#way quicker to deal with people that way than with a gun right ?

[whiskers-my-beloved]

Hello there again :D Man page 16...really sweet to see my progress with the story. And now we are really getting further along in the Umbrella Chronicles section of the story. How do yall in generel feel about the Ivan Tyrants? Interesting how more humanoid they were compared to the RE1 Tyrant. And how ...they got normal slavic names too. Ivan is like a super generic name there lol.

But yeah. This time around Wesker assits you in this, usually he'd leave you to do your mission alone. But I thought that be kinda lame since he does all that stuff alone ingame. The main change I really did was to make Wesker way more focused on hand to hand combat. Since in Umbrella Chronicles you mainly use guns with Wesker. Well Wesker in all games uses mainly guns and rarely his meele skills ;w;

Also I hope the page wasn't too brutal ? The last panel is a hard censor since I thought that part is too much ;w;

(English is not my mother tongue so please excuse any mistakes)

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[ficmachine]

Bloodhound, Octane, and Pathfinder, reacting to a make reader who always hides his face? Like- always wears these pretty/badass looking masks, and one day it falls off (or maybe brakes, or they catch him without his mask) and he's the most prettiest boi they've met- and he just starts crying cuz he's afraid on how they'll react?

You don't have to reply to this if you don'twanna! Also I wanna say I love your work! Your really talented ^^

Please keep up the great work!!

I gotchu! Dw! And thank you! :0c

-

Bloodhound/Octane/Pathy x Masc Reader. (Mask-wearing self-conscious reader)

Style: Intro + Headcanons

Wordcount: 1.8k (1808 to be exact)

-

People get curious. People ask. Not everyone, of course, but those who ask about why you cover your face usually prod to the point it gets uncomfortable. The amount of people – Your “fans” as they call themselves - who blow it out of proportion, make you paranoid about someone pushing it too far.

They're terrifying, especially when they obsess over something. You'd think you would have more than enough shit to deal with as a legend but no, this is a whole different can you don't want to crack open.

Regardless, whether it's just for your own comfort or just because you like looking cool is nobody's damned business.

You have your own reasons. That should be enough.

But bad fortune was going to catch up to you at some point or other, you suppose.

The stray bullet that scraped the side of your face was close, way too close - fear washes over you like a bucket of ice cold water.

Ducking under cover with your heart leaping to your throat you touch your cheek with a hiss – red smeared over your glove – and curse under your breath. Shit. Not good but at least you're not out in the open. Taking a deep breath you grip your gun tighter, chest heaving up and down as your eyes lock with your teammate.

“I'm fine.” You dismiss their concern quickly, pressing the inside of your sleeve to your face to stop the bleeding as you peek out from behind the wall. You can't pinpoint the shooter, neither can you sense any movement out in the open. Sucking in a breath you take cover again, back against the cold concrete wall and gun clutched to your chest. “Can't see them.”

Looking back at your partner your brows furrow. They're staring. Is the wound that bad? You pull your sleeve away to see the bleeding eased up and heave a sigh, breath visible in the cold weather.

“What-”

Your eyes catch the sight of your face-mask on the ground.

Oh.

Quicker than you can process your free hand snaps to your face. Panic engulfs your form all over again – eyes shooting up to your teammate to find them still staring – they definitely saw. Your head spins, heart hammering as your throat goes dry.

Ah.

Okay.

This is probably the worst time to panic. And cry? Are you really going to cry over this? Right now? In the middle of the field?

Fuck.

Bloodhound -

If there's anyone out there who'd understand the panic you're experiencing now, it's them. They wouldn't want anyone to see their face, especially in the middle of the battlefield.

Bloodhound knows better than to stare. Even if they caught a glimpse of your face they respectfully avert their gaze, focusing on the incoming fight instead.

They've seen you come out of fights with much worse scrapes, but when you hesitate so do they.

Minding to keep their eyes off you, they grab your mask off the ground and hold it up to you without a word.

Thankfully there's nobody around, nor are there any cameras close enough to your cover.

They keep watch over you while you fix the mask back onto your face the best you possibly can, and only when you're done do they look at you.

Noticing your trembling form they try their best to soothe you, resting their hand on your arm and giving it a small squeeze. “Stay with me, félagi fighter. The fight is not over yet.”

As empathetic as they are, they can't do anything but bring your focus back to the battle.

It's hard to get a grip on your panic – eyes blurry and ears ringing, you're disorientated and zoned out - but you know you have to. It's either pushing your feelings to the side to deal with them later, or risking dying.

Bloodhound keeps a hand on your arm until you're calm enough to stand and move. Eyes locking with yours you give them a nod, a thanks, and their whole form relaxes some.

“Good. Let's move, myndarlegur. It is not safe here.”

Carefully they lead you out of the danger zone and towards somewhere quieter.

They keep an eye on you throughout the rest of the game, both out of concern and interest.

Whether or not the two of you win doesn't matter. As soon as the game's over and you're free to go Bloodhound checks up on you. They don't bring up whether or not they've seen your face, and with how they're acting you're not entirely sure they did, but if you need to they let you lean on their shoulder as the panic from the day's events catch up to you.

Octane -

Unlike Bloodhound, Octane's a bit too stunned to snap his gaze away from you in time. When your eyes lock he tenses, feeling like he was caught red handed over something he wasn't ever supposed to see.

How can he look away though? Have you seen your face? That's... A dumb question, but he's seen it now too! And MAN, he looked away more out of bashfulness than anything else.

His heart leaps to his throat when he forces out a laugh to dismiss the situation, clicking his tongue. “Ai, amigo, you gotta be more careful. Custom masks like that are a bitch to replace.”

Shaking his head he hands you the mask, frowning when he notices how badly its broken. There's no way you can put it back on.

The realisation draws over you the same second and suddenly it's much harder to breathe than before.

With your vision spinning you lean back on the wall heavily, knees almost buckling under you while the gun slips out of your hand and falls to the ground with a clatter. A vague wave of pain passes through you when you grip your face too hard but you're too zoned out to care.

One moment your vision is spinning, the other you feel fingers prying your hand away from your face. Then, you're staring at maskless Octane grinning his stupid grin at you while he makes sure his own mask sits comfortably on your lower face.

He dismisses you when you ask why, waving his hand in the air as if it was nothing.

“What are friends for, huh? Besides, we have a game to win. Can't have you distracted while we kick ass!”

And kick ass you do.

Sure, he looks kinda dumb with just his goggles and head covered, but with the air filter built in this mask it's much more comfortable to breathe than in your own.

After the game is over Octavio sticks to you like glue, both to check in on you and to let you know you can keep the mask until you can replace yours.

Like hell you're gonna give it back. You're keeping it and he's more than okay with that.

Pathfinder -

Pathfinder, sweet, helpful Pathfinder, notices your mask is gone quicker than you notice your bleeding. Fortunately, he's also the quickest one to jump into action.

“Careful, friend! Faces aren't meant to be shot through.”

You're panicked and shaking, covering your face, and the last thing on his mind is your face. He's focusing on double-checking nobody's near before looking back to you and holding out a medkit to you.

He enjoys looking at your face, of course, so he doesn't look away until you turn away and it finally clicks in his head that you're probably uncomfortable. After all, some people like having their face covered and you happen to be one of those people.

Looking around he pinpoints your mask and dusts it off, holding it up to you.

Noticing you're not moving and your eyes are leaking he tilts his head to the side, only realising you're having a panic attack when his thumb feels the pulse in your wrist.

“Oh no, this isn't good. Don't worry, I've got you.” Immediately his attitude changes from cheerful to deeply worried, and he's wriggling the medkit out of your hand to grab you and get the two of you out of the open.

Thankfully, he holds you close to his chest while he grapples to the safety of the indoors – locking the doors and setting you down in the corner – to make sure no cameras can catch a glimpse of you.

Once inside he rummages through the kit to patch you up, giving you a heads up at the incoming sting loud enough to get through your brain haze so you can brace yourself for it.

With that done he gets to work on fixing your mask up the best he can – he's not great at it but he can get a few strong stitches in quick enough before you need to get moving again.

“There, just like new – only slightly torn.” He beams at you.

By the time he's done you're staring at him openly, eyes dried, mind still foggy but you're grounded enough to bring yourself back into the present. You've been staring at him all throughout and if he noticed he didn't say anything. You're grateful for it.

Pathfinder hands you the mask and you shakily put it on, gasping when he ruffles your head to ground you further.

“Do you need another minute or are you feeling well enough to keep going? We always can outrun the ring with my zip-line, so don't worry about that.”

You let him know you need another minute, and he nods before walking off to double-check if it's still safe in the building. Once he's back he looks at you, head tilting to the left while a question mark pops up on his chest monitor.

“I do have a question for you, friend.”

Your mouth runs dry. There it is-

“Are you alright?” You blink up at him, genuinely expecting him to ask about your mask or why you wear it. Instead, he continues, “I'm sure we can forfeit if you need to leave. Your well-being matters more to me than winning.”

Your heart swells, both with anxiety and appreciation, but you ultimately shake your head from side to side, letting him know you just need another moment.

You might not win, but with a friend like Pathfinder, who's willing to give up winning just to make sure you're okay? You're gonna have to make sure he knows how much he means to you.

[marsssbarrrr]

Abandoned Buildings

Koro Sensei [Ryushi Korogane] x Assassin!Experimented!Reader

Had this idea for a while, just rewatched Ass.Class and thought I’d write it. 100% SFW don’t worry lol (I don’t write a lot of NSFW)

Synopsis: You met the infamous Reaper on an assassination job. Things…happened from there.

—

This was his apartment. The infamous “Reaper”.

He’d taken out your client’s son, and his grandson had since gone missing.

Personally, you didn’t care much. So what? The snot-nosed kid probably saw his dad get taken out. He was either running and hiding or the Reaper had taken him out too.

What the Reaper did wasn’t really your business. He was an assassin. A professional. Your were the same. Money is Money, though. And with the amount this guy was paying you, there wasn’t really room to refuse.

No one really knew anything about the Reaper. But to you, that only made this job more exciting.

You were a pretty techy girl. A city’s security cameras and a few quick firewalls broken through and his info was yours. He wasn’t very tech savvy, not the way you were.

You were now the only individual in all of Japan who knew where he holed up between jobs. The place was rundown. People in the other rooms dealing and doing drugs had no effect on you. You’d seen worse, seen much more sketchy.

His apartment was on the 3rd floor. You were perched up on the building adjacent, across the street. His black out curtains were drawn, but that did little to hide the small boy peeking through. Probably the grandson, you thought. Your client had paid a decent amount of money, and had an extra couple thousand waiting if you brought him back safe and sound.

Something clicked behind you. The roof access door. Shit.

You swing around, reaching for the knife in your thigh holster. But he was quicker. In seconds your front side was pinned against the wall near your spot, your sniper was abandoned and your knife clattered against the floor. The right side of your face burned against the rough material of the wall, and your neck was tense from the harshness of the impact. You could see his face.

He held your hands behind your back, knee between your legs and his right hand holding a gun to your back.

“And who might you be, sweet cheeks?”

You gritted your teeth. Damn it.

The man chuckled.

“Y/N.” You responded. “And who in the hell are you?”

He smiled. “I have a feeling you know exactly who I am.”

…fuck. The Reaper.

“Listen, hon. You’re good. Nobody’s ever been able to find me out the way you did. Place is under an old targets name and… well, you probably know the rest.”

You did. His money was dirty, and he likely was using the boy inside as either a decoy. He was good.

“Who sent you?”

He dug the gun harder into your back, his index finger firm against the trigger.

You stayed silent.

“Fine, then.” He smile turned to a dark smirk. “I have no trouble turning to torture tactics. This area is pretty sketchy, so no one will question this.���

He moved the gun down, shooting you through the thigh. You groaned, stifling a scream. The gun was moved up to your back again.

“Tell me who sent you, and I won’t have to waste your pretty face.”

You sighed. “You killed my targets son. Took his grandkid. He didn’t tell me his name, paid me a fuckton to bring him your body.”

“Huh. Shoulda figured.”

He stepped back, letting go of you and scratching his head with the barrel of his gun. You moved quickly, snatching up your knife and shoving him to the ground. His gun clattered to the right and you held the knife against his throat.

“Listen. Personally, I don’t give a crap what you do or who your targets do. Honestly, you did some pretty good work with that guy. But this is a lot of money, and I need it.”

He didn’t even struggle. Just laughed.

“Oh, I like you, sweet cheeks. Listen, how’s about you come work for me instead? I’m no good with all that technology crap and I can do a whole lot more for you than that old rich guy can. Just fine me his info.”

You clenched your teeth again. “What’s in it for me?”

“Warm food on the table. Companionship. Better compensation from clients when word gets out you’re workin’ with the Reaper.”

You pulled the knife away after a moment. Fine. You’d play his game.

“L/N. Y/N L/N.”

You helped him up.

“Ryushi Korogane.”

—

You banged your fist against the glass. Damn it. This was supposed to be a quick job. In and out. You should’ve known. The compensation was suspiciously high, the target to insignificant. Ryushi knew it was fishy but you’d insisted. And now here you were. Rooms away from him and stuck in some glass holding space. An Experiment, you’d been told.

That’s all you were now. A test subject.

From what you could find out, Ryushi was undergoing the same “treatments” you were. Tentacle Serum injected into the back of your neck. It had been months now. Assholes.

You hadn’t seen him. After months you’d learned to love the goofy pervert, and you’d gotten engaged shortly before the little shit you’d learned to love betrayed you. They’d taken your ring, the necklace Ryushi had stood for you, and all your clothes. A white sweater and sweatpants adorned your now frail body. They gave you the bare minimum in the form of nutrients, and it did little to keep you steady these days.

Yukimura walked through the door.

“Y/N. Good to see you.” You didn’t quite trust her. The way she talked about Ryushi rubbed you the wrong way. You’d lived your whole life reading people and you could tell. She liked him.

“Yukimura. My food, please?”

“Listen.” She started, pushing the button to get you your stale food and bottled water. “They’re transferring you. A new facility. They need to separate you and the Korogane. The two of you are due to combust March 13.”

You dropped the water, head spinning. Spiked.

When you collapsed, alarms started ringing. A message came over the over-com. Ryushi was out.

That’s all you heard before the world went black.

—

You fast as you could up the mountain. He was here, you knew it. You’d found him. Class 3-E, Yukimura’s old class.

You’d escaped your facility days after the one you’d formerly been held captive was destroyed by Ryushi. After months, eight to be exact, you’d finally found him. The government officials weren’t hard to beat answers out of.

Your tentacles sprouted from your neck, pulling you faster.

All the color had been sucked from your body. You were an ugly gray color, your hair a lighter color of pale white. Your body hadn’t changed much physically, other than color and tentacles. You briefly wondered what had happened to him.

You stopped short. The class building.

It was Wednesday. Almost 10pm. Abandoned, except for him.

You panted. You didn’t have supersonic speed like he apparently had. You couldn’t smell like he could or see. But that was hardly an issue for you.

Something snapped behind you.

“Hey there, sweet cheeks.”

You spun around. It was him

“Ryushi.”

—

Might make a part two is someone asks for it. But for now, this is all :)

[mydarllinglover]

Alone || False Negotiations

Previous

"Well, it's not infected so far." Hershel said, checking over Natalia's arm.

"Yippee."

"Are the pain killers helping?"

"Sorta." Natalia shrugged with her other shoulder.

"You'll recover a lot quicker if you're eating, resting, and not waving a gun around." Hershel told the woman.

"I think I'm healing quite nicely, thanks."

He flicked her forearm only slightly, causing the woman to hiss and flinch.

"Yes, I take it that you're doing well."

"That was mean, Hershel."

"Get something to eat, you need strength so you can heal, we need you for this so called war we've signed ourselves up for."

"You know there's no other way, right?"

"Yes, I do, but I don't like it."

"We didn't sign ourselves up for anything, they pointed guns in our faces and are forcing us to pull the trigger."

Michonne and Andrea were missing when Natalia walked back out of the cell blocks, her arm rebandaged and back in the sling, that she hated.

"You need me to whip you up anything?" Carol asked her.

"Oh, no thank you, it's okay." She smiled kindly at the other woman.

She looked over the ingredients, they didn't have much left.

Natalia picked up a granola bar, using her teeth to rip it open, after checking it over.

"Natalia." Merle walked over, overpronouncing her name. "Can I call you Tallie?"

"No, you may not." She told him.

"Wanted to thank you." He ignored her comment. "For sticking up fer lil ol' Merle."

"Please don't, I didn't say anything for your benefit. I don't like you, either."

"Got the hots for my little brother?" He looked over his shoulder at Daryl who was fixing his crossbow, but had chosen the wrong time to check what they were doing, again.

"No." Natalia said, her expression was bored, and that's how she felt about the conversation. "He's a better man than you, by that I mean he's not a self centred, insufferable, attention seeking asshole. Other than that, he's a survivalist, something to admire." She then walked towards the door to leave.

"You wound me, sweetheart!" Merle called after her.

"Don't tempt me."

She looked over at the field of walkers, once she was outside, something had to be done, it was only getting more busy.

Taking out a knife, Natalia let out a sigh, stepping forward.

"Put it away."

"Is it just a family trait to bother everyone?"

"I ain't bothering ya. I don't need Hershel breathing down my neck to look out for yer dumbass."

"Says the king." Natalia chuckled.

"What'd Merle say to ya?" Daryl asked.

"Shit."

"Jus' ignore him, he's a prick."

"You didn't think I was doing that before?" She looked at him. "How come you decided to come back?"

"Cause." He shrugged.

"Really." She told him.

"Cause it's my home, my people are here."

"Thanks for helping me, yesterday, and for looking after him, when I was..." She let her sentence trail.

"Don't have ta thank me."

"But I am, so deal with it."

The group had given Andrea a car so that she could get back to Woodbury, which Natalia was glad of, she felt uneasy having the blonde here, like she was being spied on.

"Can you spare it?" Andrea asked Rick.

"Yeah." He nodded.

She looked around at all the people, weapons in their hands.

"Well, take care." She said, getting into the car.

"Andrea." Rick said, stepping towards the car. He handed the woman a swiss army knife and a gun. "Be careful."

"You, too."

She started the car and drove towards the gate, waiting so that Merle could open it.

"Go!" He shouted at her, pulling the metal on wheels across.

Andrea had managed to set up a meeting between Rick and The Governor three days after her visit.

Since Natalia's arm was healing nicely and she was actually able to use it, though it hurt like a bitch still, Rick had asked her to come along, as well as Daryl and Hershel. 

Natalia sat in the back, Rick drove and Hershel was in passenger, Daryl rode his bike.

Once they arrived, Rick had told Hershel and Natalia to stay in the car so they could scope it out, apparently him and Daryl could handle it without them.

Hershel moved to sit in the front seat, so that he could drive to the meeting place.

Natalia checked her weapons, she had knifes stuffed in the sheaves she had made around her belt, a black handgun in the waist band of her jeans, a Swiss army knife in her pocket and shoved into her boot. She also had one of the guns that Rick, Michonne and Carl had got from the run they did yesterday. 

"This whole thing is bullshit." Natalia muttered.

"Maybe, but we should hear him out." Hershel told her.

Eventually Hershel started the car, driving towards the shed.

Daryl walked towards the car.

"He's already in there. Sat down with Rick."

"He came by himself?" Natalia asked, getting out the vehicle.

"I don't see any cars." Hershel said.

"It don't feel right. Keep it running."

Soon enough, a car showed up.

"Heads up." Daryl said, both him and Natalia raising their weapons at the vehicle.

Three people were in the car, Andrea, a man with glasses and mousey brown hair, who looked like he couldn't fight his way out of a plastic bag, and a Hispanic man, who was slightly smirking at them.

"What the hell? Whys your boy already in there?" Daryl asked them.

"He's here?" Andrea asked.

"Yup.”

She looked over at the Hispanic man before sighing loudly and marching towards the shed, pulling the door open and heading in.

Natalia and Daryl both kept their weapons raised on the two men.

The man with glasses was writing in a notebook as the other man stared at the two, leaning against the car.

Daryl eventually lowered his gun, pacing back and forth.

"Maybe I should go in there." Hershel said.

"The Governor thought it best If he and Rick spoke privately." The man with glasses said.

"Who asked you?" Natalia told him.

"Better question, who the hell are you?" Daryl asked.

"Milton Mamet."

"Great. He bought his butler." Daryl commented, Natalia looked away as she snorted.

"I'm his advisor" Milton replied.

"What kind of advice?"

"Clearly bad." Natalia replied to Daryl.

"Planning. Biters. Uh, you know. I'm sorry. I don't feel like I have to explain myself to the henchmen."

"You better watch your mouth, sunshine."

"Look, if you and I are gonna be out here pointing guns at each other all day, do me a favour, shut your mouth." The hispanic said.

Daryl stepped towards him. 

"Tell Alfred over here, to shut his." Natalia told the other man.

"We don't need this. If all goes south in there, we'll be at each others throats soon enough." Hershel told the two men.

Daryl stepped away.

"How come blondie gets to sit in there." Natalia asked, looking over at the door.

No one got the chance to reply when Andrea walked out.

"Aw, your kumbaya speech not work?" She asked the other woman, fake pouting.

"Go to hell." She muttered, walking away to sit down.

"I'll be sure to ask Philip how it is, I'm sure he knows the place pretty well."

The Hispanic man walked towards the door, closing it.

A little more time had passed.

Milton stepped towards the group, leaving the other mans side.

"There's no reason not to use this time we have together to explore the issues ourselves." He said.

"Oh! I can!" Natalia put her hand in the air excitedly.

Daryl slapped her hand down.

"Boss said to sit tight and shut up." The man told Milton.

"Don't you mean The Governor?" Daryl asked.

"Its a good thing they're sitting down, especially after what happened." Milton said. "They're gonna work it out. Nobody wants another battle."

"I wouldn't exactly call it a battle."

"I would call it a battle, and I did. I recorded it." He held up his little brown notebook.

"What, so people in the future know how much of a piece of shit you and your people were?" Natalia asked him.

"Something like that. It'll be a part of our history."

"That makes sense." Hershel agreed.

"I've got dozens of interviews " the man stepped toward Hershel.

A snarl of a walker and metal clanging interrupted them.

Natalia grabbed a knife from her belt as they headed towards it.

There were three walkers.

"After you." Daryl told the other man, gesturing for him to go forward.

"No way. You first." He replied.

Natalia rolled her eyes, stepping forward.

So had Andrea.

The blonde took out the first one, pushing him against the metal building and plunging a knife into its skull.

Natalia tripped the female walker up, sending it hurtling to the ground so that she could plunge her knife through the third walkers eye, pulling her knife out, blood shot out, a little splattering on her face, she let it fall as she trailed back, the female walker reached for her as she bent down, dropping the knife into her head.

"Pussy." The man told Daryl.

Whilst on the ground, Natalia looked to see what the woman had, finding a lipgloss on her.

"Seriously, you're raiding them?" Andrea asked, sounding unimpressed.

"What? I love this colour, besides, she's not gonna be using it anymore." Natalia shrugged, pocketing the lipgloss.

Four more walkers appeared.

The man swung his metal bat before smashing it in the head of a walker, crushing its head into the metal building. He looked back to check the others were watching, grinning.

Daryl shot the female walker down with his crossbow.

The man hit another with his bat.

Andrea walked away, but Natalia stayed to watch the show, folding her arms across her chest.

He got ready to do it again, but Daryl beat him to it with his crossbow, the arrow flying through her head and into the neck of the other one, Daryl reached for his knife, aiming it as the man walked up to the last one, once again he was beat by Daryl throwing the knife and it landing right into the walkers head.

Natalia stuck her hand out with a grin, Daryl lowfived her, the man didn't look impressed.

Daryl walked forwards to rifle through the walkers pockets, pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

"Look what he's got." He said, holding them up. He put one in his mouth before offering them out.

Natalia took one, but the man leaned back.

She hadn't had one for about nearly four years, since she found out she was pregnant.

"Nah, I prefer Menthols." he said.

"Douchebag." Daryl muttered, pocketing them.

He lit his cigarette then leaned over to light Natalia's as she inhaled the smoke.

"You army or something?" He asked.

"Nah, I just, just hate these things. Yeah. After what they did. To my wife, kids."

"Preach." Natalia looked away, blowing out smoke.

"Sucks." Daryl said.

"Thanks." The man muttered. "This is a joke, right? They ain't gonna work anything out. Sure, they'll do their little dance and tomorrow, next day, they'll give the word."

"I know." Daryl said, Natalia nodded.

"Hey." He gestured to Daryl's pocket, Daryl pulled the pack out, handing it to the man.

"You gotta little ..." Daryl looked over to Natalia, licking his thumb and pressing it to her cheek, wiping off the blood.

"You did not just do that." She said, stepping back, letting out a laugh and using her sleeve to wipe her cheek.

"What?" He asked.

"You guys get together before or after?" The man asked, making them both look at him.

She looked at the man with confusion.

"This conversation is over." She sighed, shaking her head as she threw the butt of her cigarette, walking away from the pair.

"We ain't." She could hear Daryl tell the man, turning to go back as well.

It was a little while longer before Rick and The Governor came out the shed.

Everyone moved to get back in the cars, Daryl on his bike, then they drove their separate ways.

When they got back to the prison, Maggie, Carol and Glenn were outside to meet them.

"Let's get inside." Rick told the small group, so that he could discuss the meeting.

Everyone stood inside the cell block, waiting for Rick to tell them what happened.

He reached in a cell, grabbing a gun.

"So, I met this Governor." He started. "Sat with him for quite a while."

"Just the two of you?" Merle asked.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Should have gone when we had the chance, bro." He said to Glenn, moving past everyone to stand behind Glenn.

"He wants the prison. He wants us gone. Dead. He wants us dead. For what we did to Woodbury. We're going to war." He told the group, before walking out the building.

"Come on, Sully." Natalia mutters to her dog, who was sat by her feet, they headed up the stairs, and towards their cell, Daryl was behind her, heading to his, which was next door, now.

She entered hers, not wanting to start a conversation with the man, but she didn't lock the door, instead layed on the bottom bunk with Sully, petting his fur, in thought as he napped.

It was two days later.

Rick had called a meeting with her, Hershel and Daryl. 

"It's the only way." Rick said, after explaining that the Governor was willing to leave them alone in exchange for Michonne. "No one else knows."

"You gonna tell 'em?" Daryl asked.

"Not till after. We have to do it today. It has to be quiet." Natalia bit her tongue, shaking her head as they talked. She thought it was sick.

"Got a plan?" Daryl asked.

"We tell her we need to talk. Away from the others."

Daryl looked at the two, Hershel had his head down, and he could see the pissed off, disapproving look on Natalia's face.

"Just ain't us, man." Daryl told the man.

"No. No it isn't." Hershel agreed, walking away.

"It's disgusting, Rick. You have no idea what he's gonna do to her, look what he did to Maggie and he didn't even have a vendetta against her."

"Look, I know, but if we do this, we avoid a fight. No one else dies."

Daryl nodded.

"Alright."

She poked her cheek with her tongue, looking away.

"We need someone else." Rick said.

"I'll talk to him." Daryl said, seeming to understand what Rick meant.

"I'll do it."

"I'll go with ya."

"No. Just me." Rick then left, heading back inside.

"She helped us." Natalia said. "If it weren't for her, Judith would of died, Glenn and Maggie, I could've. When I was stood out in that field, getting shot at, I was so confused and in shock, I didn't move, she pulled me away, hid behind the bus, temporarily bandaged me up. Now we're sending her off to her death like she's cattle. It won't even matter. He's not gonna stop with her."

"You don't know that." He disagreed, shaking his head, looking at the field.

"I do. You do, too."

"He'll change his mind. Come on, we gotta get ready for war."

Maggie, Beth, Carol, Hershel and Carl stood along the runs, banging pots and pans and shouting to the walkers as Glenn and Daryl layed slabs of wood with coiled barbed wire nailed to them, on to the grass, bashing them in, so that if Woodbury decided to drive up again, they'd have a hard time reaching the courtyard fences with popped tires.

Natalia and Michonne were also in the field, picking off any walkers that got too close to them or the truck.

"Come on. Let's go!" Daryl called, stood at the back of the truck with his crossbow, Glenn sat opposite him.

Natalia got in the drivers seat, Michonne in the passenger, they trusted her to drive now.

Rick opened the gate for them, so that Natalia could drive straight through.

"They drive up to the gate again, maybe some blown tires will stop them." Glenn told Rick as they all hopped out the truck.

"That's a good idea."

"Thank Michonne." Natalia said.

"It was her idea." Daryl added.

"We don't have to win." Michonne said, not picking up on the heavy stares the three were sharing. "We just have to make their getting at us more trouble than its worth."

"That's smart, Mich, you really are an asset to our group." Natalia patting the woman's shoulder.

The others came up and joined them.

"Hey." Maggie smiled at all of them.

"Let's go." Rick nodded for everyone to go back inside.

Natalia was in the courtyard with Sully, Daryl was also in there, pacing, when Rick stormed towards them.

"It's off. We'll take our chances." He told them.

"Called it." Natalia said.

"Not saying it was the wrong call, but this is definitely the right one." Daryl added. "What's wrong?"

"I can't find Merle or Michonne. They've gone."

"What? Already?" Natalia demanded.

"Come on." Daryl nodded, heading towards the generator room, the other two following.

"He was in here. Said he was looking for drugs. Said a lot of things actually." Daryl said, the three spread out, looking around the room.

"Like what?" Rick asked.

"Said that you were gonna change your mind." Daryl picked up a white bag. "Yeah, he took her here. They mixed it up."

"Damn it!" Rick cursed.

"I'm going. Maybe I can stop them before they get there." Natalia offered.

"I will too." Rick said.

"You can't track for shit." Daryl stopped the man and woman in their tracks.

"Then we all will."

"No, just me." Daryl said. "I said I'd go, I'll go. Plus, when they come back here. You need to be ready. Your family too." He walked out the door.

"Go with-"

"Watch Sully for me." She cut Rick off, following after Daryl.

"Thought I said I'd go by myself." Daryl told her as they reached the gate.

"I told you I didn't like it. She's my friend." Natalia told him, fast walking ahead.

They had been walking through the woods before spotting Michonne, in a street. She'd just beheaded a walker.

"Hey!" Daryl called out to her. "Where's my brother? You kill him?"

Natalia looked at him, unimpressed, Merle was an asshole, but she wouldn't have done that, even if he did kidnap her, she didn't know if Merle would let her either, he was fighter, just as much as the trio discussing him.

Michonne shook her head.

"He let me go."

"Are you okay?" Natalia asked her.

"Fine."

"Don't let anyone come after me." Daryl said, seeming to know what his brothers intentions were, before jogging off.

She was torn between staying with Michonne and following Daryl, but she knew Rick sent her with him for a reason, they were both aware Daryl could handle himself, and yet he told her to go, even though she would've anyway.

"Be safe, alright, I'm glad he caved, I voted no, by the way." Natalia smiled at the woman, before sprinting after the redneck.

They had made it to the meeting place, an black car was parked on the grass, the drivers side was opened.

Walkers hadn't noticed them, as they were too busy eating.

Daryl and Natalia quietly walked past them, looking around the place.

Walkers, as well as what looked like to be the Governors men, were dead on the ground.

Daryl shot one walker, with long curly hair, down.

"Oh my god!" Natalia gasped, her hands coming up to cover her face, the handle of her knife was still in her hand.

Daryl walked back and forth, watching as his older brother was taring apart and eating one of the men.

He had seemed to realise they were there, staring at the two new targets as he got to his feet.

Daryl teared up as his only blood left was dead, and now one of the walking dead.

Walker Merle tripped over his latest meal as he moved towards his brother.

Natalia stood back, but was ready to jump in if Daryl needed it, she knew it was important to deal with your own.

"No!" Daryl shouted as he pushed Merle away, but he came back and so he did it again.

Until eventually, Daryl plunged his knife into Merles chest, pushing him to the ground, before stabbing him in the forehead, over and over again, until his head was nothing but a bloody, mushy pile.

"Daryl." Natalia bent down as he fell back, continuing to sob.

She hugged him, she didn't know if he wanted it, but she didn't know what else to do, letting him cry and grieve, she wished how someone could've been there to do that for her, so she thought it was only right to do it for him.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry." She muttered repeatedly.

It was silent on the way back, neither of them wanted to talk, neither of them had anything to say.

Once back at the prison, the group had decided that they were going to stay and fight.

Hershel was going to wait in the woods with Beth, Carl and Sully, and Judith, whilst the others would take down the Governor.

She kept her space from Daryl, letting Carol be the one to comfort and talk to him as they prepared for the enemies arrival.

Natalia was hiding in the tombs, she had caused distractions that she knew would lead walkers towards where she could guess the Governor would take his group to, she held onto flashbang cans, waiting for the right moment.

From inside, she heard when they had arrived, shooting at everything insight and blowing up guard towers, it was going to be hella work to put the place back together again, after this.

Natalia made subtle noises to egg them on to come her way.

As soon as she heard the quiet footsteps and hushes of the enemies down the hall, she pulled the tab throwing the cans into the group and ran back to let the chaos unfold.

Members of the group began shooting around, the Governor shouted for everybody to get down, snarls of walkers sounded as they followed the noise and the alarms above rang out, flashing red in the darkness.

She had done her job of pushing them out of the prison, it was up to the others of getting rid of them for good.

Once it was final, she met up with the others outside the prison.

"We did it. We drove them out." Rick told the group.

"We should go after them." Michonne said.

"Yeah, they'll just keep coming back." Natalia backed the woman up.

"We should finish it, for good." Daryl joined in.

"It is finished." Maggie disagreed. "Didn't you see them hightail it out of here?"

"They could regroup."

"We can't take the chance. He's not gonna stop." Glenn spoke up.

"They're right." Carol sighed. "We can't keep living like this."

"So we take the fight back to Woodbury? We barely made it back last time."

"We can't afford loose ends either." Natalia told her.

"Yeah." Rick nodded, "Lets check on the others."

They got back to the cellblock.

Judith cooed as Beth carried her in, the others behind her.

Sully ran straight towards Natalia, jumping at her.

She excitedly petted the dog, smiling at him as she made sure he was okay.

"Thanks, Carl." She nodded at the kid.

"No problem." He said, as he hugged his father. "Dad, I'm coming to Woodbury."

"Carl." Rick sighed, standing back up.

"Dad, I did my job out there." Carl argued. "Just like all of you. Took out one of the Governors soldiers."

"One of his soldiers?" Hershel asked. "A kid running away? He stumbled across us."

"No, he drew on us."

"I'm sorry you had to do that." Rick told his son.

"Its what I was there for. I'm going with you."

Natalia walked outside to prepare to leave for Woodbury, helping to get one of the cars ready as Rick and Hershel talked.

Rick, Daryl, her , Glenn, Maggie and Michonne were going to go.

The others would move back into the prison.

Rick was talking to Carl when they finished, which had ended up in Carl walking away.

They were stood around the car when Rick walked over.

"Rick, we're staying." Glenn said, stood with Maggie. "We don't know where the Governor is. If he comes back, we'll hold him off."

"Just the four of us?" Daryl asked. "Alright." He nodded.

Natalia got in the back, Michonne got in the passenger, whilst Rick talked to Maggie and Glenn.

"You ready?" Natalia asked Michonne.

"Hell yes." The woman answered, as they highfived.

"Is it too early to say you might be my new best friend?" Natalia teased.

"Not in the end of the world times." Michonne grinned back.

Once Rick got in the car, they drove off, Daryl leading the way on his motorbike.

They were driving down a road, soon coming to a stop.

One of the trucks that Woodbury came in, was stranded in the middle of the way.

Dead bodies, some being eaten by walkers, covered the road.

Natalia took out a knife, whilst Michonne unsheathed her sword, both dealing with the walkers, Daryl even shooting some down with his crossbow.

Rick took out one that was eating a boy who sat in the drivers seat of another truck.

A woman with dark curly hair banged on the glass window of the big truck, making Daryl, who was stood in front of it, jump out of the way.

Rick raised his gun at her, heading towards the vehicle as Daryl opened the door.

It was night by the time they got to Woodbury.

The now five snuck around cars, their weapons raised in case of an attack, as they moved towards the gates.

The people on watch shot at them, causing them to shoot back, until hiding behind a car.

"Tyreese!" Karen, the woman, shouted, standing up with her hands in the air. "It's me. Don't-"

"Get down!" Rick shouted, yanking the woman to the ground.

"Karen!" Tyreese shouted back. "Karen, are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" She stood back up again, and out from behind the car so that they could see her.

"Where's the Governor?"

"He fired on everyone. He killed them all."

"Why are you with them?" Tyreese asked.

"They saved me!"

"We're coming out!" Rick decided, he looked to the other three, who all shook their heads. "We're coming out." He repeated.

Rick and Daryl were the first to stand up, Rick had his hands in the air, in surrender, whilst Daryl aimed his crossbow at them.

Michonne and Natalia copied, before they all raised their hands up and walked towards the gates, which were then opened by Tyreese, him and Sasha walking out.

"What are you doing here?" He asked Rick.

"We were coming to finish this until we saw what the Governor did." Rick explained.

"He -- He killed them?"

"Yeah." Rick whispered.

"Karen told us Andrea hopped the wall, going for the prison. She never made it. She might be here."

Tyreese let them in, Rick led them to the old warehouse buildings.

"This is where they had Glenn and Maggie." Rick said.

"The Governor held people here?" Tyreese asked.

"He did more than hold them." Daryl told him

"Whatever he told you, I can guarantee it was all bullshit." Natalia put it bluntly.

They arrived at one door, blood was pooling out of it.

Michonne and Natalia grabbed their weapons out of their sheaths, Daryl aimed his gun.

"Will you open it?" Michonne asked Rick.

Rick reached out for the lock, raising his gun with his other hand.

"One... two..." He pulled the door open, being met with the dead and beaten body of Milton Mamet.

"Andrea!" Michonne hissed, seeing the blonde woman leaned against the wall, running in for her.

"I tried to stop them." Andrea said, as the other three entered the room, taking a look at the woman, who looked weak and also covered in blood.

"You're burning up." Michonne whispered, holding her.

Andrea sighed, moving her shirt to reveal bites along her collarbone.

Natalia bowed her head and took a step back.

"Judith, Carl, the rest of them ." She asked.

"Us." Rick told her. "The rest of us.

"Are they alive?" Andrea asked.

"Yeah, they're alive."

She smiled, looking up at Michonne.

"Its good you found them." Michonne nodded as she cried for her friend. "No one can make it alone now."

"I never could." Daryl agreed.

Natalia didn't speak up about her personal experiences, she could handle herself on her own, and she preferred it on her own, until she met the group, she lost count of how many times they had saved her ass, or how much she came to care about them, she had only just begun to start seeing them as family, and she'd do anything for her family.

"I just didn't want anyone to die." Andrea told them. "I can do it myself." She decided her fate.

"No." Michonne told her.

"I have to. While I still can." She looked to Rick. "Please? I know how the safety works."

Natalia guessed it was some inside joke between the pair.

Rick passed over his colt python.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere." Michonne told Andrea.

She looked around the group.

"I tried." Andrea whispered.

"Yeah." Rick responded. "You did. You did."

They eventually left the room, leaving Michonne and Andrea to have some privacy.

Then the gunshot sounded.

Natalia kinda wished she knew the woman before Woodbury, then she had an idea of why she meant so much to the group, she could tell Andrea was a good person who had made bad choices, too bad Natalia was the type to hold grudges.

Rick had offered to take the remaining people of Woodbury back to the prison, uniting them, just like Andrea had died for.

Next

[chaotic-super]

Back To Krypton - Chapter 43 (The final chapter)

Read it on AO3 here!

Kara lifts her head up from where she was staring at her feet as the pod pulls up outside of the accommodation. She climbs out after reaching over and grabbing her things from the footwell in the front, ignoring the way the Kelex seems to be staring into her soul accusingly as she does so.

Walking to the front door, she unwraps Esme’s jacket from around hers and unravels hers so she can put it on. She doesn’t want to be separated from it now, that wouldn’t be very helpful. She tucks both Esme’s teddy and her jacket under her left arm and reaches out to open the door with her right, Kelex on her tail the entire time.

She walks in to find both her parents and the entire group sitting in the living area, everyone so silent that she could hear a pin drop.

“Hi.” She says to break the awkward air about the room, unsure of what else she can say given their current situation.

Her mother’s jaw tightens and her father’s hands clench into fists around the material of his pants. “Is that all you have to say?” He asks through gritted teeth.

“I don’t know what you want me to say. Let’s be honest; we both knew this would happen and had to happen.”

Alura springs to her feet like she’s about to race over to her to confront her, but Zor-El’s hand on her wrist stops her and has her composing herself once more. “Kara, that’s not true.”

“Yes, it is. We haven’t trusted each other since we made that deal. I know you wouldn’t give me the crystal, and you’ve always known that I would figure that out and try to steal it.” Kara argues, exasperated because she knows it to be true no matter how much they deny it.

Zor-El sniffs harshly. “I trusted you, Kara. I admit that I’ve known that you don’t trust me all along, but you’re my daughter. No matter how old you are, you’re my blood and I trust you. I wish you could’ve granted us that same honour.”

“So you’re going to tell me you wouldn’t have tried negotiating for more days? Or maybe just not given it to me until we figured out the atmosphere issue?” Kara sits down on the edge of the nearest couch, perched beside Nia. In doing so, she sees little Esme curled up between her parents, obviously nervous, if not afraid. “Can we talk about this in private? She doesn’t need to hear this.”

Her mother shakes her head. “I can’t trust that you don’t have some other plan that requires her to be elsewhere while we are distracted.”

Kara frowns. “I’m not you, mother. I don’t use children to trap or trick people.”

Alura recoils as though she’s been slapped. “I did what I did because I had to, not because I wanted to.”

“No, you didn’t. You could’ve used my beacon to call her without having me there. You arrested her in front of me and I’ll always remember you as the woman who took away my aunt.”

“I sent you into the other room.” Alura tries to argue.

“Do you think a twelve-year-old girl is just going to go without peeking? You didn’t even check that I’d gone. You know what? Never mind. Just let someone take her out of here. She’s just a kid.”

This time, it’s Zor-El that shakes his head. “No.”

“Excuse me?” Kara looks absolutely disgusted as her father stands up and grabs her by the forearm, pulling her across the room to sit beside her mother before he settles in front of her so she can’t escape.

The look she finds herself on the receiving end of is nothing short of pure devastation. “I want to trust you, Inah, but you’ve left me no choice. I cannot allow you to disrespect our family.”

He steps forward and reaches out to grasp her arm again as her mother does the same on the arm closest to her.

“Hey, get your hands off her!” Alex is on her feet and storming over quicker than a bullet from a gun, but she’s still not quick enough because she’s rounded on by both the Kelex from the accommodation and the one from the apartment that arrived with Kara. Their claw hands aren’t anywhere in sight as she’s threatened in a very similar manner to how Kara was back when she tried to steal the safe.

“Keep the…guests at bay.” Alura struggles to find the right word, one that isn’t defamatory.  

The entire team is kept firmly in their seats with the threat of violence looming over them. Kelly curls herself around Esme to try and protect her in case they get trigger-happy.

“Can I at least give my niece her teddy? She’s terrified, look at her.” Kara practically spits the question at the pair, shaking her head as she peers around her father’s form to see the little girl quaking in her mother’s arms.

Zor-El peeks over his shoulder, sees Esme and seems to return back to himself. He looks to Alura. “Maybe we should let her go.”

Alura shakes her head. “We can’t trust them.”

“Look at her, Alura. She’s just a child.”

Sighing and letting the sight of the terrified little girl tug at her heartstrings, Alura addresses a Kelex. “Take the young girl and her mother into the kitchen and keep them there until further instructions. Disarm unless they try to run.”

Kelly relaxes as one floats towards them, now looking a lot less threatening. “Follow.”

She gets up nervously, hoists Esme up into her arms and wraps her up tightly, her heart breaking as she feels her daughter bury her head into the crook of her neck, openly crying from fear.

“This is why I don’t trust you. I used to think you were the greatest people that ever lived, but you’re not. You’re the people that allowed the planet to die when you had the chance to save it. All you had to do was listen to Astra; she could have helped you, but you were too prideful. Now look where she is.” Kara bites her lip as she tries to force back the tears, determined not to show her parents how much this is affecting her.

Zor-El’s previously devastated look is no longer in place. Now, he’s completely unreadable. “We never claimed to be the greatest people, Kara. We’ve always just been your parents.”

“Except for when you abandoned me by sending me to another planet alone with the knowledge that I would be the last of my kind that carries any significant memory of our planet.”

“We haven’t done that yet!” Alura snaps. “You’re holding us to the actions of people we haven’t become yet.”

“You will,” Kara says, her voice low and dark. “That’s inescapable. Even now, you have to do it. No matter what, I must be raised on Earth or else the timeline will collapse. You don’t get to rectify any mistakes you’ve made. If you do save Krypton, that’s great, but you’ll have to live with what you’ve done.”

Alura’s lips press into a stiff line as she holds her tongue. Lena watches from across the room, barely looking at the Kelex that is threatening her. It’s not the first time she’s been on the wrong side of a gun, and it won’t be the last. She can deal with the emotional turmoil of that later. She’s more concerned about Kara.

Screw it. She steps forward, ignoring the Kelex as it speaks to her. “Remain where you are. Remain where you are.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” Zor-El asks, arms folded as he takes in the sight of the woman trying to find a way around the floating robot that keeps moving in her path whenever she tries to doge her way around it to get closer.

“I’m going to comfort my girlfriend because her parents are assholes and are terrorizing her.” She snarls. “Move your pet rust bucket out of my way.”

“What is a rust bucket?” He asks with a frown before shaking his head. “Sit back down. This is a family affair.”

Lena’s lip curls. “You’re not her family. Not anymore. We’re Kara’s family, and if you think that we’ll let you stand there and corner her when you’re the ones being unreasonable, then you’re sadly mistaken.

Very quickly, Lena finds herself on the receiving end of a pair of glares that are sharper than a knife in a spear factory. “I suggest you sit back down before we have Kelex open fire.”

“Just do it, Lena. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Kara says, her voice pleading and her lips wobbling. “And that goes for you two as well. I don’t want any of you to get hurt.” She leans to one side to look directly at both Nia and Alex.

Her fingers are playing with the ear of the bear she’s still clinging to. She wishes she could give it to Esme to comfort her, although she’s happy to take care of it and take a little bit of comfort from it herself. If she weren’t so sure that Alex would never let her live it down, she would pull it up into her lap and snuggle it right now. She’d prefer to snuggle Lena more than the bear, but since there are weaponized robots being controlled by her parents, who are nothing short of assholes, that’s not feasible either.

“Now, what did you take from the lab?” Zor-El hardens his gaze as he stares down at his daughter.

Kara shakes her head, her eyebrows pinching. “Nothing. I didn’t take anything.”

“You think I don’t know my own daughter well enough to know when you’re lying, Kara? Don’t insult me. You may not believe we were good parents to you, but we did our damn best and will continue doing our best. We’ve never claimed to be perfect, but we love Kara more than anyone in this universe. I’m sorry you can’t see that, but now we have to protect our daughter and we can’t do that with you here. You’re not our daughter. The little girl currently at school is our daughter. The little girl who runs up to us excitedly when we arrive home is our daughter. Not you. We tried our best to see you that way, treated you like you’re her, but you’re not, so now we have to treat you as what you are.”

“And what’s that?” Kara presses her lips together, holding back the quiver of her lips to not give him the satisfaction.

He shrugs at her helplessly. “You’re a threat.”

“So that’s it?”

“Yes, Kara. That’s it.” He nods. “So what did you take?”

“I didn’t take anything.”

Zor-El’s eyes connect with Alura’s, and with that contact comes a silent message, one she hears loud and clear. They each grasp one of Kara’s wrists and ignore the way she stiffens beneath them. With her held in place so she can’t run, Alura uses her free hand to start searching Kara, and it takes her less than five seconds before her palm makes contact with a crystal through the material of her jacket. “Take it off.”

Kara yanks her wrists free and folds her arms over her chest. “No.”

Zor-El leans into her space. “That wasn’t a request. Need I remind you of the position your friends are in, Kara?”

Gritting her teeth, Kara slides the jacket off. As much as she wants to argue, she won’t do it at anyone else’s expense.

“Was that so hard?” Alura sighs as she starts pulling out the crystals from each pocket of the jacket, honestly surprised by how many Kara managed to store in there. “Rao, help me.” She murmurs.

“How did you get these?” Zor-El demands.

“You should hide stuff better, just for future reference.” Kara leans back, her hands covering her now bare forearms, slightly chilly without her jacket.

Zor-El takes the crystals and piles them up on the couch cushion on the other side of Alura. Once that’s done, he takes the jacket from his wife and checks it over himself to make sure there are no more crystals there. When he’s satisfied that all of them have been removed and that she’s not lying to him, he tosses the jacket onto her lap carelessly before he gathers the small pile of crystals in his arms. “Stay here.”

Kara watches him leave down the hallway with barely contained disdain written across her face, but they have a chance with him gone. She makes eye contact with the other three women in the room that she actually trusts and conveys a silent message.

Now.

Alex jumps into action first, ever the overachiever, and kicks the Kelex squarely in its tinny body. It sends it shooting back towards Kara, who pushes herself away from Alura, grabs Kelex’s arm and shoves the lit-up, weaponized arm into Alura’s chest.

The weapon wasn’t fully charged, so it barely does anything, but the momentary shock of the bolt of electricity she got and the sudden revolt from the group gives them enough time to make a break for it.

Kara is the last out the door, clutching Esme’s teddy to her chest along with her jacket, taking comfort in the items as she meets her mother’s eyes one last time as Zor-El’s footsteps thud along the hallway, having heard the commotion. He’s on his way back so they have to leave now, but she’s frozen. She’s sure this will be her last memory of her parents, and this one is much more traumatizing than the previous last memory she had of them. This time, she knows what they are.

A hand wrapping around her arm has her breaking eye contact with her mom. Her feet unstick and she whips her head around to see Lena’s worried eyes gazing back at her. They don’t have time to dive into it though. They have to go.

Rushing through the kitchen, Kara sees that Alex has been busy. There’s a Kelex on the floor, a knife sitting out of the screen on its face. She stabbed a robot in the face. That’s a very Alex move and honestly, Kara approves.

Alex, Kelly, Nia and Esme are gathered by the door leading out from the kitchen to outside looking uncertain. Kara pushes them all through it and slams it behind her.

“Kara, the crystals.” Kelly pushes out, looking frantic.

“It doesn’t matter. Just run. Go towards the stable and on my signal, you all have to scream as loud as you can and get ready to jump.”

“Jump?” Nia asks, her eyes wide as they start running.

Her question never gets answered over the thudding of their feet and their heavy pants as they run faster than they have ever run in their lives. Except for all of the other times they’ve been in life-or-death situations anyway, they probably ran just as fast then.

They get within fifteen feet of the stable door before they get the signal. “Now!” Kara shouts right before breaking into a scream.

They all join her, unsure of why they’re screaming or what in the world is happening, but still, they trust. They trust and they scream. Not for ice cream, although that would be nice. Nope, they’re screaming for H’Rakas. H’Raka’s that come storming out of the stable doors in a panicked frenzy thanks to the screaming.

“Jump!” Lena tries to sound demanding, but it comes out as more of a screech than anything.

Between the two H’Rakas, they manage to each get at least one hand on their harnesses as they race across the ground, and they’re being pulled right along with them until they get close enough to the accommodation building that the H’Rakas do what the group need them to do and fly.

And so, that’s how they find themselves dangling from a pair of H’Rakas. H’Rakas that are already harnessed up with two packs of their most important possessions strapped to them, one on each beast. On the back of Swoopy, there’s even another guest in the form of a floating, headless Kelex being pulled along by a rope.

They’re not out of the woods yet though, both figuratively and literally. Bolt and Swoopy instinctively fly towards the trees, ready to take them back over the forests and away from Kandor.

Lena manages to climb up and onto Bolt’s saddle just as Alex manages to climb onto Swoopy’s. From there, they start pulling people up until they’re safe, or at least try to.

Alex grabs Kara’s arm, annoyed that she’s still clutching onto the items from before in a bit of a shocked haze. “Come on, Kara. Pull yourself together. We have to get out of here.”

Alex pulls the teddy and jackets out of Kara’s arms so she can climb up behind her right before shoving them into her chest so she can try and get Nia up too. A quick glance over at the other H’Raka and his passengers tells her they’re safe. Lena, Kelly and Esme are all swashed together, Esme between the two women and as safe as they can be given the circumstances.

Knowing that they’re safe and in control of Bolt, Alex stops trying to control Swoopy, trusting that the dragon-like monster will follow the other H’Raka, or at least praying that’s what will happen.

She grips onto Nia’s forearm. “Pass me your other hand.” She yells down at her.

“I can’t.” Nia winces as she tries to use her still-injured hand to get up, slipping more as her other hand gives way a little at a time.

“Kara, help me.” Alex snaps at her sister, prompting Kara to shove the stuff beneath her thighs and actually help, the whipping wind doing wonders for getting her back into the action.

She reaches down and grabs Nia’s injured hand, ignoring her cries of pain. She pulls up, shuffling her onto the harness one inch at a time, eventually trading her hand for her wrist, then her forearm, then her bicep and armpit before she’s lying down across the harness on her belly but still on it nonetheless.

“Signal Brainy,” Kara speaks loudly so Nia can hear her over the wind.

“I can’t!” Nia clutches onto the nearest part of the harness she can, scared she is going to fall but too afraid to reposition herself better.

“For Rao’s sake.” Kara sighs. They have had their little signal button hanging on a thin cord like a pendant, and at no point in this mission has it left Nia’s neck. None of them have argued against this at any point, seeing it for what it is; Nia needs a connection with her boyfriend, who she’s been separated from for months now.

Kara reaches beneath Nia, shoving her hand down the front of her shirt and searching for the signal button with hurried fingers.

“Can you go a little bit fucking quicker?” Alex snaps, looking back to see the lights of what is, quite obviously, a pod coming up behind them.

The button must have fallen into Nia’s bra at some point in the ruckus, and Kara grimaces as she pulls it free before she unlatches the locket-like design of it and pushes the button on the inside with a firm press of her thumb.

It lights up so bright that the white light emitting from it shines through the fabric of Nia’s shirt, but none of them pay it any mind, too concerned with the pod that is gaining on them, a second one not too far behind.

They don’t have to worry though because just as Brainy had promised when they were planning this mission, he’s there in no time at all, a large panel open on one side for them to fly directly into, a panel that closes the second they have landed in the large, open cargo bay of the Legion ship.

Upon being trapped, the H’Rakas panic a little thrashing until Lena and Kara slide off their backs and press their hands to the centre of their heads, comforting them with a firm touch and murmured words of reassurance before they hear Brainy’s voice come booming from a speaker somewhere in the room. “Please make your way to the cockpit immediately.”

Lena grabs some of the straps that are attached to the walls that are used to secure luggage and such in place so she can start buckling the H’Rakas in. She’s making sure they’re safe, they’re part of the team now and she doesn’t have it in her to care about the consequences of taking the equivalent of a dragon back to Earth with them.

While Lena does that, Kara helps everyone down so they can start running to the cockpit, all of them unsteady on their feet since the ship is very much still moving. She presses Esme’s jacket and teddy into her arms before throwing hers on so it’s out of her hands.

“Need a hand?” She asks Lena.

“Nope, it’s done.” Lena presses a hand to her back, pushing her out the door as she shouts back over her shoulder. “Try not to panic, we don’t need you setting anything on fire!”

They skid through the hallways and throw themselves into their seats in the cockpit. “Can we go?” Kara calls out to Brainy, wishing she could see his face. She’s more than willing to just take in the view of the back of his head for now though, she’d like to get off this planet, as sad as she is to be leaving again.

“We have an issue.” Brainy frowns. “The ship is being tethered by some kind of connection and we can’t leave. Our speed has been limited and we can’t get out of the atmosphere if we can’t pick up speed.”

“Can you untether us?” Lena unclips herself and trips her way to his side.

“Yes, but I need to get closer to the source of the connection to do so.”

“I can do that. Hand over the controls.” Kara appears on the other side of him and Brainy gives up his seat, allowing her to sit down while he takes her seat, pulling up a screen and starting to get to work. Lena’s not sure what to do so she hovers for a moment. Kara glances up at her before nodding at her, trying her best to comfort her the only way she can given their lack of time. “Sit down and buckle up. This is going to be a bumpy ride.”

Lena does just that, checking that everyone else is strapped in before she clips herself in. “Ok, we’re all set.”

“Hold on!” Kara yells out before she sets the ship to maximum speed.

She makes an about-turn, which forces the pods on their tail to move out of their way or get hit by a ship that would cause catastrophic damage to them if they made contact at the speed Kara is going.

Speeding towards Kandor, Kara keeps her eyes peeled on the screen in front of her, watching every minute detail as they pass, directing them around trees, rocks and later buildings with a reaction that is much quicker than any of the others could manage. Call it experience; she’s been flying through a densely populated city at high speeds for years. She was made for this.

The Communications Centre is in a really inconvenient place: the city centre. That’s where she’s certain the tether must be from. That’s the only place she can reasonably assume managed to track the ship in such a short span of time, and that also has the resources and technology that allowed them to place the tether in the first place.

She speeds the ship forward, well aware that in a matter of moments, there will be a whole fleet of pods and ships trailing after them, just more things to avoid.

Onwards they fly, cutting through the air and rounding building after building in a precise but slightly chaotic manner.

“Holy shit! Kara, can you chill out?” Alex yelps as she’s thrown sideways in her seat, the seatbelt a little too loose. She yanks on the straps to cinch them in further, afraid that Kara’s driving will make them all snap and they’ll end up in a heap in the corner of the cockpit because she can’t fly a ship nicely.

“We’re flying for our lives here, Alex. Shut up!” Kara shouts, not taking her eyes off their flight path for even a second. She can’t afford to lose her concentration and accidentally fly them into a building or something now. These people might be destined to die but she won’t be the one to kill them.

The team all hang on as tightly as they can as Kara manoeuvres them through the city and around the stream of pods that are aiming directly for them, all of them shining their lights as brightly as possible in what is a clear attempt to blind them and make them stop. That would probably work better if it were dark and if they weren’t up against a ship from the future that has a whole boatload of built-in gadgets and gizmos that help them remain unaffected.

Brainy grits his teeth as he tries to keep his eyes on what he’s doing, blocking out Kara and her driving skills as much as he can. While he recognizes that she has the highest probability of being able to safely manoeuvre them through Kandor, or anywhere on this planet, he’d still prefer Lena be the one to drive. He should have asked her to in hindsight.

“Alright, Brainy, the Communications Centre is coming up. How close do I need to get us?”

“Stay on course. This distance is optimal. Circle around if possible.”

Kara furrows her brow, momentarily letting her mind slip to the H’Rakas and feeling bad for them. She knows they’re slipping about something silly in the cargo bay, even with them strapped in. Hopefully, when they’re out of the atmosphere she can check on them and calm them down.

When the Communications Centre is in sight, she flies right by it before taking a harsh left around a nearby school. It’s best she tries to keep her distance from that one as much as possible. This isn’t a day for the mass murder of children.

“A couple of laps please, Kara. I’ll have us untethered in less than a minute.”

Kara nods to herself and takes a shaky breath. It’s almost over.

Just as she rounds another building, she sees a giant wall of pods blocking her way, and thanks to her instinct not to hurt people, she ends up being forced to pull up, trying to avoid hitting any of them.

There must be at least a hundred pods all lined up to prevent them from passing, and as she climbs higher, the pods also fly up, blocking her from flying over them. “For Rao’s sake, it’s like these people have a death sentence,” Kara mutters before she hits the brakes, slowing them right down at a frightening pace and letting the pods continue climbing for a few seconds, all of them taking a long moment to realize what happened.

By the time they do know what Kara did, it’s too late. She has brought them back down and successfully turned around to go back to circling around the city.

“Almost there! Another twenty seconds!” Brainy calls out an update.

Kara has to slam the brakes on a second time when two pods block their way once again, two very familiar faces manning the ships.

“These people really do not get a hint.” Kara spits out, and there’s enough anger in her voice to prompt the people nearest to her, Lena and Nia, to look over and see what she’s looking at. They were previously just closing their eyes and praying since watching where they’re going only leads to a drastic increase in anxiety and nausea.

Kara can faintly hear Lena saying her name, trying her best to get her attention, but she’s too busy focusing on her parents to answer, a ringing in her ears slowly drowning out her words. She lets off the brake and then hits the throttle, heading right for them.

The ship blasts forward and she sees the rush of realization across their faces as they see that she’s going to force her way past them and pay them no mind. She’s not under their control and they’ve broken their relationship with her, not that there was much of one to begin with. They had their chance at being good parents, but they ruined it. They made their bed, now they have to lie in it.

The ship lurches forward, pushing the pods out of the way. Kara breathes a sigh of relief when she sees the pods simply spin out of control before they stutter to a stop and they both head for the nearest building for an emergency landing. They’re fine. She might hate them, but she doesn’t want them dead.

“Got it! Let’s go!” Brainy shouts. Kara takes no more prompting to angle the ship upwards, and she starts building up their speed. They’re finally leaving.

As they go, the back of the ship takes some minor blasts from a couple of larger vessels that joined in the fun a little too late. They probably would have had an issue if they had gotten to them sooner, but now it doesn’t matter.

They break free of the atmosphere and plummet out into space, where Kara then slows them down enough to swap seats with Brainy once more, allowing him to take over and get them on course back to their time.

Within moments, they’re in the timestream and safely away from any danger. No Kryptonians can follow them here, and they can plan what they will do when they get back to Earth. They still have Lex to deal with, but for now, they can spare a few minutes to fully take in the weight of what just happened—all of it. The past few months have been full of a lot of major events that none of them will forget in a hurry, and it will take time to fully process it all.

As soon as Brainy gives them the all-clear, Nia is out of her seat and throwing her arms around him, dropping herself into his lap and pressing her lips to his. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” His tone is soft, and he reaches out to the still-glowing pendant to turn off the signal. “These past few months have been quite difficult without you. I would not like to repeat that.”

Nia beams down at him, her eyes watering. “Me neither.”

The rest of the team watches their little reunion, each couple wrapping their arms around each other’s waists, taking in the sight of the cute couple reuniting.

“You guys are so adorable.” Kara breaks them out of their little moment, grimacing when she realizes she ruined the romantic moment.

“Thank you, Kara. I agree.” Brainy nods over at her. “And I must say that you and Lena also make a very adorable couple too. I assume you figured out your feelings for each other based on the way you’re pressed into each other.”

“You knew?” Lena baulks. “You knew, and you didn’t think to tell me?”

Brainy frowns. “I was under the impression that you were aware of your feelings.”

Lena throws her hands up in the air. “I was. I wasn’t aware of Kara’s though. You could have told me!”

“It wasn’t my place.” Brainy answers simply. “I am pleased you both figured it out though.”

Lena sighs. There’s no point in being annoyed about it. It all worked out for the best. “Oh well. At least we did figure it out.”

“That is a very big plus.” Kara shrugs.

“How did the mission go?” Brainy asks. “Did you get the blueprints?”

The team shares uncomfortable looks before Kelly steps forward, her eyes pinned on Kara. “Did we?”

Kara breaks into a smile. “We did.”

Everyone smiles back at her, barely contained confusion on their faces as they do. Lena nudges her with her hip. “Want to explain what exactly happened back there? I didn’t know you packed the H’Rakas up. How did you even do that without us noticing?”

“Ok, so I’m going to have to explain this a bit at a time.” Kara starts.

“Please do,” Alex says.

“And please tell me what a H’Raka is,” Brainy interjects.

“It’s one of those dragon-type creatures we have in the cargo bay,” Nia explains.

Brainy shoots up from his seat and almost sends Nia sprawling onto the floor. “You kept them? I thought you let them go! We can’t take them back to Earth with us.”

“Sure we can, and we’re going to.” Kara’s voice is firm as she says it. “Bolt and Swoopy are part of the team now and there’s nothing anyone can say that will change my mind.”

“You definitely changed the timeline. There’s going to be a mess to clean up when we get back to Earth.” Brainy complains, sitting back down in a huff.

“Anyway, I packed the H’Rakas up early this morning before anyone was awake, and I opened their stall doors. I used the fact that they’re known to break free from rope when startled to my advantage so we could use them for a quick getaway too. It was a perfect plan.”

“And you packed the one crystal we have?” Lena confirms, proud of Kara now that she’s aware that Kara actually came up with a pretty good plan, one that was actually successful.

Alex grins at her, sharing Lena’s thoughts. “I’m glad part of your plan worked.”

“The other parts worked too.” Kara shrugs. “I meant to get caught at the apartment and the lab.”

“Why?” Alex’s eyes widen dramatically.

“So they wouldn’t think to check the bear.”

In an instant, all eyes are on the bear cradled between Esme’s arms, the little girl grinning almost evilly. “I helped Aunt Kara.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asks, in shock as she takes in the look on her daughter's face.

Esme holds out her bear for Kara to take. “I helped Aunt Kara.”

“She was my little spy.” Kara grins. “Nobody is going to suspect a kid who is playing of shoving important information crystals into their teddy bear. I got my father to get a few of them out when I took Esme with me to the lab the first time under the guise of needing them for research. He counted them all before putting them away, but I stuck a few blank ones in their place. He didn’t suspect a thing because I was too busy being suspicious about other things.”

“You used my daughter to steal?” Alex wants to be angry, she really does, but Kara just came up with a plan that was so good that even she didn’t see through it.

Kara smiles. “I sure did. I figured that if the other plans worked then that’s all fine and dandy, but this was my main plan. I had a plan in a plan in another plan. I wanted to cover all bases and it worked.” She holds up the bear before she unzips the back of it and pulls out several crystals that had been pushed into it. “Now, that’s how you use a bear to smuggle the goods.”

“Holy shit.” Nia laughs. “You got us, Kara. I’m not even mad about it. I have a crazy amount of respect for you right now.”

That leads Kara to take a deep bow, the crystals balanced precariously in her hands. Lena takes them off her, scared she’s going to drop them. “You’re the most annoying person I’ve ever met.”

“How did you plan for us to escape from the accommodation other than the H’Rakas? How did you know we’d get out of there?” Kelly asks.

“I just figured that they’d cross a line at some point and Alex would go all mama bear. That kind of happened, but it was mostly dumb luck there. I couldn’t plan it all, but I did a lot of it covered just in case.”

“I have no idea what happened to you guys out there, but I do have to ask more questions,” Brainy says. “Did I see you carrying a sword on the back of one of the H’Rakas, and why did I see a decapitated robot being dragged behind you?”

“Yeah, it’s a family heirloom, and the Kelex is purely to help carry luggage.” Kara boasts. “The sword is actually super cool and—”

“It’s definitely going to change the timeline some more.” Brainy cuts her off, not even touching on the Kelex again. That whole thing is horrifying.

Lena comes to her rescue. “Most likely, but we’ve got everything we need to get back home and face Lex. We’ve got everything under control, Brainy. This is a happy time. Smile.”

His shoulders sag. “I am happy. The mission was successful and that’s excellent news.”

“It is.” Kara agrees, scooping Esme up and setting her on her hip. “And Miss Esme here is the star of the show. She’s the hero here.”

The group breaks into applause for the little girl, who is laughing her head off as they holler her name.

“We did it.” Kara sighs after she sets Esme back down, moving to wrap her arm around Lena’s shoulders and leaning in to press her lips to her cheek. “Now, let’s get back to Earth."

The end...for now

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[a-reader-and-a-writer-for-all]

This Means War

Fandom: DC, The Suicide Squad, Rick Flag

Summary: After receiving new commands from Waller, you have no choice but the lead the Suicide Squad into battle against ARGUS. But to make it to the end of the fight, what are you willing to do? And are you willing to take out anyone who stands in your way?

Word Count: 1832

TW: Battle Situations, Guns, Fighting, Language

You dove behind the wall as four shots slammed into the spot you had been standing seconds before. Panting heavily, you try to assess the situation. You knew this had been a long shot, but things had not gone at all as you had hoped. You had run point on close to fifty or so Task Force X missions, but before this morning, you never imagined you would be leading the Suicide Squad into battle against your fellow ARGUS members. Yet after what Waller had said in the last meeting, you had no choice. You were doing what you had to in order to protect the squad. If she wanted a war, you were going to give her one.

However, most of your team already lay scattered on the ground around you, and while you had managed to take out quite a few of your opponents, your side was losing fighters at a much quicker rate. Killer Croc had been the first one to fall. Your assault had barely started when you heard him snarl as he was hit by at least three different people. Boomer was next. While deadly with his boomerangs, he had never really gotten the hang of guns. So, he just charged out into the middle of the field and began wildly spraying shots at anything that moved. Though he did manage to take out two of Waller’s people, he was quickly mowed down. Deadshot soon followed him. You had tried to warn Floyd before the assault started that he would be one of their main targets since his skills with a gun were unmatched, but he got cocky. After taking out three opponents in quick succession, he had tried to advance and was taken out by five shots coming from four directions.

You darted out from your hiding spot and charged towards the next barrier you could take cover behind. On the way, you managed to take out Flo and Dale. It often surprised people to know that the members of ARGUS who worked in the office or control room were just as trained and skilled with weapons as the mission operatives. But it was part of the application requirements to join the team. Waller wanted to make sure every person around her could be useful in more ways than one. So, while you felt bad about shooting your coworkers and people you considered your friends, it was you or them. And you were damn well sure you weren’t going to let it be you.

Something moved slightly behind one of the pillars in front of you. Shifting to get a better look, you could see Economos hiding over there. From this angle, you didn’t have a great shot, but you were too afraid to move positions just yet. However, it turned out you didn’t need to.

Harley dropped down from the rafters high above you and nailed Economos twice right between the legs. The man dropped with a loud groan and went still. She squealed and clapped her hands excitedly, but she remained out in the open. You tried to quietly get her attention, to get her to go back where it was safe. Yet, just as she noticed your gesturing, Harcourt stepped out from behind a doorway.

You cried out a warning, but there was no time. Four shots slammed into Harley, a splash of red blooming across her chest. Her eyes met yours for a second before she crumpled to the ground.

“No!” you screamed, but you knew it was too late. Harley was gone, which meant you were the only one left.

Harcourt laughed triumphantly as she peeked out at her latest victim. “Suck it, Quinn! That’s for last week when you spent my whole night shift psychoanalyzing me! I’m still dealing with that shit you brought up!”

She was so focused on gloating, she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings, so you took aim and managed to fire two shots into her chest before she dropped.

Slowly, you crept out from your hiding spot. You quickly surveyed the battlefield and took a quick mental count of all the fallen bodies around you. Everyone was accounted for except….

You whirled around, gun at the ready. Rick was standing just feet in front of you, his own gun pointed directly at your heart. The two of you stared silently at each other, waiting to see who was going to make the first move.

After a moment, he sadly said, “I think we both knew it was gonna come down to this, darlin’. But I’m sorry it has to be this way.”

Your eyes narrowed slightly as you replied, “No, you’re not. You wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Rick smiled softly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I never really expected anyone else would be able to take you out anyway.”

“But you think you can?”

“I know I can.”

“Well, I think you’re wrong. Sure, you have the skills and the know-how to do it, but you lack the will. I know you could never shoot me. Even under these circumstances.”

Rick scoffed, “But you can shoot me?” You don’t answer, instead just continue to meet his gaze head-on. He smirked, knowing what your non-answer meant. “So, what now darlin’? We just stand here in a stalemate until Waller shows up? You know what will happen then. Game over.”

You took a small step forward, his gun now just centimeters from your chest. And in a voice so low that Rick’s earpiece couldn’t pick it up, you murmured, “Are you really going to let her win? After everything she’s done, time after time? I get you have to play for her side, but I know this is killing you. This is the closest they have ever gotten to beating her. Are you really going to take that away?”

Rick hesitated for just a moment, the end of his gun dipping just a fraction of an inch, and you took your chance. Before he could react, you fired three shots directly into his chest. He stumbled back, the force of the impact slamming him into the wall behind him as he stared at you, mouth gaping and eyes wide. Softly, he whispered, “I can’t believe you did that.” Then his hand went slack, sending his gun clattering to the ground.

You hurried to him and tenderly cupped his jaw with your hand. “You got sloppy, so I took the shot. Just like you taught me, Colonel.”

He scoffed softly as his head dropped down and rested heavily on yours. “You did good, darlin’. I’m so proud of you.”

He practically fell into your lips as you pulled him into you. And as you pressed yourself closer to him, forcing his body tighter against the wall, you could feel the warm liquid splattered across his chest from your shots as it seeped into your clothes, but you didn’t care. It didn’t matter anymore because he had been the last of Waller’s team. The fighting was done, and you had won the battle. It was over.

“Aww! Ain’t you guys adorable!” You both reluctantly broke apart to glare at Harley for interrupting you. She came bouncing up beside you and excitedly grabbed your arm that was still wrapped around Rick’s waist. “Did you see me nail Economos?”

You sighed, “Yes, Harls. But you know the rules. No aiming below the belt. I told you that last time. Good thing he didn’t trust you and wore extra padding down there.”

Rick groaned, “I’m still gonna have to hear him complain about it for the next week.”

“Oi! Is the game over or what?” Boomer called from the ground where he had dropped after getting hit.

“Sorry about that! Yeah, we won!” You called out happily.

“It’s about fuckin’ time. I’ve been layin’ ‘ere for twenty minutes!”

“Is it my fault you die too easily! You’re always one of the first people to get taken out! Maybe you should learn something from that, so it doesn’t happen in the field! That’s the whole point of these exercises!” You shouted back. The Aussie just grumbled as he stood up, trying to wipe the paint off his jumpsuit as he walked back over to the door to the training area.

You turned to Harley. “You got some paint in your hair.” You nodded to the red color that had sprayed onto the tips of her ponytail.

She grabbed at it and tried to wipe it away. “Aww! This stuff’s impossible to wash out!”

You chuckled, “Well, Harcourt will take you guys all back to the showers. Maybe that will help.” She nodded and hurried off towards the rest of the squad, still frantically messing with her hair.

Rick shook his head. “You would think as much as she is always beggin’ Waller to let her dye it again, she would appreciate a little splash of color.”

“You don’t mess with that girl and her hair.” You said, shaking your head with a laugh. Then, more seriously, you said. “Do you realize that was the first time the blue team ever won? That’s three years off of each of their sentences. I’m so proud of them.” You watched your team file out of the room. They are joking and more upbeat than you have seen them in months.

Rick smiled as he wrapped his arms around you. “We both know they weren’t responsible for this win. It’s because the red team’s greatest asset switched sides.” He chuckled. “I bet Waller is fumin’. But she should have known better than to order you to lead them.”

“She was trying to punish me for ignoring her orders on the last mission and going back for Floyd and Boomer. I just know it.”

“Probably. But you showed her why she recruited you for ARGUS in the first place.” He tapped on his earpiece. “Scores just came in. You had the highest kill count with the least bullets shot. There’s no way she can argue with those results.”

You stood on your tiptoes and gave Rick a quick peck on the lips. “Well, I learned from the best, Colonel. And I had fun being on the other side for once, but I missed fighting side by side with you. We’re too good of a team to be separated.”

“I agree.” He bent his head over, so his lips tickled lightly against your ear. Then in a low, thick voice, he whispered, “So, why don’t we go hit the shower too? Waller won’t be expecting us for the debrief for another hour.”

A smile crept across your face. “A little sleeping with the enemy, huh? That does sound intriguing.” You ran your hand across his broad chest. “Though, since my team did win, I’m expecting some sort of reward.”

You saw something flash behind Rick’s eyes and a low growl sounded in his throat. “Oh, don’t worry darlin’. I’ll make this a celebration you’ll never forget.”

[the-white-soul]

Jacky Jacky Jacky, you little LIAR, I have arrived to where you told me to go, and OH WOW there is 0 monsters to be Seen. Keep wasting my time and I will have to break out little Deal. SO YOU GOT TWO OPTIONS, Either give me the RIGHT location, or I hunt you down. *Violet Crushes the Phone* Useless

(Jack) "*To his other people* Who was the fucking idiot who gave the coordinates?!"

*Everyone pointed at a random person*

(Jack) "You sit down and let me share a secret with you. There's always a slim chance we'll lose correct?"

(Soldier) "Yes?"

(Jack) "Well the reason isn't because of the other side's training or shit like that, it's because of people like you!"

(Soldier) "What do you mean? You were the one who gave the co..."

(Jack) "I used it from the last destination which apparently you messed with!"

(Soldier) "Why am I to blame? I did nothing someone back me up, please! *Silence*"

(Jack) "*Aimed the gun at his head* I'm disappointed *the soldier stood still*"

(Soldier) "Anyone please!"

(Jack) "In everyone here."

(Soldier) "What?"

(Jack) "I wasn't planning on actually killing you. It's obvious you just needed to go somewhere else quicker. I'm more disappointed in the rest of you. You all were willing to sit back while this soldier died."

(Soldier) "Don't you want us to listen to you?"

(Jack) "Yes! However, you must learn that when you get threatened you do not become a coward. Die. Death is better than living with monsters."

(Soldier) "I don't understand you sometimes."

(Jack) "*Whispers into the soldier's ear* I'll tell you a secret. I know the monster's only way of defeating us. Learning my technique. If I am chaos there is no way to follow me and I'll win. If anyone else was in charge they wouldn't send a hundred thousand people to execute one guy. That's why I'm in charge. I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 1 Replay, Feros Aftermath:

Normandy Meeting

-The human subconscious instinctively resists joining. Is this always the case, or just because it’s Shepard’s first time and they barely know Liara?

If humans always resist, that raises some awkward questions about human/asari relationships.

-Liara states that the Prothean visions would destroy a lesser mind than Shepard. Poor Manuel. Shade just keeps getting thrown on the dude.

-Of course the Salarian Councilor would have preferred the Thorian be captured for study.

Squad

-Huh. If you go full renegade, I think you can lose the Kaidan romance here. He definitely thinks Shepard is not quite in the right mind.

-If Vrynnus had gotten to an infirmary quicker, he may have survived. So why didn’t he? Subtext is they let him die.

-BAat sure was something. Kids died, the instructor died… Kaidan killed a man and they just let him go, rather than deal with it.

-People complain Kaidan doesn’t up unless you romance him, but I got maybe four lines out of Liara this time and none of it was about her. Kaidan is way more talkative if not romanced; you still get most of his backstory.

-Ashley was going to drink. So at least her drinking isn’t new to ME3, just… massively expanded.

-Finally hear about the Williams’s history. Ashley’s resigned – nothing she does will ever be good enough for the Alliance.

-The Turians dropped rocks on everything that moved.

I’ve seen this criticized as breaking C-Space laws, but if I read the codex correctly you can bombard garden worlds if they’re hostile. I suspect that’s the loophole the Turians went for with Shanxi.

-I think the Shepard-Kaidan-Ashley dynamic was supposed to mimic Kirk-Spock-McCoy. Kaidan/Spock are the head, Ashley/McCoy are the heart.

Council, calling about Virmire

-The Council prefers not to become involved in the specifics of spectre activities. They’re really gunning for plausible deniability

-Spectres are one arm of the council. Infiltration unites (STG) are another. Interesting – Spectres work directly for the Council. The STG are part of the Salarian Union, but here they’re presented as working for the Council as well.

-In both this and the post Feros conversation, the Turian Councilor is much more talkative if you go renegade.

The impression I get is that he wants as little do with Shepard as possible, but can’t quite keep his mouth shut when Shepard pisses him off

Citadel

-Broadcast says Feros is turning a profit. How? We didn’t discover anything other than the Thorian, and that got killed.

They’re totally selling the geth ship’s claw, aren’t they? Or the destroyed geth platforms.

-Udina’s right; politics are as necessary as force. On a good day, politics can even prevent force from being used.

Edit: Fix spellings and the claw the ship belonged to

[trashpandafiction]

We Survive (3)

Summary: What happens when the Behavioral Analysis Unit comes across a situation they weren’t trained for? When the dead begin to roam the Earth, it challenges the BAU to something they’ve never dealt with before: the apocalypse. Along their journey for survival, they come across Rick Grimes and his group of survivors. Among the survivors is Jocelynn Russo, who thinks that the new group could be helpful to them. Things seem to go well until an unexpected enemy appears. Will Negan and the Saviors be the one thing to break the groups, or will they be able to defend themselves? All anyone knows is they have one common goal; to survive. Pairings: None yet. Word Count: 4,075 Warnings: Mention of suicide, blood, and guns. A/N: Switched up a little bit from the first version of this because the first time around, I didn't exactly write everyone in character. Hopefully this still fits! If you’d like to be tagged in future updates, just let me know! Please do not redistribute my work without my permission! Reblogging is fine with credit intact.

Three - The Encounter

          It had been two days since the BAU team was separated, and since then, each of the members seemed to be grieving and moving forward in their own ways. None of them really wanted to deal with the reality that David, Emily, and Derek were most likely dead in the cabin, or they were among the dead walking. It was a tough reality, and while they knew that this world was more dangerous than anything they had dealt with before, they weren’t prepared to deal with it so quickly.

          Aaron focused on making plans and keeping the group safe. He made sure that they had a good shelter and took charge of supply runs. He wouldn’t admit it, but he felt responsible for losing the three team members. Whenever there was a quiet moment, Aaron would run through ways that he could have gone back and saved them. There had to have been something that he could have done differently. It may have been a risk to do so, but maybe he could have been the one who was lost instead of the others. Of course, the FBI side of him was reminding him that he did the right thing when he spared more lives than he lost. That didn’t make him feel any better though.

          JJ tried to keep herself busy by making sure that the supplies that they had were rationed out for the group. She made sure that everyone was fed and had water, but also made sure that no one was using too much so that they would have enough to get them through until they found permanent shelter. She had lost people in the past, as had Aaron, but there was something about these losses that just wasn’t really setting in with her. In her mind, they weren’t gone; they were just separated from them. She was hoping that it was her gut feeling, and that she was right because losing them was already taking a toll on everyone, and it wasn’t even a sure thing; just assumed.

          Spencer handled things like he normally did; he focused on their odds, statistics, and reading anything he could get his hands on. He stayed fairly quiet, but he was constantly helping everyone else, so he wasn’t just idle. Whenever someone would mention what happened, he would try and shift the conversation as subtly as he could, but he knew that everyone could tell what he was doing. He pushed himself to try and stop blaming himself, but he just couldn’t. If he had been quicker or refused to let Emily switch places with him, maybe she’d be here.

          Penelope did what she always did; she focused on making sure that everyone around her was happy and busy. Whether she was helping take inventory with JJ, pestering Spencer and Aaron to make sure they were taken care of, she kept busy. She sort of took on her FBI role again, because it kept her mind occupied and she felt like she needed to pick up some slack anyway. She knew how to use a gun, Derek taught her before they left the BAU, but she didn’t like using it. One of her newest ways of keeping occupied was trying to find other weapons they could use that would be quieter and wouldn’t draw attention to them when the dead were around. Of course, that was nearly impossible since every weapon in the area seemed to be gone.

          Overall, the group was getting by, and they seemed to be doing alright in the small house they found. It was big enough for them to spread out a bit, but small enough so that they knew what was going on in the house at any given time. They had been at this house for two days, and their supplies were running low. As much as JJ tried to ration things, it just wasn’t enough to keep them going for a long period of time. They were closer to a small town which meant that there were more places for them to check, including an old grocery store and an old firehouse. They had checked the gas station and the diner in town, but they didn’t have much. As much as they wanted to stay together as a unit, they needed supplies and couldn’t lose out on a decent shelter.

On their third day at the house, Aaron was getting ready to go on a run with Spencer. He grabbed a backpack and made sure that his gun was loaded as much as it could be. The incident at the cabin set them back even more in ammo, so they tried to ration it. As he saw Spencer enter the room, he looked up at him. “We’ll leave here in five minutes.” he said, noticing that Spencer didn’t seem ready. “Where’s your bag?” he asked.

Spencer shrugged a bit, putting his hands in his pockets. “I’m gonna stay back and help Garcia clean her weapon.” It was a lame excuse, but it was better than nothing. He didn’t trust himself on the run; he couldn’t let someone else get hurt on his behalf.

“Couldn’t JJ help her with that?” Aaron asked. He trusted JJ on runs and knew that she was more than capable of handling herself, but he also didn’t want Spencer to hide from the things he didn’t want to face.

JJ came out of the other room and had an empty backpack on her back. “I’m gonna be helping you.” she said with a small smile. “I’m kind of going stir crazy in here, and Penelope is probably tired of me trying to mother her. I hope that’s alright.” she added, giving Aaron a knowing look.

He looked at her, then at Spencer, and then back at her. “Alright.” He said with a nod. “We’ll leave in five minutes.” He said before heading into the other room to let Penelope know that they were leaving.

“Sir, are you sure you two can’t just stay here a bit longer? I’m sure we could stretch our supplies a bit further.” Penelope said when he entered the room.

Aaron gave her a small smile and shook his head. “You know that’s not possible. The town isn’t that far from here, and we’ll be back before the sun sets.” He assured her.

“Yes, but that’s what you said last time, and you were all late. I don’t think I have another Mother Hen speech prepared just yet.” She said to him.

Aaron looked at her and smiled. “You won’t need a Mother Hen speech because we’re going to be back before sunset. We’re leaving earlier than we did on the last run, so we’ll cover more ground before we need to head back.” He informed her.

She nodded and gave him a tight hug. “You go out there and you get all of the supplies in the county so no one has to leave again.” She said. They both knew that task was impossible, but at least it relieved some tension.

Aaron returned the hug and nodded. “I plan on it.” He said and headed back into the other room.

Once they said goodbye to Spencer, JJ and Aaron headed out of the house and down the road towards the town. The walk there was quiet, minus directions being given or the occasional “Head’s up” when they saw one of the undead. When they finally got to the firehouse, they went inside and checked the place for weapons or supplies they could use. There were a few blankets, and a couple cans of food that were stowed away in one of the engines. They grabbed a few miscellaneous things that they could potentially use and headed out towards the diner. As they approached the building, JJ spoke up.

“It doesn’t look like anyone’s touched this place in a long time.” She looked into the windows of the diner and looked around a bit. “It looks clear in there, but I can’t see the back rooms.”

Aaron nodded, looking around the area. “There’s probably a back door, but anything could be back there. We’ll have a better chance if we enter through the front, that way we can have a clear way out if needed.”

She gave him a nod before opening the door. The two of them walked into the diner and looked around, not seeing anything, or hearing anything. They both split up to make sure that there wasn’t anyone or anything hiding behind the bar.

“Let’s get what we can in here, and then we’ll-.” he started to whisper before hearing a loud crash from the back of the diner.

She furrowed her brow, pulling her gun out and aiming it towards the kitchen. She barely had time to make a plan before a female voice came from the front door.

“Don’t move, either of you.” Jocelynn spoke, a large hunting knife in hand. “The gunshot will just draw more in. There’s a group of them in the back, my friends are clearing them out.” She explained.

Aaron held his gun, looking at JJ before nodding to her to tell her to keep her gun aimed towards the kitchen, just in case. “How many were there?” he asked softly, looking at Jocelynn.

“About five or six.” She replied. “Shouldn’t take long, but if they get brought this way, we’re going to have to fight back.” She had gone on runs before, but she hadn’t gone on a run where they ran into other people.

After a bit of noise coming from the kitchen, Rick and Michonne emerged from the doors, Rick aiming his gun at Aaron while Michonne held her sword in hand. Aaron aimed his gun at Rick, and JJ aimed hers at Michonne. Jocelynn looked at the windows to make sure the place was still clear before turning to the others again.

Rick narrowed his eyes, looking at the unfamiliar male and female. “Who are you?”

Aaron looked at the man aiming the gun at him. “I’m Aaron Hotchner, this is Jennifer Jareau. We used to work for the FBI in the Behavioral Analysis Unit. We’re not here to start a fight, we just came for supplies for our group.” He explained.

Rick looked at the Aaron, “FBI?” he questioned. The tone in his voice made it apparent that he didn’t quite believe the story this man was giving him. “How many are in your group?” he asked.

“There’s just four of us now. We had seven, but we lost three of them in a herd.” JJ spoke up before lowering her gun. “We’re out of supplies and just trying to find what we can. We aren’t trying to step on any toes or anything, we just want to provide for our group. I can imagine that’s what you three are here for too.”

Jocelynn looked at Rick and Michonne and then lowered her knife. “We are. I’m sorry that you two lost some of your group.” she said, looking at Rick and Aaron as they still aimed their guns at each other.

Rick looked at Aaron and nodded. “Don’t do anything stupid.” He said, putting his gun down. “I’m Rick, this is Michonne, and Jocelynn.” he said, watching as Aaron put his gun back into the back of his jeans.

“We really aren’t here to cause trouble, I’m sure if there’s anything here, we can split it evenly.” JJ spoke up. “Do you three have a group, or is it just you?” she asked, putting her gun into the holster.

Michonne looked at JJ and put her sword back into the holder. “We have a group. We’re on a supply run.” She said.

Rick looked at JJ and then Aaron before speaking. “How much do you have left? Food, water, ammo?” he asked them.

“Not enough, but we’re getting by.” Aaron said. “We only just got into the area a few days ago and this was our first stop.”  

Jocelynn looked at Rick and hesitated a moment before speaking up. “Well we’re all here for the same reason so we might as well get to looking. Someone should stand watch though while we check the back rooms.”

Rick cocked his head to the side at her suggestion, not entirely decided if he wanted to let these two out of his sight. “Michonne, you and Jocelynn can go check the back rooms with Jennifer. Aaron and I can stand watch up here.” He declared.

Aaron wasn’t eager to leave JJ outnumbered with two strangers, but he also didn’t know if he trusted that Rick wouldn’t do something rash either. “That’s fair.”

“We’ll see what we can find and bring it out here to split it.” JJ said.

She followed Michonne and Jocelynn before looking back at Aaron, giving him a look before heading into the back with the two strangers. She looked around and tried to find anything they could use, knowing that anything could be something. Michonne started to go through the cabinets and drawers while Jocelynn checked the supply closet and walk-in freezer. She knew there wouldn’t be much there, but she was taught to never leave a room unchecked.

“So do you have a camp?” Michonne asked as she searched through some of the rubble and other cabinets underneath the stoves.

JJ looked over at her and nodded. “We do. Well, it’s as much of a camp as it can be. We’re holed up in a house we found on our way to town.” She explained, finding a few old knives and a can opener. “What about you and your friends?”

“We have a place to stay.” she said, not wanting to give away too much. “Are you two really FBI agents?” she asked as she came upon an office that had a locked door.

“We were. We worked with the BAU, profiling serial killers and other criminals.” JJ said, standing up to look over at Jocelynn. “Any luck over there?”

She shrugged and let out a breath. “I found a couple of canned items, and some pots and pans. Maybe you could use the pots for boiling water.” She suggested. When she turned to look at the others, he saw the room that Michonne found. “If it’s locked, there might be something in there.”

Michonne nodded and looked at the door. “Are FBI agents trained to pick locks?” she asked, looking at JJ.

“I got it.” Jocelynn said and reached into her bag to get a bobby pin. “Hopefully this doesn’t go on my criminal record.” She half joked, starting to pick the lock.

“You’re safe.” JJ said with a small smile.

Once the door was opened, the three were hit with a strong odor, something like they hadn’t smelled before. In the chair behind the desk was a corpse, blood painted the wall behind it, and a note was left on the desk. Jocelynn groaned, putting her wrist over her nose to block the smell. She was used to seeing the dead walking, not like this. JJ furrowed her brow as she stepped closer to check the note.

“This man killed himself after running out of supplies.” she said, looking around. She pulled the chair back carefully before looking on the ground and seeing the gun. It was a bit dirty, but it would help them. She grabbed it and checked the chamber before nodding. “There’s only one bullet in the gun, but it could be useful to someone.” she said, looking up at Jocelynn and Michonne. “I think that’s all there is to find in here. If he ran out of supplies, there probably wouldn’t be anything else in this office.

The women didn’t think twice before leaving the room and heading towards the front of the diner. JJ followed them, shutting the door of the office before walking into the front of the diner, being met with looks from Aaron and Rick.

“Find anything?” Rick asked, folding his hands in front of him.

Jocelynn nodded, wiping her damp hands on her jeans. “Yeah, they have some pots for boiling water, a couple of cans and a gun.” She said.

Rick raised a brow, standing up a bit straighter. “A weapon?” he asked. It wasn’t usual to be so lucky to find a weapon these days, most had been looted by now.

Before he could get upset, JJ spoke up, showing him the weapon. “It looks like the owner barricaded himself in his office once he ran out of supplies and took his own life. The door wasn’t out in the open, so people probably didn’t think to check there. There’s one bullet in the chamber.”

Aaron nodded and put his bag on one of the tables before looking at Rick and Michonne. “I’m not sure of your situation, but we’ve all got guns and wouldn’t need another one. You’re more than welcome to take the gun back with you as a thank you for letting us take the supplies we could find, if we could keep the bullet.” One bullet was almost nothing in this world but it was a bullet just the same.

Rick nodded and looked at the gun JJ showed him. “That’s a fair trade I suppose.” He said. Their armory was pretty full back at Alexandria, so did they need an extra gun? “An extra gun goes a long way.” He said before handing the gun back to JJ.

She looked at him and took the gun carefully before putting it into her bag. “Thank you for this and the help. We really appreciate it, we haven’t had the best luck with the living.”

Aaron shook Rick’s hand and thanked him as well.

He nodded, returning the gesture. “Just stay safe out there and stick together.” He said and looked over at Jocelynn. “We should head back.”

She hesitated but nodded, looking at Jennifer and Aaron. “Good luck out there.” She said as she watched them get their bags together.

The five of them headed out of the diner and headed their separate ways. Jocelynn couldn’t help the nagging feeling she had that said to help them. Maybe their group would be a good addition, especially with FBI knowledge. The two groups made it a few yards away from each other before she looked up at Rick.

“Maybe we can take them in.” she said, almost too quickly to be understood.

He looked at her, his brows knitted together. “You come on a run and think that the first two strangers you see would be a good fit? We don’t know how many of them are out there.”

“There are four of them. They’ve got the skills and the knowledge of FBI training, plus they had every opportunity to take us out and they didn’t. So yeah, I think they would be a good fit.” she said.

Michonne looked at the two of them and frowned. “Who knows if they’re telling the truth about that, Joce?”

“We don’t know them, we don’t know anything about their group, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Michonne’s right, they could have just been lying about their numbers.” Rick said.

“You didn’t know anything about me when Glenn found me and brought me to Alexandria. I could have been lying about where I came from, and what happened. I’ve got a good feeling about this, Rick, and if I’m wrong, then I’ll deal with the consequences.” she said, not used to stepping up to him like this.

He looked at her for a moment before taking a deep breath. “We don’t know anything about their group.” He repeated.

She looked at him and shrugged. “Well then maybe, we can go back with them and find out who else is with them.” She suggested. “We’ll tell them that we’re making sure they get back alright.”

He clenched his jaw as he processed her suggestion. After a moment of silence, he spoke up. “We’ll meet the rest of the group, and check them out, but I’m not making any promises about taking them back with us.”

“All I’m asking is that you give them the same chance that Glenn gave me.” she said to him.

Blue eyes scanned over her features before he spoke again. “A chance.” He agreed.

She smiled and gave him a nod. “Thank you.” she said.

Rick, Michonne, and Jocelynn all headed towards Aaron and Jennifer, not really wanting to call them out and risk attracting walkers. When they caught up to them, Rick cleared his throat, causing Aaron and Jennifer to turn and look at them.

“We’d like to make sure you two get back to your camp safely.” Rick said to them.

Aaron looked at JJ and then at Rick, giving him a nod. “We’d appreciate that. Thank you all.” He said.

“The walkers are unpredictable, and herds can come out of nowhere. It’s better to have a bigger group with you.” Rick said as the five of them started to walk towards their camp.

“Walkers?” JJ said. “Is that what you call the undead ones?” she asked as they all walked.

Rick gave a nod. “That was the first word I heard to describe them, it just sort of stuck.”

“I guess it’s less of a mouthful than the undead ones.” she said with a small smile.

The five survivors continued their walk towards the house that the rest of Aaron’s group was in. They made small talk with each other, keeping their conversations a bit guarded with one another. Eventually, the conversation switched to directions and a few warnings of walkers that Michonne or Rick would take care of. Once they came upon the house, JJ spoke up.

“This is it. I’ll go in first and let Spence and Penelope know that we’ve got company.” She explained.

Rick nodded and stood out front with the others while JJ went inside for a moment. She poked her head out and waved them to come into the house. Rick went up first after Aaron, keeping Jocelynn between himself and Michonne. When they walked in, they saw the other two members of the group; a tall, lanky, young man and a shorter blonde woman with glasses. Both of them looked a little hesitant but seemed friendly enough.

“This is Rick, Michonne, and Jocelynn; they let us take what was at the diner and helped us get back.” Aaron explained. “This is Spencer Reid, and Penelope Garcia, they worked with us at the BAU.” He said, gesturing to the other members of the group.

Jocelynn and Michonne waved at Spencer and Penelope, earning waves and ‘hello’s’ from them.

Rick looked at the two new members and gave a nod. There really were only four of them, and they all seemed beaten down and tired. Jocelynn’s words rang through his mind about taking them back. Four more mouths to feed might be a bit tough, but four extra pairs of hands would help them. “How are you all on supplies?”

“We’re low; the pots will help us boil water, so we’ll have that, but we haven’t eaten much in weeks.” Aaron said. “We’ve been trying to find a good place to stay where we can get food and ammo, but we haven’t had much luck.”

Rick nodded and hesitated a moment before speaking up again. “How many walkers have you killed?” he asked.

The question came as a surprise to everyone, especially Jocelynn and Michonne. Whenever Rick broke out these three questions, it meant that he was considering taking someone back to Alexandria.

Aaron looked at Rick and gave a shrug. “Probably several hundred between the four of us, we’ve sort of lost count.”

The rest of them nodded in agreement, and Rick spoke again. “How many people have you killed?” he asked.

Aaron looked at Rick with narrowed eyes. “One.” Aaron said simply.

Rick looked at him and gave a nod. “Why?” he asked.

JJ looked at her hands and then looked up at Aaron before answering for him. “He and his friends were trying to take our supplies and had guns on one of our friends. There was no reasoning with them; he was going to take someone with him no matter what. Once he shot the leader, the others scattered.” David and Derek had taken out the others but they weren’t here to answer and JJ didn’t want to bring that up just yet.

Rick looked at her and then nodded, letting their answers rattle around in his brain a bit.

Jocelynn looked at him and then back at JJ before speaking up. “We’ve all had to do things that we wouldn’t normally do, make choices we wouldn’t normally make. It’s part of this new world. You’re all lucky that it only had to be one.” It probably wasn’t much comfort to them, but maybe it would help.

Rick looked at her and then at the other four. “We’ve got a place not too far from here. It’s guarded, it’s safe, and we’ve got food, water, supplies, everything. If you four are willing, we could take you back, get you patched up and fed, give you a place to sleep.” He said.

Jocelynn gave a small smile, glad that he was going to give these people a chance. They seemed like good people, and she hoped that her hunch was right.

Aaron nodded and looked at the others in his group before looking back at Rick. “That would be great. We really appreciate it, Rick. I know it’s not easy to trust new people but we’re grateful for the chance to prove ourselves.”

Rick nodded and looked over at Spencer and Penelope. “Are you two alright with that?”

They both nodded before Spencer spoke up. “It’ll be nice to sleep without keeping one eye open.”

Rick looked at JJ and nodded to her. “Jennifer?”

She smiled and nodded. “You had me at food, and please, call me JJ.” She said to him.

“Alright, well we’ll let you guys get packed up and then we can head out.” he said before heading out onto the porch with Michonne and Jocelynn.

Aaron, Spencer, Penelope and JJ all got their bags together, packing what little items they had. All of them were a bit suspicious of going with strangers, but if they wanted to harm them, they would have already. While they were all a bit cautious, they were also smart enough to know that they shouldn’t turn down such a great opportunity. None of them set off any profiler red flags either, so they knew there was a smaller chance of problems.

Jocelynn looked at Rick and smirked, leaning against the railing on the porch. “Thank you.” she said.

He looked up at her and shrugged. “For what?”

“Giving them a chance.” She said.

He nodded and looked out at the yard before looking back at her. “I can’t guarantee that the rest of the group will want to take them in, but we can at least keep them there for a couple days until they’re back on their feet.” He said softly.

She nodded and put her hands in her pockets. “I’ve got a good feeling about them.” She said simply.

He looked up at her and nodded with a small smile. “I hope you’re right.” He was glad that she was showing a bit more of a leader side to her, but he really did hope that she was right about this group.

After a moment of silence, the others joined them on the porch with their bags. The group of seven headed out and back towards Alexandria. Everyone had different things running through their minds on the quiet walk back, but the general feelings were nervousness and excitement. Jocelynn was glad to have some new people, and she was glad to help others. It also made her feel confident that Rick trusted her in making decisions like this. Maybe she could take up a bigger role in Alexandria after this. She convinced him to take them in, and maybe he could convince the rest of the group to take them in for good. Time could only tell, at this point.

[bruhstories]

flinch

summary: the hero gets the girl, only the girl is an mi13 agent with abandonment issues, and the hero is the shell of a man, his alter and a moon god OR how marc, steven and khonshu learn to work together while you more or less babysit them

pairing: marc spector x fem!reader x steven grant

warnings and content: heavily canon-divergent, swearing, alcohol consumption, mentions of self harm, angst, some fluff, violence? (people fight lol, both reader and marc are a tad too violent), fem!bodied reader

wc: ~5.8k

a/n: pete, eric, brian and dane are actual comic book characters, pete is the head of mi13, the others are blade, captain britain and black knight respectively. this is a self-indulgent mess, please forgive me.

blue for khonshu, green for steven.

The coins attached to your belt dangle and jingle with each undulating movement of your hips — left, right, up, down. You've always been fascinated by belly dancing, and it wasn't until you actually tried it that you realised just how incredibly difficult it is. Now you've got more respect for those in the dancing industry.

Still, the mission was simple — infiltrate the Cairo black market by posing as a dancer, obtain information about Ammit's tomb, arrest Arthur Harrow and save the world.

Oh, but it turns out to be far from simple.

There's a big crowd of men ogling at you tonight, and you scan the masses looking for suspicious people. But you nearly trip and fall when you see a huge shadow towering over a man wearing a baseball hat and a grey jacket. If that's not suspicious, you don't know what is.

You decide to get off the stage and dance through the crowd, your fingers gently ghosting over men's shoulders and chests. With each step, your hips lift and drop, you smile and laugh, and hypnotise everyone with the way your body moves.

As you get closer to the target, the silhouette becomes more of a mummy and less of a shadow. There's a bird skull instead of a head, and it holds a moon-shaped sceptre, and for a moment, the man catches you looking up and not at him. You quickly shift your eyes away from the humanoid, and your irises meet his — brown and full of rage.

You want to talk to him, want to ask him a million questions. But you can't do that unless you blow your cover, so you go to someone else before dancing your way back to the stage. The song ends, and fortunately, so does your performance, and you dash to the changing room to remove your bedlah, face veil and accessories. You don't have the time to take off your makeup, but change into more comfortable clothes, tie your hair up and exit through the back door.

The humanoid is gone, and you think the man is gone too, but you spot the black baseball hat and move through the crowd towards him. When you gently touch his shoulder and he turns around, you're disappointed to see that it's not the same man you're looking for. With a scoff, you leave and focus on your mission. It's only then when your phone vibrates, and you get a message from your boss.

Marc Spector. Find him and you'll find the tomb.

Attached is a picture of the very man you're looking for, so you text your boss back.

I just missed him. Any other lead?

You order yourself a drink — you can't deal with the paranormal sober — and wait for a text which comes quicker than you hoped. It's a picture of five dodgy looking men, all wearing the same shade of burgundy.

Harrow's men. Beat the information out of them.

Finally, some action.

You down your drink and exit the bar, asking people left and right if they've seen any of the men, and luck has it that someone knows them. Not wasting any time, you go to the market, and through the hundreds of people, you spot the five men. They look much bigger than in the picture, and you know for a fact they'll put up a fight, so you have your knife and gun close by.

As you rush through the masses, so is Marc Spector, and you catch a glimpse of him before he disappears in an alleyway. The thugs follow him, and you follow them, quiet as a mouse. Back leaning on the wall, you listen to the conversation.

"Where's Harrow?"

"Fuck you." You hear one of the men spit.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

You decide to use a knife, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to your location, but you hear a grunt and a groan, and you can't let Marc get his ass kicked. Emerging from behind the wall with your knife in its holster, you're surprised to see that it's not Marc who's getting his ass kicked, but one of the men. Still, five on one is unfair.

"Fellas, let's even the playing field." You distract them and Marc lands a powerful punch.

As one of the men runs towards you, you step aside and grab his arm, spinning him and throwing him into a wall before a second one grabs you from behind, rendering you unable to use your arms. So you use your legs instead, using the narrow alleyway to your advantage. You drag the man close enough to the wall and push yourself up, kicking your legs into a wall until you do a backflip, and the only thing the man can do is let go of you. He yells a beautiful 'fuck this bitch' in Arabic — thank god for the language lessons during your training — and leaps at you again.

Marc has his fair share of fighting, three on one is still bad, and the two of you end up cornered, back-to-back.

What a predicament. You hear a deep, mystical voice, and you look around to find its source. But you're the only one who looks around.

"Split up and meet me back here?" You suggest a tad too eager for action. These were the kinds of missions you wanted. The thrill, the chase, the satisfaction of getting every drop of information, through any means.

Marc nods, and with his approval, you kick one of the men in the chest and as he goes back flying, you avoid the punches from the other one, slipping through his fingers.

"Catch me if you can!" You taunt them and dash out of the alleyway and back into the marketplace. Luckily, they do chase you, and you're so grateful they do, because Marc couldn't have handled all five of them.

You run through the people and inside a building, and they follow close behind as you get to the rooftop. One of them pulls out a knife, and you pull out yours. He looks ridiculous, like he's trying to impress you with his knife skills, so you throw yours into his chest. He falls like a log and you look at the other one, having the audacity to shrug, as if you didn't mean for this to happen.

"So, where's Harrow?" You ask him, and he charges at you, but his movement is unpredictable, and he ends up slamming you into a wall. "Ow, motherfucker!" You headbutt him and as he goes back, snatches your sleeve and rips it. "Aw, man, I really liked this jacket."

You pull your gun out, because fuck this, you don't have time to play around, and aim it at the man.

"For the last time, where's Harrow?" You ask him, and he only sneers at you.

"Praised be Ammit." Is the only answer you get before he slits his own throat, blood gushing on your face and chest.

You don't even flinch. It's not the first time this happens.

*

You sit on a crate and wait for Marc, but you're fidgeting and tapping your hand on your knee impatiently. What if he got killed? What if you can't find Harrow and he releases Ammit?

The afternoon sun is blinding and scorching hot, but you can't take the coat you stole off of you because people might freak out when they see you covered in blood. You already did a poor job trying to wipe it off your face, specks of the red liquid dry and crusty on your cheeks and forehead. If anyone were to describe you now, they'd say you looked like a Picasso painting, but if Picasso was high and a mass murderer.

What if he doesn't want to meet you?

The intrusive thought drills into your brain with so much force you get up from the crate and pace up and down the alleyway.

You considered yourself an approachable person, although your coworkers might disagree, especially Eric and Brian, and new guy, Dane. Hell, maybe they're right, maybe your resting bitch face keeps people away. Maybe this is why you can't get a date. Not the fact that you work for the government's bloody paranormal department, definitely not.

Now is not the time to be thinking about your love life. You're done waiting, and you turn on your heels only to be met by Marc. And the mummy-thing. You practically stare at it, until Marc waves a hand in front of you.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." You lie through your teeth.

She can see me.

Marc glances behind him for a moment and you assure him that you're only checking to see if he's been followed. That seems to please both the man and his... demon?

"Right, who the hell are you?" He demands.

"Oh, pff, where are my manners? Y/N Y/L/N, MI13." You scramble to find your badge and show it to Marc.

"MI13?" He's puzzled, and it's understandable.

"UK's paranormal division. You must be Marc Spector." You extend your hand but he doesn't shake it.

"The government's involved in this?"

"I mean, I don't suppose you want Ammit to get out and wreak havoc. Speaking of which, did you get anything out of them?"

"No, they died before saying a word." Marc sighs.

"Bollocks!" You kick the crate you once sat on, breaking it, and Marc flinches. Is this what Layla saw whenever he got angry? "Son of a fucking bitch!" You punch the wall right next to his head, knuckles cracking and turning white. Is this how Layla felt? "Piece of shit human being!" Your final punch goes through the window of the abandoned building next to you, and as the tiny pieces of broken glass break the skin of your fist, Steven takes a step back. Is this how Layla reacted?

It doesn't matter anymore, Marc signed the divorce papers a long time ago. She moved on, and so did he, in his own way.

"Right," You inhale as much air as you can, "this is fine, everything's fine. Chillax, Y/N, it's not like the world is coming to an end. Again." You laugh a bit too hysterically, and Marc is seriously wondering if he's the crazy one.

I like this one.

"Thanks." You reply without a thought behind your eyes, and quickly put your hand over your mouth. Marc's eyes widen, something like this has never happened before.

"Wait, you can hear him?"

You sigh, hitting your back against the wall and slowly sliding down, until you can rest your chin on your knees.

"MI13 deals with everything supernatural. I can interact with things most people can't even see, that's why they recruited me."

So why the long face?

"Um, because it's all kinds of fucked up? Ghosts are real, you know? And they aren't pretty, ethereal and transparent." You explain as Marc sits down next to you, resting his elbow on his bent knee. "They’re corporeal, and sometimes horrifying. Stuff of nightmares."

"Right, but Khonshu isn't a ghost, he's a god."

"Should I bow?" You snort at your own joke, Khonshu doesn't find it amusing. "If it's not human, nor extraterrestrial, I can see it. Witches, werewolves, fuck it, once I saw a leprechaun."

He laughs. For the first time in a painstakingly long time, Marc Spector laughs. Maybe because he didn't expect to hear it, maybe it's the way you said it, but the fact of the matter is, he laughs.

"I'm bloody serious, mate." You don't abstain from chuckling. "Proper leprechaun, green suit and a pot of gold!"

Marc is physically wiping a tear from his eyes, his abdominal muscles hurting from all the laughter.

"Jesus, I don't remember the last time I laughed like this." He rests his back against the wall. When was the last time he even smiled? Because he's pretty sure he didn't smile at his own damn wedding.

"I'd love to give you a personal comedy show, but I gotta tell my boss I fucked up."

You both did.

"Excuse you? We both tried out best, thank you very much." You quip back at the god, but you don't really mean it. Khonshu knows. He likes you more than he'll admit. Once is enough.

You text Pete and let him know what happened. Khonshu watches you curiously. He's always been fascinated by human technology, and he already has a plan.

She's trouble.

"I know." Marc says and you turn to look at him.

"Sorry?"

"Nothing." His smile fades and is replaced by the scowl you are now familiar with.

You rip a piece of cloth from the cotton jacket and pick the shiny pieces of glasses from your knuckles. Thankfully, the cuts aren't deep, so the blood seeping from your wounds isn't flowing heavily. You're disappointed by the outcome of your chase, but you should've seen it coming — Harrow is literally leading a cult.

But then, your supernatural awareness becomes stronger, more intense, and after wrapping the cloth around your hand, you look up you see Khonshu waving his sceptre. He explains that where he's taking Marc, you cannot come. And then it all becomes dark, a full eclipse.

"Alright, 's alright. Just, be safe. Don't do anything reckless." You chew on your lower lip as some sort of stone entrance materialises in front of you.

"Me or him?" Marc scoffs as he approaches the entrance.

"Both." You shrug and wait. Again.

*

Time seems to move slower, like you're counting each speck of sand that falls in an hourglass, only the sand never stops, and the glass is opaque.

Part of you is glad that you didn't go with them, you deal with enough paranormal shit on a daily basis, and you didn't want to be meddling with the affairs of gods, not when they can literally smite you.

But part of you is desperate for action, especially after you've just gotten a taste of it with that chase. And you can't trust Marc to tell you everything that happen at that meeting — you're missing out on important details and it's frustrating.

Pete's not answering either, you stare at your phone with impatience and eagerness, but those two feelings drastically change when your intrusive thoughts appear in your mind again.

They don't need you.

Not true.

They don't want you.

Not true?

You're useless.

It's not true, none of those things are, but the pit in your stomach tells you otherwise, and the dam breaks, and the tears pooling at your eyes stream down your face. The people walking down the alleyway don't exactly bother to check up on you, and you don't expect them to, you're covered in blood, sweat and dirt.

You bawl your eyes out, weeping uncontrollably as your fear of abandonment only increases in your mind and soul, and you dig your fingernails into the flesh of your cheeks until you leave a trail of crescent moon-shaped wounds.

Pete knew about your mental faculties when he hired you — you underwent a few psychological tests — which is why he allowed you to befriend fellow agents , and offered you weekly therapy sessions, which you gladly accepted. How could he not hire you? You can literally talk to ghosts (and gods, apparently), and your supernatural awareness is exactly what he needed from you. But he never expected your powers to take such a toll on you, nor will you ever tell him. You cannot lose this job, and you cannot let Harrow win.

The wounds you inflicted to yourself begin to fade — you wouldn't have drawn blood — and your phone vibrates. Pete's text tells you of a billionaire who owns what might help you find Ammit's tomb.

I want to bring Marc with me.

You text back, and Pete agrees, arranging a meeting with the billionaire tonight. The ground shakes, the eclipse disappears, and in front of your very eyes, the same entrance as before materialises. Marc and Khonshu step out of it, and you eagerly get up from the ground.

"You're back!" You tell him them, voice going up an octave and if you were a dog, your tail would be wagging.

"You look like shit." Marc deadpans, immediately noticing your puffy red eyes.

"Periods, am I right?" You lie. "Anyway, we have a new lead!" You perk up and your face lights up. "Anton Mogart, billionaire, probably an art thief. Man's got a mini Cairo in his backyard." You show Marc the picture on your phone. "Pete says owns–"

Senfu's sarcophagus.

"Oh, I'm so glad I met you!" You flash Khonshu your best smile.

"So, what, do we go in there and steal it?" Marc catches a glimpse of Steven in the broken window on the ground.

It's a bloody sarcophagus, mate, where are you going to put it? Up your-

"Shut it."

"I didn't say anything?" You study Marc with a raised brow. This isn't the first time he says random words, and Khonshu didn't say anything either. So, whatever is going on, it's not supernatural, you can rule that one out. "Oh, shit, I'm still bleeding!" You completely forgot about your knuckles until now, when you notice how bloody the cloth around your hand is.

It's funny how much Marc can relate to you. In fact, he hasn't found anyone in the world who is so similar to him, yet so different. But he can't allow himself to develop feelings, not even platonic. He's got a debt to pay, and he just wants to go back home and drink.

Yet despite only meeting you now, he enjoys your company, enjoys your voice and your personality, he enjoys, well, you.

You tell Marc the plan, and you offer to bring him to your hotel to take a shower, but he refuses, promising to meet you at the docks instead. He is not one bit surprised when he sees you covered in blood under the coat, but he is surprised to see just how unfazed you are by it.

Just like him.

*

One thing your MI13 training couldn't get rid of was your fear of large bodies of water. You know how to swim, you need to, but whenever you ride a boat or a canoe, you nearly piss your pants. It's a beautiful view, truly, the way the sky reflects in the gentle waves, the fairy lights dangling above you as you hold onto the bench for dear life.

Talk to her.

Marc groans. It feels like a reply to something, but you don't know to what.

"Do you want to get over our story again?" You offer, and he nods.

"We're a married couple of archaeologists, we want to replicate Senfu's sarcophagus and bring the copy to the British Museum. I'm Rufino Estrada, you're Margaret Atwell."

"Perfect!" You smile. You've lived so many lives through this job, and you wouldn't have it any other way. Not now. Especially not now. You've only known him for half a day, but Marc awakens something in you, something you thought long gone, something you thought you lost.

"How well do you know Egyptian mythology?" The question catches him off guard. He wants to tell you that Steven knows a lot, but he's not entirely sure how to say it. He's not entirely sure of what's happening.

"I barely scratch the surface." Marc decides to answer. "You?"

"I didn't know Khonshu was the Egyptian moon god. No offence. But we're supposed to be archaeologists, we don't know shit about it." You laugh at how ridiculous this situation is.

He won't admit it, not even to himself, but Marc is mesmerised by how pretty you are, especially now, without the blood, dirt and smeared makeup on your face. And if he didn't know any better, he would think you're some kind of angel, when you're really the devil — tempting, cunning and oh, so beautiful.

"We'll figure something out."

*

Of course, things don't go according to plan. They never do, but you don't expect Harrow of all people to arrive at Mogart's estate and turn him against you so quickly. All the planning and pretending gone, in a matter of seconds. A battle ensues, and that's when you see what's really going on with Marc.

He summons a suit, clearly a gift from Khonshu, but at some point, it changes, it's different, like a completely new man, and it distracts you from taking the burnt map in the sarcophagus. It's only until the other suit comes back that you remember your goal, you snatch the map and exit the glass pyramid, only to be met by one of the guards who's putting up a fight.

Marc, on the other hand, has no problem beating half a dozen of Mogart's men, his prowess and strength increased by the suit. You get kicked in the abdomen and end up rolling on the grass, vulnerable and exposed to gunshots, so Marc swiftly comes to your aid, sheltering you from the bullets with his cloak.

It's magical, it's enchanting, and you would love to sit back and watch him fight, but you pull out your gun when the guards stop shooting, and skilfully shoot some of them as Marc covers you. He takes out the rest of the men with his moon-shaped knives, and lands one final blow to Mogart.

*

"Sooo, are we going to talk about what just happened? When your suit changed?" You squint at the pieces of cloth, trying to piece them back together.

Marc sighs, hands gripping the steering wheel tighter and tighter. Of course you had to notice that, you're a damn government agent. But what exactly can he say? That there's a little man living in his head, and he has his own life, his own thoughts, his own feelings?

"That was Steven." He replies, and it doesn't faze you a bit.

"Your alter?" You don't look at him when you ask, too frustrated with the map.

The question hits him like a train. You're not stupid, he figured that much out. You have done research, and encountered shit Marc can't even begin to imagine, so this is child's play for you.

"I guess." Marc parks the car on the side of the road. There's nothing but sand and a gust of wind surrounding the two of you, and a sky so beautiful that it takes your breath away.

You take the map, sellotape and your phone, and place them on the hood of the car, and he joins you to try and figure it out. It's an impossible task, and Marc grows visibly frustrated, hateful, even. When he punches the metal hood and leaves an indentation in it, you don't flinch, you just keep trying.

"Fuck!" He shouts, not at you, not at anyone, but you don't flinch.

When he kicks the rubber wheel of the car so hard it slightly moves, you don't flinch.

"Marc?" Your voice is saccharine, and he hasn't heard you speak so gently before. "How good is Steven with puzzles?"

No. He doesn't want to let him take control of the body. He's going to fuck everything up and get himself killed.

"Good." Marc admits. "But I can't let him out. I don't know if I can take the body back."

"It's worth a shot. Please, I can't go through another apocalypse." You beg, and your pleading seems to move him, because he rips the side mirror of the car, takes the map and sellotape and walks away.

I summon the suit, you summon the worm.

You look at Khonshu, wondering what the hell he's talking about, then look back at Marc. It's the same body, but different. He doesn't sit straight, he lacks confidence, he's shaking, but he's doing something. Slowly, you walk towards him, trying not to scare the man, because you don't know him and how he might react, so you just whisper his name as you crouch next to him.

"Oh, hi, hello, I'm Steven with a V." His smile is sweet, genuine.

"Hi, Steven with a V. I'm Y/N." You smile back, and you can't remember the last time your voice was this... calm. "It's alright if you can't do it, but I appreciate the help."

What the fuck are you doing? You're never this mild. You don't ask, you demand, you don't speak, you shout. You don't thank, you take. So, why is it that when Steven appeared, you changed, too? Is it because you're trying not to scare him? Do you just adapt to your surroundings like that?

"Done." Steven shows you the map, held together by the tape, and you're speechless. He did it!

"Holy shit, Steven, that's amazing!" You squeeze his arm, your other hand grazing over the map. You don't notice the blush that takes over his cheeks when you praise and hold him, so he just explains that it's an astronomical map, and that if you follow the constellations, it should get you to Ammit's tomb.

"The only problem is, well, the sky changed from 2.000 years ago, so unless we find someone who lived back then, we cannot track the location." Steven sighs.

I remember that night. I remember every night.

Khonshu walks up a hill, taking in the night sky, the moon and the stars, and Marc follows behind. You, on the other hand, take out your phone and start googling. It doesn't take long for you to find a website that replicates the ancient sky, and after some tapping and and swiping, you finally find the coordinates you were looking for.

"Alright, I found it." You tell them, and they turn on their heels to look at you.

Found what?

"The location." You shrug. "How else were we supposed to see the sky 2.000 years ago?"

Perhaps the two of you aren't so useless after all.

"Hey, you said you like me." You argue with an ancient god. Mark that one off your bucket list. "You alright, Steven?"

He nods, dipping his hands in the sand. He looks so fragile, so innocent, with the sand slipping through his fingers.

"I've always wanted to visit Egypt. But not like this." Steven's smile is bittersweet, and you can't help but feel bad for him being dragged in this mess.

"Hey, after we save the world maybe we can go for an ice-cream and visit the pyramids." You try to comfort him.

"I'd like that." He dusts the sand off his palms and heads to the car. "I suppose there's no chance for things to go back the way they were."

You shake your head.

"If it helps you feel any better, I thought the same thing when I started seeing ghosts. I guess I just got used to it." You get in the car, but this time you're driving.

"Marc mentioned that. What's it like?"

"Scary." You give him an honest answer, and again you wonder what is going on. Normally you'd play it cool, you'd joke about. Marc, or Steven, or whoever this man is, is trouble. It's like each of them brings out a different side of you. "I remember every single one." You start the engine and grip the steering wheel.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Steven is so genuine, it awakens something else, some kind of instinct, like you want to cherish and protect him.

"It's alright. Like I said, I'm used to it. Look, I don't want you to think I'm an asshole, but when we get to Ammit's tomb, I'm going to need Marc back." You admit.

Steven nods. He knows he's not as skilful as Marc, he can’t even kill in self-defence. Sure, he packed a punch in the suit, but he can't save the damn world.

"We'll do it together." You tell him, as if reading his mind. "All four of us. Try to get some sleep maybe?"

"No, Marc usually gets the body when I sleep. I'd like to stay like this until we get there, if it's alright with you."

"Yeah! Yeah, of course."

*

You've never questioned destiny before, just went with the flow, rolled with it, improvised. But meeting Marc and Steven feels natural, like you were always meant to meet them. The entire drive to Harrow's location he told you facts about Egypt, stories from work, how he discovered Khonshu and Marc, and made you laugh. You told him all kinds of crazy shit you encountered that made him feel much better, told him about MI13 and your friends there, even tried to recruit him.

You don't want the ride to end, you don't want to fight — which is surprising. You just want to stay in the car and talk to Steven, so it pains you when you ask him to bring Marc back. But Steven is a lot more rational than he shows, so he switches.

"What's the plan?" You ask Marc.

"Not dying." He gets out of the car and summons the suit, and it almost looks like it's shining in the full moonlight.

"Fair enough." You reach in the back seat and pull out a bag filled with guns and ammunition before exiting the car.

"I'll go uphill, you stay here." The hood and bandages on his face disappear, and he gives you a very condescending look.

"Ha, no the fuck I won't." You snort and watch him walk to your side of the car.

"Listen, they're dangerous-"

"I know, okay? It's my mission as much as it is yours." You scoff and clasp the holster belts around your waist, hips and thighs.

"You can't heal." Marc still argues with you.

"Yeah, no shit. It's in my job description that I may die." You check the guns for bullets and shove them in the holsters. Should you take knives? You never know.

"Fine. I'll go high, you go low." He gives up on trying to convince you. "Try not to die."

"A kiss for good luck?" You joke after arming yourself from head to toe. He's not laughing, and it's not like you expected him to.

Instead, Marc grabs your waist and pulls you closer to him before crushing his lips onto yours. It's a sloppy kiss, imperfect and ferocious, but it's absolutely electric, like molten lava coursing through your veins.

He never had any hopes of catching feelings, not when the fate of millions of people is at stake, but you hopped in his life like a fucking jackhammer and completely demolished all the thick and heavy walls he built.

The kiss softens, becomes gentle and delicate, and you breathe Steven into his lips, his nod only confirming your hunch.

You kiss him back without hesitation, and you're wondering if this broken man, if his severed personality, is what you've needed your whole life. Marc, to keep you alive, and Steven, to keep you sane.

Steven pulls away, and you notice the formal suit he's wearing, a chuckle escaping your lips.

"This is strange. I don't think any of us meant to switch." Is Steven's apology, but you press your index finger onto his lips.

"Ice-cream later, murder now."

"Right, of course." He nods, and Marc is back. "Can this get any weirder?"

"We'll have to survive to find out." You grin.

*

It was a long night and a long fight. Harrow had an army of followers shooting left, right and centre, and he nearly unsealed Ammit, but Khonshu stepped in, and so did other gods. You called Pete to arrest Harrow and his followers, which didn't stand well with the Moon God, but he reluctantly agreed, as long as Arthur couldn't be pardoned.

Tens of MI13 and MI6 agents drove to the dig site, arresting them and sending them to their respective countries for prosecution, and Pete allowed you to have the day off before going back to the UK, so, as promised, you took Steven out for an ice-cream. And a coffee. God, you need a coffee.

"Oh my goodness, this is delicious!" The scoops of lemon and raspberry ice-cream melt together in one orange-pinkish mess that trickles down Steven's fingers.

"It's the least I can do." You enjoy your two scoops of bubblegum and your cappuccino. "Thank you for everything, Steven, the map, the company, the kick in that guy's balls." He watches you like a puppy. "The kiss."

His cheeks burn, and it's not the noon sun.

"I really didn't mean to interfere."

"I like you. Both of you." You hide your smile behind the ice-cream cone, but Steven catches it and smiles back. "I know we've just met, but I don't know, you're an interesting man."

Ahem.

"You're not too bad either, old man." You laugh. "But I prefer my men human."

"Thanks for saving the day." Steven licks the ice-cream off his fingers. It's an innocent gesture, but it has your mind running wild.

"Like I said, you played an important part in this. Take the damn compliment." You urge him and he nods. "Hey, when we go back, do you think I can take you out on a date?"

Steven nearly chokes on his dessert. He missed a date because of Marc, and it took him a lot of time and patience to build his self-confidence back up, but here you are, asking him on a date.

"Me or Marc?" He pouts, his own intrusive thoughts getting the better of him.

"You. I expect Marc to ask me out himself." You tell him nonchalantly as you casually stir your drink.

It's strange, like some sort of polyamorous relationship, and he never once thought he'd find himself in this situation, but it works. It's natural.

"Yeah, alright. It's a date." Steven grins from ear to ear. "Oh, he wants to talk to you."

You nod and wait for Marc to take over the body, and there he is, scowl and all. He's not saying anything, just staring at the melting ice-cream. He doesn't want to eat it, he knows Steven likes it too much.

"Doesn't this weird you out?" Marc eventually asks.

"Should it?" You finish your dessert and wipe your hands with a tissue. "If you're fine with this, then I don't see a problem."

"I-" He's speechless, for the first time in a long time. Not because you're so open minded, but because he hasn't thought of Layla since he met you, since he saw you dancing on that stage, even if he couldn't see your face, he could see your eyes. And something about you had him hooked like a drug.

"Cat got your tongue?" You poke your tongue out at him and he just wants to ruin your mouth. It probably still tastes like bubblegum, and even if he hates that flavour, he hates you less.

"Fuck it. You like Chinese food?"

[cockdestroyer32]

some plans...

tangerine x fem!reader

word count: 2k

tags: SFW, bickering, violence, murder (they are assassins after all), tension, drinking, rivals to (not really) lovers

summary: after reluctantly teaming up in order to survive, you and tangerine disagree about what would be the best plan to use, leading to you having to save him.

authors note: I have a really specific taste in fics and couldn't find too many that fit those strict requirements so I just decided to write one and post it lol. english is not my first language so if some things aren't correct, I apologize. anyway I love this man so much I'm abt to repeat his name three times in the mirror at 3am to see if he shows up in my room cuz I need him

The bar area was washed by the neon green light descending from the ceiling. Due to the lack of people in the room, the compartment was mainly quiet, with only the sounds of distant passengers chatting and the speeding train to fulfill that tranquility. You stood in front of the bar countertop, one elbow leaning on it, supporting the weight of your body, impatient. When you got particularly bored, you took a sip of the champagne you gave yourself the liberty of pouring. You usually didn’t allow yourself to drink on the job, but due to recent circumstances, you decided alcohol was a much-needed aid. Tangerine was “recent circumstances” of course. 

You did not, in any way, plan on teaming up with each other, but when the briefcase ended up being stolen by a third party, you found your goals aligning and decided to join forces for better chances of survival. But you truly did not expect Tangerine to be this much of a pain in the ass. You had always chosen to work alone, having control over jobs and only worrying about yourself had always been important, which is why this was so hard. Plus the fact that Tangerine was just incredibly difficult. Mainly that. Now you waited for him to return so you could continue on your little mission, and hopefully get off this train in one piece. 

You finally saw the man walking in your direction, he approached you and leaned his elbow on the countertop, mirroring you.

“Six men. Two guarding the first door, two the middle, and two the last door.” He said, looking at the passing city in the window.

“And that’s not counting the guys in the surveillance compartment?”

“No, only two there.”

“Alright. I got the 6.” You take a sip of your champagne.

“Now hold on there, darlin’ I can get the 6 guys.”

“Okay, well, so can I.”

“Well no offense love, but I can get this done way fuckin’ quicker than you.” 

You sigh. Here we go.

“Then what is your plan exactly?”

“What’d ya mean a fuckin’ plan? What do I need a goddamn plan for? Just get in there and take them on.”

“Really? That’s your plan?”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” He took your glass of champagne, allowing himself to take a sip, much to your displeasure.

“No offense, Tangerine, but going into a fight guns blazing isn’t exactly a tactic that works with six people, no matter how skilled you think you are.”

“Well, what is your brilliant fuckin’ plan? Enlighten me.”

“When you’re dealing with six highly trained guards all at once, your best course of action is to play a little pretend game, be obnoxious and separate a few from the rest of the group, therefore improving your odds.” You explained like an increasingly frustrated teacher on their 5th attempt at schooling a young child.

He then set your glass of champagne back on the countertop and slid it over to your side, as if saying ‘Mine, now…yours.’ “Oh so you’re gonna do some bloody theatrics is that right?”

“Yes. And they’re much more likely to believe the desperate young woman rather than the ‘Oi, now that’s bloody brilliant innit’ dude.” You mocked his accent.

“I don’t fuckin’ sound like that.”

“Beg to differ.” You mutter into your glass of champagne.

“Listen, we can stay here all night discussing what’s the best tactic to use but we are on a time crunch, and unless you let me do my fuckin’ part neither one of us is leaving this goddamn train because our corpses will be too busy being shoved inside some fuckin’ suitcases by some braindead White Death lackey.” 

He’s not wrong, you could stay here arguing all night, but you know the fucker isn’t gonna back down and there is no time, so…this time he’s gonna be having it his way. You sigh, now leaning with both elbows on the bar countertop, facing away from Tangerine, giving him no reply. He notices this quiet surrender, which of course, amuses him thoroughly. “Don’t worry love,” He continued with a smile on display. You take yet another sip of your champagne, apparently smudging your red lipstick. “Some plans…” He brushes his thumb over the corner of your mouth, cleaning it. “…are just better than others.” Then gives you the biggest shit-eating grin you’ve ever seen in your life. This little shit.

-

You made your way to the surveillance compartment with determination and poise, holding the big champagne bottle you “borrowed” from the bar, which you grievously emptied in the sink. This was going to be over quickly, and hopefully so would Tangerine’s fight. You did not have time and the necessity for a dead Tangerine on this train, you could use all the help you could get, even if that help came in the form of an incredibly irritating man with a thick mustache and a somewhat funny British accent. You couldn’t fight the six men together in case one team decided to radio the other, if no one radioed back and they noticed something sketchy was going on, they could call for backup, the last thing you fucking needed. 

“Excuse me.” You calmly announced yourself to the soon-to-be-dead men in the compartment. The room wasn’t very big, with only a small desk and a few shelves to the back and left side of the room— understandable, given all they had to do was sit and watch the security camera footage of the different parts of the train, primarily the dividing compartment, the one Tangerine was soon to be in.

“Ma’am, you cannot be in this area.” The shorter one snapped. 

“Just give me one-second sir,” You requested, holding up your finger. You set the champagne bottle down on the floor to your left, and took off your low heels, setting them down neatly to your right. The men waited in confusion, most likely assuming you were just some drunk. You picked up the bottle with your right hand.

“Okay. Let’s go.” You launched the bottle on one of the man’s faces with as much force as you could muster, then ran to the second man, wrapping your legs around his head and leaning forward, dropping you both to the ground then punched the back of his head. You kick the ankle of the champagne-bottle-struck man who falls to his knees, then kick him again in his bleeding face, knocking him out. The man you were on top of pushes you off of him, leaving you lying face up, he gets a punch in, then proceeds to strangle you. You stick your fingers inside his eyeballs causing him to loosen his grip around your neck, you push him off of you, then roll your body on the ground positioning your legs so they’ll be next to his head, proceeding to strangle him with your thighs. You hold him in a tight grip until you hear his neck snap. 

You get up off the ground and analyze the two men. Champagne bottle man was knocked out, still very much alive, so you pick up one of the glass shards from the shattered drink and stab him in the heart. Good, you’re done. You brush off your pants, adjusting them, and the screen gets your attention. It’s Tangerine, and he’s getting his fucking ass kicked. Whenever he tried to get a punch in, someone else behind him managed to strike him first. You sigh. Bloody theatrics. Those bloody theatrics could have saved you from this trouble. The men then take him to a compartment right after theirs, forcing him to sit down. The men talked a bit amongst themselves, and left him, thankfully, alive. Two men stayed back in his compartment to watch him. That’s your cue to go save this damn stubborn man.

-

“Hello? Please, please help me!” You sobbed. I mean seriously, you were actually sobbing— tears were streaming down your face, your voice was cracking…you could win a fucking Emmy with just how good your goddamn performance was right now. This was about to be the best bloody theatrics Tangerine has ever seen in his life.

“Ma’am you can’t be in here!”

“Please, please help me I’m begging you! There’s an insane British man chasing me and I think he’s trying to kill me!” The, now four, men exchanged glances with each other, knowing exactly who you were talking about and wondering what the fuck they would do with you now. “Please! I think he’s coming and I really need help, please!” You wailed, getting louder, they’re going to have to help whether they want to or not.

“Okay! okay lady, we’re going to hide and protect you okay?” One of the men seethed.

“Thank you, thank you!” You cried some more. The man took you to a tiny bathroom next to the room you were in and shut the door.

“Alright ma’am, you’re gonna need to calm down a bit, then we’re going have to find another place you can hide in alright?” He stated, not even bothering to try and sound the least bit empathetic. Now expressionless, you turn to him, smudged black makeup under your eyes making you look even more deranged. His face drops and he doesn’t have time to react to the ceramic soap dispenser you strike him in the face with. It hits him with strength, so his head bounces back hitting the wall and he falls to the ground, causing a loud thud. You get his gun, which thankfully has a silencer.

“Hey! Is everything good in there?” Our number one out of three knocks on the door. You turn the handle slowly, then open the door as fast as possible, twirling Number One around and using him as a human shield. You shoot Number Two, then Number One who you throw in front of Three to block his view, when that’s done you also shoot him. You finish off the man in the bathroom before positioning your back against the wall, waiting for one of the men who were on Tangerine-watch to come out. When he does, you kick his knee, hit his head with the gun, then shoot him in the head. You hear Tangerine wrestle with the other man who was left with him. The fight quiets down, and you take a peek— Tangerine was, expectedly, the winner.

Now, you were the one with the shit-eating grin, not bothering to hide your smugness, and wearing your pride like a badge instead.

“Don’t fucking give me that look alright? If it wasn’t for the little shit hiding behind me every time I tried to make a move I would’ve won the fight.” He stated, seemingly trying to convince himself more than you. He was way more disheveled than the last time you saw him at the bar, his face sweaty and hair untidy, with wild curls falling in front of his face, much different than the slicked-back look he had beforehand.

“Mm, I don’t think so.”

“I’m a good fuckin’ fighter okay?”

“Oh I believe you, but like I said, it’s not about the fight, but the plan— my plan, which was better, and ended up saving your ass at the end of the day.” 

“Okay fine, yeah. Your plan was much better and we should have gone with it from fuckin’ the beginning, is that what you want me to say, love?”

“Thank you, and you’re welcome, now you know you should actually listen to me,” You slowly approached him. He stood with his hands on his hips, knowing he couldn’t give you any reply that would successfully defend him from this. “But hey, don’t worry about it, ‘cuz sometimes some plans…” You take another step towards him and tuck one of his loose curls behind his ear with your finger, tracing it down the side of his face, then letting it linger on his jawline. “…are just better than others.” You smile and give him two taps with the palm of your hand. Now you can both continue on your mission, and this time you’d do it with a smile on your face, knowing you proved Tangerine wrong. You are definitely not letting him forget about this. Ever.

[riley-macnally]

"You got it, sugar." He exhales something of a sigh as he reaches for his gun, prepping it for battle, so to speak. So much for a simple meeting, right? The speed in which the van was barrelling in said it all, these people were not here to talk. Waiting for Cole to step first, he puts the plan into action and moves around the left side. No hesitation, he shot at the tires and darted his eyes around, assessing the situation, the danger. Not to him, but to Cole.

The driver had the window down, but there was a guy in the back of the van that looked just out of Cole's viewpoint. Not taking any chances, he lifted his gun and shot him first, then aimed for the driver. Bang bang. Deadshot. Silence fell, blood began to pool, and the only man left seemed to be the passenger. Since Cole was handling him, Riley quickly moved to check out the inside of the van, wanting to be certain there wasn't anyone left breathing that could jump out and take a shot.

He wouldn't say he relaxed upon seeing nobody in there, this was a high-anxiety situation. Even if no more surprises happened, they still stood around a murder scene and honestly? The quicker they could wrap it up and get the hell outta there, the better he'd feel. Riley walks around to Cole, just in time to hear the guy spit out a bitter 'fuck you' in response. "You don't wanna talk? No use for you then." Calm and stoic, he moves close enough to press his gun to his forehead. Trusting that Cole knew him well enough to know he wasn't going to shoot, especially not when he'd given what Riley saw as an order - leave one alive to answer questions.

As expected, the male panicked, raising his hands in a plea for his life, but it wasn't enough. With a raised brow, Riley pulls the trigger back, as if he's not listening, as if he will shoot. But all he wanted was for the man to confess. From the outside, you'd never know that his heart was racing, his dad had taught him how to contain himself in dangerous situations - the same way Michael had taught Cole. There was no room for visible anxiety, fear or worry, all that had to be pushed down and far away from their expressions.

"We, -- shit, it was more money to gun you down than it was to cut a deal, ok? That was the deal, kill you," he looks at Cole, "and as many others as possible."

Riley lifts a brow, looking towards Cole. "Names," he presses the end of the gun harder into the man's forehead. "All of them, and maybe we'll show you a little mercy." A lie, but we digress, he only cared about finding out who wanted them dead bad enough to pay for it.

In all the years that he’d known Riley, Cole had learned what his silence meant. It meant he was taking it all in, seeing all the intricate, moving pieces and calculating them out on a level so deep that Cole didn’t even begin to try to understand it. Whatever he needed to know, he trusted Riley would tell him. After a while, he figured he’d learn to stop rambling on and just allow the silence to engulf them– Cole had always been more comfortable in the silence anyway. But tonight, he found himself carrying on, mostly because his mood had been lifted so much higher lately, and it had a way of bleeding into every aspect of his life, prompting a man who’d never been much for words to suddenly never have enough of them. But having known Riley for so long and having learned how to pick up on whenever he was so deep in thought, Cole knew how to take those cues, however subtle they were. So when the other man finally did speak, Cole only smiled softly, head bobbing in a knowing nod. “So I’ve heard,” that the full moon brought out all the freaks, that was. It made him wonder if there’d been a full moon that night out at Stargaze, because whatever he and Taliah had done under that hot July moon sure fit the bill.

Returning Riley’s grin, he nodded, figuring by now that it was almost a dead giveaway as to who he was talking about– especially for someone like Riley. “Yeah, it is,” he chuckled, sighing softly but it did little to dim the warm smile lighting up his features even in the dark. For the first time in a long time, Cole was finally on track to something good, or at least that was what he hoped. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have long to linger on the thought or what it all could mean for him and Taliah moving forward– the rapidly approaching van wouldn’t allow for it. Darting behind the pallet alongside Riley, Cole reached for his Beretta and racked the slide, shoving a round into the chamber. Glancing at the man beside him, he nodded, not seeing any other way besides the one he presented. He’d always valued Riley’s opinion– trusted it despite the way second guessing everything had always been in Cole’s nature. Never with Riley though. “A’right,” he agreed, “After ya take out the tires, lay down some fire and cover me– we gotta keep one asshole alive.” He figured his reasoning was obvious, but just in case it wasn’t, Cole shrugged a shoulder, his features twisting into a snarl, “I got questions.” Ones he wouldn’t leave here tonight without answers to.

Like they’d feared, it was worst case scenario– these assholes weren’t here to make a deal, they were here to make a statement. But unfortunately for them, Cole and Riley were like a well-oiled machine– it didn’t matter if they were outnumbered. They were so well in sync, the two of them alone might as well have been an army. It made sense, after all– they’d both had Michael and Dean showing them the way. As the van approached and the side door slid open, revealing a gunman, Cole stepped from behind the pallet, already putting Riley’s plan into motion. Without a second thought, he pulled the trigger, trusting that Riley would do the same. 

Watching as the van skidded to a wretched stop once the tires were rendered useless, he noted as two more figures emerged, but it was the guy in the passenger’s seat that Cole really wanted. That was the guy in charge, the one who’d orchestrated this entire bullshit takedown. Confident Riley would take out the driver– the man to the right– Cole charged forward, gunning for the man on the left once he stepped out into the moonlight.

“Piece of shit,” he muttered through gritted teeth as he raised his gun and fired off a round into the man’s knee. Once he toppled the slightest bit, Cole slipped his Beretta back into the waistband of his jeans and wasted no time tackling him the rest of the way. Pinning him down on the asphalt, he dealt a few stunning blows– the fighter in him could hardly resist the chance to. “That was really fuckin’ stupid,” he hissed under his breath, head shaking firmly, “Way I see it, ya got one kneecap left, so unless ya want me to blow it apart, I suggest ya start talkin’.” Though really, whatever the man currently pinned beneath him had to say wouldn’t matter– in the end, he was dead either way.

[ushittyoldman]

sweetheart like you

request.  hiii welcome! my brain is empty rn but some spike fics would be so amazing! i’ll probably be back when i have an idea but for now maybe just some first kiss with Spike and up until then they had just been flirting:)

pairing. spike x fem!reader

warning. language, mentions of s ex, & just a whole bunch of fluff

a/n. my first spike request eeeeee here u go anon! i hope u like it, it’s still taking me a while 2 pin down his characterization so i kinda just went w how i thought he’d b in a situation like this. nevertheless, i hope u like it thank u 4 this cute asf request (fun fact! spike always reminded me of bob dylan bc of his hair so this title came from a bob dylan song) 

"Found him,” you mumbled discreetly into your ear piece, your sunglasses sliding slightly down your nose.

“Attagirl,” you heard Spike’s smooth drawl through the ear piece, and you attempted to conceal the slight smile that had made its way to your face.

“Careful, Spike, looks like I’m doing your job for you,” you teased, still keeping a watchful eye on the slimy suspect who happened to hold a handsome bounty on his head.

“Can’t really complain when you look so much better doing it.”

“Just fuck already so I don’t have to hear this everyday!” Faye snapped, and this time you couldn’t help the soft blush that colored your cheeks. You tightened your jacket around yourself, attempting to alleviate some of the embarrassment you felt.

“It’s not like that—”

“You know you’re always welcome to join us, Faye,” Spike retaliated, and this time you couldn’t hold back your giggle. Had you turned around, you wouldn’t have missed Spike’s smile widening upon hearing the musical sound.

“I’d rather die.” Faye deadpanned, and you had to remind yourself that you couldn’t laugh too loudly due to the delicate position you were currently in.

“One day... just one day of peace and quiet. You think that’s a lot to ask for, Ein?” 

Silence followed Jet’s tired question, and you realized you’d have to once again step up and apologize on behalf of you three. You softly mumbled into the earpiece, “Sorry, Jet, remind me to buy you a new bonsai tree to make it up to you!”

You could hear the smile in his voice as he enthusiastically said your name. “Anyone ever tell you you’re an absolute sweetheart?”

“Once or twice.”

Before anyone could respond, movement from the corner of your eye caught your attention. The man you had been tailing had stood up from his seat on the couch, paying the stripper who had clung to him for the majority of the hour. You began to subtly gather your things and pay for your drink at the bar, preparing to follow him out of the club.

“He’s on the move,” you angled your head to your left, eyes searching for familiar brown eyes, “I’m gonna follow him.”

Once your eyes met Spike’s, an understanding passed between you two. He had been sitting on one of the couches towards the back of the dimly-lit room. His long legs were spread as his arm was casually draped over the top of the couch, and a cigarette loosely hung from his lips. His long hair was pulled back slightly, since it was styled to mimic the type of men who frequented the club, and you smiled at the memory of you and Faye attempting to tame his hair in the bathroom right before you three departed on the mission. Though he was attempting to pass off as a regular civilian enjoying the strip show, there was something about Spike that made him stand out from the rest of the crowd. Realizing you had probably spent an abnormal amount of time admiring him, you met his eyes again and decided to ignore the look of blatant amusement that so clearly danced within them.

You simply nodded once and you silently applauded yourself on being able to catch the subtle nod he gave you in response in the dimly-lit room. His lips quirked up slightly, and you somehow felt more reassured in your ability to pursue the criminal.

Gulping down the last of your drink just for that liquid confidence, you delicately placed the payment on the table, and adjusted your top as you followed the man out the door. As you left the strip club, you noticed the shadow of the man’s trench coat as he leisurely walked towards the darker side of the already extremely shady town. You inhaled sharply before wrapping your own coat around yourself tighter. Suddenly, the man took a sharp left turn into a narrow dark alleyway between two buildings with impossibly bright neon signs.

“He went down an alley— that’s gotta be a dead-end. It’s almost too easy!”

Spike quickly yelled out your name, an odd edge to his words. “No! We’re sticking to the plan.”

“But I can—”

“Spike’s right, it’s too risky,” Faye interrupted evenly, though her tone showcased her own concern at your irrational thinking.

Deciding to prove them wrong, you furrowed your eyebrows and tightened your grip on the concealed gun. You let out a soft exhale, your breath visible in the frosty night. You immediately turned the corner, prepared to take the man by surprise, yet you stilled in shock when you were suddenly slammed against the brick wall. You could faintly hear your sunglasses clatter on the ground. You saw stars the moment your head hit the wall, and you were almost positive you were dealing with a concussion. You internally grimaced at the earful you’d undoubtedly be receiving from Spike, Jet, and Faye.

“What do you think you’re doing, you sneaky little bitc— ooh,” he mockingly cooed, “You’re pretty.”

“Oh, for the love of—” you heard Spike groan in your earpiece, most likely realizing you deliberately disobeyed the plan.

The man’s rough hands began playing with your hair, and you tried your best not to cringe at the feeling. Briefly, you conceded that Faye and Jet may have been right when they voiced their concerns over you working alongside the bounty hunters on this mission. You were the Bebop’s resident medic, and you had an alarming lack of experience with guns and self-defense in general. The two facts paired with your intense hatred of harming people, and you were most definitely the least qualified person to be on this mission.

Momentarily, you wondered why you even pushed so hard to join your friends and leave the safety of the Bebop. You suddenly thought of Spike. Spike with his lazy smile, as he encouraged you to join them. Spike and his untamable hair as he taught you how to use a gun. Spike and his warm hands as he softly caressed your cheek the first and only time you had managed to take him down in your self-defense classes.

You groaned internally as the realization hit you harder than the concussion.

Stupid Spike.

Deciding not to succumb to death just as yet, you abruptly realized there was a technique that Spike had taught you for this very occasion. You groggily tried to remember the technique, and you urged yourself to remember quicker when the man began to trail his hands down your body. Belatedly, you realized your coat was now on the ground, drenched in the wet snow, and the unforgiving cold air was nipping at your exposed arms and legs.

“Gonna take you on a ride, girly,” he wickedly mumbled in your ear, and you tried your best not to flinch.

Through the cloudy haze of your brain, you managed to mimic Spike’s exact movements as you replayed the memory of his lean body demonstrating what to do. Lifting your knee to kick the suspect in his groin, you cringed as he let out a yell of pain. He bent over, and you took advantage of his momentary distraction by lifting yourself up and gracefully (you’d like to think) wrapping your thighs around his head, letting out a quiet grunt as you used all of your weight to flip the two of you over and onto the cold pavement. You shakily landed on your feet, but you heard a sickening crunch as the man’s face was the first to make contact with the concrete. The guilt almost bubbled to the surface, but you decided he was one of the few who deserved what he got.

You let out a quick huff as your ample chest heaved up and down with every breath. You could feel that your hair was a tousled mess, and your skirt had ridden up considerably. 

“Holy shit.” 

You looked up quickly and belatedly realized Spike had been standing there, casually leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. He had a small smile on his face, though there was also an uncharacteristic red tint to his angular face.

“Spike?” you breathed out. Despite his relaxed expression, you were momentarily worried that he would be annoyed with you not following the plan.

“Quite the little badass, aren’t you?” he responded, no heat and all fondness.

You took a step towards him, though you swayed slightly. You grimaced at the idea of your bare knees hitting pavement, but more so at the fact that you’d be embarrassing yourself in front of Spike. Your confusion grew when you realized that you were suddenly gently lifted in someone’s arms. Perplexed, you looked up and made eye contact with warm brown ones.

When did he catch me? you silently thought to yourself, and you figured the concussion was a lot more serious than you had previously thought.

“You with me?” Spike softly mumbled your name, and you noticed the concern clouding his eyes. You suddenly realized how close your faces were.

“Concussion,” you quickly responded and you internally slapped yourself at the stupid response, “I, uh. I have one.”

Spike’s face broke out into his typical shit-eating grin, and you felt yourself lighten at the familiar expression.

“You’re cute,” he casually spoke. Spike’s smile widened at the pretty blush that had colored your cheeks.

Just then, a particularly relentless gust of cold air blew through the ally, and you unknowingly shivered. You boldly cradled yourself further into Spike’s broad chest, and his smile dropped upon remembering your current situation.

“Faye,” he snapped into the earpiece as he angled his face slightly away from you, “thank you for taking your sweet time.”

“Pleasure’s all mine, jackass. I’m almost there.”

Your shivering worsened, as the cold air nipped at your exposed arms, legs, midriff, and cleavage. Softly shifting your body so that you were comfortably held up with his one arm, Spike quickly pulled off his jacket with his free arm, and moved you so that he could hold you with his other arm as he completely took off his jacket. You hadn’t noticed, mainly due to the softness of his almost imperceptible actions, and so you were completely surprised when you suddenly felt a warm blanket cover your entire body.

Your eyes snapped open when you realized that it smelled way too good to be a blanket. You looked down at the familiar navy blue jacket that dwarfed your entire body, and you looked up into amused brown eyes. 

His yellow shirt was casually rolled up at the sleeves, and the button-up was tightly fitted across his lean yet muscular figure. His arms flexed underneath your weight, and you relished in the feeling of his warm arms caressing the bare skin of your own legs and arms as he held you bridal style in the dark alley. Your stomach erupted into butterflies as the weight and intimacy of the situation set in. You were brought out of your thoughts when you realized he had caught you subtly checking him out again.

“Stop laughing at me,” you huffed as a wayward strand of your silky hair landed on your forehead.

“Why would I be laughing at you, pretty girl?” he mumbled, a smile dancing on his lips.

His lips.

They were so close to your own, and you were once again filled with the insatiable urge to kiss him. You blinked quickly at the thought. Your concussion must have been doing a real number on you.

Your internal confliction grew stronger with each passing second. A large, large part of you wanted to close the distance between you two and finally kiss Spike, consequences be damned. But the small, louder part of you was terrified. You were terrified of rejection, of your insecurities coming to light, of being just another meaningless fling to Spike. Your thoughts grew cloudier, and you were overtaken with the sudden urge to sleep.

Your eyes grew heavy, and your head began to loll against his broad chest. Noticing this, Spike’s smile dropped once again and he began to silently curse Faye and her damned time management skills. He hurriedly mumbled your name, his distress clearly evident in his deep voice.

“C’mon now don’t go falling asleep with a concussion,” he teased, and some of his worry for you was quelled when he heard your quiet, breathy laughter in response, “Careful, doc, looks like I’m doing your job for you.”

Your smile widened upon his teasing remark, mocking your words from earlier, and you rolled your eyes in response. “Smartass.”

“Never said otherwise.”

Once again, his lips were just the right distance from your own, and you felt an instant surge of confidence. You swallowed, and squashed every single worry and fear you had, reasoning that this was Spike, your Spike, and he wouldn’t hurt you. 

“There is... there is one thing you can do to help the concussion,” you shyly said, your cheeks burning brighter than the red neon sign that loomed over you two.

Spike’s eyes widened and his face turned serious and desperate as he nodded. “Tell me what you need, and I’ll do it.”

Butterflies erupted once again upon noticing how prepared he was to help you, and you smiled up in pure adoration at the tall man. Your eyes quickly darted to his lips then back up to those enchanting eyes. 

“You have to come closer.”

Spike blinked once. A second time. And then he smiled softly at you. Understanding flashed in his eyes, and you swore his cheeks held the faintest of blushes. He leaned in closer. 

“This close?” he knowingly teased, an encouraging lilt to his soft tone.

“Closer.” 

You swore you could feel your heart in your throat as it sporadically beat faster the closer he came. His face was now right in front of yours, and you nervously swallowed. You licked your lips, and he looked down at them, mesmerized with the action.

“How’s this?” he smiled up at you, his usual playful smile on his handsome face.

“Spike,” you half moaned and half whined, frustrated with having him so close, yet not being able to finally get what you want.

His breath hitched at the sweet sound of you moaning his name, and he couldn’t help it before he leaned in slowly and met your soft lips. You closed your eyes and relished in the ecstatic feeling. The kiss itself wasn’t very long, yet everything about it was already burned into your brain. Your lips molded against his for a few more seconds before you softly pulled away and let out a dreamy sigh.

Your nerves attempted to get the better of you, yet you surprisingly felt reassured in your feelings for Spike. You silently looked up at him, but he was already looking down at you with nothing but warmth and fondness on his face. He softly reached down and tucked the wayward strand of hair behind your ear, before softly caressing your cheek. You leaned your face into his warm palm as you closed your eyes once more, and he felt his heart ache sweetly.

“You really should get concussions more often,” Spike cheekily said.

“Shut up,” you responded as you closed your eyes again to nuzzle your face into his chest. There was no heat in your response, and Spike couldn’t help but silently admire you. 

He moved closer to you and gently kissed your forehead before straightening himself up. He tucked you closer into his chest and tightened his jacket around your figure.

Somehow, you weren’t as cold anymore.

“About damn time.”

Your eyes opened, and you mustered up as bright a smile as you could at your friend. 

“Faye!”

An unamused expression donned Spike’s face, and he turned around to pointedly glare at Faye. “I could say the same thing to you. What, you saw a mirror on your way here?”

Faye had restrained the suspect at this point, her heeled shoes digging into his back as a way to alleviate the anger she felt at the man for what he did to you. She looked up and genuinely smiled at Spike, adjusting her coat. 

“Jab all you want, Spike, but thanks to you, I won the little bet I had going on with Jet!”

Faye’s amusement grew when she saw your smile drop and Spike’s glare turn into a lofty smile almost simultaneously. You looked up at Spike, yet you flinched at the sudden movement, as the pounding in your head worsened. Concern washed over Spike, yet you shook your head in reassurance, before continuing. 

“Spike— the earpiece!”

“You just had to make a move now,” Spike mockingly chided, though you knew he wasn’t as bothered as you were.

“Concussion!” you reminded him, and he cooed at the pout you gave him as his gaze softened.

You gulped before guiltily mumbling Jet’s name. “…Jet?”

“Two bonsai trees, you hear me? You owe me two bonsai trees now.”

[reidgraygubler]

5 Times Aaron Hotchner Cares For You +1 Time You Care For Him

Title: 5 Times Hotchner Cares For You +1 Time You Care For Him

Request: kinda, not really

Couple: Aaron Hotchner/Reader

Category: Angst w/ the littlest bit of fluff

Content Warning: swearing (if any), several instances of injuries, assault, car accident, being sick (nothing serious, just a bad cold), gun violence (but no one actually getting shot), talks of near death experiences, canon consistent injuries (hotch's injuries from foyet), season 9 ep 5 spoilers/mentions, vague mentions of something bad happening to kids

Word Count: 5,601

Summary: the five times aaron hotchner takes care of you when you’re injured, plus the one time you take care of him when he’s injured.

A/N: this was writing for pom’s discord server fic swap! I was paired with the wonderful @ontheoddoccasioniwritestuff! I took a few of his favorite tropes and prompts he likes and came up with this! The first two instances there’s no relationship, but by the end it’s sort of an implied relationship. Also, I binged dharma and greg while writing this… So Hotch definitely has more of a domestic vibe in a few of the instances. thank you all so much for the support! i really do appreciate it. check out my masterlist!

{***}{***}{***}

One

It was a regular day. You stayed behind to help Aaron and Jennifer work over some cases. The extra pair of eyes would be nice, and maybe they’d be able to get home sooner rather than later. You knew it’d be a late-night no matter what. So you decided to work through your files quickly.

Although, you wished you’d slow it down a bit. You wished you slowed down after you moved a paper just the right way across your finger. A hiss came from your lips as you dropped the paper and file to the table.

“You alright?” Jennifer looked over at you as you stood up. Looking down at your fingers, liquid red came seeping from your finger. Your nose wrinkled as you looked at the injury. It took you a minute to realize what happened as you started at the minor injury across your finger.

“Papercut,” you winced as you looked between Jennifer and the cut on your finger. You brought your finger to your lips, sucking on the wound like a child would have done.

“I have bandaids in my office,” Aaron spoke, looking up from his file and right at you. You looked over at him, your finger still in your mouth. You felt a little weird staring at your boss and superior with your finger in your mouth. “Here, I’ll go get you one,” he looked up at you as he stood. You stared at him, watching him leave the conference room.

“I should go with him, right?” You asked, looking back at JJ. She looked up from her file and right at you.

“He offered you bandaids quicker than I could,” JJ laughed as she lowered her file to the table. You raised an eyebrow at her. “I’d go with him,” a smile grew on JJ’s lips as she looked back at her file.

“Right, I should,” you mumbled as you rushed to your feet. JJ grinned, watching as you rushed out of the room. You were quick as you rushed down the platform, going right to Aaron’s office.

“Unfortunately, I only have Batman bandaids. Is that alright?” Aaron looked up at you, holding a bandaid with Batman and Robin on it. You looked at him, feeling a small smile grow on your lips before nodding.

“Batman will work just fine,” you laughed as you met Aaron in the middle of his office.

“I don’t have anything to clean it with either. So you’ll just have to go to the bathroom. Next time I’ll be better prepared.” Aaron laughed as you took the band-aid from him and looked down at it. “Jack’s the one who picked the theme of the band-aids… Insisted that superheroes help heal all owies.” Aaron laughed again as he watched you examine the theme.

“Oh, no, really. Batman is perfectly fine," You spoke as you peeled the band-aid open and put it over your cut. “And, who said there would be a next time…?”

Two

You sat at the table, sweat pouring off you, while you somehow shivered like a leaf in the wind. You were simultaneously hot and cold, and you couldn’t stop your nose from running like a character in a Tom Hanks movie. You didn’t even realize Aaron was talking to you, everything he said to you went in one ear and out the other.

“Are you even listening to me?” Aaron stopped talking about the case and looked right at you. You looked up from the table and at him.

“Yeah, yeah you said something about…” Your words trailed off, just like any other thought you had at that moment.

“That’s not even close to what I said,” Aaron spoke as he stared at you. He placed the file he was holding on the table and stepped up to you. “Are you feeling fine?”

“I feel great, Aaron. Really. Let’s just get back to work so we can go home,” you rambled as you tried to hold down a cough. Aaron looked down at you as he placed the back of his hand on your forehead. To anyone on the outside, our relationship was strictly professional. But behind closed doors, you both had a pretty simple and normal relationship. It would have seemed weird only to the people in a work environment. But you were used to it and love that side of him.

“Nope, you’re going to the hotel. You’re burning up.” Aaron folded his arms over his chest as he stared at you.

“But I feel fine.” “You’re burning up.”

“But-”

“You’re going back to the hotel,” he spoke sternly, "Don’t even think about calling Garcia to spy on the case. Go back to the hotel, and get some rest.” Aaron looked down at you. You stared up at him, trying to hold back the sneeze or hold down the cough that was making you suffocate.

“I feel… I feel…” Unfortunately, you were cut off by a sneeze, then a cough, and then another sneeze, “Fine!” You tried not to shout, but at that point, you had never felt so… defeated. So you finally let your shoulders fall as you looked up at Aaron. “I’ll go back to the hotel,” you grumbled before grabbing your things.

“Call me if you need anything, please.” Aaron stared at you as you struggled to put your jacket on. He was quiet as he walked over to help you, grabbing a sleeve to your jacket and slipping it on you. You looked up at him with dewy eyes.

“Be safe out there, please,” you quietly pleaded. Aaron pressed his lips to your forehead, which he would regret because of how sweaty you were. You were happy it was just you and Aaron in the precinct, as all the other members of the team were at separate locations.

“Let me know when you get to the hotel.” Aaron walked beside you out to the parking lot. You looked up at him and nodded. “Get all the rest in the world, and drink plenty of fluids.” He looked down at you as he pulled the door open for you.

“Okay, Doctor Reid,” you scoffed and glared at him as you slipped into the car. Aaron returned the glare before pushing the door to the car shut.

The drive to the hotel was quiet, and thankfully pretty quick. You weren’t sure if you were happy to sit this case out. Sure it was nice to have a break from the stress. But you did enjoy being with the team and actually working.

When you finally got to the hotel, you were quick to change from your business-work attire and into your pajamas. You clicked the TV on and laid in bed. You weren’t sure when you drifted off, but you awoke to the door of your room clicking shut, and in a puddle of your own sweat.

“It’s just me,” Aaron spoke into the darkroom. You reached over and blindly turned the lamp on. Aaron was standing at the foot of the bed holding two paper bags in hand. “Sorry to wake you,” he whispered as he cringed. You assumed you looked like a mess as you sat up. You felt like one at least.

“It’s fine. It wasn’t restful anyway,” you sighed as you rubbed your face. It was an obvious lie too. You hadn’t slept that hard since before you started at the BAU. Aaron knew for a fact that you were sleeping pretty hard. The line of drool coming from your mouth, the exhausted look in your eyes, and the indentations in your skin from where the blankets were indicated just how hard you were sleeping.

“How are you feeling?” Aaron asked as he placed the bags on the table. You watched as he pulled out a bottle of orange juice, a box of popsicles, and a bowl of soup.

“Like I ran headfirst into a brick wall then hit by a semi-truck.” You spoke truthfully. Aaron raised an eyebrow as he walked over to you with the soup in one hand and the orange juice in another. “It’s probably a good thing I didn’t stay at the station with you.”

“Well there was a reason why I sent you back here,” Aaron laughed as he placed the two items on the nightstand beside you. “I also got you NyQuil and Ibuprofen. And, I can get you ice from the machine down the hall,” he continued as he sat beside you on the bed.

“You’re the best,” you whispered as you picked up the soup. “How’s the case going?”

“It’s going. There’s been another victim,” Aaron honestly answered. You frowned as you looked away from the soup and up at him.

“I wish there was something I could do to help.” And it was true. But there was a little bit of a lie in your words. You’d much rather stay in the hotel room wrapped up in blankets watching movies on your phone.

“You’re helping by staying here and getting rest. We don’t want Reid overreacting to you being with the rest of us,” Aaron laughed as he looked at you. You laughed and nodded.

“You’re right, you’re right,” you sighed and sat back in the bed, “You should get rest too. You’ll have an early morning….”

“Now… I’m the one who’s taking care of you,” Aaron scolded. You stared at him before blinking slowly. “I’m at least going to shower first. You better be asleep by the time I get out.”

“Can do, Sir… But only if you give me that bottle of NyQuil first.”

Three

“Get down!” You shouted as you looked at the victim. The little girl looked over at you with terror in her eyes. You looked at the little girl, then up at the unsub. “Let the girl go, and maybe we can talk about a deal,” You spoke softly as you lowered your gun. Your partner in crime and in life, Aaron, appeared by your side, his weapon still in hand.

“Get out of here,” the unsub muttered as he shoved the little girl towards you and Aaron. The little girl went right to Aaron’s arms, causing you to look over at him.

“Take her, I got this,” You whispered as you nodded to the girl. Aaron wanted to argue, but he knew it was useless. Aaron glanced at you one last time before lifting the girl up and leaving.

“Look, I’m putting my weapon away,” You looked back at the unsub as you holstered your gun. The unsub looked at you for a moment before tricking you. The way the unsub moved made you think he was going one way, when in reality he went the other.

Before you knew it, the unsub threw a fist at your face before shoving you up against the wall. If you weren’t sitting on the ground, you would have chased after him. But you were too busy recollecting yourself to bother. It was a shock and everything happened so quickly. So it was a relief when you heard Aaron’s booming voice renter the room.

“Stay down!” Aaron yelled as he looked down at the unsub. You sat against the wall, your hand over your eye where the unsub punched you. Aaron was quick as he put cuffs on the already down unsub. The way Aaron glanced over at you worried you a little bit. You could tell there was a tiny bit of worry in his eye. You two would have to wait till other members of the team showed up before anything would happen.

“I’m fine, Aaron,” you mumbled as you stumbled to your feet. Aaron glanced down at the unsub before going to you to help you to your feet. “I said I was fine,” you whisper once you were standing behind him.

“You go outside, and get yourself some help. I’ll be right behind you with him,” Aaron’s grip on your arm was tight as you stood. You glanced at Aaron with a raised brow.

“I’m fine, Aaron,”

“Just listen to me,” Aaron insisted as he guided you towards the door. You looked at Aaron and the unsub one last time before going outside.

The rest of the team was by your side, bringing you to an ambulance.

“Where’s Hotch,” Emily asked as one of the EMTs helped you. You graciously took the ice pack from the EMT and held it to your face.

“He said he’d be right behind me. Is the little girl okay?” You asked as you worried more about the little girl, rather than yourself. Emily gestured over to where the little girl was reunited with her family. A wave of relief washed over you once you saw the family back together.

Aaron was quick to your side when he was outside. You didn’t want to question why he took so long inside with the unsub. You were just happy he was back beside you.

“Bastard packed quite the punch,” you nervously chuckled as you looked to the ground. Aaron leaned against the ambulance rig before looking over at you.

“Next time I’m staying with the unsub,” Aaron muttered as he rested a hand on your shoulder. You looked up at him as you dropped your hand and ice pack from your face.

“You know, Aaron,” you started but let your words trail off with a chuckle.

“Are you going to finish that thought?” Aaron asked as he raised an eyebrow at you. You laughed again and shook your head.

“It’s no big deal that I got punched by an unsub. It wasn’t the first, and it most certainly won’t be the last time it’s happened,” You spoke softly as you tried to reassure your partner. Aaron breathed out a laugh and nodded.

Four

The unsub was cornered. Stuck between you, Aaron, and a brick wall with no way over it. You and the team had profiled everything about this guy perfectly. Or so you and Aaron had thought. You hoped there was an easy way for this to end. But you ended up being wrong when he raised his weapon in your direction. Aaron was doing everything he could to talk the unsub of the edge, to get him to lower his weapon. But it all ended up being for nothing.

For a brief moment, you weren’t entirely sure what had happened. All you knew was there was a loud bang, followed by a second bang, followed by you fell back to the ground. The wind was knocked right from your lungs, and breathing seemed to be a chore instead of a freewill thing. A sudden pain was in your chest, and sitting up was the furthest thing from your mind.

“Are you alright?” Aaron looked down at you with wide eyes.

“Am I dead?” You asked once you were able to take a deep breath. It was still a struggle for you. Aaron offered you a hand to help you sit up. You looked up at him before looking down at the bulletproof, kevlar vest. A bullet was lodged in the vest, saving your life.

“No, you aren’t.” Aaron helped you take the vest off. You sat back against the wall, the pain in your chest only growing.

“Are you sure?” You asked again, looking at Aaron with a small, but nervous, smile. Aaron returned the look with a raised brow, silently telling you now was no time for joking.

“You’ll have a bruise on your chest, but you should be fine. I would still get it checked out, just in case.” He added before helping you to your feet.

“Is he dead?” You looked down at the ground, your eyes instantly going to the cold body of your unsub. Aaron looked over at you with a crease in his brow and a solemn look in his eye.

“I couldn’t take any chances that he’d try to kill you. He’d already shot at you once.” Aaron explained once you had realized he’d killed the unsub. You understood why he did it, though. And frankly, you’d do the same if your places were swapped, you thought.

“Are the rest of the team and the police on their way?” You asked, already assuming the answer.

“Called them when you were down. Should be here at any minute.”

Five

“Are you alright?” Aaron asked as he looked over at you. The expression that he wore on his face was… exhausted and sad. You were sure you had the same expression, more on the sadder side. This last case was… a rough one to say the least. You tried not to think about the details of it, but all you could think about was Jack, and your nieces and nephews, and their safety. But it was hard when that was the only thing that occupied your mind on the ride home.

“No,” You muttered as you looked over at him. It was hard for you to hide the tears in your eyes. “I just wish there was more we could do,” You sighed deeply before bringing a hand to your face.

“We did everything we could do. You know that,” Aaron whispered as he looked over at you. You glanced at him, noting that he was still looking at you. “It’s always hard to know how things like this play out.” He added as he reached out to hold your hand. The grip he had on your hand was firm, tight enough to let you know he was there.

“No, no I know… It just… Sucks… I couldn’t even imagine being in the position as those parents.” You shivered with your words. Aaron glanced at you. You wiped your cheeks and shook your head. “Sometimes I wonder why I’m still even in this occupation. You ever wonder that?” You asked as you looked up at him. Aaron’s jaw steeled as he kept his eyes on the road. “Because, like… To me… I don’t know… With all the shit we see… Sometimes I’d rather just stay home with Jack,” You concluded with another sigh. That time Aaron looked over at you with a certain sadness in his eyes.

“I understand.” Aaron nodded. You weren’t sure about his tone. Though there was some honesty, at the same time you picked some uncertainty. You knew how long he’d been in the BAU, and you knew it’d be an even longer time before he left. He’s seen some shit. And, well, been through a lot of it as well. He’d fallen victim to a number of unsubs and lost more than one thing.

“You’re bad at this.” You stared at him as you pressed your head into the headrest. Aaron had a sad smile grow across his lips before glancing at you.

“I’m just a sounding board.”

“But… But you’re also my boss… And my partner… You should be more than a sounding board, Aaron.” You pointed out as you sat up a bit. “I might take some time off. This case really… It’s really affecting me in a bad way.”

“I’m sure Jack would love that. And Jessica,” Aaron laughed sadly as he glanced at you. “I’m always here for you. You know that. And if you feel like you have to take some time off, then I’ll be by your side then too.” He glanced over at you. You swallowed roughly before nodding.

“I’ll have to tell my boss when we get back to the office,” you laughed lightly. Aaron returned the laughter and shook his head.

“Don’t worry. He already knows.”

Plus One

When Aaron had gotten home from the hospital, you made it a point to take as much time as needed off so you could help him. Part of you thought everyone just assumed you were the one to go to Aaron’s apartment to help him. Of course, it was a fair assumption.

It was a rough scene when you arrived at Aaron’s apartment. It was a mess, but you partly expected that. It was more of a cluttered mess, with Jack’s toys and Aaron’s files strewn around the place. Maybe you’d help the pair out by cleaning up a little bit for them, too.

Jack was with his Aunt Jessica for the time being. He didn’t need to be exposed to the injuries and pain his father was going through. It wasn’t fair to the young boy. Jack had already gone through so much… What, with losing his mother, and nearly losing his father?

You quietly brought your go bag and backpack up the stairs and towards Aaron’s room. This wouldn’t be the first time you’ve spent the night at his house, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Although this time was different.

“What are you doing here?” Aaron asked as you entered his bedroom. You looked down at him with confusion and mild anger on your face.

“You… You had no one to take care of you,” You whispered as you looked at him. Aaron’s features softened slightly, but you could still see his own confusion and annoyance on his face. “What? With Jessica taking care of Jack, and the team off doing… team-y things… I figured I’d help,” you shrugged as you dropped your bags to the foot of Aaron’s bed.

“I don’t need anyone taking care of me. I can do it myself,” Aaron stubbornly refused your offer. Although it wasn’t an offer. You were determined to help him whether he wanted it or not.

“Don’t be silly, Aaron,” You crossed your arms over your chest as you stared at Aaron, “I’ll take care of you." You looked down at Aaron as he readjusted his position. You grimaced as Aaron winced from pain. You were quick to his side, trying to help. But it was clear Aaron didn’t want it. You’d be lying if you said his refusal hurt your heart.

“It’s rotten work,” Aaron said once he was finally in a comfortable position. You looked down at him, feeling your face fall slightly from a sudden sadness.

“Not to me… Not if it’s you,” You whispered softly before taking Aaron’s hand into yours. Aaron looked up at you, a certain pain in his eyes. You didn’t question it as you looked at him. “Please, Aaron… Let me help you… The team doesn’t need me right now. But you do,” You kept your voice low as you worried it’d crack.

Aaron looked back up at you, watching as tears fell from your eyes.

“I won’t be easy on you,” Aaron looked at you as he spoke. You smiled softly before nodding.

“That’s okay. I’ll help you. That’s why I’m here,” You nodded before you brought his hand to your lips. Your lips rested right on the back of Aaron’s hand as you stared at him. “Think of it as payback for all those times you’ve helped me. It’s only fair.”

{***}{***}{***}

Of course, you went into this thinking it’d be easy. You thought that Aaron would help you help him. The first day was easy. But the following days were rougher. You weren’t expecting Aaron to argue with you. It was a fight to try and convince him he needed help.

Like today, Aaron had to go to the bathroom. And when you went to help him, he fought. You loved him, that was why you were helping him. But he was beginning to test your limits.

“Please stop fighting me on this, Aaron. I know you know what’s best for you, and you know yourself better than I know you… But you have to take your medicine and get rest,” your voice wavered as you looked down at the man. Aaron looked up at you, a scowl on his face and a stone-cold glare in his eyes.

“I don’t need or want your help,” Aaron hissed as he pulled his arm from you. You stared at him, watching him wince as he adjusted the blanket over his legs.

“If that was the case then you would’ve pissed the bed,” you scoffed as you stared at him as you folded your arms across your chest. Aaron looked up at you, the hardness on his face softening a little bit. “I’ll be in the living room if you need me. But you made it very clear that you don’t.” You returned the glare before leaving his bedroom.

You quietly left the room, resigning to the living room where you had bedding set up on the couch. All of the belongings you had brought over were strewn across the coffee table. Various case files sat open, highlighters and pens sitting on them. They were files you were helping Aaron with so he wouldn’t fall behind workwise.

With a deep sigh, you sat on the couch, pulling a blanket around your body before you picked up a file. You worked in silence, but you were on high alert waiting for a call of help. But Aaron was stubborn, you knew there’d be no call.

You wished you could just help Aaron without the fight. It was exhausting for both you and Aaron. The days the team had off, a few of them would visit and help out with what they could. But Aaron still refused anyone’s help. You could tell that it was even frustrating for the team. And they could tell it was frustrating for you when you faked a smile as you exited Aaron’s room. You had nothing better to do than refuse their help when they offered.

You couldn’t help but let out deep, frustrated sighs as you continued to read over files. Some things didn’t make much sense, so when you needed help in that area, you would give a call to Emily or Penelope for the help. Thankfully they were able to quickly lend a hand.

Time was quick as it ticked by. You weren’t even sure what time you had started, but you knew it was late. Sleep would never find its way to you though. No you were too busy staying away, waiting for Aaron’s calls of help.

“You’re still working?” Aaron asked from behind you. That was when you finally looked up at the clock and saw that it was 3:30 in the morning. It was probably a good thing that Aaron came out at the time he did. You needed a long break, and some sleep.

You looked away from the file and over at Aaron. He stood a few feet away from the couch, his robe hanging off his frame as he stood. That reminded you that you really needed to change out of your day clothes and into your pajamas.

“Well when you’re the one who constantly works and you’re out sick… I’m the next best person since I know everything you do. So I figured…” You shrugged looking back down at the file on your lap and highlighter in hand. “And you wouldn’t let me help you.”

“That’s how you’re helping?” Aaron asked as he stepped around the couch to sit beside you. You looked up at him, watching him press a hand over his injuries.

“How else am I supposed to help?” you scoffed, looking over at Aaron again, “I mean, you know what’s best for you, Aaron. I’m just trying to help and follow what the doctors told you to do. You’re just too…” You let your words trail off, not finishing your thought. It wasn’t mean, you thought. But you didn’t want to take that chance.

“I…” Aaron started but failed when you cut him off.

“You almost died… Twice… All I want to do is help you. That’s all anyone wants to do, is help you.” Your voice broke off at the end. You had given up the fight. There was nothing left in you to keep going. So, you looked away from Aaron and tried to ignore the tears rolling down your cheeks.

Aaron silently reached out to hold your hand. You looked at him, your eyes wide as you stared.

“I’ve just never had help with…” Aaron’s words trailed off. You blinked slowly as you turned to face him more. You watched as he struggled to stand, and you could tell that he was trying to hide the real pain he was actually in.

“Come on.” He gently pulled your hand as he stood. You looked at him, your eyes wide and dewy. “The way you can help me is to lie in bed with me. You can keep working, or you can just lie beside me. That’s how you can help.”

“Aaron...”

“I don’t care what you have to say. You’re coming with me.” Aaron looked down at you with a furrowed brow. There was a certain softness to his features.

“Fine,” You whispered as you begrudgingly stood to your feet. Aaron looked over at you before taking the lead back into the bedroom. You were both quiet as you slipped into the bed.

“Will you rest now?” You looked over at him as he laid beside you. You were too focused on being annoyed and wanting to help him that you didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep. You didn’t know when, but he had also had an arm thrown over your body. Usually the roles were reversed. And you realized just how much you actually loved Aaron, even though he’s stubborn and hard-headed.

if you want to be a part of a taglist or have any comments about this one shot, let me know here

[shealolz]

HIGH ENOUGH - DABI/TODOROKI TOUYA

warnings & notes: branding skin, mild blood, swearing, guns, creampie

summary: dabi & y/n have seggs. it's that simple. or is it?

genre: smut/nsfw

Dabi/Todoroki Touya x Female League of Villains Member

word count: 2,483

----

your hand rested on Tomura's arm, the man's flaky skin shuddering beneath your feather-light touch.

it would've been an innocent gesture to everyone but you, Tomura, or him.

a light blush covered his cheeks as you stood behind him, maybe a little too close.

of course, nobody would see your hips rocking against his ass and the breathy hitched gasps from his mouth.

they were all too concerned with their own villain agendas.

and also maybe the fact that Dabi was literally smoking from his staples.

so maybe you were grinding on your boss who you were friends with benefits all the while being fucking his second in command.

nothing wrong with that, right?

"y/n-" Tomura hissed. "What do you think you're doing?"

"pleasuring you boss. why? do you wish for me to stop?" you whispered into his ear, chuckling lightly.

"during our biggest meet-up? yes, I do." Tomura said more steadily only for a whimper to leave his lips.

"aw. it seemed like you liked it." you pouted, detaching from his back to stand next to him. "guess I'm not good enough, huh?"

"what?" he asked like the idea was atrocious. "no, no- you're fine, your wonderful y/n but just not right now."

something swelled in your gut, a certain heat.

so you had a minor praise kink, nothing to be ashamed about.

you smirked and turned to face him. "then I hope you don't mind if maybe this weekend we could meet up."

a manicured grip wrapped around his wrist, your manicured grip.

"Yeah I don't mind just don't be earlier than ten." he sighed.

"good, now if you don't mind I have downfalls to plot." you breathe out, going to your given workspace as you tie the apron around your waist.

you head for your table, your nails tapping against the wood as you map out certain alleyways.

sure the heat in your gut that made your pussy pulse wouldn't leave, that was the whole reason you were trying to get into Tomura's pants, but you could deal.

you had worse anyway.

once some dude edged you on till you were about to orgasm then left you to fucking make eggs.

to put it simply after fingering yourself till you cummed you broke the relationship.

if it could be called one. the two of you really just fucked each other till you were tired.

nothing special.

two hands slammed down next to you and a body pressed against you.

the smell of ash infiltrated your nose.

"what the fuck did you think you were doing with Tomura? I thought you were mine." Dabi growled into your ear.

you smiled a bit and wiped your chalk-covered hands on your jeans. "I dont know what you're talking about." you feign innocence.

his hand grabs your jaw to turn to face him, metal biting into your skin.

"I'm not blind like the others. don't think I didn't see you grinding on his pathetic ass." he snarls.

you shrug. "What can I say? people who melt in my palms intrigue me."

"oh? I don't think I do that, princess." Dabi huffs, letting go of your jaw.

you look down at the chalky mess in front of you and let out a silent breath.

the staring and eye contact had gotten to you and your panties were growing wetter by the second.

"if anything your melting in my palms," Dabi mutters, grabbing your forearm and pulling you away.

"Where are we going now?" you prompt.

"you'll see," he replies shortly.

letting him sit you in his car your hands run over the leather.

sure the League wasn't driving around in Spinner's beat-up van now that the Paranormal Liberation Front was around but the car still never ceased to amaze you.

he climbed into the front seat and adjusted the gear stick and pulled out from the building's parking lot.

there was a gun tucked into his pants.

to avoid showing your curiosity you looked out the window.

"I can see your legs trembling." he sang lightly as he made a sharp turn.

"can you? why don't you fix that then?" you shot back.

"hm? did you want me to bend you over that table and shove my dick into you?" he chuckled, the wind rustling his hair.

"it'd be embarrassing but quicker." you hum.

"calm your tits dollface we'll be there soon."

he drove into a parking garage, one known for being empty.

Dabi didn't stop till he got to the roof of the garage then he parked the car.

unbuckling his seat belt he reclined his chair back a bit.

you shimmied out of your jeans, already preparing for what was about to come.

"I think you know what to do?" he acknowledged.

"yes, I do." you agreed, climbing over the mechanics of the car to sit in the area between the wheel and Dabi's sit.

removing the gun Dabi waved it in your face, making sure you knew it was there.

he wouldn't be merciless if he didn't like it.

from your view, he seemed majestic.

the black cloudy skin in the backdrop, rumbling with thunder, the blue lighting of the car, his spiked belt, and wind tousled hair.

so similar to a god.

one of death.

your life was in his hands.

slowly your hands undid the belt, moving it to the side where you previously sat.

you unbuttoned his pants, pulling them down to his feet to reveal plain black boxers.

Dabi's boner wasn't full-blown but it was still there.

it seemed he got pleasure from looking down on you.

you can let him have this one, you can be his plaything today.

fingers looping into the boxers you pulled them down along with his pants.

his cock seemed to jump out at you and you stared at it.

"it's big." you blinked.

"you're acting like you haven't seen it before." Dabi drawled.

your hands gripped his thighs, nails digging into surprisingly soft skin.

beads of blood rose and slipped under your fingernails.

your lips wrapped around the tip, your tongue slipping under and dragging against it.

Dabi rested his head back, his tense posture loosening greatly.

"fuck, I forgot how good you are." he groaned.

the two of you hadn't done anything major in a while, just a couple of heated make-outs nothing more.

with the war rising after all there wasn't a lot of time to do that kind of shit.

tongue wrapping around his dick one hand wrapped around the area connecting to his hips and pumped slowly.

another groan as Dabi's hand found its way in your hair.

"c'mon princess, you can do better. I know you can." he purred, lidded turquoise eyes gazing down at you.

you squinted at him but nodded and sucked on his dick harder.

you were into it after all.

teeth nipped at the slit slightly before pouty pink lips pressed a kiss to it.

you swallowed as you pulled back, a trail of saliva connecting your mouth and Dabi's dick.

letting yourself breathe a bit, you went back in.

his dick slammed against the back of your throat and you didn't mind.

the way his deep moans bubbled from his chest and his grip tightened in your hair were worth it.

choking slightly you sucked, bobbing your head back and forth.

his nails scratch against your scalp, tugging harshly.

without a warning Dabi orgasms, the creamy liquid flowing down your throat and into your stomach.

his semen is at the corner of your lips along with a shit ton of saliva when you pull back.

"asshole could've told me you were finishing." you glare up at him.

he smirks. "that would've ruined the fun of it."

rolling your eyes you push his seat back to recline fully.

"so you wanna be the dominant one now?" he prompts, placing his hands on your hips as your straddle him.

"not really, I just want your dick." you deadpan.

he chuckles and rubs at your hipbones. "Whatever you say, princess."

his dick was already out and hard, his jacket wasn't on in the first place so he was just in his oversized white button-up.

you only had your panties and your bra left so you were almost closed to a state of undressing.

looking up at him you then glanced at your pussy so he would get the hint.

"damn thought I could watch you masturbate, gotta do all the work myself huh?" he huffed.

his finger sneaked under your underwear till they were tugged down.

Dabi frowned. "this won't do."

his finger lights aflame and you blink at the new idea.

your underwear burn to ash and the blue flame goes back. "better."

swiftly you grip his hand.

he looks up at you with a raised eyebrow.

you lean forward so you two were eye to eye.

"turn on your quirk," you order, your hot breath ghosting over his cheeks.

"Oh?" he questions but his finger flames again.

you bring it closer to your inner thigh and you see his breath hitch as he sits up a bit.

"Are you sure?" he asks.

you nod steadily.

he lets out a breath and lays back down, the flame never flickering as you slowly let go.

his other hand grabbed at your thigh, squishing the soft skin between his hands as he starts to brand your other thigh.

your nails dig into the leather of the seats as you bite down on your lip, the metallic taste of blood soon entering your mouth.

a moan leaves your mouth though as your lips stain red.

though it was painful the joy you felt as you were marked as Dabi's made your heart swell.

why did you like the feeling so god damn much?

the flame disappears and you glance at your thigh.

'𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐘𝐀'

"T-Touya?" you stutter out as you pant heavily.

"my name, the birth one," he replies.

you smile at him and press a kiss to his lips which he reciprocates.

"well it's a beautiful one," you whisper against his lips.

you could hear the amused chuckle.

his hand sneaks onto your thigh and rubs at the burn lightly, gaining a whine.

slowly his hand creeps for your vagina and he massages the skin.

soft moans leave your voice box. "a-ah!"

his smirk widened as he adjusts you so his fingers are facing your vagina.

you lower yourself onto him as his fingers pushed through your folds and into you.

the steel of his staples is cold compared to the muscle inside you as Dabi shifts around.

a gasp leaves your lips as your hands gripped onto the leather seats tighter.

then your phone rang.

turquoise eyes looked at you curiously. "Answer it."

you swallow and pat around for your phone, finding it in the passenger's seat.

" 'COCK FACE' IS CALLING "

you press the answer button and place it against your ear.

"eh? y/n? you there?"

Hawks.

"y-yup," you say hesitantly.

"so, you wanna meet later tonight? maybe a couple of rounds?" Hawks suggests and you can hear the pure arrogance through the phone.

he was fucking high.

"why'd you only ever c-call me when your high?" you scoff, pausing briefly when Dabi thrusts his fingers into you rather roughly.

"high?" Hawks echoes only to be cut off when you hung up.

you threw the phone back into the passenger seat and attached your lips to Dabi's scarred neck.

"Who was that?" he groans out, his hips bucking up.

"Hawks," you reply as you bite into his shoulder.

he lets out a moan and turns his head to you.

"so you're just fucking everyone you meet?"

"only the attractive ones."

he snorts but wraps his arm around your waist to tug you closer as his fingers thrust into you harder.

Dabi's fingers move around in a scissoring motion, hitting both sides of you.

your teeth puncture his skin and his grip on you tightens as he pushes his fingers in deeper.

"p-please just f-fuck me!" you cry out.

"you think your ready, dollface?" he hums.

you nod vigorously, turning to face him with desperate eyes.

"if you insist."

he takes his hand out of you and his arm slides from your waist as he picks up his dick.

the boner was fucking big.

how the hell was that supposed to fit in you?

he flips your positions, you now on the bottom as your boobs bounce in their bra by the force.

Dabi lines his dick with your entrance before shoving it in you.

you grip onto his sides with shaky hands as he lets you adjust to his size.

while he waits his hands slide under your shirt and bra and begin to squeeze at your boobs.

"ngh." you mewl. "m-move."

"Your wish is my command." he teased but started to pull out before thrusting back in.

you gasped and your hips bucked forward only to be stopped by his other hand.

"patience love," he mumbles.

he rubbed at your nipple, squeezing your breast, and pressing down onto the skin.

eventually, he just lifted the whole shirt off you and began to suck at the skin all the while thrusting into you.

moans and gasps fell from your lips.

"ah!" "ngh." "h-huh!"

tears pricked at your eyes from the pleasure, it was too much.

your legs were trembling again, signaling a nearby orgasm as Dabi thrust in even harder, the sound of skin slapping against skin sounding through the car.

soon enough your orgasm squirted all over him and he finished into you.

as he pulled out he smiled when looking at your whole.

"d-did you have to cum inside?" you whine.

"what? the cum running out of you looks pretty." he shrugged as he pulled the seat back up.

your legs hit the floor and you sat there, watching the world spin for a second.

then you climbed back into the passenger's seat and began to put on your clothes.

when your shirt was halfway on something cold pressed against your temple.

the gun from earlier.

"did you not like it?" you ask, buttoning your blouse.

you weren't exactly afraid. if you were to die Shigaraki would probably get mad at Dabi and that'd be funny to watch from hell.

"Nah, I enjoyed it, just liked to watch you squirm." he puts the gun back into the glovebox.

he was already dressed, his pants and boxers were put back on and his belt was draped lazily over his hips.

the moon was out indicating you'd been gone for a while.

you licked at your lips as Dabi began to go down the ramps back onto the main street.

"tonight was surely interesting," you say dryly.

"When have things ever been uninteresting with me around?" he joked.

things with Dabi were nice.

even if it was just meaningless and bored sex.

[cloud9in]

You’re the only one who’s writing poppy x mc fics sooo, i have a request “ bea is a bad girl (like in a gang) in high school and also went jail couple of times for getting in trouble in high school senior year poppy was new transfer student and after 2 months bea join back school and met poppy bea and they just click yk like a connection slowly they started dating and in school everyone was shocked to see bea in a relationship ( bad girl and new girl) poppy is always worried about bea and few days before graduation bea got hurt really bad and poppy gives bea 2 options that she has to choose between her or her this (gang).. bea didn’t say anything to her so poppy left, after 2/3 years they met in college bea was a different person but so does poppy they become enemies (no one knows why they hate each other) one day they were arguing and poppy shout at her and says why you're back and bea put her hand on her cheek and smile and say i am here to win you back because i love you 😬

Promises (Poppy x MC)

Part 1/?

Can i just say I'm absolutely invested in this plot? You've got me hooked on my own story, as hectic as my life is, this is enjoyable to write. I hope you like it as well @iamsimpforpoppy

Word count: 1.8k (i got carried away)

“You know what to do Jackson, same old shit.”

“Yeah but it feels like a movie every damn time”, Bea responds confidently as she unbuckles her seatbelt. She sports a black mask with a yellow bandana, a vivacious color worn by only the Southside Spades, a notorious street gang who were known for robbery, and occasional blood.

Bea found herself wrapped up in the world of gangs when she turned sixteen. But before that the brunette would assist in transporting goods, also known as hardcore drugs. There was plenty enough to go around so Bea could indulge in any she wanted. Drugs didn’t give her the high she craved though, instead it was the thrilling game of cat and mouse with the cops.

Every now and then she’d get thrown in the slammer overnight. But this particular evening earns her one year in the NY State Penitentiary. See, the cops never gathered significant evidence to build a case against her, even though she was well aware of Detective Steinhelm who had some sick obsession with her. Following her everywhere, until Bea confronted her directly after noticing the same black sedan parked a street down from her house.

But she played the game right, and nothing ever led back to her. Until now.

“Where’s the money Bradley? I feel like I’ve been kissing your ass all week, the boss needs it now.”

A skinny blonde boy who looks like he had better days grunts in annoyance, “You’ll get your money...I’m just a little short right now.”

“Time’s up Ken doll, you know Carter will have your head for this.”

“Maybe he doesn’t have to know. Maybe this can be between us…”, Bradley strides carefully towards the blonde, a disturbing grin on his face which screams junkie. “Back the hell up now.”

Bea pulled her knife out with ease and pointed it towards him. She didn’t plan on actually using it. Murder was way out her budget for a simple money pickup but she knew that it would scare the boy easily. Except he kicked the blade out of her hold which prompted it to screech across the concrete before coming to a stop. Before Bea could think her fists reacted as she intercepted a punch that aimed straight for her jaw. She twists Bradley’s arm and he falls on his knees in pain. With his back to her, she kicks him down until he’s flat on his stomach.

“What is it exactly that you plan on doing now Bradley?” The blonde boy struggles under Bea’s foot but manages to reach around and slash at her ankle with a surprise shiv. Bea yelps in pain before kicking his head, rendering him unconscious.

“Stupid idiot. Had to make this harder than it should’ve been.”

Bea eventually finds the stash of money hidden under his mattress, an amateur hiding place at best. She congratulated herself for another job accomplished (kinda) and headed home. What the seventeen year old didn’t expect was the repulsive sound of a siren filling her ears as she stepped out onto her driveway. Her blood rushed to her head when she spotted Detective Steinhelm among the police officers surrounding her and retorts, “oh come on. I thought I told them about you harassing me. What do you want? Back here to strip search me again?”

The older woman only watches the blonde in eerie silence before smiling and gesturing to a police officer. “Beatriz Jackson you have the right to remain silent, anything you say or do can be used against you in a court of law-”

“What the actual fuck!” Bea yanks her arms out of the officers reach which initiates a struggle for dominance. This was nothing new to her, but it still felt sickening. Like she was some pet.

“You have the right to have a lawyer present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you if you so desire.” Detective Steinhelm finishes speaking and approaches the still scuffling blonde, “if you keep resisting I will tase you myself.”

Bea bites back the urge to headbutt the old hag right in her stupid face but she didn’t need any extra charges, for whatever the hell it was she was being charged for.

“Tell me why the fuck I am being arrested and I’ll calm down.”

That’s when Bea notices a familiar (bruised up) face from earlier. His smirk was enough to eat at her skin and she felt burning hot rage.

“Your blood was found at the scene of Mr. Denbroughs assault. You are being arrested in the case of second degree assault with intent to hurt someone with a deadly weapon.”

***

Bea only got one year in prison due to her kickass lawyer Ina Kingsley who played the minor card at every opportunity given. She also pointed out the fact that the knife wasn’t bloodstained, and Bradley never had any stab wounds so there is no proof the weapon was ever used against him. And it technically wasn’t. Good thing she didn’t bring a gun instead.

She did miss her 18th birthday though. And a few months of her senior year. But that’s what summer classes were for right?

All eyes were on the blonde when she returned, and whispers spread throughout the school about a certain new girl. Bea paid no mind to the fingers that pointed in her direction but the newcomer did manage to catch her attention, and pretty quick at that.

“Hey Jackson, how was solitary confinement?”

“I heard they make you use the bathroom right through the tiny food slot.”

Bea rolls her eyes and pelts a piece of not-so-fresh bread right at Ford’s head. The other people at the table join in on the laughter and Bea shakes her head and smiles, “it was Juvie you dumbass, and they made us sit in a circle together every Thursday like we were in an AA meeting.

“That’s jail for babies, goldilocks here wouldn’t last a minute in a real prison”, Carter joins them at the table with a cocky smirk, yet his eyes soften when landing on Bea. She shares a similar look with him knowing they’ll have a real conversation later. Because they definitely didn’t get to have that when Bea was getting dragged away to the police station in cuffs, and every event after that.

“It’s our girl’s first day out, we have to celebrate. And it’s not like she’s on probation...right Bea?”

“I do have a curfew, and I’m on juvenile probation so…when we partying?” The crew laughs as Bea shrugs. Her mother will deal with it. Zoey scoots in next to the blonde and wraps her arm around her shoulder in a side hug. “So glad to have you back Bea, and we are not risking you breaking parole so let’s just go to a sport’s bar tonight.”

Bea nods her head in agreement as the first warning bell goes off and everyone starts to clean up. Zoey taps on her arm and points towards one of the farther tables where a lone figure sits, wiping her hands with a napkin. All Bea saw were blonde tresses until she turned and they made brief eye contact.

“She’s the new girl, Poppy Min Sinclair. Rumor is she’s got a rich white daddy. You should totally invite her to the party.”

“And why would I do that?”

Zoey squints her eyes and leans in closer, her hands under chin in thought, “she seems like the broody type, you two would click.” She laughs at Bea’s comical expression but the blonde can’t bother to look in her direction, she’s way too wrapped up in what little the stranger a few tables away had to offer. She would sit on that thought, Bea was not one to shy away from anything.

***

The two became friends quicker than anyone could think.

One day after school, Poppy’s car wouldn’t start. It just didn’t comply. You would think she’d be poised and call her mechanic to come fix it, but instead the blonde slumped against the driver’s side window and let out a visibly frustrated, high-pitched yelp. Bea watched her pace around the car and even...kick?...the front bumper with her heels in efforts to wake it up.

“You know I may be wrong but I think that only makes it worse..” She approaches the helpless blonde with a small grin. Poppy’s persistence amazed her though, she’s never seen anyone determined to beat a car up. An expensive one at that.

“I hope you have some idea how to fix it, unless you’re here to waste my time and ask me on a date.”

Woah.

Okay that definitely threw Bea on a whim. She lets out a sharp laugh and bites her lips in amusement. She strolls towards the front of her car, holding Poppy’s gaze the whole way. She liked that the blonde didn’t avert her eyes. “And if I did? We couldn’t take your car of course, it’s obviously impaired.”

Poppy smiles and turns to look at Bea properly. She checks out every inch of her with no visible shame. An assessment so to say, and she likes what she sees.

“It’s your lucky day Poppy, I happen to know a thing or three about cars, and I desperately want to get this thing working so we can go on that date.” She winks playfully but god does she mean it. Bea silently prayed that the blonde wouldn’t take it the wrong way, but she knew she won when Poppy didn't protest, instead getting comfortable under some shade and holding her hand out, “the stage is all yours Jackson.”

***

“So what you’re trying to tell me is that I can’t jump over this obvious not-so-protected fence?”

“Judging by the sign right next to it that says...oh wow who would’ve thought, “DO NOT ENTER”, I don’t think so”, Poppy deadpans. It didn’t phase Bea of course because she was already halfway up the fence when the blonde turned away from the sign. The girl had a point to prove, maybe not a valid one, but still a point.

Poppy pinches her eyebrows in exasperation before looking back up to a nonchalant Bea swinging her legs from the top of the fence. She winks down at the blonde, “join me?”

Poppy didn’t expect to be climbing fences with a charismatic girl who had the same color hair as her when she moved schools, but she found herself embracing every moment of it. Although the trip up there was a struggle and some.

“I swear to god there’s a wire in my ass.”

“You’re being dramatic.”

“And we’re both going to end up in the hospital. Get. me. Down.”

Bea tries to hold in her laughter the whole way down but lets it loose when she sees Poppy still up there, partly hovering in the air. “Pops...I’ll catch you, don't worry. Climb down slowly.” She doesn’t. But Bea had her feet planted and ready because any moment with the sassy blonde was unpredictable.  And she loved it. Especially because she had Poppy engulfed in her arms and they were so close their noses touched.

Bea promised herself she’d kiss the girl next time.

***

“You’re...in a gang?”

Bea felt a clasp of cold air enter her lungs as she stared ahead. It wasn’t like she could hide it from Poppy. She has a reputation, and word has gotten around about the two getting close. This was just like that one time at the end of sophomore year where Bea met Kelly Hall, a beautiful girl with golden rimmed glasses. Unfortunately she only could imagine what could’ve been after whispers ended up right on the doorstep of Kelly’s parents, and she suddenly changed her number, and switched out of every class she had with Bea.

The blonde didn’t want to entertain the thought of Poppy doing the same, but this was a lifestyle she chose.

“I mean...how?”

Bea sighs and turns to look at her, “I fell into the wrong crowd. Or maybe it’s the right one because I never found a true home until I met them. They’re family, I wouldn’t expect you to get it though and I understand if you want to distance-”

“I of all people know what it’s like to not fit in Jackson. You’ve found people who make you feel safe. Maybe I don’t agree with the troubles that come with being in a gang but I don’t know the whole story.”

“Do you want to?”

Poppy wraps her arms around Bea’s and lays her head on her shoulder, “I want to know that you won’t get yourself hurt but I know that’s nearly impossible.”

Bea exhales slowly, not knowing what to say. She knew that this would upset Poppy but her acceptance meant more. She didn’t know what this would mean for the two of them, if there was a “them”, but she felt more encouraged to share more of her other life with the blonde.

“Just promise me one thing Jackson.”

“Yeah?”

Poppy’s voice comes out softer than expected, and Bea ingests every emotion that comes with it, “Promise me you won’t ever put yourself in a position where you have to choose between me or the gang.”

Bea finds her hand in the space where their thighs touched and latches onto it like a lifebuoy,

“I promise.”

***

“I just remembered something Poppy.”

“What, that you have half a brain cell? I thought that was established Jackson.”

Bea launches a pillow that (purposely) misses Poppy’s head by an inch. If she actually hit her and frizzed up her locks then she’d never hear, or see..or walk again.

“I’m being serious. I just remembered this too, we never went on that car date we talked about.”

Poppy squints her eyes in confusion, but was fully aware of what Bea was referring to. “You mean the first time we met?”

The blonde smiles to herself as she replayed that day in her head over and over again. She couldn’t decide if Bea’s openly flirty behavior is what drew her in or if it was her ability to fix any of her possessions with ease. And for free.

Bea pulls Poppy up by her hands until her back is against the lockers. Another perfect opportunity for the blonde to make do of that promise she made to herself, but something told her to wait just a bit longer. “So what do you say? Poppy Min Sinclair, will you go on a date with me?”

Poppy rolls her eyes playfully, pulling Bea in closer by the collar of her letterman, “now who’s being dramatic?”

“I didn’t hear a no”

“I think you know what the answer is.”

That night Zoey helped Bea prep for her first date with the girl that she could say she was almost in love with. The taller girl brushed some dust off of Bea’s jacket and planted her hands on her shoulders, “remember Jackson, give her the ride of her life. And I mean that in every way possible.”

Thanks Zoe.

Bea watched Poppy drive up in front of her house and something inside her mind couldn’t deny the pang her heart let out when she saw Poppy smile the way she did.

Bea took control of the driving and told Poppy to recline her seat and enjoy the ride, with her seatbelt on of course. Safe sacrifices. They cruised through an empty highway blasting Poppy’s spotify playlist named “Rich Bitch Songs” because that was their ideal perfect date. It’s amazing that the two could even come to an agreement, but here we are.

She watched the beautiful blonde sing her lungs out and couldn’t help but mirror her joy, taking her hands off the steering wheel. The pump of adrenaline prompts a new excitement in the air and Poppy wraps Bea into a secure hug, her hair flying wildly with the wind. Bea slows the car down but the rapid beating of her heart made it seem they were going 100 miles per second.

“I feel so alive Jackson.”

Bea stared at the girl in the passenger seat with a look that could only be described as love.

“You make me feel alive.”

Poppy kept talking and Bea found a way to focus on both the road and the blonde next to her. Because when you truly enjoy something, you’ll find a way to keep experiencing it. And Bea enjoyed hearing Poppy’s voice, she loved everything about her.

“I feel like kissing you.”

“Then what’s stopping you?”

“...Nothing. I should’ve done this a long time ago.”

They kiss when Bea pulls over.  A hot feeling consumes them like fire when their tongues collide and Bea plants her hands around Poppy’s hips, pushing her back into her seat until she’s on top. The windows easily start to fog up in reaction to the heat, and not once did they take their hands off each other.

Promise 1/2 kept

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

End Note: This chapter was to build their relationship, more angst incoming. BIG THANKS to @somewillwin for letting me use Jackson <3333

Taglist: @samanthadalton @somewillwin @clowneryme @baexpoppy @poppysmc @doey-eyes8 @veenast @straightlikewetspaghetti @phoennixxsblog @a-ghost-girl