#where by 'homeschooled' I mean 'my mom pulled me out of school and attempted to teach me with no training or curriculum'

[canaa]

(....I ran out of tags and it ate half the book I wrote in them lol. Summary of the rest: ADHD and depression suck for schooling and are pernicious little brain weasels, but I completed a high school degree through the local community college when I was just shy of 21, and then later finished an associate of arts where I pulled my 'actually hit academic probation' GPA out of the toilet with multiple terms of perfect grades because it's AMAZING how much easier schooling becomes when you have your brain shit under control.)

[yourfangirlfriend]

It’s Nothing Serious - Chapter Six

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Five and a Half

A/N: idk if this is good but I’ve been putting off writing it and perfect is the enemy of done so here you go, I had fun

It’s not not serious.

At least, this seems to be the mutual conclusion you have both silently reached after that weirdly intimate night you never talked about, either.

And yes, you’re aware of how childish that is.

For two people voluntarily living in one of the more dangerous cities on the continent, it turns out you’re both pretty cowardly. But why put yourselves through the agony of all that when you could both instead play a game of emotional chicken to test where the boundaries are?

You go first the morning the two of you wake up in your bed. You both woke up in a tangle of limbs and slid out of bed after the second snooze alarm went off. He had just pulled on his jeans when he reached for the shirt you had folded the night before.

“Wait,” you said. You walked to the closet and pulled a crisp black shirt off its hanger, continuing to brush your teeth and you walked up and deposited it in his hand. “I washed this after you let me wear it home.”

That night we made pasta and I spilled sauce on my shirt and you took it off and fucked me in your kitchen until the chicken burnt-

He looks up at you, his eyebrows raised.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he shakes his head before pulling it over his shoulders. “Thank you.”

You give him a look before dipping into the bathroom to spit.

After a quick cup of coffee, you’re both striding towards your door when you stop short. He turns and looks at you, waiting for you to take another step and flick the deadbolt. Instead, you ask

“Are you going to be okay? Today, I mean. With...”

His face falls a little, like he was expecting to get out of this without you mentioning it. It makes your heart hurt.

“I’m fine,” he says, curtly. He drops his head to look at his shoes. You swallow.

“So...drinks tonight? Still?” You reach out and bop his hand with yours.

“Not if you don’t open the door.”

You roll your eyes, walking forward and flicking the bolt. You pull the door open and he catches it, holding it back for you as you take the first step out.

“...yeah. I’ll be back around 6,” he says as you finish locking the door. You drop the keys in your purse, straightening up as the two of you walk towards and out the doors.

“Bar or your place?”

“Mine.”

“You sure? It’s my turn to buy,” you say.

“No, it’s not,” he says as he opens the passenger door for you, gesturing that you climb in. You do and watch as he walks around the front to his side. “Besides, mines quieter.”

You nod, staring forward as he starts the car and pulls into the street. Like every morning, his hand falls to your knee and you feel content with his answer.

You can’t help yourself, though, when he pulls up in front of the school and parks, waiting for you to climb out. Usually, it’s a pretty quick, platonic affair- a quick “thanks, Javi” before you open the door and swing your legs out. This morning, though,

“You know,” he says when you reach for the handle. “You...you don’t have to take care of me.”

You drop your hand before turning back to face him. And maybe it’s the coffee you drank took quickly, or maybe it’s the way last night is still lingering in your head, but

“I like taking care of you.”

You reach out and pull his face to yours, letting the kiss linger before pulling away.

“See you tonight,” you said, flashing him a quick smile. If you’re not mistaken, you see the corner of his mouth twitch up before he remembers himself, and gives you a cool masculine nod. You climb out and watch as he drives away before you hear behind you:

“¿Es tu novio?”

You turn around and see three little girls from your class huddled together and giggling that they just caught the teacher doing something naughty. Despite yourself, you smile through your teacher's voice.

“Entrad, niñas. La clase está a punto de empezar.”

He makes the next move when he shows up outside the school, waiting against his car when you walk out that afternoon and he flags you down.

“Hey,” he says when you approach his car.

“Hey,” you say. “What’s up?”

“Was told to go home early,” he says. “Figured...” he waves his hand up, gesturing to you. “You got plans?”

“Was just going to swing by the liquor store. For tonight.”

“It’s not your turn to buy,” he says, moving out of the way so you can open the door. You send him a look.

“It’s the 90s. Let a girl buy you a drink, Javi.”

He smiles, and over his shoulder, you see one of the girls from this morning- Cara - sending you a shit-eating grin.

Despite yourself, you give her a little wave as Javi drives the two of you out of the parking lot.

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

It becomes a game after that. He picks you up from school. You ask him to stay the night again, and he does. The next morning, he kisses you goodbye in front of Steve, whose eyebrows you see pop up from the corner of your eye. That night, you stay over at his and leave the spare toothbrush you brought next to his in the bathroom. The next day, he comes to your house with take-out and a tape and the two of you fall asleep on the couch, drunk and full. Soon, you don’t remember a night where you aren’t sleeping in the same bed or whose turn it is to initiate a sleepover. You just meet at your smoking spot and then, inevitably, one of you will lead the other to their door for the night, and inevitably, the other one will stay.

The small reminders of each other begin to pile up in your respective apartments. A mystery toothbrush appears in your bathroom. Then there’s a jacket and two of his shirts hanging in your closet. A drawer in his bathroom slowly begins to fill with evidence of your presence- hair ties, bobby pins, the odd bit of makeup. During one of your drunk nights, when you are once again lamenting the lack of decoration, you draw a stick-figure portrait of the apartment - you, Javi, Steve, and the creepy silent man who you only ever see leave his place to buy fish - and tape it to his fridge. He tells you you hang around kids too much, but every time you come back, it’s still up.

Then the bigger things happen. You go to dinner with him and Steve. You bring him on a double date with Alessa and Frankie. He kisses you goodbye in front of the school every morning, and you reach out and hold his hand whenever the two of you walk outside- which you do now, by the way. You walk to the grocery store, you walk to the liquor store, you walk to the corner store to buy pre and post-coital smokes, and every time his hand finds yours. You’re still having sex, you still fuck, but now, sometimes, to what would once be your disgust, it’s slower. Softer. There’s eye contact and prolonged kisses and caressing and very little hair pulling.

And god. Now there’s cuddling.

You no longer sit across the sofa to hanger a drink. No, now your legs are in his lap or his arm is around your shoulder or some other horribly intimate design the two of you just naturally find yourself falling into whenever you’re in proximity. Now, after sex, he’s pulling you to him or you’re pulling him to you or you just both mutually descend towards each other. And when you’re all wrapped around each other, the worst thing of all happens. He talks.

It’s not like you hadn’t talked before. You were friends, after all. He already knew about your kids you taught, your parents, and some random, funny stories about your life. In turn, he had told you some stories about his mom, about the ranch, and about the people in his life. But now it’s different. Now, whenever you two are alone in the dark, bodies pressed against each other under the sheet with such softness it’s grotesque, the walls come down. He tells you about his mom's death, and how he didn’t cry for months. He tells you how afraid he is of himself, and how he worries she would hate the person he is. He tells you he doesn’t think he’s a good person, because of the women he’s hurt ( -“The DAY of?” “I’m not proud of it”-) and the people he failed (“-supposed to get her out, keep her safe, and I couldn’t-“) and how, though he won’t go into detail about it, he’s worried how numb he’s become to things, and that he’s only going to get number (“-you see so many people die, there’s got to be a point you just stop feeling that, like self-preservation, and that’s fucking scary-“). You listen. You think you may be the first person who has listened in a while. When he tries to apologize, that he shouldn’t have said that or that he’s a mopey sad sack or you don’t want to hear this, you kiss his hands.

“Javi,” you tell him. “I like listening to you. Anything you have to say.”

Looking back, you think the look he gives you the first time you said that was when you really knew. But now, you’re still playing dumb. You both are.

What’d he call it? Self-preservation?

To pay him back, you tell him about you. You try to match his scars, telling him about growing up in a loud, weird house you’d only learn at the age of fifteen was a commune. You tell him about all the times you caught your parents tripping out naked on drugs and having to drag them to bed, or how you had to watch your sister for days on end as a kid whenever they decided to go out on ‘spirit walks’, and how you eventually enrolled yourself in school after your mothers homeschooling attempts fell to the wayside. That one time when you were six and accidentally took a tab of acid your mother and father’s sometime lover, Sunshine, left on top of your peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  You try and tell him the good things, too- how you speak five languages (“what?” “English, Spanish, German, Russian, and some Chinese.” “...what?” “My parents were communists!”), how you used to be really good at gymnastics (“is that why you can’t do a handstand?” “I can do a handstand-“ ), and the things in yourself that you’re afraid of- your denial, your anxiety, your bad habit of never calling your sister back and how that actually reveals you’re a sociopath. And in turn, he listens. He squeezes your hand. He asks you questions when you know he wants to and lets it be silent when you can’t bring yourself to answer.

About three months into this, you find yourself lying on your side one night, staring at his beautiful, stupid, snoring face as he drools against your pillow, and for the first time, you finally, finally, finally let yourself admit it.

It is serious.

---

“Well no shit.”

You scowl at Lisa over your glass.

“What? Like we all didn’t already know? For months?”

“Leave her alone,” Alessa elbows her. “I think it’s sweet.”

“You think everything’s sweet.” Lisa rolls her eyes. “You tell him yet?”

You bite the inside of your lip and look down at your drink. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Timing?”

“You spend all your time together.”

You shake your head, taking a swig.

“Coward.”

“What!”

“I said you’re a coward,” Lisa says as Maritza deposits the tray of shots between the two of you.

“Who’s a coward?” she asks sweetly.

“Eloise.”

“Yeah, I am,” you reach forward and take two of the shot glasses, snatching the one in front of Lisa before downing it.

“Hey!” She yelps.

You flip her off and down the second.

She huffs. “Bitch.”

You shake your head and march towards the bar to order another tray.

----------

To be fair, he knew it would be like this.

He had to. It’s you. It’s both of you. Two weirdly cagey people who don’t like having their guard down and never, ever want to be the one person who sticks themselves out for ridicule. The little dares over the past few months have been one thing, like you’re placing pebbles on a scale, seeing how long it takes until it collapses under the weight. Nightly sleepovers? Pebble. Toothbrushes? Pebbles. Sharing childhood trauma after a round of particularly kinky sex where you had your hands tied to the headboard and it inadvertently reminded you of the time you got your hands stuck in some old handcuffs your sister and you had found and you had to spend three hours with your hands looped around a bed frame because Tanya was seven and when she found your mom they were high on peyote and it turns out it takes five drugged-out hippies to find a tiny pair of keys to free a small girl in the woods after it’s already gotten dark and then he told you about the time his uncle had drunk too much shiner and tried to shoot an apple off his cousins head with a BB gun but missed and now the cousin has one eye kind of like Lorenzo and then you both chain-smoked cigarettes and wondered what a glass eye feels like - alright. Maybe five pebbles.

But...actually saying it?

Stones. Big, ugly stones. The kind that fall on cars.

No wonder you got shit-faced.

“Javvvvvvvi,” you sang through his door. You pounded out the melody that only made sense in your head. “Heyyyyy,”

You hear footsteps approaching from the other side and you stand up straight, ready to drunkenly seduce him with your pose when the door swings open and-

“Can I help you?” She asks, annoyed.

You take the woman in front of you in. She’s tall, with long honey blonde hair that falls across her shoulders. Her waist is bared under the halter top she wears, and you’re only a little jealous of the toned plane of her stomach and the long legs that stretch out from her short shorts.

“I...” you start.

“What are you doing? Get away from the door!” Javi appears from behind her, reaching out to take her arm and pull her back. His eyes fall on you, though, and he drops his hand.

“El- hey- I thought you were-?”

“I was...what uh,” you raise your hand to the woman. “What the fuck?”

“Who the fuck are you?” The woman hisses back. Javi reaches up and takes her arm, pulling her back gently.

“I told you not to answer the door-“

“No, I think I’ll leave-“ you toss your hands up. “Enjoy your night.”

“She’s not- it’s not like that-”

“OH PLEASE, I wasn’t born yester-“

The door behind you opens, and the two or you swivel you hear to see Steve enter holding two bags of food. He looks between you and Javier, then to the door.

“Hey,” he says finally.

You give him a pathetic wave. He waves back before turning to Javi.

“Is she-“

“Yeah,” Javier says. He points to his apartment “Could you actually-?”

“Yeah,” Steve nods a bit too quickly, moving behind him and disappearing into the apartment, closing the door behind him.

Javier turns back to you.

“She needs a place to stay before we move her. I was going to tell you when you got back.”

“Ohhhhhhh,” you draw out. You grimace, before looking back to him. “...Sorry.”

“You really think I’d do that?”

You open your mouth to answer before he cuts in again.

“Are you drunk?”

“I-“ you start before huffing. Fucking cop. “Yes! Of course I’m drunk! It’s tequila night! I even, kindly, I might add,” you reach in your bag and pull out the bottle you picked up on the way home. “Got some for you, too!”

“Who did you think she was?”

“Javi-“ you groan, squeezing your eyes shut. This wasn’t supposed to be your night. Tonight was supposed to be about getting drunk with your friends, then getting drunk with Javi, then having drunk sex on your couch loud enough the upstairs fish guy would have to bury his head in what you only assumed was a pile of rotting fish carcasses in his trash to drown out your moans.

Now it’s this.

You shake your head and nod to your door, beckoning him to follow. It’s tense, and he watches over your shoulder as your hands shake trying to pull the right key. Once you manage to unlock the door, you hurry inside and deposit your things on the table, before turning back and facing him.

You open your mouth to say something-

-and then shut it again. You sigh.

“You thought I was sleeping with her.”

You snap your head back up to see him, cross-armed in front of you. You shake your head.

“This isn’t fair, I’m drunk. You’re not.”

He walks over to the bag you threw on the couch and unscrews the bottle you brought home. He takes a swig, holding eye contact as he gulps a third of the small bottle down, all while you watch flabbergasted.

“Say it,” he says, screwing the cap back on.

“You’re going to be sick-“

“Eloise.”

“Well, it’s not like we’ve talked about it!” You snap. “We never- said! What we’re doing!” You drop your hands to your side and turn, walking to the kitchen and leaning forward onto the counter. Javi follows you up, eying you.

“You thought I was, though?”

“Yes! No? I don’t know!” You bring a hand to your face. “I don’t know. Maybe. I just got scared. I guess...I’ve been scared? Lisa thinks so, the bitch-“

“Scared of what? Me sleeping with someone else?”

“No! Not- necessarily-“

“You really think- Jesus, it’s like we never-“

“Hey, don’t!” You spin to face him. “Don’t turn this around on me. You never brought this up. We haven’t talked about this. We talked about everything else and are doing everything else like dinner dates and sweet sex and fucking movie nights but we haven’t...said anything! Saying things matters!”

He stares at you.

“I didn’t think it did! I thought I was fine with just...letting...ugh!” You bring the heels of your palms to your eyes. “I shouldn’t have done that last shot.”

“Eloise, what are you-“

“I’m not a coward!” You point at him. “I’m not! I’m just- it’s just-“

“No one said you were!”

“Lisa did!”

“Why?”

“Because I haven’t...Ugh! They really make strong drinks at that bar! Because I haven’t said-“

“Jesus Christ, WHAT.”

Ooh, you wish you could just fall apart and have him see what’s running through your mind right now. You feel the anger in your stomach bubble. He’s really annoyed with you for thinking the worst of him, and maybe he has a right, but you two haven’t talked about it. You had just assumed- assumed he felt the same way, assumed the little intimacies have built up in such a way that you had something real and concrete, and especially that you both weren’t fucking other people. But the second she opened the door it felt like your worst fear had come true: you were the idiot who had let their guard down first and got hurt, because they were too stupid to realize what this was, and you couldn’t even be mad. Because you hadn’t talked about it. Because he never technically said he was with you.

But now he’s looking like he’s feeling the exact same way, only he’s the idiot. He’s the idiot for confiding in you and crying on your tits and telling you all those fears and worries and believing you when you kissed his hands and told him you thought he was a good man. He’s worried that you’ve always seen him this way- as the guy who would cut and run and betray you, and maybe if you think that, then it’s true. Maybe he was kidding himself into thinking someone like you could believe in his goodness, after all he’s done.

Fuck, you may be drunk but it does make you insightful.

It may be too late though. Because he’s dropped his hands from his hips, tired of waiting for an explanation. He’s making towards the door, murmuring something about having to work and it all just seems like it’s slipping out of your fingers like you can see he’s building up the wall again and this time you’re not going to be able to tear it down-

“Javi,” you say, your voice strained. He stops and turns to you, and you know you only have a few seconds to do it. You try and form the words, but your tongue isn’t working and maybe Lisa was right, maybe you are a coward, but you have to try.

“I like taking care of you.” You say, pathetically, dropping your hands to your sides.

A beat passes. He brings his hands to his hips, waiting for a further explanation. You sigh and walk down to stand in front of him. “I like having you take care of me...and...I haven’t wanted to tell you, because I don’t want to scare you but maybe that’s just me ‘projecting’ or whatever Alessa said. She’s really annoying now that she’s doing that psychology class-“

“El.” He says, not without softness. You feel his fingers come under your chin, gesturing for you to look up at him.

This wasn’t the plan. This was supposed to be a hookup. Then a friendship. You don’t want to lose that.

But now he’s staring down at you like that, and your drunk brain is turning over itself as you think maybe that train has already left. Maybe it left a long fucking time ago, and the two of you have just been hanging onto the back, waiting for the other person to let go first.

But you don’t want to let go. You never really did. You were just waiting for him to give you a sign so you could make it look like you were jumping off together instead of you pathetically holding on as he disappears behind you.

But from the way his thumb traces your jaw and his other hand reaches forward to take your hand in his, you think maybe he’s been utilizing the same strategy, and he’s been just as scared as you.

Well, now you can either let go or try to pull yourself up.

So.

Are you a coward or not?

He wets his lips before his eyes drop. He looks defeated. And at that moment you decide – fuck it.

Between the gymnastics and dragging your high parents to bed and all this fucking holding you’ve been doing inside of you, you’ve got strong enough arms.

So.

Fuck it.

“El, I don’t-“

“I love you,” you say without thinking. “And yes I’m tequila drunk, but I don’t think that takes away from-“

You’re stopped as he leans forward and presses his lips to yours, cutting you off. You wrap your arms around the back of his neck, pulling him in closer and deepening the kiss. You feel him pulling at your top and you shimmy it off and over your head, tossing it to the side before dipping your hands down and unbuckling his belt as he unbuttons his shirt before you. You drop your hand down the front of his pants, jerking him softly as he moans into your mouth. You feel him guiding you to the couch, and when the back of your knees hit the arm you drop down and begin to pull his pants down for him as he rids himself of his shirt. You’re about to take him in your mouth when he pushes you down, your back hitting the cheap leather as he crawls over you, pulling your skirt up to your hips. He pauses.

“You always skip the underwear in girls' night?”

“Only when I’m coming back to you.”

That gets him, because a second later he’s between your legs, thrusting inside of you. You let out a cry and drop your head back, exposing your neck to him as he continues to pump into, his hands reaching behind and you and grabbing a fistful of your hair.

“Say it again,” he says.

“I don’t wear underwear-“

“No,” he growls, dropping his hand down between your legs to play with you. You let out another little cry.

“I love you,” you say. “I-I’ve loved you for a long time- ahhh!” The next thrust hits a little too well. “Ah, fuck, Javi- right there-“

“Keep going-“

“YOU keep going- fuck, has your dick gotten bigger?”

“El-“ he lets out a moan. Taking advantage of the moment, you slip out from under him and switch positions, pressing him back onto the couch and climbing atop of him. His hands settle on your hips as you ride him, pulling sounds from him that echo around your living room. When you cum he’s not long after, and the two of you collapse onto each other, breathing heavily as you come down with his hand holding the back of your neck.

“Hey,” he says finally. You lift your head and sit up, looking down at him. His eyes are glassy, and the look on his face makes you giggle.

“Are you drunk?”

“Yes,” he says. “But a wise woman once said that doesn’t take away from what I have to say.”

“She sounds smart, you should fuck her,” you say, moving to stand. He catches your wrist, pulling you back down onto his lap with a bounce.

“Give a girl a few minutes before round two-“

He cuts you off with a kiss. It’s slow and soft and you melt into it. The way you always melt into him.

When he pulls away, you chase after his grinning lips. He brings a hand to the side of your face, tracing his fingers down the side of your cheek.

“I love you, too.” He says. “I don’t know what that’s worth…but I do.”

You lean in, wrapping your arms around the back of his neck.

"Baby," you say "It's worth everything."

In the morning, you’ll have to contend with the knowing look Steve gives the two of you before asking “Good night?”, a joke that earns him a look from Javi and a deep blush and muttered apology from you. You’ll have to put up with the squeals from Maritza, Lisa, and Alessa when you tell them in the staff room during lunch. You’ll even get a look from your upstairs neighbor when you pass him and his fresh fish that next afternoon.  Most of all, you’ll have to consider what the fuck this means for you and Javi and this scary, exhilarating little life you’re leading.  

But.

Right now, you’re naked and smoking a cigarette on the couch with the man you love who loves you back, and you’re both laughing, and that's more than enough.

taglist: @fuckoffbard

[static-fanatic-1]

Tattooed-Uvogin

(Tattoo Soulmate AU- Where tattoos are shared by soulmates, if a soulmate dies then the other looses their ability to have nen and the tattoo disappears. I love soulmate AU's, they're fun. Also when Uvogin gets the spider tattoo he will be 24.)

(Female Reader)

College is usually portrayed in two ways, absolutely fantastic where breaking into song is the norm, or a horrid experience akin to horny Lovecraftian creatures. In this case the song song type of college is the norm.

Most individuals in college receive a tattoo, whether it be their own or their soulmates. Usually it is a happy occasion when that happens. Most would flaunt their new mark and spit out how much they wanted to meet their soulmate, but (y/n) was an exception.

Junior year, the hope of a new age of adulthood quickly coming up. The twenty-two old started to strip. Why strip? Well because she had decided to wait her junior year to get her athletic credit, and because she wanted to see a tattoo if she were to get one. But the first reason is what people think. Practically tearing off the jacket she wore and tossing it onto a bench, (y/n) jumped at the sudden shrieks and hollers from across the room.

"Lilith! Holy shit look!" Deciding to see what the commotion was about, (y/n) leaned over to watch the event unfold. On her lower back, almost covered by her shoulder length blonde hair, was a beautiful koi tattoo. As if swimming the splash of blue, orange and cream colors contrasted beautifully with her deep skin tone.

"What?! Oh my god show me!" Lilith squealed, pushing away girls to get to the nearest mirror. The brightest smile decorated her pink lips and when she finally saw the new mark on her shoulder, she waved around her hands and jumped with unrivaled joy. "I can't fucking believe it!"

"Do you think he just turned 21? Like today's his birthday or something?" Another girl exclaimed, staring at the inked shin with awe.

"Probably! Most people get them when they turn 21. God I'm so excited! I'm posting this everywhere to see if someone answers."

More girls crowded around Lilith, the light tapping of gentle fingers bringing (y/n) back to her senses. Turning around the female met with her dearest friend. "What?"

"Ms. Venal will snap at us if we aren't ready, best not to get on her bad side again. She might make us do push-ups for a warm up again." The soft voice and her light brown hair and eyes pairing nicely with her shy personality.

"Oh shit you're right." Swiftly (y/n) moved back to the back of the locker room, pulling off her pants at the same time. Replacing them with gym shorts with the school logo she quickly followed by her favorite shirt.

Grabbing the school shirt she jumped when someone grabbed her shoulders from behind. "(Y/n)! Your back!"

Before (y/n) could protest she was pulled to her friends locker with a hand mirror shoved in her face. Hesitantly she grabbed it and moved it around her face, trying to see what Jessy was talking about. Finally, a large dark tattoo revealed itself on her lower back, spider legs and a white eleven in the center.

"Looks like a spider, but with twelve legs? Weird." Jessy replied, lightly tracing the many legs now inked into her friend's skin. "You seem... disappointed? (Y/n) you good?"

(Y/n) shrugged, surprisingly it was underwhelming compared to what she thought it would be like. I mean the weird spider on her back was the key to finding her soulmate right? Yet it still felt like a normal school day. "Kinda underwhelming I guess."

"Hey (y/n), you got one too? I honestly thought you wouldn't get one." The snarky voice of Lilith echoed in the locker room, a new hand placing itself on (y/n)'s shoulder. "A spider, really?"

(Y/n) gritted her teeth, Jessy moving to put on the last of her clothes. "They probably just like spiders, so what?"

"Looks like they don't know how to count, that's sad." Lilith remarked, poking at the inked flesh. "Didn't you get a tattoo not too long ago, what was it again?"

"A (favorite animal)." (Y/n) mumbled grabbing her school shirt and putting it on.

"Wow, classic."

(Y/n) pretty much had enough of this and turned to the blonde with vigor. Placing a figure on the new koi fish tattoo. "Wow, classic cunt."

The blonde scoffed, but was quickly interrupted when the teacher called out. "Girls, hurry up or you all are going to do more push-ups!"

Lilith mumbles underneath her breath, venomous words that didn't pass (y/n). "Go fuck yourself." She had said.

In a last ditch effort to get some satisfaction, the (h/c) haired girl turned to the blonde and smiled. "After you."

Man school was just dandy.

~~~

For some reason the drive home felt longer than usual, the songs uninteresting and slow.  But that didn't stop the sigh of relief when entering her home. Maybe telling her parents about the tattoo would bring up her spirits? They always wanted to see what it would end up being.

"Momma! I'm home!" (Y/n) yelled, letting the fact sink in to any occupants.

She walked into the kitchen, grabbed a snack, and paused. Her dad, usually sitting with his back straight and glasses on, now held his lenses with his face in his hand. "Hey dad, you're home early. Everything alright?"

Swiftly his head shot up, (h/c) hair messy unlike usual. "Huh? Oh, yeah yeah I'm fine, just a lot of work is all. We're still trying to find who stole Ruby Red, that jewel is worth a few billion Jenny."

The man's daughter pulled a chair and sat down across from him, opening her snack to start eating it. "I still can't believe someone was able to take it, isn't the security pretty high?"

"Yup, and Ruby Red wasn't the only thing they took. They took a few other gems too." Her mother butted in, placing a kiss upon her husband's cheek. "Whoever did it defiantly had help, you're dad placed too many security guards for it to have been one guy."

(Y/n) furrowed her brows, the fact it was more than one person sans all too surprising, but how did they get past the armed guards in the first place? "So what exactly happened? Like to the guards I mean."

"Well... that's just it. We don't know." The dad rubbed the back of his neck, trying to relieve the tension that had built. "They just vanished... poof, gone. No sign of a struggle, no blood, all of it gone."

The mother removed her hand and pulled up a chair, sitting down and taking a sip of whatever is in her mug. "Yeah, pretty crazy stuff. I've been looking through the cameras and I think they have been tampered with. Whoever took the merchandise wasn't a rookie. They knew what they were doing."

"Who do you guys think did it? The mafia?" The daughter asked, looking at both her parents.

"A new group has been floating around, something called the Phantom Troupe. They are pretty much the worst of the worst." The brunette mother replied, placing her cup down and getting more comfortable.

"Worse than the mafia?" (Y/n) questioned.

"Pretty much, this gang took out the entire Kurta clan just a few months ago. They took their eyes and everything." There was a pause, easily taken up by the gravity of the situation her parents were in.

Her father butted in. "Anyway, anything happened at school? How's Jessy doing, she can come over for dinner tonight too. Martha said she was making lobster claws and steak."

"Ah, well, Jessy's doing fine and I'm sure she'd love to come over again. I'll go ahead and text her." (Y/n) pulled out her phone and did just that, asking if her friend wanted to come over again.

"What else, I feel like your hiding something." Martha asked, leaning closer to her daughter with a sly smile.

Small bits of sweat started to form on her brow, right now didn't exactly seem like a good time to talk about an odd tattoo. "Well I cursed someone out, that was fun."

Her dad groaned and rolled his eyes dramatically. "Oh my god was it that Lilith bitch again?"

"Edgar!" Martha snapped, slapping the man on his shoulder and she lightly scolded him. The both of them knew their daughters relationship with that girl. All they had to say is if the coward ever threw a punch, to lay her ass on that ground. (Y/n) was still waiting for her to throw it.

A small ping from a phone ringed, the daughter pulling hers out and slightly smiling. At least when Jessy comes over she would have emotional support over the weird tattoo. "Yeah, it was her again. Anyway, mom do you want any help, Jessy said she would come over."

"Sure, honey. I'd like that."

~~~

The air was tense, sweat slowly forming on (y/n)'s brows as her dearest friend babbled on and on about her early day bravery. "Lilith couldn't say a word to us for the rest of the day! It was hilarious." Jessy boasted, laughing at the sense painted in her head.

Though Martha and Edgar looked at their daughter dumbfounded. "Sooo, is there a reason why you didn't tell us about your new tattoo?" The mother asked, leaning on her elbow with her head in her hand.

"Ah, well you know, it's kinda embarrassing."

"Seriously, you didn't tell them?!"

"I said it's embarrassing!" (Y/n) reinstated, moving her hands in front of her face to attempt stopping the forming blush.

"So! Show us!" Martha exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

(Y/n) grumbled a bit and stood up from her chair, lightly pulling up the back of her shirt. On her lower back the sideways spider laid, twelve legs spread out for the world to see.

Silence followed, the air thicker than it once was. "Yeah, it's a little weird. Honestly it was underwhelming getting it." (Y/n) tried to release the growing tension with a light laugh, though it didn't do much.

"Y-Yeah, it is a little weird isn't it?" Edgar had replied, moving to lightly trace his fingers on the inked skin. "Well I don't think most people have twelve-legged spiders on their backs so it shouldn't be too difficult to find out who this guy is."

~~~

Those words meant so much now, after seeing the news talk about Ruby Red's disappearance and how it was linked to a group of mass murderers, the words felt heavy.

Changing to homeschooling was the first thing to happen, as having people see such a dangerous tattoo could endanger your family. Hunters would travel far and wide to catch the soulmate of a Phantom Troupe member, to sell or kill them for the highest price tag. So being around other reckless students was a big no-no.

Next was their home, moving to the outskirts of York New city to start fresh, where no one would know who they were. Getting a new job wasn't too difficult for Martha and Edgar, as security personnel was important everywhere.

Though (y/n) herself wasn't allowed a job, too risky they would say. And Jessy, well at least she was still there. The friend would visit every so often to catch up, and texting each other became an everyday occurrence.

It had been five years since that dinner, and now fear and anxiety ruled over (y/n)'s life. Walking on the streets it seemed every passerby was a possible hunter, just waiting to catch her and slit her throat.

(Y/n) could only trust Jessy and her parents.

The ringing of a phone smacked the female from her train of thoughts, papers she was once working on discarded. Picking up the device and placing it on her ear, a sweet voice rang with an excited undertone. "Yo, (y/n). Whatcha up to?"

A delicate smile pulled at the (h/c) haired lips. "Fine, just doing mom and dads paperwork. Kinda the only job they'll let me have."

There a was a light hearted laugh on the other side of the phone. "Well I'm going to have a few days off of work it you want to meet up and have a few drinks. I'll be coming in sometime tomorrow evening if you want to meet up then?"

"I'd love to, I'll just have to ask mom and dad, you know how they are."

"Yeah, can't blame them though. I mean it's scary."

"Yeah... I'll call you a little later with an answer okay? See you later Jessy, tell me when you get here and I'll pick you up from the airport."

"Alright, sounds good to me! Bye-bye!"

"Bye." Her smile faded when the phone call ended, at least it wouldn't be too bad. Now she just had to get on her knees and beg her parents.

Searching through the apps on the phone she ended up on the calling one, but paused. 'I'll just ask them when they get home, I'll drive over there soon.' Tossing the electronic on her bed (y/n) sighed and leaned back in her seat.

~~~

After plenty of begging and a semi-long drive to the airport, the now ecstatic girls drove around the city to wherever this bar was.

"Okay okay, (y/n), don't get mad at me but I invited a few other friends." Jessy timidly said, scrunching her body as close as possible to her seat.

"Who?" Was all said, making the other girl all the more afraid of an anxious outburst.

"Just a girl I met the bar once, her name is Shizuku. She said she's bringing another friend over, another girl. Don't worry though she's a bit of an airhead, an absolute sweetheart once you get to know her." Jessy relaxed, not noticing any changes with her friend's behavior. "Sorry I wanted to tell you but if you told Edgar and Martha they probably wouldn't have let you go! I just really wanted to hang out with you."

"Don't worry, mom and dad don't have to know." (Y/n) turned and gave a small wink before turning back to the road.

Jessy sighed, relieved to finally have some fun without much worry. "Oh oh! Right here!" The car slowly drove into the parking lot, the two searching for a spot to park. "Oh! They're over there." The two girls exited and quickly made their way to another pair.

The first girl Jessy walked to and hugged had shoulder length black hair and large round glasses. Large, plum doe like eyes gazed at (y/n) with innocent intrigue. Her casual wear consisting of a long black sleeved shirt and black shorts complimented her hourglass body type. She honestly looked adorable.

The other was a blonde clearly taller than her ravenette friend. Calculating eyes, short hair in a bob and a hooked nose gave her a demanding audience. The woman wore a red, low cut baby doll dress that ended on her mid thigh, and black heels making her even taller.

"Okay guys, this is (y/n), she's been my friend ever since middle school." Jessy placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, (y/n) shyly waving and saying hello. "And (y/n) this is Shizuku and her number two, Pakunoda." They too did the same thing.

"Alrighty! Now that we have all the introductions out of the way!" Exclaimed Jessy, grabbing (y/n)'s hand and waving for the other two to follow. "Let's get absolutely trashed!"

Pakunoda snorted and followed, all four of them entering the not-so-much-a-bar-as-it-is-a-club building.

Jessy grabbed a table, putting some of her things down to mark it as her own. "I'll go ahead and get something to get this party started! Anything in particular you guys want?"

Shizuku places a finger on her chin, deep in thought. Pakunoda wrapped an arm around the ravenette and shook her head. "Surprise us."

(Y/n) quickly waved her hands. "Don't get me something strong, I'll be the designated driver." She laughed, Shizuku finally making up her mind.

"Something fruity!"

She did somewhat seem like an airhead.

After plenty of drinks for the four, and pleasant conversation between the girls, Jessy was finally breaking under the alcohol. Her slim build swaying even when she sat in the booth's chair. "Y'all wanna hear a funny story? Or at least its funny to me." She slurred.

Pakunoda, sitting on the outside of the curved booth, leaned in. "Sure." Elbow now on the table and head in her hand. A delicate smile etched onto her lips, her eyes calculating as an extra hand served her drink.

(Y/n) listened to her start talking about Lilith, the old school bully having many stories about her. "I'm going to go to the restroom." She tapped Jessy's shoulders and moved over and out of the conversation.

Shizuku listened carefully to the slurring female, Pakunoda doing the same. Slowly the story became interesting, talking about receiving tattoos and snapping at the girl named Lilith.

But more importantly, a tattoo received on a lower back. (Y/n)'s lower back.

By the time said female returned all had paused, both Shizuku and Pakunoda silent but attentive. Jessy moved over to let her friend back in the booth they had claimed, Pakunoda placing a slender arm across her shoulders. "You have quite the temper don't you?"

Remembering what they had been talking about, the comment didn't surprise (y/n) all that much. "Lilith? Haha, yeah I hated her. She was difficult to deal with, always trying to one up everyone." (Y/n) waved her hand around to dismiss her temper, truly she couldn't stand people like Lilith. "Don't worry I'm much better now." Again she lightly laughed.

"You seem like it, you're so shy. I honestly didn't expect a story like that." Paku replied, leaning in a little closer.

"Which one was it? I've kinda snapped at her a lot."

"The one where ya' finally got yer tattoo~!" Jessy replied, sandwiching the poor girl between the two.

(Y/n)'s entire body went rigid, her breathing slightly labored by her hammering heartbeat. 'No, no, no Jessy couldn't have told that story, she wouldn't. She knows how dangerous it is for me already, telling people would make it worse!'

She would be hunted by hunters and the Phantom Troupe alike if the wrong people were to find out.

Doing her best to relax, her shoulders not so tense anymore. "Ye-Yeah, it's a bit of a strange one but I don't mind it too much. What time is it?"

Shizuku looked at her phone, her mouth wishing to yap about how Uvogin would love the girl. Or how Uvogin is just a call away from finding his soulmate. OR ANYTHING RELATED! But alas, the bone crushing grip placed on her thigh along with straight up saying it earlier, told her to shut it.

Now with a pouting face she checked the time. "It's 12:48."

Mumbling a short 'shit', (y/n) grabbed her purse and stood up. "Sorry! I was supposed to go home an hour ago!" She examined her phone with a pale face, not just from her tattoo being revealed, but the endless messages from her parents. "Does anyone need a ride?"

Jessy leaned in more, her lips ghosting (y/n)'s ear. "I would love to ride."

Pushing her drunk friend off, (y/n) made her way out of the booth, Jessy wrapped in her arms as the girl stumbled. "You two?"

Shizuku lifted her finger, her mouth opening to speak, but was quickly stopped when a hand smacked itself on her lips. "Don't worry about us." Paku replied, waving a dismissive hand.

"Al-alright. Well we'll be off then, take care!" Quickly grabbing her things, and Jessy, the two slipped out of the club.

Shizuku smacked Paku's hand away and pushed up her glasses. "What was that for?!"

Pakunoda shifted out of her seat, looking around at the other inhabitants of the establishment. "You were going to say something about Uvo, weren't you?"

The ravenette pursed her lips and turned away, scooting out of the booth as well. "So what if I was? It wouldn't stop us from getting her anyway." Whined the girl.

"It would have made getting her harder, she's already cautious of everyone." The two girls exited the bar, stopping to watch (y/n)'s car drive away. "Besides it won't be too difficult for Shalnark to find her."

"Didn't you touch her?" Shizuku pushed her glasses up once more, turning to wonder off to home base.

"Of course, she was very anxious the entire time, and she was weary of us from the beginning."

The ravenette hummed, both wondering through the lit up city. Smoke polluted the air of the alleyways they traveled through, the moonlight basking the criminals in an ethereal glow. The alleyway became too quiet, the once light sounds of buzzing insects feasting on the dumpsters silenced.

The girls stopped, looking at the empty sidewalk in front of them. They could sense two individuals, on in front of them and the other behind. Were the stalkers going to try and jump them? Did they know who they are? Well it doesn't matter, the stalkers will be dead soon.

"Well well well," A gruff voice echoed from behind. "Looks like the butterflies flew into the spider's web. How about you two be sweethearts and tell me about that friend of yours? The one with the (h/c) hair and (e/c) eyes."

Shizuku turned around to face the man, noting the switch blade open and poised in his hands. "He has a knife, Paku."

The man 'tsk'ed slowly walking closer to the girls. Paku stared straight ahead, the other stalker finally revealing himself, a scrawny man with a baggy shirt and large knife.

Pakunoda sighed and pulled out her revolver, aiming straight between the scrawny man's eyes. "Never bring a knife to a gun fight." A quick pull of the trigger and a loud bang caused the man to fall over, a small hole oozing blood and smoke between his glossy orbs.

Shizuku summoned Blinky and with a quick bonk on his head, the gruff voiced man collapsed to the ground.

"Shizuku, is he dead?"

"I didn't hit him that hard." With a hum and a finger on his neck. "Nope, he's alive."

"Good." She swayed over to the man and placed a hand upon his cheek. A rush of memories and emotions entered her mind, like the ripples in water. "They weren't alone, they called others before following us. We should hurry before they find her first."

"They'll kill her won't they?"

"Probably."

"Uvogin would loose his nen if that happened, hmm, we can't let that happen."

Nothing new happened after their encounter, the dark streets now baron by the late night and the rundown buildings. Turning the corner to enter the hideout, a face revealed itself, young and distressed, their thin black brows furrowed.

No words were exchanged, the girls entering without a care. A sigh left the short man's lips as he walked with them into the church. "Machi had a feeling again. What happened?"

Shizuku hopped her way onto a pile of rubble and sat down with an impassive expression. "We were attacked by some thugs on our way back. Though, it was more like a one-way-massacre."

The entire Troupe was in the broken down office building, there were preparing to infiltrate a museum filled with priceless artifacts, but it might have to be postponed.

Feitan didn't look at Shizuku, already knowing her information may very well be useless. "Paku?"

"Shizuku's friend brought a number two as well, she just so happened to be a soulmate." Pakunoda teased, crossing her arms.

The small group playing cards stopped, even Chrollo averted his eyes from his book of interest. Feitan's brows lifted slightly, probably in surprise.

"Ah! That happened too."

Franklin snorted, placing down his cards and shifting to face Paku. Shalnark, Nodunaga, Machi, Kortopi, Bonolenov, and Franklin were huddled up in a small circle playing cards, though the game was now paused. Uvogin, the secret star of the show, was rooting for Nodu to finally win a game. "Who?"

A delicate smirk etched itself on her features, a slender finger pointing to the bear-like man sitting behind Nobunaga.

With that action taken, the bear-like man grabbed Nobunaga and wrapped his arm around his head. The other hand pulling out the ponytail and messing up his hair as a boisterous laughs echoed throughout the building.

Franklin smacked a hand on Uvogin's shoulder and congratulated them, Nobu yelling for Uvo to let go. Once he finally let him go, the shorter man smacked Uvo.

Uvogin didn't exactly care, all he knew is that his soulmate was found and that she was his next target. "Keep talking Paku." Uvo kindly ordered, curiosity taking hold.

"Well she's pretty cute, (h/l) (h/c) hair, bright (e/c) eyes. She's pretty attentive." Pakunoda waved her hands around, finding a seat on the opposite side of the large room.

Another hearty laugh escaped the bellows of his chest. "Finally! Took her long enough." He exclaimed, clapping and rubbing hands together. "Where is she?"

Pakunoda shrugged. "Her name is (y/n) (l/n), Shal will have to figure that out."

Chrollo hummed, grabbing the attention of the room. "Uvo, once you find out where she lives I want you to get her, it would be a shame if you lost your nen." He paused and placed a bookmark in his spot. "Paku does anyone else know?"

The blonde nodded her head. "Yes, the thugs overheard and called a few of their friends. I don't know how many."

Chrollo hummed once more, leaning in a bit closer to the group. "Once Shal figures out her whereabouts I want you and Nabu to go with Uvo. And be cautious, we don't know how strong the hunters will be."

Uvogin laughed, hands on his hips as he threw his head back. "I will."

"Found her!" Shalnark yelped, a bright smile stretched across his cheeks. "(Y/n) (l/n), lives in the New Found Apartment Complex about three blocks from her parents. Oh! Edgar and Martha (l/n), they work as security managers for the museum we were targeting." Shalnark excitedly exclaimed, waving his phone around in the air. "I'll send you the address, Uvo."

Feitan quirked an eyebrow. "She might know which hunters were hired to protect the exhibit."

Chrollo hummed once more, returning to his book with a calm expression. "That might be the case, if so then there we could be better prepared." The sultry voice of the boss explained further her use, not just for Uvogin but the entire team.

Uvogin cracked his knuckles, waving to Nobunaga and Pakunoda to follow. "Consider it done."

~~~

(Thats it everyone! Sadly Wattpad allows for larger chapters so this will be put into two parts to accomadate.)

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Another One?!, Part 3

First > Previous > Next

Marinette took one long, deep breath.

“What the fuck, Adrien?”

Adrien gave an awkward smile that made her want to forgive him… but, no, she must stay strong.

“It’s a cool car!”

She clicked her tongue. “Yes. Yes it is. But none of us can drive.”

“We have to learn at some point, though. Dick is going to uni soon, and it’s not like we can homeschool him for that. And there is no way I’m going to let him take the bus.”

Marinette winced. Okay, fair point.

Adrien must have realized that he was convincing her, because he chose that moment to bring out the pout.

Kwami…

She clicked her tongue once to show she was still irritated but nodded that he could have it.

He grinned and turned to look over his shoulder. “Told you I could convince her.”

Dick popped out of the bushes with a whoop.

Betrayal.

~

“WHY THE HECK DID I GET THE FAST CAR --?!”

“WHY THE HELL ARE YOU ASKING ME --?!”

“STOP YELLING AT EACH OTHER AND WATCH THE ROAD --!”

“PULL OVER IT’S MY TURN TO LEARN TO DRIVE --!”

“WE’RE GONNA DIE WE’RE GONNA DIE WE’RE GONNA DIE --!”

~

Marinette glared at the three new driver’s licenses they had all somehow scammed their way into getting, then turned her gaze on Dick.

“I love you but if you flunk out first semester I will stab you.”

He smiled and wrapped his mom in a hug. “No, you wouldn’t.”

“Bitch, try me.”

Dick wasn’t fazed, squeezing her tighter.

She huffed and reluctantly hugged back. “Okay, fine, maybe not, but I will not be happy.”

“I love youuuuuu.”

“Love you too, sweetie.”

~

Adrien sighed as he looked at his kid’s grades so far. He’d been scared of this. College was a lot of adjustments already, and to add to that he was going straight from homeschool to normal classes and the school wasn’t giving him nearly as much help as it should.

Dick was stealing anxious looks at him out of the corner of his eyes, his legs drawn  to his chest on the couch.

Adrien reached out and ruffled his hair gently. “It’s fine. We’ll get you a tutor, okay?”

He didn’t suggest changing majors. Dick wouldn’t do it if he did, though he wished he would. It’s law school. Everyone knows that you can’t have a life and still go to law school, jobs and stuff are supposed to be put on hold when you go and there was no way Dick was going to stop vigilantism anytime soon. But…

“Also, try playing a game on your computer or doodling while you’re listening to the lecture. That might help you stay focused.”

Dick nodded with a tired smile.

“And you’re going to have to cut down on vigilantism so you can do homework and go to classes. You don’t get to choose your own schedule anymore.”

“Nooooooo…”

~

Marinette yawned, rubbing her eyes. It had been a long day for her. She’d done patrols for a good fourteen hours, and then Nygma had decided to use that exact moment to pull a death trap out of nowhere.

So, when she’d finally finished everything for the day she was tired and soaking wet (because, for some reason, he thought it would be cool to see if she preferred death by electrocution or drowning). She’d called for her husband to come get her because it was winter and she wasn’t all that interested in walking through the snow in damp clothes.

Now she curled up in the car, getting the front seat and both her and Adrien’s jackets wet. She didn’t care as she pressed as close to the heater as she possibly could.

Adrien brought the car to a stop and looked over, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Do you want to wait in the car while I get him?”

She nodded, closing her eyes.

She felt a set of keys drop in her lap and pressed the lock button, sinking into the chair.

And then, a few minutes later, she heard something outside.

She peeked an eye open blearily and looked around, expecting to see Adrien and Dick drumming their fingers on the windows to be let in. A frown made its way across her face when she realized that they weren’t there.

She sat back up slowly and her eyes landed on a flash of red on the side opposite her.

She unlocked her door and poked her head out, carefully making her way around the car to investigate…

A person was trying to steal their hubcap.

She groaned softly and rubbed her eyes, then got into a fighting position.

The person looked up at the sound and she winced mentally when she saw they had a crowbar.

They shot to their feet and raised the weapon.

“Marinette?” Called Adrien.

She looked up on instinct, a bad idea when you’re fighting someone.

She took a crowbar to the stomach and groaned, doubling over. They leaned down to grab the hubcap and then attempted to make a break for it.

It didn’t work, obviously. Dick caught the person by their hoodie when they tried to rush past him.

They twisted in his grip and hit Dick in the side with their hubcap and, when he stumbled a bit in surprise, swept his legs out from under him.

Adrien scowled as he tackled the person to the ground. Then he stopped suddenly, his eyes going wide. “This is --!”

He never got to say what the person was, though, because they had socked him. The person had been wearing a lot of rings, so that hurt even more than it usually would. It was a wonder that Adrien didn’t black out or, at the very least, fall back to cradle his jaw.

The person must have been counting on this because they cursed and reached out to shove Adrien off of themself, but he caught their arms.

With a bit of awkward shuffling he had managed to pin them to the ground, arms tucked beneath him and legs swinging wildly in an attempt to keep Dick and Marinette back.

He needn’t have worried, both of them were pretty incapacitated. Getting hit with a metal instrument tends to do that to people.

Dick recovered first because his blow had been softer and to a less vulnerable part, and he crawled over to Marinette… who was currently listing off every swear that she could think of from her spot on the ground.

They leaned against each other for support and then lifted their shirts a little bit to check for blood. Thankfully, the things the person had used were blunt, so they would only have to worry about bruising...

Still hurt, though.

“— fucking asshole of a person I will fucking stab their cul stupide —!”

“Mari, stop cursing, it’s a kid,” hissed Adrien, who was now covering the kid in question’s ears.

“Oh really? Let’s see you get hit by a goddamn whatever-the-fuck-that’s-called --!”

The kid, who could apparently still hear despite her husband’s best efforts, supplied the name of the object he’d used: “Crowbar.”

“Oh, you absolute --!”

Dick covered her mouth so she could curse without the kid hearing it too clearly.

Eventually, she ran out of curses. Her shoulders slumped.

Adrien and Dick nodded to each other and removed their hands.

Adrien carefully clambered off the kid, though he made sure to hold onto their hands to make sure they wouldn’t a) attack again or b) just run off.

They looked him over and Marinette cringed. Definitely a street kid, if the ragged clothes and bruised skin was any indication.

“It wasn’t personal,” the kid said, looking between the three of them anxiously. He must have realized he wasn’t getting away, because he had stopped subtly struggling against Adrien’s grip. “I just needed money.”

Marinette nodded. “Sure. What foster or adoption system are you in? We can up donations.”

(She was still annoyed about the whole ‘hitting her with a crowbar’ thing, obviously, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to help out a bunch of kids in need.)

The kid’s eyes widened and then he gave a bitter laugh. “I’m not really in one, it’s safer on the streets.”

Adrien frowned. “Sorry? Why? Don’t you want a roof and food?”

They rolled their eyes. “Sure, I’d love that, but it doesn’t exactly happen.���

The three frowned at each other.

Adrien thought for a minute, then shrugged. “How about you stay with us?”

“Huh?” Said both Marinette and the kid.

“We have room and money, and Dick is probably going to leave soon anyways because of college. Why not stay with us?”

Dick hesitated. “I’m probably not leaving, actually, but you can stay if you want.”

Marinette and the kid looked met each other’s eyes and deemed themselves the only sane ones present, because honestly what the fuck?

But then the kid’s eyes strayed to the pearl necklace Adrien had gotten her the year before, to the car, to the designer bag Dick was carrying…

“I wouldn’t mind. What about you, mom?” He said, giving Marinette a cheeky grin.

She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t get puppy-dog-eyed from all sides.

Could Adrien, just once, ask her before randomly adopting kids?

Well, she guessed she should just be glad he didn’t try and adopt the entire foster system. She should probably say yes before he actually tried...

“Fine. Fine. We’ll adopt another one.” She pursed her lips together and then gave her husband a pointed look. “No more after this, though, got it? We’re too old for this stuff.”

“We’re not that old!” Complained Adrien.

She clicked her tongue.

“Fine. I’m not that old.”

Marinette scoffed and threw the keys at him. He caught them without even blinking.

Dick smiled and opened the car door for the kid, who seemed more than a little hesitant to get in the car with strangers. Apparently curiosity won over self-preservation, though, because the kid did end up getting in the car.

“Right, what’s your name?”

“Jason…”

“Cool! I’m Dick, and these are my adoptive parents, Marinette and Adrien.”

“... is no one going to talk about why your mom is soaking wet?”

“Why our mom is soaking wet, you mean.”

Jason frowned. “Sure… why?”

“She fell in a well.”

Adrien nodded as he started to drive. Marinette groaned and sunk into the front seat again.

Jason, poor kid, just looked confused.

“How the fuck…?”

~

Adrien was well aware that Jason didn’t trust them.

Fair enough. How many other people see a random kid stealing their hubcaps and then say ‘yeah, screw it, I’ll adopt them’? He figured they must be the only ones.

The kid seemed genuinely surprised when they pulled up to their house. Adrien wasn’t sure he wanted to know where Jason thought they were taking him.

Marinette had taken a quick shower, changed into some warm clothes, grabbed a cup of coffee, and then took Jason out shopping. Dick rearranged his room to accommodate another person.

And Adrien…

Adrien glared down the kwamis.

“Alrighty. We made the mistake last time of not telling you not to show yourselves to Dick, because we thought that was implied. We’re not doing that again. You are not allowed to in any way help Jason find out that you exist or that we are Chat Noir, Ladybug, and Robin. Got it?”

He made sure to see every kwami nod that they understood and then gave them some leftover macaroons to eat.

Good. So that disaster would be averted.

He heard a loud “Oh! My word!” from the next room and sighed.

New disaster.

He ushered the kwamis back under the floorboards and then rushed over to Dick’s room.

He walked in to find him frantically scraping a part of the wall that had been previously hidden by his bed.

Adrien crossed his arms. “Hey, buddy, whatcha got there?”

Dick turned around slowly, eyes wide and full of panic. “Uh…” He leaned back as casually as he could (it did not look like a comfortable position at all but that’s not the point here) and flashed a brilliant smile. “Adrien… Dad… Dadrien... have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“Not nearly enough. What did you do?”

“I…” He looked away. “... should probably get ahead of this. Don’t get mad, please?”

“We’ll see.”

Dick slowly scooted away from the spot and Adrien sighed deeply.

Because on the wall, in crayon, was a bunch of doodles.

But, upon closer inspection, he realized they were doodles of Chat Noir and Ladybug and a tiny little person with black hair.

Do not think it’s cute do not think it’s cute do not think it’s cute --.

He took a few deep breaths before turning to Dick. “Go get some cleaning stuff. We have a few hours before Mari gets back.”

He mumbled a thanks and then rushed out to go find cleaning supplies.

Adrien snapped a photo while he was gone.

~

Marinette and Jason were struggling.

It was hard to get this kid to buy anything at all, she had tried to get him just another hoodie and he had taken one look at the price tag before flinging it as far away from him as he possibly could.

Man, how was she supposed to get him a mattress if this was how he was going to react to a bunch of ten dollar hoodies?

She would have thrown her hands up in frustration if that wouldn’t have disturbed her coffee. “Fine. We won’t buy anything. Do you have anything we can bring?”

Jason hesitated, then shook his head.

Okay, an obvious lie but she wasn’t going to call him out on it. He was probably still wary of them and their kindness and wanted to keep that backup open. She understood.

Well, she didn’t understand because she’d never been in that kind of situation, but she would respect it.

“Fine. You’ll have to live with hand-me-downs. Are you alright with that?”

Jason relaxed a little, nodding.

She gave a tired smile.

She’d have to do something about Dick’s sleeping arrangements, she’d probably create a hammock or just let him sleep in their bed (it hardly ever got any use, anyways) for the time being. Eventually, Jason might warm up to them enough to let her buy him stuff, and she’d wait for that…

Or he’d run away. But, hopefully not that.

Jason ducked his head and pulled his hoodie up to hide his face and Marinette glanced around. People were staring at them. Fair enough, she doubted that the scruffy hoodie and weathered jeans were making people trust the kid. Still, she stepped towards him and gently grabbed the sleeve of his hoodie to say he was hers.

He cringed almost imperceptibly at her touch. She frowned a little bit, she knew all too well what that meant, but didn’t say anything.

She opted to just glare at the people giving them odd looks, daring any of them to say anything.

They didn’t. Good.

She looked down at the kid and tipped her head to the side.

“I’m going to just shop for the family and you can eat that stuff, okay?”

Jason still looked like he wasn’t happy with it but he nodded.

And, so, she took him to the grocery part of the store. She did what she said she would, shopping for things they would need over the week, but she also watched Jason carefully to see if he liked anything.

The kid clearly knew what she was doing, because he spent most of his time watching her with a neutral expression, but occasionally she’d catch his gaze lingering on a specific product for just a second too long and she’d drop it into the cart.

He couldn’t say anything. He had no proof that they never ate… whatever the hell a Chef Boyardee was.

She found he was mostly looking at cheap, instant meals but that was okay. He’d learn.

She was a baker’s daughter, after all. Everyone in her house would learn what good food was eventually or die by her hand.

~

Adrien fell back on the couch and groaned. “I have to homeschool another kid!”

“Sucks,” said Dick, who was applying a princess bandaid to a shallow cut on his cheek that he’d gotten that night (the goon who had missed had been pissed that their aim was off... but then pissed themself when the two older vigilantes advancing on him made him realize he had bigger problems).

“It does! I get one kid into college and then I suddenly get another kid to teach!”

Marinette sat on his stomach and he wheezed a little. She didn’t pay this any mind, though. “Maybe you should have thought about that before you adopted another one.”

“He said he felt safer on the streets than in a home! I couldn’t just not adopt him!”

She gave a noncommittal hum.

“Dick! Agree with me!”

The person in question just turned on the TV and started flipping through channels.

Adrien sighed. He was now talking to what may as well have been an empty room. He looked around for the kwamis but they were very determinedly avoiding eye contact while chowing down on their foods of choice. Still, he at least had one person-god-whatever that had to listen to him:

“Plagg.”

The cat kwami gave a long sigh before looking at him. “Adrien, please don’t make me give you my opinion on this. You’re not going to like it.”

He pouted. “Honestly, though, it’s messed up. Is the system really that bad?”

“Yep,” said Marinette.

“Mhmm,” said Dick.

“And aren’t either of you, I don’t know, concerned about it?”

“You guys already donate a bunch of money, what else can you do?”

Adrien frowned, reaching out and pulling his wife down to lay next to him so they both could be comfortable.

Marinette lifted her arms slightly so he could wrap his arms around her and nuzzled into him a little bit (Dick made a gagging noise in the background). “This isn’t really our type of thing, Chaton.”

He nodded reluctantly…

And then gasped.

“But what if it is!”

“What?” She said warily.

“I mean, we’re in Gotham. Everything is connected to crime here! What if the foster and adoption systems are messed up because the mob or something has something to do with it!”

“Did you stretch before that reach?” Asked Dick as he changed the channel.

Adrien huffed. “M’lady, c’mon, I make sense, right?”

She thought for a minute, and then closed her eyes. “Alright, Chaton, if you really want you can go investigate it. If it’s our kind of thing, then we fix it. Okay?”

He beamed.

~

Marinette was… tired.

So, when she walked into the kitchen and found Jason flinging cabinets open at random and Dick swinging from a ceiling light, she just continued on to the coffee machine.

“WHERE THE FUCK IS THE TRASHCAN?!”

“Language,” Dick murmured absently. He hooked his legs over the light fixture and lowered himself down to open the cabinet beside Marinette, revealing... the trash can.

Jason stared at the cabinet in shock. “But… I opened that one… I know I did…”

“You have to be upside down to access it,” said Dick seriously.

She started up the machine. “Sweetie, don’t tell him that. He’ll break his neck.”

Jason slowly discarded his plate in the trash can, eyes locked on it as if it would disappear if he didn’t keep it in his sight at all times. “Why don’t you just have the trash can out…?”

Dick grinned. “Rich people thing. Can’t let people know you live here.”

“What?”

All he got was two shrugs. They didn’t really understand it either, they just didn’t care enough to do anything about it.

“I hate rich people,” Jason decided eventually.

“Same.”

“Including you.”

“Same.”

Adrien had chosen that exact minute to walk in and was now looking on in horror as Marinette brought an entire coffee pot to her lips and Jason dragged the trash can out into a reasonable place and Dick attempted a trapeze act on the ceiling light.

“I…”

“Morning,” said Marinette, sending a wave.

Adrien looked at the three of them for a few moments before sighing and sitting on the counter.

“Morning.”

~

Listen, if nothing else, Adrien had faith (... in humanity, religious faith is kinda weird when you have a god living in your jewelry).

This faith had never done him any good but it was there.

So, he had to hope that the problems with the system were things that he could fix as Chat Noir. Otherwise, he’d have to just accept the fact that the system didn’t care about its kids. He couldn’t do that.

The world was evil... but surely it couldn’t be that evil.

Unfortunately for his dreams of fixing everything, he found out that he needed to go to university for at least four years in order to get in. He couldn’t wait that long! People were suffering now!

Good thing he was rich.

Listen, Gotham is messed up. He’s been doing his best to fix it but, dang it, if everyone else can exploit it then he can, too!

(But only to help people. His moral compass was a roulette wheel and using his money to benefit solely himself was one of the lines he wouldn’t cross.)

Dick gave him a jealous look as he held up his new, definitely legitimately earned degree.

And then Jason had stepped into the room and frowned confusedly.

“You’re a social worker?”

“Am now!” He chirped.

“New?”

“Yep! I’m hoping to make it better, if I can.”

Jason gave a tiny laugh. “Oh, so you’re NEW new.”

Well, that wasn’t encouraging.

That night, he managed to catch Marinette before she could head off for patrols. “Do you think what I’m doing is useless?”

“A little bit but…” She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I knew what I was getting into when I married you. I love you, Chaton.”

He frowned a little bit but returned the kiss and whispered his “I love you, too, M’lady.”

“Would you like me to drive you to work?”

He smiled and let her lead him along. That would be good. If he was driven to work then he could get someone to pick him up ‘late’ and give him time to snoop around.

Well, not today. The staff would know if it was his first day. He’d have to give it a month or so before he snooped. But it was good to start that kind of routine early.

When they pulled up to the orphanage, Marinette locked the doors before he could get out.

Crap.

He gave his wife a careful smile. “M’lady?”

“Listen to me: you are not allowed to adopt any of the kids.”

“But --.”

“Nope. No kids. We already have two when we said we were going to have zero. It has to stop.”

He sighed, leaning back in his seat. “What if… what if they’re about to age out?”

Marinette paused. He could see the gears turning in her head as she bit her lip, considering it.

Then she shook her head. “If they’re about to age out you can give them money and support to start out. That’s. All.”

He pouted a little but accepted this answer. It would have to do.

He heard the doors unlock and stepped out. He looked up at the building and suppressed a cringe. It looked like the kind of orphanage that you see in movies that always have an evil director. This was a good thing for him as Chat Noir but a bad thing when you consider that there are actual kids living there.

Adrien stepped inside, all too aware of his nerves.

After all, he was technically unprepared. Did he know basic medicine? Was he good with kids? Did he know how to teach even kids with challenges? Yes to all of that. Still, he couldn’t help but worry that maybe the four years of college that were asked of him could have taught him something that he would need.

Relax, he told himself.

This did nothing, and really only served to make him more anxious, but hush.

He was given the day to tour the place, and he was originally disappointed. Surely, this couldn’t be it. All the beds were crammed in one room! Some of the beds didn’t even have fitted sheets!

But then his mind wandered to Jason. They never found him asleep in any of the beds, instead finding him passed out with a thin blanket in the corner or, at best, in an armchair. He hardly ever slept alone, either, usually opting to choose whatever room had two or more people in it to sleep.

He had to remind himself that these kids were likely on the streets for at least a few months of their lives, and likely would have adapted to that.

It didn’t make him feel any better, though.

Adrien didn't let any of this show on his face, instead smiling as he introduced himself to the kids he passed. A few gave wary looks, others gave awkward smiles, and some didn’t even seem to notice him.

He didn’t know what he was expecting. He was their new teacher, people usually aren’t all that eager to meet those.

He hoped he could help, though.

~

Marinette clicked her tongue when she found Jason reading in his current favorite hiding space: under Dick’s bed.

“Sweetie, you’re going to get squished under there.”

He didn’t answer, probably because there was a flashlight in his mouth.

She leaned down to see if she could figure out a way that he could stay down there without getting hurt and scrunched up her nose at a smell.

“Is there… are you keeping food down there?”

Jason finally looked at her, his eyes wide. He quickly moved in front of the stash so she couldn’t get to it and pulled the flashlight from his mouth to speak: “It’s mine.”

“It’s spoiled,” she said, shaking her head. “You can hoard food if that makes you happy but at least make sure it’s something that won’t go bad, please. How about cereal -- no, actually, the kid would kill me if I gave you that… what about nutrition bars?”

“Those aren’t actually that healthy, you know.”

She gave a tiny shrug. “You’re right, they’re not, but they don’t spoil quickly and they have at least some kind of nutritional value.”

He hesitated, then reluctantly pushed the stash of food in her direction. She sifted through it to pull out any food that was still good, and then handed that over.

He looked at the tinier pile and then gave her a tiny smile.

“Thank you.”

She nodded. “I’ll go out and get some nutrition bars.”

His eyes widened. “You don’t have --.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was already going to start buying them to try and wean your brother off of cereal. This is just an added bonus,” she lied so he wouldn’t feel guilty about using her money.

He looked reluctant but still nodded.

She beamed and stood again, the spoiled food in her arms.

She yelled to Dick that Jason was under his bed again so he needed to be careful, then put a sticky note on his bed and door so he’d remember, then tossed the food.

And then she started towards the store.

~

Teaching all day and then coming home to teach another kid was… something.

Good thing Adrien had the patience of a saint from years of schooling Dick.

Jason groaned and fell back on the couch, covering his face with the textbook. “This is soooooo boring. I already know this stuff!”

“The test you took says differently,” said Adrien as he closed his copy.

All he got was another groan.

He sighed and closed his eyes. Whatever. He was exhausted. He’d take the night off. “Alright, fine, you’re bored. What do you want to do?”

Jason lifted the book from his face so he could send his dad a confused look.

“You have to enjoy something. Y’know, a hobby or something?”

Jason’s face reddened a little and he nodded, toying with some of the rings on his fingers. “I have one... but you can’t laugh if I tell you.”

“I wouldn’t.”

He mumbled something that she couldn’t make out, and Adrien frowned. “Sorry?”

He took a deep breath and then whispered his answer: “Iliketoread.”

It took a moment for his brain to catch up, and then he felt a wide smile stretch across his face. A kid? That reads?

He pushed himself up to his feet.

“I have a library card that’s been gathering dust for the past few years. C’mon.”

Jason raised his eyebrows. “It’s been gathering dust? Why?”

“Uh… let’s just say I’ve been kind of busy with other things.”

“That sucks.”

He considered this, his head tipping to the side, then he nodded. “It does. I should read more.”

“You should.”

Adrien laughed a little. “Have any suggestions?”

Jason’s eyes lit up.

~

Marinette hummed absently as she stepped into the kitchen and then frowned as her eyes flicked between Dick and Jason, who were looking very intensely at a plate.

She stepped closer and rolled her eyes. It seemed they were dividing up the last cookie from her baking session last night.

Was she concerned that they had managed to eat all the cookies in the few hours since she had finished them? A little. But not that concerned. At least she knew they were getting calories.

But now she was just amused. Because they were using a ruler and a pencil and paper to figure out what exactly half was.

Dick seemed to finish his math first, because he picked up a knife and positioned it over the cookie.

“Careful!” Said Jason.

Marinette snickered. “Boys, I may have a solution for you.”

They looked up with confused expressions.

“I can… you know I can just make more, right?”

Jason looked like he was going to protest... but then Dick swiped the cookie and stuffed it into his mouth. He watched on in horror for a few moments before his face hardened.

“You live up to your name, Dickwad.”

Dick gasped. “Rude!”

“Oh, so I’m rude? You want to know what’s actually rude? It’s --.”

Marinette grinned as she sipped at her coffee. She’d intervene if things went too far but, for the time being, she was perfectly fine just watching.

Jason’s eyes found her and he brought a cheeky grin to his face. “Hey, mom, if you’re going to make cookies then Dickwad can’t have any, right?”

“What? No! Mari -- Mom -- Mominette!”

“Mom!”

“Mom!”

She tried not to laugh at the chorus of ‘Mom’s as she started pulling down ingredients.

~

After a month and a half of gaining the trust of the orphanage staff and kids, he managed to sneak into the director’s room and look through the financial records.

He snapped pictures of every page and then slipped out through the window.

When he got home he pulled the pictures up on a bigger monitor and started looking over them with Dick and Marinette at his side.

The longer he looked the more he frowned.

“It’s not an evil plot. I don’t know what to do when it’s not an evil plot,” he said eventually.

Marinette rested her head on his shoulder. “Of course it’s not. Even if criminals benefit from the system being broken, they don’t need to do anything to keep it that way. Even good cities have terrible adoption and foster systems.”

“There has to be something we can do!”

She and Dick exchanged exhausted looks.

“There has to be something we can do.” He repeated, frowning. “We’re rich!”

“We don’t have enough to beat out a mob boss in political donations, Chaton, much less a bunch of them.”

He sighed.

Marinette slipped her hand into his and was silent for a while, trying to think of a way to cheer him up. She squeezed a little tighter and he looked over with a raised eyebrow.

“Hey, speaking of mob bosses, the kid and I have been closing in on one’s location. You want in? You always like beating them up...”

“I guess it has been a while since we’ve done that…”

They had been about two seconds away from just pushing the emotions down like they usually did, but then Dick had gasped and pushed himself to his feet.

“We can’t fix homes, but we can always make things easier when they leave.”

“We already agreed to give them money when they age out, sweetie.”

“Nonononono not like that!” Dick was pacing, now. “You guys know a lot of people, right?”

“I do…” said Adrien carefully.

“Then use that! Help them get into the fields they want to get into.”

“That’s…” Adrien pulled out his phone to translate the word to English. “... nepotism.”

Marinette shrugged absently. “We kill people, Chaton, this is hardly the place to draw the line. I can probably get them into the designing world if I wanted.”

“I could do circuses or law.”

Adrien sighed and closed his eyes. He figured he should just be glad that they were trying to help.

“... I can get modelling and any other field that I know someone in… I’d need to make some calls...”

~

The happiness that came along with finding a solution, weak as it was, lasted about a month.

Marinette smiled and wiped some blood from her husband’s cheek so she could give him a kiss.

“Feel better?”

“A little,” he admitted.

She smiled and tipped her head back to look at Dick, who was tying up the last of the henchmen. “You’ve had faster times, sweetie.”

“I would’ve gone faster if you were helping instead of ‘french kissing’ over here.”

“We weren’t --!” She clicked her tongue when both of the guys started laughing. “You’re hilarious. C’mon, we need to get out before the cops get here.”

They slipped out into the streets as sirens blared in the distance and detransformed.

Marinette hummed lightly as they made their way through back alleys. After all, their detransformations only got rid of the suits, not the blood… it would look a little weird if three people covered in blood were just walking through the streets.

Adrien opened the door for them, and she stepped inside…

Only to go pale.

Because Jason was up, watching a show. He had probably woken up and decided to wait until people were back to sleep. The three vigilantes went completely still, save for the quiet squeak of surprise that left Dick’s lips.

Jason looked over and his eyes widened.

“Uh… we can explain?” Said Marinette.

He screamed and scrambled off the couch as quickly as possible and made a mad dash for the kitchen.

The three vigilantes looked at each other, then followed after him.

Her eyes searched the kitchen and found him hidden under a table...

Oh. He had a knife. Fun.

Adrien pushed Dick behind them.

She held up her hands placatingly. “Sweetie…”

“NO! WHAT THE FUCK?! NO! I KNEW YOU GUYS WERE TOO NICE TO BE TRUE BUT WHAT?!  THE FUCK?! MURDERERS?! COME ON!”

Adrien sighed. “I… we aren’t… well… we kind of are… but...”

“Not helping,” Dick muttered.

Marinette bit her lip as she considered what to do to make Jason relax, then groaned. “Tikki. Spots on.”

Somehow, Jason’s eyes went wider when she transformed.

“WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK?! YOU GUYS ARE VIGILANTES?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”

Adrien sighed.

The other two transformed as well.

Jason had gone into shock…

Progress?

They detransformed now that they had shown him the truth.

“Now that you know that we won’t hurt you, can you… put the knife down? Please? That’s the good knife and --?” She felt the glares of the other two vigilantes on the back of her head and winced. “Okay, maybe not the most important reason why... knives are sharp. We don’t like sharp things. They hurt.”

The kid did, in fact, put down the knife. This was probably just because he was stunned and on autopilot but at least he was no longer armed.

Marinette carefully walked over and picked it up off the ground. A pout made its way onto her face as she looked at the blade. It had scratches on it…

She saw Adrien’s disapproving look and huffed, tossing it into the sink a few feet away and then turning to the kid next to her.

“This wasn’t how we wanted you to find out…”

The boys made their way over as well and they all sat in a wide circle around the kid. They didn’t want him to feel alone but they also didn’t want to crowd him.

“We didn’t really want you to know at all, we just wanted to be a stable family for you,” explained Adrien.

Jason was emerging from his shock slowly, his breathing was picking up.

Marinette peeled her jacket off and draped it over his shoulders gently.

“We promise we won't force you to be a vigilante. In fact, we’d probably feel better if you weren’t one. You’re a kid,” said Adrien.

“But,” added Dick. His parents glared at him but he continued anyways: “If you want, then we won’t stop you. You’re old enough by our family standards, so we can’t really stop you if you want to. Just tell us and we’ll get you a miraculous that suits you and some training.”

She clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

Dick gave her a bit of side-eye. “What? It’s not like we would be able to stop him if he wanted to be a vigilante. I’d prefer that he at least be safe… -ish.”

Jason curled up in the jacket and closed his eyes. “Can I have some time to think about it? About… everything?”

“Of course, sweetie.” Marinette scooted away a little so he could get past her and he rushed out.

The three watched him go in silence. They heard the front door slam behind him.

She closed her eyes. “Sweetie, go after him? Make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”

Dick gave a quiet “Okay” and transformed. With a shrill note, he was gone.

Adrien and Marinette were left alone.

She felt him crawl over to her and pull her into him.

“He’ll be okay,” said Adrien softly.

She bit her lip and then buried her face in his shoulder.

~

Over the next few weeks they heard people in the house.

He made sure to never acknowledge it. It could be Dick coming back for food or to grab some homework to do while watching over his brother, or it could be Jason.

He always hoped it would be Jason… but now that it actually was he felt a surge of anxiety.

Firstly, Marinette wasn’t home. Nygma had just announced his most recent death trap to the city and she’d had to rush out to deal with it.

Secondly, Dick had a class at the moment.

Thirdly, Adrien was just really tired. He’d spent the entire day teaching, of course he was tired. He wouldn’t be at the top of his game.

This was probably an intentional move on Jason’s part. It was a good idea to take precautions, Adrien would have been proud if he wasn’t so nervous.

He looked up from his spot on the couch and gave a careful smile. “Hey, Jay.”

Jason hesitated and then disappeared to the kitchen. He came back with a knife.

Ah. Great.

Adrien knew he could beat a child with a knife, that didn’t mean he wanted to.

Jason sat on the couch opposite Adrien and pointed his knife at him. “I want to ask some questions.”

“Of course. Anything.”

He nodded and lowered his knife ever so slightly. “Okay… why did you adopt me?”

Adrien frowned a little bit. “You were a kid that was so desperate for money that you were stealing a bunch of rich people’s hubcaps. I couldn’t not adopt you.”

“There’s a lot of people like that. Why me? I attacked you. There had to be better, safer options.”

“I…” His frown deepened. This was true. Why had he felt so drawn to Jason in particular? “I guess it could have been Marinette’s luck? One of her side-effects is that she has really good luck. I wouldn’t be surprised if we adopted the exact kid that was perfect for our family.”

Jason nodded a little bit, though he looked skeptical.

Fair enough. Adrien was also a little skeptical of his answer. He had a theory about what was going on but it wasn’t like he’d ever be able to prove it.

“Next question: what did Dick mean when he said that I was old enough to be a vigilante ‘by your standards’?”

Adrien winced a little bit. “You said you’re about thirteen, right? Well, Dick and I started at twelve and Mari started at thirteen.”

Jason gave him an incredulous look, then apparently got over it. “Oh. Okay. And… why did you start doing this?”

“Uh… odd question…” He pursed his lips. “It’s hard to explain. I… had an image to keep up and Chat Noir was -- still is, actually -- my outlet for me to be myself in public. Mari, I think, was more or less thrown into the life and then, when she finally had an out, couldn’t imagine herself without it. Dick wanted to get revenge on the person who got his parents killed and then decided to keep going.”

He frowned. “You make it sound addictive.”

“Oh, yeah, it definitely is.” Adrien sighed. “There’s a lot of reasons why we didn’t tell you but that was one of them. When you start you don’t stop. We made that mistake with Dick, we’re hoping that you’ll not do it.”

Jason set the knife down, finally. “But you wouldn’t stop me if I still wanted to?”

He winced. “No. If you wanted to then we’d give you a miraculous -- powers -- and you’d get to go out and fight crime.”

“You trust me?” He said with a laugh.

“Should I not?”

He rolled his eyes. “I grew up on the streets. Most people don’t.”

“Jay, no offense but I’m not scared of you. You could have stolen from us or attempted to hurt us at any point over the last few months and you didn’t.”

“You’re vigilantes! It’s not like I could have done any of that!”

He shrugged and stretched out lazily. “You’re right, you wouldn't have succeeded. But you didn’t know that. You thought we were just some really trusting rich people.”

Jason considered this with a frown, and then he looked at Adrien. “I want to be a vigilante.”

He groaned a little bit but nodded. “Fine. Take off your -- Mari’s -- whatever -- THE jacket and the hoodie for a minute so I can see who should train you?”

The kid looked a little uncomfortable but he did comply.

Adrien frowned at all the tiny scars but didn’t say anything as he carefully examined his build. Definitely closer to him than Marinette or Dick.

He would take up the physical aspect of training, then.

“Right, how much do you know about self-defense?”

~

The four of them sat on the floor, sifting through the different miraculi for ones that could protect Jason in battle.

Marinette hummed to herself as she sifted through her pile.

After a minute, Dick held up the turtle miraculous. “This one can keep him safe -- wait a minute, why didn’t I get this one?”

“Didn’t match your fighting style or personality,” said Adrien absently, his head tipping from side to side as he considered the miraculous.

“If we want to give him that one then he’s going to need a different weapon. What would you like, sweetie?”

Jason thought for a minute, staring at Wayzz.

Then his eyes lit up. “Can I have a gun?”

“I…” Began Marinette, then she shrugged. “Actually, we could probably use another long-distance fighter on the team.”

“And it keeps him a pretty safe distance away from the fighting…” Agreed Adrien.

Dick hesitated. “But guns are pretty lethal. He isn’t an adult.”

“Damn, that really is going to come back to bite me, huh?”

Jason frowned. “What? What’s going on?”

“Basically, we have a rule that says kids aren’t allowed to kill,” said Adrien, sending his wife a tired glare.

She gave him a tense smile in return. “Killing people messes you up, so we’re trying to keep you guys away from it.”

Jason hesitated a little bit. “I’ve kinda… already…”

The three others’ eyes widened and they gave each other nervous glances. Jason couldn’t seem to finish, and they didn’t ask him to. They could guess what he was trying to get at.

And they didn’t know how to respond. Their problem had been with introducing kids to murder, because they knew that it was something you never really came back from… but he’d already done it...

They figured that, from the way he said it, he had probably had no choice in the matter and was regretting doing it…

“I guess… we let him kill if he wants?” Said Adrien slowly.

Dick scratched his head. “I guess?”

The three of them shrugged at each other. It was probably -- no, definitely -- not the right decision but they really didn’t know what to do.

“I think he’d look cute with pistols,” said Marinette after a few minutes of silence.

Adrien, who was the only other person who had seen the turtle miraculous’s suit, nodded his agreement.

Jason transformed for the first time.

Dick nodded as well. “Pistols would be cute.”

~

Adrien smiled as he watched Jason mess around with his new powers.

There wasn’t much to them. They created a force field around an item or person of your choosing that held for as long as you stayed awake…

Still, he was proud of him. Baby’s first powers and all.

The three older vigilantes were casually throwing things and hitting the forcefield in an attempt to break it, and Jason was holding up surprisingly well.

“So, what’re you going to call yourself?” Adrien asked as he drummed his staff on it.

Jason thought for a minute and then smiled. “How about… Green Helmet?”

Marinette hit the force field too hard and the cane came back to hit her in the head, which could not be helping her growing headache.

She pursed her lips tightly as she lowered herself down into a chair. “You… you have a hood.”

“I disagree.”

“You can’t -- I’m literally a designer! My word is law! That’s a hood!”

“Nope.”

“Chaton! Tell him that’s a hood!”

Adrien sighed. “It’s a hood,” he agreed.

Everyone looked at Dick, who was beginning to look like he’d rather be anywhere else. He eyed the door out of the corner of his eyes as if wondering whether he could get away before they caught him.

He must have come to the conclusion that he couldn’t get there in time, because he gave his answer:

“It… could be a helmet if he wants it to be…”

Adrien rolled his eyes as the family erupted into an argument over what constitutes a hood versus what constitutes a helmet.

~

Marinette hummed lightly as she made brownies (she had faith, okay? No one was helping this time so it should work). Jason was sitting in a chair nearby, head resting on the back of it as he watched her.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” She asked. It was normal for Jason to watch her cook, he liked to keep his eye on food when he could, but he seemed almost… anxious. She could hear the gentle clinking of his rings as he messed with them.

“I… I want to buy something,” he said.

She dropped her bag of sugar into the bowl and hissed a string of curses as she looked at the now definitely ruined batter. Sure, she could technically go through and try to fix the ratios by adding more of everything else, but that would make enough brownies to feed a whole army --.

Wait a minute, what had he said?

Her eyes flicked to Jason. “Sorry? You want to buy something?”

He nodded with a tiny smile. “It’s a little expensive, I’m sorry, but… could we?”

Marinette was willing to buy a car if this kid asked, because he was ASKING HER TO BUY SOMETHING OH MY GOD, but she played it cool with a tiny nod.

“Sure, sweetie, let me just see how much it costs.”

He pulled up a picture on his phone and showed it to her.

It was a hardcover copy of an illustrated version of a book he liked. For forty dollars.

Okay, so he wasn’t asking for much, but it was still something! An improvement!

She smiled. “Sure, sweetie, I’ll get it next time I head out, okay?”

Jason beamed.

~

Adrien rolled his eyes when Dick flung himself across the couch dramatically.

“This isn’t faaaaiiiiir,” he whined.

He looked at his wife pleadingly and she clicked her tongue before lifting Dick’s head so she could sit down. She ran her fingers through her kid’s hair in an attempt to soothe him.

“He already knew a bit of self-defense when we met him so that was fine and we even gave extra time on training in his powers and with guns. We literally have no excuses for bringing him on at this point.”

“But I had to train for three years! He only had to do one!”

Jason grinned. “Maybe I’m just better.”

“Jay,” said Adrien exhaustedly.

“Or the favorite,” he added, his grin somehow growing.

“Jay!”

It was a good thing that Marinette had had a hold on Dick, because if she hadn’t he probably would have launched himself at his brother.

“You weren’t of age, he is,” she reminded him. “If you’d been old enough a year in then we would have let you do crime fighting, too.”

This was a lie, Dick had not been at all prepared after a year of training, but it made the kid smile so at least that was good.

Adrien stretched out from his spot in the window. “Right, we let Dick choose his first mission, what do you want to do first?”

Jason broke into a wide grin.

“There were some people who gave all the homeless kids trouble…”

~

They’d tracked the gang’s activities to a warehouse and had filed inside.

Adrien had helped Marinette carry their kids to the trusses above them (neither of their weapons had an easy way up, though they made mental notes to get them some kind of… grappling hook, maybe? It was a work in progress idea).

Dick shrouded them in shadows and muted the squeaking of their boots on the metal as they slowly made their way to the gang.

Adrien stretched his shoulders a little bit and then dangled his legs over to prepare himself for the jump down. Marinette and Dick copied his stance.

They looked at Jason, who gulped a little before copying the stance.

They hopped down as a family…

Because nothing says family bonding like murdering a bunch of gang members.

~

“Hey?”

Adrien looked up and frowned, alarm bells ringing in his ears. Jason was shuffling from foot to foot anxiously from his spot in the doorway. An anxious kid? This couldn’t be good...

“Yes, Jay?”

Jason messed with his rings.

“Since I’m going to be… here for a while, can we take the car to pick up my stuff?”

Adrien would have pinched himself to check if this was a dream if any of his dreams were ever this nice.

He dropped the book he was reading onto the bed and pushed himself up. “I -- wow! Okay! Of course!”

Jason gave an awkward smile.

Adrien tried not to smile too much as he followed the kid’s directions.

Mainly because this might dredge up bad memories for Jason, and he didn’t want to be too caught up in his euphoria of the kid genuinely accepting being part of the family to notice that he was shutting down.

But, to his surprise, Jason actually seemed just as excited.

They pulled up to a mostly abandoned looking greenhouse and Adrien raised his eyebrows slightly.

“What? I could grow myself food! It was good,” Jason defended himself.

He gave a smile, rolling his eyes. “Sorry, I was just trying to imagine you eating vegetables.”

Jason huffed a little bit and then held up a hand for Adrien to wait. He crouched down and then, after a bit of pushing, popped a pane of glass out of place. He set it down and then crawled through.

There was a bit of rustling inside and then the door swung open.

“Behold! My humble abode!”

Adrien raised his eyebrows as he stepped inside. ‘Humble’ was definitely the word for it…

His eyes scanned around and he had to hold back a frown at how little Jason had. There were a few plants. A bunch of vines and leaves had been piled together to make a makeshift ‘bed’ with a few blankets thrown overtop. A few random clothes were strewn about, all in varying states of shabbiness.

(There was also a bucket in the corner. Adrien was deciding to believe that it was for washing clothes.)

The only thing that Jason had really ‘had’ was the entire nook dedicated to books.

Adrien and Jason grabbed everything of importance to him and put it in the back of the car.

And then they started on their way home.

~~~

Taglist

@i-am-ironic @nathleigh @mialuvscats @golden-promises @sassakitty @deathwishy @toodaloo-kangaroo @ladythugs @moonlightstar64

[thebrotherssalvatore321]

Keeping Secrets Ch. 39

Keeping Secrets Masterlist

Pairing: Katie(oc)xKlaus. Warnings: None that I can think of. Let me know if I need to add one.

Katie and Klaus were spending their morning rolling around in bed, giggling and laughing when her phone started ringing. “Ignore it.” he told her between kisses when she looked over at it where it sat on the bedside table.

“It could be important.” She argued as she wiggled out of his grasp and grabbed her phone. She looked at it to see an unknown number and cautiously pressed talk. “Hello?”

“Scarlett, hey it’s me.” a male voice replied.

It took a few seconds for the voice that called her by her middle name to register. “Dad?” she asked, confused.

“Damon called and let me know you were back.” He told her. “I hope it's okay that he gave me your number.”

“Uh, yeah it's fine I’m just…surprised, I guess.” She told him as she pushed herself back to lean against the headboard.

“So I was hoping that we could get together sometime and try that talk again.” He told her.

“I’d like that.” she told him with a small smile as she watched Klaus move to sit beside her.

“I’ll come by your house this Saturday?” he asked, sounding happy.

“Actually the founder’s council has been cracking down on us vampires lately. They’ve even put vervain in the town’s water supply.” She informed him. “So that’s probably not a good idea.”

“Oh, okay.” He sounded disappointed.

“Why don’t I come to you?” she asked in an attempt to save the conversation. “You can text me the address of where you want to meet and I can come whenever.”

“What about school?” he asked with a fatherly disapproving tone.

“I’m homeschooling now.” she told him. “So long as my assignments get emailed to the school, I’m free to do as I wish.”

“Well, you always were independent.” He commented. “So when can I be expecting you?”

“Well, I don’t really have any plans so it’s up to you.” Katie told him feeling awkward.

“The sooner the better.” He told her with a bit of a laugh to his voice.

“I’ll leave tomorrow morning.” She told him.

“I’ll text you the address and see you then.” Her father told her.

“See you then.” Katie echoed back then hung up the phone. A minute later the address of a bar and grill called Rousseau’s was sent to her in a text message.

“So you’re leaving town?” Klaus asked.

“Yep.” She answered and moved around to straddle him. “I promised my mother I would find my dad and talk things out with him. I owe it to her to give him a chance.”

“Would you like me to accompany you?” he asked as he slid his hands up her thighs under the red satin night gown she wore. “New Orleans is after all one of my favorite places in the world.”

“Really?” she asked, a little surprised. “Why? I mean, I know you lived there once, that’s why my father lives there now, but what’s so special about the place?”

“It’s rich in culture. They like to preserve their heritage. There’s also music, art and really good food.” He told her as he slipped his hands down her thighs to rest on her calves.

“Good food?” she asked as she slipped her fingertips over his chest.

“Have you ever had gumbo?” he asked and she shook her head no. “You should try it. I think you’ll like it. So are you going to answer my question?”

She thought about it for a second. “This is something I need to do alone. Besides, you’re needed here…Silas…impending end of the world and all that.” she answered, slipping her finger tips over his chest, drawing nonsensical shapes over his soft skin.

“Do you know how long you’ll be gone?” he asked and the tone of his voice implied he was going to miss her.

“I’ll definitely be back before prom.” She answered. “And I’ll keep in touch.” She kissed him then pulled back and stood up to look at the framed, hand written letters that hung over his bed. “I’ve been meaning to ask you…what’s with the letters?”

“I was wondering when you were going to ask.” He told her and she looked down at him. “They are mementos.” He answered simply a little afraid to tell her they were taken off the dead bodies of his victims.

She noticed they were all love notes. “Did you take them so you can simply relive and revel in the deaths of the people they were taken from or to serve a greater purpose like making you feel something?” she asked, making him look up at her with a frown. “And there goes my nose, poking around where it’s not welcome again.”

“Your perfect little nose is always welcome in my business.” He told her as she sat down beside him. “Your understanding of my mind still catches me off guard once in a while.”

“Caroline told me that Elena said that during Stefan’s humanity-less time in the twenties, he would write the names of his victims on a wall in his apartment.” she admitted. “The only difference between that and this, is the fact that all of those letters were written from one lover to another.” She pointed out and he didn’t say anything back. “You know, vampires talk about the humanity switch like it’s a magical fix all. Damon and Stefan made it sound like all emotions cease to exist, but…even when it was flipped…when I was as numb as I was going to get, and when I really didn’t want it, there was still one emotion that tried to fight its way in.”

“And what emotion was that?” he asked, looking at her across his shoulder, wondering where she was going with this.

“The one more powerful than hurt and hatred.” She answered and looked across her shoulder at him. “Love.” He blinked, giving her the look that said she was once again doing that thing where she decoded and understood the cracks within him, the same cracks she shared. “I guess what I’m so poorly trying to say is…” she pointed up at the letters on the wall above them, “I get it.” she dropped her hand to her lap.

As usual when she did that, since he wouldn’t let himself tell her he loved her, he slid his arm between her back and the headboard and pulled her around to straddle him and pressed his lips to hers in a deep kiss, pouring it all into her. “You are truly one of a kind, Little Phoenix.”

Katie smiled and looked down at his chest letting her mind wander to lighter subjects like prom that was coming up soon. “I have a question.”

“I may have an answer.” He replied as his hands slid down her back to hold her rear.

“If I asked you to let Tyler come home would you?” his face turned hard. “Not for good, just for prom.”

“Katie…” he sighed.

“Please?” she begged giving him her best puppy dog eyes. “Caroline’s my best friend and she is working her butt off to make prom perfect for everybody. Her night should be just as perfect as everyone else’s”

“Fine, but his welcome wears off at eleven.” He told her.

“Oh, come on, prom isn’t even over until ten thirty. At least give them until twelve.” She reasoned.

“No.” he told her flatly.

“Yes.” She argued with a half serious glare.

“No.”

“Klaus…” she drawled his name out warningly.

“Katie…” he mimicked her.

“Please, for me?” She pulled puppy dog eyes again.

“You,” he grabbed her sides and moved her around to lay on her back making her laugh when he tickled her sides and moved to hover over her, “are lucky you’re cute when you’re being demanding.” She slid directly under him and wrapped her legs around his hips. “He better be out of town by twelve or he’s dead.” He told her and she gave him a bright smile.

“Thank you.” she told him, still smiling.

“You’re gonna thank me with more than just words.” He told her with a lustful glare.

“Oh I am, am I?” she asked with a laugh and he hummed. “In a minute.” She told him as she turned on her stomach and slid up to grab her cell phone off the nightstand.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked.

“Telling Caroline the good news.” She replied as she started texting Caroline. A yelp and a giggle left her lips when he grabbed her ankles and pulled her back to him. As she texted Caroline he peppered her back with kisses seeking out her ticklish spots just to hear her laugh. “Okay, where were we?” she asked as she rolled over and smiled up at him.

After a two hour flight she landed at the airport, hailed a cab and gave the driver the address of Rousseau’s. She texted her father to let him know she was on her way to the bar and grill then texted Klaus to let him know she had landed and arrived safe and sound. When she got the bar and grill and walked in she easily found Bradley sitting at a table near the window. “Scarlett.” He smiled when she walked over and sat down.

“Hi.” She greeted feeling awkward as she hooked her purse over the back of the chair and sat down.

A pretty young brunette waitress with a gap between her two front teeth walked over and took her drink order. “You should try the gumbo.” Bradley spoke up and the waitress looked at Katie. “Sophie here is the best cook in the French Quarter.”

“I don’t know about that, Bradley.” She told him with a flirty smile then looked at Katie.

“Sure.” Katie told Sophie with a nod remembering that Klaus had recommended she try gumbo.

“I’ll get that right out.” Sophie told her then walked away.

“So how have you been?” Bradley asked.

“Good, believe it or not.” She answered, still feeling awkward. “What about you?”

“Better now that I know you’re okay.” His answer pissed her off and he could tell. “Look, I know you probably hate me for leaving you with your grandfather, but I did it to protect you.”

“You thought that leaving me to come here and search for people that haven’t lived in this area for at least a hundred years was protecting me?” she asked, trying her best to contain her anger. He sighed and looked down at the table. Sophie walked over with Katie’s drink and a bowl of gumbo and set them down in front of her. “Did you know you and mom have empty graves in the cemetery?” she asked and he shook his head no. “I grew up telling myself stories about where the two of you disappeared to. That you guys were entered into witness protection and weren’t allowed to come back to me or that your bodies were buried in the woods somewhere or eaten by bears or something. Why didn’t you just come home and be a father to me?”

“Because a vampire was the last thing you needed in your life.” He told her quietly.

“And I call B.S.” she told him then took a sip of her sweet tea. “You, even as you are now, would have been better than Grandfather.”

“I was going to pay him a visit and give him a piece of my mind before I left Mystic Falls, but he wasn’t there.” He told her.

“Yeah that’s because I killed him.” she told him with a straight face and he looked at her, his green eyes wide. “Oh don’t judge me when you’re the one that killed my mother.”

“How were you able to speak with her again?” he asked clearly aggravated that she’d learned that bit of information.

“Bonnie Bennett brought Jeremy Gilbert back from the dead and in doing so cracked the door to the other side open. A witch on the other side wedged it open and let the supernatural spirits be able to interact with our side. For a while we were able to see and feel them. Mom found me and we were able talk before Bonnie fixed the balance.” She explained. “She is the only reason I’m here right now.”

“I’m really sorry I didn’t come for you sooner.” He told her seriously. “Maybe if I had you wouldn’t be what you are now.”

“Which is?” she asked as she picked up her spoon and started stirring the gumbo. It looked disgusting despite its mouth watering smell.

“A vampire…and whatever getting Hannah’s memories has turned you into.” He answered then watched her playing with the gumbo. “Would you just try it already?” he asked with a point to the bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo.

“Fine.” She answered and took a bite. “Holy shit.” She commented as she covered her mouth then swallowed. “That’s really good.”

Her father laughed. “Told you.” things got quiet and she was almost through with her gumbo when he asked, “So how’s everyone back home?”

“Well, let’s see, Sheila Bennett, Mayor douche wad and Carole Lockwood, Caroline’s father, Elena’s parents, her aunt Jenna, Jeremy and John Gilbert aka Elena’s bio dad, along with most of the other council members that got blown up in the pastors farm house are all dead. I’m sure I’m leaving some people out, but that’s all I can think of right now.” she told him. “Oh and Caroline and Elena are vampires too. Other than that there’s the impending threat of hell on earth being unleashed, but that’s another story for another time.”

“Wow.” He said, taking time to let it sink in. After a few minutes he blinked out of his thoughts. “So you said you’ve met all of the originals?”

“Yep, even momma and poppa original.” She answered.

“And you live to tell about it.” he observed.

“What can I say, the Mikaelson siblings like me.” she told him with a shrug.

“A little too much if you ask me.” he commented.

She rolled her eyes and looked up at him. “Please tell me you’re not still mad that Elijah and I found each other.”

“My family, your ancestors, devoted their lives to keeping the reincarnations from remembering Elijah.” He told her with a glare.

“I’m sorry, the reincarnations?” she asked with a frown and a shake of her head as she pushed her bowl away from her.

“You think you’re the first of Hannah’s reincarnation attempts?” he asked with a tilt of his head.

“Uh, yeah, I don’t remember any lives other than Hannah and this one.” She answered, completely confused.

“That’s because the reincarnations were never allowed to live past their sixth birthday.” She just stared at him. “Legend has it that Jonah was so disgusted with what his mother had done that he killed his daughter to keep her from turning into his mother…to keep her from suffering at the hands of the Mikealson men.” he explained. “Every Finnegan female was either killed at birth or just before her sixth birthday. I couldn’t kill you so I did my best to protect you. I had Sheila block your memories and after I turned I didn’t come back because if I did it was more likely, with a vampire in your life, that you would become one and break the dam in your mind. I hoped that you would live and die as Katie, never becoming Hannah. I hoped it would break the cycle and free the women of our family.”

After a few minutes of letting it all sink in she sighed and looked up from her empty bowl to her father. “Then I guess I should thank you for not killing me and tell you that the cycle is broken.” he frowned in confusion. “I’m no longer linked to or with Elijah.”

“Really?” he asked with raised brows.

“Yep, the link broke when my soul shattered.” She answered.

“So you’re free of the Mikaelson’s?” he asked.

“Um…” she pulled one side of her mouth up and squinted an eye. “I guess you could say that?” she scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably.

“What does that mean?” he asked a little confused.

“Klaus and I are kind of…together.” She answered.

“Klaus is not an acceptable partner for anyone, much less my little Scarlett.” He told her.

She scoffed and before he could say anything, a guy who looked to be in his mid to late twenties with espresso skin and nice eyes, walked over to them and slapped his hand down on Bradley’s shoulder. “Who, may I ask, is this lovely lady?” he asked, giving Katie a bright, charming smile.

“My daughter, Scarlett.” Bradley answered. “Scarlett, this is Marcel.”

Katie gave Marcel a wave and a polite smile assuming that he was the same Marcel that turned her father. “I hate to pull you away from your family reunion, but we have business to attend to.” Marcel told Bradley.

“Alright.” Bradley told Marcel who walked off giving the father and daughter time to bid each other goodbye. “How long are you planning on staying in town?”

“I’m flying back in the morning.” She answered. “Prom is coming up soon.”

“What time is your flight?” he asked.

“Seven thirty.” She answered.

“We’ll meet here for breakfast at six?” he asked and she nodded. “See you in the morning.” He told her and she gave him a smile and a wave and watched him leave with Marcel.

“Refill?” Sophie asked as she walked over with a pitcher of tea in her hand. Katie slid her empty glass to the edge of the table. “Would you like more gumbo?”

“No, but it was delicious.” She answered then gave Sophie a smile as she picked up her glass of tea. “Thank you.”

She was still sitting there, sipping on her tea, fiddling with her necklace, thinking about everything she and her father had discussed when Sophie walked by with a sizzling plate of fajitas and her stomach flipped. She frowned and ran to the bathroom with her hand over her mouth and barely made it into the stall before her gumbo came back up. “The hell was in that gumbo?” Katie sighed as she shut the toilet lid and flushed it.

“It wasn’t the gumbo.” She heard Sophie say from outside the stall. “You’re tea, however, had a very powerful mixture of herbs in it. A roofie…kind of.”

Katie pushed the stall door open and turned on the sink. “You’re a witch.”

“Yep.” Sophie answered.

“I’ve seen a witch roofie in action, the dude didn’t get sick.” Katie said as she cupped her hand under the stream of water and rinsed out her mouth.

“Yeah that’s not the roofie, that’s morning sickness.” Sophie told her watching her grow weaker and weaker.

“That would imply…that I’m pregnant. I’m a vampire, I…can’t…” she passed out.

Sophie watched her fall then knocked on the door letting Jane-Ann, her sister inside. “This is stupid, and risky, you know that right?”

“We will talk about this later, for now we have to get her out of here without being seen.” Jane-Ann told her.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie woke up in a cabin in the woods, crickets and frogs could be heard outside. “Where am I?” she groaned as she sat up in the cot she was laying on.

“The bayou.” Sophie told her.

“Why?” she asked with a glare.

“Because like it or not, you’re pregnant with Klaus Mikaelson’s child.” Sophie answered reminding Katie what she’d told her before she passed out.

“It’s not possible, I’m a vampire. We can’t have kids.” She sighed, feeling ill. “How would you know anyway. You’re a witch not a doctor.”

“I’m a witch with a gift of telling when a woman is pregnant. I sensed it as soon as you walked into the restaurant.” She told her.

Katie, sure that Sophie was wrong, got quiet and listened. At first she only heard Sophie’s heartbeat and her own, but eventually she heard a small, fast heartbeat and slid her hand over her lower abdomen. “Holy freaking hell…”

“Congratulations?” Sophie asked awkwardly.

“How the hell is this possible?” Katie asked, sounding like she was in shock.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Sophie shrugged.

“So what do you want with me? Why kidnap me and bring me out to the middle of nowhere?” Katie asked, trying to think about something other than what Klaus was going to have to say about this or the thousand other questions that were running through her head.

“Marcel has been keeping my people under his thumb, but now we have you.” Katie shook her head not understanding. “Your boyfriend is famous in this town. Witches tell bedtime stories about the vampire Klaus. Marcel was nothing but an orphaned street rat until he made him what he is. Now he’s out of control. He does what he wants. He kills who he wants. We’re gonna stop him and you’re gonna help us.”

“And how am I supposed to do that? I don’t even know you people.” Katie asked with a scoff. Jane-Ann walked in. “Who are you?”

“My name’s Jane-Ann.” She answered. “And to answer your question, you’re going to get Klaus here and you’re going to get him to help us.”

“What makes you think I have any control over Klaus?” Katie asked with a glare.

“Because he’s been texting you every hour on the hour for the past day and a half.” Sophie answered holding up Katie’s cell phone. “A guy doesn’t do that unless he’s worried and people only worry when they care.”

“Prom is today.” Katie sighed realizing how stupid that sounded since she just found out that she’s pregnant.

“Yeah, Caroline’s been texting incessantly about that.” Sophie told her. “I’m sorry but you’re going to have to miss it.”

“I gathered as much.” Katie scoffed.

“We need to get started, Soph.” Jane-Ann said.

TVDTVDTVD

After performing a million different witchy tests on her Sophie tossed Katie a clear blue pregnancy test. “Just for shits and giggles. The outhouse is that way.” She told her with a point outside.

“Watch your language Soph.” Jane-Ann scolded her little sister as Katie stood up and went outside.

After taking the pregnancy test she put the cap back on it and watched as the word pregnant showed up on the screen. She headed back inside and showed it to them, then tucked it into her pocket. “How the hell is this even possible?” Katie asked herself more than them.

“Did I hear you tell Bradley that your soul shattered?” Jane-Ann asked, having been at the bar while Katie and her father chatted.

“Yeah, why?” Katie asked as if it were no big deal.

“No one, witch, human, vampire or wolf has ever come back from that before.” Jane-Ann answered. “We have no records of what that can do to someone.”

“Even still, that doesn’t explain Klaus’s roll in this.” Katie pointed out.

“He’s a hybrid, magic made him a vampire, but he was born a werewolf and is the first of his kind. Nature is full of loopholes.” Jane-Ann explained.

“Awesome.” Katie sighed and fell back to lie on the cot hoping to go to sleep and wake up from this nightmare.

TVDTVDTVD

After making sure Tyler was out of town Klaus returned to his mansion to find a note, left for him by Katherine. “Klaus, I hear Elijah has refused you the cure and in return you have refused me my freedom. Shame on you both. But while you boys sort out your problems, I have one last thing to offer you. I’ve caught wind that there is a witch in New Orleans named Jane-Anne Deveraux holding your precious Katie hostage. Hunt her down. What she has to tell you about Katie will rattle you so deeply to your core that chasing little old me will be the least of your concerns. It’s been a fun five centuries, Klaus, but I’ve worn down too many good heels running from you. Love and hate, Katerina.”

Klaus dropped everything, packed a bag and bought a plane ticket to New Orleans.

TVDTVDTVD

Twenty four hours later Katie sat on a wooden bench in a tomb in the middle of a cemetery in New Orleans. “We can talk freely here.” Katie heard Sophie say. She also heard another set of feet walking with Sophie.

“Then I suggest you start talking.” Elijah’s voice made Katie perk up, just happy to hear a familiar voice. “What did your sister want with Niklaus?” Katie tried to leave the tomb, but a couple of witches stepped in her way.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Sophie asked. “We have a vampire problem, and we need help. Marcel has an army backing him. The witches have been trying to fight back, but we haven’t had much luck. Until my sister, Jane-Anne and I met a girl, a vampire girl passing through the quarter from a small town in Virginia, the daughter of one of Marcel’s day walkers. She has a special…connection to your brother.” Sophie explained to him. “By the look on your face I’m guessing you know who she is.”

“What do you want with Katie?” he asked, his tone guarded.

“Wait, are we talking about the same girl? Bradley called her Scarlett.” Sophie asked.

“Scarlett is her middle name.” Elijah answered growing impatient.

“She’s pregnant and the father of the child she’s carrying is your brother, Klaus.” Sophie told him.

“That’s impossible.” Katie could hear the shock in his voice.

“Nothing’s impossible, especially not when it comes to a hybrid and the first being to ever recover from a shattered soul.” Sophie explained. “Let her out.” She called.

The men stepped aside and Katie whooshed out of the tomb, stopping in her tracks when her eyes landed on Elijah, looking at her with narrowed eyes.

He looked at Sophie, “Give us a moment please.” Sophie nodded and jerked her head for the witches to leave them be. Elijah put his hand on Katie’s lower back and led her into the tomb where she sat back down straddling the bench. He started pacing. “So it’s true?” he asked and she nodded. “Have they been holding you here against your will?”

“They witch roofied me, brought me out to the bayou and did all these witchy tests.” She told him then pulled the pregnancy test out of her pocket. “But even the plain old clear blue confirmed it.” She showed him the word pregnant on the test. “I thought it was just a really weird dream at first, but this is really happening…I’m really pregnant.” She tapped the test on the bench, attempting to hold back her tears, then tucked it back into the pocket of her jeans.

Elijah sat down and pulled a leg up on the bench to face her and cupped her cheek in his hand making her eyes slip shut for a second. “How are you dealing with this?”

“I’m shaking in my freaking boots.” She answered, tapping the toe of her shoe down into the tile floor of the tomb. “What if he doesn’t want it…or me?” she asked with a shaking voice. “I can’t do this alone.”

“You are not in this alone.” He assured her. “I do not believe he would turn his back on you.” He wiped her tears away. “Niklaus has never truly been happy, but I believe that you and this baby can achieve the impossible and save him from himself.”

Katie grabbed his wrist and moved his hand from her face. “No pressure or anything.”

“That wasn’t my intent.” He told her apologetically.

“No, I know.” She assured him. “I’m just…a little overwhelmed, I guess.”

“Katie I know I’ve broken my promises to you in the past, but I need you to trust me when I say that no harm will come to you or this baby if I can help it.” he brushed her loose hair behind her ear and rested his hand on the side of her neck.

She took his hand off her and held it in both of hers. “I’m trusting you, please don’t make me regret it again.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” He told her seriously.

She took a deep breath and let go of his hand. “We have to convince the witches to let me tell Klaus about the baby. It’s my business to tell, not theirs.”

“Request heard and granted.” Sophie told her as she walked in.

“What precisely is it that you want and what does it have to do with Katie?” Elijah asked as he stood up and walked over to Sophie.

“We want to run Marcel and his vampires out of town. Klaus is the key. Everything Marcel knows about being a vampire he learned from Klaus. Marcel trusts him, looks up to him. He won’t see the betrayal coming.” Sophie answered.

“Yes. Well, I’m sure you’re aware, my brother Niklaus doesn’t like to be told what to do.” Elijah told her and Katie found that she still liked to listen to Elijah talk.

“Marcel drove the werewolves out of town decades ago. Do you really think he’s going to welcome a hybrid baby to the neighborhood?” Katie placed a hand protectively over her stomach at Sophie’s words. “Convince Klaus to help us and no one has to know about the newest member of the original family.”

“That sounds remarkably like blackmail.” Elijah told her.

“Like I said, I’m desperate.” Sophie told him with a hard voice and face.

“Well, then. We have our work cut out for us don’t we?” Elijah asked with a look back at Katie.

TVDTVDTVD

“What are we doing here?” Katie had been sitting on the bench in the tomb, bouncing her foot nervously since Elijah left to find Klaus. When she heard the younger brother’s voice she stood up.

“You want to know where Katie is and what the witches have in store for you?” Elijah asked rhetorically. “Follow me.”

A few seconds later Elijah and Klaus walked into the empty tomb to see Katie standing in front of the bench with her head held high, doing a good job of covering up how much she was freaking out inside. “Before you get mad, I haven’t been ignoring your texts and calls. The witches took my phone.”

“Are you alright?” he asked as he walked in and slid his hand over her cheek as he pressed his lips to hers. She savored the moment, knowing that after she told Klaus that she was pregnant it may very well be the last time he kissed her.

When the kiss broke she looked around Klaus to Elijah, “Leave us, please?” she could tell he didn’t want to, but he gave her a nod and walked out of the tomb. “I have been wrecking my brain trying to find the right words to tell you this, but I can’t. So I need you to do me a favor.” She told him and he blinked at her as she took his hands in hers and held them to her chest. “Close your eyes and listen.” He rolled his eyes at her as if she were being silly. “Just…do it please.”

He closed his eyes and listened to everything around him. She knew he’d heard the baby’s heartbeat when he took in a deep breath, his eyes shot open and he jerked his hands from hers as if he’d been burned.

“How is this possible?” He whispered looking into her eyes as a tear slipped down his cheek. He wanted the baby, she could see it in his eyes, but if he was willing to let himself have it, to have happiness, she couldn’t tell.

“I am the first known person to come back from a shattered soul and you are a hybrid, the first of your kind. Apparently nature loves loopholes.” She told him quietly to hide the fear in her voice. After a few minutes of silence passed it became too much for her to handle. “I feel like I’m about to have a panic attack, please say something.”

“What do the witches want with you?” he asked, not putting her mind at ease.

“They want you to overthrow Marcel and get them out from under his control.” She answered.

“Why should I?” he asked with a hard face.

Before Katie could answer, Sophie and a few other witches walked into the tomb. Elijah walked over and stood next to Klaus and Katie moved to his other side, looking at the three witches blocking them into the tomb. “Because my sister gave her life to perform the spell that put the lives of this girl and her baby in our control. If you do not help us take down Marcel…so help me Katie won’t live long enough to see her first maternity dress.”

“Whoa, hey, you’re threatening me?” Katie asked shocked at what she’d just learned. “I’ve never been anything but cooperative with you people.”

“We appreciate that, but we aren’t so sure he’ll be as understanding.” Sophie told her with a hard face and a point at Klaus.

“Enough of this.” Elijah told Sophie, “If you want Marcel dead he’s dead. I’ll do it myself.”

“No. We can’t. Not yet.” Sophie argued. “We have a clear plan that we need to follow and there are rules.”

“Sophie can you guys just back the hell off and give us a minute please?” Katie asked and Sophie gave her a look that asked, seriously? “Just a few minutes then you can get back to your threats, blackmail and bullshit.”

“Fine, but just a few.” She nodded and motioned for the witches to leave and followed them out.

With them gone Katie sank down on the bench and placed her head in her hands with a heavy breath. “This is a trick.” Klaus growled being his usual paranoid self.

“No, brother, it’s a gift. It’s your chance. It’s our chance.” Elijah argued.

“You know I would never lie to you. Or is our trust really that one sided?” Katie asked as she stood from the bench and walked over to him.

“It’s not one sided.” He told her with watery eyes.

“Good, then do me a favor and put the witches out of your mind for a second. You haven’t said and I need to know. Do you want this baby?” When a tear betrayed her she quickly wiped it away.

He stared at her for a minute then said one word, “No.”

It felt as if someone snatched the air from her lungs and a pain shot through her chest. She wanted to break down, cry and let it all out, but she wouldn’t let him see how much he affected her. So she held her head high. “I call bullshit.” she told him in a quiet yet strong voice. “I know you want this baby, you want us. I saw it in your eyes.” she didn’t bother wiping her tears away this time. “You made hybrids because you wanted a new family. Well,” she held her hands out to the side, “you’ve got one standing right in front of you. All you have to do is say the word and we’re yours.”

“Listen to her, Niklaus.” Elijah spoke up making Katie look at him then back at Klaus.

“You once told me that Elijah was my first love and you intended to be my last. If you reject this baby again, that will never happen.” His lips drew together, pursed in defiance. “So, I’ll ask one more time. Do you want this baby?”

He leaned down and looked her in the eyes, “No.” he saw hurt flash in them then turn into a blazing fire that he hated seeing directed at him. He thought she was going to hit him, but she didn’t.

Instead she grabbed the silver pendant hanging around her neck in her fist and jerked. Elijah watched her grab Klaus’s hand, put the necklace in his palm and closed it. “Thank you.” he gave her a questioning look. “For reminding me that love…is for children and fools.” She shoved his hand and turned her back on him, leaving the tomb.

One of the witches thought she was trying to leave the cemetery and grabbed her arm. She grabbed his wrist, knocked him to his knees and twisted his arm behind his back, almost breaking it. “You lay a hand on me again and it will no longer be attached to your body.” She shoved him to the ground then looked at Sophie, “Proceeded with the blackmail and bullshit, I’ve gotten the only answer I cared about.” She walked over to the steps of another tomb and sat down on them, crossing her arms over her knees, rested her head on them.

Katie zoned out and lost track of how much time had passed before she felt someone touch her shoulder and she looked up to see that it was Sophie. “Come on.” She jerked her head back to the tomb. “Klaus and Elijah are gone for now, but I’m sure Elijah will be back.” Katie just nodded and stood up.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie sat on the wooden bench in the tomb listening to the witches talk about how Marcel and his vampires were out of control when one of them asked, "What makes you think you can control the hybrid?"

"She can't." Elijah spoke up and everyone looked to see him leaning against the doorway of the tomb. "I'm not entirely certain I can either." He pushed himself off the wall and walked into the tomb. "But now that your coven has drawn his ire, I have a question. What prevents my brother from murdering you instead of cooperating?"

Sophie walked over to the wall of the tomb and grabbed a straw doll off of a shelf. She took a needle out of it and poked her hand. Katie winced and looked at a spot of blood that pooled in her palm. "Are you freaking kidding me? She linked me to you!?" Katie asked angrily.

"Yep. Anything that happens to me, happens to you." Sophie told her then looked at Elijah. "Which means her life is in my hands. If she so much as sets a foot out of this town I will be able to tell." Katie gritted her teeth with flared nostrils. "Klaus may not care about his own child, but it's very clear what it already means to you. If I have to hurt Katie or worse to ensure that I have your attention, I will."

Elijah took a step closer to Sophie. "You would dare threaten an original?"

"I have nothing to lose." Sophie answered. "You have until midnight to get Klaus to change his mind."

Elijah turned and left the tomb.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie was sitting outside the tomb, getting fresh air when she heard the midnight bell toll then let her head fall back. She was staring up at the sky, waiting for the witches to come kill her when she heard someone walking up and looked up to see Elijah carrying a body wrapped in light brown linen. Curious, she followed him inside the tomb. “Klaus does not care about the child.” She heard Agnes, one of the witch elders say.

“I do.” Elijah spoke up getting their attention. “And I bring proof of my intent to help you. The body of your fallen friend.” He kneeled down and placed the body on the floor. “Which I procured from Marcel himself.”

“Jane-Anne.” Sophie sighed and fell to the floor beside her dead sister.

“May she be granted peace.” Elijah told them. “Klaus will agree to your terms.” They all looked at him. “I just need a little more time.”

“You’ve had your time. It’s passed.” Agnes argued.

“Shut up, Agnes.” One of the other witches spoke up and moved to stand next to Sophie.

“For now, accept the deal.” Elijah told them. “Katie and the child remain unharmed, or Klaus will kill you all” He turned and started walking away, but stopped and turned back to look at the witches. “And I will help him.”

TVDTVDTVD

The next morning Katie was brought back to the cemetery. “When can I have my cell phone back?” she asked as she walked in and sat down on the bench. “I’m bored out of my mind.”

Sophie pulled Katie’s phone out of her back pocket and held it up. “You can’t tell anyone about your pregnancy.”

“Duh.” Katie commented and Sophie slapped the phone into Katie’s palm. “Thank you.”

She was going through her texts from Caroline, Klaus and Bonnie when Elijah and Sophie walked in. “Klaus has agreed to help us. You’re free to go, but don’t even think about leaving town. If you do, I’ll sense it and kill both of us.”

“Ten four, rubber ducky.” Katie sighed sarcastically as she pushed herself from the bench and walked over to Elijah. When they got out of the cemetery she asked, “So, how’d you get him to agree?”

Elijah opened the passenger door of his car for her. “Unlike you I didn’t give up on him.” he answered as she slid inside and he shut the door.

“I didn’t give up on him. I’m just done wasting my breath begging people to give a shit about me.” she replied not looking at him as he cranked the car and started driving.

“Do you really think he doesn’t care about you?” he asked and she just shrugged. “He cares, Katie.”

“Yeah, well, he has a funny way of showing it.” she scoffed.

“He is scared.” Elijah defended.

“And I’m not?” she asked, raising her voice.

“You’ve been a parent before. You know how to love unconditionally. Klaus doesn’t because he’s never experienced it.” Elijah reminded her.

“Can we just…stop talking about this, please?” she asked, getting aggravated.

“Of course.” He drove her out of the city and to a plantation house. “Welcome to your new home.” He parked outside the huge two story white house with large columns, black shutters and a black door.

“Well, it’s a lot better than a tomb or a swamp.” She commented then got out of the car.

After he let her inside and gave her a tour, she picked a room with a window seat and pulled the dust covers off of the bed and the rest of the furniture.

She was sitting on the window seat, her back to the door and her head leaned on the wall, looking outside when she heard someone walk up behind her. A bouquet of six red roses appeared in front of her face and she recognized the hand holding them as Klaus’s. She took them, held her hand out to the side then dropped them to the floor. She heard him sigh then a pint of strawberry ice cream and a spoon appeared in front of her. She took it and he thought she was going to drop it too, but she stood from the bench and left the room. He followed her down stairs to the kitchen where she pulled open the icebox that was made to blend with the white cabinets and stuck it in the freezer. When she turned around he gave her a curious look. “I don’t believe in wasting perfectly good ice cream.”

She walked around the island and had to pass him on the way to the door, but he gently grabbed her arm, stopping her from walking away from him. “Please accept my apology.”

“I have yet to hear one.” She pointed out as she took her arm from his grasp.

“I’m sorry.” He told her quietly. “I…”

“Acted like a pig headed dick.” She filled in for him since he couldn’t find the words.

“That’s putting it lightly.” He told her with a nod.

She took in a slow, deep breath then heaved it out, walked back over to the icebox, grabbed the ice cream and the spoon she’d tossed into the empty sink at one end of the island and set the container on the counter across from where Klaus stood on the other side. “I’m really going to miss alcohol…” she stabbed the spoon into the pink frozen treat and took a bite. “I’m sorry too.” She admitted then swallowed. “I shouldn’t have cornered you with an ultimatum like that.”

“How long have you known?” he asked instead of acknowledging her apology.

“I found out not long after I got here. I was hanging out at Rousseau’s after my dad left with Marcel when Sophie walked by with a plate of Fajitas. The smell made me sick and let me tell you, Sophie’s gumbo was freaking awesome, but after it came back up I don’t think I’ll ever be able to even smell it again.” He smirked at her confession, a little happy she had taken his advice and had gumbo. “That was right before I passed out from the witch roofie Sophie put in my tea.”

“Does your father know?” he asked.

“As far as he knows I skipped the breakfast we planned and left without saying goodbye.” She told him. “And I’d like to keep it that way. Bredley is one of Marcel’s day walkers. Marcel sired him and I don’t know where his loyalties lie.” She took one last bite of ice cream then put the top back on it, stuck it in the freezer and washed, dried and put away her spoon. “Speaking of Marcel, can I ask what history you have with him and this city? I know you guys had to leave in 1919, but that’s about it.”

“My family and I practically ran this town. Marcel was just an unnamed boy, a slave, when I found him, named him and took him under my wing.” He told her as he walked around the island to stand across from her where she leaned her hip against the counter. “I made Marcel everything that he is. I loved him like a son, and when my father chased me and my family from here a hundred years ago we believed Marcel was killed. We each mourned him in our own way. Yet when I returned, I found not only had he survived he had thrived. Instead of seeking us out, instead of sticking together as one, he made a choice to take everything my family had built and make it his own. Now he is living in our home. He is sleeping in our beds. There’s an M he stamps everywhere but it doesn’t stand for Marcel, it’s for Mikaelson. I want it all back. I want to be king.”

“And this baby and I…Do we have a place in this kingdom of yours?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Every king needs a queen by his side.” he replied as he slid his hand over the side of her neck. “And an heir to his throne.” He leaned into her and pressed his forehead to hers, looking her in the eyes. “Stand with me, be my queen?” he asked and she pulled her head back as he pulled her necklace out of his pocket, the clasp now fixed.

“Let me hear you say it…out right, no talk of kingdoms.” She told him, not giving in to him yet.

His mouth opened to say something but he closed it. She nodded and tried to turn her back on him to walk away, but he grabbed her arm and spun her around, catching her lips with his. It took a few seconds before she let herself kiss him back. When it broke he pressed his forehead to hers. “I want you…both of you.” She gave him a small smile as she gathered up her loose auburn waves and lifted them as she turned her back on him. He put the necklace back around her neck. “And I never want to see this necklace leave your neck again.”

“Good, because I never want to take it off again.” She told him as she slid her fingertips over the smooth metal then put her hand on his cheek. “I’ll be your queen or your little phoenix or…whatever you want to call me.” she smiled to herself more than him. “You’ve really got to stop giving me nicknames.”

He chuckled, happy they were back on good terms. “The nicknames are endless because you…” he grabbed her hips and picked her up, setting her on the island next to the sink, “are my everything.” His words knocked the breath out of her in a good way this time. After taking in a deep, forced breath she caught his lips with hers and the kiss quickly turned heated and a moan left her lips as she pulled him closer with her legs. A sigh left his lips as she started kissing his neck.

She was kissing his lips and about to grab the hem of his shirt and pull it over his head when she heard someone clear their throat. Klaus stopped kissing her and rolled his eyes as they both looked at Elijah, leaning against the door frame. “I see you two made up.” Katie unwrapped her legs from Klaus’s waist.

“We were working on it.” Klaus answered with a smirk that Elijah ignored and made Katie look at the floor with a blush.

“Is it done?” Elijah asked Klaus, making Katie look up at them, confused.

“As a matter of fact, yes.” Klaus answered. “Your underhanded deal worked quite well. Marcel was only too happy to accept my blood, even as he accepted my heartfelt apologies. His man Thierry yet lives and I remain a welcome guest in the French quarter. My only concern now is this coven of impudent witches.”

“You do know I’m linked to Sophie right?” Katie asked Klaus who gave her an interested look. “If she dies I die and while I will come back, the baby might not.”

“I believe them to be honorable though.” Elijah spoke up. “They did release Katie to me, although they haven’t been entirely forthcoming. Marcel obviously has something that they need. They don’t want him dead. There must be a reason why.”

Out of nowhere a wave of nausea rolled over Katie sending her rushing to the bathroom. She was flushing the toilet when Elijah asked, “Are you okay?”

“Ugh.” She responded and rested her forehead on the toilet seat knowing it was clean since they’d just moved into the house. “Please look away.” She groaned.

Instead he walked inside, grabbed a washcloth, wet it and rang it out. “You forget this isn’t the first time I’ve seen you sick.” He pointed out as he handed her the cloth. She took it and his offered hand when he offered it.

He pulled her up. “I didn’t forget. I caught the flu back in Ireland and wouldn’t let you give me your blood.” she remembered then wiped her face and mouth and rinsed the cloth out and draped it over the faucet. “Why was that again?”

“You said it was a human experience that you needed to get through so that you wouldn’t get sick again.” He reminded her.

“And Jonah ever so politely told me I was being stupid.” She said as she put her hand on the counter and leaned on it.

“You were running a fever and not thinking straight.” he added. “Jonah convinced me to heal you while you were sleeping.”

“And I thanked you for it when I woke up.” She gave him a small smile. “At least this time you don’t have to pick stew chunks out of my insanely tight curls.”

“I didn’t have to do it then.” He pointed out with a small smile of his own, reminding her that he did it because he loved her, not because he had to. “And if I may…” he grabbed the rag and rinsed it out then wiped at a spot of puke on her cheek that she’d missed. When he was done he tossed the rag into the dirty clothes hamper behind her.

“So,” Katie started realizing that reminiscing wasn’t the best idea, “Where did you go after I woke up and you left Mystic Falls?” she asked, as she hopped up to sit on the bathroom counter, wanting to stick close to the toilet in case she got sick again.

“I’m surprised Niklaus hasn’t already told you.” he told her as he leaned back on the wall across from her in the small guest bathroom. She just looked at him and shrugged. He narrowed his eyes, thinking about not telling her. “Katherine contacted me and said she had the cure. She thought we could be of mutual use to one another.”

Katie bit her lips closed and narrowed her eyes back at him. “You were with her, with her weren’t you?”

“Katie I-” he started

“Stop, rewind and forget I asked. It’s none of my business.” She interrupted him. “I told you we needed to move on. So you moved on just like I did.”

“I tried to move on.” He corrected her. “It did not work.”

She wanted to ask why. A small part of her wanted to know if he couldn’t move on because he was still hung up on her, but another… much bigger part dedicated to Klaus, didn’t care. “Good.” She saw curiosity flash behind his pretty brown eyes. “You can do better than the colossal bitch that is Katherine Pierce. Now,” she hopped down off the bathroom counter and walked over to the bathroom door, “if you don’t mind I really need to shower.”

She was getting out of the shower when she heard the all too familiar sound of Elijah in pain. With a whoosh she wrapped the towel around herself and went to where she’d heard the sound only to find an empty room. She went back to her room and got dressed then started searching the house. After an hour she found a hidden room containing coffins, one of which reminded her of her bedroom in Klaus’s house in Mystic Falls. She noticed Elijah’s coffin missing and after searching the room thoroughly she found two silver daggers.

TVDTVDTVD

She was removing dust cloths from some of the furniture out of the need to do something when she heard the front door open and close. Klaus heard her and found here. “Where’s Elijah?” she asked flatly.

“Exactly where he needs to be.” Klaus answered and did that thing where he looked down his nose at her.

“Where he needs to be is here, with us, but he’s not.” She replied, her nostrils flaring a bit. “I searched this house over and do you know what I found?” she asked rhetorically as she closed the space between them and glared up at him. “Daggers and coffins…one of each missing and one coffin that looked suspiciously like it could me mine.” He sighed and blinked at her. “Start. Explaining.”

“The white coffin is yours.” he told her and she took in an angry breath, but kept her mouth shut. “I had it custom made when I thought you were dying and I haven’t been able to convince myself to get rid of it. I have no intention of ever seeing you in it.”

She had to admit, he was smart to lead with that. She found it touching that he’d had a coffin custom made for her to be buried in style…or on the even creepier side, kept with him in style. But she shook herself out of her thoughts and put the glare back on her face. “Get to the part where you tell me where Elijah’s at.”

“He was a weakness. Marcel was nervous. It was bad enough that one original returned to town, but two… His crew was getting antsy. He wanted Elijah gone. So I gave him a peace offering.” She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “I have a plan to keep you safe. Gain Marcel’s trust, dismantle his empire, and see to it that our baby is born into an environment free of wolf hating vampires and witches threatening to kill you.” He cupped her face in his hands. “I am taking care of you the only way I know how.” She gently grabbed his wrists and took his hands from her face. “Katie…”

“We will continue this conversation after I calm down.” she told him with a tight voice and a hard look. He let her walk away.

She was sitting at the dining table and had finished off the ice cream that Klaus had bought her when he dared to show his face to her again. She didn’t say a word as she watched him pull out a chair and sit down across from her. “Calm yet?”

“As much as I’m gonna get.” She answered, then tossed the spoon into the empty container and pushed it to the side. “Elijah’s not a weakness or a bargaining chip. He’s an asset. With that being said, tell me the full truth. You didn’t dagger him just because of Marcel, did you?”

Klaus sighed and looked down at the table then back up at her. “Contrary to his escapades with Katerina he is still in love with you, Katie.” She gritted her teeth. “I heard the two of you, reminiscing over a time when it was him taking care of you.”

“New flash,” she started with an attitude, “We have seven years of memories together and from time to time those memories are going to resurface. Yes, I look back on them fondly as I’m sure he does too, and yes I still love him, but I am not in love with him and he is not the Mikealson brother I want. You are and you know it.” He nodded, letting her know he understood and the look in his eyes told her he was sorry. “The reason he is an asset is because the old saying, it takes a village to raise a child is incredibly true. Parents are the most important people in a child’s life, but they also need aunts and uncles, people that round out their world. If you keep daggering our village this child doesn’t stand a chance.”

“It will take time, but I will find a way to get him back.” he told her quietly.

“Good.” She stood up and walked around the table to lean her hips against it and look down at him. “And if I’m not mistaken, don’t kings usually keep their queens informed on battle plans?” she asked, with an arched brow.

A small smile pulled at the corners of his lips as he clasped his hands in front of him with his elbows resting on the arms of the dining chair. “I will also do a better job of keeping you in the loop.”

“Thank you.” she told him with a nod and he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her over to stand in front of him and rested his head on her stomach. They both got quiet for a moment, listening to the fast beat of the baby’s heart. “Is there anything you wish to ask of me?” she asked knowing that he was used to doing what he wanted when he wanted and now he was having to accommodate her.

He picked his head up and looked up at her. “As much as I want to show you New Orleans I need you to stay here.” he told her. “If your father sees you out and about in the quarter he’ll start asking questions. As you’ve already pointed out he is part of Marcel’s inner circle. You need to remain a secret.”

“And if my father runs into you in the quarter?” she asked. “He knows we’re together. He’ll want to know where I am.”

“You went on a pre-graduation road trip. Last I heard you were in Chicago.” He told her.

“That actually sounds like something I would do and answers why I’m not in Mystic falls in case he went looking for me. It’s a given that my friends back in Mystic Falls can’t know the truth either huh?” she asked and he nodded, knowing she would hate lying to her friends. “Then they get the same story.” she agreed. “But if I’m going to be locked away in here I’m going to need a few things.”

“Like what?” he asked curiously.

“Internet, a laptop and a three in one printer.” She answered. “Even if I can’t make it to graduation I fully intend on getting my diploma and I have a lot of catching up to do.”

“Your wish is my command.” He told her with a closed lipped smile.

“As yours is mine.” She told him then placed her hands on the arms of the chair and leaned down, looking him in the eyes. “Thank you.” She pecked him on the lips and he smiled.

[backtothestart02]

The Football Star and the New Girl - 1/? | westallen fanfiction

A/N: I suck at titles lately...oh well. Enjoy this first chap! The story itself is based loosely on a dream I had. :)

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Synopsis:  HS!AU - They were like ships passing in the night. Would they ever meet on the same page?

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Chapter 1 -

Francine West walked down the hall and peeked into the open doorway of her daughter’s bedroom. She found her sitting on her bed, her things packed in multiple suitcases at her feet, but she herself – Iris West, 14 ¾ years old – did not look very excited to be leaving her home without her family. She was looking at a photo album. Tears were staining her cheeks.

Francine rested her head against the door frame as she watched her, her heart aching to heal the wounds she knew would only grow more with time.

“It’s not too late to change your mind, you know.”

Iris’ head whipped toward the sound, and she hastily shut the photo album and tossed it onto her bed, wiping her cheeks quickly after.

“Mom!”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t interrupting, was I?”

She walked into the room, and Iris scooted over a little so she could sit next to her on the bed.

“No, not at all. I’m glad you’re here.”

They shared a sweet look, then Iris leaned her head on her mother’s shoulder. Francine held out her hand, and Iris intertwined her fingers in her mother’s grip.

“I still want to go,” she assured her.

“Yeah?”

She nodded against her shoulder.

“I need stability, mom. I can’t be moving around going from school to school every six months. I’m proud of dad, of course, and I love being with you all. I’ll miss you a lot, but…I want friends and the same school and a life.”

“A boyfriend?” Francine nudged her gently.

Iris rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Maybe…eventually. I’m only 14, Mom.”

Francine nudged her again.

“14 ¾.”

Iris laughed.

“Yeah, yeah, okay. A boyfriend would be nice, once I get to know the guy for more than a couple months. But first, friends.”

“Friends are important too.”

Iris nestled into her mother’s embrace and sat in silence for a while.

“What about Wally? Is he going to be going to new schools every-”

“I’ve decided to attempt homeschooling.”

Iris lifted her head.

“You have?”

She nodded.

“He’s only 10, so the curriculum is simpler, and he’s pretty introverted, even around us, so Ruffly can suffice for his friend. At least for now.”

Francine pursed her lips. She did want real, live human friends for her son, as well as for her daughter. But for now their golden retriever seemed to be what got the most laughs out of young Wally West. She would hope that lasted at least through another school year.

“I’d take him with me if I could,” Iris said.

“You’d take both my children from me?” Francine asked, only half joking. “What am I supposed to do all day long without your brother to drive me crazy?”

Iris looked into her mother’s eyes and saw that they were watering.

“Oh, Mom, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s okay, honey.”

She sighed and pressed a kiss to her daughter’s temple.

“I know it hasn’t been easy for you, losing your friends so often because we have to move. It’s the life of a military family, I’m afraid. I signed up for it when I agreed to marry the man, but you, my baby, were just born into it.”

She pulled back to look into her eyes.

“I want you to know though that if at any time the school isn’t working out for you, we’ll come get you in a heartbeat.”

Iris winced. She knew it wasn’t that simple. They were moving overseas to a new post. Iris would be staying here in the U.S. Even if the school was a bit of a move for her too. It wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to.

Still, she obliged her.

“Yeah, okay, mom.”

She smiled, but Francine knew better.

Footsteps sounded down the hallway, and interrupting their little moment came Joe West with little Wally West on his back. Joe was dressed in all camouflage wear, and Wally was giggling from bouncing up and down on his “horsie”. Ruffly was close at Joe’s heels.

“What is this here?” Joe asked, witnessing the tear streaks on his two ladies’ faces.

“Dad!” Iris sprung up.

She ran to him, and he slowly released Wally off his back, who promptly complained when his shoeless feet hit the floor.

Joe hugged his daughter tight, lifting her off her feet briefly and kissing the side of her face.

“Oh, baby girl, are you sure you want to go?”

Iris laughed when she was back on her feet again. She wiped away fresh tears.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’m just gonna miss you guys, but I need this. For me. Okay?”

He sighed and nodded, then looked across the room at his wife.

“She’s so grown-up.”

“I know.” Francine sniffled.

“Why is everyone crying in here?” Wally asked. “Aren’t we gonna see her for Christmas?”

Everyone laughed.

“Aren’t you gonna miss me at all, you little punk?” Iris asked, ruffling his curly hair.

“Eh, maybe a little.” He shrugged, uncaringly.

Iris rolled her eyes.

“Well, it’s time to get going then, yeah?” She looked at her parents who nodded.

“Yeah,” Joe said. “That seven-hour drive is no joke.”

“Seven hours! That’s a lifetime!” Wally whined.

Ruffly barked.

“Just wait till your plane ride,” Iris egged him on. “That might be even longer.”

Wally groaned. “I hate traveling!”

“Better make sure you have something to keep you occupied with then, Walls,” Joe said, and with that Wally zipped out of Iris’ room to make sure his many bags included plenty of toys to play with on his very long journey.

“I’ll go help him,” Francine said. “We’ll meet you at the door with his things.”

“Sounds good.”

Joe smiled, but it was pained. Once Francine had left, all the toughness had melted away again, as it often did with his baby girl.

“Boy, am I gonna miss you,” he said.

“I’m gonna miss you too, Dad.” Another tear streamed down her cheek, and he was quick to wipe it away. “You look so handsome in your uniform, Dad.”

He chuckled.

“Alright, enough sadness for now. We can do this again in seven hours.”

She laughed. “Okay.”

“You wanna help me get all a million and one suitcases out to the car?”

She took a step back and looked around her room.

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“You can apologize by helping me.”

“Deal.”

She smiled, and slowly they made their way to the front door and then the driveway with all seven of her suitcases. It took a few trips, but then she knew she would need every bit of her belongings for the long school years that lay ahead.

Her family would visit as often as they could, of course, but it would be difficult with them living overseas. She probably wouldn’t see them again until her dad was forced to move again like they were doing now.

But she’d thought long and hard   this. She longed for friendships that lasted, for a life beyond what was available to a military family. She needed to connect and to be free for a while, even at the sacrifice of not seeing her family every day, especially her mom and baby brother. This new school – Huntington Farm and Boarding School – would be just the ticket.

Out in the middle of nowhere somewhere down south, the school was on a huge stretch of lush land that also served as a farm – no animals, just crops, which was a shame, Iris thought. She’d miss having even just her dog around too.

But the place was renowned for its academics and social scene there in the middle of the wilderness. A boarding school for those who needed it, traveling families mostly; and if the colorful flyer they’d sent in the mail was any indication, Iris would absolutely love it.

“Everybody ready?” Joe asked, when everyone had piled into the car sometime later.

“Ready!” the family cheered.

Joe chuckled and started the car.

“Huntington Farm and Boarding School, here we come. Watch out for your most dazzling student yet.”

He met Iris’ eyes in the rearview mirror, and they sparkled.

“You know it!” Iris said.

Joe grinned and backed out of the driveway.

They were all on their way to bigger adventures now.

…

One year later…

Iris sat on top of the fence on the edge of the football field, waiting for who she hoped she hadn’t misinterpreted wrong. After nearly a year of first claiming he didn’t like her and then months of mixed signals, Iris was convinced he actually did like her, as much as she liked him.

Sitting on the fence post waiting for the guy to come kiss her seemed like an odd tradition, but it was built into the social aspect of the school, and she figured it was the only guaranteed way she’d know if he was really crushing or not.

She’d dressed as cute as she could for a game, and soon she’d know if it would pay off or not.

Biting her bottom lip, she gasped quietly when she saw him coming around the corner heading right towards where she had herself perched.

Barry Allen was the star football player – star of every sport he could get himself into really – and they’d been making genuine eyes at each other for weeks. Now, as he approached her, it felt as if their whole future was hanging in the balance.

He stopped about 20 feet away. Bracing himself maybe for the decision he’d have to make? Presumably have gained the courage, he continued his walk, headed straight for her and stopped directly in front of her.

Iris waited, her heart hammering a mile a minute in her chest. He was tall enough to reach her – so tall, but she bent her head anyway, and sure enough their lips met in a soft, tender kiss.

She opened her eyes as he took a step back, but the smile on his face was undeniable. So was hers.

Just as he was about to say something truly romantic – she’d decided – one of his teammates burst behind them.

“Did you just kiss Iris West?”

Barry spun around, panic on his features.

“I-”

Another teammate appeared.

“Wait, what?”

“Barry just kissed Iris!”

“But I thought he hated her. He swore he did.”

Iris tensed on the top of the fence, waiting for Barry to smooth the whole thing over. It couldn’t be that big of a deal that he’d pretended to hate her all while flirting with her on the downlow for nearly a year…could it? It was annoying to her for sure, but his teammates couldn’t be that annoyed, could they?

Barry never smoothed it over.

His teammates left, looking disgusted, and Barry looked back at Iris for one more moment, not knowing what to do. Then he left, calling after them.

“Wait, guys, it’s not what it looks like!”

And Iris sat alone on top of the fence, the magical memory of her first kiss completely shattered.

How would they come back from this?

[cryptid-writer]

Feral Child/Naga Izuku

From the day of his birth, he had been cast out by his family for something he had no control over. He had been born half human and half snake, the die he had been cast weren't in his favor but weren't out of his favor.

Inko had always been terrified of snakes, and with her heart condition, Hisashi knew that they wouldn't be able to keep their son. They never even named the child, not wanting to get attached, and left him in the woods. They would both turn out to be amazing parents, they weren't bad people by any means, Hisashi was just misguided in his attempts to keep his wife's heart from giving out.

The couple would have a second child a year later, forgetting all about the kin they left in the woods. This child had been wanted, had been blessed with a name, it was a boy. The moment the "Hokaido" tumbled from the mouths of the parents, the second child's dice were rerolled in their favor.

The moment the first child had been left in that forest his instincts awoke. A pack of stray dogs came across him pathetically trying to slither across the leaf mulch, one of the dogs immediately taking to him. He was raised by them until he could hunt on his own, in which he parted ways with them.

From ages one day old to five years old he lived in the forest, he would never know his true kin. Not that he gave them any thought, blood was nothing more than the leaves to him. He was found at age five when a family discovered him hibernating in a cellar next to the boiler. They decided to grace the unnamed child with open arms.

The family that found him was made of two parents with a son. The kanji that was supposed to read Deku had been read by the parents as Izuku, who decided to not curse the half snake half human child with a name that would forever haunt him. It was the son who chose the name, for Izuku had been in hibernation and thus "useless".

Izuku found himself in unfamiliar surroundings when he woke back up, a boy about his age sharing the comfort of his vibrant green coils with him. Despite his panic and fear, the warmth of his companion was intoxicating to the cold blooded boy.

The first thing Mitsuki taught Izuku was "Welcome Home, Izuku." He picked up reading and writing fairly quickly, but was homeschooled by Mitsuki because of his fear of people.

It's only by the chance that Mitsuki knew about Inko having a miscarriage, she had marked the date, and she found it strange that instead of giving her body a rest Inko decided to conceive almost immediately after.

Izuku looked suspiciously like Hisashi and Inko, and that's when she connected the dots. Mitsuki decided the moment she saw him that he was her son, so she never told them about Izuku or let them ever have the chance of coming into contact with him.

Mitsuki tells Izuku about how his birth parents abandoned him and had a replacement child a year younger than him. Izuku takes the time to tell her that they might've brought him into this world, but his real family is the one that took him in and cared for him.

Even though Izuku was born July 15th, he and Katsuki celebrate their birthdays on April 20th. Izuku and Katsuki are practically inseparable, especially when Izuku was enrolled into middle school with Katsuki.

When Izuku wasn't in lessons with Mitsuki, he would save up bags of bottle caps before selling them. He would also do yard work for the neighbors, or help keep any unwanted vermin out of their houses.

With his money he buys several reptiles, mostly lizards and snakes. They go with him to UA.

Even at UA Izuku and Katsuki still sleep together, as Izuku can't make his own heat, he depends on Katsuki or heating blankets to stay warm. He prefers the comfort of having a companion, but he'll take both.

Izuku refuses to go anywhere near Todoroki, because of his quirk and his body temp. When he fought Todoroki in the sports festival he nearly died from freezing to death. His brother was the one to wrestle through the stands and avoid the teachers to blast through the ice and get Izuku.

Katsuki is stopped by Midnight, who holds him back. She tells him that he can't interfere with the fight when he explains that the cold will kill Izuku because he doesn't produce his own body heat.

It's then that Todoroki realizes that he might kill a classmate because of his power, but he can also save them, so Todoroki uses his flames to melt the ice and bring Izuku back from the brink of death. It's only then that he drags Izuku out of bounds.

It's then that Izuku is transported to the hospital for treatment of his wounds and frostbite/frost burns. Both Bakugou boys, and Iida, drop out of the festival. Iida decides to ride to the hospital in the ambulance with his classmates, telling his mom that it'll be faster if she doesn't grab him from the school.

Hokaido, Hisashi, and Inko end up watching the UA sports festival. Inko had been put on medications and had sessions with therapists and psychologists to help her with her fear, so when they see Izuku on the TV they all pause. Hokaido had been told that he had an older brother who they had to get rid of because he was part snake.

They immediately turned off the TV after hearing that he was a Bakugou, and they called Mitsuki and Masaru Bakugou. They hadn't known that Izuku was being transported to the hospital, and with Mitsuki being worried out of her mind, she became livid when they called asking about Izuku.

-----

Izuku was so cold, the ice he had been encased in dropped his body temperature. Hypothermia set in almost immediately, his body going into shock as his heart pumped the ice cold blood through his veins. All this succeeded in doing was making his heart slow down rapidly.

He lost consciousness almost immediately as his heart began to beat slower and slower. His blood froze in his veins, causing painful frostbite all over his body. Where he was in direct contact with the ice he developed frost burns.

---

"My ice is so cold that only my fire can melt it." Todoroki had stated matter of factly to his classmates after the "battle" he had with Ojirou and Hagakure. Izuku hadn't been present for that, he and Katsuki had been pitted against each other and Izuku ended up in the infirmary after he lost consciousness. Katsuki went with his brother to make sure he was okay.

---

Meanwhile, Katsuki was nearly sobbing as he fought against Midnight, trying to get to his brother. The buttercup yellow backpack that Izuku always kept emergency heat packs in was on his back.

"Katsuki, you can't get involved in other people's fights." Midnight chided him, not understanding the situation.

"SHUT UP! IZUKU IS COLD BLOODED, THE ICE WILL KILL HIM. WE HAVE TO WARM HIM UP, I NEED TO GET TO HIM! LET ME GO, TODOROKI IS GOING TO KILL MY BROTHER IF I DON'T DO ANYTHING!" Katsuki yelled, tears beginning to run down his face. Midnight froze just long enough for Katsuki to dash forward.

He didn't notice the rest of the world as he used his explosions to propel himself towards the ball of ice encasing his brother. It didn't take much for him to break through the thick wall of ice and get to Izuku.

The sight of his brother nearly made him shatter, he fell to his knees and scooped his brother into his arms. It takes a lot of effort but he manages to get Izuku out of the ice dome of death.

The words that Katsuki yelled impacted Todoroki immensely. Never had it occurred to him that his ice could kill, he had only ever seen his fire as a means to end.

When he saw Katsuki pulling Izuku out of the dome, his entire world had come crashing down on him. If Izuku were to die because of his ice, then he'd be worse than his father ever was. Izuku was injured because of his power, not his mother's, and only his power, not his father's, could save the reptilian boy.

Todoroki rushed forward and pulled Katsuki to an open area directly in the sun. "Put him down here." He directed, not giving Katsuki an option.

As soon as Izuku was laid down on the concrete, Todoroki used his fire with care to help warm up Izuku. Katsuki tore the backpack open as he rapidly cracked the disk in the hot packs and laid them on his brother.

As his blood became warmer, Izuku's heart began to beat stronger. His blood dethawed quickly and color returned to his skin as warmth was pumped through his body, his eyes fluttered weakly as he regained consciousness.

Izuku was whisked away on a stretcher afterwards. Katsuki thanked Todoroki before he went with his brother, the school called Mitsuki to tell her that Izuku would be transferred to the E.R. or I.C.U. immediately for his injuries.

Recovery Girl couldn't do anything, Izuku was barely stable and all of his stamina was being used towards keeping himself alive. Then Iida came bursting into the room, he was on the phone with his mom.

"Mom, it'll be faster if you go directly to see Tensei. One of my classmates is heading to the hospital now for treatment on his injuries so I'll ride in the ambulance with him and his brother. Just go see Tensei with dad." He spoke into the phone, Izuku stirred at the sound of the new voice. His eyelids blinked as he tried to focus on where the voice was coming from.

"Kat… who's that? It's hard to see." Izuku croaked out, his eyes struggling to focus as his eyelids fluttered. His eyes luckily weren't damaged in any way, but the sedative he was put under to help with the pain made him feel fuzzy, and he was finding it hard to be aware of what was around him.

"That's Iida, he's gonna ride with us to the hospital." Katsuki explained, his usual angry and arrogant attitude gone. Izuku nodded in response as he began to zone out.

The trio of boys each zoned out for a while, their bodies and brains on autopilot. It wasn't until they arrived at the hospital that Iida was shaken from his daze. Iida split ways with the Bakugou siblings, his mother was waiting for him in the lobby.

Katsuki went in after Izuku, where he found his parents waiting in the lobby. He went and sat with them and as soon as he sat down he began to explain what happened.

"Our classmate, Todoroki, was pitted against Izuku. The moment the match started, Izuku was encased in a ball of ice. He didn't know that Izuku was cold blooded because most people assume that he's warm blooded just because he's human.

The teachers tried to stop me from getting to him, saying that it would interrupt the match even though it says in his file that exposure to cold without proper equipment will be fatal.

Finally I got to him just barely in time after the teacher that was holding me froze. I was able to blast through the ice and get him out.

He was so cold when I got to him, his skin was blue and he was literally freezing to death, he had burns from where his skin was directly in contact with the ice. I got him out into the sun where Todoroki helped me warm him back up.

Recovery Girl said that he had severe frostbite and that his heart nearly stopped because of the cold. She couldn't use her quirk on him because all of his stamina was going towards keeping himself alive."

Katsuki sat in silence after he was finished explaining, the family was still in shock. Hours went by before they were able to go see Izuku in the I.C.U.

Izuku ended up in the same room as the Iida family, Katsuki and Tenya only figured this out because they recognized each other's voices. They ended up pulling the diving curtain back so that they could all interact.

Then Mitsuki's phone rang. She picked it up and put it on speaker when she recognized the phone number.

"Hello, this is Mitsuki Bakugou." She spoke politely into the phone.

"Mitsuki, this is Hisashi! Inko, Hokaido, and I would love to meet Izuku so that we can catch up as a family and bring our son back home. Inko is on new medication and taking therapy sessions to deal with her fear." The response came, the voice clearly belonged to a male. Mitsuki became livid after she heard his words.

"Izuku is MY son, he stopped being yours when you left him to die in the woods! I've told him all about the Midoriya family, how you and your wife decided to execute him and have a replacement child just because you couldn't handle the idea of alternatives.

To him he's been abandoned because his blood wasn't thick enough. He became mine the day that I named a five year old who never had the chance to know what his birth parents were like.

I know you Hisashi, you never named the boy. The only proof you have is his DNA, but there's no paper trail saying he's yours. You know what it does say? He's mine, legally." Mitsuki snapped at Hisashi as she practically growled. Katsuki and the Iida boys fell silent as they awkwardly waited for his mother to stop yelling.

"Alright, alright. I get the idea, but we'd still like to get more in touch with you." Hisashi responded. The entire room could practically hear his sweat drop through the phone.

"No, I don't even have to think about it. What do you not get about the fact that he is in the hospital. Next time message me first before I shove my foot up your ass for calling when I made it very clear that you are not to have contact with him." Mitsuki stated, before hanging up and turning her phone off. Izuku stirred as the drugs wore off.

Izuku moved his arm, feeling the I.V. pull on his skin, "Ma… there's a weird snake stuck to me, I don't think it's mine." He mumbles.

The moment those words left the drugged naga's mouth, Tenya had a gay crisis. Never did he think that Izuku being drugged up after surgery and barely lucid would make him want to marry the man on the spot.

"Well yeah dumbass, it's an I.V. tube not a snake." Mitsuki responded to Izuku, getting a very astounded look from her son.

"Hey ma… how did I wind up with an I.V. tube in my arm? I… I don't remember anything about today. Besides being really really cold, like I was stuck in a freezer, but worse. I think… I think my heart almost stopped beating, like I was being frozen from the inside by my own blood." Izuku mumbled, looking for reassurance. Nobody said anything and he paled considerably, he pulled as much of himself into a tight bundle as he could without ripping the IV from his arm.

----

Shinsou and Izuku became friends the moment they both realized the other had been rejected by society for something they couldn't control. It was the second they were matched up against each other that they became good friends.

Izuku is good friends with Iida and Shoji, as they're willing to let him absorb their body heat while he's in scarf mode, and he's helpful for carrying things. His enhanced scenting ability comes in handy during combat when pursuing a target.

Izuku prefers to be a scarf for Iida though, the two keep having gay crisis' every time they see each other, so it's natural that Izuku likes to be a scarf for his crush more.

Tensei was never injured by Stain, the Stain incident doesn't happen until Hokaido gets into UA and goes after the hero killer himself with some friends.

(stay tuned, more to come)

[sweetinsecruity]

another yeorry ask! yerim is convinced that if she kisses a frog she’ll find her prince! in an effort to do this, runs off path from a nature walk with her parents, lipsoul, after a frog! when she finally catches it, she kisses the top of its little frog head. yeojin, who had similarly escaped viseul, falls from a tree in that moment, right in front of yerim. obviously, yerim reasons that yeojin is her fated prince! -🌸

Every little kid likes fairy tales, but by the time they're in high school that love of children's stories is usually swapped out for television dramas. Yerim is a little different though, she never quite grew out of her fondness for classic bedtime stories. The idea of being swept off her feet into a magical adventure by a prince or knight was enchanting to her. However, kids can be cruel and because of her seemingly childish interests, Yerim was a bit of a social outcast in middle school. Still wanting to see the best in everyone she would simply brush off any mean comments and continue with her day. Her mothers, on the other hand, were no as okay with how Yerim was being treated so when she was set to start high school they decided to homeschool her. Of course, Yerim didn't mind she loved the idea of her mom teaching her interesting facts about marine biology and math. And so Yerim happily stayed in her lovely world of kindness and fairy tales. Something Jinsoul and Jungeun found odd about their daughter however was her fascination with frogs. Of course, they knew it stemmed from her immense love of Princess and the Frog. But the couple worried because their daughter would chase after any frog or toad she saw wanting to kiss it. They didn't want Yerim to get sick so they would get her frog plushies in an attempt to stop her from kissing real frogs. And for the most part that was an effective method. Today, Jinsoul had planned a nice nature walk to teach Yerim about different kinds of plants and luckily Junguen had the day off work so she decided to join them. The family happily followed the hiking path as Jinsoul pointed out neat looing plants and gave lengthy explanations of their names. Even though this was technically a school trip Jinsoul was mostly talking to her wife, who simply nodded along. The ever-curious Yerim slowly began to tune out her mother's rambling as her eyes landed on another path. She skipped over and followed it. She continued going that way humming contently to herself for a minute or two before she heard some rustling. Inquisitive as always she decided to figure out what made the noise. Yerim's mind raced with possibilities. She could find anything really; a fox, a fairy, maybe even a unicorn. When she does get to the tree she heard the rustling coming from her excitement turns to pure elation. There, right in front of her, was the most adorable frog she had ever seen. Yerim shrieks and sprints over to the little reptile and scoops it up into her hands. She stared at the little creature in awe for a moment before gently petting it. "Don't worry little frog," she whispered, "I know that there is a prince trapped inside you, and fear not for my kiss will save you!" She says dramatically leaning and closing her eyes. She paused just before kissing the frog to squeal one last time. Then Yerim softly pecks the frog on its head. The very moment she does Yerim hears a loud cracking sound and an even louder scream. Startled she drops the frog, who hops away immediately, and opens one eye. Then the other one and when she looked at the foot she saw a cute blond girl rubbing the back of her head. And of course, her jaw drops. 

Yeojin, unlike Yerim, was a somewhat troublesome child. No matter what her parents tried they could just never keep her out of schemes. On her last day of middle school Yeojin managed to light the school's pool on fire. This got her expelled and banned from any of the district's high schools. The only option left for her mothers was homeschooling. Yeojin didn't care much for homeschooling. She loved her moms sure, but whenever she pranked them Vivi would just end up making her feel guilty. But when she suggested the family go on a hike Yeojin was instantly excited. So the next day off they went. Vivi almost instantly regretted suggesting this as her daughter wouldn't stop teasing her and Haseul for being 'fruity'. Eventually, Haseul got fed up too and suggested they play hide and seek. Yeojin instantly agrees and runs off into the woods, leaving her mothers with some lovely peace and quiet. So there she sat, perched on a tree branch evilly rubbing her hands together. Then she heard footsteps coming in her direction and was worried about being caught. Yeojin then moved up on the branch to cover herself with leaves. She couldn't really see who was below her so Yeojin did her best to maneuver the branched so she could see. Then she heard it 

CRACK

All Yeojin thought when she heard that was "Fuck" and before she knew it she was lying flat on her back winded.

After Yerim managed to close her mouth she simply screams "HOLY HECK!!! IT WORKS!" While jumping around. For someone who was very much in pain that scream was not a welcome sound. "Oh my GOD be QUIET" Yeojin groans. Immediately Yerim's hands fly to cover her mouth "Oh I'm sorry. I was just excited that it worked." She apologizes in a much softer tone bending down. "Ugh, it's fine my head just sorts hurts," Yeojin says rubbing her temples, "Wait. What did you mean by 'it worked'?" The shorter girl questioned. "Oh! Well, your majesty, I saved you from living an eternity as a frog with my kiss." Yerim says springing up again and bowing dramatically. It was Yeojin's turn to have her jaw drop. Yerim is beaming when she goes to wrap Yeojin into a warm hug, then helps the shorter girl up off the floor. "Well, you're certainly a pretty princess! I'm so sorry you had to be a frog for so long." Yerim says, gently taking leaves out of Yeojin's blonde hair. "O-oh, um thanks" She replies hesitantly " You're not too bad yourself" She returns while dusting herself off. "Wow, it's so nice to be complemented by a princess," Yerim says dreamily as she spins around. "OH!" Yerim exclaims causing Yeojin to jump "What's your name princess?" She asks grabbing Yeojin's hands "Um, well, my name is Yeojin" The shorter girl mumbles out blushing a little from Yerim's bluntness. "Oh, that's a beautiful name" She sighs in the middle of her sentence "Princess Yeojin." Yerim pauses again "I LOVE it! My name is Yerim!" She exclaims jumping happily "Ok cool nice to meet you Yerim." Yeojin says with some more confidence. "Do you live in a castle princess?"  Yerim asks with shining eyes. Something about that nickname makes the shorter girl feel incredibly shy but she shakes her head no as a response. "Oh, then where you live?" Yeojin decides at that moment that she likes Yerim. "Well I live town," She replies simply. Yerim nods excitedly "Princess come with me you should meet my lovely mothers!" There is was again the dang nickname that made Yeojin's stomach do a flip. 'Just indigestion I guess' Yeojin concludes. "Alrighty sure, why not. Lead the way Yerim." She says gesturing forward. Immediately Yeojin is dragged through the woods by the taller girl. After maybe ten minutes of walking the pair approach to women with their arms linked casually strolling. "MOMS LOOK!!!!" Yerim practically screeches causing both Yeojin and the other women to cover their ears. "Yerim sweety what?" Jungeun asked turning around. "Mom look I kissed a frog and there was a Princess!" She says pushing Yeojin towards her parents "Uh nice to meet you?" Yeojin says offering a hesitant hand. Jinsoul does a double-take and Junguen nearly faints. "I'm sorry Yerim darling but what?!?" Jinsoul says shocked. "Well, this is Princess Yeojin! and she was trapped in a frog's body and I freed her with a kiss!" Once they hear the short girls name both parents to look at each other then back at Yeojin who simply shrugs and waves. "Well, this isn't how I wanted to meet Vivi and Haseul's kid Soulie." Jungeun says laughing inwardly "Agreed," Jinsoul says with a nod. "Woah you know my moms?!?'' Exclaims eyes wide. "Yes, Yeojin we do. All of us are good friends." Jinsoul explains and the shortest girl simply nods. "Mom! It's Princess Yeojin. Don't be rude." Yerim scolds her mother shaking her head in disappointment. "Um well sweetheart, how do I say this," Jungeun says cautiously looking at her wife who simply nods at her "Yeojin..isn't really a princess and I'm sure that she was never a frog darling." Yerim's jaw drops again "WHAT!?! Princess?" Yerim shrieks turning to Yeojin "Is that true?" She questions softly. Yeojin looks down "Yeah I'm afraid it is Yerimmie. I just happened to fall out of the tree after you kissed that frog I guess." Yeojin says as kindly as she can. Yerim simply nods and lets the information sink in for a moment before simply smiling and pulling Yeojin into a hug "That ok Yeojinnie don't worry about it. You can still be a Princess though. I'll just call you princess sometimes oki?" Yerim says surprising happily. "U-uh yeah cool with me," Yeojin says with a blush. Then the group heard a loud "YEOJIN YOU LITTLE SHIT! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!!" The girl in question rolled her eyes "Gimme a sec" She said taking a deep breath "OVER HERE!!!" She yells back. A minute or so later Haseul and Vivi come jogging up to the group. "Oh well looks like you guys finally met Yeojin," Haseul says to Jinsoul and Jungeun, who just nod. "Oh, you must be my little princess's parents! I'm Yerim it's wonderful to meet you!" Yerim exclaims extending her hand. Vivi and Haseul both turn and stare at Yeojin "Princess?" Vivi questions her daughter. "Long story" She replies with a shrug. "Alright then, whatever you say." Vivi says teasingly. So the families return from their walks together each pair hand in hand happily chatting on their way home. 

AAAAAAlrighty so this one is a LONG one lol. Anyways I hope with is good and I hope you all enjoy reading it :] also plz excuse any errors, I did proofread but it's late and my brain is a little fried so i may have missed one here or there. Anyways until next time - Rose 💜

[txemrn]

Catalyst

a Prequel to the Nanny Affair

Chapter 2: Covalence

Need to catch up? Chapter 1: Acquiesce

Rating: 18+ (Mature Audiences only)

Word count: 3255(+/-)

Warning: language; sexually suggestive language; mention of physical abuse, drug abuse, assault and adoption

"Alright, Pine Shadow family, here are your finalists!" Principal Larson's voice booms over the gym speakers. One would think he's announcing a night of rough and rumble with the WWE rather than announcing the award winners for a middle school science fair. Regardless, his enthusiasm is contagious much to the science departments delight. "Let's give them a big Wildcat round of applause for all of their hard work!"

As the audience abrupts into cheers, there she sits, melting into her chair as her knees bounce feverishly in fear. Her French-braided hair accompanies a denim headband, keeping the stray strands of brilliant wheat out of her gray eyes. Against her mother's disgust, she picks at the rubberbands attached to the hardware in her mouth. In her young 12-year-old mind, the audience seems to be doubling--no, tripling in size.

She worries if her hard work will payoff with a shiny blue ribbon--if any ribbon at all. Mrs. Ferguson and Coach Kincaid gave her nods of approval when she created elemental silver from the glucose mixture and Tollen's reagent-- who wouldn't be impressed with a 6th grader with an advanced passion for chemistry? But still, she worries.

"And," the principal continues, "our first place winner is--" The anticipation thickens the air as every movement seems to propel through space in slow motion. Like a dramatic montage of Rudy sacking the Georgia Tech quarterback to clutch the W for Notre Dame, or an injured Danny LaRusso crane-kicking Johnny Lawrence to become the All-Valley Karate Champion: this was her field; this was her stadium; this was her Hail Mary. All of the hours of research at the library; all of the frantic trips to the hobby store; the redundant presentation practices; the late evenings followed by the early mornings accompanied with the inevitable break downs. It all came down to this.

"Our first place winner is… Brynn Schuyler!" The applause is defeaning as time seems to stop. Did she hear the principal correctly? The name sounded very familiar--like her own name!

"Brynn Schuyler!" Did she really just win the coveted first place ribbon at the science fair? She froze, her tiny little body unable to process the abundance of emotion she was encountering all at once.

"Where is Brynn?" Outside of being gifted her hamster and her mom letting her wear clear lipgloss, this is the most incredible day of her life--

She feels a tap on her shoulder. "Ma'am?" The veiled-look from her eyes washes away; the clouds around her head vanish. Reality hits.  "Are you Brynn Schuyler?" She feels the warmth of rose flood over her fair complexion as the barista interrupts her morning ritual: reminiscing.

"Uh--yes," as she brushes her fingers over her brow, as if to create a shield to her embarrassment.

Smooth. Real smooth, Brynn.

She quickly brightens, extending her hands, "I'm sorry. That's--"

"Iced venti white mocha latte with a blueberry muffin… and two mini cinnamon maple scones?"

I don't know what would be nicer: reading out my order for everyone to hear or calling me a 'fatass'.

"--me. Yes, thank you," she whispers with gnashed teeth behind a courtesy grin. As she slithers back down into her seat at the local coffee house, Brynn hides the pastries in her backpack, keeping them well within her reach as she continues to work: scouring the wanted ads.

Next Tuesday makes four months of no job and no steady income. She has been on seven 'promising' interviews with no avail. She is able to keep her bill collector's away with her savings account, but even that was beginning to dwindle like her existence.

Brynn is a scientists, a chemist to be exact--or at least she was. Her love for science led her from the suburbs of 'the City of Brotherly Love' to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where she studied education. Her dream was to impose the wonders of science on young minds as they experienced the physical world around them. But, after her personal observation of the devastation of Alzheimer's disease with her grandmother, she took an unexpected internship with the Massachusetts's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. She realized she didn't want to just teach science; she wanted to do science. One Master's degree in Chemistry later, she was well on way to making a real difference in the world. Or so she thought.

'Benson's BBQ: Host needed'--maybe. 'Browning Steel: Welder with experience'--no. 'Bus Depot: driver wanted, great benefits'--no. 'Cutshall Clearance Store--stalker needed'-- surely they don't mean 'stalker', but they may need an ad editor.

She had scored the chance of a lifetime when she was hired on as one of the first female level I Chemists at the Lincoln Laboratory at MIT. She quickly graduated from fetching coffee, dry cleaning and business lunches for her superiors--also known as a research assistance--to finally being a project manager of her very own, very first multi-million dollar research study. But after twenty-months with no success, the funding was pulled on the project, the wind knocked out of her sails. The punches didn't stop there: her team of men threw her under the metaphorical bus and it was 'off with her head,' her moment of glory now over. She often feels foolish that she thought she could actually make a difference in the world; even worse, she felt agonizing guilt for being a woman that couldn't hang in a man's world, feeling as if she was responsible for a sudden shift backwards in equality.

'Danny's Barber Shop: receptionist'--maybe. 'Danny's Cake Decorating: baker'--no. 'Danny's XXX videos: call for details'-- uh, Mr. Danny has his dick in one too many pies.

Bzzt.

Saved by the text.

She giggles to herself in seeing she has a message from her roommate Jenny. Knowing that this is about to become a full-on text conversation, probably more suitable for an actual phone call, Brynn folds up her marked-up paper, and stretches her legs. She grabs her second scone, placing it into her mouth to hold as she piles her greasy hair into messy bun on top of her head, secured with a pen.

She swipes across her spider-cracked screen; the message: 'Turn around whore! ;-P'

"Brynny!" Brynn ducks as if she is about to be hit. "I thought that was your Corolla parked outside!"

"Jenny! You scared me!" She exhales loudly. "What are you doing awake? It's--" Brynn looks at her phone, "holy shit! Is it really almost noon?" She has no place to be; she just hates the feeling of time slipping by unnoticed, especially with her not being an active participant in life these days.

"I'm sorry, girl--"as she sits her coffee cup down at Brynn's commandeered table, "And you're right--I should probably still be asleep." She stifles a yawn, "I had a very busy night--"

"At the bar?" Brynn raises an eyebrow, "Or with Xavier?" her lips curling into a knowing grin.

Xavier is the first intact penis Jenny had ever been with--and she was loving it. It had been the topic of conversation during their 3AM chats this week, but when Jenny didn't come home from her shift at the bar last night, Brynn automatically knew Jenny must be exploring the new uncharted territory at his place.

"I didn't--I mean--" Jenny let's out a scoff. "Fine. Both."

A giddy Brynn scoots her chair closer. "Ooooo do tell."

"I--" Jenny pauses for dramatic effect, "happen to have a very--"

"Insatiable appetite? Ferocious needs?" Brynn giggles as she wraps her delicate fingers around her straw, gradually sliding them up and down its length.

Jenny clears her throat, straightening out her overall posture. "I was going to say, 'healthy sex life,' but since you have to be a thirsty bitch about it--" she leans in closely to Brynn, grabbing the remains of her scone. She flanges her lips around the breakfast pastry, fluttering her eyes closed, finally letting out a soft moan when she takes a nibble. "Oh honey, he was ferocious." She draws a sip from her hot coffee before lowering her voice. "And he satiated my appetite very… very… well."

Brynn jokingly sticks her fingers in her ears, pretending to be disgusted, yet squealing in excitement. Jenny playfully hits her arm as the two women uncontrollably giggle as they continue to enjoy each other's company.

Jenny Browder and Brynn Schuyler were a very unlikely pair. They met in undergrad in a entry-level sociology course during their first semester freshmen year. Of the two, Brynn was mature and focused, especially when it came to her education.  Often times, she had to be the voice of reason with a newly uncaged and untamed Jenny who was more concerned with socializing and drinking.

Jenny was brought up in a strict, Fundamentalist household, the kind that saw dancing and playing cards as evil. She somehow convinced her parents that God was calling her to attend UMass after a life-long career of being homeschooled. It was 'Goodbye, long dresses,' and, 'Hello, Bombshell Bra.'

She never returned back home. Even when she failed out after Sophomore year, she packed up her guitar and headed for Nashville to become a star. The two friends had quickly turned back into strangers.

Brynn will never forget they day Jenny stumbled back into her life. In the midst of grad school, Brynn had volunteered at a free/low-cost community health clinic offered to lower-socioeconomic families. Jenny was waiting outside the facility, chain-smoking her last four cigarettes. Brynn was unloading testing equipment when she recognized a very familiar purple butterfly tattoo.

"Jenny?" Hearing her name, she instantly responded. She looked so different--older even, weathered. Her once-lustrous auburn hair looked as if it hadn't seen a brush--or soap, for that matter-- in weeks. Her eyes had lost their glow, surrounded by gray bags. Even though she kept her arms crossed in an attempt to hide it, her stretched-tight shirt boasted a growing bump. But, perhaps the most bothersome was the severely picked scabs, scratches, and bruises, littering her entire body.

They made cordial small talk until Greg, her alcoholic and abusive fiancé, honked his horn from his rusty Ford Ranger, notifying Jenny it was time to leave. Before she could run out on her again, Brynn quickly dug a pen and Post-It pad from her white coat, and wrote down her cell number. Truth be told, she never expected her to call.

Two o'clock in the morning about 3 months later, Jenny called. In his usual anger fueled by Wild Turkey, Greg had beaten her and forced himself on her until he passed out from the exhaustion of his stuper. But, something was different this night; something snapped in Jenny's brain. Enough. Her body was frail and bleeding; but her spirit was kindled, coming alive with courage, telling her she was not broken, telling her to fight.  Fueled with what could easily be described as courage--or insanity--she stole $12 from his wallet and packed an old duffle bag with a change of clothes and a water-stained Post-It note.

At a gas station outside of Boston, Brynn picked up a very pregnant Jenny. They sat in the darkness, the cabin filled with silence and stillness; but the conversation was loud and clear: Jenny was terrified. Terrified to talk, terrified to act, terrified of her past and terrified to even imagine a future. Brynn reached over and grabbed Jenny's hand as they both quietly sobbed. They weren't freshmen anymore.

All of a sudden in the quietness of the car amongst all of the chaos, a baby began to dance. Waves and ripples fluttered across Jenny's abdomen; flips and tumbles quickly ensued, becoming stronger and stronger. They took her breath away for a moment, but quickly returned in the form of tiny giggles.  Brynn's eyes sparkle with wonder as she gently places her hand on her friend's belly, gently rubbing circles with her thumb and fingers. Jenny places both her hands on Brynn's, guiding her around her bump, occasionally pressing deeply until finally they are greeted with a kick.

For the first time in a long time, Jenny wasn't terrified. Her head wasn't pounding from an incessant ache, a craving for just one more hit. Her body was breathing, healing in between the throws. For the first time in a long time, Jenny had clarity. And she was ready to talk.

Jenny got the necessary help she needed. She spent time at a battered women's shelter where she was safe and protected; she was able to receive prenatal care and some deeply therapeutic counseling. She even painfully detoxed from her methamphetamine addiction. But her biggest victory:  she was beginning to forgive herself, allowing herself to heal.

Six weeks later, a very round and overdue Jenny gave birth to a beautiful red-headed,  9 pound 8 ounce boy. Her heart swelled with love--a love she had never experienced before--as they placed him right on her bare chest. Overcome with joy and tears, the new mom kept him safe and sound, snuggled in a blue receiving blanket in her healing arms. She had already missed so much--she didn't want to miss another moment: she wanted to remember how his chunky cheeks felt against her lips as she kissed him. She wanted to remember the gentle smell he had after his first bath. She wanted to remember that tiny, fierce grip around her finger, a grip that would extend past her finger and right around her heart. A grip that would never let go, even well-after she laid him into his new mother's arms.

Jenny Browder is the strongest woman Brynn knows--and probably will every know. Even while she was still rummaging through the train-wreck that was her former life, Jenny had the selfless spirit of a saint and the bravery of the finest medieval warrior. She had nothing of value to her name except for her battered heart; but being the mother of all mother's, she gave her last possession away. She knew that in order to give her son the world, she had to place him in a new world.

Jenny celebrated five years of sobriety last month, and has empowered many women throughout the New England area with her story, speaking at meetings and volunteering part-time at a crisis center. She reconnected with her cousin Sean and his husband Charlie a few years back; feeling a pull to be near family, she moved to Newark, a few blocks away from the happy couple.  She now has a home--an apartment--of her own, a car, and a steady income, bartending at a local, lively bar called Annex. As an added benefit, she also gets to perform twice a month with the house band. Going back to school might even be in her future; but for now, she is happy to be living life again--even if that meant hosting a squatter on her couch in the form of her best friend.

"Any luck on the job front?"

Brynn blows a raspberry with pressed lips in her exacerbation.  "Well, today's options include wearing daisy duke's at a BBQ joint, or becoming a baker--possible porn star--with a man named Danny--"

Jenny laughs, "Ewww, gross. Do I even want to--"

Brynn waves her hand in front of her face, erasing the air of the horrid idea, even if it was a joke.

"Well, the perfect job is out there."

Yeah, yeah, yeah…

Brynn sighs, "Oh, Jen, you have to say that--"

Before she can hang her head down,  Jenny interrupts the pity party, grabbing the remains of massacred muffin from Brynn's hand. "No, I don't. And believe me--" She stares warmly into Brynn's stormy eyes, "You are a catch. You are one in a million--"

"Are we still talking about jobs, or--"

"The perfect job is out there for you--trust me! We are one day closer to it." Not missing a beat, "Speaking of which--" Jenny rocks back and forth in excitement as her heart-shaped lips spread into a smile.

Oh, God…

"What are you doing tonight?" The words almost slur together like a waterfall crashing out of her mouth.

Don't invite me out. Don't invite me out.

"I think I'm gonna--you know--stay in, order out. Look for more jobs--"

"And feel sorry for yourself?"

Damnit, she's good.

Brynn sighs deeply as she lays her head down on her crossed arms.

"Well, it's a good thing we're not going out. You are just--" she lies, "accompanying me to work--"

"Jenny!"

"Brynny," Jenny fires back as both women compete in a staring--moreso glaring contest. She gives in first to the silly gesture, her look warming with affection. "Look, I-I know things have been have sucked recently--"

That's an understatement.

"You need this. It's time to join the world again. You can't just stay cooped up in the apartment all the time--"

"Um," Brynn clears her throat. "I do believe I am in a coffee shop right now." She smirks while delicately fanning her arms out in the air, as if she was showcasing a brand new car on a game show.

"C'mon, girl," Jenny whines, "You know what I mean. Just come up to the bar. Sit and talk with me. Keep me company. Meet some of my regulars. You will feel so much better about yourself--"

"You know I have nothing to wear."

12 pounds, fucking 12 pounds, and my entire wardrobe seems to have shrunk overnight.

"We'll figure something out--I promise! C'mon!" Jenny quickly bounds to the door with a sluggish Brynn in tow. "Besides," Jenny whirls around to continue, "You have a lot of miles left in this thing--" spanking Brynn's butt. Reflexively, Brynn immediately shields her pained bottom, her mouth gaping open. Jenny continues. "I've gotch'ya with shots all night. At least come window shop--it's Thursday night, which means the corporate hotties are shopping for some young ass--"

"Oh, yes. Because a one-night-stand and a raging case of chlamydia will cure my problems--"

"Hey, a shot in the ass, and you're good as new," Jenny jokes, making her apprehensive bestie crack a smile. "That's why I said, 'window shop.' Plus they're rich and love flaunting that they are rich. So--" Jenny shrugs her shoulders, "More free drinks for you!"

Brynn folds her arms across her chest, averting her gaze into the bustling traffic. She starts chewing on the sides of her mouth while letting out a long-winded sigh, clearly uncomfortable with the whole idea. The fact is she was embarrassed of herself, of what had become of her life. There she was, merely existing, living on her best friend's couch with no prospects--job-wise and love-wise. And now that her former-slender body sprung unwelcomed curves, she feels more comfortable in hiding--from the world, and from herself.

Jenny steps back out of her black sedan. She pushes her sunglasses back into her short hair, the sunshine illuminating her scarlet layers. She places her hands on her hips as she silently challenges her friend to a battle of wills.

Brynn feels her piercing gaze, but she can't bring her self to match it. Jenny never pushes her to do anything--and now, all she wants to do is help pull her depressed house-guest out of her mucky misery. And Brynn knows that she will be grateful for the night, especially tomorrow morning. She just needed the little shove.

Brynn breaks their silence with a long, drawn out sigh. "Okay."

"Yes, yes, yes!" squeals Jenny. She slides back into the driver's seat, adjusts her sunglasses and bellows across the parking lot: "Get in loser! We're going shopping!"

Brynn could only hope it was for a new life.

@choicesficwriterscreations​ 

[cyberdva]

Lost Grieving- Richie Tozier X Reader {Chapter 2☆}

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Summary- The reader gets stuck in strange implications and finds herself in Derry, Maine, the location of the infamous Steven King book ‘IT’. Unknowingly she stumbles across the Neibolt House, the dirty and burnt remains of a tragic fire. She remembers what horrors had happened and is hesitant to stay. What will happen when she runs into the one and only Losers Club? What will they do if the strange new girl claiming to be from another universe, tells them they’re all made up characters from a book? Will she help them ‘defeat’ the morbid Pennywise or give up and be lost in perishable hell forever, filled with lost grieving. Proceed with caution when you drive into this tale of horror, humor, and a handful of twisted romance with Richie ‘Trashmouth’ Tozier.

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Main Masterlist

IT Masterlist

Prologue

Chapter 1 

Chapter 2 (+)

Word Count: 2k

Date Uploaded: 11/05/19

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, I have so many ideas for headcannons and imagines that I’ve been just spitballing them out. I apologize for that, but anyways enjoy the new chapter! Send in any requests or ideas for the story, I’m in the mood for writing and I’m off for the rest of the week.

Warnings and Notes: Cursing and Excerpts from Stephen King’s IT Novel

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“Are you ok?” Eddie began to slow down, we ran as fast as we could. I felt bad for him, he has no idea what was going on. At least I had a basic understanding. He was really pale and it looked as if he could barely breathe. Oh, he has asthma! Wouldn’t he already have his inhaler out or something?

“Yeah, I’m fine. You’re really pale, are you going to faint?

“I think so, but I’m more concerned with the fact that you aren’t freaking out about that clown!” He spat out. I couldn’t make out what he was saying. Eddie spoke at the speed of light, no one ever understood him. I had a pit in my stomach, it pulsed whenever I thought of It. I want to go home.

I looked down, trying to piece together what to say, “Oh I’m terrified, I really think I’m dreaming.” The boy went shuffling through his red fanny pack.

“Why would you be dreaming? I’m not dreaming?

I sighed, “It’s a long story,” and I’ll have time to tell it to him when it comes.

“I think I’m going to throw up.” Eddie sputtered his body spurred to the side of the road, his hands covered his face. I awkwardly stood in front of him as my own nausea came up to battle. I collapsed next to him and we said nothing to each other.

“We need to find Bill.” he huffed. It looked as if his small body caved in on itself.

Bill Denbrough. He was their ‘leader’ or that’s how he was perceived in the books. I never really liked his character, but I felt horrible for what happened with Georgie. I felt bad for all of them. Their lives got swept away by that clown and the poster-child victim of this is sitting right next to me. I really hope this is a dream, what if I don’t go home? There’s no way I could be a foster child, that system is still fucked in the present. I can’t imagine what it could be like here.

“Where does he live?” I had no clue on what I was supposed to do, I’m not even relevant in this plot. What I do know is that I have to get a panicked Eddie over his friend’s house.

“Two streets down. Will you come with me, please? I don’t want to get killed by that clown. I lost my inhaler and my mom is going to freak.” his breathing became rigid. It was catching up with the pace of his talking, which was quite fast. His panting swallowed up all his words. In the story his medicine was fake. Now I was in a conundrum. 

Do I tell him or not? It was such a turning point for him, even though he relapsed later on in his life, I think. 

“Hey just breathe.” I almost patted his back, but my hand just wavered above him. Eddie tried to hack out a sarcastic reply. His fear got the best of him.

“Oh my gosh, please Eddie just breathe. I don’t care about your inhaler. We’ll get one at Bill’s or something.” He gasped for a gulp of air and shook. After a couple more times his lungs settled and sat in shock.

“How did that work? That never worked without my inhaler! Are you a witch or something?” Eddie wanted to do nothing but run as fast as he could away from that stranger that he found at a crack house. His mother always told him he was sick, he was. What just happened was physically impossible. ‘What if she was working for that clown?’, he thought. “She might not even be real for god’s sake!” Eddie couldn’t think straight. 

I was beginning to think I was a witch, there is no physical way I could be here. I had next to none proof that I’m from the future, a different dimension at that. Except for my backpack. I always had sections for unused papers, a bigger chunk for History and English work. There were just a few things that fell through from my desk, but not much. Bingo. My old History article about Democratic and Republican debates. Photos, photos of the President. I did have proof! I just need the right time to bring it up. 

“I dunno, my friend has asthma and that works for her.” Lies, I knew that would never work. Eddie would have to be a fool to ever believe that.

“Where are you from? I never heard of that treatment before, especially not from any doctor,”

“Nevermind that, we need to get going.” Nice playoff Y/N. We both headed down the small sidewalk in the brisk afternoon. As we passed the broken down Derry Trainyard the faint scream of a teenage boy filled the surrounding forest. My dress began to hike up my legs and clump by my backpack. Minutes went by when we walked down the unfamiliar streets. 

Another deep screech was released, “What the hell was that?” I jumped after it was quiet, our eyes darted around. No one could be seen as the echo still remained. A groomed bush next to us started to shake unnaturally. 

“What the fu-” Eddie stumbled back, like a baby learning their first steps. The greenery was torn to its sides by a lengthy boy. The pale thing launched at Eddie and almost stomped right on his arm.

“Hi-ya Eds! Didn’t know your mom let you hang out with girls, especially pretty ones.” He grabbed Eddie’s hand and pulled him to his feet. The boys stood head to torso. The height difference was kind of funny. Who even is that kid? I think he’s part of the club. Eddie seems to know him.

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Richard Tozier turns off the radio, which has been blaring out Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” on WZON (a station which declares itself to be “Bangor’s AM Stereo rocker! With a kind of hysterical frequency), pulls over to the side of the road, shuts down the engine of the Mustang the Avis people rented him at Bangor International, and gets out. He hears the pull and release of his own breath in his ears. He has seen a sign which has caused the flesh of his back to break out in the hard ridges of gooseflesh.

He walks to the front of the car and puts on hand on its hood. He hears the engine ticking softly to itself as it cools. He hears a jay scream briefly and then shut up. There are crickets. And as far as the soundtrack goes, that’s it.

He has seen the sign, he passes it, and suddenly he is in Derry again. After twenty-five years Richie “Trashmouth” Tozier has come home.

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆

“Bonjour Mademoiselle, I’m Richie!” he bowed.

Oh.”What the fuck is wrong with him?” I choked. Eddie stifled a laugh.  

“Many things,” he replied. “Anyways, I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new? Or like a homeschool?”

‘A homeschool’, isn’t he supposed to be smart or something? I’m starting to remember him. Richie was the jokester and my personal favorite character. This oughta be fun!

“I don’t know where I am.” After ages, I pushed down my dress in an attempt at a good impression.

“What do you mean?”

“I woke up underneath the welcome sign and found that broken-down house.”

The two stared at me, ”No, but seriously where are you from?”

“I’m telling the truth! Wait… I have proof!” I seized my bag and heaved it open. Small folders with homework were inside, along with other items that made it through with me. 

I grabbed the green History folder filled with stray Newsela articles about Politicians and the President. I pulled one out about a Democratic and Republican debate. A bright picture of all the candidates with a date from September 2019 slapped right under the headline.

“Here this is from my school, in 2019.” It was the least believable thing I have ever said in my life. I internally cringed and just tossed the papers, along with the folder for good measure. If that doesn’t convince them I don’t know what will, even better, I got a watch. Not just any watch, one of the fancy ones with apps and music stuffed all into one. It’s perfectly packed right into my bag’s front pouch.

“What does the photo represent?” Eddie asked, he pointed to the red and blue stage and Richie glanced at the article about Donald Trump.

“It’s a debate abou-”

Richie jumped in, ”Why is orange?”

“I don’t know.”

“There has to be a reason for it.”

“Shut up Richie.”

“You shut up Eddie. Who cares, I want to figure out who she is.”

“Guys, come on.”

A car came jolting down the street. The driver… wasn’t there. All that was in the windshield was a blood-red balloon, not a person in sight. I screamed along with Eddie, Richie didn’t have any reaction. Richie snatched back my folder and scooted onto the pavement.

I couldn’t bring myself to move, I’m not part of this story, yet I can’t leave. Frail arms yanked me away just as the car whisked past. A crunch was all that was left of the vehicle, it disappeared in a flash. The remains of my crushed green backpack drew me to tears.  

“Holy shit my watch is broken!” I sobbed. My last figment of proof.

Eddie flung his hands, “Is no one going to say ANYTHING about the car!?”

“We need to go find Bill.” 

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆

[what-if-i-imagine]

Chapter 1

“As others were—I have not seen.”

-Alone, by Edgar Allan Poe

There was a knock on my door, jolting me awake from a nightmare I was glad to be released from. I rolled my head over to look at my clock, it was five in the morning. I ignored the knock and tried to fall back asleep.

“Harley?” Lieutenant Rhodes called through the door. “Harley you need to get up.”

I ignored him.

My bedroom door opened, and the lieutenant flipped on the lights. I groaned, pulling my blanket over my head.

“Harley,” he repeated.

“It’s too early,” I whined. “The council can’t be so mean that they are sending you on a mission this early!”

“Work is work,” he said, ripping my blankets off of me.

Cold air hit me like a thousand needles, causing me to curl into a tight ball. I shivered and glared up at him, but he just smiled, obviously proud of himself.

“Why are you waking me up? Can’t Dr. Strange or Pepper just take care of me?”

“Nope. Stephen is busy with Wong in Hong Kong, and Pepper has a meeting in an hour.”

Slowly I sat up, rubbing my arms to try and warm myself, “I’m fifteen, I can manage on my own.”

“Harley, you’re going to school.”

My blood went cold from those words. After I moved into Stark Tower with Tony, Pepper and Rhodey two and a half years ago, I hadn’t needed to attend school. I was already years ahead of my class, and Jarvis was able to easily set up a homeschooling plan. My three guardians, plus the wizard that acted as a cool uncle never felt the need to send me off.

“Why?” I asked carefully.

“The council has a new rule, an amendment to the accords is what they’re calling it,” Rhodey explained. “All children and spouse of heroes must sign the accords and abide by the rules they set. Public schooling is a new requirement for all children.”

“I don’t know what was slipped in their drink, but I ain’t a hero’s kid,” I pointed out.

He smiled fondly and sat beside me, “I hate to break it to you, but Tony, Pepper, Stephen and I have been trying to adopt you for two years.”

I thought about what he said. How Iron Man, War Machine, Dr. Strange and a badass CEO we’re trying to decide who should become my patent. That was a custody battle I would love to see in court, but at the same time, it added a whole new pressure to going to public school.

“So who’s being put down as my parent?”

“It hasn’t been figured out yet. We just put all four of us down as your guardians for now, which means you have to sign the accords on the way to your new school.”

“When did my life become such a mess?” I let myself fall forward, my head landing on his shoulder.

He laughed at me, running a hand through my hair, “When you decided living with superheroes sounded better than the Rose Hill foster system.”

We sat in silence, me snuggled up to his arm, his hand running through my hair. As much as I loved Tony, Pepper and Stephen, I had always been closest with Rhodey. He always said I reminded him of Tony when they were young, with my sarcasm and intelligence almost replicating the way Tony acted in high school.

Rhodey’s mom, Mrs. Rhodes, has met me once over the phone during my second Christmas in New York, and demanded that I become her grandson. It was still funny to remember Rhodey quickly trying to explain to her that no plans for my parents were set in stone. He was so flustered, like he really didn’t want to make his mom sad, but was also afraid she would march right down to Manhattan and sign the adoption papers herself.

“What school are they sending me to?” I finally asked, miserably pulling myself out of the memory.

“They’re letting us pic,” Rhodey said, adjusting me so that the position was more comfortable for both of us. “We decided on this school in New York City. It’s called Midtown School of Science and Technology, or MSST. We went over hundreds of schools and this one is the best of the best for high school STEM.”

I nodded and sat up to rub the remaining traces of sleep from my eyes. At least I wasn’t being sent to some random, council picked school where they could heavily monitor and control my life. The accords sucked as it was, considering everyone who signed wished they didn’t have to, but now they were getting to micro manage heroes’ kids and spouse?

“Go ahead and get dressed. I’ll be waiting in the kitchen.” He stood and walked out, only closing my door after saying, “It’s going to be okay kid. Even if you can’t see it, this might be good.”

“Might,” I repeated, once I was all alone.

I pulled on a red shirt, jeans and a black baggy jacket. My hair was impossible to tame, so I figured I could make my futile attempt in the car. Before walking out, I took a long look at the photo that sat on my night stand.

It was the last one that had been taken of my family all together. Mom sat on a chair in the front of our house, holding my five year old sister on her lap. She looked tired, and sick. I stood by her side, my hand on her shoulder. Tony was kneeling by Mom’s other side, Pepper right behind them and Rhodey right behind me. The Doc, Stephen, was the one taking the picture, so he was the only member of the family missing.

I starred at my own expression, so easy and happy. What could I be making me smile so wide that tears were pricking my eyes? From what I remembered, Stephen had made some kind of joke about how the picture would probably be blurry due to his shaking hands, or something along that line, and both Tony and Rhodey had made a quip about it. Mom has told them not to be mean, then Peter said something that made everyone break out into laughter.

This picture was the last time I smiled like that. Three days after it was taken, my life fell apart. It was the last time I saw my mother and sister, and the first time I had seen my father since I was eight.

I gulped and forced back the memories, walking out of my room.

“There he is, our little grown up,” Tony teases as soon as I stepped into the kitchen.

Pepper rushed over and sat me on a chair, trying to brush the knots out of my longish hair, “Were you really going to just let your hair stay like that? Harley, first impressions are everything. You’re a sophomore, and sophomores can be really mean when they want to be. Don’t give them a reason to be mean.”

“Yes Pepper,” I sighed, trying not to cringe from the yanking motions of the brush.

“Pep, give the kid a break he was on short notice,” Rhodey walked over with my new backpack and a thermal filled with coffee. “Here. Don’t drink all of the coffee in one class. You’ll need it to last you until lunch at least.”

“Thanks,” I smiled, then yelled a little as the brush caught a bad knot.

“How does your hair get this tangled in one night?” She mumbled to herself, slipping the hair tie off her wrist to put my hair in a small ponytail.

“Call is if anything goes wrong,” Tony said as Rhodey and I walked to the elevator to get to the parking garage. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, and if you do, name it after me!”

“Don’t do anything he would do either,” Rhodey rolled his eyes, and I stifled a laugh with a swig of coffee.

[chippedteakettle]

I have never met anyone filled with more fear of what they can’t control than my own mother.

Growing up, I often felt entirely imprisoned by what she cut off in life because it caged me in too.

When we lived isolated in the country, She taught us to hide- close the blinds, cut off lights, turn off sounds- when the neighbor she didn’t like popped by for a visit to make it look like we weren’t home.

When we moved to the city, I was scolded heavily once for going outside to get the mail without letting her know because the alert from our security system about the garage door being open scared her so deeply she accused me of negligence. When I said the only way to get the mail was to go through the garage she accused me of ignoring the fact that I could be abducted and raped in the time it took to open the mailbox so I should never have left the garage door open unless I was driving out of it.

I could not leave my house to even step into the yard without permission in advance.

She and I both have autoimmune issues. I have responded to mine with optimism, attempting to live all the life I can with the capabilities I still possess and choosing to see my chronic pain as a thing I deal with, not a definer of who I am. She however has become a terrified shut in. She views herself as incapable of so much- she is scared so many things will cause her death. She is scared of strangers, scared of disease, scared of lack. She attempts to shield herself by “staying informed” but it also means she panics for everything. She does not work. She does not volunteer. She does not have friends. She does not commit to anything outside of her home. And all that worry has nowhere else to go but be funneled at her family.

My sister is stuck back at home because her college semester has been canceled. And after a week shut in at home, she mentioned wanting to see friends and my mother vaulted the tension of the conversation through the roof when her immediate reply to my sister was “are your friends more important than my life? Do you want a dead mom? If I get the corona virus with my immune system, it will kill me. I will be dead- just because you wanted to spend time with some friends?”

My mother has always been a hypochondriac in my eyes. She’s treated every flu season I can remember as the plague. She greets its annual recurrence with panic and paranoia. So to reach a point in the world where our own president has been diagnosed with a virus that is the focus of a global pandemic is her worst living nightmare. She’s been living as if this was our reality for years now, but to be actually faced with quarantine and closures is I’m sure terrifying for her. I can’t imagine the nightmare in her mind.

But to speak to my sister that way is even at the surface appalling. And if it was a one time thing it would be traumatic at best to put that kind of weight on a child’s shoulders. To narcissisticly imply that my sisters need for fresh air and a lack of confinement for even a few hours is a selfish request spoken with ill intent and malice toward my mother when it’s just a cooped up teenager wanting a little space.

But this is NOT the first time she’s done this. Hardly. Not by a long shot. Shes been pulling that card since I was 4 years old and I am 29. The “do you WANT to have a dead mommy” card is how she taught a small christiana right and wrong. When I was right, it was what I was supposed to do. When I did wrong, “it causes stress in mommy’s body. And that stress makes me sick. And if I’m sick, I could die. Is that what you want? Do you want a dead mommy?” This was the threat leveled at a child who couldn’t figure out how to tie her own shoe laces yet. When the wrong I did was simple things because I was a child.

So I never did. I never did any wrong. I was her best friend and confidant. I was her fixer and encourager and care giver. Any attempt I made at having new friends or a boyfriend was greeted with contempt and animosity and a viscous accusal that I didn’t love or care for her if I even desired those connections. How unready I was. How I’d make someone miserable if I were their girlfriend. How I needed to stop reading so much because I was just trying to escape my life instead of dealing with the real world and it was shameful to constantly try to escape. How, if I couldnt figure out how to wake myself up with my own alarm in the first grade, I’d never be able to make it in the real world and she was terrified what would become of me when I was an adult. How unstable I was. How I needed to be in the care of a psychologist if I was so unhinged or in boarding school because she shouldn’t have to deal with how much work I was emotionally- it was too taxing for her body to have to deal with the stress I caused it daily as she homeschooled me in isolation.

That was my life.

Those words and actions shaped my reality for years.

But now, I live on my own. In a cozy den of furry blankets, pastels, and starry string lights. A peaceful sanctuary all my own. I get to luxuriate in knowing that no one will yell or scream at me, or tearfully accuse me of wronging them by simple innocent behaviors. No one can come into my home unless I let them- it is safe here and beautiful. There are usually soothing gentle nature sounds playing or the pride and prejudice soundtrack or the whistling of a kettle filled with hot water for tea. Things that are soft on the heart, soft on the ears, soft for the mind. It’s a shelter I’ve worked very hard to earn on my own and create and I am grateful every time I wake up in it.

I work daily with preschool age children at a church program where I can love and hug them all I can and tell them how precious, valuable, smart and kind they are. Where I can squeeze them lovingly -just for being them, not for anything they’ve done so they begin to learn that love is given, not earned. I volunteer at church singing worship music to calm and ease people’s troubled hearts and minds, and spend time with teenagers who are overwhelmed with life and home lives and trying to find their way. I have side jobs where I get to intricately weave hairstyles together for brides and their maids and help a woman feel like a true princess for a day. And side jobs where I can visit a home on my own and pamper a woman by blowing out her hair for her, so she goes into the world feeling confident and assured instead of nervous that she didn’t do her own hair “right.”

I have a few precious friends who- although our lives are busy and scattered these days- are like family to me and have seen me through the hardest days in my life. They will always be down for a hug, chick fil a, Mario Kart and a deep talk if I need it. They are the family I chose, that chose me. I am dating my best friend, a man so kind that he once compared my heart to a beautiful piece of literature because it was so complex and layered and nuanced that you can have read it forty times and still not catch things and said how much he’d love to keep re reading the story of my heart for the rest of his life.

I have cultivated a life where i can be creative, where I can possess my soft, gentle heart and it be viewed as an asset that helps me flourish not a crippling liability. I can make things with my hands and my voice without her harsh criticism or subtle, perception bending manipulation. I have put boundaries in place with the people in my world who try to step on me with rude behavior. And eliminated as many of those relationships from my life as I can. At work, where I cannot control who else is there, I respect myself enough to not even feed into those relationships, because their power grabbing behavior is not my fault and I don’t need to interact with them if it makes me uncomfortable. I don’t have to continue being around being who make treating me like I’m small a recreational hobby.

I have kept my schedule full of things that matter to me and bring me joy, to the point that I am often over committed and yearning for a slower life . But I also know, I love the doing. (Until I do too much)

I know that right now the world is shutting down, and it has so many scary ramifications for people. I may address that in a separate post, but right now, a closed schedule means that, even though my weary body is eager to find rest amidst the uncertainty- there is so much open space I suddenly can’t account for as a reason I can’t accommodate my mother.

Her panic and paranoia this week is unprecedented. She is insistent that I be in contact with her every day. Demanding I be as informed as possible. Her world -that is always so ruled by fear that she won’t even go to a park by herself for fear of a abduction- is in absolute disarray as the United States begins to try to even partially match her own caution. My sister is stuck home in her freshman year of college, going stark raving mad having to stay with her and I haven’t contacted her as much as I’d like to because my mother gets jealous when I contact my siblings more than I contact her.

I want to bring my sister to my apartment to give her some much needed breathing room but I don’t know if I my mother will allow her to leave after proclaiming everyone in her home would be under a 7 day quarantine last Friday after my sister asked to leave the house. My brother recently graduated and asked if he and I could start spending time together at least once a week. He’s been trying to better himself as a person and wants our connection to be better which I couldn’t love more.

This week has broken our streak and it saddens me immensely but I don’t know if our mother will allow me in her home without hysteria. My brother has become her new favorite in past years because he views her with the most compassion, which seems to come from a place of good intentions, but also a blindness to her manipulative nature. She truly has been through so much and a very harsh life before she made a family of her own. But she used that to keep me pliant for so long that it no longer holds weight with me.

Because of his stance of protectiveness with our mother, he views my resistance to her as wrong. Poor sweet boy. There’s so much he does not know and can not comprehend. He would find this entire post offensive if he knew of it. So in his eyes, the behavior I’ve suffered from her were a misinterpretation because of my easily offended sensitive nature. Which breaks my heart.

But his hope is for reconciliation for our family. He wants to be the glue that binds us all together. And I love his hearts intentions. But at the end of the day, whether can see it now or ever will, my mother’s behavior was and is abuse.

So I have not set foot in that house for fear of being transported back to an era i no longer wish to visit. Because my own schedule has left me very run down and our area has had some major weather fluctuations, I’ve had some minor flair ups of pain and some allergy sinus drainage. It breaks my heart to know I can’t tell my mother that I’m a little sniffly without chaos being unleashed. It breaks my heart to know that I really wish to see my siblings but I don’t think she’d let me in the house if she knew I was even slightly under the weather in any way because she can’t separate it from the corona virus outbreak. I hate that if she did let me, she may not let me leave, and if I try to anyway she will vilify me- the outcome im most afraid of.

I hate that I can’t ask her for tips on where I might be able to find groceries and toilet paper an laugh over how insane this is. I hate that when she called today and said I sounded congested that I had to lie and say it was just because I’d just woken up.

Because when you have a mother like that, you don’t get to be comforted. You don’t get to go to her for reassurance that everything will be alright or for care or advice. There is too much in her that demands to control, to micromanage.

It is impossibly sad to know that she will always be like this.

Especially when you need her.

I want to feel sad and compassionate for her. To have mercy for her mental health issues that she refuses to admit she has. But I’ve spent my whole life doing that.

And right now? I really wish I had a mom.

Not a mother.

I want to see my sister who’s 20 minutes away and have us all laugh and smile and make the best of life. I want to not be afraid that seeing my mother will mentally and emotionally send me back 5 years.

I wish she was okay.

[bakugou-loving-hours]

Bad Vibes

Hellooooooo all, this is the introduction post for my multichap Mean Girls AU, Bad Vibes. I have no idea how many chapters it will be, but hopefully I’ll be updating it every Friday, for Fun Fridays.

Pairing: Bakugou/Kirishima

Rating: Teen and Up

Chapter Count: 1/?

Summary: Kirishima just moved to the States from Japan. He’s been homeschooled his entire life but with the move comes... public school.

Additional tags: Mean Girls AU, mean girls if Regina George wasn’t as much of a dick as she could have been, mean girls if Cady and Regina were endgame, Not a complete riff but some of the more iconic lines are still there, high school AU, which means no nsfw, PG 13, not genderbent

Bad Vibes

There’s an old saying Kirishima’s grandmother used to spout off around the dinner table during holidays: “Beautiful person, thin life.”

She’d say it in response to his mother attempting to makeover herself and her house for their relatives coming in from out of town. It meant something along the lines of “beauty fades” or whatever.

It never really meant much to Kirishima. He didn’t care to dress in fancy clothes or drive fancy cars. His beauty wouldn’t fade if he didn’t try for it like his mother, right?

It didn’t exactly stick because it didn’t really apply to him.

They moved back to the states after his mother got a tenure position. His grandmother came too, spouting the same nonsense when his mom pushed extra hard for a nicer public school for Kirishima to attend.

“Beautiful person, thin life,” she’d rasp in her denture-blocked voice.

“I’m pretty sure that applies to excess makeup mom,” his mother would reply.

“The boy’s been home-schooled his whole life for a reason. Why don’t you stick to it?”

“He needs to socialize, mom,” she’d sigh again.

The argument wasn’t really an argument. His mom obviously had final say, all his grandmother could do was sigh and whisper passive aggressive metaphors in her direction.

So Kirishima was going to public school, for the first time in his life… at 16 years old.

“Ma, I need my bag. Do you-”

“I packed your lunch and added some extra change if you want a cold drink,” his mom interrupted, fluttering around the kitchen island and pulling up his backpack.

“Thanks, do you think you could-”

“I’m finishing up Baba’s breakfast and then I’ll take you,” she flipped an omelet onto a waiting plate, and swirled it around to the back of the island where his grandmother shuffled onto a barstool.

“Morning Eijirou, I hope that beautiful school gives you a full life today,” his grandmother squinted at him.

He squinted right back, “Thanks Baba. Me too.”

She whispered something unintelligible under her breath as Kirishima walked out the door.

“Love you too Baba!” he smiled and closed it behind him.

She means well, but he wasn’t going to let her stop him from going to public school for the first time. Where he’ll meet other people. Other boys.

He’s only ever had one boyfriend. When he was six Masaru Oshiro told him he liked his block tower, and they decided to get married next to it. They had a little ceremony and he went home and told his mom to expect a baby soon. It didn’t quite give him the social experience he thought necessary for public school, but according to every Hollywood movie he binged in Japan, all he needed was confidence.

And Kirishima could do confidence. He had the confidence to get in the car, strap in, and have his mother drive him to school. He had the confidence to unbuckle and let his mom kiss him goodbye. He had the confidence to walk through the drop off area and towards the school. His confidence wavered a bit when he had to walk through the bus loop and almost got bowled over by a speeding bus driver. But it came right back when he managed to find his first class and get a good seat at the front.

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[lizord-lord]

The Invisible Language

(This is a vent fic. I was struggling with having to dump a friend yesterday and it got me dwelling on my social struggles..and so I tried my hand at actually writing a fic to project all my problems through! XD)

(For anyone who doesn’t know, I have autism-Aspergers specifically, and I totally 100% headcanon Logan as an aspie. I have this post detailing why. So..for those of you who also stan autistuc Logan (and maybe a bit of ADHD Roman) here is this, me basically throwing my entire life story on our poor nerd and I am so sorry but also not XD. Also, the book I mentioned is very real, and I actually own it. It’s really useful, if a bit dated and heteronormative)

Warnings: Descriptions of sensory overload (similar to a panic attack) social struggles, very brief mention of selfharm, mentions of fistfights and minor physical violence.

Ships: none, but you can probably see my logicality heart in there lmao

The Invisible Language.

It was all just so complicated now.

Or rather, now he knew how complicated it was.

Before, Logan had always just thought he was bad with people. That was fine. It fit, with his habit of staying inside with his nose in a book. The socially awkward, introverted nerd who wasn’t good with kids.

It was simple.

But that’s the thing. Life isn’t simple. And neither was Logan. Even as a six year old.

The socially awkward, introverted nerd, from what he’d seen on tv, would have cried or just silently tried to make due when another kid ‘accidentally’ spilled tomato juice all over his copy of Alice in Wonderland. Logan Sanders leapt from his desk, grabbed the kid’s wrist, and yanked him down so his head smashed into the wood.

The socially awkward one was laughed at. Logan was sent to the office.

Time and time again this would happen. Until he turned eight, and his parents pulled him out of school. He was homeschooled after that, and it was simultaneously like a breath of fresh air and entering a stifling hot room. He was free of the children, free to discover on his own, but he found himself itching for more, to ask questions about things his parents could answer, to do projects he’d heard about online but often ended up screaming in his attempts to recreate them because it wasn’t explained, why this, why that, how do I do that, it doesn’t make sense!!

Homeschooling was a blessing and a curse. He made due. He did well in fact, almost all of his online courses were marked complete with a neat 100 for the score. It was enough for them, but not for him.  Eight year old Logan hated it. Ten year old Logan was used to it.

Eleven year old Logan dug his heels into it.

Middle school. His parents wanted to send him back. He understood their reasoning, the rational half of his brain did. Middle school was a big change, adolescence, and the middle ground before high school, which he always knew he would be going to-you can’t get college credit from online courses and library books after all, not the ones he was using. It would give him time to prepare. And yet he was a creature of habit, so used to his solitary life..

Logan has no choice however.

On the first day he stepped inside, armed with only the knowledge of American Girl books he’d skimmed through (who cared if they were meant for girls, they didn’t write helpful guides for boys!) and distant memories of elementary school. The first weeks went by as a blur, and Logan ate it up. The assignments, the grades, the smirk he always found himself wearing when he placed his assignments in the bin. That triumph didn’t even compare to the rush of pride and satisfaction he felt when the teacher told the class that he test they’d been given was apparently too hard, many kids failed and only one student actually got a perfect score, and his paper was handed back with a 100 written on the top.

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t hold the paper up a bit and catch the eyes of the numerous people who stared at him with no surprise in their eyes.

Logan even found friends in those first few weeks. A darkly dressed kid who, much like him, never really knew where to go during paired projects and ended up working with him. He found that Virgil was actually very bright, a relief when he looked around the room to see people talking and not doing anything useful. The pale boy was quiet, but listened as Logan chattered away about his  plans for the assignment.

Patton was next, a round-faced boy who seemed to share at least a few words with everyone he saw. Logan didn’t mind that. He wasn’t a lazy student, maybe a bit easily distracted, but when he was sat next to Logan in science his work quality was always at least a solid B, as long as he was shushed every now and again. He seemed better with people too, and Logan found himself enjoying his company.

Then there was Roman. He was introduced to their little trio by Patton, who apparently shared a drama class with the tanned boy. He was..a handful. And yet Logan found himself challenged by him. Their friendship was an unusual one, full of debates that more often than not ended in yelling, but at least they started off with intelligent points and interesting ideas-and if often Patton had to break off their passion so neither of them landed with lunch detention, well that was the price to pay.

He was enjoying himself here.

Then the second month. Logan remembered where he was when a redheaded girl told him he was wrong in that ‘you’re a moron’ tone when he told her that actually, the word for the study of space was astronomy, not astrology. When a boy in a green sweater had blatantly ignored him when he asked him to stop scooting his chair across the hard floors. When an entire group of people had continued to call him Logie even though he’d told them over and over he hated it. Many of them seemed to do it just because it annoyed him. This went on. Every day another simpleton would disrespect him. Every day he’d tell him to stop. Often he’d snap at them, or swear. That always got him snickers in return. And Logan found himself clenching his fists as his whole body burned red hot.

It happened again a week after this started. A boy with a Minecraft t-shirt cut him off in the lunch line, and when Logan told him to go to the end, the boy only scoffed and responded with “Are you in kindergarten?” in a tone that made his blood boil with how fucking snotty it was.

Logan’s hand was fisted in the back of that obnoxious t-shirt and pulling back with all its might before he could think.

The boy ended up on the floor crying, and Logan ended up suspended.

There were more incidents that year. Mostly yelling or swearing, but minor physical violence was not unheard of. It was common even.

Logan didn’t want that. He wanted to be cool, to drop the bullies and idiots with bullets of intelligence from his tongue, but everything he tried a witty comeback they’d give him either confused looks, no acknowledgement as all, or retort with ‘Your mom’ jokes, a sort of ‘insult’ that required barely a single brain cell to perform.

They never listened. They were stupid, childish, disrespectful. Logan stuck only to his three friends and the many teachers he’d grown quite friendly with, They liked him after all, he was precocious and that was something teachers always found fun. with adults, he also found he could make himself actually heard, his theories, ideas, suggestions, it was a glorious freedom he had previously only had with Patton, Roman, and Virgil.

But things didn’t get that much better.

In fact, in seventh grade Logan found his outbursts getting worse. They were farther and fewer between, but the eventual rage that would explode was far worse than before. It was like the dam that held back his rage had grown stronger, but that meant it took more water to barrel it over, and that sent far more devastating floods down the peaceful valley of his mind.

In eighth grade, he got into a fistfight with a boy who had called Roman gay as an insult, not knowing that it was true or that the word should not be used in such a manner. When the boy refused to listen to Logan’s explanation of what the word meant and instead switched tracks to scoffing every time he said it was a normal and perfectly acceptable, beautiful thing. And by the time the midget of a bigot tossed in the dreaded f-slur Logan’s mind was so crimson he only felt a rush of relief when his fist connected with the boy’s head.

It was two weeks of suspension for that. And it was during that time that Logan’s mother revealed something to him that he had never expected.

Tales of his childhood-or babyhood rather, where he had exhibited strange behaviors no other parent seemed to have seems.

“I think you might have Aspergers,” she had said.

And now, here he was. He couldn’t believe it had taken her this long to tell him of her suspicions. But now Logan was sitting on his bed, the blanket covered with constellations, staring at the cover of a book.

It was a familiar scene.

But this wasn’t a book chosen by Logan’s own hand, or by the school, or even a recommendation from his parents or a loan from his younger sister Abby.

It had been gifted to him by the man at the Autism Center.

The Asperkid’s Secret Guide to Social Rules.

He’d read the whole thing.

Before, he’d thought he was just awkward.

But no. Of course it couldn’t be that simple. It wasn’t that he just didn’t know that w to say. He was. missing an entire way of communicating that people his mind now knew as ‘neurotypicals’ spoke in without realizing it.

The secret language. Body language, facial expressions, tone, he knew that all existed yes..but he’d never seen it. At least not in the subtleties the book described. And all these double meanings of phrases? So the dark-skinned girl who had asked him what he was reading during math class didn’t want to just read the back and learn Sherlock Holmes’ latest mystery? She’ wanted to get to know him?

Why didn’t she just say so!

It was so much more complicated now. The vague, yet simple term of ‘weird’ was replaced by the vast, yet specific, confusing, and multifaceted word that was autistic. A word he’d never have expected to apply to him. Mental health went really a subject he’d looked into, feelings were too wound into it.. and feelings had always been his greatest vice.

So now, with that book in his hand, he thought.

There was a whole other world he couldn’t see..that’s what he had been missing all this time? was the specific shifts in tone in posture people made-what he’d always thought to be absently-something his parents expected him to understand and that was why he always seemed to have to be elbowed when running his mouth?

It was like….like telepathy. Yes, to Logan, the cues he now found himself putting extra effort into finding; his sister’s slightly hunched shoulders at the dinner table, his dad’s slightly turned up nose when he mentioned his history teacher, were a sort of telepathy that the ‘normal’ population all shared. But it wasn’t as if it was that simple. Of course, it was tauntingly, agonizingly complicated. You see, these people were all telepaths, sharing cues in an invisible tongue-and yet, none of them knew they were telepathic. And yet still, they all expected everyone else to be.

So that was why he was strange. Logan had looked up how much of communication was non-verbal - he felt his eyes go wide when he saw the percentage dedicated to ‘body language’.

Fifty-eight percent.

Fifty-eight percent.

What else could he have missed?

Logan was both happy and uncomfortable with the diagnosis. He now knew terms, words, blessed reasons for his little ticks, why he felt like something was terribly wrong for at least an hour just because he’d had to take an alternate route to school (routine disruption), why was such a picky eater (finickiness caused by sensitivity to textures and certain flavors/smells), why people always responded with confusion whenever they saw him pepper the science teacher with question after question, challenge after challenge like he was trying to understand how the universe wove itself in the span of five minutes, and looked surprised when Roman asked him if he knew why Patton was being quiet. Logan had responded with a simple no, informing the other that Patton hadn’t told him-and when the slightly taller boy had suggested that he ask, Logan realized the thought had never occurred to him.

Most importantly, it explained what Roman had dubbed ‘The Fitness Fiasco’. To sum it up, Logan had thought of a new game for their groups to play in gym class—something besides basketball for once in their lives, and yet as he tried to explain, the girl who seemed to have taken charge of the group he was trying to explain the idea to kept talking over him, ignoring him, challenging what he said—and the noise. The noise, how all the chattering and the sound of balls bouncing on the floor, the rage he felt at being slighted in this way, how it had attacked him. How he’d suddenly found himself tensing, wanting to run or to yell, unsure which, how the sound turned solid and pressed in-his muscles going taut, his hands twitching with every word from the students mouths,  how his arm violently jerked away as Patton tried to comfort him- And then the scream. He’d screamed at the top of his lungs for quiet, falling to the ground and sobbing in the fetal position—eyes screwed shut behind his glasses and hands clamped tight to his ears, unsure of what was even falling from his mouth aside from the fact that he was begging, begging for silence. It had only quieted a bit as people turned to stare, and then he’d felt hands on his shoulders, ones he jerked away from—but no one knew what to do. Virgil’s low whispers for him to breathe, to use the 4-7-8 method that the emo always used to calm his own panic attacks, was only met with more incoherent begging for silence. It had been Patton who rescued him, who brought the teacher over and ended up guiding the sobbing Logan to an empty classroom. There he had been met with silence. There he felt his terrified bawling turn to weeping with relief. In the silence, he’d recovered, his muscles lost the tension, and he allowed the freckled boy to wrap him in a hug.

He’d only been able to call it a panic attack before. But now he knew the term. Sensory overload, brought on my the noise and the stress.

It had been a relief just to know that. To know that in moments when he stood among too many people, feeling his muscles clench as their shoulders brushed his, that his hands should not go out to push them away, but to his ears, to block out the trigger.

It became a cue, when debates with Roman got heated—they were friends after all, if rivals as well, and it was understood that if Logan’s jaw suddenly clenched and his hands went up to cover his ears, they had to pause for at least a minute.

But of course, knowing where the holes in his social skills were led to Logan compensating, and it didn’t..always feel natural. He found himself staring at people, trying to read their faces, for a little too long on many an occasion, or overreacting to something because he’d overanalyzed the tone. He found himself having to bite his tongue on many an occasion to keep himself from simply explaining why he did what he did to his parents, who would only take it as making excuses.

It was a balance of the good, the bad, and the ugly. He understood now that his all-or-nothing attitude was why he found himself simply not doing projects if he couldn’t grasp the material—and this led to him having to more often than not, swallow his pride and ask for help when he was getting frustrated. Yet the same black-and-white philosophy got him gasps of shock from Roman when he explained that, in the story Roman had been iterating to him, the whole second half of the plot could have been avoided if Leealli had simply decapitated Sorcerer Kai while they were trapped in her dungeon. Roman had protested, saying it would make her just as terrible as they, but Logan had frowned, explaining that yes, the act was cruel, but if a single act of evil by her direct hand was all it took to stop countless others by her indirect hand, wasn’t it worth it?

But he had also been the one to convince Patton not to remain friends with Oliver, when one day, sitting on the cotton candy clouds that patterned Patton’s quilt, the smaller boy had confided in him that Oliver had vented about his habits of self-harm to the kind soul for three hours the night previous, yet refused any help Patton gave, shot down any attempt at saying he was worth more than he thought.

It was Logan who had took Patton’s hand and told him that people like that could only be helped by themselves and a therapist, that he should not take it upon himself to bear others’ problems in that way. Who had given him a hesitant hug and told him that his mental health was just as important as theirs.

His friends were his lifeline. Maybe they tripped him up—well, they definitely did, yet as much as he found himself apologizing to Virgil for seeming angry when he was simply tired and being a bit blunter and more insensitive with his words than usual (not that he usually was tactful or sensitive when it came to criticism, even constructive criticism) he found himself sighing in relief as the anxious boy shared with him his own experiences in worrying about the negative undertones in the words of others too much to be considered healthy. They would sit and talk about it, the same experience for two different reasons, one of them due to the irrational fear of people disliking him or being angry, and the other due to worrying he was doing something incorrectly that he was not aware of, failing to pick up on a crucial piece of information.

As much as Logan found himself and Roman butting heads, even shouting at each other during friendly debates gone sour, name-calling and snapping fault after fault, he reflected fondly on the time he had been ecstatic to discover that Roman’s own ADHD-riddled brain hyperfixated on Disney just as his own did on Sherlock, and they would both go on for hours about their obsessions while sadly recalling how old interests had faded.

As much as he often found himself hurting Patton unintentionally, and even worse, learning that Patton had been hiding that fact from him for weeks as to spare his feelings, as difficult as it was to convince (well, more plead with) Patton to tell him these things, as he wouldn’t be offended much and he had no other way of knowing what he was doing wrong, he found himself sitting by his side, all attention completely fixated on what to him were mindblowing truths about people and yet seemed common, boring knowledge to Patton, as the freckled boy explained cues and rules, that invisible language Logan did not speak.

Those friends stuck by him, even though others did not. With all the walls Logan had built up around his emotions, to protect himself and others, few could breach the fortifications—except for those who had already been on the inside as he built them. And he was fine with that.

Going to a therapist was...awkward at first, but it helped. Mr. Picani understood his aversion to talking of his feelings, and instead cleverly tricked him every time, asking questions about events until Logan was off on an angry rant. With that expelled, they’d talk through possible solutions.

He kept the book. And most of the other books he was given on the topic, eager to learn and understand more things about himself, knowing the reasons behind behaviors, quirks in things had always been one of his favorite things, and now he found it was possible in people.

As Logan worked through his discovery during the last semester of eighth grade and through that summer, with his Virgil, Patton, Roman, his parents, Mr. Picani, and occasionally even his rainbow-haired little sister, he found his mind shifting. He was truly calm now more often than not, able to express his rationale...well, rationally, rather than through insults. His debates grew calmer, and while he certainly had his slip-ups..he was improving. Slowly. Steadily.

His viewpoint of the world was unusual, like an outsider, and while that could be isolating, if he explained it well, people were often interested to hear it. It was different, his own; the metaphor Logan found himself using was that everyone else was a Macintosh computer, and he and his fellow spectrumites were PCs, capable of all the same things, though in ways the world was not wired to accommodate. Also, clearly superior in many a way.

His core programming was different, even if his exterior seemed the same, and Logan was okay with that. He’d never know the invisible language, not as a native would, but he could learn it—the same way he learned slang, through help, a lot of online research, his friends, and some study notes here and there.

It was complicated, they way he figured things out, the systems he’d devised. But complicated problems would never be solved with simple solutions.

And he still had plenty of time left to learn.

(Thanks to @poisonedapples for betaing this and basically screaming RELATABLE every two second, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear!)

(...I don’t really have a general fic taglist so imma just- y e a here)

Tags: @royallyanxious @whatwashernameagain @sandersmarvel @the-incedible-sulk @supremestoverlord @hanramz-the-fander @childhood-wishes-and-dreams @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @madly-handsome @galaxy-warping @extremist-water-agenda @ierindoodles @princeanxious

[smolspiderboy]

Love & Baseball ~ Scott Reed

Request: Hi can i request a scott reed imagine where the reader doesnt go to liberty high (she does online/homeschool) but they meet through a summer job and start dating, but when school starts back up he never wants her to come to games or parties or anything and one day she surprises him at one of his games and he gets really mad and doesn’t want to introduce her to his friends and she thinks its bc hes embarrassed by her or cheating or something worse but it turns out he just doesn’t want her to know that he’s friends with such awful people and likes that their relationship is private and he can get away from it all when hes with her

Pairing: Scott Reed x Reader

A/N: @sunshinegally requested this and i’m so happy they did! I love them and they are absolutely amazing (: This was honestly so much fun to write and I’m super sorry it took me so long to post it. I really hope you like it even though it kinda sucks. Also I’ve been super busy with school and family this summer. But i’m back and better than ever so go ahead and request imagines and ships now!

Warnings: Cursing and mentions of Bryce Walker (ew)

You never would’ve imagined that working at the local Dairy Queen for the summer would be the best decision of your life. Usually teenagers dreaded going back to work during the summer and originally this was the case for you. At least until you met him. Scott Reed, the most wonderful, fun-loving, and caring guy in this small town. This boy meant everything to you and this was the best summer of your entire life. But of course, summer always comes to an end.

“Scottie, I can’t believe how lucky I am to call you mine.” You smile at him leaning into his open arms. This was the usual date night for you and Scott, laying in bed watching movies together. It may seem simple and lame to others but the both of you loved the idea of being close to one another and not having to do fancy/expensive things to make each other happy.

“Babe, if anything I’m the lucky one. I mean have you seen yourself? You’re basically a Goddess.” Scott remarks, true infatuation evident in his eyes. “Spending time with you is my favorite activity.” He places a kiss onto your temple.

“I love spending time with you too. I’m so sad that school starts back tomorrow.” You fill a twinge of guilt wash over you because Scott goes to Liberty High and you’re currently homeschooled. “You’ll be so busy with homework and sports that I won’t get to see you as often.” You pout.

“Y/n, you’re one of my top priorities don’t worry about any of that. I can always make time for my girl.” He smirks peppering your face with kisses.

“You’re too cute, Scott Reed. Too cute.” You chuckle rolling on top of him.

“Only for you y/l/n.” He winks pulling you back down to him so that he can easily wrap you in a hug. “I can’t wait for you to come see me play baseball in the Spring. The teams going to be great this year. We have so much to work for since Jeff Atkins isn’t with us anymore.” He slowly looks down, you can tell how close him and Jeff were. Losing a friend is always hard, especially if they were your closest teammate.

“Oh yeah. Just look for the loudest girl cheering in the bleachers every game. That will be me.” You genuinely smile feeling great about your relationship.

“Gotcha babe. Spring can’t come fast enough.” Scott chirps giving you a slow and passionate kiss.

Times skip to Spring

As your relationship with Scott progressed from the summer forward it seemed as if it couldn’t get any better. The world just seemed better when you and Scott were together and you couldn’t see yourself with anyone else. But of course nothing is perfect at all times.

Scott seemed to have been distancing himself lately and you honestly had no idea why. Things seemed to be perfect earlier but as soon as baseball season started he started going to parties with the team and not inviting you. Thoughts raced through your head wondering what you have done wrong but no logical explanation came to your mind except that Scott was either embarrassed of you or cheating on you. Actually no, Scott would never do that to you. But this still made no sense at all.

“Hey Scott, it’s y/n. Just wanted to check in and make sure the baseball game is tomorrow at 5?” You ended the voicemail feeling slightly awkward leaving a message. You were always a little awkward at phone calls and expressing your feelings when you aren’t face to face. Luckily Scott had invited you over this afternoon after practice so you could see him then.

“Hey.” You greet him with a kiss. “Did you get my voicemail earlier?”

“Oh yeah, I was just about to call you back but I remembered you were coming over today anyway.” He says moving out of the doorway letting you enter his home.

“Oh yeah that makes sense.” You mentally facepalm yourself.

“But coach rescheduled the game tomorrow for next week.” He says visibly frowning. “But I’ll try to see if you can get into that game.” He says instantly replacing his previous frown with a smile.

“Oh yeah, that’s fine. I just can’t wait to see my baby in action.” You giggle sitting down on the couch beside him.

“I’ll make sure we win just for you.” He places a soft kiss onto your lips. “But the team is a little shaky this year without Jeff and since there’s so much drama going around Liberty.”

“Drama? What happened?” This was the first time he’s told you about drama on the baseball team. Usually he makes it seem like they all walk on clouds and are perfect. Especially a boy named Bryce Walker. But you might be wrong.

“Ah well it’s nothing really.” He shrugs it off obviously not wanting to go into further detail.

“Oh alright.” You whisper feeling a little upset that he isn’t sharing his problems with you. “Well I hope everything turns around before the seasons over.” You try to lighten the mood.

“Doubt it.” He mumbles under his breath.

“What was that?” You question barely able to understand what he says.

“Oh um, I said let’s eat. My mom made us some dinner.” He stands up outstretching his hand towards you. “M’lady.” This makes you chuckle.

“Why thank you kind sir.” You meet his hand with yours and walk into the dining room with his parents. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Reed.” You smile receiving a hello back. They all begin to eat once you sit down and for awhile dinner goes by in complete silence. A silent dinner isn’t abnormal in the Reed household though. Scott usually isn’t home until late at night due to practice and both of his parents work crazy schedules. Mr. Reed breaks the silence though.

“So Scott, how was practice?” Mr. Reed asks after taking a bite of his food.

“It was pretty good. The team’s a little rusty right now.” He refuses to make eye contact.

“Well I hope that you guys can catch a few wins this season.” His dad laughs a little. “How is that Bryce kid doing?” When this question leaves his dad’s mouth you notice Scott physically freeze and look upet.

“I don’t really wanna talk about Bryce right now dad. I’m going to the bathroom.” Scott gets up and leaves the table.

“Sorry about that y/n, Scott’s been a little iffy lately with baseball.” Mrs. Reed apologizes

“It’s fine Mrs. Reed. Baseball is really important to Scott and he probably just wants to make you proud.” You smile at her before taking a bite of the mashed potatoes.

“Are you planning on coming to the game tomorrow?” Scott’s dad asks making you look up quicky.

“Oh they have a game tomorrow?” You question feeling slightly suspicious of Scott’s statement earlier.

“Yes, it is a home game at 5 pm.” Mrs. Reed chimes in.

“Hm alright. I will try my best to be there.” You mutter while attempting to force a smile. Scott comes back after that conversation and you pretend everything is fine. After dinner you make up an excuse to leave so that you can go home and clear your head.

Why would Scott lie to you? What is he hiding? These questions filled your head throughout the night, keeping you from falling asleep. Scott never lies to you. Never. Something is definitely wrong.

The next afternoon

You’re getting dressed for the baseball game when you receive a text from Scott.

Scott: Hey babe, I miss you so much. 😫

Y/n: I miss you too 😔

Scott: Maybe we could hang out later tonight?

Y/n: I’m actually busy tonight. But maybe tomorrow?

Scott: Tomorrow is fine with me (:

As you finish applying your makeup you grab your keys and begin heading out the door. Coming to Scott’s secret game could either be a really good idea or a really bad idea.

As you arrive you try to blend in with the crowd so that way Scott won’t notice you until later when you run up to him and hug him. The baseball game lasts for awhile and soon it’s the last inning and Scott is up to bat. The pitcher throws a fastball but Scott swings with just the right amount of force and speed to send it flying across the field and over the fence. He hit a homerun!

“Woo!!! Go baby!!!” You accidentally yell once he runs around the bases making it back home. He quickly turns around and spots you and forces a very uncomfortable smile onto his face. He gives a small wave and then walks back to the dugout with his teammates to celebrate their win. As fans begin to leave or go visit their kids you go wait by the dugout for Scott, hoping that he has come up with a good excuse as to why he would lie to you.

You feel a body move behind you and whip around to see a tall boxy boy standing a little too close for comfort. “Hey, haven’t seen you around here before.” The mysterious man says sticking out his hand in order for you to shake it.

“Yeah, this is my first time coming to a game.” You mumble praying that Scott walks out any second.

“Well a pretty girl like you shouldn’t be standing here all alone. Some guys around here are sleazy.” He says placing a hand on your shoulder. You shrug it off just as Scott exits the dugout and walks over to you.

“Bryce, get your hands off of my girlfriend.” Scott says throwing his stuff down on the ground and shielding you from the boy now known as Bryce.

“Reed chill. I was just getting to know her. Telling her how some guys around here do bad things to pretty girls.” He says eyeballing you. Immediately you feel uncomfortable and place your arms over your chest and slide behind Scott.

“Walker get the fuck away from us right now or I swear you’re going to regret ever looking at y/n.” Scott says stepping towards Bryce sizing him up.

“Dude calm down. I’m leaving. Way to ruin all of the fun.” He says walking back towards the dugout.

“Are you okay?” Scott says placing his hands on your arms searching your body for any signs of discomfort.

“Y-yes, I’m fine.” You stutter feeling scared of your previous surroundings. “He didn’t get to do anything because you showed up so thank you.” You look down at your feet afraid to meet his gaze. Why would he be friends with such terrible people?

“I’m really sorry you had to meet him. And I’m also super sorry that I lied to you about the game tonight.” He says tilting your chin up so that you can look at his face.

You nod. “Well now I see why you never invited me.” You roll your eyes at the situation. “I want to be mad at you but I do understand why you wouldn’t want me to be put in this kind of situation.”

“I never wanted to hurt you by lying, I just know some of the guys on this team aren’t the best people to introduce to girlfriends and I didn’t want you to be put in an uncomfortable situation like this.” He says blabbering on and on about how sorry he is.

“Scott it’s fine. I’m just happy you aren't embarrassed of me or something.” You chuckle making him become the one to look confused.

“You thought I was embarrassed of you?” He looks confused and you slowly nod your head. “Y/n, I would never in a million years be ashamed or embarrassed of you. You are the literal light of my life and I love to show you off. I just liked keeping our relationship private and away from all of the team because it helps me escape from all the drama while keeping you safe.” He holds your hands while looking into your eyes.

“Aw Scottie, I love you.” You giggle placing a kiss on the tip of his nose.

“I love you too. And I will never be able to tell you how thankful I am that you chose me.” He leans down to kiss you. The kiss is slow but yet passionate and you can feel just how much he loves you and never wants to let you go.

[lycorogue]

Gabriel Agreste: A 3-Part Character Study

Part 3: How Gabriel Agreste and Hawk Moth SHOULD have been written

Welcome back, and welcome to the final part of my essay series with regards to Gabriel Agreste.

In Part 1 I explained my reasoning to write this series in the first place. If you haven't read that yet and would like to follow my train-of-thought, feel free to go back and read that part here.

Part 2 consisted of my headcanon of what Gabriel's life was like, and his basic personality, prior to the viewer meeting him within the structure of the “Miraculous Ladybug” TV series. At no time did I attempt to justify or condone his actions, but I did try to explain them. It isn't anchored in any sort of canonical facts, but it does ring true for me. If you're interested in this psuedo-narrative short story, you can find it here.

In this final part of the series I want to talk about how I would have written Hawk Moth and Gabriel Agreste for this show. I focus on ways of making him the sympathetic villain Thomas Astruc seems to be aiming for, but without the “hiccup” of child abuse/neglect/endangerment. Because, honestly, Hawk Moth could very much be the Ladybug equivalent of the Batman villain Mr. Freeze. The basic structure is there: a man madly in love with his wife, keeps her “alive” in a tube-like coffin (for Freeze it's because he has his wife in a cryogenic chamber), and turns to a life of crime as a means to revive his wife as quickly as possible.

This would have worked beautifully. It could have been the same sort of homage to a sympathetic villain as Ladybug is an homage to Spider-Man and Sailor Moon. It's a shame Astruc didn't calculate for Adrien. There was probably a reason why, when Dave Wood and Sheldon Moldoff created Mr. Freeze for the Batman franchise, they didn't have him be a father.

I explore a way to both keep Hawk Moth as Adrien's father, as well as make him a sympathetic villain. One where we won't know if we should cheer against or for him. One where we hope he can be redeemed. One where the inevitable battle between him and Adrien becomes a much more powerful, heart wrenching, and emotional encounter.

Let's start out by saying how beautifully painful it is that Hawk Moth and Chat Noir are actually, and secretly, father and son. It has a sort of Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker feel. It's always wonderfully heartbreaking when family are forced to attack each other. So, bravo on that. It's a shame that in creating this dynamic and “plot twist” (we all saw it coming, but okay...) Astruc ended up creating a sort of casual and brushed off outlook on child neglect and endangerment, as well as mental and emotional abuse. I don't think Astruc realizes he created this blasé attitude about poor family dynamic. I believe he thinks he created “dynamic” characters by having Adrien being this sweet, good-natured, always look for the good in people, used to disappointment kid who should have become a villain (especially with the power of destruction) but instead followed a brighter path. I also believe that Astruc thinks Hawk Moth is sort of his Darth Vader, and can have a similar “self-sacrifice at the last second for the love of his son” level of redemption. That in the end Hawky will FINALLY realize what truly matters and will give up everything for Adrien, and the audience will forgive Gabe and think “what a tragic character.”

And there could be audience members that will think that. Those, like me, who never experienced the pain and trauma of unkind parents, might fall under the spell of the story Astruc tells, and might feel that sympathy. I have to admit, I felt a twinge of sympathy when I saw Gabriel collapsed in that chair in the beginning of Queen Wasp. I felt how deeply he loved his wife, and how crushed he was at potentially giving her up. In that moment I forgot about Adrien and everything that poor boy has to endure. So, Astruc may very well get away with this storytelling angle. I'd hate to admit it, but it's possible.

However, there is a toxic element of letting Gabriel get away with how he treated Adrien. It will definitely send the wrong message if Adrien forgives his father for everything. If they do end up bonding in the final episode; the Agreste men now having the family they both desperately yearned for. It's not a good message to send out to any child watching who is experiencing similar abuse/neglect/endangerment. It's a painful slap in the face of those who survived parents like Gabe. The whole thing just cannot end well for Mr. Agreste.

If Astruc wanted Gabriel to be redeemed, if he wanted Adrien to get his father back, if he wanted Gabe to realize as much as he'll miss Emilie he still has his family, if he wanted the two of them can find a way to revive Emilie and be one big happy family, if he wanted any or all of that to happen, all he had to do was change one thing. Just one.

Have Gabriel Agreste actually be a loving father.

That's it! He can still be Hawk Moth. He can still attack Paris. He can still direct akumatized supervillains away from where Adrien should be so his son could be safe (oddly enough, he's shown doing this sort of thing more in the first season than he has in the second...). He can still be so maddeningly in love with Emilie that he's willing to do all sorts of evil things as Hawk Moth in order to try to revive her. Hawk Moth as a whole could be basically the same, just change key factors of Gabriel.

Have Adrien call him Dad instead of Father in order to show that the two did bond and have a connection, at least until Emilie disappeared. How much more devastating would it be if Adrien “lost” both of his parents when his mother “disappeared”? He went from a warm, loving family unit to a broken one with a father who doesn't know how to get over his grief, and therefore pulls away from his son.

What if Adrien looks upset in the portrait of just him and his father not simply because he’s grieving his mother (they are in black... such a weird time to get a portrait done...), and not because now he’s stuck with the parent he can never bond with? What if he looks depressed because he noticed a change in his father and he fears “losing” a second parent?

Adrien can still be used to these negative feelings by the time his father becomes Hawk Moth so he doesn't trigger an akumatization. Either that, or Gabriel is willing to do anything to bring out LB and CN, except for akumatizing his own son. Then Adrien can feel as depressed or angry or scared as he wants, but never calls an akuma to him because Hawky refuses to send one. How bittersweet would it be if Gabriel’s Miraculous alerted him that someone was set to be akumatized, only for him to realize it’s Adrien? He could then feel guilt about failing his son and GO TO HIM to try to help cheer him up.

Adrien never becoming akumatized even when he knows the trigger and knows he’s experienced it could easily be written off by Adrien as “I have a Miraculous, so I can't be akumatized” and he would only start to question his lack of being akumatized after Queen Bee turns into Queen Wasp (as seen in Queen Wasp). Which will be great because it will add a sense of mystery for Adrien now, as well as a new level of angst. Not only does he not know who Ladybug is, but he's questioning if Hawk Moth knows him and is protecting him. He may begin to question the adult figures in his life, just as Gabriel is questioning if Adrien is Chat Noir.

There could be a very – excuse the pun – cat and mouse game going on between the Agreste men, in which Gabriel wonders if his son is Chat Noir, but various things, such as both “Adrien” and Chat Noir being seen together in Gorizilla, makes him doubt his deduction. Likewise, things like Gabriel becoming akumatized, as seen in The Collector, could throw Adrien off his father's scent.

But now there's that unease. That questioning. That element of mystery and pull at trust. Especially if Gabriel is now a loving father. Adrien already lost his mom, he couldn't possibly believe his father is a supervillain, could he?

Adrien doesn't have to be isolated all the time. Gabriel could have his lunches with Adrien. They could bond after work/school. Gabe could purposely set up his at-home office hours to coincide with Adrien's school work and numerous after school activities. That way he'd be an available father for when his son is home.

You can also still have Gabriel be a very driven fashion designer. Maybe Adrien is used to his father pulling away for a month or so as the deadline for a new line premiere approaches. He's not a fan, but he knows his father loves him, and he's proud that his father is doing something he's passionate about. He gets it. He hopes to become that passionate and dedicated to something some day. Gabriel can still be a recluse, which is why he won't show up for things like Career Day or competitions. That way Adrien still tries to coax his father outside, and gets disappointed that he can't convince him. That way Nathalie still adorably carries around the tablet to Facetime with Gabriel at events the designer should be at. That way it's still The Gorilla and Nathalie taking care of Adrien outside the mansion.

It's not because Gabriel is neglectful. It's because he's agoraphobic, or because he's hounded too much by the media, or because he is grieving Emilie. Something sympathetic and at least a better excuse than “he's a dick and doesn't want to leave his home because he's stubborn and has to be near his lair in case he can akumatize someone.”

As for school, perhaps Gabriel and Emilie really did fear putting their celebrity child in public school, which is why they homeschooled him. Perhaps Adrien's only friend was Chloe growing up because the Bourgeois were the only friends the Agrestes had who had children, let alone children Adrien's age. It wasn't purposeful isolation, it was to try to protect Adrien from the media, and they couldn't find a way to branch out. Gabriel and Emilie tried to make up for this by being Adrien's playmates. Even The Gorilla and Nathalie could have been his extended friends. Which is why Nathalie and Gorilla seem to have a familial bond with Adrien.

If it were crucial that Adrien had to “fight” to get into the public school in the Origins episodes, then perhaps Gabriel was just so fearful of losing Adrien like he lost Emilie that he became overly protective. “I don't want you leaving this house. There's nothing for you out there. I want you here so I can protect you,” instead of Gabe's actual BS of “You are my son. You aren't like everyone else.”

This paternal panic could have really given him sympathy points. Most parents would understand the want to just bubblewrap and lock away your child to protect them from the world.

As for the modeling? Maybe Adrien likes to do it. Maybe it's a way for him and his father to bond. I will never attempt to sell my crocheting, but that doesn't mean I don't like doing it, even when I'm stressed because Christmas is right around the corner and HOLY CRAP I DON'T KNOW IF I'LL GET THIS PROJECT DONE IN TIME! I HATE CROCHETING! WHAT AM I DOING!? So maybe Adrien is the same way with modeling. He likes it. He's good at it. He finds it fun. Maybe he does kind of like the attention... when it's from afar... he just doesn't want to make a career out of it once he's out of school.

Adrien could really enjoy sports as well, which is why he is in fencing and basketball. Out of all of his activities, the only one that he could be “forced” into might be Chinese. And that could just be a loving parent pushing their child to learn a language that might become very handy for him in his future. While my mom didn't force me to take Spanish, she did very much encourage me to chose it (over French or German) because she felt it might be very useful for me in the future. Especially with more and more Americans being native Spanish speakers.

So, even with this change of Gabriel actually being a loving parent, you can still have Adrien’s character build be basically the same. He could still feel trapped at home because his parents kept him isolated to keep him from the harassment of paparazzi. He could feel lost because he lost his mother, and in doing so, his father feels like he's pulling away too. He can still be disappointed that his father won't show up for things like Career Day, concerts, and competitions, but still used to it because his father has a presumably legitimate reason for being a recluse. He can still have the busy schedule, but this time WANT to be that busy. He can still depend on his bodyguard and Nathalie as extra guardians. He can still be his wonderful sunshine self despite the tragedy in his life. And he could LOVE being Chat Noir because it means he can be free.

Adrien can be goofy and wild as Chat Noir, things he self-imposed on himself that he can’t be, after being taught that he's always in the public eye. Gabriel and Emilie didn't force him to be that reserved, he did it himself out of respect for his parents. (Trust me, I did the same thing. I was a pathetic goodie two-shoes growing up simply because I didn't want to shame my parents in any way. I was only goofy while around my dad because he was goofy and I felt safe acting the same way around him. I have since fully embraced my “chat noir” side thanks to my hubby)

As for him not being able to hang out with his friends in order to keep up that dynamic? Maybe Gabriel plans Family Nights in order to stay connected with his son. I know many parents who demand their kids do these bonding nights with them, especially when the child is a teenager and the parents are afraid of losing that precious connection. They're worried they aren't going to know what is going on in their child's life. It's annoying to the kid to not be able to hang out with their friends all the time, but the forced familial bonding is done out of love. And it could be for situations like in Glaciator where Adrien is just grabbing ice cream with friends. “No, Adrien, you’re not grabbing Lover’s Ice Cream with your friends. Are you even dating anyone? Nevermind, you’re staying here, and we’re playing Parcheesi.” 

In truth, we got to see a lot more of Adrien hanging out with Nino in season one, so why not keep up with that dynamic?

Random after school meet up at the zoo (Animan)? Going to a TV station to help support Nino (Simon Says)? Meet up at the local park with the New Girl to discuss superheroes (Volpina)? Rock concerts (Pixelator) or pantomime plays (The Mime)? An afternoon training for a video game tournament (Gamer)? Loaning out services as a translator for the afternoon (Kung Food)? Watching a foot race with classmates (Timebreaker)? 

Honestly, it didn't seem like Adrien was really barred from any sort of socializing in the first season. He was even seen casually riding the subway by himself in Puppeteer. The writers just needed an excuse for Marinette to become upset about her lack of interactions with Adrien, and therefore turn towards Luka. I love Luka, but.... it's a lame excuse to change Gabriel's behavior to be more of a controlling dick, and less sympathetic.

Speaking of, that scene from Sandboy where Gabriel showcases how much power a holder has over their kwami? Yeah. Just. Don't do that. That's about par with the Writing Cardinal Sin of killing the dog (or kicking the puppy).

Instead of Gabriel being the evil slave driver we see canonically, how about this take? Nooroo could be concerned about being misused to create supervillians, but what if Gabriel and Nooroo bonded the way the other holders did with their kwamis? What if Nooroo understands Gabe's motivation and is willing to help in order to revive Emilie? This way the audience isn’t fearful for Nooroo, Gabriel isn’t doing another harsh thing that makes him irredeemable, and it adds a whole new level to the show. I'll get back to this point later when I talk about the Final Showdown. In the meantime, let's talk more about Gabriel as Hawk Moth with this new “loving father” character trait in play.

I already discussed the concept of Gabe organizing his work life around Adrien's school life so that they could bond whenever his son is home. Well, thanks to Sandboy, we know that his broach blinks when someone is feeling negative feelings. Gabriel doesn't have to just wait around in his lair all day. He gets an alert.

We also know that Nathalie is in on the whole Hawk Moth ploy, as seen in both The Collector and Style Queen/Queen Wasp. Gabe trusts his secret with Nathalie, and she's always right there. What if, while he's having bonding time with Adrien, he passes the broach over to Nathalie. Then, when it blinks, Nathalie can feign an important work emergency which would call Gabriel away to his office. As they reach the office, she can hand him the broach so he can transform.

This way Adrien can still feel upset with his father's new flaky behavior roughly once a day (assuming Hawk Moth didn't already transform someone while Adrien was at school or out with friends; and yes I am of the headcanon that Hawky can only akumatize one person per day to make up for his lack of 5-minute count-down). It can also still create situations like in Glaciator where Adrien complains about being forced to stay home, only for his father to abandon him to be alone for the night. That can still very much be a valid dynamic, and give Adrien the “Adrien might not be able to leave, but Chat Noir can” attitude.

Alright, so I think I've firmly showed how Gabriel being a loving and compassionate person could both change so much of the basic dynamic between him and Adrien, but can also be done so not too many elements in either of their characters need to be changed. Now let's get to the real reason why this is the better way of writing Gabriel Agreste: The Final Showdown

With the canon dynamic, when we finally get to the point in the series where Adrien finds out that his father definitely is Hawk Moth, it will be painful. He will feel betrayed, but he might also see it as fitting. It could very well be the point of no return for Adrien. Up until that point, he has forgiven his father and gladly lapped up any attention Gabriel has given him. But to find out that his father is also his arch nemesis? The man who has been terrorizing Paris? That may be when Adrien finally gives up believing his father is a decent man. He may even give a “Mom wouldn't want this” speech that tears Gabriel deep. It will be a rough moment in the series, but in the end, Adrien may find it easy to take his father down. The man deserved it.

Now, let's think about that Grand Reveal moment from the perspective of Gabriel is a loving father.

Adrien finds out that his father, a man who has protected and nurtured him, a man who has struggled to still bond with his aging teenage son, a man who has tried to provide for him, and a man who represented the last of his family, THIS is also the man who has terrorized Paris? Adrien can't comprehend it. His father is a good person! His father is a caring and nurturing person! His father isn't capable of doing something like this! There must be a mistake. 

And you know that trope that appears in a lot of fanfiction/fanart/fancomics? The one where Chat Noir is tempted (or is completely swayed) to help Hawk Moth in order to save Emilie? Yeah. I can’t see Adrien doing that under canon circumstances, but if Gabriel is a loving, nurturing father? 

Adrien might be persuaded to think that everything WAS for the greater good. Gabriel had no choice! He HAD to become a villain in order to find the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses. That’s the only reason he did what he did, and he couldn’t pull a 180 and ask for help once LB and CN came onto the scene. Why would they believe someone who just terrorized Paris? Poor Gabriel had no alternatives; it wasn’t his fault. Besides, with Ladybug’s powers it wasn’t like Paris was ever REALLY in danger. Gabriel wasn’t REALLY threatening anyone. He would have made it all right if he won. Of course he would, because he was a good person! He was only doing everything out of love!

Ladybug would have to either fight both Hawk Moth and Chat Noir alone - and how painful would it be for her to be betrayed by CN and have to take him out too - or Adrien would be forced to take his father down even though he wants the same thing: for Emilie to be brought back to them. Especially when Adrien might find his father’s methods valid.

Adrien could even still give the “Mom wouldn’t want this” speech as he tries to convince Gabriel to give himself up. In the end, Ladybug would win. Gabriel and Adrien would weep over what they had to do to each other; what they had to take from each other. Gabriel would be devastated that all the time he’s been attacking Chat Noir he was actually attacking his precious, beloved son. And they would have to give up Emilie together, because Master Fu already explained to Ladybug how dangerous it is to use the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses together. 

Adrien and Gabe wouldn’t want to fight each other, but they both HAVE to in order to protect their ideals and goals. Or Adrien would HAVE to choose between fighting the love of HIS life, or giving up his mother again.

And Nooroo? Remember when I said I’d get back to him? Yeah. Imagine Gabriel Agreste actually being a decent human being? A true villain of circumstance? He hates what he’s doing but feels like there is no other option aside from giving up Emilie, and he just CAN’T do that. Now imagine that he convinced Nooroo to join him. They’ve bonded and are just as close as Adrien and Plagg, Marinette and Tikki, or Fu and Wayzz. Nooroo is there, along with Nathalie, to comfort Gabriel whenever he fails to defeat LB and CN.

However.... the other kwamis don’t realize any of this. They still think Nooroo isn’t capable of helping a villain. They still think he’s a slave, and in desperate need to be rescued. So that whole dynamic doesn’t change on that end. We still get that beautiful moment of Plagg being worried about Nooroo in Sandboy, and even still have the plot device of the kwamis all getting together to try to find Nooroo.

Except, Nooroo maybe informs Hawk Moth how to send his will back in order to try to track down the rest of the kwamis? Nooroo could point out Plagg and the fact that he’s CN’s kwami?

And in that final battle, when Plagg thinks he’s saving Nooroo, only to find out that the moth kwami was a willing accomplice the whole time? That Nooroo is just as broken as Gabriel that his holder’s wish can’t be granted. Nooroo even YELLS at Plagg and Tikki for interfering instead of helping.

ALL THE ANGUISH! ALL THE FEELS! ALL THE BITTERSWEETNESS TO THE HEROES WINNING! Sure, Paris is saved, but at what cost? Can these relationships heal?

SEE HOW MUCH BETTER THE WHOLE SERIES WOULD BE IF GABRIEL JUST HAD THAT ONE CHARACTER CHANGE!? If he was just a loving father? If he was a decent human being? If he hated having to be a villain, but truly sees no other way?

Well, thank you for spending the last hour or so with me. Hopefully it was all worth it. What are your thoughts on everything? Please let me know in the comments.