"Oh...yeah. He's a jerk, and he thinks he runs this hospital," he said

"He actually does," Lauren said, putting aside her bagel "he is a member of the board."

"What?" you asked, confused "why has no one told me that before?"

"I don't know. I thought you knew," she shrugged.

"I am new here. How would I?" you asked "ugh, I literally scolded him. More than once," she laughed.

"I hope you don't get fired," Jeremy said, hugging you "I've grown to like your pretty face,"

"It makes sense now... he knows why a doctor was fired and why he knows where I fucking live," you said, connecting the dots.

"What?" Lauren asked, surprised "he knows where you live?" you nodded "did he threaten you?" you shook your head

"No, he didn't...but the situation made me feel threatened," you said and took a deep breath "I don't want to talk about it" they nodded, and the subject was changed.

The night was pretty busy, not busy enough to make you crazy and tired, but enough to keep you from sitting still for hours, in a perfect measure between calm and chaotic.

A notification arrived on your tablet, the button in room 7 had been pressed and attention was required.

"Can you please go?" you asked Jeremy, showing him the tablet screen. He rolled his eyes at you and walked away "thank youuu".

You continued to attend to the patients that kept coming in. 

You were in the CT room, evaluating a patient who had arrived later with abdominal pain.

"Hey" you heard Jeremy speak behind you. You looked at him and saw that he was with Thomas in the wheelchair. "he wants to smoke, but it's raining outside."

"No smoking then," you said and went back to looking at the computer in front of you. Waiting for the images to appear

"She's being rude today," Thomas said, watching you making Jeremy laugh

"You haven't seen her during morning shifts.. let me tell you, she's not a morning person," he said jokingly, and you simply ignored it. Jeremy insisted "serious Y/n, where do I take him?"

"I don't know. I don't care," you replied shrugging and smiling at him ironically "please leave."

Jeremy frowned at you and didn't mean to contradict you and pushed the chair with Thomas, but he held on to the door causing the chair to stop.

"Can we talk?" Thomas asked looking into your eyes, you looked back at the screen

"Shit," you said looking at the images that were finally ready "Jeremy look at this," you said

"Holy fuck" he said leaning in behind you "what is that in her anus?" You laughed

"Oh god, I love night shifts," you said laughing, "I think it's a toy."

"Like a sex toy?" he asked

"No, not a sex toy… and I don't think it's only one…," you said impressed

"Jesus," he said with a pained face "Give the girl a laxative and see if she can get it out."

"I think we’re a bit past that. her intestines walls don’t look too good," you replied, looking at the other images and trying to see signs of any injury “and, yes we can talk. Not now for obvious reasons” You spoke to Thomas and got up to pick up your patient and finish taking care of her. 

You decided to do a colonoscopy on her to try to remove it. When that was over you went to Thomas' room

"Don't you ever sleep?" you asked entering. it was almost two in the morning and he was awake

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” he said 

"Great, we're being positive," you said and he smiled

"Did anyone try to break into your house?" he asked

"Seriously?" you asked and he nodded "ok, we need to re-establish some boundaries. I'm your doctor, period. I feel so violated knowing that you know where I live and what car is mine! you have no right to do that"

"Are you going to answer me?" he insisted

"No," you said, "is that it? is that what you wanted to talk about?"

"I need to know" he insisted, breathing deeply you gave in

"No, no one tried anything," you said "happy?"

"Hardly ever" he replied and you took a deep breath again "I was just worried"

"Well, you don't have to worry about me. As I said, it was no big thing I was simply doing my job. Now I ask, please don’t mention that again," you said sitting on the sofa and he nodded "let's see if your blood test is ready"

"I feel fine, honestly," he said "better than that lady, I assume" you smiled and nodded "what was in her?"

"You don't want to know, believe me," you said smiling 

“You must know it's disheartening when you're not the doctor on duty,” he said, his eyes burning on you “other doctors are not like you" 

"Like me?" you asked intrigued, was he flirting with you? Patients usually did, you never took any of them seriously…but for some reason, your heart skipped a beat at the thought that he might be. 

"Yes, I can see your passion," he said “you like what you do”

“I do,” you said smiling and looking away “I must say, your exams look better," you said

"Can I get out of here then?" he asked and looked at you with pleading eyes

"no, but if you want to discharge yourself, you won't die..." you said

"One less patient bothering you, ey?" he joked and followed you with his eyes as you stood up and changed his saline.

"I don't think that way… but in your case, yes," you said and he smiled "sleep is good for recovery. So you better try to get some, ok?" he nodded and you walked to the door.

"Hey doc, I hope this is not crossing your boundaries but… Can get your number?" he asked when you were at the door.

"Don't you have it already? Boss," you said, mocking the word boss as it came out of your mouth, leaving him with a smile on his face when you left the room.

Later, sitting with Jeremy in the staff room you explained the whole situation that happened with Thomas on his last shift.

"If you ask me... it's kinda hot" Jeremy said surprisingly you

"What? please clarify" you asked

"Well, he's attracted to you that's obvious. even the way he looks at you, I saw it in CT today. He worried you'd get hurt and wanted to protect you like a 90's gentleman" he said making you laugh.

"Oh god..." you said 

"if he asks you out, give him a chance. If his looks aren't convincing enough... remember he is rich" Jeremy said

"And maybe a criminal" you added

"Oh… those details can be overlooked" he joked "who hasn't been involved with a thug?" you laughed again

"I haven't!" you spoke

"Yet! Your's is just around the corner girl!" he said, "they say they are the bust fuckbudies you can ask for"

"Ok enough talking about this," you said changing the subject

The next day the hospital security asked you to move your car because they needed to do some constructions in the parking lot, recreating the gas passage. You had been warned of this a few days ago, but forgot to park away.

You simply gave the man your keys and asked him to do it, since you were busy.

"Hey" you heard behind you. Turning around you saw Thomas wearing a very expensive suit. He looked and smelled good.

"Disobeying doctor orders, Mr. Shelby? So not like you" you said shaking your head and putting aside your tablet

"Well, as amazing and intelligent as my doctor may be, I need to go," he said with his hands on his pockets

"I hope I don't see you here again," you said and he smiled and nodded.

"Everything is clear," Arthur said approaching you both, Thomas nodded at him

Suddenly a loud noise followed by a certain shaking of the walls surprised everyone in the hospital. Looking around, nothing seemed different. Outside, several car alarms were sounding.

"What was that?" Jeremy asked running passed you, on his way outside

"It felt like an explosion," Arthur said puzzled

You guys rushed outside the hospital to see a catastrophic scene. It was a big explosion.

"Call the fire department, please" You spoke to either one of them and ran to where the explosion seemed to occur.

Cars were on fire everywhere, and nurses and doctors now rushing to help the ones that needed. Some man screamed due to the pain of the burns. Luckly it didn't seem to have many casualties, running into the fallen men you gauged the gravity of each one.

You and Jeremy were helping one guy that had his arms burned, getting him ready to be placed in a wheelchair and moved.

"It's not safe. Other cars are going to explode" Thomas said to you "you need to get everyone inside" you nodded and looked at Jeremy.

Jeremy nodded and walked around the parking lot, warning one by one about the danger and telling tehm that they needed to get out of there.

"Other cars? Was it a car that exploded?" you asked and he nodded.

Looking around you saw the car burning more intensely, already destroyed. The shock came when you realized which car it was.

"That's mine" you muttered confused

"Your what?" he asked

"My car," you said almost in a sigh

"fuck, please tell me it was an old car," he said and you looked at him angrily

"No! it was new! I bought it when I moved back here. Damn it!" you said frustrated finishing securing the guy on the wheelchair and pushing him into the hospital.

Thomas was relieved you didn't connect the dots as he did. This hadn't been an accident.

"We need to go," Thomas said to his brother, marching to the car.

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[stranger-marauders]

repaired

seven: translation nation

chapter summary: Steve and Kate both have to go to work, but Kate holds a hesitation.

chapter warnings: smuttish, language, making out, alcoholism/alcohol abuse, steve likes kate's boobies

word count: 3.3k

series masterlist | masterlist

WHEN KATE HAD finally arrived at Scoops, she wasn't quite expecting to have to translate a Russian communication with Robin.

Steve had told her a thousand times that she didn't have to help translate it. Kate, however, couldn't help but want to get involved. While somewhat of a secret of hers, she was totally a language dork—that was why she'd taken two in high school. While it had been different than translating either of the languages she spoke, she enjoyed the challenge Russian provided.

"So what languages do you speak?" Robin asked. Kate looked up at her with a confused look, but she elaborated. "Steve told me you speak four languages."

She scoffed, smiling as she shook her head. "Yeah, no, he's a liar. He counts Morse Code because of the alphabet."

"Dingus. What are the other two, then?"

"French and German."

"Wait, for real?" Robin asked, somewhat excitedly. "I speak French, too."

"Really?" Kate asked, matching her excitement. "Like actually, or enough to pass the class?"

"I read a lot of books and listen to tapes," she replied, trying to give Kate an idea about it. "I speak Italian and Spanish, too."

"Jesus, Italian?" Kate laughed. "How'd you manage Italian?"

"I've been playing French Horn since I was five, so I kinda—"

"Can you both stop talking and listen to the tape?" Dustin asked with an annoyed tone, rewinding the tape once again. He came to Scoops to decode it with Steve, not to let Robin and Kate get giddy over a language family that Russian didn't even belong to.

"Sorry, damn," Kate said sheepishly.

When they listened to it again, Robin twisted back around to face him. "Okay, that last part. Just one more time."

"Okay."

As Dustin rewinded the tape, both girls prepared to listen again for anything that stuck out to them.

"Dly-nna-ya," Kate said, drawing out the syllables. She wrote out the way she found it sounded in her notebook, staring at the word. "Obviously it starts with a 'D.'"

"D," Dustin repeated as he moved to the board. "The... The chair. The chair-looking thingy."

"Yeah, okay."

"L," Kate continued, looking at her paper as Robin started transcribing it down in the Cyrillic alphabet.

Once they'd gotten the rest of the phrase, Robin and Kate leaned out of the breakroom window to inform Steve of the good news. "We've got our first sentence."

"Oh, seriously?" Steve said, scooping ice cream into a cone.

"Nedelya dlinnaya," Kate replied.

"The week is long," Robin translated in a terrible Russian accent.

"Well, that's thrilling."

"I know, but progress," Robin said, slipping out the window.

"You still feeling okay?" Steve asked, touching her hand before Kate could slip out behind her.

She nodded, shrugging and smiling. "Yeah, I'm fine. Perfect. Having the time of my life in there. I think I'm gonna take Russian in college."

Steve chuckled. "All right, don't overwork yourself. Love you."

She saluted him with two fingers before she slipped out the window herself. "Love you, too, comrade." Before she could close the window shutters, however, she looked to the customers that Steve had been serving: her sister and Max Mayfield.

"Okay, here you go, you got a strawberry and then a vanilla with sprinkles, extra whipped cream."

"Thanks."

Kate only stared at Max and El in slight shock. Her sister was definitely not supposed to be anywhere near the mall, never mind inside of it to get free ice cream from her boyfriend.

"Wait a second. Are you even allowed to be here?" Steve asked, looking more specifically to El.

"No," Kate said from behind him, trying to get a closer look at her sister. She hadn't even realized that El and Max were friends now.

Both girls giggled as they ran away, and Kate only stared. She hadn't even noticed the horrified expression on Steve's face. He should've known that El wasn't supposed to be there, and now he had just given her ice cream? Then again, if he hadn't given her ice cream, what would she have done to him? Not only was there the opportunity for El to blow his brains out with her mind, but Max could also be really, really mean to him—

"We didn't see her here, got it?" Kate finally asked, looking to him with an unreadable expression.

He nodded, scratching the back of his neck. "Mhm, yep. Got it."

As Steve closed the gate to the ice cream shop entrance, locking it shut, he started talking about the Russian tape again. "I mean, it just... it just can't be right."

"It's definitely right, Steven."

"Honestly, I think it's great news," Dustin said.

"How is this great news?" Steve asked. "I mean, so much for being American heroes. It's total nonsense."

"It's not nonsense," Dustin replied. "It's too specific."

"It has to be a type of code," Kate elaborated, mostly to Steve.

"What do you mean, a code?"

"Like a super-secret spy code," Dustin replied.

"A code that would be useful for Ruskies, anyway," Kate added.

"That's a total stretch."

"I don't know, is it?" Robin asked.

"Both of you are buying into this?" Steve asked, unconvinced.

Robin sighed. "Listen, just for kicks, let's entertain the possibility that it is a secret Russian transmission. What'd you think they were gonna say, 'Fire the warhead at noon?'"

"Exactly," Dustin said.

"I mean, a code makes much more sense than anything else," Kate said. "Like, why would you not use a code to cover up some type of sensitive Soviet information?"

"Exactly."

"So I guess that confirms your suspicion," Kate said.

"Evil Russians."

"I can't believe I'm about to agree with this strange child, but yeah, totally, evil Russians," Robin said.

"So how do we crack it?"

"We can try translating the rest of it tomorrow and hopefully a pattern emerges," Kate replied.

"A pattern," Dustin repeated. "Right, like maybe 'silver cat' is a meeting place?"

"Or a person," Robin said.

"Or a weapon."

"It's probably gonna take a super genius to crack it, but..."

"We've gotten this far," Kate said. She opened her mouth to say something to Steve as she turned to the side, but she quickly realized he was no longer beside her. "Hey, where's Steve?"

The group of three quickly turned around to find Steve standing in front of the mechanical horse near Scoops that seemed to operate all day, every day.

"Hey, Steve," Kate called as he started to pull change out of his pockets. "What are you doing?"

"Uh, it's a quarter. I need... Do you have a quarter?"

Kate chuckled as the three ran over to him. She dug in her pocketbook for a simple quarter, moving closer and closer to him.

"Sure you're tall enough for that ride?"

"Quarter!" Steve shouted as Kate threw one to him, and he put the coin into the machine as quickly as possible.

Once the music started to play, she knew exactly what Steve had been going on about.

"You need help getting up, little Stevie?"

"Would you just shut up and listen?" Steve said as Dustin chuckled.

After the song played for a moment, "Holy shit."

"It's the music," Kate said as Dustin pulled out the tape from his bag and played it.

"I don't understand," Robin said.

"It's the exact same song on the recording," Dustin explained.

"Maybe they have horses like this in Russia?"

"Indiana Flyer? I don't... I don't think so," Steve said, looking to the name of the horse. "This code, it... didn't come from Russia."

"It came from here," Kate said, and she could only stare in horror at the horse as it rocked to the music.

When Kate and Steve arrived back at the cabin, they found Max and El in her bedroom.

This had been the second time today that they'd found the two girls together again. Kate couldn't think of a time that Max and El had been alone together before then, and suddenly it appeared like they were best friends or something.

She turned to Steve, putting her ear against El's green bedroom door to hear them better.

"Is Mike a good kisser?"

"I don't know. He's my first boyfriend."

"Ex-boyfriend."

Kate's mouth fell open.

Steve gave her a worried expression. "What?"

"Mike and El broke up," Kate whispered almost inaudible.

"Oh shit," Steve said somewhat loudly, not even bothering to whisper.

Before Kate could reply to him, Max called out to them from inside El's room. "Hey, who the hell is that?"

"Just me and Steve," Kate said after giving Steve a pointed look, and El opened the door with her powers. They stood in the doorway awkwardly, trying to act as if they weren't listening to them.

"Oh," Max said sheepishly. If she would've known it was Kate, she wouldn't have been so brisk. "Hey."

"You guys okay?" Steve asked them, leaning against the doorframe. He had a hand on his hip, which perfectly accentuated his Scoops uniform (Kate wished she would've had a camera).

"Yeah, Popeye, we're doing great," Max replied, earning a giggle from El.

"Do you even know who Popeye is?" Kate asked, giving her sister a confused look.

She hesitated to respond. "No."

"Great. That's great," Steve said, moving to Kate's room as he sighed.

Kate shook her head, sighing slightly. "Okay, we'll, uh... leave you two alone. Don't, uh... do anything stupid?"

The two girls both smiled innocently at her. Almost too innocently for comfort. "We won't."

Kate closed the door behind her, which immediately led to the giggles of the two girls as "Angel" continued to blare in the background. In a way, Kate's heart warmed at the thought that Max and her sister were now friends. It seemed like an odd duo, but she figured that both of them probably got so tired of hanging out with all of those boys all the time. A friend like Max would be good for El: she needed someone that would help her speak her mind, to help her break out of Mike's shell (because Kate was very, very tired of her dad being so upset about Mike). Kate also liked Max a lot more than Mike, so she would take what she could get.

Whenever Kate walked into her room, shutting the door behind her, she found Steve had already put on another pair of shorts, digging through her drawers for a shirt. "Well, she's taking it better than I could have ever imagined."

"No shit," Steve replied, still looking for a shirt.

Kate's lips tugged upward as she moved to lean against her dresser, watching him as he dug through her drawers. She liked to admire him whenever he wasn't looking, mostly because she knew his ego didn't need any boosting when it came to how attractive he was. She loved to trace over his freckles with her eyes, his happy trail. The shorts he had on now sat low on his waist, leaving a bit less to the imagination. She, however, pushed it to the back of her mind—she, currently, was much more invested in her sister's relationship. "She obviously broke up with him. Figures. She was too good for him anyway."

When Steve finally found a shirt of his, he put it on top of her dresser, then put a hand on her jaw. "You done talking about the kids now?"

She gave him a pointed look, holding her hand over his. "If your sister just dumped her boyfriend, you'd be talking about it, too."

He chuckled, kissing her as he rubbed his thumb against her cheek. When her tongue slid over his, he sighed, putting one of his hands on her waist, moving under her tank top and flannel to touch her skin instead. 

She slid her flannel off of her shoulders, letting it drop to the floor as she wrapped her arms around his neck again, melting into another kiss as he pinned her against the wall. He hoisted her up, her legs immediately wrapping around his waist. Out of breath, he released her lips and began to make his way down her neck, making light nibbles as he moved. When she let out a soft moan when he landed at a particular spot, he smirked for half a second before moving back to the same spot, biting and sucking at it.

He moved back to her lips whenever she'd finally giggled, making him exhale heavily. His hand spanned the width of her cheek, fingertips grazing her hairline whilst his thumb managed to pull at her bottom lip, eager for more.

The loose change and random books on her desk fell to the floor whenever Steve picked her up and moved her on top of it, legs spreading for him to fit in between. One of his hands roamed up her thighs, pushing at the soft skin there until he hitched a knee up and over his hip, pressing himself into her. Kate broke the kiss for only a second to slip her tank top over her head, leaving her just in a bra and shorts.

Just for a moment, he pulled away, chest heaving, pressing their foreheads together. "They're on the other side of that wall."

"And?"

"I'm not gonna be able to stop if we keep going, Kathy."

She stifled a laugh. "Okay."

With her words, Steve shrugged it off and moved down to her chest, kissing over the lace triangles that covered her chest. He looked back up to her again, almost as if he were asking for her approval. She nodded at him, and he unhooked her bra, leaving her topless as he held one of her breasts in his hand and his tongue traced over her nipple.

She moaned softly, immediately running her fingers deep through his hair, tugging in appreciation as she smiled at the sound it pulled from him. His eyes fluttered shut as he continued to kiss, nip, and suck at her breasts, his hands skimming up and down her sides before they settled on her ass. She wrapped her legs around his waist again, noticing the hardness pressed up against her thigh. She moved her hips slightly, making him let out a small moan.

As Steve moved to unbutton her shorts, the front door slapped open and shut, clunky footsteps seeming to follow.

Her father had come home, and he was absolutely pissed.

Kate quickly pushed Steve off of her, throwing on the t-shirt Steve had thrown on her dresser, and Steve quickly dug through the drawer he'd claimed in Kate's dresser, quickly throwing on a shirt of his own. Kate quickly rushed out of her bedroom, finding her father stumbling to El's bedroom door, a wine bottle in hand. "Hey! When I say three inches, three—"

When he slammed the green door open, he found Max and El laying on the floor, reading two magazines.

"Do you knock? Jeez!" Max shouted.

"Yeah! Jeez!" El repeated.

"Oh, hey," Hopper slurred.

When Steve had followed behind her, finally putting on a shirt, he watched Hopper just as Kate had. When he finally looked at her face, his heart dropped: she looked horrified.

It had been a long time since Jim Hopper had stumbled home late after a long night of drinking. Kate couldn't remember a time when her father had done it since they'd added El to their family, and it certainly hadn't been something she missed. The thought of him driving home like this from downtown made a chill run down her spine. She could only stare in horror as her father only made the situation with the two girls in El's room even more embarrassing and awkward.

"I'm sorry," Hopper said, trying to make himself sound more put together. "I thought that, uh—"

"Mike's not here," Max said knowingly.

"Max wanted to have... a sleepover," El said. "Is that... okay?"

"Yeah?" Hopper said. "Yeah, yeah. Yeah." He looked at Max. "Your parents know about it?"

"Yup," she replied, popping the "P."

"Uh, yeah, it's cool," Hopper said. "That's... That's really cool."

Whenever he stopped talking, an awkward silence hung in the air.

"Did you need something?" Max asked.

"No, no," Hopper replied, almost in a daze. "Uh, I'll leave. I'll just let you... I'll leave you..." He stuttered until he finally shut the door, letting the two girls enjoy their time together. Whenever he noticed Steve and Kate's presence, he turned to them as the two only stared at him in horror.

"Hey, you two," Hopper said, smiling drunkenly.

"What happened?" Kate asked, eyes wide. Her father hadn't been this drunk in a long time. 

"Oh, nothin'. Joyce stood me up at Enzo's."

Kate sighed. She hadn't even realized Hopper had asked Joyce out on a date, let alone the fact that they were going on one tonight (or didn't go on, she assumed). "Dad..."

"It's not a big deal. I'm home with you now, so it's all good."

She frowned. "Dad, I don't... are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," her father answered, sitting and reclining back into his chair. "Just glad to be home with you kids."

"Dad—"

"Why don't you two come sit," Hopper said, turning the TV on to a Magnum P.I. rerun. "We can enjoy ourselves."

Before Kate could object, Steve grabbed her hand, pulling her to the couch. "Sure."

"What the hell're you—"

"Just trust me, okay?" Steve said, sitting down on the couch. 

Kate looked to Steve, almost not believing what he was doing. She knew they needed to just leave the room, hide out in her room or something. Even though Steve's parents were home, she wasn't even opposed to going to his house instead. Anywhere would be better than right here right now, and she was absolutely sure of it. Hopper would eventually get better if they just left him alone, that or he wouldn't get any worse.

Whenever he shot her with the puppy dog eyes, though, she sighed, sitting on the couch next to him.

After a couple of hours, Kate had finally fallen asleep. Since then, she had curled into Steve, leaning her head on his chest. He hadn't moved a muscle since then—he knew how much she struggled with falling asleep. He didn't want to risk waking her up, even if it meant he and Hopper were left alone.

Hopper finally cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "You're a good kid, Steve."

He almost hadn't heard what he said. He could've sworn he could've imagined it. "What?"

"I said that you're a good kid."

Steve hesitated. "Really?"

"As much as it pains me to say it, yeah," Hopper said, shrugging slightly. "Out of any of 'em she could've picked, I'm glad it was you. There's not a son of a bitch in this town that gets her like you do."

Steve smiled. "That means a lot, sir."

Hopper looked at him with an unreadable expression. "You, uh… remember what you promised me last year?"

Steve almost laughed at the idea. How could he not remember? it had been that night when she had gotten so hurt, and she had been laying in Jonathan Byers's room, passed out from all the blood she'd lost. After she had almost died, Hopper had asked him to keep her safe, no matter what happened. Back then, it had seemed like a promise that would be difficult to keep, but it truly hadn't been. Not yet.

"Yeah. Yeah, I remember."

He hesitated. "Don't forget it."

Steve nodded. "I wasn't planning on it."

Hopper stood up, clapping him on the shoulder before walking into his room for the night.

That night, as well as the night she'd gotten so hurt, would be something he'd never forget.

next chapter

taglist:

@thatsonezesty13 @cece5298 @thepowerstoner @alovelytardis @coolchick333 @stand-tall-pineapple @littlet-holmes @guichu @cinderellacauseshebroke @blackbirddaredevil23 @mads-weasley @ilovemarauders @pearlstiare @liableperfections @khaylin27 @girlwiththerubyslippers @cyarikaaa @flicksturz

[professorspork]

15, 11

15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)?

Each has their unique challenges, but of all of them I think summaries are the thing I consistently am most annoyed by. even if a title is elusive, once I've found the right one I know I'm done. I've pretty much perfected my formula for summaries-- an excerpt, followed by a brief sentence that's the straightforward elevator pitch for the story-- but deciding WHAT to use as the excerpt can be confounding. and one time I recall I'd picked out an excerpt to use for the summary of bees first time only for @theseerasures to then recommend dramatically changing that section and cutting the part I was going to use in her beta pass, so then I had to go back to the drawing board.

11. What do you envy in other writers?

oh, gosh. how much time do you have? I'm just never going to have a plot- or twist-driven brain, and so I envy writers who have that ability to truly *construct* a story and not just sort of ruminate on the people who live in it, as I do. I'm certainly no stranger to reading a certain insight or turn of phrase and going DAMN I WISH I'D THOUGHT OF THAT, but my envy tends to be less focused on that sort of prosaic level and more about the mechanics behind the storytelling. some writers just have a knack for like, suspense and laying pipe and dramatic irony, and giving you the pieces really deliberately so you work out what's going on at the pace they WANT you to, and that's just never gonna be me. it's hard to obscure what I'm doing when what I'm doing is so straightforward and doesn't need to be figured out, you know?

I also envy other writers who confidently post WIPs without having the rest written and just post as they go because like. HOW DO YOU DO THAT. AREN'T YOU SCARED YOU'LL ABANDON IT? WHAT IF YOU REALIZE SOMETHING DOESN'T WORK HALFWAY THROUGH AND NEED TO RETCON? i admire people who like, are sure they'll figure it out and are happy to just put it out there.

[emma-nation]

The Devil In I - Bela x OC (Resident Evil Village AU)

“Step inside, see the Devil in I”

Summary: Aleena Novak is a 19 years old orphan who desired more than living in a village in the middle of nowhere. A talented artist with a big future ahead, she gets the scholarship of her dreams in United States. But everything changes when her twin brother, Auryk, steals an important artifact from Castle Dimitrescu.

In this adventure, Aleena will find way more than she expected.

“You’ll realize I’m not your Devil anymore”

Pairing: Bela Dimitrescu x OC

Genre: Between T and M (Trigger warning for violence, blood, abuse and eventual smut)

Tag List: @nydeiri

Notes: This is my first RES fic, so I'm sorry if I mess it up a bit. English is also not my main language, so a mistake or two may happen. I hope you enjoy it :)

Trigger Warning: Language, abuse, blood and violence.

Eastern Europe - July, 2009

"If he could learn to love another and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?"

Mother closed the book, placing it on the bedside table between Auryk's bed and mine. Then, she lowered herself and kissed my forehead like she did every night. Her long, blonde hair tickled my face and left a trace of her sweet lavender fragrance in the air. I giggled.

"Good night, sweetheart," she spoke.

"Good night, momma."

"Cherish your last night as a six years old. Tomorrow you will become a..."

"Princess?!"

"A seven years old girl. The prettiest girl in the village."

"Pffft," Auryk let out a displeased grunt from his bed, covering his head with the pillow to avoid listening another word from the conversation.

"And you too," mother sat by his side on the bed and repeated her nightly ritual of kissing his forehead to wish him a good night too. "You'll become the most handsome and brave warrior in this village. Do you understand?"

"I hope so. Good night, mom."

"Good night, buddy."

Mother left the room, leaving us both in the dark. However, we couldn't sleep. Not because we were thrilled about our incoming birthday party as any regular child, but because we knew our lives were about to change. Seven years old was the age every child from our village was introduced to the truth and started being trained to fight the evil that haunted our lands. Auryk and I spent minutes, or maybe hours, in silence, staring at the ceiling.

"Leena?" He was the first one to speak. "Do you believe a spell can broken? I mean, like a curse?"

"I don't know, Ryk," I answered, feeling my thoughts starting to drift away. "Maybe we're doomed after all. Or... we could learn how to love the beasts."

The birthday parties always happened during the daytime, rules of the village. We could no longer be outside after 6 PM. Mother got help from the other women to prepare the treats and organize the decorations. Auryk was disguised as a pirate and I... I was Belle, from the Beauty and the Beast.

"So, what do you think you will be getting this year?" My best friend Elena asked while we were playing with our dolls. She was about two years older than us.

"I don't know," I shrugged. Being a merchant, my father always returned home with the most unusual gifts: a magical music box, a voodoo doll that had a life on its own or a fragrance that chased away the monsters - and everybody else too. "A new book. I'm hoping for a new book."

It was only by the end of the party Adrian Novak made his entrance. That was the mystery about him. Nobody knew when he would show up, or if he would show up at all. He still had that same annoying smirk on his face. The corner of his mouth holding a cigarette. The months away made his beard grow longer, as well as his dark hair. In the sunlight, the scar above his eye was even more visible.

"Auryk," he shouted, "come here, son. I've got something for ya."

My twin brother, who had been climbing trees with his friends stop frozen in spot for a second. I couldn't tell if he hated or feared that man. Maybe both. He slowly followed father's command, approaching him cautiously.

"Hi, dad."

"Happy birthday, son," father ruffled his dark straight hair with his strong and calloused hand. "It's about time you grow up."

He handed my brother a large package. From our experience, we knew exactly what it was, a shotgun.

"T-Thank you, dad."

"I'll be spending some time at home. Tomorrow we'll start practicing."

Auryk consented. He shot me a quick glance. From our twin bond I could tell my brother was far from happy. When he blew his candles that afternoon, he didn't wish for a weapon. We wished to be a normal child.

"What did you get, Leena?" He asked once we were locked in the safety of our bedroom.

"Pencils and a drawing book. Dad thinks I'm talented."

Not really. Adrian Novak would never allow his daughter to hold a shotgun. That was, according to him, 'a man thing'.

"Good, at least one of us got what they wanted. Happy birthday, sister."

"Happy birthday, brother."

4 Years Later - October, 2013

It wasn't easy to be the weakest of the twins. Although he was born first, Auryk was the tinniest. The one who was always getting sick or getting injured. The one who couldn't hit a single fucking target when he had the alcoholic breath of his father on his neck.

He aimed for a crow, sitting still on a fence. How hard could it be? Even the eldest man from the village could do any better than that.

BANG! He shot again. And missed.

"Again?!" Adrian angered, shoving him hard on the shoulder. "What the hell is your problem, kid?"

"I don't know, okay? This gun... it's heavy!"

"Heavy? And why do you think we've been exercising for all these years, huh?! We do not live in Disneyland, Auryk. We need to fight monsters, abominations. Someday I won't be home and you need to be prepared to protect our people. Do you understand?"

Tears started forming in the corners of the boy's blue eyes. He couldn't cry. Not in front of him. Crying was a sign of weakness and he couldn't be weak. Not right now. Auryk started to think about all the things he could be doing. He thought about the ocean, as he had seen on TV and books. He could feel the warmness of the sun on his skin. The sand between his toes. His mom and sister were also there, of course - they'd carry them with him everywhere. And he would study Math and Physics. There would be no guns, no monsters, no blood, only numbers, only formulas, only theories. He smiled. He no longer felt like crying.

"I'm sorry, dad," kindness was always the answer, his mother said. "But this isn't for me, you know? I don't like it. I... Remember that boarding school my teacher mentioned? I thought maybe I..."

His words were interrupted by a hard slap on his face. Auryk could taste a small amount of blood coming out from his lower lip.

"So that's what you want? To become one of those little fancy fags? Maybe you're not my son after all."

Adrian started walking away, leaving his son alone, sitting on the floor.

"I AM!" Auryk yelled, enraged. "I am your son."

"Then prove it."

"You shouldn't take so hard on him," Savannah poured her husband a cup of tea. "He's just a boy."

"He's eleven years old, for god's sake," the husband punched the table strong enough to make it shake. "He needs to man up a bit. You should stop spoiling him."

As I left my bedroom I found my brother sitting on the stairs. He didn't have to be so close to listen to the conversation between our parents, father's voice was loud enough to echo through every wall of our small and cozy home.

I sat down by his side, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"Maybe you should do it, Leena. You'd do it better, I know."

"I'm not so sure. Remember when I tried to shoot a scarecrow and almost shot that old witch?"

"Come on, you aimed on purpose! I know."

Auryk finally let out a small laugh at the memory.

"You're good at everything, Leena," he spoke fondly. "You're an extrovert, you're everybody's friend, you can cook, you can draw and paint... you're a true artist. I'm a mistake."

"You're not a mistake, Ryk," I pulled my brother closer, resting my cheek against the side of his face. "We're only at the wrong place and you know it."

Going back to our bedroom, we pulled from the drawers the postcards our grandma Louise sent us from San Diego. Mom had been born in California and lived there her entire life, until she met father during one of his trips. God knows what made her fall in love with that man. Adventure? Danger? I expected better from myself when I turned eighteen. Otherwise, I'd never want to fall in love. Love could be my ruin, just like my mom's.

"Leena..." Auryk held the postcard tightly, "do you think... if he died... do you think mom would take us to nana's home?"

"I don't know, Ryk," I didn't want to think of my father's possible death. But I also dreamed of a better life. "Maybe."

"What the hell?" Father's voice in the kitchen made me jump in fear. I knew that tone. I grew up used to that. Something was wrong in the village. We had to hide.

"To the basement, now!" He emerged at the bedroom, holding a rifle. "Lycans were seen surrounding the area."

We barely had any time to react, mom came and dragged us both to the basement. Father left, carrying his arsenal of weapons as usual. There were other hunters in the village but we always knew how badly it could end. Somebody could always get seriously hurt. Or worse.

The basement had been carefully prepared for that kind of situation years before. It had a big bed, two armchairs, a heating source, some stored food and a shelf. Mom sighed and forced a smile.

"So," she walked to the shelf, "what is it going to be today?"

"Frankenstein," Auryk suggested. My brother loved mystery and horror. As if his life hadn't enough of it.

"Romeo and Juliet," I spoke. There was something about forbidden romance that always caught my interest.

"Okay. I... I'm gonna say a prayer and you two can read the books you picked by yourselves. What do you think?"

"Great!"

Mom kneeled down by the bed's side, holding a crucifix. I could join her if I wanted to, but I'd rather watch in silence. I grabbed my book, sitting on one of the armchairs and pretending to pay attention, while I tried to distract myself from the fact my father could be the Lycans' next prey. Or all of us, if they managed to break into our house.

"Leena?" I woke up hours later with my mom shaking me. "Leena?! Where's Auryk? Where's your brother, Leena?"

I had no idea. I had fallen asleep and apparently, so did mom. She checked for the basement's door, it had been locked from outside.

"No..." she tried to force it open. "No! I can't be..."

All Auryk had to do was to successfully kill and take a Lycan's carcass as a trophy to his father, right? That was what that old douchebag wanted him to do, to prove his courage, his manhood. We had his shotgun, a binoculars and a knife, that should be enough, but first, he needed a good plan.

Looking down to his hands, he had the most perfect idea. Without thinking twice, he sliced a cut through his palm, letting some blood pour on the ground. Then, he found a tall tree. He climbed it and observed. The smell of blood his trail left behind should be enough to attract a creature.

"Come on... come on..."

From a distance, Auryk could hear the sound of destruction and death. There was a battle going on somewhere nearby. Once again Lycans should have found a family or a group of hunters.

And then, he could hear it. The heavy footsteps, the screeching sounds, the sniffing. The mutant creature was only a few meters away from the tree. He aimed, but it was still too distant. He needed to move to a closer branch.

It all happened in one second. He was almost there, reaching for the spot he had picked, but his weight was too much for the tree's branch. In a blink of an eye, he was lying on the ground. His vision was blurred. His head hurt intensely, as well as his arm. It was broken for sure. He possibly had a concussion too. He tried to stand up and run but his legs wouldn't follow his commands. The Lycan was coming straight at him.

"AURYK!" His mother screamed behind him. "NO!"

Time seemed to freeze in that fraction of second. How did she manage to escape the basement? How could she have found him?

But without hesitation, Savannah threw herself on top of her son, protecting him from the jaws and claws of the monster. Auryk couldn't see much, but he could smell it. He could feel it. Blood. There was blood everywhere. He couldn't tell who it belonged to, he or his mom's.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A fast sequence of shots suggested the hunters had found them. The creature stopped moving, stopped howling. It was finally dead.

"M-Mom... it's dead. We... We're safe."

She didn't answer. Instead, he heard another familiar voice.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" It was from his father. "Savannah! Savannah!"

"D-Dad..." Auryk tried to speak, but the words got lost along the way. "I... I..."

Adrian lifted him by his jacket, holding him inches above the ground.

"YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED YOUR MOM, YOUR STUPID BASTARD!"

"I..." tears streamed down the boy's face, his injured brain trying to process what had just happened. "I'm sorry.'

After he was thrown back to the ground, he was hit with a hard kick on his stomach. He turned his head around to notice a small figure hiding behind a tree, watching the whole scene in pure horror.

"L-Leena..." he muttered.

"This is all your fault, Auryk. You're a disgrace to this family."

And then, he passed out. Rumors said he was unconscious for days or maybe weeks. When he woke up, he wished everything had been a nightmare.

Present Days - July, 2021

Nobody mourned Adrian Novak when he died. Not his children. Not his village mates. No human being would ever feel any sympathy for a man who abused and blamed his eleven years old son for his mother's death. It had been two years since Adrian left this world and I couldn't feel any more free.

"Hey," I left another message on my brother's voicemail, "in case you've forgotten it's our birthday today. I'd like to have my twin home, you know? Call me when you get this message."

It was useless, I knew. Auryk would only pick up his phone when he wanted to. Or when he was too drunk. God knew where that guy would be at that time, probably waking up at some girl's bed or getting some rest from... working.

After grabbing myself a cup of coffee, I checked the door's mat. Bills, bills, newspaper and... California Institute Of Arts? I remember having an argument with Auryk about this matter at some point. He wanted me to fill the application and send them my portfolio. I insisted we had no money, not even to pay for the tuition. I won - I always win every argument by the way.

"Your damn son of a..." I placed the envelope on the kitchen's table. I was a coward, I confess. However, I didn't know which pain was worse - to be sure I wasn't good enough or to be sure I was, indeed, but I'd never have money to leave that hellhole. Anyways, I decided to leave it alone. I had more important things to do.

My morning routine: to go to the middle of the woods and do some training. My father used to say fighting wasn't a girl thing, but I was no regular girl. And never in this life I'd allow someone to tell me what to do.

After running, climbing and doing a set of push-ups, it was time for combat training. Travelers from abroad taught me some different set of moves, I'd like to think I created my own fighting style. I was also very good with knifes, daggers or any kinds of short blades, they were useful during a close distance combat. My shooting was a work in progress, once or twice I'd miss the center of my handmade targets.

Then, like everyday, I'd go back home, shower and follow to my shift at the village's pub.

"Hiya, Leena," Gustav greeted me when I arrived. "I heard today is a special day... the day a little girl..."

"NO!" I stopped him. Gustav was my best friend. We had known each other since we were children and somehow, he liked to make my birthday a special - and embarrassing - event.

He placed a handmade fairytale-like book on the table. There were some edited pictures, mixed with some messed up drawings about my birth and childhood. He called it 'The Princess Who Carried The Light'.

"God, you're soooo stupid..." I rolled my eyes and moaned, before wrapping him into a very tight hug. "I love you, you know that?"

"I know. You'd probably marry me, if you weren't into girls."

We laughed together, as Olga, our boss emerged from the kitchen, bringing a cake with nineteen candles.

"Here's to another year," the older woman opened a wrinkled smile, "make a wish, my darling."

I fell pensive for a moment, besides having my twin brother back home, safe and sound, what else could I wish for? California, that scholarship, a new life... that's for sure.

"I wish for... a new life, a new adventure," I pronounced aloud while blowing the candles.

"Careful," a male voice spoke behind me, "words have power, little sister. You may get what you want."

"Ryk!"

I jumped straight to my brother's arms. I could swear that in only a few weeks he had gotten a little bit taller, and stronger too.

"I wouldn't miss my own birthday, right?" He smirked. "So, where's the cake? Please, chocolate... tell me it's chocolate."

"Your silly boy," Olga spread some icing on his nose. "Of course it's chocolate, as you love. And with cherries too."

Auryk responded with a satisfied smile. Olga and her husband, Kristoff, were those responsible for taking care of him after the Lycan attack, years ago. They sort of adopted him like one of their biological children.

"Oh!" The woman exclaimed taking a closer look at Ryk's forearm. He had gotten a tattoo. I hadn't been informed of those news either. Apparently, my brother had more secrets than I could even start to imagine. "This is... new. It seems like my kids are really growing up."

"And only now you noticed that, Olga?" Gustav joked.

Olga shook her head, grinning at herself and returned to the kitchen. The customers were starting to fill the pub. I stared at Ryk again, wondering what other secrets my brother could be keeping.

"So, what does that mean?" I pointed to his newly gotten tattoo, a strange and ancient symbol it seemed.

"Protection from the evil. This is what we need the most in our lives, especially in a place like this. What reminds me -" we turned around, taking a small box from the pocket of his jacket. "Your gift."

I took the black velvet box from his hands, it contained a golden necklace with a magenta gemstone as pendant. My blue eyes drowned themselves in the stone. It had a mysterious glow. Something hypnotizing. Something magical.

"Whoa..." was everything my mouth could pronounce. "And I bought you an Astronomy book."

Auryk stood up from his chair and went behind me, taking the necklace from my hands to wear it around my neck himself.

"This is supposed to protect you from any supernatural and inhumane beings. I won't lose you to them, Aleena. Not like I lost mom."

"Ryk, I... I can't even thank you enough."

"You don't have to. Just... stay alive."

First, I was overflowing with happiness. It either had to do with the fact my brother was home, alcohol, or both. Also, Olga should thank me. Most of the costumers of the day only stopped by the bar because of me. They absolutely loved me and knowing it was my birthday, they had to come and see me. A few of them even gave me some extra tips or a small gift, which was even greater.

"Okay, party girl..." Auryk helped me to get inside of the house as I tripped over the door mat. "Time to go to bed now. Don't you think?"

"Come on, Ryk! Have some spirit! You're home, Olga gave me the day off tomorrow, I earned some money..."

"You told Mrs. Hansen you secretly had a crush on her daughter during Middle School, you danced on top of a table, you're gonna get a hangover..."

"Party pooper!"

I threw myself at the couch. Auryk stood in front of me with arms crossed, looking like a father about to give his child a lecture.

"What?!" I yelled. "It's not like you've never been drunk before. Remember when you stole Adrian's..." I started to laugh, remembering the episode.

"When you were going to tell me about this, Leena?" He showed me the envelope. The Art Institute envelope. The one I had been struggling to open.

"Oh! I forgot. My bad, I didn't open it myself yet. I probably didn't get in anyways."

"You did."

I did?

"It's not like we have money to pay for my tuition. Also, how are we supposed to move to California, Ryk? I work at a pub and you..."

"I've gotten more than enough for that. You know that getting out of this place has always been the plan, since we were children. Leena, I've done some big jobs those last few months. I have the money to grant us a comfortable life in California."

"Smuggling, Ryk!" I raised my voice, saying aloud the information that was supposed to be a secret or not. "You've been stealing to grant us this life."

My brother stared at me in silence. I couldn't tell if he felt offended or embarrassed about my words.

"I'm getting out of here, whatever it takes," he ran a hand through his dark hair. "And you are coming with me. In two weeks, we move to United States for your enrollment."

"But..."

What I was trying to protest against? Leaving the village and starting a new life with my brother was everything I always dreamed.

"Look, I promise you," Auryk placed both of his firm hands on my shoulders, "once we settle down, no more smuggling."

"Okay," I sighed. "We leave in two weeks then."

There was a loud knock on the door. Being drunk as I was, I figured out I should have forgotten my purse at the pub. Or it could be a neighbor with some very stupid emergency.

Auryk opened the door and there was a strange looking man standing there. We wore sunglasses and a hat, behind his back he was carrying a giant hammer. According to the rumors and stories I heard from my parents, that was one of the Lords of The Four Houses, Karl Heisenberg.

"Auryk Novak?" He asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Come with me, kid. You've gotten yourself in big trouble."

[addictofsupernatural]

Spidey Senses (pt. 2)

Peter Parker x reader

Summary: You have a talk with Happy and Tony, and Tony tries to fill in the blanks of your life.

Warning: Angsty memories

Word Count: 2879

Chapter 1 • Chapter 3

"Holy shit!" You said, surprising Tony over the language. "You're the Spiderman?"

"You're the Spidergirl?!"

You turned to Tony, who was watching this from outside the car. "You! Why didn't you give me a heads up?"

He only shrugged. "You didn't ask."

"You could've put two and two together!" He only smirked and closed the door. You turned to Peter. "Stark museum?"

"Yeah. You too?"

"Yeah." You buried your head in your hands. This was a lot to processs...holy crap, this just made him more amazing. Peter really does deserve the world.

"You okay?"

You brought up your head and nodded, gently smiling. "We have a lot to talk about."

Tony got in the front seat next to Happy, who was waiting in the car as well. Tony put up the divider so you two wouldn't hear the conversation. "I like her. She's got spunk, but is also a lot more mature than she acts."

Happy glanced at the drawing. "What's that?"

"A drawing from my number one fan." He put it on the dashboard and leaned back in his seat. "She's got a crush on him."

"The kid? Why?" Happy furrowed his eyebrows.

"Beats me, but he doesn't feel the same way. How does that makes sense? It's like when Cap turns down a woman for the hundredth time. Not this is the same situation, but still. Why is the history of blind men repeating itself?" He rested his fist over his mouth. "I'm trying to wrap my head around it."

Happy thought about it. "Let me see a picture of them." He showed him the picture of you two together. "Oh wow. She's adorable. What's wrong with him?"

"Who knows." He paused. "Pull over. I'm gonna find out." Happy pulled over and Tony opened your door. "Your sitting in the front for now. I wanna have a heart to heart with the kid."

You got up and looked at Tony in the eye. "Please don't embarrass me." He saluted as you sat in the front seat. "Hi. You must be Happy."

You smiled and stuck out your hand. He hesitated for a second before shaking it. It wasn't really a professional firm shake, but he appritiated your attempts to be polite. "You're y/n."

He started driving again, and you nodded. "Yup. Did Mr. Stark tell you anything about me?"

"W–uh, not really, no." You gave him a look and huffed, giving him an expectant look and unconsciously pouty face. "Okay, he told me you have a crush on the Peter kid."

"Ugh, of course he did. Is he always really nosy? I've literally never met someone as curious as him."

Happy chuckled. "Oh yeah. Why, how bad was it?"

"He intarrogates me about the pictures I have on my walls, goes through my kitchen drawers, looks at my bills, then walks into my room to make fun of me for my drawings."

You both laughed. "So you drew that picture?"

You looked at the drawing on the dash board. "Yeah. I guess you can say I'm kind of Mr. Stark's number one fan."

Happy let out a chuckle. "You don't act like it."

"That's because I can realize that he's a regular person with his own emotional issues going on, and that he's a good guy because he chose to be for the sake of others. Not for the fame, like the guy from Hammer tech. Ugh, their products suck. But yeah, he seems like a pretty good dude, even if he suffers from RPR."

"What's RPR?"

"Rich People Rudeness." You both laughed, and Happy thought for a moment.

"Wait, what do you mean when he looked through your bills?"

"Oh, I assumed that Mr. Stark told you." He shook his head. "I've been emancipated for about 8 months now."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to–"

"It's fine." You said lightheartedly. "It's not like it's common where you work or probably live." There was an awkward silence where you knew Happy regretted prying, so you picked up the conversation. "So, I saw that you're trained in boxing."

He smiled while keeping his eyes on the road. "Yeah. Do you know how to fight?"

"Um, I guess I did learn to fight as a kid, but it's considered dirty fighting."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Tony's always using dirty boxing when we go for a round."

You smiled and looked out the window. "Course he does. I wish I knew boxing."

"Well, maybe if there's time with all of this over, I could teach you."

"Aww, you'd do that for me?" You gave him a wide grin, and poked him. "Am I growing on you already?"

"You're not too bad, calm down."

Meanwhile, in the back of the car, Peter was nervous about the idea of Tony wanting a 'heart to heart'. "So," Tony said. "I want to get to know you. Tell me about this girl you like."

"Really?"

Tony took out the container that he put under the seat when he went to get you clothes. He opened it and took out a cookie, taking a bite. "Yeah, talk to me."

"Uh, are those y/n's cookies?"

"Yeah, how can you tell?"

"Those look like the double chocolate cookies that she makes." He unconsciously licked his lips; those were his favorite of yours.

"Do me a favor and don't tell her. I'll buy her some new cookies and give back the container. These are just really addicting."

"Yeah, they really are." Peter laughed out. "Well, the girl like's name is Liz."

"Is that short for anything?"

"No, it's just Liz. Anyways, she's really smart. Like, learning is actually important to her and she tries really hard in everything. My friends and I joined Mathletes for her."

"Your friends being..."

"Y/n and our friend Ned. She's really nice to everyone too. Like, no matter what. Not a lot of people in Queens are like that." Peter smiled and blushed.

"Yeah? You guys talk a lot?"

"Well, no. I get really nervous and choked up. I do get some words out, but I need to work on my confidence around her."

Tony shifted in his place to face more to Peter. "Let me ask you something, and think about it. What does she do when you choke up?"

Peter didn't see how this was an important question. "She usually just stares at me, confused. Her friends would drag her away or this guy named Flash will make fun of me and my friends and I walk away. That's usually how the conversation ends."

Tony had all the information he needed. If Peter was always stumbling over his words and this Liz girl didn't do anything about it, then she wasn't really confused. She was playing dumb, either to not embarrass him or because she wasn't interested. What he did know was that he could use this to his advantage. "Now I want you to compare that to the other women in your life."

"Oh, I don't really have other women in my life. I'm not that kind of person." Peter chuckled at Tony.

"I can see. Who are the women in your life then?"

He shrugged. "Just Aunt May and y/n really."

Tony repressed his smile. This was right where he wanted Peter. For being such a genius with science and technology, Peter was an idiot with people's feelings. "Okay then, let's think of a scenario with y/n."

"Why are–"

"Don't question me when I'm asking you something." He said sternly.

"Sorry." Peter mumbled.

"I want you to think of a scenario where you're trying to talk to y/n, but you can't. You're choked up and it's bothering you that you can't speak clearly to tell her something really important to you. What would she do?"

"Well, she'd probably tell me to stop talking, and have me take a deep breath. I could see her grabbing my hand and telling me that whatever it is I want to say is just as important to her if it is to me, and that I should know that I could always tell her anything. She'd probably make me go for a walk and swing our hands to sooth me while we wouldn't say anything. Then when I'm calm enough I'd tell her."

Tony learned two things from this. One, Peter was an oblivious dumbass who still had this likability to him somehow. And two, you had some game. Your flirting was strong even in a damn fake scenario, and you sounded smooth as hell. Tony needed to think about this. He needed to figure out what to say in order to nudge Peter onto you without saying Just kiss her, trust me.

"Y'know, one thing that I like about me and Pepper's relationship is that we can talk about anything for hours. She makes me comfortable and talking to her feels natural and at home. Make sure you feel your best around the girl you like."

Peter thought about this, and Tony dusted the cookie crumbs off his hands. "Okay that's enough advice I'm able to give." He said.

He knocked on the divider, which Happy put down. You did a double take, quickly turning around to look at the container in Tony's lap. "Are those my cookies?!"

He looked like he was trying to think of an excuse, but couldn't find one. "Yes."

You huffed and shook your head, looking back at Happy. "See what I mean?"

He sighed. "Oh Tony."

"Anyways, switch with the kid. I want to talk to you."

You got out of the car and made your way to Peter's door, where he just got out. "How'd it go?" You asked.

"Uh, he told me some stuff that was pretty interesting. But it was good advice. He obviously likes you more than me."

"I don't think it's possible for anyone to like someone else over you." You both smiled as you entwined your fingers together. "I bet he already loves you as much as I do."

He twirled you around, making you giggle. "Thanks y/n. I love it that I have a friend as amazing as you."

"Course." Happy and Tony both looked at each other to acknowledge the depressing friendzone blow you just took. As you slid inside the car you took the container from Tony, handing it to Happy. "Here you go. You two can have the rest."

Happy joyfully took the tupperware. "Happy, put the divider back up." Tony said. Once it was up, he turned to you and overly smiled. "He's cute, isn't he?"

"You don't have to make fun of me." You pouted.

He laughed. "I can see that he's a good kid, and socially awkward. You two were really friendly with each other."

"Not really. We grew up with each other, so it's just natural."

"I want to know what made you like him the way you do." He leaned his head on the seat as he gently smiled.

You looked down and shrugged, smiling. "He just has this light about him. No matter how sad life can get for me, he always makes me smile. He was there for me at my lowest. He knew about my mom, everyone in school did, but he was the only one who wanted to talk to me. Everybody else saw me as dangerous. Ned was reluctant, since he's always been overly cautious, but he warmed up to me. He was even there when I went to court to get myself emancipated."

"Tell me a story of him and you. When was a time where the two of you used your brains together?"

Your smile grew. "There was this time when Peter and I built a TV for me. I found as much as I could from scavenging around the home we lived in, and he had his parents buy the rest. It was our project together. It was an excuse to get away from my mom, and I was so proud of myself when we finished and it actually turned on. It made me love projects from then on. Projects are a reason to be around Peter, and a distraction from everything else."

Tony loved this. This was better than any Hallmark movie. Better than any romance story he's seen. "When did you first get a crush on the kid?"

Your smile left you. "That's kind of a long story." You looked down again, this time in shame. "My uh, my mom had a lot of friends over all the time. They did a lot of stuff, and put a lot of stuff in themselves. I didn't know what it was back then, but I knew it wasn't good. I stepped on a needle that was left on the floor, and whatever they had just took was in me too. I had a seizure, and whoever was still in their right mind called an ambulance. I was in there for three days, still trying to gain back all the feelings in my body. Peter visited me everyday, and fed me when my hand was too shaky for me to eat by myself."

He saw your watery eyes, and felt guilty for bringing it up. "Kid, I'm sorry for asking."

You shook your head and wiped your eyes. "It's fine. Peter told his parents that my mom was really sick, so let me stay there for a few days. We were only six, so we slept in the same bed. I think that's when I first got my crush on him. When he hugged me after getting woken up by my nightmares."

He smiled at you, but was filled to the brim with sadness. He didn't know what to do, what to say. He just wanted you to feel better. Damn, why did that amazing idiot like someone else? Without thinking, Tony pulled you in for a hug. You hesitated, but hugged him back. You didn't remember the last time you were hugged like this, but it felt really good.

At the same time, Peter was failing miserably at talking to Happy. He tried to ask him about his name, but got nowhere. They both opted for silently eating your cookies together. He did see one of your drawings on the dashboard, and picked it up to examine it. He put it back down, smiling and looking out the window. He was proud of you for giving it to Tony.

The car then stopped. You and Tony didn't say anything when pulling back, but you gave him a smile that he easily returned. As everybody got out of the car, Tony had Happy take out your luggages with new clothes and toiletries. He was going to have Happy bring them up, but you both protested and got it yourselves.

He explained the mission situation, and weak points in some of the people's fighting abilities. He then told you two to find your hotel rooms while he talked to Happy. He had a lot to gossip with Happy about you. He usually wouldn't be doing this with anybody, but he trusted to task Happy with looking after you in the future.

You both went in the hotel and gave your names to the front desk lady. Miraculously, she gave you two room keys without question. You excitedly went up to the 5th floor, and went to your connected rooms. You both went to Peter's side first, then yours.

"Yup, your side is a lot better." Peter said as he put his small luggage bag down at a corner of your room.

"What're you doing?" You asked.

"Don't you get nightmares when your in a new area alone? I'm gonna sleep with you."

You lightly smiled at the innocent but so meaningful statement. He really did care. "You remembered. Okay, let's get ready for bed then."

You both brushed your teeth together, and you changed in the bathroom while he took the bedroom. You were pretty nervous to leave the bathroom, with these small pj shorts on. The only times you've shown your legs are in PE, and even those shorts were pretty long. When you did step out of the bathroom, you saw that Peter was shirtless and had a frown. "Mr. Stark didn't pack any pajama shirts for me."

You shrugged, trying to not melt on the spot at the fact that his powers gave him super hot abs. "Maybe he figured you sleep shirtless."

"I guess." You both went under the sheets, and he cutely turned to face you with an adorable smile. "What did you and Mr. Stark talk about?"

"He wanted to know about my past."

"Oh." His smile was wiped clean off, and a worried expression replaced it. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I really am." You then wrapped your arms around his waist and snuggled into his chest. "It just made me remember how lucky I am to have such an amazing person like you in my life."

He smiled and hugged you back. "I'm lucky too."

You then quickly dozed off in his arms, and he'd be damned if he accidentally woke your nice slumber, so he didn't move you. He thought about Tony's word of advice. He needed to learn how to talk to Liz like a regular person, and become closer. He can always speak to you normally. Maybe you could help him with that. That must've been what Tony meant. Yeah.

---

Author Note: Someone asked to be tagged but then deleted the comment, so to whoever that was, sorry I didn't tag you.

---

Tag List:

@flawlessapollo6 @them-cute-boys @lunawndrlnd @the-greatt-perhaps

[jinxthequeergirl]

Softie

Quentin smith x Goth! Reader

Requested by anons and @aristocracy-y :

⭐quentin and the abrasive goth girl from school end up as lab partners and he comes over to study and he discovers she’s actually soft and sensitive?? pls i crave quentin content (if u don’t wanna write this just anything for quentin is fine

⭐My love for Quentin knows no bounds, and a soft, slow make out is literally all I can think of rn

⭐OML you write for my baby! Could you maybe write some Quentin nsfw, if you don’t write that then something soft and fluffy

Warning: swearing, sorry I don't write nsfw but its super fluffy so that makes up for it ig, also i think its safe to say this is quite sometime before fredrick fucked him up.

And sorry for taking so long im trying to get back to actually posting things so please enjoy!!! Sorry that its just sort and sweet.

~~~~~~~

"Sick drawing." Quentin looked up at the you who was standing next to him putting your bag down and taking the seat next to him.

"Oh uh thanks." He said offering a smile.

"I'm y/n, Your new lab partner." Quentin took you all in as you shook his hand. He'd heard about you, seen you in the hall. Nothing about your goth aesthetic exactly sreamed friendly. Kris and jesse would say things about you. "Careful she'll hex you!"

"Wow who's funeral are you going to? Oh sorry that's just how you dress."

You spent class paying attention to the work taking notes and before he knew it class was over. "Uh..so when..or really were do you wanna study so we can do the lab right tomorrow?"

"Uhh my dad's got a teacher meeting thing tonight...I don't have to be home for a few hours.." She nodded as she put her things in her bag. "Yea alright..my house then...I'll meet you after school at the end of the front steps?"

"Yea..sure thing."

At the end of the day you met him exactly where you had said to, but he was accompanied by his friends. "Watch out quentin she might hex you!" He he elbowed jessy as he walked away from them to meet you.

"Sorry about th-"

"Let's go." You bit out grabbing your bag and started walking he quickly followed.

"They're jerks." He said as you continued to lead the way through your neighbor breaking the silents. "They're your friends?" You said.

"Doesn't change the fact that they're absolute dick holes sometimes." You glanced back at him with a smile, before walking up a drive way.

"Penny! Cherry!" You yelled as you opened the door. You where both greeted with the sound of barking and quick feet running down the hall. "Y/n!" Your face lit up as you got to your knees and greeted the girl and dog as they ran into your open arms.

"Hey kiddo!" The dog salked up and licked your face causing you to laugh. "Uh Cherry this is Quentin...he's gonna help me study for biology, Quentin this is my sister Cherry and our dog Penny."

He offered a small wave. "Hi! Are you y/ns friend? She doesn't bring a lot of those home." Cherry asked Quentin as he fllowed the two girls deeper into the house, He only laughed nervousely and you hit her shoulder. "Shut up dork!"

Sbe laughed. "Go do your homework!"

She burried down the hall to her room. "Oh! Dad said he'll be home by eight thirty! Maybe nine!" You rolled your eyes and lead him to the kitchen. "Thanks!" You then turned to him. "Sorry I should've mentioned something about the two of them..." He shrugged and pet penny while taking a seat at the counter.

"I don't mind, She seems like a good kid." You smiled. "She is...do you want something? We've got chinese leftovers?" He laughed. "Sounds good."

The rest of the night was spent within your bedroom attempting to study only to find neither of you took good enough notes to answer the study questions.

"Well I can just look it up in study hall...you can hang out here for a while if you want..." You offered him noticing he'd gotten up from the desk chair to look at the bulleten board filled with pictures that hung on the wall by the door.

"Is that your mom?" He asked pointing to a family photo. "Uhh yea...Penny l/n...she died a few years after cherry was born...we got penny and named her after her..."

"I get that...the whole mom being dead thing." He admitted still staring at the photos, He finally turned to you. "You knkw I meant what I said about my friends-"

You waved him off. "No need to say sorry I'm used to it."

"So then why do you-"

"I like how it looks....It's the only thing I felt comfortable in was clothes like this...kt's not actually true to who I am." You explained quickly. He moved to sit next to you on the bed. "Then who are you?"

"Who do you think I am?" You challenge.

"Well...from what I've seen here tonight. I'd say you're a softie... You like being around people, like making friends, your sentimental, a family per-" you held a hand up to his mouth.

"Got it, you've spent to much time with me today." You said with a laugh moving your hand.

It was quiet for a second. "You know I know somethings about you too." You said.

"Like?"

"Your the reserved one in your friend group, but also out spoken when you get the chance...sweet...kind." You said looking at him. He looked you up and down and leaned forward.

"And you're thinking about kissing me.." You teased before moving closer to him yourself and kissing him.

His hands mobed to your waist as yours cupped his cheeks and climbed into his lap. "You're absolutely right on the last one." He said as you pulled away briefly, you laughed lightly and slid your sweater off and kissed him again.

He wrapped his arms around you and leaned you back on the bed deepening the kiss.

"Y/n! Cherry! Penny!" You quickly pulled away again upon hearing your fathers voice from the front door.

You both let out a slight disapointed sigh but laughed. "Maybe some other time." You winked before kissing him quickly and pulling your sweater back on.

"Hey dad!" You said coming down the hall and hugging him as he let go of cherry. "Hey!..oh I didn't know you had comapny I would've bought more food."

"No, sir I was leaving..my dad will be home soon anyways." Quentin said reassuringly. "Dad this is my friend, Quentin." You introduced the two of them. "Well nice to meet you Quentin, you're welcime baxk here anytime kiddo! Y/n doesn't get a lot of friends around here." He said jokingly, you hit his arm as you walked quentin out the door.

"Goodnight, thanks for having me over." He said.

"Anytime." You smiled and kissed him once more before going back inside.

[olivenight17]

Hi! How are you doing? I'd like to request a MHA matchup if that's alright (a relationship partner and an unofficial parental figure, or just the significant other if you want!). I'm 167 cm ), the same age range as the students, and a female. I've got ADHD, anxiety, severe depression, and bpd. I kinda bottle my issues/ negative emotions and keep up a mask of bubbly joy (the stuff just nags at the back of my brain). I'm in choir, I cosplay, write, draw, and I'm overall artistic. (1/?)

My zodiac sign is Ares. I like to describe my style as “I would be super punk rock/goth/emo but my mom won’t buy me the super awesome clothes so I’ll made do with what I have.”. I love punk music and rock music. On my bad days it’s really hard for me to get out of bed, I’ll often go nonverbal, I get insomnia, and just kinda stare off into space (it can take days for me to climb out of these holes). I have issues with my family and due to that I crave affection from others. (2/?)

I love stuffed animals and have like 23, have a habit of building ‘nests’, and I’m a bit of a goblin when it comes to shiny things and bones (I collect them!). Anyways, thank you so much and have a great day! (3/3)

Let me tell you hon, we’re almost cut from the same cloth, I relate so hard to you. I really hope you get to take on that full punk rock look eventually, I’ll be cheering for you!

Alright, parentally wise, I basically effective immediately knew who would be best for you and I give you, our lovely Emi Fukukado!

- This lady, let me tell you, is about to be all over you parentally.

- Her whole job basically consists of making people laugh, so she can tell when someone’s smiling face is real or fake.

- She sees right through that happy mask and immediately her heart says “No, this won’t do. The child needs to be happy.”

- From that point onwards, it has become her mission to have you smile a real smile at least once a day.

- She may seem ditzy and not good for parenting, but she is a teacher after all, she knows how to take care of kids.

- Becomes your #1 supporter, doing extensive research on all of your mental illnesses. She would never want to do anything to unintentionally harm you in any way and knowing is always half the battle.

- Is very just, kind towards you, understanding that this is hard to get through but she’s very patient and will never raise her voice at you.

- Wants to limit how much you’re bottling your emotions, so she tries to get you to talk about your day every time you come home from school. She makes it clear that you’re allowed to come to her for anything. She wants to know how you’re feeling because it best helps her.

- The nonverbal side is a little daunting for her at first. Only because she can’t help if she doesn’t know what’s happening. If it’s just a no verbal speech, she might ask you to shake or nod your head to her questions. But if it’s like no communication period, she’ll let you stay in bed, make sure you have your stuffed animals with you and just stay with you until you’re ready to talk. And, if you’re comfortable with it, she’ll hug you too.

- The good thing about Emi is that she’ll give you affection all of the time.

- She supports all of your hobbies, helping you to find the right wig or costume, good art supplies, listens to your singing. And have no fear, if you weren’t able to go full on punk before, you will now. Just because Emi doesn’t wear that herself, doesn’t mean she will not spoil you rotten and practically fill your wardrobe with leather jackets and dark clothing.

- Not to mention, she just loves your stuffed animals, and it only serves to love you as her daughter more.

- It takes her a while to adjust to the whole nesting thing and especially when some shiny things in the house go missing, but now she knows where to look if she needs said shiny things. And if she sees any shiny things while out on the job, she brings them home for you.

- Overall, she’s 10/10 supportive mom who will love you no matter what, support you, and always up to make you laugh and smile.

Now for your romantic partner, have none other than sunshine boi Mirio!

- The human representation of the sun is here to love you at all times and make sure you know it!

- 10/10 thinks you’re the most adorable person he’s ever laid eyes on.

- So, like any good extrovert, he roped you into friendship!

- Really loves to hang out with you and, like Emi, loves your stuffed animals. He thinks it’s super cute.

- In fact, the first date he took you on was at a carnival and it was purely just to get you more stuffed animals.

- Always brings you small little punk presents, whether it’s a cd from your favorite band, or an extra choker for you, he is all on board with that style and thinks it looks really good on you!

- Though, he won’t be too pushy with you. He is friends with Tamaki after all so at least with anxiety and self doubt, he’s all good on how to handle.

- With some of the other things, such as the bpd, ADHD and depression, he might need some help with. So, he’ll ask you about it, trying to get what works for you and what doesn’t, any signs he needs to look out for.

- Always has you eating lunch with him to make sure you eat, if you get hungry because you missed breakfast, he’s got a few snacks on hand for you. On top of that, he sends little reminders to eat dinner when you’re both at home.

- Rest assured, Mirio is on the lookout and making sure you’re taking care of yourself and he’s gonna try his hardest not to let you fall too hard.

- If at any time you go nonverbal with him, he understands. He’ll still be talking to you, but he’ll make it clear that you don’t have to answer him. Lol believe me, he’s got enough socialization to talk for the both of you.

- Super hyped for all of your hobbies. He wants to read all of your writings, he’ll go see all of the performances your choir makes, see your drawings, and he’ll love all of your cosplays. In fact, if you take that cosplay to a con, he might even dress up to cosplay with you.

- Need affection you say? Oh honey, it’s practically done and done. He has so much affection and love for you, just say the word and he will unleash it all upon you in words of affirmation and a lot of hugs and kisses.

- Overall, your relationship is filled with a lot of encouragement, love and support, you two look out for each other.

I hope you enjoyed!

[queenxxxsupreme]

Solace-Jim Mason series

Chapter 6

A/N: I miss Jim Mason:( 

Warnings: mentions of sexual assault, brief mentions of drug use, mentions of overdose

Word Count: 4.1k

Summary: Sonny is a rebellious teen. Her dad is a major dick

The next day was Friday, meaning while Jim got to go surfing with my brothers, I got to go dress shopping with Lindsay and Steph. Luckily it didn't take too long and I found a dress I liked st the first shop we went too.

"Do you girls want anything to drink?" Steph asked as she stood up. We were currently laying around the pool in our backyard.

"No thank you, Steph." I shook my head. Lindsay watched her go into the house. The second the sliding glass door was closed, she propped herself up on one elbow and looked at me.

"So how does he kiss?"

"What?" I furrowed my eyebrows together at her.

"Is he a good kisser?"

"Jim? I-I haven't kissed him yet." I sat up, pulling the strap to my black bikini into place.

"What? He was at your house last night until three in the morning, Sonny, and you didn't kiss him?"

"We just talked, Linds." I stood up and moved to check my phone on the table. The boys were just over the hill at the beach but I didn't want to go check on them and look like a stalker.

"So are you dating?" She laid back on the lounge chair.

"No. He hasn't asked me." I frowned a little.

("I really like him, Sonny." Steph smiled at me. I couldn't help the pink that rose to my cheeks as I tried to hide behind the clothing rack separating us. "He's a sweet boy."

"How did Greg do?" Lindsay looked over to Steph for an answer. I locked my jaw, shuffling through a few of the dresses. I was determined to find an expensive dress, knowing dad would be the one to pay for it.

"Worse than I expected him to. But he won't act like that again, Sonny. I promise."

"I won't let him treat Jim like that, Steph." I brought my eyes up to meet hers. "No one deserves to be treated like that. Dad isn't any better than him.")

"You know, Reese never really asked me." Lindsay pointed out.

"Well, he's a dick. I honestly can't stand him."

"Whoa, Sonny." Reese exclaimed as he, Asher, and Jackson made their way up the path. Following behind them was Miles and Jim. "Careful what you say. Jim can hear you."

"I wasn't talk about Jim. I was talking about you."

"I'm a joy to be around." Reese rolled his eyes. I held my middle finger up to him.

The boys settled around the pool, putting their boards up on the privacy fence around the deck. Jim's eyes met mine and he gave me one of his signature little smiles.

"Hi, Sonny." His chestnut hair fell in messy waves across his forehead.

"Hi, Jim."

"Sonny?" Steph called from the door to the house. "There's someone at the front door. He says he's a friend of yours."

"Must have the wrong Sonny. This one doesn't have friends." Jackson said, making Reese snicker. As I passed Jackson to go into the house, I pushed him into the pool. 

"Come inside with me, Jim." I called over my shoulder.

"Hey, Jim!" Steph greeted Jim as she stepped out of the house.

"Hi, Ms. Carlisle."

"Steph is just fine, sweetheart." She put her hand on his shoulder.

I pushed the sliding glass door shut behind Jim.

"Were the boys decent?"

"Yeah, they were a blast." He nodded his head, raking his fingers through his hair. "I can't remember the last time I hung out with people I actually liked."

"That's good to hear." I picked up a shirt that was on the back of the couch and tugged it on. Upon doing so, I realized it was one of Reese's college shirts with a fraternity logo on it. Jim leaned against the island in the kitchen while I went to answer the front door. As I opened the door open, I pulled my red hair out of the collar of the shirt.

My stomach immediately dropped at the sight of Will standing on the front step. A big, disgusting grin was plastered across his lips as he looked me up and down, his eyes lingering on my legs. Reese's shirt only fell down about mid-thigh, leaving my legs visible to his prying eyes.

"Hey, Sonny. I was just in the neighborhood and I wanted to know if you'd be up to come with me to a party tonight over at Tucker Landon's house."

My lips parted but I couldn't find my voice. I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. My fingers were trembling by my sides. How did he know where I lived? Why was he here? Why did he think he had the right to ask me to a party?

"Sonny? You okay?" He furrowed his brows together, stepping towards me. This brought me out of my frozen state. I half-turned to the kitchen, knowing Jim was in there, and tried to close the door, but Will put his hand on the door to stop me. "Hey, I just want to talk-,"

"Is everything okay, Sonny?" Jim moved towards me. My eyes found his and I'm positive he saw the look of absolute panic on my face. His hand reached out for my arm but I let him take my hand instead. "Who is this?" Jim moved me so that I stood halfway behind him. He now served as a barrier between me and the monster that terrorized my dreams.

Will was a half a foot taller than him and easily outweighed him. Will was a jock, a douche-bag in every sense of the word. Jim was slimly built. His muscles were there but they weren't as sharply defined as Will's.

"Who the hell are you?" Will visibly puffed up, clearly not liking the idea of Jim putting himself between me and him.

"Jim." He answered firmly. One of his hands remained by his side, his fingers moving nervously as he watched the larger man. His other hand remained latched to mine. "Who are you?"

"Will Talbot." He held his hand out for Jim. I squeezed Jim's hand, silently begging him not to shake Will's disgusting hand.

"Jim." I rasped. He looked over his shoulder to me. I tugged his hand like a child, urging him to leave.

"I'm sorry, man. Sonny's not feeling up to hanging out right now." Jim shrugged his shoulders before closing the door. Once the door was closed, I was able to lock the deadbolt.

My feet began to take me up the stairs, my heart racing furiously as I shook my head. He knew where I lived.

"Sonny!" Jim called for me.

I only stopped once I was in the center of my room. My head fell back, my eyes slipping shut as a breath escaped my lips. My knees buckled and I would've collapsed to the floor had Jim not been there to catch me. His long arms wrapped around me, catching me just as I was about to hit the floor.

"Shit, Sonny." He cursed, carefully lowering us both to the floor. He rested on his knees and I rested on his lap. I curled my knees to my chin, resting cheek against his bare chest.

"He knows where-He knows where I live." I whispered. I didn't even realize hot tears were trailing down my cheeks until I felt them drip down on to my chest.

"You aren't breathing, angel." Jim murmured gently as he began to rock us both back and forth ever so slightly. "You gotta breathe."

I couldn't find the ability to catch my breath. I was suffocating, choking on an unseen force. Jim took my hand and placed it on his chest so I could feel his heart beating steadily below my palm.

"I'm right here, angel." He whispered into my ear, placing a kiss against my red hair. "I need you to breathe for me, okay?"

I nodded my head and shakily took a small breath. That was the first step. After that, I could begin to catch my breath.

I wasn't sure how long we sat like that but once I managed to breathe the right way, Jim moved to lean against the side of my bed. He still held me in his lap, his arms holding me against his chest. My head was tucked under his chin and my eyes were closed.

"That's him." I whispered, my voice hoarse. "The one I told you about two nights ago."

Jim stiffened up.

"The one who touched you?"

I grimaced at his words.

"Are you going to go to the police?"

"I was high as a freaking kite." I shook my head. "It was weeks ago. It wouldn't do me any good now. Besides, he didn't rape me. He just felt me up. Put his hand down my pants. That's it."

"He doesn't have the right to do that, Sonny. If you don't want him to do that, then he can't."

"He did." I pulled away from Jim and stood to my feet. I raked my fingers through my hair then shook my hands out. "He-He did. And there's nothing anyone can do to change it."

His eyes fell to his hands as I pulled my shirt up to wipe my face. I went over to my closet, feeling the need for a smoke, but at the last minute I decided against it. It was a nasty habit, one I picked up shortly after my sister passed away. I turned and put my back to the door, then slowly sunk down against it. My eyes found Jim, who was watching me with a tender gaze.

"You probably think I'm insane." I whispered softly. "I've got more problems than a crossword puzzle."

He chuckled a little. The smile that cracked across his lips warmed my insides.

"I guess that's what draws me to you." He admitted with a little shrug of his shoulders, raking his fingers through his hair. "You're kinda like me."

I nodded my head softly, looking down at my hands. I never thought of it that way.

A knock on the already opened door to my room caught my attention. It was Reese.

"You two good?" He asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Yeah." I answered him quietly. He nodded and looked to Jim.

"Hey, I don't know if Sonny's mentioned it to you, Jim, but tonight we're all going out to dinner for our parents' anniversary. You should tag along."

"I appreciate, Reese, but I'm gonna have to pass." Jim shook his head. "I've got something already."

"Alrighty. No big deal." Reese looked back to me and flashed me a little smile. "I like him, you know." He pointed to Jim.

"Me too." I bit my bottom lip.

"Good. Come on back downstairs when you're ready." He knew something had happened. I don't think he knew what but he knew something was up.

I watched him disappear from the doorway. Jim stood to his feet and crossed my bedroom, then held his hand out for me. I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. He embraced me in a hug, his arms wrapping around me in a protective barrier. 

"Are you ready to go back down there?"

"Yeah." I squeezed him tight before letting him go.

***

"You're not funny, Jackson." I pulled myself out of the pool, glaring at my brother through my now drenched red locks that fell into my face.

Just after Jim and I joined everyone out at the pool, Jackson picked me up over his shoulder and jumped into the pool.

"I fucking hate you."

"Language, Sonny." Steph chided from her lounge chair, turning the page in the designer magazine she was reading.

"I freaking hate you."

"Much better."

"Hey, mom?" Reese looked up from his phone. "Can I have some friends over later?"

Asher and Jackson both started to laugh at him.

"Wow, Reese. How old are you?" I pulled the now soaking wet t-shirt off of me and threw it at Reese. He easily dodged the shirt and it landed on the concrete next to him. I gathered my hair over one shoulder and moved to sit on the lounge chair beside Jim.

"You gonna ask mom if she can tuck you in later on too–Hey!" A high-pitched yelp escaped Jackson's lips as he ducked a swing from Reese.

"Of course you can, Reese." Steph answered him. "Are they joining us for dinner?"

"No, no." Reese shook his head. "They're gonna come over afterwards. I was thinking we could have a fire or something out back."

"What about you, Jim?" Steph turned her attention to him. "Are you joining us for dinner?"

"No, ma'am, Mrs. Carlisle." Jim shook his head, brushing down his brunet locks. "Me and my sister have this thing."

"Maybe next time."

***

"How was dinner?"

"About as good as it could've gone." I sighed gently as I walked into my room. I left the door open with plans of leaving shortly. "Dad didn't talk to me the whole night, but I'm not complaining."

"I'm sorry, Sonny."

"Don't apologize, Jim." I shook my head. "You did nothing wrong."

I shrugged out of my cardigan, leaving me in just a thin strapped silk black tank top and a pair of faded skinny jeans.

"Did you have fun with Medina?"

"Yeah. I think it did us good to hang out."

"That's good, Jim."

"Yeah. She said something funny that kinda got me thinking."

The sound of someone shouting from outside caught my attention. I went over to the balcony doors and pushed them open. Reese and a half dozen of his friends were gathered around a fire, laughing at something.

"What did she say?"

"She said that there's a light in my eyes that she hasn't seen in a long time. She said she thinks it's because of you."

I paused for a moment, my fingers slowly brushing through my hair.

"Aw, she said that?"

"Yeah." I could hear the smile on his voice.

"She's so sweet." I messed with the necklace that dangled between my breasts. My eyes flickered back down to Reese and his friends. The back porch light was on and this gave me the ability to see some of the guys. I only recognized Lindsay, Reese, and Will. "Will?”

"What?"

"Will." I whispered, quickly taking steps back into my room. I almost tripped over my sketch book in the floor. The balcony doors were slammed shut and I locked them. "He-He's here, Jim. Why the hell is he here?"

"Shit, Sonny. I'm on my way over."

"No. No. I-I'm-I'm not staying here. I'm not. I can't." I shook my head.

"I'll come get you."

"Please hurry." I rushed to pack a bag, stuffing different articles of clothing into my backpack. "Just please don’t-don't hang up, Jim."

"I'm not going anywhere, angel."

The new nickname he'd given me just earlier that day made my heart soar. I gripped my phone tighter as I threw my backpack over my shoulder and slammed the to my room door shut.

"Where is he?"

"Outside."

I made my way down the stairs. I wasn't going to stay in the house. I'd wait outside for Jim. I thought I was going to make it too. I could see the front door. It was right there. But a hand clasped around my arm and stopped me.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dad asked me.

"To-To a friend's house, dad." I looked over his shoulder to see Reese and Will coming in through the back door. "Please." I looked back to dad.

"Lindsay's here. She's the only friend you go to."

"Dad, let me-just let me go!" I tried to yell but it came out as a broken whisper. I tugged my arm until he released me. "Let me go, dad." I blinked the tears away, allowing them to trail down my cheeks as I shook my head. His hand released me, a look of pain crossing his face. 

I couldn't look at him as I opened the front door and darted out into the night. I knew he was hurting right now, I know he missed who I used to be. But she was gone. She died four months ago with Summer.

“Sonny? Are you still there?” Jim’s voice in my ear pulled me back to reality.

“Yeah, Jim.”  I murmured quietly, sniffling as I wiped my cheeks. “How long do you think you’ll be?”

“Less than ten minutes.”

***

Due to Mrs. Mason’s.... nature, Jim had to sneak me into his house.

He closed the door to his room and played music. It sounded like a mix of 80s and 90s rock hits. I smiled a little. He had good taste.

I put my backpack down by his closet and kicked my shoes off. I threw myself down on to Jim's bed, bringing my knees to my chest.

"I can't believe I told him that, Jim." I cried quietly. Jim climbed into the bed next to me and laid on his side facing me. He brushed my red hair back out of my eyes. His hand came to rest on my cheek.

"What are you talking about, Sonny?" He quietly asked.

"Dad." I put my hand on his hand that was on my cheek. There were no tears in my eyes because they were trailing down my face. "I told him.... Jim, I told him to let me go. That's the last thing my mother ever told him. I-I can still hear their argument."

I squeezed my eyes shut as tight as possible, their harsh words echoing in my head. 

("You can't leave, Nicki! What the hell am I suppose to do without you?"

"I'm not leaving forever, Greg. I just-I need to get away. I want to be here for you and for Jackson and Emerson and Miles but I-I-I need a break, okay?"

"A break?" Dad couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Just let me go, Greg, damn it!" Mom was exasperated, exhausted, and out of breath from fighting dad. "Just let. Me. Go.")

"I didn't mean to say it, Jim." I shook my head, pushing myself into a sitting position. He sat up too and pulled me into his arms.

"It's okay, Sonny." He tucked my head underneath his chin.

"He's going to hate me."

"No, no, he won't, angel." He assured me, his hand rubbing my arm.

***

I stayed in his arms for what felt like hours, and he was okay with that. He held me, occasionally kissing the top of my head and brushing circles into my arm with his thumb.

I couldn't believe I'd only known this guy only four days. Four days and I felt like I'd known him my entire life. I was comfortable with him in a way that I never felt comfortable with anyone else before. Four days, and we'd almost kissed once. I had kissed his cheek a handful of times and he had kissed my cheek or my hand more than I could count. He knew automatically how to calm me down earlier today. He stopped my panic attack before it got too bad, before I could make myself pass out.

Jim lifted his head from where he rested upon mine and sat up a little straighter. I noticed this and pulled my head away from him.

"What?" I asked him. He looked down at me with a little smile on his lips.

"This was the song you were singing when I woke up."

I looked over to the stand his phone was on. Sweet Child O' Mine was playing. I didn't remember that I had been singing the song out loud or even that that was what I was listening to.

"You sounded beautiful." He leaned forward to rest his forehead against mine. His chestnut curls tickled my forehead. I giggled softly, reaching up to swipe them away.

"I was singing it?" I crinkled my eyebrows together, wincing internally. He nodded his head. "I'm sure that was a great sound to wake up to."

"You sounded great."

"You're just saying that."

"Oh, yeah. Definitely." He nodded his head, a grin cracking across his lips. He was teasing me.

His fingers began to tickle my sides. I fought to get away, climbing out of his lap and across the bed but he was quick. His hands grabbed my hips and pulled me back to him. Somehow, he managed to get me pinned beneath him. The hand that wasn't holding him up tickled my side. A loud laugh escaped my lips. His hand covered my mouth, his eyes darting over to the door. We both froze for a second, waiting for his mother to come barging in. When she didn't, he looked back to me.

"You have to be quiet, Sonny." He hushed me with a little laugh. I rolled my eyes at him and tugged his hand away from my mouth. 

“Maybe if you weren’t trying to tickle me, we wouldn’t have to worry.” I gazed up at him, searching his blue eyes as I spoke. His smile somehow made all the problems I had disappear. It made me forget. I thought that that was just something they said in rom-coms. 

I reached up to brush his brown hair back, but my efforts were useless. With how he was laying over top of me, his hair had no choice but to fall down. His beautiful blue eyes flickered down to my lips as he slowly lowered himself down to me. My heart began to race. His hand came up to cup my cheek, his thumb brushing my skin as his lips finally met mine. 

His lips were soft and gentle, and he tasted like peppermint. My hand slipped around his waist and across his back. From there, I could pull him down on to me. I didn’t want to feel anything but him. One of his knees rested between my thighs and his hands held most of his upper body weight off of me but I didn’t mind the pressure. I didn’t mind him. I actually sort of liked it. I was engulfed in him, his scent, his taste, his touch. 

My phone buzzed in the back pocket of my jeans. He must’ve felt it too because he pulled away, breaking our kiss. 

“I’m not answering it.” I shook my head, resting my head back against the mattress as I looked up to him. He moved to lay alongside me. I took his hand and laced our fingers together. “It’s just my dad.”

He nodded his head a little. He kept his eyes on me as I brushed my thumb over his knuckles. 

“You said earlier that what Medina said got you thinking.” I turned to face him, tucking one arm underneath my head. “Thinking about what?”

Jim was silent for a few moments. He rolled over on to his back to look at the ceiling. 

“I.... I overdosed before.” He explained quietly. He brought his hand up to rub his face. “I went straight back to using the second I got out of the hospital. I used whatever I could get my hands on. This time was different though. I... I didn’t use right away. It wasn’t until the other day when we were suppose to go surfing that I took anything. Medina thinks it’s because of you.”

“Do you think it’s because of me?” I sat up, brushing my hair over one shoulder, and turned to face him with my legs criss-crossed. He propped himself up on one elbow and half-ass shrugged his shoulders. 

“I mean.... I don’t know. I think you’re cute.”

My cheeks flushed. I looked down as I shyly smiled. 

“That’s not what I asked.” I shook my head a little, looking up at him through my lashes. “Jim, I-I’m glad I can do that for you, that I can help you stop taking whatever shit you were taking before. But I’m not enough. Medina said you need professional help.”

“Therapist.” He muttered, sitting up and moving to lean against the wall. This put space between us. 

“There’s nothing wrong with needing therapy, Jim.” I shook my head. “I had to go to therapy after my sister died.” Without even thinking, I rubbed the scar under my right collarbone. 

“What happened to her?” He asked softly. I looked down, blinking a few times as I tried to think of the best way to describe that night.

“We-We were out at a party. She had just turned twenty. It was.... It was three in the morning. I don’t know what happened.” I shook my head. I had never read the police reports or asked dad about what he learned. “I was on my phone in the passenger seat. Summer.... Summer was driving. When I looked up, there was someone in the road. She swerved to miss them and tipped the car over.” My voice cracked like I was going to cry but there were no tears in my eyes. I rubbed my thigh, remembering where I had seen the metal rod sticking through her leg. “She bled out before anyone could save her.” My fingers trembled as I reached up to brush my hair back. 

“That’s awful, Sonny. I’m so sorry.”

I gave him a forced smile and nodded my head.

“You’d think that after all I’ve been through, dad would take it easy on me. But he still gives me shit about every little thing I do.”

“At least your dad talks to you.” Jim muttered. “Mine won’t even answer the phone.”

I looked down at my hands. The ugly scar across my knuckles made my stomach churn.

“I know I’m not your dad and you’ve.... you’ve only known me a few days, but I’ll answer the phone when you call.” I met his gaze. The smile that crossed his lips made my heart race. 

“You mean it?”

“Of course I do.” I nodded. “You’re cute too, by the way.”

His cheeks flushed and he rolled his eyes at me. 

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 11 - Train to China

Hello! First of all, I'd like to thank my friend @jafethortiz for that amazing cover artwork for this story! thank you again! Other than having a kick-ass picture for this story, I'm doing pretty good, just dealing with the normal stuff. I hope everyone out there who's reading this is having a good day as well!

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A black helicopter streaked through the sky above the Korean mountains. Passing by tall peaks and steep cliffs.

"Alright, here's our objective," Alex said, standing up in the back of the aircraft. "Thanks to Intel from the ZIA, we know that North Korean high command is making a break for the Chinese border in a fleet of specially designed trains"

An image of 3 trains appeared on a screen in the back of the helicopter, and Skye, Jack, and JayJay watched carefully.

"The first train is used to check the safety of the lines, and it's already in China, so there's nothing we can do about it"

A yellow line of text saying 'escaped' appeared over one of the trains on screen.

"The third train carries additional staff and followers, but it's already been destroyed by our teammates and US forces"

A red line of text saying 'destroyed' appeared over another train on screen.

"But the second train, that's our target"

White text appeared over the last train on screen, saying 'target'.

"It's armored, so the plan it to derail it, and make sure everyone inside is dead. However Chinese jets are protecting the train, but US jets and Eris are running interference for us. But we'll have to board the train and send it careening off the tracks. Jack, I'll let you cover the gear we're gonna use"

Jack stood up and pulled a set of boots and gloves out of a container in the helicopter.

"Magnet boots, and mag gloves these will allow us to keep a grip on the speeding train. They might make it a bit difficult to use your weapons, as said weapons are made of metal. But it shouldn't be too much trouble"

"We're approaching the train," Toothdee said from the pilot's seat.

The 4 mammal team donned the magnet gear, with everyone but Alex commenting on how they didn't normally wear shoes.

The helicopter rounded a mountain and the train came into view, along with Chinese and US aircraft fighting it out in the sky. Toothdee flew erratically to avoid enemy jets as Alex opened the side door. Once the vehicle was hovering above the train, the team jumped onboard and quickly activated their mag-boots. Toothdee darted away with the helicopter so she wouldn't be at risk from enemy fire.

"Skye and I will advance on the inside," Jack said "you two advance up here."

The rabbit and fox couple hopped down into a break between 2 cars and began attempting to get inside.

Alex and JayJay moved up on the train roof, watching the ongoing air battle before JayJay pointed out something ahead. A squad of North Korean soldiers climbing onto the train roof, weapons ready.

Alex drew his blade to block incoming shots, as there was no cover, while JayJay fired back with her machine pistol.

"Hurry!" The captain said, deflecting incoming rounds. "I can't hold them forever!"

As they slowly made headway, the hostile soldiers fell to the wolf's shots, and bullets deflected back at them. Once the squad was dispatched, the pair began making haste towards the front of the train, where the engines were. However another squad climbed up onto the roof, and the battle resumed, with bullets flying in both directions.

As JayJay reloaded her weapon and hid behind Alex, her keen wolf eyes spotted something up ahead.

"Tunnel!"

The pair ran to the side of the train and hung off its side, using their magnetic gloves to keep a grip on the side of the speeding car.

The train entered the tunnel, and there were screams from above as the enemy soldiers were hit by the tunnel entrance. However, Alex and JayJay were safely clinging to the train's side, which had a lot of space as the train was passing through a 2 rail tunnel.

Alex looked inside the train through one of the windows and saw Jack and Skye engaging enemy soldiers inside. One of the hostiles saw the captain and opened fire, but the train windows were bulletproof.

As the train exited the tunnel, Alex and JayJay climbed back up to the roof and made a dash for the engines, thankfully reaching them without any more interference.

As Alex went to breach the door, a North Korean soldier burst out of it and pushed Alex towards the side of the train, before sending them both tumbling over it. Captain Boehm managed to grab the railing and avoid falling off the train, before slamming the soldier's head into the railing, causing him to lose his grip on Alex and fall off the train.

"I've got you!" JayJay said, helping her friend back onto the train.

"Thanks, do you have the charges?"

"Of course, I've come prepared"

The 2 placed explosive charges around the engine, and Jack radioed them to inform the pair they had placed their charges on the second engine.

"Toothdee, we need a pick up here!"

"On it!"

As the 4 mammals climbed to the roof of the train, Toothdee came in with the helicopter, and hovered just above the train, enabling the 4 mammals to jump onboard. As the aircraft pulled away, the team clicked the detonators.

Explosions tore through the train engines and train cars skidded off the tracks, flipping over and breaking apart. The vehicle now lay in shambles, with pieces scattered in all directions.

"Looks like 2 of the cars are more armored than the rest of the train," Toothdee said. "They're completely intact. North Korean leadership must be in one of them"

"What about the other one?" Skye asked.

"I'm detecting radiation coming from the second car. It must be nuclear material."

"Looks like our job is not done here," Alex said "toothdee! Hover above the wreckage! Jack, Skye, you 2 handle the nuclear car. JayJay and I will handle the leadership.”

The chopper hovered above the ground, and the team repelled down before splitting up and heading to their respective objectives, taking out a few North Korean soldiers that had survived the crash.

The hull of the 2 train cars hadn't been breached, so the teams placed thermite charges to open them.

"Guys! Heads up! Chinese ground forces are headed your way!"

Alex and JayJay witnessed a truck of enemy soldiers pass them, heading for Skye and Jack. A second truck pulled up and the soldiers hopped out and engaged the pair. Opening up with a volley of automatic fire, the two took out a couple soldiers before they could get to cover. They stayed behind some cargo boxes, watching the locations Chinese soldiers were taking cover. Whenever an enemy soldier popped up to shoot, Alex and JayJay opened fire and gunned them down. Carefully picking their shots soon resulted in the enemies lying dead amongst the wreckage. But more hostiles were on the way, and a buggy armed with a turret pulled up before engaging. Alex tossed a grenade, and the buggy exploded in a shower of fire.

Jack and Skye were having worse luck and were pinned down by another buggy and a group of hostile soldiers.

"Need a hand?"

Toothdee appeared in the helicopter and used machine guns to mop up the Chinese soldiers, clearing the area for Jack and Skye.

"Thanks for that, we owe you one," Skye said.

Another enemy task force, consisting of 3 trucks and 2 buggies were nearing the train wreckage.

"Get ready, there's more coming," Alex said, preparing for combat.

But before the convoy could reach its objectives, Eris strafed them in her jet, firing rockets and chi blasts.

Some of the trucks tipped over and exploded, while the buggies were thrown into the air.

"Don't worry about any approaching vehicles!" Eris said, before circling back around to destroy any other incoming vehicles.

The thermite charge had finished, and a massive hole was now burned into the side of the train car. While JayJay kept watch, Alex approached the train car and stepped in. The inside of the car was filled with smoke, but Alex could clearly make out a large central table, along with propaganda posters all over the walls. Chairs and bodies were strewn about with the latter dressed in high ranking military uniforms. Alex noticed a figure getting up off the ground and staggering forward. Drawing his pistol, the captain shot the figure in the head before he could potentially grab a weapon. Using the camera in his glasses, Alex scanned the faces of the bodies lying around the train car, confirming all their identities as North Korean high command. With a few more names scratched off the US most wanted list, the captain left the smoking train car.

"Guys, we've unlocked our objective and discovered a lot of nuclear material," Jack said through the radio "we could use some help getting it onboard the helicopter."

"Alex and I are on our way, we're all done here," JayJay said, the 2 sprinting through the train wreckage to meet Jack and Skye.

Upon arrival, the pair assisted in taking down a trio of Chinese soldiers besieging Jack and Skye, before the helicopter came in and hovered above a large container with the nuclear symbol on it.

Alex and JayJay attached the rope lines from the helicopter onto the container, while Jack and Skye dealt with enemy forces. A few rocket troopers appeared and aimed at the helicopter, but they were quickly dispatched.

Once all the lines were connected, the 4 mammal team hopped aboard the container and held on tight as the helicopter lifted it into the air. They managed to take out a few more Chinese soldiers before the aircraft left the area.

"Well I think we can consider this a victory," Skye said

"One rogue nation defeated, one container of nuclear material captured, and one leadership council eliminated," Jack said

"Would anyone be up for a break?" JayJay asked, "I definitely could go for one right now."

"I'll second that, how about Japan?" Alex suggested, "I hear it's nice this time of year."

"Oh, so we're having sushi for dinner? Good, because I'm starving"

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Once again thank you to everyone who read this, and I hope I was able to make your day a little better!