#the flinch of her yelling at Max her shoving him all of it pales to how she says it face covered in tears voice shaky and loud

[dr-lizortecho]

actually, Jeanine’s delivery of “you destroyed my sister to save yours” deserves all the shiny awards

[uselessgayshit]

completely missed an opportunity that I truly thought they had intentionally set up. there was no doubt in my mind that it was going to go this way and then… it absolutely did not go this way

ao3

-

“Oof!” Her back slammed into the ground. Even with the mattress beneath her, the fall knocked the air from her lungs. She sat up, looking through the hole in the ceiling of the trailer, up into Nancy Wheeler’s face of concern. She shrugged. “It’s not that bad, Nance.”

“I’m sure.” Nancy’s lips pressed together firmly.

Robin rolled over so she was squatting next to the makeshift landing pad. She held her arms out. “I’ll even catch you. Break your fall.”

Nancy sent her a withering look. “You’ll break your arms.”

Robin smirked. Always the pragmatist, that one.

“Come on. I’ve got you.” In the Upside-Down, Steve clasped his hands together for Nancy to use as a step stool to leverage her way up the rope of bed sheets. Nancy grabbed hold of his shoulders to brace herself. And then… nothing happened.

“Nance, come on, we’re wasting time here,” Steve said in that impatient way of his that either made Robin roll her eyes or made her anxiety rise. She was leaning toward the latter this time around. “Nance, seriously.”

Robin felt her heart start to beat rapidly in her chest. “Steve?”

He had grabbed onto Nancy’s shoulders, shaking her rapidly. Robin scrambled to her feet, “Steve! What’s going on?”

His actions were futile. Robin saw how her body had gone rigid. How her head was slightly tilted back, eyelids fluttering, and eyes clouded over with an eerie, blue fog.

“No, no, no, no, no.” This couldn’t be happening. Why had she let them talk her into going before them? It should have been her and Steve left in the Upside-Down, not Nancy. Never Nancy. She had never had a friend who was a girl her same age until a world-consuming evil had forced its way into all of their lives. She wasn’t about to let that same force wrench away the one good thing it had done. Not when letting that happen made her feel like she had left her still beating heart on the opposite side of the gate.

“Nancy!”

The name and the urgent yelling brought her back to the room where everyone stood, mouths gaping upward, as if what was happening was inevitable and all they could do was watch.

“Hey. Hey! Stay with me. Hey!” Steve’s voice was shaking. All color had fled, leaving him a haunting pale.

Panic flooded Robin’s veins, a toxic adrenaline.

“Do you have a Walkman? A boombox?” Robin shouted as she started making a mess of the living room, searching desperately.

Eddie opened his mouth like a fish out of water.

“Well?” Robin surged forward, fists clenching his jacket.

“Of course,” he stuttered out, blinking rapidly, “But…”

“Get it,” she said through gritted teeth. Fear was crawling its way up her throat, tainting her voice.

There was a pity-filled apology in his eyes. “Robin, I’m not going to have anything that’ll help. It’s Nancy Wheeler for god’s sake, I don’t think death metal is quite - ”

“Fucking get it,” she growled, shoving him back. He almost tripped over his own feet but grabbed the countertop to avoid that fate and ran to the back of the trailer to his bedroom.

“Robin?”

“What, Max!?” She hadn’t meant to yell at the girl but the image of Nancy Wheeler floating midair as her limbs twisted and broke at odd angles made Robin want to scream until her throat bled.

To her credit, Max didn’t flinch. “I don’t have my tape with me.”

Just as Eddie’s death metal wouldn’t have done a thing, Kate Bush wouldn’t offer Nancy any aid either.

Her fingers clenched at the air with the desire to snap something in half. She had to get a grip on herself. She hadn’t looked back toward the gate; it was safer to live in the unknown. Besides, Steve’s cries and terrified screams would alert her to any changes. She had one thing to focus on and it was a good thing she was there because everyone else was standing around, twiddling their thumbs like Nancy’s fate was already sealed. She wanted to rage at them but that wouldn’t accomplish anything. They were just kids – as scared as she was.

Robin fumbled with the buttons of her shirt pocket, feeling around for the plastic case, and grasped onto the only hope she had left. “Eddie!”

“I’m coming!” He crashed into the wall as he turned the corner, holding out the Walkman and a tangle of cord attached to the scratched red headphones. “But like I said, I don’t - ”

Robin cut him off as she pulled the cassette from her pocket. “It’s hers.”

Eddie’s eyes glanced from her trembling hand to her eyes and for a quiet moment, in the chaos of Steve’s pleading, Dustin’s never-ending stream of consciousness, and the absurd whirring in Robin’s brain, they saw each other.

“You stole from her?” Dustin asked incredulously, his voice cracking.

“Out of all the morally questionable shit we’ve done, I hardly think petty theft that will save Nancy’s life makes the list.” She almost fumbled the tape, trying to slide it into the Walkman and as Eddie caught it, his fingers quick and lithe, he grimaced. “Is that - ?”

“The girl has a Tom Cruise poster in her room. I never said she has taste.”

She clicked the cassette compartment shut and launched herself up the rope.

“Shit, Robin. Let me help.” Eddie grabbed her shins, trying to push her up. She looked down to avoid kicking him in the face in the struggle upward – her lack of upper body strength coming around to bite her in the ass.

He nodded solemnly at her. “Bring her back.”

There was no other option because they might have only known each other for a very short period of time – a time that was consumed by trying to stop the end of the world - but there wasn’t a world without Nancy Wheeler.

It had come out of nowhere. Her stupid, sarcastic face. Her mocking jokes. Her clean-cut persona that was a facade for the determined and extremely intelligent girl who was, despite the odds, always right. Her courage in the face of enormous evils. All of that had combined and flooded Robin with realization and understanding and a cavalcade of emotions that if she got Nancy back… when she got Nancy back, she was going to take a very scary leap with the risk of losing the only people who had ever cared enough to become her friends.

Except for Eddie who so clearly understood. And possibly for Max who was looking at her with an expression of knowing wonderment – as if she hadn’t realized such a thing was possible.

She hadn’t been conscious that she was preparing for this. Why had she chosen to team up with Nancy in the first place? What impulse had caused her to take something, inexplicably, from Nancy’s room? Why had she climbed through the gate first? Steve wouldn’t have known what to do. He was losing it on the other side of the gate. Only she had had any initiative. All of it had been leading her to this moment.

She grunted, reaching up to the next knot. She felt sweat on her brow and back. Her stomach began the roiling, turning that was slipping into the Upside-Down though it was hardly different from the nausea that had overtaken her from the moment Nancy had gone still.

She fell hard, cracking her chin against wood. The shock of pain caused her to dry heave, and then she did retch. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She groaned, “Steve. Steve!"

His head whipped toward her, his eyes a frenzy of pain and fear, watering with tears. She held the Walkman out toward him. He grabbed it and gently brushed Nancy’s hair back so he could fit the headphones over her ears. His voice was hardly more than a whisper. “Is this going to work?”

It didn’t matter the answer. They had no other play to make.

He pressed the play button.

They waited.

The suspense gnawed away at Robin's patience. She flexed and unflexed her fingers nervously

The volume was just loud enough to filter through the headphones. Steve made a face between a grimace and amusement. “Eddie listens to…”

Robin was staring at Nancy, waiting for any signs of a change to show. Not a single muscle twitched. Her eyes were dead to the world.

“Wait… this is…”

Robin wiped the tear off her cheek as soon as she felt it fall.

“Oh.” The defeat in his voice squeezed at Robin’s heart. Her eyes drifted to him and when she saw his face – forlorn, confused, betrayed – she almost threw up again.

Her throat began to grow thick, so much so that she couldn’t swallow. Her knees threatened to buckle beneath her.

“Steve.” Her voice broke as she pleaded. For the same understanding Eddie gifted her. For an acquiescence that it was okay. For anything but the sad puppy dog look he was giving her. “Steve, please…”

There was a gasp and a split second where she thought Nancy was going to drop to the floor, but Robin shouted, “Steve!” and lunged forward just as Steve snapped himself back into action. They caught her, sliding to the ground, holding her between them.

Steve ripped the headphones off her head, throwing them aside. Nancy's eyes were wide and she was gasping, her breath shuddering, her entire body shaking. Eventually she managed to get control of her breath enough to speak, though quietly. “Steve?”

“Yeah,” he said through tears, laughing with relief, “Yeah, Nancy. It’s me. I’m here.”

He cradled her face, fingers stroking her cheek. Her curls were plastered to her forehead.

Through the discarded headphones came the tinny sound of the song coming to an end:

Take on me (take me on)

Take me on (take on me)

I’ll be gone

In a day

Relief flooded through Robin’s body and a cry she didn’t know she had been holding in escaped her, scraping her throat raw.

On the other side of the gate, a world away, she heard the echoing voices and cheers of the rest of their friends.

“I’m here. I’m right here, Nance. I’ve got you," Steve repeated, trying to grasp onto anything solid.

“Did everyone else make it through? Are they okay? Where’s Robin?” She spoke as if she had hiccups.

Robin froze upon Nancy saying her name, muscles petrifying under Nancy’s body. Steve’s eyes flickered up to her. “She’s here too.”

“Yeah,” she responded breathless. “Yeah, I’m here.”

She clutched Nancy’s hand between both of her own.

Steve looked away, finding a particularly interesting floorboard to focus on, his jaw moving as if he were grinding his teeth.

“Hey,” Nancy said, smiling weakly.

Robin chuckled, wiping again at the tears on her cheeks. “Hey.”

“You caught me.”

“What?”

“You said you would catch me. And you caught me.”

“Unfortunately,” Robin said, catching on to what Nancy was referencing, “you were right. My arms are goners.”

Nancy started to laugh and then winced. Robin’s hand fluttered uselessly over her. “Are you hurt?”

“Throbbing headache.”

Now that Nancy was with her, the urgency to spill her truth was quickly flooding from Robin’s body, filled with her usual impulse to push everything down and stomp on it until it went away.

“I’m going to figure out a way to get us all through,” Steve said, starting to stand. Nancy grabbed him by the arm. He looked at her with hope and love and gratitude for something Robin wasn’t privy too. She imagined it was how he had used to look at Nancy. The time before he had known Robin - something he was most certainly regretting.

It’s why she kept people at arm’s length. They’d get close and then realize that she had ruined their lives and wish they had never met her. She couldn’t imagine a world without Nancy Wheeler but having Steve Harrington hate her was a world she didn’t want to live in.

“Thank you, Steve.”

He nodded at her, hesitated for a moment, and then said, “It was all Robin. She’s the one who knew how to get you back.”

Steve stood and tugged on the rope, testing its durability. Nancy was too week to climb up herself. Neither of them was strong enough to carry her and climb themselves. Steve voiced her thoughts, “This isn’t going to work.”

“One of you can come up at least,” Dustin offered.

Robin already left Nancy once, she wasn’t about to do it again. And Steve said, “I’m not leaving either of them.”

Robin met his eyes and he smiled softly with only a hint of sadness. The fact that he didn’t outright hate her guts was a miracle.

“You have shit taste in music, Wheeler,” Eddie called down through the gate, back to his abrasive self since it was clear that Nancy was as okay as she could be. “But we’ll figure out how to get you all out anyway.”

“I do not,” Nancy responded indignantly. She closed her eyes slowly as everyone began discussing, in their usual argumentative way, what to do next.

Robin readjusted so that her leg was propping up Nancy’s back and she could rest her head in the crook of Robin’s arm.

Robin pulled her cheeks between her teeth and watched Nancy’s eyes move under closed eyelids. She brought a finger up to her face, brushing the sweat and grime away as best as she could. All it really did was mix together on her skin.

She blinked. No, she wasn’t just seeing things. She wasn’t imagining things. Nancy had leaned into the gentle touch.

Robin swallowed hard, fighting against her instincts to run as fast and as far as she could. “Hey, Nance?”

“So, I should be thanking you?” Nancy’s eyes were open again, looking up into Robin’s face. “For catching me and more?”

“Oh… no,” Robin looked to where Nancy’s sweater was clenched between her fingers. Her knuckles were white as if she were holding on for dear life. She supposed she was. “No, no, that was a team effort.”

Nancy scoffed, sharp eyes dancing in the light shining down on them from the trailer above. “Steve couldn’t tell you my favorite color let alone what my favorite song is.”

“Yeah, your favorite song is… a choice, Nance.”

Nancy’s eyes narrowed, looking at her as if Robin was missing something. After a couple seconds longer than comfortable, when Robin thought the air between them was heating up to unbearable levels, Nancy glanced away, chewing on her lip. “But you could.”

“Nance, there’s something…”

“I know.”

“What?” Robin asked, shocked, looking to Steve.

She was startled when Nancy’s fingers touched her skin, grabbing her face to pull it back toward her. Nancy implored her, “He didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t do that. He’s… a good guy.”

Robin didn’t need to be told that; it’s why seeing the hurt on his face had made her stomach twist and clench with discomfort.

“I just… I don’t know. It was just a thought I had…” Nancy let out a deep breath. “And I just came really close to dying and we’re fighting something completely out of our depth, and I just wanted to make sure, before that happened again, to me or you, that you know you can trust me.”

“Oh…”

“And I’m not mad that you didn’t tell me. It hasn’t really come up, I guess. But I want you to trust me.” Nancy’s fingertips tapped her cheekbones. Robin’s skinned burned.

Her paltry crush on Vickie was absolutely nothing in comparison to what she felt for the tiny, beautiful girl she was currently holding in her arms and a flood of emotion bulldozed over her. “Nance, there’s something I have to tell you.”

Her hand cupped Nancy’s jaw. She wasn’t going to kiss her. The day Robin Buckley took initiative in anything romantic was the day the world stopped. Despite the assurance Nancy just gave her that she wasn’t completely disgusted by Robin, she was still terrified that she would be rejected.

God, this is so stupid. They had the world to save. The overwhelming crush she had on a girl was nothing in comparison, especially when said girl had just come back from the brink of death.

“What is it?”

She hugged Nancy closer, impossibly so. “Oh, uh, you know what? It’s nothing. Doesn’t matter.”

Nancy was alive, that’s what mattered.

Nancy’s hand covered the one that Robin had on her jaw, her thumb rubbing soft circles into Robin’s skin. She was the one who had needed grounding, threatening to lift into the air and float horrifyingly above them all, yet only a matter of minutes later and she was grounding Robin. “We’re friends, yeah? Like officially?”

“Uh… yeah… I mean, right?” If Nancy didn’t even want to be her friend, Robin didn’t know what she’d do.

“So,” Nancy nuzzled her nose against Robin’s collarbone, “when you decide you want to tell me what’s making you think so infuriatingly loud, you can tell me. I just came face to face with Vecna. You, Robin Buckley, are not going to scare me away.”

Robin took a deep breath but didn’t concede anything. Nancy’s fingers played with her collar.

“Hey, guys,” Steve called, “I think we’re ready. Nance, can you walk?”

Nancy had closed her eyes again, tucked into Robin. She sighed as if she were annoyed that they were trying to get her out of the Upside-Down.

Robin helped her to her feet, holding onto her so she didn’t tumble sideways. She picked up the discarded Walkman and the cassette that had popped out of the casing when Steve had tossed it aside. She handed it over to Nancy.

Nancy stared at it.

“Robin?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you,” Nancy said genuinely and then her eyebrows raised and her look grew stern, “but don’t steal my stuff, okay? You think you can handle that?”

“Yeah,” Robin laughed, a smile splitting across her face, “I think I can manage.”

[maggotbxby]

Fire and Ice - Carol Denning x OC/Reader A/B/O Fic

SUMMARY: Sallie Novak, a 19 year old omega, gets sent to litchfield max for attempted murder, and has to survive in a prison that consists of mostly Betas and Alphas.

CHAPTER ONE

Sallie Novak never thought she would end up in prison, but with the unfortunate circumstances that have occurred over the past 2 years of her life, it honestly may be the better option than being at home.

Being an omega, she was told to do the right thing and never the wrong thing, her mother raised her that way. At first, it was okay. Her mother was a strong omega and taught Sallie to control her heats and not get swept up in relationships. She didn’t end up as a pregnant teen, so she didn’t do too bad.

Though when Sallie was 16, her mother met Dan, an ex-military alpha who is the biggest fucking cuntstick on the planet. He actually seemed incredibly nice at first, for the first year of knowing him, actually. He had money and took care of Sallie and her mother who didn’t have much since her father died when she was 12, and her mother worked as a manager at a grocery store.

After Dan and her mother got married, however, the dynamic shifted, Dan seemed to turn into a different person. He got lazy and grew a dependence for alcohol, and they quickly discovered that he got violent when he drank. He began to get very abusive towards Sallie’s mother, and it sent her into a highly depressive state. She lost her job and hardly left her bedroom most days.

Sallie was unsure why or how Dan’s attention got shifted to her instead of her mother, but it did. Sallie would come home from school and Dan would be drunk, and he would find ridiculous excuses to be pissed off at her; she didn’t do the dishes before she left, or she forgot to feed the dog, anything. On the good days, he would scream at her and she’d shut herself in her room and cry, on the bad days, she would be in her bedroom with belt marks, scrapes, and bruises all over her body.

He never took interest in her sexually, as far as she knew. She took suppressants and wore scent blockers so he could never smell her, but he did make occasional comments about her figure and slapped her ass a couple times, so, he wasn’t innocent in that regard either.

Eventually, she had enough of the abuse, she couldn't take it anymore, so one day, when she was bringing him coffee (Which he made her do, every morning), she slipped rat poison in it. But the motherfucker caught on, he could taste it in his fucking coffee, and he wasted no time calling the police.

That’s when she knew she was fucked.

So Sallie ended up in prison. Granted, the time for her was shorter than most, but as an omega, she knew there wouldn’t be many like her. And there weren’t. Omegas didn’t commit crimes and go to jail like alphas do. They stayed pretty and did little offenses that very rarely got them in trouble. Omegas were pure little creatures, even though a lot of them had a nasty sex life, they always kept things clean on the outside and blamed others for their faults like the prissy little bitches they were. Well, Sallie never did that. She took the blame, and though she tried and tried to report Dan’s abusive behaviour, her mother, always denied it, and it was the word of an attempted murderer against that of a woman with a clean record and a veteran.

So here she was, litchfield fucking Max. Walking in with cuffs on her hands, glaring back at everyone who looked at her. The prison provided scent blockers for omegas, and hormone suppressants, but that didn’t make Sallie any less nervous, the suppressants weren’t the same ones Sallie was used to taking, and the blockers weren’t very strong.

They stopped at a gate, and next to it was a large “C” on the wall. “Welcome to C-Block” the guard said as the gate opened and they walked in.

Even with the blockers, she noticed some alphas got a whiff of her smell as she walked by, causing some to lick their lips as if they were a treat, palm at themselves with obvious sexual frustration, while others bit down on their bottom lip to seem less obvious of their intentions when gazing at her body. She shouldn’t be here. She should be somewhere else with more protection, yet here she was… She didn’t realize she'd be mixed in with alphas, even if there wasn’t that many. Sallie didn’t have a plan for what she was going to do while she was here. She didn’t have a plan on staying safe and keeping herself up in the long run. She had nothing.

She was so fucked.

Practically shoved into her little cell, Sallie found herself back towards the guard who had pushed her in. “So, inmate,” the guard spoke. Helman, was it? “Most of the time Omegas are put into Florida, but since we're short on space there, you'll have to stay here until we find an alternative. There aren’t many alphas here, but there are a couple. That means no making yourself vulnerable; cover your scent as much as you can, or you will be fucked over if one of us isn't here. We can’t be by your side every hour of the day, and the male guards won’t be the most reliable if you accidentally seduce them with your scent.”

Sallie wanted to scoff at the male’s words, staring at him. Her expression clearly showed she was nervous. “My cellmate isn’t an alpha, right?” She asked.

“Obviously not, your cellmate is a beta, one of our most docile inmates. Don't expect any more special treatment just because you're an omega though. You got yourself in this mess, and now there’s no way out. You should have been a good little whore and stayed put instead of going out and doing bad things.”

The guard’s words tore right through Sallie, making her go pale for a moment. The look in his eyes showed that he wasn’t messing around and that he was looking for what many of the inmates were looking for: A hole to fuck.

This was her life now.

“This was the end of your special treatment, Novak. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will not be taken to you. Dinner is in ten, tomorrow you have orientation after breakfast. Don't be late for it. We have eyes on you, so you have little to worry about,” the guard was smirking. “I would get a head start on getting to dinner.The good trays always get taken by the alphas.”

Sallie breathed shakily, nodding her head slowly.

Keep your head up, Novak. They won't hurt you.

——

“Ooh, look at this new cookie, you don’t look half bad,” a voice jeered at Sallie when she went to get in line for her dinner tray. She couldn’t resist glaring over, seeing a slightly overweight girl with badly bleached hair laughing at her. She was with a group who already had their dinner trays, sitting at a table. Sallie gave the girl a dirty look, but then she noticed a movement behind her.

It was just a tiny movement, a cocking of the head. And yet for a second when Sallie saw her, she forgot how to breath. The woman was staring right at her, eyes narrowed how a predator would watch its prey. Sallie immediately knew this woman was an alpha, not even having to smell her. Sallie’s brain told her to look away but she simply couldn’t. She didn’t know if it was her omega needing this or just deep curiosity, but she kept her gaze, taking in large 80’s glasses and the end of a lollipop that stuck out of her mouth. But then she blinked, and Sallie felt her face flush and the world came rushing back. She quickly looked away and bore her gaze at the food cart, making sure not to look back at the woman.

When she got her food and sat at an empty table, 2 inmates quickly came up and sat on each side of her, their smell flooding her senses; alphas.

“So… what's your name, pretty little omega? Why did you end up in this sickening place? You must have fucked up, bad.”

“Shut the hell up,” Sallie spat.

“Feisty. I like that.” A second prisoner spoke up, grinning towards her. Her hand began to rub Sallie’s thigh, causing her to flinch. “Oh, they were right about omegas… You are sensitive, huh, pretty girl?”

“Leave me the fuck alone…” She growled, nudging her off her thigh. “I don't fuck around like that. Just because I'm an omega doesn't mean I'm not strong.”

“But I think it does… You see, if all of us were to pin you against this table right now, there would be no escape. I think the guards would even join in on the fun! Either that or we would get thrown in the SHU, but none of us give a shit about that. All we care about is that we might be getting a wet hole to fuck…”

“Hey, knock it off.” A woman’s voice rang through, and the two immediately scattered, there was an instant heaviness in the air. The fear the voice instilled in the other alphas made Sallie nervous as fuck. She looked over and realized it was the voice of the woman she saw earlier. She was no longer looking at Sallie, she was now speaking to the girl with the awful hair.

“Oi Gapman, go sit with that cookie. And nobody fuck with her, got it?” A heavy Bronx accent rang out from that girl, she sounded almost annoyed to say what she did.

A few moments later a thin woman with greasy blonde hair came up to Sallie and sat with her. She was an Omega, Sallie could tell simply by her demeanour, and the alpha bite mark on her neck. Knowing she wasn’t the only omega here made her feel a little bit more safe.“Sorry about these guys, they’re awful here to omegas, but in my experience Carol doesn’t tolerate a bunch of horny alphas like Barb does over in D-Block, so you should be fine. Oh, I’m Chapman, uh, Piper.” She said and stuck her hand out.

Sallie shook her hand with a blank expression. “Carol?” She asked

“She runs the gang here in C-Block. Everything goes through her. I haven't been here long, but I’ve seen her gang do some shit, I wouldn’t mess with her. Oh and her fucking right hand is a bitch, Badison’s her name, the one who yelled at me to come over here in the first place.”

“Badison?” Sallie chuckled. “What kind of name is that?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but she’s my cellmate, and it’s torture. Don’t get on her bad side like I did. She’s just a beta, and honestly I think her attitude is to try to overcompensate for her genetics.”

Sallie just nodded and got lost in thought for a moment. She really didn’t care about this ‘Badison’ character. She did care about Carol though… The quick scurrying off from the other alphas made more sense now, they’re all scared of her. Sallie wonders how long she’s been in here for, and what she’s done.

——

About 15 minutes later, Sallie returned to her cell to try and get some rest. Upon entering she saw a short, blue haired girl sitting on the top bunk reading a book.

“Uh, hey, you must be my cellmate. I didn’t see you when I first got assigned. I’m Sallie Novak.”

The girl looked up from her book and grinned, hopping down from her bunk. “Great! They’re finally giving me a cellmate! I’m Jacs Walker, sorry I didn’t see you in admission, I’ve been in medical, caught a shiv in the ribs a couple days ago from a dickhead alpha over in D-Block.”

“Damn, sorry, that had to suck.” Sallie replied, kind of dumbfounded how positive this girl's energy was for just being shivved.

“It’s all good, shit happens, I shouldn’t have been trying to score from them. Anyways, you can have the bottom bunk, and those hooks there.” She pointed at the wall, “I know you’re an omega, but don't worry, I’m not into girls.”

Sallie nodded, not really sure how to respond, and she sat in her bunk. “If you don’t mind, I’m exhausted, I need some rest.”

“Of course, intake day is the worst! I’d know, I’ve been sent here 3 different times. Get some sleep.”

It wasn’t long before she drifted off to sleep with thoughts of large glasses and bright blue eyes…

[ask-chaos-kin]

Slender Freaks Ch. 2

Welcome to the Game

“Chaos? Chaos! Chaos wake up!” Jester whispered with strangled breath, trying to shake the unconscious Freak awake. “Come on Chaos! Get up! We have to go!” They urged, constantly looking over their shoulder every few seconds as they struggled to wake Chaos up. 

They didn’t know where they had ended up after being dragged into that ball of light, but they knew that whatever this place was, it wasn’t friendly in the slightest.

The chamber they were in was damp and dark, lit only by a few emergency lights hanging from the ceiling. Old tankards were lines against the walls, and crates of all kinds were scattered about, industrial materials spilling out of them.

“Pancakes? Do you hear anything?” Jester asked quietly, watching as the Scout Freak stared down one of the many darkened halls, his hammer at the ready.

“I swear to God, I heard something down there,” Pancakes wheezed, wringing his fingers around the hilt of his hammer repeatedly. “Will you hurry up and wake Chaos up already!?”

“I’m already up,” Chaos groaned, groggily rolling away from Jester and sitting up. “Ugh, where the Hell…?”

“We don’t know, all we know is that this place is Nightmare Fuel to the max.” Jester helped Chaos onto her feet. “And that Pancakes heard something down that hall.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Chaos scowled, reaching for her sword. 

“Yeah, neither do I,” Pancakes gulped, his eyes glued to the hall. “Just...Back up. Slowly,” Pancakes said, shuffling backwards cautiously. Jester and Chaos stuck close by to him, carefully and painstakingly shuffling away from the hall and towards a different corridor that exited out into an area that vaguely resembled Turbine.

Once the hall was comfortably out of sight, the three Freaks allowed themselves to relax, if only slightly.

“I feel like we’re back inside Grave’s catacombs,” Pancakes gulped, lowering his hammer, but not holstering it. He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled sharply. “Where the Hell are we?”

“I’m not sure,” Jester said shakily, looking around. “Some kind of warehouse, I guess?”

“That hall kinda looked like a part of Hydro. But this looks like Turbine,” Chaos remarked. “But it's not. It just feels bad here.”

“Yeah, no kidding. Come on, let's try to find an exit,” Pancakes grunted, hoisting his hammer over his shoulder and starting down the hall.

“It’s not gonna be as easy as just finding the exit door,” Jester pointed out, stopping Pancakes. “We’re in another dimension. I can feel it. We’re gonna need a portal out of here, and judging by the entire vibe of this place, that’s not gonna be easy.”

Chaos nodded. After a moment of stretching and getting their bearings Chaos and Pancakes decided to scope out ahead and try and spot anything that could look like trouble. Chaos started with taking the higher ground of Turbine, searching for anything that seemed out of place. Pancakes took the underground route in his can to move the fastest he possibly could. Jester was left to search around on the ground level.

“Anything yet?” Jester called as they rounded one of the large engines on the ground floor.

“Nothing yet!” Pancakes called from below. “Nothing but dark halls and creepy shit!”

“Nothing up here, either!” Chaos added.

After a moment, Jester fell forwards, tripping on something heavy and full of liquids.

“GAH! What the-!?” Jester spun around to see what they had tripped over. It was a Jerry can, full to the brim with gasoline.

“What in the world?” Jester got up and picked the canister up. “Uh, found a gas can!” Jester shouted. “Not sure what it could be used for, though.”

After Jester picked up the canister, a loud, thunderous boom sound could be heard from the sky and the air became much thicker and full of dread.

“What the hell?” Jester gasped, tensing up. “Did you guys hear that?”

“Hard not too.” Chaos jumped down from the ledge she was previously standing, Pancakes emerged from a nearby basement door.

“What did you do?!”

“I just picked up this canister! I didn’t think it would summon Satan!” Jester cried, dropping the gasoline.

“What are you doing?!” an unknown voice from the shadows called. “We need those things to get out of here and you're just dropping them everywhere!”

The three Freaks jumped at the voice.

“Who said that? Who’s there!?” Jester shouted.

“Shh! Keep your head down! They’ll be here any minute now. Just pick that thing up and look for more, you’ll hear that boom every time someone picks up another can. Once eight booms have gone off, start running to the van.” The voice called out in a type of whisper yell.

Jester cautiously picked the canister back up, trembling. “Where are you?” They whispered, searching for the source of the voice.

“You’ll find me later, just get going! It’s not safe out in the open,”

The three Freaks nodded hurriedly and headed off, listening closely for any threats that could be lurking in the darkness.

“Just when I thought things couldn’t get any creepier,” Pancakes shuddered, glancing over his shoulder.

“What did she mean by ‘they?’ Who’s ‘they?’” Jester asked quietly, scanning the halls for any more gas cans. “What’s in here with us?”

“I don’t know and frankly, I don’t want to find out,” Chaos whispered sharply.

“You and me both,” Jester gulped. “Where’s that van she was talking about? I didn’t see a van when we came in.”

“It has to be parked outside. If this place is the same as Turbine, I should be able to get us to the exit,” Pancakes stated.

“Maybe. Once we get all the gas cans, we can head there. Well...As long as we don’t run into anything on the way…”

“This feels like Grave all over again,” Chaos hissed.

“No kidding. All we need are some shadow monsters to chase us and it’ll be just like old times…” Pancakes paused briefly, looking over his shoulder. “But I doubt we’ll have to wait long for that.”

The trio of Freaks ducked into a nearby vent shaft and followed it into what should have been the BLU team’s Intel Room. The bright blue suitcase that was stuffed with BLU’s files was nowhere to be found, however. Instead, another Jerry Can sat where the suitcase should have been. 

Dropping down from the vent, Chaos trotted over and tentatively picked up the can, flinching at the thunderous drum that echoed through the facility. Folding it under her arm, Chaos waved for Jester and Pancakes to follow her, raising a finger to her mouth for them to remain silent.

“I think I know where another one of these might be,” Pancakes whispered. Entering his can, Pancakes bounced off towards one of the round doorways, Jester and Chaos following close behind. Coming out into a T-shaped hallway, Pancakes turned to head to a nearby door when Chaos snatched him out of the blue and ducked behind a wall, yanking Jester along with her.

“What are you doing?” Pancakes gasped, stifling a shout. Chaos gritted her teeth and made a sharp shushing sound. Hooking a thumb around the corner, she silently pointed out the lurking monster Pancakes had nearly waltzed right into. 

At the end of the hall, a stark white creature stood, disturbingly humanoid in nature and bordering on anorexic. It was hunched over, its arms and legs extending out to an unnatural length. The long fingers of the monster were tipped with razor sharp claws, stained a dark red with dried blood. The creature's eyes were bright white and almost seemed to bulge out of the monster's head. It had no lips, and so the horrible maw of yellowed teeth jutted out for all to see, a viscous saliva dripping from the fangs and pooling out onto the floor into a silvery puddle.

“What the Hell is that thing?” Jester wheezed, their skin turning as pale as the monsters. 

“Something we don’t want to mess with,” Chaos whispered, pulling Jester back behind the wall. 

Stooping down, Chaos scooped up a small pebble from the floor. Palming it briefly, she wound up her arm and chucked it towards one of the rounded doorways. It bounced once, skidding into the Intel Room and making a low skittering sound as it flew. 

The monster spun around when the pebble made contact with the floor, and with a hungry howl it sprinted down the hall in a headlong rush, salivating at the thought of prey. 

With the beast distracted, Chaos shoved Pancakes and Jester off down the hall and towards the door, and once safely inside she threw the door shut behind them before barricading it with a metal shelf that had been standing next to the door. 

With the door covered, Pancakes leapt out of his can and ran around the small room in search of a third Jerry Can.

“C’mon, c’mon...Aha!” Pancakes crouched next to the workbench in the center of the room and pulled yet another Jerry Can from beneath the table. Upon grabbing the can, a third boom sounded off, a more sinister air to it than before.

With the third can under their belt, the trio slowly crept out of the small chamber and turned to the metal shutter blocking the end of the hall. Chaos and Pancakes picked up the shutter from the bottom and hoisted it off the ground, carefully slipping underneath into another dimly lit hall that extended to the left. The narrow corridor funneled the three Freaks into a small room that was blocked off by a large board of the BLU teams insignia. 

Pushing on the board, there was a slight give, indicating that the board wasn’t fully bolted to the wall.

“Pancakes, give me a hand here,” Chaos said, drawing her sword and slipping it into the narrow space between the wall and board. Pancakes pressed his palms against the board opposite to Chaos. Using their combined strength, they managed to pop the board slightly out of place. Jester slipped their hands to the bottom of the board and tentatively lifted it up and away from the wall, opening a path back into the main room of Turbine.

Pulling the board off the wall completely and pulling it into the small room, the three Freaks quietly clambered out, landing on the metal platform below that was elevated from the main floor. Glancing over to her left, Chaos noticed another Jerry Can sitting in the small windowed room that connected to the vents. Grabbing it, a fourth boom rang out, followed by a low, rumbling roar from somewhere in the halls they had entered from.

“That didn’t sound good,” Jester gulped.

As if on cue, the mysterious voice spoke up once again, a bespoke urgency in her voice. “It’s not good at all. Keep moving! There’s four more cans left!”

Moving with the same urgency, the trio of Freaks dropped down from the platform and briskly crossed the main room of Turbine, keeping close to the engines and carriers in the center of the room for cover. 

Heading into RED Spawn, the Freaks quickly ducked inside the Spawn Room for a breather, and in doing so found a fifth Jerry Can hiding in one of the lockers. 

Next up was the chamber where the RED Intel was being held. Just like the BLU base, the intel was replaced with a lone Jerry Can. Unfortunately, unlike the BLU base, another disjointed and warped creature stood over the can, crouched down and snarling. 

“Great, just great,” Pancakes hissed, hiding behind the doorway separating the hall from the Intel Room.

“What do we do now? We can’t fight that thing!” Jester gasped, their eyes locked on the monster in morbid fear. 

“We can’t. Maybe we can distract it like last time,” Chaos said briskly, scanning the floor for any stray pebbles. 

“I don’t think this thing is gonna fall for that again.” Pancakes glanced into the chamber and winced at the monsters scathing roar. “Nope. Not gonna work this time.”

“Maybe I could lure it away,” Jester suggested, immediately regretting the suggestion as the creature let out another furious shriek. 

“That could work. You can fly and your body works on cartoon physics. You get that thing away from the can and we’ll meet you in the vents.”

Jester swallowed hard and turned pale, giving a terrified glance at the monster. 

“You owe me for this. Big time.”

Jester - begrudgingly - floated out into the open in full view of the monster, grimacing when the beast turned its steely gaze on them. 

“H-hey! Ugly! Come on and chase me! You know you want to - CRAP!” 

Jester could barely get their taunt out when the monster lunged at them, sprinting out of the Intel Room and barreling at the clown at breakneck speeds. Jester turned tail and ran, screaming in terror as the beast began hunting them down through the halls.

“WHY DID I AGREE TO THIIIIIIIIIIIS!?”

“Well, there’s that. Come on, before that thing gets back.”

Chaos and Pancakes wasted no time in picking up the Jerry Can and made their escape through the vents leading into the Intel Room. Crawling through the cramped space, they could hear Jester screaming below and cursing their names in terrified and exasperated frustration. 

“I think they’re taking it well,” Pancakes said dryly. 

Below, Jester was weaving in and out of the turbines in the center of the facility, huffing and puffing as they managed to stay just out of reach of the pale monster. 

“THIS IS NOT HOW I WANTED TO SPEND MY DAY!” They shrieked, yelping and ducking down as the beast swiped at them, narrowly missing the bells on their hat. “I hope you guys are done over there!”

“Jester! Up here!” Chaos shouted from above, pulling the vent cover away from the shaft as she and Pancakes reached the main room, frantically waving for Jester. “Come on!”

Jester made a sharp turn and flew over the head of the monster, sucking in their breath upon seeing the flashing sheen of the creature's claws in their peripheral. Clearing the monster, Jester darted up to the vent and barreled into the open shaft, missing Chaos by a hair's breadth as she threw the vent cover back up as a flimsy barrier between them and the creature. 

“Please tell me you got the can,” Jester wheezed, facedown in the vent. 

“We did. That makes six,” Pancakes said. 

“So we need two more,” Chaos added, climbing back down the vent. “That thing’s gonna be looking for us, though. We’ll need to wait until it calms down before we can go looking.”

“Sounds good,” Jester mumbled weakly, rolling onto their back.

“You won’t find the last two here. You’ll have to go back to Hydro,” The distant voice said faintly, a twinge of warning in her instructions.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Jester gulped.

“I think you’ve said that enough, Jess,” Pancakes remarked, crawling after Chaos, Jester slinking behind him. 

The trio reached the main room and approached the door they had first entered from, which now seemed to yawn like the gaping mouth of a giant monster. A cold wind blew from within that carried the faint screaming of a distant beast, instilling the Freaks with an uneasy sense of déjà vu.

“I was having a good day. We were all having a good day before we got dragged into this,” Pancakes sighed, rubbing his eyes.

“Well, no time like the present,” Chaos said, pushing onward. “Come on, we survived Grave, we can survive this.”

Starting down the hall, the trio left the relative safety of Turbine and entered the unknown territory of the altered Hydro. Walking down the darkened hallways, Chaos judged that they were walking through the farthest west facility of Hydro. What she couldn’t judge was whether or not they could access the outer portions of Hydro, and if they could, if the remaining Jerry Cans would be scattered outside in the open or hidden inside and out of sight.

“Shit, it’s gonna take forever to find the cans like this,” Pancakes grumbled dryly, softly kicking a nearby box. 

“They can’t be far. Most of the cans were close together in Turbine after all,” Jester replied, hoping to assure the sullen Freak beside them.

“Yeah, sure, but Turbine is a hell of a lot smaller than Hydro. Why do you think mercenaries hate fighting in it?”

“I think Mann Co. was gonna make a bigger version of Turbine and every team collectively lost their shit over it,” Chaos said with a dry lilt.

“Wait, they actually did that? I thought it was just a joke!”

“Nope. They actually did. I think Mann Co. was gonna call it Turrrrrrrrbine,” Pancakes explained, sounding slightly brittle.

“That’s dumb. They should have called it Longbine.”

“Doesn’t matter what they would have called it, Jess. The teams would have hated it regardless,” Chaos said, patting Jesters shoulder.

“My memory loss must be worse than I thought. I don’t remember ever hating Turbine when I was still a mercenary.”

“You worked at Sawmill. You were probably just never sent to Turbine-”

“Found one!” Pancakes hollered, running past the two Freaks and diving at a corner where a tankard sat next to several crates of unused machine parts, making a loud racket as he landed. Pancakes grunted and rose back to his feet, triumphantly hoisting up the seventh Jerry Can. 

“Are you a bobcat or something?” Jester said in a perplexed tone. “How did you even see that?”

Pancakes grinned as he tossed the can to Jester. “Scout senses.”

“Oh please, you just saw the can before we did. It ain’t that amazing,” Chaos said with a teasing scoff.

“Yeah, ‘cause you two were talking up a storm about Turbine.”

“You started that discussion!”

“Yeah? Well...Nyeh.” Pancakes pouted, sticking his tongue out.

“Guys, shh, you hear that?” Jester said sharply, abruptly cutting Chaos and Pancakes off. The two Scouts fell deathly silent, suddenly reminded of where they were. 

Jester cast their gaze across the gloomy halls ahead and summoned a small ball of light in their hands, tossing it forward into the corridor like a glowstick. When the light landed, it sputtered and sparked, seemingly struggling to stay alight, which sent a worrisome shudder down Jesters spine. 

As the light began to go out, a low hum came from somewhere deep within the corridor, accompanied by the harsh thudding of footsteps against concrete. The three Freaks slowly backed away from the pitiful light as it gave up the last of its glow. In its final sparks, the light revealed the elongated face of a monster, cast in a cruel maroon light before the orb finally fizzled out, drawing a curtain of darkness as the three Freaks turned tail and fled, their mortified screams filling the halls as the horrible monster took chase. 

The beast chased the trio of Freaks through the facilities of Hydro and forced them outside. Hydro was drenched in darkness, but it was wholly unlike the normal darkness of night. This was an oppressive darkness that blotted out anything and everything in the sky. It was like a thick curtain had been pulled over all of Hydro that kept everything inside its boundaries.

With the elongated monster licking at their heels, Chaos tried to form a fireball in her hands to chuck back at the raging creature like a hand grenade, but it fizzled out into embers before she even got the chance.

“What the hell’s going on!? My powers aren’t working!”

“Mine aren’t working either!” Jester gasped in terror, desperately trying to teleport the three Freaks away to no avail.

“We gotta head to the radar dish! We can lose this thing there!” Pancakes shouted, pushing to the front of the pack.

“I hope you’re right!” Chaos hissed, charging after Pancakes as he booked it up the rocky hill towards the old radar dish at the center of Hydro.

Reaching the radar, the trio of Freaks clambered up the side of the dish and slid down into it. Once inside, they frantically scaled the metal sheets that led up to the station in the center of the dish and kicked the sheets away once they were safely off the ground, leaving the monster without a way to reach them.

Hissing and snarling, the beast clawed and scratched at the scaffolding of the station the Freaks were precariously perched on, desperately trying to bring it crashing down to reach the terrified trio. It’s awful and putrid breath made Jester gag, and the rancid saliva it spilled onto the platform in its hungry flailing made Pancakes and Chaos recoil in disgust.

“Get the hell off!” Chaos screamed furiously, swinging her checkerboard sword at the beasts snout, scoring a deep gouge between its bulging eyes. With a sharp howl, the creature recoiled back and hissed, roaring in pain. Shaking its head, the monster fled from the radar dish, leaving a trickling trail of blood as it ran for cover in the shadows.

The trio caught their breath once the monster fled, giving them a brief reprieve from running and screaming like beheaded chickens. Jester, thoroughly ran through, laid on the floor of the station facedown to catch their breath. When their face hit the ground, they saw a brief flash of red in the corner of their eye. With a jerk, Jester lifted their head and gasped with a mix of shock and relief.

The last Jerry Can was right next to them!

“HAHA! That’s the last one!” They whooped, lifting the can up with elated glee. 

Upon grabbing the can, one last thunderous boom sounded out across the facility. When the sound settled, an eerie silence fell over all of Hydro, leaving the three Freaks alone in the unnatural hush. 

Jester’s elation died away and their smile faded. They held the Jerry Can to their chest and glanced around, the hair on their neck slowly standing on end. The same uneasiness fell over Chaos and Pancakes and they slowly stepped away from the edges of the platform, the deafening silence pricking at their nerves like a malicious ice pick, their labored breathing being the only thing that broke the hush.

“Fuck me, I prefer the monster over this,” Pancakes quavered, a shiver running up his spine.

“Ok, we’ve got the cans, what now?” Jester shuddered, slipping the can into their cape for safe keeping.

“Get to the other side of Hydro, quickly! We have the car waiting!” The disembodied voice spoke out with a dire stress. “Come on, we have to go!”

“No need to tell me twice!” Pancakes leapt off the edge of the platform and started sprinting to the eastern side of Hydro with a desperate zeal, followed closely by an equally terrified Chaos and Jester. 

Above them, the silence of Hydro was broken by an ear splitting shriek. From the roof of the base that overlooked the path to the edge of Hydro, a pale humanoid leapt down in front of the Freaks, drenched in a black and viscous liquid. The creature's face was horrifically disfigured with teeth jutting out of its mouth, and it’s eyes were solid white and sunken deep into its skull.

“Wait! STOP!” The voice shouted, the cold terror of her voice bringing the trio of Freaks toa  screeching halt in front of the monster. “Don’t. Make. A. Sound,” She urged, her voice dropping to a barely audible whisper. “Back away from that thing. Slowly.”

“I hate this, I hate this,” Pancakes whisper-screamed, trembling as he and his friends haltingly followed the voices orders, taking quaking and trembling steps away from the ghastly creature.

“What is that thing!?” Jester whined, matching Pancake’s whispering tone.

“Shut up, shut up,” Chaos snapped hushedly, grabbing Pancake and Jester by the arm. She gritted her teeth at the monsters huffing and snarling and squeezed Jesters arm instinctively. Jester quickly placed their hand over Chaos’, a fleeting comfort in the face of a hideous monster.

Backing up towards the dish, the trio watched the beast from the very edge of the radar. The ghoul stooped down and sniffed the air, having calmed down now that the Freaks had put distance between them. The ghoul wheezed and snorted and sluggishly shambled towards the dish, its sunken eyes rolling in its skull. Jester sucked in a sharp breath, Pancakes braced himself, and Chaos’ free hand snapped to the hilt of her sword, her mismatched eyes locked on the creature, silently daring it to come closer.

A small and unnoticeable speck flew through the air past the monster and landed somewhere off to its right, causing a small clatter of stones to rattle through the air. The beast snapped its head to the noise and stalked towards it, leaving the Freaks behind in favor of investigating the pebble. The three Freaks looked on in a kind of shocked stupor, both befuddled and relieved that the mysterious stone had caught the monsters attention. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Chaos caught sight of someone standing at the end of the path out of Hydro, waving to the Freaks and beckoning them over. The figure was slender and had a similar frame to Chaos. She wore a RED Flapjack, orange Hot Heels, and a red and black Troublemaker's Tossle cap. Her hair was long and curly and seemed to be cut in the exact same style as Chaos’ hair and she wielded what looked like a RED Atomizer bat. 

Seizing her chance, Chaos shoved Jester and Pancakes towards the figure while the monster was distracted.

“Come on, I have the car ready! I just need the gas!” The figure ran towards a cement blockade and leapt over it, sprinting down a paved path where a lone camper van was parked. “Come on, come on! Dump the gas in, we don’t have much time!”

Reaching the van, Jester clumsily took their cape off and dumped the eight Jerry Cans out, and the three Freaks scrambled to dump the contents of all eight into the van. They spilled much of the gasoline onto the ground in their hustle, but enough got inside the van to count. 

“Alright, that’s it! Now get inside before they come after us!” The woman shouted. Throwing open the drivers side door, she leapt into the van and cranked the car with haste. The engine roared to life, its headlights flashing and lighting the road ahead up in a stark yellow glare.

Jester, Chaos, and Pancakes all piled into the van as fast as they could, shouting over each other as the sounds of the monster started to grow closer. Jester grabbed the passengers' side door and slammed it shut once they were inside and let out a startled gasp.

“OK DRIVE!” They screeched, scrambling to get to the front seat. The woman drove her heel into the gas pedal and the car lurched forward, unceremoniously throwing Jester back onto Pancakes. 

Speeding along the paved road, the screams of the monster behind them echoed in the dark, growing more and more distant as the van left it in the dust until the screams finally receded into the distance, nothing more than a shallow whisper in the wind.

With distance put between the monster and the Freaks, Jester laid their face on the dashboard and let out a heavy sigh of relief. Chaos and Pancakes simply collapsed in the back seat, catching their breath. 

“Holy shit,” Chaos gulped, her breath coming in sharp gasps. “Thanks,” She managed to get out.

“Don’t thank me yet,” The woman replied sternly, still on edge. “Who are you guys anyways? I don’t recognize any of you.”

“I don’t think we’re from around here,” Jester answered quietly, tilting their head towards the woman.

“...Oh, shit. Then you have no idea what’s going on here.”

“Yeah no shit! Monsters were chasing us every five seconds and we had to collect gas cans like it was a fucking treasure hunt!” Pancakes cried. 

“Those gas cans were your only ticket out of here,” The woman replied with a startling calm. “Now just calm down. If you guys aren’t from around here, then that spells bad news for you.”

“What do you mean? What are you talking about?” Chaos urged, leaning forward in her seat.

“To put it as blunt as possible: You guys have just landed yourselves in another dimension. The Slender Realm. A dimension filled with monsters that you have to play around in order to survive. It’s a game, really. These creatures force us to always stay on our toes or we die. They take us to places like this and force us to play a game of demented scavenger hunt to find random items that we can use to escape and move on.”

“...Fuck,” Chaos swore, collapsing in her seat. 

“Exactly. And you three have just entered the game as fresh blood. You want to survive and get out? You follow my lead.”

“How do we even GET out?” Jester shuddered. “Look, I have reality bending powers, ok? I’m supposed to be able to tear holes in reality in order to travel between dimensions. I haven’t been able to do that once since we’ve been here! Barely any of my powers have been working!”

“You can blame the Slender Realm for that,” She sighed, sounding utterly exhausted. ���This place...It doesn’t like ‘cheating.’ If you have powers of abilities that it thinks will give you an edge against the monsters, it takes it away.”

“That would explain why I can barely do anything. I tried to create a light ball and it extinguished a minute later. My magic doesn’t just go out like that.”

“And I haven’t been able to cast fire spells since we got here,” Chaos lamented, staring sullenly at her hands.

“I can’t even Ubercharge myself anymore,” Pancakes sighed, pressing his face against the back of Jesters seat.

“You guys are Freaks, right? You come from the Outer Realm?” The woman inquired, looking over her shoulder at Chaos and Pancakes.

“Uh...Yeah, we’re Freaks. I don’t know what the ‘Outer Realm’ is though,” Chaos replied, a bit perplexed. 

“That explains where the portal leads…” She mumbled. 

“Portal? What portal?” Jester queried, almost pleadingly.

“The way out.” The woman sat up and her face stiffened. “It’s a portal at the end of a labyrinth. A lot of people thought it was a myth, but me and my brother found it a few days ago. We were this close to making it out, and…” She grimaced, pursing her lips in anger. “We were stopped by the monsters. Slenderman in particular.”

“Hold the fuck up, SLENDERMAN is REAL!?” Pancakes squawked, wide eyed as he jolted upright in his seat.

“So at least you know about him. He’s one of the most dangerous monsters around here,” The woman continued, shrugging off Pancakes surprised outburst. “He stopped us from leaving this place and...He must have messed with the portal himself. That’s the only way I can imagine that you three managed to get pulled into this place.”

“Do you think more people could have been pulled in?”

“Highly likely. The monsters like to mess with other dimensions when they get bored with us.”

“So maybe other people we know are trapped here,” Chaos suggested. “Other Freaks.”

“Maybe. Maybe…” Jester nodded, reeling from all the information.

“Anyways, I know the portal exists. I know there’s a way out of here. Maybe we can get out of this hellhole together.”

“Yeah. Together sounds nice. Anything sounds nice in a place like this,” Pancakes sighed.

“Where are we heading now?” Jester queried, watching as the dark road flew by in the window.

“The closest thing to a base I have. Me, my brother, and two other people live there. It’s safe. Relatively speaking. Once we get there, you guys can eat and rest for a bit, ok? Then we have to head out if we wanna find the portal again.”

The three Freaks nodded in agreement. “Thanks again for helping us. If any of our friends got dragged in, I can’t imagine how they must be faring out here without the help of someone like you,” Jester said, unquestionably grateful for the woman’s help. “Uh...I’m Count Jester, by the way. Jester for short. Nonbinary, I use they/them pronouns.”

“I’m Ass Pancakes. Yes, you can laugh at the name.”

“And I’m Chaos Kin. Jesters God-Niece.”

“Nice to meet you,” She smiled, pulling the van towards a sheltered gravel road. “I’m Roseflame.”

[bestillmyslashyheart]

Inked

Happy Birthday @bisexualalienblast!! I hope you are having the most wonderful day and that this little bit of fluff makes you smile

also on Ao3

“Wait, wait, wait!” Liz called over everyone. The room was slow to settle, too much alcohol involved to keep them quiet. “Mikey, you didn’t answer.”

Everyone turned to Michael who merely drummed his fingers on the table and stared Liz down. “Gimme a shot.” He crooked a finger at the bottle in the middle of the table as everyone groaned.

“C’mon! You can’t drink,” Isobel cajoled. “Just tell us about one.”

“Just one!” 

“Please?” 

Michael stared around the table at each of his friends and siblings, each of them craned forward eagerly, hoping against hope that Michael would finally answer the question. Each of them but one, that is. Alex leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow in a dare. Michael wasn’t sure if he was daring him to talk or to keep his mouth shut.

He reached for the bottle.

“You’re no fun!” Rosa griped. “You have multiple tattoos, man, why not explain one of them?”

“It’s no use,” Max grumbled. “He’ll never tell. He’ll just show up one day with a new one and never mention it no matter how many times you ask.” Michael grinned as he threw back his shot. 

As the turn passed to Kyle and his regrettable decision to choose Dare, Michael slowly ran a finger along the outline of the guitar on his arm. It had faded with the years and the long hours in the sun but it was still readily visible, bold against the pale skin of his forearm. A foot nudged his and Michael looked up to see Alex smiling, his eyes moving from the guitar to the other tattoos Michael had hidden under his clothes. 

Max was only mostly right when he said Michael never explained his ink. Alex knew what each of them meant, even if Michael had never actually said the words and the reverse was equally true. Their friends might not know but Alex had his own fair share of tattoos hidden under his clothing and only Michael knew the story behind each one.

Kyle took a shot instead of doing Isobel’s Dare and the game continued. Michael stopped paying attention, lost in thought as he continued to stroke the tattoo.

2008

“I want to do something stupid.” 

“Like join the military?” Michael scoffed. Alex smacked him lightly on the stomach. They very carefully weren’t talking about Alex’s pending departure, even as it crept closer by the second.

“I want a tattoo,” Alex announced.

“Oh yeah?” Michael turned his head. “What of?”

Alex studied the stars overhead. “Would it be stupid if I said I wanted to get the UFO Emporium logo?” His voice was quiet but the night was so still, Michael heard him as clearly as if he’d been shouting. His heart skipped a beat.

“That depends, I guess. Do you just really love your job?”

Alex turned to look at him. “No.”

Michael didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t sure if it was arrogant of him to assume that Alex meant their first kiss was so noteworthy that he wanted to permanently mark his skin as a reminder but he wasn’t sure what else would make Alex get that logo as a tattoo.

Alex pulled away when Michael didn’t say anything, a few inches of space suddenly appearing between them. Michael’s side grew cold and he rolled over until he was perched over Alex, his good hand bracing him next to his head. “Would it be stupid if I got a tattoo of your guitar?”

A smile slowly inched its way across Alex’s face. “No logo?” Michael shook his head. No way was he getting a fake alien head put anywhere on his body. Alex ran a hand down his hip. “I think a guitar would look pretty cool.”

“Michael!” 

He leaned back just in time to avoid Kyle’s ‘friendly’ punch to the arm. “What?”

“Truth or Dare?”

“Again?” He groaned. 

“Yup,” Maria popped. “So, which is it gonna be?”

He knew she was going to ask about his tattoos again, he just knew it. For some reason, it had been the topic of the night, what ink people had and why and what ink they’d consider getting in the future. Somehow Alex had managed to stay out of the discussion altogether, Michael thought as he glared at him across the table. Alex smiled innocently and motioned to Maria who was still waiting for an answer. “Truth,” he forced out, wishing he was a bit more drunk and willing to do whatever madness Maria came up with.

“Why the hell would you get a tattoo of your own hat?” Alex choked on his beer as the rest of the group stared at Michael incredulously.

“You have a tattoo of your hat?” Kyle asked.

Michael rolled his eyes and ignored Alex as he died silently on the other side of the table. “I like my hat and I didn’t want to lose it. I figured if I ever lost the actual thing at least I’d always have a bit of it with me.”

2012

“Is that what I think it is?” Alex stopped in the middle of what he was doing, Michael’s jeans hanging by one leg as Alex stared at his now naked limb.

Michael propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at Alex perched between his legs. “What?”

Alex ran a finger over the inside of his calf. His touch was light enough that Michael had to stop himself from flinching as it started to tickle. He knew now what Alex was staring at. “I didn’t want to lose it,” he admitted quietly. “You gave it to me.” Alex surged up and kissed him.

“I can’t believe you got a tattoo of your own hat,” he laughed into Michael’s hat.

“You bought it for me,” Michael repeated. “It’s the first gift anyone’s ever given me and it came from you. Why wouldn’t I want to keep it forever?” Alex stared at him, mouth agape, for a moment before he kissed him again.

“Well,” he panted when he pulled back. “I feel less dumb now.”

“Oh?”

Alex grinned and tugged off his shirt, Michael helping him as soon as he realized what Alex was doing. As soon as the offending fabric was gone, Michael pressed a kiss to Alex’s sternum. He started to move towards Alex’s nipples but Alex grabbed his hair and gently pulled him back. Without a word, Alex turned slightly and directed Michael’s head down until he focused on the black ink scrawling up Alex’s right ribcage. 

stole the guitar right outta my hands

stole my whole heart too

who knew we’d be lost forever

“Is that-?” Michael’s hand shook slightly as he ran a finger over the words. They were his. He’d written them the last time he’d seen Alex, the other man plucking at his guitar strings as they made music together.

“We didn’t get to finish it but I didn’t care,” Alex told him softly. He chuckled. “It’s our song.”

Michael had to kiss him then so he did. “You’re a sap. I’m a terrible song writer.”

“You are,” Alex agreed instantly. “But I don’t care.”

Michael kissed him again then ducked his head to kiss the words. His words. 

“That’s a dumb reason to get something inked onto your body forever,” Rosa was saying as he tore himself from the memory. “I approve.” Michael grinned and reached out a fist for her to bump. She did so with minimal eye roll. 

“Alright,” Michael shifted in his seat. “Alex.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Dare.”

“I dare you to kiss me.” He grinned even as their friends shot him down. Michael even stood up and was halfway across the table before Liz shoved him back.

“That doesn’t count. Do something else.”

“Why doesn’t it count?” Michael protested with a laugh. “He said Dare, I gave him a dare.”

“It’s not a dare when you two make out all the time anyway,” Kyle rolled his eyes. He’d been happy for them when they got their shit together for about one day before he’d quickly tired of their PDA. “Do something else.”

Michael hummed. “Ok,” he grinned at Alex. “I dare you to show them a tattoo.”

Utter silence. And then-

“You have a tattoo!?” Liz and Maria yelled in unison, whirling around to stare at Alex as Rosa whooped with delight.

“Since when?” Liz asked.

“What happened to the guy who hated tattoos with a passion?” Maria followed. “You’ve always hated tattoos.”

Alex shrugged and grabbed a shot. Rosa was across the table in a second and pinned his wrist to the table. “Nuhuh, Manes. Show us the goods.”

“Don’t you think if I’d wanted you all to know I had a tattoo, I’d have shown you before now?”

“So your boyfriend’s playing dirty, tough luck,” Isobel was entirely unsympathetic. “Show us!”

Alex glared at Michael before sighing and nodding. “Fine. But I need you to let go.” Rosa held up both hands with a ‘who me?’ expression plastered on her face.

With his arms free, he slipped his jacket off his left side and quickly rolled up the sleeve to expose his shoulder. There in bright colors, only lightly faded from time but not the sun, was a pride flag stretched across the width of his shoulder.

“Huh,” Liz mused. “For some reason, that was not what I was expecting.” Alex rolled his eyes and put his jacket back on.

“Sorry to disappoint.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Liz huffed. 

“I was expecting some old school emo reference or something,” Maria laughed. Michael snorted and quickly covered it up with a fake cough.

“I got it after my first Pride,” Alex admitted. “Seemed like the thing to do.” He met Michael’s gaze, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he tried to hide his smile.

2014

It was the first time they’d gone to a tattoo parlor together. Both of their first tattoos were done on their own to be shown later but this one, this one they wanted to do together.

Michael chatted happily with the artist as the woman got set up while Alex sat nearby, his phone in his hand as he scrolled through his photos.

“Is this good?” The artist asked as she placed the stencil on Michael’s arm. She held up a mirror and Michael gave her the okay to go ahead. 

“Anything good?” Michael had to speak a bit louder to be heard over the gun as she got started. Alex shifted without a word, angling his body and his phone so Michael could see the screen.

“We’ve got a couple of good ones in here,” Alex told him even as he deleted a blurry photo. “I still can’t believe you bought that hat.”

Michael glanced at said hat in the corner, the sparkles catching the light and sending little rainbows around the room. “I felt naked without mine.”

“So you got the least subtle thing available?”

Michael nodded slowly, careful not to jostle his arm as the artist switched colors. “I like that one.”

Alex stopped, his thumb poised to swipe to the next one. “Really?” He looked awful, his hair a sweaty mess and his make up smeared.

“We look happy.”

Alex looked at it again, this time ignoring the make up and the sweat and instead focusing on their smiles. They really did look happy. Without a word he sent it to Michael. 

“First Pride?” The artist asked with a smile. Both of them nodded. “Is it going to be your last?”

“No,” Michael told her immediately.

“Definitely not,” Alex echoed. 

“Good.” She switched colors again, this time etching the purple stripe onto Michael’s skin. A few more minutes and she deemed him good to go.

Alex took some photos of his new tattoo, the bi flag colors stark against his skin, while the artist cleaned up and got herself set to do Alex’s flag. 

“Which shoulder?” She asked as Alex settled in the chair. “Right, like his?” She nodded at Michael. Alex followed her gaze and considered him briefly before shaking his head. 

“Right.”

“Who’s next?” Alex got the game back on track and diverted their questions away from his tattoo. Michael marveled at the ease with which he did so, envious at how Alex neatly escaped the endless questions Michael was forever subjected to. Max looked like he wanted to ask another question but Alex stole his attention with a dare for Liz to give Maria a lapdance. 

Michael pulled out his phone to record as Isobel queued the music. Liz rounded the table and pulled Maria’s chair back from the table to give herself room to work.

“You okay with this?” Maria pulled her hands away from her face laughing and nodded for Liz to go ahead. Liz grinned and got to work. The first few seconds were graceful but Liz quickly lost her composure and the dance turned into utter silliness. At one point she leaned back too far and Maria had to grab her waist to stop her from falling onto the floor. She didn’t quite stop her in time to prevent Liz from hitting the glasses on the edge of the table. 

“Oh shit,” Liz laughed as Maria helped her sit back up. “I’m sorry!”

Alex waved her off even as he held up his dripping sleeve to protect the rest of her clothes. Kyle grabbed the overturned glasses as Isobel hopped up to grab napkins. Michael helped Max clear the table so Isobel could wipe up the spilled tequila.

“I’ll throw those out,” he took the dirty napkins from Isobel as she switched to a wet rag to make sure the table was sticky.

“Well hello there,” Michael leered as he entered the kitchen to find a shirtless Alex hunched over the sink. “You okay?”

“It soaked through my jacket to the sleeve,” Alex explained as he scrubbed at the stain. Michael tossed the napkins in the trash and grabbed Alex’s shirt to help out. They worked in silence for a minute before Isobel interrupted.

“Holy shit, you’ve got ink,” she stared at the five tattoos littering Alex’s upper body. 

“Iz-” Michael warned as Alex turned away from her. He’d always been a little shy about his ink.

She tossed the dirty rag at Michael and retreated to the living room without another word. 

“It’s fine,” Alex waited until she was gone to speak.

“Yeah, it is.” Michael answered, responding to the concern Alex hadn’t voiced. “She won’t bring it up.”

Alex ran a hand down his chest in thanks and Michael grabbed it. He dropped the shirt to cup Alex’s hand and press a kiss to his wrist, his lips caressing the numbers inked there.

2019

“Guerin,” Alex panted as Michael attacked his neck. Michael hummed. “Where’s your truck?”

“In the parking lot,” Michael mumbled as he pressed open mouth kisses to Alex’s collarbone, the top buttons on his shirt suddenly undone.

“Guerin,” Alex warned when Michael didn’t move. “I’m not hooking up with you in the back room of our high school reunion.”

Michael finally lifted his head. “You hate the Airstream.”

Alex rolled his eyes as he tangled his fingers in Michael’s hair. “I don’t hate it. It’s not the most comfortable, sure. But it’s infinitely better than this.” He looked around the store room they’d found themselves in. 

Michael sighed and took a step back, grinning when Alex let out a low whine at the separation. He jerked his head. “Let’s go.”

Alex grabbed his crutch and quickly followed. They didn’t talk during the walk to Michael’s truck, dipping around the edge of the room to avoid Isobel and Maria. The drive to the Airstream was also silent except for the faint sounds of the radio, carefully tuned to Alex’s favorite station. The closer they got the more the nerves settled in between them. 

They’d spoken since Alex’s accident but this was the first time they’d seen each other. Michael’s hands ached with the need to touch Alex, to prove to himself that Alex was real and here and alive. But Alex was home for good now and it felt like there were things that needed to be said that weren’t and the words hung heavy in the air. 

“Hey,” Alex grabbed his jacket as they stood awkwardly in the middle of the Airstream. It was the first thing either of them had said since leaving the reunion and Michael feared for a moment that he was about to leave but he just pushed it off of his shoulders. Michael tossed it to the side the second it slipped off his wrists. Alex fingered the buttons on his shirt, an uneasy look on his face. 

Michael cupped his face slowly and Alex sank into it. He leaned forward and kissed Michael before Michael had a chance to move. They lost themselves to it for a few minutes, only separating when Alex pushed Michael’s shirt over his head, Alex’s shirt already on the floor.

“What’s this?” Michael grabbed Alex’s hand as it moved back to his hair. There was black ink on the fine skin on the inside of his wrist, ink that hadn’t been there the last time he’d seen Alex.

Alex didn’t answer. Instead, he pushed Michael gently until he fell back onto the bunk. Alex sat next to him to remove his jeans and leg and Michael shucked his own pants and boots. 

“What’s that?” Alex pointed at his ankle as it was bared to him. Michael eyed his own new ink and kissed Alex instead. 

Later, the sweat cooling on their skin as they lay tangled together in the small bed, Alex cupped Michael’s face with his right hand, angling his wrist so Michael could read it. 

“They look like coordinates,” Michael rubbed a thumb over the numbers.

“They are,” Alex’s voice was soft. “For here.”

“Roswell?” Michael raised an eyebrow.

Alex hummed. “After the- well, after, I wanted a reminder of where home was.”

“You hate Roswell?”

Alex nodded. “But you’re here.” He shifted and started to pull his arm back but Michael held tight. “Home’s not always a place.”

Michael didn’t offer any comments, just pressed gentle kisses along the tattoo. After a moment he sat up and tossed off the sheet covering them.

“Michael?”

Michael turned his leg so that Alex could see the new ink on his ankle. Alex looked at him for permission before reaching out and thumbing the six numbers. 072318

“What do they mean?”

“It’s the day you called me from the hospital,” Michael admitted. “I’d heard about the incident in Iraq since it was on the news and I had the worst feeling that you’d been involved. It was only when you called me that I felt like I could breathe again. It was the day I knew I hadn’t lost you. That you were safe.”

Alex couldn’t quite reach his ankle with his lips so he rubbed the numbers again before pulling Michael’s head down to kiss him.

“I’m safe,” he promised. “I’m okay.”

“And you’re here.”

A loud throat clearing pulled them apart. “You have to come back to the table at some point,” Isobel admonished.

Alex glanced over his shoulder at her. “Says who? I don’t remember agreeing to that.”

Isobel arched her eyebrow. “You’re not having sex in my kitchen.” Alex turned to Michael and they shared a conspiratorial look that made Isobel groan. “I’m disinfecting this whole place.”

Michael handed Alex his shirt, the tequila stain not coming out but at least it wasn’t sticky anymore. “We could always go home.”

“We could.” Alex tugged his shirt on. “We shouldn’t, though. We promised a group night.”

Michael nodded. “We did promise.”

They stumbled through the front door of the cabin 20 minutes later, Liz and Maria’s jeers still ringing in their ears. They got ready for the night individually, coming back together in the bed. 

“I still can’t believe you got this,” Michael fingered the old alien logo tattoo on Alex’s hip. A year prior, Alex had gotten it touched up and added a cowboy hat to it.

“Well I’m not just gonna have any old alien on my body for forever,” Alex teased as he kissed the mark over Michael’s heart. He’d had mixed feelings about it when Michael told him what he wanted to get but he’d come to love it. His time in the Air Force had had its drawbacks, particularly for their relationship, but it had been a huge part of Alex’s life. After he’d received his discharge papers, Michael had gone out and gotten his rank tattooed on his chest. Captain Alex Manes was forever a part of him, now, just as it would forever be a part of Alex himself.

Michael rolled him onto his back and kissed his way through Alex’s tattoos before ending on the large mark on his left ribcage, the skin still healing. It was the alien map that had haunted Michael since he was a child. Michael had teased Alex for getting the same tattoo as his brother but he’d been not so secretly touched that Alex had wanted a map to Michael’s home. 

“You think we’re done getting tattoos?” Alex mused, his fingers carding through Michael’s hair as Michael continued to explore.

“Maybe but I doubt it,” Michael leaned up to kiss him. “I’m sure we’ll have more moments we want to remember forever. Personally, I’m looking forward to adding another date somewhere.”

“Oh yeah?” Alex laughed. “You got one picked out already?”

“Not yet. Figured we could pick that one out together.”

Alex hummed, a small smile on his face. “Is this what I think it is?”

Michael shook his head. “Nope. When I propose, you’re gonna know it.”

“I look forward to it.” Alex leaned up and kissed him, long and slow. “But not tonight.”

“Not tonight,” Michael agreed, chasing Alex’s lips as he leaned back. “We’re busy tonight.”

[livia-dovehallow]

I Am a Shadowhunter - Cecily Herondale

{Based on the song “Salt” by Ava Max. It’s quite long for a solo story, but you can read it on AO3 as well. This turned out MUCH longer than I originally anticipated.} Uh oh / I’ve got breaking news / and it’s not about you / Uh oh “My name is Cecily Herondale, you see. And I’ve come to be trained as a Shadowhunter.”

The room was deathly quiet. Several pairs of wide, shocked eyes gazed at her. Cecily only cared about one of them. “Gwilym,” she breathed. 

Will did not answer her. He stared back, pale and unmoving. He had grown up considerably since the last time she saw him. He was much taller, muscular, and covered in dark tattoos she knew only as Marks. She had hoped he would have been much happier to see her. 

“Miss Herondale,” said the woman standing at the head of the dining table. Her voice did not waver, but her eyes betrayed her clear shock. “You wish to join the Nephilim?”

“That is what I said,” Cecily answered, her eyes not leaving Will. The other people about the room continued to flicker their eyes between her and her brother. Finally, the boy with silver hair cleared his throat. 

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Herondale,” he said. “I’m James Carstairs. Call me Jem.” Cecily nodded. His silver hair matched the bright silver eyes that met hers. He seemed wary of Will’s reaction, glancing back at him for a moment before continuing. “I’m your brother’s parabatai.”

Cecily only moved her attention back to Will. She had no knowledge of parabatai and did not intend to gain any. She had come to bring Will home. “Nothing from you?” She asked him, ice evident in her voice that had not been there before, when she first saw him and whispered his name. “I should think you’d be glad to see your sister after so long.”

The woman who had spoken earlier clasped her hands before any more could be said. “Sophie, please prepare a bedroom for Miss Herondale. It is nearly time for bed and she should not have to rest in the drawing room after such a journey.” The maid in the corner nodded and dashed out of the room.“My name is Charlotte Branwell,” the woman said to Cecily. “I am the head of this Institute. As Nephilim, you are welcome to stay with us here and train. We will provide you gear. Have you any prior training?”

Will finally made a sound, though it made little difference to Cecily. “No,” she answered. “But I am a quick learner.”

Uh oh / I’ve been breaking hearts too / and I learned it all from you / Uh oh

Will roughly caught her arm after dinner as she stood to leave. “What are you doing here?”

The last person quickly fled the room and Cecily cleared her throat. “So, this is where you ran off to.”

His head jerked up. For a moment, Cecily thought he had looked defeated. 

“Yes,” he said to her flatly. “And you were not supposed to ever follow me.”

“Why not?” She snapped. “I am Nephilim, same as you.”

Will looked at her and she could clearly see he was holding back pain. “Cecy,” he whispered. She had not heard her nickname in five years.

“What did we do that was so horrible, Will, that you left your family and came here,” she said, her voice lilting. “To the people who forced our father into exile simply because he fell in love? To the people who never wanted us to exist?” Will flinched at her words. 

“I did it for you, Cecy. For all of you.” The words seemed to spill out.

She opened her mouth to answer but found no words. She had not thought that was what he was going to say. “Excuse me?”

He sighed, his body shaking ever so noticeably. “I did it to protect you. What happened to Ella was my fault, Cecy, and I couldn’t let it happen to you, too.” Cecily felt her chest tighten at her sister’s name. “I ran so you would all forget me. It was the only way.”

“The only way?” She asked, incredulously. “I was nine, Will. I thought you hated me.”

Will’s eyes widened. “By the Angel, Cecily, I could never hate you.”

“I came here to bring you home,” she told him. “I saw the warlock you sent to check on us at Ravenscar Manor. He told me you missed me. I thought—” she paused, then whispered, “I thought you wanted to see me.”

Will continued to stare at her, shocked. “When I saw you at Ravenscar, I didn’t know what to do. I did not think I would have seen anyone there, least of all you.” He ran his fingers through his hair, leaving it a wild mess. “Something came over me and I tried to run to you. But it wasn’t safe. Jem stopped me.”

Cecily felt her body heat up. “You were there,” she struggled. “And you said nothing.”

“I couldn’t.” Will reached for her, but she pulled away from him instinctively. He winced. “I would have put you, all of you, in more danger if you saw me.” He seemed to realize something. “But a warlock? I never sent any warlock.”

“Well, I saw him. Hiding in the grass on the hill, spying. I asked him if you sent him to check on us and he told me you missed me. I thought it meant you wanted to come home. When you didn’t come, I left. I probably broke Mam and Da’s hearts, same as you did, to come to Shadowhunters.”

Will gaped. “Mam and Da don’t know where you are?” 

“Maybe. I left them a short letter. I told them I was coming to bring you home. I assume they only learned of it long after I was gone.”

They stood for a long moment, looking at each other. Cecily suspected that the look on her face had fallen to the same look of heartbreak that her brother’s face showed. “Why did you leave?” She finally asked again, her voice no higher than crackling of the fire.

“The curse,” he whispered. Upon seeing her face, he continued. “Cecy, when I opened that Pyxis, the box in Da’s office, the demon that killed Ella told me that he’d cursed me. That anyone who ever loved me would die. That night, Ella died, and I knew I had to leave. I couldn’t let that happen to you or our parents. It was the only way I could keep you safe from me.”

Cecily’s eyes widened. Will hadn’t broken his eye contact with her. He looked so somber and broken. He continued. “I was at Ravenscar Manor because we’re looking for someone dangerous. We followed a lead to the manor, thinking we’d find him there. But instead we found you.” “Mortmain,” Cecily whispered. “Why are you looking for Mortmain?” Will shook his head. “The point, Cecily, is that everything I’ve ever done in the last five years has been to keep the people I love safe. But—” He choked.

“But what?” 

“But today I learned there was never any curse.” He sank back into his seat. “The demon only convinced me there was. He confessed to fabricating the whole thing when I faced him tonight. I left Wales thinking I was protecting my family, but I only hurt them. I hurt you.” Cecily stood, stunned. “There is no curse,” she said slowly. “So, you can come home.” Will shook his head violently. “I can’t come home Cecily. This is my home now. You have to understand. It is you who needs to go home.” Cecily curled her hands into fists. “I will not go home without you. If you will not return with me, then I will stay right here and train to be a Shadowhunter.” Will looked up at her, suddenly furious. “No! You are going home, Cecy. This world is not safe. Curse or no curse, you have to stay away.” She glared back at him. “Oh, I will stay. And I will train until you choose to come home with me.” I’ve got my thigh-highs on / feel like Wonder Woman / that’s when you want all in / but I’m not your woman / when my lipstick pops / and I feel like Monroe / that’s when you want me most / Uh oh The rush was exhilarating.

With every swing of a blade and release of a knife, Cecily felt more and more at home. When days turned into weeks of training, she felt less motivated to return to Yorkshire. She had even relented in begging Will to return, asking him only to write their parents a letter.

Even the feel of gear against her skin felt right. She had never worn trousers before, but it made practical sense to her. A lady’s dress would only slow her down. She looked about the training room and closed her eyes for a moment, reminding herself where she was. She remembered the feel of the stele on her right hand, where she received her first Mark.

“Why should I bother if you’re not going to listen?” Her brother’s voice had snapped. Cecily opened her eyes and glared at Will.

“Because you have to,” Cecily had answered. “I’ve joined the Nephilim, I must be trained, and you don’t trust anyone else in the Institute to train me.”

She knew he was never going to be happy that she had stayed. But, as she spent more time amongst the inhabitants of the London Institute, she understood why Will did. When Cecily landed on the rough gravel of Chiswick House, she had expected to be more graceful about it. Instead, she stared at her wrist, which bent in an unnatural manner. She felt someone’s arms around her help her off the ground. She initially thought it was Will, whose voice she had heard shout as she fell. When she looked up, she was surprised to stare into green eyes instead of blue.

The boy said nothing, but he looked at her in wonder. She felt his fingers under her chin, holding her head up and keeping her gaze on his. She wondered if that was surprise she saw in his eyes. Recognition? Awe? Moments later Will appeared, shoving the boy from her. “Stay away from my sister,” Will had yelled at him. “That was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen a Shadowhunter do,” the boy said to her. His voice was definitely full of awe. 

Cecily glanced at him and bit back a smile. I’m all out of salt / I’m not gonna cry  / won’t give you want you want / ‘cuz I look way too good tonight / I’m all out of salt / tears are running dry / won’t give you want you want / ‘cuz I look way too good tonight Cecily felt at home, standing before the London Institute, her hair pinned and dress neat. She held her head high and smiled. “I intend to stay here, Charlotte, at the Institute,” she had said, though her announcement was to everyone. “I want to remain a Shadowhunter.” Charlotte smiled. Gabriel gazed at her, smiling the way he had in those moments in the stables. Will, despite everything he had ever done to prevent her from staying, smiled at her, too.

“I know I belong here, with my brother and with all of you,” she continued. “I am most like myself here. I feel it when I wake up and I feel it when I sleep. I am a Shadowhunter.”

“And you are a member of this household, Cecily Herondale,” Charlotte said. “Welcome home.”

///////

[platypanthewriter]

Stories of the past:  Billy

The Keg-King of Elfland’s Sword, Ch. 8 for @ihni​

Here are links to the other chapters

As they approached the docks, they could see flashes lighting the night sky up dark blue from across the lake, showing the the legs of an enormous spider crab overarching the lake, silvery in the ferry lanterns, but black against the sky. The gleaming light shone off the flank of Wheeler’s white deer, tiny against the backdrop of waves, mountain, and lightning.

“The Lady of the Salt Lake,” said one of the boys, pointing, and Max stared. “She rides it, when she fights against the Nuckelavee.”

“Now she rides against us,” said the little one, Will Byers, the one who ought to sound angrier, Billy thought, after escaping with a body full of crustaceans.

“She can try,” said Max, readying her sword.

“They’ve been herding us here,” said the curly one, with the club. “Because we’re children. Makes it easier to find her, at least.”

Harrington snorted, and held a hand out for his club.

“I can stop her,” said the little girl—Ellie, Billy remembered, the one who’d been held captive by the men with cannons. The spindly-legged crabs spilled over the stones at the river’s edge as they ran, and Ellie turned, set her feet, and whipped her hand through the air at them. The crabs scattered like a glittering pile of mica in wind, and Billy’s mouth fell open. He nearly tripped, then registered Harrington’s voice in his ear.

“She may be one of the Fair Folk herself,” Harrington whispered. “That’s—that would be why she believes she is the child. The one the Lady seeks.” She’d escaped, somehow, and Billy abruptly wondered whether it hadn’t been the Nuckelavee, but her, causing the skeletons. He would have been tempted to ask, if the children, even Max, hadn’t been sending him glances like he was some storybook bogeyman: He Who Strikes From Behind.

“You can’t go with her,” one of the assorted boys took Ellie’s hands. “She can’t make you leave—”

Billy, who was trying to place him, thought he might have been at the Ball. There were too damn many children, as far as he was concerned, though he was fairly certain this was neither the one who puked crabs, nor one of the two who had held weapons on him, so if he needed to save any, he decided, he’d be the first after Max. Ellie, apparently, could handle herself.

“I’m the one she stole,” said the one Billy believed to be a fellow William, the crab-puker. “It’s me she wants, Ellie, you don’t have to—”

“What would she want with any of you,” Steve groaned, and Billy resisted the urge to nod.

“The Fair Folk like children,” said the one with Billy’s sword. “She’s not hunting one of us. She hasn’t given Callie back. She’s herding us all here—”

“We do not— we don’t all steal people—” said the hitherto Least Objectionable Child, and Billy raised his eyebrows, wondering who he was.

“She’s never taken children before, either—” Curly said, and Ellie spun on her heel to yell “I will stop her.”

Harrington set his jaw, swallowing. “They were coming anyway,” he told Billy, under his breath. “I—I couldn’t let the little goblins come alone.”

“Of course you couldn’t,” Billy whispered back, with a snort, and yanked Harrington’s head closer to kiss his temple. “Hero Harrington. Max can be hard to—”

Harrington rolled his eyes. “I’m not trying to be a hero—”

“You aren’t,” Billy pulled him close again, licking his ear, and Harrington shoved him, laughing. “That’s why I—want you. Wanted you. When I heard about you, at the Ball.”

“...I thought it was my looks,” Harrington said, snickering, and the children stopped to glare back at them, white-faced, tight-jawed, and teary-eyed.

“I thought you two hated each other!” wailed Curls, and Max swiveled to fix her fury on him.

“Billy’s staying,” she hissed, and Harrington yanked Billy close, pressing warm kisses to his face.

“You intended to stay,” he whispered, laughing. “Even—even—after. Before.”

Billy hadn’t, and yet, he couldn’t imagine himself having left without fixing like a post under Harrington’s chamber window, standing in wind and weather until Harrington let him speak. “I could hardly leave without you hogtied over my saddle,” he whispered back, and Harrington burst out laughing, the sound echoing in the silvery night.

At just that moment, there was another crash ahead, and a scream. Little Will-of-the-crabs shoved away, running to the docks, and the others followed, their footsteps smacking loud against the paving stones over the sounds of the rushing river. Billy stopped, squinting, when his footsteps changed to hollow thuds on boards, but Harrington drug him forward across the dock, to where they could see Ms. Byers, Will, and Ellie trying to keep the Sheriff from sinking in the roiling foam. In the darkness, the dock looked too short, and Billy realized it was broken, the jagged edges breaking away as Ms. Byers tilted forward with another scream, and Max charged in, throwing her sword to the side.

Billy dodged back as Wheeler’s white stag clattered up, joined by Buckley and the others, and the children gathered around trying to help everyone out of the water as the ferry jutted up sideways and slammed into the docks hard enough that the horses staggered and reared.

Thomas fired off a crossbow bolt at the dark shapes above, then fell as the great silvery tree trunk of the Lady’s steed-crab’s leg came down on the docks, amid shrieks from the children. Billy nearly fell to his knees, supporting Harrington.

“I am here, children,” said the Lady, and the silvery light around them grew. It was bluish, and the small hairs on the backs of Billy’s arms and neck lifted. “This town that harms children will be washed clean. Come.”

“No,” cried one of the boys, and Billy wished him luck. “You’re the only one hurting anyone! Give Callie back! And my sister’s friend, Barbara Holland!”

Harrington hauled him closer, as Billy tried to find Max. Buckley was standing next to Wheeler, with another crossbow, and Carol alongside, the three of them placing themselves between the Lady and the panicked confusion over the disintegrating dock. It looked like everyone was out of the water, crawling away from the building waves.

“These people have frightened children,” the Lady told them, her hair lifting and crackling from her head. “They have stolen from me. Ellie,” she held out a hand. “Dear one. I saved you. Why did you run?”

Ellie shook her head, sniffling.

“She wanted to be with her real mom,” the boy holding Ellie’s hand yelled back.

“I will wash this place down to its stones,” the Lady told him. “I have fought for them. Every spring, for their sakes, I have fought the Nuckelavee back into its lair. I have—I have suffered for them. We—” she held a long, pale hand out to Wheeler, who shook her head, raising her crossbow. “We of the mountain have protected their fragile lives, and in return they captured a child—” she waved a graceful hand at Ellie, “—and threatened her into breaking a hole between worlds. Much sadness will come of that,” she whispered, staring over them all with fixed eyes that shone with their own inner light. “Many of their lives will be further shortened. Animals, running in fear. But come, it needn’t all be grief. Come, children. You shall be harmed no more.”

“No!” Ellie yelled back, trying to stand as the roiling sea shook the dock.

“Wait,” Thomas shouted suddenly. “What did we steal?”

“Shut your mouth, Tommy,” Billy heard Carol hiss, but he ignored her.

“No, really, we didn’t blow up her house, but I know what she means—but what exactly did we steal?”

“Me,” said Ellie, and Will nodded.

“Ellie left her, and then came with us,” Thomas yelled. “What did we steal?”

“My own child,” the Lady hissed, swiping her hand around her, and the deep, chill water pulled back to leave a sphere of crackling air around the docks, leaving only glistening rocks, mud, and gasping fish. The darkness was split by surges of light from the Lady, dazzling their eyes and reflecting off the wall of ocean growing taller than they could see.

“What did those letters say, Steven Harrington,” Thomas turned, holding his hands around his mouth to project his voice. It quavered. “Madness in his blood. Witchcraft, from a woman who thought she was a fae princess. He’s looking for his mother.”

“Shut your mouth, Thomas,” Carol yelled, raising her sword, and he bared his teeth at her.

“It’s important,” Thomas yelled, “Young Master Harrington. He’s lied about everything. He’s brought her on this town. Give him back to her.”

Billy felt as though he’d gone numb, his brain trying to take in the phosphorescent shape of a floating woman, and the towering cliff face of water, lifting over Hawkins.

“...Billy,” Steve whispered, clenching his hand on Billy’s shoulder.

“No,” Billy shook his head. “No. I can’t—Harrington—”

“What nonsense to you speak,” the Lady asked, with a snap in her voice they could taste. “The people of this place will hurt no more children—”

“When I was a child, a wave took the lower town,” Harrington whispered, staring at Billy. “When we were children. Billy, how old are you? When did your father move to Australia?”

Billy shook his head, swallowing. “No! I—I’m two and twenty—I was six, but—”

“She’s here because of you,” Harrington said, and Billy flinched, shaking his head. Harrington ran his hands through his hair, taking deep breaths. “She—she called the ocean, and sixteen years ago, she took the lower town. Because her lover took her child... very, very far away. She couldn’t find him—”

Billy shook his head, swallowing. He could hear Max yelling something, obscured by the rushing in his ears. “No. She—she tried to drown me, she—”

“She doesn’t understand humans,” Harrington stared into his face. “She thought she was helping Ellie. She’s the Mother of the Sea, Billy, she thought you’d be able to breathe water.”

“No,” Billy shook his head harder, feeling Harrington pull away as he stood. “No, Harrington, I can’t—”

Thomas hailed the Lady. “This is him. Your child,” he waved a hand. “He came back looking for you.”

“...no,” said the Lady, stepping off the crab to land in the middle of the ferry with a loud crunch of wood. She jerked her foot back out of the broken decking, and walked across the water and collapsing wreckage to stare into Billy’s face. “You are not he,” she said, and his eyes burned, as though, he thought, he’d wanted, just for a moment, to be claimed. He staggered forward at a grating blow to the back and sides of his neck, and she stepped back, a gleaming trail dangling from her hand in the uneven light, the chain of Billy’s necklace broken from his neck. “Yet you have my gift.”

“No,” Billy forced his voice through his raw throat. “No, the-that’s mine—”

“You are not my child, you are another thief,” she said, energy crackling around them, and Billy shook his head, unable to find his words. In the dazzle, he felt hands on his arm, and heard Harrington’s urgent voice.

“It’s the necklace you gave him! It’s been twenty years! Babies grow!”

“...that is so.” The crackling light dimmed, and Billy could see again, a little. His throat ached. “But it cannot have been so long. This stranger—”

“I’m sorry,” Billy breathed, reaching for the necklace, as she clicked it. Harrington’s voice came out, and she threw it down, leaving a blackened hole in the dock.

“You traded my voice,” she whispered, as Billy watched it fall, dropping to his knees next to the hole. “Was it so valueless, to you?”

“...he recieved it with no voice,” Harrington said, and Billy jerked back to attention, standing up.

“Lies. I sang to my child,” she said, stepping close, so every hair on Billy’s body lifted, and his clothed fluttered as though there was wind. “I could not keep him safe, but I told him of his home, and of my love.”

“...he—he must have—wiped it clean,” Billy whispered, shaking. “My—my father. I carried it as a gift from—from you, but I had no—I thought you had...nothing to say.”

“I had the world to say,” she whispered back, and his eyes blurred. Harrington’s fingers were bruisingly tight in his shoulder.

“I didn’t steal it,” Billy told her, glancing past her at the enormous wave suspended over the town. His voice shook. “I’ve always worn it—”

The great silver crab crushed another piling holding up the dock, and Hopper swore as the boards under them juddered and creaked. He and the Byers woman were dragging the children ashore.

Buckley shouted, “—we didn’t steal him. Can’t you—can we—take him back, if that—”

“Wait, we only have his word he didn’t know,” Thomas yelled over her. “He probably knew all along. Only the Lady can control the Nuckelavee, Harrington! The Sea Mither. His mother. He was never in danger at all, he probably called it—”

“Shut up, Tommy,” Harrington said through gritted teeth.

“Why have you never sent word,” the Lady asked Billy, reaching out. “I would speak with you, my own. Dear one. Where came you these bruises? Who has assailed you?”

Billy fought to talk, his muscles spasming at her closeness. His jaw wouldn’t open until she lowered her hand, and he wheezed deep breaths.

“I knew he was hiding something else,” Thomas laughed, and Harrington yanked Billy closer, but the Lady turned her gaze on Thomas.

“My child’s blood is upon you,” she whispered, floating higher, and raised her hand. The wave began to fall.

Everyone ran to get off the dock, stumbling, screaming, and swinging up on horses—except Thomas, who stared out at the wave, then swung around on Billy, grabbing his shirt. “You’ve killed him,” he hissed. "You've killed us all."

Billy swung at him, trying to free himself, but Carol, Robin, and Harrington started hauling them towards the town.

“There’s no time!” Carol screamed, shoving at Tommy’s hands.

Tommy reached past Robin to grab for Billy, teeth bared, and Robin staggered at the edge of the dock, when Carol shoved past Thomas to grab Robin around the waist, hauling her bodily back towards town. Thomas hung in the air for a moment, and then the water struck.

Billy heard a yell from Harrington as the air was smacked from his lungs, and tried to kick towards him. The roiling foam was white, and bright turquoise, and a green so dark it was almost black, and he was knocked sideways by the coils of the eels and the tree-trunk-sized leg of the Lady’s spider crab steed. He couldn’t find anyone, any frantic flailing arms, or limp, drifting bodies. Harrington’s voice rang in his head, saying ‘she took the lower town, one day.’ And Thomas’, ‘You’ve killed us all.’ The water numbed his skin, and the remaining air in his lungs went sour. It was as dark with his eyes closed as open, and he closed them against the sting, curling into a ball as his shoulder thudded and scraped against something else, knocking bubbles out of his mouth. He saw something glint, and reached out, feeling the shape of a shell, and the broken chain.

He kept swimming, though he didn’t know which direction to go.

[moonlightkitkat]

Restart Ch 3. Le Brute

 Ever since Ivan had told everyone what happened to him before he was turned into a Monster, Alix had been cold to Kim. She refused to talk to him, she refused to hang out with him. Usually she sat with him and Max during lunch, but she had decided to sit with Marinette and Alya instead. She knew that Kim was confused, she knew that he was hurt since she was ignoring him, but she didn't care. She isn’t friends with bullies, and Kim was a bully.

   She was in a bad mood today, it had rained the day before, so she couldn't skate to school today. She’d had to walk, and a car had driven by and splashed her, and she was now cold and wet. As soon as she made it to class, she sat down with a huff, crossing her arms and ready to get class over with. Tomorrow was Friday, and she couldn’t wait for the weekend.

   The class slowly filed in, but she didn’t pay attention. She was zoned out, staring blankly outside the window. It was only when Mylene slid into the seat beside her and greeted her with a warm smile that she actually looked up and smiled back, even if it was a small one.

   “Hey Alix!” Mylene greeted her with a bright smile and a warm hug. Chuckling, Alix placed her hand over her arm, giving it a small squeeze. She never was much of a hugger.

   “Morning Mylene, what’s got you so happy this morning?”

   “Oh… Nothing!” she giggled, her cheeks turning pink as she turned her head away.

   “Oh? Would this nothing have anything to do to a certain boy who sits across from you?” She grinned as she watched Mylene’s cheeks redden, confirming her suspicions. “At lunch, I want to hear all about it.”

   “How about after school? I’m supposed to meet Ivan for lunch.”

   “I’m all yours.”

   The class slowly filled in, and she waved to Marinette and Ivan as they came in. Kim walked in behind Marinette, and he waved happily to her. That small little wave infuriated her, and she turned her head away, refusing to look at him.  She knew he was hurt by that, and she ignored the taps on her shoulder as he sat behind her. “Alix? What’s wrong?”

   “I’ll tell you at lunch,” she growled at him, not even bothering to look back or brush his hand off.

   She could practically feel his pout from here, but she refused to feel sympathy for him. He was the reason why Ivan got hurt!

   When lunchtime came, she got up and stormed out of the room, hearing Kim hurry together his things and run after her. “A-Alix hey! Wait up!” He called as she hurried down the stairs. If she was going to have this conversation, they were having it outside.

   She led him to the side of the school, stopping in her tracks and whirled around to face a very confused looking Kim. As she met his eyes, she felt anger swirled in her stomach, her breathing quickened as she clenched her fists.

   Taking in the look on his face, Kim adjusted the strap on his shoulder. “Hey, are you okay? Did I do something wrong?” “Did you do something wrong? Did you do something wrong??” She snarled, reaching into her pocket and yanking out the note. Kim paled as he saw the paper, but she didn’t let that stop her.

   Clearing her throat, she unfolded the paper and read aloud “‘You don’t even have the guts to tell Mylene you love her. You wuss.’ Now, why on earth would I be okay after reading this?” She met his eyes, watching his eyes as he recognized his note, struggling to figure out what to say to defend himself.

   “W-where did you get that Alix?” So, he chose to just dodge her question.

   “Where do you think? Ivan gave it to me after I asked to see it! I can’t believe you Kim!” She yelled, throwing a piece of paper onto the ground.

   “Look, I’m sorry okay? I saw a chance to tease him and I took it! How was I supposed to know that he was gonna turn into a giant rock monster?”

   “Why does it matter that that’s what happened?! Chloe bullies people all the time, and you know I can’t stand her! You’re no better than her!” She yelled, kicking the piece of paper across the grass.

   Kim flinched at that, but she didn’t care. “I can’t stand the bullies, and I don’t want to be friends with one either!” spitting on the ground, she walked past him, bumping his side with her shoulder as she passed.

   “W-wait, Alix no please! I’m sorry! Are you really going to get this upset over one thing?” He pleaded.

   Not looking back at him, she shook her head. “Why would I ever want to be friends with a bully? Have a nice life Kim.”    Turning the corner, she walked back into school, not noticing the butterfly that flew to the side of the school.

.  .  .  .  .

   Marinette was surprised when Alix stormed into the cafeteria, sitting at hers and Alya’s table and slamming her bag on the floor. “I hate boys.” She announced before slamming her head into the table, making Marinette wince.

   “Want to talk about it?” Alya asked warily, unsure whether or not Alix was approachable at the moment.

   Alix shook her head, her hat falling off and rolling on the table. “No. No I don't.”    Frowning, Marinette glanced over at Alya, offering a shrug. Who knew what had happened to make Alix upset, though she had a feeling it had something to do with Kim, considering she’d been giving him the cold shoulder the past two days. “Well.. we’re here to talk if you need us,” she offered.

   “Thanks ‘Nette,” Alix mumbled in reply.

   A flash of red caught her eye, and she looked up at the entrance to the cafeteria. “Hey, is that.. Kim?” She asked in confusion.

   Looking around the room was what looked like Kim, only… different. His hair was drooping down, and the tips were blood red. His red hoodie was bigger now, with long sleeves that went past his hands, and a collar that covered his mouth. A black mask covered his face, and he had a black bag at his side. A broken black star covered the collar of his sweatshirt, and red lines traveled down his black pants that blended seamlessly with black boots.    He finally turned his gaze to their table, and his eyes flashed red as he laid his eyes on Alix. Marinette’s eyes widened, and she shoved Alix out of the way as Red whips shot from his sleeves towards her. “Look out!” She yelled as people started screaming.

   Alix blinked in surprise as she was knocked to the ground, and she was about to snap at Marinette, until she saw the red whips slowly retract back into Kim’s jacket. “Oh my god,” she whispered as she scrambled to her feet.

   “Oh Alix~” Kim slowly made his way towards her, a grin peeking out from behind his high collar.    “Stay away from me!” She shrieked, throwing a tray of food at him as she ran to the backdoor. Kim knocked the tray away with a simple swish of his sleeve, and he leapt into the air, jumping from table to table as he raced after her.

   “Poor Alix-” he chuckled as he blocked the door from her, looking down at her. “You never were the faster one of us.”

   “Leave her alone Kim!” Ivan roared, throwing a chair as Marinette rushed to grab her and pull her away, Alya recording the entire ordeal on her phone.

   Kim looked at Ivan in surprise, as though forgetting that there were other people in the room. “Oh, well if it isn't the wuss! You know, I didn’t think you’d have it in you!” He laughed, his whips shredding the chair before wrapping around Ivan. “After all, you’re just a big wuss that can’t even confess to his crush. How pathetic.”

   Red light surrounded Ivan, and the light faded from his eyes as he started to cry. The coils vanished, and red veiny lines covered Ivan’s arms like tattoos.

   Marinette yanked Alya and Alix out from the cafeteria, much to Alya’s protest. “What are you doing? I had a front row seat for when Ladybug shows up!”    “Are you nuts?” she asked in disbelief. “We have to get Alix out of here, Ivan’s after her!”

   “Oh yeah! Forgot about that, sorry.” Pocketing her phone, Alya grabbed Alix’s hand, and they raced outside of the school before Kim could notice they were gone.

   A flash of black caught Marinette’s attention, and she waved her arms to catch Chat Noir’s attention. “Chat!” she called as loudly as she dared, still so close to the school and all.    The hero looked over at them, and he quickly hurried over to them, landing in front of them in a matter of seconds. “How can I help you?” He grinned to them, his hands on his hips.

   Gasping loudly, Alya whipped out her phone, pressing record again. “I have so many questions!”    “We don't have time!” Alix huffed, hitting her arm in disbelief.

   “Chat Noir, the bad guy’s after Alix, can you get her as far away from here as possible?” Alix was right, they didn’t have much time before Kim noticed that they were gone, and she needed to get her as far away as possible. Marinette would do it herself, but she doubted she’d be able to slip away in time.

   Nodding his head, Chat Noir turned around, crouching down so Alix could hop on his back. “Of course. Will you two be okay?”    Before she could answer, she heard Kim’s roar from inside. It seemed he finally noticed they were gone. “Just go!”

   Grabbing Alya, she ran towards the side of the stairs where they couldn't be seen, holding a finger to her lips and crouching down. After a few moments she heard footsteps, then a roar of anger. “You can’t hide forever Alix!”

   She listened as she heard him run down the stairs and away from the school. Once she couldn’t hear him anymore, she relaxed, sighing. It looked like today couldn’t be a normal day. Well, she needed the practice anyways. “Alya, we need to get somewhere safe.”

   “Are you kidding?! I’ve been waiting for this to happen again!” She squealed, hopping to her feet. “See ya girl, I’ve got a scoop to grab!” With a wink and a wave, Alya was gone, presumably chasing after Kim.

   “Well at least someone’s excited,” Tikki giggled, peeking her head out from Marinette’s purse.

   “If only it meant that she's heading away from danger instead of towards it,” she sighed. “Well, let's get to it. Tikki, transform me!”

   It wasn’t too hard to spot Kim when swinging on rooftops. The red of his sweatshirt was almost as bright as hers. Plus the many crying and distraught people on the streets helped. What kind of power could do this to someone? This was so different from Ivan. Kim wasn’t a big rock giant who smashed everything. Instead, he was cruel, fast, and his powers seemed connected to emotions. He and Alix must have had a fight, she guessed.

   Chat Noir was already fighting him, his baton whacking away the whips that Kim sent out at him. Pausing at the rooftop, she took in the fight, trying to figure out where the Akuma could be in and how to get it. His bag maybe? It was the only part of his outfit that was the same, well, besides the fact that it was black now.

   Chat caught her eye, and his eyes lit up. “Ladybug! Purrfect timing!”

   Kim whirled around, and Ladybug swung out of the way as his whips slashed at where she stood. “Well if it isn't the bug. Here to get squashed?”

   “No thanks, I prefer staying squash free thank you.” Landing next to Chat, she swung her yoyo, ready to deflect any attacks. “Any info on him?”    Nodding, Chat took a defensive stance. “He calls himself Le Brute. His whips seem to make whoever he touches feel insecure or something. Everyone ends up depressed or crying.”    She frowned at that. “So don’t let his whips touch you, got it. I think his Akuma is in his bag. If you use your cataclysm, it should do the trick.”

   “Enough talk!” Le Brute huffed, sending several whips at them. “I’ll be taking your Miraculous now.”    Ladybug paused at his words, staring at him in confusion. How did he know about the Miraculous?    Chat growled from beside her, and he slashed the whips away. “As if! Nobody’s taking away my Miraculous!”     He rushed forward before Ladybug could even react, slashing his staff downwards to strike at Le Brute’s head. Chuckling, Le Brute sent several whips to wrap around Chat's waist, lifting him up into the air. “Did you really think it’d be that easy? What a pathetic hero.”    Red light began to surround Chat, and Ladybug whipped out her yoyo. It wrapped itself around the whips and she pulled with all of her strength, throwing a shocked Le Brute against the building. “Don't touch him!” She yelled, hurrying to check on her partner.

   Chat was on all fours, trembling a little. Kneeling next to him, she placed her hand on his shoulder, watching as he wiped his cheeks. “Are you okay?” She asked softly.

   It took him a moment to respond, his eyes glazed over as he fought off whatever magic Le Brute had used. Nodding, he sniffled before looking up, his eyes watery. “Y-yeah, you stopped him before he could do too much.. Thanks M’Lady.”    Smiling softly, she shook her head, turning to face Le Brute, who was groaning as he stood to his feet. “Don't thank me yet Chat, we still have work to do!”

   Rising to his feet, Chat sniffed once more before nodding. “Right. After all, I can't let him get to the Eiffel Tower.”    Glancing at the tower, Kim laughed. “The tower? Is that where you hid her you mangy cat? Thanks for the tip.” He broke into a run, and Ladybug gasped as she hurried to race after him.

   “Chat!” Ladybug looked back in disbelief. How could he just let that information get out?

   “I’m sorry! It slipped out on accident!” he wailed as he raced alongside her.

   Huffing in frustration, she threw her yoyo high into the air, summoning her lucky charm. After barely a moment passed, she was holding a skateboard and was swinging again, looking down at the tool. “A skateboard?” she muttered in confusion. “Chat can you skate?”    The blond thought for a moment before shaking his head. “Nope! You?”    Shaking her head as well, she frowned, trying to swing straight while also carrying the skateboard. The Eiffel Tower grew closer and closer as they struggled to catch up to Le Brute. She could see Alix’s pink hair somewhere close to the bottom of the tower, and it seemed Le Brute noticed that too.

   “There you are!” He yelled victoriously, using the whips to propel himself up to where she was. A moment later and Ladybug threw herself to the level Alix was at, landing sloppily and barely catching herself from eating it on the metal floor. Pain flared up in her ankles, and she winced. That was definitely not gonna be fun to fight with. She managed to get there just before Le Brute did, and the villain stared at her in disbelief.    “What? How did?!” he looked back to where she had been, growling as he turned back to face her. Chuckling, he shrugged his shoulders, taking a fighting stance. “Fine then, who cares if you beat me here. I’ll still get my prey one way or another!” With that, he launched several whips at her and Alix. Her yoyo spun to life in her hand, and she moved in front of Alix as she tore apart the tendrils.

   “You can’t have her!” She yelled as she took a more defensive position, watching as Chat launched himself up to where they were.

   Le Brute followed her eyes, and she could have sworn that she saw something purple glow in front of his eyes before he grabbed a hold of Chat with his whips. Her partner yelped as he was suddenly grabbed, and he flailed his limbs. “W-what are you doing?! Put me down!” Ladybug stared in horror as Le Brute turned to her, a victorious smirk on his lips.   “Come on Ladybug, you have a simple choice to make. Give me your Miraculous and Alix, and I’ll give you back the stray without too much mental trauma.” The  tendrils that held Chat began to glow, and he cried out as he tried to free himself.

   “Ladybug! Help!” He cried out, his tail stiffening as his green eyes glossed over, staring at nothing. His tan skin grew pale as the veiny red marks covered his suit, and he let out a sob.    “What are you doing to him?” She screamed as she watched in horror.

   “Who, me?” He asked innocently. “I’m just letting him see his most painful memory. I don’t know what your mangy cat is seeing, but it has to be bad if a superhero is scared. So what's it gonna be, Bug? Your Miraculous, or Kitty goes over the ledge after having his worst nightmare.” Grinning, he held Chat high above the rail, and she gasped.

   Alix stomped her way to Ladybug’s side, her eyes shining with anger. “You really stooped that low?!” She yelled. “You’re more pathetic than I thought.”    Suddenly an idea popped into Ladybug’s mind, and she handed the skateboard to Alix. the smaller girl looked up in confusion, but took it anyways. “Alright, alright you win, just.. Don’t hurt him,” she said softly.

   Surprise quickly turned into smug satisfaction. “Good choice. Now, hand it over.”    Hanging her head in defeat, she made her way over to him, stopping just in front of him. She lifted her hands to grab her earrings, only to whip out her yoyo and slash through the whips tying Chat. “Alix!” she yelled. “Grab his bag! Hurry!” With a flick of her wrist, her yoyo caught Chat, and she yanked him towards her, leaping in the air to catch him, kicking Le Brute in the process as she tried to get him off balance.

   As Le Brute gasped and stumbled, Alix jumped on the skateboard, speeding to the villain and snatching his bag from his side. “No!” he growled as he reached to try and grab the bag, only for Alix to swerve out of his reach, sticking her tongue out at him.

   “Ya snooze ya lose! Ladybug, catch!” Alix launched the bag at her, and Chat Noir snapped out of it just in time to summon his power and turn the bag to dust as he caught it in his claws.

   Setting him down gently, Ladybug stood up tall, watching as the butterfly rose from the dust to the sky. Her yoyo began to glow, and she threw the toy into the air, capturing the butterfly. After a moment, the light vanished, and she opened it with a single touch of her finger. The yoyo snapped open with a silvery glow, and a white butterfly fluttered harmlessly out towards Paris.

   Turning to Alix, Ladybug offered a small smile and walked over to the smaller girl. “Thank you Alix, we couldn’t have done this without you. I’m afraid I need that back though.”    Looking down at her feet, Alix blushed and chuckled. “Too bad, it’s a cool skateboard.” She stepped on one end of the board and caught it in her hand, offering it to the superhero. “Here you go Ladybug.”

   Taking the skateboard, she walked out to the edge of the platform. Once there was nothing but the open sky above her, she tossed the skateboard high into the air. The board glowed a brilliant white, and dissolved into thousands of ladybugs, which burst like a firework and scattered across Paris. There wasn’t much damage to fix this time, the ladybugs instead focusing on the people affected by Le Brute’s power. A few Ladybugs remained, surrounding Le Brute himself, and returning him to Kim’s natural form.

   Ladybug watched in awe as the Ladybug’s worked, only snapping out of it as her earrings began to beep, reminding her of how little time she had left before her transformation fell. Looking at Chat, she offered an apologetic smile. “I have to go, can you make sure they get home safely?”    Bowing, he looked up with an amused smirk. “Only if I can see you again later tonight.”    Laughing, Ladybug nodded. “I did make a promise after all, meet me at the top of the tower?”    “I can’t wait,” he purred, his tail flicking back and forth happily behind him.    “Bye Chat!” Waving to him, she hurried away to find a safe place to detransform.

. . . .

   Alix watched as Ladybug swung away, looking over at Chat and giving him a look over. Chat caught her eye and flashed a grin at her. “See? Everything turned out okay! Now let's go get you two back to school.”    Frowning, she crossed her arms. This mangy cat had hardly done anything in the fight to help ladybug. Even though he helped get her to safety, she didn’t necessarily care to let him carry her back to school.  “I’m fine. Besides, shouldn’t you run along before you turn back?”    The Hero’s smile faltered, and when he went to reply, he was interrupted by the beeping of his ring. “Y-yeah.. You’re right. Will you two be okay?”    “We’ll be fine! I’ll keep us safe.”    Alix cringed as she heard Kim behind her, but she nodded in agreement. Kim was better than a wannabe hero at least.

   The blond looked at both of them for a moment, his tail swishing a little behind him. Shrugging, he nodded and hopped onto the rail. “Your choice, see ya!” He fell from the rail, his back to the ground. Gasping, her and Kim ran over to the rail, relaxing as they saw him swinging his baton like a helicopter as he lowered himself to the ground.

   “That cat better have nine lives,” she sighed, slumping against the rail.

   Kim chuckled at that. “So what happened anyways? Did another monster show up?”    Blinking in surprise, Alix looked up at him. “You’re joking right?”    Raising an eyebrow, he shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “I think I’d remember going with my best-I mean.. With you, to the Eiffel Tower.”    He didn't remember any of it? How could he not remember any of it? Taking in a deep breath, Alix pulled him away from the rail. “Kim.. What's the last thing you remember?”    Frowning, Kim looked out at Paris in thought. “The last thing… Was you yelling at me.. You told me to have a nice life, and then I was here.” His eyes widened in horror, and his arm slowly fell. “It happened to me, didn't it? I turned into something like Ivan.”    Lowering her gaze, she slowly nodded her head. “Y-yeah… You were after me.”    Gasping, he leaned down, placing his hands on her arms. “Did I hurt you? What did I do? Are you okay?”    Looking up in surprise, it shocked her to see how scared and concerned he was. His brown eyes were scanning her up and down, trying to spot any injuries. After a moment she shook her head. “N-No, you didn't. You weren’t really destructive… You called yourself A Brute, and you made everyone see something they were scared of, to make them feel sad.. You were a bully.”    His eyes started to water, and he stumbled backwards, leaning against the metal fixtures and sitting down, his hands gripping his hair. His shoulders started to shake, and he stared blankly at the ground. “N-No..” He gasped. “I.. I would never hurt anyone! I can’t remember.. What did I make them see?” Hurrying to kneel in front of him, she took his hands in hers, pulling them away from his hair. “I don’t know. Even if you didn’t know. You weren’t yourself Kim, it wasn’t you, just like Ivan wasn’t that rock giant.”    His lip started to quiver, and he squeezed his eyes shut as tears began to fall down his cheeks. “B-but.. It was still me who did all of it, and I don’t remember any of it!” He cried out. “Alix, Alix I’m so sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone. Not Ivan, not you, no one! I didn’t think anyone would get hurt, I didn’t know, I’m sorry!”

   Her gaze softened as she saw him cry, and she moved to sit beside him. “Kim… I’m sorry for what I said. What you did was wrong, but… I did go too far.”    Shaking his head, he wiped his cheeks as he tried to stop the flow of tears streaming down his cheeks. “No.. No you were right.. I went too far with Ivan, I was being a jerk.. I’ll.. I’ll try to better, I promise. I’ll apologize to him.. To everyone I hurt.”

   The two sat in silence for a few moments, letting Kim slowly calm down and take in the reality of what he did, and how to go about it from here. After a few minutes though, Alix started to fidget, and she let out a loud sigh, pushing herself to her feet. "Come on crybaby, lets get back to school. I'll go with you if you want, when you apologize to Ivan."    Looking up at her, Kim snorted, and stood up as well, taking another second or two to wipe his cheeks with his hands. "Alright. At least I know you'll hit me if I say something wrong."    "Of course I will. It's my job to help sort you out after all. Now come on, lets get out of here." Playfully shoving him with her elbow, she led the way to the elevator, smiling as he stood beside her. The ride down was quiet, but peaceful. The bond that had been torn was mended once more, a friendship stronger than it had been when they woke up that morning.

[writingamongtheroses-archive]

Hell’s Studio- Chapter 5

The lift stopped and the doors creaked open. Level 9 was open. Suzie glanced at Wolfie, who had started to tremble. "Maybe you should wait here." She suggested. "I could go and see what she wants."

"No!" He gripped her arm, still trembling. "We go together."

"The wolf is right. Step out of your cage."

"We didn't need a comment," Suzie grumbled, glaring at the speaker.

There was no answer.

The two headed out of the lift and through a hallway into a small room. It was eerily silent. As they crossed a bridge over a river of ink, she swore that she saw a face peeking out from it. She decided to ignore it.

"You'll like Peace. She's a really sweet gal." Wolfie said as they approached a pair of metal doors. He hadn't stopped trembling. This was a possible sign that he had realized that whoever was speaking wasn't the actual Peace. The metal doors slid open.

The room ahead was large. The floor was completely submerged with the dark, tar-like ink. There was a path across made of wooden planks to another set of metal doors. But that wasn't what would've made Suzie pale if she was still human.

There were operating tables, like the ones upstairs. Strapped to all of them were copies of the wolf next to her. All of them had their chests ripped open, eyes crossed out. Turning her eyes away from the gruesome scene, Suzie's eyes landed on another recorder, marked SUNNY. She tapped on Wolfie's shoulder, turning his wide-eyed stare away from his copies, before pressing PLAY.

"I got the part! Mr. Klasky heard me auditioning and burst in, talking about how I sounded exactly what he thought Peace would sound like!" The female voice was cheerful and sweet. Suzie couldn't help but smile at the mention of Walt."The music director, Ron, said I was pretty good too. Despite what everyone says about him being a crank, he's really nice!"

With that, they descended down.

"Look at them all. It took so many of them to make me so beautiful." "Peace" said over what must've been another speaker. Her voice was different, softer. Suzie and Wolfie shared looks before walking down the stairs. They helped each other up on the path, her once having to grab his overall strap to prevent him from falling. "Anything less than perfect was left behind."

"What's the point of this-"

"Shush! She's havin' a monologue."

"I-I...I had to do it. She made me."

Okay. That was creepy. Her voice had shifted to a softer, higher tone. Finally, the two were on solid ground. The doors opened, allowing them entry. The two shared looks before entering.

It was a lab. An operating table was flat with ink-stained knives on a nearby tray. An ax was lodged in a Daemon cut out. "Peace" was perched on a platform, messing with a control panel. Another toon- thankfully, not Wolfie- was strapped to another operating table next to her. When they approached, sudden volts of electricity shot through the deformed toon's body.

The screams would haunt Suzie for years.

It felt like forever, the screaming. Wolfie was gripping her so tightly, she was about to fall over. Then the electricity faded. The toon slumped over, clearly dead. "Peace" was staring down at them. Her eyes were cold.

"Now, we come to the question." She said, drawing out the words. "Do I kill you? Do I tear you apart to my heart's delight?" The Wolfie-Suzie pile stared at her. "I have no obligation to keep you alive." The eye landed on the girl. The 'angel' stared at her.

"...You look like your grandfather." The other voice was back. The girl blinked as she tried to place the familiarity of it.

Realization suddenly hit. She had just heard it on the recorder.

"Sunny?"

There was a long moment of silence.

"...I'm afraid there's not much of Miss Buss left, Miss Klasky." The an- no, the former voice actress said finally. "Or Miss Simmons." And didn't that send a new horror through her. Suzie gently pried off Wolfie's hands. With her new freedom, she clambered onto the platform to be eye to eye with them.

They were wearing what looked like a black flapper dress with high heels and a choker around the neck. What originally looked like long black gloves was actually ink. Pearl white horns peeked out from long dark hair. One half of "Peace"'s face was smooth and perfect, an eye taking in Suzie. The other had massive gaps in her cheek, revealing white teeth. The eye socket was empty. Raggedy wings hung from her back and her halo looked like it had been shoved deep into her skull.

Suzie reached out to brush the perfect cheek, staring at what remained of Sunny and June. "What...what happened?" she finally managed out. Tears were pressing painfully in her eyes, too large for ordinary ones.

"Peace" snarled, slamming a fist into the wall. Suzie flinched back, Wolfie mirroring the movement. "Max Soundberg happened." Rage was clear in their voice and Suzie was able to pick out the two voices that made it.  "He lured us, one by one. He sliced Sunny's vocal cords clean through and June was just the backup plan, which he used!"

Their laugh was hysterical.

"Do you know what it's like in the ink?!" Before someone could say a word, they continued. June's anger and Sunny's grief was in every word. "It's a buzzing, screaming bunch of voices. You're pressed together from every side and there is no silence! No silence!" They hit the wall again. A large dent had started to form. "When we crawled out of the ink like this, we swore that we hated Soundberg."

"What does Walt have to do with this?"

The 'angel' leaned over them.  Like in anime, Suzie felt their face grow grey and a large sweatdrop roll down their forehead. "Max manipulated us into being a villain. A villain for his hellish little fairytale. But, no matter."

They moved forward. She took a step back.

They reached out. Before she could move, they had grabbed her arm and yanked her close enough to whisper in her ear. "I'll say this once: Run." They shoved her away and off the platform. Suzie, pale, nodded and quickly grabbed Wolfie's hand.

They ran out of the makeshift lab, hearing the screech of metal. When they reached the ink floor, Wolfie yanked Suzie into his arms, then ran across the path. The entire room had begun to shake.

Once across, he set her on the ground. Dodging falling pieces, they ran. "The stairs!" he yelled, pointing to a door. She and he scrambled for it, rushing up the stairs. Suzie dodged a large plank before trying to open the door.

The knob was stuck.

"Oh come on!"

She slammed her shoulder against it. It opened, the two spilling out. When she looked up, it was to meet the surprised gazes of two toons. It was silent before Suzie noticed dark ink lines across the wall. Something was setting off alarm bells in her.

Her eyes landed on what looked like a closet. "In the closet," she ordered. Thankfully, the toons seemed to share her unease. They all rushed to the door, realizing it was a tiny space. Suzie picked up Daemon and managed to squish in.

Then she peered through a small rectangle cut into the door.

And held her breath.

It was extremely cramped in the closet.

Wolfie took up the most room, gripping her shoulders. He had tried to lodge himself in a corner. Who she assumed was the actual Peace was pressed against her side, gripping her shirt with trembling hands. Damien himself gripped her shirt. Suzie was pressed against the door, staring with wide eyes through the little slot cut into the door.

It was silent outside. The only sound was the dripping of ink. The dark shadows of ink crawled across the floor. Then there was squishing.

A figure entered the space outside.

It was tall, covered with dripping ink. Suzie squinted, swearing she saw something white on the ink creature. She tried to steady her breathing to prevent them from being discovered. Then the loudspeaker crackled on.

"Hello there, Ink Demon."

What was "Peace" doing?!

"I wonder if you've heard the news. Your last chance to be perfect is gone."

Please shut up.

"You'll soon be gone..." There was a moment of silence. "Good! We need less you here. And more me." They were taunting it! Provoking whoever this was- what were they thinking?! Then there was a sudden clash of noise.

The ink monster had disappeared. There was a loud, hellbent screech that had Wolfie attempting to climb on Suzie. She tried to steady herself and not make a sound. Then there was a slam against the door.

There was squishing footsteps, walking away.

Then it was silent.

Suzie opened the door. It let out a creak. They stepped out. As she set Daemon down, something crunched under her foot. She looked down to see it was a speaker.

It was sizzling from a large, inky handprint.

She opened her mouth to say something. Nothing came out. She tried again.

"What...the @8^5# was that?"

[starrywriting]

favorite boy

billy hargrove

spotify link  youtube link

summary: billy wants you to care for him, love him. he wants to be yours and vice versa… but he also wants to break your heart. (lowkey based off of ‘best friend’ by rex orange county) linked above ^

disclaimer: me writing this is not me excusing is abusive, racist and impulsive behavior.

warnings: swear words, implied sex

an: my friend introduced me to rex orange county and im in love!! i am working on requests and part two or starstruck, it just takes a bit because i write out the plot for each of my imagines before i start. Send me some of your fave songs! I need more music to listen to! Or send me a song and a character! (tbh im not sure im happy with this imagine lol)

words: 2.4k

Your name: submit What is this?

You had met her on Monday. It was raining and you saw her skating past you. Her red hair looked like a fire losing its rage in the rain, her face was pale, her nose was cold. You told yourself to be kind to everyone, so you pulled over and stepped out of your car, umbrella in hand to cover yourself from the rain, “Hey! Do you need a ride? It’s freezing out!” You called out, hoping your voice wasn’t getting drowned out by the rain and wind.

Her head whipped around, watching you carefully. You could see the hesitation, and it almost seemed like she was a deer in the headlights… she looked afraid, but of what? “Uh... No.” Was all she called back to you, causing you to frown. You could see the obvious chatter in her teeth. Her fingers were red and her clothes were dripping.

You quickly ran out towards her, hoping she wouldn’t skate away before you got to her, she didn’t. “Take it..” You breathed out, extending your umbrella. The cold air around you causing your bones to shiver. She hesitated again, her hand reaching for the umbrella. She wrapped her hand around it, sending you a small smile. You nodded happily, quickly taking off your leather coat and placing it on her shoulders. You could see the protests in her eyes, and her lip was quivering.

“I can’t take this. You’ll be cold! The umbrella is enough!” She tried, extending your coat back towards you, but you took a step back, pushing her hand back towards her.

“I have a car, I’ll be okay.” You smiled, taking a few steps backward before you turned around and ran back towards your car. You stayed parked on the side of the road until you saw the girl skate off, and you followed suit in your car. Your music playing lightly as you drove and pulled into the parking lot of the school.

You found it quite comedic to watch all the girl and boys scurry towards the school, trying to get away from the rain. It was just water, after all, it would dry off. You had a theory that the girls and boys at school were all witches and warlocks, so if they got water on them, they would melt. It made sense since everyone but yourself seemed to have a wicked side.

Max carried her bag in her arms, placing the umbrella inside along with her homework and books. She was still wearing your coat, she liked it. It was warm and made her look badass. She had no idea who you were, but she thought you were pretty. It had been a while since she met someone kind, so meeting you brightened her day, even if it was raining throughout most of it. “Where’d you get that?” Billy questioned, pulling Max towards him by the cuff of the leather.

“From this girl..” Max mumbled, trying to pull away from him as he scowled out into the crowd of kids in the parking lot. It wasn’t raining anymore, thank the gods. Billy hated the rain. It ruined his vibe, and most importantly, his hair. He also thought the rain made the girls at school look like dead, cold cats rather than their already hideous cow look he saw every day while he walked down the halls.

“What girl? Was she pretty?” Billy joked, a smirk growing on his face as he shoved her away from him.

“Yeah actually, she was!” Max called out annoyed, opening the car door, “She’s the girl with ripped jeans, red chucks, and a bun!” Max continued, flicking Billy off before she shut the car door with a slam, slumping against the car door as she scowled at the glove compartment.

“What the fuck…?” Billy growled under his breath, watching you carefully with an almost dead cigarette in his mouth. Billy knew you, surely. Everyone knew you. You were the definition of high school popularity. Your title was higher than Queen. You were Billy’s ‘competition’, at least he thought you were. You were popular, pretty, kind and smart. You had everything going.

Everyone knew who you were. Your popularity was undeniable, but you were as humble and sweet as anyone else. You weren’t sure why so many people saw you as ‘popular’. You saw that as an empty label, but with so many people pegging you as so, you just started to continue with your life and ignore it. You were always kind to everyone, making sure to not let the others words bend your personality. That was something that bugged Billy so much so that his eyes narrowed every time he saw you. He was jealous.

“Hey! (y/l/n)!” Billy called out, a new cigarette in his mouth as he jogged towards you with a set jaw. You opened your car door, placing your backpack on the passenger seat before you turned towards him, leaning against the car.

“Hargrove.” You nodded, watching him carefully. He was really the only person that grinded your gears. His personality was too conflicting with yours. He was too stubborn, and he thought too much with his fist and dick rather than his head; that made you cringe.

“Who the hell do you think you are? Don’t talk to Max, ever.” He hissed, his nostrils flaring as he held the cigarette between his fingers.

“You mean your sister?” You smirked, keeping your cool as you walked towards him, “She’s cool,” you shrugged, grabbing his wrist, “I think I might just keep talking to her..” You smiled, a glint catching in your eye when you noticed how his eyes kept falling on your face and then down to your hand on his wrist. You used your free hand to pick the cigarette out from between his fingers, dropping it to the ground, you stubbed it out with the bottom of your chucks. “No smoking in school, bud.” You winked, patting his chest with your palm before you let go of him, opening your car door and turning on the ignition.

He was beyond furious when he walked back to his car, his voice echoed in the car and his music blared, almost popping the speakers. His voice was hoarse from the yelling. Max should have been scared, she should have flinched multiple times at his voice getting progressively louder, but instead, her head was leaned against the glass of the window, and a smirk was on her lips as she remembered just how speechless Billy was at the sight of you.

He slammed his bedroom door, making sure he put a chair under the doorknob. He didn’t know why his blood was boiling so much. He didn’t know why his heart was racing so much, and he specifically didn’t know why a low fuzzy feeling was settling into his body.

He growled, looking at his reflection. His eyes were dilated and his veins were prominent in his arms. He was tense, no doubt about it, so he did the logical thing. He hopped out his window, car keys in hand, drove off, his car ending up at the front of the house of Tina, the girl who had eyed him since his first day. Maybe he could get you off his mind if he saw her.

She was quick to open the window for him, and he was quick to get to what he came for. Moans and groans filled the room and he could feel his shoulders relax. He needed a distraction, and a girl like Tina was the perfect distraction by the way she threw herself at him. Everything about the sex was great, he was pleased, and she was sure to pay close attention to his pleasure more than her own, but with every groan and moan that fell from his lips, all he could think about was you. He wanted you. He wanted you in any and every way he could have you. Your name was on the tip of his tongue, and he was more than ready to say it out loud in the same way he was groaning Tina’s name.

The next week, Billy was quick to notice the change in Max’s behavior towards him. She wasn’t afraid, she wasn’t ashamed, and she was always late. Almost as if she knew someone would be waiting for her if he ended up leaving her. He knew who that someone was, so instead of letting Max flee towards you, he stayed late and waited for her. He slowly started feeling like a lapdog. Following your every move when you weren’t looking, waiting for you to make a move so he could follow suit. He felt pathetic. He was entranced in your smiles and giggles that he heard from afar in the halls.

He was wrapped around your finger. He wanted you. He wanted to be yours and he wanted to be able to walk up to you and kiss you until the only word you knew was “More”. But something in the back of his mind made him want to see you cry. He wanted to break your heart for making him look pathetic and weak. He wanted revenge.

It wasn’t until you walked into school one day, your head hung low, that he felt his gaze stay on you until you turned to corner, and even then, he started following you. His steps were quiet behind yours, and he made sure to keep a distance so you wouldn’t hear him. Your body was hidden in a big, knitted sweater and tight, black jeans. Your demeanor seemed tired, and every time someone would come up to you, you would brush past them without even acknowledging a single word they called out towards you.

Billy was smirking, crossing his fingers in hopes that the reason why you were so glum was because you were finally going to give up and let him become superior. 

Once you had turned right into an empty, Billy happily called out to you, “(y/n).. baby..” He teased, his tongue flicking out to lick his lips before getting caught between his teeth. “Babygirl…” He grinned, walking faster to catch up to you.

He reached out, his hand grabbing your wrist, pulling you back, “Cat got your tong-“ He started, his smirk falling immediately when he saw your tear-stained cheeks and puffy eyes. His lips parted in surprise and without any hesitation, he pressed you into his chest, wrapping his arms you as you cried. He wasn’t sure what had happened, he was supposed to hate you, he was supposed to laugh at your vulnerability but instead, he was in the middle of an empty hallway, already 20 minutes late to first period, not that it really mattered to him, with the girl that was meant to be his enemy. He was supposed to make you his and break your heart afterward, but now that you were crying in his arms to the point where you shook with sadness and choked on your tears, made him realize that he was insane. He was insane for wanting to hurt something as beautiful and bright as you. It was then that he realized that the reason everyone loved you so much was because you were so strong, you were there for everyone, but when you needed someone, everyone seemed to turn a blind eye. You were heartbroken and he was going to fix it.

He led you out towards his car gently. You were rubbing your eyes, tears free falling from your lashes and dotting your cheeks like freckles, but unlike the sun-kissed dots that sprinkled peoples skin, yours were full of sadness and remorse. When he opened his car door for you, you looked up at him in quiet gratitude before slipping in; hugging your knees to your chest. He started his car and drove. He drove all over Hawkins, and he continued to drive until nightfall, and your sobs diminished, and all that was left was the sticky imprints of your tears from earlier.

He parked his car on the edge of a small hill, the edge looking down on a small field. He had no idea where they were, but he didn’t have any reason to rush home. He leaned back in his seat, letting out a sigh before he squeezed your shoulder reassuringly and stepped out of the car. He was confused and angry at the world. Why were even his own bloody emotions so damn complicated? Everything in his life was hard, he felt like he would never catch a break.

His eyes danced across the stars, and his breaths were shallow. He only pulled his eyes away when he felt you lean against his shoulder. He was leaning on the hood of his car, his arms crossed over his chest. You leaned into his side, keeping your eyes forward. Your breaths were small and your cheeks were glazed over with crimson from the cold. He watched you carefully and felt his stomach drop. He was finally next to you, he was finally able to see you the way he’s been wanting to see you for weeks, months even. He thought you were absolutely beautiful.

He pulled away from you, taking in a deep breath before he turned to face you and your doe eyes. He gulped softly, his lip catching between his teeth. He could feel his heart beating against his chest, and his cheeks were growing hot, but under the light of the stars, he was positive you wouldn’t notice.

He stepped towards you, his hands landing on either side of you, entrapping you against his car with his arms around you. You didn’t pull away, and rather, you leaned towards him, resting your forehead against his. Your eyes fluttered shut and you let a small sigh escape your lips.

Billy watched you closely, his eyes wide with overflowing emotions. He trained his eyes all over your face before looking at your lips. They looked soft, and he wanted his to be against them, so very badly.

He leaned down, feeling your breath tickle his bottom lip, and when you didn’t pull away, he dove in, kissing you harder. It was slow, passionate and hard. His hands were gripping your waist tightly and yours were in his hair, holding him against you. He was quick to get addicted to the feeling of your lips, so when you pulled away, he was already leaning in for another kiss. Peck after peck, you both began to smile, your kisses becoming sloppier and funnier, and in that moment, Billy knew what he wanted. He wanted you, flaws and all. Sadness and happiness. He wanted more nights like this, he wanted you as a best friend and a lover, and he wanted to kiss you at all hours of the day and night, no matter where.

[ryik-the-writer]

Fic: Babysitting Debacle

A03

Part of the Never Unwanted series

Gideon and his friends help him babysit his baby sister when things go...horribly wrong...from the perspectives of 14-year-olds at least.

Age of the kids: 14 years old

-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-

“It says to put it on with the balloons up front.” Neal read, still confused despite reading the directions on the diaper box. This was no job for an innocent fourteen-year old.

Gideon soothed his two-month old sister, trying to keep her pacified while he and the other two teenagers in the room tried to figure out how to change a diaper.

Why the hell had they’d volunteer to babysit while his parents went on their first date night since the baby was born?

Because they were damn fools, that’s why.

Neal and Robyn had been excellent surrogate siblings while Belle went through her unexpected pregnancy, picking up food craving items on their way from school, helping Gideon and his dad put the nursery together, and most importantly, catching Gideon when he fainted when Belle went into early labor (or “passed” out as Gideon had defended).

Now, they were responsible for the safety and well-being of that baby for at least two hours more.

All had been well for the earliest part of the night, fun even. They had given little Dante Colette Gold her bath, put her in a warm pair of pajamas with bunny ears, and even given her a bottle without much fuss. It wasn’t until the foul smell of a dirtied diaper filled the air that the teenagers discovered that babysitting was actually a very dangerous game.

And they were the pawns.

“There’s balloons on both sides!” Robyn protested, finally pulling out her cellphone to find a more visual solution to their problem. “Next time try to take notes Gideon.”

“Shove off.” Gideon hissed, bouncing his little sister. “I know how to do everything else.”

“Knock it off, both of you.” Neal ordered, picking up a diaper and examining it. “Does it really matter what direction we put it on?”

“Yeah, she could get a rash.” Gideon warned, shushing the baby as she got fussier.

“Okay, found one.” Robyn announced, turning her cellphone to the boys and baby girl. The teens watched as the instructor cleaned and rediapered the baby, smiling like the whole thing wasn’t gross and awkward.

“Go back about thirty seconds.” Neal requested.

“What didn’t you get?” Robyn miffed.

“How are we supposed to get…everything out?” Neal shivered, he and Robyn turning to Gideon once again.

Gideon honestly didn’t know. His parents handled all that. All he did was complain about the smell when he walked by the nursery.

“We have to figure something out. She’s at max capacity.” Gideon warned, carefully handing the baby over to a stiffened Robyn.

“Don’t you run!” Neal yelled, biting his lip when Dante began crying from the loud sound.

Gideon ran back in with a handful of yard masks from the garage and a pair of dish gloves from under the sink.

“Only one pair of gloves,” Gideon announced. “Who’s gonna do the deed?”

“Why are you even asking?” Robyn protested. “You’re her brother!”

“But you’re a girl!” Gideon fought back.

“He has a point.” Neal shrugged.

“I’m in a wheelchair!” Robyn exclaimed, pointing down at her legs with distaste. “Unless you really want a mess, you better get those damn gloves on!”

“Damn it!” Gideon howled, dulling his irritation so that he could carefully lay the baby out on the changing table. “Hand me the stupid gloves.”

Robyn and Neal exchanged a smirk before donning their masks, Neal helping Gideon undress Dante. Once the baby was down to her balloon-printed diaper, the moment of truth arrived and the teens stood clear.

“Okay, just…” Gideon fidgeted with Robyn’s phone as baby Dante became more agitated and uncomfortable. He carefully undid the stickers of the diaper, pulling it down slowly.

“Oh my gods no!” Neal gagged when the contents were revealed.

“You drop my phone in that so help me…” Robyn warned through her mask.

“Shut up and let me think.” Gideon gagged. “Neal, get her legs before she kicks shit everywhere.”

Neal hesitatingly obeyed, holding the baby’s tiny legs out of the way while holding his breath.

“Easy, easy now.” Neal whispered as Gideon slowly pulled the diaper out from other the baby.

“Shut up.”

“Oh my gods I think some just rolled out!” Robyn hollered.

“Ah where!” Gideon screamed, accidentally yanking the diaper the rest of the way and sending its contents flying.

“Oh…oh god.” Neal gagged.

“Don’t you dare.” Gideon warned.

Neal shook his head and ran over to the nearest bowl-like object to throw his stomach contents into.

“Oh my gods what is happening!” Gideon exclaimed as Neal threw up and Dante wailed.

Robyn tried awkwardly to comfort her from her chair but finally threw her hands up in the air when the baby continued to cry. Frustrated and disturbed, she reached up and pulled Gideon down to her level.

“Gideon, you have to make this stop.”

“I-I can’t.” Gideon stated as he looked back and forth between Neal and the baby. “I’m only supposed to use magic in life or death situations.”

Robyn grabbed Gideon by the ears and forced him closer.

“Your sister is pissing on the changing table and Neal is throwing his guts out!” she shrieked, shaking Gideon violently. “Use the magic Gideon!”

“Oh my GODS!” Gideon exclaimed before he summoned a great bout of magic. In the blink of an eye, the room was calm and clean, as was baby Dante and Neal.

“Oh god,” Neal gasped, scrubbing over his face. “I’m so sorry guys. I don’t know what that was.”

“That was you being a wuss.” Robyn sighed, tearing off her mask and wiping her forehead.

Gideon began redressing his sister, muttering apologies as she cooed comfortably.

“Don’t tell my parents about this, please?” Gideon begged has he cupped Dante’s small head.

“Would they really care if you used magic?” Neal inquired as he packed away the baby items.

“That’s not what I mean.” Gideon whispered as he laid Dante down in her crib. “I didn’t exactly give the best first impression when mum got pregnant. I don’t want them to think I’m rejecting the big-brother role again.”

“That was a year ago!” Robyn called from the adjacent bathroom where she was scrubbing her hands and arms furiously.

Gideon soothed his little sister as she tethered off to sleep, nodding for Neal to exit the room.

“You’ve been stressing about this since Aunt Belle’s second trimmest.” Neal laughed as he piggybacked Robyn down the stairs, Gideon just behind them with her wheelchair. “They don’t look at you any differently, any of us for that matter.”

“Why would we look at anyone any differently?”

The teens froze on the stairs, Neal nearly dropping Robyn from being startled by Mr. Gold’s voice.

“Um…” Gideon mumbled as his mother came in just behind her husband with a to-go container. “We were…uh talking about uh…”

“Our Halloween costumes!” Robyn stated.

The Gold parents exchanged amused looks.

“A little early to be thinking about Halloween, isn’t it?” Rumplestiltskin asked as he helped Gideon set up Robyn’s wheel chair.

“Just want to make a decision early.” Robyn said as she situated herself. “You know, supplies and all.”

“Of course.” Belle nodded. “But do try to go as something that doesn’t involve fake blood, okay?

“Yeah.” The teens agreed, the knots in their stomachs loosening.

“Well, I’d love to sit here all night, but I promised my dad I’d help him with the sheep before Monday.” Neal said after a moment of silence.

“Very well.” Rumplestiltskin nodded. “Is your father coming to pick you up or would you like a lift?”

“Nah, I’m meeting him at Granny’s.” Neal answered.

“My mom too.” Robyn added as she grabbed her backpack.

“Before you both go,” Belle smiled, holding out the container. “Remy gave us a few pieces of molten lava cake for you.”

“Sweet!” Gideon cheered. Chef Remy’s legendary lava cake was a once in a blue moon delicacy and was only available to those with a reservation at his restaurant.

Belle opened the container, revealing the overly chocolate treat and watched as the teens before her paled.

“Oh gods…” Neal gagged, images of diapers and baby excrements making his stomach turn.

Belle gasped as Neal made a mad dash to the kitchen sink.

Robyn and Gideon flinched as they heard Neal heave, their own stomachs turning.

“I…think we might need that ride Uncle Gold.” Robyn grimaced.

“I believe so as well.” Rumplestiltskin sighed, grabbing his keys from the bowl by the door (a Mother’s Day gift from Gideon from when he was five).

Robyn waited by the wheelchair ramp with Gideon while Rumplestiltskin started the car. A moment later Belle was ushering Neal onto the porch.

“Ugh, I’m sorry Aunt Belle, I don’t know what’s come over me.”

“Wuss.” Robyn fake-coughed, causing Gideon to snicker. Both the teen’s humor stilled when Belle sent a look their way.

“You’ll feel better after some rest.” Belle amended, sending Neal to the car.

“You coming, Gid?” Robyn inquired.

“Nah, I’m going to stay here and…recover.”

Robyn nodded and wheeled herself to the car.

Gideon and his mother waited until the Cadillac rolled off before they went inside, Belle immediately going upstairs to respond to Dante’s cries.

“Hello Rosie Posie.” Belle cooed. “Did you have a good day with your big siblings?”

Gideon leaned against the doorframe to watch his mother and sister. The lovely site was almost enough to make him forget about the literal shit day he had. Almost.

“So,” Belle said towards him as she laid Dante back in her crib. “What kind of spell did you use today Gideon?”

Gideon nearly fell over, floored by his mother’s knowledge of his little magical debacle.

“How did you…”

“I’m your mother, I know everything.” Belle said as she cranked Dante’s mobile. “That…and your father sensed it.”

Gideon groaned, his spine tingling as he sensed a lecture coming on.

Belle crossed her arms in a “mom pose” as Neal had coined it.

“Did something happen?”

“No!” Gideon insisted. “Just…we…” Gideon sighed. “I got a little overwhelmed…and I used a spell to calm things down.”

Belle nodded, biting her lip as she mused on Gideon’s response. Then she looked up and smiled at him.

“Okay.”

Gideon waited for her to continue, to remind him about the consequences of using magic, though she’d save the “price” bit for when his father returned. However, Belle was now focused on folding a basket of baby clothes.

“Are you disappointed?” Gideon asked, his stomach turning in anticipation.

Belle turned, her blue eyes softening.

“Oh honey, no.” Belle smiled, dropping a onesie to take her son’s hands. “Sweetheart, you’re old enough to know how and when to use your magic. Your father and I just like to be informed.”

Gideon nodded, barely rolling his eyes when she brushed his hair from his face.

“Now,” Belle said. “It’s getting late. Don’t forget to brush your teeth.”

“I know mom.” Gideon scoffed, leaving her to tend to his sister. He sighed as he got closer to his room, thankful that his mother had allowed him to spare the details of why he had needed the spell in the first place. He really did not want to think about the details.

As he changed into his pajamas, he mentally rejoiced on having both survived his first day of babysitting as well as getting away with casting his first unsupervised spell.

At least he was until he heard a shriek from Dante’s room.

“Gideon Gary Gold, why is there vomit in your sister’s baby basin!”

-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-

Note: Dante’s name = Everlasting

[willelbyers]

Purple

Summary: Lucas finds out Billy’s been hitting Max. Pairings: Lucas/Max (pre-relationship) Notes: About 1,500 words, mentions of abuse. This is for a prompt from @lucassinclairstan: @he-lives-on-mirkwood One where Max comes over to Lucas’s house after he hits her. Or Lucas finds out Billy’s been hitting Max. The latter would be nice.

My first Lumax story! I posted it on Ao3, too, linked here as well as written out under the cut. Hope you enjoy!

Lucas shivers as he trudges up the pavement to The Palace, almost slipping on a huge patch of black ice on the curb.

“Shit,” he mumbles, catching himself at the last minute. He shoves his ungloved hands into his pockets and glances through a window, seeing Dustin, Mike, and Will already inside. Dustin is playing a casual game of Pac-Man as Mike and Will exchange laughs, Will’s smile still exhausted (but he’s trying). El is nowhere in sight, but that isn’t surprising considering she’s still housebound until further notice.

He spots their bikes in the rack by the front of the arcade, and he wishes he had his, but someone—probably Troy—slashed his tires so he can’t use it. Not that it would be very helpful, in this weather, but hey, his friends managed. He’s just heading for the door when someone slams into him, and he stumbles.

“Hey, watch it!” he yells harshly, grabbing on to the bike rack to stay standing as the other figure crashes to the ground. Then he realizes who he’s looking at, and he immediately feels awful.

Max is staring up at him, except he can’t actually see her. The only recognizable feature of hers is the long red hair spilling out from under her cap, which is pulled low over her forehead. A scarf is thrown over her mouth and nose, thick-rimmed glasses obscuring her face and making her eyes look huge. Lights from the arcade shadow the left side of her face. For a moment he’s back in those tunnels, feeling the air turn toxic in his lungs and his panic rocket through the roof as they go further than anyone (other than Will and El) has gone before. For a moment he watches Dustin fall and Steve swing his bat and Mike is with Will and then he’s with them and Will is lost and El is gone and Max just screams and screams and screams.

And now she’s looking at him, wide eyes magnified behind her huge glasses. And there’s something that Lucas doesn’t like there, something he’s seen before—not often, sure, but he’s seen it, though never directed at him.

Max is scared.

“I—I’m sorry,” he says, tripping over his words. “Max, I’m so sorry.” He starts to hold out a hand to help her up, but she just puts a palm on the ground and stands on her own.

“It’s fine,” she says, muffled by the scarf, and on the surface she sounds normal but Lucas can hear the tremor behind her voice. He opens his mouth, hand dropping back to his side, but she cuts him off. “I’m fine, Lucas. Really.”

“I, uh…” he trails off. “I thought that you said you were busy all this weekend. If I knew you weren’t, I’d have called and invited you…”

“I was busy,” she tells him, eyes sliding to the ground. “I, uh. Didn’t know I was free until just now. I didn’t know you would be here, either.”

“Oh,” he says, internally screaming at himself because Wow, Lucas, so eloquent! “I uh, didn’t know you wear glasses.” Way to save, Sinclair.

She stares at him incredulously, though her lip twitches. “Yeah. I usually have contacts, but… glasses today.”

He nods. “Oh. Kay. Do you… want to go inside?” No, she’s just standing out here for no reason. Do you even think before you open your mouth?

Max’s eyes flicker over to the door and she seems to finally notice the three boys inside. Her eyelashes flutter. “Oh. Uh, no. I should probably… I should probably get home before Billy or my dad…”

She doesn’t finish the sentence, her usually hostile and attentive presence much too distant and tired, and it makes Lucas’s heart stutter in fear. “Max, I don’t think—”

“Bye, Lucas,” she says quickly, already turning away. Something isn’t right. Something in Lucas’s brain clicks, and his arm shoots out as though on its own accord. He grabs her shoulder, and she whips around, her scarf falling down in the process and her face suddenly awash in light.

Lucas’s heart just stops. “Max, what…?”

There’s an angry purple bruise down the whole left side of her face, from the corner of her eye all the way down to her chin. Her lip is nicked and swollen. He suspects that her large glasses and hat are covering up more damage closer to her ear, which he can’t see.

“Lucas, it’s fine,” she insists before he can say anything at all. “I’m fine. I just fell off my skateboard.” She doesn’t have her skateboard, and he knows it’s a lie.

His hand shakes as it comes up to her shoulder to hover over her cheek. She doesn’t flinch away, though her eyes dart down to her feet, so he takes a risk and lightly presses his hand to her face. Her skin is pale and cold, and he thinks about the quarry last year and Will’s body that wasn’t real, but he knows that the blood raging underneath the surface is practically the sun against the winter air. And she’s real. This is real. “Max… was this… your father?” Because this can’t happen, this can’t be Will all over again.

“No,” she says sharply, and though her voice is defensive he can sense she’s telling the truth. “No, it wasn’t him. Lucas, I’m fi—”

“Stop it,” he chokes out, no bite to the words, because this is hard and he hates seeing this again and he hates that it’s happening to her. “You’re not fucking fine. Max, please. Tell me.”

She turns her face so that her left side is in shadow once more, his hand falling away. “It wasn’t my dad. I actually haven’t seen him in a week, he just got home an hour ago.”

“Was it your brother?” he asks, because he seems to want to feel that pain.

She hesitates, then nods reluctantly. “Yeah,” she says, voice almost a whisper. “It was Billy. It’s always Billy.”

It’s always him; so this isn’t the first time. I’m gonna kill him.

“I’m gonna kill him,” he says out loud. “I’m actually gonna kill him. It’ll be easy compared to everything we did last month.”

Max shakes her head. “Please, Lucas, don’t. He’s… it’s not safe, not for… Eleven or Will, even, definitely not for you, and I think Steve’s already claimed that job anyway. I just… I just needed to get out of there for a while. But I didn’t know you guys would be here. I didn’t want you to…”

“I know,” Lucas says, mind filling in the blank: I didn’t want you to see me like this. “It’s okay. I won’t pretend to understand but I’m sure the others will be just as ready to help if you want to go inside.”

She looks uncertain, pushing her glasses up her nose. “I don’t know…”

“You don’t have to,” he says quickly. “I just… think it might help. To not be alone.” Because, dammit, he never was in a situation like that himself but he and Mike know better than anyone how to help someone else through it. Dustin, too, though he’s never seen the worst of it. And Lucas know Max can’t do this herself, no matter how strong she is—no one can. Will couldn’t, and he’s one of the bravest people Lucas knows. Max deserves to be helped. And he can’t do that alone.

He so desperately just wants her to be safe.

Max bites her lip, glancing at the arcade’s door. Her glasses slide down her nose just a little, red hair shifts around her shoulder, and Lucas’s heart skips another beat. For a moment, he’s perfectly content with lying to himself, with saying that he’s just worried about her and the injury really does look bad, but he knows. Because yeah, he is worried about her but she’s also powerful and beautiful and he thinks he loves her, bruised purple or not, and Lucas really doesn’t know what to do with that information, but that’s the truth.

“Okay,” she says, looking at him, and for a moment he just watches the colorful lights of the arcade reflect in her eyes. “Let’s go.”

He holds out a hand again, but instead of ignoring it, this time she takes it. “You can stay at my house tonight, if you want,” he offers as Max squeezes his hand.

She smiles at him. “That would be nice.”

They walk forward, she reaches out to push open the door, and Lucas dares to tell himself that it’ll all be okay.

Not that it's relevant, but I love the idea of Max having glasses. And I hate Billy (I guess that is relevant).

Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think, and you can scream at me about story ideas or theories anytime. Read more of my stories over on my Ao3. Thanks for reading!

~Logan