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teenidlegirl · 3 days ago

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⠀⠀౨౿ ׅ ۟ ֪ 𝓑eauty 𝓞f 𝓣his 𝓜ess⠀♡⠀𝓒hapter 𝓔ighteen ۪ ׂ 𓈒 ୭

꒰⠀⠀⟡⠀.⠀military!miguel⠀𝓍⠀fem!neighbor!reader⠀.⠀⟡⠀⠀꒱

⠀ ᰦ 󠄀 ྀ .⠀♥︎⠀summary.⠀you and miguel finally have your big conversation. he finally gets the chance to explain himself, you learn a heartbreaking truth, and figure out where to go next.

⠀ ᰦ 󠄀 ྀ .⠀♥︎⠀content.⠀fluff, angst, pregnancy, background stories, past character death, past violence, flashbacks, mentions of blood, trauma, emotional distress, sorta hurt/comfort

❛⠀ previous chapter⠀⋅⠀masterlist⠀⋅⠀next chapter ⠀❜

the smell of pancakes awakes you, filling up your senses. slowly opening your eyes, your remember everything from yesterday. after the stupid fight between joel and miguel, you took miguel back home to patch him up and demanded that he should stay the night. he obeyed like a puppy, no matter how many times he rejected the offer. you also realize this is the first time miguel has been in your home in two months. the last time he was here, miguel walked out and disappeared for three weeks. now, he’s back and making breakfast in your kitchen.

you snap out of thought when a white fluff ball walks towards your face. the sight makes you smile as luna greets you with happy licks and a wagging tail. after saying good morning to your dog, you get up from bed and put on a cardigan over your nightgown to shield you from the chilly morning air. sipping on your fuzzy slippers and scooping luna in your arms, you head to the kitchen and find miguel cooking. his broad back faced to you. that navy blue compression shirt hugs his muscles so perfectly. the way his back muscles ripple as he maneuvers around the kitchen.

goddamn that is a sight you miss so much. to see him again, in the flesh, especially in your home. just a cute domestic scene of the man you still love. you really miss miguel so much it hurts.

but the pain that he inflicted on you hurts still. although you’re happy to see him and have him in here after a long time, that doesn’t erase the heartbreak miguel left behind when he left you alone to deal with a life-changing situation for three weeks. those were the shittiest three weeks of your life. three weeks of crying. three weeks of pain. miguel caused that, the very same man cooking breakfast in your kitchen at this moment. now that he’s here, you have to know where the fuck he was during those three weeks. it’s the question that never left your mind.

as he serves a plate meant for you, miguel turns around not expected to see you there standing at the opposite side of the kitchen island. “oh buenas dias, amor. i was gonna take this to you so you wouldn’t have to get out of bed.” he offers a sheepish grin.

there goes your heart fluttering because of his kindness, against your opposing thoughts. “the smell of pancakes woke me up, i had to get out of bed.”

your joke makes him chuckle lightly. “you still should get back in bed, i’ll bring this to you.”

“no, it’s okay. i need to wash my sheets anyways. now gimme those pancakes, pretty please.” you hop on one of the barstools with much glee.

miguel couldn’t resist the cute smile of yours, a sight that he misses so dearly.

you enjoy your pancakes while miguel cleans up the kitchen. damn, those pancakes are delicious. you forgot how much you miss his cooking. you remember how great of a cook he is but damn do you miss eating the food he made. resurfaced memories of the mornings and evenings miguel would cook, either at your place or his, when you were dating. chitchatting and sometimes goofing around while cooking delicious meals. his food always hit the spot, even simple as pancakes.

moving on to a much more serious topic, you wanted to know of his condition and if anything improved overnight. the memories of those awful bruises still makes your heart squeeze painfully.

“how are you feeling?”

“a bit better but some places still hurts like shit but i’ll be fine. that asshole didn’t do that much damage.” he rubs the back of his neck with a hand.

“still, he hurt you enough.”

miguel notices the concern laced in your tone, his heart swells. “i’ll be okay, mi amor. i promise.” he leans a bit over the island to find your eyes, reassuring you that he will be fine.

your concerned eyes meet his serious yet reassuring eyes. you know he will be fine but you can’t not be still concerned about his health. no matter the circumstances, your heart still beats and aches for him. you simply offer a small smile then continue focusing on your breakfast.

miguel lets you eat in peace as he cleans up the kitchen, washing and putting away dishes. once he finished, he can’t help but silently admire you. your disheveled hair, slightly droopy eyes, and sleepy face. every detail of you is so precious. the gorgeous warm hue of the morning sun makes your figure glow beautifully, as if an angel sits across from him.

you are an angel, his angel.

god he missed you so much. to wake up and see you there in the same place as him. to have you there in general, you gracing him with your angelic presence. miguel misses waking up to find you beside him in bed. the softness of you against his roughness. your warmth smoothing him as he awakens, the only source preventing his nightmares. sharing these cute small moments with you while cooking, eating, cleaning, shopping, walking, just anything.

the longer he admires you in silence, realization creeps up to him. you two agreed to reserve the big conversation today after a good long rest from yesterday’s shitshow. suddenly, anxiety invades his body. miguel is nervous as hell to address the elephant in the room, mainly due to your reaction and fear that his reasons won’t be justifiable. he imprinted a large scar on you that will forever be there, it will never heal, not for a long time.

but this will only be his chance to explain himself. miguel can’t lose that opportunity, not when it can lead to a possible future with you and the baby. however, this cute quiet moment between you two right now does not mean things are back to normal. it does not mean it will be like that after the conversation. it will be your decision whether to forgive him or accept his reasons and determine the outcome. it will be your final word.

you also are nervous as hell. a much needed conversation yet you are afraid to discuss it. mainly because of what will be the outcome and future of your relationship. you desperately need to know his reasons. despite the quiet moment right now, the anger and resentment still lingers, bubbling inside you. the pain he left you remains in your fragile heart. the same heart beating with intense anxiety.

it’s the calm before the storm.

you finish your breakfast, which was absolutely delicious, and about to get up from your seat to out away the now dirty plate until a calloused hand stops you by gently taking the plate from your hands.

“hey, i got it.” you pout.

his heart flutters at that pout. goddamnit you’re so adorable. “i got it, preciosa. you stay there.”

“but i just wanted to—”

“no buts, i’ll do everything.” he cuts you off softly with a smile that makes your heart leap once again.

you know this is his attempt of making things up to you. it’s a small start yet it doesn’t change anything or erase the pain. miguel knows it as well.

“we need uh… we need to talk about… y’know?”

a heavy sigh escapes his lips. “we do… uh… let’s head to the couch to be more comfortable, ¿si?”

you nod, hop off the bar stool, and head to the couch. you sit on one end and miguel on the other, some distance between you two. luna comes up to snuggle with you on your lap. anxiety invades both your bodies. now it’s time to discuss this situation, learn the truth, and find a solution, or not. but nevertheless, you were ready to know the truth.

miguel is the more nervous reck, practically sweating his ass off due the anxiety invading his veins like a virus. this is his one and only opportunity.

“i regret what i did… it was a mistake i’ll regret for the rest of my life because leaving you was the stupidest mistake of my life.” his sad eyes meet yours. “i promised to never hurt you pero… i did the one thing i swore to never do… and i hate myself for it.” he adverts his gaze, feeling undeserving often look at you because of the shame and guilt.

you can only offer a pitiful glance. ever since he returned, you have noticed the self-loathing consuming him whole. the guilty and shameful glint in his eyes every time they meet yours.

“i deserve all of your anger and frustration. i hurt you and saying sorry won’t fix anything, it won’t take away the pain i caused you.” a heavy sigh left his lips as he bring up a hand and rubs the temples of his forehead. “i-i was scared… i was afraid that i—”

your brows furrowed in a mixture of confusion and concern. what was miguel afraid of?

another heavy sigh. “when you said you were pregnant, i panicked… i just… i just couldn’t believe it. i couldn’t believe i would be a father, that i would have a baby… i never considered it before and… i was so… scared.” he lowers his hand but never looks back up to face you, instead down at his lap, too afraid to meet your eyes. “i was scared of becoming a father and having a baby because… i would fail you both…”

your frown deepens. “fail us? miguel, what do you mean?” how could he fail you and the baby? it doesn’t make sense. now you’re more concerned.

he had to reveal the truth.

“gabriel… you know that him and i joined together?”

miguel didn’t need to look at you to see you nod, just from his peripheral. he feels his heart aching, proving how hard it was to talk about his brother because the pain and guilt are still strong. you can see him struggling. the way he’s hunched over as if he’s in pain. eyes screwed shut, brows furrowed deeply, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, knees bouncing. you just want to scoot over and hug him. you almost do but he then continues.

“one mission… it was more intense than others.” he starts off quietly. “it all went wrong unfortunately, we were outnumbered, things went downhill so fast and…” a sob that was threatening to escape was bitten back down his throat as flashbacks of that mission infiltrates his mind. the closer he was to the memory, the harder it was hold back the tears.

flashback of the bullet striking through gabriel’s shoulder, hitting an artery. miguel’s heart stops as his brother collapses onto the ground while the rest of the team fight off the enemy. panic invades his veins as he rushed to his wounded brother, collecting him in his arms and seeking shelter behind a wall, ignoring the pleads of his squad.

“s-shit…” gabriel groans in pain. “definitely hit the spot.” a weak chuckle escapes his lips.

“you’re okay… you’re okay. you’re gonna be okay, hermano.” its also as if miguel is telling himself that, allowing the panic to consume him.

the younger o'hara shakes his head slighty, a weak smile on his lips that are slowly dripping in red. “i-i don’t think t-this time, pendejo…”

“no, no, no. you’re gonna be okay, gabri. ¿me oyes? you’re gonna be fine.”

but the red ooze dripping from gabriel’s lips and the color draining from his skin said otherwise. he was losing him, he was losing his baby brother.

“d-don’t worry a-about me…” a cough of blood makes miguel’s heart ache immensely. “i-i finally g-got to be who i-i wanted to b-be… e-especially contigo, hermano…”

tears swell in his eyes as miguel watched his brother take one final breath and heart beats one last time. a scream of agony erupts from his throat as he clings onto his brother and break into tears.

“miguel?…”

the angelic tone of your voice snaps him out of that horrific memory and looks to see your hand rested on his arm then up to meet your eyes. his own swelled with tears. miguel didn’t realized how close you are, now sitting right beside him.

seeing those gorgeous brown eyes swelled with tears breaks your heart. he was so lost in thought to the point of panicking. you didn’t hesitate to move over and comfort him, you were so worried. you just wanted to pull him into your arms and hug him. miguel shuts his eyes and turns away from you, concealing the tears and guilt.

“gabriel died in combat.”

your heart drops at the heartbreaking revelation.

gabriel died?… now it all makes sense why he was so hesitant to talk about his brother.

he lost him.

miguel fought hard against the tears but no avail, he allowed the dam to break. you don’t hesitate to wrap your arms around him and pull him into a tight embrace, which he accepts immediately. collapsing into your arms, holding you tightly, gripping onto the material of your cardigan as if he’s afraid to let you go, that you would slip out of his arms just like gabriel, as he sobs into your shoulder.

each sob of his breaks a piece of your heart, to the point of your own eyes swelling into tears. it hurts you to hear him break down but you are there to catch him. you embrace his sobbing, shaking figure tightly. digging your fingers into his hair, his grip on your tightens as a response. you don’t ever let go.

“lo siento mucho, miguel…” your soft voice whispers in his ear, making him embrace you tighter.

you feel utterly heartbroken for him. he lost his baby brother in combat, that is traumatic. by what miguel has told you, he and gabriel had a great sibling relationship. he was always by gabriel side for everything. miguel deeply cared about his baby brother. the one person who understood him.

eventually, miguel’s sobs die down and manages to catch his breath after releasing an infinite amount of tears. that left a large wet stain on your cardigan but you don’t care, miguel was all that mattered.

very slowly, his head rises from your now soaked shoulder and leans back to give you some space but still remains close. you look at him but his glossy eyes don’t meet yours. with such tenderness, you wipe his tears with your thumb as you cradle his face. miguel still doesn’t look back but gently rests his forehead against yours and closes his eyes. you simply sit there in silence, basking one another’s presence as miguel takes time to calm down.

after a few minutes of silence, you decide to break it by whispering to him. “you okay?…”

miguel nods slowly and exhales heavily, leaning into your touch as you continue caressing his face. he had to catch his breath to calm down but really you were what calmed him down. utterly melting under your touch, the softness and warmth of your body relaxes him immediately. you are his anchor.

“i was sacred…” barely a whisper yet laced with such remorse and regret. “i was scared of losing you and the baby like i lost gabriel.”

you look up at him with furrowed brows of concern but he still hasn’t meet your eyes.

“losing us? you won’t lose us, amor.” you reassure him in a gentle manner, caressing his cheeks as a way to make him look at you but no avail.

miguel leans away and finally looks back, frowning however. “i failed gabriel, what if i fail you? i failed to protect him, what if i fail to protect you both?”

you shake your head frantically. “you won’t, miguel. what happened to gabriel wasn’t your fault—”

“yes it was.” he cuts you off, turning away but you stop him by gently gripping his chin to look back.

“no, it was not.” a bit firm but still soft. “i know you blame yourself but it wasn’t your fault. just know that gabriel was happy to be with his brother, he wouldn’t want to be anywhere or anyone else but you.”

those glossy brown eyes soften a little by your words. perhaps you’re right, gabriel was at least safe in his arms during his last moments. at least miguel was there with him. it would have been worse if it was any other scenario and miguel didn’t want to think that.

“miguel, escúchame…” those same soft brown eyes look up at you as you cradle his face. “i know you’re afraid and now i understand why… but i promise you won’t lose us, you won’t fail us. we won’t go anywhere, we’ll always be here, with you.”

miguel swears he could cry once again. all he can do is just stare at you with nothing but adoration in his eyes. heart sudden refilled with love that you always provide. those ugly doubts and fears slowly fade away by your words of comfort and reassurance. he rests his hands on top of yours, gives them a gentle squeeze then brings them up to his lips and places a soft kiss to them as a sign of affection and gratitude. the act emits a soft smile on your face.

“i know we just had a heartbreaking conversation but… i still need to know what happened those three weeks.” you look at him hesitantly.

miguel knows you’re right. he admitted his fears and reasons but still hasn’t fully explained himself, especially during those shitty three weeks.

“i know…” his hands release yours as he leans away, turning away to run a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh. “i… i have this hidden cabin off the outskirts of town, that’s where i stayed during those weeks. i didn’t do anything. i barely ate or slept, always had nightmares every time.”

your brows furrowed concerningly. “nightmares?”

another heavy sigh escapes his lips. “of you and the baby… me dying in combat and leaving you alone with the baby… failing you both…”

another revelation that shatters your heart. his trauma has worsened to the extent of having nightmares of dying and losing his family.

this poor, poor man.

“my phone was completely off, i never received any calls or texts. when i did turned it back on, i saw your text about your doctors appointment and i cried…”

your eyes widen slightly in surprise. he… cried?

“you went alone… i wasn’t there for you… i hatred myself for that, i still do.”

the unpleasant memory of your first appointment flashed across your mind. how utterly heartbroken and abounded you felt sitting in the waiting area full of couples. how anxious you felt when you entered the examination room, learning about your pregnancy, and seeing your baby for the first time. how angry you felt when you mentioned to your OB that miguel wasn’t in the picture.

one last sigh from his lips before miguel turns to you with pleading eyes. “mi alma, i know what i did is unforgivable and i’ll forever regret it for the rest of my fucking life. no amount of sorrys could ever take away the pain i caused you. i hurt you and i will never forgive myself. you have every reason to hate me, i deserve it all.” very slowly, his hand gently takes yours. “but know that i love you, i never stopped loving you and never will. eres mi mundo, mi corazón, mi alma gemela, todo.”

it was impossible to not feel bashful by all the adorable endearments. every nickname miguel gave you, it never fails to make your heart flutter.

“i know i can’t go back change the past, i know i can’t take away your pain from those three weeks but i promise you that i want to be part of this.” miguel said sincerely, eyes boring into yours. “i want to have this baby with you, i want to be a father, i want to be a family and raise this baby contigo.”

sudden a rush of adoration flows through you, almost overwhelming but… in a good way? his behavior since last night proved how different he was, he’s still the same kind man you fell in love with and how he wasn’t against having the baby. the way his eyes widen then soften and smiled when he touched your baby bump for the first time proved to you that miguel already loved the baby. you want nothing more than for him to be a part of this family and have this baby together. but that doesn’t mean the consequences of his actions are ignored.

“i… i’m so happy to hear that, miguel, and i want nothing more than to do this together but…” your tone turns more serious. “i can’t forgive you, not yet.”

miguel expected that and he did not blame you one bit because he doesn’t deserve your forgiveness.

“you hurt me, miguel. i know it was bomb dropping news, it was a shitshow, i take part for being irresponsible about the pill, and that it triggered your fears but you hurt me real fucking bad.”

he did and miguel will never forgive himself.

“those were the shittiest three weeks of my life. you weren’t there when i needed you the most.”

he can hear the hurt in your voice and it pains his heart. he has caused so much damage.

“now that you’re here, i’m gonna tell you this.”

miguel’s attention is precise and solely on you, prepared for what you will say.

you look up straight in his eyes with pure sincerity. “if you want to be a part of this, you have to work for it. show me that you want this.”

miguel understands completely. prove his commitment to this family, to you and the baby. and goddamn he will, miguel will do everything he can to prove to you that he wants this.

“i will, i promise, mi amor.” his hands give yours a gentle squeeze, signifying his words.

you believe him.

this is the beginning of rebuilding your relationship. it will require lots of progress but you have faith miguel will prove himself and the love will soon be restored.

it’s a good starting point.

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓. ♡ @reverieblondie @nina-from-317 @kavimoo @aly29a2001 @lazyjellyfish300 @tojishugetiddies @aphinthestars @novelaaaaaaaa @imamexican @obessgurlll @deputy-videogamer @lovehadlovelost @agoddoesnotplead @saintdiior @whoopwhoppghost @tomalymme @skadiloki @asterrrrose @glossygreene @youcantseem3 @resident-clown @kutsipie @zuevcs @totorotales-08 @meowgirl1 @sukunash0e @sirendyes @leahnicole1219 @lisa-takeshi @yehet-moi-ohorat @slowlyshycomputer @wasitforrevenge @webshoootrz @f1-hoff @chaeriescola @espressopatronum454 @trocaderoisyummy @totallygyomeiswife @mcmiracles @celestialgarden23 @tatatida @whdhjfjvjvjfjdhsj @nocturne-light @xenop0p @juneonhoth @ghostsdoll @marshmallowsforever @ibelyss @imissubaee ( if you’re not tagged, age/age-range is require since this fic is 18+, context for reasons why )

#⠀꒰⠀𝜗𝜚 ֺ 𓂂⠀꒱⠀﹕⠀ℬ��𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝒪𝑓 𝒯ℎ𝑖�� ℳ𝑒𝑠𝑠⠀.ᐟ⠀#miguel o’hara x fem!reader #miguel o’hara x reader #miguel o'hara x fem!reader #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o’hara x y/n #miguel o’hara x you #military!miguel #miguel o'hara #miguel o'hara fanfiction #miguel o’hara fanfiction #miguel o'hara angst #miguel o’hara angst #miguel o'hara smut #miguel o’hara smut #across the spiderverse

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sillylittlegirlthoughts · 6 months ago

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rekindling | chrismd

Jersey had been your home for the past 28 years. Moving away was long overdue. London seemed like the place to go, the capital. So be it. Boxes were littered all over your flat. Your staring burning holes in the cardboard. Finally standing up and stretching tearing open the first box. You brought it to the kitchen and began to make the place yours. In your bedroom, six hours later the newly placed clock read 19:47. You decided to take it easy putting on mindless television and pouring a generous glass of wine.

A box solely dedicated to knick knacks, little trinkets and a few shoeboxes filled with memories. Placing some little plants around your room along with many a teddies who you refused to let go of. The shoeboxes were all getting pushed under the bed without a question when one flung open and the contents spilled out.

It was your earliest memory box.

You found yourself neglecting the remainders of your packing and your sole focus being on the spilled shoe box. A ticket to Harry Potter and the half-blood prince. A movie you went to see with your closest childhood friends. Friends you hadn’t heard from in a while. Some photos. You remember going to print yourself. You, Chris and Arthur all squished together. Faces bright red after spending all afternoon in a trampoline park. Another one, taken with your childhood dog. The last one was just you and Chris hugging eachother after you blew out your candles on your 13th birthday cake.

You missed them. You weren’t going to lie. Nothing you could do about it. Life happens. Although. You couldn’t take your mind off the two boys. The boys you loved so dearly. An Instagram search wouldn’t hurt, right?

You knew both of them pursued YouTube and yes in the early days you kept ho to date with them. However, it seemed they had gotten incredibly big. You smiled, you couldn’t not. You were so proud of them both. They looked well and seemed to be happy where they are. You thought about following them. You thought how crazy is that thought. Then you did it. Following them both. They had thousands of followers anyway, they wouldn’t realise.

chris & arthurs pov

You didn’t pick a great time to do that, considering they were sitting together, amongst two other friends— Arthur Hill and George Clarke. Chris jumped, seeing the notification. “Y/n y/l/n?” He spoke, ArthurTV’s eyes instantly widening. He wondering why Chris mentioned her so abruptly. “What?” His voice was slightly high pitched. The other two guys sort of just glanced at one another each feeling a Deja vu feeling to your name. They watched as they scrambled instantly looking at your account.

“It’s her, mate.”

Chris noticed the confused look on his friends faces. “Y/n— she was me and Arthur’s best friend. We haven’t heard from her in forever.” George nodded, “So, are you gonna contact her?”ArthurTV flinched, startled by the idea of rekindling. He didn’t know if childhood friends could become friends again considering so many aspects of their lives had changed since then.

“Uh, I don’t know if that’s the greatest idea.” Arthur (tv) mummered and Chris gave him a glare. Chris’ head was already thinking of how great this reconnection could be. How much their other friends would just adore her. “Why not? She followed us. We followed her. We can’t just do that and move on,” Chris sighed. “Right, look. Just say hello. If she doesn’t reply it’s not the end of the world.”

“You message her Chris, you always were closer to her.”

your pov

You had been staring at the chat between you and Chris thinking of anyway to start a conversation, until he sent you one first.

chris: hi y/n, how have you been?

y/n: hi chris, i’ve been good recently got my dream job so i suppose not to bad. how have you been?

chris: you’re a writer? that’s amazing. I’ve been good. YouTube still going strong.

She smiled at that message, after all fo these years he still remembered her passion for writing fantasy novels.

a few weeks later

Chris and Arthur had made plans with Y/n, to see her again and catch up on everything they had missed. Unfortunately, Arthur has been working like crazy at the moment and Chris can’t bare to know that Y/n is in London and he is not visiting her. Therefore, it was just Chris and Y/n.

Chris embraced her in a tight hug, his arms going around her waist holding her as tight as ever. Her arms went around his neck smiling into his hoodie. They sat down at their seats at the café. “I couldn’t believe it when you followed me. I must’ve checked ten times to make sure it was definitely you.” Chris chuckled turning towards the girl who had grown to be even more beautiful than he remembered. “Yeah well, when I was moving I was putting my memory boxes away,” Chris hummed remembering how you’d gather any physical memory of occasions. “One spilled open and it was just filled with memories of the three of us. I couldn’t help but try and find you guys. Which wasn’t too hard.”

“Yeah, I can imagine. We were both extremely happy. Quite ironic actually, we were just talking about you the other day.” He spoke softly, Y/n humming along as she admired him. He had let his hair form naturally his curls forming. He had grown a beard. The first time he ever had facial hair. It was long but it suited him.

Chris later got home, the smile never fading from his lips. Once he arrived through the door he found everyone sitting on the sofa. “You’re home earlier than expected.” ArthurTV mummered. “As are you. Are you not meant to be shooting?” Chris questioned his friend who sighed and explained how the video ended up being significantly shorter than anticipated. “Someone looks giddy,” George Clarke teased, laughing as he saw his friends face. Completely lost in his thoughts about Y/n. “He’s fancied her since they were 12. Im not suprised it’s rekindled.”

Chris retorted some rude joke towards his three mates who continued teasing him profusely.

He may have left out the part when they kissed.

authors note!

hey sorry for the delay on this one and it is much shorter than i would’ve like but i didn’t want to delay putting it out any longer than i already have. i love the idea of two people rekindling so here you go.

#chrismd #sidemen #willne #calfreezy #callux #chris dixon #ethan payne #george clarkey #harry w2s #james marriott #youtube #arthur hill #arthurtv #italian

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cheshirebitch · 11 months ago

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𝔽𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕟 𝔸𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕝 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕓𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕟 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕘

Alastor x Reader (Oneshot)

It has been sixteen whole days since I last had a conversation with Alastor. It made me feel like I needed a cigarette or two because no matter how long I resist the temptation, I will always lose. Sixteen whole days since I last saw how he can have a genuine smile, how soft he could get, feel his gentle touches, and oh my stars do I miss it.

I walked past him again as he walked the other way in the hotel, our shoulders almost brushing each other. Both our eyes remained looking forward as we ignored each other’s existence. I wanted to stop walking and turn to look at him. It was just a small glance that I was wishing for but my mind wouldn’t allow it. Instead, I tightened my hold on the papers in my hand as I carefully walked to my office, softly closing the door behind me. As my fingers drifted down the black wood door, all I could think of was all the times he carefully drag his claws against my skin, the feeling of his human hands pushing my hair out of the way for him to put a necklace on me, the feeling of him braiding my hair after a hard day.

A tear dropped onto my cheek, cold and damp. Then another dripped down.

“Why can’t I let go of this?” I have done the math over and over in my head, there was just no way for him to ever consider us again. It was all just a misunderstanding but his stupid stubbornness and thick headed nature is blocking it.

My black leather chair squeaked slightly as I dragged myself towards my desk covered in papers. I slowly sorted through them all as I let my brain wander to old memories of Alastor and I. Sniffling and the sound of papers moving sounded loud without the sound of his broadcast in my office. My eyes landed on the radio in the corner of my room, and as I stared at it, I realized it was just as painful to see. My fingers were holding it tightly and before I knew it, I placed it on the ground outside of my office. When I stood up, Alastor was rounding the corner and stopped dead in his tracks. My tear stained face, his radio I used to always only have on his radio broadcast, and my shaky hands. A deep breath of air and a small sad smile as I gently shut my office door again.

My head rested on the door as I closed my eyes and cried silently for a moment, turning back around to continue my paperwork. Then he was standing behind my desk, his staff abandoned in the corner of the room where his radio once was. But as I glanced, I noticed the radio was back.

“Mon Cher…” It was his normal voice, the one I missed so dearly from our days alive. My lip quivered and chills ran down my body. He tensed at my reaction.

”Mi Amor…” Red claws tightened their hold, his back straightening before all of it melted out of his body. His smile twitched.

“It hurts to be something, but it’s worse to be nothing with you.” I breathed out, referencing how we have been treating each other.

“I apologize for causing unnecessary heartache, Mon Cher. I’m willing to listen if you’ll allow it.” My hands twitched, should I? It has been painful for him to just feel betrayed by me, for not understanding when I first tried to explain everything. I just didn’t want him to feel guilty but instead I ripped us apart.

”Will you listen this time or am I better off trying to get back into heaven?” His eyes started to switch into two emotions, regret and sadness. He walked around the desk and slowly reached his hand out to my cheek, wiping a stray tear.

”Please.” Patient crimson eyes danced with my scared eyes.

”When I saw you get shot and mauled by those hunting dogs, I fought the hunter. I begged him to call off his dogs, that you were a human and not a wild animal. By the time we got the dogs pulled off of you, you just didn’t look like you. It was- it was horrible.” My voice broke at the word horrible. My fingers played with his free hand as he was running his other in my hair.

“I tried begging the paramedics to bring you back, even though I knew there was nothing they could do. My heart shattered and remained broken till the day I died, three months after your death. I went out to where you died every night. That’s where I met the same fate as you, I got shot by another hunter.” A breathy laugh left my body as Alastor’s lip curled up in anger towards the hunter who took my life, knowing that bastard was also in hell with us.

”When I woke up, I was in heaven. I got to talk to your mother. She really was as lovely as you described, and boy does she miss her son.” Alastor’s mean mug face wiped into one of grief. I knew how much he loved his mother and wished we could have met.

“After a couple months searching for you in heaven, I found out you were in hell. Then, when I begged to be sent to hell, they refused relentlessly. That was till I found out how to become a fallen angel, and I fell. I’m so sorry, Mi Amor. I should’ve told you the day I fell. I should’ve searched harder for you before I tried to make a deal with Vox.” Tears were falling from my eyes, I couldn’t help but feel that anxiety and heartbreak all over again. The man in front of me didn’t look like my Alastor but still did in an evil way. My hands held his face in mine. Alastor gripped me into a tight embrace as he held me.

“I forgive you for not speaking the truth sooner dear, but please never leave my side again. If you have to ever sell your soul, make sure it is only to me.” I nodded my head as I breathed in his cologne. I missed it for so many months, months that felt like years. My wings spread out behind me before wrapping themselves around Alastor and I.

“I missed you so much.” I whispered against his chest. He kissed my forehead before whispering back, “I missed you most, Mon Cher. Forgive me for being a stubborn old stag.”

(As always, characters belong to their owner and the story belongs to me. If you have any requests or ideas, send them over :)! Just a short angst Drabble I thought of while listening to the song ‘Promise’ by Laufey. I will gladly try to write things for my supporters! Thank you for the love and have a great day <3!)

#fanfic #fanfiction #hazbin hotel #x reader #alastor #alastor x reader #hazbin alastor #radio demon #xreader #hazbin hotel alastor

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pommpuriinn · 7 months ago

Text

𖧧 ִ ࣪ ⋆ ٫٫ ACT: PROMISE US TOUR PART 2

┈─★synopsis- finally Joohyung gets to go back to the US which she has missed dearly.

౨౿ atlanta

౨౿ hair/makeup

౨౿ Joohyung was feeling a bit better since the whole houston concert which she reassure moa that she’s ok and to not worry about her, and enjoy the concert

౨౿ the members kept on playing with Joohyung’s braids causing her to yell ‘ya!’ into the mic making herself startled, and hitting Kai who at the time was the one of the ones messing with her braid

౨౿ “before we head to the next song I wanted to say that I love how you guys dress up for us.” Joohyung pointed at different moas. “I realized that when we go to the US moas like to follow the dress code or wear similar outfits from performances or mvs. They’re really pretty outfits and I love them, and you guys look really good.” She raised an eyebrow teasing the audience

౨౿ “how about noona finally teaches the maknaes the dance.” Yeonjun suggested, as then move to ‘the killa’ dance segment. “I guess I’ll teach them.” Joohyung playfully rolled her eyes, making the members laugh. “Make sure to use your face,” Joohyung pointed her’s. “Sexy like this.” She gave them a demo, but she didn’t get too far because Beomgyu and Kai blocked Joohyung. “Too sexy! Too sexy!” The two jokingly covered Joohyung’s face from everyone

౨౿ as they were performing ‘cat & dog’ as an encore song Joohyung took the time to read posters and followed what the poster was asking, along with dancing with moas and even the staff who Joohyung found hilarious because they were so hyped and dancing along with her

౨౿ send off

౨౿ “Joohyung you’re so pretty!”

“Woah! You really look AI! It’s crazy!”

“Honey are you even real right now?!” Moas were so infatuated with Joohyung’s visuals that they kept on complimenting her causing her to get embarrassed. “Thank you so much~ you guys are just as pretty too.” Joohyung sent them all hearts

౨౿ “Honey I just wanted to say thank you so much for saving me honestly, txt gives me so much motivation and happiness. It must be very tiring with everything you’re going through, but just know moas are always by your side defending and protecting you. We are also a shoulder you could always lean on and cry too. I love you so much, Honey.” Joohyung saw that the moa was starting to cry which made her start to cry as well. She wiped the tear that was coming out, “ah, moa~ don’t cry.” Joohyung playfully whined while trying not to cry further. “I should thank you for letting my dreams come true and for always supporting txt and letting us come and perform for you. I hope you never leave our side, and thank you moa~” Joohyung sniffled, as she lovely pat the moa’s head

౨౿ Joohyung ended up witnessing for first ever proposal and she was as shocked as Yeonjun. “Congratulations!” Joohyung clapped for the couple before taking a photo with them. Before moving on to the next moa she heard someone asked a question, “when is Beomgyu going to propose to you Honey?” Joohyung got so shy with the question her ears started turning red, which she quickly covered making everyone around her giggle. “I don’t know? You have to ask him when he comes around.”

౨౿ long story short the same moa questioned Beomgyu the same question and he got just as shy as Joohyung, and his ears ended up turning red too. He cutely started stumbling through his words trying to answer the question

౨౿ new york day 1

౨౿ hair/makeup

౨౿ another soundcheck moment to mention is the viral boyfriend Beomgyu look he was giving. “Do you like Beomgyu’s look?” Joohyung asked moas who responded quickly loving it. “Good because it was me who to put a little bit blush on him and did his hair. He looks soo cute~” Joohyung squealed, making the members coo at how cute she was explaining

౨౿ Joohyung’s glowy sparkly makeup was a hot topic in the makeup world along with all her makeup looks throughout the tour

౨౿ Joohyung was definitely in a playful mode, as she was spanking the members’ butts making moa laugh at her silly antics on stage

౨౿ in the previous stops some members have accidentally dropped their fan during ‘sugar rush ride’ and it was now Joohyung’s turn to experience the little embarrassment of dropping the fan right when the camera is on her. She laughed it off instead of beating herself up about it

౨౿ Joohyung saw many pride flags waving around which she pointed at the flag and sent hearts at the moas waving it, including seeing many hold up palestine flags which she also pointed at them sending big hearts at the moas with them

౨౿ Joohyung went so hard at the choreo for ‘no rules’ it’s another one of her favorite bsides. Both her and Yeonjun were going around jumping and dancing using all their last energy

౨౿ send off

౨౿ during send off Joohyung saw that the moa she was with was shaking and saying ‘sorry’ because she wasn’t being fast pulling up her camera app. Joohyung gently held the moa’s shaking hand, “it’s ok. Take your time, I’m not leaving you so soon.”

౨౿ “can i do a heart on your cheek while we pose?” The moa asked. “Yeah! It’s ok.” Joohyung even leaned in more so the moa’s hand was touching her cheek

౨౿ Joohyung did a little tiktok dance with a moa, but she couldn’t keep a straight face so the whole time she was holding in her laughter

౨౿ even though Yeonjun asked to keep the pride flag filled with moas’ signatures and the staff said ‘no’ Joohyung asked the moa if she could keep it. Of course the moa said ‘yes’ and Joohyung grabbed it and the staff member tried to say ‘no’ to Joohyung too, and even tried to take it out of her hands. “No it’s mine.” Joohyung pulled it away from the staff member’s reach

౨౿ new york day 2

౨౿ hair/makeup

౨౿ Joohyung made all the members have a blushy look during soundcheck which moas thanked her for her service

౨౿ “New York!” Joohyung yelled after the dance break for ‘deja vu’ while moa screamed with excitement. All the members chuckled hearing Joohyung yell

౨౿ Joohyung was mouthing “runaway, runaway with me” to a moa causing them to have tears in their eyes, making Joohyung pout not wanting to make the moa cry

౨౿ again Joohyung’s body was hurting and she was trying her hardest not to show it, but once it was time for ments everyone could tell Joohyung was having a hard time as she was trying to rub out the pain from certain points of her body

౨౿ members started to really worry when Joohyung was hanging her head low and trying to blink the dizziness away, sometimes Joohyung would clinch on a member’s shirt or sleeve trying to balance herself

౨౿ after ‘magic island’ Taehyun couldn’t take it no more and walked Joohyung backstage so the staff members could take care of Joohyung. “Noona needs to cool down a bit longer, so don’t worry moa.” Yeonjun tried to reassure everyone. “Mm, noona works too hard and just needs a bit more time.” Kai agreed before changing the topic

౨౿ the members even dragged on the ending ments because they didn’t want to perform without Joohyung, so as they kept on looking behind them seeing if Joohyung was walking back they would keep the conversation going. “Oh-our honey is back!” Soobin smiled at Joohyung, who was walking back while fixing her ear-in. “I’m back~” she sang

౨౿ moas noticed the healing patches they placed on places where Joohyung was experiencing pain along with giving her an updo instead of keeping her hair down. Many speculate that Joohyung was going through heat exhaustion

౨౿ send off

౨౿ Joohyung brought out Bibi to the send off making moas jealous of NY moa Joohyung even let moas pet Bibi let how she let houston moa pet Poki

౨౿ “honey please promise to rest lots when you get home.” Joohyung could tell moas were really worried about her which made her feel really bad. “I will try my best, thank you.” She smiled before moving on

౨౿ just like how Poki was trying on gifts Bibi did the same and she was very vocal about it, “I think she’s saying thank you.” Joohyung was laughing at how Bibi was meowing at everyone who was gifting her everything

౨౿ “oh my god! You painted this?” A moa handed Joohyung a beautiful painting of Joohyung during ‘black mamba’ era. “Yes!” Joohyung looked at the moa and back at the painting making everyone laugh. “You’re so talented moa!”

౨౿ rosemont day 1

౨౿ hair (black bow)/makeup

౨౿ moas thought that Joohyung looked like those female Tom and Jerry cat girls but goth version with her dark makeup + piercings

౨౿ after with somewhat rest and not performing for two days Joohyung felt a bit better not fully, but enough to perform well

౨౿ despite her dark makeup and cold stares Joohyung was being clingy towards any member for example; rubbing her cheek against Kai’s arm while he was talking, holding onto Taehyun’s shirt while following him around, playing with Beomgyu’s fingers during a ment, holding Yeonjun’s hand while watching the maknaes dance to ‘the killa’, and giving back hugs to Soobin while resting her cheek against his back

౨౿ “I know I mention this before but…I really love these outfits you guys wear for us.” Joohyung points towards the second level. “I hope you guys are all comfortable and able to dance with the tall heels.” She chuckled, seeing moas look at their feet

౨౿ Joohyung unleashed her boba eyes during ‘isytt’ making moas squeal every time she was shown on the big screen even the members looked at her with warm eyes

౨౿ send off

౨౿ despite all the hardships Joohyung is going through she still manages to have a smile on her face for the people who love and support txt

౨౿ during this send off many moas made it their mission to tell Joohyung how much they admire her and constantly giving her compliments, and how strong she is to keep performing no matter how tried she is. Hearing all this was so overwhelming for Joohyung, but in a good way. That she was getting teary eye just hearing everyone

౨౿ towards the end Joohyung was signing a page from the moa’s dairy that was gifted to them while the moa poured her heart out about how much she loves Joohyung and even naming a few reasons out of 100 on why she loves Joohyung. Her speech broke Joohyung, as she no longer could hold in her tears and a single diamond tear fell on the page creating a little tear drop stain

౨౿ Joohyung profusely was thanking moa for coming and for being there for her before officially leaving. It was definitely one of the more heartfelt moments from the whole send off part of tour

౨౿ rosemont day 2

౨౿ hair/makeup

౨౿ during soundcheck Joohyung brought out both Bibi and Poki to no knows surprise both cats loved the attention, as they were acting as if it was their show even meowing into the mic making the group burst out laughing kinda surprised at the cats actions

౨౿ Joohyung did dress both cats up with the gifts moas were giving them and they even had fansite photos taken of them causing twitter have their fun with the cute cat photos

౨౿ one of many funny moments created in this tour is when they had to kick their mic stands during ‘loser lover’ and Joohyung completely missing the aim of her mic stand. She stared at it in defeat before kicking it harder than she’s supposed to because she was a little mad at her aim

౨౿ while Joohyung was going hard at dancing her ear-in fell out of her ear and as the song got to the climax the confetti canons went off scaring the crap out of Joohyung and many moas. She yelped into her mic making the members startled at first, but then laughed it off seeing that Joohyung wasn’t in any danger

౨౿ as the group was performing ‘trust fund baby’ Joohyung was seen zoning out just nodding to the music luckily not forgetting to sing her lines

౨౿ to moas it was hard to view Joohyung as sexy with her cute hairstyle and makeup during ‘the killa’ nevertheless she still caused imaginary nose bleeds with her bold moves

౨౿ Taehyun accidentally tripped poor Joohyung while pulling her with him to run full speed to the main stage so they can dance to ‘happily ever after’ together

౨౿ singing ‘blue spring’ brought back all the memories from the previous tour along with lollapalooza. Joohyung was done showing her vulnerable side again so she tried her hardest to keep the tears from flowing

౨౿ send off

౨౿ “are these the freebies you guys hand around?” Joohyung pointed at the clear bag filled with freebies. “Yeah, want some?” The moa offered. “Yes please~” Joohyung held out both palms waiting. “Wahh, thank you!” Joohyung smiled, while looking into the bags of fanmade pcs with sticker

౨౿ Joohyung was surprised seeing little kids waiting to met her. “Hello there!” She leaned over the barricade, trying to reach them better. Joohyung playfully ruffled their hair before saying her ‘byes’

౨౿ “is that my cereal?” Joohyung snickered, while reaching for the cereal box to sign it. Joohyung’s box was coco puffs for the general mills collab

౨౿ “the amount of Jooie egg pcs I have signed this whole tour is insane.” Joohyung was slightly regretting all the close up photos she takes for her pcs. “Please keep taking egg pcs Joohyung.” Moas begged, making Joohyung chuckled at how cute their begging is

౨౿ washington (last one!!)

౨౿ hair/makeup

౨౿ welcome back short hair Joohyung! She was missed by many including the members who have a habit with playing with their noona’s short hair

౨౿ “hi I’m Honey and I have short hair again! Do you like it?” Joohyung beamed, hearing all the ‘yes’ in the crowd. “That’s good. Let’s live it up since it’s sadly that last US stop of act: promise. But let’s not be sad because this isn’t a ‘goodbye’.” Joohyung brought everyone’s spirits up

౨౿ Joohyung gave it all she got making sure there wasn’t any regrets with her performance, especially because it was the last night

౨౿ Joohyung let out a tear during ‘deja vu’ like how she did in their Inkigayo performance making moa go crazy with her acting skills

౨౿ “our actress Joohyung!” Soobin clapped, as the group was doing their ment. “I save that move for the last show since it’s very special.” Joohyung mimicked her tear falling. “Noona you do it so easy~” Taehyun dragged out the word, making her laugh

౨౿ Beomgyu kept on messing with Joohyung’s hair causing her to spank his butt to try and discipline him. Clearly it didn’t work because he kept on doing it

౨౿ “Kai let’s fucking go!” Joohyung yelled, while Kai was getting his guitar to have his solo moment. It hyped up Kai and moa, making moa’s cheers louder and Kai gaining even more confidence

౨౿ it was the last ‘dreamer’ Joohyung zoom in which Joohyung slowly slid her hand up to her neck while giving a seductive look into the camera, giving moa a moment to remember

౨౿ “I think moa really liked noona’s short hair version of ‘the killa.” Yeonjun teased. “The killa~” Joohyung immediately sang while doing the hip movements, earning screams. “I agree too!” Beomgyu cutely raised his hand. “Let’s make noona perform it one last time for us.” Soobin added. “Yes, noona should be right in the center.” Kai guided Joohyung to the center. “Ok, one, two, three!” Taehyun counted down before singing. Joohyung tried to wash away the embarrassment before starting which somewhat worked, as she winked and blew a kiss towards the camera

౨౿ Joohyung was making sure to try and thank everyone from every section for coming since it was already the end of the concert. Joohyung made sure to take her time reading all the posters she could before heading to the center where the screens from above slowly came down ending the final US stop of the tour

౨౿ send off

౨౿ “did you cut your hair?!” A moa asked while admiring the new look. “No, I just had extensions in since it takes while for my hair to grow long.” Joohyung cleared the air

౨౿ “honey we’re going to miss Bibi and Poki too.” Joohyung sadly didn’t bring either of the cats to join them during send off. “They are definitely going to miss all the attention you guys gave them for sure.” Joohyung smiled at them while signing their pc

౨౿ Joohyung gave lots of girlfriend material poses for moa’s pictures

౨౿ during the send off moa got to see a clingy Joohyung up close, as she was hugging Beomgyu’s arm while waiting for her turn with moas, and they weren’t complaining because of how cute she looks

౨౿ Joohyung blew lots of kisses before making her way to the exit door officially done with this leg of the tour

#txt 6th member #txt additional member #kpop added member #kpop additional member #kpop female addition #kpop female oc #txt female member #txt female addition

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ssaaaronmontgomery · 1 year ago

Note

HIII i was scrolling through ig and i came across this video and i immediately thought of aaron when he's away from a case and then reader and their kids facetime him AAAAAAA IT'S SO CUTE I LOVE DAD!AARON SM🥰🥰💗💗 (also im new to the fandom and this is my first time requesting and i love your stories sm anyways have a nice day/evening ahead!) https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cv-QhCIAx7R/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Missing You

Warnings: Mentions of cases, a little sad stuff because he can't be home :(, much fluff and happy stuff 🥰, not proofread, let me know if I missed anything<3

Word count: 943

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x fem!reader

A/n: Hi darling! Thank you so much for coming to me with your first request 🥹🫶. I hope you like it 🥰. That video was so adorable by the way and Aaron would definitely do that 😭 I love our man 🥹.

Forever tags: @greg-montgomery @boredelle @hotchsdoormat @ssahotchnerr @cr1minalskies @beardedhotchh @hotchnerbau @ssamorganhotchner @mrs-ssa-hotch @canuck-eh @luvehotch @callm3c0nfus3d

Hotch: @14buddy22 @pastanoodles11 @htchnr

Let me know if you want to be added to my tags 🫶

Whenever Aaron is away on a case you all miss him dearly just as he misses you. He does his best to keep in contact with you throughout his day and then before the kiddos go to bed he tries to make sure he can facetime you all before they go to sleep.

The little Hotchner bugs are always excited when they get to see their dad even if it's only over a video call. He still manages to make it fun for all of you even if he can't actually be there. It's always a nice way to end his day. It's more than just missing you all but he also needs to make sure his little family is okay. Especially if it's a case involving kids. He always calls more when children are involved.

"Daddy's calling! Answer it answer it!" Your little girl is yelling excitedly when Aaron's contact pops up and you immediately press the answer button. When his face shows on the screen you smile and wave at him before the little Hotchner bugs steal the device from you, not that you mind.

"Daddy! Look look! I made this for you for when you come back home!" Little girl Hotchner holds up a drawing she had made earlier that day. It's the four of you, or at least it's supposed to be. It's really just four colourful blobs. One is you, another is Aaron, and the other two are her and Jack.

"And I made this for you in school!" Jack shows Aaron his own art piece which is definitely easier to make out but both are equally loved by you and Aaron.

"Those are both beautiful! They should be in an art museum." Aaron smiles big and it warms your heart.

You all tell Aaron about how your day went and he listens with that same grin as his little bugs ramble on and on happily. Jack's sister tends to go off topic more often than not but Aaron doesn't mind. Neither of you do. He's just happy to hear their voices and see their faces.

"Daddy what happened! You look like a kitty!" Your little girl exclaims when the face of an animated cat covers Aaron's and moves when he turns his head or talks. You're giggling as he talks to them and pretends not to know what they're talking about. Then it turns to a dog and Jack laughs as your little girl gets a confused, but joyful expression on her face.

"Daddy, can you do a T-rex? Please?" Jack asked as he looks at the screen in front of you all.

"Oh no. What's that sound?" You can hear what you think is Aaron imitating a dinosaur and then the dog face goes away and is replaced by Jack's request.

"Rawr!" All three of you giggle when you see it and you hear Aaron's big laugh come through the speaker and your heart flutters at the sound. You miss him but you understand he can't be there as much as you all wish he could and that's why you always make as much time for things like this as you all can when he's away. It's important to all of you that you spend time together even if it's just a video call. It's still special to all of you.

Eventually you have to end the call because the little loves need to go to sleep, everyone is disappointed and they both bed for five more minutes. Of course you give in. They miss Aaron and you won't deny them that time with him as long as it's not insanely late and as long as he doesn't need to leave so he can work.

After the five minutes is up, Aaron tells them it's time for bed and they both frown but nod in understanding.

"I miss you all and I love you. I want you both to be good for your mother, okay? I should be home in a couple of days and then we can do whatever you want. How does that sound?" He smiles at the end and they both cheer up and nod eagerly.

After you all say goodbye and hang up you don't get them ready to go to sleep right away. Instead you all make a little video telling Aaron you love him and saying good night then send it to him. You know he feels a little down when you have to end the call and you want him to have something to bring his spirits up a little bit.

That's when you finally get the Hotchner babes ready and give them their nightly forehead kiss good night. You always give them both two kisses each when Aaron is away. One from you and one from him. Which they both return to you. One for you and one for their dad.

It's hard to be away from Aaron but you know it's even harder for him. When he's away you still have the little ones. It always makes you sad so you're constantly sending him photos and videos of you and your sweethearts so he still has some of the feeling of being home. It helps him get through those rough cases and he saves every single memory you send him.

When he finally gets home he's been so kept up with everything from the calls and messages that it almost feels like he wasn't even away. You make sure to keep him well informed on all three of you so he doesn't feel like he's missing out as much and he's incredibly grateful to you for it.

#anon🩶#aaron hotchner #hotch #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner x fem!reader #aaron hotchner x female reader #aaron hotchner x you #hotch x reader #hotch x fem!reader #hotch x female reader #hotch x you #aaron hotchner blurb #hotch blurb #aaron hotchner drabble #hotch drabble #dad!hotch #mon answers🩷#hotch🌜

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zer0brainc3lls · 6 months ago

Text

i bet on losing dogs pt2

masterlist

story summary: what if in the death cure (movie canon) newtmas was canon with a slight plot change added to the mix?

TW LIST: typical dystopian movie stuff (guns, killing etc), s3lf mutilation (tearing at open wounds), description of said wounds in detail, very slight mention of past su1cide attempt (its literally one sentence), cursing (if thats even a tw), thoughts of dying, (if i missed any let me know!!)

word count: 9697

authors note at the end!!!

Soon after Brenda found Newt and Thomas in the empty storage room, a plan was decided. Thomas was going to be used as bait to get teresa away from public view so they could kidnap her and take her to an abandoned church not to far from Lawrence and his army, newt wasn't technically necessary for the plan to work but thomas literally refused to cooperate until gally agreed he could come. After.. The map room incident Gally recognised Thomas had the flare and informed Brenda and Frypan pretty much immediately after Newt ran after Thomas, well that's what Brenda told him anyway. While said plan was being worked out Newt tried to ignore the way the others, mainly Gally, looked at Thomas. Whenever Thomas made even a slightly sudden movement eyes would widen slightly, or brows would furrow into tight lines. The sight made newts insides bubble in quiet yet hot rage, they trusted him not even 2 hours before and now they practically jump whenever he moves. Well except for Brenda, which Newt is grateful for. When gally said they should all get to bed Newt quickly asked Brenda if there was anything he could do to slow down the flare, since she has spent way longer in the scorch than he has.

“Well look, his symptoms based on what you have told me have progressed.. Rapidly. Very rapidly. That's probably because of y’know.. Wicked and all that so just try to keep him calm.” Brenda's sympathetic words ringing in his head as he sat up against a concrete wall of a room full of crates with god knows what where gally had stuffed them saying “all the sleeping quarters are overcrowded as is so you're just going to have to make due.” to be fair, newt can't complain. This is the nicest place he has slept in months compared to in trucks and tents, at least they had a door and a roof.

Thomas, Brenda and frypan had all fallen asleep quickly after they arrived. Frypan leaning against one of the many wooden crates with his arms crossed and his legs sprawled out, Brenda laid on her back with her hands under her head and legs crossed, and Thomas sat to Newts left with their hands intertwined as his head rests against the concrete wall with his mouth hanging open slightly as he sleeps. Newt can't allow his muscles to relax into sleep, all he can think about is the days ahead. Is Teresa going to cooperate? If she doesn't, what will they do? And even if she does will they be caught? Kidnapped? Tortured? Sucked dry of whatever wicked wants from them? Thomas killed due to his infection? Even if they find Minho without being caught, will Thomas turn anyway before they get the cure? Will Newt have to watch as Thomas' soft yet determined eyes he loves so dearly turn hollow and somehow full of bloodlust?

“You trying to cut my blood supply off or what?” Newt hears Thomas murmur playfully as to not wake the others, it's only when he speaks Newt realizes how hard he was gripping onto Thomas’s hand as his thoughts spiraled. Newt loosened his grip before murmuring back “sorry tommy, go back to sleep” he says trying to mask the clear exhaustion in his voice, thomas snorts like an idiot before saying “haha very funny, whats up?” Newt cocks his head slowly towards Thomas with his brows raised before facing away from him again, the humor from Thomas’s reaction slowly trickling out of Newt. Newt feels familiar hands slither around his waist, pulling him close. Thomas doesn’t push any harder and simply just holds him, patiently waiting for a reply. Newt doesn't know how exactly to word his thoughts properly, when he himself cant pinpoint why he feels so anxious. There's always been a risk of Thomas and everyone else in the group getting hurt so why is it bugging him now?? “What if something happens to you?” Newt says, avoiding Thomas' eyes. Newt can almost hear the wheels turn in Thomas's brain as he clenches his jaw in thought. “That's always been a possibility, you of all people know that-” “i know! I know.” Newt lowers his voice so as to not wake the others, he turns to face Thomas's large but at the moment sympathetic eyes. Before newt even registers what he's about to say he bursts out,

“What if I freeze up again?!” he whisper shouts. “You won't.'' Thomas replies sternly, his brows furrowing as if that's the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard. “No i'm being serious-” thomas grabs both sides of newts face firmly cutting him off. “You. won't. I'm absolutely positive, if you can't trust your own judgment then trust mine.” Thomas lightly shakes his face to emphasize his point, his brows softening and all sternness pours out of him as he softly smiles. “Good that?”

“Good that.” The words practically spilling from Newt's tongue, Thomas had a strange way of captivating the blonde into believing things, jumping into plans, and overall just following him and trusting him blindly. And at the end of the day, Newt truly does trust Thomas. Thomas’s Judgment got them out of the maze, away from Janson, through the scorch, back to wicked to save minho. Newt sometimes wonders if he has the same effect on Thomas, he's pretty positive he does. It's funny, they’re both so stubborn and refuse to back down and fight others' opinions but when it's each other they’re so easily convinced. They work so well together as if they are intertwined by invisible string, even in fights the work so flawlessly together as if they share a brain. Thomas is Newt's other half, his symbol of hope, a prayer for a better tomorrow.

Suddenly Newt found himself being held by familiar strong arms, his back pressed against Thomas’s chest with one of Newt's legs draped over his legs. Despite Newt being taller he found himself under Thomas, his fingers tracing along Thomas's knuckles. He listened to how Thomas's breathing slowly steaded into a repetitive rhythm and felt his muscles relax against Newt's back, until he too felt sleep calling to him.

—

The next day Newt mostly spent his time making sure Thomas was calm, cool and collected to see the person they were about to.. retrieve. When Newt wasn't watching Thomas like a hawk he was mostly with Gally and the others going over the plan, what to do if B happens instead of A, where to lure Teresa, how to keep her in one spot and successfully transport her to the church without causing a ruckus.

Gally informed them that the whole city was under curfew and there should be almost no one about, so getting her from point A to point B shouldn't be too much of a problem. As long as everything goes according to plan they should have no issues until they get to the church, that's where the real problem lies.. Newt is pretty confident in Gally's interrogation skills and it has nothing to do with Teresa because he's also pretty confident it shouldn't be super hard to make her cooperate. The real problem lies with Thomas, and his new.. Temper. Since the tunnel he's only really had two episodes of the flare really getting to him, first when he punched gally and second in the map room. Newt is almost positive the interrogation is going to at the very least be quite eventful, and at its worst Teresa ends up shot, which isn't exactly ideal. Despite his own personal feelings towards her which aren't exactly positive he's going to try and make sure thomas doesn't end up killing her or seriously injuring her, for the sake of everyone besides teresa.

The next thing Newt knows he's standing next to gally crouched behind a wall watching as Thomas distracts Teresa while also waiting for the signal. The mere sight of them speaking his skin crawl with repulsion and anger, it's all part of the plan, slim yourself. Newt thinks silently to himself, while still clenching his jaw. He keeps his eyes locked on thomas patiently waiting for signal, after a moment or two thomas nods him and gally over.

—

Once gally had her tied up, Newt walked slowly behind Teresa, he firmly gripped the black bag that was tied over her head and yanked it off. He made his way back to his original seating spot where he watched gally tie her up not even a moment ago, Newt couldn't ignore the fact that Teresa was staring at Thomas, as if he's going to help her. “I'm going to start off simple, where's minho.” gally begins, he lifts a chair in his arm as he walks over to Teresa “you guys don't seriously think-” the bang of Gally’s chair hitting the ground interrupts her. “Don't look at him. Why are you looking at him? Look at me. He's not going to help you.” Teresa's eyes flick towards Thomas expectedly, almost pleading with him. The look on her face makes Newt feel positivity sick to his core. Newt looks to Thomas and sees him cross armed looking back at her, his face is stone cold and his eyes are hollow.

“We know you have minho in the building, where.” Gallys voice is laced with authority that sounds practiced, like a record player on repeat. “He's with the others in holding.. sublevel3” she replies reluctantly, her gaze on the floor. “How many others?” Newt asks cooly, he glares at Teresa and all he can think about is that night with the right arm. The screams and cries while bombs rained down, gun powder, flesh, blood. So much blood. How can Teresa think what she is doing is right?? All this suffering and torture for a cure that probably doesnt even exist?? The present world is beyond saving, why wouldn't she want to start anew? It was right there, they were all so close.

“You can't get in without a thumb print id-'' Teresa's voice stops the swirling in Newt's mind. “That's why you're going to come with us!” Gally says condescendingly. “Do we need her though?” Thomas announces, after a moment of silence he stands up and pulls out his knife from the inside of his jacket. “Not all of her!” he gestures to Teresa with the knife in his hand almost manically. His voice sounds almost humorous? In Between the cracks Newt can tell, Thomas is slipping again. “Thomas.” Newt warns. “No seriously! Do we need her? Hmm?” Thomas questioned out loud, he walks over to her almost mockingly and crouches down in front of her “oh yeah that's right! We have these trackers, property of WICKED and all! So turns out you are needed. So either you cooperate.. Or i just cut your fucking hand off!” his voice drips with insanity, Newt doesn't have to look at him to know his eyes are large black pools with hunger for blood. Newt's eyes lock with Brenda's, her face screaming in desperation to him DO SOMETHING!! Brenda's right, Newt does need to intervene. Despite that seeing Teresa's hand being cut off would be an amazing sight, the flare feeds on blood and adrenaline and that's the exact opposite of what Thomas needs right now.

“Greenie i SWEAR-” Newt is already walking over to Thomas as he spits out “slim it gally.” not even bothering to look in gally direction he wraps his fingers thomas’s left wrist which is strained tightly around his knife, his eyes flicking in and out of sainty. Newt runs his hand through Thomas's hair completely ignoring the pure terror in Teresa's eyes, Thomas's body relaxes slightly before he quickly stands up and storms back to where he was sitting before, he sits down and twirls the knife in his hand. Newt sits back down not listening to Gallys yells as he berates Teresa further, instead he listens to Thomas's heavy breathing and watches as his head twitches occasionally trying to fight the flare.

“Keep him calm”

Newt pries the knife out of Thomas’s hand with his left hand and holds Thomas's now empty hand in his right, Thomas grasps onto Newt's hand, almost crushing it. Their fingers interlocked so tightly Newt can almost feel Thomas's bones, he squeezes back but not as hard and rubs the back of Thomas's thumb with his own. Thomas’s iron grip slowly becomes almost doughy, his head no longer twitching every few seconds. Newt notes how Gally has seemed to stop yelling and stomping around like a mad man so Newt assumes the interrogation is over, Gally lets Teresa out of her restraints so she can get everyone's tags out.

“Thanks” he hears Thomas murmur, his eyes full of care and thankfulness, back to normal. “What would bloody do without me?” he murmurs back teasingly, Thomas rolls his eyes playfully, a warm smile still remains.

Gally gets his tag out first, then frypan, Thomas and now Newt sits in the chair. Teresa was pretty quiet while removing the others tags, she attempted to make small talk with Thomas but Newt practically drilled a hole between her eyes when she did so she promptly shut up.

“This is going to sting-” “yeah i figured.” “so try to relax.” he awaits for the scrape but after a second or two nothing happens. “go on then?” “When's the last time Brenda was treated?” “oh y’know just before you called wicked.” he snaps, venom practically running down his chin. “Wait what? She should've turnt by now-” “just do the fucking thing” his voice raising, hes already been around her long enough then needed let alone speaking. Without warning Teresa cuts into Newt's neck, pain simmers into his nape as if boiling water was poured into his veins. “She got her treatment from you, correct?” Teresa asks almost hesitantly. “yes.” Newt replies bluntly. Teresa once again without warning cuts into his nape, slightly deeper this time before pulling out his tag. She uses a clean cloth to wipe up the blood, she presses hard as she does this. Once she's finished Newt quickly stands before walking off to check out the wicked suits.

Once dinner rolled around it was actually quite peaceful, Gally had brought some rations that compared to newts usual palate may as well be a 5 star meal. Conversation flowed and even Gally seemed to be in a good mood! This was one of the most peaceful moments they've all had in awhile, no talk of wicked, no fear, just a bunch of teens laughing and talking. After they get minho maybe it will be like this every night, hearing everyone laugh especially Thomas fills Newt up with pure hope. After tomorrow they could really be free. Actually free.

Rations are slowly eaten, conversation turns to yawns and heavy eyelids and almost everyone except Newt, Thomas and Gally remain. “Hey I’m gonna go to bed, you coming?” Thomas asks Newt as he stands up to go find a relatively comfortable corner. “Yeah I’m done too-“ “Newt can you stay for a minute? I need to talk you.” Gally interrupts, his face not of anger and authority but.. is that pity? “Uh sure.. Tommy you go I’ll be there in abit'' Thomas shrugs and walks off into the darkness of the church, once he’s no longer visible newt turns back around expectantly with a brow raised, “not here.” Gally insists before rising to his feet, Newt curiously follows him to the back of the church away from the others secluded fully by darkness. Newt can barely see Gally avoiding his gaze in what Newt can barely make out as guilt? “So what’s up?” Newt asks, getting straight to the point.

“You know Thomas can’t come right?” Gally stated, looking towards Newt. Anger bubbles in his stomach once he says this. “What?! Why??” Newt perfectly knows why, Gally thinks he’ll compromise the mission, go full crank. “We both know he’s a liability, he’s a danger not just for Minho but for you to.” “What are you on about??” Newt spits back violently, not caring if he wakes the others. “I know I haven’t seen you in.. however long but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out you care about the greenie. And if it were to come down to you or him you would pick him, you don’t exactly have a fucking track record of putting yourself above others. The mission can’t afford that, Minho can’t afford that.”

Newt goes to say something back but his throat doesn't let him, because the thing is. Gally’s right. If it came down to Newt or Thomas he’d pick Thomas in a heartbeat, but Newt had made a promise to him. you're not leaving my side. Got it? The words ring in Newt's ears, he can't leave Thomas now. He's at his most vulnerable state. He needs him more than anything, he can't go back on his word. Especially not now. He can't ask Thomas not to save Minho when he's the reason they are even able to do this, he can't leave him. “I can't leave him gally, i made him a promise.” gally’s face tightens in frustration, annoyance more than anything. “You can't ask that of me.” Newt adds on firmly. Gally of all people knows that arguing with Newt is a losing battle, despite that he still searches every inch of his face for even a slight chink in his armor. Newt doesn't back down, he keeps his face stone cold. “You can't ask him to do that.” his voice lowering slightly, his brows furrow. “What if he cranks out newt?! What then?!” he begins to shout but lowers his voice, his face scrunched tightly. “He won't. I’m going to get him that bloody serum even if it fucking kills me.” before Gally even has a moment to register Newt's words he's already turned on his heels storming off in rage.

Newt manages to find Thomas in a dark corner, the only thing illuminating him is the candles lit inside the church and even then he can barely make out that Thomas's hand is up his shirt scratching rapidly. “Don't scratch love you'll only make it worse” his head flicks up rapidly, his eyes wide full of terror for a second. He stares at Newt quizzically, his brows furrowed as if Newt’s a puzzle before his eyes light up and soften in recognition. The sight before him makes Newt's heart pang with guilt, he slowly walks over to Thomas and sits beside him. He extends his arms and Thomas accepts and allows Newt to wrap his arms around him as he always does, Newt leans across Thomas and grabs Thomas’s bag which was next to him before placing it at his side so he can rummage around for a cloth. He finds the cloth he used the night before. Guess it’ll have to do. He thought as he bit his tongue, Newt gestured the cloth to Thomas. “Are you bleeding?” He mumbles as if he can't see the fact that Thomas's hands are covered in blood. Thomas nods, almost ashamed. “C'mon I'll patch you up, you need new bandages anyway.” “Are you sure? It's super gross- “ “yes i'm sure. Slim it and turn around.'' Newt cuts him off quickly, Thomas turns to face him and lifts his shirt and discards it on top of his jacket that's beside him. Newt rummages around in Thomas's bag for the last of his bandages and rubbing alcohol, he turns to face him and the sight horrifies him. The once 3 almost straight lines are almost torn apart and scratched up, dried and fresh blood drips down his chest, black and green oily puss along side it. The once thin and small black veins are twice their size and triple the length, the darkness fully visible and they pulse like worms beneath his skin. Newt knows that flare victims tend to unwillingly hurt themselves, ripping out their own eyes, biting off fingers and such. But seeing Thomas do that breaks his heart into pieces. How could it progress so fast?? Usually it takes weeks, sometimes a month to even get to this stage and it's been days.

Stress. Of course. No amount of love and softenness and deter that, their amount to go march into wicked for fuck sake, of course its progressing rapidly what else could Newt expect?? That Thomas is somehow super human and that the flare would progress slowly?? How stupid. How fucking stupid of him to hope. Of course this would happen! Why wouldnt it? Thomas is already showing late signs of the flare, self mutilation, aggressive speech and that look in his eyes moments before, is his memory already deteriorating? How long until he forgets the mission at hand? Until he forgets minho? brenda? Frypan? Jorge? Gally? Him??

“So doc how's it looking?” Thomas says sarcastically in an attempt to cheer him up. Newt rolls his eyes before swallowing the lump in his throat, he drenches the cloth in rubbing alcohol, he quickly wipes down Thomas’s hands because there’s no way all that gore and pus could be comfortable, counts down from three and presses the cloth to Thomas's chest. Thomas groans in pain but doesn't flinch or move away from him, his eyes sewn shut and lips pressed together tightly. Any humor left in him seeping from his wounds, Newt can feel Thomas's rapid heartbeat as he cleans out the smaller cuts and scrapes. The smell nauseates Newt, once he finishes he pauses for a moment giving Thomas a minute to breath. “I'm up to the hard part now, i'll make it quick I promise” Thomas grips onto Newt's shoulder, takes in a large gulp of air before nodding quickly.

Newt drenches the cloth again and counts down quickly, Thomas's grip tightens slightly as he does. He quickly places the cloth on his chest, his fingers moving as fast as they can to get the pus out. As seconds pass Thomas's grip only tightens painfully and he starts mumbling incoherently to himself almost angrily, as if he's arguing with his brain to stay put. “Can you go any slower??” Thomas grumbles angrily, Newt ignores him knowing it's not Thomas speaking to him. After a few more seconds Newt removes his hand “There. All done.” he says urgently, Thomas’s eyes flick open. He looks at his chest, then Newt, his chest, then finally he locks his gaze onto Newt. His eyes were full of curiosity. Before Newt can even ask what's wrong Thomas brings his hand up to Newt's head, his fingers softly run through his hair all the way to the back of his head and eventually down his neck. Fire trails whenever his hand moves. His hand finds its way to Newt's jaw, Thomas cups it with his hand and turns Newt's head as if he's looking at an ancient sculpture. “are you ok??” Newt says slowly, crimson spreads across his face.

“You're so.. Familiar.”

Whatever is left of Newt's heart sinks all the way down to his feet, Thomas, the only who has seen him at his worst, Thomas the boy he would sneak around with, Thomas with his chapped lips and eyes that seek him out in a crowd, thomas who held him in cold nights in the scorch doesn't know who he is. His whole body feels heavy, his eyes fill with tears that he tries to hold back. “What do you remember?” he manages to choke out. “I care about you, I know that much. And I trust you.” better than nothing. Thomas’s eyes search his face, no freckle, acne scar, or facial feature left unturned. Newt locks his eyes onto Thomas’s staring into his soul, trying to see exactly what he's thinking. “You.. keep a knife in your waistband?” Newt nods at the fact, he doesn't know how to help him remember. He takes Thomas's hand that isn't on his face and intertwines it with his, Thomas reciprocates without hesitation. “I have known you ever since I can remember and I can't remember your name!” he announces harishily. “It's ok take your time” Thomas leans in closer, fully examining Newt's face again. His eyes desperate and angry with himself, he squints as if he’ll find something that will jog his memory. He's impossibly close, his nose almost brushing with Newts. his heart leaps out of his chest at the closeness, his eyes flick to thomas’s lips and back up to his eyes.

Newt leans in a little before pausing, Thomas doesn't back away. Newt closes the distance between them and kisses Thomas impossibly soft, as if he would shatter into pieces if he's not careful. Thomas holds onto Newt's jaw like a lifeline, like it's the only thing keeping him from slipping away. Newt pulls away barely, Thomas's lips and eyes glistening in the candlelight that illuminates the church. his lips brush against Thomas's as he mumbles, “does that jog your memory?” Thomas's face sparks in recognition before mumbling back “hmm maybe another would do the trick.” Newt hums back before kissing him again, a little harder this time. Thomas pulls Newt in by the waist, Newt basically ends up in his lap. The kiss is impossibly slow and tender and he's loving every second of it, time stops and for a few minutes it's just them, No Wicked, no Janson, no fear for the next day. It's just teeth against teeth, smiles against smiles, shushing each other and holding back laughter. Warmth courses through Newt's entire body, this is the best he's felt in forever. His heart stitching itself back together, it feels like they have all the time in the world.

Eventually lips part, limbs untangle and bandages are done and it's just them holding hands in that small dark corner of the church. Thomas’s head leans on Newt's shoulder, his breathing soft and steady as he peacefully sleeps. Newt refuses to worry about the next day, or anything for that matter. This is the one night he's just going to sleep with nothing on his mind, and that's exactly what he does.

The next day is spent planning, double checking plans, trying on wicked suits, triple checking maps, they run it again and again for any possible flaws. The plan is simple: get in, get minho, get the serum, shoot it straight into Thomas right then and there, get out. If everything is where it needs to be it should work flawlessly, they’ll be back in the safe haven happy as ever. Newt repeats the promise he made to himself in his head: I won't let Thomas die, I won't let Thomas die, I won't let Thomas die. Like a prayer over and over, a solemn oath that can't be broken. As if this action alone will keep death's icy cold hands from Thomas’s radiating warmth. The next thing newt knows they are marching through the sensors at wicked front doors.

Newt keeps his head up and locked refusing to look anywhere but forward, he doesn't dare to breathe as they pass through the sensors. The sensor flashes green and he holds back the urge to sigh from the relief that floods through him, they walk through wicked headquarters, Newt leading forwards with Teresa in the middle and Thomas up the back keeping her up to speed. Soon gally slides into their group almost effortlessly, Newt forgets Gallys a soldier. He's trained for this, the past six months of his life have led up to this very day. Gally marches in front of Newt, leading them to a stairwell. Gally grabs Teresa by the sleeve and harshly pulls her to the keypad next to the door, she reluctantly places her thumb against it and the door opens with a hiss almost immediately.

Newt storms in, gun up looking around frantically. Newt, Thomas and Teresa start to make their way down the stairs before Gally announces “wait wait i can get in here!” he lifts his mask before thomas replies with “throw me the walkie” gally chucks the walkie to thomas, thomas catches it and goes down the stairs. Newt hears him coughing as he goes, Newt looks at Teresa who's already looking at him. “Newt i think-” “slim it teresa” he retorted quickly. Newt watches as gally drills into the console on the wall, sparks fly as the metal wails at being torn apart.

Thomas comes back up the stairs, one hand clutching onto the railing and the other radio in hand. “Frypan-” he hacks again before continuing “we’re in how you doing?” “yeah yeah i'm getting there, tell minho hi for me!” gally flings the console open and messes with the wires and whatnot while thomas speaks to brenda on the radio checking in on her as well, newt stands between them gun in hand incase they get caught. “All right, let go!” gally shouts as he stuck something to override wicked systems into the console before slamming it shut.

Gally leads the way, the twist and turn through corridors and doors. The maps previously studied being brought to life, Newt's heart races as they journey towards the immunes. What state will Minho be in? Skinny and frail? Beat up and bruised?? Absolutely insane from torture?? All the possibilities make his skin crawl. Eventually they make it to the door, Thomas takes the lead gun up waiting for someone to step through. Soon enough someone does and pure chaos breaks out.

Thomas shoots the guy and they storm in guns ablaze, shooting all wicked employees in the room. Bodies drop and convulse on the floor and Newt goes to a cell and opens it, as he does he takes his mask off. When he does the kids in the room physically relax at the realization he's not a wicked guard, the sight is truly sad. What have they done to these kids for them to react like that? He quickly scans the room for Minho, to find nothing. Newt is already walking to the other side of the room when Thomas calls out “Newt go check the other side”, his voice firm and authoritarian. When on missions Newt and Thomas sync as one, doing things before the other asks, covering for each other and sensing when the other is in danger. They work together as a flawless unit. On the rare occasion they do anything alone they barely need to speak to each other, one look, one movement and they know what to do, this is extremely convenient for them and irritating for everyone else.

Newt goes over to the next cell expecting Minho to be there, pumped up and ready to go. Dread fills him when he sees he isn’t there, he storms over to Teresa and grabs her wrist hard “where’s Minho.” He grumbles, his voice lowering dangerously. “I don’t know-“ his grip tightens and her eyes twitch as she fights to yelp in pain. “If you let go I can fucking check.” Newt clenches his jaw before shoving her away, she glares at him threateningly. Newt raises his brow and she turns around to check where he went.

“Is that bloody vault open??” He almost shouts in impatience, Newt is usually a very patient person but every second that passes the flare eats away Thomas's brain and that fact makes Newt tip dangerously close to the end of his patience. “It's gonna take awhile, don’t rush me!” Gally barks back as he works on the vault. “He’s in the medical wing..” Teresa says breathlessly, this isn’t something she anticipated. “Alright then, let’s get a move on” Newt says as he moves to the exit, “that’s on the other side of the building-“ she begins, “does it look like I fucking care?? Let’s. Move.” He restrains himself from shouting at her, she moves towards Newt, Thomas following close behind- Thomas is following her??

“Tommy, where the hell are you going??” He raises a brow, his tone shifting from anger to confusion. “With you??” He answers equally as confused. “You need to stay here and wait for the serum-“ he begins patiently before Gally announces “it’s fine I’ve got it!! Get Minho and meet us around back!!” Newt looks between the vault and Thomas a few times, he won’t lie Thomas would be a massive help but what if they don’t make it back in time?? What if something happens- “Newt cmon let go” Thomas says, snapping him out of his thoughts, Thomas smiles at him for a moment and Newt breaks. “.. fine.” He announced before he, Thomas and Teresa leave the room.

They walk through wicked corridors once more, going up stairs and through doors til they reach an elevator. Newt clicks it impatiently, cursing under his breath when it doesn’t immediately open. When it opens, Newt and Thomas immediately walk in, Teresa following suit. The elevator doors slowly start to close-

A hand reaches between the doors.

The doors slowly crawl back open to reveal a sight that makes Newt's stomach drop. Janson in all of his rat faced glory. The putrid man steps inside and for a moment newt thinks he is going to pull out his revolver and shoot him and Thomas dead, his hands tighten around his gun as Janson steps next to Teresa. Oh yeah we have masks on newt dumbly realized, newt mostly blocks him out and focuses on Thomas. Watching him from the corner of his eye, waiting for a twitch or tic in case all hell breaks loose.

“Thomas is here.” The ratman announces.

Well fuck.

Teresa turns to face Janson and somehow Newt's grip on his gun gets impossibly tighter as his heart pumps in his ears.

“The surveillance picked him up outside the walls, Ava didn’t want you to know but if he does try to contact you.. well I’d like to think I would be your first call.” Newt focuses purely on Teresa, for any sign or signal she could possibly be giving Janson to tell him yeah about that he’s actually right behind you!! But instead she mumbles “are you going to kill him..?” The care in her tone makes Newt feel sick with anger, she didn’t care when she called wicked and he could’ve died but suddenly she cares now?-

“Would that be a problem?”

Newt now has decided that the moment he gets the chance he’s going to murder Janson.

The elevator beeps and Teresa gives a comment newt doesn’t care to hear, she walks out quickly and newt follows close behind purposely bumping into Janson on the way out, a little harder then intended but aw well he doesn’t care. By the sounds of it Thomas did the same, he grins to himself for a moment before continuing on.

—

“Newt you need to listen to me, that serum won’t save Thomas! It might buy him some time but-“ “shut it Teresa.” Thomas spits, pushing her along. “Newt, listen!! You want to save Thomas don’t you??” Newt nearly shoots her right then and there but instead he forces himself to choke out “just open the bloody door” “there’s something about your blood!” She opens the door as she says this and Newt silently walks in, Thomas following suit, he uses all his will power to ignore her and not shoot her brains out. “I promise I can protect you-“

Newt snaps

“Oh yeah?!?! Like you protected Minho?! If didn’t need to rescue FUCKING him THOMAS WOULDNT HAVE THE BLOODY FLARE-“ Thomas promptly takes the lead by gently but quickly pulling him back, Newt lets him because if he kept shouting at her every wicked guard within the area would’ve heard him. That's when he begins scolding her as well but in a more quiet fashion… unlike newt.

“How many more people is it going to take?! How many more people are they going to have to round up, Torture, And kill?!” He refrains from screaming, scolding her through gritted teeth, mask off fully open to anyone who rounds a corner. Newt goes to tell him to put his mask back on before Teresa spits back “it stops when we find a cure-!” Thomas pulls his pistol out of his holster and under Teresa's chin. “THERE IS NO GODDAMN CURE.” So much for being quiet. He's screaming at her now, the black veins that now have knitted themselves around his neck pulse angrily, hungry for blood.

“Don't waste your breath Teresa!” Janson calls out, newt steps back out next to Thomas who has now pointed his gun at Teresa’s temple. “Tell him to back off!! TELL HIM TO BACK OFF!!” He screams in her ear, he's got her in a head lock as he pushes the gun harder against her head. “Hey Thomas cmon.. it’s me. I’ve known you longer than you can remember, you're not gonna shoot her. Flare or not.”

Jansons gun is pointed directly towards Thomas as he slowly steps closer, Newt aims his gun towards jansons head, his eyes fully locked on his fingers that rest around the trigger. The safety is clicked off as far as Newt can tell so he’s waiting, watching for any tick, twitch or slight movement in his fingers because if he tries anything, Janson is going to need a headstone.

“You don’t think so?!” Thomas barks out at Janson almost manically, as if it’s the funniest thing someone has ever said to him. “Ok.. go on then.” Janson lowers the gun by his side and Newt’s heartbeat steadily decreases significantly. “Shoot. Her. Prove me wrong!” He calls back coolly, confident in the fact Thomas won’t shoot, and for once Newt agrees with him. Thomas wouldn't shoot someone like this, Teresa or not. It's not in his moral code. So what the hell are they going to do-

Teresa pushes both Thomas and Newt through the entrance behind them and pulls some sort of red alarm that causes thick heavy glass to come from the top of the doorway and clicks with the floor, a siren sounds, blasting through the entire building. Newt just stares at Teresa, why would she do that? Why would she possibly-

Those doors aren’t opening back up.

Newt pulls off his mask since clearly the plan has gone to complete and utter shit just so Janson can see his face as he walks after Thomas.

Newt and Thomas run through the medical wing, dipping into corners, shooting wicked guards and such. At one point they come to a fork in the labyrinth, Thomas sees Ava holding his gun up prepared to shoot, Newt turns towards a different hallway and sees Janson, gun in hand, about to shoot. “THOMAS NO” he screeches, grabbing onto Thomas’s shirt and pulling him into a hallway to avoid the cross fire of bullets that spray through the hallway.

They continue on like this for a while, Thomas slowly but surely is deteriorating. Not but much, but every so often he misses a shot or almost trips over his own two feet. Luckily for Thomas, Newt is on a mission. He simultaneously covers for himself and Thomas at the same time when needed, when Thomas’s reactions delay Newt has already shot the soldier and a few more. I won’t let Thomas die, the sentence rings through his head and courses through his whole being, he breathes and exhales this promise. Anytime they run out of ammo, Newt has already bagged new guns from once convulsing bodies on the ground and shoves a gun into Thomas’s hands before his own. How his leg hasn’t given out? Newt truly doesn’t know, his leg screams and cries out at every step but it’s as if the pain is just another sensation, another thing. He runs, punches, kicks through sheer will power and determination alone. All the fighting blurs to him, he flies into autopilot. Grenade, bodies. guns, bodies. punches, bodies.

Newt and Thomas are out of ammo and newt just pulled a stunt with a grenade, they turn to run down a hallway until a wicked soldier screams at them to get on the ground. Pure fear lines the blood that travels across Newts muscles and bone, his eyes frantically flick around for something anything-

Minho rams into the guard screaming his head off, grabs the soldier and shoves him into a window causing glass to shatter all across the floor. Once he does he just screeches a low guttural sound of pure pain, grief and anger. It takes him a moment before he even register Newt and Thomas are even there, he stands there eyes wide in shock and disbelief. As if he’s finally lost his marbles and he’s dreaming.

It takes Newt and Thomas a second too, Newt feels like he just came out of a fever dream of screams of the injured and safeguarding Thomas with his life he truly forgot how to feel. For the first time since they entered the medical wing, Newt feels something real, relief. His leg threatens to give out right then and there as Thomas and Newt both run over to him and pull him so tight into a hug newt wonders if his lungs will ever fill with air again, but he doesn’t care. He would struggle to breath all his life if it meant keeping Thomas and Minho safe.

“Is this real?” Minho asks, genuinely asks. His face shines with happiness and relief that his longing has finally come to an end, before Thomas and Newt can even nod back they hear wicked soldiers storm into the hallway guns ablaze. no time for catching up over tea, they are in a war zone.

Newt adds to his oath. I won’t let Thomas and Minho die. Minho’s stride is nothing like it used to be in the glade, he doesn’t radiate confidence or steadiness in his feet. No no. His feet and muscles are unsure or where to take him, like getting on a bike for the first time in years. Despite that he is still fast and strong as he runs despite the clear malnutrition and torture his body has been through, no where near the level he was at before but his body miraculously carry’s him, or at least is attempting to, like a runner.

They all push on, Thomas despite the flare, Newt despite his limp, and Minho despite his treatment they push harder than they ever have, for freedom. For the future. For a promise of a safe tomorrow. They sprint down a hallway until they get cornered by a handful of wicked guards, “IN HERE” Thomas yells as he pushes open a door before locking it behind him, Newt and Minho push a shelf in front of it the moment Thomas backs away. They all connect in sync. Newt and Minho back away from the door, standing next to Thomas who looks just as confused and petrified as him.

“Well shit.” Thomas mumbled just before the sound of a drill cutting into metal assaults newts ears, sparks fly from top to bottom on the opening of the door. “Any ideas?!” Minho shouts as they all back away even further, Thomas looks out the window and back towards Newt and Minho “maybe.”

The next thing Newt knows Minho and Thomas are chucking some metal tube out of the window, the glass shatters loudly as the metal cylinder falls. Newt runs next to Thomas and Minho and watches as it splashes into the dark pool below.

“Ok.. it’s doable. Just need uh- a running start.” Thomas mutters clearly unsure with himself, he backs up from the window as he says this. Newt gives Minho a is he fucking nuts look and Minho reciprocates with the exact same facial expression.

Well at least everyone is on the same page!

“you sure about this??” Minho asks as they all prepare to dive out of the window. “Not really!” Thomas replies just as unsure as before. “Nice pep talk.” “Yeah.. we’re all bloody inspired.” That’s when the sound of a bang and a door being kicked open rings through the room, without hesitation they all sprint towards the window and fall down all 20ish stories. Newt feels the wind in his hair and his stomach falling as he drops, he’s felt this feeling before. His screams of terror are luckily met with Thomas and Minhos screams also, the feeling of the water crashing against his body comes faster and harder than expected.

Newt hasn’t felt being underwater since in the glade, he remembers the early days when he, Minho, Alby and all the original gladers would swim through the small lake they had. And even then he could see the bottom of the lake, even in the deepest part the sandy ground was only inches beneath him. This water does not glisten a bright blue in the sunlight and bring laughter, no. The water is dark and impossibly deep, it makes sense that even wicked pools harbor dark secrets.

Newt pulls himself out of the water with only a slight struggle, Minho does the same. Newt has to grab Thomas and lift him up and help him get to his feet, it’s getting worse. He swallows the lump in his throat along with his worry before he hears heavy footsteps and guns cocking.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding.” Thomas mumbles as they all turn around, they see 4 wicked guards barking orders at them, Newt desperately looks around for any route of escape. Maybe we can jump in the water and book it? No we would get shot, can I shoot them before they shoot Thomas or Minho? No, it's 4 guys. Even if I do manage to shoot one of them first at least one of us will get shot-

BANG BANG BANG

one of the wicked guards shoots the other three, thank you, gally!!

Gally removes his mask, looks at the broken window above and back towards Newt and the others soaking wet clothes before saying “you guys are nuts. Cmon!”

They all break out into a sprint, after a minute or two of running they find cover. Newt slides down quickly next to Gally before asking “Gally how far are the tunnels??” “Maybe twelve blocks from here-“ he begins to reply before he’s interrupted by the sound of Thomas hacking and coughing violently. Newt's gut falls all the way down to his toes and worry fogs his judgment. “We can make it” Gally says, trying to ease Newt's nerves to no avail.

Newt sits there staring at Thomas as he talks to Minho, he can’t help but think about Thomas turning before they make it back to the tunnels. No. No way. Newt will drag Thomas’s limp body through the city before that happens, they’ll make it. They have to.

Newt didn’t even notice Minho sliding next to him as he says “hey, when did he-?” Minho chokes on his words, unable to vocalize Thomas’s condition. His brows furrowed with worry as he looked between Newt and Thomas, “he’ll be fine, just gotta get to Brenda.” Newt manages to reply with, Newt quickly goes over to Thomas and says gently “cmon Tommy we gotta go” he grabs Thomas’s hand with one hand and uses his other hand to grab the fabric of his wicked suit to pull him up, Thomas struggles to gets to his feet and groans as he attempts too, his throat clearly filled with a sickening substance. Newt ignores the sound and gets Thomas to his feet.

When Thomas manages to face Newt his eyes are mostly hollow but he’s still there, Newt looks into his eyes and can tell Thomas is looking back. Newt places a hand on Thomas’s shoulder in case he loses his footing and softly cups his face with the other before mumbling “you’ll be fine, alright?” Thomas barely manages to nod as Newt wraps Thomas’s arm around his shoulder before turning his attention back to Minho and Gally.

Minho rushes over to wrap Thomas’s other arm around his shoulder, he takes a significant amount of Thomas’s weight off of Newt's shoulders. Gally leads the way as they run through the city, if Minho wasn’t carrying Thomas Newt doesn’t know if he could’ve. His leg whines at him to collapse, to give out, to give up. Newt refuses to collapse even though his body begs him to and ignores the searing pain that shoots up his body every time he steps.

At one point bombs start raining down, Gally makes some sort of comment newt doesn’t listen to, as all he can hear is Thomas’s shaky liquid filled breathing and the coughing and hacking that becomes more frequent with every minute that passes. Another dreadful reminder of Thomas’s infection as if the literal weight on his shoulders isn’t enough.

“The tunnels are right up ahead-” Gally begins to announce as the sounds of more bombs raining down onto the city interrupts him violently, Newt and Minho lower Thomas as they all take cover. The smell of gunpowder and fire burn the insides of newts noise, a full battle between wicked and the right arm taking place not even 50 meters away makes the ground vibrate and shake aggressively, urging them to move on. “LETS GO LETS GO” Gally commands, Newt and Minho grab Thomas’s arms once more and half help, half carry him through the streets that rage with violence and vengeance.

They barely make it even a few blocks before they are forced to take cover once more, the realization dawns on all of them. They aren’t going to make it. Newt reaches for his radio to tell Brenda to leave since Thomas is clearly too weak to do so before as if this action alone summoned her Newt hears her chime in on the radio. “How you guys holding up?” She asks concerned, Newt can almost see her brows furrowing, “bloody awful, you guys need to leave without us we aren’t gonna make-“ “no. No absolutely not, I’m not leaving you guys alright?!” She interrupts him harshly, she sounds almost offended that Newt would even suggest that. Newt is stunned and doesn’t know how to reply to her, that’s when he hears the faint sound of a berg roaring through his radio. “Don’t worry newt!! We're coming to you, our rides here!!” Before Newt can even ask what she’s talking about the radio clicks, signifying she’s gone.

—

“We’re almost there!!” Gally shouts encouragingly, even Newt's good leg isn’t in the best state, Newt doesn’t even want to think about his bad leg as he desperately tries to ignore the unforgiving pain that shrieks at him to collapse to the ground. “You need to- you need to leave me” Thomas struggles to say with his clogged throat, his hacks up sticky black liquid mid sentence. His voice emits full defeat, begging for death. Newt, Minho and Gally don’t even humor his cries as they push through the city.

Explosions ignite ahead, Newt can barely hear Gallys orders as they take cover from the explosive balls of death that rain all around them. Thomas’s head slowly moves around, taking in the whole scene with his eyes wide and mouth slightly agape, truly perplexed at the sight before him. His eyes go from souless to full of life in an instance begging to be left behind, insisting they need to run, to leave. Black oil-like substance drips from his mouth and onto his uniform, black veins pulse violently all across his face now, his body limp. His muscles refusing to cooperate with him, eventually he doesn’t even hold his head up anymore as he leans his head back against the concrete behind him closing his eyes, mumbling incoherent pleas to be left to die.

“Minho, you need to go ahead, get the serum and come back. Gally can cover you.” Newt says, not asks. His voice dead as he speaks, his eyes locked on Thomas’s deteriorating frame. “What-?” “Minho please.” He twists his neck to face Minho, his voice wobbles as he speaks. His throat tightens, his lip quivering. Minho looks between Newt and Thomas before murmuring a barely audible “alright.” He grasps Thomas’s shoulder, attempting to smile encouragingly but it more comes out as sympathy and concern before choking out “I’ll see you later shank.” Thomas lifts his head weakly before muttering, “thanks man.” He smiles tiredly before his face droops once more. Gally presses his lips into a tight line before nodding at newt, his gesture speaking volumes. Gally acknowledges that Newt won’t let anything happen to Thomas, that Thomas is in good hands.

“if it were to come down to you or him you would pick him”

Before Newt could even respond with a nod Gally yelled for Minho to go and they ran off into the fire and ash, smoke stings Newt's nose and makes his eyes water. Newt turned to look at Thomas, his breath rigid and his pupils blown in fury, his chest heaving with every gulp of air he took. Black liquid entirely covers his chin now, his speech disorganized and wrong. “Newt you- you need to leave! I dont- I cant-” Newt can barely make out Thomas’s words as they gargle against the liquid that encases his throat, “we need to leave, right now!!” Newt's tone is desperate as he shouts over the shrieks and gunfire. Newt grips onto Thomas wrists, Thomas weakly pulls against him. Newt tugs again, harder this time. Unforgiving. Refusing to let Thomas give up, this time Thomas cooperates and lets Newt basically carry him as he stumbles on his feet in an attempt to walk with him. Newt wraps one of Thomas’s arms around his shoulders, Newt wraps one of his arms around the stumbling boy's waist to keep him up right.

Newt's own body wobbles dangerously as he practically drags Thomas away from the collapsing city, his whole body is fueled by determination and grief alone. If Thomas's pulse went to a stop, Newt would, too, fall with him. Newt is speaking the whole time they stumble together, “there you go-” “ok put your leg up there's a curb-” “one, two, one, two-” “were almost there I promise-” “just a little further-” thomas really does try, he puts all his effort into every step, his groaning and cries only interrupting by nonsensical mumbling. The black liquid never stops dripping from his mouth as they move, leaving a trail oil like substance for anyone who dared to follow them.

Thomas goes limp.

Thomas’s body gives up on him, resulting in Newt stumbling down to the ground with him. Pure euphoria shoots through every vein, muscle and bone in his body at the collapse, Newt wishes he could lay on the ground forever. Watch the bombs die down, witness as the scorching sun rises and falls day in and day out and feel the earth take him into a slow peaceful death. That wouldn't be so bad, no? I won't let thomas die

Newt forces himself to his feet, he stumbles and fails twice before regaining his footing. All while ignoring Thomas’s pleads to be left behind, forgotten, to pay for the deaths of everyone. He too, wants to let earth take him quietly. They were always so similar weren't they? Newt wraps Thomas's arms around his neck, Newt's back pressed against Thomas’s stomach as he tries to lift the boy's frail feet off the ground. He hears cries of hell-bent determination and agony rip through his ears, he can't tell who's screaming anymore. Maybe they both are, that would make sense. His thought barely made itself out over the chaos, somehow the 6-8 steps Newt managed to carry Thomas felt like enough pain for a lifetime before Newt fell backwards, Thomas’s body weight was too much for him to carry on his back. He doesn't even remember hitting the ground before he's on his feet again, hooking his arms under Thomas's arms as he drags him relentlessly.

“CMON THOMAS” he wails the loudest he thinks his voice will ever go, every other step he falls down. After the fourth time he physically can't stand, his leg tremors violently. “We- we need to-” His chest heaves, Newt's jaw fully open in an attempt to fill his lungs to absolute capacity. Newt doesn't even realize Thomas's shoulders were pressed against his lower stomach until he rolls off him sluggishly. Newt rolls his head to the left of him where Thomas now lays, the only signs of life being his back taking moves every time he breathes and the hacking that comes along with it. “We need to- to keep moving” Newt closes his eyes as he speaks, for a moment newt hopes childishly that maybe this is all one big terrifying nightmare. That he will wake up in the safe haven vince is always talking about, a beach, green grass with colorful flowers he wishes he could learn the names of, a sun that doesnt turn your skin red and make it peel off painfully, and that maybe he will wake up in a hammock to the sounds of gentle waves. With Thomas nearby sleeping peacefully, the sun bouncing off his chocolatey hair as his breathing is deep and unclogged. Everyone would wake up or sleep in if they chose to, then have breakfast. Newt can almost hear everyone's laughter and talking, Thomas, Minho, Frypan, Gally, Brenda, Treasa-

No.

He can actually hear Treasa.

“Your blood Newt, it kills the virus! You need to- '' Newt is pulled out of his fantasyland, the rest of her words drowning out as an unimportant buzz in the back of his mind. His eyes snap open, he leans against one of his elbows and looks around for Treasa, Newt realizes she's speaking over a speaker. She's still at the tower, Newt turns his head to face Thomas, to see what he thinks of the fact Newt is the cure.

…

That's not Thomas.

Authors note!!: hey guys!! i hope you enjoyed this chapter <3 I'm so sorry i took so long to get this done, its hard to write at my dads house since i have to use my phone lol :( also super duper sorry i cut it off like that 😭 i originally planned to do the rest of the scene but then the next chapter would've been significantly shorter then the rest so i do apologize.

this chapter was SO fun to write!! Newt acts a lot differently in this fic then in the original movie and there is a reason, in the death cure HES the one dying so obviously he's weaker and also he's just trying to rescue Minho and not be a burden to the mission. but in this fic that obviously isn't the case, he's so angry at everything thats happened and Thomas slowly losing himself is his tipping point as he slowly loses his patience for everyone except Thomas, Minho and Brenda. he's so determined to keep everyone else alive he slowly loses HIMSELF in the process and i tried to highlight through his anger towards Teresa and Janson and i hope i did an ok job at giving this idea justice.

anyways ill stop my yapping lol, hope your pumped for the next chapter!!!! :D

master list is above but here it is again incase you missed it

PREVIOUS -- NEXT

#the maze runner #tmr #tmr newt #maze runner #newtmas #tmr thomas #newt tmr #tmr minho #thomas tmr #minho tmr #tmr gally #tmr fandom #tmr incorrect quotes #incorrect tmr quotes #tmr newt x thomas #tmr fanfiction #tmr brenda #newt maze runner #newt the maze runner

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ace-does-stuff · 5 months ago

Text

take one step forward (two steps back)

summary: guarding the Master Emerald gave him purpose when had nothing but corpses surrounding him, no wonder it's so hard to drop the urgency

tags: character study, angst

authors note: a gift for the wonderful @ohposhers because i missed their birthday by A Very Large Margin and wanted to write them a fic regardless, hope everyone enjoys

How long has it been since he started doing this?

...

. . .

Yeah, too long.

Knuckles shrugs just enough to return feeling to his arms. He doesn't stand up though. It's his resting day, where he allows himself to sit instead of pace circles around the Master Emerald.

He should go find food.

Or water.

It's been a while since he last did so.

Maybe he should've given himself breaks more often then once a day.

But what if it happens again?

Eggman, Robotnik, whatever the people call him now, what if he returns? Comes back for a second shot at getting the Master Emerald?

What if he succeeds?

No!

Fuck, no, bad thoughts. It won't happen again, he's better than that now. Nothing will ever touch the Master Emerald again unless it's his own two paws or someone who he dearly trusts.

He stands up and paces circles around the Master Emerald. He just needs to get it out of his head, doubts, fears, worries, he's better now.

The telltale sound of wings flapping alert him and he finds Rouge dropping down. In her arms is Shadow, being carried similarly to a cat with one hand under each of his arms. She places down Shadow and drops down beside him with a small flourish as usual.

"Knuckles, why are you still here?" Shadow asked.

Knuckles scoffed, "I'm doing my job, why aren't you doing yours?"

"We were supposed to meet up at one of the cafe's today for a drink, sweetheart," Rouge said.

Knuckles faltered.

That was today?

He should get a calendar, or a more accurate tell of time. He doesn't even know how old he is in an exact number these days, just the rough estimation from Tails' DNA test. There is no exact date of birth, so he chose January first, an easy one to remember.

"What's wrong with you?" Shadow questioned as he stepped closer.

"It slipped my mind," Knuckles said. He was lying through his teeth and everyone knew it.

Shadow quirked a brow.

So did Rouge.

"I have to guard the Master Emerald-"

Rouge bit back at his statement, "No you don't. Nobody wants to steal it anymore."

"You do, for starters."

"And? Who else?"

Again, Knuckles goes silent.

"That's what we thought," Shadow said rather curtly.

"Sorry for forgetting, it won't happen again."

He knows that's a lie.

He knows his mind is still full of worries about the emerald. That he'll never truly be able to empty it and leave behind the need to protect the emerald. He knows he's a dog in that aspect.

"You better not, we were all looking forward to hanging out with you sweetie," Rouge said with a bit of a pout.

"Don't forget that you have a mission with Sonic tomorrow," Shadow said.

Rouge elbowed him, "Ease up, don't be so snappy."

"I'll do better next time."

-/-/-/-

Knuckles doesn't do better.

He swears he tries too, but everything just sort of, falls out of his brain. There was one little scare, a stray degraded beebot made its way onto the island. It had no real directive or drive to move to obtain the Master Emerald but it sets off every single alarm inside of Knuckles' head.

He just reverts.

All of his knowledge remains but it's shoved aside and replaced by an instinct to hunt and herd and protect. He does laps of the entire island, scouring for anything that could be out of place. He knows logically he doesn't need to, that it was just a leftover stray badnik.

But deep in the recesses of a mind molded to one purpose since he was naught but a child, he needs to do this. And he can't deny his instinct, he never could.

-/-/-/-

Shadow finds him passed out by a creek in the Mushroom Hill's. It just looks like he collapsed. Face down on the mossy grass and body splayed out like he's dead.

"Rouge! I found him!" Shadow called out.

In mere moments Rouge came crashing down from between mushrooms that threatened to bounce her back. She brushes herself down before standing at attention. With a brief glance at Knuckles' her cockiness evaporates. "I think we should be worried."

"Our mission-"

"He's passed out on the ground something happened to him!" Rouge snapped, pressing a gloved paw to Shadow's chest to nudge him back, "He's your partner, start acting like it. Cut him some slack."

Shadow huffed, "Fine."

Rouge crouches down and shakes Knuckles' awake.

He's groggy and slow to gain his senses again. His body is strained. Fuck he didn't actually get any water before passing out, did he? He scrambles to the creeks edge on auto-pilot and near fully submerges his snout.

With a heady gasp he resurfaces.

"Finally awake?" Shadow asked.

Knuckles snaps over to face him.

"What happened, red?" Rouge asked. There's a near pitying look on her face, one of worry.

"Badnik, Master Emerald," Knuckles said. He was still hacking on taking in too much water. "You know how it is."

"One Badnik?"

"They're like bugs, if you see one there's bound to be a hundred."

"Was there a hundred?" Shadow asked before taking a seat on the dirt. Rouge followed suit.

Knuckles shook his head, "I still had lap Angel Island to be sure."

Rouge felt worry build faster in her stomach, "How many times did you lap it?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Enough."

"Until you passed out, is how many times," Shadow corrected, "You need a vacation."

"That Badnik only further proves why I can't leave my post even once," Knuckles said. He didn't know why he was arguing in favor of this awful cycle. He had to. He had duty. He had purpose. This was his existence. He can't abandon, not now, not after it's been proven it has a point again.

For a stagnant moment both Rouge and Shadow are silence, then Rouge speaks.

"We'll stay with you then." She speaks with finality to her tone, "If you can't visit us off island then we'll visit you on island and protect the emerald with you."

"You just want to steal it like you always do," Knuckles spat.

Rouge scoffed, "Please, there are far bigger fish to fry than a thing like The Master Emerald."

"Even if you kick her out, I'm still staying here to guard it with you," Shadow tacked on.

"It's not your job."

"It will be."

"It will never be your duty the way it's my duty."

-/-/-/-

They still come to pester him daily on his laps.

He still tries to ward them off out of an instinct then real conviction towards them. He loves them too much to actually want to get rid of them. He still can't kill the thing in his head that says that anyone with sentience stepping foot on the island wants the worst.

That won't stop them from bothering him non-stop regardless.

"We brought you some grape jello," Rouge stated as she handed the cling-wrapped bowl to Knuckles.

"And a blanket for your hammock hut you have set up out in the woods," Shadow tacked on as he tossed a crocheted blanket at Knuckles. It consisted of muted hues of reds, blacks, pinks, blues- nearly the entire rainbow really. "Everyone wanted to pitch in and cast a few rows of their own color."

Knuckles wrapped himself up in the blanket, "That's sweet."

"Do you think we could help you guard the Emerald yet?" Rouge asked, "Robotnik is back out."

Knuckles paused before nodding, "Yeah, you guys can help if you really want to."

Rouge grinned, "I hope your hut has room for two more hammocks then, cause if it doesn't we're all dogpiling."

#sth #sth fanfic #knuckles the echidna #shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #writing #fanfic #fanfiction

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jaetaimjadore · 2 years ago

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EVERYDAY VIGNETTES THAT REMIND ME OF ENHYPEN

Pairing: enhypen x reader

Genre: fluff with a touch of angst

Warnings: some suggestive themes, mentions of sexual tension (nothing explicit whatsoever), mentions of food and alcohol, please let me know if i've missed anything else :)

Word count: 1.08k

a/n: this is just a compilation of the silly little musings running through my head that i just so happen to associate with each enha member, so, really, i thought why not share it with you guys? hehehe. enjoy <33

이희승︱Lee Heeseung

Tired lovers whose heads rest upon each other in the quiet corner of a subway. Lying upside down on the sofa just because you can. Playing with another’s hands. Smiles that find two faces at the same time. Thanking yourself for exercising when you really didn’t feel like it. The shimmering lights of a cityscape at night. Admitting that you made a mistake. Remembering that you’re one in eight billion. The sultry flicker of a gaze between two eyes. Silver cufflinks. Better by Khalid. Admiring someone as they ramble on about the things they love. Sexual tension that blinds everything around it. Black button-ups. Sudden moments of crippling nostalgia. Compulsively slapping a sack of rice at the supermarket. Dedicating a hoop to someone and missing by a mile. The irresistible scent of your best friend’s shampoo. The dream that left you feeling butterflies the entire day.

박종성︱Park Jongseong

Monotone outfits. Your phone falling onto your face when scrolling in bed. Red, hot lipstick stains littered on the smooth skin of a neck. Gold necklaces and gold earrings. The calming reassurance that you tried your best. Pulling off your socks after a long, exhausting day. Waking up to the rain of a thunderstorm. The moment you realise your enemy is actually kind of hot. Eye contact that brings with it an endless wave of goosebumps. Round-rimmed spectacles sitting low on a nose. The bubble of champagne in a glass. The click of shoes on shiny tiles. Gallery visits but the art on the walls isn’t what you're staring at. Fond shakes off the head. The muscle that moves so visibly beneath a fitted shirt. A protective hand finding itself hovering over a lower back. Bumping into a glass door and playing it off cool. When one person cooks dinner and the other washes the dishes. A breathy chuckle that grazes the cusp of an ear.

심재윤︱Jake Sim

Almost losing your balance when the sand under your feet glides back into the ocean. The warmth of skin under a cool duvet. Wet smooches from your dog. That one perfect strand of hair you wish you could keep that way forever. Sudden bursts of inspiration that make you feel like you can conquer the world. Kisses on the temple. Kisses on a smile. Hands squeezing hips. Barely contained laughter. The deep regret of walking away. Jumping up to touch the top of a doorframe. Wholeheartedly believing in the five second rule. “You’re perfect to me” whispered in the early hours of morning. Key smash conversations over text. A silver chain that dangles down onto your lips. The one eye that opens to the dawn of a new day. The brief fluttering in your chest when the carousel horse rises up once again. Cold fingers that caress the skin beneath your shirt.

박성훈︱Park Sunghoon

Sunglasses worn indoors because you forgot to take them off. Messy latte art that means so much more because it’s the effort that truly counts. Loosely intertwined fingers. Long walks during the freezing winter months. Lip bites and hooded eyes in moments of lust. Looking in the mirror and loving what you see. The divine feeling of velvet beneath your fingertips. Staring up at a skyscraper and almost stumbling backwards. Letting someone win because you love them so dearly. Soft lips planted on soft knuckles. Solemn wishes made on stray eyelashes. Throwing your head back in uncontrolled laughter. Red high heels. Refusing to get out of bed on Sunday morning. Gliding your fingers through silky soft hair. Going through with something you swore you’d never do. Cat-walking your entire closet at an ungodly hour of the night. Strong arms guiding you to sit down on a lap.

김선우︱Kim Sunoo

The taste of the colour yellow. When a piece of clothing fits just right. Finding a picture in your camera roll taken by mistake but keeping it because it looks cool. The indescribable happiness of a clear, blue sky. Light academia and dark academia. The one shoulder you know you can lean on. The hoot of an owl. Realising just how close your lips are to your lover's. The desperate longing to run away from reality for a while. Elbow nudges that silently ask if you’re okay. When the raindrop you were rooting for wins its race down the window. Two warm hands cupping your cheeks. Literally Netflix ‘n chilling all night long. Golden hour that highlights the magic in someone’s eyes. Feeling young and fresh even when you’re old and weathered. New year’s resolutions that inspire positive change…even if it's just for a month. Immediately dropping your bags and jumping on the hotel bed. The hug you didn’t realise you needed so badly.

양정원︱Yang Jungwon

That perfume you caught one whiff of and immediately wanted to own. Spontaneously realising the beauty of the world around you. The flying wisps of hair that tickle your forehead on a windy day. Chequered Off The Wall sneakers. Sleeveless jumpers. The innocent brush of lips on lips. The words of wisdom that found you in a time of need. The entire grentperez discography. Safe hands stroking your head. The same hands ruffling your hair. Making snow angels in the winter. The memory from your childhood that fills you with the most happiness. When you can’t decide if you’re feeling hot or cold. Legs that entangle together among the sheets. Wondering if there really are more atoms in the human eye than stars in the universe. Nicholas Sparks movies. Falling in love with a song after hearing it for the first time. Late-night drives with no particular destination in mind. Foreheads that touch as eyes slowly flutter closed.

西村力︱Nishimura Riki

That beautiful pain in your chest when thinking of the one you love. Lifting your feet from the pedals while riding your bike down a hill. Marmalade streaks that paint the sky at dusk. The moment you realise you’ve fallen in love. The warm smile of a random stranger. Knowing your inner child is gradually healing with time. Pulling your hood up when in a particularly rebellious mood. The moment a maths question finally clicks. Pinkie promises that last a lifetime. The sheer agony of dropping the last chip on the ground. When opposites attract. The tickle of a nose in the crook of a neck. Cuddling close during a scary movie. Trying not to crack a smile when the person scolding you stumbles over their words. Watching the tide wash over the initials you’d etched into the sand. The cheesy quote that actually inspired you one day. The familiarity of your own bed after parting with it for so long. Ignoring your friend when your eyes find the person across the room.

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thebiggerbear · 1 year ago

Text

Only Ever Holding Onto You - Three - Same Old Shit

A/N: Personally, this is one of my favorites so far because I love Poppernak dearly but also I wanted to delve into the reader a bit more. This is unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine.

Warnings: a ton of shit (literally)

Word Count: 7114

Series Masterlist

Series Taglist: @deans-spinster-witch; @rieleatiel

You cursed quietly when you stepped in dog shit yet again. You took a deep breath to center yourself, knowing there was nothing you could do and that you would have a good hour or two of cleaning every single tread on the sole of your shoes when you got home to make sure all of the fecal matter was gone. For now, grass and a piece of cardboard that Poppernak hopefully had in the back of his car that could double as a floor mat would have to do. You opened your eyes and surged forward…right into another pile of dogshit.

“Motherfuck,” you hissed as you felt the familiar squishy feeling under your foot and the smell predictably wafted up to assault your nose. This place was a goddamn minefield!

You should have known, seeing the state the house was in as well as the makeshift garage. Not to mention the elderly age of the owners and the large lawn mower that clearly sat unused if the yards of rust covering it was anything to go by. This land hadn’t been worked in a long time; how could you expect that they would clean up dogshit where it remained hidden by grass that was long enough to wave with each passing breeze? Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Pops very carefully moving forward on his chosen pathway, obsessively checking the ground before he took a step. It just hit you that there could even be snakes in here and you could be walking through their damn living room. Son of a bitch.

“Hey Pepper Snaps, be careful! There could be snakes,” you called.

“I wasn’t thinking about that but now I am. Thanks, Y/N.”

You may have rolled your eyes and hoped he stepped in the next pile of dogshit instead of you.

“Did you find Goldie yet?” An old man shouted from behind you.

You turned around to see Lee Knutson, a man in his eighties, watching you from his porch along with his wife Marilyn, also in her eighties. Both of them owned this property and they had placed a call to the police reporting their dog Goldie as missing. They were frantic and because Helena PD loved to pass calls like this onto your department from time to time, here you were, looking for a dog in a place that could double as Jumanji to appease an old couple who loved their dog more than life itself. Hoyt had passed the call onto you with a smirk, saying “You’re an animal lover, right, Y/L/N? Why don’t you and Pop take this one?” Based on her passive aggressive comment, you knew she was still holding a grudge about your calling the Feds in on the Avuna Pharmaceutical case. You knew she had it in for you before that but now, you knew she was doing everything she could to make your life even more of a living hell as punishment. Especially when Beau publicly backed your play; that just made her burn even more.

Having no choice other than to send Pops alone, you found yourself entering the previously uncharted wild jungle of Helena, Montana, with him right behind you. You both were wading through shit and a yard that looked like it could double as an apocalyptic landscape because you’d had the audacity to try to do the right thing in a case where all parties were concerned. Something that from what you’d heard, Hoyt would have most likely done herself back in the day. You knew deep down though that her fury at you had more to do with Beau refusing to bust your ass than the Feds getting involved. You had decided that you would let it continue to be her problem and just do your job, like always. But damn if you had imagined it would get this bad. You supposed you should be grateful she hadn’t sent you and Pops into a dangerous situation where you might not escape unscathed, like exchanging fire with a perp, though the smell that smacked you in the face when you turned to face the old man had you almost wishing she had. You’d take anything else anyday over this crap.

“Not yet,” you yelled back. “But don’t worry, Mr. Knutson, we’re still looking!” You hoped you sounded more hopeful than you felt.

It really had been a shitty week, pun fucking intended.

The morning after the very weird night you’d had at The Boot Heel, Beau wasn’t in the office. Madge told you he had simply called out, claiming that he was taking a few vacation days, and that he knew the department had things handled. You thanked the woman and frowned at Beau’s closed door as you passed.

You had texted Beau the night before when you arrived home as he had asked you to, and he wished you a good night, letting you know he was safely home as well (he knew you too well). That had been the last time you heard from him which wouldn’t be that strange if he had shown up for work. You forced your worry back down and told yourself you were fretting over nothing, this spike in nerves you had was just a remnant from the previous evening. Your compass was most likely still recalibrating. Beau was fine, everyone and everything was fine, he had a right to take his well-earned vacation time especially since he never really took a day off — you were overreacting. But just to be safe, you texted Emily to check in. She got back to you within a few minutes, letting you know that she and her mom had a full day planned since they now had time to start painting their new home that they had moved into a few months back.

Carla had been ready to leave Montana after Avery’s death and Emily’s abduction scare but Beau thankfully had talked her into staying, for Emily’s sake, for his sake — all of their sakes. As soon as Carla sold the property she had shared with Avery, Beau helped her and their daughter move into a new home in a closer neighborhood that she was able to get a good deal on. You knew Beau had been relieved when Carla agreed to stay and you had as well, for him and for you. There was no way you wouldn’t try to follow him back down to Houston if he had gone, especially not when Hoyt might take his place where she could make your life miserable full-time and on the county’s dime. Just like she was already doing this week.

Emily promised to send you pictures of the finished product and you wished her luck, telling her to call you if they needed a hand once your shift was over. Em and Carla were fine; that just left Beau.

Before you could type up a text to check in with him, a quick meeting assembled that you had no idea had even been planned. Hoyt took charge and completely dismissed you, laying down the law for the next few days. She would be distributing calls and deciding who to dispatch. Which you found awful funny because that was bound to create issues with the system Beau already had in place. Madge looked slightly put out until Hoyt wrapped an arm around her shoulders and told her she would need the older woman’s help. You watched the entire scene unfold, arms crossed and leaning against the doorway, smirking and enjoying the show. It didn’t surprise you in the least when she approached you and Pops last with your assignments for the morning, a triumphant grin on her face.

“A couple of calls came in late last night that I’d like you two to follow up on.” She handed the sheet of paper to Pops who took it and scanned it quickly. “You don’t mind, do you, Y/L/N?”

Your smirk widened. She was clearly challenging you, practically daring you to say something. Beau had made it plain to her and the department often enough that you and Hoyt were equal in his eyes. Neither of you had authority over the other one. He told you later when it was just the two of you that he had done that out of respect for your career and experience thus far but also to give you a leg to stand on when it came to Hoyt. He understood that she worked hard in her position as undersheriff and he wasn’t trying to take that from her but he wanted you in the department working with him and he wasn’t going to demote you to make that happen. You were more than appreciative of his willingness to not only take you on and keep you with him but also to make sure you didn’t go backwards in pay or in your career. You found out later he had even taken a slight pay cut himself when he brought you on board, which you duly chastised him for later, not wanting him to sacrifice anymore than he already had. The response he gave you was a simple wink and his usual boyish smile.

So Hoyt and the department knew where you stood, something the blonde was testing right now because Beau wasn’t here. The department didn’t give a crap if she took advantage and lorded it over you as long as it wasn’t them, and she expected you to either fold or go running to tell Beau or something along those lines. She clearly didn’t know you at all if she expected any type of reaction she was trying to get out of you. Your grin matched hers. “Not at all.”

Her blue eyes narrowed but then you could see the triumph in her smile, thinking she had won some imaginary victory over you. “Great.” You pushed the urge to roll your eyes deep down, knowing that if anything happened with the department over the next few days, the responsibility was on her alone, officially. Unofficially, you’d keep an eye out during Beau’s absence and not let everything turn to complete shit.

Your smile grew so much that your cheeks started to hurt.

Hoyt began to say something else but before she could get a word out, your phone started ringing. You pulled it out of your pocket and the name on the screen sent your heart into overdrive. “Excuse me. I have to take this.” You didn’t wait for Hoyt to respond or Pops, but one quick glance confirmed she had seen the screen as well. The glare she was currently gracing you with was the glare to end all glares. You ignored it and stepped away as planned, hearing her snap at Pops to make sure you didn’t stay on the phone too long and to get out the door, before storming away.

This time, you did roll your eyes, and you picked up the call.

“Beau?”

“Mornin’.” He sounded okay though his voice seemed a little more gravelly than usual. You attributed it to the early hour.

“Morning. You okay?”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just taking a few days.”

“Long overdue,” you agreed.

“Yeah,” he sighed.

You glanced around and lowered your voice. “You really are okay, though? You’d tell me if something was wrong… Right? Like you coughing twice or asking me to take the pineapple slices off the pizza to indicate you’re being held against your will.”

He let out a laugh and that made you feel lighter than you had a moment ago. “I’m good, Y/N, I promise. Pineapple on pizza? How in the hell is that a pizza topping? I still don’t get it.”

“You would if you would ever try it when I order it.”

“I will never eat that crap. Who puts fruit on pizza anyway? Besides you?”

“A lot of the population in fact. That’s why it’s so popular,” you teased him.

“I’ve lost all hope for society.”

You finished taking a sip of your coffee. “Really? You’ve been working this job now for two decades and a yellow and very delicious fruit put on pizza is what finally did it for you?”

“Fruit doesn’t go on pizza, Y/N. I’m not having this debate with you again. Not this early,” he groaned.

“The trick is to get it without the sauce. That’s how I order it. It’s only weird tasting when the sauce is added into the mix.”

“If there’s no sauce, then how is it pizza?”

You snorted. “Pizza is all about the cheese.”

“And the sauce. Without sauce, it’s just bread and cheese.”

“Which incidentally are two of the most important ingredients for pizza.”

You smiled in victory when an exasperated sigh came down the line. “Okay, you win. So how do I get out of this conversation that’s happening against my will? Do I sneeze twice or ask for extra cheese?”

“Ha ha. You called me, remember that.” In your peripherals, you noticed Pops signaling to you and pointing to his watch. You nodded and held a finger up. Yes, you knew Hoyt couldn’t wait for you to go out on your crappy call list for the morning, and add more to it during the day most likely. Her pettiness could wait a few more minutes. Guaranteed, this was going to be the best part of your day and you weren’t giving it up that easily. “So, what are your plans for today? Have any or are you just taking it easy for the day?”

“Actually, I’m gonna head over to Carla’s and help her and Em out for the day.”

A small smile settled onto your face. “Em will be really happy to see you.” And both she and Carla would be happy to have the extra practiced hand no doubt. You almost wished you could join them, to help Emily prank her father by rolling paint all over his clothes if for nothing else.

“Yeah, it’ll be good to see her, too. I didn’t get much sleep last night so I spent a lot of time thinking. About work, about life and…everything, and that’s why I took a few days off. I’m gonna try to convince Em to go camping with me over the weekend. I want to spend some time with my daughter before she graduates and goes off to college.”

“Don’t worry. You’ve got some time before that happens,” you murmured soothingly. You knew this was something he worried about, he’d told you often enough. He felt like he was losing time with Emily, that the window he had was closing more and more with each passing day. That feeling only ramped up after Em had been taken hostage. You couldn’t blame him; for the first few months after, you’d hugged Emily a little longer and a little tighter whenever you saw her, something she endlessly rolled her eyes at but kindly allowed you to do each time.

“Not much.”

You bit your lip, choosing to ignore Pops who appeared in front of you, frantically gesturing behind him. Rolling your eyes, you turned to the side, lowering your voice further. “I think it’s a great idea. I’m glad you’re doing this, taking some time for yourself and to spend with Em. To hell with everyone and everything else these next few days, you hear me?”

“Yes ma’am,” he chuckled.

“And if anyone calls you from the department, I will personally run over their cell phone with my car. Twice.”

“About that…”

“Beau,” you growled in warning, walking away from Pops who was dogging your every step.

“That’s why I’m calling you. I’m not taking any calls from work for the next few days, especially if I get Em to go camping with me. I don’t want any interruptions and I trust that you and Hoyt will have a handle on things while I’m gone.”

You pressed your lips together, hating to lie to your best friend, but it was important for him to take this time. He never willingly took time off and you knew he needed this time with Em, even before he said anything. And for him to have come to this decision so suddenly, you knew he meant it. There was never a single second that Beau hadn’t made himself accessible, day or night, for anyone in the department. So for him to go radio silent intentionally for any period of time, he meant business. “Understood,” you agreed.

“But, Y/N, saying that…I do want you to call me if anything pops up that you think I should know about.”

And there it was, the caveat. “I’m not calling you, Arlen. Like you said, we’ve got this.”

“I mean it. I’m only available to you, Y/N, no one else. I trust your judgment and I know you’ll filter out most of the white noise. But also, if you need anything…you call me.”

“I appreciate that but we’ll be okay,” you reassured, quickly stepping into an empty interrogation room and shutting the door on Pops. You managed to wedge a chair underneath the knob before he could try it, smirking in satisfaction when the door failed to give way and he started knocking instead while calling your name. “And listen, I don’t want to intrude on family time but if you do need a hand with the painting, I can always drop by later, repaint everything you did, take my pineapple pizza I’ll definitely be ordering for a job well done, and go.”

“Hey! I know how to paint!”

“Yeah, you also told me you knew how to cook, too.”

“I can grill,” Beau snapped.

You heard the chair beginning to budge and you pressed all of your weight against the door, trying to prevent Pops from opening it. “Uh huh. I think the charred left corner of your deck would beg to differ.”

“Wow. That was one time and everybody was okay. When are you gonna let that go?”

“Whenever you allow me to call in some hot Helena firefighters next time to put out the fire and let me watch rather than making me extinguish the flames myself with a fire extinguisher I luckily had in my car that day. I was cheated out of muscles and sweat and big, big fire hoses that get everything wet….all that water pressure—”

“Ah, ah, alright, alright. Stop. Bad images in my head. Never coming out now thanks to you.”

You couldn’t help but snicker. “You deserve it. Now, seriously, go enjoy your time with your daughter and leave the department to us. If you need help later or if you just need anything, give me a call.” Pops was pushing against you and you were ashamed to admit you were losing the battle. Your feet were sliding against the floor as the door struggled to open, the chair having been lost some moments ago.

“Thanks. I guess I’ll let you go so you can get to work. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay,” you struggled to get out. “Have fun. Give Em a hug from me.”

“Copy that. And Y/N?”

Pops finally pushed into the room and you had no choice but to abandon your post or be flat up against the wall. “Yeah?”

“Be careful out there.”

Pops was hunched over catching his breath, glaring up at you and pointing to his watch, mouthing “Hoyt”. You smiled sweetly down at him. “You know me. Always am.”

You hadn’t heard from Beau later that day but it was just as well. You had had the day from hell just as you’d expected. You settled down on your couch in the comfiest clothes you could find and binged Real Housewives of Dallas. You normally couldn’t stand these types of reality shows, but this one had grown on you and always provided the perfect distraction. That and Floribama Shore. Beau had been present for at least the first two episodes of the latter to which he stared over at you in disbelief, promptly got up to grab a beer, and told you that he didn’t know you. And you replied back that you didn’t mind as long as he was willing to bring a perfect stranger a beer from your kitchen.

While you were indulging in your comfort show, Em had sent you pictures of the painted rooms as promised. It looked good and you liked the colors she and Carla had picked out. You broke into hysterics when one picture had Beau posing in front of a perfectly painted wall with a smug smirk and holding his arms out proudly. Beau was so lucky you didn’t have the password to the department’s website; you would have uploaded the picture so fast it would have made Poppernak’s head spin. Another picture showed a great selfie of all of the family. You liked that one, all genuine smiles and plenty of paint all over every single one of them (Em obviously had taken your suggestion and started a paint fight, you were so proud), Emily posing in the middle between her parents. It was nice to see them enjoying themselves, especially after the year they’d had.

You knew it hadn’t been easy for Carla to choose to stay in the same area she and her daughter had experienced so much trauma in; she had told you as much. It was important to her to keep what family she had left together, that’s why she initially wanted to move back to Houston. But when Beau had convinced her to stay, she did it to keep Emily’s family together though it cost her quite a bit personally. You did everything you could to help, leaning into the friendship you used to have with her back in Texas. Not to mention Carla and Cassie had also formed their own sort of friendship thanks to the mutual links of Beau, you, and Emily. There were quite a few times Denise had mentioned to you that she and Cassie had stopped in for tea when Carla was still trying to sell the old property. You all provided as much support as you could, to let her and Emily (and Beau by extension) know that they weren’t alone here.

Your phone chimed with the arrival of a new picture. This one had you bowled over with laughter for the next two minutes. Emily had taken a selfie of her and Beau making horrified faces at the camera, an open box of Hawaiian pizza next to them, the pineapple clear as day on top of the cheese (sans the sauce as you had ordered). Emily had added in text: “Thanks for the pizza…I guess?” You rolled your eyes, smiling, and texted her back that it was pizza and if she could get her dad to eat a piece, she absolutely had to record a video and send it to you. She sent a winky emoji back with a thumbs up when a new message came in from Beau.

You shrugged and quickly typed out a reply.

You snickered at the emojis he sent in response. Beau didn’t usually do emojis, that had to be Em’s influence, and you sure were getting a kick out of it.

Satisfied that you had more than made your point about pineapple on pizza being superior, you snuggled down into your pillows and started another episode of Real Housewives. Seeing location shots of Dallas intercut with the episode caused a little pang inside your chest. Perhaps that’s part of the reason you tolerated such a dramatic show. You had only been to Dallas once or twice but still, the images reminded you of home and it provided a tiny salve for your heart, something you needed after such a rough day. Smiling when you were flooded with happy memories, you slowly closed your eyes and you were out like a light before Leanne and Brandi could start fighting for the umpteenth time over who betrayed who while Stephanie watched from the background looking torn.

And the rest of the week had been just as rough. You had come to refer to it as Hell Week between you and Poppernak. Hoyt made sure to give you the worst calls she could pull from the list each morning, either giving them to you directly or giving them to Pops knowing you would join him so he had backup. And you were pretty sure she had Madge dispatching any bullshit calls to you both during the day. Truthfully, it was starting to wear on you a little but you refused to show any trace of it to Hoyt or anyone in the department. That’s exactly what she wanted and you’d die first before giving that spiteful little blonde one goddamn inch.

Poppernak had even mentioned something one afternoon as you rode about an hour outside of town for a new case. It wasn’t his norm to make comments on the ongoing conflict between you and Hoyt, choosing to cruise in neutral territory instead, but that’s how much of a fucked up week it had been.

“Man, what did you do to piss off Hoyt this time?”

You shrugged a shoulder. “I was born, I guess.”

He chuckled nervously and shook his head, turning his gaze back onto the road. “Or something.”

“Or something,” you echoed.

You hadn’t heard from Beau in a couple of days except for a single text message to let you know that he had convinced Emily to go camping after all. He asked if everything was going okay and you assured him that all was well. It was a lie of course but you refused to tell him the truth. You were a big girl and you could take care of yourself. Besides, you chose to meet Hoyt’s petty bullshit with indifference.

And now you here were, schlepping through three foot long grass like you were on a fucking safari, looking for some old couple’s runaway dog and finding every conceivable pile of dog shit for you to plow through. Pops was whistling and calling out for the dog in his area and you were pretty sure he hadn’t moved any further since you warned him about potential snakes. Normally, you would have rolled your eyes and planned to tease him later about his apprehension, but in this situation, you couldn’t help but think that he was the smart one. You kept surging forward blindly, hence the crap all over your shoes.

You had made it a few more feet when suddenly a dark head popped up not that far from your position, startling you and making you gasp. Your eyes went wide when you realized what you were looking at. Was that a…wolf? A goddamn wolf?

Poppernak called out the name of the dog, and the wolf’s head snapped in his direction. You were stunned, but you still had enough presence of mind to call over to your partner albeit calmly so as not to startle the animal in front of you. “Pops! Shhh.”

“What was that, Y/N? I didn’t catch that. You see something?” He yelled back, making you grind your teeth together.

You carefully raised a hand in his direction to get his attention. “I need you to be quiet,” you carefully enunciated as you watched the wolf staring you down. “There is a wolf in front of me.”

“I’m sorry, did you say a wolf?” Poppernak cried out in a mix of disbelief and alarm. You bit your lip to keep from screaming out at him to shut his trap like you desperately wanted to. The more loud sounds that were made seemed to agitate the wolf and you were right in its sights. If you somehow survived this, you were going to give Pops a serious talking to. If you told him to shut it out in the field while working with him, he needed to shut his damn mouth, no questions asked, case closed.

“Pops, stop making so much noise. You’re pissing it off,” you said as calmly as possible.

“What do you want me to do?” Pops chose to loudly whisper instead. “Should I call Animal Control?”

The wolf bared its teeth at you and growled. Great.

“Don’t think that’s gonna help.”

You watched as the animal tensed and coiled in a backwards motion, almost as if it was getting into an attack position. Your instincts warred with one another; you wanted to reach for your gun to protect yourself but you also didn’t want to make any movements that might pose more of a threat. From the continued growling and its yellow-eyed laser focus on you, it was obvious you were already considered one.

“Y/N,” Poppernak stage whispered to you. “What do I do?”

“I don’t know,” you whispered back. “They didn’t cover wolves in training at the academy.”

“I don’t know, either.”

“You’re from around here, Pops. How the hell do you not know what to do?”

“Hey, they didn’t cover this in training here, either. That’s why we have Animal Control.”

“Pops!”

“Okay, okay. Whatever you do, don’t look it in the eyes. I think I remember my grandpa telling me if you do that with a bear, they’ll take it as a challenge and it’ll make them want to attack.”

The wolf growled at you and coiled back further, making you let out a nervous breath. “It’s a little late for that, Pepper Snaps.”

“Hang on, Y/N. I’m coming.”

“No! Stay where you are!” You yelled out in shock, wincing when you realized your mistake.

You saw more teeth and heard another growl. You decided the hell with it, and slowly moved to grab your gun. This thing was going to attack you, that was obvious, and while you’d rather it just turn and run in the opposite direction, you had to defend yourself. At that very inopportune moment, your phone vibrated in your pocket and your head snapped up, gasping when you noticed the animal ready itself to spring at you. This was it; you were done for. One of your last thoughts was that you hoped your being mauled by one of the apex predators of Montana finally lit a fire under Beau to prompt him to action and he ripped Hoyt a new one for sending you and Pops out into the fucking wilderness with no backup or protection.

“Goldie!” The old man called out from the porch. “Here, girl!” He’d obviously given up trusting that you and Poppernak would find his dog. Based on the wolf in front of you, you had a feeling you knew where the missing pet had gone.

Almost as if it heard that thought and it had reached its limit on irritation, the animal growled and sprung forward at you, making you surge backwards and cry out as you fell promptly on your ass, right into several piles of dogshit you had somehow missed before. You held an arm up in front of your face as a last defense and closed your eyes, anticipating the feeling of those sharp teeth you had seen and the ensuing pain.

“Y/N!” Poppernak shouted. You could hear him running towards you. “I’m coming!”

Much to your surprise, the pain didn’t come. The impact didn’t even happen. Your eyes snapped open in time to see a tail whooshing past you. In shock, you watched as the wolf broke into a run towards the house.

“Pops! It’s heading towards the house!” You managed to get out. “The Knutsons!”

“Oh shit!” Had this been any other time, you would have laughed in surprise at Pops’ cursing; he never cursed. But this wasn’t any other time. “Mr. Knutson, get in the house! Get Mrs. Knutson and get inside! NOW!”

You went into a panic when you saw Lee make eye contact with the animal and instead of grabbing his wife and fleeing into the house as Pops instructed, a huge smile broke out onto his face and he held his arms out. “Goldie!”

The wolf increased its speed and you pulled your gun, jumping to your feet and running as fast as you could, Poppernak not too far behind you, both of you thinking the same thing: Lee was old and his eyesight might not be the best. He probably believed he saw his dog running towards him and being overwhelmed with relief, he didn’t think anything of it. He probably hadn’t even heard Pops’ yells too well, either, but even if he had, he’d probably think the deputy was mistaken. He was seeing his dog returning home to him. There was no way you were going to match the speed of the animal, it was going to beat you to the Knutsons, but you were determined to try. You just hoped you got there in time enough that the injuries wouldn’t be too bad.

You heard the wolf bark as it jumped onto the porch, right at the old man. “Get back, sir!” Poppernak yelled next to you. Your lungs and legs were burning, but you pushed yourself to pick up speed and gave it all you had, making leaps over little objects that littered the portion of the yard you were in to give yourself more momentum.

But to your surprise, the wolf stopped right before colliding with Lee, and instead raised up on its hind legs, placing its paws on his chest. “Shit,” you panted out and pumped your arms to help you move even faster. The wolf’s tongue was hanging out in between barks and you were close enough now to hear it let out a few cries, too. But thankfully, it didn’t attack Lee, or Marilyn when she got up and hurried over, the smile on her face mirroring her husband’s. It also didn’t bite Lee as he petted its huge head.

“Goldie! Where have you been? We’ve been so worried about you!” The wolf barked in the man’s face, making him laugh.

You and Poppernak came to a halt right in front of the house and began to raise your guns to porch level and stopped, thinking the older couple was still confused. “Mr. Knutson, be very careful,” the deputy warned. “Don’t make any sudden movements.”

Both Lee and Marilyn glanced down at you in confusion. “What do you mean?” The former asked.

“Mrs. Knutson, carefully step away, slowly,” you added. You were still working out in your head how you were going to get Lee safely out of the way and how you could scare the wolf off so you wouldn’t have to shoot it. Poppernak could then call Animal Control and get them out here so the Knutsons would be safe. Catching a whiff of yourself, realizing it was actually wolf shit you had been trekking through this entire time, you even entertained the thought of looking into getting someone out here to clean up the property for them.

Marilyn’s brows furrowed. “Why? You found our Goldie!”

“Ma’am, that’s not Goldie,” Pops calmly stated, both of your eyes still centered on the large animal who growled in your direction.

“Yes, it is!” Lee insisted.

“Sir,” you began. “I’m afraid it’s not.” You really didn’t desire to tell these people that their beloved dog was gone, most likely killed by the predator in front of them, but that was something you could worry about after everyone was safe.

“It is too Goldie! Watch!” Lee glanced down at the animal, forcing it to make eye contact. “Goldie, sit!”

And to both yours and Poppernak’s shock, the wolf jumped down and did just that, looking as docile as any well-trained pet.

“Good girl,” Lee praised. “Now, lay down.” The wolf again did as the old man instructed, wagging its tail.

You and your partner exchanged a mystified look; had the Knutsons been feeding a wolf this whole time? And now it was following their commands? How was this even possible? Just when you thought you’d seen everything.

Lee began to laugh. “Oh, I see. You think she’s a wolf from the wild, right?”

You failed to see the humor and swiftly nodded, still keeping your eye on the animal. “She’s not?” Poppernak asked in disbelief.

“Oh my Lord, no. Goldie here is a hybrid. We’ve had her since she was a pup. Got her from a breeder. So you can relax now and put those guns away. You’re making her nervous.”

Poppernak slowly placed his back in his holster but you simply lowered yours. The wolf may now be watching you in keen interest, tongue lolling out of its mouth and panting heavily, but you still remembered how aggressive it looked back in the yard when you came across it. You weren’t blindly trusting what the old man was telling you; you needed proof first.

“Mr. Knutson, when I asked you what your dog looked like, you told me it had black fur and yellow—”

“Eyes,” Lee finished for you. “That’s why we call her Goldie. They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”

One glance at the wolf confirmed the rich gold staring back at you.

“But when we asked you the breed, you said it was a mutt, half King Shepherd. Not to mention it was about to attack Y/L/N here.” You gave a subtle nod of appreciation to your partner at that last little mention. Both of you were trying to desperately make sense of this odd situation. Especially since you asked for a photo of Goldie and you were told you didn’t need one since she had to be lost on the property somewhere, possibly hurt or dying. It wasn’t like her not to come home by nightfall; her being missing for two days straight, she was in trouble. Their urgency overrode your attempts to get a visual of the animal you were looking for. You’d even tried to persuade them to supply you with a photo anyway but Lee had been adamant, which is exactly why you and Pops had been making your way through the endless yard.

“That’s her dog half. And a hybrid is a mutt,” Lee mused, smiling down at his pet. “I know she’s big and scary looking but I assure you she’s harmless. You probably just scared her is all. She doesn’t care for trespassers and she’s a little wary of visitors.” Marilyn nodded along with him.

You looked over at Pops who gave you a shrug, unsure of how to proceed. You let out a heavy breath and slipped your gun back into your holster, your gaze landing back on the wolf who laid her head down on her paws, almost as if she was trying to look innocent of the accusation that had just been made against her. Your eyes lifted to her owner when a thought hit you.

“You got her from a breeder, you say? Surely you’ll have papers for her then.”

Lee scratched at his head. “We do, somewhere. It’d take us forever to find it but, hey! You ask the sheriff or Miss Hoyt. They know Goldie, they know she’s legal.”

Your jaw tensed at the mention of the undersheriff. You knew she was saving the worst calls for you to go out on and you had accepted this week was pure hell that you would get through no matter what, but this…this was just plain vindictiveness at its best. Now the smirk she’d given you when giving you this call made sense, along with her insisting Animal Control wasn’t needed when you mentioned it and the Knutsons were a lovely old couple that just needed a little hand holding since they didn’t have anyone else, their kids and grandkids having long ago moved out of state.

“Y/L/N, the dog is probably somewhere in the yard and they don’t even know it. It would mean a lot to them if we respond to let them know we’re taking it seriously. Just go out there, look around, whistle a few times, and if the dog doesn’t come running, then tell them we’ll put flyers up. Open and shut case, trust me.”

You weren’t a violent person by any means. You could certainly hold your own in a fight but that wasn’t the way you preferred to resolve things. But if Hoyt were here in front of you right this second, you would have decked her.

You glared over at Poppernak who was gaping over at you. He seemed just as surprised as you so that made you feel slightly better. At least the whole department hadn’t been in on this. You gave Lee a curt nod and turned to head back to the car, more than done for the day, when you heard a loud gasp from behind you.

“Oh, honey.” You spun around, thinking the worst only to find Marilyn holding a hand over her mouth, her gaze intent on you, while Lee appeared to be struggling to hold in a laugh. You knew it before she even said it. “You are just covered in…in…”

“Dog shit,” Lee finished for his wife and burst out into laughter. Goldie began barking excitedly, almost as if she was trying to laugh along with her owner. She ignored the glare you sent her way and kept on barking. You glanced down and you were indeed covered in the excrement. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Pops hold a closed fist up to his mouth, making a sound that suspiciously sounded like a chuckle and taking a step away from you. You scowled over at him, daring him to join in the laughter. The chuckle morphed into a sudden cough mixed in with a throat clearing, his expression turning sheepish.

Marilyn didn’t laugh, though. “I have some baby wipes,” she offered.

“Thank you,” you grumbled, not able to inject any gratitude into your voice just then. You hoped you didn’t sound too rude. Baby wipes were certainly better than nothing.

“Of course. I’ll be right back.” Marilyn hurried inside the house and you couldn’t help but continue to glare at the dog who watched you intently, tongue hanging out, not a care in the world, and a gleam in her golden eyes that confirmed for you that she found your predicament just as entertaining as her owner did. You shot her a ferocious glare as you worked to get your jacket off carefully with Poppernak’s help. Seeing the excrement now caked underneath your fingernails, you left out an irritated huff. Hell week indeed.

A/N: This was the image I had in my head of Goldie btw (black fur, yellowish eyes):