#the next chapter focuses more on the two lovebirds

[winchesterwild78]

Unexpected Hunter Pt 10

Unexpected Hunter Master List

Chapter Warnings: angst, oral sex-male receiving, violence, squint your eyes and a little smut, fluff, I think that’s it sorry if it isn’t.

A/N: Kind of a long chapter-sorry 😆, Our lovebirds are on a hunt together and things get intense. I edited this fast so please overlook any mistakes

All work is my own, don’t take it

18+ Minors DNI

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

It’s been a few weeks since the wedding and honeymoon. You and Dean had an amazing time together. The weather was perfect, you went swimming, made love as much as you could and just enjoyed being with each other. Dean loved being at the beach and you loved spending time with him. You were happy to be home though. You missed your babies and Sam.

Jack let your family and Bobby stay until you and Dean came home. They helped take care of the twins and spent time catching up with everyone. You would always be grateful to Jack for giving you and Dean time with your family. It was sad to say goodbye again, but it felt good to have them witness your wedding and see your children.

Dean jumped right into daddy duties and Sam of course kept looking for cases. Some cases you, Dean and the twins would go on, some just you and Dean would go on with Sam. The twins would stay with either Donna or Jodi. You were thankful they didn’t go all the time. Dean really wanted to keep you and the twins as far away from hunting as possible, but you told him if he was going to stay in the life then you were too.

He knew it was pointless to argue with you. Sam found a case he needed Dean to go on. You told the guys you were going too. Considering the case involved a child eating witch, you decided the twins would stay with Donna. Dean tried to convince you to stay home but you told him no. You knew now more than ever what those mothers would be going through so you were going.

Everyone packed and you loaded the twins in the car. You sat in between them and Dean and Sam sat up front. Bobby and Jodi were giggling and playing with you. You were so focused on them you didn’t notice Dean watching and smiling at you. He really loved watching you as a mom. He often said you were a natural and the twins were so lucky to have such an amazing mom.

After about an hour the twins fell asleep. You watched the countryside pass by as you stared out the window. You looked up and saw Dean looking at you in the rear view mirror. You offered him a soft smile and he gave you one back. Not too much longer and Dean was pulling into Donna’s driveway. He and Sam grabbed the twins as you got out of the car. She gave you all a hug and you carried the twins bags in the guest room. “Thank you Donna for watching them. I really felt like I needed to go on this case too. I can’t imagine the pain these mothers are feeling. I would be devastated if something happened to those two.” You said gesturing at your sleeping babies.

“You know I love when they come to visit. Aunt Donna enjoys spoiling them.” She said with a smile. “Sweetheart, we’ve got to get on the road if we’re going to be there before dark” Dean said walking in the room. You hugged Donna and gave the twins a kiss on the head. Dean gave Donna a hug and told her thank you. He walked over to the twins and stood there looking at them for a minute. His heart twinged a bit thinking about this case. He understood why it was important for you to go. He kissed the twins and then left the room.

The three of you piled in the car. Sam insisted you ride shotgun and you were happy to do it. Any excuse to be close to your husband. You sat in the middle next to Dean who had one hand on the wheel and the other draped behind you. He pulled you close to his side. You would never get tired of being close to him. You loved everything about him, especially his heart.

You didn’t know a lot about his childhood but what you did broke your heart. He had to be mom and dad to Sam and he shouldered everything. He wanted Sam to have as much of a normal childhood as possible and would often intervene in John and Sam’s arguments. He desperately needed someone to take care of him but it was hard for him to let anyone in. He felt like he always had to be the giver and would feel selfish if he took anything or enjoyed anything. You understood this was why he tried to push you away when you first fell in love.

You laid your head on his shoulder and teased him with your hand on his thigh. You’d giggle and move your hand up closer to his bulge. He’d suck air in and give you a look. Sam had fallen asleep in the backseat so you took the opportunity to tease your husband a little more. You looked back at Sam and saw he was out cold and had his earbuds in.

Once you saw he was asleep and couldn’t hear you decided to be extra naughty. You got a mischievous grin on your face and your hands found Dean’s belt. You unhooked it and Dean looked at you. “What are you doing sweetheart” he asked with a grin. “Oh nothing. Just having some fun. Passing the time” you smirked. He looked back and saw Sam was asleep so he adjusted in the seat. You pulled down his pants just enough to release his already hard cock.

You leaned over and licked his shaft from the base to the tip. Once you were at the tip you took it all in your mouth. Taking your tongue and swirling it up and down his shaft. Dean took his hand and gently pushed your head back and forth on his cock. You sucked hard and deep. He was groaning and trying to focus on the road. He growled as you sucked and licked him. Getting faster you could hear his breath hitching. “Oh god. I’m going to cum sweetheart. Don’t stop” Dean said moving his hips. You picked up the pace as you sucked him deeper down your throat. You knew you were loud but you didn’t care. “Ugh…god…. I’m….” Was all Dean could say before he released his load down your throat. You licked up every last drop.

When you sat up you helped get him dressed and leaned in to kiss him. “God I love you. You didn’t have to do that” he said kissing you again. “I know I didn’t. I wanted to. I love you too Dean” you said sitting back in the seat.

You held Dean’s hand as he drove on towards the destination. As you got closer your mind kept drifting to the twins. What would you do if something happened to them? Are they really safe with you and Dean in this life? What about when they get older, are we really raising them to be hunters? You were consumed with these thoughts when Dean noticed you looked upset. “Hey y/n, are you okay” he asked looking over at you. “Yeah, just thinking about the future and our children. I guess we never got a chance to talk about what their future will look like and how we would handle hunting. It’s just this case. It’s hitting me hard now that I’m a mom.” You said looking out the window. A tear slipped out and you quickly wiped it away. You didn’t think Dean saw it but he did.

Dean took your hand and squeezed it. “Baby, we don’t have to do this. We can leave the life and have that apple pie life we’ve talked about. Raise the twins to play not to hunt. With Jack up there and looking over us I know we would be okay.” Dean said smiling at you.

“I know that babe. I just worry about who would help the mothers and fathers who are missing their children because some monster took them or worse. Right now I’m capable of helping them and reunite their families. How can I turn my back on that, but then I look at our children and I would walk through hell to keep them safe and have a normal childhood. I don’t want them to ever have to grow up too fast or have to raise each other because you and I were killed on a hunt. Dean, I don’t know what the right answer is and it kills me.” You said as your tears started to fall.

“Shhhh, it’s okay sweetheart. We don’t have to make a decision right now. We are doing just fine and the kids are happy, healthy and safe. You make sure of that.” Dean said holding you close. You just leaned against him and cried. He held you as he drove. He sighed when he finally saw the hotel come into view.

Sam climbed out and got two rooms. Dean grabbed the bags and you went to your room. You called Donna to check on the twins and she said they were playing and have a blast. You thanked her again and hung up. Dean came into the room with the bags and set them down. He hugged you tight and gave you a gentle kiss. “We’ll figure it out baby. I promise. No matter what we decide we will decide it together. I made a promise to you and our children to always protect you and no matter what that looks like I’m going to do it. I love you and our children so much and I’ll stop at nothing to keep you all safe.” Dean said hugging you.

Sam knocked on the door and Dean told him to come in. The three of you sat looking over the lore and getting right to work on the case. Sam and Dean decided to head to the police station and you gathered more information about the missing children. The child who went missing first was a little girl about 18 months old. She was at the park with her babysitter when she was taken.

You decided to head to the park to look for clues. Dean met you there and the both of you went to talk to her mother. She welcomed you both in and she looked exhausted. You knew she hadn’t slept and your heart broke for her. She showed you a picture of her daughter and your heart stopped. Her daughter had dirty blond hair and bright green eyes like your Jodi. You took her hand and said “I promise you I will stop at nothing to bring your baby girl back to you.” She smiled at you, hugged you and told you thank you.

Her daughter was close in age to your children and your mama instincts kicked in. You thanked her for her time and you and Dean left. When you got to the car Dean opened the door for you and you climbed in. Once inside you just cried. You thought about her empty arms and how you would be devastated if something happened to the twins. You really didn’t know how she was functioning. Dean climbed in and put his arms around you. “I know baby. It’s going to be okay. We will find them.” He said trying to calm you down.

When you two got back to the hotel Sam was there looking over the lore and the case files. You sat down with tears still staining your face and opened the files. You were determined to get these children home safely. Sam looked at you then up at Dean. Dean offered him a soft smile. Sam knew you had been crying but Dean’s smile assured him you’d be okay.

You poured over the files and you realized this had been happening in this area for decades. You were able to trace it back to colonial times. Digging deeper you found a connection.

“Guys, this witch is targeting specific families and their children. It’s been going on for generations. She must have a vendetta against them. That’s the only thing that makes sense.” You said looking between Sam and Dean. A few minutes later “Oh my god.” You said. “What” both guys said. “She leaves one child alive as a warning of what’s coming. The last child left alive should be about 50 now. Her name is Josephine Miller. We need to go talk to her.” You said. Sam and Dean agreed. Sam put his hand on your shoulder “great job Y/N. You’ve always been an amazing hunter” he said. You nodded and smiled.

The three of you got your FBI clothes on and headed for the car. Before you got in Dean kissed you. He knew you were anxious so he wanted to help calm you. His kiss and touch always seemed to help ground you. The three of you drove to Ms Miller’s house. You got out and approached her home.

Before you could knock an older woman opened the door. You gave her a soft smile and introduced yourself and the guys. She looked suspicious and said “you’re not FBI, you’re hunters.” You, Sam and Dean exchanged looks. She stepped to the side and let you guys in. You all took a seat and you asked her how she knew the three of you were hunters. She explained when she was taken a really nice man came and saved her and had told her parents he was a hunter that hunted monsters. He was mad the witch got away but he was happy she was safe. She smiled and said “when the witch got away I remember he yelled “balls” and I giggled because I had never heard language like that before.” You looked at Sam and Dean and smiled. Bobby had been on this case before.

The four of you sat and talked about what she remembered about the witch. She said she remembered the witch would feed her and the other kids. If the kids cried too much or didn’t eat for her, she turned them into statues for her garden. You asked her if she remembered why she let her go and she said all the witch kept saying was “I looked like her”. She said she never understood what that meant. “May I see a picture of you from around the time you were taken” you asked her. Sam and Dean looked at you confused and then at each other. You gasped when you saw the picture. She had dirty blonde hair and green eyes. “Do you remember where she took you” Dean asked.

“Yeah it’s not that far in the woods. Right off the highway behind Miller’s Country Store. My parents owned it, now my brother and his family run it.” She said. The three of you thanked her for her time and left. She stopped you and told you to be careful. “That witch is nasty. She’s after the founding families of this town. Her daughter was accidentally killed by them. They were trying to go after the witch and she got caught in the crossfire. The witch has taken a child from each generation since.” You thanked her and left.

When you got back to the hotel the three of you changed. Dean was trying to be flirty but your mind kept thinking about the case, the missing children, the witch’s child and your twins. Dean looked at you and said something you didn’t hear. “Hey, sweetheart. You okay” he asked walking up to you. “Yeah. This case is just getting to me. Ms Miller told me the witch is targeting the founding families because they killed her child. It makes me sad, but she’s still hurting children. I’m torn as a mother and as a hunter. If someone hurt our children I’d stop at nothing to make them suffer, but I wouldn’t hurt another child. I just want to find her and get this over with. I want to be home with our children. I know they are safe with Donna, but I’d feel better holding them.” You said sitting on the bed. “I know. Sammy is getting the location for us now so we don’t go in blind.” He gets up and pulls you off the bed wrapping his arms around you. “It’ll be okay y/n, I promise. We will get the kids back to their parents and take care of the witch. Before we know it we will be back home holding our babies close.” Dean said kissing the top of your head.

Sam walked in and said he found the house. Y’all geared up and took off towards the witch’s house. The three of you approached quietly and you could hear a baby crying for their mother. You looked at Dean and before he could stop you, you burst through the front door. Sam and Dean exchanged looks and ran after you. You startled the witch and she was about to throw you into the wall but she stopped. Sam and Dean burst through the open doorway and she flung them into the opposite wall. Pinning them to it. All they could do was stand there and watch her make her way over towards you.

“Mmmm you smell delicious” she hissed at you. “Let the children go. I know what happened to your baby. It was an accident. They didn’t mean to kill her. Please, let these children go home to their mothers’ empty arms.” You pleaded as tears filled your eyes. The baby you heard crying was in the corner crying and calling out “mama”. Your heart broke. The witch stepped closer to you and took a long sniff up your neck. Dean became enraged and tried to break free. She grabbed your face and licked your cheek. You turned away in disgust. “Don’t you touch her you bitch.” Dean yelled from across the room. The witch flung her hand towards him and he couldn’t talk. She cackled and turned back to you.

“Now, why do you taste and smell so good” she asked. She circled around you and looked you up and down. “Ah yes. You’ve had a child, no wait (sniffs again) ooh two delicious children. I can still taste and smell them on you.” She said. It sent a shiver down your spine. A single tear fell from your eye. You looked over at the baby. She was barely crying now. Poor baby was exhausted.

You looked at the witch and then over at Sam and Dean. You mouthed “I love you” to Dean. His eyes went wide and he shook his head wildly no. Sam shouted No. It was too late. You took all your strength and lunged at the witch. Knocking her back and off her feet you had her pinned to the ground. You held her hands down and grabbed your knife you kept in your boot. Plunging it into her chest. This knife was a little gift from Rowena. It had a powerful spell on it that allowed you to kill all sorts of monsters, including witches. Once you plunged the knife in she screamed in pain and the boys dropped to the floor. Dean ran over to you and Sam ran over to the baby. Dean grabbed you hugging and kissing you while he was yelling at you for doing something that could have gotten you killed.

You saw Sam with the baby and you ran over to him taking her carefully. She was still breathing and was okay.

Dean and Sam burned the witch’s body and searched for any survivors. They found the other missing children in the basement and they were all okay. You carried the baby outside and climbed into the Impala. Dean called the local police to come out and get the children you found. Dean climbed in the front and Sam in the back. You looked at Dean and said “let’s take her to her mom”. He smiled at you and drove towards her house.

When you pulled up you were carrying the sleeping baby girl and her mother opened the door and gasped. She ran to you and you handed her the sweet baby girl. She cried and thanked you for bringing her baby safely home. She hugged you and both of you cried. The baby woke up and saw her mother and cried “mama”. You, Dean and Sam walked away and left them alone.

Once back at the hotel you collapsed on the bed. Dean climbed in next to you and snuggled up to you. “You did amazing today baby. You scared the hell out of me, but you went with your gut and took her down. Those mothers have their children back tonight because of you and what you did.” He kissed your lips and pulled you tight.

“Thank you, Dean. I don’t know what the future holds for us and hunting, but I know we will figure it out together. I love you and I’m sorry I scared you. All I could think about was what if that was Bobby or Jodi in there. I’d want someone not to hesitate to get to them.” You said as you kissed him.

You both took a shower and cleaned off the grime from the day. Once in your comfy clothes you snuggled under the blanket with Dean. He kissed you softly and ran his hands through your hair. You moaned into his mouth. His movements were slow and gentle. Dean knew you needed him but you also needed tonight to be able connection and not rushed. He slowly ran his hands over your body and removed your clothes. You helped remove his and you slowly ran your hands on his chest and over his strong arms.

He captured your lips in a soft but passionate kiss. As he made love to you his strong arms held you tight. You felt safe and content in his arms. Dean was an incredible lover, but it was something different when he made love to you. He had a hard time telling you how much he loved you, but when he made love to you he showed you. When you were done and cleaned up he took you in his arms and held you as you both drifted off to sleep. You couldn’t wait to get home to your babies, but tonight you had your husband and that’s all you needed right now.

Forever tags: @nescaveckdaily @nescaveckwriter @kr804573 @jensengirl83 @k-slla @jackles010378 @jawritter @xx-spooky-little-vampire-xx @roseblue373

[crackedpumpkin]

|| ᴄʜᴇʀʀʏ ʙʟᴏꜱꜱᴏᴍꜱ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴅɪꜰꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴛ ᴅɪᴍᴇɴꜱɪᴏɴ || ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴇɪɢʜᴛᴇᴇɴ ||

a/n: lol this somehow reached 2.3k hits on ao3, I will never know how. I'm so tired it's 4am and this is a very very lengthy chapter xo pls enjoy I'm gonna go crash now who even needs Grammarly anyway I AM the Grammarly

“You’re a princess?”

“I mean, technically? I don’t really like to talk about it much.”

“But how did Casey know?” 

Y/n hesitates. “I…Don’t know. I don’t think I’ve told anyone besides you.” She admits softly, her eyes trained on her nails as they pick away at her cuticles. 

It’s silent for a while, and she glances up nervously to check on Leo’s stunned figure. His lips are pursed, exhaling steadily with eyes of acceptance. “Huh.” He says after a while, leaning against the wall next to her. 

He looks back up with a small smile. “And I’m the first one you told?” 

She nods.

“Hey, lovebirds! We could really use some help over here!” Raph yells across the room at the two. She starts slightly, accidentally making eye contact with Leo before ducking her head, feeling a gentle heat on her cheeks.

“Coming!” She walks off, Leo following suit. He can’t stop the smile that’s stuck to his lips. 

She told him first. He’s the first one to know more about her.

The thought makes him euphoric, helping y/n pick up scattered comic books on the floor, the pages drenched from her earlier actions. “So, how does it work where you’re from? Y’know, the whole princess thing?”

Y/n looks up in surprise, not expecting him to ask more about her background. She pauses, trying to explain it as best she can. “I’m the niece of the Northern Water Tribe’s chief. I’m just a princess in name, though. It wasn’t made official.” 

“Why not?” 

She stiffens, looking away from him. “Some stuff….happened. I mean, it’s not that important since I ended up going with Aang, Sokka, and Katara.” She brushes over it, though the slight tinge of sorrow in her voice only serves to pique his curiosity.

He hums. “In that case, do we have to refer to you by your title now, princess?” He jokes, but his teasing smile falters when she looks up at him with wide eyes and a beautiful flush on her cheeks, making part of him want to tease her more if only to see that same expression again.

“I-I mean, you don’t have to. It’s just a formality thing.” Her voice fades into an almost shy whisper, averting her gaze and focusing on arranging the wet comic books on the floor. His cheeks blossom with a soft pink matching hers, mirroring her actions. His hand brushes against hers, both flinching and drawing their hands to their chests as if they had been burnt.

“What’s going on here?” 

She clears her throat, standing back up with a quick shake of her head. Raph watches them both with a playful smile, his hands crossed and ignoring Leo’s flustered glare. Neither responds to Raph, y/n focusing on bending all the water out of the pages and leaving them dry again. 

Mikey whoops happily, scooping them up into his arms with a gleeful grin. “Thanks!!” He scurries back into his room with comic books in tow, ready to stash them away in fear of another incident like earlier happening.

“Anyway,” her attention is back on Raph, who regards them both with a skeptical gaze, “don’t you gotta go home for school tomorrow, Pipsqueak?” 

We’re on nickname terms now?

This makes her grin, glad that she’s been acknowledged by him. The reminder makes her pause, looking around the more or less dry lair. “What about April and Casey?” 

“I’ll walk her-”

“I’ll walk her back.”

Donnie interrupts Casey with a hostile glare, making the boy quirk a brow at the turtle’s odd behaviour. “Sure… See you tomorrow then, Red. Princess.” Casey shrugs, turning to head out the way he followed Raph.

“Oh, would you look at that! It seems that y/n doesn’t have anyone to walk her home. I gotta do…stuff, and so does Mikey.” Raph rubs the back of his neck with probably the worst acting y/n’s ever seen, though she does chuckle at the effort.

“We do?” Mikey shuts up when Raph glares at him, pouting at how mean his brother is. “I guess we do.”

“But April and I live together-”

“Actually, I have something to discuss with Master Splinter. You go on ahead first, y/n.” April grins mischievously, patting y/n’s shoulder with an encouraging nod. 

“I’d be glad to accompany you.” Leo offers with a roll of his eyes at how obvious everyone is being, taking the hint. She nods with a warm smile, walking past the turnstiles with him. 

“Shall we, princess?” He asks, holding his hand out to her with a charming grin. She’s about to take it, but a hot flash of pain rips through her head, the familiar line making her wince.

“Shall we, princess?”  Jet holds out his hand to her with a teasing grin, undeterred by the hostile scowl sent his way by the very girl he’s called out to. 

“Jet. Nice to see you again.” Her eyes are narrowed into a glare, hands clenching into fists. Just in case, though, she bends a stream of water out of the buckets beside her, steadying herself in case he attacked. After what happened, she couldn’t trust him. Not anymore.

“Calm down,” He chuckles, hands lifted up in surrender. “I’m here to talk.”

“Does that talk include trying to drown another innocent village?” She scoffs, the hairs on her neck bristling when he takes a step forward. “Don’t,” She warns, the water bubbling as it begins to heat up from the rapidly growing anger in her heart. 

“I’m here to help. For real this time, I promise.”

“We both know what your ‘promises’ are worth.”

“Not this time. Please. Just hear me out. It’s about your parents.”

Her breath hitches in her chest, eyes widening before she swallows a bitter lump in her throat. “What do you mean?”

“I promise it’ll be worth your time. I don’t have the gang with me anymore; all I want to do is talk.” She eyes his outstretched hand with doubt, but her curiosity ultimately wins. She lets the water drop to her feet, splashing onto the dry floor without soaking her dress in the slightest. 

“Fine. I’ll hear you out. But one wrong move, and you’ll be frozen for the next five years before you know it.”

She expects him to flinch. Instead, his lips curve into a playful grin, reminiscent of the day they met. Heat crept across her cheeks, tinging the tips of her ears with a rosy pink before looking away with a huff and crossed arms. Damn, those good looks of his.

He holds out his hand, waiting for her to take it. “It’s good to see you again, princess. I missed you.”

“You can leave now!” Raph calls out from a short distance, and she’s instantly brought back to the present. She looks up at Leo’s eyes filled with nothing but warmth and kindness for her. Her stomach turns, her hand about to brush his before she snatches it back. She swallows, unable to bring herself to look him in the eyes.

“Yeah, let’s go.” She mumbles, brushing past him in a hurry. He hesitates, eyes filled with mild hurt at the cold way she rejects his hand. He follows suit, missing the wince on April’s face as she watches them leave. 

“Should I tell her that tomorrow’s Saturday?”

— — — —

Y/n runs across the rooftops, the cold breeze whistling past her ears soothing her somewhat. Her heart is heavy, but the sensation of practically flying across the rooftops is freeing. 

She barely registers Leo following along, having slowed his usual pace for her. She appreciates the thought, her steps slowing so they walk side by side. His curious gaze unnerves her slightly, still unable to bring herself to meet his innocent eyes that hold so much worry, and so many questions.

“So, how’s school life going for you?” 

“It’s going good, I suppose. I introduced the history of the avatar and the war to my classmates.” 

“You what?” 

“I know, April told me not to do it again. Not even about the frog talk too.” She replies grumpily, crossing her arms with a huff.

Leo’s bemused by her words, every single sentence of hers still catching him off guard. Just when he thought it couldn’t get any more baffling, she always managed to surprise him. 

His gaze softens, watching her kick a stray pebble. She’s so endearing, he thinks with a chuckle. 

“About earlier,” He sees her stiffen slightly, probably thinking about how he’d address her rejecting his hand. “What’s it like being a princess?” 

“It was…” She pauses, looking out at the city. He stands beside her, waiting patiently for her reply. “Isolating.” She finally says after a few moments, lips pursed. The silence from Leo spurs her to continue, his reassuring presence encouraging her to speak more freely. 

“When I was little, my parents left me with my uncle. He was the chief of our tribe, and it was one last favour he did for my parents before they left. That’s where I met Yue.” She recalls peeking out from behind her father’s legs with a timid smile, meeting her cousin for the first time. 

“Yue and I were close growing up. We played dolls together and studied together. We were like sisters. But as we grew up, it became more and more apparent that she was of higher status. She’s the direct daughter of the chief, while I’m just his niece. I wasn’t mistreated, just less…included.”

“What about your royal duties? Did you knight any knights? Dance at balls? Have a coronation?”

“What are knights?”

“Y’know, like, warriors who wear armour and wield swords? They’re loyal to their kingdom and their kingdom alone? You have to knight them with a sword? They swear all loyalty to the princess?” 

“I don’t think we have those,” Her eyes shine with humour, smiling at his amusing reply. At first, she thought he was describing himself, what with the swords and all. He had mimicked a ‘knight’s’ actions, dramatically holding out his katanas. She had to hide a giggle at that.

“That’s a shame. I think being a knight would’ve been pretty cool. Why’d you choose to follow them, though?” 

His question makes her hesitate, glancing up at him. “There was no more reason to stay.” If she had, Yue’s betrothed would’ve only gone to her. She’d forever be a replacement for her cousin. 

But no one could ever replace Yue.

It’s silent for a while, both settling into comfortable silence. 

“I’m tired of losing people.”

The loaded statement that slips past her lips is weary, with pure exhaustion laced in every single word. She’s too tired to realize how it sounds, her true feelings bubbling to the surface. 

“It must’ve been hard.”

His single reply comes instantly, his words nothing but heartfelt. She doesn’t realize that her eyes have already started tearing up until her vision becomes blurry. She blinks, the tears sliding down her cheeks. She feels something soft brush against her skin, slowly registering a green finger brushing off her tears with a gentle smile. 

“It’ll be okay.” Leo promises. “We’ll get you home.”

She sniffles, allowing herself to melt into his touch with a tiny sigh. “Thank you.”

“For now, though, let’s get you home.” Leo chuckles, letting his hand drop to his side after her tears stop flowing. She manages a nod, the both of them starting a slow jog with a shared smile. 

Something’s off.

She glances around; brows furrowed in confusion, when she doesn’t spot anyone else. She could’ve sworn they were being watched. The prickling sensation that ruffles her nerves isn’t easing; her gut twists and tugs slightly in a particular direction. 

“Something wrong?” Leo asks, curious as to why she’s suddenly on high alert. He didn’t sense anything. But then again, y/n had slightly keener instincts than any of them did.

“Just…felt like we were being watched,” She murmurs uneasily, rubbing her arm in discomfort. She didn’t like the sensation, reminding her too much of the days when they were busy being hunted down by Zuko. 

“I don’t see anyone around. Maybe you’re a little tired from earlier.” Leo suggests, the skin above his eyes creasing in worry. “You should get some rest.”

“Maybe,” she still can’t brush it off but continues to jog back to the apartment building. The feeling fades after a while, the tension leaving her body. She unlocks the window, sliding it up. Leo watches from the fire escape, the close proximity making her stiffen slightly. 

“Well, goodnight.”

“Goodnight, princess.” He says, the nickname filled with fondness. A breathy laugh falls from her lips, still flustered when he calls her with such affection. She climbs into the room, pausing before gesturing for him to come closer. 

His eyes widen slightly in intrigue, taking a step and leaning in. She gestures for him to come closer still, as if she’s about to tell him a secret. 

“Thanks for keeping me safe, my knight.” She whispers, brushing her lips gently against his cheek. 

He’s frozen.

She leans back with a heavy blush on her cheeks, her neck hot. She slides the window shut, clearing her throat. She watches him take a step back, climbing back up the fire escape with jerky movements and a blush that matches hers. 

“Wow.” 

Y/n yelps at the sudden voice, stumbling back and almost falling onto the ground. She grabs onto the chair nearby in time, looking up wide-eyed to see both April and Donnie in the doorway, stunned into silence. 

“I mean…wow.” Donnie can’t help but be impressed by y/n’s boldness, April lifting her hands to clap slowly, eyes filled with awe. ”Wow,” She agrees.

 “Y-you saw that?” 

What was she even asking? Of course, they saw it based on their reactions. She groans, holding her head in her hands. She could never recover from this.

“That’s it. I’m banishing myself from all interactions.” She mutters, brushing past them both and into the kitchen to make some tea to calm herself down. April doesn’t stop the slow claps, sharing a mischievous grin with Donnie. 

“We’re so gonna bring it up around them, right?”

“Without a doubt.”

— — — —

She can’t sleep. Y/n turns and shifts in her spot on the shared bed, freezing when she hears April mumble a sound of protest. She sits up with a sigh, moving to exit through the window and heading up the fire escape to the rooftop. 

She’s barefooted, standing on the cold, dirty ground that no one bothers to clean. She takes a moment to sit on the ledge, looking up at the night sky. Her heart is heavy, recalling just moments ago when she had so daringly pressed a soft kiss against Leo’s cheek.

Her heart hammers in her chest like a hummingbird’s melodious thrums, except she’s sure that hers is faster and much louder. How had she been so bold? 

Did she even deserve to have the right to feel this way again? After what happened with Jet, it's hard to believe so.

A weary sigh leaves her lips, looking down at her calloused hands with regret starting to fill the emptiness that makes itself known. The silence is deafening, almost too much for her to bear. 

Jet.

She hadn’t remembered that name in a while. After everything she’s been through in this dimension, it’s easy to let the name of one’s first love slip their mind. With fighting aliens, discovering mutagen, and befriending a girl with psychic powers, it’s hard to believe that she isn’t just in a fever dream.

Who knows, though? Maybe it really is, and she’d wake up to Katara nagging at her to wake up for another of Aang’s pranks that she’d been a victim of. Sokka would snort at her, and she’d bend a stream of water to soak him in response.

She pinches her hand, wincing at the sharp pain. She huffs out a sad laugh. What had she expected?

It’s not a dream.

“So princess, you gonna come with me or what?”

“Shut it, Jet. I don’t trust you.” Y/n huffs, following Jet with a cautious gaze. 

“I really have changed, y’know.” Jet turns to face her with a sorrowful smile she almost falls for, her eyes softening before the reminder of what he did to the innocent village makes her sober up. 

“People don’t change so easily.” 

“I’ll prove it to you, princess. I promise.” 

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why?” He sounds genuinely surprised, and y/n crosses her arms defensively. The both of them are in an alleyway, with no one else around. She glances behind her, wondering if she should just make a run for it and forget this all ever happened.

“Because you don’t have the right to. Not anymore. Not after what you did to me. To us.” 

What had they been, anyway? A couple of teenagers with a mutual crush on each other? That’s all they were. And safe to say, hers had burned out as soon as he endangered her friends.

“Y/n…” He hesitates, his hand falling to his side. “I’m sorry.” 

It’s sincere, but she can barely bring herself to look him in the eyes. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” 

He nods resignedly, continuing to trek forward. “Where are we going, anyway?” She asks, staying a wary distance from him. 

“Your parents are here. In Ba Sing Se.”

“What?” 

It’s as if the breath is knocked out of her with that statement alone, disbelief tinging her voice. “That can’t be.”

“It’s true, princess.”

“Don’t lie to me!” 

“I’m not, princess. They’re only a few houses down. Please.” Jet holds his hand out to her, but she’s hesitant to take it. It couldn’t be. Everything she’s built up to protect herself from her parents abandoning her is crumbling in her hands. She can’t let herself believe it. It’s easier for her to think that they’re dead. 

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” She hesitates, the painful lump in her throat and tightness in her chest scaring her more than anything she’s faced so far, “I’ll know for sure that they really abandoned me.”

Once the words leave her lips, she feels herself crumble to pieces, dropping to her knees as her eyes sting with tears. She feels his warm arm wrap around her back, holding her against his chest. The warmth brings her painful comfort, allowing the tears to spill over. They wet his shirt, but his hold around her only tightens. She clutches his shirt, crumpling the fabric in her hands as she hiccups through her sobs.

It’s as if she’s back in the throne room again, waving goodbye to her parents with an uneasiness in her gut that she brushes off as a mere stomachache. That was the last time she ever saw them. The warm kiss her mother pressed against her forehead and her father’s affectionate ruffle of her hair. Those were the last forms of affection she’d ever receive from them.

She calms down after a while, having held onto Jet for dear life. She’s about to move away from him, her shaky breaths not doing much to convince him that she’s okay. She yelps, Jet picking her up in a bridal carry and walking back the way they came. 

“Put me down!”

“Calm down, princess. You’re tired.” 

She narrows her eyes into a glare, though it’s less hostile than before. Her eyes drop to his neck, stubbornly refusing to look into his eyes. She tries to move her feet but finds that she’s lost all feeling in them after having sat on them for as long as she did.

“Any more glaring, and you’re gonna burn a hole through my shirt, princess.”

“Good,” She grumbles with a huff. 

His chest shakes with a deep chuckle, her own heart warming at the sound. “Let’s get you something to eat.” She hesitates. Was this really a good idea? Maybe Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka would be worried she’d get back so late. Maybe he was actually taking her to be captured again. 

Maybe he had something else up his sleeve.

“Fine.”

The first few drops of rain snap her out of her memory, before the rest come down in full force. The rain pelts her body, droplets sliding off her hair and streaming down her face. Her entire body is soaked, and the shirt and shorts provident little protection. 

She cups her hands, the rainwater quickly gathering in a small pool. Her body feels heavy and tired, her heart filled with all sorts of emotions that crash against each other like raging waves in a vast ocean that she’ll never be able to calm. 

She stands up. She takes a deep breath, bringing her arms up into a circle and suspending the raindrops in midair when her hands meet above her head, moving to sweep her left foot in a semi-arc. 

The movement guides the water to surround her in streams, mimicking the image of a hurricane she had seen in passing during geography class. Her movements are slow and controlled, but as thoughts start to cloud her mind, they become more erratic and more emotional. 

She thrusts her right arm out to the sky, a jagged spike of ice following suit. The edge is as sharp as the hot flash of anger in her heart, anger at herself for being so helpless and pitiful in this state, anger at her parents for abandoning her, and anger directed at herself for being unable to control anything around her.

She shifts her arm back, leaving the large spike of ice as is and allowing herself to feel the next emotion: Despair. How could she even think about falling in love in a dimension that isn’t even hers? She had to leave sometime. Whatever she felt for Leo would be over before it even began. 

She despairs for a life lost, for the various that she’s seen leaving the plane of mortality in the blink of an eye. Despair for her parents. Despair for Yue. Despair for Jet. 

Despair for all the lives lost in the war. 

Despair for a love that once was. 

The water around her seems to adapt to her feelings, shifting and surrounding her in a flurry of churning, rapidly moving stream that she almost lets go of. 

Then, Fear takes hold. Her body is simply flowing along with the water, allowing herself to become one with its motions. She’s scared. She’s scared to lose the people around her. She’s scared she’ll never make it back to her home. 

She’s scared that once she takes the first step forward to confirm what she and Leo have, she’ll lose it. 

She’s scared that she’ll lose him. 

The water bubbles, drawing back and coating her body in a protective shield, leaving her face unguarded. 

All her guarded emotions finally rise to the surface. She raises her hands again, bending every drop around her to form a huge orb of water above the apartment building. 

Then in a single movement, she bends the water to become mist, letting it — and her emotions, dissipate into the morning of New York City, surrounding the buildings with heavy fog.

She sighs softly. It’s as if a huge burden has been lifted off her shoulders. She walks back down the fire escape, slipping back into April’s room and under the covers, not noticing the dirt that covers the soles of her feet and staining the white bedspreads.

She falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow, lip curved upwards into a soft smile.

Maybe she should do that more often.

— — — —

“I never understood how turtles — could be so fast!” April says between pants, breathless from the amount of running they’ve just done. Y/n nods in agreement from beside her. She could run, just not for two hours straight.

“C’mon, April! This is just the warmup,” Mikey encourages, all four turtles completely unfazed. “I’m sorry — the warmup?” Y/n echoes in disbelief, holding a finger up as she catches her breath from beside a tired April, “For two hours??”

“That’s what ninjas do. Training sometimes lasts for four–five hours at a time. Awesome, right?” 

“Awesome?” April’s baffled by how normal this is for them. “Are you kidding me? I’m gonna puke.”

“I second that motion.” Y/n raises her hand from beside her, already leaning against Donnie, who supports her with a worried smile. Her stomach turns, all her stamina spent. Her legs have zero feeling in them, barely managing to hold herself upright.

“What about a real mission?”

“It took fifteen years of training before Master Splinter let us go on a ‘real mission’. You got a long way to go, sister.” Raph scoffs, sassily dismissing April’s request.

“Not that long. A decade or two will fly by like that!” Donnie snaps his fingers to prove his point, but it only serves to heighten April’s dismay. 

“For a turtle!”

Y/n groans softly, the familiar unnerving sensation back again with full force. It had been plaguing her for the past couple of days, and she wanted to tell the rest but didn’t know how to — especially after that night when Donnie and April had both caught her kissing Leo’s cheek.

She constantly felt like she was being followed, but every time she glanced around to try and narrow it down, the feeling disappeared, as if whoever was doing so had fled. It’s back again, though - and growing more intense by the minute. 

Everyone’s voices fade into white noise. She closes her eyes, trying to focus on what exactly her instincts are trying to tell her. Her gut twists and turns as if it’s wringing itself out to dry. However, it’s tugging in a particular direction, and she opens her eyes to see April pointing in the same direction as well. 

A masked figure is hidden in the shadows, but the brightness of a neon sign reflects onto the signboard they’re hiding behind, revealing their location. They flinch at being caught, grabbing their things and running away. 

Great. More running.

She staggers to her feet with a groan, beginning to give chase. If it’s one thing she’s learnt about being watched, it’s that it never leads to a good outcome. 

Case in point: Sparky Sparky Boom Man. 

As they run to catch up to the mysterious stranger, y/n gets a better look at them now that they’re more exposed to the light. She stops at the edge of the building they’re on but pauses once she bends the water out of the water bag on her hip. She judges the distance between the two buildings, unsure if the amount of water is enough to create a bridge over. 

However, she’s hastily scooped up and pressed against a strong plastron, instinctively wrapping her arms around Leo’s neck as his own circle her waist protectively. He jumps off the building after securing a grappling hook to the next, pushing himself off the ledge and landing safely on the rooftop. 

He sets her down gently, y/n whispering her thanks softly as their gazes lock. “Make goo-goo eyes a​​​​t each other later; we got a guy to catch!” Raph rolls his eyes, the both of them flustered at suddenly being called out. 

They resume their run, though the distance between them is a bit closer than before. She reaches the edge once more, kneeling down to get a better look at the man who slips into an apartment in the opposite building. 

She allows herself to get carried over by Leo, the gesture almost second nature now. She lets go of his neck once they land on the fire escape, hands reaching out to open the window. She’s stopped, however, when Leo shakes his head, his hands holding hers and gently pushing them down. 

He produces a tool from behind his back, y/n stepping aside in understanding as he jimmies the lock open before slowly sliding it up. She’s already prepared a shield of ice in case any arrows come flying, holding it in front of them both. 

Luckily, no projectiles come flying at them. She breathes a sigh of relief but still keeps her shield up as they enter the apartment. It’s comparatively devoid of decorative furniture, a potted plant in the corner drawing her attention.

She walks over, noting how its leaves are somewhat wilted. She bends a small stream of water to soak into the soil around it, smiling when the plant looks a little livelier than before. She bends the rest of her shield back into liquid form, guiding it back into her water bag.

She hears a gasp, everyone having gathered around a board in the middle of the room. She walks over, curious as to what they’ve found, but her words fall short as soon as her eyes land on pictures of the turtles and April. 

“Uh, Y/n? You should see this.” 

She turns to Raph with raised brows, walking over to see what he’s looking at with such wide eyes. He passes her his flashlight, and she shines it onto a board that’s separate from the rest. 

“Tui’s gills….”

Pictures. 

So many pictures of her litter the board, pinned up with metal thumbtacks in a crazed organization system. Red thread connects them all haphazardly, words scribbled in red onto each. 

There’s a picture of her healing Baxter Stockman, and another of her on the rooftop with Leo. Another is of her healing people during the Kraang Invasion, while one captures her mid-laugh, eyes gleaming with happiness and her nose scrunched at a joke someone says. 

There’s also another of her slumped on the ground in the alleyway, moments away from having blood-bended. Her eyes are dark, her expression blank as blood trickles down the side of her head. Her hand is outstretched to Raph, who’s not captured in the photo, lips parted as if she’s talking to another.

Then there’s another of her with angry tears in her eyes, the close-up shot sending chills down her spine. It captured every emotion she had felt from that night — anger, helplessness, fear…

It’s unsettling. Her hands grip her arms, shuddering at the thought of someone taking all these photos of her without her knowledge. She shines the torch on the hastily scrawled words, beginning to read them.

‘Power over water?’

‘Not of this earth.’

‘Kraang mutant?’

‘The blue one.’

The sentence is scribbled next to a photo of her and Leo looking at each other with gentle smiles as if they’re in their own little bubble. His hand is brushed against hers, and the memory brings a strong heat to her entire face. She sneaks a look around, Raph having walked over to the other board where more photos of their existence are. 

She reaches up, quietly removing the thumbtack and stuffing the photo into her pocket. It’s not like she isn’t creeped out by the photo — It is incredibly weird and unsettling after all. 

But she kinda liked that one.

She shines her torch on the left side of the board, catching a few messily written words on another piece of paper. She moves the torch to shine on it, her breath hitching in her chest when she reads it. 

‘Possible affinity with blood?’

Sudden light-headedness strikes through her head like a shard of pain, her breathing stuttering in her chest. She takes a step back. The red ink starts to bleed, dripping down the pictures of her with a crimson red that both draws her in and terrifies her to her core.

A loud slam draws her attention to Raph, who holds the stranger that followed them to the wall in an aggressive chokehold, his sai pressed to his throat with the intention to intimidate. She shakes her head and blinks rapidly, her racing heart doing nothing to calm how rattled she is.

“Don’t hurt me, I’m a friend!” 

“Stalker’s more like it.” Raph scoffs.

“After all these months, finally face to face with the talking ninja turtles and April O’Neil herself. Even the Water Whisperer, Y/n.” He takes a step toward Y/n with his hands outstretched to grab her shoulders. Leo instantly moves to protect her, drawing his katana and pointing it at the man, who takes a step back, hands raised in surrender.

“You better start talking, pal. What’s with the photos? Who are you?” Leo’s aggressiveness seems to make the man start talking, eyeing his sword nervously.

“The name’s Kurtzman. I was a journalist on the case of the missing scientist last year. Then I discovered something much bigger.” 

He moves to turn on the light, using his arm to sweep off scattered papers and the mug on his desk. He faces them with a book, placing it down on the desk with a thud. “The Kraang.”

He begins to explain, opening the book and showing the research and pictures inside. “The alien infiltration is long-lived. Ancient, in fact. The Kraang have been trying to use the mutagen to terra-form our planet for thousands of years. But they couldn’t use the mutagen in our universe without a specific chain of human DNA. They spent millennia capturing people. Shaping humankind’s genetic code until finally….” 

He lifts up a picture of a baby, and April inhales sharply when she sees it. “That’s me.”

“Your mother was taken by The Kraang before you were born. Then, she was experimented on.” He flips to a family picture of April and her parents. April’s eyes are filled with pure shock, discovering new information about her family for the first time. 

“My mom was experimented on?”

“That’s why you’re so special, April. Your DNA can perfect the mutagen in this dimension.” Kurtzman reveals. 

“I-I think I need to sit down.” April slumps against a chest of drawers, holding her head as she processes everything he’s said. Y/n, on the other hand, has questions. She takes a step towards the man who’s been spying on them. 

“What do you mean when you called me ‘Water Whisperer’?” She questions, her arms crossed defensively across her chest. 

“Because you can control water! I couldn’t believe it at first, but once I saw those bridges made of ice, and the streams of water you surround yourself with, I knew at once you had some sort of power over it. There’s something I’ve been dying to ask, though.”

“What is it?”

“Well, it’s a fact that the human body consists of up to sixty percent water, with over ninety percent of it making up blood. So theoretically, wouldn’t it be possible that-”

He’s cut off with a single flick of her wrist, a small stream of water instantly covering his mouth and y/n freezing it in a split second. He’s effectively silenced, all four turning to look at her in shock. Her eyes are cold, her outstretched fist that’s aimed at Kurtzman a silent threat. 

“If you complete that sentence, your mouth isn’t going to be the only thing frozen.” 

The promise rings through the quiet room, and she unclenches her fist, bending the water back into its liquid state and back to her side, though the threat reminds everyone exactly how capable she is.

Leo’s about to say something – to check if she’s okay, when the door is slammed open by three disguised Kraang bots. They enter the room with their blasters, armed and ready to fire.

“They found me,” Kurtzman says, his voice filled with fear, “I don’t know how, but they found me.”

“Kraang, the human known as ‘Kurtzman’ has allied himself with the ones called the ‘turtles’, who are turtles.” The bot on the left says.

“Observe, Kraang. Disintegrate first, capture for interrogation later.” The bot on the right says.

All three start firing, beginning to spread out. Y/n’s lips curve up into an empty grin. “You came just in time. I have a few frustrations to take care of.” She jumps out of the way from a blast that’s aimed at her, letting out a cry as she moves her arms in a small arc, bending the water out of her water bag and crafting a spear of ice in an instant. 

She sends it flying at the Kraang bot that’s firing at both her and Mikey, the latter throwing two ninja stars that embed itselves into the gun and its eye, while her spear pierces its abdomen. She hears a sharp squeal of pain that goes quiet after, the bot no longer moving to get up. 

She waves her arm dismissively, bending the water back into its liquid state and reusing it. It’s tinged pink now, having pierced through the Kraang’s very being. She regards it with nonchalance, levitating it above her hand with her fingers around it. 

“Y/n, watch out!” 

Leo’s about to make a move to stab the bot that’s moving behind her but falters in his steps once she turns at his cry and sends the spear through the Kraang in the middle. It leaves a gaping hole through the pink flesh, the bot falling to her feet. 

“Retreat!” Raph cries out as more of the Kraang begin to enter the apartment. They escape through the window, y/n groaning in annoyance when Kurtzman doesn’t make his exit. He flounders, trying to get to his notebook. The Kraang refuse to allow him to get near it, firing away at him. 

She’s so close to just leaving him there. But she sighs, grabbing the back of his collar and pulling him back with as much force as she can muster, falling out the window. 

She’s miscalculated his weight, and they both hurtle toward the ground at a terrifying rate. She doesn’t scream, the sound caught in her chest and only a choked exhale escaping. Was this how she would die? Saving an idiot?

She vaguely feels something circle around her leg, and it tightens when they’re inches away from meeting the pavement. They dangle upside down, and she looks down to see Mikey above them, holding on with all his strength using his nunchucks to secure both her and Kurtzman.

He slowly lowers them to the ground, and she collapses onto the ground, releasing Kurtzman’s collar. She stands back up with a grunt, dusting off the dirt on her clothes and ignoring the man’s pained cries. The creep could take care of himself.

“This way, move!” Leo orders after giving y/n a quick glance over to check if she’s injured. He looks away as soon as he confirms that she isn’t, his eyes hardening. His main priority is to get all of them out, unharmed.

They’re about to leave, but a van screeches to a halt, blocking their means of escape. The doors open, and the Kraang step out in spider-like robots. The clawed ends clatter against the pavement, the sound sending a chill down her spine.

A large blaster is revealed when the front panel moves aside, and they start to fire at everyone around. “This way!” Y/n cries out, gesturing for everyone to leave through the other side of the alleyway. Donnie ushers them into the secret entrance installed that leads to the garage, all of them piling into the ShellRaiser before Leo starts the engine up and drives it to the surface.

“Everyone, brace yourselves!” Leo calls out a single warning, y/n grabbing the closest thing to her, which is a handle attached to the wall of the van.

“Here’s the plan. We’ll infiltrate T.C.R.I. Then, we’ll wipe out all the ingo the Kraang have on April and her DNA.” Kurtzman suggests.

“T.C.R.I? I thought you guys blew that place up.” April points out. Donnie stiffens slightly at the reminder, glancing at y/n who doesn’t notice.

Leo drives to a safer area, everyone getting out and staring at the large building a short distance away in disbelief. “They rebuilt T.C.R.I? Raph mutters.

“We break in, erase April’s DNA codes, and get out. Infiltration only.” Leo orders in a hushed whisper.

“Le’s do this,” April clenches her hands into fists, ready to take action. 

“Great. You and Kurtzman stay outside on lookout.”

“Stay outside? On lookout?” April’s incredibly offended, her hands on her hips. 

“No problem. Take this,” Kurtzman rifles through his pockets, taking out a card and handing it to Leo. “It’s a key card I stole from one of their vans. It’ll get you into T.C.R.I.”

“I can be lookout.” Y/n volunteers, giving her friend a half grin. She shrugs at Leo’s baffled expression. “Hey, give her a chance. It’s the least you can do after you left me behind that night.”

Leo’s wounded expression makes her inhale sharply. She couldn’t help being salty over it still, having felt hurt that they excluded her. “Be careful out there, April.” She cautions her friend.

“Fine,” Leo caves in easily, unable to fight back against her. “Thanks Mr Kurtzman. Look after her.” He says sternly, casting one last worried glance over his shoulder as he leaves with April and the rest. 

Y/n raises a brow. Just who was protecting who, here?

She’s left alone with Kurtzman, who she can see in her peripheral, is just itching to ask her questions. His eager eyes make her sigh, caving in. “What is it?” 

“I just have a few questions. How did you receive your powers? Do you communicate with water? What exactly are your limits? How many phase changes can you make? Do you ever get dehydrated?”

She feels as if she’s a blueprint being studied by Sokka.

“I was born with waterbending. I don’t communicate with water, no. I feel the flow and simply guide it to the results I wish to produce.” She demonstrates using a simple stream of water from her water bag to wrap around her arm in a spiral, Kurtzman watching in fascination and awe. 

“I can change it to be mist or even ice. And yes, I do get dehydrated if I don’t drink enough water. There was a time when I was in the desert and was really tempted to drink cactus juice.” 

“Oh,” He sounds genuinely surprised at the last answer. He hesitates. “About my question from earlier….” 

Y/n tenses, shooting him a glare that tells him to stop. But he pushes on, determined to find an answer. “Doesn’t this mean you can control people’s bodies?”

He waits for an answer, wishing he had a piece of paper to jot everything down. She takes a shaky breath, trying to steel herself. “Mr. Kurtzman. I do not know why you want to know this information, and nor do I plan to reveal it to you. Consider yourself lucky that none of them are around right now, or I would have frozen your entire being right here for speaking of such things.”

“Is that a yes?” 

Her gaze darkens. This man is treading very, very thin ice. “It is a taboo power. A dark one I wish I never knew. Some things, Mr. Kurtzman, are better left unanswered.”

A moment of silence passes, y/n leaning against the wall and mulling over her own thoughts when Mr. Kurtzman speaks up again. “Maybe we should secure a van for their escape.” He suggests.

She moves to stand flat on her feet, nodding in agreement. “How about that one?” He points out a van a few feet away. They make their way over, Kurtzman jimmying the lock smoothly with ease. 

She regards him with a mildly impressed nod. He rubs the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. “Had to secure a few getaway cars myself when investigating the Kraang.”

She sits in the passenger seat, Kurtzman sitting behind the wheel and hotwiring the engine. It starts with a purr, and he sits back up with a satisfied smile. She hears the sound of doors being smashed open, looking at T.C.R.I. to see the four running away from a crowd of Kraang that are chasing after them.

Kurtzman holds down the gas pedal, y/n yelping as the van suddenly moves. They screech to a stop in front of the five making their escape, y/n opening the door. “Get in!” She urges. They pile into the vehicle, Leo shutting the door behind them as Kurtzman drives off.

“What happened? Why is April dressed like that?” She has so many questions, but none get answered as the driver laughs loudly, gleeful at escaping the Kraang.

“Thanks for the save, Mr. Kurtzman.” She had to hand it to him; Leo was anything if not polite.

“I owed you one! So, did you wipe out the Kraang computers?” 

“We did, by the skin of our noses.” Donnie shrugs.

“The only reason we survived was because of April. Whatever you did back there saved us all.”

“I have no clue what I did,” April sighs, clinging to her friend’s arm for emotional support. Y/n pats the top of her head softly, offering comfort in whatever way she can. “I was freaking out and then zap. The Kraang were toast.”

The van slows to a stop, and Leo opens the door for everyone to exit. “Well, I’m off. Somebody’s gotta keep an eye on the Kraang. Let me know if you need my expertise again, you know where to find me.” He hands Leo his card.

“And uh, blue one.” Leo’s about to walk off with the rest, April filling y/n in as they walk back to their apartment. Kurtzman gestures for him to come close, and he obediently leans in. He sees Kurtzman hesitate, looking at y/n in case she overhears. 

“Here’s a piece of advice. Watch out for the Water Whisperer. Remember the question I wanted to ask earlier? Remind your brainiac brother about it if you want to stay safe. 

You have no idea what she’s capable of.”

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Day Eighteen, Brennan/All (pt. 2)

CHPowers Hub, < prev, next >

Here’s the second part! The escape continues! I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride to get us here ((: Thanks for all the kudos and I hope you guys will find other things I write with these guys just as entertaining. I can’t thank you guys enough for stopping by and following my silly little mess. Enjoy the ending!

Word Count: 2220

Chapter TWs: Implied/Referenced Experimentation, Aftermath of Psychological Torture, Violence, Death/KOs, Arson

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“Where the hell are all these guys coming from?” Brennan complained, gunning down another backup scientist who appeared around the corner.

“They are strangely well armed for scientists.” Lou agreed, a chunk of wall flying to slam the other of the pair into a nearby wall and crush him completely.

“Maybe it's because of how dangerous you are.” Brennan suggested, smirking a little as Lou shot him a look with raised eyebrows.

“Oh, so this is my fault?”

Clearly exasperated with their bickering, Murph ignored them and swiped the ID badge from Brennan to open the room next to Lou’s to see what—or who—was inside.

“Oh, hello!” The girl inside greeted immediately, long dark hair pulled out of her face in a high ponytail that showed off the electrodes stuck to her temples.

“Em…” Murph trailed off, breathing a sigh of relief as he ran inside and began to detach Emily from the monitoring machines beside her.

“Lovebirds, yes or no.” Lou whispered to Brennan as the two stood guard in the hallway, Brennan immediately grinning.

“Absolutely yes.” He agreed, watching Emily pull Murph into a huge hug as she stood up out of the chair she was in. “No question.”

“Yup, that’s what I was thinking.”

“Alright! Let’s burn this place to the fucking ground!” Emily cheered as she jogged out of the room, Murph hot on her heels.

As the four grouped up in the middle of the hallway, the lights shut off and a blaring alarm sounded from directly above their heads. Backup lights powered on to shed a dim glow over everything, save for the swirling red light on the ceiling. 

Emily frowned, placing one hand to her temple and focusing until a small discarded side-arm from one of the dead soldiers flew up into the alarm and cracked the glass, the red light vanishing and the noise dying out in a high pitched squeal. The other three turned to look at her in surprise, covering their heads as broken glass rained down on them from above.

“I just learned how to do that the other day!” Emily grinned happily, the grin a little sinister as she clapped her hands together excitedly. 

“Good to know.” Murph’s face was bright red as he managed to tear his gaze away from her, gesturing vaguely at himself and mumbling, “Uh, danger sense.”

“I can locate and displace.” Brennan chimed in, noticing his friend’s flustered state and poking his side teasingly only to get a hard shove in response.

“I throw shit.” Lou took the look Emily shot him as prompting, shrugging lazily. “Oh, and I can take a lot of hits.”

“Awesome!” Emily cheered, before her grin started to slowly fade into a worried frown. “But… have we not found Zac yet?”

“Not yet.” Brennan sighed, glancing at the last two unopened doors in the hallway. “You two were closest, and Lou said ages ago that he had good offensive ability. But he’s gotta be around here somewhere.”

“We haven’t properly heard from him in three days, unless whatever stunt he pulled yesterday counts.” Emily pointed out, the other three sharing a quick, anxious glance. “I’m worried.”

“Me too, but we have more incoming.” Murph sighed, motioning towards the hallway by Brennan and Lou’s rooms. “That comes first, then we find and help him.”

It was two more squads of four—this time making up a pack of eight—that charged down the hall towards them. Brennan dropped to a crouch half-behind a chunk of floor Lou had discarded and sprayed a wide line of bullets to push the oncoming guards back, allowing Lou to sandwich them between the wall and the chunks he could control and Emily to telekinetically slam them into each other by their weapons as Murph slid forward to come up next to Brennan and offer more coverfire for the other two. None of the eight in the hall ever quite managed to break their line of decently coordinated defense, the bullets they fired off either missing widely or hitting a stray chunk of wall instead of their intended targets. As soon as all of them were dead or critically injured on the floor, Murph got the ID badge back out and ran for the room next to his, swiping it against the scanner as the other three kept an eye out but hurried to follow.

“Zac…?” Murph’s voice stuck in his throat as they got the door open, freezing in place as he finally got a look at the friend who’d originally gotten them all together. “Zac!”

Lying on the floor in the middle of a completely padded and sound-proofed cell was a lanky man with dark hair that had to be Zac, shivering on the floor with eyes screwed closed and hands clamped over his ears. A faint static was humming constantly in the walls, Zac unresponsive as Emily rushed past Murph to check that he was—in fact—still alive. 

Lou, Brennan, and Murph shared a fast yet knowing look as Emily tried desperately to coax Zac back to consciousness, the freezing air blowing out through the open door into the hallway.

This place was going to burn.

“Too… loud…” Zac mumbled, Emily instantly going quiet and looking back at the other three for help as his voice cracked with an overused hoarseness and tears began to slide down his face. “Make… it stop…!”

“The static.” Brennan was the first one to put it together, looking to Murph in alarm. “You said he's got good hearing, it must be—”

“We have to get him out of there.” Murph rushed inside instantly, dropping to his knees beside Zac and hovering uncertainly over him, trying to figure out how best to pick him up. 

Why’s he have to be so lanky?

“Well, we need to hurry.” Lou sighed impatiently from the doorway, though his eyes betrayed his worry. “We don’t have long until they come back.”

“Yeah, but getting him back on his feet is the priority right now.” Brennan shook his head, backing up into the hallway as Murph managed to pry one of Zac’s hands off of his head to sling over his shoulders. “We need all the help we can get.”

“Please… stop yelling…” Zac mumbled, his head lolling sluggishly off to one side as Murph got them both to their feet, Emily letting Murph brace himself on her shoulder. Brennan and Lou looked at each other and instantly went quiet, backing away further and letting Murph help walk him out slowly, not liking the odd fog in his eyes.

The instant Zac was out of the threshold of the room, he jolted mostly awake as every nerve in his body lit up at the same time and shot nothing but agonizing pain up to his already overloaded brain. He could feel the way Murph was breathing through the mere graze of his arm over his shoulders, the light a blinding flashbang of white as the faint humming of a distant air conditioner roared like a jet engine in his ears, bleach shooting its way up his nose and every fiber of his body screaming loud enough he felt he could hear his cells self-destructing—

“MAKE IT STOP!”

Murph felt Zac fall the instant before he did, catching him by the shoulders as he reached up to claw aimlessly at his head with a loud scream. In the same instant Emily crouched in front of him and Brennan and Lou glanced down the hallway to make sure they had the moment alone, Murph felt his eye twitch with the familiar odd itch of—

“Everyone get down!”

The ID reader in front of Zac’s door was the first to blow, sending shatters of plastic and wires in every direction alongside a pungent puff of smoke as Brennan and Lou ducked their heads. As soon as they hit the floor every other reader down the hallway crackled and exploded, the smell of burnt plastic and smoke filling the hall as the doors all malfunctioned and slid open.

Zac was hyperventilating in a heap on the floor as Murph and Emily stared at him in a mix of concern and panic as his eyes slid closed and he properly collapsed.

“...did you know he could do that?” Brennan asked after a moment of tense silence, coughing a little from the smoke.

“Not a clue.” Murph replied quietly, glancing down the hall to see the full extent of the damages. “I just thought he could hear really well.”

“Yeah, I think it might be a little bit more than that.” Lou chimed in sarcastically, Brennan, Murph, and Emily all shooting him a similar glare at the same time. “I’m just sayin!”

“We need to get him out of here.” Murph carefully got to his feet, letting Emily help him haul Zac up as well. “We all need to get out of here. Now.”

Brennan kept his place at the front of the group, Lou right behind him as Emily and Murph balanced Zac between them and headed down through the dimly lit halls away from where the lab rooms were. Brennan seemed all too comfortable in his stance with the weapon, turning each corner muzzle first to hopefully catch any oncoming guards unprepared.

He suddenly stopped the group as they found a flight of stairs leading down, turning and opening a lab door right across from it. He turned a wide grin back to Lou, who returned it as they both recognized the tubes full of explosive gas at the same time.

“Get Zac into the stairwell.” Brennan instructed Emily, waving for Murph to go after her. “Cover them. We’ll be right behind you.”

“Be careful.” Murph nodded uncertainly, heading into the stairwell with Emily now carrying Zac behind him, thankful that the stairwell was clear for the moment. Lou kept watch of the stairwell door as Brennan reloaded with one of the spare magazines he’d picked up along the way, standing as far back from the door as he could before firing a few well-placed shots and disappearing with Lou through the stairwell door.

The walls shook as the five hurried down the stairs, the explosion loud enough that Zac groaned and blinked his eyes open, mumbling something that only Emily could hear.

“It’s alright. Nobody’s yelling, honey.” She shushed gently, helping him get his feet under him before guiding him through some deep breaths. “Just breathe for me.”

“I know we gotta get him conscious, but we don’t have a lot of time.” Lou’s ever present grin finally turned a little nervous as he looked at the two. “We definitely started a fire that will not wait for us to get out.”

“I’ll… be good.” Zac managed after a minute, Emily smiling and letting him still support his weight over her shoulders. “Just… lot to process. All good.”

“‘All good’?” Murph questioned, deadpan. “You were passed out dead and when we got you out you blew up the hallway.”

“...yeah, like I said. All good.” Zac cracked a weak smile, Murph rolling his eyes before motioning for everyone to follow him down the stairs. The few guards they ran into on the first floor were easy enough to take out between the two armed with guns, Lou tearing chunks out of the wall and floor, and Emily playing with them like ragdolls before they burst out what seemed to be the front doors and out onto an empty city street.

They ran down the block, trying to put distance between them and the building before taking a moment to catch their breath, Murph and Brennan not quite ready to discard their weapons.

“Are we… good now?” Lou asked breathlessly, watching Emily help Zac sit down on the sidewalk.

“Yeah, I think so.” Murph answered after a moment, before looking back towards the inconspicuous office building that now had flames blazing out of the fourth floor windows. “Wow, that’s a serious fire.”

“Feels good to know we did that.” Brennan grinned, hands on his knees. “Hell yeah it does!” Emily cheered from the ground, basking in the cold moonlight.

“Can I… sleep now?” Zac asked, his words a little slurred and eyes already drooping closed.

“Yeah, you can.” Smiling, Emily set Zac’s head in her lap and gently patted him. “Go ahead and take a break.”

“Thanks...” He trailed off, quickly passing back out.

“Where to now?” Emily asked, looking up at the other three curiously. “Other than the fact we should get away from here before the fire department shows up.”

“I think we should maybe stick together for the time being?” Murph suggested, all of the others glancing at each other and nodding in agreement. “Just to be safe.”

“That’s a good idea.” Brennan paused, thinking for a moment, before offering, “I may have some old friends that could help us.”

“Then what are you waiting for?!” Lou grabbed him by the shoulders, half out of excitement and half out of the pure adrenaline still coursing through him from the not-yet-finished escape.

Brennan shook his hands off, raising his eyebrows. “A phone?” 

“Oh. Sorry, just got excited there.” Lou mumbled sheepishly, Murph letting out one more exasperated sigh before picking Zac up out of Emily’s lap and motioning for them to follow him.

“Let’s just go.”

[simpingforthisonedeer]

Chapter 2: The War Room

Summary:  You'll learn more abt Aika and Julius gets some time in the spotlight and shows off his military genius :)))

Notes:  Like in BC canon, everyone's like omggg hes such an amazing wizard king who brings us so many victories!!! but we never actually see any of his ideas and plans? So i've decided to showcase that in this fic

A week later, Aika hummed a playful tune as she planted a few wisteria trees around the Magic Knights Headquarters. Lord Raymond, the current Wizard King, was planning a stressful military campaign against another imminent invasion from the Diamond Kingdom so Aika planted a few trees for him to enjoy whenever he relaxed in the gardens to get away from work.

Aika had helped Lord Raymond with foreign matters over the years and had grown to become good friends with the older man. It was only by accident that they found that his dead younger brother was Aika’s father. 

Years ago, she was selling paintings her father had painted before he died and in curiosity, Raymond came to the pseudo-art show. When he noticed the artist’s name and signature, he knew it was his brother. Needless to say, Aika was ecstatic. She had lost her entire family at sixteen and finding family again nearly two decades later was like a dream come true.

Though she was his niece, her experience and information from other kingdoms was something Lord Raymond highly valued and since Aika needed a cover for her work. So she worked as an unofficial consultant to him. She would rather not be paid by her own family.

She stood up as she dusted the dirt from her knees. Aika curled her toes to grip and grass and tightly clasped the plant stone in her right palm. She took a deep breath in, spread her arms out towards the little grove and pushed her magic into the seeds and willed them to grow.

She couldn’t grow plants quickly with Time Magic alone because she would have to accelerate the day-night cycle and provide the plants with constant water and nutrition, theoretically speaking. But Plant Magic, on the other hand, doesn’t have such limitations and plants could grow just with magic alone with extra magical properties. Absolutely fascinating stuff.

Aika had noted that Time and Plant magic shared similar properties because during her studies, she had found that magic wasn’t a catalyst in some Plant Mages cases but actually accelerated time while providing all that the plant needed to grow. In other Plant mages’ cases, most notably the ones who grew plants slower, the magic only acts as an accelerant with no time magic in play.

Aika dodged as a clump of hard dirt nearly hit her in the face when the trees sprouted and rose rapidly. She watched with a small smile as the vine-like branches grew and sprouted wisteria flowers that shone in the afternoon sun. She had no doubt that they would glow in the night as well.

“Miss Aika!” her guard’s voice yelled out.

“I’m fine!” she yelled back as she adjusted her sun hat.

“No, Miss Aika,” he ran to her side. “The Wizard King wants you in the Captain’s Conference room immediately.”

“Oh? Did he say what for, Evan?” Aika adjusted her plaid skirt.

“He said it’s time you were brought in,” Evan gave her a knowing look. Aika sighed. Today was going to be a long day. At least this meant that she didn’t have to wear that god-awful amulet that made people forget her.

“Alright, thank you. Take the rest of the day off. I’m sorry I can’t join you, Ellie and Jayce tonight.”

“Yes, ma’am and it’s alright. The trees look really beautiful by the way.”

“Thank you, Evan.”

She turned and looked up at the Headquarters Tower with a squint.

It’s time, huh? Is it really that serious, Uncle Ray? Aika thought as she slipped into her heels.

She slid her backpack on and waved ‘bye’ to her guard as she flew to the arched, slightly open, clover windows of the conference room. She hid her mana and flew a little to the side of the windows and peeked in. 

Her Uncle had his back to her as he faced seven captains. By the way he was gesticulating at Lord Silva, the Silver Eagles Captain, Aika could tell he was getting impatient for some reason. The walls and tables were strewn with papers blotted with inks of various colors. The rest of the Captains were in deep discussion in varying states of distress, no doubt about the upcoming confrontation with the Diamond kingdom.

She looked around at the Captains for one particular one. Her eyes met Julius’ and she grinned openly. She gave him a hesitant wave at the confused tilt of his head. Maybe he forgot her? A few Captains looked her way along with Julius, suspicious of the woman by the window.

Aika quickly sobered as she lightly touched the window. She wasn’t here for him. Maybe she’ll talk to him after whatever her Uncle needed her to do. He had been plaguing her mind for days , like who gave him permission to do that? Maybe another sit down with him will reveal something about him that will annoy her nitpicking self and she will completely stop idealizing him. Yeah, that’s a good idea.

She slipped between the windows and into the room, as quiet as a breeze. All the captains except Julius and Captain Vermillion stood and moved to attack but Lord Raymond whipped his head around and motioned the Captains to stop.

“Why use the window when there is a perfectly serviceable door, Aika?” her Uncle asked in a bored voice.

“Why use the door when there is a perfectly serviceable window, sir?” She retorted as she took off her hat with a flourish. He shook his head with a scoff.

“Enough with the cheek.”

“Yes, sir.”

Aika clasped her hands and clicked her heels together as she turned to the conference table where all the standing Captains sat down slowly, all eyes on her. They all might’ve seen her around the Magic Knights Headquarters, sitting on the floor in the hallways or in the gardens with a bunch of books and papers scattered haphazardly around her or running around with maids and guards but they would’ve all forgotten about her, thanks to her amulet. And she hasn’t been in the Clover Kingdom in a couple years so she doesn’t expect anyone except Captain Vermilion to remember her.

She had always worked behind the scenes on this continent, running her businesses, private clandestine services, professional development, etc, so she had to stay lowkey to protect her identity and her work. But when she needed to continue her work without arousing suspicion and provide information to the next Wizard King, she needed to step up into the spotlight once again, at least until some trust was established. A spy network was incredibly valuable to her Uncle and his agenda to clean up the criminal underworld from the worst of its traits like slavery, forced prostitution, anti-monarchist movements, and apocalyptic cults. 

But Aika herself had personal value for her strategies, diplomacy, connections, and experience in foreign warfare. And so, here she was, her position and identity exposed along with her physique too coincidentally, in the tight, black sweater and thigh length skirt she wore.

The price I pay for trying to feel sexy today.

She was pleased to note Julius’ eyes roving over her with a small smile. She winked when his eyes met hers. He looked away with a small blush. Aika wouldn’t mind working with such delicious eye candy.

“This is Aika Tolliver,” Raymond began as he faced the Captains. “She will help us pinpoint which General will be attacking us this time and where.”

“Who is she, exactly?” The Purple Orcas’ captain asked as she leaned forward, her gray eyes scrutinizing her.

“Her curriculum vitae is irrelevant,” Raymond sat down in his chair with a heavy sigh. “What she knows and what she can do for us is the only thing we’re going to discuss today.”

“Gosh, is he like this all the time?” Aika asked jokingly as she leaned on the table and crossed her arms. While she won’t outright tell them that she was his niece, if he was going to bring her in front of the captains, she was definitely going to have a lot of fun implicating all sorts of things that will leave the captains confused about who she is to the Wizard King. 

“Aika, not the time.”

“Alright, alright,” she set her hat down on his desk with an amused smile and took out a leather-bound notebook and a fountain pen. She looked up at the captains with a mild look.

“Long story short, I’m an off-the-record tactical strategist who helps Lord Raymond every now and then,” Aika looked down and flipped through the pages of her notebook as she continued. “I didn’t want my name to be known for my own privacy and the safety of my assets. That’s why I was never brought in but I assume the situation is dire if Master Raymond wanted to bring me in front of the captains.”

Said captains stayed silent as they processed the vague information. Aika looked apologetically at Julius. For all Julius knew, she lied to him but he shrugged and shook his head with a small smile.

“So what is the issue here?” She quickly skimmed the papers next to her. There were several different combinations of squads that could be dispatched but it was all useless if they didn’t know which general or generals they would be facing. In her opinion, they should bring down the hammer and send out all the squads and end this mess once and for all. “I’ve already told Master Raymond what generals and where and I’ve given him the maps of the location of the fortress their brigades have relocated to. I've also said when. They are going to execute their plan next Saturday.”

“Captain Silva here doesn’t believe me,” Raymond crossed his arms and glared at the silver-haired man.

“Well, now it’s even worse,” Silva slammed his fist on the table. “because your information comes from a dubious source we have never heard of!” he barked, spittle flying as he pointed an accusing finger at Aika. Raymond was about to retort but Aika only hummed thoughtfully at his outraged face. 

She knew Captain Silva and Uncle Raymond had a fierce rivalry because they both had Water Magic, but it should’ve ended when her Uncle became the Magic Emperor. But Captain Silva still seemed to hold a grudge and Aika also knew that he had become severely depressed and irritable after Lady Acier’s death and the stress of this war was really getting to him so she bit back a reflexively cutting remark. She took the diplomatic route instead.

“I definitely understand where you’re coming from but I can assure you that this information is from our spies in the Diamond Kingdom.”

“Lies! We don’t have any spies in the Diamond Kingdom!”

Julius quickly moved to interject when he noticed Aika’s cheek twiched in annoyance. A verbal smackdown like the one he got that night wouldn’t be received well by the proud captain. He saw how easily she shrugged off the pressure he put on her, so he wasn’t taking any chances with an actual confrontation.

“Well, let’s not get hasty,” he addressed the captains gently. He turned to Aika and quickly masked a smile when her face lit up. “Even if we did have spies, the information they’ve given us is wrong. We destroyed the South Fortress last month and Lord Raymond told us that two brigades have relocated to the South Fortress which I assume is the information from our ‘spies.’”

“You assumed correctly, Julius.” His lips twitched up at being addressed so familiarly in front of everyone. “And forgive Master Raymond for not clarifying, he’s just a little sleep-deprived,” she pursed her lips when the captains threw her confused looks at that causal comment. “They’ve moved their operations in the former South Fortress to a black site previously used for human experimentation and other R&D.”

Silence fell over them. Human experiments. While the captains were aware, being reminded of what they had read in the reports of said experiments sickened them. 

Aika quietly flipped through her notebook.

“Here it says that Generals Hennequin and Allard have mobilized their forces into the black site, now called the South Fortress.”

“And how can we know for sure,” Julius began mutely. “That what you are saying is true?”

“I’ve been working for the Wizard King for years, providing him with information regarding foreign matters—”

“And don’t forget about unsolicited advice on domestic ones,” Her Uncle’s muffled voice quipped, unaffected by the mention of human experiments. She threw a mocking glare at his head which was now buried in his arms.

“And most of the information I was given was accurate and useful. We take very good care of our assets so malicious betrayal and misinformation is incredibly rare. I can assure you that this information is accurate.”

Julius and the other briefly scrutinized her for any tells that she was lying and were satisfied that they didn’t find any. While they believed her, they were still wary. Aika sighed.

“Now, if we’re done discussing whether facts are actually facts, let’s get back to the planning. We can’t agree on what squads to send,” Raymond groused as he pushed maps of movements that a trio of squads will follow towards Aika. Each map was a different combination of 3 squads and movements and attack sequences. It was all on the surface. But Aika left her Uncle notes in his folder last night about new intel. The two Diamond generals purchased rights to build exclusive tunnels to the Main Channels from the black site which was underground, the Main Channels that lead directly into the Common Realm in the Clover Kingdom.

Aika suppressed the fear that struck her heart and turned to glare at her Uncle for real this time. He didn’t look at the notes she had left and now he was making completely wrong moves. The wrong moves that would cost many civilian lives.

“Master Raymond,” she nearly growled. “I assume you haven’t looked at the new intel and notes I left last night?”

He glared back.

“What new intel?”

“New intel saying that the Diamond Generals bought rights to tunnel into the Main Channels from the black site.”

“What?!”

She sifted through his papers and found the thin folder and showed him the notes and explained the situation.

“So there would most likely be a fight on the surface for a distraction while they invade us through the tunnels, meaning more than two brigades will attack us.”

Aika nodded gravely.

“I’m sorry, what are these tunnels and channels you’re talking about?” The captain of the Praying Mantis, Marcus, asked. A few others nodded, confused as well.

Captain Vermillion cleared his throat to draw attention to him. He sat up straight and his deep voice rang clearly through the room,

“They are talking about The Innkeeper’s Tunnels. The Innkeeper is a neutral, underground organization that provides safe houses indiscriminately. And in order to get to the safe houses, the Innkeeper had built a tunnel system. This tunnel system was built centuries ago and today it’s also used for underground travel, trade, and the black market, across the continent. It is the only way we trade for magic gems with the Diamond Kingdom because of the current hostilities,” He turned to Aika. “I don’t believe The Innkeeper would allow them to send brigades through the tunnels.”

Aika masked her surprise that he even addressed her. He had completely and deliberately cut her off after she broke up with one of his children and now he was talking to her all of a sudden?

Despite his surprising behavior, Aika agreed with his explanation. She remembered when she tailed him on his frequent missions to the criminal underworld so he knew what he was talking about.

“I agree, The Innkeeper wouldn’t allow them, but they have no real means to stop them. They don’t have a private army and the magical barriers won’t hold against two whole brigades.”

“Then they will call in a favor.”

“From who?”

Captain Vermillion leveled his gaze at her.

“From you.”

“No,” Aika said with absolute finality. He raised an eyebrow as she bristled. 

“‘No, they won’t ask,’ or ‘No, you won’t do it?’” He knew she wouldn’t and did he really need to bring up her past here?

“No to both, Leonardo,” Raymond cut in with a scowl and changed the topic. “We need to be ready to face them under and over, and that means all squads need to roll out.”

“Actually,” Julius interjected. “We should leak the information that we know,” he suggested. The captains turned to Julius, not surprised by his unorthodox idea. He may be the youngest of the captains at the table at nearly thirty-six years old, but he was also the smartest and the strongest. His unexpectedly brilliant ideas and the strategic way he built his squad left no doubt that he would be a great military leader as The Magic Emperor.

“Why would we do that?” Captain Silva asked as he pressed his fingers to his temples, knowing full well that there was a good explanation coming.

“Because this plan to use the underground tunnels would only work if we are unaware. If they know that we know, and that we would come prepared to the tunnels, they will change their plans. They will think that their element of surprise and lack of resistance is gone, so their chances of winning decreased. And since they don’t know that we leaked it, they would think that we put our squads underground for their ‘attack.’ So they will put their troops on land or air to take us on.”

“But instead,” Aika began quietly as his idea became clear. “we will be prepared to attack with the full weight of our army above ground and overwhelm them completely, giving us a chance to negotiate a ceasefire.”

“No,” Julius laced his fingers together with a cool expression. “We demand a surrender.”

Notes:  Julius is lowkey scary in canon and i plan to show more of that in this fic. The end was just a lil taste, but in battle? oooooh I can't wait to write ruthless Julius ;))))

oh and yall should read the hashtags in the posts. There’s info abt next chap in them:)

[everythingnerdyxoxo]

Fake-Out Make-Out - Chapter One - Danny Phantom x Sam

Summary: After their fake kiss Danny had a lot of new thoughts about Sam, would she reciprocate them? Or were they really just friends?

Pairing: Danny Phantom x Sam

Chapter One

Things had been awkward since the kiss. A fake kiss but still a kiss. Tucker had been reminding them of it since he found out. Sam hadn’t been able to look him in the eye since, was she blushing?

He and Sam had been friends for a long time now, he knew she was a girl but never really saw her like that. Since the kiss thought it had been hard not to notice, everything about her seemed different to him now, she was beautiful, he knew that but saw her differently now.

All this time he had been so focused on Paulina that he didn’t see what was right in front of him.

The next day at school he saw Sam at her locker, this would be the day. He was gonna talk to her about the kiss, maybe she was thinking the same thing as him.

‘Hey Sam, what’s up?’

‘Danny, hey not much! Just worrying about this quiz, we have first lesson.’ She stumbled over her words a bit, a cute habit she had.

‘Yeah…’ he took her in, her appearance, the way she played with hair and fumbled around in her locker.

‘Danny? Are you okay?’ a faint blush was on her cheeks as she spoke.

‘Huh? Oh! Yeah, no I’m fine! Sorry just in my own world you know!’ he laughed awkwardly, gaining an awkward laugh in return.

‘Hey, can I ask you something?’ Sam turned, her attention now on him fully, again another blush? Or was it just wishful thinking?

‘You know that fake kiss we had? I know Tucker keeps bringing it up and all, was it maybe something more than that?’ he scratched the back of his head, blushing himself but trying to keep a straight face.

Sam’s face became even redder, he could see all the thoughts going through her head as she fumbled with an answer.

‘Of course not! I mean we’ve been friends for years; it was just a fake-out make-out, right?’ she laughed awkward, locking eyes with Danny, an almost hopeful look in them.

‘Oh… yeah I suppose, sorry I guess Tucker just got in my head about things.’ He could hear the disappointment in his voice, a dejected look on Sam’s face in return.

She went to open her mouth, to speak again, stirring hope in Danny. ‘Hey guys! How are my two lovebirds this morning!’

Tucker had arrived, wrapping his arms around the two of them. A blush heavy on both their cheeks.

‘We’re not lovebirds! Just friends!’ Sam’s usual response, though this time cutting to him. He looked at Sam, locking eyes once more before turning away, she mimicked his response.

Just friends. Oh well.

[usaigi]

Marc & Birdy

Lunar sys au character cards | Read all chapters on ao3

In the last couple of weeks, Layla had been getting friendly with the new head of the Ten Rings. And truth be told, Marc was getting increasingly more uncomfortable with their ‘business relationship.’ 

“They pay well and you know me, I wouldn’t take a job if I thought it was sketchy or if I was morally opposed to it,” Layla had said. Still, Marc can help but worry. Sure, logically he knows his wife is the badass avatar with Tawaret's divine blessing–with the intelligence, strength, and grace to back it up. But Marc isn’t always able to think very rationally. 

So that’s how he found himself chasing some grunts, leaping from rooftop to rooftop because he didn’t have any fancy golden wings. Marc is still adamantly opposed to wearing his old Moon Knight suit, even if his other headmates had renegotiated a contract with Khonshu behind his back, he wants nothing to do with it. He doesn’t need a fancy suit to kick ass. 

Marc feels his phone buzz, a text from Layla reading, ‘Found them. 1097 on King Street, 6th floor. I’m breaking in from the back, east side.’ He types the address in, quickly realizing that’s the next building over. He could leap across, break in through the window and make his grand entrance. Easy, he thinks, the only thing in my way is this 30 feet leap. 

That’s not that bad, 30 feet is nothing, Marc tries to hype himself up. He just needs a running start. Concentrating, he takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, visualizes the leap, and imagines kicking off from the ledge and landing (mostly) safely on the other side. He’s got this. He opens his eyes, focuses on an anchor point on the other side and— why isn’t he moving? Instantly, his head is flooded with images of hospital rooms, the nauseating smell of disinfectant, the irritating beeping, the excruciating pain burning through his body.    

‘What are you thinking?’ He hears a little birdy’s voice screech, pushing her way to the system’s internal pilot deck. Damn it, Marc winces. 

‘Birdy? What are you doing here?’ He deflects, surprised at her interference. As long as he’s known her–given it was only a couple of weeks–she’s never interfered with ‘Moon Knight’ business. 

‘Were you really planning on trying to make that jump?’ She squawks, horrified, forcing Marc to look down towards the alleyway. The brick pavement certainly did not look like a safe landing spot. 

‘Don’t worry, I got it.’ Marc tells her, setting his sight back onto the other side. Although, the gap between the two buildings did seem to grow wider as the self-doubt started to creep in. 

‘No, you don’t. Remember last time when you tried to jump out of a moving train and broke like all the bones in your legs? Or the time you tried you drank literal rat poison just to prove a point? Or all the times you used the body as a human meat shield instead of just dodging? Because I do.’ Birdy snaps, carefully articulating and delivering each word to emphasize her point. Marc cringes at each memory as Birdy sends a wave of terror and torture through him.

From all Layla’s interactions with Birdy, she came across as a timid sweet birb. “Marc, she’s so adorable. She just wants snuggles and treats,” Layla had gushed, once Birdy finally started to let her guard drop. 

But Marc knows her true color; she can be as much of a menace as the others–stubborn, sneaky, argumentative. A brat, to put it simply. If anything, she’s more of a goose than a little lovebird. Loudly honking whenever Marc even thinks of doing something she doesn’t deem ‘safe.’   

‘Calm down, Khonshu always healed us, didn’t he?’ he groans, annoyed that he's being lectured about the risks by a teenager. 

‘It still hurts! It’s so unnecessary and dumb!’ she cries, scolding him for his idiocracy. ‘And you were doing that shit before Khonshu was even around! And guess who had to deal with the aftermath?’

‘...You,’ Marc mutters, covering his eyes with his hand in frustration. 

‘Me! Take the freaking stairs!’ She demands, her messy white hair puffing up like ruffled feathers. Marc groans audibly, but he takes ‘the freaking stairs.’

[kotos-and-smiles]

The meaning of “I”

Chapter 104 spoliers!

Note 1. I’ll still be calling it “I” even though the translators are changing the way they translate it to be “peace,” because that’s what I’m used to calling it for now.

Note 2. Just a fair warning, this is a long post, but hopefully you enjoy!

Okay, I’ve been meaning to start this blog for months now but I’ve had no idea how to just start so here we are. I decided what better way to start off than talking about the newest chapter because there is oh so much to talk about in this one chapter alone. The first thing I really want to talk about from this chapter is the club’s song for nationals “I” or “Peace” as the translators have started calling it. Despite the fact the club has been working on “I” for a lot of chapters now, we still don’t know about the actual meanings and motifs that are in the song or what feelings they’re aiming to put into it. I think we haven’t heard much about this because the club is still trying to figure it out for themselves. Also, I’ve been questioning for a while what type of song Takinami would write for the club, and that was answered in this chapter.

What we do know about the song is that it has the 4-person part with Chika, Kota, Momoya, and Yoshinaga, a part where all 9 of the club members play together, a part where melodies played by Chika and Satowa and then Takezo and Hiro will intertwine, and everyone has a solo. It’s also been emphasized over and over that all 9 people are needed to play the song. Takinami has only given his usual vague hints as to what meaning he put into the song, because like always he wants the club to figure it out for themselves. Until we get to ch.104, in which Chika interprets it in such the opposite way of how Takinami meant it that Takinami finally feels the need to give him a hint as to what the song means (and thank god, because I really don’t think that poor Chika would’ve gotten it at all otherwise).

In chapter 104, we learn that “I” is actually a piece that can be played with any amount of the 9 parts and still be a full song. This is a huge deal, and honestly blew my mind when I first read it. Takinami has specifically pushed the idea that everyone needs to be there to play this song, knowing full well that in actuality the song would be complete no matter how many people played it. Everyone is still essential in his eyes because the point is the desire to play with everyone and the importance each member holds to each other. Takinami even brings up the conversation he and Chika had before Ku-on, showing just how huge of an impact the whole situation with Ku-on had on Takinami. With the performance of Ku-on, he saw what this group was really made of and what they were capable of, even in less than ideal circumstances they pulled through an intensely emotional performance. Takinami finally found a sound he couldn’t ignore. The conversation Takinami and Chika have in ch.25, when Takinami tells Chika he shouldn’t perform and Chika responds that he really enjoys playing with everyone, that sentiment made it into “I.” Except now, the tables are turned and instead Chika still desperately wants to play, but absolutely will not if it means no one else gets to and thinks that he won’t be able to, and Takinami has taken a complete 180 on what his stance was during Ku-on. Unlike in Ku-on, Chika is, in a way, trying to drop out, and now Takinami is the one telling Chika to stay and play. I honestly love this whole conversation between them, I love how Takinami gets pissed at Chika for even thinking about withdrawing from the club, I love that he points out that Chika is only 16 and does not have to take everything on himself, it’s just so great and just what I was hoping for: someone to knock some sense into Chika.

Anyway, then Takinami gives us the first hint as to what he intended “I” to mean. To paraphrase “Stop focusing only on what the others mean to you, and begin to think about what you mean to them.” This is something that pretty much everyone in the club has a problem with. They care about each other so much, will stand up for each other, but they don’t think about the fact that all the others care about them just as much. Takinami is trying to shift the focus from “these people are important to me” to “what do I mean to them?” hoping that these oblivious teens will someday get it. This works for so many of the characters.

Firstly, let’s talk about Takezo. He’s been club president from the beginning, and he’s always been a great one but has really come into his own. I think everyone sees him as an amazing club president, a leader that holds them together and believes in all of them as a whole and individually. He doesn’t see himself that way. Takezo has the opening notes of “I”, it all starts with him just how the entire club was brought together by him. He’s explicitly stated that he sometimes wishes that someone like Satowa could begin the song because he’s worried about the fact that his is the first sound in the song. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to give a strong enough opening because he still sees himself as a bit inadequate. But how does the rest of the club see him? They see him as this strong club president, someone who’s always been there as the foundation, so why shouldn’t he be able to start the song and be it’s foundation throughout? So, it would help Takezo if he saw himself the way the rest of the club does, because then he’ll realize just what he means to them and hopefully see what they do in himself.

With Momoya, Takinami made a big deal about the fact that he needed to want to play with the club, and that he had to want it for himself. This ties back to the conversation before Ku-on that Takinami has weaved through “I”. But it was also important for Momoya to take up an identity with his sound, to decide to be something, and own up to being someone with a mutable sound. He can fit in, but it all needs to be his choice. Momoya has also never thought about what he means to the club, and they keep surprising him with how friendly they are and how much they care about him. They just want him to be himself and stay in the club. Hopefully he starts realizing that soon.

If there’s one thing that Chika is truly terrible at it’s realizing his worth, both with himself and with other people. As Tetsuki says in ch.99.5 “I bet Chika never thought that he himself could be thought of dearly by somebody else.” Chika still definitely struggles with that. He has no problem letting everyone else know how much they’re cared for, how much they’re valued, but when it comes to himself, he still doesn’t see how he could be a person someone thinks of as dear. He still sometimes gets surprised by little acts of caring. With all this stuff with Uzuki going on, he’s more worried about the wellbeing of the club, meanwhile all the members are more worried about him than the state of the club. I think that’s almost incomprehensible to Chika, and yet it’s there, and in the next chapter it will hopefully come through loud and clear just how much they all care about him, but especially Satowa as she literally won’t let him do this alone.

Satowa, too, is terrible at realizing how much she means to people, as shown by the fact that Chika and the others literally have to spell it out for her sometimes. She doesn’t like being a burden, she doesn’t want to do anything that would disrupt or upset their lives. But she doesn’t really see how much those people care about her and that when you care about someone like that it isn’t a burden. Satowa’s self-worth is low, at least in some areas, and she always puts the club over her own desires or feelings due to having hurt people before, specifically her mother. Hiro even tells her in Ch.92 that the club can withstand whatever emotions she decides to express, but Satowa doubts that. Satowa, much like Chika, needs to come to the realization that people care more about her than they do the club, and again, thinking of herself from the perspective of how much the other’s care could help her realize this and her place in the club.  

Chika and Satowa both are afraid of being selfish, they don’t want to come off as selfish and they want to put other’s first, but their own feelings realistically get in the way of them being entirely selfless. As Granny says to Chika in ch.77, you have to cherish yourself to be able to give to others and it’s important to think about yourself so that you can have a life you’re happy with. So, both he and Satowa need to start thinking of themselves in a more positive way instead of thinking it’s selfish, which could be helped if they looked at how other’s care about them, which is what “I” is all  about.

Now let’s talk about these two intertwining melodies, one of which will be played by Chika and Satowa and the other by Takezo and Hiro, the section Takinami seems to have set aside for the oblivious lovebirds. Takezo and Hiro have each realized, on their own, that they’re in love with each other, and yet haven’t made the connection that the other feels the same way. Part of this is preservation of the club, but seriously how do you not realize? With Satowa and Chika, it’s even more complicated, and I plan to make a full post about it, but they certainly have never really thought about how the other must feel about them. Later on in the chapter, after Chika’s conversation with Takinami, Chika literally asks Satowa what she thinks of him. Not only did Chika take in what Takinami had to say, in the only way he’d listen which is through koto song terms, he thought about it while he was having lunch with Satowa and was trying to ask her a very important question about it before they were so rudely interrupted by the reminder of just how insane Uzuki is.

I think especially for Chika, Satowa, and Takezo, (who I look at as the main trio) this message of realizing who you are to the people around you is a huge part of their journey. They all need to stop denying themselves their own feelings, which is basically what Takinami was trying to tell them with “I.”

So, I seriously wondered for a while what kind of song Takinami had written for these kids. What better meaning could it have than pushing these people to realize just how much they mean to each other and start focusing on how those they care about see them, not just the other way around? Especially for Takinami, who puts up with a lot but ultimately wants to help these kids and believes in them.

I’m really glad he gave Chika the hint though, because I truly do not believe these kids would’ve gotten what “I” is about if he hadn’t given them that push considering they all avoid thinking about how the other’s must care about them, some of them I think are even afraid to think of it. It’s so perfect and I’m so excited to see where they go with it.  

ps. I’m new to posting and stuff, so please be kind.

[whats-rambled-rambled]

Long Nights - part 4

Neil x Reader

Chapter 4: World gone mad

(see chapter 3, 2, 1)

summary: inverted heist calls for inverted training

warnings: 18+, explicit language, gun mention, crackheadery, and possible whiplash

author’s note: Hi, yes, I know, took me ages, but hey, I hope it's worth the wait! 5.2k words, how even--

Anyway.

The song for this part is Bastille - World Gone Mad

Enjoy! All feedback is greatly appreciated, let me know what you think?

——————

Tag list: @cxnnienikas @neutron-stars-collision ​ @ergunbilge @invertedneil @wanderedaway @mellifluous-cosmos @wonderwoman292 @buckysgoldenheart @townmoondaltwistle @theriverbeneaththeriver (please let me know if you want to be added/removed from the list)

-----

The fact that you knew how to handle guns wasn’t equal to you being very good at it. Or enjoying it, for that matter. Sure, you could more or less hit the target, especially with some useful tips you got from Neil regarding a trigger finger discipline, but still - you’d rather avoid reaching for a pistol altogether.

You put back the weapon you’d been training with and Neil handed you another one. You couldn’t really tell the difference, at least until you checked the magazine. The lack of ammo meant you finally got to the fun bit that Neil teased in The Protagonist’s office and you smiled, looking back at your companion. He grinned at you, the gaze sparkling behind yellow-tinted safety glasses as he pointed at the wall next to the targets you used for practice.

“Just aim and pull the trigger. ” Seeing your nod, he added, “Okay now, be careful, it might feel--”

The bullet whizzed back into the chamber of your pistol and your eyes widened.

“Oh fuck me sideways,” you hissed under your breath.

“-- a bit weird, yeah.” Neil chuckled at the shock painted on your face. “All right?”

“Yeah, just processing.” Trying to blink the consternation away, you asked, “How do you make these? You put it into that...turnstile and voilà?”

Neil shook his head. “No, it’s not that simple. We receive a stash every now and then, we don’t know how to manufacture those,” - he smirked - “at least not yet. I do have a few theories I’m working on in my spare time, but...” hesitating for a moment, he raked a hand through his hair and sent you a nervous smile. “Wouldn’t want to bore you to death, though.”

“Dude, come on, with that smooth and soothing voice of yours? You could read the yellow pages to me and I’d still listen like that--” you mocked a dreamy heart-eyes expression, watching with satisfaction as that remark pushed Neil further into a flustered state.

Apparently, when explicit teasing got a little-to-no reaction now, you could still make him blush with a more wholesome compliment. As you started laughing, he rolled his eyes and scrunched the nose slightly, joining you with a stifled giggle. Grinning, you continued a little softer, “I’m not gonna lie - I probably wouldn’t understand a majority of the physics jargon, but I’d still want to hear all about that.”

A thankful look you got in return made your chest clench painfully, and your mind wandered off to those breaks near the river, and Neil’s animated rants. You knew one thing. Anyone who had ever ridiculed him for his passion for even the nerdiest things could rot in hell, and you’d gladly see to it personally.

A disgruntled huff coming from behind made you both snap out of the moment.

“Oi, lovebirds, I’d appreciate it if you could leave all that to after I prep you for the mission.”

Bottling down your annoyance, you batted your lashes at the commander, who’d just come back with keys to one of the conference rooms near the range.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, you have my full attention now.”

Ives nodded, waving at you to follow him. Meanwhile, Neil’s small smirk let you know that he noticed that faint undertone in your voice, but he said nothing, patiently waiting for the events to unfold.

Another person was waiting for you at the door. You recognized the woman who’d driven you to that abandoned factory on your very first day - you’d never gotten properly introduced, but you remember asking Neil about her once and he called her Wheeler. To be honest, with these guys you never knew if they used their real names, nicknames, codenames, or whatever. Not that you cared, quite used to it in your own line of business. You exchanged a court nod with her and went into the room.

As you sat down at the big table and Ives booted a projector, your eyes bore into the man. Definitely one of those types who enjoyed his beret and the paramilitary structure of the field branch of the organization. Probably a bit too much. You bit back a smug grin.

Those were particularly fun to mess with.

Ives caught your piercing stare and stopped the brief of the location.

“What?”

“Nothing,” you said, propping the chin on your palm, a polite smile on your lips. “It’s fascinating.”

He furrowed his brows, perplexed.

“What is?”

“How your commanding presence literally adds you inches,” you said, using all your willpower to keep a serious face. “I wonder if it works only for your height or--”

Neil’d futile attempts at masking an amused snort with a cough didn’t go unnoticed. Ives shot him daggers and then glared at you. “For fuck’s sake, would you focus?”

Your eyes flared up at the threat in his voice and you pouted, taunting him further.

“Or what, you’re gonna spank me?”

“No, I’m gonna shoot you,” he deadpanned.

You raised a brow.

“Kinky.”

Ives groaned, turning to Neil.

“How you survived this long without choking her is beyond me.”

Neil puffed his cheeks and gestured vaguely, but as he opened the mouth to answer, you chimed in, with a shit-eating grin plastered on your face.

“Oh, he very much did so, all right.”

The awkward silence that followed was pretty satisfying.

“Can we keep her?” asked Wheeler casually, leaned back in her chair, fiddling with a bullpen.

Ives gaped at you all, then slumped his shoulders in defeat, sliding a hand through his features. He was so done you could almost hear The Sound of Silence playing in the distance, but apparently, his sense of duty was stronger than the urge to leave you without finishing the briefing, so he just drew a deep breath and continued.

“...anyway…”

You caught Neil’s glance and you couldn’t help but poke the tip of your tongue out at him. The mischievous sparks in his eyes reflected your own as he shook his head, tugging the bottom lip between the teeth. Wheeler’s curious gaze flitted between you two, and as you didn’t feel like drawing too much unnecessary attention to yourself anymore, you focused on the plan that Ives was persistently going through.

Time frames. Blueprints. Entry points. Exit routes (you spotted at least one additional way he left out, but you weren’t sure if you could drag Neil through there, judging by that alley performance, so you didn’t bother to mention it out loud). Everything seemed clear enough. You still had no idea how being inverted would affect the lockpicking, but when you voiced that, Ives promised you some time to figure it out before the mission.

The mission. Huh. It wasn’t that much different from your usual assignments - at least if you forgot about that tiny insignificant detail like moving backwards in time - but something in this paramilitary and/or espionage vibe made your heart beat faster with excitement.

It had been quite a long time since you had company at the job. Working alone had its perks, but you wouldn’t mind a trusted partner in crime having your six for a change.

Another thing that you certainly wouldn’t mind - seeing Neil in tactical gear. Not that either of you would need one, but the image got planted in your head and suddenly you wished you’d had a bottle of water.

You realized that everyone was looking at you expectantly. Shit, was there a question or…?

“I’m good,” you said, shooting in the dark, hoping that would be enough to cover your distracted ass.

Ives squinted, but fortunately, that was an acceptable answer.

“Well, as you two can proceed straight from here - Wheeler, they’re all yours.’

“Okay,” - she smiled and stood up - “we don’t have any turnstiles on-site, but there’s one in the base outside the city, I’ll talk you through the basics on the way.”

So that little daydream cost you a chance to come back home to prepare? Grand. The problem was - you needed your heavy-duty tools, but you’d rather eat rocks than back away in front of Ives. Luckily, he called on Neil to wait for a moment, so that was your chance.

“Umm, Wheeler?” you asked quietly, following her outside.

She glanced at you curiously.

“What’s up?”

“I know I said I’m good, but could we stop by my apartment for a second, please?” An awkward grimace ran through your face. “I gotta pick up my tools. You know, just in case.”

She wasn’t surprised by your request. Moreover, she sent you a knowing smile.

“Sure thing,” she said and winked, and then it was your turn to present a slightly flushed face. “I’ve got you.”

----

You didn’t know what to expect from the whole inversion process.

The first time your brain stuttered was when Wheeler pointed at something she called the proving window, just in time for you to see the three of you coming out on the other side. You caught inverted-you glancing back at your present self; the schooled expression, but with the gaze shining with anticipation.

The second time was when it was you on the other side, looking at your wide-eyed past self. Feeling the incoming headache, you took a deep breath and followed Wheeler and Neil to the stand with oxygen masks.

“How are you feeling?” asked Neil, handing you the equipment.

“Weirdly normal.” You shrugged. “Or maybe not more backwards than usual, if that makes any sense.”

He smiled lightly.

“It’s the airlock. When you see the outside, you’ll get a whole new perspective.”

Wheeler nodded. “What he said. And to recap: you’re inverted, the world is not - all forces will be pushing back on you. Besides gravity.” She double-checked the oxygen bottle secured to your belt. “Just mind things that might be rising instead of falling.”

You furrowed the brows.

“Wait, didn’t Ives mention the rain?”

Neil smirked from behind the mask.

“Afraid of getting wet?”

“Never.” You grinned, meeting the sparkling blue eyes. “Should know that by now.”

Wheeler snorted and shook her head, walking to the panel near the exit.

“You’ll have plenty of time to finish the job before you move far enough to catch up on that. Although, if you ever find yourself in the inverted rain, here’s a tip: pop your collar.”

“Why would you--” Oh. The sole thought of the water going up from the ground to the sky made you nauseous. You swallowed with effort, leveling your breath in the mask. “...right.”

Wheeler opened the door and you almost gasped at the view. The golden rays of sunset (...or was it technically a sunrise now?) flickered on the training grounds’ equipment as the sky painted the scarce pools of muddy water with greyish violets and reddening oranges. Leaves shuffled in the wind, their dance almost satirical with that inverted spin.

Wheeler’s voice stopped your mind from wandering further into the landscape.

“Okay, ready? Ives asked me to remind you not to try any cowboy shit, you need to be in one piece at the end of the training.”

“Yes ma’am,” you mocked a salute and stepped outside, stretching your limbs, readjusting to the reality being slightly off. Neil stood right beside you watching you warming up, ready to take you to the obstacles section.

But as soon as the airlock’s doors closed behind you, you spun around, tapping his shoulder - “Tag, you’re it!” - and without waiting for his reaction, you leaped towards the assault course.

Surely that turned out overly optimistic. You counted on the element of surprise and a head start, but Neil had an experience with running while being inverted, while you… well. You tried.

“B+ for effort,” laughed Neil, catching up on you even before you reached the first obstacle and tapping you back. “But you can do better than that.”

“Just you wait!” you retorted and vaulted over a low hurdle, the mild confusion caused by the dumbfounded senses slowly eased up as you tuned out the brain and let the muscle memory guide your movements. Because hey, in the end? Yes, the natural forces were acting up against you. Yes, Neil had years of inverted training behind him. But you’d been challenging different obstacles your whole life, and courses like this one were your favourite playgrounds.

You caught on him by the next wall, playing dirty and tugging at his leg, pulling him down before he could jump to the other side. The exasperated huff he gave you in protest got lost in the squelch of mud under your feet, the sound more like a suction instead of the much-expected splash. Shuddering with disgust at such abomination, you rushed to the set of monkey bars, hearing Neil following up closely. You gritted your teeth, swinging your body to help yourself get through the part, and that’s when you felt a light tap on your foot.

You glared to your left, where Neil was gaining an advantage over you.

“Damn you and your infinite legs, man! It doesn’t count!”

“Losing looks good on you,” he said, landing and then instantly ducking under your reached out hand.

“Too bad it’s not gonna stick,” you scoffed as you ran after him to jump on one of the parallel logs. Balancing was easy enough, even with inversion; it gave you the perfect opportunity to plan ahead, while Neil had to maintain full focus. “Must say - all that sass definitely makes you like... ten percent hotter.”

But you’d taught him well, apparently, and instead of losing his pace, he only shot you a quick glance accompanied by an arched brow.

“Only ten?”

“Dunno, come over here and let me take a closer look,” you teased, getting a short chuckle in response. “No?” - you sighed - “Alrighty then.” And you leaped to the side straight into Neil, pushing him off the log. He yelped and grabbed you by the shirt, the momentum sending you both straight into the mud. You landed on top of Neil, collapsing into his arms for a moment to catch a breath and to stop laughing.

You leaned back to look him in the eyes.

“Okay, maaaybe fifteen,” you panted, booping his mask as you would do to his nose.

Neil snickered and nodded.

“I’ll take it.”

When your gazes met, his features softened, and he tucked a strand of hair behind your ear gently. You smiled behind the mask and sat up, straddling his waist. Neil was studying you closely, his hands grazed your sides and rested on your hips. Nibbling at your bottom lip, you leaned over him again and slowly reached out, and--

“Simba…” you choked out with reverence, brushing a muddy thumb across his forehead.

Tears from the held-back laughter threatened to spill any second as you observed Neil blanking out in utter confusion. The five stages of grief ran through his expression and then he closed his eyes and sighed theatrically.

“The fate of the world is in the hands of a complete madwoman.”

...the what now?

You tilted your head, grinning.

“Aren’t you a little dramatic?”

Then, without a warning, Neil shifted under you, rolling you off him and pinning you down.

“Birds of a feather and all that,” he said, clearly enjoying the way you squealed and squirmed as the mud got under your shirt. “You think you got a hang of the inverted movement already?”

“I don’t know,” you shrugged. Neil realized your intentions a second too late. A handful of mud splashed on his face and you chuckled with satisfaction. “Yeah, now I think I’m ready to go.”

You turned up at the airlock soon after, looking like something that cat dragged in, but beaming widely. Dreaming of a hot shower and a clean set of clothes, you put down the mask and the oxygen container and headed to the turnstile.

Wheeler was waiting for you near the machine, and seeing the state you were in, she just gaped at you both, trying to come up with an adequate question.

As you noticed her quizzical look, you gave her a thumbs up and smiled.

“If you ain't dirty, you ain't here to party! Wooo!” you whooped, throwing your hands up and trotting past her straight into the turnstile.

Right before reverting yourself back to your original state, you heard Wheeler’s hushed question.

“You two all right?”

And then Neil’s answer.

“Don’t worry, we’re good.”

--------

The truck’s engine hummed steadily, which could only mean you were on some sort of highway. At least the container stopped wobbling, so you could practice in peace.

No wobbles meant no excuses, though. You sighed, readjusting your grip on the tools.

Neil had fallen asleep some time ago, after making sure you figured out the locks and hearing your solemn promise that you would follow him soon.

One day after that eventful night, then inverting and going straight back without proper sleep. You knew he was right and you needed at least a nap. But you couldn’t. Not before you were absolutely sure you got it. The usual locks weren’t that bad. The inverted ones were a whole other story.

It’d taken you long enough to crack them in the safety of your own apartment, without the weird physics, ever-present even within the air-locked container. Without the pressure.

The fate of the world.

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

You didn’t even know what was that thing you were supposed to retrieve soon. It was okay, you didn’t need to. It was a quite common situation in your work history. That kind of knowledge could be dangerous, after all.

The pin clicked and you sighed again, squeezing your eyes shut to stop the burning sensation even for a moment.

Besides, you were doing it for Neil. The memory of that panicked look on his face when he’d seen the documents was enough to keep you going.

But did he have to say that?

You had to do it. Not only because you felt responsible for him, in a way. What you’d told the boss was true and you weren’t the only one at fault for Neil not being fully ready for that assignment. He was your friend, wasn’t he? And there was no way you’d leave a friend in need.

You pressed your lips together, forcing yourself to breathe.

Probably a stupid joke, nothing more.

But what if he was being serious? What if that thing out there was really that important? And you were about to fuck everything up because you couldn’t get your shit together fast enough to figure out the bloody inverted mechanism again. And with every minute wasted and not spent on resting there was a higher chance of messing up at the actual location.

Hell of a locksmith you were, huh?

The feedback from the tools came with a final warning like a sobering slap. If you were to continue, they would snap any second now.

You let out a shaky breath and retraced from the lock, hiding your face in the palms.

A gentle touch on your shoulder almost made you flinch. Of course, he had to wake up in the middle of your breakdown.

“Go back to sleep, we still have a few hours left,” you muttered into your hands, trying to collect yourself.

“Not before you talk to me,” said Neil as his fingers slid down your arm. He was crouching right beside you, the blue eyes boring into you with concern. “What is it?”

You sighed and shifted in your seat to face him.

“Wanna make sure I got it, that’s all.”

Neil’s brows knitted together.

“But I saw you open that lock once, why--”

“Once! And that’s exactly the problem!” you fumed and glared at the table. “I can’t crack it again, I--” your voice wavered and you gritted the teeth in frustration. “What if it was a stroke of dumb luck? Should I start praying for another one to happen there?”

Another delicate touch, this time on your knees, was enough to make you look back at Neil. A shade of smile tainted his lips as he searched your gaze.

“Someone used to tell me all the time that if you did it once, you can do it again.”

You hung your head and huffed, “Maybe that someone was full of shit.’

“I know for a fact that she wasn’t,” he chuckled, taking the tools out of your clenched fists and putting them back at the table. “She was utterly brilliant,” he continued, reaching for your cramping, trembling hands and taking them in his, ”and always reminded me to take a break instead of agonizing over a stubborn lock.”

That you did, all right. Your laugh sounded awfully close to a sob. God, if you weren’t exhausted.

Mustering enough strength to look him in the eyes, you squeezed his hands, trying to convey all the gratitude in the gesture. And hide that bit of embarrassment, too.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he said and his thumbs brushed over your knuckles. “Scoot over.”

You moved back on the provisional bench, making enough space for him to sit next to you. And so he did, not letting go of your hands even for a second. He started rubbing small circles into them and you grunted softly. Neil gave you a knowing smile and soon enough, his fingers glided between your forearms and fingertips, applying pressure to the tensest places, careful strokes and precise moves bringing a much-needed release. You couldn’t help small groans escaping your mouth, every one of them adding to the self-satisfied grin hiding in the corner of Neil’s mouth. But then, instead of teasing you, his features softened and you caught his glance, warm and sheepish.

“I don’t think I properly thanked you for offering to help me with this mission.”

“I couldn’t let you have all the fun,” you laughed and winced as Neil’s thumbs worked on your wrists. “Don’t thank me yet, we still need to pull it off first.”

“Well, maybe we already have, from the typical point of view,” - he pondered, lighting up - “seeing that we are moving back--”

“Neil, please, I’m all for discussing it later, but right now it’s about to give me a pounding headache.”

When you met his eyes, you noted with relief that he didn’t mind you cutting him off like that. He knew that you were tired, nothing more.

“Right, sorry.” Then he looked at you with determination, suddenly serious. “Whatever happens… thank you. It means a lot.”

“Of course,” you said quietly as your heart ached with unexpected fondness.

Neil smiled, shaking off the sentimental moment. His hands cupped yours and gave them a light squeeze.

“Now would you please get some rest?”

“Will you tuck me in?” you grinned and batted your lashes at him, earning an amused snort in return.

“I can even sing you a lullaby if that means you’ll fall asleep faster,” he said, standing up and tugging at your hand.

“Ah, I’m afraid I’m gonna crash too fast to properly appreciate it,” you giggled as he kited you all the way to the resting area at the front of the container. “But I’m definitely taking a rain check on that.”

“Sure.” One final brush of his thumb over your fingers and he let go of your hand, smirking. “Now sleep, I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

-------

Neil proved to be an excellent companion.

You disabled the alarms simultaneously, paying attention to all the possible silent traps. Forcing the main locks went smoothly, almost surprisingly so. For having something of such importance hidden there, the owners of the place seemed strangely old-fashioned; it shone through the antique decor of the lofty apartment as well as the security choices. Too easy. Tuning out an intrusive thought rattling in the back of your head, you scouted the dark rooms, careful not to leave any traces of your presence.

There.

The office you saw in the photos.

...but they’d redecorated.

“That’s one fancy safe they got there,” you said nonchalantly, eyeing the ornament piece of metal lit by your flashlight, “Too bad it somehow got left out at the briefing.”

Neil’s face dropped when he followed you inside the room.

“Christ, and what now?”

Good question. You’d worked with safes before, hell, you’d cracked a fair share of them using simply manipulation. But never going bloody backwards in time. How would that even work? Was it normal or inverted?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

“I’ve got this.” And that’s how you felt, despite the initial panic. There was a method to it, and you had most of the things you needed with you. Perks of overpreparing. The only issue was-- ... “It might take a while, though.”

Neil nodded.

“Let me know if you need anything.”

“Keep an eye on the time for me, I gotta focus,” you said, reaching into your backpack and accidentally pulling on the thin tube. Right. “...and maybe on the oxygen levels as well?”

“Will do.”

Your brain switched into the challenge mode, and your fingers tingled to give it a try. Armed with a sound amplifier and a little notepad, you sat down next to the safe and got to work.

Figuring out your way in was meant to be a hit and miss, doubly so with the goddamn inversion. But minute after minute, click by click, you determined the first contact points, and the years of experience took you from there. You scribbled numbers and variations in the notepad, fully focused on the task. Almost there.

Another combination. Inhale. Exhale. Pull.

Gotcha.

“Neil?” you called out in the hushed voice as the beam from the flashlight landed on a small metal box of a peculiar shape.

He was next to you in no time.

“That’s it,” he said, kneeling down. He reached inside and took out the box, then carefully placed it inside his backpack. The blue eyes glimmered in the dim light. “Good job!”

“Thanks,” you smiled and closed the safe. “Now let’s get out of here.”

You gathered and packed all your stuff, double-checking for any leftover signs of your entry.

Then you heard it. A faint, slightly off patter against the huge windows. You froze in place as your mind tried to grasp the view of trickles of rain coming up the glass.

Neil glanced outside, not mindful of the absolutely bonkers scene that wiped any coherent thought from your head. Although judging from how quickly his face lost all the colours, the view he got was even more disturbing.

“Christ…” he uttered, shooting you a panicked look. “We’ve got company.”

You dashed to the window to see for yourself. A group of people was crossing the empty street, moving pretty much normally, and that only meant...

Fuck.

“The owners?”

Neil shook his head. “Impossible. The third party, probably.” With his hand already on the holster, he hesitated, considering the options.

But there were only two: fight or flight. The problem was - the numbers didn’t look good for you to try pushing through the crew downstairs. And as for the second one, your initial exit routes seemed to be cut off already.

Although, there was still one path left. You almost smiled to yourself. He was not going to like it.

“Let’s go through the roofs.”

Neil’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?” he asked, scanning your face for any sign of doubt.

There was none.

“Yes, but we have to leave right now.”

He swallowed with effort and nodded.

As soon as you bolted out of the apartment and rushed up the stairs, the footsteps coming from the lower levels quickened. Time was running out.

You were about to barge outside when Neil grabbed your hand as if he sensed what was going to happen next. The doors opened and you lost the momentum, startled by the view. Heavy showers replaced the drizzle you saw through the window, intensifying the nauseating effect.

The last strands of sanity threatened to leave you, but Neil’s touch was like an anchor, grounding you and keeping you from spiraling further.

“Which way?” he shouted through the hammering, almost deafening rain.

You blinked rapidly and looked around to match the data from the brief to the actual location.

“Over there!”

Wishing you’d had a goddamn collar to pop, you leaped to the side, guiding Neil through your only escape route. You let go of his hand to vault over the vents, and just as your feet touched the surface again, you heard distant yells behind you. Shit.

The high density of the area was working in your favor, but only for so long. There was meant to be a gap between the buildings sooner or later, and one of them was coming right up. The jump was doable, even for Neil - all you needed was speed and a decent launch.

But when your companion noticed the edge of the roof, he slowed down and stopped by a low parapet wall, cursing.

“No fucking way!”

“Yes fucking way, Neil, come on! We don’t have time!” you urged him as the voices behind you grew louder.

He swallowed with effort, too transfixed on the gap. You bit back an impatient groan and grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to look at you.

“Neil, listen to me. You can do this. All you need is a run-up.”

He didn’t seem convinced. You gritted your teeth, trying to keep your own rising panic in check.

“Do you trust me? Yes or no?”

He met your eyes and his features hardened. There.

“I do.”

And when you opened the mouth again, the first bullet whizzed past you. You flinched, but maintained the eye contact, afraid to lose Neil’s newfound confidence. “Then go first, I’m right behind you.”

Neil nodded and backed away quickly. Watching him jump, your heart skipped a beat, but he landed on the other side without too much trouble. Good. Your turn.

You dashed towards the rim and another bullet missed your legs by a hair’s breadth, hitting the parapet wall right ahead of you. A little close to the top, as you noted, jumping on it to leap across the gap.

But the realization came a moment too late. The wall crumbled under your feet.

Enough for you to not make it to the other side.

Someone screamed.

Was it you?

It didn’t matter.

The world dissolved in a flash of agonizing pain.

And darkness.

----

Static beeping. The smell of disinfectants. And your every particle throbbing in dull pain.

Somebody was having a quiet conversation nearby. The Protagonist… and Neil?

A wave of relief flooded over you. He’d made it.

Grunting, you opened your eyes and squinted, waiting for your sight to readjust to the poor light. Weird. Why would they keep you in such a pitch-black room?

“Gents?” you called out, carefully shifting upwards, wincing. “Would you mind getting the lights?”

The conversation stopped and you heard a gasp.

“Lights? But it’s the middle of the day?” said The Protagonist, but Neil cut him off.

“You’re awake!” Footsteps and a sudden touch on your hand. Neil’s voice trembled slightly, as well as his fingers. “Are you okay?”

You bored into darkness, hoping to see the familiar face.

To see anything.

To see.

(next chapter ->)

[neutron-stars-collision]

The Art of Inversion

Neil x Reader 

Chapter 2 - ‘You’re inverted, the world is not’

Previous Chapter - The Life Changing Offer 

Summary: Neil leads you into the world of inversion and sometimes it might be a little bit too much to take in...

Warnings: Curse words. I’ve decided to bring up rating to T (just to be safe).

Author’s Notes: This came out incredibly long so sorry for that. Hope you enjoy and feedback is always welcomed! Thanks to my fellow Neil enthusiasts for inspiration and hype, you know who you are <3 

You have been following Neil through the crowded streets of London City almost breathlessly. He was walking fast and the shoes you chose were far from comfortable. Neither of you have spoken a word for the last fifteen minutes and you began to wonder whether this was a good decision. After all you have agreed to be lead to some obscure destination by a perfect stranger and did not even know his full name. But before you could voice any of those concerns, he has stopped in front of a grey building with a rusted metal door. He held them open, motioning for you to come in. Inside there was a darkened stairwell and an antiquated lift. As the door closed with a creak the only thought you had was that you were about to be killed. You turned to Neil with an arched eyebrow. The flashing lightbulb above made the shadows on his face stand out and drowned the blue of his eyes. You could only see the outline of his strong jaw and cheekbones. He was looking at you as well with that thoughtful gaze again. After a beat he spoke:

“Don’t worry you aren’t going to be murdered” the hint of smile was playing upon his lips “I have parked the car here” he explained and continued down the staircase not waiting for you.

You rolled your eyes and followed. His enigmatic attitude was starting to annoy you. But then all you could do was hope that you will receive some answers soon.

You found him waiting by a black BMW series 7. He was looking at you expectantly as though he was anticipating your reaction.

What did they use to say about not getting into cars with strangers?, you shook your head slightly.

“I really don’t have a choice but to get in the car, do I?” you asked rhetorically while contemplating the absurdity of the situation you got yourself into.

He flashed you that sly grin again and just got into the driver seat.

Lord help me, you thought while joining on the passenger side.

You scanned the inside of the car with interest.

Tenet certainly isn’t on the budget, you noted while taking in the complex displays on the dashboard and the touch screen.

Neil started up the engine and soon you had left the underground parking. You tried to follow the road signs to guess where you were headed but quickly got lost amidst the different exits and turns. You were both silent. Sometimes you looked at Neil and would swear you felt him stare as well. Only once you have reached the highway, he asked:

“Do you have any questions?”

“Many” you glared at him, and he laughed at your deadpan expression “You haven’t told me your last name” you noticed after a few seconds of thinking.

“You have to be really interested in me if that’s the thing that bothers you most” he replied with a playful smile and you glared at him, stifling the sudden urge to punch him.

“You wish” you retorted under your breath.

Still, you felt your cheeks warm up with embarrassment and decided to stare intensely at the road ahead. Neil bit his lip and glanced at you though you could not see it. He was really enjoying teasing you, probably more than he could have expected.

***

You have arrived at your destination fifteen minutes later. Neil parked the car in front of an old warehouse with no signage or marked entries. You looked at him quizzically and he shrugged:

“Told you it’s a secret organisation” with that he got out of the car.

There were only three other cars parked in front of the building and the area was largely deserted. A high fence was separating the acres of land from the fields around and whoever was entering via the gate had to show ID to the small camera. Neil opened the door with that same ID card, and you followed closely, looking up into another micro camera that was guarding the entrance. He went straight to the desk that you assumed was some sort of reception area and after a small hesitation you joined him. There you came face to face with a smartly dressed woman seated behind the desk with a smile on her face:

“Good afternoon Neil” her grin got even wider as she stood up and beamed at him.

“Hello Anna” he replied with that charming smile on his lips.

God, she’s blushing, you noticed while looking at the receptionist. She has turned a lovely shade of pink and was trying to hide it by looking down at the keyboard. This was embarrassing. You had to admit that Neil is incredibly charming, suave and all but… seriously?! But your train of thought was interrupted by the man in question mentioning your name to Anna and adding: “Our new recruit”

You smiled politely at the woman and shook her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you” she beamed at you as well, but it was lacking that ‘looking at Neil’ spark.

You could not blame her for that. You could feel Neil’s gaze, quietly studying you and briefly wondered if he did that to all the new recruits. The silence has now stretched way too long for a normal social conversation, so you cleared your throat and answered:

“Mutually” you started praying for the awkward situation to end.

“I’ve got some papers for you to fill in” Anna handed you a small pile “It’s for the system and so that we can get you the ID card” you nodded and moved to the side, grateful for something to do.

You got absorbed in filling in all the obscure medical information they wanted. It was hard to suddenly recollect what vaccinations you have had in your late teens and whether you have already had chicken pox. Hearing some high-pitched giggles coming from the desk you glanced in that direction. Neil was leaning over the counter and ostensibly flirting with Anna if her flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes were anything to go by. You rolled your eyes for the second time today and went back to the form.

What you have not noticed was that Neil has glanced in your direction just as you have been expressing your annoyance. He smirked and went back to entertaining Anna whose blind devotion was quite cute in his eyes.

Once you have finished filling in the papers you quickly got up and joined the two ‘lovebirds’. Anna took the pile without a further word and you could only await Neil’s instructions. He threw one last sly smile towards her and focused all of his attention on you:

“So are you ready to see what we are dealing with here?” the playful sparks contradicted the serious tone he spoke with.

“I’ve got nothing better to do” you flashed him your cheekiest smile and was pleased to see him slightly surprised.

Well two can play the game…

***

He led you through the maze of corridors into a small laboratory. Although surprisingly it also had a shooting station and a cabinet full of artillery and arms. Neil headed straight for the case and took out an ordinary looking Glock. He handed you the gun and you automatically checked the magazine to find it empty. Neil only motioned for you to join him by the shooting station.

“Just aim and pull the trigger” he instructed, and you glared at him.

“With an empty magazine?”

“Yes exactly”

You shrugged and adjusted your stance, constantly feeling his gaze boring into you. Letting out a long exhalation to focus, you aimed the gun and pressed the trigger. What came next took you completely by surprise. The moment you released the trigger, a bullet flew into the barrel with a little more force than you were used to, and you stumbled, nearly falling into Neil. He caught you with one hand on your arm and grinned, seeing the dumbfounded look on your face.

“Wasn’t expecting that, huh?” he let go of you after taking one last look at your expression and took the gun back “That was an inverted bullet” he explained “So you catch it instead of firing”

That was a lot to take in. You slowly nodded, trying to process it all.

“Are you ready for inversion?” he asked after giving you space to think for a short while.

“Nope” you grinned “But lead the way”

He stared at you for a little longer then, scanning your face in search of something. But this time you stared right back, facing him with determination. After thirty seconds, which felt like much longer, he turned away and opened a heavy door on the right side of the laboratory’s wall. You followed, not knowing what to expect at all. What you did not anticipate was to enter a darkened room with the lights tinted red, where one of the walls had a massive glass window inserted into it. On the other side of the glass you could see a very similar room but with the light tinted blue. At the opposite end from where you came in there was a massive barrel-shaped metal structure with a doorway and complex mechanisms around it. You noticed that there was the exact same thing on the other side of the room.

“Any questions?” Neil was casually leaning on the wall with his hands in the pockets, observing you with a small smile.

“What’s that?” you pointed at the machine.

“That’s the turnstile. We use it to get inverted” he pushed himself upright and walked over towards you “They’ll explain how it works in technical sense during the training. But I can show you the practical side. Ready?” he run hand through his hair, ruffling it in process.

“More than ever” you took another deep breath of the day.

“Okay, so we’ll go through the turnstile once we can see ourselves entering it on the other side of the proving window” he gestured towards the glass panel.

You noticed with a start that in the other room you could see yourself and Neil. They were moving backwards. As they entered the turnstile on the blue side, Neil quickly took your hand and pulled you inside the machine. You felt the machine screech with the years of use and after a few seconds you were being led out of it and into the blue side of the room. Before you could process what just happened, Neil let go of your hand and continued his explanation:

“The air here is sealed but once we go outside you’ll have to wear an oxygen mask because your lung membranes are now inverted”

You nodded and looked at the other side and the scene playing out there. One that just happened for you mere minutes ago. You started feeling a bit dizzy by trying to understand but attempted to focus on Neil’s briefing:

“They’ll tell you all this in training but normally we wear those protective suits to avoid accidentally touching our forward selves”

“What happens if we do?”

“Annihilation” he winked, and you could only stare in shock.

“Don’t worry about that for now though” he reassured while moving towards the rack filled with respirators and hazard suits.

He handed you a mask with a small oxygen tank attached and you put it on, while he continued:

“Once we exit the airlock, you’ll feel a bit weird at first. You’ll have wind at your back and the gravity will appear reversed for the world around you. But we’ll be within a restricted area, so you’ll be safe” he put on the mask and started to open the door “If at any point you stop feeling alright, let me know okay?” he looked at you intently and you got surprised by seriousness of his gaze.

You just nodded and tried to prepare for what was about to happen. As the airlock opened and you stepped outside, you scanned the scene. The area you have entered was separated from the outside world with a tall fence and was very much like a small training zone with sparring equipment and shooting range. Carefully you took a few steps forwards and suddenly felt a gust of strong wind hit you on the back with force. You stumbled and felt Neil look at you worriedly. You took a deep breath, trying to remain calm despite feeling the familiar chill of anxiety creeping in. Usually in those moments you would try to focus on something mundane so you looked up at the sky, hoping that it would do the job. The moment you looked up, a pigeon flew by, cooing and diving near the fence. Only it was inverted for the way you perceived it. Panicked, you looked at the street visible on the horizon. The cars were running backwards too. That was enough to make the anxiety kick in.

Shit… you gasped and tried to take a deep breath but found that you could not. The respirator made you feel as though you were beginning to suffocate. Every breath was not enough. It felt as though you were stuck in an airtight container, slowly losing the precious oxygen. You turned away from Neil, hoping he won’t notice your distress. You started to hyperventilate with increasing speed. Suddenly you felt Neil’s hand touch your arm, trying to make you face him. You did not want him to see you like that, so you shook it off:

“I’m fine” your voice came out breathless.

You heard him huff out a few strong curse words before he forcefully made you face him.

“No you’re not. You’re hyperventilating” he glanced at the small barometer on your oxygen tank and frowned “Okay, look at me”

Grudgingly you forced yourself to meet his gaze, aware of your tear stained cheeks and ruined mascara. His blue eyes were steady, focused on you. He took one of your hands and placed it on his chest. Your eyes widened in slight confusion, but your mind was too busy panicking to think right now.

“You have to slow down so breathe with me” his voice was soothing; the cockiness was nowhere to be found.

He began to inhale slowly, and you tried to match his tempo while forcing yourself to calm down the racing thoughts. After a few deep breaths synced up this way you felt the wave of anxiety die down. Neil was still looking at you with concern.

“Think I’m better now” you muttered, feeling embarrassed at the scene you just made “Sorry, didn’t know it will be that bad…” you admitted shyly.

With a start you realised you still had your hand placed over his heart and that Neil was keeping it in place, looking at you with an unreadable expression. When you awkwardly tugged at your hand, he released it and asked:

“You really don’t like to ask for help, do you?”

“Not really, no” you smiled slightly, and he mirrored your expression.

Your eyes found his again and you both froze, unable to look away. After another minute, which once again felt much longer, you heard someone clear their throat awkwardly. There was someone else in the training zone. That sobered you up. You quickly took a step away from Neil and glanced at the newcomer, feigning calm and composure. It was a young man with a very anxious expression on his face. You briefly wondered how long he stood there.

“Patrick” Neil greeted him with a handshake “Everything alright?”

“Yeah” Patrick looked in your direction quickly “They need you for a mission”

“Now?”

Patrick just nodded. Neil walked back to you:

“Apologies but as you see I’m needed” he squeezed your hand quickly and you just gaped at him.

Only once he started walking back into the building, did you sober up:

“And you’re just going to leave me here?! I’m bloody inverted!” you shouted, ignoring the terrified look on Patrick’s face.

“Well… yes” Neil shrugged and sent you that annoying roguish grin “Patrick here can help you with the turnstile. I’m sure you two will manage”

You really wanted to punch him.

“Oh and your training begins tomorrow” he added “Anna will tell you the details” and with that he was gone.

Fucking hell… you groaned and looked at Patrick who stared at the ground, clearly hoping that the earth would consume him any second now.

You felt very tired.

[btswishes]

Love me for who I am now

Bucky x Reader ( Chapter 7)

Previous / Next (8)

Summary: You apply for the Stark internship and end up getting it, so now you have 5 months to make a good impression to continue working with the Avengers.

A/N:  This delay wasn’t planned everyone. My computer had enough from online classes and decided to crash on me a couple of days ago. I had to send it for repair, but we are back now. I will post a bit more often from my usual schedule for a few days to try and compensate. Hope yall like this, sorry for any mistakes made. Enjoy.

Tag list: @vicmc624  @yasminwashere​  @darkacademic2​

Word count:  4,301

Warmings: fights, harsh language, not part of the original MCU

Y/N- Your name                            

Y/L/N- Your Last Name    

                                         --------------------------------------

“ I am sorry to cut this lovely reunion short, but we are still in a HYDRA base and honestly I am sure I hear a clock ticking.” You pointed in the direction of the gentle muffled clicking sounds

“Guess they plan to level this place to the ground just in case.” Bucky pinched in

“The way it sounds, I plan to watch the fireworks from inside the car on our way AWAY!”

    Peggy still in Steve’s arms, felt being lifted off the ground again like she was made from feathers, as he dashed through the now missing doors towards the premade exit. She kept silent for most of the escape, seeing how the situation was confusing as it is, there was no need to fuel the adrenalin more. The bomb was enough for now.

 The grip Cap had on Peggy loosened, letting her jump in the backseat with his shield. Bucky’s big frame settled next to Steve in the front seat, but not before he threw you towards Agent Carter, less gently than his friend did.

“I am not a bag of groceries Barnes!” you kicked his seat, yet ended up getting ignored for the most part

  With determination, Steve’s foot hit the gas making the car roar out – snow creating a cloud behind the tires.

 The empty space filled with loud beating hearts, skipping and missing beats, going one over the other – starting to calm down only after some distance was put between them and the building.

“Guess I misunderstood the tiking sou-“ the whispers coming out from your lips were engulfed by the huge explosion following the thankfully small pieces hitting the rear of the vehicle. You and Peggy ducked your heads for safety measures. The men in front seemed too immersed in the road, couldn’t even notice the musical notes coming from Bucky’s metal arm, his body leaning out the window, as particles ricocheted off it .

“Barnes!” your fingers reached over to grab onto his weapon belts, pulling him back inside. This man had no regards to his life, making one stupid decision after the other. It didn’t help that Steve wasn’t even noticing it all. Sometimes it felt like they both shared the ‘stupid’.

“Calm down doll. I am trying to see through the dust cloud. Wouldn’t want Stevie to throws us off a cliff.”

“I. Can’t.Believe.You.Are.Joking.Right.Now!” each hit perfectly timed thumping off his broad shoulders

“Stop it you two! Call Stark.” The blonde man demanded, pulling Bucky’s attention from you and onto the earpiece. The deep stern voice of authority cut your upset streak immediately. 

“Hey ladies, how was the ball?” Tony’s playboy tone rung through the car, presumably while he was twirling onto his work chair.

“Delightful.” You hissed between your teeth

“What is wrong Cinderella? Lost a shoe?”

“No, but we gained a member.”

“Calling Barnes a dog isn’t nice now.”

“Stark!” Bucky launched towards the dashboard, but Steve stopped him with his free arm, before clasping the gear stick again.

“HYDRA were doing something in there that might have worked.”Cap began talking “ Tony, we don’t plan on stopping at a safe house. I am driving us directly towards the compound. How fast can you meet us there?”

 The mic picked up on Tony’s shifting body guessed by the screeching sound of his work chair “ I don’t know. How far are you from there? Fuck, I will call Happy to get me from Stark tower.”

“I am sorry to intrude in this discussion, but do you by chance mean Stark as in Howard Stark?” Peggy placed her hands onto Steve’s seat, pulling her body closer.

“Usually people don’t think of my father first thing when they hear my name.” Tony huffed out, a bit of pride bubbling in his long blood of geniuses.

“You are Howard’s son?!” she gasped audibly

“Umm, I thought people knew that about me already, as well as handsome, playboy, genius, billionaire. Google gives a good explanation too. Steve is this our new addition? I would be worried if the answer is yes.” The car fell silent for a couple of seconds “I will take that as my answer.”

“We are close.” Cap didn’t know how to deal with all this still, he just had to cut it short till everyone was gathered and maybe ignore the problem for the time being. Very bad coping mechanism.

“How many vodka shots do I need for this?” Tony’s equivalent to pre-workout when it came to Avengers related work. Maybe the only thing keeping him sane most of the time.

“Grab a bottle for me too.” You voiced loud and clear from the leaning position your body was resting in

“A bottle?! Fuck my life.” The earpiece cut off the conversation making Bucky place it back onto his ear. Silence laced the atmosphere once more, this time with no sound, but the motion of the car to keep company. Your eyes laid over everyone inside one by one, scanning them and their calm exterior. The drive was long and a bit suffocating to a point, where you had to open the window on your side to let some fresh air in.

“Ah, sorry.” You sighed out looking at Peggy’s scattering hair “I should have asked before opening it.” Her hand gently pushed the flying strands behind her ear flashing you’re a smile.

“It’s ok. I know how much you hate tight spaces, we used to find diners with tables next to open windows because of that.” There it was again, a chunk of true information about you throw directly out of the 40s at you in the 21st century. Steve’s gaze focused onto the reflection in the car mirror switching between his love’s soft gaze and your confused look thrown back at her.

“Calm down, we are almost there” Bucky’s fingers Morse coded a quick message to his ,on the edge friend, earing a nod and refocus back on the street.

 The moment you entered the city again, Peggy’s eyes darted towards her side of the car scanning everything happening. The buildings were huge, people were dressed so different, their manners and way they carried themselves, it felt weird not what she grew up with and knew by memory. It felt lonely maybe, or sad that she had no means of going back, yet the man sitting in front of her was a dream come true. Something she had wished for for years now.

“I am not…home anymore am I?” no one answered her, giving just enough information to make her own conclusion. With a small flair Steve drove the car into the compound, parking it at its usual space. The blonde soldier opened the door slowly, reaching his hand out for the agent to take, as baffled as she still was at this point. You found it so sweet how he was showing his feelings towards Peggy without saying a word, still lost in the mission. While Bucky was fixing himself up, he noticed the way your gaze laid over the two lovebirds in a longing stare. A gentle smirk pulled on his lips, before pushing out of the car and gripping your door handle. An unlocking sound shot your head, throwing your hair in the opposite direction.

“What are you doing?” you asked him, tripping over the end of the question lightly

“Something you will never admit you want.” His flesh arm reached out for yours to take, letting you marvel at his huge stance for a moment. The hesitation dissolved with the reflection of yourself inside his ocean blue eyes.

  An old melancholic memory blew over you like a ghost, pushing your hand into his palm. Even though Bucky was the one who offered this, his body froze when you accepted his touch. His eyes ran over your hand, up your shoulder to your face, locking with you. His fingers slowly pulled your hand closer, clapped gently as he ran his thumb over your knuckles.

“I am glad that at least you brought my car back, for once.” Tony’s figure, standing next to the elevator with spread hands, pulling you two out of the time capsule. For a moment, for just a split second you saw in front of yourself a man. Short messed up dark brown hair, his smile reaching up to his eyes, shaping them slightly into crescent moons. His shirt unbuttoned tinted a dirty olive green letting his chest show – a metal chain laid upon it. His pants were messed up, his face muddy at places. It went like it came, a mist like whisper of the past.

“Tony we need to gather everyone.” Steve pushed the keys into the billionaire’s chest, letting them drop in his hands

“Already did-“ it didn’t take much time for him to notice Peggy “Is that?”

“Agent Peggy Carter.” She walked up to him with a confidant stride leaning for a handshake, which Tony didn’t hesitate to finish “Well aware of your identity agent Carter. Stark, Tony Stark.”

 She flashed him a smile with a small nod before walking into the elevator.

“F.R.Y.D.A.Y. conference room.”

   Yes Sir

   The doors slid open causing the confused agent to jump a bit. You made sure to grab onto her, stopping a potential injury inside. The big almost ceremonial hall sized room revealed itself in front of Peggy, adding to her list of amazing and possibly impossible things.

“How did the first mission go Y/N?” Nat swung her legs jumping off the table, just to be stopped in her track by the unexpecting young lady behind Steve

“Everyone take your seats. This will be a long one.”Tony rushed to pour himself a drink, downing it faster than he could refill it. Peggy took Steve’s spot as he requested of her, taking his big frame to the front of the room.

“The HYDRA base was active. Except the usual goons there were 3 men, one of them was a scientist. Y/N.��� he pointed towards you, directing the attention at you for a moment “Was able to retrieve the information, hopefully all of it, from them.”

“May I?” you asked, coaxing a nod from Steve. He turned towards your empty chair ,as you took his place in front of everyone. Taking over Tony’s tech you inserted the USB, but didn’t project anything yet to them. “They are trying to re-activate plan Winter Soldier and I am worried that they are pretty close to doing that.” Bucky’s body tensed up after he heard that name uttered from your lips “ I am guessing that they are opening a portal back in time using the tesseract. I don’t know if they plan to steal the serum, but it won’t be as simple as we think. F.R.Y.D.A.Y. the projector please.”

   As you wish Miss

    The wall became illuminated by different pictures and texts meticulously organized by you on the screen under your fingers. “I found old files, but no matter how much I scan them, I can’t get any information out of them.” Your head moved from the wall over to the tablet between your palms “All I can tell you is this Phase2-“

“Winter Soldier Phase2 The Return.” Peggy spoke out, her body rising slowly from the chair

“Everyone.” Your hand let go of the tech and turned the palms up pointing at her “Agent Peggy Carter, the one who walked through that very light ring a couple of hours ago.”

“She traveled through time?” Clint looked at Rhodey shaking his hands in front of his body “Is that something we can do now? Doesn’t it mess up some time space stuff?”

“Yes, basically. Just don’t tell Strange, we should be fine” You explained 

“Noted.”

“Well since she seems to know something about this, let’s let her explain.” Tony swung his whiskey in the expensive crystal glass, the ice hitting the walls melodically.

“Before this all happened, I was on a mission to retrieve the second half of that exact document.” She began

“You have read the first part ?” Steve asked earning an positive answer from her

“The experimented soldiers were cryo-frozen for future use, I am guessing in this day and age. The first file spoke of the process and the scientists involved in the whole operation by name. They planned to use one of these men to make a super soldier embryo.”

“HYDRA wants to mingle some of their soldiers to make a baby? Wouldn’t want to be that poor girl.” the playful note was easily distinguished 

“They could inject the serum inside a pregnant mother.” Vision leaned his body onto the table offering his two cents on this already sadistic topic 

“ This whole ordeal could be a way for them to try and retrieve the lost files. Going back in time is a big thing on its own. Guess they are very confidant in this operation to begin with.” Wanda jumped in with an idea following a lead

“That is an option, considering that their plan with unfreezing those popsicles ended up with all them dying in the first place.” Tony pushed off his desk, leaving the glass to rest on the coaster empty. “What else did you find on that USB?”

“That two soldiers survived that time difference.” Pressing the screen Bucky’s file popped up on the wall “James Buchanan Barnes, as we know went through the cryo freezer, but the second soldier doesn’t have any intel on methods of survival. Yet the more I looked into it, the more information I found about him. The files are much fuller than those of Bucky, almost like they had a personal deal of sorts, which got me thinking. So turns out this mystery soldier was in HYDRA as a family business. Him and Bucky were the best duo they had, almost perfectly engineered team. Taking orders and finishing the job. Our Mr.2 didn’t go under the memory eraser as much as Bucky did, only 5 recorded cases in here.  ” You tried to dig for a picture to offer them a face, but you could only find a burned one of a dog tag with a missing name, only the numbers left “ It is almost like he had been in the organization since a child.”

“What a family.” Nat commented “Basically we have another Barnes running around out there and we don’t know what he is capable of or who he might be?”

“I don’t remember any of this.” Bucky rubbed his head, either a headache creeping onto him or the anger of not being able to be of help.

“The problem might go deeper than that.” Steve rolled his shoulders back, hands crossed in front of his chest “Peggy seems to know Y/N.”

“Pardon my French but what the actual flying fuck?” Sam laughed out “ You can time travel of something now?”

“Not that I know of.” You shrugged “I am as confused about this as you all are.”

“Peggy?” his blonde hair flew around his head, as his eyes focused onto her figure

“We, me and Y/N are friends. Both of us met awhile after Steve’s….disappearance. Probably a couple of years or so. We used to go out from time to time and enjoy some food or a casual walk. Nothing suspicious. ”

“You said we haven’t seen each other since a few months now?” you asked her

“Yes, last time we met you had to leave earlier because of family problems with your uncle. It was pure coincidence, but I saw that the man who picked you up was James.”

 It felt like something snapped your head towards Bucky, eyes meeting in a mix of shock and confusion. The whole room couldn’t take a breath in until their brains calculated all that just got released as information. Tony frozen in one place as his eyes began to widen.

“I think I will be saying the thing we all are thinking about but…” Bruce trailed off trying to delay this as much as he could this rough interruption “ If Miss Carter is 100% sure she knew Y/N, the one here right now that we see and she also has seen her and Bucky together during that time. The information we got from that USB can lead only to one possible conclusion.”

“Are yall saying I am 100 something years old!?” your exterior was mirroring your inside state “We don’t know if it is a woman or a men, but you can’t just start pointing fingers like that.”

“I am sure it was Y/N. I followed you back then. After recognizing James I thought…” her eyes looked at Cap softly “ If he was alive than maybe Steve was as well.” The atmosphere was dark, heavy, but also like thunder crackling, hitting you with buzzes of something.

“What we are saying is that you could be working for HYDRA and we would never know.” Tony took a few steps towards you, his finger of the suit trigger button “A few years off your daily life are missing under the alibi that you were living with your uncle. You show some interesting symptoms from time to time to.”

“I don’t work for HYDRA!” agitating words and lack of memory began taking a tole on you “Wanda, Wanda look inside my head. Tell them I don’t work for HYDRA!” you were shaking her body vigorously, hoping for assistance maybe at least from Vision, the walking infinity stone.  

“Ok, calm down.” You took a seat while Wanda began gently entering your mind. She was gentle, taking her time going past one memory and into the other. Seeing thoughts and unsaid wishes. After what felt as an eternity she pulled her fingers away from your head and her presence out of your mind.

“She is telling the truth.” You slumped into the chair, taking a sharp breath in after what she said. For a moment you thought you heard faintly Tony disengaging the repulsion canon on his suit.

“But…”

“But what?” eyes wandering over Wanda in expectation

“You have missing memories, not exactly forgotten maybe suppressed or hidden. Things just don’t feel natural in some places in your head. They seem periodical.”

“Now that we have calmed down.” Bruce walked over to you, helping you get up and shielding your body from Tony’s sight “Let’s take her to Stark tower. Tony your lab there is much bigger we can figure this thing out.” Everyone in the room waited for the ultimate decision, which he took his time on making.

“F.R.Y.D.A.Y. prepare the lab.”

  Yes Sir

 “Thank you, Tony.” You whispered

“Don’t mention it kid.” His hand landed onto your shoulder, giving you a reassuring squeeze, that he himself might have needed at that moment  “Barnes you will be in a car with Steve, Clint and Peggy, Y/N will be with me, Bruce and Natasha. We don’t need you two that close for now. Wanda, Sam and Vision can just fly there. Rhodey grab Happy and wait for us there. You.”he pointed at Thor “Go ask your messed up brother if he worked with HYDRA or lost the Tesseract for sometime before we made Vision .”

  Thor summoned Bifrost off Midguard, Wanda grabbed onto Vision disappearing into the wall. Everyone else headed down to the garage. The elevator was packed, the silence felt like a rope around your throat choking you with each floor passing. The space seemed tighter than before. It felt like the elevator was slowly filling with water, the pressure crushing your bones. Your body warmed up going past the normal temperature, when an icy like cooling sensation rolled up from your waist. Jolting threw you slight back hitting something soft yet firm.

“Calm down, it is me.” A deep voice whispered letting your body sink into this hold turning into pudding. He was the only thing keeping you standing, melting away the worry. Your hands crept up grabbing onto his vibranium arm, holding tight almost like he might disappear if you let go.

Sir, the garage.

   F.R.Y.D.A.Y. ‘s voice echoed sliding the metal doors open. Tony threw a pair of keys over to Steve, unlocking his own.

“I got her.” Natasha smiled at you, showing Bucky that he can entrust you to her from here on. As much as you didn’t want him to let go, you felt his body leaving yours. “ It will be ok. No one really thinks you are on their side.” She told you “We just have to make sure that if this is all true they didn’t mess with you in ways they did with the metal fossil.”

“Nat.”a jingle like giggle left your lips, tapping her arm post joke. She knew what to say at any given moment. 

“Ladies mind having your giggle fest in the car, we are busy people.” Tony snapped his fingers in a flashy way, ushering you both on the back seat.

“What is the plan then?” worried or not, there was no point trying to change something outside your grasp. You were still scared, worried but sometimes wearing adult pants was needed. You worked hard to reach this spot, there was no way you could let go of your future like this. Determination was unlocking something inside you, strength in situation most people wouldn’t be able to be composed in.

  Tony threw a look at you before continuing to drive towards Stark tower “Glad to have you back agent.” Nat rubbed your hand in partnership with Tony’s words “ These are all theories, but having Peggy Carter so sure in knowing you could have revealed something about you and or HYDRA.”

Sir, a message incoming from Falcon

 “Put him through.”

“Hey Tony! Sorry to cut your show short. I am getting a police report of a road shut down by some black jeeps heading up on yall.” Sam was flying over the cars

“Check on it.” The big metal wings shadowed over the road and flew in front, almost disappearing between the clouds.

“Who would have guessed that someone would try and stop us from going to the lab.” Bruce laughed at his comment, but Tony and Natasha seemed too serious

“We shall see how much of this was the job of a little fairy.” The car slowed down coming up on the barricade of cars standing, tinted windows not allowed a correct assumption of human number

“Smells fishy to me. Someone let the octopus out.” Natasha pulled out the gun from her case sitting calmly next to her leg. Tony prepared his bracelets.

“Dusty, you get ready too.” He shot you a serious glance “I don’t think these fine gentlemen want our autographs.”

 No one made a move for a couple of minutes, before one of the jeeps opened and threw a man out of it on the floor. Bloodied up, tied in a brutal way. His head was hanging low enough for people to figure out he was an adult male, but not enough to figure out any facial characteristics.

“Great they have a hostage.” Steve’s voice echoed from the intercoms

“It’s HYDRA.” Bucky added “Couldn’t forget these disgusting faces even if I tried.”

“ Could have guessed that much myself from the logo on them metal boy.” Tony hissed knowing damn well they had to save whoever that man was.

“Don’t be shy, we won’t shoot. Yet.”  The HYDRA agent laughed out “Do you need more motivation?” his leg generated enough kinetic energy to roll the man over to the exposed sun light, making you yell out “UNCLE!”

“What?” Bruce’s body swung towards the backseat

“Great!” Tony hit the stearin wheel aggressively “Now we gotta do something. Avengers, out of the car.”

 Like a command you jumped out of the vehicle , trying to make sure you weren’t just guessing blindly, but it was him. It actually was your uncle, could he have been kidnapped all this time? The letters he stopped answering to could have been a sign you were too blind to notice. But why him?

“Now that we have acquainted ourselves , we want a deal.” The tall man spoke out braking your thought process “Give us our soldier back and we give you this one here.”

“How about we punch you in the face and you give us the hostage ?” Bucky hissed out, his arm clenching in front of your eyes

“Honestly, I liked you better when you didn’t talk.” the smirk ripping this man’s face was disgusting, filled with pride.

“Y/N?” you uncle coughed up a bit of blood next to himself, a sight tugging on your heart strings.

“Aw such a sweet view. Almost a bit sad don’t you th-“

“Not as sad as you will be in a bit!” full speed down from the sky, Sam ripped the clouds landing a hard kick on the back of this guy’s head. Knocking him a couple of feet back. You dashed over to your uncle, who mustered enough power to get up and try to reach you. He collapsed half way, falling into your arms just in time.

“Uncle, uncle!” you kept calling out to him, brushing his hair off his sweaty forehead, who knows what this man went through at a HYDRA base by himself.

“I am ok sweetie. D-don’t worry.” You lowered your head trying to hear him better between the heavy breathing he was huffing and puffing, sending you a comforting smile.

“We should help them.” Steve and Bucky went towards you to give a hand in charring your relative.

“Steve wait!” Peggy grabbed his sleeve, when Bucky suddenly got the wind knocked out of him, his back denting one of Tony’s cars. The sheer strength needed to throw a big man like James back only possible by Steve, or another super soldier.

[jo-the-schmo]

Red, Dead, Reflections Ch. 1

A/N: Alright so... I started writing this fic over a year ago, and was posting it as I wrote it. I fell out of it for a few reasons but I’ve missed it. So I decided to start writing it again. The original versions of the first 5 chapters already exist on my blog but I want to repost them and do some editing. This way I can make the series more polished. I also want to try and do a once a week maybe schedule to give me some time in between writing chapters and so I can take some feedback into consideration.I hope some of the people who originally wanted to keep up with my series see this and I want to apologize for falling back on this. I feel really bad about it. I’ll try harder to commit to this. Thank you so much for being interested in my work. If anyone would like to be tagged just let me know, I don’t wanna assume the people who did before want to now. 

Summary: At the age of 23, you and your pseudo-family perform a heist gone wrong, leading you into a dangerous and seemingly impossible position. Discover your own history, the story of those around you, and gain new relationships along the way in this (sorta) choose your own adventure.

Warnings: Explicit language, blood, death, violence

Word count: 5,988

From Out West

“This is a little too ballsy for my liking, Austin.” You warned as you carefully adjusted the colored contact lenses in your eyes.

“Since when did you turn into a little pussy-willow?” He smirked at you while he turned a corner. 

“This is a bank, not a home robbery, so forgive me if I’m a tad nervous about this! We’re robbing a god damn bank in the 21st century, in a busy city that we aren’t necessarily familiar with!”

“Maybe you aren’t familiar, you know I’m a regular ol’LA boy.” You turned your head to look at the two in the backseat.

“Miguel, you can’t seriously be okay with this.” You questioned but were confident in it enough to make it a statement. He shrugged his shoulders, making that confidence literally evaporate. 

“We gotta trust Austin, as crazy as this plan is. We haven’t gotten caught yet.” You crossed you arms and made sure your wig was pinned right.

“Doesn’t mean we won’t be startin’ now.” You grumbled. 

“Come on, sissy! This plan is fool-proof! They’ll never even know it was us!” Eli chirped. 

“Oh yeah, except for the fact that this is a fucking bank and the FBI CAN get on our asses for this!” You swore it was exhausting being the only realistic one sometimes. “On top of that, there’s only 5 of us! We’re insane!” 

“6.” Austin corrected. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Your girlfriend won’t be in the damn room with us.” 

“She’s the ace up our sleeves, it would be silly for her to be in there with us.” The car smelled like old cigarettes, it made you sick. The band around your chest dug into your ribs. You opted to stay silent and relent for the time being, instead focusing on your disguise. The wig was carefully pinned to your real hair, it was short enough to be confused for a men’s haircut but had enough length to not require any glue. Dark brown hair, abnormally vibrant green eyes. And with the mask covering your face, that would be their only descriptions they could give to the police. Flat chest, boyish haircut, baggy black hoodie, just your average deviant. The destination was in view. 

“Alright,” Austin started. “everyone knows the plan, yeah? Gina is inside, she’ll send us the signal. We go in quick and make our presence known. I go behind the counter to make sure the tellers ain’t up to no funny shit. Miguel, you round up the lovely citizens into a corner, hit Gina a little to make it convincing. Eli, you take care of the money. And Y/N, I need you to stay in character, be loud and intimidating, keep the tellers in check when I’m helpin’ Eli, and the civils with Miguel, got it?” You all nodded. He looked back at Miguel. “You got the fake bomb ready?”

“Yes’ir.” 

“I’ll pass the big boss to you once I pick him out. Zoe is waiting for us in the alleyway between the bank and the office building. We get in, make some noise, scare them shitless, get the money, and go.” He parked up front of the white walls, you saw a mother walk through the glass doors with her toddler in a stroller. You immediately felt bad. 

“You promise this is the last job, right?” You looked at him seriously. “At least the last of something this big, I don’t think I could handle with again.”

“Of course! This is just to get us enough money to get us all out. The economy is garbage, think of it as taking what should already be ours.” You heard the crackle of the walkie on Austin’s lap. He threw it into his bag. “That’s the signal, masks on everyone.” Austin’s was a fox, long, fake salt and pepper hair rolled form under his hood. Eli’s was a raccoon, convincing copper bangs swooped between the ears. Miguel had an owl; disturbing blue eyes pierced your being. You strapped on your black dove and joined with group as they exited the stolen vehicle. You kept both your hands in the front pocket of your hoodie, trying to be discrete about the two handguns inside. Only one was loaded with real bullets, that was the backup, You preferred to use the blanks. Unable to trace, and when used properly, won’t hurt anyone. Austin and Eli took the leads. 

The doors were kicked in. 

“EVERYONE GET ON THE FUCKING GROUND RIGHT NOW! HANDS UP, ALL YOU! THIS IS A ROBBERY!” He screamed, pointing his gun at a man behind the counter about 3 yards away. Miguel was quick to shout at the people in line to get into the corner of the room. Gina pretended to try and defy, he slaps her, needless to say it’s convincing. 

“Dove, handle the worms.” You traded spots as Austin grabbed one of the men behind the counter. Your eyes locked with the poor woman, she was covering the stroller with her torso. You pointed your blank gun at some random person. 

“Stay on the ground or I’ll fucking shoot, ya hear me?” You lowered your voice, made it coarser, time to be a ‘man’. They nodded hysterically. The woman was crying. You could hear Eli screaming his demands in a fake accent. “Everyone hand over your phones. If any of you give me a reason to even SUSPECT you’re up to anything, I will shoot.” Everyone put their phones on the ground and slid them over toward you. You turned your attention to the back. “What’s the hold up, owl?” 

“I’m handling it.” He strapped the fake bomb to the teller’s chest, making him kneel down in the middle of the bank. “Listen up, everyone! This man has a bomb attached to his body. We have someone hacked into the security cameras. If you don’t follow our instructions to the T, they will blow a hole in this lot.” He paused to let the cries and gasps die out. “Now, for those said instructions, listen close. We will exit the building soon, you will stay down for 5 minutes.” He pointed at a clock on the wall. “Do not touch anything or move a muscle. When 5 minutes have passed, the big guy here-“ He patted the man’s shoulders and dropped a key wrapped in tissue in his lap. “will take a little drive off the premises. He will keep going until he reaches the designated location written on that tissue. If any of you contact the police before the end of the day, he will die, along with any other drivers in his vicinity. So, unless you want a substantial amount of blood on your hands, I’d suggest you keep quiet until midnight. As for the rest of you, you have permission to leave the building once that 5 minutes are up. But I would suggest keeping a low profile, for your safety and others’.” There was a loud crack. 

“I got it!” The phony Australian accent rang. Austin led the rest of the bank tellers to you, making them sit in the flood of civils. 

“Staying alert, Dove?”

“Don’t patronize me, stupid Fox.” This whole situation pissed you off. The baby was crying, mom was too, trying to hush the whines. 

“Fire a shot, Dove!” What? “Don’t let their insubordination stand.” He demanded. This was a fear tactic. He was trying to teach a lesson to the others. 

“I’m not firing a warning shot over a fucking baby, you psycho!” Your blood was boiling, this was overkill, he was way out of line with this. Of course, he wasn’t telling you to shoot the baby or the mother, but you weren’t going to cause more grief where it didn’t need to be. 

“Take the shot!”

“Fuck you!” 

“Why are you going against me?” Was he seriously doing this now? You felt like your head was going to explode. She was the only person with a child present. You put both of your pieces back in your hoodie and knelt next to her. She flinched as you approached, but that was to be expected. 

“Ma’am, I’m making an exception for you because you have a child with you, and that prick is really getting on my last nerve. You’re allowed to exit the building now, but the other rules still apply. People will die if you talk, maybe not you, but other people who have children like you do, most certainly. Take your kid and get out, don’t do anything out of the ordinary, and get out.” Her red eyes shook you to your core, familiarity. She nodded in both fear and appreciation. 

“Than-than-thank y-“ She was choking on her own misfortune, you decided to spare her. 

“Yeah, yeah, just get out.” She got up and collected herself, checking around the room as she walked out of the building. You could only see his eyes, but you could tell Austin was reaching his limit fast. An older gentleman stared at you. 

“At least one of you has a heart.” You were glad Austin was too focused on being pissed to hear that. You got up, kicking the phones toward the door as you walked. Austin grabbed you arm. 

“You’re lucky I didn’t kill her for that.” By letting that woman go, you showed weakness. It was a hint at your identities, but you didn’t care. 

“And you’re lucky I’m not shooting you for saying that. I’m not a killer like you, Fox.” Your voice was laced with venom. Eli had interrupted your dispute. 

“Alright lovebirds, time to play nice, we’ve got precious cargo.” He gave both of you a duffle bag, they were pretty hefty. Austin took a deep breath, putting on his best showman voice. 

“Alright folks! That right there is our cue to hit the road. Remember, 5 minutes on the clock. No one likes a-“ The doors were filled with red and blue, sirens. The police were here. “Shit!” Shit was right. “How the hell are they here?” Austin screamed. He gave you a shove. “It’s probably because of that god damn woman!” 

“There’s no way she would’ve had enough time for that.”

“And no one had a phone out, I was watching the whole time.” Miguel chimed. 

“We have bigger fish to fry right now! We gotta go.” You all dashed over to the back door, all you had to do was move towards the alley, if you could just get to the dump van, everything would be fine. Drive up to get the real car, leave that one with no prints or hair, and you’d be home free. The 4 of you booked it out the door. But the van was no where to be seen, instead, there were about 3 cops on either side which was 6 in total, trapping you in. 

“They must’ve got Zoe!” Yeah, no shit. 

“Put your hands up!” You all raised your arms, except of course for Austin. You kicked his calf. He didn’t budge. “I said put your god damn hands up!”

“In case you didn’t notice, pal, there’s a bomb in that building. If you don’t let us pass, I’ll blow that building out of existence, along with the man attached to it.” He pointed his gun to one of the cops to your left. “So, I suggest you let us through, or else you’re gonna piss me off more than I already am.” 

“We know the bomb is fake, drop to your knees or we will shoot!” Another one barked. Someone had ratted you out. You looked at Miguel and Eli, you weren’t letting this go down, not by a long shot. You tuned out Austin’s ramblings and whispered to the other two. 

“Be ready to run. I’m gonna buy you guys some time. Don’t kill any of them, disarm them.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Y/N?” Miguel questioned with panic. You took a deep breath. 

“Thank you for being my family.” You swept your leg behind Austin’s knees, and he collapsed to the ground as you stood. 

The world slowed to a crawl, pulling a gun out of your pocket, these were real bullets. You’ve never missed a target. You drew the attention of all 6 police officers, but no amount of training could prepare them. You fired 3 shots, each one hitting the hands of the officers Austin had been talking to. Their weapons fell from their hands. You felt bodies push past your legs, down the alley way away from the bank. You were glad the streets of LA were confusing. Now was the time. You whipped your body around to face the rest of the officers, firing rapidly at their shins. You weren’t gonna put blood on your hands. 

But deep down you knew, there was no making out of this one. You would buy them a few minutes while trying to subdue you. Just as your haphazard shots began, they fired precise ones of their own. Two passed through your skull, three in your chest, and one got a through almost half of your jugular. Both pieces fell away from you as gravity swaddled you. Bits of your wooden mask, blood, head pushing back unnaturally, seeing the backs of your made family run, they were almost home free. There was no pain after that point, you waited patiently for your back to hit the ground beneath you, but it never did. You kept falling. 

And falling. 

The midday light felt like it was slipping away, there were leather walls encompassing your lifeless form. No sound, no sense of texture, just the smell of dirt and decay. Then there was nothing but darkness, but that void that beckoned you, that pulled at your very being, was gone just as quick as it appeared. 

Your body shot forward with a violent intake for air. The gasps filled your lungs to the brim, your chest and head ached, throat tight. The coughing erupted from deep in your chest, which also held a different pain from the ever-tightening band around it. You threw you hoodie away and made quick work of loosening it just a bit, and in doing so noticed that your body was free of any physical wounds. There was still a soreness, and blood wiped off your skin, but there were no open wounds. You were incredibly cold, and at first you assumed that to be attributed to your near-death experience, until you looked up high to see to see an open window with snow falling outside. 

“I don’t think we’re in California anymore.” You muttered to yourself. You shivered, the place was covered in hay and in low light, that’s when the smell hit you. It reeked of animals, that would probably have something to do with the fact that you’re in a barn. Shakily, you got to your feet. Knees wobbling, your eyes adjusted, there were horses. That certainly explained the stench. A chill ran up your spine, the cold tickling at your vertebrae. You scanned the room for where you had tossed your hoodie, only to find it in a horse’s mouth. Your eyes widened in fear. “No, no, no, no, no, no!” You exclaimed. You rushed forward and grasped at the hanging sleeve, tugging on it with all your strength. “Drop it! Drop it right now!” 

The horse did not listen, in fact, now it seemed more hellbent on consuming the thick material. After hurtling a few curses at the horse, you heard a distinct rip. You fell back, the remnants of black cloth now in tatters. You let out a muffled scream of frustration. Even with the long sleeves of your cotton shirt, you were still freezing. It suddenly struck you how odd it is for it to be snowing at all. You figured you weren’t in California anymore, but you were somewhere that snows in the middle of May? How far were you? You couldn’t think of any states that snowed this late in the year. Were you in Maine? Up north, Canada? How did you even get here? 

“Did those idiots come back to get me? I could’ve sworn…” You could’ve sworn they ran like you told them to, and that you had experienced several fatal injuries. Is this hell? Purgatory? The other side? It was cold enough to be Hell that’s for sure. Nothing made sense. You found your mask on the ground, chunks of the painted wood were replaced with vacant space, splintered bullet holes. You fastened it to the first belt loop, it rested against your left pant leg. Pins dug into your scalp, wigs still surprisingly attached to your head. Your eyes watered, your contacts were drying out. You opted take them out now rather than waste your time trying to find drops in a barn. You flicked them away once they were out. “Now, if there’s a barn with animals, there’s gotta be a house with people.” You walked over to the large wooden doors as your talked to yourself, but today just had to be the worst day of your life. Something landed on top of you, or more accurately someone. 

You were surprised you didn’t feel any cracks as the weight crashed on you. Shifting your weight over, you elbowed the man in the jaw. He rolled off of you with a grunt of pain. You were quick to jab him in the stomach with the toe of your boot. Sputtering a cough with saliva dripping out the mouth, the man rushed to stand. He was trying to fight. 

“You’re on the wrong side of the mountains, partn’r.” He slurred. “This here is O’Driscoll territory, Which you don’t got no business bein’ in.” I’m in the mountains? Where the hell- He didn’t give you enough time to finish that thought before he was throwing a punch at you. If this basic boy thinks he can step in my personal space, he’s got another thing coming. You blocked the fist with your forearm and redirected the force toward the ground. With the base of your wrist, you hit his throat. The force of your own strength and the ever so impeccable sense of gravity caused him to wheeze, choke, and writhe on the ground. 

“Listen here, buddy,” you pressed your boot down on his chest “I have no idea where the hell I am right now. I don’t give a single shit about territory or whatever the fuck you’re going on about, but if you put your hands on me again, I’m gonna mangle your entire lower half with a rake.” You applied more weight. “I didn’t come here of my own volition, someone put me here. Which means, you’re little punk ass better tell me what’s going on or get out of my way so I can-“ Gunshots. Mystery man took your distraction as an opportunity to wriggle out form under you. They were ceaseless, did someone drop you off in the middle of a gang war, what the hell is going on? You were about to duck behind whatever cover was around you if the idiot of the room had decided he didn’t learn his lesson. 

“Are you with those crazies?” He yelled, peeking out the barn doors for only a second. “I should’ve known.” His voice was cold and malicious. “You’re with that son of a bitch, Dutch!”

“Who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, pretty boy, they must’ve sent you up to spy on us! I’m gonna kill you for-“

“I literally have no idea what’s going on!” But he wasn’t listening to reason, clocked you in the ribs before you got the chance to block, then using your surprise to his advantage, hit you on the nose. There was a familiar crack and blood rush. “Did you just fucking break my nose, you ass?” You screeched toward the ground, wiping away the blood. 

You took him off guard by doing that, so you were quick to knock him in the jaw. The shooting stopped but you were a little preoccupied and decided not to waste anymore time. His arm bent to caress the side of his face. You rushed forward, lacing your arm between the gap his made. Using all your weight, you swung your legs out and forced him to drop to the ground. His back slammed forcefully and with a swift adjustment, your shins trapped his neck, locking him in place. You squeezed his neck enough to make him gasp. He tried to push away from you, but with the position you left him in, there’s no way he’d be able to without some sort of outside assistance. 

“Who are you calling pretty boy now? Huh? Who, bitch boy?” You heard the door start to open, you let lose and pulled the man up to shield you, locking his head so that you peek between a gap in your arm and his head. A man wearing a blue coat and hat walked in, his hands resting on his belt. 

“Well, well, what have we got ourselves here?” You couldn’t quite place his accent. You noticed he had a holster. 

“Don’t fuck with me, dude. I’ve got your friend trapped between me and you. No need to make this get crazy.” You warned, tightening your grip to enunciate your point. What sounded almost like a chuckle escaped his throat. 

“You must not be an O’Driscoll if you think he’s my friend.” You panicked, you tried to think of your next move, but he had plans of his own. “What’s your name, son?” Your suspicions were correct, it seems. This isn’t the first time someone’s confused you for a man, especially when you were trying so hard to not look like yourself. But maybe, you could use this to your advantage. 

“James West.” That was Austin’s code name for danger. If someone introduced you or called any of you James, it meant they weren’t trust worthy. You and Gina would usually use Jamie, but now James felt like the safer option. 

“Now how in the hell did you get involved in this, West?” He rested his hip against one of the stable posts.  

“I have no idea.” You threw the man away from you, there was no point holding him anymore. “I woke up here, and this guy just started attacking me.” You thought for a moment. “Are you Dutch?” You asked. This time, it was a single, hearty-

“HA!” He had a spark in his eye. “Me? Dutch? I ain’t that old yet, kid.” You rolled your eyes and pulled yourself up. 

“Well, my nose is broken because this little shit thought I was with you, so I have some choice words for this ‘Dutch’.” You huffed. “And don’t call me ‘kid’.” You brushed your fingers across the bridge of your nose, preparing yourself for what you were about to do. One deep breath in, out, pop. You pushed your nose back into place and winced. A wad of blood shot out. “Jesus shit!” You coughed, you never get used to having to do that. The blue coat cowboy looking mother-fucker looked semi-impressed. 

“Well, I’m not Dutch, but you could sure meet him if it pleases.” Something caught his attention. “Speak of the devil…” The door opened again. A man walked in with very distinct black hair. He was also a cowboy looking mother-fucker. Oh god, am I in yeeyee country? His eyes immediately locked on you. 

“Did you cause this mess, Arthur? Or have we just met a new friend?” The man who you presumed to be Dutch, had a deeper voice than the man apparently called Arthur, but their accents were similar. That was not promising for you. 

“That depends, his name is West, James West. I walked in a right fine mess between him and that there O’Driscoll.” Arthur pointed to the man still struggling to steady himself. Dutch choked a deep laugh, he seemed more amused than Arthur was. 

“Right fine is right, Arthur. You did this?” He asked. You nodded reluctantly. “You’re a good fighter, boy. Real good, it seems.” He strode over to the guy on the floor and picked him up by the collar, tossing him over to Arthur. “Morgan, you deal with this trash while I talk to our new pal.” Dutch walked over to you, confidence in his step, while Arthur threw the man back on the ground. He wrapped an arm around your shoulder and shook you around a bit. “James West, huh?”

“Yeah, what’s it to ya?” 

“Oh, this boy’s got spunk, Morgan!” You looked over and saw Arthur yanking the man around by the shirt. Dutch forced your attention back to him. “Now West, you’ve gotta understand our position here. We can tell clear as day you ain’t involved in a lick of this mess. But we don’t have a single clue as to what your business is up here. Now, you seem like a considerate young man, but I got worried folks on this mountain, and I can’t have no scamps running around and hellraising” He squeezed your shoulder. “So, don’t take any offense to what I’m about to ask, but what are you doing up here?” He looked you dead in the eyes. In your opinion, the question was fair. You couldn’t fully let your guard down, but they appeared to not be whoever put you here. Then again, these O’Driscoll’s didn’t seem to be either. 

“I can’t give you an answer to that one, Mr. …?” 

“Van Der Linde.” That’s one hell of a name. 

“Mr. Van Der Linde. Frankly, I have no damn clue why I’m here. One minute, I’m getting shot down in the middle of the day, and then I wake up trapped in some barn in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, in what looks like the ass end of winter. So, I’m a little confused right now to say the least.” You were clearly frustrated with your situation, he wasn’t oblivious to it. 

“Where are you from, son?”

“California.” That was a safe enough answer. 

“James West from out West. That’s certainly an opener.” He scratched his chin. “I’m gonna put you to a test young man.” He turned you around and lead you over to where Arthur had just gotten off the now bloody man. He was whimpering, begging under his breath for mercy. 

“I don’t think he’s got much to say, Dutch. They apparently happened upon this place and took it over. That’s all I’m getting’” 

“I’m going to give our new young friend a choice.” He pulled a revolver out of his holster and held the handle out to you. “In normal circumstances, I’d let Arthur handle this situation himself. But I’ve got an itching curiosity with you, kid.” You felt obligated to hold it in your hand. Looking down at the man, pity flared in your chest. “Should we kill him, or let him go? I’m letting you make the call.” What kind of question was this? Who were these guys? The choice wasn’t very difficult, you’d be a hypocrite if you did otherwise, and you weren’t compromising your promise on the off chance these guys might not like your opinion. 

You handed the gun back to Dutch. 

“Just because he’s an asshole, doesn’t mean he deserves to die. Let him go.” Dutch was intrigued by your answer. He looked over to Arthur with a smirk.

“I think I like kid!” 

“Please don’t call me ‘kid.” You requested. Arthur pulled the man to his feet and threw him outside.

“Get outta here before he regrets it.” The man darted into the snow, leaving a trail behind him. 

“Grab the horse, Arthur. We gotta get something out of this.”  You were lead outside to find a horrific scene, bodies were strewn about the snowy landscape. Whoever these guys were, they were not to be trifled with. You should play this safe. 

There was a house not too far away, the snow was dense. It was more than freezing. You sent a glare to the horse Arthur led past you. You’ll pay for this, you dumb fucking horse. With your adrenaline dying down, your whole being felt frozen. 

“Normally, I wouldn’t be one for disrupting dead for anything other than money, but you’ll die out here without something warm, Mr. West.” Dutch gestured to one of the several bodies riddled through the snow. You swallowed the lump in your throat, trying your best not to think about how you were robbing from dead people. It wouldn’t be the first time, but you still didn’t feel good about it. You separated from him and carefully stepped around the bodies littered in the snow. You found a man with his face in the snow, you pretty much picked him so you wouldn’t have to see his face as you stripped him of his coat. It didn’t look particularly warm initially, but anything would be better than this. The arms bent limply back as you peeled the sleeves away. Luckily upon further inspection, you were happy to learn there was a sort of wool lining inside, that would at least help insulate your own body heat. A sudden commotion broke out from inside the rustic home. A man yelling for Dutch and a woman screaming. Your instincts made you spring into action, you lept through large portions of the snow to make it to the steps faster and before you knew it you were bursting through the door. A blonde man wearing another cowboy-looking hat was chasing a woman around a table. 

“What the hell are you doing, Micah?” Arthur questioned as him and Dutch followed you in. 

“We got a feisty one over here, boys!” He hollered. Oh, you were not comfortable with this type of language.

“Stop chasing the poor woman, ya moron!” He warned with more intensity. You weren’t gonna see this go down, that’s for sure. You ran up behind the man called Micah, grabbed his collar, and used his weight to pull his back towards you, and then to the ground. His body slammed, he let out a surprised yelp, followed by a pained groan.

“Fucking sicko! Stop chasing her around, she’s scared!” 

“Get out of my house!” The woman bellowed. Admittedly, you had no idea what was going on, but you knew you could at least try and defuse the situation. You put your hands up to appear less threatening. 

“Miss, I don’t know who you are or what in God’s name is going on, but I promise I am not here to hurt you.” You spoke to her in a calm voice. Whatever was going on, it clearly had her frazzled. “I don’t have any weapons, and I don’t make it habit of hurting people who don’t need hurting. You clearly have been hurting for no reason. Can you explain to me what’s happened so that I can help you with this situation?” You took a cautious step around the table to make sure she wouldn’t dart away from you, you kept steady eye contact. 

“They…they killed my husband a few days ago! They took over my home and locked me in the basement!” She wept. Maybe these O’Driscolls were the ones to stow you in the barn, they sure seemed like the type with this new information. 

“I’m so sorry for your loss, ma’am. I can assure you that those men won’t be bothering you anytime soon. Can you-“ You heard glass shatter, looking over, you found Micah scattering to his feet, fire was spreading from the floor to the wall at an incredible rate. It was already crawling up the right-side wall before you had a chance to react. There was no way you could put that out by yourself, and the others weren’t exactly jumping at the chance to help you. You settled on running to grab some blankets from the bed across the room. The boys were leading the woman out of the house and she reluctantly followed. Micah sent you a glare as you passed him out of the house. “Oh, don’t you look at me like that, you weren’t any help!” You knew you should keep your mouth shut, but you knew you were right on this one. The group was walking toward some horses, you followed behind. 

“Micah, lead the horse back to camp.” You handed the blankets to the woman. 

“Thank you.” She seemed genuine but was also hurt by your sentiments.

“It’s no problem, ma’am.”

“Adler, Sadie Adler is my name.” She wrapped herself in the blankets.

“Well, it’s no problem, Mrs. Adler. It’s the bare minimum to what I could’ve done.” You hoped whatever camp Dutch mentioned was close by. This cold was blistering. 

“Mrs. Adler, you may ride with me, we’ll get you back to people who can help.” Dutch hopped up onto a white horse, lending a hand for Sadie to pull herself up. “Arthur, please take our new friend with you. I don’t think he’s in any shape to be riding.” Arthur nodded, heaving himself with ease onto a spotted mare? You couldn’t tell if it was a girl, but you just got that vibe. He did not give you a hand. Oh yeah, I’m a dude. A manly man. You gripped the back of the saddle and used all the arm strength you had to get onto the bare back on the horse. You hoped this ride wasn’t going to be too bumpy because you were not about to get punched because you had to grab onto this man and couldn’t tell if someone was a homophobe or not. You sure hoped these people weren’t, but you weren’t exactly in the position to be picky. 

“Pearson’s not gonna happy about this.” Arthur mentioned as the horses pushed forward.

“Mr. Pearson isn’t happy about anything except his drink. He’ll be alright.” Now seemed like a good a time as any to start asking questions. They couldn’t go anywhere away from you at the moment. 

“Not to interrupt or anything, but could someone tell me where I am, or what day it is. Could someone please tell me what the deal is?”

“We’re north of New Hanover if the maps are correct. We’re planning to head down there as soon as this winter passes. God knows how long that’s gonna take.” Dutch complained. You had never heard of New Hanover, but apparently it was winter. Maybe you really did get shot, put into a hospital maybe? Then these guys… You panicked for a second. O’Driscoll wasn’t another name for them was it? It didn’t make much sense but no one else would put this much effort into stealing you away. “As for the day, I couldn’t tell ya exactly. It’s winter in the year of our Lord 1899.” He laughed. What?

“What?”

“Ah, just bit of a joke, son. We live in dark times. We’re hurtling straight into a new century.” Wait was he joking or not joking?

“It’s 1899?” You tried to keep your voice neutral, but he seemed to pick up on your worry.

“Yes, it is, son.” He paused. “Are you alright?” You were anything but alright. These people are crazy, I’m trapped on a mountain with some insane cultists who think they’re in the 19th century, I’m fucked. “Arthur, we need to hurry, the boy’s looking pale.” 

Your head felt fuzzy, colors were blurring together. I am not stuck on a god damn mountain in 1899, I’m not, that’s physically impossible. This is all a dream, or some weird set up. You felt like you were 19 again, disconnected, afraid, losing it. You weren’t gonna go back there again, you wouldn’t! You didn’t know you had stopped breathing. You didn’t feel Arthur’s arm catching you so you wouldn’t get trampled. Everything was black. 

[artificialqueens]

Ever in Your Favor, Chapter Seven (Rosnali) - Athena2

Summary: After the kiss, Rosé and Denali struggle to deal with their feelings while trying to reach the end of the Games.

A/N: Thank you so much for the feedback on the last chapter! It really means a lot, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. Also, thank you to haiplana for letting me talk this one through with you.

*I know I made a general disclaimer at the start and in the tags, but I want to say that this chapter is probably more violent than the others, so please be aware.*

---

In the bakery, Rosé’s father has a giant rolling pin, and she feels like she’s been trampled with it ten times over. Her joints are stiff from days of shivering and her leg twinges when she walks. But she’s alive, and she’s grateful to be. She and Denali wash up in the stream, and Rosé savors the cool water on her sweaty skin, enjoys the sun warming her back. She tugs her shirt and jacket back on, stroking the lion pin. There was a time in that cave when she thought the pin wouldn’t get home, that she’d never feel the sun again. But she made it, and she’s going to go home and try to appreciate that, and tell her sisters she loves them even though they know.

And she can do that because of Denali.

Denali, who refused to leave her, who got leaves and water every day to keep her alive, who stroked her hair and whispered that everything would be okay when Rosé was too sick to believe it. Denali had kissed her without hesitation to save her life, and Rosé will never be able to thank her enough for it. For her life.

But part of Rosé feels awful about it. She knew, in theory, that their fake relationship might require kissing, even if a relationship is so much more than kissing. She pictured a little cheek kiss for their post-Games interview, but last night was something else entirely. It feels like she just used Denali, begging for a kiss so she could live. That was part of it, admittedly, but Rosé cares for Denali too much to just use her, and she wouldn’t have done it unless she absolutely had to. What if Denali hated it? What if she never wanted things to go that far? What if she hates Rosé? She needs to talk to her. She can’t push Denali away like she did after her first Games.

Rosé trudges over the rocks, stopping at Denali’s side. “Your hair,” Denali laughs, pointing to Rosé’s tangled mop of wet curls. “Forget the pin, that’s why they call you the Lion.”

“Well, some of us can’t braid our hair in five seconds, Miss Foxx.” Rosé glares at her, but she can’t help the laugh that escapes, and soon they’re both laughing, the sound so strange after days of fear, but also the most natural thing in the world.

“Okay, okay,” Denali gasps, holding her sides. “Let me do your hair.”

Rosé’s heart skips a beat. “Okay.” She shivers as Denali’s hands brush against her neck, fingers expertly weaving through chunks of hair.

“Much better,” Denali says, admiring her work.

Rosé recovers her breath, neck still tingling. “So, um, last night.”

Denali bites her lip. “I didn’t think you’d remember. You were pretty out of it.”

Rosé was out of it. Her skin was burning, her head was foggy, and all she remembers is an endless stretch of time where dreams melted together, and she has no idea what was real and what wasn’t.

But she remembers the kiss.

She remembers waking up and seeing Denali, feeling in her heart that it was real. She remembers telling Denali she loves her, the surprise in Denali’s eyes. And she remembers the kiss: cool lips melting over the feverish heat of her own, her heart racing until she thought it would burst.

And she remembers how much she liked it.

“That kiss was...memorable,” Rosé says.

Denali’s eyes go to her feet, to the sky, to anything but Rosé, and Rosé wonders if she said the wrong thing. What if she did something else last night that she can’t remember? What if Denali hates her?

“Are you...okay?” Rosé asks, voice low in case of cameras. “I know the kiss was a lot, and I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable putting you on the spot like that--”

“I’m fine. You didn't do anything we didn't agree to. It’s just a game, right?” Denali looks away again, cheeks bright red.

Rosé feels like she got punched in the throat. “I...right. Just a game.”

It is just a game. That’s all it ever was, all it’s supposed to be. A way to help even the odds. Of course that’s how Denali sees it; Rosé’s mumbled love confession was strategic at best and delirious ravings at worst. That’s all it’s supposed to be.

So why did it feel so real to Rosé? Why does she want to kiss Denali again, on their own time, in their own space? Why does it hurt so badly that Denali thinks it’s a game, that it’s fake?

Denali is gathering their stuff, and the arena comes flooding back, like a dream after days in the cave. A dangerous dream. Rosé needs to focus. They’re so close, and she can’t cost them the victory by being distracted. Whatever she’s feeling, whatever she wants, can wait until they’re back home. Denali is right. This is a game.

And they’re going to win it.

---

Denali guides them through the forest with purpose. She doesn’t know when things changed, but she knows, as they silently step over twigs, that they’re no longer the hunted, but the hunters. She feels the change in her, the tightness in her hand around the bow, the eyes darting around for tributes. They’ve been holding back, letting the others weed themselves out, but now it’s time to show what the Lion and the Fox can really do. She can’t afford to spare anyone like she did with Finn. Not now.

She keeps alert, no chance of getting caught off guard like she did in her first Games. She’s focused. She’s not thinking about her knee shattering last time, or the strange warmth in her chest when Rosé laughs, or kissing Rosé--

Her lips tingle with the memory, wanting it again so badly. She can’t. Not with their lives on the line.

Rosé points between the trees, where the District 8 tributes walk.

Denali pulls her behind a tree, holding up her bow and signaling that she’ll strike from afar. She aims her bow, pulling back on the string--

Something crashes into her arm, the arrow releasing into nothing.

“The hell?” A giant gray bird digs its talons in Denali’s arm, beak pecking at her face. She shoves the thing off her, only to see two more. Rosé gets one with her sword, and Denali sinks an arrow into the other’s neck. She sees more in the trees, but they seem to be holding back for now.

“These are the ugliest birds I’ve ever seen in my life,” Denali mutters, spearing the first bird that attacked her.

“Their scales look like that one dress Symone had you try on.” Rosé smiles. Her eyes shine with glee, and Denali can’t look away, because Rosé was so sick in that cave Denali didn’t think she’d see her like this again.

“Don’t remind me.” Denali groans. “Although you should not be talking after that zebra dress--”

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the lovebirds.”

Their smiles are instantly gone, and they turn to see the tributes from District 8 scowling at them.

So much for a silent attack.

District 8 looks rough, torn clothes covered with dirt and blood, faces hollow, down to just the weapons in their hands. You’d think they’re easy kills at this stage, but Denali knows it's the opposite: they’re desperate, and have nothing left to lose, so they’ll fight to the bitter end.

“Long time no see,” Rosé says, and only Denali can detect the quiver in her voice, because she also knows this won’t be easy. They can stand around staring at each other all day, but they’re only delaying the inevitable. Denali forces away the memory of the District 8 woman nodding in approval at her knots.

The man grips his sword and leans forward, that tiny heartbeat of calm before a fight begins.

“You go left, I go right,” Rosé says.

“My left or your left?”

“They’re the same left, Denali!” Rosé cackles, and Denali knows purposely asking a stupid question was worth it just to hear the sound, and it carries her into the fight.

The man towers over her, but his longer limbs are slower. His sword slices across her arm, but she uses her speed to dart away from his strikes, sinking her spear into his chest.

But it doesn’t stop him.

He pulls the spear out and breaks it in half, and Denali is left facing his sword with nothing but a knife and panic flooding her chest. Things slow down around her, like when she’s in that hunting zone, and she knows the next move.

“Switch!” she yells to Rosé, and they spin around, back to back, before taking on their new opponents.

The woman’s spear is easier to block; the edges are smooth, and Denali only has to worry about the point. Denali dodges hits, and when the woman staggers back, Denali pulls an arrow from her quiver and fires in a heartbeat. The double cannon fire tells her Rosé succeeded as well.

They drop on the grass, panting as the adrenaline fades, and for a few seconds, they rest.

---

Barely five minutes after the fight, they find a body.

It’s the woman from District 7, dead eyes open toward the sky, mouth stained not with blood, but with berry juice.

“Poisoned by nightlock,” Denali says quietly.

She gets an idea, and pulls out the silver container they’d saved from the medicine delivery. She plucks berries from the bushes and drops them inside.

“I doubt we can trick the others with them, but you never know,” she explains to Rosé.

Rosé nods.

They’re at the final four.

---

It’s a quiet night.

They climb up a tall tree and settle on a thick branch, to keep an eye on what’s going on below. Neither of them is planning to sleep tonight, not with two tributes out there, ready to kill.

They’ve only exchanged whispers, not wanting to risk attention. There’s no way to discuss the kiss, and Rosé thinks maybe that’s a good thing. When this is all over, when they’re finally home, then they can talk about it. If there’s even anything to talk about.

Rosé’s stomach growls. They couldn’t find any food today. After those birds, every animal seemed to vanish into thin air. They’ll manage tonight, but how many more days are left? What if they can’t get any food at all? Rosé’s trying to calculate the odds when two parachutes land on their branch. She nudges Denali, who’s curled against the tree trunk like she’s part pine, looking so at home up here.

Denali takes one parachute and Rosé takes the other, and she gasps when she opens it. The first thing she sees is a cake, with white icing and delicate blue swirls. She’d recognize Lagoona’s handiwork anywhere. Next to it is a loaf of round bread, Jan’s favorite kind to make. There’s days worth of food inside too, and God, Rosé loves her sisters so much.

“From your sisters?” Denali asks.

“Yeah. What about yours?”

“Kandy and Kahmora,” Denali says quietly, wiping a tear. “I just--it’s nice, you know?”

“It’s like there’s hope again,” Rosé says, because she does know. The parachute must have cost a fortune with the Capitol fees, and it’s a reminder of what’s waiting at home, a reminder that happiness and joy are still out there. A reminder that she’s loved.

“Yeah.” Denali sighs. “I’m not even as close to them as I used to be. But it’s nice to know they’re still thinking about me. That they still care. That someone sees us as more than just people on TV.”

Rosé nods. To everyone else watching, they’re just people on TV. But to her sisters, to Denali’s friends, they’re watching someone they really know, someone they really care about. For all the stress of being in the arena, Rosé can’t imagine the stress of her sisters, watching her fight and nearly die through a screen, unable to do a thing to help when they’ve helped each other their whole lives. And to do it not once, but twice. Rosé imagines hugging them in a giant bear hug when this over, and burns with a new determination to get home.

“It makes me want to get back home,” Rosé says softly. “And maybe--maybe be better. Try to live more, I guess.”

“I get it.” Denali bites her lip. “Maybe we can still be ourselves after. Not let the Games destroy us.”

It’s what they talked about the night before the Games began, but it feels different now. Less a fear and more a hope. A hope that they can come out on the other side of this, together, and learn to live again. The last time Rosé did this, she was fifteen and terrified and desperate to get home. She didn’t know that the arena would change her idea of home, that she would spend years waking up gasping, expecting to see blood around her. The Games kept her in their grip, made her push away the people who cared about her. She suspects the same is true about Denali--she knows Denali and Jan drifted after Denali got back, that Denali only has Kandy and Kahmora over once or twice a year. But they’ve done this round together, been there for each other the whole time, and maybe they can try to live and heal together. She wants to stay close with Denali after this, wants to laugh with her sisters more, wants to find things she enjoys again.

“I'd like that,” Rosé says. "First thing when we get home, we're making our victory cake."

Denali grins, like sun after a storm. "Only if you let me show you this meadow in the woods."

"Deal."

“Let’s eat,” Denali says, and they eat with the joy this food deserves, passing things back and forth and teasing each other for making a mess.

They cut the bread, and then Rosé finds the note. She remembers their father showing them a special paper that could be baked into something. He said they used to be popular for wedding cakes. Rosé unfolds it, heart swelling at Jan’s handwriting.

Rosie,

You have some explaining to do when you get home! We want all the details on you and Denali! I knew she had a crush on you when we were kids, it’s about damn time she figured it out. Also, I don’t know how it took you that long to realize I wasn’t the one humming in that cave. I’ll cut you some slack because you were delirious and I love Denali, but I would never hum that off-key. Anyway, we hope you like the stuff. Lagoona says make sure you share the cake and don’t hog the whole thing. Please come home soon, okay? We love you.

Jan and Lagoona

Rosé doesn’t even care when her tears escape. She loves her sisters, and she isn’t embarrassed about it. Her eyes fly over the words several times, reading it in their voices, the words tracing paths on her heart. She presses it to her chest and pretends she’s hugging them, and only then does she fully comprehend the first few lines.

Jan thinks Denali had a crush on Rosé when they were younger? That can’t be right. Though if anyone would know, it would be Jan. She and Denali were best friends from kindergarten. But Denali hasn’t mentioned it, and according to Jan, wasn’t even aware of her own crush. But what if Jan is right, and Denali really does like her? But that wouldn’t matter, wouldn’t lead to anything unless--unless Rosé likes her too.

Rosé looks at Denali, eating a piece of bread, and her heart swells with the answer her brain won’t acknowledge. Rosé does like her, maybe even loves her. She likes Denali’s laugh, the warmth in her eyes, that wrinkle between her eyebrows when she aims her bow. She likes Denali’s humor, how she can always make Rosé laugh. She likes that when she looks at Denali, she thinks of home. This relationship was fake at the start, purely an attempt to improve their odds. But somehow, it’s turned to Rosé’s heart bursting every time she looks at Denali. She doesn’t know the last time she felt this way, about anyone--hell, after the arena, it was sometimes hard to feel anything. The hope when she looks at Denali used to seem impossible, but isn’t now.

It burns inside her, but it has to stay inside. Springing this on Denali when they’re in the final four is a distraction that could cost their lives. And she doesn’t have proof that Denali likes her--just the hope of an old crush. Not to mention confessing that she loves Denali for real will discount the relationship they’ve built for the arena, exposing them as liars. There’s no way to tell her now. It has to wait until they’re home.

They share the cake, and Denali wipes frosting off Rosé’s lip, and Rosé wants more than ever to go home.

---

They spend the day walking through the arena, and Denali’s shoulders are tighter than her bow-string. All this walking is giving her too much time to think. Time to think about Rosé, about the smile Denali would do just about anything to see. About how Rosé makes her feel safe enough to share things she wouldn’t tell anyone. How Denali wants to see her every day after they go home, wants to learn things about her she hasn’t discovered yet. But would Rosé want the same thing? Denali knows things have been hard for her since the Games, and what if things collapse without the arena holding them together? But she thinks of what Rosé said last night, about her hopes for the future. Maybe there is hope. Once they get out of here, and Denali stops thinking about how soft Rosé’s lips are, how nice it might be to kiss her again--

She stumbles on a tree root and swears softly.

“Everything okay?” Rosé asks, hands immediately flying to Denali’s sides to steady her.

Denali nods, praying Rosé can’t see how much she’s blushing, though her face is warm enough to combust. There’s no thinking of kissing right now. She’s about to lead them in another direction when she hears flapping wings. But there’s only a huge gray cloud in the sky, that can’t be--

“Run. Run now,” Denali says.

They sprint through the woods, the swarm of birds scratching at their backs. There’s no direction, just running away, and they only stop once they’re back at the Cornucopia, now an empty shell of scraps and bloodstains. And they’re not alone.

Both tributes from District 2 stand in the grass, loaded with weapons.

The birds have vanished, no longer needed after bringing the final four together.

This is it.

The end is close enough for Denali to grasp, close enough to feel the plush train seat bringing her home, to smell the woods of District 12. She doesn’t want to kill these two. But she wants so badly for this to be over, to go home, and she knows the price she has to pay for that.

“We can do this,” Rosé says quietly.

Denali nods, gripping her spear as they saunter to the other tributes. There’s no hurry, no point rushing the inevitable. She can imagine her friends and Rosé’s sisters glued to their TV’s, and Denali gives another nod to herself, a vow that they’ll win.

“The Lion and the Fox. At last,” says the man. Denali thinks his name is Cato, and the woman is Glimmer.

Rosé just pulls out her sword as Cato grabs his axe. There’s nothing to say, nothing that can change what’s about to happen. Two of them will win, and two of them will die.

“Do you hear that?” Denali asks, cutting through the tension.

“I don’t hear anything! Quit stalling, Fox!”

“No, I--” Denali gasps at what her hunter’s hearing had picked up.

Enormous wolves circle around them, growling and baring razor-sharp teeth. Even on all fours, they’re nearly as tall as her, with claws longer than her fingers.

“The eyes…” Rosé says, face paling.

Denali looks at the wolf closest to her, with shaggy tan fur. Its eyes are impossibly blue, bluer than the sea. She’s seen these eyes before, had watched them close one last time while Rosé hummed a lullaby.

“Finn,” Denali breathes. She doesn’t know how the Gamemakers created wolves with the tributes' eyes; she doesn’t want to know. All she knows is that she now needs to fight off not only two tributes, but twenty wolves. They’re probably the worst odds Denali’s ever seen.

Denali knows animals, knows hunting, and she pulls Rosé away a second before the leader signals the attack. They sprint for the trees while screams fill the air behind them, screams so terrible she’s grateful when the cannon sounds and puts Glimmer out of her misery.

Denali jumps for a tree branch but she’s not quick enough--a wolf sinks its teeth into her calf, her leg burning with pain as the wolf tears through it. Shifting her weight to one hand, she grabs an arrow and jams it in the wolf’s eye, hauling herself up after it falls. More wolves scratch at the tree, but she’s safe for now. She has to stop the bleeding but her vision is blurry—

“Denali, it’s okay.” Rosé holds her up, positioning them both on a branch. “Please stay awake, okay? Please. You have to tell me how to help.”

“Bleeding too much. You have to...stitch it,” Denali mumbles. “Stuff...in my bag.”

“Okay.”

Things blur and Denali’s only aware of Rosé giving her water and painkillers, of Rosé’s gentle hand on her leg, of the needle passing in and out. There’s more water, and food, and Denali opens her eyes to meet Rosé looking at her in worry.

“I stitched it,” she says frantically. “There’s probably stuff wrong internally, but it should hold until the doctors can fix it.”

There’s definitely internal damage; it feels like her last leg injury, and she can barely move her leg without an explosion of pain. Once they win, the doctors can fix it. As if on cue, the wolves retreat and the cannon fires, meaning Cato is gone. Relief and joy slam into her, overtaking the pain, and she reaches for Rosé.

“We won,” she says breathlessly, “we won.”

They hold each other in silence, hearts full of the relief of going home, of being together. It’s over, and there are no words. It’s over, and she can breathe again. She can live again, can create the future she wants.

“Where’s the victory cannon?” Rosé pulls away after a minute.

“Maybe--maybe it’s late. Or maybe we should get out of the tree,” Denali says, but trumpets sound as she hits the grass with a wince, and her stomach twists like snakes. Why is there an announcement when the hovercraft should be arriving to get them?

“The earlier revision has been revoked,” the announcer says cheerfully. “The rules hold that only one winner is allowed. May the odds be ever in your favor.”

Denali can’t move. She’s numb and cold and even the pain fades. She should have known. The Gamemakers were never going to let them both survive, not when putting two teammates against each other is the most dramatic finale in history. She wants to scream, wants to fight, but she can’t. All her talk about being more than just a piece of the Games--she played right into their hands, growing close to Rosé, believing they could have the futures they dreamt of.

Rosé is shaking beside her, shaking with fear and pure rage.

“Rosé,” Denali tries, but her mouth is too dry.

“I should’ve known,” Rosé spits. She tears her hands through her hair, breath coming in frantic spurts, vulnerable and undone. She's never seen Rosé like this, and it hurts her heart. “I should’ve known, I should’ve known…” Rosé trails into sobs, shaky hands clutching at her jacket like it can hold her together.

If Denali were to listen to the cold part of her, she’d see that Rosé is defenseless and in shock, an easy target. But that part was created by the Games, and it isn’t her anymore. After resigning herself to the cold for so long, Rosé has brought a summer’s warmth, and though the cold and dark still exist, it doesn’t mean there isn’t light.

“There--there has to be another way.” It’s what Denali’s built her life on, searching for new ways to help a tribute survive, to stop the Games from hurting her again. But none have ever worked.

“There’s no other way, Denali.” Rosé is still trembling, but she stands up straight, pointing below her lion pin, at her heart. “Just don’t miss,” she says, laughing bitterly, humorlessly.

“Rosé, what are you--I’m not killing you!” Denali shakes her head frantically, trying to calm her heart.

“You heard the announcement. It has to be one of us. I’d rather it be quick than get torn apart by those wolves.” Rosé sounds so small, so tired. She’s been cheated and destroyed by these Games before, and she doesn’t have it in her to do it again. She’s giving up, and that scares Denali more than anything, jolting her out of her numbness. She knows how much Rosé wants to live--they both do, talked about it together. The only way to live is to kill the other, and living with that wouldn’t be much of a life.

“No,” Denali says. “I’m not killing you. You have your sisters, you have a family. I don’t.”

“That doesn’t make your life worth less than mine,” Rosé says firmly. “You do stuff, I barely leave the house—“

“That doesn’t make your life worth less either. Look, if those wolves come back, you have a better shot than me. I’m not going anywhere on this leg.”

Rosé sighs. “You have to go home, Denali. You have to live.” Rosé’s lips twitch, and more tears fall. “I’m betting on you.”

I’m betting on you.

The words strike something in Denali’s memory.

Denali’s leg bounces as she waits to enter the launching room. In a few minutes, she’ll be in the arena after years of seeing it through the safety of a screen, and she forces in a strangled breath.

“Everything okay?” Rosé asks.

“Fine,” Denali says. Help with fighting is fine, but getting help for panicking is too embarrassing, even if it’s from someone she knows. Maybe especially because it’s from someone she knows.

Rosé obviously doesn’t believe her, but she nods.

“Wait.” Denali can’t keep it in anymore.

“What is it?”

“Rosé, do you—do you really think I can win?” Denali's convinced herself that she can win all this time, not thinking about whether she really believes it--because she has to believe it, because what’s the alternative? But she wants to know what Rosé thinks, to hear from someone else whether she really has a chance.

Rosé is quiet as she thinks. She’s only twenty, but her eyes are so much older, and Denali realizes that while she’s thought about the joys of returning home, she hasn’t considered the other parts. The parts Rosé has been dealing with every day for the past five years.

“It’ll be hard. I can’t lie about that,” Rosé says finally. “Most of the tributes are bigger, stronger. But you’re tougher. The audience loves you. They’ll help you, and don’t feel embarrassed about taking their help. And you’ve got talent. You’ve got fire.” Rosé smiles hesitantly, and Denali swells with hope. “So I’m betting on you. Denali Foxx, I’ll always bet on you.”

Denali Foxx, I’ll always bet on you.

Denali looks at Rosé now, looks at the love in her eyes, and--

Oh.

Denali understands now. Understands why she’s been thinking of kissing Rosé for days, why her teenage fantasy kissing partner looked like her. Understands why Rosé looks at her in such wonder. Understands why being around her makes Denali’s chest ache from feelings she hasn’t felt in so long. It's not a game anymore.

Denali loves Rosé. And Rosé loves her.

Losing Rosé would be losing part of herself, the part that still hopes. If Denali looks into those green eyes and fires a bow-string, part of her will never leave this arena. She can't kill Rosé, and she can’t go home without her either, can’t give up the future she hopes for with her.

It sparks something in Denali, an idea from the back of her mind. Maybe you can find a loophole, Jan said that day in the Justice Building. If anyone could, it’s you two.

“Rosé, I love you,” Denali says. No matter what happens, she’s not leaving without telling Rosé, without letting her know that the love is returned.

Rosé’s eyes widen, and Denali can tell she knows it’s real. That she really does love her.

“I love you too,” Rosé says.

“I have an idea. Do you trust me?”

“Denali--”

“Do you trust me?”

“With my life,” Rosé says softly, and it’s another way to say I love you.

Denali pulls the nightlock out of her bag. The Games need a victor, or this whole thing blows up in their faces and becomes the worst Games ever. If they can make the Capitol think there won’t be a victor, maybe, just maybe, there’s a shot.

She hands Rosé the berries, and she nods in understanding. “On three,” she says.

“One.”

Denali takes Rosé’s hand, memorizing the softness of it against hers.

“Two.”

Rosé squeezes back, squeezes with all the love and fight she has.

“Three.”

The berries reach their mouths, and Denali is wondering if the Capitol will let them both die when the trumpets erupt.

“Stop! Everyone, I’m happy to present the winners of this year’s Hunger Games--Denali Foxx and Rosé McCorkell!”

[haikyooot]

Ch 31: Together

Life’s a Hoot Finale:   Each journey comes to an end, but a new chapter will unfold.

Pairings: Bokuto x f!Reader

WC: 2.1k

Osamu wipes his hands on a towel and comes out from the kitchen with his own food.

"Thanks, Osamu! This is delicious," Hinata compliments, mouth full of food.

Osamu grins and takes a spot on the left of you. Bokuto's to your right. Sakusa, Atsumu, and Hinata are sitting across on the other side.

"Sakusa, is the food alright?" Osamu asks. Sakusa always gets a special bento because he doesn't like food directly touched by hand.

"Yes, thank you."

The athletes at the table sit in an awkward half-silence. The mood is dampened and unsure.

"AH, don't be so sad every one! We'll have next season!" Bokuto exclaims. "It was a beautiful match."

Atsumu sighs and nibbles his food. "We were THIS close."

The MSBY Black Jackals met their long-time rivals the Schweiden Adlers for finals and lost the match. It's not that second place meant poor performance, truthfully each athlete on the court brought everything they could. Still, each defeat is no less disappointing.

For the Division 1 teams, it's quite difficult to gauge a stronger team based on performances. This time, the Adlers took the finals, but last season the MSBY Black Jackals took that spot. Not to mention the team beat the Adlers for the exhibition match in October last year. The score was 1-3, quite a sizeable difference in terms of points. And the year before the last, it was the EJP Raijin that reigned supreme.

"Volleyball is fun when there are strong opponents after all," you comment. "That's what Koutarou tells me."

Bokuto nods in agreement and puts another onigiri on your plate. "Try this one!"

Atsumu makes a face and sneers. "I can't believe you two got together so quickly. AH, lovebirds, please show your love-doveys elsewhere."

"It's cute!" Hinata laughs and turns to face you. "So, Bokuto's been avoiding this question. Who confessed first?"

You and Bokuto can feel the rest of the teams' eyes turn to the two of you, demanding a satisfying answer to their questions. Bokuto gulps and prepares to come clean to them, but you throw a question back at the other athletes.

"I heard Bokuto mention that you guys somehow had a bet on him asking me out on a date. What exactly happened, hm?"

Osamu laughs and passes the spotlight to Sakusa. "Sakusa, this is your fault, you better answer."

Sakusa? You shoot him a questioning glance. Quiet Sakusa, who seems to not take part in any gossip or merrymaking?

Bokuto buries his face in his hands. "Do we have to go through that again?"

Your eyes light up and implore Sakusa to tell you the details.

Sakusa puts his chopsticks down. "After practice a few weeks ago, we gathered here to eat. I asked Bokuto when he was going to ask you out...Osamu agreed with me."

Osamu adds on. "It was pretty obvious the two of you were going in circles and-"

"Every other time Bokkun opens his mouth, it's about you in some way!" Atsumu huffs. "It practically became an earworm!"

"I DID NOT!" Bokuto defends. "I DID NOT!"

Hinata laughs and joins in the finish the story. "Bokuto wanted to tell you at the end of the season, but when I said I was nervous for the upcoming match-"

Atsumu cuts in. "I suggested that if the team won, Bokuto would tell you. As a sort of team motivation thing."

You burst out laughing. "So you used us, unrelated to volleyball, as a bargaining tool? What is this?"

"Hey, anything or anyone related to Bokuto is related to volleyball is related to us."

Bokuto sighs loudly and finally shows his face again. "I still can't believe this. This is embarrassing."

You lean on his shoulder. "Aw, come on, it's funny!"

"Stop being lovey-dovey in front of us!"

After some more teasing banter, everyone continues enjoying Osamu's creations again and eats in what can only be called "relative silence". Aside from the occasional banter, some of the athletes reflect on the match and the moment of loss. Others are solely focusing on the food, too tired to actually think of anything else. The end is pretty anti-climatic. And this year's volleyball season comes to a close.

"Now that season's over, what are your plans?"

"I think I'll spend some time with Natsu," Hinata says thoughtfully. "I have some plans to visit Brazil too. Then, it's just going to be conditioning for Worlds."

"I will be conditioning too, diligently. Kageyama's not going to get Best Setter award at Worlds," Atsumu grumbles.

Osamu snorts. "That's not what you told me, Mr. I'm-going-to-sleep-and-eat-and-sleep-some-more."

"Those aren't mutually exclusive!"

The off-season is a chance for the athletes to find quality time with their loved ones. It's a time to do everything they could not do during the competitive season. The off-season months are also the time when athletes really focus on conditioning and improving their bodies and techniques in preparation for the next season. Coach Foster will reassess the athletes, come up with new plays, and the athletes will drill them over and over again. Even as elites, there are always areas of improvement and things to tweak around.

"I'll be focusing on strengthing the muscles around my shoulder," Bokuto shares. "The trainer and doctor seem to agree that we caught it pretty early on, so strengthening and stabilizing the shoulder should be enough. Then, we'll work on the best way to utilize it without straining myself."

"Did they say how long before you can return to competition?" Hinata asks.

Bokuto shrugs. "Not sure. I'm hoping I'll be at the same level around July? If it goes well, hopefully, I can still be on the team for Worlds."

"Hey, hey," Osamu interjects and points at you. "Don't just think about training and forget this person here."

You roll your eyes at Osamu's teasing. Bokuto bursts out laughing and wraps an arm around you for a quick side-hug. "No way! Off-season, we're going on so many dates and sending photos till everyone gets sick!"

You laugh and gently elbow Bokuto. "Stop torturing them. Akaashi mentioned to Kuroo that you already spam them too much with photos."

"What? NO!"

With laughter and banter, the celebratory dinner of the end of V.League season also comes to a close, and a couple of months soon pass by. Some athletes stick with their initial plans. Others find new things popping up along the way to take part in. A lot of events can happen during this time period.

Hinata gets an opportunity to star in his first commercial after making an impressive entrance debut at the V.League season. He's an athlete many sports reporters and commentators have their eyes on. Sakusa, well, he's still doing well. Atsumu, after taking three days and nights completely relaxing, did in fact get back onto a rigorous training regime. Osamu is probably even busier than the athletes. The Tokyo location of Onigiri Miya finally opens up and the grand opening is an absolute success.

Speaking of Tokyo, Kuroo and the Fukurodani bunch can't be left out. All of Kuroo's hard work pays off. He gets a promotion and is given more important responsibilities for the marketing projects in preparation for Worlds. Akaashi has a solid reputation at the firm, and the commercial success of Udai's new manga is also propelling Akaashi's name through the ears of the entire publishing industry. Firm life is stressful, but a change of management and a breath of fresh air is making the working environment a lot nicer.

Komi's drama finally gets aired too. You and Bokuto along with the rest of the group watch it together as a weekly event. Both Konoha and Sarukui are also doing well. As for Yukie, she's been incredibly busy. Good patient relations and reviews are a wonderful thing, but her back-up list is also incredibly long. Around the same time V. League ended, Kaori quit her job. She's still in the same industry, but the pay and broadcasting exposure is much, much better.

On your end, Hana is officially pursuing a long-term relationship with the guy she met at the mixer. Jun's relationship with their partner continues to be loving, in addition to a well-deserved promotion after their hard work and contributions. They now serve as the team lead for the editorial group and you cannot possibly be prouder.

The months after the volleyball season are also especially precious for you and Bokuto's new relationship. A lot of work is still needed, and you two are still learning new things about each other. It's a learning experience for both of you, but with effort, it's blossoming. There was the first kiss at the light's exhibition outside Osaka Castle, the Universal Studio date Bokuto begged for (the cute photo strip from the booth is something you keep on your work desk), and countless other lazy nights laying around talking about sweet nothings.

You also asked if he would like to move in with you, considering the amount of time he spends at your place. But Bokuto didn't want to leave his room or Granny. Either way, the two of you visit her quite often. Along with that is the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next.

"Yea, I'm about to go grab lunch now. Did you eat yet?" Bokuto asks you through the phone.

He's at the Tokyo Training Center to train with the National Team. Some faces are familiar and others are new. With the exception of the Hinata, Atsumu, and Sakusa, Bokuto is quite unfamiliar with the athletes from the other teams. It goes for everybody, really. This is a time to get acquainted and work out issues with play style and techniques.

"Nope. I thought maybe we could go grab something together."

"What? Together?"

"Come outside!"

Bokuto is so confused. Aren't you supposed to be in Osaka? He still listens to you and steps outside. You're standing right at the entrance waving at him. The sight immediately brings a smile to his face. You rush up to him and automatically, he opens his arms for a hug. He relishes how you feel and inhales the scent of your shampoo. It's been many days since he has last seen you and it feels like forever already.

"How did you..."

You smile and give him a quick kiss. "I have some PTO saved up. So I decided to give myself a long weekend and surprise you."

"Well, I'm certainly surprised!" Bokuto says hugging you again and slowly rocking from side to side. He's so happy. So lucky. First, making a smooth and complete recovery. Coming back even stronger. Then, he gets a spot on the starting roster. And finally, you are here. Honestly, what else can he really ask for?

Bokuto's stomach growls loudly. He quickly lets go of you and scratches the back of his neck, a little flustered.

You laugh a bit and take his hand in yours. "Let's go get some food."

"Yea, let's do that."

While you and Bokuto walk over to the restaurant the two of you picked, you notice the arrival of autumn happening in Tokyo already.

"Oh hey, the leaves are changing color soon," you remark.

Bokuto follows your gaze and sees the leaves you're mentioning. You're right. The leaves, still mostly green, are already showing signs of oranges and reds.

"Last year, during autumn, I visited the ginkgo trees on Gingko avenue," you muse. "The leaves were a beautiful golden yellow...do you remember?"

Bokuto squeezes your hand. "Of course I do. We were video calling at the time!"

"You were at Mino Park after a morning run."

"That's right! The trees there are mostly red during autumn."

"You ran all over the park to show it to me," you remind him, laughing at the memory. "I thought...you were so cute."

Bokuto laughs along with you. "I was really nervous at the time too, okay!"

"You?" you ask with an incredulous gasp. "I actually tripped! I was mortified!"

"This year, they'll be red again. Let's go together?"

"Yea. Let's go together."

Even though the two of you have been together for a little while now, Bokuto still feels his heart fill with warmth whenever you agree to go somewhere with him. He's already making tentative plans...even though usually things never go the way he intends. There are still so many places he wants to go with you. Places he has been, and new places he has yet to explore. Together. That's all he hopes for.

There's still plenty of uncertainty for the future. A ton of unknown variables floating in and out, but Bokuto knows that with you as a constant, with everyone else around him present, he'll be okay. Time will reveal all the answers. We'll be okay, even if things seem bleak at the moment. It's true. From one ace to another.

A/N: ANNDDDDDD we come to a close. A 90k series that went by like a weird dream. Thank you all who came and went, came and stayed. It’s been an absolute joy and adventure. <3

Masterlist

[twilights-800-cats]

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Chapter 14

The patrol hurried through the forest, quiet as mice. Stoneheart felt a sense of joy flooding his pelt as he ran beside Mistyfoot and Crowpaw, feeling their muscles flex in time with one another like they had on the journey. Sandstorm led the way, her tail up confidently, always a stride ahead. Onewhisker, though thinned by hunger, was still just as fast as any other WindClan cat, and Swiftfoot seemed propelled by determination alone, his eyes burning. Wolftooth ran beside them, his thick fur streaming in the wind, while Falcontail took up the rear, bounding through the forest with sure paws.

It did not take long before the patrol left the safety of the trees. The transition from undergrowth and the shelter of the leaves was jarring – suddenly the world was clear and barren, littered with stumps and broken trees, with weak leaf-fall sunlight beating down without restraint. With no trees, the forest looked like a cat shaved of their fur – every pit, hill, or stone... all of it was suddenly starkly exposed.

Stoneheart had to force down a wave of emotion. Though he was ShadowClan, he knew this land, too. He’d grown up here, hunted and played and learned here... and now it was all gone. He could barely recognize ThunderClan’s hunting trails, even as they passed over several on their way.

It took Stoneheart too long to recognize the training hollow without the oaks and ferns that had encircled it. Now, it was just a sandy spot in a sea of nothing. It didn’t even smell like ThunderClan territory anymore.

“Don’t look too hard,” Mistyfoot huffed. Stoneheart could see that his sister was in just as much pain, if not more, as they leaped the dry streambed outside the training hollow. “We’ve already said our good-byes.”

Stoneheart nodded in understanding, pushing himself to move faster. Dawn had passed, now, and the sun was rising through the pale blue sky. The roar of monsters was in full swing, but from the sounds of them they were further away – Stoneheart prayed to StarClan, hoping his warrior ancestors would do all they could to keep those beasts at bay.

Soon enough, Sandstorm called the patrol to a halt with a quick signal from her tail. Snakerocks rose up ahead – or what remained of them. Stoneheart was both grateful and sad that such an important place had been shuffled about and destroyed, the jumble of rocks rearranged to remove the natural caves that they had made. As the patrol fanned out, keeping themselves low, though, Stoneheart’s gaze focused on something far more important.

There was a structure in the center of Snakerocks, not unlike a Twoleg den – it was longer than the dens that were in the Twolegplace, and thinner besides; a big, boxy shape that reflected the sunlight strangely. There were some tiny windows on the long sides, but from this distance Stoneheart could not see what was inside. The rectangular door stood open, though, and a few Twolegs dressed in white fabric were milling in and out. There was a monster, but it was silent – a strange creature, big and boxy, too, with a glossy white pelt. It’s back was open, and the inside was like a cave.

“It looks quiet,” Onewhisker murmured, neck craned above the drying grass for a good look. “Crowpaw?”

“I only see two Twolegs,” the WindClan apprentice reported. “And inside that den... I see shiny things.”

“Are they boxy?” Wolftooth asked. “Are there cats inside them?”

“It’s hard to tell,” Crowpaw answered. “But the Twolegs are messing with them.”

Stoneheart’s heart was thudding in his ears, and he sank his claws into the earth with anticipation. Branch, you had better be right!

“What do we do?” Falcontail asked, pulling forward to Sandstorm’s side.

Before Sandstorm could answer, there was movement in the den – one of the white-clad Twolegs had emerged, carrying with them a large box made of shiny webbing, like some Twoleg fences that Stoneheart had seen on the journey. Inside that box...

“Brightheart!” Stoneheart had to put himself in front of Swiftfoot to stop the ThunderClan tom from lunging forward. Stoneheart felt Swiftfoot’s claws digging into his pelt as he forced the black-and-white tom back.

“That answers that question,” Onewhisker muttered, hunkering down even more, wary of the Twoleg’s sight. Even a WindClan cat must feel exposed here, Stoneheart guessed. “This must be where the missing cats are.”

Stoneheart felt Swiftfoot’s heartbeat increase as Brightheart’s cage was put into the cavernous monster. The white-pelted Twoleg lingered for a moment, making noises, but soon enough turned away to return to the den. Another Twoleg with another cage passed him, but Stoneheart did not recognize the golden cat inside – they did not seem happy, though.

Recalling what Branch had said, Stoneheart came to a terrifying realization – The Twolegs are taking them to Twolegplace!

“We need to go,” Swiftfoot growled, pushing against Stoneheart with shocking strength. “Sandstorm!”

Sandstorm’s ear twitched. “I know,” she hissed at her Clanmate. She turned her green gaze back to the scene before her, clearly thinking. “I have no idea how many cats are in that den – we'll need to work fast. Onewhisker – you, Mistyfoot, Crowpaw, and I will distract the Twolegs. Wolftooth, I need you to lead the others in breaking free the cats. Can you do that?”

Wolftooth drew forward, narrowing his eyes at the cages. “I think I’ve seen these sorts of cages before,” he meowed. He looked to Sandstorm, his eyes flashing with determination. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Good,” Sandstorm mewed. She looked back at the patrol, and meowed, “There’s every chance that as soon as we begin, the Twolegs will call for a backup patrol. We can’t be caught – rescue every cat you can, and waste no time. Understood?”

Every cat nodded.  

“What if we can’t get them all?” Onewhisker wondered, a tremor in his voice.

Sandstorm’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not an option.”

Sandstorm raised her tail again, and Stoneheart stepped away from Swiftfoot to take his place in the line. Heart thudding in his ears, his eyes focused on the Twolegs crossing in and out of the den, he barely heard Sandstorm’s signal over straining every sense to see if Rowanclaw was in any of those cages.

“Now!”

The group surged forward – Sandstorm and Mistyfoot broke off immediately, heading for the Twoleg putting the golden cat's cage inside the monster. Onewhisker and Crowpaw rushed for the door of the den, yowling in unison and frightening the emerging Twoleg so much that they dropped the cage they were carrying – it bounced against the dirt, unlatching itself and releasing the cat inside. The Twoleg stumbled, taking off after the two WindClan cats.

“Cloudtail!” Swiftfoot yowled.

The thick-furred she-cat had to take a moment to shake out her fur and regain her paws. “Swiftfoot?” she meowed, starry-eyed at her mate. “Is that really you? What’s happening?”

“There’s no time,” Wolftooth growled. He lashed his tail at the den. “We need to get everyone out!”

Stoneheart barely heard anything else – he was already inside the den, claws skidding against the hard floor. On each wall were cages upon cages, stacked one atop the other. The sight of so many shiny lines dazzled Stoneheart’s eyes for a moment, but soon enough he could tell that, thankfully, not every cage contained a cat.

The scents inside the narrow space were overwhelming – he could barely tell what was cat or what was Twoleg, and the commotion outside had the cats inside yowling all at once:

“Get us out of here!”

“Help!”

“I want to go home!”

One voice pierced through all the others, though, stabbing into Stoneheart’s very core:

“Stoneheart!”

Rowanclaw!

The dark ginger tom was pressed against a cage in the middle row, one of his paws extended as if to wave. Stoneheart was below him immediately, and wasted no time climbing the cages to look his mate in the eye after so, so long. He balanced himself on the thin wooden ledge between each layer of cats, pressing his muzzle in between the shiny webs to touch noses with Rowanclaw.

“You came,” Rowanclaw whispered, eyes round and shining with emotion. “I prayed to StarClan every night that you would...”

“I’m here,” Stoneheart breathed. For a long moment, he couldn’t take his eyes off of Rowanclaw – he looked unharmed, and smelled fed, even if that food was Twoleg pellets. He breathed in Rowanclaw’s scent and immediately felt himself relax. Everything would be okay, so long as he could get Rowanclaw out.

“Move, lovebird!”

Stoneheart felt Wolftooth’s body force its way up next to him. Stoneheart edged backwards, suddenly aware of the rest of the patrol gathering up on the floor. Each looked up with wide, curious eyes as Wolftooth stared at the latch holding Rowanclaw’s cage shut.

“I’ve tried,” Rowanclaw sighed, “but I can’t open it from the inside.”

Wolftooth nodded. “It’s all right,” he breathed, “I can do this.”

Stoneheart watched as Wolftooth opened his jaws as wide as they could go. Carefully, he placed his teeth inside strange looking loops positioned over the latch – when he clenched his jaw and pulled, the door sprang free, nearly hitting Stoneheart in the face.

Rowanclaw leaped out, purring, and Stoneheart sprang down to meet him. He butted his head against his mate as soon as his paws hit solid ground, rubbing his cheek against Rowanclaw’s furiously. For a moment, this was all that mattered – but the situation they were in reared its head quickly:

“Get moving!” Wolftooth shouted. “Get them all out – and be careful, you could break a tooth doing this!”

The other cats spread out and, reluctantly, Stoneheart had to part from Rowanclaw. He crossed over to a sleek black cat, stretching his jaws wide to pop the latch and let him out. The black cat gave no thanks, speeding out without a word. Stoneheart sighed, and moved on.

“There’s Robinwing!” called Swiftfoot, popping the WindClan she-cat free.

Some of the cats that were freed stayed to help others, but soon enough the den was empty but for the Clan cats – Stoneheart's jaws ached from pinching so many latches, and he scanned the cages. “Where’s Tawnypelt?” he asked, looking to Rowanclaw and Robinwing.

“I don’t know,” Robinwing admitted.

Rowanclaw frowned. “I think they took her out first!”

“I thought Brightheart was the first!” Cloudtail wailed, her eyes wide.

Swiftfoot did not wait – he plunged through the crowd, muscles flexing. Stoneheart followed him outside, feeling the hot breath of the others on his hind legs. The monster outside had roared to life – one of the Twolegs had escaped from the distracting patrol and was inside, trying to get his beast to move. The other Twoleg was still struggling, Crowpaw and Onewhisker clinging stubbornly to their legs.

Mistyfoot and Sandstorm were inside the monster, trying to get Brightheart’s cage open. As Stoneheart leaped into the monster, Falcontail and Swiftfoot beside him, he saw that Tawnypelt was trying to get her cage open from the inside, sticking her paws awkwardly through the webbing to no avail.

“Brightheart’s is stuck!” wailed Mistyfoot. “We can’t get it open!”

Swiftfoot wasted no time – he pushed Sandstorm and Mistyfoot aside and set to work, clawing at the latch. Stoneheart didn’t have time to think about how strange it felt to be inside the rumbling monster – he headed for Tawnypelt’s cage.

“Hurry!” the tortoiseshell cried. “The monster!”

Stoneheart’s jaws shook as he clamped down on the latch. He gave a tug, and found it sticking stubbornly. Sore, he pulled back and cried, “Falcontail! Help!”

The dappled tom, who had been keeping watch on the edge of the monster, jolted; but soon he was by Stoneheart’s side. Stoneheart grasped the latch again and, with Falcontail’s help pulling at the door, the two of them managed to pull it open – Stoneheart fell onto his back, dazed and breathless and feeling as if his jaw had been broken.

If my teeth don’t fall out after this, I’ll be shocked!

The monster gave a sharp jolt, and Brightheart let out a wail of panic. Stoneheart tried to get to his paws, but the monster lurched. To his horror, he saw the land outside start to move. His heart leapt into his throat: The monster is trying to run!

With a frustrated snarl, Swiftfoot switched tactics – instead of trying the latch, he whirled around the cage and slammed his shoulder into it. Seeing what he was trying to do, Mistyfoot joined him – together, with a few shoves, they managed to push Brightheart’s cage – and themselves – out of the monster and onto the ground. Brightheart’s cage broke open like Cloudtail’s, and the ginger-and-white she-cat sprang free on shaking legs.

“Run!” Sandstorm yowled.

The monster was chugging now. Stoneheart dug his claws into the interior, watching as, slowly, the cats he’d rescued were being left behind. For a moment, he was terrified of jumping out – then he locked eyes with Rowanclaw, and saw how terrified his mate was.

I am never leaving you again!

Stoneheart leaped, landing awkwardly on the ground and stumbling onto his side. He got up, though, huffing dust and monster stink. He looked back. The monster was still crawling along the earth, slow like a beetle, but Tawnypelt, Sandstorm, and Falcontail were still inside!

“Jump!” cried Mistyfoot. “Sandstorm, jump!”

“Come on!” howled Robinwing.

Brightheart was shaking as she screeched, “Go, go!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Stoneheart saw the second Twoleg finally break free of Crowpaw and Onewhisker. The two WindClan cats were breathless, hunger sapping their strength – they couldn’t give chase as the Twoleg sprinted after the monster, wailing and waving their paws.

Stoneheart saw Sandstorm’s mouth moving, but couldn’t hear what the ThunderClan deputy was saying. The running Twoleg was getting closer and closer to the cavern inside the monster, clearly aiming to jump inside. Falcontail was bristling, and Tawnypelt opened her jaws, too, as if in argument.

The Twoleg crossed in front of the cats, catching up to the monster. When the Twoleg leaped, springing off awkwardly on their two legs, Tawnypelt and Falcontail jumped out of the monster around them. Stoneheart saw a flash of ginger fur – Sandstorm tried to jump, but the Twoleg blocked her with its paws and massive body.

The monster’s doors shut behind them, trapping Sandstorm inside. Bumping along the dusty landscape it, and ThunderClan’s deputy, were soon out of sight.

[nekojitachan]

Hmm, another chapter update! We’re starting to get somewhere. I think after the next chapter there will be a time jump (that or the one following). Yes, plotty things.

Anyway, here you go. More ‘The Real Thing’, the Andreil Raven soulmate fic that does or does not exist.

Some twinyard drama, some spilling of tea, some of Nathan’s terrible parenting skills.

Previous chapter can be found here (and which links to other chapters).

*******

“So, off to some fancy party this weekend?”

Andrew gave his brother a look of long suffering which made Aaron grin. “Right, try not to have too much fun,” Aaron teased before he ran off to catch up with his friends. Andrew clicked his tongue then went on his own way, displeased at being reminded about the damn banquet that weekend.

The Ravens would have their fifth game of the season on Friday, and it was time for the northeastern district’s fall banquet; Andrew wasn’t pleased to deal with either things, but at least the first was a home game (against Binghamton) and would only last a couple hours, while the second was an overnight ordeal at Penn State.

He suspected that Tetsuji wouldn’t let them off-campus to have ice cream and hit a few bars.

At least Andrew shouldn’t have any problems shutting the goal against the Bearcats, who weren’t nearly as good as they liked to think they were. He was mentally reviewing some of their players’ stats when he met up with Ben on the way back to the Nest, who complained yet again about the fact that they weren’t allowed to take any dates to the banquet (‘I mean no offense, if I was into guys you would be… okay, you’d still terrify me but you’re not half bad looking, but I’m nineteen and it’s such a waste of a paid hotel room’).

They studied in their room for a while then went off to practice; Andrew was surprised to find Nathaniel (and Moreau) hovering by his locker, both of them already in their uniforms, hair slightly damp and mussed as if they’d recently practiced.

“Ooh, look at the two lovebirds,” Loiseau called out, which made half the locker room snicker.

Federov leaned over from his own locker to leer at Nathaniel. “What, is shorty not giving it to you good enough, Nate? You need-“

Andrew didn’t look away from his soulmate as he grabbed the prick by the throat. “Do you have any complaints?”

Nathaniel’s blue eyes widened slightly, while Moreau was quick to hide a faint smile. “None, other than your snoring.” He had to speak up a little over the choking sounds Federov made.

Andrew huffed as he clenched his fingers deeper into Federov’s throat. “I told you, you’re imagining things.” He finally looked at the backliner, whose face had turned a bright red. “See, no complaints. Now go away before I cut your tongue out for lying.” He dug his fingers in even more for a moment before he let go then shoved a gasping Federov away.

There were various mutters of ‘crazy’, ‘headcase’ and the like, but Andrew didn’t care, not if the others finally learned to leave him and Nathaniel alone. “You need to get your hearing checked out,” he said as he pulled off his shirt.

Nathaniel was looking away with a slight blush to his cheeks when Andrew glanced back, his red undershirt in hand (interesting). “My hearing’s fine. Enough lame jokes.” Once the shirt was on, Nathaniel looked back at him and leaned forward. “Be careful,” he said in a quiet voice not meant to carry far. “Riko and Kev are already out on court, and it’s not going well.”

Andrew glanced at Moreau, who gave a slight nod, then grinned, the expression wide and a touch sharp, as he reached out to pat his soulmate on his tattooed cheek. “Later, sweetpea. Your honeypie has to work first before we can have our fun,” he said out loud to throw off the Ravens still watching on.

If Andrew was a more delicate soul, he might be a bit perturbed, even downright unnerved, by the chilling look Nathaniel gave him just then. “I know how to debone you as if you’re nothing but a big fish,” the redhead threatened before he spun around on his heel and stomped away.

Moreau didn’t bother to hide his smile (a true rarity) as he nodded. “He does, too.” He gave Andrew a jaunty wave before he went after his partner.

Aw, apparently, they’d moved on to the flirting stage, how sweet.

Despite the threat, Andrew appreciated the warning when he finally got out on court, where he found a scowling Riko and a quiet Day doing drills; it appeared they had a contest going to see who could knock over the most cones. Judging from the numbers Akagi called out, Riko was in the lead… but Andrew saw at least one shot that Day usually had no trouble nailing any other time that he somehow flubbed just then.

Oh well, Kevin Day wasn’t any concern of his.

Tetsuji seemed to be ignoring the contest going on between his nephew and protégé, and called the Ravens forward to start practice; after warm-up exercises and drills, Andrew found himself part of a scrimmage with Nathaniel and Moreau in front of him while Engle and Saunders attempted to score goals.

It wasn’t so bad when Andrew didn’t have to deal with Riko, but he wisely kept that thought to himself, especially when he could hear the way that Riko’s ‘teasing’ remarks to Day crossed the line from friendly to vicious. He noticed how Nathaniel would tense at the mocking laughter and the various versions of ‘you suck’s, but for once the redhead seemed to be listening to his own advice since he kept his mouth shut and focused on Exy.

Riko and Kevin were still whacking balls when practice was over.

Andrew caught up with Nathaniel on the way to dinner to (slowly, making his intent clear all the while) ‘pin’ his soulmate to the wall, a scant inch between their bodies and Moreau a glowering presence nearby. Pretending to nuzzle Nathaniel’s left ear with his hands on the wall next to the younger man’s hips, he breathed out the question that had been on his mind the last few hours. “What’s going on with them?”

Nathaniel drew in a slow breath and raised his left hand toward Andrew’s head, only to loosely cup it when Andrew nodded. “Press asked Kevin more questions after their pro game last night,” he whispered. “He got more airtime.”

Andrew arched an eyebrow at that ridiculous bit of information, which prompted a slight nod from his soulmate. Well, someone had a fragile ego, didn’t they? Before he could say anything, though, he fought not to shudder as Nathaniel’s fingers tentatively slid into his hair.

That… shouldn’t feel so damn good.

“If you two don’t mind, I would like to eat soon, while I still have some miniscule appetite left,” Moreau sneered.

Andrew jerked away from Nathaniel, whose face flushed with embarrassment while he snapped something sharp in French at his haughty partner. “How about you try to eat with a broken jaw?” Andrew asked with a ‘smile’.

“Fillet you like a fish,” Nathaniel warned as he motioned for Andrew to follow him and Frenchie into the dining hall.

“I knew you liked me,” Andrew taunted as he tagged along.

“You have a death wish,” Moreau muttered while he shook his head.

Perhaps.

So did Ben; he gave Andrew a bright smile and a two thumbs-up gesture when he noticed that Andrew ate at the same table as Nathaniel and Moreau, even if he had to suffer through the two of them talking about the statistics of various teams and how best to manage the new drills that Tetsuji had sprung on them. Used to being ignored (at least by his soulmate), he was surprised when Nathaniel pulled him aside after dinner to talk to him privately.

“Be careful at the banquet this weekend,” he murmured while Moreau stood guard. “Riko always has to put on a show, to prove he’s in charge. Don’t give him a reason to do that to you in front of everyone.”

Before Andrew could say anything, Nathaniel whisked himself away, leaving only a feeling of warmth and a craving behind – a craving for Andrew to dig his fingers into dark auburn hair, to brush his lips against a full bottom lip that taunted him….

Perhaps it would be a good thing, to get away from his soulmate for at least a night.

Nicky sent along various types of articles on how to behave at a social gathering, which Andrew basically deleted without reading.

Friday’s night game went the way he expected it to go; the Bearcats played dirty, but they weren’t anywhere near the Ravens’ skill level so were sent home with an embarrassing loss. Andrew once again put in more effort than he liked while out in the goal, but somehow it was worth it when Nathaniel sat next to him on the bench during the game and joined in on mocking the opposing players, when he let down that prickly guard of his and acted like an almost normal teenager.

When he teased Andrew about his snoring when they were back in Nathaniel’s (and Moreau’s) room later that night, when he once again reminded Andrew to be careful at the banquet and (jokingly – Andrew realized that by the way the left corner of Nathaniel’s mouth hitched the slightest bit) asked him if he knew the difference between a salad fork and a teaspoon (one has these spiky bits and one is all smooth, you know) until Andrew threatened to smother him with a pillow.

(He may have fallen to sleep with the sound of his soulmate’s laughter ringing in his ears.)

Tetsuji, the bastard that he was, made the team do their usual workout and morning practice before they cleaned up and piled into the buses that were to drive them out to the middle of bumfuck PA for the banquet. Nathaniel fussed over Moreau and, surprisingly, Andrew before they left (Tetsuji also made them dress in their black and red dress clothes since they were to appear ‘perfect’ upon arrival), and snuck a few of the ‘good’ energy bars into Andrew’s left pocket before he walked away.

It wasn’t often that Andrew gave much thought to the whole ‘soulmate’ bs, but… but maybe there was a reason why he was stuck with Nathaniel Wesninski.

Maybe.

He slept most of the time on the bus, and read one of Nicky’s ‘suggested’ books the rest of the trip (it was another A/B/O novel, a sappy affair about a strong, blond Alpha swooping in to protect a struggling brunet omega which in no way reminded Andrew of Erik and Nicky). Once they reached Penn State, Riko made them line up per their numbers and inspected them, demanded that they straightened out their clothes and fixed their hair until they were ‘Raven’ perfect before he ordered them to fall in step per the way they’d practiced (actually practiced, oh how Andrew had blamed his laughter on the meds that day) before they headed into the stadium.

(The prick also took a moment to remind them to be on their best behavior that night, his attention lingering on Andrew as he tapped three fingers against his chin.)

Riko was arrogance personified to Penn State’s captain, who didn’t appear to care for him (or the Ravens), either. Yet they were stuck at the same table as their division ‘rivals’, which meant that Andrew sat next to Moreau while Riko and Day (along with various other Ravens) traded insults with the pussycats. It was almost enough to make him want to stab salad forks into his ears (and yes, he knew what a fucking salad fork was).

Better yet, stab a salad fork in someone else’s ear….

He was picking at his bland chicken breast and steamed vegetables (he would gladly maim someone for a pizza right then) when the pussycats’ captain gave a mocking laugh and nudged the young woman sitting at his side. “What did I tell you? No one wanted to come as dates for these stuck-up bastards.”

She laughed as well, as did the majority of the pussycats; Andrew noticed that most of the players had a guest beside them, which meant there were almost double the amount of people on their side of the table compared to the Ravens’. “Probably don’t even have any soulmates. Who would be unlucky enough to be stuck with someone like them?”

“Yeah, tied to an Exy-playing machine that doesn’t know how to have any fun for the rest of their lives, who would want that?”

“How could they even tell which one is their soulmate? All their symbols would probably be an Exy racquet or something equally boring!”

Andrew propped his chin up on his right hand while the pussycats continued to make fun of the Ravens, while beside him, Moreau huffed quietly but didn’t show any emotion. However, Riko didn’t seem to be handling the jabs as well (perhaps because prick knew he was a piece of shit and didn’t have a soulmate of his own).

Normally, anything that made Riko feel bad was a good thing in Andrew’s book, but he inwardly tensed when that one smile came over the prick’s face; judging from the murmured curse in French and the way Day stilled, he wasn’t the only one to realize that things had taken a turn for the worse.

Riko leaned forward as if to tell a secret. “The reason we’re champions, unlike your team, is that we know when to remain focused and when to indulge ourselves. Right now?” He cast a disparaging look at the young woman in the deep blue dress who sat next to the pussycat’s captain. “Even though you and the others don’t present much of a challenge,” he sneered, “we don’t allow ourselves to be distracted during the season.”

One of the pussycats’ backliners scowled and shook his head. “You just won’t to admit that no one wants you.”

That prompted a laugh from most of the Ravens. “No one wants us?” Riko clapped Day on the back, who scoffed at that statement. “When we’re already on a pro team, unlike any of you? When our seniors already have teams offering them contracts?” Federov and others grinned and nodded while more pussycats scowled. “We could have our choice of dates and already have our soulmates waiting for us, but this is work and so there’s no need to inflict so much boredom upon them when it’s not necessary. It’s bad enough that we have to do endure it.”

“You’re an asshole,” Captain Pussycat snarled, which was the truth but not much of a snappy comeback.

“An asshole who’ll beat you yet again this year,” Riko said with a pleased smile.

“An asshole who probably doesn’t have anyone to celebrate the victory with,” a dealer shot back as she rubbed the soulmate mark on her arm; she was too far away for Andrew to make out the symbols. “You need a soul for that to happen, and it’s clear that you Ravens don’t have any.”

Riko’s smile took on a too-sharp edge while various Ravens laughed. “Again, why inflict losers like you upon them? Since they’re our soulmates, they’re just as driven as us and are busy, but you’ll see one of them soon enough. Isn’t that right, Andrew?”

What the hell was the prick doing now? Andrew sat up, the drugged smile flattening as he gave his ‘captain’ a blank look. “It’s right that there’s no need for him to have to deal with these assholes,” he said, a clear warning in his voice.

“Hmm, but dear Nate will have to deal with them next season, just like Thea dealt with them until she graduated, isn’t that right, Kevin?” Riko sat there and outed their soulmates as if it wasn’t a big deal, when he had no right to; Andrew’s left hand clenched around the pathetic knife provided for dinner when he felt a kick to his right ankle.

“Don’t,” Moreau whispered. “Nat.”

Andrew almost stabbed the French bastard for interfering, almost told him to mention his soulmate’s name… but the damage was already done, wasn’t it? Riko had deflected the pussycats away from the fact that he didn’t have a soulmate, and now the other team (and soon the rest of the division once word spread) was busy talking about which other former Ravens might be soulmates.

Andrew would much prefer everyone was busy talking about Riko’s ‘unfortunate’ death, but was held back (barely) by the clear warning to Nathaniel (and by extension, to Aaron).

(He was also disgusted about how part of him felt a bit smug over how everyone knew Nathaniel was his soulmate.)

Ben took one look at him when they were finally allowed to return to the hotel at the end of the too long night and didn’t ask him to share any of the alcohol he’d brought along.

Moreau made certain to stay between him and Riko the entire time they were at Penn State and on the drive back to Edgar Allan. It was a good thing (for everyone stuck on the bus with him) that Andrew had just taken a fresh dose of his ‘happy’ meds before he received a text from Aaron, who had somehow heard about him finding his soulmate (word traveled fast, it seemed).

There was a lot of swear words and angry emojis, and eventually Aaron got to the point; if Andrew was messing around with his soulmate (he wasn’t), then Aaron was free to search for and have a relationship with his soulmate (when found). Andrew reminded his twin about his many terrible decisions made in the past, about how Andrew had to clean up so many messes, and received another furious text.

/U can’t keep me from her/

Andrew turned off his phone, unwilling to deal with such stupidity at the moment.

He just wanted to crawl into his bed and sleep the rest of the day (actually, he wanted to beat the shit out of something), which was unlikely since Tetsuji would put them through at least one practice before calling it a day, but upon entering the Nest, Moreau mumbled something about finding Nat and went off in such a rush that Andrew found himself following without any thought.

(Just for the hell of it, he wasn’t worried or anything.)

Nathaniel was in the room he shared with Moreau, seated at his desk as he studied. At first, he didn’t react to them entering the room, then finally raised his head from the book he’d been reading when Moreau called out his name. His partner hissed as if in pain upon seeing the bruises which marred Nathaniel’s pale skin, the blackened left eye and split lower lip, while Andrew felt a rare fury rail against the drugs swirling around in his veins.

“Nat, what-“

“Get out,” Andrew told Moreau as a manic smile tugged the corners of his lips upward as if hooks had been implanted in them. When Moreau stared at him in confusion, he grabbed a fistful of black material and shoved Moreau toward the door. “Get. Out.”

“Who do you-“

“Jean, just go,” Nathaniel said, his voice quiet and stripped of almost all emotion except a hint of exhaustion. “It’ll be fine.”

Moreau paused for a moment before he clicked his tongue and yanked his t-shirt free from Andrew’s grip. “Don’t hurt him,” he warned before he left.

As if that was possible; oh, Andrew wanted to hurt someone, all right, but not his soulmate. Oh no, he wanted to tear apart whoever had left those bruises on Nathaniel.

“Who was it?” he demanded to know as he forced himself to go sit on Moreau’s bed instead of on Nathaniel’s desk; he suspected that his soulmate needed the space right then (he needed the space right then).

Nathaniel was quiet while he bookmarked the page he’d been reading then leaned back in the chair; he began speaking before Andrew repeated the question. “My father was here this morning.” He winced as he skimmed his fingers over his bruised cheek. “Word got out fast about us being soulmates soon after someone posted it on an Exy forum last night.”

Andrew considered that for a moment while his hatred for Nathan Wesninski grew even more potent. “He beat you because I’m your soulmate.” Nathaniel gave a slight nod. “Why?”

“Because… because,” Nathaniel sighed as he got up to fetch something from the minifridge between his and Moreau’s desk; a fresh ice pack, which he wrapped with the towel he’d used on an older pack set on the desk. “He already knew you were my soulmate, Tetsuji told him after you were recruited, he was just… annoyed, I guess you could say, that the news got out.” He didn’t look at Andrew as he applied the pack to the left side of the face.

There were likely one or two explanations for that. “Is he angry because of my past or that I’m a guy?”

The question made Nathaniel look at him. “Uhm, the latter.” He toyed with a pen left on his desk as if nervous. “I mean, it’s not a big deal, two guys being soulmates, but he’s… well, even though he’s washed his hands of me, I guess he still thinks it makes him look bad. Makes him look like less of a man, somehow.”

So he made himself feel better by coming here to beat up his son, what a ‘man’. “My cousin’s father is like that,” Andrew confessed. “Has some weird belief that Nicky’s soulmate being a guy is a bad thing. He’s doing much better now that he’s living with Erik in Germany.”

For some reason, that bit of truth made Nathaniel smile, just a sliver of a curl. “Really? Are… are they happy together?”

“Disgustingly so,” Andrew admitted. “Once he finds out about you, he’ll be hounding me for information because he believes all soulmates should be happy together.”

“Oh.” That seemed to confuse Nathaniel; he glanced down at his lap and attempted to nibble on his bottom lip before he remembered why that was a bad idea. “Jean… Jean told me that there were good soulmate bonds, but I only know my parents and….”

“And it’s not good,” Andrew guessed; he better understood why Nathaniel had freaked out on him that one day.

“No.”

“Nicky and Erik have a good one.” Such a good one that he thought that the universe was mocking him with his own mark, was showing him something so perfect that could never be his.

Now… now he was beginning to wonder.

As the anger gave away to something warm and aching, he found himself on his feet, which made Nathaniel stare at him. “I have to go unpack.” He motioned to his duffel bag, which he’d left by the door.

“Yeah, practice will start soon.” Nathaniel gave him a weak smile. “Back to Penn State for an away game.”

More fun time with the pussycats; Andrew would have to put some real effort into that game, and wouldn’t get much time alone with Nathaniel while off his drugs.

Still, everyone knew Nathaniel and him were soulmates now (for good and bad), knew that Nathaniel was off-limits. He just… he just needed to figure out what do next.

(He knew what part of him urged him to do, which didn’t help things. He needed to be smart about what he did next, and for some reason… he didn’t feel very smart when around Nathaniel.)

*******

Yep, we’re getting somewhere.

Did you know that the pro team that Kevin and Riko played on while in university was called the Baltimore Wildcats? How many times I’ve read the Kathy Ferdinand interview scene and hadn’t realized that Nora did actually name that team? Oops. Which makes one wonder WHY Baltimore, hmm? Weren’t they signed with another team as well? Besides the US Court (which wouldn’t have demanded time until the Olympics). This is another reason why I don’t think the whole 18 hour days make any sense....

Anyway, thanks to those who do read this.

[wwitbeyondmeasure]

Summer At The Burrow - r.w. fan fiction

Previous Chapters

Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to The Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters

Chapter 3: Ron’s Return

The next couple days at The Burrow were some of your favorite days ever spent. You awoke every morning to the smell of bacon and eggs cooking downstairs and spent the majority of your days around magic. Every afternoon, you and Ginny would get together and complete your school work together, just like you used to at Hogwarts. It was a bit more difficult to stay focused without Hermione around, you and Ginny kept getting sidetracked with talk about Quidditch, but you managed to get some work done.

After your dinner in the garden, you spent the rest of your afternoon in the living room talking with Mr Weasley. He was fascinated by muggles and you were more than happy to indulge him and answer all of his questions. You explained the difference between a light switch and an outlet, and even told him about how your television works.

Whenever you were in the living room, you felt your gaze wonder to the clock hanging on the wall. Ron's hand was still pointing towards "Diagon Alley" and you were starting to wonder why he was shopping for so long.

Pushing the thought out of your mind, you directed your attention back to Mr Weasley.

"Do you have any muggle pets, y/n? What are they like?" He asked. You smiled as you saw the pencil next to him jotting down notes onto a pad of paper. Mr Weasley treated your conversations like an interview, wanting to remember everything you said. He was a sweet man, as all of the Weasleys were, so you didn't mind spending hours chatting with him.

"I guess the pets are sort of the same in the muggle world and wizarding world. I had a couple of goldfish when I was younger but I kept overfeeding them so my parents gave them away. Then I had a dog named Benji, but he now lives with my cousins because my family travels so much. And then my last pet was Celeste, but she died last spring," you told him.

The thought of Celeste made your good spirits sink a little. You had first met your snowy white cat in Diagon Alley when you were shopping for your first year at Hogwarts. It was difficult to navigate the streets of the busy wizarding shopping centre with two muggle parents, but they were kind enough to offer to buy you a pet for school.

Celeste had been the best pet you'd ever had. Unlike your boring goldfish, she was rather affectionate and could understand you well. She would cuddle onto your lap while you studied and bite at the ankles of classmates you didn't like. While at Hogwarts, she reminded you of home, and while back in London, she reminded you of your magical school.

Sadly, you hadn't realized that when you bought her in first year, she was already pretty old. Last year at school she started limping and moving slower than usual. Within a couple of months, she had passed away. It still made you sad to think about so you brought your attention back to Mr Weasley.

"So yeah, I suppose most of the pets are pretty similar. Except, muggles normally don't keep rats as pets," you explained with a laugh. Mr Weasley smiled, thanked you for talking with him, and then excused himself to finish up some work in the shed outside.

You hadn't realized how long you were talking because when you looked outside, it was already dark.  Your eyes found their way to the clock again, forgetting it didn't actually tell the time, and your heart skipped a beat when you saw Ron's hand was now pointing at "home."

Standing up quickly, you brushed down your hair frantically, though you weren't sure why. Ron had seen you at your worst, messy and covered in mud after many Quidditch matches, so you didn't really have a reason to try to straighten your appearance out now. You sighed to yourself, your crush on him was really starting to make your head spin.

Just then, you heard the backdoor close behind you and you turned around. Standing there, clad in a familiar maroon jumper, was Ron. He looked slightly older than the last time you saw him when leaving Platform 9 and 3/4, but that was only a few weeks ago. When your eyes met each others, his face broke out into a wide grin, and he took three long strides towards you before wrapping you into a tight hug.

"Y/n! I'm so glad you're here," he said through the hug. You wrapped your arms around his torso, and let yourself be engulfed in his embrace. He was much taller than you so your face was buried in his shoulder. He smelled like cinnamon and apples, just the same as his room.

"Thanks for letting me stay. I think I would've gone mad being cooped up in my empty house all summer," you said once he let go of the hug.

"I think you're already a bit mad for agreeing to spend the next few months with my hectic family, but whatever suits you," he said, nudging your side.

You smiled as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder and walked you outside.

"Where is everyone? I thought I would make it back in time for dinner," he asked, a slight frown on his face when he saw the empty tables outside. You couldn't blame him, his mom's cooking was so good that you would be disappointed to miss it too.

"Won Won!" Two voices in unison came from above you. Looking up, you saw Fred and George leaning their heads out of their bedroom window, sly grins on their faces. Ron's arm slowly slipped from your shoulder and you felt your smile falter.

"Come on up here, we've got a surprise for you two lovebirds," George said with a wink. The twins had taken to calling you that two years ago when they decided to forever torment you about your love life. Much to Ron's ex-girlfriend Lavender's dismay, they continued calling you that even when he was dating someone. You were comforted to see that Ron's cheeks were tinted the same color as his hair at the mention of the nickname.

As you walked up the countless stairs to the twin's room, you and Ron caught up with one another. It was easy to feel relaxed with him and soon the awkwardness from outside seemed to disappear. You were back to being best friends again, and nothing could make you happier. Well, maybe you'd be happier if he was more than your best friend...

Not bothering to knock once you reached the landing with the twin's door, Ron pushed the door open. That probably wasn't the smartest idea because he was immediately hit in the face with a jet of purple sparks.

"Ow," he said, his voice nasally as he held the bridge of his nose where the sparks had hit him.

"Sorry, mate. Better knock next time. We'd never barge into your room without warning," George said as he pulled both of you into the room and closed the door.

"Yeah, you could have a pretty lady in there, we wouldn't want to interrupt," Fred continued, winking at you.

You swatted his shoulder as you stalked past them, towards the pile of what looked like fireworks in the corner of their room.

"Is this what you wanted to show us? Fireworks?" You asked.

The twins then launched into a detailed story of how these weren't just any fireworks. They told you about how they bought them off a wizard in a pub and how they were special for Percy's birthday in August.

"Special how?" you asked suspiciously. It was common for the twins to poke fun at their prim and uptight brother, but you were sure they wouldn't do anything too drastic.

"That's a surprise that you will see on August 22nd. We are throwing him a birthday party, even inviting his girlfriend, so it will be the perfect place to showcase the fireworks," George explained.

"Then why call us up here if you aren't even going to tell us what they bloody do?" Ron asked with an annoyed voice, still nursing his bruised nose.

The twins turned to him quickly, "We wanted to talk to y/n. Now please get out." They ushered him to the door, with annoyed protest from Ron.

"Come on! I just got to see y/n!" He complained, as they promptly shut the door in his face.

"You'll see her tomorrow!" Fred yelled, "Also, y/n has been staying in your room so you have to sleep on the couch downstairs. Goodnight Won Won!"

The sound of Ron's disgruntled steps retreating to the bottom floor of the house filled your ears.

"What is it?" you asked the twins impatiently, your bad temper reflecting Ron's.

"Have you told him yet?" George asked. "You know, about your massive heart-wrenching crush on him?"

You glared at them as you sat on the windowsill. "No, and maybe I would've if two hooligans such as yourselves weren't shouting at us out of the window!"

The twins nodded, "Fair enough," they said together.

"Just make sure you tell him before Percy's birthday party, eh?" George said, his voice sounding guilty.

"Why?" you asked, your suspicion about the fireworks returning.

"No reason at all," he replied curtly. Then they quickly started shoving you out of the room.

"Sweet dreams!" They said together, before shutting the door in your face. You pressed your ear to the wood, hearing low whispers exchanged between them but you couldn't make any of their words out.

Sighing with annoyance, you walked up the stairs to Ron's room. You felt slightly guilty for staying in his room while he slept in the couch downstairs, but he did arrive late at night so you didn't really have time to discuss sleeping arrangements.

Once you arrived at his room, you closed the door and flopped down on the bed. You were exhausted from the day, and as you changed into pajamas and crawled under the covers, your mind drifted once again to the box of letters under the nightstand. Should you ask Ron about the letters? Or would he get mad that you were snooping in his room? Deciding to leave this dilemma for tomorrow, you shut your eyes and tried to get some sleep.