#unfortunately i still can’t shake the fear that this job might turn out even worse somehow

[cheekblush]

so i officially quit my job at the pharmacy and i’m starting a new job in december

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Hue and Cry XV

Warnings: non-consent sex and rape (series), grief, death, some elements may be untagged.

This is dark!medieval!Bucky Barnes x reader and explicit. 18+ only.  Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Synopsis: Lord Barnes faces the consequences of his actions.

Note: Yesterday’s chapter was intense, right? Well, here you go.

Thanks to everyone and thanks in advance for all your feedback. :)

I really hope you enjoy. 💋

<3 Let me know what you think with a like or reblog or reply or an ask! Love ya!

MASTERLIST

The solemn servants carried the board as the woman's broken figure rested atop it. None knew if she was still alive and none were brave enough to ask. They just did as they were told as the duke, Lord Barnes, walked behind, his artificial arm gone, snapped from the impact of his fall, and his expression stony but bruised. He was streaked in blood; his own, the horse's, hers, maybe all three.

His closest friend, Lord Rogers walked beside him, mostly unscathed from the undue violence of their competition. The king and his wife trailed not far after the party as the body many feared was a corpse was balanced on the wide plank.

They were directed to the duke's chambers but did not move the woman from the wood. Instead they placed it atop the bed as her shorn skirts fanned around her and her stained sleeves laid like wings over her arms. They jostled her as they let the board down but she did not groan or gripe. She likely could not, if she could do anything at all.

The duke paced and stopped now and then to stare at the woman as he awaited the physician. The king and queen sat grimly on the cushioned bench before the dwindling hearth and the other nobleman stood by the window.

"Where is the healer?" Barnes growled as he came to the foot of the bed, "they will kill her with their indifference."

"He is coming," Samuel assured, "it will not be time that kills her, likely,"

"Oh shut up," the duke snarled, "she will live. I know she will."

"Brother," the queen said softly, "she was trod into the dirt… you cannot think--"

"She must, she must," the duke babbled and gripped the bed post as his eyes clung to her lifeless form, "she cannot--"

The knock came and Lord Rogers retreated from the curtains to open the door. The physician entered with his assistant and a chest with leather straps. He approached the bed with a morbid gaze. He looked her over then blinked at the silent duke.

"I am told she was caught beneath a horse," he said.

"Yes, yes, she…" Barnes' voice drifted off as his lips stayed parted. He was senseless as he could not look away from her.

The healer sat carefully beside the board and softly touched her throat. He nodded as his fingers pressed down and he brought his other hand to feel more firmly. He gave a long sigh and carefully moved her head.

"She is breathing. Barely. Her neck isn't broke but…" he felt along her shoulders and arms, her sides, and stirred around her skirts, "other parts of her, likely inside too."

"Can't you help her?" Barnes croaked.

"I can try," he replied hopelessly, "even if by some miracle she survives, she won't be the same. Not fully."

"Do what you can," the duke bid, "and the rest of you can go."

"Bucky…" his sister stood, "you shouldn't--"

"I said go," he snapped, "go away."

He turned his back to them again and stretched his fingers. He was shaking. His mouth was dry and yet he felt bile in his throat. She was stupid, she'd done it upon her own foolishness, so why did he feel so rotten? 

🏰

She was a shell. Lord Barnes stared at the woman, cocooned in strips of linen atop his bed. It had taken so long for them to cut her out of her gown and bandage her. When he closed his eyes, he saw the damage done to her fragile body.

He didn't sleep, only fed the fire and watched her. He didn't pray, he didn't speak, he just sat there, ignoring his own pains. She could have killed him too, he reminded himself, he wished she had.

She hadn't awoken, hadn't even twitched, at times, he was certain she'd stopped breathing. But he would lean in and listen, too afraid to touch her, and he heard the deathly rasps. Then he sat again and watched and watched and watched. Nothing happened.

The physician returned with the day. She was the same as before. He checked her arm in its splint and went through his careful inspection of her. He gave the duke the same empty words. Nothing more could be done.

The days passed as such. The physician tried to feed her with assistance from his aide and they cleaned up after her humanly messes. They changed her bandages, a painstaking task, and shook their heads as they left.

Nearly a week went by and the knock at the door was heavier than that of the healer. Lord Barnes called for his guard to let in his visitor and the duke was on his feet at once. He curled his lip as the Baron entered with a tall thin man at his shoulder.

"My lord, I've not come to provoke you, though I do realise your distaste for me but I hope for the sake of this… woman you would set it aside," Lord Zemo spoke carefully. Barnes was surprised how the other man did not flinch as he came to stand close to him, his fist gripping wantingly at his side.

"Why else would you come but to pester me?" Barnes sneered.

"I have heard reports of the unfortunate woman who did collide with your horse. I have found her weighing often on my heart and despite what has transpired between us, she is innocent of all that," he glanced forlornly at the bed, "This is Werner. He is my personal physician. He has treated every type of ailment, even a similar injury suffered by a stable boy."

"I have a healer," Barnes insisted.

"I am aware but what is one more opinion on the lady's condition," Zemo argued, "you needn't bide me, only the healer. He is at your whim, not mine. Yes, Werner?"

"My lord," the taller man bowed to each nobleman in turn, "with your permission, I would review the lady's wounds."

Barnes inhaled deeply. He shook his head at Zemo and shoved him back. The other man stumbled and the physician watched in shock.

"I don't want your help," Barnes hissed, "how dare you come here. Be gone before you are in worse condition than her."

"Lord Barnes, can we not--"

"We can't," Barnes gritted his teeth, "now go. I am too tired for you."

Baron Zemo looked at him placidly and lifted a single brow. He turned to his physician and gestured him away. They turned and went back to the door. The foreign lord stopped before he passed into the corridor, "the offer stands despite all this. Just send for Werner and he will come."

Barnes stormed over and slammed the door behind the Baron. He hit it with his fist and swore loudly. He turned and leaned against the wood and dropped his head back. Why couldn't anyone just leave him alone?

🏰

The day after Zemo’s appearance, another unexpected knock sounded from the corridor. Lord Barnes barely heard it as he was half-asleep in the chair. It shook the door again and he woke with a start. He stood and stumbled over, too hoarse to call for his guard to do his job.

He opened it and reeled at the sight of the young Lord Parker. He scoffed and made to shut the door. Parker caught it and gave him a desperate look, brows drawn together and eyes sparkling.

“Please, I did come to see her but there is something I must also speak to you on,” the viscount urged, “please, hear me. For her.”

Barnes’ eyes tingled and his lashes flicked away the droplets. He shrugged and stepped back, retreating back to the chair as the boy entered. Parker closed the door gently and his lightly footsteps crept over the floorboards. The duke stared at the wall and wiped his sweaty hand on his breeches.

“So, what is it?” he asked.

The younger lord stood by the bed and stared down at the unconscious woman. He was pale, deathly so, and he spun away from her with a gasp of dismay.

“It is my fault,” he said, “she spoke to me before she ran in front of your horse. She said how I’d hurt her and she was right. And I only did it because I thought it would help her. That it could save her from you, even that it might protect my family as well.”

“She spoke to you?” Barnes asked as his hackles raised.

“Would you begrudge her that? Even now?” Parker faced him, “look at her! I claim my part in this horrid thing but you… you are just as guilty.”

“Is that why you came? To tell me I killed her?”

“Killed? She--”

“Not dead yet but she is dying. I know it. I’ve seen men die, it isn’t any different with women,” Barnes felt the tears well and wiped them away and sniffed, “and yes, I do know it is of my doing.”

Parker was silent and shifted on his feet, “I’m sorry.”

“Good bye, Lord Parker,” Barnes huffed.

The other man hesitated but slowly moved to the door. He glanced back before he left and as he did, the wind from the corridor blew out the only lit candle. Barnes sat in the flicker of the fireplace and leaned forward to hold his face. His chest tightened as the dread coiled up his spine like a snake.

He thought if he didn’t say it aloud, it couldn’t be. He thought he could save her still. He hoped…

He stood and marched to the door. He ripped it open and grabbed Lester by his cowl, “go! Zemo’s man, fetch him.”

🏰

Werner changed the woman’s bandages and stood to wrap up the used strips. It was the third day he’d been to the Duke’s room and the lady did appear more lively, even if she had yet to wake. Her breaths were deeper and there was a new tone to her complexion. The physician packed up his chest and tutted.

“I know my master is… a particular sort of man but you should have called me sooner,” Werner said, “your healer, he did not wrap her ribs well enough and he should know how to feed a patient in her condition properly.”

“Thank you,” Barnes said, “is she getting better?”

“Better than she was, certainly, but will she get any better? Well, my lord, where I am from, we do not dampen the truth with hope. This is likely as good as she will be ever again,” he held his chest under his arm as he faced the duke, “many who have faced a horse’s step have not fared so long.”

“And there is nothing you can do? Nothing else?” Barnes frowned.

“I can see to your own wounds. The ones you’ve not treated,” he offered, “you’re lucky the cut on your cheek has scabbed and not festered. You should allow me to examine the rest.”

“Suppose… suppose you are right,” Barnes relented, “the cuts and bruises are mostly healed but I have a pain,” he touched his shoulder, “I’m afraid I’ve made it worse in my anger.”

“If you would,” the physician replaced his chest on the bed, “you might remove your tunic and I will have a look.”

Barnes nodded and carefully stripped his tunic. He hadn’t replaced the arm forged in steel and wood. It was useless anyway. The healer moved around him and felt along his shoulder and told him to lift his arm. 

“It is still in place but likely sprained--”

Both men froze as the woman coughed. Barnes pulled away from the physician and raced to the bed. The taller man caught up to him and stopped him with a hand on his chest. He tapped his bare skin and held up his finger.

“Wait, don’t--” Werner moved to sit next to the woman as her body tensed and and her breath harried and stopped all at once, “there is trouble.”

He bent and listened to her chest then moved to open her mouth. He opened her lips and covered them with his own. Barnes had never seen such a practice as the man blew into her mouth and pumped her chest. He was careful but firm as he varied between puffing and pressing.

“Is there anything I can do?” Barnes asked.

Werner shook his head as his tending grew more frantic. He leaned over the girl again as he stopped and he touched her cheek daintily. He was quiet as his hand moved to her chest then his fingers crawled back up to her neck. He stiffened and sat up. He looked over at Barnes as the wrinkles around his eyes deepened.

“She is dead, my lord,” he said as he drew his chest into his lap and stood, “her heart seized. The pain, it was likely too much for her.”

“Dead?” Barnes echoed airily.

“My apologies, I did all I could--”

“Dead.” Barnes affirmed, “well, then I suppose you might send for a carpenter.”

“My lord?” The physician questioned.

“For the coffin,” the duke answered bluntly as he turned away, “I thank you for trying as hard as you did. I should’ve let her go sooner.”

[madswonders]

A Lesson In Romance #10: Thoughts

Spencer Reid x Fem!BAU!Reader

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Warnings: Implied anxiety, Mentions of canon-typical violence

Word Count: 2.5k

Plot: Reader keeps getting caught in rom-com situations with Spencer Reid. This time, they're paired together on a case.

A/N: I know that the BAU's conference room has big-ass glass windows but just imagine that the blinds are closed for the entirety of this chapter aha. Also this chapter is a doozy... like 1k words longer than usual, so enjoy!

Masterlist | All chapters here!

---------

As Peter Gizzi once described the phenomena of love, "About you there is nothing I wouldn’t want to know / With you nothing is simple yet nothing is simpler."

In high school, your reputation always preceded you. The cynic that never had a boyfriend, much less a drunken one-night stand; a prude who waited over ten dates to have her first kiss; or the "ice queen" who kept her emotions locked up and threw away the key.

If they saw you now, you wondered if they would laugh at how you've changed; because these days, you looked like you were keeping the best secret in the world, one that threatened to burst from your lips every time you smiled.

What you didn’t know, is that you didn't need to be a profiler to see it. From the bubbling laughter and whispered conversations, to the not-so-secret longing glances. You and Spencer disappeared into your own world when you were together, and everybody knew it.

And for the first few weeks, that was enough. You found it easier than usual to ignore the thoughts that lurked in the back of your mind. That is, until you couldn't.

"... I want you and Spencer to work on the geographic profile." Hotch had announced, and you remembered the feeling of your blood running cold.

There were two reasons for this. First was the fact that this case linked twenty homicides across three years to a single unsub. If there was any case that required the two nerdiest members of the BAU to team up, this was it.

Unfortunately, that fact was closely followed by an overwhelming fear — and you wanted to preface this by saying that you were usually a woman of logic and science — but, somehow, you couldn't shake the thought that something bad was going to happen to you and Spencer, and you weren't ready for it.

Leaning against the cool conference room wall, you tapped your toes in an impatient rhythm against the carpeted floor. You were trying to recite what you learned from your PhD; that your mind was jumping to conclusions and that it was normal to be nervous. It was normal to feel this way. You were normal.

"Are you okay?" Spencer asked, jolting you out of your mantra.

You realised your boyfriend had been talking to you for awhile now, but clearly, you weren't listening. You shook your head apologetically.

"Sorry, I was just thinking. Could you say that again?"

"I was just saying, you can start by pinning the names and locations of the victims, and I'll put up the crime scene photos... but are you sure you're okay?" He asked again, this time shooting you those puppy dog eyes that made you weak.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Let's get to work." You said firmly, grabbing the box of push pins. You felt his gaze linger on you for a second, before he began picking up his own stack of pictures.

The first hour sped by quickly as you and Spencer listed out all of the unsub’s possible motives and next victims. At the half hour mark, Hotch dropped in to check on your progress, bringing takeaway coffee and leaving with a rare smile.

At the second hour, the rest of the team returned with some new leads, and unfortunately, new bodies, but nothing that helped solidify the profile any further than what you already had.

At the fifth hour, there was no denying it. The team had hit a wall. While the rest of them were back in the field investigating more leads, you sipped on your second cup of coffee while staring at the evidence board. Spencer paced the room behind you.

"The messy dump sites. The carvings onto the victims' chests. One points to the unsub being disorganised and inexperienced, but the other is a clear, almost narcissistic ritual." The doctor thought aloud.

"Usually that means the unsub is trying to make a statement, but he killed his first ten victims before the police found out, then killed another seven and three right under their noses before going dormant. If he wanted to make a statement, why wouldn't he tip off the police or media sooner?" He grumbled.

"Are we sure it's not a taunt to the local police’s competency? Many of his first victims were found in secluded areas with limited police support." You pointed out, tapping the edge of your cup in thought.

"No, the victimology and locations are too wide spread. A taunt would present a clearer message." He said.

You turned around suddenly, causing him to halt in his steps. "Here's something completely off the wall — but what if the unsub was trying to achieve a specific pattern with his kills?" You said, gesturing with your cup.

Tap, tap-tap, tap, you created the rhythm with your finger.

"That would explain why he isn't acting like a narcissist. Maybe he's suffering a mental condition that compels him to complete a certain pattern, and subsequently, ritual with his kills. Could be rhythmical, musical, numerical..." You explained.

"Numerical. That's it!" Spencer squeaked, rushing to the board with a marker. "I thought these numbers seemed familiar earlier, that's because they make up prime numbers!"

He backed away from the board to reveal what he wrote. The numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11. A lightbulb turned on in your head.

"2, 3 and 5 make up the first ten kills. 7 is the next, which he managed to complete perfectly, but something happened to the unsub at 11." Spencer voiced your thoughts.

"He might have been incarcerated, or injured. But we can't rule out the possibility that he might have moved out of town and resumed the pattern elsewhere. So either we can expect 8 more victims here, or the unsub has already moved onto the next number: 13." You quickly finished the train of thought.

"Love, you're a genius!" Spencer rushed over to pick you up by the waist, twirling you as you laughed in relief. But the relief turned to surprise when he kissed you deeply.

God, he was good at this. Even when your feet touched the ground, it felt like you were seeing stars. Though it was only when your lips parted that he had the decency to blush.

"Love?" You breathed.

Spencer's cheeks turned crimson in embarrassment, but he didn't back away. Instead, he leaned forward, bumping your foreheads together gently.

"I didn't know you had that in you, doctor." You teased.

"Well, my mother did school me in classic romance literature from a young age. Not to mention, I happen to be a genius at most things..." You could hear the smile in his voice, and you giggled.

The doctor pulled away then, an adoring smile still plastered across his face. "Are you fee—" He began, but his voice died in his throat as his gaze fixated on something behind you.

"Ooooh, am I interrupting something?" You turned around to see none other than Penelope smiling coyly from the doorway, and the two of you jumped apart.

"N-no, nothing!" Spencer blurted out.

"All fine and dandy here." You added on, blushing furiously.

The tech analyst smiled deviously. "Well, I thought I'd come and check on my two favourite lovebirds. Anything else from the case for me to chew on? Except whatever that was earlier." She teased.

"Actually, there is." You cleared your throat awkwardly, while the good doctor looked like he wanted to melt into the carpet.

"We need you to search up murders in neighbouring cities that match the mutilation by our unsub, then cross-reference the time frame with any new residents. We suspect he might be trying to complete a pattern, and that he may have done it somewhere other than here." You said.

"On it, future-Mrs-Genius. I will get back to you so fast that you won't even have time to get down and dirty." She half-yelled that last bit, heels clicking as she walked back to her office. Before you could even formulate a response, she was gone.

You felt your boyfriend wrap his arms around you from the back. "Now, where were we?" He whispered.

You giggled, leaning back into the doctor's chest while he rocked your bodies side to side. "Are you feeling better now?" He asked.

"Next time someone says it's not as intense in here as it is out there, I'm going to give them a stern talking to." You joked.

"You know what I mean, love." Spencer reiterated gently, the pet name falling from his lips like it was the most natural thing in the world. "If you tell me about it, I can help you. You know I'm always here for you."

You sighed softly, blinking back tears that threatened to spill.

"It's something stupid. I-I'm fine."

He turned you around, brows furrowing in concern when a tear rolled down your cheek. "What's wrong?" He asked, wiping it away tenderly.

"I— I was worried about us working together." You admitted. "And it's not because I don't like working with you, but I just— I just couldn't—"

"Take a deep breath, love. Slowly." He held your shoulders as you breathed in and out, once, twice.

"I've been afraid this whole day — no, for awhile now — that something was going to happen to our relationship." You confessed shakily. "And it's not about our jobs — although I worry about that too — but I'm scared that one day you'll wake up and realise that I'm not worth the trouble."

You looked up at the ceiling, trying to stop the next wave of tears.

"A-and it's only gotten worse because I've never been so h-happy with another person before. Only you've made me feel this way, and I'm t-terrified that I'll lose what we have."

There was a brief silence as Spencer pulled you close to his chest, one hand stroking your hair carefully. You could hear his heart beating fast.

"Do you remember when the team tricked us into sharing a bed?" He whispered, a hint of a smile trickling into his voice. "I think about it every single time we're about to go into the field. Because you said you'd never leave me, and now, whenever we're out there, I know I'm not alone."

He breathed in deeply, your head gently rising and falling together with his chest.

"You've given me someone to come home to, love. What we have, you'll never lose it, okay?" He whispered.

"Baby, I—" Your voice halted. Crap.

"Wait. Baby?" Spencer repeated back to you, a teasing lilt in his voice. Your face flushed, and you unwinded your arms from your boyfriend to cover your face.

"Oh god, can we pretend that didn't just happen?"

"I have an eidetic memory." He pointed out. You let out a watery laugh, knowing when you had lost.

"Alright, alright. But I do have another ide—"

Then, the conference room phone rang. It was Emily. "Hey guys, Garcia managed to narrow down the unsub and we're 10 out, but we'll need some back-up."

"Be there in 15." You replied, while Spencer shot you an amused look, Luckily, he waited for the call to end before saying the next words.

"Let's go, baby." He wiggled his eyebrows.

You rolled your eyes and laughed, already strapping on your kevlar. "That's it. You're not driving."

"Aww!"

---------

After the major breakthrough in the case — all thanks to Nerd 1 and Nerd 2, as Derek fondly called the two of you — the case managed to wrap up neatly and the BAU found themselves in a rare position. Ready to end the work day, on time.

Not that anybody was packing up to leave just yet, although you wished they would, because Penelope had decided to start enthusiastically retelling how she found the BAU's resident lovebirds in the conference room, unable to keep their hands off each other.

"Last I heard, pet names aren't a crime — and how long were you standing there anyway?" You accused, blushing.

"Firstly, they are. Criminally cute, that is!" Penelope squealed, while the rest were in fits of laughter. "And secondly, you should never underestimate my awesome ninja abilities, because I heard everything that I needed to hear."

"Do I even want to know?" Spencers winced.

"I don't think you do, pretty boy." Derek laughed, clapping the genius on the back.

"Wait, wait, wait. Can we go back to how Spencer's pet name of choice is love?" Emily gasped in laughter.

"You've got to admit it's kind of cute, Emily." JJ smiled.

"Sure. If you're courting Mr. Darcy and attending cotillions."

"C'mon, Prentiss. All that means is that our boy's got style." Derek added to laughter, while Spencer whined in protest.

The door to Hotch's office opened suddenly, both him and Rossi stepping out with expressions of urgency on their faces.

“Sorry to break up the fun, kiddos. But there's been an update to the case.” Rossi announced, following right behind Hotch to the conference room.

The laughs were wiped off everybody's faces as you traded concerned looks. As you filed into the room, Hotch had already begun speaking.

“Another body was found half an hour ago. Same MO, same random victimology, and same kind of dumpsite. And the unsub just told us where to find his copycat.”

“Wait, we never profiled a second unsub.” Derek interjected.

"It doesn't makes sense — the first unsub is a control freak. He didn't like the idea of anybody messing with his sequence. Wouldn't he have done something if he knew somebody else was copying his pattern?" You asked.

"We profiled that he wouldn't be able to deviate from his pattern. What if he had to continue, even when somebody else was committing some of the crimes for him?" Spencer countered.

“Hold on, you said the unsub gave us a location?” Emily asked.

"And a time." Rossi voiced up. “8pm tonight at The Basil. The first unsub claims that's where the copycat finds his next targets."

"How do we know if we can trust him?" Derek asked.

"We don't. But he didn't display any telltale signs of doubt when he told us, and this is the only lead we have." Hotch's frown deepened. You had a feeling he didn't like the idea of this either, but the team didn't have a choice.

"Okay, if we're doing this, he can't know we're onto him," Emily thought aloud, "and we'll need precautions in case it's a trap. That means..."

"Undercover agents... and the bait." Hotch said with finality.

“And who did you have in mind for that?” You piped up, and everyone turned their eyes to you.

“You and Reid.” He stated the obvious.

“B-b-but, I’ve never gone—"

“You’ve more than proven your abilities in the field since you joined us, and having natural chemistry will make it less suspicious to the unsub.”

You opened your mouth, but no words fell from it. Hotch was right. Of course he was right.

As if hearing your thoughts, Spencer took your hand in his and squeezed, and you felt a little calmer already. “Ok, I’ll do it.” You said determinedly, while the doctor echoed your sentiment.

Hotch nodded, beginning to assign roles to the rest of the team while you squeezed your boyfriend's hand tighter, a new mantra forming in your head.

Everything is going to be okay. Everything will be okay.

----------

Tag List:

@blue-space-porgs @nobutalsoyes @lady-loves-a-lot @queen-flower @agentcarterisgay @totalmess191 @sapphic-prentiss @oops-all-ajs @spottedzebrasinpartyhats @mellowalieneggsknight @kenny-0909 || @averyhotchner @amesandpineapples @willowrose99

[axwalker]

Bad Timing: Kismet

Book: The Royal Romance (AU)

Pairing: Drake Walker x Alexis O’Brien (MC) 

Synopsis: Alexis O’Brien is escaping a terrible past. After months of running  she settles  in Cordonia where she meets Drake at the bar where she works and they spend a passionate night together. 

What happens when a one-night-stand turns into unexpected parenthood? 

This chapter

MASTERLIST 

WORDS: 3,890 🙊

POV: Dual 

TRIGGER WARNINGS: None for this chapter. In the future, mentions of domestic violence, and explicit sex scenes. 

ALL MY FICS ARE +18 

A/N: I apologize for any grammatical errors. 

I switch between Drake’s and Alexis’ POV several time in this chapter. I hope it’ll be clear enough!

PRESENT TIME Alexis

 After a one-hour bus ride and a 20-minutes walk, I finally find the correct address. When I reach the massive iron gates, I punch in the code Mr. Beaumont’s assistant gave me on the phone and gape as the extensive estate comes into view when I walk through. Acres and acres of super green grass littered with pines surround the massive house in the distance. The closer I get, the more I feel like a foreigner. This might have been my world once, but my new reality couldn’t be further apart from all this luxury. I have fifty dollars left in my wallet, an eviction notice back in my 200 square foot studio, and to top it all, the worst freaking headache I’ve had in my life. Talk about a bad streak. Ironically, I’m happier than I’ve been in years. My life belongs to me; I don’t have to live in constant fear and –most importantly, I’m free. Unattached. I want to do a lot of things with my life, and no one will stop me. That’s worth the worst headache in the world or a few money problems. 

I ring the bell, and a gorgeous woman opens the door. Her deep blue eyes scowl at me when I smile at her. 

“Who are you looking for?” She doesn’t ask as much as she barks the question. 

“Eh,” I haven’t been called shy a single day of my life, but her attitude it’s messing with the positive vibes I had coming up here. “I’m looking for Mr. Bertrand Beaumont from Beaumont Caterings.”

 “This door is for house guests only. The help,” she says the word as if it tastes bad in her mouth, “must go around the house and ring the bell back there.” She’s about to close the door right in my face when two hot guys come to the door. Seriously, what do people eat in this country? 

“Penelope, what are you doing answering the door like a simple maid? Where is Jessa?” 

Penelope rolls her eyes. “She had to leave early. She said she asked you for the afternoon off.”

The older man nods as, the younger one grins at me. “We can discuss Jessa’s schedule later, Bertie. Please, come in, Ms.?” He asks me, still smiling. 

“Ortiz. Alexis Ortiz.” I grin back, instantly liking the man with the kind blue eyes. “I’m here for the catering job.” 

“I’m Maxwell Beaumont. This is my brother Bertrand—the owner and Penelope Brim, one of our party planners.”

I follow them to a huge office and give Bertrand the resumé I printed at the internet place next to my building.  

“Is this all true?” He asks after a quick read.

I nod my head.

“Are you sure, Ms. Ortiz? It says here that you were working as a bartender, a barista, and a waitress in a very exclusive French restaurant, all at the same time.”

Penelope gives me a dismissive glare. “She’s obviously lying. That isn’t even possible. Unless she’s iniquitous.” 

I know better than to interrupt a potential employer, even worse if it’s to correct them, but this woman is grating on my nerves. Plus, I had a lifetime of keeping my head down with Matt, and I just don’t have the patience for this kind of crap anymore. And she called me a liar. Hell no.

“No, Ms. Brim, I’m not ubiquitous.” Maxwell snorts, and I swear the other guy, Bertrand, smiles behind my CV. I refrain from telling her what iniquitous actually means because I do need this job. “I worked as a barista in a Starbucks from 5 to 11 am. Then as a waitress at “Clair de Lune” from 12 to 6 pm. Finally, as a bartender in an Irish pub from 7 to midnight or 2 am, depending on the day. You can call any of those places and see I’m not lying.” Just please, God, don’t ask for my papers.

Maxwell reads the resumé when Bertrand gives it to him. “Do you speak French and Spanish as well?”

I shrug. “I love languages, and I grew up in a house where my mom and grandmother only spoke Spanish. I learned French in school. I had an amazing teacher.” 

Maxwell and Bertrand look at each other. The older brother, a younger, sterner version of Hugh Jackman, clears his throat. “I’ll be honest with you, Ms. Ortiz. Two of our waiters are absent, and tomorrow we’ll be catering to one of the most important events of the year. If everything in your resume is true, you can start training today --paid of course, and start working tomorrow.”

Paid training? Despite my throbbing head, I want to scream with happiness. “Everything is true.”

“That’s settled then. Penelope, please, darling, show Ms. Ortiz the kitchens and the ballroom. You can ask Naomi to train her for tonight. You know Regina, and she’ll want everything to go as smooth as possible.” 

“Right.” Penelope turned at me with an uptight smile. “Come with me.” 

I turn and beam at Maxwell, who’s giving me a thumbs up. “Thank you. I really appreciate this.” 

Bertrand shakes his head. “Don’t thank me yet, Ms. Ortiz. Just do an impeccable job.” He glances at my Vans. “And for the love of God, only heels tomorrow.” 

I nod and follow Penelope down the hallway. 

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

DRAKE

 “This is why you ditch your friends who get hitched to a relationship,” I grumble, sitting in my chair. 

“He’s five minutes late,” Liam says. 

Leo shakes his head. “Well, I want a goddamn drink. How come I can’t order one until he gets here?” 

Liam pinches the bridge of his nose. “You two are acting like children. You can wait five minutes.” 

“Maybe, but I need something, and fast.” 

“Ah, there they are,” Max exclaims, hands clasped together, staring at us. “My boys.” Jesus Christ. Liam is scooped into a hug and then set back in his chair. 

From over Liam’s head, Max points at me and shakes his finger. “Come here; you handsome Walker bastard.” 

I hold up my hand. “I’m good.”

 “Nope.” He shakes his head. “You don’t get to pass up Max’s snuggles.” Before I can move, he swoops to his knees, pulls me into a hug. . . and nuzzles. 

“What the fuck are you doing, Beaumont?” I ask, my voice strong as I try to push him away. 

“You smell like heaven,” he says, chuckling. No one likes to fuck with me as much as Maxwell Beaumont does. Unfortunately for me, he’s one of my best friends, and the bastard is well aware of it. 

“Get out of here.” I palm his face and push him away. 

Leo laughs. “Come on, man, you know Walker is a sour bastard.” 

With another laugh, Maxwell retreats to his seat, unbuttons his jacket, and sits down. Hands-on the table, he looks between us and declares, “I’m in love.” 

Christ. “We know,” Liam and I say at the same time, irritation heavy in our voices. Leo just rolls his eyes as he looks for a waiter. 

Maxwell has only been dating Rashad for a few weeks, so it’s no surprise he’s like this—a hopeful idiot with a relentless smile. Hell, he’s been in love with the man for years. It took him a really, really long time to finally make a move. He adjusts his tie as he says, “You don’t have to be rude about it. I’m just sharing. Isn’t that what this is all about? Sharing?” 

“Sharing? I thought this was about drinking as much as possible and hooking up with a hot waitress,” Leo says, flagging down our waiter. 

When he arrives, I talk above the guys and quickly say, “Macallan, neat.” 

“Dalmore, on the rocks, please,” Liam says, and Leo orders the same. 

When the waiter turns to Max, he rubs his stomach and says, “You know, a hot cocoa would be perfect right now.”

 What the actual fuck? “No.” I step in. “He’ll have an Old Fashion. Thanks.” A little confused and probably slightly disturbed, he takes off as Max complains. 

“Hey, I really wanted a hot cocoa.” 

“Not happening. First, because they don’t serve hot cocoas here and second because we’re supposed to be out drinking, Beaumont. And you fucking love Old Fashions. You order one every damn time. Stop complaining.” 

“Sheesh.” Maxwell unfolds his napkin and sets it on his lap. “What’s up your ass?” 

“Nothing.” I push my hand through my hair. 

“It’s a girl.” Leo smirks, causing Liam and Max to practically jump out of their seats.

“A girl?” Liam cocks his eyebrow. “Surely not Drake --permanent bachelor, Walker. My fucking heart can’t take it.” 

Fucking Leo. “It’s not what Leo is making it out to be.” 

“He met her two months ago, and he’s been thinking about her ever since. Magical pussy right there.”

“I swear, Leo; I don’t care for how long we’ve been friends, next time you talk about her like that, I’ll personally break that shit-eat grin off your face”

The clown raises his arms. “I rest my case.”

 “What?” Max’s eyes nearly fall out of their sockets. “Drake Walker doesn’t get attached, and he doesn’t duel his friends for a girl.” 

Jesus. Thankfully the waiter brings our drinks at that moment, so I have a second to compose myself. 

“You slept with her?” Liam asks after a swig of Dalmore. He’s been in a stable relationship with Hanna Lee for a year now. Once the most popular guy on school, he now spends his Friday nights curled up with her watching Netflix. I can’t even remember the last time he went out with us. 

“I don’t want to talk about it. The only reason this fuckhead is bringing it up it’s because I went looking for her, and he saw it.” There I said it. Better me than Leo fucking Rys. 

Max and Liam exchange a look, but Max seems too stunned to talk, so Liam asks. “You did what?”

I chug my whiskey and ask for another one. “I don’t know why. I just …” Tired of this fucking conversation, I pinch the bridge of my nose. “We had a great time. That’s all.”

 “How come Leo knows about this girl, and I don’t?” Liam complains. 

Max complains too. “Dude, you know I’m the romantic one. Leo over here has a brick for a heart, and Li is too busy. You need to discuss these things with me.” 

“I don’t have a brick for a heart,” Leo says, surprisingly offended. 

“No, you’re just still hung up on Maddie,” I say with a smirk. He shifts in his chair but doesn’t say anything. What does it feel, Rys? 

“So . . . who is the girl?” Maxwell asks. 

For fuck’s sake. I might as well get it over with. “I’m going to say one last time that I’m not interested in her anymore, so before your little hearts starts beating wildly for playing cupid, it’s not going to happen.” 

In a snarky tone, Leo replies, “Well, of course, it’s not. She left the country. Are you that bad, Walker? Because I can give you a tip or two.” He’s so fucking annoying. 

“Oh.” Max sighs, disappointed.  

Leo elbows his brother and says, “He hasn’t slept with anyone since.” 

And there it is. The real reason why Leo is worried about this. He lost his wingman. “I’m not an animal, Leo. It’s not the first time in my life that I go two months without fucking. I’m not you. Anyway, all this is pointless. She’s gone.” 

My friends grew up with me, so they know when it’s time to stop pushing. Max interrupts the silence that follows because nothing makes little Beaumont more uncomfortable than a gap in the conversation. “Everything is ready for the party tomorrow night. The thirtieth anniversary of Rys Corporation will be a success.” 

Liam nods. “Regina talked with Hana this morning. It’s the first anniversary since I took over as CEO. I need everything to be perfect.” 

“What about the staff, Max?” Leo asks, smiling. Having sex at every anniversary party is a personal challenge of his. 

“We actually hired someone today. She’s gorgeous.” He turns his head at Leo. “But she’s off-limits.” Leo smirks, wiggling his eyebrows. “I mean it, dude. Bertrand said he’s tired of looking for new waitresses. Two quit yesterday morning when they found out that the event was for Rys corporation.”  

“Hey, I never lie. It’s not my fault if they think I’ll call them anyway.” 

“Whatever, just don’t mess with her. Plus, I got to talk to her after her training today. She’s super nice. She’s Am--. Wait.” He says when his phone chimes up. “Sorry, boys. It was a text from Penelope. Apparently, the Chablis hasn’t been delivered yet. I have to call Joelle before I lose my big brother over a wine crisis. See you all tomorrow.” He finishes his cocktail and stands up. 

Liam stands up too. “I should go home too. Han arrived today from Hong Kong.” 

Leo checks his phone. “Wait, Li. I’ll go with you. I have a date with this girl I met last night at Kismet. Do you want to come, man?” He asks me. “I’m sure she has a friend she can introduce you.”

I shake my head. “I’ll finish my whiskey and head home. See you all tomorrow.”

It was only one fucking night. Why can’t I get her out of my head? 

It’s maddening. Or maybe it is a blessing. If I’m still thinking about her after one night, imagine how bad I’d have it after several. It’s best that she stays far the fuck away from me. I’m not interested in long-term attachments of any kind.  I don’t want to think about Lexie Ortiz, but she’s infected my brain. The sound of her teasing laugh haunts me.

And I can’t deny it; it was one hell of a night.

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

ALEXIS 

 “This is a single girl’s paradise.” 

“No,” I grimace, trying to clean the spilled tomato sauce from my shirt. “Paradise would be a tropical beach with a hot cabana boy giving us free massages... and an endless supply of piñas Coladas.” Naomi laughs, the sound almost lost in the chaos of the kitchen. Chefs shouting orders, Penelope and Bertrand panicking, plates being dropped—the world of catering is a noisy business. 

“Cabana boys may have hot smoking bodies and virility, Lex, but they lack two essential qualities: prestige and money.” 

“So, what you’re saying is that you’d prefer an old limp dick over a young hard one? Interesting,” I answer, teasing her. 

“No, that’s not what I’m saying, smart ass. I’m saying I’d take a solid bank account over a solid dick. Think about it—with all that money, he could never fuck me at all, and I couldn’t care less. And I’d be treated properly. Rich guys know how to treat a lady.” 

“Trust me on this, Naomi. Money has absolutely nothing to do with how a man treats a woman.” I should know. “In any case,” I retort, grabbing another tray of drinks, “if you’re looking for old rich guys, there are tons of opportunities out there.” I laugh at the dreamy look on her face, partly because it’s hilarious and partly because I know she’s kidding. After my training last night, she invited me to her house, where I met Theo, her little boy. He’s eight years old and the absolute love of her life. 

“Speaking of fucking,” she says, her eyes sparkling, “did you see the Rys brothers? One of them is taken, but the other two are single and oh so yummy. Especially the tall and brooding one. I’ll kill for those smoldering brown eyes looking right at my soul” 

I snort. “You really should stop reading romance novels, Nao. And yes. I served one of them and his girlfriend champagne earlier, but he was blond and didn’t have smoldering, brooding eyes. I thought they were only two brothers, though.”

“Well, technically, yes. But Constantine Rys --the super-rich owner of Rys Corporation-- adopted two other kids. A boy and a girl. They all grew up together.” She uncorks several champagne bottles as she speaks.

Now that my uniform is clean, I grab one of the Veuve Clicquot bottles and help her pouring the cold liquid into the glasses on our trays. “How do you know all of that?”

“I’m Cordonian, girl. The Rys siblings are almost royalty in this country. The one that is not an actual Rys is the one with the smoldering eyes. He doesn’t work for the company, though. He’s a … a vet, I think.”  

A veterinarian like Drake. My stupid heart flutters when I think about him. 

“Do we pay you to work or to gossip, ladies?” Penelope screams from the kitchen door. 

Naomi and I roll our eyes and grab our refilled trays. 

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

DRAKE

“This is a huge night for Liam,” Regina says behind her champagne glass. Constantine has been telling everyone, especially her, that he’s ready and happy to retire, but she knows him better than anyone. Leaving Rys Corporation and pass the torch to Liam is much more difficult for Constantine than he cares to admit.  

“It’ll be all right, Regina. Don’t worry. Liam is more than ready to handle the responsibility.”

She throws a glance at Liam, who’s standing a few feet behind me next to his dad. “I just hope he doesn’t forget that his personal life is equally important. He and Hana work too hard.” 

I’m about to answer when one of the waitresses distracts me. Her back is turned to me, so I can’t see her face, but there is something incredibly familiar about the way she moves. She’s passing drinks amongst Regina’s friends. I want to go and see who she is, but Liam catches my eyes across the room.  We exchange a look, one that we’ve exchanged several times over our lives. It was Liam and me when we were younger, walking into his father’s office after getting into a fight at school. It was the two of us when we came home late, and his parents were waiting in the living room as we walked in, drunk. It was the two of us when we wrecked Leo’s new Porsche when we were sixteen, and right now, I know he needs me. Constantine is a great father, but he has too many expectations for his younger son. Liam needs a break. 

Regina sees the exchange and smiles. “Liam’s very lucky to have you, Drake.” She is not our biological mother, but she loves all of us as if she was. And she’s more my mother than Bianca Walker will never be.  

A couple of men look at me, and I try to remember if I should know them from somewhere. I think they’re both on the board of directors at RC. As much as I love the Rys, I will never get used to this shit. Socializing and pretending to like a bunch of people that annoy the fuck out of me. Ignoring them, I make my way to my best friend. Liam is standing with his hands in his pockets, looking serious and put together like the CEO of the largest company in Cordonia should. 

“I think it’s going well,” he says as I approach. “Father was driving me crazy with all his advice.” 

“It’s not only the anniversary of the company, Li. It’s also his first one as the former CEO. It’s normal he feels out of place.” 

Liam nods. “I know. I just wish he’ll trust me more.”

“He does, Liam. He’s just nervous.”

 I’m cut short by Liam’s grin. His gaze slides right behind me and lights up. 

“Would either of you like a glass of champagne?” a female, very familiar voice nearly whispers behind me. 

“I’m good,” Liam answers, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. “How about you, Drake?”

 I turn around, and my heart skips a beat. Soft curves, tanned skin, and a few freckles across the bridge of her nose. The brightest, most amazing eyes I’ve ever seen. Alexis Ortiz tucks a strand of her rich brown hair behind her ear and takes a deep breath. Her eyes widen, and I see she recognizes me but doesn’t mention it. Instead, a faint smile ghosts her luscious lips, and she lifts her chin like she has a secret she won’t tell. A secret we share. Her gaze remains on Liam, almost like she’s afraid to look my way. Finally, she turns to me, and when she does, an adorable blush color her cheeks. 

“Would you, uh, sir?” she asks, taking half a step backward. 

“Would I what?” I press, enjoying too much the way her cheeks turn even pinker. 

“Would you like a drink?” The words leave her lips fast like she wants to pronounce them and run away. I take a step towards her, remembering the night she spent in my arms and how damn perfect she felt. I know I make her nervous because I see little goosebumps erupting on her soft skin.  I smirk at her. “That depends on what you’re offering.”

 I shouldn’t be toying with her, but I can’t help it. I want to keep her talking, to watch her reactions, to see that sweet smile again.  

“I don’t have much to offer,” she says, a hint of nervousness in her voice. “Unless you like champagne, sir.” She emphasizes the last word.

“I like all sorts of things.” I keep my gaze heavy against hers, not allowing her to look away. She fidgets with her tray and swallows hard but never takes her eyes off mine, too rebellious to look away. The longer our eyes match, the hotter my body becomes. She bits her delicious bottom lip slowly, her dark gaze boring into mine. 

“Is that so?” Liam laughs beside me, and I watch her jump like she forgot he was there. Alexis clears her throat and glances around the room. She turns back to us again, this time a practiced smile on her face. The easy grin and soft laugh are both gone. She wants to get away from me, I can feel it, and I understand. She’s working; it wouldn’t be professional. This is not the time or the place to reconnect. Unfortunately for her, I have other plans.

“Gentlemen ...” With a nod, Alexis walks away as fast as possible. She doesn’t look back, but I watch her until she’s out of sight. 

“What was that?” Liam snickers, loosening his gray silk tie. “I thought you were going to jump on her.” 

I rub my thumb over my lip, still surprised as hell.

“That was Alexis, the girl I met a couple of months ago. Now, if you excuse me, Li, I need to go talk to Bertrand.”  

@mskaneko @burnsoslow @gkittylove99 @kat-tia801 @no-one-u-know @thegreentwin @twinkle-320 @forallthatitsworth @kingliam2019 @marshmallowsandfire @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @princessleac1 @twinkleallnight @tinkie1973 @drakexwillow @moneyfordiamonds 

@yukinagato2012​ @alyssalauren​

[sisterspooky1013]

Damsels, Chapter Eight: They Don’t Want to be Found

By SisterSpooky1013 / Read previous chapters here

Rated E / Tagging @today-in-fic

Mulder calls in to work the next day, too sleep deprived and mentally exhausted to function. After sleeping until nearly noon, he gets back in his car and returns to Philly. He checks into a hotel that’s just a few blocks from the club and then spends the next several hours trying to watch TV, trying to read, and jacking off picturing Scully topless. A short time later, he jacks off again, this time imagining what he’ll see tonight.

He isn’t really sure what he’s doing or why he’s here. The best excuse he can cook up is that she doesn’t have a weapon and he’s protecting her, but realistically he knows she can take care of herself. Is it really just perversion, that he wants to see her…exposed? What will he say if she spots him? He can imagine her level of mortification if she knew he was here, that he’d seen her, and he feels guilt churn in his gut. She might never forgive him for this.

He knows it’s wrong, but he can’t seem to stop himself from going back. He has to see her again.

Scully had lay awake for hours after Angel left, thinking about what had happened, wondering how it happened in the first place. She’s on a case, how stupid could she be? What if it comes to light that she’s become involved with a witness in the case? She might be suspended. At least then maybe they’d never ask her to do something like this again. What if Mulder finds out? Would he feel betrayed somehow? Would it turn him on?

Somewhere around 6 am, she had finally caved in and slid her hand down the front of her panties, groaning when she felt how wet she was. She swirled her finger around her clit, using her own arousal as lubricant, and imagined what might have happened if Angel’s phone hadn’t rung. Would Angel have touched her? With her hands, or her mouth? Maybe both. Would she have touched Angel? She was approaching the brink just thinking about it. She stopped suddenly, remembering something, and grabbed the bullet vibrator from her bedside table, switching it on and pressing it to her clit as she plunged the middle finger of her other hand as far inside herself as she could reach. Within 30 seconds she was unravelling, images of Angel and Mulder dancing in her head as her walls clamped tightly around her finger. Finally, she had slept.

She manages to sleep until nearly three in the afternoon again, then spends the day getting her nails done, reading, and devising a plan for how she might look through the files in that closet. Without knowing what’s in them, she has no way of gaging whether Ricky is likely to notice if she takes a few at a time and returns them later. Worse still, Lexie is working tonight and that gives any risk she takes the potential to blow the whole investigation. She’s positive that given one more red flag, Lexie will sing like a canary. The silver lining is that Angel won’t be at work for the next three days, so they can get some space from what happened between them.

The evening is mostly business as usual, and she’s a bit horrified to realize that this is becoming as dull and predictable as any other job. She lets her mind wander while she flexes and rolls over horny married men, wondering what Mulder is up to, whether he’s worried about her or even misses her. Part of her wonders if he might realize that his life is less complicated without her, and that he prefers it that way. She feels an ache in her chest, a bit further north than she has grown accustomed to, and realizes how much she misses him.

When he enters the club, she’s at the bar. Half her torso is resting on the bar top as she shouts to be heard by the bartender, who’s laughing at whatever she’s saying. The position she’s in pops her barely covered ass out prominently behind her and his eyes go big at how exposed she is, and how comfortable she seems with it. Her bare breasts are smushed against the lacquered countertop and he feels his cock twitch thinking about how hard her nipples will be when she stands up. Unfortunately, it would be too risky to stick around and find out, so he tugs his ball cap lower and finds a table in the back. The dancers never seem to come back here for some reason.

He keeps his head trained towards one of the other dancers at all times, while his eyes follow Scully’s every move. If he knows one thing, it’s that Scully can feel his eyes on her, so he needs to be careful. His disguise is painfully basic and all it would take is one solid look for her to know it’s him. He watches her give a lap dance to a blushing young woman, a soft smile on her face the whole time, and he can’t decide if he’s more turned on or touched by how hard she’s working to make the woman feel comfortable. The aching hard-on in his jeans suggests the former.

This time he’s mentally prepared for her stage set, and also realizes she can barely see beyond the tip rail with all the stage lights on her, so he lets himself enjoy it. He’s known from the moment he met her that Scully is beautiful, sexy, incredible in every way imaginable, but he never could have imagined her moving like this. She’s so graceful and captivating. He lets himself block out all the other jerks who are leering at her, stuffing bills into her underwear, and just watches her. His Scully. She’s ethereal.

“Seems like you’ve found your ATF,” a voice to his left startles him from his reverie.

“Huh?” he turns to see the same waitress who’d served him last night, clad in a fishnet body suit.

“You were here last night, right? You like Desi?”

He panics. “No! I mean, yes. But, don’t send her over here or anything.”

She nods in understanding. “You like to watch. That’s cool, whatever floats your boat, man. Can I get you something to drink?”

“Yeah, can I get a Captain and Coke?” He walked here, why not enjoy himself, right?

Four drinks for him and ten lap dances for her later, he stumbles into the balmy night and back to his hotel room where he jacks off again. Twice.

Everyone is trickling out slowly at the end of what has been a busy shift. Scully takes her time counting her tips, sharing a cut with her bird dog and the bartender on shift tonight. While she would not say that she likes working here by any stretch of the imagination, her coworkers at the club are her only source of socialization and (with the exception of Lexie) she truly enjoys their company. She’s helping one of the custodial staff, a wiry young man they called Don Juan, put up the chairs on the club floor so he can mop when Ricky approaches her.

“Desi, can I see you in my office, please?” He has a somber demeanor that concerns her.

“Um, sure, of course.” She bids the young man farewell and follows Ricky down the hall. He closes the door behind them and she feels her heart start to race.

Ricky sits down behind his desk and motions for her to take a seat across from him. She’s reminded of her first day here and the feelings of fear and anticipation.

“I need to ask you something, Desi, and I want to make sure you don’t mention it to the other girls.”

“Okay,” she responds, taking shallow breaths to obscure the fact that she’s afraid.

“Angel told me what happened.”

Her mouth falls open but no words come out. Is she in trouble for kissing Angel?

“That’s why she was so upset the other night, when you saw her in here. She told me that she’d talked to you about her past a bit,” he shakes his head ruefully. “Some gall those dirtbags have, shaming her for being sexual in any way, then coming to a titty club on the sly.”

She breathes a sigh of relief. “Right, yes, the people who came in. She was very upset. “

“It was really nice of you to spend some time with her after work. Anyway, I gave her a few nights off. She needs a break.”

Scully nods. “You wanted to ask me something?”

“Right! So, Angel is my right hand gal, she helps me with a lot of stuff around here. With her being out, I wanted to ask you to kind of be her backup, if you will.”

For a moment she’s afraid Ricky is asking her to perform some kind of sexual favor, but she recalls that Angel had said he’s gay. “What did you have in mind?” she asks hesitantly.

“Well mostly, I wanted to give you a set of keys for the club. Angel has one, in case something happens to me and I’m not here to open and close the doors, stuff like that.”

A set of keys? Scully feels a flush of adrenaline. “Of course, I can do that.”

“That’d be great, Desi. I know you haven’t been with us all that long, but you seem pretty trustworthy, at least compared to the other girls. Like I mentioned, I’m hoping we can keep this between us, just so there are no hurt feelings from anyone who’s been here longer than you.”

Her heart is pounding with excitement at the opportunity to gain access to those files. “Is there an alarm code or something I should know about?” She recalls a sign on the door for ADT.

Ricky dismisses her concern with a flick of his wrist. “No, nothing like that. I should get one, but I just pilfered those signs from my buddy to scare off vagrants.”

She nods in understanding.

“Ninety-nine percent chance nothing will happen and there’ll be no need, but thanks for being on deck, just in case,” he says as he hands her a playboy bunny shaped keychain with a single key dangling from it.

Scully smiles at him. “I’m more than happy to help.”

After she leaves the club, she first goes home to stash her tips and change into comfortable, dark clothes, and then gets a big cup of coffee and a disposable camera from the 7-11 near her apartment.

By the time she’s lurking in the corner of the club’s parking lot, watching the door, it’s nearly 4am and there’s still a light on inside the foyer. She sips her coffee and waits, shuffling her feet to keep warm. Finally at 4:50, Denny and Ricky emerge, locking the door behind them. After they leave the parking lot, Scully waits another 20 minutes before she creeps around the perimeter of the lot and approaches the door. Glancing around to be sure no one is watching her, she turns the key and steps inside, locking it behind her.

The quiet stillness is eerie in contrast to the throbbing hive of activity it had been earlier in the night and she flicks on her flashlight, making her way to Ricky’s office. She fits the same front door key into the lock and sighs in relief when it turns. Ricky’s security standards aren’t incredibly high, apparently, but in this case it’s to her advantage. She tries the key on the hallway closets just in case, to no avail, and returns to the office. Navigating to his desk, she pulls open drawers quickly, scanning their contents. Nothing is of interest, and she’s disappointed though not surprised that his keys to other areas of the club aren’t in here. That makes things more challenging, but not impossible. She’s spent her days off at the library researching how to pick locks, including buying a lock picking kit and some padlocks at the local hardware store to practice with, and she feels relatively confident she can get this door open without a key. She might just have to be the one to pick the lock next time she and Mulder have the need. She smiles to herself knowing how impressed he’d be.

Back in the hallway, she pulls the small lock picking kit out of her back pocket and kneels in front of the door, the pen light perched between her teeth. She studies the lock and then inserts a torque wrench at the bottom, turning it slightly to put resistance in the direction it will spin when unlocked. From the kit, she selects a straight, flat pick and runs it from back to front at the top of the keyhole a couple times. Next she exchanges it for a pick with a curved end, pushing it as far back and high as she can reach as she holds her ear close to the lock in the stony silence of the hallway. Bumping against the pins inside the lock, she listens and feels for a small click or give that indicates the pin has settled in its unlocked position. She continues this until she counts five pins clicking into place, then removes the pick and turns the torque wrench.

The lock releases with a soft click and she laughs out loud as the door swings open, beyond pleased with herself. Stepping into the closet, there’s enough room for her to close the door behind her and she does so, pulling a cord to turn on the overhead light. Taking stock of the beige bank of file cabinets, she works top to bottom, left to right, and immediately feels her heart sink when the first four drawers she tries are empty. Would this be yet another dead end? When the fifth drawer snicks open, she sees a small set of files hanging towards the back. She quickly checks all the other drawers so she’ll have a good idea of how much material she has to review, but they’re all empty.

She pulls the files out and sits down with them on the floor, setting the disposable camera near her thigh. There are eight folders nestled inside the hanging file, each one with a set of initials on the tab. The first one is marked “G.A.” and inside she finds an intake form, a personal statement that’s filled out by hand, and a release of liability form. The intake form is sparse and includes nearly no identifying information. The name is listed as simply GA and the fields below it include “entry date,” “exit date,” “reason for sheltering,” and “responsible individual.” On the form for GA, the entry and exit date are both a year and a half prior, about six months apart. Reason for sheltering is listed as “threat of violence-domestic,” and the responsible individual reads “brother.” She turns to the second page, which contains GA’s personal statement.

Continue Reading Here

[howtoeatworms]

Fairy Tail: The Celestial Journey

                              Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

It’s been one month since the war with tartaros. Magnolia has been busy rebuilding and with help from the generous amount of jewel the king has given to all those affected, almost a quarter of the town has been rebuilt.

The guild on the other hand was rebuilt in under five days thanks to the insane workload Erza forced on everyone. The craziest thing wasn’t even that. The master thought of disbanding the guild, the idea almost gave me a heart attack, But I’m glad Master changed his mind after he realized how sad everyone would be if that happened.

Everyone seems to be going back to their daily routines but some wounds are too deep to heal. It’s just not the same even now. But I’m sure things will get better soon.

I love you mama. I will talk again soon.

Lucy then put the finishing touches on the letter and put it away for safekeeping inside one of her top cabinets opposite her bed.

After having a nice warm shower Lucy was having a hard time deciding what to wear.

“I know, He can help me. Open! Gate of the little dog! Plue!” Lucy chanted as she pointed her key in the air.

In a puff of smoke what looked like to be a short, carrot nosed dog puffed into existence.

“Hmm. I haven’t worn this one in a long time, what do you think Plue?” She asked her little celestial spirit.  The small little creature walked over to over a dozen outfits sitting on her bed and pointed to a blue and white outfit.

Lucy looked at the outfit Plue had chosen and gave him a big hug saying; “I knew you could help me. Thank you Plue.” Shortly after in another puff of smoke the spirit was gone.

Lucy was walking down the road to the newly rebuilt guild hall wearing a blue shirt, a short, white skirt, long brown leggings and a black sleeve with her hair tied into a long ponytail.

Before she knew it Lucy was already at the guild hall. She pushed the doors open to find the usual scenes. People drinking merrily, some checking the request board and fiends chatting.

Lucy went to sit down at an empty table right near the entrance. She smiled at all the commotion around her. Thinking of better times.

“Oh Lucy! It’s so nice to see you at the guild again. You haven’t been here for weeks.” Mirajane said as she walked over to lucy’s table.

“Yeah, it’s good to be back.” Lucy murmured looking down at the table.

“Is there anything I can order for you, Lucy?” Mirajane asked.

Lucy murmured “No thanks, mira.”

“Well, if you need anything just call.” Mirajane said as she walked off to serve another person.

Lucy looked around the guild for Natsu and Happy hoping that they could go on a mission together.

“It’s just been so long.” She said to herself. Suddenly, something caught her attention in the corner of her eye.

    “Erza! We’ve been waiting 30 minutes for our beer and it’s still not here! You’re a worse waitress than Kinana!” Wakaba shouted in a semi drunken state.

“Uh, bud I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Macao replied to his long-time friend.

Just hearing the remarks by Wakaba, Erza rushed over to the table where he was seated, and like a tiger killing its prey Erza instantly jumped Wakaba.

“If it’s alcohol you want then it’s alcohol you’ll get!” Erza said as she started to force down a whole barrel of alcohol down his throat.

Lucy watched on in confusion and worry, glad to be sitting a few tables back.

“Erza being a waitress is a pretty scary thing.” Lucy nervously thought to herself.

Getting tired of sitting around Lucy got up from her seat and walked over to the request board.

“Even if I can’t go on missions with Natsu and Happy, I still need to pay rent.”

Lucy scanned the request board looking for a job suitable for both herself and her spirits. Unfortunately, she could only find dangerous jobs that would require a three-person team.

Suddenly a familiar flying, blue cat flew into the guild hall and grabbed a handful of flyers.

Lucy looked up above in surprise. “Happy it’s you! I haven’t seen you and Natsu in ages. How has he been?”

Happy looked down to see Lucy staring up at him. “I can’t talk now, Lucy! Got work to do!”

Lucy murmured, looking at the floor. “Of course, you do.”

  Hours later, Lucy was working on the finishing touches on another two pages of her novel. Feeling tired, she stretched her arms and decided it was time to go to bed.

Lucy signed, lying in bed. “I spent a whole day at the guild and I didn’t even get a single job, and Rent is coming up soon too. Maybe tomorrow I might find something.”

As Lucy slept in her bed, a dream started to form in her mind.

“Puny human, no mortal can stand up to the might of the four Celestial Gods.”

“I don’t care! I need to do this so I can save my family.”

“Draco! Deal with this pest for me.”

“Yes, my lord.”

A hulking monster appeared as if out of nowhere, standing down Natsu.

“So, you’re the Celestial god everyone’s been talking about, huh?” Natsu said in a sarcastic tone.

“Natsu! Get away, you’ll die!” Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs.  

The creature simply attacked, paying no attention to Lucy’s words.

“Celestial God Dragon… Roar!”

In a split second a wave of fire that felt as hot as the sun engulfed Natsu, and a split second later there was nothing left but ash.

Suddenly Lucy shot awake, she looked around, realizing she was safe in her own bed.

“It was just a dream, then?”

Lucy realized her body was shaking in fear, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Natsu…”

  Lucy was sitting by the bar, drinking a coffee to try to keep herself awake. She didn’t get much sleep after she awoke from her nightmare.

“Oi Lucy! Watcha doing?” Natsu said as he draped his arm around lucy’s neck and chest, a little too close for comfort.

Lucy turned around and saw Natsu. “Natsu, it’s been so long. What have you been doing?”  

Natsu looked Lucy in her eyes and said; “Oh nothing! Just missions and stuff. I need to get stronger and stronger!”

Lucy’s face lit up, and an idea popped into her head. “Since you’re here, how about we go on a mission together?”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

“Happy! Find a flyer for Lucy and us.” Natsu yelled at the top of his lungs.

“Aye sir!” Happy replied.

A large shard of ice suddenly shot through the air and hit Natsu in the head.

“What the hell was that?” Natsu yelled.

“Hey, flame brain! Leave a few jobs for the rest of us will ya!” Gray yelled.

“Huh?” Natsu grunted.

“You’re taking all the damn jobs in the guild, soon enough there won’t be any left.” Gray replied.

Natsu jumped up from his seat and yelled; “Ya got a problem with that, popsicle man!”

Gray was starting to get visibly annoyed at Natsu’s ignorance. “You know I do, weren’t you listening, dumbass.”

Natsu then suddenly punched Gray and the force of the impact destroyed a table.

“Oh, it’s on now, Natsu!” Gray yelled.

Soon enough the entire guild was their battleground, getting other wizards caught up in their brawl.

Lucy looked at them both and murmured; “They never learn, do they?”

“I feel so tired.” Lucy said as she started to yawn. “I think I’ll just rest here for a bit, Mira.”

“Don’t sleep too long.” Mira replied.

Lucy started to drift off to sleep, the guild’s noise acting as a lullaby to her.

Lucy suddenly found herself in a very familiar place. It was her father’s old mansion. She started to stroll through the lovely garden out front when suddenly she was pulled away and dragged into a terrible memory.

It was raining.

Everyone was dressed in black.

Suddenly, Lucy knew what the memory was.

It was her mother’s funeral. When Lucy looked around, she realized she was her child like self again. Small and defenseless. The wails of pain and agony were a chorus of tears Lucy wished she never had to remember again.

Then, suddenly, the dream changed. Lucy was standing in shallow water, now an adult again.

“Fix the keys… the land of the spirits.”

Lucy heard a familiar voice.

“Who are you? Why do you sound like my…”?

A figure appeared in the distance. Lucy ran to it. It was Layla.

“Mum?” Lucy murmured.

The figure turned its head to reveal a half rotting corpse, a small smile etched on its face.

  “AAAHHH!!”

Lucy suddenly shot awake and her scream stopped the guild, as if everyone was frozen.

Natsu and Gray stopped fighting, Erza stopped eating her cake, all to look at Lucy.

Natsu ran over to Lucy as fast as he could, with Happy flying behind him, he ran over to the stool Lucy was sitting on.

“Mama?” Lucy said as she looked at Natsu, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Oi Lucy! Are you alright?” Natsu asked, shocked at her scream.

Lucy looked at Natsu and Happy.

She murmured; “I’m fine, I just… had a dream.

“You had us all worried sick. Are you sure you’ll alright?” Natsu questioned.

“I’m fine, really I am.” Lucy said.

Happy was floating above Lucy’s head. “Was it about tasty fish?”

Lucy slightly laughed. “No happy, it’s not about tasty fish.”

“Oh! I betcha it was about Fighting.” Natsu yelled.

“No, fish!” happy replied.

“Fighting!”

“Fish!”

Lucy walked over to master, who was sitting on one of the tables nearby.

“I’m sorry master. I’m sorry everyone. I didn’t mean to worry you all.” Lucy said sadly.

Makarov looked at Lucy with a worried look.

“There’s no need to worry, my child. We all have bad days, but the important thing is to always remember that tomorrow will be better. So, keep your head held high, for that is the Fairy Tail way.” Makarov said.

Lucy looked at the ground, not able to look master in the face. Whether that was out of shame or cowardice she didn’t know.

Moments after Makarov’s talk the guild started to liven up again, becoming its old rowdy self.

“I think I need to go home.” Lucy said.

Makarov watched Lucy walk out of the guild with concern plastered on his face. Lucy looked like she was in a haze.

 Lucy barely made it home to her apartment. Walking home in a daze.

As soon Lucy entered her home, she started to undress.

“I need a hot shower… I’ll fell bet…”

She suddenly collapsed on the floor.

Lucy awoke in the same void of shallow water as before. She saw the same thing parading around as her mother.

“Who are you? Answer me! Lucy shouted nervously at the figure.

The figure moved and as it turned its head, Lucy anticipated the horrific figure from earlier. But it never came. All she saw was the beautiful face of her mother.

“Lucy, I have not seen you in years. You have grown so much since I last saw you.” Layla said.

“I don’t understand any of this, what’s going on?” Lucy asked her mother.

Layla looked at Lucy with sadness on her face.

I have been trying to contact you, I have a mission for you, a way to save Aquarius.

Lucy was shocked, she couldn’t believe what she heard.

“Let me explain, my daughter.” Layla said.

“In the northern continent, in ancient times a meteor hit and devastated the landscape, however since that day, that place has become a wellspring of power for celestial spirit wizards. Go to the celestial steppe and you will find a blacksmith that can fix any key, even celestial keys.” Layla Stated.

Lucy tried to run closer to her mother but no matter how close she got Layla would always be out of reach. “How do you know all this? Can I even trust you?”

Layla looked at her daughter with sad eyes.

“Of course, you can trust me, I’m your mother. All will be explained soon, just know that I love you, lucky Lucy.” Layla smiled and then disappeared.

Lucy woke up from her dream, determined to make it a reality.

“I’ll be with you soon, Aquarius. Just hold on a little more.” Said Lucy.  

  The next day Happy and Natsu were standing by the request board in the guild. They had found the perfect job for Lucy.

“I’m sure Lucy would loooove this one!” Happy yelled, with the flyer in his paws.

“I wouldn’t miss seeing Lucy looking like that for the world.” Natsu said as he grinned mischievously.

Natsu ran out the guild’s doors as fast as he could with Happy flying not far too behind.  

“Hey Lucy! Me and Happy found a job that you’d really like. It pays well.” Natsu Yelled outside Lucy’s apartment window. The flyer moving in the wind.

There was a silence for a moment.

“Is Lucy not home?” happy asked.

“Nah, she’s just ignoring me. Watch.” Natsu said as he jumped from the ground to the window sill outside Lucy’s window.

Natsu pulled the wooden frame up and hoped inside, with happy flying in after him.

“She’s not here.” Said Happy, looking around.

“Well, she’s gotta be. Let’s have a look around.” Natsu told Happy.

“She’s not in here.” Happy said as he lifted up the lid for a cookie jar.

Natsu grinned. “I know where you are. I’m coming in!” Natsu ripped the shower curtain off its rod expecting to see a naked Lucy.

“Huh, she’s not even here?”

Happy flew right into Natsu’s arms with tears in his eyes. “I looked around everywhere and Lucy isn’t here. Is she okay?”

“I dunno, bud.” Natsu replied. “But something is wrong.”

“Master!”

Natsu burst through the guild hall as loud as a bull and ran up to Makarov, who was sitting on the bar top.

“What is it my boy.” Makarov asked.

Everyone looked at Natsu in confusion. Breathing heavily from running to the guild, Natsu and Happy were trying to regain their breath. “It’s…Lucy…she’s… gone!”

“Hmm, what do you mean by that Natsu.” Makarov said.

“Lucy was here and then she was gone and I can’t find her anywhere.” Natsu said quickly, panicking.

“Calm down first Natsu.” Erza replied, who was standing to the right of Makarov.

After waiting a minute for Natsu to catch his breath, he finally spoke;

“I went to Lucy’s place to tell her me and Happy had a job for her to do, But I couldn’t find her anywhere. Then we looked around Magnola hoping to find her scent, but nothing. It’s like she just disappeared.”

“Well, this is troubling.” The master said.

“This is not like Lucy at all. She can be clumsy but she wouldn’t just leave like that.” Erza said.

“Could this be an enemy targeting Lucy?” Juvia chimed in.

“It’s a possibility. After what we went through fighting Tartaros I wouldn’t be shocked if someone wanted revenge.” Gray pondered.

For a moment Makarov closed his eyes and meditated on the news.

“We’ll send out a search party to look for Lucy. Natsu, Gray, Erza, Juvia and Wendy, you all will form a search party and look for Lucy. Also, we will use your telepathy, Warren to try and locate her as well.” Master Makarov announced.

Natsu was grinding his teeth and had his fists clenched, an aura of anger surrounding him.

“Don’t worry Lucy, we’ll get you back for sure. You can count on it.”

  It was one whole week after Lucy disappeared and everyone was low on spirits. The guild was as busy as ever, but it had a tinge of sadness in the air.

One whole week of searching all over Fiore and nothing showed up, not even a single hint.

Suddenly a strange, fat woman walked in the guild hall wearing Lucy’s old outfits with a wagon filled with boxes of clothes and other items.

“Isn’t that the landlady Lucy rented from?” Gray asked, pointing to the guild’s doors.

“The Landlady, why would she be here? Erza questioned.

“Is this the place where Lucy Heartfilia works?” The woman yelled.

“Yes, why?” Gray Asked.

“That brat went up and left, not even paying the rent she owes me, she left all her crap at my apartment too, So I’m dumping it here.” The woman ranted.

Natsu walked up to the landlady, looking at her with disgust. “Lucy always paid her rent on time. She always panicked about getting kicked out. This isn’t like her.”

“Well, your friend doesn’t give a crap anymore, that’s for sure.” The landlady said as she pushed all of Lucy’s belongings off the wagon and onto the floor.

Natsu stood there, clenching his fists in anger.

As the landlady started to walk out the door, she threw a letter on the ground.

“Oh, and she left this too.”

“A letter?” Natsu said as he picked it up and opened it.

Natsu couldn’t believe what he read. His hands started to shake.

“Natsu, please read aloud the letter, for all of us.” Erza said.

Dear Natsu.

“It saddens me to say this but, I’m leaving on a journey, one that is more important to me than you could ever imagine. I don’t know how long I will be gone; it could be a month or it could be a year or two.

I wish I could have stayed in the guild longer, but don’t worry, I will always be in your hearts and I will always be a member of Fairy Tail.

If you’re reading this, Natsu, then it means that I have already crossed the borders of Fiore. I will be sending this letter to my apartment, so if you ever break in be sure to read it.

Sincerely,

Lucy.

  A horse drawn carriage pulled up to a stop on near the edge of a mountain. The driver rubbing his cold hands together to try to heat them.

“I’m sorry miss, but this is as far as I can take you. The blizzard is just too strong.”

A slender, young woman jumped out of the carriage and said; “It’s okay, thank you for taking me this far.” She threw a bag filled with jewel to the driver.

“Nice doing business with ya!” The driver said as he directed his horse the way they came.

Lucy fixed her scarf closer to her neck for warmth. She looked off over into the distance, everything was a flurry of white.

“I’ve finally made it to the northern continent. It looks like my journey starts now.”

[captain-tch]

All That I Can Give

summary: kiko is a struggling business owner thrown into the chaos of the borderlands. when she makes a mistake that will threaten her life, she learns just how far she will go to keep herself alive.

TW: DEATH, MENTIONS OF ATTEMPTED SUICIDE, MENTAL HEALTH, TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS, VIOLENCE

chapter 8: cops and robbers

previous chapter

Kiko and Tetsu looked up at the police station with cautiousness. Kiko couldn’t help but snap her head back to the sign lighting up with the words GAME ARENA, turning her head back to the station. It didn’t look like the arena could be anywhere else. 

“You sure this is the right place?” 

Tetsu grunted. “Unfortunately.” 

“I don’t have a great feeling about this.” Kiko sighed. Absentmindedly, her hand ran through her ponytail, curling the ends around her finger. Her bandaged hand remained limp at her side. 

“It can’t be any worse than any of the other games,” Tetsu paused. “Right?”

Kiko felt inclined to agree, just to ease the knot of stress that had tensed his shoulders. She didn’t want him going into a game too riled up - it would make her job ten times harder. She didn’t want to tell him what really was on her mind, how each time she played instead of getting better, it seemed to get worse, and her brain had been conjuring up endless possibilities throughout her sleepless night.

Each time she had entered a game, she had been alone. Each time she left with more memories she couldn’t erase. 

Maybe it would be different this time. 

She prayed it would be different this time. 

Forcing one foot in front of the other, Kiko led the way into the police station. Tetsu was hot on her heels, letting the heavy door slam shut, making their presence known. Curious eyes followed the pair to the table set up in the entrance. She paid them no mind. Kiko passed Tetsu a phone, pulling hers to her face to register. 

“REGISTRATION COMPLETE.” 

Her brows involuntarily pulled together. The swirling sensation in her gut slowly turned into a tornado. She couldn’t shake the feeling that the game master had been waiting for them to arrive, and now that they had, was far too happy to make them endure misery. 

“GAME: COPS AND ROBBERS. GAME DIFFICULTY: TWO OF CLUBS.”

Kiko wanted to cheer. This would be her easiest game yet. Perhaps they could breeze through this. A quick glance around the room told her the feeling was mutual. 

Her eyes continued to wander around the room as the rules were explained. “RULES: PLAYERS ARE EITHER A COP, OR A ROBBER. THE COPS WILL HUNT DOWN THE ROBBERS. ROBBERS WILL ESCAPE THE COPS. THE TEAM WITH THE MOST PLAYERS REMAINING AFTER TWENTY MINUTES WINS.”

She tried to assess the players around her. No one particularly stood out to her, besides a man and woman leaning against the counter. The woman was draped over the man, playing with what looked like a bracelet around her wrist. The man had a matching bracelet, and from where Kiko stood it looked like it said 32. She wondered for a moment what that could mean. They were both wearing beach wear. Kiko tried to dismiss her growing questions. 

No matter how hard she tried to pull her attention away from the pair, something kept dragging her back. It was almost like she was being pulled in by some omnipotent force. Something about the man niggled at the back of her brain. She tried desperately to conjure the answer. 

He flashed her a glowing smile. 

Kiko choked on air. 

Ares himself had joined the Borderlands. It was Ryuk. 

“ROBBERS HAVE A TEN MINUTE HEAD START - PICK YOUR WEAPON AND MASK FROM THE TABLE.” 

Kiko hadn’t even checked her phone to see what role she’d been assigned. She was too busy staring at her tormentor. He looked well, no major injuries or the slightest hint that the Borderlands was starting to affect him. He was made for this world after all. 

“Kiko,” Tetsu snatched the phone out of her hand, checking the role it had assigned her. “We’re both robbers, lets go.” 

She was grateful for the distraction, looking down at the selection of weapons with a frown. “This is it?” 

A hammer was the most lethal item on the table. Before anyone could reach for it, another member of her team had already snatched it up. Amongst the weapons were a backpack, stationary, and a set of walkie talkies. 

Tetsu grabbed the walkie talkies. He selected the first mask he could find, snorting at the terrifying clown design. “Here, it suits your face.” 

Kiko couldn’t even think of a retort. She took the mask and slid it onto her face, disappearing into the police station. Tetsu jogged to keep up. 

“You didn’t pick a weapon!” 

The words didn’t even process in her brain. She was consumed with the past, memories blurring before her eyes. Scars burned and bruises lit up at the flashbacks. Her throat constricted the more these thoughts rushed through, until it absorbed her very being. 

A pair of rough hands pushed her into the wall. She cried out, healing bruises on her back radiating agony. Kiko resisted the urge to cower, prying open her eyes that she hadn’t even realised had closed. 

Through the limited field of vision through the mask, she could see Tetsu towering over her. His hands were tight on her arms, his mouth set from the gap she could see in his mask. “You need to put whatever is bothering you to the back of your mind. We’re in a game now. Don’t let whatever it is get us killed.” 

Kiko’s entire body was quivering. Tetsu relaxed his grip. The fury ebbed away as he squeezed her arm reassuringly, as if to try to replace the memory of his vice like grip. “I’m sorry.” He whispered. 

Visibly gulping, she brushed him off. She cleared her throat. “It’s fine.” 

Puling away from Tetsu, she started to pound her way down the hall. “Where are the others?” 

“They took off.” 

Kiko froze in her steps. She slowly turned to Tetsu, unable to close her jaw. “But this is a clubs game?” 

“I think the plan is to stay as wide spread as possible. If it’s harder to find us, it’s harder to kill us.” He sighed. He lifted his mask away from his face for a moment, rubbing his hand against his jaw. “We should stick together. If we get split up, find the CCTV room.” 

Kiko agreed to the plan. He passed her a walkie talkie, attaching his own to his own belt loops. Kiko followed suit. “We can use these to talk to each other. It lets us know that the other person is still alive.” 

“THE TEN MINUTE HEAD START IS OVER. GAME START. GOOD LUCK.” 

Kiko shivered at those words. She clenched and unclenched her fists, gaze moving all around them. 

“We need to hurry, find somewhere that’s quiet.” 

Tetsu agreed. As quietly as they could, they crept through the halls of the police station. Kiko kept an eye out for any weapons she could use lying around. She prayed she might have been able to find a gun in a drawer, or a knife taped beneath a desk. 

So far, nothing. 

She cursed the movies she had seen as she opened another drawer, only to find the contents empty. It seemed that if there was a higher force here, it was set on mocking her.  

They carried on down the hall. The slap of fast, staggered footsteps grabbed their attention. In a flash, Tetsu and Kiko parted, Kiko hiding beneath a desk and Tetsu splaying himself as flat as he could inside of an alcove. 

The pair of them held their breath as a masked face ran past, heaving breaths and limping gait. 

“Please - someone help me!” The woman cried out, tripping over her own feet. She crashed to the floor in a heap. Her body heaved up and down. She made no attempt to get back up. 

Tetsu moved to leave his corner. His eyes connected to Kiko. She firmly shook her head. A bad feeling churned in her gut as another pair of footsteps, almost teasingly slow, crept up to the woman. 

“Did you seriously think you could out run me?” 

Tetsu slid as far back into the shadows he could. Kiko watched the scene unravel with baited breath. The same bracelet caught her attention as the predator leant down. 

Ryuk. 

Ryuk snatched the woman, spinning her so she was laying flat on the ground. Her cries grew in intensity. He crouched in front of her, swiftly removing her mask, both hands caressing her cheeks. In his silky smooth voice, he whispered a sweet nothing in her ear. “You have nothing to fear.” 

A resounding crack deafened Kiko’s ears. The woman’s body collapsed to the floor. Kiko fought the urge to scramble backwards as the woman’s unseeing eyes stared in her soul. She was fixated on the bent angle of the woman’s neck. Her thoughts should be full of fear but all Kiko could feel was an overwhelming sense of relief that it wasn’t her. 

“NINE ROBBERS REMAINING.” 

Kiko swore under her breath. It was only a few minutes into the game and already one of the members of her team was dead. If they carried on at this rate, there wouldn’t be any of her team left at all. 

Her hands were itching to grab a hold of Ryuk’s neck. To feel the life pulse and strain under her palms as he fought for breath. She craved to see the face of a scared little boy as she stole his future from him. Kiko wanted to hear the bodiless voice shout out her victory in murdering the very man who destroyed her life. 

As if sensing what she was thinking, Tetsu shook his head. His warning struggled to bypass the bloodlust corrupting her thoughts. She wanted Ryuk dead. 

She could convince herself it was for the game; she never was very good at lying to herself. 

“Ryuk!” A girly whine screeched. “Why did you steal my kill?” 

A manic smile spread on Ryuk’s lips. “If you didn’t play with your food, you could have killed her sooner.”

The girl huffed. She draped her arms around his neck, grinning at him brightly. “Promise to give me the next one?” 

“Anything for you.” He leered at her. Ryuk cupped her cheek almost lovingly, dragging a thumb over her skin. “But remember - if you see that Kiko girl, she’s mine.” 

Kiko wasn’t able to see Tetsu’s reaction, but she imagined it wasn’t good. She was going to have a lot of explaining to do later. Kiko’s thigh started to cramp from the awkward position. She tried to delicately manoeuvre herself. 

Her hand slapped the floor. 

Wide eyes connected to Tetsu’s. She prayed to whatever higher power there was that the sound was muffled. In her experience, prayers never usually worked. 

“What was that?” 

Kiko tensed her muscles. She started to slowly rise into a squat, readying herself to run. She shared a panicked look with Tetsu. His hands were moving as if signalling to her a plan. In the darkness of the shadows, Kiko couldn’t translate. 

“Hey - get back here!” Ryuk boomed. 

Tetsu darted from his corner, sprinting down the corridor. Ryuk bolted after him. Kiko had an overwhelming sense of deja vu. She felt her mind grasp the edges of the memory, a vile feeling halting her from submerging herself completely. She needed to do whatever she could to stop Ryuk. First, she had bigger fish to fry. 

His friend was about to trail him when Kiko popped up from behind the desk. In a split second, she instinctively grabbed a chair from behind the desk and threw it at the girl. She screeched, ducking out of the way. 

It bought Kiko the precious seconds she needed to sprint in the opposite direction to Tetsu. She hated Ryuk chasing him, but at least now he only had one wolf targeting him than two. 

The girl was closing in behind. She grabbed a handful of Kiko’s ponytail, dragging her backwards. Her scalp burned. A grunt left Kiko as she stumbled backwards into the girl. 

The girl tried reaching for her again. Kiko dodged the attack this time, pouncing to the left. The girl clenched her fist. Kiko didn’t give her time to land the punch, kicking furiously at the girl’s knee. She crumbled momentarily. 

A moment is all it takes. 

Kiko pushed the girl with all her might. The girl fell backwards, her body falling, falling, falling. Her head connected with a desk. A sickening crunch violated Kiko’s senses. 

“NINE COPS REMAINING.” 

Swallowing thickly, Kiko spun on her heel. She fought the urge to turn back and witness the consequences of her destruction, She resisted the need to clamp her hands over her ears to stop that awful sound on repeat. 

She didn’t have time for that. She had to find Tetsu. 

Walking on the palms of her feet, she slowly made her way out of the main corridor. She cast a glance in all directions, deeming it safe after a minute and dashing across the gap. 

“EIGHT ROBBERS REMAINING.” 

Kiko’s steps quickened. She rushed through the halls as fast as her body could take her, without sacrificing her caution. 

Hearing muffled voices, Kiko threw herself behind the nearest door. She splayed herself as flat as she could against the wall, sucking in her stomach and holding her breath. It felt like eons before the voices even reached her. Her lungs begged for air - she held on for longer. She couldn’t risk the smallest sound exposing her. 

The voices soon became silent. Kiko gasped for breath, sneaking a quick glance from behind the door. At the sight of no other people, she began to leave her hiding place. An object on the wall made her freeze in her tracks. 

Break glass in case of an emergency flashed at her. Kiko brought herself in front of the axe, a sense of relief falling on her shoulders. No longer weapon less, she could focus on finding Tetsu, not just on being undetected. 

One. 

Two. 

Three times she slammed her elbow against the glass. It shattered into fragmented pieces, the sound piercing the eerie silence. Kiko cringed, prying the axe off of it’s bracket and testing it’s weight in her hands. It was light enough to carry with her, extra weight aggravating her bleeding elbow. 

With her new found weapon at her side, she moved closer to her destination, the bodiless voice announced the fallen. By the time she was at the CCTV room, there were only four cops remaining and three robbers. Kiko pulled out her phone.

Five minutes until game over. 

Five minutes to kill one more cop and win. 

Peeking through the glass, Kiko felt fury surge through her veins. Without a second thought, she yanked the door wide open. 

The three men were busy kicking Tetsu. They were laughing, delivering harder kicks to his side, snickering whenever Tetsu let out a cry. At the centre of this was Ryuk, a splatter of blood spread on his cheeks. Just a glimpse of Tetsu’s face was enough to provide her the strength to swing the axe straight into the neck of one of his attackers. 

The man fell to the floor, grabbing at his neck. Blood rushed over him in a steady stream, his body quickly falling to the floor. 

“THREE COPS REMAINING.” 

For them to win, she could have stopped now. She could have ceased her rage and waited for the game to end. Six people could leave this game alive. 

But that wasn’t going to happen. 

“Kiko, you finally join us.” 

Kiko didn’t waste any time with small talk. She hurtled herself at the man, knocking the pair of them to the ground. Ryuk took the brunt of the hit, his head slamming on the floor. He grunted. Kiko relished in the sound, it lighting her body in a way nothing else had ever before. 

She clenched her fist, slamming it down into his nose. His head snapped backwards, blood freely gushing from his nostrils. Her knuckles burned at the contact yet a smile crept onto her face. Red looked so good on him. She needed to see more. Her arm moved forward to punch him again. 

She was suddenly stopped in her tracks. He was gripping her arm tightly, pushing it further and further away from his face. She tried to shake out of his grip. It only stronger. 

Sloppily, her bandaged hand came down to his face. Her hand barely skimmed his cheek. A bloodied smile spread on his face. “Still a weakling, aren’t you?” 

He pushed her backwards. Kiko fell flat on her back. She tried to ignore the healing wounds crying at the aggravation. She tried to stand up - his presence loomed over her. He stared down at her from above, gripping her jaw in a tight grip. She flung herself in every direction to free herself. His hand only gripped her tighter. In a last ditch effort, Kiko spat gracefully at him.

Swearing, he wrapped an arm around her neck. She felt his grip tightening. Her windpipe cried out, air cut off. She frantically clawed at his arm, arching her head as far up as she could, trying and failing to suck in air. 

“This,” he whispered in her ear, moving her hair with his breath. “This is what I’ve been waiting to do for years.” 

Everything was starting to become blurry. Her vision was slowly darkening, her eyes begging to flutter shut. Her arms wildly flew out, attempting to land a hit and make it all stop. In her narrowing vision, she caught sight of Tetsu, relentlessly fighting his own attacker. 

You fight to get back home. 

Tetsu’s words echoed in her mind. She wasn’t dying. Not without a fight. If she was going to die, she was going to leave him with a scar to remind him just who the hell she was. 

Kiko clamped her teeth down on Ryuk’s arm. She bit him hard enough to draw blood, not stopping as she heard him yowl in pain. His grip loosened slightly - all it takes is one moment. Kiko slammed her head backwards, ignoring the stars floating before her as her head connected with his. 

Now completely free of his grip, she quickly looked around the room. Grabbing a paperweight from a table, she climbed on top of her tormentor, using all of her strength to keep him down. 

“GAME OVER - CONGRATULATIONS.” 

Kiko looked down at Ryuk. She saw a powerless, weak man, trembling under her grip. She could spare him, having taught him the lesson she had been dying to teach him for years. 

Or she could kill him. 

Kiko tossed the paperweight from each hand, sneering down at Ryuk. “You made my life an absolute hell.” 

“I’m sorry,” he trembled. 

“Not good enough.” 

Her hands slammed down. His skull buckled under the paperweight. There was a dent in his head, and from his blinking, teary eyes, he was still alive. Repeatedly Kiko slammed the paperweight into his head, turning his head into an unrecognisable mess, screaming manically. 

Tears mingled with the blood and viscera on her face as she drove another shot into the remains, heaving. She had to keep going. She still knew it was him. She wanted to erase the memory of him, to destroy him like he had destroyed her. Nightmares rose up as she drove the paper weight down again and again and again. 

Riku coming home with a black eye. 

Finding the outside of her beloved music shop vandalised with death threats. 

Waking up in the middle of the night to find he had broken in, the only trace being a knife lodged into a family photo. 

Shaking like a leaf when he left, the brave façade falling as quickly as it had been built up. 

The paper weight slipped from her hands. Her hands were coated in blood. A shaky breath passed Kiko’s lips as she slowly turned to look at what her hands had done once again. 

She turned to the side, and vomited. 

Gagging at the acidic taste lingering on her tongue, she wiped at the back of her mouth. As she stumbled to her knees, Kiko caught sight of a young girl hidden behind a cabinet, knees pulled in close to her chest. She was shaking, her head deeply hidden in her knees. 

“I’m sorry.” She uttered in the empty space between them. The girl didn’t respond. 

Forcing herself to turn away from her destruction, she started to look for Tetsu. He was sat leaning against a filing cabinet. Upon seeing her, he weakly lifted his hand up in a greeting. The cop he’d been fighting was unconscious on the floor next to him. 

Tetsu looked at the state of Kiko. To her surprise, he didn’t flinch away. 

She offered him a hand. He groaned as he took it, leaning the majority of his body weight on her. 

“Let’s get out of this hell hole.” 

[drumboydowoon]

Woof Woof | Stray Kids Au

Chapter Four / Too Many Convenient and Awkward Run Ins

Werewolf!Chan au

Warning / language

Words / 5.3K+

Masterlist

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What did you get yourself into this time…?

The question repeats itself over and over again. There’s no point in trying to make sense of it. Maybe if you give yourself some time, the pieces will magically fall into place and everything will become clear somehow. All you want to do right now is wash the dirt and crunched up leaves out of your hair. 

Unfortunately, this isn’t where you normally live, so you have none of your own products to use. Now you get to use the men’s shampoo and body wash, which is even more unfortunate. You can only hope the musky smell isn’t overpowering for people to notice. 

Lost in your own world while washing out the soap, you don’t register the first knock on the door. It’s not until the second louder knock, that you jump and your foot slips on the wet tile. A yelp escapes you as you lose balance. Thankfully, you’re smart enough to grab onto the rail attached to the wall, or you might have had a painful accident. By the time you steady yourself, your heart is racing in your chest.

“Are you okay??” Chan’s unwelcomingly familiar voice calls from the other side of the bathroom door, which you instantly recognize as his. What’s worse than having a heart attack because someone caught you off guard while you’re just trying to get clean? Having Chan being the someone catching you off guard. 

Shakily, you pull back the shower curtain so he can hear you from outside the streaming water, “Yes?” you answer, thinking you’re probably okay, but the hesitance in your tone tells you otherwise. This already feels like it’s going to be weird. 

“You kinda left in a hurry, so I uhm… figured you might need a towel and some new clothes,” he guesses, not exactly knowing what to say. Not only is talking to someone through a door awkward enough, but it’s extremely awkward talking to the person, who just found out you’re a supernatural being.

Ever since he woke up, his mind has been foggy with flashes of hazy memories resurfacing slowly, but surely. Not everything is entirely clear, but he can piece how things may have gone down last night. The worst image he can remember is you in the middle of the woods, desperately scampering away from him. For some awful reason, he remembers seeing the fear on your face. 

He’s felt guilty ever since he started to recall some of the previous night’s events, and now he has no clue how to act. Well, he’s never known how to act around you in the first place since you’ve never been close with each other. All hopes of getting to know each other though, are probably thrown out the window now that you might end up hating them all. 

You furrow your brow. Honestly, you hadn’t even thought about asking for any of those things. That was the last thing on your mind at the time. An odd pause later, you finally respond to him, “A-alright, just leave them outside the door please....” There’s no way in hell that you’re going to open the door for him. 

There’s some shuffling around on his end, then a second later he calls out to you again, “Okay!” You figure that he must have set the clothes down onto the ground by now. He’s still standing outside, mustering up the courage to keep talking, “Do you need anything else?” he asks, wondering if he’s forgetting anything, even though you never asked him to bring anything to you in the first place. 

You shake your head before you realize that he can’t see you and that he actually needs to hear you. “Nope! All good,” you rush out a little too quickly and you cringe at it. Can you be anymore obvious?

“Alright, I’m just gonna go then...” he mumbles, but it’s loud enough that you can still hear it through the door that separates you. He stays in place for a second longer, waiting for he doesn’t even know what until he shakes it off and heads off. As he leaves, he murmurs curses to himself and repeats all the embarrassing things he said. 

Mentally, you sigh in relief when you hear his footsteps fading down the hall. To be honest, you’re not sure how much longer you can keep calm (even though earlier interactions proved you weren’t calm at all). But you’ve managed to not make a run for it so far. It’s surprising, really. You know that the newfound discoveries are something to frighten, but there’s so much going on, you can’t feel scared at all. The fight or flight response has disappeared and you wish it would return from holiday. Because then at least you wouldn’t feel the searing hot fumes going through your mind. 

The boys have been acting completely different from last night and are actually being quite normal. It’s good to see, but you still can’t shake off the fact that they still hurt and, most importantly, lied to you. Yes, you’re still worried, but that does not overweigh the feeling of betrayal and many other words to describe how utterly infuriated and upset you are. 

Finally turning off the shower, you ring the water out of your hair and step out. Hastily, you walk over to the door while the cool air breezes against your body, making you shiver with each step. When you open the bathroom door, you glance down both ends of the hall to make sure no one’s in sight. When the coast is clear, you slip the clothes and fluffy towel inside the bathroom. 

It doesn’t take very long to dry off and get dressed. The clothes feel baggy and much bigger than your normal clothes. The orange-red flannel stops midway down your thighs while the sleeves conceal any evidence of you having hands. And the sweats you’re wearing are barely being held up by the pull string you’ve had to really tighten around your waist.

Whoever’s clothes these may be, should really get some clothes that actually fit them. You know for a fact that none of these boys are wearing clothes this big. They’re all tiny. The only exception would be Hyunjin, but you know damn well that he doesn’t live here, so he’s out of the picture. 

Once you finish getting dressed, you cautiously step out of the bathroom and check to see if anyone is around. Once you see that you are clear from any surprises, you make your way down the hallway. Just as you’re about to turn a corner that would lead you to the stairs, someone else rounds the corner as well, scaring you perfectly half to death. A yelp escapes you for probably the hundredth time this morning, but you quickly shut yourself up by covering your mouth. 

The two of you don’t collide into each other, thankfully. He manages to hit the brakes before he could send one of you, or both of you, crashing down. You look up, and your eyes widened. Chan stands in front of you with a grimace as he stammers for an apology for multiple evident reasons. Both of you are standing in such close proximity that at some point, he accidentally swipes up his hand to push back his hair because that’s what boys do when they’re nervous wrecks, which ends up brushing against your stomach and over the scars hiding underneath the clothing. 

The sudden touch makes you wince a gasp because of the stinging sensation that follows afterwards. Chan’s not even sure what he did, but he’s profusely letting another round of apologies fall from his mouth. Then it occurs to him that he might’ve touched some kind of injury or something sensitive, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to. I-I” it takes a moment and a deep breath to calm himself down. All while you’re just standing there, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with him. 

He sighs to himself, “God, I’m probably scaring you right now… Good job…” he mumbles mostly to himself while rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

That wasn’t entirely true. In fact, it was more funny than anything seeing him get so flustered. Yet you still can’t shake off that certain feeling and you can’t drop your guard quite yet. So instead of laughing like you would’ve had if this was a normal circumstance (which it is not) your gaze drops to the floor and your mouth keeps itself in a thin line. 

Chan mutters a few more things to himself that are undecipherable before finally settling down. “Are you okay?” he calmly asks with a soft voice, much different than the one he used when asking if you were dead when he scared the shit out of you earlier. You only nod in response, watching your shoes kick at the air. His tone is sympathetic, “I saw the scratches earlier... Here, let me help you clean them. You don’t wanna get them infected,” he says, ready to grab your arm and drag you away. 

Your mind immediately goes into overdrive and forces panic down your throat. Before he could pull you away, you take a step back and give him a deadly, shaking look. For a moment, the briefest expression of hurt crosses his face, but he brushes it off just as fast. “At least get Minho or Ji to clean them out…” he says, somewhat disappointed, “I mean it when I say that they’ll get infected,” he states. He stands there a second longer than he should’ve, but he needs to make sure you know that he’s serious. Then moments later, he walks past you, seemingly eager to get out of that weird situation. 

You huff as soon as he leaves. A heavy weight lounges around your chest, feeling guilty that you brushed him off like that. Then again, this is the same guy who pinned you to a tree and was almost about to make you into a chew toy. You had every right to be wary of him touching you. 

So with that in mind, you march downstairs and make your way to the kitchen, where two of your non-wolf friends would hopefully be. You decide that it’s best to take Chan’s advice and get one of the boys to help you disinfect your wounds, or who knows what will happen. Besides, it’s not like you can do it when you get back to campus, or you are sure your roommate will have a bucket load of questions to shoot at you. 

When you arrive at the kitchen, Jisung’s the only one there. He sits alone at the table, staring off into space with his pink sleeve covered hand holding his chin. He snaps out of his thoughts when he hears your footsteps coming closer. Perking up, he stands from his chair and almost knocks it backwards. “F-feel better now?” he asks as a conversation starter, ignoring how he almost tipped over the furniture. 

“Somewhat,” you answer half-heartedly. Jisung nods his head in thought, seemingly getting lost in his own world again. Before he dazes off again, you speak up, “You guys wouldn’t happen to have any peroxide or rubbing alcohol, would you?” 

His face scrunches up, “Why do you need that?” 

Rolling your eyes, you lazily lift the baggy shirt you’re wearing to reveal your waist and stomach littered with marks. Jisung’s eyes almost pop out of his head, “Oh my god! That looks fucking gross!” His eyes continue to wander over the terrain of your skin, scanning over the thin, yet long, narly tears in your skin like it's the latest attraction. 

“Not like you look any better, scar face,” you let go of the bundle of cloth and let the shirt drop back down while giving Jisung the finger. Sighing, you run a hand through your wet hair, “I don’t even remember getting these.” A lot happened, so there’s probably a lot of other things that escaped your memory.

Jisung continues to look down at your, now covered torso, in thought, “Hold on, I think I remember where we put the band aids and stuff. One sec,” he mumbles, stalking off towards one of the many cabinets behind the kitchen counter. He digs through them until he finds just what he’s looking for. He bundles up a few items in his arms and carries them back to the table, letting them all fall from his hold at once. 

He holds up a brown bottle of peroxide, shaking it towards you while he raises his other hand with some dressings, “You do me, I do you?” he puffs out his bottom lip, where there’s an obvious crack. For a second you stare, then shrug because there’s no harm in fixing his fucked up face that’s trashed with both gashes and a bit of blooming purple bruising. 

The two of you both move the chairs so you’re facing each other. First you open up the brown bottle and dip in a q-tip that Jisung brought in his little bundle, and dip it in. After you wet it, Jisung follows suit, and wets a cloth instead. He reaches for the edge of your shirt, “Can I?” he asks. You simply nod, then he lifts part of the fabric just enough to reveal your wounds again. 

He’s first to feel the sting of the alcohol against his cheek. Flinching, he pulls back momentarily, but proceeds to do the same to you once he becomes used to the feeling of you touching him. Without fail, both of you grumble curses through the pain. And every few seconds one of you swears at the other for using too much pressure. 

During one particularly painful slap to the arm because Jisung couldn’t stop squirming, Minho steps into the room, watching the both of you with a weird mix of amusement and confusion. He announces his presence by clearing his throat. Eyes snap to him like they’re children who were just caught doing something they shouldn’t be. 

“You’re looking awfully you again, Y/n,” he comments, noticing how you’ve significantly calmed down from your freak out earlier. He’s not sure if he should be thankful or concerned about the sudden shift. You agree with him. It’s strange. Maybe this is what “being in shock” means. 

“What? Rather me scream and cuss at you for leaving me down in the basement with a bunch of werewolves?” the word still feels foreign on your tongue, and it nearly makes you want to laugh just saying it. 

Both Minho and Jisung freeze in place, eyes bulging out of their sockets. You raise a brow at them, impatiently waiting for an explanation. That should’ve been the first thing you asked since crawling out of their basement, but it somehow slipped your mind when you panicked. Now that your mind is a little more aligned, you can properly question everything that has led to this moment, starting with an interrogation on why they thought it was a good idea to trap you with three very dangerous men without any precaution whatsoever. 

While their mouths gaped open, searching for a possible explanation like a bunch of fish out of water, two other bodies come rounding the corner seconds later. 

“You did WHAT?!” Chan’s voice squeaks as Hyunjin follows closely and just in as much shock as the elder. His mouth hangs open, lacking the ability to believe they actually did that. 

Adding more fuel to the already growing fire, Hyunjin points out, “You know… None of us were chained up like we were supposed to be when we woke up.” Crossing his arms across his chest, Hyunjin, along with you and Chan, look towards the two expectantly for a  good explanation. 

The duo in question are stunned in place, one stumbling for an explanation, while the other goes bug-eyed with no clue how to respond. Luckily, the latter’s silence doesn’t sit for long, which is really good for Minho. Jisung knows how to open his big mouth at the wrong times and right times. “Not like we had a choice since you wouldn’t let go of your brand new Y/n sized plushy...” he blurts out, mumbling the last part as he slowly begins to realize what he said. Immediately, Jisung shuts his mouth and finds the corner of the room far more interesting than this conversation. He can already feel the tension in the ever suffocating atmosphere.

Hyunjin bursts into laughter, and in that moment, Chan’s entire face lights up with embarrassment. The only thing he can manage to do is stare in disbelief since all forms of communications seemed to have completely shut down in that big brain of his.

Figuring it would be best if he tries to fix this mess, if only a little bit, Minho speaks up, “It’s not like we just left you down there without any precautions,” he assures you, “We obviously used the Diazepam, so you guys would stay down for the night. We’re not that stupid,” he says, sounding like he’s not entirely stupid. Keyword: sounding. Not too convincing. 

“So you were using drugs!” you exclaim at the fact that they told you many times that drugs weren’t the issue. 

Hyunjin groans, ignoring you all together “No wonder I feel like I have a hangover. How much did you use?”

“How much do you think it takes to knock out a super powered werewolf for the rest of the night?” Minho hints, letting him take a wild guess that they had to use a lot of the calming drug. 

Drugged or not, it doesn’t make it okay that two of your so called “friends” left you alone, in a basement, with werewolves (that you still can’t fully grasp the idea of). Something deep within the back of your mind stirs and it’s only getting hotter by the second. While the group of boys continue their heated debate about how they shouldn’t have let this happen in the first place, Hyunjin can’t help but think. This technically never would have happened if… 

Glancing over to you, Hyunjin calls attention to you and him, “We wouldn’t even be having this conversation right now if a certain someone never came over in the first place,” he notes while having absolutely no idea who you are. The most he remembers being told is that you’re a friend of theirs, but that’s all really. He didn’t care much when you became the topic of conversation since you sounded like such an utterly boring prude.

Suddenly all eyes are once again making their way back to you. You scoff at the accusation. It’s true. Maybe none of the night’s events would have happened if you never showed up, but you know full and well that they can’t entirely place fault on you. “Really? It’s not like I just decided to come over out of the blue! I literally asked Felix if I could come over, so I could give him the notes he missed in class, and he said it was fine!” you argue heatedly, “And like hell I was going to bike all the way out here in the middle of nowhere just to be ignored after I was told I could come over. Do you know how exhausting that is, especially after working for a few hours?!”

By the time you finish your rant, you’re out of breath. But most importantly, you’re pissed off. Looks of surprise run across their faces, which only serves as something to make you even more heated. Did Felix not say anything on purpose? Is that why he’s not in sight whatsoever? He probably didn’t want to face the consequences for being so dumb in the moment. Somewhere deep down though, you wish he was here too. But then again, you most likely would yell at him too.

There’s complete silence and you’re getting tired of the quiet. Giving up, you turn away and walk, beginning to head for the front door again. “I’m leaving,” you declare, each step you take leaves a stomp of many frustrations. 

That deep feeling at the back of your mind is on fire now, readying to explode at any moment. You thought that a shower would calm down your thoughts somewhat, and they did. But rather than being the awkwardly scared person you were before, you’re now seriously furious and lost. 

“Y/n,” Minho tries to call out to you, but you ignore him this time. You couldn’t even be bothered enough to tell them to fuck off. You pick up your bag that was left by the front door, and sling it over our shoulder.

At last, you’re able to open the front door without trouble. The cool breeze hits your face like a refreshing breath of air. Behind you, you can hear a few hushed whispers, but you ignore it. Just as you’re about to take your first step outside, a hand places itself on your shoulder, spinning you around to face Hyunjin’s glowering face, inches away from your own. 

He looks downright menacing with that resting bitch face. “You’re not going to tell anyone about this, are you?” he asks, sounding almost threatening. Something tells you that you better answer correctly, or you can expect not so good things in your near future. 

Taking a step back, you scoff while shoving his hold off of you. “Don’t touch me,” you hiss, giving him the glaring of a lifetime. 

“I don’t really know who you are, but if you’re really their friend, you’ll learn to keep your mouth shut,” he closes the distance between the two of you again. He stares down at you, not appreciating the sass you gave him at all. 

“Hyunjin, that’s enough,” Chan raises his voice from behind him. Arms crossed with authority. 

From Chan’s right, Jisung sees a figure quickly approaching. His mouth drops open, trying to find the words, but Hyunjin’s voice cuts through as he looks down at you like you’re nothing but a stain on his shoe. “You know what happens when you tell friend’s secrets, right? They always-”

Before Hyunjin can even finish, he’s yanked away from you, leaving nothing but a gust of air in his absence. Suddenly, his body is slammed into the wall next to you with none other than Felix pinning him against it with his arm holding down his chest. “Chan said that’s enough,” he warns, his voice deep and vibrating. It’s surprising to see Felix. He’s the last person you expected to come to your rescue. You thought for sure that he would never show his face to you again. 

All Hyunjin does is stare back defiantly, like he’s holding back a storm of anger. After a few seconds of heavy breathing and awkward silence, Hyunjin rolls his eyes, shoving the younger away, “Whatever. I’m getting my shit and going home. If she peeps a word, we’re done for. I hope you all realize that,” he advises, looking between the only other two werewolves in the room. 

Felix takes a step back to allow the other to move past. The only cost for Hyunjin’s safe passage upstairs is the dark looks looming in the eyes of all watching him stomp away.  Felix watches him walk until he’s completely out of sight. When he turns back to the group, he avoids everyone’s stares, opting to look anywhere but you or the others. 

“I think I should get going,” you say, breaking the tension to focus it all back onto you again. You turn to leave again. Just as you take a step outside, Chan calls out to you one last time, “He’s right, you know? Please don’t mention this to anyone.” 

Unlike Hyunjin, Chan’s words don’t feel like a threat, but rather a request. There’s really no need to sound so pleading. To be entirely truthful, you’re still sorting your thoughts. Besides, who would you even tell that would actually believe you? Werewolves? If you even brought it up, you’d for sure be labeled as the town’s crackcase. Even if you did have someone who believed you, what would be the point? Sure you were banged up a bit, but you’re not dead yet. 

“Don’t worry. My mouth is sealed,” you sigh, surprised that any one of them were able to hear it. Felix, who is looking like a kicked puppy, perks up the slightest, yet he still refuses to look into your eyes. Not wanting to talk anymore, you finally take another step forward to begin your long journey back home. 

As you walk toward the front gate, you happen to come across your now totally wrecked bike. The poor thing has dents in it that make it nearly unrideable. But if there’s a will, there’s a way. So with very poor judgement, and after walking it past the iron gate, you hop on the crooked seat and pedal, hoping that the frame doesn’t crush underneath you. It would be very unfortunate if your trusty steed gave up on you now.

It takes some time before you reach sweet civilization again. All werewolf and liar thoughts are far from your mind and where you abandoned them. The only thing on your brain is how you’ve never appreciated the warmth and softness of your shitty mattress until now. You miss it dearly, even if it does give you back problems. 

As your bike wobbles down the road, and you earn a few stares from passerbyers, you pass by your work. Mentally, you thank the almighty force above that you don’t have to work tonight. You’re not sure you could handle the stress of having to deal with the fact that you’re friends with a dog, along with some petty teenagers trying to prove that they’re 21 with those baby faces of theirs. It’s a cute attempt, but it never works. 

By the time you finally make it back to your dorm, your legs are exhausted and you feel like your entire body is weighing you down. Usually you would take the stairs to get to your room, so you can avoid the awkwardness of being in a full elevator with a bunch of girls who are trying to sneak out their boyfriends (very poorly done by the way). 

When you open the door to your shared room, you are almost immediately bombarded with the smell of heavy perfume. It’s not a terrible smell. There’s just too much of it. 

“Jesus, what are you trying to do? Smoke out the whole building?” you ask as you step into the room. You shrug off your bag and toss it onto your bed along with the rest of your body. A heavy sigh leaves you as you rejoice that you’re finally home. 

Your roommate, and somewhat close friend, Yerim, rolls her eyes. She doesn’t even bother to look at you, instead she finishes painting the cherry lipstick on her lips, “Nice to see you’re back,” she comments, “Did you have fun at your boyfriend’s last night?” she asks, putting the cap back onto the tube and placing it down on her desk. 

“First of all, Felix isn’t my boyfriend. That would be like dating my brother, and that’s a disgusting thought. Secondly, how did you know that’s where I was?” 

Yerim snorts, “You somehow knew exactly who I was talking about,” she laughs a little more, “I just figured you would go where you always go. It’s not like you actually do much.” Ah, her deduction skills are on point as always. 

You raise a brow at her through the mirror she’s looking at. Her vanity is covered with different products and a few stray pencils and pens. In front of her sits a laptop, playing some news channel as her white noise. Honestly, Yerim is probably one of the prettiest girls you know. Whether she’s bare faced or covered in makeup, she still manages to turn heads in her direction. Maybe you would envy her if she didn’t have every guy that comes into contact with her, hit on her and try to get a number. Sounds too annoying to deal with. 

“What about the other ones? I’m sure that dude… what’s his name again? Minjun? Mingi??” she tuts out her lip, trying to remember the name, “The one who acts like a cat.”

It’s sad that she can’t remember your friend’s names, but it’s even sadder that you know exactly who she’s referring to. “Minho?” you finally throw her the bone. 

“Yeah him! Anyways, I think he’s into you, isn’t he?” she asks, clearly unaware of your distaste of dating any one of your friends. 

Groaning, “He’s not my boyfriend either, and he’s not into me either.” You’re quick to shut down any of that kind of conversation. Not only is it weird to think about your friends like that, but also because you rather avoid talking about them all together. “Can we talk about something else? Like why are you getting all dressed up all of a sudden?” Changing the subject to make it about her is the only way to escape the awkwardness of boys. 

“Me? Well, would you be surprised if I said I had a date?” 

“Nope. Not at all-”

“We’re now at the scene, where the body was found in Blackbear Park. It was found earlier this morning when a jogger ran past it and saw the mauled body hidden behind a tree. We are unsure of what the cause is, but the police are suspecting an animal wandered from the surrounding forest and attacked the unidentified person late last night,” the reporter’s voice broadcasts throughout the room, being much more than just simple white noise. It cuts through any talk and focuses all attention onto the information being spread.

Yerim finally looks down at her laptop to watch the report. There’s a small frown on her lips, “That sounds awful, dear god. Hey, didn’t you pass that park on your way back?” Looking away from the laptop, she faces you with a questioning gaze. 

That does sound terrible. The thought is too gruesome for your liking. You sit up a little, bending your elbows behind you, “No, I went a different way so I wouldn’t get caught up with all the traffic. I guess it’s a good thing I went that way.” A really good thing. You could only imagine the amount of people and officers surrounding the scene. Being caught up is the last thing you need to top off the day. 

Yerim nods thoughtfully, “That’s good. I’m glad that you got back safe. Who knows what I would do if you were to get eaten by a bear. Who would be my wing woman then?” she sighs, staring at you for a second. She can’t hold her expression of seriousness for long, and she ends up giggling. You take hold of one of the pillows on your bed and throw it in her direction, causing her to raise her arms and protect herself from the attack, “Hey! I don’t think you realize how much time I wasted trying to get these wings to look even!” she shrieks, pointing to her winged eyeliner. 

Chuckling, you roll over to your side to cuddle into your sheets. “Thanks for caring about me so much,” the sarcasm couldn’t be more obvious. It almost feels nice having a normal conversation. Laughing right now is a little strange, but you’re glad Yerim was able to take your mind off all the madness, even if it is for a moment. 

The older girl scoffs, “Just for that, I’m going to ask about the boy clothes you’re wearing. So which guy is it from, hm?” she teasingly hints. 

“Oh my god shut up,” you groan into the mattress.

[iloveyou3thousand]

Ever

Pairing: Pepperony Rating: Teen & Up Word count: 2785 A/N: This was written for the Pepperony Valentine's Exchange for @kassyscarlett​. I hope you like it!!

Tags: Jealousy, misunderstandings, light angst with a happy ending, established relationship, mid-canon

Read it on AO3 here!

__________________________________________________________

“Oh—” Pepper stops dead in her tracks, and almost takes a step back, “Sorry, I didn’t know you had company.”

Which is odd, considering that she is used to knowing the ins and outs of Tony’s schedule by heart. Rarely does any set appointment pass by her unnoticed. She may not be Tony’s personal assistant slash glorified secretary anymore, but that doesn’t mean she’s managed to get out of her ways yet. Old habits die hard, as they say.

The lady in the chair opposite Tony’s turns, and while she gives Pepper in the doorway a polite smile, Pepper can tell that they were laughing about something just moments before by the way her eyes are still wrinkled at the corners and the way Tony’s leaning back in his own chair, so nonchalant, with a lopsided grin on his face.

A grin that, in any other circumstances, could make Pepper feel weak in the knees.

But she stands firm, looking from the vaguely familiar woman to Tony and back again.

“It’s fine, Ms. Potts, join the party,” Tony says with an air of relaxation.

I’d rather not, she thinks, but doesn’t say. She stays polite, as much as it infuriates her to have to do so when the cogs in her mind are already working overtime connecting dots that she’s sure aren’t there, or shouldn’t be there.

“You remember Ms. Hansen, right?” Tony continues.

“I do,” Pepper says, “How could I forget?” Frankly, she’s a little surprised that Tony remembers. Or maybe he doesn’t, and he’s doing a great job at bluffing his way through this little get-together – or whatever it is.

She briefly shakes hands with Maya when she extends hers over her shoulder to not have to twist around in her seat too much. Either she doesn’t want Tony looking right up her skirt, or she’s found a position in which she knows Tony can most certainly look directly at her panties and she doesn’t want to risk losing that. Pepper doesn’t know which one it is, and she’s not sure she even wants to know.

Maya’s smile is friendly and her handshake is professional but still, something about the situation doesn’t sit right with Pepper, who suddenly feels like she would much rather be anywhere else than with those two in one room.

“Pleasure to meet you again, under somewhat better circumstances,” the other woman says, and Pepper flashes an amiable smile.

“Likewise,” she responds, and backs up again to return to her spot in the doorway. She focuses her attention on Tony again, because that’s who she came in for in the first place after all. It looks like she manages to cut him off right before he is undoubtedly about to say something about what him and Ms. Hansen were just talking about. Pepper, frankly, doesn’t want to hear it. “I have something I want you to look at, but it’s not urgent. I’ll forward it to you so you can tell me what you think later. Okay?”

Tony salutes her solemnly, and gives a nod. “You got it, Pep.”

“Good. And don’t forget you’re having lunch with Osborn.”

Tony mutters a grumbled ‘how could I forget’ under his breath before Pepper turns to take her leave. She closes the door behind her and puts a good amount of distance between her and it in just a few quick strides. But even so, she can hear the unmistakeable sounds of laughter coming from inside the office. She stops, listens to the muted cadence of Ms. Hansen’s voice, honeyed sweet without a doubt. She winces, and makes herself scarce as quickly as she can. It won’t do her any good to stand outside of Tony’s office and listen in to what she assumes might very well be going on inside.

She doesn’t want to know. Ignorance is bliss, right?

Except even though she doesn’t really know what has been going on inside Tony’s office, she still spends the rest of the day thinking about it. Tony rarely invites women over nowadays, and they rarely show up in the kind of skirts that Maya was wearing. Jesus, she wasn’t even wearing pantyhose or anything. Pepper can’t help but wonder if she was wearing anything underneath her skirt at all…

But Tony has changed over the years. She thought that he was really committed to what they had going for them and how their relationship had grown. She had been tentative in hoping that Tony’s playboy days were over, but Tony had proved himself to be loyal, at least in the first few months.

As the day progresses, Pepper can’t help but think that maybe he’s slowly drifting back to what he used to know because he’s gotten bored of it all.

And what if he has? What if he has gotten bored of Pepper and of their relationship and of what she can and has offered him for the time that they have been together? What is she supposed to do, or say, about that? It’s not like she could help that – if it was even true at all.

That is probably the worst thing though. Even if this is really taking place, if her fears are correct, then there is nothing she can do to change Tony’s mind. She doesn’t have much more to offer than she has already given Tony, and she can’t exactly make something up.

She thought it was enough…

But now she can’t stop thinking about all the things they could possibly be doing behind closed doors, and all the things that Pepper should have been doing, or could have done, or at least suggested. Has she really not tried enough? Has she not shown Tony that things don’t have to stay the way they used to be?

She really thought that Tony had been happy with what they had.

A voice in the back of her mind says that it should reassure her that at least he’s not going for any random floozie at least, he’s sticking to someone he knows this time, but the longer she thinks about it the longer she realizes that that’s actually even worse. At least there are no feelings involved when he sleeps with someone he doesn’t know and won’t remember the next day.

Has he fallen out of love with her?

Was he ever in love with her in the first place?

Pepper can’t concentrate the rest of the day and it shows. Usually she’s all smiles, even with the people she doesn’t like. She knows that politeness gets her furthest, but her face is set with tension for the remainder of that day at the office and she avoids people she doesn’t necessarily have to see at all cost.

Unfortunately, Tony is her ride home.

Or, well, she could call a taxi. But if she gets her own ride back while they usually drive together, it will most certainly arise suspicion, and she knows that Tony won’t be able to let it go until she spills her guts – and she’s not keen on doing so at the moment. She’s sure that if she does, a lot more will come flooding out than she intends to allow, and that’s a recipe for disaster.

So begrudgingly, she walks into Tony’s office toward the end of the day, glad to find that it’s empty bar for Tony this time, at least. She can’t help but comment on it.

“No more surprise guests?”

“Just little old me, Ms. Potts,” Tony hums as he gathers his things before whipping out the doors and heading toward the elevators.

They ride down toward the garage together but Pepper doesn’t have much to say. Usually she would put some effort into trying to explain Tony’s schedule to him so that he’s prepared for what the following day has in store for him in case he forgot (which he is prone to do), but this time she is quiet.

Occasionally, Tony tries to break the silence with a comment here and there, but Pepper’s answers are short and to the point, leaving little room for the conversation to continue. She tries to busy herself with her phone, drafting some emails to send the following morning, but she comes up blank most of the time now with her mind so clearly on something else.

Even as Tony puts the top of his car down as they drive down a long, winding road back to their home, offering the occasional glimpse of the sea and the California coast, she’s quiet. Lost in thought. Normally she might have complained about the wind whipping through her hair and pushing it into her face, might have tried to control it with both hands while watching Tony laugh as she cusses him out, but now she just lets it.

Maybe that’s what is the final straw for Tony.

He slows down, which Pepper doesn’t realize until they’re pulling up alongside the mostly empty road, and Tony goes as far as to turn the engine off and twist in his seat towards her. He means business, that much is clear. Pepper turns her head to the right and looks out over the ocean and the sun dipping lower and lower toward the horizon.

“I feel like I’m being punished for something and I’m not quite sure what it is,” Tony says. Pepper worries her lower lip with her teeth for a moment, but doesn’t answer.

“C’mon, Pep. Can’t even look at me now? Must be something serious.”

There’s a beat of silence before Tony’s warm hand lands gently on her thigh just above her knee and just below where her skirt stops. She resists the urge to pull away because she knows it’s childish. Instead, she turns her head to Tony at last. It’s the least she can do.

“Oh, it’s definitely something that I did,” Tony teases, although a moment later a frown creases between his eyebrows as if he can see something in her expression that worries him.

Pepper takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. Might as well be honest and get this over with to avoid stewing for much longer, right?

“Why was Maya in your office?” She can barely stand to look at him, but keeps her eyes level as best as she can.

Tony looks puzzled for a moment.

“Ms. Hansen,” she clarifies. Immediately, Tony’s expression clears up significantly.

“Ah, Ms. Hansen. Honestly, I’m still not entirely sure why. Something about… Right, she was wondering if I could oversee a project she’s doing. As if I’m responsible enough to be able to oversee anything.”

Tony flashes a smile but Pepper doesn’t think it’s entirely funny. He has a habit of playing the self-deprecating joke card when she’s not feeling great, and she doesn’t think that that kind of behavior should be encouraged. She doesn’t want Tony to think about him in that way.

When Tony sees that there is no smile on Pepper’s face but only a slightly disapproving set of her mouth, he drops the joking act and tilts his head toward one shoulder.

“Why does it matter what she was there for?” He asks. Pepper doesn’t have a good answer for that except the truth, and she’s not about to hand that over to Tony on a silver platter. It feels ridiculous. She shouldn’t be so doubtful to the point of distrust, but seeing Tony so at ease with a woman he’s slept with doesn’t sit right with her.

It’s prejudice, she realizes. She doesn’t have that reaction to Tony talking to any other woman, and there aren’t enough ladies like Maya who slept with Tony and yet somehow always kind of…stuck around.

Pepper looks away, shame on her cheeks. She feels awful for the way she feels and can’t argue past the lump in her throat because it’s getting too real. Either Tony is about to tell her that it’s fine and nothing is wrong, or he’s about to tell her that they can no longer work things out, that he’s no longer interested, that once they get home maybe it’s better if they part ways…

“Hey…” Tony murmurs, his voice dropping into something concerned now. He takes his hand off her knee and puts it on her back instead, laying the warm flat of his hand over her spine – something that could have been so soothing if it hadn’t been for the intrusive thoughts in Pepper’s mind that maybe Tony would rather be somewhere else touching someone else like that right now.

As if he can read her mind, Tony leans in and presses a kiss into her hair just above her ear.

“You know you’re the only woman in my life, don’t you?” He says softly, a kind of soft that is usually only reserved for her. She hopes that’s still the case. She really does. “If that’s what you’re worried about, then don’t be. I only have eyes for you, Ms. Potts.”

Pepper doesn’t realize how much she needed to hear that until she sighs out another deep breath, and feels the tension set in her shoulders ease, feels herself lean into Tony a little bit, almost wishing they weren’t divided by the center console in the car.

Again, it’s as if Tony reads her mind, because he’s out of the car and around by her side in moments, opening the car door and offering her his hand to get her out and pull her directly into a firm embrace.

“I know it’s ridiculous,” Pepper says, breaking her own silence for the first time since the last thing she said in the elevator.

Tony combs a hand through her hair at the back of her head, and presses a kiss to her shoulder. She buries herself into his neck even further at that.

“A little bit,” Tony admits, but Pepper can hear the playful tone in his voice, “But if it was really that ridiculous then you wouldn’t be feeling this way. So I guess I just have to prove to you that you’re the only one for me until that feeling subsides once and for all. Are you agreeable, Ms. Potts?” He pulls back, cups her cheek, and makes her look at him.

Sometimes, Tony’s emotional availability is far beyond what he makes it out to be and it still surprises Pepper sometimes. But above all, she’s relieved that he knows just when to be serious and genuine about these things. Right now, it helps her calm, and see the realistic side of things.

Tony would never have stayed with her if he didn’t love her anymore.

He would never have lead her on like that. He respects her far too much.

And of course, that feeling is mutual.

She sighs again, and nods her head, mimicking the tentative smile curling at the corners of Tony’s lips. “I’m sorry,” she says, but Tony shakes his head.

Wordlessly, instead of tucking her back into the passenger seat and driving them the rest of the way home, Tony takes Pepper’s hand and guides her toward the hood of his expensive car, where he urges her to sit down.

In the distance, the sun is just about to dip below the horizon. With all the things that had been going through Pepper’s mind, she barely noticed it before, but now she can see it all up ahead.

The sky is a canvas of blended hues of yellow, orange and pink, stretching far and wide. Tony sits down next to Pepper and puts his arm around her. Pepper doesn’t hesitate to lean into his side.

“It’s almost as if you planned this. The timing is immaculate,” Pepper comments as the sun sinks down further, remembering how Tony had delayed their departure by a little while, saying he still had some work left to ‘finish up on’. Pepper feels Tony smile where his cheek rests atop her head.

“I may or may not have heard through the grapevine that you weren’t feeling too well today,” he admits.

“Tony…”

Pepper loves sunsets. She’s always loved sunsets. It’s the sole reason she sits by the large floor to ceiling windows of their Malibu house every night, looking out over the sea and at all the colors swirling in the sky.

“I would do this any day for you, Pep.” Tony’s voice is soft. “I’ve already missed so many sunsets in my life. I never want to watch another one without you.”

“Ever?” Pepper asks with a curious quirk of her brow, lifting her head a touch to be able to look at Tony.

He smiles, and kisses her gently, pulling her close.

“Ever. Never ever.”

[bowl-of-shortness]

Would you mind saying that again?

Necromancer AU

It had been a relatively normal day, or, well, as “normal” as it could get when you’re secretly a necromancer walking the streets of very anti Necromancer Atlas.

Just a normal day, with the same forgettable Atlesian Soldiers sometimes ordering you around, and the same old ironwood not learning how to shut his mouth for at least a few seconds. Despite how annoying it was, Ozpin managed to bite his tongue and not shoot a comment back at the soldiers.

He had never liked Atlas. Not only did it mean horrible things to him, but was much different from Vale, in all the worst ways. It was dull, grey, and unfriendly. Atlas looked easily forgettable because of its appearance, but it was far from it due to the horrors these grey concrete walls hold.

But unfortunately, he had work to do. And so Ozpin dragged his feet on despite the irritation of having to be in a place where he isn’t welcome.

Eventually, he was at the door of the one person he had resented the most. The man who somehow thought they were “friends”. The giant iron plate on the door had bold words carved into it, “General Ironwood.”. He was there for a meeting, a meeting where Ironwood would most likely go off on one of his tangants about how necromancers are the worst people alive and how they deserve the worst, other than that Ozpin had no idea what the meeting was about. Not that he particularly cared.

Ozpin had already mentally prepared on the way here for this meeting, he had to everytime, since the General loved to go off constantly. Reluctantly, he knocked on the door. It opened to reveal Ironwood himself.

“I’m surprised General, normally you would have one of your soldiers open the door.” He mentioned as he walked inside the equally dull and grey office. Ironwood swiftly closed the door behind him, “I didn’t want my soldiers around for what we are going to talk about.”,

Ozpin inquired, mildly irritated, “And that is? You haven’t exactly mentioned what we are going to speak about today.” The two went to go sit down at the meeting room table.

“Ruby Rose.” He stopped walking. “What about her?” Ozpin grew nervous, he mentally pleaded for it not to be what he thought it was. “She is a necromancer, were you aware of that?” Ironwood said sharply. He mentally cursed, “Of course not. How could I have been?” Ozpin replied quickly, turning around to look at the General “If I had known I would’ve told you.” His tone was cold.

Ironwood nodded, “I figured you would have. I know that she’s here in Atlas traveling with you and playing the both of us like idiots, do you happen to know specifically where she is?” Oz found himself growing increasingly anxious as the conversation went on, he knew what would happen if he let Ironwood get anywhere near her, it happened with her mother, Pyrrha and countless others. He had to think of something, he had to warn her.

“I unfortunately do not, but I have a few ideas of where she might be. I personally feel it would be better if I went to go find her instead of your soldiers because she trusts me, if your soldiers go after her she might run.” Ozpin spoke, keeping the same tone as earlier, hiding his anxiety. He mentally breathed a sigh of relief he had a solid plan, and a good way to warn her without getting suspicious.

“I suppose that’s the easiest way isn’t it? Well, please go do that, I expect her to be here around sunset at the latest, good luck Ozpin.” Ironwood smiled, gods he hated that smile. The smile of a murderer who thinks he’s right.

“I will see you then.” Ozpin gritted his teeth as he left

Ozpin hurriedly rushed to the small hotel he, Qrow, Glynda and the kids had been staying at, one that not even the Atlas military knew existed.

As he ran up the stairs the conversation kept playing through his head, “I can’t let him do anything to her.” He mentally repeated over and over again. Once he got to the door he knocked frantically, Ruby answered. “Uncle Ozzy? Welcome back!” She smiled curiously. He melted slightly at the nickname and her smile.

He shook off the feeling quickly, now wasn’t the time for that, “Love, we need to go now, I know this may seem confusing but I will tell you as we get there.” He spoke anxiously.

Ruby’s smile faded “He found out, didn’t he?” She said quietly, he nodded sorrowfully “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head “Don’t be.”

“So,”

“What do I need to do?” She gave him a determined look.

——————————————————————————

If there was one, singular, thing Ironwood was good at, it was catching on to things he shouldn’t have caught onto.

The plan was quickly found out by ironwood and now his bloody soldiers were now running around vigorously looking for her.

This was his fault, he shouldn’t have done anything like this in the first place. He couldn’t worry about that now, this was where they were now. He had to do something to help Ruby, anything.

“What do you mean you can’t find her?! That stupid leech is running around the military base in bright red clothes and you ‘can’t find her’?! Get off your ass and do your damn job before I do it for you!” He suddenly heard Ironwood yell.

It irritated him to no end, this was how ironwood was, treated his soldiers like tools, treated necromancers like animals, and treated anyone he deemed under him horribly. But nothing would make him feel quite as angry as what happened next.

“Found You!” A soldier yelled, Ozpin’s heart stopped. He looked over and could see her struggling against the soldiers. And then she just, gave up.

Suddenly, everything was all too familiar. That red coat, now white, the feeling he had when he had to come home and tell her family what happened, the funeral, everything. He refused to put anyone through that again, he refused to let another person he cared about die again, and he refused to bare witness to it like he had done so many times before.

Ironwood put due process to Ruby’s head, and Ozpin’s breaking point was beyond reached.

Before he knew it, his magic lashed out across the room, throwing them all back with such force to knock many of the soldiers unconscious. This luckily included knocking Ironwood to the floor.

Ozpin wasn’t the kind of man to get angry, but to be okay with killing innocent people, to be okay with killing an innocent teenager, was one of those things to make him enraged.

He walked up to the now shaking Ironwood, beyond enraged. “Uncle Ozzy?” A small voice quietly said, Ozpin quickly turned his attention to the girl behind him. His expression softened. “Run, go find the others. I will catch up with you later” he said softly, but there was still a hint of anger that seeped through.

“What are you going to do?” She questioned. Ozpin looked behind him once more before looking back to the monster in front of him, “I believe I have some…business…to take care of”

She nodded and then left, good, he didn’t want her to see what was going to happen next.

“You—“ “knew? Yes I did, and you have a knack for finding out things you shouldn’t find out about.” He said being eerily calm. He started walking up to Ironwood as the General pathetically tried to back up, “You know I have a real issue with egotistical dictators who hurt my family.” He stops in front of him.

Ironwood originally didn’t think Ozpin was an intimidating person, quite the opposite in fact, but it seems he was very wrong with the way Ozpin was looking at him in this very moment. Eerily calm, tall as hell, and seeping rage. He wouldn’t let the silver haired man know that though, he needed to stand his ground. “You are scum of the earth, all of you are! You all deserve what Atlas gives you what I give you!!” He screamed. Ozpin stared at him, not saying a word.

There was a long silence, a long, uncomfortable, silence.

Ozpin shook his head and spoke “I don’t think you understand how much necromancers can actually do. We are beyond kind to revive people and give them life, but there’s another side to it you need to consider.”.

“A-and what’s that?” Ironwood nervously questioned, almost accusingly. All of sudden the General felt a massive amount of excruciating pain all throughout his body. “W-What the h-hell?!” He said through gritted teeth, trying not to yell at how painful it felt.

Ozpin crouched down to his level, it was only then did Ironwood notice his hand was glowing a mysterious green. And then, just as the green light went away, so did the pain. Ozpin stood up and looked at him, “We can take away life just as easily as we can give it, so I’d be careful with who you hurt. Just because Summer was nice enough to revive you doesn’t mean that I will be as forgiving.”. Now Ironwood was visibly frightened, good.

“The next time you come anywhere near a necromancer to kill them, keep in mind that we can take away life just as easily as we can give it.” Without speaking further, Ozpin walked past him to leave until he heard Ironwood’s painfully annoying voice.

“And why should I listen to you?! I’ll kill you, I’ll make sure of it!” The General yelled at Ozpin. “Funny thing about killing me,” He turned around and stared at Ironwood “I. Can’t. Be. Killed.” Ironwood paled.

“Or, well, I can, but it won’t stay that way for long.” Ozpin shrugged nonchalantly “It’s a nice thought though.” He turned around again before stopping once more at the sound of Ironwoods voice, dear god this was getting annoying.

“Then I’ll kill those stupid brats! They don’t deserve to exist, and I’ll kill that leech the same way I killed her monster of a mother. I’ve done it once and I’ll do it again, Ozpin.” He said, his voice filled with anger and fear. This time Ozpin broke his facade of calmness. “Oh?” Ozpin challenged before turning around and walking towards the general.

All of sudden that horrible pain was back, but worse, and Ironwood couldn’t stop from yelling out in pain this time. He couldn’t even move the pain was so unbearable. Ozpin loomed over him. His eyes were…green?

“Oh dear.” He started “Would you mind saying that again?” Ozpin questioned, feigning politeness as he crouched down to Ironwood’s level.

“I don’t think I heard you very well.”

[wri0thesley]

number 11 with Melone?

“So…do you want your underwear back?”

warnings for: obsessive behaviour, stalking. neutral reader and pronouns although reader DOES wear sexy underwear. 

It's the third pair of underwear that's gone missing this week - and you really liked this pair, dammit! You're tired of going out to the cheapest clothes store you can get to with a shit assassin's wage (what kind of asshole pays their assassins this badly? Your boss, apparently), and having to choose ugly pieces that are on sale and not at all your personal style.

And, unfortunately, you know exactly what's happening to them.

You avoid Melone as much as possible. The rest of the team have not been at all coy about telling you you're doing the right thing; making vague references about how Melone treats possible lovers, or about how he can't be trusted, or about how he's just creepy. You've never been assigned to work with him on a mission - by all accounts, Melone works well alone, and Risotto is glad of that. But this is getting ridiculous.

You know it's none of the other guys. For one thing, they don't seem the type - and for another, most of them have shrugged and admitted they're keeping lovers on the side in safehouses and the like. Trying to keep their loved ones safe in the only ways they can. But Melone . . .

Well.

He's got nobody to come home to, if the boys in the squad are right. And from the hungry way he's always looking at you, eyes travelling the length of your body, hunger radiating off every lithe, panther-like inch of him, he's not particularly interested in keeping a lover off-base. He wants his lover somewhere a little closer to home.

It's not that he isn't handsome - he is handsome. It's just that he's so . . . intense. His eyes focused on you, gloved fingers flying over keyboard keys, low hum of acknowledgement in the back of his throat when somebody speaks to him. Utter focus. The cold, clinical way you've heard him talk about both his marks and his Baby Face mothers. Something about him just gives you shivers and shakes. Sorbet and Gelato are terrifying, sure, but they're terrifying in a way where you know what you're getting if you get on their bad side. Melone seems like he could snap at any moment.

You're not doing any good pontificating. You get up from your bed, slamming the drawer shut - your favourite pair of pale blue satin underwear with lacy rose appliques isn't going to retrieve itself from Melone's room on its own, you guess - and neither are all of the other nice pairs you've had to replace with sale rack rejects in leopard print and hot pink. You're sure Melone would appreciate them - he seems like the kind of guy who'd appreciate that kind of performance - but they're not very you.

You try and be quiet as you pad along the hallway. Melone's out on a mark, so you know he's not going to be around to catch you (the schedules of La Squadra members are easy to pick up on if you listen, or if you sweet-talk Illuso and bring him some of that hair conditioner he likes), but you still don't want anyone reporting back to Melone that you've been snooping about his room. Ugh. You wrinkle your nose, stopping outside his door. You can't believe you're going to go in there out of choice.

You hope it's not going to be like a weird fetish porn studio. You can barely look at the way Melone dresses without flushing red - most of La Squadra dress like they're in an erotic movie, but Melone is the utter worst for it. You pause, and take a deep breath. Alright. You can do this.

You push his door open--

And it's normal.

A perfectly ordinary, serviceable bedroom, much like how yours had looked when you'd first moved into the hideout. Yours is possibly a little more lived-in - you have nice coloured blankets and knick-knacks. Melone's bedroom is bare; a laptop on his desk, some biology and astrology books on a shelf, a tarot deck (you shouldn't be surprised about it, based on how much store he puts in where the planets where on nights people were born) - one decorative throw pillow. It's almost sad, how quickly Melone could probably pack his things up and just leave the squad entirely.

You almost feel bad for him, before you remember why it is you're in his room in the first place.

You're pretty sure Melone is stealing your underwear. Your used underwear, to make it even worse! Right out of your laundry hamper! (Melone, coincidentally, doesn't seem to have a laundry hamper. You wonder if his wardrobe is just full of the exact same suit and snort to yourself before you lean down by his bed and open a drawer).

Boring clothes. Civvies; plain shirts and jeans, that Melone almost never wears because his stand means he can work remotely. Clicking your tongue, you rifle through them - and your fingers catch on a hard edge. You push the fabric to one side and pull out . . . a photo album?

Is he secretly soft-hearted? Sentimental in private? There's a small smile on your face as you flick open the photo album, that falters when you realise the polaroids slipped within the clear casings all have one thing in common.

All of them are of you.

You, smiling as you talk to Formaggio. Your head thrown back in laughter on the sofa downstairs in the living room. Concentrating on a mark on a mission you'd been sent on with Prosciutto - your face falls as you rifle through them.

Not just you as a member of La Squadra. 

You as a civilian. 

A picture of you before you'd gotten caught up in this business. A picture of you and your family. Your graduating class--

Your heart begins to beat hard in your chest, as you drop the photo album and wrench open the second drawer.

A half-empty bottle of your perfume, that you thought you'd accidentally thrown away. Post, addressed to your old apartment before you'd moved in here. A napkin with a kiss mark pressed against it, lipstick in a colour you haven't worn for over a year.

Your guts feel like they're dropping through the floor as your shaking hands pull open the bottom drawer. This time, Melone's made no attempt to hide things from you.

Your underwear, neatly laid out beside one another, gussets showing. They're stained with something you know isn't from you. A sex toy that you'd bought and only used once because Pesci had knocked on your door whilst you were using it to check you were okay, and you'd bundled it away in your own bottom drawer so you didn't have to look at it and remember the sheer embarrassment of Pesci maybe overhearing you touching yourself--

Three more polaroids. You, undressing in the shower, bent over to fold your clothes. You, hands buried inside your shorts on your bed. You, getting dressed in a morning, bare in the light filtering through the curtains--

Your face burns at how open and vulnerable your naked body is in them. 

How did he get these?

Your hands are shaking, your mouth dry. You want to take your underwear back, but also - what might Melone do if he finds out you've found his creepy little shrine?

"Enjoying yourself?"

The voice is soft, the cadences gentle - but you still start, falling to one side, your head turning to stare at Melone through wide, frightened deer in the headlight eyes. He sees the fear on your face and smiles, cold and clinical, and you wonder if perhaps he's just going to kill you right here. He shrugs his elegant shoulders.

"I've been watching you for a while," he says, unhurried as he crosses the room, kneeling beside you on the floor like you aren't trembling viciously. He drags a gloved finger over your face in one of the polaroids, his small smile not faltering for a moment. "I had to bide my time, didn't I? But once you find such a perfect match, you don't want to let them go so easily . . ."

"Y-you're sick," you manage to spit out, heart beating like a drum. Melone tips his head to one side, considering.

"Healthy as a horse," he says, after a moment. He winks at you. "Hung like one too, if you want to find out."

Your fingers cling at his stupid, plain, characterless bedspread as you pull yourself onto your shaking legs.

"I'll tell Risotto," you whisper, your heart seizing in your chest. Your voice is coming out so dry.

"And who do you think he'd prefer to lose, cara?"  Melone says. He doesn't sound mean, or patronising, or smug - he sounds like it's a fact of life. "The new recruit, or me? Someone who's never failed on a mission? Who doesn't need a babysitter on jobs?"

"I--" your voice peters away. He's right.

"Besides," he says, motioning at the array of items he's collected. "Do you think I got these myself? Do you think nobody noticed? You're not the only one who can bribe Illuso with hair care products, you know." That same curious, simple smile on his face, he continues; "We share the same favourite brand."

"I . . . This is . . ."

Melone reaches over and he touches your face, griping your cheekbone in his fingers so you can't pull away. Your flesh feels like angry fire every place he skims, sickness rolling in your stomach.

"Oh, you're so pretty," he says, sing-song tone leaking into his voice. "You're going to be so perfect, tesoro."

The spell breaks, and you wrench yourself away. Fuck your underwear. Fuck all of your stuff. You stumble away from him, across the room, heading out of his door on unsteady legs that are at least managing to be fast. You hear Melone's voice, an echoing laugh as you head towards your own room to pack immediately and get the fuck out of here--

"So I'll take it you don't want your underwear back?"

[bbwoulfc]

The final chapter of my lukanette fic, You Shouldn’t Bear It All is finally finished.  This final chapter is dedicated to @edendaphne for her birthday.  Happy Birthday Eden!

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

It had been three days since the incident with the construction based akuma...and the scare with Marinette.  Three days to let his mind process everything that happened.

Unfortunately, those three days of letting all the events sink in didn’t ease any of the pain.  Sure, he looked calmer, but internally, he was still buzzing from everything.  The weight of assumptions flowing through his head that Marinette deals with revolving around as guardian, all the responsibilities on top of the responsibilities as a civilian.  

A few tears slid down his cheeks as memories of seeing her unconscious in the water and on the boat began to plague him again.  He’s already spent the last few days dealing with nightmares, nowhere near to the ones he’s dealt with being Viperion.  What nightmare wouldn’t be worse when you knew the person behind the mask?

There was no way he could begin to imagine the amount of stress Marinette probably dealt with...alone.  He felt like he failed her, failed to see the signs that might have given him a glimpse into her hidden life that held the struggles.

They needed to talk, but he wanted to give Marinette the control and waited for her to call or text when she was ready.  There was nothing more important to him than to help her release everything that she’s kept bottled up and closed off to her group of supporters.  Why would she hide this from those who could help her?

His chest ached as he heaved a sigh, turning his gaze towards the porthole and looking over the small view of the Seine.  The waters calm and silent, the houseboat slightly swaying as if the river was trying to lullaby him from his own stress.  

He was thankful for having his own private quarters.  The last thing he wanted was to be questioned by Juleka.  It didn’t go unnoticed by him that she and their mother have been keeping a close eye on him since the akuma attack.  Which was understandable, all Couffaines looked out for each other, but, right now, this wasn’t something that his sister and mother could fully help with.

Bing.

Hearing his phone, Luka reached beside him where it was laying and picked the device up.  Clicking the home button and lighting the screen, he saw a text message from Marinette.  Entering his passcode, he read her message.

Marinette: Thank you for being patient and waiting.  I’m ready to talk.  Can you come over?

Luka smiled, some of the anxiety easing from his body now that the chance to finally talk and figure a way to help his overworked girlfriend was available.

Luka: Of course.  I’m leaving now.  Front or side door?

Marinette: Side door.

Luka: K, see ya soon.  Love you, Melody.

Pushing himself off his bed, he pocketed his phone into the back of his charcoal smoke grey jean pocket.  Grabbing a thin navy long-sleeved hoodie shirt, he threw it over his black tank top and rolled up the sleeves to his elbows.  Heading to his desk, he picked up his keys and wallet, and exited his bedroom and passed through the living space; ignoring the silent gaze from his family.

Up above the desk, Luka passed the boardwalk and onto the dock and straight to the motorcycle chained on the metal pole.  Unlocking the chains, he rolled the bike to the street, hopped into the seat, and put his helmet on before igniting life into the engine.  Revving the motor a few times, he spun the bike into gear and rode off towards the bakery.

Riding passed buildings and down the maze of roads, he couldn’t wait to reach the bakery and pull Marinette in his arms.  It sucked having the boat docked further away, but the ride towards Marinette’s home gave him time to prepare himself for the long-awaited talk.  

When Luka finally arrived at the bakery, he pulled his motorcycle up to the back of the bakery in the alleyway, locking it up.  Removing his helmet, he sent a text message to Marinette to inform her of his arrival and walked back towards the side entrance of the Dupain-Cheng home.  A few seconds later he heard the door jiggle and sound of the lock clicking before opening up and being greeted by Marinette.

“Hey, babe,” greeted Marinette.

“Hey, bug.”  

She gave him a small knowing smile and opened the door wider to allow Luka in and moved away to walk up the stairs.  Closing the door behind him, Luka locked the door and followed Marinette up the stairs to the main area of the Dupain-Cheng home.  Once they entered the living space, Marinette continued her way towards the stairs that led to her bedroom; Luka closed the front door and looked around the home.  It was quiet, no sight of Sabine and Tom anywhere.

“Where are your parents?” he asked as he followed Marinette to the stairs leading to her room.

“They’re catering a large banquet down in another city.  Just me for another day, so we won’t have to worry about anyone interrupting us” she responded.

The moment they entered her bedroom, Marinette walked to the middle of her room and stopped, hunched slightly as her back faced him.  He watched her quietly and noted her movement when one of her hands gripped her opposite arm in nervousness.  It was a common gesture he’d seen plenty of times and one that typically led to her apologizing or thinking the worst.

“Luka,” she breathed, “I’m so sor-” she spun to look at him but was cut off when she felt arms wrap around her and her head leaning against Luka’s chest.

He heard her gasp below him, most likely not expecting to have him embrace her.  There was no way in hell he was gonna have her apologize for something that she could not control.  One could only control their own fate for so long before fate itself regained control and led one down a path most necessary.  And right now, fate brought them to this moment and he wasn’t going to let Marinette waste it with apologizing.  So, he embraced her tighter and felt relieved to feel her own arms wrap around him in return.

Luka rested his face against her raven locks and silently breathed in her scent to help ground him and cherish the feeling of having his girlfriend in his arms after everything they all went through.

“I love you so much,” he breathed against her.  “I wish you would have told someone or me about all these responsibilities.”

“No one is supposed to know.”

“Says who, Melody?”

She was silent, but then he heard her whisper, “Fu.”

Who the hell was Fu?  A mentor?

Luka led Marinette to her chaise as they sat down and he looked straight at her and asked, “Who’s Fu, love?”

She looked down, staring at her hands and fiddling with her fingers before closing her eyes, “He was the guardian before me.”

He listened as Marinette explained everything from when she first met Master Fu, to the time she’d go to his place to learn and train in the role of guardianship, to the day Master Fu passed on the role to Marinette.

Luka stood and paced along Marinette’s room, silently seething after hearing everything she told him.  Crossing his arms, he sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

“No matter what happened to Fu, I despise him for what he burdened you with.”

“Luka...he had no choice.”

He looked at her with hurt and pain, but not for himself, but for her and everyone that took a role as a hero.

“What gave him the right to deem you and all of us that weld a miraculous with these responsibilities?”

“I’m the one who chose all of you.  Well, mostly everyone.”

“Yet, he’s the one who put you in the situation.”

Silence filled between them.  

There were not many things that pushed Luka past his calm exterior and mellowed mind, but even he had his limits.  Those limits beached by simply knowing that an adult passed on a role to a child.  Life these days was already a struggle with them handling school, jobs, and building a future.  What kind of future could you build when you have to revolve your life around a box full of magical jewels that could take things that could only ever be believed from fantasy and comics?

Shaking his head, he just felt pain knowing his girlfriend has been revolving her life around a burden of a role thrust upon her when she should be focusing on building a future of her own without worrying about being the guardian.

Looking back at Marinette, he took in her appearance for the first time.  The shadows under her eyes could not go unnoticed no matter the attempt to hide them with make-up.  Her skin looked a slightly paler than the full warmth she’s had when they first met all those years ago.  

Life was a struggle that everyone dealt with, but in front of him, he felt like he was staring into a shell of a person reaching for help but held back by fear.

“You can’t keep doing this alone, Melody.  This has to stop.”

Marinette stood and walked around her room, “I can’t.  No one is supposed to know.”  

She turned to him, “There’s already risks with you knowing about my identity!  Fu said no one is to know identities.  He warned me of the dangers and I failed him!  A guardian is the protector of the miracle box and I couldn’t even protect my own identity!”  Tears broke the surface as they streamed down her face, “I’m not a worthy guardian!  I failed to be a good guardian like Fu!  I knew I couldn’t measure up to him like I-”

“Enough!” he shouted with firmness, cutting her off from her rambled speech.

Marinette stopped and turned to Luka, looking at him with surprise.  He stood there gazing at her with stiffness and fire in his eyes like she was a mere child about to be berated by a parent. 

“Enough,” he stated again, softer though still holding firmness like the first.  He walked towards her and took hold of her shoulders to ensure she looked at nothing else but him.  “Listen to me, Marinette, and listen hard.  You’re not Fu.  Stop trying to be like Fu.”

He emphasized each word of his last sentence, watched as she continued to stare at him, doe-eyed wide, before she finally blinked and broke their gaze.  Quietly, Luka led her back to her chaise and sat side by side, facing one another as he let her take a breather.  There was no way to describe everything on how he felt, nor hers.

However, regardless of the swirl of emotions and tension surrounding them, he felt like he finally got through to her with his statement.

“But he taught me everything, Luka.  It’s all I know before he left.”

Marinette looked lost, slightly defeated, but overall, just exhausted.  She looked like a person who’s just trying to push forward and survive.

“And do you agree with the things he taught you?”

He watched her hesitate, curl up and she looked down.

“Please, Marinette, be honest with me.  You’ve never had trouble talking to me about anything before.”

“No...I never approved of some of the things he taught me.  It was hard enough to tell him that he needed to include Chat Noir with his presence as guardian.”

Luka didn’t speak, he sat there on her bedroom floor, waiting for her to look at him again.  He wanted to be patient.  If there was going to be a chance to lift the weight of all these burdens and responsibilities from Marinette, there had to be passiveness.

Thankfully, after a few moments, Marinette finally looked back up.

“If you didn’t agree with hiding things from Chat Noir, then why burden yourself with the very thing you went against?  If you didn’t feel comfortable telling me, why didn’t you confide with Chat Noir?  Surely your partner would be willing to help you.”  

He watched Marinette shift on her chaise and pull up legs and wrapped her arms around them, lowering her head on his knees.

“Because I’m afraid, Luka.  I’m afraid of failing.  Fu mentioned the dangers and I don’t want to risk the ones I love with those dangers.”

Luka shifted as he moved closer to Marinette, sliding his legs underneath her chaise and resting his hands around her legs, gently rubbing his thumb along the smoothness of her skin.

“Marinette, I want to ask you some questions.  Can you handle that?”

She gave him a small nod and waited.

“Everything that Fu taught you, is it teachings that run from guardian to guardian?”

She raised her head slightly, confused as she gave him a questioning gaze, “What?”

“The teachings that Fu taught you as the future guardian, was it stuff that was taught to him?  Like actual guidelines to being a guardian.”

He watched as her brows lowered in deep thought, eyes moving around as she discussed within her own space.  Then, she looked back at him.

“N-no.  I remember him saying that when he was a kid, he made a mistake that caused all the guardians to disappear along with other miracle boxes.  Until the monster he created was destroyed by me and Chat Noir a couple of years ago.”

Taking in the information, Luka nodded to everything being told to him and calmly took a breath and prepared himself for the awaited discussion.

“Alright.  So, if I understood correctly, Fu had no one to train him as guardian, right?”  He watched her nod, and he couldn’t help but offer her a small smile.  “Then what dictates Fu’s rules and sayings as fact and truth?”

Marinette was about to respond, but he watched with a hopefulness that she didn’t have an answer to his question.  And it was right now that gave Luka enough courage to finally try and convince her that she doesn’t have to do this alone.

“Listen to me, Marinette,” he started softly, “Everything that Fu taught you doesn’t mean you have to do things like him.  From what it sounds like, he was doing things that he believed was right in hopes to survive and make work.  What he taught you were things he learned through mistakes, but that doesn’t mean his ways are absolute.  He taught you foundations of basics that would help you begin as guardian, but not to form your life around it.”

He gave her a stronger smile that displayed how proud he was for her.  There was never doubt that Marinette would be a great guardian, but every now and then, she let fears and worry lead her astray.  This is what made him feel persistent that his melody needed confidants and helpers.

“Fu saw something in you to make you Ladybug and guardian.  And I can’t even begin to express how proud I am to know that he chose you, because there’s no one else I can imagine being guardian or the heroine.  But you can’t be a great guardian if you’re trying to be someone you’re not.”  

He took a deep breath and held Marinette with a look of determination and took her hands, “So, tell me, what is it that guardian Marinette wants?”

Luka held his gaze with hers and waited, offering her hands a squeeze in silent support.  It was hard, he knew it.  There was no doubt this was all hard for Marinette and that it’s been a burden for so long.  But he had hope, he always had hope when it came to Marinette.  She was a stubborn one and knew she could triumph from this overwhelming past.

He felt the weight of her hands returning a squeeze and looked up to catch a new fresh trail of tears flowing down her cheeks.

“I want help,” she swallowed and hiccuped from the emotions flowing through her, “I don’t want to do this alone.” 

Relief filled Luka as he heard those precious words.  The tension that surrounded them slowly diminished from the room.  He couldn’t begin to wonder how long Marinette wanted to reach out for help.

Pushing himself up, Luka moved to the top of the chaise and pulled Marinette into a loving embrace.  He felt her hands grip the front of his shirt as she broke down in relief; releasing all the tension she held on her shoulders from the past three years.  And as she cried, he just held her close, laying his head above hers and rubbed his hand along her back, whispering soothing words.

As the sobs softened to mere sniffles, there was a welcoming new energized air that floated within the room.  It looked and felt brighter, like an internal grey cloud long gone with nothing but the warmth of love.

Seeing some movement to his side, Luka looked over to Marinette’s desk and saw Tikki quietly watching them with wonder and relief within those large ocean sea eyes.  Motioning the kwami over, the little god floated towards the couple and lowered herself to her chosen’s shoulder and nuzzled against the girl’s face.

Luka watched Marinette push herself up, his hands falling to her waist as his girlfriend reached for her kwami.

“Tikki,” she smiled.

“I’m so sorry, Marinette.  I should have done better to help you.  It was only until the recent akuma and talking with Luka that I realized how different everything is and that time is not what it was with Fu.”

Marinette pulled Tikki against her again as their version of a hug.  To Luka, he was glad Marinette had the little god in her life.  If it were anything like him with Sass, they had a bond with one another that knew no bounds.

“So,” spoke Luka, “What do you want to do?  As guardian, your word is the law.”

“He’s right, Marinette,” came Tikki’s voice, “As guardian you can choose to do whatever you wish.  It’s not up to us, kwami to tell you what to do.  If having help gives you more strength, then do it.”  

The god of creation gave her a supportive smile.

Luka and Tikki watched as Marinette fell silent and into her own space as her eyes became distant and moved in thought.  

It was like a new spark was beginning to take over his Melody and he couldn’t be more excited to see that gleam in her eyes.

“Tikki, can you send a message to Plagg and Longg to inform Chat Noir and Ryuuko to meet up at the Eiffel Tower at ten tonight?”

Giving the girl a nod, Luka watched Tikki float to Marinette’s desk and fall into a trance when Marinette turned her attention to him.

Marinette launched herself into her boyfriend’s arms and embraced him, “Thank you, Luka.”

“Anytime, love.”

Breaking the embrace, he watched as Marinette stood up and went over to the chest where the miracle box hid and returned with a smaller box in hand, sitting back on the chaise next to him.  Marinette handed what he knew was the snake miraculous.

“What?” he asked, confusion taking over and looking back to her.

“I’m taking your advice and for that, I need to give you, Sass.”

At a loss of words, he looked back to the miraculous box and opened the case when a familiar green glow burst and disappeared to reveal Sass.  The little reptile smiling back at him with long-awaited excitement.

“Luka!” Sass exclaimed before launching to the musician.  Both boys giggling at their own little reunion.

Looking up to Marinette, he was at a loss on what Marinette had planned.  He wanted to know what the holder of creation had up her sleeve.

“What’s your plan?”

Marinette smiled as she watched him and Sass reunite, “I’ll explain when we meet up with the others.  For now, I feel exhausted after releasing what I held back.  How do you feel about a nap and dinner before meeting up with Chat and Ryuuko?”

He smiled as Sass nuzzled against him and flew off towards Tikki.  Moving closer to Marinette, he pushed himself towards the head of the chaise and opened his arms for Marinette and smiled, “It sounds like a plan.”  

Taking the offer, Marinette pushed herself into Luka’s embrace as they laid in the chaise, closed their eyes, and fell into a slumber.

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

 Hours later, the sky dark as the open ocean under the light of the moon, Marinette and Luka opened the sun window up the balcony of her bedroom, Tikki and Sass following close behind.

“Ready?” asked Luka.

He watched her smile as she looked up to the night sky and closed her eyes, inhaling the cool air.

“I am.  I’m ready to move forward with a fresh start.”

Luka moved next to her and wrapped an arm around her waist.

“I’m proud of you, you know.  I know it’s hard for you at times to ask for help, but I’m glad you’re taking that step for yourself.  And no matter what you decide tonight, remember you have people who will support you.”

Marinette turned and wrapped her arms around Luka’s shoulders and pushed herself up on her toes.  Following her motion, Luka lowered his head until their lips touched for a small kiss.  When they broke apart, Marinette’s eyes gleamed with newfound happiness.

“Thanks for being my rock, Luka.”

Embracing Marinette in a quick hug, he looked out into the city of Paris, bright with city lights in the distance near the Eiffel Tower.

“Let’s go.”  Turning to her kwami, “Tikki, Spots On.”

In a flash of pink, Luka watched in elation as his girlfriend transformed into the spotted heroine.  When the transformation finished, his elation turned into awe.

“Your suit changed.”

He watched Marinette blink in surprise as she took in her new look.  Gone was the red suit and black dots.  In place, her suit looked more mature as her suit split into sections of red and black.

Similar to his suit as Cardinalis, fingers black like a fingerless glove, her palms and up to her forearms coated in red and black spots.  Her biceps sectioned in black, only for her shoulders and torso to regain the red and black spotted pattern; the shoulder area looking like shoulder-padded armor.  The thighs take on the full black, but switch to the red with black spots from her calves down, only to fade to full red at her feet.  And unlike her old design, her feet became boot-like with small one inch heels.  Lastly, in the center, was a black belt wrapped around her waist area where her yo-yo latched onto.      

“H-how?”  she asked in equal surprise and confusion.

“If I had to guess, I would say with you taking the step in acknowledging you need help and taking action to better yourself, the miraculous took it as a sign of growth.”  Taking in her attire as a whole, “You look beautiful.”

Taking that as his cue, he followed in Marinette’s footsteps and called upon his transformation.

“Sass, Scales Slither.”

With a flash of turquoise, his body took on the transformation, though when the transformation finished, like Ladybug’s, his suit altered from his original Viperion design.  Still bearing his Viperion color palette, his suit took on the design layout from when he was Cardinalis but taking on more black as the main base.

“Looks like I’m not the only one with an upgrade,” said Ladybug.

“Makes me wonder since the two of us gained upgrades if Chat Noir and Ryuuko will obtain them as well.”

Well, with what I have planned, I’m sure they will.”

Unhooking her yo-yo and wrapped her free arm around Viperion, “Better hold on.”

With a flick of her wrist, the two launched off her balcony and made their way towards the Eiffel Tower.

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

 In minutes, Ladybug and Viperion landed on the cool metal beams of the Eiffel Tower and looked up at the approaching figures of Chat Noir and Ryuuko.

When Ladybug and Chat Noir made eye contact, the cat holder broke out in a run and embraced his partner.  Returning the gesture, Ladybug wrapped her arms around his chest, sinking in her partner’s embrace.

“Hey, Chat.”

“I was so worried about you.”

“I’m sorry I made you wait.  I had a lot going through my head and it’s time we talked.”

Releasing his partner, Chat Noir took a step back, concern etched in his face but pushed it aside for the moment when he took in his partner’s new attire.  

“I have to say, looking good with the new look, LB.  I take it this has something to do with what you want to talk about?”

She gave a nod, “You got it.”

Ladybug looked to her right and smiled at seeing Ryuuko standing, waiting patiently, with a smile of her own at the heroine.

“Hello, Ryuuko.  I’m glad you were able to make it tonight.  All four of us have some discussions ahead of us.  Let’s move towards the top of the structure where we have better stability and cover.”

Giving her a nod, all three heroes followed Ladybug to the top of the Eiffel Tower and waited for further instructions.  Silence filling the space around them except for the creaking of the iron of the structure swaying from the small breeze in the air.

They waited quietly as Ladybug took a breather and then opened her mouth to speak.

“I’m sure you all have questions, but, first,” -looking at Chat Noir- “I’d like to apologize to you.”

“Me?” Chat Noir stated, clearly off guard and confused.  “What do you have to apologize for?”

“For not listening to you a couple of years ago about revealing identities shortly after I became guardian.”

“LB, it’s okay.  You had your reasons and I respect that.  You don’t have to apologize for worrying about your safety and everyone else's.

Ladybug crossed her arms as she looked away from her partner.

“If only that were true, Chat.  It wasn’t because that’s what I wanted, it was because that’s what was engraved into me and I believed it.  If it weren’t for Viperion, I would never have realized how unhealthy that choice to believe everything would affect me in the end.”

Worry filled both Chat Noir and Ryuuko’s face, except for Viperion as he stood and listened to his girlfriend take the long-awaited step she’s been craving for so long.  He may not have shown much emotion other than a small smile, but he was damn proud of her.

“It was because of Viperion and Tikki that made me realize that as a guardian, everything taught to me doesn’t mean I have to follow it and live it word for word.  And as the guardian, I can make my own choices that I believe and feel could benefit us all.” -she swallowed and pushed out a tensioned breath- “So, as the guardian, I want to ask you, as my partner...would you still be willing to a reveal between all four of us?  I mean I know we know Viperion and Ryuuko, but you know what I mean.”

“Why us two?” asked Ryuuko.

“Because what I have planned revolves around the four of us.”

“Then let’s do it,” smiled Chat Noir, “If this is going to help you then my decision is already decided for me.”

Nerves started to take hold of Ladybug; she was about to learn who her long time partner was and she was buzzing with mixtures of nervousness and excitement.

“How about we count to three and all release our transformation?” offered Viperion.

Nodding quickly, Ladybug started the countdown and the others joined in.  When they reached one all closed their eyes and called off their transformations.

Luka and Kagami were the first ones to open their eyes and looked at each other and simply smiled at each other.  During the past three years and watching Marinette and Adrien become inseparable friends, they two became close friends with one another and couldn’t hold back the silent chuckles.  

Taking a quick look at their significant other, both Luka and Kagami stepped aside and embraced one another.

“Glad to finally give you a hug.  Learning you were Ryuuko shouldn’t have surprised me as much three days ago.  Only a badass spitfire could be the badass dragon.”

“And only a wise old snake would be the one to become a temporary Ladybug.”

Both giggled and looked over at Marinette and Adrien, still with eyes closed.  Most like each internally motivating them to prepare for the reveal.

“How much surprise do you think they’ll have once they see each other?” Luka whispered to Kagami.

“A lot.  There might be tears,” she responded. 

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

 Taking a breather, Marinette spoke between her and her partner, “Ready?”

“Yea.”

He was just as breathless, but together, they opened their eyes and blue met green.  Both Adrien and Marinette stood frozen as they stared into the eyes of their best friend, not just as partners but as civilians.

Green eyes glistened as tears surfaced when everything that happened the past three days resurfaced in his head and let the tears flow.  Moving forward, Adrien embraced Marinette in his arms, far tighter than before.  For Marinette, she simply collapsed into Adrien’s arms and both broke out in soft sobs.  She slipped her arms stuck between them and wrapped her arms around his chest and pulled him closer.

“O-oh god, Adrien,”  mumbled Marinette.

“I c-can’t believe I almost l-lost you.  M-my best friend,” he cried on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, so sorry.  I-I didn’t w-want anyone to worry.”

Adrien clung tighter and heaved, “You and your stubbornness.”

Marinette gave a watery laugh, earning one from Adrien as well.

“You enjoy this stubbornness you crazy cat,” she stated softly.

Breaking the embrace, the two heroes smiled at one another when Adrien shook his head, “I can’t believe it’s been you all this time.” -he looked at his friend seriously but out of care- “You should have asked for help, Marinette?”

“You know me and how I let myself let fear take over sometimes.”

Adrien shook his head, giving her a smirk, “I hope Luka knocked some sense into you.”

She huffed out and drawled, “Yes.”

He chuckled, “Good.”  -looking over to Luka and Kagami talking- “Should we continue the rest of what you have planned then?  I’m curious.”

Marinette smiled, “Of course.  Then let’s head to the others so I can explain the rest of my plan.”

Giving her a nod, Adrien and Marinette walked over to where Kagami and Luka stood to talk amongst themselves.

“Hey, guys,” breaking the two from their deep conversation and turning to Marinette.  Gesturing everyone to sit, they all followed Marinette and all sat in the form of a small circle.

“As I mentioned earlier, I was struggling a lot, but I always hid it from others.  It wasn’t till the recent incident that required Luka to take my place temporarily that my life revolved around a lot of responsibilities.  So much so, that I let the guardian life through Fu’s views take over and misguide me a bit.  If it weren’t for Luka’s insight, I don’t think I would have ever taken the necessary step to better my life.  So, what I’m about to ask is asking a lot.  But if you wish to not take it I completely understand.”

Taking a breather, she looked at Luka and Kagami.

“First off, I would like you two to become permanent members of the miraculous team,” -looking at Adrien- “What say you, partner?”

“I couldn’t ask for a finer duo to add to the team.  I’m all for it.”

He gave a wink to Kagami, only for his girlfriend to roll her eyes, but smiled.

“I have a question though,” asked Kagami, turning to Marinette.  “Why Luka and I?  Why not Alya and Nino?”

The ladybug holder gave a small smile, “I love those two, I do.  However, my reason for not making them permanent is because Alya has a tendency to be...hyperactive.  I know she can be serious, but I also know her love of superheroes and Ladyblog can sometimes get in the way.  But with what I have in mind, I didn’t want to risk the issues of identities knowing she has the Ladyblog.  As for Nino, he’s not great at keeping secrets and I know for fact he and Alya share a lot between each other.”

“You got that right,” mumbled Adrien under his breath.

“I love them both, but Adrien and I need two people who are mature and insightful.  That’s why I chose you and Luka as a permanent holder along with a reveal.”

Still confused, Kagami asked, “Then...what’s the last part of your plan?”

Looking at Adrien, Kagami, and Luka seriously, she swallowed and breathed out, “I’d like to make you three guardian of the miracle box with me.”

All three members went wide-eyed and mouths dropped from her answer, fully speechless.  Before any of them could speak, Marinette continued.

“Luka was right.  I can’t do this alone anymore.  I’m tired of being alone and with all these secrets.”  Sitting up straighter, she spoke with strength, “If you are willing, I’d like to teach you in the ways as guardians and learn the ways of the miraculous and all the history that follows it.  I’d like to have our own guardianship where we have each other to rely and fall back on.  But, most importantly, to support one another.  If an akuma attack were to happen and I couldn’t get away to retrieve a miraculous or other guardian business, we have others who can do that for us.” -Looking at each of them separately- “So, would you three be guardians with me?”

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Luka being the first to speak.  “If this is what it takes to lift some of these burdens off your shoulder, then I’m all in.”

“It would be an honor to serve alongside you as guardian, Marinette.  If this is what it takes to allow you to live a healthier life, I’ll gladly accept the role.”

Marinette felt relieved and excited.  Not only was she not going to be alone anymore, but she was going to have a family within a guardianship.  Turning to Adrien, she waited but knew everything was going to be okay when she watched Adrien give her a full smile.

“We’ve been partners this long, haven’t we?  I’ve always got your back, princess.  You can count this cat in.”

She sighed, all the tension she didn’t know she held was finally gone. 

“You have no idea how happy you all made me.  I’m so excited to share this with you.”  Reaching out her hand, “Reach out your hand, please,” -she watched as the others reach out their hands in which she placed all three between her hands- “I, Ladybug, hereby add Chat Noir, Ryuuko, and Viperion as guardians of the miracle box and miraculous.”

Adrien, Kagami, and Luka felt a sudden soft bolt of energy through their bodies.

Releasing their hands, Marinette gave them a smile and nod, “Welcome to the guardianship.”

Looking up at the darkening sky, she decided to end the meeting for tonight.

“We’ll meet up in a couple of days and work on schedules and plans.  But, for now, I think it’s time we all head home.”

They all stood up and Kagami was the first to hug Marinette and wish her a good night, moving over to Luka to do the same as Adrien walked over to his long time partner.  Giving her one final embrace, both Adrien and Kagami called on their transformations, coated in green and red light.  When the lights faded, both heroes prepared to say their final goodbyes but stopped once they caught Luka and Marinette’s grins.

“What?” asked Chat Noir.

“Looks like the two of you are now starting anew with us in the new attires,” answered Luka.

Both Chat Noir and Ryuuko looked down to find their old designs gone and replaced with new looks.

“We’ll discuss more next time, for now, the two of you better get home before your parents find out.  Though do enjoy your new outfits on the way home,” stated Marinette.

Giving the couple one more round of smiles, Chat Noir and Ryuuko laughed as they took off into the night together and towards home.  Luka and Marinette gave their own laughs as they watched the couple have fun and chase after one another.

“You did amazing tonight, my melody,” Luka turned to his girlfriend as she looked at him with those blue doe eyes.

“Well, I have you to thank.  It was fate that landed me in the Seine that day.  And it was fate that gave me all my friends, especially the three of you.”

Bringing Marinette into a lover’s embrace, they stood there in each other’s arms as the small breeze blew around them and their kwamis snuggled on their shoulders.

Fate brought him closer to his girlfriend, but it was fate that gave him the chance to change the hardship that Marinette struggled within her life.  And with Adrien and Kagami, the responsibilities that Marinette once held as burdens can now give her peace and strength.  Together, they’ll be able to tackle whatever fate decides to throw their way next.

[morganaspendragonss]

First off I just want to say that I LOVE all of your Owen and TK fics. Prompt: I would love for TK to end up like really sick(fever,vomiting, dizzy spells) and try to hide it from everyone but then for him to get worse and it turn out to be appendicitis and Owen being super worried and protective of him throughout the whole ordeal. Once again I think that you are an amazing writer!!

thank you for the prompt and your lovely message! i’m so sorry for the long wait, but i hope you like what i came up with!

@911lonestarangstweek day 4:  Sickfic + “You need to rest.”

ao3 | 2.2k

“Are you okay, son?”

Owen frowns over at TK, sitting across from him at the dinner table. He keeps his voice low to avoid catching the attention of the rest of the team; TK would probably kill him for ‘causing a scene’, and then Owen would never get to the bottom of what’s going on.

And something is, that he’s sure of. Whilst the others are all wolfing down the pasta dish Paul cooked up, back-to-back calls leading to near starvation, as Mateo put it, TK has barely touched his food, electing to simply push it around the plate. He’s quiet too, not joining in on the conversations going round the table, and he’s been looking off all day. That Owen has seen, anyway, and he’s also caught Tommy sending worried glances in TK’s direction multiple times. If it weren’t for the knowledge that TK would likely bite the offending hand off, Owen would definitely reach over to check his temperature; his skin is noticeably flushed and there’s a light sheen of sweat on his brow.

TK doesn’t appear to hear his question, continuing to ineffectually stab at pasta shapes, so Owen leans closer, daring to wave a hand in his face. 

TK blinks in surprise. “What?”

“I said, are you okay? You look sick.”

He rolls his eyes, looking back down at his plate. “I’m fine.”

Owen raises an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, for starters, you haven’t eaten anything,” Owen says, pointedly staring at him, letting him know his charade hasn’t gone unnoticed.

TK huffs and sets his fork down, pushing the plate away. “I’m not hungry.”

Bullshit. 

“Since when are you not hungry?”

“Since now, Dad!” TK snaps, glaring at Owen. He flushes and drops his eyes when his outburst earns him several raised eyebrows, but he still doesn’t give in, instead grumbling another, “I’m fine.”

The thing is, Owen knows that TK probably thinks he is fine. TK’s always had a tendency to downplay his own illnesses and injuries, to the point where he’s even doing it to himself, which has resulted in more ER visits and emergency doctors’ appointments than Owen cares to remember. 

So, much as he would love to believe his son, all the evidence points to him being very much not okay. Owen’s about two seconds away from calling Tommy over when TK’s face changes, his breathing suddenly becoming very carefully measured.

“Son?” he asks, reaching across the table to lay a hand on TK’s arm. The second he makes contact, however, TK violently shoves away from the table, chair legs scraping noisily on the linoleum.

“Bathroom,” is all the explanation he gives before rushing off, very obviously unsteady on his feet.

Owen watches him go, torn between wanting to follow and wanting to give TK the chance to admit defeat himself. He’s worried, but he knows that if he keeps pushing, then TK’s just going to be even more stubborn about it. He sighs and shakes his head, returning back to his meal, TK’s untouched plate mocking him in his periphery. 

But when ten minutes have passed and TK still hasn’t reappeared, Owen feels a sick sense of dread start to creep in. There’s no reason for him to have been gone this long unless something is seriously wrong, and Owen’s not about to wait any longer to find out what.

He stands up, glancing pensively up the staircase before heading up there himself, trying to stave off all the worst case scenarios flitting through his mind. Maybe TK just went to lie down for a bit? It’s possible, though Owen knows it’s more than likely not the case. That would be too simple.

His fears are confirmed when he turns the corner leading to the bathroom. TK is hunched over in the doorway, white-knuckled grip on the frame, the other arm wrapped around his abdomen. He’s staring sightlessly into the middle distance, apparently not even noticing Owen as he approaches, and Owen can hear how heavy his breathing is from across the room. 

“TK?” he calls, worry only spiking when TK gives no indication of having heard him. This is bad; Owen runs to the balcony, thanking god that Tommy is still down there with the rest of the team. “Captain Vega!” he calls. “A little help up here?”

Tommy’s instantly moving, clearly picking up on the urgency in his tone, and Owen spares a single moment of relief. Unfortunately, it’s short-lived; when he turns back around, time seems to slow as he watches TK’s grip on the doorframe loosen, his feet shuffling forward tentatively before letting go altogether.

TK stays upright for barely a second before he crumples to the floor, collapsing in an undignified heap. Owen breaks into a run, reaching TK just as he’s trying to push himself back up. He doesn’t seem to have lost consciousness, which Owen is thankful for, and he’s a little more lucid now, but he’s turned incredibly pale and there are tight lines of pain around his eyes. 

“TK, what’s going on?” he demands, keeping a hand firmly on his son’s shoulders to keep him on the floor. “And don’t give me any of that ‘I’m fine’ crap; I just saw you collapse, so you’re going to have to do better than that.”

TK groans, the effort it takes for his gaze to focus on Owen seemingly Herculean. “Thought it was just a stomach bug,” he mutters. “That’s why I didn’t say anything. Then I got this really bad pain”—he waves a hand over his abdomen—“and I had to come up here to be sick. When I tried to come back down I got really dizzy - my vision blurred, there was this really loud ringing in my ears - I guess you saw all that.

“The blurriness has gone now but the pain is still there, so I’m thinking it’s probably -”

“Your appendix.” Tommy’s voice cuts through TK’s, and Owen looks up to see her heading towards them, medical bag in hand. She tuts as she kneels next to them, shaking her head ruefully. “Really, Strand? Hiding something like this on the job?”

“In my defence, Cap,” TK says, something like a smile on his lips, “I really didn’t know until just now. I was only a little feverish before, so I thought it was nothing.”

“Until it wasn’t,” she admonishes, but there’s an undercurrent of fondness to her tone. She presses down on TK’s abdomen and he hisses in pain, Tommy’s face growing serious. “TK, did you have any pain before what happened just now?”

“A little,” he admits. “But then it went away so I forgot about it.”

Tommy curses. Owen glances over at her anxiously, not liking the worried expression on her face. “What is it?”

She looks at him grimly, rising to her feet and heading for the stairs. “I can’t be certain, but it means his appendix might have already burst. Check his pulse.”

Owen does, feeling a little sick himself as the implications of Tommy’s words sink in. TK’s pulse is fast which, judging by the less-than-happy expression on her face when Owen reports it, isn’t a good sign.

“He needs to get to the hospital, now.”

*

Owen’s foot taps out a repetitive rhythm on the waiting room floor, earning him several reproachful looks from hospital staff and other visitors. He pays them no mind, though; it’s been ages since TK was wheeled away for testing and surgery, and his patience is stretched thin.

He knows it’ll be fine, logically. Appendectomies usually are, though there’s the added complication of TK’s appendix maybe having already burst, because apparently they can’t have any good luck for a change.

It’s just… It never gets any easier, seeing his son in the hospital. Even if it’s just for something as simple as a broken bone, of which there have been a few over the years. But, as Owen is reminded when he hears the hurried sound of feet coming towards him, he doesn’t have to do this alone anymore.

He stands as Carlos reaches him, his eyes wide and worried - perhaps more so than the situation warrants, but Owen’s not about to judge him for that. 

“What happened?” Carlos asks, not giving Owen a moment to respond before rushing ahead. “He looked a little flushed this morning but he told me he was fine and I believed him. I’m sorry, Captain Strand, I should have pushed more -”

“Carlos.” Owen holds up a hand, laughing a little. “Take a breath, son. And, how many times, call me Owen.”

Carlos flushes, breathing out shakily before slumping into a chair by Owen’s side. “Right,” he mutters. “Sorry. How is he, though?”

Owen eases himself back down into his seat, his knees cracking noisily in protest. He sighs. “He’ll be okay. I’m still waiting on the doctor to come out and tell me more, but he was admitted a while ago, so hopefully that’ll happen soon.”

Carlos nods, leaning his head in his hands. Owen watches him with a faint smile on his face; he’s always known how much TK and Carlos care for each other, but seeing it first-hand just reaffirms the knowledge. It’s all he’s ever wanted for his son - someone who loves him just as much as he loves them.

“You know,” he starts, “you’re the first boyfriend TK’s ever had who’ll willingly come and wait at the hospital for hours. I appreciate you being here.”

Carlos stares at him, uncomprehending. “I… I’m the first?”

Owen nods; Carlos shakes his head in disbelief. It’s strangely heartwarming, this display of indignation on his son’s behalf, and Owen couldn’t be more grateful for Carlos’s presence. He goes to say something else, but then they’re interrupted by the arrival of a doctor, smiling reassuringly at them.

“Mr Strand,” he greets, raising a questioning eyebrow at Carlos. “And…”

“This is Carlos Reyes, TK’s partner.”

“Ah.” The doctor nods, looking back down at his clipboard. “The good news is, the surgery went well. We’re getting him set up in a room now; I’ll take you to see him in a moment.”

“Is there bad news?” Carlos asks nervously, having clearly picked up on the same thing Owen had.

The doctor grimaces. “Unfortunately, his appendix burst before he arrived, so there is a significant risk of infection. We’ve put him on a course of antibiotics and he’ll have to remain here for at least the next week to make sure there are no unexpected complications.”

“He’s gonna love that,” Carlos jokes, and even Owen has to smile, knowing just how right Carlos is. He’s still worried, and the doctor’s news has only increased that, but it’s easier, having someone else with him who’s just as worried.

They’re soon taken to TK’s room, Owen letting out a sigh of relief as he sees him awake, though his expression is tight with pain. He’s beyond proud of TK for how far he’s come in his recovery, and Owen knows that this is what he needs to do, but it’s not any easier to see his kid hurting.

“How are you feeling, son?” he asks, taking a seat next to the bed. Carlos dithers for a moment before TK sends him a look, and he settles himself gingerly on the edge of the bed, almost absent-mindedly taking TK’s hands in his own.

“Like crap,” TK answers, apparently too tired for his usual ‘I’m fine’ routine. “Could be worse, though.”

Owen hums in agreement; that, at least, can’t be denied. It’s difficult to top getting shot and spending days in a coma. 

They talk for a little while, but then TK starts yawning and his eyelids begin to droop, despite his very obvious effort to keep them open. Owen laughs at him, shaking his head fondly.

“Alright, son, we get the message,” he jokes. “I’m leaving.”

“No, it’s okay -”

“TK,” Owen interrupts. “You need to rest. I’ll come back and check on you tomorrow.”

TK huffs, but he’s clearly too exhausted to protest any further, letting Owen place a kiss on his brow as he stands. Carlos moves to join him, but TK draws the line there, clinging on tight to his hands.

“I…” Carlos sends a helpless look to Owen, but he just shakes his head.

“I wouldn’t argue, Carlos,” he says. “I’m sure you know as well as I do how clingy TK gets when he’s sick.”

“Do not,” TK mumbles, but it’s offset by the way he’s currently attempting - incredibly unsuccessfully - to pull Carlos down next to him.

Carlos huffs a laugh at that. “Sure you don’t, love.”

TK swats clumsily at him, and Owen can’t help but smile at their interaction. It’s clear they’ve all but forgotten his presence, so he starts to creep towards the door, only to stop and look back when he gets there.

“TK?” he says sternly, drawing their attention. “Remember - rest.”

TK rolls his eyes and Carlos flushes darkly, attempting to stammer out a response. Owen takes pity on him and walks away, grinning to himself. Not too long ago, he wouldn’t have dreamt of leaving TK after major surgery, but things are so different now. 

Owen knows TK has all he needs already with him. And that is the most important thing.

[hippychick006]

12.06 - Celebrating the life of Asa Fox Episode Review/Recap

Honestly, I see a picture like this on a promo and I have no hesitation diving straight in. Okay, you all know I have a hurt!Sam fetish, complete with writhing on the floor padabooty, let’s not bang on about it.

Official episode summary: THREE WINCHESTERS ARE BETTER THAN ONE – When hunters gather together to celebrate the life and tragic death of one of their own, Sam (Jared Padalecki) Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Mary (guest star Samantha Smith) must take action when a demon starts picking off hunters one by one. John Bedham directed the episode written by Steven Yockey  

My optimum number of Winchesters is two but yeah, I don’t mind a buy two get one extra free here and there.

Overall, I do really enjoy this episode, even after rewatch but putting under a cut to save space.

There’s a lot of things I don’t like about the Dabb era, and in terms of this episode, retconning Mary to be a hunter after parenthood is one of those things that niggles a little (I know she was a hunter before parenthood which also irks for different reasons) so there’s a lot I have to shake off from my mind in order to be able to enjoy an episode. And on rewatch, I had less issues than I did the first time (but given I’m coming at this straight from season 15, it could be a case of me just grasping onto absolutely anything that isn’t terrible).

Aside from the Mary thing, I love so much about this episode, not least because there isn’t a single mention of feathers who I am seriously going to struggle watching in any episode going forward thanks to 15.18 debacle.

Anyway moving swifly on…

First up is the intro and I love the introduction of Asa Fox as a character. We first meet him as a child, who Mary saves from a werewolf attack. And then we see him become interested in hunting (as Mary tells him she’s soon going to retire, and he’s worried that if she does: who’s gonna save people like me?)

Asa decides it’s going to be him and through a montage set to Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s Roll On Down The Highway, we see Asa grow up to become a pretty awesome hunter. Throughout all this time, he writes postcards to Mary, but doesn’t send them (no address) so he has quite a collection by the end and I think it’s all his hunts.

I’m so caught up in how awesome Asa is and how much I like this new character, I’m completely jarred when he comes to a sudden and unexpected end via hanging which also brings the music to an abrubt halt.

Great intro, Asa said very few words but I’m already mourning not getting to know him more.

After the opening titles, we switch to Jody who is chilling out at home about to watch Netflix when there’s a knock at the door.  Turns out it’s Sam and Dean who have just finished up a hunt and stopped by to visit. Unfortunately the cardboard cutout “just add water” instant girl hunters are at a concert. Jody offers to feed them, and Dean lets her know that he killed Hitler since the last time they saw her.

Sam: *huffs and walks away Jody: *blank stare “thank you?” Dean: You’re welcome

Love it.

They have pizza and watch Netflix and have a debate about rom coms. Sam says Dean is more of “an animated Japanese erotica chick.”

A little oversharing on your brother’s habits there Sammy, but Sam is not concerned in the least.  In fact, I love how totally relaxed Sam is sitting here. He’s clearly comfortable at Jody’s slumped on her sofa.

The phone rings and Jody goes to answer it, Sam and Dean have a conversation about Sam oversharing which Dean’s uncomfortable with.

Sam: Dude, be proud of your hobbies. It makes you who you are.

Supportive Sam encouraging his brother!

Jody returns and walks past them, she’s clearly upset. The boys follow to watch her start packing.  They ask what’s wrong and Jody says a friend of hers died – it’s poor Asa from the opener and I wasn’t expecting a link from Jody to Asa.  

The name is familiar to Dean and he’s trying to figure it out when Sam says it’s the guy Ellen used to tell stories about at the Roadhouse.  Asa apparently killed five wendigos in a single night and now I’m even more mourning his loss. Seems Jody met Asa when he came to town on a hunt, she caught him out when he tried to pretend to be an FBI agent by the name, Fox Mulder. He’s worse than the Winchesters!  Anyway she helped him out on a ghoul hunt and they kept in touch.The boys decide to go with her to the wake, John didn’t let them go to hunter gatherings outside of bars as he always said they were trouble.

Turns out Asa lived in Manitoba, Dean says “oh Canada” when he gets out of the car on arrival.  Sam is impressed with the house which yes, nice digs for a hunter.

We meet Asa’s mother, Lorraine and she knew her son was a hunter. She’s heavily in to the drink but she’s just lost her son, so I’m cutting her some slack as I can’t imagine anything worse.

Dean finds his way to the kitchen (and the beer) which has no label. He’s concerned but “Bucky” homebrewed it himself and it’s strong.  Dean introduces himself which gets the attention of the several hunters in the room,

Randy: No freakin’ way. Aren’t you dead? Like, four times? Dean: Yeah. It, uh, didn't take.

Just wait till they hear about Mystery Spot where he died over a hundred times in a single day!

Sam fanboy hunter: Wait. Your brother here? Sam? Dean: Yeah, he's still alive, too. He's –

Fanboy doesn’t even wait for Dean to finish, he’s off to find Sam.  Same fanboy (named Elvis), same tbh

While Dean’s making friend’s in the kitchen – and learning not to say the name ‘Wendigo’ which turns out to be a trigger word to take a drink - Sam’s homed in on hotboy Max and his equally hot sister Alicia.  Turns out their mother is a good witch who taught Alicia how to hunt bad witches.

Sam (to Max): What did she teach you? Max: Uh, mostly how to seduce men. Alicia: She also taught him some magic, which is actually more useful. Max: Eh, mostly the men thing.

Max is definitely getting his flirt on, making sure Sam knows he’s into hot men, and we cannot deny, Sam is a hot man. Before Sam can flirt back, Elvis interrupts and introduces himself and then makes Sam feel awkward when he asks Sam about being possessed by the devil. Bad Elvis!

Max (and Alicia) are both pissed on Sam’s behalf,

Alicia: Dude, you don't just ask someone about something that messed up. Max: Seriously, back off.

Protective!Max alert, I’m going to need a few minutes with my new ship Samax, though to be honest, the way Max and Alicia are sitting together, it might need to be Samaxia, which no issue other than it sounds like a drug that gets advertised on television with all kinds of side effect warnings, like may cause death...)

Elvis makes Sam feel so awkward that he runs off to go find a beer. Elvis then tries to talk to Max and Alicia and they outright just tell him to go away. Love them.

Aww, Sam got his beer and then went off to find his big brother. In fairness, I think they’ve been separated five minutes at this point and in that time Sam was accosted by Elvis. Dean’s looking through Asa’s office and discovers he has a real angel blade. Sam asks if Dean knew people tell stories about them.

Dean: Yeah. Apparently, we’re a little bit legendary. Sam: Yeah, but, I mean, so was Asa. Then a hunt went bad, and he ended up hanging from a tree, alone in the woods. Dean: He died on the job. No better way to go. Sam: You really believe that? Dean: Yeah. What, you don’t? I mean, come on, Sam, it's not like we're in the “live till you're 90, die in your sleep” business. This? [Dean points at Asa’s hunting wall] This only ends one way.

It’s difficult watching this knowing the ultimate end as I know Sam’s never agreed with this, being the one to want to see an end to hunting at some point; but you can’t deny Dean has been consistent in how he thinks he’s going to go out and has always seemed at peace with that.

Sam says they should get back and Dean agrees but warns Sam not to say “wendigo” to anyone. I love that he warns Sam. Every time Dean is a good brother, it just reminds me how much of a bad sister I am as I would not have passed on the warning. Sam’s confused about why he can’t say it but seems to just accept it.

Only a few people are around by the end of the night, still telling stories of Asa’s epic hunts - mainly Bucky. Why show, why give us this amazing man and kill him off in the first five minutes?!.

Anyway, turns out that the “ghoul story” from earlier had more to it. Asa and Jody got together for some “sweet sweet time alone”. Jody plays it down, says it was more of a casual thing. Turns out Asa could beat Dean in the ladies game and I think even Alicia and Max mother was one of his conquests (we saw this in the opening montage as well, Asa kissing a different woman in his car in between hunts).

Randy asks if people want a beer and heads to the kitchen, and I fear Randy is not long for this world as he walks down the hallway alone. We stay on him as he returns and my anxiety is kicking in, even with expecting something, it’s sudden when his throat is slit and he’s dragged off down a side corridor by someone wearing black.

Alicia walks back into the living room carrying two beers – and we’re reminded she’s dressed all in black?!  Alicia? Surely not.

We see someone enter the door and only see their boots as they walk, they stop just outside the living rom where everyone is talking. Loraine hears the footsteps stop and tells the stranger to come in and not hover.

Turns out it’s Mary.  Awkward Winchester family reunion, given I think from memory Mary walked out an episode or so ago.

Sam, Dean, Jody and Mary go somewhere more quiet to talk.

Mary: What are you doing here? Dean: What are you doing here?

I love the reversed dynamic of Sam being go between Dean and Mary (where it was the reverse between Sam and John).  Sam introduces Mary to Jody as their mother.

Jody: I thought– I thought you were... Mary: I was. Jody: [quietly] Wow. Wow! [She hugs Mary excitedly] It is so nice to meet you!

She belatedly sees the awkward tension and ships out to give them “some family time”

Dean asks where Mary’s been and she responds she’s been using John’s journal to work through a few things.

Dean: You could’ve just asked us, you know. Sam: Dean, come on. Dean: She could’ve. Mary: It’s okay. He’s right. But… This is something I needed to do alone. I… Listen, most of the people I knew are dead. And then I remembered Asa. He was so young when I met him, I thought he must still be around. And then… I saw an article about his death, and, uh… Dean: So you’ll text us once a week, maybe, but you’ll drive all the way to Canada to see some dead guy? Well, that’s awesome. I’m gonna get some air. Mary: Dean, wait...

Mary tries to go after Dean but Sam stops her. Sam knows his brother.

Jody on the other hand stops Dean at the door and pretty much says she’s here if Dean wants to talk about anything other than killing Hitler (which Dean spent the five hour drive telling her in excruciating detail.). She talks about giving anything to have her dead husband and son back but at the same time she would be worried it wouldn’t be the same which gives Dean some food for thought in regard to his complicated relationship with Mary.

Mary’s in the kitchen getting a beer, Lorraine introduces herself as Asa’s mother. Mary introduces herself as Mary Winchester, which Lorraine can’t believe as Mary should be her age. Mary: It’s a long story. She says she’s sorry. Lorraine says she should be, Mary’s the reason her son didn’t become an astronaut. She’s very bitter and hands Mary the box with the postcards Asa wrote to her. Mary defends herself and says she saved Asa’s life.

Lorraine: [scoffing] What am I supposed to say to that? After you, Asa got so… Hunting was his whole life. He never married. Never had a family, kids. And now… enjoy the wake.

I love this next scene between Sam and Mary. Sam finds Mary and asks if she’s all right. She thrusts the box of postcards at him and says she’s fine. She goes into Asa’s office and tells Sam she saved Asa when he was a kid, and this is all on her.

Sam: Well, no. Obviously, mom, he made his own decisions. And he helped a lot of people, you know?

Sam and free will and then we have Season 15 debacle. Pfff

Mary tells him that everywhere she goes and everything she does just feels wrong, but she’ll get used to it.Sam tells her he understands, she just needs space and so does Dean, (who we see outside drinking from his flask), He says Dean is just scared they are going to lose her again,

Sam: “that – that because we're (Sam and Dean) hunters, you're gonna walk away. But I know that’s not true. Even looking at these… [Sam holds out the box of Asa’s postcards to Mary] I mean, you saved Asa in 1980, um, after Dean was born. After everyone thought you quit hunting. Seems like you couldn’t stop then, and… I’m guessing you can’t stop now, either. This job, this life, is crazy and insane. But it’s in our blood. Come on. [Sam puts his arm around Mary] Mary: Where we going? Sam: To say goodbye to Asa.

I love that Sam understands more than anyone the desire to have normal/safe, pulling against the need to save people/hunt things so I love this scene between him and Mary and I like Mary a little bit more because of it. Damn you Jared! You even got me to like Claire once!  

They go to say goodbye to Asa and I like when Mary undoes the cover over his face and we get blood dripping onto Asa’s forehead. It’s interesting to have both Sam and Mary in this scene in a callback to Sam’s nursery scene.  They both look up and it’s Randy, tied to the rafters, dead and bleeding from his neck wound.

Back in the living room, Bucky is still telling stories about Asa. Sam and Mary rush in and Sam tells everyone they need to leave because Randy is dead. I like this, it’s like a murder mystery now. All of a sudden, water is shut off (this is new canon?), and the twins can smell Sulphur. Lights are flickering. Demon alert!

Bucky tells them it’s Jael, a crossroads demon who hangs people, which is his thing, snaps necks (Asa), slits throats (Randy). Turns out Asa exorcised the demon but now it’s back. Bucky tries to open the door, Elvis helps but it slams shut.

Max (trying to impress Sam): you’re wasting your time [he waves a hand in front of the door and we see red symbols] Max says the entire house has been warded.

Not sure if that impressed Sam or not but Max had me at “Seriously, back off” and now this?  *Fans self

Anyway, it means they are trapped inside.

Back outside with Dean, he’s still drinking from his flask. He hears footsteps and doesn’t bother turning around, just tells the person to “go away”. I think he thinks it’s Mary, but turns out to be Billy saying “you’re not the boss of me.”

Dean: Billie. What’re you doing here? Billie: My job. [Dean chuckles] Well, I’m not dead yet. Billie: Shame. But actually, I just finished inside. I was reaping a fresh soul.

Wait, what?  But Dean’s brother is in there! Dean’s pissed and marches to the door.

Inside, Bucky is telling the group more about the demon Jael. Asa exorcised the demon but not before it killed a first nations girl by tying a noose around her neck.

Outside Dean is rattling and banging on the door

Dean: Sam. Sammy! Hey! Billie: You can huff and puff, but that house is on supernatural lockdown. They can’t even hear you.

Bucky is still expositioning and Dean is still trying to get past that old Winchester nemesis “the door”, even throwing a solid statue at it, but nothing is happening.

Okay, we’ve now reached the only part of this episode I have an issue with. We’ve got a group of hunters standing around wondering who the demon is amongst them and not one of them can remember the tests for a demon. Sam come on!  You knew Christo in season 1 and you performed a reverse exorcism in season 8.

Anyway Elvis accuses Alicia of not being in the room and Max says Dean wasn’t in the room either (uh Max buddy, accusing Sam’s brother isn’t going to win you any points in the whole wooing thing, just fyi - of course wooing Sam in the first place is pretty dangerous terratory)

Finally Alicia remembers about holy water but they are all out. Elvis says they can just make more but Mary reminds them the water is off. Uh? The toilet bowl?

Dean’s stopped attacking the door and turns to Billie and asks, What did you do?  Billy says it wasn’t her, she’s just cleaning up the mess but “it’s always nice to see a Winchester who can’t get what he wants.”

Dean: You think this is funny? Huh? Hunters are dying in there. Billie: Everyone dies.

Dean is pretty much losing his shit and I’d like to remind people that at this point, he doesn’t know which hunter has died.

Back with the group, Sam finally remembers his brother is outside so all focus is on Alicia who starts coughing. I think she’s faking it to screw with her brother (totally what I would do) but no,

Alicia/Jael: Alicia’s not here right now. [Her eyes glow red] Leave a message. [she punches Max] Oh, you’re a fun group. We’re gonna have a good time tonight.

Jael leaves Alicia in a cloud of demon smoke and flies into the fireplace. Sam and Max get Alicia up (Samaxia forever – warning for side effects which may include internal bleeding and even death)

They now need to figure who in the house Jael has jumped into. Jody gives the orders (I’ll forgive this, she’s a cop) and they pair off to search the house (why not sweep room to room?), Anyway, Sam’s with Mary and Jody’s with Bucky.

Dean’s worked out that Billy got in to reap the soul so if she can get in, she can get Dean in.

Billie: I could, I suppose. But– Dean: Do it! Billie: But it’s a one-way ticket. And you’re gonna owe me one.

Billie, Sammy is in there, do you think Dean cares about “cosmic consequences” at a time like this? There is a door between them right now ffs!  Sammy may even be dead and Dean does not want him decomposing before he can find a crossroads to make a deal!

Elvis who was supposed to be partnering with Lorraine, left her briefly to get her a double (vodka I presume?).  Anyway Dean comes flying through the door like the overly dramatic bitch he is whenever Sam is in danger.

Dean (whipping out demon knife): Where’s my brother? [he’s already marching past them btw to go look]

THIS IS MY SHOW!  What moron thought this show was going to end with DeanCas?  Come on, don’t be shy, show yourselves so we can point and laugh because you are going to have an epic tantrum approximately 3 and a half years from this episode which could have been prevented if you’d watched the damn show, instead of wallpaper. By the way, in this episode, Castiel was played by the statue Dean threw at the door. [It represents the violent nature of the Destiel relationship – I have a 500 page meta on this if anyone is interested].

Lorraine accuses Dean of being the demon.

Dean: Demon? Lorraine: Kill him! Dean: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, lady. Look, I’m not a demon, okay? I’m one of the good guys. Now stick with me, do what I say, and everybody’ll get out of here, okay? Everybody!

Elvis – making far too much use of his screentime matches Dean’s dramatics by pulling out his own knife and saying ominiously “well, not everybody” [complete with red flashing eyes].

In this episode, Dean is allowed to be a proper hunter and is able to fight.  He taunts the demon, “You’re kinda slow for a demon, aren’t you?” which, he seriously is, no idea how this demon got my wonderful favourite side character “Asa” killed (if he’s not in the final watching Kansas play at the Road House along with all my other favourites, I will be pissed and have a full week meltdown on Twitter – just fyi) [*I won’t really because I’m not insane. Please don’t report me.]

Dean tells the demon to go to hell. The demon tells Dean that Hell is a “complete train wreck” (uh, no, what is a “complete train wreck” is most of season 12-15) Hell is much more pleasant.  Dean repeats for the demon to go to hell and starts reciting an exorcism (finally, the smart brother is in the room).  Love hearing Dean recite the exorcism. Demon says nuh uh though and snaps Elvis’ neck complete 180 which causes Lorraine to scream, the black smoke escapes from Elvis still standing body. Elvis collapses on the floor and Lorraine is wailing. And I can say “Elvis has left the bulding” which I’ve been waiting the entire episode to be able to say. I’m marginally disappointed Dean didn’t.

Dean helps Lorraine up while shouting “Sammeh!” which brings Sammeh running to the living room. 

Mary: Dean. We thought you were outside. Dean: Yeah, I got back in. Sam: How? Dean: It was a one-time deal. Won’t happen again.

Thankfully, there’s no time for Sam to initiate the Spanish inquisition on THAT right now. They account for everyone – except Elvis obviously. The lights go out and everyone puts flashlights on (Max and Alicia have the phone torch on – me as a hunter!) but Dean pulls out the knife which Alicia and Max look at.  

Alicia: Mm, impressive. Dean: Demon blade. Kills ‘em dead. Max and Alicia in unison: Nice.

While I try to work out a Sam/Max/Alicia/Dean ship name, Bucky suggests lighting candles, Dean says they need a devil’s trap. Sam says “on it” and Dean is right there with him “yep”.  My boys working in sync!

Dean’s plan is for them all to stand in the devil’s trap. The person who won’t get in, is the demon. Clever plan. Mary is impressed and it’s nice for her to see how well one of her sons turned out as a hunter and the other is a cute dumbass – at least Sam had a flashlight.

Mary goes off on her own for some reason and goes to get the angel killing blade from Asa’s office.

Max tries flirting with Sam again, asking what kind of pentagram they are doing

Sam: Standard pentagram. Nothing fancy. Max: I like a Fifth Pentacle of Mars. It’s got more character.

Max bringing his A game to the flirting, I like it. Alicia doesn’t like all the flirting: “Because character is really what matters right now.”  They are just like Sam and Dean! Spin off of codependent witch siblings right tf now. Please and thank you.

Jody sees Mary return and is suspicious she was off on her own. She whispers to Sam that she thinks Mary is possessed, she gets increasingly worried which draws the immediate attention of Dean who comes over and asks what is going on (demon knife drawn out and ready once again). Sam quietly tries to tell Dean that Jody thinks their mom is a demon, but Jody shouts, No, I don’t think, I know! I know she’s a demon. [points accusingly at Mary] which prompts Bucky to steps away from Mary and reaches for his knife.

Mary: Hey! Jody: Kill her! Use the knife! Kill her now! Sam: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. Hold on a second, [turns to look at Jody] Jody, you… You don’t sound like yourself. Dean (not even looking around):That’s because she’s not herself. Are you?

Oh my poor Sam Dumbchester, on rewatch, this episode did you dirty, I was sucked in by my love of Asa Fox and the whole door thing and the Sammeh! I’m so ashamed. Hands my bitter Sam girl platinum membership card back to the bitter Sam girl club in recognition I am no longer worthy of holding it Jody turning into the red eyed demon is in the running for worst “playing of a different character ever” but it’s up against stiff competition from Casifer, Empty!Castiel, Gestapo!Castiel and gayforpay!Castiel and is mercifully short. My main issue with this demon is there is no real consistency through the different bodies it inhabits. They should all have agreed how to play it imo and I do think Kim goes Disney villain OTT but not enough to cause embarrassment, just would have been better if the performance had been toned down some.

Demon Jody had hoped they would kill their mom “wouldn’t that be a riot?”

Dean (sarcastically): Yeah, super fun

Sam tries to attack Jody and is thrown. Big brother is pissed and tries to attack but is thrown too. Uh, how come the lame demon can fight now?

Anyway, Mary attacks and tries to kill Jody with the demon blade and manages to scratch her arm, but Sam says no and pulls Mary away. .

Mary: What are you doing?! She’s a demon. We kill demons. Sam: No, but she’s Jody.

I like this that Mary doesn’t know you don’t just go around killing people, you try to save them first. 

The demon is bored and claps her hands, and everyone collapses onto the ground and cannot move (where was this kickass power earlier?).  The demon says she’s heard so many stories about the Winchesters, she stands over sam and says, “The idea that he left a meatsuit alive is just so deliciously weak.” Sam gives his “bite me” face.

As for the rest, she’s been inside their heads and starts spilling out secrets – the twins are Asa’s children (I forgot about this detail), Lorraine apparently tried to sabotage Asa’s truck to stop him going out hunting (which is a nice call back to him trying to fix the truck in the episode earlier).  She says Jody fantasized about a life with Asa.  Bucky manages to get up to attack but Jody grabs him and holds him on his knees.

Jody/Jael: And you. Bucky. Brave, brave Bucky. I was there that night. Tell these nice, stupid people what you did. Tell them what you took from me. Asa was mine.

I like this next scene, Sam manages to stand up and start the exorcism before he’s thrown across the room again. Dean picks up where Sam left off, until he’s thrown through a glass door, the twins are next and get pinned to the wall.

Bucky finally confesses that he killed Asa [and the way he’s dramatically thrown to the floor would never have made it into a scene in seasons 1 to 5]. Oh show, weeps for the quality that once was. Season 12 (heavy sigh).

Mary stands up and finishes the exorcism which sends the demon back to hell.

Sam rushes over to help Jody who says, “That… sucked”

[Try re-watching your performance Kim!]

Lorraine: Bucky, what did you do?

They all turn and look at Bucky.

Bucky says they were hunting in the woods for Jael and he wanted to go back and get the angel blade. Asa wanted to keep hunting but Bucky pushed him and Asa fell and cracked his head and died, which I feel kind of sorry for, not like he did it deliberately and he lost his best friend [and lets be real, it’s not the worst thing a supposed “best friend” has done on this show].  It’s a very tragic end for a great hunter (don’t fast forward to 15.20)

Bucky asks what they are going to do to him.

Alicia: Tell everyone, every hunter we meet. They’re gonna know your name, Bucky. Know what you did. Max: You like stories. This is the story everyone’s gonna tell about you. Forever

I guess I get Max and Alicia’s anger, Asa being their dad and all. It’s just tragic all round because I do feel it was an unlucky accident and Bucky clearly misses his best friend.

I like the setup of the funeral pyre, now 3 hunter bodies being burned, Jody, Lorraine and Mary are standing in front of the pyre. Alicia and Max are resting against their car and Dean and Sam are doing the same against baby.  

Lorraine tells Mary she was wrong, “Asa did have a family. He even had kids. I’ve got grandchildren. Suppose I should go meet them.” She walks over to hug Alicia and Max.

Jody and Mary are left at the pyre,

Jody: I don’t know what’s going on between you and your boys, but I gotta tell you, mom to mom, they are good men. Best I’ve ever met. Mary: I know. They’re not the problem.

Jody walks away and leaves Mary on her own, which is Dean’s opportunity, he taps Sam and they both go over to Mary. They ask if she’s okay but Billy appears and says, “She’s really not.” Mary asks who she is and Dean says she’s a reaper that got him back inside.

I would like to have much preferred to have seen Sam’s reaction as well as Mary’s but we don’t get this and it’s a bad choice of angle for me. Billie says Dean owes her one and looks at Mary, “This one. This one right here.”

Billie is still on her “what’s dead should stay dead” kick. She’s a stickler for the laws on that (and never really changes tbh, I don’t really get Billie’s overall arc.)

Mary says she didn’t ask to come back, Billie agrees but says the dead man’s look in Mary’s eyes says she hates it, that she feels she doesn’t fit, like she’s all alone.

Dean: Well, she’s not alone.

Billie (still looking at Mary): Tell me I’m wrong. [Sam and Dean turn to look at Mary and kudos to Jared once again for saying so much with no words as to how he looks at Mary here]

Billy says she’s not here to hurt Mary, “I’m here to offer you mercy. A one-way ticket upstairs, away from all of this.”  [Again poor choice of camera for this scene as we see Dean but not Sam].  Mary asks how it would work.   

Sam: Mom. [My poor boys!] Mary: You just kill me again? Billie: Reapers don’t kill people. Rules. Mary: Well… then… [she looks up at Sam and Dean] Me: Don’t you dare break my boys fragile hearts! Mary: Then I guess you’re just gonna have to wait. Billie: Winchesters… Me: Same tbh Billie Billie: …if you change your mind– if any of you change your minds– you know my name. [she disappears]

Sam asks if this means Mary is coming home. Mary says yeah, but follows up with: Not quite yet. I just need a little more time.

Sam looks disappointed ☹ but he understands

Dean: Can we buy you breakfast at least? Mary: Bacon? Dean: All the bacon. Mary: I would love that.

I love that Dean and Mary can find a common bond through food. Sam hugs Mary as they walk together towards the Impala

Despite a couple of wobbly bits sprinkled here and there and my poor Dumbchester Sammeh, I still really love this episode overall, the good far outweighs the issues I have and I’ll happily re-watch it as a stand-alone MOTW.  I loved the introduction of the witch twins and wish we’d got to see a lot more of them *coughs* and a lot less of other “fan favourite” characters.

It will be interesting where this one will ultimately fall in my definitive list.

[gothighunicorntolerance]

Save the Moment- chapter 7

TW: Alcohol, implied abuse, self-deprecation

AO3

“Hey, Janus?” Patton tapped them on the shoulder.

They looked up from their lunch at Patton, who was fiddling with the straps of his camera- something Janus noticed he did when he was nervous. 

“So there’s the pep rally at the end of the day, and after that there’s like an after-party. I always go since I’m one of the cheerleaders, and I was wondering if you’d like to come?”

Janus was most definitely not one to go to parties, but on the other hand it would give them an excuse to get out of the house and be with Patton. They considered a moment before replying, “I’d love to. But- will anyone else I know be there?

“I don’t think so. Unless you know anyone on the sports teams or cheerleading? Remy Dormir or Emile Picani? They’ll be there. Virgil and Roman might come, but don’t count on it.”

Janus shook their head. “I know the names, but I don’t know who they are.”

“Emile is another cheerleader, and he’s dating Remy, who’s somehow on the football team. Remy is hosting,” Patton explained. 

“So they’re a stereotypical high school movie but gay?”

“Yup.”

The two of them laughed at the comparison. 

“So you’ll come?” Patton asked, still giggling. 

“Of course. But um, could you drive me? I can cook and I can spell, but I can’t drive,” Janus laughed, incapable of restraining themself from making a gay joke. 

“Of course. If anyone else comes we’ll all just carpool.”

“Designated driving dad?”

“I’m the only one at our table who can drive!”

The two of them roared with laughter. 

“So I’ll meet you after school? Our normal spot?” Janus asked as the bell rang.

“Yup,” Patton answered, picking up his bag. “I’m parked in the same spot as always.”

Janus nodded. “I’ll meet you there. Can’t wait!”

***

It was an hour after the pep rally had ended, and Janus’s ears were still ringing from the noise. Of course, it wasn’t all bad, as he got to clap for Patton, who was somehow thrown into the air and caught without becoming traumatized or gaining trust issues. One of the many mysteries of the world was how cheerleaders were so fearless when they could quite possibly die or become seriously injured if they weren’t caught properly. 

And Janus would be lying if they said they hadn’t gasped in fear for their boyfriend as they watched him get tossed into the air and do some flips. 

“Patton, how are you not terrified when you’re doing that?” They had asked Patton as the two of them walked to Patton’s car. He just shrugged in response, blushing a bit. 

When Patton pulled up to the street in front of Remy Dormir’s house, there were already several cars parked in a long row. Janus could hear music already blasting from inside the house. 

Patton slipped his hand into Janus’s, and the two of them opened the front door. Janus cringed at the noise, but walked in nonetheless when they saw Patton’s small grin. 

“Emile!” Patton shouted over the loud music. A boy with glasses and a Steven Universe shirt turned around to Patton and waved, walking over.

“Hi Emile! This is my partner, Janus,” Patton smiled. Janus could feel themself going pink when they heard Patton call them his partner. Why did that make them so happy?

“Hey Pat! Hi, Janus,” Emile stuck out a hand for Janus to shake, and they obliged. Apparently Emile was the only high schooler on the planet who still shook hands for introductions. 

“Hi,” was all Janus said. Emile seemed very nice, but the loud noise was already giving Janus second thoughts about agreeing to come with Patton. Janus didn't recognize any of the songs that were being blasted out of a large speaker, and they couldn’t decide if that made the noise better or worse. 

Janus found themself being guided by Patton to the kitchen, where Patton found a package of Oreos and grabbed it, smiling mischievously at Janus. 

“The perfect crime. These are our cookies now!”

“Ah, yes.” Janus rubbed their hands together like a Disney villain and let out an exaggerated evil laugh. “Stealing a package of Oreos is a terrible offense.”

Patton grinned and walked over to a punch bowl full of red Kool-aid. He took a Solo Cup and filled it with the red drink while Janus watched, making themself comfortable on the counter and ripped open the package of cookies. 

They handed one to Patton, who had already taken a large sip of Kool-aid. 

“Thanks-“ Patton hiccuped.  

Janus nodded, taking a handful of cookies. They were slightly stale, but did the job of taking their mind off of the noise. 

Janus had, apparently, disassociated while Patton socialized, because the next thing they knew, Remy, the host, was sitting on the counter next to them and kissing Emile. Janus averted their gaze. 

“Hey Janus-“ Patton hiccuped. “I looo-“ he hiccuped again. “I looove you!”

Janus turned to Patton, who had a goofy grin on his face and round glasses askew. 

“Pat? What-“ Janus suddenly paled as they realized what had happened: there had been alcohol in Patton's drink. They took a deep breath and slid off the counter, cringing as they smelled the alcohol on Patton. This couldn’t be happening- Patton was going to start yelling- Patton was going to grab his arm- 

They took a step back and closed their eyes for a minute.

“Patton, do you want some water? I’ll-“

“Earth! Fire! Air!” Patton shouted.

“Patton, what-“

“Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony, until the fire nation attacked!”

“Er, Patton? Can I call your mom?” Janus tried to stop Patton from drunkenly shouting the entire Avatar introduction monologue, and somehow it worked. 

“Yeah! Let’s go find my mom!” He giggled. Patton’s words were slurred, though Janus had, unfortunately, had practice listening to a drunk person when they were hard to understand. 

“Patton, I need your phone to call your mom. Where is it?” 

Instead of answering, Patton wrapped his arms around Janus in a tight hug. 

Janus stiffened, and even though they knew that it was only Patton, who would never hurt them, the stench of the drink was still overwhelming. Cautiously returning the hug, Janus fished Patton’s phone out of his back pocket- all their dabbling in sleight of hand had come in handy more times than they could count, and taking Patton’s phone was one of the easier things they had used the usual skill for. 

Janus pressed Pattom’s tumb to the home screen, unlocking it. They scrolled through Patton’s contacts, searching for someone marked “Mom” or “Mother” or something along those lines. They finally found Patton’s mom’s number, and with shaky hands, Janus pressed the call button. 

“Hello?” Patton’s mom answered after one ring.

“Mrs. Harte?”

“Janus, is that you? Are you alright?” Mrs. Harte’s tone was suddenly concerned.

“I’m okay, but, um, Patton and I are at a party-“

“The one at the Dormir house?”

“Yes, and, I think- I think the drink was spiked. And- Patton’s… drunk.”

Janus silently cursed. What if they got Patton in trouble for saying that? What if Patton’s mom never let Patton around Janus-

“Is he okay? I’ll come pick you both up. Go stand outside and give me the address. Stay on the phone, dear.”

Janus took a shaky breath and started to lead Patton outside, and, not at all to Janus’s surprise, it was like herding cats down a mountain while said cats were chasing balls of yarn in the complete opposite direction you wanted the cats to go. Namely, Patton wanted to stop and talk to every single person he knew, which seemed to be everyone. 

It was only when Janus finally managed to drag Patton out of the hot and suffocatingly loud party could they finally take a relaxed breath. Though that moment of relief faded when they saw Mrs. Harte’s car stopping in front of them. 

Janus braced themself for yelling, or accusations, or being left to find their own way back to their house. 

But instead, Mrs. Harte helped Patton into the car and told Janus to sit up front, all without raising her voice. Why wasn’t she angry? Why wasn’t she yelling? Or leaving Janus there? Why hadn’t she raised her hand?

Janus sat in the passenger’s seat, waiting for the inevitable. 

“Janus?” Mrs. Harte looked at them. There it was- now Janus would have to listen to her yell. 

“Thank you for letting me know. It’s not your fault, or Patton’s. I’m sure he didn’t drink underage on purpose, but a lot happens at teenagers' parties. But he’s fine, and you’re not in trouble. I’m glad you called me, Janus.”

Janus let out a breath of relief. Why was Patton’s mom so nice? They didn’t deserve it-

Patton spoke up from the back, interrupting their train of thought with a loud hiccup. “Mooom! Hiiii! Have you met Janus?” He grinned. 

Janus and Mrs. Harte looked at each other and laughed. 

‘Yes dear, I have,” Mrs. Harte replied. Turning to Janus, she asked, “Would it be alright if you stayed the night? It’s pretty late, and you look shaken.”

“Yes!” Janus blurted out. A night away from their father? And it was with Patton? Almost a dream come true!

***

    Mrs. Harte helped Patton out of the car as he stumbled, still giggling at random times. As a rabbit steamed across the lawn, Patton laughed and tried to chase it into the neighbor’s yard. Janus couldn’t help but chuckle as his mom pulled him out of the neighbor’s lawn and into the house. Patton’s house was just as cozy as Janus remembered, albeit a little messier. 

“Sorry about the mess, dear. The guest room is just down the hall to the left, with the bathroom next to it. Get yourself settled and I’ll get you some clothes to sleep in,” Mrs. Harte led Patton down said hallway, Janus following. They peeked into Patton’s room, and it was almost exactly how Janus imagined it would look- vintage polaroids hung on a string of fairy lights over a desk cluttered with yarn, a sweater draped over the chair. Patton’s bed was covered in a rainbow hand-knit blanket and held more pillows than Janus cared to count. Mrs. Harte was attempting to get Patto into said pile of pillows when he looked up and saw Janus standing there. 

“Jaaanus! Hi!! Have you heard that I love you? I love you!” Patton slipped around his mom and hugged Janus. They seemed to be getting a lot of hugs recently. Patton rested his head on Janus’s shoulder, leaning into them. 

Janus started at Patton’s mom, their face becoming redder as her smile grew wider. 

“Patton, Janus is going to be here tomorrow, too,” she again started the long process of convincing Patton to go to sleep. 

“Yeah, Pat. If you close your eyes, tomorrow will get here sooner, so you’ll see me again, okay?”

“Oh! Okay!” Patton stumbled past his mom and practically tripped face first into his bed. Patton’s mom took off his glasses and set them on the nightstand on top of a book. 

“Alright, Janus. Let’s get you settled. I’ll pick up donuts in the morning, but my wife should be home by then. She works the night shift at the hospital today.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Janus said as she turned out the light in Patton’s room.

When Janus woke the next morning, they thought it had all been a dream until they saw the unfamiliar bed and realized they were wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt from a 2018 pride festival. Pushing the blanket off them and then tiptoeing as quietly as they could toward the kitchen, Janus only had one train of thought. What would their father say when they got home? 

The thought was suddenly pushed from their mind when Janus saw Patton’s moms sitting at the kitchen table with a box of donuts. 

They gestured for Janus to sit down and join them. Pushing a paper plate with a couple glazed donuts on it toward Janus, Mrs. Harte smiled and asked, “how did you sleep?”

“I- great, thank you. Is Patton still asleep?” 

They both laughed, but Janus didn’t know what was so funny. 

“He’s going to have a horrible headache when he wakes up. I remember the first time we-” “Oh! It was terrible-”

Patton’s moms laughed together, and Janus suddenly felt a pang of envy. Patton’s parents were so in love with each other, and they wondered for a minute why they couldn’t have that. Janus’s mother had left them and their father, who barely tolerated them as it was. But if he found out Janus was gay? He would completely disown them. Not that it would be horrible, as Janus couldn’t wait until they could move out. But until then? Coming out couldn't happen. 

But Patton seemed to have been born out of the closet! He was so open about his sexuality and showed it at every opportunity. 

“Oh! Janus! I forgot to ask, do you drink coffee, and would you like some?” The other Mrs Harte- Janus wasn’t quite sure how to differentiate between which lesbian they meant by their last names- asked, shaking Janus from their thoughts. 

“Oh, yes please.” Patton’s mom brought over two mugs of hot coffee and milk, but Janus just picked up the mug placed in front of them, and without adding any milk or sugar, or even waiting for it to cool off a bit, took a sip. 

Both Mrs. Hartes, seemingly impressed, suddenly looked down the hallway and called out, “look who decided to wake up!

“What’s up, sleepyhead?” 

Patton came into the kitchen, his curly hair sticking up from every angle and glasses likely forgotten on his nightstand. He blinked rapidly, and groaned, “it’s too bright.” 

Bleary-eyed, Patton pulled out a chair and sat down, only then realizing that Janus was next to him. 

“Uh. Hi,” Patton hastily attempted to tame his bedhead. “I- sorry for… anything I did last night. I don’t remember anything that happened,” he shook his head. 

“It’s fine.” Janus replied, leaving out the fact that the alcohol fought back memories they would much rather forget. “You were actually kind of funny.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Mrs. Harte said. “But Janus, what time do you need to be home? Is noon alright?”

“Yeah, noon is fine. Thanks,” Janus replied, absolutely not looking forward to going back to their house. 

Not seeming to notice Janus’s displeasure, somewhat glad she didn’t, Mrs Harte replied, “Great! Would you two like to watch a movie?”

“Yeah, just don’t have the volume too high. My head hurts..” Patton groaned. 

***

When the movie was finished, Janus was reluctant to leave the couch where they had settled with Patton under a handmade blanket and his head resting on their shoulder. But all good things must come to an end, Janus thought as they climbed into the passenger seat of Mrs. Harte’s car. The other Mrs. Harte (Janus still wasn’t sure what to call them) was staying with Patton to make sure he was alright. 

Janus didn’t talk much on the car ride, and, thankfully, Mrs. Harte didn’t push them to. 

When she pulled up at Janus’s house, she must have seen how worried Janus looked.

“Janus, you can call me any time,” she said, taking out a sticky note and pen from the glove compartment. “Here’s my number, and don’t be afraid to call me if something happens.”

She handed them the note with a phone number written on it, which Janus slipped in the pocket of their now-clean usual clothes. The unspoken word of “outed” hung in the air. 

“Thank you,” Janus said, getting out of the car. 

Taking a deep bath, they prepared  themself to walk through the door and see their father. When Janus walked in, they saw almost exactly what they expected. Their father stood in front of the fridge, beer in hand and scowling at them.

“Where have you been, boy!?” He shouted at Janus, not realizing how they cringed when he said “boy.” Janus wasn’t a boy, they were non binary! But they could never tell him that. The repercussions would be worse than intentional misgendering.

“I was at a party,” Janus said calmly, having rehearsed lines just in case something like this happened.

“All night! You were at a party the entire night!?”

“Yes, I was. I fell asleep at the house.”

There was just enough truth in the last line for him to believe it. Janus had simply changed “a” house to “the” house, and their father bought it. Those were the best kinds of lies- those with mostly truth, but a word or two changed just enough that everyone would believe it. 

He furrowed his sweaty eyebrows and said, “fine. But I don’t want to see you again for the rest of the day. There’s a game on, and I don’t want to be disturbed.”

“Fine.” Janus had planned to do homework and take a walk, anyways.

“What did you say?”

“Yes, sir,” Janus plastered a fake smile on their face and walked to their bedroom. 

[oikawasnumberonebitch]

Bokuaka: I love You

Description: Akaashi realizes he loves Bokuto and doesn’t know how to deal with it.

Warnings: Weight loss, angst, vague mentions of a panic attack.

Words: 2519

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Ever since Akaashi graduated from Fukorodani and moved in with Bokuto he has realized two things one is that Bokuto is much messier than he had ever imagined and two that he was very very gay. He had come to this realization when he saw Bokuto exiting the shower after one of his away games, he was dripping wet and his body must have been sculpted by Michelangelo himself from how perfect he was.

Once Bokuto noticed Akaashi staring he was hesitant to make a joke from how flustered Akaashi looked. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was attracted to him or if he was just embarrassed. He decided on the latter and his mouth slowly quirked into a grin that Akaashi would have noticed was fake if his focus wasn’t centered on the silver-haired man’s abdomen.

“See something you like Akaashi?” Bokuto asked smugly. Akaashi was almost too distracted to hear and was disappointed when he had to tear his eyes away from the gorgeous man in front of him, but remembered that he has yet to answer Bokuto.

“Go get dressed Bokuto-San.” Akaashi had his face turned away while responding fearing that since his face was feeling hot, he would have a visible blush.

Bokuto walked away, his grin fading into a thin line of displeasure. While putting pants on he realizes that he didn’t mind Akaashi looking all that much he would have liked for him to stare more. Meanwhile, Akaashi quickly ran into his room and slammed the door violently, sliding down the wooden wall of sorts, with his burning face in his hands. He was mortified that he had ogled Bokuto, in front of the man himself he was probably going to have to move out and stay back at his parent’s house and drop out of college entirely.

Later into the week, Akaashi began avoiding Bokuto, they hadn’t communicated once since the shower incident and the only times they had seen each other were in the mornings and occasionally in the library because beyond all other speculation Bokuto needed to keep his grades up to be able to continue to play volleyball.

However, no matter how good a job Akaashi might have been doing at avoiding Bokuto, the man, in no better words, was a bloodhound. He began walking Akaashi to class, well more like following and running after him, they wouldn’t even talk during this exchange, and when Bokuto managed to catch Akaashi after the end of his classes he would convince (harass) Akaashi to eat lunch with him and Kuroo.

There were days when Akaashi was able to slip away from Bokuto’s lunch invitations and would sneak onto the rooftop to eat the bento that Bokuto would always make for him. Akaashi never had the heart to tell Bokuto that he bought his food at the cafeteria because the owl-like man had seemed so proud of his creation that Akaashi decided to indulge Bokuto’s cooking and it wasn’t like it tasted awful, it wasn’t the best bento there ever was, but to Akaashi it was perfect as sappy as that sounds.

Akaashi would usually eat lunch with Kenma and sometimes Oikawa would join them, He was content with his situation and repressed the feeling of loneliness the crept up whenever he saw Kenma and Kuroo hug in the hallways because Kenma wasn’t comfortable with public affection and Kuroo always respected the dual haired boy or the fact that whenever Oikawa saw Iwaizumi in the hallway he would always jump on Iwaizumi’s back and without fail Iwaizumi would catch Oikawa every single time, granted not without a smack to the head or back and a lecture that always went in one ear and out the other with Oikawa.

Akaashi was fine with the fact that he would never be able to hold hands with Bokuto and walk down to a lesser-known coffee shop to get hot chocolate for their other hands to hold because it was cold that day. He was fine with the fact that he would never be able to hug Bokuto with all his heart because he needed some support that day. After all, that was weird and friends don’t do that. He was fine with the undeniable truth that he would never be able to kiss Bokuto with all the love he feels toward the always enthusiastic boy with a heart of gold because Bokuto is straight and he likes girls and while he might not be homophobic he didn’t want to ruin the friendship that he was already so sure is doomed to fail because he doesn’t know if when Bokuto gets married he will be able to be the best man standing by his side while some unknown woman kisses him and they proclaim that they will never part as they are soulmates.

So Akaashi revels in the fact that Bokuto currently doesn’t have a girlfriend, but self-destructs at the chance of Bokuto marrying one. With the last thought, a tear drips from Akaashi’s eye and then another one and then another one until he’s silently crying from his bottled love for his best friend. In the meantime, Bokuto is looking around for Akaashi because he knows something is wrong. After all, it’s been a week and it’s their movie night tonight and Bokuto needs his sense of normalcy and grounding today because he has an away game tomorrow and he needs Akaashi to comfort his frying nerves.

Lady Luck must be on his side because he finds Kenma and asks him where Akaashi is and Kenma nods his head at the rooftop entrance and Bokuto’s eyes widen and he slowly grins. He runs up the stairs in record time and slams the door open, thanking his coach for making him do squats and lunges all the time.

Akaashi curses Kenma as he already knows it’s Bokuto because no one, but he would slam a door that he doesn’t own open like that. He wipes his eyes and realizes that they are probably red and there’s no use in hiding them at this point because Bokuto will notice that something is wrong like always.

“HEY HEY HEY, AGAASHI!” Bokuto practically yells and when Akaashi turns around his heart drops because Akaashi’s eyes are red-rimmed, and that means something made him cry. So Bokuto slowly walks forward and when he stands in front of the shorter boy, Akaashi won’t look at him so he brings his rough hand to Akaashi’s face and tilts his head upwards so he would be looking into Akaashi’s eyes.

“What happened?” He asks softly and Akaashi’s eyes widen and he internally panics because the last time Bokuto had talked softly was when Akaashi’s parents almost kicked him out for being gay and Bokuto let him stay over and comforted him. His hands were shaking and his nails were digging into his palms.

“Nothing Bokuto-san.” He lies, but it’s everything, it’s the numb feeling in his gut that he will never be able to love and be loved by Bokuto in the way he wants to, it’s the concerned twinkle in his eyes that makes Akashi’s heart melt knowing that Bokuto truly cares for him, and it’s the stab to his heart that he knows that no matter what he does he will never be enough for Bokuto.

“You’re lying.” He says it so simply, with all the confidence in the world. ‘You have no right!’ Akaashi thinks, ‘he doesn’t get to be worried about me not when he knows deep down what’s wrong.’

“Akaashi tell me what’s wrong, if I don’t know what’s wrong, I can’t help you.” He almost pleads and it breaks his heart that Akaashi looks so numb.

“Nothing is wrong Bokuto-san, now excuse me I have to get to my next class.” It takes all of his strength to keep his voice steady. Yet he still won’t look Bokuto in the eye, he quickly walks away, but before he can get more than six feet from Bokuto, he gets pulled back by Bokuto’s pleading voice, ”Keiji, what’s wrong, please?” Akaashi’s eyes widen at the use of his given name, Bokuto hadn’t used that name in a long time, the thought scares him. So for the first time in Akaashi’s life, he runs away from Bokuto.

Bokuto stares at the door hoping that it will swing back open and Akaashi would tell him, ‘It’s just a prank Bokuto-san’, but he knows that’s not true because of the sheer desperation to run away that was so clear in Akaashi’s eyes so he sighs knowing that he has a class to get to as well and unfortunately it’s not with Akaashi.

Two days had passed since Akaashi ran away from Bokuto and both parties were very unhappy with their situation. Bokuto stopped spiking with enthusiasm and more with anger and frustration and everyone noticed. Akaashi was no better; he buried himself in his studies and had started sleeping in the library, forgetting about food, but thankfully not hygiene. Kuroo and Kenma were worried about their respective friends, Kenma was aware of how it was almost hypocritical that he was telling Akaashi to eat and sleep more than a few hours a night when he used to do the same, but Akaashi wasn’t accustomed to it like he was.

Kuroo had no luck either because Bokuto’s slumps were getting worse and the coaches were confused because while Bokuto was still making his shots and serves, he wasn’t uplifting the team as he used to and he wasn’t playing with good sportsmanship, but rather a cutthroat attitude that just didn’t fit him.

No one knew what to do because he and Akaashi were like two halves of a whole and right now both halves were crumbling. When the mark hit two weeks Akaashi broke down in tears while in the library while sitting across from Kenma he was so empty without the constant Bokuto was. Kenma was shocked because this was the second time he had seen Akaashi cry and the first time was only a few tears. This was something else and it terrified Kenma. So he just held Akaashi until 30 minutes had passed and Kuroo had found them and he was still sobbing and hyperventilating.

‘Get Bokuto’ Kenma mouthed a Kuroo, who nodded and ran off. Meanwhile, Bokuto was in their apartment going at his punching bag when the bag tore and sand spilled out, at the same time Kuroo unlocked the apartment and found Bokuto and the torn punching bag. Kuroo was shocked and worried but remembered that this was not the time.

“Akaashi is crying, right now,” Kuroo informed. Bokuto froze.

“Where?” he asked with a slight snarl.

“Library.” That was all Bokuto needed to run out of the apartment. He ran across the campus in less than five minutes, and quietly opened the door. He jogged up to the second floor and found Akaashi still crying in Kenma’s arms. Bokuto gestured for Kenma to let him pick Akaashi up and hesitantly walked toward Akaashi whose face was buried in his hands and in the fetal position. Kenma slowly brought his hands to his sides and whispered good luck to Bokuto who nodded.

“Hey Keiji, I need you to stand up.” Bokuto was right in front of Akaashi now with his hands ready to help. Akaashi crying lessened, but tears were still streaming down his face. Akaashi unhooked his hands from around his knees and used the walls he was leaning on for support. When he was able to stand Bokuto picked Akaashi up and held him by his thighs and Akaashi instinctively wrapped his legs around Bokuto’s waist. It was at that moment that Bokuto realized how light Akaashi was, his weight was toeing the line between healthy and malnutrition.

“Keiji, I’m going to carry you home now okay?” Akaashi nodded his voice too raw to respond and Bokuto’s shirt was drenched with tears, but he didn’t mind because Akaashi responded to him and that’s all that matters.

When they got home Bokuto set Akaashi down on his bed because while Bokuto was carrying the underweight boy he fell asleep. Bokuto picked out some of his clothes and when he took off Akaashi’s shirt he nearly cried he could see his ribs. He left Akaashi’s boxers on and just changed his pants, then left to go make some of Akaashi’s favorite tea and cookies.

An hour later Akaashi woke up and his head was pounding, he left to go to the kitchen before he realized where he was and freaked out.

His mind was working overtime and almost fried his brain with questions when Bokuto walked into the room and was surprised to find Akaashi awake and gestured for Akaashi to come over before he handed him a cup of oolong tea. Bokuto was smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes and they walked over to the couch.

“We don’t have to talk about it, but I already think I know what’s wrong.” Bokuto broke the silence and Akaashi almost went into shock.

“Kenma confirmed my suspicion, but I need you to confirm it as well, do you like me?” Akaashi’s brain failed him, he didn’t know how to respond to what he was supposed to say yes I do, but Kenma was only partially correct because I don’t just like you, I love you.

“Yes, but look I’ll get it over it we can go back to normal, or we can avoid each other, and then I can move out when I’m financially stable enough, and then-” Akaashi was cut off by Bokuto’s lips on his own and was finally sure he went into cardiac arrest. When Akaashi realizes that Bokuto is kissing him he pushes him away.

“What are you doing you’re straight!” Akaashi says it with such a panic that it makes Bokuto think ‘Did he seriously think I was straight all this time?’ He laughs at the thought and that confuses Akaashi who is currently dying.

No offence Akaashi, but did you seriously think I was straight?” Bokuto asks, choking on laughter.

“You never told me that you weren’t!” Akaashi almost screams from frustration. Bokuto is practically rolling on the floor.

“Akaashi when I found you in the park when you ran away from home, I told you that being gay is completely normal and you asked how I knew that and I said because I am gay.” He struggled with forming that sentence from how much he was laughing.

“I thought you just said that to make me feel better…” Akaashi trails off. That’s when Bokuto stops laughing.

“Akaashi I couldn’t lie to you about being gay becuase I am in love with you and have been since highschool.” Bokuto out right declared he was in love with Akaashi and he meant it too, he wants to faint. Akaashi pulled the collar of Bokuto’s shirt to him and kissed him with such a fire, Prometheus would be jealous.

“I love you.” Akaashi says.

“I love you too.” Bokuto means it.