#tw: anger

[starleska]

If you're still open for requests, I was wondering if you had any thoughts or headcanons about what wally would be like when he's angry?

ooooh, this is a spicy request - i like it a lot 😈

i'm having a rough day and this felt cathartic, so thank you for sending this ask;;; i know there's a lot of demand for Wally with a bit of a dark side, and a touch more power...i hope this feeds those of you with that particular hunger 😉

content warnings for anger, violence, and...well, who knows what he did to that tourist?

Angry!Wally Darling headcanons

💢 Wally is rarely provoked to anger, but when he is, it's the chilling sort. it's unsettling, Wally's anger - he doesn't become violent, defensive, or raise his voice. instead, it's a noticeable evaporation of Wally's warmth that clues you in to his upset: like a hole cleaved clean through the sun. when Wally is angry with someone, you can see it in the way he behaves towards them - cordial, surface-level interactions far removed from his usual exuberance and affection. this is not a manipulative behaviour, nor does it appear to be a conscious one. the very existence of Wally's acceptable politeness in place of open-armed delight is enough to send shivers down anyone's spine.

💢 when Wally's very angry, he has a tendency to smile and laugh. Wally's anger is so infrequent that this particular trait is rarely seen, but when it is, it's quite frightening. the laughter is some sort of nervous energy on Wally's part: a body so unused to holding anger that it must behave in a contradictory fashion, finding a healthy release for all that adrenaline. even from a distance, you're sure to be disturbed. Wally's smile is incorrect - too large and strained, the physical manifestation of holding back a reaction far more explosive. likewise, Wally's angry laugh is not the usual, affable sound of a man pleasantly charmed. this laugh is punctuated harshly, each monotone syllable hitting like a hard rap on a door. it's thought by Wally's friends that his smiling and laughing is a desperate attempt to rectify his livid state. he isn't supposed to be angry, and that needs to be fixed.

💢 Wally has been known to...deal with...unsavoury characters who've pushed him beyond his limits - especially if they target his friends. it's in Wally's nature to be friendly and complimentary - even mild chastising is something he finds uncomfortable. so, what does Wally do when confronted with an excessively rude, aggressive, or even violent person? that is the eternal mystery to yourself and your neighbours, who have only witnessed this response once before:

a mouthy tourist to the Neighbourhood decided to pick a fight with Howdy Pillar over a made-up dispute, essentially attempting daylight robbery of his store. Wally, ever the diplomat, quickly intervened, and attempted to diffuse the situation with calming words. however, the tourist was having none of it, swearing and cursing and calling Wally names that no one had ever even thought in the Neighbourhood, let alone said. the altercation quickly turned physical, and the tourist directed his anger towards Howdy - but he never got the chance to land his punch.

Wally, his eyes as wide open as they can go, stared down the tourist, whose trembling fist halted just inches away from Howdy's face. Wally smirked, and said, his voice flat and glib, "Oh, friend. You shouldn't have done that."

as easily as moving a mannequin, Wally pushes down the tourist's arm and grabs him by the elbow. the tourist's mouth is open in an awful snarl, yet his eyes - fixed, staring ahead - shiver violently, his pupils unfocused and manic.

you, Howdy, and the rest of your gathered neighbours watched as Wally led the tourist from Howdy's store, and into the mouth of Home.

once he stepped over the threshold, the tourist was never seen again. hope you enjoyed this one 🥰

[sortofanobsession]

Will o’ the Wisp - Ch. 11 (Umbrella Academy Complete) Diego x Reader

Author’s note: The last chapter. I'm sorry this took so long. Rough translations in the end notes. (I'm not Spanish and haven't taken a course in it in 14 years, but to be fair neither of these characters are native speakers either. They would have learned it like anyone else.) While I was trying to finish this I did actually write most of the stories for season 2 and 3. Not sure if anyone would read those if I posted them. This one might get a POV shift and repost if I post those.

So as it goes, Y/N = your name. Y/N/N = your nickname. Reader pronouns She/Her.

Tag Requests are Open just message me.

Primary Pairing: Diego Hargreeves x Female!Reader (Slow Burn Season 1)

Series/TUA Masterlist

Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10

Summary: Events of Episode 1x10 The White Violin: The siblings deal with the crumbling academy. They regroup and make a plan that ultimately leads them to The Icarus Theater to confront their soloist sibling.

Content Warning: building collapse, canon character death, canon typical violence, head trauma, concussions, fighting, gun violence, bleeding, injury, language, history of abuse, PTSD, knives, anger, angst, family drama, failure.

Chapter 11: A Standoff and a Show

Y/N focuses back in on the Wisp as Viktor seems to have a conversation with himself. She wishes she could say something. That the Wisp could actually convey something helpful. But she can’t. 

"Thank you for trying, Y/N/N,"  Viktor says, glancing at the Wisp. "I hope this won't hurt you." He apologizes to the Wisp before he uses his powers to take out the bunker wall. He ends up taking out the Wisp in the process. 

It feels unusually painful when the wave of destruction hits the Wisp, causing Y/N to gasp violently. She would have stumbled if Diego hadn't been dragging her along. No one had ever essentially snuffed out one of her forms before but her. 

"Hey!" Diego shouts after trying to get her attention for a few seconds. "You okay?" She stared at him wide-eyed. "No one has ever…the Wisp it-" she shivered, and he pulled her closer to him. They are too distracted to notice the ceiling above them give way. She and Diego are knocked out cold as part of it hits them. Klaus shouts for them. A larger section begins to separate. Klaus manages to pull her out of the way, and luckily, Ben somehow manages to pull Diego out of the way as a huge slab of the ceiling falls and would have crushed them. Klaus manages to get his sister up, but she’s still confused and off-kilter so he half drags her with him. His other arm pulls his half-stunned brother. Thankfully, Diego recovers enough to move on his own quickly. She seemed so bewildered as they make it outside. They beg Grace to come out, to try and save herself, but she doesn't.  It's too heartbreaking to think about. So Klaus focuses on his sister.

“Come on, Sunshine. You’re freaking me out more than this place falling apart.”

“Sorry,” she mumbles. She reaches up to get a look at the cut on her brother’s forehead.

“Want me to?” she holds up her hand, but before she can even try to see if her powers she can control her powers while this out of sorts. They both turn their attention to Diego as he clamors over into the rubble of what was their childhood home.

“Mom, mom! Guys, come here. Help me search!” Diego looks around the rubble frantically searching for Grace. Klaus looks at his sister and she shakes her head. 

“Diego,” Klaus starts. “Just stop.”

“What?” Diego looks up at him confused as Klaus tries to pull him away. Y/N moves closer. Diego tries to go back to searching. “What are you-” Diego resists as Klaus continues to try and pull him away. Y/N cringes at the way Klaus pulls on their brother’s injured arm. But it doesn’t seem to phase Diego. “Let me go! What are you doing?” Diego’s eyes snap to hers. “Y/N, help me, mi luz.” She smiles sadly, and despite the uneasy feeling and pressure behind her eyes, she decides to help him her own way. Ignoring her doubt and pain, she draws on the Wisp. It takes her longer than usual to pull enough strength, but she manages. She uses the weakened orb to search the rubble at light speed. 

“Diego,” she starts as her vision adjusts, but Klaus has managed to pull him to his feet.

“Stop, stop!” Klaus tells him. “She’s gone. She’s-she’s gone, okay?” Diego doesn’t want to believe it. He looks over at their sister. 

“I’m sorry, Diego,” she puts a hand on his chest. “I checked. It’s just rubble.” She lets that sink in. "I know this is hard for you. No one loved her as much as you did. But we need to focus. I need you to focus. Because we can’t lose anyone else." 

“What do you wanna do?” Diego challenges. “You wanna... wanna…w-w-walk away from this? What about Pogo?” 

“He didn’t make it,” Luther says.  

“What?” Diego asks as they all turn to their approaching siblings. Allison goes over to hug her sister. The silent sister pulled back to get a look at the other. The blood on the usually glowing sibling was a stark contrast with her unusually pale completion. Allison tries to wipe off some of the blood. She also doesn't like the way their brother is supporting most of her weight. Diego keeps a tight grip on her as he talks to Luther. Glancing over at the sisters now on and off.

“Viktor killed him,” Luther states.

“But Viktor wouldn’t…” their brother says.

“No, I saw it,” Luther insists. “Just before we got out.”

“I'm mostly just tired,” Y/N assures her as she continues to check for worse injuries. 

The brothers continue. “Mom. Now Pogo.” Diego, consciously or not, pulls his luz closer as he tries to process everything that has happened. It finally registers how shaky she is. He ignores the ache in his bad arm as he reaches his hand over and takes her wrist. Solid pulse but her temperature seemed off again. Chilled for her. Allison was clearly onto something, fussing over their sister. But he didn't have time to figure it out. Five shows up with unsettling news. 

“Guys,” Five starts. “This is it. The apocalypse is still on. The world ends today.”

“I thought you said it was over,” Luther says.

“I was wrong, okay?” Five admits. “This newspaper, I found it in the future

the day I got stuck. The headline hasn't changed.”

“No, that doesn't mean anything,” Diego insists.  

“Time could've been altered since that newspaper came out this morning.” 

“You're not listening to me,” Five continues. “When I found it, I assumed this place came down along with everything else. But here we are. The Moon's still shining, the Earth is in one piece.”

“Five…” his closest sibling starts. 

“But not the Academy.”

“I'm confused,” Klaus states.

“Then listen to me, you idiot!” Five shouts. “Viktor destroys the Academy before the apocalypse.” Five sighs. “I thought Harold Jenkins was the cause, but he was the fuse. Viktor is the bomb. Viktor causes the apocalypse.”

“We have to find him.”

Sirens can be heard in the distance as well as the whirling of helicopter blades. 

“We gotta go, now,” Diego says. He takes his sister's shaking hand in his and squeezes it. He gets an uneasy feeling in his stomach when he realizes the wisp is still nowhere to be seen. Something that only usually happens when it rains or she is in a crowd trying to blend in. She rarely kept her light to herself. Her lack of a bright glow didn't bode well, but he didn't have time to do anything about it now. Once they got where they were going, he would deal with it. 

“Regroup at the Super Star. Go!”

“Whoa, hey,” Diego asks as they make their way into the bowling alley. In the bright lights, he gets a good look at her and it worries him. “You don't look so good.” He leads her to a bench near the door and helps her sit. “How are you feeling?” He brushes the hair out of her face and tips her head back slightly to see her face. He barely gets a look at her bloodshot eyes as she winces at the harsh fluorescent lights.

“Head hurts,” she admits. “But it's fine.”

“It's not fine, you got knocked out. Where exactly-” he lets her lower her head as he runs his fingers carefully through her hair for serious injuries. Her breath hitches and she whimpers as he finds a nasty bump. It tugs at something in his chest as her shaking fingers grip at his jacket.

“Lo siento, mi luz,” he says as he shifts. He gently guides her to lean into his shoulder when he sits down beside her.

“Lets just regroup,” she tells him. “Then figure it out.”

“Right, okay,” he keeps her tucked into his side while he keeps an eye out for the others. He ignores the odd looks from employees. 

Klaus comes over when he sees them. 

“Boy am I glad to see you guys,” he says. 

“Stay with her,” Diego says in a slight whisper.

Klaus gives him an odd look at how she didn't protest to being shifted around by her brothers. She just leans into Klaus much like she had in the car.

“How hard did that ceiling hit you?” Klaus mutters as Diego leaves. It seemed odd that Diego was up and moving like barely anything happened but she was practically out cold again. No one around them can hear how Ben complains she needs sleep as he worriedly studies his sister. 

Klaus hums in agreement but doesn't say anything else until Diego comes back and tosses a bag and some bowling shoes on the bench. 

“Come on,” Diego says as he wakes her up enough to get her on her feet. He takes most of her weight again as he does. “And bring all that.” 

He leads them to a lane and gets their sister settled on a bench. 

“Put those on,” Diego gestures to the bowling shoes as he grabs the small duffle bag.

“Where did you get that?” Klaus asks. 

“Locker,” Diego tells him as he tugs a zipper hoodie out of the bag. 

“What are you doing?” Klaus asks.

“Will you just do what I told you to and keep an eye out for the others?” Diego grits out before turning back to Y/N. “Work with me here, Luz.”

Klaus watches as his brother helps her get out of her jacket. He shakes some of the debris and dust off it as he tosses it aside. Klaus wasn't sure the last time he saw his grumpy brother act so gentle. Even Ben finds it interesting as Diego adjusts the clearly oversized hoodie on the female and carefully zips it up. He pulls the hood up to shield her eyes from the light.

“Los demás llegarán pronto. Sólo relájate por ahora,” Diego quietly tells her. He goes to pull away to make sure Klaus had actually done what he asked when her hand grips his.

“Don’t leave me,” she begs. And whatever he was planning on doing doesn't matter. 

“Not going anywhere, Luz,” he assures her as he sits down beside her. “Not going to let anything happen either.” 

He puts his arm around her and she snuggles into him. Klaus is damn near giddy when Diego looks up at him.

“Don't start,” Diego cautions. “She's exhausted and hurt.”

So Klaus doesn't ask about the fact the two siblings used to hate each other are now cuddled on a bench. “Why am I not surprised you have a locker here with a bug out bag? That is just the most you thing ever.”

“It's called being prepared,” Diego states. “Be useful and put names in, will you?” 

The rest of their siblings join them, except of course Viktor. 

Allison goes over and tugs her sister up and leads her to the ladies' room. Allison raises an eyebrow at Diego’s sweatshirt. The slightly glowing sibling shrugs because she didn’t hate it. And she was too exhausted to be embarrassed. It was clean and warm and it smelled like Diego. Allison’s amusement disappears at the amount of dirt and blood that comes away as Y/N washes her face as best she can. 

“I’m mostly just tired,” Y/N tells her sister.

Allison scribbles on her notepad. ‘Because of blood loss.” Then Allison points at her throat.

“It’s not that,” the light bender assures her. “It’s from the Wisp. It was in the bunker when V took it down.” Allison looks like she is about to ask another question. “We should get back. We need a plan.”  

Their names are on the scoreboard above the lane as they return. Y/N drifts in and out where she is stretched out across one of the three-seat benches. Her jacket under her head. It's not comfortable but she doesn't have to hold her head up. Without getting up she uses an orb to knock the pins down when it is her turn. She doesn’t care if draws extra attention. Diego takes a frame for her when she is too out of it to notice. She tries to listen as they talk. 

"How you feeling, Sunshine?" Klaus kneels next to her. She cracks one eye open at him and regrets it. He puts his hand up to shield her eyes from the harsh lights, tugs the hood back over her eyes with his other hand. "That bad huh?"

"Honestly, I've never felt anything like that, Klaus. Worse than when Dad would try to drown the Wisp in training. My fully formed Wisp was snuffed out like it was nothing. Not just dampened or forced to shift. It was stamped out. Extinguished. It wasn't like when I let one fade it was like…you know when you put a lid on a candle and the flame dies as it burns through the only oxygen until it can't sustain it?"

"Yeah," Klaus says.

"The smoke builds up, and the oxygen is just gone."

"I'm following," he says.

"It was like that but in an instant. The Wisp was gone, and it was like nothing was there, then that build-up was in my head. Like my powers didn't have what they needed to work, and my brain couldn't process it for a moment. Then it came back, but the pressure had done its damage."

"Okay,” Klaus nods. “Forget the bowling. You just take it easy."

“You sure?” she asks.

“Yup,” he assures her. “Let the Wisp recover.”

"I'll do my best," she smiles. 

Klaus takes her next frame, but slowly the siblings begin to focus more on the planning than the bowling. 

“Hello! I hate to intrude…” the female employee says to them. “But my manager says if you’re not gonna bowl, you gotta leave.” To emphasize the point, the manager slaps a set of bowling shoes on the counter. 

“Whose turn is it?” Diego asks.

“Oh for-” Luther hurls a bowling ball like it was made of nothing without looking behind him, and it clatters a few lanes over towards the pins. It would have been comical if their situation wasn’t so dire. 

“We're the only ones capable of stopping this,” Luther states. “We have a responsibility to Dad.”

“To Dad?” 

“No, I've heard enough about-”

Even Y/N groans because she is done doing anything for the man who used to use her against her family.

“He sacrificed everything to bring us back together,” Luther argues. 

“I'm with Luther on this one,” Five says. “We can't give him a chance to fight back. There are billions of lives at stake. We're past trying to save just one.”

“Hey, you know, guys, uh maybe I could help,” Klaus offers. That gets his lounging sister's attention. She sits up and pulls the hood back to fully join the conversation. Five and Luther seem very annoyed by that offer. 

“Now is not the time.”

“No, let him finish,” Diego interjects to support Klaus. “He saved our lives today. Mine and Y/N.”

“Is that true?” their brother asks, looking at the three of them. 

“Why would Diego lie?” Y/N asks.

“Yeah, yeah, I did take credit for it. And I did save Sunshine,” Klaus says, smiling at her. “But it wasn't all me. In fact, the real hero was Ben. Today. Listen. Today, he punched me in the face.” Y/N didn't think he was lying but still looked at him in confusion. He continues. “And earlier at the house, he was the one who saved Diego's life, not me.” 

“You are unbelievable, Klaus.”

“Come on, you guys. He has a point, I think. I mean, I was out of it,” she shakes her head. “How could he have saved both of us on his own? I was already dead weight. How could he have gotten me out and Diego?” They still look like they don’t believe him.

“You want proof, is that it? All right. I'll give you proof.” Klaus picks up a bright pink bowling ball. “All right, it's showtime, baby. Catch!” He throws a bowling ball, and nothing happens. The ball just hits the ground and bounces away. She sighs. She loved her ridiculous brother and she didn't think he was lying. She just didn't know what to believe. 

“Is there any way to silence that voice in your head that screams out to be the center of attention?” Luther asks him. 

“You know, I liked you a lot better before you got laid,” Klaus retorts without thinking. He tries to backpedal when he realizes how Allison reacts. “Which was a complete It It wasn't his fault, 'cause he was ridiculously high, right? And the girl, she thought he was a furry.”

“Stop!”  

“Okay.”

“Allison, wait.” Luther goes after Allison. Y/N shakes her head and lays back down, and mostly tunes out. Using the same sort of focus on her surroundings as her body gets when she utilizes the Wisp. The only difference is her powers are still inside her. It isn’t something she usually let herself do. It would usually make her paranoid, but Diego and Klaus had made it clear they wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Five was there too. Nothing was getting past all three of them. Her glow was masked by the harsh fluorescent lights and the neon lights around them. She tunes back in when an unfamiliar voice speaks.

“Excuse me!” The overly cheery woman’s voice says as she approaches. “It’s my son Kenny’s birthday today. And wouldn’t your son be happier with kids his own age? Assuming that’s okay with your two dads.” Diego just stares at the woman as Klaus looks over at Diego. Y/N tries so hard not to laugh from where she is sprawled out across the bench of seats across from them. Her eyes closed against the fluorescent lights.  

“I would rather chew off my own foot,” Five hisses.

“Let’s go, Kenny,” the woman says as they hurry away.

“If I were going to date a man, you’d be the last one I would date,” Diego tells Klaus.

“You’d be lucky to get me,” Klaus teases. “But you're sweet on Sunshine, aren't you, tough guy? What do you call her, your light?”

She tunes out the two as they argue. She doesn’t even open her eyes when she feels someone standing over her. She doesn’t need to in order to know who it is. She can just tell it’s Diego. “You worry too much. It radiates off you more than I do light.” She reaches up blindly and pats his chest, the handle of a knife cold against her palm. “I’m fine, just not feeling the bright lights.”

“Come on, sit up,” he says. 

“You just don’t want to be mistaken for Klaus’ boytoy again,” she grumbles but sits up anyway. She leans back against him once he sits down. He rubs her temples like he always sees her doing. She groans and pretty much melts into him.  He grins to himself.

“When I asked you two to get along, I didn’t mean that well,” Five states. 

“Fuck off,” Diego says, as he keeps the pressure on her temples.

“Well, you get what you get, and you don’t get upset,” she mumbles.

“It’s almost more annoying than when you two constantly fought,” Five says.

“Nah, you missed the worst of it,” Klaus tells him. “It’s amazing Diego didn’t spontaneously combust some days from her glaring. Especially one time he cut off a chunk of her hair in training. I’m shocked no one had to call the fire department on that one.” Klaus kept talking, she ignores him.

 "Cariño," she says as she pats Diego's leg. "Agradezco la ayuda, pero tienes que seguir jugando a los bolos o nos echarán." 

"Está bien,” he nods. “Está bien." He helps her sit up and kisses her forehead. Klaus smirks at that and nods when Ben says he'll watch her so she doesn't fall over.

Klaus and Diego take turns bowling.

She is pretty sure she dozed off for a few because she wakes up to dark lenses of sunglasses covering her eyes and leaning against Diego. She isn't sure who managed to put the sunglasses on her without her even feeling it or waking up. But she gives up on that line of thought as Luther asks. "All right, where's Five?" 

"He left." She looks around, not sure what she was expecting. Their brother has seemingly vanished again. Something else she slept through.

"Oh, for the love of-Where'd he go?" Luther asks. 

"Didn't tell us."

"Well, we're not waiting around for him."

"The concert starts in 30 minutes."

"All right, so what's the plan?" 

Diego gets up to make sure he's ready now that he wasn't being used as a pillow. He checked his knives were all in place. 

"Well, I think that," Luther says. "Uh We go to the Icarus Theater."

"That's a location, not a plan." Diego points out.

"What?"

"Is that all you got?” Diego asks. “Look, you wanna be Number One, fine, but you're gonna have to get us on the same page, because right now, we're all over the place."

"You're right. We need a plan."

The bullets start flying as soon as the armored, glowing-eyed and gas-masked gunmen enter the bowling alley.

"Get down!" 

They all scramble for cover.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Diego asks. He pulls Y/N tight to his chest as they shelter from the bullets. She is sandwiched between Diego and Luther. Both keeping her blocked. She has one hand gripping the arm around her torso. The other grips the arm that Luther had thrown out to help cover them. Or keep her upright. She isn't sure. 

“Maybe they’re here for Kenny’s birthday!" Klaus shouts from where he and Allison hide.

"No, I'm pretty sure they're here for us!" Luther argues.

"They're blocking the exits."

"Diego," she says. He looks down at her. 

"I got you," he says. "Just stay close and don’t let go." He throws a knife with enough force to knock one of the gunmen out. The masked figure taking out the lights as they did. Black lights, neon signs, and the persistent glowing from Y/N's powers light the area. She takes advantage of the darkness and throws out multiple forms of the Wisp to try and confuse and disorient their attackers while the others use whatever they can find, including Kenny's birthday cake, to make an escape. Diego takes her hand and leads her while both continue to defend and defect any oncoming attacks. They made their way up the lanes without falling somehow. The Wisp hold the gunman off long enough to keep anyone from getting shot. Between adrenaline and her little nap, she was managing better than she had been before.

Diego's hand has barely left hers since he took it so he could pull her along with him. He let go only long enough for her to get past the machinery of the lane. And again when she superheated both hands to melt the lock on the door they ran out of in order to slow down their pursuers. She quickly found his again once her's were cool enough to touch. If anyone noticed they haven't mentioned it. Even as they pass under the brightly lit marquee. 

Allison stops Luther making all of them stop as they clear the lobby and reach the stairs. 

“Wha…” a confused Luther starts but stops when she holds up a note saying she needs to go alone. 

“Allison, I can't let you do that, all right? She's beyond reasoning.”

“You hear the music?” Diego asks. Y/N nods. He turns back to the others. “It's started.”

“Do you honestly think she's gonna listen?” Luther pushes. “After everything that's happened?”

“We don't have time for this,” Klaus says.

“Okay,” Luther agrees to let Allison go in alone. They watch as Allison leaves. 

“You're using her as a distraction, aren't you?” Diego asks Luther.

“It's our best chance to incapacitate Viktor,” Luther reasons. “She'll thank us later.”

“For the record, I hate this plan,” Y/N states as Diego starts up the stairs, a slight tug at their joined hands has her following.

“Noted,” Luther says as he starts to go as well. 

“So, what's the plan?” Klaus asks. 

“Uh,” Luther turns back to tell him. “You wait out front.”

“What?” Klaus asks.

“Yeah, you’re the lookout.”

“The lookout?” Klaus asks in disbelief. He looks up at his sister, who had forced Diego to stop, much to his annoyance. She looks back at Klaus.

“You and Ben, two sets of eyes,” she assures him as Diego tugs again to get her moving. “You’ll do great!” She adds before she is dragged too far for him to hear. 

Diego drops her hand and opens the backstage door. She hurries inside and moves to get a good look at the stage. 

She looks on in awe as Viktor plays. She feels Diego step beside her. She looks at him. He looks back at her. He thinks for a second how this all might end with them all dead and this may be their last moment of peace, ever.

"Fuck it," he mutters before pulling her into a kiss. She is shocked but recovers quickly and kisses him back. They pull apart for air. He notices the light coming off her is warm and golden for the first time in over a decade. 

She wishes they could stay like that forever. Unfortunately, their little bubble is shattered by an object hitting the floor beside the. They look up to see Luther glaring at them and gesturing towards Viktor. Diego looks over at her one last time. 

“Stay here, maintain visual, use the Wisp if you see an opportunity,” Diego instructs.

“Be careful,” she tells him. He nods. They both look at Luther. Diego signals he's ready. 

While Viktor has his focus on Allison, Diego and Luther go in for the ambush.

Viktor knocks them back with a blast. Y/N curses but stays in the wings. Not willing to risk a move too soon.

“She's stronger than expected,” Diego says as he sits beside Luther. 

"Yeah," Luther agrees but is distracted when something hits him in the head. He turns to see Allison. “Yeah. We're fine, thanks for asking," Luther says to a clearly frustrated Allison. Luther continues trying to rationalize their actions.“Look, I almost lost you once, all right?” Luther tells her. “I wasn't about to lose you again.”

“Well, so much for the element of surprise,” Diego complains. “What else you got?”

Allison hit the seat to get their attention. She mimics playing a violin. 

“No shit, Allison,” a frustrated Diego says, “Tell us something we don't already know.”

“She's talking about the violin,” their brother says. “It's her lightning rod. If we can take it from her and stop her from playing, we might have a shot.”

“I told Y/N if she gets a shot with the Wisp to take it,” Diego tells them.

Allison throws a shoe that was near her at him.

“Believe me, I don’t like it either,” Diego glares at her. “But what was I supposed to do, tell her to stay outside with Klaus? She still only listens to me about half the time. She’d never have gone for that.” 

Still backstage Y/N doesn’t bother summoning the Wisp. She slowly makes her way on stage. She puts her hands up as she nears the conductor. Trying to signal for him to leave but he and the musicians looked more scared of what their soloist might do if they stopped. So they kept going. Viktor’s eyes locked on his glowing sister's. She lets her light show, attempting to distract him long enough for their siblings to come up with something. 

Allison hits the seat again to get their attention. They look at her and she points at the stage. The glow from Viktor now joined by their sister’s. 

Diego curses. “I told her to stay put.”

“She’s made it closer than we did.” Luther states. 

They watch as Y/N reaches a hand out to Viktor. Viktor’s gaze narrows at her but is drawn away as the armed gunmen storm in. Whether intentional to get her off the stage or to just knock everyone back, Viktor sends out another burst that sends Y/N offstage. Diego doesn’t hesitate to run towards her. Allison and Luther not far behind. 

“Luz!” Diego helps her sit up. “Talk to me, Luz.”  

She groans. “Hurt less than the first time, but damn. I think my concussion has a concussion,”  

The gunmen shoot at the area around the. Y/N throws a fully formed Wisp out to get an better vantage point, as Diego pulls her down to cover her. She curses as her usual tricks don’t work because of the lighted goggles. 

“What the hell happened to Klaus,” Diego shouts Luther. “He’s supposed to be our lookout!” 

“Yeah, are you surprised?” Luther asks.

“Those stupid goggles! I can’t do shit like this!” Y/N shouts. Her body no longer glowing but her eyes shine bright. She continues, “I either have to go hands-on or-”

“Don’t even think about it!” Diego refuses. 

“You want me to just sit here and do nothing?” She hisses.

“Be a better lookout!” he suggests. 

She looks over at Luther. “Can’t hurt,” Luther adds, “You can at least tell us where they’re at.”

“Fine!” She shouts. Just as Five reappears in the aisle.

"What's with all the lollygagging?" Five asks.

"Five, get down," their brother demands.

"Y/N, do it,” Luther tells her. 

She and Diego share a look before she seems to steady herself and starts to pull away. He knows he told her to do it, but his instinct is to pull her back and keep her sheltered, but he sees the way her fists are starting to glow, her eyes bright to match. She nods. He nods back. They had to do something. The Wisp glides above them with ease. As she start to relay numbers and locations, Klaus comes running in. “Guys, it’s Cha-Cha! It’s Cha-Cha. She’s come!” He ducks as the gunmen take aim at him. Five teleports onto the back of the nearest gunman. The Wisp drops in front of another one. She superheats the Wisp and pushes it forward, focusing the heat on the masked figure’s ammo clip. Igniting the gunpowder in the rounds, sending shrapnel into the air and the gunman. She goes to repeat the process but she’s not sure how long she can actually keep it up. She’s out of practice, recovering from being shot, she has a concussion and a desperate need for sleep, but she keeps going. Adrenaline flows and she knows she needs to focus. Her attention is drawn as she hears her siblings.

"Is that?"

"Ben?" 

Klaus had managed to summon Ben with his powers, and Ben uses his powers to take out the gunmen. She pushes Diego off of her to get a better look. To confirm what she is seeing from the Wisp. 

She half sobs her mind trying to wrap around not only seeing her lost brother but at seeing his power from dual perspectives. She wants to never forget that moment. The ghostly tentacles whip past her and the Wisp with precision as they find their targets.

“Now who’s the lookout?” Klaus says, clearly proud of himself.  

“Me you dumbass, since when could you do that?!” She shouts at him.

Diego sees his opportunity as his siblings argue and goes after Cha Cha when the assassin stepped on stage. Cha Cha was focused on the chaos the siblings were creating. He glances at his siblings, Klaus and Y/N now together. Diego knows this is probably his only shot at revenge. So he takes it. After a bit of a scuffle He manages to get the upper hand and Cha-Cha is at his will. He could kill her. He should kill her for Patch. For all the people she has killed with no remorse. They had injured not just him but his siblings. She deserved it for what she did to Klaus. But what Five said to him gives him pause. He had meant it when he said that Eudora had seen the good inside, despite seeing the worst in the world. ‘Well, I'm sure she'll be proud to know that you're killing Hazel and Cha-Cha as a way to honor her memory’. That is what Five had said. In that moment, when the academy still existed, Diego had looked to Luz. She didn’t admonish him. She didn’t say anything. She just gave him a sad smile. She had always been the one to challenge him when he was about to do something stupid. If the world wasn’t ending and she wasn’t fighting her own fight, would she try and convince him not to do this? She would probably tell him to focus. That she needed him. That he could still make the right decision.   

The eighth sibling looked over at the first. As they started to refocus on Viktor. 

"You got closest, see what you can do!" Luther tells the one sibling who seemed to actually be willing to take orders from him right now. She nods and splits her attention to the Wisp to try and get to Viktor. She starts to get that uneasy feeling she felt at the academy.

"Luther!" Her glowing eyes lock on his. "I'll try, but V has taken the Wisp out once already today, I'll have one shot at that violin! No recovery time! This is it!”

"If we fail it won't matter!" 

"Well then, I guess I'll see you on the other side, Number One!” She splits her focus and inches both the Wisp and her glowing physical form down the aisle.

"What did she mean about the Wisp?" He asks Klaus. 

"Viktor snuffed the Wisp out in the bunker. Her powers freaked out, saying it was like putting the lid on a candle and it dies from lack of oxygen. It was like her powers didn't have what they needed to work, and it took a minute to get them back. That’s why we were trying to get her to rest instead of bowling."

Allison glares at him.

"Why didn't she say anything?" Luther asks.

"She did to me. And Allison probably would have asked if she could. You just didn't.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?!” Luther shouts.

“You were mad about Five and then bullets!”

"That would explain why she said she'd have one shot," Luther admits. They look over at their glowing sister. “She’s our best shot right now, If she fails or worse dies-” Allison shoves his shoulder despite it having little effect.

"Let's not find out," Klaus says. "Apocalypse be damned, Diego might kill all of us if that happens." He looks at Luther. “Especially you.”

“Why me?”

“You told her to do it,” Klaus says. Luther looks at Allison and she shrugs. 

Luther goes to say something but stops when Diego rejoins them. 

"Oh, welcome back."

"Where were you?" 

"Honoring a memory," Diego says. Allison squeezes his shoulder. 

"What is she doing?"  Diego asks as he looks over both Y/N and the Wisp. 

"Trying to use the Wisp to get the violin from Viktor. But she said Viktor took the Wisp out already, and she has one shot."

“And you all are just going to sit here and watch?!”

"Well, let's give her a hand."

"How?"

"We surround Viktor."

"All right? We come at him from all angles."

"So it's a suicide mission."

"Yeah, but one of us could get through."

"And Y/N has a head start and the best odds."

"It's the only chance we've got."

"Are we all in?"

"Yeah."

"All right."

"Allison?” 

“Stage left,” Luther says nudging Diego. He indicates himself. “Stage right..

"You guys back Y/N up and take the front."

Allison tries to get his focus. To try and get him to consider Viktor and other options. 

"I'm sorry,” he tells her. "There's no time, Allison. If she finishes this concert, the world goes up in flames. Do this for Y/N. We can save her.”

She hears Klaus's voice in her ear. "Stay behind us." She nods and shifts enough of her concentration to move when he does. She barely had it in her but she does it. 

The rush of air from the constant vibrations and force of V’s powers had her straining. Viktor was strong, but their powers had been dulled for years. Y/N always had hers. She should be stronger.  

“Now!” her brother calls.

She gives everything she can spare over to the Wisp. She could feel her body struggling, but she ignored it. Ignored how every little scrape and bruise, even the air in her lungs, seemed to burn. But she pushed forward until Viktor’s power latched onto the Wisp. Quickly draining the lighted form. The shock of the loss has her body falling but never hitting the ground. She feels someone has caught her. 

“I can’t-it’s-,” her voice is broken and almost too quiet, but the figure holding her hears it tightens their grip. She tries to clear her vision, and it takes a few tries before she is successful. 

“Ben,” she sobs when she realizes who it is. Ben had gotten Klaus to true again when he realized what was happening. Klaus hadn't argued when he'd glanced back to see fresh blood drops in the floor. He wished he could see her face but her eyes had been too bright. So he focused and let Ben help. 

She stares at her long lost brother, but can only focus for a second before she feels Viktor's powers latch on to her physical body this time. The ghostly form of Ben fading. She strains to see others suffering from the same treatment. She can barely keep her eyes open.

Allison puts an end to Viktor's rampage by firing a gun next to Viktor's ear. Y/N can't brace herself enough as she hits the ground. Y/N tries to pull on any energy she still has left in order to stand up but she fails, causing her to whimper.

"Shhh, it's okay." Klaus gently rolls her onto her back and Diego  drops down beside her and pulls her against him. Klaus would almost laugh at how possessive it seems if everything didn't seem so desperate. Diego holds her so they can get a look at her. She looks so fragile and drained. Diego has never seen her push so hard. He carefully wipes blood away from the corner of her eyes before he pulls her tight against his chest. Kissing the top of her head. Klaus goes to checkmon the others. She curls up against Diego and hides her face in his neck. It feels like a part of her is missing. Like a piece of her soul is damaged. He manages. He holds her tight, but he feels her weakly push against him. He pulls back enough to see her.

“V…” she starts, trying to get to her feet. And he couldn't tell her no. Not after what just happened. Not with her blood stained cheeks and tear filled eyes. He doesn't have it in him. Diego helps her over to Viktor. She picks Viktor’s hand up off the floor and holds it tight. 

"Sunshine," Klaus smiles down at her before sitting beside her. 

“Klaus! Ben, he caught me. You-”

“He did, didn't he,” Klaus chuckles. “He watches over you when we're around just like you always did us.” She rubs at her face as the blood and tear mixture blocks her vision again. Diego stops her. She looks like she might go to tears again.

Klaus takes pity on her. "Oh Sunshine, what did you do?" He takes the edge of his vest and tries to clean some of the blood off her face and neck.

"Not a good look for me, huh?" She jokes. 

Klaus tuts. "You always look good, right, Diego?"

"She does," he agrees. She feels his answers rumble in his chest as she leans against him. 

 "And I'm the one with head trauma and maybe internal bleeding." She uses a shaky hand to wipe at her sore eyes again. This time Diego catches her hand and pulls it away. He knows her other one won't be letting go of Viktor's anytime soon. 

"You're gonna make it worse,” he tells her as he intertwines their fingers. “We'll get you cleaned up soon.”

She looks past him at the moon, Klaus follows her gaze.

"Well,” she does her best to look at Diego as she gestures weakly to the sky with their joined hands. “You won't have to worry about it for long, cari."

"Uh, Guys?” Klaus says. “You see that big moon rock coming towards us?"

"That's not good."

"So this is it, huh?” 

“So much for saving the world," Klaus says as he looks down at the dog tags.

"If only Sir Reginald could see us right now, huh?" Diego says. "The Umbrella Academy A total failure.” He stares up at the fractured moon. 

“At least we're together at the end,” Luther says. “As a family.”

“This doesn't have to be the end,” Five tells them.

“What? What are you saying, Five?”

“I think I have a way outta here,” Five says. “But you gotta trust me on this.”

The three brothers all reject that idea. Y/N smiles despite herself. These were her brothers after all.

“Well, then, we might as well accept our fate,” Five states. “Because in less than a minute, we're gonna be vaporized.”

Diego looks down at Y/N. She gives him the sad smile he’d only started to decipher because it’s heartbreaking for both of them. He’s pretty sure he’s right when she squeezes his hand. All he knows is this cannot be the end. He looks back at Five. 

“What's your idea, then?” 

“We use my ability to time travel,” Five starts to explain. “But this time, I'll take you with me.”

“You can do that?” Diego asks.

“I don't know.” Fives answers honestly. “I've never tried it before.”

“What's the worst that can happen?” Diego asks.

“You're lookin' at it.” Five states. “A 58-year-old man inside a child's body, so there's that.”

¿Qué te parece, luz?” He asks as he looks down at her again.

“No puede ser peor que esto,” she tells him.

“We’re in,” Diego says. 

“Yeah, whatever.” Klaus says. “I'm in.”

“Me too,” Luther agrees. “Allison?” Allison nods her agreement. “What about Ben?”

 “Great, yeah,” Klaus answers accurately for once. “He's in.”

“Okay, great,” Five says. 

Diego goes to pick Y/N up but she shakes her head.

"I think I can stand or...at least lean," she assures them. Klaus helps Diego get her up on her feet and she curls into Diego's side. Her head lulls against his shoulder. "I'm okay, I know you've got me," she assures him. She feels his lips press against her temple. 

"Luther, grab Viktor," Five tells him. 

Luther does it but he ask. "Wait, should we be taking him? I mean, if he's the cause of the apocalypse. Isn't that like taking the bomb with us?"

"The apocalypse will always happen,” Five states as he gets them to start joining hands. “And Viktor will always be the cause, unless we take them with us and fix them."

Diego puts wraps his arm just under Y/N's shoulder to keep her there. He wasn’t going to lose her now. Her hand searches blindly until Klaus grasps it tight. They anxiously watch as Five draws on a larger portion of his powers than usual. Diego hadn’t realized how much light was involved with so many of their siblings’ powers. Y/N, Viktor, Five. Even Klaus’s power had a glowing aspect to it. 

"Ah! It's working!” Five tells them. “Hold on! It's gonna get messy!"

They all vanish under Five’s powers.

[nemmienimbus]

Still trying to cope with the fact that Mammon screaming in pain and begging for mercy is a regular occurrence, and that we're supposed to think it's funny?? Like WHAT??

[valiisthea]

Sighs not my FFVII muses coming back because of Rebirth. I've sort of shelved Roche for now since I am enjoying getting to write with one vs writing him for now but he does still exist if wanted.

I'm gaining a lot of muse for Zack and Tifa on top of already having Reno, Leslie, Biggs, and Wedge.

But also my brain is still in a very bad place and everything changes in me at the drop of a hat so take it with a grain of salt.

It was really nice to be able to write some FF16 again too! Though for some reason, it was much easier to slip into Barnabas than it was Dion who I mained for HOW LONG sheesh.

Grief and anger mentions beneath the snip snip.

I'm stuck in the 'anger' portion of my grief. I have 3 free therapy sessions through my insurance specifically to address grief that I will be going to starting next week. But the anger is really starting to be coming intrusive and concerning. I'm misplacing it too. I can notice all of this AFTER the fact, but I can't seem to stop myself in the heat of the moment. Like, my dogs pissed me off so much last night that I legitimately threw a (very small) vacuum at my door. I also slammed a lot of doors and screamed incredibly loudly into a pillow before storming out of the house and angrily marching around dollar general until I felt okay enough to come home. My anger does not ever get taken out on people or animals, even when they're the reasoning behind it, so I'm really really glad for that. But I am not the 'throwing a vacuum, running out of the house, slamming doors" kind of person and I didn't like any of that at all. But I felt so out of control in the moment.

I do think the anger and lack of patience is from the grief. I think I flutter in and out of the anger stage of grief and sometimes it just gets to be too much and I'm overstimulated and I just sort of...lose it. So I'm glad I'll have the therapy to address that. As soon as I calmed down I was booking appointments so damn fast because it is NOT acceptable behavior.

Aside from that, things have been okay at best. I just want my grandma and she's not here and she will never be here again and it's not fair to her. I struggle with it every day. I know it's only been a month (on sunday) and that it's still fairly fresh, but I didn't expect it to still be eating at me THIS intensely at this point.

I miss my fiance. I want him to come back desperately.

I want to write more, I think it's helping a bit to get some anger and frustration out but my motivation is so lacking, I feel like I cannot start anything without my hand being held.

On a happier note....I started playing pocket frogs again and those lil froggies are so damn cute. If nothing else, I have my froggo babies. And my best friend has been shiny hunting pokemon at night for me to fall asleep to so I don't feel so alone. I super appreciate that so much. AAAAND Stuart has been playing Rebirth a little bit every afternoon too so I can see the game/story since I don't have a ps5 so that's been nice too <3

[brighteyedbushybrowed]

Hi!!!! I saw your Headcannon on Secondo with an affectionate reader and I though the idea of him raining down hellfire on someone was pretty cool! Can we maybe have some head cannons for an angry Secondo? Thanks and no pressure if not

We can absolutely have some angry Secondo headcanons! I will preface this with a content warning for anger, violence, struggles with dealing with emotions, Nihil being a shit father. If any of this is a trigger or makes you uncomfortable please don't read beyond the read more line!

Out of all his brothers, Secondo is the most well-known for his temper

Growing up with Nihil as his dad and an absent mother, Secondo felt a shit ton of pressure to be the perfect backup for Primo and to prove himself to be just as useful as his older brother and just as charismatic as his younger brother

And all of that pressure partnered with Nihil raising him with archaic, toxic beliefs surrounding emotions and masculinity means that Secondo isn't good at dealing with his own emotions

He was a particularly angry teen when compared to his brothers and Copia

Where Primo would seek to diffuse all tense situations before arguments could occur and Terzo was always able to charm his way out of arguments with his charm, Secondo was always getting into fights and arguments

His words could cut hit just as hard as his punches, always knowing just the right thing to say to get the reactions he wanted out of them

Of course, the nannies and caregivers in the Ministry did their best to steer him away from these sorts of behaviours

But Secondo never listened. Despite being the child always trying to impress and always obeying his father and exceeding his expectations, he didn't have that same need to obey nannies or caregivers

It takes Secondo getting hit so hard that he falls and suffers from a concussion during a drunken fight with another Cardinal at a Ministry party for him to finally listen and go to therapy

Years of therapy and working through his toxic views around emotions and masculinity have done him wonders

His anger is still something ugly and incredibly hurtful when someone is on the receiving end of it, but he doesn't get into physical fights anymore

He's not the violent man he was as a teen and young adult

Whereas before he would yell and deliver words that cut deep without hesitation in his temper, now he's far more sinister

It starts with passive aggression. Malicious compliance. Hinting that you should probably stop doing whatever is encouraging his wrath

If someone continues to make him angry however and they're not a loved one or someone he cares for deeply, that's when he'll unleash his temper

There's no violence, but personal space is thrown out of the window

Instead of the yelling and violence of his early years, instead there is an eerie, intimidating quiet as he closes the gap with an emotionless, terrifying glare

He never forget how to sense what would hurt someone the most, and he uses that to his advantage if someone has hurt a loved one of his particularly badly

Secondo also has his own secluded room in the abbey that gets refilled with breakable items for him to throw and smash when he needs to let his anger and emotions out without effecting you or anyone else around him

He uses it much more after he meets you because while he isn't the man he used to be that doesn't mean he didn't need to continue working on himself

If someone hurts or upsets you, they hurt and upset him and that simply will not do

An 'accident' may befall someone if they cause you physical harm and trauma

There are rumours whispered around the abbey that he had someone maimed for hurting you (these rumours are exaggerations, but he does nothing to deny them)

Everyone knows at this point to avoid angering him and getting him to those points, so thankfully it doesn't happen often

He's still a work in progress, and his overprotective streak is the one thing he hasn't managed to tame or overcome yet. But perhaps in time he will

Until then, the number one rule in the Ministry?

Don't piss of Secondo Emeritus. Just don't

[mothvalentino]

Woe to whoever was to encounter Valentino in his current state. He's roaming the town at night, a restless shadow slipping through filthy alleys, a half-finished bottle of vodka held in a white-knuckled grip. Snarling like a threatened dog in the darkness, cerise eyes narrowed in a menacing scowl, glowing with unbridled fury.

He's looking for trouble, no, he's begging for it. For an excuse to get his hands dirty, his claws itching to tear limb from limb, to smash someone's head against the brick. Over and over until nothing remains to destroy. Nothing but a new target.

A vein in his neck protrudes to a throbbing pulse, burning rage so all-consuming Val thinks he might actually explode if he doesn't find some way soon to let off steam. Anything to silence the chaos in his mind and heart. Why, oh why, is it never enough? How many times does he need to search the bottom of this pit? Ecstasy laced with emptiness. He loathes to know it never lasts.

[anon911andbuddie]

Hi I was wondering if you where still taking prompts if so I had an idea for a Eddie and Buck one where it’s after the lawsuit and Bucky is back working but everyone is avoiding him and when they get a call they leave him behind to clean. All the stress gets to him and one day while everyone is out on a call Bucky had another embolism. He calls 9-1-1 and another house saves him and the 118 comes back to blood on the floor and two fire fighters waiting to tell them what happened.

This one is long overdue. It has been started in my drafts for a long time. And I finally got to finish it. Hope you guys enjoy it.

-Scarlet ��

Content warnings: Blood, coughing, struggling to breathe, panic, fear, passing out, intubation, pulmonary embolism, ambulances, hospitals, pain, guilt, anger.

Away Team

Buck looked around the empty station and felt the pain in his chest get worse. The call had the full crew out. As the pain persisted Buck realized it wasn't the usual ache that came with working these days. No, this was a different but familiar pain. It hurt, and he felt a cough in his throat, even deep in his chest. He reached up to where his radio should be and remembered he didn't have his radio on him. Why would he? It was just another way for them to yell at him. So he grabbed his phone, and as stupid as it made him feel, he dialed 911. Coughing as he did. He did his best to explain between choking coughs and gasping breaths. He somehow managed to get his location out as he dropped to his knees in the vacant truck bay. He looked down and frowned. He'd just cleaned that floor, and now it had blood on it. Bobby was going to be so pissed. Buck could hear the dispatcher's voice through his speaker, but he was no longer able to understand her. He blacked out.

His consciousness returned with a sudden jolt. The coughing made his chest burn, and something was in his throat. It all hurt. A firm hand stopped him from pulling at the tube in his throat. 

"Easy, Buckley," an unfamiliar voice told him. "You're having a hard enough time already. No need to make it worse." How did they know his name? Where was he? Buck looked around and realized he was in an ambulance. He looked up to see a paramedic he didn't really know. The confusion must have been clear on his face because the paramedic sighed but smiled. 

"You called 911, do you remember?" He thought about it, and he remembered what had happened. He nodded as much as he could. 

"Okay, that's good," the paramedic smiled. "I'm Mel. I work with the 122."

Buck nodded again in acknowledgment.

"I have to ask, Buckley," Mel said. "Dispatch said you told her it was an embolism. You have one before?" 

Buck nodded. 

"You on blood thinners?"

He nodded again. 

"You take your meds today?"

Buck tried to remember if he did. He half shrugged, an action that didn't help his sore and exhausted body. 

"Okay," Mel nodded as she began to check his vitals again. "That is honestly more than I figured I'd get with the tube in. Just relax now, Buckley. We'll be at the hospital soon."

"You seeing this, Bobby?" Chim asked as they neared the station and saw a fire engine that didn't belong to their house in front of the bay's open doors. 

"Yeah," Bobby said as he eyes the truck as they got closer. 

"What the hell is the 122 doing here?" Eddie asked as they pulled in beside the engine. 

"Let's find out," Bobby said as he got out and approached the pair of firefighters that were blocking them from pulling into the station.

"Captain Nash?" One of the men asked.

"That's me," Bobby looked between the men. 

"Is that blood?" Eddie asked as he joined them. He looked around the empty bay. "Wait, where's-"

"Buckley will hopefully be at Good Samaritan by now," the second firefighter said.

"What happened?" Bobby asked, his heart rate picking up as he took it all in. There were discarded gloves and blood on the floor. 

"We were going to ask you the same thing," the first said.

"Who are you?" Chim asked.

"Morris and Jameson from the 122." The one named Jameson said.

"What happened to Buck?" Bobby asked.

"He called 911," Morris said bluntly. "Never had a call to another station before. Our captain said it never really happens.

"Why? Is he alright?" Eddie asked.

"He was coughing up blood," Jameson answered, gesturing to the spots on the floor. “Heard something about an embolism.”

"That can't be right," Eddie said. "He is on blood thinners." 

Morris eyed Eddie skeptically. "Diaz, is it? That's why we're here to talk to Captain Nash. Our captain has a few concerns."

"Where is your captain?" Chim asked. 

"He decided it best to go with Buckley," Jameson told him. “Said the guy sued the department once already and that he wanted to make sure he didn't have any reason to do it again. Best care and all that." 

"He dropped the suit," Hen said. 

Jameson shrugged. "They said that, but we're still confused on how an embolism risk is not only on duty but alone. That seems a bit-"

"He isn't working calls. That is why he was here," Bobby said. "A sort of light duty."

"So you're a man down on calls?"

"For now," Bobby said. 

"Riiight," Morris said. "Might be for a lot longer now."

"So he had another embolism?" Bobby tried to get the conversation back to how Buck is now. 

"It was what dispatch said he managed to say," Jameson answered. "She wasn't sure because sounded like the guy was coughing up a lung, and from how we found him, I believe it. The guy was collapsed on the ground struggling to breathe and coughing up blood. So seemed right to the medics. They got a tube in, we loaded him up and got him out of here."

"Oh, Buckaroo," Hen said as she shook her head. She reached over and gave Eddie's shoulder a squeeze. He'd gone quiet and a bit pale as they listened to them talk. 

"But honestly, we're a bit confused because Deluca used to talk about how close you guys are, but your own guy had to call for us? How does that even happen?"

"It is a long story," Bobby sighed. 

"We got until the boss calls us out, and I'm sure the chief will want to hear." With that, Bobby took the two firefighters to his office.

"You okay?" Hen asked Eddie.

"He is on the blood thinners. How could this happen?" Eddie asked, his eyes glued to the blood splatters on the ground. 

"Well, meds can fail," Hen said.

"But they usually don't-"

"He couldn't remember if he took them," they all looked up to see another member of the 122 come through the doors.

"What?" Eddie asked. 

"Or at least that was what I could figure out with just yes and no questions in the rig," she said. "He might be on them, but he had to have missed more than just one dose for this to happen." She gestured to the mess on the ground.

"He was awake? Is he okay?" Eddie asked. 

"He was conscious and as okay as someone can be with a tube shoved down his throat, though I guess his sister said he'd had a trach before, so I guess he has had worse."

"Maddie is there?" Chim said as he pulled out his phone. 

"If that is his sister, then she was on her way last I heard from my captain."

"But is he-" 

"As fun as this game of 20 questions is, where are Morris and Jameson?"

"In talking to our captain," Hen said.

"Can you take me to them?" The medic asked. 

"Sure, he'll be glad to hear Buck was awake." Hen said as she leads her toward Bobby's office. 

Chim pulled his phone from his ear. "Maddie's not answering."

Eddie rubbed at his face and looked down at the blood again. "Why wouldn't he call us?" 

"You're seriously asking that?" Chim said, causing Eddie to look up at him.

"What the hell does that mean?" Eddie said. 

"I mean, if you haven't noticed, this whole situation is a disaster. I thought that scene at the store was bad, but been more than a bit frosty around here since he came back."

"Don't you put this all on me. That’s-" Eddie said, a sharp edge to his tone.

"I'm not. I just-" Chimney started. 

"This is on all of us," Bobby said as he approached them. "But mostly me. I should have been keeping a closer eye on him." They all watched as the 122 went back to their vehicles and left. 

"Can we go see him?" Eddie asked. 

"After we get this place cleaned up."

Buck woke up to the sound of harsh whispers.

"No, this is all your fault. You had one job, to keep your team safe, including my brother. You don't get to pick and choose who on your team you care about. You are their captain, his captain-"

"Mads," Buck managed to call out. His voice sounded off to his own ears, and his throat felt like someone sandpapered it. But at least the tube was out. 

"Hey, take it easy. Your vocal cords took a bit of a beating," Maddie said as she rushed back to his side and held up a styrofoam cup with a straw. He took a drink, and it helped soothe his throat a bit, but not much. He looked up at the door and saw Bobby standing in it. Buck forced himself not to flinch but must have failed when he felt his sister squeeze his hand. 

"This is what I didn't want to happen," Maddie glared at Bobby. "You-"

"I know this is my fault," Bobby said. "I know I failed Buck. I figured he'd be fine at the station, that he-"

"He is sitting right here," Buck grumbled.

"I know, and I am so sorry Buck," Bobby said. "This should never have happened I-"

"If the 122 hadn't read you the riot act, would you even be here?" Maddie asked.

"Of course, he is still a part of the team, still one of us." Bobby nodded.

"Got a funny way of showing it," Maddie huffed.

"Maddie," Buck cautioned. 

"No, Evan," Maddie held his hand between hers. "They treated you terribly. You dropped the suit and did everything they asked, and they still let this happen."

"They didn't make me miss my meds," Buck admitted.

"About that, Buck, when did you stop taking them?" Bobby asked.

"I didn't intentionally do it. I just ran out and couldn't get to the pharmacy because I had to work."

"You should have told me. I would have-" Bobby started to say.

"Don't," Maddie cut him off. "Do not make him feel bad about this. You assigned his shifts. You assigned him every chore in the book. He could have died, and you guys would have come back and found him dead in the station. The one you are supposed to be in command of."

"I know, and that is something I have to live with,” the captain admitted, “Knowing how close we were to losing Buck, and it was absolutely preventable. If we had just paid more attention."

"Damn right you should have," Maddie said, glaring at him. 

"I know, and you can't possibly know how sorry I am." Bobby turned to look at Buck and took a few steps closer. "If you want to transfer out, I would understand, we all would, and I know nothing can change what we did, but I promise if you come back things will be better."

"Why would I transfer? What house would want the guy that sued his boss and the department?" Buck said, his face reflecting his depressive state. 

"Well, the 122 was quick to call us out. One of the old 118 crew had told them about us, and what they saw didn't mesh with that idea, and they had a lot of questions. You made quite an impression on them. I'm sure you could-"

"You promise if I come back that everyone won't hate me, and I will get to do more than grunt work, right?" Buck asked. 

"I assure you most of the team has already changed their tune," Bobby said.

"I don't know,” Buck said, his doubts clear in his tone. “Eddie was so pissed before-"

"I'm sure if Eddie was still angry he wouldn't be out in the waiting room,” Bobby informed him, “the others too."

"Unless he came to yell at him some more," Maddie grumbled.

"If his reaction when we got back to the station was anything to go by,” Bobby said to try and assure them, “I doubt he'll do much yelling, but only Eddie can really answer that."

"So you are really sure they don't hate me?" Buck asked.

"We don't hate you, Buckaroo," Hen replied. They all looked up to see Hen, Chim, and Eddie at the door. 

"Right," Buck said, not really believing her. 

"Buck," Hen started but was stopped by Eddie.

"You might not believe us now, and that's on us," Eddie said as he moved closer to Buck's bed. "And if we have to earn that back, we will.”

Buck looked up at his sister. “Is this really happening? I’m not dead, right?”

“They’re lucky you aren’t dead, or your lawsuit would look trivial compared to the hell I would have raised,” Maddie admitted without hesitation. “And as tempting as doing it anyway seems and as much as I’d love to see these 3 sweat it, I won’t do that to you.” She squeezed her brother’s hand. “You’ve been through enough.”

“I just want to go back to normal,” Buck said. 

“Evan…” Maddie started.

“We can’t go back, can’t change what is done,” Bobby admitted. “Believe me. I wish I could. But we can do better going forward.”

“And we will,” Eddie stated.

“All of us,” Hen added.

“Yeah, what they said,” Chim nodded. 

Maddie shook her head but asked, “And you’ll make sure he gets back on his feet and stays that way?”

“Of course,” Bobby agreed.

“You swear you’ll actually have his back this time?” Maddie looked at Eddie.

“On my life,” Eddie answered. 

“I will hold you to that, Diaz,” Maddie told him.

“Maddie, please, I just-” Buck started.

“I’m not going to be sorry about holding them accountable, Evan. You wouldn’t be here if they did their jobs. I’m not going to stand here and listen to them make empty promises. They don’t get to try and save their own asses just because another crew called them out.”

“We won't make the same mistake again,” Bobby assured her. 

“I’ll make sure they don’t.” They turned to see Athena standing in the doorway.  

"Good," Maddie says. She did still trust Athena.

"I just want to go back to work," Buck says.

"And you will after you're cleared for duty," Bobby says.

"But they will not be standing in your way this time," Athena says. “Their superiors have assured me.”

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that even I got a call from the fire chief and the captain of the 122. And they will be keeping an eye on things. And so will I."

Buck groans and drops back against the pillows. 

"Evan," Maddie says. "It means they are taking this as seriously as it should be. This sort of thing should never have happened." She glares at her brother's team. "The chief probably just wants to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"And it won't,” Bobby insists. “We'll take whatever punishments the department sees fit. If that's having to put up with inspections and even an investigation, that's fine. We'll do it."

"Technically, I don't think we broke any written rules," Chim points out. Earning a glare from Maddie. "But it was still wrong," he adds. "Hen and I should have stepped in when you came back." 

"We should have been checking in with you on how you were feeling and how the meds were going," Hen adds. "We're the medics on the team. Everyone's well-being is supposed to be even more important to us. And we botched that."

"We never wanted this to happen," Chim says. "No one wants you to suffer."

Buck huffs, but it turns into a cough. 

Eddie is at his side before he can even get a breath in.

"Slow breaths, as deep as you can without it hurting," Eddie tells him. He goes to put a hand on Buck's back, but the younger man flinches. And Eddie pulls away like he was burned. Maddie rubs her brother's back instead. 

"Thank you for the update, but Evan needs his rest," Maddie says sternly. Shutting down any further conversation. "Athena, you are welcome to stay, but I must ask the rest of you to leave."

"Understandable," Bobby acquiesces. "Let us know when you're feeling better, Buck. Then we can discuss your schedule." Buck nods. Bobby turns to the team. "Let's go." He can tell Eddie wants to fight him in this. "We can discuss this later."

Once back at the station, Eddie stares at the now clean spot that was the only hint that Buck had ever been in trouble. 

"Eddie," Bobby starts. "You need to give him time. Maybe we both need to start by telling him why we've been so hard on him. I know you hate seeing him hurting as much as we all do, but Maddie is right. We owe him an explanation. We owe it to him to fix this. To be better. I'm going to go call the chief. We may be in for a tough few weeks, but it's…well, it's deserved. We made this mess. I made this mess. Now it's time to face the consequences." He gave Eddie a pat on the shoulder before heading to his office. 

Bobby was right. They needed to fix it. And Eddie had a good idea of where to start. If Buck was still in the hospital in the morning, Eddie was going to bring Christopher to see him. If he was back home, then he and Christopher would bring him breakfast. Either way, starting tomorrow morning, Buck would have Christopher back. It may take Buck longer to let Eddie back in, but this would be a start. A peace offering. Yeah, that was a good plan. But first, he needed to call Carla and endure whatever lecture he was about to get. She has been Buck's friend longer than Eddie was. She would not be happy about what happened, but he was sure she would help him. She would help for Christopher's and Buck’s sake. She cares for them both. Eddie might have to work to get back in her good graces now too, but maybe a few added paid days off might help. Maybe. Either way, he had a plan.

[rcdiostcrs]

orion core

[incompleteninny]

The eighty-seventh free, unedited chapter of my upcoming book, “The Heist at Cordia Aquarium” is now available on its website (or click https://www.kitfisto.gay/chapters/thea to read from the beginning).

The priest's eyes go wide and she ducks out of view, leaving the tips of her dirtied sneakers behind. Visible beyond the cover of milk crates.

Elia's emotions blend together: a near unbearable concoction of relief, mind-scrambling confusion, and anger stoked by jealousy. For a moment, her mind goes back to her mirror. A pocket and an undone clasp away from absolution.

She grinds her teeth as if milling her thoughts into a decision. No. Not yet. I just need to go another hour. She lets her jaw relax, but the jealousy still burns. Why is Bamboo with her?

Thea cowers behind her stack of milk crates, unmoving.

"I can still see you." Elia says.

No response.

She starts forward. "Thea. Why is Bamboo here?"

Not two slaps of work boots later, Thea scrambles into view. "O-oh, E-Elia. I didn't realize it was you." She sniffs at the air once and shrinks into herself. "Sorry. Don't be mad, p-please. Whatever I've done, whatever you're envious of—"

Elia's backfoot clings to the asphalt, stopping her advance. "How do you know that?"

[...]

[youwantedavillain]

The Hidden Player in all of This (The Stalker)

Though this seems irrelevant it actually is very much important to the whole of my story. It is tied to @felicitythekittycat and her little posse of equally toxic individuals. They all knew about the stalker and how stretched thin I was due to his incessant pestering. To be honest I think my blood was already in the water the moment I was first snapped at by @trainerreva thanks to Kronostitan100.

The best way I can describe how I feel about the guy is: a disgusting combination of repulsion and regret. Like agreeing to a dare of eating your own vomit.

Here is a tidbit of the extent of his stalking:

The best place to start off on this little tale is the day we first met. It was at a game of chess a bit after or before the lunch period in High School. If I remember correctly he was about two years my junior. If I had known that agreeing to that game would lead to around 8 years of madness and abuse I wouldn't have even glanced at his direction but unfortunately hindsight is 20/20 and I don’t have the ability to time travel (if I did though, I’d be more wanted than Rick Sanchez). So unfortunately I sat down that day and played a game with him. I made the joke that my play style could only be described as an “Ice Queen”. He claimed that he was undefeated in his ranks and was often called the “Emperor”. It was rather easy for me to take all his pieces and leave his king to stand alone – I now figure he wasn’t good at chess at all and was probably trying to sound like a big shot when he is more like Andrew Tate’s personality realized into a human person.

In the end we smiled and thanked each other for a good game and left it at that. I’m not sure it was lunch for that day or the day after but I saw him at the cafeteria and welcomed him to sit with me and my friends. I even gave him a hug. Someone please kill me. He was welcomed into the group and little did I know that it would eventually mean I’d have to leave in order to protect myself and my sanity.

I don’t remember the first blow up. I honestly can’t remember what it was about – not because I don’t want to, but rather because there were so many that they all just blend together like trying to navigate Incel forums to see if you can tell the difference between who is who or if they’re all just the same guy. There are only three that I can fully remember because of how… absurd and violent they are. I have no idea if these are in chronological order but since these are how I remember them, I’m taking a shot in the dark with this format.

Musicgeddon:

Oh, the ridiculousness of this situation – if you are eating, please swallow your food and put the rest to the side. Don’t even dare drink water for this tale is so unbelievably stupid that my boyfriend said, and I quote “I am having an actual aneurysm….” after laughing uncontrollably for about a minute. I think it nearly killed him.

So, the story begins over either text messages or over discord voice chat. I tried to look over Discord to see if I can find any messages but that ended up fruitless and since my number changed and so has my cell phones, there is no possible way of getting any messages or screenshots. You will have to rely on scout’s honor for this situation. But please note that I’m going to be using theatrics because it is still so absurd that I have to use them to poke fun of it for my sanity can barely handle it. Plus, it’s fitting.

I was talking to Kronostitain100 about a silly fanfiction idea. It was about Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist being a Professor at Hogwarts with the cover of being the nephew of either Minerva McGonagall or Severus Snape and how I got the idea. I told him how I got the idea and wanted to show him. It was the song “Lollipop Kingdom” by SuG. I had tried to find it on youtube but couldn’t, thus I looked for another method. He claimed that he would find it on youtube. I kept telling him he wouldn’t be able to, but he claimed he did. He sent the link and said that the song fit my idea…. Unsurprisingly the song he found wasn’t the song…. At all. He was so far off that mark that it was just ridiculous – Imagine thinking that a Kingdomhearts AMV with the word “Lolipop” in the title would hit that mark!

I stated that he was incorrect in his assumption and that no, it did not fit what I was thinking. I had even described the song to him and how it sounded before he sent the link. I had stated that the song was rather dark and ominous sounding, it gave off a very spooky and gothic vibe. The song he sent sounded more like the old-school “Lollipop, ba-dum-dum-dum” type of sound mixed with the “Barbie Girl” song.

I had found a website that would show him the song. For some reason or another, I couldn’t send the link. So, I had to spell it out for him which took too long somehow, so we went the convoluted route of having to lead him through the magical world of google. The journey was perilous. Why even our dear friend Kevin – who had been with him the entire way – struggled to help Kronos make the perilous journey that his single stunted brain cell could comprehend the idea of the grand powerful weapon form of the Key Blade that was the mighty Enter Key.

The blizzard was harsh. Snow all around the way. The mountain was so steep. MUSH! MUSH I SAY! MUSH! And then the avalanche with a scream - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

Well, that was that day.

I dared to make the comment, “Jeez, your laptop is slow.”

Then it happened.

A horrified shriek that could only be compared to Andrew Tate’s ego daring to hear the word “incel” being used to describe him. Or even the dreaded, “Tiny penis energy lookin potato ass”. He then sprinted out of his house as though running from a rabid hyena. Crying into the snow storm outside – and this… right here…. Is where my theatrics must stop. Because this isn’t theatrics at this point. He did. In fact. Run out of his house, into a snow storm, crying…. Over that comment.

Yeah…

Kevin then barked at me. Telling me that I need to watch what I say. Now mind you… this wasn’t the first time I had been yelled at… over something minor upsetting Kronos. I tried to explain to Kevin that I don’t really know what upset him because I wasn’t trying to insult anyone. I didn’t and still don’t understand the offense. I had stated that I don’t understand how that was a slite towards Kronos and even Kevin admitted that Kronos took anything negative that I said as an insult to him. I stated that I felt like I was walking on eggshells and Kevin didn’t care in the slightest. None of my Irl friends believed that for whatever reason that I can’t understand.

But yeah… that’s this story.

History Lesson from Hell:

This story starts off with me waking up. Yep. Waking up. I checked my phone like always and yep. On the dot. He texts me. He knew when I woke up and when I went to sleep by texting me. Every. Waking. Moment. Every. Single. Day. If I remember correctly he was texting me “Good Morning Beautiful”. Now mind you, we were NOT – I repeat – NOT – N.O.T – NEGATIVE – NOT IN THE FUCKING SLIGHTEST – dating. I had turned him down in High School where he was still going. Yes. He was still in High School. I was a grown ass woman going to Community College. He was doing this to and I quote “try to uplift my confidence”. Yes, that was his excuse. It didn’t do that for me… It disgusted me.

He was overtaking my personal space that I wouldn’t even tolerate my family doing. The only reason why I was ATTEMPTING to tolerate was because his freakouts would get so bad that he would tell others that I was telling him to kill himself and many other things of that nature – mind you… I didn’t ever do such a thing nor would I have ever done such a thing because again… the freak outs, and I was bullied incessantly as a child and now by those I called “friends” and saying that shit to me.

On that day I had to go to my second worst subject of all time, come home, deal with my chores, help my grandmother as I do my homework, deal with my mother bitching to me about her job and how Tiffany is such a bitch, how her boyfiend being an asshole drunk who for some reason is monitoring her facebook account and is upset that she dared to be on facebook while she was at work, and I have to look forward to going to a fastfood joint where I work and get bullied by the boss and her second in command who I honestly thought had a lesbian crush on our boss and thus bullies be to hopefully get a chance with the woman.

Ah… totally not busy and stressed.

And that doesn’t even touch upon the fact I had to also deal with felicitythekittycat and her band of idiots.

Totally.

Not.

Stretched Thin and on the brink of madness.

And violence.

Especially violence.

Now. On that fateful beautiful morning. I was going to that class. I was going to pay attention and take notes. I do not accept failure in college. I am not someone who can afford going into debt trying finish my core classes because some fucker can’t go three seconds without a text. It was an insanity I was not willing to take

I told him I was in class.

He ignored that.

I reiterated that I cannot talk because I’m in class.

He ignored that too.

I told him that if he kept that shit up, I was gonna turn off my phone so I could focus on CLASS.

He ignored that as well.

I turned my phone off.

Once I got home I turned my phone on. And tried to avoid the fucking explosion. But it was so vast. So great. That I could feel the nuclear radiation of my entire friend group’s rage. At that time, I was still fairly catholic and I could’ve sworn I was cursed by Satan himself.

I can’t even remember the number of angry texts I got that day. It was practically infinite. I had almost as many phone calls. I dared my hand to press one of the many voicemail messages I had. And it was like a hot knife to the heart. Sharp. Burning, and chilling all at the exact same time. Like feeling the pulsating pain as you feel all the warmth leaving your body and watching the world slowly turn black as you struggle for your life.

I called Kevin and got an earful. I could almost hear my ears ringing at the sound of his angry voice. I could only do nothing but sit in silence as he let it all out about how I’m a terrible person and should go to hell and rot for what I had apparently said to Kronos. About all the things I never said and how downright cruel I apparently was.

Once I finally got a word in I could only ask “What are you talking about, I’ve been in class for the past hour?...”

It took me about another hour to explain to him that I hadn’t said any of those things because I was in class. I even showed him a screenshot of my message history and my call history to show him that I was not lying.

I didn’t get an apology. Rather I got yelled at some more for not texting Kronos while I was in class. How it didn’t matter and was invalid. It took everything in me… to not kill him.

Verbally that is.

But if I could kill him, and bring him back to life just so I could punch him directly in the balls as an added fuck you. I would have.

Oh how much I would have.

But I couldn’t. I couldn’t give him a verbal beatdown that only a future English Major could. I couldn’t because if I did, it would validate the lie that Kronos told them and I could not risk that. These were my first friends and they were my friends first. And I couldn’t lose them. Not this time.

I texted Kronos and told him off for this. He claimed ignorance and said that he was only saying what he felt and that he never meant for any of this to happen. I called bullshit and I apologize to you dear reader for having to smell this bullshit. He got the bright idea of asking me for my college schedule so he could text me without interrupting my classes.

I wonder why I’m suicidally depressed….

I refused obviously.

He didn’t understand.

He wonders why I call him a yandere and a stalker….

I couldn’t bare to lose my friends. We just pretended like that all did happen like we did with the other times this type of thing happened. The hell just continued like normal.

Skeletons in the Closet:

This one is both the most clear and yet blurry memory I have. At this point the texting got worse and worse as time went on and my temperament only worsened as he continued to become worse. I will talk about my temper at a later date because it is extremely relevant. I can’t remember the “True beginning” but what I can remember was that for almost a month he kept texting me a variant of these few messages: “Are you okay?”

“You can tell me anything!”

“I’m always here for you!”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

And the like. It was very much an odd thing and I kept telling him I was fine. I was okay. I wasn’t telling him that I had problems with him because whenever I did, I’d be dogpiled by my IRL “friend group”, so I kept that out of it. So yeah. I was perfectly fine – minus his stalking and pestering. However he persisted like always. And very much like the demon that is my temper, it slowly started build up. He’d ask those questions about three times a day. And I was getting…. Annoyed to say the least.

If I were to describe the amount of anger that slowly built up – it would be like the time Markipler described strangling a tree.

I am very much a terrifying presence when I am angry and I admit that regrettably but it was what protected me as a child and it… kind of did here.

After a certain point I broke. It was around 8-9pm if I remember correctly. He had DEMANDED I tell him what was wrong. Telling me that he had “heard I was going through something big” and that “there was something wrong”.

So… I broke.

Now to describe my anger at that moment as I stormed into my bathroom, cell phone in hand…

I will quote a certain song that really resonates with me and how I’d describe my temper:

“ And all the kids cried out, “Please stop! You’re scaring me!”

I can’t help this awful energy.

“GOD DAMN RIGHT YOU SHOULD BE SCARED OF ME!”

Who is in control? “

It is very much something that builds up over time while also being purely instinctual. Like a tiger that has had enough of the circus. A madness that is constantly watching as the class wall that was hiding it, slowly crack and break. A volcano starting to overflow with magma, just ready to explode. Yellowstone if you will.

After months and years of just pure forced silence… it finally erupts in such a magnitude that it’s damn near earth shattering.

I ripped open scars that I had kept sealed away, wide open. I forcefully kicked down the closet door, grabbed my skeletons by their vertebrae and flung them right at Kronos. I screamed so loud that day that I nearly blew out my voice. I screamed about the abuse I suffered as a child, and more. I cried a visceral cry. At the end I screamed something multiple times:

“THERE! ARE YOU HAPPY! YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED! ARE YOU HAPPY? ARE YOU SATISFIED?!” He was silent before repeating one sentence like a broken record: “I’m sorry! I didn’t know! I’m sorry!”

He kept repeating that and I didn’t believe it. At the end of it I hung up, only to get a harrowing text. Him claiming he punched himself at full force over making me cry.

Which he actually did and was confirmed through Discord via a fucking picture of his fist with a chain wrapped around it.

Social Aftermath

To say that I was and still am broken about the aftermath is an understatement. Even my most closest of friends didn’t believe me about him. It was only at the two most closest friends I had’s birthday party that they actually somewhat comprehended exactly what was going on. In which we all had to have a “private group chat” about him, myself, and @felicitythekittycat. However, the Stalker’s idea of private was… the kitchen which connected to the dining room which also connected to the living room – which is about as private as being buck-fucking-naked as a newborn baby in the middle of the most popular shopping district in New York City.

One friend had told him that he better not say the first thing that pops in his head as we talked – now the talk was about something extremely embarrassing and involved fetishes. Now as we were scolding him about how he treated Felicitythekittycat, and how he should’ve kept it to himself, he opened his fucking mouth and claimed something along the lines of an “Interesting bonding experience” from what I remember…. And I lost my goddamn mind to put it lightly.

I was about half a second away from punching him right in the balls, though I didn’t because… Felicity/Tier/whatever her name is at this point of writing, ran off to have what can only be described as a panic attack? I don’t know if it was fake, I doubt it but then again the girl is such a liar that I wouldn’t be surprised if she was trying to win an oscar. After that I was told I needed to go home and that he needed to leave as well. As we were leaving I was screaming bloody murder at the guy while he was yelling back that he didn’t do anything wrong, that he got his social skills from us, etc.

It was horrible.

I was told by one of the closest friends that she finally understood what I meant because of that day. But I now know that she didn’t even understand the half of it. Because after… the blow up between me and @felicitythekittycat, and me finally getting the courage to cut him out – he actually stalked me at my retail job after that, my managers told me that he went there every day, they had to start hiding me everytime he was spotted during my shifts thank god – my so called “friends” would avoid the topic of him. They would avoid me for months, practically years just to avoid the topic because I sometimes dared to bring him up. At… one point I finally got into contact with one of them in the form of a call.

I had told her that I had finally cut him out and about how felicitythekittycat turned me suicidal and how I was now medicated and was going to therapy etc… and she told me this:

“You need to align your chakras.” like it’s a me problem….

That I didn’t need my medication or therapy…

Just… align my charkas….

It took everything in me to not toss that cellphone into the nearest fucking wall. It wasn’t even mine… it was her sister’s because the sister is the other friend.

After a long while I have finally cut them out. I lost all my IRL friends, several online ones, and my sanity to boot.

Because of a stalker, and a lying ass whore.

The thing is, is that I voiced to them how I felt unsafe around him. How he stalked my great aunt’s home and saw that there were supposedly cop cars surrounding her house – he claimed this wasn’t him trying to seek my attention but I did call her and no… there were no cops.

He once claimed that if it took my family to hold a weapon to his head to just talk to me… he’d do it.

I carried pocket knives with me to keep some semblance of safety. He once gave me one… but I gave it away and bought my own because I didn’t want to have anything of his. He gave me a PS3… and I’m still trying to figure out how to get rid of it.

He once gave me… almost $2,000.00 for a laptop and said he was only doing it as a “gift to a friend” – I gave that money to my grandmother for a freezer because I didn’t want to feel like a cheap hooker. He tried to use that against me later on when I finally cut him out.

He had no self respect. He didn’t bathe like a normal human being – I know this because he smelled worse than a wet dog that hadn’t bathed for 3 years and his hair was so greasy that I wondered if he even knew of the concept of shampoo. I doubt he owns a single bar of soap or has the proficiency to use it. He even wore two thick winter jackets in the summer. So for a long time it had been “No. Not interested.” before he even asked me out, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

I honestly don’t think he even understood what “No” meant. He couldn’t comprehend the word. To this day, I’m still scared…

If you want more information as to how creepy of a man this guy is click here!

[timeguardians]

“In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength.”

Brianna's jaw TWITCHES at the other's revelation for it is NOT an easy one to swallow. Ghosts of a past she wished to bury. Bury so deep it may never be resurrected. The guilt, the shame, the terror, all came flooding mercilessly back. The fearful eight year old standing over her parents fallen form still dwells deep within, and with her, with that small fragile child, was an OCEAN of unexpelled and unadulterated ANGER. Anger which blazes through her every vein and strikes a dagger deep into her slowly thrumming heart.

"How?" She tremulously whispers to the sagely man. Swallowing down, Wayne presses deeper. "How do you give yourself hope?"

[bewitchingomen]

Bit of Advice (to my father, mainly)

DON'T ever make a joke out of my speech impediment because depending on how my bipolar disorder is affecting me I will react very angrily!

[sortofanobsession]

Beyond Frustration (Buddie AU)

I was going through old works and drafts and this idea wasn't exactly requested but it jumped out at me. And figured I hadn't done an Alpha Beta Omega in a while. May do a part 2 if anyone wants it.

Do me a favor and help me with this poll please & thank you!

Tag list? Fill this out.

911 Masterlist

Summary: Lawsuit Era A/B/Ω AU where Alpha Eddie marks and bonds Omega Buck after Buck was trapped under the truck. The lawsuit puts their bond, and unknowingly to Eddie, their unborn child, at risk. Eddie learns how big of a mistake he has made in almost the worst way possible. Almost.

Paring: Alpha!Eddie Diaz/Omega!Evan "Buck" Buckley

Word count: 2k+

Content Warning: Anger, Neglect, Hospitalization, A/B/Ω mpreg, Fear, physical violence (Eddie gets slapped), Fear of Miscarriage, High Risk Pregnancy.

Eddie's inner alpha clawed at him as they left the deposition. And all it did was piss him off further. Buck had told that asshole things he'd sworn to keep to himself. The alpha had seen the way his omega's betrayal hurt the whole team. The team that was also very much their pack. Their family. But his alpha clawed at him. He didn't understand why it was acting like that. His mate had betrayed them and their pack. The mate he had taken care of and protected after the omega was injured in the bombing. The one he had bared his soul to and bonded with. No, his inner alpha may be driven by the baser instinct to be with his mate at any cost, but Eddie wasn't going to give in. He should have known better, especially after what happened with Shannon. Shannon had been the mother of his pup. And then came back just to ruin his life again. He had tried to make it work for his secondary nature. To have a real family, a true pack. And that had gone to shit. He'd let his alpha nature trick him again. But fool him once and all that bs. He wasn't going to give in a third time. No.

Buck was struggling. It wasn't unheard of for an omega to be a single parent. But it was well known that a strong bond and loving relationship for a mated omega was ideal. A bonded omega, separated from their mate, especially an alpha mate, under great stress, and being a somewhat rare male omega, was a high risk pregnancy in the making.

During a shift Eddie's inner alpha goes damn near feral. Something is wrong and he knows it. But Eddie had been suppressing his secondary nature for so long, even using medication to further subdue it, his alpha isn't strong enough to make Eddie's more stubborn and supposedly logical side understand. And Eddie does not realize how big a mistake he has made until he gets a terrifying call from Christopher. Carla had gotten a call from the hospital. Buck was not well. And since Carla was the only contact Buck had allowed them to reach out to. Eddie finally realizes what his alpha had been trying to tell him over the last few hours. His alpha nature has been reacting to the bond the shared with his mate. Eddie was just too numb to feel it. And that was a terrifying thought. As mad as he and the others were with the no contact order because of the lawsuit, they still had the slight comfort that Eddie would know if something happened to Buck. When Eddie tells them about the phone call they rush to the hospital.

The second Eddie steps into the hospital he is met with a hard slap. He recoils at first and nearly lashes out when he realizes it’s Maddie. His mate’s beta sister.

“You were supposed to protect him!” She shouts at the alpha. Before Eddie can say anything she has turned her ire on the captain. “You too!” She looks from face to face, every member of the 118. “All of you! You told him he was family! That you would be there for him!”

“Maddie,” Chimney starts but she turns on her heels and disappears behind a set of doors.

The receptionist stone walls them when they try to get any information. Eddie can feel his inner alpha suffering. Eddie was so close to his mate he could just start to feel him. His omega's scent had clung to Maddie. And it tore at the alpha’s heart.

“Eddie,” Carla says as she meets them.

“If you're here, where is Christopher?” Bobby asks. As upset as the captain and his inner alpha was he knew it was nothing compared to what Eddie was feeling. Guilt and fear clouded Eddie's usual scent. Bobby could understand that. The captain had lost a mate before. He knew the panic not knowing created. Eddie wasn't in his right mind now.

“He's with Buck, since they had a sort of bond they hoped it would help. Maddie too.”

“Did it?” Hen asks.

“He's stable, but there is something I need to tell you…”

Eddie hates himself. He would never forgive himself for what he had done. He would grovel and beg Buck to forgive him. He prays to any higher power that would listen to let him fix this. To not take his family from him. He couldn't lose his mate. It would destroy him. He'd spend the rest of his life begging his pups to forgive him. He'd be there for every major milestone for both Christopher and their unborn miracle, if they let him. He was a mess by the time they reached Buck’s room. Maddie glared at the alpha as he entered.

Christopher made his way over to Eddie and buried his face in his father's shirt. Eddie drops to his knees.

“I'm sorry, buddy, I'm so sorry,” the alpha begs. “This never should have happened.”

Once Christopher had calmed down, Carla took him out into the hall to go see the rest of the team.

Maddie leaves to call her parents. She glares at the alpha as she does. The alpha goes over and carefully takes the omega's hand in his. The barely there curve of his pregnant mate’s stomach breaks something in the alpha. It wasn’t prominent, but he had known Buck's body as well as he knew his own. And he could see it now. He doesn't know how he could have missed it at the deposition. Even the omega's scent smelled sweeter. Had his anger clouded his senses that much? He now understands why his inner alpha had been so distressed that day. His pregnant mate was just a few feet from him and he couldn't go to him. The omega had looked so tired and sad, but Eddie had been too bitter to see what the entire situation had been doing to his mate. And Eddie could see it now. Buck was too thin, too pale, for a pregnant omega. He looks fragile and broken. And Eddie just wanted to crawl in the bed beside him. He wanted to scent his mate. Hold him. Do whatever he needed to repair their fragile bond. But before he can do anything but take a shattered breath a woman in a lab coat walks in. She's a beta that smells overly sterile.

“He's sedated,” she says before she even introduces herself. Once she has she levels the alpha with a weary look. “You are his mate, correct? His alpha?”

Eddie nods, barely trusting his voice. “Y-yeah, yes, I am.”

“His sister said you two are bonded, correct?”

“Yes,” Eddie answers, his hand gripping Buck's a bit tighter as he does.

The doctor nods and after making a note in the omega's file she checks Buck’s vitals and compares them to his chart and updates it. Eddie watches her carefully. Only when she is done does she give the alpha any attention again.

“How are they?” Eddie manages to ask.

“He is stable and his condition is slowly improving.”

“So they're okay?”

“As a medically trained first responder, I'm sure you can understand the gravity of the situation at hand,” the doctor starts.

Eddie nods but hopes that by saying nothing the doctor will actually answer his question.

“Did you know about your mate's condition?”

“No,” Eddie half sobs. “I had no idea.”

“Okay,” the doctor says and seems to be considering something before she speaks again. “In cases of neglect like this there is a full investigation,” she says and the alpha has to sit down because to have it put so bluntly was jarring.

“Whatever needs to happen, just please, don't make me leave.”

“Oh as his bonded mate you need to stay, it may be the only thing that keeps his condition from worsening. But I have to legally inform you that your behavior will be heavily monitored and any signs of distress will be dealt with in whatever manner we deem necessary, which may include asking you to leave, and getting the authorities involved if necessary. And if your mate or his family wish to seek legal action, we are obligated to assist them.”

“I don't care what you have to do, I’ll do anything,” Eddie insists. “I just want him to be okay.”

The doctor seems to study the alpha for a full minute.

“I believe you, Mr. Diaz,” she finally says. “And I trust that you being here will not worsen the situation. And if it does that you will act accordingly. I understand that there have been some strenuating circumstances in this particular case. I hope for your sake, and your mate's, that things only get better from here. We will be keeping a close eye on him.”

The doctor excuses herself after that. And what little control Eddie has on his emotions fails. He buries his face in his mate's neck and sobs. He is nothing without Buck. He isn't even a good dad these days without him. He's been trying, but Christopher is still suffering from the after effects of the tsunami and not having his Buck there has made it all the more difficult. The omega had been with him during the terrible experience. It had made the bond the two already had stronger. And Eddie had denied both of them that much needed connection. He was a failure as an alpha. He was a failure as a father. Worst of all, he was a failure as a mate. He neglected his bond and his bonded mate and it nearly cost him everything. He could have lost both his mate and the unborn pup he didn't even know existed. Now that he knows he can't possibly let go. The only reason he would ever leave now was if Buck wanted him to. If his mate couldn't forgive him, the alpha would understand. Eddie sure as hell wasn't ever going to forgive himself.

Eddie wakes up to fingers in his hair and he almost doesn't want to move, but as he inhales the chemically tainted smell of his mate he remembers where he is and why he is there. His head snaps up and he looks into the tired blue eyes of his mate.

“Buck,” is all the alpha manages to say in a broken tone. The numbness that he had felt the past few days gone as the wave of emotions hit him. He can feel their bond again. And it shatters something in him. “I'm sorry.” It's half sobbed and shaken.

Buck had woken up to a weight on his arm that hadn't been there before. The more he thinks, the more he realizes it was a familiar weight. Paired with a feeling he had longed for. His eyes tear up as he inhales and takes in the familiar scent of his mate, but there is something off about it. It has the omega opening his eyes. His alpha is distressed. And yeah, that tracks. The omega blinks tears away as he looks around the hospital room. He has no idea how long he has been there, but by the way Eddie is passed out curled against him it had been a while. And he let his tears fall because Eddie was there. His mate had not only come to his bedside, but was pressed against his side like any distance between was unbearable. After so long without his mate, and now his senses were flooded with him, the omega finally felt some semblance of home. He felt complete again. His hands itched to feel that electricity he always felt when they touched. His hands card through the alpha's unkempt mess of hair.

The omega’s heart clenches at the the sheer level of pain and devastation in the alpha’s voice. Buck gets a real good look at his partner’s face and he looks so raw and broken that the omega wants nothing more than to make things better. But Buck can't forget the reason they are there. His eyes move to his own stomach. Before he can even voice his fears, fears Eddie must feel through their bond, the alpha’s hand rubs along the sheet covered swell.

“Pup’s all right,” Eddie says, his voice now filled with conviction. The alpha's voice is in Buck's ear. The omega can feel the heat of his mate's hand through the fabric on his stomach. The combined sensation and the renewed feelings coursing through him sends a shiver down his spine and sends his heart soaring. It must show in his heart monitor at the way the alpha beside him chuckles. It nearly doubled when he feels Eddie's lips gently brush across the bonding mark on the omega's neck. The feeling of love and safety he has missed for weeks is damn near overwhelming.

“I’m sorry,” Eddie tells him again. And between the look on the alpha's face and the feeling of guilt that flows through their bond has Buck believing him. Combined with the omega's heightened emotions and hormones, Buck couldn't imagine holding any of it against the alpha. Not really.

“I know,” Buck tells him, his own tone a little sad. It's sad, because this whole situation could have been avoided if they had just tried to talk. And he thinks Eddie must feel the same way at the way the alpha’s hand shifts from rubbing the omega's swollen belly to pulling Buck closer to him. And Buck goes willing shifting until his back is flush against the alpha's chest. The alpha protectively curled around him.

“I love you, you know that right? More than anything in the world,” Eddie says.

“Except Christopher,” Buck corrects.

“I love him and this little one,” Eddie states, his hand gently pressing against the swell of the unborn pup. “But that's a different kind of love,” the alpha insists.

The omega swoons a bit at that. He had spent the last few weeks terrified of Eddie rejecting not just him but the pup as well. The relief that Eddie still loved him and wanted him, but that he wanted their pup too was amazing. That the alpha was happy to not just claim the pup as his but say he already loved them. It was like having a large weight removed from the omega's shoulders. That fear had been like an albatross around his neck. And Eddie must feel it all through the bond because, again, Eddie holds him tighter. The alpha’s lips press against the skin behind the omega's ear.

“I'm here now. Not going anywhere.”

The alpha holds the omega as he cries but it doesn't last long. Because Buck is still exhausted and Eddie is warm. The omega is more comfortable and feels better than he has in weeks, maybe months. Buck falls asleep sheltered in his mate's arms.

The alpha tenses as the door opens. The former army medic might hate having his back to the door but the alpha was protectively curled around his pregnant mate. That was way more important than his own comfort.

“Well, don't you two look cozy,” the nurse, a lovely middle aged omega, says as she comes in.

“He woke up for a bit, but fell back asleep,” Eddie tells her as she goes to check the machines. The alpha goes to move to get up so she can check Buck’s vitals but she waves him off.

“You're fine,” she smiles. “The closer you stay the quicker the bond can help him feel better.” She gently checks Buck's pulse and nods.

“I’ll let the doctor know he was awake for a bit,” she says before leaving. Once she is gone he looks over at the clock. It early, but not too early that his pack would be mad at him texting them. As much as he hates the idea of moving from his comfortable spot, he needs his phone which is charging on the table next to the bed. Eddie gets up, stretching as he does. Buck whines in his sleep at the loss and rolls over as if to chase the alpha's fading warmth. It makes the alpha’s heart flutter. He quickly grabs his phone and returns to the bed. Buck now curled into his side with his face tucked in the alpha's neck. Eddie's inner alpha was happier than it had been since the pair bonded at the feel of the omega's bump against his side. And the feeling was heady. The alpha just wants to sit there and bask in the feeling of home that came from watching his vulnerable and trusting mate sleeping in his arms. But he knows he has a number of unanswered messages to deal with. So he silently, and slowly only having one hand to type with, lets Maddie, Carla, and the team know that Buck was doing better. He had woken up for a bit, but was resting now.

They had a lot they needed to sort out, but they would do it together. Lawsuit be damned. His mate and their family was now Eddie's primary focus. And he wasn't willingly going anywhere any time soon. Not unless Buck wanted him to. Even then the alpha wouldn't like it. He loved Buck too much to walk away now. He loved the family they had made. He was sure the others would understand.

When he was done with the messages he settled back down beside his mate and closed his eyes. He would dream of the life they were only just starting as a family, as a pack.

[shepscapades]

A last life ethubs comic that isn’t really about last life ethubs

[blessed-bruises]

˚₊‧ ⊰ ⸸ ⊱ ‧₊˚

[mothvalentino]

"Baby, did you want context and the REST of the conversation, or are you good with that high dive jump to the wrong conclusion based off of what looks like thirty seconds of shitty b-roll that Brandon shot from the front seat thinking he's some sort of half-assed prison snitch?" { from Angel }

ཐིཋྀ "Oh please, enlighten me. What context am I missing when you said..."

Val pulls out his phone and skips to the part in the recording he's talking about, playing Angel's voice for both of them to hear.

“I thought that you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. You were smart and funny and so SO charming. More my type than even Val was honestly; you were someone I could have fallen in love with much too easily…”

Val's glower remains in the following silence. When he speaks again his tone is full of malice.

"From the very beginning, you were more into Vox than you ever were into me. You fucking said it yourself right here. And you lied to my face, telling me you always loved me. I release you from your contract and the first thing you do with your freedom is go to him. I don't give a fuck about your context, your actions speak for themselves. You climbed into his lap, you said you wanted him to love you... and all of it behind my back. If this was all for my sake, then why the fuck would you not tell me about any of this in the first place??"