#so yesterday at work one of the delivery guys gave me his number

[daredevils-advocate]

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[ilovewhiteroses]

Dance For Me

Pairing: Clement Mansell x Female Exotic Dancer Reader Genre: Smut with a little fluff and humour Warnings: Sexual and adult themes Rating: 18+ Note: Partly inspired by the 2019 movie, Hustlers

You and Clement first met at your workplace. You started hanging out as friends, but things escalated later…

Yesterday was 3 years since you started working at your current workplace. The strip club, called Gentlemen's Club, was opened in 2017 by Darrell Mahoney, who was inspired by Las Vegas shows to open an elegant, tasteful place for wealthy men - and on Saturdays, women - who not only enjoy nudity, but also art. The entrance fee was 50 dollars and the guests had to comply with only a few things: on one hand, they must have money, on the other, they must be respectful of the dancing girls and not touch them, otherwise they will be banned from the place.

Darrell approached you after he saw you pole dancing in another club in a slightly tipsy state and thought you were quite good at it. He gave you his number, and although you hesitated at first, because you were still working at the post office at the time, and you weren't an experienced pole dancer, you finally went for it, because it occurred to you that in one night at the club, you could earn several times your postal salary. You finally said yes to his request and Darrell sent you to a pro to learn the most important moves.

You worked at the club as a second job for a while, then you quit your post office job due to an incident. Since then, working at the club became your main job and during the day you worked as a delivery girl.

You didn't regret your decision.

You made new friends and pole dancing was also a great physical exercise, thanks to which your stamina improved much, not to mention that as a woman, it was very flattering to you that handsome men were watching your every move and throw lots of money on stage.

Your outfit tonight consisted of a shirt, suit, black pants and tie, and you also put a hat on your head. You went out on stage and the music started, the lights shone in pink, purple and blue colours and all the men's eyes were on you. With slow but dynamic movements, you threw off your hat, took off your suit, tore off your pants, while also moving your hips seductively. You took off your tie, which you used to draw two lucky men close to you and at the climax of the song, you tore off your shirt and continued your performance in a golden bra and panties. This time you put emphasis on the pole, doing all the main moves. Sometimes you leaned against it, sometimes you spun on it, and then you crawled on all fours to the end of the stage, where you took off your bra and pressed a pile of money to your chest. The audience went wild and crazy for you. You noticed in the distance a blond man in a leather jacket who looked at you with a piercing gaze, so much so that the cigarette almost fell out of his mouth.

After the bouncers collected your money and you were dressed in a slightly more comfortable, but still sexy outfit, you went out among the guests to ask them if anyone wanted a private dance from you. The blond man started going towards you but a guy in a suit was faster than him so you went with him to one of the private rooms.

A few days later, you performed a slower, more sensual dance for the audience. When you finished, you asked the guests again who would like a dance from you. Someone called you by your stage name behind your back. You turned around and it was the blond man in the leather jacket. His hair was a bit messy and he had extended goatee facial hair. He was smiling flirtatiously.

"Hello! Would you like a dance?” you asked him casually.

"Well, I'd like to, but not dance. Something else..." he told you suggestively. You were a little offended. You were about to tell him to fuck off when he continued.

"I'd like you to have a drink with me at the bar."

You thought the request was a bit unusual, but you agreed with one condition.

"Okay, but you still have to pay as if I danced." you said firmly.

The man reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and took out 200 dollars, which he waved in front of you.

Within a few minutes you were sitting at the bar. The man ordered vodka for both of you and you found out his name was Clement and he was from Oklahoma. He said that he had recently broken up with his girlfriend and what he was doing now. He had a bad boy vibe going on, but you had a sense that he was hiding something more.

Now it was your turn and you were telling the story of how you became an exotic dancer.

"My father is typically the type who is basically married to his work than to his own wife and because of that he was hardly at home, missing a lot of birthdays and other family events. I think this is why I got into stripping. I never had my dad’s attention, so now I’m getting it from random men."

"I'm sorry that your father is like this. I never knew mine." Clement said sadly. You continued your story.

"I used to work at the post office as service clerk. One night, my boss at the time came to the club, and of course he recognized me right away. I told him that if I danced for him he would not fire me, but he wanted to fuck me instead, so I quit."

"Fuckin’ asshole!" Clement shook his head.

"Yeah. So, since then, this has been my main job, and I deliver goods as a side job."

"That's cool!” he said and drank the rest of the vodka. “Listen, I have to go, but would you like to meet again?” he asked, looking at you curiously.

He was very handsome, that’s for sure, but because of your latest break up, you were careful with such requests.

"Look, if that's what you mean, I'm not ready to date right now."

"Then let's just hang out together, let’s say, as two friends. What do you think?"

"That’s okay for me." you answered slightly unsure, because you had only just met him and he already regarded you as a friend.

You went over your schedule in your phone and it turned out that you are free the following Saturday. You decided to go bowling.

Since you met Clement, you've been to the casino and a shooting range. The latter because you wanted to know what it feels like to shoot something. When you were a teenager, you stole your father's gun to try it out, but before you could use it, you were caught and severely scolded.

You watched Clement as he skillfully shot the paper targets. He looked hot while doing it, but on second thought, he seemed suspiciously professional… After the shooting range, you went to dinner.

"Where do you want to go now?" Clement asked after you left the restaurant and got into his car. Meanwhile, he started the engine.

You weren't tired yet and you felt like the night was still young.

"To your place." you told him while looking deep into his eyes.

He raised one eyebrow and flashed a seductive smile, then stepped on the gas.

Clement's place was an elegant penthouse crash pad, like something out of IKEA, with stylish, modern furniture and tall, glass windows that gave a breath taking view of Detroit. It looked so nice, you wanted to move in right away.

"Cool huh?" he asked proudly while taking off his leather jacket as you looked around. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Um, no, thank you." you were so engrossed in inspecting the apartment that it occurred to you seconds later that he was asking you.

Clement opened a cold beer for himself and leaned against the counter and began to drink.

"How long have you been living here?" you asked him.

"Since.. Um, a few weeks, months?”

"There is some difference between weeks and months." you said with a chuckle but had some doubts. You felt as if Clement was a stranger in his own apartment. What is it that he doesn't know exactly how long he has been living here?

"Few weeks. Yes. Sorry, the days just flow together." he said with pouting lips.

“I see.” you nodded.

After some silence, you asked him if he would show you the rest of the apartment. Clement put down the bottle and kindly showed you what was behind the sliding door.

"This is the bedroom, to the right is the bathroom, and to the left is the wardrobe." he pointed to the rooms you had not seen before.

"That's a pretty big bed!" all of a sudden that was all you could say and then you looked at Clement who was amused by this. You quickly looked away from him.

Maybe a little drink would have been good after all, then you wouldn't have been embarrassed like a little girl

"Look at you, little miss naughty!" he said cheerfully and raised his eyebrows. You both had a good laugh at this and went back to the living room.

"I changed my mind, I would like a drink."

"Really? What do you want? I have vodka, can that be?” he asked as he looked at the drinks in the minibar.

"That will be good." you said. Clement took out two glasses and poured the drink into them. You drank yours as fast as you could so that the alcohol could kick in soon and you could relax pleasantly.

The fact that you were dancing for men wasn't such a big deal to you since it was your job, but now that you were alone with Clement it seemed too intimate.

Which of course you didn't mind at all.

When he saw that you were already relaxed, he made a request to you.

"Do you remember when I didn't want you to dance, I just wanted you to have a drink with me? Well, now if possible, I'd take the opportunity and I'd like us to pretend we're in the club, I would sit in the armchair and you would dance for me. In clothes of course, you don't have to take them off if you don’t want to. What do you think?" he asked, looking at you in such a way that you would have preferred to push him onto the bed you saw earlier, so that you would do something to him that he would not forget for a long time.

"Okay. Lower the lights a bit to make the room cozier."

Clement winked at you and went to the wall to lower the intensity of the light, then sat in one of the armchairs. To make it even more effective, you took out your phone and started the playlist, which had particularly sensual songs.

"You know the rules: Everything for the eyes nothing for the hands!" you said running both hands through your hair and started swaying your hips.

"Damn, baby!" Clement said a little displeased and tilted his head to the side. "Okay, so be it!" he finally said resignedly.

You continued swinging your hips and did your usual slow and sexy moves. You went around him, put your hands on his shoulders then slowly moved them down to his chest. You walked over to him and sat on his lap with your back, grinding your ass.

"Fuck!" he said and bent his head back for a moment, while tightly gripping the two armrests of the armchair. He was - literally - having a hard time not touching you.

You leaned back and stroked his cheek. He couldn't take it anymore. He let go of the armrests and reached up to your chest with his hands, squeezing your breasts. He started kneading them gently, which turned you on…

You moaned softly and then turned your head so that you could kiss each other. Clement carefully slipped his tongue into your mouth, making you wet and both of you moaning lustily.

You stood up, then he too, and continued kissing and started to pull each other's clothes off. When you had nothing on, you carefully ran your fingertips over the tattoo of two birds on his chest.

"Oh, so pretty!" you said.

"You like it?" Clement asked, and you bit your lip in response.

He sat you on the couch with your ass on the edge. He leaned in to kiss you and moved on to your neck, your breasts, then went lower, he kissed your inner thighs gently. You felt his facial hair scratching lightly on your sensitive skin, but it wasn't unpleasant, in fact, it made you even more excited.

Your heart was racing and your clit was throbbing.

You moaned loudly as you felt his tongue on your most sensitive spot. Clement spread your legs a little wider to get even closer to you. As he was pleasuring you with his tongue, he slowly and carefully caressed your thighs and breasts with his hands. You tilted your head back and closed your eyes to make the feeling even more intense. You ran one hand through his hair, while the other gripped the sofa seat. It was so good that you kept telling him not to stop. To make you lose your mind even more, he inserted two fingers into you, which he moved in and out. Your moans almost turned into screams and you came with such force that your whole body trembled. When you calmed down somewhat and you opened your eyes, Clement was still kneeling in front of you. He licked his lips and wiped your remaining juices from his mouth with his hand.

"Baby, if I could, I would eat you out till the morning, but now I have other plans." he said in a purring voice and kissed you. "I'll put on a condom."

You nodded and couldn't wait for the continuation, he returned immediately. You stood up and this time you sat him down on the couch. You sat on him in a riding position and put his cock inside you. You were so sensitive from your previous orgasm that you thought you would cum just from this little contact. You held onto his shoulders and slowly began to move up and down his cock, moving your hips back and forth.

"Oh my god, baby, you're so good!" Clement groaned, tilting his head back. He guided you on his cock by your hips, his hands slid down to your ass and squeezed your cheeks The sound of fucking and loud moans filled the room.

He sat up and stood up with you, then slowly laid on the carpet with you so that you could finish the sex there and bring you to climax again…

You opened your eyes and found yourself in his bed. The room was getting brighter, because the sun was already waking up outside. You felt Clement's muscular arm around your waist. You stroked it and turned to face him.

"Good morning!" he greeted you with a sleepy look. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes. Yesterday’s exercise was phenomenal." you said with a chuckle. Clement also smiled and pulled you closer. You felt that he was hard…

"I think you know what I'm thinking." he said, in that sexy voice again. You looked under the covers, then at him and something occurred to you.

"How about we take a shower and I'll give you the best blow job ever?"

Clement narrowed his eyes and pretended to think.

"It's hard to say no to such a tempting offer, but I don’t want to ruin the fun. If you'll be a good girl, after it I'll make you the most delicious breakfast you ever had."

[quicksilverownsmysoul]

13 Going on 30 pt. 3

A Peter Maximoff x reader fanfic based off the movie 13 going on 30

Summary:  You are so excited when the most popular girl in your school agrees to come to your 13th birthday party. But after a cruel prank you find yourself wishing that you were popular and older. By some miracle your wish is granted but isn’t as wonderful as it seems. You turn out to be a major jerk and you don't even talk to your best friend Peter anymore. Can you fix everything and get back to normal or are you stuck living like this forever

Warnings: Angst, Some suggestive content, But it’s mostly pure fluff. (Also Peter has no powers in this fic, and some scenes will be changed to fit Peter and his personality and so I can be creative with it!)

Word Count: 2103

Peter thought it was safe to say that adult life sucked. And it wasn't just because he had run out of lucky charms this morning and had to settle for something called shredded wheat that was hidden away in the back of the panty. They were gross and tasted like cardboard, but Peter was all out of groceries so this would have to do.

 No nothing had seemed to go right for him after high school, he went to college, (even though he spent most of the time partying and goofing off), got the degree and yet he was barely scraping by. But he couldn't complain, all that much at least. He enjoyed his job and even if at times it was hard to earn money he wouldn't trade it for the world. He had fallen in love with photography in freshman year and decided to major in it. He had a minor in business too, something you had always told him would be useful as a backup. You were always practical like that, making sure he never completely fell over the edge. But he was hesitant to use it, because in using that minor it kinda meant he was giving up his dream. Giving in to the regular, soul crossing 9 to 5 job that everyone seemed to have. Peter was a dreamer at heart, in a way it would kill him to do anything other than photography.

He ate a spoonful of his cereal, making a face at the dull taste. Chewing, he glanced over at the stack of bills littering the counter. A lot of them were piling up, sooner or later he may have to give into the normalcy of a business job. Work had been slow lately and very boring. More often than not people hired him to take photos for their weddings or graduation, simple stuff. Stuff that had him bored out of his mind. But there were no clients currently so until he got one he had all the time in the world to himself. Which he loved at first but now it seems he was falling into a bit of a routine.

Peter aimlessly wandered around the kitchen lost in thought, his eyes drifted toward the collection of pictures pinned to his fridge. There was a picture of you on there, from before you had cut him out of your life. Peter set the bowl down on the counter and gently lifted the magnet to pull the picture off. It was a polaroid of you two, You had your arms wrapped around Peter’s shoulders, hugging him from behind. His hands were resting on yours, you both were smiling, teeth missing.

This picture was from the first day of first grade. Even back then Peter had had some feelings for you. And the way his eyes looked at you and not the camera was proof of this. Peter ran his thumb gently over the faded picture, for a moment he let himself wonder about how you were doing, before he snapped himself out of it. He put the picture back in its place and picked his bowl back up. It was too early to be having thoughts like that. 

Peter yawned and lazily plopped down on his worn out sofa, flipping through the channels on the tv. There was nothing on, signing he threw out the rest of his cereal, it had gotten soggy while he was busy reminiscing. He dropped the empty bowl into the sink, only adding to the collection of unwashed dishes. He glanced over at the phone and the soft blinking of the red light, indicating he had voicemails he hadn't listened to yet. He knew he was going to have to take her calls sooner or later but right now he didn't want to deal with her. 

He headed to the park and decided to do some laps on the path, running always helped him to relax and clear his head. He always got stares and shy smiles from the women that were jogging, he found out that apparently the silver hair that everyone made fun of him for was very attractive to women now. Something he used to use to his advantage to pick up the occasional hook up.

After that he went to go get groceries and then played on his pacman machine until lunchtime. He totally knew how to spend his time. He made his way over to the kitchen and looked at all the new groceries he had bought. Twinkies, instant ramen, mac and cheese, he picked up the box of lucky charms, weighing the option of eating it for lunch. He thought better of it and put it back on the shelf, he really needed to eat healthier, god knows sooner or later his metabolism was going to give out.

He picked up the phone and placed an order form the Chinese place a couple blocks away, ordering way more food than he needed. That way he wouldn't have to cook for the next few meals. Peter was inherently lazy and cooking was not something he was very good at. So when he would he just ordered takeout and leftovers so he could eat them later. He hung up the phone and walked over to the fridge and took out the milk, drinking it straight for the carton, while he was doing that he heard a loud knock on the door. “That was quick.” The knocking continued non stop over and over, “I’m coming hold on!” He yelled out as he shuffled to the door and opened it peering through the opening that the chain allowed. “You know it’s rude to-'' The words died in his throat. There was a woman standing at his door, wearing a coat over her night dress. 

*******************************************************

You hadn't been able to pay attention to the briefing your boss gave, your assistant came in about half way through and handed you a small slip of paper. She said that she had found Peter’s address like you had asked. You had pulled her into a hug, creating an awkward tension in the room. The meeting had seemed to go on forever, and for the life of you you couldn't even remember what it was about. As soon as the meeting ended you had bolted out the door, ignoring the calls of your boss and colleagues telling you that work wasn't over yet. 

You had found his apartment after randomly asking strangers in the street which way it was. You were at his door, the number on it hanging lopsided. You began to rapidly knock until the door was pulled open. “You know it’s rude to-” 

He paused as he saw you staring at him. He furrowed his brows in confusion. “You’re not the chinese delivery guy.” 

You felt your eyes widen as you took him in. “Peter?” You asked in a small voice. 

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at you. “Yeah?”

 You let out a sigh of relief, smiling. “You’re tall.” You looked him up and down. “And you’re so handsome.”

His face turned red at your words. He didn't even know who this random woman was that was standing here, telling him he was handsome. He leaned against the doorframe, taking another drink out of the carton. “I’m sorry do- do I know you?” 

He watched your face fall. “You don’t know me?” 

“No?” He said, wiping the dribbling milk off his chin. Even after all these years his mannerisms were the same. 

“Wait! “ You said rushing forward. He jumped slightly at the sudden action. “It’s me, I saw you yesterday. Well I was thirteen yesterday so I guess it wasn't yesterday. Because now i'm old and I don't know where I am-” Peter watched you ramble on and slowly began to close the door. You continued on. “But you were there at my party-”

Peter paused, squinting his eyes and looking at you closely.. “(Y/n)?” He asked hesitantly, reopening the door as much as the chain would allow. “(y/n) (y/l/n)?” You smiled wide at him. 

“Yes! Yes it’s me!” 

Peter slammed the door shut in your face. You heard him unlock all the locks on his side of the door, when he was down he swung the door open. “Hey.” he gave you a small smile. You lunged at him and tackled him in a hug, wrapping your arms tightly around his neck. He just stood there frozen, slowly moving his free hand up to awkwardly pat you on the back. “Come in I guess.” He muttered. 

You pulled back smiling at him. Even after all this time your sweet smile could make his heart skip a beat. You looked around his small apartment taking it all in. Peter did his best to kick discarded clothes into the closet, and keep you from seeing what a mess it was. You looked along his walls to see framed pictures of portraits and beautiful landscapes. “Are you still taking pictures?” You asked,

“Uh yeah, they pay the bills.” He quickly grabbed the pile of unpaid bills, stuffing them behind the couch cushion. “Usually.” He muttered under his breath. You were pacing around his apartment, in confused circles. He nervously rubbed the nape of his neck. “Hey, (y/n) I don't wanna be rude but why are you here?” 

“Petey I told you.” You said moving closer to him, he let out a little laugh. 

“Petey wow, no one has called me that in ages.” 

“Petey listen I came here cause something really weird is happening. Yesterday was my 13th birthday and then today I woke up and I’m this!” You said gesturing to your body. Peter tried his best not to look you up and down, he couldn't deny that you had grown up well. You were even more beautiful than he remembered. “And you’re that!” You said gesturing towards him. 

Peter looked down at himself self consciously. “Gee thanks. Do I really look that bad?” 

“No!” You quickly said. You felt yourself blush as you looked him over. His hair was tousled and messy, he was wearing an oversized  pink floyd crop top and from the looks of the hem it seemed he had made it himself. You watched the veins in his hands ripple and his arms slightly flex. “Uh you,” You let out an embarrassed laugh. “You actually look really good, like really good.” 

Peter flushed at your words and turned away so you couldn't see his blushing face. “Wow.” He whispered under his breath, he lifted a hand up to his face, doing his best to hide the smile that was forming. He turned back to and regained a serious composure. “Are you sure you're okay (y/n).” He took in your mismatched outfit and broken heel. “Are you high? Have you been smoking pot? Doing drugs, cause if you are I’m not judging as long as it’s just weed or something. Cause I mean I get it, I get stressed to and every now and then need-”

“No, no.” You said shaking your head rapidly. “Wait do you do-,” You lowered your voice to a whisper. “Do you do drugs Peter?” 

“No! No.” Peter shrugged. “Ehhh well not drugs, just weed.” He defended. But looking at your judgmental eyes he quickly continued on. “And I don’t, well I don’t that much any more. It was in college you know how it was.” 

“Actually I don’t.” You moved even closer to him. “Look, I was sitting in my closet, and I- I skipped everything. I can’t- I can’t remember my life.” Your eyes were watery as you started back at him. His heart ached seeing you like this. You continued on. ‘You need to help me remember my life.” 

At this he scoffed, and pretended to look around as if you were referring to someone else. “Me?” he said pointing to himself, letting out an airy laugh. “That’s rich.”

“What why?” He let out another laugh at your response, this one was dry. He looked at your face and saw that you weren’t kidding, you were serious about asking for his help.

“(Y/n) I can’t.” He was in disbelief, did you seriously have no idea what you had done to him. “I don’t know anything about you. I haven't seen you since high school.” Your face morphed into one of confusion. 

“What?” 

What he said next pained him, and he couldn’t bring himself to look you in the eyes. “(Y/n). We’re not friends anymore.”

You felt your heart shatter into a million pieces. “What?”

Taglist:

@lets-imagine-fanfics @steamboat-local @weasly-twin-simp

Let me know if you want to be added!!

[kimnjss]

grand gesture | ksj

⤑  series: sugar free

⤑ genre: angst, rich!jin x artist!reader, college au.

⤑ rating: PG13

⤑ word count: 1.5K

⤑ warnings: there aren’t any, lmao.

⤑ A/N: this is a bit short, but it’s straight to the point and meant to be that way!! just felt like this part worked better written then told through text, so yeah you’ll see what i mean! let me know what you think x

A full week passed. A full week of ignored gifts being dumped on your front porch. You were seriously considering selling them, no desire to collect his half ass-ed apology. This was the exact reason why you were hesitant to get involved with him in the first place. He was exactly like how you thought he'd be.

Of course, he'd approach you on a bet. Of course, this would all be about money. It was all that kid cared about. The way he was flaunting it, trying to buy your forgiveness was proof enough. Did he not get it? Was he that dim?

The only thing that bothered you about this whole situation was the time you wasted hanging around him. All that time you could've used working on projects or perfecting your craft... spent and wasted with the hope of trying to get to know the guy. What a waste.

Despite the constant interruption of a knock at your front door, you had decided that you were going to use all this new free time to concentrate on your art. Summoning all the inspiration you could to create... something. It actually was harder than you thought, feeling unbelievably uninspired and a little bit sad.

From your friends, you had requested they didn't pop in whenever they wanted. Felt like you'd work better if you had a chance to be alone. What you didn't realize was that with all this alone time you really had a chance to evaluate your feelings... what you had been suppressing since that night out with Jin.

It had been obvious to the people around you, but you refused to listen. It was hard to ignore now. You were a bit sad, to be honest. It had been a while since you were able to let go and actually enjoy being around someone... romantically, and you hadn't expected it at first but you really were starting to like him.

Things were comfortable around him, he was funny in a nice way, cared a lot about keeping things light, and actually listened when you ranted about whatever was bugging you at the time. It had only been a few weeks spent with him, two dates in that time but you really enjoyed yourself.

A little bummed that it had to end this way. Couldn't help but wonder if you had overreacted, if you should have listened when he tried to text you about it. Stopped being so stubborn and forgave him like everyone had said that you should. Maybe then you wouldn't be this miserable, suffering from this horrible artist's block, you didn't even know if you were holding your paintbrush correctly.

The welcomed knock on your door had you standing a little too quickly, ready to ditch this blank canvas and see whatever had been sent your way. Nothing came in yesterday and you had assumed he got the hint... hoped he hadn't.

There's an arch in your brow at the lack of delivery man at your front door. With confusion written in your features, you're putting the front door open; eyes landing on a sad-looking Seokjin. He's dressed casually, opposite of the expensive tops and form-fitting jeans he usually put on. Pair of joggers and a plain t-shirt. The change was nice, made him look younger.

He shifted on his feet, hands behind his back eyes trained on his sneakers. You had to fight the smile that pushed it's way onto your lips, happy to see him standing in front of you – but quickly reminding yourself why he had to show up like this in the first place. Main priority was to be strong in this situation, figure out what he was doing here and deal with it. Not swoon and go all heart-eyed just because he showed up.

He should've shown up before all of this.

“What are you doing here? No ridiculously expensive coat to add to the donation pile?” Jin shifts at the sound of your voice, lifting his head to look up at you. He looks sad that you can't help but wonder if you're being a bit mean to him.

Although, him betting on your sex life was pretty mean in itself, right? Getting you to like him just to turn around and make you apart of some sick joke, that's mean.

“N-no, no gifts... they weren't working anyway,” He sighs, arm reaching up to rub at the back of his neck in the awkward way you notice he was always doing. Couldn't believe you had started to find the action cute.

“Yeah, sucks. You can't buy someone's forgiveness,” There's bite in your tone but he doesn't flinch, just looks down nodding his head. “Yeah, I deserve that. I shouldn't have treated this like some business transaction. I hurt you... I should've manned up and came to you.”

You're reading to rip into him again until his words are registering in your mind. Did he come here to... apologize? Eyes blinking as you stare at him, Jin takes your silence as a sign he should continue.

“Yn, I'm sorry. I hate that I fucked with you like that and even more that you're upset. I know you won't forgive me, I'm not expecting you to... I just figured I should at least say it, like for real, you know? We were having a good time together and I really like you, so I owe you at least a proper apology.”

There's a warmth that spreads throughout your body at hearing his words. Not sure if it was from the apology or the fact that he had just told you... to your face, that he liked you. What you had been wanting to hear this entire week was an explanation from him, not through text and not in the form of some designer shoes... like a real explanation. Could see yourself forgiving him if he gave you that.

“Why'd you do it?” Your voice is quieter than you remember as if you're afraid of the reason. Either way, you don't back down. Staring straight at him as if you're strong, waiting to hear what he has to say. “Because I liked you. And I know how stupid that sounds, but I was too chicken shit to do something about it... so I just used the bet as an excuse,”

Jin had said that you didn't have to forgive him, but that didn't stop the hopeful look in his eyes. Watching as you tossed his words around in your head, waiting for that smile of yours to appear as you told him that it was all okay. That you forgave him and if he promised he never did something stupid like this again, you two could go back to falling for each other as you had been before.

It didn't come. Instead, you were just nodding, taking a step back into your house. “Alright, well... thanks for coming here and apologizing.”

“So that's it?” The words are falling from his lips before he has a chance to stop them. Not realizing how expectant they sound, how he had promised himself he wouldn't act that way at this moment because he knew you hated it. “I mean... were you thinking we could, maybe, try again?” You can hear the hope in his voice and you don't miss it.

Did you want to try again? Let him in all over again as he attempted to break down your walls, he had done a pretty good job at it before. Were you ready for all that? All that came with being with him... like actually being with him. Before it had been different, you weren't sure of your feelings then, but now, you knew that you'd want more from him. An actual relationship. Would he even be able to do that?

“Was that what you were hoping for? Why you came by to apologize?” He's shaking his head before the words can fully leave your mouth.

“No, I came here because you deserved a proper apology because I was sick of being a coward about all of this. I want to be with you because... well because you're amazing and I don't want to miss out on that,” He's offering a small smile up to you, one you're returning almost instantly.

Still, there's something holding you back, but you're unable to place it. Needed to figure out what it was before you were leaping into a relationship with the guy. “Could I...? Could I think about it?”

“Yes, yeah!” The smile on his lips grows as he steps off of your porch, mission accomplished. “Take all the time you need to think about it... you can call me when you decide? My numbers the same!” You can't help but laugh at his quick shift of demeanor, the way he basically runs down your driveway before you can change your mind.

You stand and watch the entire time he jogs down the street until he's ducking into his car, and speeding off with a wave out the window. A hand lifts to wave back, heart thudding in your chest as you stepped back into your house. About to give this situation some serious thought... were you really going to be able to handle being with Kim Seokjin?

– rich, spoiled and a bit of a womanizer. but underneath all of that, there’s a heart of gold. and no matter how determined she is to reject him, he won’t stop trying until she sees he’s kinda sweet.

↲ masterlist ↳

taglist: @randomkoalablog​​​ @smoljams​​​ @dee-ehn​​​ @jaiuneamesolitaiire​​​ @lilacdreams-00​​​ @sw33tnight​​​ @bangtansonyeondayyyum​​​ @okblve​​​ @jinhitwhore​​​ @tae165​​​ @hellotherehoneybee​​​ @bangtansbun​​​ @betysotelo18​​​ @cherriigguk​​​ @koostime​​​ @kooinluv​​​ @butterflylion​​​ @kookiesjoonies​​​ @uxwi​​​ @honeyoongles​​​ @imajiningseokjin​​​ @amoreguk​​​ @beeeb05​​​ @tommasauras​​​ @bluefaeriefury​​​ @butterflylion​​​ @withlovestudyblr​​​ @samros95​​​ @korkanswers​​​ @houseofarmanto​​​ @soulstaes​​​ @thesunisup-theskyisblue​​​ @jinsearth​​​ @aizuwusho​​​ @moonb0yy​​ @tan-dulset​​ @8sjaf​​​ @mini-coop25​​​ @marifujioka​​​ @sunskook​​​ @elliemeetsevil​​ @ratking101​​ @leovaldezisfire​​​ @greyaceupyoursleeve​​ @emmy17jane​​

A/N: timestamps are important throughout the fic!! if you want to be added to the taglist, send me an ask! also if you asked to be on the taglist and aren’t on there, it’s because tumblr sometimes doesn’t let me tag ppl for some reason.

[anxiouslyfred]

Blackberry Delivery Service

Summary: Where soulmates get plants that reflect what is done to each of them at unpredictable time of their lives, schools teach it’s about maturity. Virgil has known this is wrong since he got his plant at the young age of 8.

Remus never learns this before the night everything goes wrong gets followed by a day out of Roman’s daydreams.

/\/\

Nobody had figured out yet how the delivery service worked. There were classes in schools covering the history of soulmates and the plants connected to them which could go over how when people roamed the lands or lived in small villages and tribes they'd be drawn to the plants when they were ready for it. That still happened in a lot of the indigenous cultures, where spending time among nature was a larger part of their way of life.

For the people in cities though a delivery service had opened with the advent of a postal service. When a person became ready to care for their plant it would be delivered at a time they were alone at home and then the van would disappear for somewhere else. No base was known of for the Soulmate plants delivery, nor any greenhouses and plenty of legends surrounded the vans but nothing could get confirmed.

Virgil had read everything he could about them regardless. Originally it was dreaming that he'd get his plant one day and learn how he can find his soulmate with it. Receiving it when he was just 8 years old had grown the interest into the reasons people claimed they got their plants.

What schools taught was that if you are mature enough to care for someone, or something, living other than yourself and put their needs on the same level as your own then the plant would be delivered. The forums and multitudes of orphanages and care homes gave out different lessons, leaflets filled with personal stories about people getting their plant so they had something to look forward to, a reassurance there was somebody out their for them.

That was why Virgil received his plant. His parents had busy jobs and rarely spared a thought for their son, so long as he was fed, clean and his clothes were the good quality expected of reasonably wealthy parents. He'd gotten lonely and used to being ignored, or a second thought to everyone but the blackberry bust he received was a promise that wouldn't continue forever.

And that was how he continued on, looking after the plant and trying its best to help it grow. The thorns were longer than a normal blackberry bush and grew in a higher number but the berries were a wonderful balanced of sweet and tangy. It was soon Virgil's favourite treat, as long as the berries came from his soulmate plant. If only he could tell his soulmate was looking after theirs as well, but nothing changed except what Virgil did to the plant.

/Years Later for Remus\

It had taken far too long for Remus to save up the money for his own flat. Still, 10 times fired is 20 people he knows can't accept who he is, and he could finally move out from Roman's apartment.

He'd thought there could be a celebration, him and his brother having a game night or something to mark the achievement. Sure Remus would have liked to do more than that, go to a bar, or maybe bowling and see how many innuendos and dirty jokes he could make around it, but with Roman back in rehearsals a night in, getting him settled into the flat would have been nice.

Instead they argued, Remus hurt over the dismissal Roman gave. “I can't just fritter away hours with you. This could be a big break for me if it gets the presses attention so I have to be responsible for my time.”

“It's one night, Ro. One night to get that stick out of your arse, loosen up and just be silly again. Fuck, we could find an adventure on a hike and play dragons and princes again like we used to. Toast the fact I'm making it on my own now.” Remus had pleaded, just needing something to mark the change.

“Yeah and then in a month, possibly two, you'll be asking for an adventure or night out to celebrate you moving straight back in.” Roman scoffed, dismissing the idea and Remus's long standing dream of independence in one sentence.

Remus had slammed the door to his flat open then. He'd made the offer when they finished moving all his stuff over to the apartment and there was something darkly satisfying that he could now actually kick Roman out now. “Fuck you, Get the hell out of here! You've watched how fucking hard I've worked to get this and now you think I'm going to throw it all away for what?” He made no attempt to keep his voice down, too hurt and angry to care.

“Yeah, cause you're so mature. You haven't even received a plant to look after yet.” Roman had started to protest but as soon as Remus's missing plant was mentioned he was getting manhandled out of the door.

“I'm blocking you everywhere. I fucking trusted you!” Remus screamed, throwing cushions from the sofa at the door as soon as he'd slammed it shut, locking it behind Roman.

Remus had tried. He'd done everything he could think of to be mature enough to get that soulmate plant, but it still hadn't been delivered. Every day he hoped that perhaps finally it would come; that whatever spirits created and delivered the plants would finally realise he was ready for the soulmate plant.

He'd even kept a garden on the balcony at Roman's house. That was Remus's space and he'd kept it alive, thriving even. Every plant he'd had there had now found a place on window sills around the apartment, as specified to their requirements as Remus could manage.

For Roman to have thrown his missing soulmate plant back at him was too far, and his brother should have known that. It had turned the first night in his apartment which Remus had been so excited to finally afford from being a celebration to one of near destruction.

Remus had agreed with fix and redecorate the apartment for a reduced rent so he decided to move the screaming in his brain to chipping the cracked tiling away from the walls of the bathroom. The landlord had offered it when learning he was a joiner after his most recent building course. With every strike he wished it was a stem he could yank away from Roman's lavender bush, make him realise just how it felt to be missing something everyone insisted was important.

Mud, plants and carpentry could only get Remus so far until he was collapsing onto his new bed, and the tears came.

A new home, but an even lonelier life than before now he couldn't face the last person to try and stick with him again.

/A New Day Comes\

Remus thought the knock on his door must be Roman, trying to apologise or just explain himself. There were always more explanations from Roman than spoken apologies. The apology was shown in his behaviour and the time he cut himself off.

He definitely didn't expect the knock to be a blackberry bush and a van driving out of sight.

An apartment with no balcony or attached garden was probably the worst possible place Remus could try to grow blackberries, but he didn't have much choice, not over what his soulmate plant was, or where it could grow. There was at least a large window in his bedroom that he could find space for it in.

Remus gave it a small smile as he carried it through, leaving it at the foot of his bed for a moment. “Well I guess you were finally ready to come to me then. You just wait here while I shift some of your new friends around to give you a nice spot to rest in.” He says, stroking the leaves lightly before turning away.

“This isn't the ideal space for you, I know, but it's what I have and what's mine is yours, Buddy. Well for you and all my other plant friends of course. I don't care if your connected to my soulmate, these guys get all my love just as much as you do.” Remus was rambling, still mostly talking to the blackberry bush but nuzzling into the other plants he had as they were moved, some closer together and a couple taken to one of the other windowsills.

“I'm no more mature than I was yesterday so it seems like the teachers were just saying more bullshit to us all. Wonder why you're actually here though. Unless it's because I'm completely alone in the world now, and this is all just a complete scam. What makes me being completely alone the trigger when Roman got his years ago after a night moping that he's never be someone's hero?” They'd still been living with their parents when that happened, but now Remus was focused on being lied to by schools.

He shook his head, moving the bush to the new spot. “Maybe I should have tried mixing those chemicals in science labs given everything else they've lied over. I bet it wouldn't have caused anything fun to happen anyway. Now Buddy, you need a frame or some support to hook onto and then I want to start checking online if there are any people around caring for blackberry bushes. If my soulmate already has you then I'm gonna be telling them off for not caring for you properly. Lack of gardening knowledge does not mean you're unable to research a singular plant.”

Remus fell to humming as he started rooting through the boxes that hadn't yet been unpacked for his gardening supplies. He'd need to trim the bush a bit and get it tied onto a frame. There was plenty of time before he had work to get that done.

/Over to Virgil\

After growing up with his blackberry bush, Virgil never expected anything to change with it. He wasn't sure if that was because his soulmate was content to let him look after it or if they just hadn't received their plant yet.

This morning was proving they probably hadn't received it until now and were very knowledgable about how to look after their plants. Virgil had watched as the canes were cut, thorns trimmed away in the busier areas of the bush and then as a frame appeared in the pot, stalks being tied to it from the bottom upwards.

It had been a relaxing if confusing scene to watch but Virgil hadn't wanted to look away. There was evidence he had a soulmate and apparently one who's a very avid gardener.

Part of him wanted to cheer, to dance around his home screaming for joy. He had a soulmate out there, and now their plants were more identifiable than the wild growth that was all Virgil understood enough to achieve. There was a chance he could one day find someone who wouldn't just be talking to him for his family name, or in the hopes of getting a higher role in his mother's business.

It just made Virgil want to go out and start actually trying to find whomever they were, but what if they were annoyed that he hadn't taken better care of their plant? What if they had their life all put together and only cared about the plant because soulmates were meant to be important to them and he'd just disappoint them?

There were hundreds of what if questions that Virgil was now coming up with, stilling his hands as he went to search the 'match my plant' websites there were.

Instead he just double checked his Blackberry bush was watered enough and drew a V in the soil, washing his hands before finally heading into the restaurant his parents wanted checking on today. They'd decided Virgil should have a role as site inspector for the restaurants while they were refurbished or put together for a new site opening at some point and Virgil didn't mind the role. It gave him the chance to meet normal people in the builders, electricians and other skilled jobs as well as avoid special treatment from the restaurants staff since most of the time they'd never meet him officially.

Today the site was having fitted counters installed as well as the tables secured for the private booths. Virgil would really just be checking everything looked right and hoping to avoid chatting to the joiner for too long.

“Hey there, Are you the boss man for the site?” There was a man in fluorescent overalls trying to peer through the windows of the restaurant, knocking on them as Virgil walked up to it.

Most of the builders had been given the morning off so they didn't get in the way but the actions of the man had Virgil checking the time and realising he'd set off late after watching his plant get looked after. “Yep, that's me. Sorry I ran a little late. It seems like my soulmate has gotten their plant and was doing a lot of gardening for it this morning. I got distracted watching it.” The explanation was far more than the joiner needed to know, but it felt deserved given Virgil was late.

“Cool thing, Patches. I got mine this morning too. Must be a busy day for the delivery guys. You planning on letting us in or should I break a window and replace it on my way out?” The man had walked back to the van that was parked on the pavement in front of the restaurant as he spoke, but leaned back to wink at Virgil when he suggested the vandalism.

Virgil shook his head, snorting a little at the idea. It didn't seem serious so he wasn't going to treat it as such. “First, I'm gonna need to see some ID, preferably your traders license. Can't just trust people who ask if I run the building without introducing themselves at all.” He did pull the keys out of his pocket though, waiting beside the door as the other bounced back over.

“Well, I'm Remus, here's my card, call me whenever for whatever cause a body like yours I ain't gonna refuse.” Remus definitely checked Virgil out as he spoke but still handed over his license, a business card behind it that Virgil pocketed.

Unlocking the door, he shook his head again. “I'm Virgil and will need to call the company doing the rest of this place to complain about the state they've left it in. Sorry it seems to be chaos. I did order them to leave it clear yesterday but apparently my instructions were ignored.”

Remus didn't seem to care, already carrying various boards and his toolkit, just making large steps over any equipment or items left in his way. “I got a blackberry bush this morning. You said you thought your soulmate had got theirs today too so what's yours?”

“Oh, yeah, same. It's blackberries too. I've been scared that I'll hurt it if I do anything though so have mostly left it to grow its own way once I got a mini greenhouse to look after it in.” Virgil agreed, pulling his phone out, and falling into mumbles over how to make the call.

It was only moments later when Virgil looked up to actually double check the number, ever doubting his phone had saved it correctly, that he realised Remus had frozen and started watching him, large siding board still balanced on his shoulder. “Did I say something wrong? Is there something I need to raise as a big issue to like health and safety that I've missed?” He asked.

Remus bounced between his feet for a moment, almost falling before he remembered the siding and leant it against the wall. “No Dude, but like, does your plant look something like this now?” He pulled his phone out while speaking, flicking through a few screens before showing a picture of Virgil's blackberry bush, except it was surrounded by dozens of other plants on a windowsill that was in dire need of fresh paint and probably new frames all together.

“That's – That is my plant! Even down to the frame that appeared!” Virgil exclaimed, almost snatching the phone away to look closer at the picture. “I watched everything getting trimmed and tied onto the frame this morning.” He muttered, all thoughts of scolding the builders leaving his mind in the moment.

“So you're my soulmate then?” Remus asked after a minute of waiting for that connection to be made.

Virgil didn't think his eyes could get any wider or that he could be any more shocked than he already was, but that sentence would have managed it. “Well, must be, this is my plant so yeah.” He nodded frantically through the explanation.

He was a bit confused when Remus's expression darkened to a scowl. “This entire soulmate thing is fucked up. Nothing against you but is this stupid damnable universe telling me I had to go through losing or falling out with everyone I know only to get my plant and meet my soulmate on the same fucking day? It's ridiculous and stupid. If it wanted to pull this fairytale bullshit with anyone it should have been with Roman. This feels like he's fucking writing the story of my day just to spite me after throwing everything I've been trying to do back in my face yesterday.” The rant had Virgil backing away a little, sitting down on one of the benches as Remus carried on.

“I did every fucking thing I could to be whatever stupid ideal of mature this world wants before letting people have their plants for years! I scraped through course after course, job after job just trying to find one which I could make a career out of, earn enough to get even a ratty apartment I need to fix up for the landlord and then have the universe fucking telling me to speed run the entire process. Not just, hey Remus, you can finally have the soulmate plant to look after since you've been looking after your hundred plant babies so well, but hey Remus, you brother is a fucking bastard so you're all alone but here's a plant and hey, here's your entire fucking soulmate too.” Remus was screaming at the walls, the ceiling, anywhere that wasn't Virgil, looking like he was two steps from destroying the next thing he looked at closer to ground level.

Virgil usually felt panicked by watching displays of anger like this in real people. He'd usually do everything he can to get out of that situation but instead he just listened and waited, learning more from the rant than he'd expected to.

The yelling must have been audible from outside or something because there was soon a knock on the window of the restaurant, although Remus didn't seem to hear it. He did notice when Virgil stood though, falling quiet to watch him as though expecting him to say something.

With a gesture to the door Virgil went to open it, only to blink as someone almost identical to Remus stood on the opposite side, holding what he guessed might have been a peppermint plant. “Hi, um, sorry if I can't do this, but Remus hasn't been answering my calls and had mentioned doing some work here today. Is he still around?” The man asked, shifting to try and see further into the store.

“Who are you, first? And what's with the plant?” Virgil held a hand up to keep them outside, raising an eyebrow at their discomfort.

“His brother, Roman. I said something I really shouldn't have and have come to beg for forgiveness. The plant is part of my apology.” With that explanation, especially following the rant he'd just heard Virgil held one finger up before shutting the door in his face.

Remus seemed to have started getting his work tools out now his rant had been cut off when Virgil sat down again. “So that was some rant you had there and given I've had my blackberry bush since I was 8, I might be able to explain what actually seems to be the time the plants come to us. Before that though, are you going to start screaming again if I say there's someone at the door holding a plant and asking if you're here so they can beg for forgiveness?” He explained, watching as Remus turned to him and then deflated.

“He literally said I wouldn't last more than a couple months in my new apartment before having to live with him again, threw the fact I hadn't got my plant yet in my face last night and is now trying to apologise with a fucking plant?” Remus muttered, but sighed as he stood up.

Roman was let in silently and he seemed to watch Remus as if expecting something to be said first. Remus was watching his brother just as carefully, before glancing over to Virgil.

“Seriously. Are we sure the universe hasn't stolen one of Roman's stories and decided to dump me into it?” He asked, taking the peppermint from Roman and placing it in front of the window.

“I have literally known Roman for all of 2 seconds so have no clue what those stories might be like to say.” Virgil pointed out, knowing his expression was probably reflecting how crazy he found the question to be.

Remus rolled his eye, “I see no prostrating yourself on the floor to beg for forgiveness. This apology so far sucks worse than Mrs PeePee's apple sorbet.” He glanced over to Roman who was looking between them confused.

“Yes, of course dear Brother, except there isn't exactly space on the floor for that to be possible. I spoke entirely out of turn yesterday and should have never even considered speaking to you the way I have done. You have my deepest apologies and I swear that I will do everything I can to help make it up to you. In fact I would be honoured if tonight you'd accompany to the indoor mini golf course that's opening on the edge of town. It's rainforest themed and I hear rumours they've included a swamp area.” Roman bowed as he was speaking, actually glancing around to see if it was safe for him to kneel.

Virgil couldn't help snickering at it though, and Remus was soon to join in the laughter. “Let's all go actually. I need to know if this idiot is entertaining beyond cheap jokes and loud rants to tell the universe off.” Virgil agreed, before glancing at the sideboard and the time. There was still a couple of hours before the rest of the builders should arrive, hopefully enough time for Remus to do some of the work he was actually here for.

“Sure, you're forgiven and I think the universe has done pretty much everything I would have asked you to do or try to do already.” Remus agreed, jumping over a few things back to where he would be fitting the counters. “By the way, this is my soulmate and I got a blackberry bush this morning. Only figured that it was the same as his like 10 minutes before you got here.”

“Was that what the screaming was about? I thought someone was injured?” Roman asked, moving to the bench when Virgil shrugged and patted it.

Virgil snorted. “Yeah, Remus has a few things to say to whatever does soulmates about how today has gone for him. Not sure the universe listens to people screaming in restaurants-to-be though.”

Eventually Virgil would get Roman to share one of the stories Remus had kept referencing and had to agree: The day they met really did seem to come out of Roman's imagination.

[a-detraque-barista]

How They Mark You

Mentions of mental illness, suggestive themes, stockholm syndrome (only in one of them), yandere themes, and prescribed drug use

This...This was A LOT longer than it needed to be. Like I am so s o r r y

Seokjin

Jin had never really had a reason to mark you. He always figured you being next to him whenever you went out was enough. Until today. The two of you were in the grocery store when Jin had noticed the same person down every aisle you two were in. He couldn't help but think that they were following you. Why would they not? It's possible that they see the same endearing qualities in you as he does. But of course, he wouldn't let them have you if they think they could.

He brushed it off until you were checking out and the same person was right behind you in line. From here, Jin could tell that they were a male, around six foot, and coming alarmingly close to you.

"Darling, what's my pin again? I keep forgetting it," it was all Jin could think of for you to come closer to him and type it in for him while he glared at the man. He supposed the fact that he was near wasn't enough for people to get the picture. So, he quickly brought you home.

After putting all of the groceries away, he turned to you, "Did you notice the creep that was following us in the store?"

"Yeah, but I didn't want to say anything cause I knew that would upset you," you shrugged before sitting on the couch before patting the spot next to you for Jin to sit.

Having an idea, Jin leaned his body into yours to push you down with a grin on his face, "I think I know just what to do to keep people away from you."

You tilted your head which gave him room to lean down and start leaving small bites along your neck and collarbone. You had to stay like that for almost a half hour before he finally deemed it enough.

Yoongi

Yoongi was only really jealous before he ruined your life. Before he made you completely rely on him he was always possessive to the point where he wanted to mark every inch of your skin. But now that you're hear with him, he never had that feeling again.

He rarely let you leave your room let alone the house. Although, every once in a while he would let you go out to the back yard for a few minutes.

It was one of those rare days as you laid on the grass and felt the nice summer breeze on your face. Yoongi had to take a call and went back inside when the neighbor had accidentally threw his ball into your yard. He peaked over the fence to see you laying there, not too far from his ball. He had never seen you before, only the man that he thought was living alone.

"Hey, can you pass me my ball back please?" he called out to you causing you to startle awake.

You hadn't even realized you were dozing off until the man said something. Getting up you walked over and handed him his ball before turning around to lay on the ground.

Curious, he started to talk to you. Asking questions about who were and why he hasn't seen you around. You began to enjoy it before Yoongi came out and grabbed your hand to drag you back inside.

Never had he been more furious than in that moment. Not only had someone dared to talk to you, but he even had the audacity to look over the fence at you.

The next day Yoongi let you sit out wearing a necklace with his initials and a shirt with his name on it for the neighbor to see.

Hoseok

Well...Hoseok has already marked every inch of your skin during your daily cuddle sessions. So it baffled him when someone cat called you while walking past. Your neck was covered in dark purple and red marks. How could he not see that you were taken????

The voice that has been living in his head for years gave him a few notes on how to handle it. It ended in you having to hold Hoseok back by his arm until he finally let up on beating the man's face in. You immediately took him home and locked the door.

This wasn't the first time something like this has happened. Last time the police got involved but with Hoseok's history of mental illness he was able to get out of it quite easily. Just a new prescription of medication that he refuses to take unless you personally give them to him.

So deciding on skipping lunch, Hoseok lead you straight to the bedroom and pinned you down on the bed.

"I'm sorry, jagi. But we're going to have to wait until dinner to eat," he sighed as he kissed his way down your chest.

He kept his promise and you didn't have dinner until almost midnight with a fresh layer of hickeys and cum threatening to drip down your thigh.

Namjoon

You weren't even allowed to leave the house, let alone come in contact with someone. Namjoon was always the one to go out and get whatever you or he needed. It definitely wasn't your preferred living style but what else could you do? Namjoon was able to convince you who you needed and didn't need in your life. Leading you to live with him without anyone knowing.

You were sure nobody knew of your existence except for the people you used to associate yourself with. Which also meant you getting lonely most of the time while Namjoon was out doing whatever he was doing.

But today, you wanted pizza for dinner and Namjoon didn't feel like leaving the house. So Namjoon called and ordered it for delivery. Normally, Namjoon would be the one to answer the door in any situation. However, he had gone to the bathroom right before the delivery guy knocked on the door.

You had thought that it would be no harm to answer the door and pay for the food. You didn't want the delivery man to end up leaving and you would have to wait another hour for Namjoon to cook dinner. So you grabbed the money off the counter and opened the door. Smiling, you exchanged the money for the pizza and was about to close the door when the man began to talk.

"You're really cute. Are you single by any chance?" his question made you freeze and stare at him wide-eyed.

"Uh-"

"Sorry to burst your bubble but I'm the boyfriend. Now, if you'll excuse us we're going to enjoy our dinner and each others company. Have a nice night," Namjoon had been smiling the whole time, up until he closed the door. "What have I told you about answering the door?"

"To not answer it."

"And what did you do?"

"Answered it." Namjoon always did this when you broke a rule. It made you feel small and immature when he spoke to you like this.

"Sit down so I can give you your punishment."

That's exactly what you did. You've learned what happens if you don't. The last time you were disobedient you woke up the day after and you could barely walk and you had scars from the knife he used.

You were surprised to feel Namjoon's mouth on your neck after he pushed you to lay on the couch. Usually you would feel some sort of sharp object. But the closest thing to sharp was Namjoon's teeth nipping at your skin.

"I almost forgot how it felt to be jealous."

Jimin

Jimin rarely let you out of his sight, even if you didn't know he was there. He was the most obsessive out of all the boys. He was more lenient on letting you leave the house, but he almost always followed you. The only time he didn't was when he had to take care of important matters.

And because he was so obsessed, he always had something on you that showed you were his. Either the necklace he bought you or the marks from the night before. Or even his hoodie that was so adorable on you he was running low on his favorites to wear outside.

Yesterday, you had accidentally broken the necklace with Jimin's name on it. You were too scared to tell him so you hid it and pretended like nothing happened. You were just hoping he wouldn't notice before you went out with your friends in an hour.

If he did notice, then he didn't say anything. So you tried to forget about the guilt and anxiety that built up inside you to enjoy the little time you had. Jimin may be okay with letting you see your friends, but it wasn't often. He usually guilt tripped you so you would stay home. And it always worked.

Jimin noticed right away that you didn't have your necklace. So before he followed you he looked for it in your shared bedroom. He found the multiple pieces hidden in your drawer beside the bed. He was hurt and furious at the same time.

Quickly, he put on his black hoodie and snap back to where he knew you and your friends were. He may have been livid but he can't let you find out about him following you everywhere. You would be upset with him and he could never live with himself if you got mad at him. He watched for the two hours he allowed you to be outside.

The two hours were almost up and he was going to head home when he saw someone walk up to you in the cafe. He wasn't an employee, so why was he approaching you?

Jimin pieced everything together when the guy handed you a piece of paper that no doubt had his number on it. Before Jimin could storm across the street and into the building, he watched as you dropped the paper in your water and grabbed your things.

His heart was pounding as he walked up to you and grabbed your arm. He spun you around and kissed you on the lips passionately.

"That's my jagi."

Taehyung

Taehyung had always loved taking photos of you. He had a special collection of photos of just you. First, it started in his closet where he would just tape them onto the wall. Then, it escalated into him having to clean out the spare bedroom and use that for the growing number of pictures. He still kept it up even after becoming friends with you. Of course, he would make sure the spare bedroom was locked whenever you came over to his apartment. He didn’t want you to get scared and leave him.

Once the two of you had started dating, he began to take photos of you with his phone whenever you spent time together. Most of the pictures ended up being posted on his Instagram account.

The two of you had a shared account so Taehyung could keep track of who you talked to and what posts you liked. 

That also meant he knew if someone would comment on a pic of you. Usually either you or Taehyung would ignore it and delete it. But there was a certain comment that made his eye twitch in annoyance.

The photo was of you in a tank top and sweatpants while cooking something on the stove. Taehyung loved that photo. You had been making bulgogi with rice right when he had gotten home from work. He couldn’t help but to pull out his phone and make the shutter go off, causing you to side-eye him.

It wasn’t until the next day when you were mindlessly scrolling on Instagram and you had gotten the notification. Taehyung was still at work so you were just laying in bed. Curiously, you clicked on the heart at the bottom of your screen and tapped on the notification.

i wish she was my girl. at least if she was with me her hair would be a mess and hickeys covered her neck. lol

You internally go Ooohhhhhhh shiiiiiit. You had tried to delete the comment but Taehyung had just walked in so you quickly turn your phone off and tossed it to the side.

“Hey babe, how was work?” you asked.

“Could’ve been better. How was your day?” he began to change from his work clothes into just a pair of black sweats before coming to lay down with you.

“Boring. Why’d you lay down? Don’t you want dinner?”

“Not at the moment.”

You looked at him, confused as he straddled your waist. His hand came to rest on each side of your head on the pillow. He leaned down to start leaving open-mouthed kisses along your jugular and shoulder. Biting and sucking lead to him leaning back from his work. 

Taehyung swiped his tongue over his bottom lip before biting it. He reached into his pocket and brought his phone out to take a photo of your neck. After he tapped his finger a few times on the screen he turned it around to show you. He had posted the picture on Instagram with the caption Mine ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

Jeongguk

He was...constantly possessive. There wasn’t a day that went by without him marking your neck or staring at you endearingly with infatuation. You could be sitting there watching tv on the bed and you just see Jeongguk’s head up from the side.

You giggled as you went back to watching the show that was playing. This was the only time you got to watch tv so you ignored him. You had been scared when Jeongguk first kidnapped you and brought you to his family home in the country side. 

He was violent and intimidating, especially when you spoke out. It’s been eight months since then and Jeongguk has proven to be one of the most caring people you’ve ever met. He didn’t talk very much but when he did he spoke words of adoration and compliments. On the rare occasion, he would mumble about things like “she’s mine”, “you can’t have her”, and “you deserved this”. Those were the times you worried about when he left and didn’t come back for a few hours. 

Right now, you were still trying to ignore Jeongguk as he slowly inched his way onto the bed. It took him about ten minutes to get on the bed and closer to you to the point where he was laying on his side only an inch away from you. You tried to keep the grin off your face but failed miserably.

Finally looking at him you asked, “What?”

His round doe eyes stared into yours while he gathered the courage to ask you a very important question. He took a deep breath and the exhale blew a baby hairs from your face.

You gave him time as his shyness usually kept him from talking openly about what was on his mind.

“Can-can we get-get...uh tattoos? Together?” his voice was quiet as he held his stare onto yours.

Your eyes widened a bit as you processed what he had said. He had almost a full sleeve of art tattooed into his right arm while you had only had a few here and there because of how expensive they were.

“I don’t see why not,” you turned back to the tv and squinted at the fact that it was now a whole new show. Your lips turned into a pout as you grabbed the remote to change the channel.

Jeongguk grabbed the remote out of your hands and tossed it across the room. You decided not to comment on it and look at him expectantly. 

“I want to get each other’s names over our hearts.”

That...was definitely not what you were expecting but it wasn’t surprising. Jeongguk had been tracing shapes into the skin above your heart for the past week. You supposed it was his name that he was tracing.

“Do you...still want to get them?” his voice was almost a whisper now as he began to trace over your heart again. 

You stayed quiet as you thought about if you wanted to really get his name tattooed into your skin for the rest of your life. Thinking about it, you smiled and began to trace over Jeongguk’s shirt where your name would be inked into his skin.

“Yeah, I do.”

[blueeyedgeorgie]

George Memeulous Going to a Coffee Shop Often Just to See You

A headcanon.

“Can I please get a coffee shop AU with George?“

_____________

You had just moved to London for Uni

Lucky, you had been able to get a job at a small coffee shop downtown

Before moving to London, you had worked a part time job at a Starbucks 

Your coworkers loved you

Easily, you had made amazing friends 

Everyday the coffee shop was busy

But it didn’t really matter, because you were use to it

One day, George and Will had wandered into the small cafe

They had just been taking a morning stroll downtown 

If they were being honest, they were waiting for a certain store to open to do some filming for Will’s channel

So to take up some of their free time, why not order a coffee? 

They had to stand in a line for a few minutes

During that time, Will was only paying attention to his phone

He had been texting Mia

As for George, he certainly didn’t have any notifications or messages to look at on his phone

So instead he had given his attention the the baristas working behind the counter. 

There were four people

A ginger who wore glasses that had the lenses in the shape of circles was working the cash register

A tall black-haired guy who towered over his coworkers

A blonde girl who had her hair pulled back in a low ponytail

And You

As soon as George’s eyes landed on you

You were the only person he kept his gaze on

Somehow you didn’t notice him

Maybe it was because of how busy you were with making an iced coffee

Eventually once George and Will had got to the front of the line

And George continued to stare at you

Will had to shake George's shoulder a bit to pull him out of his zoned out state 

The duo had ordered two lattes and walked over into the corner of the room

Will would ask what was going on with George when they were in front of the line

And George would come up with the most bullshit answer ever

Nothing

Will knew that it was bullshit too

Even while George was making up an excuse, his eyes were on you

You were just too pretty

Following George’s gaze, Will realized he had been staring at you

“Oh, I see. Why don’t you go over and introduce yourself instead of being a nonce?”

“Nah, they’re out of my league. They probably have a partner.”

Will dropped the subject and began to look around the cafe as they continued to wait

Soon enough he had noticed something

A bulletin board sat in the corner of the room with photos of each of the coworkers

You were there, your name written down below your photo

“Their name is Y/n.”

“How’d you find that out?”

Will would end up showing George the bulletin board

Eventually, Will’s name had been called to come and get their drinks

George would make his way over to pick up the drinks

And there you were, holding the two cups up, ready to hand to George

Flashing a small smile to George, you reached your hands out

And as George grabbed the cups, he gave you a smile

But as he began to walk away, something inside of him was screaming of excitement

Because holy shit, you smiled at him

And that wasn’t the only thing

As he took the drinks, your hand had touched his for a second

Part of himself felt like a creep for how he was acting

But as soon as he left the cafe, he had just assumed he’d forget about you 

It was late at night

And you hadn’t left his mind once

Forgetting you was going to be harder than expected

Waking up the next day, George wasn’t hungry

But he was thirsty

He eventually found himself back at the cafe

He had come early, meaning there was no line

Meaning he couldn’t gawk at you for the whole time he waited to order

Today the blonde girl was working the cash register

Once again, all he ordered was a latte

And instead of standing in the back, George had decided to do the opposite

He walked up to the glass, watching you create the latte

And from being quite obvious he was watching you, you had noticed

You didn’t feel creeped out

He was cute

A small blush appeared on your cheeks as soon as you noticed him watching

You couldn’t help it

Everytime you stole glances at him, you smiled

And he smiled back

George worrying you thought he was being a creep

After finishing with his latte, you walked over to the delivery area

And once again, you handed his drink to him

And once again you too smiled at one another

And once again your hands had touched

But there was something different about today’s interaction

You said something to George

“I like you name.”

And George responded

“I like yours.”

“What?”

You had been a bit surprised he knew your name, how did he find out?

Was he actually a creep?

“Oh, your name is on the bulletin board with your photo... I just assumed it was your name...”

You felt bad for jumping to the thought he was an creep

You had just forgotten your name was up on that board

“Oh! That thing... yeah, I just started working here. Forgot all about considering I never really take time to look at it.”

George would try and strike up a conversation about where you had lived previously

Only to have your ginger coworker come over and usher you away

After all, you were working

George would be bummed out you two couldn’t continue your conversation, but he understood why

You were working, you only had such a limited time to give him attention

The next day, guess who was back in the coffee shop?

George was

And once again you handed him hid drink

So he was able to continue the conversation

“So, yesterday you said you moved here from your hometown, where did you live?”

So you tell him

And once again, before you two could continue your conversation, one of your coworkers ushered you away.

So everyday after that, George would come into the coffee shop

Just to be able to talk to you for only a minute or two

George would show up so often, the rest of your coworker’s had learned his name by just the amount of times 

“...aren’t you suppose to ask who the order is for?”

“We know your name, George.”

No matter who made George’s drink, they’d always hand it to you

Just so you could hand it to him

Every morning when George would enter the cafe, your coworkers would find some way to embarrass you

“Y/n! Your boyfriend is here!”

“George is not my boyfriend!”

Eventually after a month or two of George coming in, he had finally decided to try something new

And on that day when you handed him his usual order, he handed something back to you

A piece of paper with his phone number written on it

At first you were a bit surprised, but you were excited

You did find George a bit cute

“I thought maybe sometime, you’d want to go out and get something to eat with me? So we’d be able to talk more and get to know each other?”

“That sounds amazing.”

As soon as George would leave the building, he’d pull out his phone, texting his friends about what had happened

While meanwhile inside the building, you and your coworkers were going crazy over the fact George gave you his number

And as soon as you finished you shift, you texted him

“Enjoy your morning latte?”

Taglist:

@anyasthoughts​

@multifandom-but​

@caswinchester2000​

@blondiee-seaveyy​

[imagineaworlds]

I Love You (Part Ten) -- Aaron Hotchner

Written By: @desperately-bisexual​

Request: None.

Warnings: Mentions of getting shot. Mentions of blood. Explosions. Mentions of kidnapping. Mentions of stalking. Literally the whole shabang.

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Greenaway!Reader

Word Count: 11066

Timeline: Season 2 Episode 01. Right after part nine.

HOTCH’S POV

Morgan came into my office just as the sun was rising over Quantico. The rest of the BAU, and really all of the FBI, was just starting to pour into the building for a long day’s work. He told me that Y/N went to get donuts and coffee for everyone, and offered me the chance to order something if I wanted. I stared at him with a blank face for a moment. No one went with them? We had an Unsub stalking us, and no one left Quantico with them? What the hell were Reid and Morgan thinking? Gideon made JJ hold a press conference almost two hours prior— which was a bad idea on its own— and now Y/N left without anyone with them? I didn’t doubt that they could handle themselves. I knew that they could. But this guy knew everything about us. We could afford to take such a risk.

“No. I don’t want anything,” I responded calmly. Morgan shrugged and nodded, patting the door frame before leaving. The second he was out of sight, I picked up my cell and started calling them. They picked up after the first ring.

“Morgan was supposed to call me with your order, Aaron.”

“I know, I know. Why did you leave without someone else?”

I could hear the annoyance and defiance in their voice, “It’s not that big of a deal, Hotch. I’m just going to Leonard’s for donuts and coffee, and then I’ll be right back. You won’t even miss me.”

I already missed them, though. And I was already worried about them. They should have just gone home or stayed at the office. They knew better. But they were also reckless, and they didn’t like to listen to me. It was fun for them to push my buttons, but this simply wasn’t the time.

“Leonard’s and right back. I’m serious.”

“You promised to not worry so much about me,” they sing-songed.

I couldn’t help it. They sprang the “I love you” on me just the other night, and it awoke something in me that I hadn’t felt since Haley. Actually… to tell the truth, it didn’t even feel this way with Haley. All my life, I thought I was going to spend it with Haley; but she got tired of waiting around for me, and I couldn’t blame her. Then Y/N came along, and something changed. I didn’t have to pretend or settle for them. This job was just as important to them as it was for me. Making it work rather than putting unfair pressures on each other made me feel comfortable and loved. And now they were telling me to not worry about them as if I hadn’t said “I love you” back to them the other night and in Jamaica yesterday. I loved them with every inch of me and I worried about them every second of every day. I earned that right when I saw them playing with Jack and getting along so well with him. I earned that right when we said “I love you” to each other. I earned that right when they became my partner. I knew our rules, I knew our dynamic… But none of my feelings just washed away whenever I would get to work, contrary to popular belief.

“I'm not worried,” I lied. “I love you.”

I could practically hear them smiling through the phone. “I love you, too.”

We hung up our call and I sighed. They would be fine. Leonard’s was just a few blocks away— not even a ten minute drive. They would be around people, in the public eye. No one would be able to take them if they were being careful. And then they would be back before I could even say their name.

I stood and exited my office to check on the rest of the unit who was just now appearing for work. They all seemed busy, yet entirely ignorant of what was really going on. They only knew what everyone else had seen on the news, and that was all they needed to know. Everything was going to be fine. Like Y/N said, I had nothing to worry about.

And then I spotted Anderson at the copy machine.

My brows furrowed as I hurried down the ramp outside of my office and called his name. He looked up from the machine and fixed his posture to stand at attention like a soldier would for his commanding officer. I asked him where Elle was, and he only responded with a confused look. I asked him why he was back already, and he still looked confused.

“You told me to take her home, sir.”

“I understand that, but taking her home is not the same thing dropping her off. We have an Unsub who’s stalking our unit. He knows all of our personal information, including our addresses. You can’t just leave her there. Get back there now.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but I glared and he silently retreated out of the building. I picked up the nearest phone, which happened to be on Y/N’s desk, and tried calling Elle’s cellphone. When she didn’t pick up, I figured that she must have let it die or left it in her purse when she fell asleep. So I tried calling her house number. Still, nothing. Shit. I kept trying to reach her. I wasn’t about to give up. Soon, she would finally get annoyed by the constant ringing and would get her ass out of bed long enough to pick up the phone and let me know that she was alright. Either that or Anderson would get there on time and he’d call to let me know that she was safe. But until then, I wasn’t going to stop calling.

“Agent Hotchner,” one of the secretaries approached me. I raised a brow at her while still dialing Elle’s number. “The delivery man from the news last night is on his way up. He just turned himself in.”

Shit. I put the phone down. “Thanks for letting me know. Do me a favor, keep calling Agent Greenaway for me until she picks up her phone.”

“Which Greenaway, sir?”

“Elle.”

“Right away.”

We separated in opposite directions. She returned to her desk, while I headed up to Gideon’s office to let him know about the delivery man. Reid was in his office with him, which saved me some time from running around to tell everyone on the team. Gideon was up on his feet the moment I mentioned a delivery man, he didn’t even need to hear the rest because he already knew. That was why he had JJ hold the press conference. It wasn’t to snuff out the Unsub, but our only living witness thus far.

I was the first one into the interrogation room where the witness was waiting. He matched the description that Jessica gave the sketch artist perfectly. As we entered the room, his terror filled eyes looked up at me. People only looked like that when they had something to hide, but I didn’t think that a guy like this could be our Unsub. He was too shaky and shy for that— Not to mention that our Unsub wouldn’t’ve turned himself in when we still had some kind of quest to complete.

I decided to be up front with him. No dancing around it. We needed answers and we needed them fast. “You delivered a packing to my ex-wife’s house yesterday, and it was addressed to my son—”

“Do I need a lawyer?” he questioned.

I continued, trying to move past the idea of calling a lawyer because that would only slow us down. “It was late in the day. You told the woman you gave the folder to that it was imperative that it get to me because a girl’s life depended on it. Ring any bells yet?”

“I— I guess I could check my logs, yeah,” he stuttered.

“No, you already know which one I’m talking about.”

“Listen, all I know is that a guy came up to me, asked me if I could drop off this package a mile down the road, and that a girl’s life depended on it. I was headed that way, anyhow, I figured what could be the harm?”

“And you didn’t find it at all suspicious that this guy mentioned that a girl’s life was at stake?”

The witness shifted in his seat uncomfortably, a telling sign that he was about to lie. “No, I didn’t think anything of it. I heard that a girl was in trouble, so I knew that I just had to help. Does that make me a bad guy?”

I chuckled, “So you’re a humanitarian, then?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“How much did he pay you?” Gideon asked.

The witness looked at him and shifted again. “I… I don’t know what you mean…” He looked back at me, but I didn’t budge for him. He swallowed hard. “A thousand dollars in cash. Gave it to me when he gave me the folder.”

“What did he look like?”

“I don’t know. He had a big coat on and a big hat covering his face. All that I could actually see was his neck and his hands, and they were all fucked up. It looked like he had been burned everywhere.”

I looked over at Gideon. That was everything we were going to get out of this guy, and it was really all we needed. We silently left the interrogation room, but we didn’t release the witness yet in case we decided that we would have more questions for him later.

“Burn scars would explain why he seemed uncomfortable in the video,” I told Gideon.

“It’s also how we’ll find him.”

Reid smiled ear to ear after I complimented his good work— rightfully so, too. Together, him and Garcia had cracked a huge problem in the case. While we had earlier hit a wall with the numbers on the letter Jessica gave us, they had figured it all out finally.

Garcia opened her mouth like she was about to say something, likely to apologize again for her mistake. She knew that she had fucked up, and she knew that Gideon was the most upset about all of it. But as she was about to begin, a secretary joined us in the hallway to deliver a message.

“Agent Gideon, there’s a call for you on line 2.”

Garcia closed her mouth and let her shoulders fall as she hugged her files over her chest in order to put her guard up again. What little bravery she had mustered only seconds ago immediately disappeared and she was back to being silent and self-loathing again. Gideon sighed at the interruption, however, and asked who was calling and if it was really all that important. When the secretary responded that it was urgent and that the man calling had named himself “The Fisher King”, we all knew that something was wrong.

We all rushed to the door that led to the BAU wing. Gideon and I were the first to the phone; Reid, Garcia, and the secretary chased after. Gideon unmuted the call, put it on speaker, and introduced himself.

“I didn’t have any other choice,” the Fisher King said. It was the same voice which called me the other night when I was with Y/N. This was our Unsub. “It was distasteful and barbaric. But it had to be done. You forced my hand, Agent Gideon. I told you that there were rules, and you blatantly ignored me. So I had to make sure that you would never break the rules again. Agent Greenaway didn’t have to die like that, Agent Gideon, just remember that. If you would have listened, I wouldn’t have done it. Not like that. Remember the rules or there will be more consequences.” And then the call ended.

I looked up at Jason, my heart racing in my chest. Both Elle and Y/N were out. Anderson had just gone back to Elle’s place, which meant… No. I immediately reached for my phone and took a step away from the group as I began to dial their number. Straight to voicemail. I cursed under my breath as I dialed again.

Behind me, Gideon was instructing Reid to reach out to every nearby hospital in search of a patient with the last name Greenaway. The whole office was set in motion as everyone went to do their assigned jobs for when an agent was to go missing. Garcia hurried to her office to check the computers and Gideon went to grab his things— including his car keys. By the time he returned, I had called Y/N three times, and every time it went directly to their inbox. Either they were being an asshole and not picking up, or something truly did happen to them. I prayed that they were just being an asshole again.

“Hotch!” Reid called from the balcony. I looked over. “It’s Elle! She’s at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center!” He retreated back into the boardroom to sort things out while Gideon threw his keys at me as we both turned to the exit.

I immediately turned on the lights and the sirens after we pulled out of Quantico. I was speeding down the roads, trying to avoid all of the cars who weren’t moving to the side for us, while also trying to call Y/N to let them know what had happened. They still weren’t picking up, and I remembered that they told me not to worry, but I didn’t end up worrying about Elle, and look at what happened. So I just kept dialing while Jason watched me out of the corner of his eye.

Please just be an asshole and not dead. That was all I wanted from them. I wanted the excuses, I wanted the fighting back, I wanted the sass and bratiness that all came with dating them. I wanted to know that I would get to see them again, to just hold them in my arms and tell them that I love them again. If I could have, I would have never stopped saying it because I wasn’t about to let them get away like I had with Haley. They weren’t going to win that easily. But they just had to pick up the fucking phone first.

I slammed my hand against the steering wheel. “Fuck,” I cursed under my breath.

“I’m not going to say it…” Gideon said, looking out the window to avoid my glare.

“Good. Then don’t.”

I knew what he was going to say. He didn’t like the idea of me and Y/N dating. He didn’t like the idea of anyone dating on the team because he knew what potential distractions it could create. But I didn’t care what he thought. At least not then when I just needed to focus on literally anything positive. So I tried to focus on how happy it made me to see Y/N with Jack. They were so good with him, and he took to them immediately. I had never seen him connect with anyone like that before. It was such a relief to me that they liked each other.

And then my phone started ringing.

I briskly flipped it open and brought it to my ear.

READER’S POV

I was busy juggling a box of donuts and a cardboard cup holder carrying four coffees when my phone started ringing again. Morgan had called me just before I started ordering inside at Leonard’s to tell me that JJ wanted a cup of cold brew, and that Hotch and Gideon turned down coffee, but Gideon would love a donut. So I ordered a dozen donuts— just to make sure there were plenty extra— and four coffees. Yes, four. I heard Morgan tell me that Hotch didn’t want anything, but I knew him better than that, and I knew that he would want it later, so I got him one anyways. I figured that even if he didn’t end up drinking it, someone else would. Maybe Elle would take it when Anderson would bring her back to the office.

My phone rang again on the way to the car, but I still couldn’t reach it with both of my hands full, so I just tried to hurry up to the car. It rang a third time and I groaned. It was probably just Aaron again, all worried that I wasn’t back yet. It wasn’t my fault that I got caught in the morning traffic outside of Quantico, and I didn’t realize that Leonard’s had some kind of deal on Sunday mornings which always drew in a huge ass crowd. It wasn’t like I made my trips to Leonard’s a common occurrence. I hardly ever went there, so I sure as hell didn’t know about any discount deal that somehow brought in half of Virginia.

The damn phone rang again and I cursed Hotch for making me practically run to the car. He was too worried about me since the other night. Granted, I basically had a breakdown yesterday when I saw my jewelry box, but we had our rules for a reason. I just needed him to calm down and wait until I could call him back. He had already called me three times while I was ordering, which I couldn’t answer any of those calls since I was already busy. Now he had called me at least four times on the way to the car, which meant that he wasn’t even waiting for it to go to voicemail every time.

I put the cupholder on the roof of the car so that I could have a free hand to open the car door. I reached into the car and set the box of donuts on the passenger’s seat, then went back to grab the coffees. They wobbled in my hands as one of the cups managed to slide out of the grip a little too far. I managed to catch it on time, thankfully, before it could spill all over me, and let out a sigh of relief before making sure the cup was put back all the way.

I slid into the car, closed the door, and put the coffees next to the donuts on the seat. When that was settled and I was fairly sure that nothing was going to fall over or spill everywhere, I reached for my phone to see what the hell was going on. Aaron had called me seven times. Seven. Either he was dying or they caught the guy and I could go home. Either way, I was going to kill him.

I dialed his number and called him back. It rang twice before he picked up. “I’m on my way, Hotch. Did you guys find something?”

“Why the fuck weren’t you answering your phone?”

“My hands were full. I couldn’t reach my phone. What’s going on?”

“The Unsub shot Elle.”

I stopped worrying about turning the car on and getting out of the parking lot in a rush but also satefly as he said it. I froze for a moment, just staring at the building in front of me. I tried to wrap my brain around what he said, and almost went to deny it, but I knew that he wouldn’t lie to me like that. So why had he said it? Maybe this was Gideon’s next ploy to try to weed out the Unsub, but they had to make it real, so they had to make me believe it. That had to be it. Elle was fine.

“Y/N?”

“Hmm?” I hummed into the phone.

“She’s alive,” he clarified. My gaze fell from the building and to the car’s emblem in the middle of the steering wheel. I was slowly starting to come back to reality. “She’s at Sentara North. Gideon and I are headed there now. I can have Reid pick you up.”

“No,” I insisted, my eyes falling shut. “I’ll… I’ll meet you there.”

“Y/N—”

“I’ll be fine.”

I hung up before he could say anything. He didn’t want me driving. I understood. But what else were we going to do? I put the car in reverse and started backing out of the parking spot I was in. I was just trying to come to terms with how the hell this could have happened. Aaron sent Elle home with Anderson. She should have just been resting in her bed while he kept watch. So how the fuck did the Unsub manage to break into my sister’s home and shoot her? Where was Anderson?

I thought about how Hotch wanted me to go home, even if it was with Elle or Morgan. He just wanted me to get some rest since I hadn’t slept in nearly forty hours. But I turned him down selfishly because I wanted to focus on the case. I knew that there was an Unsub out there who had it out for my sister, and I chose to stay at the office with Hotch. If I would’ve just listened, I could have been with Elle, and maybe I could have stopped the Unsub. Maybe she wouldn’t be in the hospital at all.

Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center was only a twelve minute drive from Leonard’s, I made it in nine. One of the Bureau’s vehicles was parked directly out front, and I knew that it had to be Hotch and Gideon, so I parked Hotch’s car next to it and hurried out the second I turned the ignition off. I left my purse, the donuts, and the coffees all in the car as I just hauled ass inside and ran up to the front desk.

The nurse at the front desk was taken aback by my panic and the way I was flashing my badge in her face, demanding for the floor number that Elle was on. After likely having just dealt with Hotch and Gideon perhaps a few minutes prior, the nurse already knew the floor to give me, and I was running again to the elevators where I kept pressing the up button like it would somehow make it arrive faster.

My foot tapped against the bottom of the elevator anxiously as I counted the floors I passed and the seconds it was taking to get there. For all I knew, Elle could have already been dead. Every second spent trapped in that elevator was one less second that I would get to be by my sister’s side when she needed me most. And I absolutely hated it. I hated not being able to make the elevator go faster. I hated that I didn’t pick up Hotch’s calls sooner. I hated that I didn’t just go home with Elle, instead I chose to get coffee and donuts like an idiot. Gosh, I was so fucking stupid.

The elevator dinged before the doors began to slowly slide open. The second the gap was wide enough, I squeezed past and ran into the bright white hallway. Ahead of me was a glass wall that divided the waiting room from the hallway I was standing in. Behind the glass, I could see Hotch sitting across from Gideon, who was working on a crossword puzzle in today’s newspaper. Hotch looked up from his hands like he could sense that I had just arrived. When our eyes met, he pushed himself to his feet and hurried to meet me halfway. I ran up to him and jumped into his open arms. My arms wrapped themselves around his neck and I cried in his shoulder. He tried to soothe me by rubbing small circles on my back with one hand, and whispering that it would be okay in my ear.

“She’s alright,” he told me. “She’s in surgery still, but she’s going to be alright.”

“I should’ve gone with her.”

“You didn’t know.”

“I should’ve been there. It should’ve been me.”

“No,” he shook his head. “No.”

“How did this happen, Aaron?”

I felt like I was going to be sick again. The whole car ride over, I was convinced that it was some kind of sick joke. I didn’t want it to be real, so I tried to pretend that it wasn’t. But standing in that hallway, wrapped in Hotch’s arms as I sobbed and he tried to calm me down, I knew that it was real. I could feel it. My sister had been shot. The Unsub promised that the other one was being taken care of, and we thought that it was over when we got Elle out of jail in Jamaica. But the Unsub was only just getting started. He saved his big moment for when we least expected it. When we were all exhausted, hungry, separated, and our anxieties had actually calmed down. It was the calm before the storm, and none of us saw it coming.

Hotch was trying to find the best way to explain without hurting me. He was treating me like a victim of a case rather than his partner, because that was all he knew how to do. With Haley, he thought that he knew what he was doing, but she shattered his idea of love, comfort, and romance when she left him suddenly. Now, he didn’t know anything about how to comfort me in the way I needed most. And it made me sad. I was trying so hard to help him. We had gotten so far together since he first asked me out, but this was the one thing that we hadn’t prepared for. This was the one thing we never wanted to be ready for because we didn’t want to imagine that it could happen. So now he wasn’t prepared and it broke my heart.

He did what he understood, though, and that was explaining it to me like a stranger in a case who just lost a loved one. “He went in through the back door, caught her by surprise, and shot her.”

“Where?” I begged him for more details. As both an agent and her sister, I needed to know more than just that.

“The living room. He went through the kitchen and into the living room, and shot her point blank in the shoulder.”

I squeezed his neck tighter and he pulled me closer. “Why didn’t we know sooner?”

“The Unsub took her badge and gun.”

I pulled from Hotch and he let me, but his touch didn’t leave me. His left hand trailed up my side and up my neck before he cupped my cheek. He wiped away one of my tears with his thumb.

“The crime scene— I’ve got to go look at it,” I said desperately, trying to make a move for the elevator.

Hotch made sure to hold me still as gently but as assertive as he could. “No,” he insisted. “You don’t need to see it. Trust me. Anderson’s there and he’s sending me photos. You don’t want to know, Y/N.”

“I can find this asshole. I can do it if you just let me.”

“You need to be here for when Elle gets out of surgery and wakes up. She’s going to need you.”

I wiped another tear that was falling down my cheek. “That’ll be hours from now. I have to go—”

“I’m not letting you go anywhere,” he whispered with more harshness to his tone. “He called us after he did it…” Hotch pressed his forehead to mine. “He said that ‘Agent Greenaway didn’t have to die like that’ and I thought that he meant you.” His eyes fell shut as he tried to stop himself from crying. “I thought it was you and I nearly died.” He kissed me tenderly yet eagerly, just wanting to know that I was still there with him and that he could still kiss me. He didn’t want to think about losing me and the opportunity to love me. “So you’re not going anywhere until we find this guy.”

My fingers found the back of his neck and slid under the ends of his short hair. I grabbed slightly, not enough to hurt, but just to be affectionate. “Okay,” I gave in. He didn’t want me to leave, and I wasn’t going to fight him on this one thing. It made sense and I didn’t need to get under his skin when there was already so much happening. “I’ll stay.”

He let out a sigh of relief, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

It felt good to say it again to his face. It was the first time since the other night at his house. Just the difference between saying it against his lips compared to saying it into a phone made my heart flutter in my chest. Every time he said it, every time his face was so close to mine that I could feel his breath, and every time he looked at me like he loved me more than anything in the world, my day brightened just a little more.

Hotch escorted me to the waiting room where Gideon was pretending to still be focused on his newspaper, when, in reality, he had likely been watching Hotch and I in the hallway to get a feel for how serious our relationship was. I wondered what he thought about us. Gideon was always a softie deep down, and he was just another hopeless romantic like the rest of us; but he also held his own bias against coworkers dating, which made him view us differently. But I wondered that if after seeing us in the hallway and how we needed each other, he decided that maybe it was alright after all. Maybe he wouldn’t try to convince Hotch that it was a bad idea.

I sat down in one of the seats across from Gideon and Hotch let go of my hand. He wiped his face with both of his palms as he tried to recollect himself before turning back to Gideon. “Any luck reaching Morgan and JJ?”

Gideon shook his head, writing in another word on the crossword table. “They’re still out of cell range.”

“Keep trying.” He turned back to me, “Did you leave the drinks and food in the car?” I nodded. “Okay, I’ll go get them. You need something to eat.”

I whispered a thank you and slumped against the seat I was in. I watched him leave and step into the elevator. As the elevator doors began to close, he sent me a short, small smile. My head fell back gently against the back support of the seat I was in and I let out a heavy sigh. All I wanted was to be with Elle at her house, her asleep with me watching over her to make sure that she was alright. Maybe I just needed food and sleep like Aaron kept telling me. This whole time, while I had been fighting against him to make sure that I was constantly keeping up to date with the case, I had forgotten that I needed to take care of my body in order to keep pushing. And without having eaten anything in hours and I hadn’t slept in almost forty hours, I felt so weak. Even if Elle woke up or they found the Unsub, I felt like I would be of no use in the state I was in. It made me feel utterly powerless.

Gideon was still paying no attention to me— or at least pretending as such. He was purposefully doing it. No one could actually focus on a crossword puzzle like he was when one of the teammates was up in surgery and it was his fault. Yeah, I said it. This was all his fault. The Unsub gave specific instructions that we weren’t allowed to go to the media or any outside resources. He knew that there were rules, and he broke them, and I was sure that it had to do with Elle getting shot. Not only did the Unsub want Elle out of the way for some fucked up reason, but he wanted to make sure that we understood that there were consequences to breaking his rules. So he won by getting rid of Elle and proving a point to us. Two birds, one stone.

Gideon should have been more careful. He should have listened to Hotch about not holding the press conference. And that was likely why he wasn’t looking at me. He knew that I would be upset with him for letting this happen to my sister. He also knew that I wasn’t going to blame Hotch, even though he was the one who sent Elle home. He knew that I couldn’t do that, but I’d be looking to point fingers, and it all pointed to him. He was ashamed, and as much as I hated to think it, I was glad that he felt that way. I wanted him to regret his decisions. Because if he had just stopped to consider instead of going on a personal witch hunt, then Elle wouldn’t have been lying on a surgical table with doctors trying to pull a bullet out of her chest.

When Hotch came back with the donuts and coffee, I pushed myself to sit back up again. He took the seat next to me and handed me one of the coffees, another to Gideon, and one for himself. I knew that he would want it. I tried not to smile behind my cup. It didn’t feel like the time to smile about such a silly thing, but I couldn’t believe that I had him pegged like that. It felt good knowing him that well.

“I called JJ and Morgan, told them about Elle, but they're still heading out there,” Hotch explained to Gideon as he handed him a donut.

I raised a brow after accepting my own donut from Hotch. “Where are they?”

“They’re checking up on a lead about the victim and her family. They’re going North to talk to her family.” He relaxed in his seat beside me, “Anderson called as I was about to get in the elevator. He told me that they found a partial print at the crime scene.”

That was the best news we had all day. While we had been falling short of any real leads since finding the jewelry box yesterday, the Unsub leaving a partial print in Elle’s house meant that we were one step closer to catching him. One step closer to me looking at my sister’s attacker in the eyes as I got to read him his Miranda Rights and put him away for a very long time. That was a reason to smile.

“How did they get the partial?” I asked.

Hotch looked at me with soft eyes that spoke volumes. I didn’t want to know, according to him. But him not telling me only confirmed any suspicions I might have had about the crime scene. I saw what happened in Jamaica, I saw what happened with Frank Giles. Our Unsub liked to write messages in blood. “SAVE HER”, “IT’S BEEN HANDLED”, and “HERE THY QUEST DOTH TRULY BEGIN” were all apart of his M.O. He wouldn't have left Elle without completing his ritual.

So I wanted to know the truth. “What did it say?”

Hotch scratched his stubble and shifted in his seat uncomfortably. He knew that I wouldn’t stop pressing for answers, especially when it came to Elle. His choices were to either tell me or find a way to travel back in time and stop himself from ever saying anything else about the crime seeing. Seeing as the second option was neither logical nor possible, he had to give me something. He knew that I had seen all of the other crime scenes first hand, and if he reused to tell me, I would just walk right out of the hospital and drive over there to see it for myself. It didn’t matter what promises I made to him. If I didn’t get answers, I wasn’t going to stick around long enough for him to start an argument about it.

“It said ‘RULES’... In Elle’s blood.”

“I’m going to kill him, Hotch. I swear, I’m going to kill him, even if it kills me.”

I was right about the Unsub and his reason for attacking Elle. Gideon broke the rules and the team had to pay.

“We still don’t have enough for a profile yet, though,” Gideon said quietly. “At least not a good one.”

Hotch picked up my free hand with his and held it tight. Even with Gideon in the room, Hotch was going out of his way to make sure that he was with me, that I understood that he wasn’t going anywhere. We had our rules. We knew that we weren’t supposed to touch at work— especially not like this. But something had happened to Hotch while I was at Leonard’s. He said that the Unsub called them to tell them that he had killed Elle, but he used our last name, and Hotch’s first worry was me. The fact that he called me on my way out of the parking lot to give me crap about leaving on my own, then all of the calls at Leonard’s, and his persistent need for touch all told me that the Unsub had really gotten under his skin by using me. The call when we were together the other night was the first step, and it kept escalating from there. The Unsub wanted us to be together at all times, for some reason, and he found a way to ensure that it would happen. All it took was stalking us, sending something to Jack, and scaring the crap out of Hotch about losing me on a thousand separate occasions.

Hotch’s hand squeezed mine. “Once JJ and Morgan finish up with Rebecca’s family, we’ll hopefully have another lead. Until then, there’s not much we can do. I think we should all get some rest.”

Gideon shook his head and flipped the newspaper pages to a sudoku puzzle now. He was really trying not to face me, and I didn’t blame him. I was sending him the worst death glare I could throw at him for what he did. But Hotch was at least right about the sleep idea. I was done with my donut, and the warm coffee was starting to lull me to sleep, even though the caffeine should have knocked me back on my feet. I guessed that I just was so tired that even caffeine couldn’t save me. And there wasn’t anything to do with the case or about Elle in surgery. Hotch had the right idea, and sleep was the one thing I couldn’t argue with at that point.

I peeled my hand from Hotch’s so that I could push myself to lean forward and put the cup of coffee on the table in front of us.  When I reclined back in my seat, I shifted to the side so that I could rest my head against his shoulder. My eyelids were already heavy to the point that they fell shut without any effort. Sleep felt so natural, I didn’t have to fight to keep my eyes shut or quiet my thoughts.

Everything was oddly peaceful in that hospital waiting room. The lights were gold and dim in order to comfort those who would be waiting around, just like we were. All of the newspapers and magazines that Gideon had collected in front of him just reminded me home and how my dad would lay them out the same way. The air conditioning was right above my head, blowing cool air that helped my heart rate slow down and find peace. It was just so quiet as though the room itself were inviting me to sleep for once. I didn’t mind the feeling at all.

“The press conference was the right thing to do,” Gideon said quietly, assuming that I was already asleep and didn’t want to wake me up. Hotch’s hand fell to my knee and his thumb started to draw slow circles over the fabric of my pants. “I mean, it forced the Unsub to come out, forced him to make a mistake like leaving a partial print. If I hadn’t done what I did, who knows if we would have that information. I did the right thing. I know I did. I was just doing my job. Elle will understand that and Y/N will forgive me.”

“Jason…” Hotch whispered, trying not to move the shoulder I was resting on. “It’s no one’s fault but the Unsub.”

“I know.” He sounded so unsure about himself as he stood to leave. “I know.” He carefully put the newspaper back down on the table. “Let them sleep. I’ll be outside if you find anything out from Morgan or JJ.” He patted Hotch’s other shoulder gently on his way out.

When Gideon was gone, Hotch kissed the top of my head clemently, “I love you.”

I nuzzled against his shoulder and picked his hand up to intertwine our fingers again. “I love you, too,” I whispered. He kissed my head again and I let out one last breath of relief and tranquility before I managed to fall asleep.

Hotch gently shook me awake about an hour later. I woke up carefully, rubbing the side of my neck where it was sore from being crooked against his shoulder for so long. He massaged my shoulder in an attempt to help with my tight muscles, but also to help me wake up from my nap. I didn’t think that I would be out of it for so long, but if I were just being woken up by Hotch, it meant that something had only just happened. Whether it was about the case or Elle, I didn’t know until Hotch was sure that I was entirely awake again.

I reached out for my coffee on the table, which was now cold, but it was better than nothing. I chugged the rest of it before setting it back down. Hotch threw his arm over my shoulders as I leaned back.

“The team identified the Unsub,” he finally said.

“How?”

“I don’t know. Gideon’s sending me to oversee the arrest.”

I jumped out of my seat. “I’ll go with you.” I was already fixing my hair back out of my face and making sure that my gun was prepped in its holster on my hip. I knew what Hotch was going to say before he even said it, and I already knew what my response was going to be.

“No. Stay here and wait for Elle.” Like I said, he was being predictable.

With my response already prepared, I grabbed my purse from the floor. “I’m coming with you, Hotch. I want to be there when we get this guy. I want to see his face when he realizes that he lost.”

Hotch stared at me for a moment before nodding, “Okay.”

He wasn’t going to win this one. I had gotten some food, coffee, and sleep. I was now at the top of my game, perfect for arguing with him. And while he usually enjoyed playing along, we were on a time crunch. So he gave in and we headed for the elevator. As we waited, I asked what we knew since I fell asleep.

Hotch told me everything the team had told him. Our Unsub’s name was Randall Garner. We stepped into the elevator. He was Rebecca Bryant’s biological father who had been severely burned in the fire that burned their family home down and killed everyone but Rebecca and Randall. When she was sixteen, Rebecca had been kidnapped by her father after he was released from a mental institution. He had been keeping her for two years before finally contacting us. Hotch wasn’t sure why yet, but he was sure that Spencer would have answers for when we would get to the office.

And answers he did have. From the moment we stepped into the office, everyone started bombarding me with questions about Elle, while Reid was trying to catch Hotch up with everything he had learned about the Unsub and the profile he had created single handedly while everyone was gone. Morgan and JJ were following me around with endless questions, even though I really didn’t know much more than them about Elle’s condition or the crime scene since Hotch refused to take me or tell me much of anything about it. I apologized for not having answers, and they seemed upset that they were just as helpless as I was. 

“He thinks that we’re modern-day Knights of the Round Table,” Reid explained to us as the group of us walked into the boardroom. There was a woman sitting in the corner, biting her nails, but I was the only one who seemed to take notice. “He thinks that he’s in a fantasy world where Rebecca is a grail that we need to rescue in order to save the day.”

“Do we know where he is?” Hotch asked, refusing to take a seat at the table.

Reid, Morgan, and JJ all looked through the files they had pulled and the notes they had taken, but there was nothing. His last known address was his home before it burned down in the fire— then, technically, the mental hospital. That was it, though. When he was released, he went off the grid. No one had any clue as to where he was.

“I have something,” the woman in the corner spoke up.

Reid leapt from his chair and hurried over to her, “No, mom, it’s okay—”

He came to a sudden halt when his mom pulled a photo from her purse and handed it to him. Spencer examined both sides before turning to all of us with wide eyes that told us that he suddenly understood so clearly. He handed it off to me and I took a look at it myself. One side was an address and the other was a picture of a large house in the middle of the woods.

Reid’s mom had this the entire time and she never said anything. The Unsub gave her another clue— the last clue— because he knew that Reid would send for her. To make sure that she was safe. He knew Spencer and the rest of us like he was us and could guess what we would do before we could even think of it for ourselves. He was ten steps ahead of at all times when he never should have even been a single step ahead of us in the first place.

I handed the photo over to Morgan. “Shiloh, Virginia?” he read the address. “That’s only ten miles from here.”

“Gear up quickly,” Hotch ordered, already heading for his office.

We all jumped to our feet and headed for our desks. Hotch was up in his office, calling the SWAT team for back up and giving them the address of where to meet us. Morgan tossed me another flashlight after I tested mine to find that it had died after Reid used it yesterday to find the jewelry box clue.

The five of us— me, Hotch. Morgan, JJ, Reid— all hurried to one of the FBI company black SUV vehicles and stuffed ourselves inside. Hotch turned on the lights and sirens before we even made it out of the parking lot and started hauling ass down the streets towards Shiloh. None of us said anything. We were all just focused on getting there and finally taking this guy down. We wanted answers and we wanted him to pay for all of the suffering he caused. It was high time he met his modern-day Knights of the Round table, just like he wanted.

The SWAT team Hotch had called in was already parked in front of the house when we arrived. They were all huddled around the trunks of their cars as they put on their gear and loaded their weapons. While we drove up the path with all of the lights off, they looked over to make sure that we were a friendly vehicle and not the suspect or otherwise.

Gravel crunched under my shoes as I jumped out of the car and walked around to the back where Hotch had popped the trunk for us to grab our bullet proof vests. I threw mine over my head and worked in silence as I connected all of the straps. Everyone was silent. The only sounds that echoed were from everyone’s boots compressing the gravel under us. If the Unsub were near a window or door, he likely would have heard us, even though we were all trying to be quiet.

When everyone was ready, Hotch traveled to the front of the group to lead us in. He gave a silent signal, and the SWAT team split into three small groups. One headed to the left, another to the right, and the one Hotch and I went with went straight for the front door. Our team split up, too. JJ and Morgan went to the left, Hotch and I down the middle, and Reid to the right.

We were still quiet as we ran up to the door and Hotch messed with the doorknob to see if it was unlocked. When the door opened easily, he gave us a silent signal to be careful because the Unsub was likely expecting us. This was his game, afterall. He had to know where the players were at all times.

Hotch and I went together towards the dining room while the SWAT members of our group branched off to check the kitchen. With our guns raised, Hotch and I ran into the room. We checked every corner, hiding spaces behind doors, cabinets, etc. but there was nothing. Rebecca had to be somewhere in the house, we were sure of that much, the only question was where?

I dragged a finger over the dining room table before bringing it up to my eyes. The table was caked in dust, just like everything else in the dining room. Around the table were six chairs, each covered by white sheets. From the other end of the table, Hotch whistled quietly to catch my attention. He was holding Elle’s badge and gun. So we did have the right guy’s house. That was some consolation.

“It’s Morgan. We’re clear on this side,” he said over the comms.

“Kitchen’s clear.”

“Living room clear.”

“Nothing in the parlor.”

“Dining room’s empty,” I said.

“I’ve got movement upstairs,” Reid said.

Hotch and I gave each other a nod before traveling together towards the staircase. Reid was halfway up, his gun and flashlight pointing at the hallway that diverted to the right of the stairs. He gestured with his flashlight that he saw someone heading that direction, and we followed him up.

The SWAT team ran past us, taking the lead in order to clear the upstairs rooms while we followed Spencer’s hunch. Reid, Morgan, and Hotch were in front of me, JJ behind me. She tapped my shoulder when we reached the top floor and she pointed towards the left, letting me know that she was going to look for Rebecca on the left side of the house with the SWAT team. I nodded an acknowledgement and continued to the right.

Reid jumped across the entrance to another hallway that turned to the left. He hid on the wall opposite Morgan, Hotch, and I. Morgan took point on that wall closest to the new hallway, meanwhile Hotch and I backed up for support. Down the new hallway that we had discovered, there was a room all the way at the end. The door was half open, and I saw a man pass by it. My blood ran cold as I gestured to Hotch that I saw Randall Garner.

“Cover me,” Morgan whispered to us.

“No, no, no,” Spencer insisted. Morgan stepped back from the corner. “Give me a second.” He raised his voice, “Mr. Garner? My name is Dr. Spencer Reid. I’m with the FBI. You were in the hospital with my mother. I think she may have confused you about who we are and what we do. All we want to do is help Rebecca— which is what you want to do, too, right? That’s why you sent us the puzzles and the clues. That’s why you wanted to see us.”

“Did you bring her?” Garner asked from his room down the hall. The sound of leather creaking echoed in the hallway just after I saw him taking a seat at a desk inside.

“Bring who? Rebecca? We don’t have her. You do.”

“No. No. The one Arthur loves. Guinevere.”

Hotch, Morgan, and I all exchanged confused glances. Arthur and Guinevere? We knew that he saw us as the Knights of the Round Table, but we didn’t know that he had assigned us to the specific character.

“We didn’t bring any Guinevere,” Reid played along.

Randall Garner huffed angrily from his office. “I was very specific that Agent Hotchner and Agent Greenaway were to be together the entire time. Did you not learn your lesson about obeying the rules?”

I suddenly realized that Aaron was Arthur and I was Guinevere. That was why he wanted us together. He saw our relationship and wanted us to recreate how he imagined the characters behaving in his delusion. We were only confused at first because he said “she” and that wasn’t what any of us were used to. The only “she” we brought with us was JJ, and she was off searching the other side of the house. 

“We brought Agent Hotchner and Agent Greenaway, yes.”

“Ask the question, dear Guinevere.”

I looked across to Reid for an answer because I didn’t know of any question. Was it in one of the clues that Spencer solved? It had to be. “He believes that if you ask the right question, then it will magically heal his wounds. That’s why he wanted us. He thinks that we have magic.”

“Do you know the question?” Hotch whispered.

Reid shook his head, “But I know what he wants. Fall back.” He held his gun out to me, which I reluctantly took. “It’ll be fine…” he told us before walking into the hallway with his hands raised. “Stay calm, Mr. Garner.”

“Ask the question, Ser Percival, if Guinevere is incapacitated.”

“I told you, I’m not Percival and Y/N isn’t Guinevere. My name’s Spencer and we work for the FBI. You know my mother, Diana, from the hospital. Do you remember?” He kept walking down the hallway, closer and closer to the room Randall was in. “I think she might have made you think that your daughter is a grail and that we’re knights sent to rescue her.”

“No. Your mother was very specific—”

“My mother is a paranoid schizophrenic who would forget to eat if she wasn’t reminded. She doesn’t know real from fiction, just like you, Mr. Garner. We’re not characters in a story. We’re real people who have come to help you and your daughter.” Reid finally reached the door and carefully pushed it open. I tried to crouch down low to get an angle on Garner, but Reid was entirely in the way. I couldn’t see anything. “Don’t you want to help your daughter?”

“My daughter doesn’t really exist. She never did.” Leather creaked again and I could tell that Randall had spun around in his chair, but I still couldn’t see him. “Ask the question!” he demanded with more force.

“Hey, guys…” Spencer called back to us calmly. “Maybe you guys should go wait downstairs.”

“What?” I hissed.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Morgan responded to Spencer.

“Ask the question! Heal me!” Mr. Garner shouted.

I couldn’t hear anything else that was being said. They were too far into the room and their voices had lowered so that their conversation was just theirs. I didn’t know if Reid was getting anywhere with Randall, and I didn’t know if we were going to get the location of Rebecca. Now that we had the bastard, all we needed now was to find his daughter.

Reid started running back down the hall, headed straight for us, yelling, “Run!”

Next thing we knew, the office Mr. Garner was in exploded, shaking the entire house. Reid dove to get further from the blast, and Hotch turned and covered my head with his arm. After the explosion, Hotch and I stood up straight again and made sure that the other was alright before looking over to Morgan and Reid. Morgan was putting out a fire that caught on Spencer’s legs while also helping him up to his feet.

The fire from the explosion started to spread along the hallway, making its way straight for us. We didn’t have much time before the whole house would burn down. I made a dash for the side of the house, calling for the SWAT team and JJ to hurry back downstairs, warning them of the fire that was spreading. Hotch and Morgan were pulling Reid along with them towards the stairs.

“What the hell was that?” Hotch asked.

“He had a bomb,” Reid responded, coughing the smoke out of his lungs. I went in front of them and started racing down the steps. “Wait— Stop, stop, stop, stop… Rebecca—”

“Reid, there’s no time for a search.”

Spencer shushed Hotch and pushed his hair out of his face so that he could think more clearly. “Randall was the fisher king, and this is his castle… Rebecca has to be here…” He snapped his fingers when a lightbulb went off in his mind. “The basement! She’s in the basement!”

Everyone started running downstairs, chasing after Spencer who decided to take the lead again. The boys ran into the basement while JJ and I made sure all of the SWAT team got out safely. We weren’t about to leave a man behind after all of this. Once they were all out, JJ and I stood on the grass in front of the house to watch as it burned. I was staring at the front door intently, praying that they would het Rebecca and come out soon, because if they were going to waste another minute inside, I was going to go back in to find them.

Just as I thought it, though, Reid and Morgan came stumbling out, but not Hotch. I ran back up to the front of the house and caught Morgan. “Where’s Hotch?” I questioned. He was coughing too hard to answer. All he could do was point into the house. “Hotch!” I called, continuing up to the door. “Hotch!”

When I was about to take a brave step into the house, Hotch came stumbling out with Rebecca in his arms. I moved out of the way and followed him back into the grass where he gently put her down. I grabbed his shoulders and turned him to face me.

“You okay?” I asked worriedly.

He nodded. “You?”

I nodded with a sigh of relief.

“Hey, lovebirds!” Morgan called. “Fire department's on their way! We should get Rebecca to the hospital!”

He was right. Randall was gone and Rebecca needed to get treatment. She had been trapped in that basement for two years— who knew what he did to her, even if she was just his daughter. The fact that his delusion was so strong that he couldn’t even recognize that they were family meant that he could have done horrible things to her. Things that I didn’t want to consider. So the best thing to do was make sure that some doctors could check on her.

JJ, Morgan, and Reid took Rebecca in the car we arrived in. Hotch decided that he was going to stay to make sure the fire would be contained and that the SWAT team would clear the area safely. In the car, however, there was no room for me when they had laid Rebecca down next to JJ in the backseat to make sure that she was comfortable. My only option was to stay with Hotch and wait to get a ride back into town.

When the fire department showed up, they drove onto the grass and tried to maintain the fire spread, attempting to keep it away from the woods surrounding us. As Hotch and I watched, my phone started ringing. I turned around, took a few steps out of the way, and answered the call.

“Y/N?” It was Gideon’s number, but it was Elle’s voice. She had woken up after surgery. She was okay. “Are you there?”

I didn’t realize how silent I had been while just thinking about the weight that lifted off of my chest when I finally got to hear her voice again. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m here, Elle.”

“Did you catch the son of a bitch who did this to me?”

I glanced over my shoulder to look at the burning house. “He’s gone.” I bit at my nails and kicked the gravel under my feet nervously. “Are you okay?”

“Never felt better,” she laughed shortly before wincing in pain. “When can you come visit me?”

“I’m on my way right now. I promise.” I snapped in Hotch’s direction to catch his attention before pointing to my phone and mouthing Elle’s name to him. He nodded, said goodbye to the chief of the fire department, and came over to me. “Hotch and I will be there in a few minutes, okay?” Elle hummed an agreement on the other end. “I love you, Elle.”

“Whatever you say, loser. Just get here as soon as you can,” and she hung up.

I rolled my eyes and bit back a smile. The SWAT team had room for us in one of their trucks and offered to drop us off at the hospital. It was a kind gesture, one they really didn’t have to give us, but they said that they didn’t mind since it was on the way back to their office. In the truck, everyone was just as silent as when we first arrived at the house. Even when they dropped us off at the hospital, they only wished us goodnight in quiet murmurs before we closed the back of the vehicle and they were off again. Hotch and I didn’t watch them drive off. We immediately hurried into the hospital and headed for the room that Elle had been assigned to.

When we got to Elle’s room, I saw Gideon sitting beside her, reading something about the case, and she was staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. As Hotch and I entered, however, Gideon stopped reading and Elle broke her trance to look over at us standing in the doorway. She smiled at me as best she could considering the facts. She had only just gotten out of surgery and she was in a lot of pain, and she would be for a long time. The physical and mental wounds of being shot at point blank range wasn’t anything that usually disappeared overnight, no matter how hard Elle would try to convince herself and us otherwise.

Gideon squeezed Elle’s hand gently before standing from his seat and taking his leave from the room, still refusing to look up at me. Once he was gone, I stepped further into the room and took a seat next to Elle’s hospital bed.

“He’s dead,” I told her. My vest was still on and my hair was still pulled back out of my face, which was a tell tale sign that we had just gotten back from a scene, but the fact that Hotch was covered in soot was another sign that something had happened. “We found the girl. She’s going to be okay.”

“That’s good,” Elle smiled.

Hotch was still standing in the doorway, watching Elle from a distance as she slightly struggled to breathe with the oxygen they were pumping into her nose. He gulped and looked at the floor. “I’m going to head out and make sure that the rest of the team is alright.” He glanced at Elle shortly, like he had only mustered enough courage to do so for a few seconds, “I’m glad that you’re here. I’m sorry for sending you home like that.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Hotch,” she insisted, shaking her head to encourage her point. 

Hotch nodded like he was trying to convince himself that she was telling the truth, but it wasn’t quite sticking with him yet. He switched his glance to me, “Are you going to stay here tonight?” I nodded. “Do you want me to bring you a change of clothes?”

“If you don’t mind.”

The left side of his mouth curled into a small, shy smile. “I’ll be back in a few hours.” He waited for Elle to look away for a brief moment so that he could steal a second to whisper that he loves me. I whispered it back to him and his smile brightened before he left.

Elle looked at me with a grin, “So… Hotch, huh?” I glared playfully at her, daring her to be careful. “I can’t believe I owe Morgan $20. Is it too late to break up with him?”

I smiled but scrunched my brows in curiosity. “$20?”

“I thought that you would end up going out with him. He didn’t think it was possible. Maybe he knew about you and Hotch this whole time and just wanted my $20.” I hit her good arm gently. “Ow!” she laughed.

“It’s a good thing we’re in a hospital, otherwise I would have killed you.” The joke didn’t quite land the way I thought it would. “Sorry,” I doublebacked.

Elle squeezed my hand. “I’m just glad that you’re here and that you’re happy. That’s all a sister could ask for.”

“I love you.”

She smiled behind the oxygen and the pain coursing through her veins. “I love you, too.”

[shyneanon]

Aaaaand guess who’s been writing a lot this week? THE HAREM FIC, entitled The Skeleton Magnet, HAS NOW BEGUN! Hoo boy! I’m not sure how much I’ll be posting it on Tumblr, because like the MF one, the chapters are long. We’ll see. But IT IS ON AO3. The one-shot that started it ended up being the first half of chapter one, so I’ll post the second half of chapter 1 here on Tumblr this time. Enjoyyyy.

---

You were right about your boss’s response.

He was a good guy. He was… pretty horrified that you’d willingly gone up to that house despite the obvious signs that it was bad news. You’d gotten a good scolding, as if he were your dad or something, but you appreciated it. Even though he knew the customers who’d ordered the pizza would be pissed, he was just glad you were safe. He made a joke about how he’d be in trouble if you went missing on the job, but you knew that he actually cared.

Still, the image of that one red eye was burned into your mind.

At least you had a creepy story to post online?

Since you were still shaken up, the next day felt way better than usual, even though it was just as busy as most weekdays. Nobody had a giant hole in their head, which was nice. Even the meaner customers felt like nothing.

Eventually, there was a delivery to a nice suburban neighborhood nearby. You knew the way there without having to check your GPS, so that was nice. You were able to get there with the pizza box still warm. Nice.

You knocked on the door and heard some yelling on the other side, followed by the thumping of a pair of feet eagerly making their way towards the door. It was swung open— and for a split second you had a ‘Nam flashback to last night. This guy… had the same shape.

It only took you a millisecond to relax.

Not only was this guy shorter than the last guy— he looked to be a little shorter than you, even— but he looked significantly friendlier. No hole in his head. Good start. He also had a pair of eyes rather than one, and they were shaped like big stars. The grin on his face was more sincere and rounded, and his clothes were immaculately clean. He was dressed almost like… a funny soldier? But in white and blue, and with a big bandanna tied around his neck. He beamed, and you instantly felt a lot better than you had half a second ago.

“HELLO, PIZZA DELIVERY HUMAN!”

You started a bit. Oh geez, this guy was loud. Kind of like the tall guy from last night, actually. Still, you smiled. The big stars in his eyes were endearing. “Hi there.”

“WOWZERS! YOU MADE IT HERE EARLIER THAN EXPECTED! YOU ARE VERY GOOD AT YOUR JOB!”

… For some reason, that made your whole night seem so much better. “Thanks,” you said. “I’ve delivered to this neighborhood a lot of times.”

“YOU HAVE? AW. I’VE NEVER SEEN YOU!” His smile had disappeared for a moment, but it quickly returned in full force. “WHICH IS TOO BAD, BUT NOW I FINALLY HAVE THE CHANCE TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE AND BECOME YOUR FRIEND!”

Wow, this little guy moved fast, huh?

A much quieter, more relaxed voice sounded from inside the house. “Already becoming friends, huh?”

“YES, OF COURSE! MAKING FRIENDS IS WHAT I DO BEST! AND I’M GREAT AT EVERYTHING!”

So he had a bit of an ego, but it seemed harmless enough.

“WHAT IS YOUR NAME, HUMAN?” The stars in his eyes somehow got bigger.

“I’m (y/n),” you told him, still smiling. Those big stars really were endearing.

“IT IS GREAT TO MEET YOU, (Y/N)!” He gestured to himself, and somehow the bandanna kind of looked like it was blowing in imaginary wind. “I AM THE MAGNIFICENT SSSSSSSBLUEBERRY.” As he said it he seemed to catch himself, the little lights in his eye sockets shrinking slowly the longer the S sound continued. But he perked up again right after he said it, raising an eyebrow. “I COULD SEE HOW YOU WERE STARING AT ME EARLIER!”

Uh oh. He’d noticed that? He didn’t look pissed about it, so why—

“I CAN TELL THAT YOU OBVIOUSLY FIND ME VERY HANDSOME! WHICH IS NO SURPRISE, SEEING AS I AM!”

Well, that… hadn’t been the assumption you’d been expecting. You felt your face get a little warm, but his confidence was so endearing that you couldn’t be too embarrassed. In fact, you decided to indulge him, tsking in disappointment. “Oh boy, I thought I was being subtle about it.”

“YOU WERE NOT, BUT IT IS UNDERSTANDABLE! IT MUST BE HARD NOT TO STARE AT SOMEONE AS DASHING AS MYSELF!”

His smile seemed to soften, and… was he blushing a blue color? Wait, did skeletons have blood? Blue blood? But they were made of magic, right?

“Y… YOU YOURSELF ARE QUITE BEAUTIFUL!”

… Oh my gosh help he’s so cute.

That same voice from earlier called out, but this time you saw someone approaching the door. “Man, you’re really putting the moves on her, huh? I gotta see this girl if the Magnificent Blueberry’s so interested.”

Blueberry’s blush only got darker, and you got a look at the new stranger. Again, you were hit with a pang of fear that dissipated quickly once you got a better look at him. He looked like the tall guy from last night! But not quite as tall, and cleaner. Not super clean, like Blueberry— the orange hoodie he was wearing had some stains on it. But it was nothing compared to last night. Still, these two looked uncannily similar to the former skeletons. Just if the creepiness was removed and “Sans” was actually super adorable.

“... You OK?”

You realized you’d been staring again. “Oh. Yeah. Sorry. It’s just… You two look… really similar to some guys I met yesterday.”

“OH!” said Blueberry. “DID YOU MEET VANILLA?”

Who? “Um,” you said, “no. These guys were creepy.” You winked. “Unlike you.”

Blueberry blushed again, which seemed to amuse his companion as much as it did you. Still, said companion looked further into the house.

“Was it Red and Edge?”

Blueberry frowned. “I’M SORRY YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH THEM. WE’LL TELL THEM TO LEAVE YOU ALONE.”

Nope, not them either. “Oh, uh, no. I’ve never delivered to this house before. These guys were living outside of the city. Even their house was creepy.”

They seemed surprised and even exchanged a glance, but they relaxed quickly and the taller one held his free hand out. You noticed the other one was holding a cigarette in between two fingers.

“Well, my name’s Stretch.”

You focused on shaking his free hand rather than wondering how a skeleton could smoke if they didn’t have lungs. “Nice to meet you.” You swore these were the friendliest customers you’d ever had.

“It’s berry nice to meet you too,” he replied with a silly, contagious grin.

Blueberry responded by making a loud, indescribable noise of indignation. “PAPY! REALLY?”

“Sorry, buddy. Couldn’t resist.” He looked at you for a second. “I see why you were flirting with her, bro. She’s definitely something.”

You could tell he was (mostly) kidding, but your face still heated up when he gave you a casual wink. Not sure how to respond (you weren’t fantastic at witty banter), you held their pizza out to them. “Hey, I bet this is getting cold.”

“Oh yeah,” said Stretch, and took the box of pizza. “Man, that smells good.”

Blueberry put his hands on his hips. “MY BROTHER EATS TOO MUCH GREASY FOOD! I USUALLY EAT MUCH BETTER! IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP YOUR BODY FIT!” He grinned. “BUT TODAY IS MY CHEAT DAY!”

He let out a funny laugh— “MWEH HEH HEH!”— and you were pretty sure your heart was going to explode.

On a more observant note… so they were brothers. It made you wonder if the guys from last night were also brothers, but it made no sense to make assumptions like that. Those guys were a separate set of people. It’s not like these two were actually the same guys.

Even if they really, really had a weird resemblance to each other…

“We’ll let you get back to work,” said Stretch. “I bet we’ve distracted you for long enough. We paid online, right, bro?”

“YES!” said Blueberry. The soft blue color returned to his cheeks. “BUT, UM… I— I WAS WONDERING IF PERHAPS I COULD ASK YOU SOMETHING.”

You? “Sure, Blueberry, anything.”

He beamed, no longer looking shy. “IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL IF YOU COULD GIVE THE MAGNIFICENT BLUEBERRY YOUR NUMBER! FRIENDS SHOULD KEEP IN TOUCH!”

You actually hesitated. He seemed like he had a crush on you— which was kind of flattering, in a way— but you didn’t want to lead him on. That said, he had called you his friend. But he had thought you were admiring him earlier…

To be safe, you decided to respond with, “Sure. Platonically.”

Thankfully, he didn’t seem disappointed at all. “OF COURSE! AS I SAID EARLIER, MAKING FRIENDS IS MY SPECIALTY!”

He pulled out his phone and held it out to you, and you put your number in before handing it back. He seemed thrilled.

“THANK YOU!”

You smiled. “No problem,” you told him.

Stretch spoke up: “Mind if I text you too? Any friend of my bro’s is a friend of mine.”

He shrugged casually, so he didn’t seem to mean anything by it either. “Sure.”

“Thanks.”

“OOH!” said Blueberry. “I ALMOST FORGOT THE TIP! I AM SO SORRY!”

He pulled out some money from his pocket and handed it to you. “Thanks,” you said, casually glancing at it— Wait, is that a twenty-dollar bill!?

“Um!” you said. “I think you gave me the wrong bill.” You showed it to him.

He cocked his head, seeming confused. “NO, IT’S THE RIGHT BILL!”

You looked back at it, then back at him.

This man is an angel.

“Thank you,” you told him. Seriously, you have no idea.

“IT IS NO PROBLEM FOR ALL OF YOUR TROUBLE!” He beamed. “HAVE A GOOD REST OF YOUR NIGHT! THANK YOU FOR THE PIZZA!”

Stretch casually saluted you with two fingers. “See ya.”

You waved, and once the door closed you realized just how wide your smile was. Man. This was so much better than last night.

Well, time to get back to work. But the rest of your night would feel brighter from here.

When you got home, you checked your phone to find several messages. You could see that both threads were from unknown numbers, and that one had way more messages than the other. The first one was also from way earlier in the night than the other.

Unknown number: HELLO, (Y/N)! IT’S ME, BLUEBERRY!

Unknown number: I HOPE YOU HAD A GOOD DAY! I FORGOT TO ASK HOW YOUR DAY WAS!

Unknown number: THE PIZZA WAS REALLY GOOD!

Unknown number: WOW, I JUST REALIZED HOW LATE YOU WORK! DO YOU WORK ALL NIGHT? THAT SOUNDS HARD!

Unknown number: MY BROTHER COULD NEVER WORK THAT MUCH! ALL HE DOES IS SLEEP ALL THE TIME!

Unknown number: BUT I LOVE HIM!

Unknown number: ANYWAY, I HOPE YOU’RE DOING ALRIGHT! AND THAT YOU’RE NOT READING THESE WHILE YOU’RE DRIVING! YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD! GOODNIGHT!

That was really sweet. He was obviously not asking you about how you were to be polite, he cared. It made you feel special. So you went ahead and added him to your contacts. You considered some type of pun, but seeing as Blue didn’t seem to like puns, you instead added him as “Mweh Heh Heh!” The laugh was just… too cute.

You responded by telling him your night was good, you hoped theirs was too, you were glad they liked the pizza, and that yes, your job could be rough.

You checked the other thread.

Unknown number: hey.

You snorted. There was no need to guess who that was. Well, you wanted to use a pun for him, but… Stretch….

You settled for “Orange You Stretch?” and did your best to give him a snarky reply.

You: You’re chatty, huh?

Alright. Now was the time to go to bed. At least you’d made some new friends.

You could never have too many of those.

[starrosefics-archive]

Treasure Bin- Chapter 1

Summary: MK hears about his great-aunt’s passing, Macaque gets back in contact with some old friends, and MK gets a call from his sister.

Notes: @watermelonjuicee wrote a fic based on one of my posts and I’ve been riding that happy high since yesterday. Go check it out.

Prologue

-_-

MK woke up to come down to a quiet restaurant.

That wasn’t unusual at the early hour and Tang only on his second bowl, he had been finding out. He had been falling asleep faster at night, which had been allowing him to wake up earlier. It had been agreed that this was due to his increased physical activity as the Monkie Kid. (Pigsy, much to his delight, had been giving him bigger portions of food to help.)

But this was a different silence. He opened his mouth to ask when his eyes landed on the newspaper. Tang grabbed it, but it was too late.

WEALTHY SPINSTER PASSED

He froze, heart not sure whether it wanted to sink or start running like a rabbit. He knew the woman that the article was talking about. 

For a moment, MK was back to feeling a wrinkled hand run through his hair, an aged voice cooing You’re our most precious treasure, starshine-

“-MK.”

It was Pigsy’s voice, calm and certain, that drew him back. MK tried a shaky smile. (The chef noticed the shakiness and added it to the mental list of ‘reasons to look up therapists’.) “Sorry.” He nodded to the article. “Great- She- dead?” Tang, thankfully, understood.

“Three days ago.” He thought before offering the article, relief passing over his face when the younger man shook his head. “They kept it secret until she could be buried.” Pigsy snatched it away, crumbling it up and throwing it at the recycling.

“C’mon kid, it doesn’t matter. Kitchen.”

“Yes sir.” MK said, thoughts already moving away from his former family and to helping Pigsy prepare.

Well, his thoughts attempted to move away.

He was stuck puzzling over Great Aunt Tetra all day. He greeted Mei when she poked her head in, did deliveries, and took orders, but it was all on autopilot. Sure, he didn’t like the woman- no. Dislike wasn’t the word to describe it. But he had known her.

Eventually, he had some free time to slip away to Flower Fruit Mountain. As he climbed the peak, he considered every angle until his brain landed on one question.

How was Bao taking it?

-_-

Princess Iron Fan was careful.

Being careful was often the only thing saving you from the forces of Heaven or whatever came. That was the lesson she had taught Red Son. So, as the world changed, both of them were careful with money. Both of them were careful with resources. And Iron Fan, most of all, was careful with places.

The small palace that the Demon Bull family now inhabited was the same palace DBK had lived in centuries ago, back when they were preparing for his strike against the Monkey King. The same strike that ultimately landed him under a mountain. His wife and son had lived there for a few years before moving to the city, but Iron Fan had been careful to keep a few servants in the hidden complex to keep it updated.

After the mess that the last lair had been left in, everyone was glad for that one.

Especially Red Son.

He sat in his room, staring at a bracelet. It was a cuff bracelet, made out of gold with one small ruby. The jewel itself matched the headband of a certain boy. He twirled the piece absently, considering the implications that hadn’t filled his head when he had started crafting the gift.

There was a knock on the door. Red let out a yelp, trying to both stuff the bracelet into his pocket and scramble off the bed. "Come in!" He managed out eventually, smoothing his shirt down.

The door opened, revealing a servant. He straightened, trying to look like the cool and confident prince he was. “Your parents request your presence.” they said with a bowed head. Red Son nodded, not trusting his voice.

He stalked out of his room, keeping his head high. It was probably to talk over plans, he supposed. There had been some silent agreement to not talk about the White Bone Spirit at the moment. But his thoughts kept wandering.

To his enraged father.

To the cry of traitor.

To MK-

A chuckle broke him out of his thoughts. Red Son looked around, confused and a little wary due to the said spirit. There was a tap on his shoulder and he let out a shout. On instinct, his fist slammed out before slamming into a hand. There was another chuckle.

“Jumpy, kid?”

He drew back. “Macaque.” he said, giving a respectful bow of his head. The dark-furred immortal chuckled, eyes glowing. “Excuse me. I...”

“We weren’t expecting you here, Macaque.” His mother’s voice broke the tension as she strode down the hallway, his father following. Her face was frozen into one of politeness and he couldn’t blame her. Given his and Monkey King’s past...relationship, it was hard to determine if he was now friend or foe. “What brings you.”

Unannounced was the word Iron Fan didn’t use.

“Iron Fan!” Macaque said, striding forward to meet her. He grabbed her hand to press a chaste kiss to it. “Can’t a guy come visit some old friends?” She drew her hand away. “Anyway, I’ve heard about your difficulties.”

“There are no difficulties at the moment.” his mother said stiffly.

Macaque chuckled. “Denial. But I’ve brought all of us a chance.” He pulled out a jar, full of what Red Son could only describe as slime. “One of the few sorceresses in the world left us three days ago.” Everyone stared at the information as Macaque swirled the jar. “But she did manage to leave us this.” He snapped his fingers. “And we still have a guide.”

Out of the shadows, probably carried by one of his shadow clones, a girl tied up was thrown. She looked to be a few years older then Red, dressed in a teal sweater and white leggings, and covered in soot. She also looked completely pissed. Macaque stepped forward, ignoring how she was struggling against her bonds, and pulled out the gag.

She coughed, clearly getting used to the freedom of speech, before ignoring everyone except Macaque. “I told you already, I have no idea exactly what that does! It could make the Monkey King loopy or it could kill him! It could blow us up! I! Have! No idea!”

His mother grabbing her shoulder stopped the struggles. “Ah ah ah! Except you do!” Macaque pulled out an aging journal. He paused. “Excuse me, I’m being rude. Everyone, meet the Monkie Kid’s older sister, Bao.”

MK had an older sister?

“And you better not touch a hair on his head!” Bao yelled, struggling against her bonds again. “Look, I might know what that stuff is supposed to do, but I have no idea if it does and you f-”

Macaque pulled out his staff.

She went silent.

“This stuff,” He explained to his audience, holding up the glowing jar. “Is a special spell that her great aunt developed. For lack of a better word, it’s a virus that loosens their controls, like under the influence of alcohol. Which means that they’re easy to catch and control.”

Red stepped forward, considering the jar. “And what do you want?” he voiced.

Macaque grinned harder. “Simple. To work with you to create a trap for both Wukong and MK. She,” Bao grunted as he gave her a kick. “Is the current owner of a huge warehouse full of magical artifacts. Artifacts that will be useful to you and...” He leaned forward, eyes lighting up. “Especially to the brat. I get Wukong to undo whatever that monk did to him. You get MK-”

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!”

“SHUT UP!”

“Shutting up.”

“As I was saying, you get MK for whatever you want.” Macaque said, smoothing back his hair from where it had fluffed up. Red Son's thoughts whirled, all circling around the bracelet in his pocket. He didn't move, however. Instead, he watched his parents before Iron Fan finally nodded. “Great! As for you!”

Bao winced as he reached...to untie her. She blinked when the bonds came loose and he pulled out a phone. “Call your brother. I told you, you’ll come with us but at the end of it, you’re going free.”

She glared but typed in the number.

-_-

“My great aunt’s dead.”

Wukong let out a yelp. MK couldn’t blame him- it had come out of nowhere. They were in the middle of after-spar meditation, but he couldn’t keep it down. “I...” the immortal said after a moment. “I’m sorry- wait, no. Your great aunt, from what I saw, was a bitch.”

“I know!” MK said it in a burst. “God, I hated her when I left. But she’s still my blood and I...I don’t know? Feel sad?” He stood, starting to pace. “She thought I couldn’t do a thing for myself, just because I couldn’t do magic like her or Bao or my parents! But she...I don’t know.” He sat back down, staring at his hands. “She still loved me. Kinda.”

His mentor stared before letting out a sigh. “Kid...you shouldn’t think about this. You left because she was your family and she was unhealthy. You shouldn’t let the family part weigh you down-”

There was a ringing. MK pulled out his phone. The number niggled at his memory, but he didn’t remember where. With a shrug at Wukong, he answered. “Hello?”

“Star- MK?”

“BAO?!” On instinct and encouraged by Wukong’s frantic waves, MK moved to end the call.

“Wait, wait, wait- I left!”

He paused. “What?”

“I left Mom and Dad. And...that’s why I’m calling you. Auntie left the shop to me.”

He blinked before moving forward. “That’s great. But I don’t want you in my life, so...”

“I want to make amends.”

He paused again. “What?”

“I...I’m calling. Because I want to make amends.” The words were awkward and the silence was long. Long enough that MK could barely make out a few taps, repeating over and over again. “The White Bone Spirit’s still loose, right? There’s some artifacts here that could help you.”

More tapping. A pattern, repeating over and over again.

“Okay.” MK hadn’t realized he had said it before Bao was talking again.

“Great! That- that’s great! Most of it is in this other warehouse, down north, but Auntie had a portal. I’ll leave instructions and I’ll meet you there, cool?”

He nodded before realizing she couldn’t see. “Yeah. Cool. Bye.”

“...Bye. Dress up warm!” Then the call was over and MK was left staring at his phone. Wukong let out a whistle, startling his student.

“Well, that was a trainwreck-”

“Bao’s in trouble.”

[midnightwitch92]

Chapter 14 | Party crasher | Kate Kavanagh

Thank god for Friday nights. I and Ana finally finished our final exams. It was a nightmare to get through. We had spent endless hours buried in notes and doing my research on the internet to prepare for the day. During the exam, I got so nervous that my mind went blank. I had to keep repeating my notes in my head to remember every tiny little detail. I honestly wasn't sure if I'd made a bunch of mistakes or not. By the time we finished my fingers throbbed from all the typing and handwritten work, we had gone through. Now, all we could do was wait for the results.

After we returned to the apartment I didn't want to stay at home going nuts over whether or not I failed my exams, so I phoned Jose and talked Ana into coming with me to check out some nightclubs. That night I put on a slim purple dress. Ana had on a teal coloured t-shirt and grey skirt. As we helped do each other's make-up there was a loud knock on the door. When I opened the door, behind it was a delivery man in a grey uniform that I didn't recognise, holding a small package.

"Good evening. Is this the home of a Miss Anastasia Steele?" He smiled.

"Oh yes, one moment. Ana Its for you." I called out to her. The man was tall with a slightly sunburnt tan and stubble. After a moment she came out of the bathroom, now sporting some grey stockings.

"This is for you." He said, handing her the small brown package.

"Me? I think there's been a mistake I haven't ordered anything. Not recently anyway." She looked down at the package as if trying to remember if she did order it and perhaps forgot. The man pulled a small black binder from under his arm and flipped to the last page.

"Someone must have ordered it for you. It's definitely the right name and address. Don't worry, it's all paid for. If you could just sign for it here, please." Ana Signed the dotted line and he put the binder under his arm. "Have a nice evening, ladies." And with that, he just walked away. I shut the door and she ripped open the wrapping paper.

"Oh my god." She smiled.

"What? What is it?" I asked. She pulled back the paper to reveal three books. They were Agatha Christie novels. As she opened the first one, it had a note tucked between the pages, and beneath it was the authors signature on the cover page.

Dear Anastasia Steele

Thank you ever so much for yesterday. I would like to do it again.

Yours sincerely, Christian Grey.

"Wait, Christian Grey? As in the guy we interviewed? He sent you these?" I looked down at the note remembering the interview in Seattle. "What does he mean about thanking you for yesterday? Are the two of you dating?" I'll admit I didn't particularly like Grey. He came across like a pompous ass. That Morganstern guy didn't seem to like him either, but Ana seemed pretty keen on him so who was I to judge. Maybe the interview was just him on a bad day.

"Not exactly." She smiled. "He just walked into the hardware store looking for rope, cable ties and duck tape. I almost didn't recognize him without the fancy suit."

"Seriously? In a huge city of so many millions, the rich, handsome billionaire just happened to bump into you. It's like a Rom-com." I smiled back at her. I didn't want to say how weird her story sounded. Why on earth would a billionaire personally come 90 miles from Seattle to a small Corner shop in Vancouver, just to buy a handful of supplies? Of course, I was probably just being silly.

"I know right, he had just finished a long drive all the way from Seattle by himself and asked me to help him find everything, and when we were done he asked me out for coffee. It was so weird." Weird? that made me wonder.

"What was so weird about it?"

"We'll, He kinda went back and forth on the whole thing. One minute he seemed to want to know everything about me, then he said I should stay away, then he gave me his number." She said looking really baffled. "I just figured he wasn't so great with the whole dating thing and was trying to play hard to get. Maybe?"

"Maybe?" I nodded awkwardly. That just sounded so odd. "What brought him all the way over here? He must be on a business trip or something, right?" I had to ask.

"He didn't say. Maybe he's on the run from that Morganstern guy." She said.

"Are you going to see him again? Are we gonna be hearing wedding bells soon?" I joked. Ana didn't really give that much of an answer.

"Oh, I don't know. I have so much on my mind, like college and work, but I'll think about it." She said, taking the books to her room and I didn't think anything of it after that. We finished getting ready and I checked that everything was off. The living room window was wide open and as I leaned over to close it, I saw two men in suits, one of which was looking up at me from down across the street. They lingered for a moment before getting into their car and driving off. I wondered what the hell that was about for a moment until Ana told me to hurry up.

We didn't live far from the city centre so we decided to put on our flat shoes and walk. As we made our way down the street a crowd of people blocked our way at the local shop. We couldn't see what they were fussing about until someone said "There's been another murder. A man and a woman have been declared missing." The Washington vampires had been all over the news for while now. People were really starting to panic. First Seattle, now Forks, How long would it be until they hit Vancouver?

"Who was attacked?" Ana uttered, looking worried. She had family in Forks. Her aunt Renee's ex and her cousin Bella.

"Don't worry. I'm sure your family are fine." At least I hoped so. As people began to clear out of the shop, someone dropped a newspaper. The front page was a memorial to the victims. Jerry Myers, Lacey Corwin, Rhett Masters,  Claude and Genie Griffin.

"Jesus," Ana uttered. I was so uncomfortable looking at that article. I looked up the news on my phone.

"It says here that a man, Sam Uley and a woman, Emily Young were both reported missing when neither showed up at Uley's engagement party earlier today." So many dead in such a short period of time. We continued to read the article for a moment while making our way into the Silver serpent pub. As we made our way inside and put on our heels, Jose arrived.

"Hey, there's my sexy girls. How have you been? Did your exams go well?" We both smiled as he sauntered up to the bar and hugged us.

"Yeah, It's finally over and done with," I said. "What are you having? The first round's on me." I reached into my bag and called the barmaid over.

"A pint of lager for me Kate. How about you Ana?" He gave her a seductive little smile.

"Rum and coke for me, Kate." She said, Smiling back at him.

"Ok, a pint of lager for him, a rum and coke for her, and I will have a bloody Mary."

They went to get a seat while I ordered the drinks. It was so cute seeing them like that together. Hopefully, this relationship might go somewhere. Jose was a good friend and Ana was still a virgin, hellbent on waiting for the right guy. I wish I could have had her sense of mind when I lost my virginity. My first time was awful. I met him at a bar where we were having a birthday party for a friend. When he looked at me with that drunken sweet-faced smile, I just lit up. He told me I was beautiful, that he truly believed I was the love of his life, and I was euphoric. I knew at that moment that I'd never want anyone else. I knew it.

A week later we met again. I instantly agreed to go with him to a party at his house. There were not a lot of girls there but his male friends were all really nice. About 3 or 4 boys kept bringing me drinks and asking me to dance. I had to say no because there were too many boys asking me at the same time. Eventually, I got really drunk. As I danced with him I felt dizzy and light-headed. Soon the room was spinning and I had to sit down as everything disappeared into the darkness. The next day I woke up on some old car tyres in a garden shed with him passed out next to me. I'd never felt more frightened and embarrassed in my life. When he finally woke up he was a completely different person. It turned out he only did all those things to see if I was stupid enough to sleep with him. As far as he was concerned I was just another easy notch on his bedpost. He made me feel like such a fool.

"Here you go. Are you alright miss?" The barmaid called out, pulling me out of my miserable thoughts.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." I quickly paid for the drinks and brought them to the table. Jose and  Ana were looking at the newspaper on the table.

"God, these guy's are total fucking psychopath's." Jose just looked stunned.

"Are you talking about the Vampires?" I asked as Jose moved over to let me sit down.

"look." he pointed to the picture. "It says here that these fuckers cannibalised them and drained their blood."

"Oh, God that's disgusting," Ana said, looking she could just throw up.

"The police are putting out a search for three health enthusiasts who are looking for victims in peek condition. There has recently been a local uproar since people are now frightened to visit their local gyms and other athletic establishments such as the national park. This has also caused such local businesses to lose customers and profit." Jose read it aloud.

"I feel so bad for these people." I shuddered.

"I know," Ana replied. "It says here Mrs Genie Griffin was killed instantly, while her husband, Claude was rushed to hospital where died soon after. Unfortunately his injuries made it impossible for him to communicate to the doctors or police." God, they almost had something. Maybe if that poor man had survived this whole thing would be over by now.

We soon put the newspaper away and carried on with our drinks. The bar had a new addition to the menu called the seven deadly sins challenge. Buy a pitcher of all seven cocktails and win one of many Gothic t-shirts or one of the stuffed animals hanging from the nooses at the bar. We started with a pitcher of Wrath. I don't remember what was in it, but it tasted gross, like something you'd clean the windows with. "I'll buy the next one. How about Envy?" Jose said standing up.

"Yeah. Let's see if we can win something." I agreed. As we watched him head to the bar I locked eyes with a real sexpot at the next table. He smiled back in our direction and I blushed. He had sandy, long flowing hair and neatly trimmed facial hair. He wore a tight fitted t-shirt, revealing a muscular torso beneath and slim, black jeans.

"I take it you'll be going for Lust. Am I right?" Ana joked.

"Oh come on, I don't even know him. Mind you, that's a body worth going to hell for." I joked back. "Besides he might be smiling at you." I giggled. Still smiling he got up and walked towards our table. I and Ana exchanged glances, wondering which who he was looking at. "Do we know you?" I asked him.

"No, but I'd like to get to know you. Miss?" He smiled.

"Kate. And this is Ana."

"Hello." Ana extended her hand to shake his.

"Nice to meet you, Ana and Kate. I'm Elliot." He shook Ana's hand. When Jose returned with our drinks, we invited Elliot to sit down with us and join in. As the night went on we got through six pitchers. Greed was the last to go as we decided what prizes we wanted. I had my eye on a really nice wolf t-shirt. Ana liked the red teddy bear hanging at the front of the bar.

"I'll be back in a minute. I need to go to the bathroom." Ana said, smiling as she lightly staggered to her feet.

"How about a dance?" Elliot asked.

"Alright. You coming too Jose" I said, getting to my feet.

"Nah, it's cool. I'm just gonna finish my drink." He smirked and raised the glass to his lips. As we made our way to the dance floor I saw Jose turn to look in Ana's direction. She was in line for the ladies and on the phone to someone. I laughed at her goofy movements as if she was doing charades to the person on the other end, not realising that they couldn't see her.

Elliot and I swayed to the music for some time. I was so buzzed I though my legs would give way beneath me. Luckily Elliot had his arms around my waist to keep me up. Suddenly my phone buzzed. It was Ana texting me to say I'm not feeling well so I'm going home. I called Christian while in line for the toilet and he just showed up outside the bar and insisted on taking me home. See you later. Oh and he said to tell Elliott not to over do it at the bar.

"What?" I said out loud.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Ana just sent me a message saying she's left with Christian Grey and that he asked me to tell you not to over do it at the bar. How do you and him know each other?" His response made me so uncomfortable.

"He's my brother."

[itawonka-creates]

Seabourne Burnouts: Chapter 20 - Riptide

Thank you to @rebecarojas07, @batfam-babe​, @kimihonna​ for beta reading! Start [Here] [Part 19]  [Part 21]-OR- [AO3]   TRIGGER WARNING: Suicide If you bothered by this content, stop reading once Staller says "I'll be quick."

“Why are we here again?”

“Because you and Chloe seem to have a good reputation among the staff and Chloe is with Alya.”

“I’m surprised you aren’t with them.”

“I have to do this first.” Jason groaned as Marinette dragged him around on the ship. He could tell they were heading to the staff’s quarters but she didn’t say what for. He thought back to the sudden decision. They were all gathered in the dining hall, she was tired and yawning all day but no one thought much of it. For the most part, everyone was just happy Marinette and Damian made up the day before. Marinette and Adrien were talking, much to his relief, when suddenly she froze. He remembers her suddenly stand up with a yell before realizing she was creating a scene and slowing sitting down. Everyone was clearly confused, but she assured them she’d let tell them after they got some privacy.

“So you think someone has some information on the Akumas? Shouldn’t we just interrogate them?”

“We can’t interrogate kids.”

“Kids?” She looked at her phone and looked up at the room numbers, “Whose kids?”

“Have you heard of a woman named Marleen?” She took a right and continued dragging him along.

“Yeah. She’s a badass who would punch your lights out if you make her mad.”

“Why does it sound like you have personal experience?”

Jason rubbed his jaw and shrugged, “No reason.”

Marinette rubbed her eyes and shook her head, “You’re impossible.”

“No, I’m lovable. You guys just won’t admit it.”

Marinette grinned and rolled her eyes, “Well, her kids were the first Akumas.”

“What?” He stopped in his tracks and frowned, “What do you mean?”

Marinette looked back at him and explained, “They were the pirates that attacked the night of the ceremony.” She bit her lip, “I need your help because Marleen doesn’t like me or my class. She might not let me talk to them!”

“Why couldn’t you bring Damian then? He’s good at getting information out of people.”

Marinette flinched, “Yeah, about that. Since we made up yesterday Alya and the other girls took it upon themselves to – um – rough him up or something.”

Jason snorted, “Ah, payback for making you cry.”

“I did not cry!”

“You totally cried.” Marinette pouted, but that only egged Jason on. “You think they’re still interrogating him? No wonder Chloe left with her. He’s probably dead.”

Marinette's voice was whiny as she continued on her path, “I hope not.”

Jason followed her and looked around, “Well, I can at least take another one of Marleen’s punches if you need me to.”

“I’m hoping you’d sweet-talk her or something.”

“Oh, you think your big brother has game?”

“No, but your weirdness might work in my favor.”

“I’m weird now?”

“Define ‘now’.”

Jason grabbed her and put her in a chokehold, “Oh! She has jokes now!”

Marinette wiggled around and shook her head as he messed with her hair, “Get off!”

“Just the other day you were depressed as hell and a guy tells you he loves you-”

Marinette’s face lit up as she looked up at Jason, “What!?”

Jason froze and muttered a curse as he let go, “What?”

Marinette blushed as she fixed her hair, “He didn’t say that.” Of course he didn’t.

Jason grabbed her phone and looked at the room number, clearly he was jumping the gun. “Marleen’s room is nearby. Her kids should be there.”

“Wait, Jason-”

“Come on.” The roles switched so quickly that Marinette couldn’t question it. She was suddenly being the one dragged along down the corridor.

Marinette let out a small ‘hmph’ and shook her hand out of his grip, “I’m not letting that go.”

“We’re both stubborn. Of course you wouldn’t.” Jason looked at the screen one last time before stopping in front of a door. “You ready?”

“No, but that’s why you’re here.”

“To be the punching bag?”

She twiddled with her pigtails as she said, “To be my big brother and help me out here.” Jason was pleasantly surprised at the answer, despite the bashful delivery. He smiled and held her close before knocking on the door.

It was muffled, but he could hear some kids inside and a woman yell, “Coming! Coming!” Hearing her unlock the door made Marinette tense, but Jason just did his best to stay cool for her. A woman with messy hair opened the door and frowned, “Jason.”

Jason smiled, “Marleen! Good to see you!”

“What do you want? Who’s she?”

“I hear your kids on the ship. We were wondering if we could talk to them.”

“What are you talking about? My kids left after the first attack and-”

“Mom! Mom! Jacob won’t let me look at the ribbon we won!”

Marleen rolled her eyes and called back, “Jacob! Let your brother see it! He helped you win, you know?” There was a whine that could be heard further into the room and she sighed, “Who wants to know?”

“My sister.”

“Since when do you have a sister?”

“Since she boarded the ship. Marleen meet Marinette.” Marinette nervously waved and smiled at the woman.

Marleen was unimpressed, “You’re the girl from the French class.”

Jason snapped his fingers, “Perceptive as always. Anyways, we’d like to-”

“It’s your fault that my boys got caught up in this mess.” She glared at Marinette and held a demeaning tone as she continued to reprimand Marinette, “You know how scared I was when the attack started and no one knew where my kids were? Imagine my face when the cops call me to say they had my kids in custody and one of them had a shot leg! I brought them with me to avoid getting into trouble and then your class shows up-”

Jason held his hands up in surrender and stepped in front of Marinette, “Okay! Okay. So I see you haven’t changed.”

“Don’t make me punch you again.”

“Your kids won the balloon war, so they must be doing well.”

“Smartass. After that first stop in Spain, a bright light suddenly washed over us and my son was better. Can’t explain it. It was-”

“Miraculous.”

Marleen looked at the girl and narrowed her eyes, “Yeah. What do you want with my kids?”

Marinette gulped and asked, “Can I talk to them about the Akumas?”

“You a cop?”

“No.”

“That’s your answer.”

“Marleen-”

“Don’t ‘Marleen’ me! The trip was fine until they got on it!”

Jason frowned, “That’s not fair. You really think a bunch of 15-year-olds planned this?”

“Crazy world we live in. Who knows? I’m not letting her near my kids. Might be bad luck.”

“Mom!” A kid ran up to Marleen and tugged at her pants, “Hey, are we-” He looked over at Jason and suddenly went wide-eyed, “Oh my god, you’re alive!”

The sudden outburst made Jason snort, “What? Of course I’m alive, kid.”

“But mom punched you! She said she could kill people with her punches.”

Marleen cracked her knuckles, “I still can.”

Jason held his hands up in surrender, “Your mom knocked me out. She throws really good punches.”

The kid nodded, seemingly accepting the answers before asking, “What are you doing here? Are you going to punch him again, Mom?”

“Maybe.”

Jason ignored her and crouched down to the boy’s level, “What’s your name?”

The boy stepped out from behind his mother’s legs, “David.”

“Hey David, I’m Jason. This is Marinette. I wanted to ask you and your brother about the day of the big ceremony.”

David frowned, “Didn’t the cops ask us this stuff?”

“Yeah, but we might’ve figured out something they didn’t.”

Marleen rolled her eyes, “Oh really?”

“Orders from Batman himself.” That caught her attention.

The boy looked surprised before blurting out, “I’ll go get Jacob! Jacob!” He ran back inside the room, excited.

However, Marleen was skeptical, “Really?”

“I wouldn’t be down here if it wasn’t important.”

“Then why is the girl here?”

“She knows the right questions.”

Two boys returned and David pointed up at them, “There they are.”

The older boy gave them the same look Marleen did. Marinette waved and Jacob looked away with a light blush. Marinette giggled but looked at Marleen, “I won’t ask them anything bad. Please, can I talk to them?”

Marleen looked down at her kids, who nodded and she reluctantly gave in. “Fine.”

Marinette nodded and crouched down next to Jason, “Hi. I’m Marinette. You’re Jacob?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you remember about that night? You know the one, right?”

“Yeah.” David rubbed his leg, probably the one that was shot. “We don’t remember doing anything bad.”

“No, no, I didn’t think you would. I want to know what happened right before that. You guys were playing with your toy guns right?”

David nodded, “Yeah, we were playing Batman vs Joker.”

Jacob crossed his arms and huffed, “We weren’t doing anything wrong.”

“I didn’t say you were. I just want to understand something. So you guys were playing, what happened next?”

Jacob sighed, “We started fighting over the gun.”

“Okay. So you guys are fighting over the gun. Then what?”

David shrugged, “Then nothing. I don’t remember anything. Do you?”

Jacob looked back over at Marinette and his face flushed bright red. He stuttered, “Not really.”

Marinette giggled, “You sure?”

David stomped his foot, “You wouldn’t believe us! The cops didn’t.”

Jason gestured to his face and asked, “Come on, do I look like the cops?”

Marleen answered with a quick and snarky, “No.”

The boys shook their head and Jason shrugged, “So tell us. C’mon.”

The boys looked at each other before Jacob finally said, “There was a butterfly.”

“A butterfly?”

“See! You-”

“No! No! No! I’m just making sure I heard that right! A butterfly? A purple one?”

David nodded, “Yeah! It was purple and weird looking and it flew into the gun and-” He suddenly stopped and frowned, “I don’t remember.”

Marinette hummed, “I’m sorry about that. Do you remember anything else about the butterfly?”

“Jacob saw it first.”

Jacob glared at his brother and then seemed nervous to make eye contact with Marinette. He stepped a bit behind his mom, but with a gentle pat on the back form Marleen he gulped. “It came from the vent. That’s all I remember.”

Marinette smiled at him, “You did great. Thank you.”

“How did you know it was purple?”

Jason pulled the kid into his arms and jumped up, “Because we’re awesome.”

David screamed in delight and Jacob came out from behind his mother, “I want to do that!”

“You got it, man.” Jason pulled the boy up onto his shoulders without breaking a sweat and Jacob grinned. “You good?” Jacob laughed and David seemed content with swinging on his arms.

Marleen smiled and looked at Marinette, “I gotta admit, he’s good with kids. With women? He’s a total loss.”

“Hey!”

Marinette nodded, “Oh, I know. I’m never going to marry him off.”

“Hey!”

Marinette giggled but Marleen nudged her, “So, how did you know the butterfly was purple?”

Marinette crossed her arms and looked away, “In Paris we deal with them a lot. They’re called Akumas.”

“So the bright light-”

“Was from our local hero. She fixes all damages caused by Akumas.”

“Ah, the Ladybug chick. Saw her when Tess went crazy.” Marleen sighed and rubbed her arms, “It scared the hell out of me. I didn’t know where they were, I didn’t know what happened to them. If it wasn’t for Batman they’d have a criminal record-”

“I’m so sorry. If I knew this would happen, I would’ve never sent in an essay.”

Marleen waved her hand dismissively, “Jason’s right. You didn’t plan this. I just- I need someone to be mad at.” Marinette smiled and held her hand out. Marleen shook her hand, “Alright, truce. Only because Jason seems like less of an asshole and I’m choosing to think it’s because of you.”

The two looked over and noticed Jason being ‘overpowered’ by the two boys. Marinette snorted, “He’s awesome.”

Jason looked up and pointed at her, “So you admit it!”

“Never said I didn’t, Jason.” Jason grinned before getting up and setting both of the children down beside Marleen.

Marleen hummed, “I will say this. My boys get dragged into it again, I won’t hesitate to knock you, Jason, that ladybug chick, or anyone else out.”

Marinette laughed nervously and took a step back, “Noted.”

David whined, “So now you gotta report back to Batman?”

“Yup! See you guys later okay?”

“Okay! Bye!” David was more enthusiastic, but Jacob seemed sadder to see them go. Jason ruffled his hair, forcing out a smile as they started to walk away from the door.

Marleen called out to them, “Don’t be strangers, okay? I promise I won’t punch you!”

Jason smirked, “I don’t believe that for a second, Marleen! See you later!” Marleen waved them off before closing the door. “Good kids.”

“Great kids.”

“Jacob had a huge crush on you.”

“Shut up.”

“Damian has competition.”

“Stop.”

“Gotta let him know about this. Big brother stuff. You get it.”

Marinette lightly hit his arm, “Jason, no.” She sighed and stretched, “Looks like we have another lead.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Akumas are traveling through the vents. No wonder we can’t pinpoint them. They’re traveling in the ship’s best blind spots.”

“Right.” Jason hummed, “So that means they could be coming from anywhere.”

She shook her head, “Not necessarily. All the Akumas were above deck and they akumatized the victims too quickly. They wouldn’t be able to travel through the vents that quickly unseen if they were below deck.”

“So whoever’s behind this is above deck. Makes sense. So who’s above deck that knows how to navigate the vents?”

“No, no. The Akumas would navigate them on their own. Hawkmoth wouldn’t need to lead them anywhere.”

“So anyone above deck that knows about the vents. Great. Narrows that down.” He thought for a bit before sighing, “No wait, that actually does narrow it down to about half the population on the ship. Given that most of the Akumas are on or near the main deck, I’d say they’re on or above deck too. Probably the first two floors.”

“That narrows it down further.” She nudged him, “Hey, you are smart.”

“You realize I was trained by Batman. I’m impulsive, not dumb.” Jason grabbed Marinette’s shoulders and pulled her into a side hug, “You want to be our new Robin? You seem smart enough?”

“Damian would be furious.”

“Damian would love to see you in his costume.”

Marinette blushed and looked away, “Speaking of ‘love’, what did you mean before?”

Jason cringed, “Nothing. You were just so happy, I just figured-”

“We’re in a good place.” She laughed and admitted, “I told him I love him though, but I doubt he’d ever tell me.”

Jason paused and registered this new information in his brain. Curiosity overcame him, “What did he say back?”

Marinette groaned, “He didn’t say anything!”

Jason was disappointed, “Note to self; kill Damian.”

“No! I’ve kissed him like once!”

“Really? Jesus you guys are wholesome. Fine. Once you get that second kiss, his ass is mine for being stupid.”

“He’s not stupid.” She mumbled to herself, “Not all the time.”

Jason rubbed her arm, “Your boyfriend is an idiot. What are you going to do?”

“He’s your brother.”

“Gives me even more of a right to call him stupid.” Marinette laughed, being an only child she was always surprised at how ruthless siblings could really be with each other. Jason was glad they were back on track, but they didn’t have enough time left.

He could hear Bruce’s voice echo in his head and his question held more and more weight each time: ‘You’re really going to rope her into this?’

It was something Jason didn’t think they’d need to worry about. A summer fling was something he didn’t think would ever be in the cards for his emotionally constipated brother. Yet, here he was listening to Marinette admit her feelings for Damian. It really hit him that this would be a more permanent problem once Damian confessed his own feelings to Bruce. When Jason told Dick and Tim, they had conflicting reactions.

Tim was already upset they knew their secret identities, but he expected to just leave the class behind forever after the trip. He was ready to keep this as a memory as a safety precaution. Dick was more optimistic and brought up Clark and Lois. Dick didn’t want to throw this all away when this is the most significant growth Damian has ever displayed. It caused a pretty heated argument and left everyone going to bed angry, but there wasn’t a clear answer.

“Hey, Marinette. Did you think this through?”

“Think what through?” She texted someone on her phone and made a right in the hallway. He could tell they were heading towards the computer room.

“This. With Damian. With us.”

“I did.”

“And you’re not scared.”

“I’m terrified.”

“And you’re still going to do it?”

Marinette bit her lip and clutched onto his arm, “Honestly, I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like without you guys around. I’m not looking forward to the end of this trip.” She took a deep breath and sent him a look full of determination, “Still, I’m not going to give it all up because I’m scared.”

Jason smiled and squeezed her body, “That’s what I like to hear. You’ll be a Robin yet.”

Marinette shook her head, “I’m not going to be a Robin.”

“You can’t be a horse girl superhero your whole life.”

“Jason-”

“I mean Gina would never approve of something so lame.”

“Grandma would be proud of me kicking butt.”

“True.”

“Still, Marinette you could seriously get hurt. Alya, Nino, Adrien, Chloe, everyone could get hurt if anyone found out you guys knew us.”

“We all know that. We all don’t care. I think being chased down by a supervillain every week for two years does that to you.”

Jason frowned, “When this is over, I don’t have to be anywhere. You want me to stay in Paris and help out? You’d have to introduce me to Ladybug and Cat Noir first.”

Marinette looked up, hopeful, “Really?”

“I might not look like it compared to my brothers, but I was still trained by the world’s greatest detective. I could help and I’m good in a fight.” Jason was glad he was the one who got to see this girl absolutely light up the room. She nearly jumped out of her skin, instead she jumped onto him. “Woah!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his torso, “Hey-”

“Yes! Please, yes. Please.” The last please sounded so tired and desperate. He just adjusted her and held her as he continued walking. Sure, they got some weird looks by the few staff members that passed them by, but she held him so close. It reminded him of kids he’d save back in the day. They’d just latch onto him and only let go to latch onto their parents. This hold was only ever given by kids who were thoroughly traumatized, which only worried him further. Jason just patted her back and did his best not to jostle her on their way down.

The rest of the walk was comfortably silent. While holding a fifteen-year-old like a toddler wasn’t the weirdest thing he’s ever done, it was something concerning. Jason wanted to ask more questions, but she just rested on him. He patted and rubbed small circles onto her back the rest of the journey to the computer room. By the time they got to the room, he wondered if she fell asleep on him. Her body heat was high and she was relaxed, but the plea made him wonder just how bad it got in Paris.

He opened the door and gave the people inside a small wave. Tim just looked concerned and confused while Adrien walked over and held his arms out. Jason set her down in his arms and realized she actually did fall asleep. Adrien sighed, “Aw man, she was probably up all night thinking.”

“About what?”

“We’re having a debate. We’re good, but I’m just not on board. She’s been trying really hard to convince me though.” Adrien rubbed his cheek against her head and set her down in a chair, “Did you figure out anything?”

“Yeah, a lot actually.” He walked over to the computer and pulled up the ship’s blueprints. “The Akumas are traveling through the vents to avoid detection. I’d say they’re somewhere above ground on the first two floors. That narrows it down pretty well, doesn’t it?”

“It does.” Bruce hummed, “Let’s try to do a sweep of the area first thing in the morning. Having the kids around might work in our favor. The staff thinks they’re just weird teenagers and stopped batting an eye.”

“I mean they’re not wrong.”

Bruce looked around, “Where’s Alya and Chloe?”

Jason shrugged, “Interrogating Damian.”

“And Dick and Nino?”

Tim held up his phone, “Trying to save Damian.”

“Ah.”

“From what I hear, it’s not going well.”

Adrien smirked, “Well, at least he’ll die happy. He made up with Marinette.”

“He did? That’s good to hear.”

Tim smirked, “Be careful, you sound relieved.” Bruce just smiled as he looked over the blueprints. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that we’ll start in the residential wing. No one is allowed in the rooms without the residents’ consent. There are no cameras in the rooms. Perfect hiding place.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere. Finally. We might be able to get this guy before the end of the trip.”

Jason snorted, “And Damian can finally get a second kiss.” The three guys snapped their heads to Jason and he just nodded. “My reaction exactly.”

“Oh jeez, for a playboy’s son he has absolutely no game. You’ve taught him nothing.” Bruce glared at Tim who simply motioned towards the sleeping girl, “Try to tell me he’d score a kiss from anyone but Marinette. You can’t. That girl was his only chance and he was smart enough to take it.” Bruce initially shook his head before shrugging and nodding in agreement.

Adrien sighed and leaned on the wall, “So we have a plan. Should we go save Damian and find Staller?”

“Staller?”

Tim stretched and got out of his seat, “His niece’s memorial is tomorrow. She would’ve been 26 that day if it wasn’t for the accident. We couldn’t find the pictures so we’ve been brainstorming all night. We pulled it through in the end and made a pretty good gift. Also, we took a bottle from your office.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

Adrien looked over at Marinette before decided to just lift her into his arms, “How did she die anyway? I know she was young but no one ever talks about it.”

Tim frowned and walked towards the door, “Let’s go find Damian.” Adrien wasn’t the best at reading the room, but when it came to loss he might as well have been reading a book. Her death was a sore spot and he wasn’t about to push that despite not understanding why.

Jason walked over and crouched down, “Put her on my back. I can take her.”

Adrien nodded and positioned her in a way she wouldn’t fall once he stood up. “Do you need anything else from us, Bruce?”

“No, that should be all. I’m glad to hear you all made up.”

Adrien smiled and waved as they left the room. He looked over at Tim, “So where are we heading?”

“Up. They’re in Alya’s room.”

“Ten bucks says they put him makeup and a dress.”

“Twenty says he likes it.”

Adrien chuckled, “Guys, be serious. Fifty says Chloe used Queen Bee’s venom on him.”

“Oh, no. That’s a suckers bet. She obviously did.”

“Yeah, I’m out.”

Adrien pouted but soon grinned, “Tim, do you have the present?”

“I can go get it once we’re above deck.”

Jason hummed, “Hope the old man likes it.”

“It’s a thoughtful gift made by his friends. He’ll love it.”

Tim looked over at Adrien as they walked up the stairs, “How’d your mom die?”

Adrien flinched and shook his head, “She didn’t die; she disappeared. No one knows where she went or what happened to her.” He tapped the railing and his smile held no warmth, “I want to think of her as alive and happy. Where ever she is.” Tim patted his back and Adrien shrugged, “So Staller will like it. I know it.”

“Way to go, Tim.”

“Shut it.”

“It’s okay, guys. Really. Let’s just go make sure Marinette still has a boyfriend.”

Jason adjusted his grip on Marinette as they continued up the floors to the residential wing, “He still didn’t tell her.”

Tim groaned, “I’m not surprised but I’m still disappointed.”

“Tell her what?”

“Did Chloe ever talk about a conversation between Bruce and Damian?”

“No.”

“Then don’t worry about it.”

Adrien pouted and looked over at Marinette, “You know she really loves him.”

“We know.”

“I don’t really like it.”

Tim’s sarcasm hit Adrien like a bat to the back, “Really? Couldn’t tell.” Adrien nearly stumbled and looked up at Tim flustered. Tim just chuckled at Adrien’s expense.

Adrien sighed and said, “At school, Marinette was the first friend I ever made. I think I always had a soft spot for her and it’s hard to ignore that.”

Jason asked, “So now what’ll you do?”

“Nothing. We talked and the feelings are more out of loyalty than anything. She loves Damian? Well, I’ll be there to claw his eyes out if they get into another fight.”

Tim was blunt when he said, “We’d probably help out.”

Adrien chuckled, “That’s terrible! You’re brothers.”

“That means nothing. I’ll punch him if you ask nicely.” That made Adrien bark out in laughter. Some passengers looked over at them, but they focused more on Jason carrying Marinette than the laughing blond.

Adrien took a deep breath and wiped the corners of his eyes, “Okay! Okay. I’m good. I’m good.”

Tim grinned as he continued up the stairs, “Nice to see you in a good mood, Adrien.”

“Thanks.”

“Aw, you guys bonded without me? Rude.”

“Says the guy carrying the girl he met a few weeks ago.”

Jason didn’t have a retort for that. It was true, he knew he liked Marinette after reading her paper. The sister thing started as a joke, but after realizing Gina was her grandmother it was like a switch. Suddenly, this girl was family; not just a girl his brother liked. She murmured something incoherent into his shoulder and he just quietly shushed her. If Adrien was right, she’s probably been stressing over things since their fight after Tess was Akumatized. The night before that was probably the last good night’s sleep she had. The fact that Marinette felt comfortable enough to fall asleep on him, it was a testament to how close they got. Sleeping made you too vulnerable. Too open. She trusted Jason. He wasn’t going to take that lightly.

The three continued chatting, Jason did his best to give Marinette a smooth ride as they made their way to Alya’s room. Nino and Dick soon came into view and they noticed Nino knocking on the door. “C’mon Alya! That’s enough!”

They could hear girls giggling and nothing else. Dick ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, “We haven’t heard anything from Damian. I’m starting to wonder if they have him gagged.”

Jason rolled his eyes and stomped on the door, “Alya! Open the door! Marinette fell asleep on me and my arms are getting tired!” Marinette groaned in protest to the sudden noise and he continued to lull her back to sleep.

“Dude!”

“Guys, stay quiet. She’s sleeping.”

“You literally just tried to kick down a door!”

Tim pinched the bridge of his nose, “Do you seriously think that’ll-” The doorknob jiggled a bit and Alya cracked open the door. Tim threw his arms up, “Never mind. I know nothing.”

Jason turned around and Alya’s eyes widened, “Oh jeez, she really did knock out.” Alya opened the door fully and motioned them inside, “We could’ve done more with more time, but you guys seriously ruin the fun.”

The boys filed inside the room and looked around. It was a standard room and by the looks of it, her roommate was Juleka. The girls snickered and whispered to each other before shushing each other. Dick was the first to ask, “So where’s Damian?”

Alix didn’t hesitate to point at the bathroom. Jason set Marinette down on the bed and Dick knocked on the door. “Hey, you alive in there?”

“Yeah, yeah. Give me a minute.” Damian opened the door after a moment and Tim’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

“You’re alive.”

“Shut up, Drake.” He walked over to the girls and took his seat next to them and leaned on the wall, “Anyways, next question. Rose, it’s your turn.”

Alya motioned towards the group and looked at the group dumbly, “Now will you guys stop ruining our girl time.”

Nino crossed his arms, “Why didn’t you answer us?”

Damian shrugged, “They told me not to.”

Dick perked up, “I’m in. I got stories to share about this dumbass.”

Alix snickered, “Perfect. I need more dirt.”

Damian rolled his eyes, “Oh really?”

Dick smirked and stood beside Mylene, “So when Damian was 12 he stole his father’s car.”

Alix snapped her head to Damian, “You stole his car!”

Damian glared at Dick, “Great. Way to tarnish my reputation.”

“I can do worse. When he was 13, him and his friend Jon-”

Damian lunged at his brother and slapped a hand over his mouth, “No! Stopping you right there! Any story with that idiot is bound to be a bad one!”

Rose raised her hand, “Aw, can I at least ask my question? I have some more.”

Jason walked over and pushed Damian off of Dick fairly roughly, making everyone tense. “I got a few questions too. I think the girls would enjoy this one too.” Chloe let out a soft gasp but didn’t intervene. Jason knew she knew, “Number one, you guys have only kissed once.”

“That wasn’t even a question.”

Alya looked surprised, “Really? Aw man, you guys are shy aren’t you?”

Jason shrugged, “Marinette won’t let me kill you until she gets another kiss.”

Damian rolled his eyes, “And why would you kill me?”

Jason hummed and held out two fingers, “Number two. So why haven’t you told Marinette you love her yet?”

Rose and Mylene both cried out, “WHAT?”

Adrien quickly jumped over to Marinette and covered her ears, “Guys-”

Mylene leaned towards Damian with an unusually angry face, “What do you mean you haven’t told her?”

Rose was just as, if not more, intimidating. “Don’t you realize how crucial that is? You have to say it!”

Damian put his hands up in surrender and glared at Jason, “Where did this come from?”

“Marinette told me you didn’t answer her when she told you she loved you. So I thought-”

There seemed to be an invisible snap in the room as all the ladies pounced onto Damian, yelling and scolding the poor boy. He must’ve sworn to be at their mercy or something because he could’ve easily fought them off. Yet, he took the shaking, hitting, pulling, and other abuse with a brave face.

Dick leaned over to Jason and whispered, “Don’t you think that was a little mean?”

Jason shrugged, “I promised Marinette I wouldn’t kill him. This way I won’t have to.” Dick let out an exasperated sigh before looking over at the frenzy going on. He looked back at Adrien who seemed to struggle as he barely shielded Marinette from all the noise.

Dick tapped on Alya’s shoulder, “Hey, don’t you think this is a bit much? He’s not the type to say those kinds of things to anyone. Not even Bruce.”

“You can’t just leave a girl hanging like that! You have to say something back!”

Damian pushed Rose back, clearly doing so without harming her, “I did say something back! I asked her another question.”

Alya grabbed a pillow off Juleka’s bed and smacked him in the face with it. Chloe groaned, “Here I was, supporting you and standing in your corner, and you do this to me? Do you realize how valuable an alliance with me is?”

Damian rolled his eyes, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Alix begged to differ, “You did everything wrong! I’m not even into romance and I know that!”

Juleka sighed and turned his head to face her, “You know, we’ll always look out for Marinette. Do we need to be worried about you?”

Damian shook his head free from his grip, “Of course not! I care about her a lot. I-” Feeling the room’s eyes all suddenly on him prevented him from finishing his sentence. He looked away and growled, “This is stupid. Everything was fine until you guys showed up!”

Jason blinked and poked his cheek, “Are you blushing?”

“You wish.”

“Oh my god, he is.”

“Bro, I can see the pink on his cheeks from here.”

“I’m going to document this and file it under the evidence that proves Damian’s human.”

Damian, much to his dismay, could feel the heat creeping up his neck. Damian looked away from the group, “You’re starting to frustrate me.”

Dick clapped, bringing everyone’s attention to himself. He cleared his throat and motioned to Damian, “While he may not say it, he shows it in other ways. Exhibit A, the kid shows human emotions.”

“Grayson-”

“Exhibit B, he doesn’t curse at us as much anymore. He’s gotten softer.”

“We’ll see whose gone soft-”

“Exhibit C, he’s here. Damian would’ve never come here and let you girls question him this much if he wasn’t serious about her.” Damian didn’t say anything to that comment, but the silence was enough of a response for the girls to back off. Damian straightened himself out and crossed his arms, the blush losing intensity but never truly leaving. “You guys want someone who’s outwardly lovey-dovey, but that’s not Damian. He shows it by just doing things and trying hard for people. He’s always been like that.”

Dick reached out and messed with Damian’s hair. Much to his amusement, Damian didn’t fight it. Dick sighed, “You love her, don’t you?” Damian smacked Dick’s hand away and looked to the ground. Dick chuckled, “God, you haven’t changed at all. You were the same as a kid too.”

The blush came back with a fury, “Shut up!”

Dick smacked the back of Jason’s head, “Hey, what the he-”

“That’s for putting him in this position, Jason. Yeah, it’s frustrating to hear that because we all love Marinette. Still, you know how he operates. He’s not normal.”

Damian grabbed the pillow out of Alya’s hands and threw it at Dick, “Aren’t you done yet?”

Dick caught it and smirked, “Yeah, yeah. I’m done.” Dick has known Damian just as long as Bruce does, considering the time they spent together as Batman and Robin he’d argue he’s known him even longer. He’d like to think he’s the closest to him out of everyone in the family and he wouldn’t be wrong. Damian may never actually state the words ‘I love you’, but it doesn’t mean the feelings aren’t there. “I love you too, Damian.”

“You are so full of yourself, Grayson!”

Adrien sighed and shrugged, “On that note, I think it’s time. Chloe, can we continue this another time?”

Chloe groaned and looked at the group, “Interrogation over. Same time tomorrow?”

Damian’s eyes widened, “I’m not off the hook after that?”

Mylene shook her head, “Oh no, not yet. We still have a lot of questions.”

Rose stood up and stretched, “That was fun! I can’t wait for the next session.” She giggled and leaned towards Damian, “I guess you can be romantic without words, huh?” Damian rolled his eyes and gently pushed her face away.

Damian let out a long groan got onto his feet. He looked over to the figure on the bed and finally realized it was Marinette. He scrunched up his nose and walked over to her. “She okay?”

“Yeah, she knocked out on me on our way back to the computer room. We have some news.”

Alya and Chloe looked at each other before looking at the rest of the girls. “Hey, we need to talk. Do you mind?”

Juleka sighed and nodded, “Yeah. Yeah. We’ll go hang out in the arcade. Looks like it might rain today anyway.”

Alya smiled and said a quick thank you as they waited for the girls to leave before continuing further. “Well, I learned something new today. I’d say today’s interrogation was a success.” Damian glared at her but she just laughed it off, “You can’t touch me.” Damian looked away, frustrated because she was absolutely right.

Adrien closed the door behind the girls as the last one filed out. Adrien then motioned for Jason to explain what he found. Jason just repeated himself while petting Marinette’s hair, “The Akumas are traveling through the vents to avoid detection. Based on how quickly they move, I’d say they’re somewhere above ground on the first two floors. We’ll start a sweep tomorrow.”

“Wow, you figured that out on your own?”

“Marinette was the one who thought to talk to the first Akuma victims and the kids were good. Marleen almost punched us though.”

Dick rolled his eyes, “How many times are you going to bother that woman?”

“She’s a good time when she isn’t in a bad mood.”

Damian yawned and hopped up onto Alya’s bed, careful not to move Marinette too much. “You’ll have to do that without us. We’re spending the day with Staller.”

“You do that anytime you’re on the boat.”

“And I call the man if I’m not.” Damian shrugged and asked, “Did you finish the present?” Tim nodded and Damian didn’t miss a beat, “Then go get it.”

Tim grumbled and left the room. Damian looked over his phone, making small notes and messaging someone. Nino was the first to point out, “You seem more, what’s the word, mellow? You seem mellow.”

“I’m in a good mood.”

Alya snorted, “I wonder why?”

“Shut it.”

“Never.” Damian looked over the girl and stretched, “I’ll take her to her room after Tim gets back.”

Chloe exaggerated her words as she poked fun at him, “Oh, staying in a girl’s room! Damian Wayne! Looks like if he’s not going to say it, there’s one way you can show-“

Damian glared at her, “Keep it up and I’ll tell Adrien that you-”

Chloe quickly ran over and clasped her hands over his mouth, “I can and will use my venom on you!”

Damian pushed her hands away and looked over at Adrien, “She feels bad for losing the balloon war.”

Adrien seemed a bit relieved, “Is that it?”

Chloe blushed and waved her hand dismissively, “Yeah! Yeah! That’s it!” Damian pinched her cheek, “Hey! What was that for?”

“For putting your hands on me.”

Alya groaned, “You guys are worse than my sisters.”

Jason shrugged, “I’m just glad to see you guys getting along again. Seriously, you guys brought the mood down.”

Damian frowned, “I didn’t mean to.”

Nino walked over and patted his back, “Aw, don’t feel bad. No one understands girls. A fight or two is inevitable.” Alya pinched his ear, “Ow! Tell me I’m wrong!”

Alya let go and shrugged, “You’re right. Arguing is bound to happen. That’s just normal.” Nino held out his fist towards Adrien who reluctantly fist-bumped him.

“You’re so dumb.”

“You love me.”

“Yes, but at what cost?”

“Adrien, we made this agreement years ago. You can’t get rid of me now.”

“Nino, I would never.”

“Bro.”

Dick laughed and leaned against Juleka’s bed, “You guys seriously make me question how far your relationship goes.”

Alya shrugged, “You get used to it. They’ve been inseparable since they met. They started laying it on thick a few months ago.”

“Why?”

Nino hummed, “I don’t know. Just felt like it. Adrien?”

“Yeah, no real reason. Just kind of happened. I think it’s hilarious.”

Chloe looked over her nails and said, “I think it’s annoying.”

Alya smirked, “I think it makes for good blackmail down the line when you guys look back on this and cringe.”

“Bold of you to assume we’d ever stop.”

Jason shook his head and laughed, “I forget you guys are teenagers sometimes. We’ve all been acting so serious lately. When was the last time we were all together like this?”

Dick thought for a moment, “The sleepover. Or that first stop before Lucas.”

Alya cringed, “I still feel bad about how that day ended.”

“Water under the bridge, Alya.”

“In this case, water under the boat.” The group groaned and Dick threw a pillow at Adrien.

It took a little while but once Tim finally returned, he walked into the room confused. Adrien was being held back while the girls beat him with pillows. Damian and Dick stayed back and watched the scene unfold while Marinette seemed to have just woken up from her sleep. Tim handed Damian the bag and asked, “What-”

Nino called back from over his shoulder, “We’re beating out his sins.”

“Puns are not sins!”

Chloe frowned, “Adrikins, you need to pay for that last one.”

“All I said was-”

Alya smacked him with her pillow, “Don’t repeat it! It was terrible!”

Adrien laughed, “You guys just can’t handle my comedic charm.”

“Oh please, you’re worse than Dick.”

“I’m funny!”

Damian looked over to his brother and deadpanned, “No, you aren’t. Women just laugh at your jokes because they think you’re attractive.”

Dick smirked, “I am attractive.”

“But you’re not funny.”

Dick suddenly pulled Damian into a chokehold, “What’d you say?”

“Grayson!”

“I’m not what?”

“Get off!”

“I’m sorry. I don’t speak loser.”

“Dick!”

Tim sighed and rubbed his temples, “I didn’t drink enough coffee for this.” Damian bit Dick’s arm, making him pull back and flinch.

“Damian!”

He ignored him, “Marinette, you want to go to your room? Staller’s probably working until later tonight. We can catch him in the den and give him our gift.” Marinette yawned and nodded.

Adrien looked over to Marinette and pleaded with her, “You can’t just leave me here!”

“Alya, let him go.”

“In a minute.”

Marinette shrugged, “You heard her. In a minute.” Adrien’s mouth hung open and stuck out his tongue in protest. Marinette yawned, “We’ll talk later okay?” She tapped her earrings and he nodded. “Good luck.”

Adrien sighed, “I’ll keep you in my will.”

Marinette giggled and grabbed Damian’s arm. He didn’t outwardly express anything, but his body visibly relaxed seemingly without him noticing. Marinette waved as they left the scene behind them. She looked at Damian and noticed something was different. “Are you blushing?”

Damian froze, “I most certainly am not blushing!”

Marinette put her hands up, “Okay! Okay. Sorry. The girls didn’t talk about anything weird did they?”

Damian visibly gulped and looked at his phone, “Nothing of interest, but we have another session tomorrow.”

Marinette leaned over to get a better look at him and pouted, “You’re a bad liar.”

Damian pinched her cheek, “That’s my line!”

Marinette flinched but giggled all the same. He let go of her cheeks and then hesitantly leaned towards her. By the time she realized what was happening, he placed a gentle kiss on the cheek he pinched before continuing down the corridor. Marinette could feel the heat coming up her neck like a forest fire. “Hey! You can’t just do that!”

He stopped, but he didn’t look back at her. Instead, he just held his hand out and waited. “Now you can have Jason come after me later, if you want.”

Marinette was confused at first before realizing what the comment referred to. She sighed and ran up to him, clasping onto his hand as soon as it came into reach. For a moment, they didn’t say anything. She was always used to grab his arm and that was that. This was new for both of them. Despite the greater distance it put between them, it felt more intimate. Still, neither pulled away. Instead, they walked towards the main deck to get to Marinette’s wing.

Marinette let out a half-hearted laugh, “I can’t believe I fell asleep on Jason.”

Damian expressed his own concern with her current state, “I have to admit. I’m surprised too. You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m just tired, I guess.” Damian frowned and she nudged him, “Hey, things are looking up. We’re together again, our friends are getting along, and we’ll spend time with – Oh! Staller!” Damian looked up and noticed the old man walking around on deck and Marinette didn’t hesitate to run up to him. Staller seemed to be in a haze as he looked over the water. Luckily, he was pleasantly surprised at the girl jumping up to hug him and he reciprocated.

Damian chuckled and jogged over to the two, “You’ll break him.”

“He’s sturdy.”

“Not as much as I used to be.” Staller rubbed his shoulder and rolled it to adjust it. “Although, I’m happy to see you two. I haven’t had the best company lately.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing to worry about.” Staller brushed back her bangs and smiled at her, “What brings you here?”

“We have something for you to make up for the photos.”

“You didn’t have to-”

“We wanted to.” Damian held up the bag and smiled, “We need to take responsibility.”

Staller sighed and patted the boy’s shoulders, “You do this every year. I still don’t understand why.”

The question made him apprehensive but he played it off well, “I respect you, old man. Least I could do.”

Staller grabbed the bag, “We’ll open this later. I assume it’s for Anne?”

“It’s for Anne.”

Staller nodded and looked over the railings. It was a sober moment to watch him look down at the water, thinking, until he finally asked both teens a question. “Would you like to walk around for a while?”

“Don’t you have work?”

“My co-captain needs to pull his own weight. He’ll be fine.”

Marinette snorted, “Lazy, huh?”

“Exactly.” Staller motioned for them to follow him as they wandered the ship.

Damian poked Marinette’s arm and asked her, “You up for this?”

“I’ll be fine. That was a good power nap.”

“You’re pushing it.”

“Probably!” Marinette smiled and pleaded, “Come on! I’ll be fine.” Damian’s shoulders fell and Marinette took it as a sign of defeat. “Let’s go.”

Damian groaned as he let himself get dragged away by the girl. He wasn’t annoyed, quite the opposite. Falling into their little trio made things feel like they were going back to normal. He did his best to ignore growing the pit in his stomach to enjoy himself with these two people, but he knew it wasn’t going to ever go away. It’s been there for a long time and the reason he’s so close to Staller in the first place.

Damian watched Marinette and Staller bond over a casual conversation. Marinette managed to rope him into it and suddenly he found himself between the two. Being made fun of. Being laughed at. Having conversations about nothing but things they noticed around the ship. Everything was calm for the first time in a while. Damian wondered what’d happen next.

He understood his father’s concerns, but seeing her in action put him at ease. Yet, he doesn’t get the feeling she understood just how bad things could get. She’s been facing magic, he’s been facing monsters. She can erase the damage, he has to live with it. Still, despite that, she still has a lot of the same insecurities. It’s probably more intense for her; she’s been on her own for the most part. He had networks, she had a partner who didn’t know her identity until a few weeks ago.

Damian continued to laugh along with Staller and Marinette, but it wasn’t entirely heartfelt. Probably because it wasn’t anything he was used to. This was a new world he usually hid from; forever in the shadows and watching over it. However, Damian found himself being yanked into the sunlight. Marinette was gentle in her approach, and he didn’t struggle, but he wondered how long it’d take before he was burned.

As they spent more time together, he started to notice things about Staller that made him anxious. There was a faint scent of alcohol on his breath, his speech showed that he was present in the conversation but his eyes screamed vacancy, and he still didn’t even peek into the bag. Marinette hasn’t noticed anything or she’s ignoring it.

He looked over the rails and noted how restless seemed compared to the other days. He looked up and the sky was grey, making it darker earlier. He looked around the deck and people seemed to be dressed in sweaters for the rare storm. He wondered if they should head inside but Marinette pulled him in a new direction and into a new conversation. Damian looked around, giving general comments and paying half a mind to his friends. Something was keeping him on edge, despite wanting to relax with the only two people on the ship that have broken through to his walls. Looking back at Staller, Damian noticed the man wilt as he did his best to keep a brave face in front of Marinette.

Later into the night, the storm was definitely starting to roll in. Most of the people left the deck to their room, but there were still a few who chatted amongst themselves. Damian felt his phone vibrate and noticed it was from his father. He looked around and noticed his father on an upper level looking down at the deck. Dick, Adrien, and Alya seemed to be discussing something next to him before noticing he was looking in their direction. They waved and Damian waved back before reading his father’s message. It asked why he was still up; he didn’t even notice they were close to hitting midnight. He looked back up to see his friends running away, most likely to meet them.

He looked over at Marinette and Staller, still enthralled in their own world. He hated being the person to throw them out of it. “Hey, guys. It’s getting late.”

Staller looked at his watch and blinked, “Oh. I guess we did lose track of time.”

Marinette giggled and leaned against the railing, “I guess. Should we go back to the den?”

“The den? You two need to go to bed.”

Marinette whined, “Staller, what about tomorrow? We don’t want you to be alone.”

Staller smiled at the kids and opened the bag, “Let’s take a look at this stuff.” He pulled out a bottle and smiled, “What’s this?”

“There’s more in the bag.”

Staller handed Damian the bottle before reaching further inside. He pulled out an envelope and looked confused, “You’re giving me money?”

Marinette rolled her eyes, “Just open it.”

Damian didn’t realize he was going to be nervous as he waited for Staller’s reaction. He could feel his body tense as he opened up the envelope and pulled out the photos inside. Both teens waited with bated breath as they waited for Staller to say something. Anything to tell them they did a good job.

Staller flipped through the photos and leaned against the railing. His eyes waters and a smile threatened to form on his face as flipped through them. Suddenly, the lights in Staller’s eyes were back. Staller struggled to keep his voice even before finally asking, “What is this?”

Marinette was cautious when reaching out to him, almost worried the man would collapse if she wasn’t careful. She put her hand on his arm and smiled, “We got a hold of Anne’s wife. We asked her to send over some photos. Tim printed them out for us.”

Damian nodded and surprised himself at how soft his voice was when addressing the old man, “We know it’s not the originals and some of those photos aren’t the same as the ones we lost, but we hoped it would help.”

Staller continued flipping through, looking for something until he finally stopped on one. Damian peered over to look at the picture and felt relieved. It was arguably his favorite one; with him, Anne, Anne’s wife, and his brother. That was the one he showed him when they first got close. Based off of Marinette’s face, he must’ve shown her the same one.

Marinette looked up at the captain, “Do you like it? We also looked into the whiskey bottle Robin broke and managed to find something similar in Bruce’s office. Just something to-” She squeaked as Staller pulled both kids into a bear hug. It took Marinette a second to realize what happened but soon sunk into the embrace. She looked over to Damian and sent him a small smile; a quiet victory for the two. 

Staller pulled away and laughed, “You – You’re good kids.”

The guilt ate at him, but he wanted to live in the moment. Right here, right now, things were good. Damian suddenly felt a swell of emotions and Marinette was seconds away from probably crying. Staller gulped and looked behind the two, “I think your friends are here.” The two teens turned around and saw Dick, Adrien, Bruce, and Alya watching from the entrance to the main atrium. They seemed just as moved by the scene as they were. Marinette sent over a bright smile and a thumbs up, “He liked it!” Alya cheered and Adrien and Dick fist-bumped. Bruce simply watched the two teens proudly, but Damian knew better.

Call it instincts, maybe a dumb hunch, but something told him to keep looking. Someone was watching them and it put the hair on his neck stand up. Damian couldn’t find anyone out of place, but still worried. Damian looked back at Staller and noticed something in his eyes that put him on edge. Staller still smiled, but it was fake. Damian’s been around the man long enough to tell. The light that was there when he first looked through the photos was suddenly gone. Staller held his hand out to Damian and motioned to the bottle. Damian stepped back and suddenly felt defensive, “Why don’t we go to the den first? Crack open the bottle there and I can pour you a glass. We’ll talk more.”

Marinette looked up and nodded. The wind started to pick up around them and Marinette shivered, “Looks like it might rain anyway.”

Staller slowly nodded, “Right. Go on ahead. I just remembered why I came out here in the first place. I’ll be quick.”

Something in his voice must’ve tipped Marinette off because she suddenly looked concerned, “Staller?”

Staller handed Marinette the envelope, “I’ll be quick.” He gently pushed the two forward and waved at Bruce. Bruce waved back and turned to take a call. Marinette looked over at Damian, confused. Something didn’t feel right. They looked back and Staller just continued to look over the waves. Another gust of wind caused Marinette to tense up and she quickened her pace, doing her best to get out of the cold. Damian was slow to follow but he looked down at the bottle in his hands. He made it nearly halfway to his friends when he noticed they’re faces morph.

Time seemed to slow down as he took in everyone’s reaction. Alya was first. She was laughing at Marinette’s weakness to the cold but suddenly went wide-eyed and stared directly behind them. Adrien and Dick started yelling something, but Damian couldn’t make it out over his heartbeat. His father’s made his heart drop; Bruce dropped his phone and suddenly pushed himself forward. Damian and Marinette looked back and realized what was happening.

Damian felt the bottle slip through his hands as he quickly turned and started running. He saw Marinette in his peripheral vision running beside him and reaching out her hand. The sight of Staller climbing over the railings was almost unreal. Damian realized what that look was about earlier, why he was outside on deck earlier. This was his plan all along.

The shattering of the bottle suddenly made time move forward. Staller didn’t even react to the screaming, nor did he look back at them to acknowledge it. He just looked down and stepped off. Damian took out his grappling gun and he could hear Marinette scream, “SPOTS ON!”

It was instinct and pure panic. Both jumped off the railing and dove for Staller. As soon as they grabbed his hands Damian shot the gun. The rope sprung up and both Bruce and Dick were there to catch it. Both let out a small grunt at the weight they were pulling while Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around the railing. The sudden stop caused her to let out a small whimper. Damian could feel his shoulder burning and tingling, but his focus was on the man barely hanging on.

“ARE YOU CRAZY?”

“STALLER, PLEASE, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS!”

Staller looked up at the two and started to almost analyze them. Damian cursed to himself once he felt the rain start pouring over them. Staller didn’t even register it. Instead, he laughed, “I knew you were Ladybug!”

Ladybug breathed heavily, “Really? We can talk about it! Just – Just grab my arm so you don’t slip!”

Staller didn’t respond. He looked over at Damian and got a good look at the grappling gun, “I know that thing. You were the Robin that ruined my den.”

Damian nodded doing his best to ignore the numbing sensation in his shoulder, “Yeah, old man! Come on! You can yell at me all you want! Just hold on!”

Staller smiled and shook his head, “I’ll be quick.”

“NO! No! Staller, please!”

“Come on, Staller! Who else is going to go to take care of all those ships, huh?! What about Anne?! You think she’d want this for you!? No!”

Ladybug shivered and her hair stuck to her face as the rain only got more intense around them. She was losing her footing against the ship’s side. She tried to pull Staller up, but if she even jostled him he slipped further out of her grip. “Staller, please listen to us! We’ll help you! We can call your family! We’ll call doctors! Just please hold on to me!”

Staller looked almost calm. The storm around him meant nothing. Maybe it was the lightning, or maybe it was the water in his own eyes, but Damian saw something flash over Staller’s eyes. Ladybug must’ve seen it too because she suddenly shrieked, “STALLER, NO!”

Staller let his hands go limp.

Damian’s seen people die before so he knew what their eyes looked like. When he was little, the eyes really stood out to him. Living people always have a glimmer, dead people have a dim glassy glow to them that tell people no one’s home, and then there’s those who die. It’s like a light just goes out with the final breath. As Staller fell out of their grip, he saw the lights just evaporate before he even hit the water.

“NO!” Ladybug used the ship’s side to propel herself off and dove into the water after him.

“LADYBUG!” Damian cursed under his breath. He wouldn’t be able to withstand the waves with his shoulder like this. He knew it was dislocated. He looked up at Adrien and barked at him, “GO AFTER HER! CAT NOIR! GO!” Adrien seemed to snap out of a shock before he nodded. Dick and Bruce started to pull while Adrien took out a container. He picked out the blue piece of cheese and threw it into the air. Plagg quickly flew out of his shirt and ate it, transforming, before Adrien jumped onto the railings.

“PLAGG, CLAWS OUT!”

Cat Noir dove into the water while Damian struggled to get over the railings with his brother’s help. Damian slipped and landed on his side. The sharp pain went through his body and he writhed while doing his best to keep from crying out. He could hear Alya running around the border of the deck, “I don’t see them! I don’t see them!”

Dick pulled Damian to his feet where he noticed a small group of the remaining staff members that didn’t go inside when the storm came overhead. Tess was among them and she just looked at the rope and then over the railing. Tess blinked, snapping out of the initial shock, and motioned for them to follow her. “The ship’s moving! If we’re going to see them, we have to go towards the back!”

Damian didn’t hesitate to chase after her. He held his shoulder and cursed each time he slipped. The four of them crashed into the railing and looked around. Alya was starting to hyperventilate, “I don’t see them! MARINETTE! ADRIEN!”

Tess screamed and, after looking down, he understood why. The dark water coming from the back of the ship suddenly gained a red hue. Damian felt sick, “No. No. No.” He kept looking around for a sign of something, anything. Alya looked like she was going to be sick as she covered her mouth and shook her head. He walked over and shook her shoulders, “They’re magic, right?! They’ll be okay, right?!” Alya didn’t seem to register his words at all.

Dick snapped his head to his brother and wiped the water from his face, “You knew?! Damian, you knew!?”

“Shut up!” Damian ran over to the railing and looked around one last time. His vocal cords hurt just as much as his shoulder did when he cried out, “ADRIEN! MARINETTE!” Bruce walked over to his son, reaching for him before Damian slapped his hand away. “No! No! They’re fine! MARINETTE! ADRIEN!”

“Damian!”

“Father, they’re fine! MARINETTE! ADRI-”

It was sudden, but the green stood out almost immediately once Cat Noir broke the surface of the water. He was holding Ladybug in his arms, unconscious. Cat Noir started waving desperately and Dick pulled out his own grappling gun and aimed it at the hero. Cat Noir starting swimming towards the rope, careful to keep Ladybug’s head above water.

Bruce took the chance to grab Damian's shoulders and turn his body to face him. Damian flinched and hissed at the pressure on his shoulder, but Bruce continued to apply it. “What were you thinking!? Damian, you are supposed to report everything! Everything!” When Damian didn’t answer, Bruce shook him. “Damian!”

Bruce watched as his son retreated so far into himself, any expression or emotion escaped him. Bruce found himself yelling at a complete and utter husk as his son detached himself entirely from the situation. Damian only looked at Bruce’s watch and licked his lips, “Its Anne’s memorial.”

Bruce didn’t know how to respond. He heard a loud ‘splat’ sound next to him and looked over to see Cat Noir heavily breathing over an unconscious Ladybug. Ladybug de-transformed and the kwami wilted next to Cat Noir. Alya ran over to her and put her ear over Marinette’s mouth, “She’s not breathing! GUYS!”

“Move!” Dick pushed Alya out of the way and started performing CPR. Tess ran over to check Cat Noir, but Cat Noir kept his focus on his partner. “Bruce!” Bruce looked over to Dick who just scolded him, “Get a gurney!”

“I got it.” At least the Robin part of still him kicked in. It was a shred of himself that he held onto that kept him tethered to reality. Damian ran off and Bruce just glared at his son.

Marinette suddenly starting coughing up water and turned over to throw up whatever was left in her system. While the others fussed over her, Bruce simply walked over to Tess and held out his hand. “Give me your phone.” She didn’t argue.

He dialed a contact he knew by heart and when the sophisticated old voice answered Bruce felt somewhat relieved. At least one thing stayed the same. “Hello? Wayne residence. This is a private line.”

“Alfred. We’re going to need to do some heavy damage control out here. We’re still 10 hours away from the nearest port and we need authorities now.”

“Master Bruce? What on earth happened?”

He looked over the scene before him and scowled, “All hell broke loose.” ******************************************************************************************* For anyone who is struggling with Suicidal Thoughts: US Hotline - 1-800-273-8255 Thank you for being patient and enjoying the lastest chapter of Seabourne Burnouts! Tag List (Bitch I have a tag list whAT!?!?!): @maribat-archive @ozmav @thornangelic727@imfreakingmagical@constancetruggle @chloe-bourgeois-is-big-gay@someone-ev   @zazzlejazzle @tinybrie @mewwitch @rhub4rb@saphiraazure2708 @never-neverland @unholykrow @slytherinhquinn @literallytryingmybestbutok @redscarlet95 @grimmhallow31 @fandomkitten9653 @myriad-of-passionate-pettiness @fanboy7794 @mystifiedgal @shizukiryuu @ vixen-uchiha @resignedcatservant @mystery-5-5 @miraculousl4dybug @blackcanary13 @origamieater @moonlitarchangels @mochinek0 @imfreakingmagical @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @derpingrainbow @unabashedbookworm @skyel0ve @northernbluetongue @cadencehood @sizzling-fairy-oil @crazylittlemunchkin @saphiraazure2708 @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @ginamarie1512 @kae690 @ivette0712 @zalladane @ellerahs @auradonfairy @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @scribblinggraveyard @nyctamaximoff @snow-swordswoman @maude-zarella @thebookwormfairy @melicmusicmagic @zalladane @ivette0712 @ginamarie1512  @bookreader20003 @silvergold-swirl @celestiacq @themcclan @amethyst-starr5 @tamoni112 @lunar-wolf-warrior @alexzandria-747 @nataladriana9 @moonlitarchangels @iglowinggemma28 @hunter-shyreen @mermaidofthelost @jessigurl-design @vgirl-10123 @lunar-wolf-warrior @casual-darkness @xxmadamjinxx @normal-piece-of-shit @tinyterror333 @romanoff-queen @schrodingers25 @alessialeone6997 @mindfulmagics @slytherin-heartthrob @da-tasuky @asianfrustration13 @eliza-bich @kuhakuanon @my-name-is-michell @theatreandcomicfreak @interobanginyourmom @starry-bi-sky @etheralentity @creator-josie @kurogaya913 @st0rmy-w1th1n @casual-darkness @vgirl-10123 @poshplumcot @thebookish3lf @queenmj10 @corabeth11 @goblinwhoships @ilovefluffbutsmutisalsogreat @violatiger8 @maribat-owns-my-ass @captainartsypants @deathofafangirl01 @maribat-owns-my-ass @nickristus-dreamer  @amayakans Let me know if I missed anyone and message me! I’ll be sure to see it then!

[barnesandrogersfanfics]

Rose Coloured Glasses - Part 8

A/N- Im sorry if this is bad! 😂

*Contains Defending Jacob spoilers*

When i finally got home later that day i ordered a pizza and decided to take a quick shower while i waited, knowing they usually take a good 45 minutes this time of night. Walking out of the bathroom 10 minutes later wrapped in a fluffy purple towel i passed the window in the hallway and spotted Andy sitting outside in his car. I walked to the bedroom and picked up my phone from the bedside cabinet and hit his number.

As it rang i walked over to the window and watched him staring at the phone in his hand for a few moments before answering.

"Hey" he finally answered.

"Hey, everything okay?"

"Yeah of course! Why wouldnt it be?"

"Well the fact your sitting outside my house....."

"Shit, sorry! I wasn't being weird i swear! Its just.....i should just go" he sighed shaking his head.

"You wanna come in for a minute?"

"I dont wanna interupt...."

"Your not its fine, let me just come down real quick and open the door....wait for me in the kitchen" i told him making my way downstairs.

"....okay" he finally agreed, I ended the call and quickly unlocked the door pulling it open just a crack before running back upstairs to get dressed.  I tossed my phone on the bed and grabbed my sleep shorts and an oversized t-shirt. After towel drying my hair real quick i tied it up out the way and made my way down to see Andy.

When i walked into the kitchen Andy looked up and smiled at me, he was sat at my small kitchen table, his coat and suit jacket discarded on the empty chair beside him.

"Im sorry to just show up like this Y/N" he said shaking his head.

"Its fine don't worry about it"

"I don't even know how i ended up here....."

"Another shitty day?"

"Yeah" he scoffed "the kids aint talking, none of them knew anything. Most of them where more interested in the fact that i was Jacob Barbers dad"

"So no leads?"

"No. But Duffy found out there's a guy who lives near the park, Leonard Patz. Done for Indecent AB on a minor"

"Why didnt you know about him before?"

"Duff said he only moved to Newton in the last year. Never registered. One of the ADA's in the child abuse unit flagged him"

"What exactly did Patz do to this kid?"

"Grabbed the kids package at the public library, got out on a personal"

"He groped a kid and got out on a personal?" I asked wide eyed at the idea of this man walking free around town.

"Apparently there was some question about the kids testimony. Duffy also said we gotta keep in mind the Rifkin kid had no signs of sexual assault"

"But its something for you to look into, right? If your getting nowhere with the kids at school it makes sense that Patz is the next point of call"

"I just, i have to be careful how i play this one.... i told Duffy i needed to sleep on it. My heads all over the place"

"You want a coffee? Or i have beer?"

"I'll take a beer please" he gave me a tired smile.

I grabbed a couple beers and we went to sit in the living room, he sat on the sofa and let his head fall back with a contented sigh as he closed his eyes.

"Thank you for this Y/N, i always feel like i can relax with you. Everyones always expecting things from me you know? But you.... you just let me be myself"

"And your not yourself at home?"

"Not at all, not for a long time anyway" he replied lifting his head to take a mouthful of his beer "Laurie and I were talking about divorce before all this happened"

"Oh...." i was genuinely surprised to hear that and didn't know how to react to this new information!

"Im okay about it though, is that bad?"

"No, people get divorced all the time Andy"

"I know. Its kinda scary though, i've been with Laurie since college.... i think we got too comfortable.... we lost that spark"

"And theres no getting it back?"

"Im pretty sure that boat has sailed" he chuckled to himself "i will aways love her don't get me wrong im just...."

"Not IN love with her?"

"Yeah" he nodded looking a little sad that his marriage hadn't worked out "You ever been in love?" Andy asked cocking his head to the side and watching me closely.

"Me?.... um, yeah once" i nodded as i picked at the label on my beer bottle "college boyfriend, he was everything to me.... kinda sad looking back at it"

"What happened?"

"I caught him in bed with my best friend"

"Shit"

"Yeah, i cut all contact with the both of them after that. You wanna know the kicker? ...their still together with their second kid on the way"

"Im sorry to hear that"

"It happens" i shrugged "i haven't been in a relationship since. Guess i have some trust issues"

"And you and Frank?...."

"Me and Frank, right" i shook my head getting up from the sofa "i need another beer before talking about Frank, you want another?"

"Sure".

I sat on the opposite end of the sofa facing Andy when i returned with fresh beers.

"So whats the deal with Frank?" He asked but averted his eyes while he mentioned the other man in my life.

"We spent some time together" i shrugged feeling like an idiot for thinking i could do the whole casual/non exclusive thing.

"And your not anymore?"

"At the moment i don't think so"

"What happened if you don't mind me asking?"

"I was supposed to be meeting his friends yesterday but i told him i had to reschedule. With everything going on i wasn't feeling it you know? This morning when i was getting coffee i saw him with some blonde....we want different things i guess. I mean you warned me what Frank was like right?.... i thought i could do the casual thing.... turns out i'm not a fan so much"

"The guys an idiot.....Im sorry" Andy said keeping his eyes down on his beer bottle casually raising his eyebrows.

"No your not" i laughed shaking my head at him, it was written all over his face that he was pleased to hear this news.

"Your right i'm not" he finally looked up at me "your too good for him".

"Andy..."

"Im serious. You're something else....." he took a deep breath putting his now empty beer bottle on the table then turned to face me "i have to tell you something.... its been eating away at me for a while now"

"What is it?" I asked him putting my beer down and giving him my full attention.

"I remember what happened in Vermont.... the things i said... the kiss"

I was not expecting that!

"Oh...."

"Im sorry, i just didn't want things to get weird between us. I didn't want to loose you"

"Andy.... i..."

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about that kiss in the elevator Y/N. I cant stop thinking about how much i still wanna kiss you every damn time i see you!"

"We can't...."

"We can! Its okay to want this" he reached across and took my hand rubbing circles on the back of my hand "tell me you don't want it too and i'll leave right now and we can forget this happened".

I sat there staring at him shaking my head "i cant tell you that...".

Before i knew it Andy was pulling me into his lap and kissing me breathless. His hands slipping under my t-shirt caressing my back. My heart was racing as we finally parted for air, i placed my hands on either side of his face, my thumbs stroking his cheeks that were flushed as we tried to catch our breath.

The moment was interrupted by knocking at the door.

"Leave it" he mumbled leaning forward and kissing me again. I pushed him back and laughed before climbing off his lap "thats my takeout! Im not just gonna leave it, i'll be back in two seconds".

I grabbed my purse from the table and headed to the front, i opened the door with a smile.... a smile that fell when i saw Frank standing there instead of the delivery man!

"Frank....."

"Hey sweetheart".

Everything taglist: @jesseswartzwelder @dumblani @barnesandrogersworld @patzammit

Rose Coloured Glasses taglist: @readermia @princess-evans-addict @jennmurawski13 @matsumama @ex-bloodjunkie @kaithezaftig @rainbowkisses31

[onigirimsby]

almost asymptotes (hinata x reader) pt. 2

Fandom: Haikyuu!!

Character: Hinata Shoyo

Pairings: Hinata Shoyo x reader

Tags: pining, temporarily unrequited crush

Warnings: none (so far)

Word Count: 1768

Summary: Two times you keep missing each other, and the one time you’re both on the same page

“asymptote”: def. “In mathematics, approaching indefinitely close, as a line to a curve, but never meeting

noun by extension, figuratively Anything which comes near to but never meets something else. verb analysis To approach, but never quite touch, a straight line, as something goes to infinity.”

masterlist ao3 playlist

Brazil

“Hinata-senpai?”

You met again in the most unexpected of places: a beach in Brazil. You hadn’t really kept in touch after your confession. You were way too embarrassed. Eventually, it became easier to let yourself get distracted by your classes and manager duties. After all, since Yachi had graduated and you were in your third year, your hands were full trying to find a new manager.

The figure who resembled your high school crush squinted at you. “(Y/n)?!” He said.

“Hinata-senpai?!” You laughed. “What are you doing here, of all places?”

“Me? What are you doing here?” You almost went in for a hug, but the rush of embarrassing memories stopped you. You both faltered.

“I’m on a semester abroad thing.” You responded.

“Oh, you must be in university now, huh?”

You nodded. “What about you? What are you up to?”

“Still volleyball,” Hinata beamed with pride. “Actually, I’m relearning a lot of the basics from playing beach volleyball now.”

“Yeah, it seems so much tougher than indoor volleyball,” you said. “Since there’s just one other person in your team, and the sand, and the elements...” You trailed off.

“Are you surfing?” Hinata asked in awe as he took in your surfboard and dark swimsuit.

“Yeah! I decided to go to college in Chiba, and I’ve been learning to surf since I first moved there. It’s kind of why I chose Rio for my semester abroad, actually. I’m trying to hit up as many beaches as I can before I go back.”

“That’s so cool!”

You and Hinata end up talking for a long time that morning. You caught up with each others’ adventures and traded information on your high school friends. He told you about working and his roommate, Pedro. You told him about attending classes in Portuguese. You commiserated with each others’ homesickness. You’d gone out early that morning and only came back late at night. You wondered why you’d been so nervous to talk to Hinata way back when. He was so easy to talk to, and neither of you realized how long you’d been walking and talking until the sun began to set.

“Hey, we haven’t had anything but snacks. You wanna go get some dinner?” You asked Hinata. He blushed at the implication. “I’ll pay, since I’m the one inviting!”

“You seem different...(y/n).” He said as you two got settled in a table outside a boteco.

“Like in a good way?” You said hopefully.

“Definitely! I don’t know. I guess you were a lot shyer in high school.” Hinata shrugged and looked away, awkwardly remembering your confession.

“Yeah, you’re right,” you nodded. “I think...moving away for college really forced me to be more confident, you know?” You laughed. “It was sink or swim!”

“I think I know what you mean. Until I moved here, I was living in my childhood home with my family all my life. When I first got here, I didn’t have a choice but to learn as much as I could as fast as I could.” He looked at you in his familiar intense way. “Sink or swim.”

“I was lucky I made good friends, too. The people around you can definitely make or break an experience.”

“I’m glad I chose to come here, though.” Hinata concluded.

“Me too. And I’m glad I ran into you, senpai. It’s weird. I was just starting to get homesick again, and I saw you meditating in the distance.”

“Well, if you ever get homesick again, you should let me know!” He said. Hinata promptly asked for your phone and programmed his number in.

“You too! Just let me know if you’re homesick.”

---

You didn’t think Hinata would really take you up on it, but he did. From then on, you were messaging each other back and forth. For a while, he even tried to surf with you, but he kept wiping out and decided watching your stuff while you surfed was also good. In return, you cheered him on during beach volleyball games. You showed Hinata your checklist of Brazilian food you wanted to try, and he took you to the best places he knew from working in food delivery.

Somewhere along the way, Hinata told you drop the senpai. Somewhere along the way, he asked you to call him Shoyo.

---

You were at the beach with Hinata, as usual. The sun was setting, and you were sitting on a blanket with him as your friends grilled and talked behind you. You’d invited Hinata to a beach party with your university friends.

“So, let me get this straight: You ran into this Oikawa a while back, and he used to be Kageyama-senpai’s setter upperclassman in middle school back when he still had a lot of stuff to work through. Now, Kageyama-senpai is in the same team with this Ushijima who was like one of your biggest rivals in your first year. BUT, he also happens to be Oikawa’s rival?” Hinata nodded as you processed the story.

“Wow, it’s like a drama or saga or something.” Hinata laughed.

“I don’t think it’s actually that dramatic. They’re all great guys. Uhh...” his face scrunched up as he thought about it. “I guess, on the court, it does feel that dramatic though.” It was your turn to laugh.

“Yeah, that’s why it was always fun to watch you guys play.”

“When I come back, I’ll play against Kageyama again, and you’ll definitely have fun watching that.”

“I’ll be there.” You nodded. “I’ll skip class if I have to.”

Hinata feigned disappointment. “And here I thought you were an ace student, miss college prep class?”

“God, no! College is a whole other level. But I’m glad to just experience as many new things as possible.”

Hinata made a sound somewhere between a sigh and ‘wow’. You held back a laugh as he blushed and stuttered. “What was that?” You asked.

“Nothing!” He shook his head then smiled when you gave him a knowing look. “It’s just...you’re so sparkly these days.”

“What?” You laughed.

“You know? You’re all ‘fwaahhhh’! Glowing and,” he mimed little bursts of light with his hands. “Sparkly.” He finally gave up and rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t know.”

“I’m just happy, I guess.” You said, holding your cheeks to hide a blush.

Just then, one of your friends came over and handed both of you a beer and a plate of fried snacks. “Is this the guy who rejected you in high school?” She said in Portuguese, smiling sneakily.

You blushed and turned to Hinata. “Hm?” He asked. “I didn’t catch that.” He admitted, grinning sheepishly.

“Yes, so shut up!” You laughed and patted your friend on the arm as she left, making funny faces at you as she went.

“What was that?” Hinata asked. You sighed in resignation and translated for him. Hinata’s mouth made a surprised “o”.

“Sorry, I told Júlia about that.” You cringed. “But you should know! That’s way behind us, okay? You were right. You didn’t even know me well enough to go out with me and you just graduated.” You flushed.

“Yeah, I’m sorry.” Hinata shook his head. “I don’t know, maybe I could’ve been nicer about it.”

“No! You were nice! I promise!” You laughed. “There was no way that confession could’ve gone well. I’m kind of sorry.”

“Kind of?”

“Well, I’m still glad I got it off my chest. And when you told me I should’ve said something sooner, it kind of made me realize I shouldn’t put things off just cos I’m scared. I should try the things I wanna try while I still have time.” You said nervously, then added: “I’m sorry for embarrassing you, though.”

“Don’t be!” Hinata smiled. “I hope you I don’t come off rude, but it gave me a really good burst of confidence to get confessed to like that.” He laughed.

“I’m glad it helped.” You said only half teasing.

---

Hinata accompanied you to Júlia’s apartment after the party, since you wouldn’t be able to get back to the university dorms so late. You lingered with him on the stoop of the building as Júlia went on ahead.

“So, you’re going back to Japan on Wednesday?” Hinata confirmed.

“Yup. Finals week ended yesterday. The semester’s over.” You shrugged. He seemed upset to see you go and while you were sad to leave, a distant remnant of your high school self was thrilled to see him maybe miss you.

“I-” You both said at the same time, then laughed.

“You go first.” He said.

“Shoyo, I’m glad I ran into you. It made coming here more fun.” You said.

“I’m glad too. I mean, we were already friends, but I feel like I made a whole new friend this time.” You couldn’t help it. You pulled him into an embrace.

For a while, you both just stood there, embracing, until Shoyo whispered: “I really like you, (y/n).”

“What?” You pulled apart and met his intent gaze.

“I really really like you, and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way. I know, that confession is in the past and everything’s different now, but I just wanted you to know before you left.”

A small half-laugh, half-sob escaped you. “I wish you’d told me sooner...” You said, those words that had embedded themselves in your brain since Hinata said them years ago.

“Would it have made a difference?” He asked.

You thought about it, about the way you’d gotten to know each other all over again, almost from scratch. You thought about how happy you’d been to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar land. You thought about how you weren’t the same girl from high school and how he wasn’t the same guy from high school either.

“Maybe,” you said. “But, I’m leaving, Shoyo.”

“I know,” he said. He didn’t ask you “what if”. What if he’d asked you out that first day you ran into each other? What if he’d asked you out after one of his games or when you dragged your pleasantly exhausted self back from the waves, surfboard in tow? He didn’t ask, but you were thinking it anyway.

“I feel like we just keep missing each other, just by a little bit.” You said.

“But hey, we’ll keep in touch this time, right?” Hinata asked, eyes wide and hopeful.

“Of course! And when you make a triumphant comeback in Japan, I’ll be right there.”

“I’ll miss you, (y/n).” He said, and you can’t help yourself. You leaned close and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“I’ll miss you too, Shoyo.”

[haberdashing]

One Step Behind Your Memory

TMA fic building off the AU established in Yesterday Is Here by @cirrus-grey, in which a post-season-5, married Jon and Martin go back in time to the pre-season-1 Archives to prevent the worst of the future from happening as it did in canon.

October 2017: Martin’s mother dies, the second time around.

on AO3

Jon could tell that something was bothering Martin today. Martin wasn’t as able to focus on their shared research, to stay engaged with what the two of them still had left to do to help fix things, to avoid being distracted by anything and everything around them. Despite it otherwise seeming like a perfectly ordinary day--well, ordinary by their standards, at least--Martin was... off, slightly, and thinking of it made Jon’s heart ache.

Jon wanted to know what was on Martin’s mind, wanted to know what he could do to help, but he knew better than to outright ask.

Instead, when Martin started trailing off his speech in the middle of a sentence for the third time that hour (not that Jon was counting), Jon simply pressed his hand against Martin’s and said, softly, “Martin?”

“Sorry, I got distracted again, uh-”

“No need to apologize, love.” Jon squeezed Martin’s hand gently. “I’m sure you’ve got a lot on your mind.”

“Yeah, today’s just... well, today. Makes it extra hard, I suppose.”

Without looking at the chart that he and Martin had compiled together of when everything had went to hell the first time around, Jon couldn’t remember what, if anything, had happened on today’s date before. He’d been in his coma at the time, though, that much he knew, so it could well be something he’d missed when it had happened.

“I can’t remember what happened today.” Jon confessed.

“You know, I’m not sure I ever told you.” Martin’s face was growing redder by the moment. “It probably shouldn’t bother me this much-”

“But it still does.” Jon finished.

“Right, yeah.”

A moment passed where neither of them spoke, Jon staring down at their intertwined hands as he waited silently.

Then, finally, Martin’s voice, hardly louder than a breath, after a furtive glance at his younger counterpart: “Mum dies today.”

“Oh.” Jon’s voice was as hushed as his husband’s, and the arm that wasn’t already partly on top of Martin’s wrapped around him in a tight half-hug. “Oh, Martin, I’m so sorry.”

Martin just shrugged, but when Jon looked him in the eyes, he could see that Martin was trying to hold back tears.

“I don’t think that’s on the chart, we could have-”

Martin shook his head as he interrupted Jon. “No, no, we couldn’t have. Out of all the-” Martin let out a soft, bitter laugh. “-the supernatural boogie monsters that took over our lives, her dying is the one thing that was, well, normal. I mean, she was sick for a long time before she died; hell, there were times I didn’t think she’d last as long as she did.”

“...right.” Jon gently massaged Martin’s shoulder with his free hand. “But still.”

“But still.” Martin echoed, letting out a soft sigh before looking at his younger counterpart, careful to keep his voice low enough that they were unlikely to be overheard. “At 3:37 PM, he’s going to get a call from the nursing home... you know, the first time around, I actually let it go to voicemail.”

“Really.” Jon couldn’t imagine that. For all the time he’d known Martin in the Archives, he’d had his phone on him (except when he hadn’t had a phone), occasionally on vibrate but usually with the ringer on, scrambling to answer it whenever it rang, because few people had his number and those that did rarely called for innocuous reasons. There had been a time when he’d found it annoying, and a time when he’d found it endearing, and a time when he’d accepted that was just part of what made Martin Martin.

“Yeah, I was, was talking to Peter Lukas-”

Jon’s face must have revealed some of how he felt about Peter Lukas, because Martin interrupted his own explanation to add a quick “I know, I know,” before continuing.

“So, my phone was in my pocket and I could feel it vibrating, but I knew if I answered it he’d chew me out for it later, so I just... let it go. Wasn’t until a bit after that I thought to check who called, and they just. Left that in the voicemail. Waiting for me.”

“Oh, Martin. I’m so sorry.”

“‘s not your fault.” Martin tilted his head to gesture towards his younger counterpart before adding, “Don’t think he’ll let it go to voicemail, though.”

Jon had thought they’d managed to keep their voices low enough that the others wouldn’t notice, but either he was wrong on that count or that particular gesture was unsubtle enough to be noticed regardless, because at that moment younger Martin squinted at them and said, “Are you two talking about me over there?”

Martin’s face went red, and Jon could feel his own face heating up.

“Only nice things, we promise!” Martin--his Martin, Jon’s Martin--replied.

Sasha glanced over at them before adding, “Nice things don’t usually need to be said in whispers.”

Jon jumped in this time. “They’re complicated nice things.”

“Everything’s complicated with you two, isn’t it?” Tim said.

Jon and Martin snorted with amusement in sync at that one.

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Martin replied.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Jon waited for a long moment for the others to go back to their work before saying in a near-whisper, “We could tell him, you know. Before he gets the call.”

“What, and have him start grieving early? Have her death get wrapped up in all the rest of this?” Martin shook his head. “That sounds like a bad idea to me.”

“There has to be something we can do, though. We can’t just... just sit here and wait for it to happen.”

“I mean, we can, but...” Martin bit his bottom lip the way he did when he was trying to concentrate, and Jon stayed silent, not wanting to interrupt Martin’s train of thought, until Martin squeezed Jon’s hand and spoke up again. “Actually, you’re right, there is something we can do.”

“A-”

Jon’s half-formed thought was interrupted by Martin shoving him over so that he could use their shared computer. Jon was pinned between Martin and the wall now, which might have been uncomfortable if it wasn’t Martin there, if it wasn’t his husband’s body pressed against his, soft and warm and right. He’d take that kind of uncomfortable any day.

Martin opened the Internet and entered a search term before looking back at Jon, who gave him a silent, tentative nod of approval.

They spent their time planning without speaking, thoughts shared with meaningful glances and with judicious use of the shared keyboard, and before long their plan was put into place.

3:37 came, and younger Martin’s phone rang, and he answered it on the second ring. Jon and Martin glanced at one another before eavesdropping on him mumbling through responses before ending the call and staring at his desk, eyes wide and unfocused.

Younger Jon was the first of the younger archival staff to approach Martin after the call ended; unsurprising, perhaps, given that those two were quickly growing almost as close as their older counterparts. (Though Jon and Martin would insist on that “almost”’ being there; there were certain connections only surviving an apocalypse together could bring about, after all.)

“Who was that on the phone?”

“The... home. My- my mom’s nursing home.” Young Martin’s hands shook along with his words, and he stopped to take a deep breath before adding, “She’s gone.”

“I’m so sorry, Martin.” Younger Jon wrapped his arms around younger Martin in a tight bear hug.

“I mean, it was always just a matter of time... and now she’s not, not suffering at least...”

“It’s still a loss, though.” Younger Jon’s head was sitting on younger Martin’s shoulder, muffling his voice a bit. “You still deserve to grieve.”

“...thank you.”

Tim and Sasha exchanged a look before heading over to younger Martin’s desk and joining in the hug, wrapping their arms around younger Martin. Jon and Martin exchanged a look of their own before Tim waved them over, saying, “Get over here, it’s not a group hug without everyone joining in!” and they went along with his instructions.

“You guys, you don’t need to...” Younger Martin let his sentence trail off, and as Jon got closer, it became clear that his face was covered in tears.

“But we want to.” Sasha said in a tone of voice that left no room for argument.

A long minute passed in silence with five pairs of arms all wrapped around Martin and each other, intermingled to the point where it was hard to tell whose limbs were whose, the silence only breached by younger Martin’s soft sniffles.

Then younger Martin looked up at Jon and Martin and said quietly, “You two, you, you knew-”

Mercifully, that was when the deliveryman arrived in the archives, approaching the mass of hugging people with a bemused look on his face as he asked, “Delivery for one Martin Blackwood?”

Martin and younger Martin looked at one another before Jon pointed at the latter and said, “That’d be him.”

“Right, well, here you are. Just sign here.”

The group wordlessly took a collective step back, giving younger Martin the space needed to reach out and sign the receipt, though his signature was noticeably messier than normal, his hands shaking as he held the pen.

The bouquet was every bit as magnificent as Jon had hoped it would be. It was primarily blue and white, filled with bluebells because they were always Martin’s favorite flower and carnations because they were her favorite, with a few other flowers mixed in, some for meaning and others just because they looked nice. Jon had known it would be big, by the price tag (charged to the Institute’s credit card, thankfully) if nothing else, but it was one thing to know it and another to actually see the thing. The bouquet was comically huge, and when the deliveryman set it down before hurrying away, it took up a good half of younger Martin’s desk.

Younger Martin opened the card attached to it, a fairly generic “Sorry for your loss” card with the writing within revealing it to be from Blackwood and Sims, though he likely could have figured that much out regardless.

Then younger Martin pressed his hands against his face and made a noise that was half sob, half laugh, his body shaking with the sound that emerged.

Jon looked over at Martin and gave a slight nod of approval. Maybe the gesture wasn’t perfect, but it felt right just the same.

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

WhatsApp? Part 10. (Steve Rogers x reader)

Description: You’ve never been lucky with guys. You just wanted to catch someone’s eye, to be loved. One day, that’s about to turn completely - with one fake, completely imagined number a guy gave you

A/N: Man I live for Sam Wilson. He’s too much to handle. He’s that chaotic friend for sure.

Word count: 1.9 K

Warnings: Probably like none? Idk.

Tagging: @missdictatorme, @songforhema, @mikariell95, @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory

Read the rest here: Part One  Part Two  Part three  Part four  Part five  Part Six  Part seven  Part eight  Part nine

If you like to have your readings in order :):  H E R E  

You had a deep coma until two p.m. the next morning, unable to move, speak or talk, just laying in your head under the blankets, watching some Audrey Hepburn movies running on the TV.

When you for yourself together and felt like standing up, you took a long shower full of bubbles and nicely smelling cosmetics, then you took the rest of the make-up down. Then, with your stomach still being heavy as fuck, you ordered some food from a near pizza shop. Then, again, you fell down the bed, still looking like a piece of trash.

When your phone rang, you picked it up without even looking at the name on the display. You thought that it's the pizza courier.

"I'm sorry man, I can't even walk. Can you go to the third floor, fifth door? On the back of the hall. You can't miss it." - You growled tiredly like a Golum, sounding really tired.

"If you tell me on which address, I will come. Are you expecting someone?" - You heard Steve's voice from the other side. His voice was breathy, so you knew that he's on his daily jog. You couldn't even know ho terrified he actually was because of the answer. You surely were expecting someone. Some man from yesterdays evening. 

His confidence slowly fell down from hundred to zero seriously fast. And you didn't even have to say or do anything for that matter.

"Yeah, queen Liz will be at my place aaaany minute." - You said quietly, but your fingers started to play with the necklace almost immediately. It was perfect and you never wanted to take it off. - "Just the pizza delivery guy. I'm hungry but too lazy to cook. It really made me tired yesterday."

"You were perfect." - He said breathlessly. Your lips curled into a slight smile. Steve was running around Brooklyn park with a perfectly dreamy look on his face. You two were such dorks - "I could not believe my eyes. You were so close and so full of life, so beautiful... Dear lord."

"Steve, you really knew which one am I? Didn't you look after Deena, May or Suzie? Because you surely are not talking about me." - The breath stuck in your breath and your heart was beating faster and faster. You probably had to stand just a few feet from him. He could basically touch you if he wanted to. And you wished that he have even when you knew that Steve wasn't that kind of a man.

"I was looking at you and only you. And what about that solo with your friend? I liked that. That was funny." - Steve smiled. You only heard yourself giggling and squealing. That made the big man a bit worried. He never heard you do those sounds so loudly. But now you had a serious hungover and you were just happy. There was nothing to hide anymore. - "Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, I am. I perfectly am. Just... You were there, with me, watching us, maybe even singing and clapping, you gave me that beautiful necklace... And..." - You mumbled with the speed of light. You are so sweet. Steve found it nice to find someone so pure and so happy because of such a small thing which was completely natural for him.

"So you liked it?" - Steve stopped and breathed the six miles he just ran. His thighs and ass were slightly burning, that was a sign of a seriously good work out.

"I... I loved it. I will never take it off, I swear!" - You exclaimed. Your head and body hurt, but Steve has woken you up so much, that you have completely forgotten about that. That was just what Steve did to you daily. - "Also, it was you, am I right?"

"I was what?" - He laughed and you heard as he drank something.

"Ten grand out of our twenty-five? You did it, am I right?" - You smiled. Steve was obviously just a really good, real and honest man who cared about local charities. A good heart with a good soul - Steve obviously wasn't the one who would flex on you with his money. He would never.

"Maybe it was me, maybe it was not me. Do not care about that. I and my lads loved it yesterday so we wanted to let you know. Did you get that note?" - Steve asked, his voice tone suddenly changing from playful to hoping. You froze in one place. The note... THE note.

You must've lost it when you were taking the board from Tony Stark himself. Suddenly, you wanted to cry. It must've been something important for him.

"Oh Steve, I'm so sorry..." - You shuttered and sobbed as you were about to cry. What was the note about?

"Hey. Do not be sad, alright? It's not a big deal at all, Y/N. I'll think about something else, just keep your spirits up, sweetheart."

---

Even tho Steve acted like it was a no big deal, it was a huge one for him. He wrote you a short note, in which he was asking you on a serious date. Sam made him do it because he was so curious about your reaction - old school yes or no note with a date and a location. But you have lost it.

Steve wasn't mad, of course, he wasn't. But he has some high hopes for that. He was crazy about you saying yes, to finally meet you, take you out on a dinner and to be just... With you, your beauty and bright mind.

He was calling you throughout his entire jog and as you ate your pizza. In the end, he truly asked for your friend's number, because Bucky was persistent about getting to know that girl.

"I will hang up. I have a meeting with some friends today, but I can call you in the evening, is that alright?" - Steve stopped in front of his apartment door, adjusting the microphone on his earphones as he was searching for his keys.

"I will hopefully survive today. I will miss you, handsome." - You said in a sweet tone and Steve felt as his knees melt a bit. Now he could imagine your face and expression, your big shiny eyes and beautiful lips curling to a smile. And when Steve closed his eyes, the feeling became even more intense. You were perfect for him.

"Tell me about it. Be safe." - Steve basically purred and got into the apartment. Bucky immediately took notice of his lad and he smiled at Steve. His expression was telling so much without him even saying a word.

"I will, bye." - You sighed lightly and hung up.

"I should take a photo of you." - Bucky joked and when he said a word photo, Sam immediately hurried out of bedroom only in his boxers.

"Ma man just saw some boobs, didn't he?" - Sam clapped cheerfully and Steve just waved him off. Sam and boobs - that could've been an idea for a saga. - "Hope you got the number for Mr. I Will Teach About Jesus. He is just fuckin' persistent because of it."

"Got it. But now we should prepare for that big Avengers evening. Tony will be curious about that ten grand I gave to them." - Steve said cheesily with a laugh.

When he was taking another shower and dressing up, two texts were delivered to his phone. One of them was some Deena's number. Steve figured out that that was your friend's name.

The second one was a cute photo of you - your face, messy hair, slight smile and big eyes looking at him. You had a tank top on to show off your new necklace. The smile was definitely the cutest ever. He immediately needed to show Bucky.

"Yeah. She's... She's just perfect, pal. But I'm more interested in the first text." - Bucky winked. Steve couldn't be mad at him. Bucky always had a thing for girls which radiated that bad girl energy, those nasty ones who could kick his ass. And Deena, as you called her, was surely that type who could show men that she is completely on her own. 

---

The next day Deena yelled and ran to you just when tried to open the door to your office with a serious load of muffins.

“You won't believe anything im going to tell you, girl. Shut up and listen!” - She yelled all over the building and caught both your shoulders in an eager grip. 

“Okay. Stop yelling. I'm listening.” - You laughed to her face, and she rolled her eyes. 

“A man from that evening texted me this morning. Like... If I wanna hang out today.” - Deena whispered. Yeah. Steve informed you that James, his friend, is going to contact Deena. You just didn't expect it so soon. You had the thing going on for a few months and yet you havent seen him. But James asked Deena out instantly. Just like that. 

You were the jealous one at the moment. Yet you got a smile out of your lips which made you appear happy.

“That's awesome. Is he handsome?” - You asked curiously and entered the building with her by your side. You tried to be happy for James hitting his chances off immediately, yet you felt like Steve could it as well. Was it a problem in you, in him, in the universe, or where the fuck it was?

“As fuck. Man, if he lets me be my own woman and if he won't do the top between us just because he’s a man, I think I'm gonna see him again.” - Deena told you with a totally wicked smile and you opened your mouth. 

“That sounds like you’ve started with wedding plans. Can I be the grand-mother of your first child?” - You joked around and Deena stopped you with a gentle touch on your shoulder.

“Hey. I know what's this about. You're angry that James is initiative and Steve is just surrounded with mysteries. But... You know... James can be a jackass and I can tell you hes a complete dick tomorrow. But you and Steve have invested a few months of your life into that relationship you two have. You know each other. You call each other every day. I don't know James at all.” - She said in all seriousness. That's why she was your friend. She knew what was wrong without you even wanted her to. You hugged her tightly because she raised confidence inside of you.

“If James would act like a dick, I will say Steve to beat him the fuck up.” - You promised solemnly with your hand on your heart and entered the office. 

And so Deena and James started dating. And yet you felt like you and Steve were the first ones even if you haven’t seen each other.