#the only thing keeping me afloat sorry i have become an oc guy

[reinmeka]

wren and lancaster. have u heard of them

[hellonoblesky]

TELL ME ABOUT THE HIROTSU HEADCANONS !!!!

RUBBBING MY HANDS TOGETHER EEVILLY OK OK OK LETS GO LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Under a cut bc I got so invested talking abt this w Cio (bungoustraypups) that I made. several characters to accompany his backstory)

OH ALSO VIOLENCE WARNING LOL

Ok so two main things you need to know for this

1: Hirotsu trans ftm but I'm just gonn call him He this whole time. BUT NOTE: He doesn't come out until like right towards the end, so he's still presenting as a girl for most of this 2: in 70s Japan, girls weren't allowed to join gangs. In response to this, they made their own, called sukeban gangs

So basically to set the scene. Pre-bsd Yokohama. The Port Mafia has yet to rise to infamy. Sukeban gangs are forming in the streets. One of them features our Hirotsu as one of their members. A scrappy kid, not yet having fully discovered himself, and with so much pent up anger at the world that he doesn't quite know what to do with.

The gang he's in is small. There's members who come in and out of it, but there's four main members. They've got abilities. That's why they're the four main ones. And that's why they stick together.

(Yes they're my OCs sorry guys I got too silly <- isn't sorry at all)

So the lineup is as follows:

Inoue Youko: Her ability, Through Walls and War, allows her to see through walls when she closes her left eye. She's the team lookout, and can pull her weight in a fight pretty damn well

Saikita Hiroko: the group's mechanic and getaway artist. Her ability, Whispers in Metal, allows her to "understand" and "speak to" machines

Hino Koyuki: not a fighter or a runner, Koyuki is a thief and a schemer. Her ability, Down to the Bone, is a constantly active ability that causes her to only see living things as their internal workings. She can only see faces through photos and videos

And Hirotsu, of course

So the thing is. Their gang, because of their combined Abilities, gives them such a wild advantage over the other sukeban in the area, that the other gangs get sick of them, and start to Plot.

So while Hirotsu and the gang are busy trying to figure out what the hell they're supposed to make their living situation (they're fresh out of high school) (3/4 of them got kicked out of home due to their delinquency) (1/4 of them never really had a home to begin with)(not telling you which one tho)(It's Koyuki), almost every other sukeban gang converges on them.

It is not an easy fight. In fact, it's a fight so rough that their rivals manage to tear out Youko's right eye, the one she needs to look through in order to use her ability, essentially taking away her access to her ability as a whole. It's a fight so rough that it's the reason Hirotsu wears a monocle. Because his eye got fucked up in the brawl. And it's a fight so rough that it leaves the four of them clinging to an actively breaking down boat that Hiroko is desperately trying to keep running for dear life as they run.

It's about here Hirotsu comes out as trans and whatever, everyone else is chill with it, it's whatevs. They don't flaunt being Sukeban at this time anyway because they're trying to slip under the radar as they get back into Yokohama

This is when Hirostu stumbles into the Port Mafia. It wasn't as impressive as it is now at the time, but it was good enough that they could offer him a place to stay, and enough of a wage to send to his friends to keep them afloat while they worked things out. He doesn't want to get them involved in more gang wars. He's worried about Youko and how she's dealing with the loss of her ability. He's worried about Koyuki, who's frailer than the rest of them and shudders away from most people. And he's worried about Hiroko, who's snagging odd mechanics jobs just on the off chance she can grab lunch.

So he takes up the PM's offer. He does not let the other three join. They get into a fight about this. They split ways for a long time, but Hirotsu still sends money.

His loyalty to the PM becomes fierce. He forms the Black Lizard.

[babeyvenus]

The Wolf Among Us

Bigby x Oc

Summary: Sonya Blaze, A.K.A. Hell Rider, is a half fable, half mundy girl who comes to Fabletown to learn more about her side of the folktales. She works alongside Sheriff Bigby Wolf as his newest partner and together they strive to find out who's behind the unexpected murders in Fabletown.

TW: Mentions of death, gore/blood, alcohol, smoking, drugs, sex implications, suicide, guns and ofc language.

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Chapter 18: What a Twist

Everyone turns their head to see the mermaid running towards them, panting softly as she runs up to Sonya. “Easy. You’re not late.”, Sonya smiled, holding her arms.

“Excuse me, dear.”, Crooked Man says to Nerissa. “I….I wanted to make sure I had the chance to say something.”, Nerissa said, catching her breath.

“Why don’t you take a moment to catch your breath, little one?”, Crooked Man suggested.

“What’s she doing here?”, Bluebeard asked, crossing his arms.

“I’d like to…I–I need to say something.”, Nerissa declared.

“We’re kind of in the middle of something.”, Bluebeard said. Sonya glared at him. “Fuck off and let her speak.”

“She has something to say and we’re gonna listen.”, Bigby said. He nodded at Nerissa. “Go right ahead.” She smiles at him, and then glares at the Crooked Man. “You probably don’t remember me. I don’t know why I was afraid to come here.”, she said.

“My dear, I don’t know what it i–”

“Just shut up!”, Nerissa ordered, making him look at her in surprise. “You enslaved us for years. Let us hear stories about what you’d do….told us we would lose everything if we stepped just one toe out of line. And we couldn’t say a word about it because of these damn ribbons.”

“Wait….”

“But you know what….now it’s my turn to talk.”, Nerissa said, smirking. “How are you–?”, he asked, clasping his hands.

“I found Vivian’s body. Did you kill her?”, she asked. She turns to Sonya and Bigby. “Did he?”

“He might as well have.”, Bigby says, looking at the Crooked Man. “Vivian wanted you guys to finally be free. She explained what happened. Figured she knew she was gonna die regardless.”, Sonya said. Nerissa looks down in sadness. “I’m sorry, um….I don’t think I know your….”, Crooked Man excused himself.

“Nerissa! My name is Nerissa!”, Nerissa yells at him.

“It’s okay, my dear, it’s going to be just–”

“He ordered them dead, this fucker. Faith and Lily–"

"That’s a lie!”

“I was in the goddamned room when he did it!”, she exclaimed to the crowd. She turned to Crooked man, angrily. “Faith and Lily are dead because of you! The only two people who ever gave a damn about me… and now I can finally say, you’re an asshole. And I hope you rot at the bottom of the Witching Well for what you did."

"Then this just confirms it.”, Bigby says, grinning. Nerissa turns to the crowd. “He made Georgie do it, it was always him, Georgie would’ve never done anything without his say-so, ever.”

“You’re going to take the word of–”

“At least five other girls will back me up on this.”, Nerissa cuts him off. “We all heard you say it!”

Crooked Man glared at her. “Did you now…”

“There goes our evidence.”, Sonya grins at Bigby. “She saw it first hand….”, Beauty says in shock.

“He’s guilty!”, Bluebeard declared.

“Sounds good to me. What about you, Deputy?”, Bigby smirked at Sonya. “Sounds good to me.”, Sonya agreed, smirking at Crooked Man. “So, we’re all in agreement.”, Snow said.

“So that’s it, right?”, Beast asked.

“Throw him down the Witching Well!”, Johann ordered.

“No! That’s too fuckin’ easy for a crook like that!”, Gren disagrees. Bigby looked at him in confusion while cuffing the Crooked Man.

“What do you mean?”, Beast asked.

“He’s gotta pay for what he did!”, Gren shouted. “That’s what we’re doing!”, Sonya exclaims in confusion. “Listen to yourselves!”, Greenleaf yelled.

“You’re all rats fleeing from one sinking ship to the next. So quick to latch onto whatever will keep your miserable lives afloat. This is how you want to repay all I’ve done for you?”, Crooked Man asked, glaring at the crowd.

“What, you take two people’s lives away and now you want mercy?”, Gren asked, in disbelief.

“You know we can’t let you go free after this.”, Snow said. “Are you seriously trying to get sympathy for ordering a hit on fables?, Sonya scoffed, amused. He narrowed his eyes at her. “Well done then.”

“Now, for your sentence–”, Snow starts but is cut off by Greenleaf. “We don’t have to become murderers.”, she suggests.

Sonya turns to her. "You're still trying to excuse his actions? He killed people. He threatened you all and you want us to make it easy for him? You're not saving him."

Greenleaf frowns. "I don't need to be taking orders from a half fable.", she says, quieting everyone.

Sonya frowns. "What's that got to do with the situation here?"

"The hell is she talking about?"

"Half fable...?"

"Greenleaf, where are you going with this?", Bigby asked. She pointed at him. "Did you really think that no one was gonna figure it out? The new fable in town, the new deputy– no one's even heard of this girl!"

Greenleaf turned to the crowd. "They've practically let a mundy run amuck in our town!", she exclaims making the crowd gasp.

Snow and Bigby's eyes widened. "Now, hold on-"

She turned to glare at Snow. "You let this happen. You're worried about what the Crooked Man would've done, what about her? What if she blabbed to other mundies about us!? What safety would we have then!?"

Sonya could feel everyone's eyes on her as she glared at Greenleaf. The old woman continues. "The wolf and the princess are no better. They just do what they want. If you're so willing to let a half mundy enter Fabletown, what's to stop you from letting other mundies in!?"

The Crooked Man clapped. "Well. This is a surprise to remember."

Sonya glared at him. "Now hold on, whether or not Sonya's a half fable, it didn't stop her from trying her best to find my sister. They care about us. About this town.", Holly interjects.

"They only cared when they thought it was Sonya that bit it, though.", Gren added. Holly shook her head. "But it wasn't her fault. It took me too long to come to terms with that.", she said, looking down. "I trust them. They've gotten this far when Crane never bothered and the Crooked Man is here. That's all we wanted was for justice to come to this town and they've done it. What more do you want?", she asks Greenleaf.

Sonya smiles at Holly, giving her a nod before turning back to Greenleaf, crossing her arms. "Are you done? Can I speak now?" The old woman scoffed, keeping herself quiet.

"Alright then.", Sonya says but Bigby puts a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to explain yourself.", he says. She gives him a small smile. "As your deputy, I'd want everyone to trust me and put their faith in our jobs. What better way to do that than to be honest?"

His expression softened and he lets go of her shoulder. Sonya claps to get everyone's attention. "If you're all writing a book and you must know, I am a half fable. I don't know if you all have heard tales of the Ghost Rider. But I am the next Ghost Rider. My dad was the previous one before me. He died a couple of years ago and I swore and prayed to every god I could think of to bring him back.", she frowns.

She paces in front of the crowd as she continues. "A demon of some sorts, Mephistopheles, or Mephisto, offered me a chance to "help" those in need of saving. To help wary souls find their place in the after life. My dad did the same thing. The only reason why his soul wasn't saved is because he traded it with Mephisto. Same as I have."

She looked down. "He told me about this place. Hell, he worked with Crane outside rather than working at the office. He told me stories about how great this place was. Living fairy tales commuting amongst each other like any regular old person. I thought he was just telling stories but a few years after he died, I decided to look for Fabletown myself."

She looked at Snow. "That's when I met Snow and Crane. Crane gave Snow the rundown of my situation because he knew my dad. Which then helped me get a job as deputy.", she says, glancing at Bigby. "And now we're all here."

Sonya glared at Greenleaf. "However, me being a half fable wouldn't mean I'd rat everyone out. I'd have no good solid proof to the police anyways. I'd look like a damn loon and would probably get arrested for wasting their time. So, I dunno what your little plan was to get everyone's attention onto me and off of the task at hand, but we're still at a trial. And, last time I checked, I wasn't the guilty one."

Greenleaf looks down in shame. “He’s guilty! I know that, but we don’t have to kill anybody. Like you said before, there's another way we can go about this. We can imprison him. Lock him up forever…somewhere he can never hurt anyone again.”, Greenleaf says.

“How can we be sure he won’t escape?”, Snow asked, frowning. “I can help! We’ll use magic. I assure you–”, Greenleaf said, making Sonya look up in thought.

“That’s not good enough!”, Bluebeard shouts.

“There will be more if he isn’t stopped!”, Nerissa says. “So we get rid of him!”, Gren says.

“I don’t know…”, Beauty says, uncertain. “We can send him away!”, Beast suggests.

“Everyone! Listen up!”, Snow announces. “Clearly we’re having trouble agreeing on a suitable punishment. So I think we–”

“This is going nowhere!”, Bluebeard cuts her off. “Someone needs to make a decision!”, Snow exclaimed. “Who?”, Beauty asked.

“I hope you aren’t suggesting yourself.”, Bluebeard says, stepping up to her.

“We should have a vote. Make it democratic.”, Bigby says. “Do you really think that’s going to work?”, Bluebeard asked. “He’s right. Nobody can agree on anything.”, Snow said.

“What about Bigby and Sonya?”, Nerissa asked. “What about them?”, Snow asked, turning to her.

“They were appointed, they’re….the only official representatives, really. They should be the judges.”, Nerissa said.

“That makes sense to me.”

“I guess it does.”

“Okay.”

“Fine.”

“Are you sure? This isn’t how it’s–”, Snow says before Bluebeard interrupts her again.“It’s what the people want, Miss White.”

“Okay.”, Snow said, then turned to Sonya and Bigby. “Mr Wolf. Miss Blaze. It’s your call.”

“Snow, I–”

“Just….do what you two think is right.”, Snow said, interrupting Bigby. Sonya rolls her eyes as he pulls her aside. “What do you wanna do?” She looks at him, incredulously. “Why me? You’re the boss.” , she says.

He rolls his eyes. “Forget that. He kidnapped you.” She sighed. “Good point but he nearly got you killed.”, she argued. He clenched his jaw for a moment and looked at the crowd as they looked at them.

He nodded. “Smart.”, he let out a soft sigh. “Fine.” They walked back to the crowd.

“We could try Greenleaf’s plan. The only thing I’m worried about is whether or not he’d convince her to stop doing it. She’s so hellbent on keeping him alive even though Faith and Lily are dead. And the fact that we could’ve died….”, she says, catching his attention.

She closed her eyes, sighing again. “Let’s just see what Greenleaf has in mind. If things go south, we could always make a plan just in case it does.”

“Everyone, we’ve–”, Bigby started to say until suddenly Crooked Man charged forward and wrapped his cuffed wrists around Sonya’s neck, shocking everyone. “Not this way!”, he yells, tugging her back toward the Witching Well. She coughed and choked, struggling against his hold as Bigby ran to her.

Just before they touch the well, she grips onto the chain that connected the cuffs and melted it, making her drop to her knees. Bigby grabs Crooked Man’s shirt and punches him in the face, holding him over the Witching Well. “Aaahhh……there you are….”, Crooked Man said, creepily as Sonya catches her breath.

The crowd runs toward them, wary of the next move. “I hope you all….remember this moment…..think of me when you try to sleep.”, Crooked Man says.

“You know, we were gonna make the choice of letting you live. But you just tried to murder my deputy. That’s a problem.”, Bigby said, shaking him above the well.

“You’re going to miss me….”, Crooked Man croaked. Bigby looks at Sonya with an unsure expression, watching her rub at her neck. She frowned and nodded.

Bigby looks back at Crooked Man with a smirk. “No. I won’t.”, he says and he drops the Crooked Man down into the well, watching him disappear in the darkness.

“For Lily. And Faith.”, she hears Holly say. Sonya takes another deep breath, as she clasps her neck softly, now coming to terms that she could’ve died.

The Crooked Man was going to kill her because he wasn’t getting his way. That had to be enough proof to show everyone. Bigby looks at her and kneels down to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She snapped her out of her rampant thoughts and looked up at him with red rimmed, glassy, wide eyes.

He frowned, softly taking her hand away from her neck and lifted her chin up to examine it. His expression turned displeased as he saw a red mark on her neck. “I’m fine…”, she says, standing. He stood up with her and nodded, not saying a word and left.

Everyone else leaves the chamber, unsure, afraid, unsettled or otherwise. Sonya could only watch their retreating backs before looking into the dark well for a moment and finally leaves.

She walked out of the office, walked past Bigby’s office. She paused, turned to the door and opened it slowly. She peeked her head through and smiled at Bigby’s sleeping form as he snored softly on his desk.

She walked in, quietly moving over to him and lifted a hand to gently shake him awake. His eyes popped open as he looked around and relaxed when he saw Sonya.

“Why didn’t you head home if you were gonna sleep?”, she asked. He sat up straight, rubbing his eyes. “I was gonna get some paperwork done...hadn’t realized I’d fallen asleep.”

She leaned on his desk. “You might wanna go home instead of being here. You deserve a break.”, she said, looking down at her shoes.

He looked up at her and looked at a nearby clock. “Hey…”, he says, getting her attention. “You wanna go grab something to eat?”, he asked, giving her a slight smile. She chuckled. “At this hour?”

“I don’t hear a complaint.”, he says, raising an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes playfully. “Fine. We can go find something that’s open.”

Subway Late Night

Sonya sputters a laugh, nearly choking on her drink. “So, you mean to tell me, he’s making you owe him a place to stay because you blew his house down?”, she asks, after hearing Bigby explain his roommate situation. He swallowed his bite of his meatball sub, giving a sigh and nods. “He’s a pain in the ass.”

“Well, if we’re being fair, in the stories I’ve read, the pigs boil you alive. I think that’s way more than enough.”, she says. That intrigued him. “Really?”, he asked.

She nodded, taking a bite. She looked up at the sky as they walked away from the shop. “To think I’d be living among actual fairy tale characters….”, she mutters. “I mean, I knew the sugarcoated stories had to have some type of dark history behind it but jesus…”

“Yeah… no sugarcoating with this one.”, he says, pointing at himself. “It just sounds like you were hungry.”, she says, smiling. He nodded. “I was.”, he says. “Okay, so let me get this straight. Every fairy tale character is here? Or at least nearby?” He shrugs. “More or less.”

“So...does that mean that Rapunzel is here too?”, she asked. He nodded. “I was wondering because I read a story that the guy that saved her fell from the tower and got his eyes poked out by thorns.”, she says, making him grimace. “That’s dark.”, he says.

“Is it not true?”, she asked and finished up her sandwich. “I wouldn’t know… Not a lot of fables talk to me. That or they’re at the Farm.”, he replied.

“Sounds boring. Looks like I came here just in time to spice up your life.”, she says, grinning and making him roll his eyes in amusement. He threw their trash away in a nearby trash can before they walked in the Woodlands and pulled out a Huff n’ Puff, making Sonya reel back once he lit it. “What is up with you and the cancer sticks?”, she asked, pinching her nose.

“It helps.”, he says. “With addiction??”, she asked in disbelief. He chopped her head softly, “No. It helps drown out smells from the city. My nose can’t take everyone’s scent all at once. Especially if I’m trying to pinpoint someone’s location.”, he says, leading her to the elevator.

Once the elevator stopped on their floor, it opened, allowing them to enter.

Her eyes widened in realization. “Ohhh, so its like being in a perfume store and taking in too many scents all at one time.” He nods, taking a drag.

“Does your nose get stuffy from smelling a lot of things simultaneously?”, she asked. He shook his head, letting the smoke out. “It gives me one mean migraine, though.”

She smiled, enjoying the new info. “So, you are like a pup.”, she joked. He narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t start.”, he says, making her snicker.

He did have to admit, he felt lighter. The Crooked Man was gone, Faith, Lily and Nerissa got their justice. All that was left was to deal with whatever came their way next. And he was fine with that.

He smiled at Sonya as they arrived on their apartment floors. She rubbed her eyes, sleepily. “I actually miss that stupid couch…”, she muttered.

“Go on home. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”, he says. She looked at him, remembering what Snow said. She gave him a faux smile. “Yeah. G’night, Bigby.”

He nodded before she walked away and entered her apartment. Locking the door, Snow’s words echoed in her mind. “When this case is over, you’ll be on leave until we need you.”

She walked over to her couch and laid into the cushions, curling up. “Damn that Snow.”, she grumbled, shutting her eyes.

The Woodlands Next morning

Bigby rubbed his eyes sleepily as he waited for the elevator doors to open. He pulls out a Huff n’ Puff, lighting it up as Flycatcher catches him. “Hey, Sheriff.”, he greets Bigby. “You gonna see the truck off? We’re leaving for the Farm in a few….I already informed the Deputy and she’s helping outside. Just thought you might wanna, I don’t know…”

“I’ll be down in a minute.”, he says. “Okay…great.”, Flycatcher smiles as the door to the elevator closes. He hears someone walk up to him and sees Sonya. “Hey.”

He greeted her back. “You’re up pretty early. Thought you would’ve slept in after everything that’s happened.”

She shook her head. “Nah, I heard that Toad was getting sent to the Farm and I didn’t want T.J. to be too upset.”, she explains as they walk up to a long line outside of the Business Office. “This fuckin’ line.”, Bigby hears Gren mumble.

As they walked past everyone, they were given smiles or uncertain looks. He lifted a hand to the door of the office until Snow White rushed out, holding some files in her arms. She stops when she sees them. “Oh….Mr. Wolf! Flycatcher left his keys.” She holds out the keys to Bigby.

He holds his hand out and she drops the keys in his hands. He looks down at the keys before looking back at Snow. “Is everything okay? You look–”

“I’m–I’m sorry, Sheriff. I have to take care of this.” , Snow said, before giving Sonya a look. “We’ll talk later, okay?”, she said before walking back into the office. Sonya frowned deeply and walked away, much to Bigby’s confusion.

She walks past Bluebeard and he gives Bigby a look as he walks to the office. “Good morning, Miss White.”

“You’re late.”, Bigby hears her say. He walks to the elevator, ready to get away. The elevator doors opened and his eyes widened at Colin, holding a six pack in his mouth. “Someone’s gonna see you, Colin.”, Bigby said. Colin smiles and winks at him before walking away. He sighed and shook his head, entering the elevator.

As he walked outside, he could hear Toad fussing at Flycatcher as Toad and T.J. climbed in the trunk. “Fly.”, Bigby calls, catching the younger one’s attention. “You forgot these.”, he says, tossing the keys to him. “Oh! Thank you. It’s, uh, been pretty busy around here.”, Flycatcher said as he caught the keys.

“Morning, Sheriff. Nice fuckin’ day.”, Toad said, angrily. “Shit.” He fussed at T.J. “Just go grab that, would you?”

“Sorry about all this. We tried to help.”, Bigby said, standing next to Sonya. “Just why the hell did she have to send me and me boy away? Huh? You two promised me I’d get another chance, but Miss White said I had to go up to the damn Farm anyway! I told her I had the money but she wouldn’t hear it!”, Toad shouts.

“That’s because she’s stuck up about it…”, Sonya mutters, crossing her arms. “Sheriff Bigby! Sonya!”, T.J. called. “I have something.”, Sonya and Bigby walk up to T.J. as he sniffles. “You know he was up cryin’ all night. Poor kid.”, Toad said, shaking his head.

“Can you give this to Miss White? Please.”, T.J. plead as he holds out a little wooden box to them. “Dad says there’s no time to say goodbye, so…if you guys could bring it to her…she was nice.”

“What is it?”, Bigby asked him, holding his hand out.

“I couldn’t take them all with me. And she said she liked that one the best.”, T.J. explained as he hands the box to Bigby. Bigby opened the box and saw a pretty blue beetle inside of it.

To: Miss White

From: TJ

“It’s a Willow Beetle. That’s a big one. They’re cool, ‘cause when they’re little they have these pouches that squirt juice at you if you touch 'em.”, T.J. informed as Bigby closed the box. “She’ll definitely love it.”, Sonya gave him a smile. “She said it was pretty.”, T.J. said.

“We’re about ready to head out.”, Flycatcher said as he walked back towards the truck. “What’s it like at the Farm? I’ve heard ogres live there. And they eat people in their sleep sometimes.”, T.J. said as Toad places a hand on his shoulder. “God, I hope not.”, Toad said. “Do we have to go?”, T.J. asked him. “I wanna stay here.”

“Well, we don’t have a choice anymore.”, Toad said. “We’re sorry, T.J.”, Bigby said. “But look on the bright side, okay? There’s plenty of space to run around, and a nice river nearby so you can swim all you want.”

“Even in daytime?”, T.J. asked, with hopeful eyes.

“Yeah.”, Bigby nodded, smiling. “You won’t have to worry about the mundies seeing you. It’ll be nice.”

T.J. sniffled some more, making Sonya rub his back. “Come on….it won’t be so bad.”, Bigby said.

“Have you been there before?”, T.J. asked, looking up at Bigby.

“No….I’m, uh—some of the animals aren’t comfortable around wolves.”, Bigby says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“So you wouldn’t know, would you?”, Toad asked, making Bigby lower his head. “Hey, if they won't let Mr. Wolf be there, I doubt they'll let any ogres touch you.", Sonya grinned at T.J. He gives her a small smile.

"And hey, I think I got something for ya.", she says, walking over to her bike and dug into a small bag. She pulled out a bag of gummy worms and handed it to him.

"Thought you might like to try them. Wasn't sure whether or not you could have candy but it's a mundy snack.", she says as he takes it with wonder.

“We’re all set.”, Flycatcher says, getting in the truck. "Bye, Mr Wolf. Bye, Miss Sonya.”, T.J. said, with glassy eyes. “Goodbye, T.J.”, Bigby says. "Seeya kiddo. I'll try to see if I can visit you!", she said, giving him a grin.

Bigby pulls out a cigarette, grumbling when he gets interrupted. “Hey, Bigby! Where’s your friend, Colin? Where’s the fuckin’ pig?”, Toad asked, angrily. “I dunno. He must’ve run off.”, Bigby shrugged as he lit his smoke.

“What a crock of shit.”, Toad said, angrily as they drove away. Sonya sighed. “I hate that he cusses like that around T.J. He’s so sweet.”, she says to Bigby and looks up as it starts to rain. “Where are you headed off to?”, he asked.

“Well, I-”, Sonya starts before she gets cut off. “Saying goodbye?”, a familiar voice asks. Sonya and Bigby look across the street to see Nerissa, in a white shirt and a jacket, and jeans, smiling while holding an umbrella. They smile at her, walking across the street.

“Hi.”, they say as Sonya gave her a hug.

“Hi.”, she says, returning it. “You’re still wearing that thing.”, Bigby said, pointing at her neck. Sonya’s eyes trail to Nerissa’s neck as she sees the purple ribbon and frowns.

“Oh….yeah.”, she said, nervously. “I guess I am…it’s not easy to forget.” They walk under a shade, shielding themselves from the rain. “I know it seems like I should be able to….it’s just….”, she sighs.

“Could I…?”, Bigby asked, reaching out to her. Sonya slaps his hand, making him retract it. “What did I tell you? You’re so impatient.”, she fussed. He grumbled, rubbing his hand.

Nerissa rubs her arm. “I’m sorry... I-I know you’re just trying to help, but this is just something I need to do on my own. Okay?” He nodded, putting his hands at his sides.

“Listen, I-I came here because….I have to tell you guys something.”, Nerissa said. “What’s wrong?”, Sonya asked.

“It’s about what happened to Faith and Lily. I’m not sure where to start….”, she said, biting her lip. “Faith, Lily and I, we had this plan. We were gonna find a way out. Leave the Pudding 'n Pie for good….but then Faith decided to get some…leverage. She stole a picture of Crane and Lily together. The minute Faith stole that photo, we had dirt on one of the Crooked Man’s allies. If he found out–!”, she took a breath.

“I-I had no choice. You two have to understand. You’ve seen how they kept us quiet at that place. Can you imagine the lengths they’d go to just silence someone who had physical evidence?”

“Nerissa, what did you do?”, Bigby asked, confused and shocked.

“I freaked out. Okay? I thought if I came clean to Georgie, he’d get the Crooked Man to leave us alone! We could just forget the whole thing….maybe try again in a few years.”, Nerissa confessed.

“You…what!?”, Sonya asked, shocked.

“So I told him everything. And I begged for mercy. For all of us! I didn’t want anyone to die over a picture!”, Nerissa says, tearfully. “So you sold them out?”, Sonya asked, crossing her arms in disappointment. “No!”, she exclaimed.

Sonya looked at her with an eyebrow raised. “Yes....”, Nerissa looks down at her feet. “Georgie promised he’d smooth things over with the Crooked Man. But then….Oh God.”

Sonya sighed, reaching to rub her back but she flinched, making Sonya’s eyes widen. She gave her a weak smile, appreciative of the attempted comfort.

“I don’t know what happened, but that night, at the club….Georgie came back and told me things had changed. He had to make an example of us…we had committed treason. And while the two of us were sitting there…as he was telling me this….Faith walked in. And I had to watch while Georgie–”, she explained, sniffling.

Bigby’s eyes widened. “Wait, so Georgie told you all this? Not the Crooked Man? Back at the Well you said….”

“I know what I said.”, Nerissa said firmly. Sonya frowns. “But it wasn’t the truth, was it?”

“What does it matter? I know the Crooked Man did it. So what if it wasn’t the whole truth? It was true enough!”, Nerissa exclaimed.

“So you think that makes it okay to lie?”, he asked, frowning at her.

“I know he ordered their deaths. I wasn’t going to let him get away with it because of a stupid technicality. Especially after-” She sighed and looked at them.

“That night, after Faith….I tried to warn Lily, but she wasn’t with her scheduled appointment. So I did the only thing I could do. I-I left Faith’s head at your doorstep.”, Nerissa confessed.

“You?”, the other two asked. “So that piece of fabric I found near there….that was you?”, Bigby asked. Nerissa nodded. “Yeah…I cut my leg trying to get over the fence.”

Sonya looked at him. “Its no wonder why she was placed there with care.” She turned to Nerissa. “So you started all of this?”

“I just…. I pointed you two in the right direction. People like us get forgotten all the time. The Crooked Man was counting on that. When we suffer, we do it in silence. And the world likes it that way. We just….fade. Like we never existed. I couldn’t watch that happen to Faith. Or Lily. Nobody cares about us. Not really.”, Nerissa says, shaking her head.

“I’m sorry, Nerissa.”, Bigby said. “I’m sorry that’s what it took to get us to pay attention.”

“It’ll be different now. You guys will make things right…. The two of you and Snow.”, Nerissa said, smiling. Sonya crosses her arms. “It just feels like it won’t matter.”

“It seems like no matter what we do, it’s just not enough for her or anyone.”, Bigby says, sadly. “We just can’t win with these people.”

“I know it might feel that way, but….they need you two. All three of you. You three make a good team. The way you look out for each other….and look out for us. You don’t see that a lot these days.”, Nerissa nods..

“I don’t really know where we stand anymore. Things are just...different.”, Bigby shrugged, looking at his feet.

“Things are always different. Look, after everything you two have done for us… Maybe they don’t want to admit it, but…without you two, none of this would’ve happened. You two listened when no one else would. Both of you protected your friends….no matter the cost. And you brought justice to this town….finally. Because you two brought the Crooked Man in, everyone saw who he really was. So from where I’m standing, you guys did the right thing. You guys have been given these jobs for a reason. And I left Faith at your doorstep, because I knew, if anyone stood a chance against the Crooked Man, it was you two.”, Nerissa reassures.

“That’s all we wanted was for things to be right. To be better.”, Sonya says. “You two have changed this place. For better or worse. Fabletown wouldn’t be the same with you two.”, Nerissa says, grinning and opening her umbrella as she starts to walk away from them.

She pauses and turns to Bigby. “You’re still not as bad as everyone says you are.” Bigby’s eyes slowly widened in realization. He looked at Sonya as she looked at him and back at Nerissa in confusion.

“I need to tell you something.”

“I have to tell you something.”

“I feel like we’ve met before.”

“You’re trying to place me.”

“You like my ribbon?”

“Do you like it?”

“Faith wore one too.”

“Would hide her beauty, so she could escape his kingdom.”

"They used to call me The Little Mermaid."

“Did Dr Swineheart ever get back to you about Faith?”

“He said he wanted to run more tests.”

“I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

I’ll see you two around.

“No way…”, Sonya mutters and turns to Bigby. “Should we go after her?” He looked at “Nerissa’s” retreating back and shook his head. “I think she deserves to be free.”

She sighed and walked back to her bike with him, placing her helmet on her head before climbing on.

“So...you’re headed where now?”, Bigby asked. “You’re not leaving too...are you?” She looked at him with a small smile. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”, she chuckled, tugging her bag on her back. “I’m gonna visit my mom.”

His eyes filled with curiosity. “Your mom…? How come? Did something happen?” She shook her head, “I haven’t been able to keep in touch with her since we were working so I thought a little visit would ease her mind.”

He nodded in understanding. She smirked, teasingly. “What, you gonna miss me?” He rolled his eyes. “No, I was just thinking.”

She leaned on the handle bar of her bike. “About what?” He rubbed behind his neck. “Apologizing to your mother.”

Her eyes widened a bit before she snickered. “What?”, he asked, frowning. “You sound like you’re gonna get in trouble. Relax.”, she says, smiling. She sits up. “Did you wanna come with?”

He looks at her bike. “You sure I can fit on that?” She shrugs. “I’m more worried about your poor pup ears.”, she teased, making him roll his eyes again. “I think I can handle the sound of a muffler.”, he says. She scoots up. “Get on then.”

He awkwardly gets on the bike, hesitantly wrapping his arms around here as she starts up her bike. “I don’t think I have to tell you to hold on, right?”, she asks. He narrowed his eyes, making her shrug. “Okay.”

She pulls off, the loud roar of the engine making Bigby’s ears twitch and his hold gets a little tighter.

[ikenbar]

Mr Love: Ike’s Choice Ch2 Pt11 (end)

Warnings: The conclusion to a thrilling chapter, ANGST, FLUFF, death(?), slight cursing, slight spoilers for Chapter eight of the game? but it really isn’t anything. Just me throwing names around, fire, tension, pain, guilt, adorable moments with officer Gavin, sadness, Minor being a cock block, AaAnaaANd cliffhangers for chapter three!!

AS A HEADS UP: As I said, last part of chapter two. Since I am already finished with chapter three, there will be a post next Wednesday. bUuUt! To keep you guys on your toes (and bring more background to my lovely OC) I will be posting a couple of one shots before beginning the third chapter. It will bring light to things from Ike’s past and make more sense of her story. Those one shots will just be of my OCs. Nothing pertaining to the game. It’ll just make the experience of reading my fanfic more understanding and enjoyable. Ok, I’ll stop wasting your time. Enjoy the thrilling conclusion to Chapter Two!! :D

(Chapter two’s prologue, parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten here :))

((Please read the author’s note (and the beginning of the story) on chapter one part one if you’re new here :D))

Chapter two (end):

Part eleven:

The moon’s light warped above me as I came to. The world’s sound seemed to have been deafened as I seemingly floated in thin air. Muffled thudding came from all around me, threatening to burst my eardrums with the pressure it exerted. I took in a deep breath. 

Water filled my mouth. 

I struggled and held my throat. Finally getting a grasp of the situation, I quickly swam towards the light, pulling the water around me with great force. Skyrocketing out of the lake, I sucked in as much oxygen as I could. Coughing as sputtering as I did so. As the water in my ears drained the world around me gained its sound again. A roaring fire came from the warehouse in front of the lake. Large chunks of debris fell from the building and hit the water, causing waves that made it hard to stay afloat. What was I doing in the lake? Wasn’t I just… 

I gasped, dragging a wave of water into my lungs. 

Gavin. 

Where was Gavin?

 “Gavin?!” I choked, whipping my head around to look for him. He wasn’t at the other end of the lake or on any of the floating debris. He wasn’t anywhere… 

Above land. 

I took a deep breath and dove back under the water. I opened my eyes and searched even harder. Everything was dark and murky. It was nearly impossible to make anything out. Until I caught sight of a large piece of debris slowly drifting to the bottom of the lake. 

Under it was Gavin. He was unconscious and his mouth was open but no bubbles came from it. 

The moment I saw him I propelled myself through the water, kicking and moving my arms wildly. Gavin had hit the bottom of the lake when I finally reached him. The debris was a piece of the wall that had been used as a door to that small, awful room. I grabbed the corner of the door, planted my feet at the bottom of the lake, and pulled. The debris was waterlogged, making it impossible to lift or move at all. I weakly let go and looked around. There was no other way to get him out of this.

I needed to lift the door.

I needed to save him.

Unwilling to leave him like this, I grabbed the door again. Using all of my power against the door, I grit my teeth and pulled again. The door snapped and broke into pieces, finally freeing Gavin from his watery grave. I threw the piece in my hands aside and held the freed Gavin in my arms. I pulled him close to my chest as I launched off the bottom of the lake and back to the surface.

I hit fresh air once more with Gavin securely held in my arms. With no time to delay, I slumped him over my shoulder and swam to the end of the lake. I calmed myself as I prepared to listen for his faith inducing heart beat… 

but there wasn’t one. 

I felt my heart stop. 

No. No no no. He can’t… I sped my pace in the water. He can’t. Not because of me. Please.

I finally reached the land and raced to place him safely down in the grass. I held my head next to his heart. 

Nothing.

I felt his mouth for air. 

Still nothing.

I cursed and positioned myself on top of his chest. I started compressing. One hit after the other, I’d pray that the next one would be the one. The one that would bring him back. Tears flooded my eyes as I stopped to hold his nose and pushed air into his mouth. Seeing that did nothing as well, I quickly got back up and started compressing again. The task was harder this time as the growing lump in my throat made it impossible to breathe.

Apologies flooded my head. Apologies for getting him roped into this. Apologies for the years we wasted fighting. Apologies for not recognizing him from the year book. Apologies for nearly killing him in the ring. I realized though that those apologies were confetti compared to the thing I needed him to hear the most.

“I forgive you.” I gasped as I held back my sobs into each compression, “I forgive you, Gavin. Please. I forgive you. I’m ready to be your partner again. To hear your nickname for me. To hear you make fun of me. To fly together again. To give you the second chance you wanted. Please, Gavin, let me give you a second chance. Come back. Pl-” 

Gavin coughed. 

Water came gushing from his mouth. He gasped for air. My breath hitched in my throat as I turned him over. I watched him take another breath. And another. And another. He opened his eyes. Tears of relief replaced the ones of grief I had as I closed my eyes and listened to him breathe.

“Bastard.” My voice cracked as I hit his arm weakly, “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.” I ducked my head down and closed my eyes, struggling to compose myself as wave after wave of tears came flooding to me. Gavin did nothing at first, letting what just happened sink in. Then he moved to sit up. I pushed him back down. “Don’t.” I choked, finally wiping the tears from my eyes and straightening myself, “Rest... Please.” Before I could say anything more, Gavin gripped my hand and pulled at it weakly. I let him guide me to his side. I lay down next to him as he pulled me into a weak embrace.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered hoarsely, causing him to have to cough more.

“... I forgive you.” I squeaked as I clung to his drenched jacket. 

The sound of the burning warehouse behind me soon flooded back to my senses without me realizing it had gone away at all. Sounds of debris popping up from the lake came over the roar of the fire every now and then, and even police sirens could also be heard in the distance. Coming closer each minute Gavin and I lay there together. I didn’t care for any of that noise. I had my eyes closed and focused on the one sound that mattered to me the most. The sound of Gavin’s heart. Proof of him being alive. Proof that he was with me and only me. Proof of our second chance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I clutched the bouquet of flowers and a shopping bag in my hand tightly as I raised my other hand over the door, hesitantly. It had been a week since the explosion of the warehouse had happened. Paramedics had arrived soon after Gavin and I had pulled ourselves together. The chief was there and pried for answers about the explosion. I was the one who gave him the story. I told him nearly everything on the ambulance, leaving out any information about my Evol and the other incriminating details. I decided against telling Gavin or the Chief what was on the wall in the room. If they had known, they would have kicked me off the case that had just barely lifted off of the ground. If I was the one being targeted I needed to know why, and I was going to be the one finding out.

When we got to the hospital they inspected me closely and told me I had gotten away with a sprained ankle, a few bruises, and scratches on my back and face, leaving an obvious scar on my cheek. Yet another to add to my collection. But it was nothing compared to what Gavin was prescribed with. 

He was forced to stay bed ridden in the hospital for two weeks, despite his objections to the idea. Despite his pleads to go back onto the field. Despite his begging eyes as he turned to me for help. I couldn’t meet them. I only insisted he followed orders. I’ll never forget the tone of dejection in his voice as he finally caved. 

I didn’t visit Gavin while he was there. I needed to work on building my walls back up again. I had almost lost Gavin because I was being reckless. I shouldn’t have let it happen and I couldn’t let it happen again. I also didn’t want to see him in the state of pain that I had left him in... that I had been at fault for. And I was terrified that he would hate me for how reckless I had been. And that he blamed me for almost killing him... that he didn’t want to see me anymore.... that our second chance as partners was left behind in that lake...

 I couldn’t avoid him forever though. My phone would ring nonstop from Gavin and, after I didn’t pick up, he would leave messages. A lot of messages. I tried ignoring it all but eventually, the calls were becoming bothersome. But it wasn’t the constant calling that made it troubling. It was when I spent my time waiting for the next one. Waiting for the voicemail. Waiting to hear his voice again. Soon, waiting for the calls from Gavin started affecting how I would work. Making me miss obvious mistakes in my reports and work slower than I ever had before. I tried convincing myself that I just needed a personal assistant, but then I realized I couldn’t keep putting off the get the inevitable. It was time I made a move.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the hospital room door. “Come in.” Gavin’s voice made my heart race wildly in my chest. The voice I had only heard from over the phone for a week seemed almost foreign to me in person. I shook my head and focused back to the matter at hand as I opened the door.

The room was quiet. The large window swept the back of the room was open and illuminated the white walls with a natural light. There were two beds. One was empty and the other was covered by a pink curtain that draped from the ceiling. A small television, that was mounted in the very back corner of the room, played the news quietly for the room’s occupant. 

It was talking about that story again. The story of the strange explosion at an old warehouse. The chief didn’t tell anyone we were involved. Just that the investigation was still underway. It gave Gavin and I the privacy we needed to heal both physically and mentally. I greatly appreciated the Chief’s consideration of us but still wondered how long he would be able to hide the truth, and how it would affect his reputation when the media finds out that not only was a civilian involved, but the head of an up and coming television company.

I closed the door carefully behind me and approached the curtain cautiously. My phone buzzed in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw it was from Gavin. I quickly ignored it. No use surprising him if he could hear me coming. 

My head spun with things I should say as I approached his bed. But my mind went blank when I saw Gavin for the first time in a week. The last I had left him, he could scarcely move without help or support from the paramedics. Now, he was sitting up, eyes glued to the phone in his hands. They were sharp, letting me know he got the rest he needed. And, though covered in bandages, it was obvious his attitude hadn’t changed. His expression was full of annoyance and tediosity. He was still the same Gavin I had always known. Though I wished he would just relax and let himself heal. I knew he wanted to get out of that bed and back on the case. I did too. But I would sooner strangle twelve orphans then to let Gavin get hurt again because of me. 

I opened my mouth to greet him, but I was quickly and rudely interrupted. “Unless you’re here to tell me I can be let off a week early, I don’t care.” Gavin grumbled, picking up the remote to turn off the television. Any amount of compassion I held for him flew out the window. My eyebrow twitched as I held my mouth open. Insults hung at the tip of my tongue. Oh how I could embarrass him right in that moment...

“... why won’t she answer?” Gavin asked, his tone shifting dramatically to one of desperation. I closed my mouth quickly. “Did I do something wrong? Were the calls too much? Maybe I should just go see her mysel-”

“Or maybe you can stay in bed and stop threatening to make your condition worse.” I snapped with vex on my tongue, “You know, just a thought.” Gavin’s eyes widened as he whipped his head to face me. His expression was one of pure shock as we locked eyes.

“Ike!” He gasped, dropping his phone onto the bed, “I thought-... You never-... Are you-...?”

“Are you going to finish any of those sentences or do you want me to?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and walking closer to his bedside. Though I had no intention of showing it, watching Gavin speechless to see me made me feel euphoric.

“I thought you weren’t going to visit.” Gavin finally settled on a sentence, “You never answered my calls.”

“They got increasingly harder to ignore.” I sat on the doctor’s stool by Gavin’s bedside.

“Why didn’t you answer them?”

“I… was busy.” I held back the guilt ridden expression threatening to push itself onto my face, “The funding got through from LFG so we are starting the production of our show.”

“Are you ok?” Gavin’s words seemed to be racing their way out of his mouth, as if he had been wanting to ask me these things for a long time.

“I’m fine. Nothing but a sprained ankle and… some cuts.” I bit my tongue. There he was, covered in bandages, and I got away scott free.

“You took most of the explosion.” Gavin said seriously, obviously not convinced by my words, “The chief told me you said were fine but you have a habit of hiding the truth.” I gulped, “I was worried sick.” His eyes drifted to something under my eye. He raised a hand to my face.

“Welp, no need to worry any more.” I rushed to say, dodging his hand, “I’m perfectly fine.” Gavin gave me a intense stare. “Really.” I emphasized. 

“... Good.” Gavin breathed and lowered his hand. I opened my mouth to ask him if he was ok but his eyes drifted to my hand, distracting me. “What’s that?” He asked.

“Oh.” I looked down at the flowers and the shopping bag, “I… got you flowers.” Gavin raised a teasing eyebrow. “Don’t give me that!” I rolled my eyes, “I wanted to make your room less… dreary.” My eyes fell at his bedside table where a batch of flowers already sat with a vase of water. They were large and extravagant and made my flowers look cheap. “I guess it wasn’t an original idea.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Gavin sighed and took my flowers from me, “That is from a buddy of mine. He tends to go over the top with these things. Your flowers are perfect. Thank you.”

“That’s just a nicer way of saying ‘not as cool.’” I murmured as Gavin replaced the flowers in the vase with my own. Gavin gave me an annoyed look and opened his mouth to lie again. I shoved the shopping bag in his face before he could say anything. “I also brought some soup.” I quickly said, pulling out a Tupperware bowl full of soup and a spoon, “It’s Bart’s cooking. I did promise I’d have you try it after all. It’s cold but-” Gavin took the soup and the spoon and opened it immediately.

“I’ll take it.” He sighed smelling the soup, “Anything other than the hospital food.”

“Wow.” I judged, folding my arms, “I didn’t know you could be so picky with food.”

“Normally I’m not. But after eating the same bland food for a week, you learn to appreciate what you had.” Gavin started digging in.It was obvious from the look on his face that he enjoyed every bite he took. A smile spread caross his cheeks. Unable to hold it back any more, I smiled as well. I was so glad to see he had been doing better… After... After all that pain I had caused him. 

My smile fell as I remembered the events of the week before. The shooting, the harsh words, the mistrust, the fight, the bomb, it all led back to me. He had gotten so hurt... he had died... and it was all my fault.

“I’m sorry.” The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them. Gavin stopped eating.

“For what?” His mouth was full of soup and obliviousness. I ducked my head and started playing with my hands in my lap, hoping to distract myself from the nervousness rising in my chest.

“For everything. I’m the reason you got hurt so badly. I’m the one who was reckless and set off the bomb. I’m the one who nearly beat you to death in the ring. I’m the whole reason this case exists in the first place.” The tears that I had been all too familiar with from the past week resurfaced, but this time, there was no alcohol to send them back. “I’m sorry… so so sorr-”

Gavin placed one of his big hands onto both of mine, making me look up at him, “Were you the one who called the hitman?”

“...No.”

“Were you the one who made the bomb?”

“No.” I was slowly catching on to him.

“Were you the one who blew up the warehouse?”

“... well kinda-”

“Ike.” Gavin looked at me earnestly, “None of this was your fault. You shouldn’t have been roped into this the way you have been, and I’m sorry that you were. But now is not the time to blame yourself. Now is the time to stop the person behind this from doing anymore damage, ok?” I nodded, feeling slightly better. “Besides, if not you, the hitman would have just found another Evolver to target.” I felt my heart jump. Images of what I had seen in that small room flashed across my mind.

“Right.” I looked down again. There was a moment of awkward silence. Gavin shifted slightly on the bed. I felt his calloused fingers scratch my skin slightly as he pulled both of my hands into both of his. 

“I’m ok.” He smiled reassuringly, “I’m healing quickly. I’ll be out in less than a week. There is no need to worry.” I nodded timidly. I went to remove my hands from his but our eyes locked. I felt the whole hospital room disappear from my peripherals as his amber eyes took in every last bit of my focus. I was the only thing reflected in Gavin’s eyes, as he was the only thing in mine. Deep in our stare, I could see the emotions that he had held that night we had alone together in my apartment. My heart beat sped up as that familiar sense of melting entered my chest. I was quick to shove it down but stopped as I saw Gavin lean toward me. I flinched slightly but Gavin had already rested his forehead onto mine. I watched as he started inspecting my hands.

“I was really worried about you.” His voice had dropped an octave, sending chills up my spine.

I sighed, slightly annoyed, “I-” I locked eyes on to Gavin’s. My annoyance vanished and was replaced with another emotion. One that I scarcely ever felt. “I… was worried about you too.” Emotions flew past Gavin’s eyes. He placed one of his hands onto my cheek. I closed my eyes and inadvertently leaned into his touch. I had missed that warmth. That gentle reminder that he was living and breathing. But, more importantly, he was living and breathing with me. I found myself wanting more of his touch. Craving it’s warmth. After a long moment, Gavin’s hand drifted to my chin, pulling it to bring my head to face him.

“You don’t have to worry anymore.” He nearly whispered, “I will always be by your side.” The air around us grew heavy with anticipation as I watched Gavin’s face inch closer to mine, his hand pulling at my chin to match his movements. I could feel his hot breath against my face as our noses nearly touched…

A loud bag came from the door, making Gavin and I fly apart. “Gavin!” A young male voice called from the other side of the room, “I’m back! And I brought you some quality food!” As his footsteps neared us, I jumped from the stool and away from Gavin. I saw Gavin's hand slightly hesitate to grab me but he stopped with a sigh. 

“What the hell, Minor?” Gavin said through gritted teeth. A young man with strawberry blonde hair appeared from around the curtain. He was tall, slim, and muscley challenged. He wore a coker, a purple shirt, black jeans, and a casual light gray blazer which brought out the glimmer in his brown eyes as he looked around the room expectantly. In his hands were a couple of bags of take out food and a drink holder with two portable drinks inside. 

We made eye contact. “Oh!” he exclaimed sheepishly, “I didn’t know you had company.”

“A knock would have been nice.” Gavin said harshly, causing the young man to cower slightly.

“Sorry, bro.” the young man muttered. He set down the take out bags on Gavin’s bed side and held out his hand to me, “My name is Minor. Nice to meet you, Miss...?”

“Bikira.” I said, taking his hand in mine and shaking it firmly. All the while trying to shove away what awkward feelings I had left. “Ikamara Bikira. You can call me Ike.” Minor smiled but that was slowly replaced by a look of confusion. 

“Wait.” he said slowly, coming closer to me and inspecting my face, “Ikamara?”

“...Yes?” I answered just as slowly, eyeing him suspiciously. Minor snapped his fingers and withdrew himself from me.

“I knew you looked familiar!” Minor smiled widely, “You used to go to Loveland High!”

“Am I the only one who remembers no one from that school?” I huffed and turned to look at Gavin. He shrugged. 

“Of course I remember you! Gavin used to… uh.” Minor’s eyes were locked on Gavin’s as he glared intensively at him, “Used to… share a class with you!”

“Gavin and I were two years apar-”

 “But hold on, the Ikamara I knew wore clothes twice the size of her. That suit looks almost too expensive to be yours… unless-”

“I didn’t steal it.” I derailed Minor’s train of thought before it took off, “This is just what happens when you grow up.”

“But-”

“Would you quit interrogating her.” Gavin punched Minor’s arm, “She has her life together. Unlike some people…”

“Hey, I’m trying!” Minor pouted as he rubbed his arm, “Searching for a new job is harder than you think.”

“You’re... looking for a new job?” I asked, getting an idea.

“Yeah. To no avail.” Minor sighed.

“Well, today may be your lucky day.” I folded my arms as my professional side kicked in. “I may have a position for you at my company”

“You have a company?!” Minor’s words received another punch from Gavin.

“Yes.” I said, ignoring the scene that was being made, “The Ike ‘n Bar Production Company. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?”

Minor’s jaw dropped. So did the drinks in his hands. Gavin caught them swiftly, causing only a couple drops from the contents from within to escape and hit the bed. “No way.” Minor gasped, completely unaware of his surroundings, “You’re the Ike in Ike ‘n Bar Productions?!”

“Yes.”

“No way!” Minor repeated, his tone becoming high pitched and squirrly, “I have been a fan of yours since your first episode of ‘Show Me the Honey.’ I even stuck around after the cliffhanger in season three! I don’t care what the forums say, that episode was brilliantly done.” 

“Thanks.” I muttered, beginning to regret bringing up the open position.

“What kind of job would I be applying for?! Props carrier? Script writer? Make up-”

“Personal assistant.” I stopped Minor before he could get his hopes up too high, “More specifically my personal assistant. I work in the office and could use some help with getting the small tasks done. It will be boring but-”

“I’ll take it!” Minor cut me off, still holding his large grin from the beginning of the conversation, “Anything I can do to help make the work of Ike from Ike ‘n Bar Productions easier, I’ll do it!”

“Then the job is yours.” I held out my hand again, “You can start tomorrow. Welcome to the team.” Minor eagerly shook my hand. He looked over at Gavin expectantly, face shining like the sun.

“You’re just lucky Ike was here.” Gavin rolled his eyes and looked back at his soup. Minor cherrily looked back at me.

“You won’t regret this.”

“I’d better not.” I said retrieving my arm to fold it again, “I fired a man last week for being neglectant in his work. Don’t go thinking being friends with Gavin will make me treat you any differently.” Minor gulped and nodded, still maintaining a somewhat confident smile. I looked down at the food Minor had brought. There were only two bags of food. As well as two drinks. I took this as a sign.

“Well,” I said, patting Minor on the back to move past him, “I should get going.”

“You’re leaving so soon?” Gavin asked, sounding slightly disappointed.

“I’ve got work I need to get back to. Besides,” I looked back, giving Gavin a teasing look, “You two have a lunch date and I would hate to be a third whee-”

“Stay!” Minor happily shouted, quickly grabbing my arm, “I can help make up for the lost work tomorrow! Besides, I’m not hungry! You can have my burger!”

“No, she can have mine.” Gavin said, shaking the bowl of soup in the air, “I owe her a meal.”

“You owe me nothing.” I said defiantly, “That meal was promised.”

“I can also get more!” Minor chimed, pushing me back to the stool, “Anything for my new boss! And a friend of Gavin’s, of course!” Minor’s words took me aback. I looked to Gavin to see if he was going to correct him. Gavin was already looking at me, smiling softly. He handed me one of the drinks.

“Friend?” I asked Gavin softly.

“Yeah.” He answered wearily, “... Is there something else that would better describe this?” I paused.

“I’d prefer ‘partner.’” I joked, taking the cup from his hand.

“Same thing.” Gavin insisted, his smile becoming wider. I rolled my eyes and felt the corners of my mouth rise. Gavin gasped. “So you can smile! I thought that was just a legend!” He teased. My smile fell and I playfully karate chopped the top of his head. “Hey, don’t get angry at me because you dropped your guard.” He chuckled as he gave me a soft punch on the shoulder.

“You’re one to talk.” I smirked as I took a sip of the drink in my hand. Gavin dropped his smile, his ears slowly reddening.

“...I feel like I’m missing something.” Minor spoke up, causing both of our attention to go back to him. Gavin grabbed a pillow from behind him and threw it at Minor’s face. He started yelling at Minor for interrupting our conversation, but I didn’t catch a word of it. The only thing that was going through my head was one word. 

Friend. 

Gavin was my friend.

Epilogue:

Ares trudged down the empty hallway and to the conference room, face blank and stare empty. When he entered, the room of people became silent and watched him at the door. Ares didn’t address them. Instead, he took one of the empty seats silently. He looked around to the room expectantly. The man one end of the table cleared his throat.

“Now that we are all here, we might as well get started. As you know, a man, who declares himself as Montu has targeted Ikamara Bikira. We have information that Montu unleashed an attack on her last week with a bomb in an abandoned warehouse.” Murmurs circled around the table. “As you know Ikamara is essential to our plan. As the Rook to our Queen. Our plan revolves around the Queen’s survival. Without the Rook to protect her, our plans for the advanced evolution of humankind will come to a screeching halt. It is crucial that we keep Ikamara alive. We must find this Montu and put a stop to his plans before he ends up killing our Rook.” As the man spoke, Ares’ attention shifted to the man that sat directly across from him. His eyes were down and his brows were ever so slightly furrowed. “Ares, you have been keeping a close eye on the Queen, correct?”

“That is correct.” Ares’ voice was emotionless and plain as he dragged his attention back to the speaker.

"Is there anything that points to her life being endangered by this 'Montu.'"

"None that I am aware of. The Queen and our Rook have yet to meet so the danger that Montu brings is minimal to none."

“And what of the Rook? Is there anything you can tell us about her life that could help us find Montu?”

“No. Ms. Bikira, though stagnant in emotions, has a close connection to the people in her life. Everyone she associates herself with respects her.” The man in the corner tensed as Ares spoke, “Rest assured, Black Swan’s plans with the Queen will not waver. I  also have plans for the Queen, and her Rook, of my own. I will personally see to it that this ‘Montu’ is taken care of.” The air of the room ran thick as Ares spoke. It was obvious how much power that man really held over everyone there.

When the meeting adjourned, the man across from Ares briskly stood up and left without making conversation with anyone around him. Ares watched as something fell from the man’s back pocket. Instead of stopping the man, Ares walked over to the object and picked it up. It was a slip of black, metallic paper that had calligraphic words written in a bright green ink.

 “Meet me if you want revenge. Hills, Warehouse, Wall.”

Ares turned the paper over in his hand. A flash of emotion brushed his eyes. Etched into the paper, was a shining, green scarab.

Chapter Two End :D

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(Chapter Three to be posted soon!)