#who is the only commanding officer who could have possibly put up with Miles because only family could ever stand it

[regallibellbright]

“You should go to a hospital.”

“You”--Miles eyed him--”have just lost your authority over my actions. May I remind you. Simon.”

Miles has just been fired by someone who is functionally his uncle, who he called “Uncle” until he entered the Imperial Service nine years ago. Simon’s clearly broken up about this and would have taken any possible out if Miles had given him one. Simon also just witnessed Miles have a seizure in front of him. (Simon also, as family to the Vorkosigans in all but name AND Imperial spymaster, has to be aware of the fact that Miles is a suicide risk right now.) He may have had to fire Miles, but he clearly still cares a lot.

Miles responds by switching back to first-name basis just to twist the knife on that line. It’s awful.

[hoshinasblade]

hoshina found you in the rooftop of the training building.

the lights from the skyscrapers miles away from the base looked like beacons from this distance, hoshina thought to himself. you were however looking at the moon, crescent-shaped in the sky, dark clouds swallowing some of its luminescence.

hoshina knew he would find you here. he would have dropped by sooner, but the close-door meeting of high-ranking officials in the force took longer than he expected. even now, his top uniform unzipped and both his hands in his pockets, hoshina can still feel the tension and fatigue from the discussion earlier.

"i'm thinking of quitting." your face is indecipherable, but your voice betrayed the emotion swirling inside you. "i'm no good here."

the commanders of the anti-kaiju divisions met a few hours ago - an emergency session to discuss possible strategies on how they're going to handle kaiju threats going forward. it has not been a week since the attack in the tachikawa base where several officers in your platoon had died protecting each other. the image of people you'd trained with, worked with, even shared a meal with, dying under your command is forever etched on your memories, unable to be erased.

the truth is you cannot even stomach looking at yourself in front of the mirror without feeling like a complete, utter failure.

hoshina stood beside you, the cold breeze blowing the stray strands of his hair away his face. he wanted to offer his jacket to you but settled on putting his arm around you instead. "it wasn't your fault", he said, because it really wasn't. he faced the strongest entity in the horde of monsters that attacked the third division base that night and survived by the skin of his teeth. his only consolation is he didn't lost you in the whole ordeal.

you sniffled. "i'm not like you, soshiro. i'm not... strong." hoshina wanted to assert that what you said is a lie but decided against it. "tell me what i need to do," you pleaded, "cause i don't know anymore."

hoshina wished he could take away your pain even if it means he'll have to be the one to bear its burden.

"as your vice-captain, i am going to ask you to stay," hoshina said before turning to look straight at you. "we've lost a lot of people already, we cannot afford to lose any more." i cannot afford to lose you, he wanted to say.

your scoff surprised him. "and as my boyfriend?" you presented your follow-up question.

"as your boyfriend, i need you here," hoshina answered too quickly. he reminded himself to slow down; the last thing both of you need is an argument. he let the silence enveloped you for a few seconds, just enough to calm his own erratic heartbeat. hoshina, watching you from the corner of his eye, started to speak again. "you remember when you said you wanted to be a defense officer? we weren't even dating back then," hoshina pointed out. "i wanted to be one since i was little, but you, god, i have never met anyone else who wanted to protect people so bad like you do. honestly that's part of why i love you," he told you.

hoshina understands all too well how you feel - the horror of knowing you could have saved people who laid their trust on you but didn't. there are a thousand reasons why he wakes up each day as the vice-captain of an anti-kaiju division, and one of it is because he has to make it up for the people he's lost along the way - he's decided to continue on his mission of eradicating kaijus because if he stops he's scared everything and everyone he's lost will be in vain.

"look, if you really want an out, we know i can't stop you anyway", hoshina said matter-of-factly. "but if you stay, i'll be here for you." his hand lightly touched yours. "i'll protect you. i'll take care of you so you can take care of other people too. i'll protect you."

you did not reply. you did not have to.

[worldofkuro]

Painted Smile

Painted Smile XXXII

<- Previous Chapter I Next Chapter ->

Summary: You couldn't wait to meet new friends. What you didn't expect was this smiling little boy, only one year older than you, that would take such a big place in your life.

Notes: Aah… Alastor's point of view. 20k words my dear readers! Oh, how I hope you will enjoy it. This might be very disturbing for some of you, but well... We are talking about Alastor, right? Do give me your thoughts. TW: Gore, cannibalism, smut, death, gore, Alastor's mind.

Alastor stood up from his chair with so much strength his seat fell behind him. He passed his hand through his hair, his mind running miles by seconds. He knew what he saw, he was sure of it and yet it couldn’t be possible. When you were in that state, no one could see you. He was the only one… So why?

Now wasn’t the time to think, but to act. He sended his shadow toward you, he didn’t care if Alice and Alyzée were in danger, he had other priorities.  You would always be the first person he thought about. He sended his shadow toward you and sat back on his chair once he calmed himself. 

He took a deep breath, sitting on his chair, his face in his hands. He could feel his shadow toward you after a few minutes. That made his body relax, you were fine, you were in your home, away from any danger. He inhaled strongly before leaning on his chair, sighing. He knew you by heart. He was sure you were going to ask his shadow or yours to check on Alice and Alyzée…

He called Victor in his office and asked him to bring him Alice and Alyzée. Victor seemed confused but he couldn’t say no to him. The boy was respecting so much, he didn’t dare say no. Alastor gave Victor the information to find  where Alice and Alyzée were and then he waited patiently.

His plan was simple. Bringing the two women to him to make sure you wouldn't use your power again until he was back home. He was staring at the door for he didn’t know how many minutes until he heard a knock and stood up when Alice and Alyzée entered his room. Victor then closed the door behind the two women who were staring at him: Alice seemed annoyed while Alyzée looked confused.

“ We were in the middle of a date, Alastor.” Sighed Alice, turning a lock of her blonde hair with her finger.

“ Well, I know, my dear friend!” He gave her his usual smile before standing up and giving a seat to the two women. “ I wanted to ask you some things that bothered me.” He looked at the two women who were staring at him, waiting for his command… Well, he was sure Alyzée would do what he asked.. Alice, she was more of a brat than a woman, she would say no just to piss him off. “ I need to know what is going on inside the police.”

“ Isn’t your wife the daughter of an officer?” Alyzée tilted her head, confused. 

“ Indeed, she is, but it also means that if information is being leaked, she would be on the list of suspects. I need information that her father isn’t aware of.” He sat on his chair, with his charming smile. He was staring at Alice, he knew she would do anything to make sure you were safe, in that regard he was grateful that she was protective of you. He knew he could use her for your safety.

“ What kind of information do you need?” Alice asked, crossing her legs, staring at him. She was ready for business, perfect.

“ I need information on the policemen that are on my father’s case.” He said, looking at Alyzée as her face turned sad.

“ Oh, Alastor…” 

He almost rolled his eyes. She must have thought he was sad because the case of his father had never been closed.  She was really naive, he was almost surprised nobody turned her naivety against her… Well, with Alice by her side, he wasn't surprised. But let’s put all chances on his side.

“ I think my father must have been captured or… worse, by the police themselves. After all these years, they didn’t find anything. I think … It might be because he married a black woman.. They think he isn’t worth it.” He said, lowering his head, trying to stifle his laugh. He almost roared with laughter when he heard Alyzée’s words of compassion. She then left to bring him something to drink. He lifted his head and stared at Alice who was looking at him unimpressed. 

“ Do you think you are funny?”

“ Absolutely hilarious!” He laughed as he leaned back against his seat. “ Oh dear, your lady is very naive, I’m almost worried about the poor thing.” He smirked.

“ So, why do you need to have a spy in the police?”

“ John Felleur. I first thought he was obsessed about me and my wife, but I feel like there is more than that.”

“ You think he knows about what you have done?”

“ Well,” Alastor sighed, passing a hand in his hair. “ He thinks he knows that I killed my father, but I don't know if he has clues. Furthermore, I need to be sure he doesn’t spread his belief.” He said, grinning at Alice who nodded.

“ I see… Do you think that’s why he followed her last time? And that he managed to help her escape the stalker?”

Alastor looked at Alice, he wasn’t surprised you told this accident to your best friend, he expected it. He explained vaguely that he needed to know if John had created fake proofs against him so he could separate you. With his popularity nowaday, to make Alastor disappear would be hard, but he needed to know what was going on. What if John managed to surround himself with powerful people to take him down. After all, the name Felleur was important in New Orleans…

“ Well, even if I married a Felleur now, I’m still a RicheMont.” said Alice with a confident smile. “ I will have dinner with my family in law, and I shall see if I can find clues about John. If not, trust me, Trey will help us.” she smiled.

Alastor nodded and shook Alice’s hand when she promised him she would place a spy in the police, under RicheMont's name. He smirked, even after all those years, Alice was still a useful tool.

When Alyzée came back with a hot coffee, Alastor drank it and listened to the woman’s reassurance about how his father was alive and he wished for nothing more than coming back. He managed to hold his laughter, even if it was hard. Especially when Alyzée asked Alice to give him faith that his father would come back.

“ Yeah… yes, Alastor, don’t worry… Daddy will be back.” snorted Alice.

“ Alice!”

After a while, the two ladies took their leave and Alastor stood up. Now, he just had to go home and meet with his lovely wife. He took his car’s keys, said goodbye to Victor who beamed at his salutations and then drove home. 

But the more he was getting closer to his house, the more anxious he felt. He had the strange sensation his shadow, that was supposed to be with you, was reeling, reckless, angry and afraid. Those feelings weren’t supposed to exist when you were around. He drove faster and quickly entered your shared home.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw the scene. You were kneeling in front of your injured shadow while his own shadow snarled at you. What happened..?

“ What? You don’t want me to heal you?”

“ And they are right, my love.” 

You turned your face toward the door and smiled at Alastor who was clearly irritated. How did you manage to get injured? How? He wanted to pluck his hair out from his skull but he needed to stay calm. He wouldn’t accomplish anything if he let his emotions take hold of his mind. He walked toward your shadow and looked at its injury. How could it happen…? How could someone hurted a shadow..? He looked at you and you quickly told him everything that happened. And yet, he was left with more questions than answers…

“ Mhn..We need answers. Kalfu, come here.”

“ Papa Legba, would you please join us?”

You watched as the two spirits were leaning comfortably against the wall. Kalfu was smirking, it seemed like he was enjoying himself, like usual... Legba was looking at you with his usual warm expression. You stood up with Alastor and everyone went into the kitchen.

“ I have questions. Would you betray us?” Alastor asked, drinking the coffee you made him.

“ Alastor!”

“ No offense taken, little lady.” Papa Legba said with a genuine smile. “ What is a betrayal for you? If you are asking if I will give others an access to the spiritual realm, as long as they give me a sacrifice, I will.” Alastor’s smile twitched. That wasn't great news…

You frowned at his answer.

“ Then, if I fight against someone who works with you… How are we going to deal with it? Would you tell our secret to them?”

“ Why would I do that? I will give access to a spirit they want to work with, nothing more.” Legba tilted his head, watching you calmly. “ If you were to fight with someone I helped, I won’t intervene, it is only your control over your powers that will help you.”

“ But I know my wife is your protégée, right?” Alastor asked with his usual smile. He knew that Papa Legba’s got fond of you. He was caring about you like you were his granddaughter. He would help you without asking for a sacrifice in exchange… The spirit couldn’t lie, Alastor knew his wife was protected by one of the most important spirits in the Voodoo’s realm.

“ Is Kalfu’s protégée Alastor?” you asked curiously. You flinched when Kalfu roared with a mocking laughter.

“ Ooh, yes he is. But unlike your sweet relationship with Legba, I won’t run to save Alastor’s life. He can save his own, if not, why would I be there? I can help him in other ways, but don’t call me for sweet things like saving his life. Isn't that why you are here, little missy?”

You looked at Alastor who nodded, smirking mockingly at Kalfu. Of course, if your relationship with Legba was like grandfather and granddaughter, his relationship with Kalfu was more twisted. They always tried to trip the other into some kind of deal that would make one have the upper hands. Alastor knew Kaflu wouldn’t let him die… If you were in a critical situation, Legba would heal you. If he was in a critical situation, Kalfu would give him power to kill his enemy.

Same goal, differents methods.

“ How could my shadow be hurted like this?”

You looked at the three men in front of you.Alastor looked at the spirits, he needed to know what happened back there. Was someone using Voodoo too? That’s  why they managed to injure your shadow? Legba crossed his arms after smoking, his pipe fuming in a smoothing way.

“ Well, you saw it yourself , didn’t you?”

“ What do you mean?” you asked, making a cold chocolate for you.

“It was an offering, aren’t you not used to seeing them now?” Alastor asked, stroking your cheeks. You could be such an airhead, sometime… “ From what you told me, the lamb was an offering.” He looked at Legba who nodded. “ Was it for you?”

“I’m more of a rooster man. This offering wasn’t for me.”

He looked at Kalfu who was smirking at you. This spirit really enjoyed making people afraid of him, he wasn’t going to lie, Alastor could understand the appeal. Now, he needed to think. From what Legba had just said, Voodoo’s users could work with Christianity. Did it mean that they could also cause harm to each other..? How could he measure his strength against someone that might be using Christianity power..? Did that mean… They could work with angels..? He heard about people that have seen angels or heard them, what if some people could work with them just like you and he were working with spirits.

He turned his gaze toward the light that was emanating from Papa Legba. It seemed like the spirit had healed your shadow. He observed as his own shadow began to tease your shadow to make sure it was back to normal.

“ Then, is it possible for them to work with angels?”

“ It is highly possible, even more so if they had a Bible with them.”

“ Mhn, It’s not my favorite hypothesis.” Laughed Kalfu with a smirk, looking at you with a knowing smile. Alastor stared at his spirit, his smile never faltering. “ Now, I have other things to do, if you excuse me.”

He sighed once Kalfu vanished. You walked toward him and kissed his cheek which made him look at you.

“ Ahh, darling, do you want me to die younger because of stress?” He said as he tugged you on his laps, his arms around your waist. You tilted your head as he kept talking. “ I sended Victor to take care of the girls so you would go back home, and yet… You went into the big bad wolf’s mouth, not even planning something. I taught you better than that, right?” He purred, his lips against your cheek.

You smiled at him, wrapping your arms around his shoulder.

“ I’m sorry. I was… too excited I think.”

Alastor hummed against your skin as he watched both of your shadows playing with each other. In a way, they seemed…oddly innocent. 

“ Don’t you think they acted like us when we were younger?” you giggled as Alastor’s shadow poked yours on its cheek, making it snarl at it.

“ I think the same… But they are deadlier.” Alastor gave you a sinister smile which made you shiver. You kissed his lips, humming as he kissed you back. You pushed your body against his, making him dig his nail deeper in your skin. You whispered against his lips.

“ You don’t feel sick anymore..?” 

“ I was not sick dear, I was just… tired.” he kissed you back before you could answer, making you chuckle against his lips. He was feeling excited with all of this news. When  was the last time the both of you had to hunt something big? Maybe something bigger than yourself. Oh, he couldn’t wait to play his games with you and your new targets.

—----

It’s been two months since you discovered your new ‘enemies’. He didn't expect to find nothing about them after months of searching. And what was worse, was that he could see this was taking a toll on you. Alastor and you went into the abandoned building, multiple times to search through every floor and you didn't find anything. It felt like they cleaned everything before vanishing.

And that was making you sick. He could see you were looking for danger anywhere, even when the both of you were in bed, you would stay awake, keeping Eamon against you while he would read you a story until you would fall asleep. He was worried, he had never seen you like this before.

You were sleeping less, you had nausea and you were getting emotional with the lack of sleep. Sometimes you could cry because Alastor came later than usual and you thought he had been killed by the couple you couldn’t find. He demanded you to stop thinking about it, that he would take care of it alone, for your safety and health. But the day he said those words, you almost became hysterical. 

You killed his father, it was your first time and yet you never been this… sick about it. He was really worried. He went to his mother to ask her what she thought about it, not about the murder of course, but of your symptoms. She asked if you were feeling stressed which he confirmed. She gave him some leaves to put into tea to relax the mind and the body. He wondered if you would take it, you weren’t a fan of tea after all… 

Baron Samedi seemed to stick to your side with a knowing smile which infuriated Alastor. The spirit who reigns over the dead was silent as a tomb when he asked about your well being. He almost jumped at the spirit’s throat but contained himself. If Baron Samedi was fond of you and wanted to make you his protégée it would be perfect.

He lifted his hand when he felt your presence downstairs. Why were you at his workplace? Did something happen ? No, you wouldn’t come here in daylight because something happened with your next target. Did you have a surprise for him?

He couldn’t contain his smile when he heard your footsteps running toward his door. Since childhood, you always were the one running to where he was. You had all of the outside world to discover and yet you threw yourself at him, even if it meant staying in a cage, away from others. In his room, where his twisted and wicked mind was working, where he would whisper sweet nothing to you but also how to kill a man as painful as you could do.

He turned his head toward the door that you smashed open. He smiled fondly as he saw your face, your eyes shining like always. He would doom himself for your eyes, as bright as the sun and yet as soothing as the moon. You always were watching him fondly, no matter his state.

“ Well, darling, you look like you ran from something… or someone? Did you see them?” you smiled as his eyes flashed red when he asked you if you ran into the catholic couple. From your face, he could tell it wasn’t about them but he needed to be sure. You shook your head as you took his hand and placed it against your cheek.

“ No, no… I… I have good news. Well, I hope it’s going to be good news…”

You kept your gaze on his face,  taking his hand from your cheek to place it against your belly. He tilted his head, confused.  Were you worried you had gained weight again? He told you he always loved to bite you, he liked when his teeth hit your bones or plugged into your flesh… He almost shook his hand, he could almost feel himself salivating.

“ I’m pregnant.”

…

What?

He blinked, his smile dropping without him noticing. You were pregnant? You? You were pregnant?... You?

He kneeled in front of you, confused but fascinated. He was used to the both of you killing. He loved it, the feeling of taking someone's life, being the one in control of everything, he felt lightheaded with this feeling. You weren’t completely like him, but he knew you enjoyed taking a life if it meant that you protected him.

So, how did you two manage to create life?

But quickly, his thoughts became darker. You were pregnant, with his child… He smiled widely, you just attached yourself to him into another level. You accepted his seed and began to create a whole human inside of you… He almost fainted because of the wicked pleasure he felt at that moment.

“ You… I’ve made you… pregnant?” he asked softly, lifting his head up to watch you. You chuckled as you stroke his cheeks, your voice soft.

“ Yes.. I’m carrying your child.”

“Our child.” he corrected you. It was important that you knew that, he only cared about it because it had half of you and half of himself.

“ Yes… Our child.” You smiled at him, your eyes getting teary. He scooped you in his arms, laughing. 

“ Who would have thought ! There is something… in your belly that we created together…” He stared at you in fascination. His shadow was already touching your belly with childish wonder before rushing toward your shadow and touching its belly. 

He took you home, kissed your face multiple times during the ride, smirked when you giggled while asking him to keep his eyes on the road. You said you would tell the news to your parents the next day which he said he was going to inform his mother at the same time.

The next day, he drove you to your parents home before going to his mother’s. The house didn’t change, but he could see flowers that weren’t there when he left his mother to move out with you. He left his car before knocking at the door and smiled when his mother opened the door, smiling happily at him.

That view made killing his father worth it.

“ So, bébé, what can I do for you?” she asked as she gave him a black coffee before sitting on her chair. He stared at her with an amused smile, dropping the news just before drinking his coffee.

“ You are going to have a grandchild.” 

Marie stared at him, before standing up so fast Alastor thought she would fall. She ran into his arms, screaming in joy with tears in her eyes. He hugged her with a soft smile, she seemed so happy, he didn't understand why.

She asked about your wellbeing, how you were feeling and if he was happy to be a father. He tilted his head, smiling at her without saying a word. He didn’t care about being a father, he didn’t care about the child… He cared about the meaning behind it, the fact that he created something with you that will live on. 

But he couldn’t say that to his mother, he knew she would look at him with sadness, like she was devastated that he couldn’t share her joy about this news. Since he was a child, his mother would sometimes look at him with so much sadness, and it was when he had the most fun. When he was killing animals, when he killed his father… She would hug him strongly, like she was trying to keep him with her. Maybe she was trying to save his soul, clinging to him so God would take pity and forgive him?

His mother was too sweet…

After listening to his mother’s advice about taking care of a baby and a pregnant woman, he turned his head toward the door when he heard a knock. Marie seemed confused but went to open the door and smile at the man in front of her.

“ Mister Felleur, please come on in.”

Alastor smirked while drinking his coffee. Felleur, huh..? that must be Alice’s husband. He stood up when he saw Trey walking inside the living room with a soft smile. He shook the man’s hand before his Mother went into the kitchen to bring some drinks.

Trey sat on the sofa, smiling at Alastor. It seemed like he came here to see him, but how did he know he was at his mother’s place? Most of the time, people who wanted to see him would go to his workplace. 

“ Well, Mr. Felleur, it seemed like you were looking for me. Isn’t it a little bit rude to go to my mother’s house?” Alastor asked with his usual smile, drinking his coffee while staring at the man.

“ I’m sorry it looks bad but I went to your workplace and didn’t find you. A man, Victor, said you might be at your mother’s place and I have a request that couldn’t wait for you to come back.” Trey said with a sad smile. The man was looking at Alastor with pleading eyes. “ I need your help. I want you to work with my cousin, John Felleur on the serial killer’s case.”

Hah !

Were all the Felleur such idiots? He hid his smile behind his cup while staring at the man in front of him. Trey said there was a new victim but the person was a woman, and it was not the usual serial killer routine. Alastor nodded with a , he hoped, sad smile.

“ This is horrible, but how could I help you? I’m only a radio host.”

“ Don’t be so modest, Alastor. You have all of New Orleans’s attention with your broadcast. The serial killer might be listening to you. You could try to upset him by ridiculing him which would make them get messy.” Trey seemed to try to convert a plan to catch the killer. Alastor almost rolled his eyes at him. What kind of killer would be upset about what people say about them? 

When you kill, you don’t care about what the living says, you care about this special moment with your victim.

But if he could find new information within the police, why not accept. At the moment, Alice’s spies didn’t find anything worth motioning and he was curious about the woman’s corpse. How did this copycat kill… ?

Alastor stood up and shook Trey’s hand with a charming smile. After giving his regard to his mother, Trey and Alastor walked outside and he wasn’t surprised to see John waiting against his cousin’s car.

“ John, Mr. Sanglar accepted to help you. How nice of him, right!”Trey smiled at John with a smile so pure it almost made Alastor gag. How disgustingly pure… Alastor smiled at John who frowned. Now that was funnier! John couldn’t hide his emotions from him, which made him amusing to play with.

“ How nice, indeed…”

“ Now, now, my dear fella! Don’t look so gloomy! It’s such a great day!” Cheered Alastor.

“ Someone died today!” Spat John.

“ That’s what people do my dear John. Give me a day where no one died.”

“ … “ 

“ Exactly! Now, shall we go?” Alastor clapped his hand as Trey tried to cheer his cousin up. Alastor sat behind his steering wheel as John sat next to him. He followed the policeman’s directions until they arrived at the murder’s location. Alastor quickly left his car, excited to see the murder. 

“ I won’t lie. I don’t think the kill was made by the serial killer.” whispered John, peeking at Alastor who was walking next to him. Alastor looked at the man. Now, he knew John was an intelligent man, only a fool would tell otherwise. But he wasn’t more intelligent than him. Poor man.

“ Why is that?”

“ From the injuries the victims had on her body, it almost looks identical to other murder but, first of all she is a woman and for now the serial killer never touched a woman. Second of all… Well, you’ll see.”

Alastor walked inside the house and looked at the dead woman's body, on the ground, it looked oddly clean for a murder. Well, a smile has been carved on her face, like he used to do but unlike his usual ways of carving, he could see the killer began to cut from the left. When he carved a smile he would always stare by the right, because he knew you would take the right eye. He would begin where you started.

Talking about the eyes, he could see the woman had her left eye taken. Well, well… It seemed like the person who did that wasn’t alone. Most of the time when you were with him, you would take the eye first and then he would carve the smile. That way, you wouldn’t bother  each other when you did your thing. Here, he could see clearly, the way the smile had been carved was messy. Like the killer was bothered by someone because they tried to take the eye.

He could see everything clearly. They were two killers. And that would almost make him worried if he wasn’t so sure of himself. Two killers, a man and a woman. He could see it from the injuries. He could see the bruises around the woman's face and neck. The man must have killed the victims…

He stared at the corpse’s face. Oh! How could he not notice? All of the injuries were made postmortem, well, at least the eye and the smile.  The wound was made post mortem because there were no blood markings. He experimented so many times, when someone or an animal  dies, blood no longer flows through the body. Did they were too scared to torture the woman when she was alive?

“ So, I think this is a copycat. Most of the time, the serial killer I’m after left the corpse like right now. But there is so much blood, from every injury. They torture their vicitms while they are alive. Here, as you can see, or as you know,” he stared at Alastor with a heavy gaze,” the bruises have been made after the woman’s death. And they took the left eye while the serial killer took the right one.”

Alastor nodded while looking at John. John was intelligent, he was a great policeman, a great investigator. Alastor was almost a little bit surprised about who quickly John saw it was a fake kill. Someone was trying to frame him? He looked around the house while John was staring at him. 

He couldn’t see any mess. It seemed like the woman let her executioners

 come to her, fully trusting them. Who do we let inside our home without feeling threatened.

Police, Nurses, Family, Lover…

He froze when he heard John mumbled.

“ May you rest in peace. Amen.”

Religion huh..?

Nobody would feel threatened by someone who claimed their love for God.. right? He smirked, rolling his eyes. He would keep it in mind. After all, how many people did kill for their religion?

But why would they kill like that..? He shook his head, sighing with a wicked smile. How interesting ! He couldn’t help but wish to hear your thoughts about it. 

After this exciting day he went to your parent’s place to take you back home. You quickly asked him if he knew about the woman’s death. Oh, so you knew about it ? You little sneaky thing, not telling your husband right away.

“ Did you know about the woman who was killed ?” you turned your head toward your husband.

“ Yes, dear. I just learned it today. What are your thoughts?” he took one of your hands in his hand before kissing the back of it, his eyes still on the road.  He was so excited to hear your thoughts, did you wish for revenge? death? 

“ I… I don’t know? I think it would be nice to let them be caught and not us but… Someone using our title and killing innocent people is making me angry. Furthermore, what if they knew we were the killer of all the previous victims? What if they knew more than they let on?” you bit your lips, looking at Alastor with a new determination. “ We need to find them.”

“ Finding a stalker, finding a copycat, life is always entertaining with you my love!” Laughed Alastor with an excited smile. “ I went to the crime scene this morning, guess who invited me?” he looked at you, beaming at your confused look. “ The one and only John Felleur ! It seemed like his cousin, Alice’s husband, forced him to work with me to find the serial killer.”

“ Wait, why would Trey want you to work with John?”

“ Well, from what I heard, he wants this killer to be found as soon as possible. And he told John I could be useful to trap the murderer.” He smirked.

“ And how is that possible?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

“ With my radio, dear! This copycat must want to be like us because they want to be the star of the show~! They want people to think about them, the radio to talk about them, and the world to know about their evil deeds.”

“ But, we are the real serial killer…” you were so confused.

“ Exactly, dear, so if I play my cards right, they would want to have a real name for themselves and so they would look for us, to get rid of us.” He smirked as he parked in front of your house. “ And then, we will kill them. Or send them to the police, I’m still not sure.”

Alastor walked inside your shared home and looked as you went upstairs. He decided he would cook some Crawfish Etouffee. It’s been a long time since you ate one! He let you rest upstairs and then walked to your bedroom when he finished cooking. He walked inside your bedroom and smiled at your sleeping form, hugging Eamon against you. 

“ Dearest, wake up, dinner is served.”

He looked as you woke up, and immediately smiled at him. Hha… You really didn’t know what you were doing to him. You little tease.

You went downstairs and began to eat as you talked about your baby. He didn’t say anything but just watched you. He wondered if your excitement was different from his? You were excited about the baby, while he was excited about the symbolism behind it… He could see your eyes change, like you were worried about something. Ah, you must be worried he wasn’t as excited as you about the baby. How cute.

After dinner, he sat in the living room while you roamed toward his office. He closed his eyes, thinking about the murder he saw this morning. So, it seemed like there was a couple, just like the both of you, that have decided to kill a woman. What for? Did they know who was behind all the crimes? Was it really just a stupid copycat? He frowned, crossing his arms on his torso. 

He didn’t realize he stayed inside his thoughts until he heard you shout for him. He opened his eyes and stood up before walking toward his office. He entered with a knowing smile when he saw you with the shadows around you and a Voodoo book.

“ Dearest?”

“ Do you think you could create a Voodoo’s doll?” you asked him. He tilted his head before looking at his shadow which explained to him everything that happened. He could hear his shadow’s voice inside his mind clearly, it was like its own voice. So your shadow had the stalker’s blood. How amazing would you be?

“ Oh, interesting…” Alastor purred, walking toward you and your shadow which was still buzzing with excitement. He took the book from your hands and looked at your shadow with a wicked smile. “ Let’s get to work.”

You nodded, smiling widely at him. Alastor opened a secret door, behind a fake shelf, and you walked into the room. He was surprised when he first found this place, but it turned out to be useful. 

“ How are you going to make one..?”

“Most of them are filled with soft cotton that is bendable. The pins must be sharp so they can easily pierce the doll, without any effort. This shows how the  targeted person is weak and very manipulatable.I should use moss… But, cotton, straw and old rags could also be used. There is far less rigidity in its materiality, however, many items of the doll are specific to the spirit to be invoked. The color, for instance, can help attract a certain desired spirit, as the food arranged around the doll can.” he said, working on the doll while explaining everything to you.

He always loved how curious you were. From the most innocent thing, like how he loved his coffee to what was his preferred way of killing. You never change, always curious, searching for answers. He wondered if your child would be the same…

“ You are going to invoke another spirit..?” you frowned. 

“ Yes, but not something… Very powerful. I’m just going to have a spirit tail the man, so we can see where he lives.” he smirked, looking at the ceiling with an excited glint in his eyes. “ If I can hurt him the way he hurted you, I might let myself get tempted.” He didn't need to invoke a powerful spirit, come on, he was Alastor Sanglar, Kalfu’s protégée and Legba’s blood were inside his body. 

You crossed your arms on your chest, frowning.

“ He was supposed to be my prey.”

“ What is yours is mine, and what is mine is yours, isn’t it, dear?” he chuckled when he felt your lips on his cheek. 

“ You are lucky I love you.” you mumbled against his skin.

“ I know.”

Was it strange for him to feel almost nothing with those words? For him, Love was such an understatement from what you both were feeling. But, he knew that you meant more when you said those words. It was easier to say those words than tell what you both really felt. 

He worked on the voodoo doll which took more time than he thought it would. He could hear both of your shadows playing together until you began to sing. He looked at you with a fond smile, how ethereal you were… A gift from the gods.

After a while, he finally finished the doll.

“ Perfect.”

You opened your eyes, your mind still blurry from sleep. You looked at Alastor who was standing, the doll against the wall.Alastor held his hand toward you and you looked at your shadow which put the blood on the doll, snickering as it did so. He felt Kalfu behind him and he began his invocation.

He heard you gasping when the spirit showed itself. It had big fangs, so big it seemed like the spirit couldn’t close its mouth because of it. You could see saliva drooling from its mouth, its eyes never leaving Alastor’s form. Feathers were all around its body, it really looked like an owl… a terrific owl. Its eyes were all black, not a single glint of life was inside it… Perfect.

“ A pleasure to have you, you shall be rewarded if you do your job.” Alastor said, never being bothered from the hideous creature in front of him. “ Find the person who owns this blood. Tell me everything about it, and then, I shall kill him, and give you all of the man to you.”

The owl opened its wing before flying through the ceiling. You looked at your husband who was smirking at the doll. He took it in his hand and laughed. Now, it was just a matter of minutes before the spirit returned with the information he needed. How easy, he was almost disappointed.

“ You are mine.” he spat, staring at the doll with madness and fury. You watched as Kalfu vanished and Alastor looked at you with his red eyes. “ Hah, dear. We are going to find him.” he sighed in bliss. The one who hurted you had his life reaching its end.

“ I’m… I’m worried, Alastor. You know you can count on me, right?”

“ I have known this since our childhood, dear.” He tilted his head at your words. Why did you suddenly say that? He took one lock of your hair before kissing it affectionately. His eyes dived into yours with sincerity and mad affection. “ Why? Are you doubting my trust in you?”

“ It’s just.. I feel useless in times like this.”

“ How are you useless? You are the one who told me to make a Voodoo’s doll with the blood your shadow collected. Where are you useless, my love?” He smirked at you. You had such strange thoughts sometime. How could you be useless? You helped him kill his father, you helped him meet Papa Legba, you helped him everyday just because you were breathing.

“ It’s just… You know, for you, I would give all of myself to the devil–”

You gasped as Alastor took you by the throat, pinning you against the wall with a smile so big it looked inhuman, his shadow behind him taking more place in the room, taking away the light from the room. You looked at Alastor’s red eyes which were shining with pure madness. He squeezed your throat with one hand while the other one was stroking your cheek.

“ Don’t say that. Don’t say you would give yourself to someone else but me.” he said, his breath hitting your lips. “ I would fight the devil to keep you by my side. Angels, devils, who cares.” he spat. Now, that was what happened when you thought you ‘loved him’. No, loving was something easy to erase. You didn’t love him, it was much more. More than anyone could comprehend. Both of you were different, your affection for each other reached another realm. 

“ I’m sorry…I’m yours…”

You felt his body relaxed and the grip on your throat lessened. You opened your eyes and looked at your husband whose eyes were their usual brown color. He stared at you, still smiling but he was less tense. 

“ Of course you are, dearest. Running away right now would be pointless.” he smirked at you before kissing you once more. Running away, hah! Odd thoughts. 

You hummed against his lips, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. He tapped your thighs, making you jump, wrapping your legs around his waist. He left the room and walked you toward your bedroom. You were so exhausted you fell asleep as soon as Alastor laid you on the bed. He smiled as he looked at you, you seemed more tired these days…

He laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling before he felt himself being pulled from his body. He didn’t panic, it must have been his spirit who wanted to show him something. He felt his soul being dragged toward an abandoned church. He smirked, really? A church? He laughed mockingly, was he going there for his final judgment ?

His soul flew toward the ground and he saw his spirit screeching before diving under the floor. He followed and smirked when he saw a couple, talking with each other. It didn’t seem like they sensed him. He looked around, there was an ax, some books… He flew toward an open book and frowned when he saw what was written. It seemed like they wanted to summon something… He squinted his eyes, trying to see the name.

Samael.

He turned his body around and froze when he saw a huge eye staring down at him. The eye’s sclera was red, but the pupil was yellow. It was staring at Alastor which made him immobile. He glanced toward the couple but they weren’t looking at him. What was it? If it was like his own shadow, even if it has its own conscience, Alastor would feel everything if the shadow found something, an intruder or something useful.

So why were the couple not looking at him even though the eye was staring at him. He frowned when he felt pain surging inside his head, making him fall to his knees. He groaned, closing his eyes. He needed to go back inside his own body. Now.

But when he opened his eyes he was somewhere where there wasn’t any light. He felt like he was floating in nothingness. He looked around, he could almost hear the noise from his movement echoing inside this place. Where was he ? 

He froze when he saw multiple sets of eyes staring at him. Everywhere he was looking there was an eye staring at him. He wasn’t panicking, he was mostly annoyed and frustrated. He didn’t have time for that. He wanted to go back to you and tell you what he just found.

The eyes' gaze were beginning to get heavier. It almost felt like he was being touched just from their glance alone. He hated it. They weren’t blinking, staring at him, waiting for him to give up? He would never. 

He gasped when he saw a red thread glowing with a powerful green light. What was it..? With all the eyes around him, he almost missed it. He stared at the thread that seemed to invite him to follow it. He took the threat that wrapped itself around his ring finger.

Eamon.

He smirked and then closed his eyes. He knew if he opened them, he would fall under the powerful gaze of those eyes, which made him feel uncomfortable. His grip on the thread never faltered and he followed it, never letting it go. But then, the thread pulled him so hard on his hand he almost winced.

Then, he felt the air. Fresh air.

He opened his eyes and saw he was being pulled toward your shared home, no eye in sight. He sighed, relieved. Well, it could have turned bad. He smiled when the thread pulled him inside the bedroom but then he froze.

You were fighting him. Well, you were fighting his body. He felt dread inside his body. He could see something on his body, manipulating it, using it to hurt you. He looked at you, you were squeezing Eamin against your chest while his body was banging his fist against the shield you raised against him. 

He could see his own shadow trying to keep his body on the floor, trying to protect you. He then saw you detached your soul from your body, how could you do it so easily, he didn’t know. He wondered if you saw him in that state, but your eyes were glowing, fixated on the thing that had its claw on his body.

He watched as his body fell on his knees and then he saw it. The red thread that was glowing green was pulling him to his own body. He rushed inside it and felt such a fire inside his own body. He needed to make his body his once more.

He could feel his own hand raising before plugging a blade inside his thigh and he already could tell from the bleeding it had touched an arterial. Damn it, arterial bleeding was significantly more dangerous than venous bleeding. Now, he knew he had around 2 to 7 minutes before dying. How bothersome. He wasn’t scared of dying, he was just disappointed. 

But once more, you surprised him.

You repelled the spirit and fell to your knees, but didn’t wait a second before crawling toward him. You were already taking off his pajama pants while he frowned.

“ You won’t heal me.”

“ You don’t have a choice… Hurry up…” you gasped. He didn’t want you to heal him, what if you died because he couldn’t survive the cut from his thighs? You were so stubborn ! He groaned as you let you licked his wound? He was furious, even more when he saw blood seeping through your pajama dress. You didn’t seem worried. He was sure, in your mind he was the one who needed to be healed. When you finished healing him he tugged you in his arms, trying to stop himself from shaking.

When an arterial was cut, people would die after 2 or 7 minutes, you healed him maybe two minutes after he got injured. That meant you would have this cut for two minutes until it vanished from your body. He waited until the two minutes passed… You were still breathing, you were still here.

“ Are you okay, Alastor…?”

Of course that’s what you were worried about. He wanted to shake you, to ask you to promise him you would never do something like that. Should he cage you somewhere? Where no one could hurt you. He would have to think about it later, right now he needed to have a discussion with someone.

“ Kalfu!” Alastor shouted. You turned your head toward Kalfu that was sitting next to you, looking at your bloody thigh with a smirk even if the wound was already cured. “ You knew it was going to happen, didn’t you?” Alastor asked with a furious smile.

“ Of course! You were so full of yourself ! Making a voodoo’s doll against an opponent that maybe was using an angel’s power!” Kalfu laughed, looking at the both of you with a mocking gaze. “ You really used a weak spirit, thinking the spell wouldn’t turn against you, didn't you? Well, you learned something new tonight, Alastor.” Kalfu laughed once more, mocking you without hiding himself. “ But I must say, little missy did wonderful. You felt something was wrong before Alastor was possessed.” 

Alastor frowned, before looking at you. You felt it ? From the bedroom’s state you must have fought him before he even came back. You didn’t seem like you had been hurt but… If he thought about it he felt like he was going to go toward the couple and kill them, not caring about his surroundings.

“ That’s Legba’s portégée for you.” Kaflu spat with anger and envy. “ But you always were connected to energy around you, so it isn’t very surprising.” He said, looking at Eamon.

You looked at Alastor who was biting his lips, making it bleed. Without thinking you lick his wound while he was trying to speak to Kalfu. Could you stop being cute and annoying for once?

“ They aren’t working with an angel, and you knew it.”

“ That’s my protégée for you!” Kalfu clapped in his eyes with pride. “ Indeed, they aren’t working with an angel…”

You looked at Alastor, feeling your lips bleeding a little because of the cut. You touched his face, making sure he was looking at you. He would always look at you…

“ Are you okay?”

Alastor’s body relaxed a little as his eyes fell into yours. He sighed before kissing your forehead.

“ Did I hurt you, my love?” You shook your head. “ I’m sorry.. I didn’t expect them to be… this skilled.” he said. He couldn’t think he underestimated his enemy. How shameful.

“ Who are they working with? Kalfu?” you looked at the spirit with a death stare. It was cute how you didn’t trust Kalfu at all.

“ Oh no, I wouldn’t want to work with them. I already have Alastor!” Kalfu laughed at your stare. “ They are working with a powerful being, someone who used to be God’s favorite!”

“ They are working with Samael.” Alastor said, in the quiet room. “ But he is known as Lucifer.” He looked at you, you paled quickly it was almost comically. 

“ But… how.. How could we win against… Lucifer? Lucifer… Are you really sure?” you asked, looking at Alastor once more.

“ Yes, that is why we found a lamb in the abandoned building. That was a sacrificial lamb. And from what I saw, the woman was also a sacrifice for him. A catholic virgin woman.”

“ But.. But, they were… holding a Bible..” you were so confused,he would have to prepare a cold chocolate for you, he knew you were going to have a headache.

“ Yes, it was the Bible cover, but the book in itself is not. Trust me, before they managed to get the spirit and possess me, I managed to see where they were. And trust me, they won’t live another week.” You felt him grab you tighter. “ How dare they… Making me attack you…I'll tear out their heart and force them to eat it.”

He could see your eyes shifting. You were as angry as him, he could see your shadow buzzy with hatred. Kalfu vanished and Alastor took you to bed and checked your thigh.

“ I’m okay, my love.” You smiled at him.

“ You … You were amazing. Using the Eamon to make me come back…” he kissed your inner thigh, closing his eyes when he felt your hand in his hair. “ How could I let this happen…” How could he not see it coming?

“ Alastor… I’m not mad at you.” You tugged him toward you, laying on the bed and placing his head against your chest. “ I made a vow to always be there for you, to protect you or heal you if needed… Don’t worry.”

“ Aren’t you scared we will fight two people who had asked for power from Lucifer, the fallen angel?” he asked you.

He didn't want you to be sick because you felt terrified because of who you both were going to fight. 

“ I’m not scared. We are going to win. We are fighting against humans, we will win.”

—-----

“ Alright, I will tell you were with me all night.”

Alastor watched you as you hugged Alice. You told her you knew where the stalkers were and you were going to kill them tonight. She said she would be your alibi which made him snickered.

“ Where is your husband ? He will see we weren’t with you.”

“ Oh, he went into a business affair, he is going to come back in two days.” She smiled at you. “ Don’t worry, our alibi is safe.” She winked at you, making you smile. You asked if everything was going smoothly with her husband which she replied with a smile. “ Oh, perfectly! He knows everything about me~ I feel like I’ve known him for so long! Even if there is no romantic love involved.”

Was it what romance was about ? He did know a lot about you, but he didn’t know everything about you which was exciting. But well, why would he care about Alice’s vision of love.

You looked at her belly, smiling.

“ So, did you find a name?”

She beamed at you, taking your hand in hers.

“ Oh, yes, I found it and Alyzée accepted it. I need to tell my husband but he doesn’t have his say.” She said with a big smile. “ I wrote the name in this envelope, I shall tell you the name when you come back.”

“ Why be overdramatic for a name?” Alastor asked, raising an eyebrow with a mocking smile. “ Just tell her you didn’t find anything so you want to buy time.”

“ I’m the one being overdramatic? Do you hear yourself on the radio, Alastor?” She spat at him, giving him the middle finger.

He smirked at Alice, he always enjoyed who she was quick with her remarks. At least, she had this for herself. He hoped her child wouldn’t be as annoying as her… Oh, well, he preferred if the child took from Alice than Trey, at least the baby would be a  little bit interesting. 

Would his own child be friends with Alice’s child? Oh dear… He hoped his child would see how useful the RicheMont were.

You stood up, Alastor doing the same and all of you walked toward the door. Alice hugged you strongly.

“ Please, be careful. Promise me, you will come back.”

You smiled at her. Alastor was smirking at her, of course you would come back, when you were together, no one could beat you.

“ We will be back, don’t worry.”

He looked at Alice who was stroking her belly until she went back inside her house. You walked toward the abandoned church, of course you didn’t know where it was located which was one of the many reasons you were gripping his forearm. He could see you were anxious, much more than usual. But you were keeping your mouth shut, you were silent. Why would you close your heart to him like this?

“ My love, talk to me.”

“ I’m… I have a bad feeling, Alastor.” you whispered, leaning your head against his shoulder. His body tensed at your words. He knew to never take your feelings lightly, even more the one that was connected to the spirits’s realm. Your instincts were always spot on. He wondered if it was Papa Legba’s gift to you as his portégée. Your instinct was almost like you knew what was happening in the future, depending if it was good or bad. 

“ How so?”

“ It’s the first time we are going to fight against opponents that have… powers, like us. We don’t know how we are supposed to fight. How are you supposed to take them down?” You close your eyes, gripping his jacket harder. 

“ Darling. They are using the power of a failed angel.” He sneered at the sky. “ What could have happened?”

“ The power of the failed angel possessed you…” You opened your eyes and looked at him. 

Hmn, you got a point.

He tensed before he let out a sigh. He turned his head toward you, his smile a bit smaller than usual as he stared at you with a warm glint. He wasn’t scared of dying, most of all, he didn’t think you or him would die soon. He was used to feeling threatened, he could feel when someone was having menacing thoughts about him. That is what made connecting to people so difficult when he was younger. Now, he could put on a mask.

But when he was a kid, he only knew hate and pain. When people looked at him with what he would learn later, affection he couldn’t feel it, not comprehend it. Thankfully, you were there, learning all of those emotions. Maybe he couldn’t understand all of them, but he could fake it enough so people would leave him alone.

“ How are you so calm..?” you whispered shakily. Oh yes, right, you were feeling anxious and scared.

“ I know you are scared. This might be the hardest fight we have to win… But Darling, when we first killed my father, we were powerless and yet we fought against this man. No demons, devils, angels could be… stronger than my father. He made me live through Hell.” He looked at your hand, taking them into his hands. “ We won’t lose. Not when we are together. Remember the three rules..?”

You nodded with a shaky smile. He stared at you and you opened your mouth.

“ Rule number one: Never drop your guard.” You closed your eyes when you felt him kiss your lips, encouraging you to continue. “ Rule number two: No one is stronger than you.” You smiled against his lips as he kissed you once again. “ Rule number three: Give up…”

“ That’s right, my love. Give up your fears, I’ll be there.”

Alastor looked at his shadow that poked your waist, making itself seen. It tugged at your shadow, showing that you weren’t alone. Those shadows could be very entertaining sometimes. 

You took a deep breath and looked at Alastor with a new found confidence which made Alastor smile immediately.

“ Perfect, then, how are we going to do it?”

Once again, you were asking how to kill. Were you aware? Were you aware of it?

“ Well, darling ! They are hiding in an abandoned church not too far from here. How subtil. There is a cave, which isn’t even locked. We will send our shadows first so they can see what is happening downstairs, and then we’ll attack. We won’t be greedy tonight, let’s not play and just go straight into killing. Don’t play with your prey, my dear.” He flicked your nose with a mocking smile which made you frown. 

“ You didn’t bring any weapons..?” you tilted your head.

“ Oh, dear, do you think me a fool? My shadow holds the weapon, I couldn’t be walking in New Orleans with a rifle and a knife, could I?” He laughed as you looked at his shadow and gasped when you saw his shadow having the shadow of a rifle and a knife in his hand. He smirked at your face, he knew you found him impressive which made him beam with pride.

When you both arrived at the church he let you look at the impressive building.  He was checking the exits he saw last time didn’t change or weren’t blocked. After a while, he came back to you, seeing his shadow massage your shoulder. He smirked when he felt your shadow wrap its hand around his.

You turned toward your husband who was motioning you to come closer. You both looked at each other before sending your shadows inside the church. 

You looked at your husband who was waiting patiently before nodding to you. He entered the house of prayer without looking back knowing you would follow him, like you always did. He went to the floor hatch while your shadows were looking around. He was trying to hear if he could hear noises. Normally, the couple should hear your footsteps from downstairs, it should echo… 

His eyes turned red and he sank his hand into his own shadow before taking out a rifle and a knife.

 Which one do you want, my love?

‘I’m still not good with a rifle, give me the knife. I’m an expert with that.’

You took the knife from his hands but before you could step back he tugged you against his chest and kissed you with hunger. You sighed against his lips, as you ran your hand into his dark curls. 

 This isn’t the last time I hug you, you hear me ?

He wondered if he was saying this to you or himself…

He nodded before gesturing to his shadow to go check what was under the door. You did the same with your shadow which followed Alastors. You both stayed quiet, waiting for your shadows to return. You felt relief when your shadow came back, gesturing to you that it was safe to enter. Alastor went first and then waited for you and the end of the stairs. You looked around, everything was dark, the only light you could see was far away, from a room on the other side of this dark corridor.

‘Should we separate?’ 

Check each room on the right. I’ll check the one on the left side, don’t enter the room at the end of the corridor before I’m here, okay?.

‘ Yes, sir.’

You could see him roll his red eyes at you which made you grin. He walked toward the room on the left, his shadow following him, with its wicked smile. There wasn’t anything interesting, there was a room that looked like.. a bathroom. He walked inside and stared at the water inside a bucket. What he was cautious about was the eye he saw when he came here the first time. 

But no sign of it. He couldn’t even feel his heavy gaze. Maybe it was because the couple thought they were safe…? Maybe he saw it because he was in a state that connected him to the energy around him..?He frowned, maybe you would feel it before him?After all, you were closer to your instincts than him who was more observing. But none of that mattered, he couldn’t feel the eye, so you both were safe. 

He was suspicious about the atmosphere. Even if the both of you were silent as death, the couple should have heard your footsteps when he were walking upstairs. Or they should feel their presence like he was feeling theirs. Was Lucifer’s power not about feeling others' aura? He should have looked for more information, but after his possession, he didn’t want to wait any more.

Are you scared, Alastor? 

He scoffed at Kalfu’s voice. He wasn’t scared, he was furious. He hated the idea of someone being better than him, even more in domains where he was the best.

‘ Darling, John might be the one behind all this. ’

 Please, do explain.

After explaining what you just found, Alastor joined you into the small office and looked at the letter with an angry smile.

‘ We really need to get rid of him.’

So, John was in it huh… Well, John or Trey, both of them were Felleur. John was the one who was obsessed with you and him since your younger age. He wouldn’t be surprised if he paid for creeps to make your life harder. 

Alastor walked toward the corridor once more and looked at the enlightened room in front of you. He could hear them talking, did they not notice you? He couldn’t believe it, they were smarter than that, weren’t they? They managed to capture your shadow, possess his mind… They couldn’t be this easy to kill, he would be so disappointed. Alastor went inside the room as quietly as possible and hid behind a wall, almost completely broken. You followed him, trying to be as quiet as him. He tilted his head, leaning where the wall was broken and he smirked. You did the same and there they were.

 Alastor took his rifle, as quietly as possible, and aimed at their head. He could feel you next to him, you were anxious.. Did you also feel like it was too easy?

Before he managed to understand the situation, he felt like he was being spied on and then you jumped on him as he heard a loud noise.  The place where you have been standing not a seconds ago was now under a big rock that seemed to have fallen from the ceilings. His smile dropped as he looked at you, were you hurt? It didn’t seem so.

“ Did it get them?” The woman said.

Well, well, now that was better ! He gestured you toward the rock.

 Can you lift it?

He watched you with fondness as you threw the rock toward the couple. You were so beautiful when you were at your strongest. He knew you would miss, he just wanted to send a message to the two people behind the wall.

They wouldn’t leave this church alive.

He wiped your nose when he saw blood dripping from it. Did he ask too much of you already? Well, it was time to introduce himself, right, as the biggest threat here.

“ A reminder to you all. Not to mess with my wife’s life.” Said Alastor with a big smile on his lips, his shadow taking more place in the room.

You looked at him as he aimed toward the couple. You stood up quickly at your husband's side. The man was standing in front of the girl in a protective manner while she was opening her grimoire. So, she was the one with the spiritual power…

“ You’ve made a mistake by coming here.” said the girl, her voice shaking but her form was ready to fight. The man was gripping at an ax, staring at Alastor.

“ You’ve made a mistake by threatening our life.” You said as power began to swirled inside you, your eyes turning red. “ No God or Devil is going to save you tonight.” You spat while Alastor was grinning ears to ears, his aim still trained on the couple. How beautiful you were! He was almost shaking from excitement.

“ I wondered how you could think you could take us down.” asked Alastor with a mocking voice. 

“ We managed to possess you, didn't we? Mickeal and I know you both are the serial killer that haunts New Orleans!” Shouted the girl, her hands gripping her book harder. “ We need to clear this city from evil!”

“ And yet, you killed an innocent woman, didn't you?” spat Alastor, his smile never leaving his face. So she was the one who possessed him? It wasn’t in his habits to hurt a woman, but well, it seemed like there was a first for everything.

The man stared at you, gripping his ax harder between his hands. 

“ Don’t bother, Louise. Those are demons, Voodoo’s hippies. We must kill them.”

Oh, come on. Could they be at least original with their threat ? Always being Voodoo’s hippies, wizard, sorcerer… Could someone be original for once?

He smirked when your shadow jumped on the man who, surprised, tried to get it off him. You telekinesised your knife to dug it into his thighs. Mickeal stared at you, not flinching once. He almost whistled, you really threw your knife exactly where he had been stabbed when he was possessed. Did you do it on purpose ?

 Good shot,dear.

He shot toward Mickeal who was rushing toward him but the man blocked his bullet with his ax. He pushed you out of the way, avoiding a slash from the weapon. He glanced at you as you walked toward the woman. He turned his attention to the man who seemed furious.

“ This is not very gentlemanlike to hurt a lady, you know?” He smirked.

“ What do you know about manners, demons?”

“ Say the one who works with the devil.” Alastor mocked, aiming once again at the man’s head. Mickeal ran toward Alastor with much more speed than he was prepared for. He smirked as his shadow jumped on the man, rooting him to the ground making him incapable of running.

Mickeal smirked at Alastor before taking the knife you had telekinesis at him and then he threw it at you, with so much force he knew that if you were touched, the cut could be fatal.

“ Darling!”

You turned your head toward your husband's voice and managed to stop your own knife that had been thrown by the man. If you hadn't stopped it, the blade would have stabbed your throat…

Alastor avoided a slash of Mickeal’s ax with a charming smile. He didn’t want to show he almost lost his composure because of the man's attack. You haven’t been touched so he would stay calm. He would keep playing with the man. 

He peeked at you and smirked when he saw you staring at the ax. He knew what you were trying to do. He always did.  The man looked at his weapon which had gotten heavier with a look of disbelief before looking at you with pure hate. You winked at him before Alastor punched him so hard the man had to take a couple steps back. He chuckled before he heard you scream. 

He lifted his head as he saw you being lifted up from the ground. Alastor sended his shadow toward you before avoiding nearly Mickeal’s attacks. Damn it. He frowned but his smile stayed glued to his face. He stared at the man’s swings. He was fighting well, but he wasn’t that good either.  He smirked as he swinged his leg toward his face. He laughed, when he saw Mickeal’s nose bleed. 

How easy!

He winced when he felt his shadow being burned by the woman’s chanting. Damn it, what was she chanting about?

He kept punching him, using his fist and legs but then he felt like he was being watched. Just like the last time when he was possessed… Was the eye here? Looking at him? He felt like he was being rooted to the ground, he couldn’t move. 

His eyes widened when he felt Mickeal’s ax slash his torso. He kept his smile on his face but the pain he felt was horrible. Damn it… He could move his body once more, making able to stumble back. That hurts..! 

“ Alastor !”

He never heard you screaming like this. That was new. He saw Mickeal being projected against a wall and then here you were, pulling him behind a wall. He knew you were going to heal him, so he needed to protect you too. He took his rifle, trying to ignore the pain in his body. He felt like he could throw up because of it.

He aimed at the couple and shot while you were licking his torso. 

He didn’t know why but this situation excited him. You were licking at his blood, licking at his skin while he was trying to kill. How scandalous that was! You were healing him so he could keep on killing. Oh, darling, you were perfect!

But then, he saw you stop moving. He knew you were feeling the pain he just had felt because of this bloody ax. You weren’t moving anymore… Wait, you couldn’t possibly have died because of the wound.

“ Darling, are you still with me ?”

You couldn’t be dead. He wouldn’t allow it. 

He felt his body relaxed when your eyes looked at his face. He stared at your face, making sure you were okay. You nodded at him, your body still twitching from the previous pain you had just felt. 

He stopped shooting at the couple to make them believe he had died, he didn’t know if they were aware of your healing power, so he should try it. He vanished inside his own shadow, letting his rifle next to you.

He stared at the scene, hiding in the shadow where nobody could see him. 

You stood up slowly from your hiding place and looked at the couple in front of you. Mickeal was playing with his ax, staring at you. 

“ How do you wish to die?” he asked you as he walked toward you. “ Like your husband?”

So they really believed he died. Perfect.

You walked toward him, your hands in the air. Louise was looking at you with a mocking smile, closing her books. You looked at the man who was looking you up and down, like he was trying to see if you had any hidden weapons on you. 

“ Why did you do this?” you asked, your voice a mere whisper.

“ We need to clear this city. We were hired to watch people that needed to die. But you don’t need to know more, your life ends here, Mrs. Sanglar.” He lifted his ax up. Alastor frowned as he saw a goldish light on the blade. He quickly rushed behind the man, appearing from his shadow in a second. He knew if you raised your shield, you wouldn’t be touched.

When his axe clashed against your shield, Alastor took the weapon as it slipped from the man’s hands because of your shield’s power. He then threw it toward the woman, Louise was it, with so much force it dug itself inside her chest.

You blinked as Louise was staring at the ax inside her body, before her legs gave out and she fell at Alastor’s feet.

“ Louise!” Mickeal cried as he ran toward her. You raised your hand and created a shield around Mickeal, squeezing it around him until he couldn’t move a single muscle, he couldn’t even speak.

Alastor smiled at Mickeal as he crouched in front of Louise who was breathing hard. Well… She was the one who almost made him kill you by possessing him. She was the one who almost took the reason his sanity was still stable. She almost took his heart…

Eye for eye…

He cut open Louise’s torso, not caring about her scream of anguish. He almost wanted to taunt her, when he killed someone, he hurted them before their death. He wasn’t a coward that made postpartum injuries. He was capable of handling the scream, the cries, the begging… and never stopping. 

He took Louise’s heart from her body, showing it to her. She was nothing more than a human, maybe she had power from supernatural beings, but right now she was nothing but a human. He killed her like he killed all his precious victims. She was nothing more.She would be forgotten, she would turn into dust… All because she wanted to hurt you.  But well, she did make him learn a lesson about his self-esteem. His mother made him a gentleman after all.

“ Thank you for the gift.”

 Alastor stood up with Louise’s heart in his hand and walked toward the man.

“ Make it so he can move his head, dear.”

You did as he asked and watched with curiosity what Alastor was doing. He took Mickeal’s chin and forced him to open his mouth before putting the bloody heart against the man’s lips. Alastor managed to put some of the heart inside the man's mouth and forced him to munch and swallow it. He then asked, with a mad expression.

“ How does your beloved’s heart taste?” he asked with genuine curiosity. “ I’m the one who killed her, I’m the one who took her from you. How does it feel? Do you hate me ? Do you wish to join her in death? Did you appreciate her heart wholly?” he sneered at the man who looked at Alastor with pure fear.

He wondered, was he a monster since birth? He didn’t think so. He was just enjoying himself. He smiled when he saw Mickeal’s mortified face looking at him. Was he really scared of him? Wasn’t he the one working with the devil? 

“ If you don’t mind, I like to take souvenirs.” You smiled at him before taking his right eye from him. You didn’t seem to care about his screams, you just looked at the eye with a satisfied smile. Were you a monster ? No, you were an angel, a beautiful being that decided to share your life with him. Look at you, all bloodied and yet smiling at him with the purest smile on your lips. “ Do what you want Alastor, I’m done.”

He stared at the heart in his hand. That heart that belonged to someone else, that was making them live. He chuckled, the one who tried to hurt you, your happiness… that tried to take you from him. It was now meaningless. 

He approached the bloody organs toward his lips and bit it. He could feel the blood going inside his throat, the blood of someone who had tried to win against him. He bit harder on the organs, his teeth tearing the flesh, so he could munch on something. How success tasted good. This human who tried to stand against you, was now just some kind of food… He could feel himself getting stronger as he swallowed the flesh, turning his face toward you.

“ Do you want to taste it?”

You stared at the heart and shook your head. You pouted as Alastor stared at the heart with a new form of fascination. A selfish desire inside of him wanted you to taste this victory with him but he wouldn’t force you. 

“ You are crazy…!”

You looked at Mickeal who was shaking even inside of your shield. Alastor stared at him with a horrifying smile, looking as the front of Mickeal’s pants got wet. 

“ Well, well, are you that scared of a mere human when you worked with the devil?” Alastor asked, chuckling darkly at the man. He walked toward you but you turned your back toward him. “ Darling ?”

You gave him a dark glare but he only giggled before hugging you from behind. 

“ Why are you upset ?”

“ You bit into someone else's flesh.”

…

He could fall to his knees and ask your hand in marriage once more. Oh god, how perfect were you. He felt like he could kill a hundred men just for you. He would lose what’s left of his sanity if you asked him to. You weren’t disgusted with him, you were jealous because his lips touched someone else's flesh.

Oh gods, he needed to control himself. 

 You felt Alastor squeezed you harder, whispering darkly near your ear.

“ Do you want me to eat you?”

You shivered, looking into his red eyes. Did you want him to eat you until nothing was left. You would be one with him for eternity. You would live inside him forever.  His pupils dilated when he saw you weren’t disgusted with the idea. Did you also want to give your everything to him? Did you? Did you? Did you?Didyoudidyoudidyoudidyou–

You moaned when you felt Alastor’s teeth dig into your neck, making you cling to him. He needed to ground himself or he felt like he would lose all reason. You were crazy, darling, moaning while his mouth had tasted human’s flesh. You were crazy, just like him, a beautiful angel who decided to fall for him.

Alastor kissed the place he bit you, before going to Mickeal after taking your knife, throwing the heart away. He carved his usual smile into the man's flesh before killing him by slicing his throat.  He turned his head toward you with a small smirk.

“ Well, we should clean ourselves.”

“ And where should we do that, young man?” you asked, crossing your arms on your chest. Alastor guided you into the corridor and took you into a room and you gasped when you saw a bucket with water inside.

“ This is where they took their bath I guess.” He smirked at you as his hands began to undress you. He tilted his head when you were naked and walked away from him. “ My Love?”

“ Why should I clean with you? You bite someone else? Maybe next time you should carve runes into it, would you like that Mr.Sanglar?” you said, batting your eyes at him. 

Oh, darling, curse of sanity, blessing of his twisted mind. You were adorable. He wanted to dig his teeth inside your skin, marking you forever.

“ Still jealous, I see.” He said with a knowing smile. “ I would love to dig my teeth inside your heart my dear, feeling your heart beating against my lips, feeling your life inside my hands, being the one who can decide whether you live or die. I want to be the one who takes your life but at the same time… I don’t want you to leave me.” 

He could almost feel his member twitched while he imagined kissing your beating heart. Ahh… How lovely.

He looked as you sat, naked as the day you were born, blood decorating your beautiful form. You held your hand toward him, staring at him. You looked at him as he took your hand in his and kissed it. You were his beautiful angel…

You fell to your knees in front of him and hid your smirk when you saw his pupils getting bigger. You gently took off his pants without breaking eye contact with him. You are a little temptatious…

He didn’t need sex. He could feel it, he didn’t really care about it. But when you were here, giving yourself to him, it felt like something else. He wanted to control you at your weakest, he always loved when you gave him all control on your body knowing he was a monster in disguise. And yet, you never stopped kissing him, embracing him… 

As you were sucking his shaft, he couldn’t help but feel shivered. You were kneeling in front of him, just like those who were praying to their God for salvation. You were giving yourself. You were giving yourself to a monster, and you were aware of it. You were aware of his twisted mind. Yes , he was human, he had a beating heart, he looked human. 

But he wasn’t. He only stayed human because you were here. Because he knew you needed some kind of humanity from him. And he enjoyed giving it to you, because he knew that you couldn’t let him go. Ahh, were you his salvation? Or was he your salvation?

Who was in the right? 

Who was in the wrong?

He didn’t care, as long as you stayed by his side. As long as you accepted him. It was your fault he was getting worse and worse. If you really didn’t like his way, he would have hid it from you, he would have let you live this fantasy like a dream. 

But when he showed you a glimpse of his inner demons, when he opened the door a little so you could see a little of what was going on inside him, you slammed the door open and joined his monsters.

You didn’t try to stop him once, you joined his madness with your own. You embraced him, making him forget his fake humanity.

He gasped as he felt you licked your way up the shaft, savoring every last shred of skin and relishing in the flavor of him. 

He groaned as he stared at your eyes. How would others see you? Crazy? He would like to think that you see the both of you as unique. You were nothing like others. His threats were promises. And you accepted every single one of them. You were perfect.

You were looking at him like he was the best thing that happened to you. He chuckled darkly, how deeply did he taint you, he wondered. Deeply enough to make you pregnant with his child. A child that had half of his genes. Half of his madness… And you accepted it. Oh dear, you always accepted what he was giving you.

“ Darling… If you look at me like this…” he whispered in his deep voice, the one that he would never use for the radio. The one that was for you. And only you. 

You opened your mouth wider, staring at him, silently telling him to use you as he fit. He grabbed your hair and rolled his hips against you, his rhythm breaking as you felt him getting close.

What was bringing closer to his release wasn’t necessarily your skillful tongue on his member, but how you were looking at him, how you accepted the monster he was and worst, how you longed for it. Did you really think he didn’t know you always enjoyed when he was ready to lose his sanity because you were hurt? He knew you wanted him to be the monster he was.

How funny, he was the one trying to keep his composure for you and yet you were the one who wanted to see him being free of his chains that he placed on himself for you. You wanted the monster, you wanted him. You wanted him to kill, you wanted him to be crazy for you…

You temptatious wife of his.

You were crazy, you fell for him but what is horrible from the other’s point of view is that you fell for him, the monster he was trying to hide behind a cheerful smile. You fell for a monster and you stayed with him. You accepted him, around you, inside you…

“ Where do you want it?” he asked, panting.

‘ Inside. I want to swallow everything. ’

You vile creature… How dare you encourage him into caging you, making sure you would stay with him. He never was your Prince charming, the one who wished upon you when you were younger. The one you read about when you both were a child. He was the monster, the dragon that would keep you caged with him, killing anyone that would try to steal you from him.

Dear, you choose a monster willingly, you truly were crazy. But he wouldn’t change anything about you.

Alastor groaned and not a minute after he came inside your mouth. You closed your eyes as you took everything your husband had to offer. You gulped everything and opened your eyes when you felt him let go of your hair. You licked his slit one more time before leaning back, looking at him with a smirk.

“ Did you enjoy it?”

Alastor was looking at you before taking your knife and pressing it against your throat. You giggled as he smiled down at you. 

“ My turn, dearest.”

After two hours of making you scream inside the abandoned church, he decided it was time for you to get clean. He helped you clean yourself before taking care of himself. He knew he would have to take care of the body, furthermore he could feel new power awaking inside of him thanks to the two kills. He walked toward you and hugged you from behind.

“ Darling, why don’t you go to Alice’s right now? I’ll take care of the bodies.” Alastor whispered in your ear, his arms wrapping around you. “ You used a lot of your power today…”

“ What about you..?” You said, closing your eyes when you felt his lips against your cheek.

“ Me? Darling, I’m getting more powerful with each murder… I want to try those new powers on the corpses..” He purred darkly in your ear, squeezing your waist, his nails digging into your soft skin. You hummed when you felt his finger run on your skin before laughing as Alastor started to tickle your sides.

As your body twitched against his, you managed to catch his gaze. He was looking at you so fondly, so softly but there was still this glint, this madness that would appear when you were around him. How innocent you looked like this, laughing with a warm smile on your face because of him.

You kissed him to make him stop. He bit your lower lips with a smirk before stepping away from you. You smiled as your husband’s shadow gave you another dress. Alastor stared at you as he saw your expression turned grim. What were you thinking about… 

“ Darling?”

You turned toward Alastor with a relaxed smile. You kissed him, cupping his face between your palms. 

“ Then, I’ll wait for you at Alice.”

He nodded, staring at you until you left the room. He waited until he couldn’t feel you inside the church before getting dressed and walking toward the crime scene.

He smirked as he looked at the beautiful display. 

“ That was beautiful, Alastor. I’m impressed!” Kalfu said, clapping next to him.

“ I know. Now, about my powers? I can feel myself being stronger than usual.”

“ Of course. You ate some of my offerings.” Kalfu smirked at him. Alastor raised an eyebrow, he didn’t think about it. He just followed his pulsion… he frowned while Kalfu was laughing at him. “ So, I shall give you two powers because you really entertain me!”

Alastor crossed his arms on his torso with a smirk. Two powers ?

“ Isn’t it because two people have been killed tonight? You are rarely impressed by killing…”

“ Oh no, I would have given you four then!” Kalfu stared at him with a mocking smile. Alastor frowned, Kalfu was always laughing, lying, joking… His words never had heavy meaning, he always had to be careful with Kalfu. His words were like a sharp blade, depending on how you use it, you could hurt yourself. “ No, I shall give you two powers… One might be harder and more complicated to use, I don’t give it to anyone.”

Now that was interesting, Kalfu was known to be a bad spirit, but he wasn’t selfish with giving his knowledge or power when his protégée did something impressive. He didn’t find much information about people who once were Kalfu’s protégée, so he didn’t know much about his bound with the spirit.

Alastor looked at Kalfu who was staring at him with a condescending smile before Alastor stared at his hand that was burning. His eyes widened and he took a step back, staring at his hand. The flames were licking his hand, he could feel its warmth but it wasn’t hurting… But what was even more concerning, was that the fire was green.

He smirked as he observed the flames around his hand and then raised his hands, pointing to Louise’s corpse and the fire rushed toward the body, burning it until it became ashes. He chuckled as the flames disappeared when the body was nowhere to be found.

“ Useful. What about the second power?”

“ Impatient brat…” Kalfu smirked before giving him … a reddish cane? Alastor took the object, confused. The cane was light, he could easily manipulate around him. He looked at Kalfu who was pointing at the cane. “ Baron Samedi won’t like this power, just so you know.”

Alastor's eyes widened. If Baron Samedi wouldn’t like this power, that meant the power was about death.

“ My dear Alastor, my dear protégé, I shall give you this object that can contain souls. You can now cage  souls inside this cane. And if you wondered why a cane? Because Legba always had one with him, I only wanted to piss him off.”

Alastor smirked as he stared at the cane with a new form of interest. That’s why Baron Samedi won’t like this power, he had the power to trap a soul inside this object, which means they wouldn’t feel Death’s sweet embrace. 

He laughed maniacally, his head jerked back. What a useful power ! He would have loved to have this power when he killed his father! Trapping his father’s soul inside his cane, making sure he wouldn’t know how infinity rest felt like. He stopped laughing, looking at Kalfu.

“ What is the catch?”

“ The catch..? Heh,  So perspective, indeed, there is a catch. I don’t have to tell you but tonight has been really entertaining.For each soul trapped, you lose one year from your lifespan.”

Mhn… This power seemed more troublesome now… Furthermore–

“ Is my wife affected by it?”

“ I don’t have to tell you that, boy.”

Alastor rolled his eyes at the spirit, staring at the cane. Well, he could ask Baron Samedi for information, or Legba, he wouldn’t let anything happen to you. He sighed, giving the cane to his shadow who took it eagerly. He looked around before leaving this place. He didn’t have to clean it, there were satanic books everywhere, if the police were to come here, they would just say it was a sect.

He walked toward Alice’s house, staring at his hand with an amused smile. Well, he didn't know if he was going to use his cane but he was definitely using his green fire. Now that he thought about it, the fire’s color reminded him of Eamon’s glowing color..

He stopped in his tracks when he arrived toward the mansion. Something was wrong, definitely wrong. He vanished inside his shadow and rushed toward the house, sliding under the front door. He let his shadow darted toward Alice’s room, he could feel your presence there. 

He concentrated on your presence and he felt himself fall deeper inside his own shadow before standing from your shadow. He looked in front of you, and saw  a  fire going straight at him. He didn’t have time to think, he sent his own green fire, clashing against it to protect himself. He couldn’t see around you, where were you?

“ Well, Mrs. Sanglar, travel safely to hell.”

“ Not without me.”

You gasped when you saw a green fire clashing against Trey’s fire. Alastor stared at you, you were levitating in the air like you owned the place. You looked divine as you went toward him, leaving the air to fall toward him… But right now, he didn’t have time to be blessed by your beauty.

He looked in front of him and saw Trey Felleur. 

What as going on? How did this man manage to throw fire at you?

“ What is going on?” Asked Alastor, coldly. He stared at you, trying to find an answer in your eyes but as you saw his face you wouldn’t help but fall into his arms, grabbing at his arms, screaming in pain. 

“ He took her from us! He is the one that made our life so difficult!” You shouted as tears fell from your eyes.  Alastor was caging you in his arms, looking at Alice’s corpse on the bed. 

Alice was dead..?

It was a strange emotion he was feeling. He wasn’t sad, no, who do you think he was. But he was angry, from what he could see from Alice state, she had been slaughtered. She had been unfairly killed.

Alice was a useful person, she was also interesting when she wasn’t annoying… Who did it? Who killed someone that was useful to him?

Trey wiped the blood from his nose, smiling at Alastor like usual. He felt fury inside his body, he felt like he had been had, like a little boy who didn’t know adults were more intelligent than him. He was laughing at John’s stupidity and yet right now, he felt just as stupid. He didn’t understand what was going on. Trey killed Alice? But , why?

“ Oh, Mr. Sanglar, what a pleasure to see you.”

You lifted your head as you heard police’s sirens, you could even see the sirens light from the windows. You looked at Alastor, confused. Was he the one who called for the cops? But he answered you by telepathic, saying he didn’t. Why would he ask the police to come when he was ready to kill once more tonight.

You heard footsteps running toward the door, Alastor was keeping you against him and then you saw them. Two policemen slammed the door open with their gun aiming at everybody in the room.

“ Police!”

He almost wished for your father to be one of the officers but no, the one that was in the middle was John. Damn it, Alastor wanted to kill everyone in the room. Was he that blind since the beginning ? Did John and Trey play him like a puppet? For how long?

“ Well, Alastor, why are you here– You..” John seemed surprised to see you there but he quickly collected himself. He walked toward Trey and then froze when he saw Alice’s body in her bed. He put his hand on his mouth, color draining from his face. “ A-Alice..?” he asked, his voice shaking, walking closer to her corpse.

When he saw her state he closed his eyes and turned his head away from the scene. He seemed really affected.

“ God… What happened here..?” He asked Trey, his voice firm.

“ I don’t know. I was away for business, but when I came back home, my wife was already in that state.” 

“ Check the house!” John asked his subordinates before looking at you and Alastor. “ What are you doing here?” He asked, his voice cold. “ Killing your father wasn’t enough, you had to kill Alice too?”

“ Oh, so, my father has been killed? I didn’t know. And for Alice, pray tell, why would I have done that?” Alastor spat at John, looking at him with vicious mockery. It was impossible for John to be this clever, he couldn’t. The real danger was Trey Felleur.

 You walked toward John and took his hands, your voice shaking. He could see his cheeks turned red. What were you trying to do?

“ John… Trey was the one who killed her…” You said, your eyes wet. His eyes softened as he looked at you. 

“ Sweetie… I know.” Alastor almost scoffed. “ I know Alastor is forcing you to do things. He did voodoo stuff on you, right? Don’t worry, I’m going to protect you.” He stroked your cheek.

You felt like there wasn’t any escape. You slapped his hand away, frowning at him, your eyes shining with fury.

“ What are you talking about?” you spat at him, walking back toward Alastor.

“  You won’t go to jail, you might go into a hospital but–’’

“ Don’t talk about my wife. Don’t look at her. Don’t even think about putting her into a hospital because she is too clever for you to understand.” said Alastor as his arms went back around you. “ Call competent policemen to find Alice’s murderer.” He needed to be alone with you so you could explain what the fuck was going on here!

“ I will find them.”

“ Like you find my father’s?” spat Alastor with a mocking grin. “ Get out, John.” Alastor took your hand, watching as John was taken away by his subordinates because they found the butler of the home. You looked at Trey who was staring at Alastor with a calm smile.

“ I can’t wait to hear about my wife’s death in your next broadcast, Alastor.”

“ I can’t wait to speak about your death in my next broadcast, Trey.” said Alastor, full of himself like always. He needed to control the situation. But he was sure of one thing, his next victim would be Trey Felleur. He never saw you so heartbroken, he never felt so lost in a situation… He would make him live a living hell.

 Alastor carried you in his arms before leaving the room. You looked at Alice one last time, your eyes getting wet once more.

Alastor walked down the stairs and stopped when he spotted the butler who was crying, sitting on the sofa. You left Alastor’s arms and walked toward the butler, the one who had taken care of Alice since she was a child.

The butler lifted his head when he saw you and before you couldn’t realize it, he was hugging you while sobbing. You cried with him, hiding your face in his shoulder.  Alastor stayed back, he knew you were feeling a pain no power could heal.

“ Please,” he begged, “ find the one who did this and make them pay.” He sobbed against you. “ Alice wasn’t perfect… But she was… she was…”

You crushed him against you as Alastor answered for you.

“ We will find them, and get rid of them.” He said to the butler. The man nodded before stepping back and giving you a letter. 

Alastor carried you in his arms and walked away from the house surrounded by police’s car. He didn't know why, but he started to remember moments with Alice. From her first introduction where she was shy in front of him, to her last goodbye, asking you to come back to her.

She always wanted to try the newest fashion, she wanted to make him shut his mouth, saying his voice was a punishment from Hell, yet you always told him she would put the radio on when it was his broadcast when she was with you.

She was always pestering him with questions, asking him if killing was a hobby or a need. She was like an annoying… sister that would always open her loud mouth.

He wasn’t sad, he was just remembering her.

He vanished in his shadow with you until you were home. It was the first time he managed to do this on such a long distance. He put you on the sofa, carefully, never letting his eyes straight away from you.

“ I’m going to prepare a bath for you, okay, darling?” he asked.

You nodded slowly before looking at the letter.He didn’t know if you should open right now, he already guessed it was the name of Alice’s baby. You opened it under Alastor’s vigilant gaze. You took the paper and began to read.

My dear friend,  As you know, I’m pregnant! Alyzée and myself are looking for a name, and of course, you know I’m the best for nicknames. But to name a baby is another situation! I want my girl, because I know it’s going to be a girl, to be proud of her name. So I first thought, I should give her my name. But Alyzée said it was maybe a little too narcissistic of me… Bizarre, right?  So I thought a lot, and I wondered, as my baby godmother, as my best friend, would you accept if I named my baby after you?  Your best friend, Alice Richemont Ps: I know I made you read the letter in front of me, but I wanted to see your reaction ! I hope you will cry because I will! 

You cried once more, as Alastor hugged you against his torso. You couldn’t stop crying, even when Alastor was kissing your cheeks and eyes. He could only hold you as you were breaking down. He didn’t really know why, he wasn’t sad, he wasn’t… But as he hugged you against his torso, he couldn’t help but feel disappointment that he wouldn’t banter with Alice anymore.

6 March 1927, Alice Richemont, his most useful ally was taken away.

The next months were hard for you. He could see it. 

Alice’s funeral was pretty with all those flowers, there were many people, he wasn’t surprised Alice was this liked. Everyone was crying, even Trey. This man had such skills in acting, that was impressive. 

He stayed with you during all the funerals, he could feel how weak you were. You insisted on seeing Alice one last time in her coffin. He could see how your lips were wobbling, how your eyes were always full of tears… Trey would pay for that.

You had explained everything to him, how Trey was the stalker from your teenagehood and everything he did. He felt such anger when you told him this, he felt like an idiot. He should have seen the sign and yet…This man had manipulated him for too long. He couldn’t bear it, he was almost tempted to cage his soul inside his cane but he didn’t… after all, with all of this, he did not find the time to tell you about his new abilities.

When they lowered Alice underground he put his hand on your eyes,  whispering in your ears.

“ Don’t show darling. Not yet.” You nodded at his words. He knew you were burning with hatred, last time he saw you like that was maybe when you both fought against his father.

After the funeral, Alastor drove you home and your usual three spirits were waiting for you.

“ Little lady… I’m really sorry.” uttered Papa Legba, his usual warm smile no longer on his face. He really seemed sorry that you were experiencing such pain..

“ Were you… the one making me.. levitating?” you asked, as Alastor made you sit on the sofa and went to make you a hot chocolate while listening to the conversation. 

“ As Alastor is  getting stronger, your power also goes up. Not as powerful as Alstor, but still impressive for you. Levitation is a new skill of yours. I did help you. I didn’t want you to use too much energy and pass out with this new power of yours.”

Alastor sat next to you, placing his hand on your knees, his eyes never leaving your form.  He wasn’t surprised you were able to control the air. Since you were a child, you would always run like the wind was carrying you. 

He was trying to tell you about his new abilities through telepathy but you eyes stayed closed, it was like your mind was out of his reach which scared him. He knew you could hear him so why…?

Please, look at me…

You turned your face toward your husband whose body relaxed when he saw your eyes on him.  You gave him a small smile but he would take it. He was worried about you, he didn’t want you to vanish because of someone else.  Trey would pay, you didn’t have to worry about this.

After a small talk he looked as your shadow touched its belly with a sad face. Immediately you reacted, asking about your baby's well being. 

“ It is safe.” Baron Samedi said, confident with a small smile. “ I healed it.”

Alastor smirked, now that was interesting. Baron Samedi didn’t have any protégée… yet. But what if he decided that your baby shall be his protégée. The fact that he healed it without asking anything in return proved his point… But he wasn’t sure, maybe he really did it because he wanted it.

“ I told you, didn’t I? I don’t like children dying. They should live for as long as they can. I won’t ask anything in return, it was a selfish wish.” 

Well, if he could use his baby to have some control over Baron Samedi that would be perfect. Maybe his child could influence the spirit to give him more power over the cane that would caged souls.

“ And Alice’s baby..?”

Baron Samedi sat on the floor, smoking his cigar. He was the spirit that was handling the dead, he was the one saying that this person could die, or this person should stay on earth. Your question was interesting, why save your baby and not Alice’s? He tried to hide his grin, he was sure of it. Your baby would be Baron Samedi’s protégée.

“ Because her soul wasn’t mine to collect.” Baron Samedi sighed. “ The baby and.. Alice’s soul has been used for a ritual. That’s what I felt. Trey earned more power by this kill… Even if I think he only wished for the child’s death.”

“ And you can’t do anything about it?” Asked Alastor.

“ I could. We all can. But this is a silent law, if a soul is spoken for, you don’t touch it. The soul has to reach for you for us to be able to do something.” Baron Samedi sighed. “ I don’t even think Samael knows he has souls that are spoken on his name…” 

Alastor thought about it, Lucifer owned souls from what Baron Samed said, but he wasn’t aware of it? How could such a powerful being be so… Ah nevermind, right now he needed to focus on you. After talking with the spirit he took you to the bathroom and ran a warm bath.

Alastor asked you if you wanted him to stay with you, if he should take a break from work but you kissed him, saying you shouldn’t show any kind of weakness about Trey. He stared at you before smiling at you.

“ Let me handle it. At least, let me do my hunt alone.” He whispered against your naked skin. You closed your eyes before nodding. For once, you let him all the cards, he would do as he liked, no matter how cruel his methods were.

He asked Mimzy to make sure she kept an eye on the Felleur, after all, John liked to come to her bar with friends to drink. Alastor was sure he just came to drink to forget you weren’t his. How pathetic.

Months after this nightmare your belly had grown bigger, and you felt your baby move inside of you. The first time it happened, you screamed so loudly that Alastor almost tripped as he ran toward you. His shadow was already at your side, snarling at everything and anything. 

His eyes were burning red as he entered your room and you gestured him to come closer, placing his hand on your belly. He seemed confused, still smiling, but when he felt your baby kick, he gasped, taking back his hand. His shadow, though, was eagerly touching your stomach, with childish curiosity.

Did you scream because the baby move? Don’t scare him like this ever again.

Alastor’s eyes were wide, his stare not leaving your belly. You giggled as he touched your belly once more. He was so lost, you both created something that was living. He was curious about what the child would look like. 

During all those months he took care of you, and investigated Trey, from his childhood to his wedding with Alice. He would stay in his office and write everything about the man. Trey was a very pious man, he gave a lot of money to religious buildings, he would always go to church on Sunday.

The perfect religion man.

He groaned. He couldn’t find anything about Trey… Nothing ! He slammed his fist against his desk. How can this man be so perfect… He was the perfect white gentleman, nobody would try to stand in front of him.

Nobody but him. How he couldn’t wait to kill him, showing him he is nothing but a human against him.

Now, he hasn't killed anyone since Alice’s death. He was focused on Trey, yes, but Alice was also the one who would give him names about the people in the high sphere that were destined to be killed by him. With Alice’s death, his contact had vanished…

Well, almost.

The spies Alice put in the police were still there, and they were faithful to him. 

“ Seems like you are still useful, even in death, Alice.” He sighed with a smirk. Even dead, if he used her name, doors would magically open. He asked her spies to keep eyes on Trey but his most useful spy was the butler in the RicheMont’s house. The one who asked you to find the murderer.

Alastor sent him a letter to meet him and the man agreed. When he asked him if he could count on him to spy on Trey, the old man nodded with a determined gaze.

“ Alice was just like my own daughter. I’ll help you as I can Mr. Sanglar.”

He had a pawn inside Trey’s own house, he had pawns in the police and he had pawns inside the administration. Alyzée was still his ally, more than ever after Alice’s death. With all of this, he knew he was going to make Trey fall.  He knew Trey would slip. He wasn’t perfect, he was a human being. He would make an error and then,

Échec et Mat.

He discovered that Trey was the one behind his possession. It was not the christian couple, the eye he saw was a power from Trey. But he hasn't tried anything since then. Why? And furthermore, what was his new goal? Alice was dead, his reason for living was dead, why was he still alive?

He sighed, putting his face between his hands. From his investigation of the man, the only thing that could explain he was still alive was that he wanted to take revenge on him and you. He did everything to have Alice, but it ended up with her death. He must think you were the one that created this situation…

Now, the question was, was John with him on that. His spies in the police told him that not too long ago, John said he went to Alastor's mother's house and found human bones after digging into the forest. 

Alastor knew it was his father’s bones but John couldn’t use that against him. He trespassed again on a property that didn’t belong to him. But he would have to be more careful, John was getting closer to finding more clues about his murders. 

He looked at the clock and smiled when he saw it was time for him to go home. Finally, he couldn't wait to feel your arms around his body. He drove back home, the windows down, enjoying the wind on his sweating skin.

He parked his car and smiled when he saw you with his mother. He hugged his mother before kissing your forehead. He drove her mother to your mother’s place where she was supposed to eat.

His mother told him that she began to work with spirit once more. He didn’t ask her to stop or keep going, his mother had relations with other spirits, as long as she took care of herself, he would never stop her from reaching to spirits.

He drove back home and entered your house. He walked toward the kitchen and smiled when he saw his shadow helping you cut fruits. He walked toward you and hugged you from behind, kissing your neck before lifting slightly your belly. You moaned when you felt the weight being taken away from you. 

You turned your head toward him to ask him but he kissed youYou turned around and crapped your arms around his shoulder, kissing him back with the same gentleness he was giving you.Aah, how he loved coming back to you after a day of work.

“ Mhn?” He looked at his shadow. “ John was here?”

“ Oh, yes… Let me tell you.”

You both sat on the sofa in the living room, eating your salade de fruit, Alastor already giving up his bowl to you as you already finished your second bowl while telling him what happened. He knew you enjoyed this, and you didn’t want to ask him for his share of fruits. So, he would just give you his bowl when he could see you were still hungry, saying he wasn’t hungry anymore.

“ He didn’t. How could he think I did this all alone? I was helped by an angel.” He said, smiling as he kissed the back of your hand

“ An angel, huh?” you smirked as you ate from Alastor’s bowl.

“ A fallen angel then. I saw you flying high in the sky… you seemed so out of reach, you seemed to enjoy yourself…So of course, I had to drag you down to me so I could admire you closer.” He smirked down at you. “ You didn't really try to run away, dearest…”

“ Well, maybe it was because I saw you down there. I was curious, you looked almost as proud as if you could fly yourself. So when you decided to take me, I accepted because I didn’t want to fly in a sky where you weren’t.” You smiled at him.

His pupils dilated before he squeezed you in his arms, being mindful of your belly. You laughed as he bit your shoulder and your neck. You vile temptress… Saying those words that made him want to cut his name in your flesh…

“ Alastor… How is our child going to be? I wondered…” You looked at the ceiling as you felt your husband’s hand on your belly.

“ Mhn… Let's say. for their own good, they should have your innocent face so they can easily trick people. They should have my way with words. Darling, you are too emotional sometimes, so they should have my patience…” He mused as he looked at you.

“ Mhn… Are we going to show them Voodoo..?”

He wanted it. If his observations weren’t wrong, he knew Baron Samedi would take your child under his wing, making them his protégée. It would be very useful, it would make you both more powerful. And from his research, to kill Trey and John, you would have to have more allies in the spirit realm.

“ Mhn… I… Would you?” He asked you, his voice a soft whisper. He hoped you shared his view for your child’s future…

“I would.”

“ Well, that’s perfect! Because I think they should work with Kalfu because–”

“ No way Alastor, our baby isn’t going to work with Kalfu.” you said, looking at him in the eyes. He almost pouted which seemed to  make you grin.

“ But, they would work with a powerful spirit,” he mumbled. “ don’t you think? For their security?” Would you let your child work with the man who had power over death..?

“ They could work with Papa Legba.” You said, with a happy grin. Alastor rolled his eyes at you, making you laugh. Of course, you wanted them to work with Legba… You kissed his cheek and you both kept talking about your child’s future until it was time to go to bed. You took Eamon with you and walked toward your bedroom. Since your pregnancy, you were always hugging your plushie… How cute.

 Alastor laid next to you in bed with a book in his hand, reading. You closed your eyes and fell asleep with a little smile.

You woke up with a gasp, soaked in sweat. You sat up as you groaned in pain. 

“ Darling?”

Alastor stared at you, surprised. It hadn’t been two hours since you fell asleep. He watched as you took the blanket off you and he couldn’t help but swear.

“ Fuck…”

The bed was wet…so wet.. between your legs… What did his mother teach him already… Oh yes, did your water break?

“ Water, my Alastor broke!” you screamed, completely scared out of your mind. 

Ah, he was confused but he didn’t break completely, dear.

He sended his shadow to take what you would need in the hospital. Blanket, food, Eamon, anything. He kneeled next to you when he saw your panicked face.

“ Alright darling, breathe with me okay? You're okay, you are splendid.”

“ Alastor!” You screamed in pain.

“ Of course.” He stood up and carried you in his arms, running toward his car, being mindful of your shaking form. He scoffed when he saw his shadow panicking, taking everything with him– Did it just take a candle? Whatever, he didn’t have the time for this.

Alastor placed you in the car and drove to the nearest hospital while trying to calm you. He looked at his shadow which gave you Eamon as you screamed in the car. His shadow looked so scared, it was cute. But hearing your screams of pain was making him panicked. He knew that giving birth wasn’t easy, but giving life shouldn’t take a life in exchange !

“ Where is it?” you shouted.

“ What? What is where?” asked Alastor as he kept a hand on your knee and the other one on the steering wheel. What were you talking about? Did he forget something? DShould he send his shadow–

“ My shadow !” You cried, squeezing Eamon against you so hard he was wondering if you could break it.

“ It’s not important right now, darling.” said Alastor, his smile strained. Why were you thinking about your shadow right now?

“ I want my shadow!” You hollered. He drove faster, were you losing your mind? 

Alastor stopped in front of the hospital, left the car before taking you in his arms and running inside the building. The nurses took care of you but asked him to stay outside the room. He stared as the nurses disparear inside the room where he could hear your screams.

He chuckled, his smile widening. Did they really think he would stay here while you were screaming in pain. He walked toward the door, ready to bashed it open until he heard you.

“ Where is my husband?” You yelled. “ Bring him here!”

He took a step back and smiled at the nurses who had asked him, a moment ago, to stay here. He walked toward you once he was inside the room, taking your hand in his. You were sweating so much, how was he supposed to know if everything that was happening was normal?

“ Alastor..!” You cried as he kissed you multiple times before kissing your hand.

“ Darling, no matter what happened… Stay here for me.” He pleaded with his eyes. He didn’t know what was happening, you were screaming, the nurses were running everywhere and he was…

Useless.

“ I will stay…” You choked out those words.” I won’t leave you..” 

He hoped you would curse him with your words. You would stay by his side, forever and ever. Your existence was meaningless without him, and it was the same for him.You both wouldn’t live without the others. Was that a weakness or your force, he didn’t know, he didn’t care.

If someone told him he was at his weakness because he was with you, he would kill him to prove him wrong. You were making him so strong, you were… You were at his side.

 You will be by my side.

‘ I will stay, nothing will separate us. ‘

“ She is bleeding too much, call the doctors!”

He wanted to punch the nurses. She was making unwelcomed noises. His grip on your hands tightened, if he had to choose between you and the baby, he hoped you wouldn’t be mad at him for choosing you. His forehead was against your forearm. He didn’t know what to do. What should he do?

 Nothing can tear us apart. I dragged you on earth with me. You are my only light. You are my sanity.

“ Miss, please just a little more! Don’t give up!”

You never gave up. You would never give up, right? As long as he was breathing next to you, you didn’t have the right to give up. He broke your wings so you couldn’t fly away from him.

‘ I joined you… Because I wanted to live this life with you… And the next one too…’

 Darling..?

‘Alastor…’

His hand was shaking. You wouldn’t leave him. You didn’t have the right. From the moment you came inside his home when you were a child, from the moment you kept pestering him so you could be friends, from the moment you accepted to kill his father with him, from the moment you accepted to be his wife… You cursed yourself each time you made those decisions, you couldn’t run away now.

Alastor… We have a girl…

Alastor’s head jerked up and he stared at you with his eyes wide open. He stared at you and only you.  He didn’t care about the baby right now, he needed to be sure you were okay. When he saw you smiling, his body relaxed and he kissed your forehead, pushing his lips against your skin, his body still shaking a little.

Alastor then looked at the baby in your arms. 

“ She has my eyes…” Alastor whispered, astonished. It was strange… seeing something that he always saw on himself, on somebody else.

“ You seem surprised…” you whispered, your voice hoarse from your screaming.

“ No… it’s just…I mean.. The way they shine… It’s definitely from you. “ You watched as your husband looked at your daughter.  How strange. His daughter… had his complexion, the same eye color.. Yet, the way her eyes were shining reminded him of you. Was that the definition of a child? 

“ She is beautiful, how should you name her?”

You looked at Alastor who was staring at you. You both have talked about multiple names depending on the gender of your baby.He knew what you wanted to name your first child. When you first told him, he was confused. Naming a baby after someone who died.. But then, he began to think about it.

Alice was the first one to encourage you for this relationship, she accepted the both of you when he told her he killed his father. Naming his child after a dead person… Naming his first child after one of the people who made an impact on his life… didn’t seem so bad. 

My child, might you be as useful as she was.

“ Yes… she shall be named…Alice.” 

Tag List: @lukneetoonz @martinys-world @littlepoetnova @sirens-and-moonflowers @eris-norwega @tiredflame132 @mo-0-o @vvollerie @sodavizz @boogiemansbitch @tessemerick @slytherin4ever @kammsinn @alastorssimp @t0xic1vi @diamond-almond @fangirlbitch02 @saccharine-nectarine @thenorthnightingale @bibliophile-yomna @itzjustj-1000 @mothraantics @yourdoorisunlocked @phamtasic @karmakillz @holographicage @sarcastic-sourwolf @akuraluna2468 @everwolf-20 @thesunandmoons-blog @songbrita @noraunor @fandomsbookclub @hokkaido97 @catticora @gasiacos @charlottemorningstarsdarling @nekee-lilac02

[marsbutterfly]

Maybe a one shot where Hamji x fem!reader both have matching eye injuries after shiganshina and it’s just soft with a lil angst and they’re just taking care of each other maybe with a lil bit of protective hangi

Request 2: Requests! 😍 how about a hurt comfort with Hange? 🥺

a/n: thank you for sending these my way. Y'all know how much I love writing for Hanji <3

A Promise Is A Promise

Summary: After losing Moblit, Hanji risks losing you too.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wattpad! | AO3!

The darkness of the night swallows you. Your footsteps echo through the nearly empty hallways, a few familiar faces come and go, bringing light with them that doesn’t last, but gladly nobody stops to talk to you.

The only thing visible for miles is the flame coming from a small lantern that rests on Hanji’s table in her office. She has been cooped up there ever since you returned from Shiganshina, trying to wrap her head around everything that has happened.

Losing her eye was a constant reminder of everything else she had lost. Moblit, Erwin, she nearly lost you too. If it wasn’t for Marlo, who pushed you out of the line of fire for the Beat Titan’s rocks, you would have been gone along with the recruits. The scar on her face is a representation of the lives that didn’t get to return.

The discovery that humanity lives outside the walls was a blow none of you saw coming. And what is more disappointing is the reason why you have been condemned to live your life like this, because of something done hundreds of years ago, something that had nothing to do with your friends or your family.

At each look in the mirror, you would see your missing right eye. Every time you had to change the gauze, the fresh scar on your face would remind you of those who you had lost in Shiganshina.

During the first couple of weeks back, you and Hanji had been inseparable. Caring for each other though neither of you had any energy left. But once she was officially nominated the Commander of the Survey Corps, something in her attitude changed.

A week has passed since the last time you laid eyes on Hanji. You have tried knocking on her door at every hour of the day in the hopes of eventually getting her to open up to you but no such thing happened.

Instead, the only person who was allowed in the Commander’s office was Levi. From the outside, you could hear as they argued.

“You have to stop pushing Y/N away.” He says and you begin to hear rushed footsteps towards the door. Your first reaction is to hide at the end of the hallway, behind a large vase with green plants potted. “This is hurting the both of you. Put an end to your own misery.”

The hand opening the door didn’t belong to Levi but to the other person present in the room. “Leave my office. Now.” She says, voice echoing through the nearly empty hallway.

“You are just pitying yourself.” The man says, stomping towards the exit. His words earned a shriek from Hanji in response, who immediately slammed the door shut once Levi had made his way out.

In the silence of the night, the crashing sound that comes from her office is incredibly loud. You can hear the table being flipped and papers that once rested above the wooden surface now being thrown around.

Hanji’s voice comes from the small room, her words are mumbled under her breath so you can’t quite make up what she is trying to say but after a few seconds the word fuck filled the atmosphere around you as she screams from the top of her lungs.

Worried, you knock on the door gently only to find Hanji on the floor, her knees close to her chest while her head is buried. She barely looks up to see who it is and part of you feels as if she already knew.

“Are you ok?” You ask in a hushed tone, slowly closing the door behind you. “I mean, I know that is a stupid question but… are you?”

“Please, go away.” She says, her voice trembles as she raises her head to look at you. “Leave me alone.”

“You’re bleeding.” You say, noticing the eye bandage she has on is as dirty as it could possibly be, old blood has stained the once white cloth and new blood begins to pour down her face amongst the tears.

“I don’t care, just leave!” She begs once more, pointing at the door. You rush towards the bathroom only to hear as she grunts in response to your actions.

You wash your hands with soap, making sure they are as clean as possible. Afterwards, you take one of the small, white washcloths that rest in the cabinet before making it wet.

“Hanji, please. Let me take care of your eye.” You plead in a desperate attempt to reach her face with a wet, warm cloth. She dodges your hand as if it was a bullet and rushes towards the other side of the room, far away from you.

“No.” She says and you notice fresh blood mixing with her tears as they reach her chin. “I deserve to suffer.”

Her words feel as if a pile of bricks has now fallen on your head. A pain in your chest that can only be described as a heartbreak as you look at her broken figure on the floor. Her hands are trembling while her back rests against the cold, stone made walls.

She sits down on the floor again, boots kicking the air in an attempt to release any kind of pent up frustration.

“Moblit is dead.” She says as quietly as a whisper.

“Yes.” You reply though she didn’t ask you a question. “We have to keep carrying on his memory so more people will know about the amazing person he was. How brave and selfless. He died protecting you because he knew how important your survival would be.”

“He died saving me!” Hanji exclaims as she points to herself. “Do you have any idea how soul crushing that is?”

“No.” You say, allowing your back to slide down the wall towards the floor as you sit down, legs crossing before you. “Marlo pushed me out of the way before the Beast Titan’s rocks had the time to hit me and I lost consciousness. By the time I woke up, Levi had already taken him down and everybody else was gone.”

“Do you remember losing your eye?” She asks, gently taking her hand and placing it before her bandages.

“Yes.” You reply, unwrapping the dressing that covers the right side of your face, allowing your scar to breathe for the first time in days. “The pain I felt once the shattered glass hit it was so intense that I believe it to be the reason why I passed out.”

“Do you regret joining the Scouts?” Her voice is soft and you take this as an opportunity to walk closer to her, washcloth still in hand as you make sure she is focused on your scar and not on your movements.

“No.” You reply quickly, “Because that is how I met you and I would give away my remaining eye if it meant I get to spend the rest of my days by your side.”

You treat her like a delicate bird, scared that she will move away but she does no such thing. Your hand reaches for her face slowly, touching the smooth skin before beginning to unwrap the bandages that cover her eye.

She removes her glasses to give you enough space to work on her face. The injury is swollen, definitely infected from all the time it spent sitting around in the dirty fabric so carefully touch her cheek with your dominant hand, using the cloth to brush away the blood.

It is nearly engraved in her skin: all the dirt and pain she has been going through.

Once the washcloth is covered in dried blood, you rush towards the bathroom to rinse it out. Beside the toilet, you see a small, grayish bucket and decide to fill it up with warm water and soap.

Your eyes are constantly looking at the mirror, checking to see if Hanji has moved at all. She is still curled up in the exact same spot you left her.

Finally, you exit the bathroom and begin to reach for her. Your footsteps must have echoed a bit too loudly because Hanji trembles in response to the sound of your boots. Immediately after seeing her reaction, you undo the laces that tie it together before throwing the shoes in another part of the room.

Kneeling before her once again, you tell her to focus on your eyes. The soothing color Hanji has grown so used to and has been aching to see once again.

Belatedly you notice the pool of blood that forms on her chin, dripping onto the dark, wooden floors. It takes a second for you to notice that it comes from a couple of busted stitches.

“I need to re-do these, ok?” You say, pointing at her eye while looking around the medical bag that was once hidden underneath her desk and she nods. “It won’t be pleasant and I’m sorry.”

As the needle and the thread move ever so lightly around her skin, she doesn’t say a word. Not a whimper, not a sound. She sobs silently and you realize in that moment that the person you once knew is now a broken shell of their past self.

“Why have you been ignoring me?” You ask, placing down the instruments onto the floor and picking up a new roll of gauze. Your fingers move around her face with ease as they are used to the feeling of her skin.

“I couldn’t bring myself to look at you.” She replies, quietly lifting her chin so you would be able to have better access.

“But why not?” Yet another question leaves your throat, yet another question you didn’t expect an answer for. Your bottom lip sticks out as it trembles. “I could have helped you.”

Truth is this is one, if not the first time, you have ever seen Hanji speechless. She always had something to say but this time she looked as if exhaustion had been clouding her brain and she couldn't think through the fog.

You watch as her lips move, opening and closing without a single word making its way past. Eventually, she shrugs her shoulders in defeat while avoiding your gaze.

Gently, you take your hand over to her chin. Her brown eyes, which resembled the dark beverage from beyond the walls, meet yours and you can’t help the tears that begin to form. The streaks run down your face like the rain but you can’t look away from her.

“I miss Moblit.” She says, trembling hands reaching for your back until the very second where she pulls you close to her chest. The feeling is something you are all too familiar with and it feels like no time has passed since the last time you’ve been in her arms.

“I know you do.” You respond, offering her the best smile you can at this moment.

“I’m done ignoring you.” She says, planting a delicate kiss on the top of your head. “I will make something useful of the life I was given.”

“My love, you will be the greatest Commander the world has ever seen.” You say and notice how she has begun to turn into a blushing mess.

“Shut up.” She stutters. Hanji’s gaze turns away from yours as she looks out the window, quietly watching as the leaves dance with the wind outside.

The second knuckle of your index finger brushes against her face ever so lightly and she shrugs in delight in response to your touch. Your eyes fell from her smooth skin towards her parted mouth and suddenly your lips touched hers. She could not resist the kiss yearned for all her life.

A sound escapes her throat, no longer than a hum. In her breath, you can taste the lavender tea she had earlier that evening. It’s a soothing flavor, to which your brain associated with all the nights you stayed awake together, sharing stories, theories, and much more.

To pull away could only be compared to torture. You wish for that moment to never end, for Hanji to remain at this exact same spot until the day your bodies expire from this earth and you move onto a better place.

The shine in her eye is back for the first time since your return from Shiganshina and you couldn’t wish for anything else in the entire world.

“I couldn’t do it before but…” She begins to say and you notice as her brain scrambles to try and find the right words, “From now on, I will protect you from any harm that might come your way.” She finishes.

“Do you promise?” You ask, touching your forehead to hers while your index finger brushes against her cheek once more.

“I promise.”

Tag list: @tsukidrama - @ackermanslutsstuff - @127moonshua - @cess02 - @unadulteratedtreecrusade - @annieleonhardtsbitch - @totoroshirts - @wheepingsunflower

[light-yaers]

Fools in the Darkness: Chapter One

Darkling x Reader

Warnings: Death, violence, drugs (Parem), NSFW and sexual content. This content is explicit and 18+ at some points.

A/N: I caved. I am a wildly stupid individual who has no control over her actions. I know I might come to regret posting this so fast and thus forcing myself into my third ongoing x reader fic, but I also just generally don’t care. I’m still working on No Saints and Sweet Esacpe, just as a slower pace due to my mental health, but this baby here floated out of me like melted butter. I’ll be alternating between uploading this fic and my currently ongoing others! I just had to get this shit out of my system about Shadow and Bone, fr. 

Fic Masterpost

Word Count - 3.4k

Chapter One

Ketterdam covered up your secrets perfectly. It’d only been a matter of weeks since you’d fled there, after travelling the exhausting journey across East Ravka until the Fold had stood before you; brooding, dangerous, a death-wish just to look at, let alone enter it.

Maybe you had to thank him for one thing, General Kirigan, because without him—

You never would have crossed the Fold on your own.

Maybe Ketterdam was made for a person such as yourself. Dark, danger around every corner, full to the brim with power-hungry men and women trapped behind silks. You’d never warmed to anyone yet, but that wasn’t a surprise—it was easy to hate people in the Barrel, but even easier to take their kruge and send them sailing upon the True Sea without another glance.

Kerch was a merchant port, stuffed with expensive clubs and those with no money troubles, armed and ready to open their pockets if they so wished. There were two sides of the docks—Fifth Harbour; the lavishly bright sector for the rich and wealthy—and the Barrel; a breeding ground for crime, killings and losing all of your kruge in one night.

You’d made acquaintances with the Barrel rats from the very beginning, hearing stories about the destruction they caused. You’d much rather not be on the side of the wealth, but the side of fear.

“I found her wandering the harbour, Kaz,” A petite lady in dark clothes spoke to her boss. She’d dragged you from the bustling harbour, flying you through the dark streets of Ketterdam. You tried to hear her footsteps across the cobblestones, but she left no footprints, like a Wraith in the night.

Kaz approached his desk then, stepping into the small lamp light of his office in the Slat. Kaz Brekker was a man that no one wanted to cross. With his clenched jaw and unforgiving stares, the Bastard of the Barrel was cut-throat in every sense of the description.

“She’s a rat, Inej. Not our responsibility—,”

“Do you see the clothes she’s wearing?” Inej cut over Kaz, stepping towards him abruptly. He stayed in place, looking at his Wraith in the eyes, unwaveringly. He regarded her for a moment, taking all of her in, before turning back to you.

His eyes skimmed you up and down, traversing the darkened and muddied fabrics on your body.

“A Kefta,” He whispered it, his eyes widening. “It doesn’t look like the usual Second Army attire,” He added. You perked up, trying to keep your expression as blunt as possible. After your journey, it wasn’t hard not to show anything—you’d been forced to endure a quiet and agonising journey for a month, while trying to stay in the shadows at the same time.

“Because it’s not,” You spoke up, for the first time since entering Brekker’s office. Kaz turned his attention to your face, stepping forward menacingly. His crow-headed cane slammed the wooden floorboards threateningly, but you weren’t scared—

You’d crossed the fucking Fold on your own. Nothing scared you anymore.

“Who are you?” He questioned, trying to keep his voice steady. Men like Kaz tried not to show off what they felt either, but the curiosity in his tone was undeniable. You cleared your throat.

“How much time have you got?”

Fjerda, 1 Year Ago

It was a risk to take, that was for sure. But choosing whether to go through the Fold or around it was a no brainer. Evidently, it had paid off so far, as you and your sister travelled through the barren coldness of Fjerda, headed for the Ravkan border.

“How much farther?” Your sister chided. She was older than you by a year, but on this mission, you’d taken charge. You shuffled into your pack, pulling out a tattered map and a compass. You set the point to North, calculating the miles you had left to trudge to safety.

Your sister wasn’t Grisha, no—you were. A Squaller; untrained, unenthusiastic about your power and utterly afraid of the Druskelle. But you’d had no choice in getting you and your sister safely around the Fold. There was no other way to go from where you’d first found asylum in Novyi Zem; going through Fjerda was the safest route to the Ravkan army.

You smiled at the map. “Five miles. Then we’ll be in Ravka,” An exhausted but relief filled scoff fell from your lips. You locked eyes with your sister, before the two of you embraced tightly. “We’ll be safe soon,” You whispered in her ear, enjoying the small warmth you got from her bare cheek pressing against your jaw.

“You’ll be safe soon,” She replied, bringing a hand to rest on the back of your neck. She pulled away then, as the tears began to well in her crystalline eyes. “You put yourself in this danger to keep me safe. I’m the older sister—I should be keeping you safe,”

“It was this, or through the Fold,” You spoke, furrowing your brows at her. “I’d rather take on twenty druskelle than step foot in that heaping mound of darkness,” Laughter trickled from both sisters, floating over the snow-covered trees and giving you hope.

You both continued forward tirelessly, mercilessly, trudging through inches of untouched snow and praying to whichever god out there who was listening. You prayed for your sister’s safety, for a safe life for her in the First Army. You prayed that you could stay with her—

A Squaller you were, yes, but over your dead body would you be taken to the Little Palace. You knew that’s where Grisha were trained for the King, you knew it was different. Your abilities didn’t define you; Saints, you barely even used them.

They were unpredictable. And you were scared of hurting those around you without meaning to. Ever since an incident when you were younger, you’d almost been afraid of your own power. You kept it hidden from those who you didn’t know closely.

Those who knew you were Grisha in Novyi Zem called you zowa—blessed, in Zemeni. It also meant Grisha, so you didn’t know if they were simply calling you what you were, or if they were commenting upon how strong your Squaller abilities were.

You’d never even met another Sqauller. You had nothing to compare yourself off of.

With a mile until you hit the Ravkan border, you stopped abruptly. Plumes of smoke rose high above the skies, coming from somewhere further on before you. You stuck your hand out, halting your sister from walking any further.

You were silent, listening for any signs of breakings twigs, compacted snow, or other indications of druskelle being near.

“Saints, you look like a fentomen,” Your sister scoffed beside you.

“Quiet,” You hit back with.

“What is it?” She spoke again, quieter this time, but not by much.

“Quiet,” You hissed.

You both waited another few minutes, silently standing like statues in the garden of the Grand Palace. You let out shaky breaths as you eventually straightened yourself once more, clutching onto your sister’s forearm for dear life.

“It’s okay. We just need to be wary,” You whispered. She nodded in response.

You both set off once more through countless trees and untouched snow. But you didn’t get far—until two druskelle spotted you. Neither of you could speak Fjerdan, and you were a fucking Grisha. This couldn’t have been any worse, when you were so close to being free.

“Hje marden,” One of them spoke. They were both tall, with broad shoulders and the white hair and blue eyes of Fjerda. Neither had beards—they were in training to being full druskelle. The trainees were always worse than their commanders, you thought. They would do anything to prove themselves to their superiors.

You tried not to shake as they circled you and your sister.

“I’m sorry, we don’t speak Fjerdan,” You said honestly. The druskelle immediately changed. Their hands rested upon their guns, ready to fire if need be. You raised your hands to the sky as your expression dropped. “Please! Please, we are just travellers—uh—we are perjenger—,”

“Perjenger? Travellers? To where?” The second druskelle spat.

You glanced at your sister quickly, knowing that if you answered Ravka, you’d both be shot immediately. Ravka was at war with Fjerda—Grisha were at war with Druskelle.

“Kerch,” You said strongly. “We have to go through Ravka and Shu Han. We can’t cross the Fold,”

For a moment, you thought it had worked. The druskelle looked at each other gruffly, muttering some words in Fjerdan. You clutched onto your sister’s arm tightly, not planning on letting her go now until you’d both crossed the border.

“Wait here,” One of the men said, as he began trudging back through the snow. He disappeared in the white landscape, leaving you with one druskelle.

You stayed quiet, feeling the warmth of your sister next to you. You glanced at her then, traversing your gaze over her side profile. Her nose, which was the same as yours; her eyes, brighter and more beautiful than your own, mimicking your mother; her hair, lighter and softer than yours. She was shorter than you, smaller than you, getting a lot of genetics from your mother, while you took from your father greatly. His height, his broad shoulders, his darker hair.

But she was your only family left, your only love and focus and everything.

And you were less than a mile from getting her to safety. You were less than a mile from being free of this Saint forsaken country, full of killers and fascists and men who only cared about power.

It was one druskelle against a Squaller. One against one. You could do that. You could beat him.

That’s what made you push your sister back, falling into the snow slowly as you brought your hands together. The druskelle yelled as he saw your movements, trying to aim his gun at you between your eyes, but it was too late—

In a flash, you summoned a storm that whipped him off of his feet. It circled him, gliding him backwards through the trees as you kept pushing and pushing, ignoring the raging winds as they whipped your hair from your face and agitated the snow on the trees.

“Come on!” You yelled behind you, as your sister scrambled up from the floor to stand beside you. She held your arm sturdily, watching fearfully as the druskelle struggled against the rapid winds that you wielded.

You thought that was it—you could both run with the time you’d bought—but that’s when the entire druskelle camp rocketed through the tree line. They yelled and boomed as they came to aid their brother, pushing back against the furious winds you were trying desperately to wield.

“Drüsje!” The commander yelled, storming through the group as he set up the largest of their guns—a machine gun, aimed and ready fire. You gasped, and for a second the winds wavered—they wavered long enough for the machine gun round to penetrate the small snow snuffed tornado that you’d created—

Until those bullets trickled over the blanketed ground, moving steadily closer and closer—

Until one landed straight through the heart of your sister.

All you remembered was that time slowed, then, as you saw the bullet exit her shoulder blade. She fell to the floor, unclasping her hands from your forearm and collapsing into a shocked heap on the floor. You remembered the way her blood dyed the snow. You remembered the way her eyes stayed open—

And then you remembered screaming.

It was a blur, as you tensed all of your limbs to the point where they yelled beneath your skin. You mustered all of your strength into this one storm; one that was merciless and unforgiving, circling all the druskelle in the clearing around you. You knew that soon all of the air would fade from within the eye of the storm that whipped devilishly around them.

You knew that soon they’d all begin to run out of oxygen and pass out, or better yet—maybe their hearts would stop. Cease to beat, drained of any energy to fire more rounds of bullets or kill Grisha for no fucking reason.

The storm was the largest you’d ever summoned, engulfing the entire druskelle camp and uprooting trees from their homes in the cold, hard Fjerdan ground. You saw them get sucked into your whirlwind, flying high, high, high until they eventually slipped out of the storms’ gusts; then they fell back down to earth, landing aggressively and dangerously on the ground below and being spat out at any random location.

You didn’t stop the storm, not even when you saw a tree fall atop a druskelle, crushing him where he’d stood moments before. The commander was the last one standing, rising above his suffocating men to look at you, face on, menacingly.

“Drüsje like you deserve to lose that which you love,” He boomed, using his remaining energy to cast you to Hell.

You wasted no time when you adjusted your stance, focusing the brunt force of the storm onto him—you decreased the eye of the storm until it flowed over him, and only him, grunting all of your strength into the circling winds that now surrounded him utterly and completely.

You collapsed at the same time that the commander did, falling into inches of snow and crawling exhaustedly to your sister. She was motionless, cold, her lips turning blue by the second as her blood continued to flow on Fjerdan soil. Dead. Gone.

Tears cascaded down your cheeks without any indication of stopping, but you couldn’t sob. It was impossible when you were already holding your breath, too afraid that if you were to breathe, only screams would pour from your coarse lungs.

The clearing was deserted, now, as druskelle bodies laid motionless on the snow-covered ground, their camp up ahead completely destroyed. Broken branches, twigs, tree trunks were dotted around, acting as just another indication of the destruction that you were truly capable of. Saints, you wanted to know if you were a normal Grisha, a normal Squaller, since those old women on Novyi Zem had looked at you like a weapon from the first day you could summon and control hurricanes and tornados at will.

Your fingers found your sister’s forehead then, swiping the hair off of her face. You cupped her cheek, laying your other hand upon her stomach. “Vaarwell,” You whispered shakily. “I’m sorry—I’m so sorry—,”

“Who’s there?” A voice spoke up from just beyond the clearing. You got up from the floor immediately, feeling a strange sense of power surrounding you. You waited silently, until First Army soldiers made their way to the clearing. A few stopped and checked the pulses of the druskelle upon the floor, before continuing forward until you were finally spotted.

A young man approached you slowly, holding his gun tightly, draped against his shoulder. “Was this... you?” He asked, looking you in the eye. His gaze dropped to the ground by your feet, seeing the blood-stained snow where your sister lay dead, before he looked back up to you.

He was joined by the rest of his crew. They slowly approached you, almost as if they were trapping you within a circle of their bodies. You stepped back once then, keeping your chin high and proud. The young man at the front was trying everything to keep you calm, you could see it in his eyes, but what he didn’t know was that you were seething—

And nothing would stop that.

Without your sister, you’d be taken to the Little Palace. Without knowing she was safe in the First Army, nothing would get you through the rest of your life—

You were dead. Inside and out. Nothing would change that.

Without a word, you brought your hands together, far too quickly for any of the soldiers to raise their weapons in defence. You ignored their begs and pleads as you circled them within in your storm, slowly suffocating the air out of their lungs and seeing the way their eyes bulged uncomfortably in their skulls.

“General!” The young man shouted, clutching at his throat as he tried desperately to suck air into his lungs. His voice echoed throughout the clearing, travelling through the trees slowly, until an eery type of silence settled into the air around you.

That’s when he arrived—his horse just as black at the Kefta on his frame, the stubble on his chin and the irises of his eyes. He dismounted, ignoring the cries from the soldiers within your raging storm as he began to approach you, step by step by step, crunching through the snow broodingly.

You knew who this man was; General Kirigan of the Second Army.

The Darkling.

He got ever closer, walking around the circular storm. The gap was beginning to bridge, and the more it did, the more you faltered. He took one more step, and you lost it.

“Stop!” You yelled. “Don’t come any closer, Darkling,” He stopped on command, keeping his arms by his sides, but the corners of his mouth upturned into a smile. “You find me amusing?” You spat.

“By the looks of this,” He gestured to the druskelle. “You were trying to get to Ravka. We’re here to help, yet you’re trying to suffocate my men,” You ignored his words, but you found your energy waning slightly—or maybe your heart was finally giving in. It didn’t really want to hurt anyone else, didn’t want to cause more damage than was already on your hands. “You’re a Squaller?” Kirigan asked, and that surprised you.

“Isn’t this how all Squaller’s are?” You asked in reply. Kirigin raised a brow at you.

“Not usually,” He said honestly. “You’ve never met another Grisha before?”

“I know what you’re doing,” You furrowed your brows at him. “You’re trying to distract me, to make me let my guard down and go with you willingly. I’d rather die than work for the King at the Little Palace,” Your breaths were getting more laborious the longer you held on to the storm. You were losing energy rapidly.

“Interesting,” The Darkling muttered.

There were a few moments then, where he was simply staring at you. Regarding you, analysing you, or perhaps— waiting for you to lose all of your energy. You were in a somewhat sticky situation, losing a grasp on your power with every passing second and feeling the intense gaze of Kirigan to your left.

“Let go,” He spoke softly. “I can see you’re tired, you don’t truly want to kill these men,”

“You don’t know anything about me,” You forced your eyelids to stay open as a wave of exhaustion flowed through you.

“And you know me?” He chided. You moved your gaze to him then, as your limbs finally lost momentum. Your hands dropped to your sides, your storm dissipating into the cold air at the Fjerdan border. Soldiers sucked in breaths noisily, gaining back their vision.

You stumbled back once, forcing yourself to stay standing despite the immense urge to pass the fuck out. Kirigan stayed still the entire time, a softness on his jaw that you hadn’t been expecting.

“Everyone knows you,” You mumbled. “I never wanted to meet you, though,”

Your heart jolted then, when the General let out a scoff. You forced yourself to move. Step by step through disturbed snow, until you were back where your sister lay on the floor. You collapsed to your knees unwillingly, as your body threatened to blackout at any moment.

You laid a shaky hand on her collarbone, curling your fingers up to her jaw. Kirigan moved slowly in your peripheral, turning towards you but staying at the distance he’d always been.

“Don’t take me to Os Alta,” You muttered. “Please, don’t take me,” You looked up at the General with pleading eyes.

“Why?” Kirigan whispered with furrowed brows, as if he was trying to work out why on earth you didn’t want a life within the royal Ravkan walls, living in luxury, fighting with other Grisha and honing your power.

Your vision began to blur then, as black spots dotted the white snow that surrounded you.

You never answered the General, your body gave up before you could—

And all you saw was black.

Tag list of those who were interested from my earlier post (tell me if you want off/on the list): @notawritergettingtherethough @rbg1993 @mayallyourbaconburn @luminous-99 

[thatgoblin]

Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy x Rookie Reader Headcannons

Leon

At first you were in awe of your lead. THE Leon S. Kennedy was showing you the ropes and helping train you for the job you'd dreamed of. Hero worship was common in this line of work, but you did your best to keep it to a minimum. You didn't want to embarrass yourself after all.

In place of that hero worship came this insatiable need to make Leon proud. Whether it was memorizing and nailing every written exam or physical test, you wanted to earn his praise.

You worked hard, harder than almost everyone it seemed. Leon never saw you slacking and saw how serious you were about the job. Protecting people was what you had always wanted to do with your life.

So when the grades came back that you weren't doing so hot, you were mortified. How could you let this happen? You didn't slack off, you studied everything you could get your hands on, hell you watched instructional videos on YouTube before bed! But you still weren't making a passing grade.

You thought you would be okay with the physical part, but no matter how hard you trained, no matter the extra hours you put in, you just couldn't seem to get what everyone else did. The moves were simple, why couldn't you just grasp them?

The only thing you thought you had going for you was the firing range, but even that was less than acceptable. Every time you tried to do something the pressure got to you and you messed up. You were so busy trying to make sure you didn't fail Leon that you were failing yourself.

It was when you were called into your commanding officer's office to speak about your grades that you were sure you were done. You were given two weeks that were used for break to study and practice and retest. But you'd already had nearly four months and the best you could do was subpar.

You were in your room, packing your bags because you knew you were going to be kicked out of the program when Leon showed up.

"Hey, Kid, you leaving for break?" He asked as he leaned against the door frame of your dorm.

"Uh. . . No," you said, hanging your head in shame. "I'm flunking out. Figured that it would just be easier to pack my bag now than wait later till I was officially asked to leave."

"What? How are you flunking?" Leon asked, straightening up. "I watch you every day and you're one of the hardest working cadets I've seen."

"Hard work doesn't mean much when you can't apply it correctly," you said. "I can't get the fighting technique right, the written exams are all a bust, and I can't even shoot a gun right. I don't deserve to be here."

"Have you asked for help or for someone to tutor you? That's what I'm here for, you know," he said, moving into the room to sit on the bed next to you.

You stared at the floor as you took a deep breath, feeling all the insecurities come rushing through to the surface.

"I didn't want to disappoint you," you said. "I mean, I wanted to do it all myself without help. I wanted to make you proud that you were my lead. If I was always asking for help, what good does that do? It shows that I can't do something on my own and need my hand held like some baby."

Leon sighed as he folded his hands together between his knees.

"I get it. I do. Wanting to make your leader proud and show how good you are, but we're a team here. No one is by themselves. You're only so good as your team is and if you're not doing well then that's a reflection on us," he said.

"Oh god, are you guys getting in trouble because of me?" You asked, looking at him horrified that you were possibly making things hard for your team.

"No, no, I mean. . . We're a team for a reason. You have to lean on us and trust us so when we need to, we can lean on you and trust you. If you need help studying or practicing outside of classes, I'll help you. That's why I'm here. It can be hard to ask for help in any situation cause it means you're admitting to a weakness, but that's okay. That's how we get stronger as individuals and as a team," Leon said.

You nod with a sigh. "I have two weeks to get better before I officially am asked to leave. I don't know if I can do it on my own," you said. "Can you help me?"

"Of course. I've got your back, Kid," Leon said, giving you a soft smile.

Chris

The B.S.A.A. was not for rookies, but they needed recruits so here you were. They provided training on weapons, protocol, how to work the gear, basically everything. Because they wanted everyone to be a well oiled machine out in the field, they made sure if you couldn't cut it that you didn't make it out of training. It was life and death and while they needed the hands, they weren't sending people out to die.

The trainers rotated to take classes of trainees. You were lucky enough to get the legendary Chris Redfield for your class leader. He would be teaching everything and making sure that everyone was ready. You had heard of him before, knowing that he was a weathered agent and could almost do anything was daunting.

Which was probably why you tried to avoid him at all costs in one on one situations. He wasn't mean or an ass, but he was intimidating. His stature and history were more than enough to show he knew exactly what he was talking about. You didn't want to feel stupid or embarrass yourself, so you kept him at a distance as you worked almost on your own.

Sure there were classes and work that you were trained in, but just the fear of being the weak link in front of others was hindering you. All of your tests and physical training was mediocre at best. Sure there were people that weren't going to cut it obviously, but you were much closer to their end of the spectrum than the other end that was running circles around you.

It wasn't that you couldn't do it. You could, but sometimes you froze up because your hands did something your mind didn't want to do or nerves made you stutter and stumble over your words. Everyone in the class at least had a background in the military or the police force or FBI or CIA or some other group that was similar to this.

You on the other hand did not. You came from a more technical background rather than a physical one. While you were miles ahead on the written tests, the physical ones were going to kill your career.

So when the notice went out that you were on the chopping block to be let go unless you could prove you were capable of being in the field, you weren't surprised.

Half of you wanted to keep trying, but the other half was telling you to pack up and go. You weren't unique or special, so why bother to continue to try?

It was when you were were working with one of the large guns by the shooting range, that Chris approached you. Before then, you two hadn't said a word to each other outside of the classes or even directly to each other.

So when his large frame took a seat across from you, folding his hands on the table after setting a file next to him, watching you with the gun, you weren't sure what to think.

"Hi," you said, freezing as you looked from the gun to him.

"Y/N, right?" He asked. You nodded as you set the pieces of gun on the table. "Why are you here?"

Oh Jesus, no. Why now? Why here?

"Uh," you said, blinking rapidly as your brain tried to come up with an answer. "Because I wanna help people."

"That's usually the answer I get," he said, sitting back to let his hands drop into his lap. "That or 'to kill bio weapons.' That's also a popular one."

"Yeah?" You said, unsure of what he was getting at.

"But I don't think it's why you're here," Chris said. "Because I think you don't know why you're here." Opening the file, you could see it was all information about you. Your background, schooling, family, credit score, even online usernames. They had everything. "When I was looking through the potential trainee's info, you struck me as odd. It's not exactly an every day thing that we get people who are more tech inclined rather than have a police or military background, but it happens. Usually they wash out though and end up in our research department."

"But I don't want to be in the research department," you said, frowning. Was he going to push you over to that section of the organization? You didn't want to be there though, otherwise you would have applied there.

"Every time I talk to someone and they have the chance to go to research after speaking to them about it, they take it," Chris said. "They figured out they can't cut doing the ground work so they move to a different field, but not you. I see you everyday in training, working your ass off to keep up with everyone and you almost make it. Not quite, but almost. Almost isn't going to cut it out on a mission."

"I know, I just. . . I'm working on it," you said, trying not to sound hateful or rude as your hands started to move on autopilot, putting your gun back together. "I'm really trying and I just can't get over this stupid hump that's holding me back."

"What's that? What's holding you back?" Chris asked.

"Me. I'm holding myself back," you said with a sigh. "I second guess everything because everyone around me has the experience that I don't, but I know I can do it. I just choke when it's time to act."

"I know you have some experience that they don't," Chris said. You nodded, understanding what he was talking about.

"I was a kid when it happened, I could barely call it working experience," you said, pushing the empty magazine into the gun.

"It was for Sherry Birkin," Chris said. "Raccoon City for a 9 year old isn't something to sniff at. From what the reports said, you were by yourself for three days before you made it out."

"Yeah," you said, nodding as you moved to the handgun next, disassembling it easily. "Hid in my apartment till I saw military trucks driving by then ran out."

"You lost your whole family to what we're training you to fight," Chris said, keeping his eyes on your hands as your fingers moved without faltering as you put the gun back together. "You were a kid when that happened. I say it still counts for experience that no one else really has. You know what you're doing with the infected and you know what it's like in the aftermath. We need people who know what it's like so that we can stop it from happening again."

"So what do you propose?" You asked, looking up as you finished putting the handgun back together. "After school training? Tutoring? Or do you want me to be counselor for survivors or shove me off to R and D?"

Chris chuckled as he closed the folder to look up at your face.

"I'm not gonna cut you," he said. "You know what you're doing and you're right. You're hang up is yourself. I'm gonna work with you to get over it. It's probably one the easiest things to work through really."

"You mean I can stay?" You asked, relaxing back into the chair, not even realizing you had grown so tense.

"Yeah. I just watched you take those weapons apart and put them back together in record time without even pausing," he said, pointing to the guns in front of you. "I want to work with you, Y/N. This isn't going to be an easy fight, but I really believe you have what it takes to be a good B.S.A.A. agent."

"Thank you, Sir," you said, smiling softly. "I appreciate that."

"You're welcome. We'll start some one on one combat training tomorrow before class. You're going to be working double what the others are, but it'll be for the best in the long run," he said.

"Whatever it takes, I'll do what I need to," you said.

"Glad to here it. Now, while we're here in the shooting range, let's test your aim."

[yesokaythatsfine69]

You Sexy Thing (Levi Ackerman x reader)

Description: Often Captain Levi is a little shit, and sometimes- he needs to be reminded about who's in control.

Character(s): Y/n, Levi

Pov: 2nd person, third person

Warning(s): SMUT!!! PORN WITHOUT PLOT- PEGGING, 18+

A/n: I keep seeing all this talk about pegging Levi Ackerman but I couldn't find anything to show- so in the words of Thanos, "I guess I'll do it myself"

Word Count:

*none of the Gifs used are mine, full credit goes to the maker :)

Your fists clenched, nails digging into the palms, on the verge of breaking skin. The yelps of your fellow squad members caused your teeth to grind. They had to have ran over four miles today- probably more- they had to do suicides double time, all of this shit and more were because the lovely supreme commander of heaven and hell, Squad leader Levi Ackerman had felt their cleaning of the stalls had been less than ideal.

Currently you were in the midst of doing push ups till he deemed fit. You glanced up at the captain, watching as his silver eyes roamed over the lot of you. Even as you seethed and raged- he was still the most gorgeous sight your eyes had ever laid upon. Levi's hair was raven black, in contrast to his light skin and silvery orbs. His hair was what caught you at first- the way it seemed to fall over his eyes just a bit.

It was long enough you could pull your fingers through- you were sure. You could only imagined how soft it must be. Levi facial features also caught you at a loss for words- they were quite dainty. Long black eye lashes, a soft line nose, and thin pink lips. God, was he pretty.

Your eyes moved from their spot, away from your Adonis and to the ground. No matter how pretty he was, he was still a bastard.

You mumbled incoherently to yourself, flexing your fists. The pain of doing another pushup finally getting to you. "Tch, I think you've all learned your lessons." You looked up again, knees dropping. The Devil himself spoke, lifting his hand and waving it in dismissal. "Go to the showers, you brats stink." Blowing a strand of hair from your eye, you rolled your shoulders back, taking Petra's outstretched hand as you bounded up.

No one spoke as they dispersed. You were itching for a shower, and you practically ran to get one.

You were dead tired, dead sleepy, and running on pure anger.

You watched the water flow into the drain near your feet, fixated on nothing but the boiling water as it hit you. Your anger had not evaporated-it simply grew. If he thought he could've done a better job, maybe he should have done it. You slammed the water off.

Or perhaps- and this was just a thought- he could let you get some real training in, instead of wasting your time and energy on being punished.

Punished.

Your eyes narrowed.

You stepped from the shower, one foot at a time.

Perhaps...the omnipotent captain Levi deserved a punishment of his own. Something that would...bring him down a peg.

You smiled, remembering a certain box hid underneath just for this type of reason.

"I think I might have just the thing."

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

Levi was just as sexy (if not more) than he was pretty. Something about him, oozed it. Maybe it was the way he walked, confident but not egotistical. They way spoke- his voice. His dry humor, his bleak expressions, his impeccable fighting skills and savagery...his taunt ass, or maybe it was the way his uniform hugged his body.

Your hands tugged at a box that laid deep beneath your bed. It scraped against the floor, finally sliding directly in front of you. You unhooked the latch, pulling out the important piece of equipment you'd need tonight.

You bit your tongue.

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

The truth was, you could spot a bottom from a mile away. It was also the people who needed control in their daily lives- people who needed everything perfect. At night they liked to take a break- to be controlled. Who were you to judge? You couldn't blame them, not hardly.

You knocked at his office door. It was late, barely a few minutes before lights out. For several seconds nothing happened, but you waited. Patience was a specialty.

"Come in." The tone was annoyed, and as you entered you could see why. He had stacks of papers before him, a signal candle lighting the room. Levi rubbed his temples, a sign that the dim lighting had an affect.

His eyes flickered up to met yours, "lieutenant Y/L/N?" The air was tense and goosebumps erupted across your forearms. "Captain Levi, I'm glad I caught you." His Expression remained unchanging. "Tch, yeah, I'm sure. What do you want, brat?"

You smiled, your hands intertwining from behind your back. "You to apologise." His entire body paused. Levi twitched his head to the side, a small movement. "Oh? So you're here to waste both are times then, y/l/n." You turned, locking his office door behind you.

Levi stood. "Oi, oi, oi, what do you think you're doing?" You turned back to face him. "The only person who wasted our time today was you." His eyes narrowed slightly. This was a side of you he hadn't been used to. Sure, he'd seen this intense focus on your face before, this same expression you wore when you sliced and diced titan after titan.

"Tch, what are you on about you stupid-" I'm flash you had his hair in your grip, dragging his head to you. "It's not nice to call people stupid, Levi." His eyes were wide, and his face was inches away from your own. "I can forgive that though, especially when you look so pretty like this."

His eyes sunk back, his shock leaving him. "Oi, I guess you've got me where you want me." You smiled, innocence twinkled in your irises. "Not yet I don't." Loosening your tight grip, you gently guided his head to close the gap between you two.

His eyes fluttered close upon impact, the tenseness he often carried with his resolve melting away with the warmth of your lips. You hummed, feeling the way he seemed to open up with your touch. Gently you scratched his scalp, pulling a sigh from his mouth.

When it opened you wasted no time slipping in your tongue. He tasted like tea, which wasn't suprising but was rather delightful. He let out a small groan as she gave his bottom lip a small bite, tugging softly. Her hands slipped underneath his shirt, dancing across his warm chest and abs. The feeling of what lied beneath was enticing and she pulled away eager to see it.

Levi groaned when you left him, an irritated, "y/n." Leaving his lips as his arms tried to find you, to bring you back to him. You escaped him though and worked to pull his shirt off.

When you had an object so important it was natural that worked as efficiently as possible to succeed. With that mindset you had him shirtless within seconds, Levi felt that had to be some type of record.

With his comfort in mind as soon as his shirt was off you folded it properly, working as efficiently as you had to take if off of him. When your eyes met his, they twinkled with something akin to admiration. You smiled and pulled him into a chaste kiss, his tongue moving to part your lips, but fire he could succeed you began moving.

You kissed his chin, and he frowned. "What are-" Then you kissed his neck and a shiver racked his body. His breath quickened and shook, your lips planting directly over his heartbeat. You sucked, making sure to leave him as many reminders of tonight as you could.

Your lips moved down his chest, blessing each nipple with a tug of teeth. Licking a stripe down his v line, you unbottoned his pants. He moaned, "y/n..." Watching as you tugged down his underwear with your teeth. His length sprained free, looking almost as eager as you.

"Stunning..." You spoke licking a line up his shaft. His legs shook at your move and you laughed, wrapping your first around his base. "It can't be this easy, Levi." He blinked looking down at you in bewilderment.

You lifted yourself up, becoming eye level with him. As light as a feather you stroked his cheek, his head leaning into your hand as though it were instinct. "I figured humanity's strongest would have put up more of fight." His eyes narrowed. "Especially since you seem to love giving orders." Your nails stabbed into his skin, his eyes widened and he pulled back "tch! You bitch!"

Your other hand grabbed his neck, squeezing it and bringing him to you. "I've wanted you for so long. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be so close and yet so far, to someone everyone wants." "Y/n." Levi whimpered as your hand tightened around his throat. "Maybe you do know how much you're wanted. Maybe you like it." You let go and he fell forward, you catching him.

"I guess we'll just have to add that to lists of why you must be punished." You pushed him to his knees, his pants still wrapped around his ankles. Your foot spread his legs apart, and kept them there. Your hand found his chin, pulling his face up.

"i hope you like this view, you'll need to get used to it." You pulled up your shirt, taking it off effortlessly. His eyes widened at your chest- you had chosen to go braless. Then, they relaxed, his tongue going between his teeth.

You pulled your pants off next, and then your underwear. The strap you had put on before you left your room flung out, and Levi looked between you and it. "Like I said, you need to be punished..." You stroked the strap on. "I consider this the punisher." You voice had dropped an octave lower.

Levi took on a dazed expression, half lidden eyes taking in the sight. "Open your mouth." His eyes flickered back up to you. They were big and puppy like."I said." You reached down and pinched his two cheeks together. "Open. Your. Mouth." His pretty little mouth popped open, and your hips thrusted the device in. Your hand ran through his hair as he sucked, when you reached the back of his head you pushed him forward.

Levi gagged around your cock, the fake tip hitting the back of his throat. Tears prickled, in his eyes, but your coos to take in more, to be a good boy for you, they caused his brows the furrow as he adjusted and did what he could to please you.

Using your grip on his head he allowed you guide him at your will, submitting to the drive of your hands. His eyes closed finally and your leg pressed up against his own hard on. "Who would've thought humanity's strongest could look so hot sucking dick." You spoke softly, causing your good boy to moan into the dick.

Finally, you pulled away watching the strings of salvia appear and separate as you let him go. His head bobbled towards you, his eyes barely open.

"fuck me...please." you bent down to where he was. "Oh baby..." Again, you stroked his cheek gently. "I'll do so much more than that to you. When I'm done with you...you won't be able to walk tomorrow." His breathe caught and you laughed. "Be my good boy and go to your desk. Ass out."

You watched him stand and walk to his desk, still filled with long forgotten papers and a dimly lit candle. You stood and moved to the neat pile you had placed his clothes in.

You pulled out his belt, smiling and snapping it. This could be useful.

You moved to where he stood, wrapping yourself behind him. "How well you listen, Levi." You slammed his upper body down onto the desk, pulling his hips up. His ass was on full display in the air, as perky as you imagined. Taking two fingers, you shoved them up is mouth.

Levi didn't need a command, his tongue went right to work. He wrapped it around your fingers while he moaned, pushing his hips against you and your cock.

"cheeky, cheeky." You smirked taking your free hand to grab his ass. Finally satisfied you pulled her fingers from his mouth.

"more..." His voice rasped out. "More? I haven't even started." With that you pushed your fingers into his tight hole. You began scissoring them, watching as he twitched beneath you. His breathing became louder the more you curled. Then you hit his prostate and he cried out, gasping at the intense pleasure you gave him.

Your fingers pulled out, and you reached for the belt that you had placed beside him for such a moment. "Tch, y/n please you must-" you reared the belt back and slammed it forward, the belt bouncing off his ass with a thrup! Sound. He gasped delightedly, his cheek pressed up against the cold metal of his desk.

Again you reared down, jolting his body. "You." Slap. "Think." Slap. "That." Slap. "You." Slap. "Can." Slap. "Just." Slap. "Treat." Slap. "People." Slap. "Like." Slap. "Shit." Slap. "Just." Slap. "Because." Slap. "You." Slap. "Are." Slap. "A." Slap. "Squad." Slap. "Leader." Tears streamed from his eyes, ass red and tender.

"you can't." You grabbed his hands from his sides, "and now you're going to be tied up with your own belt, right after you were just spanked with your own belt." You slide the belt around till it was tight enough to only hurt a bit.

Then you you raised his hands directly over his head. This was used as something to grip onto while you fucked him.

Her other hand made sure you two were properly aligned, and with little more than a grunt you thrusted in. A breath released from his body, a shout escaped his lips as you bottomed out.

You waited several seconds, gently stroking his face and cooing to him, waiting. Finally he nodded, telling you everything you needed to know. You pulled back, almost completely out, save for the tip before you plowed into him.

Your hips thrusted- hard and faster. The only way Levi Ackerman deserved- rough. Each time you bottomed out he grunted and it became a steady rhythm of grunts.

"nnnuh...nuuhhnn..ahhh..." He was drooling, each hit of his prostate weakening his resolve a bit more and making him a bit more needy for more.

Your position made it almost impossible for him to move and he could really only met your thrusts. "Harder!" He gasped out, tears running down his face, drool dripping from his mouth.

Your hand reached around and tugged along his dick, high pitched whines now leaving the captains mouth. "Y/n! Y/n I'm so close please, please." You bent down and bit into his shoulder, causing another Yelp to leave the squad leader.

"cum, bitch." You whispered to his ear and with a cry Levi Ackerman came, his eyes practically crossing as he painted his chest and desk white.

He laid their several seconds, breathing harshly and listening to the sounds of your praises. He was a good boy, he was. He was your good boy now, all yours.

Gently you helped him up and into his shower, fully discarding his bottoms and your strap, to take back to your room to wash.

You cleaned, scrubbed, and were as gentle as possible, making sure to help him to his bed.

You pulled your shirt over your head. "I can stay till you leave for breakfast...if you want that is but-" he cut you off. "Tch...Stay as long as you want." He pulled himself up and onto his elbows. "Especially since you didn't cum."

You raised a brow. "Levi, I appreciate it, but I don't think you're read yet...I mean- we-" again he cut you off. "Y/n, my mouth is always ready."

You paused. He was right, you hadn't cum and not very often did the people you slept with care. He was offering his mouth to you- not that Levi surprised you much- he was very caring and it seemed natural he'd be that way in bed.

You smiled and tugged off your shirt. "I hope you're hungry." You crawled into the bed, barely having to do a damn thing as Levi simply hoisted you up- as if you weighed nothing- and sat you on his face.

His nose carded through your folds- parting them for his tongue. Your hips buckled against him, thighs closing around his face. His hands came up and wrapped around them, pressing them together.

"Fuck, Levi." You moaned as his tongue licked from your hole to your clit, where he sucked for several seconds. Again he pushed his nose up into you, allowing you to ride his face and practically suffocate him. "God, you're so good." You squealed, yanking at his raven locks. He had definitely done this before and definitely knew how good he was.

He hummed into you, pushing you down each time your hips buckled up. Finally it seemed he had enough with your erratic movements before he flipped you into your back and moved so that he was on his stomach, mouth never leaving your core.

Your legs wrapped around his head as he ate, each time dipping his head in deeper to your core. His tongue fucked your hole with urgency, meaning, desire and finally with one final plunge you came, wetting his face.

He pulled away, allowing you to sit up. Your legs were shaky, but you moved so that you were directly in front of him. You licked your juices from his face, meeting him in a chaste kiss.

"Maybe I should be more harsh on you cadets more often." He spoke hurriedly as she pushed him down. You tutted. "Did you really learn nothing, my sweet boy?" He shrugged allowing you to pin his hands down above him.

"What can I say? I am the leader of the brats."

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

BONUS

Erwin frowned at his friend and colleague. The two had been eating breakfast together and everything had seemed rather ordinary until Erwin noticed a bruise on the side of Levi's neck.

"uh..Levi?" Levi glanced up. "Where did you get that bruise?" Levi frowned at Erwin. "What bruise?" Erwin rolled his eyes impatiently. "The one on your neck."

"Hello everyone! I hope everyone slept well!" Hanji appeared interrupting the conversation. She slid into a chair on the other side of Levi, smiling happily.

Erwin made a few more glances at Levi's neck, but felt it best to leave it, lest he be smitted by the all powerful Levi Ackerman.

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

A/n: BARK BARK BARK okay I definitely got a bit...carried away. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this, thanks for reading, and pls feel free to give critism!

[rin-bellatrix]

She's A Pirate

06/23/22 thurs.

Note: written for Rhyiona week 2022, the theme for today is "pirate au". Enjoy! 💜

Summary: Rhys is taken captive by the dreaded Pandorian pirate crew known as The Purple Skags. He should be fearing for his life, especially since he was working so closely with Captain Jack, but the enemy captain has eyes like jade and a scarlet smile to die for...

Ship: rhyiona

---

Rhys knew - mostly through hindsight - that this was a bad plan from the start. Sure, he had his fleeting doubts, moments where his stomach knotted in anxiety, but he had faith in his captain. His leader was, after all, a war hero. One he aspired to be exactly like. And if Captain Jack came up with this plan, well honestly, what could possibly go wrong?

His first red flag was when a canon ball exploded clear through his office and pelted him with splinters and shards of glass. (His paperwork...) His second red flag was that the Pandorians from the enemy vessel were all over the ship, beating the crewmembers of Helios into neat little rope-bound bundles. (He scurried...) His third and final red flag was when Jack's second in command waved the white flag. (He cried...)

Helios was boarded and ransacked for valuables in record time. Captain Jack thought that a rag-tag group of Pandorians couldn't stand a chance in Davy Jones' locker when put up against the might of Hyperion's best ship, Helios, but that was a mistake that his crew would have to pay for. As for Jack himself, he somehow managed to secure an escape for himself - and only himself (much to Rhys' dismay) - leaving behind everyone who swore loyalty to him.

Currently, Rhys found himself hiding away and cursing his former captain, and his own naivety at wanting to be "just like him"...

'Like a coward?' He scoffed, huddling further down behind some barrels in the quiet, dark hull. 'I can't believe he just left us like that, especially me, after all those hours I spent on stupid paperwork-'

A sudden bright light was blinding him and he squeaked, throwing his hands up to shield himself.

"Found another one~!" A feminine voice called out, and he squinted up at the woman shining a light - and pointing a gun - down on him.

She grinned, her eyes creased with glee as she gestured with her pistol for him to stand up. The headband wrapped around her thick locks of hair marked her as one of those Pandorians from the enemy ship.

"Slowly now, or you'll be very sorry for my perfect aim." She hummed in thought as she looked him over. "Though honestly at this range, I could be as blind as T.K. and still hit you."

Gulping and very fearful of the young woman in front of him, Rhys slowly rose to his feet and held his hands up to show he was unarmed. These Pandorian thugs were ruthless and capricious, unpredictable and deadly in every way. He really hoped he wouldn't meet his end via a face pizza party...

As he stood to his full height, the young woman let out a low whistle as she took him all in. "Wow, you're a tall one alright. Okay beanpole, up to the deck, c'mon."

As he walked up the stairs, she poked him in the back with the business end of her pistol to hurry him along. As soon as he reached the top, a blonde man with a bad skin care routine and an even worse attitude sauntered up to them.

"Good job babe, you've really got a knack for this."

"What can I say, I can smell Hyperion scum from a mile away," she answered, coming around to stand at the man's side, leveling Rhys with a judging sneer.

She still held her pistol in his direction, so he continued to keep his hands up, though his arms were getting tired. But he'd have to suck it up because this suit was too expensive to ruin with bullet holes and blood. Maybe if he could talk his way out of this... He was pretty savvy with his words, if he did say so himself.

"Listen, uh, Mister and Missus Pandorian pirate folk... Look - uh - I'm not actually a pirate per say. Like I'm really just here for bookkeeping purposes ya know? Like, filing paperwork to keep the ship registered and legal on the seas, accounting from across the whole of the Hyperion armada, securing contracts for jobs and such..." Rhys began to sweat a little at the unimpressed looks the couple were giving him. Needing to fill the awkward silence between them, he continued to ramble on. "Oh, I can also uhm, uh, do the thing, uhm - repairing! Repairing, that's what I was thinking of - can I put my arms down, I'm getting kinda-" The woman raised her gun higher. "Okay, nope, I'll keep 'em up, that's no problem at all, heh- Uhm, so as I was saying, I- I really did all this and more for Captain Jack, so if you could not kill me, I'd really appreciate it..."

The couple glanced at each other, communicating silently through their gaze. He raised a pierced brow, she shrugged and nodded, and Rhys wondered if he was going to be hung, marooned, or tarred and feathered - do people still do that?

Whilst worrying about his soon-to-be demise, the blonde man walked up to him and pulled out a sack from his back pocket. He waved it in Rhys' general direction. "This is normally the part where I'd warn ya not to put up a fight, but there's something about ya that makes me really wanna kick your ass, so honestly it'd make my day if you tried."

Rhys had never stood more still in his life. He could practically be a mannequin in a shop window. Tsking in a show of disappointment, the man threw the bag over Rhys' head and pulled his arms down to begin tying him up with rope.

---

Even though he was sure he was going to die, he couldn't help but be a bit disgruntled at the quality of the rope around his wrists and torso. Did it have to be so scratchy? He could feel the dry fibers poking through his delicate designer clothes.

And the bag smelled.

The couple had manhandled him around, pushing him here, pulling him there, leading him to what he assumed was the ship they sailed on. The Purple Skag, also known as Enemy Territory. He wobbled along a plank at one point, scowling in embarrassment as the couple mocked his shakey knees as he inched his way across the long piece of wood that was suspended high in the air between the two ships. If he fell now with his arms and hands bound, he'd most certainly drown...

By the time he was able to make it to the deck at the end of the plank, he was almost weak with relief at having his feet on solid foundation again. He sucked in a greatful breath of air through the smelly sack over his face, and then he was pushed down to his knees by a rough hand. Before he had time to react to that, the bag over his head was ripped off and sunlight seemed to beam directly into his retinas.

"Ow- dammit-" he winced, trying to blink away the sudden tears from his watery eyes.

"Really? Was the sack over his head necessary?" Rhys blinked away the last of the moisture and looked over to the purple haired woman who was speaking.

The blonde man with the piercings shrugged as he tucked the bag back into his pocket. "It was really more for dramatic affect." His female companion was no where to be seen.

The purple haired woman rolled her eyes as the heavily scarred blonde woman next to her chuckled. "Aww, let the kids have their fun sweetheart~"

Checking his surroundings, he noticed a balding older man with an eyepatch watching him silently.

Rhys glowered at all of them, cursing these savages in his mind. 'Yeah, yuck it up bozos, just a man's life on the line here - a regular comedy show...'

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dark shape move across the blue sky. Daring a glance back, he took in the sight of black smoke billowing out of the mangled wreckage of the once magnificent ship known as Helios. His home... He wondered, not for the first time since the call of battle, if Vaughn and Yvette had escaped...

The wind blew a scented mixture of brine and soot across the deck, and he could feel the salt from the sea stinging the cuts and scrapes he had suffered during the attack. The breeze tousled his hair, drying the sweat gathered at his hairline, and he wondered, while staring at the remains of his home, if this would be his last day alive...

"What do we have here?"

Rhys turned at the sound of this new voice. A woman in a vest and ruffled sleeves approached him, tilting the brim of her hat up to get a better look at him. Behind her was the girl from earlier, and their resemblance was so similar, he'd guess that they were sisters.

The new woman stood over him, her shadow falling over him and shielding him from the sun. Her jade colored eyes were so piercing, he felt as if she could see right through him. He couldn't hide who he was because she'd know the truth all too well. There was no cruelty, no bloodlust in her gaze. Only an open curiosity, and a hint of wariness. He saw himself reflected in her eyes and he felt no fear for his life...

It was almost like she could understand him, almost as if they were one in the same...

"What's your name, kid?" she questioned, bracing her hands on her hips.

'Kid??' he pouted. So much for understanding him... She couldn't be that much older than him to call him that - on top of which, he was very much a manly man okay??

"My name is Rhys..." he answered, purposefully pitching his voice deeper while straightening his back.

She raised a scarred eyebrow and the corner of her ruby colored lips ticked up in amusement. "Well, Rhys, I've been told that you used to work directly for the one they call Handsome Jack..."

"Well, yeah, he doesn't just let anybody that close to him, so yeah, I'm kind of a big deal..." He watched her smile widened and decided to try his luck. "In fact, you should let me go so I can go and find him, and let him know what wonderful people you all are, and we can just knock all this fighting nonsense out, huh?"

"Oh, you're right that we're gonna find Handsome Jack..." she murmured, crouching down and flicking the tip of his nose with her turquoise-painted nail. "And you're gonna help us do just that!"

He blinked.

Considering that they needed him alive for this task meant that he'd be avoiding the face pizza party and/or a tar and feathering. On top of which, he really wanted to give Jack a piece of his mind for abandoning his whole crew to what was assumed to be certain death.

All things considered, he could be worse off than being the captive to a beautiful Pandorian woman...

He dismissed that train of thought and cleared his throat, shifting on his knees so she could see his tied hands. "I'm really ready to help you out with that, so do you think you could untie me now?"

She stood and crossed her arms, dashing his hopes of being freed from the damnable itchy confines.

"Now why would I want to do that, when you look so pretty all wrapped up for me?"

Rhys found himself fighting a rising blush.

'Get yourself together man! Your home is in ruins, your captain betrayed you, you're a prisoner of the enemy, and all it takes is one pretty smile and all of your problems are gone?'

The woman leaned down and grabbed ahold of the rope around his chest, tugging until he got his feet underneath himself and stood.

"We'll be having that conversation about your ex captain now..." she smirked, pulling him along as he followed willingly in her wake.

Well... In his defense, it was a very pretty smile...

---

Notes: I called this "she's a pirate" bc when i thought of pirate au, I thought of that one song from Pirates of the Caribbean, you know the one. The one that plays whenever Jack is doing something decidedly very Jack-like 😆 that song is actually called "he's a pirate", so I thought it fitting to name the story after the song that inspired part of it 💕

I wrote this in a couple of hours so if it's got mistakes, 🤷🏽‍♀️

©rin-bellatrix 2022

☆ Tales From the Borderlands masterlist ⋆ main masterlist ☆

[kuroyukihime]

Bakugo x Reader: Choose Me [Pt. 1]

[LOTS OF ERROR; TO BE REVISED]

“HEADLINE: PRO HERO – DYNAMIGHT ANNOUNCES HIS MARRIAGE”

It was fucking news to everyone, heck even the No.1 Pro Hero busted through his office doors demanding an explanation. It was so out of the blue as the picture of him together with another girl at a restaurant, with him reaching out touching the woman’s cheek spread like wildfire all over the internet. No one knew he had been dating, no one even knew he was interested in others. Literally everyone thought… Bakugo Katsuki was after you. You who had been there for him since high school, never in his personal space but always was with him, never failing him and was always doing your best to be there for him whether he needed you or not. You always did your best not to let your feelings get known specifically to him, so when others noticed him warming up to you and then inviting you to his agency (which he was just planning on having and building) right after fucking graduation and then the event where the villain almost had you and he literally went full murder mode just to retrieve you, everyone thought for sure you guys were going to end up together. So—

“Kacchan!” Slamming his palm on Midoriya’s face, Bakugo gritted his teeth “You’re way too close, you damn nerd!”

“Bakugo-kun! What is this? Is this true?” Uraraka asked, showing him the article on her phone

“Ha? What part of it do you not understand, Round cheeks? It’s exactly what’s written there!” He growled

“But… Not even we know you were going out, you’re always at work!” Kirishima reasoned

“AH! SO ANNOYING! GET OUT OF MY CASE YOU IDIOTS! IT’S EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANS! NOW FUCK OFF!” He snapped, gritting his teeth in frustration

“Katsuki!” A voice called out to him from behind, everyone’s attention turned to you as you simply smiled, holding your phone close to your chest. The way you were gripping it tight didn’t go unnoticed by many, especially Bakugo

“Congratulations!” You grinned and Bakugo just stared at you for a second before scoffing and looking to the side

“Yeah… Whatever…”

The silence that followed was thick but no one knew what to say. Still true to your role however, you were still his sidekick, and his second in command of the agency. You still had work to do.

“Ah that’s right minna! It’s still noon, you shouldn’t be flooding here unless you have businesses to attend to! Back to your agencies you go!” You ushered them out

Please. No more gazes of pity. Please get out. Or else… I won’t make it through…

“(Name)-san…” Midoriya looked at you with concern in his eyes as you slowly closed the door of Bakugo’s office. Standing there in front of everyone, you took a deep breath and hardened your smile. You needed to make it. Just until the end of the day… please

“We can talk later… For now, you guys have work” You bid them all goodbye “I’ll see you later”

Without even giving them a chance to reply, you retreated back to Bakugo’s office, unintentionally slamming the door harder than expected

“Oi”

You visibly flinched when he called out to you. You really weren’t in the mood to talk to him, more or less stand to be in the same room as him. You could feel yourself starting to break little by little

“Whoops sorry, didn’t mean to slam that harder than intended. Oh by the way, you haven’t done your patrol yet, right?” You laughed, going over to your desk and rearranging the papers “I can take over the shift for you, I need some fresh air anyways” You said and by the time you finished talking you were already out the door

Bakugo glanced at the huge open windows lined up in his office room, literally placed right behind where his office desk stood parallel to

“Fresh air my ass” He grumbled

EARLIER THAT DAY…

“HA?! AIN’T NO WAY I’M DOING THAT SHIT! GO DIE!”

“B-but Dynamight! The aristocrat’s daughter is in danger! The only way we can catch the villain that has been stalking her is if we announce a public wedding!” The higher ups tried to reason with him

“THEN FIND ANOTHER RICH ASSHOLE FOR THIS SHIT OR BETTER YET SET CCTVs OR HERO AND BODYGUARDS ON STAND-BY TO GUARD THE BITCH! FUCKING THINK!”

“A-ah, we’ve already set those up, but we need a pro hero on her side since the initiation will surely happen at the wedding and the daughter specifically requested you to guard her!”

He honestly feels disgusted by that information

Keh! Bitch is a fan, fucking great

Then again, this was a huge group of villains they’re talking about. Sighing in annoyance, he eventually agreed. Now, how was he going to explain this—

“Ah by the way, Dynamight, you can’t speak a word about this to anyone. The villains have a member that can camouflage and has another that has intense hearing from miles away. Strictly not a word until the mission is done”

BACK TO PRESENT…

A ring coming from his phone brought him back to reality. He fished his phone out from his pocket and looked at who had texted him.

“Father said we should meet up at X Restaurant, see you there <3”

Staring at the door where he last saw your retreating figure, Bakugo took a deep breath and shouted in frustration

“FUCKING SHIT!”

At your part, jumping from roof to roof, you tried your best to do the patrol as diligent as possible. You needed to clear your mind as well. This ugly, painful feeling stirring up a storm inside of you made you clench your fist in frustration. It’s your fault for expecting so much, your fault for reading the signs wrong and it was your fault for loving a person who promised you nothing. Letting the tears finally drop, you silently cried at the rooftop alone. You had no idea how long you were crying however, even this time of wallowing wasn’t given to you by fate because after a few minutes, you heard distant crying and screams and as the sun was setting, you squinted your eyes, noticing something from the distance before the villain charged straight at you.

You seethed through the pain of your body hitting the floor of the rooftop with such force as the villain loomed down on you. Ah fuck, those were going to leave bruises. Summoning your weapon, you roughly grabbed the Villain’s foot and shoved him out of the way.

“I’m kinda in a bad mood… Sorry” You muttered, charging straight after the villain

As usual, the news were already on your tail. The villain provided quite a bit of a fight, but it was nothing you couldn’t handle. Plus, with the negative emotion fuelling you, it wasn’t long before the villain finally gave himself up in exchange for his life. When the news reporter asked for an interview, you simply turned and ignored them. You can’t have cameras up in your face this time, everyone will notice the puffy eyes. However, your cold actions startled everyone. You were known as the kind one between your duo, while the Pro Hero Dynamight was as brash as he can be, you were always the one the media counted to speak in his behalf. Always smilling, always having such a warm aura. The usual welcoming hero-type.

Returning back to the agency, you honestly didn’t even think about getting your wounds treated first. Honestly speaking, you didn’t even notice you had small wounds. Though they were only scratches, it still needed to be disinfected. It was only when Kirishima stated it with slight panic in his voice that you noticed.

“Ah! (Name)! Why didn’t you go to the hospital to get that treated?”

You smiled, as hard as it was, you tried your best “There’s really nothing to worry about, I can just treat this with First Aid”

You retreated to the locker rooms and got the first aid, silently mending your wounds alone until a loud knock came from outside

“Oi”

Taking a deep breath, you stood up, the bandage still wrapped loosely on your forearms and answered the door. Putting on another fake smile, you grinned

“Yo!”

“Don’t fucking Yo me, get out here, look how shitty those bandages are wrapped around you. You wanna get infected?” Bakugo nagged

“Ah! No it’s fine—“

His glares made you shut up and simply comply with his request. He dragged you towards inside the office and made you sit on his chair

“Wh—“

“Tch stop fucking complaining and seat, dammit”

The way he handled your wounds with utmost care, like you were such a fragile being, made you want to cry again. Soon, another woman will experience this. You weren’t special to him. Maybe you were, but not in the sense you wanted. Much like Kirishima and the others, you were simply a dear friend to him.

Just a friend

His phone suddenly started ringing, you wouldn’t notice it but Bakugo felt his blood turn cold. He knew exactly who was calling. He immediately snatched his phone before you could take a peek who the Caller ID was.

Sighing loudly, Bakugo answered the call

“What? I told you never to call me unless it’s an emergency, right?” He snarled

“You’re mean Katsuki-n, I’m already at the restaurant! Where are you?”

You dreaded to hear that overly sweet voice, it made you want to throw up, further more apparently Bakugo had a date, what the heck was he doing taking his time with you then? Slowly standing up from the office chair, Bakugo’s other hand slammed on the sidearm of it, trapping you. His glare was on-point again. You wondered what was he so pissed off about? Pouting slightly, you sunk back to the chair

“I’m still doing shit, who told you be there so damn early?! Also I told you not to call me by my first name! WE'RE NOT FUCKING CLOSE”

Your eyes widened a bit, a little bit of pride welling up inside you as you remembered how in their meet ups, Bakugo would always be there earlier than you and how he had no problem whatsoever when one day the way you called him suddenly changed from Bakugo to Katsuki

“Eh? More important than me?”

Unconsciously, Bakugo licked the upper part of his lips as his gaze went to you, staring at the reports on his desk completely unaware of his eyes. He smirked

“Damn right bitch, a lot more important than you”

Your eyes widened, eyes immediately meeting his. You were about to retort but his hands were quick on your mouth

“Anyways, I’ll fucking be there in an hour, don’t be fucking annoying”

With that, Bakugo hung up, not even waiting for the girl to reply. He removed his hand from your mouth.

“Don’t fucking talk, I’m gonna be found out”

You looked to the side, unable to meet his gaze, the blush spreading like wildfire on your face.

“You have no delicacy, Katsuki” You commented and Bakugo couldn’t help but chuckle

“What the heck did you expect from me?” He paused for a bit “Work comes first”

And just like that, your new budding hope was crushed. Of course… Even you were considered a load to him.

“There, done, next time I’m coming with you on patrols” He said, standing up and walking away from you, carrying the first aid with him “Go home”

You felt despair. This bitter feeling was becoming too much now. You stood up and hurried out, going straight for the locker room and changing out of your hero clothes. You wanted to go home as soon as you can. Everything was piling up and it was becoming too much for her to handle.

Next time I’m coming with you on patrols

You gritted your teeth. First the marriage, then he suddenly doubts your strength to do things alone. Slowly… everything you’d ever done to build a good relationship with Bakugo was slowly crumbling. Grabbing your bag, you ran out of the building, ignoring Kirishima, Sero and Kaminari’s shout of concern.

On the other locker room, Bakugo was cherishing the feel of your lips on his hand, bringing it close to his mouth, he tried to feel as much as he can from the past sensation. He heard the others calling out your name so he went outside to see what the commotion was, only to find the entrance door sliding to close

“What’re you idiots yelling at?”

“Ah, (Name) suddenly ran outside, she seemed like in a real hurry, I mean she didn’t even bid goodbye to us like she always does” Sero explained and Bakugo just stood there before staring at his hand and clenching it.

You didn’t even bother waiting for him like you always do

Hell finish this mission as fast as he can before he loses you.

At the train, on the walk home, you kept your head hung low until you’ve reached your apartment. Closing the door, your body slid down on the door as you finally, finally let everything out. So much had happened in one day that it was too much for you.

Bakugo Katsuki was going to get married… not to you

Another woman will be on the receiving end of his affections… not yo

He’s beginning to doubt your skills… that’s on you

You cried and cried, not caring about anything else in the world. You kept at it until your body gave up and eventually you fell asleep on the entrance. You had a short unpleasant dream however, it was a dream where Bakugo kept walking forward and no matter how much you ran, how much you yell out his name, he didn’t stop, he didn’t even look at you, it was like you weren’t even there, but when another woman was right behind you, unable to walk by herself, Bakugo turned around and past by you, carrying the girl in his arms, laughing and smiling without a care in the world as he left you behind once more.

You woke up from then on, feeling your entire body cold as a result of sleeping at the entrance. You didn’t bother standing up yet though. Your mind was too busy rethinking the dream. You clenched your hands near your chest and gritted your teeth as another wave of tears threatened to spill.

You’ve decided.

For the first time, you were going to kill these feelings and stand by his side as one of his best friends. You’ll take what you can. You’ll kill it over and over again, no matter how many times if it means you’ll be with him longer. It pains to admit it, but you feel like you can’t continue working under him if you let your one-sided feelings continue and you can’t have that. You can’t bear it, thinking of living a life without Bakugo in it, atleast as a friend and a sidekick, you will still be there at his side. You just need to be there by his side… Be satisfied with that…

“…Atleast… let me be selfish one last time… before I kill off this feelings” You muttered, feeling sleep overcome you

[shelby-love]

JAY HALSTEAD

The Freeing Bliss of Adrenaline

Requested: yes

Prompts: none

Warning(s): angsty, happy ending

Author's note: Haven't written for Jay in a while! This will be the last one shot of the year. I've been working on imagines the entire day. Now I'll take some time off since New Year is in less than a hour! p.s. I just added some more spice to Jay’s fight! How’d you like it?

Happy New Near!!!!!

Note: It's important that you guys read my newest Hank Voight one shot to not be confused further into this one. Click here!

~

"Relax babe I'll be fine," You smiled impishly at Jay and leaned against your newest child. The large two-wheeled beauty was the highlight of your day.

But Jay eyed your Yamaha r6 skeptically. He saw a fair number of criminals die from crashing motorcycles less intimidating than the one behind you. He trusted you to be careful, but it didn't help him sleep at night any better than he did before. The damned matte black motorcycle was the cause of his nightmares.

"Just," He sighed. "Be careful."

You chuckled in adoration and kissed him. The two of you were aesthetically pleasing to see. Especially next to your large motorcycle.

"I'll see you at 7?" He nodded in confirmation and helped you with your helmet.

For effect, he slapped the top of it and didn't leave until you were out of his line of vision.

Jay rolled his eyes when you purred the engine for effect.

***

The motorcycle ride through the tunnel was freeing, especially upon exiting it.

Jay didn't understand how freeing the rides you've had felt. You left your worries behind in the dust whenever you roared the engine. You felt like you could do anything.

Your left hand is working the clutch and the turn signal, your right hand is working the front brake, your right foot is working the rear brake, and your left foot is working the gears up & down. The ride was a physical & emotional pleasure, with a layer of anxiety & adrenaline.

For a moment you wanted to close your eyes. To enjoy the feeling of freedom.

But you snapped out of it, just like every time; Jay's words rung in your mind. Be careful.

You were.

But the car that slammed into you wasn't.

***

The members of firehouse 51 arrived on scene in recod time. People were watching on the side next to their cars; the whole road was blocked with cars.

"I didn't know what to do," The officer on scene told Matt. "The motorcycle's crushing her, but I didn't want to do anything until you guys got here."

"Her?" He asked, surprised to hear it. "It's a good thing you didn't move her." That cop did exactly the right thing by not moving the weight off you until they had facility to adequately treat any injuries.

"She looks experienced," The man  sighed with anxiety, looking as if he aged 20 years in a span of 15 minutes. "The motorcycle's a Yamaha r6. Definitely not a beginner's bike."

The smoke that came from the bike was enough to quicken their pace. "All hands-on deck." Matt announced and proceeded to give out orders.

"Otis get the backboard."

"On it."

The rest of the men appeared around you. Severide at the front. It only took him a glance at your custom-made helmet to know that it was you. "Holy shit..."

"What's wrong Severide?" Cruz asked him.

"That's Y/N."

"Who's she?" The team asked him.

"Jay's girlfriend." Severide whispered. "Hey you!"

The cop turned to him, trauma in his eyes. "Call Intelligence."

"Why? This isn't a crime scene."

"That's Jay Halstead's girlfriend on the ground. Get him here now!"

Back where you were, truck was discussing your situation.

"We need to get this bike off her," Gabby said hurriedly.

"81 watch for the hot pipes," The team was working on getting it off you. "This thing's a beast, got to weight 500 lbs." Matt said.

"Okay easy guys," Sylvie had your helmet in her hands. "Possible spinal injury and head trauma."

"Okay let's get this off," All hands were truly on deck as Casey counted down to three. They took your demolished motorcycle and placed it away from you.

"Jay's gonna freak," Severide commented when his eyes fell on your leg. It was completely crushed. Red with blood and completely split in half.

"We need to get the helmet off of her." Sylvie instructed, changing places.

"Alright Mouch."

It was hard for you to decipher the voices because little did they know...

You were conscious under there.

You barely recognized Severide as he barked out commands left and right.

You felt the strap of your custom-made helmet being cut off. The pain that shot through your leg when they secured it had you wincing to the pint your lip started to bleed.

When they took it off it took several seconds for the light to push through to you. You could barely breathe, let alone move your neck to look at the firefighters credited as your lifesavers. Severide cupped the back of your neck and you could only look at him.

"Kelly..." You murmured, tears gathering in your eyes. The times he and Jay had told you to be careful...

You should have listened.

"Y/N don't move. You're okay," He reassured you but you only widened your eyes. "You've been in an accident."

Tears started to fall. "Kelly..."

"No don't speak," He said quietly.

You coughed, "The...other..."

"The other?" He repeated.

"Collision..."

They were losing you. "Hey! Y/N stay with me! What collision?"

A few meters away, Matt and Boden inspected the road and the remains of your bike. "It's dented. Like someone crashed into her."

Kelly's screams brought them back to reality and Matt ran to get you.

He crouched down, his face hovering over you and blocking the sun. "Y/N did someone else crash into you?"

More tears started to fall. "They fell...off."

Boden looked around until he noticed several aggressive lines from tires scattered around the road.

He stepped closer to the edge and looked.

Until he saw.

"This is Battalion Chief 25," He radioed. "We need another ambulance to our location. This was a vehicle collision. I repeat a vehicle collision!"

***

"She still hasn't woken up," Will told his younger brother. "The injuries she sustained were more dangerous than we thought."

"Will what the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"There were some complications with the surgery," Will tried to reason calmly. "She started hemorrhaging. They got the bleeding under control, but they had to put her in a medically induced coma. Hey! Jay wait- "

The detective stormed outside. The ringing in his head was getting louder and the voices around him became a distant callout.

Two arms stopped him from raging out.

He pushed and pulled but the man before him didn't move.

Kelly didn't move.

"Jay man, you need to stop!"

He didn't stop. Not even when Sharon Goodwill came to break them apart herself. Jay pushed through and disappeared outside, not daring to enter a car because of what had happened to you.

Kelly and Will found him in a bar eventually.

They took him home, watched over his place as he showered the alcohol off. They helped him in bed, even pulled the covers over him like you used to.

Jay's body was warm under the covers, but deep within he was anything but.

He missed your presence in the bed, your body against his in the shower…

Even your jokes during dinner.

It wasn't the same without you. He wasn't the same.

But no one understood him.

Only you did.

But you were in a coma. Unreachable.

He hugged your pillow on which traces of your perfume still lingered and cried like a baby.

***

The man rushed at Jay, his fist pulled back by a mile to punch him. Jay ducked but the man growled and started swinging punches at him. It came to a point of giving up for the man. Jay was ducking, backing up, sliding to the side; doing all the things needed to slip right through his fingers. He moved quickly, confident in his abilities.

Jay sidestepped before thrusting his fist against the man's face, reeling the man back so he staggered on his feet. A stray of blood fell out of his mouth, but not even that was stopping Jay from doing more damage.

Whatever force had him possessed, it wasn't letting go.

Jay slammed his fist into the man's face like the impact didn't bother him at all. The man smashed into a wall, fell to his knees, and clutched his face and trembled as his head fell forward. Jay placed a foot on the back of his head and slammed his face on the ground without thinking twice. The man groaned but didn't give up.

He twisted his body under the pressure of Jay's boot and grabbed his ankle.

It really didn't take long before Jay had him completely pinned to the ground again. He started throwing punches to his face until there was nothing but blood coating his hands.

He broke his nose, knocked out his teeth and broke his jaw.

Maybe even more.

He couldn't take a better look because he was taken away.

"What the hell is your problem Halstead!?" His sergeant barked.

"He deserved it." Jay mumbled. It really was his only excuse.

"If you're not fit to work," Voight neared his face to Jay's. "I'll take you off the case."

"You can't."

Hank only shook his head, "I can, and I will. Listen… You're a good kid Halstead and I'm sorry for what happened to Y/N but that's not an excuse for what you just did, and you know it."

"Get yourself together." Was the last thing Hank told him before he disappeared.

His girlfriend and the newest member of Intelligence took pity and came to his side. "She's going to be fine, Jay."

"You don't know that" Jay mumbled.

She only smiled sadly, "I've been there."

"You ride motorcycles?"

She shook her head with a roll of her eyes, "No. I was shot while working for the FBI. Hostage situation. I was one of them. A part of the reason why I joined special operations but that's a story for another day."

She leaned against the car with him, "As I was saying... I was badly injured, Jay. The doctors had to put me in a medically induced coma too."

"How'd you get through it?" He asked. She shone in a completely different light to him now.

"The people that mean the most to me were by my side. For me it was family that helped me push through and fight," she sighed, her hands twined together. "You're her anchor Jay. And if you're not being strong for her... Who will she lean onto? Who will help her push through and fight?"

"Doctors believe hearing stories in parents' and siblings' voices exercises the parts of the brain responsible for long-term memories." She recalled what was once told to her.

 "Hey detective! Sergeant Voight is asking for you," A police officer yelled a couple yards away. Voight's girlfriend smiled and Jay could swear that he could see blush taint her cheeks. Jay and you won 20 bucks a few months back thanks to her and her blush.

"Be what your sergeant is to me."

Jay nodded smiling.

Before she was out of his line of vision she turned back and yelled to him, "Maybe take a shower too! I heard that helps!"

He rolled his eyes at her.

***

When he sat at your hospital bed, he didn't know what to say. Every word mattered to him. It's been weeks since the last time you opened your eyes.

And in those weeks a lot of things happened to him.

He hoped that now, after all that had happened, he was good enough of an anchor for you to hold onto.

He grabbed your small hand in his bigger one and kissed the back of it. You looked peaceful. Not your usual bubbly self; the version of yourself that lived for adrenaline and everything life had to offer.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," He started, brushing a stray strand of hair from your face. "I didn't know what to do…"

"I had your bike fixed," He informed quietly. "Although I don't think you'll ever want to sit on one again."

He paused. "But then again… You're batshit crazy."

Jay spent a long time talking to you about a million things. He made up for the times he failed to be there with you.

"Detective Halstead?" A nurse had joined him in the room. "Visiting hours are over."

"Oh," Was all he said. "I guess I should get going?"

She smiled sadly.

With a torturous sigh, he leaned down and kissed you. A tiny piece of his heart broke at the lack of response your once warm, now cold lips gave him. "It's not the same without you."

***

Chicago's cold wisps of air hit him without mercy the moment he stepped out. No one really payed him much mind. Occasional glances from girls that were passing by was something he was used to.

He was searching for his car when a figure jumped in front of him.

"Geez Will," Jay sighed. "The hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing," He was beaming like a madman.

"Whatever it is you came here to tell me, just say it." He grumbled.

"Y/N labs came back."

Jay stopped in his tracks and turned to face his brother. For the first time in weeks he had hope shining within his irises.

"And?"

"She pulled through. They'll wake her up tomorrow."

Before another word could leave his mouth, Jay hugged him like his life depended on it.

It did in a way.

He broke down at the parking lot in the arms of his brother having gotten the best news ever.

"Let's get you home bro. You'll see Y/N tomorrow."

Tags: @lorenakaspersen​​ @fofisstilinski​ @short-potato​​ @miranda0102​​  @saracabbage​​

Let me know if you want to be added to my tag list (pinned post on my profile)! 

MASTERLIST

[liptonsbabe]

The light is coming [B.W]

Bill Weasley x Lexington! reader

Chapter 1

Summary: The power of the Dark Lord shakes the entire magical community to its foundations, no one is safe as Lord Voldemort  is so strong and the boy who lived becomes weaker; The magnanimous Order of the Phoenix is in dire need to gather all its members and even to recruit wizards beyond the borders of the community.

Albus Dumbledore knows that amidst the reign of darkness, the light will return to restore all that it took and bring with it extraordinary powers, even if it leaves an aftermath that cannot be erased. The Order of the Phoenix will need all the help it can get, including the help of the mythical (Y/N) Lexington.

Harry Potter's parents were not the only ones killed by the hands of Lord Voldemort.

Word count: 1.8K

Warnings: none

A/N:Hi! A new Bill’s fanfic for you all. This story is finished so if you like this part let me know so and i’ll update as soon as i can! Again, reader’s last name is Lexington but is just for the plot of this story 

English not my mother language so please don’t kill me. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: The Order Of The Phoenix

Charlie and Bill Weasley had returned from their jobs abroad with the only purpose of duly serving the Order of the Phoenix commanded by Albus Dumbledore. For Bill it hadn’t been a sacrifice to return home, things in Egypt were not going at all well and he only asked for his transfer to an English office to work and at the same time help the Order. It wasn’t the same for his brother Charlie, cause he had to leave all his errands in Romania along with all his beautiful dragons.The journey to Grimmauld Place had been complicated cause, despite not missing anything from the countries they were returning from (with the exception of Charlie's dragons) they could quickly get used to the quiet, anti-Voldemort pace of life that the English magical community was vitiated by.

Both brothers were welcomed by their mother Molly Weasley, with tears in her eyes she hugged them as tightly as she could inviting them into the farthest room possible. Bill remembered Grimmauld Place very vaguely, the only time he set a foot inside the house was when Dumbledore asked him to help him clear the rooms and turn them into curse free spaces where they could quietly discuss classified Order business.

No matter how many times they cleaned that place, the old house of Black would always remain with that grayish appearance and the musty smell of worn wood. Sirius didn't seem to have any intention of renovating its fallen parts - of which there were quite a few - but seemed to enjoy watching the house fall apart. Be that as it may, Bill thought that any place was a good place to plan the crazy moves Albus Dumbledore had in his head.

The room was filled with people Bill had met before through letters his mother sent him informing him of the Order's progress, Dumbledore thought the best way to gain the upper hand against Voldemort's dark army was to recruit wizards who were willing to give their lives to protect the magical community. Surprisingly more people arrived than Bill could have imagined in addition to all those wizards and witches who had already been part of the association for years.

Taking a seat by the door, Bill and Charlie recognized the silhouette of Nymphadora Tonks. Not that it was very difficult to recognize her as her short, straight, bubblegum pink hair stood out among all the others. The metamorphmagus managed to acknowledge the newcomers sending them a warm smile before gluing her gaze on the door.

Charlie elbowed his brother's shoulder

“Dumbledore and his crazy schemes making us come here just for the Order business....”

“It was necessary," Bill cut him off, looking at him out of the corner of his eye, "Do you even know what's going on with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, don't you?” Charlie shook his head “it’s a real mess and you'd know it if you didn't spend so much time with your dragons.

“Don't bring them into this”

“They're some of them now?”

“Yeah, we got a shipment of Peruvian Vipertooths in this month and oh, brother, they're beautiful!”

“Wait” Bill frowned ”Those things doesn’t eat people?

“well yes, but that's only part of their diet, they also feed on goats and cows. We keep them in a cage near the forest because that species was supposedly exterminated after being considered dangerous to wizards and muggles alike, but I think they're beautiful”

Charlie's eyes sparkled and Bill couldn't help thinking that he was the odd one among his siblings. His admiration for dragons frightened him even though he found it adorable at times.

“You know, I'm not surprised you're still single. Knowing you as i do, you'll end up marrying one of those dragons or in the worst case, eaten by one”

Charlie didn't like his older brother's comment.

“What about you? As far as I know, you're not dating someone either”

Charlie's sudden criticism made him clear his throat and settle better in his seat. When they looked over at Tonks, they noticed that she was still staring at the door. Charlie hurried him to answer his comment.

“I met someone” His brother's blue eyes widened, amazed “I mean, we met in Egypt, she was traveling and we only went out a couple of times, nothing important.

“That's what you always say, William” Charlie looked at him mischievously ”No one seems to be good enough for you, huh? Or are you still thinking about someone since our childhood?”

Bill knew what his brother was trying to do and immediately shook his head. He had had this adolescent love for a girl who had left to France without anyone knowing the reasons why. Bill was totally hooked on her, yet the disappointment of her being thousands of miles away from him had broken his heart in a way he couldn't explain. Charlie knew about it, because he was the only one of his siblings who was old enough to understand; still, that didn't take away from the fact that he made fun of her misfortune a couple of times.

“Shut it”

Albus Dumbledore brought an end to everyone's conversations after standing up and clapping his hands a couple of times to get their attention. With a sincere smile, Dumbledore dimmed the lights in the room to reveal dozens of candles levitating all over the place. Bill fell silent and looked at the man

“I know that most of you here had to pause your activities just to attend this extraordinary meeting of the Order of the Phoenix, and for that I want to thank you," Dumbledore smiled at them, "We are fully aware of what is happening in the magical community thanks to the terrible presence of Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore ignored the shrieks of amazement from the audience “That leaves me with the advantage of not having to explain what is obvious to you, so the important thing about this assembly is to make it clear that, despite the magnificent increase in our membership over the past few days, we are still in the minority against the Dark Lord's ranks”

The murmurs grew louder and louder, causing Dumbledore to ask for everyone's calm.

“This doesn’t mean that your help is in vain, what I am trying to say is that we need more wizards and witches to join the Order”

“Where will we get more people?”Asked a witch wearing a yellowish hood on her head, "People are afraid, they're not going to join the Order just like that”

“We'll try to convince them," Dumbledore said calmly. "Of course, all of those who want to join will have to undergo proper training.

“So you're asking for more Aurors?”Minerva McGonagall asked. Professor Dumbledore smiled broadly

“Indeed”

The hubbub in the room intensified for a couple of minutes before Albus Dumbledore called for silence. Bill agreed with everyone that this was sheer madness. It was practically impossible for aurors to enter something as sensitive as the Order of the Phoenix - with the exception of Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody, Bill thought those two were insane - without them reporting every movement of Order members to the Ministry. Yes, the aurors were the best trained people for this kind of work, however, they were the hardest to convince

“Why don't we just make Harry a part of the team?”Asked  Sirius from the middle of the room. Molly Weasley let out a shriek of indignation.

“What are you talking about? Harry's just a boy!”

“Molly, please, the boy knows more about this situation than any of us put together!”

“Even so, it's still dangerous for him”

“It is for everyone. I don't see what difference it makes if Harry is in on it, that way he'd have more support from the Order and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would stay away from him”

-If it is true what Sirius says," Dumbledore interjected, "It's no less true that Harry can't be a member of the Order yet. Not until he fixes the problem he has with the ministry after he used magic in front of a Muggle trying to ward off the Dementors that are getting closer and closer to non-wizards. Right now Harry should be being moved to this place to stay at least until the new school year begins.

“And in the meantime what are we going to do?” Severus Snape asked. Bill raised his eyebrows, noticing how Nymphadora Tonks raised her hand to give her opinion.

“I hope this isn't too hasty, but I've been sending some letters to Beauxbatons College in France in search of a response from the Aurors. It is well known that none of them have been willing to give us their help, but this afternoon I received a letter from one person who is willing to help us in any way she can," Tonks looked at everyone before continuing, "I know that one person doessn’t represent a great addition to our ranks, but I am absolutely certain that she is our best option”

Bill's eyes flicked from Nymphadora to Dumbledore repeatedly. He had that strange feeling that Dumbledore knew who she was referring even though she hadn't said the name yet. Dumbledore nodded a couple of times asking Tonks to continue. She cleared her throat

“She should be here soon”

“We’ll wait patiently”

Dumbledore's nod wasn't necessary cause seconds later the door flung wide open letting in the light from the main corridor. Bill glanced at the newcomer noting your expensive French clothes and your perfectly coiffed hair in a ponytail. His breath quickened as he took a close look at your face and recognized those features he remembered from when he was a teenager. A quick glance at Charlie was enough to confirm that what he saw was not an illusion.

The whole room rose to their feet, and as you entered the room raising your hands to the sky, the room was filled with a bright light that caused everyone to take cover before it blinded them permanently. Bill caught a glimpse of Tonks' pleased giggle before you reached Dumbledore giving him a handshake as a greeting while keeping the light alive with your opposite hand.

Your wand was in your jacket pocket and from your hands an endless fountain of light gushed forth, bringing peace to the members of the order.

The mythical (Y/N) Lexington didn’t needed a wand to have magic.    

[nordleuchten]

what was the whole involvement of lafayette during the battle of monmouth

thank you :)

Hello Anon,

thank you for your question. La Fayette’s involment in the Battle of Monmouth is quite an interesting one. It actually started before the Battle of Monmouth. On May 20, 1778 our dear Marquis was engaged in the Battle of Barren Hill. I will keep the account brief because the Battle of Barren Hill is not what you wanted to know - but it sets the stage for Monmouth.

La Fayette was given the command over 2.200 troops. They left the American encampment at Valley Forge on May 18, 1778. Washington gave La Fayette very clear instructions regarding his mission. He wrote the day La Fayette departed:

The detachment under your command with which you will immediately march towards the enemy’s lines is designed to answer the following purposes—to be a security to this camp and a cover to the country between the Delaware and Schuylkil—to interrupt the communication with Philadelphia—obstruct the incursions of the enemies parties, and obtain intelligence of their motions and designs. This last is a matter of very interesting moment, and ought to claim your particular attention. You will endeavour to procure trusty and intelligent spies, who will advise you faithfully of whatever may be passing in the city; and you will without delay communicate to me every piece of material information you obtain. (…) You will remember that your detachment is a very valuable one, and that any accident happening to it would be a severe blow to this army. You will therefore use every possible precaution for its security, and to guard against a surprise. No attempt should be made nor any thing risked without the greatest prospect of success, and with every reasonable advantage on your side. I shall not point out any precise position to you; but shall leave it to your discretion to take such posts occasionally as shall appear to you best adapted to the purposes of your detachment. In general I would observe that a stationary post is unadviseable, as it gives the enemy an opportunity of knowing your situation and concerting successfully against you.

Although Washington wrote La Fayette that “a stationary post is unadviseable”, La Fayette took up camp on Barren Hill (today Lafayette Hill). The British troops managed to encircle the American troops and trapped them against the Schuylkill River. La Fayette however knew of some roads that would allow him to bypass the British forces while simultaneously distracting them. The whole mission bordered on a disaster, although the American troops were able to fulfil some of their goals and suffered only three casualties.

After Barren Hill, the Americans undertook numerous efforts to slow the British troops under General Clinton down, to harass them and to interrupt their supply lines. Washington held several councils to discuss a long-term strategy. La Fayette attended these councils as well - just like Major-General Charles Lee did. Lee would be a major player during the Battle of Monmouth.

The Council of War from June 24, 1778 resulted in a plea for caution by most of the officers. Many of the attending officers thought that a victory in battle would be most unlikely and that a defeat would be devastating for the army. Washington did not agree but could only argue for a compromise. 1.500 troops would be send under the command of General Scott to reinforce the vanguard and to support the Generals Maxwell and Dickinson in their effort of slowing Clinton down. While many of the officers in attendance were in favour of this strategy, many were not. Most outspoken amongst them were the Generals La Fayette, Wayne and Greene. La Fayette had signed the compromise (due to peer-pressure as he later claimed) but Wayne (and Greene as well for all that I know) had outright refused to do so. They all communicated with Washington that, although a major battle should still be avoided, a larger body of supporting troops should be send to interfere with the British. They wanted to dispatch between 2.500 and 3.000 troops directly and keep the rest of the army within a short distance to strike if necessary. La Fayette wrote in his Memoirs:

“In a council held on this subject, Lee very eloquently endeavoured to prove that it was necessary to erect a bridge of gold for the enemy; that while on the very point of forming an alliance with them , every thing ought not to be placed at hazard; that the English army had never been so excellent and so well disciplined; he declared himself to be for White Plains: his speech influenced the opinion of Lord Stirling and of the brigadiers - general. M. de Lafayette, placed on the other side, spoke late, and asserted that it would be disgraceful for the chiefs, and humiliating for the troops, to allow the enemy to traverse the Jerseys tranquilly; that, without running any improper risk, the rear guard might be attacked; that it was necessary to follow the English, manœuvre with prudence, take advantage of a temporary separation, and, in short, seize the most favourable opportunities and situations. This advice was approved by many of the council, and above all by M. du Portail, chief of the engineers, and a very distinguished officer. The majority were, however, in favour of Lee; but M. de Lafayette spoke again to the general on this subject in the evening, and was seconded by Hamilton, and by Greene, who had been lately named quarter - master in place of Mifflin. Several of the general officers changed their opinion (...).”

Washington, who was keen on taking a more offensive stance, send additional 1.000 troops on June 25, 1778. La Fayette wrote in his Memoirs:

“(...) and the troops having already begun their march, they were halted, in order to form a detachment. When united, there were 3,000 continentalists and 1,200 militia; the command fell to the share of Lee, but , by the express desire of the general, M. de Lafayette succeeded in obtaining it. Everything was going on extremely well, when Lee changed his mind, and chose to command the troops himself; having again yielded this point, he rechanged once more, and as the general wished him to adhere to his first decision (...).”

We see from this excerpt that Lee could not really make up his mind concerning the command. What happened? Washington offered Lee, his second in command after all, the command over the vanguard. Lee refused, basically saying that such a command was beneath him. Washington next offered La Fayette the command - the Marquis happily agreed. La Fayette moved his troops fast - too fast. Although he managed to come within three miles of the British troops, he moved too fast, outrun his supplies and his men were exhausted and vulnerable. Washington wrote La Fayette on June 26, 1778 that:

“In order that the Troops may be supplied, I wish you would always send up, an Active Officer in time to the Commissary, who might never leave him till he obtained the necessary supplies. This will be attended with more certain relief than by writing by common expresses. Though giving the Enemy a stroke is a very desireable event, yet I would not wish you to be too precipitate in the measure or to distress your men by an over hasty march. The Weather is extremely warm and by a too great exertion in pushing the Troops many of em will fall sick and be rendered entirely unfit for service. I (...) I must repeat again my wish that you do not push on with too much rapidity. You may be, in case of Action, at too great a distance to receive succour and exposed from thence to great Hazard. The Troops here are suffering for want of provision, as well as those with you, and are under the necessity of halting, till they are refreshed. (...) Your provision is on the Road.”

La Fayette moved to Englishtown where he was supposed to meet up with Lee and his troops. Lee in the meantime had come to the realisation that La Fayette’s command actually was not that bad and he now wanted to be in command. He requested Washington to put him in command and Washington agreed. At Englishtown Lee’s vanguard now consisted of round about 4.500 troops.

La Fayette described it as follows in his Memoirs:

“(...) M. de Lafayette was delayed by want of provisions; and it was not until the 26th, at a quarter to twelve at night, that he could ask for Lee, who was sent with a detachment of one thou sand men to Englishtown, on the left side of the enemy. The first corps had advanced upon their right; and M. de Lafayette, by Lee's especial order, joined him at midday, within reach of the enemy, from whom he fortunately succeeded in concealing this movement.”

Washington was with the main army close behind them. Lees behaviour in the coming days was not what it could be. He held his own Councils of War where Washington was not in attendance and gave order were he probably was not in a position to give orders.

The Battle of Monmouth was fought on June 28, 1778. Compared with his, in my opinion really exciting part, in the days and weeks leading up to the battle, La Fayette’s role in the battle itself was relatively unassuming. He followed Lee into battle while commanding a portion of the vanguard. Lee, who had halted is advance prior, continue to advance as soon as La Fayette arrived. The Marquis helped to secure the right flank of the American troops. Later on in the battle, his troops started to retreat after being unable to put down a British artillery unite. The retreat of his troops was probably one of the reasons why Lee later decided to retreat with the entirety of his venguard.

Washington arrived some time after and was not at all amused by Lee’s conducts. Not at all. In fact, Lee’s behaviour was one of the few times that made Washington loose his temper in public. He took over command from Lee and organized the Battle anew. Washington is still today praised for his excellent behaviour that day. La Fayette wrote in his memoirs how impressed he was by Washington and some of the other officers.

“During this affair, which ended so well, although begun so ill, General Washington appeared to arrest fortune by one glance, and his presence of mind, valour, and decision of character, were never displayed to greater advantage than at that moment .* Wayne distinguished himself; Greene and the brave Stirling led forward the first line in the ablest manner.”

The Marquis ends his account of the Battle of Monmouth with this sweet little remark about how he and Washington spend the night.

“The general and he passed the night lying on the same mantle, talking over the conduct of Lee (...).”

Washington and La Fayette both fell asleep on Washington’s coat under a tree, both being exhausted by the events of the day. Allegedly General Greene found them asleep together but could not bring it over him to wake them - the scene was just too touching.

I hope that answers your question thus far. I hope you have/had a wonderful day!

[fluffykitty1999-blog]

Dog of the Military- Chapter 15

Chapter 15- Morning Courtmartial

And as usual... the ko-fi link, if you like the trash I, a human dumpster fire, product https://ko-fi.com/fluffykitty12

Roy Mustang showed up outside the dorms at 8:30am sharp. It was 8:37 when Edward came racing down the stairs, in his military blues with a large suit of armor clanking hurriedly behind him.

Ed fairly dove into the passenger seat, with Alphonse squeezing into the entirety of the backseat, and Ed turned to look at Mustang like he was possessed. "Drive!"

"Put your seat belt on." Roy said, giving him a look.

Ed frantically did so, and Roy was heading over to central command.

"Shit are we gonna be late? I couldn't find a hair tie that wasn't red I didn't know what the military regulations were so I transmuted it black." Ed's hair wasn't in its trademark braid- rather, it was in a high ponytail behind him. His uniform was a little rumpled, and his collar was a mess, but these were all things that could be fixed.

"Calm down. We're not going to be late, but we won't be able to stop and grab breakfast like I planned either, so you'll have to hold out til lunch." Roy remarked.

Ed nodded, seeming to calm down slightly at this.

"Are you doing okay?" Roy shot his youngest subordinate a look.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ed said, nodding. Though there wasn't too much belief behind the statement.

"I'm going to be so nervous, waiting upstairs in the office to hear what's going on." Al piped up from the back.

"Try not to worry too much, Alphonse- the team will be watching the proceedings, and they'll come upstairs periodically under the guise of a break to update you."

"Alright." Alphonse seemed to settle for the moment. Edward's leg kept bouncing nervously, and they pulled up outside central command at ten minutes to nine. They parted ways, with Alphonse heading upstairs and Roy and Ed heading towards the courtroom, deeper on the first floor of Central command.

The hallways were busy with people in all sorts of military blues- Ed's eyes widened as he saw everyone assembled. Roy placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, steering him into the men's room just outside the courtroom.

"Do you have to go?" he asked, giving the boy a once-over.

Ed shook his head. "No. Why are we in here, anyways?"

"Because you were getting overwhelmed and I need to touch up your uniform." Roy said calmly. He started with the boy's long military jacket, smoothing out the wrinkles and straightening the boy's rank pins. He moved up to Ed's collar next, folding it down properly, before looking at Ed's hair- he wet his hands in the sink and smoothed down Ed's trademark blond antenna, before nodding and standing up straight. "Much better. You look like quite the solider, Fullmetal."

"Yeah. Now if only I could feel like one. Brigadier General Basque Grand was out there." Ed muttered to himself, looking down at his boots.

"A lot of high profile people are here, Ed. This trial has ruffled some feathers, I'm not gonna lie. But how you carry yourself in there- how you think and behave- will affect how you're treated."

"They'll just look at me like a kid anyways."

"Stop it." Mustang hissed, using two fingers to tilt Edward's chin up so the boy was looking him in the eyes. "I know you're nervous, and you have a right to be, but self pity and doubt have no place here, Edward."

Roy reached down into Edward's pocked, putting out the boy's state alchemist watch and dangling it in front of him. "You are the Fullmetal Alchemist. I watched you put blood sweat and tears into earning this watch. You are a prodigy- you have seen atrocities and come back eager to live on anyways. You are a soldier under my command. I didn't give you this watch. You earned it. You could kick the asses of nearly everyone in that court room, save myself and a few others, without a problem. So you act like it- you look them in the eyes and you tell them everything. I need you to trust me, Edward- if you testify to the best of your abilities, he'll be found guilty. I promise."

Ed looked up at him- eyes that were swimming with uncertainty becoming hard with determination and purpose. The fire was burning bright again, and Ed pursed his lips and nodded. "Alright."

"Don't forget- you're the Fullmetal Alchemist, Hero of the People. Make them remember that."

"I will."

They both turned, exiting the restroom and striding into the courtroom, down the aisles and to their side of the benches. Their court appointed lawyer, Marissa Jennings, was a pretty woman in military blues with dark hair and brown eyes- she nodded to Mustang as they found their seats behind their table. Ed hadn't met the woman, but Roy had had countless meeting with her over the past two weeks to prepare, and he was very familiar with her.

On the other side of the courtroom, behind the small table sat Colonel Banks and Lieutenant Shaw, and the defendant's lawyer, an older, be speckled man in his sixties eith salt and pepper hair and a gray goatee.

Before both tables was the Judge's desk on an elevated platform, and to the left was the bleachers for the jury- a group of about twelve. Behind the tables where the prosecuting and defending parties sat, there was a small wooden railing and benches for spectators to watch.

Roy noted Basque Grand sitting behind Colonel Bank's side of the courtroom, as well as a smattering of unfamiliar soldiers. Banks had clearly brought his men as well.

But it was no match for Ed's side of the courtroom. Havoc, Breda, Falman, Furey, Hawkeye, Scheska, Hughes, Armstrong, and several of the receptionists that Ed would help by fixing broken vases and flower pots all sat at the ready. The proceedings were about to being.

The door to the courtroom flew open, and Roy nearly fell out of his chair. Scowling in the doorway, General Olivier Armstrong strode into the room,her sidearm and sword at her side, with Miles beside her, his sunglasses present as always.

She stalked into the room, and it nearly fell silent, before flopping to sit beside her brother, who sat in support of Edward, exhaling harshly through her nose.

"Olivier- so glad you could make it! You hardly ever respond to my letters." Armstrong had started to sparkle.

Olivier scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself. I came here because I was pissed, not because of that sappy letter. This whole torture fiasco happened at Goldenfield- the North is my territory, and when bullshit happens I like to see who's held accountable." She brushed her bangs from her face. Though Roy didn't miss the way she craned her neck to get a look at Edward.

Who knew- perhaps General Armstrong actually cared?

"All rise- the honorable judge Mason Freeman presiding." the baliff barked. The sound of chairs scraping as everyone in the room hurried to stand was the only sound.

The judge- a rather wise looking man in his sixties- strode to his desk with ease, before he was sitting down. "Good morning. At ease, everyone. Let it be noted on the record today the case of Flame vs Banks has begun."

Everyone sat down, and the judge nodded toward Ed's bench.

"We will begin with the charges brought against the accused. Colonel Roger Banks, you have been accused of the unlawful imprisonment and torture of a state alchemist, Major Edward Elric. How does the accused plead?"

"Not guilty, Sir."

The judge nodded. "Very well. We will hear your arguments shortly. For now, let us proceed with the incident reports received, beginning with the mission report from the Fullmetal Alchemist himself. Jennings?"

The woman representing Ed stood up, shuffling papers. "Of course, your honor. On the fifth of September, Major Edward Elric received orders to head north and conduct a covert mission for the Amestrian military. He returned on the morning of September ninth, as planned, but rather than being allowed to return to Central city and report to his commanding officer, the boy was detained, restrained, beaten, and abused. The medical records show Edward received six cigarette burns to the lower left abdomen, a broken rib, a 3 inch laceration on his left bicep requiring 17 stitches, 3 lacerations on his back, from a knife, one of which required an additional twelve stitches to close, a black eye, and severe contusions to the chest. His mistreatment lasted for a day and a half, at which point his superior arrived, discovered the Major's condition, and got the boy medical help. I will now read, verbatim, the mission reports submitted to the court by Edward Elric and Roy Mustang, followed by the Doctor's report regarding Ed's injuries."

The first hour of the court session was the lawyer reading Ed's mission report, then Mustangs, and continuing on with the doctor's report. Ed was rather relieved that he could just sit and listen. It was clear the woman representing them was more comfortable in a courtroom than he was.

"This concludes my report of evidence from the prosecution, your honor." the woman finished.

The judge nodded. "And does the defendant have any evidence which they wish to present?"

The elder lawyer stood. "Yes, Sir. I am presenting the reports of Colonel Roger Banks and Lieutenant Shaw, verbatim."

"The secret mission Edward Elric was sent on was of immense importance for national security. Following our rendezvous, Edward expressed his interest in returning to Central city as soon as possible. I agreed this was the best course of action, but as the boy's superior, righteously demanded that he give his report and findings to me before leaving. Fullmetal adamantly refused, and when repeatedly prompted, answered with blatant disrespect. Had it been a matter of lesser importance, I would've written the boy up and let him go. But due to the immensely sensitive information the boy had, I felt I could not let him leave without reporting to me. It wasn't in the best interests of the nation."

"Following his staunch refusal and obstinence, I disciplined the boy physically, and continued to do so. I am not a man without conscience, but I had to put the good of the nation over the good of one unruly boy. I was nearly to the point of extracting the information when the boy's commanding officer- who identified himself as the Flame Alchemist- trespassed in my office and intimidated my Lieutenant into taking him to see the boy."

"When I attempted to confront the man for his intrusion into my office and blatant disregard for my command, I was brutally assaulted, receiving first degree burns on my hand, and my life threatened if I refused to leave. By the time I felt it prudent to return, the Flame Alchemist and the Fullmetal Alchemist were gone."

Roy frowned at the report.

The lawyer paused, clearing his throat. "Now- onto the incident report of Lieutenant Margaret Shaw, dated October twentieth-"

Roy's hand touched the table the defense lawyer had her paper's spread out, and he shifted in his seat to sit forward a little.

"Objection!" The lawyer was cut off by their lawyer, and everyone looked over at him, even the judge.

"What is the nature of this objection, Jennings?"

"Mr. Elric was reported to have been scheduled to return from his mission on the ninth of October. His commanding officer retrieved him on the afternoon of the tenth of october. The fact that this report was filed so late is likely due to the fact that Lieutenant Shaw wouldn't have filed a report about the imprisonment and abuse of power at all, had it not been for her commanding officer receiving a summons for court martial a few days earlier and covering her tracks."

"This is all speculation, your honor." the elderly defense lawyer protested, moving his glasses further up his nose.

"Jennings, you may continue, but keep it short." the judge advised, looking interested.

"I'd like to know the date Colonel Banks filed his incident report." Jennings asked.

The defense lawyer shuffled his papers. "October nineteenth was the date Colonel Banks filed his report."

"Interesting. So this alleged abuse of power occurs from the ninth to tenth of October, Colonel Banks is assaulted so viciously by the Flame alchemist in the line of duty, and yet despite all of this, he waits nine days to file a report. And his subordinate, who also witnessed such abuse, files her report one day after. Despite the fact that officers are required to file reports of incidents within forty eight hours. It almost seems as though the defendants were scrambling and after receiving their court summons, sat down and put their story together to avoid any gaps and inconsistencies, and then submitted them a day apart."

"My report is my own, Ma'am. While it is true that Colonel Banks and I discussed the matter after receiving our summons, my report was filed directly to central- Colonel Banks never read it." Lieutenant Shaw spoke up.

"I can attest to this, as I notarized the document." the lawyer agreed.

"I see. Still, the timing is awfully convenient. That's all I have to say on the matter, your honor."

The judge nodded. "The defense may continue."

Lieutenant Shaw's report was read verbatim, as well. It didn't contain the blatant falsehoods Colonel Banks had- rather, Shaw had chosen to stick to facts.

"At approximately 9am Edward Elric returned to our fort and expressed a desire to go home after completing his mission. He proceeded to another room with Colonel Banks and I didn't see him afterwards. At approximately 10am, I received a call from the boy's commanding officer, inquiring if Edward had returned as planned. I confirmed that Edward Elric had indeed returned and that he intended to get a train out of central soon."

"In the afternoon, at approximately 1pm, Colonel Banks was stepping out for lunch. I still had not seen Major Elric and inquired if he'd purchased his train ticket home yet, as he seemed eager to do in the morning. Colonel Banks said the boy was resting upstairs before he left, tired from his mission. I noticed the Colonel carrying Elric's black coat and inquired why- he told me he was going to get it cleaned for the boy so he could travel home in comfort."

"At the end of the day, I still had not seen Edward. I stepped into the Colonel's office to say goodnight to my commanding officer, and found him sititng at his desk. On his desk, was Elric's coat, cut into scraps. I asked the Colonel if Edward had left yet. Colonel Banks confirmed my suspicions that Edward was still in the building, but said it was a matter of national security that he get the information from the boy. I was in no position to argue with my superior, so I quietly left. On a hunch, I went downstairs to the cells where unruly citizens are kept and found Major Elric hung from the wall by his wrists, dirty and in some degree of pain. He looked up at me and asked if I was there to burn him as well. I asked him how I could help- he asked me for water. I brought him a mug of it and gave it to him quickly before leaving for the night. I trusted my commanding officer to handle the issue."

"Colonel Banks instructed me to have all questions about the Fullmetal Alchemist's condition forwarded to him. I followed these orders, forwarding the phone inquiry of the Flame Alchemist to Colonel Banks early in the morning. That afternoon, however, when the Flame Alchemist arrived, he was quite agitated, and I thought it prudent to show him to Elric immediately to avoid further conflict. Colonel Banks went to speak to the man and returned with a burned hand a destroyed firearm. After I treated my commanding officer for his injuries, I took the suitcase Elric had left in our fort in the room he'd stayed in previously and dropped it off at the local inn on the hunch they were staying there."

Colonel Banks looked over at Margaret, a bit of disapproval behind his eyes, but not much of it.

"Your honor." Jennings, dark haired and bold as always, spoke up. "I would like to ask Lieutenant Shaw a few more questions."

"In due time, Jennings." the judge frowned, squinting at the courtroom clock. "It's nearly noon. I declare a half hour recess, and then we will reconvene for cross-examination of the involved parties. Adjourned." the judge slammed his gavel down, and the courtroom broke into a flurry of activity as everyone rose to grab lunch.

Team Mustang normally would've gathered in the cafeteria, but since Alphonse was stuck upstairs in the office, they elected to grab food and eat with him. Plus, seeing Ed was likely to ease his mind.

Ed grabbed a ham sandwich as they hurried upstairs.

"Nice job Chief!" Havoc clapped a hand on his shoulder as he sat on Mustang's couch and started to eat. "I don't think I've ever seen you sit still for that long before!"

Ed had to fight the blush creeping up his cheeks.

"How was it, brother? Are you alright?" Al asked.

Ed took a bite of his sandwich. "I'm fine. I didn't have to do much of anything, it was mostly lawyers reading reports and making statements."

"Still, you seem to be making quite the case. The lawyer representing you- Jennings- is on her game." Hawkeye spoke up.

"Yes, she certainly is." Roy conceded. Probably because he'd spent over six hours with her going over the particulars of the case this past week. But still, she was tenacious and on the ball, and Roy liked her.

The door to the office burst open, and Hughes came running in. "Ed! You did great out there! Were you nervous?"

"A little." Ed took another bite of his sandwich and chewed.

"Right." the light reflected off Hughes glasses, showing his seriousness, as he stepped forward. "Well, this afternoon they're going to do the cross examinations. So you'll have to go up on the witness stand and answer questions about your report. Everyone will be watching. So you're going to need to have nerves of steel and think on your feet. They'll do anything they can to make you slip up."

"R-right." Ed was looking nervous.

"I figured you'd be stressed, so I brought some pictures of my darling Elicia to help calm your nerves!" Roy was right back to his fawning father self, pulling out a rather large stack of photos. "Here she is in her footie pajamas, and here she is with her new teddy bear..."

Hawkeye exchanged glances with Roy. They let Hughes ramble on for a few more minutes before Hawkeye was shooing him out of the office.

"You should finish that sandwich up- we have to head back down soon." Roy nodded to Ed, looking at the clock.

"I'm done." Ed said simply, setting down the half-eaten sandwich and standing. Ed hardly ate anything- that meant he was nervous.

Roy placed a hand on his shoulder as they ducked out of the office and headed back towards the courtroom. No matter what was to come in cross examinations- he'd do his best to protect Ed.

[josefavomjaaga]

Helfert, Joachim Murat, Chapter 6, Part 5

Things are getting ugly now, brace yourselves.

Rarely has anyone been more fatally self-deceived than Joachim Murat, when he convinced himself that he need only present himself on the soil of his former kingdom and everything would fall to him. And for the full measure of his misfortune he had chosen the coast of Calabria, that stretch of land where the old dynasty had always found its enthusiastic followers willing to make sacrifices, while Murat's name, which was conflated with that of the madman Manhès, was virtually maligned and cursed there. But even elsewhere in the country, with the rapidly changing impressions of the southerners, his memory was not merely obliterated, as if a century had passed since then: everything connected with his actions, everything that reminded one of him, was as if it had been tainted. His officials, many of whom the new government had left in their positions, were looked upon with disdain and persecuted by the population; indeed, there were violent acts, bloody uprisings against them, so that the government had to intervene with all the severity of the law.

An example of this is given in the following footnote:

Jablonovski PS. ad numerum 12 of 21. September 2, mentions such an uprising in Salerno, in which several Murat officials were killed; a royal commission came from Naples and now eleven of the mutineers were sentenced to death: "il arrive à chaque instant de pareils événements; la présence de nos troupes les empêche dans la capitale, et si elles quittaient Naples aujourd'hui, demain tous ceux qui avaient été employés par Murat seraient égorgés". See also n. 13 on 3 October: "Dans les provinces qui étaient oprimées sous le gouvernement de Murat les passions haineuses de cette nation agissent avec plus de force".

Apparently, some people were disappointed that they were not allowed any excesses after the change of government. Helfert continues:

At the Court of Naples in the first days of October, nothing was known about Murat's departure from Ajaccio, nor was it possible to know anything about it: on the other hand, other news had arrived which upset the King in the extreme. Jablonovski, towards whom the monarch was always of the most winning friendliness, noticed a change in the monarch's behaviour at the cercle on October 4, the name day of Emperor Francis, which was always festively celebrated at Ferdinand's court. None of the ministers was able to tell our envoy what the king had against him until Princess Partanna, whom Ferdinand alone had taken into his confidence, told him: it was a coded dispatch from Prince Castelcicala which had arrived from Paris and informed the monarch that Austria had offered Murat an asylum within her borders. Jablonovski seized the first opportunity to confront Circello on the matter. "Shouldn't your King prefer," he said, "that Murat should stay 200 miles from Naples, under the eyes and supervision of a powerful ally of His Majesty, rather than having to constantly fear that the adventurer might land at a point on the coast which, because of its great extent, can never be properly guarded, and disturb the peace of the kingdom? Of course he won't succeed, that's what our troops are for. But he can cause enough unrest and disorder, especially if, as is not at all improbable, he joins forces with the Barbaresques and sets out to do mischief".

The argument was plausible and had all the greater effect because just in the last few days, October 4 and 5, reports had been received that put our envoy's ideas in a peculiar light. Murat's squadron had not gone entirely unnoticed on the Neapolitan coast: on the 4th a vessel had been observed near Sorrento which was thought to be a pirate ship and which seemed to be waiting for others like it; on the 5th a similar signal had arrived in the port of Salerno. The two pieces of news caused all the more concern in government circles because at the same time Baron Lebzeltern sent a message from Rome to the commandant of Gaëta, who reported to the capital without delay that Murat had left the port of Ajaccio with several ships.

All these facts also came to the knowledge of the diplomats of the friendly powers, at least to that of Jablonovski, who reported on them to his Cabinet on 6 and 7 October. On the other hand, what was decided at court remained a secret for the time being. They could only conclude from all sorts of signs and hints that the King's Council had agreed on a drastic measure. Our envoy and the British one thought that orders had been issued to all coastal points to treat Joachim Murat with martial law if he were seized with arms in his hand. Medici had also given orders to all commanders of the troops posted along the coasts from Salerno to Calabria to take the severest measures against those citizens who would join the ex-king. A Captain Spadea, who had returned from Sicily and was therefore undoubtedly familiar in court circles, informed Guglielmo Pepe privately "that much blood would flow in the kingdom in a short time".

Pizzo is, or was at that time, a town of about 8000 inhabitants situated on a height close to the sea, on the shore of which, where one used to land, there were individual houses and magazines. From the coast, at that time rather bumpy and uncomfortable, a path wound up to the town, which led to the main square and continued over the latter in the somewhat steeply rising road leading to Monteleone. On a hill overlooking the town on the left, in the direction in which we enter the town in our minds, there was a castle dominating the Rhine and the town.

Murat's small band, not counting himself, consisted of 29 heads, 26 of them militairs. He wore a uniform of sky-blue cloth, colonel's epaulettes, a tricorn on his head, but no medal or decoration of any kind on his chest. Some people who were on the beach during the disembarkation ran to watch the unusual spectacle and, while the Muratists kept shouting "Evviva il Re Gioacchino!", returned the greeting forced upon them. The same was the case with individuals who came to meet them as the group marched up the mountain path. Thus they arrived at the main square, where a lot of people had gathered, attracted both by the festival day and by the strange procession. The people's expressions reflected curiosity, astonishment, surprise, but not joy. On the contrary, when Murat addressed them, talking about redemption, about liberation, a woman from the people shouted at him: "You talk to us about the freedom you want to give us and you had three of my sons shot"!

This anecdote apparently goes back to Ferdinand of Naples personally, at least Helfert says in a footnote: "Tu parli di libertà e mi hai fatto fucilare tre figli! This turn the king told Prince Jablonovski, No. 15 to the 15th of October 2."

That was a wicked interjection! From their barracks appeared the coastguard, 15 men of artillery under Lieutenant Barba, armed and in their old uniform. "Behold my soldiers!" exclaimed Murat, turning to them: "Do you recognise your king? Shout: Long live King Joachim!" An official of the Duke of Infantado named Alcalà and others ran up to them and exhorted: "Shout: Long live Ferdinand!" They did neither, which Murat interpreted as a good sign that the old soldier's spirit would persuade them in his favour. But it was only amazement, or if you will, a kind of enchantment, which the unexpected appearance of the former king with his commanding and winning appearance exercised on them, as well as on the majority of those gathered in general.

While this was going on, two or three young people had approached Murat's entourage and persuaded them that nothing could be done here in Pizzo, that the population was stubborn, but that in Monteleone the "king" would certainly find his party! So Murat ordered the departure for Monteleone and called on the gunners to join him. They did not do so, but they followed his march at some distance. Joachim could no longer rest; he was not prepared for such a cool, even ambiguous reception. He strode hastily up the mountain road, so that, out of practice from the long sea voyage and affected by the excessive excitement, he had to pause to catch his breath. The coastguard was a good distance behind, marching slowly, as if irresolute, while from the town a crowd of armed men was seen approaching, by whom the artillerymen were soon overtaken. The ex-king's leaders became suspicious and urged them to hurry: "see if we can reach Monteleone as soon as possible!" But they were already close at hand, preceded in passionate haste by a gendarmerie captain named Trentacapilli; he had formerly been a gang leader, General Manhès had had three of his brothers hanged. "The general and all of you will follow me to Pizzo!" he commanded. "It behoves you," Murat replied, "to obey your king and escort him to Monteleone!" Murat's officers wanted to pounce on the audacious man, but Joachim resisted them, and he was allowed to return to his troop, from which shots were now fired. The Murat's wanted to return fire, but their master would not allow it: I do not want even one of my subjects to lose his life for the sake of my landing!

But he realised that all was lost. He and his officers, while his few men were soon crushed and overcome by the superior force, sought to reach the shore of the sea quickly, not on the paved path, but down the slope over hill and dale, with their pursuers hard on their heels, with whom they fought on the way. A single boat was found on the shore, which the officers wanted to unhitch in a hurry to head for Barbara's Trabacolo, which, instead of waiting nearby as he had been ordered, was cruising far from the shore on the high seas. But in the agitated haste, the boat could not be disentangled, and already the few were surrounded on all sides, and fists armed with sabres, axes and picks were raised against them. At this Murat surrendered: "Here you have my sword, but spare the lives of these brave men who have followed me into my misfortune!"

These words were only like an invitation to the enraged to turn their threats into action. Captain Pernice and Sergeant Giovannini fell to their deaths at Murat's side, Franceschetti fell to the ground badly hit, Lieutenant Moltedo and three others were wounded. They were seized, led or rather dragged, some of them barely able to carry themselves, into the village, under constant threats, punches and blows that spared the ex-king as little as his fellow victims. More than once an axe was raised to split Murat's head, if others had not intervened and prevented it. At this, speeches were heard which struck Joachim more sensitively than their weapons: "Were there not enough of these unfortunates? Had you not drunk your fill of the blood of your victims? Did you again need scaffolds and gallows?" He was almost completely stripped of his clothes, everything he carried was taken from him, and Trentacapilli did not miss a single thing: his money and his diamonds, his bills of exchange, his passport, everything he had to hand over. To seal his misfortune, a copy of his manifesto and his decree were found in his wallet, the incontestable proof of his hostile intention, the clear refutation of his pretence that he had only wanted to land on the coast in order to obtain the means to continue his journey to Trieste!

[ajaxkinnie]

Lucifer Fluff A-Z

Words: 2701 (Huh?!)

Warnings: None

Notes: This is my first writing on Tumblr, and my very first piece for Obey Me! I’m just trying to understand these characters a little better, before I try anything more in-depth :)

Activities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Naturally, Lucifer is a very busy demon, so he finds it difficult to get any free time - let alone free time that he could spend with his love. When he’s working, they’re more than welcome to sit in his office and study alongside him. They’ve been working through his entire collection of exotic teas, trying to figure out which ones suit each other’s personal tastes. He wouldn’t admit it to them, but he actually finds it a lot easier to concentrate when his love is with him. 

When he is lucky enough to have time away from his RAD duties, expect to be showered in attention. He likes to take you to see the sights in the Devildom, regardless of how tasteful he finds them. One of his favourite memories is of the time you visited the nearby museum. He couldn’t believe how simply cute you looked while your brain was attempting to run at 100 miles a minute (“Wait, that story from the Bible was actually real?!”). He bought a pen from the souvenir shop, and he uses it to sign his most important documents.

Beauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

He admires their mind, more than anything. Sometimes he falls deep into thought and finds himself wondering what the chances are he’d fall for a human so smart and fearless. He likes feeling like he has someone he can trust unconditionally, and someone decisive who can help him in puzzling situations. Before you, he would ask Mammon, but his answers tended to stress Lucifer out even more. He’s actually very grateful that you use common sense more often than not.

Comfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Patience is one of the virtues he didn’t abandon after the fall, so he’s a calming presence whenever you feel emotionally down. He would drop anything to help you if he felt like you needed him, and all he wants is for you to be happy. If you’re comfortable with physical affection, he’ll hold you for the entire night, making sure you feel safe in his arms. If not, he’ll fix you a hot drink and find an activity for you both to enjoy. Once the worst of it has passed, he’ll ask you to talk about your feelings, just so he knows how best to support you in the future.

Dreams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

He was shocked the first time he found himself fantasizing about your future together. He’s never been that kind of person. He imagines the two of you raising a family, in one of those Victorian-style houses he always sees in old films. Before you, he didn’t think he would ever want kids (especially with how Satan turned out), but he’d be lying if he said the thought of the two of you during tea on the front porch while your children play gleefully didn’t make him want to smile.

Equal - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

Seeing how he’s used to being in control in every one of his relationships, he’s come to realize that doesn’t want that from you. He struggles with it at first, and it takes him a lot of effort to overcome his commanding nature, but the two of you are absolutely equals. He just wants you to be happy. In fact, he finds it endearing when you tease him about his council member duties. 

Fight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Get ready for week-long silences and dramatic gasps of exasperation, everyone! Usually he keeps his cool when you guys start fighting - a few sarcastic quips and eye rolls have never done any damage. The worst fights are the ones where he gets angry. He always feels awful, and will lock himself up in his office for at least 3 days before he even acknowledges anyone else in the House of Lamentation. He never apologizes first, either. You just learn to accept it, and understand that he says sorry in his own way (namely, the days off he always mysteriously procures afterwards to do whatever your heart desires).

Gratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

His pride doesn't let him say it, so he expresses his gratitude in other ways. For Lucifer, gratitude is the heartfelt smile he offers when his love brings him a cup of coffee during a long night of work, or him lending you his coat on an evening walk. He never has to say the words “I’m grateful”, because his late night musings about how shocked he is that a human could make him feel this way says it for him.

Honesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

After The Incident with Belphie, as everyone refers to it, you two don't keep secrets. The only time he won’t tell you something is when it's related to his work for Diavolo. He really sucks at white lies, too, which none of you expected. Asmo was mad when Lucifer spoiled his surprise spa day.

Inspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helping them overcome personal problems?

He’s a lot less stern these days. Sometimes he walks into council meetings with a smirk, knowing that he’s going to get to see you for the first time in his inhumanely busy schedule. Mammon’s made a few comments now, bragging about all the things he can get away with since you “broke” the eldest. (Lucifer heard. He was hanging upside down for a good few days until someone finally took pity on him.)

Jealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

Lucifer? Jealous? Of course not! 

Yes. He gets very jealous. He’s good at hiding it though, signalling you through a arm squeeze or wrapping his arm around your waist just a tiny bit tighter. He does stand a little taller, and gets every so slightly curt with whoever is attempting to steal your attention. After all, he was once the jewel of the heavens. What could this lower demon possibly have on him? 

Kiss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Kisses with Lucifer feel like free falling, and take your breath away without him even having to try. They’re soft and romantic and full of emotion (until they’re full of something Else if you catch my drift). He just wants you to know how much he loves and adores you. He likes when you blush afterwards. He thinks it's cute.

Love Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

He asked Diavolo if he could have uninterrupted access to the royal rose garden, with the intent of teaching you about the different types of flowers in the Devildom - nothing more. When you arrived, he took you for a calming stroll under the moonlight. When you stood in the gazebo and put your head on his shoulder, he felt his heart start pounding. He reached out to grab your hand, and in the spur of the moment, told you how nobody in the three realms had ever made him feel this way before. He wishes he’d planned something in advance, since he was never a person to act on impulse. Despite how many times you reassured him that a moonlight stroll through a rose garden was one of the most romantic things to ever happen, he doesn’t believe you.

Marriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

He’d never considered marriage before, since every other immortal being was insufferable by his standards, but you changed his mind. He thinks a lot about how beautiful you would look in traditional wedding attire (as much as he curses his father for, well, everything) and how he would love to spend the rest of his life with you by his side. Marriage with Lucifer would be hard, since he has a crazy schedule, but you work together to create a work-life balance. Surprisingly, he discovers that he enjoys painting. He displays some of his paintings above the piano, right next to your wedding photos.

Nicknames - What do they call their s/o?

He calls you Love, and Dear. If Mammon or Asmo would use it, it goes on Lucifer’s distasteful list and he will not go NEAR it. He’s very particular about these kinds of things.

On Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

Nobody outside of the council could tell. He expresses his love through actions, so unless they could see him fussing over your school schedule, or worrying about what you’d packed for lunch, they wouldn’t have the tiniest clue. He just treats you like you’re the most precious thing in his life, with soft touches and an even gentler temperament. He wants you to be happy. After you two “go public” he’ll wrap his arm around your waist, or lend you his clothes to wear for the day. Even if you aren’t big on PDA, he’ll make sure everyone knows that you two are a forever couple.

PDA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Oh, as soon as one of his brothers walks into the room he locks hands with you just to see that little blush and nose scrunch you do. He doesn’t engage in public makeout sessions, he thinks it’s just gross, but he does like to quickly kiss your forehead when he gets pulled away. He just wants everyone to know that you’re happy with him, it fills him to the brim with pride. At Diavolo’s parties, don’t expect him to leave your side. It’s important everyone knows you’re with him, and he’s with you. 

Quirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

This man is a PLANNER. He’s so used to managing everything that goes on in the Devildom that your dates are like child's play to him. He makes the most simple of dinner plans feel like a whirlwind romance you would see in a rom-com. He also loves taking you to the events that he helped plan, he loves the attention he gets from the ‘scandalous’ romance of the Prince of Hell and the human. He wants to show you off all the time!

Romance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

He lives and breathes compliments. You wear an outfit he picked out to dinner? Expect nonstop commentary of how gorgeous you look and how happy he is to be with you. Every word that leaves his mouth is like poetry, and it's always enough to make you melt in your seat. He loves how you turn the same shade as the strawberries you’re sharing for dessert. He just loves You.

“My love, I can’t believe you have conquered my heart like this. You look simply gorgeous in this light.”

“Luci, I really appreciate it, but can you not say those things while we’re trying to finish the grocery shopping?”

Support - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

If he can pull strings behind the scenes to help you reach your goals, he will. He hates seeing you when you feel defeated. If you ask him not to interfere, then he shares meaningful words with you about how he believes in you, and he knows you can do anything you set your mind to. After all, if you can seduce the Prince of Hell, what can’t you do?

Thrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

He’s not a thrill seeker, but he doesn’t have a specific routine he prefers. He enjoys waking up and seeing you next to him, but as long as he gets to spend time with you it doesn’t matter what you do. He loves it when you surprise him with something you planned yourself, he always appreciates how much time and thought you put into everything you do for him.

Understanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

He had to analyse you closely at the start of the exchange, so he’s known about your mannerisms and how you react to most situations for a while now. Your brick wall of a boyfriend, however, is a very difficult can of worms to deal with. He’s used to being emotionally shut out, so while he can recognise your feelings, he finds it difficult to emphasise with you for a long time. Once he starts to open up though, he starts to understand why you act the way you do in some situations, and it actually results in you two fighting a lot less. He respects you a lot for helping him get back in touch with his feelings.

Value - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

It’s near the same level of priority as his work, surprisingly. He considers you as part of his family too, since all of his brothers adore you, so you’re definitely at the top of his list of priorities. While sometimes he struggles with work-life balance, he tries his hardest, and that means the world to you both.

Wild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

He takes lots of photos of you whenever you’re not looking. He says that he's just trying to capture the moment with you, but he knows deep down that he's preserving your memory ready for the day you’re no longer with him. His lockscreen is a photo of you leaning on his balcony, gazing out at the moon, in one of your favourite flowing dresses. With the white light reflecting on you, he felt like he was looking at one of the most beautiful angels in the celestial realm. It makes him happy and bittersweet at the same time, and reminds him to enjoy every moment you spend together. (You made your lockscreen a photo of him sleeping. He made you swear to never get your phone out around his brothers, which you reluctantly agreed on. You’re sitting on a gold mine).

XOXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

More affectionate than everyone expected him to be. Expect to fall asleep against his chest, and spend your free time after classes wrapped in his arms with a pint of ice-cream covered in forehead kisses. He just loves to feel you near him.

Yearning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

He sends you a simple text, just letting you know how much he loves and adores you, and lets you do whatever it is that has you separated. He uses the time to crack on with the mountains of paperwork, but he never gets much done with you on his mind. 

Zeal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Once he cares for you, he would do anything for you, just like he would for his brothers. He wants the best for you, and that means he would do anything for you. Once, he cancelled on Diavolo to spend the day with you, much to your delight. That was the boldest thing he’d ever done, and to this day you use it to tease him. He really would do anything for you. That's love!

[fourthwallhateclub]

Help me

Description: Emma is with Phoenix when she is kidnapped, can Bravo set aside their emotions in time to save her, or will they be too late...

A/N: I wrote some things like this over on Ao3 under “FourthWallHateClub”, this will eventually have a second part but with my ADHD I don’t know when that will happen 🙃 please feel free to send feedback on the fix, I know it’s shit but I live for shit so 🤭

@rebelreblogs

Emma's POV

Darkness... Floating... Silence... My eyes fluttered open and started to adjust to the light... where was I? The door slammed open,

"You're awake!" Was that... was that an Afghan accent? Then it all came back to hit me like a freight train...

48 hours before hand

"Sup Dalton." I said.

"Shut it Hayes." He said pissed off.

I turned to Mac with a questioning look, "Who pissed in his coffee?"

Mac smirked, "Don't take it personally, he's not pissed with you, he's pissed with Maddie. He was on his way to a football game with one of our old delta buddies when he got the call."

"It's..." I glanced at my watch, "1300 hours?"

"We we're gonna have a few beers!" Dalton groaned.

'More than a few.' I mouthed to Mac, he just coughed to stifle his laugh.

Matty walked in, tapping the glass creating a privacy screen, and clicked a button bringing an image up on screen. "Amir-Botzwat-Asharu."

"10 of clubs..." I breathed out in disbelief.

"International arms dealer, drug trafficker-"

"and grade-A prick." Jack stated matter-of-factly.

Mac snorted, "You can say that again."

"The guys been evading Phoenix since it was OPS, us personally for years, why are we concerned about him now?" I wondered.

"What's this got to do with us, CIA took over the case, why now?" Jack asked.

"If you’d let me talk, you’d know,” Matty said sarcastically, “He recently kidnapped and murdered an American. Phoenix have had him on our radar for a while now as you’re aware but the higher ups refused to green light the op to take him out, saying CIA had it handled. That all went to hell when their undercover agent was exposed, they shot him and put a bounty on everybody CIA affiliated."She said.

"We're on their SOS list Matty, we outrank some shitty little 'bounty' list." I said.

"Regardless, you, Dalton and MacGyver leave for the Middle East at 1600 this afternoon so you arrive at night, get your affairs in order because the big men upstairs say you don't leave till the jobs is done. You'll be properly briefed on the plane, but there are more pressing issues, you guys have up to date parachute qualifications right?"

"I don't like where this is going..." Jack mused.

"Me either..." Mac agreed.

"As much as I hate agreeing with you two shmucks, me three..." I said.

"Well whether you like it or not your jumping from that plane, there's no where for it to land where you'll keep your cover. Unless you want to walk 13 miles to where you'll be staying?" She challenged.

"WE'LL JUMP!!" We said in unison.

She smirked, "That's what I thought."

"Okay... where exactly are we going in the Middle East, and where are we staying?" I asked.

"You are going to Afghanistan."

"Fucking Trashcanistan?!? You've got to be kidding." Jack screeched.

Ah Dalton and his hatred for that place... he would get along with Uncle Sonny, man has a fear of bloody everything...

"SHIT!!" I yelled.

All heads snapped to me, "What's wrong Hayes?"

"Um... where exactly would we be staying?" I asked biting my lip.

"Navy base in J-"

I laughed nervously, "Would that be in J-Bad by any chance?"

"Yes, why?" Matty asked.

"We have a little problem..." I mumbled.

"And what would that be..." She mused, raising an eyebrow.

"My uh- my family was spun-up there a few weeks ago." I said.

"What do you mean Em?" Mac asked.

"I mean my family, is Bravo team. They are currently in the Middle East, and are stationed in J-Bad for the foreseeable future. What do we do?"

"I'm assuming that they were not among the people you told about your job?" Matty asked.

"No ma'am. Mac, Dalton, Bozer and Riley are the only ones who know..." I answered.

"You arrive at night anyway, you cover your tracks and stay as hidden as possible, don't talk to anyone and stay away from the sailors. Nobody is to know what you're doing there or who you are... to them you three are Black Rose, Hunter, and Eagle." Matty said.

"Yes ma'am."

"Well... get out of here."

We didn't need to be told twice, we were running out the door and to the squad room.

"What the fuck do I do?!?" I yelled as we entered the room.

"Want a hug?" Mac asked opening his arms. I nodded and walked into him tucking myself into his figure, "You'll be ok."

Jack's POV

"Wait! Is your dad the Jason Hayes, like Bravo 1, the legend?!?" I screeched.

"Uh- yeah.." Emma said pushing away from Mac and scratching her head.

"That explains a lot..."

"What do you mean?" She was confused.

"I mean, having worked with your father, I see where you get it from."

She laughed, "You are so old."

I gasped, "You mean we are so old. Mac and I worked together in the Army."

“No. You? You're old enough to be my dad. Mac? Is old enough to be my big brother." She laughed.

"Yeah, and we'll protect you like it too." I said hugging her shoulder.

"You won't have to do anything if my family spots me. I'll be on the first plane out of there and back home, complete with a tracker and navy seal protection detail. They'll never let me out of their fucking sight." She grumbled.

"You'll be ok. Let's get ready to rak out." I said.

"You're right."

I walked into my office and grabbed my rucksack and duffel. I met them back in the main room.

"List it Hayes."

She groaned, "Why???"

I smirked, "We're acting like the older brother and dad we are."

She rolled her eyes but spoke anyway, "I made sure my camping gear, fatigues and survival gear was in my bergan, along with Guns, ammo, knife and spare phones," we looked at her weirdly, "What? I'm sick of Mac breaking my shit. Dalton and I spend way to much fucking time at the Genius Bar creating new and inventive covers to explain what Mac does as is."

Mac raised his hands, "You got me."

She smirked, "I know I do, anyway, I grabbed my go-bag, passport and fake ID's."

"What's in your go-bag." I quizzed.

"Toiletries, Clothes, Cash, Raincoat, Matches, Lighter, Laptop, Flashlight, MRE's, water purification tablets, rope, duct tape, whistle, batteries, knife, and First aid kit. Why do we keep doing this?"

"Good, and we do it because we care." Mac said kissing her head.

“Ugh! Let's go." We headed out to Mac's truck and dumped our stuff in the back. She hopped in the back and we drove to Mac's place.

"Bozer!" Mac called.

"Sup guys." He said bro hugging Mac.

"We're heading out, I need you to take care of some stuff for us." Mac asked.

"Yeah ok, let me grab some paper." He said.

We walked into the kitchen and told him what we needed, Mac didn't need to worry because he lived with Bozer, so Em went first, "My rent is due first of the month, it auto pays but I need you to check on the seventh if I have mail just in case it didn't go through. I need mail collected on the 7th, 14th 21st, and 28th. Plants need to be watered but that can be done when you grab my mail, if anything happens there is a contact sheet folded in the draw of my desk, it'll tell you who to call, in what order. You good with that?"

"All good Em." He said with a smile.

"Thanks Boz."

"Your welcome, Jack anything you need." He questioned.

"I live next to Emma so same as her just no plants to water, if you could check on my place when you water Emma's plants that would be great, and there is a contact list in the box on top of the CD rack."

"Cool, I got it."

“Thanks Boz." Mac said walking back into the room with his bag.

"It's all cool man." He said.

We walked to the door before he called out, "Be safe, I want you back in one piece."

"We'll try Boz."

~Time skip brought to you by Sonny’s Bam-Bam~

We'd been briefed and where currently in our hammocks grabbing what sleep we could before we hit the ground running.

"Drop zone is up in 35."

"Let's go kids." I commanded with a laugh.

We packed up our hammocks and pulled on our jump suits. I strapped my duffel to the bottom of my bergan and grabbed my chute. Strapping my Bergan to my back I pulled the parachute over the top. I walked over to the ramp and waited for Mac and Em to join me.

"2 minutes to the drop zone"

"Ready ladies." I yelled over.

"We're coming." Mac laughed.

We attached to the central line and clipped in, we watched as the light turned on and the ramp lowered,

"5...4...3...2...1..."

The light turned green and we jumped. My drill instructors voice went through my head. Breathing Dalton... in for 2... hold for 4... out for 3... parachute in 3, 2, 1. Pull the cord. Release the parachute. Move your body vertical. Feet pointed down. Legs slightly apart. Hit the deck in 3...2...1. Land crouched. Bend knees and run forward 20 yards. Unclip and pull.

Emma and Mac landed next to me and we packed up our chutes.

"Base is roughly 1 click 228 degrees north east." I said.

"Comms up?" Mac asked.

"Yeah they are." Matty answered.

"Good." I said. "Let's go."

We moved our bergans to our fronts and held our duffel bags. We broke out into a jog eager to get out of the heat. Arriving at the 'base' we were met with our assigned CIA handler.

"Agent Jayden Riggs." He said offering his hand.

I shook it, "I'm Eagle, this is Hunter and she's Black Rose."

"Real names?" He asked.

"That's need to know." Emma answered.

“What do you mean, I'm your handler?"

"Look Riggs, we don't like spooks ok. We work alone, off our own intel. It's important our identities remain a secret." She answered shortly, that's my Hayes.

"Alright then, let's get you set up in cabins, Black Rose, you'll be separated from the men." He said as he started walking away.

"What?" I said.

"Gender sensitivity. Men and women are separated." He said like it was obvious.

"Yeah no, she stays with us. We don't care about gender sensitivity." Mac said before I could, reel in the big brother before you get yourself in trouble Mac.

"It's protoco-"

I cut him off, "Screw protocol, Black Rose stays with us."

"Of course." He relented.

He led us to a cabin as a humvee pulled up, out climbed 6 men and a dog, all in fatigues, before I could see anything else Emma pushed us into the cabin and slammed the door shut behind us as we collapsed onto the floor.

"What was that??"

"That! Was my family." She helped us up.

Jason's POV

We were on night patrol in a neighbouring town to J-bad, we'd been out for 6 hours and it was 0300. I decided it was time to head back.

"Let's move out."

We walked back to the humvee and climbed in. We'd been driving for about 15 minutes when we saw three figures drop from the sky.

"What the hell is that?" Sonny asked.

"I'll find out." I said keying my comms, "Havoc base this is Bravo 1, we've got three parachute jumpers coming towards base."

"Copy that Bravo 1, I'll find out." Blackburn answered, a few minutes later he keyed his coms again, "Stand down, their friendlies."

"What do you mean their 'friendlies'?"

"I'll find out."

I rolled my eyes, cryptic much. We watched as they landed about 5 clicks ahead of us and packed their chutes away, then started running towards base.

"We're not far out now. We'll talk when we get in." I said.

We got to the base gate and rolled through, getting out I saw three figures standing outside a cabin glance at us before one pushed the others into the cabin and slammed the door. Weird. After we dumped our gear in the shed. We walked into the team room where Eric and Mandy were waiting.

"Who were they?" I asked.

"Apparently they work for some government agency, they're following a lead on a case." Mandy said.

"Which agency?" Brock asked.

"I don't know guys. I don't know..." Eric said.

"Why did they jump Eric? Why not just land on the airstrip?" I quizzed.

"Apparently they're meant to be discreet. Nobody was supposed to know they're here." Mandy said.

"Well they did a crap job of that." Ray said.

"Actually Ray, you guys weren't meant to be out tonight, had base been on routine nobody would have seen them come in." Eric spoke.

"Well that's creepy." Clay said.

"What do we know about these guys Mandy?" I asked.

"Two guys, one girl actually." She stated hint of amusement in her tone.

"A girl?!?" Sonny yelled.

"What? Don't think women can do the same jobs as men? Or are you just worried she's going to outshine you." Lisa interrogated.

"No but if she gets snatched we'll be the ones collecting her." He grumbled.

"So? If she's snatched it's going to be for bad intel, and unfair conditions. Not because she's a woman." Lisa challenged.

"Enough! What do we know about them?" I yelled.

"Their handler couldn't tell me much, mainly because he didn't know a great deal. However, their code names are Black-Rose, Hunter and Eagle. Their handler doesn't know their real names and I suspect that's by design." Mandy spoke.

"Ok. First off those why do those code names ring a bell, Second what do we know about the organisation they work for?" Clay asked.

"Honestly? Nothing. None of my bosses know who or what they are and the further up I went the more I was told to stop digging." Mandy said.

"So what do we do?" Trent asked.

"We stay away. We don't talk to them, not only for your safety but for theirs too. You see them walking you say nothing, although I suspect given all the trouble they went to so they weren't seen while getting here, we won't be seeing an awful lot of them." Eric mused.

"Alright then." I said clapping my hands, "We need to sleep." I turned to Eric, "I trust if you find anymore information that could be of use you'll speak to us?"

"Of course." Eric said nodding curtly before walking out of the room.