#the threats of another split are going to make me physically attack someone. i swear to fucking GOS

[our-inspire-verse]

My entire crew before January: yeah we go through phases of having massive amounts of headmates then watching them fade slowly, til only select ones remain after everything. We get attached and it hurts a lot of the time while others its mostly alright. Anyway, 25 headmates is a perfect number and we finally generally feel as though we're each getting a fair and equal opportunity for what we call "Screen Time"

The 10+ fictives spawning out of my recent hyperfixation, several of which have made it clear they aren't permanent:

[miyalove]

not quite enemies | bakugou

—pairing: bakugo x fem!reader

—warnings: swearing, name calling, yelling, death threats, bakugou being his angry self, fluff *unedited

—synopsis: 2.9k | despite being his friend, it’s always fun to mess around with bakugou. today, you realized you went too far when you both get thrown into detention. you thought it was going to be a whole week of silent cleaning and death threats but to your surprise, he’s a lot more pleasant than you had originally thought.

—a/n: based off of this prompt #7 by @//raggedy-dxctor​!

you and bakugou have an odd friendship, if that’s what you would even call it.

you’re constantly by his side, but it’s not just because you enjoy his presence, like his other friends do too but it’s because you just get a real kick out of making fun of him. you’ve known the blonde for years by now, you even dare say that your friendship goes further back than the one he has with midoriya! even despite your rocky friendship though, bakugou has a special place in you heart but you’d rather be caught dead then ever admit that aloud. 

every morning, you and midoriya walk to school together because you’re in the same neighborhood, and every morning right when you arrive to class you make a b-line straight for bakugou’s desk. it’s not just because you like messing around with him though, your desk just so happens to be perfectly placed right behind his. 

“good morning, katsuki,” your tone too sweet for him. as you settle yourself down in your seat, you see his red eyes steal an all too obvious glance your way but he makes no response. simply rolling his eyes, before staring back out the large glass windows.

most people would be offended and even peeved off that they just got brushed off by the bakugou katsuki but not you. no, you’ve known him long enough to know that this was merely a test to see if you’d actually continue talking to him like the good friends you are and just his luck, because you’re feeling extra friendly today!

you let out a light giggle thinking to yourself, the silent treatment never stopped me before, silly! smiling, you lean forward on your desk making sure your lips brush his ear as you whisper, “huh? didn’t you hear me? what is all that hair messing up your hearing?” to further piss him off, you punctuate your last question by lightly knocking on the crown of his head.

that surely got his attention. in a split second, he’s facing you. his seat flies back with how fast he stands. his features are morphed into an expression that vaguely reminds you of a feral animal baring it’s teeth. you have to force yourself to swallow down a laugh because honestly, who can take this angry little pomeranian seriously. despite you studying his face, you missed the light pink blush covering his ears or the way he slightly flinched when he felt your hot breath tickle his lobes. he’s thankful that you did though because if you did catch is two seconds of weakness he’d probably never live it down. 

“shut it, shitty girl, or else!”

you’re smirking as you look up at the enraged bakugou. he’s basically foaming at the mouth with how relaxed you are. most people are appalled at his words or even try and calm him down but no, you’re literally just making things worse.

sighing, you rest your chin on your palm as your fingers carelessly tap to a tune on your cheek. your teasing smile never fades, “or else what?” innocently, you tilt your head in question, your eyes meet his red ones filled with rage. you can’t help but to trace the tale tail signs of a classic bakugou tantrum from his features. 

with his brows furrowed so hard, you make a mental note on how that might cause permanent wrinkle damage for later banter with the blonde. his mouth is sneered, showing of his perfectly white teeth as they grind on each other and just like classic bakugou, he’s all up in your face.

before he was merely standing in front of your desk, nose in the air as a constant reminder that you’re below him. now, he’s inches apart from your face and if it were anyone else, you would have made a playful comment about how this was kissing distance but this isn’t one of the many boys you like to playfully flirt with. this is bakugou katsuki, the boy you love messing around with.

in a matter of seconds, you see the blonde claw his hands up. tiny explosions go off in his palms and you can’t help but study the smoke releasing from his palms. with how fast the explosions are going off, the room quickly is waffled with the smell of burnt chocolate.  

“or else i’ll kill you!” bakugou barks.

“you’ll kill me?” you speak unisons with his threat. his red eyes are wide and if looks could kill, you’d have already been 6ft under. at this point, this argument as already gotten the whole classes’ attention. 

in the corner of your eyes, you see the blue-hair representative already stiffly march towards the two of you. yaororozu, quickly stands up in her seat too most definitely looking to break up your fun time. 

with those two quickly coming on your ass, you won’t be able to mess around with him until later on in the day. how sad that they had to ruin your fun and so early too! unwillingly, you pout at the idea of letting bakugou go. you can’t give up, no, that’s not like you at all. you can’t have this feral hero-wannabe think he’s won. 

before you were smirking up at a frenzied bakugou who was practically ready to murder you six different times. now, you lean back into your seat placing your feet up on the desk, your skirt casually rests on your legs.

you shift all your weight on the two back legs of your chair, rocking slightly forward and back. to anyone, even to bakugou, you looked like the human embodiment of unbothered. your hands rest at the back of your head, lightly fingering through your own tresses. 

your colored hues meet his own glossed over red ones. you want to see him react when you deliver the final blow. forcing out a yawn, one of your hands cover your mouth to emphasis your movements, “we’ve all heard that one before and yet i’m still here. nobody likes liars, katsuki.”

what comes nexts happens so fast. considering your close proximity, you should have known better than to provoke the blonde, but you can’t go back to fix it now. all at once, bakugou’s pulls back his arm, open palm and all, shouting excitedly about something you couldn’t really catch not with the explosion that comes echoing seconds after the words leave his lips. the blonde’s open palm cames crashing down on your desk and once he made contact, a loud boom echoes in the room. 

light flashed in your eyes causing you to go blind for a few seconds. gasps were heard and screams of protests too. you just hoped that the classmates around you were okay. you’re quick to to move out of the way of his blasts, thankful that you’ve been training hard because if you hadn’t have developed your reflexes more you would have definitely been a goner.

when the dust finally settles, and you feel your heart beat steady. the air clears and you let out a sigh of relief when you see your all your classmates are safe and sound. your desk is gone, instead it’s a pile of dust spread out on the floor of your classroom. 

above that pile is bakugou katsuki. he’s standing before you eyes crazed and shoulders straightened out. his stance is strong and when you see him kick back his feet into his classic fighting stance, you realize what he’s proposing. 

there’s a part of you that wants to say yes to his silent offering. in fact, you have to stop yourself from fully charging at the boy. your shoulders tense, hands clenched into hard fist. what the hell was this boy thinking just throwing out random explosions like that? he could have killed someone!

“what got nothing to say now, shitty girl?” it takes everything in you to not respond. you bite back your tongue as you scan the crowd of your classmates. kaminari is shaking in the corner of the room while iida, yaoyorozu, and even kirishima are screaming at you and bakugou to stop. at least that’s what you think they’re saying. the ringing in your ears hasn’t really stopped yet...

you look for a set of green eyes and but you never find them. shaking your head, you dust yourself off of any remaining soot before finding your seat again.

“i didn’t think you would attack me like that, katsuki,” dragging your chair from across the room, the sound of metal squeaking across the ground accompanies your words. you line it back up to where it once was and take a seat. 

“you almost had me, really,” crossing your legs over the other, you lean forward resting elbow on your knee, “better luck next time though.”

okay so maybe this time him trying to attack you again was your fault. the key word in that last statement being: trying. right as he let out a ferocious growl and another lovely string of insults come fluttering out of his pretty little mouth, white scarves wrapped around his torso and arms successfully restraining the wild beast.

there at the entrance of the door was your sleep deprived teacher with his eyes glowing and physics denying hair. you would never admit it aloud but your glad he came just in the nick of time because in all honesty, if you ever were to go up against bakugou in a fight you know you’d loose.

he’s a lot stronger, faster, and strategic than you are. not to day that you’re the weakest of the weak but bakugou is the #1 in your class for a reason. there’s no doubt in you head you’d loose, but you’d still give it your all if it ever came down to it... thank whatever god out there that it didn’t!

you can hear the muffled screams of your friend as aizawa pulls him back with his scarf. you can’t help but to let out a small laugh as he struggles against the restraints. bakugou even goes as far as biting on them like some kind of animal. sometimes, you really enjoyed the shenanigans the blonde brings to the table even if they aren’t meant to be funny.

“oh thank god you’re here, mr. aizawa!” you hear yaoyorozu plead.

mina’s the next one to speak up, “yeah, these two were like totally going crazy! it was beyond scary!” her cheery jab lifts a weight off your shoulders. you’re glad to know that at least one of your classmates doesn’t hold bakuogu’s outburst against you.

“bakugou, (y/n). i hope you know this little scene the two of you caused will have harsh consequences,” iida’s practically shouting over all the other commotion of your classmates. you quirk a brow up at your friend, realizing that perhaps you did push it a little too far this time.

now standing next to aizwa, bakugou doesn’t have the restraints on him. instead, aiwaza looms over the blonde’s figure ready to strike at him.

“i agree with iida. what the two of you did displayed ignorance,” his black eyes stare you down from across the room. you shutter at his intense gaze. “and indiscipline.” he ends his sentence by pointedly glaring at a grumbling bakugou by his side. 

“detention for both of you will be required at the end of class starting today and ending next week monday. hope this’ll gives you two time to think how dangerous that stunt was,” you want to protest but you don’t feel you’re in the right to do so. so you nod, taking the heat from aizawa and just sit there. however, your partner in crime doesn’t handle the news as great as you do. 

bakugou let’s out a scoff, “detention? you’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” 

enraged eyes clash with yours form across the room, it looks like he wants to say more but one harsh glare from your teacher has him shutting up. 

“glad we’re in agreement then,” bakugou let’s out a harsh whatever before strutting to his seat in front of you. “now everyone else take your seats, class is beginning.”

there’s a silence between the two of you that you can’t exactly pin point why it bothers you so much. once class was over, aizawa demanded the class to leave things the way they were so you and bakugou can tidy after everyone. 

it was a cruel punishment; cleaning, but you figured that at least bakugou was there which meant more hands to help. you didn’t know what you were expecting when the classroom finally emptied and it was just the two of you alone. 

perhaps you thought that he’d go after you again. it was the perfect opportunity to do so. your teacher was gone, your classmates were gone, and the two of you would be alone for an hour or so. when you came back with the brooms and mops, you slide the large door open and braced yourself for impact— but nothing came.

you froze at the door, clutching onto the cleaning supplies with your dear life waiting for bakugou to do something, anything... but when nothing came, you peeked open one eye only to be meet with the blonde a few feet away from you.

he scowls at your figure, nothing new, before coming towards you and grabbing the broom out of your grip, “hurry up, shitty girl. i have places to be after school and if we don’t get this done fast, i’ll—”

it surprises you when he doesn’t finish. it’s unlike bakugou to just let words die on his tongue unless something’s really caught him off guard. you can’t help but to be curious. following his figure, you creep behind him as he starts to sweep the floor.

lifting your self up on a desk, your legs dangle in the air. bakugou’s figure isn’t too far from yours. in fact if you reach out your hand, you could probably play with his hair. you stare at his figure, wide eyed and interested. what has gotten the bakugou katsuki so off guard and quiet?

“you’ll what?” 

he doesn’t bother looking at you. he continues to sweep at the dust refusing to give you the satisfaction of his attention. that’s probably what you want anyways. since day one, you’ve always been this force to be reckoned with. since you and him were kids, bakugou has seen you as the one constant in his life that, believe it or not, he didn’t absolutely despise (not as much as that green haired bastard at least).

you were his equal since day one, and when you finally developed your strong quirk the two of you ruled over all the playgrounds and schools. sure, you’d both butt head every now and then but you were and still are kids. that’s what kids do! 

it’s takes literal seconds for him to forgive you whenever you get too out of hand and the exact same thing could be said about you. that’s why there was no surprise attack. not only would that be a cheap shot, which is something bakugou never does, but also because it’s in the past now. if he did some stupid shit like that to you, you’d have instantly forgiven him. he knows because of past experiences...

“i’ll kill you.”

it comes out as a whisper. a mere mumble of words that said from anyone else, would worry you but it’s from bakugou, one of your closest friends (even if you won’t ever admit that). 

an unfamiliar feelings burdens your chest. it’s heavy as you feel it weigh down on your breathing, hitching your breath every once in a while. letting out a shaky sigh, your lips are pulled into a smile.

a real one this time, not one with malicious intent. not a smirk, that’s meant to make the blonde before you feel lesser. no, this is a real and rare smile with your teeth showing off and everything.

“predictable, much?” giggling, you grab at the dust pan laying on a lone desk. squatting down, you line the pan with bakugou’s pile of dirt he’s been working on since you got here. his gaze switches from the pile to you. his eyes linger for a little too long to be considered normal, before letting out a harsh sigh and sweeping it in.

“maybe only to you, freak.” he lets out on of those chuckles that he tries to play off as anything but a laugh but you know him better than that. and when you roll your eyes, you can’t help but admire the young boy before you.

you’re impressed to say the least. how he managed to control his rage just for you makes you a little giddy inside. an unfamiliar tickle in your stomach makes you suddenly queazy. as you stare, with a gleaming grin softly lined on your lips you figured bakugou thought it was a good time to return the favor.

he smiles down at you. head raised high and the ends of his lips barley turn up. if you hadn’t been studying him, you’d have missed his small but bright grin. as he stares down at you, one things comes to mind; maybe this loser isn’t all that bad after all. 

[moonlit-han]

these scars for you ↠ han jisung

genre: boxer!jisung au, friends to lovers, college au, almost action? pairing: han jisung x femme reader word count: 5.2k fic warnings: description of fighting, blood, injuries, and mild concussion, suggestive, swearing, mention of assault (no description), alcohol consumption by characters of age, mild angst, oh and lots of pining and fluff request: yes a/n: well, here it is—the eagerly awaited han jisung boxer au. i hope the time jumps make sense—the whole piece goes roughly chronologically, if that’s any help. enjoy! a/n.2: found a couple typos and fixed them. sorry about that!

✧ masterlist & tag list info in bio ✧

some boxing terminology (thanks, wikipedia~)

- jab: a punch in which the boxer extends their arm straight out with their palm facing the ground - uppercut: a punch thrown from below with a little swing to it—best for hitting the chin/jaw from below - hook: a punch in which the boxer holds their arm in an L  or 90o angle and rotates their body so as to land the punch while their arm comes across their body - upper-hook: a cross between an uppercut and a hook - short straight-punch: a punch executed at short range, most easily with the fist coming from the waist - knockout: when a boxer touches the mat in the ring with any other part of the body besides the feet—the referee counts to ten to give time for the boxer to stand again. if the boxer is unable to do so before the referee reaches ten, the round is ended by knockout (KO) (even if the boxer isn’t unconscious) - technical knockout: the referee or other qualified personnel decides that the boxer is not fit to safely continue due to injuries or lack of defense. also, the “three-knockdown rule”—if a boxer is knocked down thrice in a round, that is counted as a technical knockout - round: a boxing match consists of up to 12 3-minute rounds. I’ve chosen varying numbers for the matches portrayed in this fic.

↠↞

Y/N and Jisung, Jisung and Y/N. That’s how it had always been and that’s how it would always be. Jisung was sure of that much.

You were a year older than Jisung, but that hadn’t stopped you from becoming friends within fifteen minutes of meeting each other. A mere six months later, you were so close that people often thought you were siblings. As the older one, you felt well within your rights to tease Jisung as much as you wanted. You’d called him a squirrel enough times that it became a nickname for him.

You were fiercely independent and threw yourself into potentially dangerous situations with no hesitation, which Jisung thought was totally badass. And yet, Jisung insisted, absolutely insisted, on defending your honor against the wiles of other boys and then other men, saying he’d fight them. You just pushed him, saying, “I don’t need protecting, especially from a stick like you!”

The first time Jisung watched you challenge someone to a fight was in second grade (you were in third) when the most pressing issue was whether or not peanut butter should be spread on the righthand piece of bread or the lefthand piece of bread in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He’d managed to convince you that it wasn’t worth starting a fight over—“It was a duel, Jisung”—but that hadn’t stopped you from brashly challenging anyone with whom you had an issue for many years to come.

In 8th grade, you decided that you wanted to go explore a stretch of the forest behind Jisung’s grandparents’ house. For three weekends in a row, you’d shown up at his house with an overeager smile and an insatiable desire to discover whatever treasures laid in wait amongst the trees. Jisung had agreed to go with you, if only to watch your back. By now, he was used to being the sense of safety that you seemed to lack. When you’d lost your balance for a moment while crossing a stream on a fallen tree, Jisung had nearly had a heart attack. He hadn’t thought once about his own safety, just yours. Always yours.

High school was a trial for the two of you, since your parents decided to move and, consequently, you’d gone to a different school from the one Jisung would attend a year later. As he listened to you talk about how difficult the transition was and how much you missed him, Jisung soon learned that it wasn’t just physical pain he wanted to shield you from. In the middle of your senior year, your significant other had broken up with you, saying that it wouldn’t last when you both went to college. Jisung had held you as you cried, and it was then that he knew that he would do anything in his power to prevent you from crying that much ever again. 

That was also the first time he realized that he loved you.

↠↞

“Hey, Y/N!” someone called from behind you. 

You turned round just in time to register a volleyball sailing down through the air, coming straight for your head. The next thing you knew, you were laying on the ground with the wind knocked out of you and your head throbbing. Closing your eyes for a moment, you enjoyed the relief the darkness offered.

A hand shook your shoulder and you heard distantly, as if through water or layers and layers of wool, the sound of a voice calling your name. You knew that voice—it was . . . it was . . . 

You struggled to latch onto the sound and push through the darkness that threatened to pull you down.

“Y/N! Come on, wake up. Please,” the voice begged and you felt familiar arms wrap around you.

You slowly opened your eyes and looked up into the face of you knew better than your own. Jisung had a split lip and a black eye, with blood running down his chin. It looked like he was about to cry.

Jisung sighed and pulled you to his chest when he saw that you were, indeed, awake. You were a bit startled, but he held you so gently, cradling your tender head, that you didn’t mind. 

“Oh, thank god,” Jisung breathed. “You’re okay.”

You searched for words for a moment, then said groggily, “Coursemokay.” Despite what you wanted it to do, your head lolled backward—it was a bit disturbing to have your body slightly out of your control. Jisung immediately supported your head, shaking his own as if in disbelief. After a moment, he seemed to gather himself.

“Y/N, you idiot,” Jisung grumbled. “Why did you do that? You knew he’d come after you! Seriously, don’t scare me like that.” Jisung almost seemed to be begging.

“I had to—he was bothering Lily,” you managed to say, glad to be regaining the ability to speak. Had you been knocked out?

“But you didn’t have to go punch that fucker!”

“Yeah, but he stopped bothering Lily,” you said, clearly finding some comfort in the repetition of her name. You tried to sit up, but Jisung just held you partially reclined against his chest. “Is she still okay?”

“She’s fine, but you’re not.” Jisung raked a hand through his hair. “Fucking hell, Y/N, he intentionally knocked you out. The monitor’s furious—I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets expelled. It would serve him right, after what he tried to do,” he finished darkly.

You just stared up at Jisung for a long time, taking in the familiar lines of his face that were now more pronounced than when he was younger. It was as if the world had hardened him somehow, but it made him look sleek like marble instead of weathered.

“But how did you get a split lip?”

“Don’t worry about,” Jisung tried laughed, but it sounded forced to you.

“Jisung.”

“What else was I supposed to do?” he exclaimed and tears began to run down his face. “I have to protect you. You’re all I’ve got!”

You didn’t know what to say. It was as if time had stopped but you were still spinning through space, a comet destined for impact on a new planet of understanding. You felt wetness on your face and realized that Jisung’s tears were falling onto your cheeks, as if you were crying, too. 

You’re all I’ve got. What did he . . . 

Just then, the field monitor came over and all thoughts fled your mind. 

“What happened here?” he said sternly as he approached. “Why is L/N on the ground? Han, explain.”

Jisung gulped and then launched into a rambling explanation of the events that led to that moment. The monitor looked shocked when Jisung accused the boys’ volleyball team captain of attempted assault on a member of the girls’ volleyball team. Of course, Jisung was proud when you’d confronted the guy, threatening him with physical violence yourself and the prospect of exposure. Granted, Jisung had been worried when you told him that you’d punched someone nearly twice your size (but not too worried). The important thing was that you’d defended someone and saved them from harm.

When Jisung said that the captain had then thrown a ball directly at your head from close range, the monitor almost screeched.

“You’re telling me that another student deliberately sought and succeeded in harming Miss L/N?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly it. What’s so unclear about it?” Jisung was incredulous. You tried to move to lightly shove him, but your coordination was still suspect. Jisung smoothed your hair with shaking hands, and helped you sit up a bit.

After taking a deep breath, the monitor knelt. “You’re right, Han, there’s nothing unclear about this situation.”

The captain of the boys’ volleyball team was expelled shortly thereafter.

The very next week, at the young age of seventeen, Han Jisung decided to learn how to box so he could better protect you from anything that came your way.

↠↞

The roar of the crowd was like nothing else Jisung had ever experienced. People screamed encouragement, jeers, threats, and love confessions from the bleachers surrounding the boxing ring in which he and his opponent would soon face off. He’d known it would be loud, but not this loud. This was Jisung’s first official match outside of practice, and even though he knew he was more than prepared with Changbin as his teacher, Jisung still felt a little nervous. After all, he was only eighteen years old. 

“You’ve got this, Ji,” Changbin said, patting Jisung’s shoulder as they waited for the referee’s signal to mount the platform. “Just remember what we planned. You’re quick and smaller than him, which gives you something to work with. You can come in under his reach more easily. You’re gonna be fine, I promise.”

“Yeah, okay,” Jisung muttered, trying to tear his eyes away from the man who’d just walked over to the other side of the ring. His opponent had on the customary red shorts to mark him as a higher rank than Jisung, who wore blue. The guy had even dyed his hair red, as if to say that no one was better than him.

“Just breathe—it’s only going to be eight rounds,” Changbin continued. “You’ve gone fifteen with Dan and still won, so this guy’s nothing to worry about. Plus, you’ve got Felix as your second.”

He was about to respond, but the referee motioned to both boxers to enter the ring. Jisung made sure the straps on his gloves were secure, set his shoulders, and took a deep breath. And, he thought of you. After all, you were everything he was fighting for.

↠↞

Jisung collapsed back onto the couch in your apartment, absolutely exhausted. You were in the other room getting your books to study, and all Jisung wanted was to rest. It was a Thursday, after all, and he didn’t have classes on Fridays. His phone vibrated with a text.

bro: hey, great job at practice today! make sure to ice and let me know if you need anything before tomorrow’s match jisung: thanks. i’ll be fine changbin. gotta go—i’m at y/n’s rn bro: have fun 😉

Jisung ignored that last text, since Changbin knew full well that there could never be anything between him and you. Ever since you’d gone off to college, you’d made it clear that there was only one man for you, and his name was Lee Minho. Damn, that bastard. Jisung just really wanted to punch him. 

That didn’t stop Jisung from harboring tender feelings for you, though. Now that Jisung was also in college, and at the same one as you, he’d been determined to stick to your side like a burr. Minho had commented on this just once before you’d shut him down, explaining that Jisung was like a brother to you and that Minho had nothing to worry about. Minho, though, was not convinced and watched Jisung like a hawk anytime he was around.

“Fuck this!” you yelled, coming out of your bedroom. “I’m done, so done.”

“You good, Y/N?” Jisung said warily.

You flopped down on the couch next to him. “I’ll be fine,” you grumbled. “I just can’t study tonight.”

Jisung perked up at that. “So,” he drawled, “movie night?”

“God, please,” you begged, holding your head in your hands. “I just need something mindless. Were you just at the gym?” You’d clearly noticed that Jisung’s hair was wet and he was wearing his usual I-can’t-be-bothered-to-pick-out-an-outfit outfit of jeans and a sleeveless shirt. Since when did your little squirrel have biceps that nice?

“Yeah.” He ruffled your hair as he stood up. “Do you still have that cider I brought over last weekend?” Jisung called, heading into the kitchen. 

“It’s in the fridge, right where you left it. Get me some popcorn, too!”

Jisung rummaged in the refrigerator as you, presumably, began to scroll through your choices of shows and movies. A few minutes later, Jisung came back with popcorn, water, and the hard cider. 

“Are you okay with watching a sappy drama?” you asked as he sat down again. 

“Depends on which one,” Jisung answered, looking suspiciously over at you.

“Soooo, does that mean we can watch Miss Panda and Mr. Hedgehog?”

“Oh god, no. No, no!!” Jisung exclaimed, taking the remote from your hands. “It’s too sappy! Plus, I’ll just crave more sweets after watching it.”

“I mean, they’re baking in it, so it makes sense,” you said, reaching across his chest to grab for the remote. “Are you sure we can’t watch it?”

Jisung just held the remote out of your reach above his head. “Nope.”

“Pleeeeease.” You were whining now, not caring if you sounded like a five year-old. Jisung leaned away from you, still holding the remote out of reach. You stood up, pushed the coffee table back, and put your hands on your hips. “Han Jisung, could you please give me the remote?”

“Eh,” Jisung said, grinning, “don’t think so. This is more fun.”

You lunged forward then, and Jisung had to lean backward out of the way. With his arm thrown back over his shoulder and you standing in front of him, there wasn’t much he could do. Plus, he was trying not to notice the neckline of your tank top as it was directly in front of his face. He tried lightly kicking your ankles, but you didn’t move. You grabbed at the remote, still leaning over him, but Jisung managed to pass it back and forth between his hands. Finally, you stood back, crossing your arms. Jisung let out a sigh of relief—that had been a tense few moments. 

“Jisung,” you wheedled, “please? I just want to relax!”

“I do, too!” Jisung wasn’t quite annoyed, but he was getting there. He rested his arms behind his head, waving the remote lazily from side to side. “Let’s just watch something a little less fluffy than Miss Panda and Mr. Hedgehog, okay?”

You pouted. Jisung pouted right back at you, making you giggle. Ah, victory. 

Then, you lunged forward again and caught both of his wrists. Holding them together above his head, you shook his hands so he’d let go of the remote. Jisung decided to give in, even though he could have easily broken your hold. 

“Damn, Y/N. I wouldn’t want to fight you. You’re pretty feisty,” he said, as if he didn’t already know that from years of bailing you out of fights. He looked up into your face—your cheeks were a little flushed.

You just glared down at him, still holding his wrists above his head. “I’ll make you a deal,” you said. “I’ll watch whatever you want to if we can watch three episodes of Miss Panda and Mr. Hedgehog.”

“Sure,” Jisung said, realizing belatedly that his breath was coming a bit faster than normal.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

You let go of his wrists, which his shook a little for effect, then went to retrieve the remote from behind the sofa. 

Is it weird that was a total turn on? Jisung thought, running a hand through his hair. Fucking hell.

↠↞

“Minho, really. What the hell?” you demanded of your boyfriend.

“Y/N, if you’re going to moon over Jisung at every opportunity, I don’t think we should date anymore,” Minho said flatly.

“I don’t moon! He’s my best friend!”

“Whatever, Y/N, you do. I think you should reevaluate your feelings and priorities. In the meantime, I’m going. You’re wonderful and I loved you, but I can’t stay anymore. I wish you the best, Y/N.” 

With that, Lee Minho walked out the door of your apartment, closing it carefully behind himself. You stood there, staring blankly at the door.

Reevaluate my feelings and priorities? you thought. What exactly—

A knock on your apartment door jolted you out of your reverie. “Come in,” you called, knowing it was probably Jisung. It was.

“Where was Minho going?” he asked immediately. “He didn’t look happy. Did you two have a fight?”

“He just broke up with me, Jisung,” you said, unable to muster any emotion. You’d had a feeling that your relationship was coming to an end, but you hadn’t expected Minho to just walk out like that. You sighed.

“What?” Jisung burst out. “He just straight-up left you? What the fuck?”

“He said I needed to reevaluate my feelings and priorities. That was it.”

Jisung strode forward and enveloped you in a hug, ignoring your protests and wiggling. Finally, you stopped and put your arms around your best friend, leaning your head on his chest. You could hear his heart pounding. And then, it was like something inside you broke at the feeling of warm, protective arms around you. 

You started to cry. Jisung just held you, gently rubbing your back and telling you that everything would okay. Eventually, when you’d cried yourself into hiccups, Jisung let go of you. 

“Y/N,” he began, his voice low. “Don’t think about Minho. You had a good time while it lasted, but it’s done now. I don’t think he’ll be coming back.” He wiped the last remaining tears from your face, and, like an annoyed cat, you wrinkled your nose at being touched. “Let’s go get some dinner and then watch whatever sappy drama you’re into now, okay?”

You nodded your head as Jisung guided you to the couch to sit down. “Here,” he said gently, “let me get you some water and then we’ll go.”

As you sat there, sniffing occasionally, you thought of just how lucky you were to have Jisung in your life. Even though you teased him and had, when you were younger, pushed him around, he really was ever-present in your life. And, he’d always protected you and stood up for you. Why couldn’t have Minho been like that?

↠↞

A month later, you stopped by Jisung and Felix’s apartment for your usual gaming and movie night. Felix let you in, sunny as ever, and you made a beeline for the bathroom. You’d been there so many times that you didn’t exactly need to observe the usual niceties.

Taking out your earbuds, you opened the door and—

There before your eyes was Jisung. But this was not Jisung as you usually saw him. 

No, this was a very wet and very naked Han Jisung getting out of the shower.

Holy fuck.

You hurriedly slammed the door, but not before he realized that you’d seen him.

Your face beet-red, you practically sprinted back down the hall to the living room and Felix. “Why didn’t you tell me he was in the shower?” you all but yelled. 

“I didn’t know!” Felix said. Seeing your face, he burst out laughing. “You walked in on him, didn’t you.”

“Fucking hell, Felix. What do you think?”

Felix just continued to laugh.

With your mind racing faster than a bullet train, you sat down on the familiar couch. 

Well, you thought, I now know more about Jisung than I ever thought I would. Not that you were complaining, though. The mental picture of your best friend flashed—and stuck—before your eyes: abs for days, toned pecs, muscular legs, biceps that looked like ripe peaches, and . . . yeah. Nice. All very . . . nice. You hoped your mental math was correct.

But what about all those bruises on his chest and stomach? you wondered. They aren’t hickeys, that’s for sure. And were those scars? How the hell did he get those? You couldn’t figure it out.

After a few minutes, Jisung came out of his bedroom, toweling his hair dry. You tried not to stare at his arms. What the hell was going on? Get it together, Y/N, you told yourself.

“J— Jisung?” you began, stammering in your embarrassment.

“Yeah?” he said, completely casual as he leaned back in a chair. 

“Um, sorry I walked in on you. But, what were all those bruises? And the scars?”

In the kitchen, Felix stopped what he was doing to listen.

Jisung sighed and let the front legs of his chair fall to the ground again. He looked like what he was about to say would be, somehow, painful. “Don’t bite my head off, Y/N, okay?” he said.

“Why would I—” you began, but Jisung interrupted you.

“You’ll understand.” He took a deep breath. “I’m a boxer. I’ve been boxing since senior year of high school, with Changbin teaching me, and now I’m even in tournaments. I’ve even won a few. Remember when you got hit in the head by that volleyball? I started right after that. I started because I wanted to be able to protect you.

“All I’ve ever wanted to do is protect you, Y/N. It also happened to be fun. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to laugh at me or tell me to stop because you thought you could stand up for yourself with no problem. I know you can, but I wanted to be able to be there for you, too. So, here I am: a boxer.”

You stared at Jisung. A boxer? You weren’t quite sure what to say, but Jisung gave you a minute to process. You could see him trying to read your expression.

“So, when will you take me to a match?” you said eventually.

Jisung spluttered. “What? No! Hell no, Y/N. It’s loud and some of the fans are kind of crazy, and I just don’t think you’d like it.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” you said firmly. “When’s your next match?”

↠↞

You walked into the gymnasium in which the boxing matches were held and were immediately surprised. High in the seats, someone had a banner with J.One written on it. Jisung had told you that was what he went by in the boxing world. You looked around, following Felix to just behind where he and the rest of Jisung’s group would sit side-ring. Taking a seat, you noticed the first aid stations, the ropes, everything.

After what seemed like forever, the crowd roared as Jisung and his opponent for the night, Luke, came into the venue. You cheered along with everyone else, and were surprised that your best friend had this much of a following. He was pretty cool in his red shorts. Yet again, you found yourself trying not to stare at his muscles, but it was so hard not to when they were just there for all to see.

The match was to be a full twelve rounds. At the start of the first round, you leaned forward in your seat, trying to catch exactly what Jisung was doing and planning. Round after round went on, flying by quicker than you could’ve imagined. By Round Seven, you were on your feet, hands over your mouth. It was a close match.

↠↞

Jisung climbed the three stairs up to the platform and ducked under the ropes. This was it. His first match with you watching. He could do you and Changbin proud.

The bell rang and Jisung squared off against his opponent. He’d read up on the man, and knew that he should be okay if he kept moving. Jisung darted around the ring for the first minute, occasionally landing a punch here and there. His opponent jeered, calling him “milksop” and “green bastard,” but Jisung didn’t let that phase him. He was young but he’s wasn’t green anymore. By minute three, the other man was tiring from always being on the offensive, his obvious cockiness and, perhaps, anger getting the better of him. One arm was even drooping. How was this guy even any good? Jisung thought. 

Then, Jisung circled round to the side and took his opponent’s momentary lapse in readiness as an opportunity to land two blows on the man’s exposed shoulder, jarring the muscles. This would slow the man down even more. However, Jisung misjudged the strength the man had and, seconds later, ended up on the ground with the referee beginning the count of ten. He’d received two quick punches to the gut and one to chin—how he hadn’t been able to defend himself, he couldn’t guess—and was now quite unable to stand. 

“Knockout! End of round,” the referee shouted, and the crowd cheered. 

After a moment, Jisung struggled to his feet, cursing himself for a fool. He’d been tricked by one of the oldest ploys in the book: act weak and come out strong. As he hung on the ropes, Changbin passed water up to him and Jisung took a few sips, wiping his brow.

“So,” Changbin said casually, “did you figure out what went wrong?”

“Fuck, Changbin, of course I did. He got me when I thought he wasn’t strong enough to.”

“Just because Y/N’s here, doesn’t mean you can’t lose, Jisung. Focus. Don’t misjudge your opponent—there’s almost always a little something you don’t know, even if you’ve studied everything you can about them.” The beep signaling thirty seconds until Round Two sounded, and Changbin took back the water bottle. “Don’t worry about it—everyone goes down hard sometimes, you know that. Now go out there and prove you’re the damn good boxer I know you are.”

Jisung donned his gloves again, then stepped into his corner of the ring. His opponent leered at him. Did this guy never let up?

Still bobbing and weaving when necessary, he waited. The bell rang to signal the end of Round Five with both men still standing. They’d traded blows back and forth and Jisung was one round behind his opponent.

The bell rang for the start of the twelfth and final round, and Jisung tried to watch the other man with new eyes. Was he slower on his right side that his left? Was that just a birthmark or an old bruise? Could he really not bounce off the ropes as well as expected?

Yes. Jisung was certain of it all now.

His opponent went to jab, but Jisung blocked the punch and executed an uppercut to the other man’s chin. While he was still in close, Jisung followed this up with a short straight-punch to the ribs, where a bad bruise was clearly fading, and a hook to the side of the jaw. The other man was now disoriented and Jisung easily landed punch after punch, ending Round Twelve with a strong upper-hook. The referee counted ten as the bragging, red-haired man lay on the ground, Jisung watching from his corner of the ring. 

“Knockout! End of round!” 

Jisung slumped against the ropes, catching his breath. Blood ran down his chin from what was probably a tooth knocked out. His ribs hurt like fire, too. Taking another deep breath, he made his way off the platform. Changbin was there immediately with a towel and water.

“I think you’ve won, man!” he said excitedly. “You landed more accurate punches than that punch-out.”

“We’ll see,” Jisung conceded. Then, he tried laugh but his ribs hurt too much. “Turns out he could talk better than he could punch.”

Changbin smiled, patting Jisung on the back, and led him over to a chair. The fight doctor came over and started to examine Jisung. The judges deliberated for a few minutes, then came to their decision. Changbin had been right. Jisung managed to land more accurate punches than his opponent, which meant that, even though he’d been knocked out in the first round, he still had more points to his name. 

Jisung had won. He grinned, and turned round to face you.

↠↞

Jisung turned his blood-covered face up to you when the judges announced his victory. Changbin and Felix were motioning for you to come down to the floor, too. You were beaming, not daring to believe the excitement and flutters of your heart.

You reached your best friend and, completely disregarding the orders of the fight doctor, swung you up into his arms. In no way did you care that your clothes were now covered in sweat, water, and blood because you were Jisung, and that’s all that mattered. You carefully hugged Jisung back, then he drew back slightly and smirked. 

“See? I can fight,” he said. 

“Yeah? Hmm, I guess you’re all right,” you laughed. 

“Good,” Jisung murmured, then leaned in and caught your lips with his. You froze for a moment. When your mind caught up with reality, you kissed him back. You felt your insides fill with elation and what felt like sunlight, even as you tasted the faint traces of blood on Jisung’s lip. All of this felt right: you, Jisung, and some sort of fight happening. But now, you could add kisses to that list—a necessary addition, you thought with a smile. After all, you and Jisung against all odds was how it’d always been and always would be. 

[themorp]

Writing Prompts

A lot of these are Au related! And some of them hint at violence/gore, so please be aware of that.

“Don’t move. They rely on sight.”

“I knew it was you!”

“Please tell me that’s not my soulmate.”

“Did you seriously get yourself stuck in a chair?”

“I am so sorry that the words on your arm are so stupid.”

“Prepare for canon fire!”

“Look out!”

“That’s gross... Cool! But still gross.”

“That was my kill!”

“Are you from the Northern Empire?”

“Well I’m not sure weather to be offended or relieved- my wanted posture looks nothing like me.”

“That is NOT how you hold (weapon).”

“Well... this is awkward...”

“Can I kick his ass?”

“HOW ARE THEY SO HOT??? HOW DARE THEY!!!”

“Be quiet! They’ll hear you!”

“Did you steal from that couple?”

“That thing has a curse on it. I’d be careful.”

“I didn’t realize it was a shrinking potion, I swear!”

“I knew (mythical creature/cryptid) were real!”

“Can you get me out of this thing?”

“I have never met you, but I know someone who needs help when I see one.”

“I left you guys alone for FIVE MINUTES!!!”

“That looks painful.”

“Yikes... Glad that’s not me.”

“We’re gonna have to cut it off before it spreads to other parts of their body.”

“And where, exactly, have you been?”

“HOW DID YOU PISS OFF ALL THE GUARDSMEN?!”

“I said distract them, not knock them out!”

“For the last time!!! That is not edible!”

“That man is crazy.”

“They’re going to burn them at the stake!”

“Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting.”

“You’re rescuing me?”

“I never knew the outside world so... big.”

“Put the fire out before we’re noticed!”

“This rescue mission is gonna kick my ass.”

“I... I think they’re still alive...”

“Are you sure they aren’t infected?”

“That’s a brutal looking scar.”

“How did you manage to pull that off?”

“Put down the (weapon)... I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“Well that isn’t normal.”

“What are you?!”

“Dragon bonding isn’t for everyone.”

“Who the hell thought this was a good idea.”

“I am no longer giving a fuck.”

“I want to give up, but I have someone worth pushing onwards for.”

“This storm came out of nowhere!”

“That was dangerous and reckless! But... it was impressive...”

“Who the hell is stupid enough to do that?”

“Can you see anything?”

“Is that what I think it is?”

“I haven’t had meat in years.”

“Was that a gunshot?”

“Can we keep it?”

“Well. This is unexpected.”

“Why are you covered in mud?”

“I have never been held like this...”

“Don’t touch me! You stink! What the hell was in that swamp?!”

“What is... kissing?”

“That’s disgusting. Don’t stop.”

“Aww... what a cute dog...! Wait... THAT IS NOT A DOG ABORT ABORT ABORT-”

“Can I have a hug?”

“How do you live like this?!”

“You’ve never been in a real battle, have you?”

“The Chief will decide your fate.”

“You know I was expecting you to be bigger.”

“Barricade the doors!”

“This is a strange ritual.”

“I don’t think this is a regular maze...”

“Is that blood?”

“There’s a hole in the floor.”

“What the hell was that? Did you hear that?”

“Zombies aren’t supposed to be smart!”

“Is that a ship?”

“Get the hell out of my way.”

“Did you just (physical attack such as punch or kick) me?!’

“They’re weakened by silver.”

“I really wish I had my holy water right now.”

“Well that backfired.”

“I’m so hungry... Can I feed off you a little?”

“YOU DARE OPPOSE ME?”

“Please help me, this man has been following me and I don’t want him to know where I live.”

“Is that really you?!”

“Has it really been three centuries?”

“Are you sure you’re human?”

“That was an alien- That was an alien- THAT WAS AN ALIEN-”

“We SHOULD NOT SPLIT UP!!”

Is it just me or is the floor moving?”

“How the hell did someone get in here?”

“Well, this is awkward... Can I have my payment now?”

“Since when were you so smart?”

“They’re right above us.”

“It’s almost like it can see into my soul.”

“BUGS DON’T GET THAT BIG HERE-”

“I hear growling...”

“DO NOT THROW THE BABY”

“Is that a threat or an offer?”

“I have so many pictures of them being an idiot.”

“The clock has less than hour left.”

“HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED A HORROR MOVIE?!?!”

“Was that you?”

“I think I’m going crazy.”

“We have to go- a scout discovered our shelter, the hive is coming.”

“It’s so damn hot.”

“I... I can’t remember...”

“Aww that’s so cute how much is i-... nevermind.”

“Did you just eat an alien egg?”

“You do realize they’re siblings right?”

“How are you so cute?”

“I am in debt to you, and until that debt is paid I will be you loyal servant.”

“Are you... Are you riding a dragon?”

“You’re under arrest.”

“Here, drink this.”

“Potion making is sensitive, so please be quiet whilst I work.”

“Has thee never seen a Vampire?”

“That was not rad at all.”

“I think it’s dead.”

“You go first.”

“You treat me as if I’m not a litterall demon from hell.”

“I will protect until my dying breath.”

“Don’t worry, you’re safe now.”

“It’s an honor to meet you.”

“You’re not from around here, re you?”

“What? Never seen a hybrid before?”

“That is not how you use that.”

“Did you know different flowers have different meanings...? The ones I gave you are quite unique in meaning.”

“Your family is... interesting...”

“If you’re not gonna eat grubs then you’re gonna starve. It’s all that’s out here.”

“That’s not human.”

“Stop standing there staring and help me!”

“I’m too short...”

“Was that an insult?”

“Keep up!”

“Don’t look behind you.”

“You have to jump! You have to trust me!”

“Is this it?”

“I can’t believe my soulmate is a human-”

“Well that was weird.”

“Have you ever exercised?”

“Don’t test my patience, pet.”

“How am I going to tell [Name] about this...?”

“It’s a match made in heaven!”

“Be careful, they’re sensitive!”

“So this is a fruit...”

“When I feel bad I go beat the shit out of someone. It works.”

“DID YOU PULL THE LEVER I SPECIFICALLY ASKED YOU NOT TO PULL?!”

“In DnD we call that rolling a one.”

“[Name] is gonna kill me!”

“Rest in pieces.”

“Hurt them and I make your life hell on Earth.”

“So he’s a dumbass-”

“Someone shoot me-”

“Give it back! That’s private!”

“It was so obvious! I’m such an idiot!”

“Is that all you have?”

“The expedition was successful.”

“There were no survivors.”

“I thought I lost you.”

“Stop! Stop! There’s a cat!”

“Why am I here again?”

“Having detachable body parts is actually a convenience when you’re a cyborg.”

That’s a big ass [Animal]”

“Do you know what you’re doing?!”

“Did you seriously have to pick the lock? When I have the keys?”

“They’re dangerous.”

“And that’s my que to leave.”

“You are my greatest treasure.”

“I seriously hope you’re not thinking of doing what I think you are thinking of doing.”

“WHY THE HELL ARE YOU NAKED?”

“Is... is that a dwarf?”

“You’re as odd as your friends said.”

“There is no need for violence!”

“All I wanted was a doughnut-”

“Why are the barn lights on?”

“They got into ANOTHER fight?!”

“You’d think living with a family of sorcerers would teach them something.”

“Thank goodness most dragons aren’t venomous.”

“Nagas are quite fickle creatures.”

“Satyrs are not to be trusted.”

“You walked into the faery ring, you belong to the fae now. I can’y help you.”

“Go ask them out! They look cute!”

“Angels aren’t supposed to fall in love... but how was I supposed resist you?”

“I thought humans were bigger.”

“Your highness is a royal pain in the ass.”

“That hurt.”

“I am not looking forward to this at all.”

“I do not like caves. I don’t like cavbes at all.”

“MOSS!!!!”

“This town seems abandoned.”

“The radiation levels aren’t too high here.”

“Put your masks on.”

“You know you shouldn’t give your name to strangers, especially a fae in the forest.”

“I never realized how big the ocean was.”

“I have an idea- it’s dangerous, crazy, and reckless, but it might just work.”

“Is this your child?”

“I’m surprised Cerberus likes you.”

“Hellhounds aren’t usually friendly.”

“That’s a big meal for one person...”

“Werewolves aren’t fans of silver.”

“The dumbest myth about us vampires is that we hate garlic.”

“What brings you to my territory, little human?”

“Don’t bare your fangs at guests! It’s rude!”

“I’m only protecting you because I made a promise.”

“That was a terrible attempt at a prank. Let me show you how it’s done.”

“You do realize demons can sense emotions right?”

“You foolish human! You could have gotten hurt!”

“Watch your step.”

“It’s called a secret entrance for a reason.”

“Did you just... kiss me...?”

“My soulmate is a dumbass but I love them.”

“This jackassery will not stand!”

“Unless you have a death wish I’d leave those sirens alone.”

“Swim with me?”

“Have you never frolicked before?”

“You’re fired!”

“Does this armor make me look fat?”

“Your soulmate is a Naga?”

“Gargoyles are cranky in the morning.”

“That little fucker is at it again-”

“I don’t remember the last time I laughed like that.”

“Elves are usually attractive... but them... they’re ethereal..”

“I think I’m in love with a snake man.”

“Are orcs usually this big?”

“Confess? And risk ruining what i have with them? I’d rather drink bog water that a Satyr bathed in!”

“Are all humans this attractive or is it just you?”

“Guns are so odd... They only do their job after they’re fired...”

“Are you usually this full of yourself?”

Do you have any idea what you just did?”

“I wasn’t expecting to meet my soulmate when I snuck into Area 51.”

“Turn off the lights!”

“I won’t let you go, not again.”

“That’s so dangerous...! When are we doing it?”

“You humans are so fragile, yet you are the apex species of your planet.”

“IT’S NOT WORTH IT! GET BACK IN THE CAR!”

“Don’t look back!”

“They’re attracted by (heat, sound, etc.).”

“It looks dangerous.”

“Don’t touch it-”

“Careful it’s soup.”

“Did... did that thing just speak?”

“It’s a boat! Oh my god it’s a boat- we’re saved-”

“Keep your distance.”

“I will not hesitate to leave you behind.”

“THEY’RE SIBLINGS?!”

‘I am slightly worried... never mind I am very worried.”

“THEY’RE CHOKING!”

“It’s too damn hot to do anything.”

“Stop singing!”

“Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, kid.”

“That is one ugly ass [Animal/baby/clothing item].”

“I’VE SEEN THIS IN A HENTAI BEFORE!”

“Please shut your trap before I stuff it- shit that sounds sexual-”

“Is that- Is that a fucking cat?”

“That is not what the mean when they say; ‘smash that like button’“

“Where did you learn to drive?” 

“Oof.”

“I’m know I’m stupid but I’m not THAT stupid.”

[thebladeblaster]

SMT 4 Corrupted (Halloween fic)

Summary: A rewrite of SMT4 Apocalypse where the Venom symbiote’s appearance causes the original timeline to further distort.

Please give me some of your opinions!!!

Chapter 1 Venomized (1st draft)

Flynn sat down feeling a bit exhausted. His eyes looked over the extravagant chalice in his hands nearly filled to the brim with light. He is to become the hope of the people of Tokyo. Soon, the god Krishna will be released which will drastically shift the fate of Flynn however another disturbance will soon cause that fate to shift again.

Flynn had black hair tied up into a ponytail by a white band. He had distinctive green eyes that had made him stand out in both his home Mikado and his current residence in Tokyo. white robes lined with gold with a blue and white coat over it. He had white pants and a brown belt with a sword hung on it. He had white boots with various straps. He had white knee pads over his pants and a white scarf on his neck worn like a bandanna. On his right arm was a metal gauntlet with a red strap around the wrist.

You could see the tiredness in his eyes. He was brimming with sweat from all the quests he had done to fill the chalice. It felt like one thing after the other he has hardly had any time to rest. Especially with Heaven’s forces hovering around the area near the reactor. He has a bad feeling they were planning something and he has to fill the chalice fast before something bad happens. Him and Isabeau took up some urgent quests dealing with demon attacks. They were split up for now since it was actually in many parts of Tokyo. He should be finished up now after beating the last horde. Good thing for him, his last one was in Shinjuku. Now, he can finally rest in the rooms at cafe Florida. Isabeau and him had been staying there ever since he came back from the White’s world.

He got himself up trying to mask his exhaustion. He doesn’t need demons to see an opening to gang up on him. He headed over to the exit for the underground district of Shinjuku. Most of the demons backed away at his presence probably due to seeing him defeat the hordes. However, that was most demons there was one exception.

He hastily jumped out of the way as some black tendrils stabbed where he was standing. He looked up at the demon, it was jet-black with completely white eyes. It was humanoid and very muscular. The demon looked unfamiliar to him...Where had it come from?

“Scanning…”, his AI companion Burroughs said from his gauntlet.

Flynn hastily touched the button screen of his gauntlet to summon his demons: Demonee Ho, Izanami, and Michael.

Demonee Ho jumped onto his shoulder using it as a perch to use its signature skill Desperate Hit. Energy like bullets shot out of its gun keeping the hulking demon at bay so Burroughs could finish analyzing the demon. He had to find out what the demon’s weakness is so he had Izanami use Thunder Gods on the demon. The demon seemed to be hurt by the lightning, but it persevered charging at Flynn. It seemed rather sturdy. Michael flew in front of him as Flynn had him use Inferno of God. The demon wailed in pain which made Michael smirk. Flynn now knew this was the demon’s weakness judging by the reaction. Flynn snapped his fingers causing a massive inferno to ignite which enveloped the demon. Flynn recalled his demons as he saw the other demons shrinking back in fear. The fire blast he shot created an explosion which lightly shook the area. A cloud of smoke filled Flynn’s gaze when it dissipated he raised his eyebrow as he saw a human man in place of the demon.

He was blonde, very muscular and naked for some reason. He has definitely seen some strange things in Tokyo. Was the demon taking the appearance of a man to lower his guard? Flynn cautiously poked the man with his sword.

“Master, th-zzzz”, Burroughs said, before suddenly there was static on his gauntlet.

His attention instantly turned to his gauntlet. It’s screen had gone black like when it was turned off puzzling Flynn. He tried to turn his gauntlet back on yet got no reaction. So, he tried again and again till he got annoyed. But, as soon as the annoyance wore off he was concerned about his AI companion. Seeing the demon star coming near the unconscious man drooling, Flynn decided to bring the man to the underground district so he wasn’t eaten alive. As he did he looked around for the mysterious demon wondering where it went off to. Perhaps it had been destroyed? That didn’t explain the naked man though. People gave him funny looks as he walked back in with the man. He didn’t let this bother him though. He looked for somewhere comfortable to set him down at.

He ended up going into the hunter association so he didn’t carry him through hordes of hungry demons. Similarly he got strange as some dumbfounding looks as he carried the man.

“Just how strong is that kid?”, a hunter whispered, sweat dropping.

“Maybe the naked weirdo tried to make a move on Tokyo’s Liberator?”? another hunter said.

The other hunters scooted over as he placed the man down. He put his hands over him which glowed with pink energy. The man’s wounds from the battle were quickly healed as if they were never there causing many hunters to gape.

“This guy just keeps getting crazier. You know I heard he could fly like a freaking superhero and I’m starting to believe it.”, a hunter said.

“I think I have some extra clothes...though I don’t think they could fit him…”, Flynn mumbled, clearly in his own world not listening to the comments aimed at him.

“Perhaps I could help out with that.”, the bartender volunteered.

“Ah, thank you.”, Flynn said, bowing politely.

“Speaking of a new wardrobe, when did you change your outfit Mr. Tokyo Liberator?”, the bartender asked, confusing Flynn before he looked down at his samurai garb to see it was now pitch black with only a few bits of white remaining on it.

“Huh?!”, Flynn questioned, raising up his sleeve to look at it.

Why did his clothes change? When did his clothes change?

“That’s weird I could swear it was blue a second ago…”, Flynn said, sounding a bit weirded out.

The two looked over as the man seemed to rouse. He had a spooked expression on his face which worsened as he looked over to Flynn. He jumped backing away from him as he walked towards him.

“Are you alright sir? Do you know anything about that weird demon that disappeared suddenly?”, Flynn asked.

The man shivered and shuttered.

“Someone should give this dude a blanket.”, a hunter said.

“G-get away from me! I’m done with you! Y-you got the host you wanted!”, the man said fearfully, greatly confusing everyone who heard it.

“Host? What are you talking about?”, Flynn inquired, trying to reach out only for the man to bolt out of the association.

“It’s your problem now!”, the man yelled.

Flynn scrambled up to catch the man and inquire further. However, when he exited the association he didn’t see the man anywhere. He checked all the entrances and it seemed like he was gone.

“Host? It? This is all so strange?”, Flynn murmured, completely perplexed.

“I’ll worry about it later. It doesn’t seem I can find the man and I still have to find out what happened to Burroughs.”, Flynn thought.

He wasn’t exactly sure who to ask so he went back to Cafe Florida to ask Fujiwara. He’s sure to know someone he can ask. He walked over to the little corner the cafe was tucked away in and went through the door. He explained the situation to Fujiwara and Skins.

“I see...it seems like your Demonica is broken. I’m sure I can find someone to fix it up. This is a rather inconvenient time for this to happen with Lucifer and Merkabah around. I’ll try to get it back to you as fast as possible. Till then you’ll have to take it easy without your demons.”, Fujiwara said.

“I can’t do that!”, Flynn protested.

“Simmer down there. We’re not asking you to retire or anything. You just need to take on some easier requests at least until your Demonica is fixed up. It should be in less than a week.”, Skins replied.

“Still…”, Flynn grumbled stubbornly, making the two sweat drop.

“Why are the young so reckless?”, Fujiwara sighed.

“Hehe. Everyday he reminds me more of the man who saved Tokyo.”, Skins chuckled as Flynn walked away.

“Yeah...their resemblance is uncanny. He’s just as stubborn as he was. Never able to settle when there was still good to be done. ”, Fujiwara replied.

Flynn went to the back of the cafe where the room he was staying in was at. He was exhausted both physically and mentally especially with the weird incident earlier. He still doesn’t know what was up with that guy or where the demon went. Or why Burroughs was damaged and why his samurai uniform is now black. He laid down on his bed tiredly quickly putting on something more comfortable for sleeping. He wore a simple blue shirt and black shorts. His hair tie was undone allowing his hair to lay freely on his shoulders. As soon as he hit the pillow he was out like a light.

Strangely the black uniform seemed to shift after Flynn drifted into unconsciousness.

Flynn started to dream, finding himself in the cloudy scape where he had met with the goddess of Tokyo before. The goddess was in the unassuming form of a little girl with black hair and a long white dress.

“Flynn!”, the goddess called out anxiously, sounding worried.

In reality the uniform was back to being blue as if the black on it had been washed away. A black mass slithered its way towards the unconscious Flynn.

“Is there something wrong, goddess?”, Flynn asked.

The gooey mass made its way up the bed to where Flynn was currently resting. The mass shifted arching over his prone form casting a shadow over him.

“There’s another threat to Tokyo! A big threat has just appeared! Flynn you have to wake up!”, the goddess cried out urgently confusing the messiah.

“Something other than Lucifer and Merkabah?”, Flynn questioned in a confused tone.

The being edged closer to the unconscious samurai shifting itself to be narrower as if to fit into something. Small tendrils came out of it forcing his mouth open.

“Yes! You have to hurry Flynn!”, the goddess said.

The being it’s way slithered into his mouth.

Flynn suddenly felt on guard in his dream like something was very wrong. He didn’t know exactly how to wake up. Usually the weird dream vision would end on its own and he would wake up.

The being continued forward slithering down his throat forcing his unconscious to swallow as to not choke.

Flynn stiffed as the feeling of wrongness became much greater. Something felt off and unnatural.

“Flynn...it’s inside you.”, the goddess said, horrifying and further confusing him.

“Inside me?”, Flynn questioned, stumbling as the area around them suddenly shook.

He looked over to see the towering form of Masakado in his full glory rather than being just a floating head. Opposing the castle-like god was a large less human version of the black demon from before. It’s form seemed less human and almost alien in proportions. It battled Masakado, the goddess called out for Flynn as he rushed into the battle hoping to help Masakado. He gasped in shock seeing Masakado on the back foot from the demon and actually being defeated. The demon before was not that strong.

“Flynn! Do not let it take over your soul!”, Masakado warned eerily as he slowly fell.

Flynn reached for his sword only to realize it was missing. Actually all his equipment was missing. He was in his sleepwear. So, he tried to conjure another Trisagion to defeat the demon once again, but nothing happened much to his shock. He tried again and his magic still wasn’t working. The demon grabbed Flynn with its tendrils and he desperately tried to get out of its grip.

“From now on Godslayer you're under new management.”, the demon said with a sinister grin.

Flynn looked at the demon with a defiant look in face of his situation.

“I won’t submit to you! I’ll stop you!”, Flynn declared.

“We’ll see about that. Once you feel the power I’ll give you’ll never want to go back.”, the demon said before devouring him whole.

In reality Flynn bolted awake to see he was no longer in his room. He was outside for some reason sword in hand fighting demons without his gauntlet. He had on the black samurai uniform instead of his sleepwear and his hair was tied back up by something.

“How did I get here?”, Flynn questioned, he noticed the demons shrinking away from him.

For some strange reason he felt a power pulsing through him which felt...really good. His worries, confusions, and anxieties seemed to clear away as the power pulsed through him like a beating heart. The black uniform clung onto him like a second layer of skin and it felt alive...like he could feel a pulse within it strangely enough. It felt a little too good. He feels like he should be more worried about this, but such thoughts were quickly plucked from his mind.

“What’s this...I feel…?”, Flynn murmurs as he looks over the black samurai uniform.

He felt a pump of adrenaline through his system like he had to go fight something. He needed to fight, conquer, feed...The feeling of the power pulsing inside him felt addicting like a drug. Yes...with this power he could still fight at full capacity without his gauntlet! He could crush Lucifer and Merkabah easily!

“Wow...this feels good!”, Flynn said, a uncharacteristically sinister smirk formed on his face.

The demons looked more nervous looking at Flynn like a rabbit looks at a wolf. He raised his sword to the still shivering demons.

Somewhere else in some other plane of existence a man in all orange in a wheelchair watched this.

“I guess you could call me this universe’s watcher. Ah, it seems the wheels of fate have shifted once more. Now, will Tokyo’s Liberator overcome this demon’s corruption or will he submit to it and fall from grace? Only time will tell.”, the man named Stephen said.

To be continued...

[the-mandalorian-clone-lover]

Aces in Spaces Chapter 25

I’m literally. So Excited. For you guys. To read this. :DDDDD

So. Roman and Erica are getting into some aggressive negotiations around their fifth year anniversary and Butcher is fangirling (fanboying?) so hard

Tags: @agent-450​ @sunshinepascal​ @rentskenobi​ @princessxkenobi​ @maybege​ @obaby-wan​

Masterlist

Photos under the cut!

(also I know he has a ring on in the picture but they haven’t exchanged rings yet shhhhh)

She’s panting, the music still pulsing in the background and the bodies are littering the floor around her. She sends a prayer of thanks heavenward that she talked Roman out of heels for the night, it would have made the affair they just concluded much more difficult. Her eyes begin searching for him then, she knows he’ll be standing but she lost track of him during the scuffle (and that’s what it was, she barely got enough resistance to call it a fight, let alone a bar fight). She finds him then, throwing the last punch into his opponent’s face before grabbing the back of their clothes and slamming their head into the table and letting go to let them fall to the floor in a heap. His eyes shoot up then, searching and she starts walking towards him. Stalking almost, she realizes, but it doesn’t matter, she’s made a decision just now and nothing is going to stop her from telling him. A groan that slips into a cry of pain splits the air as she walks, taking extra care to stomp on those unfortunate enough to move as she passes. She’s a woman on a mission and she sees the way Roman’s pupils are blown wide when she finally reaches him. She yanks his jacket to pull him into her and her voice is deep and firm and full of promise as she nearly growls into the lack of space between them

“Yes. Yes I will marry you and I swear to God I’ll never want anyone but you, never think of anyone the way I do of you, never leave your side, never let you go, always have your back and always keep you safe.” Her voice breaks at the end but her eyes never leave his, she vaguely notes that his are now glassy, but she knows her own are too and she can’t help but start gasping for breath as his hands find her face and his eyes crinkle at the corners.

“YES, YES YES!!!!!!”

Both of them are torn from the tenderness of the moment and turn to face the new threat, shoulders pressed together in a unified front before Roman slumps “Oh, it’s just Butcher”.

Butcher’s enthusiasm however hasn’t wavered in the slightest as he barrels his way across the room (no doubt taking the same lack of care to avoid the bodies that Erica did, and nearly careens into them with a (practically shouted) “I’ve taken the class, we can do it now, no need to wait she practically already said her vows!!”

Their brows furrow as one then, and together they glance at one another before looking back to Butch, “Class?”

“Yes, yes,” he assures hurriedly “I’m sure we can find some flowers or something, Hannah will be disappointed not to be a bridesmaid” He’s already walking towards the bar, reaching for the vase behind the counter “But I’m sure she’ll understand given the circumstances” he turns back to them holding the, what appear to be lilies, and walks back to Erica to hand them to her before turning to Roman.

“Well now Roman, that won’t do.” He says with a frown, reaching out to fix the suit jacket of the man in question, dusting his shoulders off before standing straight again and clapping his hands together. “Now, do you, Roman Stanton take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

The spell that had suspended them both during the entirety of his spiel seems broken now and they glance at each other before Erica speaks “But” her eyes search the floor desperately before circling back to him with an open mouth “You took a class to be-

“An ordained minister yes.” Butch cuts in “Hannah said it was cute when I told her I’d done it, it’s been awhile but I shouldn’t need to renew quite yet, should be good.”

Erica laughs then, smile emerging before turning to Roman and raising her eyebrows “Well? Do you?”

“Oh, God yes” the words leave his mouth on an exhale and he’s grabbing Erica’s face to slam his lips into hers. There’s a finality to it, as if it were the last they’d ever share but Butch cuts in with a

“I’m not done” that can’t be ignored and they separate reluctantly. He’s eyeing them both like a parent who’s caught their child with a hand in the cookie jar but they can’t bring themselves to be anything but giddy now, Erica’s looped both of her arms around Roman’s one and tucked herself into his side and he’s holding onto her with his other hand.

“You have to let me finish or it won’t count” Butch says calmly “I read that part over and over, looking for loopholes but it’s the facts”.

They both laugh at this and Roman brushes his nose against Erica’s when she turns to him, a disgusting show of affection he knows but they’re about to be married for God’s sake.

“I do” he breaths out finally, eyes never leaving hers, “forever”. She smiles at him then and it’s filling her eyes, the joy that he knows she feels and then Butch cuts in again.

“And do you Ms. Erica, take Roman Stanton to be your lawfully wedded husband?” She blinks so he adds “I know you already said your vows, but I still have to ask.” By way of explanation.

Her eyes flit all across Roman’s face, his nose, how sharp it is, his eyes, how blue they are, his cheeks, how positively rosy this whole exchange has made them, and pecks his lips as fast as she can before turning to grin at Butch, “I do, forever but twice.” She turns her grin on Roman “Because I’m taller than you, so I have the physical capacity to love you more”. She laughs as she finishes and Butcher can’t hardly contain himself because that’s his favorite of all their inside jokes and he’s literally about to bust from the happiness that he gets to be the one to seal the deal for them both.

“Then I pronounce you husband and--- OH NO.”

Both of them turn worried looks to him, bodies once again tensing for a fight before he manages in a voice full of horror “We don’t have any witnesses!!!”

Roman, ever the problem solver, immediately drops Erica’s hand and turns toward the pile that lays just beside them, “How many do we need?” He inquires pragmatically, already reaching to sort through who is the most conscious at the moment.

“Well, minimum two but if there’s more we could call them the wedding party” Butcher says in a voice that really says he’d rather have anyone else be their witnesses but he can’t bear to let the moment pass.

Roman nods and begins hauling them up one by one to lay against the chairs, pausing before Erica comes along and begins cuffing them together with their own handcuffs. He stops to grab her head and kiss her temple gently, “One mind my love” he starts “and one heart, husband” she finishes, packing the most love into one gaze that Butchers ever seen and he has to shake himself together to start helping Roman with the stacking. It doesn’t take more than a light smack to wake each one, and Butcher shoos Roman and Erica back toward their original spot before giving the four men that are awake a stern glare.

“Your sole purpose here is to exist, get any smart ideas and I have no problem gagging you. It says you have to witness, which only involves your eyes being open, nothing else is guaranteed.”

He turns back to Roman and Erica with a megawatt smile and decides he can abbreviate a little.

“Roman, do you take her?”

Roman pauses, “You aren’t going to do it all again?” he seems almost mournful, his lips merging into a pout.

Butch is plunging ahead, not waiting for anyone to change their mind. “Do you, Roman Stanton, take Ms. Erica to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

Roman pauses again and Butch about has a heart attack before Roman speaks “Can you ask her first this time? Are there rules about the order?”

Butch blinks, not that he knew of, at any rate, if they both agreed then it probably didn’t matter the order. He starts again, “Do you, Ms. Erica, take Roman Stanton to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

She looks to Roman, face full of love, patiently waiting for the reason of his request to reveal itself, “I do, forever and ever.”

Roman smiles back, kissing her cheek before gazing back at Butch with a gleam in his eye, raising his eyebrows urging him to ask the question.

“Do you, Roman Stanton, take Ms. Erica to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

There’s a groan of discomfort from somewhere in the pile before the sound of someone being kicked also occurs and another voice hisses out a ‘Shhhhhh, it’s just getting good’

Roman bites his lip before pulling away from Erica, stepping up into the chair that was forgotten in the scuffle. “I do, forever and ever and ever, because I’m currently bigger than you and have the capacity to love you more.”

Butcher has died and gone to heaven. He’s doubtless there’s anything more beautiful than the scene before him (except Hannah in the morning, hair askance and laid across his chest), Roman is smiling down at Erica like there’s no one in the world more beautiful and Erica is smiling up at Roman with the fondness she’s grown in throughout their relationship. The soft lighting in the room is making them both look like angels, and its only interrupted by the soft clapping that comes from the pile of witnesses. Butch is about to turn a glare to them before Roman hops down to sweep Erica into his arms and he remembers he has one more thing to say.

“I pronounce you Husband and Wife. Now you can kiss”

There’s a ‘Finally!’ from somewhere in the pile but no one gives it any credence and Roman is leaning into her and she’s throwing her arms around his neck and he’s spinning her around and they’re laughing together and Butch knows unquestionably that he won’t see anything more beautiful until he sees Hannah pregnant, and later holding their baby but right now, they’re gorgeous, forever.

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

[yanderedbh-moved]

In this scenario, you’ve become fed up with your life as the yandere’s glorified captive. Deciding you can’t take another day of this, you attempt to just get up and walk out. Much to your dissatisfaction, though, you are stopped at the door by the yandere. After a heated confrontation, you make a split-second decision to just try and force your way past them. However, in a blind panic, the yandere grabs you and throws you with full force away from the door, accidentally throwing you up against the wall. The unexpected strength of the attack was faster than your reflexes. After your head collided against the wall, you were unable to catch yourself before landing on your back. Knocking the wind out of your lungs, leaving you stunned and practically immobile.

Connor

For a brief moment here, Connor might unintentionally have a bit of a "blackout" moment. On account of all the stress and peril of his current situation, Connor loses full control over himself and his instincts as a hardened police Android take over. Resulting in Connor reacting with such force.

After he's apologized to you and after you've allowed him to scan and assess any possible damage caused, he will do his best to explain the cause of this outburst. Partly for your own sake of understanding and partly so you won't blame him later.

Though he might not want to do this, Connor can't help but notice how he has your full attention and that you undeniably view him as a threat he will use fear to get his point across towards you. He'll explain that he's powerless to stop this shift in his own behavior, and it'd be in your best interest not to test him again if you don't want this to happen.

Markus

He knows there's no way to prevent himself from feeling guilty over what he's done; he must admit to himself this choice was made with the both of your well-being in mind. Although this hurt, it really was a necessary evil.

Before he does anything, Markus will allow the silence and fear to fully set in for you to really learn your lesson here before he even does anything. After this, he will give you a choice. Apologize for leaving and swear you'll never do this again and he'll help you out here, or you can try your little escape again and see where that leads you.

After everything, though, you know there's no way you physically have the strength left and you to try and run again. With no choice but to admit defeat, you let Markus carry you back to the bed where you'll have an awfully long time to think about what you've done.

Kara

Before now, Kara always saw herself as a protective figure to you; it just didn't make any sense to her why you would try to run from her. What made even less sense to her, however, was how could she let herself bring you harm after she promised so long ago to do nothing but love and protect you.

To make up for doing this to you, Kara swears to look after you with the utmost attention while your injuries repair themselves. No matter how minor any of those injuries might be to her, this is her fault, and she must atone for this.

Kara might really beat herself up over this because, on the one hand, she really does feel guilty over doing this to you. However, this might also be a slight manipulation tactic to convince you to forgive her over all of this.

Hank

He's barely even able to fully process what has happened before he's a cursing mess. Not exactly hard to understand why it would cause Hank so much stress to see he directly caused someone he loves so much physical pain. As he's likely become so smothering over you to cope with the way he blames himself for Cole's death. So even a rather minor incident like this has his stress levels at a maximum.

He'll start swearing before doing his best to quickly bend down and get beside you. (As swiftly as he can though unfortunately his knees just aren't what they used to be.) As a lieutenant, he has at least the vaguest of medical knowledge to check to see if you have any significant damage on the back of your head or on your neck.

For a long time, he wouldn't know what to do other than to just hold you in his arms and whispering in your ear to you over and over how sorry he is. Needless to say, this stuck with him, and he actually is more hesitant to strike out in the future or to even so much as raise his voice.

Luther

To say he was regretful was an understatement. Honestly, there were no words to describe the shame and regret he felt as he watched your body slumped to the floor, and the way your eyes wide nearly tearing with fear stared up at him. No doubt, fearing that he was about to strike at you again.

It was nothing short of heart-wrenching to watch as all his efforts to convince you he was more than the attack dog he was programmed as were crushed with one regrettable outburst. Unable to stop himself, Luther would fall on his knees at your side, pulling you into his arms, careful not to bring any further strain to your harmed body as he wept and apologized.

Simon

It's difficult for Simon to decide what to do here, and seeing the way you're too afraid to move as you look up at him isn't helping. However, considering there's no way you're planning to try and escape from him for the rest of the night, Simon would likely take off to be on his own for a little while.

Simon knows he's a strong guy. However, he knows he's not exactly the toughest around, and any injuries you suffered by his hands will likely need no more than a night to recover from. That's isolation is best for you both.

It wouldn't be until much later into the night when you think you're all alone in bed that you would feel him crawl up beside you. Only after a long time alone to think about his actions, would you get a proper apology. Even here, though, Simon wouldn't waste his breath and promising not to do this again.

North

Like many yanderes here, it's genuinely tough for North deal with what she's done or by extension to fully comprehend the pain she's caused. Because of that North will try to cover the feelings of guilt and shame with anger.

She'll say things like, "See what you've done! I warned you not to get in my way or to leave me and look at what you've done! How could you do this to us? You must really hate me, even after everything I've done for you!"

Make no mistake though these words of harshness of hers are nothing more than a front North is putting on. There is no one here she's more angry with then herself no matter what she might say. The one thing which would eventually break through to her though it would be the site of you curled up on the floor at her feet and pain.

Josh

He was angry at you before for trying to leave him like this but, once he fully realizes what he's done, there is no one Josh is more upset with that himself. Josh wanted to show you there was no reason to fear or hate him, but what did he do instead? Nothing but prove your fears to be true.

Despite the intensity of his own emotions at the moment, Josh wouldn't immediately rush to your side. He knows you're already afraid in the last thing Josh wants is to further scare you or stress you out.

All he wants to do right now is hold his beloved as he brushes away your tears and rocks you gently to calm you down enough to stop crying and to stop fighting his affections.

Kamski

Despite the situation, there's a chance Kamski might feel a touch of pride in reducing you to such a pitiful fearful, and helpless state. Kamski might fancy himself in intellectual over a fighter any day, but he loves to see your reactions of all kinds. No matter the emotion, he can't get enough.

Because of this, Elijah can't help but chuckle and taunt you here. "My love, you really ought to know better than to try and test me like this, have you really learned so little about me?"

He would leave it up to you to get up by yourself, heal up, and decide where to go from here. After all, if there's anything Kamski finds more interesting than how you react to stimulus, it's watching how you'll decide to counter this and grow. It's all so fascinating, and he can't wait to watch more from you in the future.

Chloe

To be completely honest, it's tough for Chloe to even understand how she managed to get in this position in the first place; however, but she knows this is all just a big mistake. Just some freak accident, and the sooner you can understand that as well the better.

Even though she wants to make sure you aren't hurt too badly, the shock of realizing she's why you're in so much pain has Chloe immobile with fear, and she's paralyzed with shock for a few moments.

Entirely beside herself, Chloe is all but bawling her eyes out at she's hugging you as tight as she can, exclaiming again and again how sorry she is. As well she begs you for forgiveness chillingly, also asking you never to make her have to do something like that again... Because she can and will at the end of the day do this if it means keeping you by her side forever.

Gavin

Despite his initial shock over the whole ordeal, Gavin may have a rough temperament. Still, he really didn't mean to do this and is just as surprised as you at the fallout. He would be sure to try and hide his alarm and would try to use his own anger to cover what he's done.

Completely out of his element here when it comes to assessing your injuries even though there's a chance you're concussed, he will drag you back to the house to check your injuries.

Even though he wouldn't say sorry to your face or anything like that, you can tell that deep down, he wishes it didn't have to be this way, and he might even try harder to be more careful in the future.

Zlatko

"You're going to have to be smarter than that if you want to escape me, my sweet." Yeah, don't tell me you thought Zlatko would feel sorry or apologize to you after what he's done. Unfortunately, that's not precisely Zlatko's style. He never used pet names with you and only would really break them out if he was trying to scare you or get under your skin. And now that you're lying helplessly At his feet, your mind can't help but race as you tremble thinking of all the possible ways this man could hurt you punish you for running.

In his mind, this is nothing short of a valuable learning opportunity for you, after all, what fun would you be to keep around if you are a dull, predictable pet. Zlatko has androids he can use, which were programmed to do that for him. What he wants from you is something more interesting.

Ralph

Since the shock of everything caused the wind to knock from your lungs and you to see stars for a moment, you're actually unable to move. In that time, Ralph's is horrified, wondering if he's actually accidentally killed you.

Ralph would never be able to forgive himself if this were to actually happen, so without missing a beat, he's hands and knees over you begging to wake up and answer him.

Eventually, when you do come to your senses, and you're afraid of him on a whole new level, unsure if you'll ever be able to predict his next mood swing.

Daniel

Oh boy, the unfortunate overwhelmed android. He thought things were going wrong when you tried to leave, but now that he's done this to you, things are looking all the bleaker for the two of you.

Before now, Daniel felt scared and full of awful impulses, but he knew he could count on you to help him calm down in times of anxiety and not do something stupid. But now that you were the one responsible for these feelings. How could he ever hope to keep his emotions under control? It was a lost battle, to say the least.

A part of him couldn't help but feel genuinely angry with you, though. After all, you knew better than anyone how Daniel had such awful memories of being replaced and abandoned. However, still, you did this to him.

Nines

A far cry from the more smothering types of yanderes Nines isn't afraid to show you who's really in charge here; however, just because he's hard on you doesn't mean he's doing this because he wants to see you suffer. Nines might say he's testing you like this as a way to make you stronger like he's helping you here.

Nines wasn't surprised to see he was physically strong enough to do something like this to you. What did alarm him is how he struck out and hurt you at all, considering how he usually has much better control over himself and isn't so prone to outbursts like this.

Nines realizes fairly quickly the notion of you walking out on him or by extension, ever losing you in general causes him great fear and weakness. Something he doesn't want you to see. Nines wouldn't apologize or express how he hates to see you in pain; instead, he would warn you not to test him again and to leave you alone for the rest of the night.

[megalony]

This isn’t love

Another dad! Ben Hardy imagine that is part of my ‘Swimming’ series of Ben as a single dad. Mentions of abuse.

Taglist: @marshmallowmae  @likeit-or-leaveit  @they-call-me-peaches  @mcrmarvelloki  @bensrhapsody

Series masterlist

Enjoy.

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

Stepping back rather quickly Emily braced her hand on the wall beside her when the elder girl barrelled past her just as she was about to knock on the door. Emily watched the chocolate haired girl disappear with tears in her eyes and an angered expression on her face, her frame disappearing around the corner quicker than lightning.

Composing herself Emily took a moment to gain back her breath before she leaned around the wall to peer into the apartment her brother and his girlfriend shared. Her eyes widening at the sight before her.

Daring to step into the apartment the ash blonde closed the door behind herself before she speeded over to her elder sibling who was sat on the floor. Ben was leaning up against the arm of the sofa, knees pulled up to his stomach as his hand tangled in his hair gripping at the short strands. His other hand pressing to the left side of his temple as a groan escaped his lips as he felt himself beginning to shake.

Glancing his eyes up Ben sighed when his eyes locked onto his sister as she knelt down beside him, fear evident in her hazel orbs that were scanning him as if checking for injuries. Ben wasn't sure if he was relieved to see his sister right now or afraid, because he knew the conversation that was going to come up and he dreaded how she was going to take the answer he had to give. Reaching out a cautious hand Emily gently wrapped her fingers around Ben's hand, pulling it away from his temple to reveal what he seemed to be hiding behind his palm. His eyes watering at seeing her face fall like the strings holding it up had been snipped. A small sob escaping her lips as she reached a hand out to the cut just above his brow.

"I'm alright Em." He whispered, his voice barely reaching her ears as she couldn't stop the tears from welling in her eyes and jumping free from her lashes.

"What happened?" Her voice wobbled as she was unable to control it. Her thumb brushing over the cut to his temple to brush away the blood, her breaths shaking as she pressed her hand to the side of his face. Her thumb brushing over his cheekbone, watching as Ben leaned into the touch as his heart hammered away in his chest.

"Pushed me, caught my head on the table." He swallowed harshly after the words left his lips, his hand indicating to the corner of the coffee table to his left.

Emily couldn't do this anymore.

She couldn't keep coming round to the flat to find out more and more abuse was happening without her knowledge or any repercussions. She had only just learnt that Ben was suffering at the hands of his girlfriend a month ago and since then every time she seemed to see her brother Emily burst into tears. Today was no different, she had come round for their weekly catchup where they would usually go out for a drink and now she found her brother had been hurt. The moment she found out about the toxic relationship Emily told Ben to leave, but he couldn't. He was afraid and he didn't know what to do, but leaving just didn't seem to be a viable option right now.

But Emily wouldn't stand for this anymore. There was no way that Emily could continue to come round and visit her brother in fear and turmoil over whether he had been subjected to any abuse or whether he had escaped it for a day or two. It wasn't fair to him in any sense.

Ben wasn't fighting back. He felt unable to even dare to hit his girlfriend when she found it so easy to cause him harm. He could shout when she verbally attacked him and he could walk away, but becoming physical or lowering himself to her level of verbal abuse was something he could never find it in himself to do. And if he couldn't do that or find it in himself to leave, then Ben was essentially trapping himself.

"You're coming home with me. I'm not letting this happen anymore, the bitch can go to hell for what she's done to you."

Resting his hand over her own Ben moved his head so he could kiss the palm of her hand. His eyes telling her that he couldn't go along with her words which caused a broken sob to leave her lips as she felt herself beginning to shake. Why wouldn't he just let her save him?

"No, no Ben please. Just listen to me, you can live with me okay? We can share a home and I'll keep you safe, she doesn't know where I live you can be free I swear. I can't let her do this to you, what if I come round and your unconscious o-or I'm too late to save you? I can save you now, you just have to let me do this for you." Emily rested both her hands either side of his face, making sure he was looking at her properly as she brushed away the relentless tears streaming down his face. His head shaking as he just couldn't do that.

"Em, I can't."

"Why not?" Emily gently shook his head as if to try and force him to realise what he was saying. She was throwing him a lifeline here, and he was refusing to take it seemingly preferring to drown.

"She's pregnant."

Ben had never seen his sister sob in such agony like this before, and he felt broken at knowing he was the reason for this. His hand moved to gently caress the back of her head when she pressed her face into his shoulder, her tears soaking into his shirt. He held her to his chest as they both cried.

He couldn't leave now, because if he did he would be waving away the rights to see his child and protect them from the monster they would have for a mother. She well and truly had a hold over Ben now and he had no escape even if Emily thought she could save him, this time she couldn't. If Ben left he knew she would leave, the flat was in his name and she would leave. Ben wouldn't be able to find her and his child would be out there at risk of suffering the way he did. There was no way he could do that to his flesh and blood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You think this is love?" The words passed through Ben's lips as he felt his shoulders falling. His eyes welling over with tears as he stared at the girl stood in front of him who he had been with for almost three years.

Ben knew what love felt like, and this wasn't it anymore.

The moment he had met her Ben knew there was something about her, but it took a year of digging to find that what lied beneath was something he wished he'd never found. He saw a person standing in front of him now who he didn't recognise. Ben was looking at a person who was only capable of hurt, someone who had taken the love Ben gave her and crushed everything he had in return. She took Ben's trust, she took his love and she took everything else he offered in return for breaking his soul and trying to do the same to his mind and body.

The blonde thought he could change her. He thought the love he felt for her would be enough to stop what she was starting, but love was never enough no matter how hard you tried.

There were moments Ben could see a future. Moments when he thought this could work. Ben had seen those futures flash before his eyes when Lola was born, those last two months of the pregnancy Ben saw something and he felt so much relief when it flashed in front of him. Taunting him as he reached out for it only for them to disappear with the wind. Lola didn't change the situation, she only made Ben see the only decision there was for him to make. She hadn't gotten better now they were parents, within a week the old ways had come swooping back to her and Ben couldn't do this.

He had snapped and he'd shouted for the first proper time in their relationship. He screamed at her that he was not putting his daughter in danger because he loved her and he wasn't deserving of the pain he was being subjected to. Ben screamed that this was his flat and if he had to he would call the police to get her out because his daughter needed to be safe and with her here she was not safe. He'd let her back into the apartment today to collect her things he'd packed, and he wasn't backing down on his decision for them to split up. Nor was Ben allowing her to walk out of here with their daughter.

"This isn't love, this is hell." Ben felt the anger rising in him as she stared at him as if she didn't know what he was talking about when she knew exactly what he was referring to. "Love isn't bullying your partner into staying, it isn't throwing punches because you know they can't fight back. Love doesn't mean you can talk to me the way you do and claim it's because you love me. It doesn't mean you trap me here and expect me to back down, and it doesn't mean you can put Lola through any of what you did to me."

Love meant respect, it meant helping one another and it meant being there for the other person. At no point did the definition of love state that you could impose harm onto the person you claimed to love. Nor did it state you could talk to them in such an abusive and harsh way and expect that to be defined as your feelings for them.

Ben knew their love had been lost, and what was left was a poison he was inhaling every second he was around the woman in front of him. Lola couldn't be put through that, she couldn't grow up in an environment created around fear and pain. She was a baby, she was a new and perfect life that Ben would not see harmed or damaged in any kind of aspect.

"I know I've done bad things, but we need to be together... for Lola. I love you and I never show it right-"

"Would you stay with me if I punched you?" Ben watched a mix of emotions flood her pupils. Fear that he was making some kind of threat that he might just go along with for the first time in their relationship, and an emotion that was daring him to go through with it just so she could have that extra hold over him. Ben would never be stupid enough to give her that advantage over him.

"What if I pushed you into the table, or if I broke your ribs? Maybe you would feel the need to stay if I emotionally abused you and told you how shit you really are, and how bad you are at your job, or that I know for a fact your a God awful parent. Maybe if I told you you'd never see Lola again if you left me. Would all of that make you stay with me?"

The crocodile tears leaving her eyes did nothing to make Ben feel bad or like he was about to crumble into pieces and let her back into his life and home. This was his home, this was where he was raising his daughter alone and there was no place for her here.

"You'd tell the police and they'd lock me up because that's abuse, it isn't love and your sick to think this is fair. I'm not doing this anymore because I don't deserve what you're doing and neither does Lola so get out." Ben knew no one deserved what she was putting him through, but he felt obliged to stay because they were having a child together. If he walked away he would be leaving a new life in her hands that were only good for giving out evil to the world. He would leave his flesh and blood to be emotionally and physically abused to save his own skin, and Ben would never be able to sleep at night knowing he had done that.

He stayed to take any abuse she threw at him to save his daughter from getting the same treatment, but now Ben had an escape. He had the ability to tell her to leave because Lola was born, she was here and he could stop her from taking Lola with her when she left.

"If I go, Lola's coming with me."

Backing up to the hallway Ben plastered his hand against the right wall, his body effectively blocking the entrance to where Lola's room was. Due to the height difference, Ben was an effective boulder in her path that she would need to batter and bruise in order to get past, and even then Ben wouldn't be letting her out of the flat with Lola in her grasp. This was his home with his daughter and Ben wasn't living in fear anymore.

"My daughter isn't going anywhere with you."

"Our daughter!" Her words spat back at him, her eyes narrowing as her face hardened at his words.

"My. Daughter." Ben pushed the words through gritted teeth as he leaned his head forward so they were level, she wasn't getting to him that easily today. "You think that I'll let you take her when I've seen what you're capable of? How do I know you won't hit her if she annoys you or if she's just being herself? How can I be sure you won't neglect her or take away any confidence she gets in the future because that's what you do. You ruin people in the worst way and you don't give a shit. No, my daughter is staying with me and your leaving my home."

Ben thought for one split second that he had done it.

He thought his words laced with the truth had been enough to push her out, to get rid of her and show her that what she had been doing wasn't going to last anymore. Ben wasn't having this and he was making sure to protect the new life resting in the other room behind him at all costs.

That one second disappeared, and the next one along brought a wave of fear flowing through Ben's stomach giving him the urge to throw up. His body tensing as he stood straight at seeing the knife clenched in her hand.

Why was she deciding to do this?

What would threatening Ben do, really? How did she think Ben would back down if she pulled a knife on him? This only proved his point further, Ben couldn't let her take Lola or even be around his daughter because she could easily do something like this to Lola or in her presence and that was not something a child should go through. Seeing her do this was only going to further prove to Ben that he needed to protect Lola at all costs, he didn't care if she slashed or stabbed him, it would give him an advantage to making sure Lola stayed here with him where she belonged.

"Put it down." His words were calm though his heart was rocketing out of his chest at the speed of light.

"Let me go with our daughter." She raised the knife to him but Ben didn't move an inch like she expected or wanted him to. The both of them knew that she wouldn't hurt him with the knife, it was too dangerous to her if she did. Ben could go to the hospital and call the police and he would have evidence of her attacking him. She was only trying to put him down and get her own way like she always did, this was a threat that Ben knew was backed up by nothing.

"Stab me, show me that kind of love you always do. I'm not letting you take my girl and if you hurt me I just get it on record at the hospital. Do one good thing in your life and leave."

Ben's words were not shouted, nor were they threatening or rude. They were backed by no emotion but exhaustion as he begged for her to leave. She had no choice here but for her to stop, it was finally the time for her to let Ben be free from all the pain she caused him. He wasn't her punchbag anymore, he was free and she needed to see that and to let him be.

"Why are you doing this?!" Her words were shouted as she slammed her hand into his chest allowing the knife to fall to the floor, trying to push him out the way as a flurry of words escaped her lips that Ben paid no mind to. He held his hands out at his sides showing he wasn't going to fight her, walking backwards as she continued to hit him in the chest, the arms and even the neck as he continued to slowly walk back.

His right hand reaching out and grasping the handle of the door which he opened before sidestepping into. Slamming the door shut in her face, his left hand holding the door closed as his right reached out for the chair resting to the side. Propping it under the handle to stop her from entering the room he effectively shut himself inside. Sitting down on the chair so she wouldn't be able to budge his weight as he got his phone out from his pocket.

It was time to call the police.

[vagabonds-art]

Distance Closed

Characters: Kebechet (My Guardian), Osiris, Sagira, Demon (My Ghost)

Word Count: 1,670

Summary: Panoptes is slain, the Dark Future averted.. for now. But what happened between father and daughter before they left the forest to meet up with Ikora?

A/N: A lovely person on Ao3 asked me about this scenario, writing it was a delight. 

Read on Ao3 HERE

There it was.

Panoptes, the giant Vex Mind, now on its last leg summoning as many simulated factions as it could. Cabal, Fallen, even the Hive, all appeared out of thin air. And yet, most fell soon after they spawned. The ringing sound of a hand canon echoed in the air as Kebechet shot each enemy she could see.

This was the third time having to go through the process of fighting off smaller targets to catch the big one. The Infinite Mind clearly not going down without a fight. It proved this while Kebechet stabbed an acolyte, turning her attention to the machine as it whirled its massive hands through the air. Arc energy beginning to collect around the mechanical forearms in the form of rings.

It didn’t take but a moment for Kebchet to feel the pain of arc energy bouncing off her form. Sparks danced along her armor, a grunt leaving her chest, her body wanting curl in on itself. She fought against it, defiantly trying to stand straight.

She watched it start to bring its hands together, readying to eject her from the Forest. For a moment there was worry in her mind. The last two times this had happened Osiris had appeared, stopping Panoptes before it was too late. But what if this time he was the one that was too late?

Kebechet’s worry was misplaced, before the Infinite Mind’s hands were even close to touching, a dozen or so Reflections darted between them. Colliding as one causing golden hued sphere to appear. In the center of it was Osiris.

“No, Panoptes!” he shouted, holding his arms out to either side, maintaining the sphere. “Your future only has one ending!”

The Hunter let out a quick sigh of relief, drawing it back in as two reflections appeared before her. Creating ball of arc energy. “Now, Guardian!” one shouted as several more appeared creating a bridge to deposit the charge.

Kebechet wasted no time grabbing up the orb in her arms and sprinting toward the receptacle. This would be it, she thought raising her arms above her head to slam the charge down with every ounce of strength she had. The floor roared beneath her with the arc energy that was released.

She barely had time to see Panoptes’ arms get shoved apart as Osiris’ sphere expanded and exploded before she was lifted off the receptacle plate. Two Reflections carried her to a platform, as they had done prior, allowing her the best shot when the Vex Mind’s core was exposed.

As they let her fall from their grasp, Kebechet’s super charge flared to life. Her cannon becoming a Golden Gun in her hand as she aimed down the sight. A single bullet, wreathed in flame shot from the weapon. Hitting the glowing white orb that hung where Panoptes’ head once was.

The moment of contact was still for a split second, then there was a massive explosion. Kebechet brought her arms up, covering the front of her helm to protect her eyes from the near blinding light. The force of the blast was enough to shove her back on the platform, almost falling off had a Reflection not been there to steady her.

Lowering her arms, the Hunter saw Osiris floating in front of the platform, glaring down at the Infinite Mind. “And give me back my ghost!” he shouted down at it as it started to fall apart.

The anger in his voice was one Kebechet recalled vaguely. Not that she really had time to think about it, once again she was lifted into the air, carried to where Panoptes’ corpse now lay.

A calmness fell over the air as the Hunter stepped closer the corpse. Careful steps and a keen eye just in case it somehow survived, in case it could still attack. When nothing happened, Kebechet removed her helm. Looking over the massive frame with curiosity.

Slowly, she raised her hand, reaching out to touch the thing that had started this whole mess. “You sure you want to do that?” Demon, Kebechet’s ghost asked materializing at her shoulder. “What if it takes me next?”

“It’s okay, this thing is dead as a doornail.” she promised pushing her hand forward.

As her fingertips brushed the metal chassis, a small light began to form. The light began to grow, a familiar voice distantly screaming. Kebechet leaned in a little closer, trying to get a grasp as to what was being shouted.

“Let me out!” Sagira screamed darting out of the space the Hunter had just touched. It was clear the Ghost didn’t care which way she was going, as she shot forward. Her small being bouncing off Kebechet’s forehead with enough force to nearly knock her back.

Osiris watched this happen as he landed a few paces away. It brought a smile to his face seeing his ghost whirl around his daughter’s head in a panic, apologizing and asking if she was alright. Kebechet was laughing, holding a hand to her forehead trying to calm Saigra. The smaller ghost passing a beam of light over the small cut that was made by Sagira’s tines to heal the wound.

“Have you ever considered a rounder shell?” Demon asked looking over his patch work. “Less chance of taking someone’s eye out that way.”

“And make it easier to get grabbed? No thank you.”

“Guys, I’m fine,” the Hunter laughed looking at the small amount of blood on her glove. “It’s not the first time she did that to me.”

“It won’t be the last I’m sure,” the Warlock spoke stepping closer. The two beings snapped their attention to him. Sagira flying over to his side, “Thank the Traveler, you’re alright.”

“Papa,” Kebechet said softly, almost to where one would have to strain to hear it.

“It’s good to see you again, lit-uff--”

Osiris had been cut off, the air forced from his lungs as Kebechet charged forward, her arms locking around his torso. He looked down at her, at first confused. Long had it been since he had contact with another person, longer still was physical contact.

After a moment, Kebechet stepped back a stray tear or two slipping down her cheek. “I’m so sorry,” she spoke quietly, holding onto his forearms as if he would disappear the next second.

“It is not your fault, Sagira knew what would happen if she came back to the Forest,” Osiris spoke matter of factly stepping around the Hunter to knock on the hollow shell behind her. “This machine wanted her to simulate the light. We are lucky it didn’t take your ghost in the process.”

The Hunter tilted her head confused, sniffling before a laugh left her throat, more tears falling in tiny rivers from her eyes. “You old fool,” her voice wavered slightly as she wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. “That’s not why I’m sorry!”

It was his turn to tilt his head, even behind the cloth covering the lower part of his face, Kebechet could see he was just as confused as she had once been. Once more she hugged him, “I told you I hated you… I don’t remember why just that I was so hurt and so pissed off…”

“We’ve both said regrettable things, Kebcehet,” he replied carefully wrapping his arms around her, taking a quick glance to both Ghosts to insure he was in fact doing this right. “But that doesn’t mean I haven’t forgiven you.”

“It’s been a while, I would hope you did,” she smiled stepping back again. “Ikora’s gotta be relieved....” There was a pause, Demon and his Guardian looked at each other before she shouted, “ Lazazel!!”

Grabbing Osiris’ hand, Kebechet practically dragged him toward the edge of the platform they stood upon. This was a familiar action to the Warlock and his Ghost. In her previous life, the young Hunter would often drag them along to something she had found or that needed to be seen. The swearing was a new touch however.

“We forgot about Ikora!” Kebechet shouted stopping to look around for the easiest path to the door out of the Forest. “She probably thinks we all died!”

“Kebe, calm down,” Sagira laughed seating herself on the Hunter’s shoulder. “You know time moves faster here than it does out there. It’s only been a couple of minutes for Ikora, besides, we can make a new door to get out of here.”

True to her word, several reflections appeared, creating a small bridge that lead directly to a triangular shaped portal. “That makes things easier,” Demon commented resting his shell on Kebechet’s other shoulder. “I think we could all use a little break after this roller coaster.”

“The Vex never have ‘a little break’ so neither can we,” Osiris said leading the other three beings toward the door.

“You’ve been at this for how long now? You can stand a few minutes to at least go see Ikora, she is like my sister after all,” Kebechet argued crossing her arms as they stood in front of the blue hued portal. “Maybe even a late congrats on becoming the Warlock Vanguard?”

Osiris raised a brow at this in slight surprise, “When did this happen?”

“Ask her yourself,” the Hunter smiled motioning to the portal.

The Warlock sighed, removing his head wear all the same to reveal the smile he had. “Even being born again hasn’t taken the edge off the means to getting your way.”

“Somethings never change,” Sagira chirped happily moving to hover at her Guardian’s shoulder.

“We’ll be waiting,” Kebechet replied walking through the portal. She paused briefly to look over her shoulder, “Ikora knows how to open this place up, don’t think I won’t come back here if you don’t show.”

Osiris would have loved to say it was an empty threat, but he was a man of fact and proving validity to claims. Walking through the portal himself, he recalled one claim Kebechet had always proved was that she never made empty threats.

[hitandrunduorp-a]

@hxnterwxlf

There was a small festival going on in one of the towns bordering the Forbidden Forest. On this day, Ezhno and Matthew had decided to go visit it, wanting to go and socialize a bit, but as well as keep an eye out for trouble. There was quite a large crowd, and neither of the two would doubt that a demon or something would attempt to take advantage of the situation.

There was quite a bit; rides set up in a large empty lot, and many game booths and sales tables, selling things from toys, food, knick-knack, and various homemade goods, from confections to hard carved boxes. While patrolling, the married couple looked at the wares, and even playing a few of the games. If one didn’t know better, onlookers would swear it was just a pair on a fun little date!

“Things seem to be good so far, eh?” Matthew smiled as he ate some funnel cake, his eyes scanning around still to be sure.

“Mhm. Maybe they noticed we’re here,” Ezhno teased, chuckling as he took a bit of the cake, munching on it happily. For once, maybe they’d have just a nice night-

“Ez-” “I felt it,” Spoke too soon. The presence was strong enough for the blond to feel, while the felixi could smell it. It was close. Abandoning the fritter, they quickly moved, trying to track down the intruder, and eventually needing to split up to try and corner it.

Matthew found it first. It wasn’t an apex demon or anything of the sort, much to his relief, but it was a threat enough that it was slowly stalking a group of teens, all bickering about who gets what of the prizes they had all won.  The demon looked around, making sure it was alone before it tried to strike, but it seemed to recognize the blond, and after a brief look of panic, it darted off, Matthew giving chase.

Ez, I found it. Trying to chase it to the spot.

Alright, I’m heading there now. Be careful, love.

______

At the dead end, the wingless demon looked around in a panic, before turning to stare at the blond who blocked its only way out. Violet eyes glowed in the dark alley as he approached. It was a weaker creature, so he’d be able to deal with it before Ezhno arrived...Or so he thought. It wasn’t until he felt a hard hit from behind, did he realize there was another demon present, and it was far closer to an apex demon than the little runt the two were after initially. Reeking of perfumes and such, it explained how it managed to somehow hide its presence from the shifter...though why wasn’t Matthew able to sense it?

He tried getting up quickly, but another blow sent him into the wall, a small gasp, as the wind was knocked out of him, was heard before he tumbled back to the ground. The little runt was now mocking the blond, but...something was wrong. Why couldn’t he move? He could breathe, but...something was wrong. A hit like that would haze dazed him, sure, but not paralyzed him like this-

No time to think as he was grabbed by the throat and pinned against a wall, the far larger demon seemed to be amused at the lack of fighting...though almost confused as well. 

Ez...Ezhno- ...Why couldn’t he feel Ezhno? He couldn’t feel...anything! As if his mind was floating away, no longer connected to his physical body...The demon raised a free hand, grinning as a mist formed, some sort of demonic essence....was it planning on trying to possess his body, seeing as he couldn’t fight back?! No, he had to do something, he had to fight! But the more he thought this...the more things grew fuzzy. He felt like he was passing out, and before long, all he felt surround him, was darkness...

______

Ezhno had taken longer than he meant to. There seemed to have been quite the number of demons who snuck in, though it seemed they all had just arrived. Maybe they were hoping his and Matthew’s guard was down enough? No matter. Walking into the alley, he saw the bodies of two demons at Matthew’s feet, charred all to hell.

“Mattie! Are you alright?” Ezhno sighed, relieved to see his husband safe, though the other didn’t turn to him, his back still towards the wolf as he approached. It wasn’t until he was reaching for the other’s shoulder that he felt something hit him. It wasn’t a physical force, instead it a shockwave throwing him back, slamming him into the wall enough to cause him to lose his breath, kneeling on the ground and trying to gasp in air. Though Matthew didn’t seem bothered by this. Instead, he turned, walking out of the alley in silence, and that’s when Ezhno noticed something; he couldn’t feel Matthew’s presence. 

...Mattie? Matthew, what are you doing, this isn’t funny! try as he might, all that responded was silence, and finally managing to breathe again, he stood up, before hearing sounds that made his blood run cold.

The crackling of an inferno, and screams of innocent people, trying to escape the danger. Smoke and blood filled the felixi’s nose, and in a panic he hurried out, trying to find Matthew...and whatever was causing this chaos.

______

Ezhno felt sick to his stomach. Corpses littered the ground as blood ran through the streets, and watching the flames with a grin on his lips, was none other than his own dear love. “Matthew!” Ezhno almost roared, going to charge towards the other, but this time the blond turned towards him, that same malicious grin, but...his eyes...the once soft violet hues that held such kindness were now an almost gold colour. Not quite that of an angel’s gaze, being far more reddish in tone, much like the flames that surrounded the two. “I’m sorry, who~?” It was Matthew’s voice for sure, but...the tone of it was far more smooth, like a finely sharpened edge against silk, rather than the silvered voice the other had grown accustomed too.

“Wh-what?” Ezhno felt frozen, unsure as to what he should do. A part of him was sure this was either a demon who possessed Matthew or was one that was mimicking his love, but...something was off, a voice in the back of his mind telling him that wasn’t the case. 

That was his dearest Mattie.

“Oh come now, dear~ Don’t you recognize your sweet, little love~” He continued to mock, and with a growl, Ezhno summoned his blade. If that was Matthew, then he had to try to get rid of this thing possessing him. And without a warning, Ezhno charged, blade poised and the other only grinned more sadistically.

______

The fight had left the town, letting those who were still alive to try and douse the flames, but they now were more into the forest than before. Not quite at the border yet, but getting closer. Try and he might, the demon managed to evade his attacks, countering and even catching the other a few times. It moved so much like how Mattie does when they spar, and it more cemented in his mind that this wasn’t just some possession; this was far more dangerous.

Finally, Ezhno managed to catch the creature off guard; throwing his blade at it and when it moved to dodge, he managed to finally wrap his hands around the other’s throat tightly, slamming it up against a tree.

“ANSWER ME! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” He roared, his emerald gaze glowing in anger, though try as he might, tears still pricked the corners of his eyes. Despite nearly being choked, and now at the other’s mercy, they seemed...fine with this. A smirk played in their lips as it stared at Ezhno, hands clutching at the sleeves, not really trying to rid the other’s grasp though.

“In this scenario?” It cocked it’s head, almost looking amused at what was going on. It even chuckled a little before his smile grew ever so slightly. “I’m you’re worst nightmare~”

“That’s not an answer.” “Hm, I suppose not,” It seemed...bored. On death’s doorstep, and rather than looking like someone about to die, it looked more like a person who was mildly inconvenienced by not getting their favourite muffin or something. “Though let's be honest with ourselves...you know what I am,” “A demonic bitch I’m about to slaughter,” “Oh? Really?” He laughed, LAUGHED, in Ezhno’s face, now looking more amused. “I didn’t realize you loathed your dearly beloved so much~” “...what,” There it was again, that cold, frozen feeling. While it wasn’t shown in his expression, the thing just...seemed to know.

“You haven’t figured it out yet? Or have you truly been choosing ignorance for bliss?” It mused, rolling its head to the other side, smirking still. “The fact that I’ve always been here~” “...that’s...that’s a lie-” “Really? Matthew tells you himself that his father dealt with demons, and he even made the mistake of reading one of those books himself, far too young to understand what was going on,” It explained, amusement clear in its voice as it watched the realization shine through the other’s eyes. “And you think what I speak are lies~?” “...Matthew never would have-” “What, let a demon into his soul? Managed to pass your little barrier in the first place?” He asked, raising a brow. “The child was maybe six, far too young to even fight the common cold let alone me. And his mental willpower’s quite strong, you see. If unconsciously he wasn’t focusing on subduing me, he’d be able to probably keep even you out of his mind if he so wished,”

Ezhno swallowed hard. Six. This...thing had been with Matthew since then?! Then, if he were to try and purge the demon from him-

“You’ll end up destroying his soul as well~” It finished the thought, and Ezhno’s grip loosened, enough for the thing to escape the hold and kick Ezhno away, who was still in a slightly unbelieved stupor. What could he do?! He had to save Matthew, but...can he...?

“Well, well, well. The high and mighty wolf, now no more than a shaking pup~” It mocked, looking down at the other. “Will you succumb to this realization? Or will you focus on your ‘duty’~? Killing all demons in your wake...even if it means killing your little lover boy~?” It continued, summoning flames once more, though this time it moulded itself into more of a blade shape as he drew closer, while Ezhno frantically tried to think of something, ANYTHING! 

“I always wondered; can you kill a felixi if it’s nothing more than bones~?” It brought the ‘blade’ up, before pushing to stab it through the other’s chest, but Ezhno evaded it, and his heart bled as he hit the ‘thing’, causing it to fly back through a tree. Coughing, it looked up to glare at the other, it’s red-gold eyes burning brightly as they fought once more, this time with far more ferocity from either side.

______

Both battered and bruised, the thing managed to get a sneak shot in, causing Ezhno to fall to his knees as the demon stood above him, the blade it created earlier now poised above him once again, but as it brought it down, it was slow enough for Ezhno to evade again, though this time...it didn’t move to continue attacking. It’s breathes were ragged, and it looked like it was fighting to stay conscious. 

Ezhno was almost confused, but he didn’t have to worry about attacking again; the body dropped to its knees, and the creature seemed to be cursing aloud in its native tongue, and it managed to glare at the other once more.

“Next time...I’ll be sure...to destroy you,” It snarled before its eyes rolled up, and it seemed to have passed out, having used all of Matthew and it’s energy to have stayed in control of the boy for so long.

Ezhno could only breath heavily, trying to process all that had happened. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but he did notice other changed; he could hear Matthew’s mind, or his uneasy dreams once more, and the other’s presence could be felt once again. With a heavy sigh, Ezhno groaned as he stood up and went to carefully pick Matthew up, his heart still hurting at this rather dark discovery. Does Matthew know about this? Had that thing really been with him since he was a child...? 

Shaking his head, he figured he’ll ask and look into it later...but for now, he could only press his nose against the blond’s temple, a few silent tears falling down his cheeks as he started on his way home.

[chaniters]

AU Fanfic Fallen-Hero Ranger Adventures. 1

Starting another Fanfic because of reasons.

This takes place in an AU (which is basically the end of my first fic)

Basically, Sidestep and Charge are together, Sidestep is trying to become a full ranger, and is no longer hunted by the government.

Midnight Terror

Years ago. Late night. Somewhere in the Lacandon Rainforest.

Hurried steps took him right to the very edge of the chasm.

The intense rain had made visibility a luxury and finding an escape route a guessing game

A game that he was clearly loosing. Crossing was impossible.

"Fuck!... Fuck Fuck fuck! Is this a joke?!"

But rain wouldn't compromise and he couldn't find a way across.

He had wrongly assumed the carnivore minds would stop searching for him once they consumed the bodies of his brothers.

He had been wrong. They had surely counted them, found one was missing, and reassumed the hunt. He had only gained some advantage, that was thinning quickly. He could sense them approaching faster than he could ever fathom.

Only a choice now. Left.. or right. Life or death.

Left! He ran as fast as he could. There seemed to be no end to the chasm. no way to cross. The rain gave the ground a muddy, disgusting texture. He looked at the bottom. No. If he tried to climb down, he would slip and break his spine on the long fall.

So he kept running.

A guttural howl. They could speak, he knew that. They just chose not to. However did the Catastrofiend create his demons, they hadn't been able to find out before she had found them instead. And she also had chosen not to speak.

Something in the distance... he could see... ropes. Crossing the chasm.

Rotten boards and ropes... remains of a bridge, still dangling over the chasm.

This path was his doom or his salvation, but that wasn't for him to decide. He could only try and follow it.

His mind couldn't recall a moment where he had been more afraid. He had cheated death many times before, but ...

He crossed as fast as he could. Keeping the balance, stepping on ropes, on dangling boards that gave in as he stepped on them, on thin air when his balance failed. He was certain he would fall and break every bone at the bottom, yet he somehow managed to reach the other side.

He took his knife and cut the dangling ropes loose, letting the whole thing fall down. That could gain him some time at least.

The operative had memorized all maps regarding this operation. That was his main task. His telepathic training wasn't as advanced as the rest of the team, so he would help bringing his knowledge of the area to their mind link.

Thanks to it, he had an approximate idea of where the military base was...

He expanded his mind, looking for threats. Soon enough, the Minds were on his sights... and they were heading straight for the bridge.

"Fuck!" He ran faster. He felt, struggled into the mud, stood up and kept running. He had cut off the bridge but he knew the speed those things could achieve. They would cross the chasm.. climb it down and up again... And fall on him like wolves.

"FUCK!" he screamed while running. It was futile, they'd catch up with him before he could...

...

The minds went pass the bridge without even stopping and headed east. They were going to cross the chasm some other way.

He started running again. He understood. They were not after him.  

.................................

He reached the base two days later. He had hurried as much as he could.

But by them there were no officers to report to, no scientists to take him back, no drugs to put him to sleep, no psychics to erase his trauma and leave him battle ready once more...

Piles of corpses... he looked for survivors.

They had devoured most of the soldiers and left the rest to rot. He had cheated death many times before, but he would have taken any of those deaths before the one the Catastrofiend liked to inflict.

After examining the third pile, and nearly walking away, he sensed a mind regain consciousness. He returned, and found someone alive. He was breathing. But the wounds were far too severe. Dying. Dying, and not giving him more instructions, or orders of any kind.

A young man. He was suffering. There was no way to help him. So he did what he had been trained to do. Put an end to the suffering. A single cut.

His eyes looked at him in understanding as he did it. His mind was afraid, but it relaxed for a few minutes once the pain was gone... and then.. there was nothing.

Drenched by the rain, sweat and blood, he let go of the dead. There was no one else. He was the only survivor.

He wandered a few steps towards the shattered tents, then fell on his knees and screamed. But only the dead could hear him. ..........................................

Present day.

"Hey!" Ortega shook him lightly. "It's just a nightmare"

"Wha...?" Cyrus woke up in a daze and just stared at Ortega, startled for a few seconds, until it all came back to him. He wasn't in a jungle. He was in the Ranger's Headquarters. And he was in Ortega's room.

"Nightmare" Ortega repeated.

"Oh." Cyrus managed to acknowledge. "Sorry" He felt guilty. He had so many of these, and he wouldn't let Ortega sleep.

Sleeping pills helped, but he didn't always take them, it messed his telepathy and gave him headaches afterwards. And sleeping pills couldn't cure PTSD anyways.

Ortega felt he needed to wake him up every time, which was really not an easy thing to do when he had one of the bad ones, so it would take a good 10 minutes of his sleep time trying to wake him, and then there was no way to assure he wouldn't have another one the moment he shut his eyes.

"It's ok" he said. "How do you feel?"

Cyrus pondered on the question for a split-second. "I'm alright. It's nothing"

"Do you want to write it down?"

"No.. just go back to sleep Ricardo"

"But..."

"I'll go get something from the fridge, read an article or something and then go back to my room and sleep. Don't worry"

"But..."

But Cyrus just gave him a pat on the shoulder, and quickly made for the corridor. He could tell Ortega to stop mothering him but that would only lead to mortifying the both of them further. Ortega was just doing with they had discussed in therapy to the letter and none of this was his fault.

He had PTSD that had gone untreated for his entire lifetime until last year. The more he understood therapy, the more he got used to the idea that nightmares were going to be part of his life (Dream-life?), and no amount of discussing their hidden meanings with the shrink was going to make them go away.

Of course he would still do it.. but he didn't really hope for improvement in that front anymore.

He made a beeline for the fridge, and as he laid a hand on the cold trove of treasure, he froze. There was another mind, a few steps from him, fixed on his same prize. They couldn't see each other in the cover of darkness, but it was there...

"So... it seems we meet again" he let out.

He heard an immediate stumble.

"Not again! I swear you'r trying to kill me..."

"Sorry Chen.. seems i beat you to the fridge this time. What shall it be?"

Steel sighed. "I think there are some pizza leftovers."

"Yes. You get that, i'll make myself a sandwich." He said, passing two slices to Chen. He also passed him a beer before he asked.. because.. telepathy.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Chen asked, taking the added beer without a word.

"Nope."

"What was it this time?"

"Back at the jungles escaping the Catastrofiend's creeps”

“That’s when you first broke out from the Special Directive right?”

“Yes...  Ortega woke me up. You?"

"The attack a the embassy all over. Woke up on my own. Always do"

"Shit."

"Same to you."

"Thanks."

They sat on the couch, fiddling with their smartphones. This had become a sort of routine. Eventually, they'd go back to sleep, after calming their nerves a bit. Oddly enough it had actually made him closer to Chen than ever before.

"How are you?" Chen asked. It was weird, but Cyrus was feeling more comfortable with him asking lately.

"You really want to know ?"He smiled lightly

"Yup."

"I... I don't know. I feel like i'm not getting better. And then we argue... and I apologize. And he feels guilty for all the shit I've been trough.. and I tell him it's not his fault... And then i keep thinking that i'm going to fuck it up for real at some point."

"Then don't fuck it up"

"Oh wow thanks for the sage advice" Cyrus cracked.

"Happy to oblige" Chen said extending a his beer in his general direction with a smile.

"I'm trying."

"That's all he asks. Don't stop."

"I won't.... Anyways, how about you?"

"Too much stress. The mayor's a... -ahem- ... major pain in my ass."

"Ha... You know, if you had let me carry on my master-plan further, he wouldn't be in office"

"What, you feel like wearing that clown villain costume again? I don't see anyone stopping you.."

"Sorry, too late... " he held his hand to Chen "That ship has sailed... I'm a glorious honorary hero these days. Fuck me."

"You really should tell that to Ortega"

"Fell right into that one didn't I..."

"Yes. Anyways, you you could always retire" Chen grinned.

"Like anyone's going to fall for that one again."

"Hell no. So.. did you pass the physicals?"

"Yeah. My government-issue body regenerated just on time for that. Psych tests... i have no idea. I had to do a written test, they don't trust sending an examiner on the same room"

"I'll call them and have them e-mail me the results tomorrow." Honorary member status was not regulated, tough no one had really objected it so far. Becoming a regular ranger member required a background check, a psych test and a physical test.

"Thanks... Oh and.. uh.. Chen.. If I don't pass.. can you..." Cyrus started, a bit insecure

"I'll sugar-coat it sure. But stop being so worried. This isn’t a race”

"You know how he gets when he sees no progress"

"I know..." Cyrus had taken the test twice now, and Ortega thought it had only been once.

They stayed silent for a few minutes.

"Question." Steel spoke after a while.

"Yes?"

"Why the Catastrofiend? You did get closure on that nut-job, you shot his head off"

He shrugged “No idea . It's just another stupid night terror"

Steel nodded.

Cyrus finally stood up

"Want me to go to the meeting with you tomorrow? I can wave my big "Telepath pariah" sign and scare out the political creeps away just by standing next to you. It's my new superpower"

"You know I can't say no to that..."

"It's a date then" Cyrus washed his plate then head back to his own room.

Steel stayed for a while longer, wondering when exactly had he really befriended Sidestep. Sans the mystery, he had turned out to be a really ok person...

_________________________

My Fanfics: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.

[forestsstories]

Unsolved

Sunlight filtered through my beige curtains, casting highlights on the walls and playing gently across my face. I let out a soft moan, not yet ready to release myself from the visions dancing behind my eyelids. As consciousness reluctantly was thrust upon me the images faded from both vision, and memory. However I left my eyes closed for several minutes, until I heard familiar music fill the tiny space which I am permitted to occupy in my house. Another moan rumbled in my throat as I finally forced my eyes wide.

It seemed like a fairly normal day, maybe even a good one. The sky was an azure blue with small but fluffy clouds dancing across it. My hand fell upon my phone, which was vibrating with the force of my morning alarm, and my day began.

My eyes drifted lazily over my accumulation of clothing, dismissing each article with disgust, the way teenage girls often do. Hearing the ruckus of the rest of the house stirring I decided it was best to get my ass in gear if I was planning on having breakfast before school, and decided on my white shorts and red v-neck tee.

I grimaced at the wrinkled state of the tee as the hanger swung back from the force of its burden being snatched from where it hung, and flung it to the bed. My breasts complained slightly as I lifted my night shirt over my head and I made a mental note that it was time to start dieting again unless I wanted to outgrow all my clothes. The idea of asking my mother to take my shopping for new ones, coupled with the look of disdain I could already picture on her face was not one I relished, so dieting was definitely the way to go. It was when I folded down my pj pants and made to kick them to the floor that something abnormal finally hit me.

A quarter sized mark, blue around the edges and a center the colour of caramel, perched delicately upon the outside of my thigh. My brain reeled, going slowly over every possible cause, as one does when a foreign mark finds its way onto your person. My bare skin grazed the soft blankets of my bed as I perched there to go over the likely culprits.

Yesterday had begun in much the same way today had, with the exception of the sunlight. Clouds had hung in the sky and threatened rain, I recalled this clearly as the threat had persisted and I had wondered if soccer practice would be canceled. I remembered packing my cleats anyway, which had taken a while because they weren’t where I had left them. “Ryan!!” I could almost hear myself shouting at my dimwit brother for taking my cleats, feel the vibration of the floor as his feet pounded down the hall toward me. The ensuing argument had lasted several minutes, minutes which were precious in the morning. The result had been a lack of shower, and still missing soccer cleats. So I hadn’t slipped in the shower then.

I closed my eyes, tracing where I had gone next, and wincing inwardly at my whiny tone as I had stood outside my mother’s door. “Ryan took my cleats, I know he did, and I need them for soccer! This sucks!” I remembered stamping my foot, as my mother had told me off for my childish antics and threatened not to let me continue having a job if I was going to act like a child. “Adults don’t stamp their feet when they’re upset Jillian. Use your words.” I sighed, mom was always like that.

But nothing had hit me when I stamped my foot, and nothing else of note had happened at home. I’d packed my usual ham sandwich and ran to catch the bus. Had I fallen? I recalled each time my feet had struck the pavement, but as far as I could remember had arrived at the bus without issue. My father had shouted something that sounded suspiciously like “wear a coat!” as I dashed out the door, but a bruised ego left no physical marks. When my keester had found the hard plastic seat that was the best our cheap school bus could offer I unzipped my bag and rifled through it. Soccer cleats, textbooks, my work uniform, everything I would need for an unremarkable day. The bus ground to a rather jerky halt to pick up one of my friends and I heard some rabble rousing at the back as a couple of the kids had been thrust forward. Katie plopped into the seat next to mine and I recounted the tale of my stolen cleats while the bus puttered onwards towards the hell we liked to call our school.

Bad pop music droned through speakers that were older than I was in the halls. As I made my way to my homeroom I saw the usual high school bull, someone studying, a couple dumb boys wrestling, one of the drama students reciting lines with just a little too much gusto (one of the best tells of inexperience) nothing amiss. I struggled to remember if anyone had bumped me, but nothing remarkable came to mind. My classes had all gone smoothly, I got my English homework back (got an eighty, not bad) and everything had been normal until lunch. I winced a little remembering lunch.

I don’t usually find myself in the cafeteria at lunch time (remember my sandwich?) but today when I unwrapped my carefully prepared meal I spotted a disgusting spot of green fuzz nestled in a sea of soft white bread and knew I would have to brave it. I begged Katie to protect me from the masses but when she shook her head I gathered my courage, took a deep breath and strode in.

The noise was palpable. I like to listen to my music at a temperate sixty percent and this was well abouve seventy decibels. I ducked as a spoonful of mashed potatoes whizzed past my ear and sent the culprit of the attack a nasty glare. It must have worked because I remember feeling a sense of smug satisfaction as he sat his ass down and feigned remorse. I had chosen a cup of strawberries with yogurt and a grilled cheese for lunch. Ten dollars seemed like a bit much for the contents of my tray but I needed staying power if I was going to make it through a shift at work on top of soccer practice. The buttery crunch of the sandwich almost made up for the near miss of potato in my face, and I found myself not entirely sorry that my ham sandwich had proven inedible.

It wasn’t until I had half finished that I realized where I had decided to sit. A mere five feet from me, and staring at my chest with gusto was the mouth breather who always watched our soccer practice. Kevin. I frowned and scooted sideways to put a little more distance between us, until I felt my thigh brush against the steel leg of the table. The leg was cold and I considered just ditching my food and leaving, but ten dollars is a lot of money. It’s incomprehensible how I could hear his breaths amid the din of the cafeteria, but I swear I could almost feel the air being pushed between his teeth, even though I know that isn’t actually possible. My chewy grilled cheese didn’t taste nearly as good once I realized I was watching it beneath his watchful gaze.

I ended up walking the halls with my yogurt cup, carefully smuggled out as you’re not supposed to have food outside the cafeteria. The rest of the school day had been formulaic, and I couldn’t think of any reason a bruise would have blossomed on my skin from it. Had it been the table leg? I couldn’t remember hitting it with any amount of force, but possibly. I sank my teeth gently into my bottom lip as I continued to peruse the days memories.

Finally I landed at soccer practice, slipping on my cleats in the changing room. I told Katie about my impromptu lunch date and we both shared a laugh at our mouth breathing friends expense. I gazed longingly at the showers, wondering briefly if there was time to slip in a quick wash to make up for this morning, but the coach had launched into a tirade over something or another and I had to at least pretend to be paying attention. I expect I wasn’t because I couldn’t recall what the speech had been about, but I’ve gotten pretty good at pretending. Seven short minutes later we were on the field, sweating as we raced each other around it, attempting to foot wrestle the spotted ball into the opponents net. I remembered a chill in the air and a crisp scent that made me wonder again if it was going to rain.

A slight drizzle began about ten minutes in and persisted throughout practice but we were not to be done in by a little rain. Anything short of a downpour and we were determined to play, because we’re girls. I recalled the ball hurtling toward me. I remembered a split second decision to knock it to Katie, and my eyes flew open as I remembered my foot coming out from under me.

My breath caught in my throat as my foot slipped on the grass, slick with rain. My shoulder slammed hard into the dirt and my eyesight went dark for a moment, as it tends to when you take a hard fall. Play had stopped as everyone gathered around me and the coach asked if anything hurt. I frowned, concentrating on how exactly I had struck the ground. I remembered my ankle had been twisted, and as I touched my shoulder I realized a bruise was also blossoming there, but my thigh hadn’t taken the weight of my fall so an injury there didn’t make a lot of sense.

That was it though. I felt my brow furrow as I sat naked upon my bed reaching for any other possible explanation. My mother had picked me up after practice and due to having to ice my ankle I had called in sick from work. My manager had groaned a little, but there was little to be done. The remainder of the evening had been spent in bed, icing my ankle and studying. I pushed the mark, watching the pale skin around it regain colour for a moment after I released it and sighed. It would seem that the mystery mark on my thigh, similar to the reason of why Kevin can’t operate his god given nostrils, would remain unsolved.

[hollyhomburg]

Don’t Care if it Hurts Pt.5

Dog hybrid! + Gaurd dog!Jimin x Reader) (ft.olderBrother! + Mafia boss!Namjoon)

Part 1  Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Summary: After a rival gang makes an attempt on your life, Your older brother, the infamous leader of Seoul’s largest gang; Kim Namjoon gets you a guard hybrid; Park Jimin, The reigning champion of Seoul’s underground hybrid fighting ring.

Tags: Jimin x reader, hybrid Jimin, mafia au!  fluff, hurt/comfort, slow burn, angst, torture, mentions of rape/noncon, violence, blood, mild cursing, 

Word count: 8.1 k

Authors note: YO EVERYONE LOOK WHAT I GOT OUT. So I'm gonna have a small hiatus while I travel to Thailand with my family for the next two weeks. I was gonna write another chapter and schedule to release it while I was away but I got too sick the last few weeks and unfortunately this LONG ASS monster of a part is all you're gonna get for now (i thought about splitting it up between parts but I didn't like it’s flow). 

Hope you like it! This chapter has some pretty heavy stuff in it. sorry to leave you all on a cliffhanger but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

All Jimin could feel where greasy hands on him, they bit into his arm and held him down as he struggled fruitlessly to get free. Somehow he was never able to submit in this way. He was obedient as long as they left their hands off of him and not a moment longer. He had been like this ever since he was a pup.  

There is a low voice- spitting in his ear as he tries to get away from a belt, from the ball, from all the things they used to beat him.  These strikes would leave bruises that would almost always last all week. He wines when one hits his ribs and leaves him breathless. A hard hand pulls his hair back roughly and yanks on his sensitive ears. 

“Oh is the little puppy hurt? Can he not take a beating? Did little Jimin forget what it felt like?” he lets out a growl that only sounds half as threatening as he wants it too and they continue beating him. 

“Jimin,” one of them says a fist hits his shoulder. 

“Jimin.” This voice is more panicked; 

“Jimin” the voice says- more human and female then the last time the shadow above him shouted it. 

The dream knocks Jimin practically sideways when he finds you above him your hands on his shoulders he reacts instinctively pinning you down onto the bed using his knees to hook around your legs and pin you to the bed with his hands at your wrist.  Adrenaline makes his heart thud as he struggles to separate dream from reality “it’s ok it was just a dream.” You say soothingly as he looks down at you like you’re the monster. His breath comes out of him in big gusts.  

“Jimin it’s me.” You say a little more firmly trying to get that look to leave his eyes. He doesn’t look like himself; his pupils are dilated and it’s obvious to you that he is currently having a panic attack. His weight is pressing painfully onto your wrists and your legs are going numb with how he’s lying on top of you- the same way he might hold someone down if he was fighting them. 

You can’t help it; you know he would never hurt you, but your heart rate picks up when you realize how immobile he has you, you couldn't get away from him even if you wanted to right now. He catches the smell of fear on you and his eyes instantly change. He lets go of your body like you burn him and he’s standing faster then you could breathe. His back hits the other side of your room. 

“Y/n.” he gasps out. Holding his hands out in front of him- like he’s trying to show you and himself that he’s not a threat too you.  “I’m sorry, oh my god i-“ he stutters out. You get up too- flicking the light on. 

“It’s ok Jimin- everything’s going to be fine, you just had a nightmare” his eyes keep scanning the room over again for potential threats. Eventually- with enough cajoling- he gets back on the bed. “can you tell me what it was?”

“I was back at the kennels, they-” his voice breaks off. You want to reach out to him- but you remember how sensitive he was to touches at the very beginning of you meeting him so you keep your hands to yourself. You’re still feeling groggy yourself- all you know is that one moment you were fast asleep and the next moment you were waking up to Jimin thrashing next to you. 

Next, to you, Jimin doesn’t know how to articulate the dream into words. “They always knew how to hurt you the most without leaving so much damage.” You inhale deeply at that. Jimin is wringing his fingers when you reach forward and try to take them in yours. He flinches back from you.  “Your wrists-“ is all he says, flicking to the red skin there where he leaned his weight- it must hurt. he caused you harm. But you just shake your head and take his hands in yours. 

“every day I don’t understand how you can still touch me when you know what I am- you still want me even after I’ve just hurt you.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“I’ve hurt people. I’m dangerous. I hurt you.”  He reaches out a finger to trace along the red stretch of your wrist. You ignore the involuntary shiver it gives you. Your smile is small- almost wry when you look up at him. “And still you don’t run away.”

“Maybe it’s because I don’t think these hands could ever hurt me- not intentionally anyway.” you affirm as You turn his hands over and over in your hands- noticing the little scars here and there. The ones on his knuckles that have mostly healed. There’s one that crosses his palm and the back of his hand like he got it shut in something long ago. It feels like you’re the only two people awake in the universe when you reach up and press his palm against your cheek. 

“I love your hands” you want to say, and he gulps- and you realize you’ve said it out loud, the blush covers you from you collarbones up. Your faces are closer then they ever really should be if your relationship was purely platonic. 

Jimin is watching you with an aching in his heart- because no ones ever looked at him like that- let alone viewed him as something other than a weapon. You look at him like he’s a marvel, a treasure to be taken care of and appreciated- not like he’s a monster, a hybrid only meant to protect you from physical harm. You’re his friend- his first true friend. And it breaks his heart- because he wants you to be so so much more than that and he knows that he’s the least deserving person in the entire city when it comes to being on the receiving end of such a tender look. 

 you run your fingers through his hair as he does his best to show you that he never intends to hurt you with his body again, by sheltering you and holding you with a close tenderness. You swear in another life he was meant to be a lap dog. You silently hope that your wrists won’t bruise as Jimin wraps his arms around your middle, for his sake and for yours. Bruises wouldn’t be hard to hide from Namjoon and they don’t bother you, but Jimin would look at them and see everything he’s ever done wrong. 

Eventually, his breath has stopped coming in small gasps and reluctantly- sleep pulls the two of you down.

Jimin watches you the next morning to make sure that there aren’t bruises on you left by him. He wants to find a way to thank you for helping him through his nightmare, for waking him from it or a way to apologize for his initial violent reaction. But he doesn’t know how too and when you wake him you already have a baggy sweater on that covers your hands. 

Neither of you mentions the nightmare through classes or the afternoon. It’s was a slow rainy day- your morning class droned on while Jimin sat next too you glaring at anyone who talked or turned your way. He had commented to you the other day that he’d started to feel restless- and when you mentioned that the workout room was open for use by everyone he asked if you wanted to study and keep him company. You don’t mind, the work out room is warm and clean smelling. And when you work- if your eyes are drawn to him- his shirt clinging to his chest or his soft groans when he does something particularly taxing- no ones there to see. Most of the time you hide your blush and try to get your work done. 

Maybe part of the reason why he’s been feeling so out of sorts recently is because of his lack of exercise. Though he can’t really tell if the workout room helps.  He only recently felt the need to upkeep his body and keep it in shape when he realized that sleeping in with you was doing nothing for his form. He did want to lose his talent for fighting- even if it gave him anxiety when he thought about raising his fists again. 

Jimin is just finishing up his set for the day when the front doorbell rings- and you get up to answer it.  He sniffs the air but doesn’t follow you- he can tell by the pattern of footsteps and the smell that it’s just one of the staff at the door. 

He’s been here long enough now where he’s starting to recognize patterns- and that alone is enough to make him surprised (though its only been a handful of weeks) You’ve done a good job of showing Jimin the city that he’s lived in for years but never seen. He takes you too walk along the river and to the temples on the hills when you’ve got free time. And he swears that there can’t be that many different types of food in the world but somehow you keep finding new things for him to try. 

He feels like he’s settling into a new skin. A skin where his hands don’t shake with fury and adrenaline every night- a skin that makes him feel like he’s whole and entirely undisturbed and somehow so wrong. The thought- the idea that he doesn’t deserve any of this gnaws at him. He’s just some street rat fighter that doesn’t deserve a pile of warm hay on the ground. While at first, your kindness was welcome the drastic change from his old life too now is starting to rub at him in a way that makes him feel twitchy. 

Maybe the nightmare last night was just a manifestation of that. 

Working out made it a little better. He still hasn’t had to protect you and somehow that makes him feel worse. Like he’s waiting for an invisible shoe to drop and it never will. He wants to feel useful- and he loves spending time with you, but lately following your every move has begun to feed into his paranoia. The workout room helps him convince himself that he’s still keeping his body at fighting levels at the very least.

You come back into the room quietly- and he can tell by your jaunty air and the crinkle of plastic that whatever was delivered made you happy. He’s finished what he wanted to do in the work out room for the day- and you’ll probably relocate to the living room now to your usual position. 

He ignores the way that your short velvet shorts make his stomach twinge with something that almost feels like a need as you set the box on top of one of the machines. He takes a sip of water clearing his throat “What’s that?” the box in your hand is covered in plastic to protect it from the rain. Your smile leaks from the corner of your mouth coloring your face in a faint blush. You don’t answer and instead, decide to open it. Jimin stairs at the mess of black tulle and silver crystals perplexed until he sees the deep v of the bodice. 

“I can’t believe the gala is only a week away.” You say excitedly, running your fingers over the luxurious black fabric. Jimin feels his cheeks turn a little pink.

“Are you going to try it on?” Can I see you in it?  You nod. 

“They made it to my measurements but it could still need alterations.” He follows you up to your room and watches as you hang it on one of the hooks in your closet so that it lies flat against the wall. The dress looks stunning on the hanger, it must have cost more than a few grand.  The rhinestones weigh it down heavily and it sparkles like a river of sunlight. 

“I’m gonna go set up in the livening room,” you say- and he nods already grabbing a towel to take a shower. Daily showers are another thing he hasn’t gotten used to living here. You laughed at him the other day when he realized how dry his skin had gotten from the constant washing. You gave him a sweet smelling lotion that he applies after the shower and now sometimes he smells like you. You caught him once smelling his arms during class- and he laughed it off with a blush just saying he liked the smell. 

You’re curled up on the couch under several layers of blankets in the living room when he finishes. He takes up his usual place at your feet while you study. He still doesn’t know if he’ll ever get comfortable enough for pets to ask for them but he’s happy with whatever he can get and you always pet his head when he sits below you on the couch. 

“I still wanna see you in it.” you giggle and flick his shoulder. An affectionate gesture. 

“Shush- you’ll like it betters as a surprise.” Jimin playfully wines rubs the spot on the arm like it hurt.

“No fair you got to see me in my suit!” you giggle.  

“Still not going to spoil it.” 

Jimin pouts- “you’re no fun.” You scoff.

“I’m the most fun you’ve had in your entire life.” The flush that crosses his cheeks isn’t entirely due to embarrassment. And he sees you flinch- as if you’ve realized what you’ve said. His eyes are downcast when he says. “You’re not wrong.” The truth feels like peanut butter in his mouth. 

“You never- you never talk about it much.” Jimin looks up at you through the veil of his lashes. “If you want to talk you can- I won't judge you.” any other day he would resist this- but the itchy-ness under his skin is starting to try to eat it’s way out and working out did nothing to help it today. He shrugs- turning his attention back too the drama that’s been buzzing in the background; He watches as the male love interests passionately grabs the female protagonists shoulder. 

“It’s fine it’s just- ” the room is dark and hazy- the grey light that comes through the windows is diffuse with the rain. And in the in the relative darkness, he feels like the words caught in his throat can’t possibly have weight if he speaks them. “I’m just not used to living this way yet.” You rub a hand across the top of his head- skimming one of his ears and he feels his body relax again. The tension that he hadn’t realized had gathered there melting away.

“I never asked you about your life before- Namjoon told me a bit of it but… I want to hear it from you when you’re ready.” 

“There isn’t really much to say about it.” 

“Here sit in-between my legs.” He shifts so that your legs are on either side of his wide shoulders. You run your fingers over his forehand as you comb his black hair back revealing his forehead- combing through the tangles that have gathered there.

He tilts his head back leaning against the back of the couch, eyes closed, bearing his throat. He doesn’t want to ever take this for granted- how good this feels. And in the moment the bad thoughts push in. He can still feel what punches felt like against his skin, what if felt like when his face was hit hard enough that his skin stretched and split- this tenderness is too juxtaposed too what he’s remembering. 

He inhales a sharp breath, and your fingers stop their trail, and you touch his cheek. He opens his eyes to find you staring down at him.  

“Are you ok?” you ask. He shakes his head and turns away. 

“Just memories.” 

“Tell me about them?” you prod- and go back to carding your fingers through his hair. He tells you about his first memories- of the hybrid children he was trained with. How he was picked on at first because of his size but how He quickly learned how to defend himself. Which was why he had been scouted for the fighting ring. You flinch back when he tells you that he used to be kept in a cage when he was small enough with the others. 

“That’s terrible. You were only a kid!” And it’s not a lot but it’s enough to make his soul relax. He tells you the all of it. How he slowly climbed through the ranks. He doesn’t know if it’s ok for him to dump all of this on you but you listen to him until he’s finished. And it feels bazaar to be bare and venerable like this- but if it’s for anyone he wants it too be you. You fall silent when he’s done.  

I wish I could take away all the bad things that happened too you you want to say- But you don’t. you just sit there and run your fingers through his hair like usual- and somehow it means more to him. That you’re willing to listen. that he can sit with you and pretend that there’s not a killer’s soul underneath his bones.

“What about your life before…” before me, before us. 

“Before this?” you chuckle to yourself, “I don’t think you would have liked me very much.” Which seams impossible to him. He sits up turning to look at you.  

“What do you mean?” 

“I was a bit of a party girl- after Hoseok and I - it kind of set me on the wrong path for a while.” 

“What did you do?”

“Almost failed out of college, partied too much, got into shitty relationships.”

“Was that When you almost joined the girl gang?” you nodded, smiling at the memory. 

“Black pink was still strictly minor leagues back then- and I think it more had to do with the fact that they wanted to fuck the boys than liking me. Tae went out with me most nights to keep an eye on me. Used to say that getting people drunk makes their lips looser.” He nods, remembering what Tae said the other night- that he trafficked mostly in gossip and secrets of powerful people. “Most of the boys besides Yoongi keep a fairly active social life.”  

“I still haven’t heard anything that would make me dislike you,” he says. And you giggle when he nudges your hand, which had stilled against his head. He wonders if he’ll ever get tired of it. You shift and pat the space beside you on the couch, he moves to sit next too you sitting closer then he would have dared a few weeks ago.  After all, this is just what friends do right? Sit close to each other on the rainy days and talk about everything and anything.

He thinks that he’s acted wrong when he sees A dark blush covers your face for a second. His attention shifts back to the television, and he sees immediately why you’re embarrassed. 

It’s not exactly porn, but with the way the male love interest is leaning over the female protagonist, it hardly leaves anything to the imagination. You both laugh after a pregnant moment. Especially when it suddenly changes back to the minor characters for comic relief just before it gets too the steamy parts. 

“Have you ever?” Jimin asks you- and he doesn’t need to get your verbal confirmation when he sees how dark you turn. “Who?”

“You already know…” you trail off.  Jimin reigns in the peculiar feeling of possessiveness that turns his belly over as he thinks of Hoseok. “There were others after him too, I never dated someone in the gang after” Your voice goes steely- and you look as tense as you can when you talk about him. You fiddle with Jimin’s hands for a second; playing with his fingers the same way you did last night. 

“Why do I get the impression that whoever you’re talking about was an asshole to you.” 

“Because guys usually are.” you laugh- trying to lighten the mood. Jimin’s thumb stutters against the center of your palm when he finally returns your affections- making shivers and Goosebumps drift up your arms. “He- he wasn’t exactly abusive…” you trail off. Jimin sits too attention. The thought of someone hurting you- even if it was just with words makes his blood boil and the hair stand up on the back of his neck. 

“If he hurt you- you need to tell Namjoon.” He’s surprised at how angry it’s got him, his voice sounds low and almost a little harsh. But he’s not accustomed to this cold fury that comes when someone he cares about talks about being hurt. 

“Namjoon knows- at least a little bit. I’m pretty sure if he ever came back into the city Namjoon would order a hit on him.” 

“What did he do?” Jimin needs too know- needs to know what made that look fall across your face. He knows the feelings flickering in your eyes. And he wants to know who makes your fight and flight reflex engage and why- so that he can make sure they never cross your path again. 

“He was one of Tae’s associates- not in the gang but in the know. At first we would just get drunk together but then There where a few too many nights that I woke up in his bed after blacking out. And it bothered me but not him, and he wouldn’t stop taking me home even after I told him I didn’t want to have sex if I got like that again. We were together, but it still wasn’t right. Once Tae found out things got ugly; got him banned from nearly all the bars in the city.” Your voice is shaking and he’s surprised that he doesn’t see tears drifting down your cheeks. 

You say the words like they don’t imply rape but he knows regardless. None of what you did was consensual. But he knows the way your hands are shaking and how tentative you are about opening up about this. So he doesn’t pry- he just listens and rubs up and down your arm with careful gentle strokes. 

“He tried to talk me about it- tried to get Namjoon too back off because he was making his life a living hell. You should have seen how Yoongi looked when he tried to grab me at a club- only time I’ve ever seen him get violent without being provoked first.”

Jimin sits back, good he thinks. Good that you have people to protect you- people who care. And maybe he’s a little jealous because you’ve always had a family and he almost feels like he’s just finding his, but he can’t blame you at all for it. Not when you look like this- like you just barely got through it all. 

He feels the same way- he’s never had someone to talk too about this stuff either. He’s never had a friend. 

“What about you?” you ask, and you only have to look up at Jimin’s flush to know that he has had sex. Which is surprising to you with the way he leans into every bit of affection from you. “It wasn’t about that though.” Gesturing to the couples that are looking into each other’s eyes with love and more passion then the other hybrid had ever looked at him.  “It was more about needs than anything else.” 

You nod. You don’t blame him or even think that he’s in any way to blame because of that. You can’t really sympathize because you’ve never been through what he’s been through- or been in that position. But the way that he looks at the two- like is brushing on the edge of understanding makes you curious; you have no idea what he’s thinking but you want to know. 

All Jimin can think about is the fact that until recently he would never think about doing it again, not unless he found someone he could love. And as a hybrid- he had always thought that he would die before he found someone like that. But now he looks at you- and he’s less sure. 

The bang of the front door against the wall stuns both of you out of your thoughts and you separate on the couch. Jimin’s shoulder feels warm and fuzzy from where your head was- and the side of his body warm from where yours was tucked against his. 

“Housekeeping motherfuckers,” Jungkook says as he rounds the corner. Followed by a tired looking Yoongi and an exhausted-looking Namjoon. “Feel like letting me beat you at overwatch again Jiminie?” Jimin grimaces at the younger man. As Yoongi grumbles holding bags of what smells like takeout from the barbeque place down the street. 

“Is that what I think it is?” as your mouth starts to water.

Yoongi sleepily smiles and replies  “All I want right now is a food coma.” You gesture at him to hand over one of the containers as Namjoon loosens his tie. 

“Deal- wanna watch these two idiots with me?” Yoongi nods and sits next to you on the couch. 

“Hoseok’s coming over in a little bit.” Jungkook mentions, “We can have a competition.” Jimin shrugs-not mentioning that at this point he practically hates overwatch. his head feels like it’s still buzzing. 

Namjoon shakes his head. “Hoseok has errands to run- a letter for one of Taehyung’s contacts.” 

Jimin sucks on his lower lip “I can do it.” he’s a little eager to get away for a little while. Everyone stops what they’re doing when Jimin offers. Yoongi pretends to be more interested in his food as you pause mid-bite. “I could do with a walk- and I don’t mind that it’s late.” He explains- his eyes catching yours for a moment. He feels like maybe the rhythm of concrete underneath his feet will help him sort through his scattered emotions.

Namjoon’s eyes flickered too you. “You don’t care do you?” you shake your head. 

“I’m just gonna go to bed after this.” 

“it’s across the city…” Namjoon explains. Jimin gets up from the couch and Namjoon leads him to his office. Grabbing a small note in an envelope that’s addressed in a looping green cursive. 

“I’ll send the location to your smartwatch so you don’t get lost- you shouldn’t run into anyone and Yaya Noona won't bother you too much. But people still might give pause about a hybrid walking alone so late at night.” Jimin shrugged tugging on the hood of his sweatshirt to hide his ears before he tucked his long tail into his pants. He held himself out. 

Namjoon nodded. “Better.” His watch dings and he gets the location- and Jimin’s surprised that he thinks he roughly knows where it is- at least some of the street names look a little familiar- you must have gone by them during one of your escapades.  

Outside the cold night, air has an instant effect on Jimin. The last of his anxiety melts away as he sets an easy pace. He passes fewer and fewer people. Fuck- it even takes him a few minutes to realize this is the first time that he’s ever really been on his own. The wet concrete scatters the neon lights, as the smell of rain lulls him into a false sense of security.  The feeling of the concrete underneath his feet and no one next to him is simultaneously freeing and claustrophobic. He checked his watch again to make sure that he was going in the right direction.

Jimin circled the garage twice before he decides to enter it. it’s mostly well lit on the edge of town. A few older men where smoking cigarettes and drinking while they worked on the bare bones of the car. Jimin ducked under the metal garage gate and Instantaneously they stopped, turning to look at him. Scanning the intruder. One of their fingers stretch towards a tire iron and Jimin considers that sneaking up on them might not have been his best move. 

“Uh” he said, glancing down at his hand, “I’m looking for Yaya?” 

“Yah.” Drawls a voice above him, the small old woman with tattoos is the last thing Jimin is expecting. She waits until Jimin has found the steps up to her office (tucked behind a hydraulic lift meant for cars) before she turns and barks at the men in another language that Jimin doesn’t understand. Jimin doesn’t waste a moment before handing her the envelope that his masters given him. She takes it from him before lighting a cigarette and ripping it open with a red manicured fingernail. Her office stinks of pot, booze, and motor oil. 

“This is your first time making a delivery I’m assuming.” Jimin nods, Namjoon had warned him that Yaya would be chatty. 

“Yes mam” he says, trying to be polite, this prompts Yaya to cackle,  “I-I’m sorry I-“ Yaya props herself back on her desk. 

“They’re gonna eat you alive sweetheart if you keep acting so unsure.” Jimin swallows past the lump in his throat as Yaya reads the letter over once, and it causes her to laugh again. “Tell Taehyung that flattery never gets him anywhere good very quickly” Jimin blanches, but Yaya just continues, “Tell Monster that a new contact will be in touch with Taehyung within the week.”  

Jimin swallows, looking at the note in Yaya’s hand. “I’m not supposed to leave until I watch you burn that.”

“Then why don’t you stay a while little hellhound?” she gestures to the seat in front of her. “I know a hybrid when one walks into my shop- especially one with such an impressive track record.” Jimin can’t stop the wine that leaves his throat then, though he doesn’t feel threatened by Yaya, (how could he be?- when she’s barely larger than an 8th grader and looks only about twice as threatening). But this is the first time he’s ever met anyone who’s seen one of his fights besides Namjoon. And he knows how he looked during them- how bloodthirsty and empty he felt.  

“Can you please just burn the message?” he says impatiently kicking the edge of her desk (which is really little more than the hood of a car on top of a few cinderblocks) Yaya lifts the paper to the lit end of her cigarette and blows until it’s caught fire. Jimin only sits long enough to watch her throw it in a metal waste bin. 

“See you later hellhound.” 

“That’s not my name,” he growls, he’s tired of being toyed with.  He can hear Yaya’s smile even if he’s got his back turned to her his fingers gripping the doorway- nails leaving marks in the wood. 

“You better get used to it hellhound, people are going to be whispering it behind your back before long.”

Jimin is so angry and wrapped up in his own thoughts on his walk home that he doesn’t realize he’s lost until several minutes have passed.  he doesn’t recognize any of the street names and lets out a curse before he turns around. if he can just backtrack to Yaya’s that he’ll be able to find his way home. There is no Gps brought up on his watch anymore- and he doesn’t know enough about technology to reset it. 

There are even few people out than earlier on account of how late it is. he wanders for a few moment trying to get his bearings before the air shifts.  the same scent crosses his nose twice in the same 10-minute span and he pauses.  he’s never actually been followed- but he cant leave it up to coincidence. He walks in circles for a few minutes and catches the same man’s eye just before turning down an alleyway. 

Jimin books it down the alleyway letting his legs lead him away and away- his rusty flight instincts kick in. But another set of arms snake out of the shadows and grabs at him making him stumble for just a moment.  Something hits him from behind bringing him to his knee before he can get his bearings. 

Then there are hands on him, two pairs holding his arms to the side while another grabs his legs to stop him from back peddling. A well aimed elbow lands in a solar plexus of one of the men But there are too many- 5 maybe 6 of them. It takes one man for each of his limbs as he growls out ferally turning his head to bit something- someone anything at all but then they’res a piece of leather- a muzzle that’s being fastened around his mouth- he’s only been put in one a handful of times before- when he back talked or did something particularly disobedient. 

The men pull him through the dark alleyway and into a door. He thrashes extra hard when he feels someone pull at the watch at his arm- but it’s no use- he might be better trained then these human men but there are still 5 of them and only one of him. 

“Take this and walk around the block of few times- try to keep it random like you’re lost- hurry- monster might already be watching.”

Someone pulls a bag over his head and then he’s truly blind. His ears pick up the scratch of a metal door and the movement of wood against concrete, the jingle of chains as he’s dragged further into the warehouse. He manages to punch one of the men across the face when they let go of his hands briefly- he barks with a loud curse. They string him up with chains, his feet just barely brush the ground. No matter how much he turns and tries to yank his hands out of the chains he can’t get enough leverage. Panic truly grips him. His pulse thuds rapidly as the only thoughts in his head are to get away as everyone leaves the room.

The only sound punctuating the darkness is Jimin’s ragged breathing, his sensitive ears hear the thrum of cars on the pavement. He thinks about how loud he can scream with the muzzle on for a second before he hears footsteps at the door. His body recoils- he knows that scent. Knows what it means for him. If possible his heart beats faster, his hands struggle to get free but he knows that they’re no use. The man in front of him laughs cruelly. And he can barely process the other people filing into the room. 

“Get on with it.” an unfamiliar voice growls.  And then the hood is being yanked off his face and his eyes are shocked by the bright light above him. But it could never block out the face of his old master; Jay Park. 

“Fuck you.” is the first word that comes out of his mouth when they take off the muzzle- and Jimin is proud of how little his voice wavers. The slap that rips against his cheek almost feels like encouragement. 

“Oh, my” is all the face of his nightmares says, “looks like you’ve grown some bark to your bite- what happened to my perfectly obedient dog?” 

“Not to barge in- but this isn’t exactly the warm welcome we where expecting from your little experiment.” Jimin almost chokes because the voice behind him and the man that steps into the light are familiar; Dr. Xiumen from the hospital. 

Jimin remembers him from the other day that you took him to see Taehyung. He knew there was something strange about him- what is he doing with Jay Park? There are a few other young men- propped up against the wall or the door. A tall man stands equal to the doctor;  light blue hair puffs up araound his forehead and there’s something about his eyes that makes Jimin shiver. While the doctors are cold and calculating- this man is dark raw emotion, an untamped fire that is just waiting to consume. 

“What the fuck do you want.” Jay Park lifts his hand to run his fingers over Jimin’s ears, and Jimin flinches expecting another slap for speaking out of turn, but he doesn’t care. Monster bought him. Jay Park isn’t his master anymore. 

“You’re being awfully disloyal” The words are ones that have always made him instantly submit, and he struggles against years of conditioning, refusing to let his eyes drop. “tisk tisk- embarrassing me in front of my guests.”

“I don’t have to do what you say anymore. You sold me. Don’t you remember?” 

“I thought I trained you better than that, you know who your real master is.” Jimin lowers his head because he knows- now that he’s starting to calm down for a minute- that it will probably be better if he doesn’t talk and acts the way they want him too. 

“Jimin.” Jay park commands and his ears twitch before he makes his eyes rise up to meet his old masters “you still remember who your real master is right. Who you really trust- and it's not monster.” Jimin senses the others in the room watching him closely. He lets his ears flick in their direction. “I see you’ve noticed our guests.” He gestures to the doctor. 

“I’m sure you remember me Jimin.” Jimin nods.  Xiumin smiles in a way that Jim doesn’t believe is kind for a second. “We want you to help us,” the doctor says, “just something small.” He says quietly. And he can already tell that this man is far more charming than his master. 

“Why would I do that?” Jimin asks- struggling to keep his voice even, at this point it’s not about proving his loyalty- it's about getting out of these restraints and this warehouse alive. And he doesn’t care what he has to do or what he has to say to achieve that. 

“I’ll give you your freedom.” Jay Park says, quicker then Jimin can breathe. “Set you up somewhere nice where no one will question a hybrid living on his own. Give you work-“ he sees Jimin scoff for a second. “Not the old kind that you and I both know you’re good at.”  

There are no demeaning words that come along with the sentence- no command- this is actually a negotiation. That one sentence is the only one that could ever make Jimin’s thought process completely stop. White noise fills his ears. The only thing that could make him actually consider what Jay parks offering- he’s never ever had the freedom to make his choices.

 It’s the one thing he’s never dared to allow himself to dream off. He never thought he would get the chance to have this.  Jimin swallows, and then the man with the eyes like fire is speaking in a deep voice that sets Jimin on edge.

“I’m Chanyeol, leader of the Red X’s, You don’t know me- but you also don’t know who you currently serve. The people Monsters killed. The people I care about that he’s hurt.” The man takes a picture out of his wallet and puts it where Jimin can see it. 

The photograph is bloodstained and warn at the edges, “this was my fiancé- Namjoon had her killed 3 days before our wedding.” Jimin swallows. “The people you work for aren’t saints Jimin- far from it. there’s no need for you to bloody your hands there work. Tonight it was just a delivery but what about tomorrow? Monster won’t let your talent sit for long.”

“But y/n-”

“The little devil?-she’ll be fine Jimin- do you know how much money monster has stashed away for her in the event anything happens to him?” xumin answers.  

“You can’t touch her if-” Jimin breaks off again, then continues- saying his words slowly and carefully so that he knows he’s understood “If I agree to help you, you need to promise me you won't hurt her.”

“You have my word.” Chanyeol answers. “I want to end this cycle of revenge- and monsters sister has done nothing to me- though I do admit that I would love to see him suffer like I have.” 

“But The Red X’s don’t murder innocents like Bangtan does,” Xumin says, resting a hand on Chanyeol’s. 

Jay Park bends back down to Jimin’s level before he has time to process what this tall dark strangers told him about the people he’s been living with the kind people. But freedom- that forbidden flighty thing that he’s never allowed himself to want. The thing he’s always wanted the most- can he really let that go? The photographs jay park flashes in front of his face are of Namjoon- and of his phone. Pressed to his ear or in his pocket. they look like theyve been taken over many days- months even.

“Monster does most of his work through his phone- it’s the only weak point we’ve been able to find in his entire system; their firewall is impeccable.”  

“What do you want me to do?” Jimin says. Looking at the picture of his current master while gnawing at his lip. 

“We want you to put this under his case.” Xumin shows Jimin a small silver circle- an impressively understated piece of technology. “It’s just a little bug, just enough to let us know his moves before he makes them.”

“And then we can dismantle Bangtan brick by brick.” Jimin swallows as they start to turn to him. 

“I’ll do it,” he says quietly, this inky greasy feeling fills him. And though the men smile at each other and start to lower him down. 

Jimin can only feel guilt flooding into him. But there is a sweeter taste on his tongue- something he’d never thought he’d taste and it hums a song in the back of his head over and over again drowning out emotions that he knows he should feel. 

Freedom freedom freedom

When Jimin gets back the house is deceptively quiet- there is still a hum coming from the main room. His watch is back on his wrist after being returned to him by one of the Red X’s lackeys. There’s no sign of movement on the first floor though he can tell by the smells that Hoseok and Jungkook have probably left within the last hour. Then he notices you curled up in the corner- initially disguised under a few layers of blankets. Your head is slumped against the side of the couch. He sighs and picks you up off the couch. 

“Jimin?” you mutter sleepily when you’re halfway up the stairs. You nuzzle into the side of his jacket and the movement is almost enough to jar him out of his thoughts. A blush rises to his face regardless- like it does every time he has you close like this. 

You’re to sleep addled to wonder if you shouldn’t nuzzle into him- and he has little enough self-control to go along with every one of your bad ideas.  

His heart drops when he remembers the last hour of his life but he shoves down the guilt of lying to you before it can get out of hand. He needs to be steady and not let his emotions get the best of him if this is going to happen how he wants too. 

He sets you down onto the bed and lets you roll over under the covers while he changes out of his street clothes that smell like warehouse and adrenaline and into a pair of black pajama pants leaving his chest bare. You curl up next to him like he’s not a killer like he’s the gentle soul he wants to be and if anything it makes him feel more undeserving of your affection. 

Your bare cheek rests on his bare chest as he twines his fingers around yours and you hug his muscled arm to your chest. Your soft hair tickles the side of his face. He tries not to get so entwined with you but fails- resolving to detangle himself when he hears Namjoon fall asleep downstairs. He can still hear the faint sounds of him tossing and turning.

Every second you spend near him makes his heart hurt and his stomach coil in self-disgust- he knows it's only going to get worse the longer the secrets dig into him. But he has to do this; they would find some way to hurt you anyway. And if he does this- then maybe he can save you. Maybe you can come out unscathed. 

So when he slips out of bet and peals your arms from around him. He savors you warmth as he leaves the room- as quietly as he can. The little silver circle is clenched in his fist as he descends the stairs to monsters level. His current master is fast asleep. Jimin is quiet enough that he dosen’t even stir. 

His master’s phone is on the edge of the bed- his hand outstretched like he had fallen asleep on the phone with someone. In the darkness- Namjoon doesn’t look like a monster- he just looks like a man with worries like any other. If Jimin’s being honest with himself, even if Namjoon did kill that man’s fiancé, he’s not sure that he deserves this. 

Jimin reaches forward.

[itsallavengers]

so how about Tony facing his worst fears in order to save Peter? And then in return, Peter rides out the subsequent panic attacks and mental breakdowns that come from it. (Bc I'm a sucker for that angst haha)

The first thing he noticed when he came back to consciousness was the hand that carded gently through his hair.

He jerked, hands flailing wildly as he attempted to fight off the ghost of his attackers. God, his head hurt. He felt woozy; nauseous in a way he hadn’t since developing his powers. Everything felt a little off-kilter, and as he rolled to the side, his head fell from the soft surface it had been resting on and down toward a far harder, unforgiving one, which only increased the pain in the back of his head-

“Hey hey hey, Peter, whoah, calm down, it’s okay, it’s just me. It’s just me! You’re good, kid, you’re good,” someone said above him, and Peter groaned a little, but let himself relax instinctively at the sound of the voice.

Safe voice. Good voice. No threat. That was nice.

“T’ny?” he slurred, rolling back around and opening his heavy eyelids, trying to focus on the figure that was leaning over him.

“That’s me,” Tony replied, giving him a weary grin. His lip was split and there was a cut running across his cheek which was bleeding pretty heavily, so the whole thing looked rather grim, but still. Peter guessed it was the thought that counted. “You feeling okay? Kinda woozy? Gonna be sick, do you think?”

Peter thought about it for a second, before shaking his head. “Not g’nna hurl. J’st feel like…”

“Garbage?”

“Garb’ge, yeah.”

Tony nodded, patting him on the shoulder. “Yeah, that’ll be the drugs. You remember what happened?”

Peter furrowed his brow, trying to think back. His whole head just felt fluffy- like trying to wade through candyfloss, or catch smoke. “There was…lunch?”

Tony let out a brief bark of laughter. “Of course that’s the part you remember. Yeah, you were in the SI cafeteria, grabbing me some food. It was break, so there were a tonne of other people too.”

Peter began to nod a little as the memories cam back. “An’ then… then there was…gas?”

Tony grimaced. “Fucking HYDRA. Gassed the whole room out, came in with all their shitty guns, told me I had one minute to get down there or they’d start shooting. Honestly,” he shook his head, and had Peter not felt the slightly shaking hand on his shoulder, he would have thought Tony was more annoyed than afraid, “they’re so goddamn crass sometimes.”

Peter made a face. “Why am I here, though? Did I fight ‘em?”

“I’m not sure. I left before I could see the rest of the footage. But the last thing I saw was you…” Tony stopped, looking rather haunted, “you were the last one standing. I think it took more for your body to be overcome by the gas. They must have…fuck, I don’t know.” He shook his head, hand gripping a little tighter to Peter’s shoulder. “They must have recognised you. You’re seen with me a lot, so I guess they just thought you were valuable. Probably because you’re gonna be useful bargaining material,” Tony muttered, face like thunder as he rubbed a hand over his eyes. “God, I’m sorry kid. I’m so… fuck,” he whispered, looking away, eyes flicking up and over Peter’s head for a moment, before resting back down on Peter’s face. “I won’t let them do anything to you, though, Peter, I swear- God, I’ll torch their entire foundations to the fucking ground if they do and they fucking know it, so I don’t know what they’re thinking-”

“I’ll be fine,” Peter said quietly, finding Tony’s hand and gripping as he slowly hauled himself into sitting position. It sent a wave of dizziness over him, and he wobbled precariously for a moment before settling. “I’m enhanced. It takes a lot to hurt me.”

“Hey, hey, just lie down, Peter- you need to conserve energy. The drugs were only designed for normal humans. It’ll hopefully be out of your system soon, and you can get out,” Tony told him, pushing him back down so his head was resting in Tony’s lap once more. Peter wasn’t even strong enough to push back.

“Fuck,” he cursed. “This’s the f’rst time I been kidnapped,” he muttered.

“And I’m gonna make sure it’s your last,” Tony replied harshly, speaking more to himself than Peter. He looked pretty stricken, and his eyes kept goddamn shifting-

Curiously, Peter turned, rolling on his shoulder until he was facing the other way. He hadn’t properly taken in his surroundings yet, and the position he was lying in meant that he had his head facing the tiles of the wall

As he turned, his eyes widened a little. It took a while for his focus to shift back in, but once it did, he noted the large glass pane that separated them from the rest of the room.

They were in a holding cell; nothing more than a box, really. No features, no windows. Just like a part of an empty room had been cordoned off by glass. And on the other side…

There was some weird, futuristic-looking device. Like a vat, but completely see-through. Peter could see the water that glistened, eerily still in the light of the afternoon. It was the only thing in the huge warehouse.

A deep, primal sort of fear struck him as he took it in. It wasn’t some fancy schmancy death machine, it wasn’t intricate or even obviously threatening.

It was just water. But that held the potential for many, many unpleasant things.

(read more, mobile users!)

“Just concentrate on me, Pete,” Tony said, tapping the back of his head and drawing his attention back, “it’s gonna be fine. Someone will have alerted the cops, or SHIELD or something- they’ll find us,” he said, nodding his head adamantly and then taking another sharp little breath. 

His eyes were wide, pupils dilated in fear. There was a constant tremor in the hand that gripped Peter’s shoulder. He looked like he was having trouble breathing.

Peter wasn’t oblivious. He knew fear when he saw it. 

“We’re gonna be okay, Tony,” he said, sitting up again. He felt a little better, if still somewhat woozy. He was sweating as if he’d just sprinted a solid mile, and he knew it was his body getting rid of the toxins. He’d be okay in a while. They just had to hold out.

Tony looked down sharply at him. “I know we are. I’m the one assuring you.”

Peter smiled. “I’m all assured up, Tony, don’t worry.”

He wasn’t. Not really. He felt like he was suddenly in too deep. This wasn’t Spiderman dealing with the problem, here- he didn’t have his suit. All he was was Peter Parker, the 15-year-old schoolboy.Peter Parker might not be good enough for this.

Tony looked at him like he knew exactly what was going through his mind, because he shook his head and jostled their shoulders together. “They’re gonna pay very, very dearly for this,” he muttered, again, more to himself as he stared ahead of him angrily and wiped the blood off his lip.

“How long have we been here?” Peter asked, his head dropping on sleepily on to Tony’s shoulder.

He felt the little shrug Tony gave in response. “I’ve been awake about twenty minutes. They knocked me out when they put me in the van. Going from the fact that the toxin’s still in your system, I’d say we’ve been gone around an hour.”

Peter nodded in silent response, watching Tony as he stared straight ahead of him, through the glass wall and over to the tank with an almost disturbing intensity. His breathing was coming in a little short again.

As soon as he saw Peter watching him, though, he somehow managed to school it away; turning it into more of angry stare than one of fear. It was quite impressive, really- Peter wondered how much practise it had taken. “Glass is reinforced, too. Couldn’t break it. Guessing whatever…whatever that’s made of is too,” he said, cocking his head over to the tank with a little swallow, like he was physically trying to force the fear back down his throat.

Peter opened his mouth, response ready on his lips- but it never made it past his teeth, because suddenly a new noise filled the room.

A door was slammed open on the other end of the large hall, and five men marched in. One was quite clearly the leader- fancy suit and expensive watches and carefully styled hair- whilst the other four simply looked like enforcers. Huge, muscled men carrying various weaponry and all of them with expressions like someone had spat in all their faces.

“Tony Stark!” The leader called out with a smile, clapping his hands together, “how lovely it is to finally meet you!”

Slowly, Tony pulled away from Peter. “Don’t move, don’t speak, don’t draw any attention to yourself at all, understood?” He muttered into Peter’s ear, and the tone allowed no room for argument as he slowly got to his feet.

Peter watched, heart beginning to hammer in fear of what was to come as the five men made their way across the hall, wandering casually, as if simply strolling through a park rather than….doing whatever they were about to do.

“I’d say the same,” Tony began, and Peter was incredibly impressed with the complete 180 Tony managed to do in the time it took for him to turn from Peter to the glass wall and face their captors- gone was the fear, and the hunched, scared posture- here was Iron Man, Tony Stark, ready to fuck your shit up and then go home for dinner, “but unfortunately, I’d be talking directly from my ass, and I promised myself not to do that any more.”

The man simply laughed, clapping his hands together as he wandered forward some more, until he was nothing more than a few meters from the glass. “Ah, you really are like everyone says you are, aren’t you? What a delight.”

“I’d like to think I give a stronger handshake than I do a first impression,” Tony said with an easy smile, “so how about it? Shake my hand, fucklord I double dog dare you.”

The man laughed again, shaking his head and waggling a finger. “Ahh, if only it were that easy, Mr Stark, if only. I came here not for a handshake, unfortunately. I came here for information.”

Tony rolled his eyes, raising his hands to the air and generally looking exasperated. “Oh, lordy, what a gosh darn surprise! I haven’t had the ‘we want information’ kidnapping in quite a while-  the past two have been a ‘we want inventions’ ones. I was hoping it’d get switched up a little bit, honestly, I was getting kinda bored,” Tony explained, stepping to the side as he put out a hand and leaned against the glass. 

Peter almost made a noise; Tony had just blocked him from view, and now he couldn’t see the other man’s face. 

He guessed, however, that that had been Tony’s intention.

“Well, Mr Stark, I assure you this will be far from boring,” the man purred, in the type of voice that sent Peter’s spidey-sense tingling with apprehension.

That was a good sign, though. It meant he was coming back to himself, Meant he was getting stronger. 

“Tell me where my Ascension disk is, Mr Stark,” the man said loudly, looking down at his nails.

Tony stopped moving about between his two feet, pulling a face. “I’m sorry- the whatnow?”

Their attacker just rolled his eyes in mild irritation. “The Ascension disk- do not play dumb here, Mr Stark, I know you are aware of its existence.”

“I can assure you, I really don’t,” Tony responded, voice hard as he stepped forward, “believe me, if I knew what it was, I’d tell you as much just so I could spit in your faces and tell you to suck your own asses if you asked for it.”

“You’re not too good at knowing when to keep yourself out of trouble, are you Mr Stark?”

“So I’ve been told,” Tony grinned at them, rocking back on his heels and shoving his hands in his pockets.

He was irritating them, and everyone knew it. Peter wanted to scream; Tony was doing it for him, and that was the only reason. Peter had seen Tony negotiate in hostage situations before, it had been nothing like this. He was surprisingly collected, and he never ever set out to try and piss the attackers off.

Peter being present was the only difference here- and so now Tony was drawing all the attention to himself- making himself the worst guy in the room, because he knew Peter stood a better chance of being ignored if they were so focused on punishing Tony instead-

Fuck. Peter needed  to get them out of here, and he needed to do it yesterday.

“I’m going to ask you once more, Mr Stark,” the voice was barely above a whisper now, and coated with a tone that truly sent shivers down Peter’s spine, “or I’m going to be forced to use… alternate methods,” at that, his gaze shifted, turning around and raising an eyebrow toward the tank of water.

Amazingly, Tony didn’t even flinch. “And I’m going to tell you once more, I don’t have a fucking clue.”

The man paused, and then he sighed, shaking his head a little. “Shame. I would have preferred not to involve the boy.”

The change was immediate. 

The four guards stepped forward at the same moment Tony stepped back, hand stretching blindly for Peter as warning growl was pulled from the back of his throat. “Don’t you fucking dare, don’t you fucking dare-”

he grabbed Peter by the front of his shirt, pushing him against the wall and then standing with his own back against Peter’s chest, effectively shielding his body. Peter felt a little dizzy from the sudden jerking movement, and his vision whited out just for a second, but by the time he came back to himself, the huge guards were putting some weird green card against the glass and then sliding through the sudden opening it made for them.

“-I swear to you, I don’t have a fucking clue what it is, I don’t, you fucking shitheads, just listen to me, I haven’t been messing in HYDRA’s shit for months now, that’s what the Rogue Avengers have been doing, not me, just leave him out of it!” Tony snarled, barely even registering as the guns were pointed in his face. His hands were behind his back, gripping Peter’s arms, holding him in place 

Peter was struck with it, suddenly- the sudden terror of the situation. He was in the middle of a God Damn kidnapping, and they were about to try and take him. He was weak, he was clueless, and he was, admittedly, absolutely fucking terrified.

This wasn’t looking good.

“If you don’t have it, then you still know where it is! You’ve been in communication with Captain Rogers multiple times over the past month-”

“JUST FUCKING TEXTS ON A GOD DAMN BURNER PHONE! I haven’t been discussing Avengers business, or HYDRA, Jesus fucking Christ!” Tony yelled.

The man glared at him, long and hard before there was a quiet “get away from the boy, Mr Stark,”, and the guards moved forward another step, closing them in, guns trained to Tony’s head.

Tony stared over at him, the corner of his mouth tilting up, just a fraction, almost as if he were amused. “Oh, if you really think I’m gonna do that, you got another thing coming.”

The man on the other side of the glass hissed, a hand slapping against the glass, but Tony shook his head, running with the fraction of a pause he’d managed to draw himself. “Oh, and another thing- if you shoot either me or him, let me tell you, you will never find out where it is,. You want to get anything at all, you use me. I swear to everything I have that I will not mutter a single fucking word about your shitty little disk otherwise.”

There was silence in the room, filled only with Tony’s furious breathing and the sound of Peter’s own heartbeat in his ears. “Tony…Tony, don’t,” he whispered, shaking his head a fraction, horrified. He didn’t want Tony to put himself forward- Peter was scared, but he was also stronger than Tony. He could take more, and he would take more, if it meant Tony didn’t goddamn have to, not for him-

“Fine,” the man said eventually, smile creeping up his face as he clapped once more, “we’ll put you in first, then, seeing as you’re so darn desperate.”

Peter’s jaw dropped in horror, and his hands instantly shot out, tugging at Tony’s arms. “No, no, Tony, don’t, don’t- let me, let m-”

Tony smacked a hand over his mouth before the jumbled words could get any louder, and he had one second to look Peter in the eye and say “I’ll be fine,” before a guard smashed his gun down against the back of Tony’s head and sent him crashing to the side.

Peter held on to him, stopping the fall and then spinning with it, throwing out a vicious kick as he went, because he wouldn’t let them, he wasn’t going to let them take Tony, not when the man was quite clearly terrified of what laid in store- so Peter would just have to be the one to fight instead, he’d get them out-

The kick landed, and it did its job. Both man and weapon went flying across the room; the force Peter exerted being enough to knock him clean off his feet. But he was still woozy- the spin sent him off-balance, and he found himself wavering wildly, unable to follow through and hit the next target that approached.

He was forcibly ripped from Tony’s grasp, and a guard raised his hand, ready to hit, but his arm stopped mid-swing as he heard Tony’s voice rasp through the air.

“Did you not hear me, shithead? You hurt him…” Tony wheezed a little, crawling back up to his hands and knees simply so he could shoot the guard a poisonous glare, “and I don’t say a damn word.”

“Stand down,” the man behind the glass said, and with a nod, the man released, letting Peter drop messily to the floor. 

He’d failed. He’d let Tony down.

“I’m sorry,” he choked on the floor, tears pooling in his eyes as his hand reached for Tony’s across the floor. “I’m sorry, I didn’t… I’m sorry, Tony.”

Shaking fingers grasped against his, just for a second, before Tony was yanked backward roughly. “It’s okay, kid,” he called out, hand still outstretched, and Peter tried to follow, but there were two guards pinning him and he just wasn’t strong enough to fight, “it’s okay. I believe in you. Sweat it out. Kick some ass. You’ll be okay.”

The guards let him go just as Tony was hauled through the entrance, and they left a second before it closed up again, leaving Peter alone in the cell, watching through the glass as they pushed Tony forward.

“Okay, Mr Stark,” the leader began, “here’s how this works. That,” he raised a hand, pointing behind him and toward the tank of water, “is 100 gallons of water, at the temperature of about four degrees. It has a sliding roof, and on my command I can open and close it. Tell me, Tony- how good are you at swimming?”

Peter could see, even from afar, how badly Tony winced. But the reply came, effortless as always. “Actually I was my school’s 100 meter freestyle champion for like, 2 years running, so-”

“Put him in,” the man said with a roll of his eyes, waving the guards away.

“No!” Peter banged uselessly on the glass, and he could barely even recognise his own voice, it was so ragged and harsh. The same thought kept spinning- round and round and round in his head, you let him down, you let him go, you failed-

and because of him, they were going to torture Tony.

Tony struggled the whole way up, but he’d been knocked on the head one too many times, and Peter could see his balance was off too much for him to be able to do anything real.

Peter had to stop this. He had to. He couldn’t… he couldn’t let this happen.

Shutting his eyes, he breathed deep. He thought hard, about who Spiderman really was.

Him.

“You can do this. You can do this, Peter,” he hissed, eyes clenched, hands gripping his own hair as he leaned against the glass.

His head felt thick. But he knew he was capable. He still had the power. Still had the capacity.

Glass was only as reinforced as the person trying to destroy it, after all.

Another deep breath- he took a look over toward Tony, who was now struggling wildly at the top of the stairs which led up to the lid of the tank.

He punched the glass, with everything he had.

“I’LL TELL YOU!” Tony finally screamed, all bravery gone now, replaced only with the most basic of emotions- terror being the most prominent. “I’ll… I’ll tell you. Fuck- it’s under the Dorium. Just…if you type it into SHIELD’s databanks, you’ll see-”

“Tony, Tony, Tony,” the man interrupted, face almost splitting with the smile he was wearing, “do you really think we wouldn’t be aware of the booby-trapped SHIELD server? HYDRA are not fools.” He shook his head, lifting a hand as he appeared to speak into his watch. “Dan Kraig, 8-9-9-8-2. Open,” he said, watching in what Peter could only describe as glee as the tank appeared to follow his command, roof sliding open silently.

Peter made the first crack in the glass just as Tony was shoved under the surface of the freezing water, and had the lid closed over him..

He couldn’t watch. He physically couldn’t- his eyes were too blurry with tears, and his hands were too busy punching into the glass to wipe them away.

He just kept going. He screamed and punched and pretended as if he couldn’t hear Tony punching back, on a different glass surface.

A bigger crack split through the glass.

Howling in fury at how fucking slow it was going, Peter spun on his head, running to the other side of the room before kicking off and using the momentum from his run to hurl his foot into the crevice forming in the glass.

There was a bigger shatter, that time, and now, you see- now it was a race. Peter had always been competitive; it was what drove him. This could drive him

It was a race. That was all it was. To see if he was fast enough to save Tony’s life. 

It was just a race.

He kicked, again and again and again, feeling his foot jerk in pain, but knowing he could continue. He had to. He had to win.

He looked up, just for a second, and saw Tony, as his banging on the roof slowly became less and less animated, and more filled with lethargy.

It was the final straw. Putting everything he had into it, Peter screamed and punched one more time.

The entire frame vibrated, and then the spiderweb of cracks Peter had made exploded outward, falling to the floor in a litter of glass.

He didn’t waste a second. As soon as he saw his opening, he forced his way through, hurtling into the hall with a scream of fury.

Instantly, the guards pointed their guns at him, but Peter had it now. He was in the lead, he was winning, and nothing was stopping him.

Rolling to the side, he dodged each other their bullets with ease, Spider-senses allowing him to move through the fire like they were simply suspended in the air.

Sprinting across the room faster than it would have taken for the two guards stood at the foot of the ladder to breathe, Peter threw himself forward, legs rising into a plank as he drop-kicked the first one into the base of the tank at a force that resulted in immediate unconsciousness. The second one yelled, swinging his gun around, but Peter caught it and yanked, sending the man stumbling forward into his waiting knee. 

That nose would probably never look the same again. Not that Peter gave a shit.

In the corner of his eye, he saw Tony give a sudden spasm, convulsing in the trapped barrel of water as a hand clawed up his throat, desperate for air. It had been a minute, now.

Race. It was a race.

Leaping vertically, he grabbed the underside of the ledge that the last two guards were stood on and hauled, sending himself somersaulting up to the top. Legs in a scissoring motion, he pushed them both off the sides, one falling right off the ladder and toward the floor in a sickening crack, and the other landing with a dull thud over the roof of the tank Tony was trapped under.

Peter didn’t wait. He threw himself on top of the guard, using his momentum to roll the man off the ledge.

It all happened in less than five seconds. Peter felt a little detached from his body. He didn’t know what he was doing- all he knew is that he had to. He had to do it. He had to protect what little family he had left. 

At all costs.

Grabbing the gun off the lid of the tank, he directed it toward the last man. The leader. The one with the power to make the tank open once more.

“Do it,” he hissed, seeing the blood already on his hand- his own, from the glass shards that were dug into his knuckles. “Open it or I’ll shoot.”

The man paused, eyes widening a fraction, before a smug smile curled his lips. “No you won’t.”

“I’LL DO IT!” Peter screamed, gun shaking in his hand, and he knew he was running out of time, Tony was running out of time, he couldn’t wait-

But he couldn’t shoot, either. He just…couldn’t. 

He’d lost.

Screaming in something he could only best describe as agony, Peter leaped off the roof of the tank and hurtled toward the other man, kicking him in the chest hard enough to crack the sternum and send him crumbling to the floor with nothing more than a pathetic whimper.

Peter was alone. The room was silent. 

There was a tap against the glass.

Peter’s head jerked up. Tony was at the side of the glass, looking at him, one hand pressed up against the wall as the other knocked vacantly.

Peter was there in a second. 

“Tony, I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to do, I don’t know-” Peter cried, tears slipping down his cheeks as his hands fisted where Tony’s were flat.

Tony looked at him, and he smiled softly. Peter was reminded of how it was said that drowning offered the most peaceful death, in the end.

 On the other side of the glass, Tony knocked once more, before curling his hand into a fist, bringing his index and middle finger up straight along with his thumb, until he made a gun gesture. He pressed the tips of his fingers to the glass, and then-

His eyes fluttered shut.

Peter looked down at the semi-automatic in his hand. And then he fired the rest of the chamber at one spot near the bottom of the barrel.

Crack, crack, crack, crack-

the chamber emptied.

But Peter wasn’t giving up now.

Taking another few steps back, He dropped the gun. He wiped the tear tracks off his face. Took a breath.

Ran faster than he had before in his entire life, and kicked.

There was a deep, booming crack, and then suddenly Peter was drowning. Bowled over completely by the sheer force of the wall of water which came up to meet him, he barely had the chance to suck in a breath before water was everywhere. Horrible, sickening, freezing water. It set his skin on fire, stabbed like a thousand tiny needles, completely overwhelmed him for a second before he wrestled back control and curled into a ball, allowing himself to be pushed along by the current.

Eventually, his back hit the floor, and he rolled a few times before finally, finally the water was gone. He could breathe.

“Tony,” was the first word out of his mouth.

He wheezed, wiping the water out of his eyes, looking for another body. It wasn’t difficult to find; Tony was the only one out of all of them currently sporting a deep red jacket.

Scrabbling over on hands and knees, he grabbed Tony’s shoulder. Rolled him to the side. Smacked him hard on the back.

Tony convulsed again- before suddenly hacking up a mouthful of water and choking on the bile that followed.

Peter sucked in a breath- a proper, real deep breath- for the first time in about two minutes. “Oh my god, oh my god, Tony, thank god, thank god-”

Tony continued to splutter for a few minutes, but his hands were rising shakily, jerkily, searching for something-

Peter grabbed hold on instinct, and Tony clutched around his bony fingers like it was a lifeline.

“Urghhhhnn,” he groaned, eyes still shut against the floor before he coughed up another round of icy water and then curled up a little further in on himself, “a-a-are… are you…are…ok..”

Peter almost wanted to laugh. If that wasn’t the most Tony thing on the entire Earth, he didn’t know what was. “Yeah, Tony. Yeah, I’m okay. We gotta get you outta here, though, you gotta get someone to see y-”

“No!” Tony yelled suddenly, gripping tighter to Peter’s hand, eyes flying open, horror-stricken. “N-n-no, please… p-p-please, no-one else. You…y-y-you’re f-fine-”

“Tony… you nearly drowned. I can’t just… you’re hurt, please, I need to… I need to get help,” Peter argued weakly. He was exhausted, he was hurt and he didn’t know what to do because Tony was apparently refusing to go anywhere.

“I can’t,” Tony whispered, curling up further, eyes shutting again, never letting go of Peter’s hand. “I can’t… n-no one else…they’ll hurt m-me…I’m not…I won’t build….”

“I don’t...Tony?” Peter asked, a delicate hand moving to his shoulder, and then immediately pulling away as Tony response was a flinch and choke -off scream. “Tony- what’s wrong? Tell me, Tony!”

Tony did a full-body shudder at the raised pitch of Peter’s voice, “Kid... you g-gotta...run. They’re- they’re gonna make me b-b-build...I won’t...run...”

Peter looked down, beginning to panic once more as Tony appeared to lose touch with the real world entirely, rocking gently back on forth on his side as his whole frame shook. It was something Peter had never seen before- he thought briefly that perhaps the lack of oxygen to his brain had made him snap.Go crazy.

Then he remembered, vaguely, what he’d seen in a documentary one time a couple of months ago with Aunt May. About war veterans. How they’d sometimes have relapses, where they thought they were back in war, and hide under tables, scream, cry, curl up in a ball and look vacant until the episode passed. They’d used to call it shellshock, but now it was a proper medical condition-

PTSD. Tony was having a PTSD attack.

And Peter didn’t have a single damn idea what to do about it.

He opened his mouth, trying to think of something to say, anything he could do to pull Tony out of it. But his head was throbbing again, and he could already see a thing as his vision begin to blur out. He guessed he didn’t have long before he blacked out again; left Tony to fend for himself in the middle of what looked to be a horrible PTSD episode-

Luckily-thankfully-amazingly, though- as it turned out, Peter didn’t have to worry.

There was an eerily familiar noise above him, and  Peter ducked instinctively, covering Tony’s body with his own as something fell through the roof with a resounding metallic clang.

Peter’s heart clenched. He wasn’t strong enough to fight again. He just couldn’t. He…he couldn’t.

“Peter? Peter, it’s okay, it’s okay- it’s me, it’s Rhodey. I’ve come to save your asses. It’s okay. You’re safe now, but you gotta let go of Tony, okay, he needs space right now,” someone spoke gently to his left, and Peter looked up, saw Rhodey’s face smiling back at him.

“I…Tony’s having a PTSD episode, I don’t know what-”

“hey, hey, I think your work is done for today, right kid? You’ve done brilliantly. Saved the whole damn day. Tony’s gonna have to make you 100 different upgrades to make up for that. But I’m gonna take over, now, okay? I need to get Tony somewhere nicer, and SHIELD were right on my tail, so they’re gonna be coming any minute now.”

“Any…any minute?” Peter asked quietly.

Rhodey nodded. “Any minute.”

“I… okay,” Peter said quietly, “I think I’m just gonna… lie down for a sec, then,” he mumbled,  slowly sliding on to his ass, and then to his hands, until his face finally pressed into wet floor. “Just a…sec.”

Before Rhodey could even protest, Peter was unconscious. His hand was still gripping tightly to Tony’s.

Tony avoided him completely for the next two weeks, after that. 

Didn’t answer phone calls. Sent Peter home when he tried to go over to the labs. Was constantly away on business meetings or trips.

Peter knew when there were just unfortunate coincidences and when there were deliberate attempts. He knew and he had had enough.

“Why are you not talking to me?”

Tony yelped, dropping his bagel as he jerked up and looked in shock at Peter, feet stuck on the pane of his window whilst his arms folded in front of him.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” He screamed, stumbling forward and grabbing a chair from the breakfast bar along the way. “PETER, YOU’RE 95 STORIES UP, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU D-”

“Why are you not talking to me?” Peter asked again, as Tony pressed the chair up against the glass and leaped on it in order to unleash the clasp and open the window properly, a hand shooting out to haul Peter in.

“What is wrong with you?!” Tony breathed, looking out of the window in horror as he stared at the drop, “why would you….I was just eating a goddamn bagel, I did not need to be scared like th-”

“Tony!” Peter said, grabbing his arm and holding it, desperate. “What did I do wrong? I’m sorry, okay- I tried to be faster, really, I did- but it took a while for me to be able to get back to normal, and then I had to break through the glass and beat people up and then kick through the glass again and-”

“Whoah whoah whoah,” Tony said, gaze suddenly sharpening as he turned, looking at Peter in concern, “what the hell are you talking about?”

Peter stopped, looking down. “I know it was my fault. I’m sorry. But please, don’t be mad, I tried-”

“Kid, stop,” Tony hissed, and Peter clammed up immediately, looking down at the floor.

Maybe coming over hadn’t been such a good idea after all. If Tony wanted space after everything that had happen, that was totally understandable after all-

“-Peter? Peter, are you even listening to me?” Tony asked, his hands gripping tightly to Peter’s shoulders.

Peter looked up, and shook his head. Tony just sighed. “Okay. Okay, right-” he broke off, pulling Peter into a sudden hug that took him completely off guard.

“You are so so so so so so far off base there, Peter,” Tony told him firmly, as he pulled away and then steered Peter in the direction of the kitchen. “Like, seriously. so far. It’s not even on the pitch any more. It’s gone. Out the stadium. Landed in another state. Not even on the same continent-”

Tony stopped, shutting his eyes briefly and sighing. He looked…scared? Peter wasn’t sure, but it definitely seemed that way.

“Look,” he finally said, avoiding Peter’s eyes as he turned and pulled a mug from the shelf, “I need to level with you here Peter. I am a fucked up human being. And I mean, fucked up. Morally, mentally, physically- you name it, I’ve probably gone through some intense fucking bullshit with it,” he said bitterly. “I am…bad, at life. I am not what you think I am, okay? I’m not. You saw that much when I…” he paused, tapping his temple and then twirling his finger around in a circle. Every edge and line of his posture was tense, defensive. “Well. You know what you saw.”

“I saw you nearly drown, Tony,” Peter said, frowning indignantly. “Why the fuck would that change my opinion of you, at all?”

“I mean what happened after,” Tony snapped, banging his mug on the counter before deflating a little, “which is not… never something a child should have to see, Jesus-Fuck I’m awful-”

“Tony,” Peter stopped him, face utterly incredulous now. He couldn’t believe Tony was even thinking any of that. “You put yourself forward to drown so I wouldn’t have to, and then had a PTSD attack because of it. You can’t seriously think that’s like… an overreaction to the situation?”

“It is when you were still there, and you still needed-”

“Did you think I was stupid when I freaked out over the building collapse?” Peter asked him bluntly, folding his arms.

Tony stopped, and then made a face. “Different circumstance.”

“I disagree.”

“Uh, not allowed, my opinion is worth two extra votes.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Look. You didn’t leave when I had my…whatever it was. And I don’t think any less of you because of whatever your thing is. That’s it. That’s all there is to this.”

Tony frowned deeply into his mug as he took a sip. “You are surprisingly un-freaked out by my weird episode of insanity.”

“Is that what you were expecting?” Peter asked suddenly, “for me to be…weird with it?”

Tony just shrugged. “You’re a kid. It really wouldn’t be a big reach to assume as much. I wouldn’t blame you either.” He looked up, then, and put his mug down, walking the last few steps toward Peter before folding his arms in front of him and looking down solemnly. “But seriously, buddy- do not ever, ever think I’d be disappointed in you. For anything, at all, ever. Aside from literal murder, I just assume everything else you’d do is with good intention. Even possibly murder. I don’t know, I’m pretty flexible.” Tony stopped, then, waggling a finger in Peter’s face. “But don’t murder anyone. That’s bad.”

Peter swallowed, nodding a little. “So you’re really not-”

“I’m really really really not,” Tony confirmed, before smiling a little. “You saved my damn life, Peter.”

“Technically, you saved mine first,” Peter argued, and Tony squinted at him, before grunting non-committedly, giving him a little shove as he wandered past.

 “Whatever, kid, just shut your face and get down to the lab, I need to remake the bagel you destroyed upon entry, but then I’ll be down,” he explained, looking sorrowfully the breakfast which was currently smeared across the floor, before sighing and picking it up with a look of disdain. “I’m charging you for that,” he muttered, tossing it in the bin.

Peter’s face broke out into a sudden smile. “So I can stay?”

Tony avoided his gaze when he spoke next; fingers tapping against the counter as bit his lip nervously. “You’re probably gonna see that again, at some point.”

“Then you can explain to me how best to deal with it, can’t you,” Peter answered firmly.

“It’s not pretty.”

“It would be kinda weird if it was, to be honest.”

“They’re different every time. I can’t...I don’t have control over them-”

“Again, would be kinda weird if you did.”

Tony looked at him, somewhere between relief and surprise, before finally rolling his eyes and huffing out a laugh, biting down on his grin as he shooed Peter away. “You’re a freak, kid, you know that?”

“I learn from the best,” Peter chuckled, backing away down to the elevator and giving Tony had most innocent-looking grin as the man shot him a look.

“Menace!” Tony yelled after him, grabbing an orange and hauling it in Peter’s direction. Of course, Peter just caught it with ease, giving him one last thumbs up before the elevator doors snapped closed.

He was still smiling when he reached the bottom floor.

[wordsablaze]

Splash Of Love

The winged Lightwood spies are asked to find information on the new vampires when Alec finds himself falling in love with the innocent merman Magnus who gets captured for helping them. Cue a daring rescue mission, revelations, and confessions... Written for the Shadowhunters Winter Fic Exchange!

A/N: I think we’ve all been revealed now so it seems safe to post this :) Thank you to the lovely @bookwhipped for checking over this and helping with the title!

The tannoy announcement almost scares the angel out of all three Lightwoods siblings.

"That thing will be the death of us, I swear," Jace mutters.

The two of them both attempt to retract their wings, which had blown outwards in shock, and end up crashing into each other, stifling groans and trying to suppress the wince triggered by their disturbed feathers.

"The great Lightwoods defeated by a speaker? I don't think so." Alec folds his arms.

"Can't you take a little joke?" Izzy asks, rolling her eyes and zipping up her leather jacket. Somehow, she’d managed to rearrange her wings a lot quicker than the two of them, a skill that still drives both the brothers absolutely crazy but also one she refuses to teach them.

"Grow up, Iz." Alec's comment is coupled with a semi-serious glare to which Izzy responds with a huff and light punch.

Jace pushes Izzy forwards before Alec has the chance to even remotely retaliate and the three of them quickly make their way to the conference room, three pairs of boots echoing on the floorboards.

Sharing a look, the three of them slide into their seats and wait for Maryse to explain. A pregnant pause hangs over the room until someone they've never seen before walks in with a mysterious briefcase in one hand. Naturally, they all sit up a little and stiffen, unsure of who he is, but that's a mystery quickly solved when he turns to face them; only one species could look so pale in the yellow lighting.

"Glad to see you all here, Lightwoods." The vampire's voice is rough, hoarse as if he urgently needs some blood.

Maryse sends him a quick smile of acknowledgement before he starts talking, quickly explaining that his clan – and every other vampire clan in the vicinity – is under threat by the outlandish group of vampires who seem to be unnatural even for the undead.

"What makes them different?" Alec asks.

"They… Well, they don’t feed like regular vampires."

"Then what do they feed on?" Jace asks, frowning in confusion.

“Pain, fear, and of course blood, but only if it’s taken unwillingly.”

“That doesn’t sound good. I’m guessing we’re here to solve that problem?”

The vampire nods sincerely but there's a stunned silence where they all consider how exactly such a mutation could have occurred. Eventually, they quit thinking about the causes and start planning on how to figure what the clan's motives, deciding that some surveillance is due. In the end, they have to split up, Izzy teaming up with Jace to go visit one of the alleged leaders, Simon, and Alec going solo to try and find out about any associates or enemies.

Alec leaves first because he doesn't particularly have a set destination or a deadline. Grabbing his arrows and slinging a quiver over his shoulder, he's out of the institute within ten minutes. Of course, only after both his siblings have drawn a dozen mandala-like symbols on his skin as a precaution.

"Alec, wait up!" Jace calls.

"What?" Alec asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you sure you're okay solo?"

"Do you have any actual questions?" Alec asks, his eyebrows travelling further behind his fringe.

Jace laughs but then nods, clapping Alec's shoulder with a confidence that only a brother could ever have.

"Don't you dare die!" Izzy yells from somewhere, causing Jace and Alec to share a fond laugh.

As soon as they two of them bid farewell to one another, Alec thinks over where he should start looking. The old vampire warehouse would be too obvious and it’s unlikely they’d pick a new headquarters in another city so he figures they must be somewhere close.

He’s just started walking towards the forest when he remembers what the three of them had read after the meeting: there’d been an initial attack near the seafront a few weeks ago. Alec’s willing to bet the vampires hadn’t moved far, only figured out how to avoid being spotted on their radars.

With a confident feeling in his bones, he heads towards the quarry, figuring that if you did have to hide your most definitely law-breaking activities, you wouldn’t want to be in the sight of any old boats but you’d probably want to be close to the sea so a quick escape would always be possible. Especially if you know the area is relatively unknown, meaning that you’d automatically have the upper ground.

With that in mind, he picks up speed, feeling the uncertain ground shift and resettle under his feet each time he takes another step.

Alec winces, albeit only briefly, as he slips on the rocky mountain path and fails to catch his balance and instead tumbles for a small eternity until he’s lost connection with direction and eventually rolls to a stop underneath a cherry blossom tree.

Whether it’s his brain trying to focus and gather his bearings once again or one of the many runes tattooed on his skin, he manages to hear the small, delicate splash of water.

“Is anyone there?” Alec asks, he calls carefully, one hand already on his quicker.

“Is anyone where?” A soft, velvet voice asks back and Alec narrows his eyes, not knowing whether the sass is a weapon, a distraction, or just genuine.

“Show yourself!” He orders, knowing that his deep voice can be intimidating enough to get answers.

It’s hardly a shock when nobody replies; it’s not like the person even knows who Alec is. Sighing to nobody in particular, he inched his way around the pile of rocks, then starts getting ready to launch an arrow when his vision unexpectedly fills with glitter and he coughs, stumbling backwards and dropping his arrow.

“Please don’t fire that thing,” the same voice from earlier asks, this time a lot more careful and wary.

Alec just frowns to himself. He isn’t sure whether he should be cautious of someone who just successfully attacked him with sparkles or if he should be impressed that they managed to surprise him despite his runes. In the end, he chooses to be trusting – something highly unusual – and throws his bow down in front of him, in what he hopes is the other person’s line of sight.

“Why thank you, winged spy.”

He immediately tenses again, his wings vibrating in alarm. “How do you know that?”

“It’s my job to know things,” the voice tells him, triggering a plan inside his mind. Before he can say anything, the voice continues, “I can help you, if you promise not to try and kill me. It is such a boring process to convince people they’ve killed me.”

Alec smiles to himself; he likes this person, whoever they are.

“I promise,” Alec says, “Now can I see who you are?”

“I’m not physically stopping you, am I?”

Alec shrugs as he walks around the granite boulder, then gasps as he sees the one who’d been talking to him. He immediately understands why there’d been a lack of trust between them and if their roles had been reversed, Alec would have been halfway home by now. Despite being one of the most active winged spies in their whole organisation, he’s never laid eyes on merfolk before.

The merman in front of him is, to put it simply, the most beautiful collection of features Alec has ever seen.

He has the most alluring green and yellow eyes, his silky hair an odd iridescent colour that changes every time he shifts even a little. His skin is the very definition of sun-kissed and he looks as if he’s glowing, especially with the glitter sparkling all over his body. Alec can’t clearly see his tail but he can tell it’s a similar colour to his eyes, one that completely transcends his comprehension but still looks gorgeous. The rather dark royal purple shirt he’s wearing should, by all means, look out of place and plain weird but the merman makes it look like a fashion trend of the future and Alec just loves it.

“Is something wrong?” The merman asks, and Alec blushes, physically holding back the urge to hide behind his wings.

“Of course not,” Alec replies, “I just… didn’t think… mermen… wore clothes?”

He internally curses himself as soon as the words leave his mouth. Of all the things to try and redeem himself with… It’s not a surprise in the end, as he’d never been good at last minute improvisation – that was Izzy or Jace’s job.

“I would be offended but you’re hardly the first to be transfixed by all the colours I wear.”

“Sorry,” Alec mumbles.

“That’s alright, it’s more of a compliment really. Even more so when coming from a dazzling creature such as yourself.” The merman’s small smirk is so sudden, Alec has no time to recover and can feel his cheeks flame up.

"Now, before you burst into flames, do tell me what you need to know."

"Um, I..."

"Can't tell me because it's confidential, I know. Forget all that and answer the question, if you will."

Alec stops worrying his lip, sighing. "I need to know about the new vampires."

The merman whistles through his teeth. "That's new. I haven't seen many who dare to try."

"We're more than prepared," Alec argues even though they're not really arguing.

Smiling, the merman shrugs nonchalantly. "You're better off heading north then."

"North?" Alec echoes.

The merman nods as if Alec had just asked if red and blue make purple, then points north. "They headed that way yesterday and I haven't seen them moving camp so it's likely you'll find them there."

"Thank you... Um..."

"Oh, you don't get to know my name in the first meeting, Lightwood," the dazzling merman declares with a flourish and a splash of his tail.

His eyes widen but Alec tries not to look alarmed at the thought of being helpless in a situation. If there's one thing he can't stand, it's being at the mercy of someone he doesn't know - this couldn't possibly be a worse note to end the encounter on but the question is, should he arrange another meeting or not?

"I like your name," he blurts, then blushes. "I mean, I'd like to know your name."

The merman laughs, his voice brighter than the shine in his hair. "I'll see you around then, spy."

With an extravagant wave and a charming goodbye smile, the merman folds in on himself and slides under the water, disappearing and seemingly taking the magical aura in the atmosphere with him; Alec misses him immediately.

He catches himself before he can do something he'll regret and picks up his bow, slinging the quiver across one shoulder and his bow across the other. For a while, the only sound he can hear is the occasional animal whine or branch breaking under his feet.

He's circled back to thinking about the merman when he sees them: the vampires.

He crouches behind the foliage nearby and sits sideways so he can listen out for any information. Half an hour of eavesdropping on the rather terrible ‘lookouts’ later, Alec swallows the conflict in his throat and head back to their base, muttering what he’d heard to himself so he doesn’t forget anything. He ends up arriving just as Jace and Izzy do, the three of them nodding to each other and internally sighing with relief at the lack of injuries.

“We found Simon,” Jace says immediately.

“I found out about them though,” Alec replies, his intrinsic competitive side unable to stay hidden.

“Guys, can we at least get inside first?” Izzy asks, then rolls her shoulders and accidentally hits Jace with the tip of her wings. “Oops, my bad.”

Alec laughs to himself but the three of them are ushered inside before they can create any kind of a mess.

It takes them an entire two days to decide what should happen next after Izzy saying they operate best at night and Alec knowing they’re planning something. In the meantime, all three of them couldn’t be any more restless, constantly forgetting to eat, go outside, and how to function as worry-free beings.

In the end, the verdict after two days is just to patrol and see what they can find; It’s infuriatingly anticlimactic and Alec almost punches something in pure frustration but instead takes off, his wings unfurling in tune to his thoughts as he closes his eyes. He only opens them when he can’t hear the gentle roar of machinery or vehicles, the beautiful sound of silence flowing over him.

“Is that…?” He asks himself.

It is.

Alec gently angles his wings so he can glide downwards and fly between a group of trees, his feet touching the ground moments later. As he jogs to a stop, he shakes out his wings before folding them back in, rolling his shoulders.

“Welcome back.”

“Hey.” Alec waves a touch awkwardly.

“I didn’t think you’d come back,” the merman admits, his rings glittering in the sunlight.

“I never leave a name unfound.”

The merman raises an eyebrow in amusement. “That sounds like a challenge.”

“It’s really not!” Alec disputes before he can stop himself. “Wait, that’s not what I-”

The merman grins at him but Alec can’t see the gesture beyond how alike to pearls his teeth look. He finds himself once again staring at the entrancing combination of colours in the merman’s eyes and he can’t ignore the way his sun-kissed skin seems to be littered with glitter.

“How do you do that?”

“Magic,” the merman answers without missing a beat.

“Wait, really?”

“You’re a winged spy talking to a mermaid but you can’t accept the existence of a little magic?”

Alec hums in defeat. “I’m-”

“Alexander."

Alec’s voice forgets how to exist. He hates being referred to by his full name but, for this beauty of a being, he’s willing to make an exception. There’s something about his tone that just seems so right, so natural. He doesn’t realise he’s staring until Magnus clears his throat, smiling kindly.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to stare…” He can feel the colour exploding on his face but he’s helpless to stop it.

“I’m flattered, darling, but what do you need this time?”

“Need?”

The merman nods. “Nobody comes to me for the fun of it.”

A large part of Alec’s sympathy forms a regretful knot in his heart; He can’t imagine existing solely to reiterate information and trade secrets. He wouldn’t wish such a lifestyle on anyone and there’s no way he’s going to let the merman continue living like that. Absolutely no way.

“We’ll see about that, won’t we?” Alec smiles.

A promise is a promise, even if it was only heavily implied rather than confirmed. Alec finds a way to visit the merman every single day, finding out his name is Magnus – a name that’s equally as magical as him. Their conversations vary from strictly factual to utterly nonsensical to strangely meaningful and Alec has never loved talking so much in his life.

Going to meet Magnus each day, whether it’s to get information or just because he wants to spend time with him, isn’t a problem… until it is. Even then, it’s not the meeting itself that’s a problem but rather, who else seems to have noticed.

More or less a fortnight later, Alec finds their meeting spot devoid of Magnus. Not only is the merman missing, but also every ounce of bubbly magic, beautiful sass, and unbeatable sparkle that usually accompanies him. It feels as if someone has sucked the life out of the whole place.

“Oh no…”

There’s a brief period of time where his mind refuses to accept the change, refuses to admit Magnus isn’t there, refuses to admit he’d let down his guard enough to endanger someone else – someone he happens to care about.

He’s off the ground within seconds, his wings spread behind him and his eyes blinking back tears that are definitely only because of the sudden air resistance and not because he’s emotional or anything like that, no…

“Alec! What is it, what’s wrong?” Izzy demands immediately upon seeing him.

“Magnus- They have Magnus, I’m sure of it, we have to do something… we have to get him back before-”

“Alec. Hey. Calm down,” Jace says softly, putting a hand on Alec’s shoulder.

“Don’t tell me to- he’s gone, Jace, I need to…” he takes a breath, trying not to panic.

“What’s going on?” Maryse’s voice rises above theirs and all three siblings turn to her immediately.

Alec has to try and school his expression into one of neutrality. “They took someone.”

Maryse’s eyes widen. “Already?” She asks, clearly not having anticipated something like that; she would have been right to, had Alec not gotten attached to Magnus.

“We need to get him back,” Jace says, knowing that Alec probably won’t be able to stay calm for whatever reason.

“We need to focus on stopping them, not just helping everyone they come across.”

Dimming the rage inside of him, Alec shakes his head. “You don’t understand.”

“And what exactly is it that I don’t understand, Alexander?” Maryse raises an eyebrow, her hands on her hips.

“He’s our informant,” Izzy guesses confidently.

Maryse sighs, exhaling in exasperation. The three of them, both hopeful and confused, wait in a strained silence as she makes her mind up. Eventually, she nods. “Alright. Emergency meeting it is.”

Naturally, none of them can risk losing their main source of information so they’re immediately told to start getting prepared to leave the next day. Despite wanting to scream at them and make sure Magnus is recognised as a person, Alec just nods and tries to ignore the gut feeling he has that something is wrong, that something bad is happening and he can’t stop it.

It turns out both he and Magnus were right. They do have a base up north where Magnus had said to go but that isn’t where said merman is being held. How does Alec know? The three of them had gone there to start with, all of them beyond frustrated when they find the place devoid of useful information.

“This isn’t happening,” Alec groans, not caring about acting melodramatic.

Izzy frowns at him. “Did you- did you get… attached… to your… informant?”

Alec shakes his head. “Of course not; I just don’t want anyone innocent to die.”

“I would believe you but I’ve grown up with you and I can tell this one is different.” Jace narrows his eyes. “You’ve fallen for him, haven’t you?”

“Look, can we just get him back already?” Alec asks, wanting to avoid the subject altogether.

Izzy and Jace share a look that Alec pointedly ignores before the three of them head in the opposite direction to where the quarry is, hoping to find Magnus before it’s too late. Arriving at the quarry isn’t hard but finding where they could be keeping Magnus is more difficult than they’d anticipated.

“How are we meant to find him?” Jace asks, voicing the question they’re all thinking but not wanting to think about.

As if on cue, a strangely loud bang sounds from the left, echoing around them as they stare at one another in hopeful disbelief.

“Go!” Alec shouts as he breaks into a run, swiftly followed by his siblings.

The three of them half-fly, half-sprint towards the source of the sound and have to speedily retract their instinctively spread wings to avoid colliding with the door – the door that’s soon wide open. Alec can swear there’s glitter all over the floor but he can’t figure out how Magnus would be here… don’t merfolk need to stay in the water?

“We can do this all day, fish.” The voice, rough and full of gleeful malice, is what really gets Alec’s blood boiling.  

Jace’s hand on his arm is genuinely the only thing that stops him from ripping someone’s larynx out, preferably the same someone who’d called Magnus a fish. At least, who he thinks called Magnus a fish – but really, how many more species can ‘fish’ be a nickname for?

“What?” Alec hisses to his siblings.

“We can’t go in.”

“What?”

“We can’t go in,” Izzy repeats, “not while they’re still in there.”

“But what if they kill him?” Alec asks, immediately regretting it when he sees the remorseful looks on their faces. “Alright, we’ll gather our strength and come back tomorrow, yeah?”

“We’ll stay nearby, yeah?” Jace offers, lightly nudging Alec. “That way we’re close enough to stop them at short notice.”

Carefully flying away from Magnus once again, Alec sighs to himself, praying for the merman to be alright. He’s denied it to everyone else but his heart refuses to stay quiet, screaming his concern for the merman over and over again. The only other time he’d truly appreciated the merfolk was when the elusive ‘Bane’ had helped them during a storm.

He doesn’t remember much because it was a long time ago and he wasn’t old enough to store enough information during such a violent storm but he does remember something about the merman having some kind of extraordinary tail or something that gave him an advantage over most of his kind – he was one of the most powerful mermen of all time.

“We should have asked Magnus about Bane,” Alec tells his siblings before they split to land, knowing that touching down in close proximity always results in someone’s wings getting injured.

“Bane?” Izzy asks.

Jace chuckles. “You have the memory of a toddler. He’s the merman whose crew helped us in that storm… the one where mother’s wings were damaged.”  

“I don’t really remember…” Izzy trails off, the three of them settling under an umbrella of trees where they know they can’t be seen.

Jace is falling asleep, Izzy has made them all daisy chain necklaces, and Alec is getting increasingly more restless by the time their painstakingly beautiful sun decides to set. All three of them jump a whole inch when a pained cry rings out, followed by thuds and the sound of something falling. They’re wide awake in an instant, on their feet with their knees bent and their wings unfurling.

“Please tell me that wasn’t Magnus!”

Alec can’t tell if he was the one that said it or if he only thought it and Izzy was the one that voiced it for him. Either way, he speeds up as best as he can until the quarry is within sight.

“We have to go slow!” Jace yells, his voice still sounding like a whisper due to the wind speeding past them.

Alec and Izzy share an irked look this time but both nod in agreement and, soon enough, there are three spies landing beside the target building once again. There’s a growing worry in Alec’s heart, a worry asking how on earth they’d heard the cry of pain from so far away and, if they weren’t just imagining it, what could have caused such a sound?

“No!” Alec yells as he sees bloodshot eyes maniacally grinning at him from behind the gate, which then slides shut before they can slip through.

Jace swears but Izzy holds up a hand. “No, wait, there must be a roof entrance.”

“Why would there be?” Alec questions, “They’re vampires; the last thing they want is sunlight…”

“Shut up and follow me. I’ve learned about quarries,” Izzy reminds them before gently rising upwards, stepping onto the roof with a gracefully smug curtsey.

Alec and Jace roll their eyes despite everything. Even so, they’re soon right beside Izzy and the three of them are searching for any kind of entrance. Cringing as they hear a muffled cry of pain, they become more frantic, kicking things and breaking anything that doesn’t seem irreplaceable.

There’s a physical pain in Alec’s chest as he hears an alarmingly loud cry but there’s also a spark of hope: if he can hear it so well, he must be standing over the room where Magnus is being held.

“Guys!” Alec calls, waving a hand.

Sure enough, the roof seems weaker, thinner, more worn out where they’re standing. The Lightwood siblings nod at each other – all the decision-making they need – and jump as high as they can, landing with a solid thud that rips right through whatever the roof is made of and triggers small cracks to appear.

Taking a deep breath, they share a look of agreement and jump again. This time, the cracking sound is over before it can begin and they fall straight through the roof.

Alec can imagine how they look: powerful.

The roof shatters inwards, immediately forming a door that shouldn’t exist and allowing them to land safely on the ground in a kneeling position, their wings half open behind them. He can imagine the dust showering down around them and the pieces of rubble that must look akin to glitter.

“Now all we need is dramatic music,” someone croaks, clearly amused and in pain.

Alec smiles to himself at that comment, knowing only one person could say such a peculiar and yet perfectly apt thing despite being in pain.

“How did you get in here?”

“Tobias?” Izzy asks, her voice laced with shock and a hint of understanding.

It takes Jace and Alec a moment of confusion to remember who the vampire is and why Izzy would know him. He’s one of the vampires she’d encountered while Alec was meeting with Magnus. According to her reports, he was one of the lower ranked vampires, supposedly no danger. Turns out he was just good at lying...

‘Tobias’ winks. “You bet.”

Izzy might have replied but Alec is too busy scanning the room for Magnus, missing him entirely the first time around because he looks for a tail, expecting to find a merman. Instead, he sees Magnus’ beautiful eyes on the floor, along with the rest of his body and… legs?

Of course, Alec realises, merfolk who’ve had their tails magically morphed into legs don’t need to stay in water…

“How…?” Jace wonders aloud.

The vampire who’d been hunched over Magnus springs up and pulls the unsteady ex-merman to his feet with speed not even the fastest known vampire could achieve. Without warning, a knife materialises against Magnus’ neck, causing him to swallow and slump a little.

“Let him go. Right now,” Alec snarls, his fingers itching to punch someone but his gaze attached to Magnus’.

Tobias laughs. “Let him go? Let the not so great Magnus Bane escape when he’s powerless in my clutches? I don’t think so.”

Magnus… Bane?

Alec’s eyes widen, his jaw threatening to drop, as he realises who Magnus really is. Of course there was something comforting about him, he’d been the one to prevent Alec from drowning all those years ago, which meant…

“That’s how you knew who I was?”

It’s obvious Magnus would nod if there wasn’t a knife under his chin.

“Aw, isn’t it sad? The great Magnus Bane reduced to a hybrid,” Tobias gloats, “defeated by vampires who outsmarted spies.”

Alec could stab him there and then, he really could. The only problem is the knife aimed at Magnus’ artery – such an injury is a high risk even for the greatest of merfolk, especially when they’ve already been weakened.

“Shut your mouth, what did you do?” Alec demands.

He looks back to Magnus, inwardly cursing, his heart skipping multiple beats at the sight of blood smeared all over and soaked into his clothes, the bruises on his skin, his near-translucent skin, and the way his legs are shaking as if they don’t how to hold his weight, not to mention the shadowed look in his eyes signifying repressed agony.

“We’re going to kill you,” Jace growls, knowing the look in his brother’s eyes and sharing his emotions.

“You can try,” Tobias’ friend replies before zooming away.

As Magnus, released from the vampire’s hold but now without any kind of balance, slumps to the floor, Alec’s torn between chasing after and positively murdering the vampires or staying behind and helping Magnus.

His heart wins over his mind.

Izzy and Jace both understand his emotions before he does, leaving him without another word. Alec watches them for a split second before rushing to kneel beside Magnus, pulling the other to rest against his chest. To his horror, he sees two small, circular puncture marks on the more-or-less-merman’s neck, a sure sign the vampires had clearly enjoyed stealing blood.

“Oh, Magnus, I’m so sorry I-”

Magnus makes a face, clearly telling Alec to shut up, and breathes heavily. “I can’t… I don’t know how to walk.”

Alec sighs. “What… are you… your tail?” He can’t even form a sentence, his heart crumbling a little more every time he catches sight of the damage to the perfect canvas that is Magnus’ skin.

“Gone.” Is all Magnus says, leaning on Alec, “It’s gone.”

Alec slams his eyes shut, exhaling as gently as he can without bursting into tears. He’s not an emotional person per se, but he can’t avoid the wave of remorse and melancholy washing over him as he cradles Magnus’ battered body.

“Don’t worry, Alexander…” Magnus coughs. “I didn’t… tell them anything.”

It’s a privilege to have a merman even compromise with you but it’s an absolute honour for the great Magnus Bane to permanently sacrifice his tail for you. Alec doesn’t know how he’s meant to react to such an act so he just wraps his wings around the two of them, shielding them in a bubble of warmth, compassion and safety.

“Magnus… I…” Alec bites his lip, thinking. “Do you still have magic?”

Magnus nods slowly but tenses so, without overthinking it, Alec plants a tiny kiss on his forehead. Neither of them had expected it but both smile at each other, their fingers interlocking and their hearts beating as one, two rhythms joining to make a tune more beautiful than any other.

“It comes at a price,” Magnus answers eventually.

Hope grows inside Alec’s heart. It’s akin to someone fuelling a handful of fire with an entire library instead of one book. He attempts a smile, lacing his other hand into Magnus’ and swallowing his doubt. “I’ll pay it.”

At Magnus’ weak silence, he carries on rambling: “I can pay it. It’s my fault you’re in this mess and I feel bad. You deserved better and I haven’t paid you back for everything you’ve helped with but forget everything else, you matter to me and I cannot sit here watching you… watching you slip away from me, again…”

“Alexander…”

“No, Magnus,” Alec interrupts, “you’ve done more for me than I’ve even thought about doing for myself. I am more than happy to give you my strength in exchange for your life.”

“Are- are y- you sure?” Magnus asks, coughing hard enough to make them both tremble.

Alec just tightens his grip on Magnus, placing another gentle kiss on his forehead and ignoring the metallic scent of drying blood. He can almost feel Magnus smile as he closes his eyes, waiting for whatever it is that needs to happen, to happen.

They explode.

Not literally of course.

But more or less.

There’s a moment where the whole room goes silent and nothing exists outside their little bubble of injury and embraces, where the two of them are alone with each other, where nothing else matters. But that moment only lasts for a fragment of a second even though it feels like longer and is soon followed by an ineffable explosion of energy, hope, and care.

An iridescent light engulfs the air around them and there’s a soft hush where they can literally hear their heartbeats, both instinctively closing their eyes as the glow surrounding them brightens beyond comfort. Alec can feel Magnus’ pulse steadying and Magnus can hear Alec’s relieved breaths, the two of them so caught up in each other that they miss the way their hearts glow as one for the briefest of seconds.

They don’t, however, miss the way their souls connect.

Alec had never been a believer of true love or anything like that but there’s no denying the pure emotion that runs between them like a bridge. In fact, he’s more than happy to accept and embrace the bridge if it means he wasn’t going mad and he hadn’t been imagining his feelings ever since he’d met Magnus.

Magnus might be a hybrid and Alec might be in more than a spot of trouble with his high-ups, but the two of them are compatible and there’s nothing in the universe that can convince them otherwise, not after the way Magnus is suddenly free of injuries, like magic.

Laughing gleefully as the glow dims enough for them to open their eyes once again, their gazes interlocking like their hands had, Magnus smiles widely. “I love you, Alexander Lightwood, I really do.”

“Well, heaven help me, I love you too, Magnus Bane.”

It's funny to Alexander that this had all started with him hearing a small splash and now here he was, falling in love despite his reluctance to build attachments with people. As much as he wants to maintain his belief that true love or whatever is a fairy tale, he doesn't want to sacrifice Magnus ever again; Sometimes, thoughts have to change.

They’re both crying at this point, their arms around each other and their spirits soaring. There’s nothing that can bring them down and they’ve proven that the vampires won’t be able to last long but even if they do, Magnus and Alec are ready to fight them with the power of their connection.

And so, with their hearts beating as one to complete the harmony of their love, they kiss.

like/reblog but don’t repost thanks!

[butsomeofusarelookingatthestars]

Omggg sorry I'm the anon that asked about the part where Luke punched a guy at the school dance, I meant could u please make a headcanon or imagine??? I blame autocorrect omg 😭😭

Haha no worries! My autocorrect is the actual bane of my life I swear! Thanks for the request, I loved writing this one – it may even be one of my favourites x).

A Night to Remember

Fandom: Criminal MindsPairing: Luke Alvez x ReaderPrompt: Request

Description: You may not be Luke’s date to the school dance, but he was still looking out for you.

Surprisingly, the school dance had turned out to be a lot of fun. It had taken an awful lot of convincing from your friends and your mother practically throwing you out of the door, but you had to admit that it had been a good idea.

The only reason you had been hesitate to go was because you and Luke had broken up the week before. It wasn’t over anything serious, you both just wanted your own space. You were growing up and needed the independence to choose your own paths.

The two of you had been together for what had felt like forever. So, going to the school dance solo whilst all your friends had dates just didn’t feel right. Maria had offered to set you up with a friend, but you had rejected the proposal. You could never do that Luke.

Even if the two of you weren’t together, the split was so recent and amicable, you couldn’t entertain the thought of seeing someone else. So, you had braved the event alone.

It was genuinely fun to spend time laughing and dancing with your friends. You had physically forced yourself to keep your gaze focused on them, refusing to allow your gaze to drift to Luke.

You couldn’t bear the thought of seeing him here – potentially with another girl on his arm. His friends had been begging him all week to accept the many date offers he had received. The thought of someone else’s arms wrapped around him made you feel queasy.

But despite the lingering concern at the back of your mind, all your worries had melted away under the flashing lights and cheerful music. Well, at least until Daniel Owens approached you outside.

You had only popped out to get a breath of fresh air when he rudely disturbed the peaceful atmosphere.

“Y/N!”

You forced a polite smile onto your face, willing him to turn back around. But, he didn’t. Instead he confidently strode towards you, puffing out his muscular chest. Daniel was probably one of the most popular boys in school - captain of the football team, the one who threw the best parties and the boy all the girls seemed to fawn over. But, not you.

Something about his arrogant nature and the way he talked down to others had always got on your nerves. Your suspicions had been justified after a house party at his in which he had attempted to grope you upstairs as you left the bathroom. Despite the fact that you and Luke had just been friends back then, you still had to pull him away as he threatened to knock the ‘asshole’ out.

The memory made you smile. Luke had always been there looking out for you, even when you weren’t together. You hoped it would remain that way in the future. The bond between the two of you was something you treasured deeply.

Unfortunately, Daniel took the genuine smile on your face as a sign that his presence was welcomed.

“You look amazing.” He told you smugly. His eyes raking appreciatively over your dress, lingering far too long on your chest. You folded your arms protectively, shifting so that you could take a step closer towards the door and away from him.

“Thanks.” You replied curtly, hoping he would sense the unwelcoming tone in your voice. But, if he did, he didn’t act on it.

His arm moved to block off your escape route, stepping forward so that you ended up pressed against the wall.  

“I heard about Alvez.”

You jaw clenched in anger at the disrespectful tone in his voice. It didn’t matter if Luke wasn’t your boyfriend anymore, you still wouldn’t stand for someone talking badly about him.

“You deserve so much better.” A wicked grin spread across his face as he edged even closer to you. You winced uncomfortably as his breath tickled your face. “How about I show you a good time?”

“Daniel, I-” Your rejection was cut short as he suddenly, without warning, dipped his head to capture your lips in a rough kiss. You immediately pushed against his chest, attempting to shove his weight off you. He staggered slightly, but your actions only made him chuckle.

Your shout was muffled by his jacket as his hands roamed down your body. That was it. You’d had enough of this jerk.

He stumbled backwards as you gave him a forceful shove, finally succeeding in getting him off you. His lips curved upwards into a slightly bemused smirk as he wiped his mouth, leering at you unpleasantly.  

“Oh, come on Y/N! Is that how you like it? Rough?”

The teasing tone in his voice made your blood boil. It wasn’t just the fact he had essentially assaulted you, he treated everyone (especially girls) disgustingly.

“You’re vile.” The seething hatred in your voice surprised even you. But, it didn’t deter Daniel. He took a step forward as you clenched your fist, fully prepared to punch him. But, as it turned out, you didn’t have to.

There was a loud shout and a sickening thud, before Daniel crumpled to the floor clutching his nose. You glanced up in shock to see Luke standing over Daniel, rubbing his sore knuckles as he swore loudly.

You barely heard Luke’s terrifying threats as he picked Daniel up and threw him away. You only regained focus when you felt a gentle hand guiding you away.

“Are you okay?”

You glanced up at Luke, still slightly bewildered by the turn of events. The concern in his eyes made your cheeks flush. He always seemed to look at you with an intensity that managed to take your breath away.

You nodded quickly, murmuring something about being tired of ‘assholes’. Your words prompted Luke to chuckle warmly, flexing his hand as he tried to avoid getting blood on his freshly cleaned white shirt.

You grinned as you noticed his otherwise smart appearance, knowing full-well that his mom had forced him into the dashing suit and had probably attacked his unruly curls with a comb before he left the house. You dove into your bag and pull out a tissue, gesturing to him to give you his hand.

He winced slightly as you gently dabbed at his bruised knuckles.

“This is why you shouldn’t make a habit out of punching people.” You murmured, smiling softly as you heard him scoff loudly.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

You laughed quietly at his stubbornness, glancing up to meet his teasing gaze. You hesitant for a moment, before leaning in to brush a tender kiss against his cheek.

“Well, thanks anyway…for what you did.”

He shook his head, a smile playing on his lips as his hand dazedly traced the lipstick mark you had made on his cheek. He took a step closer to you. “You never have to thank me for anything Y/N.”

The sincerity of his words made your cheeks blush furiously. Ever observant, he grinned as he noticed how flustered he had made you.

“Besides, I don’t really need an excuse to punch Owens.”

You burst out laughing as Luke wriggled his eyebrows playfully, his grin growing wider as he fondly watched you laugh. He had missed seeing you like this…even if it had just been a week.

“I couldn’t keep my eyes off you all night.” The words just seemed to slip out as if he had no control over his mouth. It was true though. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from you for the entire dance, his friends growing exasperated as he ignored all their antics.

“Dude, Tara won’t stop looking at you. She’s so hot. Why did you turn her down?”

“You broke up last week man, can’t you get over it?”

“Seriously Luke, stop looking at her. You look like a creep.”

But, he couldn’t. So, he had caught Daniel Owens’ leering gaze as he slipped out after you and decided to do something about it. The thought of his hands on you made him clench his jaw in anger. He had no doubt that you could look after yourself, but he still felt the need to protect you.

You smiled softly at his sweet comment. “Shouldn’t you be getting back to your date?” You asked, a hint of curiosity in your voice. Perhaps he had actually decided against bringing another girl?

His smile only widened at your blatant attempt to find out about his love life.

“Did you honestly think that I’d ever take anyone other than you?”

He slowly lifted a hand to gently cup your cheek.

“There’s only one girl for me Y/N… and it’s always going to be you.”