#we got stuck in this one facility while trying to investigate it. had to break out. fight a shit ton of people

[salsflore]

had a very action movie-like dream with my classmates :) it felt very real. how nice it was to 'see' them again..

[lexwritess]

Taken [P.P]

Inspired by this tiktok

Pairings- Peter Parker x Avenger!Reader, Steve Rogers x platonic!reader, Steve Rogers x Daughter!Reader

warnings- abuse, abduction, fighting, mentions of blood, fighting, swearing, angst, scars

Word count: 2825

a/n: in this fic tony, nat, and steve are still alive and here. may is dead :( sorry it just fit in better like that.

Italics are translations

“Have you see anyone yet?” You hear Tony ask through your ear piece.

“No not yet...I’m going to peek behind this building.” You reply. You were currently on a mission with Tony, Wanda, Sam, Steve, and Peter. Steve and Tony usually don’t allow you and Peter do go on missions together because your first instinct is to always protect each other, and Tony knows how overprotective Peter is. But they decided that they needed both of your abilities to complete today’s mission.

“Okay be careful, you’re getting pretty close to the unit.” You hear Natasha.

You were investigating an old HYDRA unit. Even though HYDRA has been destroyed, you and the team think there are still people trying follow through with their plans.

You move from the Pilar you were hiding behind and just as you take the first footstep bullets start flying your way.

You use your powers and create a force field around your body as your eyes turn from Y/E/C to your signature neon green.

You created green energy orbs with your hands and shot them at the attackers.

“There’s people now guys. I’m west from the unit, lots more people are coming out so please hurry.” You breathe out.

They started getting close enough that you needed to go to hand-to-hand combat.

Two were coming at you at the same time. You gave one a swift punch to the head, your arm glowing green in the process giving you extra strength. The other one was coming behind you but before they could do anything you grabbed his arm and flipped him over your head.

More men started rushing towards you and you weren’t sure you could hold them off much longer.

“Guys there’s about 30 agents here now!” You say frantically into your mic.

“We’re coming, just hold them off a little longer you got this!” Steve encourages.

“Y/n, be careful please.” You hear Peter’s wavering voice.

“Don’t worry.” You pause ducking into a split from an agents hit, punching him in the nuts.

You flip back up from the ground and get back to a fight stance.

One comes at you shooting a gun. You quickly from a force shield and run towards the guy. You jump onto his back and climb up onto his shoulders. You make him spin around while his gun is firing, shooting all the men surrounding you.

You jump off his back and start firing your energy orbs wherever you can. The amount of agents surrounding you now is getting over whelming.

There’s about 6 men trying to fight you up close. Your trying to battle them out but some of them are laying some good hits on you.

You feel a sharp sting, you can quite identify what caused it. Just as you go to look, 4 of the agents have been knocked down.

You check your surrounds to see what caused the men to fall and see caps shield. You smile and let a breath out knowing you have a little extra help now.

“Thanks cap!” You shout over to him. He nods with a smile and runs over to you and starts fighting by your side.

“Where’s everyone else?” You ask while knocking an agent out.

“They’re coming. We got stuck at one of the buildings.” He replies knocking down one of the last agents. You know it won’t be the last one but you have some time to cool off for a while.

You nod and pace around, catching your breath. You look down and an agent lets out a groan and moves a little. You give him a quick kick and he’s out again.

“Hey did you see this?” You hear Steve ask.

You turn around and see him holding a used syringe.

You get nervous and start to think maybe they was the pinch you felt earlier while fighting.

“Steve check my neck and see if there’s anything.” You ask.

He walks over to you and tilts your head up to exam your neck.

“Shit...Y/N/N.” Steve sighs.

“Okay, it’s nothing to worry about Nothing’s happening.” You shrug.

“Yeah yet.” Steve turns away.

Steve is very protective over you. He’s basically your father. He found you hiding during the battle of New York. You had a pretty traumatic life. Getting abducted by HYDRA at the age of 4, getting powers due to the experiments, your parents dying, but hey now Captain America basically raised you and you’re an Avenger dating a boy with spider powers.

You look around once again and see more agents coming your way. You tap Steve and tell him to get ready.

In the other direction you see the rest of your team coming. Now you might actually be able to get into the unit.

Everyone has attackers swarming them you can barley see each other. You find it suspicious that they keep eyeing you though. But before you can finish your thought a pistol came to your head and you blacked out.

-

You woke up in an unfamiliar room. You’re surrounded by grey walls and strange tech equipment.

You groan out in pain. Your whole body aches and you can feel your head pounding.

You go to get up, but you’re body is restricted.

You look and see you’re body is tied up to the cold metal seat. You try to use your powers to break free, but you are left to see you’re powers aren’t working anymore.

“What the hell?” You mutter to yourself, wondering why and how your powers abruptly stopped working.

“Hello Miss Y/L/N...” A cold voice rang throughout your ears.

Your head shot up to see who it was. The man was tall with dark grey hair. He was wearing a suit and the other two people behind him were as well.

“Who are you?” You grunt out, struggling against your restraints. Damn maybe you shouldn’t of skipped out on training last week.

“Well if you must know, we are the remaining members of HYDRA. We and a couple more people have joined again to finally carry out our plans.” The one in the middle tells you. You assume he’s the leader.

“Why did you take me? Out of everyone else?” You ask them.

The man raises an eyebrow at you and then smirks. “You, dear Y/n, are one of the most important people on the team. They all care for you so deeply it’s disgusting. And quite frankly we aren’t finished with you.” The man hunches over so his eyes can meet yours.

You scrunch your nose up as he inches close to your face.

“You have something of ours.” The man tells you.

“I don’t have anything.” You say.

“Liar!” The man yells and strikes you in the face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” You shout at the man, blood trickling from your nose into your mouth.

The man scowls at you and says something in German. Another man walks over with a knife in his hand.

He was younger then the man, he looked to be about 30.

The men all discuss while glancing at you every couple seconds. You try to hear what they’re saying but it’s all German.

You glance around the room and see there’s a camera in the corner. The light is blinking so that means they’ve been recording your whole interaction.

The younger man kneels beside you and places the blade on your arm.

“Where is our Grün serum?” The man persists.

“I told you I don’t know what you’re talking about!” You cry.

“Tu es.” The gray hair man mumbles and you feel the blade sink into your skin.

You scream out in pain. The pain never resides, you wanted to see what he was carving but the sight of your mangled skin would freak you out even more.

“I didn’t take anything!” You weep.

You start yelling in agony again when the man starts carving on a new section of skin.

“PETER!” You scream out, maybe just a little bit of hope if he was still around he’d hear your screams.

-

At the Avengers compound

“PETER!” They hear your painful screams through the monitor.

Peter breaks into a sob. Hearing you yell for him and he’s not able to save you kills him.

“Shut it off I can’t watch anymore.” Steve says and looks away.

“I wish we could, but we need to see if they say anything.” Sam says trying to remain calm.

“Did you find the location yet?” Tony asks Natasha.

“Almost, five more minutes.” She responds.

The team looks at the monitor as the man comes to eye level with the camera.

“If you want your girl back you must surrender to us. For now she’s hydras property.”

And with that the monitor went static.

“I’m leaving.” Peter stands up.

“Kid you can’t leave. We gotta strategize first. You can’t leave without the team.” Tony demands.

“I don’t care!” Peter shouts.

“She is being tortured and she doesn’t have her powers! Without them she’s just a teenage girl, she’s going to die!” Peter grits his teeth in anger and starts to exit.

Wanda uses her powers and drags him back to his seat.

He huffs and slouches into his seat, tears brimming his eyes.

“Did you at least find where they’re keeping her?” Peter asks, his voice tired and raspy.

“No, I thought I was close but the coordinates are false.” Natasha replies, defeated.

“Then why are we here! I’m so tired of your stupid plans! We never follow them anyway. Y/n is going to die! Die! Do you not understand what that means?” Peter starts screaming and crying as the team starts rushing towards his side.

“Peter it’s okay, we’re going to find-.” Peter cuts Sam off.

“It’s not okay!” Peter’s voice cracks. “I keep losing everyone I care about. My parents, uncle Ben, and now May...I can’t lose Y/n.” Peter walks out of the room, he needs air.

“He’s not wrong Tony.” Steve says, the tears in his eyes threatening to spill.

“Go talk to him. Calm him down, I’ll figure something out.” Tony says and Steve exits.

Steve walks out to the balcony where Peter stands.

“Hey queens.” Steve says softly to Peter.

“Hey.” Peter says, his voice just above a whisper.

“Listen I know exactly how you feel. She’s my kid! I’m mean I know not actually but she might as well be...I want to get up and go after he just as much as you do. I don’t think they moved locations. I believe they’re still at the facility.” Steve explains.

Peter takes a glance at Steve. He nods his head, after cooling off he realizes there should probably be a plan. He still would rather leave though.

“So that’s exactly what we’re doing.” Steve stands up straight getting ready to go.

“W-what? Seriously?” Peter asks with wide eyes.

“Yeah, kid cmon get your suit on.” Steve motions for him to go and Peter immediately starts walking with him.

-

“Mr. Stark is going to kill me.” Peter breathes out.

Peter and Steve were in a car that Steve “borrowed.” He didn’t want to be tracked down.

“It’ll fine. He’ll understand...eventually.” Steve huffs.

“So what made you change your mind?” Peter breaks the silence.

Steve bites his lip while thinking.

“Y-you I guess.” Steve let’s put a breathy laugh.

“Seeing how determined you were just reminded me I can’t just sit here. I’ve never been on to just sit and wait. And this weekends Father’s Day... I would always make sure she’s happy that day because I know how it can be not having your dad.”Steve pauses.

“You can join to of you want.” Steve smiles.

“O-okay yeah.” Peter smiles back, but on the inside he wants to cry, he’s never had someone offer him something like that before.

-

At The HYDRA Unit

You feel awful. Your whole body aches, your skin burns, you can feel the cuts on your arms are infected.

Looking down at your arm you see the man carved “HYDRAS PROPERTY.”

You feel dirty, you’re tired, and maybe even getting sick. You don’t know what they injected you with or what they’re planing to do but it’s really taking a toll on your mental and physical health. The abuse doesn’t make what’s going on in your body any better.

“I just want to go home.” You cry out, your voice broken.

“You can’t...you are the final step.” The man gets inches away from your face.

You get fed up and spit in his face.

“Curva dracului! Damn you whore!”The man shouts and cracks you across the face.

Maybe you shouldn’t of done that, but damn it was worth it.

You can’t help but laugh. You’re used to the beatings and you’re delirious at this point

“You think this is funny?” The man sneers at you.

“Hilarious.” You reply.

Before the man can do anything, a loud crash was heard.

The man glared at you before running towards the source of the noise.

A couple seconds later you hear bangs and grunts, you’re assuming it’s a fight.

A little bit of you hopes it’s Peter.

You see a man blasted across the wall and a red-suited figure follow.

“Spider-Man!” You say with the the first genuine smile in a long time.

“Hold on Y/n I’ll be right there!” Peter shouts and webs up another agent.

Peter comes over and unties you. Once your finally free you pull Peter into a bone crushing embrace.

“I missed you so much.” You mumble against his chest.

“I missed you.” He says while caressing your head.

“Cmon guys we gotta go before anyone else comes after us.” Steve urges.

Peter picks you up and runs back outside towards the car.

“Okay go!” Peter tells Steve.

“Seatbelts.” Steve says.

“There’s people literally shooting at us and you’re waiting till we put our seatbelts on?” Peter complains.

Steve doesn’t say anything and Peter rolls his eyes.

“Alright there go!” Peter yells.

And with that Steve slams on the gas and leaves the facility.

-

“I know I’ve already asked you this but are you sure you’re okay?” Peter asks you. It’s been a week since your rescue and he’s still treating you like your glass.

“Yes Peter I’m perfect.” You smile and kiss him sweetly.

Bruce and Tony worked together so you finally got your powers back.

You feel a lot better now that you’re back home with everyone you love, but you can’t help me bothered by the scaring of HYDRAS PROPERTY on your arm. Will you actually always be apart of them?

“Y/n, I know somethings on your mind...what’s up?” Peter asks concerned.

“Nothing...just look.” You pull your sleeve up and show him the healing scars.

“Baby listen to me...you’re not apart of them. You’re apart of the avengers and they can’t control you anymore. I won’t let them get you ever again i promise.” Peter pulls you into his warm embrace.

“Thank you so much Peter...I love you.” You whisper.

“You love me?” Peter whispers back.

“Yeah I do, I love you a lot Pete.” You smile.

“I love you too, Y/n.” Peter smiles back and kisses you passionately.

You giggle and pull away.

“Alright let’s focus on today.” You say.

“Do you think Steve will be happy about his gift?” You question Peter.

It’s Father’s Day and since Steve has always treated you like his own daughter, you got adoption papers to make it official.

“Of course! He’s going to love it!” Peter reassures you.

-

“Hey Steve!” You walk into the living room where him Natasha, and Bucky are sitting.

“Hey Y/N/N, are you and Peter ready for lunch?” He asks you while patting a seat beside him for you to sit.

“Yeah we’re ready, but before we go I got you a gift actually.” You smile.

“You didn’t have to get me a gift.” Steve smiles back.

“Well I did so here.” You let out a shaky breath and handed him the papers.

“If you want, I got the adoption papers so you could legally be my guardian. I know it’s a little difficult when I get into trouble at school and they need to see my ‘parent’ and you always the one that comes. You’re the one that’s always there when I need a parental figure, so thank you. Happy Father’s Day, Steve. I love you.”

“Y/n...” Steve pauses which kind of scared you.

“Of course I’ll be your dad. What do I have to do! Just sign?” Steve says with the biggest grin.

“Yeah, yeah just right there and it’ll be official.”

Steve signs the paper and stands up.

“Alright celebratory lunch! C’mon official daughter. And Peter you come too.” Steve grabs you and Peters arms as you walk out the door.

-

*Bonus*

“Nat, are you...are you crying?” Bucky asks Natasha.

“It was a sweet moment! If you ever tell anyone I’ll kill you.”

-

Tag list

@bubblicious-trashcan

@caswinchester2000

[stormkrigeren]

Whumptober Day 1!

Link to the Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34210837/chapters/85120435

Title: Bound - Lois

Prompt: No. 1 ‘All Trussed Up And Still Nowhere To Go’ - “You have to let go”, barbed wire, bound

Word Count: 2475

Lois preferred rope over handcuffs, and duct tape over rope. Duct tape was best because it was surprisingly easy to break, but she was rarely lucky enough to be tied up with it. Lois could tell that today wasn’t her lucky day the moment the goon wrapped a length of plastic boating rope around her wrists and yanked it tight.

She loved her job. The title of ‘investigative reporter’ practically gave her a free pass to be as nosy as she liked (and Lois was admittedly quite nosy) while also revealing the truth on a variety of issues, affairs, and dealings. No one would blink twice if she walked into a warzone or gang territory or some crooked mogul’s office with a pen handy and far too many questions in her head, and no one was surprised when her life was threatened only for her to diffuse the situation a few minutes later. That was just how Lois worked, and she loved it.

The one and only issue with her job was the fact that if her life wasn’t being threatened, her freedom probably was. Sometimes it would just be a threat to get her so discredited that no one would ever publish her works again, removing her freedom of speech, but Lois was good at her job and no one ever found anything to discredit her on. So more often than not whatever fraudulent idiot she had revealed that day would instead tie her up and leave her in a warehouse somewhere until either the police or her boss showed up with a ransom because investigative reporters, especially ones named Lois Lane, were surprisingly valuable (the highest number she’d ever heard was close to a million, which of course didn’t pan out, but it was interesting to think about).

Today had started out pretty normally - Lois had woken up, gotten ready for the day, and taken the subway to work like she usually did. Upon arriving at the Daily Planet’s Head Offices in the Upper East Side of the city, she had clocked in and gotten to her desk with the intention of kicking off the work day with a little bit of research and note-taking in preparation for her interview with some S.T.A.R Labs higher-ups that afternoon. The company had received a contract from the Department of Defense to investigate and research the Kryptonian scout ship that had crashed in downtown Metropolis and was now in government custody. Any Kryptonian 'artifacts’ found in or around the ship were catalogued by S.T.A.R Labs before being transferred to various labs and other research companies around the nation for studying, the biggest transfers usually being made to the S.T.A.R facilities in Central City and Metropolis, and third-party contractors such as Kord Industries, LexCorp, and WayneTech. The distribution of findings for individual research was all well and good, but a whistleblower had recently come to Lois with some disturbing finds: some of the artifacts, especially alien weapons, were disappearing from large shipments without a trace.

When the time of the interview drew near, Lois checked in with Perry before catching a taxi to the S.T.A.R Labs headquarters downtown. Her appointment was with a few scientists from the company’s board of directors that worked with the Kryptonian scout ship the most, and luckily for them, all three of them had enough tact to not back out of the meeting when they realized that the reporter the Daily Planet had sent over was in fact a lady on the high road to a Pulitzer Prize. A board room was procured for their usage, and Lois, being well-familiar with the drill, started her recording app, pulled out her notes, and started doing what comprised the bulk of her job as an investigative journalist: asking questions.

How was work on the Kryptonian scout ship progressing? Had any significant discoveries or breakthroughs been made so far? What sort of artifacts were they dealing with, and how did they decide which ones to distribute for outside research? Were the scout ship’s contents primarily weapons, or other items? What was the company’s response to rumors about misplaced shipments?

The scientists happily answered her questions, occasionally going off on a tangent about some discovery or the supposed usage of some unknown object but otherwise provided Lois with some pretty good fuel for her next article up until she came to the final question. All three of the researchers shifted uncomfortably in their seats and exchanged the briefest of nervous glances before Dr. Rhems, the head consultant for their Kryptonian armaments division, launched into a spiel about how their cataloguing system was infallible and they had not seen any evidence that items were missing, the rumors had to be false or else they would have known. To solidify his claim, he even offered to show her their records and prove that whatever data people were basing their opinions off of had to be wrong. Lois immediately took him up on the offer.

Taking his fellow scientists’ leave, Dr. Rhems led her through the building before finally stopping outside a door that supposedly led to where the Labs kept their records pertaining to the Kryptonian artifact research program.

“You have to understand, Miss Lane, that S.T.A.R Labs is not the only facility performing research on Kryptonian weaponry,” he explained as he fished a key card out of his pocket, nearly dropped it, and finally managed to tap it against the scanner beside the door, “It’s quite possible that one of the other contractors involved in the program may simply not be cataloguing their artifacts correctly-”

“They are,” Lois snapped back as she followed him through the doorway, “The issue is within your own company. The records available to the public show that half of the missing items disappear while still in your system. I know this seems a little far-fetched, Dr. Rhems, but it's looking like there are some shady dealings going on within your facility to steal Kryptonian weapons, and possibly other items, without your knowledge.”

“That’s impossible! This is one of the most secure facilities in the state, and every one of our employees has undergone rigorous background examinations. Surely this must be some sort of journalistic ploy to discredit S.T.A.R Labs, Miss Lane-”

“With all due respect, Dr. Rhems, please stop trying to dissuade me before I’ve seen your evidence against the so-called ‘rumors’. I’ll make my decision on what to tell the public once you can prove to me that the accusations aren’t true.”

Dr. Rhems paused at that, stopped in front of a laboratory workstation and glanced quickly between Lois and the racks of Kryptonian armaments on the far side of the room - apparently this lab was where they were stored for cataloging and documentation.

“Well,” the doctor said finally, “if you’re so sure you cannot be persuaded...”

The scientist tapped a button on the workstation’s keyboard and Lois distinctly heard the door behind her lock shut with a hydraulic hiss and low shunking sound. Before she even had time to turn around, Dr. Rhems was pulling what looked too much like a genuine Kryptonian sidearm for comfort out of his labcoat and levelling it at her head. There was no doubt in her mind that it was real, and Lois should know - she had used one.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Miss Lane,” Dr. Rhems confessed, “But I am going to have to ask you to comply while Caleb ties you up - don’t want you getting away before we’ve come to an agreement, you see.”

At his behest, mostly because she was unable to do otherwise with a Kryptonian sidearm pointed at her, Lois took a seat in the chair the scientist pointed to and waited in silence to see what he would do next. Dr. Rhems typed another command into the workstation console and the door unlocked to slide open just enough for a nervous-looking intern to slip inside before the door locked shut again. The young man had apparently been given orders to follow them and wait outside the lab until his boss let him in, and after a brief, curious glance in the reporter’s direction, he immediately got to the task assigned by fetching a length of plastic rope - the kind typically used for camping due to its lightweight nature - from a desk drawer and using it to tie Lois’ hands behind her back. Under Dr. Rhems supervision, he tied the knots as tight as he could before proceeding to tie her ankles to the chair legs, and though Lois hated to admit it, she was thoroughly stuck where she was.

“You can’t keep me here for long,” Lois reminded Dr. Rhems, holding back a wince when the uncomfortable cordage bit into her ankles and resisting the urge to give Caleb a solid kick to the nose went he bent down to adjust the rope, “My editor will wonder where I am if I don’t check in soon, not to mention the fact that I’m legally under the protection of both the US government and the Kryptonian remnant. I just have to scream ‘Superman’ and someone will be here within ten seconds.”

If she stated that last sentence a little louder than necessary, Dr. Rhems didn’t notice and simply cocked the blaster (improperly, Lois noted) as Caleb finished tying her up, “You won’t scream. You wouldn’t dare.”

“Maybe I will,” Lois answered, resisting the urge to smirk. Dr. Rhems apparently had enough confidence to do so himself, and shook his head self-assuredly.

“As you said earlier, Miss Lane, you should wait to hear my side of the story before forming an opinion,” he stated calmly, “Let’s start with a simple fact: alien artifacts created in and designed to be used in an environment different from Earth are a little difficult, and expensive, to maintain. Sure, the technology works here, but until we can fully understand it, we have to ensure that it does not deteriorate or lose function when not used properly. I would read you a few excerpts from my paper on the apparent bio-technological advancements in Kryptonian technology that make their mechanism borderline-organic, so simultaneously holding some level of innate intelligence or purpose but also being susceptible to deterioration if not maintained, but we don’t have time for that now.

“Without going into too much detail, S.T.A.R Labs is not getting the funding it needs from the Department of Defense. No significant advances or research is able to be done without money, Miss Lane, and we don’t have a lot of it,” Dr. Rhems continued, “The solution? Getting rid of artifacts we do not have the facilities to maintain while also making a little bit of cash - in short we’ve been selling Kryptonian technology to foreign buyers.”

“You mean stealing and profiting off of property of the US government, not to mention that the UN is currently trying to rule both artifacts and the scout ship itself as property of the Kryptonian remnant,” Lois corrected him. Damn, she was pretty sure she was losing feeling in her hands considering how tightly the intern had bound her, but if she could just slip one hand out of the rope…

“Everyone knows the UN won’t succeed in the ruling - that technology is far too valuable to belong to a couple of do-gooder extraterrestrials,” Dr. Rhems answered, “And before you ask what I’m going to do with you or why I’ve decided to tell you all this, the answers are simple: I’m going to ransom you and get a bit of extra ‘funding’ out of it, and once your ransom has been paid and you are released, you are going to write me an article about the corruption going on in our own Department of Defense that has led to the gross underfunding of essential research facilities such as S.T.A.R Labs.”

“And just who do you think is going to pay my ransom?” Lois asked. Her plan was to keep him talking, keep his focus off her and the fact that after rubbing the skin raw and nearly spraining her wrist, she had just about managed to get her right hand out of Caleb’s tightly-but-poorly-tied attempt at binding her up. Poor kid - he hadn’t done too bad of a job considering that typing would be a pain-in-the-ass tomorrow, but it wasn’t enough to keep Lois off her game. Dr. Rhems was still going off about who he was going to call for the money for her release when she got both hands free, and right on time the thick laboratory door crumpled beneath a hand strong enough to bend steel as Superman himself stepped into the room. Lois wasted no time when the two S.T.A.R Lab scientists were distracted by his arrival, and she lunged at Dr. Rhems to knock the blaster out of his distracted grip, cock it for firing (properly, she noted), and point it at the bastard’s head.

“Well, Dr. Rhems,” she couldn’t help but announce with a smirk, “It looks like I was right about those missing shipments.”

V*V*V*V*V*V*V

It was Perry who picked her up from the S.T.A.R Labs facility after Lois was done giving her account to the police - part of her wished it had been Superman who flew her back to the Daily Planet offices, but he was still busy talking with an officer about the two scientists who had been holding Miss Lane hostage - and after a short drive back to the familiar newspaper building, it was Clark who first noticed the blisters covering her wrists and insisted on getting the first aid kit to treat them. Still, Lois ended up looking after the injuries herself, mostly because Clark, despite his kindness, strength, and adorable handsomeness, was a bit on the squeamish side and still had work to do. It wasn’t the worst she had ever dealt with - her wrists only required some antibacterial cream and bandages, whereas her left ankle had nearly been sprained when she lunged at Dr. Rhems with her feet still tied to the chair and required a bit more care in the form of an ice pack. Despite her injuries, Lois was having a pretty damn fine day - her typing skills weren’t as affected as she had imagined, her phone had still been recording throughout the whole hostage situation, and she had enough evidence pieced together to make the leading story of the evening edition. A sprained ankle and wrists that were raw as fuck after trying to wriggle her way out of plastic boating rope of all things were a small price to pay for the front page.

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Too Smart for Your Own Good: Part 3

Pairings: Machine Gun Kelly x Reader, (Past and Future) Henry Cavill x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, one night stand, unprotected sex

Word Count: 5,013

A/N: Doesn’t have a completed end yet, but just giving you more content to try to get myself out of a writing funk.

Part 1 / Part 2

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

“You are receiving a collect call from an inmate at a Los Angeles County Correctional Facility. Would you like to accept these charges?”

“Yes.” You said clearly as you stopped loading your groceries in your blacked out Range Rover to grab your ear bud out of your purse. “Hang on, Daddy. I’m finding my headphone.”

“Take your time.” He said through your car speaker as you dug out the carrier and put the head phone in your ear. You found your phone and switch the bluetooth from your running car to your ear phone and hesitated for a moment.

“You hear me?”

“Crystal fucking clear.” He responded in your ear, which made you nod and drop your phone in the cup holder so it wouldn’t accidentally drop the call in your bag. “Hell are you up to?”

“Grocery store.” You sighed as you went back to your original task. “Was running out of shit at the house to eat. Oh! You will be pleased to know that you are going to be a grandpa, and I think I may have figured out a break in my black hole theory in the pool last night.”

“OK.” Your dad laughed as you walked the cart over to the return. “So I’m a fucking grandparent. Thanks a lot, princess.”

“Any time!” You teased as you got in your cooled down car and buckled your seatbelt.

“You got more on the black whole theory?” He asked, even though he had no idea what you were talking about half the time when you went on one of your ‘space rants’ as he liked to call them.

“Work in progress.” You said with a shrug to spare him the agony of listening to you drone on. “What’s going on in the world of the blue jumpsuits?”

“Fucking parole hearing got bumped up.” The million thoughts that seemed to always run through your brain all simultaneously screeched to a stop, as you stopped behind a car at a red light a few streets from your house.

“You’re coming home?” You whispered as you gripped the steering wheel tight.

“I’m fuckin’ coming home, sweetheart. February 16th. Ten AM.” You nodded your head and continued with the flow of traffic as a couple tears of joy slipped down your cheeks.

“I’ll… I’ll be there.” You choked before clearing your throat. “I’ll be there to get the paperwork through.”

“I’ll need you to get a hold of Simon. I sent you out a letter this morning that’ll need some translating.”

“I’ll keep an eye out for it.” You said as you realized that the car you were following was a familiar purple Lamborghini and it was pulling into your community driveway. “Son of a bitch.”

“What, a fucking letter is inconveniencing you?” He asked sharply, making you shake your head.

“No, fucking sperm donor is back. Hold on.” You stopped your car beside the Lambo and the gate house, rolled down your heavily tinted window and looked at your cousin’s profile and the back of Colson’s shaved head. “Scott! He’s with me, let him in.”

“Run him off the fucking road.” Your father grumbled in your ear as you rolled the window back up and headed through the open side of the gate for home owners.

“In a shiny purple Lambo.” You huffed, jokingly as you hit the button for your driveway gate.

“Fuckin’ really, (Y/N)?! You got knocked up by some puck ass little bitch in a Goddamn purple Lambo?!”

“Shut up.” You grumbled as you drove down the slight hill to your garage and pulled into your spot beside your father’s Harley, his massive Chevy pick-up truck, and a tarp covered Charger that belonged to your ex.

“Goddamn Lambo. Who the fuck are you and what have you done to my fucking daughter?”

“Shut up.” You grumbled again as you got out of the car and pulled open the back door to get your groceries. You startled the slightest bit when a heavily tattooed arm reached in front of you and grabbed your bags before you could even fully open the door. You looked up at Colson as he slowly and carefully moved his body in front of yours, and you rolled your eyes and took a step back with your hands in the air. “So has the prison sent me the paperwork for the hearing?” You asked your dad as you headed toward the door.

“Should have. You’re my lawyer, princess. Check your email when you get a chance. Need me to let you go?”

“No, you’re fine.” You said as you headed past the basement bar and game room to the elevator to take you up to the main floor beside the atrium. “Have you talked to the demon head shrinker cunt yet?” Colson looked at you with his eyebrow raised as he and Ash stepped into the elevator with you, but your cousin simply tapped him on the shoulder, pointed to her ear, and whispered that you were on the phone with your dad.

“Probably won’t have to. Shit’s about over crowding. We’re stuffed three to a fucking cell in some spots. I’m almost at my 80 and I’m the closest parole date. So I’m gettin’ the boot.”

“I’ll take it.” You agreed as you pat the black marble for your bags. “But I am writing a verbally abusive letter for the deplorable conditions they are keeping you in.”

“You do that after I leave this bitch.” He told you as an automated voice let you both know you only had a minute left. “Alright baby girl, I’ll give you a call in a couple days to see if my letter arrived.”

“And I will send you a postcard of your grand blueberry when I go to the doctor on Monday.”

“I will keep my eyes out for it.” He huffed through a smile. “I love you, sweetheart. I’ll be home before you know it.”

“I can’t wait. I love you too, Daddy. Bye.” You waited for him to say good bye and for the click of him hanging up, before you turned off your earbud and looked up at your visitors. “And you’re back in my house because…?”

“OK, we’re not going to start like that.” Ash said quickly as she put her hand on Colson’s arm so he wouldn’t get mad. “We are here to rationally talk like human beings.” You hummed at her and nodded your head as you grabbed some groceries and started putting them away. 

“I brought the family history.” Kels said as he tossed a notebook on the counter beside your bags. “As much as I could figure out from the family I do talk to at least. And some personal shit you should know, too. And I’m having a lawyer draw up a contract…”

“Over my Goddamn dead body!” You roared as you spun on your heel and stormed across the wood floor toward him.

“Wait! Wait!” Ashleigh shouted over you as she stood in front of you and grabbed your wrists before you could start swinging. “It was my idea!”

“And I’ll fucking kill you too.” You threatened as you looked at her with murder in your eyes.

“Look, just breathe, OK? It’s not a custody thing. It’s a contract.”

“Look, I wanna be in my kid’s life.” Colson said over Ash as he stayed firmly parked on the barstool he was sitting in so you would feel less threatened. “And I want my kids to know each other. I wanna make sure you don’t take off and fucking run some day because we obviously can’t fucking stand each other.”

“Wonder who’s fault that is.” You snapped, sarcastically as you pulled out of Ashleigh’s grip to finish putting away your groceries.

“Yea, it’s mine, alright?” He barked. “But I still wanna make sure we both understand that this…” He said as he leaned to purposely catch your eye and gestured between your stomach and himself. “…is our child. And just like with Casie, I will want to spend time with our child on holidays and when I’m in town and not working. And I don’t want to turn around one day to find out that you packed up and moved to fucking Paris or some shit.”

“Paris is a trash covered wasteland.” You retorted under your breath as you folded all of your grocery bags and put them on the end of your counter to put back in your car later. “Probably go to Belfast… maybe Scotland...

“OK, she’s not going to run.” Ashleigh said quickly before Colson could start yelling. “But this is what the contract is going to be for. So what both of you want from the other is set in stone.”

“Yea, well I don’t want shit from him.”

“Then you should get an abortion now, bitch!” Colson roared as he finally jumped to his feet. “Because you made this fucking choice to keep my kid so you’re fucking stuck with me…”

“You better remember who the fuck you are talking to.” You said evenly as you pulled one of your fathers many hand guns out of one of the kitchen drawers. You laid it down on the counter between you with your finger outstretched along the slide where you could quickly pull the trigger if you needed to. Kels stood his ground, but Ashleigh took a few steps back away from you to be on the safe side.

“OK.” She nearly whispered as her hands started to shake at her sides. “(Y/N), let’s put that away…”

“Now it’s time for you to listen, bitch.” You started as you searched his rage filled blue eyes. “You want a contract? Fine. We can spend the next nine months and then some fine tuning a contract to your hearts content. But know this, if you think you’re in charge here, you’re not. You will run by my fucking rules, like it or not. Because if I wanted to disappear, I assure you, not even a private investigator could find me.” The pair of you stood in a stand off for a few moments, waiting for the other one to crack.

“I need a fax number.” He finally said, forfeiting the power to you. You nodded your head as you put your gun back and pulled the notebook toward you. You wrote down your email, your cell, and fax number, and ripped the page out for him.

“Appointment next Monday for the first ultrasound is at 11:15 AM. Be here at 10:30 if you want to go with me. I’ll call down to the gate and tell them you’re coming.” He nodded his head as he folded up the paper and stuck it in his pocket to pass on to his lawyer, while you gestured to the atrium to your left. “You can see yourselves out now.” You looked over at your cousin as Kels simply turned to leave and shook your head. “If you ever, ever pull a stunt like that again, I will disown you.”

“I’m sorry.” She whispered as she finally stepped back over to you. “I just knew you wouldn’t take it very well, and he didn’t give me time to call…”

“You have one warning.” You told her as you kissed her cheek. “And don’t step between Colson and I. Obviously, it’s gunna be a shit show.”

“Well, he’s my boss, so I can’t let you kill him.” You rolled your eyes and shook your head as you gave her a push toward the door.

“Just wait until he meets Negan!” You called out after her with a giant smile. “He’s coming home in a few weeks!” Your cousin came to a dead stop in the atrium and turned around to look at the giant shit eating grin you had on your face.

“Shut up.”

“Hell is about to rain down on LA again!” You laughed as you grabbed the bags off the counter, and turned to head down stairs to put them back in your car. 

——

“You know, I was having a really peaceful morning.” You bitched as you stood at the top of the side stairs the next day and watched Colson get out of his car. “And then here you are.”

“Not fucking fighting.” He said more to himself as he came over and stopped in front of you. He said nothing else, leaving the ball in your court as he put his hands in the pockets of his jeans and waited. You huffed and turned on your heel to head back to your beach chair. 

“Am I going to see you every day for the rest of eternity?” You inquired as you pushed your sunglasses back down your face.

“Until we can get past this bullshit, yea.” You stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned back to look at him as he simply toed off his sneakers. “Casie’s mom and I used to fight all the fucking time.” He started as he pulled off his socks and rolled up his jeans. “But we talked it out. No matter how much we hated each other at the end. We talked, and we fought, and we screamed, and she even got a good kidney shot in once when she pushed me back into a counter. But we got through our shit for our daughter.” He stood up and looked at you with a shrug. “So we’re gunna fight it out. No contract, because that’s kind of a bullshit way to co-parent and we got like nine fucking months. So we’re gunna fucking talk.” You nodded your head slightly and gestured up the steps.

“There’s another beach chair up against the garden wall. And that bedroom has some spare bathing suits in the top dresser drawer and towels in the second. They all have tags and there are a bunch of different sizes.” You shrugged and gestured over your shoulder at your chair. “Sunscreen…” With an internal groan, you turned around and walked away to continue to get some sun. You tossed your phone back in the back pocket of your chair and sat down gently as another wave gently crashed across your lap. “Fucking sunscreen…” You grumbled as you shook your head.

“Alright so we start from the beginning.” Kels said as he set up his chair right next to yours a few minutes later. “How far along are you?”

“Six weeks, two days.” He nodded his head and stretched his legs out as another wave washed up on the shore.

“And we’re keeping it?”

“Despite the fact that we hate each other? Yes.” His head continued to nod as he chose to ignore your annoyance.

“I grew up in Cleveland.” He started as he reached over and grabbed the sunscreen from your cupholder. “For the most part. Lived in Denver for a while, traveled a lot with my dad before that. My mom left for another man when I was nine. She hated my dad that much…” You turned your head to look at him as he covered his tattooed torso with sun block. “I won’t do that to my kids.”

“Born and raised here in LA.” You said in the moment of silence after his declaration. “Mom died during child birth. I was a breech baby and she lost to much blood in an emergency C. I remember her face.” You breathed as you looked down at your lap and connected the drops of water on your thigh before the next wave came in. “I have her eyes. And I remember the light leaving hers as my dad held me in place on her chest.”

“(Y/N)…”

“I don’t wanna keep you from our kid.” You interrupted quickly as you rested your head back against the chair pillow and looked out at the ocean. “I grew up with one parent, and while my dad managed to go above and beyond with me, it was hard on him and me without my mother. I don’t want to do that to my child.”

“So part one of the verbal contract.” He said as he put your sunblock back and settled back in his chair. “No matter what, this child will grow up for the rest of his or her life with both of us in it. Even if we hate each other, and we have to go through a third party like Ashleigh for pick ups and drop offs, we will not keep him or her away from each other.”

“No poisoning him or her.” You said as you grabbed one of the water bottles from your cooler and handed it over to him. “Meaning you don’t trash talk me in front of him and vice versa.”

“Agreed. OK, here’s one my ex and I had issues with. We make decisions together.”

“You and I are going to have to work on that.” You giggled as you finally looked over at him. “Because we’re not very good at that right now.”

“But we will work on it so we can make decisions together.” He repeated as he met your eyes with a small nod. “Agreed?”

“Agreed.” You said with a nod. “I like to travel. I haven’t in a long time because… well… that’s a long story… But I want to start traveling again. And I know you already travel a lot for work. And even though you taking him or her alone is a long way off due to breast feeding and the fact that you kinda live a wild life, I’d like the record to show that should we leave Los Angeles county with our child, we have to let the other person know the intended itinerary.”

“I can absolutely get behind that.” He agreed. “And after he or she is born, I’d like to bring… well both of you to Cleveland so Casie can meet her brother or sister… and so that you can meet Emma, my ex, since y’all have something in common now.” You nodded your head and glanced out at the horizon as you chose your words wisely.

“I’m… um…” You started, before clearing your throat. “Well, technically, I’m engaged.”

“You…” He said harshly, which made you sit forward and hide your face in your hands.

“Look, it’s fucking complicated.” You said as you sat back and looked over at him. “Henry and I were together for years. We got engaged six years ago and he left to join the Army shortly after that. And I haven’t heard from him since. So technically, I am engaged. But my fiancé is gone. And he’s never coming back and I just can’t accept that yet, apparently because... well I just can’t.”

“Jesus.” He breathed as he sat back in his chair. “No wonder you’re such a bitch toward men.”

“No, that’s just you.” You responded as you unscrewed the cap of your water and took a sip.

“And we were making progress, too.”

“What’s next on your list, Kels?” You asked with a laugh as you kicked water in his direction.

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

The next four weeks went by at an almost glacial pace, but at the same time, before you knew it, you were walking though the halls toward the prison’s office, with a stack of paperwork from the parole board in your hand and a giant smile on your face that you didn’t think would ever go away. You had made this walk so many times before, but this was the only time you were actually hopeful. And hopeful wasn’t even the right word. 

“Damn it.” Michael Bishop, who ran the prisons office, grumbled as you walked through the door. “What?”

“Parole board kicked him.” You said with a smile as you rested your arms on the counter and held out the paperwork toward him. “Let him out.”

“Let who out?” A woman you didn’t recognize asked as Mike got up and came over to start the paperwork.

“Negan.” He sighed as he pulled his glasses from his pocket. “They finally let him out, huh?”

“And I didn’t even have to file another petition to get it done.” You teased with a smile.

“OK, well I’ll get these papers started as soon…” The woman started as she stood up from her chair but Mike quickly held them out of her reach before you could even form a reply.

“I got it.” He said as he shot you a nervous smile because he knew the temper you had inherited from your father when it came to his time behind bars. “Putting them through right now.”

“I’ll wait.” You said with a nod as you pulled your phone out of your bag. “How’s the wife?”

“Still kicking my ass.” He muttered as he sat down at his computer. “How’s life treatin’ ya since last time?”

“It’s a revolving door.” You sighed as you pulled up your texts to finally give Simon the go ahead to bring Negan’s Harley down to the prison. “That is finally opening the correct way.”

“Should keep spinning.” The woman muttered under her breath, which made both you and Mike freeze. 

“I’m sorry. Do you have something you wanna fucking say there, sunshine?”

“No! No she didn’t!” Mike tried as you set your phone face down on the counter.

“No, she has the right to speak.” You said with a smile as you folded your hands together on the counter. Mike looked away and scrambled into overdrive to process Negan’s release for you. “What, you don’t like the fact that my father’s joining the real world again? Don’t think that living the last ten years of my life without the only family I have wasn’t enough? What, you don’t think…”

“No, she didn’t!” Mike said quickly as he jumped up and grabbed Negan’s paperwork off his desk and the printer. “Look, he’s good to go. Get him to his parole officer today, OK?” You nodded your head and took the stack of papers out of his hand with a small smile.

“Thanks, Mike. And you can go fuck yourself, bitch.” The officer shouted ‘excuse me’ as you grabbed your phone and turned on your heel to leave the prison for the last time. The roar of motorcycles greeted you as you stepped out the door, and you stopped beside Simon to wait for your father.

“Congrats on the baby, kiddo.” He said as he made sure your father’s bike was stable so that you could lean against it. “When are you due?”

“September 13th.” You sighed as you sat down on the seat and grabbed your sneakers from your bag. “A Friday of all things.”

“Wouldn’t be your kid if it wasn’t.” He huffed.

“More to the story of my life.” You sighed as you dropped your heels in your bag and slung the strap over your shoulder.

“Heard baby daddy is a rock star…”

“Shut up, Simon.” You sighed as you crossed your arms over your chest to wait. It was thankfully only about a half hour wait before the prison door opened and your father walked free. Despite the cheers from the rest of the club, he walked straight over to you.

“Hi Daddy.” You whispered as he lifted you up off the ground in a hug.

“Hi princess. Thank you.” You smile at him as he set you down and nodded his head. “Thank you for getting me outta there.”

“Of course, Daddy.”

“So where we doing lunch?” He asked as he took his kutte from Simon and put it on.

“Boss, we…” The VP tried, but your father shot him the look to end all looks.

“I’m talking… to my daughter.” The VP nodded and took a step back as Negan looked back at you with a smile. “Lunch, sweetheart? Gotta feed the grand baby…”

“Umm… honestly? Right now, I really want a milkshake…”

“Johnny Rockets?” He asked with a smirk. You nodded your head as he held out his hand and snapped his fingers for a helmet. Your smile grew as you tilted your head up and let him close the buckle so he could take care of you like he wished he could have for the past ten years, even if you didn’t need him to. “Let’s go, boys!” You honestly hadn’t realized how much you missed the wind in your hair, but you felt free and more safe than you had in a long while. The thought crossed your mind that it was the first time in six years that you felt completely safe again, but also that Colson had somehow made you start to feel safe with his daily visits to check on you and your child. You were so lost in that idea, that you missed your father parking next to a purple Lamborghini until it was to late.

“Look familiar, princess?”

“Daddy, let’s go.” You said with a shake of your head as your eyes darted toward the restaurant to find the father of your child. “I don’t feel good, let’s go, please…”

“Nope.” He said as he took off your helmet and dropped it on the seat beside his. “I’m fucking starving and a burger is just what I fucking want.”

“Daddy, please. Don’t do this… Damn it…” You quickly tried to get in front of your father and the rest of the club without your small bump being bumped, but you were unsuccessful.

“Colson fucking Baker!” Your father announced, as if he had just won a prize. “Where the fuck are you?”

“Dad, stop it!” You hissed as you were finally able to push in front of him in the thankfully empty restaurant. You looked at Colson’s slightly stunned, slightly shocked, and mostly confused face, and shook your head to hopefully tell him to run… which he didn’t.

“So you’re the prick that knocked up my daughter?” Negan huffed as he sized up your six foot four baby daddy when he stood up from the booth in the corner, where he had apparently just sat down for an early lunch with some woman you didn’t know. You saw her face flush red with embarrassment and rage, and the two of you locked eyes for a moment before you both looked away from different reasons. “Sit down.”

“No, Colson, go back to your lunch.” You tried as you pushed your father toward an open booth on your left. “Daddy, stop, please.”

“Sit the fuck down!” Negan roared when Kels took a step back toward his date. Colson quickly took a seat and you jumped in front of your dad to sit down next to him. You whispered an apology to him as his date got up and walked out angrily, but he simply shook his head and pat your thigh reassuringly.

“Sir, it’s very nice…”

“What kinda fuckin’ shake does my grand child want?” Negan interrupted as he grabbed two menus and handed you one as the rest of the club filed into the booths around you. You sighed loudly and pushed his menu flat on the table with a shake of your head.

“I’m not playing this game. You did it to Henry, you won’t do it to him.” Your father looked up at you with his eyebrow raised and you quickly reach out and squeezed Colson’s wrist before he could interject in the silence. “He’s a human being, and you just cost him his lunch date. So you are going to ask him your questions, and let him go so he can fix the mess you made.” Negan stared at you silently as all the other Saviors went out of their way to avoid looking in even the general vicinity of your booth, waiting to see who was going to win this show down. After a full minute, Negan grabbed a third menu and handed it to Colson without taking his eyes off you.

“What kinda shake does my grand baby want?” Negan asked again as he finally looked away to find your waitress. You visibly relaxed and looked over at your friend with an apologetic look.

“She was boring as fuck anyways.” He muttered under his breath as he bumped your shoulder and looked at the menu. “I think their chocolate is the best…”

“I want them all.” You sighed as your stomach growled loudly. “Baby wants them all.”

“Then baby can have them all.” Negan said as he casually crossed his legs and settled back into the booth a bit more. “And baby better have a great fucking life, with a present father, right?”

“It will.” Colson said with a nod. “And he or she will have a sister, too. One that I’ve managed to keep alive for ten years.”

“Her mother has primary custody?”

“She does.” He confirmed as your dad perused the menu he knew like the back of his hand as if it was the most interesting thing in the whole world.

“So will my daughter.” Negan stated, simply.

“Dad, I swear to God.” You growled as you covered your face with your hands.

“It’s fine.” Colson said as he rubbed your back. “She’d probably do better with primary custody over me any day of the week. I’m on the road to much.”

“And that’s the kinda life you wanna give your child?” Negan asked as he finally looked over at you.

“Because I didn’t have an amazing life with you going out of town all the time?” You asked, honestly. “Because my childhood was so horrible being raised club house to club house, country to country?” He sat silently as you set your menu down and covered your bump with your hand. “Daddy, I had an amazing life. And my child will have an amazing life as well. He or she will travel same as we did. How is this situation any different than ours, other than the missing kutte?”

“Well I still don’t have to fucking like it.” He said stubbornly as he looked back down at the menu. “And I don’t fucking like him. Where is the Goddamn waitress around here?!”

Part 4

[seeds-and-sins]

F**kin’ Diabolical (Chapter 5)

Master List

Pairing: Homelander / Original Female Character, Billy Butcher / Original Female Character

Rating: M (Strong language, sexual themes)

Decription: Carly Danvers is a reporter/radio show host/annoying little piece of- For reasons unknown to Vought, she decided to start a one man investigation on Vought’s operation. Her efforts had been quite successful so far, so much so that Stillwell would have done anything to see the young girl dead. Turns out Stillwell didn’t have to do anything at all, while one piece of evidence against Vought causes Danvers to fly too close to the sun. And Homelander flies after her.

Chapter Summary; Carly gets a visitor at the hospital. Meanwhile, Homelander throws her right into the fire without warning.

 Just his luck, after eight years he decides to ask a girl out and then this shit happens. As soon as he saw her name plastered on newspaper headlines and shot out all over the banners on CBS, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, and the like, he felt his heart plummet. He wasn't going to get all out of shape over some girl, they lived across from each other, had nice conversations, and that was that. But he also wasn't going to leave her sitting all alone on what would most likely be her death bed. When he entered that hospital, shitty flowers in one hand, he didn't know what to expect. The survivor of such a horrible fire, she most likely wouldn't be as beautiful as the last time he saw her. He was prepared for something of the worst, but not the worst that's for sure. In his mind he imagined some gruesome burns, some really heavy duty shit, the girl being on her last leg, literally. The thought repulsed him, but he cared about her enough to actively go out of his way to go visit her. If it would make her final moments more comfortable, if she was even conscious, at least he would know that he didn't have to regret not going to see her.

   He approached the front desk of the hospital, catching the sight of a few of Carly's fans as they sat in the waiting room, their signs reading phrases akin to, 'Fuck Vought', 'This is Fucking Diabolical', and 'Supes Must Die'. He cleared his throat towards the older nurse, typing away at the computer, a blank stare on her expression. She tilted her head up slightly with a sigh, shoulders hunched down. 

"How can I help you, sir?"

"Here to see Carly Danvers. Check your list." She crossed her arms over her lap and shook her head.

"You'll have to wait with the others, Sir." He glared over in the direction of the fans, he most definitely wasn't going to wait. He wasn't going to be deterred because of some old lady's attitude. 

"Actually, I am not a fan..." Her eyebrows furrowed and she cocked her head at him. He forced a smirk towards her, although it came across quite awkwardly. "I am her fiancé." 

"Oh, that so, Sir." She leaned into the screen typing out a few things. "What's the birthday then?" She deadpanned. Billy wanted to slap himself, he'd been living across the girl for five years and he couldn't remember her birthday?! Maybe he could look the birthday up on his phone, that might be too suspicious.

"August." He randomly stated, although he knew it was probably wrong. The woman rolled her eyes and then gestured over to the swarm of people.

"Please go sit, sir." He grunted his disapproval, slapping the flowers down on the desk and leaning forward, down to her, in some effort to keep things on the down low.

"Now listen you silly twat, I know Danvers better than half the blokes in this room pulled together. I practically know her better than you know the shine off your fat ass." The woman stuck a hand to her chest, appalled, eyes widened, on the verge of calling security it seem. He raised the flowers up, a snarl on his lips. "You see these flowers? I bought them for her. I figured she'd be needin' a nice gesture. What have you cunts been doing for her?" The woman huffed in shock, then sighed, shaking her head. 

"Sir, if you do not leave now, I will call security." She muttered out in sharp breathes, Butcher turned to side lean against the desk, shaking his head. 

"Can't you throw me a bone, or somethin'? How can I see her?" Billy was feeling desperate, mainly because he didn't want to walk away, only to find out she's dead and he never had the chance to tell her goodbye. As much as he tried to hide it, he did know Carly for so long, she was part of his life every day. He couldn't lose another woman in his life without saying goodbye. The woman noticed the drop in his tone, guilt riddled her features and she stood, hovering over the desk to get closer.

"Look, even if I did let you in..." She whispered, "She's unavailable at the moment."

"What? She in surgery? Dead? What the bloody hell is it?"

"I can't say..." She hissed out between clenched teeth, nervously glancing around. "Homelander was in here earlier, that's all I know." Butcher had flash backs, or what felt like them at least, like some fucked up PTSD showdown. All he could see was his beloved Becky talking to that piece of shit Supe. She got too close and now she's gone. His fist clenched around the flower stems and his jaw tightened.

"Tell me. Where is she?" He ground out, the woman reeled away, a fearful glimmer in her eyes. She sat down and continued typing away on her computer, then cocked her head up at him. She cupped a hand around her lips and urged for him to get closer with the other.

"Room 116. Second Floor." The words faded out into...

"Carly?! What the fuck are you doin'?! You are doing it all wrong!" 

"You told me to close my eyes, and-"

"Well, its annoying! You are just standing there! Fucking do something!" Homelander yelled, pacing around her, fingers slotted together behind his back, his crimson cape flowing out behind him as he stepped. His voice echoed out into the barren concrete warehouse that he brought her to immediately following their talk with Stillwell. He said he used it when he was a teenager, and then cracked an inside joke about using ‘moving targets’ at the time. The way he said it sent chills through her, she didn’t want to know what ‘moving targets’ he was talking about, so she didn’t respond. The only thing she was relieved to find was that there wasn’t anybody around. It was just Homelander and her, which made her significantly less anxious. If she did lose herself at any point in time, no one would get hurt.

"What is supposed to happen, even? What do you even do, huh? This is stupid! Can't we just take a break, or something?"

"Can't we just take a break, or something?" He mocked in a higher pitched voice, then shoved harshly at her shoulder and she stumbled over, catching her feet under her. "You are a hero, now! You don't have time to rest!" He came up behind her and helped her steady herself, hands now on her shoulders. "Now focus for-" She elbowed him, and boy, did it feel good to know that she could make the Homelander hurt. He grunted, holding his stomach and he took a few steps back. She spun on her heel and faced him, he recovered quickly, standing and they both glared at each other. 

"I just woke up three hours ago and was shoved into this shit storm without any time to adjust!" His fist shot out, hitting her chest and she flew back several feet from the force. She clutched at her sternum, as she propped herself up on her elbows to stare at him. She used her flight to carry herself back to her feet, jaw clicking as she ground her teeth together. He held a finger up at her, a warning, her fists clenched at their sides. 

"Now Carly, you are-" She let out a scream as she stepped one foot forward and red propelled from her eyes in Homelander's direction. He dodged quickly and swooped around in flight, she rolled forward skillfully as he flew past. Her eyes muted back from red to blue, and when she faced him he was arm's length from her. "You see? That's wasn't so hard-"

"Argh!" She threw a fist, which he blocked with a sturdy forearm, then a kick that he ducked under. Soon stepping back, dodging her, as her fists went flying at him, full speed. "Suck! My! Dick!" She wasn't able to land a single punch, he grabbed her fist in mid stroke and yanked her forward as he stepped back, she fell to her knees.

"Someone has quite the temper." He jested, and she swept her feet out under him. He fell backward, eyes wide in shock, where she hopped onto his waist and hit a fist down towards him. He tilted his head over, her fingers hitting the concrete brick, penetrating it and leaving a dent in the grey. His hands grabbed her waist and he flew up to stand, easily spinning and throwing her a great distance into a nearby concrete wall in the facility. Her body left a giant hole in its wake, a few chunks of concrete coming down on top of her, and like dust, she brushed them away as she stood. "Carly, you don't stand a chance. Why don't we just sit down and talk-" She picked up a medium sized bulk of concrete stone. "Carly!" She hurled it towards him with a grunt, he held his forearms up, the stone turning into rubble as it cascaded down over him. Concrete dust layered onto his dirty blonde hair, he grimaced and dusted himself off. "You're really pissing me off." Her chest was heaving in rage, she stared down at her palms, clutching her fingers tightly she gazed up at him. "You done with your little tantrum?" He said with a tight lipped sneer, crossing his arms.

"No." And she hopped up, in an attempt to try and fly towards him, she still hadn't mastered flight quite yet, only the simple forms of it. She hovered off the ground to him for a moment before sliding back into the concrete, cutting through it like butter, her body leaving a trail of rubble in its wake. She came to a stop at his feet, and he sighed as he watched her, unimpressed. He crouched down to her as she lifted her torso up, about to make some comment on how childish she was being, and then he saw the tears.

    He willed himself not to care, she was no different than everybody else, she always had been. The soft tears that trickled down her face, the edges of her eyes still red hot from the heat vision. She sniffled, raising a hand up to catch some of the wetness on her cheek with her wrist. He awkwardly glanced around, anywhere but her, what was he supposed to do?

"Alright, come on, that's enough." She then stared up at him, a wet, red, and broken stare that made him cock his head with some form of pity that didn't even know he could muster. He stood, his glove squeaked with a clench as he turned his back to her, hands now settling on his hips. "This is what you are now."

"The doctor knew..." She scratched out, and his eyes narrowed in confusion as he tilted back around to consider her. 

"What are you talking about?" He nearly spat out.

"He told me he perfected the compound. He chose me." Homelander snorted dismissively, blinking and dropping his stare down.

"He could have done that to anyone."

"But he did it to me!" She jumped up to her feet, and her eyes turned a bright red. She felt all of herself clench in rage, she could feel the power in her, surging through her. It only made her more angry, she didn't want any of it. "He fucking took everything from me! I AM NOT CARLY ANYMORE!" She screamed, eyes only getting brighter as the heat within them intensified. She then felt hands grip at her shoulders, gently caressing down, when she rose her neon red glare, it was Homelander. 

"You aren't alone, Carly. You aren't alone." Her expression creased into a sob and her eyes closed, forehead resting down onto Homelander's chest.

"You should just kill me." Her voice cracked out, it was almost a plea for help, like she'd rather die than live through this pain.

"Then what fun would you be?" He brushed his gloves fingers through her hair, palm swerving down to cup under her cheek and force her to meet his gaze. "I certainly can't have fun with a dead Carly, can I?" Her eyes dimmed down from a light red into a crystal blue, yet again. The tension in her subsiding and she placed her hands on Homelander's sides, tenderly grazing the detailed ridges and bumps on the suit. 

"I'm sorry for what Vought did to you." If he expected her to say anything, it certainly wasn't that. He closed his eyes, grinding his teeth together, trying not to surface those horrid images in his head. He shook his head and then opened his eyes again. 

"Well, I am not." He smiled, it was a forced smile, and then he shrugged at her. "You shouldn't be either. We are better now, better than they will ever know." 

"Even so, its a harsh and cold feeling, the loss of one's mortality. No one should have control over that." He brushed aside a tear sliding down her cheek, she couldn't help but feel like he’d done that way too many times today.

"And they don't, don't you realize Carly?" He chuckled darkly, his smile turning upward further into a toothy grin. "We can do whatever the fuck we want." And not shortly after, it was as if nothing had happened, his warmth pulled from her as he stepped back. He held his hands up and gestured around the training room.

"Someone's going to have to clean all this shit up, Danvers, look what you've done?"

"Homelander?" He closed his eyes, hoping she wouldn't bring up what had just been discussed. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to control the unearthed frustration and rage that came with those thoughts. She held her arms around her and stepped over the mess she had made, to close the distance between them. 

"What is it now?"

"I would like to go home."

"Well, that's-"

"My home." He crossed his arms, and then shot his eyes around the destroyed warehouse in one last time out of annoyance before nodding his to her. 

"It'll be good practice for you. We'll fly there." And the grin that he had on his face made her wish she didn't say anything in the first place.

[aniray]

Where You Least Expect It...

Here's the first part of my 5 part story.

It's Tommy x Lizzie. A Modern Surrogacy AU

~*~

“I’m so nervous, Thomas.”

Tommy looked over a Grace. Her golden hair was falling a bit out of the neat ponytail she had put it in that morning. She was fidgeting with the brochure from the clinic. If she twisted it anymore, Tommy was sure the thing would tear apart. But he didn’t say anything. He simply reached over and pulled the brochure out of her hand.

“Thanks,” she sighed. But two seconds later she was running her fingers along her brow. “God, Thomas, we tried so hard. And we’ve spent so much on all of this. Should we have gone with adoption?” They had had this same conversation the night before, and last week, and two months ago. But the answer was always the same. Grace sat up straighter, her head lifting a bit in determination. “No, this is what I want for us. A baby that’s at least part you, even if it can’t be part me as well.”

It had taken Grace a long time to accept the doctors’ verdict that she wouldn’t have children. After months and months of hormone treatments and strict dieting and far too many nights of his wife crying herself to sleep, Grace had let go of the idea of carrying her own child. And then there were even more months of trying to harvest her eggs. But when none of them were viable, Tommy had to step in before depression stole Grace away from him.

So they had turned to surrogacy. It wasn’t quite what Grace had wanted- having to use another woman’s egg as well as her body. But it was the closest to what Grace wanted and could actually get. So Tommy had gone to information seminars. He had read up on the different agencies. And when Grace had picked a place and a girl, Tommy didn’t voice his own worries. This was what Grace needed and he needed her, so this was what they would do.

The GPS told Tommy to take the next turn. But he’d already memorized how to reach the facility. Planning was what he did when he was unsure about things. Take control wherever he could had always been his way, but even more so since this whole fertility process had started. Polly was annoyed about it. Arthur was pulling at the leash. And John had gone and fucked his way into early fatherhood.

Something Grace wouldn’t admit she was hurt and bitter about.

Another turn and the facility came into view. It was nothing special, just a plain brick building. But it was clean and highly recommended. And mostly it was discreet- something Tommy had insisted on even if Grace hadn’t been concerned. Business was doing well and that always brought people who would rather Tommy or his loved ones not be breathing.

Pulling into a parking spot, Tommy turned the car off and turned to face Grace. “You ready?” He watched the emotions flit across her face. It was something not many people got to see. Grace had been raised to keep her emotions to herself. And then she had worked as a financial security investigator. Succeeding in that world meant not letting CEOs and their like see you anything other than calm and in control.  So for her to show her fear and her anxiousness with him was just another thing to prove that they were supposed to be together.

“I don’t know. I just- I shouldn’t be nervous. It’s all been arranged. The papers have been signed.” She turned to look at him and Tommy felt a twinge in his chest at the tears in her eyes. “Its not even me who has to do anything. You’re the one about to…you know.” Tommy smiled. Always so proper.  “But what if we do it and she changes her mind? Or you change your mind? What if-“

“I’m not changing my mind. She won’t change hers, either. And even if she does, this baby will be a Shelby. That’s why we got a lawyer for all of this, remember?” Tommy tucked a few strands of her hair back up into her ponytail. “Now, come on. It would look a bit bad if we were late because we took too long in the parking lot.”

Grace gave him a smile- the one that always seemed to make his world a bit brighter. “You’re right. I’m ready.” With a quick nod, Tommy got out of the car and went around to open the passenger door. Grace didn’t hesitate. She got out and took his hand as he closed the door. She was calm and strong and beautiful walking beside him.

And he’d be damned if this all went to shit.

~*~

The clinic was cold.

It always was, but today it bothered Lizzie a little bit more than the other times she’d come. They had her sitting in a small conference room, waiting for the couple she’d agreed to carry for- the Shelbys. Grace and Thomas Shelby. Wealthy, and from what Lizzie had heard from a staff member, trying this before settling for adoption. She didn’t like that word- settling. It reminded her of too many decisions she’d made in her life. 

But that wasn’t really the point, was it? No, the point was, she was sitting in a cold room about to meet the people she’d be dealing with for the next ten months more or less. And she still wasn’t sure this was what she wanted. You already signed the damn papers, Lizzie. The thought didn’t make her feel any more ready for this. But she was a bit desperate.

Ryan, the asshole, had harassed her for years before she finally quit working for him. She had dealt with enough men putting their hands on her in her life. That’s why she had left her home town, club work and waitressing all behind her. And now she was leaving Ryan and his too small office and his too rough hands behind her, too.

“Don’t think about him. He doesn’t deserve it.” Standing up from the seat she was in, Lizzie paced the room. Everything was so…bright. The walls were white with framed pieces of abstract art to break up the monotony. The windows were frosted to let light in while keeping everything inside private. But stuck in the room alone Lizzie just felt like she had stepped into some Sci-fi horror movie. “Get a grip. It’s not that bad.”

She had just made her way to the far side of the room for the thirteenth time when she heard voices. Quickly, Lizzie went back to the seat she’d started in. Her heart was pounding suddenly. Her palms were sweating. This was it- there was no going back after those doors opened. A knock came half a second before the door opened. Dr. Stone came in with one of the office assistants right behind her.

And then she saw her- a well-dressed woman with her blond hair up in a high ponytail. This was the woman who would be raising the baby Lizzie was going to have. She looked so elegant. It made Lizzie a little self-conscious, honestly. But then a man stepped into the room and shut the door. He wore a very nice suit- obviously tailored for him. His expression was neutral, but Lizzie had a feeling it was an intimidation tactic more than lack of interest. She eyed the way he stood and realized that behind his respectable appearance, this man was dangerous.

Suddenly self-consciousness was replaced by trepidation. But Lizzie forced herself to smile. Dr. Stone motioned for the Shelby’s to take a seat and Lizzie watched as Thomas pulled out Grace’s chair for her. The two shared a quick smile and Lizzie looked away. It was barely anything, but it had felt intimate. She turned her attention to Dr. Stone. The woman stood at the head of the table as the assistant passed out three folders.

“Alright, let’s get started. First off, Ms. Stark,” she said turning to face Lizzie, “This is Thomas and Grace Shelby. They are the couple that we felt would be best for you.” Then she turned to the Shelbys. “Mr. and Mrs. Shelby, this is Elizabeth Stark. She will be your surrogate. We have done an extensive background check on both parties, the results of which are in your folders. The contract you signed is included as well, for your records.”

Lizzie shifted a bit in her seat at the mention of background checks. She’d told them about her past, she had agreed to the check, but it still made her nervous knowing these fancy people would see her entire life laid out on paper.  Mr. Shelby lifted his head and caught Lizzie’s eye. She forced herself to be still and focus back in on what Dr. Stone was saying. “We have already collected Lizzie’s ovum and it is ready for fertilization. That process will happen today after we collect Mr. Shelby’s sperm. At the end of this I’ll have the three of you sign a document stating that we went over all of this. And then in about three to five days Ms. Stark will come back in to have the embryos implanted.”

It all sounded so clinical. She’d known that, of course. She’d done the homework and all the reading. She’d even gone to see a lawyer about what rights she did and didn’t have during the pregnancy. But sitting there in that white room with the frosted windows, Lizzie couldn’t help feeling… Honestly she didn’t know what she was feeling. She heard Dr. Stone ask if there were any questions and she shook her head. She knew what happened next.

“Alright then. Mr. Shelby you can follow Erin and she’ll take you to a private room. A nurse will give you instructions.” Lizzie felt an absurd bubble of laughter rising. The idea of a nurse having to tell a man how to handle himself seemed a bit hilarious for some reason. But she bit her tongue and kept her head down until the man was out of the room. “Now that it’s just us ladies,” Dr. Stone continued, “I think it would be good for you ladies to discuss things. I’ve found that the women have the hardest time figuring out their roles in each other’s lives during this process. So I’ll leave you two to chat.”

Then she was gone, and Lizzie was alone with Grace.

~*~

She’s pretty.

It was the first thing that had entered into Grace’s head as she walked into the conference room. The second was that this baby wouldn’t have any features that could be ‘from’ Grace. She hadn’t really thought about it before, but perhaps subconsciously she had assumed the clinic would find a blond woman. Or at least someone with the same eye color that Grace had. But no, instead here was this green eyed, raven-haired, beauty.

A sliver of insecurity had threatened to rise when she saw Elizabeth Stark. Thomas had always preferred dark-haired women. It was something that his family never seemed to let her forget. And every woman who had ever impressed Thomas, especially in business, had dark hair. Most times it didn’t bother her- this obvious inclination her husband had. Most of the time she simply reminded his family that she, and not these others, had been the one Thomas married. But today- the day she felt so lacking as a wife and a woman- all she could see was dark hair.

Of course, Thomas barely glanced at Ms. Stark. Grace knew that he had no interest in the woman. And to be fair, the woman kept her focus on Dr. Stone.  But insecurity was not logical. So when Dr. Stone had left them alone to ‘chat’ Grace found herself trying desperately to keep all of the anxiety she felt from showing.

“So,” the other woman started. “Is there anything you want to ask me?” Grace fixed her eyes on the woman across from her. Her voice was soft, but her speech was more like Thomas’ when he was tired. Opening the folder, Grace skimmed the neatly printed words until she found what she was looking for. ‘Place of Birth: Small Heath, Birmingham.’  She preferred to be called Lizzie, the paper said. “I have a few for you, if that’s alright?”

Again Grace met Lizzie’s eyes. “Of course. What don’t you understand?” She could hear it- the ice that had crept into her voice. It was the tone she used in boardrooms and closed-door meetings with men who had too much power. And Lizzie didn’t like it. But for some reason Grace couldn’t bring herself to regret her tone.

“It says in the contract that I’ll be living in your guest house during the pregnancy.” Lizzie paused for a moment and Grace wondered if it was to collect her thoughts or to keep from running out of the room. “But it also said that if, once we met properly, either party wanted to renegotiate that…”

Grace arched a brow. “Are you suggesting that we let you live somewhere separate from us?” And she hated that she could hear her mother in her own voice. But it was a ridiculous idea. Surely Ms. Stark could see that. An incredulous smile came to Grace’s lips. “How would we know if something happened? This is not your child, Ms. Stark. This is mine and my husband’s child. Why would we allow a stranger to just go off with our baby?”

A flash of defiance showed in Lizzie’s eyes. She had sat up straighter in her chair, leaning forward a bit. “I understand your concern. But what exactly do you think I’m going to be doing at my place? Snorting blow and having orgies?” Grace’s nose crinkled at the mental image. “Listen, Mrs. Shelby, I’ll come by and visit every day. You’ll be at every appointment. But I don’t think it would be good to live so close together. I don’t want to get attached.”

She was trying to manipulate her. Grace could hear it. She could see it. But it didn’t make Lizzie’s point any less valid. And the last thing Grace needed was for Lizzie to decide that she wanted to fight for custody of this baby. Still, the idea of her not being just a walk across the lawn from her child… “No. I’m sorry, but no. Not this early. Maybe toward the third trimester-“

“I’ll be huge and tired and it’ll be too much trouble to move by then.”

But Grace didn’t back down. She couldn’t- not with this. She stared the other woman down, neither willing to give up their positions. But Grace had years of experience getting her way. And Lizzie Stark was not going to change that. “We’ll hire movers. You’ll never lift a finger except to get into the car when everything is finished.”

Lizzie lifted her chin and Grace prepared herself to fight whatever argument came next. Only one never came. Lizzie nodded slowly and leaned back in her seat. “Alright. No later than the start of the third trimester.” Then she stood up and walked out of the room.  Grace sat at the table, heart pounding. She gave up too easily. She had put Grace on the backfoot, as Thomas would say, and she didn’t like it.

Mostly she wondered if she’d just ruined a chance at getting through this in peace.

~*~

Grace was alone when Tommy got back. And she was upset. He could tell by the stiffness of her shoulders and the tilt of her head as she stood at one of the windows. He had seen the doctor on his way back to the little conference room. She told him that Grace and the woman- Ms. Stark- were having a chat. It had sounded friendly enough, but still he’d picked up his pace. And now he was glad he had.

“What happened?”

Grace turned from the window to face him and Tommy could see the fear she’d pushed away was back. “I just-“ Grace took a deep breath. “I think I’ve started something. Between me and the surrogate.” Tommy tilted his head in confusion. Grace’s shoulders slumped and Tommy watched her blink back tears. “She wanted to stay at her own place. Simple enough, right? And I said no. No, Tommy, don’t look like that. I told her ‘no’ the way my mother told you she wouldn’t be able to come to the wedding.”

Tommy winced at that. Mrs. Burgess has made no effort to hide how much she hated Tommy and his family and the fact that he had married her daughter. She hadn’t come to the wedding. And when she announced as much, she had been cold and disdainful and the most well-spoken bitch that Tommy had ever dealt with. And now Grace was telling him she’d treated the surrogate that way?

“Alright. So you were a bit cold to her. Why? We said it would be fine if she didn’t live with us. It’s in the contract that living arrangements were negotiable.” He hadn’t wanted to have any new people on their property- not even in the guest house. And Grace hadn’t seemed so set on it either. “I read the file, there’s nothing in there that says she shouldn’t be on her own.”

Grace rolled her eyes in exasperation. It was something she didn’t do often. “I know, Thomas. But I just hate the idea of her having our baby so far from us. I mean, we don’t know her. What if she smokes? What if she drinks and the baby is born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.” Tommy held in a sigh. He knew Grace- she didn’t think any of those things would happen. She was just nervous and trying to keep as much control as possible. It was something he’d done far too often to not see the signs.

Coming around the table, Tommy set his hands on Grace’s shoulders. “Stop. I didn’t want her at the house to begin with. But you agreed, if she wanted to stay at her own place she could.” His arms went around his wife and Tommy held her tight. “We’ve got her number. We’ll call, invite her to lunch one day. You can apologize-“ Grace scoffed and Tommy shook his head with a smile. “You can apologize and then the three of us can figure out the living situation. No big deal. Alright?”

He pulled back to see Grace’s face. Her lips were set in a pout and her eyes were red-rimmed, but she was still beautiful. “Yes, that’s fine.” She lifted up and gave him a quick kiss. “Thank you for calming me down. Thank you for all of this. I love you, you know?”

“I know. Now come on. We’ve got reservations for dinner.”

~*~

Four Days Later

Lizzie had just walked in the front door when her phone rang. Fishing it out of her pocket, her brows scrunched together as she looked at the unfamiliar number. It had been a long day. She had taken the day to go to the library and read up on what to expect during the first three months of pregnancy. It had been information overload. And then she had gone to the clinic for them to implant the embryos. It had been fairly easy, but now she couldn’t’ stop thinking about the fact that this was all real now. More real than it had been when it was just talk and paperwork.

So she wasn’t really in the mood for a bill collector or one of those scam calls telling her she’d won a free vacation to Aruba. So she tossed her phone on the sofa and made her way to the kitchen. There wasn’t much in it- rent came first these days. But that would change soon. The clinic had given her a check as she left from the Shelbys. It was to cover her food, rent, and utilities for the month- until it was confirmed that a baby would be showing up in approximately nine months.  

Standing at her mostly empty refrigerator, Lizzie pulled out the milk and a carton of strawberries. Turning to grab a glass from the cupboard, the sound of her ringtone came again. Setting the milk and berries on the counter she rushed back to the living room and snatched up her phone and answered. “Hello?”

“Is this Elizabeth Stark?” Lizzie tensed at the deep voice on the other end. It was the last voice she expected to hear. She pulled the phone from her ear and looked at the screen. The same number from a minute ago was on the display. Quickly she put the phone back to her ear. “Yes, this is she.”

There was a pause on the other end and she thought she heard someone else speaking in the background. “Good. This is Tommy Shelby. My wife and I were wondering if you’d like to join us for dinner one day this week.” Lizzie blinked, then blinked again. She hadn’t expected that. And she really couldn’t understand why Mrs. Shelby would want to see her. “Ms. Stark, are you there?” Mr. Shelby asked, a hint of impatience in his tone.

“Yes, sorry. I’m here. Um..” God, Lizzie, just fucking say no. Because she really didn’t want to see them before she’d gone back to the clinic. She wanted as much of her freedom as she could get before their lives became enmeshed. “Sure. I mean, that would be fine. Do you have a day in mind?” She hadn’t needed to read the file Dr. Stone had given her to know that the Shelbys had very busy lives. They might try to make it sound like this was all spur of the moment, but Lizzie knew better.

Another pause, then the click of someone typing. “Wednesday at six?” Lizzie got the feeling that she was not the one that question was being directed to. Not that it really mattered. She didn’t feel like she had much of a say in all of this anyway. Especially after how things had gone at the clinic with Grace. “So does six o’clock Wednesday work for you, Ms. Stark?”

“You can just call me Lizzie. And yes, that works fine. Where should I meet you?” She hoped it wasn’t anywhere too pricey. She didn’t want them to pay for her, but she also hated pretending she wasn’t hungry at places simply because she couldn’t afford more than water. So of course the place Mr. Shelby named was a fancy restaurant downtown. “Sounds good. See you then,” she replied, stomach twisting itself into knots.

“And Lizzie? Call me Tommy.”

Lizzie mumbled her assent and quickly got off the phone. She looked back at the screen, brain still processing the last…three minutes and twenty-six seconds. ‘Call me Tommy’ he’d said. Tommy- such an innocent sounding name. A name that made you think of little boys running after a ball or the shy kid in high-school who was always really sweet. But somehow when Mr. Shelby said it, all those thoughts disappeared. Instead you were left with that old school Mafia vibe. Darkness and danger wrapped up in every syllable.

“Great, Liz, just great. You’ve really stuck yourself with quite the pair, haven’t you?”

~*~

Tommy motioned for the waiter to bring him another whiskey.

So far dinner had been awful. Lizzie had arrived on time, dressed appropriately, if not quite up to the usual price standards for the place. She had been nervous, but tried to hide it. And Tommy had been sure that once they got settled at their table things would begin to smooth over.

He did not expect Grace to insult Lizzie’s dress. He didn’t expect to hear his wife- who had been completely apologetic before getting to the restaurant- turn into her mother the minute Lizzie arrived. And he didn’t expect to have to make small talk to cover the tension. He wasn’t good at small talk. It was always Grace who handled things like that when business required playing nice with people.

He’d given up two whiskeys ago. Instead he sat and watched as Grace ate her meal and Lizzie sipped at the lemonade she’d ordered. He’d told her he was paying- to order what she wanted. She’d refused. It’d been a while since Tommy had been broke. But not long enough that he forgot how fucking annoying it was to take handouts. So he didn’t push the issue.

But it had been almost an hour and the tension was starting to aggravate him. So, Tommy reached over and took Grace’s hand, ignoring his wife’s questioning look, before turning to Lizzie. “So, Lizzie, we asked you here because we wanted to get some things settled.” He felt Grace tense beside him while he watched Lizzie stiffen in her seat. Tommy didn’t miss the way her eyes slid to Grace for a moment. “I believe things may have gotten off to a bad start.”

“Yes,” Grace said, “I think there were misunderstandings on both sides.” There hadn’t been- not from what Grace had told Tommy. But he kept his thoughts to himself. “Ms. Stark, Lizzie, I hope you know that I wasn’t trying to force you into anything. I just feel so protective of my baby already.” Lizzie didn’t respond. “I hope you’ll forgive me.”

Lizzie reached for her glass and took a sip of her lemonade. Tommy could see her thinking. He knew she was trying to decide if Grace had meant what she said. Not that it really mattered. The papers were signed, she had gone to the clinic to have the embryos implanted. This was happening. But he didn’t want Grace upset. And he didn’t want to have to fight for custody of this baby. So he wanted the two women to play nicely.

Setting her glass back down Lizzie looked at Grace. “I’m glad you feel so protective. It’s nice, knowing that this baby will be taken care of. And I hope that we can get through this whole thing without any problems. So I will stay until the end of the second trimester.” She turned to Tommy. “But I still think it would be better if I stayed at my own place from the beginning. Like I told Mrs. Shelby, I’ll visit every day and you are going to be at the doctor’s appointments anyway. So I don’t see why I need to live on your property.”

“But,” Tommy turned to Grace. “As I explained to you, it’s a matter of safety and knowing what is happening with our child,” Grace said. “You obviously have financial issues. And in your background check it said that you’ve been in trouble a few times. I just need to know that you aren’t going to do anything that could harm my baby.”

Tommy stared at Grace. They had talked about this. They had gone over how things would go at the dinner. And she’d gone off course from the minute Lizzie arrived. He tossed back the rest of his whiskey and tried to think of a way to salvage this. But he could see it in his wife’s eyes- she’d dug in her heels. “Grace.” She turned to face him, eyes bright with defiance. “We agreed, yeah? We wouldn’t force anything.”

He felt Lizzie’s eyes on him. It made him uncomfortable- having someone see him and Grace like this. He didn’t like people seeing the inner workings of his marriage. But it couldn’t be helped. Not this time. “It’s fine. Alright? It’s fine. But I’m still going to need rent money. I’ll need to still have a place after this is all over with.” Tommy reluctantly looked away from Grace. The woman facing him had just as much defiance in her eyes as his wife, but her shoulders were slumped in defeat. It was an odd sight.

“Can you be ready to move by Wednesday after next?” It was two weeks, and Tommy didn’t think Grace would wait much longer. And he just wanted this whole thing to be over. He had business that needed his attention and he couldn’t referee between his wife and the surrogate. Lizzie tensed, but nodded. For the first time Tommy wondered just how bad off she was to be going through with all of this. “Movers will be at your apartment on the day, then.”

He saw the waiter and motioned for the bill.

~*~

“What the fuck was that?”

Grace winced. “I know. Thomas, I know. She just-“

“Just what? Showed up on time? Ordered a drink? Agreed to what you fucking wanted?” She bit her lip. She hated fighting with Tommy. It didn��t happen often. They understood each other too well for that, usually. But this whole thing was increasing Grace’s anxiety. “You were meant to apologize. The whole point was to smooth things over so we don’t have problems later.”

Grace felt a spike of fear at those words. It would be so easy for Ms. Stark to sue for custody. It would be so easy for her to terminate the contract- abort the baby. And Grace knew she wasn’t helping matters. If anything she was making things worse. But she couldn’t seem to help it. “I’m just scared, Thomas.”

Her husband looked over at her from the driver’s seat. But instead of the usual softness and love, Grace found Tommy’s face tight with annoyance and his eyes cooler than they’d been with her in a long time. “You can’t let that matter. You can’t let the fear get into your head and muck it up. We had a plan. You broke from the plan, Grace. And that- that shit that happened back there? That’ll be what fucks this whole thing up in the end.”

The rest of the drive was silent. It was excruciating, mainly because Grace knew Tommy was right. But that insecure part of her couldn’t let herself care. She couldn’t admit it, not to him. Not when he was defending that woman. It shouldn’t feel like this. None of this should feel the way it did. Grace should be happy. Tommy should be happy. They should be planning for a baby to arrive, not fighting over the woman who was carrying said baby.

But…She saw the way Lizzie had watched Thomas. Grace had seen something in her eyes that made her wonder. Something that made her want to hold him tighter, closer. And she’d seen the way Thomas had looked at Lizzie- there had been an understanding there. When Lizzie had only ordered lemonade, when she had politely declined to let Tommy pay for her meal- he’d looked at her like he recognized something in her. It was something Grace didn’t recognize and she hated it- that small thing that Thomas and this woman shared.

The car pulling to a stop brought Grace out of her troubling thoughts. They were home. The sun was just setting behind the house and it cast a golden glow over everything. It was beautiful- perfect. Thomas had picked it for her as a surprise and she had fallen in love with it immediately. And every time she returned, no matter how upset or scared or hurt she might be, seeing it always made Grace smile. But not this time.  This time her eyes went to the guest house to the left of the property- almost out of sight.

“She’s going to live there, Thomas. She’d going to be right there.” She felt her husband’s eyes on her. It wasn’t comforting like she had grown accustomed to. This time his gaze was too heavy. “It feels too close. But I can’t stand the idea of her being a step farther away. God, I wish…” But it didn’t matter what she wished. Her wishes hadn’t come true even after all the money and the medicine and the tears.

Thomas got out and walked around to the passenger’s side. He opened her door like always, and gave her his hand to help her out of the car. But the warmth of his hand was gone as soon as she was securely on her feet. He closed the door and went into the house- without her. The only other time he’d done that was the night Ada had gone missing. He’d run in to make calls- to find his baby sister.

This time he just didn’t want to be near his wife.

[youarejesting]

NCT127 Incarceration: 1

[MASTERLIST]

Pairing: Unknown (this is a NCT127 fic though it mentions all the members they will not be the focus unfortunately as I cannot keep up trying to write such a big group.)

Genre: Friendship, Comedy, Mystery, Drama, Romance, Action, Adventure, Brains, Sex and more. HONESTLY ALL THE GOOD STUFF.

Summary:  The worlds craftiest criminals held in the most expensive and elaborate prison. Landing yourself among the best of the best, you find that personally prison life isn’t for you. In a room full of criminals who can you trust?

Announcement: My first ever NCT fic please show it some love, just double tap the screen if you find you like it while reading.

It was a prison for the best of the best, the most dangerous and the craftiest. And you had a one-way ticket, you were proud of what you did and you wouldn’t change a thing. 

Blindfolded and driven to the facility you would stay, you noted every turn and counted for estimated travel time and direction. 

You could hear the radio playing, talking about a new development in the town. “So apparently they are building a new estate on the south-east of the prison that would mean that we have surrounded the entire prison making it the safest prison in the world as all the workers of the prison live in each one of those little houses”

“There was some debate when they started building so close that the worker’s families were in danger but now the economy is booming people have a good stable home and the amount of security makes this the safest place in the world”

“Next year they are planning to make a school so children don’t have to travel outside the town for their education. Set on the patch of land off directly south of the prison,”  They took you from the vehicle and wheeled inside.

“Look at your new home” they whipped your blindfold, and you looked around finding out potential escapes and security level. You smiled at the surrounding area. This would be easy for you were good at what you do. 

Your father had taught you well, how to hide in plain sight and it was a harmless trick as a child but had landed you in the most expensive prison in the world. Which by the entranceway was a sign-in desk for the guards, handing over your paperwork as required. They signed you in with the prison name at the top of the page. 

‘The South Korean penitentiary for dangerous and ingenious criminals’

“Why is her blindfold off?”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t see much” you said with an innocent smile. They took you to your cell, the man telling you everything. “So who is the warden?” 

“What makes you think it’s not me?” He said you shrugged knowing full well that they had people from many backgrounds believing they were in their own country but you had read the paperwork. Standing still as they detached you from the carrier they had strapped you to. Your hand dipped into his pocket taking his pen slipping it down your long sleeve. They left shutting the door to the cell behind them, leaving you alone for a short while. Inspecting the place you noticed there were no camera’s in the room but you had noticed some outside in the halls. 

They buzzed the doors, each swinging open, and you walked to the door as directed over the PA system and you all walked single file out to dinner. The whole prison was unisex even your cell block was mixed. You followed seeing a few groups chatting taking a bunch of napkins while you were waiting and began writing some things you didn’t want to forget like what you had seen so far of the floor layout.

“Hey you plotting your big break,” a young man asked he was all smiles, I am Mark, you speak English right they said the new inmate was English, that’s you right?”

“I wouldn’t bother trying, you can’t escape here. Just ask Yuta he has been here the longest out of all of us. He almost escaped once, but he never speaks about what he saw?” Another spoke, “My name is Johnny, and this guy is Mark, over there you got; Kun, Winwin, Ten, Lucas, Hendery, Xiaojun, Yangyang, Renjun and Chenle. They all hang out and keep things pretty hush. They speak Chinese mostly.”

“The table beside them has Taeyong Taeil, Doyoung, Jaehyung, Jungwoo, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin and the youngest of all of us here Jisung,” Said boy lifted his head and waved mark grinned waving back happily

“Yuta sits alone at that table there and refuses to speak to anyone in any other language than Japanese because of… he… well, I don’t know why,” Mark shrugged sliding down the bench until he was across from you. “That’s everyone in NCT. That is our unit, it stands for Non-Conventional Threat. It means we are not your typical criminals we are the masterminds the best of the best. Next door is the H.O.T unit High-risk Offender Threat. There are only a few in that group and I am sure they have killed people before they have been here for a long time and they have chaperones. There is the After School unit, they are in the south wing they are boys and girls who are going through their schooling from grades one to master degrees. I am Mark as you already know, what is your name?”

“Y/n” you said standing with your tray and walking over to the end table where Yuta sat alone, 

“You always talk too much” Johnny laugh at his friend’s embarrassment.

Sitting across from Yuta he murmured in Japanese “Please leave me alone.”

“No, I think we should trade, I will tell you what I know if you tell me what you know”

“What could you know?”

“We are in the South Korean penitentiary for dangerous and ingenious criminals. The town that surrounds the prison is filled entirely for people who work at this prison so if you escape they can easily find you, except they are building new estate south-east of the prison which means empty homes that someone could hide in. Directly South of the prison behind the town there is a small area they plan to bulldoze next year to make room for their new school”

“How do you know all this?” He eyed you

“I am a genius just like you, and I got a plan, the problem is, it's kind of big and I will need some help you in?”

“Look I don’t want to be part of your scheme there is no escape so just deal with it you are stuck here, just like the rest of us”

You walked away and sat alone at a table observing the room getting the layout, there was a kitchen and by the sound of it there were no doors that lead in or out of the kitchen other than the one connected to the dining hall which meant the kitchen was a dead end. Good to know. Yet there was no visible door’s in the dining hall and the dining hall lead straight to their cells and other than the cells there was no doorway. 

Each cell had a shower sink and toilet unit that came out of the wall and hid back away. So the doors must be the same invisible to the naked eye. With as much skill as you could without making it obvious, you walked over to the Chinese group you spoke a little mandarin. You smiled at them.

“Hello, my name is y/n.” They seemed surprised, and you moved around the table as they all greeted you and you saw the disguised card reader that you could only tell was different to the rest of the wall by the slightly aged and dirty patch on the wall. Just like how light switches collect marks over time from use, this was the same “ah the door is here”

“What?”

“The door into the dining room is here, how else do the workers get inside. You can tell because of the dirty mark from use they rubbed their key cards on the wall” You said in English more to yourself. You didn’t expect Hendery to figure out what you meant let alone recite it to the others. “Don’t make it obvious” you scolded, their heads all snapped to Hendery as he reigned them in.

You wanted to investigate more but your nose started bleeding your head feeling tight from overthinking. Staggering forward you sat down beside Mark who shrieked at the sight and went to get you some napkins.

[thanksjro]

The Transformers #26- Chaos Part 2: A for Effort, Trailbreaker

Issue #25 isn’t relevant, either to this project or to the Chaos storyline. Prowl investigates Scrapper’s murder, and things get messy in terms of connecting the dots, he’s attacked, it’s all very dramatic, we get that one panel where Prowl ruins a man’s barbecue.

Let’s move on, shall we?

The entire Chaos storyline is co-authored by Roberts and Costa, so I won’t be mentioning it further. It’s not like this is an especially long storyline anyway.

Getting back to where we left off, that big nasty Kimia laser is coming down, but it’s not targeting the Autobots. It’s hitting another part of the planet, and Optimus thinks it’s high time they found out just what’s going on here. He orders Silverbolt to follow the laser, and the entirety of their aerial division shoots up into the sky, including Cosmos. I guess all these guys have been here this whole time. News to me, but okay.

Sunstreaker and Drift get put in charge of finding a base of operations, while Cliffjumper gets paired off with Wheelie for a scouting mission. Once they’re done unloading all the crap they packed in Omega Supreme, Rodimus will fly him back up into orbit to try and deal with the threat in the air while everyone else is on the ground.

Trailbreaker, you do one fucking thing. What is this confusion about your role in any of this?

Rodimus and Trailbreaker get up into orbit without much fuss, guiding the aerial team.

Yeah, I could see them needing some extra eyes here.

Down on the surface of the planet, Wheelie is dragging Cliffjumper around, much to his chagrin. Also Wheelie’s got a gun. I don’t know where he got the gun from, considering he’s been running around with nothing but a slingshot and a synth for the last several issues, but he’s got a fucking rifle now, and he’s pointing it straight at Galvatron. He misses, but not by much. Pretty impressive for a guy who’s not seen a gun in a few million years and went full Castaway.

Of course, with that shot, their cover is blown, and Galvatron sends his troops in the direction that the gunfire came from. Cliffjumper calls Optimus to tattle on Wheelie, and Optimus’ team heads their way.

Meanwhile, up in space, the aerial forces are making short work of the Sweeps. The hard part is going to be getting into Kimia so they can turn off that laser.

Speaking of Kimia, let’s check in on some of the guys who work there, why don’t we? Lightspeed and Nosecone take stock of their current situation, and it’s pretty darn grim, to put it lightly. They’re stuck in the same room as a power generator for the particle cannon, with only a few blasters and some experimental bomb nonsense between them. The room around them lights up, signaling the power-up sequence for the cannon. That’s no good!

Good thing Trailbreaker’s here! Surely his forcefield-creating abilities will save the day!

Oof. That’s rough, buddy.

The damage to the planet can be seen from space. Cybertron’s got maybe enough fortitude to take a couple more hits like that before it either crumbles or going hurtling off into deep space. Since they can’t contain the particle cannon blasts, they’re going to have to destroy Kimia.

Rodimus isn’t really a huge fan of this plan, seeing as there are probably still folks alive inside the facility, and he can’t stand to sacrifice others, even if it is for the greater good. Gee, I wonder why.

That was sarcasm, by the way. I know it does’t translate well in writing. The reaction we’re getting from Rodimus here is probably due to him having had to blow up his home town to keep his fellow citizens from being used as ammunition and batteries in weapons of mass destruction, so that others might live. That kind of thing tends to sit pretty heavy on one’s soul. We’ll see more of the complex that event gave him in MTMTE.

Back on Kimia,  the cannon’s warming up for another shot, and communication breaks down, as Lightspeed and Nosecone pack on the explosive charges and get ready to blow Kimia up themselves, and Rodimus prepares to slam into the facility with Omega Supreme. Optimus just kind of sits back and listens to this whole thing go down. Kimia explodes, as everyone down on the planet watches in awe.

Ironhide, people are dead.

This pisses Galvatron off pretty severely, and he pulls Jhiaxus- yeah, he’s in this story, don’t worry about it- away for further nefariousness.

Rodimus lands/crashes Omega back onto the planet, with a wounded Trailbreaker. He asks where Optimus has gotten off to, and Sunstreaker tells him he and Ironhide fucked off somewhere, which causes Rodimus and Drift to share a look. And what a look it is.

Optimus is running around in his semi-truck mode, and apparently he and the Matrix are on speaking terms again, as he lets Ironhide know that he’s got a feeling in his jimmies that some serious stuff is about to go down, and the Matrix is going to be integral to things going in a way that’s beneficial to the Autobots.

Meanwhile, Megatron is attempting to figure out what the hell’s going on outside by talking to Omega Supreme, but Supreme just grayrocks him. We get a positively horrid view of Megatron’s chicklet teeth as he says he’s about to head out.

Now, you may be thinking, surely Megatron couldn’t escape from his full-body harness with the built in shock collar attachment, to which I say: He’s the main antagonist. Give it a minute.

Garnak is trying to keep Trailbreaker comfortable, chatting all the while, until Sunstreaker hears something he can’t seem to identify.

Good lord, they’re like spiders. Everything’s on fire, everything is trying to kill you, and there are giant-ass spiders. Cybertron is Space Australia.

Turns out these awful little things are cutting Megatron out of his bonds, as he laughs maniacally. Outside, Cliffjumper and Wheelie are getting shot at, like, a LOT. Cliffjumper is less calling and more begging and pleading for backup at this point. Help does come, but not from a source he’d like.

I guess the spiders snuck him a little protein powder while they were springing him loose.

[marshmallow-phd]

Lies Untold

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Supernatural, Wolf Au

Pairing: Luhan x Reader

Summary: For generations, your family has been the protectors of mankind. You were considered one of the best and due to that reputation, you were sent on what could be the most important mission for the organization. Going under cover in a college to sniff out a particularly large and threatening wolf pack seemed easy enough. But when you meet one of the members, everything you’ve known since birth will be overturned and your loyalty to your family and heritage will be tested.

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I Final

**

Ice ran through your veins. You could feel his hot breath against your neck. His very proximity was enough to churn your stomach. Your skin was crawling to get away from him. He’d had this effect on you since you were children. There was always something unnerving and unsettling about him.

Out all the people… no. You couldn’t lose your cool. You could still control the situation. You’d conquered your fear of him long ago.

“I don’t know what you’re blabbering about,” you hissed as you stood up from your chair abruptly, causing him to jump back. “I was fixing the files after finding there was a mistake in the information. We can’t exactly operate at an efficient level if we’re strategizing off of inaccurate information.”

Johnny raised an eyebrow, something sparking in his gray eyes. “Inaccurate information, you say?” Out of his pocket, he procured a folded up piece of paper. He held it up between his index and middle finger like it was the winning card of a poker game; his ace in the hole. “If the town was incorrectly named in the files, then why do your GPS coordinates have you going only to the town previously mentioned in the files?”

You always knew that Johnny was twisted. He crossed lines and went around orders. His disciplinary file had an above average amount of papers that had found a home there, but he was never really punished for any of his transgressions. Most of the council actually preferred his methods, even if they went against tradition and honor. And he had mastered hiding the more insatiable parts of himself from the elders. His greatest trick.

This, though… it was like he knew you weren’t going to go through with your mission. Or… he’d been planning something from the beginning….

“What are you getting at, Johnny?” Challenging him in this moment probably wasn’t the best idea, but you needed to keep him talking. Johnny was like the villain in a spy movie. Once he started on his speeches, he gave away everything.

“Entrusting you with this mission was a mistake from the start,” he sneered. “You’re too soft. You’ve never even slain your own wolf.”

“This mission wasn’t about killing,” you snarled back. Whether you were choosing to leave this life or not, being called soft or weak was still an insult. You’d been taught since you were little that being either one of those things would get you killed. “It was getting the book. That’s why you weren’t sent. You’re too reckless. All you think about is the kill. You never look at other perspectives.”

Johnny scoffed. “Other perspectives? You sound a little peace-loving, don’t you?”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

Slowly, a smirk grew across his lips. “Do I?”

Turning into the predator he really was, Johnny began to circle you, his eyes trained on your face. You tried hard to remain collected, to act bored or uninterested in his little game while in reality, panic was beginning to shake the very fibers of your muscles. Fight or flight was kicking in and either one would give you away.

“I don’t think I do know what you mean actually,” he hissed in a very snake-like fashion in your ear. He was directly behind you now and enjoying the game he was masterminding. “You forget, (y/n), I’ve seen you hesitate before..”

You elbowed him hard in the stomach, receiving a satisfying groan in return. “That was years ago, in a simulation. If that’s the best you’ve got, then maybe you should pick a new career.”

Before you could walk away, Johnny grabbed your arm and spun you around. His wide, round face was red from the strain it took to hold himself back. Controlling his temper was always a struggle for him and you might have just pressed the wrong button.

“I was born and bred to someday lead this section of the organization,” he growled, the grip on your arm tightening, forcing a wince out of you. “I am the only one strong enough to lead the next generation. You are weak and sympathetic. It makes me sick.”

“I am not,” you argued back desperately.

“Yes, you are. You don’t have the willpower to do what is necessary. But don’t worry. Because I have the will and the vision it takes to eradicate the world of those creatures. I will make sure that every single mongrel is wiped from the face of this earth and I’ll start with your precious monsters.”

“They’re not monsters!” The words were out from your lips before you could bite them back. By the sickening grin spreading across Johnny’s face, you knew you’d given yourself away.

Slowly, the real monster turned his head and glanced over his shoulder. “Is that proof enough for you?”

Suddenly the monitors on the walls flickered on, revealing the council sitting back at the conference table after you’d been told the meeting was dismissed. You were surrounded on all sides by the people you used to admire and look up to. Every member wore a cold expression, save your father. Disappointment and heartbreak were written all over his face.

“No judgement will be passed as of yet,” your father declared. His voice was much more powerful and indifferent than what his features showed. “We’ll investigate further. Until then, she’ll be held in the cells with the possible charge of treason.”

The monitors went black again, cutting off any possible argument you might have given. Pressed against the delicate skin of your neck was the sharp edge of Johnny’s favorite knife.

“Don’t try to fight,” he laughed. “There are more of us outside this room.”

You didn’t plan on fighting. Not right now. But of course he brought backup. He knew if it was simply one-on-one, you’d win. Johnny couldn’t hold his own in a long running match.

Knowing that you didn’t have any other choice, you let him lead you out of the main hall and across the grounds towards the holding cells while his loyal goons followed closely behind with Tasers crackling in their hands.

“(y/n)?”

Shit.

You kept your face forward, ignoring the cries of your baby sister as she ran towards you.

“What are you doing with her!” Alli shouted.

Johnny snarled at her. “Mind your own business, child!”

“I’m not a child!” she bit back. Turning to you, her fierce façade melted away to a desperation for answers. “(y/n), what’s going on?”

“Don’t worry about it, Alli. Everything’s going to be fine.” An empty promise. And she knew it. She maybe not have been an adult, but you couldn’t get away with simple generalizations with her like you could a child.

“Don’t lie to me!”

“Your sister is a traitor, how about that?” Johnny shoved Alli away, making you fight against his grip, but the knife was back at your throat and his slid the metal just enough to break skin. “Get out of here. If you want answers, find your father.”

Alli shot you one last pleading look. At your silence, she took off for the main hall. You weren’t sure if your father would actually explain anything to her, but you hoped he would keep her in the dark just a little while longer. For her own sake.

The only light that was given in the small, stable-like prison came from the high windows that would be just out of your reach. Concrete slabs made up the walls, impossible to climb with their smooth surfaces, and old iron bars speckled with red-orange rust created the doors to the five-by-eight rooms. Old, musky straw covered the dirt floors and several of the cells had worn wrist cuffs hanging from a heavy nail hammered into the walls. Thankfully, Johnny didn’t see a need to chain you up as he shoved you into one of the cells near the middle of the single-hallway building after patting you down for weapons. You hadn’t strapped any on you this morning, deeming it unnecessary. That decision still seemed right. If you were able to get out of here, you knew exactly where your weapons were stored, rather than being in the possession of Johnny. Again, that was if you got out of here.

“This is a truly enjoyable sight,” he snickered as he slammed the cell door shut. With a motion of his head, he led his posse outside, leaving you alone.

You slid down to the ground, not caring about the dirt and grime that was getting all over your pants. It wasn’t a surprise that you landed here. As soon as you’d gotten into Innie’s car, you knew there was a high chance that you’d be caught. You’d come to terms with the end and so now all there was left to do was sit and wait for your fate.

**

Luhan crouched down low in the shrubbery that outlined the compound. Buildings that ranged from large training facilities to personal homes were scattered among the grounds in no specific order. Hunters were wandering around in groups of three or four, the older ones walking stoically with their hands hand their backs while the more youthful hunters were loudly joking and shoving each other.

The sun was still too high in the sky for his liking, so Luhan waited - rather impatiently - for the better cover of night. He had no idea where you were or which house belonged to your family, but that was easily handled. He just needed to find a small hint of your scent. Surely you’d been gone long enough that he wouldn’t pick up old, confusing traces.

As soon as he had the cover of darkness and the compound seemed to have settled for the night, Luhan emerged from the forest and slowly walked along the cemented trails. He stuck to the shadows, but at the same time tried to look like he belonged so no one would question him from a distance. Taking several deep breaths, he tried to concentrate on finding your scent among dozens scattered around the area.

Finally locating it, he followed your trail to the largest building in the center of this place. He knew walking into what was obviously the headquarters for this branch of the organization, but he needed to find you.

And the front door was unlocked.

So, he opened it slowly, stepping inside and carefully, quietly closing it back up again. He scanned the long hallway, careful to look for any signs of movement. After a hundred feet or so, your scent came to a stop at a pair of double doors. There was no light shining out from underneath onto the carpet, indicating that the room wasn’t in use. Was it possible you were still in there?

Luhan decided to take the risk. He placed his palm on the shiny golden handle and pushed.

The room was empty. Great. Now he had to find the trail again.

“Well, isn’t this a lovely surprise?”

Luhan whirled around. Leaning against the opposite wall was a cocky-looking hunter about his size twirling a knife between his hands. Luhan knew his eyes were giving off an amber glow, catching the smallest bit of light to give him better sight. This hunter knew what he was, anyway.

“It’s interesting that you came after her. Very revealing,” the hunter mused, not looking up at Luhan. He instead kept watching the knife as if it held the world’s secrets in its structure. “I thought (y/n) had just gone soft, unable to hurt the poor, unsuspecting wolves. But now that you’re here,” he pointed at Luhan with the knife, finally making eye contact with him, “I suspect that it’s much more than that. Is she, perhaps, your precious, fated mate? That would certainly explain a lot.”

Luhan let out a low, threatening growl. “Where is she?”

“In the same place all traitors go,” he shrugged. “But she won’t be there very long. Especially now that you’re here. Maybe we’ll be nice and kill you both together. Wouldn’t that be sweet? Just like Shakespeare’s stupid play.”

Luhan wanted to pounce. He wanted nothing more than to jump on this sick, sadistic hunter and rip his throat out for even thinking about hurting you. But before his muscles could twitch, the doors at the end of the hallway flew open, revealing a new group of hunters.

Shlink.

The knife the first hunter had been holding was now embedded into the wall near Luhan’s ear.

Well, shit.

Taking off in the opposite direction, Luhan burst through the doors, making it to the outside before the other hunters made it to their leader. Thankful for his supernatural speed, Luhan bobbed and weaved through the buildings. He couldn’t head back to the woods. Even though it was his territory, the place he was most familiar with, it would make getting back here nearly impossible.

From what he heard with his acute ears, the hunters were still a ways behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, but he couldn’t see where they might be looking for him. Up ahead, there looked like what might have been an unused building. The grass around the edge of overgrown and a few of the higher up windows were cracked or missing corner pieces. He ran towards the possible hiding spot.

He didn’t make it.

Strong hands stopped him in his tracks and yanked him off his course. He landed hard on his back against the wall of one of the steel buildings. The jolt sent a shockwave through his system, unnerving him for a few seconds as he shook the stars away.

“If we live through this, I’m going to kill you.”

Luhan blinked, his eyes widening as he made out the silhouettes of some of his pack members. Kris still had a good grip on Luhan’s shirt and his eyes were flickering red as he towered over him.

“Why the hell did you take off on your own?” Tao whispered harshly. Concern was evident all over his face, even in the low light of a crescent moon.

Luhan shoved Kris’ hand away. Guilt bubbled up in his stomach, growing worse when he saw that Minseok was among the tiny rescue party. “You shouldn’t have come for me. The more of us there are, the more easily we could be caught.”

“Well, we’re not going to be caught because we’re getting out of here,” Kris argued.

“No.” Luhan glared up at the alpha. “They have (y/n) locked up and they’re going to kill her. I have to get her out.”

Tao looked back and forth between Kris and Luhan, his uncertainty of who to follow apparent. Minseok, however, had no trouble on deciding.

“I’ll help you get her out.”

Kris’ looked down at the eldest wolf in shock. “You realize she’s the one who shot you, right?”

“Yes, I do,” Minseok nodded. “But at the end of the day, she’s Luhan’s mate. If getting her out means Luhan comes home, too, then I’m going to help.”

Kris tried to hold his ground. They all knew if he really wanted to, he could order them all back home. The only one who wouldn’t be able to obey would be Luhan. Only the mate pull was stronger than a true alpha’s orders. But Kris had always refused to be the person who forced his authority.

He sighed heavily, looking up at the twinkling stars before bringing his face back down. “Fine. We’ll get the hunter out.”

Luhan smiled, but the flickering, hope-filled joy only lasted a second as an ear-splitting scream cut through the air.

[m-602]

Cold

((This was a fanfic I created for @shaykai‘s “A Gear in Time”, detailing the events of a possible ‘bad ending’ that still ends up with a bright future.))

((This took me a while to make. And it’s soooo long. I’m submitting a link just to make things easier. From coming up with what to write, to all the breaks I took, to actually writing it...))

((But I enjoyed writing it. I don’t see too many people question what would happen in this situation! I thought it’d be interesting.))

((Also, if you’d like to request a story (or, heck, even an rp or something) feel free to ask me. I don’t mind! I need more stuff to do.))

((Warning! Mentions of violence. Also kind of angsty until the end.))

((Enjoy!))

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ???, Hat Kid?

The world was spinning. She woke up completely dazed. Her senses were all over the place, making it almost impossible for her to recognize her surroundings.

After a while, the swirling feeling in her head dulls a bit as her eyes finally adjust to the dark room. In it she could make out plain, sterile walls. Tools littered the floor and in the corner she could see… a recharge bed?

Wait a second… Was she in The Facility?!

How’d she get here?! Did Moonbot capture her?! She attempts to probe her mind for any answers, only being met with foggy recollections. Was she forgetting something important? She desperately tries to clear the annoying fog.

Eventually, she manages to recall her memories clearer once her mind finally calmed itself. 

She remembers finding a camera in her bush, which was creepy in and of itself. She managed to destroy it there and then and went to return to her house. As she was walking, a flash of light caught her eye. It seemed to be coming from… the junkyard? Was one of the other bots trying to get her attention? Like the child she is, she found herself drawn to the light, trying to find the source. She got to the junkyard… only for a mulit-armed bot to grab her. She tried struggling, knowing full well who it was before she felt a small pain in her neck. In a few seconds, she had completely passed out…

That was the end of the memory. That answered how she got here, but what exactly happened while she was passed out? She found it difficult to move, so investigating was out of the question…

At that thought, her concern shifted to the fact that she felt oddly… numb… Wait a second…

* Why am I numb at all!?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Junkyard, Snatcher

“Have you seen the kiddo!? Anywhere at all!?”

Snatcher was freaking out. He just learned from Hat Kid’s family that they can’t find her anywhere. Snatcher is already sure where she could possibly be, but he didn’t want to believe it. Didn’t want to believe that psychopathic bucket of bolts got her again. Didn’t want to believe that she was in mortal peril.

It was unnatural for him to act like this - he was aware of that and, quite frankly, didn’t care. His kiddo was gone, and he was ready to tear off a certain someone’s limbs for taking her away.

Everyone of the other robots gave him the same answer. They said they had no idea. They said that they would search for her. But deep down, they all knew what really happened. They were just in their own versions of disbelief.

Snatcher wasn’t about to stand by and let that piece of metallic trash do whatever he wanted to his kid! He was ready to charge into The Facility and take her back by force…

As splendidly as that’s gone in the past. In all honesty, he’s kind of terrified. Trashbot knew that place better than he did. Not only that, he’s outfitted himself with weaponry that Snatcher has come very close to meeting personally. If he wanted to do this, he’d have to play it smart and with the utmost caution.

Easier said than done. Snatcher was massive and his little wheel wasn’t the quietest thing in the world. He really needed to get that fixed… He racked his computer-brain for any solutions.

Going over the facts in his head, a direct confrontation with Trashbot would be suicidal within that place. The hallways are cramped and Trashbot knows the place like the back of his rusted hand. He’d have to… somehow be stealthy about rescuing Hat Kid. Somehow not draw attention to himself. Somehow find the kiddo without getting caught once! How was he going t-

“Snatcher?”

The voice jolted him from his mini-panic attack. His eyes connected with the speaker’s, revealing it to be... Thor? Tim accompanied him, too.

“What do you want?” 

It was obvious that he was rather upset about the whole situation. It was even more obvious that he was struggling to find a solution, judging by the looks he was getting. Tim was the one who answered him.

“Well… We’re just as worried about Hattie as you are. How could we not be!? She’s family to us, after all… So we figured that we would lend a hand in her rescue but coming up with a tight-nit plan.”

Snatcher gave them both a perplexed look. They wanted to help? But The Facility is dangerous! Trashbot is dangerous! Snatcher doesn’t want them getting hurt! ...Not because he cares about him. He’s just fairly certain that the kid would be furious if anything happened to them on his watch.

“Look, I know you want to help the little brat. But that place isn’t exactly human friendly. I’m pretty sure you’d just get in my way. So… I will kindly ask you to stay out of it.”

He did his best to sound threatening, trying to keep a tough persona. It wasn’t working.

“And you think you can save her on your own? We know how dangerous Moonbot is,” Snatcher visibly cringed at the name, “and want to help out. You know that place more than we do… There has to be something we could do to at least keep Moonbot occupied while you rescue Hattie.”

Snatcher was going to protest… but he had no words to counter with. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. He had no hope of rescuing the kid on his own. He’s already regrettably aware of how risky it is to take Trashbot on in a fight. To have any hope of winning, they’d have to be in a less confined area. Plus, Snatcher would have no hope of sneaking through The Facility due to his size and… noise level. With a metallic sigh, he relented, still obviously hesitant to do so.

“Fine… What do you have in mind?”

A stray thought manifested in Snatcher’s robotic mind.

* Hang on, kiddo. We’re coming for you, I promise…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Facility, Hat Kid?

Hattie was panicking again. She really couldn’t feel anything. She couldn’t feel the metal floor, the temperature of the probably stifling air, nothing. It was as if every nerve in her body was taken out of her!

Wait a second… if that was the case then…

Moonbot always talked about how terrible humans were. Always said that she would be better off as a robot…

Robot…

* NO WAY!!!

He actually did it?! That was the only way to explain why she couldn’t feel anything! Moonbot actually managed to convert her!

What was going to happen now?! Would she be stuck here forever?! Would Moonbot make it so she could never move to keep her here?!

What would happen if her family found out?! If Snatcher found out?!

…

* They were coming to save me… right?

She let that thought comfort her as she sat there, still unsure how she can get her numbed, certainly metal body to move. She knows at least Snatcher will come for her. He always did anytime she was kidnapped and couldn’t get out. She could worry about being roboticized later…

Or now, considering the fact that she still can’t move. Being numbed probably has something to do with that. She tried desperately to at least get her right arm to move in some way. It shuddered a bit, but still remained motionless… After about a whole, agonizing minute (which felt like a whole, agonizing hour to her) she finally managed to move the arm slightly.

Okay, she could still move. The numbing feeling she has is making that abnormally difficult though. She figured she could probably try to-

The familiar squeak of a robot wheel broke her out of her thoughts. No way! Was Snatcher here already?! Ecstatic at the thought of being saved, and completely forgetting her current predicament, Hat Bot attempted to gain the attention of the robot outside.

“Snatcher?! Is that you?!”

She internally cringed at how metallic and… wrong her voice sounded. It was still obviously her’s, but it sounded (unsurprisingly) off.

The robot outside the room seemed to hear her though - she could hear the squeaking grow closer and closer…

Until the last person… or robot she wanted to see was right in front of her. Moonbot chuckled darkly…

“Now S-Starlight, w-w-why would he be h-here? I-It’s just you a-and me afterall-all.”

The way his voice sounded so cheery and glitchy made him all the more terrifying. It took all of Hat Bot’s willpower to keep from screaming. He continued.

“Oh, I’m so h-happy you’re aw-awake my little Starlight-ight. And you-you look so beautiful, no-now! A-A fine improvement from that-at f-f-f-flesh bag of a body before, hm?”

She didn’t respond, utterly shaking with fear. He seemed to think for a moment.

“Oh, ri-right! I almost forgot! I disabled you’re se-sensory re-receptors. The process was rather p-painful, so I-I didn’t want you to feel any d-discomfort! You should b-be fine now, so I’ll just f-f-fix that for you…”

He opened a panel in Hat Bot’s chest (and promptly freaking her out even further at the reveal of a control panel in her chest) and seemed to tinker with it for a bit. After a while, mild, yet sharp, pain seemed to shoot through her body, causing her to shrink a little. He closed to panel, creepily petting her head. She cringed at how cold it was.

“Some d-discomfort is expe-pected, my dear Star-Starlight. Trust me, it would’ve been w-worse before. It should fade in a few minutes.”

Hat Bot just shook there, feeling the discomforting pain throughout her body. Only one thought was on her mind…

* Please… Someone help me… Anyone… Snatcher… Where are you?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Facility, Moonbot

He turned away from the robot girl to leave. Looking back, he noticed the frown on her face. It got him thinking.

* Well that won’t do! She should be thrilled, right? I was expecting to see a genuine smile on her face, as tempting as it was to plaster a permanent one on there… Perhaps I’ll change that if nothing changes. Seeing her frown like that won’t do at all!

He smiled at the thought. He spoke up again in cheery voice.

“I need to ch-check some things, my little Star-arlight. En-enjoy your new, eternal l-life!”

He fully left the room. He had to make sure a certain… greedy trashbot didn’t get to his Starlight. She is his… and it’ll stay that way until the end of time itself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Outside The Facility, Snatcher

They had been planning out what to do for a while. Tim and Thor had their tool-kits at the ready, along with stun guns just in case. They also have a box of spare robot parts. Snatcher… felt really uncomfortable about the stun guns and robot parts. However, he also understands just how important it was that they have those things. Still doesn’t help his discomfort, but he’ll live.

All they needed now was an entrance. They had to get in without raising suspicion. As such, they would have to disable the surveillance system that Trashbot would more than certainly have. The Facility being underground didn’t necessarily help matters, either. They would have to find something above ground that connected throughout the whole place… Or, at the very least, find some kind of power source.

They didn’t want to scare Hat Kid by darkening the whole place, but if it meant freeing her, they’d have little choice.

The trio investigate the entire area, searching for something that could be useful. They doubted that Trashbot would be so careless, but you never-

“Found something!”

Thor’s voice immediately alerted the others. Well… that was unexpected. Snatcher was sure Trashbot would be smarter than to allow something so easily accessible be above ground, let alone unguarded.

What Thor actually found was some kind of worn out fuse box. It was clearly modified - a lot of its parts didn’t necessarily match the fuse box itself, despite them being compatible. There were no labels on the fuse box, so there’d be no way to tell what each fuse did. Tim seemed to contemplate the sight.

“Hm… we’ll have to cut the main fuse. If we tamper too much with the fuse box, we could very well draw too much suspicion our way.”

“Whatever! Just do something! The longer the kiddo stays down there the more danger she’s in!”

Yikes, Snatcher looks and sounds stressed out… as stressed out as a robot can be. It’s obvious his worry for Hat Kid is only going to increase the longer they take, so Tim and Thor decided to get to work…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Facility, Hat Bot

The discomfort was finally starting to fade. She’s still trying to process the situation she’s in.

Being captured, being roboticized, being alone with Moonbot of all things. She was finally starting to calm down, but she was still terrified.

And very upset about being a robot.

It feels so… weird. And wrong. She honestly doesn’t know what to think. And the notion of an “eternal life” just doesn’t sit well for her, either.

Suddenly, the few lights that were on in The Facility went out. Hat Bot was even more confused. Her new robot eyes automatically giving her night vision didn’t help either. But she’ll focus on that later. Right now, she wanted to know what happened. Did the power go out?

…

* Could that be the others?! Is Snatcher actually here to save me?!

He must’ve cut the power! Suddenly, the idea of her being saved wasn’t as empty of a thought. She managed to stand herself up, still feeling woozy. She hates how she’ll need to get used to hearing metallic sounding footsteps. But the idea of being out of this place kept her focused on getting to Snatcher.

She walked towards the door, officially creeped out with how naturally she’s adapting to her… changes. Suddenly, she heard a familiar, and unwelcome, voice complaining in the distance. Moonbot was on his way! Likely to grab her and keep her close.

Throwing all caution to the wind, she got the peck out of there as quickly as she could, thrown off by how fast she was running. At least that’s one good thing that’s come of all this - the body was stronger, as painful as it was to admit it. On the bright side, it made getting away just the slightest bit easier.

After a while of running, she finally stopped. Being in this place for so long so many times has almost etched its passages into her brain. Moonbot still has the upper hand, but she (almost) knew this place as well as he did.

As much as she hated that, she can’t lie and say it wasn’t useful knowledge.

Now she just had to find Snatcher and get out of here... 

* Oh man… He’s going to lose it when he sees me like this…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Facility, Moonbot

Moonbot was expecting some kind of rescue attempt. The power going out, however, was something he didn’t expect.

He really should’ve expected it - cutting the power to the facility would complicate things for him, making it easier for that thing to take his precious Starlight. For him to actually do it, however, was still a surprise for whatever reason.

It didn’t help that his precious Starlight was missing. She could get lost!

It didn’t matter, though. He’ll just take it as a sign that Snatcher is here…

He readies his buzzsaw, fully prepared to rip the intruder apart.

“She is m-m-mine. S-She was ne-ne-never yours. This wi-will be the last tim-time we do this.”

With a large, maniacal grin, he searches The Facility for the intruder. As he did so, however… he couldn’t help but think he was forgetting something important.

He just assumes that it was nothing, and focuses on keeping the intruder out of his and Starlight’s home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Facility, Thor

They all made it in. Fortunately, no one is around to see them… yet. Just as planned, the power has been cut, filling the facility with darkness. The two humans activated their night vision headsets, turning to Snatcher. Tim spoke up.

“Good luck. Bring her back safely.”

The noodlebot nodded as he went off, in search of the unfortunate little girl.

Now just the two of them, Tim and Thor went off in search of the cell Snatcher told them of. The Facility was confusing as peck to navigate, even with the directions Snatcher gave them. Add on the fact that they had to be wary of Moonbot and… needless to say they were pretty scared.

But they pushed forward. They had to save Hat Kid. She’s suffered so much because of that… thing. They weren’t going to leave her here!

After about ten minutes of endless searching, they come across… a rather dilapidated part of The Facility. This place was by no means the best example of “orderly”, but most of it had signs of care. Where they were now looked like a tornado blew through it.

Knowing Moonbot, there would have to be something he did not like here for him to let this area go.

And when they explored further, they found exactly what that thing was. A worn out figure, likely a robot, was chained to the wall of the area’s only cell. It was impossible to make out any distinctive details - only its shape and crimson eyes could be made out. The damage done to it, however, could not be more obvious.

The figure looked up at the two humans, hissing at them like an animal as they opened the cell.

“...Who are-”

Thor interrupted it.

“We’re here to help you… On one condition…”

The figure looked at him with an unsettling gaze. She looked desperate… and very angry.

“What… do you want?”

“All that we ask… is that you distract Moonbot so we can get our little girl out of here…”

The figure didn’t seem to believe him, judging by the unfriendly gaze she was giving them. She also visibly tensed at the mention of Moonbot.

“How can I be sure-”

She was interrupted by Tim holding a robot part to her, a power tool in his other hand.

“We’ll repair you and set you free. All that we ask is that you distract Moonbot and leave us and Snatcher be. We know you don’t have the… best relationship with him,” an understatement, “but, please. You’ll never have to be bothered by either of them again.”

The figure still seemed very reluctant. It was clear she wasn’t a fan of the deal. She sighed, speaking up again.

“My desire to leave this place and get back at Moon outweighs my hate for Snatcher… Fine… I accept.”

The two humans got down to freeing the possibly psychotic robot. They were fortunate she accepted their deal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Facility, Snatcher

Snatcher raced through The Facility. Normally, he’d be anxiously calling out for Hat Kid. But after all the tricks, and the fact that he was supposed to be kind of stealthy, he managed to keep himself from being a loud and obnoxious machine.

Best to have as little attention as possible this time around. He couldn’t help the kiddo if he was dead.

He was thankful for the night vision feature Tim and Thor added a while ago - The Facility without power was even darker than it originally was, a feat that was actually quite impressive. What he was more thankful for was the fact that he got that squeaky wheel fixed! Tim and Thor managed to fix it while they were planning the rescue, with Snatcher commenting on how long it took them to do that.

...

He must’ve searched for half an hour and still came up with nothing. He found it a little comical that he managed to search for this long without bumping into Trashbot.

Not that he was complaining. He was just counting his blessings at this point.

What he did end up bumping into was bright red, and familiar, light heading down the hall.

* Oh peck. Did I speak too soon?!

He got out of there quickly, peering around the corner to see who it was.

As it turns out, it wasn’t Trashbot. It was Vanessa!

* Whoa. Those two work fast!

If she was out in about, that means she accepted the deal she was given… Or promptly killed the two men. But judging by the fact that there’s no blood on her claws, he assumed it was the former.

“MOON!!!!!”

And hoo boy was she angry. Can’t blame her after what Trashbot did. No way was he going to stick around, though.

He silently wheeled off, still looking for the kid. He started to lose hope with how long it was taking.

Doubts started to flood his mind. He hoped with all his being that Hat Kid was okay.

As he kept searching, a strange sound stopped him in his tracks. It kind of sounded like… metallic footsteps?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Facility, Hat Bot

She must’ve been wandering around for over half an hour! She wouldn’t doubt if she’d wandered every part of The Facility!

She even passed by a weird cyborg… thing strapped to the wall. He… didn’t look alive at all. Poor guy… 

She recognized it as the weird man that kidnapped her for Moonbot that one time. Guess he outlived his usefulness…

...

Moonbot was at the opposite end of the building, still searching for both her and Snatcher. She had prioritized getting as far away from him as possible… but may have taken it a bit too far. She almost didn’t recognize this area.

She thinks this is around the cells, where Moonbot keeps that weird ‘Vanessa’ robot. What does he do with her anyway?

She suddenly stopped, seeing strange light down the hallway. She immediately tensed up, getting ready to run… until she noticed it was yellow light.

* Yellow light? But the only robot I know with yellow eyes is…

She perked up instantly as Snatcher rounded the corner at high speed.

“WHA?!”

He skidded to stop, right in front of Hat Bot. They just… stared at each other, not too sure what to do. After about half a minute of staring, Snatcher’s face shifted to a look of fear… Does he…?

“Kid… Kiddo? Is that you?”

Hat Bot stepped forward cautiously, nodding her head. Immediately, she started sobbing, synthetic tears welling up behind her artificial eyes. Unable to hold it in anymore, she threw herself onto Snatcher, sobbing away from all of the fear and panic.

“I’m s-so happy to s-see you… Moon, he… he…”

Hat Bot just kept sobbing, not needing to say more. She was just so happy to be back with Snatcher. She feels his claws wrap around her as he picks her up, holding her close.

Judging by how the eye lights illuminating the area turned red, she could tell that Snatcher was angry. But this red light… she felt comfort from it instead of fear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Facility, Snatcher

Angry was an understatement. Snatcher was furious.

First, that hunk of junk starts kidnapping her when its obvious she doesn’t want to be around. Then, he starts physically harming her and effectively torturing her in his vain attempts to keep her forever. Then, he actually manages to roboticize her, stripping her of her humanity?!

He was prepared to tear that Trashbot limb from limb… but Hat Bot’s sobs brought him back to reality. His eyes changed back to yellow as he calms himself down, holding the traumatized little girl tighter. He spoke up again in a calm, soothing voice.

“It’s okay, kid… I’m here now… I’m getting you out. We’ll worry about this later, okay?”

He felt the robot girl nod, her sobbing having quieted a little.

Not missing a beat, he sped off in the direction he came from, fully intent on blowing this joint.

He could’ve sworn he heard sounds of struggling in the distance, alongside a lot of inhuman screaming. Guess Vanessa found Trashbot - judging by the noises, she’s (somehow) putting up quite the fight.

After about five minutes, the fighting sounds died off as he neared the entrance.

“Snatcher, up here!”

“Goodness, is that Hattie?! What’d that thing do to her?!”

The voices of the two humans only spurred him on as he managed to climb himself and Hat Bot to safety. Finally, she’s safe again… But the damage has been done… 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Facility, Moonbot

He barely managed to get away from the suddenly free and repaired psycho robot. Who the peck freed and repaired that thing?! And how did it manage to jump him so easily?!

She took some damage herself, but Moonbot was by no means unscathed. She managed to tear one of his pecking arms off. That was beyond painful.

At this point, so much time has passed, Moonbot doesn’t even need to know that his precious Starlight is gone… again…

At least he managed to fix her! Now he won’t have to worry about her being gone forever.

Yes… With that thought, he smiled…

“Don’t worry, m-my precious Starli-light. We-We’ll be together again on-one day…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hat Kid’s Bot’s House, Hat Bot

It took her quite some time to calm down. She didn’t think this would actually happen to her. She spent a good while just clinging to Tim (and Snatcher clinging to the both of them) while sobbing away. Even CC was there, rubbing her back as she cried.

Mu, Bow, and Timmy all watched on, horrified at what Moonbot had done to her. They couldn’t believe it! Effectively traumatizing her wasn’t enough? He had to take away her humanity, too?!

After crying her eyes out, she finally seemed to calm down. At least, calm down enough to be able to speak clearly.

“Uncle Tim…? What’s going to happen to me…?”

Her worries from when she first woke up have only piled on. She couldn’t stand the thought of being away from her family because of what one horrible robot did to her.

“Hm… Guess we’ll just have to keep you in the house until we can figure something out…”

“I won’t have to live in the Junkyard, will I?”

Tim seemed shocked at the question.

“Goodness no! I’d be devastated if that happened! I promise you, Hattie, we’ll figure this out. While we can’t change you back… I promise that you’ll still be able to live a happy life.”

“Even… like this…?”

Tim nodded.

“Me and Thor already have some ideas. We’ll need to get you a recharge bed, since you have to worry about power now. But we’ll do everything we can for you. No niece of mine is going to suffer because some scrapheap made her a robot…”

He brought Hat Bot’s head up.

“Who knows… Perhaps we can even make living like this even cooler for you, since the damage has already been done. After all, just because a situation is bad doesn’t mean no good can come of it.”

He booped her on the nose, earning a small giggle.

* Just because a situation is bad doesn’t mean no good can come of it.

He’s not wrong. Perhaps… she can find a way to accept what’s happened. So long as she isn’t spending eternity with that deathtrap of a robot, she may actually be fine with this.

Already her still childish mind is starting to run away with cool little thoughts that probably won’t (will) become reality.

She hugs Tim tighter, even bring Snatcher a bit closer (“H-Hey!”).

“Thank you…”

Despite the circumstances, she smiled a genuine smile, happy to be surrounded in the warmth of her loved ones.

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((If you managed to survive, congrats! I hope you liked it!))

((Poor Hat Kid... But hey, looks like things will be looking up for her!))

((Feel free to share this with others! I like seeing people read the stuff I make.))

((If you have any criticisms, please do say them. But if you’re going to criticize it, please be constructive!))

[missmeikakuna]

Tired Girl Ch. 5- F/F fantasy story

Rated: T

Fandom: Original story

Relationship type: F/F

Description:

High schooler Nosderag is childish, impulsive and- worst of all- powerless in a magical world. Her strong sense of empathy leads her to rescue an injured fairy and bring it back to her dorm, to the chagrin of her love-powered rumoured lesbian roommate Dalzonf. Together they try to return the fairy to its enclosure before they get arrested for animal theft.

The problem is, people with love powers are seen as criminals, putting a giant target on Dalzonf’s back.

CONTENT WARNING: This story will have homophobia, bullying and discussions of sexual assault.

Chapter 5: Sweet Girl

After Nosderag finished replacing Daliki’s bandages, Dalzonf watched the fairy slowly fall asleep in their dorm room. ‘You must be so tired, aren’t you, girl?’ she cooed, brushing her finger against her wing. Nosderag laughed and Dalzonf whipped her head towards her with hot cheeks. ‘I didn’t mean it that way.’ She put on a smirk. ‘Someone’s obsessed with lesbianism.’

Nosderag groaned. ‘Can’t you just let me live that down?’

‘Now why would I do that?’

‘I’m totally normal, okay? I was just a little confused, is all. And besides, it’s not like you can blackmail me anymore, so you may as well drop it.’

‘Whatever helps you sleep at night.’

Dalzonf responded to Nosderag’s glare by ignoring her. The two hopped into their beds and turned off the light. For a moment the room was silent outside of the fairy’s dainty little snores.

‘Hey, Dalzonf?’

‘What.’

‘Why do you act differently to me than the other girls at school? You seem kind of shy towards them.’

Dalzonf pretended that she had already fallen asleep.

The next morning’s daily trip down the elevator resulted in a proposal with orange peel used as a makeshift ring. Right in front of all the other students in the dining hall.

Two options appeared before Dalzonf: go shy mode and run away or go bitch mode and slap the orange peel ring out of Nosderag’s hand.

‘Should we call the police?’ Sosoka asked her group of friends. ‘She’s probably raping her too.’ When Dalzonf heard that and gave her a dirty look, Sosoka stared her down. ‘What? Come on, can we really be shocked when a love tolxer’s acting a little rapey? Poor Nosderag’s got no powers. She’s utterly defenceless and you’re clearly taking advantage of her by trying to turn her into your girlfriend with your gross powers. And every morning! I can only imagine what you make her do to you every morning-’

Sosoka shrieked as Dalzonf pushed her to the ground. Her love powers were of little use in a fight, so her nails would have to do. She scratched at Sosoka’s face.

Unfortunately for her, Sosoka’s powers were useful in a fight.

Vines rapidly grew from the floorboards and began wrapping themselves around Dalzonf’s neck, pulling her away from Sosoka. When she tried to yell at her to let her go, Sosoka simply created a miniature version of a rafflesia and stuck it in Dalzonf’s mouth.

The smell of rotting carcasses assaulted Dalzonf’s nostrils, making the already difficult task of breathing with something in her mouth even harder.

Sosoka came up with an even better punishment. She pulled the vines towards her until Dalzonf was lying on top of her. She yelped in feigned shock as she removed the vines.

‘Help, someone get a teacher! She’s trying to…’ Her voice faltered for effect as she sniffled.

A teacher finally entered the dining hall and pulled Dalzonf away. ‘What’s happening this time?’

‘She was… she was trying to… I think Dalzonf was about to use her love powers on me!’

‘Dalzonf, the principal’s office. Now.’ 

Nosderag blinked and saw Dalzonf follow the teacher. 

‘What’s going on?’

She snuck behind Dalzonf. ‘What happened? Are you in trouble?’

‘Quit it,’ the other girl spat under her breath. 

Nosderag listened in on the meeting between Dalzonf and the principal, an elven maiden who did not look a day over 500 and sounded like a cross between a rich French heiress and a light breeze. 

‘The police are on their way to have a chat.’

‘With all due respect, Mrs Pelletier, I’m sure they have more pressing matters than a school brawl.’

‘Not when sexual assault allegations have been made.’

Nosderag expected a verbal takedown of this lady from Dalzonf. Would she bring up the facts of the situation, inadvertently telling Nosderag everything she missed? Perhaps she would threaten to sue for discrimination. Or maybe she would point out the school’s bullying problem.

‘I see…’

That was it.

Those two words pierced Nosderag’s soul and caused empathy to bleed out of her. She knocked on the door.

‘Mrs Pelletier, May I defend Dalzonf?’

‘Who is speaking?’ 

‘Her roommate and frequent receiver of love magic.’

Mrs Pelletier almost choked on her shock. ‘Very well. Come in.’

Nosderag took a while to collect her thoughts. The sun coming from the window behind the principal made her seem like she was surrounded by light, aided by her tight blonde braids that reached the floor. Her dark skin glowed in the light of the candle in front of her. The pastel room had the appearance inside of a fairytale princess’s bedroom, with flowers decorating every piece of furniture and the seat she was in being lined with pink velvet.

‘You see, miss…’ Nosderag began. She explained Dalzonf’s use of her abilities to power the lift and how she had never used her powers to take advantage of someone. 

‘Thank you for telling me this. However, these accusations are quite serious so they warrant an investigation.’ Mrs Pelletier returned her attention to Dalzonf. ‘I also received an anonymous tip this morning accusing you of being involved in the theft of animals from our enclosure. Until the investigation is complete, I’m afraid you will be suspended from all classes and facilities.’

Nosderag clenched her fists. ‘But what about-’

‘Your friend can deliver food to your dormitory if need be,’ Mrs Pelletier said to Dalzonf.

Dalzonf nodded and stood up, brushing past Nosderag as she left the room. She tried to pay no attention to her as the girl followed her back to the dormitory. 

On the way, they passed Mr Fot, who was surrounded by snickering teenagers. One of the teachers chuckled herself. Mr Fot breathed heavily through his mouth as he tried to get rid of the self-made icicles he had accidentally gotten stuck in his nostrils.

‘You are not going up the elevator with me, got it?’ Dalzonf told Nosderag once the two were inside the dormitory.

‘But the stairs are…’

Nosderag didn’t get to finish her sentence before Dalzonf went into the elevator and brought herself up. 

A few students passed Nosderag with sympathetic faces. A teacher came up to her and told her she could always see the school counsellor if she needed to. 

‘But I didn’t get… she didn’t…’ 

The teacher interrupted her with words of misplaced encouragement before leaving.

Instead of heading to class, Nosderag ran as fast as she could up the stairs, ignoring the heaviness of her backpack.

After taking multiple breaks and feeling like she was about to die, she made it to the top.

Dalzonf said goodbye to the two police officers who had just questioned her. They opened the door and Nosderag fell through the doorway to the floor.

Before Dalzonf or the officers could help her up, Nosderag heaved her body up herself. She took a few deep breaths with her hands on her thighs.

‘I’m okay.’

‘What are you doing here?’ Dalzonf asked, her harsh but quiet voice making her sound both annoyed and a little touched.

‘I had to make sure you were alright. It’s not fair what happened to you.’ Nosderag took opened her bag and released Daliki. ‘Plus, you forgot to feed her.’

Dalzonf created a small ball of pink mist but immediately squashed it. ‘Come on,’ Nosderag pleaded. ‘For her.’ Dalzonf continued to look at her hands like they had blood on them.

Daliki flew over to Dalzonf’s shoulder. Dalzonf petted her but still refused to tolx.

Nosderag placed her hand on Dalzonf’s other shoulder and smiled at her. The warmth of her hand spread throughout Dalzonf’s body until she eventually sighed and fed Daliki.

‘Thanks,’ Dalzonf murmured. 

‘For what?’

‘What do you mean, ‘for what’? For defending me!’ Dalzonf covered her face with one hand. 

A light blush reached Nosderag’s cheeks. She felt like someone was squeezing her heart. She wanted to tear her eyes away but she couldn’t.

‘No… no problem,’ she whispered as she sat down on her bed.

The two went quiet for a while until Dalzonf asked Nosderag a question.

‘Why are you still here? You’ve still got classes.’

‘After climbing all those stairs, you want me to go back down?’

Both girls laughed. Dalzonf returned to her book and Nosderag played with Daliki. The two sat in silence, enjoying each other’s company.

[bestillmyslashyheart]

1x12 Coda (#5.2)

Continuation of this because Caitlin, Shae, and Lauren asked nicely

Max slammed the door behind him and bounded up the steps of the cabin. The front door opened and Liz stepped out to greet him.

“Where is he?” Max barked as soon as he saw her.

Liz held up a hand to calm him but Max just tried to push past her. Liz placed her hand on his chest and pressed hard until he stopped and looked at her.

“I know you’re upset right now, but you need to calm down.” She told him.

“Where’s Michael?” He asked again.

“Max-”

Max shook his head and stepped around her. Flinging the door open wide, he paused a foot inside when Kyle and Cam stood up from where they’d been sitting on the couch. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” He asked in surprise, his tone sharper than he intended. He looked around but Isobel was the only other person in the room. Dimly, he recognized the sounds of Liz coming inside and shutting the door. “Where’s Michael? And Noah?”

Isobel crossed the room and slapped him across the face. His head jolted to the side more out of surprise than actual force. Max put a hand to his cheek and gaped at Isobel but she just glared at him.

“Don’t you ever do that to Michael again.” Her voice was calm but hard and Max could only nod.

“Where is he?”

“Sleeping.” Max’s neck hurt from how fast he whipped his head around at the new voice. Alex Manes stood in the archway to the rest of the house, anger written clear on his face. “So don’t wake him up.”

“He’s sleeping?!” Max was flabbergasted. “He heals and kidnaps a serial killer and he’s fucking sleeping?” Max took a step forward and Alex smoothly pulled out a gun and pointed it at him. Max stopped cold in his tracks and slowly put his hands up.

“Yes. He’s sleeping. So do not wake him up.” Alex told him. “I believe I was very clear.”

Max swallowed and glanced between Alex’s face and the gun. His face was set and his hand never wavered. Max suddenly remembered that Alex was a decorated combat veteran who had probably seen more than his fair share of violent situations and knew his way around a firearm. The man didn’t even blink. 

“You don’t like having a gun pointed at you, do you?” Alex asked idly.

Max shook his head slowly.

“Bet you’d like it even less if it was someone you thought loved and cared about you holding it.” Max felt his stomach clench as Alex’s voice turned ice cold.

Nobody in the room moved. 

“You ever hurt or threaten Michael again, you and I are going to have a problem. Do you understand me, Max?” Max wasn’t sure he’d ever heard his name sound like that, a threat in and of itself. 

Max nodded his head vigorously. “It was a mistake, Alex. I would never hurt Michael.”

Alex let out a hollow laugh and Max took a step back instinctively. “Never hurt him? So punching him, throwing him into cars, telling him he’s nothing to you - none of that counts as hurting him to you?”

A chill swept over him as he was forced to realize just how bad his relationship with Michael had gotten. And he was ashamed to realize, as he thought it over, that it was almost entirely on him. Every time Max had lost control of himself recently, he’d taken it out on Michael. Some part of him recognized that he’d done because he knew Michael wouldn’t retaliate. That Max could work out his issues on someone who knew and understood them and who wouldn’t fight back. The perfect outlet for his anger.

Numbly, he nodded to Alex. “I won’t. I swear.”

Alex searched his face before finally flicking the safety on and tucking his gun away. Max felt his body slump with relief. 

“Where’s Noah?” He asked. Nearby, Isobel tensed and finally turned her glare upon someone else.

“Yes, where is my lovely psychopath of a husband?”

“He’s safe.” Alex told her. 

“Oh I’m not worried about him.” Isobel retorted. 

“He’s locked in a secure facility and we’ve surrounded him in that yellow powder he used to subdue Max and Michael’s powers the other night.” This time it was Cam who answered her and Max turned to her in surprise. She met his gaze but gave away nothing.

“Why did Michael save him?” This time it was Liz. “I know he wanted answers but to go against Max and Isobel’s wishes like that?”

Max watched as Kyle and Alex exchanged glances, seemingly deciding whether or not they should answer her question. He felt his anger rising again.

“If you know something about my brother, you need to tell me.”

Kyle scoffed and Max turned to him. “No offense, Evans, but the way you’ve been treating you ‘brother’,” the way he said it made Max’s stomach turn. Like Max was a fool for calling Michael that, “you don’t deserve to know jack.”

“Since when are you friends with Michael?” Liz asked.

Kyle shrugged. “I’m not. But the guy’s had a pretty terrible day and I’m not going to let any of you make it worse.”

“What the hell happened?” Isobel asked, looking frantically between Kyle and Alex. The two men exchanged another look before Kyle shrugged and gestured that it was Alex’s call.

Alex sighed. “You know about Project Shepherd?” He asked and waited until everyone nodded. “Well we found an old abandoned prison that mine and Kyle’s father’s had taken over as part of the Project and today we went with Michael to investigate it. There had been reports of unusual heat signatures on the compound, outside of normal human range. When we got there, Michael and Kyle found a cell block full of captive aliens from the crash. There had to be at least 50, I’d say.” He paused when Max collapsed into a seat and Isobel gasped with her hands over her mouth. Both stared at him as he continued. “Michael met his mother in there. About five minutes before the facility blew up. It was rigged to self destruct should any alien damage the cells and Michael tried to break them out-” he trailed off as Max’s heart leapt into his throat.

“Did he-?” Liz started to ask.

Alex shook his head. “We couldn’t get anyone out. We barely made it out ourselves and it was all I could do just to get him to leave with me. He wanted to stay.” He admitted. 

“Oh my god,” Isobel let out as she buried her face in her hands. 

Alex cleared his throat. “Anyway, there’s a possibility that there’s another site but it’s very unlikely. Project Shepherd doesn’t have the funding to run two off the books sites like that. So if any of you want to know anything about where you came from or who you really are, then Noah’s your answer.” He shrugged. “Michael needs answers. So he’s going to get them. Until then, Noah stays in a secure facility away from all of you. Once Michael’s learned all that he wants to, you can do what you like with him. But not before.”

Everything in Max revolted at the idea of Alex decreeing how they go about this but he remembered the look in his eyes earlier and stayed in his seat.

“He’s my husband,” Isobel objected. “It’s my decision.”

“It was.” Alex agreed. “You made it already. Just consider this an interlude of sorts. You’ll get him back and when you do, feel free to kill him again.”

Max turned to Cam. “You know where he is.”

“I do.” She agreed. “But I’m not going to tell you.”

“You hated the idea of not turning him in. Of letting him die! How can you support this? Michael will torture him if he has to.”

She stared him in the eyes. “My choices are let Michael interrogate him or let you murder him.” 

Cam didn’t say anything else but she didn’t need to. Max recoiled at the disappointment in her voice and the harsh reality of her words. He was a murderer. Or at the very least, he desperately wanted to be. It was only fair, he reasoned, considering how many people Noah had murdered. Why should he get a fair pass?

Max glanced around the room but found no supporters. Liz, he knew, hated the idea of her science being used as a weapon. Alex, Kyle, and Cam were all firm in their decision to help Michael and Isobel seemed to be coming around to their side of things.

“Iz-”

“No,” she cut him off. “Michael’s wanted answers our whole lives. He has the chance, maybe his only chance, to get them. I won’t stop him.” She clambered to her feet. “Let me know if Michael changes his mind?” She asked Alex to which the man nodded. “And tell him to call me tomorrow. I want to talk to him.”

“I’ll let him know.” 

She nodded and turned to Liz. “Can you drive me home?” Liz nodded and opened the door for her.

As Isobel left, Liz turned to Max. “Come with us. She needs you right now and I don’t think this is the best place for you to be. You can try and talk to Michael tomorrow.”

Max looked around the room one more time before nodding. He stood up and crossed the room. With a hand on the door and one foot out, he turned to Alex. “I love my brother and I would never hurt him. Not really. I just need to talk to him.”

Alex nodded. “I’ll let him know,” he repeated, much less sincere than he had to Isobel. Something told Max he wouldn’t be hearing from Michael for a while. 

“Liz,” he asked after he’d closed the door behind them and made it halfway to their cars, “how do I fix things with Michael?”

She paused and looked at him for a moment. “With time, I think. And actions. You can apologize all you want and say the right things but they don’t mean much if your actions don’t back it up. I know you say Michael’s important to you, but since I’ve been back, I haven’t seen it.” Her voice was cautious, almost apologetic. Liz laid a hand on his arm, her gently touch belying the harsh words. “Any blind idiot can see how much you love Isobel. She really is the most important person in the world to you. But sometimes you treat Michael like he’s an afterthought. Like you’re stuck with him because you all hatched together or something.”

“How can you say that?” Max recoiled. “He’s my brother!”

“So act like it,” Isobel’s voice cut in as she leaned out of the car window. “Starting with leaving and giving him the space he clearly needs right now. Get in the car Max.” Her voice softened. “And start fixing things tomorrow.”

[believingispowerfulmagic]

IBOQ 2019 Day 1: “Finding Robin”

A/N: My first entry for Inspired By OQ Week. This one is inspired by Jen’s (starscythe) January manip for this year’s OQ calendar.

  It was a freak accident.

That was what the investigators said. The plane had been serviced and passed an inspection before Robin had flown to South America for his latest relief mission--delivering much-needed medicines to remote villages--and the airport he took off from there certified that the plane was still in good condition. The investigation would take more time to determine why his engine had burst into flames once he got into American airspace but their best theory was that he had hit a flock of birds, probably geese.

They also told her that while there was no concrete evidence that Robin had died in the fiery crash, they were confident he did. They were confident all parachutes were accounted for and they doubted Robin would've jumped into the thick forest he was flying over. He no doubt would've tried to escape the plane before it exploded but they didn't think he made it out in time.

Regina Mills, though, couldn't accept that her partner--in relief work and in life--was gone. Friends of theirs gathered around her and tried to conduct a search and rescue but in the end, the forest proved far too dense. After several weeks of trying, they had to give up. She had to move on, to make sure the organization they worked so hard to build didn't collapse. It felt like she was giving up on Robin, like she was failing him somehow.

Dr. Hopper told her that was normal, that it was part of the grieving process. She tried to believe him but she couldn't shake the feeling that he was out there, somewhere. And she wasn't even trying to find him.

A dream of all things changed that.

She walked through the halls of a hospital, feeling like a ghost as no one seemed to acknowledge her or answer when she asked what was going on. Regina found herself drawn to one particular room--Room 23--and she entered, finding doctors standing around a bed. It sounded as if they were talking in a fishbowl, their voices muffled and hard to make out. She strained to do so, able to figure out that the patient was some sort of John Doe who was in a medical coma for one reason or another. If they couldn't figure out who he was or who his next of kin was, they were going to have to release him to a long-term care facility.

Regina tried to get closer to the bed, to see who the man was but it felt like the curtain around his bed was an iron wall. It kept her from going any farther, forcing her to jump back each and every time she tried. "Who is it?" she yelled, hoping someone would hear her.

Instead of an answer, she felt as if someone kicked her in the chest. She flew backwards, ending up in the hallway again. The doctors and nurses left the room, closing the door behind them. When she reached for the door handle, her hand went right through it. She tried to go through the door, but it was as sturdy as ever. Whatever was going on, she could not get back into the room again.

She just didn't know why.

"Who are you?" she asked, yelling at the door. "Why are you haunting my dreams?"

"Regina..."

Her heart stopped as she heard the voice she had longed to hear the most the past few months. The low tenor with a slightly hoarse quality to it and a British accent she found irresistible. She missed the way her name sounded when spoken by that voice and it brought tears to her eyes. Regina knew it was her subconscious drawing it up from her memories and that the voice would only live on in her dreams.

"Regina, look at me," the voice repeated.

She slowly turned around, feeling like a vise gripped her heart as the voice's owner came into focus. He was taller than her and his blond hair had spattering of gray in it. She had often teased him about it but she loved the fact he was turning into a silver fox. The blond scruff on his cheeks and chin were still blond as ever and she reached out, wanting to feel the prickle of it against her palm again--even if it was just a memory playing out in her dream.

Her hand passed through him though and she frowned. "Robin?"

"Regina, you need to save me," he told her. "You don't have much time. Find me. Please."

"Where are you? Robin, tell me," she begged, growing desperate as he grew more and more transparent. How was she supposed to find him when he could be anywhere? "Robin!"

He faded away as a bright light assaulted her senses, forcing Regina back into consciousness.

She gasped as she sat up, her heart beating wildly. Beads of sweat rolled down her face and her pajamas were stuck to her skin. She pushed back the blankets as she reached over, turning on the lamp on her nightstand. It illuminated her room, revealing she was alone. There were no other sounds and for a moment, Regina wondered if she had gone deaf as she couldn't hear a thing. Everything felt weird, as if she were really dreaming now and what she had just experienced was real.

BANG!

Regina jumped as she glanced out the window, her mind processing that it was just a car backfiring. Another car's alarm went off while several dogs started to bark, breaking the silence and proving that she was awake and what she had experienced had been a dream.

Yet it had felt so real.

She stood and walked over to the bathroom. Regina flipped on the light before running the water to splash it on her face, hoping to cool herself down. It dripped down her face as she leaned against the counter, trying to figure out what her dream meant. It had to be her subconscious wishing Robin were still alive. Maybe it had absorbed the plot of some movie or TV show, casting her and Robin into the leads instead. He was gone. She needed to accept that.

But what if he wasn't? What if he really was alive? What if he had reached out to her to find him?

Regina turned off the tap and dried her face, shaking her head. It was just a dream. She had tried to find him and failed. It wasn't healthy to keep hoping he was alive, not if she wanted to keep moving on with her life like he wanted. Robin was gone. She needed to accept that.

The car alarms had stopped and the dogs were soothed, so all was again silent as she climbed into bed. All but the noise in her head as she replayed the dream over and over. Especially the part where Robin pleaded with her to find him.

She pushed the covers back and picked up her phone, hitting one particular contact before she could reconsider. Biting her lip, she listened to it ring and started to compose the message she would leave on his voicemail in her head.

"Regina?" a sleepy voice asked. "What's wrong?"

Fuck. She didn't expect him to pick up. Part of her hoped that by the time he returned her call in the morning, she would've talked herself out of it but that plan went out the window.

"Regina? Are you there?" he asked, now even more concerned.

"Yes, sorry," she replied. "I didn't expect you to answer."

"Neal is teething and not really sleeping during the night. Tonight is my turn," he answered. "What has you up at this time of the night?"

She sighed, running her hand through her hair. "You're going to think I'm crazy, David."

"Nonsense, Regina. Clearly something has you spooked. What is it?"

"It was a dream. At least I think it was," she said, doubting herself now. "It felt so real. And Robin...he was there."

David was silent for a bit before saying: "Dreams can feel real, Regina. It makes sense you would dream about him."

She sighed, letting herself fall back onto her bed. "I know. But this was different. It was more like an out-of-body experience than a dream."

"You mean you saw Robin in the afterlife?" He sounded concerned and she wondered if he was already texting their friend Archie, who was a therapist.

"No," she replied. "I was taken to a hospital where there was a nameless man in a hospital bed. Robin then appeared behind me and begged me to find him before it was too late."

David was quiet and she wondered if the call had dropped when he said: "Robin is dead, Regina."

"But what if he isn't?" she asked. "What if he's some John Doe in a hospital and is waiting for me to find him?"

"Regina, we searched the hospitals..."

She knew that but she still couldn't shake the feeling that they were missing something. "Not all of them. Can't you look for hospitals with John Does?"

He was once again quiet before saying her name with every ounce of concern he was no doubt feeling for her. "Maybe you should talk to Archie about this. He can help you..."

"My gut is telling me that Robin is still out there, David. It hasn’t led me astray yet. I'm going to find him with or without your help." She ended the call and threw her phone onto the bed as she pushed herself into a standing position.

Regina paced her room. She knew David was concerned about her. He didn't want her to get hurt or suffer any setbacks in her grief. Yet she also trusted her gut and it was telling her that Robin wasn't dead. He was out there, waiting for her. She needed to find him.

Now.

She knew what she had to do--go find her husband on her own.

Too excited to sleep, she grabbed her laptop and powered it on. She then retrieved the file she had made on Robin's plane crash. Flipping through the pages, she followed his flight path and found a map of the area around where his plane had been found. She knew all the parachutes had been accounted for on the plane but she wondered if maybe he had been ejected from the plane upon impact, landing somewhere away from the wreckage. There were too many variables for her to figure out a specific location on her own. She was going to have to make do with a general area, noting all the towns he could've been taken to. From there, it was just a matter of compiling a list of hospitals in those towns and then calling around to see if they had any John Does fitting Robin's description. Giddiness filled her as did the one thing she thought she would never have again.

Hope.

Continue reading FFN, AO3 and Wattpad

[brandyxlynn91]

Galaxies Together: Jane's POV pt. 6

Jane refrained herself from going down to talk to Garrus. As much as she wanted to, she decided it was best to give him time after he said he needed to think about what happened with the doctor. She had hoped she didn't push him to wanting to leave. As upset as he seemed, she stood by what she did. Finally unable to stand it, she had decided to go talk to him when Joker announced they were approaching Feros. Damn. She thought. She'll have to wait until after to talk to him so she decided to let Wrex and Garrus know they were there and to suit up.

They had barely set foot on the planet when they saw the colonists were being overrun by geth. Jane immediately started sniping where she stood with Garrus right beside her. She took a second to steal a glance at him. She was still impressed by his skill even after so many battles with him, still hoping she hadn't angered him enough to make him want to leave. She didn't know what she'd do without him fighting by her side. After the last geth was down, she ran for the colonists. As much as she wanted to talk to Garrus, she knew she had to make sure the colony was okay. She had managed to find the leader of the colony.

"How is everyone doing?" She asked him.

"Whoever is left is fine thanks to you guys. We have a few minor problems that the others are looking over, although our big concern is the geth transmitter in the tunnels." He told her.

"Can you tell me why the geth are here?" She inquired. It seemed odd to her that they would attack such a small colony.

"I have no clue. It must have something to do with the exogeni facility." He claimed.

"Tell me more about your other issues." She said. She wanted to help as much as she could.

"Well food, water, and power. Like I said the others are looking at them. We really need that transmitter taken care of though."

"Well, I think I'll still talk to them." She told him.

Upon talking to the others, she found out about the details of their problems and told them she'd try to help out. She noticed they seemed a little strange and secretive but upon asking the leader about it, he just brushed it off as stress from the attacks. She didn't quite believe him but decided to move on to the tunnels. A little into the tunnels, they ran into the varren pack. After taking down the alpha and others, she turned to Wrex and Garrus.

"Okay. Is it bad that I seriously want one to keep in my cabin?"

"You're joking." Garrus said to her.

"Sure you could handle one?" Wrex asked.

"Why not? Sure they can be temperamental and not the prettiest thing to look at but I'm sure they just want lots of cuddles. Just like you Wrex." She told him.

"Ha! Just try it once, Shepard. Though I admit, you might just have the quads for it." Wrex laughed.

"I was talking about the varren."

"Sure you were." He laughed.

"Uh, maybe we should move on." Garrus interrupted.

"Yeah, okay. Let's go." Jane replied although she really did want one. She grabbed some power cells for the colony before heading out.

Along the tunnels, she had turned on the water valves when they ran into a colonist.

"What are you doing down here?" She asked him.

"The voices... they won't-ugh." He yelled, holding his head.

"What's wrong?" She inquired.

"They won't-argh. Stop. I have to warn-ugh." He screamed, kneeling on the ground.

"Sir, what can I do to help?" She started stepping closer to him before Garrus tried to stop her.

"Uh, I think he might just be crazy." Garrus told her.

"He looks like he's in pain." She replied.

"Just..just go away!" The colonist yelled. She tried talking to him but he ignored her. Hesitantly, Jane decided to go on her way. They finally managed to find and destroy the transmitter before heading back to the colony. They thanked her before she headed on her way to the facility.

She took out more geth with the mako guns on the road.

"Why don't I ever get to drive and shoot?" Garrus asked.

"Because I'd like to get there in one piece and with the mako intact." Jane retorted.

"With how you drive, I'd think this thing was indestructible." Garrus retorted.

"You told me to drive off that cliff." She said.

"No. I said DON'T go over the cliff. Then you told me not to tell you what to do and over we went."

"Hey! We survived." Jane laughed before shooting down another armature. "How many is that now, Garrus?"

"How would I know?" He asked.

"I know you're keeping count." She said confidently while shooting another geth.

"I have no idea what you-- 36." He admitted with a sigh.

"Thought so." She smirked at him. Just then they caught some chatter on the comm and arrived at a tunnel where some scientists were at. They saw a woman and man arguing.

"What's going on here? Why are the geth attacking?" Jane asked them.

"I-I'm not sure but I need to find my daughter, Lizbeth." The woman answered.

"Face it. She's dead just like everyone else!" The man interjected.

"There's some colonists that survived. Maybe you should join them." Jane told him.

"I assumed they were all dead but no it's safer here." He replied sounding panicked.

"Alright. Just stay hidden then." She said before turning to the woman. "I'll keep a lookout for your daughter."

"Thank you, commander." The woman replied.

They continued on the road until they reached the garage. Upon turning a corner, a shot barely missed Jane. Garrus was the first with his gun up. She realized it was a scared young woman who immediately started to apologize profusely. Jane calmly talked to her, knowing accidents happen. She noticed Garrus had his gun up still and told him he could put it down. She then asked the girl about what she was doing there and the girl explained her name was Lizbeth and she was grabbing some research but ended up being stuck behind the geth forcefield. Jane explained her mother was looking for her and told Garrus to put his gun down again. Seriously he was paranoid, she thought. She admired his vigilance. It actually made her feel safer but she realized the girl was really scared. Lizbeth told them there was a geth ship attached to the facility that was powering the forcefield. Jane told her to stay where she was until they could get it down and headed into the facility.

They took out geth room by room until they reach an area where some geth were bowing down to some orb. Jane discreetly sniped them then turned to her squad.

"Were they worshipping that?" She asked.

"Looks like it but I'll be damned if I know what it is." Garrus replied. Jane looked at it puzzlingly for a moment before moving on. A few more rooms in, Wrex pointed out the legs of the geth ship attached to a cargo bay door. Upon inspecting the controls, Jane noticed a note saying the doors were acting faulty. She set them to max power and pushed the button and then the doors came smashing down breaking the legs of the ship and sent it crashing down. Wrex said something to Garrus while nudging him but when Jane asked him what he said, he told her she knew how to show a krogan a good time.

"Stick with me and I'm sure we'll find plenty of things to blow up." She laughed. She smiled confidently even though she hadn't even been sure it would work but they didn't need to know that.

"Fine, but next time I get to push the button that'll blow things up." Wrex replied.

"We'll see, Wrex." She said before deciding to head back to Lizbeth.

They met back up with her and headed back down the road.

"What happened to all the geth?" Lizbeth asked.

"They, uh, had an accident." Jane replied.

"Accident?" Garrus remarked while raising a brow.

"Yeah. They 'accidentally' found themselves in front of the mako's gun.. and missiles." She laughed.

They had gotten near where the scientists were holed up when they heard arguing. Jane stealthily lead the others behind some concrete cover to investigate. Upon seeing the man aiming a gun at woman from before, Lizbeth ran over. Jane tried to stop her but to no avail so they were forced out of cover.

"EXOGENI DOESN'T CARE! WE'RE ALL EXPENDABLE AND WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" The man screamed as he pointed his gun towards Garrus.

"Okay, stop!" Jane confronted the man while stepping in front of Garrus. She wasn't going to let anyone get shot, specially not Garrus. "I know about the Thorian and the experiments on the colonists."

"What are you talking about?" The woman asked, confused.

"I don't--" The man started before Jane interjected.

"Save it. Lizbeth already told me. What you need to do is put your gun down so I can save all your asses and if you don't, I'll be forced to shoot you to protect the others." Jane firmly held her ground. She could tell that Garrus was trying to get in front of her but she gave him a "let me handle this" look pleadingly and he backed off.

"Alright, fine." The man sighed. "The thorian is some kind of plant like creature that uses spores to control other beings. We were studying it's affects on the colonists here. It seems that that's what the geth are after for some reason. It's right below the colony but it'll make the colonists defend it's lair, even if that means running into your gunfire."

"There's gotta be a way to get to it without harming the colonists." Jane said.

"I could concoct a gas for your grenades that'll knock them out safely and not affect you." The woman told her.

"Do it." Jane replied. She got the gas formula from her and they went on their way. She told her squad not to harm the colonists no matter what. Garrus started to interject but she told him they'd find out if it would work and if not, they'd knock them out themselves but wouldn't kill them. He hesitantly agreed and she noticed he didn't argue with her methods very often lately and that made her happy.

Upon reaching the colony, they came across some kind of zombie thralls that were beyond saving mixed with the colonists. Jane instructed Wrex and Garrus to take care of the thralls while she handled the colonists. Everytime a thrall got near her, she saw a shot go through their head. Good old Garrus, she thought. She carefully coordinated her grenades to get the gas explosion close enough to knock out the colonists. After everyone was cleared out, she found a console that opened part of the building which revealed tunnels going underground. She heard Wrex clear his throat.

"What? It didn't make anything explode." She told him.

"Yeah. But it could've." She heard him mutter. She made a note to herself to let him blow something up sometime.

Right before they headed into the tunnels, the colony leader showed up before them holding a pistol.

"It's-urgh no use. It wants... me to kill... you." He strained his words as if he was in pain.

"Let's not do anything hasty." Jane replied, as she and the others put their guns up. "I'm here to help you."

"It-it won't let me-ugh... allow- but I won't-can't...control-" He strained out before putting his gun to his head.

"No! Wait-" Jane tried to stop him but he pulled the trigger. Some blood splattered onto her face and she half turned her face away. She stood there for a second. Dammit. She thought. She just looked at him. She was disappointed in herself for not being able to help him. If only she would've been faster. She got her composure hoping the others didn't notice and led them into the tunnels.

A little ways in, they came across this gigantic plant like creature with tendrils clinging onto the walls. She told they others that they're going to need bigger guns. Just then a greenish asari was ejected out of the thorian. She spoke of a deal with Saren in exchange for a prothean cipher, he would let the thorian be. Then said he went back on his word, sending geth to kill it so she couldn't get the cipher. Shortly after, it talked about making them new thralls. The asari let out a biotic blast that knocked Jane off her feet. Garrus immediately killed the asari. Jane looked around and shot at one of the tendrils, which seemed to cause it pain. She figured if she shot enough of them, it would fall into the depths to its death. She immediately ran towards other tendrils and started shooting them down. Garrus and Wrex took out any thralls that came near her. Finally, she got the last one and it fell. Then the asari came out of some kind of pod, but she was the normal blueish tint. She explained Saren bartered her with the thorian and she had some of its knowledge. She offered to give Jane the cipher and joined with her just like Liara had done. Images flooded through Jane's mind like before but she couldn't make much sense of them and she felt a bit disoriented afterwards. Garrus asked if she was okay and she said she was. She didn't want him to worry. She could see him watching her so she did her best to walk straight.

Once they were back aboveground, they noticed the scientists had come to the colony and the colonists were awake and back to normal. They thanked her and said they were going to rebuild. She checked to make sure they were okay and after they thanked her again, she headed on her way. A few meters from the Normandy, she heard a whine and looked behind some crates.

"Oh! What have we here?" Jane exclaimed while picking up a varren pup that was tan with red stripes.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Garrus asked.

"Well, I can't leave him here. He'll die on his own. He's just a baby." She replied and started walking towards the ship while carrying the varren.

"This outta be fun." Wrex laughed while Garrus shook his head.

"Joker's gonna love this." Garrus said sarcastically.

"He'll deal." Jane said. "I think I'll call you Carnifex. Carn for short."

"Are you naming it after a gun?" Garrus laughed.

"That a problem?" She glared.

"Um, no. That's actually pretty cool." He said.

"Good." She said triumphantly while boarding the Normandy.

In the meeting room, Liara linked with Jane again. She said it was a little more clear with the cipher and it seemed to be some kind of warning but she couldn't tell more.

Finally, I can talk to Garrus. Jane thought. She headed towards the cargo bay without stopping to talk with Kaidan like she normally did. Once down there, Garrus said he wanted to thank her. He explained that he thought about what happened and decided to go back to C-sec after they dealt with Saren. Jane felt a little pain in her chest. She didn't want to lose Garrus. But she shook it off and said she was happy for him. He was doing what he thought was best for him and she felt she should support him. He started to say something else when her comm went off. It was Kaidan asking for her to come up. She told him she'd be there in a minute and turned back to Garrus. He looked a little troubled then said he just wanted to thank her and he couldn't wait to get Saren. She stood there for a second, then told him she was proud of him and hesitantly went to see what Kaidan wanted.

"Are you angry?" Kaidan asked her once she was back from the cargo bay.

"What? No. What makes you ask?" Jane inquired.

"Just you didn't stop by like you normally do." He said.

"I just wanted to check up on Garrus." She told him.

"Oh. Well, okay then." He sounded almost jealous again, she thought before changing to a casual topic. She was still reeling from the thought of Garrus leaving when this was all over.

[fgodestinyawakenings]

FGO Destiny Awakenings Fuyuki Singularity: Prologue pt.3

Ritsuka: You're sure it's alright to be late, Doctor? Romani: Of course! It's not like things couldn't get any worse! *Explosions in the control room* Romani: ..... The universe loves to prove me wrong, doesn't it? Ritsuka: Don't test the universe to make it worse!

After bidding goodbye to his sister and Mash, Ritsuka entered his room. Taking a brief nap dashed off when he spotted with a deadpan face. The orange pinkish-colored messy ponytail haired man with green orbs stared back at him.

He was sitting on his bed with a laptop sitting on one of his folded legs. One of his white-gloved hands was carrying a half-eaten strawberry cake, the other holding a fork into his mouth. With the tea set, he had made comfortably well on his bed to unwind.

“E-Excuse me…” Ritsuka asked, still struggling to take in the sight he’s looking at. A crew of Chaldea was casually relaxing in his room.

“Yes… Come in…” The orange pinkish-haired man replied.

“Ah… Hah…”

Ritsuka stood there in silence as observing the man turned back to his laptop. The only noise that reverberated in the surrounding was a bright and peppy song with words of ‘Magi*Mari’ recurred.

A minute again, that said man turned back with his orbs widened in panic. He cried while pointed his fork at Ritsuka, “G-G-Guaah! Who are you?!”

The immediate reaction made Ritsuka jumped and landed his rear on the ground with a loud smack. As a groan slipped from his lips, the ponytail haired man proclaimed, “This is my ‘hooky hangout’!”

At much of struggling to sound intimidating, Ritsuka remained impassive and stared at him. As he realized, the ponytail man faced aside with a vexed frown on his lips. “Who gave you the permission to come in?”

“Someone’s that not your supervisor to catch you slacking off the job,” Ritsuka thought as he exhaled a sigh.

He came closer to the bedside and explained in a respectful manner, “I was informed that this was my room…”

“Your room? This place? Oh,” As the ponytail man realized, he lifted his hand that wore a wristwatch in front of Ritsuka. After the holographic identification card showed, he gave himself a face-palm for that outburst. “So, the last kid finally showed up…”

“Well, who are you?” Ritsuka’s eyebrows furrowed as he inquired for the identity of the strange crew.

“Nice to meet you, Fujimaru-kun. Didn’t think I would run into you like this, but,” The ponytail man faced Ritsuka and presented himself. “I’m the head of the medical department, Romani Archaman. For some reason, people just call me Dr. Roman.

“I don’t know why, but it’s easier to pronounce, so go ahead and call me Roman. Fact is, Roman has a nice ring to it, no? It sounds cool and vaguely sweet.”

“Head?!” At the pleasant friendly grin, Ritsuka froze on the spot at how screwed he was. The childish behavior caused him thought otherwise before introducing. But, he bowed. “S-Sorry to bother you when you’re taking a break…!”

“No, not at all. Really, I’m just a run-of-the-mill doctor.” Romani laugh while waving his hands to ensure the young candidate.

At the friendly grin on his face, Ritsuka couldn’t help but noticed the warmth that came out from the doctor. Unconsciously, he uttered in an audible volume, “The fluffy type, huh…”

“Fluffy?” Romani tilted his head.

Realized what he did, a crimson blush of embarrassment colored Ritsuka’s cheek. “S-Sorry, that’s a slip of my tongue there. Just ignore it, Dr. Roman…!”

“It’s fine,” Romani chuckled. He brought a free hand up to stroke his ponytail hair. “If it’s about my hair, I’m normally pretty busy so I just let it grow.”

“I see…” As Ritsuka nodded, he exhaled a relief in his mind. Though that wasn’t what he implied, it’s good the doctor didn’t grab hold of the meaning. Else, he’s digging his own grave in making his first day here worse.

Romani set his plate of cake on the bed and shifted back to Ritsuka. “By the way, isn’t the Rayshift starting soon? I heard all Master candidates were involved with that.”

Ritsuka raised his hand to the back and rubbed his head. “Actually…”

But, a laughter interrupted by the doctor. Romani grabbed a bundle of paper towel headed to the sink to soak it. “A-Anyway, I think get what’s going on. You’re the rookie who just got here then got on the Director’s bad side?”

Recognized that Romani’s green orbs examined at the particular area, Ritsuka realized the stinging pain subsided and put a wry smile, “Yeah…”

Romani approached him and stuck the warm wet towel on his red hand printed cheek. “Here. This should ease the swelling. Apply and leave it for 15 minutes every day, and it should disappear.”

“Thank you, Doctor Roman.” Ritsuka acknowledged and adjusted towel so it covered more of the area.

Romani grinned back and flexed his hand. A chair from opposite the bed pulled over and paused in front of the bed. With the doctor’s gesture, Ritsuka gave another nod and sat.

As the doctor turned to the espresso machine and pick up two cups, he said in a cheery tone, “Then you and I are alike. Just so you know, I got yelled at by her too.”

“Is that so…?”

Romani nodded assuredly and brought a mug to Ritsuka who uttered a ‘thanks’. “Since all the staff has been sent to help out, I had nothing to do. My job is to look after everyone’s health, but the machines are more accurate at reading the vitals of the mages who are in the Coffins.”

“The Director said,” Romani turned to the side and imitated Olga Marie’s posture. “‘When you’re here, Romani, everyone slacks off!’ Then, she threw me out. So I’ve been sulking here.”

The sad pout turned into a lively grin on Romani, spun back to Ritsuka. “But that’s when you showed up. This is what they called a blessing in disguise right. Since we both have nowhere to go. Why don’t we spend some time and deepen our friendship!”

Romani’s eyes closed with a large grin made Ritsuka stared at him for a minute. Seconds later, he laughed and admitted, “Sure, this is my room, so why not?”

“Yeah. So that means I’m visiting a friend’s room! Woo hoo! I’ve made a new friend!” Romani raised his cup and announced, “To a new friendship?”

The infectious smile made Ritsuka beamed and acknowledged, “To our friendship, Dr. Roman.”

Clang

Two cups knocked against each other, Romani pulled his back to down the hot chocolate. As Ritsuka sipped his, a thought came into his mind and asked, “Dr. Roman, may I ask a question?”

“What is it?” Romani returned to Ritsuka’s bed and seated down.

Gripped his mug a little tighter, Ritsuka asked, “They told my sister, and I were qualified to make a contract with a ‘Servant’, so the staff from here invited us. But, what’s Rayshifting?”

Blinked his eyes in shock, Romani queried, “H-Have you come here without knowing what you will do?”

“Well, they were particularly passionate about inviting us here,” Ritsuka chuckled.

“I see,” With a bright, eager grin, Romani began, “I’ll be glad to explain to you! 

“Chaldea is a research facility and observatory that gathers researchers of every stripe, from sorcery to science.

“All for the purpose of continuing the history of mankind long and strong. 

“Our top researchers have developed Chaldea, a global environmental model.”

“Chaldeas?” Ritsuka prodded.

“It was proposed that planet had souls, so this miniature Earth was reproduced to reflect that soul. 

“‘As long as the light of civilization burns in Chaldeas, humanity is guaranteed to last at least for another 100 years.’

“But, the light has begun to die. If the light disappears that means civilization will end. 

“According to our observations, humanity becomes extinct in December 2016,” Romani added.

“What? Humanity will extinct… In 2016?!” Ritsuka repeated with shock laced in his tone.

A grim expression showed on Romani’s face as he went on, “A close investigation of the report has revealed an unusual abnormality. 

“That’s Spatial Singularity F. 

“We determined from 2004 to 2016 CE, there was a rural city in Japan that was an ‘unobservable area’ and did not occur in history.

“Chaldea assumed this causes humanity’s extinction, and propose the Rayshift experiment to the United Nations, which gained approval. 

“Rayshift turns human into Spiritrons and sends them back into the past to intervene certain events.”

“So,” Rubbed his chin thoughtfully, Ritsuka clarified, “It’s like time travel?”

Romani nodded and continued, “By this means, we can transfer to the past and investigate the cause of the future’s disappearance, then destroy it. And that is the idea behind Rayshift, which Chaldea is trying to conduct.”

“So, we were able to join something that incredible?” Ritsuka’s voice astounded by the explanation. But, the mysterious hint from the hooded figure nagged him otherwise.

“Surprised?” Romani smiled.

“Yeah. So, time travel is actually possible now, huh,” Ritsuka nodded to himself.

At another acknowledgment, Romani questioned, “Now you brought up, you mentioned ‘we’… Your sister is here too?”

“Yeah. She’s on the first mission while I’m the one who got the Director’s bad side.” 

Remembered a thought, Ritsuka drew his hand out. “Sorry, I should say previously. I’m Fujimaru Ritsuka, you can call me ‘Ritsuka’ if it’s confusing to you with my sister and me.”

“I look forward to getting to know you then, Ritsuka-kun,” Romani grabbed his hand and shook it. After doing so, he grinned at him. “If you have any more questions of Chaldea, the healthy, diligent and hard-working doctor here will always be happy to answer any of them!”

-0-

30 minutes had occurred since Ritsuka fired endless questions to Romani. It was to kill time while finding out further about their work here. He was glad Romani had been enthusiastic to reveal all he needed to learn.

Romani concluded his explanation, “And so, that’s the structure of Chaldea. 

“An underground workshop built on a snowy top mountain 6,000 meters above sea level–!”

Brrr… Brrr…

Romani’s wristwatch lit up a flickering light. The doctor lifted up to look at the wristwatch flashed a holographic card of the caller ID from Lev and the symbol which read ‘Sound only’.

Lev’s voice said from the holographic, “Romani, we’re going to start the Rayshift soon. Could you come in case there’s an emergency?”

“Did something happen?” 

“A-Team’s in perfect condition, but B-Team on down is less experienced and they are displaying some slight abnormalities.”

With a minor pause, Lev’s voice proceeded, “It probably comes from anxiety. The inside of that Coffin is like a cockpit.”

At Lev’s worried tone, Romani’s eyebrows furrowed. “Hey Lev, I feel bad for them. Why don’t I give them some anesthesia?”

“Yeah, hurry, will you? If you’re in the infirmary, then you can get here in two minutes.”

“Okay!” Romani replied as the holographic vision returned inside his wristwatch.

Ritsuka who had been listening in from the start of the discussion, made a wry smile, “This isn’t the infirmary, is it?”

Romani flinched and raised one of his fingers with a tense smile, “P-Please don’t mention that… It’s gonna take five minutes from here, no matter what. A-And, I won’t get in trouble for being a little late. Besides, it sounds like A-Team isn’t having any issues.”

Determined to turn aside from the awkward topic, Romani mentioned, “Oh, the man I was talking to…”

“Professor Lev, right?” Ritsuka grinned when Romani confirmed his words. “I met him when he was helping my sister to search for me earlier. He said he was an engineer here.”

“An engineer? That was incredibly humble of him,” Romani chuckled. “He’s the mage who created the telescope to observe Chaldeas, the Near-Future Observation Lens, Sheba.

“A telescope used to watch that pseudo-planet, Chaldeas. 

“Sheba not merely observes Chaldeas but also serves as a surveillance system for most of this facility.

“Also, it was the previous director is the one who established the summoning/unsummoning system, which is the foundation of the Rayshift tech.

“To actualize that theory, the Pseudo-Spiritron Calculation—basically a supercomputer—was provided by the Atlas Academy. 

“All these extraordinary talents have been gathered to carry out this mission.”

“A… Amazing…!” Ritsuka uttered in admiration.

Romani grinned at the young candidate reaction and stood. “It’s pointless for an ordinary doctor like me to be there, but if I summoned, I must go, right?”

Shifted his head to Ritsuka, Romani said, “Thanks for chatting with me, Ritsuka-kun!”

“No, thank you too,” Ritsuka said. He stood up on instinct to send Romani off.

As Romani turned his head, he suggested, “When you get settled in, come by the infirmary. Next time, I’ll treat you to some yummy cake–!”

Boom! Click! Clack!

The explosion sound reverberated and lights blacked out.

“What is this?” Romani wary at the abrupt darkness in the room.

Ritsuka examined around and speculated, “A power outage?”

At his words, Romani turned over as he realized, “No, Chaldea shouldn’t have any power outages.”

In the next second, an electronic voice reported, “Emergency. Emergency. A fire has broken out in the Central Power Station and Central Command Room. Central Area’s containment wall will activate in 90 seconds. All staff must evacuate from Gate 2 at once.”

Both Romani and Ritsuka gasped in shock at the notice. 

The latter repeated with astonishment in his tone, “Fires?”

“Command Room…?” Ritsuka muttered and the mug in his hand slipped. The sound of its content spilled out wasn’t his primary attention. He realized as he recalled the two individuals who had gone there for their mission…

“In the turning events, a terrible catastrophe befalls on you and the world,” The hooded figure’s mysterious voice resounded in his thoughts.

“Ritsuko! Mash!” The two names shouted in Ritsuka’s heart. He rushed out without hesitation.

Romani noticed and called out to him, “Hey!”

The doctor too hurried and followed Ritsuka to the same destination they were heading to.

-0-

Footsteps dashed across as quick as their legs could move along the passageway. The evacuating Chaldea staff running out from the two stated location didn’t hinder them. Upon arriving at the gate, they dashed at the point it opened.

When arrived, they were met by the appearance of a war-zone. Rubbles of damaged roofs and walls scattered across the flooded room. As rubbles fallen to the ground, there were still fires blazing in different parts of the room.

“Horrible…” Ritsuka’s voice mustered to mutter at the sight he witnessed.

Swallowed a gulp, Romani tilted his head high and commented, “Only Chaldeas is safe.”

Followed his gaze, Ritsuka tilted his head high to examine the said black-colored globe remained untouched despite the casualties. 

Romani turned his head and surveyed the area, “This was where the explosion originated. 

“This was no accident, it was sabotage.”

“What?” Ritsuka focused his attention to the doctor.

The electronic voice declared, “Generator operation stopped. 

“Power level critical.” 

Both let out a small gasp and gaze at the black globe. Romani turned to the Command Room and exclaimed, “This is bad!”

Turned behind, Ritsuka gazed at the shattered glass broken by the explosion. 

Despite the visible holographic screen running, the announcement continued, “Switch to the backup generator, error. 

“Please make the switch manually.”

Romani turned back to Ritsuka and declared, “I’m heading down to the underground power station.”

As the doctor rushed off, Ritsuka turned and yelled, “Isn’t it dangerous?!”

“We can’t let Chaldea’s light go out,” Romani replied. He shifted to Ritsuka as the gate opened and advised. “Hurry and go back the way we came.”

“Dr. Roman!” Ritsuka yelled in trying to stop him. But, Romani had rushed off to fulfill the task required to do. With the gate sealed, Ritsuka now left alone in the burning room.

“Containment wall will close in 40 seconds. 

“Those remain in Central Area, evacuate immediately–!”

Ignored the announcement, Ritsuka had decided and sprinted forward. Hopped down and climbed up of each large debris, the sound of water splashing from his footsteps echoed the room. Ritsuka scanned from left to right and yelled, “Ritsuko! Mash!”

Rushed past each of the broken glass pods, Ritsuka stopped and spotted a figure inside it. He examined closer and recognized that it was one of the Master candidates like him and his sister. But by the shattered glass and their body position, they were unconscious from the explosion.

Feared for the worst result, Ritsuka dashed again once more but at a swifter pace. His head examined around as he yelled repeatedly, “Ritsuko! Mash! Where are you?!”

Unknown to him, another robotic voice declared, “System switching to the final phase of Rayshift. 

“Coordinates, AD 2004, January, 30th, Fuyuki, Japan.”

Caught his breath, Ritsuka scanned again and cried out, “Ritsuko! Mash!”

“Fou! Fou!” A weak animal squeak echoed the room.

Followed by a recognizable and panicked female voice responding to him, “R… Ritsuka…? R-R-Ritsuka is that you?!”

As Ritsuka turned and rushed to the source of the voice, the electronic voice proceeded, “Laplace’s shifting protection established. 

“Singularity’s additional factor slot secured. 

“Unsummon Program set. 

“Please start final adjustments.”

Stood above the massive debris, Ritsuka catching his breath met the two origins of the voices. Before him, Ritsuko wearing an orange-white fitting outfit trying to remove the large debris. Fou squeaking again and repeatedly to Mash who was trapped underneath a large debris.

“Ritsuko! Mash!” Ritsuka’s voice yelled at them, getting their attention.

“R… Ritsuka-senpai…?” Mash muttered, mustering her energy to move.

Ritsuko stopped her action and caught the sight of her brother moving to them. “R-R-Ritsuka!”

Upon reaching, Ritsuka’s orbs widened at the somewhat swollen eyes from Ritsuko. Her hands and body shivering as though she was to break down soon. He grasped hold of her shoulders lightly and asked, “Are you all right, Ritsuko?! What happened?”

Ritsuko mustered a shaky nod. “I-I’m fine, Ritsuka… We were about to start our mission. A-And, there was an explosion… B-But, Mash. S-She… She took me out of that pod when it happened. A-And, s-she shoved me when that rubble above her…”

Accompanied her gaze, Ritsuka jaw fell and eyes enlarged. The pool of blood beneath her spread, dyeing her clothes in blood red. Also, her torso covered in dust and bruises with her broken glasses.

“Hang in there, I’ll get you out now!” Ritsuka decided with a calm tone, swallowing a gulp.

“No, that’s…” Mash weakly opposed, watching Ritsuka stood up and moved to the debris.

Ritsuko turned back to the debris and settled, “I-I’ll help you too, Ritsuka!”

“Okay, you pick up the other side, Ritsuko!” Ritsuka ordered and knelt down.

As he reached the rubble, a burning pain scorched both his palms. Ritsuka pulled back and grimaced. It earned a worried expression from Ritsuko, “R-Ritsuka!”

“I’m fine,” Ritsuka assured, stretching his sleeves down to protect both his palms.

As Ritsuka grabbed hold of the debris, the siblings made their attempt to remove away from Mash. The attempt in doing so made Mash protested further, “It’s all… right. You can’t… save… me. Don’t mind me, please… Run.”

“And you’re coming with us, Mash!” Ritsuka groaned, focusing all his power on his arms.

Ritsuko nodded and agreed, mustering from her trembling hands to pick up the debris. “That’s right. We will not leave you here like this…! We’ll pull you out of here… And find help….!”

Mash weakly shook her head and insisted once more. “Please… Just run! There’s no–!”

“Forget it! We’re not leaving you here and that’s final!” Ritsuka and Ritsuko objected with a resolved expression. The pair drew a deep breath, and attempt to lift the large rubble again.

While doing so, a robotic voice abruptly announced, “Warning all observation staff. 

“Chaldeas’ state has changed.”

Turned to the globe, Mash gasped as her purple orbs widened. The Chaldea globe changed from earlier charcoal black, to an intense burning red globe. The announcement went on, “Now rewriting Sheba’s near-future prediction data.

“Unable to detect the existence of mankind 100 years in the near-future on Earth. 

“Unable to confirm human survivors. 

“Unable to guarantee mankind’s future.”

“Chaldeas… Has turned bright red,” Mash muttered. She shook her head then said, “No, never mind, that–!”

“Central Area, sealed.”

THUMP! CLICK!

As it announced, the echo of a large shutter landed on the ground accompanied by a click. The announcement followed up thereafter. “180 seconds till internal containment procedure.”

“It closed… The gate, they closed it,” Ritsuko muttered.

“They shut off, the area. Now, we can’t, get out,” Mash bowed her head and murmured, “Senpais… I’m sorry. Because of me…”

“Mash-chan…” Ritsuko turned her head to Mash.

Ritsuka shook his head and came back, “No, it’s…”

“In the subsequent hours, you and your sister will enter into a contract to turn into a Master. After which, you will come back here at the end of the anomality.

“In that adventure, sorrow with grief and tragic ends will inevitably be there. Yet, as long as you don’t lose sight of the path you’ve determined. The path you’ve walked will be the most extraordinary adventure of your life,” The hooded figure’s mysterious voice rang again his mind.

With a wry grin to himself, Ritsuka assured to them both. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Ritsuka…?” Ritsuko stared at her brother.

Sat on the ground before his sister and Mash, Ritsuka asked, “Are you two okay?”

“Yeah…” At her brother’s gentle grin, Ritsuko nodded and returned the same too.

Mash gave a weak nod and smile, “Yes… Thank you…”

The robotic voice announced, “Coffin vitals: Masters. 

“Baseline not reached.”

“Senpais…” Mash muttered with her head bowed down.

“Hm?” Ritsuka moved his orbs to the bespectacled girl.

Ritsuko tilted her head. “What is it, Mash-chan?”

“Mash-chan, huh…? Didn’t expect you move this fast, Ritsuko” Ritsuka turned back to her sister with a now mischievous smirk on his lips.

Rolled her eyes at the hidden meaning, Ritsuko snorted unladylike. “Oh please, we’re simply friends. And besides, she was the one who saved me earlier.”

“I see,” Shifting back to the bespectacled girl, Ritsuka grinned, “Thank you, Mash. I owe you again.”

Mash gave a weak shook of her head and replied, “No. Because Ritsuko-senpai… Is my friend after all… But…”

“We’ll figure this out,” Ritsuka reassured again. Though their present state caused him doubt their chances of getting out alive.

Strangely, the hooded figure showed him the courage to consider otherwise as he thought. “This looks like the perfect time to test the trustworthiness of his words and the fate here.”

Another robotic voice indicated, “Rayshift requirement not met. 

“Searching for qualifying Master…”

“Um… Sen… Pais…?”

At Mash’s call again, the siblings saw both her hands reaching out to them. She showed a shaky beam and requested, “I’m sorry. Would both of you mind…. Holding my hand?”

“Found,” The electronic voice announced.

“Sure,” Ritsuka responded, dusting his hands onto his shirt before grasping lightly of his right hand to her left.

“It’s all right, Mash-chan. We’ll hold them.” Ritsuko grasped both her hands out to hold Mash’s right hand gently.

Unknown to the three, the electronic voice announced, “Candidate No. 48, Fujimaru Ritsuko reset as Master. 

“Candidate No. 48, Fujimaru Ritsuka reset as Master.”

“Kyuu!” Fou squeaked, noticing that the place rumbled.

Rubbles from roof started to fall to the ground. The resounding impact it made didn’t cower them or the electronic voice as it went on, “Unsummon Program, start. Spiritron Conversion, Start. Rayshift starting in 3. 2. 1.

“All procedures clear. 

“First Order, commencing operation.” 

The last words the Fujimaru siblings before their vision went black accompanied by a vortex of blue light.

End of Fuyuki Prologue

[badsithnocookie]

Unification (3/?)

The following not-technically-a-morning, little seemed to have changed - for better or for worse. The Imperial lines were still holding - as were the Republic ones, as were the Alliance's. Proof, Eirn supposed, that- even if they weren't exactly evenly matched, there was all but a stalemate, and one that would not be broken without decisive action.

Eirn had not slept, much - had meditated, or at least attempted to, though Iokath's rhythms were simultaneously ordered and discordant in a way that even Nar Shaddaa had not been, and the presence of so many Jedi in such close quarters (not simply Jedi, but Jedi who opposed the Sith - as opposed, as it were, to Jedi willing to work alongside the same) did little for her ability to focus on anything but the desire she felt from them to plunge their lightsabers into her guts. Sleep had not come any easier; she wasn't about to drug herself while in the middle of not-technically-enemy territory, and so she'd lain awake in a tented corner on an uncomfortable cot, trying to resist the urge to pace and scream and only barely succeeding.

(She'd thought, guiltily, of Malavai; of his lack of any real reaction to her, and of her own sickened feeling of betrayal. He'd claimed to act against her, once, but it had been a flimsy act, desperation and insecurity creating a sucking vortex that could still have drowned them both, but this was something quite apart from that. He had sworn he would do everything, and then done nothing; even when her face was on  bounty notices from one end of the galaxy to the other, he'd remained silent and distant. The contacts she'd had for him had gone dark, mailboxes and comm frequencies only returning errors when she tried to use them, and those she'd questioned had known nothing - but apparently even Acina had known where he was, who he was, and she'd said nothing. That idea infuriated her the most - that he'd had ample opportunity, and refused to even try-)

- which was why, come their briefing, Eirn was on her third mug of Republic-caf-substitute, a poor replacement for rest on any day but one she knew would be aided in its efforts soon enough by adrenaline and external pressure.

'Fact is,' Malcom was saying, 'None of us can afford to get bogged down here. Certainly not the Empire. Which means they're going to be looking to end this quickly.'

As was Malcom, Eirn reflected, though it was a thought she kept to herself. The truth was that she didn't want to be there any longer than she had to, either; hadn't wanted to be here at all, and only wanted to be here less as time passed. She was committed now, though - and was a Sith of her word, even if the Republic didn't seem to want to quite trust that.

'Lord Illte,' Malcom added, glancing to Eirn - and suddenly all eyes in the room were on her, a distinctly unpleasant feeling at the best of times. 'According to our intelligence, you and Major Quinn once had a- close working relationship. What can you tell us about him?'

Close working relationship. Eirn had spent too much time, not-technically-overnight, trying to remember if she'd been able to see his wedding ring, or if he'd been wearing regulation gloves with his uniform. The latter seemed most probable, but a part of her had kept tormenting the rest with the idea of his bare fingers, a public statement that he had shed more than simply their shared name.

(as though you're any better, Illte-)

'Major Quinn,' she replied, slowly - his rank, his name (like that - Quinn, unjoined from hers) alien and unpleasant in her mouth - 'Is an accomplished tactician. Empress Acina probably has him directing her offensive.'

He'd always been blind, though, to the games of Sith - whether wilfully or not, Eirn could never truly tell, but there'd always been gaps in his thinking. First with Baras, then her - and Vowrawn, and Acina, and every other Sith who'd tried to use her. To use them.

'But the Empire is used to- uneven odds. And Major Quinn in particular,' she mused, trying to keep her thoughts on-topic, and not entirely succeeding.

'Asymmetrical warfare is a specialty of Imperial forces,' Dorne added - nodding crisply to herself as she did so. 'If we hit their facilities, we can expect them to be dug in and prepared for superior numbers.'

Dorne's accent intrigued her, and Eirn itched to know what it was that had resulted in a Kaasi-accented woman at the left hand of the Republic's highest-ranking military official. There was a story there, and even as she knew it was none of her business, the part of her that envied Anya's bravery still wanted to know as many details as it could.

'Which is exactly why this needs to be a two-pronged attack. Cut the head off the snake,' Malcom replied, 'And the body becomes a lot easier to deal with.'

Malavai. Eirn didn't like the sound of that one bit - and rather hoped that the beheading could be kept symbolic. For a long moment, she regretted entirely this incredibly petty decision she'd made to side with the Republic, Acina's power hungry manipulativeness be damned - but she was stuck here, at least for now, and couldn't do much of anything for anyone if the Republic decided she was a danger, too.

'And how,' she just replied - trying to keep her tone even, and half convinced that not a single soul in the room was buying it, 'Do you intend to do that, exactly?'

'Our forces can hold their own with the Imps,' Malcom replied, flatly. 'But you know the Major, and Captain Dorne is an exemplary operative. She will be joining you in hitting their command structure directly.'

(Imps, he kept saying, and Eirn was unpleasantly reminded of the way Awenyth had sneered at her on the Yavin moon. Imps, she'd spat, only capable of following orders, incapable of thinking, and led by Sith, incapable of feeling-)

'To that end,' Malcom added, calling up a map on his holographic display, 'You'll first be hitting a weapons cache our scouts located when we first landed here. We didn't have time to investigate it much before the Imps showed up,' he continued, 'But I'm confident you'll find something there we can use to tip the balance.'

Which was as vague a plan as Eirn had ever heard, and she couldn't help but twitch her brow in response - a wary, mildly apprehensive expression that she forced off her face as soon as it was there. Not before Theron noticed, not if the amusement in his aura was anything to go by - but that was the only reaction that she got (that she noticed she got). It reminded her of the tasks that Baras had assigned her, during her apprenticeship; vague enough for plausible deniability, specific enough that there was something here he wasn't telling her.

'Take Captain Dorne with you,' Malcom added - somewhere between a suggestion and a request and an order, and Eirn didn't have the energy to argue. 'She is... uniquely qualified, when it comes to the Empire.'

Eirn did glance at Dorne, at that, who was just as unreadable as before - her expression professional, her aura smooth. In the manner of glass, at that; of a mirror, reflecting the moods around her but keeping what lay beneath locked tight, inscrutable and invisible. Mirrors could be shattered, of course, but Eirn had no desire to break the Republic woman, not least because it would jeopardise this already shaky alliance - that, and Dorne had hardly earned such an indignity.

(It occurred to her, of course, this could all be an elaborate trap; Eirn knew that the Republic had never looked kindly on Sith to begin with, and she- well, she'd have earned their ire even without her stint as Vitiate's right hand. There was a monetary value on her head that she was always surprised that nobody had ever tried to collect, and she wondered, at that, if this wasn't a fact that she would yet come to regret failing entirely to heed)

'Very well,' Eirn finally replied - offering Dorne what she hoped was a friendly smile, even as she doubted Dorne had any great desire to be friendly with tired Sith. Or any Sith, for that matter.

-

The scale of Iokath was something Eirn was certain she would always struggle with; she was not sheltered, by any stretch of the imagination, but the idea of a-

(a giant sphere, built around a star, not as armour for its inner planets, but- those worlds themselves the armour itself, the inner surface thereof playing the role of worlds that totalled more than this system would have ever had before, the home and final resting place of everything that had once dwelled here. Not just the people - but its plants, from what she could recall, and likely animals as well - at least once, at any rate)

The weapons depot, though, was not close, even by Iokath's standards, and the route there was patrolled by Iokath's own droids - the self-propelled remnants of the intelligence that had run this place, itself one of the final legacies of the people who had built this place. They, like the Sith, had loved war - had delighted in it, exterminating whole worlds simply because they could, and in the end had fallen victim to it, warring on themselves and, ultimately, losing.

(A part of Eirn knew better than to hope that the Sith might end differently; she wanted to, with all her heart, but had been a semi-willing party to enough of Baras and Acina's games to know that it was a futile, delusional hope at best)

Conversation, though, was blissfully nonexistent; they were all there to do a job, and even Theron seemed more focused than chatty, despite his usual penchant for the dramatic. He, though, had been preoccupied since they'd landed, and all the more so since they'd allied with the Republic. A symptom of his poor relationship with his father, perhaps; Eirn was hardly one to judge people for fallings-out with relatives, even if she equally appreciated that he'd kept some kind of professional facade when Malcom had been doling out suggestions phrased like orders.

'Well. Not quite what I expected to find here.' It was him that spoke, though, when they reached the cache - who'd taken point, to Dorne's visible annoyance, and Eirn's continued bemusement. Usually he was content to let her be the meatshield, but he was wandering this battlefield with a sort of confidence that didn't entirely suit him.

The cache was about what Eirn had expected - crates of entirely alien technology, marked in some script that looked nothing like anything she'd ever seen outside of this benighted Sphere. There was no guarantee they were weapons, of course - outside, perhaps, of the fact that weaponry had been this place's only purpose, and not for the first time, Eirn felt a steely determination to deny this place and its trinkets to the Empire.

What was unexpected, though - and yet not a surprise in the slightest - was the throne at the far end of the cache's main room. It was definitely a throne - a capital T Throne, even, which hummed faintly with the Force in a way that only the Zakuulan Throne had, and not for the first time, Eirn remembered that this place had been the Fleet's birthplace, too. This Throne wasn't empty, either - even if it wasn't exactly occupied. What remained of its last occupant was mostly some kind of armoured suit - proof that whoever this had once been had been humanoid, but little seemed to remain of- who, or what, it was.

'Look on the bright side,' Eirn just sighed - reaching for some deliberately inappropriate humour. 'Whoever that is won't be pointing these guns at us.'

Theron snorted, but said nothing - instead busying himself with what looked like a data node, attempting to slice into the system. Dorne, at her remark, just winced - about what she expected from a professional, and Eirn wasn't sure what to make of it.

Dorne was studying her, too - Eirn could feel it, and for a moment, she was reminded of her early days travelling with M- with Quinn, when her less than orthodox beliefs were things that still confounded him - were still risks, that he might yet report her failings to his Master - or to some other, far worse, authority.

'Something bothering you, Captain?' she managed, eventually - realising, as she spoke, that it probably sounded as much like a threat as anything, but it was too late to shove the words back in.

'...No, m- Commander Illte,' Dorne replied, slightly hesitantly. It was a lie, of course, but one that Eirn wasn't entirely certain how to go about challenging without antagonising her entirely.

'Friendly advice,' Theron immediately cut in. 'Don't call her Commander. And definitely don't call her Wrath.'

Eirn shot Theron a glare for that before she could stop herself, not least because of the fact she loathed being discussed in the third person.

'What've you found, Theron? Anything useful?' It was a topic she dropped, though - discarded, in the hope that it wouldn't be picked up again.

'Yeah,' Theron replied, after a moment - slightly distracted, as he worked on breaking into the system. 'Looks like this was used to try and control the superweapon. If I'm reading this right,' he added, 'This isn't the original control system, but... one created by a rival faction of Iokath's creators.'

He paused, at that - looking back to what remained on the corpse on the throne, an ominous figure if there ever had been one. Eirn had half a mind to take a holo for Acina, but was equally certain that if she did, the other Sith would only see it as a challenge - or a threat.

'We know that the creators of this place wiped themselves out in a civil war. If I'm reading this right... our dead friend here is the one responsible,' he added - glancing at the remains of the alien, again. 'They tried to slice into the system, triggered some failsafe, and...'

'No more life on Iokath,' Eirn replied, after a moment. Another world, scoured of life; not in the way that Ziost and Nathema had been, perhaps, but she doubted that had been much comfort to those who'd died here.

'Sir,' Dorne started - pausing, as she attracted the attention of both Eirn and Theron, 'If I may- Am I understanding correctly, that this weapon is controlled from-'

Her gaze flickered to the throne, at that - the final resting place of one Iokath's original creators, if Theron was correct.

'Apparently,' Eirn replied, frowning to herself. It made sense, of a sort; the Fleet were Throne-controlled, too. Apparently the builders of Iokath had liked their furniture to be functional as well as needlessly ornate.

'Theron,' Eirn added, 'Pull as much information out of the system as you can. But... try not to set anything off,' she added, wincing as she did so. The last thing they needed was to accidentally fry the place. 'If we're going to destroy this thing, we need as much information on it as we can get.'

'Already on it,' he replied - his attention sliding back to the datapad he had hooked up to Iokath's systems,

Dorne hesitated, again - frowning to herself, as she studied the Throne - and Theron, at that, as he worked. 'So- it's possible that- someone with access to the system could- attempt that again? Slicing in, without getting access to the main system, and then...'

That wasn't a possibility that Eirn liked the sound of in the slightest, and- a part of her knew immediately that it was exactly the kind of foolishness that Acina would attempt - if not in person, then in proxy. And Malavai- well, he'd never been one to question orders, and especially not ones that came from a Sith.

'They'd have to be incredibly stupid,' Theron volunteered, glancing pointedly to the corpse they were sharing the room with.

'Or desperate,' Eirn added - and nothing summed up the feeling that the Empire liked to instil in its people like desperate.

'That's precisely my concern,' Dorne replied, just as crisply as before. 'If someone were to attempt this a second time, and failed-'

'We need to find this weapon,' Eirn interrupted, 'And destroy it, before that can happen.' Or at the very least- 

(focus, Illte-)

'In my experience, sir,' Dorne started, oblivious to Eirn's inner monologue, 'Safely destroying something of this- magnitude will take-'

'Time,' Eirn agreed, 'And expertise.' And agreement, which Eirn wasn't entirely certain she would get - not from Lana, at any rate.

'Yes, sir. We may be able to assemble the expertise, but I find it unlikely that the Empire will afford us the time.' Dorne was not the font of optimism and good news that Eirn wanted her to be, and it was difficult not to resent her at least a little because of it.

'Well, then,' Eirn replied, 'That just makes it all the more urgent we chase the Empire back to Kaas.'

That, at the very least, did not get any argument.