#sorry for being too woke op i just need to get this off my chest

[tr0y21]

I see you and i hear you . My gripe is the fact that she's a woman. LISTEN TO ME. I've seen a lot of misogynists on tiktok downplay and hate on surge in favor of their favorites and while obviously she can't win these fights, I'm glad they've made it so she's like. Powerful. I really hope she gets to a sonic shadow silver level entirely because she's a woman, and she's a fascinating and well written character, and she's interesting and fun and she deserves all the love she gets

I think I like Surge because she's objectively like. Kinda mid? She's like, Knuckles level powerful. She can't even beat base Sonic in a 1v1, you can forget about Shadow or Super Sonic. She's an underdog. And that makes her interesting. She dodges any notion of being someone's edgy overpowered OC because she's up against Sonic the fucking Hedgehog, and Sonic is just that guy. It makes her easy to root for.

[tatsumessy]

~ op men and their pregnant wife: she’s mad at them - series ~

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pairings: Sanji, Zoro, Shanks

warnings: misunderstandings, kissing,

theme: angst - fluff

synopsis: op men doing things to make you upset.

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Sanji all day had been in the kitchen ignoring you for some reason. He was gone when you woke up this morning and every time you tried to talk to him about something he would walk out the room or start a conversation with someone else.

You found out you were four months pregnant a month ago from Chopper who urged you to tell Sanji immediately but every time you tried the timing wasn’t right. But today you felt the need to finally just tell him.

You were all sitting at dinner together and being as petty as he was Sanji sat in between Robin and Nami, you just couldn’t stop them. Your tears started to fall, you dropped your fork out of shook while trying to clean your face but it didn’t go unnoticed.

“Oh no, what’s wrong Y/n? I get it, Sanjis food makes me want to cry sometimes too.” Luffy said stuffing his face with the food that you didn’t eat, Sanji looked like his was ready to jump up and fight Luffy but you just smiled. “Is it the baby?” Chopper whispered in your ear but being the reindeer that he is everyone heard what he said.

“I-I’m sorry Sanji if I upset you.” You wiped your face while standing up and excusing yourself out of the kitchen to go downstairs below deck by the fish tank. The one place that could calm you down, even though you apologized you were even more pissed off than you were sad.

Everyone was still sitting at the table at a stand still except for Luffy of course. He wasn’t maying attention and was only eating but Tobin spoke up out of curiosity. “I’ve been noticing something’s with her lately, like the lack of skin she’s been showing, so it’s because of a baby? Huh. Makes sense.”

Are you that bad of a girlfriend that even the sweetest man on the earth could be upset with you? More tears fell as you cried into yourself while keeping your arms wrapped around your stomach. Footsteps could be heard infront of you but you couldn’t be bothered to look at him, you knew exactly who it was.

His arms pulled you forcefully into his chest as he placed a long kiss on your forehead. “Let me go.” You said trying to pry yourself away from him but he wouldn’t listen, you were to weak from crying and not eating as much as you should’ve for two people. “No, Y/n I’m sorry. I overheard a conversation between you and Luffy last night and I was just so upset with myself that I chose to be petty and ignore you.”

You pushed away from him looking at him with confusion, the conversation you had with Luffy last night was over food. Sanji had made you a snack before going to take a shower and Luffy was trying to eat it, he kept clinging onto you and you said, “I don’t need a clingy man on me.” Sanji is naturally clingy so when he overheard you saying this to Luffy he took it the wrong way.

After explaining that to each other you both say there staring at each other until you started crying once again. Sanji started freaking out once you punched him in his arm. “I thought I really did something to make you mad at me, why would you ignore me l-like that-t.” You whined into his chest as he sat there trying to calm you down, he knew it was the hormones causing you to cry like this but it was still a hard sight to look at.

“I’m sorry my love.” He apologized once again and sat there with you until you fell asleep. He picked you up and brought you back into your shared room so the both of you could go to sleep cuddling each other.

“YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE OF A HUSBAND, FATHER, EVERYTHING ABOVE YOU PIECE OF SHIT.” You yelled at Zoro who stood there with his arms crossed with an annoyed expression on his face.

“I NEVER SAID I WANTED TO BE A FATHER IN THE FIRST PLACE, NOR DID I WANT TO GET MARRIED!” He yelled back, everyone on the ship stood there frozen at what he said. You could already feel the tears brimming in your eyes so before anyone could see you break down you used your devil fruit powers to get off the ship.

You disappeared into town trying to find a place to hide and just opted on sitting on a wooden crate box in the back of an alleyway. Because of how big your stomach was you weighed more than the box could handle and it broke causing you to fall onto the ground. The broken wood pieces scratched at your body but that wasn’t what hurt the most, it was what Zoro said to you.

When you think about it Zoro wasn’t fond of being in a relationship with you either, you wonder why he even married you in the first place. Maybe it’s best if you just leave him to do what he wants, to be free. Just to disappear, maybe he’ll be happy if you do that. The log pose already reset so you were supposed to be leaving an hour ago, maybe they left already which would’ve benefited all of them really.

Not to have a pregnant crybaby on the ship. Thinking back on your argument more tears started to form and as they fell so did heavy rain. You were getting soaked but at least with this you can mask how hard you were crying. You basically forced Zoro into a relationship with you and now he was finally telling you that he wanted an out.

You fell in love with him but i guess he just felt sorry for you. The only thing that could be heard throughout the town was the heavy rain and a group of people yelling loudly. It was your crew, they were looking for you.

The rain was getting heavier and before you knew it your body was over exhausted and you passed out. When you woke up you were in a room and just from hearing the rain outside you were asleep for a few minutes to an hour.

Chopper had run back into the room with a bowl of warm water, he placed a wet towel on your forehead breathing heavily. “Y/n, please wake up. The rain was so heavy when I found you, I brought you to the nearest building to take care of you. You have a high fever and this may prove bad to the baby. If you don’t wake u-” you shifted under the blanket and chopper yelled out in happiness.

“We need to get you back to the ship now.” He said helping you stand up, you were still in a pained daze as he changed into a form to where you could lay on his back. He placed a blanket over you and sprinted back to the ship.

You still got soaked through the blanket as you both arrived on the ship, he took you straight to his office to get your fever down. “Sanji, can you bring some soup for Y/n for when she wakes up.” He immediately started cooking something to your liking, when you finally woke back up Chopper forced you to take some prenatal medicine then forced you to eat something.

“Thank you Chopper. Do you think I could speak with Luffy?” He nodded and ran to go get their captain, Luffy showed up worried for you condition but faltered when he saw your expression. The bowl of soup laid in your lap as you looked up at him with teary eyes. “I think it’s my time to go Luffy.” “What?” He asked in confusion.

“With me about to have a baby and being useless for your crew-” Luffy gripped your shoulders urging you to look at him. “DON’T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT. YOU ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO OUR CREW AND EVERYONE WANTS YOU HERE. Just because you’re having a baby doesn’t mean that you’re going to be discarded like trash. We all have been looking forward to a new addition to our crew, Zoro is just a dumbass who says the wrong things at the wrong times.”

He smiled wiping your tears with his shirt before pulling you into a hug. This was the first time Luffy was serious with you so you knew he meant every word he said. That still didn’t change the fact that Zoro definitely meant what he said. Luffy stayed with you while you ate the rest of your soup talking with you about random things.

Chopper advised you to stay in his office so that he could check on you for the next couple of days and as you laid on your side reading a book the door opened. Thinking it was Chopper you ignored it but the large hand that rubbed the back of your thigh grabbed your attention.

“Y/n, I don’t expect you to talk to me but atleast listen to what I have to say.” You closed the book and set it down back where it was on Choppers desk, closing your eyes you laid there waiting for him to speak. “I love you.” He could see you visibly flinch at his words, “I know I don’t say it much but I do love you. I mean how can I not love you, I can’t even imagine my life without you in it now. Every decision I make I always think about how it’ll affect you.”

He paused and watched as you sat up leaning you back against the wall. Your eyes stayed closed but your arms were crossed over your chest. “I’m scared to have a child right now. We’re pirates always on the move on a ship, I’m still weak in many ways and I fear that I can’t protect the both of you. I’m sorry for what I said, I really didn’t mean it.” He looked down at your lap but your grip on his chin made him look at you.

“You are not weak. I don’t understand why you would even say something like that. I’ve never doubted you for a second in the field. Whose the one with devil fruit powers? Me, I can protect myself even if you weren’t here. But we are a team that’s why I know I can count on you to protect me whenever I need you. But this baby has the both of us as her parents and a whole family who loves them with everything they have. I love you Roronora Zoro.”

You were sitting on the deck in your sundress waiting for your husband to come out from below deck. It was your five year anniversary and Shanks promised to take you out on a date and to make the day feel special but as he walked out with your crew mates drunk on end you realized what was going on.

He forgot. He walked over to you dropping onto his knees and kissing your stomach while laughing, “Why are you so dressed up sweets?” You looked at him with an annoyed confused expression, “Are you serious right now Shanks.” He smiled wondering what you were talking about.

“Babe what is it?” He asked as you stood up walking back inside to your shared room, you locked the door behind yourself and changed into some more comfortable clothes. A knock at the door was heard and Shanks was asking for you to open the door for him but you ignored him and stayed laying in bed while reading a book.

You wanted to go on that date before being put on bed rest but he just had to ruin it, especially on your anniversary. He forgot and was acting childish in a situation you wanted him to be serious in. For a week you ignored him only letting the doctor in on his orders, “How long are you going to keep your husband looking like a puppy dog who lost his bone?” “Cause he did. He promised to take a day out for me for our anniversary, usually I let things like this slide but not this time.” You replied leaning back into the pillow as he checked your stomach making sure the baby was okay.

“Don’t leave him waiting for too long, he might bring the mood of the whole crew down.” He smiled leaving the room and you just laid there forgetting to lock the door, while reading there was a knock and you thought it was the doctor so you allowed for him to come in. It was Shanks, he jumped on the bed and wrapped his arms around your waist as his head laid on your stomach.

“Sweets I’m sorry. I promise I had the whole day planned out but then the guys brought on some new sake and I got distracted. I’ll admit I was in the wrong.” You rolled your eyes at his confession, he saw that and made a fake sad face while pressing his body against yours.

“Don’t do this to me. You know I don’t like it when your mad at me.” You scoffed as he tried to lean in for a kiss but you pushed his face away with the book, “You get nothing, it’s a fair deal. I got nothing you get nothing. Now go.” He started pouting and whether you wanted too or not he grabbed the book and threw it on the ground then interlocked his fingers with yours while attacking your face with kisses.

Giving in you started smiling and ended up giving him the kiss he’d been wanting for days. “I’m really sorry sweets, I’ll make it up to you. I promise.” “Mhm sure mister emperor.” He gasped, “I thought I was your husband…”

[lindsey-laufeyson]

Texts from Tom Hiddleston

Masterlist

35. Impatience

Warnings: fluff, smut, post-op pain

A/N: The majority of this chapter has been in my drafts for about 6 months and I’ve only just finished it… 😳 Sorry I suck!

The next week of celibacy was almost unbearable. Yes, you and Tom had been wanting to consummate your newly rekindled relationship since the moment he appeared at your front door, but once you had gotten a literal taste of what you had been missing, it was like your body had been set aflame. You needed to fuck him, and you could tell he needed to fuck you just as bad. It started the morning after your little fellatious indiscretion when you woke up to Tom’s exceptionally hard morning wood poking you in the back through his boxer shorts.

“Mmmm, good morning,” you said slyly, wiggling slightly against his clothed erection.

He let out a little ‘hmph’ and jerked his hips back, away from your body. “Sweetheart,” he warned, mumbling in your ear. “Last night was lovely, but I think it’s best we don’t test our limits anymore.”

You rolled over to face him. His eyes were still closed, still so sleepy, yet clearly very aroused. “Baby, it doesn’t even hurt anymore,” you insist. “We can take it slow, and I know you can be so gentle.” You brought your hand to his face and softly stroked down his neck, chest, and abs, but he opened his eyes and grabbed your hand before it got too low and brought it up to his lips, kissing your knuckles softly.

“No means no, love,” he said simply. “Now, I need to drop Bobby off at home before I head to rehearsal.” He kissed you on the forehead and got out of bed.

“On a Saturday?” you groaned.

“I’m sorry, darling. I need to make up for the days I missed earlier this week,” he told you as he got dressed. You couldn’t help but stare as he stuffed his erection into his trousers. “And rehearsals will only be getting longer and more frequent as opening night approaches.”

You sat up and sighed. “I know, I get that. Can I come over to your place when you’re done?”

He leaned down to be eye level with you. “Only if you promise to be good,” he teased.

You cupped his face in your hands. “I promise,” you replied softly, giving him a loving kiss on the lips.

“I’ll text you when I’m wrapping up,” he said once the kiss ended. “I love you.”

You smiled broadly, still not used to those words coming from his mouth, no matter how many times he’d said them. “I love you too,” you cooed, and with that he left.

:readmore:

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Tom left your house thankful that he had left when he did. You looked so gorgeous in the morning, your skin glowing in the sunlight, your sleepy expression too adorable for his heart to take, and it took every ounce of self control not to just take you right then and there. It helped that you had been wearing pajamas, but not by much. Your tank top framed your cleavage perfectly and the thin fabric did very little to hide your pert nipples. Then there was last night— your lips wrapped around his cock, the way you expertly moved your tongue— he had forgotten just how good you were at sucking his cock. That being said, he knew that your pussy felt even better than your mouth, and he missed making you cum, hearing you moan and scream. His wandering mind made his drive home excruciating, and when he got in the house, he realized he’d leaked precum through his boxers and trousers. He decided to snap a photo and send it to you.

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While Tom was gone at rehearsal, you had no idea what to do with yourself, since all you wanted to do was be with him. You occupied some of the time by taking your dogs out for a long walk and watching some TV (something you were relieved to be able to do again), but when a sex scene came on in the show you were watching, you got all hot and bothered again. That’s when you decided to send some cheeky texts to your boyfriend.

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That night, once rehearsal was finally over, Tom texted you the second the director called it a day.

When Tom got home, he quickly showered and got dressed in a comfy v-neck t-shirt and sweatpants, just in time for you to arrive with your pups. He briefly greeted your dogs as they ran in and then pulled you into his arms for a soft and sensual kiss. “Hi,” he greeted you as the kiss ended.

“Hi,” you replied, barely above a whisper. It was so fucking sexy and Tom knew you weren’t even trying.

“How does a movie sound?” he asked, attempting to hide the fact that you were already turning him on and you’d only just got there.

You smiled up at him. “Sounds perfect.” As you took off your coat, Tom couldn’t help but stare at you. You were wearing another thin, low cut, tank top with no bra underneath, and your pajama shorts were so short, he knew he’d get a peak at your ass cheeks if you bent over. He suspected you didn’t have on any panties either, the thought making his cock twitch. When you caught him staring, you giggled. “See something you like?”

Tom’s cheeks flushed a soft pink. “You,” he replied smoothly. “As always.” He pulled you back in for another kiss, this one deeper than the first, but when he felt himself developing a semi, he pulled away. “Why don’t you, uh, pick out a film while I grab some wine for us, yeah?” he suggested, a little flustered.

You smiled at him knowingly. “Take your time,” you replied sweetly, as you turned to make your way to the living room. Tom watched you walk away, then shook himself out of his trance and headed to the kitchen.

When he returned to the living room with a bottle of Bordeaux and two glasses, he found you on one end of the sofa with a blanket over your legs and Bobby on your lap. He smiled as he set the glasses down on the coffee table and poured the wine. “Don’t you two look cozy,” he mused as he handed you your glass.

“He’s my snuggle buddy,” you said, taking the glass from Tom.

He knelt down in front of you to give Bobby a scratch. “You do know, old boy, that you’re going to have to share her,” he told the pup in his adorable dog-dad voice. Bobby simply wagged his tail in response.

“Now boys, there is plenty of me to go around,” you joked.

Tom picked up his glass of wine and turned to you. “Scooch,” he told you.

“There is a whole other end of the couch,” you argued playfully, but still shifting to make room for him. Bobby took it as a cue to move, taking his place on the floor with your two dogs.

Careful not to spill any wine, he snuggled in behind you so that you were sitting between his legs with your back resting against his chest. “This is so much comfier, though,” he purred in your ear before giving you a soft kiss on the neck.

You sighed contentedly. “I can’t argue there.”

As the two of you watched the movie and sipped your wine, Tom paid less and less attention to what was going on on the screen. After he finished his first glass, he realized he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch, so the wine hit him quicker than usual. It was making him feel a bit frisky. He set his empty glass down and wrapped his arms tight around your waist. He dipped his head down and began running the tip of his nose lightly over your neck and shoulder, inhaling deeply and getting even more intoxicated by your natural scent. Upon exhaling, he started softly peppering your neck with kisses. You sighed heavily, causing your chest to rise and fall and drawing Tom’s attention to the area. Your cleavage looked incredible from this angle. His hand wandered from your waist to your breast, cupping it gently and lightly brushing his thumb over your clothed nipple.

You hummed softly as your nipple immediately hardened under his touch. “Tommy,” you warned. “I thought we were going to be good for the rest of the week.”

“But you’re just so irresistible,” he mumbled between more kisses to your neck. You giggled and tilted your head to the side to give him more access. He moved his other hand to your remaining breast and began massaging both of them. You bit your lip and moaned, causing more blood to rush from Tom’s brain to his groin. He wanted to hear more of your beautiful noises. He sucked hard on the crook of your neck as he rolled your nipples between his fingers through your shirt. More soft moans fell from your lips while your body squirmed against his, rubbing against the growing erection in his sweatpants. He grunted against your skin. You bent your knees and spread your legs underneath the blanket before putting your hand over one of his and guiding it down to the waistband of your shorts. “Princess,” he began, just above a whisper.

You leaned your head back and put your lips to his ear. “I want you to feel how wet you’re making me.”

Against his better judgment, Tom slowly slipped his hand into your shorts and grazed his fingertips over your pussy. You were soaked. “Fuck,” he groaned, biting your neck.

You gasped and whined. “Just play with me a little, baby. Please,” you begged as you rolled your hips.

He kissed the bite mark on your neck as he gently began to run his fingers through your wet folds. Every time he touched your clit, a moan would escape your lips and you’d squirm against his excruciatingly hard cock, which was surely staining his sweatpants with precum by now. He started rubbing your clit the way he knew you loved, causing your breathing to become more labored.

“Oh god,” you moaned. “Oh fuck, that’s it!” Tom increased his pressure and speed on your swollen bundle of nerves. “Oh yes… yes… YES!” As you started to cum, Tom swore he could have cum right there, but then you suddenly jerked forward clutching your stomach. “Oh shit! Ouch! Ow ow ow! Ow! Goddamn it! Ow!”

Concern overtook his lust immediately. “Fuck,” he huffed as he leaned forward to try to see your face. “Darling, are you okay? I’m so sorry! What hurts?”

You shook your head. “I’m okay, I just—“ You inhaled sharply and winced. “I didn’t think about the fact that all the muscles around my incisions would contract when I orgasmed.” You chuckled a bit as you said this, but your face still had a pained expression.

“Shit! Do we need to go to the hospital?” he asked, unable to hide the worry in his voice.

“No, no, I’m fine,” you quickly assured him. “As long as the pain goes away in a little while and I don’t start bleeding excessively, I’ll be good.” You gave him a thumbs up as you attempted to smile through the pain.

He gently rubbed your back and looked at you with a mixture of concern and skepticism. “How do you know that?”

You looked at him like a child who’d just been caught breaking the rules. “Because I kind of had something similar happen when I lifted one of the kids at work the other day and called the doctor about it…”

“What?? Why were you exerting yourself like that, and why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, I wasn’t thinking about it when I picked him up! It was just out of habit,” you explained defensively. “And I didn’t tell you because I knew you would panic and then scold me… Kind of like you’re doing now…” You trailed off as you looked at him apologetically.

Taking a deep breath, he knelt on the ground in front of you, reaching up to cup your face in his hand. “I’m not trying to scold you, sweetheart. I just worry about you.”

“And I promise you, I’m—“ You took another sharp breath, then exhaled slowly before finishing your sentence. “I’m fine.”

“Mmhmm,” he replied skeptically as he stood up. “Why don’t you lie down, darling, and I’ll be right back.” He quickly went to get a heating pad, an ice pack, some pain killers, and a glass of water. When he came back, he found you sitting up in the same position he left you in, holding your knees to your chest. He sighed and shook his head. “Stubborn as ever, I see.”

“Oh hush, you. I’m afraid if I move I’ll just anger it,” you told him as you looked down at your aching lower tummy.

He chuckled as he gave you the pills and water and sat down beside you on the sofa. “Come here,” he said, as he carefully scooped you up into his lap. “Now, ice or heat?”

“Ice, please,” you replied quietly. He grabbed the ice pack and placed it on your lower abdomen.

“Better?” he asked. You simply nodded and nuzzled your face into his neck. ���Good,” he said, lightly rubbing your back while his other hand gently stroked your legs.

He cradled you like that for the remainder of the movie the two of you had forgotten you were watching, and by the end of it, you had fallen asleep. Careful not to wake you, he removed the now lukewarm ice pack from your lap, lifted you up, and carried you to the bedroom. There he gently laid you down in his bed, tucked you in, and kissed your forehead, before heading back downstairs.

After he cleaned up and got ready for bed, he was relieved to find you still fast asleep. As quietly as he could, he climbed into bed and curled up next to you and just listened to you breathe until he fell asleep too.

TFTH tag list: @darkacademicfrom2021 @lokiprompts @blackwidownat2814 @immersed-in-mischief @anonymousfiction211 @naniky @stars-and-moondust7 @d1a2n389 @maevetriesart @ice-queen-of-music @donttouchmylaevateinn @likeitloveitblogit @tiredmamamac @owldwagitoutofyou @vampire7595 @1marvelnerd3000 @fromasgardandback @pescadoavocado @nadderlover1 @asgardianprincess1050 @apine7 @elenaysusneuras @sleepdeprevedswede @mochie85 @slpnbty2001 @stupidthoughtsinwriting @caleighhiddleston @sleutherclaw @geekwritersworld @violethaze @sweetberry47 @huntress-artemiss @thedistractedagglomeration @kbakery @dryyoursaltyoceantears @hayden429

[fireflykaizoku]

Heya! I know you’ve done 3 soulmate fics now, but with the sort of angsty feel with Mimi-ya’s request I was wondering if a Katakuri x reader, in regards to the age difference he had given up hope that it was even possible for him to have happiness outside of his family, would make for a good read and also possibly dangerous for reader to come face to face with Big Mom and all those siblings! Thank you x

Hii! i'm sorry i took long to finish it, but i kept watching OP and reading more about Katakuri, since it's my first time writing for him. Since i'm still on episode 850, i was afraid it'd be a bit ooc. If it is, i'm so sorry! my writing for Katakuri will improve as i finish the arc. I hope you like it anyway, it was fun to write it ❤

Your family was rich and well-known around the Grand Line. Being the only daughter, they were trying to find a husband for you, a political marriage that could be good for both families, especially yours. They had a list of potential husbands, but you didn’t bother checking it since you were too focused on your birthday party. It was a small party, just with close friends and family, but you wanted everything to be perfect.

And it was. You had so much fun around people you loved, it was hard to fall asleep after that; you were genuinely happy.

Before opening your eyes, you could already feel the sweet smell, something like candy, donuts or cake. Thinking it was maybe a belated birthday breakfast, you opened your eyes and was ready to jump out of the bed when you realized the bedroom was completely different from yours. And as soon as you looked down, you realized that body definitely wasn’t yours. The toned chest, tattoos and the scarf around your neck weren’t yours.

You could only feel happiness and relief, you were glad you already switched bodies with your soulmate. Who knew it’d be that fast? But you wanted to see more of him, so you got up and started looking for a mirror in his room. The reflection surprised you at first, not being the kind of soulmate you expected to have. He had tattoos, crimson hair, and apparently was very tall. In fact, he was huge. When you put the scarf down a little, you noticed he had scars, and you assumed that’s why he covered his mouth. He also had fangs, which you thought were extremely charming. He wasn’t ugly, in fact, he was far from that. He was very handsome. Intimidating, of course. But very handsome.

Looking around, you found a vest, and on the back, you noticed “Charlotte” written on it.

— Charlotte? — you whispered to yourself, thinking you’ve seen that name somewhere until you finally realized after a couple of minutes.

— He’s one of Big Mom’s son!

You remember when your parents were trying to find a husband for you, his name came up a couple of times. It was probably Charlotte Katakuri. You’ve never seen any pictures of him, but you knew he was a very strong and powerful man.

After a couple of minutes just looking at his figure in the mirror, admiring his traits, a knock on the door brought you back to reality.

— Katakuri-sama, it’s almost time for Big Mom’s tea party. — someone said, outside the room before leaving right away.

You heard about the famous Tea Parties, but you didn’t even know how to behave. You knew there would be so many people, powerful people, and some probably well known as well, so you couldn’t take the risk of things going wrong.

You couldn’t describe the relief you felt when you noticed a den den mushi in the corner of the room. Perfect! You’d call him, explain everything and hopefully he’d be there just in time for the party.

It took a couple of minutes, but finally someone answered. You got quiet for a moment, not knowing what to say.

— Charlotte Katakuri? — you asked, a bit nervous.

— It’s me. I assume you’re (L/N) (F/N)? — you hummed in response. — I see you’re my soulmate and we switched bodies.

— Yes, and you have a Tea Party to attend today. Do you think we can switch back before then?

— Unfortunately, no. Your island is quite far from the Whole Cake Island. Can you go instead? You’ll just have to sit without saying anything. It won’t last too long, and when it’s over you go straight to your room.

— But what if… I need to fight? I don’t know how to… — he interrupted you.

— Don’t worry, it shouldn’t have an attack. But if anything happens, look for Brûlée and explain everything. I’ll be there before the sunrise, and we’ll be able to switch back, hopefully.

He seemed so calm even in a situation like this. But following his advice, you went to the party. It was fun and there was delicious food everywhere, but you couldn’t disrespect your soulmate and remove the scarf off. Maybe when you switch back you can ask Katakuri to let you eat a few.

You started sweating whenever Big Mom or any of his kids got near you, trying to talk. So to avoid raising any suspicions, you just nodded the whole time. And whenever you heard a fuss, your soul felt like it’d leave your body, worried it’d be a confront. If you had to fight today, acting like Katakuri, you wouldn’t know what to do.

You were hungry, but too shy to ask for anything. As if someone heard your thoughts, a few small men knocked on your door, bringing donuts. Not just two or three, but many donuts. They bowed and left quickly.

After eating half of it, you fell asleep. You were very anxious since you’d meet your soulmate in a few hours, but your eyelids got heavier and you couldn’t fight the sleep anymore. You woke up a few hours later with someone gently tapping your arm. When you opened your eyes, you realized Katakuri had arrived.

You were still sleepy, and sat on the bed, rubbing your eyes until you actually felt awake. The height difference was quite a lot, and it was funny. You had to sit on the floor so the two of you would be face to face.

— Hello, Katakuri. — you felt incredibly shy now.

— Good morning. — he tried to hide the fact he was embarrassed, and was hoping you couldn’t hear how fast his heart was beating.

— This… Is it the time when we kiss?— you suggested, looking away. Would he think you were being too straightforward?

— Yes… We should… Kiss.

You pulled the scarf down slowly with your now cold hands. You closed your eyes, feeling very nervous. You kissed a few times before, but it still felt like something new. Especially now that it wasn’t just a random person, it was your soulmate.

Noticing you were waiting for him to make a move, he moved closer, sealing your lips together. Just a peck at first, until you gave him permission to deepen the kiss. Both of you were shy, and the kiss was a bit clumsy. Maybe he haven’t had many kisses too.

You didn’t have to open your eyes to realize you two had switched back, his big and strong hands holding your face was a sign that it worked. You rested your head on his hand, looking at him with eyes full of admiration and a soft smile on your lips.

— Aren’t you… Scared or disgusted? — he asked, feeling insecure now that his face was exposed to you.

— Why would I be? — you genuinely asked, smiling softly.

— Because… Of my mouth. I’m not how you probably wanted your soulmate to look like, and I don’t want you to think you have to put up with me because we’re soulmates. Now that we switched back, you can go if you want to. — his voice didn’t seem angry, as if he was demanding you to leave. It sounded sad, as if he had been through a lot.

You heart ached just to think that someone had the courage to hurt your soulmate.

Little did you know that many people treated him differently, not wanting to be around him or making fun of him because of his appearance; little did you know that while most of his siblings found their soulmates already, and he spent most of his life thinking he didn’t deserve his other half. Little did you know that he gave up on finding someone and started to deal with the fact that only his family would be able to love him.

But now, after meeting you, he threw his rational self out of the window. He felt like he could love someone; marry someone for a reason other than just a political marriage. But would you want him just like he wants you?

— We switched back, right? — you caressed his face softly. He wasn’t expecting it, no one has ever been this gentle with him before. — That means we’re in love.

— I don’t want you to be with someone like me, you’d only be in danger. — he turned his face not to see you. — You wouldn’t be able to deal with my siblings. It won’t be like playing house, and it won’t be like the marriage you might be expecting.

You got quiet, taking a deep breath. He wouldn’t push you away easily. Katakuri noticed your silence, and was expecting you to leave the room, agreeing that life with him wouldn’t be the perfect calm life you probably wanted. Instead, before he could even use his haki to have a glimpse of the future, you turned his face and pecked his lips.

— I won’t give up so easily. — you crossed your arms. — You’re my soulmate and I won’t leave you just because you think I can’t deal with a dangerous lifestyle. I want you, and if you want me too… We can make this work.

Looking at your face that was looking at him with love in your eyes, how could he say “no”? Maybe Big Mom would be willing to accept this relationship and give her blessing, and his siblings would be happy for him. He could even pretend it was all because of your family and their power at first.

His stomach started growling before he could say anything.

— I’m sorry, I only ate a few donuts while I was in your body. — you felt a little embarrassed about what you were about to ask. — But I wanted to eat some of the sweets yesterday. Do you think… — he didn’t let you finish the question.

— You can have the sweets, I’ll ask to get them delivered for breakfast. — he covered his face with the scarf again. — For now, you should sleep. We’ll have a long day meeting my family tomorrow.

[refinedbuffoonery]

Looking Through A Window (11)

macriley married undercover au

masterlist.

I’m gonna be honest...this chapter is messy and underwritten. My time is limited these days, and I had to choose between obsessing over this not-so-important chapter and putting that time/energy into making the next chapter (which is Very Important) really good. 

That being said, there will probably be quite a wait before Ch 12 is posted. I’m trying to survive my last (!!!) semester of college and can only carve out small chunks of time per day. Thank you all SO MUCH for sticking with me and this story, even as I take an eternity to write it. It brings me so much joy to share this little fictional world with you. xoxo

*****

Mac is really tired of these stupid council meetings. 

Maybe that’s why the FBI passed this op to the Phoenix. Because they somehow knew it would be so goddamn boring. 

So boring, in fact, that Mac lets every word said during the hour-long meeting float in one ear and out the other. He avoids thinking about the inevitable scolding he’ll receive from Riley when he can’t relay any of the information shared today. 

Riley. Now there’s someone he does want to pay attention to. 

While he’s stuck in this meeting, in a stationary chair with nothing to fidget with, Riley is off getting her nails done. They need to look nice for this weekend, she claimed, having already made the appointment. Mac believed her then. Now he’s pretty sure it was just an excuse to ditch the meeting. 

Gleaning anything useful from this snoozefest is a lost cause, so Mac lets his mind play back moments from this morning with aching clarity. He woke half freezing to death since Riley had stolen all of the covers again, leaving him with practically nothing. He yanked the covers back, nestling into their warm, fluffy heaven, but that too was cut short when Riley stole them again. Despite wanting to shove her onto the floor, which he spent several minutes seriously considering, something in Mac’s chest tightened. 

Remembering the feeling, Mac rubs his chest as Conrad drones on. And on. And on and on and on and on. 

Conrad’s stupid drawl fades into white noise. At this point, listening to the sound of his own breathing would be more enlightening than this. 

He thinks about the way Riley’s chest rose and fell, steadily and slowly, as he tucked her in before leaving. Her near silent breathing makes her the quietest person he’s ever shared a bed with, although that doesn’t negate the fact that she has the same ruthless bed-hogging habits as every girlfriend Mac has ever had. And also Jack. Especially Jack. 

Honestly, at this point he’s starting to think this is where karma draws the line and his luck runs out. No polite, acceptably warm and snuggly bedfellows for him. 

Another voice joins the (one-sided) conversation, but Mac’s relief at the break in monotony is cut short when he realizes it’s Jett, aka the only person here he likes less than Conrad. 

Jett should consider that an achievement, honestly. 

If Jack was here, he would’ve threatened to bash Jett’s head in by now, which would be very satisfying to watch. Of course, he’d go on to actually bash Mac’s head in for getting up close and personal with his daughter, which would hurt like a bitch. 

Sorry, buddy, he thinks. You’ve got to sit this one out. Matty’s orders. 

The man sitting beside Mac starts complaining about something, and Mac allows his words to morph into the tantrum Jack would throw on the rare occasion the nature of an op forced him to stay home. Listening to one of those tantrums used to piss him off to no end. But the longer time stretches since Mac heard the last one, the memory fills his chest with more warmth than annoyance. 

Unlike Conrad here, who needs to shut the hell up. 

The scrape of a metal chair on the warehouse’s concrete floor shatters Mac’s daydream and causes a hush to fall over the room. It seems Mac isn’t the only one getting a headache from listening to Conrad talk in circles. Standing, Ethan slides his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, the picture of nonchalance. A good actor. 

“Thank you all for coming today,” Ethan says, as if this were some special occasion and not the regular Wednesday morning council meeting. “I’d like to remind you that the fundraiser gala for Cody Rickshaw’s campaign is this Saturday. The party starts at 6 p.m., so I’d like to see you all there no later than 7. Dress code is black tie.” The last sentence earns scattered groans and eye-rolls, but they all show begrudging acceptance of being put on parade. Clearly aware of that, Ethan gives his men a cool smile. “I’ll see you then.” 

Dismissed, the men scatter before they can be forced to agree to anything else they don’t want to do. Mac does the same—a detail he’ll leave out of this week’s action report. 

Conrad catches him on his way out the door, and Mac has to stop himself from rolling his eyes. So much for slipping out unseen. “James, I’ve got a quick question for you,” Conrad drawls. 

Mac plasters on his best business face. “Shoot.” Conrad doesn’t catch the pun. If Riley was here, she would’ve laughed. 

“Do you do explosives?” Conrad asks bluntly. 

Not expecting that question, Mac’s brain stalls as he puzzles through why the hell Conrad would want a bomb. Shit, does this have something to do with the fundraiser? Three days is a tight window to build and plant a bomb, but doable. 

Mac weighs his options. He could tell Conrad ‘no’ and potentially decrease future casualties. But Conrad could very well find another bomb maker, making Mac less useful to the organization. Or Mac could say ‘yes’ and maintain his monopoly on the Patriots’ weapons supply. 

He isn’t stupid. His value only goes as far as his usefulness. 

“I do,” he says, deciding to worry about the consequences later. It’ll be fine. Or maybe this is a huge mistake. He doesn’t know. He wishes Riley was here to be the voice of reason. 

He’s careful not to let any of that show on his face. He can hide his trepidation so long as Conrad doesn’t question him, which thankfully, he doesn’t. 

Conrad lowers his voice before asking, “How much would it cost me for something that could level a building?” 

Holy shit. Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit. 

Mac slides his hands into his pockets to hide the shaking. Hopefully all Conrad sees is nonchalance. “More than the guns,” he answers calmly. Conrad whistles. The first shipment of guns alone had cost an outrageous amount of money. How the Patriots acquired that sort of funding was beyond Mac, but he wasn’t about to question it before the wire transfer was complete. Now, however…

The lump sums migrating in and out of the Patriots’ bank accounts continue to plague Mac’s thoughts. Where the hell are they getting this much money from? 

“I think we can make that work,” Conrad replies, surprising Mac. “Ethan and I need to talk it over a bit more, but we’ll come to you next week with a formal request.” 

“Alright.” It’s risky, but Mac adds, “If you clue me in to what you’re planning, I’ll be able to make better suggestions.” He takes it all back. This op is not boring, and he’ll never even think such a thing again in order to avoid jinxing future ops. He always made fun of Jack for being superstitious, but dammit sometimes that bastard was right. 

Conrad smiles knowingly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

*****

The apartment is quiet when Mac returns, which means Riley is still out getting her nails done. Honestly, it’s fine by him, since it means he now has uninterrupted time to puzzle through what building Conrad and Ethan want to blow up. 

The problem is that he doesn’t have a damn clue. 

Houston is a big city, and the Patriots could want to level any number of buildings here. But then again, their target might be in a different city altogether. Which begs the question, how far is the Patriots’ reach? 

The FBI intel said they’re nothing more than a grassroots startup, but if they’re really that small, then why did the Phoenix get called in to deal with it? The Phoenix solves crises in progress, not future problems; they’re the “Big Guns,” as the long-time tac team guys like to call him and Riley. 

So if he’s the Big Guns, then why is he getting paid to sit on his ass? The jurisdiction politics just don’t line up. 

Scratch that. None of it lines up. 

Harley trots out of the bedroom, and Mac drops to his knees to greet her. It’s routine at this point—a good scratch behind both ears and a kiss on the forehead. Breathing her in, Mac wrinkles his nose. “You stink,” he informs her. 

He should probably call Matty and Bozer to fill them in on the bomb thing, but until he learns more next week, they’ll just be harassing him for information he doesn’t have. They can wait, Mac decides. At least until he tells Riley. 

Which means he has plenty of time to give Harley a bath. 

Brushing her is already a hassle, so Mac can only imagine how much getting her into the tub is going to suck. Grabbing the peanut butter and a spoon, he lures his already-suspicious dog into the bathroom, shutting the door halfway behind them. 

He sets the peanut butter jar on top of the toilet and starts unbuttoning his pants, because Harley always headbutts the back of his knees while he’s trying to pee. As long as she’s occupied, Mac can shut the door faster than she can escape. Or at least he hopes so. 

Harley falls right into his trap. 

She aims straight for his knees, and as soon as she makes contact, Mac throws the peanut butter at the door. The plastic jar collides with a bang, shutting the door and trapping Harley inside. Mac smirks at her, gloating, “I win.” Her head whips back and forth between him and the closed door. 

Now that he has her trapped in here, how hard could this be? 

Step one: re-button pants. Step two: bathe dog. Simple. 

Harley backs into the corner, eyeing Mac suspiciously, but he ignores her, instead getting to work smearing peanut butter along the inside rim of the tub. Lucky for him, it’s the kind of tub that’s also a shower, and it has a removable showerhead. In no universe would Harley wait patiently while someone dumps water over her with a bowl. 

After a staring contest, a wrestling match, and quite a bit of pleading from both sides, Harley is in the tub and drenched in water, and for that matter, so is Mac. While she’s distracted by the peanut butter, Mac works shampoo into her thick coat. For now, at least, the battle is over; Harley doesn’t seem to care as Mac scrubs her back, head, belly, legs, and even between her buttcheeks. 

Mac doesn’t question his luck. Especially not when the peanut butter runs out before he’s finished. 

“Just your tail, and then we’re done,” he tells her. 

What the little information they had on Harley’s past failed to mention is that Harley hates her tail being touched and, as Mac quickly discovers, will go to great lengths to avoid it. Too slippery to hold, she flops across the tub like a fish out of water, tail tucked and her butt to the wall. Mac keeps reaching, and Harley keeps squirming. He curses under his breath. 

There’s a gentle knock on the bathroom door, and Mac jumps in surprise, accidentally knocking over the shampoo bottle. It hits the tub floor with an echoing thud. 

“Everything okay in there?” Riley’s voice is muffled by the wood. 

“Yeah. I’m trying to bathe the damn dog, but—” he grunts, using his body to block Harley from jumping out of the tub— “it’s not going well.” 

The door cracks open, and soft laughter fills the tiny room. Riley asks, “Want help?” 

“Please,” he begs. Harley likes Riley better anyway. Maybe she’ll cooperate with her. Closing the door behind her, Riley kneels on the floor beside Mac and pours a dollop of shampoo into her palm. 

She instructs, “You hold. I’ll scrub.” 

Harley doesn’t stand a chance with both of them there. Her tail gets scrubbed. Thoroughly. 

Reaching for the showerhead, Riley says, “You’ll never guess who I was seated next to at the nail place.” 

“Who?”

“Carrie Ann.” 

Mac feels sorry for her already. “How’d that go?” Harley wiggles in his arms, and he tightens his grip. 

“Honestly? We had a good time. She’s like a nosey but well-meaning aunt. Once I dodged all the too-personal questions, she was actually kind of cool.” 

Cool isn’t a word Mac would ever use to describe Carrie Ann, but if Riley, of all people, could learn to like her… Maybe she isn’t so bad after all. But only maybe. 

“Nice,” Mac says. While they’re on the subject, he asks, “What color did you get?” 

Riley blinks, taken aback. “You care?” 

“Isn’t that the question I’m supposed to ask? Because if you report back that I’m a terrible fake-husband, Matty will definitely put it on my permanent record.” That earns him a genuine laugh, low and melodic. A soft smile lingers on her face afterward, and Mac wishes he had his phone so he could take a picture and keep her expression with him forever. 

“You’re not a terrible fake-husband. And I got metallic dark blue.” She holds out her free hand for him to examine, then her bare foot. “My toes match.” 

There it is again—that comforting wave of domesticity. He sees these moments so clearly sometimes, timestamped with a future date and slightly altered. Moments just like this—him and his wife sitting on the bathroom floor, soapy and soaking wet, in the middle of a disastrous attempt to bathe the dog. Not for the first time, Mac feels like he’s looking through a window to what could be the rest of his life. 

“Looks nice,” he says. 

As they finish rinsing Harley, Riley accidentally sprays him with the showerhead. Well, the first time might’ve been an accident, but after the second, Mac isn’t so sure. 

By the third time, Mac knows it’s intentional. 

“Watch where you’re aiming that thing,” he warns. Riley just smirks. 

“Did I spray you? My bad.” She doesn’t sound sorry. Not in the slightest. 

Before she can spray him a fourth time, Mac tries to yank the showerhead from her hand, snarling, “Give me that.” Riley’s grip is stronger than he expects, and they end up clamoring over one another in the wettest-ever game of keep-away. Mac never manages to steal the showerhead from her entirely, but he can taste the sweetness of satisfaction—although that might just be soapy water—when he directs the spray so it hits Riley square in the chest. 

She retaliates by spraying him in the face. 

Water lands just as much outside of the tub as inside as Mac and Riley keep fighting. Sharp barking, then laughter, echoes in the small space. After Mac spectacularly loses the upper hand, Riley has him pinned to the rim of the tub with the spray pointed toward his face, and Mac’s hand isn’t big enough to block all of the water—only enough to avoid being waterboarded. Still, she pushes, victory in sight. 

He’s beyond soaked. The only thing Mac has left to fight for is his dignity, and he’s on the verge of losing that too. At least no one else is here to see him lose a fight he saw coming from a mile away. 

Jack would’ve wanted Riley to win anyway. 

Mac holds his breath. Letting go of the showerhead, warm water drowns his senses as he lunges for the shower handle. His fingers close around the cool metal, and not a moment too soon, the water shuts off. Coughing up water, Mac jokes, “We should probably leave this out of our reports.” 

Riley releases him, smirking. “Leave out the fact that you lost? Not a chance.” 

Mac groans. He should’ve seen that coming too. 

Speaking of seeing… he’d have to be blind not to notice the way Riley’s pale blue t-shirt clings to her body and is now slightly see-through. Before she can catch him staring, Mac lowers his gaze from her chest, but then he’s thinking about her thighs around his hips and how he’s dying to drag her back onto his lap—an even more dangerous train of thought—and he’s forced to slide his gaze even lower. All the way down. 

For now, the only safe place to look is the ground. 

Harley paws his back, reminding him of the whole point of this endeavor. He grabs both towels off the rack to start drying her. 

“Is that my towel?” Riley asks, frowning. 

“I’ll wash it.” 

She grumbles, “You’re lucky we have extras.” 

Once Harley is semi-dry and the towels have been laid out to soak up the water on the floor, Mac and Riley sit across from each other with Harley between them. If they let her out now, she’ll immediately jump on the bed and the couch and end up making the whole apartment smell like wet dog. 

Using their own waterlogged state as an excuse, Mac convinces Riley to stay in here with him and Harley. It’s the perfect opportunity to check in with her while her guard is still down. “How are you?” Mac asks, banishing his earlier train of thought. 

He sees her walls go up, sees it in the way her body tenses and her eyes go cold. It’s an instinctive reaction, he’s learned. Either she’ll relax and answer his question, or she’ll choose to give distant, clipped answers. Mac really hopes it’s the former. 

“I’m…” she trails off. “I’m okay. The thing with my mom got me.” Riley hugs a knee to her chest. “It was terrifying, Mac. I’m not…I’m not ready to lose another parent.” 

Mac nods. He knows that feeling all too well. He wishes he didn’t. 

“Anyway,” Riley says, changing the subject, “how are you?” 

Mac doesn’t answer right away, taking stock of his feelings about each aspect of the op. 

The Patriots and their plans make him nervous. And the fundraiser gala this weekend…that has to be more than just a fancy party, right? Not to mention Conrad’s bomb request this morning.

On top of that, living with Riley is complicated, to say the least. The problem is that it’s easy, and Mac can’t stop thinking about what his life could be like if only she loved him back, if only they were both willing to risk the relationship they already have. There’s also the problem of her being incredibly distracting, all the time. 

And last but not least: Harley. His relationship with her is so hot and cold Mac has no idea where he stands half of the time. She’s smart and seems to want affection, but the second he or Riley makes a mistake, it’s back to square one. Bonding with animals takes time, and he knows that, but still. All he wants is for Harley to realize she’s safe and loved. 

He’s not sure how to verbalize all of that, so instead he gestures to his clothes and answers, “Wet.” Riley snorts. 

“Come on. I gave you a good answer.” 

She did. Now he owes her one in return. 

Mac picks the easiest one. 

“Nervous,” he admits. “I’m still not sure we’re doing the right thing with the Patriots. Helping terrorists just feels wrong, even if it’s to ensure we take out the entire operation when we finally call in the cavalry.” Harley lays down, resting her head on Riley’s thigh, and Mac has to shove down a pang of jealousy before continuing. “After the meeting today, Conrad asked me if I could make them a bomb. No details yet; he just wanted to know if I could.” 

“What did you tell him?” Riley asks cautiously, stroking Harley’s head. Mac can’t decide whether he’s more jealous that Harley is in her lap, or of Harley being in her lap.

“I said yes. Figured it was a better option than him finding a separate bomb maker.” 

“Okay,” Riley says, and she means it. “That’s good. That’s one more variable we can control.” Mac wasn’t too sure about his decision before, but when Riley puts it that way, it makes sense. 

“Yeah.” Mac lets his eyes drift, and they land on the gray tufts of hair from Harley’s undercoat along the baseboards. That dog sheds so much, no matter how often they clean, there’s always hair everywhere. “We need to vacuum again.” 

He needs the distraction. From Riley. From the op. From all of it. He hates cleaning, but anything that keeps his hands busy also keeps his head clear, and that’s a trade Mac is always willing to make. 

“Rock, Paper, Scissors?” Riley holds out her fist. Mac does the same. 

“On shoot.” 

Mac loses. Lucky him. 

When he vacuums later that afternoon, he tracks down every piece of hair in the whole apartment, checking in every nook and cranny. Once he’s gotten all the hair, maybe the vacuum will suck down his fears about the Patriots and this weekend too.

.

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[divinefireangel]

Hello! May I request a SF9 reaction? Snuggling in bed in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm. How would the boys react to op being a bit anxious because of the thunder?Thank you!

I just UwU'd so hard 🥺 Also I tried writing mini stories for each member in this one. I'll probably do a few as bullet points and few like this, depending on my mood.

Not me being conflicted between studying and writing reactions 💀💀

Warnings: Descriptions of thunderstorms. SF9 worried about s/o. Why is this a warning💀. Sorry they are short 🥺👉🏽👈🏽. Also not @ hwi for leaking his nudes (not really 💀) while I was writing his part lmao.

Youngbin:

A loud roar heard from outside your window jolted you up from your slumber. Looking out the window with wide eyes, you saw bright flashes soaring through the blacked out street. Knowing exactly what was coming next, you turned your body to face Youngbin's. Surprisingly, he was awake, looking at you with shaky eyes.

"Are you okay? You were shaking in your sleep so I was trying to wake you up. "

"I- I guess? I'm just a bit scared of thund-AH" you shrieked moving your forward into Youngbin's embrace as soon as you heard another loud bang from the clouds.

Reacting just as fast, he wrapped his arms around you. One arm around your torso below you and the other circling your head in attempts to cover your ears, shielding you from the sound as much as he could.

"You're okay. I'm here. You're here, safe in my arms. I'll protect you now. Go back to sleep jagi." He says softly, rubbing your temple with his thumb, easing you to sleep once again.

Inseong:

Hearing the windows rattle, you woke up from your sleep, wondering what was making a sound. Sitting up on your elbows, you noticed the light in the bathroom on, and your boyfriend not next to you.

Everything would've been fine, if it weren't for the low rumble the made the bed vibrate. Clutching the covers tightly, you gulp feeling your heart thump in your chest. Slowly you try to cover your ears with your pillow.

Screaming in fear when you felt a hand grab yours, you throw the pillow in the direction of this mysterious touch.

"Baby what are you doing?!!" Inseong yelped catching your pillow, looking at you with wide eyes.

"I- That- Ow-" you tried answering his question, but failed to as your head started aching from moving so suddenly.

"What's wrong baby? Is your head aching?" He asks climbing into the bed and coming close to you, hand reaching for your head.

Nodding yes, you screw your eyes shut. Feeling him move around and then pull you into his side, Inseong took ahold of your hand, intertwining your fingers together and kissing the back of your palm. "Go to sleep now. I'm here and I won't let anything happen to you."

Jaeyoon:

Feeling the covers being pulled off his body, Jaeyoon groans lightly. Reluctantly he opens his eyes and looks at you, but he immediately sits up when he sees your figure thrashing in fear.

When you stop moving, he hears low whimpers coming from the bundle beneath him. Carefully he moves the blanket a bit, just enough to uncover your face. The sight in front of him breaks his heart. Curled up in a ball, eyes shut tight, you were trying your best to warm yourself up as a distraction to the commotion in the sky.

Lifting the blanket over his body, he lays his weight on top of yours adding additional warmth to your shivering self. Kissing your cheek, he rubs your thigh comfortingly. "Jagi, cuddle into me."

And so you did. Turning on your side, you hid your face in his muscular chest, scared whines leaving your mouth when you heard a quiet thunder. Wrapping you safely in the thick blanket, Jaeyoon cradles your head near his heart, making your listen to his steady heartbeat.

"You'll be okay, jagi. I got you." Hearing your soft sniffles, Jaeyoon wraps his arms around you tighter, kissing your forehead repeatedly until you both fell asleep again.

Dawon:

You were both sitting in front of the couch on the ground, some boring movie playing on the TV but all your attention was on him. Sitting in his lap, you run your hands through his lush locks as you lips lock again and again in a hot messy make out.

His hands are roaming everywhere, pulling you close even though your chests are already touching. Hot breaths exchanging with soft moans that slip out from both of you when you grind down on him. His lips find solace on your neck, making you roll you head back. There is nothing more perfect than a steamy midnight make-out.

And in just a moment, everything went silent, the lights went out. Even more perfect right? It would've been if you hadn't seen that oh so familiar bright light from the window. It would've been if you hadn't frozen on spot, making Sanghyuk stop all his actions. It would've been if you didn't know what was coming next.

"Why? What's wrong? Did I do something I shouldn't have?" He questions hurriedly, worried he did something to offend you. Nodding your head no you look at him with scared eyes, hand pointing to the window and a tempting rumble was heard as soon as you did.

An expression of realization takes over his handsome face. Grasping your cheeks in both his hands, he pulls you in for a sweet kiss. "Let's cuddle in bed so I can hide you from the thunder better? Does that sound okay?" He asks oh so sweetly. Nodding in agreement you just melt into him, clutching him for dear life as he gets up with you in his strong arms and walks to the bedroom.

Laying on the bed slowly, he pulls the covers over both your joined bodies, hiding you from the thunderstorm as promised.

(TwT)

Rowoon:

It was close to 1am when you got up to use the washroom. Heavy raindrops hitting the windows, creating a mellow sound along with the fan rotating on the ceiling. Noticing the absence of your warmth in his arms, Seokwoo stirs awake. Squinting his eyes he sees the bathroom light on and nods to himself realizing that you're there.

"Jagi come fast" he whines sleepily. What an annoying lover, can't even sleep without you. Smiling softly you finish your business. Flushing you freeze in your spot.

A bright light streak illuminated the sky above you, naturally followed by a loud clack of thunder that made the window panes vibrate. Screaming you fall on the ground, knees coming to your chest as you hide your head behind your arms in attempt to shield you from the thunder sounds.

Getting out of bed, and almost falling too, Seokwoo got into immediate action as soon as he saw the lightning too. Running to the bathroom he finds your smaller figure in a ball on the floor, cradling yourself. Approaching you with a worried expression, Seokwoo skeptically wraps his arms around you.

Uncurling you throw your arms around his shoulders, burying your face in his neck so he can carry you back. "I'm here baby. I got you." Comfortingly he repeated those words again and again while carrying you safely in his arms. While laying you down on the bed and covering you with blankets.

Getting into bed beside you, he gives you many reassuring kisses while completely engulfing your body with his, cursing the thunder when it gets too loud causing you to shiver in his hold.

Zuho:

Juho was awoken from his sleep when he felt someone rest on his shoulder. Blinking he started to go back to sleep, thinking it was probably one of his cats, that was until he heard a very human whimper. Shooting his eyes open he turns his head as much as he could to find that you were resting on his shoulder.

"Baby? " he calls in his deep voice as he gently raising his other hand to trace your cheek with his thumb. Turning his body towards you, you cuddle further into him. Curling into his body, you let out choked sobs from fear of the angry clouds adorning the night sky.

Resting his head on top of yours, he begins to play with your hair, an action that always made you calm, especially when he did it, cause he knows exactly how you like your hair to be played with. "You should have woken me up. " he says quietly, feeling bad for not waking up sooner to comfort you. Sniffing you hug him tighter, just wanting his love and care at the moment.

Tangling your legs together, he wraps his elbows around your shoulders to bring you closer to him. Pulling the blanket till your neck, Juho kisses your temple. Continuing to stroke your hair and caress your back, he starts to hum a soft lullaby to lure you to sleep. Holding you closer than ever every time he suspects there to be a loud roar from the dark sky above.

Yoo Taeyang:

Giggling at how cutely you were decorating your cookies, Taeyang presses his lips to your cheek softly. What's better than some midnight baking you ask? Midnight baking with your cute sunshine of a boyfriend. Standing next to you, he starts to give the final touches to his cookies.

"You're cute. " he says matter of factly. It was true though. He never thought anyone could be as cute as you. "All done! " you said giggling, proudly showing off your design of a butterfly you struggled to make. Pecking you on your lips, Taeyang smiles proudly, grabbing both your trays to take them to the refrigerator.

You start to clean up the counter, throwing away the dishes that need to be soaked in the sink first, followed by everything else, except for that packet of choco chips. You gasp when you see the pale flash coming from outside the balcony windows. When nothing happens for a few seconds, you breathe out, continuing to work.

Screaming when you heard the first rumble of thunder, you drop the table cloth to cover your ears. Rushing to hold you, Taeyang hides you in his chest, doing his best to cover your ears when the next few rumbles are heard. Cooing to you to calm down quietly, he slowly starts to sway you bodies from your spot in the kitchen.

"I'll always protect you my love. "

Hwiyoung:

"I love late night showers with you." Youngkyun expressed with a smirk as he bashfully eyed you getting into one of his shirts.

"I know you do." Giggling you walk to the bed, jumping on it making him chuckle at your adorable action. Moving around till you're face to face with him, you lean on him as you capture his lips in a much awaited kiss.

Smiling you pull back to admire his gorgeous face. Lifting your right hand to his face, you draw inkless lines over his eyebrows and cheek bones and all over his face, just admiring your perfect man.

Wrapping an arm around your waist, he plays with your shirt, well his shirt. Closing his eyes he let's you do what you want to. Lifting your leg across his naked torso, you trap him below you as you attack his face with love filled kisses. Shyly laughing at your lovey dovey energy, Youngkyun wraps his arms around you tighter, pulling you completely on top of him as you release a fit of giggles.

Hearing the low thunder from outside, you gasp looking out the window anxiously. "The weather report did tell there was gonna be a thunderstorm all night." Youngkyun says, slowly rubbing the sides of your torso. "Oh" was you were able to reply back with.

Grabbing the blanket, he spreads it over the two you of, distracting you from your window gazing. Snuggling into his neck, you shut your eyes as the thunder grew louder. Kissing your forehead and temple and nose in cycles, youngkyun loves you to deep slumber, making sure to hold you tight every time you flinched unconsciously.

Chani:

It was around 2:45am when the loud banging of your neighbour's window against its frame woke you. Flinching a little every time the sound was audible over the strong winds. Once they finally shut the window, you sighed in content, ready to slip back to get those few more hours of sleep.

Just as you were about to succeed, a mighty boom from the lit cloudy sky completely woke you up. Sleep disappearing from your body, fear slowly creeping in. Breathing multiple small breaths from your nose, you feels tears form in your eyes. Heart is beating faster every passing second.

Curling into a ball, you squeeze your face into the pillow to soften the sound of your sobs. "Y/N? What's going on? Why are you crying? Talk to me!" Chani said desperately, worried something may be hurting you? Cramps? Nightmare?

All his questions were answered when he heard the deep sound of thunder, lightning hitting a far off place. Cooing he gently starts to trace your upper arm, coming close so his chest connects to your back. Leaning his free arm near your head, he pets your hair slowly, thumb going back and forth, moving your hair to ease you a bit.

Kissing your cheek, he rests his head against yours, whispering sweet words into your ear, now beginning to gently rub your thighs too.

[pterodactylterrace]

Title: Go To Bed

Chapter:  1/1 (can be considered a follow up to Goodest Boy or a standalone. You don’t need to read Goodest Boy to understand what’s going on.)

Summary: He’s just one giant toddler when he’s been drinking

Rating: T

Warnings: Alcohol consumption. Drunk Henry. My botched attempt at a drunken British accent.

In retrospect, staying with Henry at the same time that a 'very important rugby match' was on TV, may have been a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, everyone was super polite. They were also super loud. And as the night wore on, they became super drunk. Add to that the fact that I know nothing about rugby and I wasn't having the best of times. I definitely should have tried to reschedule my visit for the next time I would be back in London. It was only a few weeks away, rugby season would be over by then, right? Did rugby have a season, or was it an all the time thing?

I could probably ask him that when he was sober. As for right now, he was several rounds deep, and probably wouldn't understand the question if I did ask. If he could even hear me. How are they all so loud? Which team was I supposed to be rooting for again? They are all probably drunk enough to not notice me leave right now. I could just walk right out of this madness and curl up all cozy with a book.

My plan went off without a hitch, easily detangling myself from the pile of dudes drunkenly fixated on the TV and walking straight out and up to the guest room. I should probably lock the door in case Henry forgets I'm here and offers the room to one of his pals. The last thing I want to deal with is a drunken stranger in my room in the middle of the night.

The door muffled their boisterous laughter and cheering well enough. I could still hear them, but I was able to concentrate on my book. I fully drowned out the noise as I immersed myself into my favorite fantasy realm for what had to be the tenth time. Once my eyes grew too heavy to force open anymore, I marked my page and clicked off the bedside lamp, snuggling down into the bed for a good night's sleep. I had the suspicion I was going to be the one making breakfast tomorrow.

What was that sound? It sounds like scratching. Is Henry's house haunted? I really needed to check if people's homes were haunted before staying with them for any length of time. When I heard it again, it was accompanied by a whimpering sound, followed by a booming bark. Good news, it was just a bear scratching at my door, not a demon! Henry probably forgot to let him out again before he went to bed.

"Shh, buddy, Henry's probably getting some much needed sleep right now." I soothed as I opened the door. Kal hopped down the hallway, whimpering and tapping his feet when I didn't follow right away. Poor boy must really have to go. "Alright, come on. Let's get you settled for the night." I sighed, following after him.

I was more than a little confused when Kal led me to the kitchen instead of the backdoor. Did Henry not give him dinner? No, he fed him before everyone came over. Was that little piggy trying for another dinner?

"Kaaaaal!" I heard a familiar voice drag out, followed by what could only be described as giggling. "Kal, ca' you ope' the pea'butter?" I cautiously peered around the island, groaning when I saw Henry sprawled out on his back, attempting to open the bottom of a jar of peanut butter. He must really be out of it.

"Henry." I called, slowly stepping closer to him.

"Abi!" He cheered, lifting his head to look at me, a goofy smile plastered on his face.

"Is there a reason you're laying on the kitchen floor?"

"I... I drop it." Henry explained, holding the jar up, only for it to tumble out of his hands once more, bouncing off his stomach. "Ouch. Not nice."

"Can you stand up? You'd sleep a lot better if you went to bed." I explained, offering him my hand to help him up.

"M' fine." Henry scoffed, abruptly popping himself up into a sitting position. He blinked rapidly a few times, trying to regain his equilibrium before turning his head to look at me. "Abi!" He cheered again, throwing his arms around me locking me in a bear hug, his face buried in my stomach. "You' so nice." He mumbled, his voice muffled by my shirt.

"Ok, save the snuggles for when you're in bed." I sighed, wiggling my way out of his grasp.

"You stay wit' me?" He gasped excitedly, scrambling to his feet and accidentally tackling me when he tried to me hug again, somehow managing to twist us so he took the brunt of the fall. "I... 'm sorry." He mumbled after a second, popping his head up to look at me, still clutched to his chest like a child with a teddy bear.

"Come on, you need to get to bed. No more tackling." I attempted again, slipping free again and stepping back as my gigantic host rose to his feet. It was times like this, when he was unsteady and unaware of his sheer mass, that I am reminded of exactly large he is. He typically carries himself very well, he is gentle in spite of his strength. When he's drunk, he's a bull in a china shop.

"m snack." He whined, looking dejectedly at the still un opened jar of peanut butter on the floor.

"Sorry buddy, I talked with sober Henry and he told me he has a strict rule about peanut butter in the bed."

"He sound' like a... stupid." Henry mumbled, leaning against the island and rubbing at his eyes.

"Now come on, big guy. Bed time." I repeated, gently turning his shoulders toward the hall and giving him a small push in the correct direction.

"'s your bed time." He grumbled, taking unsteady steps to the hallway, pausing when he reached the archway, leaning on it and looking back at me again. "You' go ta bed."

"After I make sure you're safe for the night." I compromised, shooing him down the hall again.

"I can... I can take care 'o m'self." He scoffed, pinballing his way down the hall to the stairs. "See? You' bein' dramatic." He yawned, plopping down on the third stair and leaning back against the rest them.

"And you are trying to take a nap on a staircase."

"No 'm not."

"Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill, get your ass up those stairs and go to bed, right now!"

"Tha'... tha's kinda hot." Henry chuckled, his eyes popping open to look at me again. "You bein' bossy. So lil' and bein' bossy." He continued rambling as he crawled his way up the stairs, giggling to himself the entire time. "Call' m' by m' full name an' ever'thin'."

"Keep it moving." I sighed, grabbing onto his hips to steady him when he stood himself back up to weave his way down the hall, finally shoving the giant onto his bed, relief washing over me when he landed face down, bouncing safely on the mattress. "I'll get you some water and a painkiller. Don't move." Henry groaned and shot me a thumbs up from his face down position, finally turning his head so he could breathe.

I was halfway back up the steps, Kal dutifully following me when I heard a loud thud from upstairs. Of course that stubborn man wouldn't listen when I told him to stay put. I rushed the rest of the way back to his room, rolling my eyes when I found him sitting on the floor, trying to wrestle his shirt over his head.

"Help." He whined, pausing in his struggle when he took notice of me and his canine companion standing in the doorway. Kal only huffed at his human, trotting over to his bed and curling up for the night, content his job was done.

"I thought I told you to stay still." I chastised, setting the glass of water and pill bottle down before helping him out of his shirt.

"I gotta take a piss." He grouched, pushing himself up on unsteady legs and stumbling off to the bathroom.

"I am not cleaning your bathroom if you pee on everything!" I called after him, my shoulders slumping when I heard him start swearing from the bathroom. "You just peed on everything, didn't you?"

"No! Fuckin' zipper!" He yelled back. "AH HA! I got it! Hey... Hey, Abi, I got it." He called triumphantly.

"Thank God." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. I was getting a headache of my own from dealing with this over grown toddler. "And make sure you leave your underwear on!"

"'S on!" He grouched, shuffling back in just his underwear, sending me a dopey grin. "Abi!"

"Yes, Henry. I'm still here."

"Oh 'm glad 's you." He laughed, wrapping me in his arms and leaning his weight on me. "You... you're th' bes'."

"And you are drunk." I reminded him, shuffling us around to sit him on the edge of the bed.

"So pretty." He sighed, snatching me up again and burying his face in my chest. "Mrr mmeee."

"I'm sorry, Henry, I can't hear you."

"I said marry me!" Henry repeated, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he looked up at me. "It'll be great!"

"Now I know you're trashed." I laughed, pushing his forehead until he fell back on the mattress.

"Noooo." He whined reaching for me again, though I was sure to stay out of his reach this time.

"You don't know what you're saying, Henry." I soothed, grabbing his long, muscular legs and heaving them up onto the bed.

"Yeah I do." He pouted, his hazy eyes locking on me again. "You're th' bes'. You... You're always there 'f me. Gon' marry you."

"Ok, big guy." I sighed, throwing the blankets over him.

"Stay." His voice was so quiet I wasn't sure I heard him at first, but then I heard him wiggling around in the bed before speaking again. "Plea' stay?"

"Henry, you're drunk. I don't think that's a good idea."

"Pleeeeease?" He whined, pouting back at me. "I wan' make sure you don' run 'way 'morrow."

"I won't go anywhere, Hank. Get some sleep, I'll check on you in the morning."

To say I was surprised to find Henry not only walking around the next day, but bringing me a cup of coffee before I even woke up, would be an understatement. He looked freshly showered, he had dressed himself and judging from the smell wafting through the house, he even cooked something. He really was Superman.

"Morning, Abi." He greeted, shooting me that obnoxiously handsome grin.

"Morning, Henry." I yawned, sitting up and rubbing at my eyes. "Feeling better?"

"Yes, I'm doing much better now. Thank you for helping me last night."

"I'm shocked you're doing so good."

"Well, it is almost three in the afternoon." Henry chuckled, shaking his head at my panicked look.

"Why did you let me sleep so long?!" I gasped, scrambling out of the bed like it burned me.

"I'm pretty sure I kept you up a fair bit last night. It's all a bit fuzzy, honestly, but I thought you earned a bit of a lay in."

"How much do you remember about last night?"

"Not much. I remember wanting peanut butter and you yelling at me, but not much else."

"So you don't remember asking me to marry you?" I teased, laughing when all the color drained from his face. "You know, if you wanted to be more than friends, all you had to do was ask."

Taglist: @Xxxkatxo @Weallhaveadestiny @lunedelorient

[vemuabhi]

SUPERNOVA - KILLER

“The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.” –Audrey Hepburn

Annyong Haseyo! This is my piece for @tsunderedoctor​ 100 followers event! Please do join if you are interested.

Prompt : Supernova; reader gets sick/hurt

Pairing : Killer X GN! Reader

Word count : 609

Warnings : Angst, mention of blood but Happy ending.

A/N : I hope you like it. Please forgive me for any mistakes. Likes/Votes, Comments, Reblogs/Shares are always appreciated! 

I always love to write for Killer, he is one of my favourite OP boys and I cant help but adore him.

The masked Supernova got busted into the doctor’s room of the ship startling the doctors of the crew. But as soon as they saw your bleeding form in his hands they understood the situation. The fight with the marines resulted in many members of the crew getting hurt, with you being the worst case.

Killer was so damn devastated and couldn’t even eat. He was so scared, so broken and suffering. Even after the doctors treated you and gave the news of there is nothing to be scared of. Killer knew, you’d wake up in some days but… he wasn’t totally relieved.

Killer desperately wanted you to wake up. He wanted to listen to your sweet voice when you sing, only for him. He wanted to hold you tight to his chest, like he always did. He wanted to make you delicious secret desserts of your favourite choice, like how you both ate it without any other crew members finding it out. He wanted to listen to your giggles, wanted to hold our hands.

This was absolutely one of Killers worst nightmares that he was facing now. It’s already been 3 days since doctors said you will wake up, 5 days since you were laying on the bed like this. Just after doing his routine, he came into the room where you were, with bandages covering most parts of your body, he was so sad. It was already night and Heat took the night watch duty from Killer for which the latter was so grateful. Killer removed his mask and places it on the desk beside you with making a sound of click.

The blond slipped his hand into yours and lifted it up gently. He leaned his forehead on your hand and exhaled. “Please, wake up. I love you Y/N, please wake up”, he murmured as he bit his lip trying to hold back the tears from falling.

“I love… you too”, Killer’s eyes wide opened at the weak voice he just heard. He immediately turned to look at you and you were smiling at him weakly. It was as if it made Killer snap into emotions, his tears flowed out of his eyes as he gently hugged you, making sure he wasn’t hurting you, though he wanted to hug you tight, he held back.

With some effort, you reached to his long, soft blond locks and patted his head. He pulled back to look at your eyes. You were looking at him. Smiling at him. You were awake. Your hand travelled to his cheek and soothed the tears he was crying for you.

He smiled and leaned in placing a gentle kiss on your lips and pulled back. He gently brushed the hair off your forehead still thanking whatever made you to stay alive for him.

“Don’t cry Killer, I’m sorry for getting hurt and making you worry”, your words was like music to his ears. Oh how he missed your voice, your eyes and your total being for that matter.

“It’s okay, you are awake and it’s all that matters now”, he said with his hoarse voice. Sitting back on the chair beside your bed, he again lifted your hand gently and leaned in your touch.

“There is so much that I need to talk”, he said as he sniffed. He was on cloud nine that you woke up.

“I’d love to listen to you”, you replied and he smiled again. That time till you again fell asleep, you both talked.

There were going to be many more battles and fights even worse than this so Killer and you swore to get stronger to move forward.

Thankyou so much for reading! I hope you like it!

Like/Vote, Share/Reblog, Comment your feelings.

Follow for more!!

[fific7]

Dangerous and Divine - Part 14

Billy Russo x Reader

Summary: Billy Russo is an itch you don’t want to scratch. But he’s all over you like a rash.

A/N: This does not follow canon, it’s mainly fluff & lemon zest 🍋 The GIF is from Exposed, unreleased pilot show in case you’re wondering 😌... Billy vibes.

Warnings: 18+ NSFW due to sexual content including unprotected* sex between consenting adults. Some drinking & swearing.

*Irl, please don’t go wild in the country without protection.

(My GIF)

She’d find some excuse about missing evidence or statements to call him back in, or something along those lines. He was too good a catch to let him escape, and she wasn’t prepared to allow that to happen. And Dinah Madani, as anyone who knew or worked with her soon found out, was one very determined lady.

The weekend following the op, Dinah had literally just sat and wallowed in her apartment, several bottles of wine, takeout and the TV being her only companions. She stewed and stewed about the Russo Situation, as her mind categorised it. She really wasn’t going to let this lie, she was the one who should be with him.

By Wednesday morning, Dinah was sitting in her office scrolling through various witness statements again on her laptop, tapping her pen impatiently on the desk as she did. She’d spent the last two days scrutinising them.

Her mind was working overtime, trying to come up with a plausible excuse for calling Russo back in. It had to be cast-iron, otherwise her co-workers and possibly Russo would smell a rat. She started reading through an eyewitness report from just prior to the shooting; this one might do, as it mentioned seeing Russo (‘tall guy in a black army outfit’) raising his gun just before one of her team had actually shot the guy. She might be able to say she needed him to go over his exact movements at that point, as she didn’t think it had been described in micro-detail in his own statement.

Her internal phone rang, and she grabbed the receiver - it was her boss, the Special Agent in Charge or SAC. “Sir?” His gruff voice sounded annoyed, “Can you come to my office, please?” She frowned, “I’m just going over the -“ but he cut her off, “Now, Madani!” “Of course,” she replied, putting the phone down and getting up from her desk. What’s got his panties in a bunch, she thought as she left her office and headed along the corridor to his.

She knocked and heard a terse “Come in!” and entered his office. One look at his beetroot face made her wish she’d been out on a call somewhere. His blood pressure only ever got this high if some really big boulder of shit had come rolling down the hill and dropped on him.

“Siddown,” he grunted, and waited until she was sitting opposite him. He heaved a big sigh, interlacing his fingers as he placed his hands on the desk in front of him, then stared across at her.

“Dinah... I’ve received two official complaints about you.” She gaped at him. Definitely hadn’t been expecting that.

“What? Who from?!!!” she demanded. He exhaled a breath; even he’d noticed Dinah’s ‘heart-eyes’ for this guy. She wasn’t going to like this.

“Billy Russo, and a friend of his.”

“Oh, let me guess!” She said a name, “That’s his ‘friend’, isn’t it?!” He nodded, “Yes. They both allege that you acted in an unprofessional manner during the case which has just been closed.”

“Unprofessional, how exactly?” she questioned him. His beetroot face went an even more vibrant shade of red, and he cleared his throat, “Russo alleges that you made unwanted sexual advances to him, and that you... uhhh, you engaged in an act of voyeurism while he was having sexual relations with his girlfriend.”

Dinah felt a flush spreading over her face, and she huffed out a breath. “And her? What did she have to add to the mix?” He held her angry gaze, “She said you carried out a totally unnecessary interview with her, solely to obtain information about her relationship with Russo.” She couldn’t stop herself from spitting out, “Huh! Relationship!”

He raised an eyebrow at her, “Dinah, you do seem to be rather more.... interested in Russo than the casework would require? Did you engage in a personal relationship with him during the course of the case?” She crossed her arms over her chest, “No! Well, yes.... to an extent! He took me out for lunches a couple of times and drinks one night, but that’s as far as it went!” More’s the pity, supplied her brain.

“Well, Dinah, I can’t sweep this under the carpet I’m afraid, as they’ve made the complaints official. Their statements have been made and filed with Professional Standards.”

Her eyebrows rose, and for the first time, a sliver of trepidation made its way into her mind. “I see. I didn’t realise it had already been fast-tracked to them.” He shook his head, “Not fast-tracked, Dinah - just following standard procedure. They came in to speak to PS yesterday, and they’ve just contacted me as your line manager to make me - and in turn, you - aware that the complaint’s been filed.” She chewed the inside of her lip; she was having a hard time getting her head around the fact that only two days after he’d come to the final briefing, he’d returned to the office and filed this complaint.

“PS will be in touch with you to arrange a formal hearing to investigate the complaint. They’ll give you a copy of the statements made, and you’ll be able to have an advisor with you.” He looked down at his hands, before meeting her eyes again, “I’m sorry this has happened, Dinah, but it has and things have just got to take their course. I’m not going to suspend you but for the moment, until this is resolved you’ll be on desk duties only.”

Her mouth tightened, but she gave him a brief nod and managed to say almost civilly, “Yes, sir.” He leant back in his chair, “Okay, that’s all for now.” She got up abruptly and left the office, making sure she didn’t slam the door. Although she really, really, wanted to.

She walked back to her office, this unexpected development turning over and over in her mind. She carefully closed her office door, but then kicked her desk viciously, her anger boiling over. This was obviously her idea, thought Dinah, it’s got to be! She just didn’t see Billy as a complaint-filing kinda guy.

Well, his little lady friend would soon find out she picked the wrong woman to fuck with!

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy’s eyes opened slowly, and he stretched his arms and legs fully out, yawning. His right hand met empty space - he was by himself in the bed. He sat up and pushed the covers back, leaning over the side of the bed and grabbing his boxer briefs off the floor.

He got up and pulled them on before wandering through to his living area.... ah, there she was. Making coffee and toast for them. Moving silently up behind her like the sniper he was, he grabbed hold of her then burst out laughing as she gave a small shriek.

“Russo! You sneaky bastard, you nearly gave me a heart attack!” His mouth went to the spot behind her ear and he placed a small kiss there, before suddenly licking the entire side of her face. “Russo!” she yelled again, but he heard a small laugh at the end of it. “Mornin’, angel.” He started peppering kisses all over her face and neck, and she laughed again, “Do you want this coffee or not?!” and then just managed to grab a slice of the toast as it came flying out of the toaster. He grabbed it out of her hand and started looking around for the butter and a knife.

“Yeah okay, sweetheart, let’s have our coffee an’ toast. It’s just I didn’t get my Thursday mornin’ kiss when I woke up,” he pouted over at her. She grinned at him, “Oh my god, you know you really are the sappiest of big saps! I’m just not gonna stop calling you out on that. Big bad Marine, yeah right.”

He reached for her and crushed her up against the the worktop, kissing her ferociously and running his hands all over her. He could hear her making little mewling sounds so he upped the ante, sliding his briefs down with one hand, then grabbed her hips and boosted her up onto the counter. He pushed her long t-shirt (actually his t-shirt) up over her thighs and slid his hard-on inside her. He felt her legs wrapping themselves around his waist, pulling him closer to her and settling him in. Billy closed his eyes, head going back at the feeling of being sheathed inside her. He felt like he was losing control of himself, he wanted her so much. He began thrusting, wildly, pushing deep inside her - his brain told him he was going at it like a teenage boy on his first sexual adventure - but he couldn’t stop himself.

Suddenly, he felt himself releasing and gave a long disappointed groan, his forehead dropping onto her shoulder. “Uhhhh... no,” he groaned again, kissing her, “Sorry, angel - got too excited. Couldn’t hold it.”

She leant forward and kissed him, “No need to apologise, tiger... happens to the best of them.” He frowned, “But not to me, sweetheart,” stroking her hair back and kissing her eyebrow, “that’s a first! What are you doin’ to me, woman?!” He had seriously never come so quickly in his life. Thinking back to when he lost his virginity - 15 years old in the group home with one of the older girls - he remembered that even then he’d lasted longer. Not much longer, but still.

He smiled at her, “You know I think I am whipped,” he said, laughing.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Laughing back at him, she jumped down off the counter and ripped a couple of paper towels off the roll next to the toaster. Dampening them under the tap, she handed one to Billy and they quickly cleaned themselves up. He eased his briefs back up over his slightly damp thighs, and noticed she was going through the lower cupboards. “What’ya lookin’ for, sweetheart?” She opened another cupboard door and peered inside it, “Clorox or whatever....” He opened the cupboard door under the sink and took out a spray bottle, handing it to her with a raised eyebrow.

“Gonna disinfect yourself, angel?” he smirked at her, “I mean I know what my rep was like in the past, but I always wore a condom.” She smacked the bottle against his butt, “Just the countertop, honey... we’ve just had sex on it if you recall!” “Owww! Ahh...okay, right,” he nodded, and she grinned back at him, “I can see I’ve still got some house-training to do for my puppy.” He mock-frowned and smacked her ass lightly, “Not a puppy, sweetheart!”

“I don’t know why you object to that, Billy - puppies are cute!” He popped the toast slices back in the toaster to reheat them a bit, “Puppies piss and shit all over the place and dry-hump people’s legs!” She burst out laughing, “Wow! I didn’t realise you were so puppy-phobic, Russo!” “I’m not! I just don’t want to be compared to one,” he protested. She finished spraying the counter and wiped it all down.

Leaning up, she kissed him softly, “Oh okay... Hurt Male Ego alert!! What d’you wanna be, poppet... a tiger?” She went back to attending to the coffee. “Well, you did call me tiger earlier, so yeah - I can live with that,” he grinned. “I might just call you poppet.” He nudged his shoulder against hers, “You’d better not.” She brandished to coffee pot at him, “Try and stop me!” Just then, Billy heard his phone chime in the bedroom with a new text message.

He strolled back through there and picked it up, his mouth pulling into a line as he saw the sender’s name.

Dinah: Russo, I don’t know what game you think you’re playing, but I want to speak to you about this complaint you’ve filed.

Russo: I don’t think that’s a good idea.

Dinah: You owe me an explanation.

Russo: Do I? And an explanation about what? It’s quite straightforward.

Dinah: No it isn’t. You meet me tomorrow at the Chelsea Piers, 10 AM. Then you’ll be nice and close to your little girlfriend and you can go running back to her afterwards.

Ouch, thought Billy, someone’s still jealous.

Russo: OK I’ll meet you for a 5-minute talk and that’s it.

Dinah: And keep this to yourself, Russo.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy walked back through to the kitchen, tapping his phone on his chin as he went, deep in thought. Did he tell her about this, or just keep quiet? He couldn’t work out why Madani was so insistent on an actual meeting. His gut told him nothing good could come from this, he just knew it. He wasn’t absolutely sure of the details, but he was under the impression that Madani should not be in contact with him when there was an active complaint against her. He’d better be damn careful when they met tomorrow.

She’d finished pouring the coffee and buttering the toast and turned to him with a wide smile as he reappeared, holding out a plate and cup to him, “Here you go, poppet.” He took them from her, smiling back and shaking his head, “Poppet! Do I really look like a ‘poppet’?!” he said, following behind her as they left the kitchen area. He leant forward and planted an open-mouthed kiss on her neck. “You look like a big sap,” she laughed back, “but a very sex-ceeee one in just your briefs,” and rubbed her body up against him, making him groan.

As they made their way over to his sofa, he thought to himself that maybe he’d just stay silent about it, his angel was in a good mood and he didn’t want to place a black cloud over the day. Both of them had decided to have a day off from work, he had plans for the two of them and he didn’t want to spoil it all. He made up his mind as he looked over at her, she was smiling at him and his stomach did a backflip as it had been doing a lot lately.

Yeah, he’d just not mention it.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

@blackbirddaredevil23 @galaxyjane @omgrachwrites @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead

[tay6119]

Beach Episode BEACH EPISODE

ALRIGHT, it is time.

Finally off work and I have my snacks and way too much energy so here’s your tales of the SMP recap even thought I’m probably the last person to watch it at this point.

I hope it’s better than the last one :,)

I’m sorry this is so so long, I couldn’t help myself...

- Just wanna start by saying Karl is a real one for putting these together and putting in so much work. Great way to include less lore affiliated people

- I LOVE THEIR SKINS THEY’RE REALLY CUTE ESPECIALLY BBH

- Sapnap’s skin went from cute to like lowkey hot

- d r e a m’s skin... at least he dressed up this time

- Gog being sad to get those pity points as usual /lh

- “we’re supposed to be having fun Dream leave me alone” “I am having fun”

- basically a manhunt, but it’s off brand

- KARL’S SKIN IS SO CUTE OMG

- “wHaT cOuLd iT PoSsIbLy mEaN” more great acting from Dream

- all of them saying woah at once was really cute to me idk why-

- Dream just wants to kill everyone, staying on brand for C!Dream

- treasure hunt treasure hunt treasure hunt

- Anti-Gogy propaganda

- Karl really thought they would all work together no questions asked

- These are always so chaotic but i love it sm, nice break from everything in regular lore

- “now that George is gone”

- “I always hate you Dream”

- “George and Dream stop fighting”

- Karl is trying so hard to continue the story but everyone is just-

- “from the top you’re going to make it drop” “why does that sound familiar” BBH PLEASE

- George and dream can’t leave each other alone oml

- “there’s a prize for people rping” “what if my character is a serial killer” DREAM PLEASE

- They all fell to their deaths trying to jump off the lighthouse and into the water

- “get maximum... air”

- GEORGE that’s a volleyball

- Ranboo just straight up being drowned out by everyone else :,)

- “Ranboo read it” KARL U READ MY MIND EVEN THO IM WATCHING THIS ACTOR THE FACT

- Ranboo getting into it and like lowkey doing a voice

- “dream we’re walking together” George sounds so whiny lmfao /lh

- SAPNAP’S PIRATE VOICE

- BAD’S PIRATE VOICE

- Manifesting a gogy pirate voice even tho it won’t happen

- Dream leaving the area halfway through bad leaving shows his speedrun genes

- Chat participation :00

- THE TWITCH PRIME PROMO

- “none, we get zero” DREAM PLEASE

- “Ranboo do you think they love you enough” “no” RANBOO HAD NO HESITATION

- “It says, Sapnap is a nimrod” GEORGE PLEASE

- ALSO GEORGE’S PIRATE VOICE LETS GOOOOO

- Ranboo coming in clutch

- “Why is Dream killing everyone” “I’m not killing everyone” yeah George, he’s just killing you

- My two favs George and Ranboo boating away together <33

- I braved chat and someone said “GO MEMORY BOY GO”

- Now every time George fake cries/goes all sad boi I can’t stop thinking about Dream saying he does it to get pity and it always works lmfao

- “log off if you’re not up for it” Dream, George, and Sapnap all leave guys dteam ship is canon now 

- Bad dies in lava “don’t worry I saved the book”

- George being all giggly and not paying attention while him and Dream fight ahh I’m soft

- Dream in a boat what will he do

- Dream is muted and didn’t realize

- George yells for Dream to come back to take him with ahhhhhh

- Sapnap screaming “arggggg”

- “did he fail rp??”

- “Oh my arggg”

- “me and dream, me and dream are gonna win”

- “Dream and George forever for a hundred years” GOG I CANT TAKE IT STOP

- Chat spamming DNF omg

- “Dream woke up and chose violence”

- Dream tries to kill George and then Sapnap hits him and Dream dies instead

- “ALL MY BOATS”

- KARL COVERED THE CHEST WITH SAND

- Sapnap and Ranboo duo is something we needed

- SAPNAP AND RANBOO HAVE ME SCREAMING THEYRE EVERYTHING

- “you know saying muffinhead really throws off the pirate vibe yee got going”

- Gogy gets all hype cause he find it and makes happy noises I LOVE HIM

- George is an attention whore /lh

- George becomes scottish

- “when we get back to the mainland we kill George” surprising not Dream, but BBH

- George has less of a sense of direction than I do,,, and that’s saying a lot

- Ranboo woke up and chose violence

- Dream why u so obsessed with Gog

- Sapnap and Ranboo continue to be iconic

- Dream stop speedrunning this is rp

- Audience chooses who wins lmfaooo if Ranboo doesn’t win I’ll be so upset, him or Sapnap, but RANBOO

- “it would be really funny if I won” SHUT UP DREAM

- SAPNAP CALLED RANBOO HIS PARTNER IN CRIME LET’S GOOOO

- george and dream using console to kill each other

- DREAM SOUNDS SO WHIPPED WHEN HE SAYS “George I’ll give you one more chance”

- George mimicking Dream ujhytgrfed

- THEY REALLY STOLE THE THING AS SOON AS KARL LEFT

- CORINNA GIFTED SUBS BRUH

- Dream you don’t have the right to be calling anyone a simp

- “how many subs for a whitelist” RANBOO PLEASE

- “you cannot stab my partner with yee fist”

- “I am duck beard”

- RANBOO WON WITH 73% LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO

- “piggy mcpiggy foot” GEORGE PLEASE

- “everybody’s less violent now” yeah ok

- KARLNAP KISS

- RANBOO GETS 50 GIFTED SUBS WOOOOO, HE ALSO GETS THE SWORD WOOOOO it’s hella op lmao, 

- 20 subs for everyone there, i love u Karl u are blessed

- “he has the sword don’t kill him RUN”

- Ranboo is literally the best i love him T_T

- Ranboo gets banned LMFAO “reason: oof”

if you actually read that all... wow

[crushing-on-nico-di-angelo]

Seven Nights in Cabin Thirteen

I’m inspired by another post I saw here that I didn’t wish to hijack lol, and OP deactivated or else I’d link their account here. credits to @the-ghost-king for the idea of a demigod therapy/Will being a past drug addict on this post. Yes this is a bad fic. It’s also my first fic ever. Please criticize if you see anything

Will never thought that he would ever appreciate his first monster attack. He was seven years old, and in hindsight his teacher probably only worked there to prey on young demigods (at least, that’s why he suspects the attack happened so early in his life compared to other demigods). But when Lee Fletcher sat him down 4 years later and told him that he was trans and would now be known as Lee instead of his birth name, Will knew that everything happened for a reason.

After many conversations with Lee about how he knew (gods bless that man’s patience) and with an older Athena camper who’s special interest dealt in psychology, Will realized the reason that he always felt disconnected from his mom and sisters in Austin was because he was like Lee. He was a boy.

Telling people wasn’t easy. Of course his older brother had to know; he was the one who introduced Will to this concept. Telling the rest of camp was as easy as telling Chiron, who told Dionysus, who always threatened to turn anyone into a dolphin if they talked shit about any trans kid. Telling his mom... that had to be the hardest part. How was he supposed to tell them? The only similarities they all had were that they were all musically inclined and that they were all girls.

Apparently, Will forgot that Naomi Solace was a musician. The music industry has more queers than an all girl’s school GSA. Her only questions were “Alright, what’s your name then, kiddo?” and “When do you want to set up an appointment with a therapist?” As for his siblings, well, let’s just say the oldest, Frankie, always knew. And it didn’t take long for seven-year-old Mickey to cut her doll-that-somehow-looked-exactly-like-Will’s hair and change his notes from high to low when she accompanied his singing on violin, as part of voice training.

Four years has passed since then and Will can hardly believe it. He’s stealth back at Austin because it’s just easier that way, but since a quarter of the camp knew him since he was seven, he figured there was no point; it isn’t like anyone treated him as though he wasn’t a man-- er, boy-- at camp anyways. So, life went on. He got his period for the first time during the Battle of Manhattan, that was no fun, but luckily Thalia was cool about it and made sure not to tell anyone. He started binding shortly afterwards, got a couple bruises hear and there. Kayla yelled at him for a week for that one, he remembers fondly. Discovered why it’s better to take off your contacts in the shower... that day isn’t such a fond memory. That was the first and last time he ever made himself bleed. Although, he will say that’s what sparked his interest in medicine and what made him the best doctor Camp Half Blood had seen in decades at the mere age of 15 years old. Life at camp was good, if a bit dull. He got used to the routine and the constant influx of damaged campers, the siblings and friends, and the always-perfect Texas Barbecue and Coke.

That is, until the War Between the Camps happened. Lou Ellen woke Will up before sundown that day and told him their plan. They were to hide in the tall grasses and wait for Camp Jupiter to show their ugly faces. Cecil had the genius idea to paint their faces and arms black so they’d blend into the night better, and Will supposes in the hubub of everything they forgot that his hair nearly (”nearly”) glows, even at night. Until Mr. Nico “I’m so smart, I nearly killed myself shadow travelling” di Angelo pointed it out. Whatever, it made sense at the time. They won the war against Gaea, not without sacrifice, and they finally, finally got past all the wars and destruction and health issues that they were able to just hang out and get to know each other as friends.

And boy, was their friendship amazing. Nico had the best taste in music from Will’s eyes, and that’s saying something because Will is a music snob. Nico could be a little stubborn at times, but that’s alright because so was Will (”Gods damn it, Nico, if you don’t take your medication right this second I will-” “You’ll what? Hm? You’ll force it down my throat? Last I checked that was abuse.”). They fit together so perfectly and became fast friends.

It wasn’t always sunshine and lollipops, though. What is, for a demigod? Will relapsed once and passed out right in front of Nico’s cabin. He was crashing from an exciting high that he hadn’t experienced in so long, and he felt so tired and ashamed of himself. Methamphetamine was a goddamned bitch, so while he was coming out of withdrawals, he made Nico promise not to let him leave the cabin for a week were simmering down. He had to make sure something like this never happened again. They Iris Messaged  Chiron and explained the situation, and he understood. He made sure to contact the older son of Dionysus who had been Will’s therapist in the past and said what had happened and they agreed on a session for soon after Will got mostly over his cravings.

So now they had a week of downtime together. Awesome.

“Solace, do you need anything? Are you okay?” Nico asked towards the end of the first full day that withdrawals were over.

“I’m-- fuck. I’m fine. I swear.” He responded unconvincingly.

“That’s not what you said last night... no offense, but I’m not fully inclined to believe you when you look like shit.”

“It- It... it’s not something I’d like to talk about, if that’s alright. And... don’t tell Clarisse, please.”

“I’m not going to tell anyone, don’t worry. But I would like to know if this is going to be a common occ--” Before he could even finish asking, Will was already shaking his head and responding.

“One-time thing only, I promise. Gods, I’m sorry I showed up here at all.”

“Woah, buddy. That’s not what I was saying at all. You’re my best friend, I’m glad you came here.” Will almost couldn’t believe what Nico was saying. Then again, did Nico have very many friends? Nico himself certainly didn’t seem to think so. “In any case, you don’t have to explain what happened, or what led up to this, or anything like that. I don't need to know. What I do need you to do, however, is take a shower. I’m sorry to say so, but you smell like ass.”

“Yeah well, I’m…” He couldn’t finish his sentence. How do you explain to someone that he still wanted his drugs, and he didn’t want to leave the cabin because he knew he would leave to go find some before he would even think about going to his own cabin at this point.

“You don’t have to leave,” Nico said, perhaps sensing his agitation. “I have a shower in the cabin.”

“What the fuck do you mean you have a shower in the cabin?” The shock of this knowledge get him out of his stuck mind. “How did you get plumbing in here? How did Chiron allow this?”

“I helped design my cabin, and while I may not have all the experience in architecture that Annabeth does, I do know a thing or two. I did meet with Isambard Kingdom Brunel, you know.”

“I did not know. You- Who is Isambard Kingdom Brunel?” Will asked

“Oh, some civil engineer who is like a million years old.” Will scoffed at that.

“You’re one to talk,” he teased. He was never going to let go of the fact that Nico was technically like 80 years old.

“Oh hush, William.” William… never Will, like most people. William… like he was something special, something that deserved three syllables. “Anyways, like I was saying: take a shower. You look like you were up mowing all of camp with a flashlight.”

Knowing Will’s reaction to drugs, that wasn’t unlikely. He stood up. “Lead the way? I’ve never been around your cabin before.”

Nico’s cabin was unlike any others. Using some sort of Doctor Who-like technology, there was a living room, a kitchen, and one room. Surprisingly, the walls were all light or pastel, a stark contrast from Nico’s general (and unintentional) punk-rock appearance. However, the furniture was all a deep black. Nico led him to his room, a minimalistic one with a bed, a desk, and a lamp. Will wondered where all the personalization was, but made no comment.

“Here’s the shower,” Nico pointed to yet another room in this somehow huge cabin. “If you see something amiss or odd… ignore it.” Will didn’t want to think of the implications of that sentence.

He stepped in the shower and oh my gods, watching the dirt and grime wash off him after his 8 hour high-- which he did not want to think about (and not just because the author doesn’t want to taint his search history), it was too embarrassing-- was a wonderful feeling. He was still tired. He didn’t know why, it didn’t used to be this hard. However, he was pretty sure that he tried to clean the entire outside of the hypnos cabin before going over to the Hades cabin to do the same. This was the first and last time Will would ever thank the gods for Nico’s poor sleeping patterns, he had heard him outside and came to get him before he tired himself out more.

He nearly passed out in the shower again but managed to make it out. He looked around the well-stocked bathroom and realized something that he probably should have bothered to notice before: he didn’t have any clothes with him. Fuck. He wrapped a (black) towel around his chest because he didn’t think his body could take anymore binding and prayed to Dionysus that Nico didn’t notice that his chest wasn’t exactly male.

Luckily, the first thing Nico did say was “Is that a tattoo?”

Will looked down at his sun. “Yeah, it is,” he smiled. He remembered the night he did it, it was kind of hard. He ordered a tattoo gun off amazon and had Frankie do it for him shortly after the Battle of Manhattan. Some people might think it’s in honor of his dad, which is fine. It was really for Lee Fletcher, though. His mom totally freaked, for a really long time, but after his C-PTSD diagnoses she realized that whatever works for him works as long as it isn’t drugs or self harm. He knows she wants a future for him that doesn’t involve music, and that’s why she freaked. She thought it would ruin his chances. But it’s right on his shoulder, only visible in tank tops or no shirt.

"It… its to honor the man who taught me I could be myself." Will said after a small pause.

"That's a very lovely sentiment. If he made that much of an impact on you, he must be a very cool person."

"He was." Will knew that Nico heard the was by the way that Nico nodded solemnly. "I uh… I don't wish to be more of a bother, but do you mind if I go to bed now? That shower really helped."

"Yeah, of course. I can take the couch, you know where my bed is-"

"No, absolutely not." Nico sighed softly, as though he expected this. "I can sleep on the couch, in Austin I actually prefer it to my bed."

"That's-- no offense William, but that's weird."

"It feels less lonely to me," Will protested, then let out a huge yawn.

"Alright cowboy-" Will smiled at Nico's nickname for him "-get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"Nighty night, Neeks. Love you." he didn't miss the small smile on Nico's face before he walked away. Will has always been very loose with his 'I love you's like that. He figured it's better to say it too much than not enough.

He had found his old stash the night before, the one that Clovis had helped him forget about. He couldn't stop himself from thinking about last nights events. At the time,he told himself that he shouldn't do anything with it, and put it out of his mind for about a week, but eventually his urge to smoke overcame his self-control. He went on a rampage of cleaning and was absolutely certain he looked like a madman. The worst part is, he didn't even know why he did it. It was as though his rehabilitation hadn't even happened, as though this was something that was as natural as getting a cup of coffee in the morning. He was so mad at himself, so embarrassed.

These thoughts occupied his mind until he fell asleep about an hour after his last words to Nico. He slept with no dreams, for the first time in about a month.  

word count: 2,245

[glenncoco4]

You Can’t Count On Me

A/N: Chapter 6

••••

The sunlight streams in from the window, illuminating the two bodies buried underneath the fluffy white comforter. He slowly feels consciousness pull him into reality and what a spectacular reality it is. Peering down his body, the form of his beautiful girlfriend as she slowly startles awake brings a smile to his face. “Good morning, sunshine.”

She hums in appreciation as his lips touch the crown of her head and his fingers delicately dance up and down her spine, bringing a welcomed shiver through her body. “Mmmm. Am I dreaming?”

“No. Definitely not dreaming.”

“You know the last time I woke up after we made love, I was alone.”

“I’m sorry.”

She brushes off his apology, tilting her head back, the brunette brings her eyes to his. It’s been 4 months of her constantly thinking about what would’ve happened if he hadn’t left, and she always comes to the same conclusion. “At first I was kinda mad, but then I realized that if we had woken up together it might’ve been a little awkward or I may have panicked like I tend to do.”

“How do you mean?”

Her head finds his pillow as she burrows her face into the crook of his neck, breathing in the scent that is so uniquely him. “Well, we never really talked about our feelings before we jumped into bed together. I mean we loved each other of course but it wasn’t verbalized that we were head over hills in love.”

His silence startles her and she begrudgingly props herself up on his chest only to be met with a goofy grin playing at his lips. “What?”

“I love you.”

God those words coming from his lips is something she never let herself think about, but now its all she can think about. The feel of his touch, his smile...he’s everything. Throwing her leg over his waist, her heat meets his already hardening member, and oh how she loves everything about this new part of their relationship. “I love you, too, but I can probably show you better than I can tell you.” Leaning down, she can’t help but mirror his smile with one of her own as her lips meet his. 

••••

After a very productive morning in bed the pair make their way into the Mission for the first time as partners. Kensi reached her desk, toss a deck of cards into his hands. “I need you to quiz me.”

“For?”

“I have lunch with Anna today.”

“I can’t believe she thinks you’re a curator.”

“What about you? She thinks you’re that guy from Fired Up.”

“I do fit the part, baby.”

They both freeze as the term of endearment leaves his lips. It’s weird but a good weird.

At the sound of their colleagues walking into the bullpen their smiles quickly vanish as Deeks lifts up the first card.

“Oh, uh, uh, Matisse?”

“Nope. Munch.”

He holds up the next.

“Van Gogh?”

“Cezanne.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “Seriously, Kens, why are you doing this?”

Before she can answer, Sam walks in, observing the pair. “Hazing the new guy or is he hazing you?”

“Haze me, Kens, please?” The shaggy blonde holds up the next card for his girlfriend, knowing there’s no way she’ll get this one.

“Seurat.” She answers.

The ex-Navy SEAL gets a glimpse of the card, instantly knowing the right answer. “Monet.”

“Bing. Bing. Bing. Sam proceeds to the bonus round and Kensi wins the consolation prize otherwise known as a steaming bucket of fail.” His words may sting but the wink he sends her lets her know that he’s just playing his part in their own little op.

They decided it could be fun deceiving their coworkers about their newly defined relationship. And of course the competitiveness inside them lit up at the idea of a bet as to who would discover what was really going on between them first.

The detective was a bit surprised that his partner chose Eric, he on the other hand chose Callen. Even though he’s barely had a conversation with the man there was something about his quite and questioning demeanor that told him the team leader would find them out first. 

••••

As the day progresses the best friends are sent to the house that belongs to Vakar’s ex-wife. This is sort of their first test as a pair of undercover operators. It’s both exciting and frightening all at the same time. Experiencing something new with the most important person in your world is one thing but experiencing two new changes might be a challenge. A challenge that they’re both ready to face head on.

Stepping onto the sidewalk, the pair make their way towards the house as the blaring alarm sounds over and over again. “What do you know about alarms?”

“Do you not remember my stint with Robbery Division?”

“Right, it was around the same time I was taking the Counter Surveillance course at Quantico.”

“You mean the time you were always one upping me during our daily phone calls?”

She taps her knuckles on the wood frame door before turning to her boyfriend, studying the look in his eyes. “I’m not a one upper.”

“Not normally, but some how just with me.”

“Well I vaguely remember you one upping me this morning.”

His heart flutters as the spark shines in her mismatched orbs. The past 36 hours has been like a whole new experience with her in so many beautifully amazing ways. “Oh, touché.”

••••

As they step inside his apartment at the end of a long first day, the words she had spoken to Emma a few hours ago plays back in her mind. If this man loves you as much as you love him, its not gonna matter. It’ll bring you closer. She’s put off telling him for long enough and now that they’re together, she doesn’t want to keep anything from. Especially this. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

He takes hold of her hand, pulling her body into his before pressing a hungry kiss to her soft lips. A kiss that he’s been craving all day. “You’re not breaking up with me, are you?”

“What? No, never!” She quickly pulls back, shaking her head profusely.  

“Good to know.”

The cocky grin thats curls at his lips makes her legs turn to jelly. Luckily his arms are wrapped around her waist, giving her much needed support. Taking a deep breath, she searches his eyes hoping that what she’s about to tell him won’t make him shut down. 

He watches as her beautiful mismatched orbs swim with what he thinks is turmoil. There’s not a doubt in his mind that whatever she has to say isn’t something they can’t work through. He leans forward, placing his lips on hers reassuring her once more. “Kens, what is it?”

“It’s about Jack.”

His brow furrows in confusion. That is definitely the furthest thing he thought they would be talking about tonight. “What about him?”

“When he left...”

“Hey, look at me.” His finger finds the underside of her jaw, tilting her head up. Cerulean blues conveying all the love he has for her with one look. “I love you. Nothing’s gonna change that.”

A small smile spread across her face at his words because in their 20 years of friendship he’s never once lied to her. “I told you that he left because of his PTSD.”

“Yeah.”

“But that’s not the only reason he left.”

“Okay?”

“I guess I didn’t realize or want to truly believe what he was talking about until recently...Marty, he left because of you.”

“Me?”

She nods as a soft teary-eyed smile crosses her lips. Her thumbs finding the small of his back, nervously running back and forth across his sun kissed skin. “Yeah, he uh...right before he left, he told me all these things about how he always felt like he was coming in second place to you. He told me that I light up when you walk into the room and how he wishes that I’d look at him even a fraction of the way I look at you. The last thing he said to me was that I was blind not to see how in love I was with you and how you felt the same.”

His face quickly falls as he pulls back from their embrace, making her heart rate speed up. She wasn’t technically lying when she told him about Jack but she did omit a huge part that affected him as well.

As he walk over to the couch a heavy sigh leaves his lips. He sits down, his face immediately finding the palm of his hands as he tries to gather his thoughts.

Trying to remember what he said a few minutes ago about nothing changing his mind about how much he loves her, she can’t help but nervously bite her bottom lip as she finds her place next to him on the couch. “Will you please say something?” 

“Jessica.”

“What?”

“The morning Jack left and you called me, I dropped everything to take care of you. After about a month, she...she uh-came to me and said that I needed to stop lying to myself.”

“Lying to yourself about what?”

“About how I feel about you.” He finally lets himself look at her, unable to get the image of them being together sooner and happier out of his head.

She always had the feeling that the redhead saw through her some how. They got along great, but something had changed in their interactions the last few weeks of her and Marty’s relationship. Now she knows what it was. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“When you said she left because you two were in different places you meant-“

“That she was in love with me, but I was clearly in love with you.” He nods, as the corner of his lips lift into a smile. 

Her brow furrows, wondering what he was thinking or why he didn’t act on his feelings. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Why didn’t you?” He hits her with the same question, knowing that they more than likely have the same answer. 

She willingly goes with him as he pulls them back against the couch. Immediately curling into his body for comfort, her legs find their way across his lap and its in that moment that she realizes how seamlessly they’ve fallen into craving each other’s touch all the time. “We really are quiet the pair, aren’t we.”

“That we are.”

It’s few minutes as they sit there in silence before she flashes back to that night. “Wait a second. You came over that night you broke up.”

“I did.”

Her brow furrows, wondering why he wouldn’t want to be alone after ending a year long relationship. 

“After Jessica told me that I need to wake up, you called.”

“And you answered.”

A look crosses his face as if shocked that she would think he wouldn’t drop everything for her, no matter what it may be. “Of course I did.”

Tilting her head back, she looks up into his cerulean blues, her fingernails finding the scruff of his jaw. “Did we really miss out on 6 years together?”

They could dwell on what could’ve been but there’s no use in wasting any more of their time on it when they’re together, here and now. He shakes his head, trying to find the right words to say to her. “No, not really. I mean you’ve been the most important thing in my life, that never changed. The only thing’s that’s different now is, I can do this.” His lips find the crook of her neck, working their way towards the lobe of her ear. “And this.” He receives an approving moan as his hand works its way underneath the hem of her shirt and towards her breast. 

Her eyes drift close as his lips work their magic and send her body humming with excitement. “Keep talking.”

He suddenly stops his ministrations and briefly pulls back, earning a disapproving moan from his girl.  

Her eyes fly open, and is immediately met with a cocky grin. “What? Why’d you stop?”

“You just told me to keep talking. You’re definitely in love with me.”

“Marty.”

“Yeah?”

She shakes her head as her fingers curl around his golden locks, pulling him towards her. “Shut up.”

“And there she is.” His lips find hers as they fall against the couch, skin to skin, they become closer in more ways than one. 

[flutteringdreams-matw]

Out of Time (3/?)

Link to Ecto-Storm Series

First/Last

Summary: Paradoxes are tricky things - especially when it involves a 15 year old half ghost and his dark future living outside of the timeline. Danny is faced with impossible odds, out of control powers, haunting visions and three possible outcomes in his battle against his ultimate enemy. Sequel to Making to Grade - can be read as standalone. Updates on Sundays and the occasional Wednesday.

Sam rang the doorbell at Fentonworks three times, bouncing on her feet in anticipation. She glanced up at the green dome around the town, reflecting the sun that shone higher above. It had been up for a few hours now according to the news, but no word about why the shield was up in the first place. That included the lack of response from her half-ghost best friend.

"Sam!" Tucker called from behind. She turned to see the teen running up the sidewalk toward Fentonworks, waving to indicate his arrival.

"Any word?" She asked as he came to the steps.

"Not since Jazz texted," Tucker said, frowning.

The door swung open, revealing a tired looking Maddie Fenton to the teens. "Sorry kids, I was in the lab," she told them, ushering them inside. "It's been a long night."

"Where's Danny?" The question was out of Sam's mouth before the door even closed. "What happened?"

"Upstairs," Maddie replied, pursing her lips slightly as she looked up the stairs worriedly. "We'll explain in the kitchen."

The Fenton's kitchen looked like a war zone; various books and papers were scattered across the table with multiple broken inventions and cups of coffee filling whatever space they could. Jack was on the phone, talking loudly and pacing back and forth. Jazz sat staring at her laptop screen, glancing at the pile of weapons at her feet every so often. Sensing the newcomers, Jazz looked up. "Oh good, you're here," she said.

"What happened?" Sam repeated, looking at the chaos.

"Danny had another dream," Jazz explained, her expression turning dark. "Dad managed to wake him after a while, but he freaked out. He flew up to the Ops Center and put up the shield using one of his deeper energy levels. We've been up ever since making sure all our weapons are prepared."

"For what, exactly?" Tucker asked, eyebrow raised.

"Dan."

Sam gasped, exchanging worried looks with Tucker. "How long?" she probed.

"That, we're not sure about," Maddie said, leaning against the counter with a sigh. "Danny passed out after telling us about him."

Jack hung up the phone with a sigh, looking displeased. "Mads, Vladdy's going live at 9am; we're going to need to figure out what to say about the shield. He's going against it."

Maddie frowned at the mention of the mayor. "Jack, that's in 2 hours. We still don't know why he put it up in the first place!"

"You're sure it wasn't just a bad dream?" Tucker queried hopefully.

Jack nodded grimly. "There's no question. Whatever Danny saw, he believed it was real."

The group stood in silence as that sunk in. Sam frowned worriedly as she saw the toll of the night on the other Fentons. Realizing what was needed, she looked over at Jazz. "What can we do?"

Jazz looked at the girl gratefully. "I only met him briefly after Danny got stuck in the future," she said thoughtfully. "You guys saw more of what he can do. Other the peeler, what should we focus on in terms of weapons?"

"I think defense should be the top priority," Tucker rebutted, bringing his hand to his chin in thought. "Danny's not going to be able to keep the shield up and fight; getting a strong ghost shield could help buy some time. Something for the rest of the town too in case the shield goes down. Remember the Ghost King? Those creepy skeletons caused a lot of damage."

"If we recalibrate some of the bazookas for blasting use over transferring back to the Ghost Zone, that may also help," Sam added. "Dan's strong; we'll need things that will pack a punch."

Jack frowned. "Hold on - we're treating this like the Ghost King invasion? Isn't that overreacting a little bit?"

"No."

All five occupants of the kitchen turned to Danny's decisive response. He was dressed, but pale and clammy, leaning heavily against the door frame for support. In one arm he had a USB key, the other his backpack. He grimaced slightly as sparks of green ecto-energy appeared to move through his chest before he managed to suppress them and walk toward the table, silence following him.

"I didn't think you'd be up so soon," Jazz said with a frown, eying her brother worriedly.

Danny dropped into an open seat heavily, sighing. "Neither did I," he replied honestly. He turned to his attention to the information scattered in front of him. He sighed again, putting his elbows on the table and brought his thumbs to the bridge of his nose, holding his head up.

"You look awful," Tucker stated.

"Thanks Tuck, tell me more," Danny replied cynically. Maddie frowned in concern, walking over to the teen and knelt beside him.

"Danny, you really don't look well," Maddie told him softly. "How do you feel?"

"You mean other than holding up a shield above the entire town and dealing with the fact your worst enemy escaped?" he asked drily. Maddie didn't answer and waited until Danny exhaled. "I've been better," he admitted. "The shield is taking a lot out of me."

Maddie bit her lip, unsure if she should press him further on the topic. She looked over to Jack worriedly, who answered her unasked question by shaking his head. "What happened last night?" Maddie questioned instead.

Danny scrunched his eyes tightly as another set of sparks went through his chest. Once it subsided, he exhaled loudly. "I went into my mindscape again. We were in Clockwork's tower, but Clockwork wasn't there. The thermos Dan was trapped in was cracked and then it exploded, he escaped and then that set of dreams came back," he explained slowly. "Next thing I knew, Dad woke me up."

"And then you put up the shield," Sam surmised. Danny grunted in confirmation. "Are you sure what you saw was real?"

"Yeah," Danny breathed.

Sam sighed. "How long until he attacks Amity Park?"

Danny finally opened his eyes and sat up in the chair, looking at his family and friends around him. "I don't know," he said solemnly. "But that shield will buy us some time when he does show up. It's not letting anyone in."

"Wait… you're planning on keeping that shield up?" Sam asked him incredulously. "For how long?"

"As long as it takes," Danny said. Remembering the USB stick, he handed it to his Mother. "Here. It's my ghost file on Dan."

Maddie frowned at the offered storage device. "I thought we already had access to all your files?"

"Not this one," Danny replied darkly. "It has all the information that we need to figure out how to beat him." Danny glanced at the clock, frowning slightly. "We're going to be late," he announced, standing slowly.

"You're actually planning on going to school?!" Sam exclaimed angrily. "Danny, you just had electricity running through your body a minute ago. Don't you think you should take the day?"

Danny frowned, about to argue, before his left eye turned green and he faltered, more electricity flooding his body. With a cry of pain, he grabbed the chair he was just sitting on for support, vaguely hearing his name being called.

The green shield shone brilliantly, holding steady before he felt it shudder. Someone was attacking… from the inside? His vision shifted and he saw the white cape, blue skinned ghost attacking with various forms of pink energy. Vlad? Why was he attacking-

"Danny breathe!"

Danny was brought out of his vision, gasping for air, by his mother shaking his shoulders. As he readjusted, he realized he had fallen onto the floor. Sam was next to him, Tucker and Jazz were in front, all looking very worried. "What… happened?" he asked through gasps.

"Your eye changed colour," Sam told him. Maddie nodded to Sam and the girl moved closer to support her friend. "Then you lit up like Skulker's suit when it gets hacked and collapsed. You just sort of stared into space until your Mom got through to you."

"Did you see something?" Tucker queried. Danny nodded.

"Vlad," he said simply. "He's attacking the shield."

Maddie paused from where she was in the kitchen and turned to her son. "Are you sure?" she asked slowly. "Your father was just on the phone with him – he's doing a press conference about the shield this morning."

"Plasmius," Danny corrected quickly. Maddie pressed her lips together at the swift correction but said nothing. "I think he's trying to test the strength of it and whether he could bring it down."

"Here we go!" Jack boomed as he ran up the stairs from the lab; Danny hadn't even realized the man had left until now. In his hand, he held a small silver device with the shiny green Fenton logo on it. "The Fenton E-Scanner! Good thing we finished it yesterday."

Maddie took the device from her husband and walked over to her son, who eyed the device warily. "It's just an ecto-energy reader Danny," she assured, showing him the device. "Whatever you're doing is taking more energy than you realize." Once he nodded his consent, Maddie brought the scanner to his forehead. After a few seconds, it beeped and Maddie read the readings. She frowned slightly as she looked at the teens in front of her. "No school for you, young man," she told him. "The last thing you need is to have another episode like this. We'll call Ethelwulf after we deal with that press conference – that way we can create an excuse to stop anyone attacking the shield."

Danny frowned, but nodded his confirmation to Maddie. "Just don't tell the school a ghost stole my face again, would you?" Maddie scowled at the reminder of the flimsy excuse but nodded all the same. She looked at Jack, glanced at their son worriedly, before they headed down to the lab, leaving the four teens in the kitchen.

Jazz sighed. "You guys want a ride?" she asked Sam and Tucker, standing.

"Thanks Jazz!" Tucker exclaimed happily.

Jazz waved off his gratitude. "Least I can do for calling you over so early." She turned to her brother in fake annoyance. "Don't do anything stupid while we're gone okay?"

Danny made a face. "No promises."

She gave a pointed look at Tucker before leaving the kitchen. Danny felt the eyes of his friends move toward him and readied himself for the double attack.

"You're using raw energy with the shield, aren't you?" Tucker accused.

Danny, to his credit, didn't deny it. "More like a combination of core and raw energy."

"I know Frostbite said to trust your instincts, but don't you think this is a little much?"

"You saw what he could do," Danny argued. "If I'm able to block him out, even for a bit, then I'm going to risk it."

"And what happens when you face him?" Sam asked, anger starting to lace her voice. "Are you going to try and keep the shield up too? Cause I hate to tell you, but you're barely able to stand without looking like a malfunctioning toaster oven."

Danny let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know okay?" he said. "I just wanted to make sure he couldn't get to Amity Park."

"Gee, if only you could ask world renowned ghost hunters to put up a ghost shield around the town," Tucker said sarcastically.

"Remember, the wail can go through shields," Danny told him, voice rising. "Managed to get through the one in the future at any rate. Besides, if I learned anything from Fear's little science experiment, I know that he'll have trouble with this shield."

"Right, the shield you put up when you had lost control of your powers," Sam reminded angrily. "The one where you were unconscious for almost a week after you defeated him. The one where you almost died after discovering those powers in order to save us."

Danny flinched at the unsaid accusation. Apologetic blue eyes found fearful violet ones before the boy sighed, all the fight draining from him. "I don't want to lose you," he admitted quietly.

Sensing her victory, Sam's face softened at the admission. "Well, we don't want to lose you," she said softly. "You're not alone. I'm here."

Danny realized how close Sam was to him in that moment, still holding him upright, vaguely understanding the weight of those words. He stared at her and she stared back, almost frozen with anticipation of who would say what next.

And then Tucker coughed, making both teens jump out of their thoughts. Sam let go of Danny and looked away, blushing, while Danny caught eyes with his other best friend. Tucker's smug smile made Danny's cheeks grow warmer as he cursed his friend's presence. "I'm here too, in case you're wondering," Tucker teased lightly. Danny glared half-heartedly before the dark skinned boy continued. "Your parents, Jazz, us – we have your back. Sam's right, this shield is going to take a lot of energy from you. If you want to defeat your older jerky self, you'll need to not have your raw energy powers in that shield."

Danny sighed as his sister came back into the kitchen, backpack in tow. He pushed himself upright, Sam hovering over him like a mother hen, as he sat back down at the table. He shot a grateful smile at the girl before frowning at the information in front of him. "I guess I'll go through this stuff," he said distastefully, gesturing toward the pile of weapons at the opposite end.

"Don't hurt yourself," Jazz warned, jingling her car keys toward their backdoor.

Danny smiled wryly. "That's the point, isn't it? The best weapons against him are the best weapons against me."

:-=-:

Dome Watch – Day Three

Three days since the mysterious shield went up around Amity Park and residents are wondering why here? Why now?

Word from City Hall yesterday confirmed that town hero Danny Phantom is responsible for the shield around the town. There is still no confirmation on what warranted the attack but it's brought many residents back to last year, where the town was taken hostage by the Ghost King and again in the summer when Phantom did this last. Unlike the previous domes, residents can leave the town, but require a more forceful approach before being allowed back in.

Resident ghost experts Jack and Maddie Fenton assured the public two days ago that the shield means no harm, but many of their critics, including Mayor Masters, have questioned their authority of the matter with the truce with Phantom being quite new.

More on page 7.

William Lancer frowned as the school bell rang, putting the paper down as he watched his English Class come into the classroom in various forms of enthusiasm – most of them low. This particular class had changed quite in the past year though he supposed the now constant ghost attacks contributed to most of it. Valerie Gray, for instance, sat herself in the front corner; away from everyone she once called her friend. She was a loner, keeping her head down, doing the work and working at least 3 jobs to start saving for college.

Dash Baxter and Kwan Wu's laughter brought the teacher's attention to the A-list of the grade. They were chatting openly about something, occasionally catching the attention of Paulina Sanchez. Lancer assumed they were either talking about the dome or about Phantom. Due to the look on the latter's face, he'd guess Phantom.

He scanned the room as the second bell rang, looking for any missing seats; Only one today. "No Mr. Fenton? Third day in a row," He mused out loud. His two friends at the back looked at each other worriedly. That got the man's attention.

Sam Manson's love of protests, nature, and veganism only amplified this year, but now that they moved onto subjects that peaked her interest, she was easily a top student. Tucker Foley seemed to buckle down a little more this year, getting in nowhere near as much trouble as he did last year and continued his A streak from the year before.

Daniel Fenton on the other hand? Almost two years in High School and he was still an enigma that Lancer still couldn't crack. The only clue the man had that something was going on with him was when his friends shared that look. The one where they knew more to whatever the Fentons claimed him to miss school. The excuses were rather ridiculous – sleeping in, stuck in the weapons vault, trapped in an alternate dimension. Lancer's personal favourite was when they claimed a ghost stole his face and went across town broadcasting him missing. Whether the Fentons knew what Danny was into, Lancer wasn't sure, but that exchange between Manson and Foley, the one of worry, concern and downright fear that they exchange when he's not in the room? There was definitely something going on with Danny Fenton.

"Pens out, desks clear," Mr. Lancer announced, brushing aside his thoughts for a moment. "Test time." The groans of teenage angst and lack of preparedness reach his ears. "Essay question is on the board people. Tell me if Macbeth's choices led to his downfall or if it was all fated to happen. You have the period."

The murmurings of the teens in front of him petered out as he passed out the test, and eventually the scratching of pens to paper greeted his ears. Once the group of sophomores were writing, Lancer sat back at his desk and absently looked down out at the paper once more. The truce between Phantom and the Fentons, however new it might be, seemed to help keep most of the attacks away from the school – it had done wonders for his curriculum delivery. Thankfully, there hadn't been a ghost attack since Phantom put up the shield, but there was no sign of the ghost in question since all of this began. Come to think of it, Lancer couldn't remember when he last saw the Fentons not on a news conference.

Looking up at the empty desk, Lancer sighed as his thoughts came back to his missing pupil. Danny's attendance was far from perfect, but the boy had made a large effort to be at school more often. His random disappearances were less frequent than the previous year, and his overall grades had improved. Even his general demeanour had improved; Danny's start to the school year seemed brighter than anytime the man had seen since the boy started at Casper. The weight he seemingly carried with him was still there, but wasn't as soul crushing as it appeared to be.

"Mr. Lancer?"

The teacher jumped out of his thoughts as Danny Fenton himself stood at his desk. "Mr. Fenton!" Lancer exclaimed, surprised. Right on cue, Manson and Foley's heads flew up from their tests, agape at the teen. "You startled me!"

"Sorry," Danny said sheepishly. Lancer frowned as he noticed the bags under his student's eyes and the paleness of his complexion. "My Mom told me to give this to you." He waved a piece of paper from his hand before he handed it to the teacher.

Lancer opened it and saw the neat handwriting of Maddie Fenton. "Please excuse Danny after first period due to illness." Lancer looked the teen over again; Danny did look very ill. "You know Mr. Fenton, I would've been happy to give you a makeup test once you felt better."

Danny smiled at the man, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Mom's overreacting," he said with a shrug. "Besides, I didn't want to miss anymore school. This was the compromise."

Doubting the boy's words, Lancer sighed. "Very well," he said, handing Danny the test. "Essay question's on the board."

With a small nod, Danny turned to get to his desk. Mr. Lancer watched his slow, staggered steps curiously. Danny moved liked he was injured, stiffly moving as if he favoured one side. Lancer glanced at his two best friends and almost gasped at their expression. Tucker looked almost exasperated but mostly concerned. However Sam… she had so many emotions on her face directed at the boy, Lancer wasn't sure how Danny could weather it. He must have given them some sort of gesture, because both teens softened their expressions slightly, but still looked extremely concerned as Danny took his seat.

Lancer glanced at the student once more as he started writing, before looking out the window. The shield illuminated the town in a sickly green, creating eerie shadows across the school. Lancer shuddered in remembrance of how the town looked during the Ghost King invasion.

About halfway through the period, Lancer started to walk through the aisles of desks, attracting wandering eyes back to their tests. Sure enough, his star students were already finished and just waiting for the end of class. As he got the final row, he sensed something was off. Sam was still writing, with the occasional glimpses toward Danny, whereas Tucker had completed the test and was staring directly at his friend, concerned. Frowning, Lancer moved to Fenton's desk.

Danny was writing, slowly, but his body was shaking. He was paler than before and ultimately looked like he might be sick. "Mr. Fenton?" Lancer asked quietly. The boy didn't answer. Some of the students looked up and toward the commotion in the back; Lancer could swear he hear Baxter snickering slightly. "Danny?" Lancer touched his shoulder and with a soft groan Danny fell sideways. "All the Bright Places!" Lancer exclaimed, quickly moving to catch the boy. His eyes were closed, breathing ragged as the teacher tried to rouse him. "Daniel! Are you alright!?" Lancer moved the boy back upright in his seat, holding him steady. Eventually, Danny opened his eyes, blinking a few times before his gaze settled on his teacher.

"Mr. Lancer?" he asked, confused. Whispers started around the classroom.

"Fenton fainted!" Dash exclaimed unhelpfully, earning laughter from a group of his peers in his direct vicinity.

"Thank you for that, Mr. Baxter," Lancer said curtly, still looking Danny over as the boy tried to regain his bearings. "Daniel, perhaps you should go to the Nurse's office." When the teen in front of him didn't register his voice, Lancer frowned; he doubted the boy would make it on his own.

"I'll go with him!" The teacher turned, eyebrows raised at the three voices. He had expected Manson and Foley, but Ms. Gray's outburst? She hadn't shown interest in her peers since last year.

Manson and Gray were glaring at each other from across the room, some sort of rivalry shining in both their eyes. The concern for the boy was evident, but Lancer could sense the anger, worry and concern that Sam felt for Danny ooze out of her body. Mr. Foley on the other hand? It was a testament to how dire the situation must be for the teen to volunteer to go to the nurse's office.

Glancing back toward the ill teen, Lancer sighed. They didn't have time for the teacher to be suspicious. "Alright Mr. Foley, as you've finished."

Tucker hastily got out of his seat, gathered Danny's items and helped the sick student upright. Danny faltered as he stood, but regained his balance and managed to get himself out of the room, Tucker following closely behind him. Mr. Lancer watched them go, frowning slightly. There was something nagging him about this situation, but he couldn't place it. Once the students were down the hall, the teacher sighed as he pushed aside his worry yet again.

"Back at it Sophomores. The more you dally, the lower the grade."

:-=-:

The world exploded as he finally escaped that foul prison. Dan stretched, moving his stiff limbs as he looked at his surroundings. "Finally," he said, looking around the burning lair around him. "Now, where is that infernal Time Ghost." Flying upwards in the tower, Dan started to launch ecto-blasts at various clocks, trying to goad Clockwork into appearing. "Clockwork!" He yelled dramatically as he continued to destroy the lair.

A large chime made Dan stopped suddenly, enveloped in the chaos surrounding him. His eyes drifted to Clockwork's time glass as various battles involving his younger self played back at him through the blue flames. Dan frowned. "Of course, new timeline." He floated in place, watching his past self grow stronger in the time he was detained. It couldn't have been more than a year. The flames cracked the orb, running directly through an image of Danny fighting what looked like a large plant ghost.

"Perhaps I should show him what it's like to have a blast from your past," he mused, a small smile appearing at his face. He chuckled darkly as his hands lit up with green energy and broke the time glass in front of him. "Or rather, his future." Dan Phantom flew up and out of the burning tower, leaving behind a fading image of fifteen year old Danny Phantom on Clockwork's broken time glass. A few seconds later, horrific sonic waves reverberated through the tower, enhancing the flames and making the tower itself rumble. With a final crash, Clockwork's Clock Tower imploded, engulfed in flames.

:-=-:

Danny stumbled into a series of lockers, gripping it tightly as he heard Tucker come up behind him. They were out of earshot from Lancer's class and halfway to the nurse's office.

"What the hell Danny!?" Tucker asked angrily, arms crossed and a dangerous glare on his face. Danny sighed as he turned to his friend. "You're lucky you only passed out in there!"

"We still haven't gotten a hold of Ethelwulf," Danny told him, standing up straighter. "It's been three days; the school would be looking for answers if I missed another one. I needed to make an appearance somehow."

Tucker sighed, the anger still not leaving his face. "Why'd you pass out this time? Someone trying to get into the shield or another vision?"

"Vision," Danny said, looking away.

Tucker frowned. "It's another of Dan escaping, isn't it?" Tucker accused. The teen in question stayed silent. Taking that as his answer, Tucker sighed again. "Danny, that's the sixth one since the shield began! Don't you think some of these are just dreams?"

"Maybe," he conceded, frowning slightly. "But it doesn't explain why I keep getting them, or why they're appearing at random."

The two teens stood silent, waiting for the other to make the first move. Tucker sighed, his shoulders sagging in defeat as he walked closer to his friend. "Danny, you need to take the shield down," Tucker told him quietly, staring out the large window of the Casper High Hallway to their football field. Danny also turned his vision to the outside world. He felt the shield hum through his powers, frowning as he considered his friend's plea. "It's taking way too much energy to sustain and for what? Just a hunch that the worst villain you ever faced might be coming back?"

"Isn't that a reason to keep it up?" Danny refuted, eyebrow raised.

"Not at the risk to yourself!" Tucker exclaimed exasperatedly. "Let's say you're right, and he attacks the town. How are you going defend yourself? How are you going to fight?"

"It affects me less as Phantom."

"Bull," Tucker said angrily. "We both know it affects you regardless. You're using raw energy remember? There's a balance between you overextending the amount of core energy, which makes you relive the portal accident, and your base powers." Tucker's anger lessened a bit, trying to get his friend to see reason. "At least take back some of your energy; if you feel something attacking the shield then go nuts. This is too dangerous and there's no point in draining yourself."

Danny sighed, taking inventory of his powers. Tucker was right; he felt exhausted. He opened his mouth to agree, but gasped instead, doubling over in pain. Something was wrong. His eyes went green, mouth agape at an unseen foe.

"Danny!" Tucker exclaimed worriedly. The half-ghost looked up at his friend, alarmed.

"Duck," he gritted out, before the world was drowned out by a deep wail. The ground beneath them shook as Danny, biting back a scream, held the shield up. The windows shattered, leaving glass scattered around the teens as Tucker tried to keep his friend upright. After what felt like hours, the wail stopped, sending both teens crashing to the floor. Tucker looked at Danny with concern, watching his friend pant from exertion as the shield shuddered above them. Dread pooled in the pit of Tucker's stomach as he realized what that attack meant.

"Danny…" Tucker trailed off, wide eyed. Danny didn't answer; once he reclaimed his breathing, he gave Tucker a long look, causing the dark skinned teen's eyes to widen further in alarm. "Danny wait!" Tucker exclaimed, reaching out to his friend. It was too late; Danny transformed, grunting slightly, and took off, leaving his best friend behind in the destroyed hallway.

Tucker stood, watching him fly off in the distance before cursing. "Sam's going to kill me," he muttered, jumping up and running down the halls toward Jazz's homeroom.

[prose-for-hire]

Trapped

Pairing: Spike x fem!reader 

Request: No, but it was a prompt I found from a list that I now can’t find: “Quit touching me, your feet are cold!” and the gif was very inspiring!! 

Warnings: It’s set morning-after so implied sex, reader and Spike are naked in this but there is no smut. Bickering. 

A/N: If you come across the list the prompt was from I’ll credit the op. 

Even for Sunnydale, this was a weird one. You and Spike had been on a date the night before which was a new occurrence. Usually you would drink at the Bronze or something but he had decided you should have a date somewhere ‘normal blokes would take their birds’ so that’s what he did. It had been great, you had reservations at Sunnydale’s premier human restaurant and he even held your hand across the table where everyone could see. This was new, because you hadn’t found a way to tell your friends, the Scoobies yet and you had been hiding the relationship as much as you could. The date was fun and you loved your vampire, the only time things went awry was when Spike asked them to take his steak back because it wasn’t bloody enough and almost had a fight with the server over it, but he calmed down when he saw a small frown start on your brow.

That, however, wasn’t what was weird. What was weird was the walk home. Spike had convinced you to come back to the crypt (which didn’t take long, you loved spending time with him). You came across a demon who spoke in tongues, Spike was itching to fight it and you were ready to run for the hills. But neither of you could react as the demon managed to push the middle of both of your foreheads with its palm, muttering something in a language you had never heard of before vanishing out of thin air. You and Spike had managed to forget about the strange interaction, however, after Spike had pressed some kisses to your mouth and invited you to the lower-level of his crypt with a suggestive raise of his eyebrow.

This was how you woke up lying on your side, as Spike rolled over and stroked down your arm, leaving languid kisses against your shoulder.

“Time to get up, pet… Scooby meeting remember, can’t have ‘em knowing you were here. God forbid the little gang of white hats figure not everything is black and white” He mumbled, more to himself than to you.

“I’d actually like to stay here, enjoy you a little longer”

“I think you had more than your share last night” He smirked, trailing some kisses along your collarbone. You smiled at his affection, weaving your fingers between the short hair at the base of his skull, knowing you really would have a lot of explaining to do if you were late for the meeting. You reluctantly slipped from being pressed into his body, instantly missing his soft caress.

However, when you tried you found that no matter how much you tried, you couldn’t move out of the bed. You could move around in bed, but not step foot out of it.

“S-Spike I can’t get out of bed” You panicked, grabbing his upper arm.

“It’s the animal attraction, love, no need to feel special I do it to all the girls” he smouldered, not realising how freaked you were.

“Not funny, I need to leave!”

“It’s not hard love, see-?” Spike started to try and remove himself from the bed quickly realising that there was some invisible force keeping you there, “Oh bloody hell”

“I think we’re stuck in bed”

“Oh, somebody get an award for little miss state-the-bleeding-obvious”

“No need to be rude, we’re stuck - you being sarcastic isn’t helping!” You said, removing yourself from his side and trying to move your arm outside of the bed. You couldn’t even do that, it was as if there was some invisible barrier stopping you. You sighed, lying back in bed.

It had been a while and you were lying on your side away from Spike to try and find a more comfortable position.

“Most women would enjoy being in bed all day with her attractive boyfriend” He moved in, running a hand along the curve of your back, making you shiver slightly.

“Boy-friend? You’re practically a corpse” You muttered and Spike realised you were still a bit put out by his sarcastic put-down. Usually, it wouldn’t bother you too much, you knew who you had agreed to date but you had been panicking and he had been rude.

“Corpse-friend doesn’t have the same ring to it, now does it?” You just sigh at this, rolling onto your back. You both stared up at the ceiling in silence for a while, Spike broke first when he saw your facial expression, “Don’t pout love, I’m sorry, alright? There’s no way out and your cell phone was in your jeans pocket-

“-Which was thrown to the floor last night” you finished with a sigh. This was a waiting game. You both scowled at the pair of jeans sprawled near the entrance to the upper-level of the crypt.

Spike pulled you into him as he sighed. Nothing was ever easy in Sunnydale. He had ideas of taking you far away from here, but you would never leave the others fighting monsters alone. He liked your loyalty, even if it meant you were loyal to him in secret. After a comfortable moment spike shifted in bed, his feet tangling with yours as you yelped at the sudden sensation.

“Hey! Quit touching me, your feet are cold!” You protested, moving your legs away slightly.

“Y/n, they’re room-temperature, pet”

“Still, it’s cold in the room…”

“Oh yeah?” He started to press different parts of his body to your back, chest and then face to tease you seeing as you couldn’t escape from bed. You heard a throaty chuckle as you yelped and fell into fits of giggles yourself, pleading for mercy from his icy touch. He eventually wrapped his arms around you, holding you to him and you managed to brave the cold because it meant being close to him. Besides, he warmed up to your body heat anyway. You both closed your eyes, enjoying the bliss of being so intimate with each other.

It had been another hour and there had been another incident to interrupt your bliss, the fact that you were both basically sat on top of each other was starting to wear a little thin. Spike could get very irritated and you could almost match him at times. You were both sat up in bed, leaning against the headboard wrapped in sheets.

“Has anyone ever told you that for a vampire, your breathing is actually really loud?” you shoot him a look, the little things starting to aggravate the other considering you’ve been stuck in such a small space.

“Well, for a human you can be incredibly cold, I’m almost jealous. Some vamps haven’t even got it in ‘em like you have”

“Take that back!”

“It’s a compliment really” He backtracked seeing your frown.

“It’s not! I’m not cold you’re just annoying me, I can’t move from this bed and you’re not helping at all. You’d have thought after all your years of living you would know what to-”

“If you don’t bloody shut up, I’ll bite, y/n, and not in the way you like”

“I’d like to see you try, you’d be trapped here with my body and a horrible headache, not to mention that Buffy would find you eventually” You quipped. There was a silence, you had mentioned Buffy which always annoyed Spike. After a moment, you both looked back at each other, your scowls falling from your face as your mouths twitched into a smile. You couldn’t help it and neither could he. Throughout all of this you were happy to be together even with the squabbling.

“Y’know, we are already in bed, I could always… make it up to you” Your wide smile at the suggestion and the little exciteable nod was all he needed to crash his lips to yours. Maybe less talking and more kissing was the way to go. Your lips roughly met, a tension lifting that had been filled with needling words before. He pulled you closer to him as you slid a hand up his toned chest trying to match his insistent kisses. You were anticipating more when his hands started to trace your waist but something, or someone, stopped that in its tracks.

“Spike! We need your help, y/n’s missing and it’s not like her to-” Buffy was cut off and the three intruders matched your horrified face, “Oh my God! Y/n, get away from him!”

Spike was shielding you the best he could, the blush already rising in your cheeks as he stroked your side comfortingly, his hand hidden by the sheet. He knew this was your nightmare, being caught in bed by the whole gang. Xander, Willow and Buffy were all shell-shocked at this revelation. Everyone’s eyes scattered to the floor as they realised what they had intruded on. Willow hurriedly read through the book she had walked in reading rather than focus on you naked in bed with Spike.

“Yeah, that’s right, get your eye-full before pretending to be embarrassed” Spike said to the group, “We’re stuck here, some big nasty bugger did this to us!”

“Uh, he’s right, a demon cast the whacky on us” you managed to stutter out, Buffy’s glare now trained on Spike.

“Sounds like the same demon we were supposed to be meeting about!” Willow confirmed after you gave a brief description of the demon and what had happened.

“I was gonna say, nobody’s getting into Spike’s bed without some serious mojo going on” Xander piped up.

Spike and you looked at each other, Spike was somewhat disappointed that the Scoobies were so willing to believe that a demon had taken your clothes and thrown you both into bed rather than seeing that you loved him and had been dating him for the past three months. He understood though, so he ducked his head, allowing them to continue berating him in his own bedroom. Because you were so insistent on keeping it quiet. At least this way, he could keep being with you, even privately.

“Um, the spell only trapped us in bed… I got in willingly” Spike looked up, a very smug smile on his face that he tried to hide when you side-glanced at him. You took his hand, squeezing slightly.

“You… what?”

“We’re dating” You confirmed and Spike smiled the widest grin you had ever seen on his face as he snaked an arm around your waist, holding you firmly so the others could see now.

Everyone was silent after that. Willow went upstairs to get the spell sorted, she had finally found it in the book she had handily come in reading about the demon that Spike and y/n had met the night previous. The demon liked to prey on new couples, hexing them in situations that could ruin their relationships. Willow quickly reversed the hex which allowed you both to leave the bed, the others left you to it not really speaking to you on the way out. You couldn’t quite bring yourself to care at the moment though, the look Spike was giving you was distracting. He was so pleased you had told them all.

Suddenly, neither of you actually wanted to get out of bed. You had both been in bed all day, what’s a little more time going to hurt?

[strongsassysexysloane]

Patience isn't Sloane's Middle Name

A/n: - So something got my new plot bunny juices flowing tonight. I will forever blame @regal-roni for it. Btw. Didn't edit so, sorry?

But I hope you all enjoy :)

Sum:- A little something when reader works undercover and the assignment goes longer than expected and time is itching closer to a very important date. No not that date.

When you took this assignment you had no idea what the costs would be. It's not like you hadn't done undercover work before but this time was different. This time you had someone to come home to and someone that would worry about you above all else. So maybe you did have some idea of the costs but this assignment was turning out to be longer than expected. You'd infiltrated the drug ring no sweat, having connections from previous undercover cases but the slimeball you were trying to catch this time was more devious than the others. He actually had half a brain.

What should've been a week, two at most, was now going into your fourth week. That wouldn't of bothered you so much, but next week was Jack's birthday and after the year she has had, more like life, you wanted to make it special. Her last birthday you'd taken her out for dinner but that was before you worked up the courage to ask her out. That happened a month later. And she may have been the one to ask you out, if you were being truly honest. Now it was nine months later, the best months of your life and you were lying in a wire cot with most likely bed bugs in the century old mattress, wide awake, wishing you were in bed with the love of your life.

She'd no doubt be wearing one of your old Navy shirts, but you couldn't breathe a word of that to anyone otherwise you'd be on the couch for a month, and those tiny light blue PJ bottoms to match. The thought and image made you smile as you closed your eyes and dreamed of her beside you.

The next morning was check in, you managed to sneak away under the pretense of getting coffee like you'd done almost every morning. Drug dealers still needed their go go juice. Usually it would just be a few texts or a phone call using a burner your partner left you at the table inside the cafe but this morning was a video call check in.

You instantly smiled when your work partner, Danny, popped up on screen looking like they'd hardly slept a wink but the smile wasn't for them. You could see in the shadows of MTAC a blur taking up one of the back row seats. You'd recognise that blur anywhere.

"Make it quick otherwise she'll shoot me later." Danny moaned, sipping their cup of morning joy.

You chuckled and saw the blur flick of her shoes and pull her legs up onto the seat, hugging them to her chest. "Got another run to do today and heard of a meet up this afternoon. Hoping Guzzler will be there. It's at..." You paused, looking at your girlfriend and then back to your partner on the tiny screen. "I'll send ya the time and address. High chance they'll be there and you better be ready. I'm ready to come home."

"I'll say." Danny agreed. "I'm ready not to be the go between." They rolled their eyes and looked over their shoulder. "I heard that grumble, Sloane."

You chuckled at their exchange. As much as Jack got along with everyone at NCIS, her and Danny were a different level. Not on fighting terms but she put a lot on Danny in these situations. "Thanks, D. I got it from here." You nodded at each other and Danny left the screen as Jack skipped up to the chair and the computer at the side of MTAC. "Stop bugging Danny, baby." Throwing in her favourite nickname softened the request. "I got this, they have my back and I'll be home in time to spoil you rotten."

"I'll hold you to that." You could tell she forced a smile. Her badgering of your partner was always because of your safety even though you were a fully fledged NCIS Agent with years of undecover work, she still worried. So would you if the roles were reversed, luckily for you, they hardly ever were.

You bit back, hoping to soften her worries. "Says miss I don't celebrate." You winked.

She sighed, leaning back into the chair. "I don't but I just..." She pulled her legs up again, hugging them close, resting her chin on her knee. You hated seeing her like this, everyone saw the strong faced Jacqueline Sloane but you were lucky enough to see her soft edges, the ones she hid from the world.

"I miss you too." You finished the sentence for her even though she was probably thinking of something else.

There was silence and you coffee got brought over. You both knew that time was running out but you couldn't hang up on her just yet. Not when she was like this.

"Dreamt about you last night."

That perked her up, dropping her knees and leaning forward with a slanted smirk. "Reeeeally? What was I doing?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me what you wore to bed last night?" You challenged, praying.you were right.

She laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear. She leaned in closer, looked over her right then left shoulder. "Your Navy training shirt and your purple boxers." She whispered.

You were half right and the half that was wrong you didn't care in the least. It was better than you prayed for. Closing your eyes, you smiled and it only got wider as you heard her laugh.

"Well?"

"You were laying beside me, doing your little purs through your half closed lips, your legs sort out mine for warmth and then I woke up to a loud smash of some idiot coming back late from a job." You opened your eyes when the image of Jack was replaced with the shadows of the night before.

"And here I was thinking it was something more R rated."

"That was the dream the night before." You winked, making her laugh again. It was your favourite thing to do. You sighed, finishing your coffee and looking at the time. "I gotta go. I'll talk to you tomorrow if not sooner, ok?"

"Miss you."

"Miss you too." You tried your best to give her a reassuring smile before turning the screen black. It was the hardest part of the job but someone had to do it.

To no one's surprise the meeting in the afternoon lead to nothing but a bunch more Intel for the DEA and nor Guzzler. This meant another night sleeping with your new friends, the bed bugs.

You were woken by a raid I'm the early hours of the morning. Apparently Mr Guzzler wasn't as savvy as the previous four weeks and slipped up later that evening on a DUI of all things. From the recordings from the meetings you attended over the past two weeks and the chit chat you listened into of an evening, they got him on many counts and you were free to head back to the office after you reported to the DEA and snuck out the back so no slimeball saw who you really were.

Walking in to see the orange walls was comforting after so long and you slipped down to the gym showers before going to see Jack. The quick rinse was enough and you slipped into your training gear and headed up to her office.

"I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be at work this early." You leaned against the doorframe to her office, her head snapped up at the sound of your voice.

She smiled, lifting her reading glasses onto her head, pulling back her long blonde locks. "It's only just hit 0730." She shrugged, you could tell she was hiding her excitement and instant urge to run into your arms like she'd done after every other undercover op you'd taken over the last nine months. Honestly it was the best thing to come home to.

"And?"

"And there was no one to cuddle so whats the point of sleeping in?"

You walked into her office, disliking the distance still between you. She hopped up from her desk chair as soon as you took the first step, walking around her desk and into your arms. You burried your face in her hair. "I missed you."

She hummed, tightening her hold around your neck, you did the se.around her waist. "Next time come.to me before you shower. Bed bugs and all."

"Clearly you haven't dealt with bedbugs before." You felt her laugh rather than hear it.

You stood there for almost ten minutes, just holding each other before you leant back and placed a kiss on her lips.

"I have a report to type up but after that I'm swinging by the Directors office for a quick debrief and I'll talk him into letting us have the next few days off." You smiled into the kiss that followed.

There was a cough at the door but neither of you seperated. It was the Director, eight months ago you would've jumped apart but four weeks without holding her in your arms, you weren't letting go and neither was she. "Morning, Leon." Jack smiled, resting her head against your shoulder.

"Morning, debrief in 20 Agent Y/N. Your partner has already requested your leave and Jack requested hers three weeks ago. Get the report done and you can both go home for the week."

"Thanks, Leon." Jack hummed.

"Happy Birthday, Jack." He smiled back at her and continued on his path to his office.

"three weeks ago, hey?" You squeezed her sides and she jumped up.

She shrugged seeing.your questioning eyes. "Thought I deserved some time off with my love for my birthday."

Your heart pounded and melted at her words. "You deserve the world, Jacqueline Sloane."

That got you a passionate, spine tingling kiss in return. The next week was going to be one hell of a catch up after the last month and neither of you could wait!

. . . .

Did I plan on writing a new fic/drabble thing tonight? Nope. Am I beyond tired? Absolutely. I apologize for everyone waiting on my other fic. I'm just really tired and working retail Christmas is exhausting, I have more midnight shifts this week 👌 bit if you'll forgive me for not updating that story I may have a drabble of such almost ready for Christmas day :) I hope that makes up for it.

[the-extra-joker-art]

What You Deserve

And I ope-

May or may not have written some indulgent shit involving Deacon angst and my Sole Survivor, Happy. Really I just used Happy cause using a nameless Sole felt awkward ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don't usually post written fanfiction, so critiques welcome!

Deacon wasn’t quite sure how long he had been chained up. He was sure it had only been a couple of days, but it felt like weeks. The Gunners that had locked him up thankfully had no idea who he was, or who he worked for, but all that did was make their visits less frequent and the long hours of the day blurrier. He was fading in and out of consciousness, hunger gnawing at his stomach whenever he opened his eyes and the numbness in his arms chained above his head was getting progressively more noticeable. Every now and again, he’d wake up to the sound of the door opening, followed by laughter and conversation, but his wakefulness would be quickly ended by a swift kick to his gut or the butt of a gun slamming against his already bloody forehead. As of right now the pain coursing through his entire body was nothing compared to the mental beating he was giving himself. He had no idea how he had gotten caught. It wasn’t supposed to be anything beyond a scouting mission; they had gotten word that a courser was lurking around a spot near Goodneighbor, and his job was to test the claim with his own two eyes. To his surprise though, the spot was actually a recent nesting ground of the Gunners. Deacon still had no idea where the courser claim came from, but he didn’t have much time to scout out an answer, because as soon as he found the camp the Gunners greeted him with a concussion to the back of his head. When he woke up, he was already chained to the wall of a windowless room that smelled of blood, vomit, and booze. He was dizzy enough already, but when more than one Gunner came in to interrogate him by adding more cranial wounds, he lost all sense of his surroundings. Apparently, the Gunners didn’t find his witty remarks charming at all. He couldn’t stop berating himself for getting caught. He was careless, he hadn’t checked his surroundings nearly enough. He should have asked around before he scoped it out, gathered intel. But instead he had to pull a Happy and rush in head first. He winced at the thought of Happy and the others. Were they worried? He was sure they would expect him to be more careful, to be more thorough. He wasn’t even sure if rescue would come in time before the Gunners decided they were done asking meaningless questions and just killed him. Deacon had fucked up bad, and he knew it. He chuckled, and gasped at the painful tightening in his chest. He was hoping he’d die a significantly more meaningful death than being killed by his own carelessness; Maybe he’d die saving someone, or blowing up the institute. At least a martyr's death would be more fitting for his chosen job, but this one seemed more deserving. Dying in the basement of mercenary bastards, without knowing if rescue would come, without nearly enough repentance for his past was just the kind of death someone liked him deserved.

“You’re a good man, Deacon…”

Deacon winced. Happy’s face flashed in his mind, the day after he had told her about his past, she looked at him differently. Almost with a look of awe, like she admired him. He couldn’t believe that even if he tried, but unlike most days, he was far too weak to stop himself of thinking of what she had said,

“You’re a good man, and I’m glad that out of everyone, you chose to travel with me.”

He wriggled against his binds, gasping in pain as the nerves in his arms started to feel again with the movement.

“The Wastelands are a little more bearable with you by my side.”

Deacon hadn’t realized he had closed his eyes so tightly, and when he opened them, he was shocked at the moisture on his cheeks. Tears ran down his face, silently falling against his filthy shirt. He couldn’t help but feel somehow this failure was letting Happy down. He knew it wasn’t, but his heart ached at the idea of her wondering why he wasn’t back yet, if she was worried at all. Again, he had no idea how much time had passed. Maybe she hadn’t even thought of him. He could imagine her helping another settlement, MacCready at her side, completely concentrated on supplying the people inside with water and defenses. Deacon's mouth twitched into a wry smile. Helping a settlement was considerably more important than saving one man from his own mistakes. He tried desperately to concentrate on the image of Happy in his mind, her face scrunched up in a smile, but he could feel his conscious slipping already. His body was going numb again, and he knew sooner or later he would fall back into restless sleep again. Using the last of his strength, he tried to think of an apology for his mistake. What he would say or write down in a last note for Des and the others, how he would thank them for making something of his life, for fighting to save so many synths. How he would thank Happy for dealing with his bullshit, and for staying with him despite everything. He would thank everyone for what they’ve done for him, and apologize for his failure. His mistakes. Again, he’s letting everyone in his life down. He blinked back tears as everything faded to black around him.

Deacon's entire body jolted as a loud crash filled the room. The sudden awakening made pain surge through his entire body, numbed limbs trying in vain to pull against his binds. He couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or not and his attempts to look for the source of the noise was met by blurred shapes. A giant shadow loomed over him, blocking the light from the door that he didn’t even realize was now open, and he groaned as he turned his head up, his gut clenching in fear as he realized the outline of a suit of power armor standing over him.

“Heh... You really didn’t have to put on your good clothes to… Finish off little old me…” Deacon forced a chuckle, his head lolling to the side. Power armor seemed a little much for killing one man, but he supposed these Gunners were the dramatic type. He tried to keep his eyes open, but his strength was wavering, and his breath uneven.

“Oh my god, Deacon…” A familiar voice came from behind the mask, “What did they do to you?”

Deacon tried to lift his head, heart racing as he recognized the voice tainted by the suit's robotic lilt.

“H... Happy…” He tried to say more, to speak more and apologize. For what he wasn’t sure, but he just felt he needed to. “I’m… Sorry…”

“Shh, Deacon. You’re okay. It’s okay.”

He barely even registered the lock on the chains being broken by the power armor's superior strength, letting out a pained breath as Happy gently placed his arms at his side. Deacon felt her wrap a metal arm around him as he began to fall to the side, his tired mind wondering how she was able to treat him so carefully in her hulking suit. He groaned and jolted when he felt a stimpack being stabbed into his leg, hand coming up to weakly grab onto her arm. He was trying to stay conscious, desperately trying to find Happy's face behind the emotionless mask.

“I’m getting you out of here.”

Her voice sounded far away, and his attempt to form a response only offered a breathy groan. His mind swam nauseatingly as the stimpack did it’s work, reconstructing the wounds the Gunners gave him, most of which were to his head. Deacon barely noticed that Happy had picked him up till they were already walking out the shattered doorway, looking down at himself to see that he was being carried bridal style, his body carefully nestled against her armored chest. He let out a shaky sigh, letting his body go limp as he realized he was safe in her arms. For a moment he was safe from his mistakes, safe from the pain that was now just a numbed buzzing through his whole body. He could feel himself slipping back into unconsciousness, but his mind filled with panic as he remembered where they were. His eyes opened wide as he looked behind them down the long hallways of the house they had dragged him through when he was knocked out, and he grimaced at the sight behind them. Blood splattered the wall of the kitchen at the end, the front door blown completely off it hinges. The bodies of the Gunners were strewn across the hall like grim decorations, themselves decorated with their own blood and bullet holes. The head of one of the mercenaries was completely blown off, his relatively fresh blood hiding the rotting wood underneath as it poured out of his body. Happy did this. She did this for him. He knew she could kill, she was an amazing shot, but something about this was different. They were more brutal, more bloody - The place looked like a Deathclaw had come through with a vengeance. In his exhausted mind he couldn’t tell what he thought of that.

Deacon felt himself losing grip on reality again, his eyelids feeling like lead as they slowly closed. He tried to keep them open, to get one more look at Happy. He wanted to thank her, to ask her if she was alright, but nothing came out. His breathing was finally evened out, and the only thing his body wanted to do was rest in the safety of Happys arms. It wasn’t a safety he deserved after the mistake he made, but he didn’t have the strength to refuse it, and he doubted Happy would let him. His head rested against the hard metal, and finally he faded to sleep.

“You got him… You got what you wanted. Now let me go.” The Gunner bastard on his knees on the front porch stared up at Happy, entire body shaking. The blood from his broken nose flowed freely, and his hands trembled. Maybe it was the fear, maybe it was the fact that she broke them under her boot. She had abandoned using her charisma to get him to help, which he was eager to do after she broke his leg too. Happy looked at him, her heated glare hidden by the tinted glass of the helmet.

“Come on! I lead you to the camp! I told you what you wanted, and you got the fucking prisoner! There wasn’t a courser here, okay? Just a bunch of useless synths!” The Gunner doubled over in pain, the effort of staying up almost too much for the shattered bones in his leg.

“You piece of shit… You say that like it’s supposed to make it better. Do you know who this is? His name is Deacon, and he’s a member of the Railroad. This man saves synths. He risks his life every day just to save someone he doesn’t even know from the Institute.” Happy turned away from the Gunner, “But you wouldn’t understand that, would you? No. You’re just a greedy bastard, you’re no better than a radroach.”

Happy looked down at Deacon, bloody but peacefully asleep in her arms.

“No, you wouldn’t know the first thing about saving someone. About risking your life for another. You don’t even know about loving anyone, do you? You’ve never loved anything in your life, besides bottlecaps.”

The Gunner let out a pathetic sob, looking up at Happy with fear in his eyes.

“Please! Just let me go! I... I’ll never take another job again! I’ll never even pick up a gun again! Please!”

Happy went silent, just staring at the man in her arms. She was never going to let the Gunner go, not after what he helped do to Deacon. There was only one person here that deserved mercy, one person who deserved the chance to repent for their crimes, and he was nestled gently in her arms, completely unaware of the conversation going on right now. She thanked whatever gods existed that he was unaware of what she had done to find him. Without another word she pulled out her gun and shot the Gunner in the head, his lifeless body hitting the porch with a thud. The blood pooled from his wound, eyes open in a now eternal expression of shock. She holstered the gun again as guilt pinged at her heart strings, feeling a lump in her throat when she looked at the dead Gunner. He had complied to her demands and betrayed his entire gang to show her the way here, and he deserved better than a death by her hands. Who was she to judge that he deserved death? To claim that he had never loved anyone? Happy didn’t even know who he was, or his real name. He was just a filthy Gunner to her. The guilt faded as she looked at Deacon. Of course he deserved a bullet to his head - He had helped take something very precious from her. She already had so much taken by greedy fuckers like him who just wanted to line their pockets and hurt someone who didn’t deserve it, and gods know Deacon didn’t. Even if he thought he did.

Happy stepped off the porch, looking ahead at the path illuminated by the moon ahead of her. She’d do that a thousand times again if she had to. She’d put a thousand bullets in anyone's head if it meant keeping one more person she loved in her life. That Gunner was just another Kellogg, the only difference was he wasn’t nearly as important. Happy would do this a million times more if it meant keeping Deacon by her side for just another day.

End.