#the other day a friend said that life threw em a bone and I replied ‘you deserve enough bones to build a skeleton’ and was promptly asked if

[deityofhearts]

I’m gonna start saying “they’re buying pants at the soup store” as an idiom I think

[enchantestuff]

miscommunication - charles leclerc

in which your Pierres little sister and reap the consequences after an eventful night in Monaco with his best friend

I think I'm going to make this into a series, like 3 more parts maybe??

part two

GIF NOT MINE!!!

warnings: smut, my failed attempt at angst (I tried), language, em yeah

3k words (I have no idea how that happened) 

You had known Charles for years, which wasn't particularly surprising considering you were Pierres little sister.

When you were little you envied their friendship, constantly trying to insert yourself in their games and conversations. You had lost count of the amount of times they slammed a door in your face, demanding you to leave them alone. You hadn’t realised how annoying you were being as you followed them around everywhere, even if Pierre had scolded you for it each day.

When you were a teenager, Pierre purposely kept Charles away from you, telling him that if he even looked in your direction he wouldn't hesitate to end their friendship. You, of course, had no idea of the threat not that it mattered as you didn't paid any attention to the infamous duo during those few years, living in your own little world full of clothes , friends and different boys.

Now, however, you were an adult and all you wanted to do was support your brother throughout his career. In recent years you had gone to as many races as you physically could, but of course you had your own job and unfortunately didn’t have the time to attend any race this season.

Pierre was disappointed, he loved having you there to support him, but he understood that you had your own life and never placed any blame on you. After years of the two of you constantly ignoring each other and bickering, you had finally begun to act like siblings and all he wanted to do was make up for lost time.

You had thankfully gotten three weeks off work - well they weren’t necessarily weeks off as you still had to do your job, but your boss insisted that there was no need for you to trek to the office everyday when you were perfectly capable of doing the work at home on your laptop. The timing couldn't have been better with the triple header just around the corner, it almost seemed like a miracle and you were gonna enjoy every minute of it.

You grinned as you texted your brother.

Any spare tickets to the race :)

He replied almost immediately.

You're kidding, which one?

All of them?

Your texting was cut off by Pierres contact photo appearing on your phone. You answered instantly only to hear Pierre screaming through your speakers, he also slipped in a few delighted curse words before finally letting you talk.

“My boss gave me the next three weeks off so I’m going to go support my favourite brother” you grinned.

“Your only brother” he remarked and you could practically hear him rolling his eyes.

You spent the next few hours catching up and retelling pointless stories. You had gone to sleep with a lazy smile on your face and  woke up the next morning to a text from Pierre, telling you that he had organized your passes for the three weekends as well as the flights, all you had to do was find a hotel. He slipped in the name of the hotel that he was staying at, and to your luck there was still room available. Now all that was left to do was wait.

You grinned giddy as you stepped off the plane and walked toward the baggage collection area, excited to finally get back to watching races in person. You rubbed your eyes in surprise when you spotted your brother waiting for you. “Pierre?” you screamed delightly, running up to him and pushing his body into a bone crushing hug. It felt like you hadn’t seen him in forever even if it was only a few months.

“Bonjour,” he laughed as he hugged you back.

“I thought you were busy all day today” you exclaimed once you pulled away from him.

He sheepishly shrugged at you with a lazy grin on his face. “I may have lied, are you ready to go?”

You nodded your head at him and for the first time in a long time your mind drifted towards your brother's best friend, Charles, who you hadn’t spoken to since an eventful night in Monaco a few months ago.

You cursed yourself as you thought back to that very moment.

Charles was having a party at his lovely home, you can't remember now what you were celebrating but everyone was ecstatic. You could hear the music from across the street and you knew before you even entered the house that it was going to be a night to remember.

The moment you stepped foot inside you were surrounded by multiple drunk people, all with large grins and hooded eyes plastered on them and you laughed as almost everyone stumbled around the house.

You spotted your brother in the middle of the room dancing with a pretty blonde, he had a goofy smile on his face and you knew from that sight of him alone that he was wasted. You were the only sober person there, at least that's what you thought until Charles had made his way to you with two cups in his hand, alcohol for you and water for him.

“I thought you were celebrating,” you mused as you took a sip of the dark liquor.

“Someone needs to keep these drunk idiots in check,” he joked.

“Well in that case” you said as you handed your drink to a stranger and took a sip of his water instead. You laughed at the bewildered look he threw your way before continuing, “I'm not going to let you tackle this party alone.” The smile that formed on Charles was genuine and your breath hitched in your throat at the sight.

You surprisingly enjoyed yourself the whole night, maybe that was because you knew everyone there, but most likely it was because you spent the whole night with Charles.

A few hours into the party he turned to you asking to dance, you didn't even hesitate to say yes, nerves surrounded you immediately and they only got worse when his hands dipped dangerously low on your hips. Your eyes automatically searched for Pierre and you left out a sigh of relief when you couldn't find him anywhere.

The thought of getting caught fueled both you and Charles, so when he spun you around to face him neither of you hesitated to connect your lips. You considered yourself lucky that everyone around you was too drunk to notice your heated make out and used it to your advantage. You pulled him even closer to you, moaning in his ear when he grabbed your bum and giggling at the whimper he let out.

You felt dizzy. The fact that you were both sober made your first kiss even more real.

You were anxious when he asked you if you wanted to go somewhere more private but agreed nevertheless, hoping that maybe he had wanted you for as long as you had wanted him.

He had tenderly kissed you again once he closed the door behind him.

“God, you have no idea how long i've waited to do this,” he moaned in your ear and although you knew that was just something people said in the heat of the moment, you let yourself believe it. You let yourself believe every single word that left his lips and got even more attached to the moment.

You revealed a piece of yourself to him that night, not only a physical part, but a part of your heart as you admitted your deepest secrets to him. “Fuck, Charles, I’ve always wanted you,” you moaned when he gently placed you on the bed.

You attached yourself to the kisses he placed all over your body, you paid attention to every bit of affection that he showed you, never once wanting him to stop. When he positioned himself next to you and asked if you were sure you told him there was nothing you've ever been more sure about.

You had both simultaneously moaned when he entered you, laughing at each other afterwards, which made your heart flutter. He was Charles, your brothers best friend and yet sex with him felt so natural.

He placed a tender kiss to your chest before he started moving and you couldn't help but hold him close to you, he didn't seem to mind however as he nested his head in the crook of your neck, letting you hear all the soft gasps and grunts that left his mouth.

You arched your back in pleasure when he reached the deepest parts inside you, your toes curled and your eyes rolled back and all you could think was God why didn't we do this sooner?

“Don't stop, please Charles, don't stop” you moaned in his ear, and if you weren't in a completely different world you would have noticed the shiver than ran down his entire body at your words.

“Trust me, mon amour, i never want to stop”

You weren't even aware of the moans the left your lips until Charles had grabbed your chin and looked at you with desperation written all over his face, “Merde, Y/N, i want more than anything to make this moment last but If you keep making those pretty little sounds you're gonna make me cum”

Your heart skipped a beat at his words “Shut me up then”

And he did, he grunted as he reconnected your lips, swallowing your moans and letting out his own in the process. From the kissing, to Charles’ moans and the rolling of his hips it didn't take you long to release the knot in your stomach.

You regretted it now, thinking back on it, it had completely ruined your friendship with Charles. Your daily silly texts to each other had ceased to exist, your weekly facetime calls had died and a piece of you had broken.

You didn’t expect any less, he was your brother's best friend and even though you always found him insanely attractive, you knew deep down he would have found your little crush on him weird. You always had the suspicion that he saw you as a little sister, and the way he completely ignored you after your hookup had proven them to be true.

You couldn't hate him, or even place the blame of your failed friendship on him as you also went out of your way to ignore him, something that you really regretted but couldn’t change.

“You alright?” Pierre asked as he grabbed your suitcase in his hand.

“Yeah sorry i - i don't know what happened to me there,” you choked out, walking alongside Pierre to his car.

“It's free practice tomorrow, you coming?” he asked once you were both sitting comfortably in his car.

“Yeah, of course” you nodded as you watched the tall buildings pass by in the window.

“Everyones misses you, you know?” he quickly glanced over at you while he drove, wondering what the hell you were thinking so hard about.

“Yep” you sighed, “Me too,” but all you could think about was the Ferrari driver and how awkward it would be to see him again

You had shut yourself in your hotel room for the rest of the night, the flight and overly long check in had taken all the remaining energy out of you and all you wanted to do was curl into the hotel bed and sleep for as long as you possibly could. So that's what you did, until Pierre rang your phone, telling you that he was leaving for free practice in half an hour, wondering if you needed lift, which of course you did you had mumbled to him while scrabbling out of the bed and running to your bathroom to take the quickest shower of your life.

You had somehow gotten ready in time and before you knew it you were walking around the paddock with Pierre next to you, basking in the glorious sun.

Pierre whistled in excitement when he spotted Charles walking out of the Ferrari motorhome. The brunette quickly turned at the sound, a smile forming on his face when he spotted Pierre, his eyebrows raising soon after as he finally noticed you next to him. Your heart beat loudly in your chest as he got closer and closer to you.

You stood firmly in your spot, uncertain if a hug would be too big of an action after months of silence between you both, quite frankly you didn’t even want to touch him, the pain that he had caused you cutting too deep. Unfortunately, he beamed at you and grabbed your hips, pulling you into his chest and rocking you both side to side.

“Hi,” you laughed, unwilling to cause a scene in front of your brother, you moved your arms to wrap around his neck.

“It's great to see you” he admitted when he pulled away and you felt your throat close up at his words. “I’ve missed you”

“I missed you too,” you smiled and although it wasn’t a lie, the words felt dirty leaving your lips. You shouldnt have missed him, not when he left you lying alone in his bed after you both had sex.

“God, you're acting like you haven't spoken to each other in months,” Pierre laughed, and you and Charles shared an awkward look with each other. The silence that followed was unbearable.

You cleared your throat as you looked around the paddock. “I'm going to get some water” you quickly spilled out and abruptly turned in the other direction, ignoring the confused look that Pierre shot in your direction. You had only taken a few steps when Charles grabbed your arm and pulled you behind a random building.

“Shh it's me” he flinched as you pushed yourself away from him, “it's me” he repeated looking at the bewildered expression on your face.

“You couldn’t have just talked to me like a normal human being?” you argued, “Did you really have to drag me behind a building?”

“I couldn't talk about you know what around you know who” he threw back and you rolled your eyes at him.

“Oh! You dont want to talk about us having sex infronf of Pierre” you snapped and he covered your mouth with his hand. You bit his hand and he gasped in response.

“You bit me!” he half shouted.

“You didn’t seem to mind last time” you commented , relishing in how flustered Charles had gotten.

“We need to talk about that” he choked out, looking absolutely anywhere except your eyes.

“Oh so now you want to talk about it?” you asked with an accusing tone to your voice, surpringing not only Charles but also yourself.

“I know it was a dick move, I just” he sighed “I didn’t know how to bring it up”

“How about maybe not leaving straight away? How about sending me a text explaining how you felt instead of leaving me in the dark for months? If you thought it was a mistake you could have just-”

“I didn't think it was a mistake”

You couldn't help the effect those words had on your heart, but suddenly you were even more furious, he was unintentionally playing with your heart and you didn't know how much more of it you could take.

“Then why didn't you tell me!”

You were frustrated and he wasn’t helping one bit. He had left it too late, the damage was done, you had spent months regretting your decision to climb into bed with him and a few words lazily strung together to form a sentence wasn't going to erase the emotional damage he caused you. It didn't matter anymore whether it was intentional or not

“I didn't want to ruin our friendship”

“That is the dumbest excuse I've ever heard!”

You could feel tears pricking your eyes and all you wanted to do was sob your heart out, but you refused to cry in front of him, you didn't want him to know the effect he had on you. “Look your late and i - i need to breathe”

You didn't give him a chance to reply as you ran away, unable to face the boy who broke your heart: the boy who had given you everything you could possibly want, only to snatch it out of your grasp.

You cursed yourself for getting attached to that moment because now, every time you closed your eyes, all you see was him panting on top of you and all you could feel was his lips on your skin. It was a memory that used to delight you but now all it brought was sadness and pain.

You knew your attachment issues would bring you pain one day, but only now as you crouched down next to some random building, did you realise it would be physical pain. You clawed at your neck in desperation. You couldn't breathe. Your tears were practically suffocating you and you couldn't help but think Charles' hands ripping your heart from your chest was the cause.

Unknowingly to you, Charles watched your retreating figure with tears forming behind his eyes. It had finally hit him how much he fucked things up. He thought he was doing the right thing, he thought maybe you needed space, maybe you would have regretted it.

He wore his heart on his sleeve that day, everything that he told you was true, he was just so scared. So scared that he would be left heartbroken, that his feelings were unrequited, that maybe, just maybe, you would be disgusted with yourself for what you two did.

He left early the next morning to hype himself up, to finally tell you about his feelings for you that had been bubbling around in his stomach for years, but when he returned to his bedroom you were gone.

He didn't realise how much waking up to an empty bed would affect you, just as much as you didnt realise how much leaving would affect him.

He was never good at communication, but it was so easy with you, so why didn't he pick up the phone? He had no excuse except that he was scared.

It was his fear that hurt him the most. It was his fear that broke your heart and that had hurt him so much more than he thought was possible.

[mournthewicked]

Electic Moves--Montgomery Scott x Reader (ToS/AoS compatible)

This is the LONGEST insert I have ever written holy MOLEY. Here it is at a whopping 5,423 words. I mostly wrote this with ToS!Scotty in mind but I think it also works for both ToS and AoS! I’ll also pop this up on Ao3. Fic is based off my favorite band The Orion Experience and their song Electric Moves

Warnings: Kissing

Electric Moves

“Alright that’s the last of the wires!” you yelled to your superior wiping your safety glasses clean of debris.

“Alrigh’ let me take a look at ‘em,” Montgomery Scott said, crouching next to you. He examined the junctions of the circuit boards and nodded in approval. “Not bad…not bad at all Lieutenant. No bubbles… joints are solid. This soldering is better than some of my own. Must be those steady medical hands.” He winked at you and you put your safety glasses back on to conceal a blush.

“Thank you Mr. Scott,” you replied.

“Lass, I’ve told you already just call me Scotty. Don’t make me order you now,” he joked.

“Sorry. Thank you Scotty,” you put your tools back in the small box and hand it back to the older man. His hand brushed over yours as he takes it from you making your breath hitch.

“No thank you for lending us a hand down here. Doctor McCoy said you were a fast learner but neglected to tell me you were a near genius with mechanics. I ought to have a word with him, keeping a talented lass like you all to him—_______, you alrigh’?”

Scotty must have noticed your face morphing into a deep red from underneath your goggles. You run the back of your hand across your forehead, hoping he’d buy the redness from the heat down in the engineering room.

“Yeah I’m…I’m fine just warm. Goodness how do you live like this down here all the time? It’s hotter than Vulcan!” You exclaimed, earning a chuckle from Scotty.

“Well I s’pose we just get used to it eventually, ain’t that right Kern?” A man slightly younger than Scotty nods in agreement, through you’re pretty sure he didn’t hear what Scotty asked. “Well I think we’re all done down here. Thank you again. It was an absolute pleasure having you down here. I hope we’ll see each other soon.”

He held his hand out to you and you took his surprisingly gentle hand in your own. “Any time, Scotty. It was an honor working on her.”

“Her?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

“It! Her—uh the Enterprise!” You ran your hands over your face. Surely your blush was obvious by now.

Scotty belted out a hearty laugh. “Lass, I thought I was the only one who referred to the ship as a lady, other than the Captain of course.”

“Well—yeah it’s like in those old stories about sea mariners and pirates and even in early space exploration. Their ships were always referred to as female so I just kind of let it slip into my vocabulary. Besides,” you gestured to the warp core. “The Enterprise is like a human being. She has a heart, a circulatory system, a brain…All sorts of anatomy. It’s just made of metal.”

Scotty looked at you full of admiration. “Lieutenant _______ I believe you and I are going to get along quite well.”

You turned to him and smiled. “I sure hope so Scotty.”

The next few days you doubled back and forth as both Assistant Medical Officer and engineer. Though most of your time was spent in med bay assisting Doctor McCoy with patients and testing, you also assisted Scotty with warp core diagnostics and repairing small details on the lower decks. You grew fond of the crew down below becoming friends with Ensigns Kern and Russell but your admiration mostly resided with Scotty. If fact, your admiration was becoming even more: each time you passed him your heart would speed up and you could feel yourself going red. Your stomach flipped and your knees weakened and if your eyes met his, oh stars your words would catch in your throat and you could barely keep yourself from stammering. Eventually, though your heart still raced when he got too close, you managed to get used to his sweet conversations about the starship and his daily life.

Two weeks after the two of you met Captain Kirk announced there would be a week-long shore leave after a recent encounter with Harry Mudd left the Enterprise in disarray and in need of refueling.

“Can’t believe we nearly lost the ship in a bet. Mudd would have had us floating through the galaxy if you hadn’t gotten that gauge recalibrated Mr. Scott,” Bones said as he stepped off the landing pad and onto the Federation sanctioned planet.

“Aye, but I can’t take all the credit Doctor. In fact it was your assistant who wrote the equation. She’s the real star of the show,” Scotty said clapping a hand on your shoulder.

“Well Lieutenant, seems like we owe you a drink or two,” Bones said.

“That’s very kind of you but I plan on curling up with a good book and working on some small projects I’ve been meaning to get done during leave,” you replied.

“Ach lass you have to take a bit of a break. You’ve been working plenty,” Scotty said.

“Thank you Scotty but I’m going to sit this one out.”

“I understand,” he replied. You didn’t catch the sadness in his eyes as you turned to head to your hotel room. “It won’t be the same without you!” He called after you.

You turned around and threw him a dazzling smile. “Enjoy your evening gentlemen!” You responded with a mock bow and disappeared into the crowd.

As soon as you were out of sight Bones turned to Scotty. “You really have it bad for her, don’t you?”

Scotty scoffed at the doctor. “I haven’t the slightest idea what you mean!”

Bones rolled his eyes and retorted, “Oh please. ‘It won’t be the same without you’?”

“Well I simply meant we would miss her.”

“You’ve been looking at her like a lovesick teenager. It’s sickening,” Bones responded. The two of them began to walk to a small diner, serving refreshments from different parts of the galaxy. “One bourbon and a scotch on me.”

“Doctor you aren’t going to get me drunk and have me spill my secrets.” Scotty said as a Betazonian male placed his drink in front of him.

“You don’t need to spill anything it’s written all over your face. You get all goo goo eyed with her. Nurse Chapel noticed it, Uhura noticed it, hell, even Spock has mentioned how you’ve been talking about her nonstop.”

Scotty sighed and took a sip of his scotch. He ran his hand through his chestnut hair for a moment before saying, “I don’t know what to do McCoy. She’s on my mind constantly. Working, off duty, hell even in my dreams. The first day when she came down to work on the circuitry she was so kind and sweet, a wee shy too, but she’s also smart and creative. The way she figured out the equation to save our ship was incredible!”

“Then what seems to be the trouble, Mr. Scott? You aren’t technically her reporting officer so there aren’t any regulations against it.”

“That’s not the problem I just…I don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable. She’s a quiet woman and she hasn’t made any indication that she wants to pursue anything outside of work. I, well, I don’t even know if she considers me a friend,” saying that out loud broke Scotty’s heart and McCoy could see it on his face.

Bones waved the bartender over and ordered another round for his friend. “Listen Scotty, I’m a doctor not a love expert. But I do know my assistant pretty well and she talks about you a lot. She sings your praises. Hell, she’s been spending more time with you than in her own office. The girl likes you she’s just too shy to make the first move.”

Scotty shook his head in doubt and McCoy sighed. “Come on Scotty. Let’s finish up our drinks and we can talk about this some other time. I know Jim was thinking about going to a little hole in the wall club of some sort and I’m going to need someone to help carry his miserable behind back when he out drinks himself.”

Scotty stared into his glass and said, “Aye.”

 ***

Meanwhile you began to unpack your shore leave bag, distracted by Scotty’s words.

‘It won’t be the same without you.’ What could he mean by that? He’s never been out with me before, heck I’ve never been out with anyone on the starship before. Could it be that he had hoped I would come out?

“This is all so confusing!” You yelled to yourself, throwing down a towel. “Stupid feelings.”

You flopped on your bed and stared at the pastel purple ceiling weighing your options. You could continue to pine after Scotty in secret, watching him as he eventually fell in love with someone else and—no that felt awful. You could tell him how you feel, get rejected, and never be able to work in the same room with him—that felt even worse.

You sat on the edge of your bed and sighed. You needed to do something to keep your mind off Scotty. The clock on the computer on your desk flashed 20:00.

“Computer, what is there to do on this planet during the evenings?” You asked. The computer whirred to life, ticking with calculations.

“Sources for entertainment near your current location. There are six bars within walking distance. Two are karaoke bars, three are exotic stripping clubs, and one is a dance club.”

A dance club? You thought excitedly. It’s been so long since I’ve been dancing. “Who’s performing at the dance club? Anyone good?”

The computer whirred again before stating: “Popular intergalactic band The Orion Experience will be performing live throughout your shore leave.”

“Thank you Computer. That is all,” you said and the computer powered down. You sat on the edge of your bed staring at your luggage in front on you. If I’m going to do this, I’m going all out tonight.

You sprung up in excitement and grabbed your bag. “Screw sadness, screw the rules, I’m about to be Cinderella at the ball.”

An hour and a half later you checked yourself out in the mirror. You purchased two dresses, your choice for this evening was a jeweled emerald green dress that stopped mid-thigh and white boots. You even splurged on some makeup and changed your hair. At a glance you could barely recognize yourself.

Shooting a wink at your reflection you strutted out of your room and out the door not even noticing the three Starfleet officers you passed on the street.

***

“Mr. Scott, Bones is right. You need to just come right out and say it. Quick, like a band aid. It will be over in a minute.” Captain Kirk tried to persuade the Scotsman.

“Thank you, Captain, for the sage advice. And thank you Doctor McCoy for telling the Captain about my personal affairs, I greatly appreciate it,” Scotty replied with a glare to the brunette.

McCoy rolled his eyes. “Well I’m sorry but I wasn’t going to let you look like a depressed Sehlat the whole shore leave.”

“I do not look like a depressed Sehlat!” exclaimed Scotty. Bones and Kirk stared at him intensely and he relented. “Gentlemen, I thank you for support. But I’m an old man—much older than __________. And she should be with someone else her age. As beautiful as she is, finding someone else wouldn’t be a problem.” Scotty’s eyes began misty and he blinked back tears.

Kirk clapped a hand on his friends shoulder. “Now Mr. Scott there will be no tears tonight. The night is young and there is a bar just down the streets with all sort of intergalactic alcohol. Let’s forget about our problems even if it’s just for the night.”

But I don’t want to forget about her. Mr. Scott thought to himself, but he knew voicing his opinion would get drowned out by his two friends. “Aye, where are we going lads?”

“Well,” Kirk began rubbing his hands together. “I thought we would check out that bar I was telling Bones about earlier. I’ve heard that they have these dancers that—“

Kirk was cut off as a woman walked past in a short green dress and white boots. The three men stared after her as she sashayed out the door into the crowd.

“Jim…who was that?” McCoy asked staring after her.

“I’m…not sure. I don’t recall ever seeing her before,” Kirk replied.

“She has to be on the Enterprise though. This hotel was booked for us by Starfleet and no other ships are docked so it’s just us,” Scotty said.

“She couldn’t be a Romulan spy could she?” McCoy asks.

“A Romulan, spy or not, would never—could never—have that strut in their step. Especially in those shoes,” Kirk responded.

“Of all things you could comment on you mention her footwear?” Bones joked.

“Of all the things I could comment on her shoes were the most appropriate. Do you have anything to add Doctor McCoy?”

“Not at all, Jim.”

“Good,” Kirk began to follow the woman but was stopped by Scotty.

“You don’t plan on following her do you?” He asked.

“Scotty, the three of us have no idea who she is and we know our crew better than anyone else. Whoever she is, she’s obviously gotten through our security systems and we need to know how. Besides aren’t you two a little curious to see who she is?”

Scotty sighed for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day and he followed his two friends through the street after the mysterious, and yet oddly familiar, stranger.

The bar pulsed with the beat of the band and you were bumping and grinding your way through the crowd. You felt different, alive, on the dance floor. A cheer went through the crowd as you spun through a dance circle. Each move was filled you with energy, you were electrified by the music and you sang out with the rest of the crowd.

“Somebody told me, you got electric moves. Out on the floor you’re like lightening striking,” you sang off key with everyone as the band went into the final chorus. You turned again as the song began to transition to another but froze mid step as you spotted McCoy, Kirk, and Scotty staring in your direction whispering to themselves. You made eye contact with the chief engineer for a brief second, both confusion and recognition evident in his eyes. He slowly got off his chair and began to walk towards you, startling you out of your trance. You turned your back towards him and ran out the door.

***

The three men sat down at bar scoping the dance floor for the mysterious woman.

“You sure she went into this one Jim?” McCoy asked the blond sipping a drink.

“Positive. Keep your eye out for anything suspicious,” Kirk said surveying the dance floor. “Mr. Scott, have you given any more thought to what Bones and I were saying earlier.”

“Now Captain, I told you I don’t want to pursue anything—“ he was cut off by a cheer and applause on the dance floor.

“There Jim! She’s over there,” McCoy exclaimed. The three men stared in her direction, watching as she danced sensually, hands in the air laughing and stomping her foot to the beat.

“She looks familiar. I just can’t put my finger on it,” Kirk said. McCoy and Scotty nodded fixated on the woman. She did one final turn as the song transitioned into a new one but, as she looked in their direction she froze.

“It can’t be…” Bones mumbled.

“Is that…Lieutenant ___________?” Kirk asked still staring at her.

Scotty watched her intently as they maintained eye contact. It was _________ there was no doubt in his mind. Seeing her with such fire in her soul was intimidating, there was no doubt about that. She radiated confidence and seeing her with such energy made Scotty’s heart swell in infatuation. Clenching his fists, Scotty knew he had to take a chance or he was going to have a heart attack. Taking a deep breathe he stood up, knees weak not from the alcohol but from the nerves. He steadied himself and began to approach her gaining confidence with each step. However about ten steps in the woman who held his soul broke eye contact and ran out the door, leaving the shattered pieces of his heart where she last stood.

***

Morning hit you like a Bat’leth; your mouth was dry and every vibrant color of the wall sent a wave of nausea through your body. The headache you had was unsurmountable and you grabbed the hypo you left on the table and injected it. Moments later your headache was gone and your nausea was slightly more manageable.

You revisited the events of last night grinning s the memories came back to you. You looked at the dress that was discarded on top of your suitcase with a fond grin, eagerly thinking about the second number you had waiting for tonight. However your feelings of excitement were smothered as soon as you remembered who saw at the bar watching you. McCoy. Kirk. Scotty.

“Oh my God,” you cried out to yourself putting your head in your hands as you tried to erase that memory from your mind.

They must have thought I looked ridiculous, you thought. I made such a fool of myself. Tears pricked at your eyes and you tried to will them away. Even though you knew none of them would make fun of you—well McCoy might tease you but you could handle him—you knew it would impact how the other two would look at you. If there was a black hole close enough you would jump right into it.

Your stomach growled and decided to get something to eat to keep your mind off of everything. Throwing on your blue Starfleet uniform you walked across the street into a diner. Beings of different races, genders, and ages sat throughout the establishment and were even peppered with Enterprise officers and crew.

Walking to your table you heard the voice of someone you didn’t want to hear: Captain Kirk.

“Lieutenant _________! Come have a seat with us,” he said.

You sighed and though you could have rejected his proposal you also wanted to have a moment to explain yourself—to explain you didn’t always look so uncoordinated and dramatic.

“Good morning Captain, gentlemen,” you nodded to McCoy and Scotty as you sat beside the latter. He didn’t greet you with the usual smile he always had around you. In fact he didn’t greet you at all.

“We were just discussing this woman that we saw dancing last night. It really was something else,” Kirk said.

Oh God here it comes, you thought to yourself.

“She was fantastic, _________, you should have seen her. She had this control over the floor. It was almost supernatural,” McCoy exclaimed. “At first glance we thought she was you,”

You nearly choked on your water. “You thought she was me?” They didn’t realize it was me?

“We certainly did. Then Scotty said you planned on working on some projects during shore leave,” Kirk replied. “How did they turn out?”

“O-oh. Fine. They weren’t anything too difficult,” you replied, relieved.

“And your reading? How was that?” Scotty asked bitterly.

You were taken aback by the harshness in his voice. “It was…fine I guess. Scotty are you—“

“I’m fine Lieutenant __________,” Scotty said. Kirk and McCoy exchanged looks as Scotty got up from the table. “Lads I have some work that I need to catch up on so I’m going to head back to my room. Have a good day.”

The three of you watched as Scotty left the diner without as much as a goodbye to you. You looked down at your plate of food that was just served suddenly nauseous again.

“What the hell was that all about?” McCoy asked in shock.

“I have no idea,” Kirk replied. “But I intend to find out.” He and McCoy followed the Scot out the door leaving you behind, your food hardly touched as tears welled in your eyes.

***

“Scotty! Hey Scotty!” McCoy pounded on the door to the Chief Engineer’s room. “Open up we know you’re in there.”

“Step aside Bones,” Kirk said, punching an override code. The doors slid open to Scotty’s room revealing the Scot seated at his table a bottle of scotch in hand.

“Hello lads, I wonder what brings you here?” Scotty asked sardonically, taking a hearty swig of his drink.

“You know very well what brings us here Scotty. What the hell is your problem? You’ve been in a crappy mood since we got back to the hotel last night and now you’re taking it out on _________?” McCoy asked, arms crossed over his chest. Kirk watched Scotty, slowly putting pieces of the puzzle together.

“I don’t feel like answering that question, Dr. McCoy. Frankly I don’t want to discuss anything with anyone. I wish to be left alone with my scotch,” Scotty said.

Captain Kirk sat at the table to level himself with Scotty. “Scotty,” he said. “Mr. Scott, look at me.”

Scotty sighed and turned to Captain Kirk. Kirk studied him for a brief moment.

“We were right weren’t we Mr. Scott?” Kirk asked softly and put a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

McCoy looked between the two. “Right about what, Jim?”

“The woman at the bar last night. It was Lieutenant __________, wasn’t it?” Jim asked.

Scotty stared at the Captain for a long time before whispering, “Aye.”

The three men waited in silence, waiting for someone to say something. The room was filled with nothing but the ambience of chatter in the halls and the echo of Scotty’s affirmation.

“She ran from me,” Scotty said mournfully.

Kirk nodded.

“Why? Why would she run?” Scotty asked.

“I can’t answer that for you, Scotty,” Kirk said.

Scotty stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the city below. Midday had approached by then, the sun high up in the cyan sky. “I don’t know what I was thinking going up to her. She was having the time of her life dancing and singing. What would she want with an old fool like me?”

“That’s horseshit,” McCoy said, going over to Scotty.

“Bones…” Kirk warned.

“No, Jim I have to say it. Scotty what you’re saying is pure horseshit and you know it. You’re making assumptions and that’s all you’ve done this whole time. Have you even talked to ________ about your feelings yet? I bet you haven’t and I guarantee you have her feeling like complete crap after the way you ignored her this morning.”

Scotty contemplated everything his friend said, knowing he was right. He hasn’t talked to ________ since they docked and not giving her a chance to explain herself wasn’t fair.

“But why would she run from us. From me?” Scotty asked.

“Hell if I know. Maybe she was embarrassed that we saw her, you know how shy she is. And I’m not saying what she did was excusable, but dammit talk to her. Ask her why she ran away and tell her how you feel. Because if you don’t you’re going to lose any chance to have with her, and that will be a damn shame,” McCoy said.

Scotty nodded his head, understanding that everything McCoy was saying was tough love. “Do…do you have anything to add, Captain?”

Captain Kirk waved his hands innocently. “No…no I do believe Bones covered it all.”

Scotty grabbed some glasses from his cabinet and poured drinks for the three of them. “Well then let’s have a drink shall we? And then…well then I’m going to go make a visit to ________’s quarters.”

***

You wrapped your hair in a towel as you stepped out of the shower and threw on some loungewear. Your hangover was completely gone by now but in its place was a heavy heart. You messed up really bad, running away from him last night and then not explaining yourself this morning. You looked at the dress laid out on your bed and sighed, debating whether or not you still wanted to go out when you heard a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” You called out.

“It’s Scotty. May I come in lass?” He asked.

You nearly tripped over yourself running to the door, pressing the button to open the door to let him in.

“Mr. Scott, good evening,” you said hoping the waver in your voice wasn’t as prominent as you thought.

“Back to calling me Mr. Scott are we?” He asked gruffly as he stepped inside.

You winced at his tone. “Sorry…Scotty—“

“I was joking _________,” he said with a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Oh.” The two of you stood in silence trying to figure out what to say next. Moment’s passed, then you two both began at once.

“Lass, I—“

“I’m sorry.”

The two of you looked at each other at the same time before letting out nervous laughs.

“You’re sorry?” Scotty asked in slight confusion.

You nodded. “Yes I…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run from you. I didn’t…I didn’t want anyone to see me dancing and I was so embarrassed when I saw you…” You were so overwhelmed with everything your lip began to tremble.

“Now, now ________, don’t you start crying,” Scotty said as he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close to his chest. “You have nothing to be sorry for, this is my fault. I jumped to conclusions.”

You allowed yourself to be held by him for a moment, relished breathing in his scent of scotch and oak, and savored the feeling of his one hand stroking your hair while his other hand rubbed circles on your waist.

After a moment you pulled back to look him in his eyes. “Jumped to conclusions?” You asked.

Scotty took a deep breath and took your hands in his. “Yes I…I may have thought you didn’t want to have a dance with me. Thought that you thought the idea would be repulsive.”

Your hand flew to your mouth. He was going to ask me for a dance?  “I thought you were going to tell me that I looked ridiculous,” you confessed.

Scotty’s eyebrows shot up his forehead. “Now why in heavens would I do that?” He exclaimed.

“I mean…I probably did look ridiculous flailing around like I was,” you said.

Scotty laughed. “You looked nothing of the sort. You…you were incredible! You dance beautifully, hell McCoy and Kirk didn’t even recognize you until I told them today. We thought you were a spy.”

“A spy?” You shout in laughter.

“You have to admit you looked a lot different last night.”

You chuckled and nodded. “I certainly did.”

You two stood in silence for another moment. “Why would you think I wouldn’t dance with you?” You asked.

Scotty sighed, “It was a little foolish of me. I’m so much older than you are—“

“Not by that much,” you cut in.

“But still old enough. I thought you were repulsed by the thought of it. I should have known better,” he said.

“Scotty, I would have very much liked to have danced with you had I not run away,” you said placing a hand on his cheek.

He put his hand over yours, rubbing it slightly. “________ I believe we both are foolish.”

You nodded in agreement your eyes captured in his gaze.

“I—also was going to tell you something last night.” Scotty said hesitantly.

You nodded for him to go on.

“Seeing you dancing there—every time I see you as a matter of fact—I get so overwhelmed in your beauty. That day you first came into engineering you were just a ray of sunshine without saying anything. Then you finished those wires and talked to me and I thought I was going to pass out. You talk about the Enterprise like she was your child and I know you can’t see the way your eyes light up when you talk about her but I do and it can make even Klingons blush. You can imagine what it does to my heart.” Scotty paused to take a breath and you could feel your heart racing.

“_________, I know this might be wishful thinking but I need to tell you that I like you. That I am falling head over heels for you. And I don’t intend on making you feel uncomfortable in any way regardless of how you answer my question. If you want to just be friends and never speak of this again I will. If you want me to leave you alone for the rest of our time on the Enterprise together I will. I just want to ask if maybe you would like to go out with me?”

Your breath hitched head absolutely spinning with every word he said.

“Scotty,” you began. “I would like it very much if you would kiss me.”

A chuckle of relief escaped Scotty as he wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you in for a gentle kiss. It was neither long nor short, just enough for the two of you to lose yourselves in each other’s touch of your lips.

You both pulled away, light blushes on your cheeks.

“I would love to go out with you Montgomery Scott,” you told him.

Scotty was so overjoyed that he let out a boisterous laugh and hugged you, lifting you a few inches off the ground.

You laughed, body feeling like it weighed only feathers.

“Would you like to go on a date right now?” You asked boldly. “I was thinking about going to the dance club again.”

“Now how could I pass up dancing with the most beautiful woman in the universe?” Scotty said, pecking your cheek.

You blushed, realizing you would never get used to being showered with complements. “Wait here,” you said. “I’m going to change.”

“You could always change right here.” Scotty joked, laughing as your face turned crimson. “I’m teasing you. Go ahead and get ready.”

You shook your head and grabbed your dress of your bed. “Go ahead and sit down. I’ll be right out.”

Scotty sat down and waited in anticipation. He took in all the details of your hotel room wondering what kind of stuff you kept in your room on the Enterprise. He saw your dress from last night peeking out from your suitcase and he chuckled thinking about the last twenty-four hours. You were his; he was yours even with how ridiculous you both acted.

A few moments later, you poked your head out the door. “Hey Scotty, would you mind zipping me up?” You asked holding the front of your dress up.

Scotty looked at you, mouth open in shock. Your hair and makeup were styled the same way you did yesterday but the dress was different. It was a dark blue glittery dress with three quarter sleeves. The dress was short in the front and long in the back and flared out beautifully. You wore black pumps with it.

“Scotty?” You asked, snapping him out of his trance.

“Sorry lass, you just…you look stunning.” Scotty said as he walked over to you.

You turned and he slowly zipped up your dress his fingers occasionally brushing against your skin, leaving your skin burning where he touched you.

Once zipped, Scotty kissed the nape of your neck making you go weak in your knees. You turned to him and pulled him in for a searing, passionate kiss. His hands pulled you tight, dipping you slightly, and ran them across your back. You ran your hands through his mahogany hair gasping slightly at his desperation. He took that moment to slide his tongue in your mouth increasing the passion of the kiss.

The two of you pulled away after a moment, blushes evident in your faces.

“I do believe you owe me a dance.” Scotty whispered to you.

You smiled and pulled him towards the door. “I certainly do. I believe we have time to finish this later if you want?”

“For you, my love, I have all the time in the world.” Scotty said, squeezing your hand as you led him to the club.

We believe in love, and love saves the day—The Orion Experience

[twoidiotwriters1]

Written In The Stars XXVI (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: Okay so I have a sort of “fancast” for how I imagine Erick to be, and I’ll gladly show you who I see when I write him, BUT you can still imagine him differently if you want, so be ready to see his lovely face one of this days

Words: 2,849

Warnings: Some nasty slugs, uh hints of bad family relationships ig??

Series’ Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Chapter Eight: Ron Eats Slugs.

"You can't miss the defense against the dark arts lessons-"

"You can't tell me what to do."

"You have to respect him! He's a teacher!" Hermione whispered angrily.

Ron sat down in front of them and said Harry was at Quidditch practice.

"Maybe we can still catch him," Ron offered, "once I'm done with breakfast..."

While she waited, she finally decided to open her mother's letter.

She'd been way too nervous the whole week to open it, afraid of what might be inside.

'Mel Dumbledore.

I can't even imagine why would you do such a thing on your very first day. I'm speechless. Mr. Weasley’s car? I don't understand why you thought that was a good idea.

Maybe you were just following Ron and Harry's lead, which I must say, is a little disappointing.'

Mel didn't want to keep reading, but she figured it was better to get it over with.

'-You should never base your actions on what other people expect you to do, Mel. Not even if that person is one of your closest friends. How do you expect to become your own whole witch if you keep following other people's tails?

I'm not angry, I'm sad that you didn't trust your own instinct -let's be honest, I know for sure that whole adventure wasn't your idea- please, next time you're in trouble, take a deep breath and do what's best for you, and not what others would prefer you to do.

Be good. I'll wait for your reply,

Mum.'

"I'm a failure," Mel pouted.

"How come?" Hermione looked up.

"My mum says she's disappointed because I went along with Ron's idea instead if insisting on staying."

"How does she know it wasn't your idea?" Ron frowned.

"She's my mum," Mel replied sternly, "besides, I suppose Dumbledore explained the whole thing to her."

"At least you learned the lesson and you weren't expelled," Hermione shrugged, "but see, this is what I mean, you can't just abandon your studies, Mel. You have a second chance."

"I really think you're wrong," Mel sighed, "but I don't dare to hurt my mum more than I already did..."

The toasts were cold by the time Harry went out to the field, he saw them on the bench and approached with a weary expression.

"Aren't you finished yet?" asked Ron.

"Haven't even started," said Harry, his eyes flicked to the toasts Hermione and Ron were eating, "Wood's been teaching us new moves."

"Take one," Mel said lovingly, offering the toasts, "you can't play with an empty stomach, remember?"

Harry blushed, lightly mumbling a 'thank you', and devouring it.

As he mounted on his broom and flew around with Fred and George, Colin Creevey started to take pictures.

"Look this way, Harry! This way!"

"You know, say what you want about Ginny," Mel mentioned as she watched the younger boy, "but at least she doesn't follow Harry around with a camera..."

"I still don't understand why she's so shy around him," Ron frowned, "it's so weird"

"She likes him," Mel shrugged, "people act oddly around the person they like, right?"

"I wouldn't know," He raised his eyebrows, "never liked anybody"

"Yeah," Mel sighed, her attention back on Harry, "Me neither..."

"Look, it's the Slytherin team," Hermione pointed to the large group of people nearing the field.

"Holy Snitch," Mel leaned over, squinting, "is that- it is! Malfoy- and they- they have new brooms!"

"Who?"

"All of them!"

"This can't be good," Ron stood up, "let's go."

The girls followed their friend down to the field.

"What's happening?" Ron asked Harry. "Why aren't you playing? And what's he doing here?"

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," said Malfoy, "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team. Good, aren't they? But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them."

The Slytherin team laughed.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," said Hermione. "They got in on pure talent."

Mel couldn't have said it better.

"No one asked your opinion, you fiIthy little Mudblood."

"How dare you!" Alicia Spinnet gasped.

Ron pulled out his wand.

"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!"

Mel didn't know what was going on and got even more confused once Ron fell back as if something had hit him.

"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" Hermione kneeled next to him.

Ron was throwing up slugs. One after the other, it was gross.

"That wand..." Mel shook her head, trying to help him stand.

"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, it's nearest," said Harry and help her get Ron on his feet.

"What happened, Harry? What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can't you?" Colin was now on the field, eagerly jumping around them like a puppy.

Ron puked a particularly huge slug.

"Oooh," said Colin, "Can you hold him still, Harry?"

"Get out of the way, Colin!" Harry demanded.

They walked as fast as possible, trying to avoid stepping on the hideous slugs Ron kept throwing up.

"Nearly there, Ron," said Hermione when they were a few meters away from Hagrid's hut, "You'll be all right in a minute - almost there -"

Suddenly, Gilderoy Lockhart emerged from the cabin.

"Quick, behind here," Harry hissed, and they took Ron behind a bush.

"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing!" Lockhart was saying aloud. "If you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't already got one - I'll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, good-bye!"

They waited a few seconds, Ron still having not the greatest time. Hermione knocked on the door. Hagrid appeared quickly, for a second he looked like he was about to yell at them, but it soon changed into a smile.

"Bin wonderin' when you'd come ter see me - come in, come in - thought you mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again -"

Hagrid was not surprised by Ron's issue, he let Harry explained as Ron sat there, shaking uncontrollably.

"Better out than in," he said cheerfully, handing Ron a big bucket, "Get 'em all up, Ron."

"I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop," said Hermione, "That's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand-"

"What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?" Harry asked, scratching Fang's ears.

"Givin' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well," growled Hagrid, "Like I don' know. An' bangin' on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle."

"I think you're being a bit unfair. Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job -" Hermione was quick to correct, but Hagrid interrupted.

"He was the on' man for the job," said Hagrid, "An' I mean the on' one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now. So tell me," said Hagrid, looking at Ron. "Who was he tryin' ter curse?"

"We were on the Quidditch team and the Slytherin team walked up to them, Malfoy is the new seeker, apparently he bought his way in..."

"Malfoy called Hermione something -it must've been really bad, because everyone went wild"

"It was bad," said Ron finally able to speak, "Malfoy called her 'Mudblood,' Hagrid -"

That was all he could say before throwing up another bunch of slugs.

"He didn'!" Hagrid gasped.

"He did," she said, "But I don't know what it means. I could tell it was really rude, of course -"

"It's about the most insulting thing he could think of," gasped Ron, coming back up. "Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who is Muggleborn - you know, non-magic parents. There are some wizards -like Malfoy's family- who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pure-blood." He gave a small burp, and a single slug fell into his outstretched hand. He threw it into the basin and continued, "I mean, the rest of us know it doesn't make any difference at all. Look at Neville Longbottom -he's pure-blood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up."

"An' they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can' do," said Hagrid proudly, making Hermione go a brilliant shade of magenta.

"It's a disgusting thing to call someone," said Ron, wiping his sweaty brow with a shaking hand. "Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's ridiculous. Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles we'd've died out."

He retched and ducked out of sight again.

"Well, I don' blame yeh fer tryin' ter curse him, Ron," said Hagrid loudly over the thuds of more slugs hitting the basin. "Bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired. 'Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marchin' up ter school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least yer not in trouble."

"His father is just as awful and annoying," Mel huffed, "one of this days, I don't know which one of us, but I'm sure we'll end up giving Malfoy the beating of his life"

"It won't be you, of course," Harry said sarcastically, "you hate getting into fights"

"Shut up, Glasses."

"Harry," said Hagrid abruptly, "Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard you've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven't got one?"

Mel snorted, taking a treacle fudge that Hagrid had kindly put on the table for them. Harry looked completely offended.

"I have not been giving out signed photos," he said, "If Lockhart's still spreading that around-"

"I'm on'y jokin'," He laughed, patting Harry so hard on the back he almost hit the table face-first, "I knew yeh hadn't really. I told Lockhart yeh didn' need teh. Yer more famous than him without tryin'."

"Bet he didn't like that," said Harry.

"Don' think he did," Hagrid grinned. "An' then I told him I'd never read one o' his books an' he decided ter go. Treacle fudge, Ron?"

"Can I be your maid of honor, Glasses?" Mel teased as they walked back inside the castle, Hagrid mentioned that he'd found Ginny walking around his house trying to run into Harry, "If you and Ginny want to, of course, I'll be more than happy-"

"Stop," Harry snapped, "I don't tease you about Fred and George, so don't tease me"

"I just think it's so romantic!" She grinned.

"Of course you do, Mellow," He replied.

Mel gasped.

"I told you not to tell him about that stupid nickname!" Mel turned to look at Ron, who had shrunken in his place.

"Sorry! I didn't do it on purpose, we were talking the other day and it slipped!"

"It slipped -don't give me that look, Harry. The fact that you found a better nickname doesn't mean I'll stop calling you Glasses."

"I wasn't counting on it," He smirked.

"There you are," Professor McGonagall walked up to them, "You will do your detentions this evening."

"What're we doing, Professor?" said Ron, nervously suppressing a burp.

"You will be polishing the silver in the trophy room with Mr. Filch," said Professor McGonagall. "And no magic, Weasley - elbow grease."

"Miss Dumbledore will help Hagrid, and Potter will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail," said Professor McGonagall.

"Oh no - Professor, can't I go and do the trophy room, too?" said Harry, "Or help Hagrid?"

"Certainly not," said Professor McGonagall, "Professor Lockhart requested you particularly. Eight o'clock sharp, the three of you."

"Filch'll have me there all night," said Ron as they sat on the Gryffindor table, "No magic! There must be about a hundred cups in that room. I'm no good at Muggle cleaning."

"I'd swap anytime," said Harry, "I've had loads of practice with the Dursleys. Answering Lockhart's fan mail... he'll be a nightmare..."

Both of them looked at Mel with the same frown.

"You got the best deal," Ron complained, "helping Hagrid? He'll probably let you sit and watch"

"No, he'll probably make me work hard," Mel replied, "but I can't say I won't enjoy it, as long as it's not inside the forbidden forest..."

She made her way out of the castle alone after dinner, less upset than expected with her detention, humming absentmindedly to the dim afternoon light.

"Good evening," Said someone behind her.

Mel turned to see Erick, catching up to her.

"Mind if I join you, Miss?"

"I'm heading to detention," Mel informed him.

"I just want to tell you something," He said shortly.

"Well..." She eyed the boy curiously, "go ahead?"

"I didn't know about Malfoy- about him being the new seeker- I didn't know."

"Oh," Mel stopped walking, taken by surprise. "I wasn't expecting you to know."

"Good," He nodded, a soft frown upon his features, "I heard my brother making fun of the Weasley boy, is he alright?"

"He's better," Mel tilted her head, "Why does it bother you?"

"I'm not-" He said, then immediately he corrected, "I am- Not for him if I'm honest- I was worried about you, thinking I knew about Malfoy and decided not to tell you. I always knew my brother is an idiot but it never occurred to me that he'd be stupid enough to sell a position to someone that isn't even that good. We're surely gonna lose the cup again- not that I mind, I've never been a Quidditch fan myself, but you know... the house cup is a high stake to lose"

Mel observed him with a pensive expression, Erick raised a brow.

"What?"

"The Weasleys are such a lovely family... they tease, and most of the time they're arguing, but they love each other," She shrugged, "it's just weird to me that you speak so poorly about your own brother, he's your family, you know... I thought purebloods were loyal to their own kind"

It seemed like she'd touched a sensitive subject. Erick's eyes shifted to an angry glare and he said, very coldly:

"Not everyone can have a pretty family, Miss. Not all purebloods are as likable as the Weasleys."

The girl tried to fix it, but it was too late.

"I didn't mean-"

"Good luck with detention," He turned around.

"You could come and meet Hagrid if you want?" She offered loudly, Erick was already half-way.

"I'll pass," The boy replied, climbing up the stairs and back to the castle.

She was right about Hagrid, he made her work a lot but it was bearable and in the end, he let her go earlier than expected. At eleven she was already seated in the common room, finishing her History of Magic essay and softly stroking Grey's tiny head.

Once she was done, she wrote a letter to her mother, apologizing and promising she'd stay out of trouble for real this time. Then also wrote one for her uncle, he probably knew all the story by now, but Mel figured it was time to write to him anyway.

While looking for more ink, Erick's note fell from one of her books. Her stomach sank at the thought of their chat a few hours prior. Why did she always end up upsetting him? She wondered if being friends with him was actually a good idea.

Harry appeared around midnight.

"Oh," She jumped in her place, remembering she wasn't the only one who had detention, "how was it?"

"I... I'm not sure," He sat down next to her, the girl messily put her things away, "something odd happened while I was with Lockhart..."

"Odd?"

"I heard a voice," Harry shook his head with incertitude, "it sounded like it was in the room with us but when I told Lockhart he said he hadn't heard a thing"

"What kind of things did it say?"

Harry shivered.

"Not happy things for sure"

She nodded, a bit confused by his statement. She figured he was just confused, but believed him. Harry had no reason to be lying about something like that.

"Maybe Malfoy found out where you were and decided to do that, you should ask Ron if he had some strange occurrence like yours once he's back"

Harry looked up.

"He's not here yet?"

"I don't think so, Hagrid let me go earlier and Hermione told me none of you had arrived yet"

His eyes landed on the fireplace, deep in thought.

"I don't feel like it was just a joke..."

"Cheer up," Mel searched for his hand and gave it a little squeeze, "at least our detention it's over!"

"Yeah, yes..." He looked back at her, trying to smile, "I'll go to bed, you should too"

"I will," She nodded and watched as Harry got up and left.

The girl picked up her things. She felt her skin tingle where Harry's hand had touched.

Next Chapter —>

Taglist.

@tiphareth2018 @vampiregirl1797 @siriuslysirius1107 @celestialhayi @mikariell95 @thesuitelifeofafangirl @omiwashere​

[foreverwayward]

“Wayward Hearts” Season 3 Chapter 11: Time is On My Side

Summary: After the Devil’s Gate had been opened that fateful night in the graveyard, the hunters are forced to face a new war. Countless demons now run rampant, hungry for blood and power. It’ll take everything the three have to survive when darkness once again knocks on their door. But, with only a year before Dean’s deal comes due, Sam and Riley will stop at nothing to save him; to save their family.

Masterlist

Word Count: 7415

Content Warning: language and violence

DISCLAIMER: any words or phrases in bold in the story are not my own and are credited to the writers of Supernatural.

**GIFS ARE NOT MY OWN**

In an abandoned cabin, hidden away from the world, the fireplace roared. Its light danced across the walls and was the only illumination in the room, keeping the darkness outside at bay.

Screams of suffering went unheard as a demon cried out in agony. The possessed man was strapped to a chair in the center of a devil’s trap as holy water was thrown into his face. His flesh sizzled and steam seeped from the vessel’s skin and faded into the air.

Sam, Dean, and Riley stood in front of him unmoved. The hunters were going to get answers with the clock running out for Dean. As they had run out of ideas, they interrogated a lower level demon.

“You ready to talk?” Dean shouted into the creature’s burning face.

“I don't fucking know!” It thrashed against its restraints. “I don't know anything!”

With a mocking expression, he turned to his partners. “Oh, you hear that, guys? He doesn't know anything.”

Sam smirked as he replied, “yeah, I heard.”

“I'm telling you the truth!” it cried.

With a wry laugh and condescending smile, Riley took large strides to have herself eye to eye with the demon. “You guys,” she feigned. “He says he’s telling the truth. I guess we owe him an apology.”

“You’re so right, Rye.” Dean grabbed the monster’s face and forced holy water into its mouth before it garbled a deafening cry, “I'm gonna ask you one last time...who holds my fucking contract?!”

The demon went quiet, his head hanging in defeat. When he looked up, his eyes were an evil black as he smiled at the three. “Your mother. Yeah, she, uh--showed it to me right before I bent her over and fucked her ‘til she screamed.”

Riley took a step back as Dean moved into her spot and leaned in. “I want a name. Or else…”

“Or what? You're gonna squirt your holy water in both ends? Please. Brother, that's like a flea bite compared to what's coming to me if I tell you jack. Do what you want, the only thing I'm scared of is the demon holding your ticket.”

With a nod from Dean, Sam began to recite an exorcism. “Exorcizamus te, omnis immundusspiritus, omnis satanicapotestas, omnis incursioinfernalisadversarii…”

“Go ahead, send me back to Hell. 'Cause when you get there, I'll be waiting for you...with a few pals who are dying for a nice little meet and greet with Dean Winchester.” The demon grew a sinister grin on his face and laughed.

“Should I?” Sam asked as he paused the ritual.

Listening intently to whatever might still remain inside the vessel, Riley sighed. “The guy he’s got locked in there didn’t make it. Get this evil son of a bitch out of here.”

“Okay,” Dean agreed. “Sam, send him someplace he can't hurt anyone else.”

“...omnis legio, omnis congregatio et sectadiabolica.” As Sam continued, the unholy shrieks of pain ripped from the demon, echoing into the night and going completely unheard.

------

Sam sat alone in the cabin’s main room as he made several phone calls. He was just like his brother, whenever he had sniffed out a possible case, Sam was like a dog with a bone.

Dirty and sweating, Dean came in as he wiped his brow and huffed in exhaustion.

As the younger brother ended his call, he sat down on a chair close behind him. “Bury the body?”

“Yeah. Looks like these demons ride 'em hard just for kicks these days.” Dean grabbed a beer from their cooler and popped it open. Taking a large swig, he crashed tiredly onto a beat-up couch.

The front door closed and Riley walked in with bags of takeout. She tossed the Impala’s keys over to Dean as she went to a nearby tabletop with their spoils. “Who’s hungry?”

“Oh, I’m fuckin’ starving. Waddya got?” Dean asked. Riley pulled out a wrapped burger from the bags and smirked as he grew excited. “If I haven’t told you yet today, I love you.” 

Riley tossed the warm food to Dean he quickly unwrapped it. He moaned happily as he took a large bite.

Sam chuckled. “Should we leave you and your cheeseburger alone?”

“Hey, I think I could show this burger a good time.” Filling his mouth again, Dean watched Riley as she grabbed her own beer. She had found a large and worn cushion tossed to the side and sat cross-legged as she readied to eat her own meal. “What? You too good to sit next to me now?” he teased.

“Mm-mm,” Riley started with a mouthful. “You just kinda fucking stink right now.”

He paused dramatically. “That hurts my feelings.”

“Well, you’re hurting my nose.” She laughed to herself and took another bite. “So, what’d I miss?”

“Uh…” As Sam leaned back into his chair, his hands tucked into his jacket pockets. “Not much. I was just about to tell Dean I think I found us a case.”

Riley appeared taken aback. “A case? Sam, we’re already on a case.”

“What? Whose?”

“Uh--Dean’s,” she answered incredulously. “We’re down to three weeks, Sam--three weeks.”

“Well, do you have a lead on Richard, or the Colt, or anything that can help us?”

She tensed as she downed more of the cold drink. Riley’s head fell as the bottle sat between her two hands, fiddling with it. “You know I don’t.”

Dean had remained silent as the two talked and he knew Riley was right. Time was not a luxury they had, but Sam wasn’t wrong. With nothing to go on, the hunters were left with countless questions and no answers.

As Dean’s phone rang, he dug into his pocket to pull it out. He looked at the caller ID before flipping it open. “Bobby.” Dean put the call on speaker and held it out for everyone to hear.

“Hey,” their old friend replied. “Think I finally got a lead on Richard.”

“I'm listening.”

“Rufus Turner.”

Sam, Dean, and Riley shrugged at each other not knowing the name. “Who's that? Like a Cleveland steamer?”

“He's a hunter, or he used to be. He’s practically a hermit now--does a little selling on the side. Anyway, I put the word out on Richard months ago. Rufus just called, said a guy got in touch, wanted to buy some things.”

“And he thinks it's Dick?”

“Stuffy British accent went by the name Charles Gardner.”

“He’s used that before. Well, it's kind of a sloppy move, isn't it--getting in contact with one of your old friends?”

“Friend? Haven't laid eyes on him in fifteen damn years. He's not the Christmas card type. I doubt he knows I know him. Canaan, Vermont.”

Riley called out from across the room. “You’re the best, Bobby!”

“One other thing. Take a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue.”

Slightly confused, Dean answered, “okay.” He hung up his phone and turned to the others. 

“Come on. We’re going Dick hunting.” Dean stopped, almost appalled by what he had said. “Pretend I didn’t say that.”

“It’s for the best,” Riley retorted with a look of disgust as she got up to gather her things.

“What?” Sam appeared perplexed and his brow scrunched. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second.”

Dean grabbed his bag and turned down the fire that was still ablaze. “Come on. Get your stuff. The clock's ticking.”

“Look, I think we should check out the lead I have on this other case.”

“You insane?” Dean snarked as he turned back to his brother.

“Dean, there's no way he still has the Colt! That was months ago! He probably sold it the second he got it.”

“Well, then I'll kill the bastard. Win-win.”

As Riley threw their bag over her shoulder, she shrugged carelessly. “All in all, wouldn’t be a wasted trip.”

Sam sighed in exasperation. “Dean…”

“Sam,” his brother barked. “We're going!”

“No!”

“Why the fuck not?”

“Because I may have found a way to save you!”

Dean’s eyes widened and his voice softened as Riley spun to look at Sam as well. “What? What are you talking about?”

“This case? I’m pretty sure it’s from Doc Benton...real-life doctor, lived in New Hampshire in the nineteenth century--brilliant and obsessed with alchemy, especially how to live forever. So, in 1816, Doc abandons his practice and…”

Riley stared back at him, puzzled. “Sam, what the hell are you talking about?”

“...and nobody hears from him for like 20 years, and all of sudden, people start showing up dead--or missing an organ, or a hand, or some other kind of part. The legend is that whatever he did to himself was actually working to keep him alive.”

“Wait, a minute…” Dean started. “Why does this sound familiar?”

“Because you heard about it when we were kids. Dad hunted this guy down and cut out his heart. Apparently, that didn’t quite do it. But, Dean, this--this is what's gonna save you.” There was nothing disingenuous about Sam’s plan. He truly believed that following the case would finally lead them to answers.

Dean’s brow hooked and he shared a look of disbelief. “What? Chasing some Frankenstein?”

“Chasing immortality.” Sam’s words had both of his partners staring back at him, startled at the idea. “Look, Benton can't die. We find out how he did it, we can do it to you. I mean, you have to die before you go to Hell, right? So, if you can never die, then…”

“Sam, stop!” Dean shouted angrily and the room went still. “You’re not helping! You forget that if I try to welch out on this deal, Riley dies. Guess what? Living forever--is welching.”

“Fine! Then, whatever the magic pill is, we’ll take it too!”

Riley could feel Sam’s sincerity and she leaned her face into her hand as she rubbed her temples. “Look, Sam...I know you wanna save Dean just as much as I do. But I think Bobby’s right. If we hunt down the demon that has Dean’s one-way ticket, then maybe we can stop it. I really think it’s gonna be our best shot.”

“Say you find the Colt, then what? None of us even know who holds the contract.”

Raising his voice again as he felt his frustration grow, Dean bit back at him. “Well, I'll shoot the goddamn hellhounds then before they slash me up. Now, you coming or not?””

“I'm staying here,” Sam said quietly, certain of his decision.

“No, you're not. 'Cause I'm not gonna let you wander out alone to find some organ-stealing freak.”

“You're not gonna let me? How are you gonna stop me?” As Sam went on, Dean appeared taken back again. “Look, man, we're trying to do the same thing here.”

“I know, but I'm going. So, if you wanna stay...stay.” Dean shook his head when Sam didn’t answer. He shrugged and took the duffel from Riley before hanging it on his shoulder. 

“Come on,” he told her as they both went for the door. Sam didn’t move but they both hesitated before turning back to him. “Sammy, be careful.”

“You too.” He and Dean stared at each other for a long moment before Dean reached out for the doorknob and walked outside.

Riley’s eyes still sat on her brother lovingly. “I know you wanna save him, Sammy. You do what you think is right.”

As Riley left, closing the door behind her, Sam let out a long and drug out sigh.

------

After driving through the night, the Chevy rolled to a stop in front of an older home on a quiet suburban street. Its colors were tacky with a mix of dark red and light green. Angled tall steps led up to an elevated porch with massive weeds lined around it.

Riley and Dean shut their doors behind them as they headed up the walkway. As they reached the porch, they saw a handwritten sign that read: ‘No solicitors. That means you! No asking for directions. No selling ANYTHING!’

Under her breath, Riley muttered, “well, Rufus just sounds like a breath of fresh air.”

Dean chuckled as he rang the buzzer and banged on the metal security door. The hunters both turned to a sound and looked up to see a camera moving to focus in on them.

“What?” a harsh voice barked over the intercom.

Dean cleared his throat. “Hi, uh--Rufus?”

“Yeah...even if I am, the question is still the same. What?”

“Uh--I'm Dean Winchester. We’re friends of Bobby Singer's.”

“So?”

Riley shrugged as the two shared a look. “Hi, Rufus. I’m, uh--Riley Munroe. Listen, we heard from Bobby that the guy we’re looking for made contact with you. He’s British…”

“And so?”

“So...do you know where he is?”

“Yeah.”

“Awesome. Would you please tell us where we can find him?”

“No.”

“’Course not,” Dean muttered under his breath. “Look, Rufus, man…”

The two doors quickly flung open as an irritated man stood in the doorway. He was roughly Bobby’s age with dark skin, a full mustache, and short hair. 

With the cereal bowl he was still working on in his hand, he studied the couple. “Look, let me point something out to you. You are knocking at my goddamn door, so don't ‘look, man’ me. I'm not your man.”

Realizing he may have stepped in it, Dean apologized with a nervous smile. “I'm sorry, sir.”

“Alright, let me tell you a little story. See, once upon a time, Bobby called me--asked me to call him if I got a whiff of this Richard Lewis. I got a whiff, I called, the end.”

“Okay, yeah, if you could just tell me where he is, I mean, that would be great.”

Rufus stopped as he stared back at the young hunter. “Dean Winchester, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Dean, do I look like I'm here to help you?”

“I'm gonna say...no?”

“Then get the fuck off my property.”

Riley tried to regain the man’s attention as he began to head back inside. “Listen, that’s totally fair. But, uh--” she reached into the bag on Dean’s shoulder and pulled out a tall box with the Johnny Walker label. “We have this scotch, and, uh--we weren’t sure if it was any good.”

As Rufus eyed the bottle of his favorite scotch, he looked back at the couple and smiled with a nod of approval.

------

Inside Rufus’ home, the three sat at his collapsible card table as they each nursed a glass of Johnny Walker. The bottle was already nearly empty as they finished pouring another round.

“Bottoms up,” Dean said gruffly as they all clinked their glasses together with a soft chuckle from Rufus.

“You know, I don't even bother drinking unless it's this stuff. Nectar of the Gods, I'm telling you.”

“Mm…” Riley started as she seethed through her next sip. “I’m enjoying the change. Most of Dean’s whiskey tends to come in the form of a plastic jug.” As she shot him a look, the three hunters laughed. “Alright, so back to business. Richard was here…”

“He wanted to buy a couple of things, which is gonna take me some time to round up.”

Anxious for answers, Dean jumped into the conversation. “Where is he now?”

Rufus watched Dean closely for a moment and Riley could feel his skepticism. “You got three weeks left. Why are you wasting your time chasing after that English asshat in a suit?”

Now suspicious of Rufus, the couple shared a glance. “How do you know about that?”

“Because I know things.” The older man leaned in intensely. “I know a lot of things about a lot of people. And I know ain't no goddamn peashooter gonna save you.”

Riley and Dean grew more anxious as they continued to drink, desperate to calm their nerves. “What makes you so sure?” Dean questioned coolly.

“‘Cause that's the job, kid. Even if you manage to scrape out of this one, there's just gonna be something else down the road. Folks like us...there ain't no happy ending. We all got it coming.”

“Well, ain't you a bucket of sunshine?”

The room went quiet and Riley couldn’t contain the hold her abilities had on her. Her constant state of anxiety had made it nearly impossible to control her gifts and the thoughts of others had her feeling like she was drowning.

Knowing she needed a minute to calm down, Riley tossed back the last of her drink. “Rufus, you mind if I, uh--use your bathroom?”

Without a word, he motioned toward the hallway as if telling her to find her own way. Riley nodded gratefully and walked away trying to contain her urge to cry.

Rufus and Dean refocused on each other and the older hunter shook his head softly. “It was a mistake getting so close to someone the way you are with her.”

Dean thought to himself as the corner of his lip barely curled up in a gentle smile. “Nothing with Riley has been a mistake, that much I can tell you.”

“Even selling your soul for her?”

“...I’d have given more to get her back if I had to.”

With a scoff and chortle of disbelief, Rufus poured more scotch into his glass. “Love has got you by the balls, boy. It’s gonna end up costing you everything.”

“Well,” Dean replied as he swirled the liquid in his hand. “Some things are worth everything.”

“It’ll never work out with her. I'm what you've got to look forward to if you survive.” Rufus smirked as he raised his glass to Dean once more. “But you won't.”

Riley’s back leaned into the wall as she listened in. Her eyes were shut and a tear freed itself to run down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away and straightened herself up before walking back in to join the others. 

As she sat down, Riley ran a hand through her hair and exhaled a hard breath. “So, Richard…”

Clearly quite drunk, Rufus began to slur his words; his eyes looked heavy and tired. “Hotel Canaan. Room 39. But watch your back.”

“I’m not worried about it. We can handle Richard.”

“Oh, don't be so sure about that. There are things that you don't know about him.”

“And I’m assuming that’s because you ‘know things’.”

With a look of superiority, Rufus took another sip. “Yep.” Riley and Dean waited as the older hunter took his time and drug on. “Lifted his prints, he burnt them off. Probably years ago.”

Dean nodded, not surprised with what Rufus had told them. “Yeah, so you're right where we are.”

“Nope.” Again, he stopped the pace of the conversation and waited before going on. “You do his ear?”

“...Sorry?” Dean asked, wondering if he had heard him correctly.

“You do his ear?”

“Hey, man, I'll try anything once, but I don't know. That sounds uncomfortable. I mean, to be honest, he’s not really my type either.”

“Ears are as unique to humans as fingerprints.”

“No kidding.”

“Of course, that don't fly in the courts over here, but in England, they're all over it. A friend of a friend...of a friend, faxed me ten pages of confidential files within a day. All I had to send him was one clean shot off the security camera.” Rufus stood from his seat and walked across the room to his cluttered desk. He grabbed a thick folder stuffed with paperwork and handed it to Dean. “The so-called Richard Lewis.”

------

Crickets chirped loudly through the woods as Sam pushed open an old and squeaky door to a lost cabin in the Pennsylvania forest. 

Armed with his flashlight and desperate for answers, the large hunter stepped inside. He closed the door behind him and peered around the main room. Dust filled the air and danced in front of his light. It smelled of dampness and worn wood; curtains torn to shreds still barely clutching to the windows.

Sam walked through the room examining everything that caught his eye. He flipped through pages of antique books he found lying around and crouched to rifle through the small drawers of a desk. When he found nothing, he stood back up only to notice a leather journal with a strange symbol carved into the front. 

Knowing he needed to be in and out as quickly as possible, Sam tucked the book into his jacket and moved on.

A large door sat prominently in the middle of the floor. Sam gripped the metal handle and lifted it open as its rusted hinges screeched. Steep steps disappeared into the darkness below him and they creaked under the hunter’s weight as he slowly descended into the cellar.

Cobwebs hung from anything they could cling to and twinkled in the beam of the flashlight. It then bounced off what appeared to be a work station of sorts. Glass bottles, assorted tools, and other odds and ends for Sam thought to be for dissection lined the wooden countertops. Shelves were stuffed to the brim with medical antiquity jars filled with disgusting fluids and papers strung about the walls.

As Sam worked through the dark room, his light landed on a man’s body lying on an old operating table. He moved closer and reached out a hand to check the stranger’s pulse only to feel the cold touch of the man’s skin. How long he had been dead was unclear, but his body was clearly opened and sewn back together before it was crudely covered in a blood-stained sheet.

The sound of gentle tapping caught Sam’s attention and he turned in its direction. It was coming from behind tattered curtains tucked away in the back. He eased his way closer trying to remain as quiet as possible to get a closer look.

Once inside, he found a woman strapped to another operating table. She was a young and beautiful brunette in a white top and blue jeans. Her arms had been stretched out beside her where pieces of skin had been removed. A collection of maggots crawled across the open wounds as the girl remained unconscious.

As Sam leaned in to place his fingers on the pulse point of her neck, the woman gasped and her eyes sprung open. 

Violently startled by the girl’s immediate awakening, Sam jumped.

The desperate and terrified woman whimpered and cried as she came to, shaking and fighting against her restraints.

“Shh! Shh! Shh!” Sam repeated softly as he tried to comfort her. “It's okay. I'm here to help you. I'm here to help you. I'm gonna help you.” 

With a swift glance around him, the hunter found a large sheet and began to wrap the destroyed flesh on her arms. She sobbed as his touch reminded her of the blinding pain. 

“I'm sorry. I'm sorry.” He continued to shush her as he gingerly tended to her wounds.

The sound of a creaking door opening echoed through the house and the woman’s heart began to race out of control. She tried with all she had to stay silent only for her fear took over as she mewled soft but high pitched squeals.

With no other option, Sam covered the girl’s mouth. 

As they looked up, a shadow blocked the light out as shoes stomped across the wooden boards. Dust fell at their movement and fluttered down onto them. Sam kept his hand in place to silence the weeping woman while his free hand moved swiftly to free her.

A small window of the cellar caught Sam’s eye and he carried the wounded woman to the wall before lifting her up and out. He softly grunted as he scrambled up behind her and picked her up into his arms once again. 

Sam rushed through the woods back to his rental car as the trembling girl clung around his neck.

Once at the car, he placed her in the passenger seat as she groaned in pain. Sam ran around to the driver’s set and pulled the door closed behind him in a hurry.

As he turned the ignition, the car sprung to life. But before he could shift into gear, the glass beside him shattered as the cold hand of Doc Benton reached out for him. 

The girl began to scream and backed herself into her side of the car as she shook.

The doctor looked like something out of an old horror movie. His complexion was practically grey with hair that gave the same hue. There were stitches across his face where pieces of skin had been strung together to recreate his face; wrinkles of the dead tissue were prominently indented. The trail of sutures traveled down his neck and underneath his 19th century tattered clothing. His eyes were dead, with one nearly completely white with an expressionless appearance. Doc Benton was a perfect blend of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster.

Benton took hold of Sam’s head and his fingers laced into his hair before slamming him against the wheel multiple times. 

As he fought off the decrepit man, Sam wildly shifted into reverse and slammed on the gas pedal. The car roared backward as the doctor tried to hold on before he was flipped onto the hood of the car. He rolled off and hit the dirt ground with Sam’s headlights fixated on him.

Once he doctor began to pull himself up, Sam stared him down as he met Benton’s dead eyes. He threw the car into drive with his teeth gritted and rammed into the creature. 

The doc was pulled underneath the small SUV and was crushed by the weight of the wheels. His body made an audible crunching sound as the vehicle bumped over him before Sam sped away with the rescued woman down the dirt road.

Unmoved by the events, Doc Benton stood to his feet once again. His neck was snapped, his head hanging at an obscene angle. 

The doctor watched the car disappear into the night as he effortlessly snapped his spine back into place.

------

The hotel door opened to a dark room with the hall light barely able to illuminate inside. Richard stepped in as he closed it behind him and pocketed his keys.

Before he was able to turn around, he was charged at from the darkness and pinned to the wall. There stood a wrathful Dean Winchester with his arm against his throat, his gun pointed at Richard’s face.

“Where's the Colt?” Dean snarled.

Trying to appear calm even as he was threatened, Lewis calmly replied, “Dean. Good to see you, old friend.”

“No extra words.”

“It's long gone, across the world by now.”

“You're lying.” Grabbing the briefcase in Richard’s hand, Dean tossed it onto the bed.

“I'll call the buyer. Speak Farsi?” 

From the shadows, Riley sauntered toward the two with her gun aimed and ready. 

“Riley, so good to see you.” As Lewis’ words were spoken, Dean leaned his weight into his throat, causing him to choke ever so slightly.

“Dean…” When he looked over to her, Riley nodded for him to step away. She walked to Richard still standing at the wall as he rubbed the tender muscles at his neck. Her eyes met his and she grabbed his jacket pulling him close.

Richard chuckled under his breath with a look of excitement. “Ooh, there’s the firecracker I remember…”

Quickly frisking him to check for a weapon, Riley took hold of the gun she had found on his waist and held it up. 

“Don’t fuckin’ flatter yourself.” She reached across him and flicked on the lights as Dean went to search the briefcase. “Don’t...move…” Riley seethed as she backed away to aid her boyfriend, leaving Richard standing against the wall.

“I told you I don't have it.”

“Oh, yeah,” Dean snarked. “I'm definitely gonna take your word for it.” He turned his back and dumped the contents of the case onto the bed coming up empty-handed. 

Riley rifled through the drawers as Richard slid along the wall toward the door. 

As he turned to his partner, Dean scratched his nose signaling for Riley to listen. “This shitbag telling the truth?”

All she could do was shrug before speaking back to him telepathically. “I can’t tell. I can’t get in his head. He’s scared as hell, I can tell you that much.”

“Good. He fuckin’ should be.” 

When Richard tried to inch away, a gunshot was fired and Lewis grunted at the shock of the bullet missing his head by inches, going clear through the door. He froze and looked back at Dean who stood with his gun still aimed. The hunter was serious with his threats and Richard knew it. 

“Don't fuckin’ move.”

Lewis’ breath had quickened and his brow creased with anger. “It's gone. Get on a plane if you must. Track down the buyer--you might catch up to him eventually.” 

While Riley bounced her attention back and forth between Richard and her search for the Colt, she watched as Dean marched toward him aggressively. Once in front of Lewis, Dean pointed his weapon to his rival’s forehead and his face twitched with wrath. 

Twitching a little with nerves, Richard asked, “Are you going to kill me?”

“Oh, yeah,” Dean answered with a coy smile.

“You're not the cold-blooded type.”

“You mean like you? That's true. See, I couldn't imagine killing my parents.”

Flabbergasted, but attempting to regather himself, Richard kept his face deadpanned. “I don't know what you're talking--”

“Yes, you do,” Dean interrupted firmly. “You were, what, 17? Folks died in some shady car accident. Police suspected a slashed brake line, but it was all too crispy to tell. Cut to little Richard--oh, I'm sorry, David...inheriting millions.”

Riley looked Richard in the eyes, seeing how taken back he was. “That’s your real name, isn’t it? David?”

With a sigh of defeat, Richard conceded. “How did you even…”

“Doesn’t really matter, does it?” 

Grabbing Richard’s hand in an attempt to connect and read his thoughts, Riley was suddenly met with flashes of memories. It was like watching a movie in fast-forward. She saw moments in time of Richard’s childhood and the unending bruises, cuts, and broken bones through the years. 

One moment in particular slowed down as a teenage Lewis laid helpless on the floor, crying and shaking after taking a terrible beating. His father’s footsteps retreated out of the room leaving Richard alone in agony.

As Riley released her hold on him, she was thrust back into the present and blinked rapidly trying to regain her composure. Richard glared at her skeptically, unsure of what had just happened. “They hurt you, didn’t they?”

“What?”

“You made a deal to be free of them--to be free of what you’d been put through your entire life.” 

The emotions in Richard shifted and Riley could feel it all. His hard swallow of pain rang through her no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

With a tone Riley had never heard before, Richard’s voice went softer. “You don’t know anything about it. They were lovely people, and I killed them--and I got rich. I can't be bothered to give a damn. Just like I don't care what happens to your Neanderthal boyfriend.”

Again, Dean pushed him roughly against the door with his arm shoved into his throat as the hunter’s jaw clenched. He stared Lewis down for a long and tense minute before growling, “you make me fuckin’ sick.”

“Likewise, Winchester.”

Dean took a step back and held up his gun with a smirk. There was no doubt that Dean wanted the man dead and Richard closed his eyes as he braced for the gunshot.

“Dean…” Riley whispered into his mind. She looked up above the door and his eyes followed hers. A strand of woven herbs was dislodged from the ledge above the door.

Taking a moment to think, Dean stared him down. When nothing happened, Richard opened his eyes and Dean dropped his pistol to his side. 

“You're not worth it.” The Winchester grabbed Lewis’ arm and shoved him off to the side before opening the door and leaving.

Riley stopped and her focus went back to Richard. “I’m sorry about what happened to you.” Her eyes welled and her jaw ticked in anger. “But I’ll never forgive you for what your selfishness is about to cost me. Goodbye, Richard.”

As she too disappeared and shut the door behind her, Lewis lifted his hand that had a scrap of paper that he uncrumpled to look at. It was a motel receipt for ‘The Erie’ that he had pick-pocketed from Dean, showing its address and the number of the room rented.

Reaching into his pocket, Richard took out his phone and quickly began to dial. When someone on the other line answered, he told them, “it worked. They found me. No, Sam wasn't with them. But I know where they are.”

------

Baby roared down the highway through the night as Riley made a call while Dean drove on. She put it on speakerphone as the line rang before Sam picked up.

“Riley, you guys get the Colt?”

“What do you think?” Dean asked, utterly frustrated.

“So, does that mean Richard is, uh…”

“No, no--he deserves to die a dozen times over, but I couldn't do it.” Looking over to Riley, Dean was hit with a wave of realization that while still without the Colt, they had no chance of saving him. 

As his glance went between the road and the woman beside him, Dean nodded as he clenched his lips. “I’m really screwed, guys.”

Riley sighed. “Dean, don’t talk like that.”

“Sam, you were right. Dick was a goose chase. The Colt’s gone, and this time, I’m really fucked.”

As Riley rested her elbow against the door, she put her forehead into her hand trying to control herself until Sam jumped back in. “Maybe not. Look, Dean, I found Benton's cabin.”

“You okay? Was he there?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you kill him?”

“No.”

With a look of uncertainty, Riley asked, “no? Why not?”

“Guys, please just listen for a second. I found his lab book, and it has the formula.”

“You’re talking about his zombie formula?”

Sam sighed in exasperation. “It’s not a zombie formula.”

“Let me guess,” Dean started as he resituated in his seat. “I got to drink blood out of a baby's skull?”

“No, that's the thing. It's not black magic. There's no blood sacrifice or anything. It's just science, Dean. Very, very extremely weird science, but…”

Again the couple shared a glance as a small flicker of hope rushed through them. 

“Wait, wait, wait,” Dean said as he fumbled over his words. “What are--what are you saying? You think…”

“Dean, I think it might be doable. I mean, I know we've hit a shit ton of walls, but I--I think this formula--I think it might be it. This could save you.”

“Okay, so, this formula…”

“Well, I mean, look--we're not in the clear yet. There are still things that I don't get…” Before Sam could finish his sentence, the sound of garbled grunts and a struggle came through the line.

“Sam?” Riley asked with worry.

With fear and panic in his eyes when he didn’t answer, Dean called out, “Sammy!”

------

Strapped to a wooden operating table in Doc Benton’s damp cellar, Sam’s eyes were wide as they were taped to stay open. His heart was racing and his attempts to free himself were useless against the restraints at his forehead, wrists, waist, and feet.

“You can relax. It's all gonna be okay,” Benton told the hunter as he softly tapped his arm. “Ain't nothing gonna happen here that you got to worry about, Sammy. Your chances of coming out of this procedure alive? Very, very high.”

“How do you know my name?”

The doctor held a metal scooping tool to an open flame and ensured that it had been entirely warmed. “Oh, I know. You think I'm some kind of monster, don't you? Well, I got to tell you, I have never done one thing that I did not have to do. This whole eternal-life thing is very high-maintenance. If something goes bad, like my eyes here--” he told Sam as he leaned over to show off his faded dead eyes. Benton’s cold fingers traced Sam’s forehead as he admired the hazel eyes staring back at him. “You got to replace them. And sometimes things get damaged, like when your father cut out my heart. Now, that--that was very inconvenient. So, I'm sure that you can understand all the joy I felt when I read all about myself here in his journal.” Holding up John’s hunter’s journal, the doctor flipped to a specific page and flashed it in front of the trapped Winchester. “Kind of makes this whole thing just feel like some kind of family reunion, don't it? Well, I guess it's about time that we get this thing started.”

Tossing the journal off to the side, Doc Benton brought the scooper close to Sam’s open eyes. He began to position the tool to remove them completely. The hunter trembled and grunted as he still tried to get free.

Three loud shots rang out as Benton was shot from behind. He turned to see Dean with his gun still raised, though he grew nervous seeing that his attack appeared to have done nothing.

“Shoot all you want.” The doctor approached Dean who let loose two more rounds. 

Grabbing him, Benton threw Dean into the wall causing him to crash against assorted items and glass. He groaned at the impact before falling to the ground. As the half-dead man grew close to Dean once more, he leaned down and hovered over him.

A small grunt came from behind him as Riley thrust her blade into the doctor’s back. It went clear through and pierced his heart. He stood erect again and laughed. 

“A knife? What part of immortality do you not understand? Pity about the heart, though. It was a brand-new one.”

“Glad to hear it,” Riley retorted while softly panting. “Guess that means it’s gonna be pumping really strong…” She held up a bottle of chloroform with a mischievous expression as Benton began to wobble. “I mean, now this junk is gonna spread through your entire body. You see, Dean and I picked up your little bottle upstairs. A little dip of the knife and...presto.”

With a look of shock as he began to lose consciousness, the monster collapsed to the floor with a moan.

------

Doc Benton’s cries for release came from the freshly dug hole in the ground. Inside, was a refrigerator strapped shut by heavy metal chains. They clanged against the porcelain as the doctor tried to escape.

“No! No! Don't! Stop it! I can help you! No!”

Riley tossed Benton’s book into the hole to disappear along with the monstrous man. “Should’ve been in the ground a long time ago. Better late than never, I guess.”

“Dean...” Sam said softly as his family turned to face him. “We need that formula. I mean, we're talking hell in three weeks, or needing a new pancreas in like half a century.”

“Yeah, well--you can't exactly get those at a Kwik-E-Mart,” Dean countered.

“It's not perfect, but it buys us more time to think of something better. We just need time, Dean. I mean, please, just--just think about it.”

Staying silent, Riley closed her eyes as Sam’s emotions swelled over her like a tidal wave. She could feel his desperation and undying love for Dean. It didn’t matter what the cost, Sam was ready to pay that price to save his brother. And as much as Riley felt the same, she knew Dean too well; there was no way we would ever agree to an existence like Doctor Benton’s.

“...no. What he is, isn't living. Look, this is simple to me, okay? Black or white; human, not human. See, what the Doc is is a fuckin’ monster. I can't do it. I would rather go to Hell.” With one last look into the deep ditch where Benton continued to plead for his freedom, Dean took hold of a shovel. “Enjoy forever in there, Doc.”

As the three hunters began to fill the hole with the freshly dug soil, the muffled screams continued. 

“Let me out! I can save you! No. Don't!” The Doc wailed as he was slowly planted in the Earth.

------

The Eerie was a cheap motel that barely had enough business to stay afloat. Its neon lights had random letters flickering as their bulbs died.

On the second floor, Richard’s ridiculously priced shoes tapped against the cheap concrete flooring. He picked the lock of the door and opened it with ease.

As he stepped inside, he drew a gun from his coat and quietly entered. He raised his pistol and pointed it toward the two beds in front of him. 

Richard fired three shots through a silencer into the bodies lying under the covers; two in one bed and one in the other.

He moved closer and turned on the bedside lamp. The clock beside the bed showed it was 11:56 PM and he swiftly pulled back the covers. As he did, he revealed a sex doll slowly deflating. When Lewis checked the other bed, two more dolls continued to lose the air that hissed as it seeped out.

Disoriented and clearly in a state of urgency, Richard’s eyes darted across the room. His attention was stolen by the loud ringing that came from the phone on the nightstand. 

Picking it up, he put it to his ear.

“Hiya, Dick,” Dean snarked from the other end of the line. “Here's a fun fact you may not know. I felt your hand in my pocket when you swiped that motel receipt.”

With desperation in his voice, Richard replied, “you don't understand.”

“Oh, I'm pretty sure I understand perfectly. See, Rye and I noticed something interesting in your hotel room--something tucked above the door. An herb, Devil's shoestring? There's only one use for that--holding hellhounds at bay.” 

As Dean went on, Richard sat on the edge of the bed as he began to accept his fate. His eyes grew red as they filled with tears and he swallowed the massive lump in his throat, threatening his air. 

“So, you know what we did? We went back and took another look at your folks' obit. Turns out they died ten years ago...today. You didn't kill them. A demon did your dirty work. You made a deal, didn't you, Dick? And it's come due. Is that why you stole the Colt, huh? Try to wiggle out of your deal--our gun for your soul?”

“...yes.”

Riley could be heard sighing as she interjected. “It wasn’t enough though, was it? Taking the Colt?”

“They changed the deal. They wanted me to kill Sam...and you, Riley.”

“Yeah, I figured as much. But you’d think you’d know by now Richard, demons aren’t exactly trustworthy partners, are they? ...and it’s almost midnight.”

“Riley, I’m out of time and I’m out of options,” Lewis choked out with a broken voice. “I need your help. I know I don’t deserve it.”

“Do you deserve our help? No, you don’t. But the saddest part of all of this? If you would have just told us you needed help, we could have used the Colt and saved you from this mess.”

“I know and saved Dean as well. I know about his deal. The demon that holds it--she holds mine too. She said she holds every deal.”

“Who’s she?”

“Her name's Lilith.”

“Lilith?” Dean scoffed incredulously. “Why should I believe you?”

“You shouldn't, but it's the truth.”

“This can't help you, Dick--not now. Why you telling me this?”

Richard paused as a tear fell down his face. “Because just maybe you can kill the bitch.”

The line went quiet as the hunters were lost in thought. It was Dean that broke the silence. “I'll see you in Hell.”

Dean hung up and Richard was left alone in the motel room as he listened to the deafening dial tone coming from the phone. 

The receiver clicked as he hung up and the old clock flipped as midnight made its deadly appearance. Beads of sweat poured from Lewis’ face as deep howling came from the distance. He stood to look out the window, pale with fear.

Closer vicious growls came from behind him and hot panting breath blew through his hair. Lewis inhaled a sharp breath as his eyes squeezed shut.

His time was up, and the pits of Hell were waiting.

------

S3 Finale Prequel: Just for Tonight

Wayward Hearts Tag List: @waywardmoeyy @00slayer @adoptdontshoppets @arctusluna @salt-n-burn-em-all @nerd-in-a-galaxy-far-away @becs-bunker @squirrelnotsam @fandommaniacx @death-unbecomes-you @themoonandotherslikeit @x-waywardaf-x @flamencodiva @aaspiringhero @gemini0410 @love-nakamura @klinenovakwinchester @cemmia @deans-baby-momma @paintballkid711 @da5haexowin @a-manduhhhhh @winchestergirl82 @spnbaby-67 @sandycub @bunnybaby121115 @erins-culinary-service @lauravic @moonxdance @knights0fkylo @panicatthewestwing @screechingartisancashbailiff @wiredandwayward @the-children-of-the-stars @rosey1981 @mylovelydame21 @titty-teetee @walkingchemicalfire​

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

Alright, relate yours OCs or ship to my fav album songs Taylor Swift: Tim McGraw, Cold As You, Picture To Burn, Should’ve Said No Fearless: White Horse, Tell Me Why, Forever & Always Speak Now: Speak Now, Sparks Fly, Back To December, The Story Of Us, Better Than Revenge Red: Red, Treacherous, WANEGBT, The Last Time, All Too Well, I Almost Do 1989: Style, Wildest Dreams, New Romantics Rep: End Game, IDSB, Getaway Car, DWOHT, KOMH Lover: Cruel Summer, The Man, MA&THP, Cornelia Street, London Boy

Tim McGraw: ooof okay this is totally Fallon Parris Jones and Reggie Mantle?  Actually their second first time (first time after they said ‘I love you’ and were dating not fwb lmao) was entirely based around this song!!

But when you think "Tim McGraw"/I hope you think my favourite song/The one we danced to all night long/The moon like a spotlight on the lake/When you think happiness/I hope you think "that little black dress"/Think of my head on your chest/And my old faded blue jeans

Cold As You: Aaliya Andrews x Graham Frank

You have a way of coming easily to me/And when you take, you take the very best of me/So I start a fight 'cause I need to feel somethin'/And you do what you want 'cause I'm not what you wanted

You put up the walls and paint them all a shade of gray/And I stood there loving you, and wished them all away/And you come away with a great little story/Of a mess of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you

Picture To Burn: ngl also Fallon Parris Jones but Fallon and Sweet Pea!  Which I hate because I hate being mean to my beloved son but that’s just how their relationship went?

So watch me strike a match/On all my wasted time/As far as I'm concerned you're/Just another picture to burn/There's no time for tears/I'm just sitting here/Planning my revenge/There's nothing stopping me/From going out with all of your best friends

or worst enemies as the case may be

Should’ve Said No: Roxie Flores x Noah Puckerman

You should've said no, you should've gone home/You should've thought twice before you let it all go/You should've know that word, bout what you did with her/Would get back to me

I can't resist, before you go, tell me this/Was it worth it/Was she worth this

White Horse: Lucy and Alexander Pierce

Cause I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairytale/I'm gonna find someone someday who might actually treat me well/This is a big world, that was a small town/There in my rear view mirror disappearing now

And also Aaliya Andrews x Graham Frank & Delaney Carlyle x Reggie Mantle/Chuck Clayton

I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale/I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet/Lead her up the stairwell/This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town/I was a dreamer before you went and let me down/Now it's too late for you/And your white horse, to come around

Tell Me Why: Carmen Rivera x Jackson Whittemore

And I need you like a heartbeat/But you know you got a mean streak/Makes me run for cover when you're around/And here's to you and your temper/Yes, I remember what you said last night/And I know that you see what you're doing to me/Tell me why

Forever & Always: Charlie Dugan x Flash Thompson

And I stare at the phone, he still hasn't called/And then you feel so low you cant feel nothing at all/And you flashback to when he said forever and always

Speak Now: Ooof Jennifer Andrews x FP Jones

This is surely not what you thought it would be/I lose myself in a daydream/Where I stand and say/"Don't say yes, run away now/I'll meet you when you're out/Of the church at the back door/Don't wait or say a single vow/You need to hear me out"/And they said, "speak now"

Sparks Fly: Alexis Argent x Lydia Martin x Scott McCall!!

Drop everything now/Meet me in the pouring rain/Kiss me on the sidewalk/Take away the pain/Cause I see, sparks fly, whenever you smile

ALSO Kit Conrad x Hope Mikaelson

The way you move is like a full on rainstorm/And I'm a house of cards/You're the kind of reckless that should send me running/But I kinda know that I won't get far

Back To December: Angela DeSantos x Veronica Lodge

I miss your tan skin, your sweet smile, so good to me, so right/And how you held me in your arms that September night/The first time you ever saw me cry/Maybe this is wishful thinking/Probably mindless dreaming/But if we loved again I swear I'd love you right

The Story Of Us: Juliet Capes x Fangs Fogarty

I used to think one day we'd tell the story of us/How we met and the sparks flew instantly/People would say, "they're the lucky ones"/I used to know my place was a spot next to you/Now I'm searching the room for an empty seat/Cause lately I don't even know what page you're on

Better Than Revenge: Amethyst Andrews, wrt Betty and Cheryl

Betty - 

I'm just another thing for you to roll your eyes at honey/You might have him, but haven't you heard/I'm just another thing for you to roll your eyes at honey/You might have him, but I'll always get the last word

Cheryl -

She looks at life like it's a party and she's on the list/She looks at me like I'm a trend and she's so over it/I think her ever present frown is a little troubling/And, she thinks I'm psycho/Cause I like to rhyme her name with things, but/Sophistication isn't what you wear, or who you know/Or pushing people down to get you where you wanna go/Oh they didn't teach you that in prep school/So it's up to me/But no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity

Red: Ophelia Dane x Ben Hargreeves

Losing him was blue like I'd never known/Missing him was dark grey, all alone/Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you never met/But loving him was red

Treacherous: Ashley Wilson x Percy Jackson

And I just think you should, think you should know/That nothing safe is worth the drive

WANEGBT: Percy Flowers x Brett Talbot

I remember when we broke up, the first time/Saying, "This is it, I've had enough"/Cause like we hadn't seen each other in a month/When you, said you, needed space (what?)

The Last Time: Carmen Rivera x Lydia Martin

This is the last time I'm asking you this/Put my name at the top of your list/This is the last time I'm asking you why/You break my heart in the blink of an eye

All Too Well: Also Fallon x Sweet Pea ouch

And I know it's long gone and/That magic's not here no more/And I might be okay/But I'm not fine at all

I Almost Do: Luna Hale x Isaac Lahey

I bet/You think I either moved on or hate you/Cause each time you reach out there's no reply/I bet/It never ever occurred to you/That I can't say "Hello" to you/And risk another goodbye

Style: ooh Anastasia Andrews x Jughead Jones

You've got that long hair slick back, white t-shirt/And I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt

and also Amethyst Andrews x Sweet Pea

You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye/And I got that red lip, classic thing that you like/And when we go crashing down, we come back every time

Wildest Dreams: Ariel Blossom x Malachai

He's so tall, and handsome as hell/He's so bad but he does it so well/I can see the end as it begins, my one condition is/Say you'll remember me/Standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset babe

and Cathy x Bill x Stan

Say you'll see me again even if it's just in your wildest dreams

New Romantics: Amara Caro & Percy Flowers!!!  

Baby, we're the new romantics/Come on, come along with me/Heart break is the national anthem/We sing it proudly/We are too busy dancing/To get knocked off our feet/Baby, we're the new romantics/The best people in life are free

And Arianne Martin!!

Cause, baby, I could build a castle/Out of all the bricks they threw at me/And every day is like a battle/But every night with us is like a dream

End Game: Amethyst Andrews x Sweet Pea 100%

Reputation precedes me, they told you I'm crazy/I swear I don't love the drama, it loves me/And I can't let you go, your hand print's on my soul/It's like your eyes are liquor, it's like your body is gold/You've been calling my bluff on all my usual tricks/So here's the truth from my red lipsI wanna be your endgame

also Stevie Cooper x Joaquin DeSantos

I got issues and chips on both of my shoulders/Reputation precedes me, in rumors I'm knee deep/The truth is it's easier to ignore it, believe me

IDSB: Arianne Martin 

I can feel the flames on my skin/Crimson red paint on my lips/If a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing/I don't regret it one bit, 'cause he had it coming

and also Katarina Aliano

They're burning all the witches, even if you aren't one/So light me up

and Amethyst Andrew

I never trust a narcissist/But they love me/So I play 'em like a violin/And I make it look oh so easy

This is how the world works/You gotta leave before you get left

Getaway Car: April King x Diego Hargreeves

It was the best of times, the worst of crimes/I struck a match/And blew your mind, but I didn't mean it/And you didn't see it/The ties were black, the lies were white/And shades of grey in candlelight

Percy Flowers x Scott McCall (x Brett Talbot)

I wanted to leave him/I needed a reason

DWOHT: Amethyst Andrews x Sweet Pea

I’m a mess, but I’m the mess that you wanted

My love had been frozen/Deep blue, but you painted me golden/Oh, and you held me close/Oh, how was I to know

Abigayle Whittemore x Allison Argent x Scott McCall

I could’ve spent forever with your hands in my pockets/Picture of your face in an invisible locket/You said there was nothing in the world that could stop it

Adrienne Argent x Liam Dunbar

I'd kiss you as the lights went out/Swaying as the room burned down/I'd hold you as the water rushes in/If I could dance with you again

KOMH: Amethyst Andrews x Sweet Pea

Is this the end of all the endings?/My broken bones are mending/With all these nights we’re spending/Up on the roof with a school girl crush/Drinking beer out of plastic cups/Say you fancy me, not fancy stuff

I made up my mind, I’m better off being alone

Avalon Le Fay x Jay

And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for/King of my heart, body and soul

Camila Nelson x Steve Harrington

Your love is a secret/I’m hoping, dreaming, dying to keep/Change my priorities/The taste of your lips is my idea of luxury

Cruel Summer: Aaliya Andrews x Jason Blossom

And I snuck in through the garden gate/Every night that summer just to seal my fate

and Amethyst Andrews x Sweet Pea

And I scream, “For whatever it’s worth/I love you, ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard?”

The Man: AMETHYST FUCKING ANDREWS YALL

I’d be a fearless leader/I’d be an alpha type

I’m so sick of running as fast as I can/Wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man 

They’d paint me out to be bad/So, it’s okay that I’m mad

MA&THP: Amethyst Andrews x Sweet Pea

It’s you and me, that’s my whole world/They whisper in the hallway, “She’s a bad, bad girl”

No cameras catch my muffled cries/I counted days, I counted miles/To see you there, to see you there/And now the storm is coming

You know I adore you, I’m crazier for you/Than I was at 16, lost in a film scene

Beverly Mantle & Reggie Mantle

We’re so sad, we paint the town blue/Voted most likely to run away with you

My team is losing, battered and bruising/I see the high fives between the bad guys/Leave with my head hung, you are the only one/Who seems to care

American stories burning before me/I’m feeling helpless, the damsels are depressed

Beverly Mantle x Fangs x Sweet Pea (in Inescapable Secrets)

Waving homecoming queens, marching band playing/I’m lost in the lights/American glory faded before me

Now I’m feeling hopeless, ripped up my prom dress/Running through rose thorns, I saw the scoreboard/And ran for my life

No cameras catch my pageant smile/I counted days, I counted miles/To see you there

It’s you and me, that’s my whole world/They whisper in the hallway, “She’s a bad, bad girl”/The whole school is rolling fake dice/You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes

Cornelia Street: Selena McCall x Derek Hale

And I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends/I’d never walk Cornelia Street again/That’s the kind of heartbreak time could never mend/I’d never walk Cornelia Street again

Adrienne Argent x Liam Dunbar

Windows swung right open, autumn air/Jacket 'round my shoulders is yours

London Boy: Alissara Baratheon x Oberyn Martell

But something happened, I heard him laughing/I saw the dimples first and then I heard the accent/They say home is where the heart is/But that’s not where mine lives

Send me a song and I’ll tell you which OC(s) it fits best

[popatochisssp]

Make Your Mark, 9/10

Series: Undertale, Horrortale Relationship(s): HT!Sans/Reader Chapter Warnings: none

AO3 Link

In a world where soulmates exist, monsters and humans have one thing in common: the first time two soulmates touch, a mark randomly appears somewhere–anywhere– on their bodies to represent their match.

It still doesn’t make relationships easier…but maybe it does make them a little more interesting!

You met him online.

It wasn’t under the most favorable circumstances, all things considered—he beat you in a bidding war for a really uniquely shaped hunk of coquina jasper at the very last minute and you spent probably a solid few hours cursing his username in your head no matter how cool it was.

Naturally, you were pretty surprised when he messaged you through the site the next morning.

geode-dude: hey, sorry about the coquina, kinda stole that from under you, didn’t i?

As much as it had galled you, you had to reply…

xXgoblincoreXx: Oh, don’t worry about it, you won fair and square! That’s how these things go, no hard feelings.

geode-dude: mm, still didn’t feel too gneiss of me, no matter how good a shale it was

……Pfft.

xXgoblincoreXx: Haha, not to quarry, dude, I’ll get over it, enjoy your spoils. Just don’t take it for granite, alright?

geode-dude: lol i like your style

geode-dude: think you’d be up for a consolation prize? sure there’s something around here i can part with to send you. might make me feel like less of a jerk for doing you dirty like that

It was…an unusual request to be sure.

The guy was well within his rights to have screwed you bought the stone for himself and he not only apologized, but was actually offering to send you something else? For free?

It occurred to you to be wary, but you had a PO Box for this kind of thing—too many doorstep package thieves who assumed ‘heavy’ meant ‘valuable’ instead of ‘ten bismuth geodes that you never saw and didn’t get a refund for and were definitely not still salty about’—so you didn’t see the harm in seeing where this went.

xXgoblincoreXx: I’m not one to turn down free shinies, if it’ll really make you feel better. You don’t have to, though, no pressure! ;)

geode-dude: think i will anyway, thanks for being so coal about this

You laughed and sent over your PO Box address and then promptly forgot about the whole thing, not quite expecting the guy to follow through. He was probably more after an excuse to try out those sweet rock puns on somebody and you were happy to be the audience.

At least it had put a smile on your face!

You imagine that expression was nothing compared to the awestruck one you wore when you picked up an unexpected package a couple days later and opened it to the most incredible-looking rock you’d ever seen in your life.

xXgoblincoreXx: Dude, did you send this?!

geode-dude: oh you got it, cool

xXgoblincoreXx: Yeah, what is it? I’ve never seen anything like this before!

Even as you frantically typed, the fuchsia crystal sat beside you, innocently illuminating your room with its warm, fluctuating glow.

geode-dude: don’t think it has an official classification, it’s mostly magic, but we call ‘em lantern rocks. they’re everywhere Underground.

Only one kind of person capitalized ‘underground’ that way and had free access to what was down there.

Your punning, rock-loving pal here was a monster.

You were fascinated—there were no monsters where you lived, their population was still small after everything and hardly any had branched out from Ebott, even though it’d been a few years since they surfaced—and you can’t quite restrain the burst of curiosity this revelation sparks.

You…probably embarrassed yourself a little, to be honest… but all of your eager questions about what other magic stones and crystals he had or could tell you about were met with good-natured amusement.

Good-natured amusement and surprisingly detailed, informative answers, the kind that turned out to be better suited to actual phone texting than a limited bidding site’s chat feature.

‘geode-dude,’ or Sans as you eventually found out, had a pretty extensive geological background and seemed happy to answer anything and everything you threw at him. The only real drawback was the unstoppable slew of puns that came with those answers, but… to a person like you, the puns were less of a bug and more of a feature.

In addition to being a funny guy with a varied rock collection, Sans has a horrifically messy room, a self-sustaining tornado of trash in it, and a younger brother named Papyrus.

He’s also a skeleton, which he didn’t exactly tell you, but he sent you an awful lot of puns about bones and once—when you’d insisted he prove he wasn’t catfishing you—a video of Papyrus balancing a seashell on his head, since that was too weirdly specific to fake.

The guy in the video was definitely a skeleton and he definitely had a seashell atop his skull, effortlessly keeping it there even as he proclaimed to the camera, “Well, Sans’ Pen-Pal, I Have No Idea Why You Want This, But I’m So Stunned That Sans Is Actually Making Friends That I’m Not Going To Question It Very Hard—So Behold! My Impeccable Balancing Skills!”

After that, you wholeheartedly agreed with Sans’ assessment of his brother’s coolness levels: clearly off the charts.

For several long, albeit fun months of chatting and memes and pictures of rocks, though, that’s all you really know about your apparently-a-skeleton friend.

He’s never sent a picture or video of himself, and he’s flatly turned down anything resembling a phone call.

It doesn’t bother you too much. Some people are just private that way, and that’s okay!

You figure you’ll see him when you see him, and that’s just fine by you.

-

You get the text early in the morning—which you’ve gathered is approximately the witching hours over in Ebott.

geode-dude: hey

geode-dude: i’m trying to be a little boulder so i’m kinda petrified here but

geode-dude: do you want to come visit for the festival?

The Freedom Festival—held to commemorate the anniversary of monsters’ escape from the Underground and reunification with the surface world.

Being held in Ebott, next weekend.

You don’t have to think about your answer for more than a minute.

xXgoblincoreXx: Sounds rockin’, I’d love to! :D

-

Ebott isn’t quite as far away as you’d thought.

It’s a few hours on a train and then you’re there, wandering around in search of the skeleton you’d been promised to pick you up.

You’re expecting Papyrus, taller than tall and decently loud, presumably very easy to spot in a crowd.

But he’s not the skeleton you see.

His brother is stupidly tall, but even slouching, Sans is a pretty big guy himself. Dressed in a well-worn blue hoodie, some basketball shorts and the cutest pair of hot-dog-shaped slippers you’ve ever seen, the big skeleton leaning up against the wall is hard to miss.

…And so is the massive gaping hole in his skull, black as pitch above the giant red light darting nervously around in his socket.

It’s…

Not that much of a surprise, honestly.

You understand a lot of monsters suffered permanent injuries in the living hell they crawled out of and while grisly, it’s really nothing worse than what your imagination’s cooked up for you over the past few weeks—reasons ranging from the embarrassing to the outright horrific that Sans had been hiding his face from you.

In comparison to that, a bit of jagged bone is nothing to bat an eye at.

You head right on over to say hello.

Sans stiffens a little as you approach and somehow a bead of sweat seems to appear on his skull. He asks your name in a surprisingly soft voice and you nod.

“Yep, in the flesh,” you chirp. “Which I guess makes you Sans the flesh, right?”

It seems to take him a second to process what you said…but then his shoulders start to shake with laughter.

“good one,” he chuckles. “here five seconds an’ you’re already tryin’ to steal my thunder…?”

“Just trying to make a good first impression,” you joke with a shrug. “I have a feeling I’m not gonna get more than a couple over on you, Mister Funnybones.”

Sans is just a pinch slower in person—or maybe his puns just seem to come across a little snappier with a screen between you—but the moment or two you have to wait is more than worth it.

With a screen and miles of distance separating you, you’ve never had the pleasure of watching Sans’ skull go a dusty shade of blue, or hearing a downright bashful laugh escape him.

“eheheheheh, you, uh…ya’ might be surprised…”

You already are.

You came down here to meet a friend and spend some time with him.

You weren’t expecting him to be this cute, or to feel a spark towards something beyond simple friendship already, within mere minutes of talking to the guy.

“…This is going to be an exciting weekend,” you decide with a smile.

Sans grins back. “yeah? ya’ feel it in your bones?”

You laugh and your duffel bag slides down off your shoulder.

Luckily enough, you have pretty quick reflexes…and apparently, so does Sans.

For all you’d have expected a slow reaction, he reaches out lightning-quick and catches your bag before it can hit the ground—at the same time you catch it.

You touch.

Forming soulmarks don’t cause a physical sensation.

They don’t, it’s been studied: no one, not even monsters, the most soul-attuned sentient species on the planet can conclusively feel a soulmate match being made or say where the mark is forming with any degree of accuracy. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong, reacting psychosomatically at best.

And yet, you swear your skin is tingling all over from that one little brush of skin against bone.

Sans is…… you think Sans is your soulm—

You jump a little as suddenly, Sans has your entire hand in his grasp.

“hey,” he says, and through the very nice sensation of the warm, rough bones of his hand wrapping around yours, you notice that his grin is a little tight. “can we…not…?”

You blink at him, not understanding. “N…not?”

“the…the whole…soulmates thing,” he unhelpfully clarifies. “we don’t have to…look, y’know?”

………Ouch?

“Uh… I… I mean, I…guess?” you try. “If that’s…”

Sans looks pretty damn relieved and that’s yet another thing you hadn’t planned for. The ‘spark’ you’d felt must not have been very mutual if your pen-pal didn’t even want to know if you were soulmates, and that was…

Well, ouch.

“cool,” says Sans, “cool, it’s just…you’re… it’s… you’re here the whole weekend, it’d be……… no need to, uh, ruin the trip…right? it’ll… if we are,it’s…it ain’t like it’d be goin’ anywhere.”

………

Wait.

You almost actually, physically facepalm at the dramatic direction of your thoughts as reason finally occurs to you.

It would be insanely awkward to get all excited about a soulmark…and then risk not finding one immediately before having to spend a whole weekend with somebody—especially since Sans and his brother had so graciously offered to host you while you were visiting.

You think you feel equal parts silly and relieved.

“Yeah,” you agree, much more easily this time, “you’re right! We can…check that out later. For now, you just focus on showing your pal a fun Freedom Fest!”

Sans smiles, passing your bag back to you.

“that’s the plan,” he says and as he starts to amble off, you happily follow. “c’mon, let’s get ya’ settled in first.”

-

You last about two hours.

After arriving at the brothers’ house, meeting Papyrus, and enjoying some delicious (homegrown!!!) cucumber sandwiches for lunch, you’re shown to the guest bedroom and then the bathroom.

“This Is More Sans’ Hostly Duty Than Mine, But Quite Frankly,” Papyrus confided in you, “I’m Not Certain Sans Remembers We Have A Shower. But! You Seem Like A Fine, Upstanding Human With Standards And I’m Sure You’d Appreciate Knowing Where To Find It In Case You’d Like To Freshen Up Before The Opening Ceremony And Fireworks Tonight!”

That had sounded perfect to you, so you’d stripped down for a quick shower to rinse all the miscellaneous travel funk off and…

Well, there it had been.

You manage to contain yourself long enough to actually get clean and then you dry off, grabbing your phone to snap a…very carefully cropped photo of your inner thigh.

At first, you figure it’s just for you, because Sans had said…

But the longer you look at it, the less restraint you have and it really, really, really feels like Sans should get to see this.

You could easily go down the hall and knock on his door to show him, but you’ve been texting buddies for months.

It feels like the most natural thing in the world to pull up your chat and send the picture.

xXgoblincoreXx: [IMG-96]

xXgoblincoreXx: I looked, sorry…

And after a moment of thought:

xXgoblincoreXx: No regrets, though. :)

The dark, rough oyster shell on your thigh, just barely cracking open to reveal a pretty little pearl hiding inside…

It just gives you a really good feeling about your relationship with Sans, and you don’t know how to regret that.

You watch your phone, nervously awaiting a text that…never comes.

Because suddenly, from behind you, you hear, “i looked, too.”

You jump, whirling around to find Sans looming over you. You hadn’t even heard him come in and you marvel that such a big skeleton could move so silently, but that quickly falls by the wayside.

Sans is fiddling with the sleeve of his hoodie, blushing again, but at your encouraging, curious smile, he shoves it back and lets you see.

“guessin’…guessin’ it’s a human thing,” he says, “‘cause i got no idea what it means. google ain’t helpin’ either, heheh…”

You don’t imagine it would—without already knowing the name of it or at least its context, it would probably be a little difficult to just stumble across a Rod of Asclepius.

You reach out and gently grab hold of Sans’ ulna, tracing the line of the rod all the way up to the thick cluster of his carpals where the head of the snake had settled.

He must be able to read some of the emotion on your face because after a moment, he tentatively speaks.

“s’it good?” he asks. “ya’ look like… seems like it’s…something good…yeah?”

It is so good.

You actually think you’re genuinely honored to have caused a mark like this because if there’s anybody out there who deserves to heal from everything they’ve been through, it’s a monster.

It’s Sans, your friend.

…But you don’t think you know him well enough yet to be able to say that out loud.

Instead you put a teasing smirk on your face and shrug.

“I’ll tell you later,” you say, letting go of his hand and heading out of the guest room. “Isn’t the fest starting soon? We should probably get going.”

There’s a pause…but then, Sans is hot on your heels.

“c’mon,” he pesters, “you know, just tell me.”

“I don’t recall,” you tell him. “I think you’re gonna have to refresh my memory somehow…”

“…you’re…ya’ want a bribe?”

“Sans!” you gasp. “I’m hurt! We’re friends, aren’t we? I thought you knew me better than that.”

Sans does know you better.

He quickly realizes, “ya’ want bribes.”

You elect not to respond.

“………eheheheheheheh, oh stars…”

You turn and Sans’ red eye-light is glowing brightly with mirth.

He looks like he’s having fun.

He looks happy.

“alright, twist my arm,” he mutters, shoving his sleeve back down. “you’ll get your bribes, but m’pretty sure i already know what it means, now.”

“Do you?”

“yeah—you’re a snake.”

You laugh.

“Oh, don’t get all hissy, I’ll tell you! You just might have to buy me one of those Spider Ciders I’ve heard so much about before I can remember properly.”

“an’ a funnel cake, too, i guess.” In spite of Sans’ put-upon tone, he looks just as amused as you are. “some popcorn. maybe a nice cream or two?”

“Now you’re getting it!”

You shoot Sans a wink and he snickers, shaking his head but hardly protesting your demands.

Depending on how the night goes…you think you might even be able to finagle a smooch onto the list.

The idea of getting to plant a kiss on this skeleton under the fireworks is very, very appealing.

You guess you’ll find out what fate has in store.

POST-SCRIPT

UT!Sans | UT!Papyrus | US!Sans | US!Papyrus | UF!Sans | UF!Papyrus | SF!Sans | SF!Papyrus | HT!Papyrus

[jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets]

Lost in Translation - Ch 9

Title: Lost in Translation

Fandom: Star Trek

Pairing: Mckirk

Rating: Lemon

Tags: minor character death, hurt, little bit of self destruction, stranded, definite smut down the line!

Summary:

    “Attention citizens. This is the crew of the Enterprise asking for your aid. On Stardate 2264.78 a shuttle manned by our captain and fourteen cadets was ambushed by an unknown source and chased out of sight of our ship and into open space. Those cadets as well as our captain, James Tiberius Kirk, are still missing. We are asking anyone with any information on their whereabouts, or regarding the attack, to please contact the Enterprise immediately. Our family would appreciate any assistance you can give.” 

AO3 Link

Masterlist

@medicatemedrmccoy HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT! THE POND SCENE IS HERE!!!!

Chapter 9

    The rest of their trip to Georgia had gone so well. Jim and Len spent every waking moment together, and Gran couldn’t have been happier over the progress she was making with the two of them. If she had it her way they’d be making out behind the barn like a couple of horny teenagers before they left in three days.

    The trip was slowly coming to an end, the boys only having a few days left of their two week vacation before heading back to the hustle and bustle of school life. And at the moment Gran was walking them across the yard and towards the paddocks to introduce Jim to the horses.

    By midday Jim had met mostly all of them and was now straddling the fence to pet a jet black mare who had come over to say hello.

    “I think she likes you, Jimmy.” He smiled as he continued to run his hand down her nose as she nuzzled into him, “She's mine, her name’s Amara. I wish I could ride her again, but my old bones just can’t take it anymore, so unfortunately none of the horses really get a good riding these days.”

    “That’s sad.”

    “That it is, Jimmy my boy. The barn hands ride them occasionally, but those boys are tired after working all day,” she sighed, then perked up with a thought, “You boys have a few days left out here, why don’t you ride em’?”

    Jim turned to her with wide wild eyes and shouted, “Yes!” before jumping off the fence and running into the barn, Gran and Len following behind him.

    When they were inside the barn, Jim nearly dancing through the lane, Gran pointed to two stalls side by side at the end, “That’s Lenny's horse, Titan, powerful thing he is. And that there’s Apollo, I think you'll like him, Jimmy.” Jim walked over to stand beside Gran and leaned into Apollo’s stall, “You boys know where the tack room is, I'm sure Lenny can help you find some boots and a helmet that’ll fit ya, and I’ll send one of the barn hands out before you leave with a picnic for you boys.”

    “You’re the absolute best, Gran!” Jim turned to smack her cheek with a quick kiss before opening the stall door and walking inside to properly meet Apollo.

    While Jim was distracted by the horse for the moment, Len took his chance to saddle up beside Gran and call her out. “Gran, we are supposed to be visiting you, not constantly running off and leaving you alone in the house. And don’t think for a second that I don’t know what you're up to with Jim.”

    Gran threw him a sideways glance and a smirk as she replied sweetly, “Y’all have been in the house with me all mornin’, and look how excited Jimmy is to go for a ride. Take him out for a while and come back in a few hours, and don’t be afraid to use some of that McCoy charm I know you’ve got.”

    Len sighed, looking to Jim then back to his Gran, “Jim and I… we… I don’t know if he-”

    “Nonsense!” She gave his arm a smack, “If that boy didn’t have a lick of feelings for you he wouldn’t have followed you all the way out to Georgia! Now, use that brain in your thick skull and love that boy already. Y’all need to get over yourselves, before I'm dead.”

    “Gran!” Len turned to her with a gasp and wide eyes at the mere thought.

    “Lenny,” she took his hands in hers, “you deserve to be happy, and Jimmy makes you happy. I can see it, hell the whole town could see it at your party. And if there’s any clue as to how much that boy truly loves you it’s this right here.” she reached one hand up to loop a finger into the chain hanging around his neck, “He had this engraved with the very first moment you two met and gave it to you as a present on your birthday, you know why? Because this was the best moment of his life, the very moment he laid eyes on Leonard McCoy. This is no mere gift, my boy, this is very special to Jimmy and it’s special because of you.”

    Len looked down at the necklace hanging around his neck and smiled. “Now,” she gave his hand a pat and turned him towards Jim, “go on and help Jimmy tack up before he explodes from all the excitement.”

    Len laughed as he looked over at Jim in the stall beside Apollo. Shifting from foot to foot, waiting as patiently as he could for them to finish their secret conversation. 

    When Len walked over he took Jim's hand and lead him towards the tack room past Gran as she said, “I’ll send one of the barn hands out with the picnic before y’all leave, and I’ll have dinner ready by the time you get back. You boys have fun now.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

    It took about a half an hour for them to tack the horses and find Jim boots and a helmet that fit, but they were finally about to head out for their ride.

    Len was on the bench in the tack room, finishing up with the zipper on his last boot, and when he stood and turned he was suddenly chest to chest with Jim and a cowboy hat was plopped onto his head. He laughed and lifted the hat with one finger to peer at Jim from under it.

    Jim stood before him, hands behind his back and face scrunched in thought. “You know,” he began in a husky tone, “I never really thought cowboys were sexy… apparently I was dead wrong.” Len gave him a smirk and Jim let out a small moan, causing Len's breath to hitch in his throat.

    Without moving his eyes from Jim's he reached to the side and placed a hat on Jim's head too, leaning in to whisper, “Got that right, I'm currently staring at the sexiest one I know,” returning Jim's moan as he grabbed Len by the shirt and pulled him even closer.

    Jim moved his hands up to snake his arms around Len's neck, “Maybe we shouldn’t go riding, Bones.”

    Len let out a deep chested laugh, “I thought you were excited to ride the horses… what changed your mind?” and at the shiver that ran through Jim's entire body, he was sure he knew the answer.

    Hands suddenly found their way into Len's hair, fingers winding themselves in to pull Len even closer then he already was as Jim practically moaned in his ear, “After seeing you in that hat I think I’d rather save a horse and ride a cowboy.”

    The blush that ran up Len's neck and face was instant with Jim's words. God, how Len had wanted this for so long, but he and Jim had always joked, how was he to know if this was true? Yeah, they had gotten really close during their days here in Georgia, but what if he was reading this all wrong? What if Jim didn’t actually feel this way and it was all for a laugh? The last thing he wanted was to lose his friendship with Jim over a misunderstanding on his part. And as much as he wanted this, he didn’t want to push something that he wasn’t sure Jim wanted.

    With those thoughts invading his mind Len moved his hands from Jim's back and placed them on his hips, pushing back just a bit to separate them, “Alright, come on, before it gets too dark and I have to hear you whine about not being able to ride.”

    Len moved past Jim and walked out towards their waiting horses, and Jim was left standing in the tack room breathless and flushed, wondering what the hell just happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~

    “Left foot in the stirrup and kick off hard.” Jim did as instructed and with a little help from Len managed to land himself somewhat gracefully in the saddle. “Good job!”

    Jim watched as Len rounded his horse beside him and launched himself into the saddle like he belonged there, then he turned to Jim. “Apollo's pretty laid back so he’ll just follow Titan, you won’t have to do much or worry he's gunna take off.”

    Jim just nodded and Len urged his horse forwards, Jim’s following after.

    After an oddly long silence between them, Len turned to speak, “Awfully quite, Jim, that’s not like you. Do I need to break out the medkit?”

    Jim jerked, ripping himself from his thoughts. He had thought that Len wanted the same thing as him, especially after the way they had been with each other since landing in Georgia. He thought that Len was giving him hints and signals, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe Len just thought this was a game between them, a joke among… friends. But he didn’t want it that way, he wanted more. Maybe he wasn’t doing enough, maybe Len thought the same way as him, that Jim was the one who wanted to be just friends. Maybe he had to do more to show Len that certainly was not the case, and he’d be damned if he didn’t do just that!

    He turned to face Len, forcing a smile on his face and replied, “M’fine, Bones, promise.”

     He gave Jim a skeptical look, but decided to drop it for now and focused on their path ahead. After riding through the forest for a while Len finally dismounted then walked around to help Jim get down from Apollo, he tied their horses to a nearby tree. He grabbed the basket of food Gran had prepared them and led Jim a little deeper into the forest.

    As Jim followed behind, batting away some pretty thick brush he shouted ahead, “Where are we going, Bones?”

    “Just a little further,” he called back, before he disappeared from Jim's sight.

    “Bones?!”

    Jim pushed harder and faster trying to catch up to Len, and when he pushed through the brush where Len had disappeared he found himself in a small circular clearing in the trees. Len was already sitting on the spread out blanket and pulling out the containers of food.

    “You sitting or what?” Jim blinked down at Len and then finally joined him, taking no time at all to start digging into the fruit and pastries packed by Gran.

    Len smiled at Jim as he stuffed his face, hoping that this meant he was over whatever had hit him at the beginning of their ride, and followed suit with some strawberries.

    “So,” Jim began around a mouthful, “how did you find this?”

    “With my Ma,” Jim stopped eating and focused his eyes on Len, “we used to ride a lot when I was younger. We would come out here and have picnics all the time together, just the two of us while my Pa was at work. We found this little clearing by accident one day, stumbled onto it while we were playing hide and seek to give the horses a break, and after that we came here almost everyday.”

    “That’s a nice memory, Bones.”

    “It is,” he nodded, “and when she died this sort of became my safe haven. I’d come out here on my own despite Gran yelling at me to stop running off. But it was the only place after her death that I felt really close to her.”

    “I'm sorry,” Jim reached over and placed a hand on Len's knee, “we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

    Len covered Jim's hand with his own looking down, “I just wish they hadn’t died that night, I wish that man hadn’t been drinking and driving and hit my parents car.”

    “I wish that too,” Jim whispered, “but at least you had Gran.”

    “Yeah,” Len smiled finally locking eyes with Jim, “still do. I don’t know what I would do without her.”

    Now that Len was smiling again Jim gave his hand a squeeze and then returned to picking at the food. “She’s a great lady, you're lucky to have her as a Gran. I wish I would have met her sooner.”

    “I should have brought you out here a long time ago,” Len nodded as he popped in another strawberry, “I knew you would love it here, I knew you’d love Gran, and I shouldn’t have stayed away for so long.”

    “Well, I'm glad were here now, and,” Jim raised his watermelon in a toast and Len touched his strawberry to it as Jim continued, “I can’t wait to come back after next semester exams!”

~~~~~~~~~~~

    Two days later and their trip had finally come to an end. It was their last day in Georgia and the two had spent it making sure that Gran had everything she needed before they left early the next morning. They made a trip into town to stock Gran's kitchen, helped her with a few last minute chores around the house, took her out for a nice dinner at the fanciest restaurant in town, and now they were spending their last night of freedom relaxing.

    Jim had popped on an old movie, some sappy romance that Len had tried to talk him out of in place of one about cars, but Jim had insisted and put it on. They were about halfway through the movie, Len was sitting on the couch and Jim was lying on the floor below him using Len's feet as a pillow, when Gran stood up from her chair beside them.

    She gave an over exaggerated yawn before turning to them, “I think I'm going to turn in early tonight boys.”

    Both boys immediately snapped their heads towards her, movie forgotten, “Are you alright, Gran? You don’t normally turn in this early.”

    “I'm fine, Lenny,” she insisted with a wave of her hand, “but you boys are leaving early tomorrow and I want to be up to see you off.”

    Len didn’t look at all convinced so Jim stepped in, “You sure Gran? You know if you need anything you can tell us, right?”

    She smiled and pat the top of Jim's head, “Of course I do. But nothing to worry about, my boys, just a tired old lady. Good night you two.”

    The boys responded in kind and slowly turned their attention back to the movie as Gran made her way towards the stairs. When she reached the bottom step she turned back to them with a smirk on her face the devil would be proud of, and innocently suggested, “You know, it’s a fine night out boys. Why not go out for your last night and enjoy the Georgia night? Stars are out tonight and it’s a full moon.”

    Len's head turned to her so quickly he was sure he had whip lash. She was never sick or even tired, this was all a ploy!

    Before he could say anything Jim sat up from his place at Len's feet, “That actually sounds really nice, Bones, and we don’t get many opportunities like that back at the academy.”

    When he finished, Jim turned slightly and laid his chin on Len's knees as he hugged his legs, giving Len his best puppy dog eyes. And of course it worked, “Where do you wanna go, kid?”

    “I dunno,” Jim laughed as Len bounced his feet jostling Jim around as he did, “you’ve lived here most of your life, you tell me. Where's the best place to go on a nice night under a full moon?”

    Gran saw her chance there and snuck back into the living room to plant one more idea. “Lenny, why not take Jimmy back to the pond?” he looked back to Gran completely shocked. His mouth opened and closed a few times but nothing came out. This had to be her best scheme yet during their visit, she certainly had a way with meddling and there was no doubt in his mind exactly where her thoughts were headed. “It’s a nice quite place to talk, no one else around for miles… you can be as loud as you want.”

    When she finished she sent a wink Len's way and his jaw instantly hit the floor. His sweet little innocent Gran… apparently not.

    Jim was up and moving in an instant, thankfully not catching the silent exchange between Len and Gran and shouting, “That sound great! Let’s go, Bones!”

    And before Len could manage to get words out of his mouth Jim was bouncing up the stairs beside Gran to grab his shoes. In a flash Jim was running back down the stairs, Len's shoes being thrown at him as Jim turned into the kitchen yelling at him to hurry up, before running out the back door. All Len could think as he quickly pulled on his shoes was curse Gran and her meddlesome ways… but hopefully also thank her too.

    It wasn’t long before Len was strolling out the back door and down the porch steps, but Jim was already halfway across the yard. He couldn’t help but laugh as he called out, “Kid, wait for me! You don’t even know where the pond is.”

    “Hurry it up then, old man!” Jim turned back and waved him forwards, “I wanna get there before we have to leave tomorrow.”

    Len just shook his head with a smile on his face and ran to catch up to Jim, swooping down to take his hand and lead him the rest of the way.

    After they crossed the yard, past all the paddocks, and walked for a few minutes through the trees they finally came to the pond. It was beautiful. The small clearing held a shimmering pool of water under the glow of the silver moon directly overhead, surrounded completely by trees and brush, a perfect little hidden paradise. At the sight of it Jim wished they never had to leave.

    Len let Jim's hand go and walked to the edge of the pond. He toed off his shoes and sat at the edge with his legs in the water, and Jim sat beside him doing the same.

    A comfortable silence washed over them as Jim laid his head on Len's shoulder, and they stayed like that for a long time before Jim asked, “How deep is it?”

    “Mid torso,” he sighed, completely comfortable like this, “used to swim here with Gran as a kid.”

    Jim nodded, then stood jostling Len out of his dazed state. When Len turned his head around Jim was stripping down to his boxers.

    “What are you doing?” he quirked a brow.

    Jim shrugged as he tossed his shorts to the side, “It’s a nice night, Bones, lets swim.”

    “No thanks!” he shook his head, turning back to the pond.

    “Oh, come on,” Jim gave him a nudge, “just jump in with me.” Len just shook his head refusing to look back at Jim, “It’s just the two of us out here, and I’ve seen you in your boxers before if that’s what you're worried about. Or are you just chicken… old man.”

    Jim knew he had him and smirked as, sure enough, Len stood and turned to stalk towards Jim. He stood right in front of Jim and looked him dead in the eyes, his gaze so intense that Jim found himself unable to look away. With a smirk, Len ran his finger tips ever so lightly from Jim's hips and up his bare sides, loving the shivers he felt rippling through Jim's body. Jim's head tilted back slightly as he let out a gasp, and Len's hands moved back down to flatten on Jim's hips. He moved one hand around to the small of Jim's back to pull him in closer, flush against his chest, and in one swift move tightened his hold on Jim and jumped sideways into the pond.

    When Jim popped his head out of the water, sputtering and confused with Len laughing in front of him, he couldn’t help but join in. when he finally caught his breath he swam closer to Len and stood before him, almost touching but not quite. Without moving his eyes from Len's he reached down and grabbed the bottom of Len's shirt, pulling it slowly over his head and throwing it on the grass. He then ran his hands down Len's shoulders, then his chest and towards the button of his shorts, making quick work of that and leaning down to pull them off. He tossed them in the same direction as the shirt and the two were now both in only boxers.

    Slowly they closed the gap between them, Jim landing his hands on Len's chest and Len wrapping his arms around Jim's waist and keeping him close. The silver glow of the full moon above them caught on the medallion wrapped around Len's neck and Jim ran a hand down the chain. It definitely hadn’t gone unnoticed by Jim that Len had so far kept his word and had yet to take it off, which Jim could not describe in words how that made him feel, so he did the next best thing. He leaned down, Len's eyes caught on his every move, and placed an open mouthed kiss on the medallion on Len's chest, catching half medallion and half skin between his lips. He felt and heard the moan ripple through Len's chest and smiled as he nosed the spot, then brought his head up to lie on Len's shoulder.

    Jim moved his hands up and around Len's neck to play with his hair between his fingers as Len gently swayed them back and forth. “You know, I’ve never brought anyone to the pond before, you’re the only one.” Jim smiled into his shoulder, blushing profusely. “And thanks for coming with me, Jim, it means a lot to me that you’re here,” he whispered into Jim's shoulder.

    Jim ran a hand down the back of Len's head and replied, “Any time, Bones, I loved this.”

    “Me too,” he smiled, “it made Gran really happy to have you here, she really likes you, Jim. And it was nice to see her reaction when you accepted the invitation to come out.”

    “I would do anything fro Gran,” he hesitated a moment, then continued, “but you know I also came for you, right?”

    “Me?”

    “Yeah,” Jim breathed, “I meant what I said at your party. Two weeks without you, alone in our room… I wouldn’t have made it.”

    Len chuckled, “I'm sure you would have been fine, and you know there are other people on campus besides me. You have other friends, Jim, two weeks would have seemed like a breeze.”

    Jim smiled as he rubbed his thumb melodically over Len's hair line at the base of his neck. Len was right, he had plenty of other friends, but he was wrong in thinking Jim wouldn’t have been bothered with his absence.

    He ran his thumb over the same spot once more then whispered almost inaudibly, “I only want you, Bones.”

    Len didn’t know what to say, so he just wrapped his arms tighter around Jim and nuzzled his face into the crook of his neck.

    “We should just stay here.”

    The suggestion was so out of place that it took Len a second to register what he had said. “What?”

    “Here, in Georgia,” Jim shrugged as if it was obvious, “we should just stay here forever.”

    “And give up Starfleet?” He raised a brow even knowing Jim couldn’t see it.

    “It’s beautiful here, peaceful.” He sighed against Len's shoulder, “I’ve never felt as content in my life as I do right here, with you.”

  “That’s why I love it here so much,” and it was true, he always did love Georgia.

    “It’s settled then, we’ll stay.”

    Len laughed and Jim was quick to follow.

    “Can’t be captain if you're grounded in Georgia,” Len joked, but at the same time both boys knew it was true.

    “Yes…” he drawled, “but we’d be grounded together. You and me, Bones, forever.”

    Len couldn’t help but find himself a little shocked. He knew Jim was stuck to his hip like glue, but he hadn’t realized just how deeply attached he was, maybe he wasn’t reading the signs wrong after all. “So you’d give up all that, space, discovery, exploration, just to stay here with me in Georgia?”

    “If you asked me to.” Just as simple as that it seemed.

    “And what if I didn’t want to stay here?” he asked, testing the waters slightly, “What if I asked you to run away? Live on another planet far from here and never see Georgia again.”

    Jim continued to rub his thumb over Len's neck as he answered, “I go where you go, Bones.”

    Len let out a chuckle at that, but still replied with, “Yeah, same here, kid.”

    Both of them held tighter to each other, neither wanting to let this moment go, but they knew it couldn’t last forever. “As much as I would love to stay here with you, Jim, we have to go back.”

    Jim sighed, it was a nice dream but even he knew it couldn’t be, “I know, kinda don’t want to though.”

    “Me neither kid. But…”

    “But what?”

    “Maybe one day we can,” Len stopped his swaying momentarily, just holding Jim still in the pond, “stay here together that is, if you still want to by then-”

    “Yes!”

    Len laughed, “What if you change your mind about me? A few years down the road you might not want a grumpy old doctor anymore.”

    “Never, Bones,” Jim shook his head, “you and me to the end, no matter what.”

    It wasn’t Len's fault if a tear suddenly escaped him, running down his cheek and landing on Jim's shoulder just then. “No matter what, kid.”

    Neither said another word after that, instead picking up their swaying again and spending most of the night wrapped in each others arms under the moon and stars.

~~~~~~~~~~~

    With the medallion between his fingers Len looked down at Jim's still motionless body in the biobed. Those two weeks in Georgia were the best two weeks of his life. He had Jim all to himself, no exams, or classes, or work. Just the two of them in a perfect paradise of their own, one he wishes could have lasted forever.

    “I never got to tell you on that trip what I really wanted to tell you,” he began, taking up Jim's hand in his and running his thumb over his fingers, “I should have, but I didn’t. I was worried I was reading it all wrong. One minute you were all over me, right by my side, holding my hand, and all I had to do was just lean in and say it, but… but I was never sure if it was right, if you would say it back, and I didn’t want to lose you because I was wrong. It’s obvious now, looking back, that we were both just dancing around each other like fools. Gran was right, I should have just told you.”

    He sighed, wishing with all his might that the hand in his would squeeze back, or Jim would open his eyes and look at him, just finally hear him. But he was becoming more and more worried that it wouldn’t happen and he had lost his chance, hundreds of chances actually.

    “God,” he ran his free hand down his face, “you don’t know how much I need you Jim. I was a god damn mess without you. You said two weeks away would have been bad? How about two months?! I’ve been an absolute wreck without you, kid, and it’s about high time you wake up. I need you by my side, I need your hand in mine when you think no ones looking, hell I don’t even care if you wanna hold my damn hand on the bridge where everyone can see. I don’t even care if you never let go again, I just need you to wake up Jim-”

    A tear fell from his cheek and landed on Jim's. He had gotten so close, their foreheads were almost touching and he had at some pointed started crying. His chest was aching and breathing was becoming very difficult with every second that Jim remained unresponsive. He closed the gap and rested his forehead on Jim's, taking in a deep breath before speaking again, “I’ve always needed you Jim, always. Right from the first moment I met you, and you managed to keep me calm the whole way from Riverside to the academy, but when… when everything fell apart and you were still there beside me it only made my love for you stronger, I'm just sorry it took me all these years to finally get the courage to say it. But god I need you, I need you now more then I ever have in my life, even back then… I can’t live without you, Jim.”

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

A/N: THE POND SCENE!!!!!! Finally! I feel like I’ve been waiting a hundred years to give this to you guys and it hath finally arrived! I hope y’all like it as much as I do, buuuuuuuut..... Fair warning, this is the last little bit of nice soft mckirk you’ll see for a while, the next chapter gets a bit heavy...

Hope everyone enjoys this and let me know what you think <3

Tags: @goingknowherewastaken @medicatemedrmccoy @bi-e-ne @weresilver-in-space @resistance-is-futile81 @0dannyphantom0 @haveyouseenmymind @jimboy-mccoy @reading-in-moonlight @flaminglupine

[ninjakitty15]

Chapter 13: Monster Madness (Loki x OFC Pairing)

"How the mighty have fallen," a voice woke me up some time later.

I opened my eyes to see another familiar face and grinned wickedly. "Finally, a reason to rip you apart after all this time."

The woman on the other side of the glass smirked at me and crossed her hands over her chest in defiance. "I'd like to see you try."

"Then I'll save the plucking of your eyes for last just so you can," I sneered.

She looked me once over and shook her head. "You still don't look a day over expired last month. I don't know what the man behind me sees in you."

"That's the best you got? What are you? Fifteen? You think I care about how I look at this stage in my life? I can understand why you do though, you still age, how's that going for you? The crow's feet, the weak bones, the sagging boobs, sometimes it's good to be dead than to be you."

The dark haired, skinny bitch of a woman in front of me glared furiously at my deflection of her insults. "They should've put the muzzle back on you instead of him."

I glanced past her at Loki who still had the muzzle and cuffs on but looked slightly better than before, the lights weren't as bright as when I last saw him and I inwardly relaxed, as long as he was still kicking so would I. "Tough titties, toots. How else will your new friends get answers out of me? Or did you forget to use your head on this like you always do? That's why you can't raise an army, zombies only want someone with brains."

She made a move to lunge at the cell but was stopped by Feist clearing his throat from the deck above the cells. "No attacking the guest of honor, Alicia."

"Especially when she can snap you in half like the twig you are," I added. "Of the two of us, which do you think they'll show mercy to in the end? The one that follows or the one that betrays?"

She scoffed at my warning. "They won't do a damned thing, they don't trouble themselves in our affairs."

"Of course not, but tell me something, how do you think I got where I am and none of y'all can ever top me? How do you think I got my immortality exactly?" I stood up and walked toward her slowly with whitened eyes and pressed myself against the glass.  Power surged through me, causing any machinery near me to go berserk, sparking and malfunctioning as alarms went off and my arm shot through the glass holding me in and reached for her soul and a bloodcurdling scream ripped from her throat simply by me holding onto it while her body went rigid from the pain. "Look at me now and tell me I'm on the short end of the stick here." I let go of her however when I could hear a thump from behind her despite her loud and earpiercing screams and saw Loki on his knees in his cell, hands pressed against the glass in an effort to stay up. I took one step back despite the fact the glass cell I was in was pretty much useless now, Alicia dropping to the floor hard but unfortunately still alive. As soon as she could grasp her surroundings however, she no longer held any confidence or smugness, only fear when she looked at me.

"What are you?" she gasped.

"I'm the boogeyman of monsters and the nightmare of gods and you'll just be another soul to eat when this is over. You want to send in another lackey for me to play with, that's on you for thinking she'd ever play nice, you didn't do your research on that one," I stated the last bit to the leader of the base that was still watching. "Or maybe you are and just wanted to see what I can do when provoked but don't want me thinking I can get away with it even when it's what you want. That's it, isn't it? You think you're so clever hiding us away and making someone that matters to me suffer but you mad scientists are all the same, you're just another scared little mortal in a labcoat." I stepped over the broken glass and out of my cell. I looked down at the broken woman that still couldn't stand on her feet after I reached into her. "Walk it off, sweetheart, you ain't special here."

"She is still needed for her abilities as are you, Noelle. I would suggest you stay where you are or your beloved Frost Giant will have a meltdown," the lab rat threatened.

I raised my hands in mock surrender before dropping one hand on wiring to his cell, death magic following it to the lights that exploded in a shower of golden sparks but ultimately no longer emitting heat that was slowly killing Loki. "I warned your top ranking soldier this would happen if you endanger him like this, this is still on you for not listening." I looked back at Loki who was starting to get to his feet, already looking better with the lights off. "Go ahead, make my millennium."

"She was one of the few here that didn't fear you till now, what did you do that broke her or scared the others?"

"Come closer and I'll show you," I hissed. "Or better yet, send another traitorous necromancer in for me to play with. Two bodies with one stone."

"You're in no position to be making demands here."

I cackled. "The commander said something similar to that, see you're all alike, when you have something original come find me."

"We have you, don't we?"

"I'm here because I let you take me here, don't think for one second this was entirely by your hand, I pretty much just proved you can't contain me, not this time."

At that point, the commander and his team invaded the room Loki and I were held in, all holding rods that could electrocute on contact. They wanted me alive after all, even though guns didn't do shit, they used them to kill with and didn't want me dead.

"I'm not really a fan of shock therapy."

"The others told me you're just as dead as your army and electricity does marvelous things to the dead, some would say it can wake them with the right voltage," Feist was saying.

"Did you get that from Mary Shelley? Because you totally missed the whole point of the story then, it's not the giant corpse that's the monster but the graverobbing mad scientist that wanted to play God. You're all the same whether its fiction or fact, you all want more than you can possibly hold onto and aren't meant to obtain and in doing so you destroy everything you touch, all in the name of science." I lunged for the commander as he was closest, dodging the lightning rod and snatching a small remote control hanging from his ammo belt and crushing it in one hand. Loki's electro disc thing on his neck fell off as well as his muzzle then while I grabbed another guy's rod from him and gave em a taste of their own medicine, zapping a few before wrapping an arm around one dude's neck and holding him in front of me like a shield.

"You got nowhere to go from here, Noelle. You're completely surrounded, the majority of the people in this building are either HYDRA or your people on our side, you don't even know where we took you, where you are right now. Just give up now and save us all the trouble," Feist called down to me.

"Is that right? You really think that, do you?" I asked incredulously. Death magic gathering in my limbs for my next move. "There's so many things wrong with what you just said, I'm going to start saying Hydra whenever something else is wrong with someone's statement." Machinery all around started glitching as I pushed my power into the electrical lines of the building, my magic couldn't outright kill people but it did kill inanimate things not made of blood and flesh like machinery and things run by electricity. Natural magic as death magic was clashed with manmade things like that.

"Then enlighten me, tell me what's wrong with what I said."

"I'm not trapped in here with y'all...you're all trapped in here with me." A surge of power went through me into the building, causing the lights to either explode like it did in Loki's container or just shut off, computer systems malfunctioned, including the one linked to Loki's cell, sparks flying everywhere, alarms going off. I threw the guy I was using for a shield into the other team members of the commander as a distraction and darted away into the darkness.

"Spread out, she can't have gone far!" the commander shouted above the chaos. "She wouldn't leave Loki behind like that."

He was right, I wasn't leaving without Loki , especially since he had the whole teleportation thing going and I wanted out asap. I waited in the darkness for an agent to get close enough before grabbing him from behind and tearing him apart, his screams and gun going off as he tried to defend himself before going out in a spray of blood. Of course two more team members went to where his body was left but I had moved on to another loan team member. One by one, they went down with blood and bullets everywhere until it was just the commander left.

"Come out and face me, you coward," growled the commander, gun in one hand, hunting knife in the other.

"I'm the coward? Who here needed a team of 6 to try and take down one dead girl? Only cowards use quantity over quality."

He shot where he thought I was according to where he heard my voice but lucky for me, metal and glass make echoes. He kept shooting at where he thought I was till he was right where I wanted him to be.

"Guess again," I hissed in his ear from behind him. He spun around with his knife this time but I had dropped to my knees so his knife went above my head completely and with a knife I snatched from another agent, slashed him deep in the stomach several times, going right through his bulletproof vest and into flesh and guts. He dropped his knife to try and hold in his innards  before dropping to his knees and falling to his side right after. I stepped over him to Loki's cage and easily pulled the malfunctioning sliding door open for him, grabbing hold of his cuffs as he stepped toward me that released him instantly from my touch.

"You're covered in blood," he noted once he got a good look at me in the darkness.

"You're welcome," I replied dryly. "Can you get us out of here before the backup generators kick in?"

"Where do you have in mind?"

"Hawthorne Hotel, might be a bit obvious for the Avengers but it's all I can think of."

"Done." He took my hand in his and right as more agents and the first necromancer I saw coming in here came running in to surround us, green magic swirled around Loki and me and we were suddenly where I belonged.

[bluesakura007]

Lilium - Khan Noonien Singh x OC

Summary: The cryotube which Khan has been kept in after being sentenced for his part in the events of STID has malfunctioned, to the point where he’s hanging on to life itself by a thread. All that’s left for commander Zinalya Hamilton to do is to visit him in this last moments, to make one final farewell...

Warnings: ANGST and character death. Seriously, this is probably the most angsty thing I’ve ever written lmao. And there’s also a few mentions of alcohol abuse. 

A/N: This is absolutely definitely NOT the real series of events that happens in my Khan x OC ship, it’s honestly just a what-if AU idea that suddenly popped up in my head. The only real series of events in the story of Zinalya x Khan that isn’t AU is the happy ending of Undeniable.  ^^

It was in the late evening stage of the day when captain Jim Kirk received the message from Starfleet Command.

Uhura had been the one to send it through to his quarters, without opening the message herself, upon its arrival in the communication systems of the USS Enterprise. As you probably would have guessed, he wasn't expecting its melancholy contents at all - due to this origin source of the message being Starfleet Command, he initially believed before opening it that it would be a set of new orders for a diplomatic mission to carry out, but the thing is he couldn’t have been more wrong if he tried.

He soon found himself affected by this melancholy content of the message; not only was there a serious recent development to contend with that anyone would be feeling sad about to some kind of degree, but one of the first thoughts that went through his mind was the certain fact that his security chief, commander Zinalya Hamilton, wouldn’t be pleased about it in the slightest.

"You wanted to see me sir-" This security chief herself began to say, but she abruptly stopped in mid-sentence upon seeing the scene before her. She’d just entered into one of the Enterprise’s meeting rooms later that night at the end of her duty shift, having been asked by Kirk to come due to him having something to tell her, but what she hadn’t been expecting was for the other seven senior officer comrades to additionally all be in there, standing around said meeting room with their captain. Scotty, Pavel, Sulu, Spock, Uhura, Bones and Carol Marcus.

"Evening, Zin." Said Dr. McCoy, his voice somewhat somber.

"Hey." She greeted in reply, before a small joking smile appeared on her face. "This isn’t some kind of intervention is it? I mean lately I’ve gotten better with my... ethanol problem, ask anyone." Zinalya still suffered from bouts of longing and hopeless desperation every few days or weeks over the absence of the man who, to put a long story short, she wanted to end up in a relationship with.

Her plan that she’d executed two years prior, back in 2259, was an attempt to convince the Federation court who’d carried out Khan Noonien Singh’s tribunal - after his fear and sorrow-induced retaliation against Alexander Marcus for the magnitude of this admiral’s manipulation against him - to allow the two of them to be sentenced to an exile together on a distant planet with his seventy-two comrades after she’d found herself helplessly falling for him a couple of days or so after he was captured on Kronos, so that they could be with each other and so that he and his fellow Augment friends could start the new life that they’d been looking forward to since the 1990s.

However, this plan of hers had failed, and he was instead sentenced to be placed back into cryogenic stasis and stored with the other seventy-two with no end date to this sentence. Over time, Zinalya’s frustration and despair at the injustice of this situation, the only man who’d ever meant that much to her romantically being taken away and effectively kept in an icy coma most likely until the end of time, had driven her into a reliance upon vodka, beer and sometimes Romulan ale for the purpose of numbing the pain of her now never getting the chance to pursue that possible relationship with Khan. Nowadays, she still smiled less than she used to and still suffered from these sad nights caused by her trains of thought about him, but over nearly the last year she’d been trying to kick the booze habit in the realisation that it was anything but good for her.

"No, it’s not an intervention. But you should probably sit down and brace yourself - what we’re about to day is pretty serious, and to be honest you’re not gonna like it." The CMO answered, the somber tone in his voice not dissipating.

"Okay." Currently a little bit confused at this, she pulled up one of the chairs in front of the table in the middle of this meeting room and perched herself in it. Kirk, Uhura and Chekov were the ones sitting in three more chairs, while the others remained standing in various places around them.

It was Jim’s turn to speak and to begin the revelation of what the communication received earlier had said, but for a couple of moments he was stuck for how exactly to phrase the things he was going to say in the next few seconds. "I was sent a message a couple of hours ago from Starfleet Command: you know that facility in New York where Khan’s been kept with those others...?"

"Yeah, Sierra-Lambda 3. Why?" She momentarily felt a tiny spark of hopefulness at the word “been”, a past tense word, but then she remembered what Bones had just said about how this news that was about to be revealed wasn’t going to be something she’d like in the same amount of time, which was half of a second.

"Well, the message said something’s gone wrong with his cryotube. It’s gone very wrong." Now came the most difficult part of the explanation. The commanding officer took another momentary pause to let out a tiny, almost inaudible sigh of anticipation. "Do you remember how we found out a couple of months after the whole incident that twelve of his friends in the other tubes had died at some point and rounded down their total numbers to seventy-three?"

"Yeah...?" Zinalya was beginning to have a bad feeling about where this conversation was going.

"The thing is, the same kind of errors that threw those twelve tubes out of whack have happened to Khan’s, too." Said McCoy gently. "It's 'cause those things are old technology, so it's a little less easy to keep all of 'em maintained. The life support systems of his cryotube have picked up something in their code after being used for the last couple of centuries ish before three years ago: that life support system just started breaking down."

"The doctors and researchers at the facility in charge of keeping an eye on him and the others tried everything they could to stop it. They prevented him from getting killed, but the malfunction of his life support in the tube has apparently still gotten away with weakening his lungs and heart, and he's... been taken to a hospital in the city." With this same tone, Pavel picked up some of the rest of the explanation from there, being one of her two closest friends. And then there came the underlining fact of the whole thing. The words that the others had all been dreading to tell her the most. "Khan's dying."

"What...?" After having a few of her own seconds of silence upon hearing this, Zinalya's vocal volume was not that much higher than a whisper. "No, he can't be, they must've made some kind of mistake. I mean he's an Augment. He's a superman, as McCoy called him - he's strong. He wouldn't be killed off by something like this."

"It's what killed off those twelve who'd died in the time before he was first woken up in this century, and he's become a victim of the same thing." Scotty, the closest of these two friends, replied to her denial. His eyes contained a sadness born out of his concern for what this matter was going to mean for her emotional state. "They say they've managed to maintain all of the others and these kinds of errors are rare nowadays, but he ended up being on the receiving end of that rarity."

"The doctors at the hospital have managed to save him for the time being and they've given him some sedatives to make it as painless as possible for him, but they've only saved him for a short amount of time. They've said he's got about a day left to live, two at a push." Added Kirk solemnly.

This couldn't be happening, especially not when Zin's time with Khan had been so short. Only a little bit over a week, to be more specific. "So that's it? He's been through so much, practically through hell, and this is how it ends?" Her voice gradually began to raise as she spoke, a noticeable sense of anger creeping into it as well.

"Those guys at the hospital and Sierra-Lambda 3 did everything they could to save him, like Chekov said." Uhura responded, this same kind of sadness in the chief engineer's eyes showing up in her own, as well. "They tried their best, Zinalya."

"Well they should've tried harder!" The half human-half Trill shouted back, her previous frustrations of feeling helpless against the impossibility of her and Khan being able to be together amplifying itself tenfold in this moment. However, she soon looked back on this exclamation a second later in regret, as she realised just as soon that her crewmates were just as unable to stop this as she was. "Christ, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled like that; I know it's not your fault." Her voice wavered at the back of her throat as she found herself involuntarily taking a breath afterwards.

"If we found out that someone close to any of the rest of us was dying we'd be feeling the same way as well." Replied Carol in reassurance.

"You must have held a great amount of endearment towards Khan." Said Spock. Normally he wouldn't be one to get involved in the emotional side of the matter at hand, but if there was anything he'd learned from his Enterprise comrades over the last few years it was that there were times when the decent thing to do was to step up and offer consoling insights into this emotional side. "I am very sorry for you having to face this development, commander Hamilton." The concern on the others' faces was fading into life on his.

"He must've meant quite a lot to you." Sulu gave his own respects.

"People all around me are going through their relationships and everything's coming up sweet and rosey for them, and what the hell do I get left with?" Commented Zinalya bitterly, stopping for a moment before reluctantly releasing one last word in a somewhat more hushed tone. "Nothing."

"I'm sorry, Zinalya." Said Scotty, his own voice additionally a little bit more quiet compared to before. It then dropped again by another notch or two. "We all are."

"Yeah - it's not exactly a mystery how much you were missing him once he'd been sent off to dreamland." Bones' voice didn't contain his usual snarkiness, and was instead laced with the same kind of sympathy which was now mirrored in the voices of the others.

"The message also said we can divert our course to go back to Earth so you can see him if you want, but it's your call. It's up to you whether or not we go." Jim told her.

"I want to see him." Her answer came about five or six seconds later, once again at the volume level which was not that much higher than a mere whisper, while without her consciously realising it, both of her eyes had begun misting up. "So I can say goodbye to him one last time."

The immaculately polished white floors of the corridors in this hospital in New York, as a result, reflected the images of Zinalya, Pavel and Scotty just as perfectly. Sounds that were a cross of sorts between a thump and a click were produced as the heels and soles of their shoes made contact with this ground surface every half of a second, the trio's feet guiding them through the halls towards a certain wing and, once they got there, a certain room, now that they were past the entrance and had found out which room this was. By now they were up on the ninth floor, and of course during their journey through the hospital various doctors, nurses and orderlies had walked past them down both directions of the corridors. The hair and clothes of the three were coated in a layer of wetness because of the fact that they'd just come indoors from the heavy downpour of rain going on outside.

"Do you want us to come in with you?" Asked the Russian, the three of them now standing in front of the door they were looking for. It was the next day on from the revelation to Zin about what the matter at hand was, and after she'd told the others that she wanted to see the man behind this door for the final instance, Kirk had allowed Mr. Sulu to turn the ship around so that they could head back to Earth in order to make this wish happen.

"I'd prefer it if me and Khan were alone." This same woman gave her reply.

"Alright. We'll stay out here and wait for you; just take as long as you want with him, lassie." The engineer told her in a soft and benign tone, giving her a consoling hug in advance which Pavel, in addition, contributed to by joining in.

Taking a moment to psyche herself up for whatever she was about to see next, she took another couple of steps closer towards the door and turned its gleaming metal knob to enter through it and into the room, with the two accompanying her standing back so as to carry out the part where they waited for her.

She definitely needed this brief process of psyching herself up: as soon as she opened the door and stepped in as she did so, the first thing that her green eyes landed on were Khan's own turquoise ones looking back at her, their lids half closed most likely out of exhaustion from his current condition.

It was only to a slight degree, but his normally flawlessly combed jet black hair was a little bit less so. However, there were much bigger changes than this to his appearance compared to the last time she saw him that grabbed her attention more quickly. His skin was pale but not the same kind of paleness that he usually possessed anyway; this kind of pale skin colour he had at the moment was the ghostly kind, and normally there was a sort of twinkle of vigour and depth in his eyes like a shark ready to strike, but that twinkle seemed to have disappeared completely. On some parts of his bare chest were respiration and heart rate monitors with intravenous drips, in addition, being located on his left forearm and the left side of his neck, all of which connected to thin plastic wires that snaked around his torso on his bed. The IVs must have been a solution to another aspect of his new state of health: apparently it had also been reported in the message to Kirk that Khan was too weak even to eat or drink anything. A nasal cannula was coiled around his face just underneath his nose and around the back of his ears and the upper half of his neck, no doubt as a means of helping with the weakening of his lungs.

Seeing him like this made Zinalya feel like she wanted to cry. She'd managed to mostly keep herself from doing this the previous night after she'd heard about his state and had predominantly kept herself calm and collected once she'd gone to bed, but no matter how much she'd tried, actually seeing Khan this weak was nonetheless worse than when she'd pictured it in her mind.

"You must be the commander." Said one of the two nurses who were tending to him right now, just finishing up with checking on his heart rate monitor which was quietly beeping away in the background. It sounded marginally slow.

"That's me." Replied Zin, doing her best to ignore the stinging sensation in the back of her eyes. "Is it okay if the two of us are left alone for a few minutes?"

Diverting his gaze from this officer, Khan looked up at this nurse who'd just spoken, and even though he didn't say anything out loud, he gave a small nod of his head to indicate that this was indeed okay - he trusted her.

The nurse nodded her own head, more noticeably and less slowly. "Alright. We'll be on duty outside." She gave a brief, sympathetic smile before she nodded towards the door while looking at the other nurse on the other side of the room, the two of them making for the door and exiting through it.

To the right of the room were tall glass windows, through which the rain downpour outside could be seen running down it and down the gleaming skyscrapers nearby, and to the left was a vase of white lilies on a white table, these flowers' presence probably being a personal touch for whichever patient might be there. The sunlight outside was faint but was of a colour temperature that stood on the threshold between warmth and coldness.

"It's good to see you, Zinalya." He managed to get these words out, albeit a little bit slowly. From the sound of it, his current condition hadn't affected the baritone pitch of his voice.

She moved across the room towards him and sat down in the chair to the left of his bed, stuck for the words to respond with as she was still in the process of trying to get past the feeling caused by seeing him in such a weak state. "You haven't got any idea how much I'm glad to see you too." She eventually released these words of her own, while the rain could be audibly heard, as well. It was like a curtain of soft, calming white noise representing the world of nature. Although there was the occasional equally soft rumble of some of the dark clouds producing this rain off in the distance, this actually added more to this tranquil atmosphere than it took away; it contributed a sense of depth to the noise.

"How long ago was it, when we last met...?"

"It's 2261 now, so that was two years ago." Answered Zin. "What was the... the first thing you're able to remember happening after getting woken up this time?" She asked her own question a bit hesitantly, as she herself was feeling purely dreadful about this situation so she was reluctant to imagine how he was feeling about the fact that he was dying. From the last few seconds that she’d spent looking at him, her eyes had caught sight of him seemingly holding a white lily in his right hand, not unlike the ones in the vase nearby.

"I have very vague images of being transported to this hospital, but the first clear memory that I have from this most recent awakening is coming to in this bed and being told about my... circumstances for being brought here."

"Did they also send my message ahead to you?" This previous night shortly after the revelation, at her behest, Kirk had sent a reply to the message from Starfleet Command asking for the hospital staff in charge of looking after Khan for his last few days to tell him that Zinalya was on her way to see him.

"They did - that’s why I have this." It took a moment, but he slowly, weakly raised up his right hand, the one that was holding the lily, and loosened some of his grip on it. "Once I knew you were coming, I tried to get up and retrieve a flower for you from the grounds outside, but I was stopped before I’d even finished sitting upright. In fairness, I highly doubt I would have been physically able to complete that task regardless." At first, the small smile which then adorned Khan’s features was created out of the dry humour of this statement he’d just made, but it was soon plain to see that it was additionally born from the fact that, as he’d said a few seconds beforehand, he felt glad to see Zinalya. "One of the nurses agreed to retrieve it for me instead."

As she reached out and took the snowy white flower from his hand, feeling a little bit of the surface of its petals on her fingers, this was the moment when the tears that had previously just been a sting deep down in the back of her eye sockets came into being at the top of both of her cheeks.

"Why did this whole cryotube malfunction have to happen, huh?" Asked Zin, using her own dry humour with a tiny chuckle - one that faded away again very quickly and afterwards became replaced by a sorrowful frown. "Why did you have to go and do this...?" The left one went that little bit further but both of these tears that had now materialised swam down the rest of her cheeks' length.

Although his eyes looked sunken as continuous outward reinforcement of his frailness, the concern showing up inside of them at the sight of this fresh wettening of her face was obvious. Still with some slight difficulty, he once again raised the hand he'd been using until now to hold the flower and tenderly wiped away the tear on the right side of her face, then the left, with his thumb. "I don't know why this had to happen. I suppose fate has chosen me as its new plaything."

"This is weird, too: the last time I saw you was two years ago, but talking to you now's like I only saw you last week or something." Zinalya admitted what she was thinking out loud.

"It's almost funny - I was thinking the same thing." He replied.

"You and me are going to fight this all the way, Khan." She said afterwards determinedly. "We'll find the best medical minds in the entire Federation and we'll go as far as we can go with this."

"That's the only obstacle in our path: there's not that far we can go with the matter." The Augment took a breath, the latest look in his eyes showing up at this moment being one of the softness which he reserved for her. The only woman in this century who'd shown him both clear benevolence and full understanding of his motives and pain back in 2259. "I've been told that this is the end of the line so as to speak, and that there's nothing else able to be done for me except for allowing me to die peacefully."

"You can't die. I mean after all that stuff you and me have been through, you just can't." She used her right hand to wipe this wetness from the tears away from her face, though she knew it was an exercise in futility as there was more coming, while still clutching the lily in her left. "I don't want you to die." After a pregnant pause, she uttered the simple truth of her emotional turmoil.

"I'm sorry Zinalya. I don't want to leave you either, but this appears to be the hand that I've been dealt nonetheless." He winced in the pain from the strength required while doing so, making her wish as she heard it that he'd just continued to stay still, but Khan turned to his right ever so slightly and reached out his left hand to hold hers comfortingly, this physical contact with him easing the sadness inside her mind to this same ever so slight degree. "You were a happy dream during those days when I needed you the most." It made him wish he'd had Zin in his life before the first 23rd century awakening, before his escape with his companions aboard the SS Botany Bay in 1996, as a saviour to make the process back then of him trying to forget some of the nightmarish days of his adolescence that little bit easier. These friends of his were people he could count on and who he trusted with his life, but Zinalya's presence seemed to unlock a new level of the ability to be himself and to say what was going on in his heart. "Those moments with you have been some of the best ones that I can remember." A tear from his own eyes suddenly showed up just beneath the right one.

Leaving the lily in her lap, she grasped on to his hand with the other one, so that she could now hold it with both. Knowing that, in turn, she too could entirely and completely be herself around him, she allowed herself to let loose with the amount of tears she shed. "I can't remember a time I didn't feel excited when I was around you. You're not just handsome and basically a sweetheart, you're also a man who brings exhilaration and adventure in your wake."

"I'm afraid flattery won't postpone my death date." He remarked in reply to this with another of his chuckles, putting more dry humour to use. He was, however, still touched by her words.

"No but at least I gave it a shot." She managed to raise a tiny smile herself. Two could play at this game.

While his tear traversed his cheek, his breathing became hitched. The heart rate monitor had also slowed somewhat now. "Do you think I'll see her?"

"Who, your mum?" The half Trill hybrid acted on the guess forming in her brain at who he meant by the word 'her'.

He nodded. "I think I might be about to see her again, and Tanvir, but the truth of that possibility lies in whether what people believe about the existence of hell and heaven is true, and even then it’s a question of which religion in particular was correct." He took a breath once he’d finished speaking - evidently long sentences were getting the better of him somewhat now that he was on death’s doorstep.

Zinalya shook her head, while still not being able to stop the full onslaught of the many tears she was releasing. "I don’t know." Her voice, understandably, was strained. "I don’t know what’s going to be waiting for you, but if heaven and hell do exist then whoever’s in charge up there had better send you to heaven, or at least some kind of medium place between the two."

"Or else you’ll confront them yourself?"

"If it’d mean you getting a chance at a good afterlife, yeah."

Over the next few seconds, he managed to conjure up another small smile. "Or perhaps the beliefs about reincarnation are true, and some time from now I could be reborn as a horse."

"Why a horse?"

"I think running through wide open fields with the wind soaring through my mane will be fun. But whichever kind of afterlife awaits me, I hope I get to see Tanvir and my mother again." He said poignantly. He was only a toddler when Sarina Kaur died, so not only would he be happy at the prospect of interacting with her once more after all these years, but based on the amount of affection she’d shown to him during those first happy years of his life, he had a feeling that she’d be just as joyous to see her little boy again, all grown up. And he'd be doubly happy if he also got the chance to be reunited with probably the greatest friend he'd ever had before said friend's death at the age of fifteen, the boy who had been the best at helping him, and some of the others, for that matter, with trying to get past the emotional turbulences caused by their captivity at the hands of the scientists who'd given them their abilities. "And it'll be nice if I meet Noonien there, as well." Noonien Prasad, although not related to Khan by blood due to the fact that the latter hadn't been conceived from a biological father of any kind, was Sarina's boyfriend until his own death from cancer while she was pregnant, so because of this closeness to her he would've most likely ended up becoming a fatherly figure.

"I hope so too, you deserve to find all three of them." Without fully realising it, the grip of both of her hands on the one of Khan’s she was still grasping tightened. "I’ve heard about this belief called karma, where people are rewarded in their next life depending on how much they suffered in the last one - basically what goes around comes around."

"The sum of a person’s actions." He gave another nod of his head, in recognition of this karma belief after having grown up in India during his childhood and, as a result, being taught about the Hindu faith from an early age. Throughout his life he’d never really followed any kind of religion himself, so he wasn’t sure whether or not he’d be allowed to get in on the action of heaven or reincarnation due to not being a believer. Whether what was coming for him was just a black void which he wouldn’t even consciously be aware of at all. Basically, when there are as many different religious beliefs and ways of faith floating around as there were here on Earth, including atheism, it tends to leave your mind in a bit of a jumble when you try to predict what will happen to you after your eventual demise.

Suddenly, his hitched breathing made a return, more so than it had been the last time.

"No, no, Khan, you can’t go." Said Zinalya, her own voice now becoming even more strained. Her grip on his hand became more soft and gentle again. "Whether you’ve got the power to stop this or not, you still can’t just go!"

As an attempt to comfort her again, his maximum moving speed was still rather slow but he released this hand from hers and used both of his to reach upwards towards her face, gently caressing his fingers against the sides of her cheeks. "To speak truthfully, I’ve spent a fair while in the past wondering how I was going to die, yet this way is possibly one of the ones I expected the least." His eyes conveyed a deep kind of fearfulness which she'd never seen from him until now, and which rocked him to his core. A pause set in for a moment or two. "I don't want to die either."

"Well you're not going to!" She exclaimed defiantly, especially upon noticing that his heart monitor had slowed down again by another couple of notches. Her face was a mess of clammy tears that poured out from the depths of her heart; she could feel both a small release in pressure and a tightening of it simultaneously, in the depths of this heart of hers, as she carried on releasing said tears. There was nothing she could do to stop them even in the slightest. "Remember that scheme I tried out back then, during the trial? How we were going to take each other's hand and run off to some new place once it was all over? We were going to be free to start anew there. There was going to be pretty much nothing we couldn't do together..." The last moments with each other were upon them, meaning Zin was now more desperate than she'd ever been so far to not let the life force of the man she adored sail away down the river. "We were going to have such good times to come..."

"Sssssssssshhhhhh..." Khan soothed, gradually retracting his hands and letting them fall down onto hers, curling his fingers around those of her own hands one final time. "There's nothing that can be done now." His pauses between sentences were growing longer. "This is the way it ends... not with a bang, but with a whimper..." He quoted from the poem The Hollow Men.

"I don't think I've ever hated poetry more than I do right now." Commented Zinalya, this latest attempt at humour to ease the pain of the matter failing to accomplish this desired effect.

"I can feel it..." He said. His voice was at its most quiet volume she'd heard over the last few minutes. "I can feel my heart getting slower, and slower, and slower..." He breathed out, with his face being moisturised by the presence of not just one but two of his own teardrops trickling from his eyes. This provided that extra yank on the young woman's heartstrings. "I love you so much, Zinalya..." Although it was at its smallest size yet, there came another return of his smile.

Hearing these words out loud left her with no other choice but to reply with another plain, simple truth. "I love you too Khan... I love you..."

She found her voice fading out as, over the next few excruciatingly painful seconds, she watched the gentle glint in his eyes as proof of his soft spot for her also fade away. He was grateful that he got to pass away not only with the subject of his endearment sitting with him but additionally while hearing such a calming sound coming from the rain outside the window.

With his eyelids closing a tiny bit more, the expression on his face drained out, and she felt his fingers around her hands go limp.

Then there was the unwavering sound of the monitor flatlining.

He was gone.

Now that there was no one left in the room to offer reassurance, her newfound lack of control over her crying reached an all-time high. Zinalya realised in her mind that this must have been similar to the sadness Sarina was feeling when Noonien died back in 1969, but what she additionally realised was that at the time - although, again, he wasn’t a blood relative to Khan - Sarina had a baby on the way and still had a continuation of her bloodline to love and look after.

Zin didn’t have any of that. The future prospect of accomplishing her life goal of having her own children someday or even just getting married had died with this “superman”. Not to mention the fact that she’d finally found a man who she felt could have been Mr. Right, which had been made even better by him having revealed these two years ago that he experienced the same emotions about her in return, and yet he’d been well and truly ripped away from her forever by nothing more than a malfunction of the cryotube within which he had spent these years until now being kept asleep.

Despite her hand currently trembling, she reached out her left hand and tenderly used her thumb and index finger to fully close his eyelids. There was a sort of peaceful and serene look about him; maybe one could pretend that he was just sleeping again with his eyes in this state of being completely shut.

With her not knowing whether or not she’d have any other emotion left in her once she was done, Zinalya’s head dropped as she began to sob.

[whydoyouwantmyname]

Imagine finally going home to Carl....

I Wrote a part three.... I did it guys!

Part One

Part Two

You sat in the bedroom Negan had provided you, looking at the latest book he gave you, hoping it would help occupy your time.... unaware the books didn’t fill your time, but your memories did, mostly the one’s you had with Carl....

 It had been so long that you were in this bedroom, you had forgotten what the outside even looked like. 

 There were two times Negan came in to your prison looking sour though, normally he would come to you and tell you about his day, or tell you a story from his past life... But those two days he was cross. 

"Well Well well... Looks like our mutual friend has flown the coop. Funny how he found stealing a jar of my peanut butter far more interestin' then savin' you." His voice boomed in the small space as your eyes focused on the corner away from him, however you knew his facial features wouldn't match his voice. He was pissed. 

"Funny how you said you would let me go too and yet here I sit still." You answered back with a sassy tone, your eyes never meeting his face as he scoffed, and left the room, knowing that was the only attitude he would get out of you. 

"Did ya hear all the gunfire last night?" His voice was harsh, as he entered the dull room with Lucille over his shoulder. 

"Yes sir. Figured it was just Simon playing a little game with some other prisoner." You retorted as he pulled the desk chair around so that the back was facing you, he lifted one leg over and sat down, one arm over the back as he glared you down. 

 "No. See now that is where you are wrong. Seems that your little boyfriend decided that he wanted to pull a rescue mission, save his little girl last night. However seeing how you are still here..." 

"I swear if you so much as hurt a single bone in his body..." You growled as Negan smiled, sending a shiver up your spine. 

"I would never dream of it. Why I was quite impressed by his performance. Hell I wish Carl was my own son. I simply just brought the boy back to his father, and told him if he ever wanted to see ya again he better behave himself." 

 "You took him back?" 

"Yes ma'am. I must say there is only one flaw in that boy, and last night I found it a real annoyance. See he seemed to think that after comin' in here and shooting up the place he earned the right to ask my men over 67 times if he could see ya. The boy would be a real warrior, if his only weakness wasn't you." 

A scoff rose up in your throat as you looked at the aging man before you, "you are wrong." 

 "I wish I was sweetie." He smiled again before pushing off the chair and slammed the door behind him as he exited. 

 Today however was a happy day.... 

 "Guess who is finally gonna go see her home?" Negan boomed in the early morning as he barged into the dull space. 

 "Negan.... What are you talking about?" You groaned sleepily as he laid beside you, arms under his head as he stared at the ceiling. 

"Well I figured I could use ya' today, as a form of leverage, prove I kept my word on keepin' you alive and well. I can't use Eugene cause hell he might as well have been one of us this whole time. And Sasha, well I don't know how she feels about me yet, who knows she might just say no to my offer to go home. But you.... You are Carl Grimes's southern bell, the apple of his eye, the owner of his vcard, and probably someone who is special to Rick too, seeing how you are the only hope of his son being happy.”

“So what, you take me there, make ‘em think you are finally returning me after our little show in the RV, and that they won’t want to put a bullet in your eyes for keeping me for so long. For torturing Daryl. For killing Glenn and Abraham. Or for the rest of the shit you have done?”

“Not as long as I have a gun to your pretty little head.” He smiled at the ceiling, “Now I suggest you get the fuck up, and get something nice on. Today is a BIG day.” And with that he rolled off your bed as you kept repeating in your mind, ‘I’m going home.’

“I am Negan.” You heard Eugene say into the megaphone as you watched from tinted windows, your eyes glued on to the one which belonged to the aging man who stood on the watch tower you sat upon when Carl asked you out. He looked weary, and it broke your heart knowing that the entire reasoning behind this was because of the man sitting beside you.

“Now sweetheart. I’m going to go out there first, and when I give you the signal....”

“I go out there, and you put a gun to my head, after revealing Sasha is unharmed in the casket.” You blankly said, your tone monotone as he smiled.

“You might not see it now Sweetheart, but this is for their own good, I wanna show them....”

“Just how broken they can get.” 

“Damn! I am gonna miss you.” He grinned as he threw open the door, leaving you in the truck, unsupervised.

Once he was away from the truck, and everyone’s attention was turned towards him and the unopened casket on the truck bed you slowly opened the door which you sat behind, and softly slid out of the truck, looking back and forth before quickly and silently making a break for the woods. It was there where you followed the fence, looking for....

“OH PRINCESS! YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!” You heard him scream, sure that he was now looking at the truck, and noticing the opened door....

“Where is she?” 

“I swear sir she was in the truck.”

“Well where is she....”

“You have [Y/N]?” You knew that was Rick, and you knew at the sound of your name everyone in the gates would know what it meant, and you could only imagine the look on Carl’s face, and while you wanted to listen to the conversation you knew you couldn’t right now, seeing how....

“FIND HER!” Negan screamed as you quickened your pace, knowing it wasn’t far. And then.....

“Carl I gotta show ya something.” You said as you walked into the room, your heart dropping at the sight of him sitting with Enid on the bed.

“Yeah. What is it?” He answered, as Enid turned and scowled at you, as you shifted uncomfortably

“Sorry I didn’t know you had...”

“Oh no, Enid was just leaving.” He answered as Enid’s head whipped around and she sighed loudly, before rushing out of the room.

“She seemed pissed.” You replied as Carl smiled.

“She’ll get over it. Now what did ya wanna show me?” 

“Oh, I found a way for us to get in the woods, without these insane people knowing.”

“No way, I gotta see this.” He excitedly answered as he jumped up, as you smiled and rushed down the stairs, knowing Carl was rushing behind you.

And it was today that you found the entrance again, thankful it wasn’t patched over when the wall was reconstructed. As you got on the forest floor and crawled through you looked at the house of Aaron and Eric, and hurried towards the back door, praying no one would notice you. As you softly shut the back door to the house, you heard the sound of gunfire, wondering if it came from inside the fence or on the outside. You slowly started up the stairs of Aaron and Eric’s house you knew you would have to hide in one of the guest bedrooms, knowing the one closest to the bathroom would have the best view of the square.You softly stalked into the room and climbed onto the bed, looking out the window in time to see Negan pointing Lucille at Rick and Carl, all the Saviors standing behind him. However there was no sign of Sasha, but the observation was quickly pushed aside when you saw the old, worn, dark brown sheriff hat.

The sight of his back caused your heart to flutter, your breath became caught in your throat, and your palms became clammy. It was like something you would see in a romance movie, and you were overjoyed to see that he was at least whole. However it only lasted a second before becoming dread as you watched Lucille get pointed at Carl, while Negan pointed towards the field between the houses, the one which you almost forgot about....

“Babe.” Carl softly whispered as he shook your shoulder, a soft groan leaving your throat as he did. 

“Babe.” He repeated, as you replied with a groan again, “I know you are awake now babe, so why not you point those beautiful [Y/C/E]s towards me.”

You slowly rolled over, and opened your eyes to the still dark room, your eyes landing on the bare chest and smiling face of Carl Grimes as his own blue eye stared down at you, a twinkle in them both as you groaned, “Babe, it isn’t even sunrise yet.” 

“I know, but I want to do something.” He sounded like an excited child, which was a rare tone for Carl to have, for so long now most people had heard him bear a very mature tone, as though he was an adult, even though he was 16.

“And you couldn’t have told me before I went to bed, and slept?” You smiled as he looked at you apologetically. 

“Sorry about that one. Now lets goooooo.” He whined as your eyes rolled with a giggle.

Five minutes later you had both managed to get out of the front door of the house without alerting any of the members in the home, and were now wandering hand in hand down the street of Alexandria, the moon and a flashlight lighting your path.

“So you woke me up just to walk me down the street?” You asked as you gripped the blanket closer to your chest.

“I mean this is just the second part of the plan, we thankfully got through the first part and got out of the house. Turn here.” He instructed as you turned between the house of some citizens of Alexandria, and into an empty field of overgrown grass.

“Oh look love, some tall grass.” You mockingly whispered as you walked by the houses, as Carl chuckled.

“Just you wait for what else you are going to see. Now close your eyes.” He whispered as he took the blanket from you, your eyelids slowly falling over your eyeballs, “And don’t peek.”

“Why, scared I will see some more tall grass.” you joked as you heard the sounds of the blanket, and felt his hands wrap around your arms, slowly lowering you until your legs met the soft fabric of the blanket, his hand then lightly pressing your shoulder as your upper body also joined the blanket. you then heard the thud of a body lay next to you and felt Carl’s fingers entangle yours. 

“Okay, open.” He whispered into your ear in a hot breath as you opened your eyes to the black blanket of the sky and looked at all the twinkling stars above. Your breathe taken away as you took in the sight of the sky.

“I know it is nothing special but I feel like with the way the world is right now, neither of us have taken the time to look and see that there is still some beautiful things in the world.”

“I see beauty in the world everyday Carl, all I gotta do is look at you.” you smiled looking at his once smiling face, which was now blushing. 

“I also was hoping I could take ya out here tonight and tell ya that I love you.” He whispered as your eyes widened.

“You love me? Even though I am annoying?”

“yes.”

“And always steal the last of the chocolate pudding.”

“Yes.”

“And insist on wearing the hat sometimes when it is too hot?”

“Yes.”

“And steal all the....”

“I love you and all the little things you do, even if I say I hate them.”

“Well I love you too Grimes, even if you did wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me.” you smiled as you leaned forward, both of your lips inching closer and closer and then....

Your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a tiger roaring, and the screams of men. As you looked out the window you saw everyone running around in the street, guns rapidly firing everywhere. The sight of the battle below caused a fire to burn in your gut, as you quickly leapt into action, running once more out the back door. 

When you reached the front of the house you noticed that a bloody rifle laid on the corpse of a man, he seemed to belong to the Saviors. You wasted no time collecting the weapon quickly and aiming it to shot whomever you recognized as a Savior. 

You got 6 good shots in, each one dropping a man or woman, before the smoke grenades came in, the smoke cloaking the streets as the Saviors and their allies fled. You aimed again, and pulled the trigger, however nothing happened, causing you to quickly discard the weapon and start toward another body you dropped, take the weapon, and follow the crowd after truck. You noticed the trailer and figured if you were to get a good shot on them, this was the best spot. You quickly climbed up the side, and when you reached the top, had a gun pointed in your face.

[shallahraekwon062488]

Not I

Summary:

A small collection of tales of the early days of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. Notes:

———————————————– (See the end of the work for notes.) ———————————————–

Chapter 1: Fire To My Soul

————————————————————————————————– Disclaimer: I only own the characters I created. Not Daredevil or any other character that appears any other Marvel works. They are the property of Marvel. ————————————————————————————————–

————————————————————————————————–

Psalm 34:19 The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all;

————————————————————————————————–

Not I

Chapter 1: Fire To My Soul

Jonathan “Jack” Murdock was a professional boxer. He lost more than he won, with a record at 24-31. But he could take a beating. Every now and then he’d get hit and something inside him would snap. He’s mother, She used to say, “Be careful of the Murdock boys. They got the devil in ‘em.” And you’d see it sometimes in the ring. His eyes would go dead… and he’d start walking forward real slow, hands at his sides like he wasn’t afraid of anything. And the other guy, he’d see that look, and he’d try to get away from him. he’d catch him and trap him in a corner. He let the devil out.

Jack’s son; Matthew couldn’t understand what grandmother meant, not back then at least. But now he did.

Cause he was about to let his devil out. ———————————————————————————————-

Krystal White was a 20 year-old, who worked at Rome’s Palace after school. Not only to pay for school, but to also help her mother around the house. The job didn’t pay a lot, but it more made up for it in tips. Plus her boss; Relly. Let her take some food home sometime, which helped as well. Tonight in particularly was good. Not only did she make almost hundred-fifty dollars in tips tonight, she also got her overtime.

“Maybe I’ll get me and Ma’s hair done and Ben that new Madden?” Krystal wonder to herself. Thinking about how her little brother got a paper route job. Too try help her and their mother. He’s been wanting Madden 15 for weeks now.

Yes!!! Tonight was a pretty nice night. But little did the young lady know it was about to go south really fast.

While walking through the parking lot to catch the 11:30 P.M. subway to head home, but lost in her thoughts. Krystal didn’t see or hear the sleazy figure coming upon her. It quickly wrapped it’s unsavory hands around her throat and waist, carrying her struggle 5 foot person to a dark ally.

“Don’t worry baby. If you play nice you might like it and ask for more.” The assailant said in a sleazy voice. Letting out a chuckle to match.

Krystal’s brown eye’s widen with panic and heart thumped furiously with fear. Realizing this mugger wanted more than her money. Using all her might and taking advantage of the Mugger/Rapist’s relaxing grip, as they neared the alley. She was able to break the grip of her assailant grip and run.

“Help!!!!!!!!! Someone Please Help Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Krystal screamed as loudly has she could. Her voice mix with dismay and begging. For she knew the odds of someone hearing her were low, even lower were the chance of somebody hearing and actually helping her.

This was Hell’s Kitchen nobody helps nobody for free.

Krystal’s hopes was extinguish and fears realize, when the Mugger/Rapist caught up to her. Grabbing her hard by the shoulders and throwing her into a parked car near by. Her head bouncing off the side of the car door, leaving a small dent.

“ That wasn’t very wise little tramp. Now I guess I’m going to have take it right here. If you do anything I will break your fucking jaw, got it sweetheart?” The Mugger/Rapist spoke in a voice matching his whole persona and left no room for conversation. Has he slowly walked to the young woman he threw to the ground, he’s grimy hands going towards his belt.

Tears started to roll down Krystal light brown face. Has she came to the realization that nobody was going to save her. This guy was 6’2 and weighed as least 200 pounds. He was way out of Krystal’s weight class.

But he was just right for Matt who heard Krystal’s pleading screams and terrorize heartbeat a block and half a way. Who processed to run, jump and flip through the rooftops of Hell’s Kitchen to get her.

After flipping down a fire escape Matt came upon them in the same alley the assailant tried to take his would-be victim. Both hearts pounding. One in anticipation of a conquest, the other in fear of being conquered.

Matt Murdock could hear both heartbeats as If they were his own, and they made him sick.

Moving quickly and quietly, the way his teacher taught him long ago. He snuck up on the Mugger/Rapist until he right behind. Taking both his hands Matt smashed them in both the Mugger/Rapist’s ears, making his head ring and throwing his equilibria off. As the Mugger/Rapist let out painful yelp and threw his hands to cover his head. Matt used the opening to perform standard Aikido throw, his opponent hitting the concrete ground with loud thoud.

Pausing in his attack for a moment to check on the young waitress. Matt focused his powerful senses on Krystal to make sure she was okay. He’s didn’t hear her bones shifting or grinding together, which meant she didn’t have any breaks, fractures or sprain. But he could taste and smell some copper in the air.

“She has a small cut on her head and some tiny scraps on hands, that must of broke her skin. Most likely from when this asshole threw her into the car and she tried to brace herself.” Matt thought angrily to himself. Fists clenching harder with anticipation of giving this worm, the beatdown he so needed.

The Mugger/Rapist stood up on wobbly legs. Before finding his balance and facing his attacker, it was The Man in Black. The guy who has been making life difficult for people in his line of work.

“YOU!!!!!???? YU… Y… YU…YOU SHOULD SERIOUSLY BACK THE HELL UP FREAK!!!!!!!!” The Mugger/Rapist stuttered then shouted, pulling out a long pocket knife. Trying he’s very best to be intimidating. But Matt could hear the fear in his voice.

The Mugger/Rapist charged at the Man in Black, looking to stab or slash him, The Mask ducked and weaved between the The Mugger/Rapist attacks, looking like a highly skilled boxer. Sensing an opening The Mask Man swung a left hook catching his opponent in the side of his abdomen with hard shot, then following it with hard three piece combination of punches straight to the cheek and jaw. The blows drawing blood.

Matt let a small wicked smirk grace his lips, as he smelt the aroma of blood in the air. Also as his opponent heart beat increase with hate and terror.

The assailant let out a loud angry groan as he again, charging at the Man in Black in a more wild fashion. Who caught one of crazed swings by the wrist and gave it nasty twist, which snapped the bone in two. The assailant howled in agony, but didn’t know it was more to come.

The Man In Black than performed a Judo technique that broke assailant’s forearm in a ugly crunch. Swinging him off the ground by the same arm until he standing up, the Masked Man perform a agile kick. Connecting to the Mugger/Rapist jaw,making his head snap back and blood fly from his mouth. Along with a tooth.

Turning to face the young lady, who watched the whole exchange in shock and wonderment. Matt slowly walked towards Krystal, who was still on the ground.

Coming directly under the street light, Krystal was able to clearly see the Masked Vigilante. That stood before her. He wore a black mask over his head, eyes and nose, leaving only his mouth uncovered. Along black suit with reyd stitching, with pants and boots to match. Krystal couldn’t deny that, while this man saved her. His outfit gave her the creeps sightly. “Are you alright?” Asked the Masked Vigilante in firm, but gentle tone. Offering the still anxious young lady a hand, to stand up. Which she took slowly, but thankfully.

“ You’re safe now he won’t hurt you or anyone no more.” The Man in Black said his tone still firm and gentle, as he helped Krystal get to her feet. Smoothly and softly.

“Th… Th.. Thank you!!!!!! Thank you so very much!!!!!! You saved me from being……” Krystal couldn’t finish her thanking he rescuer. Her voice filled with deep gratitude, as she broke into tears of relief and thanks.

Matt couldn’t help but let, a tiny smile display on his face. In sense accomplishment and appreciation. He gave her a simple nod in thanks and as well as saying your welcome.

“Call the police and have your boss stay with you until they come.” The Masked Vigilante said, tone still the same as before. Letting go of Krystal’s hand, and nodding his head towards the restaurant. Krystal’s boss came running to the window, then through the door. Gun in hand ready to help his employee and friend.

Looking in the direction we’re Relly was coming from, with a GLOCK 19 in his left hand. He had his cell phone in right hand, and he was on it. With 911 Krystal concluded.

Turning back to face the Man In Black and give her thanks one more time, Krystal was shocked to see he vanished.

“ He was just standing in front of me second ago, now he’s nowhere in sight” Krystal thought in amazement. Taking a few steps forward, searching the area for her savoir. But find nothing but the man who tried to robbed her of something more important than money, her dignity. On the concrete ground, still unconscious and his forearm and wrist bones showing.

————————————————————————————————–

Crouched on the ledge of a building across the street, Matt monitored the conversation between the waitress and boss. Relly saying sorry for not hearing and coming to her sooner, that he was in back counting tonight’s inventory, with the his headphones on. Krystal replying that was it okay and she was fine. Pointing his gun in line of the man who layed on the ground, asking who the hell he was and what happened to him.

Krystal process to explain the incident that transpired to her friend, but then asking him did he see where the Man in Black. Still wondering.

Relly said he didn’t see where he went. That when he looked down to put his phone back in his pocket and back up, the Man in Black was gone.

“I thought that maybe he was the one trying to rob you.” Relly said his voice hard to place. But sounding thankful none less.

“No!! He the one who saved me!!! I was saved by the The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen!!!” Krystal replied with a tone full of thankfulness and admiration for the man that helped her.

Matt let out light dry chuckle from where he observed them, listening to the radios, engines and sirens of the police and ambulance. They were about a mile or two from the scene, moving fast tonight for a change.

“Things should be fine here.” Matt thought evenly to himself, now performing expert acrobatic parkour movements along the rooftops. Heading west, having picked up on a home invasion in progress on the police radio.

One thought that Matt Murdock has been having lately; Is how would the people of Hell’s Kitchen would take it if they knew or ever found out. That the Devil of it was blind.

———————————————– Notes:

This is chapter one of a small drabble of stories I’m doing, that chronicles some of Matt Murdock early days. Of protecting Hell’s Kitchen and the people in it.

Please tell me you’re thoughts and feelings of this chapter.

[beeswritinghive]

Too Stubborn to Live

It was a bright day. The parched soil had drank deeply in the storm that had passed a few days gone, but already it was beginning to crust. It was just as well, soft soil did not make for calloused hands, and the weathered grip of the old hoe always served to calm his nerves. The looming rock in the sky set every one of those on end, even as he chipped and worked the garden, but it was all he could manage to keep daily life chugging along. One of the distant wards tripped, but that was a fairly common occurrence, he'd long ago learned not to be so paranoid after a few sleepless nights. He wasn't done more than a few rows before one of the nearer wards echoed out. His lips curled into a frown around his tusks. The tool was replaced with a hatchet as he loped back and pulled himself up the lookout tree.

His wards were fairly far and widely spread, even with the second layer crossed he could only make out blurry outlines on the horizon. The Troll shook his head with a rumble. He barked a call down to the hut, a woman stepped out with concerned eyes. With a stretch and a lean he took her hand and helped pull her up so she could use her better eyes. It was a few seconds before she rocked back with a wordless rasp. Her hands were a flurry of motions, indicating something it took even the Troll a moment to understand. Then his own eyes went wide.

"Really? It be?" He whispered, glancing from the horizon to the woman and then back. She had a wide grin, lengthy ears flicking as she bobbed her head excitedly. They scrambled down the tree and took to the plains at a run, charging to meet their visitors with reckless abandon.

They skidded to a stop in a cloud of dust, standing before their guest and catching their breaths. The woman bounced giddily, hands together and flat over her collar as the Troll threw both arms high. "Loa spit in my eyes... It is you!"

"Yes, it is me." Responded the cool, iron tone. Dull eyes glanced from the Troll, his puff of beard and it's iron ring, across to the lithe woman and her soft, pale violet skin marred by thick scar tissue around her neck. "I see the rumors were true. You settled." Her muzzle peeled back, revealing sharp teeth collected into a wide grin.

The Elf was swift with a storm of signals and motions from her hands. Occasionally the Troll would nod and vocalize something difficult to understand from the twisting fingers alone. At one point she gestured, then motioned to the second, smaller Pandaren. The Troll was quick to bark about manners.

"I am an Apprentice only." The cub replied for herself, shuffling awkwardly as she looked up to her elder. The pair lightly clad in lighter vests and leggings with not an ounce of armor between them, it was only the lengthy sword and dual sheathes and single bone dagger that marked them as much more than lost Pandaren.

The Elf frowned, for but a moment, then she perked right back to her cheery nature and began waving them in. "Ya," the Troll added, "Come, come! Dere's so much to catch up on. And ya got to explain the young one. We get you feed and watered good, too hot to be flapping tongues in da sun." So they strode back across the golden field and slipped into the spacious hut, the Elf was swift back and forth from the nearby well, the Troll collected some jerky and passed it between the two Pandaren as they sat down on the straw covered floor.

"It is good to see you again, Jimbda. And you as well Maeldis." The older Pandaren nodded to the Elf as she returned and offered both of the furred warriors mugs of water. "This is Tsu, my Apprentice. Tsu, these are old friends. Clearly. Treat them with the respect you would treat me." The cub nodded slowly, regarding the Elf and the Troll before bowing her head to them.

"Nah, the old bear just be teaching you the good ways. But, Jimbda and this lovely star, we don't need so much respect. You just watch your words, we get along fine." The Troll thumped a fist to his chest before reaching it across to tug the Elf down. And down she went, fumbling and nearly tumbling but for the Troll catching her as she dropped. The Troll chuckled, the Elf made a few, awkward and raspy short breaths, but they smiled and huddled close together. "No, you gonna catch us up, yeah? We ain't seen you since the big sunder! Worried sick after everything fell apart."

"I know. Much has passed... I wish that I could say I was here on a better note. But there is much to discuss."

So they discussed. For quite some time. Suyo had to recount the earth throwing her unto the sea, getting picked up by a merchant ship, the tribulations that followed before she even reached landfall and was thrown into war yet again. Jimbda and Maeldis both had many questions, oft interrupting and drawing the process out. A pair of cubs, the feline kind, came out from beneath the mess of straw under the interior hammock and spent their time circling Tsu in curiosity. The interruptions turned into small stories of their own, Jimbda explained how he came across Maeldis following the sunder and they turned away from Durotar and Ashenvale both. Suyo recounted her disappointing trek across Pandaria, the other pair described the tension and outright terror of hiding while the Kor'kron swept over the Barrens. Tsu eventually made friends with the lion cubs, they bounded up and over her lap, chasing each other and darting at her hands. Then the sun gradually fell away and Maeldis set to starting a fire and boiling water, throwing vegetables into a pot while the Troll idly stirred it. Bowls were passed around, Tsu ate and drifted into a corner with the cubs before eventually falling asleep. Suyo helped to wash the dishes so she could continue her tale and get to what she considered the important bit.

"... We are going to the distant hellscape together. We will find her justice. I may find a good death, finally."

Maeldis was swift to frown, disapproval and concern apparent as she gestured wide out the door, across the field and over the small garden to the side. Jimbda nodded his agreement, though his tone held a weary and distant hope like a dying ember. "Ya can always live here, if you decided... You done good by us. By me. I wouldn't never have been the Troll I am now if ya hadn't been there to show me." Suyo merely shook here head, and the Troll sighed. "We can't stop ya, I know how you be when it comes to these things. A lot going to happen up there, the Loa say things but I seen enough to know, even for me. But that one..." He glanced over his shoulder, to the cub sleeping covered in cubs. "... I ain't no parent Suyo, we both know it's beyond me... But it won't be good for her. Or you."

"I know." Was all the Pandaren said.

"Why you doing this then? You lived a long life, brought a lot of good honor to your name. You made differences, many of 'em. It may not all have been good, but you ain't a bad one. You're throwing a lot away by keeping on like this."

"I know." The Blademaster repeated.

Maeldis made a fervent pair of gestures. Jimbda translated. "You ain't answer the 'why'." Suyo slumped for a moment, from the shoulders, as if that was where she carried all her weight.

"It is what I know. It is what I must do. There isn't anything else for me, Jimbda. Not like you. Not like Maeldis, or Barkhide... Tsu reminds me very much of how I was when I was young. She's driven, determined... A few notches more angry than I was, but she has fair reason. If I do not guide her, she will still throw herself at worse until she is like me. There is still time for her to learn, maybe. But she has to have this demon settled, and this is the only opportunity she will have. Since we stand upon the precipice of the end of all things, this is also the final opportunity I have to find the worthy opponent that can fell me. Before my body decays and I rot, too weak to fight, too stubborn to die."

"Sound to me like you just too stubborn to live." The Troll snorted. "You make this choice yourself. You just remember that the choice you make? It reflects on more than just you. It reflects on all of us. The old cow, me and this radiant star, your apprentice there too. Choices like these that you make say more than just how well you swing that sword, or who you swing it for. The choices like these? I learned from you what it means to make em. Guess you have to learn yourself what your stubbornness is costing you."

What your stubbornness is costing you.

Her reflection in the crystals of the Vindicaar was not familiar. Though molded, the faceguard and it's deep set eyes looked hollow and dark. The fang like curves and it's bare contours made it look more dead, like bone. In the background, there was still the buzzing of several angry Draenei that were reprimanding and damning her for bringing a child to fight. Most of that was pushed aside as she stared at her empty reflection. If she let her vision go blurry, she could just catch glimpses of outlines and figures aside her own reflection. The inner turmoil that wracked her shaped them like old, dead friends, even if she knew the reality was that it was but the crowding Draenei around her. She was snapped from her reverie as the buzzing came to a halt. Suyo turned, and her apprentice was standing before her.

"Are they still arguing?" The cub asked.

"Yes." Suyo replied flatly.

"I am here now. They will not remove me."

"I know."

"We are blades. We are here to do what the trade hands and earth shapers can not. It is a blade's duty to strike where it is needed, when it is needed. It is not a blade's duty to make peace. I want to go to the ground, Master. We should do what we came to." Tsu did not turn or flinch once despite the aghast expressions and livid stares from the Draenei around them. Suyo kept her face smooth and expressionless as she nodded. With a flick of her wrist she motioned, stepping in time and marching to the strange pad that teleported troops up and down. She kept her gaze straight as she walked, avoiding turning her head or glancing at the faces. The sorrowful faces. The faces of pain and anguish and disappointment. It was a good lesson, to understand that all choices and their consequences are not made simply against one's self.

Whether or not it was Tsu that needed to learn, or if that lesson was being heeded... That was something only the end of another tale could define.

[cold-b-writing]

Bound Together: Part 2

Utadukeeus: Habriel woke up and looked down to where he put his clothes. He got out of bed and stretched, looking for the hole in his shirt. However, he noticed that his shirt was sewn and his clothes washed. Changing into them, he slowly walked downstairs. Looking over into the kitchen, he saw Toriel cooking scrambled eggs for Frisk. Who was waiting patiently for their meal. She turned around and smiled at him. "Good morning, child." she said. "What would you like for breakfast?" "I really don't want to be a burden....." Habriel said. "I feel bad about causing you all so much drama." "Nonsense, child." Toriel replied. "You needed help and we just so happened to have found you. What would you like for breakfast?" "I guess.....I'll take an omelette." he said. "Just a cheese omelette." "Of course!" she said smiling. "We can ask you some questions while you eat." Skywardsister: "Okay," Habriel responded hesitantly, taking an empty seat near Frisk at the table. Frisk munched on their scrambled eggs and waved at him, and he waved back, smiling slightly. "Mom makes great omelettes! I hope you like yours!" "Yeah," Habriel nodded sheepishly. He wondered why these people were being so nice to him. Toriel hummed away, preparing the child's breakfast. Utadukeeus: Toriel sat across from him at the table. "So, what caused that?" Toriel asked, pointing out his stab wound. "I...." he started. "These people were chasing me, cornered me in a cave. One lifted me up in the air and stabbed me, then threw me in the hole. You know the rest of the story..." "Why were they chasing you?" she asked. "I....did something they didn't like." Habriel said. "What was it?" she pried. The boy looked down at his plate. "They're a bunch of priests. One of them, was especially cruel. He would beat us, whip us and do....other horrible things.... I......I killed him. And I ran away." Tears started trickling down his cheeks, and he made a light sob. "They were not nice people." he concluded. Skywardsister: Frisk listened intently to Habriel's tale, sitting silently. They wondered how Habriel's fate led straight to them; Habriel fell into the arms of those he needed most. A family. Toriel watched the boy closely as well. Utadukeeus: "But, I always had an elder sister. Before I was sold off. She always told me things like killing was wrong." he insisted. "I don't know anymore. They were horrible people, and they wanted to hurt me." he looked at Toriel dead in her eyes. He was a very confused boy. "Am I a horrible person for that?" Skywardsister: "Oh, my child," Toriel moved over to him with a hand at her chest, pained. "Yes, killing is wrong, but you were defending yourself," She hugged him. "You did nothing wrong." Frisk finished their breakfast and solemnly rose from the table and placed their plate and silverware in the sink. They continued listening. Utadukeeus: He hugged her back, tightly gripping her robes. Toriel could feel the tears rub off onto her robes. "It just.....there were more people. And I left them.... I don't know what to do. Should I go back?" Skywardsister: Frisk returned to their seat nearby and wished to comfort him and offer advice, but that was being covered by Toriel already. Toriel looked at the boy's face after he asked the question. "It's too dangerous for you to try to go back to a place like that, child. There may have been others, but you were getting hurt, and it's okay that you escaped. There's not much that you can do for them. I'm sorry." Utadukeeus: There was a loud knock at the door. "calm down, bro." Sans' muffled voice said from outside. "you might scare 'em off." "I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER BROTHER!" Papyrus said. "ANOTHER HUMAN FELL INTO THE UNDERGROUND AND MUST BE GIVEN THE BEST WELCOME THEY CAN GET. AND THERE IS NO GREATER WELCOME THAN THE ONE THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN GIVE!" "if you say so, bro." Sans said. "just don't go too crazy, remember this is tori's house. this isn't a place for numb skulls." "UGH!" Papyrus exclaimed. "DON'T YOU EVER GET TIRED OF MAKING THOSE JOKES?" Skywardsister: "Oh!" Frisk stood immediately at hearing the muffled yet loud voices from outside the house. The voices were approaching the door, and Toriel nodded to Frisk, saying that they could go greet the skeleton brothers. "Hey guys!" Frisk opened the door as they came up to it. "HELLO, FRISK! HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE NEW HUMAN THAT FELL DOWN?" The tall skeleton greeted Frisk brightly with a wide smile and wave of the hand. Utadukeeus: "Of course I did, silly." Frisk said. She pointed in the kitchen. "He stayed the night with us! He's over there in the kitchen." "EXCELLENT, I CAN'T WAIT TO GREET HIM!" Papyrus said. "Papyrus, I don't think that's a goo-" before Toriel could finish, the tall skeleton was already in the kitchen. "GREETINGS HUMAN!" Papyrus shouted. They boy jumped from the chair, startled and fell to the ground. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS FORMALLY WELCOMES YOU TO THE UNDERGROUND! WE'RE ALL GONNA HAVE SO MUCH FUN TOGETHER! BROTHER AND I CAN MAKE PUZZLES...AND...AND YOU AND FRISK CAN SOLVE THEM AND-" Habriel quickly wiped away the tears. "Good morning?" "I SEE." Papyrus squinted. "YOU WERE SO HAPPY WITH MY WELCOME THAT YOU CRIED TEARS OF JOY! OH, I KNOW WE'RE GONNA BE GREAT FRIENDS!" "are you sure about that, bro?" Sans said, slowly walking in the kitchen. "good to see you alive and kicking kid. you had us dead worried last night." "Oh, its you again." Habriel said. "Its a good thing you came last night when you did. Otherwise it wouldn't be such a good mourning." "FORGET IT!" Papyrus exclaimed. "THIS ISN'T A GOOD MORNING ANYMORE! THE LAST THING I NEED IS YET ANOTHER PERSON WITH A DULL SENSE OF HUMOR!" Skywardsister: "Aw, Papyrus, don't go!" Frisk groaned, being dragged by the royal guard-in-training's cape. "You've barely met him!" Papyrus groaned and turned, swinging the clinging child around. "OKAY, FRISK. I'LL STAY," He rolled his eyes at his lazy-bones brother. Utadukeeus: Habriel slowly got up and politely bowed to Sans. "Seriously though, if it weren't for you, Frisk and Toriel. I would have bleed to death. Thank you for saving my life. I'm very grateful and hope I can repay my debt to all of you." Sans gave a slight grin. No one has ever bowed to him before. "no worries, kid." he said. "you don't owe me anything." "Really." Toriel insisted. "You don't owe us anything. We're happy to help." "Lady Toriel, I know we haven't known each other for a long time. But..." he looked up at her. "My real mother would never pay attention to me. My father was always gambling and my mother was always drunk. The only person taking care of me was my sister. What I'm trying to say is that, I never had a motherly figure in my life before you. A real motherly figure. So I was wondering, can I call you mother?" Skywardsister: Tears welled in the goat mother's eyes, and she was touched. Her hands fluttered to her mouth and then to wipe her tears away in excitement. "Yes, my child! Of course you can call me 'mother!'" She hugged him once again, happy that he lived through his ordeal, and sad over the child's past experiences. Utadukeeus: He hugged back, smiling. He had never known such kindness in life. "What happened to your sister?" Frisk asked curiously. "Child, please be patient." Toriel said. "Its okay, mother." Habriel said. He turned to Frisk. "I don't remember much. She fell ill and we took her to a doctor. I think he said something like 'Stage Four Liver Cancer'. She....passed away and that's when my parents sold me." Skywardsister: Frisk's expression drooped at his words. So did Toriel's. "I'm so sorry, child..." Frisk nodded, agreeing with their mom's statement. They didn't know how to console Habriel. Utadukeeus: "Its okay." Habriel said. "As far as I'm concerned. You, mother, Sans and Papyrus. You're my family now." he said smiling. "I think that's what she would want." Skywardsister: Each of them smiled at Habriel, happy to be called his family. Suddenly, Papyrus yanked Frisk's and Habriel's arms and lifted them up to stand by him. "I HAVE A GREAT IDEA! MISS TORIEL, CAN I GIVE HIM A TOUR OF THE UNDERGROUND?" Habriel was slightly jarred by the sudden motion, but smiled up at the bubbly skeleton. Toriel looked at Habriel for confirmation, and he nodded. "Sure." Utadukeeus: "Before you leave however, child." Toriel said. "Do you like cinnamon pie, or butterscotch pie?" "Oh, my favorite pie?" Habriel asked. "My sister used to make a very good pecan pie, that was always my favorite." "But, you wouldn't turn your nose to cinnamon or butterscotch, would you?" she asked. "Oh, no. Of course not." Habriel said. "I'm sure that your pies will come out as delicious." "Well." she laughed. "It seems I can't hide much from you." "we'll be back by the end of the day." Sans said. "see you then, tori." "YES!" Papyrus exclaimed. "I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW YOU AROUND! SANS, WHERE DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD GO FIRST?" "Wait a second, guys." Habriel laughed. "I haven't eaten yet."

[iftekharsanom]

10 Unknown Things About John Wick, You Should Know !!

We are a little over a week until John Wick: Chapter 2 debuts in theaters (February 10, to be exact). The long awaited sequel to the hit 2014 John Wick shareholder examined in the fascinating world of comics in the original film and see Keanu Reeves as the title character, a former killer who can not escape to expand introduced his past crimes. John Wick is one of the refreshing action images of all ages, to minimize digital effects and introduce character-plucking cutters full of nuances, and a lot of fucking action mixed with subversive humor. It's brutal, nice and cool, and the classic action movie tropes to combine into a new formula for success. So what exactly does John Wick do? What is behind the character, the supporting cast, myths and the creative team of the film series? Here are 15 little-known Wick factoids to help fill in the blanks and you pumped while we waited for 2 John Wick chapter. 1.WHAT IS ACHIEVING IN CHAPTER 2?

So what can John Wick fans expect in Chapter 2? The main arguments are still secret, but we know some details about what the focus of action. Firstly, the movie Wick against its killers is past. That means he travels no way to retirement, with the character at Rome a former employee to do justice to. What is your connection? All the details are scant but we know that there is a blood pact with Wick is to aggregate forces through loyalty, while the consortium plans to seize the killers who are both members. Or, in Wick's words, his goal is simply to "kill them all." We can also expect more return artists on display, including Ian McShane as Hotelier Gangster Continental, Bridget Moynihan died as Wick woman, and John Leguizamo as Aurelio owner of the combine harvester. Often, the villain will play, accompanied by several other new cast members, including Ruby Rose (orange is the new black) and the aforementioned Lawrence Fishburne. So expect a lot of action, espionage, intrigue and plenty of body full of hot lead. 2. A TV PREQUEL IS IN THE WORKS 

In addition to John Wick Chapter 2, it may still mysterious killer be in our future, but this time on the small screen. Chapter 2 Director Stahleksi launched the idea of a prequel television for life and said in an interview with the film. "Basically, we have almost a prequel written, but it would save on other aspects of ownership Lionsgate is interested, a program of this TV John Wick, and this seems very attractive to us, those creatively to give this entity ideas because I could really improve the TV believe it is and what we could only in a two hour movie we would like to finish the story we tell you now ;. and maybe all our prequel to save ideas and ideas impossible task for this medium. " Given the interesting cast of the series of character films and many issues raised about the past Mafia Wick, the idea could certainly be thrilling when they performed well. Hopefully Reeves interested to make up for a TV project, just because we did not imagine anyone else to fill in Wick's fashionable outfits. Given the interesting cast of the series of character films and many issues raised about the past Mafia Wick, the idea could certainly be thrilling when they performed well. Hopefully Reeves interested to make up for a TV project, just because we did not imagine anyone else to fill in Wick's fashionable outfits. 3. THE BABA YAGA

Set to help One of the earliest films of legendary skills of the murderer John Wick occurs when Yusef Tarasov of Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones) threw his father attacks, head Viggo the crowd, played by Michael Nyqvist (girl with the dragon tattoo). When Yusef of jokes as he killed the dog and stole his car Wick (unconscious connection Wick with his family) suggests I bore him in the stomach. Then he goes on to explain how horrible a mistake he made: "It is not what you did, my son, that irritates me so much who he was ... he was once a partner ... we call Baba Yaga .. . When Joseph Reply "The Boogeyman"? Viggo replied, "Well, John was not exactly" The Boogeyman "He was the one sent to kill the f ******" Boogeyman ". The Baba Yaga may originated in Slavic folklore, marked as a supernatural being (usually in the form of a female), the friend or foe being, depending on the circumstances. Although there is a strange connection with Reeves' character to explain except how they condemn his strength nature skills that can help win his loyalty, or those who cross to certain death. 4.THE MEANING OF THE BACK TATTOO

Before John Wick was a man, a vengeful full killer return to the world who wanted to escape, we see Reeves in the shower with a big tattoo on his back. The Latin term "Fortis Fortuna adiuvat" appears in large letters at the top large, and translates into English as "the future of the favors of the global economy". The origin of the term is military, the motto of the naval base 3rd Battalion of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. This suggests Military Wick past his time as a mob killer, as well as an allusion to the Hawaiian heritage star Keanu Reeves (his father was a Hawaiian) is used. The fact that the tattoo is not in this short shot in the film, in his very material on the co-directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch's trust explained or referred to leave an air of mystery, adding enough texture and intrigue without the need for Explain every detail. But one message is clear: Wick sucks. 5.THE MATRIX CONNECTION 

One of the interesting aspects of John Wick Chapter 2, the meeting between Keanu Reeves and Matrix co-star Lawrence Fishburne will be. His team is just one of many composites for the iconic series of science fiction films, which occur in the year 1999 John Wick's first film also featured several matrix graduates, including Daniel Bernhardt (who played an actor in the studio) and Randall Duk Kim (the Keymaker). Both directors his great opportunity as coordinators tricks in the Matrix trilogy, which would be accidental if Reeves wanted, when he wanted to choreograph the action scenes in John Wick. The duo felt so strongly about the project to convince the producers to allow them to direct the film. What, as Reeves and Laurence Fishburne were connected to the then Stahleski again (the only director in Chapter 2), he explained: "Keanu, I Laurence all worked and together in the Matrix trilogy. So, if Derrick (Kolstad, screenwriter) had written The character he plays in the Laurence script, in the sense that it was actually written with Laurence ... Keanu gave us a good introduction when they met. " There is even an Easter egg in the original movie Matrix: Neo in the game during the safe house scene is a character name. 6. KEANU REEVES DID MOST OF HIS OWN STUNTS

Reeves gave an intensely physical presentation on John Wick (talk about his one-bit training program) and his rings of authenticity on almost every picture in the real movie. The actor did 90% of his tricks (one of the few scenes that was a necessary stunt that the porch, oh, so painful fall into nightclub battle). This is particularly encouraging, since the fact that the actor had a flu outbreak during filming. Reeves was getting stuck action sequences so obsessed that the entire sequel to the movie nightclub on the same day was filmed. Reeves work tricks not only fight sequences, of course. He also has a driving experience, including the scene of him stepping out of a car from a private airport. In typical modesty, Reeves despised his talent. In an interview in 2014 with Indie Wire, he says it's just an extension of his role is .. "If I do this, it's not a trick stunts tricks ... I, I can do some physical action involved in any action , But they are not tricks. The guys turn, I threw, run, jump, play. " 7. PAYDAY 2

Two days before he made his film debut, John Wick was actually included as a downloadable character in Payday 2, a popular first person shooter. The result of a promotional partnership between Lions Gate Films and Overkill Software, including the Game Wick (by voice actor Dave Fouquette played) in Washington, DC assault involved in a gang, targeting banks, acting as a drug dealer and Even manipulate elections and smuggle nuclear weapons. The Low Wick was a smart move, as fans of first person shooters the perfect audience for one of the best shoot 'em up thrillers would be age. And John Wick is not the only character who shares synergy between Lionsgate and exaggeration in the series of payday games; Also mark remake of Point Break has to offer, the two partner companies. Overkill would get movies with STX Unconditional Entertainment Henry, a Russian actor continued to be killed as a first person shooter. 8. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

As you may have already noticed John Wick's story, it was inspired by comics and comics. And insurance and visual aspect of the directors Leitch and Stahelski were not lost in Hollywood. Civil War: The duo was used as the second unit director of Captain America at Marvel Studios. The creative team was already familiar with the comic books, of course, as the work Stachelski trick Iron Man 2 did, and both made second unit work on The Wolverine. Civil War Director Joe Russo explains why he knew the two of them would be perfect for the production environment, saying, "We asked them if they came and helped us execute some of the action sequences with Spiro Razatos, Boy along with Chad and Dave ... we knew we had to work really hard to raise our Winter Soldier game. " You can see the work of Leitch and Stahelski on the scene of the Civil War, the adrenaline battle between The Avengers and Crossed Bones in Lagos, Portugal opening. And Leitch did not end with the superhero genre - recently announced that the long-awaited sequel Deadpool addressed. 9.EVA LONGORIA’S PRODUCING CREDIT

John Wick had many producers including co-director David Leitch, filmmaker James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), Basil Iwanyk and Michael Witherill. But the most prominent participants was the lead producer (and Desperate Housewives actress) Eva Longoria. So what attracted Longoria to the project? Do not ask or Stahelski Leitch, who gave the commentary on the film they found in the 2014 production: "I've never met ... but thanks for writing a check" Make online what the inspired actress for the co-produced film proved to be a difficult task, but a look at her IMDB profile shows that a diverse work, provocative documentaries (The Harvest, food chains) produced, Comic series - TV (Devious Maids, Soap Opera) and even an animated series for adults (Mother Up!). Surprisingly, given the financial success of the original, the actress is not preparing John Wick Chapter 2. However, Wick diehard fans a debt debt of gratitude to write for this check, and to help with the care, the potential to perform the film. 10.GUN FU

Another item that John Wick made for another action thriller, was his action sequence with only intense stylistic violence. And perhaps the most memorable element and incidence in these scenes was the shooting that described filmmaker as "fu gun". The technology is not really arisen in John Wick. Gun Fu was made by director John Woo in his classic Hong Kong thriller, A Better Tomorrow, known that American films would influence Matrix, where future directors Stahleski and Lietch in the technical coordination of built-in tricks. And John Wick is perhaps the most dynamic fighting style to intensify with filmmakers his game in great shape. What exactly was fu gun? It is basically built around martial arts shooting, with the grace and agility of a ballet room. It is safe to say that Keanu Reeves pulled the technique with precision and remarkable attitude, so we expect more fu weapons in Chapter 2.

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