#whumptober day 6

[sarahsmi13s]

Just a Little Guidance

whumptober day 6: forced to hurt someone

pairing: tim bradford x reader (oc last name: blake)

characters: tim bradford, y/n blake, zoe andersen, jackson west, john nolan, lucy chen, thane riggs (oc villain)

warnings: 18+ MDNI, language, blood, fighting, stabbing, mentions of SA, being held captive, forced to hurt someone, forced to hurt partner, crying, quitting, if i missed anything please please please let me know

word count: ~1.8k

a/n: this is for whumptober! please please please proceed with caution and use discretion, protect your peace

also if you are on the whump taglist but are not familiar with a character, you can skip it will not hurt my feelings!

also also, i do want to apologize for getting this up late got distracted while writing it so i finished it later than i had hoped

whumptober 2023 masterlist

summary:

You stood in front of Captain Andersen’s desk, hands shaking as you listened to her tell you about everything that would need to happen before you could return to duty. 

Tonguing your split lip, you shook your head. Tears gathered in your eyes as you looked at your trembling, still blood stained, hands as your shield and gun rested in them

How could they let you back to work after everything that happened? Tim was still in the hospital, you got to leave after just a few days. But what you saw, what you and Tim experienced over those two weeks… you couldn’t trust yourself.

“I-I’m sorry Captain… but I can’t,” you said softly, your bruised and busted hands curling around the items in your them.

She tilted her head, “I’m not sure I understand.” 

You sat your shield and gun on her desk, “I’m not coming back… I’m sorry… but I quit.”

Zoe nodded, giving you a sympathetic look as you avoided her eyes. “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?” You shook your head before she was even finished. “No, I’m sorry Captain… but I can’t. I’m quitting, I’ve made up my mind. I’m sorry.”

Without giving her a chance to reply, you turned on your heel and left.

You sat curled up in the hospital chair, just staring at Tim’s unconscious form laying there in the bed.

There were words stuck in your throat. It was like they were coming up sideways, choking you before coming up in broken fragments on your tongue.

What the hell could you say? Tim was laying in a hospital bed because of you. You had put him there. An apology just wouldn’t make that go away. Make what you did go away.

You sat in the uncomfortable chair, picking scabs and prodding at bruises as your mind replayed everything. Never giving you a chance to rest or forget what you did.

“I’m sorry, Tim… I’m so so sorry,” you sobbed, looking down at your blood covered hands. 

“It’s okay, baby,” Tim winced at the way your hands tried to patch him up from the wounds you had put there that day. “You’re doing this to protect yourself and for us to survive. I’m not mad.” 

You shook your head, “I should be stronger than this…” 

“Thane is a fucking psycho, do not put this blame on yourself,” he grunted as he sat up. “Hey, look at me.” You sniffled and looked up, “I’m hurting you, Tim. I shouldn’t hurt you, under any circumstance… even this. I should have let him–”“Don’t say that, don’t you dare say that.” 

“You were ready to take a bullet for me!”

“Because you don’t deserve to die!”“And you do?!”

You panted a little, “I shouldn’t be hurting you… I don’t want to hurt you.” He grabbed your hand, not caring about his own blood slicking up his hand. “I know that, and I can handle it. They’re coming, I know they are. I can hold out until then.” 

“But what if I can’t?”

After that conversation it was eerie silence as you both tried to sleep.

It was hard for you to fall asleep. The copper scent of Tim’s blood on your hands made you sick to your stomach . The substance was sticky and drying to your skin. Thane wasn’t allowing you to wash your hands, letting Tim’s blood dry on your hands in layers.

And when you woke up the next day it was your turn.

You were simply a punching bag. Though Thane would call it a ‘boxing match’. If you won, the next day you wouldn’t have to hurt Tim and you both got a decent meal with fresh water.

But you couldn’t win. 

You had gotten close the first few times. But Thane was an ex-Navy SEAL so he could take you down like it was nothing. And as time went on, you got weak. You didn’t have the energy to put up a decent fight and even give yourself hope. The only reason you still attempted was to keep Tim safe.

That night you sat on the floor with your head down and an arm clutching your side as your ribs ached. 

“I’m sorry,” you said quietly. Tim grunted as he turned to look at you, “Why are you sorry?” You sniffled, “I can’t win…” “You’re not supposed to win. He just likes to give you hope…” 

“I can’t keep doing this Timmy… hurting you, I can’t…” 

“If you don’t-”

“Yeah, I know. But I’m not going to kill you… I couldn’t live with myself if I did.” 

You didn’t give him a chance to respond and just got in your bed and tried to sleep.

The next morning, Thane woke you up with gentle caresses on your face.

“Time to wake up,” he said gently, pulling you up and to your feet. “C’mon we have a big day ahead of us.” 

You whimpered as he pulled you over to a table, gun pressed to your lower back. “Pick your first weapon.”

You shake your head, tears spilling over, “No.” 

Thane growled and pulled harshly on your hair, making you look up at him. “You pick or I do, I won’t tell you again.” The gun digs into your back, “And you won’t like what I pick.”

You gritted your teeth as he pulled your hair harder, “I’m done playing your game. Shoot me.”

“Y/N, it’s okay…” Tim said, but his words were breathy. “I-I can take it.” 

“You hear that? He can take it,” Thane smirked before kissing your forehead. “Pick up the knife.”

“I said, no.”

He growled before slamming your face down on the table.

Tim looked away, jaw clenched as you cried out a little. You don’t blame him, you’d look away too. 

This position hadn’t been unfamiliar. 

Often after those boxing matches, Thane would use your weak state to release other frustrations. 

So you just closed your eyes and braced yourself.

“Oh look at you,” he cooed, his hand rubbing your back. “Mmmm you’ve learned. But right now isn’t about us. It’s about you and Tim. So pick up the knife or I will fuck you as you look your boyfriend in the eyes. Pick. It. Up.”

“Pick up the knife, Y/N…”

“Okay! Okay…”

Thane smirked and pulled you back up to stand. “Good girl.”

Your hand shook as you wrapped your fingers around the blade’s handle. The thought of turning and plunging it into your capture’s stomach flashed in your mind but you knew better. You weren’t fast enough and his trigger finger was quick.

Eyes filling with tears, Thane guided you forward.

“Stab him.”

Your eyes widened and you turned your head to face him. “W-what?”

“You heard me, stab him.”

“That wasn’t-”

“Do it or I'll shoot him in the head.”

You closed your eyes, sobbing as your hands shook violently. “It’s okay Y/N. It’s gonna be okay,” Tim reassured, kissing the top of your head.

But you didn’t believe him.

When it was just cuts or burns, it was easier to believe that he would be okay. But you could see that he was weak. He was shaking from blood loss and he could barely keep his eyes open. His voice was tired and breathy so he desperately tried to put authority in it.

But it wasn’t working.

You shook your head, crying openly as you brought up the knife.

He gritted his teeth and braced himself as you found a spot on his torso and pushed the tip of the blade in.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” you whispered tearfully, pulling the knife back out. 

You watch horrified as blood leaks out of the new wound and down his side. You had hurt him, again. It made you feel sick.

Suddenly, Thane’s right in your ear, his eyes on the bare half inch of blood on the blade.

“Oh, come on now. Don’t waste my time,” he growled. He wrapped his arms around you and put his hands on top of yours. 

“No, no please,” you begged through your tears, trying to fight him.

But your resistance was used in Thane’s favor as he used your combined force to plunge the knife into Tim’s stomach.

You gasped, feeling the sickening warm feeling of fresh blood coating your hands.

Tim couldn't hold back his shout of agony, gritting his teeth as tears came to his eyes. 

Thane leaned in, laughing in your ear as you sobbed, “Look at that, seems like all you needed was just a little guidance.” 

You covered your mouth, smearing blood on your face as your eyes stayed unmoving from the knife handle. You could have collapsed to the floor in a sobbing heap if Thane hadn’t had arms around you.

“Ooooh not so fast there Y/N. One’s not going to cut it, sweetheart. Take it out and do it again.”

When you hesitated, Thane took your hands and wrapped them around the handle, “Take it-”

“LAPD DROP YOUR WEAPON AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR.”

You sobbed in relief as Thane turned to who you recognized to be John Nolan, Bishop’s rookie.

“Put your weapon down and kick it over to me.” 

Thane followed his instructions, smart enough to know that he was cornered. 

You held Tim’s face, “It’s gonna be okay baby. They’re here, just like you said they would be.”

Tim had been unconscious when you said that, finally succumbing to the pain.

“Officer Blake?”

You jumped at the call of your name, being pulled from your memories as you looked up to see the three rookies. Jackson was the one to address you.

“You don’t have to call me that anymore Officer West…”

He nodded and swallowed, “Right we’re out of uni-”

“No, I quit… I’m not an officer anymore.”

The rookies’ eyes widened and they shared a look when your eyes moved to Tim.

“But you’re great at your-” 

You cut John off, bitterness in your tone, “If I was good at my job he wouldn’t be in this bed…”

You took a breath, finally letting yourself touch him and grabbing Tim’s hand. “I should have been stronger…”

“Thane’s a psychopath, who knows what situation we would be in had you held out longer,” Lucy tried, watching your glass eyes as they looked over Tim. “That doesn’t make you a bad cop…”

“I don’t trust myself… and being a good team requires trust. I can’t go back out onto the street if I do not trust myself, that’s how people get hurt.”

You shook your head, letting it fall between your shoulders. “It took just a little guidance and I plunged a knife into the man I love…”

taglist: @bradleybeachbabe @mayhemmanaged @kmc1989 @lovinglyeternal @horseshoegirl @cassiemitchell @fanboyswhore9 @nightowlalltheway @86laura11 @els-marvelvsp @valmare @startrekfangirl2233

hi, if you're seeing this and are currently not on the taglist and would like to be please fill out the taglist form -> whumptober taglist

i can not stress this enough, but whumptober can have some very serious and heavy topics and i want to make sure i am doing my part as an author to prepare my readers for what they are about to experience and that includes not only warnings above but my taglists as well

so if you want to be added check out the masterlist and read that carefully and fill out the form -> whumptober 2023

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

Link above is for Whumptober Day 6!

And below:

Angstober Day 6, which I posted yesterday!

The next fic on my list is supposed to be posted tomorrow I believe, but it's not done at the moment so once I complete it I will be immediately posting after haha!

[finn-m-corvex]

Whumptober 2023 Day 6 - Made to Watch

Day 6, and a continuation of the story for Day 4! This'll happen a couple of times bc the prompts just happened to line up and hey, might as well make my job a little easier, right?

@splinnters sixth tag's the charm! Hope you love all of this reading material!

Words: 2.2k

“Get your hands off of me!” Cole snapped, pushing back against the arms forcing him forward. He really could’ve used his super strength, but the fuckers had slapped him with vengestone cuffs before he could blink. The room around him spun around, stone walls blurring together as he was forced into a chair; Cole tried his best to fight back as they cuffed his legs to the chair’s, and he snarled at the man who knelt down in front of him.

“If you don’t start cooperating, then it’s just going to be worse for you,” the man scoffed, and Cole wanted to wipe the smug look off of the man’s face. “Now, I’m sure you already know who we are.”

“The Sons of Garmadon,” Cole spat, flicking his bangs out of his face. “Yeah, I’m familiar with the name. Now what the hell do you want?”

“Just a small bit of information,” the man said smoothly. “Nothing too important.”

“Where’s Jay?”

“Oh, the blabbermouth? He’s coming in now.”

Cole was forced to watch as Jay was pushed in through the door, and he immediately felt like he had been sucker-punched. There was a large bruise blossoming across Jay’s eye and they had him gagged, and Cole could see that he was limping before he was strapped to a chair much like he was. He was bleeding profusely, and Cole’s stomach turned when he saw burn marks littering the blue ninja’s thighs and chest through his ruined gi. His brother was twitching, head moving from side to side as if he couldn’t control it. Jay looked up at him, and Cole could see the relief in his eyes when he saw that Cole was uninjured.

If only Cole could say the same.

“Let us go,” Cole snarled, trying to stand up and take the chair with him, but they had the foresight to bolt it down to the floor. “We don’t have what you’re looking for.”

“Don’t you?” the man said mockingly, and he strode to the other side of the room. He watched as the man picked up some sort of black rod, giving it a once-over and a few test swings into the palm of his hand. It was a baton.

Jay’s eyes widened as the man walked behind him, and the man grabbed his chin. “This one refused to talk, and you can see what happened to him. Let’s just hope you can make better choices.”

“I won’t tell you shit,” Cole said, but he only had eyes for the large burn on his brother’s neck. “Do whatever you want to me, I don’t care.”

“Oh no, you misunderstand,” the man said easily, letting go of Jay. Jay immediately tucked his head back down, almost as if he were hiding from sight. It only seemed to amuse the man. “We’re not going to hurt you, earth ninja. He is the one who is going to be taking the hits.”

Without warning his hand lashed out and caught Jay across the face, forcing his head sideways with a loud clap against his cheek. Cole shot forward but the vengestone was too strong; it held him in place, and when he tried to call for his super strength it never came. Jay exhaled, and Cole could see the way the breath dragged on his chest.

There was so much blood. Jay was covered in it as well as vomit, and the stench was overwhelming, burning through the nostril hairs that Nya was always telling him to trim anyway. “What the hell did you do to him?” Cole demanded, and the man only chuckled.

“For being the lightning ninja, he has a surpriisingly low tolerance for electrocution. The cattle prod made quick work of him.” The man reached forward and ripped off Jay’s gag, smirking at the way Jay started gasping for air and at the spit leaking down his chin.

“Don’t talk like I told you anything.” Jay said, his voice rough and scratchy as if he had been screaming, “when you know damn well I didn’t say a word. Don’t let them trick you, Cole.”

He wouldn’t have thought for even a second that Jay would’ve cracked under the pressure. “Electrocution? With what?”

“Cattle prod,” Jay said casually, and Cole’s eyes widened. “I’m fine.”

“That does not sound like you’re fine-”

And this was when the man decided to make his presence known once again, sneaking behind Jay and keeping his steps light as he went. The earth ninja frantically tried to signal to Jay about the man, but the lightning ninja only looked confused until the man had grabbed his hair and yanked upwards. Jay shuddered, closing his eyes as the man trailed a single finger down his Adam’s apple, swallowing thickly. The sight made Cole’s gut churn with rage, and he knew the man could see his mood shifting.

“Maybe this one wouldn’t tell us anything,” he mused, “but I’m sure you would be if you had the right motivations. Where is your master?”

“Wu?” Cole asked warily. “We don’t know where he is.”

“Nice try, but this one has already pulled that card,” the man yanked on Jay’s hair again, making the blue ninja groan, “so let’s try this again. Where is Wu?”

“I’m telling you, we don’t know where he is,” Cole stressed, “we probably have even less of an idea than you.”

“So you’re telling me that you’ve been searching all of this time, and you don’t know a single thing about where he might be?”

“No, we don’t.”

The man looked almost apologetic, picking the baton back up and twirling it a couple times. “Such a shame. I guess we’ll just have to look somewhere else.”

Without warning he slammed the butt end of the baton into Jay’s temple, and Cole cried out as Jay’s head fell forward. He was still conscious, but Cole didn’t know if that was going to be the case for much longer. Jay picked up his head, squinting, his hair matted down with drying blood. Every part of Cole was screaming for him to get them out of there through any means necessary, to get Jay to the closest hospital or even just a hotel room. Anywhere that wasn’t here.

“Get your hands off of him!” Cole growled, fighting against the vengestone holding him back. That was his brother, dammit!

“If you want me to leave him alone, then you’re going to give me information,” and this time it was Cole getting the baton as it slammed into his ribcage, winding him. Cole wheezed, thankful for his body’s durability as the throbbing quickly subsided.

“I already told you, we don’t have any!”

“And I don’t think you’re telling me the truth,” the man said angrily, hitting Cole with the baton again, this time on his head, “so we’re going to be here for a long time until you do start telling me something.”

“Oh I’ll tell you something: go to fucking hell!” Cole shouted. Jay looked at him in amazement, even though Cole could see the terror hidden away. And it suddenly occurred to Cole that the man had said that while he wouldn’t be getting any punishment…

…Jay would be.

Fuck.

“Wait,” Cole tried, watching as the man reached for something on the small table, “I didn’t mean that. We can tell you one thing, but it won’t be much-”

“Don’t bother,” the man said, “you’ve already pissed me off enough. I’m going to rough up your friend a bit, and then you can tell me what you need to tell me.”

Shit shit shit shit shit-

Another gag was thrust into Jay’s mouth, and the man pulled it back far enough to draw blood as the rope chafed against the sensitive skin. Jay choked on it, trying to spit it back out to no avail, but he really lost his shit when the man tied a blindfold around his eyes. Cole’s stomach dropped when he saw how hard Jay started to thrash, and he knew that he had to do something or else Jay was going to hurt himself.

“Jay,” Cole said gently, uncaring of the way the man’s lips curled in disgust, “I’m here, I’m right here, and it’s going to be fine, but I need you to calm down.”

His brother rapidly shook his head, and Cole sucked in a breath when he saw the glint of the dim light off of the baton before it came down onto Jay’s shoulder. Jay yelled into the gag, trying to pull away from the man but stuck in place, and Cole struggled against his bonds as well. “Stop!” he pleaded, heart breaking at the sight of his brother crying through the blindfold as he was beaten in the chair, over and over and over again.

There was a sharp crack! as the man swung at Jay’s kneecap, and Cole flinched when it was quickly dislocated. Jay jolted forward, shoulders hunching and chest heaving as he swallowed back what Cole knew was vomit, almost choking. Cole couldn’t look away, even though the sight made him sick; Jay needed him to be there and dammit he was going to be right there with him. His eyes were glued to the burns on Jay’s thighs, too deliberately shaped and placed to be done with a random object, and he remembered what the blue ninja had told him earlier: he had been hurt with a cattle prod.

A cattle prod that had enough juice to burn against the skin.

I need to do something, Cole thought frantically, watching as the man started to touch Jay’s burns, twisting his fingers and smiling as Jay cried from the pain. Jay’s rope-burn was only growing worse, the ropes turning redder and redder with every passing minute as he bled. His brother was right there and there was nothing he could do to protect him.

Nothing could’ve prepared him for when tears started rolling down his face as Jay yelled his name through the gag.

Finally, the man pulled away, and Cole’s heart ached as Jay collapsed in his chair. The lightning ninja was exhausted, and Cole had just enough give in his restraints to bump his foot against Jay’s. The auburn-haired boy looked back up at the ravenette, and Cole hated how his eyes shined with unshed tears. Was there anything he could’ve done to prevent it?

“You know what I’m looking for,” the man said, pulling back the baton. Cole despised how Jay’s blood was dripping from it, making small splats on the stone floor, “so feel free to tell me anything you know, or else Pretty Boy here gets it.”

Jay flinched at the nickname, and hearing it made Cole see red. But he couldn’t afford to lose it now; Jay was hurt the last time he ran his mouth, and he didn’t know how much more Jay could take.

“I can’t tell you where he is,” Cole started, “but I can tell you where we’ve already looked. That’s the best I can do.”

The man scoffed. “If we managed to capture you, then isn’t at least a little bit indicative that we’ve been following you? We already know everywhere that you’ve gone-”

“Do you know where the others have searched?” Cole asked, fully aware of just how sensitive this information was. But Jay was more important, and he trusted the others to be able to take care of themselves.

His brother was shaking his head, telling him not to do it, and Cole ignored the pleading look in his eyes as the man looked at him with intrigue. “No, we don't,” he said.

“Bring me a map and I’ll mark all of the places we’ve already searched,” Cole said, “but on two conditions: you don’t hurt him anymore, and you let us go when I’ve given you what you need.”

“Consider it done,” the man said happily, and Cole’s blood was boiling as he wrenched Jay’s head up by his hair again. “You hear that, brat? It wasn’t that hard. All of that nonsense and for what? You to start crying? How pathetic. Just be grateful that one of you has some common sense.”

He ripped off Jay’s gag and threw it on the ground, turning away. They were alone as the man left through a hidden door, but Cole couldn’t care less about that as he looked at Jay. Jay looked furious, and that was understandable.

“You can’t give them that information!” he hissed. “Why would you say anything?”

“Because they were hurting you,” Cole said simply, and Jay looked away, a bitter smile playing at his lips.

“It doesn’t matter. I am not worth that information-”

“Yes, you are,” Cole said firmly. “If it was between you or giving up some locations, I’m choosing you every single time.”

“That’s not the smart thing to do.”

“When have we ever done the smart thing? I don’t give a flying fuck about what’s smart and what’s dumb. Now shut up and let me comfort you, since my big mouth is what got you all messed up like that.”

Jay coughed, a tiny bit of blood leaving his mouth. “Fine. But you’re explaining to the others why there’s a bunch of snot-nosed assholes with cattle prods chasing after them.”

[norbezjones]

Whumptober Day 6: Not Realizing They’re Injured (Romance The Backrooms)

(Posting this a day late again because of my late shift.)

Look, in case you couldn’t figure it out from June Of Doom & Whumptember, I like whump.  So I’ll be participating in Whumptober when I have the time/energy to.  I may use all of the day’s prompts, or I may use some of them.  We’ll see what happens.

Like usual, I will be doing these for the characters of my story Romance The Backrooms, a liminal space otome with 5 main love interests.  This is an original work, not fanfiction.

Enjoy!

(I also included the fictober-event prompt today!)

Today’s Prompts: Not Realizing They’re Injured, “I’m not giving up”

Characters: Uri, Glarence, Manorial

Other Info: More Uri x Glarence content, hooray!  Haven’t done this in a while, here’s a link to the last story of this type: Tumblr, Pillowfort.  It’s also from a whump event, funny enough, though that was June Of Doom.

_________

“You’re hurt!” Glarence remarked as he approached Uri.

Uri frowned.  “I am?”

“Yeah, stupid!” Glarence exclaimed, pointing at Uri’s shoulder.  Uri glanced down, and saw a gaping wound there, running all the way up to his neck.

“. . .Huh,” Uri muttered.  “Guess I didn’t notice.”

“I did,” Manorial teased, chuckling.  “Goodness, Uri, you have to be more careful.  If you don’t take care of yourself, how am I going to keep collecting your memories, hmm?”

“Shut up, stupid cat; you’re not helping!” Glarence shouted.  He came next to Uri and said, ““Come on, lean on me.  I’m pretty sure Adiel has one of those healing salves from Leon still left.  He can fix you up; we’re not giving up on you that easily.”

“Alright,” Uri agreed.  “Thanks.”

And so, the two of them went together to find Adiel.

[serickswrites]

"Do or Die"

Warnings: kidnapping, captivity, restraints, video recording, forced to watch, knife, blood, stabbing, mcd

Caretaker stared at the link in their inbox that they had been expecting for the last few hours. Whumper had kidnapped Whumpee hours ago, and, as usual, Whumper had sent a link to a live feed of what they were doing to Whumpee.

Why Whumper continued to do that was beyond Caretaker. It led to their capture each and every time. And Whumpee's return to safety, relatively unharmed. Today was no exception.

The team gathered around the conference room table and watched the big screen as Caretaker clicked on the link to the live feed. Whumpee sat in the center of the room, roped to a chair, the rope tied tightly at their wrists and ankles. They were ungagged--unusual for Whumper--and seemed unharmed.

"Start your trace. I want to get Whumpee as quickly as we can," Caretaker ordered the team.

"We need probably about five to ten minutes to establish the trace," Teammate One said.

Teammate Two laughed, "Good thing Whumper is going to wax poetic about all the things they are going to do to Whumpee."

Teammate One smirked as well, "They do have to give that Villain speech, don't they. They can't resist it at all."

Caretaker tried not to smile. It was true, every time Whumper had to broadcast all of the torture and pain they had planned for Whumpee before they even did anything. And it always led to them being caught. Without fail. Caretaker had begun to wonder just how much of a criminal mastermind Whumper actually was.

They had been hoping this time, of course, that Whumper would grab them. Caretaker had set themself up as bait, telling the team that they didn't want to put Whumpee at risk again.

But Whumper hadn't fallen for the bait.

Whumper entered the screen, fingering a knife sheath on their belt, as they circled Whumpee. Whumpee spoke first, eye directly at the camera. "It's ok, Caretaker. I'm ok. They haven't hurt me yet."

"Can you hear us, Caretaker?" Whumper purred as they circled Whumpee once more. "Can you see us, Caretaker?"

Whumpee rolled their eyes. "Take your time, Caretaker, Whumper's gotta be dramatic for a bit." Even Whumpee didn't seem afraid. No one viewed Whumper as a threat because of all the times they had been their own downfall.

Which is why when Whumper, circling behind Whumpee, pulled the knife from the sheath at their side and plunged it into Whumpee's chest, Caretaker couldn't believe their eyes.

Whumpee's cry of pain was strangled and brief, their eyes going wide with shock. Whumper twisted the knife as Whumpee began to slump forward, eyes going dim.

"No," Caretaker sobbed. This wasn't happening. Couldn't be happening. What happened to the pattern?

Neither Teammate One or Teammate Two could tear the gaze from the screen. Could tear their gaze from Whumpee's body, blood oozing from around the knife.

Whumper fisted Whumpee's hair and lifted, bending Whumpee's neck all the way back so they could stare into Whumpee's empty eyes. They spat on Whumpee and dropped Whumpee's head. They stalked toward the camera. "Come get your pet, Caretaker. They're useless to me now. Broken." Whumper spat the last word out with such satisfaction.

Whumper disappeared off screen. Caretaker couldn't breathe. This wasn't happening. Whumpee wasn't dead in the chair. Whumper hadn't stabbed Whumpee to death on camera. This wasn't real.

The camera zoomed in on Whumpee's face. The look of surprise hadn't had time to fade, Whumpee's eyes still wide with the edge of shock. But their eyes....Whumpee's eyes were empty and unseeing.

"Come collect this corpse, Caretaker, before I dispose of it somewhere you will never find," Whumper whispered off screen. "Don't bother looking for me. You won't find me. But I will find you when I'm ready to take my vengeance from your hide, too."

Caretaker couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. They could only sob. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. "It should have been me," they whispered to no one in particular. "It should have been me."

[smilesrobotlover]

Whumptober day 6- alternate prompt, reluctant whumper.

Had to do an alternate prompt. Ok so this isn’t an au that y’all are familiar with. I’ve talked about it a couple of times but I doubt anyone remembers it. This fic about my other Link oc who I called Real. Basically the main premise of his story is that the royal family found the hero of Hyrule and raised him in the castle, however the royal family is stupid and the “hero” they found is not the hero at all. They raised him to be a strong hero, they made him believe that he had the hero’s spirit, and so they created a monster. We’ll call him Fake. Real is the real hero lol. But he doesn’t really know. And Fake was so angry about this that he took Real to try to steal the Triforce of wisdom and the master sword. Real escapes and has Linebeck the 67th, who goes by Beck, to take him home. It’s this whole thing and I really wanted to write a fic for this au so I hope you enjoy even tho you don’t know the full story

Warnings for a bloody injury

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

The young hero dragged himself across the island, making his way towards the docks where Beck waited. He sucked in a breath and clutched his arm. He could hide this, easily. He forced a smile when Beck saw him, and he quickly moved onto the boat, ignoring Beck’s gaze.

“Uh, good to see you too?” Beck said, and Link nodded before turning to the lower decks.

“Good to see you too Beck,” he said quickly, speed walking across the deck.

“Is something wrong?” Beck asked.

“No, no nothing is wrong,” Link said quickly.

“Then why are you acting so… weird?” Beck moved in front of Link, blocking him off from the decks.

“I-I’m not,” Link stammered, “I’m just…. Dirty… is all.”

Beck stared at him while Link moved around him, jogging to the lower decks. He almost made it to the door when Beck suddenly grabbed his arm, causing Link to hiss in pain.

“Oooooh I see,” Beck deadpanned, seeing the blood soaked sleeve, “You’re trying to hide an injury from me.”

Link ripped away from his grip, not looking at him. “I’m fine,” he grumbled.

“Good goddesses Link, what is wrong with you?” Beck snapped, blocking Link’s way. “Trying to hide an injury like that will only make things worse!”

“I don’t need your help!”

Beck rolled his eyes. “So what? You’re going to let that bleed out until you die? Is that your plan? Or are you going to let it get infected? Or are you going to let blood get all over my ship?”

“Just shut up and get out of my way!” Link yelled, trying to move past Beck, who didn’t budge.

“Link– you— ugh,” Beck’s expression softened slightly, and he gripped both of Link’s shoulders, looking him straight in the eyes. “Kid, I don’t know why you try to put on this– tough guy act– but it’s not gonna work on me. Just let me help you for once.”

“I don’t need your help!” Link yelled again, breaking free from Beck’s grip. Beck let him go this time, but he slowly followed him into the deck below. Link marched over to his bed and plopped down, cradling his injured arm. He got hurt, again, because he did something stupid, again. How was he supposed to be some big and important hero if he couldn’t even keep himself from getting hurt. He was always a careless kid, and everytime he’d come home with a new bump or bruise, he’d get nothing but a scolding from his mother. He’d gotten quite good at hiding some small injuries from his mother, but he felt like he could hide nothing from Beck. He could even feel Beck’s gaze piercing his neck, and he desperately tried to ignore it as small drops of blood landed in his lap. Finally, the silence was too much for him, and he spoke up. “What do you want?”

“I’m making sure that you take care of yourself.”

“Why?”

“You said you didn’t need my help, so prove to me that you don’t need my help.”

Link glared at him while grabbing his blanket and throwing it over the wound. Beck groaned.

“Well that’s better than nothing.”

“Will you leave me alone?”

“Why are you so mad at me trying to help you?”

Link squeezed his arm and curled up on the bed, not saying anything.

“Link, look, if you want to stay on my boat I need some level of respect, ok?”

Link growled and curled up even tighter.

“Link, hey, talk to me.”

Link shot up and stared down Beck. “Why do you care so much?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why do you care whenever I get hurt?”

“Uh, because I don’t want you to die? Or to be in pain? Is that so bad?”

Link didn’t say anything again and curled up. Beck sighed and walked over to him.

“Link, putting a blanket over your open wound isn’t gonna do anything. Please, let me just… bandage it up.”

“No.”

“Fine, let me get you bandages so you can do it yourself!”

“No.”

“For the goddess’s sake,” Link heard Beck grumble as he got up and left the deck, leaving Link alone. Link curled up tighter and clutched his aching arm, shame making his face go hot. He blinked a few tears away from his one good eye and buried his face in his knees. He heard Beck return and bandages were thrown at him gently. He looked up at Beck who was staring at him with a softer expression. Link pursed his lips and sat up, grabbing the bandages with his good arm and taking off the bloodied blanket, looking at the mess before him. He looked up at Beck with an unsure look, and Beck tilted his head.

“Need help?”

Link sighed, too tired to argue and nodded. Beck smiled slightly and grabbed a rag with a bowl of water and sat down on the floor, looking at the injury. Link sucked in a sharp breath as the rag began cleaning the wound. After what felt like forever, Beck began wrapping up the wound with the bandages, and Link watched silently, guilt bubbling up in his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

Beck looked up at him and smiled. “It’s alright, I’m sorry too, for raising my voice.”

Link hunched his shoulder and felt the tears beginning to sting his eye again. Beck finished wrapping his arm and gave it a gentle pat, before standing up to leave.

“W-wait, Beck?” Link called out, and he stopped, giving Link his full attention. “Are you…. Mad?”

“Well, not anymore, I guess I did lose my temper back there thou–”

“No, like… mad that I got myself hurt.”

Beck frowned. “No. I’m mostly upset that you don’t want to take care of yourself when you are hurt. So much so that you actually hide it from me.”

Link looked down. “Whenever I get hurt, my momma gets mad at me. It’s just easier not to tell her.”

Beck stared at him with a blank expression, and Link looked away.

“I’m not mad. We all get hurt, Link. Sometimes we can’t control it,” Beck finally said.

Link sighed and looked down at his bandaged arm. “I wish I was stronger… I wish I was a better hero…”

“Well, I don’t want to underestimate you, but you are twelve. Asking you to be a perfect and strong hero now would be like asking a baby to run around castle town in a minute. It’ll take time, kid.”

Link sighed. “Yeah…”

Beck leaned against a wall and pursed his lips. “You don’t have to hide any injuries from me, ok? In fact, I don’t want you to hide injuries from me. I won’t get mad at you if you’re hurt, ok?”

Link looked up and smiled at Beck, who smiled back before turning to the stairs.

“Now get some rest, kid,” he said, “I’ll be here if you need me.”

[lowlylux]

Whumptober Day Six

Self-Sacrifice

Whumptober list | @ailesswhumptober

Ao3 link

Masterlist

Thoughts That Breathe

L

Death Note

L would love to say that he knew that this was coming.  That he used his insightful nature once again to outsmart Light.  That he would finally put an end to the dreadful reign of underserving punishment plaguing the criminals of Japan, and in extension the entire nation.  But, he did not know this would happen, at least he hoped it wouldn’t.

It was rather moronic for him to see Light as nothing more than a means to an end.  He knew the boy was not his friend.  He knew that if the path would not stray, that his life may cease before the case does.  That is sacrifice.  That will forever be his sacrifice.  

L covertly swallows his own saliva that is unnaturally pooling in his own mouth as his hand twitches.  A button is pressed, a silent alarm to those he trusts that the worst case scenario will most likely happen.  He glances at Light, eye slightly narrowing as he observes the boy’s expression.  

Light looks pleased and looks at him for a mere moment, but that is enough for L to confirm his hypothesis.  He comes to terms with it quite easily, how can he not?  This is his future, he knows it.  His own lifeline will be cut short so the rest of the world can live on.  The rest of the world has to live on, he has put far too much effort into all of this for some idiots to destroy it all.

He does not think that Light will ruin it, quite the contrary.  While the boy is rather intelligent, he has always played into L’s hand quite nicely.  An egotistical nature will always be someone’s downfall when they refuse to look at the bigger picture.  L should know, it is his own flaw as well.

L would be the first to admit that Light and him are far too similar to each other.  At first it was annoying, having to deal with a boy who perfectly mirrors himself, yet L now finds it intriguing.  Because at some point, the similarities between Light and L ceased, only to come back and intertwine with each other, tangling like a ball of yarn.  For a short amount of time, L saw true potential in Light, only for it to vanish the moment the chess pieces were closing in.  He watched as Kira possessed this boy once more, the former life and existence of a well-meaning individual killed in favor of a monster.

L was finally able to know every single answer to every hole in the case, yet he knows his time is approaching.  Perhaps that is why he met Light on the roof.  Perhaps that is why he called Light his friend.  Friend…that is quite a strange word.  He has never seen himself using it.  But, he does think that accurately describes whatever they have going on between the two of them.

But he has plans, he knows how this will end.  He knows that he has gathered more than enough to accurately give any successor the leg up on Light.  He has complete confidence in his successors, knowing that they are ready.  After all, he did most of the work himself.

L’s eyes glance over the screen, darting over all the information as if he will be able to retain it.  He could, he already has most of it memorized, but he also knows receiving this information is useless.  L knows that he will die today, yet he still wants to learn.  He still wants to think.

Kira and L danced for far too long, and L is beginning to grow weary of it all.  To know your demise is on the horizon for so long is absolutely exhausting, making L want to curl up on an armchair and doze off.  The music has changed too much, the style of movement growing sluggish.  He was never the one to be graceful, instead the one to step on his partner’s toes and refuse to apologize.

But Kira can take many things, even his life, but mind will remain.  His life’s work will remain.  L will continue to live on, the world may not realize that he is gone, but his life’s work will thrive under the current circumstances.  His words will whisper in Light’s ears, just as he intended.  He will live on, just because his words do.  

Every note, every letter, every click of a keyboard will persist and slowly close in on Light until there is nowhere he can hide, nowhere to run.  Light can try, but death is absolute.  It comes for everyone eventually, even if one wishes not to think about it.  L can almost see it, his life line counting down.  The thread is being pulled by the fates, rusted scissors lining up to finally cut.  

It is like he can see Light’s as well.  It is longer, far longer than L’s, but it has an end.  Because all of this has to end.  Light is no good, just as L is no longer mortal.  Just like how L’s work will be studied by thousands as the time goes by, Light will fade into obscurity, the world forgetting the tragedies that he left.

Because the world will not learn.  History repeats itself, but the people who live it refuse to listen.  This will repeat over and over until they are forced to listen.  How many people have to die before the reality of it all crashes on the world?  How many times does a egotistical megalomaniac have to threaten humanity before humanity changes its ways?

L does not know.  For the first time, he does not know.  Because some things are beyond his own comprehension.  The flaws of humanity are his expertise, and a form of humanity without such is unknown.  He would be lost.

He feels it, the pressure in his chest, incessant ringing overtaking his senses.  He hears the screams of shock as he falls, eyes wide.  He could have prevented, that much he is sure of, but doing so would doom humanity in a way he just cannot bring himself to do.

So he dies, for the very people who never even know his face, merely his words.

[alexandenigtscreations]

Inktober/Whumptober day 6: Not noticing they're Injured

After engaging in a bit of a tiff, the Slayer Party was indeed, worse for wear. Razen was feeling the riggers of the fight. They had gotten away, but only just. Exhaustion wormed deep into his bones, curling into his chest like a leadden thing. He looked up at his troop, the tedium of the march stretching their line thinner than recomended. He tried speeding up, but they only grew further and further away. His brow furrowed, they shouldnt' be going that fast, shouldn't be able too. He thought of calling to them, asking for a break. His voice stuck somewhere around his adams apple.

A particularily gnarled bit of root snaged his foot, throwing him off his balance and sending him crashing to the ground. Pain exploded around his middle, bloting out the pale fog with black.

A shout went out, comands echoing through the line to stop.

Good, he thought, shaking Maybe I can still- catch up-

It was the last cohearent thought he had before the world faded to black.

[ordon-shield]

Whumptober Day 6: “Do or die, you’ll never make me, because the world will never take my heart”

AO3 link

recording | made to watch | “it should have been me”

She sleeps and she dreams as she flies through the sky, the land below her almost obscured by the clouds. She doesn’t remember ever doing anything more, although sometimes she feels the echo of something else in the back of her mind.

She loves that world below, that much she remembers well. She loves the fields and forests, the mountains whose peaks she gazes down on, the valleys that sit between them. She loves the way the rivers wind across the landscape, and how the setting sun reflects off the ocean surface. She even loves the people who live there, as small as they seem to her, and even though each time she sees them, she feels a sense of emptiness in her heart, like something is missing.

She loves her sky as well, although maybe not as much as the land below. The islands across it are scattered and few, and yet life thrives there anyway. There are ruins on those islands, but they mean little to her, even as she watches them slowly decay. Sometimes she lands on them, rests among the trees, careful not to destroy anything with the size of her body, even as the creatures of the sky come close, attracted by the light that gleams from under her scales.

She’s not sure how long she’s been in the sky when she feels it. It’s familiar — she’s felt its hatred before, malice made concentrate and set upon the land, but her beloved people below have always stood strong against it, always pushed back and been victorious. It has been a very long time since she last felt it, when it was pushed back by great machines built in anticipation, sealed away again before it could even begin to attack. Somehow she already knows that this time will be different.

The hatred is stronger, greater than ever before, but she watches from above as it uses cunning, those same machines that once defeated it, now ancient to all but her, turned to its will. Her heart aches as she sees the land below her engulfed in death, as she flies over burning fields, but something in it tells her to remain, that she has a greater purpose than to fight the darkness that is overtaking the world she loves so much.

As much as it pains her, she listens to that feeling. To act now… some deep instinct of her mind tells her that it would be wrong, that it would break something she can’t even remember.

So, she is forced to watch.

[comfort-questing]

6. made to watch

she closed her eyes, and the blood was waiting there for her: spatters on a faded wall, crimson in the torchlight. almost she could smell it still, iron-sharp in her nose, and hear the sound of hitched breaths coming through clenched teeth.

and their face, the still-y mask they wore to confront pain, only the flick of their eyelids now and again a betrayal, the flutter of their bloodied fingers at their sides.

she had wanted to speak, to say something, anything. but the choking tightness in her throat meant tears would have come before any words, and she knew that crying when they were silent would have been too terrible altogether.

she'd cried since then, now that everything was over, now that there was no one she had to stay brave for. but once the tears were gone the blood had returned, like a ghost haunting her exhaustion-addled mind, and the memories fast and faster and more vivid than her mind had been able to turn over in the moment.

...no wonder she couldn't sleep, there in her stuffy tower room, so familiar and yet all of a sudden alien and foreign.

they were two flights of stairs below her, she knew, in the healer's quarters for the night. so far and so close and so far. she didn't know if her tears would only shame them.

but she made her way down the staircase somewhere between dark and dawn anyway, to crumple down at their bedside and assure herself that they slept safely, calmly. to try to burn into her eyes the sight of their bruised face peaceful on the pillow, and breathe in the scent of the burning herbs in the fireplace instead of the metallic stench of bloodshed.

before she fell asleep again, leaning there, she thought she felt a hand on her hair, trembling but gentle, and heard their voice above her.

"Sorry for scaring you, kidlet."

she didn't even have the strength to protest the old nickname, miserably outdated for a grown-up spy who was no longer any sort of apprentice even. just to lean closer, and let her eyes fall closed, and see only the darkness now.

[basicallyjaywalker]

Whumptober Day 6!

Should've Been

Character: Wu

Prompts: Recording, Made to Watch, "It Should Have Been Me"

Length: 887

Oh no my finger slipped I wrote Wu angst oh noooooooo

[fletcherwilbury]

@whumptober Day 6: Alt Prompt 2: Aftermath of Failure

Warning for Injury, verbal abuse, physical abuse, exhaustion

[newwwwusername]

Fic title : Living on Borrowed Time

@whumptober 2023 prompt : "Do or die, you'll never make me, because the world will never take my heart" (Recording | Made to Watch | "It should have been me")

Rating : General Audiences

Fandom : Death Note : The Musical

Pairing : Rem/Misa

Additional tags : Police Custody, Torture, Interrogation, Amane Misa Deserves Better, Rem Loves Amane Misa, Protective Rem (Death Note), Guilt, Hurt No Comfort

Word count : 243

[grizzledyoungimpact]

Whumptober Day #6

Prompt: Made to Watch/"It should have been me" Pairing: Seth Rollins/Luca Budgen (OC)/Adrien Pike (OC) Mentions of: Malakai Black Verse: Medieval TW: Religious Trauma, Abusive Relationship, Whipping

He jolted as another scream tore from the other man's throat following the crack of the whip. In all his years, Luca Budgen had never dreamed that this would be the hell that he'd be living. When he left home, all Luca had wanted was freedom. His father Malakai had been a king of rot and ruin, darkness bound to mortal form. There was nothing to make him stay in a castle as dark and dreary, so Luca had searched for a light.

His search had left him to his messiah.

Seth Rollins was a king of a fairly well-sized kingdom that had been warring with Luca's father due to religious beliefs. Seth followed a greater good as he called it, looking down on the old gods the Budgen kingdom still believed in. In the beginning, Seth had been a kind king. He was benevolent and led his people with a gentle and loving hand. Or so it had seemed from the way those loyal to him spoke, especially the young Welshman named Adrien Pike.

Adrien was a former fisherman who had fallen for King Rollins just as deeply as Luca had. He was a charmer who showered Luca with attention and praise, the same as Seth had first done when recruiting Luca into the fold. However, with Adrien it had always seemed more sincere. Even after Seth began rounding those who did not believe in his greater good up, even after Luca had began to feel as if all Seth had wanted was to possess Luca, not love him, Adrien had never treated Luca any differently.

It was why he had found solace in Adrien's chambers and why exactly Adrien was in this position now.

That morning Seth had come to gather Adrien for morning devotations, the same as he would have gathered Luca after that. Instead, he found the two men in each others loving embraces after a night together in Adrien's room. It was not that the fact that the two were in love that had angered their messiah. It was the fact that they had found love without 𝒉𝒊𝒎. In his rage, Seth had ordered Adrien to be restrained by Seth's right hand, Brandon Moxley, and dragged down to the dungeons. All the while, Luca had begged Seth for mercy. Instead, Seth had ordered Brandon to tie Adrien's hands above his head to a beam for his lashings. Every time the whip connected to Adrien's back, Luca let out a soft cry. How could his messiah be treating a man so loyal, so caring with such disdain?

"Seth...Seth please..."

Seth wrapped an arm around Luca's waist, pressing a kiss against Luca's neck, "Do you see this, boy? Do you see what is happening because of you?"

Luca sobbed, "Seth...Adrien has-"

"Do you?" hissed Seth, the kiss turning into a harsh nip.

"Yes sir!" Luca let out another cry as the crack sounded in the empty dungeon, "Yes sir. It's...it's my fault. It should be me..."

Seth sneered, cupping Luca's chin and forcing him to look in Seth's eyes, "You will learn to respect me or it will be the gallows next."

With a nod, Brandon untied Adrien and led him to one of the cells. He tossed the Welshman in, before turning to Seth, "Would you like me to clean Pike up?"

"Let the boy do it," Seth shook his head as he turned on his heels, shoving Luca forward before leading Brandon back up the stairs leading to the main part of the castle.

Luca grabbed a bucket of water, knowing that it might have been filthy, the rag not any better. He knew he would be expected to lock the cell door, to watch as Adrien laid on the ground of the filthy cell. All he could do was clean the blood from the man he loved's back, to make him comfortable.

All he could do was learn to protect Adrien from Seth's grasp.

[boowhumps]

Whumptober 2023

Day 6

(@whumptober)

By - B.W

⚠TW⚠

~ Swearing

~ Mentions of Death

~ Mentions of Suicide

~ Mentions of Injury

Enjoy!

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

“..yes.. I understand..”

…

“..Thank you, keep us updated on his recovery.”

...

“Yes, thank you..”

Kaiden hangs up the phone, rubbing his eyes with a sigh. He walks to a closed door, and opens it a bit, peeking inside.

He smiles a bit seeing his daughter, Astrid, asleep and safe. He slowly closes the door as to not wake her, and walks towards his bedroom.

In the bedroom, Karyme sits on the edge of the bed, hands together in prayer. Her eyes are shut tightly together as she mumbles small prayers.

Kaiden walks into the bedroom, stopping at the doorway. Karyme looks over to him instantly.

“Any news.?” She mumbles.

“He’s okay right now, the surgery went fine.. but..” He says slowly.

“..but.?” She asks.

“..he isn’t waking up..” He replies.

Karyme drops her head, shaking.

“..they don’t know for sure if he’s.. in a coma.. they’ll run more tests tomorrow.” Kaiden mumbles, arms crossed.

Karyme does not respond. Her body shakes as she sits.

Kaiden approaches her, taking a seat next to her. He pulls her into a hug, sighing.

“Don’t say it.”

Karyme takes a quivering breath. “..but-..”

“No, don’t.” He replies. “Not now, not ever.”

Karyme shakes her head. “..I won’t..”

He squeezes her tightly. “I wont say it’ll be fine.. because frankly I don’t fucking know if it will.. but we’ll get through this..”

Karyme grips onto him. “..why him..? Why our son..?”

“I don’t know..” He mumbles back.

Karyme narrows her eyes. “..this won’t be left unsolved.”

Kaiden pulls away from her, looking into her eyes. “Karyme-“

“No, we have to find out who did this.” She says, standing up abruptly.

Kaiden stays sitting. “..Karyme.. whatever you’re implying.. stop. This won’t solve anything-“

“No, you don’t understand. Whoever is responsible for this will pay.” She says coldly.

Kaiden frowns. “Listen to me-“

“Elliot is assigned to the case. He’s helping me find data the police may have missed. I’ll find who did this, and when I get my hands on that person-“

“Karyme!” Kaiden shouts.

She turns to him, eyes widened.

He takes a deep breath and stands up. “Fuck.. I don’t mean to yell.. but I need you to listen to me.” He says, grabbing Karyme by the shoulders.

“But first, breathe. You’re tense.”

Karyme takes a deep breath, leaning into him. “..sorry..”

Kaiden sighs. “I know.. you’re grieving, I don’t blame you.”

She shakes her head. “Why can’t I be calm like you..”

“I’m not calm right now..” Kaiden responds. “I’m breaking, Karyme. The difference between you and me is I don’t act on those negative emotions.”

Karyme looks away in shame.

“Believe me, if I saw who did that to Ashton.. I would do as much as you.. but that won’t make our son better..” He says.

Karyme looks at the floor. “I’m fucking losing it.. I can’t be strong right now..”

Kaiden holds her close. “..I’m not asking you to be.. just don’t do something you’ll regret.”

“I’ll fucking die if Ashton dies..” Karyme whispers.

Kaiden shakes his head. “Don’t say things like that.. you won’t..”

There’s a silence as Karyme composes herself.

Karyme sighs deeply. “..What about Astrid..?”

Kaiden raises an eyebrow. ‘What about her.?”

“How are we gonna keep her safe..?” Karyme asks.

“Hun, she’s fine-“

“We thought Ashton was too..”

“..what are you thinking.?”

“She needs to stay home, until we find out who did that to Ashton..”

“Karyme, that’s drastic, we can’t keep her here locked up all day-“

“How else will we make sure she doesn’t end up with a bullet through her head like her brother!?” Karyme shouts.

Kaiden shushes her. “You’ll wake her up.”

Karyme takes a deep breath. “I’m scared, Kaiden. I failed once already, and I’ll be damned if I let the same happen to Astrid.”

Kaiden crosses his arms. “I know you mean well, but she has school, friends, a life. I don’t want to take that away from her.”

“Either we take her life temporarily, or someone else will take her life, permanently.” Karyme replies.

“Ashton isn’t dead-“

“He’s damn close to it, isn’t he?”

Kaiden shakes his head. “Look, we can’t come to any conclusions now, like this. We can discuss more in the morning, when we’re all more calm-“

“Dad.?”

Both Karyme and Kaiden turn their heads to the doorway where their daughter, Astrid, stands.

“Astri, sweetie, what are you doing up.?” Kaiden asks, suddenly changing his tone.

“I heard yelling..” She mumbles, arms crossed.

Karyme sighs. “..we didn’t mean to wake you, Astrid-“

“You guys were fighting..” Astrid says softly.

Both Karyme and Kaiden shake their heads.

“We weren’t fighting-“ Kaiden starts.

“You’re fighting over me and Ash.. right.?”

Karyme frowns. “..It’s nothing, we just had a disagreement..”

Astrid frowns. “..it didn’t sound like that..”

Karyme sighs. “Me and your father don’t always see eye to eye, Astrid. We aren’t mad at each other, we just have different ways of thinking.”

Astrid looks back and forth between her parents. “You guys never yell though..”

“Come here, Astri.” Kaiden says.

She walks into the room, and Kaiden pulls her into a hug.

“We’re sorry for waking you, sweetie. I promise, no more yelling, okay?” He tells her.

Astrid nods slowly. “Okay..”

Karyme feels guilty as she watches Kaiden take Astrid back to her room. She sits on the side of the bed again, fighting back tears. The last thing she wanted was to fight with Kaiden, but she was breaking inside..

She doesn’t look up, even when Kaiden walks in again. He doesn’t say anything, just walks up to her.

“Hun..” He starts. “Look at me..”

Karyme shakes her head.

He lifts her head up. “C’mon, we’re fine, yeah? No more fighting.”

Karyme holds back a sob. “Kaiden..”

She hugs him tightly, catching him by surprise. He doesn’t waste time and holds her, his head resting on hers.

“Let it out." He says. “I know you’re hurting, just cry, yeah?”

Karyme holds back from making noise, only letting tears fall.

He sighs. “There you go.. easy now.. we’ll get through this, just like we’ve gotten through everything else..”

Karyme takes a quivering breath. “..together.?”

Kaiden smiles.

“Exactly, together.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

[serickswrites]

Slurred

Warnings: concussion, head injury, migraine, hurt/aftermath, hurt/recovery, hurt/comfort, caretaker and whumpee

"Whumpee, how are you feeling? I think you should eat something. Or at least drink something," Caretaker said gently as they came into Whumpee's room to check on them. They had diligently come in to check on Whumpee very two hours as the doctor had ordered. Though their concussion was mild, it was still cause for concern.

"Mmmmmm," Whumpee groaned from beneath the blanket. "DDDDDDDon't-t-t-t-t wwwwwantttttt t-t-t-o."

Caretaker tried to breathe through the worry and concern as they listened to Whumpee's slurred words. The doctor had reassured Caretaker that was a part of the concussion and should heal in a few days. Still, hearing Whumpee, the person who was so articulate and precise with their words, struggle to speak was scary.

"You need to. I can give you another pain pill if you eat something."

With a groan, Whumpee slowly threw back the covers. "OWWWWWW," they shouted, retreating once more beneath the blanket. "BBBBBrighttttt."

"Whumpee' the lights are off in here. The only light is from the window."

"Br'ttttt," Whumpee's muffled voice came from beneath the blankets.

Caretaker carefully closed the curtains. Maybe they needed to treat the concussion more like a migraine. "Do you have a migraine?"

"Mhmmmmm," Whumpee hummed.

Caretaker sighed. "Let me get you your meds. But you need to drink all the water over on the nightstand. I'll bring you your sunglasses, too."

"Th'ks," Whumpee mumbled.

"You're welcome, Whumpee. Let me get those. Drink your water and I'll be right back."

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