#trying their best to stay as close as possible. Just in case a certain lab coat walked in

[bh-writingdump]

Zeek's Freaks

Not my Problem

[1st Draft]

It took a week before Ezekiel could walk without feeling faint.  The training videos, all 26 hours of them, luckily could all be done behind a seat.

Unfortunately, considering his job is purely janitorial, most of it didn’t apply aside from a list of doors that shouldn’t be opened.

Half way into their shift, they could barely stand up without stumbling. One of the other janitors caught them before they fell, saying something they couldn’t understand.

Somehow Ezekiel managed to assuage the old man. He sought out a quieter part of the building. Cleaning from there instead taking breaks but each breath brought them closer to fainting. Whatever magic being pumped into their soul didn’t feel nearly like enough as if they were in a high altitude. No matter how much food they ate, it didn’t even come close to filling that gap in energy.

While moping, a scientist opens a nearby security door using a retina scan. Curiosity hits you then like a cement wall. Why would there be a retina scan in a mental health facility that a 12-year-old could pick a lock on.

Ezekiel keeps an eye on the door the following days, trying their best to stay as close as possible. Just in case a certain lab coat walked in, entirely unaware of their surroundings, allowing for Ezekiel to slip in behind them.

At first, it’s only a locker room. Ezekiel ducks behind a gap in the wall while the lab coat enters. He watches the way they enter the code.

Once again, Ezekiel dresses up like a lab coat then slips in soon after. The hallway’s short, no more than 10 doors, each with transparent walls leading to a cell.

Ezekiel stares in shock at the conditions.

Each monster crammed in narrow cells, barely large enough to stretch out in. The lamia couldn’t even stand to their full height. The creature that looked at them, glowering at the lab coat interrogating a bat-skeleton behind them. the skeleton’s namesake briefly glanced at Ezekiel, then the others, then him.

Ezekiel sets a hand on the glass, ignoring the flashing yellow line. “Hello, can you understand me?”

The monsters were said to come from the wilds, but not our wilds. Many of them not knowing any human tongue.

The lamia’s fangs curl with amusement. “yeah, sweets, every word.”

Ezekiel’s eyes must’ve widened comically large. “You… you shouldn’t be here. This isn’t right. I don’t suppose you know the code.”

“What the HELL are you doing here? This is a restricted area.” A scientist snaps, reaching for you. Ezekiel bolts for the door just as an alarm goes off and it slams shut. Soon enough, they’re cuffed.

“This is illegal. You can hold them in there.”

The guards ignore you, letting them scream and shout until the silhouette of a woman who ruined their life and sets their blood on fire comes in. The magic inhibitor burns into their neck. “HOW DARE YOU! You knew about this. You – this is just like Tuskeegee all over again.”

In the confines of her office, the doors shut and the cuffs off. “Did you have to make a scene? You know how it reflects upon me.”

“Badly upon you?! How do you think the states’s going to react knowing you have people locked up in a makeshift prison?”

Drew plops down in her plush leather chair. Her gaze fixed on a stack of papers. “We have all the paperwork right here. approved by the state, if you’d like to check.”

“The legislature—“

“Saw the threat of magic users and saw the need to research these creatures. You’re blowing this out of proportions. These aren’t even people. They’re violent creatures who only follow their base instincts.”

“What are you talking about? They speak. They feel. They’re just like you and me.”

“Who can also perform a perfect mimickery of human speech. The most he’s done is pulled one of my assistant’s pants down. Merely an animal.”

“You can’t be serious. Those—they’re people. They—I could see it in their eyes.”

“How scientific. No wonder you stooped so low to work in primary education. Why not counsel toddlers, I’m sure that gives you plenty of insight into the human condition. Coming from someone without a heart, of course.” She taps on your chest. “That’s very convincing.”

Ezekiel slaps her hand away. “That’s insane!. The proof’s written in their face. If someone spent any time with them, I bet they’d see that too.”

“You bet?” Dr Drew curls her lips int hat knowing grin that made your skin crawl since you were a kid. “How sure are you?”

You take a step back, she’s so much closer. Her breath on your skin, you can barely breathe. First time in decades and you’re barely standing. You’d dreamed of beating her to a pulp since you were a kid, you couldn’t move.

“Would you bet a year’s wage? 2? If you’re so certain that they’re people, why not 3? I’ll give you a team, funding and 6 months to come up with results.”

“Those are people’s lives! Not numbers.”

Her smile so saccharine sweet you swallow an upchuck. “Well, that is what we’re here to prove, aren’t we?”

Your breathing grows ragged as she presses you against the wall. Your legs turning to jelly.

“I’ll-I’ll tell the news.”

“The news who are bound by censorship from the state? Perfect plan.”

Ezekiel curses themselves. It’s idiotic if papers on Dr Drews desk are real, then alerting anyone would bite them in the ass more than help. But what if they didn’t know, would they care? The people in that room will look like stuff of myth and legend. If they can’t see a witch as human, why a monster?”

“1 year for my own office, freedom to bring in materials regularly in rooms. Whether or not they pose a risk and I want to be able to go into those cells. If my findings confirm they’re people, I want them released.”

“Deal.” She holds out her hand, almost civilly if not for her Cheshire cat grin.

“Deal.” Ezekiel nods, stepping from the room, the outer doors didn’t come soon enough.

[bigtreefest]

Chapter 2: Cooks in the Kitchen

From: The Rainmaker Series

Pairing: Mob! Steve x Forensic Scientist! Reader

Summary: Everyone hates a backseat driver. And a surprise guest when you’re not at your best.

Word count: 3,234

Content/warnings: TW: dead body and all you would expect in forensic science, I tried to make this not graphic, mentions of bruising, mentions of torture and abuse, sassy and borderline mean reader, awkward Steve who overthinks, reluctant? flirting, allusions to and mentions of murder

Author’s Note: For my dearly beloved @krirebr please know that you’re loved and appreciated by us all. I hope this helps, just a little bit. (Extra angsty, hopefully to your tastes)😘

What I’m gonna say is Decks seems very on edge compared to how she was before. Her guard came up out of ‘nowhere?’ Hm, that’s weird… or is it?

Anyway, these are Loupe glasses, if you’re wondering. They let you see tiny things up close and at a better angle.

Comments, reblogs, asks, and any feedback is so welcome and appreciated. Thank you for reading!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

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After your weekend at the farm, Steve drove you home to return to your normal life. As much as you loved being out in the country, city life was definitely more your speed. You immediately went back to work and were happy to keep your busy routine going. Sure, a weekend away from screens and solvents was a breath of fresh air, but this was where you thrived.

Despite the way there were new, more outlandish cases to deal with, the days were surprisingly routine. Come in, visit a crime scene, run some tests, go home, do it again. You lived for that sort of zen. The detachment of simply putting your head down and getting to work was what you were used to, and then once you were home, it was like a sanctuary. You could lounge, pick up another hobby out of the thousand you’d already started, and crawl into your fresh sheets.

It’s not like you were entirely a hermit, though. You got along with your coworkers and would commonly joke around with them, but first and foremost, you were a proper worker, doing your job. When something really needed done, you’d lock down in the lab, music blasting, and crank out results.

Steve was the same way. He tried to keep his days as routine as possible, despite the way work brought something new everyday. Rival gangs needed monitored and law people needed bribed. Shipments and production needed to be kept on a tight schedule and up to pace with increasing demand.

There wasn’t much time for it, but he’d found certain images and memories start to take hold in his mind. They were different from the grade school ones of Bucky, or his times learning the ropes of his trade, or the first suit he’d ever worn. They were new, they were…warm? Lacked that same rigidity? They were of you. Driving his car effortlessly, petting a baby goat as it bleated happily, teaching him to dance…small, little moments that he couldn’t let go of, but he didn’t have time to replay enough.

He did his best to stay proper in his business dealings. Steve was known for his gentlemanly demeanor, truly a golden boy of the underground, or…at least as much of one as an individual could be given the legality loopholes he was constantly trying to jump through.

On the outside, he was smooth as a beach. Fluid with the crashes of waves this industry threw at him. He’d gotten good at rolling with the punches without a single blond hair out of place. But inside? It was a hurricane. The wind raged and echoed in his ears, putting him on edge. It was sensory overload.

Everyday, he found his attention wanting to wander more and more to that simpler time, not romanticizing it for the lack of pressing responsibility, but for the fact he spent genuine moments with someone who was unlike those in his world. Unlike the men so obsessed with maintaining their place on top or squashing others to get there. They were all about the money, but you were working for the people, and for the betterment of the city. To solve cases and give peace to families. And Steve knew he was all too often on the other side of that, even if he prided himself on only taking out the worst of the worst. The ones who deserved it. They were the ones endangering women and children, who to him, were the distastefully vulnerable and undeserving of wrath, despite the fates they were met with from the awful men Steve rid the world of. He wasn’t breaking his set of morals and rules, he was just breaking the law sometimes. Steve was a good man, he just happened to make his living doing bad things.

He didn’t have time to reflect on that right now, though. Things had seriously picked up in recent weeks. Bucky was soon to return, but it didn’t help that Steve felt like Lloyd was unrelentingly on their asses. Leading the organization when it came to the normal stuff was fine, but the extra protections Bucky was making him run, along with the extensive research and monitoring was already taking its toll. Steve was used to a lack of sleep, he basically lived on adrenaline and black coffee, but another night where he was fielding calls and sending out directives without a wink was causing his emotional guard to fall.

It was early morning as Steve sat at his desk. He’d ordered Sam to head out hours ago, but as the sun was cresting over the horizon, not even that searing glow could keep Steve’s tired mind at bay. The levees against the flood were weakened beyond belief. The hurricane was about to make landfall.

Just then, the phone rang. It was one of his contacts down at the police station. That wasn’t new, but the specific news was and Steve wanted to be there in person to get every bit of information he could... and perhaps catch a glimpse at the one person who could scratch that new itch in his brain. Maybe, finally, at least he could catch a nap in the car, as Steve called Gio to drive him over.

Over the couple weeks you’ve been back, you couldn’t help the way your mind wandered constantly, either. Even your favorite playlist couldn’t keep you on track, so you opted for silence, the scenes replaying of your time on the farm doing plenty to help you block out your surroundings.

You were working on a particularly difficult case currently. There was no time for distractions. The overcast sky just added to the ambiance of the feeling that something unusual was looming over you. You pulled yourself out of your thoughts, along with the keys from the ignition, and took a deep breath, letting it out sharply to get yourself ready. When you’d gotten out of the SUV and to the crime scene, Detective Lang greeted you.

“So I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

He guided you along the River walk and down the rocky shore where a victim laid, waves still lapping over her feet as photographers and cops gathered around the scene, surveying it for evidence. A small crowd had gathered along the pathway, held back by barricades and uniformed officers. At least you were here before the news crews.

“Bad news first, always. You know that.” You spoke with a purpose, slipping on your gloves after pushing up the sleeves of your department-issued windbreaker and cuffing your pants so they wouldn’t get wet.

“So far, looks like it was blunt force trauma with a side of torture. Very little evidence to go off of, especially considering there are no open wounds and the tools used for this kinda thing could be in any household.”

You crouched down by the body and immediately took note of the bruising. You hummed in acknowledgement and looked back up at the detective, his head framed by the cloudy, gray sky, the rising sun now hidden. Fitting for a tragedy like this. A woman your age subjected to that sort of an ending…

“And the good news?”

He sighed, looking up at the sky, hands on his hips, before he dropped his head back down towards you.

He winced. “Body’s fresh? Disposal doesn’t appear very well thought-out.”

You nodded and looked around for any piece of evidence that hadn’t washed away. He was right, it was gonna be difficult to pull many testable elements.

“Well, I’ll do the usual work-up, then, and let you know when you’re good to get everything over to the medical examiner.”

He curtly nodded and turned on his heel to speak with the witnesses before you began to pull out your kit, swabbing for anything of note.

After you finished collecting everything you could, you carefully slipped back through the background and away from the slew of reporters now blanketing the scene. Ugh, you hated those block heads. Especially Lucas Bell, the weird little ray of sunshine you went to school with growing up. For some reason, he thought the two of you were actually friends, despite never having even given him the signal you appreciated his presence. The worst part: you could tell he wasn’t hitting on you. He would genuinely seek you out at crime scenes, that gross happy smile on his face, calling you by the birth name almost no one used anymore in favor of your college nickname. Every time, it was, “hey, remember me, old pal? Great to see you! Any information you’re willing to share?” Who the hell was so chipper when their job was literally to report tragedies?

You bobbled your head as you mocked him to yourself and got back into your work SUV. Ugh, you hated that guy. And all the other reporters. You didn’t wanna be on camera. What if you wanted to work for the FBI one day? Huh? What then? Can’t have your face out there all willy nilly and then expect to be doing covert ops. Nope. You prepared to race back to the precinct, ready to drown yourself in an afternoon of attempting to suck evidence out of a cotton swab caked in river grime and essentially, air, if you could count that as evidence.

You drove back through the pouring rain. Another thing to be annoyed by. First, the longing for your simple weekend once again, then the intrusive thoughts about annoying little reporters, and now, the near-flooding on the roads. You could hear her in your head now, Bee saying “rain makes corn. It’s a good thing.” You rolled your eyes, to be honest, you liked the rainy atmosphere, but you know what rain also makes? Bad drivers. At this point, it was just best to get back to the lab, buckle down, and stay there, where no one could possibly bother you.

You were hours in to your intensive testing. Your spectrometry readings gave the smallest peaks, hard to say if the readings actually were something or just background noise. You were happy to put in the time, but something just felt…off. It was infuriating and not helping your mood, but you tried your best to keep it separated from work. It wasn’t perfect, but it was your best. Another small thing going wrong could push you over the edge, though.

You opted to just look at a small fabric sample, deciphering if there truly was some thread of note caught in the weave. You just needed to concentrate and you knew you could find something. You were purely focused and zoomed in, using your Loupe glasses, paired with several lamps overhead, with the highest hopes of even a shred of confirma-

“Decks? More like Specks.”

The sudden voice that echoed through the lab startled you, causing your head to shoot up and bump against one of the metal lamps.

“Ow!” At that same time, the forceps and piece of fabric flew out of your hands and onto the floor. It didn’t help that you knocked into your instrument tray on the way, sending all those onto the floor, as well.

Great, now you had to go to the stock room to find a new package of sterile ones. This was the last set left in the lab. You looked up from where you watched the evidence fall, rubbing your forehead with the back of your gloved hand, eyes narrow at the business man in a suit who was previously leaned against your doorway, now tentatively walking towards you to crouch on the ground.

“Steve, what the hell?” You trailed off for a second. “You and Bee really do have the same sense of humor. I thought she just told me that as a selling point.” It came out as an irritated growl. You rolled your eyes as you squatted down to start cleaning your mess.

Steve laughed. Selling point? Bee talked to you about him? And tried to make him appealing? He wasn’t sure why, but he felt a certain warmth in his stomach at that. He pushed it down as much as he could. Either way, he truly did get along well with her.

“Well you know what they say, birds of a feather and all.” He joined you near the floor after having grabbed a glove, picking up some stray instruments and placing them back in the metal holding tray.

You muttered lowly as you finally stood up and turned away from him, after grabbing the fabric off the floor gingerly and placing it in a plastic protective case. “More like wasps of a stinger.”

Steve disposed of his gloves and looked over the results on your computer. You quickly hit the keys to lock the screen, sure to cast him a nasty glare. The last thing you needed was to get accused of leaking evidence.

What was he doing here, anyway? With those broad shoulders and that skinny waist. What did he even need shoulders that big for? How did he even shop for clothes? You swear his waist was literally the same circumference as your thigh. They don’t carry stuff like that in department stores.

Steve looked at you with a confused glance as you removed your gloves and washed your hands. There was a hint of humor in his voice, but it was mostly filled with caution at your attitude.

“Um, I don’t really shop for clothes? I’ve got a tailor. He’s pretty good.”

After your hands were dry, you facepalmed harder than ever before. You couldn’t believe you said that out loud. Maybe you did need to interact with more people outside of work. You were too comfortable talking to yourself. You took a deep breath before turning around and looking at Steve again. His face now mostly held tentative kindness, and that was a nice change to the anger that was sitting in your belly all day today. You still couldn’t help what you spat back, though.

“You have a tailor? In this economy? Of course you do…rich prick.” The last part was grumbled under your breath, but Steve still caught it. Where was this hostility coming from? He thought the two of you had gotten along great before. What changed?

Steve’s hurt caused him to fire back, albeit much nicer than you had. “You’re calling me rich? Decks, I’ve seen your apartment, it’s nice. Especially for this city. Way nicer than my first place.”

First off, what was that supposed to mean? You were still suspicious about exactly what Steve and Bucky did for a living. You knew they made a lot of money. Steve wore designer suits, if he could help it, and you assumed Bucky did, as well, but what business did they have being this built?

You let go of that, though, wanting to just get back to work after the disturbance, but why had you been disturbed in the first place?

“Steven, what are you doing in my lab?”

He was taken aback. Woah, full names. He knew your full name, but didn’t dare to find out what would become of him if he used it. It didn’t seem like many did. He wanted to go about this the right way. He didn’t want abuse his delicate position as a friend of a friend when you were so close to the law…yet.

He stood upright and pressed his shoulders back. Right, he was here on business. He had to remember that. It wasn’t a personal call and he had to stay professional.

“I was actually meeting with Scott, er, Detective Lang. He called me about the new case that came in this morning.”

You nodded slowly. “You knew her?”

Why did that make you nervous? Of course Steve knew women, like, duh, but something burning rose in your chest in anticipation of his response. Why did you care? You didn’t even want him here. Right?

He shook his head lightly. “No…well, sort of? She was an employee of one of my businesses. A salon.”

One of his businesses, of course. A salon was…interesting… but you guessed not out of the question with how perfect his stupid perfect hair always was. Whatever, just because he was here for some questioning, doesn’t mean he had to pay you a visit.

“Okay…so why did you come in here?”

You looked up at him from the odds and ends you were shuffling around your work bench out of nervousness.

“I actually wanted to see you, maybe help out a little?”

You eyed him skeptically, ignoring the way your chest sent a tingle down towards your fingertips. “You know when someone offers to keep close to a case like that, it usually means they had something to do with it, right?”

Steve put his hands up in surrender. “I swear this wasn’t me. I just genuinely care for my employees. Did you check under the fingernails? Maybe there was some DNA there or something?”

Your gaze became even more burning towards him. “Yes, Steven. I checked under the nails. That’s like, the first thing you do in cases like this. But why would you know that, anyway? And how can you say you care so much about your employees if you didn’t even know the girl?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. He was usually much smoother than this. How did you intimidate him so much so suddenly. Oh no…Is that where the name ‘Decks’ came from? Were you gonna hit him? Deck him? Did you have a pension for beating guys up? If he made a wrong move, would you literally punch him? Give him a black eye? Sure, much worse had happened to him before, but he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to emotionally recover if the damage came from you.

Either way, Steve didn’t want to find out, so he continued quite cautiously and uncomfortable within your domain, lacking the confidence that came so easily to him in all his usual business dealings and the quasi-leadership role he found himself in.

“I um…I watch a lot of CSI shows?” He hoped that was believable, but he knew it came out like a squeak, almost. He may as well be a little kid losing fights in a back alley again. He cleared his throat in an attempt to get his voice back to normal. “I do care for my employees, though. And my reputation, and the ability to make sure nothing like this happens again to anyone involved with me.”

You sighed at that. You can understand the want to prevent future disasters, especially when it came to someone working so low at the bottom of the food chain for such a major company. As you slipped your Loupe glasses back on and readjusted your lamps, you gestured for Steve to take a seat in your computer chair while you moved to a stool by the lab bench.

“Okay, fine. I’ll let you hang around, but don’t tell me how to do my job.”

You couldn’t help the way the corner of your lip turned up, just out of Steve’s sight, as he strutted over and plopped down into the rolly chair, watching you with a smile and his fingers laced behind his head.

Next >

Bonus A/N: I’m very excited for what’s going to grow between Steve and Decks. She’s a lil independent thing and he’s just so “idk what to do bc I’m supposed to be in control but I’m doing everything on her terms” and I love it. Lmk what you think!!!

Series Taglist:

@evie-119

[cynettic]

Hey so I just read the Laser Tag AU and maaaan, now I really want to play Splatoon smh aksksjjdjs

Anywayyy my point is: may I request more hcs but with the other boyos (Childe, Albedo, Bennett, Razor, Chongyun, Xingqiu and maybe Aether if you do him too xD)

Laser Tag ( genshin x reader )

Summary - Genshin characters playing laser tag with you their s/o.

Pairings - Reader x Childe/Bennett/Razor/Chongyun/Albedo/Scaramouche

Warnings - Mention of guns and shooting.

A/N - Added in Scaramouche- But I couldn’t think of anything for Xingqiu. I can surprisingly see the majority of the Genshin boys being good at wielding guns, even though they’d probably suck lol

Laser Tag

Childe

Childe is a beast.

Whether it’s in the terrain of his battlefield, or the streets of Liyue playing laser tag, Childe plays to win. He’s always been the competitive type, enjoying the thrill of battle, or in this case, laser tag.

He loves the game.

And of course, you just have to end up on the opposite team as him.

This game is the perfect setup for an enemies to lovers kind of vibe btw. With him shooting at your comrades and eliminating them from left to right, and you doing the same for his team. Very few people stand against him in this game, and his accuracy and sense of battle.

The two of you will spend the entirety of the game playing cat and mouse. Childe chasing after you while you simply escape his sights every time, taking down his teammates while you’re at it.

Childe isn’t as interested in winning, and once you prove to be worthy of a decent laser tag battle, he tries his best to force you to confront him.

Of course you on the other hand take his reckless behaviour to your advantage to turn the game in your favour and strike down his team. You know it’ll piss him off later when you win.

However, it Childe does manage to catch you…

The two of you will fight, that much is obvious. Dodging and attacking him, he will get very into it. Maybe a little too much, but you don’t give in, not until the very end.

Not until he’s on top of you, the two of you toppled over a bunch of hay that cushions your fall when he crashes into you. Not until he’s holding the plastic revolver against your temple, staring straight into your eyes with his signature smirk.

He might sneak a little kiss in there just to throw you off.

But in the end he will make sure he wins, or rather, he eliminates you. He doesn’t care if he doesn’t win the entirety of the game, taking you down was satisfactory enough, and he feels well accomplished and content after.

Would definitely rub it in your face.

If you brush it off as something you didn’t really try in, be prepared to be pinned against the wall and kissed until you admit that you were in fact, doing your best. And yes, he won fair and square.

Bennett

Omg this precious boy-

Bennett will try his hardest, stick by your side and shoot at any approaching target. Considering that the two of you are on the same team, he will promise to protect you.

With one problem.

No matter how well he aims, whether it is going to hit his target or not, the lazer disagrees. Rather, his terrible luck absolutely ruins it and somehow his lazer point ends up somewhere completely else.

“It changed its direction completely!”

Well… you never know, maybe it’s the gun that sends the lazers ray so far off, but considering it’s Bennett, you know it’s no coincidence.

So you end up protecting him.

Dragging him from place to place and shooting down your opponents, the two of you spend your time tripping over random large ass rocks ( with only Bennett’s terrible luck to blame ) and attacking opponents.

You make sure that Bennett is not shot, no matter what. And you give everyone else a terrible glare that basically screams that if they shoot him, they’ll face your wrath.

Nobody shoots Bennett.

By the end of the game, he’ll be grinning ear to ear. And even if he didn’t manage to eliminate anyone, he’ll boast about how his amazing dodging skills pulled him through the game. You’ll agree, lacing an arm around his shoulders and pulling him to the good Hunter to get a good meal.

Just to buy one though, the poor boy can’t cook for his life.

Razor

“Razor… very confused.”

The wolf boy has difficulty with the rules of the game, but the concept of pointing the gun at an opponent and shooting them with a lazer isn’t too hard to grasp.

You find out very quickly that Razor is actually pretty good with aim.

His hands don’t shake for one, and he is so adept to his surroundings that people struggle finding the source of their depleting health. Despite being overall confused at how to play, Razor easily becomes one of the main players taking opponents down.

As someone on his team, he makes sure to keep you by his side the entire time. He understands the elimination part, and he doesn’t want his lupical to get taken out, even if it’s a game.

He can be oddly affectionate at certain times, pushing your face against his chest as he takes out the remaining players in the field you both are in. He will carry you, and take no hesitation when pulling you out of the way, even if it’s a little too rough.

When the game ends, it might take a while to explain to the poor boy that your team won. And that it was a good thing.

Razor will begin to smile when he notices how content you are with it.

Chongyun

This man has the audacity to wield a gun while licking his ‘popsicle.’

Like goddamnit Chongyun, being good at shooting is already a flex, you don’t have to nibble at your popsicle while you’re at it.

You can’t really blame him though, it’s hot outside, and with the sun beaming down on the poor boy's head you know he can’t stand it. Especially with all the adrenaline and yells from opposing teams.

As someone on the same team as him, you take on the job of Chongyun’s personal popsicle restocker, and shooting anyone down once he gets tired. As good as the boy is at shooting, he sucks at keeping himself unknown to the other players.

So you take on the job to make sure they don’t shoot him down.

The two of you are a good team, and if it gets too hot, Chongyun might even let you have one of his popsicles. Of course you don’t have his talent of being able to shoot while having a popsicle in your mouth-

Your team will end up losing though, and even though Chongyun isn’t bothered, he will be slightly worried if you care. The two of you were obviously trying your best, and as long as you both had fun that’s all that matters to him.

But if it really bothers you that much…

He knows you feel comforted by physical contact, so he’ll hold your hand and offer a comforting smile. Tell you that you played well, and that he had fun.

That cheers you up right away.

Kiss him on the cheek please, even though he will flinch at the contact, his cheeks are flushed red and he won’t admit it. But he likes it.

Albedo

Why is it so easy to picture Albedo as a hot sexy stoic mafioso wielding a gun?

Anyways, Albedo is terribly good at wielding a gun. So good at that he only holds the plastic revolver with one hand, never missing a shot as he walks down the streets of Monstadt.

He knows the area well, so good luck trying to sneak up on him. The way his eyes so carelessly sweep the buildings, it hardly looks like he’s trying. Eliminating players with his lasers as he mindlessly strides past the fountain.

Of course, you’re against him.

Albedo isn’t really motivated to play, he’d rather be in his lab experimenting or recording down his discoveries. But he was dragged into this mess, he might as well play his part and support his team.

Albedo won’t hesitate to shoot at you and take you down.

As much as you may be important to you, he plays this game fair and square. He will take you down, or rather, he will try, because you get creative :)

He knows Monstadt well, but he can’t possibly keep his eye on all angles around him. So you’ll aim for his blind spots, throw yourself at him and tackle him to the ground. Simply eliminating him isnt satisfying enough, you need more.

So you turn this into a little game to fluster him.

Tackle him and pin him down, watch him scramble for the gun and then give him a peck on the lips. Watch as his grip loosens, and one of his hands instinctively come to nestle against your hair to pull you closer, and then you pull away.

Watching his idle confusement turn into a light blush on his cheeks is just too good, and how he grows even redder when you start laughing is even better.

Of course his team wins, not that he cares.

The minute the game ends he’s back in his office, conducting experiments. You can go interrupt him though, sneak into his office and press a kiss against his neck. He doesn’t often react or do much to it, but after your linger kiss at the game, he will pull you close and sit you on his lap. Have a proper make out session after you left him hanging with that peck earlier ;)

Scaramouche

This little man is ‘terrifying’.

It’s scary enough that whether you’re against him or on the same team as him, you keep your distance.

“Are you avoiding me Y/n?”

You play on the same team, and even if he’s your boyfriend, you know better than to stay too close when it comes to battle. He shows his cruelty, and you really weren’t looking forward to be put in the middle of that.

‘Unfortunately you didn’t have a choice-‘

Scaramouche will literally drag you, a hand looped around your waist to tug you to his side and take you along with him as he takes down opponents after opponents. He doesn’t ask for your praise, but you still give him it knowing he appreciates it. Mentally.

When he’s tired or bored, he will lean his head on your shoulder, wait there for a bit before jumping back up and shooting a random straggler on the sides. Heavens knows how the boy knows he was there, it’s like he has some sixth sense.

We don’t even want to get into his accuracy and precision, Scaramouche is born a mafioso.

At the end when your team wins, no surprise, give him a hug. Tell him he did well and even if he tries to push away, hold him tight. Even though he could easily pull your arms away if he wanted to, he’ll just pretend to give a little struggle and then give in to your warmth.

[scuttle-buttle]

WC: 2261

Rated: M

Tags: angst, medical issues, pregnancy complications, hurt/comfort, anxiety, brief mentions of medical procedures but no gore, nothing is technically sad, fluff, papa laszloooo

A/N: honestly tho I am sorry. also i maybe cried a little writing this, which is a first. also also everybody is fine in this it's just emotional

Blame @hardlyinteresting

🧠

"Three weeks…. Three weeks little bean…" you mumble as you rub your protruding stomach after a particularly harsh kick to your ribs. The chair was a sweet relief to your ankles after a long day at work and doing some light chores around the house all afternoon. You had three weeks until you hit 39 weeks into your pregnancy. As much as you were anxious you were ready. Ready to not feel like a bloated whale. Ready to not have sore feet. But most of all, ready to hold your baby girl.

Laszlo had been trying to convince you to take it easy and start maternity leave early, but you resisted. The last thing you were about to do is nothing. Most first pregnancies went late anyway, you'd argued, so you didn't worry about it yet. I’m pregnant, not dying - give me another week, you'd told him.

What you didn't tell him was about the headaches. Or how sore your legs were. Or how absolutely exhausted you'd been feeling the last couple weeks. Whenever he would ask if you were alright or offer a foot rub you would just brush it off as third trimester woes. You didn't want to worry him.

You were sat in an armchair in the parlor, feet propped up, damp rag over your eyes. The droning from the tv had your nerves on edge. All you wanted to do was take some tylenol and feel better, but you had been knocking back more than was probably safe the last few days so you went without.

A sudden pain shoots through you causing the rag to fall onto your chest. “Ohh...ow? OW!” You sit up straighter as the ache persists; the dull throbbing in your upper abdomen unlike anything you’ve ever felt before. Were you in labor early? Did she just kick in a bad spot? No no - surely the pain would’ve died down by now had that been the case. Unless? Can babies kick so hard they rupture something? Did my kid just bust my liver? Your thoughts run rampant as you wait, in vain, for the pain to go away. The pricking behind your eyes and in your temples only made it more hellish. Pressing your palm to the spot does nothing, nor do the breathing exercises you had been taught.

When five minutes have passed by without relief you make the choice to call out for your husband. “Laz?” No response. “Laszlo!” A beat passes; nothing. You swallow through your building nausea.

“I swear to fucking-” you growl as you snatch your phone from the end table to your left. You use all your concentration to dial his number.

It rings four times.

“Bärchen, why are you call-”

You don’t let him finish. “Something’s wrong.”

______

Head thrown back into the flat, starchy hospital pillow you groan in frustration. “permanent bedrest?” You scrub the hand not clutching your belly down your face.

The emergency room Obstetrician gives you a pitying look. “I’m afraid so - your blood pressure is high and we want to keep it under control to prevent outcomes such as pre-eclampsia. I recommend doing as little as absolutely possible; get rid of as many stressors as you can.” He flips through your chart. “You said you’ve been having headaches and fatigue for nearly two weeks? Why didn’t you come in sooner?”

Huffing, you tell him “I thought it was just part of the third trimester. Everyone always complains about how bad it is.” He hums in response.

“Well. I’m going to go take a final look at your labs, make sure everything else is fine before we discharge you. I’ll send in my Nurse Practitioner to give you the run down and anything else you’ll need to know. And should anything else like this happen again - get in here immediately.” He pats you awkwardly on the hand before nodding at Laszlo and leaving the room.

Laszlo.

Sparing a glance from the corner of your eye you see him looking towards his lap, his weaker hand cradled in the other. He’d been quiet since you admitted when your symptoms had first begun. Every single time he’d asked you how you were feeling you had lied to him. Granted, you didn’t technically know you were lying. But it makes little difference when you’re sitting in the ER. He had every reason to be upset.

“Laszlo honey,” you reach over to him. Slowly he takes your proferred hand and stands, coming to stop beside the bulky bed frame. His thumb caresses your wrist.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve examined the signs, kept a better eye on you.”

“Laz-”

“-No-”

“-I didn’t want to worry you, okay?-” Your voice breaks as you defend yourself.

“-I could’ve done something, maybe- I don't know!” His slightly raised voice startles you quiet. The pain in his eyes only makes you feel guiltier. He licks his lips. “I took the liberty of calling your mother. She will be here tomorrow afternoon and will be staying in the guest room as long as we need her.”

Now you look away, indignant. “I don’t need to be watched like I’m a child.” The tears behind your eyelids rush in; a lone drop trailing down your cheek as the embarrassment settles within your gut. You knew that at some point it was likely you would need her here. However you imagined it to be under happier circumstances. A deep inhale fails to calm your sobs. “I just- I don’t want to be a burden with all this.” Your tears flow freely now.

“My dear you could never be.” Laszlo sits on the edge of the bed. He rests his right palm above the swell of your child, his left cupping along the curve of your jaw. He tilts you to face him. “But the health of you and our girl is what is most crucial now. Let us take care of you. Please.”

A gentle kick underneath his palm from your daughter is answer enough.

__________

Two weeks. 14 days.

Lying in bed, sitting in the same spot for hours on end was actually going to be the death of you. You were sure of it.

Your mother truly has been a huge help since arriving. Laszlo wanted to start his paternity leave, but you insisted that he stay until you were closer to your due date. Which couldn’t come fast enough, you might add. Both Laszlo and your mother were prone to pestering you about some things, but at other times if you truly wanted to be alone they gave you your space. Now was one of those times. Laptop to your side, you watch another episode of Grey’s Anatomy. A knock sounds. You turn to see your husband standing in the doorway, the blood pressure monitor in arm.

He gives you a bright smile. “How are you two on this fine afternoon?”

“Cut it with the attitude, bucko. Let’s get this over with.” The words, while harsh, had little bite to them. His brow raises but he says nothing. You honestly felt bad that you’d been in a pretty foul mood since being discharged. On more than one occasion you’d said as much to Laszlo and your mother - they didn’t deserve your ire. Thankfully they understood why you were so frustrated.

You held the strap in place as he secured the velcro and started the machine. Buzzing filled the overall quiet room. Closed eyes you wait. Some days your results were higher than others. Unless you became higher than a certain threshold the doctor said you were safe to be home. At the sound of a beep Laszlo unhooks the cuff, reporting that your levels are within the acceptable range. When he goes to leave you alone you clutch at his sleeve. He waits as you peer up at him. “Stay?”

He never could say no to you.

______

Little bean’s ruthless treatment of your bladder had you up for the second time that night. You waddled to the bathroom to attend to your business and wash your hands. Glancing at the circles under your eyes in the mirror you sigh. “I love you baby bean but you’re giving me a run for my money here, kid,” you whisper as you rub your stomach. Three days, you remind yourself.

The floor creaks as you shuffle back to bed. Suddenly, an odd warm trickling sensation travels down your legs. “What the fuck?” Looking down around your bulging bump you find yourself standing in a small puddle, the glint of the bathroom night light reflecting off the surface. “Shit okay…ah Laszlo? Hey, I need you to wake up.”

He grumbles. With a roll of your eyes you walk over and shake him awake. “Hey- what-” he sits up instantly and blinks at you. “Is everything alright?”

“My water broke.”

He hops into action right away. Moving you to sit on the bed, he pulls out his cell phone to call your doctor. As he talks you watch him move around the room, the phone wedged between his ear and shoulder, as he collects your hospital supplies. You feel useless as you sit. Yet, you know that your priority needs to be keeping yourself calm and that moving around could exacerbate your condition.

He hangs up. Coming to stand in front of you he presses a kiss to your forehead; “I’ll go wake your mother. Don’t move, Liebling.”

As you sit you blow out a long breath. You look down at your bump. “Guess you decided you’re ready to go, huh kid?” The tip of your fingers brush along the side of your stomach. “I know we’re ready for you too. We’re going to love you so much, and your daddy? He’s gonna be the best, you’ll see.” Placing your palms flat she nudges you from within.

_____

The doctors decided that a c-section was the safest route. You both knew it was a possibility, but you had hoped that after weeks of bedrest that your blood pressure would balance out enough for a natural delivery. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. They monitored you for an hour before your contractions began, officially confirming you were in fact in active labor and dilating. After the fourth hour your blood pressure began to spike again. That’s when they decided to prep you for the procedure.

The operation went smoothly. The atmosphere of the surgical suite was tense with your nerves, but Laszlo’s calming words and his hand squeezing yours kept the anxiety from spilling over. You even found it in you to poke fun at how ridiculous he looked in the puffy blue elastic hair cap he wore.

When the first cries rang out you nearly tried to hop off the table to see your baby. The doctors worked quickly to ensure you were in proper condition while the infant was cleaned.

“Dad? Would you like to come and cut the cord?” one of the nurses calls out.

Laszlo looks back at them before turning to face you. He searches your eyes for a moment; “go,” you nod with a smile. You watch as he did what the nurses instructed as best you could, her soft wails echoing in the small room. He returns to you right after while they finish wrapping her up in a blanket.

“She’s beautiful my dear,” your professor confesses. He leans to give you a lingering kiss. “I’m so unbelievably proud of you.”

“I love you so much.”

“As I love you.”

The doctor interrupts your moment. “Would you like to hold your baby girl?” The question is directed at you, but you look over to your husband. The man you love more than life itself. He stares at the little bundle as if she’s the most incredible sight he’s ever laid eyes on. He can’t take his gaze off her. His irises sparkle with unshed tears as he looks on with wonder.

“Laz?” Finally he breaks away. “Hold your little girl - she’s been waiting to meet her Papa.”

Carefully the doctor shifts his hold on the babe to slide her into Laszlo’s waiting arm. He swallows as he pulls her to his chest. Something caught between a sob and a laugh leaves him. You blink through your own tears at the sight of your husband and daughter, a sight so far beyond perfect there could be no words. Laszlo held her with such delicacy, such reverence. It was as if any moment she could slip away as though a dream.

“Hello there my little dove, I’ve been waiting a very long time to meet you.” He doesn’t bother to wipe away the streams that fall from his eyes. “I’m your Papa and I-” he sniffs, looking towards the ceiling and blinking rapidly to clear his eyes. You rest your hand on his bicep. “I love you so very much. I would give you the world if I could. Your grandfather didn’t...he was not....” he pauses to gather himself. “To me you are the greatest gift I could ever receive. I will be the best father I can for you. A father worthy of you. Mein Gott, Ich liebe dich my darling dove.”

He continued to hold her in his arms until it was time to take you into the recovery room. When he had asked if you wanted her you simply shook your head. You would get your chance, you had a lifetime to do so. But your Laszlo needed this. He needed his little dove.

Tag list

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[prof-peach]

I know on your island you guys deal with a lot of pokemon from a lot of scenarios, but have you ever had to deal with ex-rocket pokemon? Either surrendered or found. Would there have to be a specific protocol for that, or safety measures?

Yeah we get a few that come to us each month, someone either hands them in, or we get them sent to us from other places that can’t handle them.

As for treatment we have to take each case sepratly, the local authorities send us poison, bug and grass types who need rehabilitation, usually it’s not too bad and we socialise them for a while. No people, just give them time to hang out with their own for a while. This can take anywhere up to a few months, just them and some other Pokemon kicking back and taking time out. We see a lot of Pokemon who didn’t get a chance to learn about their skills, their home, they never had a good family life, they often got torn from the wild and remember humans quite harshly. This time is key for them to settle into normal Pokemon behaviour. They are usually surrounded by others and can eventually pick up the right social queues and etiquettes, when they behave like the others, we start to introduce humans more, one member of staff will be assigned groups to care for, usually handling the rescues alone for the first few months, so the Pokemon being helped can get use to just one person at the start. Once that trust has grown, and they seem confortable, we introduce more members of staff. At this point it’s usually clear who will be rehomed fast, and who will need extra care, and we can divide up time appropriately. Recovery depends o the Pokemon in question, and what they’ve gone through. We’ve got patients with us that have stayed on the island for many years now due to relapses in behvaiour, if anything they’ve become part of our personal teams, part of the family, so I suppose they usually find a home one way or another. When possible we release those who are fit but otherwise uninterested in being a trained Pokemon, there are many release sites that the regional rangers oversee all around the world. Getting them home isn’t too hard luckily.

Because we have such a high population of bugs and grass Pokemon we just handle them more. They can find a group and settle here, without any outside interference.

On occasion we will personally choose to take on difficult cases, our lab is pretty hellbent on taking the Pokemon that are deemed “too far gone”, mostly because of the space we can offer them. Grey handles a lot of unruly water Pokemon, he has no fear of a Gyarados, doesn’t shy away from defensive Walrien or Carracosta, that’s just his area of love I guess? You have to love the work if you put yourself in the way of pretty big, pretty angry Pokemon, right?

Either way, we have our joy areas, and work with the odd species that can’t be otherwise helped by normal means. We use unorthodox methods, perhaps have too much patience, and tend to get really stuck into the work.

One case that’s a wonderful example was a dowdy little Salemance that came to us, had been shifted about by Rockets to fight in underground battle rings, it’s poor wings torn to shreds over the years, didn’t fly anymore, pretty sure the original trainer wanted it that way so it couldn’t just fly off. But it came to us so angry, and so violent towards anyone and anything, well I just about had it with the big idiot. Threw down with the dumb baby myself to put him in his pace once and for all. He was being outwardly nasty to everyone, snapped at everything. So I waited, and dodged, and ran, and hid until he had exhausted himself, and then used its bad vision against it and body slammed the little devil. He got tired trying to thrash me off, fell over and stayed there. Because I didn’t hurt him, I simply used his big dumb baby energy against him, he lost. Since then he was under me in the hierarchy, and we were able to get close enough to treat him, get his wounds seen too. He didn’t dare snap again after that, least not at any of the team. He got fitted with a prosthetic wing, has been flying for about half a year now, and is in the process of being adopted by a lovely young couple who live out in the mountains away from any towns, perfect place for him. I think they run a pumpkin farm out there and needed some defence. Me and that Salamanca are friends now, he’s learnt that just because a humans in a position of power doesn’t mean you have to cower, no ones ping to hurt them now, they’re safe, they can enjoy again. We socialised them, we tended to them, they’re not perfect, they still get spooked by too much noise, they’re jittery with crowds, that’s to be expected.

This is a case I mention because it’s a difficult one, not a lot of sane people will throw themselves at a Pokemon like that, and this is what the work is like. Sometimes you just do what’s right, even if it could end pretty badly, luck, great training, and years of practice are on my side, and for that reason I’m able to take in difficult ones. Each professor will handle different Pokemon, different types and varying levels of difficulty, all help is good help, you don’t have to wrestle a dragon, you can handle things a hundred different ways, and hell they might just work! The only true constant is patience. You sit up at night with them, when it’s stormy or windy and they’re scared, you hold your ground when they’re lashing out, you sit through the worst of it with them. You get bitten and cut and bruised and broken and it’s worth it because at the end they get to start again, they get a go at a second life that’s way better than what they had before.

Very rarely will we ever initiate attacks on a Pokemon on the island, we usually do all damage control with non-violent, defensive methods, and at the very most the rescue Pokemon will be put to sleep or knocked to the ground and immobilised. I see some folks battling against their rocket Pokemon, which can be a great use of energy but also can plant more seeds of distrust between the humans and Pokemon involved. It’s best to at least leave that until you’ve built up trust between you and the Pokemon I think, but each to their own I suppose.

If we need to do psychology we send them to Pari, who does therapy sessions with individuals who think they need it or are referred to her, she’s quite an accomplished student and uses my dear old porygon-z as a translator to talk with patients about their issues. Life is a lot easier when there’s less of a language barrier. We offer pretty much everything we can to the rescues we get, and they are given dedicated space upon arrival.

As for safety measures, yes, of course we have them. Gear is necessary when handling certain types, fireproof overalls and gloves are most common. We always go in with a functional pair of Pokemon, alwasy two minimum. We have this minimum because of many Pokemon going to attack our partner, missing on purpose, and going straight for us. One partner is offence, one is defence, you must cover your back, that defensive individual is more for you than anyone else, if you get hurt you can’t help others effectively. It really depends on the case, I’ve handled big Pokemon who got freaked out by heavy protective gear. Their old trainer would wear safety gear while being cruel to them, so we had to ditch it all, we realised it was causing problems and dealt with it fast. There’s also a number of first aid stations all over the island, not only for the sake of the law but also, we all get hurt a fair bit on the job.

Hope you feel informed!

[wrenhyperfixates]

Love Poison

Pairing: Loki x reader Summary: You plan to take extreme measures to catch Loki’s eye. Unfortunately, things backfire terribly. Can something good come of the mess? Warnings: use of a love potion (putting this here because in case that bothers some people) but I think that’s it A/N: For @tom-hlover​. Thanks for requesting and hope you enjoy!

Tag List: @lucywrites02 @frostedgiant​​ @lunarmoon8​ @twhiddlestonsstuff​ @lokistan​ @thelokiimaginechroniclesficrecs​

Disclaimer: Picture not mine

You glanced out the window of Tony’s lab. In the week since you’d been promoted to his personal assistant, you’d seen more of the Avengers than you had in your almost five years of working at the Tower. In fact, you’d seen all but the one you’d really been hoping to. Loki. You had a little crush on the god, you would admit, but you had no hope of getting to know him if he never stopped by the lab. You considered asking your boss about him, but decided that the embarrassment wasn’t worth the risk. So, instead, you kept on waiting.

Your lucky break came one day when Tony sent you to the kitchen to get him some coffee. A large part of you wanted to suggest sleep instead, since he’d pretty obviously been up since you’d left the Tower last night. But you were still too new to the job to be so bold. You were in the middle of pouring Tony’s drink when a certain raven haired god came rushing in, snickering to himself. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed you.

“Who are you?” he asked sharply, as if he had been caught in the middle of something. Judging by the box of glowing vials he had with him, you supposed he might be. “How did you get in here?”

“Oh! I, uh, I work for Tony. I’m his new lab assistant,” you responded shyly, telling him your name.

“Ah, I see. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Loki of Asgard. That doesn’t happen to be Stark’s drink in your hands, does it?”

“Actually, yeah, it is. May I ask why?”

Loki peered over his shoulder before turning back to you, a mischievous glint in his eye. You were almost certain your heart would beat out of your chest if you stayed in this close proximity to him any longer, but he finally began to explain himself.

“I was hoping to slip a potion into it. I had been planning on just dumping it into the coffee pot, but it would much easier if you could help me sneak it into the cup. Do not worry, I will not let you get into trouble. I will gladly take full blame. And, before you ask, it is completely safe.”

You contemplated for a minute trying to choose between your new job and Loki. The choice was pretty obvious, though, as you always tended to think more with your heart than your head. Maybe this could even spark a friendship between you and the god.

“Ok,” you nodded. “What’s it going to do?”

“It will make him burst out into uncontrollable laughter,” Loki explained as he set a few vials on the island, looking for the right one. “A harmless prank, really, but all I can get away with these days.”

A few moments later he was saying goodbye and hurrying off to enact his next prank. So much for that friendship you were hoping would bloom. Except, he’d left a potion behind. Maybe you could return it to him, and at least get another conversation out of it. But then you looked at the label and got another plan entirely. It was a love potion.

Ten minutes later you were staring at the bottle of glowing purple-pink liquid. Tony had run out to yell at Loki, knowing immediately who had been responsible for his sudden laughter. There were blueprints to be working on, you knew, but you’d had an idea, and it was proving nearly impossible to get it out of your mind. If you could just see Loki again, find him again, you could give him a drink with the potion in it. Not a lot, just a drop. Just nudge him into having feelings for you. Then once he got to know you, maybe the potion would have worked its way out of his system and his feelings would be real.

Almost without knowing what you were doing, you were pouring some of the contents in a cup of water. You poured yourself a cup of water, too, suddenly feeling very anxious. Was this right? You hadn’t technically stolen it or anything. But deep down, you knew that wasn’t the issue. This was crazy. It was manipulative. Everything about your relationship will have started out as a lie. Maybe you just needed another sip of water to calm down.

“Shit,” you whispered to yourself as you realized you’d drunk out of the wrong cup. Your mind went into full panic mode before focusing solely on Loki.

You skipped through the halls of the Tower, looking for your otherworldly prince. He said your name in a question as he almost collided into you. Immediately he knew something was off, he just couldn’t quite put his finger on it. It would bug him until he could.

“Did Stark send you after me?” he questioned. “I do not suppose you would be willing to help me out a second time?”

“Tony didn’t send me,” you brazenly replied. “I’m here to ask you on a date, Loki.”

“And why,” he said in a sharp laugh of disbelief, “would you do that?”

“Because I’m in love with you.”

His eyebrows shot halfway up his face. Not only was that an outrageous thing to say because you hardly knew each other, it was unbelievable because he was, well, him. Plus, you seemed a lot more bold than you had earlier. He almost didn’t believe it was the same person. Maybe you had a twin running around. Or maybe it was drugs. But no. He’d seen the effect drugs had on Midgardians before, and this was different. Still, he could not figure it out.

“That is lovely, but-”

“He would love to!” Thor cut his brother off as he appeared from around the corner. “How about you get some coffee? You like coffee, right brother?”

“No.”

“It’s perfect considering how we met,” you giggled as Loki grimaced. “I know a place that has coffee and tea, if you like that better.”

Loki desperately wanted to decline, but it was the last thing he needed for his image. Besides, he was pretty sure Thor would drag him there even if he said no.

“Very well. I shall meet you in the lobby at seven.”

“See you later, Loki,” you giggled as you waved goodbye, leaving to go doodle his name in your notebook.

“Well, well, brother,” Thor said. “I had no idea you had finally realized what an eligible bachelor you are. Good for you, putting yourself out there.”

“I suppose you were not at the same conversation I was,” Loki said wryly. “You put me out there. I was about to say no.”

“Come now, it will be good for you. Why do you seem so dismayed?”

“It does not make sense that they like me. No, they said love, actually. For one, I hardly know them. For two, I am me, don’t forget. Harbinger of destruction in the Battle of New York. Something is not adding up.”

“Just enjoy this, brother. Someone has realized how wonderful you are and asked you out. It is just how things work on Midgard.”

“Perhaps,” Loki mused, wracking his brain. “But I must do some research. There may be magic involved.”

“You know what,” his brother sighed, “I am going to help you just to prove this is real.”

“If you must.”

The search proved fruitless, but Loki was determined to comb through more of his enchantment books later. Right now, however, he had to meet you. For a date. The whole thing still sounded absolutely absurd. Though, he would admit you did look rather adorable bundled in your coat, ready to go out in the cold night air. Being the gentleman that he was, he offered you his arm, which you excitedly took as you giggled. That was another thing, why were you suddenly so bubbly? It was a far cry from the shy, easily flustered person he’d met earlier. He added it to his mental list of possible symptoms of whatever was afflicting you.

About an hour later, the two of you were still seated in the small café you’d brought him to. Loki was, surprisingly, enjoying himself. He had to keep reminding himself that this was not real, that he shouldn’t get too attached, for he was sure he’d figure this out sooner or later.

“Really?” you laughed as he finished his story.

“Yes, the entire chair just gave out from under him,” he recalled, telling you of one of the many times he’d pranked Thor in their youth. “After all, he’d just said to stop gluing him to it. Everything else was fair game. The best part was father never could prove I was behind it.”

“I wish I was clever like that. Or could do magic.”

“Well, I’ve never heard of a Midgardian working seiðr before, but I suppose nothing is impossible. I fear I may not be the best teacher, though. I lack the patience a good teacher should possess.”

“You seem plenty patient to me. Loki, you’re...” you said, nervously casting your eyes down to the floor, “well, you’re amazing.”

He blushed at your words, but accepted them with a small thank you. You’d calmed down considerably throughout the course of the evening, now seemingly fully captivated in your conversation with Loki. And he even found himself thinking that he didn’t mind your company, a rare thing indeed. Maybe Thor was right after all. Maybe this was real. As much as he wanted to believe that, deep down, he still knew something was very, very wrong.

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

Loki took you out again a week later. After a dinner out in the city, he had nervously brought you back to the Tower for a movie on his couch. It had been Thor’s idea, though he seemed to have been hinting at something else by suggesting Loki bring you back to his quarters. But, thankfully, you didn’t seem particularly interested in any of those things. Rather, you were content to just sit with Loki and let the movie play. You were curled into his side, cuddling him. It took someone actually wanting to be near to him to make him realize how touch starved he actually was. It alarmed him at first, to have you so close, but he relaxed as you began methodically braiding and unbraiding a few locks of his hair. A small smile played at his lips as he thought of the domestic simplicity of it.

“Hey, Loki,” you said. “I’m really glad I met you.”

“I am too. And to think, it all started with a simple prank.”

Loki suddenly stood up from the couch, accidentally pushing you off him. He apologized as he rushed over to his bookcase. Remembering how you’d first met had made him think of something; he’d been searching for an enchantment, but he’d never considered it being the effect of a potion. Reading the page in the book, he realized you were exhibiting all the symptoms. He sighed and checked his potion box, hoping against hope that he would find nothing missing. Unfortunately, he did.

He’d packed up his things so quickly that he must have left one behind and, one way or another, you’d consumed it. And of course it had to be that one of all the options. It was more love poison than love potion, he thought to himself as he scoffed. He sat down and plopped onto the couch, burying his head in his hands.

“Loki?” you hesitantly asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, my darling, I am so sorry. It is all my fault,” he apologized, taking your hands as confusion sparked behind your eyes. “It may take a little time, but I will fix this. For now, you should go home.”

“But, Loki,” you sniffled. “I don’t want to. What’s happening? Can I see you tomorrow?”

He hesitated. He really shouldn’t let this continue, for both your sakes. “I... Yes, I will you see you tomorrow. Do not worry about what is going on, I will take care of it.”

You sniffled some more, but acquiesced. After placing a kiss to his cheek, you set off towards your flat, leaving the unfinished movie playing in the background. Loki immediately started preparing the antidote. It would take nearly a week to fully brew, and he tried to figure out what to do with you in the meantime. He feared that if he kept seeing you, you would hate him when you came to. But, if he rejected you now, you might become violent and unpredictable. Better to keep you safe. And, if he was lucky for once in his life, maybe he could have a chance with you once you were in your right mind.

As soon as the antidote finished, Loki prepared to give it to you. He’d found the bottle of love potion hidden in Tony’s lab and concluded you couldn’t have used more than a few drops. He even dared hope for a second that you hadn’t used it, after all, but then he noticed the seal had been broken. The small dosage must have been the reason he didn’t recognize the side effects as belonging to it right away. The larger the dosage, the more intense the effects.

“Hi Loki,” you greeted as he opened the door for you.

“Hello, darling.”

“Is something wrong?” you asked, cupping his cheek. “You seem upset.”

“I am fine. May I interest you in a glass of water? Tea? Anything to drink, really.”

“Oh! I guess water sounds good. Thanks,” you smiled.

He handed you the cup and waited while you took a sip. The effects were almost instantaneous, filling him with both joy and sadness at the same time. You gazed around the room with a dazed look on your face. Loki helped you to a chair as you regained your senses.

“Oh my gosh,” you gasped. “Loki, I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry for what, darling? I am the one who left the potion lying around.”

“Yes, but,” you started, wondering how much you could get away with. You decided it was just best to come clean. “I should have returned it as soon as I saw it. Not... not try to give it to you. Serves me right that I accidentally took it myself.”

“You were trying to give it to me?” Loki inquired with furrowed brows. “What would you do a thing like that for?”

“Because,” you gulped, “I really do have a crush on you, Loki. I was desperate, I guess. But that’s no excuse, so yeah, I’m sorry. I should go now.”

“Wait,” he called after you before you could run off. You were rather charming, he thought. And he did believe that he got to know a bit of the real you through the potion. Besides, maybe Thor was right, and it was time he put himself out there. “I know we did not start under the best circumstances, but I would like to take you on a real date if you will allow it. Say, tonight?”

“Really?” you squeaked in disbelief. “I would love to, Loki.”

“Just do me one favor, darling. Stay away from potions, please.”

“Believe me,” you nervously laughed, “I plan on it.”

You scurried away to text your friends about the crazy turn of events. Loki smiled after you before destroying the rest of the love potion, happy that some good was able to come out of the whole mess. But there was one thing he knew for certain; he’d be swearing off potion making for quite some time.

[babybatscreationsv2]

Spider-Verse: Predators ch24

Marvel | Starker

Peter Parker is barely keeping it together. Dealing with Gwen Stacy's death, Harry Osborn going MIA, and MJ refusing to take his calls, has the guy feeling seriously run down. Now to top it off, his uncle Ben is facing serious prison time. Fortunately or unfortunately, New York's own Kingpin of Crime, Tony Stark, has offered him a deal to save his uncle. On a positive note, this Kingpin guy is kind of hot. Is it wrong to sleep with a murderous criminal?

Rating: Explicit

Read it on Ao3

The lab was in shambles. Lights hung from the ceiling, bits of metal and glass littered the floor. It was impossible to safely navigate the place without his suit. Even Tony wore his fancy new nanobot tech as he investigated the damage. On a normal day, Peter would be babbling and investigating the swarm of intelligent minibots that covered the man's body, but now he sat, watching the crack in the glass start to grow.

“How long... do you think?” Peter asked.

Tony swiped a hand through his hair. “A few hours as best. Once the glass breaks-”

“I know. We can't keep him in stasis without the chamber. You really don't have another one?”

“I'm sorry, Pete. That alien freak broke everything. There were three others, but they're all broken.There's one we might be able to repair, but I don't think it will be in time.” Broken glass crunched over his feet as he left the tech he was fiddling with to come stand behind Peter. His large metal hands covered his shoulders. “What's your plan when it does break?”

“I don't know,” Peter sighed. “I don't know, Tony...”

Tony kissed the top of his head. “I'm here with you, baby.”

Yes, Peter felt warmer, safer to hear it. He even let his eyes close for a moment and pretend none of this had happened. The problem was that Tony couldn't protect him from this. When the stasis chamber that was containing the half formed Lizard broke, Harry's transformation would begin again. He would be left mindless and destructive. And there was no cure. Tony had been trying for months to find one and never did. They could sedate him, keep him tranquilized, but would it work? There were no guarantees.

“Let's fix it. The other chamber.”

“Okay,” Tony agreed. Peter was admittedly surprised. He expected the man to remind him how much work it would take and how much time and how little time they had. He had expected Tony to insist on putting a bullet in Harry's face the minute they realized that the glass was breaking. Peter had changed something in him after all. He cared a little bit more. Or maybe he just cared about Peter.

They got to work. Half of their time was spent by Tony explaining to him what every little part was for. Peter knew machines well enough, but he wasn't the genius who built his own stasis chamber and there was a lot to learn. More time was spent teaching Peter what to do before they could do anything, than Peter would have liked. After a few hours, he understood well enough what everything was and they settled into a rhythm in their repairs. Most of Peter's work was done at the 3D-printer while Tony fiddled with the machine, but it was a system that worked well enough.

Peter was repairing a broken wire when Tony put down the tools in his hands. His head tilted up toward the ceiling and he sighed.

“What is it?”

“We should just let him out,” he said, looking away at the wall.

“What?” Peter stared. He couldn't be serious. Let the Lizard out?

Tony looked at him. “Murdock wants his blood. You heard him, right? He wanted his alien pal to get the blood from the cooler, but they didn't get it. There's not a single bag or vial missing. If we turn your lizard friend loose then Matt will go after him.”

“We can't do that! He could kill someone.”

“And Matt could kill you! Or your aunt for that matter. I don't know if you've noticed this, but Matthew is a literal fucking ninja. If he wants to slip into Aunty May's house while you're not around, I can't promise you that my people will notice.”

Peter shook his head. He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the wall. “Then I'll go home. Until we get him. I should have been home.”

Tony turned his head away and Peter knew that he'd hurt him. It was the obvious thing to do, but Tony could be surprisingly fragile. He needed Peter close. If he stopped coming to the tower it could damage their relationship. He couldn't leave May to die either way. He'd do a lot of things for Tony, but not that. Maybe he'd been naive to think that she was safe all this time.

His spider sense flared up at the back of his neck. There was someone else in the lab. Peter turned, watching, listening. He raised his arm, ready to fire and Tony followed suit. Then a woman entered the room.

Peter recognized her blonde hair and glasses. Betrayal cut at him. He had sort of thought they were allies. Elsa held her hands up in innocence.

“I know you're mad. I get it, but I think we can help you.” Her eyes wandered to Harry, half covered in scales, in his cracked containment chamber.

“Is my security team sleeping? How did you get in here?” Tony said.

“We're good at getting into places we're not supposed to be.”

“Oh yeah? Who's we?” Tony asked. Before Peter could explain, there was Venom rising in a goopy, snake-like form from Elsa's shoulder. “Alright, explain yourself.”

“Murdock betrayed us, too. He helped us once, because he hoped that we would owe him. Except that it didn't go like he planned.”

“You're not making a great case for yourself,” Peter said.

“Yeah, maybe get to the part where we care,” Tony added.

Elsa sighed. “Men,” she huffed. “My other isn't stable. Never was. I created it, but things happened, we bonded too soon. I shouldn't have taken it out of containment until it was ready. Long story short, I needed something to stabilize it. After months of research, my work suggested that something like Spiderman wasn't so different from my symbiote. In theory anyway. I don't know how he found out, but Murdock came. He said that he could get me a sample of Spiderman's blood. If I were willing to kill Spiderman for him.”

Peter heard the whir of Tony's repulsor charging. “Please wait,” Elsa sighed. “You'll only piss them off and we didn't come here to kill you.”

Tony let the charge die, but he kept his arm raised.

“Anyway,” she began again. “He got me the blood and it helped, for a while. Spiderman's blood stabilized Venom and gave them new abilities as well. We were stronger than ever. And then the bond started to break. We got sick.I realized that something in your blood was breaking down our cells. You might have spider-like abilities, but you're not actually a man bonded to a spider. You're still made of human parts. We aren't.We're an amalgamation of two different creatures. Like the Lizard. We need to know what keeps the Lizard's form stable once it bonds to a human body.”

Tony whistled. “That was a lot. You think that up on the cab ride over?”

“It's true!” Elsa shouted. Venom growled.

“Eat him,”it hissed.

“Hush, love,” she said. “Please, Mr. Stark.”

“What is it you want?” Peter asked. He finally lowered his arm and took a step forward hoping to resolve the tension before another fight broke out. All it would take was another hard hit and the glass protecting Harry would shatter. They'd have a whole host of other problems.

Elsa wrapped her arms around herself. Venom nuzzled into her hair. “If we allow Venom to bond with this lizard boy, I'm almost certain that Venom will be able to separate the lizard parts from the human parts and bond with them. We've been practicing. It's possible that it won't work, but if Venom can bond with the Lizard and draw it out from the boy and carry it over in to me it will save the boy from the Lizard and possibly give us a way to stabilize our bond.”

“If that's even possible, it makes sense... Sorta.” Peter shrugged.

Tony sighed. “It's your boyfriend.Your call.”

Peter shot a glare over his shoulder. Then he crossed the dirty floor and he looked at Harry sleeping in his goop. Maybe they could fix the other chamber, maybe they could sedate him if the glass broke too soon, maybe they could eventually engineer a cure, but how long would Harry stay this way? He could wake up an old man. His heart ached. He'd done so much to hurt him already. Maybe he could save him. At least from this. From the first big mistake Spiderman ever made. And maybe he could finally be free of the Lizard himself.

“We'll try it. What are the odds this hurts Harry if it doesn't work?”

Elsa shrugged. “I'm sorry, but no one has ever done anything like this before. He could reject Venom immediately. Venom could make a mistake and separate the wrong cells.The Lizard could do any number of unpredictable things. There's no way of knowing.”

She put a hand on his shoulder. “For what it's worth, I know that my other will do everything possible. We have a stake in this, too.”

If she were telling the truth, she would die if this didn't work. Not just Harry. This could easily go from a cure to a disaster. If they didn't anything try at all, Elsa would still die. Despite having destroyed Tony's lab, she seemed like a decent person who just wanted to live with the slime monster she loved.

“Please,Spiderman,” Venom rumbled.

Peter nodded. “Okay. Let's give it a shot.”

Elsa helped Peter clean off a cot for Harry while Tony went to his computer. It started draining the goop from the chamber. Then they could remove the IV and all the sensors and pull him out. They might not have long before the sedation wore off once the IV was out.

“Do you think we should keep him sedated when we pull him out?” Pete wondered. “He could take someone's head off.”

“It could put Venom out, too,” Elsa frowned. “We'll just have to be careful.”

“I have something that might help, but it won't work forever,” Tony said. He went to the storage along the wall. Half of the cupboards were smashed, but one that was intact unlocked at Tony's touched. “I didn't make them big enough to fit a lizard man, but they'll hold him until he'd fully transformed.” He held up a pair of dense metal handcuffs.

“If all goes to plan, he never will,”Elsa said.

Peter sighed. “Nothing in my life goes to plan.” Still, he pulled open the door and caught Harry as he slipped out. Tony grabbed his legs and together they moved hin onto a cot. Harry groaned in his sleep.

“Clock's ticking,” Tony cautioned.

Elsa stepped up to the bedside. Venom stretched, becoming a long, writhing, stream of goo that moved from Elsa into Harry. The goop seemed to absorb through his skin, disappearing without a trace. Elsa gave a huff of breath. Nothing seemed to change with Harry, but Elsa was visibly anxious. Her shoulders twitched and her eyes were locked on to the spot in Harry's chest when Venom had disappeared to.

“How long do you think?” Peter asked.

She didn't move, didn't look away. “We practiced on rats mostly. It took a few hours. Could be days given the size and complexity of a human/lizard hybrid. And they'll be taking the most possible care.”

Tony eyed the room around them. Peter remembered just how badly it was all falling apart. It was a miracle the building overhead didn't sink down into it. “Elsa, do you have somewhere we can keep them until it's done?”

“I can monitor things from my apartment.” She reached out, her hand going to Harry's arm only to draw back. “I'll call you if anything happens.”

“Good or bad,” Peter agreed.

Cradling Harry's scaly form in webbing, Peter dragged him up the broken elevator shaft. Tony carried Elsa. She seemed distraught and Peter felt for her. He and Tony were codependent enough. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to be separated from a partner who you otherwise shared a body with. It was obvious just how romantically attached they were and how odd was that in the first place? To be in love with the sentient goo you made in a lab.

Elsa lived in one of the cheapest apartments on this side of the city, or any side for that matter. Peter remembered how bad this particular building was from his time looking at apartments with MJ. The place smelled as bad as he remembered. The clutter of old food containers in Elsa's apartment certainly fit in with the aesthetic of the place and there was a faint smell of something dead coming from the overflowing trash can.

Peter tucked Harry into Elsa's bed. He grumbled as he Peter set him down. “Call me if he changes at all. If he moves, if he says something, anything.”

“You got it.” Elsa stood, leaning against the door frame. Her face was twisted with worry. He wanted to assure her that this would work, that everything was going to be fine, but he just didn't know. This was all her research, all her experiment, and yes if it went sideways then it would all be on her. Still, it was her life that was at stake, hers and Harry's. She caught his eye and they shared a look that said it all. She nodded, then he brushed gently passed her.

Tony was toeing at a stack of science magazines that could have been dated years back.

“Ready to head out?”

Peter nodded. He looked over his shoulder and sighed. “I guess so.”

“Sure you don't want to hold your boyfriend's hand until he wakes up?”

Peter shot him a glare. “What's your problem?”

Tony shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Whatever. Let's not do this here.” Peter flipped out of the window and dropped down toward the street. He swung up on a web over the next building then down again. He swung his way up a few blocks, letting the rush of air calm his mind. He had enough on his mind with Harry's life being in danger. He didn't need Tony's jealousy weighing on him. Why had he even bothered to help him if he was going to be a dick about it? Swinging past a window covered in signs for the upcoming mayoral election, it occurred to him that it might not have been about him at all.

Tony was in his office when Peter swung back in through the window. He'd taken off his suit and was fiddling with the sleeve of his under armor. He kept his back turned as Peter came in, but they were going to have it out whether he wanted to or not.

Peter tapped his foot on the floor, debating where to start. “Were you ever actually looking for a cure?”

Tony turned. His expression was insulted. “Was I- of course of I was. Would I have given it to the boy if I found it, though? That's the question you should be asking.”

Peter's jaw clenched and he shook his head. “Why the hell did I ever trust you with this?”

“Because you had no one else,” Tony pointed out. “And because you can trust me.”

“Can I? You were going to use him as leverage against Norman. Why? So you could campaign against him?”

Tony snorted. “I don't need to be mayor, Peter. That's just silly.”

No, Tony was Kingpin and unfortunately that made him more powerful than the mayor. “You were going to get him elected.”

Tony nodded and gestured for him to continue. “And then? What happens next in my genius plan?” He turned away to pour himself a drink.

“And then you control the legal side of the city as much as the underground. Because you have his son. Because if you had a cure you could hold it over him. You wanted to let Harry out so that Norman would owe you everything when you cured him.”

“Well not exactly.” Tony sipped his drink. He leaned back against the table. “I didn't lie to you, Peter. I will never lie to you.” Peter didn't fall for his melting chocolate eyes. “There is no cure. Not yet. By the time we have one, the Lizard will be no more, one way or the other. I was going to let the boy out, let him do some big scary property damage, eat someone's cat, whatever, and then let Osborn know that I know that the Lizard is his son.”

“And he wouldn't want the city to know that. He'd do anything.”

Tony smiled. “Bingo. Now you're thinking like the Kingpin.”

Peter shook his head. “Fuck you,Tony.”

The man rolled his eyes. “I was never going to let anything happen to your boyfriend.”

“He's not my boyfriend! You are!”Peter tugged off his mask and paced the floor with it in his hands.“I wish you would just act like it instead of confusing me with all your jealously immediately after pretending that you're capable of putting all of that aside and helping me when I need you to and I don't get you, Tony-” He looked up, realizing then that Tony had set his drink down to stalk towards him somewhere during his babbling.

There was a dark possessive quality to his eyes. Peter let him crowd him in until he was backed into the wall. “Tell me again,” he rumbled. “Who am I?”

There was so much heat rolling between them it was smothering. Despite that he was barely two inches shorter than Tony, he was leaning over him enough to make him feel small, arms caging him in.

“My boyfriend,” Peter answered.

Tony nodded, a grin threatening to curl his lips. “And what are you?”

“Yours?” Peter said, hoping to appease whatever dark desire was growing in his eyes.

Tony's hand twitched against the wall and he could feel it against his throat without it ever touching him. “My everything.”

“Yours,” he said again, in a daze.There was a tension building between them. When Tony pressed their bodies together, Peter sighed with relief as the tension resolved.This was everything he needed. He let his hands wrap around the back of Tony's neck. He soaked up the press of Tony's hands on his waist. The man buried his face in his neck. There was no kissing or teasing, just warmth and comfort as they resolved their jealousy and hurt without another word. They stayed that way until the press of the wall into his back became uncomfortable and Peter gently pushed Tony back a step.

Tony sighed. “I've been selfish, asking you to come back here all this time while Murdock is out there. He'll recover from his injuries soon. You should be with your aunt.”

Peter pressed his forehead against Tony's. “It's going to kill me to be without you.”

"We can survive anything."

"I'll only be a call away."

Tony grinned. "Don't I know it."

[thestarkerisobvious]

White

inspired by the incredible artwork of

@cutepandaprincess​

“White.  So white.  I’ve never seen anyone that shines so white.”

Tony only trusted her because everyone trusted her, including Fury.  Well… that wasn’t entirely true.  Nat trusted her, and while Tony Stark never thought he would give a second glance to anyone claiming to “see auras,” still Nat’s word carried a lot with him.

Round and soft and cheery and freckled and grey, she didn’t seem like a witch (although supposedly she had been lean and ravenhaired and darkeyed in her day.  Or so she claimed.  But then she got older “and wiser” and gave it all up as too much effort.)  In any case her ability to see into the future was invaluable in bringing in that last souped-up badguy with the ridiculous name, and so Tony had invited her to the New Year’s Eve party along with the rest of the team.  And if he sidled up to her at said party and tried to subtly get some relationship advice, well, no one had to know.

And if that entire party was just an excuse to get Peter in his arms on New Year’s Eve? 

Well, no one needed to know that either.

And there was the boy now, standing by a window surrounded by the best scientific minds at the Avengers compound, laughing and joking and looking entirely edible.  That crystal glass wasn’t even holding alcohol… even though the kid was well within drinking age.  But when Tony finally got the witch to realize who he was trying to describe (he couldn’t exactly describe him as “the most delectable piece over by the window”) she said the exact opposite of what he wanted to hear.

“Oh, oh.  So white, Tony.  I’ve never seen anyone that shines so white.  It’s like clouds… like flowers… like stars…”

…but then she only got distracted describing the gentleman on Peter’s left who was responsible for adapting some nanotechnology but was apparently having marital troubles.  It wasn’t easy, keeping the witch on topic.  But Tony poured her another glass of Champaign and did his level best.

“And what does it mean… a white aura… exactly?”

“White means purity and virginity, and peace.  Red auras are usually determination and passion… that’s you darling.  That’s you through and through.  The pink is friendship and unconditional love.   The green aura is often the peacemaker, or else someone at harmony with themselves, but more often that not one who can help others harmonize with each other.  Not the purple aura, of course that is one who is far too independent…”

And that was it for the rest of the evening.

He didn’t make his move. Even though he had been planning his move since the moment he realized the boy wanted him to make it.  Even though he had been planning this entire party ever since that moment.  Even though the point of the party was to have Peter there on New Years Eve when the countdown came. 

Even though Peter Parker cornered him when the countdown started.  Even though, at midnight, he suddenly had an armful of Peter and a New Year’s Kiss right on the corner of his mouth.  Even though Peter had held himself there for a moment, just waiting for Tony to move his head a fraction of an inch and close the distance.  Tony could feel the boy waiting.

Could feel the boy’s disappointment when it never came.

He didn’t make his move. Even though Peter must have laid awake all night in the guest-room waiting for him.  Peter had been invited to stay the night on the premise that, after the party, he wouldn’t be safe to drive.  Peter hadn’t had a drop to drink that night, but played along with the premise.

But he played along alone.

Tony wasn’t going to make a move.

How could he, when the witch had laid it out for him so plainly?

Peter was white. Peter was pure.  Peter was virginal.  Peter was unsullied.  

How could Tony possibly be responsible for corrupting that?

                                                     * * *

And so Tony resigned to live in utter misery.  Resigned to never accept that beautiful gift that Peter was making it clear that he was willing to give – a gift that Tony was entirely unworthy to receive.

For years he lived with that misery (okay he was being a drama-queen.  It was six months.)

By day Ironman and Spider-Man still worked together with perfect precision, taking down badguys with a witty quip or clever badinage or  a droll rejoinder, until villain and minion alike raised a flag in surrender.  At night they worked side-by-side or back-to-back in the lab, finishing each other’s thoughts with eerie precision and perfecting technology at lightning speed. Late-night lab sessions often ended with Peter sleeping in the ‘guest room’ rather than webslinging his way home in the early hours of the day.  

Tony still steadfastly called it the ‘guest room’ even though it was very quickly becoming ‘Peter’s room.’  Steadfastly called it the ‘guest room’ even though Peter once joked that more of his clothes were there than in his dorm.  Tony steadfastly referred to it as the “guest room” for the same reason he steadfastly refused to visit the “guest room” no matter how many times Peter slept there.  No matter how many Avengers joked that they were practically living together… no matter how many suspected that they were already a couple.  Tony was steadfast.  Because Peter was too pure for him.  The witch had said so.

He even asked her… once… when she was brought in to consult on a terrorist-cell case that they were considering.  She guessed his name wrong twice, then asked him delicately why he wasn’t with “that beautiful boy” she had met at the party.  “I thought that was your night… he certainly thought it was.”

“Did you see us together? See our auras?”  Tony asked cautiously, daring, for a moment, to hope.

“That lovely, angelic-white aura?  Oh yes sir.  Well, I saw many futures for him, so very very many.  He has such a storied future, that boy.  But I saw the two of you together… oh just for a fleeting moment I caught a glimpse…”

“And it changed, didn’t it,” Tony said, his voice dropping.  His head dropping.  His hopes dropping.  Why did he bother to ask?  He already knew the answer.  Had reminded himself of it night after night after lonely night.

“Oh yes, certainly. You’re very red, Mr. Stark. Very red.  Painfully red.  I knew it the instant I saw it… when I saw you together… together you had become so pink… not subtly pink... vibrantly pink...”

                                                         * * *

In times of weakness, Tony reminded himself of that conversation.  Of a witch who, when she looked at Peter in a roomful of people, saw a white aura so blinding that it took her breath away.  Virgin.  Pure. Unsullied.  And if Tony came anywhere near it he would taint it, like blood on white silk.  

He started trying to avoid the boy, he honestly did.  Stopped scheduling time together in the lab.  Stopped laying awake longing for the boy in the ‘guest room.’  But crime refused to acknowledge Tony’s resolution, and criminals kept throwing them together in the most ridiculous situations.  Alien sex pollen made things so awkward as to be almost unbearable.    Pretending that Peter was his sex-slave when they went undercover to get info on the Mob Boss?  Tony Stark suddenly had the patience of a monk.  When they traveled to Sokovia to investigate the arms deal?  There might only be one bed, but Tony had plenty of floor to sleep on. And when his head injury left Peter with amnesia?  Well the less said about that the better.

Whenever Tony even considered giving into temptation, not for his own sake but for Peter’s (the boy who was making his desires crystal-clear) Tony remembered.  The witch’s words.  White.  Pure.  Tony could only sully him.  Like blood on white silk.

                                                            * * *

Peter graduated early, because of course he did, and Tony gladly accepted the boy’s invitation to his combo-graduation-party-dash-housewarming-soiree in his brand new small apartment that he had rented across the street from Stark Tower.  Was he surprised, when he arrived with wine and a dozen roses, to find he was the only one invited?  Maybe he was. Or maybe he realized it was too late.

Too late to tell the boy “no” when he melted into Peter’s kiss.  When he gave in to those powerful arms and let Peter mold their bodies together. When he obediently let Peter lead him to the couch and sat, pushing the cream cushions aside so Peter could climb into his lap.

“But you have to tell me the truth,” he whispered between kisses.  Whispered as best he could.  “I know you’re a virgin…”  He didn’t whisper how he knew.  How he had been on the phone with a certain woman with a crystal ball the day before he bought the white roses…

“Um, sorry?” Peter said, pulling up, blinking.  Then he grinned. “Tony… no.  Nope.  You missed that boat a while ago.  Sorry.”

He giggled a little at Tony’s expression, then kissed the slack mouth with a chuckle low in his throat.  “Dude… you worry way too much.”

Underneath Peter’s gentle hands, Tony couldn’t deny that it was true.  His worries melted like snow under Peter’s warmth.  Under Peter’s knowing kiss.  They moved together in each other’s arms just as confidently as they fought in the clouds, Tony moving underneath Peter in sure, knowing strokes.  Peter peeled off his shirt and pressed his pale skin to Tony’s mouth, moaning his name.  Holding each other close they moved like moonlight on the water, breathing sighs as soft as feathers as they came in each other’s arms.

And that freezing fear? That chilling panic that always came when the sex was over, that always made Tony cover himself up and pretend to hibernate, all to avoid looking his partner in the face?  That fear melted just like snow in white sunlight.   Tony opened his eyes and looked up into Peter’s own, shining like stars.

“I should have known you would make it easy,” Tony breathed.  He wasn’t sure if his words made any sense, but Peter seemed to understand.  He stroked Tony’s cheek and smiled a knowing smile.

“I told you, you worry too much.”

“Agreed,” Tony chuckled drunkenly (even though that hadn’t touched the chardonnay) and nuzzled his nose into Peter’s hair.  Honey curls tickled his nose, and he was oddly reminded of dandelion fluff, the kind he used to blow away as a child when he made a wish.  He blew now.  He wished now.

“I love you Tony Stark,” Peter whispered, holding him close.  “I wanted to tell you at Christmas.  I wanted to tell you New Year’s Eve.”

“Oh I know, angel,” he said, and when he felt Peter relax in his arms he had no doubt.  

“I’ve always known it,” he murmured as he moved them off the sofa and down to the floor.  “I’ve always known,” he whispered, laying Peter’s back to the floor and bowing his head to lick up the milky-white droplets still clinging to Peter’s stomach.  “Mio angelo, il mio paradiso. I’ve always known.”  He pressed a kiss to the pale skin in the center of Peter’s chest.  What he was thinking should have alarmed him then, but it seemed so simple now.  An hour ago he had been reminding himself of the words of the silver-haired woman, now all he could think about were young men and diamond rings.  

“I love you Peter Parker,” he whispered.  It came so easily…

…and only then did he realize.  Only then did he understand.

“Pure, and virginal.” the witch had told him that night.  “White means purity, and virginity…

                                                 “…and peace.”

                                                      * * *

“Why are you calling me you ridiculous man?” she scolded when Peter was snug in bed in Tony’s bed, even as the white light of dawn lit up the penthouse.  “Listen to your lover.  You worry too much.”

“So you know,” Tony said, even as he struggled to explain why he had dialed her number in the first place.  She was supposed to be advising the Avengers on criminal activity, not relationship advice.

“I’m going to burn white sage over every inch of your domicile.  I’m going to strap a quartz crystal to your forehead,” she groused.  “I’m going to stop toasting to WORLD-peace and start toasting to TONY-peace.”

“But you told me, that night, you told me that when you saw us together you saw stained-white…”

“No, I told you I saw vibrant pink.  Who in heaven’s name thinks of pink as stained-white?  You’re absurd.”

“But you… you never told me what pink meant.”

“Oh for gods’ sake man… pink means friendship.”  She spoke more patiently, as if explaining it to a child.  “That’s why I thought you were so lovely together, that’s why I always thought it.  Because you had been friends for so long…”

“But you said something else that night, I just didn’t remember…”

“…I said several things that night silly man.  I told you I had seen so many futures for him, and one of them was with you.  And that was rose-colored loveliness, if that’s what you wanted to know.  

“And rose is friendship. Friendship.  And unconditional love.”

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

Mio angelo, il mio paradiso = “My angel, my heaven.”  

with many thanks to @mrstarksbaby​

[rinharu-purple]

Lucien: MLQC’s Mastermind

Yes, I said that Lucien is the creepiest LI in my opinion, and I wouldn’t choose him in a million, billion years. BUT, Lucien is by far the one person, who is pulling the strings and is the driving force of the MLQC universe. He is the only person who acquires all the information from all sides and is connected to every important actor in the story. Therefore, Lucien has become the second LI I’ve started to follow more attentively. Mind that the ranking ist 1) Gavin 2) Gavin 3) Gavin 4) Lucien ;)

In my manifesto, why Gavin is MC’s choice, I’ve already mentioned briefly, that Lucien has the strongest EVOL among all the characters but is also the strongest character (it’s not the MC or the Black Queen, let’s not fool ourselves)

The Machiavellian

Before we talk about Lucien’s part in the MLQC universe, we should first look at him as person and observe the elements that make up his personality.

In the game, all our guys have their personal priorities. Gavin and Kiro are on the front line, fighting for peace and prosperity, Victor, well...I don’t think that he cares for anything else besides MC, maybe his position. But with Lucien, his priority is not a person or a concept, but rather a philosophy. Lucien wants to see the next step in human evolution and is determined to take any measures necessary to see it to it’s end. Other guys can not stand oblivious to other things that come up their way in achieving their goals but Lucien only has his eyes on the prize and to him nothing else matters, no one else matters and no ethics matter. 

Machiavellianism denotes cunningness and claims, that those dark triads use whatever means necessary to gain power. If we consider the choices Lucien has made throughout the story so far, we can clearly find his manipulative ways in getting other actors to the positions of his conjecture. He lies to MC and hides his personality as Ares, penetrates Black Swan to use their facilities, but also uses LFG’s resources for his R&D projects all the while concealing his true nature. 

Another trait of a Machiavellian, is that he is charismatic and friendly, all the while displaying no emotions. I think, there can be two possible reasons as to why Lucien has limited display of emotions. The first possible explanation has something to do with his parents passing and the trauma he suffered afterwards. Among all LIs Lucien is the one with the most loveless childhood and teenage years, the most important years in developing one’s psychological traits and during those years Lucien received alongside with Kiro the most blows. That resulted in him losing the connection to his emotions as a defense mechanism. 

Another possibility might be him losing the connection to his emotions as a result of a chemical reaction in his brain due to excessive testing Black Swan objected him to. Lucien’s EVOL was created in a lab and he was the first man-made Evolver. Lucien is called various times a psychopath, because he shows signs of psychopathy such as lack of remorse, empathy or compassion. It is said that that kind of behavior might occur due to a misconnection between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the amygdala. Considering the fact that Lucien’s parents were killed right in front of him and that he was both physically and psychologically abused for the coming years, this might have led him to experience an imbalance in his chemical balance. One might argue, that his altruistic actions in the orphanage are an evidence for his compassion, I think it is yet another disguise for his unethical ways of reaching his goals.

The Orchestrator

In all honesty no one is actively seeking alliances and keeps tabs on other’s actions for their agenda like Lucien does. Maybe Commander Leto but he mostly fails in drawing others to his side, because he is not able to speak in their pendants’ language or resonate with their perspective. Lucien, on the other hand, is gifted with an extraordinary ability to observe his surroundings and companions, making it very easy for him to talk to them in their terms and desires. Lucien doesn’t show much empathy, UNLESS, it contributes to his cause, in that case he can perfectly put himself in other’s shoes and plays them in such a meticulous way, that they join him willingly.

That is how Lucien directs MC successfully in entering the Black Cabin or in understanding the evolution core.

Lucien is not exactly a piece on a chess board, but is a player, who knows all the pieces very well, knows the rules of the game, has observed many games and took notes of how they all has turned out and therefore knows what kind of a game he is going to play. Just watch closely. how he co-operates with Kiro and the Black Queen. He knows that Kiro is using Black Swan for his goals, much like he does, so he uses his hacking abilities to access to information. The Black Queen is the initiator of everything in S1, so he makes sure to stay close to her. He knows that Victor is searching for MC and trying to understand the Evol gene, there he has an investor. 

The Cool, Calm and Collected Type

in the MLQC universe, everyone loses their composure at one point or another, because...who wouldn’t? Time and space warps constantly and people are also changing their stances depending on the time-space constellation they find themselves in. 

MC loses her cool almost on a daily basis, Gavin was in a constant haywire in the Daybreak era, Victor literally threw people into black holes in CH11 and freaked out as he saw the Black Queen for the first time and Kiro walks around in a bipolar state. So, everybody is pretty unstable due to understandable conditions but we never see Lucien lose his cool and this is one of his best qualities. 

Here is the thing about Lucien. This guy is always at least one step ahead of everyone and he achieves this by two simple rules: 

1) Acquire all possible information

2) Observe everyone and everything at all times

Why am I saying this? It lies in the basis of anxiety and angst. We humans tend to feel uncomfortable in the face of an uncertain situation, meaning in the wake of the unknown. MC is constantly anxious, because she doesn’t know what is going on, why is everyone after her, why is she blessed with the unconditional affection of 5 equally attractive men? (ehm, but not quite equally ehm *Gavin* hihi, sorry, Gavin-stan gotta Gavin-stan ^_^). Anyway you get the picture. Gavin went haywire in CH22 because he was pushed in a tight spot and therefore had angst. Same goes for Victor in CH11 his mind went blank as he saw history repeating itself and then in CH18 when he saw with his own eyes what could the girl of his dreams might become.

We don’t see Lucien in such deadlock situation though do we, and I think it is mainly because he is always prepared for every possibility and he can calculate them meticulously, because he possesses the largest chunk of information and also keeps tabs on everyone and everything that’s going on. So, when a crisis occurs he doesn’t freak out, sure he gets surprised at times, because the outcome of a a certain situation is the possibility, which he calculated to be no higher than 1% and yet there it is. But since he’s already took this into consideration, he has a plan. Combine this with his knowledge about the persons and organizations involved in the matter, then you have a calm Lucien, who is in control of the situation. Thus, he is calm. You can actually also bind this behavior of Lucien with that of a predator, whose movement are languid, is non-reactive and doesn’t mind turning his back to his opponents, since he doesn’t perceive them as a threat.

If this wasn’t enough, Lucien manages to joggle all of this without exposing himself. Even in the last stage of the play he never gets caught. Unless he willingly exposes himself, as in the case of revealing Ares to MC. MLQC actors can usually see through each other and use their weaknesses to meet their own ends. MC is obviously Gavin, Kiro and Victor’s weakness and their opponents can see this pretty easily. IT’s not quite the same with Lucien though and he doesn’t let himself be blackmailed or threatened by any weakness. He always keeps his cards close to his chest. 

Considering the fact that Lucin is the least outstanding LI, this is pretty impressive. So I guess this makes him the embodiment of the phrase “still waters run deep”.

The Renaissance Man

Lucien is a man of science and aesthetics. Explaining phenomenons with associations and loading them with philosophical substance. He doesn’t necessarily perceive things bluntly as they are, but interprets them in a meaningful way. The way he associates MC with a butterfly, how he wants to entrap her in ajar, so she wouldn’t get away, alas taking the only resource of color in his life away. Not only that, but he can also break down the matters at hand to its fragments and can therefore work his way up from there. He is blessed with a strong deduction ability, so he can connect the dots easily, come to a conclusion and act accordingly. No doubt that the other guys have very good deduction abilities, but because Lucien always has a bit of an information more than them, he can find the solutions just a little bit faster in my opinion. 

Reading is a necessity for his guy much like eating and drinking, Which is why we see him reframing events in the context of a certain story he’d read at some point in his life. With time, I will add here some of his quotes about certain situations to explain what I mean. Or even better, if you have some, that are evident in you opinion, you could add them in the comments. I really enjoy reading/hearing Lucien’s philosophical, scientific explanations to certain moments in MC’s life. They are always to the point and helpful.

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

So this is my very first analysis on Lucien and I have to admit, I still have  so many material to check on him, so if anything is missing please bear with me here :)

I was watching Joe’s Twitch while I wrote this, so there are many spelling, grammar mistakes, which will be corrected gradually.

This post will get better and better, scout promise!

[winter-soldier-vibes]

Happy Pills (Bucky Barnes x reader)

Happy pills

Bucky x reader

Word count: 1873

Warnings: depression, talk of medication

Summary: Bucky finds your antidepressants and has no idea what they are, but he wants to help

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

You had been on a mission, and Bucky had stayed behind. He had been injured on the last mission and had been ordered by Steve and Fury that he take a few weeks. You, being his girlfriend, were crushed when he had returned so badly hurt despite him assuring you it was nothing. The pain on his face told a different story.

You two had your own separate rooms, but often spent time in each other’s. He found safety in you when he had nightmares, and you were happy to oblige. You weren’t a fan of being alone.

What you hadn’t told him yet was that you were battling depression, and you weren’t doing too well.

Being around Bucky helped more than anything else. You had been put on a medication - Sertraline - a few months ago. But it wasn’t working. You still felt this aching sadness in your bones that you couldn’t shake no matter how much time you spent with others. Sleep was your only real escape - and it was even better if you had Bucky by your side.

You kept it hidden from him of course. You didn’t want him to worry about you when there was nothing he could do. He was already doing everything he could. You would talk to him, you just didn’t really know how to explain it. You didn’t know what to say.

But if you were honest with yourself, you were afraid he’d leave if he knew how fucked up you were inside your head. If you told him how you were feeling, you weren’t sure if he’d let you stay.

You just wish you had someone to talk to.

Meanwhile, Bucky was in his room, looking everywhere for a certain shirt. And he couldn’t find it. Figuring he had just left it in your room the last time he was there, he walked through the hallway to your room. He looked everywhere - your closet, the pile of clothes on the floor, and even under the bed. But when he crouched down to look under your bed, his eyes caught something else.

It was a small orange bottle.

Your medication.

Confused, he pulled it out and sat back on his heels, holding it up. Sure enough, it had your name on it, along with a medication name he didn’t recognize. Sertraline. 

Now Bucky, being from the 40’s, didn’t recognize the name of the medication. Sertraline was invented in 1991, and he was the Winter Soldier at that point. But Bucky didn’t know about that. And even though depression medications existed in the 40’s, people didn’t talk about it. So needless to say, Bucky had no idea what kind of medication this was.

He drew his eyebrows together, trying to think of anything he did know about medication. He only knew about being put on medication for pain, which caused him to think back. Why didn’t she tell me she was hurt? When would she have even had the chance?

Even more confused now, he stood up, still trying to think of why you wouldn’t say anything. And how he thought he would’ve seen if you had actually gotten hurt. And then it dawned on him that there were other kinds of medications for various needs, and he could be way off. But he knew someone who would know.

Making his way down to Bruce’s lab, he kept wracking his brain trying to think of why you would be on meds. Stepping into the lab, Bruce looked up, shocked to see Bucky standing there. The two of them never really interacted unless Buck had gotten hurt, which he assumed was the case.

“What did you do this time, Bucky?” Bruce asked.

Bucky shook his head once. “Not why I’m here Bruce. I just have a question about something,” he said as he put his hands in his jeans. 

Bruce looked a little confused as to why Bucky would be asking him and not someone else, due to the little interaction they had. Bucky picked up on this, adding “It’s about a medication. I figured you were the best person to ask.”

Bruce nodded and crossed his arms. Where could this possibly be going? He wondered.

Bucky sighed before saying “I was in Y/N’s room looking for something, but instead I found this,” he took out the pill bottle and shook it a couple times before handing it to Bruce before continuing, “I have no idea what it’s for or why she’d be on medication. She hasn’t said anything to me about anything having to do with this kind of thing.”

Bruce had taken the prescription bottle and looked it over, seeing your name and eyes widening when he read the name of the medication. Bucky saw this and immediately got more worried. “What? What is it?” he asked.

Bruce looked back at the super soldier and said “She hasn’t mentioned anything to you? Or has she been acting...strange?”

Bucky was really starting to get concerned. “No, I - I don’t think so…” He took back the medication. “Bruce what’s going on? What’s this for?”

Bruce shook his head. “It’s not my place to say. You need to talk to Y/N about this, but just…” he tried to pick his words carefully. “Be gentle about it.”

Now Bucky was even more confused than when he came in. He had thought Bruce would help him, not make him more puzzled. He mumbled a thank you before heading back up to your room to put it back where he found it. He would ask you as soon as you got back -

He opened the door to see you lying on the bed, looking exhausted. “Hey sleepy head” You looked up when you heard his deep voice and a smile instantly crossed your face. You ran up to him and hugged him, him keeping the pill bottle out of sight. “When’d you get back the doll?”

You smiled, happy to see Bucky as much as he was to see you. “Just a few minutes ago.”

He chuckled against you. “I thought you were supposed to be gone a few more days.”

“Gee, I missed you too.” you said. When you felt his heart speed up, you added “I’m kidding, Buck. No, we were, but we had the upper hand and the HYDRA agents must’ve been off their game.”

The two of you stood like that for a while. You really had missed him. Things always got worse when he wasn’t around, and just seeing him was enough to bring you some sense of safety. 

“Hey, doll? I have a question for you.”

You pulled back, a little confused, and shrugged. “Sure, anything Buck.”

He shifted his weight and you could tell he was nervous. And it wasn’t easy to make him nervous. “What’re these for?” he asked as he held up your depression medication. 

Your eyes widened but you tried not to show a reaction that may lead him on to anything. You tried to laugh. “What, those? They’re, uh… They’re just for pain.” you said unconvincingly.

He looked at you skeptically. “Then why haven’t I heard of it before?”

You rolled your eyes playfully at him, hoping he didn’t see the growing fear in your eyes. “There’s a lot of different pain medications, Sarge.”

Still unconvinced, he asked “Then why didn't you tell me? What hurts?”

Your face showed a flash of panic before you replied “I didn’t want you getting concerned. And it’s for….uh… my shoulder.” You looked back at him and could see that he was totally unsold.

“Yeah, okay. Wanna tell me what they’re really for?” Bucky asked you.

You looked away, and Bucky knew that something was wrong. You were hiding something from him, which only caused him to worry further. He took your chin in his hand and guided it back to meet his face. “What aren’t you telling me?” He asked gently

“You had no right to go through my things!” you snapped, snatching the pills from him.  There were now tears in your eyes that threatened to fall and you dropped your head and you whispered, “Please, just drop it Bucky.”

He shook his head gently. “Afraid I can’t do that sweetheart.”

You took a deep breath before turning around and crossing your arms. You didn’t want to tell him, but he wasn’t giving you a choice. “These pills...they...they help me remember how to be happy.” you said softly, and Bucky couldn’t make out what you had said.

He made his way over to you and put a hand on your shoulder, turning you around to face him now. Tears were now falling down your cheeks and he asked “What did you say?”

You sighed and tried to compose yourself before completely losing it. Closing your eyes, you said “I was given these pills because I’m depressed. My mind is fucked up and I’m always so sad that it hurts. They’re supposed to help but,” you shook your head. “They don’t”

You hesitantly opened your eyes and looked up at Bucky, afraid there would be anger on his face. Instead, he looked at you as if he had just gotten slapped in the face. 

“What do you...Why didn’t you say anything?” He asked gently, tears pooling in his eyes as well now. 

You shrugged. “I wanted to, I really wanted to talk to you. I just couldn’t find the right words to say. I don’t know, I guess… I guess I was a little afraid you would be disappointed in me.”

He stepped forward and locked his eyes on you. “Nothing you could ever say or do, would ever make me want to leave you. Especially not something like this,” he said as he wrapped his arms around you again. “I love everything about you, and I’d do anything for you.” He cleared his throat before asking, “Is there anything I could do that could help you?”

You sighed and closed your eyes. “That’s the other thing...I don’t know if there's anything else you could do. You already help so much just by being around me. I love when you’re with me, and as horrible as it sounds, I like when you have nightmares because that means I get to sleep with you next to me.”

He laughed a little before saying “Now who said I have to have a nightmare to stay close to you?”

You laughed against his chest and he tightened his arms around you protectively. “But seriously, Y/N, anything that I could ever possibly do, you just say the word and it’s done doll. Okay?”

You nodded your head. “Got it, Buck.”

You stood in silence before you said, “Well, I did just get back from a mission and I’m extremely tired,” you pulled back and looked up at him. “How about I shower and you come lay with me.

He smiled at you. “I have a better idea - how about I join you and then we lay together?”

You smiled back at him. “Deal.”

[imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl]

Dangerous Love (Pt. 10 of 13)

Pairing: Bruce Wayne (Batman) X Harley Quinn's sister!Reader

Word count: 3K

Summary: You're Harley Quinn's sister, Havoc, one of the many villain's of Gotham. But you've been caught, and has been tortured constantly for an year in Belle Reve. But when your think your life can't be anything else than the nightmare you find yourself into, Bruce Wayne, the Batman, takes you in for a project. He has a program to rehabilitate villains, and you're his lab rat. But soon enough confusing feelings start getting in the way. You know falling for Bruce is stupid. But can you keep your heart under control?

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{Justice League - DC Masterlist}

×

Absence

The first week goes by terribly slow. The second is far worse. You're currently right in the middle of the third week since Bruce went to Washington to fight an alien invasion. And there's isn't much in the news yet. On the quick talk you had with Bruce, he told you they're doing their best to deal with the situation before the world starts freaking out. These aliens look like humans, but are far stronger. And Bruce is human. He has no superpower but his intelligence, and that's worrying you to death. You know how well he can deal with this, but it's different... Now that you love him, it's different. The very thought of losing him is suffocating, unbearable. You try your best not to think about it too much, but it's a paradox. How are you supposed to stop thinking about someone who's in your head 24/7?

During this time, Alfred has been a very good company. He doesn't speak much, but with time, you notice he feels a bit more comfortable being around you. He was probably one of the many people to try and talk Bruce out of the idea of bringing you here. But you understand him. If you were in his place, you'd probably do the same.

“So, do you like me now?” You ask him, seated on the kitchen island, watching as he takes the lasagna out of the oven. You made it yourself. Alfred gave you Bruce's tablet, so you would have something to distract yourself. One of the things you started doing was cooking. You try a new recipe every day, and you think you're improving.

“I'm growing used to your presence, Miss Quinzel. And I must admit you're doing quite well considering... You know what.”

“Considering I was a criminal. Harley Quinn's sister. Sentenced to life in prison twice?” It's getting easier to talk about your old life. It doesn't mean you like it, but you don't feel so attached to it anymore. You feel like you can exist apart from it, evolve, have a different life.

“Yes.” Alfred nods.

“Did you try to make Bruce, not like me? You know... You must've noticed something.”

“The effect you had on Master Bruce was immediate.” He starts, cutting a piece of the lasagna for you and for himself. “He even thought about sending you back to Belle Reve in the beginning. Whatever that was, I thought it would vanish with time but it didn't.” He puts the plate before you, and you watch the smoke coming from it as you listen to Alfred. “I often caught him looking at nothing, daydreaming, thinking... And when I went to ask about it, the first subject was always you.”

You're blushing, biting back a smile. “How much... How much do you think he likes me, Alfred?” Lowering your voice, you look at him, who sighs.

“I think he loves you, miss Quinzel.”

“Love...” You mumble, wondering if that could be true. Guess only time will tell. And you hope you'll have time, that whichever species is threatening Earth will be defeated. “I'm scared, you know... Of what may happen.”

“Don't worry. Master Bruce always comes back.”

“That's good to know,” you whisper more to yourself than to Alfred.

The bright part of the day was that Alfred actually complimented your lasagna. And for a moment you were able to smile and forget your worries. But later, at night, you're staring at the TV, news channel on, looking for any signs of Bruce. Anything about the aliens that might mean something... But there's nothing.

“Perhaps he'll have time to call you tonight, Miss Quinzel,” Alfred says, trying to calm you down.

Bruce probably asked him to look after you, because Alfred is always around, distracting you when you're starting to overthink, or just asking if you're alright. It's kind really, but you would like it better if it was Bruce doing all of those things. “Maybe. But he's always in such a rush... I can't bear the idea of him getting hurt.”

“Master Bruce is–” The sudden change in the TV gets your attention, and you're both staring when the 'Breaking News' letters come to the screen, in bright red.

“Live from Washington. A giant being, not from Earth, just arrived. He came out of the ship that was hovering over the city and–” The woman speaks fast, and behind her, the city is up in flames. The camera moves away from her, focusing on some kind of human-like beast with gray skin and spikes coming off his body. The thing is kneeled on the ground, like a stone. “He just came out of the spaceship and destroyed a few buildings on his way. He stopped now, but the Justice League is already trying to take him down. Despite the efforts, the... Being doesn't seem to get hurt. It's just sitting there...”

Your heart is beating so loud you can't even hear the woman now. Stumbling up from the couch, you walk away from the living room until you can't hear the TV anymore.

“Miss Quinzel,” Alfred calls, and you sit on the stairs, both hands on your head.

You should be there. You've been to missions before. You could help. “Alfred, how do I get there?” You speak fast, standing up to your feet and going back to your room.

“Bruce wouldn't want you to go.”

“I don't care. I have to help him.” Being here, doing nothing as Bruce is out there fighting a freaking giant gray alien is stupid. “I know I'm only human, but–”

You're cut off by a ring coming from the tablet. It's Bruce. Running to get it from the nightstand, you breathe out relieved to see it's a video call. Sitting on the bed, you answer it. Seeing him brings a smile to your lips. He's wearing the Batman suit, but without the mask. “Bruce.” You put the tablet on the nightstand, using the lamp to support it because your hands are shaking a little.

“(Y/N). How are you?”

“I'm fine... How are you? A-are you alright?” Pulling your feet up, you hug your knees. He looks tired.

“I'm alright, don't worry about me, sweetheart.”

“How can I not worry about you? I saw it on the news, like two minutes ago... The huge gray monster, Bruce. I'm going there to help you.” You speak fast, already thinking about how you'd actually get there. A commercial flight isn't really an option, not for you.

“No, (Y/N). If you were here I'd lose focus.”

“I won't distract you, I promise. I want to help.” You beg because that's the least you can do after everything he did for you. And you'd be helping people too, after being a villain.

“If you were here I'd lose focus because I'll want to protect you. And that would become my priority.” Bruce lowers his voice, and Alfred leaves after mumbling something about giving you some privacy. “(Y/N), I need you to know that if anything happens to me, you won't go back to Belle Reve.”

“What?” What the hell does he mean by that? He can't say something like that... “No! Don't you even-don't you even... Bruce, I don't wanna hear it. You have to make it back.” You speak fast, tears in your eyes. You can't lose him just when things are just starting. This can't be the end.

“Please, (Y/N)–”

“No! I don't wanna hear it.” You yell.

“(Y/N), listen!” Bruce shouts too, his voice louder than yours. His sudden outburst shuts you up, but you're a mess, tears rolling down as you're forced to face the possibility of his death. “I will not let them put you back in that prison. So I made plans just in case...” He makes a pause. “You'd live with a friend of mine. Well, with his mother on a farm in Smallville. It's a beautiful place. You'd have a calm life, but I must ask you not to startle Martha too much.”

“I don't wanna go anywhere, Bruce,” you beg, drying off some tears. “I just want you to come back.”

“I know, my love. But I had to do this. I would never leave you unprotected.” He gets tense suddenly when an explosion happens. “And I will leave you my money. To you and Alfred. You'd have all the means to rebuild your life as you want. In the farm or somewhere else. Study, buy a nice house–”

“Screw your money, Bruce. I want you!”

Another explosion and someone calls him. “I have to go... Take care of yourself, (Y/N).”

“Please, be careful.” I love you. The sentence comes to the tip of your tongue again, but you hold it back. “Come back to me.” You're still speaking when the connection is cut.

You just stay here, paralyzed, looking at the screen where Bruce was seconds ago. He was there, so close yet so far...

Time starts passing by in a blur. You stopped watching TV because you don't want to know what's happening out there. If Bruce dies... Alfred will be the one to tell you. And whatever comes next, it won't matter. At first, you were angry, furious, certain that you'd leave the mansion and head back to your old lair, straight back into your old life. But as the days go by, and turn into weeks, you realize you can't do that. You can't undo what Bruce did like it was nothing. You know that, if the worst happens, you'd want to honor the memory of the man you love. So you'd go to the stupid farm, live the rest of your days remembering the days you spent here, the few kisses you shared.

Sometime in the numbness, you made your way down to the cave, where you started putting all your anger, fear, and desperation on a punching bag. It soon became a daily activity, and it didn't take long until the skin on your knuckles broke. Alfred taught you how to wrap a bandage around your fists to help with the impact, but even so, the blood soon started to soak the white fabric. Bruce will be happy to know that you didn't revert back to your old ways... If he ever has the chance to know.

Today, almost a month after your last video call, you're cleaning your knuckles carefully, gasping when the pain hits. The skin is basically gone, and it's a nightmare just to clench your fists. But it's the only way you can cope. Pain is the only way you know how to deal with everything you're feeling. And above all that, you're feeling dizzy, sore. It's so damn cold today, but you refuse to take a coat with you because you'll warm up as soon as start punching the bag. With one last look in the mirror, you leave the bathroom, taking the bandages and wrapping them around your hands. You hear low voices, chattering, coming from downstairs. Did Alfred invite someone? Nobody came here since Bruce left.

Bruce... You're going crazy because you swear to God you hear his voice among the others. “Get it together. Don't think too much.” You repeat to yourself the motto you made, saying it again and again for the last weeks. “Get it together.” But you hear it again, and low footsteps.

You're telling yourself not to do this, that it's probably just your mind playing tricks, but you're soon at the hall, the voices filling your ears as you walk fast to the stairs. You're halfway there when you see him, climbing the last steps. You stop on your tracks, too scared to be seeing a ghost, a hallucination. Impulse wins over fear, and you're running towards him, too scared to reach nothing. But your heart stops and you start crying when you reach flesh, and you immediately jump onto his arms, wrapping your legs around his waist. He's quick to hold you, sustaining your weight.

“Are you really here?” You mumble, your voice is weak and a little affected by the crying.

“I'm here. I'm back, sweetheart. It's over.”

You pull away just enough to kiss him, to make sure this is not a dream. You can feel your heart beating violently, and the kiss has to be brief because you're having a hard time catching your breath.

“Oh, my.” Someone says, and something gets your attention downstairs. When you look, you see the small group of people responsible for the chattering. The so-called Justice League. You jump down, suddenly noticing how you were clinging into Bruce.

“I didn't know you had company,” you mutter, fixing your hair. Bruce suddenly takes one of your hands, and then the other one.

“What's that?” He asks.

“I was on the verge of going mad so I befriended one of your punching bags.” As you speak, Bruce starts unwrapping the bandage, and you sigh because you didn't want him to see what's underneath.

“(Y/N).” He exclaims to see the wounds, the basically inexistent skin on your knuckles, and some blood already.

“I know, Bruce, I just... I didn't know what to do and... This is–” You're aware of the eight pairs of eyes on you. “You should give your friends some attention,” you whisper.

“Excuse me for a moment.” Bruce raises his voice before pulling you with him, back into the bedroom.

He's silent as he treats the wounds. It hurts like hell, so you bite your lip. The bandage he puts on is a different type, and then he wraps it all around your hand, and in between your fingers. He also applied some moisture to help the healing process. “Why did you do that?”

“Because that's the only way I know how to cope.” Bruce sits on the bed beside you, and you turn your body towards him. “I was... I was mad because I finally fell in love with someone and he could die, I...”

“Hey, let's not talk about it now, ok?” He brings his hand to your face, and you missed his touch so much. But there's a weird expression on his face, and his hand moves to your neck. “You're hot.”

“What?” You don't follow the sudden change.

“You have a fever.”

“Oh... Really? I didn't notice.” Well, you noticed the soreness and dizziness, and how your body has been weaker in the last two days.

Bruce goes to the bathroom again and comes back handing you a pill. “This will help lower your fever. Now come, let's get you a glass of water and introduce you to the League.”

He reaches out his hand and you take it. “Are you going to introduce me to them?”

“Of course.”

You take another route so you'll pass through the kitchen first. And then you make your way to the living room. Bruce is still holding your hand, and you're sure that won't go unnoticed. “Bruce, I think you should let go of my hand. They'll think we're together.” You whisper, forcing him to slow down his pace.

“They just saw us kissing. And you jumping in arms.” He stops, looking down at you.

“Oh... Sorry about that, I didn't know they were looking.”

“Do you think I'll hide our relationship?” Bruce furrows his eyebrows a little, his fingers caressing your chin.

“Won't you?” You was expecting that. You didn't think Bruce would ever let whatever is happening between you to get outside this mansion.

“Of course I won't.” He bends over to kiss you and you tiptoe to meet his lips halfway. “Now, come. They're excited to meet you.”

“Why would they be excited to meet me?” You mutter, shrugging your shoulders.

When you get to the living room, all eyes fall on you. Maybe they're curious to know the criminal Bruce sheltered. “(Y/N), these are Clark, Arthur, Diana, and Barry. Everyone, this is (Y/N) Quinzel.“ Bruce says, and you step forward to shake their hands.

“Hi,” you mumble, clearing your throat. “It's nice to meet you, guys. I've seen you on TV.”

“I've seen you on TV too,” Barry speaks up. “No offense.”

“None taken. Don't worry.” You assure him. “I made peace with my past.”

“So... You two, huh?” Arthur says with a smirk. He's holding a huge Trident, and you have no idea why he has this thing here with him.

“Bruce here couldn't stop talking about you," Diana says with a smile, and the others nod and giggle. They seem eager to embarrass Bruce somehow. But you're sure you're the one blushing because it's good to know that he was thinking about you as much as you were thinking about him.

“Age gap. Hot.” Arthur winks at you. Or at Bruce, you're not sure. And it only takes three words to make everyone a little uncomfortable.

“Arthur, would you shut up?” Diana gives him a hard stare.

“Can you talk to fish?” You ask him, trying to change the focus of the subject.

“In a way, yes.”

“That's cool. In an away.” Shrugging your shoulders and giving him a small smile, you exchange a glance with Bruce as the others giggle again.

“Sassy. We'll get along just fine.” Barry exclaims, high-fiving you.

“Well, you're welcome to stay as long as you want before you need to head back to you... Jurisdictions.” Bruce announces. “And as long as you don't say stupid things to my girlfriend.”

“He's talking to you, Arthur.” Clark comments.

“So you guys are officially dating?”

“Of course they are, Barry. Batman here couldn't seem to think about anything else than her during the whole mission.” Diana says in a sassy tone.

“Alright,” Bruce speaks up, sighing. “Make yourselves comfortable. Come, sweetheart.”

“It was nice to meet the girl who stole Batman's heart,” Arthur says as you start walking away with Bruce.

“Woman.” You correct him as you wave.

Bruce takes you upstairs again, and you can't help but smile like an idiot. You feel your cheeks warm, but you're not sure if it's the fever or if you're just blushing. Instead of stopping by your bedroom, Bruce keeps guiding you through the hall. Before you can say anything, he opens a door for you.

“I need a warm shower and attend to a few wounds. Thought you'd like to be around.” When you step in, you realize you've never been in his bedroom. It's huge. The bed seems to be twice the size of yours, and there's a lounge near a big window with a couch and a TV. “Make yourself comfortable.”

“Ok.” He places a soft kiss on your lips before heading to the bathroom. There's another door here, which probably leads to a closet. But you don't want to intrude, so you just seat on the edge of his bed.

After a few minutes though, you can't help but wander around a little, looking at his stuff. It kinda feels like Bruce is allowing you to get to know him better, to get closer... A while after you end up by his nightstand, taking a picture up to get a closer look. It's a child Bruce, with his parents.

“I see you already met Martha and Thomas Wayne.” His voice scares you and you put the picture down.

“Sorry.”

“Stop apologizing, (Y/N).” Bruce touches your arm, pulling you closer. You see a purple bruise on his neck, coming from his shoulder.

“You're hurt,” you say, pulling the collar of his shirt away so you can have a better look.

Bruce takes your hands in his, placing a kiss on the bandage wrapped around your knuckles. “I'm fine. Don't worry about me.”

“But–”

“Come here.” He pulls you towards the bed, sitting down, his back against the headboard. Taking a deep breath, you sit before him, but he keeps pulling you until your back is resting against his chest. “I fought a giant gray alien so I just want to sit here with you for a while.”

You smile to feel his arms around you, keeping you close, safe. You're very, very comfortable here, but you have to do something. So you move, turning around to face Bruce.

“What?”

“Sorry, but I have to kiss you.”

“Alright, but stop apologizing, ok? There's no reason to.” As he speaks, Bruce pulls you closer, a finger under your chin.

“Ok,” you mutter, smiling and slowly giving in into the kiss.

×

@fionanovasleftnut @glitterypinkkitty @mybabyboytony @chipster-21 @agustdpeach @yaakimoon2 @chloe-skywalker

[nightshadeshadow123]

Paw prints on the Agent's heart🐾part 7:

Hey guys back to gift ya'll with part 7, hope you guys enjoy this part.

Tag list:

@retro-aesthe @blackluthxr @samustar @aznblossom @ibe-anne @lezzzbehonesthere

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"The two of you together is absolutely impossible." Alex groaned out, folding her arms over her chest.

Kara's head whipped around to her sister. "And why's that? We haven't done anything." The blonde Kryptonian questioned before going back to patching your shoulder up where she have removed the kryptonite bullet from.

Alex rolled her brown eyes for what seems to be the umpteenth time the whole time you were groaning as Kara removed the kryptonite bullet, surprised she haven't eye rolled herself into another dimension yet.

"You two know very well what I mean, and you did do something wrong. Don't try to pretend this was nothing. You two could've gotten hurted more that you already are or even worse...killed." Alex said icely, trying to keep the worry from her voice and trying not to pay too much attention to how pale and weak you looked from the kryptonite bullet.

You grimaced but huff out, (e/c) eyes flickering to the clearly worried agent. "Alex, we are both okay now. We had to stop those CADMUS agents before they could've caused more harm to the innocent people."

"I know that, but you two didn't pay attention to the agents sneaking up behind you and haven't waited for the signal. I swear the both of you are going to give me a heart attack if you guys keep that up." Alex explained and sat down on the medicine counter in the lab near you and Kara.

"Besides that, what have gotten you distracted anyways? You usually pay a lot more attention and don't get easily distracted." Alex questioned curiously as Kara finally finished up and sat down next to you on the hospital bed.

You looked back at Alex before looking to the wall behind her. "Eh, it was nothin' really. I just thought I saw somebody I know but yeah there were a lot of people so...it must have been a stranger anyways." You explained before looking back at Alex and making eye contact with her beautiful eyes.

Alex raised an eyebrow at you. "Who did it look like?" She questioned, not sure if it was good or bad to ask that when she noticed you tensing up.

"For a moment back there I could've swore I saw Lillian Luthor lurking but I couldn't be too sure because she disappeared back in the crowd before I could have a better look." You explained and rubbed at your shoulder, playfully glaring at Kara when she flicked at your hand when you got to near your bandaged wound.

Alex heaved out a breath and looked at you and Kara again. "If that was her that means she's probably plotting something again to show her face out in public after hiding for awhile."

Kara hummed in agreement while putting and arm around your shoulders and pulling you into her side for a comforting hug, one that you gladly returned.

"If that's the case we must try and sniff her out." Kara said, smiling at you after you pulled away while Alex kept her happiness inside at the hug you shared with her sister, she's just glad to see you getting closer again just as much as Kara is too.

"We'll talk about the CADMUS problem another time, I'll talk to J'onn first." Alex said and Kara agreed.

"Let's get going." Kara grabbed your arm and pulled you off of the bed and towards the door. "I'm hungry like a lion and we need our share of potstickers." Kara paused, causing you to collide into her back with a grunt and making a money motion with her hand at Alex.

Alex rolled her eyes and got out her card and stridded over to Kara and placing it in the blonde Kryptonian's hand.

"Ugh why did I made that deal with you anyways. At this rate you will make me as broke as a church mouse." Alex joked as Kara smiled innocently at her sister and pulling you away to the door again as you gave a tiny wave at the agent.

"Luckily it's just one month and two weeks left of that deal!" Alex yelled from behind but Kara simply waved her off with her other hand that isn't holding your arm as you both disappeared out of the door.

"And don't drag (Y/N) around too much, she needs rest and time to heal!" Alex shouted, knowing full well that you and Kara can hear her due to Kryptonian superhearing.

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"These potstickers is yummy but pizza still stays the best." You said to the blonde Kryptonian that is sitting in front of you, two plates of potstickers in front you along with your drinks.

Kara fake pouted at you. "No! Potstickers are the best!"

You just laughed softly at her and took a sip of your drink before nearly jumping out of your skin when feeling nails slowly trace up your spine, goosebumps rising to your arms as a familiar feminine chuckle rang through your ears.

You whipped your head to look at the familiar woman standing next to your chair, a teasing smirk pulling at her luscious pink painted lips.

"Lena! Don't scare me like that. I nearly spitted out my drink and that tickled." You playfully swatted at her as she dodged and laughed softly.

"Hello to you too. I always manage to startle you. I wonder how because it's not easy for enemies to sneak up on you but it's easy peasy for me." Lena looked down at you with soft green eyes as she hugged your shoulders and you returning the hug after putting your drink down.

You patted the chair next to you, inviting Lena to sit down next to you as Kara clumsily waved at her when she sat down.

"Hi Kara." Lena greeted her back before turning her attention back to you.

"(Y/N), want to have another movie night at my place? I'm finishing up on my new project early tonight and I am in the mood for some good movies and also want to show you my project." Lena asked, toying with a piece of her dark hair.

You took a sip of your drink and looked at her. "That sounds like a good idea, I don't have any plans for tonight anyways and I wouldn't miss a movie night with my friend." You eagerly accepted her request.

"Wonderful. I'll order us pizza just before I get home and just pick it up on the way home." Lena beamed happily, a bright smile tugging at her lips and crossing her leg over the other causing her black higheels to clank against the white tiled floor.

"You can join us too if you want." Lena briefly looked at Kara.

Kara looked at the two of you before shaking her head. "I would've liked to but I already have plans with my sister and a friend." She said nervously.

Lena smiled and then looked back at you before getting up again.

"Well I must get going, I've just came to get myself a coffee and then get right back into that project." Lena said, squeezing your arm lightly. "See you tonight." Lena said over her shoulder before walking to go and grab her coffee.

"Bye Lena Boo! See you tonight and good luck." You called after the Luthor that shot you a closed eyed smile over her shoulder as she left.

"I also must get going, I want to go down to that new store that have opened a good few blocks away from here." You took the last sip of your drink before getting up.

"Okay. Have fun and hope to see you tommorow. I'll be helping out the new recruits, just glad it's my day off and away from Cat." Kara also got up and hugged you goodbye before going to pay for the food and drinks while you left.

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It was almost past midnight when Kara's phone rang catching the attention of Kara, Alex and James away from the movie they are watching.

"Who can possibly be calling at such and hour?" Kara questioned and picked her phone up that is on the table next to her while Alex paused the movie.

Kara raised her eyebrow at the caller ID.

"Lena?"Kara said confusedly before pressing the answer button.

"Hello Lena." The blonde answered, paying no mind to Alex scooting closer to her.

"Kara!" A worried Lena said through the phone. "Sorry I'm disturbing at such an late hour but I want to know if (Y/N) is at your place. She haven't showed up here and I'm worried now."

"Wait, what? No she isn't here. And that's strange she didn't show up at your place, she wouldn't miss a movie night at your place." Kara said, trying not to get too worried just yet while Alex now looked even more interested in the conversation.

"That's true. I though she was just running late but the later it got I started to think she forgot or was at your place, and she's not answering her phone either." Lena started to sound even more worried. "I hope she's okay and just at home and maybe had fallen asleep."

"Lena calm down, I'll go check at her house, I've been there once a few days ago when I went there for a visit. You go sleep and I'll tell you if she's okay tomorrow, you sound tired." Kara assured her, trying not to have Lena more worried.

"Okay I will thanks but do be careful when you go out to check, you never know what kind of aliens and villains might be lurking around and Supergirl might not always be around the corner to save the day...er well night." Lena said while Kara chuckles to herself.

"Oh I'll be just fine don't worry Lena. Now go get some sleep, I'm very much certain that (Y/N) won't be too happy to hear you like this. Now goodnight Lena." Kara urged and listened as Lena grumbled in the background before saying her own goodnight before hanging up.

Kara sat her phone down on the table again before jumping up, getting a confused look from James and a concerned look from Alex.

"What's wrong?" James was the one that broke the silence.

"It's (Y/N). Lena said that she haven't showed up at her house and she isn't answering her phone. I must go check if she's okay." Kara explained while Alex looked even more concerned now.

James gave her a confused look. "Who is (Y/N)?"

Kara smiled akwardly. "She's a friend and perhaps later I'll introduce you two but I really must be going." The blonde rushed out, already halfway to the front door but James grabbed her arm.

"I'll come with you."

"No James. I'll go. It'll be faster." Kara pulled her arm away but James tried to reason with the Kryptonian until Alex cutted in.

"Olsen, it's okay. I'll go with Kara. You can go home and we'll tell you everything tommorow." Alex's voice was firm, leaving no room to argue.

James let out a defeated sigh but then nodded. "Okay but you two better be careful and tell me everything tommorow, I dislike these secrets between friends." He quickly got his phone and jacket from where he have sat at and spared one last look at the two sisters before leaving through the door.

"Let's go Alex!" Kara urged, slamming the door close behind them and pulling the agent down the stairway and hall before running to a nearby alleyway while Alex tried to stay on her feet as the Kryptonian ran, glaring at her sister when they finally came to a stop in the ally.

"Gosh, chill out, I don't have super running speed like you."

Kara rolled her blue eyes but smiled. "Sorry." She muttered and zoomed into her Supergirl suit and holding out her arm to Alex.

"Shall we go now slow poke?" Kara teased before holding onto Alex.

"Yes you goof, let's go."

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When arriving at your apartment Kara set Alex down and Alex immediately went to knock at your door but Kara firmly grabbed her arm.

"Alex wait, something is wrong here. I detect kryptonite here and it's already weakening my senses and powers by the second." Kara warned her, eyes full of concern.

Alex gave her a worried look. "So you mean Lena was right to be worried about her?"

"Yes, something must have happened, let's go check if (Y/N) is in there and still alive." Kara ran to the door with Alex following right behind her, gun already pulled out before Alex stopped her.

"Kar, let me go inside, I don't want you even more closer to the kryptonite." Alex went in front of her.

Kara went to argue but Alex fixed het with a glare. "Please, I'll be okay and you'll be near incase anything happens. Give J'onn a call and let him send in people." Alex reasoned until Kara agreed reluctantly.

"Okay but yell if you need help. Be careful." Kara warned but walked a few steps back.

Alex took the last few steps towards the front door, noticing it's half open by a few inches. Taking a deep breath, Alex pushed it open and pointing her gun in front of her, scanning her surroundings carefully but found no threat and proceeded further into your apartment after going through a dimly lit hallway and into what appears to be your bedroom, eyes widening at the state it was in.

It was clear that a struggle and fight have broken out here by the cracked dent in the creamy white painted wall along with dried blood that is on the wall and the floor and kryptonite bullets lodged into the walls and the whole rooms furniture was knocked over and even a few were broken and smashed.

"This is very bad." Alex muttered under her breath worriedly, brown eyes scanning around the place until they landed on a lump on the floor against the other wall that also have a rather large cracks in it.

"(Y/N)!" Alex exclaimed in desperation and worry and rush over to the lump after figuring out it's a person instead, turning the figure around until they were on their back, a snarl escaping her lips when she realized it was just a young man that couldn't be older than twenty.

The young man coughed weakly, dark eyes opening into tiny slits and meeting with the angry eyes of the agent, a cruel smirk already starting to form on his lips.

"Well we'll, if it isn't the*cough*agent of*cough*DEO!" He weezed out, clearly in pain as he gripped his chest with his left arm that wasn't broken like his right one was, the bone that was punctured through his arms flesh making Alex cringe a bit at the thought of how painful that must be.

"Where is she?" Alex growled lowly through gritted teeth, grabbing him by the front of his black uniform he's wearing, earning a painful grunt from the man as his broken arm was knocked against the wall.

Alex's anger grew even more when seeying the all too familiar CADMUS logo badge on the front of his black uniform.

"You mean that bitch of a wolf? Boss have taken her but." He coughed more, a little blood dripping from his mouth. "The little bitch wouldn't have come willingly, the bitch was stronger than expected and managed to knock me against the wall but not before I got a good few shots in her." He grunted out, a wicked grin settling in his lips once again when he caught onto Alex's worry and anger, groaning internally at the familiar sirens of the police in the background.

"I hope the bitch die from all those kryptonite bullets." He decided to add cruelly to worry Alex even more.

Alex jabbed at his broken arm and pulled him up making him let out a pained yelp and bitting hard down on his teeth to keep from yelling out in pain when she angrily dragged him through the house and outside where they already found Kara, J'onn and a few more agents in DEO polices cars and vans waiting outside.

Kara and J'onn both looked up at Alex when she went outside the CADMUS agent still in arm.

"CADMUS have taken (Y/N) but they left this one behind." Alex hissed out, throwing the agent infront of J'onn's booted feet.

J'onn folded his arms over his chest, looking down at the young agent that is groaning and squirming in pain on the hard and cold unforgiving pavement.

"You are in a lot of trouble young man." J'onn said in his stern voice, before turning around and motioning to two other agents to pick him up and escort him into one of the cars.

"Alex." Kara rushed over to her sister after the man was in the car and out of earshot.

Alex let out a sigh and looked back at her sister while combing some strands of hair that fell into her face away with her nimble fingers.

"They've taken her Kar. From what I've seen in there and heard from the guy, they've injured and weakend her a lot and..." Alex paused and looked down at the floor with a frown plastered on her usually stern face.

Kara nudged her before pulling her into a comforting hug. "You worry about her I can see." The blonde Kryptonian confirmed.

Alex went to deny but Kara fixed her with a knowing look.

"Don't even try to deny it. I can see you like her and worry about her. But hey don't worry, we will get her back alive." Kara assured her, squeezing her shoulder a little tighter.

Alex blushed a little at what Kara said but gave her sister a warm smile and squeezing her arm back before frowning again.

"But what if we find her too late and she's d-" Alex began to voice her worry but Kara sternly cut her off.

"No! (Y/N) dying is not an option. If she dies I swear to Rao I'll hunt her soul into oblivion and back. I've just gotten her back a few weeks ago and I won't let either one of us loose her again." Kara's voice trembled a bit but it stayed firm as she comfortingly rub hers sisters back.

Alex nodded and quickly wiped a tear away that escaped her eye but Kar already saw and gave her a warm smile.

"If we get her back you better make a move on her before she's swooped away." Kara teased and pouted as Alex softly punched her arm.

"Get swooped away by whom?" Alex asked a bit tensely, trying to not show the jealousy in her tone and ignoring the way how her ears turned red in embarrassment.

Kara laughed softly before they slowly make their way back to the cars and vans.

"Oh you know all too well who." Kara said teasingly until J'onn walked over to them, putting a hand on each of their shoulders, giving the the slightest of smiles.

"We'll get her back, but for now let's get the agent back to the base. Maybe we can get answers out of him." J'onn removed his hands.

"Some agents will stay back here and remove the Kryptonite from this place but when we do find her she might need to stay away from here for awhile just to be safe." J'onn informed and walked next to them back to the cars and vans.

"That might be a good idea. She can stay at my place when we get her back." Kara agreed eagerly, already thinking back to the sleepovers you two had together back on Krypton along with her aunt.

"Thank you, I'll see you two back at the base." J'onn said and got into the back of a matt black van with the famous DEO logo.

As the cars and vans began to leave, the CADMUS agent looked through the window at Kara and Alex, glaring at them coldly and full of hatred.

Alex and Kara glared back, not faltering under his gaze even one bit until they were out off eyesight.

Kara let out a tired huff before facing her sister again. "We need to let Lena know what have happened but...I don't want to call her awake and just drop that bomb on her, she'd be worried and restless and we can't have a restless Luthor running the LCorp." Kara tilted her hand and frustratedly run her fingers through her blonde locks.

Alex let out a grunt in agreement. "That's true. We'll just have to tell her tommorow then." Alex said, taking a few steps towards her.

"Yeah, but she'll be angry that we've waited so long to tell her but I'll go to her work and tell her." Kara said calmly and picked her sister up easily, getting ready to take flight.

"I know but we can deal with her anger tomorrow. Now let's get back to base and try to get some answers from that thug."

"Let's do so. The sooner the better." Kara agreed and took off into the sky with Alex.

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By the time they've gotten back to the base, the CADMUS agent was in the medic bay to get his arm fixed and in a cast before they could even begin to question him.

J'onn watched Alex pace around until he decided to stop her pacing by stepping in front of her.

"Alex, you need to calm down. Pacing around won't make his operation go faster. It will take a long time and he won't be able to talk properly until the medicine wore off. Go get some rest, Winn is already on the look out on the computers along with others to see if he can track down a location they might be keeping her." J'onn adviced her in concern, worried that the agent might collapse in worry if she kept this up.

Alex looked up at him and flinched slightly when Kara came from behind and putted a arm around her.

"J'onn is right Alex, let's go rest for awhile." Kara urged and led Alex to a chair and sat her down in it, asking one of the agents that passed them to get them both coffee.

"Will do ma'am." The agent said hurriedly before rushing off to the cafeteria of the base.

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Hope ya guys ave' enjoyed this chapter. I'm going away on the vacation today but I wanted to leave you guys with a chapter before I go because I can't say for certain when I'll be back and when I'll be able to start on the next chapter. When I'm done with writing this whole paw prints on the agent's heart series I want to start on a Lena x reader story or even a Kara x villian reader or a Sanvers(Alex and Maggie)x depressed villian reader story where reader is villian by night and a typical depressed young woman by day that constantly gets in trouble with the cops and do drugs to cope with her homophobic family, but only if you guys would be interested in it.

[willowaudreykeyes]

Kinda Random Sides Headcanons Of Mine

- Patton is AceAro and he only found out after talking to Logan about it. He loves everyone like they are his child except Logan; who is like the ultimate bestie to him. 

- During his talk with Patton, Logan learnt that he is Demiromantic. He swore Patton to secrecy after tearing up because it lifted a weight off his heart after saying that he is homosexual for years now. This has caused him to research everything about sexuality in case any of the other Sides ever need help with it.

- Remus has known that he is asexual for years now and both Janus and Virgil know this about him. He told Roman years ago, but he wasn’t believed so he didn’t bother mentioning it again.

- Roman is Pansexual but is incredibly insecure about it as he sees that as the Romantic side, he is ‘supposed’ to have the same sexual attraction as Thomas. Only Janus knows this and he has zero idea on how to help.

- Logan wants to dye his hair dark blue and purple like a galaxy but is afraid of being seen as immature! Also put some star decorations in his hair! He loves the stars SO DANG MUCH-

- Logan helps Janus with his shedding. Remus helps whenever Logan is busy with Thomas, but the Logical Side has been helping him since before Virgil was a Light Side. No matter how much Janus tiredly threatens tells Logan to stop caring because hes a Dark Side or whatever; Logan stays and helps.

- Roman and Remus are touch starved. If one is feeling it badly, the other often feels it too.

- Only Patton and Janus knew King Creativity and they never have, or will, talk about him. Ever.

- Remus loves Disney songs and all those kinds of songs that seems more like a ‘Roman’ thing to like; but he too sings Anastasia’s “Once Upon A December” and Coco’s “Remember Me”. Who do you think gets them stuck in Thomas’ head? Those count as Intrusive Thoughts too.

- That said, Roman does let himself sing a more ‘Remus-y’ song whenever he’s DOUBLE sure that he’s alone. 

- Roman thinks that Logan and Patton are perfect beings with perfect ideas for Thomas and that he ruins them with his own not-so-perfect ideas. Seriously, this boi has to learn that none of them are good or bad...

- Remus is the one to go to if the others are having an anxiety/panic attack. Why? He’ll shove a cup full of ice cubes at them to chew on (or get a lemon if they can’t handle the cold), find their perfect movie/song because he somehow found that out, and he will not let them be alone. Want hugs? He’ll cling to them like an octopus. Want some space? He’ll do something off to the side that always lets them know he’s there. 11/10 distraction for the brain.

- Janus can and will use six arms to hug others. Every time. He is the best hugger out of everyone and they had a competition that says so. He keeps the medal Roman had made for the winner in his room.

- Their bedrooms and the rooms that Thomas can visit are two different rooms. The rooms that enhance their specific traits are usually used to help push Thomas into a certain direction; such as Logan using his room to help him think more logically.

- Janus hates his room because it causes him to lie ALL the time. He wants to be known as self-preservation as well as Deceit but even his own room is fighting against him. So he rarely goes there and hangs out in his bedroom instead.

- Roman painted everyone’s bedroom doors. Once he and Remus grow closer, the doors suddenly get more intricate and Roman (after debating with himself about it) gives Remus the credit he deserves for it.

- After said door painting; Logan gets the twins and asks them to paint his room for him. Something new that won’t distract him. He half expects it to be painted like a science lab or something, but instead he finds the walls to be the same colour while his ceiling is now a galaxy that blends halfway down the walls. It distracts him from his work sometimes; but he doesn’t seem to mind and he’s more productive in the long run.

- Remus baked with Patton one time and his impulsiveness helped create the Crofter Cookie™ which Logan is often caught sneaking third and fourth (secretly twelve) cookies.

- Which he shares with Janus, who secretly loves Crofters as well.

- Roman loves strawberry everything; but kiwi’s are a close second and he’s only ever told Virgil about it. 

- Logan lost a bet with Roman the same time Janus lost a bet with Remus. A week later; the other Sides, Thomas and Friends watched them perform Non-Stop. Logan as Hamilton, Janus as Burr with the twins being Eliza and Angelica. Logan got more into it then anyone thought he would.

- Janus is a huge fan of Leslie Odom Jr. and seeing him on Sanders Sides made him scream into a pillow at every chance he had between recordings. 

- Patton checks on everyone before he goes to bed. And now that Janus and Remus are more involved with Thomas, he checks on them too. The two of them have no idea how to handle this new routine because he’s just so sincere about it!

- Logan loves hugs and no one can tell me otherwise. He’s just VERY particular on how the hug has to be and he once spent three hours with Roman on trying to get the right hug. Somehow, Remus got the Perfect Hug first try.

- Janus has the floofiest of hair that NOTHING can stop. Remus often jokes about how his hair can break a sword in half. Often followed by Remus breaking a sword over Janus’ head without the Side flinching at all.

- If ANYONE is in trouble, Virgil knows about it and he ain’t afraid to punch a bitch. Or use the fire extinguisher as punching doesn’t stop fires. He’s always the first and last on the scene. 

- Remus is teaching Logan self-defence. Janus is teaching him how to dance. The Side wants to be ready for literally anything. 

- Remus loves eating bone marrow and on Thanksgiving, he’s able to debone the entire turkey. No one knows how; but he’s happy to eat that while the others eat turkey. 

- Virgil is part spider and eventually builds up the courage to tell the others. Patton is a little afraid at first, but eventually he’s got all eight legs around him in the best hug with his emo son. He’s still working on looking him in the eyes when more then two are showing...

- Virgil, Remus and Logan don’t need as much sleep as the other Sides. Logan and Virgil only need four hours, while Remus only needs two hours. While Janus likes sleeping as much as possible, which is hard to do with Remus around.

- Janus has stolen every pillow and blanket in the Mindscape and Thomas’ real house JUST to build a pillow fort. At one in the morning. They were all impressed, but also cold so now he has to share when he makes them (at a better time as well please- )

- Janus doesn’t like the feeling of anything on his face or scales; which makes looking after them difficult. He has to be reminded to moisturise them weekly and Remus has learnt not to dump slime or anything over his head because he has had an anxiety attack about it once and he never wants it to happen to him again. 

- Virgil and Janus love scalding hot showers. Patton and Roman like it rather warm, Logan likes them lukewarm and Remus loves them to be freezing cold.

- No touching Virgils hair! No touchie! He hates it and prefers light circles rubbed over the back of his hands or on his knees instead. Roman on the other hand LOVES head scritches and always melts into a Princey puddle of relaxation when he gets them.

- Lastly, if anyone ever has a Nightmare, they either go to Logan or Janus. Patton is too deep of a sleeper to wake up and help, plus he often has no clue what to say anyway, so those two help a lot. And if they have a Nightmare? They go to Remus’ room and talk with him until they pass out or they decide to survive the day on the hours that they had.

[arandompostarchive]

Inure - Ch. 2

SAVED WORK

Summary: To some, The Specter is a serial killer. To some, a hero. But to everyone, you were entirely a mystery. You had no history, just a list of victims a mile long. No matter how many people searched your name, they could find anything. If only they had the spelling right. Now, you’ve come across some unfortunate information that drives you out of your usual shadows and into the path of the Avengers. Including two of the more reclusive members of the team. And it’s hard to pick only one of them.

***

“Howard, I’m not sure this is a good idea. SPECTR isn’t ready to show the public yet, much less reporters who will make up a million theories on how we’ll use this.” You argued. You sat across from Howard as you looked over the machine’s blueprints. Howard had suggested that it was ready for a test run, which was completely wrong. It was far from perfect.

“I’m not saying we have to keep it running, but we’ve got to show people something!” He said, getting frustrated. You began to get frustrated too.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have bragged about it to every media outlet in the country, then. You told them about SPECTR, now you have to tell them it’s not ready. It’s that simple.” You didn’t look up at him.

“C’mon. One test, we don’t have to test all it’s features, let’s just turn on its most basic setting. Just show that it works!” He said. You stood, walking toward the control panel you had set up. The machine was behind glass in a testing room. If you turned it on right now, you weren’t sure what the reaction would be, so you insisted it be put safely away from you.

“But it doesn’t work.”

“They don’t have to know that! I just gotta show them something.” You were tempted to give in. To let him bring in his media crew and you would have if it weren’t for the dangers SPECTR presented.

“Turning it on right now could endanger lives. We need to stay safe about this.” He rolled his eyes. He hated your safety rules which you had only implemented because he would run around the lab doing stupid things otherwise. “Look, I get it. I’m excited about this too! We’re making life-changing stuff here! But let’s save it until we know it will actually change lives.” You bent down and unscrewed a panel on the control board. You had missed the upset look on Howard’s face, not that you couldn’t guess what it looked like.

You continued working while he made a call or two in the background. You jumped a bit when a spark came out of the panel. You stood up, opening the door to the test room to check the machine itself. You could feel Howard staring at the back of your head.

***

You jolted up, sweating a bit. Most of your dreams were memories now. At least, all the dreams you remembered were. At the time, that memory didn’t seem so bad. It just seemed like two friends arguing and that’s what you thought it was. You wished you could go back. Tell yourself to listen a little closer to his phone calls. Double check that he really wouldn’t get a dozen reporters. Instead, you trusted him. That had been a grave mistake.

You pushed yourself off of your bed. Your room was nice to say the least. Leave it to a Stark to make things look expensive. You had an apartment-like area. There was a bedroom and a small living room and kitchen hybrid. It had a tv, a couch and the bare essentials of a kitchen.

You walked into your kitchen area to make tea. “What time is it?” You wondered out loud, seeing the darkness outside your windows. “I need to tell that Captain more about what I know, maybe the team would stop talking about me. Or at least do it in a more private setting.” You grabbed an electric kettle and filled it with water, waiting for it to boil.

“It’s 3:44 am, and I can remind you, if you’d like,” A voice offered. The sound of another person in your space made you jump, but when you looked around you couldn’t spot anyone.

“Hello?” You said loudly, unsure of where the person came from.

“Hello.” The voice said again. You stepped closer to the couch and looked around, still, no one was in sight.

“Who are you?” You asked. Trying to locate the voice.

“I’m FRIDAY, Mr. Stark’s AI system.” You almost laughed. Of course.

You were still curious though. She was really AI? Had she passed the Turing Test? How had he made a completely functional system? How was she built in, is it just in certain rooms, or did he manage to put her everywhere? You had questions to ask Stark about his inventions, though you were dreading having to talk to Howard’s son. He couldn’t be that much better than his father and you weren’t ready to spend time with Howard 2.0. You’d seen Tony on the news and even spent your own time watching over him, but you’d never had a real conversation.

“FRIDAY, huh? And how do you work?” You asked. Admittedly, it felt weird talking to the air. There was no where to focus, so you really just ended up staring at the ceiling. It felt odd.

“I was implemented to help Mr. Stark after he lost his previous AI. I’m a network of different systems Mr. Stark has created. I’m not allowed to share all the details, but I’m sure Boss wouldn’t mind showing you.”

Of course she calls Tony “Boss”, seems just like a Stark to put themselves on a pedestal. “Well,” you began, “Thank you FRIDAY. I can remember to talk to Captain Rogers, though. I don’t really have much else to do.”

“Alright, Miss.”

“Just call me Spectr,” you told her, smiling at the ceiling.

“No problem, Spectr.” There was a soft whistling behind you and you stopped the kettle before it got too loud. You took the tea along with a bit of honey and sat down on the couch, slowly sipping it. It felt odd to have a ‘home’. A TV, couch, bed, kitchen, even the weird body-less AI felt comforting. Something you hadn’t felt in a long time.

***

Coming downstairs to get breakfast was one of the most awkward experiences of your rather long life. You had come down late, hoping the Avengers ate early. To your dismay, most of the team were in their kitchen, chatting about something or other, though it seemed like a few of them there only to talk to the group.

When you walked in, book in hand, their conversation immediately hushed and all eyes turned to you. The team was terrible at pretending not to stare, but you did your best to ignore them.

“Um, Spectr.” The Captain spoke up. His voice stayed steady, but you could tell he felt odd asking you anything. You turned around to face him, silently telling him to continue. “Join us, we’d like to get to know you.” The sentiment was nice, though you knew what he was doing. If they could befriend you, they’d have a permanent ally or maybe even stop your ‘crime spree’. Or maybe they wanted a reason to justify working with you. Maybe they felt guilty putting a serial killer on the team, even temporarily, and thought that maybe, just maybe, if you were a kind person they’d feel just a little bit better. But the much more likely option was that they wanted a way to take you down. They wanted to know exactly what made you tick just in case you got too hard to handle. You wished them luck, you had died decades ago.

“No, Captain, you don’t want to talk to me. I’m a possible threat in your house. You want to learn whatever you can about me. That’s fine, I understand.” Everyone at the table was avoiding meeting both your eyes and Steve’s. You didn’t really have anything against Rogers, but you weren’t here to become best friends, you were here to stop a threat. Then you could leave and go back to your old life with no record of your crimes. Not that the city papers wouldn’t have a field day.“But you don’t want to talk to me. Don’t pretend you do, it’s rude.” You didn’t get a response, so you assumed you guessed right.

The team went back to your hushed conversation and you scanned the room. You grabbed a cup of coffee from the fresh brewed pot and sat yourself on a couch in their living room area. A man was sitting across from you also buried in a book. You didn’t mind the lack of conversation, though his book choice was interesting. Shakespeare’s The Tempest, certainly a good read.

You looked down at your book, staring at the page but still focused on the man in front of you. You recognized him, though you weren’t certain from where.

“The team seems to have deemed you a villain as well.” He said, barely glancing up from the pages. Usually, you’d be angry. You’d leave and find somewhere else so you could be alone. But for some reason, you didn’t.

“You’re getting the same treatment?” You asked, somewhat skeptical. From the outside, he looked like just another team member.

“It is to be expected after what I did. They still do not trust me.” This time he looked up at you, fully meeting your eyes. Then, you recognized him. Loki. The guy who wrecked New York.

It wasn’t your style, but it did end up taking out one of your targets for you and he seemed nice enough.

“I see. Well, can’t exactly blame them for not liking me either, then.” You said. He kept a straight face. It looked practiced, like he knew exactly how to keep his emotions hidden. But you knew that look in his eyes. The very silent desperation that maybe, maybe you could relate to him. Maybe you could be outcasts together. You weren’t sure you liked that idea. Being alone in your new ‘room’ seemed much more favorable.

“I’m not exactly clear on what you did.” He closed his book, keeping his thumb between the pages and setting it on his lap. You did the same.

“Well, I kill for a living. Sort of. It’s not the most high paying gig out there, but ‘heroes’ don’t tend to appreciate serial killers.” You tried to state that in the most lighthearted way possible, though there wasn’t really a nice way to phrase it.

“Do you simply kill anyone?” He asked, clearly trying to piece together why a murderer is currently trying to help save the world. You smirked a bit.

“Not exactly. All my victims are the people who’ve escaped justice. Maybe they got away with murder maybe the court just isn’t moving fast enough. Or they’ve got connections and keep walking free. I never miss a target.” You said, proud of your work.

The Avengers didn’t see it how you did. You were correcting the world. Bringing back hope, even if no one would cheer for you out loud.

“And the Avengers feel you are doing the world a disservice by ridding it of evil?” He seemed confused by the concept. As far as he was concerned, it sounded fair. Harsh, but fair.

“They don’t like the whole ‘murder’ part. Well, torture and murder part. They think we should let the system handle it. But the system isn’t working, so here I am.” You said, taking a large sip of your coffee.

“And if authorities catch you? Will they put you to death over such a thing?” You shrugged in response. In all honesty, you hadn’t really looked up what consequences you’d face. You didn’t care. “You do not seem scared.” He noted.

You laughed a bit. “Death is an old friend.” You took another sip of your coffee and he seemed to acknowledge that he wasn’t going to get any more than that. You spent a little while longer in a comfortable silence, both reading your respective books.

Soon, you finished yours and stood up. Loki nodded to you and you nodded back. You wouldn’t call him a friend, but he certainly wasn’t an enemy and that’s the closest thing you had to a friend right now.

You walked back to the kitchen, dropping your now empty coffee cup into the sink and washing it, placing it on the small drying rack they had there. Some of the team was still in the kitchen and you heard their conversation quiet. You had better hearing than average, but it wasn’t anything to brag about. And since the team was mostly super-soldiers, you could hear their extremely quiet whispers. Whatever they were talking about, they were being careful about it.

You grabbed a few granola bars from the cabinet when you spotted a bottle of whiskey that had been left on the counter, probably by mistake. You suspected Stark, Howard would leave your bottles on your table when he went to your house, why would Tony be different? You grabbed a glass and filled it, not bothering to look at the brand of whiskey.

“I like a good drink myself, but, uh, that’s a full size glass and it’s 10 in the morning?” Tony said, looking slightly concerned. You scoffed a bit.

“I’m starting that late, huh?” You asked, drinking a bit of the glass and walking toward their training room. The drink  wouldn’t do much, your heart had stopped, well, working after you died. Everything had. As far as you knew, you were essentially a walking, talking corpse. The only reason you had to breathe was so you could talk, so when you lived alone you didn’t find it necessary. Your alcohol limit was high to say the least, you were almost certain you could out drink Thor. And now that you lived in the same house as the guy, you were kinda tempted to try it.

Since all of the loud members of the team were at breakfast, including Thor and Tony, you settled for getting exercise. Their training rooms were huge. Starks always went big. You could hear someone else and you groaned at the thought of human interaction. Like living with a bunch of do-good superheroes wasn’t enough, now you had to actually talk to them.

You walked in anyway, hoping it was one of the quieter members, like Vision. Though you didn’t see why a floating android would need to work out. Instead, it was Steve’s friend, Bucky Barnes. Although Steve and Bucky didn’t know you, you knew of them. Peggy had talked about Steve a bit, so you knew a little bit about their life in the army. You had even comforted Peggy once Steve crashed into the ocean.

The closest you had ever been to actually talking to them was consulting when Howard was designing possible shields for Steve. Bucky on the other hand, you had only heard about once or twice. Mainly about how he had gone missing.

You tried not to make eye contact with him while you went over to the weights. He was practicing what looked like knife throwing, so he wasn’t really focused on you.

“You created that machine, right?” You hadn’t even crossed the room before he addressed you. You internally groaned, not liking the idea of a conversation right now. Especially with someone who would quiz you on all your weaknesses.

He looked at you and offered a knife out of the small chest full of them. You took it and resigned yourself to questioning. It would be easier to manage if it was only one of them.

“Me and a friend. We thought it could do good, but it was never finished.” You said, throwing the knife at the target. Knife throwing wasn’t your specialty, but you weren’t terrible, so it landed off-center. Bucky still looked impressed though.

“Not bad. That machine was made to heal people, right?” You nodded and he threw his own knife, landing dead center. It looked like he was making a ‘X’ shaped pattern out of them. “So how’s he going to use it to hurt anyone?”

You had considered that before. But, considering the… malfunctions the machine was capable of, you didn’t doubt it could harm people as well as heal. “Trust me, it can kill without a problem.” You said, not liking the topic he had chosen. You tossed another knife at the target, this time landing further off-center than the one before. You internally sighed at your lack of focus.

He considered what you said and nodded, seemingly understanding that there was more to your statement.

“I don’t think you’re a threat, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He said, pausing in his knife throwing. You scoffed.

“You don’t, huh? Then why exactly are you talking to me?”

He shrugged a bit. “You seemed lonely.”

You continued throwing knives discussing members of the team. It seemed you had two not-enemies in the tower.

[heyheydidjaknow]

For anyone who is wondering why I deleted the chapters, I was very tired and forgot what tenses were, so I had to go back and change it all, and that is a pain on Tumbr. Tumblr also, apparently, either has a character or word limit, so this is our first 2 parter. I know I could just separate them into chapters, but I feel weird about making a whole chapter devoted to a date, so.

Edit: Who was gonna tell me I misspelled Casey?

Chapter 6 Pt 1

Leo sighs. “Okay, the fact that this will be the second creepiest stunt you’ve pulled this week says a lot.”

“Relax.” Donatello draws another line. “If she has a map of the foreseeable future and showed it to me, it obviously makes sense that I should answer in kind.”

“But,” Raphael points out, “this is the most desperate thing he’s done this week.”

“Zip it.” He caps his pen, holding his diagram up and walking off to his newly obtained whiteboard. “Besides, it’s not a comprehensive flow chart—attempting to list every possible conversation thread would be futile. It's simply a visual aid to remember the general actions I should take in any given situation.” Although you have been promising to “teach him a thing or two” about plot structure one on one, a part of him thinks it appropriate to make the first move. It appears to be the gallant thing to do, anyhow.

Mikey hops over the table, following one of the paths with his finger. “How come you have a shark on this one?”

“Oh,” he nods, “that’s in case she decides to go to the beach and gets attacked by a shark.”

“And why are there these Xs on this one?”

“That signifies the end of one of our lives.”

“And the hearts?”

He blushes. “I’m not answering that.”

Raph shudders. “Man, this just feels gross. I can already feel the secondhand disgust.”

“Raphael,” Donatello sighs, “love is a complex enigma that, if not thoroughly considered and tailored, will crumble before your very eyes. I cannot and will not destroy what little relationship we have by being reckless. Besides,” he scoffs, “in what other possible manner could I ask her out?”

“Hey, Y/N,” Leo offers, “let’s hang out.”

“See, that’s too pedestrian.” He gestures to the poster. “Trust in the—”

You slam through the door. Donnie, apparently panicked, flips the board over with fumbling hands. “H-hey, Y/N. Hey.” He stands up properly, clearing his throat. “Hey.”

You point at him. “How do you feel about busting a corrupt disgrace to the title of scientist?”

“Good!” He peaks at his board, trying to steal himself. “Where are we headed?”

“A neuroscientist by the name of Rockwell got mutated.” You start heading out. “Asshole in question is Victor Falco, AKA Feral Falco, AKA The Rat King if we don’t haul ass. He’s at Rockwell’s lab.”

“Awesome. Let’s go.” He runs after you, shooting a thumbs-up back at his brothers.

You are going to murder a man tonight. Probably. Hopefully not. Depends on how hard it is to wreck his shit. You have been stalking the Channel 6 news for about a week now, waiting for the jackass to show up, and now that he has? You are not about to let him become the monster you knew he could and would become.

“So,” Donnie startles you, lost in thought, “how was your first day of class?”

“It was fine. Met Casey, avoided Irma like the plague, all that jazz.” You turn a right.

“Casey?”

“Casey Jones. Hockey player, real bad at math.”

“A guy?” He seems interested in this subject for some reason.

“Yup.” You reach into your bag, wrapping your fingers around your kitchen knife, hands already shaking. If you must kill him, you will make it quick. “My age.”

“Oh.” He sighs. “That’s… nice.”

‘Can I just take him to the police? I don't have any evidence. This is breaking and entering.’

He clears his throat. “Y/N?”

“Hm?”

“We’re here.”

You look up at the building, sigh. “So we are.”

He moves in front of you, moving to meet you at eye-level. “Is there anything I need to know before we go in?”

You take a deep breath. “The man in the lab coat is the perp. We need to take him down, first and foremost. He may act a fool, but he’s accountable for the mutation of his partner. We either have to incapacitate, convict or, if necessary, kill him.”

He swallows. “This guy is that bad?”

“Not yet.” You start pulling the knife out properly as you push the door open with your clothed arm. “But it’s best to pull a weed out from the root.”

He follows you closely.

You look down at your phone to double-check that this is the offending room. “Here.” You back up, gesturing to the door eccentrically, heart pounding in your chest. “This is the room.”

He approaches you, brow furrowed. “Y/N,” he asks cautiously, “don’t take this the wrong way, but you look sick. Are you alright?”

You nod. “Nervous is all. Haven’t done this sort of thing before.”

He offers a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry.” He gives you a thumbs up. “I’ll be with you every step of the way, alright?”

Your knuckles go white around the grip as you try to release some tension. ‘Don’t choke. That’s his job.’ “Yeah.” You return it. “Oh, are you free tomorrow night? I still have to give you that lesson.”

His face lights up. “Y-yeah! Totally!” He grins eagerly. “Should I go to your place? At what time?”

“We’ll hash out the details on the way back.” You look prominently to the lock. “Now, I take it you have some gadget or gizmo to help us open this bad boy?”

He kneels, pulling a device from the utility belt on his hip and sliding it into the card reader. “Of course.”

The door lets out a harsh buzz, the light turning green. You pull your sleeve forward onto your hand, pushing the door open.

The room smells like metal and mold and decay, a certain lethality hanging in the air when you enter. You stay close to the wall, pulling down a lever to illuminate the harsh laboratory in an even harsher light. And there, caught frozen as he pockets a vial, is Victor Falco.

His eyes flicker towards the door.

You tackle him to the ground, shifting your weight back onto his legs, and pin his arms above his head. “Donnie,” you call, stopping his struggling with a knife pressed against his neck, “would you be so kind as to find a few things for me? I can tell you where they are in the room, but I’m a bit preoccupied.”

“Uh, sure.” His voice sounds strange to you. Tight. Nervous? Confused? You ignore it for now.

“What is the meaning of this,” the scientist bellows from underneath you. “I demand you give me an explanation!”

“Oh be quiet, traitor.” You press the blade against his skin. “We both know the crime you’ve committed against your partner.”

His eyes widen.

You keep your eyes locked on him at all times. “The first thing you’re looking for is a container of mutagen. When you get to the desk, you should see 2 stacks of drawers.”

You do not hear his footsteps. “Mhm.”

“The bottom left drawer has a false bottom. If you pull it up, you’ll find a canister of mutagen.”

You hear the drawer slide open, the shuffling of papers. “Got it.”

“Fantastic. Now, on the desk should be a flash drive belonging to Rockwell. Grab that.”

“How could you possibly know?” You feel his wrist tense as he clenched his fist. “I was so thorough.”

“I’m psychic,” you lie, smiling coldly. “Be happy I met you here and not in your home.”

“Anything else?”

“Whatever is in his pockets, besides car keys and a wallet. You’re getting new chemicals.”

The doctor does not seem to like that idea. He starts writhing underneath you.

“If you don’t stop moving,” you sigh, bringing the knife up and down quickly, hovering over his left eye, “you, a neuroscientist, will have the pleasure of discovering firsthand if what people say about losing your depth perception is true. See, I’ve always heard that it settles, but I’m more than happy to see it happen firsthand if you’ll indulge me.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“You aren’t sure.” You chuckle darkly, fingers wrapping tighter still around his wrists. “I don’t need to be a psychic to feel your shaking.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a green blob crouch down, pulling vials from his pockets.

“You’re a child.”

“And yet I’m the one holding a knife to you.” ‘Why am I so calm?’ “You’re selfish. You’re prideful. You won’t try anything because I know you to be cowardly, and you won’t say anything,” you nod, “because, if you did, you would have to admit to breaking into your missing partner’s lab, and deal with the backlash regarding me and my associate bringing that hard drive to the police and letting them connect the dots.” You smile sweetly. “Donnie, would you be so kind as to get some distance between you and Mr. Falco?” You do not look over at him, focused on the current task. “If he pulls anything, you need to be able to bring that to the police.”

“Got it.” A few seconds pass. “I’m by the door.”

You slide the carving knife in that general direction. “Goodnight, Falco.” You grab his hair, slamming his head against the ground once as you leap to your feet. You grab the knife, sprinting towards the door. “And that is our cue to leave.”

Donatello, who is having interesting feelings about the whole thing, appears to have been snapped out of some sort of trance. He nods, and the both of you exit the scene.

--

You wipe your mouth on your sleeve, shaking as you rest your chin on the edge of the dumpster. “T-thanks,” you smile shakily. “I appreciate it, really.”

“Not at all.” He let your locks fall from his hand. “I imagine it’s hard, what with having hair and all.” He helps you down from your perch on a stack of crates. “Are you feeling alright now?”

“Besides my mouth tasting like stomach acid? Never better.” You sigh, rubbing your face with your hands. “Sorry. The nerves just kinda…” you trail off, cheeks dusted pink. “Well, you get the idea.”

“It’s alright, really.” He smiles fondly. “You were really bold in there. It was really cool.”

“I don’t feel cool. I feel the opposite of cool.” You start down the alleyway. “But at least we stopped a ton of problems in its tracks.”

You hear a primal cry as a large primate lands in front of you.

You look him in the eyes, already tired of this episode. “Good evening, Dr. Rockwell.”

His eyes snap to Donatello, who was already unsheathing his bo staff. You look over your shoulder at him. “Chill out. He’s cool.”

“He’s a giant monkey!”

“Dude, he’s a well-esteemed scientist.” You turn to face him properly, holding his arms out to get some proper separation. “Put the effin stick down.”

“But—” He stops, takes a deep breath, and sheathes the staff. “Alright. I’ll trust you.” He seems almost disturbed by your apparent ease.

You turn back to face him properly, smiling. “Doctor,” you nod, “your partner will be of no concern to you from this point onward. Rest assured; his research has been halted.” Your tone is politely respectful.

The wild eyes of the primate calm. He seems to at least sense the general sentiment. He nods once, leaping up onto the nearest rooftop and disappearing into the night.

You nod in satisfaction, looking back at the stunned Donatello.

“He calmed down so easily.”

“He has a human mind, for the most part.” You shrug, continuing down the alley. “Let’s head back. Man, if you dad knew the kind of trouble I just got him out of.” You giggle at his dumbstruck expression, walking backward to keep facing him. “Well, are you just gonna stand there lookin pretty or are you going to come with?”

His face goes red. He nods once, hurrying after you.

You two walk quietly for a little over a minute. “Hey, uh, can I ask you something?”

“Totally.” You decide to bite the bullet and pull of the manhole cover. “What’s up?”

“Why do you call him that?”

“Call who what?” You start climbing down.

“You know, not call him Master Splinter.” He pulls the cover back on, landing beside you. “You always call him my dad or Yoshi or Mr. Hamato.”

“Well,” you shrug, “he’s your dad, right?”

“I’m not saying it’s a problem,” he clarified, “or that’s it’s incorrect, but most people—myself included—refer to him as Master Splinter.”

You start walking with him. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Donnie,” you sigh, “but, if I can help it, I honestly hope I never have to call him that.”

“Why?” He walks beside you, eyes tracing your figure subtlety.

“Didn’t I already say?” You nod back in the direction you guys came from. “You saw how I acted back there. This is only episode six or seven. The trauma I’d have to go through as a ninja here would kill me,”

“But you have the guts for it.” His voice is certain. “You’re strong enough, mentally, to be a ninja.”

You pause, your throat catching. You wonder if he would still think so if he had seen how you had spent your nights.

He clears his throat, blushing again. “I think you are, anyway.”

You wrap your arms around his neck, burying your face in the crook of his neck silently. You feel him seize up under you. “Thank you,” you mumble.

He slowly relaxes, snaking his arms around your waist and pulling you closer. He rests his head on top of yours gently. Slowly, he buries his hand in your hair. He is always so warm— he makes you feel oddly safe. This is only the second time you have been this physically close to him, but you don’t think for a moment that he would try anything.

You back off, clearing your throat as your cheeks catch fire. “Sorry,” you smile timidly. “I’ve just been… I’m not usually this clingy.”

He blinks out of his stupor, looking down at you. “Huh? Oh, don’t worry about it.” He grinned giddily, almost drunk. “Y-You are all good.”

You swallow. “I’ve gotta do an introduction type project for school, so I gotta get back home.” You walk back in the direction you two came. “Come to my place at about seven tomorrow. I’ll order food.”

He nods, body relaxed. “Seven. Got it.” He does.

You wave, walking back to the ladder. “Then I’ll see you then.”

He stands there, watching you leave. As soon as he hears the sliding of the manhole cover back into place, he takes a moment to celebrate the victory before starting to walk back to the lair.

‘I got a date!’

Table of Contents

Chapter 5

Chapter 6, Part 2

[dwaynepride]

icarus, point to the sun

summary: reader is afraid to know if she’s pregnant. a lot can change in five minutes.

words: 2,416

warnings: pregnancy talk, female reader

tags: @6adb0y @thegoodlonelydalek @consultingdoctorwholock @starryrevelations @thebeckyjolene @diaryofafan17 @specialagentlokitty @stanathanxoox @pageofultron

notes: i didn’t expect to end this fic with such a bleak ending but things have been too fluffy on this blog lately.

The walk to Loretta’s lab was silent, apart from your faint footfalls against the tile.

You wished there were just a little bit more noise. Something to counteract the feeling of cotton in your ears. Something to distract from the hard, painful, twisted feeling your stomach that hasn’t gone away since this morning. Even the prick of your nails digging into your palms couldn’t ground you to reality; there was just too much swimming around in your head. Too many questions and concerns and panicked thoughts.

When you reached the door to autopsy, you pause. Loretta is at her desk, working on some paperwork. Maybe now’s not a good time? She seems busy - much too busy to help you with this elephant-sized problem.

But you also knew that walking away and going back to work without talking to someone about this would be impossible.

You push the door open, instantly getting Loretta’s attention. She smiles warmly; a sight that outta make you feel better, but it doesn’t. In fact, you can’t even meet her eyes when you close the door behind you. “Hey! What brings you here?” Loretta asks, and her chipper tone doesn’t ease the weight on your chest.

How can you answer that question? You weren’t even too sure how to answer, because you didn’t understand your own reasoning for coming here. To talk? To seek advice? To cry and panic and seek Loretta’s reassurance that Dwayne does truly love you?

The look on your face, and the lack of response, shifts Loretta’s expression from pleased to concerned. She stands from her chair and comes around her desk. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve just seen a murder,” she says. Maybe trying to keep a light mood.

You take a deep breath to steady your nerves. To debate on how to go about telling Loretta everything you know and feel without bursting into tears or rambling or regretting your decision.

There’s no easy way to say it, though.

“I think I’m pregnant.”

There’s dead silence.

Again, the only thing you can hear is the blood rushing in your ears. Harsh and roaring and your eyes are locked on Loretta, picking up every single one of her reactions. The way her eyes go wide. When she sucks in a breath and doesn’t let it out. Her muscles taut and unmoving. She’s about as shocked as you were this morning after reading up on pregnancy symptoms for about an hour.

To her credit, Loretta gets over the shock quickly. She steps closer, her hands coming up to hold your arms. And you didn’t think the contact would mean as much as it did, but you crumble. Exhale a long breath and rush against her and there’s a certain feeling of comfort that comes with Loretta’s hug that makes you start crying.

Though, you were already pretty close to tears anyway.

“Hey, it’s alright. Calm down. Are you sure?”

It takes a moment to calm yourself enough to speak, after wiping your tears against the shoulder of her sweater. “Maybe. I don’t know. I have all the symptoms: nausea, I’m getting tired a lot, I’ve been snapping at Dwayne more often...” you tell her, voice weak and shaky.

“Well, it could be any number of things,” Loretta intersects. Her hands running up and down your back help quell the tears. “Have you done a test yet?”

Your head shakes against her shoulder. In all honesty, you were too terrified to go out and buy a test, just yet. Maybe that’s a big reason why you went to Loretta; she always seems to be able to get your head on straight.

She pulls you away, hands dropping to grasp yours comfortingly. And she’s staring right into your watery eyes in that firm, but motherly way she’s so good at. “Alright, then listen to me carefully. You’re going to go buy a pregnancy test; buy two of them, if you need to. You’re going to go home-”

“Loretta, we have a case-”

“You’re going to go home,” she repeats sternly, “and you’re not going to do anything until after you take the test. I don’t care if the head of NCIS himself calls you back to work, he can answer to me.”

Despite the nerves, Loretta’s words do prompt a small huff of laughter. A hand comes up to wipe your cheeks as you nod slowly. Yeah, you can do this. Maybe the fear and the unknowing is what’s driving you to panic the most; knowing for sure is bound to help.

“Okay, now go.” Loretta physically turns you toward the door and gives a light push. Thankfully, your wobbly legs stay steady, and you’re able to take a few steps toward the door. But when Loretta says your name - her voice much softer than it was before - you stop and turn back.

Her face is empathetic. Brows knitted and she exhales. “You also need to tell Dwayne.”

And instantly, your heart is back in your stomach.

-

Your apartment is quiet. There’s no band music or crowd chatter, like deeper in the city. The neighbors aren’t stomping around upstairs. It’s almost like the world is holding its breath - much like you are, right now.

The silence is only interrupted by the sound of the front door slowly opening. You know it’s Dwayne; you called just ten minutes ago and told him it was an emergency. You knew he’d get here as fast as possible, but even then, the noise startled you. And it’s weird, because Dwayne’s presence has always been so damn calming. It’s easy to lean on him when you need that support, and he’d make everything better.

But as he steps into the living room, you can’t even bring yourself to look at him.

“What’s wrong? What’s the emergency?” He asks, instantly taking a step towards the couch. Even without looking, you know he’s worried. Probably has those wide puppy-dog eyes that he wears whenever he’s concerned about someone. But through the corner of your eye, you see him stop dead.

He doesn’t say anything for a few heartbeats. Dwayne’s weight shifts, and he finally clears his throat. “What’s that?” He asks.

And you know he’s seen the thin white box sitting on the coffee table, untouched since it’s been taken out of the bag.

You have to say something, you know this. At the very least, you need to look at him. So slowly, your head tilts up to see a stiff, shocked Dwayne standing at the end of the couch, He doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t move to get a proper look at the box because he already knows what it is. Between that and your behavior, he isn’t so stupid to miss what’s going on. But he needs to hear it.

A shaky exhale comes out while your wring your hands. “I didn’t- I couldn’t start it yet. Not until you got here.”

Your head falls back into its dour position. And that’s probably not the explanation that Dwayne needs or deserves, but it’s the best he’s gonna get. His movements are slow as he approaches, and the first contact he initiates is his hand on your shoulder. Gripping tight, wanting to convey that he’s here and you don’t have to be scared anymore.

“It’s alright, honey. I’m here now, so why dont’cha take it.” He bends over to pick up the box and hand it to you. And when you take it, Dwayne’s hand settles on top of yours. His thumb lightly caresses your skin, and when you look up to him, he’s wearing a soft smile.

It felt impossible to smile right now, but seeing Dwayne try to hard to give you strength....well, you’re starting to wonder why you were so nervous to tell him.

Your hands were a little shaky as you made for the bathroom. It made taking the test a little awkward, but Dwayne was patient. He doesn’t make a peep while waiting on the couch. And when you finally returned, his hands were clasped together. Leg bouncing up and down and eyes wide when they looked up. “How long until we know?” He asks immediately.

“Five minutes.”

“Alright. I’ll set a timer.”

You sit beside him on the couch as Dwayne sets his phone on the coffee table, alight with the numbers 4:59 and dropping by the second. It was going to be very long five minutes.

Your knee presses against Dwayne’s, but neither of you say anything. The air isn’t so casual to just ask how the other’s day has been, so far. Neither much cared about the case right now; not that you could stomach talking about a murder with a potential baby on the way...

God, what if it’s positive?

The thought didn’t hit you until just now, thirty seconds into the countdown.

What if you walk into the bathroom five minutes from now to find two little lines? Proof that your suspicions were true and you’ve had every reason to panic in front of Loretta this morning? And what would Dwayne do? Help raise a child? He’s been through so much the past year, and this is just about the biggest bombshell to drop on him.

Your knee retracts away from Dwayne’s. He notices and turns his head.

And he finds a thin layer of tears lining your eyes. They dart away just as soon as he meets them, but Dwayne is already turning toward you. His face is soft with concern and he puts a hand on your leg and you already know what he’s going to say.

“Hey, don’t cry, baby. It’ll be okay-”

“What if it’s positive, Dwayne?”

He’s silent. His hand on your leg tightens just a bit, but he says nothing. You suppose it’s a loaded question, but one that needs to be asked. After a few silent seconds, your gaze finally rises to meet Dwayne’s. He looks troubled; kinda like the way he looks when something’s not going right on a case. When all the cards are stacked against him.

But there’s something else in his eyes. A familiar hard determination that you’ve seen much more often than the troubled look he wears.

Dwayne leans in to press a long kiss against your forehead, and he doesn’t back away afterward. His head rests against yours, noses nudging just a bit while his hand comes to curve against your jawline. “If it’s positive, then we’ll get through it. Just like we get through everything else,” he says, voice more sturdy than you imagine he feels. “I’ll be with you, no matter what. And that’s a promise.”

And when Dwayne promises you something, it’s not easily broken.

So you nod a little, and for the first time today, you finally feel yourself relaxing. Feeling safe, like the world is no longer swaying under your feet. Dwayne’s lips quirk up in a soft smile before he leans in a bit closer to kiss you. A soft, loving kiss that you return with zeal.

He breaks the kiss with an even bigger smile, backing away. “And you know what? I like the idea of havin’ another baby.”

His statement makes you scoff, and despite the nerves, you’re smiling. “Really?”

“Sure. Maybe this ain’t how I expected it to go, but I wouldn’t mind. ‘Specially if you’re the momma,” Dwayne adds on softly. His thumb comes out to gently run against your cheek.

You believe him. Fully. When you lean your face against his hand, you’re reminded just how gentle he is. How good and patient and loving Dwayne can be, and how great a father he already is to Laurel. How could you have been so terrified? It’s hard to remember why, but the pangs in your chest is replaced with a soft warm feeling. Pure love.

Would he want a boy? Or maybe another girl? You don’t have the chance to ask before the timer goes off.

The soft look in Dwayne’s eyes falter a bit as his hand falls away. You’re both aware that you have to check the test before going any further. To confirm the pregnancy and finally move on from shock to joy. He stands slowly, a hand out to help you up. And together, you walk to the bathroom.

You’re the first one through the door with Dwayne in tow. He’s so close against your back - you feel his body heat. But right now, the only thing you’re focused on is the thin piece of plastic sitting on the counter. Your palms are sweaty, breathing suddenly becomes harder than it was before. Before you reach for the test, your eyes rise to Dwayne.

Neither of you can help the little smile you share.

There’s nothing you can think of that’s quite as lonely as a single line on a pregnancy test. Your eyes flicker to the side, reassuring yourself that two lines means that it’s positive. And even after shaking the damn thing, the second line doesn’t appear.

This should be a good thing. In reality, neither of you have the time for a baby. Not now, not in this job. Dwayne sure as hell has enough on his plate without needing to prepare for a child.

And yet, even knowing this, it doesn’t stop the disappointment from making itself known.

“It’s negative.”

Dwayne’s been looking over your shoulder; he saw the result for himself. But hearing you say it, voice flat and emotionless...well, he’s not totally sure what to say. Should he be comforting you? Or be happy? Neither felt right.

You turn and toss the test into the garbage before looking up to Dwayne. He’s watching you with careful eyes; so prepared to come in and be there if you suddenly start crying again. And at that second, he was ready to promise you anything. He’d give you a baby, if you really wanted it.

But you just offer a small smile and move past him toward the door. Your hand briefly catches his and squeezes it, but it doesn’t stay. “We should get back on the case,” you mumble out before disappearing out of the bathroom.

Dwayne lags behind. His eyes flicker to the test lying in the trash; a stupid little piece of plastic that somehow got him to want a baby more than he wants anything.

He turns away from it and follows you out of the bathroom, flicking the light off as he leaves.