#sorry donnie that's a terrible note to leave on

[theyareexperiments]

Can you see me?

Leo was afraid of only one thing. From his earliest childhood, he was afraid that he would be left alone. It was painful to watch children being taken away from his group all the time. The children were leaving. The children came. Only Leonardo stayed. There were no longer even the children who had been with him from the very beginning. The boy really tried not to even think about it. There were still children around him, with whom he easily found a common language. He was still surrounded by people.

When he was informed that they were taking him to the laboratory, Leo hoped that he would not be alone. Fortunately, there was another boy in the room. Donnie. Almost a mirror image of himself. He just didn't have the same cool stripes as Leonardo. Even that didn't stop the boys from starting to be called twins. Now he was not alone at all. His twin was always with him now.

The fear of being left alone lurked deep in his soul until he was pulled out again.

Leonardo stood in front of the scientists and couldn't move. They didn't see him. Only by grabbing his hand did one of the lab technicians look directly at him. They were happy about it, although they were saying something. Leo didn't hear that. There was a noise in my ears from the constantly repeated words: “No one will see you now. You're nothing now. Now you'll be alone forever. Now there is only you.” The boy did not even immediately realize that he was taken back to the room.

“Leo! What happened? Why did you stop dead in your tracks?”, although Donnie spoke rather angrily, a note of concern easily slipped through the words. He felt it (maybe it was a telepathic connection that they hadn't figured out yet). “Answer me!”

It was only when Leonardo focused on the guy in front of him that he noticed that Donnie was looking right at him. And he didn't touch it. He looked directly into his eyes, and not through them, like many other laboratory assistants.

"Do you... see me?" Leo asked worriedly, not quite believing it.

"Shouldn't I?" Dee snorted, and then frowned, "Wait. What did they do?”

Leo laughed and threw himself at his twin, hugging and squeezing with all his might. He wasn't going to respond normally. Right now, there was only joy in the fact that he wasn't really alone. How could he forget that he has the best twin in the world.

"God," Donatello hugs back, "Whatever happens, but know this. I will always see you and find you wherever you are. I will never leave you alone. Did you remember?”

Leo smiled contentedly and nodded. He can believe these words. Now he really will never be alone.

“Don't forget, too, that I will never leave you alone! We are together until the very end!”

“Yes, Leo, what did you want?”, Donnie doesn't even turn to Leo.

Unfortunately, Leo Dee has never been able to scare unexpectedly. Leo tried constantly, but each time he managed to notice him.

In fact, they have long since figured out the reason. It was even too simple. Due to the constant connection to technology, Donatello had background vision through them, and Leo just couldn't fool it all.

“No, nothing”, Leo snorts, and then the door slams.

---

“Leo, I want to rest”, Dee doesn't even open his eyes, and Leo grumbles and falls down next to him.

“Yes, how do you do it?!”

“Well, I'm sorry that I have such eyesight”, Donnie turns to him and looks closely at the disgruntled twin.

---

Leo abruptly hugs Donnie with a scream from behind. A smile spreads across his face…

“Oh, banana pancakes. Leo! You scared me!”, Donnie says, trying to put as much emotion into his words as possible. Leo immediately knocks his head against his shoulder in displeasure.

“You saw it, didn't you?”, The twin immediately asks and understands by the tensed shoulders that he has hit the nail on the head. Dee was a terrible liar. Even if he didn't speak, his body gave it away completely.

“Don't do that.”, After a while, Leonardo began to speak calmly. “I'm not offended that you see me. Conversely.”, The hug gets a little tighter, “ It's just like a test for me. Try to outsmart you. Honestly and without pretense. Especially one so stupid. Mikey scares me all the time, so you don't have to be scared of me on purpose. Agreed? ”

“Affirmative. “, Dee exhales calmly and gently ruffles her brother's hair.

---

Leo was coughing. Looking around, he tried to find a familiar crown in the smoke. He avoided the explosion, but it landed right where Donnie was sitting.

This was supposed to be a routine information gathering operation. Simple, ordinary and not at all complicated. Just getting information about new samples. It was necessary to know this in advance in order to understand who would have to fight.

For example, like now with the guy from the third trial. Leo hadn't seen his mark yet, but he fit it perfectly. Only he did not expect that along with the fire there would also be explosions. It's good that it turned out to be neutralized immediately. Now all that remained was to find Donatello and get out of here as soon as possible.

Except Dee didn't even respond. Not in reality, nor telepathically. Leo was worried that he couldn't even feel his emotions. Something had happened and it was something serious. It didn't look like his twin.

It was difficult to see anything through the smoke, and because of this, the search was lengthened. Soon, a familiar crown appeared. Lee immediately rushed to him, hugging him from behind. Only Donnie started violently and turned sharply to him.

“I'm sorry.… I seem to have blacked out for a while because of the explosion. “, The twin pressed his hands to his eyes and exhaled heavily.

"Wait... didn't you notice me?" Leo was looking at him intently. It was weird and... bad. The thought quickly flashed through his mind that he had finally been able to scare him. Except he didn't want it to happen like this. Donnie got hurt. Donnie couldn't be disconnected from everything.

“Stop it. “, Dee slapped him sharply on the shoulder and forced him to look into his eyes, “ There's just no technology left around that I can connect to. That's all. Calm down. I'm a little disoriented, but overall I'm fine. I saved some information, but…”

“I don't care. We need to get out of here now. “ Leo squeezed his hand and scooped him up in his arms. He would deal with it faster, and then they would deal with everything that today's failed mission would bring them.

Лео боялся только одного. С самого раннего детства он боялся, что останется один. Смотреть как из его группы постоянно забирают детей было больно. Дети уходили. Дети приходили. Только вот Леонардо оставался. Уже не было даже детей, которые были с ним с самого начала. Мальчик и правда старался даже не думать об этом. Вокруг него все равно продолжали быть дети, с которыми он с легкостью находил общий язык. Он все ещё был окружен людьми.

Когда ему сообщили, что забирают в лабораторию, то Лео надеялся, что не окажется один. К его счастью в комнате оказался ещё один мальчик. Донни. Почти зеркальное отражение его самого. У него просто не было таких же крутых полосок как у Леонардо. даже это не помешало мальчикам начать называться близнецами. Теперь он не был одинок совсем. Рядом с ним теперь всегда был его близнец.

Страх остаться одному затаился глубоко в душе, пока его не выдернули вновь.

Леонардо стоял перед учеными и не мог пошевелиться. Они не видели его. Только схватив за руку один из лаборантов посмотрел прямо на него. Они радовались этому, хотя приговаривали что-то. Лео не слышал этого. В ушах стоял шум из постоянно повторяющихся слов: “Теперь тебя никто не увидит. Ты теперь ничто. Теперь ты навсегда останешься один. Теперь есть только ты” Мальчик даже не сразу понял, что его отвели обратно в комнату.

— Лео! Что случилось? Ты чего встал как вкопанный? — Хоть Донни и говорил довольно зло, но сквозь слова легко проскальзывали нотки беспокойства. Он чувствовал это (может это работала телепатическая связь с которой они ещё не разобрались). — Ответь мне!

Только сфокусировавшись на парне перед собой, Леонардо заметил, что Донни смотрел прямо на него. И он не прикасался к не��у. Смотрел прямо в его глаза, а не сквозь, как многие другие лаборанты.

— Ты… видишь меня? — Обеспокоенно спросил Лео не до конца веря в это.

— А не должен? — Ди фыркнул, а потом нахмурился, — Подожди. Что они сделали?

Лео рассмеялся и накинулся на своего близнеца обнимая, сжимая из всех сил. Он не собирался отвечать нормально. Сейчас была только радость от того, что он на самом деле не один. Как же он мог забыть, что у него есть самый лучший близнец в мире.

— Боже, — Донателло обнимает в ответ, — Что бы там не произошло, но знай. Я всегда тебя увижу и найду где бы ты не был. Я никогда не оставлю тебя одного. Запомнил?

Лео довольно улыбнулся и кивнул. Он может поверить в эти слова. Теперь он и правда никогда не останется один.

— Ты тоже не забывай, что я никогда не отстану от тебя! Мы вместе до самого конца!

---

— Да, Лео, что ты хотел? — Донни даже не поворачивается к Лео.

К несчастью Лео, Ди никогда не получалось неожиданно напугать. Лео пытался постоянно, но каждый раз тот успевал заметить его.

На самом деле они уже давно выяснили причину. Она была даже слишком проста. Из-за постоянного подключение к технологиям Донателло имел фоновое зрение через них, а Лео просто не мог обмануть все это.

— Нет, ничего, — Лео фыркает, а следом слышится хлопок двери.

---

— Лео, я хочу отдохнуть. — Ди даже не открывает глаза, а Лео недовольно бурчит и падает рядом с ним.

— Да, как ты это делаешь?!

— Ну уж прости, что у меня такое зрение, — Донни поворачивается к нему и внимательно смотрит на недовольного близнеца.

---

Лео резко обнимает Донни с криком со спины. На его лице расп��ывается улыбка…

— О, бананоные блинчики. Лео! Ты меня напугал! — Проговаривает Донни старается вложить в свои слова как можно больше эмоций. Лео сразу же недовольно стучит головой о его плечо.

— Ты же видел? — Сразу же спрашивает близнец и по напрягшимся плечам понимает, что попал в точку. Ди был ужасным лжецом. Если даже он не говорил, но его тело выдавало полностью.

— Не делай так. — Через время Леонардо начал спокойно говорить. — Я не обижаюсь на то, что ты видишь меня. Наоборот. — Объятие становится чуть теснее, — Просто это как испытание для меня. Попробовать перехитрить тебя. Честно и без притворства. Особенно такого глупого. Меня и так постоянно пугается Майки, так что не нужно пугаться меня нарочно. Договорились?

— Утвердительно. — Ди спокойно выдыхает и аккуратно треплет по волосам брата.

---

Лео кашлял. Оглядываясь он пытался найти в дыму знакомую макушку. Он избежал взрыва, но он пришёлся прямо туда где сидел Донни.

Это должна была быть обычная операция по сбору информации. Простая, обычная и совсем не сложная. Просто добыча информации про новые пробы. Это было необходимо знать заранее, чтобы понимать с кем придётся бороться.

Например, как сейчас с парнем из третей пробы. Лео ещё не видел его метки, но он полностью подходил под неё. Только он не ожидал что вместе с огнём будут ещё и взрывы. Хорошо, что вышло его сразу нейтрализовать. Сейчас оставалось найти Донаттело и поскорее сбегать отсюда.

Только вот Ди даже не отзывался. Не в реальности, ни телепатически. Лео переживал, что не чувствовал даже его эмоции. Что-то произошло и это что-то было чем-то серьёзным. Это не было похоже на его близнеца.

Сквозь дым было трудно что-то заметить и из-за этого поиски удлинились. Вскоре все таки появилась знакомая макушка. Ли сразу бросился к нему, обнимая со спины. Только Донни резко вздрогнул и резко обернулся к нему.

— Прости… Я похоже отключился на время из-за взрыва. — Близнец прижал руки к глазам и выдохнул тяжело.

— Подожди… ты не заметил меня? - Лео внимательно смотрел на него. Это было странно и… Плохо. В мыслях быстро проскочила мысль, что он наконец-то смог его напугать. Только вот он не хотел, чтобы это произошло вот так. Донни пострадал. Донни не мог быть отключён от всего.

— Прекрати. — Ди резко ударил его по плечу и заставил посмотреть себе в глаза, — Просто вокруг не осталось техники к которой я могу по��ключится. Вот и все. Успокойся. Я немного дезорентрован, но в целом в порядке. Информацию какую-то сохранил, но…

— Плевать. Нам сейчас надо убираться отсюда. — Лео сжал его руку и подхватил на руки. Он быстрее справится с этим, а потом они разберутся со всем, что принесёт им сегодняшняя проваленная миссия.

[phantommirrored]

@mystictechbo

“I’m not one to mince words.  But, I can’t say I quite trust this technology you’ve bestowed upon me.”  Curious hands had grabbed the contraption, but were soon shoving it back.  “...”  The phantom had a thought on the tip of his tongue, but that’d be too much, and it wasn’t quite conducive to the current topic.

“There’s something I can’t put my finger on that bothers me about you.”

[monsterenergysimp]

Permanence

corpse husband x fem!reader 

summary: you meet corpse on a stream and you’re surprised when he reaches out to you 

warnings: cursing, mentions of tattooing

word count: 1.9k

notes: This is proof read but could have missed some stuff. This is my first corpse fic and my first time writing fanfic since I posted that super cringey book on wattpad when I was like 12 or something. I’d appreciate feed back so please reach out to me :)

main blog @itsmysleepover

read part 2 here!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You were cleaning up your station so you can get home and stream. You loved your day job as a tattoo artist but you also really enjoyed streaming. It started as a way to promote yourself as an artist and the shop you worked at but it eventually became a really fun way to destress at the end of the week (or day if you were really itching to stream). “Hey Y/N was that your last client?” your boss, KC, asked as she walked to the front of the shop and put new flash drawings on the walls.

“Yes ma’am!” You said back excitedly. You finished cleaning your station and tossed your black gloves in the trash. “And you can’t trick me into staying and taking walk-ins,” you joked with her. She rolled her eyes and walked back into her office “It was one time,” she said as you slid on your jacket. As you walked out your phone buzzed in your pocket and you checked to see who had texted you. It was a message from Sean asking if you were free to play Among Us with him and some other streamers. You replied that you were on your way home right now and totally down. You were excited to see who was playing this time around since their Among Us streams are super entertaining and have gotten really popular.

On your way back you tweeted and posted to your Instagram story that you’d be streaming soon and set up all your stuff once you made it home. After a few minutes, you had a couple of thousand people watching. You entered the discord chat and Sean spoke up. “Everyone this is Y/N she’s sensitive so be gentle.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you guys and I’m not gentle, I'm ruthless,” You say into your mic and notice the chat calling you a liar. Everyone was in the lobby waiting for the game to start. “You sound way too sweet to be ruthless,” Corpse said. The countdown started and you were imposter with Charlie.

“This should be fun,” you told the stream. Yout tried playing strategically but after such a long shift your brain was mush. You saw Poki in nav and killed her then vented into shields. Not long after the body was reported and you were sure you were going to get voted out or at least sussed.

“Where was the body?” Felix asked. “Nav and I didn’t see anyone near there so whoever is imposter must have vented,” Corpse responded. Felix spoke up again. “I think I saw Y/N walk that way and I haven’t seen her since.”

Shit, shit, shit shit. “I’m in shield right now so-” you said trying to defend yourself but Charlie spoke up. “I was doing tasks with her earlier and I saw her walk into shields so she’s safe but I’m still not sure about Rae.” Everyone discussed a bit more and some people, including Corpse, voted for you but Rae got the majority vote and was ejected. You released your breath and kept playing being extra careful.  

“Okay, guys that was super close. Corpse knows and is out to get me,” you said to the chat. You were eventually voted off but one round later victory was written across your screen with your ghost and Charlie’s avatar. “Good game guys,” Corpse said.

“I told you guys I was ruthless!”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You sat at your station doing nothing because a client had canceled a four-hour session. You were listening to music and sketching some stuff but you were bored out of your mind and you didn’t want to leave in case you got a walk-in. The music got quiet as you received a twitter notification saying someone had messaged you. You reached for your phone and saw you had gotten a dm from Corpse.

C: hey :)

You didn’t know what to respond. You were mostly confused as to why he decided to message you out of the blue. Did he want something? But what would he want?

Y: Hii! This is sudden

C: was i bothering you?

    shit sorry!

Y: Youre fine I wasn’t doing anything rn

C: how has your day been

    i dont usually do stuff like this

Y: Im glad you did im doing better now I was so bored

C: what were you doing that was so terrible

Y: NOTHING! thats the problem :(

C: im sure youll find something to do

You stared at his message. Unsure what to respond.

Y: Im gonna give myself a tattoo

C: what?

    NO!

You tossed the needles you used for your tattoo into the sharps box. “Oh my god you didn’t,” KC said. She noticed the wrap on your calve from the tattoo you just gave yourself out of boredom. “It’s not my fault I didn’t have anything else to do!” You said trying to defend yourself. She sighed and just shook her head. “Just go home business is slow today.” It was raining so the shop probably wasn’t going to get a walk-in anyway and you didn’t have any more clients for the day. It was only 2 pm but you drove home and after making lunch for yourself decided to stream. You weren’t expecting too many people so it was bound to be super chill. Your leg felt sore reminding you of the tattoo. You snapped a quick pic of the fresh jack-o-lantern on the side of your calve and messaged it to Corpse.

Y: [image] it came out nice!

C: thats  super cool actually

    i was concerned why you would just give yourself a tattoo but i found your instagram and       youre super talented

Y: Thank you!

For some reason, it felt strange to just have that be the end of your response.

Y: Im about to start streaming if you wanted to watch

    [link]

C: ill be watching ;)

What’s that supposed to mean?

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You sat in your apartment watching tv, hand lost in a bag of Doritos, and scrolling through twitter. You had stopped paying attention to the anime playing on the screen since you’ve watched it a hundred times and knew you wouldn’t miss anything. It was Saturday and you usually take those days off. Take the time to do chores or meet up with some friends but today you felt like not doing any of those things. As you continue your endless scroll (not helping the twitter addiction you told yourself you’d try to get a handle on) you got a message from Corpse.

C: wanna talk?

You looked down at the message unsure of how to answer. It was a simple yes or no and the obvious answer was yes. You and Corpse had started talking more regularly. You still didn’t have each other’s phone numbers but it was fine. Your conversations weren’t too big-- just you sending him memes, tiktoks, and telling him how much you liked the songs he would drop. Or him complimenting a tattoo you did. Sometimes he’d message you during streams telling you funny stuff his fans would say in the chat and you’d do the same. You learned a bit about each other but nothing too deep or serious. Like how you two lived a few cities away and you both really liked Donnie Darko. When Sean first invited you to that game out of everyone else there you were most excited to meet Corpse. He’s just so sweet and funny. Of course, you’d love to talk to him but you were also itching to talk to him and the last thing you’d ever want to do was make him uncomfortable.

Y: Yeah id love to talk

Here goes nothing.

Y: Wanna facetime or something?

     No pressure or anything it could even be a regular call

     I think facetime is just my default lol

You sent those last two messages quickly after you had sent the first. You wished you could know what he was thinking. It was killing you to think you had turned him off from talking to you completely. You put your phone down on the couch and went to wash your hand of Dorito dust. When you got back from the kitchen you turned off the tv and tossed yourself onto the couch.

Still no message.

Why am I so fucking stupid?  

Just as you were standing up to stretch from sitting on the couch all day your phone buzzed. You reached for it fast and looked to see that it was him. You became super excited still not even knowing what the message said. It could have told you to never talk to him again for all you knew.

C: sure lets facetime

    xxx-xxx-xxxx

You had his phone number. You added him to your small but growing contact list and called. You sat on your couch waiting for a response when he finally picked up the screen was black. It didn’t upset you; you kind of expected it and didn’t care what he had to do to make himself more comfortable during this call.

“Hey,” he said. His voice was raspier than usual.

“Did you just wake up?” You asked and looked at the time. It was about a little past noon and you had only eaten Doritos all day. Shit, you should probably make a decent meal.

“Not that long ago but yeah,” he responded and giggled. That giggle.

“Well, I’ve eaten nothing but Doritos all day while rewatching Ouran High School Host Club, so you’re welcome to join me as I make myself something to eat.”

“Sounds like fun; what are we eating?”

“I don’t know yet,” You said as you stood up and made your way to the kitchen. You opened the pantry and looked. You noticed a can of diced tomatoes and reached for it then checked the expiration date. It was still good. On your counter were some onions and garlic. “How about some tomato soup?”

“Sounds delicious.” you smiled at Corpse and your phone screen not knowing if he was also looking at his screen or not. “You’re really pretty-- you know that?”

“Thanks, but you don’t have to--”

“I’ve already told you what an incredible artist you are so many times I bet you’re tired of hearing it, but you already know what a talented artist you are.”

“That is very kind of you Corpse,” you said to him bashfully as you chopped the onion and opened the can of tomatoes. “But once again you don’t have to reach so far to compliment me.”

“I’m not reaching you are talented and beautiful and--”

“I thought I was pretty.” You could hear him chuckle with a smile on his face. “You’re both,” he said. You could feel your face getting warm from blushing.

“Fuck you you’re making me blush. My face is all hot and stuff.”

He laughed at how flustered you got. “That’s the cutest thing ever.”

You didn’t know how to respond so you just put some olive oil in a pot and tossed in your onions. It became silent but it was a comfortable silence. You turned the stove on and watched the flame for a few seconds. “If it was dark we could pretend we were together and having a bonfire or something,” you said to the phone as you turned the camera to show him the flame (still not 100 percent sure if he was looking at you or not).

“I’ll put it on the list of things to do when you visit me someday.”

[heyheydidjaknow]

I finished it, finally! Yee fucking haw! It’s not perfect, but I’m not feeling terrible about it, and the next one is going to be fun. Unless something happens, the next chapter should come up on Sunday as planned. Knowing me, it won’t, but I wanna hope. As always, the table of contents and the previous chapter is at the bottom, and a full list of the shit I’ve published is at the bottom of the table of contents. I’ll do a proper proofread tomorrow. Right now, Grammarly and Kami are carrying the team, so if there’s a mistake, take it up with them.

Chapter 14

“I trust you won’t be creepy.”

“I’m thankful.” Yoshi runs his thumb along the rim of his cup slowly. “You have little faith in me, as I understand it.”

You try not to be disrespectful. “Well, things in your life could’ve gone better, right?”

He seems to consider this for a moment. “I suppose so.” He takes a slow drink. “Mistakes from my youth have led to many hardships. Still, though the road has been a long and strenuous one, I would not want to change my past.”

Your untouched drink is cradled in your hands. “You don’t regret anything?”

“It is a foolish and maddening thing, longing for a life unobtainable to you.” He closes his eyes, your own scanning the walls for the photograph you know is in some nook or cranny. “Besides, if things hadn’t happened the way they did, I wouldn’t have my sons.”

You can understand, intellectually, he does not mean to be—and likely is not— as arrogant as you perceive him. Still, something about the way he sits, the way he speaks, even how he looks at you now makes you feel painfully inferior, as if you reacting the way you are makes you somehow beneath him in more than a literal sense.

You decide against arguing the point, eyes flickering from the shrine back to the man in front of you. “I guess that’s true.” You know you are not going to drink any of what he has offered until you have to. “And you’ve always thought like that?”

He nods. “It was what I was taught.”

Nodding, you look back down at your cup, a deafening stillness settling between you two. ‘He convinces me to come here,’ you grumble silently, ‘and all I get for it is a lecture and an awkward silence.’ You look back up at him, setting the clay vessel on the ground and pulling your knees to your chest. ‘I could be doing something else, like fixing my shirt or something.’

“Speaking of them,” he continues, “Donatello tells me you have been experiencing night terrors.”

‘Snitch. Did he tell me he told him?’ “You don’t?”

His eyebrows rise. “Sorry?”

“We have the same trauma,” you explain simply. “Both our families died in fires we caused. Think that counts.”

He does not even flinch. “I’ve never thought of it that way.” He smiles softly. You want to punch him in the face. “I suppose so, yes.”

“You seem pretty calm about it.”

He chuckles at your expression. “I’ve had fifteen years to come to terms with my loss,” he takes another drink. “And,” he jokes, “I was often simply too exhausted to have nightmares back when the wound was fresh; caring for four young boys is tiring, you understand.”

“Right.” You crisscross your legs in front of you. “Yeah, the makes sense.”

“Having said that,” he continues, voice lowering, “I can’t imagine going through what I did at your age.” He sighs. “If something like that happened to one of my boys at this age, I can’t honestly say how they would cope.”

‘Poorly. I’d guess they’d cope poorly.’

“I understand that you and I have differences in ideals and morals.”

“You could say that.” Your mouth stretches into a wry smile. “I honestly only started hangin’ with and helpin’ y’all as a way to make up for my manslaughter. With this exception, I live by the adage, ‘Not my circus, not my monkeys.’”

“As I said,” he covers his mouth to hide his amusement, “we differ in that respect. I take it that’s why, when Donatello explained the situation—” you break eye contact—“he was unable to explain in any sort of detail what they were about.”

“Not his circus not his monkeys. ‘Sides,” you shrug, “he was already being really caring and understanding, and I was already sobbing my eyes out, which I’m sure he already told you, so.”

You stare down at your tea. “Are you going to elaborate?”

“Not if I don’t have to, no.” Your face heats up.

“Do you want my help?”

‘I hate this,’ you squirm. “Honestly, I wouldn’t be here if Donnie hadn’t asked me to.”

“For someone who believes in leaving people to their own devices,” he notes, “you seem to value the requests of my son a great deal.”

Your knees are back up to your chest. “He’s important to me. He’s been there for me. It’s the least I can do.”

He takes a beat to gather his thoughts. You brace yourself for a lecture.

“You care for him, then.”

You nod once, treading carefully.

“Romantically?”

You still do not look at him directly, staring instead at the gorgeous screen door. “I dunno.” Your fingernails scratch at the surface. “I’m not exactly in my right mind, you understand.”

“I can’t say I do.” A pause as he takes another drink. “Then again, I’ve only felt for one woman all my life.”

“Look at that,” you try to joke. “Another difference between us.”

“Do you mind letting me in, then?”

“A little,” you admit, “but I will since there isn’t really a point to being here if I don’t.”

“That’s the spirit.” You can hear his smile.

You set the cup down again, glancing up at him before fiddling with the laces on your shoe. “People under stress and without anywhere else to turn tend to latch onto the first people they relate to,” you explain, practicing your knot tying with fumbling fingers; there is no harm in practicing your dexterity. “He was the first guy I met after I died, got kidnapped, and almost got killed by a giant vine creature. I like him,” you clarify quickly, “I really do, but it’s hardly fair to pursue that sort of relationship, especially considering everything going on with the Kraang and Shredder.” Your eyes go out of focus. “We get along great,” you mumble. “He’s sweet, kind, generous, and empathetic. He deserves to make sense of his feeling properly without me muddying things up with my possibly trauma-induced attachment.”

“So,” he clarifies, “it is not that you aren’t in love with him, but, instead, you’re worried for his sake?”

Your face goes scarlet as you choke on your saliva. “T-that’s a bit—uh—extreme, isn’t it?” You rub the back of your burning neck. “I’m not even sixteen, Yoshi. You don’t understand love properly at sixteen!”

“I fell for my wife at thirteen,” he smiles. “It’s certainly not impossible.”

“That’s—look,” you protest, “that is entirely besides the point. The point,” you state, “is that is completely irresponsible for me to pursue a relationship with your son. Frankly, I’m surprised you don’t agree.”

“He cares for you. You know that. Who am I to decide who he does and does not pursue, especially when that person makes him happy?” He reaches for a worn kettle sitting between you two on a table, pouring its contents back into his teacup—you remember Leo telling you that it is technically called a yunomi. “I find love typically does no harm so long as it does not consume you. Moderation is key.”

You look up at him. “So, you don’t have any reservations about it?”

He takes another drink. “I wouldn’t say that. He is my son, after all. In truth,” he admits, “I was more concerned that my sons would never experience what I did than anything. Given the circumstances of our existence, I’m sure you can understand my wish to give them a relatively normal, happy life.”

You sigh. “I guess, yeah.” You adjust your blanket again. ‘Seems counterintuitive, teaching them the art of murder, but I guess that’s his normal.’ “That’s just a generally good parenting thing though, right? I’d hope you’d want that even if you weren’t a giant rat and they weren’t anthropomorphic turtles.”  

A parent. He is talking to you like one might speak to their kid.

“I suppose so,” he nods. “It’s been difficult, but we’ve certainly come a long way over the years.”

The screeching of tires pierces the still air, the chattering of his four sons bouncing off the concrete walls.

You strain to hear what they are saying. “I never noticed that there was an echo in here. It’s less noticeable than in the tunnel.”

“That’s by design,” he explains. “I’ve made something of an effort to dampen it.”

“Oh, that’s cool.” You set the yunomi on the table. You sigh, holding your breath and downing your now gross, cool tea in three quick gulps. “I hate to cut this short,” you lie, wiping your mouth with your sleeve and tottering to your feet, “but I’ve gotta check to make sure everything went smoothly on their mission and adjust my timetable accordingly.”

He nods, deciding not to point your tell out. “I won’t keep you, then. Would you like to borrow my cane?”

This is not the first time he has offered. You, of course, refuse.

“Oh well. I thought I’d offer.” He sets his cup down, staying seated. “It has been pleasant talking with you, Y/N.”

“Likewise, Mr. Hamato.” You nod once in acknowledgment, hopping over to the door and slipping out into the hallway.

Your stomach churns at the stench coming from the lab—you can smell the gasoline. You lean against the wall, making a pointed effort not to eavesdrop and rapping your knuckles against the door. Their voices immediately lower to hisses and someone drags the door open.

“Hey,” Mikey beams. “We were just talking about you. Need somethin’?”

“Just is an over-exaggeration.” There is a considerable amount of protest as Donnie pulls him away from the door with an uncomfortable edge to his voice. “P-please, come in.”

A beaten DIY van sits pathetically on the subway track, looking not dissimilar to a burnt, crushed soda can from where you stand. The once hot pink graffiti has most certainly seen better days, and you squirm at the thought of the sound it must have made if you understand the situation properly. Raphael, who you glance at out of the corner of your eye, looks similarly beat up. Of course, you are not going to say anything because you value your life.

You whistle, smiling incredulously. “So,” you try not to laugh, “I take it you took on the cucaracha.”

“Made it my bitch is what I did,” boasts Raphael. “Shot it with a laser.”

“Cool, cool.” You chuckle at his excitement. “You take care of the egg?”

Is there a better sight than watching the light in someone’s soul die? You would hesitantly say no. “The what?”

“Right outside the building,” you elaborate. “On the side of the road. Looks like a horrifying imitation of an orbee?’

He takes a slow, deep breath, holds it, exhales. “I’ll be right back,” he says calmly, and sprints out of the lair.

Michelangelo laughs. “Were you being serious or are you messing with him?”

“Serious.” You readjust the blanket, trying to subtly figure out how to breathe without being assaulted by the mechanical smell. “I won’t joke about that sort of thing. It’s cruel.”

He hesitates. “… speaking of, are you alright? I didn’t get to ask before.”

The other two are quietly watching the interaction with an odd amount of intensity.

You shrug. “I guess. Probably.”

“Alright,” he nods. “Just lemme know if you need to talk, alright? Donnie’s no—ow!”

“Don’t talk bad about people in front of them,” Leonardo criticizes. “It’s rude.”

“You called him special, like, four hours ago!”

“The word of the day is hypocrisy.” Donatello puts his hand down.

“Hypocrisy’s right” You rub Mikey’s shell reassuringly. “To be fair, though, Leo could honestly probably just dodge it anyway.”

He leans into it. “I guess,” he grumbles, shooting a look at Donatello. “Favoritism.”

“It’s strategic favoritism,” the tallest brother corrects. “It’s to encourage parti pris.”

“Cronyism,” you tease, grinning. “You mean cronyism.”

“Hey, I’m plenty qualified!”.  

You stifle a giggle as his face reddens, looking back over at the battered vehicle, raising an eyebrow.

“That was a team effort.”

“Yeah, okay, Hamato.” You blow a strand out of your face. “How long do you think it’ll take to fix?”

“Half a week? Maybe a bit less.” He looks back at it ruefully. “The spy roach completely jacked it.”

“Clearly.” You remove your hand, Mikey seemingly thoroughly comforted. “Then mind if I borrow a needle and thread so I can fix my jacket? I have school tomorrow.”

“Do you have the dexterity for that?” Leo crosses his arms across his chest absentmindedly.

“If I can hold a pencil,” you reason, “I can do basic stitching. ‘Sides, it’s only gotta hold until I get home.”

“I didn’t know you sewed.”

“I don’t. That’s why I’m asking now.”

Donatello pipes up again. “I really don’t mind—”

“Dude,” you reason, “you have to fix a whole ass van. I’ll manage.”

He pulls his phone from his pocket. “It’s a quarter to twelve. You won’t finish before midnight.”

“Then sucks to be me.” You shrug. “I’ll fix it here and walk home.”

He looks at you with a surprising amount of incredulousness. “It’s New York City.”

“You go out at night all the time,” you protest.

“I can carry you—”

Immediate panic. “Nah, I’m good!” You try to sound confident. “I walk home all the time, remember?”

“Not at midnight.”

“What’s a couple hours difference?” You would rather get attacked or kidnapped than fly over buildings again.

“A hundred-twenty minutes,” he states. “You know that crime is statistically more likely to happen at night, right?”

“That tracks. What’s different?”

“Violent crime peaks at midnight.”

Mikey butts in. “Why can’t she just go in the blanket? It covers enough.”

Donatello rolls his eyes. “Mikey,” he sighs, “she’s a teenage girl walking around with her torso covered by a single conspicuous quilt. Let’s use our heads here.”

It takes him a minute. “So you’re worried about her getting, like, attacked?”

“… were you paying attention to any of the conversation? Or the lesson we just learned?”

“Dude,” he protests, “when do I ever?”

“What, you mean the one where y’all learned to face your fears or the one where talking about people in front of them is rude?”

The bitter edge to your words is not lost on him. “Look,” he reasons with you, “I-I’m not saying you’re incapable of taking care of yourself—”

“You are, but that’s not the point.”

“Shut up, Mikey.” You are surprised he did not punch him, though, admittedly, you can hardly argue the point. “What I mean is that if you put yourself in harm’s way, you’re going to get hurt.” He nods at Leo. “He’s a really experienced fighter and even he gets overwhelmed if he goes out of his way to do something reckless and dangerous like Karai.” He spits out her name like it is poisonous.

“Since when have you had a thing against Karai?”

The eldest brother sighs. “I’m never living that down, am I?”

“Unimportant, and nope. Point is,” he continues, fingers twitching at his sides, “it doesn’t make sense to tempt fate.”

You open your mouth to argue. You close it again. He has an extremely valid point all things considered, especially considering everything that has been happening, and although you are completely certain about your stance on him carrying you home, you would be lying if you said the idea of stumbling home without your walker or shirt sounds very appealing.

“Then what exactly are you suggesting?”

He looks off. “I’m suggesting she stays the night, Leo.”

Mikey blinks. “What, in your room or on the couch?”

“It would be up to her.”

That works for you. “Your home. You pick. Where do you keep your sewing supplies?” You slip out of the circle the four of you have formed.

“On top of the bookshelf,” he points. “Behind the cardboard box.”

You nod, hopping over.

Mikey offers his two cents. “It makes more sense for you two to share a room. It’s kinda cold in the front room, and you guys’ll probably end up going to bed at around the same time anyways. She also has your blanket.”

You stand on your toes, fingertips brushing against a plastic container.

“That’s a fair point.” You catch it before it cracks open on the ground. “Training starts pretty early, so she should have time to grab her things before school.”

“See? Foolproof plan.”

“Would Master Splinter approve?”

“Leo,” you call over your shoulder, “he’s slept over at my house twice already. I really doubt he cares.”

“But we don’t know.”

“Then you can go ask him.” You turn around. “Where’s the jacket?”

“In the cardboard box.” Donnie starts towards the train wreck on the tracks.

You pull it down, taking your shirt and jacket and sitting down, crossing your bad leg under the one you can use, despite the nausea. ‘Exposure therapy.’ “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

You feel a tap on your shoulder. You glance up at Mikey, who crouches down next to you as Leo waves to his brothers and leaves. “You need anything?”

He shakes his head. “Just wanted to hang out with you is all,” he shrugs. “You didn’t go after Donnie.”

“I didn’t,” you nod in agreement.

“Why?”

“Because car.” You unlatch the box, carefully digging around inside for some pins. “That, and the smell is bad enough from over here.”

He crosses his legs in front of him. “That’s fair.” He taps his foot absentmindedly. “You think he knows?”

“I thought I made it pretty damn clear,” you shrug, “but it’s Donnie, so I wouldn’t bet on it.”

He grins at that. “Then do you wanna hang out while you work on that out front? He isn’t exactly talkative when he gets in the zone.”

You shake your head. “If I do, I won’t get much done,” you admit. You unwind a long portion of the thread, snapping it apart. “Besides, the only way to get over a fear is to face it head-on.”

“Alright.” He hops to his feet. “Thought I’d ask. Have fun.”

”Bet,” you mumble through a bit tongue, shaky fingers making threading the needle almost impossible. “You too.”

“See ya.” He waves, running out of the lab.

You let out a breath, picking a piece of loose wire off of a table and creating a poor imitation of a threader. While you genuinely enjoy talking with Michelangelo, you have some things to think over.

Clumsy fingers start on a running stitch. If your timetable still holds true—which, surprisingly enough, it has thus far—the episode after next’s plot will take place in about three weeks. Your cast is coming off in two. You do not know where and when The Kraang are coming through their portal, or if there is any way for you guys to know, but seeing as you are skipping the episode where the turtles get stuck in a labyrinth under the assumption that, without Baxter being bullied by the Shredder and his goons, he has no reason to construct it, you would tentatively estimate the next episode will happen in about a week. You are still fairly sure that Stockman will not get involved with the Shredder without his input until Oroku finally opens his eyes to the dangers and powers of the Kraang, which should happen around the same time as the next episode.

Your eyes glaze over as you get into the groove of it. ‘The next episode is also when the guys get on Karai’s shit list because they betray her, and, if that happens, the episode where the Shredder starts getting involved with the Kraang and comes to appreciate their resources." You prick your finger. ‘It wouldn’t be long after that before Saki gets the idea to create a mutant army, and with Baxter already somewhat on the villainous map, our best chance to make sure he doesn’t end up under his employment is to…’

You wipe the sticky liquid on your jeans, careful of the bandages on your back. ‘It’s not a guarantee that he even knows Baxter exists.’ Your eyebrows furrow in concentration as you try to keep the stitches separated at equal distances. ‘Hell, it’s not a guarantee he’s even alive. Still, it’s better to air on the side of caution and not think about how you’ll have to do it until the time comes.’

You let out a soft sigh. “I’ll buy a gun, when that happens,” you murmur to yourself. “Just want more time where bodily harm is all I have to deal with is all.”

 --

 You slide your poorly stitched jacket over your shoulders under the blanket, pulling your sleeves into place and zipping it up. After folding the blanket up and draping it over your arm, you pull yourself to your feet, hopping over to Donatello and his death trap as he sat down, looking over his work. “How’re the repairs comin’?”

The two of you have not spoken for the three hours it took you to repair the jacket, and significantly more progress has been made on his end than yours. At the very least, the generally rectangular frame was pounded back into submission.

He looks over at you, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand and stifling a yawn. “Fine,” he sighs, looking back at the hulking mass of metal as you lower yourself down next to him. “It won’t blow up or anything if it’s driven, but it still needs another day’s worth of work to get it back to where it was before.” You nod along as he goes into more intimate detail, not understanding half of it, but happy to just listen to him talk resentfully about the whole process that you can tell he genuinely does not mind.

“Sounds like a time.” You rest your head on your good knee. “And you’re not gonna fix the graffiti?”

“It rubs off,” he shrugs. “Besides, it’s not exactly important to the design.”

Your head bends in a subtle nod, cheek numb from the pressure of your knee. “Are you going to sleep today?”

He shrugs. “Maybe? It wouldn’t be a bad idea.” His legs are almost crisscrossed in front of him, and he leans his weight back on his skinny, muscular arms. “I honestly don’t want to leave it alone, though. It would be weird to just leave it unfinished.

“Hardly, but alright.” You sit up for a moment, handing him back his quilt. “Thanks for giving me something to cover myself up with, and for not ditching me on a roof, and patching me up, and—I owe you, is what I’m getting at.”

He smiles tiredly. “Don’t worry about it, really,” he reassures you, his face flushing and muscles relaxing slightly. “You’ve made it up plenty.”

“I disagree. I’ve never saved your life.” You trace the fading lines on your cast his brother had left.

“I don’t think a ton of people would literally kill someone for me and my family,” he argues. “That’s pretty awesome, right?”

‘Not sure how I feel about framing murder as a positive thing.’ You do not say anything, looking back at his work.

He sighs. “You should go to bed,” he advises practically. “It’s getting late.”

“Never stopped you.” You straighten your legs. “I’ll go if you come with.”

“Tempting,” he teases with a sudden burst of confidence, hoping to his feet and outstretching his arm to help you up, “but what’s in it for me?”

Your face lights up as your face goes red at his borderline roguishness, taking his arm pulling yourself up. “For as much shit as you’re going to get for it,” you promise, pecking where his nose would be with an almost kittenish smile, “I’ll get up extra early, make everyone breakfast, and go topside for coffee.”

His face almost turns the shade of a human blush, forwardness gone in an instant. “C-can’t,” he stutters, clearly flustered. “When I was eleven, I got addicted to it and I’m not allowed to have any anymore.”

“Relatable,” you giggle. You blow the hair out of your face, comfortable as he helps you walk towards the door, the air between you two charged with electricity. “Is that for all caffeine or just coffee?”

He opens it for the two of you, ever the gentleman with the quilt over his shoulder. “Tea’s fine. Don’t bring tea down, though,” he quickly clarifies. “Leo’ll have a very inconspicuous fit.”

You blink curiously, looking up at him as he pulls you along. “Why?”

“It’s the one food thing he’s particular about,” he shrugs, not bothering to hide his gooey smile as you use his upper arm for support. “Couldn’t tell you why.”

“Are you particular about any foodstuff?”

“Not really?” He helps you up a few steps. “I’m not Mikey, but I don’t think I’m that picky about that sort of thing.”

“That’s fair.”

You do not let go of his arm to use the wall. You do not even think to if Donnie is reading your body language correctly. His smile widens as he opens the door for you.

You give a nod as thanks, lowering down onto the foot of his relatively narrow bed. “Alright,” you clap your hands together quietly as he sits next to you. “How do you wanna do this?”

You are sitting on his bed, willing, with no pretense other than sleeping getter. He is currently on cloud nine.

You look back at the frame. ”Too narrow for us to lay side by side,” you note. “You sleep on your front, meaning you will likely take up most of the room." You look between him and the bed, trying to imagine a position that would work. “You could lay on top of me, I guess, but then your legs would hang off the end.”

“I can sleep on my side,” he offers hurriedly. “If that makes things easier, I mean.”

“You sure?” Your fingers fumble with your shoelaces.

He nods eagerly. “S-so long as you still don’t mind being close to me, I mean. The bed’s still kinda narrow.”

You roll your eyes, smiling. “We’ve slept together before,” you reason. “If you wanted to pull anything, you would’ve the other two times.”

He glances off, face still red. “Y-yeah,” he rubs the back of his neck bashfully. “That makes sense.”

You gesture to the bed. “Then,” you nod once, “so long as you’re comfortable, you lay down. I’ll work from there.”

He tentatively lays himself down, facing the wall, tensing ever so slightly as you lay behind him, legs curling up under his thighs.

You lay your arm under your head as a pillow, the other pulling the blanket over the two of you. “This work,” you whisper, closing your eyes.

“Mhm,” he hums, covering his face with his hands. “We closed the door, right?”

You look back over. “Yup.”

“Locked it?”

“Seems so.”

He relaxes a bit. “Alright,” he nods, quietly reveling in the way your fingers, again, traced the indentations in his shell like the first night.

‘When I wake up tomorrow,’ he realizes, ‘she’ll be right there. Right behind me, in my bed. By choice.’ He smiles behind his fingers. ‘When we get older, maybe we could have our own place. Or our own room, more accurately, where she just lives with us. Imagine her moving in. If—no, when,’ he corrects himself, ‘we defeat The Shredder, if I ever get the nerve, I’ll ask her.’ He reaches his leg back, entangling it with yours carefully. ‘Would we have to get married first? No, you move in before you get married, right? I should’ve paid more attention during those movie marathons.’ He closes his eyes as you drift off, focusing on this train of thought. ‘How long do you need to be in a relationship before you get married? How would we get married, even? Legally, that would be impossible, right? I can’t go to a courthouse. And if we had a child—practically speaking, of course—would they live with us or go to a public school? We could give them a good education, I’m sure, but—’

You shift in your sleep, absently laying your arm over his side and pulling him closer.

He exhales, allowing himself to relax back into you. ‘Not tonight.’ He rests his hand on top of yours. ‘It’s too late, too soon.’ His thumb runs along the back of your hand, letting himself drift off in your arms.

‘It’ll be okay. We’ll last long enough to take it slow.’

Table of Contents

Chapter 13

Chapter 15

[skylarmoon71]

AU Leonardo x Blind Murdock Reader (TMNT 2014/2016)- Chapter 8 (A)

“Pizza!!!”

Mikey tosses a slice, and you just step to the side as it falls flat on the floor. The orange clad turtle lets out a loud gasp, over dramatic. You just roll your eyes.

“Can you for a minute just pretend that you know, maybe I’m blind and I’d appreciate it if you placed the food on a plate like a normal person?”

Donnie nods. “I apologize on Mikey’s behalf, sometimes he forgets. I guess we all do.”

Donnie lets out a little snort, and you laugh. “I’m touched, still. Don’t throw food Mikey, it’s rude.”

“Man, you’re like a bossy little sister.” Mikey comments. You can’t stop the smile that graces your lips this time. It doesn’t fail to warm your heart when they make statements like that. To Mikey, it may not seem like much, but to you it means the world that they actually consider you family. Raph walks up from behind you, resting his hand on your head, giving a quick pat.

“Hey kid.” He knows that title annoys you, that’s why he does it. There’s probably a stupid smirk on his stupid face. It’s then that you really think about something.

“Your face…” You have absolutely no idea what they really look like. Apart your morphed view of what the world looks like, you don’t have an actual visual.

“What’s that?” Donnie is sipping on a juicebox, and he just barely hears what you mutter.

“I have no idea what you guys look like.” you say solemnly.

“Umm, I could be wrong but isn’t that how blindness works.” Mikey gets a tap on his head from Raph at the remark.

That sparks Donnie’s interest. 

“You’re right, why didn’t I think of this before!” he rushes to stand right in front of you. “Feel my face!” you take a small step back at his excitement.

“Uhh are you sure?” You’d never really tested that theory, and it was kind of weird asking to feel around someone’s face.

“Yes! According to what I’ve recorded on your abilities, you assess most of what you internalize is done kinesthetically. Therefore you should gain a very decent mental picture from the feel of our facial structure. Please, begin. “ Donnie really was a scientist.

You take a seat, and Donnie is beaming with excitement. When you reach out cautiously, you don’t know why you’re so hesitant. Maybe it’s the fact that no one’s ever asked such a thing of you. The minute your hands make contact, your body straightens and you marvel at the feel of his skin. It’s a bit rough, but also smooth, and the image that’s slowly building in your mind, you can almost see him. Your fingers nudge the glasses perched on his face, and you apologize, but you're grinning just as wide as Donnie because it’s been years.

The only other person that you’ve ever felt is your father. Donnie's smile drops slowly when he sees the tears now rolling down your cheeks.

“A-Are you okay!!”

He’s concerned that possibly he crossed a line. You hate this and he’s forced you into something. The smile doesn’t leave and you pitch forward, wrapping your hands around his neck. Donnie’s confused. You seem happy, but you're still crying.

“Thank you Donnie..” you whisper. It’s then that it hits him, and he smiles too, returning your embrace.

“You don’t have to thank me.”

One by one, you take chances, you’re shocked that even Raph agrees to let you touch his face. Your fingers dance along his nose, down to the scar. The mental picture of Raph is pretty handsome, and maybe somewhat rough. You guess his face fits his personality perfectly. You poke his nose, letting out a giggle. This particular feature is so cute, you can’t help it.

“You’re really enjoying yourself aren’t you.” sarcasm is expected.

“Definitely.”

“What are you guys doing?” It’s at that moment Leo walks in. You pull away, fidgeting with your fingers

“(Y/N) was touching our face so she can tell what we look like, Donnie says it works!!” Leo's gaze refocuses on you at the explanation, and your face turns red. You can feel his gaze just boring into you. Even without sight. “Is that so..” the way he says it, almost contemplative. Somehow thinking of touching him, it erupts a completely different feeling.

You don’t know what to say, or do stop your own erratic heartbeat. It’s so loud, to the point that you feel like you’ll get a headache.

The beeping from Donnie’s machine’s catch everyone’s attention.

“Thank you..” you mutter. Saved by the beep.

“Looks like we have a busy night, gear up.” Nods around the room, and you’re already moving into fight mode. You keep an extra pair of clothing at the lair, just for moments like this. Good thing too. You’re heading for Donnie’s room to grab the outfit. As you buzz pass, you feel the air, and you can tell that it’s Leo you dodge on the way over. He doesn’t say much, just watches, and you guess that’s why you’re a bit nervous. You try to ignore it, if nothing but to keep your body from reacting to him.

“It’s gonna be a tough night.”

You already know.

~~~~~

By the time you make it back your knuckles are sore. Mikey and Raph are as energetic as ever. They seemed more hyper than when you left. You dodge a ball that Raph tosses to the orange clad turtle. You just lift your hands with a ‘really’ look.

“I knew you’d avoid it. “

Sure he did.

“(Y/N), your knuckles are bleeding. “ Donnie notes, removing his goggles a bit concerned. You’ve figured as much. You can smell the faint scent of iron in the air.

“It’s fine, it doesn't even hurt.” That’s not enough to convince him.

“Let’s get that cleaned up. “ Leo walks into the room, and you guessed he’s heard from around the corner.

“Yeah, Leo’s amazing when it comes to injuries!!”

Mikey shouts a bit too enthusiastically. Poor Leo, with the way the youngest turtle was so reckless, it must be a regular thing. You kind of want to deny him. Being alone with him, it’s not something you think you’ll be able to handle. But you don’t have a choice. If you refuse, the rest of them may realize that something’s up, and you really don’t want his brothers in on what’s going on with you two.

“S-Sure.” That was a terribly unsteady response.

So you followed Leo, and he didn’t say a word the entire walk to his room. He opened the door for you to walk in, and you did. Standing a bit awkwardly at the center. Leo smiles from his spot, moving and taking your arm gently as he guides you to the bed. His touch is so soft, and far different from the ones you’re given on a daily basis when individuals try to help you cross the street, or get up a flight of stairs. He’s actually holding your hand, and you love the warmth. You take a seat, and Leo moves to get a few things.

“I think this is the second time that I’ve had to patch you up. I’m starting to think you’re getting hurt on purpose. Just so you can get me alone.”

There’s a playful teasing in his voice, and although you know he’s not being serious, you blush. Leo notices, and he’s come to realize that the sight makes him a bit nervous as well. Lately everything you did affected him. Your head lowers, and you’re picking at your dark pants.

“Sorry, I’m sorry if I’m making things awkward between us.” Leo walks over, and there’s a little bit of defeat in his words.

He rests the items down, moving closer. He stops when he’s just a few feet away, and you have to assume it’s because he thinks that’s what you want.

“The last time we spoke I assumed and I didn’t even ask if it was something you’d be interested in exploring. I didn’t give you a chance to tell me what you feel and I realize that must be the reason you’re always so tense around me now. “

That’s far from the reason. You aren’t uncomfortable, just a bit stunned.

After his little confession you started going over everything, and you realized that until now, you’ve never really opened up to anyone. You’ve distanced yourself to keep from experiencing anymore pain. The worst way to live. So when Leo said those things, it threw you off. You weren’t sure how to respond, because at some point you’ve come to care for him so much, and the prospect of him returning those feelings was horrifying.

“I’m not uncomfortable, and you didn’t just assume Leo.” His head lifts.

“Leo I...I haven’t had a very good opinion of myself for as long as I can recall. Until now I’ve..I think I’ve hated myself. That’s why I couldn’t believe it when you said those things, I didn’t want to because I feel like I don’t deserve it. “

“(Y/N) you deserve far more!” you smiled at the indignation in his voice.

“The way you treat me, talk to me...It makes me believe that. That’s why I need time Leo. I just think I can’t fully get into something with someone when I’m still learning to love myself. I need a chance, because the way I feel about you, I want to keep it for as long as I possibly can. “ Leo moves in, and he hesitates for a while, but then eventually, his palms rest on your cheek. You close your eyes, entranced.

“I don’t care how long I have to wait (Y/N). If it’s guaranteed that I get even a chance to be with you, then I’ll wait for as long as I have to. “

It’s not going to be easy, but you're thankful. For Leo, his brothers. Everything that has led to this point. Given you a chance to trust again.

[teenage-mutant-ninja-freak]

Same anon, this is purely hypothetical and the S/O can be a senior cause some seniors can be 18 if they’re birthday is in the right month

ok, I only know how it works in England, so I’ll take your word for it, nonnie :)

Leo

You get home from school and throw your jacket on the sofa of the lair

as you do, you sleeve rolls up a little and Leo sees it, giant purple and brown bruises on your arm

he’s beside himself

he asks what the hell happened and when you brush him off....

he would never be rough with you

but he grabs you by the shoulders, shaking you lightly, and demands to know what happened

you explain that some people waited for you outside of the school, the same ones as always and they started hitting you

he’s livid

he’s on the phone with the school immediately and demanding they take better care to monitor bullying, he really gives them an earful

he pulls you so close and whispers that it will never happen to you again, you have his word

everyday he hides outside the school, watching you leave and making sure no one bothers you because gods help them if they do....

Raph

You get out of the shower and wrap a towel around yourself, ready to run into your room and hurriedly get dressed

but Raph’s waiting outside to use the bathroom- which is when he sees your arms and chest covered in bruises

he’s taken aback

in a very low, steady voice he asks what happened and you say it was nothing

in a slightly more raised voice, trying not to lose it at you, he asks again

you finally tell him and he just fucking sees red

he looks in your yearbooks and demands to know “which one of these little shit heads did it?” 

so you tell him

and he....well, he finds them.

let’s just say, they really regret ever laying a finger on you

after his work is complete he snuggles you in a blanket and puts you on his lap

tells you to not worry again, but if someone even so much as looks at you wrong again, tell him and he’ll handle it

Mikey

You’re making some midnight snacks and you reach up to grab something in the fridge

your sleeve rolls down and in the light of the refrigerator Mikey sees you arm all bruised up

he’s in shock for a moment and then he snaps out of it

he’s grabbing at you to see it better and asking what the hell happened

you break and tell him

he doesn’t easily lose his cool, but this does it

someone laying a hand on his baby?? nuh uh

he gives you the sweetest hug and tells you to leave it to him

he follows them home the next day and finds out where they live

they get a brick through their window that night and a note saying that they’ll get one nasty surprise for every bruise they left on you

the next night their bag mysteriously goes missing from their locker but turns up at the end of the day with dog poop in it

day three they come home and find that all their devices (laptop, tv ect) have been smashed

by day 4 they’re begging you to forgive them

Donnie

Donnie doesn’t always remember to knock and accidentally walks in on you changing 

before he gets the chance to say sorry, he sees the bruises on your arms and stomach

you know when Donnie is mad because he goes really, really quiet and calm

it’s the calm before the storm

all he wants to know is “who did it?”

you surrender the information to him and he turns on his heels out of the room

that night your bullies get a really strange email

it has files of their porn search history, weird stuff they’ve looked up, their entire camera roll and, worst of all, videos taken from their webcam that was hacked and makes them look terrible

all stuff you wouldn’t want getting out, right?

the email has only one sentence attached to it

“Leave y/n alone or this goes out to your school, parents and friends, [insert the bully’s full name and address here]”

later that night he climbs into bed with you and pulls you so tight, kisses you on the head and tells you that you won’t be hearing from them again, and if you do, to tell him

[just-straight-up-chaos]

First and foremost, love your blog 😘 If it's okay, how would the boys react to their s/o being overly emotional/possibly hormonal? Maybe it was just a bad day, maybe that time of the month. Or both 😩😢

Thank you!!! Sorry it's taken so long to get to this, it's actually second in line but I'm still getting legit salty at Tumblr for eating the first in line....anyway! The soft that is about to come your way istg 🥺💖 I try to be inclusive here so the s/o will have they/them pronouns, interpret that however you like 💖 🏳️‍🌈 (they really need more pride flag emojis)

Leo wasn't sure what was happening as a whole, but he knew that something was going on. Several passive texts among other things had stated as much. So, in hopes that it would make them feel better, he drew a bath, making sure the bubbles scents weren't too overwhelming leaf they trigger a headache. That was the last thing they needed right now. He figured, a nice hot bath, some soothing music, candles in their favorite, he chuckled to himself, 'flavor', as they liked to call it. Once it was all set, he actually went to the greenhouse to toss some recent blooms from his chamomile tea plants in. They weren't rose petals, he knew, but hopefully they would help sooth them. When they got to the lair, he greeted them with a soft but lingering kiss to the crown of their head. "I know today's been rough for you-"

"No it's fine I-"

"So, I set something up for you. I'd offer to cook something for you but you know how well that will go, so, what would you like? I'll order it." He smiled down at them as he led them to the waiting bath. He didn't miss the shake of their shoulders, or their sniffle as the dam began to break. "You know I'm here for you, to be an ear, a shoulder, anything you need...so don't be afraid to talk to me about it when you're ready, okay?" He asked, giving their shoulders a gentle squeeze only to have them throw themselves at his chest, already crying. He smiled wanely down at them and held them close, resting his cheek on their head and rubbing their back as they cried. "Do you want me to just stay with you?" He offered quietly. They nodded against his chest, and so he did. He stayed and held them close until they cried themselves out. Leo stayed and spoke soothing words to them as they relaxed in the tub, his hand lazily swirling the surface of the water. He stayed and bathed them, massaging their shoulders as he noted the distinct tension. He stayed and helped dry and dress them, only to carry them off to bed. He tucked them in, sliding right into the bed alongside them, and held them close. For now, they would just rest here. He could ask Donnie or Mikey to get them something to eat when they got hungry. But for now, this is all that they needed.

Raph was honestly a bit frustrated. He'd done everything he normally did when they were in a funk, but it just seemed to get worse by the damn day! He couldn't figure out how to help on this one! There was no one to scare off, there was nothing that needed a firm hand and some elbow grease, it wasn't one of his brothers being stupid, and he knew he hadn't done it because they would have told him so by now! Right?! They always did before! He took a deep breath and sat down on his bench press, cupping his head in his hands as he thought. He didn't realize it, but they'd gotten off of work early and had headed straight over, which left them watching him as he mulled it over and over in his head. "Raph?" They called quietly, instantly drawing him from his thoughts as his head shot up.

"Hey sweets, how was your day?" He asked, holding out a hand to invite them over. They shuffled over and sat down on his lap, laying their head against his chest.

"Shitty..." They mumbled. Raph sighed quietly, cradling the side of their head to pull them closer so he could kiss the opposite temple.

"I'm sorry...anything I can do to make ya feel better?" He asked. He never asked. He always just, had something that did. Something always made them feel better, but this slump, he hadn't been able to break it like usual for them.

"I'm hungry...but I don't feel like eating...can you just, pet my head and hold me for a while?" They asked quietly, as if he might actually refuse.

"I'll tell Mikey to make your favorite an then we can go lay down, alright?" He offered, getting up with them and taking their hand. After he got a nod, he led them to Mikey's room to ask him for a favor before he took them to his room. They didn't bother with blankets, but Raph pulled one up over them anyway. Once they were settled, nice and close together, he began stroking his hand through their hair, churring far more quietly then he ever did in an attempt to lull them to sleep, knowing they could probably use it.

Donnie had been busting his ass all week. For once he was going to have a completely free weekend for them and himself. What he didn't realize was that his business had only made what had been a terrible week already, worse. So, when they didn't come around like they usually did, he grew concerned. He informed his brothers he would be gone for a while before he went topside to get to their apartment. He tapped on their window once he was there. No answer. He frowned thoughtfully, pulling out a small knife. Normally he would never need to use such a simple tool directly like this, but, desperate times. He slid the blade between the windows overlap to unlatch the lock before he opened the window and slipped inside. He called their name. No answer. He looked around, they weren't in the livingroom. The kitchen was a bit worse for ware, but empty. The bathroom door was open, unoccupied, so that left their bedroom. He knocked gently on the door before entering. All the lights were off, their phone wasn't even plugged in, the curtains were drawn shut and the windows were covered with blankets. It was as if they wanted to be swallowed by darkness. He called their name softly as he approached their bed. With his goggles he could see their movement in the dark. "Hey...what's going on? Something happen?" He asked. They seemed to curl in on themselves more. "Did you want to talk to me about it...or did you want to be alone-?"

The words had barely left his mouth when they sobbed a 'no.' Donnie didn't hesitate to pull them, blankets and all, into his lap to hold them close.

"Shhhh, it's okay, I've got you. You're safe, I'm here." He soothed, rocking them gently as he held them. "I'm yours all weekend, anything you need, I'm here." He assured peppering the top of their head with kisses all the while.

Too overwhelmed by emotion to explain, they continued to cry in his lap, arms wrapped tightly around themselves as they tried not to fall apart completely. Of course, if they did, Donnie would be there to put the pieces back together with a gentleness even his own inventions didn't know. He wouldn't leave their side until they felt better.

Mikey was antsy. For the past few days, he could tell they were sinking into another episode. How to stop it though!? He'd made sure to be there to talk to them any time he could. He tried not to get too physical since sometimes they just didn't want to be touched. He was walking on eggshells and he wouldn't complain about it because he knew they were slowly crossing a trail of shattered glass. It would only get worse before it got better. That was, until the day they didn't come to the lair. He knew he shouldn't worry, maybe they just wanted alone time. But then, when they were like this, being alone was the worst thing. He found himself charging out of the lair at dusk and nearly busting through their apartment window before he thought better of that. He knocked urgently. With a click, the window unlocked and slid open. "Mikey?"

They were barely able to register him even being there before he was in their apartment, scooping them up and hugging them tight, murmuring a string of apologies into their hair. "I know you get touched out sometimes when you're like this but when you didn't come I got worried and, and-" he didn't even realize he was crying until they started to soothe him, shushing him and wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"It's okay, I'm fine, I'm safe, I'm right here." They assured softly. Mikey felt even worse for making them feel bad about worrying about them, and he knew they would.

"I just wanna help. How can I help?" He asked, holding them a little tighter. Believe it or not, just knowing that he cared that much, that he'd shed tears for them because he cared so much, they felt a little better already.

"Just...stay...watch a movie with me?" They asked, looking up at him. He nodded, willing to do anything, and it wasn't like the task was difficult anyway.

"Of course, whadya wanna watch?"

@wacheypena @wacheypenaart @lady-ella1 @acelikesturtles @the-second-circle-of-shell @shadow-prime @memes-in-a-half-shell

[lightpudding]

I couldn't not write a part when it's Killian helping Marcy with her clothes. Enjoy!

.

The fact that Director Jenkins approved Marcy's request to take Killian out of the agency for a night, without any spy business or without the third person to "also keep an eye on Killian", was somehow surprising. But, well, Marcy assumed she grow on Joy already. They were, in some sense, similar to each other and Joy had to trust Marcy she won't let Killian slip and run and also will return him (however it sounded) before the time they agreed on. If it was Lance or Walter asking for that opportunity Marcy was sure Joy wouldn't agree.

They left under a note "cultural appreciation" and an agreement from Killian's therapist that it may, indeed, help with his resocialization. But it seemed that the fact that he was leaving the agency first time since months meant way more for Killian that the fact they were going to a theater.

Marcy took care of getting a suit for Killian, a more matching one than the type using by the agency, and drove them to her house, to give them opportunity to prepare.

"You… really own five cats," pointed out Killian, petting Donnie on her back. Marcy laughed, bringing him his new suit.

"It's not like I'm some crazy cat woman, don't worry." She gave the suit to the man. "One day I just found a box with them. Can you believe people still are doing this? I tried to find them a new house but no one ever called so they got stuck with me."

"So sweet," hummed Killian, smirking.

"Ah shut up." Marcy laughed back and went to another room. "The toilet's on the right from the kitchen. I'll be out in a minute."

This suit really looked good on him. It didn't hide his scars but Killian was slowly learning to accept them. Very, very slowly, that's why he didn't look in the mirror longer than it was necessary.

When he got out he stood in the living room, not really sure what to do. He didn't want to sit down and crinkle the material. One of the cats brushed itself against his leg. He bend down and scratched it behind its ear, wondering which one was it, when Marcy stood in the door.

"Hey, uh, can you help me?"

Killian looked up with his passive expression and froze. The cat ran somewhere.

Marcy wore a long, white dress with a cut that went all the way up her ankle, calf, knee and tight. It was perfectly emphasizing her hips, her waist, her breast- Killian blinked and forcefully looked away from the slightly embarrassed, beautiful expression on her face. He stood up, brushing his jacket, not sure what to do with his hands.

"Yeah. Of course. With what?"

"I can't reach the back." Killian swore he saw Marcy smirk when she turned around, revealing unbuttoned back of her dress. Her naked skin, no… no bra…?

Killian huffed, shook his head and approached the woman. He could smell the perfume over her shoulders, the shampoo in her hair, the mix he knew so well from their sparings. He knew she was laying, knew she was capable doing it herself, but couldn't not do it. She asked him after all, didn't she? With a frown he put a cheap prosthetic the agency let him use on Marcy's back, making her jolt a little.

"Cold!" she yelped.

"Sorry," hummed Killian and slowly, carefully buttoned up the dress. Marcy readjusted her hair, turning back toward Killian.

"So? What do you think?" she asked smiling in this specific way, just knowing what is she doing to the man.

Killian sighed again, looking Marcy in the eyes. He smiled, brushing hair away from her right eye.

"Gorgeous," he hummed.

"Yeah?" Marcy leaned even closer, her breast pushing against Killian's chest. She was smiling more and more. Killian looked down for no more than a second, quickly focusing back on Marcy's eyes. He nodded. "Look now then, don't waste the whole play just on me."

She winked and stepped back. Killian wanted to follow immediately but held himself back, brushed his hair and cleared his throat. He didn't need to talk to show Marcy how terribly right she was.

"I'll grab my purse and we can go," she said, leaving the room.

One of the cats meowed at him, sitting on the couch. Killian looked at the pet, lifting one of his eyebrow.

"Lucky," he grumbled before following Marcy.

[snapshotsinsidethehotel]

This is an old story of mine from around March of 2020 (though the original story was created earlier, maybe around late 2019, I just rewrote it a little)

It's pretty long so you decide whether you want to read or not <33 It's just a fun little wip of mine, so please don't go too hard on me! [;w;]/

I'm a bit too lazy atm to actually fix up the mistakes but we never know~ Do tell me if you want more! I currently have three chapters up of this, and it's still uncompleted fjdjf

Please tell me if I need to add a tw warning! <33

Urges Of Nostalgia (unofficial name)

Chapter 1:

I wasn't going to keep my mouth shut today. This school keeps hiding the truth and fills it with lies about the outside world. It was probably their lucky day when they found a huge patch of land far away from the student's families. I could feel an itch forming in my throat, begging to be let out. I opened my mouth to shout but-

"Donovan! Donny!" 

My newest unexpected best friend and roommate, Jerry, ran in front of me. He was a curly haired, tall, and loud-mouthed boy that I can't seem to get away from. He ran to me with hints of tiredness and that silly grin taped onto his face. He took a bit to catch his breath before looking back at me, 

"Hey, did you also get the note from Michael? I haven't asked anyone but you, since well y'know..snitches get stitches" 

Ah.. Yes. Michael, the strict student president! That chubby blonde guy from A-6, a well known all smarts section. Although he was as much of a fuss as the others were, it was a complete miracle that he was chosen to be the president..

 "I don't think I did. Why? What did the note even say? Is he complaining about your rowdiness during class again?"

 Jerry smirked and shrugged, grabbing the crumpled note from his uniform's pocket. Although it was severely crumpled up, it was still somehow legible.

 "Jeez! What'd you do to it?! Just because the note is from Michael doesn't mean you have to destroy it!"

 I jokingly punched his shoulder, a small grin forming. Jerry glared back with an annoyed smile.

"Oh shut it! That's not important right now. Read it!"

 I laughed as he slammed the paper onto my face. I turned my attention to the note, seeing what it said through the crumples.

 

'To : Jerry Stewart. I am requesting a meeting with a few others. This includes a few faces from class B-8, class C-1, and class R-5. This is highly confidential so please do NOT share it with anyone. The meeting will take place in room 76 in building 9 after school. Thank you.

 PS: please burn this after if possible, or bring it to me during the meeting so I will be responsible for the burning. From : Michael Gelbart, student president' 

I stared at the note for a bit before looking back at Jerry's excited face. My face contorting into a confused expression and I saw nothing to get from this. 

"Uh.. So, I saw my section. Is that why you showed me this? I don't think I know anyone that Michael might know?"

We were now closer to the wall, as more students were starting to arrive at the school. 

"Well duh! Look at it this way, Donny. Although Michael is a bit of a sore loser who can't take a joke, I know for sure that he's smart with his tactics. There HAS to be a reason as to why he chose ME! And you're the only guy in your section that I'm close with! Unless he has someone he knows then-"

He was interrupted by a hand covering his mouth out of nowhere. I turned my head to the intruder and...well.. It's none other than Michael himself.

 "I'm terribly sorry for interrupting your little conversation. But I am in fact, not a sore loser that can't take a joke, that you claim I am. But I can confirm one thing though" 

He turned his gaze to me, softening a bit compared to the hard glare at Jerry. He pulled out a neater wrapped envelope and held it out to me with a smile.

 "You too.. Are expected at the meeting, Mr. Santayana. Though I don't think you'll be needing this in hindsight" 

He took it back before I went to grab it, placing it in his bag. He nodded at the both of us and walked into his homeroom. Jerry and I were staring at the door for a minute or so, before Jerry sprung into life again. 

"That reminds me, I have to get to class early as well. See you after class man!" 

He patted my shoulder before he ran down the hallway leading to the stairs. I shook my head in disbelief. I was getting involved in whatever shenanigans they were up to. Even if I were to disagree, the student president of the whole school was in on it. So he could do anything with his power! My mind was rushing with thoughts as I continued making my way to my classes. Time passed quickly from there, either from the boredom or my continuous racing ideas of what the meeting was going to be about.

 Eventually, school was over and it was time to face reality. I picked up my bag and scurried out of the room while my mind was still contemplating my decision. It would be easier to not join, right? What if the problem was because of class? Then it would be a waste of time!I continued to walk to the middle of the campus to observe the map, the confusing arrangement of buildings really take a toll on your mind. I brushed my hand through my hair as I stared confusingly at the board. Seriously. Why is this campus so confusing?!

 "After two years here, I should have memorized the place by now.." 

I turned around to see a first year with a stitch on his right eye. He was holding an envelope and was observing it, looking up and down for confirmation.

 "So..Michael sent for you too.."

I asked him without leaving my gaze from the map. But even so, I could hear him gasping a bit. The sound of the envelope being squeezed inside a bag, and.. silence. It stayed like this for a while, before I checked my watch to make sure we weren't late or anything. It was currently 5:50PM, an hour after school ended. 

"We better go, I heard that Michael has the shortest temper in the world.."

His loud voice lowered to somewhat of a loud whisper as his shoes tapped in the ever-growing silence surrounding us. This was getting really awkward, and it wasn't that simple to just sit around and wait. I was about to walk away, before the guy grabbed my arm and ran forth to one of the large dormitories. He had a small smirk on his face and continued to lead the way until we reached the front entrance, where I managed to break free from his tight grasp. 

"Man! What were you even thinking! That hurt!"

I furrowed my brows as I rubbed my arm while glaring at the younger boy. But he wasn't paying attention to my dismay, rather, he was looking up at the top of the building. I followed his gaze and attempted to ignore the blur that was starting to form from staring up at the far away boy for so long. There was a boy, who's uniform says that he was also a first year student, though his height and childlike features made it so he looked to be around five years old. He was sitting on the edge of the roof, playing with a Nintendo. He seemed to be very focused in the game and his anger noises could be heard from down below. I widened my eyes in shock and looked back at the other first year in front of me before looking back at the kid on the roof. 

"Hey! Get down from there kid! Life here is much nicer than you think!" 

I heard a shout from behind before I was able to say the same thing. I turned around quickly and held my breath, expecting a teacher or staff to catch us when we aren't at our designated dorms. I let out a long sigh when I saw a familiar face. It was Jerry! He seemed as shocked and worried as I was, which relaxed me knowing that I wasn't crazy to be worried of this kid. It was certainly odd that kid in front of me seemed to be laughing instead of joining our chants of fear. He seemed to be joined by another boy who was in the same year, he looked like he was heading inside before noticing the tiny crowd. 

"Oi Alec! Stop scaring your elders, it's rude! Fate isn't going to go your way if you keep staying there!"

The new boy yelled with a similar joyful tone that kept bothering me. The tiny boy looked down and showed a peace sign. If I squinted hard enough, I could almost see a big bright grin. This calmed me a bit, knowing that the boy was going to be safe even though the new guy was straight up insulting us right then and there. The other new guy turned to Jerry who was staring blankly at the now-empty rooftop. 

"Hey Jerry, you good?"

I lightly shook him before he looked back at me with a confused face. Jerry was in the middle of forming words before a familiar looking envelope landed in between us, the same envelope that we have received. Sounds of snickers coming from the first years made me turn to the first years who were looking up at the upper floors again. I was expecting another friend of theirs to be standing there instead as some sort of inside joke. But when I followed their gazes again, I saw Michael waving a paper from the fourth floor. He held a piercing glare and that all-too-familiar frown that you get greeted with when you first enter the school. 

The other first year got a bit nervous and walked right into his room without hesitating and looking back. The three of us understood what he was hinting at and attempted to run up the stairs without disturbing the other students who were most likely sleeping. When we arrived there, Michael was waiting for us by his fancy looking doorway that had his name hanging on it. It was pretty funny to see since it stood out so much. He opened the door and hurriedly invited us in to assure no witnesses would see us outside of the curfew. 

As soon as we had arrived, I noticed that his room was reasonably better than ours. He had a much-larger room with at least three rooms since he had this entire floor to himself. I walked around in circles before plopping down onto the soft couch. It was remarkable! I took a moment to admire it's fluffiness that us 'normal' students aren't given the pleasure of having. Our couches felt like concrete being planted on a wooden frame which weren't even CLOSE to the beauty of his couch. Either he bought it from somewhere else, or the office just loves him that much!

I dazed out while listening to the sweet instrumental being played on a small radio near the television. I noticed his older taste in music and smiled. Perhaps he was also an only child who had older parents too? I took my gaze off of the roof and turned my head to look at Michael who looked upset. 

"Hey Mic, something going on? Don't tell me we're missing a guy.."

The stitched-eye boy confidently said with a grin. This bugged me, due to how casual he seemed around the powerful student president himself. Michael slightly opened the curtain near the door and waited for a bit.. Before closed it with an annoyed expression. 

"That's exactly it, Kurt. Alexander isn't here yet and knowing him, he must've gone somewhere dangerous out of pure fun!" 

I rose from my position and leaned back on the couch. I glanced at the other quiet guy in the room, who was Jerry, to discuss this with him but he was busy watching from the also-luxurious television.. So that wouldn't be possible. I blanked out and observed the two who were more closer than I thought they were. Which was surprising since the two were in very different sections and grades. I stared at the stitched-eye boy and started to make small connections. He was definitely Kurt, but who was Alexander? Considering the fact that Michael managed to be close to a first year, it would be hard to pinpoint every Alexander in the school.

My thoughts were answered when a young boy kicked the door open, nearly breaking it. Isn't that the same guy from the rooftop?! Questions quickly stacked up higher than the answers but I tried to keep my composure.

"Alec! Where were you?! This meeting is serious, you can't just wander around the campus like nothing is expecting you!"

Michael shouted at him with such a demanding tone, I was expecting the tiny boy to start crying. I know I would if I was in his spot.. Well, I understand why he became the student president over the other candidates. Instead of crying, the boy merely smirked and continued walking to the empty seat besides me. He wasn't even tearing up! Michael sighed from the lack of the attention, and closed the door. He turned off the lights without warning and quickly walked to the kitchen, turning on the dim lamp seated on the middle of the table.

"Everyone. Please make your way to the table. Feel free to sit anywhere you feel comfortable"

Ugh..I'd rather stay here. I forced myself to stand up and felt my way through the literal darkness. Now that we're in total darkness, it felt more wider and more confusing than when it was on. We all arrived at the circle table and Michael wasted no time. 

"I've bought you all to discuss a very important matter. This won't be the usual schoolwork discussion you all might've been expecting, but something much more important than that. For years now, I've been eavesdropping the staff, and I've collected some....interesting information"

He reached under the desk and pulled out stacks of paper. He pulled out the top paper, and placed it in the middle of the table. I leaned in closer to read it closer, but Michael pulled it away before any one of us were able to read it.

"To quicken up this meeting, we're all just a bunch of lab rats to the staff in this school. A close friend of mine discovered documents labeling our deaths, which were stated to be about ten months ago. Each and every one of our parents believe that we're dead.. Most of them have probably accepted it and moved on!"

He was visibly angered and slammed his palms onto the table. Jerry flinched, Kurt nervously looked down, Alec smiled, and I started to get a bit worried. I wasn't paying attention to the other things he said, but his outburst and the absurdity of the information stuck itself to my brain. I started to think of rational reasons for this.. Perhaps this was a way to finally let my thoughts out. I raised my hand and kept until Michael acknowledged me...

[itrocloud]

Anxiety Attacks [Donnie X Reader]

DISCLAIMER/NOTE; Please keep in mind that I am going to base this off my own personal experience with anxiety attacks, so not everything will be something you can relate to. You may experience different things during anxiety attacks, while I experience others. This is just an overall, reader has an anxiety attack and Donnie helps. Hope you enjoy.

—

It happened again. You should be used to it by now, but it was still hell, a living nightmare. For some reason, it seemed more worse than usual, perhaps it was because you hadn’t had one in a good while. You thought they were gone for good, never to return again, but you were wrong.

You tried to act fine, tried not to make a scene, but it was impossible to remain emotionaless during a phase like this. First, you began to tremble, shaking violently and uncontrollably. No matter how hard you tried to calm yourself, nothing would stop that shaking. You suddenly got all hot all around your body, but mostly in your face. It burned, it was almost like someone was pouring lava above your head.

Your chest ached horribly, it felt tight, like someone was squeezing the life out of you. Pins and needles felt like they were poking at it at the same time. It was a terrible feeling. One that could never be understood unless one experiences it itself.

Then, you began to feel nauseous, like you would spew at any moment. It wasn’t like when you were sick, it was much worse than that. On top of all that, your mind was going completely insane. So many thoughts swarmed around inside your head, all completely negative. Ones that said you would die right on the spot, ones that encouraged you to harm yourself, ones that put you down and told you all the horrible outcomes of the situation.

Donatello, who left you in the lab was unaware of the situation, he was out for a moment and as soon as he left was when the attack started. You sat there, quickly losing your breath as you tried to regain your strength back. You didn’t want Donnie to come back and see you like this, you didn’t want him to worry.

This wasn’t his problem, it was yours, you felt like you would only burden Donnie with your problems and mental health issues. You occasionally ranted to him, but it was nothing too serious. Stuff like this though? They were beyond the small things you would complain about. This was a matter of life or death, because stuff like this could lead to your suicide.

A method you found to be helpful was pacing around the room, trying to take your mind off the situation. Staring down at your feet and counting the steps you took usually helped, but this time, it wasn’t working. You felt lost, completely helpless, tears pricked in the corners of your eyes. You just wished that it would stop, but that didn’t seem to be happening anytime soon. When you had these anxiety attacks, they lasted for hours.

Completely lost in thought, trapped within your own hellish nightmare, you didn’t notice Donnie walk in. “Hey Y/n,” He called out. “Sorry for leaving, I had to—” He paused, stopping in his tracks when he saw your trembling figure. Seeing your burning face, teary eyed, and shaking body, he knew exactly what was going on. He dashed off, fetching a wash cloth and running cold water on it.

Once he returned, he came up to you, sitting you down in a chair while he sat in front of you. He placed the wash cloth on your forehead, hoping it would help your face cool down. You looked up at him, tears streaming down your cheeks. “I’m sorry,” You whispered. “No, don’t be sorry, there’s nothing to be sorry about.” He reassured you.

“I-I didn’t want to bother you–!” You croaked, more tears slipping out. Donnie frowned, his heart shattering. He hated seeing you like this, you were in so much pain, and all you did was try hiding it from him. He couldn’t blame you though, he understood why you didn’t want to come to him. You cared about his feelings and didn’t want to bombard him with all your troubles.

He just wished that you knew that he cared so much about you. He would do anything for you, that he didn’t mind helping you through your rough times. Donnie made you look at him, and he attempted to help you through your attack. He knew a lot about them because he studied them, and he even had them himself, so he knew what you were going through. He motioned his hands towards himself. “Breathe in.” He told you, inhaling. You did, staring into his eyes as you did so.

“And out.” He exhaled, letting his hands fall back down. “Again.” He said. “Breathe in,” He said, inhaling. “and then out,” Exhaling. “Try focusing on something you love, something positive, something to take your mind off your negative thoughts.” He told you, grabbing your hands and gently squeezing them.

You continued taking deep breathes, holding them for a moment, then letting them out. At first, you only focused on that, but when Donnie spoke up again, you then looked at him. You stared into his eyes, you examined his features. His dark yet soft eyes, his purple mask, his tooth gap, and his hands around yours. Things you all loved about him.

You were in a trance, you never had much of an opportunity to look at him like this, just admiring his beauty. You loved it, you absolutely loved it. Then, you felt yourself slowly stop shaking, your breathing calm again, your upset stomach going back to normal, it all disappeared. You let out a small laugh of excitement. You stopped for a moment, making sure your body wasn’t playing tricks on you. It wasn’t, you were finally okay again.

You placed the cloth that was on your head down on Donnie’s desk. You wrapped your hands around his, squeezing them like he did yours. “Thank you.” You said, smiling brightly. Donnie chuckled. “It was no problem. Im guessing I’m something you love that helps you calm down?” He asked, making you blush. “Yeah...” You admitted sheepishly.

He pulled you into a tight hug, burying his face in the crook of your neck. “I’m glad I was able to help. Remember, I’m always here if you need help with things like this. You never bother me.” He told you before pulling away, caressing your face with his hand. “And always remember that I love you.”

Your face flushed once again. You didn’t expect Donnie to say he loved you, but you didn’t mind, because in all honesty, you loved him too. Maybe having this anxiety attack wasn’t a bad thing, maybe it helped you two bond, maybe it started a spark of love. At least you know now, you’ll always have some help and encouragement through their rough times.

—

END NOTE; This wasn’t exactly a realistic scenario. You can critique me on that. Anxiety attacks don’t go away like that, I know that. But this was just a fun scenario I wanted to write, imgaining myself. Even though this one shot has a few holes in it, I just hope it made at least one of you happy. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and if you leave a like, then thanks again! I love seeing people enjoy my stuff :) Please excuse any typos/grammar mistakes/spelling mistakes.

[avalindin]

It was a bounty hunter, I swear...

Tom Hiddleston fic

Ch. 9: Scream my lungs out

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Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 

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Kali couldn’t cry. Her eyes already stung from the hospital the day and a half before. She’d made a promise. Soon she would be at it again but when she would close her eyes, she would have the memories of being friends with Mina to keep her moving forward.

“Obi?”

Kali tried not to force a smile as her mother set her hand on her shoulder.

“Sorry, mom. Just tired.”

“I know, baby. Gonna get a nap while we set up our things?”

“I’m not sure how deep a sleep I may be in.”

“I’ll send in Demi instead. Manny just got home from Ibiza. She could sneak in if you want.”

A small huff of laughter was heard for a second, but Peggy saw the fast blur of her baby girl rush from the car and around the side of the house. She brushed the gray hair over her ear and tried not to look in the rearview mirror. Instead, she looked over her shoulder with a heavy and hurting heart to the crinkled mailing envelope that Mina was too weak to close just days before. Kali wouldn’t be ready for it, but she also made a promise.

Kali made sure the door was closed as she kicked off her flats and tumbled to her old mattress. Her fatigue guided her eyes to shut on their own. She reached under her bed for the small worn Yoda doll that had been hers for so many years. Her nose pressed into the top of the fake green wrinkles. She remembered before her, the doll wasn’t just Donovan’s, it was also Mina’s, gifted to him as a result of a puppy love crush.

“Hey!”

Kali dreamt of the first time that she saw Mina.

She had been so mesmerized at the boys’ VHS collection on the large screen in front of her, that she didn’t see the loud child dressed in bold colors. The silence of the new girl’s sandals had stopped once she quit chasing Donovan around the house and focused her attention on Kali. She wasn’t ready for the new child to rush to Kali’s side and size her up and down.

She got back up to her feet and held out her hand to Kali.

“I’m Mina.”

She slowly took Mina’s hand and her help to get to her feet.

“Kali,” she mumbled into the doll.

“You don’t talk much,” she exclaimed, almost scaring Kali, “Just stick with me and we can fix that.”

“Glad you did,” sighed Kali.

Sleep slowly took her before she could feel her held back tears roll to the pillows.

-

He bit the edge of his nail as the wheels rolled on. He hadn’t been in Texas since the last time he’d ran from Kali. There was a bit of him that wanted to see her again but with how he left things with her, the only thing he wanted to do was pay his respects and leave. There was some struggle to whether they were his respects to pay or not. He’d meet Mina only twice. Once in San Diego during their stay at the Con and once when Tom made a surprise pit stop in Austin to whisk Kali away for a romantic weekend, right before everything went to shit.

“Oh...”

Tom smiled and had hurried to press his finger to his lips. He even leaned against the doorway.

“Your fine ass can be my delivery boy anytime you want.”

“Mina! Don’t fuck this one either! We can’t keep finding...”

Kali had stopped in front of Tom, waiting just for her.

“Welp,” shrugged Nina as she stepped back from the door, “You know the drill.”

She gave Kali a mighty shove into the hallway and slammed the door behind them. He smiled to her boldness and wished he could have known her better.

His long fingers wrapped around the flowers as his car pulled up to the steps of the church. It wasn’t until he got out of the car when he saw a few people descend the church steps to their cars. Some looked his way, but none gave him any bother.

“Excuse me,” he softly butted to the closest people, “Is it still going on?”

“No. We decided to cut it early. Her ashes are going to the after-wake and then home with us. Hope you brought food.”

His heart broke as he looked into the ordinary eyes of Mina’s parents. He lifted his hand with the flowers towards them.

“I am so sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine what you are going through.”

“You knew Mina?”

“Only through Kali.”

Both looked at Tom and turned to leave void the flowers.

“Thank you but we know who you are.”

He was left on the steps with no cab in sight and not a clue of what to do next.

“Shit.”

-

His hand shook as he prayed for the strength to not lose his mind. He straightened his BDUs and slowly made his way up the cracked pathway. If the door hadn’t already been propped open, he wouldn’t have been able to go inside. Once his boots passed the threshold, he pulled the cover from his shaved head and set out to find his mother. Peggy pulled a tray of food from the oven and set them to cool on the counter. Her smile shown on the younger woman with warm olive skin and newly platinum blonde hair pulled up over her aid.

“Girls, just give these ten minutes to settle then dig in. Manny, fish, don’t hurt yourself.”

“Yes, Mama Tigger!”

“What about the guys?”

Peggy turned with enough force to twirl her dress in excitement.

“My Baby!”

She opened her arms to Donovan. He’d still grown a bit since the last time he’d been home.

“Hi, momma. Where’s everyone else?”

“Demi had to work but he’s on his way home. Kali is sleeping the funeral off.”

“In her room? Is she holding up?”

“Yeah, go out the back and use the side door.”

He kissed her brow and left with a few snacks in his hand to devour. He was careful to not step on his mother’s flowers as he stopped at the door of his nana’s old room. He still wasn’t used to it all. The knob turned with ease and his large hand pushed the door in. He saw his sister stir, making his hurry to stop the blaring sunlight from disturbing her room.

Kali could hear the door behind her. The quiet sounds of the grieving party outside her first door made her want to shove earbuds in her ears.

“Fuck,” she sighed as she clutched her Yoda closer.

“Terrible language, Ma’am. Now where the fuck did you learn that?”

She quickly turned and smiled as she rushed form her bed and into her brother’s arms. Donovan tried everything in his power to not cry but she was faster to wipe them away.

“I don’t… When did you get back?!”

“Today but I have to go back day after tomorrow. So, you got Nana’s old room, huh?”

“Uh, yeah,” she shrugged as she returned to the side of her bed, “It’s not much but...”

“I know.”

What was in the past was in the past and she liked it that way.

“So, did you get my package?”

“What package?”

“I mailed it to mom after last week. I thought she would have given it to you before I got here. There.”

He pulled something from the floor. He handed her a thick mailing envelope from the pile of mail that she never opened. She could feel the enamel in her back teeth clench when she saw Mina’s writing on the front.

“Fucking ass had me mail this without looking. Of course, she would make me work for her last words.”

Donovan took a seat next to his baby sister. Kali forced herself to exhale and reach for the seal. She ripped it open and pulled out a golden box along with a weak piece of paper.

“This was for the first one but yours will always be one with the Force, just like you.”

Donovan took the paper from Kali and gave a soft chuckle.

“You’d think her last words would be a little more wise-ass.”

“She always writes on the back.”

“How… Kal, I can’t read this out loud.”

“Got milk? Stupid cow.”

Donovan could feel his heart break as he saw Kali smile at the paper.

“What is it?”

Kali went back to the small golden box. Her fingers went for the small screw in the back. It turned until she couldn’t anymore. She wasn’t ready for the gentle lullaby notes of the Imperial March, so soft and mesmerizing as the turning dented wheel plucked against the small metal forks hidden inside. They were both quiet until Donavon cleared his throat.

“You need to take it back.”

“I know.”

Kali reached under her pillow for the small black box and slid it into her brother’s large palm. He flipped the ring box in his fingers and sighed.

“I really was going to marry her.”

“I know.”

“I would have been okay with an open marriage.”

“I don’t think you would have.”

“I would have done anything to make her happy.”

“You always did but she knew that ring was never for her.”

“Thanks, Nicholas Sparks.”

“You’re welcome, Muggle. We should get out there.”

Kali didn’t realize how hard she was staring at the until the flood of sunlight made her wince.

“Need a hand?”

“I’ll be fine. Can I get a minute?”

“Sure. See ya ‘round.”

Kali waited until the shuffle of his combat boots were around the bend. Her thumb pushed open the music box, but it wasn’t Mina’s gift. She gently pulled open the top of the inside for the piece of paper she guessed was waiting for her.

Her hands were shaking badly as she tried not to rip the last bit of confidence Mina always gave her.

Hey, bitch.

Sorry for the change in calligraphy but I need to do this quick before the other bitch comes back. First, I fucking love you. I was meant to be a part of your family no matter what. Kiss everyone for me, expect Donny. I’ll have something special for him when I see him again.  

Fuck my parents. If they have too, they’ll hurt you one more time. You were always so strong, little mouse but shit’s going south, and I may as well give you bad advice while I’m still here.  

This is about you know who. Wink, wink.

It will hurt but forgive him. We’re all scared. I was too. We do fuck up things when we’re scared, even if you never see that fine ass again.  

I’ll be waiting for you. Bring alcohol.

There was no reason to read it a second time. She folded it back to perfection and hid it back in the music box. When she got a moment, she would make sure she framed it in her memory. Kali got to her feet and straightened herself the best way she knew how. It was on her now to keep herself going with Mina still in her heart. She pushed her feet into her flats and out the side door.

“Might as well get this done with,” she shrugged.

Everything was quiet but heightened. The shuffle of feet, mainly towards the chairs where Mina’s parents were seated. They hadn’t always seen things eye to eye with the way she was brought up. While Kali was raised by a loving Peggy, Mina’s upbringing was a bit on the conservative side. They weren’t bad people, but they could have morally been better in supporting their only child’s decisions. Mostly, they blamed Kali or rather Peggy for their daughter’s downward spiral to Hell. Kali always laughed when those words came out of Mina’s mouth. She did what she could to move about the party and serve the guests without making absolute contact until Manny snatched the tray from her hands.

“Cock up, woman,” she signed, “Go on.”

It hurt her to move herself forward and stop in front of them. Really, she hadn’t thought of what would happen at this point. A slap across the face, a righteous rant about the unholiness that had become their daughter, or any number of things that had always gone through her head. The only thing she regretted was having a stomach full of delicious food as her nerves tried to poke her in the side.

“Things are starting to quiet down if you want to leave.”

Something simple where everyone would win. All would grieve in their own ways and Kali would make sure nothing smartass slipped out until they were gone for good. Mina’s mother was the first to react, just not in the way she expected. First, there was a smile. Then, she slowly got to her feet, smoothed out her skirt, and wrapped her arms around Kali. She was frozen in that moment, cautious in case of anything unexpected. Manny was within distance and ready for a fight. She gave a small enough hug back for it to count but her feelings for Mina’s mother made her feel worse.

Peggy stepped away from the kitchen for a moment. The pain in her chest for Mina grew worse. She sat on the back porch steps. Her aging fingers pulled the cigarette from her apron. It had been a long while since she’d given them up and now, she just wanted to get through the day. She put the nasty thing between her lips.

“What am I going to do Momma?”

Her mother had died the month before in her sleep. Kali miscarried early the month before that. She lit the end and inhaled the bitter smoke, feeling something else amiss. Each pull calmed her a little bit until she could hear raising voices from the house. She dropped the butt on the start of the driveway and hurried herself around the side of the house. She reached for Kali’s side bedroom door until a tall bit of movement got her attention. She craned her neck to the person she hoped to Hell she would never see.

“Son of a bitch.”

She locked eyes with Tom.

“Shit,” he whispered under his breath.

Kali ignored the voices from the kitchen.

“Our girl meant the world to us and her journey, God’s plan for her needed you in her path.”

Still cautious. She wasn’t sure if Mina’s parents would make a scene.

“I… don’t know how to answer that.”

Most everyone was preparing to go home with a few drunk stragglers waiting on Ubers and what family was left eating in the kitchen. Her skin felt like it was shrinking as her mother pulled away. Something was coming since Mina’s father was silent as he always was in her presence.

“We have something for you. One last bit of Mina.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver chained necklace with a small black heart hanging down.

“Thank you.”

“I know it’s a bit much, but we put some of her ashes in there for you to have. You were a sister to her.”

“What?”

She kept as much surprise in as she could bear. Past that, she was more than happy to put aside her slight distain for them, for Mina’s sake.

“Now you’ll always a bit of her to taint.”

“Motherfucker.”

As soon as she closed her mouth, the bits of the house that were in an ear shot went silent as Mina’s father got to his feet, sporting the bible Mina would detest.

“God took her away because of you.”

It was good while it lasted.

“Get out. Just go. You have a right to grieve but just go pray rude behind my back like a normal person.”

Her hand clutched the chain tighter. It began to hurt. Voices quickly rose, including her own. Soon the words blended together, and faces grew red. Kali tucked the neckline into her dress so that it wouldn’t fly around the room at the rate her hand angrily tried to permanently show them the way out of her mother’s house.

When Mina’s mother refused to take another step, Kali tried to turn her to the exit. This caused her father to pull her hand away. Donovan and Manny took notice. Manny was out of the kitchen at once and set her sights on Mina’s father, wanting very badly to break his wrist on the way out the door. Donovan was able to pull her back a fraction and heavily insistent that they leave.

“Of course, we would expect this from you,” cried the mother.

“Would you like me to let my sister on her feet to you, because, believe me, I will.”

Demi stepped through the door with his scrubs still on, looking into what he had missed. Manny was tucked under Donovan’s arm, ready to fuck anyone up in a moment’s notice. Kali had tears streaming down her face.

“Just get out or I will fucking kill you myself!”

They turned on their heel without another breath. Their backs were to the car, slowly testing Kali’s building rage. Her hand grabbed Manny’s old field hockey stick.

“What the Hell are you waiting for?! For Mina to come back?”

She was out the door with Demi trying to hold her rage back without getting clocked with the wood.

“Please just go,” he begged.

“Mina was my fucking family! You couldn’t just love her as she was!”

There was a moment where Demi didn’t step with Kali and she paced towards them. Mina’s parents ran for the safety of their car. Peggy turned from Tom’s stare to the pure grieving hell the had become her daughter. The engine roared and the tires furiously sent the car back out of the driveway. Tom saw as Kali ran past him.

Her eyes filled with tears and she wasn’t sure what she saw. She sure as hell heard the Prius that ran over her mother’s mailbox as it fled from the neighborhood. Kali tried to control her breath. She turned back to Tom as he stood completely still. He knew he would be in a world of hurt but he knew it was where he wanted to be. Kali wasn’t sure of what to say but was pulled back from her speechlessness when Manny tackled Tom ruthlessly from his feet.

Tom saw how beautiful Kali still was. He could feel the breath leave him. Then, he could feel all the breath knocked out of him as a woman small than Kali nearly knock him out.

“Manny! No!”

“Jesus Christ,” screamed Tom as he tried to shield his face form her raining fists.

“Donovan! Get her off him now!”

“Fuck that! She fucking bit me!”

Kali grabbed what she could and jerked her sister away until she set her sights on Don.

“What the hell was that for?!”

Peggy was out of breath trying to separate her children. She saw a few people on their street peeking through their curtains and she didn’t need the cops called again on a small disturbance. She did raise fighters. What she didn’t expect was Tom helping to stop the fighting. That and Demi making a dive for Tom.

“Manwhore!”

“Good dammit!”

Peggy stepped back and tried to catch her breath.

“Knock it off,” she gasped.

Something was wrong and it wasn’t from the cigarette. It was too soon.

More guests from the kitchen either watched from the front porch or failed at helping stop the fighting in the front yard. When she got a breath, Kali held up her hand to her sister.

“I said I got this,” she turned her head to Tom, “You need to leave. Now.”

“Mom?”

Manny’s voice had changed quickly to the point on concern. All eyes turned to Peggy on the ground and clutching her chest.

Kali was terrified at the silence.

-

She remembered how Kali looked when she was in the hospital. She was so pale. She could feel herself asleep. Her chest was going to cave in. She knew the feeling.

“I’m so sorry, Midge.”

She could feel the tears streaming down her face. The doctor and the nurses couldn’t know what she had been through. Third birth, third baby to join her husband. She tried to hold herself, but she felt she deserved a few tears. Her fingers wanted to hold more than his tiny hand.

“Can I at least hold him? Please?”

With the nod of his head, the doctor stepped aside and unhooked her baby as quickly and carefully as they could. Once all the medicine and the plastic was free, the last bit of the baby was given to her. She steadied her breath. She had gotten skilled in being able to silently grieve.

“You are just so beautiful,” she whispered.

Her face was a mess, but she didn’t wish to waste a moment. Nothing could be missed in the last breaths her little boy had.

“You would have had so much fun, Jonah. I’m sure of it.”

She wanted to sing, to kiss him, but everything was too much. Her eyes burned into her love. She asked the staff not to tell her how much time went by; she couldn’t accept it. She held him a little while longer, even after he stopped breathing.

“Ms. Dawson.”

“You have to take him from me. Now.”

She understood the importance of her choice. Another baby would have the chance Jonah never would. She fought her voice. Her arms trembled as a nurse stepped forward and lifted the baby from Peggy’s arms. Through her tears, she watched her baby carried away to the next life and out of hers. All she wanted to do was die.

She wanted to stop breathing and let it all go.

“You can see her now.”

Kali and Manny were the first on their feet. Kali stopped for a second and looked back to Tom’s bruised face.

“Go,” he softly smiled, “I’ll watch your things.”

She didn’t wait for him to finish. He stayed where he was and looked to Donovan and Demi. He knew to keep his mouth shut. Donovan had a small, single scratch on his cheek. Demi wasn’t so lucky. His wrist was wrapped in a bandage and brace from trying to pummel Tom.

“Why are you here?”

“Dem. Not now.”

“No. Fuck your moral code of conduct, Army Bitch. I have a right to know.”

“Because I fucked up twice and when Peggy told me that Mina was gone, I thought Kali might want someone in the wake of losing her soulmate. If you want to beat me into the ground, guess what? Get in line, but for right now, can we set this aside until we know that another person in her life is okay?!”

He stopped and made sure he didn’t draw unwanted attention to themselves.

They were silent.

“I can do that,” sighed Demi, “Fucking Dummy.”

“Girls, chill out.”

She hated seeing her kids worried.

“You had a heart attack!”

“And you have school in the morning. I’m fine now.”

She always chose her words carefully. Manny tried not to meet her mother’s eyes.

“Hey!”

Peggy snapped her fingers. Kali knew why. Manny tucked her hair over her ear; the aid was somewhere dropped and hopefully together on the front lawn. She caught Peggy’s hands.

“Go home. Take some food with you and go back to school. If you don’t maintain that GPA, you’ll have to reapply.”

Peggy made sure Manny saw her hands as she signed. Manny shook her head. She stepped forward and hugged her around the tubes in her arms. Peggy held on for as long as she could.

“Hey,” she snapped her fingers again, “What do we do? Tell me. Both of you.”

“Calm your tits. Tits out. Out the door.”

Manny tried not to laugh.

“That’s my girl. Go on. I’m taken care of.”

Peggy let her hand go and watched her most adventurous child stop in front of Kali.

I’m sorry about your ass’s face, she signed.

“Don’t worry,” she signed back, “It’s an improvement.”

Manny vanished around the corner, leaving Kali with their mother.

“So. I’m sorry?”

“Why? What did you do?”

“It’s my fault he’s here.”

“Mom!”

“Wine was involved, and I forgot with all the commotion.”

“Unlike the scene on the front lawn? God damn it all, Margret!”

Kali huffed her breath and moved into the bed with her. Peggy giggled as she tried her best to comfort her little girl.

“I thought you might want a happy face.”

“Fuck you,” she pouted.

Tom’s eyes wandered. He wasn’t really sure what to do with himself. Manny snatched her purse from the seat next him, ignoring he was even there.

Hey, I’m going back to get my stuff. I’ll be back in a week for break. Dibs on the chicken salad.

“Fine. How’s mama?”

She wants to see everyone, her eyes finally burned into Tom, including you, stale tea.

“Fine,” he signed, “I deserved that.”

She stuck up her middle finger and left them behind. Donovan grabbed the cover on the seat next to him.

“Let’s go, Green Bean,” he nodded to Tom, “Mama’s orders.”

Peggy smiled at the small group entering her room.

“My boys,” she smiled.

Kali moved from the bed and into the nearest chair before it was taken. Tom stayed on the other side of the room.

“Where do you fucking think you’re going?”

Demi and Donovan stepped back as Peggy held her arm open to Tom.

“Well, I…”

“Now, young man.”

He wasn’t sure why, but he felt he was the reason she was in the hospital bed to begin with. He balanced himself over the bed and gave Peggy the hug she wanted.

“I’m sorry about this.”

She let go and let Tom slink back to the couch on the farthest wall. Time passed and Peggy hated to let her children go. She tried hard to put on a brave face, even with pain in her chest. Demi left to get his wrist checked out and Donovan left to go clean the house. Only Kali and Tom stayed behind. At one point Tom woke with Kali under his arm. The room was completely dark with the exception of the nurse’s station.

1:30am

He turned off his phone, glad that his story of a sick family member gave him the privacy of finding Kali again. It all felt like a dream. Soon it would all end again.

“You act like she’s going to bite.”

Tom looked to Peggy trying to sit up in the bed. He slipped away from Kali and pressed the right buttons at the start of the bed to make her more comfortable.

“Thank you,” she sighed.

“I’m sorry.”

Peggy pushed on her tortoise shell glasses to see the fade of shame in his face. She patted the side of her bed for him to sit. He obeyed. Peggy could feel the strength in her hand weaken. No matter what happened, she knew she would fine. If only she really meant it.

“If you are sorry, then you need to meant it, Thomas. I’m still furious but life is short Tom. Stop being a pussy and talk with Kali. Get closure. Understand?”

“I understand.”

“Oh, honey,” she wheezed, “Just look after her.”

“I promise.”

Kali woke, seeing Peggy reach up and embrace Tom. It was strange to see her mother so forgiving after all she’d been through. She quietly slipped out of the room. She took a few steps down the hall, letting her mind wander. She had held on to her anger for so long after Tom had left but she thought that maybe if it was for the best. She did love Tom, but the pregnancy had been such a surprise, even with the fight, it was all too soon for them. Kali wanted what she had in the beginning with

Tom, a beautiful raw downward spiral. Things were different now.

Tom looked over to the couch, seeing Kali gone.

“Go,” Peggy whispered, “Don’t leave her alone.”

“Please try and get some rest.”

She only gave a soft smile as she had for years. The second Tom was gone, there was a loud beep on the screen above her head. She quickly removed the monitor from her finger before any nurses took notice. She would be fine. The pain returned and all she had to do was close her eyes and breathe. It wasn’t the best way, but everyone would be fine in time. They’d have to be. Nurses were busy with a rowdy patient across the way and they wouldn’t be back for her vitals in another hour or so.

She closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

She was so tired, and she didn’t want to sleep anymore. Her feet shuffled as she tried to keep her head up. Her mind was unsettled but she knew she was helping. She stopped at the door of the small room. The cries from the crib broke her heart.

“Ms. Dawson?”

“Where’s the family?”

“They left without him.”

“What?”

“They were considering adoption until I came back with the paperwork. That was half an hour ago.”

“My God.”

Peggy rushed into the room as quick as her muscles could allow her. She reached into the crib and held the little baby. It calmed in no time, leaving a smile to Peggy and the nurses face. The baby responded wonderfully to her touch.

“That’s much better now, isn’t it?”

The baby fell asleep quickly, easing her as she was led back to her room with her new guest.

“Will anyone be back for him?”

“Child services is on the way now.”

“If I need to talk to the doctor, I understand but I’d like to take him.”

“Are you sure?”

Peggy sat on her bed. Her heart was filled with sorrow of her loss but slowly filling as the beautiful little boy slept soundly in her arms.

“Maybe all this happens for a reason.”

The nurse eased her hand on Peggy’s shoulder.

“He will be so happy.”

The nurse left them alone and Peggy did what she could to ready herself before the proper people found her. Her heart exploded when she was granted custody.

“Name?”

She signed the last of the papers and meet the deep brown eyes that found her.

“Donovan. After my late husband.”

“Kali?”

Kali rubbed her arms, cold from the hospital air. Tom removed his dress coat and placed it around her arms.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

“I-I didn’t want to shout at 1 in the morning.”

“That’s probably wise. There’s some chairs around the corner.”

“You’ve been here before?”

“I work here janitorially.”

They sat by themselves, next to each other. Kali leaned against Tom as his arm drifted around her. It wouldn’t have been a great idea with eye contact. He fought himself to pull closer, pull her to his lap, to just hold her again. He would have to be fine with just that. She laced her fingers with his. His nose turned into her hair and smelled her. His heart was sore. The silence was needed.

“How did she go?”

He wasn’t given any details.

“She had a lot of headaches the past year. She’d been laid-off from her last job and she didn’t have the proper health insurance. Then there was a major nosebleed two weeks ago. It still seems so far away now. Mom took her to the ER, and she had a big clot in her brain.”

“Aneurysm?”

“It all happened so quickly. Even if she did have the means for having surgery, it wouldn’t have been enough. She was so full of life one day and then she was seizing and coding the next. Then, after two days, she made herself DNR. I couldn’t leave her.”

She sighed. She was so tired from all the tears. Tom kissed her hair. Kali knew what she wanted to say.

“I still love you, Tom. I was mad the after the fight and even worse when you left without saying goodbye, but I think it all was supposed to happen.”

“I know.”

He hated to agree.

“Mina did trust your character even if it did have shit moments. I’m willing to start over if you are but I need more time away from you.”

“I can live with that.”

Kali’s face slowly grew into a smile. Her eyelids slowly closed as she turned her face into Tom’s chest. He slowly reclined back in the uncomfortable chair ready for sleep to take him.

“Code Blue. Unit IMC.”

Tom and Kali both jumped at the sound of the intercom above their heads.

“The fuck?”

Kali rolled from the seat and watched the nurses rush down her mother’s side of the hall.

“No.”

Tom followed and was close behind once her eyes widened around the corner. They set off in a sprint to the rush filing into her mother’s room. Kali was frozen. Her mother disappeared in a sea of nurses racing to revive Peggy. Tom pulled her to the side from wheeling equipment. All she could do was hold Tom’s dress coat in her hands and ring the life from them as she watched her loving mother leave.

“Call it.”

“Time of death. 2:36am.”

-

“You got the list?”

Manny shook her head.

“I’m going to Japan next year. I’ll take a little more.”

Donovan rubbed at his arms through the Under Armor. Strange that he ran the whole way there, but he had a routine he liked to keep as well as the distraction. Kali was strangely relieved that they got a med student that was understanding of their situation.

“Demi.”

He just shook his head.

“I know why we have to do this now, but I just want to take my meds.”

It was a very long week for them.

“It’s okay. We’ll take Manny’s car if you want to go home.”

There was a small chuckle with a smile to follow.

“Maybe I’ll be the big spoon with your boyfriend.”

“There you are.”

Demi left his sister to do what he couldn’t handle anymore. Donovan grabbed the stiff cardboard box with the separated bits of his mother. Peggy had always wanted to travel but she was terrified to fly. Now, as agreed, she would see the world. With the box placed in the truck, everyone made a break for the backseat. Donovan turned for the road, but Kali was quicker.

“Hey, if you are taking the scenic route, can you pick up a few things at the market?”

“Sure thing. List?”

“Yeah. Be sure to get me the receipts when you get home.”

“Got it.”

Kali was able to settle herself in the driver’s seat. Manny was in the back without a word or sign. Silence was understandable. Everything blended so easily. The car stopped in the driveway. With the motor off, Kali could only sit there. Her eyes drifted over the two story home that her mother worked hard to pay off. The lawyer was a family friend and would make the last day of Shiva but thankfully Tom would be gone by then. Soon they would have to talk but there were things that she was and wasn’t feeling. Her eyes wondered to the mailbox that was back in the ground while they were gone earlier that morning. Tom must have been busy since then. She reached behind her.

“Hey,” she swatted at Manny’s bare leg, “We got work to do.”

Manny groaned but she knew. Kali was first in the house and taken completely by surprise. Demi was already on his feet and helping rearrange the family and friends that were already there. His pain meds always made him helpful and uppity. Peggy did have plans put in place. Kali had hoped it would be a few decades before they would happen but here it was.

Music came from the den, mostly 80’s rock and trash. Everyone agreed that was where the booze stayed. The kitchen would be put to use. There was food and a system for dirty dishes. That’s where she found Tom. She didn’t stay long as Manny stomped upstairs with half a bottle of Jack. She snapped to Donovan as he arrived home.

“I got her.”

Kali pushed her brown hair back and was carried with the system of the house. Most of the house had a flow. Only a few people upstairs at a time. Bathrooms stocked at all times. No empty plates in the house. No one had to leave for the week but there had to be breaks. Kali checked her phone the moment she felt some fatigue.

“Go have a lie down.”

Manny signed her.

“Where have you been for the last five hours? I thought you’d be out.”

“I almost got into a fight with Don, but we went for a run. I had a panic attack.”

“What?!”

“I’m a little better now and I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, kid. We just grieve differently.”

“It’s almost midnight. Go to bed, man.”

She didn’t realize how the house had gotten quiet.

“Everyone else down?”

“Demi crashed in Mom’s bed. We got ourselves. Go.”

It wasn’t just her bed she was pushing Kali to. She stopped in the bathroom that was finally silent. She washed up as quick as she could before she cried. It didn’t stop her hands from shaking. Her hand could barely grab the doorknob.

“Kali?”

She sighed in relief as she heard Tom on the other side of the door. She used what strength she had to pull the door open. Tom was ready for anything as Kali stood in the quiet little bathroom.

“Hi.”

_____

Tagged: @808-anon​ @angelus80​ @angryschnauzer​ @antyc67​ @atinyfangirl​ @audasia25​ @damageditem​ @dangertoozmanykids101​ @inkededucatednnerdy​ @itsjustelen​ @jennphoenix​ @justahopeless-dreamer​ @kimanne723​ @lokilockedcougar​ @lovehiddles4everme​ @mazda098​ @missdibley​ @mrshiddelston​ @mypreciousmind1​ @nicole-stewart-loves-cookies​ @osb1anon​ @ourladybinxthings​ @peskipixi​ @prplprincez​ @quoting-shakespeare-to-ducks​ @ririsutty​ @roamingbadger​ @sarabeth72​ @sevanya​ @shamvictoria11​ @starrynight35​ @siyoteodiara​ @startingtoenjoylife​ @texmexdarling​ @the-lady-mischief​ @tinaferraldo​ @tomkurbikston​ @vdcster​ @wolfsmom1​

[ramseyandrys]

Through the Dark: Part 1

Book: Nightbound

Pairing: Cal x MC

Summary: The pack isn’t going to just let Cal walk away. After all, family is forever, right?

Author’s Note: Hello! Because we’re not getting a sequel to Nightbound, I decided to write my own. I will warn you that it likely won’t be as gory as Nightbound was. There will, of course, be drama. Also, I tried to keep things as canon as possible, but I do have a terrible memory, so I apologize in advance if anything is off. The title comes from the song Through the Dark by One Direction.

Tag List (let me know if you want to be added or removed): @lilyofchoices @x-kyne-x @universallypizzataco @ab1901 @birdlovesafish @rain18rain @strangelycami @tendentiously @arise-aries @bubblygothzombie @molly7998 @waytooattuned @paisleylovergirl @endlessflame @fairydustandsarcasm @isabella-choices @princeteddyperses @exchoonesos @adrianadmirer @squishyyghost @justendlesssummerfeels

Three women sat at a small table in a Cajun restaurant in the center of New Orleans. One possessed the power of the Fae, another of the Reimonenq Touch, and another of sheer will and strength. As the women joked and laughed, it was hard to imagine just three months ago they had defeated multiple bloodwraiths and an evil zealot.

Mia, Katherine, and Vera were all having lunch together in one of Vera’s favorite Cajun restaurants. All of their schedules were hectic and rarely matched up, so they were all thankful to be in one another’s company. They’d become tremendously close after Thomas was defeated. They bonded over not just that but of the similarities in their lives. “So, how’s our resident wolf boy, Mia?” Katherine asked. Mia smiled not just at the nickname but at the thought of Cal. Like she had with Katherine and Vera, Mia also bonded with Cal. Of course, she bonded with him a little differently than she did with the two women. When Mia had decided to stay in New Orleans, she didn’t expect her relationship with Cal to become as intense as it had. Her relationships in the past had never been more than flings. They were fun, but she never felt anything. With Cal, it was different. She felt everything. Even after all she had seen, Mia still didn’t believe in soulmates, but, if she did… “Mia?” Mia had completely forgotten Katherine had asked her a question. Cal tended to have that effect on her.

“He’s okay,” Mia said. She tried to hide the large smile on her face to no avail.

“Nik told me you guys moved in together,” Katherine said. “Kinda soon, isn’t it?”

“It’s not like it’s just the two of us. Donny’s there,” Mia said. She still wasn’t sure if she was happy with that fact or not. “Besides, I was tired of living with Nik. He burns everything he tries to cook, the girls he has over always use my toothbrush, and he always leaves his beard clippings in the sink.”

“Who doesn’t have an emergency toothbrush in their purse?” Vera asked, seemingly scandalized. “Heathens.” Both Mia and Katherine laughed at their friend.

“Nik was pretty bummed when I told him, but he understood,” Mia said. “I love Cal, and I love him even more now that I realize living with him is like having a live-in maid.”

“Is he that clean?” Vera asked. Mia nodded. It wasn’t rare for her to come home to find Cal washing the dishes, wearing yellow gloves that came up to his elbows, or scrubbing the grout of their tile with a toothbrush like Cinderella. She especially liked it when he cleaned in nothing but his underwear when he knew Donny was out. Mia felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and saw that she had a text from Cal.

Cal: Hey! Are you still with Katy and Vera?

Mia: Yeah. We’re talking about you. 😉

Mia: Is everything okay?

Cal: You need to come home. Someone ransacked the place.

Mia’s eyes widened at the word someone. Not something as in a bear or a cougar. “Everything okay?” Vera asked.

“I have to go,” Mia said, standing up and pushing her chair in. “Someone ransacked the cottage.”

“What?” Katherine gasped. “Who the hell would do that?”

“Could it have been an animal?” Vera asked.

“I don’t know,” Mia said.

“Well, we’re coming with you,” Katherine said. Vera nodded.

“No,” Mia said, shaking her head. “You guys finish your lunch.”

“Are you sure?” Vera asked, frowning.

“Yeah,” Mia said. “Cal’s there anyway.”

“Okay,” Katherine reluctantly said. Mia loved her friends, but she was growing tired of how protective of her they were. After all, she was half Fae. Anything that could harm her could likely kill them. Mia had to remind herself that her friends only wanted to keep her safe.

Mia drove down the rocky, uneven road that led to the cottage she shred with Cal and Donny. She parked in front of it. The cottage looked like something out of a fairytale. It was small and only had one bedroom and a loft. The house was mostly made of brown shingle shake siding, but it had a stone foundation. The windows and doors were black and had recently been replaced to look more modern. The chimney on top of the dark grey roof always had smoke coming out of it, but it didn’t today. Cal and Donny both stood on the tiny covered porch, wearing identical scowls. Mia got out of her car, accidentally slamming the door. She barely noticed. Cal met her halfway to the porch. “Thank God,” he breathed. He put his strong arms around Mia and hugged her tightly. Cal’s hugs were normally incredibly tight, but this one was even tighter if that was at all possible. Cal let go of Mia and stared into her brown eyes. Mia noticed that his were misty. “I didn’t know what to think when I walked into the house. I thought you were-“ His breathing started to quicken.

“Cal, baby, breathe,” Mia said, putting a calming hand on his shoulder. “I’m fine. Donny’s fine. Everyone’s fine.”

“The people who did this won’t be,” Cal said, a new fire in his eyes.

“How do you know it wasn’t a bear?” Mia asked, playing devil’s advocate more than anything. Their black door looked like a SWAT team has busted through.

“Because,” Cal said, reaching into his denim pocket. “Donny and I found this.” Cal pulled out a long, sharp black claw. Mia took it from him and looked at it closely.

“This looks like it’s from a werewolf,” she said. “Are you sure it’s not yours or Donny’s?” She realized, as soon as she said it, what a stupid question it was. There was a strict “no wolves in the house” policy.

“No, but it’s definitely Pack,” Cal said. His nose flared. “There was only one of them here. I only vaguely recognize the scent. It has to be someone who hasn’t been ‘round long.”

“But why would someone from the pack do this?” Mia asked.

“Because of Cal,” Donny said as he walked towards Cal and Mia. Donny tended to avoid Mia like the plague, but she looked to be the last thing on his mind.

“What do you mean?” Mia asked, suddenly feeling stupid. She still didn’t particularly understand the pack. She just knew Cal had a very complicated relationship with them.

“Donny, don’t,” Cal said, giving his little brother a look that only be described as a stank eye.

“No, Donny, do,” Mia said, giving Cal a glare that rivaled his own.

“They’re still pissed off Cal won’t be Alpha,” Donny said.

“Pissed off enough to destroy our home?” Mia gasped. She knew the pack wanted Cal to be Alpha, but she didn’t realize how much they wanted it.

“It doesn’t take much,” Cal said with a sigh.

“I don’t even understand why they want you to be Alpha so much. Most of them don’t even like you!” Mia exclaimed. Donny snorted.

“Thanks, Mia,” Cal mumbled.

“It’s true!” Mia said. “After what happened last year, they’re not your biggest fans.”

“It’s not about them liking him. This isn’t a sorority,” Donny said. “Being Alpha is a wolf’s greatest honor. Turning it down is an insult.”

“The pack is too prideful to realize some people might not want to be Alpha,” Cal said.

“I don’t understand why you can’t just do it,” Donny said. “It’s what Dad would’ve wanted.”

“I don’t care what-“

“It’s what Mom would’ve wanted,” Donny said. The woods got very quiet at that moment. Mrs. Lowell was hardly ever mentioned especially by Donny.

“I’m going to start cleaning up,” Cal mumbled. He kicked a rock on the ground and walked away. Mia looked at Donny. She was getting ready to reprimand him, but he spoke first.

“You need to make Cal agree to be Alpha,” he said.

“No,” Mia immediately said.

“You don’t understand!” Donny cried, sounding like a petulant child.

“What I understand is that Cal doesn’t want to. That’s all that matters,” Mia said.

“They’re not just going to let him walk away, Mia!” Donny said. Mia started followed Cal into the cottage, waving dismissively at Donny. She walked inside. Her eyes widened, and she gasped at what had become of her home. The little cottage she’d come to adore was a complete mess. There were long scratches on the hardwood and on the walls. Every piece of furniture, every pillow was torn apart. All of the pictures they had hanging up were now in shatters on the floor. She saw Cal standing in front of the fireplace, holding a picture. Mia walked over to him. She saw that the picture he was looking at was one of him, his mother, and Donny. It was now torn. Mia rubbed Cal’s back.

“Hey,” she said quietly.

“This was one of the few pictures we had of her,” Cal said. He sniffled and wiped his wet eyes with his sleeve. “I don’t care about the furniture. That can be replaced, but this stuff can’t.” Anger bubbled inside of Mia. How could someone from the pack do this? Everyone knew how important family was to Cal.

“I’m so sorry, Cal,” Mia said.

“And why the hell is Donny on their side?” Cal asked, his voice becoming angrier.

“I think he’s just scared,” Mia said. Truthfully, she was too. She, obviously, wasn’t scared of werewolves, but she was wary of anyone who ransacked someone’s house out of pride.

“He’s naïve,” Cal said. “He thinks, if you’re Pack, you’re safe. That’s just a fallacy they sell to young kids. They’re like a gang.”

“A gang of dangerous, monstrous beasts,” Mia said. She then winced. She forgot Cal was one of those “beasts”. “I don’t mean you, of course.”

“Of course,” Cal said, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips. His smile fell when he saw something on the other side of the room. He walked over to the large window behind one of the couches. Mia followed him. Cal touched the shredded plaid curtains. “My mom made these. I remember wanting to help, but Dad told me only pretty boys did stuff like that.” Mia grimaced. This wasn’t the first time she had heard of Cal’s father’s toxic masculinity, but it always upset her. Cal’s expression suddenly went from sad to furious. “They can’t do this to us.” Cal shoved the picture he was holding into his pocket. He walked over to the coat rack by the door and put on his jacket.

“Where are you going?” Mia asked as he opened the now broken door.

“To the Full Moon,” Cal said. The Full Moon was a bar where members of the pack often hung out.

“I’m going with you,” Mia said. She didn’t care for the Full Moon. She was often looked at like a piece of meat, but she wasn’t about to let Cal do this by himself. By the look on his face, he certainly wanted to. Mia knew Cal didn’t like to involve her in pack drama, but this was different. They had messed with not just her home but her family. “I’m going, Cal. You know there’s no use in arguing with me.”

“There really isn’t,” Cal said. He had learned that lesson a long time ago. “Alright. Let’s go talk to someone dangerous, monstrous beasts.”

Part 2

[imaginedisish]

Uncontrollable Urge (Colin Ritman x Stefan Butler) Part 1

A/N: Hey guyssss!! I loved writing this. It’s based on an anon request I received a day or two ago asking if I would write an imagine about what would happen if Colin was able to comfort and calm down Stefan before he kills his father. I fell in love with it and felt like I needed to write it ASAP! (hehe title is a DEVO reference btws:)  P.S…this one is kinda short…but it’s because ITS A TWO PARTER AAYYYEE! So, here it is...

Thanks for all the love <3 xxxxx Send me some more requests and I’ll write them up :) (I’m writing Donnie Darko and happy Colin fluff next :) one or the other should be up tomorrow) xxxxx

Summary: What would happen if Colin was able to stop Stefan from killing his father? Well guess what…he can. (Part 1 of 2)

Warnings: Language (lots), angst, references to murder and drugs, semi-panic attack??? (it’s kinda implied), FLUFF!!!!!!!

Word Count: 1195

“D-dad, s-stop,” Stefan pleads, his hand rubbing anxiously at the glass ashtray on the kitchen counter. Another day, another fight with his father. 

“Stefan talk to me, please. Tell me what’s wrong,” Mr. Butler demands in a commanding voice. Stefan simply shakes his head, and turns away from him, growing in anger at his father’s constant worry. 

“Please, jesus christ. Leave me alone!” Stefan complains angrily. 

“No. Let me help you!” Mr. Butler cries out. “We need to go to Dr. Hayes. We will leave this instant, do you understand?”

“She isn’t going to do anything. She never does!” Stefan screams. 

“Well something has to be done, Stefan. You’re unwell.” 

The constant questioning, checking in, and overall lack of understanding that Mr. Butler portrayed each and every day had been pushing Stefan to the brink for quite some time. 

But today...today felt different to Stefan. He knew it would be his breaking point. This time, he had felt the urge to act upon his well hidden anger. 

Stefan strengthens his grip on the glass ashtray. Deep down inside, he wanted to fight the urge. He didn’t know if he really wanted to do this, and if he did, he feared he’d regret it. 

But the voice in his head persisted nevertheless, cooing, luring him into the trap of his impulses. 

Kill him, kill him now, Stefan thinks. He quickly attempts to shut down these terrible ideas. 

Still, there was something so appealing about them. 

“Stefan? Are you going to say something?” Mr. Butler is relentless in his attempts to help his son. Stefan, more annoyed than ever, slowly and silently lifts the ashtray off the counter. 

If he did the deed now, his father would never expect it. There would be no fight. He would simply come tumbling down. 

There was no more thinking about it. Stefan knew what he had to do. 

Turning around quickly, ashtray in hand, Stefan brings his hand up, preparing to strike. 

But then, the unexpected happens. Stefan stops instantly, realizing that his father was no longer in front of him.  

“What?” Stefan questions. 

He spots his father on the other side of their two story home, opening the front door. 

“Good afternoon, can I help you?” Mr. Butler asks politely. Stefan had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t heard the doorbell ring. 

“Thank god...thought I was too late,” Colin mumbles under his breath. Stefan watches as the top of his platinum blonde hair and the silver, bulky rims of his glasses peek through the doorway. Stefan didn’t need to see his face to know it was Colin. It just was. It had to be.

Mr. Butler looks back at the blonde boy perplexed, unsure as to what he meant.

“Oh, sorry mate,” Colin says, putting one of his personally rolled cigs in between his pale, full lips. “Colin Ritman, I work with Stefan.” He extends a hand out to Mr. Butler. Mr. Butler accepts the gesture, and immediately turns to Stefan. 

“The Colin Ritman, huh?” Mr. Butler smiles widely, and Stefan feels his cheeks grow red. “I’m Stefan’s dad, Mr. Butler. But you can call me Peter!” Colin nods his head in response, and spots Stefan. 

“Sure thing mate,” Colin says to Mr. Butler, and pats the middle aged man harshly on the back as he makes his way closer to Stefan.

Once he can see Stefan, Colin stops in his tracks. He gives Stefan a look that says:

I know what you were about to do. 

Silence quickly falls upon the room, and the two boys simply stare at each other. Stefan takes the image of Colin in. He sports a blue blazer with a New Order shirt underneath. Peace sign and guitar pins adorn the blonde boy’s left blazer pocket. 

“Well, I’ll let you two have the room!” Mr. Butler says, leaving the room and heading upstairs. 

“Thank god I got here in time. You were about to be seriously fucked,” Colin says in a cocky, matter of fact tone. He knows that he saved the day. Even more so, he recognizes that he successfully said a big “fuck you!” to the normal timeline by stopping Stefan before anything could happen. A metaphorical middle finger, if you will.

The ashtray shook in Stefan’s trembling hand. As annoying as his father could be at times, Stefan would never wish for him to be dead. The realness of the situation began to make itself clear in Stefan’s head. 

Suddenly, It begins to feel as though the walls are closing in, and Stefan struggles to breath. He fights back his tears as Colin comes closer to him.  

“Listen,” Colin says quietly, “You can’t let those urges control you, Stefan.” Colin’s crystal clear, blue eyes stare deeply into Stefan’s. 

He slowly guides Stefan’s hand, the one holding the ashtray, onto the kitchen counter. Stefan lets go of the ashtray, and it slams down on the counter. Colin keeps Stefan’s hand in his own, and he leads their hands down by their sides. Colin then proceeds to stick his practically freshly lit cig in the ashtray after only seconds of use. 

Stefan looks down to his hand, and watches as Colin slowly repositions his fingers so that his fingers would intertwine with Stefan’s. Stefan is absolutely dumbfounded by the normally witty and aloof boy’s actions. 

Yet there was something so entrancing about whatever it was that Colin was doing, sucking Stefan in with every second that passed by.

“What are you doing?” Stefan questions harshly, but he doesn’t remove his hand from Colin’s comforting hold. 

“Relax,” Colin whispers to Stefan, who’s now trembling under Colin’s touch.

He was THE Colin Ritman, how could Stefan not listen to him? How could he not completely melt to the slow movement of Colin’s lips, or the intricate and infinite cacophony in the rebellious wit that ever so effortlessly spilled out of Colin’s mouth. 

Maybe it was Colin’s enchanting scent, that overwhelming fusion of weed and cigarettes, just barely masked by notes of vanilla and honey. Maybe that was what made Stefan’s heart jump into his throat every time Colin came around. 

Colin realizes the pain in Stefan’s eyes, and pulls Stefan into a tight embrace.

Slowly, but surely, Stefan feels his murderous urges become a mistake of the past. A sense of ease fills his stomach. Colin pulls apart from Stefan, holding the boy by his shoulders.

Stefan blinks his emerald eyes, and a single, unexpected tear trickles down his right cheek, over his light brown freckles, stopping at the corner of his mouth.

“Are you alright?” Colin’s voice was warm and inviting. He reaches a hand to Stefan’s face, brushing away at the spot where the tear had stopped. 

“I think I am now,” Stefan answers. Colin moves closer to Stefan again. Stefan stares up at the tall, confident blonde boy.

Colin puts his hands on the nape of Stefan’s neck, and kisses the crown of Stefan’s head lightly. 

“Let’s fix things, alright love?” Colin proposes in a hushed tone, his lips not moving from where he had kissed Stefan. 

Stefan nods.

“What do we do first?”

[qythxn]

Sick of routine (Donatello x Reader)

Word count: 2341

Fandom: TMNT (2014/16)

Warnings : Mild cursing 

Today was like any other. Work was done, and you were on your way home. It was a dark, autumn evening. It was around seven-ish, and the sky was lined in purples and blacks. Walking through the crowded city streets of New York City, you found yourself in a trance of routine. Everything was normal, and every day was the same. You just wanted something new, was that too much too much to ask for? Maybe some news would come, and something different would come around. A girl could only hope, right?

And yet, there was something else in store for our sweet, sweet Y/N.

Donatello and his brothers had been off on their nightly shenanigans. Patrolling the city, hopping from rooftop to rooftop, and looking over these dear citizens they’d come to love. It was kind of sad how every single night they were off saving the world and its people, and they got no respect. They got no love at all. Was it so hard to ask for a thank you every once and a while? But Splinter had told them time and time again that it wasn’t about the thank you; it was about getting the mission done.

You were still walking, taking a small back street that lead straight to the building you stayed in. You were invested in your phone, looking down and reading some article about the vigilantes of your home city. You sighed. That was all that was ever on the news these days. You looked up from your phone, and found yourself accidentally bumping into a big, brawly man. Tattoos scattered his leathery, sweaty, scarred skin. His eyes were red around the edges, and the whites were yellow. Deep circles lined his disgusting face, looking as if he’d either been beaten up or had not slept in some time. Either way, you wanted nothing to do with this guy. He scared the fuck out of you!

“I—I’m sorry sir, I didn’t mean to bump into you.” You said, letting out a nervous chuckle. He grinned, revealing disgusting yellowed teeth. It made you shudder. He grunted at you, though saying no actual words. You nodded as if he had actually uttered something, and began to walk around him, but you found that instead, he slithered his muscular arms around your waist. “That was very rude of you to just bump into me and think you could just walk off, hm?” He grunted, pushing your hair behind your ear. You could feel his nasty breath, smelling of alcohol and weed up close. “Please get off of me…” You whimpered, strangling to move away. “I don’t think so~” He cooed, and made a pass at you, grabbing your hips. It made you yell out. “Get off of me, creep!” You wriggled out of his grip after stomping on his foot. He slammed you into a wall, caging you in his arms, making you cringe away. “You dirty sl-“

“Hey asshole! Over here!” A voice came calling from behind him.

Four huge- maybe 7 feet tall -figures jumped down from behind him, letting off a loud thump. You could only see their shadows, but the disgusting man was dragged off into the darkness, leaving you petrified in fear against the wall still. You just stood there as the four continued to pummel the gross culprit, hearing agonistic screams and a loud “What the hell ae you?!” Before he was knocked out of his misery.

And you were standing there like an idiot, unable to comprehend all of this. “Go on lady, you can go home now.” A gruff, deep voice said. You were knocked out of your trance. Was this the change you were looking for? “Th-Thank you…” You said, still dazed and confused. “No problem, now go home, lady!” He said again. “But- I want to see my heroes?” You said, curious now why they stayed in the shadows. “No, no, no. Promise me, you don’t want to!” A rather nervous voice now spoke up. “But—I want to say thank you to your faces. I promise I won’t judge!” You explained, now stepping closer.

Out of reflex, Donnie held his hand up to stop the lady from coming any closer. He hated people getting too close, seeing as he always had to keep Mikey away from his stuff. He stared at her. She looked completely normal, like any other human. But there was just something about her. But he was quickly knocked out of it when Mikey spoke up. “Not to burst your bubble, dude, but your hand isn’t exactly in the shadows.”

You, on the other hand, had begun to get close enough to see what exactly these people were trying to hide. A hand came thrusting out at you, and you instantly screamed. The hand was big, green, and absolutely hideous! What the hell were these people?! You stepped back, but they stepped forward. “Nice going Don!” The red masked creature yelled. You looked away. All you saw were their colors and faces. Red, blue, orange, and purple. They were disgusting and huge and…green?! Covered in spots, and leathery skin like a dinosaur. That was all you caught. You didn’t want to look at them anymore. You didn’t want to face your fears. You were going to have nightmares tonight about these freaks. You had asked to see them in the first place, after all. You were afraid, scared to tears. That’s right. Tears streamed down your cheeks now, burning hot as they hit your cold, cold skin. “Get away from me freaks!” You yelled, stepping back and not daring to look forward. “Hey, you asked for it, lady!” The deep, gruff voice yelled back. You couldn’t take this any longer, now, and began to run home, as fast as you could, hoping those dinosaur people wouldn’t follow after you.

Donnie felt really bad. He had his eyes on you the whole time. This reminded him of the reason why they never got thank you’s. This reminded him of who he really was, and why they had to stay in the shadows. He watched you cry, watched you as you screamed for him to get away. It hurt him, really bad. He wanted so badly to change how he looked. He wanted to apologize to you and make you feel better. He turned away as you screamed and ran home. He couldn’t bare to watch any longer.

Now, you were in bed. You couldn’t sleep, and kept tossing and turning. You didn’t want to think of those hideous freaks. But you couldn’t get them out of your head. Sure, they saved you from that guy, but… they hurt him. And they could hurt you that same way if they wanted. You finally fell asleep, your eyes fluttering closed, and your tossing stopped. You were having a nightmare about the dinosaur people, just as you had predicted. Chasing you, thumping the ground with every step and…

Donnie had made his mind up after hours in the lab. He was going to go apologize to that woman, or leave her a note if she was asleep. He hadn’t talked to his brothers, which was a terrible idea. But he just felt so guilty…

The huge green people were throwing things at you now, screaming, catching up just as you were beginning to lose your breath. You felt so weak, and they were gaining on you…

Donnie stepped up to your building that he had watched you go in, and took a few peeks in a few windows before finding you. Your bed was pushed up against the window, so he could get a good look at your peaceful, sleeping face through the opened blinds.

Now, you fell, flailing your arms. You screamed in agony as your body was crushed under their weight, laughing, screaming, laughing….

Donnie tapped on the window, and watched as your eyes fluttered open.

Oh god, one of them was here.

He tried to smile, waving at you lightly.

You gasped, jumping up and falling off of your bed. You’d gotten a pretty good look at whatever the hell this guy was. He was probably coming to hurt you or something, or kill you for seeing him.

Donnie frowned, watching you fanatically hide. So, his plan wasn’t working very well. He tapped at the window once more, and found that it was open. He slid the note under, allowing it to flutter down and fall onto your bed.

“I’m not going to hurt you…” He whispered in a gentle, sweet voice.

You shuddered at the words, and closed your eyes, staying down for ten more minutes until you were sure he was gone. He’d left a note?

‘I’m sorry. Me and my brothers didn’t mean to scare you. Our appearance is not our fault, and we’d like to request that you don’t tell anybody about us, for the sake of this very reason. Again, we’re very sorry.’

 And two nights later, he came to visit you again. This time, you didn’t look away. In fact, you didn’t know what to do. You just stared at him, and you could see that you were making him extremely nervous.

For two nights, you were all Donatello could think about. He felt really bad for scaring you, and he just wanted to make sure that you were okay. He wanted to make it up to you. He decided to visit you again and try to apologize in person. But, it only got worse. Your eyes were on him the whole time and it was making him uncomfortable as he stood there in front of your window, the blinds drawn. You were staring at him, as he attempted to apologize, but instead he was a stuttering mess.

“I know I’m not human, and I know that’s really scary. I just… w-wanted to s-say sorry again for s-scaring you. I---- I have to go.”

And with that, the dinosaur man- who you now realized was a turtle, was gone. “Wait, purple!” You yelled after him, but he didn’t look back.

 Now, two weeks after the attack, you had gotten to actually having a conversation. You learned who he and his brothers were. You learned what he did, and learned his name. Donatello. And you couldn’t get the name out of your head.

A whole month after the attack, you had befriended his brothers. Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo. They were very disapproving of their purple clad brother visiting you and talking to you behind their backs, but they all seemed lonely, and at that, happier with a new human friend. And to be honest, you were happy too.

 And now, to today. Seven months since your attack. Since the day you screamed. Since the day that you’d found your turtle. Donatello was now your best friend. You hung out almost every other day, and talked for hours on end through text. You and his brothers were friends too, but not as close as you and Don. He had been the one to befriend you. He had been the one to apologize. He had been the one to come out and tell you it was a mistake. And you were thankful. You still felt bad for screaming, and hurting his feelings, as you had learned. But out of it, you earned a new friend. And…. A crush. You didn’t want to admit it, but you were absolutely infatuated with the purple masked turtle. He was smart, and funny, and honestly pretty good looking compared to the human dumbasses on the surface. He cared about you, and that’s what mattered. But after screaming and calling him a freak for the first time you met him, you didn’t feel confident that he liked you back, or at least in the way that you did.

But thankfully, you didn’t have to.

You were together now, you watching him doing something on his computer. He was so invested in whatever he was doing, you just wanted to catch his attention. You stared forward, and stuck your tongue out. He didn’t budge.

“Psst!” Nothing.

You tapped him, and there was no response.

Making sure there was nothing on the counter, you leaned over and laid on your back, staring up at him. “Hehe, I can see up your nose.” You booped him, pushing his glasses up.

“Stop being so cute, Y/N. I’m doing work.” He responded, though you got a small smile out of him.

“You stop being cute and doing work, then.” You chuckled, and stole his glasses.

“Hey, give those ba--- Wait a second, what? You think I’m cute?” If turtles could blush now, his face would have been steaming red. You could see as his eyes softened and his hands shook, that you finally got him.

“Hehe, yeah. Now, tell me how many fingers I’m holding up.” You said, holding up three fingers.

Donatello didn’t respond, and instead the shaking continued. He was getting a little sweaty, and was looking away. He had the smallest smile on his face, and it was honestly the cutest thing to you.

“Three, dummy!” You laughed, and leaned up, pushing his glasses on his face.

“I love you, Y/N.” He whispered under his breath, trying his best not to look at you. Anywhere but you. Your hair splayed out about you and your beautiful face- he just couldn’t take it.

“Hm? What was that?” You were going to say something else, but then you were shut up.

Donatello leaned down, pressing his lips to yours for a good six seconds, giving you both time to think about what he’d just done.

“I’m sorry… I just k-kinda uh-“ He was sweating again, and was extremely flustered. You thought it was adorable! You just shook your head. “I love you too.” You said softly, making him smile. That was possibly the happiest you’d ever seen him. You couldn’t help but giggle.

“D-Does this mean…?” he whispered.

“Yes, of course.” You shut him up with another kiss.

[brushes-of-sage]

Here’s an angsty idea for a possibility in ‘Portal Jacked!’

Leo goes into the Hidden City to save his brothers, right? (A situation that he most likely created by accident). I wanna guess that Draxum’s gonna play a part in this episode in too (Oh, I hope so 🤞🏾)

So imagine this:

- Leo, underneath that cocky and grinning exterior, is freaking out, breaking down little by little as he frantically tries to rectify the disaster he’s caused - his brothers are trapped it was all his fault he can’t find them they’re gone and he’s alone

- He manages to find them, having to suppress the need to faint right there and then from relief, because of course, like his twin, he has an inner drama queen within.

- So he goes straight to his one-liners to cover up the stress his ever-running mind has been under for the past few hours:

- (“So you guys seem to be a little tied up with other preoccupations at the moment. Care to rope me in on the details?” “Leo, shut up and untie us and then you can rapid fire as many terrible jokes as you want.”)

- Draxum manages to get away again after the battle, but not without injuries (since our boys are learning through experiences)

- Leo, after dropping one last pun, turns back towards his brothers, who’re waiting impatiently, with slight frowns on their faces, (They still haven’t forgotten who’s fault it was in the first place), and he flinches.

- With a moment of hesitation as his mouth works to form the words, he rubs the back of his neck, ducking his head.

- “Guys... I’m sorry... for all of this...” A moment of silence before, “Aw, Leo...”

- But as the brothers are reconciling, a portal sparks behind them, reacting with the residue of magic in the room (or Leo’s odachi fluctuates again or whatever - I don’t have a degree in portal physics)

- It’s getting bigger and tendrils of something are reaching out and Leo’s the one who notices them first

- He runs forward towards Raph and Donnie - the two closest to it - without thinking and pushes them out of the way, towards Mikey

- just as the tendrils wrap around his ankles

- His brothers’ names are the last thing he cries out before he’s yanked backwards into the portal and it’s zapped closed, the smell of ozone filling the room, leaving three, just barely rescued brothers alone and separated from their rescuer - their brother

- Leo began the rescue wanting to rub it in his brothers’ faces so that they would admit that yes, he is their champion and awesome contributor to the group

- But now as he finds himself in a cold room surrounded by ninja wearing the strange foot symbol on their faces, along with Foot Brute and Foot Lieutenant, all he wants now is to be back at home curled up on the sofa with his cocoa and with his brothers

- And then a deep voice begins to speak...

(This episode could be the point, as pointed out in that one post where I totally forgot who made it - but they noted the similarities set up between Donnie and Baron Draxum, Raph and Lou Jitsu, and the possibility for a Leo and Shredder parallel. And I kinda hope that this episode starts the train for it ‘cause I’ll hop onto it like there’s no tomorrow.

And if not, we’ll still have some Leo character development, amirite though?)

[spectrumscribe]

Three Days to Live (preview)

hey all, as you have seen on my blog, i’ve been gone a lot lately so i could write a massive new fic for the @tmnt-big-bang that’s coming up. however! the end is within sight and the comp is currently just waiting on artists to claim spots as illustrators for the fics.

i’ve also gotten permission to release a preview of my own fanfic for the tbb, so here you go guys, have some “futuristic dystopian hitmen turned bodyguards” au. (rottmntverse with minor use of 2012 tmnt characters)

Mikey hums softly to himself, pushing the cleaning cart along the plush carpet of the hallway. Even with how many fancy upper-class hotels he’s worked in, each new one never fails to impress him. And this one even has the sort of aesthetic appeal that appeals to his aesthetic. It’s swanky, but at the same time, not as soullessly gold plated as some places are.

Still. He’d mix it up with a dash of street art and thrifty furniture. Kind of like the place he and his brothers live in. Having a good balance of what they grew up with alongside everything they have now is just… aesthetic.

“Room 324, Mike. Coming up on your right.”

Mikey nods imperceptibly, not responding directly to the voice in his ear. As he reaches the suite, he gives his hijab and apron one last adjustment, and then knocks.

“Housekeeping,” he says, modulating his voice to be the right blend of young and old. Harder to identify in recording, even if someone managed to get an audio of this.

“Just a minute!”

Mikey waits patiently, and has a kindly, apologetic smile on his face when the door opens. The young lady on the other side of the doorway has her hair in two pigtails, each a perfect dark cloud. Red rimmed cat’s eye glasses are perched on her nose, almost distracting from the very faint freckles across it. Her outfit, while casual formal, is very obviously expensive.

April O’Neil smiles at him. “Hey, sorry. I didn’t know I was due for cleaning just yet.”

“Oh, no, that’s alright,” Mikey replies, adding an accent in the right places. “We’ve just been quickly today, you see? Everyone on this floor has very clean rooms.”

“I’m sorry to say I won’t be one of those people,” O’Neil says wryly. She steps back from the door, moving inside. “C’mon in, ma’am. I’ll give you my trashcans and take care of everything else myself. I’m not gonna make you pick up my dirty clothes or anything.”

“Thank you,” Mikey replies, ducking his head and pushing the cart halfway inside the room; casually nudging the door to shut quietly behind him. Not standard behavior for cleaning ladies, but standard enough for his line of work. Removing the easiest exit from the room.

He bustles through the suite, admiring the fine crystal of the light fixtures and the sleek design of the furniture. Everything is milky and warm colored, ranging from cream to darker browns. Hints of gold on fixtures really bring it all together, connecting the overall look of the room.

“God, I’m so sorry for the mess,” O’Neil is saying, walking around one half of the small living room her suite has. She’s kicking clothing piles into larger piles, grabbing them up and trying to get them out of sight. “I’ve had such a hectic schedule lately, I haven’t had time to clean anything.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Mikey replies brightly, shooting her a smile. “It’s my job to clean up after you people.”

“Right, right. You better get paid for dealing with messy assholes like me; you definitely deserve it.”

Donnie scoffs. “With the kind of fallout you people leave us to deal with? You bet we deserve a decent paycheck.”

Mikey silently agrees with his brother as he bends to pick up the first trashcan. Man, even the trashcans in this place are better than everyone else’s. He takes the half full can with him as he heads back to his cart, dumping out its contents of meticulously shredded paper and takeout boxes. Interesting mix! Mikey is pretty sure Donnie would have a field day with the paper’s written contents, but sadly, that’s not what he’s here for.

He follows O’Neil’s movements with his hearing, noting that she’s drifting back towards him. She’s making pleasant casual conversation, talking about how the rainy weather lately has been awful for her hair and asking how Mikey’s been dealing with it.

“Oh, it’s not too terrible,” Mikey says, reaching under his apron. “Braids help keep the frizz down.”

“If I had time and energy for that, I’d probably set myself up with that style again.”

If she wanted braids, she really should have done it before Mikey got here.

Oh well. Maybe they’ve got salons in heaven. Or hell, given her family background.

“I know a good stylist,” Mikey says, “and I could hook you up if you wanted.”

“Yeah? Hit me with the details; I got my phone right here.”

“Sure,” he says, smiling. “But one thing first.”

Mikey turns, pointing the barrel of his handgun and its silencer at April.

Her fist shoots out, diverting the shot.

Mikey blinks- blocks the next attack, tries to realign his shot with the target, has it diverted with a well-timed slap to the wrist, then fails to break the startlingly strong twist to his arm, loses his gun- and yelps as knuckles meet his nose, stumbling backwards as the past two seconds catch up with him.

“Ow,” Mikey whines, feeling his nose spurt blood. “What the hell, lady?”

“You’re saying what the hell to me?” O’Neil says incredulously. Her foot shoots out and Mikey narrowly avoids the kick to the kneecap. April moves fast and brutal- punches aimed precisely and only diverted by the slimmest of margins. Except Mikey is unprepared to suddenly be in such a fight, and feels himself slip up.

Targets aren’t supposed to fight back like this. Pampered rich kids aren’t supposed to fight back like this.

Mikey makes an embarrassing rookie mistake, and trips backwards over a stupid little coffee table. O’Neil stands over him, panting and still holding her fists ready to fight.

“Jeez, girl, you treat all your cleaning ladies like this?” Mikey gripes, smarting in both body and pride.

“Not all my cleaning ladies try an’ kill me,” O’Neil snaps. “Also, your camograph nose is sideways.”

Mikey touches his face. He can’t properly feel the holographic camouflage mask, but the reaction is automatic. He scowls, stripping off the thin microfabric on his features and tugging the hijab off while he’s at it; dropping the façade of a middle-aged cleaning lady entirely.

O’Neil shoots him an extra disgusted look. “And fyi, using a disguise like that is just plain rude to people who actually follow the religion.”

“How do you know I’m not a follower of this particular holy book?”

“Are you?”

“Nah.”

“Well, alright then.”

Mikey is not expecting the crazy lady to try body slamming him, but with how the past half a minute has gone, he probably should have.

He rolls out of the way, getting on his feet and taking advantage of O’Neil’s prone position. He grabs her around the neck and shoulders, hauling her backwards and trying to strangle her. She responds by slamming the back of her skull against his mouth, splitting his lip and sending sparks across Mikey’s vision.

She elbows him in the ribs, wrestling herself free and making for the gun on the floor. Mikey recovers in time to give chase, tackling her away from his weapon and sending them both to the floor all over again. He tries to punch her, and she fucking bites him on the arm. Mikey hisses and swallows a cry of pain, punching O’Neil in the stomach with a quick series of harsh jabs and forcing her to let go- but not without her tearing the fabric of his dress, and leaving a swelling bitemark underneath.

He gets off her, scrambling for his gun and snatching it up off the carpet. When he turns to fire, a vase clocks him right in the face.

His nose is going to be a mess of bruises after this, won’t it?

Mikey feels a hand grab his, trying to wrench the gun out of his grip, and he snarls and fights back- both of them catching each other’s opposite hands as they try and get the advantage. O’Neil is giving him a fierce glare as she fights him, surprisingly strong as they hit a stalemate, neither of them giving an inch as their arms shake with effort.

“You…” Mikey grits out, smiling nastily at his target, “are bein’ a real thorn- in my side- right now!”

“Says the guy- that’s here to kill me!” O’Neil hisses back.

Then, she and Mikey break the stalemate simultaneously, both of them trying to knee the other in the gut and colliding as they do. They rip away from each other, the pistol going flying as O’Neil scrapes her nails along Mikey’s wrist, forcing him to release it as they dart away from one another.

Mikey realizes that Donnie has been talking to him this entire time, but his focus isn’t on whatever his brother is saying. It’s on taking O’Neil down.

Besides, if he can’t salvage this on his own, his brothers will totally bug him about it forever.

Mikey runs for his gun, which has landed under the legs of a plush chair by the wide windows of the room. It’s as his grip closes around it again that he hears the whine of electricity charging.

Mikey whirls, raising his pistol to take the shot, but yelps and has to dodge as what he swears is a bolt of lightning blackens the chair, filling the air with the acrid stench of burning. O’Neil’s glasses shine as she aims the gauntlet she’s retrieved, the palm of it glowing as it charges and fires again.

Mikey keeps moving, avoiding the blasts, thanking his lucky stars that he’s the best gymnast in his family. Even with the gun clutched in his hand and wearing an ankle length dress, he nimbly avoids being shocked by the electricity, vaulting furniture and moving in ducks and leaps. Mikey overturns the small dining table as he reaches it, getting behind it and using it as support as he lines up a quick shot and fires.

O’Neil is on the floor before the gun has even gone off, taking shelter behind the couch. Mikey pants, keeping his pistol trained on where O’Neil’s head might appear. He takes the racing adrenaline inside himself and breathes it out in a slow gust of air, easing the slight tremor in one hand and settling his heartrate.

“MIKEY, god dammnit, ANSWER ME!” Donnie yells in his ear, finally breaking through the storm as it clears from Mikey’s head.

“I’m good, Don,” Mikey says softly, licking his lips as he watches April’s hiding spot. “I just… hit a small snag.”

“I’m sending Leo- and Raph, too, actually. Fuck, fuck it, we might as well all go-”

“No!” Mikey says. “No, dude, seriously I got this.”

“It really doesn’t sound like it.”

Mikey’s face gets hot, frustration rising with his embarrassment. He’s just as capable as his brothers, more so in some aspects, and he doesn’t want to beg help off his older siblings over one measly rich lady getting a few lucky shots in-

Mikey jerks as something flies up into the air from the couch, arcing towards him- he moves to flee before he realizes it’s not a bomb but instead a pillow, but even still he can’t be too careful, who knows what’s inside that pillow-

Mikey realizes his mistake right after, as he leaves the meager protection of his dining table.

The pillow gently hits the carpet floor with hardly a sound.

Mikey hits the carpet a lot harder and louder, shocked right in the center of his chest as his target takes advantage of his stupid choices.

He doesn’t hear Donnie’s voice as his eyes roll up into his skull and he collapses on the floor. Mikey doesn’t hear anything but ringing as he passes out.

.

.

.

.

.......and now we all have to wait for the artists to claim this piece, and for me to finish the latter 20% i haven’t written of this big boy.