#when Ava almost got taken the fuck out

[filibusterphil]

Maybe I’m too cynical but Vincent and Miguel fighting feels like bad theater for Ava’s benefit. To what end? Who fuckin knows. Why would they slap the crown on her just to drag her out of a museum then take it off of her and let her be? None of this makes sense.

[kjupchurch-xx]

🩷 Conflicting Feelings 🩷 Part 3

Hugh and I ended up getting take-out for lunch. We spent the last 24 hours together. Things were nice. Things were right. The last 24 hours had been spent working out kinks of what was to come next. It was spent with hours of being in each other's arms and many passionate kisses. He'd been my person for years. These things had only ever taken place in my dreams, I never imagined them becoming a reality.  I'd always wondered what his kisses were like. The thoughts made me smile as a red blush appeared on my cheeks. 

He came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and looking at me through the full length mirror while resting his head on my shoulder. "What's got you turning red?" He asked, smirking at me through the mirror. 

Our height difference was pretty silly considering I'm 5'0 and he towers me at 6'2, so imagine him bending down to actually rest his chin on my shoulder. I tilted my head looking at him through the mirror, "Nothing." I said pursing my lips together. 

He chuckled, "Are you sure, love?" He asked sweetly. 

I quickly nodded, "I'm sure." before turning to look at him, staring for a moment, "What?" He asked laughing. I shook my head, "Nothing. I just can't believe this is even happening right now." I said honestly. 

He smiled, "Well it is. And if you'll have me, I'm all yours." His gaze went down to my lips for a moment before meeting my eyes once again. 

Flashback to September 5th, 2021: 

I was back home in South Carolina visiting family. I'd just finished playing an extra in a movie when my phone started ringing. It was Hugh, who was in England filming for his new movie The Son. Figuring he was just calling to ask about my filming experience, I answered. 

I could hear sniffling, "Hey, how was filming?" I asked, trying to hide the concern in my voice. 

He sighed, sniffling a bit more as he belted out, "My father died." the tremble in his voice killed me. 

I sighed, "Oh shit. I'm so sorry, babe. Is Deb on her way?" I asked, hoping she'd canceled whatever she had going on since he was in England alone. 

That simple question broke him, "I fucking rang her and she just said 'I'm so sorry babe, I'll see you when you get home. I can't leave the dogs.' Who the fuck says that?!" His voice dripping with hurt as he continued breaking. 

I closed my eyes, feeling my teeth start to grit, "Are you serious?" 

He sniffled, choking on his tears, "I just lost my fucking father. I'm in another country filming a movie I can't even focus on at this moment and that's all I get from her." 

I quickly put the phone and speaker and sent Deb a text. 

Me: Hey, I saw the news. If you guys need someone to keep the pups while you go to Australia, I don't mind keeping them. I miss Dali and Allegra!

She text me back almost immediately after I hit send.

Debbora-Lee: Thank you, honey. I appreciate it but I'm not going to be able to go. Ava has school stuff we can't miss unfortunately. 

I sighed, "I'm so sorry, babe. You're in England, right?" I asked knowingly as I began searching for flights on my phone. Someone has to be there and I guess if she refuses to be there, I'll have to go to make sure he can make it through his film and to make sure he's okay. 

He coughed again, "Yes, I'm in fucking London." 

I bit my bottom lip as I booked the first flight I saw, "Meet me at the airport at 11 pm your time." 

He sniffled, surprised, "Where are you? What do you mean?" He asked, confused. 

I sighed, "I'll be landing in London at 11." I said while grabbing my things, throwing them in my bag to haul ass to the airport. 

"No love, you don't have to do that. Don't mess up your time with your family." He said softly. 

"It's already paid for. Just pick me up at 11." I said as I ended the call. 

I'm pissed. I'm pissed she can't get off her ass to fly to be with her husband who just lost his father. I'm pissed my time with my family got ruined because of this fucked up situation, but he's my best friend and he obviously needs someone on his side. He called Deb, then called me. I'm pissed that I can't show this man what he means to me because of a marriage he's in with such a selfish person. But I'll go be the hero and save his ass because she refuses to. Time to put my platonic face on. 

11 PM, London, England: 

After a 10 hour flight, a comfortable bed is all I'm after. I booked a room at the same hotel Hugh was staying to be close by. I hadn't seen him in months. I was excited, despite the circumstance of why I came in the first place. I stepped off the escalator, the airport was practically dead at this time. Maybe 20 other people and I'm sure they all just got off the flight I was on. I quickly found the baggage claim, grabbing my things and checking my phone. 

"You really didn't have to do this." I heard a familiar voice, my favorite Australian say as he approached me, pulling me into a quick hug. 

He looked awful. His eyes were swollen from crying, his hair was a mess. He was almost unrecognizable.  

I shrugged, "You didn't have anybody else. That's what I'm here for." I smiled. "Take me to the hotel. I'm tired and ready to be away from airports and planes." I said, walking towards the doors. 

He gave me a sad smile, "Isn't this your first time out of the country?" He asked, looking at me, walking with me towards his car. 

I nodded, "It is. Finally putting the passport I've had for a year now to good use." I laughed. 

As we approached his car, he opened the door for me and grabbed my bags, placing them in the back, then coming to get in the driver's seat. "I'm so thankful to have someone like you in my life. Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me." He said, his voice slightly shaking. 

I took a deep breath, trying to contain my own emotions, "Don't mention it. That's what friends are for, babe." I said with a small smile. 

He took me to a fast food place to grab a bite to take to the hotel with me. As we reached the hotel and got up to the room, he stopped holding his composure and broke. I couldn't help but pull him into my arms and stroke his back as he wept. I'd never seen Hugh actually cry and the sight was heartbreaking. Nonetheless, I'm glad I'm here so he isn't alone. We spent hours with him crying, telling me stories about his father and the kind of man he was, we rehearsed his lines for The Son until the sun came sweeping into the hotel room. 

Present Day:

"What's on your mind?" He asked, giving me a serious look. 

I looked at him, "Nothing, I was just thinking about the night I flew to London to see you." 

He chuckled, "Ah, the night that started it all."

I playfully rolled my eyes, "I don't remember anything being started on my part. I remember trying to call your wife and let her have it... but you wouldn't let me." I laughed at the last part. 

He laughed, "No, I wouldn't. I told you that you were better than that and I didn't want her to ban me from seeing you." He said with a smirk. 

"Honestly though, that was the night that really did something for me. I had nothing but platonic feelings for you until you did that for me. After that weekend with you, just being there, being yourself and being there for me, helping me keep my head in the game with my film, it was hard to separate myself from developing feelings for you." He said quietly, slightly shaking his head almost as if he were in disbelief.

I kissed his cheek, "I'll bet you had no idea that I was absolutely smitten with you long before that. Which is why I flew to England. Do you think I fly across the world at the drop of a hat for anyone else?" I giggled. 

He looked at me, eyes widening a little, "What? You were not. You never showed it at all." 

I rolled my eyes again, "Um sir, you were married and I did not want to fight someone over their husband. I enjoyed our friendship and respected your marriage too much to do something stupid." 

He smirked, "No, but we did have a cuddle in London." 

I gasped, laughing, "No shit, you were an emotional mess. I wasn't going to just say 'Hey, I'm heading to the other room. See ya tomorrow, big guy.' What was I supposed to do?" I said crossing my arms. 

 He laughed, pecking my lips, wrapping his arms back around me, "Okay, point well made." 

It was starting to get late, now getting closer to 10 pm. I yawned, looking at him, "I'm sorry, but I refuse to sleep on the couch again tonight. I'm going to sleep in my bed tonight. You're welcome to join me unless you want a hard sofa." 

He smiled, "I'll be there in a second, love."

I smiled sleepily, yawning again before walking towards the bedroom, "Okay." 

As I got to the bedroom, I put on a tank top and matching pajama shorts before climbing into the big king sized bed. It wasn't as comfortable as my bed at home, but it would do. About 10 minutes later, Hugh walked in interrupting the annoyingly funny reality show I was watching. 

"Miss me?" He asked cockily while taking off his jeans and t-shirt, moving the blankets to lay beside me. 

I chuckled, "No, I had Mama June and Honey Boo Boo keeping me entertained."

He rolled his eyes, "I can't believe you actually watch that." He laid his arm over my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. 

I played as if I were offended, "Don't hate. They're hilarious." 

He looked at the tv, "I'm sorry it took me awhile to come in here. I was on the phone with Oscar." His voice sounded sad.

I chewed at my lip, nervous for what was to come next, as I rested my hand on his bare chest, softly caressing it. "It's okay. Is he okay?" I asked. 

He sighed, "He's fine. He's disappointed that his mum and I couldn't fix things, but he's old enough to understand that people have to do what makes them happy."  

I looked up at him, "Well, at least he understands. Does he know where you're at?..." I asked lowly. 

Hugh sat in silence. 

"Hugh... You didn't tell him you're with me, did you?..." I asked, growing worried, lifting up to look at him. 

He shook his head, "Well not at first, no. He asked where I was. I simply said LA. He asked who I was with. I didn't say. He said 'You're with her, aren't you, dad?' and you know I'm a terrible liar." 

I exhaled the breath I'd been holding in hopes he did not tell his child I was with him. Oscar and Ava adored me, but I did not need the world thinking I ripped this man out of his marriage and away from his family. 

He rubbed my cheek, "He knows you didn't do anything wrong. He's old enough to understand the issues Deb and I have. He knew his mum and I had been practically separated for years but didn't want to actually separate for their sake." 

I shook my head, "I hope you're right. I also hope he doesn't call her and tell her." I said without thinking. 

He shook his head, "He won't. He doesn't know what we're doing or what we've talked about. He knows you're always there. He probably thinks you're making sure I don't do something stupid and just being a good friend." 

I nodded, "Okay... If you say so." 

Hugh's phone lit up, a notification from Ryan Reynolds. It was a text. Opening it, it was a screen shot of his soon-to-be ex-wife, posted up with another man. I looked at Hugh, chewing my bottom lip, anxiously awaiting his response. 

He looked at me, "Good for her. She deserves happiness." He said bluntly. 

I pursed my lips, "You took that better than I imagined." I chuckled. 

He smiled, holding his phone up to take a picture with me. "What are you doing?..." I asked, not ready for his response. I knew exactly what he was doing. He was going to post his own selfie to get back at her. 

He smirked, "I'm just taking a selfie with my best friend that will be going on Instagram with the caption 'That's what friends are for'." He exclaimed proud of himself as he forced me to smile for the camera by tickling my side. 

"I can't believe how toxic you are." I said with a chuckle watching him post the picture to his Instagram. You could clearly see he was shirtless, I'm in a tank top and we're close to one another. This was going to go over great on the internet. 

He chuckled, "I can be toxic, but in a sexy way." He reminded me. 

Author's Note:  I'm actually having a lot of fun writing this. Let me guess... You guys want a part four? 

[bad268]

Burn

Aftermath Affair Pt. 4

(Oscar Pisatri X Reader + Ex! Lando Norris X Reader)

Fandom: RPF/Formula 1

Requested: Nope, happy 5 years!

Warnings: Airing dirty laundry lol, that's about it. Based on the song from Hamilton (not Lewis)

POV: Second Person (You/your/They/them)

W.C. 1710

Chapter Summary: Y/n L/n posted a new video, and everyone's hearts stop.

As always, my requests are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

<-Part 3

~~(^Both from Pinterest)

You moved in with Oscar that night. All you took were your clothes. Everything that Lando bought you now burned you, and you couldn’t give a fuck less about what he bought you. You wanted nothing to do with anything related to Lando. He reached out once, asking where you were. All you said was, “Ask Ava.” He understood then. At least, you assumed he did because you blocked his number and every social media account he had before he could respond. 

You heard from Oscar that Lando was a wreck. You laughed it off because he did this to himself.

Your subscribers noticed the change. Your personal channel content changed from video games to vlogs. You were going out and doing things, in London they learned, and they loved to see it. You still played games, but fewer racing games and more random games you always wanted to play. Your subscribers also noticed how happy you were. They were convinced you and Lando got engaged.

Little did they know, you were falling for a different man.

Your subscribers were thrown for a loop when your shared channel with Lando was deleted. You decided it was time to delete it. They bombarded your socials almost immediately, asking what’s going on. They tried to see if it was rebranded or saved anywhere, but it seemed like your entire relationship was ripped from the internet. Your Instagram was void of Lando, your channel no longer had videos with him, and you didn’t follow him anywhere anymore. They didn’t even notice until then.

~

Y/n L/n just posted!

“A Letter to Lando”

“By now, you will have all seen that the shared channel is gone,” You opened the video. You were sitting in your new recording room. It was more open than your last one, more bright. You had a large window that brought in a lot of natural light, and it was more your style. The last one was just Lando’s recording room that you borrowed, so you couldn’t change it. When you moved in, Oscar told you to make this space yours in any way you wanted. It took a while, but you felt at home for once. “I deleted our shared channel because I am erasing myself from this narrative.“

“I’ve filmed this video at least three times at this point,” You took a breath as you felt tears well up in your eyes again. It’s hard to talk about what happened. Not only the way in which you found out about the cheating but also how you reacted. It was one of the darkest times in your life, and it took a lot to come back from. “I’m sorry, but it’s been a struggle trying to find the words to share this. As many of you have seen on Lando’s Instagram, Lando and I are no longer together.”

Oscar still had to follow Lando on Instagram for team purposes, and that’s how you saw that he posted a hard launch with Ava. 

You still did not know how you wanted to tell everyone what happened. You looked off at the wall. Your viewers couldn’t see it, but there was a picture of you and Oscar from a few months ago. You went out to celebrate 1.5 million subscribers. Oscar insisted, saying it was a huge milestone, and you didn’t want to make it a big deal. He insisted and dragged you out of the apartment. The picture was taken right after you accidentally knocked ice cream onto his nose. Lando wouldn’t even celebrate 1 million with you. Remembering the happiness with Oscar made you smile.

“Clearly, we’re not together anymore,” You sighed as your smile faded. “I’m not going into details, but I hope they’re happy. My friends always said he would do what it took to survive, and they were right. I was blinded by his words and his actions. That’s on me.”

“You talked about how long you have been in love with her, and how you didn’t believe in true love until you met each other,” You let out a breath as you thought of your next words carefully. “You told the world how you brought this girl into our bed, and in explaining your love story, you have ruined our lives. Do you know what my friends said? They called you an Icarus! That’s how my friends reacted, so I’ve decided that I’ll let you wonder how I reacted when you broke my heart, when you tore us apart.”

“I kept every letter you ever wrote to me,” You chuckled lightly as you pulled out a few pieces of paper. “The letter you first asked me out with because you were too scared to ask me face to face, the letter you wrote when we hit each milestone, random letters where you just professed your love, and letters that I would have cherished forever. I also kept the letter I wrote to you when I found out. I thought about reading a few lines out,” You insinuated by opening one of the letters before pulling out a lighter. You had already opened the window and had a bucket of water by your feet, and Oscar was standing outside with a fire extinguisher just in case. You chuckled lightly as you skimmed the loving words that had now turned sour in your eyes. At that moment, you decided you wanted to watch it burn. “I’ll let you all wonder how I reacted when he broke my heart.”

Your soft smile as you read slowly turned to a scowl before you lit the corner of the paper and looked directly into the camera. “Lando, you don’t deserve to see how I reacted. You don’t deserve anything from me. The world has no place in our bed, and they don’t get to know what I said. I am burning the memories, the letters that might have redeemed you. Lando, you can sleep in your office with only the memories of when you were mine.”

You lit all of Lando’s letters one by one before dropping them in the bucket once they were destroyed. Then you grabbed your letter to Lando. You skimmed through the multiple pages of it, remembering the feelings before lighting the corner. “You didn’t give me the decency to tell me yourself. I had to learn of your affair from your friend, so you forfeit the rights to my heart. You forfeit the place in our bed. I hope you’re happy with yourself, Lando.”

You threw the last letter into the bucket and gazed at the camera. Finally, you felt at peace.

“One last note to Lando Norris,” You paused, allowing a small smile to envelop your features, “I hope you burn.”

~

The reactions were almost instant. You sat on the couch curled up against Oscar’s body, rewatching Sex Education. It was one of your favorite shows, but Lando hated it, so you never got to watch it. Oscar binged it once, so he was always down to rewatch it with you. You heard your phone going off, so you pulled it out of your pocket to check it. However, Oscar immediately took it out of your hand and powered it off. 

“Hey, what’s that for?” You chuckled as he moved your phone away from you. “I was gonna check that.”

“Shhh, the show is playing,” He whispered as he leaned toward your ear before turning his attention back to the show. 

“You’re insufferable,” You laughed as you turned your attention back to the screen. It didn’t hold your attention long as you looked back over to Oscar. You were leaning against his chest with your arms wrapped around his waist, so you were looking up at him. He had an arm around your shoulder while the other rested against your thigh that was lying over his lap. You got lost in your thoughts.

Oscar was everything to you. You felt more free whenever you were with him. At first, he gave you the space to refind yourself. He even supported you throughout the journey. Any game you wanted, he bought. Any new hobby, he tried it with you, so you wouldn’t feel alone. He never pushed you to do anything, but he did support you in everything you wanted to try. 

You never felt this supported with Lando. Looking back, he was toxic. He only wanted to play racing games or stupid games. You wanted to try other things, and he would be condescending. He always pushed you to fit the cookie cutter mold that other racing drivers’ girlfriends fit, but that was never going to be you. Oscar encouraged the change because staying in the same thing for too long can burn you out. It was true.

At some point of your staring, Oscar looked down at you with a smile. It wasn’t until he left a kiss on your forehead that you noticed.

When you first moved in, Oscar was very respectful in giving you your space to heal. He made sure to give you multiple spaces where you could retreat to including your own room and recording room. As the time moved on, you slowly migrated into his room for movie nights and late-night binges, and it eventually became you two staying in the same bed all night. Oscar never pushed you away. He wanted you to know that he was there for you whenever you were ready, and he was willing to wait as long as he needed for you. 

“Penny for your thoughts,” He said with a quiet tone, not wanting to disturb the peace.

“I think I’m ready,” You replied in the same tone. You moved to sit up a little more before grabbing Oscar’s hand, “I’m ready to give us a chance.”

“Really?” Oscar asked as he started getting excited before calming back down, “Wait, I don’t want to rush you if you aren’t ready.”

“That’s exactly why I’m ready,” You laughed as you leaned back into him. “You gave me the space to become comfortable again. Oscar, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this comfortable and free with someone in my life! You have been everything but pushy, and I’m ready to try us.”

~~~ Part 5 ->

~

Tags- @barcelonaloverf1life

~~~~~

© BAD268 2024. DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION.

[birgittesilverbae]

Prompt: just a highly tattooed Beatrice. Anything. Maybe she’s in a band, maybe it goes to her teenage rebellion, maybe it’s your dads au and Bea always wears sleeves and one day Ava finally sees her ink… idk. Anything with tattooed Bea.

thanks for the prompt!

//

Beatrice hasn't worn short sleeves in the time Ava has been back. 

True, it's closing in on winter, but Malaga in November is barely any cooler than Brienz had been in June, and back then Beatrice had taken every possible opportunity to go sun's out, guns out.

Ava watches, curious, for some sort of sign, some clue to what Beatrice is keeping under wraps. She's been back for a week, almost, and they've kissed in quiet corners and in the back of the chapel, and once, in a fit of daring, in the confessional, Ava in Beatrice's lap admitting to myriad sins ("the Bloody Marys sold well, I just hated making them" and "I bought us new towels because I used ours to try and smother a stovetop fire" and "I spent half our time in Switzerland trying not to touch myself to the thought of you"). 

But they haven't gone any further than furtive makeouts and some over-the-clothes heavy petting – which, she has to remind herself, would be a mind-blowing development for June Ava. And Beatrice hasn't even rolled up her sleeves, which… The thought of Beatrice's forearms had constituted, like, a solid 64% of Ava's will to live while on the other side, but it's fine. She's fine. She can be very cool, very normal and definitely would absolutely not suffer if she never got to see Beatrice's forearms again.

She'd be totally fine. 

It's on day seven post-return that Beatrice slips up. She's been waist-deep in a van's engine compartment in between shouting matches with Mary across the garage, and stray curls of hair are slicked to her forehead with sweat. She rubs at her face and then frowns, unbuttons the placket at her wrist and starts to roll up her right sleeve. Ava feels like a Victorian gentleman about to pass out over the mere sight of a sliver of skin. She doesn't mean to, but she takes a step forward over the threshold of the garage, drawn towards the revelation of Beatrice's bare skin like a moth towards a flame.

There's a faint blue glow that grows brighter as Ava approaches, and Beatrice's head snaps up. She fumbles with her sleeve for a moment, an adorable crease between her eyebrows, but the cuff is caught on the knob of her elbow. She settles for linking her hands behind her back instead.

"Ava!" She chirps far too brightly for someone Ava had heard calling Mary a 'piece of fucking work' not two minutes past.

Ava takes another step closer. "Beatrice," she replies, soft. She'd raise a hand, but this already feels far too much like approaching a wild animal. 

Apt enough, though, as Beatrice's eyes very noticeably flick towards the exit. "Show me," she says, just as gently.

Beatrice's shoulders droop. "You would have found out sooner or later," she concedes. "It was only a delay of the inevitable in the hopes I would be better prepared to discuss it by the time the conversation arose."

She swings her arms forward, left hand finding the pocket of her coveralls, right coming out in front of her until her forearm is on display for Ava. 

It's a starburst shining divinium blue, a double handful of lines broken by tick marks emanating from a central black point. Ava can't help herself, doesn't want to stop herself from reaching out and dragging a fingertip down one of the lines. Beatrice's skin is warm beneath Ava's touch and the divinium sparks bright in response to the Halo's nearness.

"What is it?"

Beatrice clears her throat. "Pulsars are spinning neutron stars that blink on and off like lighthouses. When the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft were launched, they were sent bearing a plaque with this map on it – a map of the position of known pulsars relative to our sun. A map of lighthouses, guiding the observer here." She taps the central dot. "That's here, that's home, that's us," she says, in that slightly removed tone Ava associates with the oh-so-common occurrence of a 'Quotes with Beatrice' event. "On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives." Beatrice inhales shakily. "It was stupid, really, but I thought maybe it would help guide you back to us. Back to me. Back home."   

[thatsgay-writes]

Hey! So I had an idea and I was wondering if you would consider writing it. It's a Beatrice X Reader.

It's just after the final battle of season 1. Mary and Reader being the badasses they are fought together. Mary died. Reader didn't. It's around 6 months after( I don't really know the timeline) , anyway Adriel and his supports took Reader and basically toured her for info and anything they could use against the 'Warrior Nun' and being the person Reader never said anything, no matter how bad it got they kept their mouth shut. Eventually Adriel left, he knew R wouldn't speak but he found joy in keeping his supporters there (basement) where she was held so that they could continue hurting her. It's a day or two after Adriel left and word got out they something was important there but Ava , Beatrice , Camilla and whoever you want there didn't know what. When they get there they don't find anything and they are about to leave when they hear punches and shouts from a group of people. They go to the basement and they see 3 or 4 men kicking punching and slicing with a knife (if you want) against someone they can't really see because it's too dark (Reader could be strapped to a chair or hung from their wrists from the ceiling). A few seconds later, all of the men r down. They get closer Camilla turns in the lights and they see Reader. Shock. Gasps. (you know absolute shockkkk) they thought R died with Mary. Moving Reader to the amazing van they have. Reader is unconscious at this point. They tend to her wounds like loads of wounds- stab wounds-slice wounds-bruises and scars. R wakes up and has a heartfelt reunion and you can decide how that plays out. If this is uncomfortable for you, you don't have too right it, just an idea I had because I love myself an angst,love ending story!! :)

Not ProofRead, Off The Dome

Days bled into weeks, blurred into months as you hung from the ceiling. It was routine by now, wake up, get hung by the ceiling from your wrist, get tortured for information, get unhooked, and then repeat it all the next day. Sometime you wish you had taken Mary's place or been by her side as you bled out together instead of being forced to watch as the life drained from her eyes. The first days of your torture hadn't been that bad by standards. You were hit a few times, pushed around but nothing seriously damaging. Until the big bad, Adriel, paid a visit to get information out of you. Knives, tasers, even a few well placed gun shots were used almost everyday. Your hands were numb and blue by the time you were taken down from the ceiling and you were healed as much as possible each night. It was always the same set of questions, "Where is the Warrior Nun hiding? What is her weakness? How long will it take for her to come for you?"

You never answered any of the questions, you barely spoke and if you did it would be something along the lines of a fuck you or just straight up calling Adriel a bitch. In your head though, you were begging for either freedom in the form of escape or death. You had lost hope that your friends would come for you or that they even knew you were alive. Even after a while the thought of Beatrice coming to rescue you dwindled away. You hadn't seen Adriel in a few days, so you figured he left, but the beatings and torture stayed almost consistent. Clearly, Adriel had left specific instructions on how to handle you this time rather than just leaving it up to the Firstborn Children.

---

Beatrice sat in the back of the slightly sexual puff pastry truck as Yasmine drove them all to a secret building they had uncovered by getting information from a member of the Firstborn Children. She stared at a small photograph of the two of you from your first anniversary, almost five years ago. Beatrice wishes that she could go back in time and relive those years all over again. She'd make sure to hold onto you tighter, spend all her time with you, maybe she'd even ask you to marry her, just to spend a few years in complete bliss. But now you were gone and Beatrice felt cold and alone. She wasn't alone in a literal sense, Ava sitting next to her, Camila across, and Mother Superion and Yasmin in the passenger and driver seat but in her heart. She always felt this constant coldness that couldn't be taken away with a cozy blanket or hot chocolate, the only time it ever felt warm was when she was asleep and dreaming of you or reliving memories. Only to wake up the next day, cold. Beatrice had always been the one to think through things and go into fights logically but if this building was as important to Adriel as the Firstborn Children said, she wanted to to tear it apart and burn it to the ground.

---

Beatrice was pissed, this whole excursion had felt like a waste of time. Not only was the building huge, it looked and felt abandoned. There were no secrets in this building, the Firstborn Children must've just used this as a distraction. Camila could feel the frustration rolling off of Beatrice and she felt terrible for the older girl. It was clear how much everything had taken a toll on her. It was clear from the beginning that Beatrice, Mary, Shannon, Lilith and you had been the unofficial Warrior Nun dream team. But now you, Shannon, and Mary were dead and Lilith had disappeared. Beatrice was the last one standing and even Camila could see she barely was.

They were about to give up their search of the building when Camila hears a faint noise coming from down the hall. She peeks her head out of the room they all stood in and she could see a faint, barely there, glow of light. "Guys!" She whispered to her fellow nuns and gestured towards the door and the light. All of her friends tensed and instantly got into a formation as they made their way down the hall. Coming up to the door it was slightly left open, allowing Beatrice to see into the room. "They're torturing someone, this must be why this building is so important... I see nine people in total. Ready?" Beatrice asks, not really waiting for an answer as she kicks down the door and enters the room, cutting out the lights so the men were more confuse and unable to see.

---

"I think that's all of them." Ava says as she catches her breath. All the men they fought were uncharacteristically big and bulky, which Beatrice had failed to mention. "All right, let's see who all this fuss is about." Ava says as she moves in front of your body, Beatrice and Camila were standing by the door keeping look out. "Beatrice hit the lights please... Thank-" As soon as Beatrice flips the switch, Ava's heart stops. There you were. Head hung, hands slightly blue, blood dripping from one of your many injuries onto the floor but alive. "Camila help me quick!" Ava yells as she grabs a chair in the corner of the room so she can get you untied from the rope. "What? Who is-" Camila lets out an audible gasp as you come into view. She helps Ava untangle you and lower you to the floor. "Beatrice cover our front and Yasmin help us get them out of here!" Ava commands, she couldn't let Beatrice see you till they were out of the building. She knew Beatrice would freeze and that's not something they could afford right now.

---

"Are they okay?" Beatrice asks now that they are comfortable back in the truck and on the road. Ava and Camila share a look, how do they explain who they found. Yasmin just looks a little confused at the two's silence. Ava nods her head towards Camila who returns the nod in understand. She gets up and walks to the front of the truck. "Beatrice, I need you to look at me." Beatrice turns towards Camila with a confused look, why was she being so serious? "You have the most knowledge on medicine, which is why I am begging you to not let feelings get in the way for right now. Once we get to out hideout you can feel whatever you need to feel but I am begging you right now to let logic and reason take over." Beatrice stands, well as much as she could in the truck as she swaps places with Camila, scared to know why she said that. But the second she see your face, it takes everything in her to not fall to her knees and cry and beg for you to wake up. Her mouth feels dry as she swallows and pushes everything to the back of her mind, this was you. She thought you were dead but now you're not and she wasn't going to let you bleed out and be taken from her again.

---

You feel warm as you wake up, which was concerning. You could feel the blanket laid across you and the soft bed and pillow under you as you opened your eyes. Sun was streaming through a window and into the room and you were sure you were dead. You finally gain the strength to sit up and you can feel all the aches and pains and the tightly wrapped bandages that cover your body. Ok, maybe you weren't dead but you were highly confused. You shakily get out of bed and look at the clothes that were put on you. Normal things, pants, a shirt, socks, nothing crazy but what did get you to freeze was the scent coming off the clothes. You hold the hem of the shirt up to your face and you can feel your eyes watering, it smells like Beatrice, it smells like home. With a newfound vigor, you walk as fast as you can from the room, ignoring the way you have to favor your right leg. You could here conversations and laughs the farther into the house you get and the more excited you feel.

Could this be a new way of torture created by Adriel so that your dreams were no longer safe? Yes. Did you care in that moment? No. You reach a large set of double doors, the only thing left blocking you from, who you hope is real, Beatrice. You take a deep breath as you attempt to fix your shirt and hair, like Beatrice hasn't seen you at your worst and open the door. The silence to your arrival was daunting, luckily almost everyone looked familiar and grew smiles on their faces at the sight of you. But the person you were mainly concerned for looked like she could cry, "Bea." You let out breathlessly as you feel all the hope you had lost return to you instantaneously. You take one step into the room before Bea is closing the distance and pulling you into her arms, mindful of your injuries. "Is this real? Please tell me this is real." You say to her over and over again as you cry into her shoulder. She pulls back from the hug to take you face into her hands. "This is real, I promise. And I am never letting you out of my sight again." You can see the way Beatrice's eyes look at you like your the most important thing in the world and you know that your not dreaming and you know she will stick to that vow. "Good." Is all you can say as you lean forwards for a kiss and thank any and every high-power that there is that you were back in Beatrice's arms.

[the-delta-42]

Firsts Part 5: Meeting the Family

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Firsts Part 5

Meeting the Family

“You’re chewing your finger again.” Said Mariana, making Gabe look at her.

“We’re going to meet Clementine’s full family,” Interjected David, “he’s nervous.”

“But, you’ve already met them.” Said Mariana, as their car stopped.

“He’s met her parents,” Said Ava, “we’re meeting the grandparents and other extended relations.”

Gabe didn’t say anything, getting out of the car and knocking on the front door. It swung open, Gabe blinked as he looked up at Conrad, Rebecca’s dad.

“You’re early.” Said Conrad, as the others joined Gabe.

“I, er, I tried to call a head, but the line was busy.” Said Gabe, scratching the back of his neck, “Why are you holding a bucket?”

“Clem’s birth parents are…” Conrad glanced into the house, “being persistent. The phone’s been taken off the hook.”

Gabe saw Clem stalking around the garden, she looked like she was ranting to someone, before she ran her hands down her face.

Conrad stepped to the side, allowing them in. After giving Rebecca and Alvin a quick greeting, Gabe went out into the garden.

“-and they’re acting like it all a big misunder-fucking-standing!” Ranted Clementine, as Duck look up at her from his spot on the ground, “Hi, Gabe.”

“Hi.” Gabe looked back at the house, “Er, Conrad told us about your birth parents.”

“They’re trying to say they left me at home and not on a freeway.” Growled Clementine, as she started pacing again, “Do you want to know what they started with? The said they didn’t abandon me, I just opened the door and fell out while the car was still moving!”

Gabe and Duck shared a brief look, before looking at Clementine.

“It’s fucking ridiculous!” Snarled Clementine, as AJ wandered into the garden, “They then asked to speak with AJ.”

“What?” Gabe was confused, “How they hell would they know about him?”

“I don’t know, they just kept saying ‘put your brother on the phone, put your brother on the phone.’” Clementine snarled, before AJ patted her on the leg, “Yeah, Goofball?”

“Mom says food’s almost ready.” Said AJ, getting a nod from Clementine.

“Okay,” She looked at Duck, “Gabe and I have to go, see you tomorrow.”

Duck nodded and waved goodbye at them as they went inside. He then looked down at the hole his hand was stuck in, before he tried to yank it out.

F

“This,” Grunted Minnie, walking inro their new front room, “Should be the last box.”

Sophie nodded as Lilly tried to set the phone up, she could hear Abel and Tenn yattering on about insects or something.

“Vi and Louis are going to be over to help unpack,” Said Sophie, opening a box, “Apparently Louis and Ezekiel got into an argument over Carol and Sophia.”

“Half the things that boy does is argue.” Muttered Lilly, as her mobile went off. She looked at it and didn’t recognize the number, frowning she answered it, “Hello, Lilly Caul.”

Sophie and Minnie watched as Lilly’s face paled, before going an angry red, “How the fuck do you know about that? No, she’s not in my care. No, I don’t know where Clementine is. Who are you?”

The girls thought they saw a vein pop in their foster mother’s temple, “You’re her what? How did you get this-son of a bitch.” Lilly glared at the phone, before she took a deep breath and dialled a number, “Hi, er, Joan, was it? I’ve just had a call from Clementine’s parents. No, no, her birth parents, not her adoptive parents. Oh, I’m not the only one they’ve contacted? Right, I, er, I just thought you needed to be made aware.”

Lilly hung up and ran a hand down her face.

“Who’s Clementine?” Asked Minnie, getting Lilly’s attention.

“She was a girl a fostered around the time of my breakdown.” Answered Lilly, going back to working on the home phone, “She, er, had a pretty hard life.”

The twins glanced at each other, before going back to their previous tasks, “So, when are Louis and Violet arriving?”

F

Gabe found Conrad and Francine to be good company. They’d actually said they were concerned when they head Clementine had been returned to Alvin and Rebecca’s care, but they’d grown to love the girl.

Of course, Clementine had tipped her hat down to cover her embarrassment. They were making idle small talk when the phone rang.

There was a heavy silence, before Gabe got up and went to go answer it.

“Gabe, what are you doing?” Asked Clementine, as Gabe picked up the phone.

“Hola, crematorio de Jesús, tú los matas, nosotros los asamos.” Said Gabe, in the worst Mexican accent he could muster. He froze, “Oh, right, er,” he put his hand over the receiver, “it’s Joan asking for Clem’s parents.”

Alvin got up and took the phone from Gabe, as the boy dropped down next to Clementine with his face beet red.

“What did you say?” Asked Clementine, looking at him.

“‘Hello, Jesus's crematorium, you kill 'em we grill 'em.’” Translated Mariana, getting a wheeze from Clementine.

“It’s, er, what we use on cold callers and tía Abuela Rosa.” Muttered Gabe, as Clementine curled up laughing.

A moment later, Alvin stepped back into the room and looked at Clementine.

“And,” He said into the phone, “you’re saying she might not remember him?”

Clementine stopped laughing and looked up at Alvin.

“Right,” Said Alvin, nodding, “Thanks for making up aware.”

“Al, is everything alright?” Asked Rebecca, getting up.

Alvin frowned, “I’ve just been told that Clementine’s older brother has registered a complaint with Joan and the Police against his birthparents.”

“My what?”

“Your brother.” Answered Alvin, sitting down.

“He can’t be.” Protested Clementine, “Jay’s dead.”

F

Jesse glared at his phone, while Javi and Kate glanced at each other. When his birthparents had called, he was the one who picked up the phone.

“Jesse,” Said Kate, getting his attention, “do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” said the boy, going back to glaring at his phone.

“I know that them calling was a shock.” Said Kate, leaning forwards, “But, you don’t need to bottle it up.”

Jesse continued to glare at his phone, “The told me her name. They made it sound obvious.”

Kate sighed, “Well, there is some good news that came from this mess.”

“Really?” Spat Jesse, “What?”

“I know where she is and, if you want, I could arrange a meeting for you.” Offered Kate, as Jesse frowned.

F

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Asked Duck, as Clementine glared out a window.

“You mean aside from how she’s gonna be meeting her older brother, who she’s thought was dead for the past, what,” Becca looked around, “ten, eleven years?”

“I always thought they kept him,” Said Clementine, “Then, when I was in hospital, after that stranger killed Mom– , I mean my first adoptive parents, they said they couldn’t find any family members. A-and then I thought they did to him, what they did to me. Dropped him at the side of the road and let him become roadkill.”

Gabe moved from his spot by the door and wrapped an arm around Clementine, “You couldn’t’ve known.”

“I should’ve looked for him.”

“When?” Asked Becca, around a mouthful of food, “Between your rotating foster homes? Or your semi-frequent hospital visits?”

Clementine huffed, “What should I say?”

“The second thing that comes into your head.” Suggested Duck, peeking over Sarah’s shoulder and holding some fingers up for Gill.

“Got any sixes?”

“God-fucking-dammit.” Swore Sarah, tossing three sixes at Gill.

“Clem?” Came Rebecca’s voice from the other side of the door, “They’re here.”

Clementine swallowed and stepped out of Gabe’s embrace.

“Clem.” Gabe said to her, “We’re here if you need us.”

Clementine gave him a nervous smile and gave him a small nod. She followed Rebeca downstairs, she spotted Javí and Kate in the lounge. Swallowing, she walked into the room. Between Javí and Kate was a boy a year older than her. Like her, his hair was a frizzled mess of curls, and his eyes were a warm amber colour. The two silently examined each other.

“Clemmy?” Whispered Jesse, as tears gathered in his eyes.

“I,” Her voice broke, “I thought you were dead.”

“Same.” Jesse gave a laugh.

The next thing either of them knew, they were on the floor, hugging each other and crying.

The older couples decided to give the reunited siblings some privacy.

F

“Alright,” Called Mr. Oberson, “ALRIGHT!” The hall went quiet, “Thank you, as some of you may now know, we have merged with another school. They will start attending here at the start of next week, and I expect all of you to give them a warm welcome.”

[madhare0512]

headcanons for the ultimate spiderman:

(spoilers for and revolving around seasons 1 and 2)

- this universe's spiderman is actually a mutant. or partly one anyway. the spider that bit him would've only given him the spider-sense and heightened senses, but Peter is a dormant mutant, so he got a few more traits than he was supposed to.

- the team had a list of things Danny Rand has not seen, read, or experiences. this list includes: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Home Alone, any Disney movie, among multiple others. this list is also to be completed before Danny finishes out the alloted year

- the team has a relationship most would consider romantic, but the truth of it is, if you're going into life-or-death situations with someone on a weekly/daily basis, you're gonna get close. the team has little to no concept of personal space, their jokes to each other are met with fond exasperation, and while they tease and fight and bicker, they love each other and will do anything for each other

- Luke and Danny have kissed AT LEAST once

- Peter has kissed Sam, Ava, and Danny. Sam was a dare after a battle gone wrong when they where all hopped on sedatives and painkillers. Ava was an accident, he was running high on adrenaline and relief after a battle in which she almost didn't make it out. Danny is his best friend and boyfriend and Peter fucking LOVES him

- MJ and Harry both love Peter dearly but he kind of bails on them at a moments notice, so while they'll happily hang out with him, they don't expect much time from him anymore. they still plan with him and help him out and will drop everything if he needs them

- Danny and Peter's personal training sessions? that's just a them thing, it's entirely private. Danny doesn't offer those lessons freely and he declines if anyone asks. Peter is the only one who's gotten those lessons. no one could tell why

- if Peter is out on patrol past one am, the team has full license to drag him back home

- (inspired by a fic on FF by Stormy1x2) the team has a patrol schedule implemented when Danny, Luke, Ava, and Sam saw just how much Peter's pushing himself to keep people safe

- Peter does NOT patrol Hell's Kitchen and if he sees a man in white Egyptian-style armor/a white cloak/a full white suit, he does not approach and he doesn't worry about it. the Knight guy and Daredevil don't like being interrupted. Peter does maintain a healthy working relationship with both of them though

- the team may or may not have a sort of open relationship? Danny and Peter are the only ones confirmed to be in a romantic relationship

- Sam likes head scritches

- Ava can, in fact, purr and has other cat-like attributes away from the amulet

- Luke's and Ava's biggest fears are failure, presented differently

- Danny's and Peter's biggest fears are that they'll prove themselves unworthy of the responsibilities and duties they've taken on

- despite Danny seeming the type and Sam having the attitude, Luke's the one with the expensive and LONG morning routine that includes shower, hair care, skin care, etcetera

- if Ava threatens to go to Coulson about assigning more homework ONE MORE TIME the boys are not responsible for bodily harm

- training nights are split on who runs them, but the team does get very serious about it. they're all training in their own ways, showing each other what works for them, but they're serious about it

- Danny does yoga, Sam and Ava will sometimes join him

- two people will patrol at night, this tradition started back before the Hellicarrier went down and continues even after its back up

- Danny and Luke have two friends outside of the team, Matt and Jess. Matt is blind and Jess used to be in a gang

~~~

more to come if I find them again

[tngrace]

Florida Family

This just kinda.... wrote itself. @mrsjaderogers gets the credit for the OC and planting this idea.

🏷: @dragon-kazansky @bayisdying @cycbaby @askmarinaandothers @breadsquash @callsignscupcake @ladylanera @callmemana

Emily Thompson joined the Hard Deck staff after Grace had the miscarriage. She filled in in the kitchen, was great behind the bar, and literally everyone loved her. She was from south Florida, and she’d escaped to California to get away from her family. There wasn’t any major reason for escaping, they could just be overbearing and seemed to think they knew best when it came to her love life, but she heavily disagreed with them. Grace had taken a month off after her confessions to everyone, and they’d take some time to vacation in Florida. When she returned, she hit it off with Emily quite easily. She invited her around with the squad quite frequently, and folded her into their ranks almost seamlessly. 

It was because of their close friendship, that Grace was able to notice Emily making eyes at Kevin when he was out for vacation with the girls six months later. He’d been down on the beach, playing with Bradley and the kids, and Emily was watching through the window. “He’s single you know,” Grace says, bumping shoulders with her. 

Emily blushed bright red almost instantly. “Umm no. I’m pretty sure that ring on your finger means he is not,” Emily comes back with. 

Grace busts out laughing, unable to help it. “Honey, I know my man looks fine as fuck in dad mode, but I was talking about my older brother. Who you can’t take your eyes off of.” 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

“Uh huh… sure.” Grace turns back to watching, Emily not leaving her side. “You know he’s been single for a while. He got divorced when Cara was five, Sam three, and Ava was just six months. I never liked my sister-in-law and she didn’t like me. He’s better off without her, but he plays nice because of the girls. He has them every other week.” 

“Why are you telling me this?” Emily laughs. 

Grace rolls her eyes at her; “Because you’re making eyes at my brother in dad mode. Should know what you’re getting into.” 

“I’m not getting into anything. We live on complete opposite sides of the country,” she laughs. 

“Just think about it. He’s quite the catch. Single dad, successful business owner, and loves to race.” Grace turns back to the bar getting juices for the kids and waters. “Come on, you can help me deliver these,” she smirks. 

Emily rolls her eyes, but takes some of the drinks and follows Grace down the beach. “Break time,” Grace calls out to get their attention. The kids come running, Bradley and Kevin trailing behind. 

“Alright Emily this is Cara, Sam and Ava. Cara is thirteen, Sam is eleven and Ava is eight. You know these two,” she laughs as Mitchell holds his arms up to be picked up. Grace picks him up instantly and passes him his sippy cup of juice. “And this is my big brother Kevin. Kev this is Emily. She works here and is a good friend,” Grace smiles. The girls settle on towels, Grace stepping into Bradley’s side with Mitchell on her hip as she observes. 

“What are you doing?” Bradley whispers. 

“Not a thing honey,” she smirks. 

“Liar,” he whispers. Grace gives him her most innocent face, causing him to scoff and down some water. She watches Kevin talk to Emily and she can see something is there. She might just have to give them both a nudge. As per usual, she’s sad to see her brother and nieces go at the end of the week, but she gets permission to pass his number on to Emily, and that makes her happy. She waits a few days and then she passes the number to Emily with a wink. 

She lets Kevin know that she passed it along, but she can sense his hesitancy. She knows it’s been hard to find someone that is genuinely interested in him and not just after his money from the business. “Kev just give it a try. You never know. Emily is genuine. You know I wouldn’t do that to you.” 

“I know. But you know finding someone to fit into this life isn’t easy.” 

“Just give it a try,” Grace pleads. 

Kevin does text with Emily some, and they talk on the phone occasionally, but the different coasts and different time zones really makes it hard. It isn’t until Kevin has a racing accident do they really make any headway. Six months after they met, Grace flies out to Colorado where Kevin had been racing. He’d been hit by another racer who’d lost control on the drag strip and t-boned him on the driver’s side. He’d broken his collarbone, had bruised ribs and multiple bruises on his legs. Grace insisted he come back to Cali with her to recover, knowing with the broken collarbone, he’d need the extra help. 

He relented, knowing the accident had shaken his sister up some, so he wanted to reassure her. Caroline and Mitchell were happy to have Uncle Kev around. They both adored him to no end, and loved spending time with him. Kev worked it out with his ex-wife for the girls to fly out in two weeks and stay for two weeks with him. Grace was not the least bit surprised when Emily showed up at their house the day after she returned with Kev. 

“He’s in the guest room,” Grace smiles pointing at the door. 

“Thanks,” Emily says, her voice a little shaky. Grace knows how she feels. She had been terrified when she got the call from the hospital, but once she laid eyes on him, she knew he would be ok. 

Emily and Kev seem to really hit it off during that month; Emily spending a lot of time at the Bradshaw house during that time. Bradley flew out and got the girls for Kev and flew back with them. Emily got to know the girls during that time as well, and the girls really seemed to like her. Once everyone went back home, Grace noticed how happy Emily and Kevin both seemed. “You two are a good match,” she tells Kev one night. 

“You just wanted me to tell you that you’re an excellent matchmaker.” 

“Maybe,” she laughs. “Or maybe I just want you to admit that I was right and it was ok to take a chance on love again.” 

“Your husband’s ego is rubbing off on you,” Kev laughs. 

“Oh hush and just tell me I’m right.” 

Kevin ends up in Cali more than normal after he and Emily became official, and she goes to Florida a lot too. They seem to really be making it work despite the opposite coasts, and Grace is immensely happy for them. No one is surprised when Kevin and Emily are named godparents for the twins. Emily has been spending more time in Florida, and Grace wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t permanently move out there.

The twins are just over a year old, when Grace convinces Bradley to go to Florida for two weeks. She wants to take the kids to see Kevin race and she wants to take them to Disney World. As soon as Bradley agrees, she calls Kev to get the racing schedule and to convince him to do Disney with them and take the girls. Kevin agrees to ask the girls, but Grace knows they’ll readily agree. What Kev forgets to mention is that Emily will also be there. 

Bradley and Grace rent a SUV for the week, promising Kev that they don’t need him to pick them up. They have a hotel room in Orlando for the first two nights, and Kevin and Emily meet them there. “Well now I know why Penny said I should have a good week,” Grace teases. Kevin helps Bradley get carts for their luggage, while Emily helps Grace with the twins and their carriers. Caroline and Mitchell are talking Kevin’s ear off as they get into the elevator. 

“Well he needed a co-pilot this week,” Emily shrugs. “I also maybe wanted to…” 

“Move out here?” Grace asks. “I’m gonna hate losing you, but I think this is where you belong.” 

“Yea I’m thinking so too.” Emily looks really happy and so does Kevin and that’s all Grace could want. They get settled that night, and promise to meet them at the track tomorrow. Mitchell is the most excited to be watching Uncle Kevin race. At six, he’s already decided he’d much rather race than fly, breaking all of the squad’s hearts. But as Lucky reminded them, the boy still picked an adrenaline fueled, dangerous option, so they can’t be too upset. 

The body carriers come in handy for the twins, Bradley wearing one and Grace wearing the other. They have little baby ear muffs for the twins, and even have pairs for Caroline and Mitchell. Caroline wears her, but Mitchell insists he’s fine. They get to the track early, and meet up with Kev in the parking lot. They get to walk around and see all the cars, and Mitchell is in total heaven. They line up along the fence to watch Kev race, and unfortunately it’s not the pass he wanted. He does another hit, and while it was better, something still isn’t right. 

They head back to the parking lot after watching a few more races. The twins are fussy and Caroline is hungry, so despite Mitchell’s desire to watch more, they head back. Kevin is heading to the next track, and the Bradshaw’s head back to the hotel. Tomorrow, they’re headed a couple of hours north to stay at Kevin’s house for a few days and to watch him race on his home track. They will miss day two and day three of racing, but Emily promises to send them plenty of videos. 

They make it to Kevin’s just fine, and Grace is only slightly surprised when Cara shows up after school. At sixteen, she’s driving and she knows her parents have let her have a little more freedom on where she stays, but Grace also knows that it’s not Kevin’s week because of the race. “Hey sweetheart. What are you doing here?” She’s on the back deck watching the kids in the pool with Bradley while the twins are asleep. 

“Knew yall would be here. Besides I’ve been staying here more.” 

“Oh? Everything ok? 

“Mmm yea. You know how mom can be though.” 

Grace sighs. She was hoping her ex-sister-in-law had stopped trying to turn the girls against their dad, but she guessed some things would never change. “She wouldn’t let me bring Sam or Ava today though.” 

“It’s ok. We’ll see them next week.” 

“Sam wants to stay here full time. And I do too, but I… Don’t want to leave Ava.” 

“Cara what’s really going on?” 

“Mom hates Emily. Hates that we like her. And you know Sam’s always favored dad.” Grace chuckles softly because that’s true; Sam has always been Daddy’s little shadow. “Dad’s more of a parent anyways. And Emily would be good… as a mom.” 

Grace pulls Cara into her arms hugging her tight. “I’ll talk to your dad ok? I don’t know that it’ll work out, but all three of you are old enough to decide where you want to live. And you know your dad would do anything for you three.” 

“I know. Thanks Auntie Grace.” Grace doesn’t talk to Kev that night just because she doesn’t want to distract him from the race, plus he'd had to stop by the shop to change out his transmission before making it to the next track - Mitchell totally loving that Uncle Kev let him come watch thet happen. But if the girls want to live with him, Grace will help him fight that battle. 

The next night, Kev checks in with them before going to the shop where a lot of the racers are congregating to work on their cars and just hang out. He’d had a good day at the track and was excited that the transmission swap had worked. Emily stayed at the house with them, helping with the kids and night time routines. The next day, they were all up early, heading to the track. Mitchell was ecstatic because they put his booster seat in the car with Kev since the track wasn’t far. 

Bradley got him out once Kev was parking in the parking lot, and then Kev and Emily worked on switching the car over. It didn’t take them long, having become a well oiled machine throughout the week. Kevin’s class was up first, so they lined up along the fence, Bradley wearing Abigail with Mitchell sitting on his shoulders. Grace had Kayce in the carrier, and Caroline was standing between them. Kevin’s pass went really well and he was super pumped with how well the car was performing now. 

They watched a few more passes, Mitchell over the moon with excitement. They were heading back to Orlando with Kevin, so once he had the car switched back over and packed up, they loaded up and hit the road. The twins slept, and Mitchell talked their head off about the racing. Once in Orlando, they settled into the room. Kevin has one more day of racing and then everybody will be in vacation mode. 

The next day, Kev makes his fastest passes of the week. Mitchell is totally enamored, and Grace is not the least bit surprised when Kev spins Emily around whooping and hollering in the parking lot after. She’d had a wonderful conversation with Kev the night before so she makes sure to have her camera ready when Kev drops to one knee right there in front of everybody. Emily has tears running down her cheek, and it’s a totally beautiful moment. 

Cara drives her sisters down that night, and they celebrate with their dad. The next day, they all move over to two rooms at a Disney resort and settle in for a week of fun. Caroline and Mitchell absolutely love meeting the characters and riding the rides. The twins are too young to fully enjoy it, but it’s ok. Cara, Sam and Ava are all really great about riding rides with Caroline and Mitchell and helping keep up with them. Bradley and Grace keep the girls one night for Kev and Emily to have a night out to celebrate their engagement. By the end of the week, they’re all worn out but in the best way. It was a truly great vacation. Grace was even able to talk to Kev about what Cara had shared with her, and he promised to talk to the girls once they were home and make a game plan. They were all sad to part ways, but they had a wedding to look forward to. 

Two years later, Kevin and Emily said “I do.” Cara, Sam and Ava had been living with their dad fully for the last year, and they were Emily’s bridesmaids. Kev’s friends were his groomsmen, and Caroline and Abigail were flower girls with Mitchell and Kayce being the ring bearers. It was a beautiful wedding on the beach in Florida, and Emily and Kev surprised his sister at the reception when Emily turned down a drink because she was expecting. Grace was over the moon, even if Kev was a little apprehensive at his age and becoming a dad again. The girls were all in on the secret and they were happy for their dad. This was the happiest they’d ever seen him in their lives, and they couldn’t be mad about that. They were also hoping for a little brother, since there was already three sisters.

Nine months later Grace and Bradley and the kids flew to Florida to meet Chase Alexander, who was the perfect mixture of his parents and had everybody wrapped around his little fingers, especially his sisters. Grace was happy to see Kevin so happy and in love and she was forever grateful Emily came into their lives.

[badnikbreaker]

null space is majorly wasted in-game, and i’m obsessed with breaking characters into and out of reality and what it does to a person to be rendered Unreal, so i’m expanding the concept because it should be SOOO COOL. 

obvious caveats that, where sonics are concerned, this is all flexible — since null space involves your muse as much as mine.  i’ve separated the below into two parts; part one is basic stuff that’s probably generally applicable and which focuses more on ava, leaving space for sonic’s experience to be a bit different; part two’s got some more specific (  and traumatizing!  ) thoughts that i’ll treat as non-canon when writing with sonics unless the aforementioned sonic seems game.

general stuff —

when sonic and ava were pulled into null space, they were separated; torn from one another.  ava knew that she had to find sonic before anything else, and set off to do so.  on some level, she sensed that double boost might be enough to get them out, but at her base, she just — didn’t want to be alone.

the experience of being in null space was — disconcerting, in the extreme.  they quite literally did not exist for that period, and the feeling of ‘i am not real’ was deeply, deeply sick and horrifying.  the longer she spent in there, the more she struggled to maintain a sense of identity; her self broke down.  body coming undone.  they just kept repeating in their head, find sonic.  find sonic.

it took longer than it did in canon.  a few hours, probably.  but nothing exists in null space, including time — to ava, it feels at once like hours and days.  weeks.  you can imagine how that fucks with your perception of reality.

once sonic and ava reunited, it still took them some time and a few tries to escape.  ava was giving up hope they’d ever get out, but sonic kept their spirits up — “everyone is waiting for us!”

assuming we’re going with my personal canon of forces taking longer than it does in game, ava takes a week off missions directly after, and honestly should have taken off longer.  they were incredibly shaky and constantly hallucinating for days after, sure sure sure this wasn’t real — again, it fucked with their perception of reality badly.  I DON’T EXIST I NEVER GOT OUT THIS ISN’T REAL.

outside of that canon, where the next mission happens almost immediately after, ava’s notably shaky and unsettled throughout it.  off their a game.

either way, it contributes to their willingness to throw themselves into the sun and (  as far as they know  ) die to save the others — they only sorta halfway feel like they exist anyway, so, like, what’s the harm in dying?

specific stuff —

null space doesn’t exist, but it wants to.  or, at least, that’s how it felt to ava.  maybe it doesn’t want anything.  maybe it’s simply the nature of nothing, to try to fill the space of whatever it’s poured into.  there was nothing in null space, and now there is.  there is ava, and ava’s memories and terrors.  it fills the space inside her chest.

similarly to the phantom ruby copies, but more advanced and more erratic, there were — visions, memories, monsters.  ava experienced infinite’s killing of their town again and again as they struggled to find sonic, as well as memories of when infinite trounced them in metropolis.  eventually, they did find him, but — not.  null space filled the space of ava’s fear of her own uselessness next to sonic, her fear that he’d come to hate her, and created an illusion of sonic.  it acted warmly at first, but soon devolved into a monster that attacked her.  ava destroyed it, once there was no other choice.  she knew it wasn’t sonic, knew sonic would never do that, but it —— it was still difficult and frightening, to kill something that looks like your best and only friend.  let alone while that friend calls you a useless nothing, so much anxiety and doubt —

they found the real sonic not long after and never mentioned it to him.  they’re not sure why.  or maybe they’re just trying not to think about why.

null space doesn’t exist, and neither does anything in it.  anyone.  while sonic and ava were in null space, others forgot about them, at least mostly — or, can you forget about something that isn’t real?  it wasn’t until they escaped that the others remembered them fully.

[randahink]

I was always there right by your side--Snippet from Chapter 3

“You know I’m not so good with feelings, right?” Zari explained as she leaned on the lockers next to Ava’s.

“Right.” Ava quietly answered if Zari was going to open up to her, she didn’t want to scare her away.

“Well, I’m having some feelings now.” Zari added.

“And those are?” Ava answered figuring she could maybe get something out of Zari.

“Anger, frustration, and well I guess I’m just sad too.” Zari turned to look at Ava who also turned to look at Zari as she closed her locker wallet in hand. “Fucking Nyssa has taken our best friend you get that right? I mean seriously she doesn’t even eat lunch with us anymore and she hasn’t come to family night in the last two weeks.” Zari blurted out

“I know.” Ava said as she looked down at her feet trying to find the right words. “But Sara seems happy, and I mean as her friends we have to support her.” Ava mumbled and as she looked up saw the anger in Zari’s eyes.

“Support her? She is abandoning us. Has she even called you or texted you recently?” Zari is determined to get Ava on her side. She hates Nyssa and therefore all the legends should in her mind.

“No, not in the last couple weeks. I’ve honestly barely heard from her.” Ava understands Zari is angry, but Ava promised Sara she would always be there for her no matter what and she was trying to be supportive but boy was she making it hard.

“And your first meet is coming up in a couple weeks and if she isn’t there…Ava ill kick her ass.” Zari added as Ava nodded, and she tugged on her shirt to motion for them to start walking towards the lunchroom.

“Look let’s give her a little more time to figure out her newfound relationship and go from there. I mean when she was dating Alex Danvers last year, she barely spoke to any of us.” Ava looked knowingly at Zari.

“Yeah, but that literally lasted two whole weeks. Nyssa has already been around for two whole months, and it feels like she is just pulling further and further away. And none of us like it, she hasn’t been going to Ray’s house on Wednesday’s which has always been a thing. She also hasn’t been to Sunday brunch with the Heywood’s since the summer. And I think its all-Nyssa’s damn fault.” Zari was mad she wanted her best friend back and she wanted Nyssa gone.

Ava and Zari got their food and sat with the legends and Sara was nowhere to be seen. Ava promised to meet up with Zari later that week and take her to the Donut Shop one of Zari’s favorite places on the planet. Which quickly led to Charlie, Maya, and Nora joining in on the little gathering so they could all have a girl’s night together. They knew Zari was having a hard time with Sara pulling away and they wanted her to know they were there to support her even though whatever Sara was doing was hurting all of them.

As the days went by Ava went from a general dislike of Nyssa to and absolute hatred building in her chest of the young lady. Because now she could almost see that Nyssa was keeping Sara from them all. She had been trying to be hyper vigilant of what was going on and she started to notice that if they were in a hallway Nyssa would somehow distract Sara and lead her away. Nate had said he had run into Sara, and they were talking about hanging out at one point and all of the sudden Nyssa was there telling her about something they need to do that same night. It was like Sara wasn’t pulling away from the legends it was like she was being pulled away.

[s1ater]

missing piece, part one. thomas x reader

summary 📰: in which reader is ex-wicked worker with all her memory still intact and once she feels she’s finally gotten away from all that, it comes and pulls her right back in

warning/s 📬: swearing, NOT EDITED UGH

slater’s note 📮: this was originally an original fic on my wattpad but that was years ago but i wanted to bring it back so hi

“where’s y/n?”

“who’s y/n?”

“his girlfriend.”

“she’s not my girlfriend.”

the newfound safe haven had brought a lot of different anxieties, and the last thing thomas wanted was to be separated from his friends, especially you.

five minutes into sitting at a lunch table with new people and familiar faces of the glade, you were really the only thing on his mind as he searched the other tables looking for your face, listening for your laugh, but he found nothing.

“i didn’t see her get tested.”

“nor did i.”

“maybe she’s with teresa,” minho offered, “i saw her walking through the glass hall with a bunch of doctors. they could be running some extra tests... you know, girl stuff?”

“girl stuff?” frypan’s face screwed up as he looked between minho and winston, his mind not exactly processing what that was supposed to mean.

“i don’t know man, i’m sure she’s fine,” minho shrugged, trying to pry away from the awkwardness that took over as fast as he could.

“well, we can look for her later,” newt gave thomas a comforting look, his hand gripping his shoulder as a reassuring gesture, “right now, you need to relax, you’ve had a long day.”

°•

the cold fluorescent lights gave you a piercing headache as you sat in a practically empty medical hall with a needle up your arm and a comforting hand gripping your shoulder.

you couldn’t actually tell whether or not if it was comforting or rather just forceful so you would stay in place against the cold metal chair.

something about the place was rather odd, cold, and slightly uncomfortable. it wasn’t as scrappy as it should’ve been, it was well put together, well built, well secured, it didn’t make sense.

it resembled WICKED headquarters all too much, especially with how many doctors swarmed around you, gripping, pinching, breaking against your skin, desperate for whatever you had.

“alright, y/n, we’re done with you,” the lady removed the needle before placing a plain colored bandaid over the breakage of skin, small amounts of blood beginning to spill out.

you gave her the best small smile you could give her, placing your hand in your lap, trying to fight to the urge to question every single thing that was going on.

“janson wants to see you, and then you can go.”

you nodded, rubbing your hands together before pausing, eyes slowly raising up before saying ‘what?’ and just as fast you heard his voice.

“miss y/l/n, what a pleasure it is to see you again.”

you got out of the cold chair as fast as possible, almost tripping in the process. you felt your heart pick up as you begun backing away, not knowing where to go or what to do.

“why don’t we have a chat?”

you felt multiple hands grips both your arms as you continued to walk away while still facing him. you know this couldn’t end well.

°•

“you were always such a smart girl, even when you were younger. never so sure about anything unless you did it yourself. you had to know everything if you hadn’t known it already.”

it had taken a lot to hold you down before moving you into one of the interview rooms, handcuffing you to the chair.

“when ava heard we were picking up your section of maze, she was absolutely pleased,” janson paced back and forth before you, a stupid smirk slapped on his face, “more than pleased really. she’s hoping the past three years will have been more than enough punishment to have learned your lesson.”

“i’m not a fucking school girl, janson,” you scoffed, struggling against the metal practically digging into your skin, “what your doing is wrong and those three years only made me realize it even more.”

“oh really?”

“i’m finally past all this, why do you need me?”

janson scoffed, shaking his head before leaning over the table that separated the two of you. he was trying to get a ride out of you, you could just tell by the playfulness that surfaced in the center of his eye, “you think you can just take back all that you did? you were after all the one who created the maze.”

“yes but it wasn’t meant for the torture of young kids, janson. do you have any idea what it’s like in there? what you did?”

“i think it’s more or so what you did.”

“suck my dick,” you tried to get up but the handcuffs were preventing much movement, “i didn’t do anything but create a fucking maze. it was you and the rest of the fools that work for WICKED that twisted it into a death con.”

it’s silent and janson have you look as if asking if you really believed that. you wanted to punch him right in the mouth, make him realize that you weren’t one to fuck with at the moment.

“it seems you care a lot about these people, especially with how much lying you’ve done to protect them...” he sat in the chair across from you, folding his hands as if he was coming to reasoning.

you felt sick, your head slightly turning to the side as you felt something coming on, a catch, but you didn’t know what.

you couldn’t do anything for WICKED anymore, there was nothing left you could give them, and you knew what they wanted, what ava wanted was something more than a silly bunch of maze drawings.

“what do you want?”

“you want to keep your secret, you want to protect friends? you’ll give me what i want.”

you stayed silent.

“i think you know what i want.”

“i don’t.”

“i want your blood.”

“you mean you want to drain me?”

“ava thinks you’re the cure.”

“ava’s a fool.”

“but yet she’s gets what she’s wants, always.”

°•

“you okay?”

“yeah, i just need you- i just need you to- please.”

thomas stared at you, questioningly with his head ducked down close to yours, a look of slight desperation filling his pupils to the brim, wanting to know what was running though your mind.

you wouldn’t be able to answer him if he asked. it already took a lot of you to tel him to meet you in the bathroom hall in private to talk to him without breaking down before the rest of your friends eyes.

janson gave you two options. one, you could sacrifice yourself and give up the supposed cure to ava and not risk anymore young innocent lives, or two, you could be sacrificed but this time, your friends would join you.

you had to decide by the next morning.

the answer was becoming clearer and clearer as minutes went by and the images of innocent teens being strung up and drained for their blood flashed up through your mind, something janson thought to show you just in case you already weren’t convinced of outing yourself.

you felt like you couldn’t breathe, your chest tightening up as you gripped his forearm firmly, trying to steady yourself from passing out or breaking down, but the overwhelming feeling of pain was swallowing you whole.

“what, y/n, what’s wrong?”

“thomas, they’re gonna kill me,” your voice came out strangled and breathless as you look up to him, your eyes beginning to water.

it was beginning to get harder and harder to breathe.

“who?”

“WICKED.”

masterlist

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[punksarahreese]

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” + exes!au maybe?

When Sarah asked to come over, April thought it would be nice to see her. Her friend had taken the week off and they all felt her absence in the ED. Not seeing her every day was odd, especially since the psychiatry resident was always early to work and late to leave. So of course when she got a text from the suddenly elusive Doctor Reese herself, April was elated.

She did not expect to be met at her door by a frazzled looking Sarah, her curls falling from a poorly executed bun as she paced outside April’s place. In the dimly lit hallway she could just make out the darkened skin around her eyes, evidence enough that the other woman had not been resting on her break like they assumed.

“Sarah?”

“I- April,” Sarah came into the apartment when her friend indicated she could, kicking her boots off haphazardly. She barely kept herself from falling over, huffing in frustration when her sock partially came off in the fake leather. She yanked it back up with a haste April had never seen, not from Sarah. She was usually so gentle and never got this angry. April knew the aftermath of her mentor being shot had shaken Sarah more than she let on but this kind of attitude was nothing like her.

“Sarah, what happened?”

“I try so fucking hard,” she didn’t answer the question before she returned to her rhythmic pacing, “I do, don’t I?”

“Yeah, of course you do. What is this about, though?”

“Everything. It’s about fucking everything in my life, April. Nothing ever goes right and I can’t do anything, not anymore.”

The nurse knew there was no right way to go about this, something had happened and Sarah was not in the mindset to logic it out. The fire in her eyes and her white knuckles told April that her pain was only felt as anger in that moment. It scared her, almost too much for comfort, to see her friend like this. She resembled a cornered lioness, pacing the area as her eyes searched for something. An escape? An answer? An outlet for her anger? Whatever it was, April wasn’t too keen on finding out the answer.

“Sarah, hey,” she tried gently, “Why don’t you take a breath and calm down? Then we can talk about this.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Her outburst had April flinching backwards a little, “I just broke up with Ava and ruined my one shot at happiness, don’t you dare tell me to calm down!”

[lvllns]

Doing all this necessary research would be so much easier if what happened nearly three days ago wasn’t still floating around Sparrow’s mind like a balloon.

They’ve been distracted, obviously distracted. Enough that Nat has been accompanying them to the library to help with all the reading for this current case. Felix asked them about it the day after they got back, but they brushed him off. Assured him it was nothing bad or terrible or life ending, it was just...something. That they needed to wrap their head around.

Unfortunately, they still haven’t accomplished that.

The worst part, they think as they absently thumb at the cover of the book they’re supposed to be looking through, is that Mason and Ava were sent out on another recon mission yesterday, and it was painfully clear he didn’t want to leave. Not after spending the night together in the city for some ridiculous fucking gala put on by the Mayor at some incredibly fancy hotel. Staying in the city for any length of time is something Sparrow detests and avoids, but one night would be fine. Nothing would happen.

And nothing did happen.

Well, except…

Mason introduced himself, quietly and repeatedly, to people as Mason Kingston.

The first time Sparrow heard him say that, they almost dropped their water. Scrambling, blushing like mad, they snatched the bottle out of the air before it could hit the floor. Their pulse slammed against their ribs, their throat, their wrist. Loud, louder. Strong enough that he had looked at them, eyebrows knitted together in concern, but they had smiled and blown it off as nerves. There’s no way he didn’t know they were lying, he always knows, but blessedly he let it go.

“Bird?” Nat’s voice is soft as she speaks but that doesn’t stop Sparrow from jerking in their chair. “Are you okay?”

They rub their collarbone and shrug. “Yeah, fine. Why?”

“You haven’t turned a page in ten minutes.” Nat quirks a brow. “And I swapped out your book with another one an hour ago. You didn’t notice.”

Fuck.

“Ah, fuck.” Sparrow tilts their head back. “Sorry, I’m just…”

“Distracted?”

“Yeah,” they say sheepishly, looking to the left in an attempt to conceal their quickly reddening cheeks.

“Did something happen?” Nat clears her throat before continuing. “At the gala? With Mason?”

There’s a slight edge to Nat’s voice, one that shows up when she thinks Mason’s gone and done something absolutely moronic like the bakery incident again. They find themself hard pressed to be annoyed about the protective older sister role Nat seems to have filled over the last few years. Luckily, for Mason more than anyone else, Nat’s only taken this tone a handful of times now. 

Sparrow covers their mouth with their hand and shakes their head. “Nothing bad, I promise.” They pause, licking their lips before turning to look at Nat, closing the book gently. “He just...he kept introducing himself with...with my last name and I don’t…” A long, loud groan escapes them as they fall back against the sofa, tossing an arm over their eyes. “I can’t stop thinking about it.”

The room goes quiet for a moment. And then Nat says, “In...in a good way?”

“Yes,” Sparrow says. They blow out a breath. Drop their arm so they can look at Nat once more. “I had been so content to just be alone and then all of you blew in, and Mason came in like a fucking storm.” Leaning forward, they rest their elbows on their knees. “I’m happy, Nat, happier than I’ve ever been but hearing him say that…” A small shrug.

Nat’s eyes go soft and she steps around the messy coffee table to sit next to Sparrow. She slings an arm around their shoulder. Tugs them closer until they’re leaning against her, and fuck, Sparrow always forgets how solid she is until they’re hugging. “He comes back tomorrow, doesn’t he?”

Sparrow swallows. “Yeah, and I...I need to either decide to let it go or talk to him about it and I…” A sharp laugh, biting and a little caustic. “I can’t just ask him to marry me.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not something we’ve ever talked about,” they say. “I’ve never cared, never wanted it, but fuck if I don’t want it now.”

“So talk to him about it then.”

They frown. “Can you just let me wallow?” Sparrow looks up at her. Finds Nat grinning, eyes glittering, and they shove her shoulder playfully. “Nat,” they whine, “stop being responsible and making sense, let me whine and complain in peace.”

Nat laughs, the sound vibrating through her chest, and Sparrow drops their head onto her shoulder. They feel her move, lifting a hand to pat the top of their head before settling for playing with their hair. The library is warm, far enough from the rest of the warehouse that it’s quiet, and Sparrow feels themself start to drift when Nat turns her head to look at the door. There isn’t enough time to ask what she’s looking at before they hear the heavy footsteps that they know so well.

“Your heart,” Nat says with a snort, “just went haywire.”

Sparrow opens their mouth to snark back but the door swings open, knocking into the wall with a bang that makes Nat sigh.

Mason’s eyes dart around until they land on Sparrow, and he smiles. Honest, wide, joyful. His eyes light up, storm grey going silver, and he all but bounds across the room. Sparrow hops to their feet after untangling from Nat. Warm hands find their hips, palms scraping against their skin as Mason scoops them up, pulling them into a tight hug. They wrap their arms around his neck, thighs bracketing his waist as they cling to him.

“You’re back early,” they say, speaking the words against his throat. Against the place that always smells like sandalwood and smoke.

A kiss to their temple before he rests his cheek against their head. “We finished up early and I convinced Ava to let me drive back tonight.” He moves, hands slipping up over their ribs, and Sparrow drops back down to the ground with a huff. Mason rolls his eyes, still smiling, and turns to Nat. “Ava’ll be back tomorrow.”

Nat looks between the two of them and nods. “Good to know.” She turns to Sparrow, lifting a brow. “I think we’re done for the day, considering what we talked about.”

Sparrow sees Mason’s head tilt out of the corner of their eye and they try to beat back the blush they can feel flooding their cheeks. Nat leaves, shutting the door with a wince when she sees the crack in the frame, and Mason shrugs.

“Buy a better fucking door,” he mumbles.

Sparrow snorts. Wraps their arms around his waist and drops their head to his chest with a soft sigh. “I missed you.”

They feel him tense a little before his palms slide under their shirt to rest on their hips. “You’re not usually this clingy,” he says, thumbs drawing small circles on their skin. “Something wrong?”

It only takes a second for them to hesitate, to pull their bottom lip into their mouth, but he catches it. Of course he does, they’d be shocked if he didn’t notice. Mason pushes them away, just a couple steps, until he can reach out and take their chin in hand to tip their face up.

“Bird?”

And oh, he sounds worried.

“Shit, sorry, no, nothing is wrong, I promise,” they say, tilting their head into his touch. “It’s...I…” His hand moves to cup their face, thumb sweeping over their cheek, and he still looks so concerned that Sparrow breaks. “At the gala, you...you kept introducing yourself as Mason Kingston.”

His eyes go wide and he steps back. Far enough that they’re no longer touching, the air between them turning cold.

“I—Shit, fuck, sorry I should have—”

“Mase, sunshine,” they say, cutting him off before he can spiral any further. He looks at them, shoulders tense and hands shoved deep in the pockets of his jeans like he does when his desire to touch them overwhelms. “It’s fine, I didn’t mind. Don’t mind.” Sparrow takes a deep breath and makes themself look at him. “It got me thinking, is all.”

He still looks wary, nervous, but he slips one hand from a pocket and reaches for them. They tangle their fingers with his, squeezing gently. Mason looks down at their hands, and then back up to meet their gaze. Wheels turn in his head and they can see the moment it begins to click into place, his mouth falling open for a split second before he snaps it shut.

“You—Songbird, Sparrow,” he says, voice low and rough, “do me a favor and just, spell it out. So I know exactly—”

“You wanna get married, cariad?”

They watch him blink. Blink again. His grip goes almost painfully tight before he drops their hand to rake his fingers through his hair and laugh. A true, honest laugh, and Sparrow catches every single emotion that plays over his face before he’s grabbing their face in his hands and kissing them. Fangs scrape their bottom lip but they hardly notice as he swipes his tongue to soothe the sting. Mason’s hands drop to their thighs as he bends down a little. Sparrow hops as he stands, and he holds them against him once more, their chests pressed together. They thread their fingers through his hair, using the new angle to take control of the kiss until they have to break away, panting.

“Is that a yes?” they ask, breath washing over his throat.

Mason chuckles. “It is, yeah.”

Sparrow buries their face against his neck. Presses as close as they can, arms tight around his shoulders and legs squeezing his waist.

“Are you, sweetheart, are you crying?”

His grip shifts and they whine. “Do not put me down Mason.” They can feel how hard he rolls his eyes but his hands move back to their thighs with a soft squeeze.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“...Maybe.”

A kiss to the side of their head and then, “I have something for you.”

That’s enough for them to pry themself away just enough to look at him. Mason’s eyes go soft, one hand reaching up to swipe tears off their cheek. They smile, watery as it is, and press a kiss to his forehead.

“Can I put you down now?”

Sparrow sighs. “Fine.”

He drops them abruptly. They squawk as they hit the sofa, mouth falling open. Mason snorts. Darts away as they hop to their feet and make to grab his arm.

“Do you want your present or not, songbird?” He quirks a brow. Sparrow stills, head tilting and eyes narrowing. “Behave,” Mason says, voice dropping.

They swallow hard enough their throat clicks.

He grins wide enough to flash his fangs. “There we go.”

“This feels less like you got me a present and more like you want something.”

“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you get engaged? Immediately go fuck?”

“We’re not fucking in the library.”

Mason chuckles. “Not after last time.”

“Mason,” Sparrow chides even as they try to stop smiling.

His eyes are bright as he reaches into his jacket. It takes a second, a second where he fumbles around for a pocket, and then he pauses. Waits a moment to hold his closed fist against his chest right over his heart, expression going painfully soft.

“I’ve had this for about a week,” he says, voice low, as if speaking any louder will shatter the moment. “The gala was...me trying to figure something out, and I was going to bring up maybe taking this further before giving this to you but, well,” Mason laughs quietly, “you kind of beat me to it.”

They open their mouth to say something, anything after that, but he lowers his hand. Reveals a small, black box that fits neatly in his palm. Sparrow reaches for it, getting halfway before they stop, a little unsure about if they should take it or not. They glance up at him, and he nods.

“It’s yours, songbird, take it.”

“Fucks sake,” they murmur.

They gingerly take the box from his hand as he smirks impishly at them. A deep breath, a second one, and then they flip the top open.

“Oh,” they say quietly. “Oh, Mason.”

It’s a simple rose gold band, plain with no stones. Smooth and simple and perfect. Sparrow knows they’re crying again but they don’t care, not now. Shaky hands take the ring from the box, and they laugh wetly when they catch a glimpse of the engraving on the inside. There’s a tiny heart next to a tiny sun. They look up, eyes wide, and find Mason looking the most nervous and bashful they’ve ever seen him.

“You impossible, wonderful person,” they whisper. “It’s perfect.”

Mason lets out a breath, a rush of air, and all his muscles relax, the tension leaving his body. “Felix insisted it was too plain.” He scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, ‘cause I’m gonna buy you a big ass fucking diamond.” Sparrow snorts. Mason startles. “I mean, not that I wouldn’t but you’re not, you know, that’s not you.”

“I got it, sunshine.” They turn the ring over in their hand. “No, you did perfect. This is perfect.”

Gently, he takes the ring from them. They hold their left hand out and he’s so careful when he slides the ring onto their finger. It settles beneath the second knuckle, snug at the base of their finger, and neither of them move. Or speak. Or do anything for what feels like hours. His thumb runs over the metal a few times.

“Is it rose gold because vampires can’t touch si—”

“I will take this back,” he says, tapping the ring.

Sparrow laughs, high and bright and happy, before swaying forward. They wrap their arms around his neck. Rock up onto their toes to kiss him properly.

“You think anyone will care if we take the weekend off?” they ask, lips brushing his.

Mason hums, hands stroking up and down their spine. “I doubt it.” He cocks his head for a moment. “We can go sign all the papers tomorrow, if you want.”

“Wait, that fast?” Sparrow blinks. “It’d take a couple days even for a courthouse here.”

“It’s Agency paperwork and bullshit.” He shrugs. “Vampire spouse, songbird, the rules are a little different.”

They roll their eyes, shoving his shoulder. He catches their hand, their left hand, and presses a kiss to their palm.

“Fuck it,” they say, breathless and wanting. “Yeah, let’s fuckin’ do it.”

Mason smiles.

[thatonepurplebutterfly]

I might post this on AO3 but thought I’d ask for some criticism here first to start of strong.

Avalance - Supercorp

High school AU

It’s part of a MUCH bigger story but this is a little intro to what life looks like for the characters. Hope you enjoy :)

Sara was having a horrible day, she had woken up late, forgot to pack her bag the night before and her first class went horribly. There was a speck of hope when she entered AP history, she didn’t mind history and her teacher was very passionate about the subject.

The hope left her body when she saw someone standing at the desk of Mr. Druce. Ava Sharpe turned in the direction of the door, her pissed expression seeming to turn impossibly worse. She turned to face Mr. Duce again “What is she doing here?!”.

The anger finally catched up with Sara when she heard that and she stormed towards the desk. “I could ask you the same thing, Sharpe”. Mr. Duce sighed and said “Like I was saying to Ms. Sharpe, she got transferred to this class to trade with a student”.

Sara looked around and asked “What student?”

“Ms. Alex Danvers requested it for Ms. Kara Danvers”

“That girl with the big eyes and glasses?”

“What a specific description, Lance” Ava sneered. Sara was about to give Ava a piece of her mind but Mr. Duce decided he had enough “Both of you sit down and if I hear one more remark you both have to write 8 pages about stuff you love about the other person”. Sara closed her mouth REAL quick and Ava grimaced at the thought of having to write about her ‘love’ for Lance.

The class went by normally, except now Mr. Duce’s stories were disturbed by annoying questions from a certain Ms. Sharpe. Why couldn’t Ava just shut up and listen to the teacher go on and on about his interest in communism or something.

Sara immediately stood up when the bell ran and walked to the cafeteria. “Guess, fucking, what” She said, setting her food down on the table and placing herself between Nate and Zari. “Kara switched classes with AVA SHARPE”. Zari let an “oof” and Amaya said “I’m sorry, I know you guys get along like Zari and Constantine”. Zari grimaced “Really? In front of my food?”. Amaya snorted and threw a napkin at Zari who avoided it, smile clear on her usually stoic face.

Sara looked at her friends, it was kind of funny how neither of them has noticed the flirting. It was obvious to everyone around them but they were painfully oblivious. Sara had watched them grow closer when chaos had entered Zari’s life. Finding out you have a brother you didn’t know about was not something that can be taken lightly.

Zari stuck out her tongue at Amaya turned to Sara a second later, ignoring Zari’s challenge to continue. “Is there anyway to change this?” Amaya asked Sara. Sara shook her head and swallowed her pizza bagel “It was requested by Alex, she is way too stubborn to change her mind”

“Danvers?”

“Yeah you know her?”

“A Little. She doesn’t even have AP history tho, why would she do that?”

Nate, who had apparently been listening, chimed in “Kara transferred to my class, Lena is there too. I actually had class with them this morning, it was almost painful to look at the oblivious longing looks they give each other”.

“Ohh” Amaya said, she smiled “Those two are very cute together”. Zari nodded and the irony didn’t slip past Sara, apparently it hadn’t slipped past Nate either because he looked at Sara with a smirk.

They talked a bit about Kara and Lena and some other stuff, like picking out a college. Sara had never thought this far into the future. She had been a big trouble maker in the past years so her hopes of going to a college had dimmed. But last school year she and her friends had started less trouble, well maybe that’s a big statement. They still pulled pranks but the pranks were at least 50% less extreme.

Sara looked around the table at her friends, Zari, Amaya and Nate were talking excitedly about colleges. Mick had set a piece of paper on fire and was now staring at it, mesmerized. Ray and Jax were talking about some engineering project they were working on. Sara felt a small smile creep up onto her face, these idiots had helped her. They had been there when her mom left, Sara’s world had collapsed and she had taken it horribly. Zari and Amaya were at Sara’s almost everyday for weeks, Nate sometimes joined and brought some games they could play to distract Sara.

She got woken up from her thoughts by a bump on her shoulder, Zari looked at her “You okay?” the girl whispered. Sara nodded and gave her a reassuring smile because, maybe for the first in a long time she was genuinely okay.

——————

In further chapters the super friends play a bigger part and get just as big of a part as the Legends.

[candycityy]

Ooh rivetra and 20 or 76 (or both if you want to ;)) for the Drabble prompts pleeeease 🧡🖤

Note: I did both because what can I say, I love a challenge, hehehe. I hope you like it!

References this earlier drabble.

(You can also read this on AO3!)

So here's the thing, right. For all his flaws—and he does have flaws, no matter what the fawning masses think—Levi isn't stupid.

Sure, he's not probably not cut out for the rarefied, upper-crust intelligentsia that Erwin Smith moves in. And sure, certain idiots of the variety of Hanji Zoë might swear on their dying breaths that he's all brawn and no brain, et cetera, but the truth is, he's got enough street smarts and common sense that most people conveniently overlook his awful social skills.

And that means that contrary to popular belief, Levi doesn't totally suck at social events. The Sina elite tend to misread his frosty bluntness and lack of etiquette as a refreshing, man-on-the-street brand of humour. Which, well, whatever works, he supposes.

Unfortunately, as a matter of consequence, that means that even with a hyperactive three-year old at home, Erwin had point-blank refused to let him off for this year's Midwinter Ball. He'd given him leave for the past few since Ava was still far too young to be left alone at home, but judging by the commander's expression, he's just about exhausted his excuses.

"You know the state of our finances, Levi," he'd said, cerulean eyes earnest and entreating. "We need every coin we can get. And, well, you're always quite popular at these balls, being humanity's strongest and all—not accounting for taste, of course—"

"Oi!"

The commander'd smirked, but his expression had faded back to solemnity quickly enough. "We need you there, Levi. I won't make it an order, but consider it...a personal request. Please?"

Levi'd grumbled under his breath. "Whatever. I'll go, I'll go, just stop looking at me like that," he'd barked.

Erwin had smiled. "I knew I could count on you, Levi."

Cut to the present. It's just past six o'clock, the winter sky only now beginning to darken into a somewhat forbidding shade of violet-grey. He's already dressed in his standard black suit, pacing back and forth the small living room, his eyes darting to the clock every few seconds.

Petra, who's in the midst of removing the curlers from her hair, shoots him an irritated look. "Would you calm down," she hisses, "you're driving me crazy. And Ava's going to pick up on it too, you know."

They both glance at their daughter, who's serenely colouring in a picture in crayon at the other end of the room. The three-year-old is Petra in miniature, from her wide eyes right down to her peaches-and-cream complexion. With just one exception: her hair is just a touch darker than her mother's: more cinnamon than honey.

Levi runs a hand through his hair. "Why aren't they here yet?" he says, for the third time that night.

"Because we told them to come at half past," Petra replies, with somewhat less patience than she'd ordinarily have. "Now get over here and help me do up my necklace, would you."

The metal is cold to the touch, but Petra just smiles softly as he clasps the necklace behind her neck with deft fingers. "Remember our first Midwinter Ball?" she reminisces. "That was pretty fun, wasn't it?"

"Fun for you, maybe," Levi says drily. "I was busy dragging Auruo off the dance floor after he puked and blacked out, remember?"

She giggles. "Oh, yeah. I forgot about that part. But still, that was when we danced together for the first time." They fall into a comfortable, nostalgic silence, and finally, he sighs.

"I still don't like leaving her alone," he mutters.

"It's hardly the first time," Petra says gently.

"I know, but it's the first time we'll be so far from her. And for so long, too—a whole night." His eyes turn contemplative. "Maybe I could just ride back, after the ball—if the weather isn't bad—"

"Don't even think about it," she says sharply. "The roads aren't safe this time of year, especially not so late at night, there's too much ice. We'll be back in the morning, Levi. Don't worry so much."

He snorts. "Easier said than done. Why aren't they here yet?" he asks again. This time, Petra ignores him, instead turning back to the mirror and carefully applying lipstick with a practiced hand.

After the final step—dusting her cheeks with rose-tinted powder—she rises to her feet, doing a slow turn in her gown, a sleek, champagne-coloured affair with a fitted bodice and fluted sleeves, cut out of satin and embellished with tiny buttons down the front. Her delicately curled hair falls in soft waves to her collarbone, just brushing the front of her dress.

"What do you think?" she goes. Oblivious to his sullen silence, she juts out a hip and flutters her lashes at him coquettishly, an action which earns her an eye-roll.

"You're going to make everyone stare," he grumbles. She giggles.

"I have to keep your fangirls away, now don't I?" she teases, with a toss of her head. He's about to issue a retort when a knock comes at the door.

"Right on time, as usual," Petra declares. Levi just scowls.

He'd had been reluctant to get them back after the first disastrous incident, but Petra had insisted that they'd done a good job—"after all, Ava was perfectly fine, wasn't she?" As a result, Eren and Jean have become their go-to babysitters ever since. Levi's loath to admit it, but their daughter has warmed up to them. She's already toddling over to the door with a ready beam on her face, as the boys troop in through the door, faces flushed with the cold.

"Eren nii-chan! Jean nii-chan!" she chirps, plump arms outstretched. "Pick me up, pleaaaase?"

Eren breaks into a grin and obliges. His terror of Levi has subsided somewhat, although he still occasionally trips over his feet whenever he walks past, but he openly adores the toddler. Jean's a bit more reserved, but as Ava begins to babble cheerfully, his expression noticeably softens—even though he claims he's not a fan of babies, Levi suspects that he's secretly just as enamoured with Ava as his comrade is.

Of course, that only makes sense, considering that as far as Levi is concerned, Ava Ackerman is the cutest fucking baby on the planet.

Outside the door, there's the distant sound of approaching hooves pounding against cobblestone. Sensing a farewell, Petra sighs and leans over to give Ava one last hug, as Levi presses a gentle kiss to his daughter's cheek.

"We'll better be off," she says reluctantly. "Boys, thank you so much for taking care of Ava tonight. If anything goes wrong, you know what to do."

All four adults exchange grim, silent glances; they know what's coming next. Levi picks up his coat and shrugs it on. Petra wraps a scarf around her neck.

And with a sigh, they push the door open, and wait.

Three, two—

"Nooooo!"

Ava lets out a ear-splitting shriek, one that seems far too loud to come from such a small baby. Her eyes well up with anxious tears as she comes to the awful realisation that her parents are leaving without her, and she struggles desperately towards them, her face screwed-up and flushed with fury, as Eren doggedly tries to keep her from wriggling out of his arms. Beside him, Jean attempts in vain to ply her with sweets and toys, but she won't be soothed or distracted.

"No, no, no!" Ava wails. Her tiny fists pummel Eren's shoulder, who, to his credit, doesn't flinch, just hefts her up resignedly. "No go, no go! Stay!"

Petra sends him a warning look. And even as every atom of his body rebels against the thought of it...

Levi steps over the threshold, and into the wintry night air.

==

"Levi," Petra says patiently, "you're fidgeting."

She places a hand on his thigh, which, apparently, he'd been subconsciously jiggling all this while. Calming Ava down had taken about ten whole minutes, but Eren and Jean had finally managed to distract her with a game of hide-and-seek—her new favourite—and they'd quietly snuck onto the carriage before she could realise their trick.

They're barely more than a mile from home, but already being away from Ava feels like a piercing, physical pain in the front of his skull, a palpable anxiety that refuses to fade. Even Petra's presence, usually so comforting, doesn't soothe him in the slightest.

"Sorry," he mutters. "It's just—it's fucking terrifying, being a parent." His wife touches his cheek in silent commiseration, and they both sit in silence.

It's as perfect a night as it could ever be, in all honesty. The moon is full and bright, its silvery light beaming helpfully onto their path. The road is almost deserted this evening—Levi supposes most people would rather be safely tucked in the warmth of their homes, celebrating the holiday season with their own families instead of with dozens of expensively-attired strangers.

Fuck it all. Sensing his blood pressure rising, he takes a deep breath. The air is cool and dry and calming. Turning to stare out at the window, he listens to the rhythmic clickity-clack of the horses' hooves, their huffed pants of exertion, the metallic whine of the wheels—

Levi frowns. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Petra starts to ask, and then stills—this time, she'd heard it too. That high-pitched, bell-like sound, that sounds disturbingly like...

She swallows. "D-did you just make that noise?"

He stares at her drily. "I don't think my vocal chords could physically manage that."

"You don't think..." Her jaw drops, and she almost leaps towards the driver's seat in her urgency, startling the poor old man. "Excuse me! Stop the carriage, please!"

The horses have barely come to a halt when Levi disembarks from the carriage in one swift, fluid movement. He strides towards the back of the carriage, where, he knows, there's a small compartment built in, just large enough for their overnight bags and gear.

As well as—perhaps—a three-year-old toddler, if she were crouching quite close to the floor. Like, for instance, in a game of hide-and-seek.

His expression is grim as he tugs open the lid of the compartment. Behind him, Petra looks frozen, her face a mixture of trepidation and incredulity and just the tiniest hint of amusement.

The lid comes loose. "Daddy!" their irrepressible daughter exclaims, springing out of her crouching position. She giggles again, that familiar high-pitched, bell-like sound almost unnaturally loud in the silence of the night. "Mama! Ava came along!"

For a second, both parents are struck speechless as they stare at their cheerful stowaway in wordless horror.

Finally, Petra opens her mouth to speak.

"You don't say," she deadpans.

==

By the time they reach Sina, the ball has already started.

Of course, considering how they had to turn back around (much to the chagrin of the carriage-driver), tuck Ava very firmly into bed (it goes easier this time, considering how exhausted she is from the very dramatic game of hide-and-seek), reassure a terrified Eren and Jean that they're not mad (although Levi still isn't sure, to be honest), and allow them to resume sentry duty before leaving, he figures they actually made pretty good time.

Other than the very pointed, self-righteous look the doorman shoots them as they stumble into the hall, they manage to blend into the crowd with relative ease. They quickly touch base with the rest of the squad and collect two well-deserved flutes of wine before searching for Erwin, if only to reassure him that they did, in fact, come.

The commander is, of course, easy enough to spot, what with his stature and all. And although he initially looks mildly disapproving, his expression quickly turns wry once he hears the tale.

"That's quite a story," he says, nodding politely at a passing noblewoman, who blushes alluringly and bats her eyes. "Although, I suppose I should be glad you turned up at all, considering."

Petra giggles. "Touché. Although, maybe next year, we can bring her along. Wouldn't that be adorable?"

"Over my dead body," Levi says flatly. "But maybe next year, you'll let me stay home, Erwin."

The blonde man sighs and casts his eyes skyward. Around them, the party thrums cheerfully, soldiers mingling with nobles, careful words and casual touches exchanged over good dance and better drink. But although the atmosphere is thick with holiday cheer and inebriation, the commander seems wearily immune. "Maybe next year, I'll finally resign."

Levi snorts and lifts his wine-glass. "I'll toast to that."

Drabble challenge!

[ithehellisbucky]

Fake Smile

Carol Danvers x Reader

Request: for @marvels-writings

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: Hatred, grief, suicide, etc

Author's Note: This is for @marvelxreaderfanfictionfest's contest last year, it's already on ao3 here. They have a great contest opening on may tenth for the mcu ladies, so go check that out! There isn't enough wlw fanfiction in this fandom (or really any).

~

You could swear her skin was glowing. Or at the very least reflecting the colors around her. Soft golden light shone around onto her face from the cracked window next to her chair, and she basked in the light as if she had just won every award the world had to offer. She didn't have the right to be this fucking pretty.

Her golden hair floated around her head, almost literally, forming a halo that made her look even more like an angel. Her skin was only several shades lighter, and her cheeks scrunched up in a way when she laughed that you could only describe as euphoric. Her piercing blue eyes only complimented her features, and your eyes were instantly drawn to her impossible beautiful cheekbones.

If only the woman below that was as beautiful as the face it belonged to.

Carol was the enemy. Not literally, of course. But she was the enemy. Utterly unsympathetic when you had told her about the death of your best friend in the dusting, you had grown to despise her within mere minutes of a word coming out of her mouth.

She laughed like she didn't notice you glaring. And when she finally locked eyes with you, her lips formed a smirk and kept on giggling.

In the brief days that she had returned to earth, she made it her mission to do everything for the sole purpose of lighting rage inside your chest. No one had the right to make you feel this way, least of all her.

She had returned to earth to "check-in." In the past 3 years since the snap, the world had taken a turn for the worst. Not only was every other person gone, but the death toll was slowly rising. Crime rates were increasing, and the suicide toll was only getting higher.

Every single damn day of your life you had dedicated yourself to helping the people on earth, and the only thing she had on her mind was the big picture. Trying to bring people back that couldn't be brought back. Bullshit.

All you were trying to do was make sure that the people who had left stayed alive.

"Ava? Would you like a scone." She said it in a normal voice, but you could feel the passion behind the words.

"No thank you. I'm careful about what I let others feed me. Because I'm careful. Unlike some other people I know." You say in the most passive and sickly sweet voice you could muster.

"I'm very cautious about keeping myself, and others, safe. I'm just nice enough to do it politely." She responded in the same voice as before.

"Carol, Ava. Do I need to remind you that this is a professional meeting, where we are to talk about important topics only." Nat said in a stone-cold tone. Natasha was never the most playful person, to begin with, but in the past 3 years, things had taken a turn for the worse.

When someone is already flying by the seat of their pants and is about as stable as a bull in a china shop, you tend not to provoke them. And by provoke, I mean of course murdering half of humanity.

"I was being professionally, just Carol here was-"

Natasha sharply cuts you off. " Ava. "

"Fine." You say, internally rolling your eyes.

Carol looks you dead in the eyes and gives you a smirk. Damn this woman.

You had been through hell. You had talking people of bridges, you had stood up for abuse victims in court, you had watched the people you had loved die. You were a stone-cold bitch. But with Carol, you might as well be a 2-year-old with a pair of scissors and a disturbing lack of adult supervision.

Once the meeting was over, you sparked a conversation with Natasha. "Hey Nat, do you wanna get some lunch?"

She looked at you, and then down at her phone, and then at you again. "Um, I can't. Not today." She looks behind her shoulder, and a sinister smirk creeps onto her features. "But I'm sure Carol would love to go out with you."

"Natasha, no. I said no."

Her menacing grin only intensifies. "Oh come on Ava, you could cut the sexual tension between the two of you with a knife."

"It's not sexual tension. It's just tension. Because we hate each other."

"Mm, I don't think so." She turns over her shoulder and calls to the blonde. "Carol, could you come here for a sec?"

Carol's head perks up, and she walks towards Nat, a scowl forming on her face when she sees that you're next to her. "What is it?"

"Do you want to go to lunch. Will Ava and I?" She questions politely.

"That sounds great, but doesn't Ava have to do that... Thing?"

You turn on your sickly sweet smile for what seems like the ten-thousandth time. "No, I canceled it. Just. To. Have. Lunch. With. You."

Natasha is almost guffawing at this interaction between the two of you. "Alright then, lunch it is!" She starts walking right without any hesitation, and both you and Carol have to run to catch up to her.

"I saw this cute little Italian place. Do you want to go-"

"Chili's." Natasha stops her pace and looks back at you.

"What. It's an incredible experience that I'm sure we'll all enjoy."

It's now Natasha's turn to wear the fake smile. "Great."

You reach Natasha's car, and she quickly whips out her car keys.

"Oh, we're riding together?" Carol exclaims with disgust.

"Yeah, saves energy," Natasha exclaims as she checks her phone.

"I call shotgun!" You counter, trying to do anything to get away from Carol.

"No shotgun. I think it would be nice for the two of you to bond. I wish it was in a bedroom, but a car will do." Natasha says, still looking down at her phone.

"What was that?" You asked, hoping that you didn't hear what you thought you heard.

"No shotgun, window's broken." She replies, opening the door.

You and Carol squeeze into the back seat. It wasn't a tight fit, by any means; but anywhere that isn't 50 feet apart from her is hell on earth. How was she so fucking pretty.

Every time your skin brushed together you shot up as if you had just touched a shock wire. The glares passed between the two of you could freeze even the darkest parts of hell.

As you were getting out of the car, you slammed the door in Carol's face. She opening it, and it was obvious she was pissed.

"Oh come on, you're a fucking superhero, if you're afraid of a car door then you're in the wrong line of work."

She doesn't respond to you and instead flashes you one of her infamous fake smiles.

The Chili's is cozy, with only 15 or so booths, less than 5 of them preoccupied. The hostess kindly led you to a booth, in the corner of the room. You slide into the booth first, and your shoulder pushed against the plastic wallpaper when you moved into your seat.

Carol takes her position in the seat in front of you. Natasha doesn't sit down.

She makes deadly eye contact with you as she pulls her phone out from inside her pocket. "Oh look, I just got a text message." She exclaims, not breaking eye contact.

Natasha quickly flashes you the screen of her phone, showing that in fact, she had not gotten a message. "I have to go. Emergency."

"Are you sure." You say, yet again feigning a smile.

"I'm positive, there's an emergency at work."

Carol attempts to get up and join Natasha before Nat gives Carol a disapproving glance.

"There's always going to be an emergency, but there isn't always going to be lunch." You say, cocking your head and putting on a smirk.

"No," Natasha says. And smiles at the two of you. "Have fun."

You flip her the bird, and without even turning around she returns the favor.

"This is going to be fine." You say.

"Yep," Carol responds, popping the p.

The two of you study the menu for a couple more minutes.

You begin to notice that whenever you adjust yourself Carol does the same, and you do as well, subconsciously.

The waitress walks up to you and politely introduces herself. She asked you what you wanted and, without skipping a beat, you ordered yourself the best thing on the menu, and Carol the worst. She looked as if she was going to protest, but at that point, the waitress had walked away. And all you did was sit there and smirk.

The tension in the room was not sexual. The hatred you felt in your heart for her and the simultaneous need to kiss her and have her kiss you back was not sexual, in any way shape or form.

"So." You promptly exclaimed, in the most positive voice that you could muster.

"Yes," Carol responded, deadlocking her eyes onto yours.

The longer you stared into her eyes the more love you felt. You lost yourself in the depths of her eyes as if you were Alice just entering wonderland. The smile lines surrounding her lips were faded and it seemed as if she hadn't cracked a grin in decades. Her fair hair fell into her eyes, and she quickly brushed it out of the way with one unmanicured finger.

"Why the fuck are we doing this?" She asks, avoiding your gaze.

"What do you mean?" You counter, plastering on another one of your on-brand fake smiles.

"Forcing ourselves to sit in this hell-ish place just for the courtesy of Natasha."

You tilt your head slightly and regain eye contact, "oh, so you want to leave?" You politely ask, knowing all to well the stir that you would get from Nat if you left now.

"No, of course not." She said, rolling her eyes. "But, why would she ever think that I would ever want to be around you for longer than the 5 seconds that are already peeling off my eyes."

"It's nice to see how kind you are to the people around you." You respond, attempting to be as harmful as she was even though you were internally hurt.

"But now that you mention it, I'm realizing how shitty it is that I have to engage in conversation with someone as horrible as you." You winced, and you were positive that she didn't notice either, because she was doing the same.

"What are your powers then, fixing computers?" She mocked you with a smile "oh, the world is ending. Look, someone to get rid of a faulty line on my phone."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you were a dinosaur. I'm sorry, we don't use phones bolted to the wall in national security." You exclaimed. You wouldn't usually be so harsh, but her words were causing you to lash out.

"At least I can hold up in a fistfight." She said, putting on another mask of a hollow smile.

"I can hold up in a fistfight just fine, but can you hold up with a speakerphone button on an iPhone?" Ah yes, another hollow shot at her prehistoric days.

"You know, for someone how talks all this talk, I'm shocked that you can't actually do anything. Oh wait, I'm not. Sorry, Princess, you're all bark and no bite."

"Excuse me, I forget I was talking to someone who flies around in a space-suit and mohawk." Yet again another fake smile.

The two of you continued to bicker for another few minutes until the waitress comes over with your food.

"I can't believe that you would do such an ignorant f-"

"Hi, I have your food." A woman with a positive attitude and a braid crown places your meals in front of you.

You quickly stopped your argument and the both of you put on yet another fake smile to make it seem like you weren't two seconds away from causing an avengers level threat.

"Thank you so much."

"Really, we really appreciate it."

The second the woman walked away you were back at each other's throats.

But, somehow, Carol was still gorgeous all the while she was yelling at you and eating a shrimp on top of a salad drenched in vinegar.

"Seriously, you're so incompetent." You quickly burst out when she notices you staring.

"Maybe you wouldn't worry so much about me if you were actually doing your job." She responds, rolling her eyes.

"I am sweetie; I'm just good enough at it to be able to pay attention to your uselessness."

"You're too kind." She exclaims as she reaches for a napkin that you quickly pull away from her.

"What I find especially depressing about you is that you will never grow. You're the same person. You're stuck in a box. You will never be better than what you are now. And what you are is shitty." She looks up at you, " Princess ."

You pull back from your meal in shock. You couldn't believe that she had said something like that to you. It pointed out everything you had ever worried about yourself.

"I can't believe you. Why are you so relentlessly horrible to me? What have I done to you? I get when you take cheap shots. I take cheap shots all the time. I don't hate you. Why do you hate me?! I don't hate you! I love you!"

Carol freezes up. Everyone in Chili's looks at you. You were screaming. And you had just told Carol you loved her. You told her you loved her.  You loved her.

"What?" She says in a meek voice.

"I'm so sorry Carol, I was just-" She kisses you.

Carol kisses you.

Carol puts her lips on yours and kisses you.

And you kiss you back.

She's leaning over the table and knocked both your plates off the table and knocked you drinks over. You feel the liquid on your knees as you climb onto the table and place yourself on top of it. You kiss and you kiss until the rest of the world is null and void.

You only pull away for air, and when you're doing so Carol whispers a careful "I'm sorry."

You keep on kissing and kissing.

"I love you, I love you, I'm sorry, I love you." Muttered between you.

You finally pull away and stare into each other's eyes for a minute, basking in the beauty of her blue orbs.

"I feel god in this Chili's tonight." You breathlessly exclaim.

She laughs a beautiful, glorious laugh, and then leans in to kiss you again.

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