#will asks the next morning and mark was just like oh that was allen | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

alfredosauce50 · 3 years ago

Text

What makes me human [Cyberpunk! America x reader] 17

Wordcount: 3, 927 Rating: T for strong language and mature themes Chapter synopsis: Alfred woke up wanting to take things slow, all so he can enjoy the morning with you. You, however, were in a rush to regroup in the wake of a sinister conspiracy. He's too stubborn to hear the truth, so you bribe him to listen with an amorous gesture. When he does find out, he gives you an earful. Allen snaps back and rediscovers his motivation to keep him away from you. Meanwhile, Alfred's clone survived. The only person who knows isn't even meant to be on the planet, and he's helping Alfred 2.0 find his place in the world. Everyone's struggle to free themselves from the tyranny of your father continues. The war rages on. The reader is referred to as she/her.

17 - Rebirth of the old

Alfred was never keen on staying in a motel. But the appeal of it hit him like a tidal wave first thing in the morning. You were here, half-dressed and curled up next to him in a proper bed. To think this was how things used to be—he couldn’t take it. He lost something more valuable than gold! Not giving a shit about anything else? He was living in luxury.

To hell with Arthur and Zao. He couldn’t relate to their long-distance struggles and he didn’t have to. But more importantly, to hell with Allen.

The bed creaked as he leaned to you. Reaching out to your cheek, he patted it continuously. "Hey. Get up. It's past noon, lazy." Alfred kept at it until your peaceful expression scrunched up, indicating the return of your consciousness. He grinned. This marked the beginning of another good day. Snaking two arms around your waist from behind, he pulled you onto his lap as he sat cross-legged. "Up we go. Sleep well?" You lolled your head on his shoulder. "I know I did." He snorted.

You inhaled a deep breath to wake yourself up. Fluttering your eyes open to look at him groggily, he tilted his face down fondly. That, you could never get enough of. It showed in the floaty smile across your face. He chuckled, "What, you're not gonna talk to me? Don't leave me alone with my thoughts here."

He heard a scoff, the sound prompting him to pin your head with his chin. "I thought you would've gotten used to it by now. Your brain works fast." You sighed that out jokingly. Alfred hummed as if to say, touché. "Morning." You murmured raspily. However, your exhaustion was short-lived—did he say it was past noon? You tensed up in his hold and sat forward, twisting your form to him, panic-stricken.

"Dude, why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

You slid off his thighs, much to his displeasure. The quiet morning he wanted was no more. "Oh, God. What time is it?" Planting your feet on the brown carpet, you spun to him briefly for his answer. Alfred merely hung his head. Quietly. He stayed put where he was while you walked off to get dressed. So much for walking on the same wavelength.

"Well? Don't leave me hanging, Astroboy." Glancing at him over your shoulder, your expectant gaze welcomed a dash of frustration as he made no effort to get off the bed.

He looked up with a shake of the head. "I was just kidding, toots." The man then grinned mirthlessly as he slid off the mattress. "It's only nine. Don't fuss."

Breathing out a sharp sigh of relief, you placed your hands on your hips. But nine was barely sufficient for what you promised. Seeing that he never bothered getting dressed, you looked from side to side to find his clothes. It was in a heap on the desk.

"I'm not fussing. I just said we'd be back by morning. Now, work with me." You picked up his shirt, pants, and jacket, then tossed it to him one after the other. "You're making me nervous."

Alfred caught them with ease. "Don't fuss. You're fussing." Why you were so hell-bent on getting out of here was beyond him. Sparing him a brief glance of displeasure, you walked off to the bathroom without another word. His point exactly.

Sleep wasn't something he needed. But judging from where this conversation was going, his energy was about to be sapped away faster than he could deal. He appeared in the doorway while you washed your face. As you scrubbed away furiously, he folded his arms with a brief shake of the head. "You know, no matter what, we still gotta grab something to eat." He began. "So you can slow down."

You patted yourself dry before turning to him. Catching him in a hard stare, the silence became a sure-fire sign of your unwillingness. You never actually planned on eating anything before going back. But now that he mentioned it, it wasn't such a bad idea. "... Yeah, of course." You smiled. "We'll just go to FamilyMart. There's one down the street, and we can pick some stuff up for the gang... Just in case."

Just in case they wanted to chew you out for disappearing in the middle of the night. By they, you really only meant Allen. He was the only one who knew, after all. "They're probably worried, so we should give them an offering to appease them." You chuckled light-heartedly.

Alfred knitted his brows together until creases formed between them. What the hell? This was exactly what he didn't want to hear. Since when did everyone else have such a significant place in day-to-day life? "Worried? Then why did you leave in the first place?" He asked, reaching out to grab your hand. "Just hear me out. Hear me out." He squeezed you hard. His iron vice and low tone were all you needed to predict what he was about to say.

"You said you wanted to be alone with me. How come now that you are you're racing to get back? Slow down a little, won't you?"

For a night, everything could be swept under the rug. But it couldn't stay hidden forever. You forced yourself to look at him anxiously. "We have to get back to the group. We have to stick together." He shook his head with a hand over his mouth. Seeing how unhappy he was about that demand prompted you to add this. "Alfred. Just get to the car. I'll tell you everything. You'll understand, I promise."

He licked his bottom lip, disgruntled. What was there to tell? He took your other hand to hold you in place. "No. Let's not do that." Alfred asserted through a glower. "And it's Al. Al. Either you call me that or some stupid pet name. Whatever you want. Just not Alfred." You narrowed your eyes, confused by the growing temper in his voice. He never had a problem with what you called him, so why now?

"Okay, fine. Al. Will you go to the car, now?"

The man rose his brows. Did you seriously think he could be convinced? "Make me, baby. You can try dragging me out, but I'm fine right here." He took a seat on the toilet and gleamed at you sarcastically. You folded your arms and shot him a look of irritation. A few moments of tense silence passed before he continued. "Last night was nothing, you know that. So why can't we have the morning to ourselves? Just an hour? You can't say no."

You swayed from side to side. It was endlessly frustrating that he was misunderstanding everything so terribly. It was never about not wanting to be here. "Would you stop being so difficult?" You huffed angrily. He shrugged dismissively, then reached out to pull you in against your will. "I'm serious, Al. I'm not playing games with you. Something's wrong. It's about him." Hissing out the last word, you saw something change in his expression within seconds.

Christ on a bike. Alfred stared at you through his eyebrows sternly. But he decided to save the questions for the car. "... Fine." He relented, much to your relief. But something was glinting in his electric blue eyes. Was it mischief or something else?

"But I'm not moving til' you kiss me."

Blood rushed up to your face as you heat up with mortification. Was he serious? He looked serious. "What the fuck, Al. Didn't I just impress on you the importance that you get off your ass?" He remained quiet. His gaze on you was unwavering and expectant. He honestly couldn't mind if you tore him a new one for this. If shit was going to hit the fan again, he needed to set one thing straight.

Seeing that he was deciding to be stubborn, you gave in, but not without a frustrated huff. And so, you kissed him on the lips.

You gave him what he wanted. When your mouth connected to his, the force was enough to move his head back. You'd give him his money's worth—a hard, angry kiss—though he barely paid anything with boldness. But boldness was exactly what you needed. It coaxed you to be somewhat honest with yourself, as you'd be lying if you said you didn't want this too.

Alfred's eyes were as wide as dinner plates during the exchange. He didn't actually think you'd do it. In fact, the pleasant surprise caught him so off guard, he never even got the chance to return it before you pulled away. When you leaned back with a deep inhale, which was hotter than he cared to admit, he gawked at you like you just shot him. "Woah." He spluttered. His chest was whirring so crazy you could probably hear it. "I was only joking."

"No, you weren't." You muttered as a matter-of-factly. He laughed nervously at you, then fell silent. Way to go, Alfred. He thought. The second-hand embarrassment made you light up like a Christmas tree. Fortunately, it was staved off by urgency. "Car. Now." You ordered. The man watched you leave through the door while he was left reeling.

Bewilderment, giddiness, it was all there. He didn't waste any more time to scramble onto his feet and run after you. "Hey, wait! You didn't even let me kiss you back!" Alfred exclaimed, picking up his pace. The metal door slid downwards behind him to a close. "Can we kiss in the car? I'll be good after that, I swear."

"I swear to God, Alfred. Now is not the time!" Your shouts trailed off into the hallway. It was never something you could say out loud, but this—his inability to let things go—was his best attribute. It saved what needed saving.

Himself, you, and what you both were together.

Shooting up with a start, he twisted around a white bed in his bout of grave disorientation. He stopped when a sharp pain shot through his abdomen. "Ah, crap." While he hunched forward to wince, his heart pounded alarmingly hard in his chest. As loud as it was, it couldn't beat the monitor beside him that beeped away. "... Still alive, huh?" He murmured. This had to be the most sterile environment he'd been in for a while.

Perfectly polished metal walls, and not a spec of dirt in sight. There was nothing in the room except everything he was currently using. He ripped off the electrodes on his chest, then the IV drip from his arm. The heart monitor flatlined as abruptly as his movements. While he slid off the mattress, a voice interrupted his silent haven.

"If you wanna stay alive, you'd wanna take it easy."

He whipped his head to the source. "Jesus, Zao." He took a deep inhale before continuing, watching the said man tilt his head up as a greeting. Why the guy even saved him after kicking him around like a football was beyond him. But more importantly—"And would you stop doing that?" He shook his head with disapproval. "You're turning into an omen of death, always showing up when I'm fucked up."

The other unfolded their arms and walked towards him. Slowly, grudgingly. "Invulnerable or not, you're one hard guy to kill. You're just like him." The brunette remarked, causing his companion to narrow their eyes fiercely. Zao scoffed with a growing smile. So he hit the mark. "But you are him. Aren't you?"

"Don't fuck with me, man." He glowered, picking up a vacuum-sealed packet of clothes on a trolley. Alfred tore open the packaging with next to no grace. "You can start by telling me what the hell you want from me. And I'm not planning to be your guinea pig for a sick little experiment." While he spoke furiously, he hopped on one foot to put on a pair of pants. It was endlessly vexing how he seemed to find himself in the same place over and over again.

Somebody was always playing with his genetics, one way or another. This somebody being his oldest nemesis.

"I've had enough of crazy science freaks treating me like some... Extinct animal. This isn't Jurassic Park."

Zao threw his hands up defensively. "Listen, I may be a scientist, but not that kinda scientist. I don't clone people." Alfred threw on a jacket and glared at him. He was beginning to wonder if he was developing some prejudice for biology majors. And this guy, well, they were never particularly chummy in the first place. "I clone plants. Big difference there."

The blonde rose his brows and laughed mirthlessly. That certainly made him feel better. "Right, right, sorry, a farmer. My bad." He muttered sarcastically. "And what does a farmer have to do with my sorry ass? You want something from me, don’t you?"

The answer was in the question. This guy’s story was so disturbing it fazed the unfazed. "What do you have that I’d want? I already have enough shit on my plate." Zao snorted, popping a few gummies he dug up from his pockets. His scarlet eyes darkened. Catching the other in a look so foreboding, they were shocked this was the same person. "Not everybody is out to get you. I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of saving your life just to fuck it more than how fucked up it already is. You can do that yourself."

Alfred’s eye twitched, but his mouth never opened. This guy did look like the type to have a silver tongue. The assumption only manifested into reality as they continued. And without mercy, at that. "Allen told me about you, you know?" He tensed up. His ears were ringing, almost as if his body knew to reject what he was about to get into. "You’re not from around here. You make enemies with the yakuza, and somehow, you skip half a century and end up here so they can take you on in their prime."

Zao circled him tantalizingly while he stood frozen still. It was like being tied down and scrutinized against his will. He didn’t like it. No, he hated it. But something about his lack of filter was relieving—he was forced to confront his demons in the worst way. "You’re something. Not just anybody makes it to Matsumoto’s kill list. What you did, what happened to you, even gives me the goosebumps."

His anger was too hot for him to think. But he knew better than to lash out. Not after some clarification first. While he clenched his fists until the veins began to pop, he kept his eyes on the ground. "I’ve spent the last twelve hours being well and truly fucked with, so if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on—" Alfred lifted his head for a heated stare burning with conviction. "I may as well lose my temper."

"Of course." The brunette mused, turning his feet towards the door. Once again, he was barely impacted by the threat that loomed over him. All his life, he had much bigger fish to fry.

"If you couldn’t tell, I was about to get to that part."

The Alfred everybody knew was never the first to walk this Godforsaken Earth. His mind was the same, but his body wasn’t. He was the second version of himself, having become a creation of metal parts, silicon, and everything flesh and blood couldn’t handle. What about the Alfred that stood before him? How was he any different? He never asked to be made, and now that he was, Zao thought he deserved just as much of a fighting chance.

"You didn’t have to do this." He muttered raspily with his head down. If it weren't for his ravenous hunger, he would've stayed in that hospital room. But it was too much to handle. And so, they changed locations to a ramen stand smack-bang in a commercial district. Picking up a cup of steaming miso soup, he took a small sip from the rim. "You shoulda’ just left me on the ground to bleed out."

"And let you die in one of the VIP rooms? Dead bodies aren't great for business." The other remarked, fully expecting a glare from him. But it looked like his spunk was gone. He never responded, not even with the least of a glance. Zao had to wonder if he was aggravated from his empty stomach back there. Little did he know, his anger was quelled by something else entirely. "... Want some painkillers?"

Alfred shook his head and covered his eyes with his palms. Everything still hurt like hell, but it balanced out everything on the inside. No matter how much food he consumed, he couldn’t swallow down the bile in his throat. It was only a matter of seconds before the waterworks started. Boy, he'd forgotten how good it felt to cry. "What the fuck..." He laughed dryly. To think you were responsible for this—he couldn't handle it.

The brunette rested his cheek on his hand, which he propped up with an elbow. Darting his discerning red eyes to Alfred's mouth, his brows came together. It was twitching as he forced a smile.

"Do you hate her?" Zao asked.

He swallowed thickly. "No."

"Of course you don't." He continued. The certainty in his tone caused the blonde to look up. There in all its ugly glory was his face blotched with patches of red. Zao was no sentimental person. But seeing him like this could shake anyone to their core. "I was there. She was hesitating because she wanted to give you a chance." Alfred wasn't sure how much he agreed with that statement. But there was one thing he could put his faith in.

"Doesn't change the fact that she did this for you."

Alfred fell quiet for a few moments. "What are you trying to say?"

"What do you think, Einstein?" Zao raised a dish of sake at him, almost on a celebratory note. If he was right about his assumptions, you've never shot a gun before, let alone offed someone with one. There could only be one reason for your eagerness to kill. "She's high-strung about you, dumbass." At first, he had to shake his head at how clueless Alfred was. Once it finally began to click, as evident in the blood rushing up to his face, Zao slapped a hand down on his shoulder with an amused look. High-strung, huh.

"Give it a few days. Once you're not so crippled, we can rock up to Arthur's place. She won't push you away, trust me."

The redness flushing Alfred's cheeks disappeared just like that.

"Are you crazy? They'll fucking kill me!" He whisper-shouted, slamming his fists down on the counter. "Not just the other me, but Allen too. And maybe she'll wanna do the same cuz' everyone else is."

Zao clicked his tongue. "Will they? You're stupider than I thought."

"Have you forgotten how you even came into this world? The man in the sky! Matsumoto. If they're gonna get rid of him, they need all the help they need. They're gonna have to take you in."

Allen had been up since five. He was half-awake and sprawled across the couch, struggling to keep himself conscious. He barely managed any sleep last night. Rolling his tired eyes to the digital clock on the kitchen island, he squinted at the neon figures. 10:26. You said you both would be back by morning, and it was nearly eleven. And eleven was pretty much twelve. Clearly, you were up to something. Something you were too kind to let him know what.

But he was something of an over-thinker himself.

He slid further down the couch until his head was the only thing against the backrest. Currently, he was in the bargaining stage. If you really chose Alfred over him, your best friend, big brother, and everything Alfred wasn't, that didn't mean he couldn't be in your life, right? Yeah! If you both moved out somewhere, he could be the live-in housekeeper. That sounded pretty swell.

The door slammed open. In stormed the subjects of his thoughts.

"Your dad made a clone of me, and you didn't tell me?!" Alfred exclaimed with the utmost terror. His shouting was the perfect splash of cold water to wake him up. So Allen stood up, concerned at the scene that was about to unfold before him. "And you... You shot him. How did that feel like? You said he was dead?" You marched into the living room and spun to him, eyes-wide and heavy-hearted.

Your mouth was wide open, but the words were caught in your throat.

"I..."

Alfred's nostrils flared. This was what you had to tell him? He couldn't comprehend why you put it off. How could you withhold something so important from him? He whipped his head to Allen, who didn't seem all too shocked at what he was witnessing. No way. "You told him, (F/N)? Is he in on this too?" He pointed to the man accusingly, all while keeping his hard stare on you.

"Or is this why you both were gone for so long? Why didn't you tell me?" He sucked in a sharp breath before raising his voice.

"Why didn't you fucking tell me?"

"Because I was in shock!" You snapped fiercely. Alfred froze while Allen's expression darkened. "It was just one day later. I told you in the morning, didn't I? Why are you so angry?" Allen could admit he felt pity for the poor bastard, but he was finally seeing him for what he was. A setback on your life. On his. Alfred didn't deserve half the attention you gave him. He couldn’t let Alfred have his way with you anymore. Even now, a light tremble had seized your body because of his selfishness.

You were forced to relive those memories, and the brutality of it was enough to blur your vision. But you had enough of crying. Crying over Alfred and crying in front of him. So you blinked the tears away before taking off. Alfred reached out to grab your hand, but you slipped away too seamlessly. "(F/N), wait—I'm sorry—" He begged, "—come back!"

Fuck, why did he have to be so goddamn explosive all the time? He’d been so caught up with himself, he never stopped to think how it could impact everyone else. He was never good at listening. Hell, he couldn't do it to save his life. That statement rang particularly true when he felt like he just lost something—broke something. What he had with you. In the end, his inability to let things go didn’t just save it. It ruined it.

Before he could follow you back into the guest room, Allen grabbed him by the collar and throttled him. Alfred stumbled back a few steps out of shock. He’d never seen him this furious. "Just face it, skin-job. You’re a fucking drag on her life." He seethed, shoving him back roughly. "She should’ve walked out on you ages ago. But she’s too good for you."

With one last bitter glare, he added this to rub more salt into the wound. "Once we kill that old fuck, I’m not letting you do what you please. I’ll be haunting you like your demons. One wrong move and you’re dead." Allen growled. "I even wish she never killed your clone. That way, I can kill you twice."

10 notes · View notes

keelywolfe · 4 years ago

Text

FIC: Welcome to Backwater ch.19 (spicyhoney)

Summary: Stretch has been through a lot in his short time in Backwater, but there's always the Dorothy option.

~~*~~

Read ‘The Dorothy Option’ on AO3

Read it here!

~~*~~

As much as things changed, they also stayed the same. But they still changed and there wasn’t a damn thing Stretch could do about it. He never could.

After Red cut him loose from the shop for the day, walking across the main street to the movie theater was the same, but the breeze cutting through the sweltering heat was different. A couple days ago, Stretch would have eagerly lifted his face into it, let it dry the sweat rolling from his skull and basked in the cooling effect.

Today it was a reminder that summer was actually ending, and autumn was creeping in one slow step at a time. He’d always liked the fall season since they came to the surface, there was no such thing in the Underground. But now that he knew what was coming with the end of the harvest season, it only made him a little sad. It wouldn’t be too long until the scarecrow pole in all the fields was empty.

Stretch paused outside the theater, looking back towards the shop and past it, to the forest behind it. He was too far away to hear the rustling leaves, still green and vibrant, untouched thus far by the changing season. He could still hear it somehow, like a leftover echo, the memory of that sound loud in his head as he turned back to the theater, the constant chatter of leaves scratching inside his skull.

The sound cut off like a stopped tape recorder as the door swung shut behind him. Igor was right inside, looking a lot like an out of work funeral director in his threadbare suit. He looked up from where he was sweeping dandruffy bits of popcorn into a pile and wordlessly went behind the counter to scoop out two cartons of fresher stuff. The dilapidated marquee over the concession stand had only one title on it. ‘The Wizard of Oz’.

“weren’t you playing this flick just a couple weeks ago?” Stretch asked curiously, handing over a fiver.

“Popular movie around here,” Igor told him, tonelessly. Yeah, okay, movies about Kansas and great farming fields, and wonderous unknown worlds where danger lurked. Wasn’t hard to see how people around Backwater could form a parallel to that, hell, there was probably a shrine to Judy Garland in every house on the street, set up with offerings of corn and tiny water buckets.

He looked down at the popcorn cartons that were sitting on the counter, the smell of fresh melted butter rising, and asked abruptly, “can i get a box of raisinets, too?”

Igor nodded and took back the single bill he’d laid down, the box of candy rattling loudly as he set it on the countertop.

Stretch took it and the popcorn and headed into the theater. What was that about, he wondered. He didn’t even like raisins. Maybe he’d take them back for Red.

The theater was empty, without so much as an abandoned soda cup in the aisles and the floor still swept entirely clean. So much for people loving this movie. Stretch sat down in the far back row with his popcorn and candy to wait.

Right on schedule, the lights went low, the MGM logo came up, and then with a swell of music Kansas appeared in a grainy sepia.

He’d seen the Wizard of Oz before coming to Backwater. The first time he’d seen it, they were still in the Underground and it was hard not to make the odd mental comparisons when they came to the surface. Now that he was here in this town, Stretch related to Dorothy more than ever. A stranger in a strange land, sure, but the scarecrow sidekick was pretty damn specific. Would Edgar Allen even know what the yellow brick road was? He was pretty sure the scarecrow in his life didn’t get out of his fields much, if ever.

Never going anywhere, never really living. He sat out there in fields with corn and crows for company, guardian and prison as one. Stretch wondered if that was as sad as his mind kept trying to make it or was he putting his own pathos on an anthropomorphic personification of a scarecrow. Maybe Edgar Allen was perfectly happy with his lot in life. Hell, maybe he was looking forward to the harvest season and a chance to rest without the corn chattering to him all the time, it was possible.

Thinking that made him feel a little better about the situation and Stretch sank back into his chair and munched on another buttery handful of popcorn.

He was so absorbed in the movie that at first, he didn’t notice the seat next to him was no longer empty. A blood-streaked hand reaching towards the other carton of popcorn was his first clue and Stretch bit back a yelp, soul hammering in his ribcage as he inwardly cursed himself for being so jumpy. Wasn’t like he hadn’t seen this before, loads of times now, it was what he bought the second carton for.

“hey, there,” Stretch said softly to his ghostly companion. “sorry it’s been a few days.”

“That’s all right,” Doris told him, her faint voice barely audible over the strains of ‘We’re off to see the Wizard.

The Tin Man was lamenting his lack of heart by the time Doris spoke again, tentatively and filled with quiet apology. “I’m very sorry, I feel as if I should know your name, but…”

Oh. Stretch closed his sockets briefly. Damn it, Red warned him about this, to not be surprised if she didn’t remember him. He didn’t allow the faint sting of hurt to show. It wasn’t her fault, it was entirely the fault of whoever had blown away part of her head and left her here to haunt a lonely, dilapidated old theater until it was time for her to go wherever ghosts did when they moved on.

Whoever it was that did this to her, stole her life and left her mostly alone in death, Stretch hoped they felt that sin clawing its way up their back long after they went to the hereafter.

“it’s okay, doris,” he said as gently as he could while Judy Garland danced across the screen, “it’s stretch, like a rubber band.”

“Yes! Stretch!” she laughed delightedly. She clapped her gloved hands together like a child. “Yes, that’s it. It was on the tip of my tongue when I saw you brought me popcorn, but I couldn’t quite shake it loose.”

No surprise there, half the time she didn’t have much tongue left.

She leaned in over her carton to take a deep, ghostly breath and twin streamers of blood ran from her nostrils. His appetite for popcorn faded and Stretch fumbled out the box of raisinets. The cheap milk chocolate barely masked the taste of the raisins and he grimaced, chewing gamely even though the texture always made him think of eating bugs. Dirt-flavored bugs in chocolate, who the hell came up with this so-called treat and were they appropriately punished for it. He could only hope.

They sat together in silence, watching the movie, and by the time the trio made it to the Emerald City, Stretch was squirming in his seat. Doris’s appearance broke the distracting spell of the movie and now his thoughts were wandering back to that morning and Edge’s sudden appearance in the store with so much worry on his pale face. Then there was that soft, unexpected kiss, so sweet against his cheekbone, a punctuation mark on the end of a silent paragraph and maybe he needed someone else to give it a read.

“doris, can i ask you something?”

She turned to him, the ruin of her head solidifying into a pretty young woman as she tilted it curiously. “Of course.”

“it’s kinda a long story.”

She folded her gloved hands primly into her lap. “I don’t have anywhere else to be.”

And that was her real tragedy, wasn’t it. She was tied to this crumbling old theater, unable to go where she needed to. He didn’t know what happened to ghosts once the building they were tied to was gone. But this place was on its last legs and if it closed, the cushions of empty seats rotting away and the silver screen silent, where did she go? He hoped it was someplace nice, a place where she could rest and always be beautiful, without bringing along the gory remains of her last minutes of life.

But they were working on his issues right now. “it’s about a guy.”

Doris brightened visibly and literally, going briefly more solid. “That Edge person you were speaking of before? The other skeleton.”

“yeah,” Stretch said, relieved. He hadn’t been sure how to bring up what they’d talked about before without making her feel bad for not remembering. “see, it’s like this—"

Doris sat and listened as he talked, as enthralled as she’d been when watching the movie. It was like last time when he’d came to ask her about Edgar Allen; she never flickered when she gave him the full weight of her attention.

It might be bad for the theater to have so many empty seats in the house, but it was good for people with the bad manners to talk over the movie. Stretch told her everything, didn’t hold back a thing. About meeting Edge in Red’s living room and his attempted lamp-ocide, about their impromptu lunch at Mama’s. About his brief starring role as little orange biking hood when he ventured to their cabin in the woods, about Frisk. The only thing he didn’t mention was the whole ‘me from another universe’ thing. That was a lot for even him to bend his mind around and his was still in one piece. Doris never interrupted, listened all the way to the end, until Stretch was nearly hoarse as he said, "…so what do you think?"

"Hmm. He certainly sounds charming, in a rude sort of way. My, it makes me think of Pride and Prejudice," she laughed softly. "Although your Mister Darcy showed his true nature far sooner in your tale.”

Thinking of Edge’s hips in a pair of those tight old-school trousers while he danced a waltz was not at all helping the situation and Stretch shoved that thought deep into a mental closet for later.

“but what should i do? he confuses me so much i don’t know whether to scratch my watch or wind my butt around him.” He slid down in the chair until his skull was resting on the back. “and then there’s red to think about, he’s done so much for me. he says he’s not worried about his brother, but…” Stretch trailed off and held up his empty hands.

She nodded thoughtfully. “But you don’t want to stir up trouble in their family, especially since it seems they already have some rough waters.”

“yeah,” Stretch agreed, tiredly. He knew something about stormy weather in a sibling relationship. The last thing he wanted to do to Red and Edge was bring in rainclouds of his own.

“I think you should talk to him,” she said at last. “Tell him what you’re feeling. It seems to me he’d listen to you and he wouldn’t…” Doris’s mouth moved but her words faded. Her pretty visage changed gruesomely, a full show of her shattered face and skull, the fragile bits of bone littered across one shoulder while blood filled the ruin of her eye socket.

Stretch swallowed hard and didn’t look away, waiting until she slowly returned to appearance of a lovely young woman who was finishing triumphantly, “…and who knows what will come of it after that!”

Okay, well, half an advice was better than none and he sure wasn’t gonna ask her to repeat herself.

So. Talk to him. Right. Not bad advice, maybe a little generic, but then, Doris didn’t know about his past history when it came to relationships. She also didn’t know that Backwater wasn’t a permanent assignment for him. He wasn’t too sure about bringing that up, not when it affected her, too. Maybe it would be better to let her forget him when he was gone; with her memory, she might not even realize what she was missing aside from the occasional wistful thought about a spare carton of popcorn.

But she wasn’t wrong, either. Much as he wanted to continue skipping through his life of avoidance, there was only one way he was going to get any real answers. Maybe it was time to figure out exactly where he and Edge stood. His sense of balance in life was pretty damn shaky as it was, and Backwater seemed to treat the laws of reality as more like suggestions. Why would the laws of gravity be any different?

Plus, there was another mystery Stretch was looking to unravel and he was already working on a plan for that. He owed some gratitude to a bony skeleton dragon in the woods and Stretch wasn’t keen on owing debts.

Doris folded her hands into her lap primly. “So? What are you going to do?”

“eh,” Stretch let out a little laugh, “something stupid.”

“Oh.” Doris pursed her lips. “Is it safe?”

“nope,” Stretch said cheerfully and poured himself out another handful of chocolate pseudo-bugs. “but i’ve stayed alive so far. may as well press my luck.”

On the screen, Dorothy was repeating her most famous line and he had to agree, there was no place like home. His only problem with it was that he was starting to get a little fuzzy on where exactly that was.

~~*~~

tbc

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #welcome to backwater

32 notes · View notes

randomfandomimagine · 3 years ago

Text

Love’s Worth Running To. Chapter 2: Catch Up

Pairing: Barry Allen x Stephanie Williams (OC)

Fandom: Justice League / DCEU

⬅ PREVIOUS CHAPTER • CHAPTER INDEX • NEXT CHAPTER ➡

AO3

A/N: A few disclaimers about the series. One: this is a first draft and some little things may change, and also forgive any typos as I will be editing the series more during the second draft. Secondly, I’m not a hardcore DC fan so I might get some things about the characters wrong, bear with me with that.

Anyway, here’s chapter two, I hope you like it! Things are starting to really set into motion and after this chapter they get a little crazy, even more so than at the end of this one.

Remember to give this some love, please reblog and leave feedback! It would make my week! 🙏💜

His feet rhythmically drag along the ground, shuffling as he sways and snaps his fingers. The music loudly plays in his earphones, drowning out the sound of the elevator as it comes to a halt. He can’t hear the soft murmur of voices as the Justice League chats in the Batcave, reunited there one more day. The dark room feels brighter as he walks further into it and the team comes into his field of vision.

“Clap along if you feel…” Barry nods his head along to the song and points to Victor. “Like happiness is the truth”

Victor stares at him, frowning in confusion. He makes to lift his hands and clap, but ultimately doesn’t. He only glances at Diana, who chuckles at Barry’s good mood.

Bruce calmly makes a gesture, asking for Barry to remove his earphones. When he does, letting them fall and hang off his shirt’s neckline, he grins.

“Good morning!” He cheerfully says, but the group doesn’t reply. “What?”

After a brief pause and a few glances, it is Bruce who speaks up.

“Who’s the girl?”

“What girl?”

“You’re singing...” Arthur eyes the boy. “And dancing”

“So? Can’t I just be happy in this beautiful day?”

“There’s definitely a girl” His friend insists. “Spit it out”

Barry pouts and looks at each of them. The way they fondly stare at him fluster him a little, but he doesn’t really mind talking about her. In fact, it feels like a good thing to share his excitement with his friends.

“Her name’s Steph” Barry sighs with a dreamy sigh, but hurriedly corrects himself when he sees their even fonder expressions. “I-It’s nothing like that, though”

“What is it like then?” Diana asks, grinning in amusement.

“We’re old friends, but we haven’t seen each other in… like… more than ten years” Barry takes deep breath, overwhelmed by that rush again as he remembers the moment he spotted Stephanie Williams. “It was so cool to see her again”

“Why did you grow apart?” Clark wonders, crossing his arms over his chest. “Did your lives go different ways?”

“Not exactly…” Barry suddenly grows bleak, overcome with frantic memories.

That dreadful day in which all happened and he never saw her again. He didn’t even get to say goodbye, and all the things left unsaid still burn intensely inside him. Knowing that is all part of the past now and he will se her soon, he forces to forget about it.

Knowing the other noticed his brief change of demeanor, he claps his hands and changes the subject.

“But anyway! What are we doing today? Anything new?”

“Maybe” Bruce responds, even if he sends a quick look at the rest with the corner of his eye. “There have been some strange things happening around”

“Like what?”

“Glitches and minor crimes” Victor projects an image on the air, of a map of the surveilled cities with some red spots on them that mark the occurrences. “They’re all over the cities”

“Something bad?” Barry frowns, his eyes scanning the map.

“Nothing big, but we want to keep an eye out” Clark nods. “Just in case”

“Should we check it out?” The boy asks him, earning another nod from him.

“It won’t hurt” Bruce adds to, tapping the table in anticipation.

“Let’s suit up then” Barry speeds off, always bearing Stephanie in mind despite it all.

And so the Justice League prepares to exit the Batcave on a small routine mission.

When she looks at the clock, it’s already past 3pm. Stephanie clicks her tongue in mild annoyance and rushes to gather her things. She doesn’t want to be late.

“Bye, Ben!” Stephanie is almost at the door when he replies.

“Where are you going?” Ben does a double take, not believing his eyes when he looks at the clock. “You’re not staying late?”

“Do I…?” She mutters hesitantly. “Do I have to?”

“No, no” He fondly chuckles. “It’s just odd, do you have anything else to do?”

“Actually…” Stephanie can’t help but to grin, even if eager butterflies release in her stomach once more. To hide her thrill, she looks down and plays with her hands. “I’m meeting an old friend and… I’m honestly really excited to see him again”

“Oh, that explains it” Ben warmly grins. “Well, have fun!”

“Thanks!” Stephanie grins, bearing that wide genuine smile she showed the other day.

As he watches his coworker run off like a child on an adventure, Ben’s smile slowly fades as her previous presence now leaves room for a cold empty absence. A tiny pang of jealousy prickles the back of his neck.

Lazy clouds cover the sun, attempting to shadow its light. They threaten to flood the sky in darkness more and more with each passing second. Still, the day feels brighter than most. At least to Stephanie.

She rhythmically hits her nails against the glass surface of the table. Her eyes are directed to the door one more. Where is he? A heavy weight has settled in her chest. She chews on her fingernails. What if he doesn’t show up?

Soon enough, Barry comes barging in, out of breath and looking disheveled. He’s late, but he’s there. The girl stands up and takes a deep breath of relief.

“Hi” She greets him, earning an apologetic smile from him.

“I’m so sorry, Steph” He hurries to the table, nervously combing his hair with his fingers. “You wouldn’t believe the day I had”

“It’s okay” Despite his lateness, he notices, she’s smiling. Barry awkwardly chuckles as they both stand there.

Stephanie bites her lip, wondering how to act around him. Time has cooled their once close and nonchalant relationship, but she is determined to warm up to it again. Although they have known each other since they were little, they feel like strangers at the same time. They don’t know the other anymore, but they’re adamant on changing that. Besides, she still feels as comfortable with him as before, like not a day as gone by.

“Well, hi” Barry opens his arms, going on for a hug, just at the same time that Stephanie is leaning close to him in order to greet him with a kiss on the cheek. Noticing this, they awkwardly pull away between embarrassed chuckles. In the end, and after a few more seconds of stuttering and fidgeting, Barry finally holds his hand out. Stephanie smiles and shakes it.

Happily plopping down on the chair, he sighs and stares at her. When she sits down in front of him, her fingers absently trace across the edge of the table that separates them. The tension looms above their heads until he breaks it with his cheerful energy.

“Stephanie Williams” Barry says in awe, fondly tilting his head and peering at her.

“Barry Allen” She reciprocates, smiling as the name of her beloved friend fills her lips.

“So talk to me, Steph, um…” He puckers his lips in a thoughtful gesture. “How’s your day going?”

“Good, it’s good so far…” She nods, not knowing what else to say. “And yours?”

“Great! A bit frantic, but… good” He bites his lips, awkwardly lingering as well. “Good...”

“Tell me!” Barry starts. “What have you been doing? I haven’t since you since...”

“Since we moved to Metropolis...”

“Well, yeah... I never really found out why that happened”

“My parents insisted on leaving Central City” Stephanie gravely nods, averting her eyes. “They said what happened with your mom was affecting me too much”

Barry quiets, watching her with a frown. He opens his mouth to say something, but he doesn’t find the right words to express the extent and variety of his current feelings.

“I’m so sorry…” He drags his hand across the table, reaching out to pat hers as it now rests on the surface of the table. However, and after a second of hesitation, Barry decides not to touch her. “I had no idea…”

“It wasn’t your fault, Barry. You were having a hard time already”

“Yeah, but…”

“It’s okay, I just… I hated seeing you suffer like that”

The two lock gazes, and an unnamed emotion shines in both their eyes. Like a wave has washed out all the deeply buried memories, a weight settles on their shoulders. One that they had been carrying since childhood and they had nearly forgotten about. Now it has returned, just like that. In only a second.

Trying to brush it off, Stephanie smiles. Like the gesture makes him happy, he grins too.

“So how is your dad?” She asks in a friendly tone. Barry’s smile slowly fades, only to be replaced with a melancholic frown. Stephanie is hit with realization. “Oh, so he’s still… I’m so sorry, Barry… I thought…”

It had been years since that terrible thing happened, and knowing of his innocence Stephanie hoped the situation would have changed by now. She’s unfortunately wrong. The girl groans in frustration, mentally scolding herself for not having thought about that possibility before speaking. Barry shakes his head and mindlessly waves his hand in the air. He smiles again, although this time it’s obviously a facade.

“It’s okay” Barry says, but he can’t hide the sad hint to his expression. “I go see him almost every day”

“Is he doing okay?” She cautiously asks, knowing how hard the situation must be for the two of them.

“For the most part, yeah…” His crestfallen look breaks her heart, and so Stephanie wrecks her head to find a more light-headed subject to talk about.

“O-Order” She rushes to say, holding her hand up in the air to catch the waitress attention. “We should order something to drink”

Barry chuckles at her attempt, nodding his head in silent agreement. When the waiter arrives, it’s the girl that speaks for the both of them.

“Um, yeah, hi” She looks up at the blond waiter. “I’ll have a coffee and he’ll have a chocolate milkshake”

“I’m not a child anymore, Steph” He playfully rolls his eyes. “I can order my own chocolate milkshake”

Stephanie laughs out loud, surprised by his retort. Barry fondly grins at her reaction.

Their shared chocolate milkshake has nearly run out. The cream at the top has melted as the liquid reaches the bottom of the container. Their identical pink frosted sprinkled donuts are half eaten, left forgotten in their small plates for the time being.

“Oh, hey!” Barry utters, changing the subject from his criminal justice major. “Did you get your own lab yet?”

Barry lets go of his red and white straw once he’s done sipping while Stephanie absently plays with hers.

“No…” She pouts a little, soon recovering part of her usual spark. “But I’m an intern at STAR Labs”

“That’s great!” He gulps, nearly chocking on the milkshake. “That brings you a step closer!”

“Yeah, I guess… I’m just so impatient to get there”

“You’ll get there” He carelessly waves his hand in the air. “I’ve got no doubts about it”

Stephanie smiles, feeling that once familiar warmth spread through her. There’s that unconditional support he showed her years ago. They haven’t talked in so long, but his unwavering faith on her hasn’t shifted.

A silence establishes after, although the frequency and intensity of them has lessened over the course of the afternoon. She picks up tiny pieces of the donut with her fingers and puts them in her mouth. Barry, meanwhile, absently nibbles on his donut, letting his eyes wander around the quaint establishment, before he boldly pipes up again.

“Are you seeing someone?” Stephanie chokes on the crumbs on her mouth at Barry’s question.

“What?” She coughs, sipping the last of the milkshake to shove the crumbs down.

“Sorry, I…” He chuckles, trying to conceal his amusement. “I was just wondering…”

Stephanie chuckles too, more surprised by the question than offended that he’s so obviously trying not to laugh at her.

“Well?” He says, bearing a playful tone that she had dearly missed. “Answer the question, Steph!”

“Actually… no” She shrugs a little, embarrassed to admit it. “It’s been a bit hard to connect with people”

“How so?” Barry turns serious once more, frowning as he intently listens.

“I don’t know… I’m just trying to pick up where I left off and…”

Stephanie leaves the sentence hanging in the air, but she doesn’t need to complete it. Barry nods. He understands what she means, even in a way that she can’t imagine.

“Well, you’re in luck, miss Williams” He says in a silly voice. “Because I am here to save the day”

“My hero” Stephanie replies, placing a hand on her chest in feigned bewilderment.

They both smile at each other, lingering on their reciprocated gazes. The spark between them has been rekindled, and they can feel it softly beating in their hearts.

It is with great sadness that they must say goodbye. They can’t stay there forever, as much as they’d like to. Still, it’s a bit easier to say farewell knowing they have each other’s numbers now and will meet again soon. They get up from the chairs slowly, putting the moment off as much as they possibly can.

Barry takes the jacket for her, holding it in the air to make it easier for Stephanie to put it on. She smiles, endeared by the chivalrous gesture, and shoves her arms on the sleeves.

“Thank you” Stephanie says as he also holds the door open for her.

The air outside is slightly chilly, and the clouds have darkened in the sky, perhaps announcing a storm. Reeling in the rush that still lingers from the lovely soiree with Barry, Stephanie looks up, unfazed by the gray clouds gathering before the sun. When she peers down again, she catches Barry’s eye.

“Barry” She laughs. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You did change” He replies with a frown, although it’s not exactly a sad one.

“How have I changed?”

“I don’t know… there’s something about you”

“Wisdom and maturity?”

“Maybe…” Barry smiles, hiding his actual thoughts. Ever since they were reunited, he has noticed a certain tint of sadness hanging over Stephanie. He doesn’t dwell too much on it, though, because it’s been slowly fading away as the afternoon advances.

“What about you? You’re not so shy anymore”

“Oh, I’m still shy” The shadow that had darkened his expression disappears, replaced with his usual affable expression. “I just hide it better”

“Are you sure you’re not just shy but you’re too embarrassed to admit it?”

“I’m pretty sure” Barry is replying, grinning as he sees her smiling. “I’m...”

He then trails off, never finishing his sentence. Something’s wrong, he can feel it. His eyes are directed to the traffic light not far from them. The lights aren’t changing, stuck on green. On every traffic light. His instinct kicks in before his brain can comprehend what his body is doing.

“Barry, what’s…” Stephanie his cut off by his urgent movement. Before she can wrap her head around what is happening, the entire street has developed in havoc.

Car horns loudly honking hurt her ears, and soon she sees why. Losing a sense of order because of the unexplained glitching of the traffic lights, all vehicles are crashing into each other. Fortunately, an imposing figure is halting their movement before the damage can be too big. A car has impacted close to them, however, and while doing so knocking a street light that heavily falls their direction.

While this developed, Barry has urgently taken hold of her. When she becomes aware of his closeness, Stephanie is pressed against his chest as he protectively moves her out of the way. Her heart is wildly racing as her senses overload.

The both of them are falling to the ground, with Barry losing balance in his desperate need to protect Stephanie. He still manages to turn and break her fall, tightly squeezing her with his arms to be shielded against his chest. His back takes the hit as he heavily falls to the ground with Stephanie safely landing on top of himself. Unaccustomed to the chaos, she is screaming and protecting her head with her arms in a panic, pressing herself against Barry and hiding her face on his shoulder as he still holds on to her.

“Steph!” He immediately calls, keeping one arm locked around her and using his free hand to press it against her cheek, urging her to look at him. “Steph, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

She peers up in a daze, somehow finding comfort in his eyes despite it all. Despite the concern in them. Despite the chaos that engulfs their surroundings. In spite of it all, Barry’s still there with her. The thought calms her and she manages to take a deep breath. It helps settle the panicked pants that shook her being.

Stephanie wants to speak up, but she has momentarily lost the ability to speak. All she can do at that moment is catch her breath while she lays there on top of him, arms pressed against his chest as it quickly moves up and down with the same urgency as hers does. Barry’s hands are protectively pressed against the small of her back. Their faces are so close that their noses nearly touch. This closeness brings a flushed blush to their cheeks that can luckily be excused by the frantic situation.

“I-I’m okay” She finally replies, even with a shaky voice. “And you?”

“I’m fine” He absently says, immense relieved even if distracted.

Barry then lies on his side and carefully pushes her off him. The two of them still hold on to each other as they scramble to their feet. As they glance around, they see the disaster that the street has turned into.

A flying figure covers the sun for a split second while the clouds slowly float away in the sky. Stephanie gasps when she looks up and sees him, recognizing the cape and the strong silhouette of the hero that saved the day.

“Superman…” She utters, pointing up and gathering Barry’s attention there too.

“Oh, no” He mumbles under his breath, starting to understand what has happened.

Stephanie is too becoming aware of what happened, although in a different manner. She glances around, seeing the fallen street light that could have crushed them, the numerous cars that have crashed into each other and the traffic lights still stuck on green. How could Barry react so quickly if she barely had the time to notice any of it?

“Barry, what…” Stephanie swallows, trying to put some order into her messy thoughts. “How… Why…”

He isn’t listening to her incoherent babbling. Barry is still looking up, although his gaze is fixed on the roof of a building. A dark figure looms there, and his heart skips a beat in realization. Barry checks his phone, feeling a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when he reads the screen. He has three missed called and ten texts.

“I gotta go” Barry stumbles over his words, suddenly even more frantic that during their near death experience. “I-I hate to leave like this, but I’m really late, I’m supposed to be somewhere else”

“Y-Yeah” Stephanie tries to recover from the shock and confusion. “Okay…”

“Can you walk home, are you okay?”

“I think so”

“Are you sure”

“Yeah”

“Steph?”

She stares at him, finding her lost concentration when she locks eyes with him. His worry seems to lessen when she manages to finally focus her gaze. Showing him that gesture that warms his heart, Steph nods and reassuringly smiles at him. He heaves a sigh in relief.

“Take care, okay?” He mumbles, in a sudden urgent hug. “I’ll call you soon”

“Okay” Stephanie clings on to him, lingering in the embrace and treasuring it for just a moment longer. As she does, she takes the breath she has needed so badly during those long minutes in which she couldn’t breathe.

When he pulls away, she has to hold back a groan of complaint. Her warmly smiles and waves goodbye at her. She does too. Then, Barry briskly walks away, urgently holding on to his phone.

Stephanie watches him in fascination, her eyes fixed on his back as he distances himself from her. There had been a new look on his face, an expression of mature determination and somber commitment. She had never seen anything like that. Barry has changed, and she doesn’t know in which way exactly. Stephanie is left with thousand of questions buzzing in her brain as she walks home in a daze.

Tag list: @scared-to-be-lonely345 // Ask to be added to be notified when I post for this series!!

#loves worth running to #lwrt #barry allen #barry allen x reader #barry allen x oc #barry allen imagine #ezra miller #justice league #justice league imagine #justice league series #dc #dc series #dc imagine #oc #series #original character

17 notes · View notes

samantha-thewinchester · 3 years ago

Text

We Pulled A Barry Allen, Bloody Hell.

|| Hope's Point of View ||

I shoot up, gasping for breath and immedately looking at my surroundings.

We're in Mystic Falls. The big oak tree to be exact... I remember it from when Lizzie had the Oni in her and was slowly going insane. "Good times". I continue to look around, before realizing how dark it is. Is it night time? School was just happening. What the hell made us pass out? I stand up, embers floating around all three of us.

I walk towards Lizzie and Josie, and see if their awake. At my touch Lizzie startles awake, hand rushing up to her chest as she looks at me.

"Hope! You gave me a damn heart attack!" She is taking deep breaths, calming down, before looking around. "Wait, where are we?"

"We are in the park, in the middle of town Lizzie. Now, stop hitting me and help me wake your sister."

Lizzie reluctanly stood up, and walk over to her sisters sleeping body. We wake Josie up, who was by far less startled. As soon as Josie stands up, we hear a scream.

That was suddenly cut off.

"Fuck..." I whisper, before taking off towards the source of the scream, Lizzie and Josie running right after me.

We slowly approach the source, we found two-probably dead-bodies. One male and One female. One was on top of the hood of the car and the other was a bit further down the road. Both with two teeth marks in their necks.

The teeth marks of a vampire.

"Crap..." Josies says.

"When can I get these mudy clothes off?"

"Lizzie!" Me and Josie shout.

|| 2 hours later ||

We walked to the old mill, figuring that the old mill would be a safe enough place to sleep for a while. I take watch first so I watch as the two sleep. I hear movement in the distance, so with one last look back at the girls, I walk towards the movement to see what it was.

I see a man with raven hair and a blue ring on his finger.

"Who the hell are you?" The raven haired man asks.

"The better question is who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing out here."

"Oh, you know. Just walking around. Looking for a bite to eat. Maybe a place to stay for the night. Where are you staying"

"Tell me your name and then we can talk, Raven Boy."

"If you must know, my name is Damon. Damon Salvatore."

"Like the founding family?"

"Yep. Exactly like them. Your turn girly. Whats your name?"

"Hope."

"What a cliche name. I mean Hope?"

"Quiet, Raven Damon."

"Hey! I give the nicknames!"

"Would you rather me call you "vampire"?"

That makes him stop dead in his tracks. He isn't doing anything but looking straight at me. All the humor drained from his face.

"What... in the hell... did you just say to me?"

"I said that you were a vampire. I mean come on, in all black, walking around at night. The night we- I found two dead bodys with two holes, bite marks, in the necks, drained of blood."

"Who are you? No wait. What, the hell are you?"

He takes a few steps towards me, glaring. I bring my hand up and start to give him an anuerysm. He grips his head in pain.

"Witch Bitch... good to know."

"Now, are you so sure you want to eat me?" Hold up... He said his name was Damon. Damon Salvatore. Meaning the very human, married, with children, Damon. Salvatore.

"What day is it?"

"Sebtember 10th. 2009. Why, don't you know your dates Hopey?"

Think Hope, think. You've read his brother's journels. You should know what's happening now. This was just a little bit before Dad came to town. I've read these journels a million times...

Katherine Pierce.

Damon Salvatore is in love with her. He think she's in the tomb. He's going to try and get her out... I can use that to my advantage.

"Not the point. So are you going to kill me , or would you rather have my help to get the love of your life Katherine out?"

"How the fucking hell do you know about that?"

"Did you forget that I'm a witch, or are you just an idiot?"

"Alright fine. I'll make you a deal. I won't kill you, and you help me find Kathrine. Deal?"

"Only if you don't kill my friends either."

"You have friends. Shocker."

"A least I have more then you. Deal or no deal?"

"Deal Hopey. Are your friends by chance witches, or warlocks I don't descrimiate, too?"

"Why?"

"We need all the help we can get." Oh, so he doesn't believe I could do it myself. Rude.

"Yeah. Their witches."

"Great. Now, where are we sleeping?"

After I look into the back of my head because of how hard I rolled my eyes, I gathered the strength to reply. "Follow me. It's not the best, but it's the best we could do on the sort notice we had."

"What did you just magically apper in town?"

"Something like that."

"Ok. Cryptic girl. Anything else?"

" We are all underage girls. Lay a hand on anyone of us we will kill you ."

"I won't unless they want me to."

"No, you won't at all, because then I will kill you." I warn, giving him a sweet smile.

We just continue to walk in silence. When we get to the mill, I raise my hand and put a finger over my lips. He just rolls his eyes.

What is it about him that makes me want to kick him in the face? Or drop him off a building? Or just kill him?

We quietly walk inside, finding Josie sitting there by her sister, who was still sleeping soundly.

"Hey Jo... This is Damon Salvatore..." I whisper to her.

"What? How did you find him? Why did you bring him here? Why-" To quickly cut her off, I put a hand over her mouth.

"So. You both know who I am now, who are your friends Hopey?"

"Friends." was all I said.

I walk over to wake Lizzie up. Again, she didn't want to wake up. Again, she started attacking me with her eyes closed.

"Lizzie. Up. Please."

She grumbles, slowly sitting up and rubbing her eyes to wake up. When she see Damon her eyes widened.

"Quiet" I whisper to her. "I'll explain later."

"What are you two whispering about? You know it isn't polite."

"Shut up."

"Well then, I can see you don't have a house, unless you try and convince me this run down mill is a home. And your minors, I remember you telling me that for a fact Hopey, so shouldn't your asses be in school?"

"Yeah, but we don't have transcripts or anything so we can't go. And we don't have any damn money for a house or apartment." Lizzie states, just staring at Damon in confusion.

"Well ladies, that the beautie of compulsion. I can have you in school and get you a house by the morning. As long, of course, you follow up on your part of the deal."

"Wow. Thanks." I say, rolling my eyes for the fifth time today.

|| The Next Day ||

I slowly open my eyes, feeling comfy and warm in a bed. I really should thank Damon.

But will I?

Nope! But, compulsion is now my new favorite thing. And this bed is so damn soft, I could never leave.

Unfortuantely, I already hear Lizzie and Josie up downstairs so, slowly I get up. I get dress in a new outfit Damon had kindly gotten us as well.

Damon had also kindley gotten us backpack and school supplies, I can already see some humanity left in Damon even he suppositly turn it off. I guess Stefan's journels were right.

I slowly walk downstairs, seeing the girls just eating fruit at the counter. I grab an apple and look at them.

"Well, we should get to school, shouldn't we?" I suggest, eating a few more bites.

"Ladies first." Lizzie says, standing up and walking out the door. I hear Jo laugh as I shake my head, before we follow her outside.

As soon as we got to the school, we saw the Elena Gilbert and The Bonnie Bennett standing in front of the office. I snuck a peack inside and saw The Stefan Salvatore. Then I herad Elena and Bonnie start to talk with my werewolf hearing, me and the girls just standing by a locker..

"Hold up. Who's this?" Bonnie asks.

"All I see is back." Elena responds.

"It's a hot back."

They stand there watching for a minute, then Bonnie decides to speak up.

"I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar."

Elena scoffs. "You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?"

"Pretty much"

"What are they saying?!" Lizzie says, snapping me out of my consentration to listen to them.

"Shut up, I'm trying to listen."

Thats when I spot Jeremey Gilbert heading into the boys bathroom after a kid had told him, "Jermey, good batch man."

"I'll be right back" Elena says and follow Jeremy into the bathroom.

After Elena left Bonnie mumbled "Please be hot." at Stefan.

"What did your mom see in these people?" I ask sarcastrically.

"What happened?!" Lizzie demands.

"Okay, yes, I want to know too--" Josie agrees.

"Well, first Elena and Bonnie made comments about Stefan and how he was hot. Then, Elena went after her brother because someone told him he made good drugs and such."

"Okay, yeah, I agree with you." Lizzie says, Josie laughing beside her.

"Quiet, both of you. We have to get our schedules." Josies says, getting us to focus again.

"Yeah, sorry."

We walk into the office, talking to the lady at the desk to get our schedules. We all only have one class together each. History with the infamous Mr. Tanner. Again, I remember him from Stefan's journels. Yay. This will be so fun. We go about our days until it is finally time for lunch. Then we all sit down at the table together and start to talk about a game plan and what the hell happened.

"So where are we. I mean our mom's like 17 and our dad hasen't even moved to town yet." Josie spoke first, writing things down in a notebook.

"Last night, I asked Damon what date it was, because he is a vampire and we know for a fact that isn't the case because he took the cure to be with Elena, and now have kids. So , you know, I thought about how shitty our lives are and it clicked, so I asked him what the date was. He replied that it was 2009. That means time travel. And we're probably the Barry Allens of this story. But, also, let's not Nora ourselves out of existance."

"And that wasn't even the craziest thing to happen last night."

"What happened Lizze?" Josie asked worry evident in her voice. I look over at Lizzie too, watching her face which only shows horror.

"I got mud on my awesome outfit! I would never do that!"

"What the hell Lizzie! We're in fucking 2009 and all you can think about is the fact that your outfit had mud on it?" I stare at her, debating hurting her, as I grit my teeth. I mean we fucking time traveled and she only cares about her damn outfit! What the hell kinda person is that?

"Yeah, well maybe some of us don't usually have as big of damn problems as you!"

"Alright! Enough! Stop fighting please, and just head to class."

|| A little while later || Mr. Tanner's class ||

We were all heading for the same classroom. I still was determined not to talk to Lizzie so when we bump into each other trying to get through the door, we just glare at each other. Josie walks ahead of us and opens the door, walking in first.

"Ahh, more little devils for this period. And you three are?"

"I'm Josie, and my sister's are Hope and Lizzie." Josie speaks up.

"Would you happen to have a last name, girls?"

"Marshall." I quickly say, cutting off Lizzie who tried to speak before me.

"Marshall. Alright Marshalls, sit down in empty seats."

We all head to three diffrent seats. But knowing my luck, I got put closer to Lizzie then I would like at this time.

"Marshall?" Lizzie whispers over to me, eye still showing anger.

"Yeah, that way, when our familys move to town we won't be asked about our names."

"Isn't it still your mom's name?"

"Yeah, but it's more likely to be a coincidence then if we were Mikaelson's or Saltzman's. It's a more common last name."

"Fine."

After that Stefan Salvatore walks into the class room. He, surprisly didn't get as many questions from Mr. Tanner as we did. He just walked to his seat without any questions. Lucky.

Then Mr. Tanner started to drone on about the civil war. I would enjoy learning about this, but with everything going on, I'm not so intrested. That and I already learned everything there is to know about this. Thats why it helps to have a 1,000 year old family.

"Once our home state of Virgina joined the Confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amout of tension within the state People in Virginia's northwest region had diffrent ideals than those for the traditional deep south. Then Virginia divided in 1863--" Time to ignore him and think about my problems instead.

Ha, maybe this won't be as different from the Salvatore school as I thought.

I start to look around the room, trying to find out more. Stefan's journels only had his point of view. This way, I can learn more about... everything. I looked over at the famous Elena Gilbert, who was looking at the other famous Stefan Salavtore. He also looked at her. What a damn 'Love at first sight' story this is.

Thats when Bonnie takes out her phone, and starts to type something into it. Not too long after, Elena's phone goes off. So Bonnie was texting her. How fun. How the hell would you even work one of those phones. I'm guessing that they started to gosip about Stefan Salvatore. I swear, it's like this is a damn TV show version of Twilight. At least for the 'love at first sight' aspect. Vampires, thank god, don't sparkle.

After a lot more of civil war talk, and the bell rings. At that we all get up and head to the next class. And then the rest of the day goes by like any normal school day. Or what would be a normal school day if I didn't have to sit through classes with people that we were taught at school about and was owned and taught us about all of this. Isn't awkward at all.

When the final bell rings, I run out of the room to find Lizzie and Josie who are by their lockers. I grab them and start walking away. Lucky for me, I don't have to stop at my locker so I just start dragging them home. I ignore the fact that Lizzie is complaining the whole way, as I was planning her death in my head instead of paying attention.

When we get there I sit them down on the couch.

"Alright. We need a game plan. We are Fre-emies to Damon. We help him, he helps us. We are going to high school, with your mom and her friends, and that's about it. Now that we recaped, we need to talk about what we have to do."

"How about, we look into ways to time travel, that might actually work and are real, while also looking for monsters that might have the ability to time travel. Maybe find Malivore and see if it is spiting out any monsters now?" Josie suggests.

"That sounds great. We can search the library during our free periods." I say.

"Sounds great. Now I'm going to go anywhere else. Like literally anywhere else." Lizzie says before walking out.

"Lizzie we need more of a plan--"

"And I need a break. Bye-bye!" Lizzie tells me, walking up the stairs of the house and disapearing from view.

I roll my eyes and take a deep breath. "So, Jo, what do you want to do?"

"How about we go to the grill? Get the milkshake you always like. What was it?"

"Peanut-Butter Blast with whip cream on the bottom."

"Yeah! Thats it. Lets go. Lizzie can have some time to herself, and we could get delicious milkshakes."

|| At Mystic Grill ||

Me and Josie were sitting down at a table, just chatting about random things as we wait to order.

Our waitress, as luck would have it, would be Vicki Donovan.

"What would you guys like to drink?"

"We will have two Peant-Butter Blasts with whip cream on the bottom." Josie says.

"Coming right up."

"Was that who I think it was?" Josie whispers over, while watching Vicki who just brought drinks over to Matt, her brother, Donovan and Tyler Woofwood, sorry Lockwood.

"Yeah. The Vicki Donovan. Doesn't she die in a few days?"

"Yeah. Damon kill's her I'm pretty sure."

"No, it was Stefan to save Elena's life. I remember reading about it in his journal. Stake through the heart. I feel bad for her... Although, Damon does kill her to turn her."

Still watching Vicki we see Jeremy walk over and start talking to her. Not long after that conversation finishes, Caroline and Bonnie walk in. I point them out to Josie, and start listening into their conversation. It helped that they were talking so loud. I mean they are acting ike their on a TV show.

"His name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with his uncle at the old Salvatore Boarding house. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue."

"You got all that in one day?" Bonnie replies.

"Oh, please, I got that between third and fourth period. We're planning a June Wedding." Hah, they did have a June wedding. To bad, he also died the same day.

At that Caroline walks off, Bonnie following a few minutes later.

Then after that there was just gossip, so we stopped eavesdropping.

"June wedding huh." I say to Josie, laughing a little.

"Shhhhhhh. We don't wanna talk about that."

"But she just predicted what would happen in the future. It's kinda funny."

"No because Stefan dies the same day!"

"You don't think I know that? That wasn't what was funny. Don't worry."

After that we sat there talking and drinking our shakes. Vicki came back a little later and we got some fries. That when I heard Matt Donovan say something that peaked my intrest so I pointed over to them and I started listening in again, using my werewolf hearing.

"How's Elena doing?" Matt asks. Poor love sick teenage boy.

"Her mom and dad died. How do you think?" Bonnie points out to Matt.

"She's putting on a good face but it's only been four months."

"Has she said anything about me?" Poor, poor forever human, Matt Donovan.

"Oh, no. So not getting in the middle. You can pick up the phone and call her."

"I feel weird calling her. She broke up with me."

"Give it more time, Matt."

"What's happening?" Jo asks me.

"Matt Donovan is love sick over Elena and Bonnie isn't getting in the middle of it."

And again, with perfect timing, Elena and Stefan walk into the Grill. I swear they were on a TV show.

Everyone turns around and looks at them when they walk into the Grill.

"More time, huh?" Poor Matt. He never stood a chance with the girl when Stefan moved to town, especially when Stefan's brother followed.

After that Matt stands up and walks away from Bonnie and toward the couple of the hour, Stefan and Elena.

"Hey, I'm Matt, nice to meet you."

"Hi. Stefan." He says while they shake hands.

"Hey."

That wasn't awkward at all. The two of them (Elena and Stefan) walk over to where Caroline and Bonnie were.

"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asks.

"Mm-hmm. And moved when I was still young." If by young you mean before you were over a hundred, then yeah. I'd agree.

"Parents?" Bonnie asked.

"My parents passed away." Didn't he kill his dad? And his mother is alive in a prison world? I mean he thought she was dead, but still. Passed away doesn't even begin to explain it.

"I'm sorry." Elena says. "Any siblings?"

"None that I talk to." I forgot how bad of brothers they were at this point. "I live with my uncle."

"So, Stefan, if you're new you don't know about the party tomorrow." Wow. I can't ever see Headmistress Caroline as a partier.

"It's a back to school thing at The Falls." Bonnie adds.

"Are you going?" Stefan asks Elena. Wow. This really was a 'love at first sight' thing. To much for my liking. What is this, a TV show?

"Of course she is." Bonnie replies for Elena. What a good friend.

Lizzie than walks into the grill and comes to sit at our table.

"There is nothing to do in this town. I miss The Salvatore school."

"Don't we all." Josie responds.

"So, I heard that there was a party. It's a back to school thing-"

At that I cut Lizzie off.

"We know."

"Ok, well great. We're all going. Because it's the only thing to do in this town. And no Hope, your coming too."

I just sigh and 'lay' down in my seat. This was going to be a long night. Scratch that. A long time before we get home.

|| The Next Day, At School, In History||

"The battle of willow creek took place right qat te end of the war in our very own Mystic falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?"

"Um... A lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot.

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett. Mr. Donovan. Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your rmbrddrd jock stereotype?"

"It's ok, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it."

"Hmm. Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"

"I'm sorry, I-- I don't know."

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reason, Elena, but the personal excuses ended with summer break." I inhale quickly, trying not to light something on fire.

"Four months isn't enough time for someone to grieve. Get your head out of your ass, and let someone who lost not one, but two people on the same day, deal with it." I glare at him. Four months is definetly not enough time to get better after one lose, let alone two. I should know, I lost three within... a month? Two?

After I went on my little rant I heard a few cheers while Mr. Tanner glares right back at me. Then Stefan speaks up.

"There were 346 casualties, unless you're counting local civilians."

"That's correct. Mister...?"

"Salvatore."

"Salavtore. Any relation to the original settlers here in Mystic Falls?"

"Distant."

"Well, very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."

"Actually, there were 27, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church,believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts. Mr. Tanner."

Before he even finishes the whole class is pretty much chuckling about him showing up the teacher.

All Mr. Tanner could say to that was an "Hmm."

Good for you Stefan.

|| Later at the party ||

All three of us arive at the party, Lizzie the most excited. Everyone was already there, because we arrived a little late, so we just grabed a beer and started our separate ways. I start walking toward a tree stump on the ground by the entrence. We see Stefan start to walk up to the party. He's looking around for someone, probably Elena.

Before he walks away though he notices me.

"Hey, your the girl who stood up for Elena right?"

"Wouldn't exactly call it standing up for her, as I was sitting down, but yeah... My name's Hope."

"Stefan. I just wanted to say that I thought what you did was really cool. You know standin-- sitting for Elena." He smiles, before sitting down next to me.

"Well, I mean she only lost her parents four months ago. He was speaking like it was ten years ago. I know I wasn't over my parents deaths four months later."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. My parents died a while ago too."

"I'm sorry for your loss then."

"You too..." We sit there in a comfortable silence for a little while, Stefan looking around the party. Not too long later, he spots Elena, or probably listens for her, and finds her with Bonnie.

"Go on Lover-Boy. Go get your dream girl."

"I wasn't- I-"

"Go! You don't want to miss her."

With that he looks over at me, smiles, before standing up and walking over to her. Josie comes and sits next to me.

"Was that you talking to him?"

I noded, smiling at her.

"Cool. I only meet him a few times and I don't remember most of them, so you meet a walking Legend. Awesome."

We both look up and see Stefan and Caroline talking.

"You wanna do more eavesdropping?" I suggest.

"No, no, no. We shouldn't." Jo says, but I smirk at her, standing up and walking towards the two, hearing on.

"Hey! You made it!"

"I did."

"Well let's get you a drink."

"Well, I'm--"

"Oh, come on."

After they walk off, I look around and spot Lizzie. I look over at Jo and motion towards her sister, before slowly walking over to her.

"Hey, you ok?"

"Yep." She says before walking off.

"What's up with her?" I mouth to Josie, Josie just shrugging.

|| Josie's POV ||

I walk over toward Lizzie who is sitting down on the ground, her head inbetween her knees. Even over the loud music from the party, you could hear sniffles.

"Hey Liz. You ok?"

"Yup. Just fine."

"Wanna tell me what's wrong?"

"No."

"Lizzieeeeeeeeeeeee..." I say walking over to sit down next to her, criss cross apple sauce.

"No Jo. Not now."

"Lizzieeeeeeeeeeeee..." I say again.

"Jo, you can't help me."

"Sometime's talking about it helps."

"No Jo."

"Lizzie, you know you can tell me anything right? I will know how you feel. I've felt it before too."

"Do you know how I feel Jo? What this feeling is like? I feel like I'm going to go screw things up. I saw mom a lot today, and I wanted to go talk with her, but I was so scared that I would do something wrong, and mess up any chances I have to talk to her. And that's the best thing of all the downsides. I could have made it so we were never born!" She says tears streaming down her face.

"I could have made it so you were never born." She whispers.

"Oh, Lizzie..." I hug her from here she sits on the ground. "It's ok. You won't screw things up."

"You don't know that."

"I do. I trust you. And I know you have so much more potential to do good, and that you could go up and talk to mom and become her favorite person, even without her knowing that your her daughter. And that she won't love anyone more when she does."

"Thanks Jo." She sniffles, hugging me tighter.

|| Meanwhile || Hope's POV ||

I was walking around the party, beer in hand, when I hears Caroline, Matt, and Bonnie talking, while they look up on the bridge where Elena and Stefan are. Caroline spots me and runs over to me, grabing my hand to stop me from moving.

"Hey your one of the new girls right?"

"Yeah. That would be me."

"You're Hope, right? I'm Caroline. You seem to be all alone, which is no way to spend a party. Want to hang out with me and my friends?"

"I- um- I wouldn't-" Before I could even finish the sentence, she grabs my arm and brings me over to her friends, and I decide not to complain or anything. Easiest way to easedrop, be around the people. I feel like a spy.

"Hey Matt! Bonnie! This is Hope. She's one of the new girls!" Caroline introduces me, as I just smile at the two.

"Oh! Cool! Your in our History class right?" Bonnie asks.

"Yeah, she is because she gave Tanner that sass comment about Elena. That was awesome by the way. Not a lot of people would stand up for someone like that." Matt says before I could respond to Bonnie.

"Thanks. I just never like when teachers think that they are more important than what is going on in the kids life. They could be having a really hard time, and not able to do most of the stuff they ask. And four months isn't enough time to grieve."

"Wow. You must be, like, a really good person." Caroline says.

"That is definitely debatable..." I laugh to myself, looking down at my beer.

After that we have just a bunch of chit-chat and small talk until after long Matt walks off, the Caroline. And... I can see she walked over to Stefan.

"That's not going to go well." I mumble

"Definitely not." Bonnie adds.

After a while, Caroline walked back over and immedately started to complain about the interaction with Stefan, saying how guys never go for her, but she gets cut off when Jeremy and Elena come running up from the woods, with Vicki in Jermey's hands. With a bite mark on her kneck.

The bite mark of a vampire.

Stefan quickly rushes a way, before the police show up.

And, eventually, the police show up with an ambulence for Vicki. Matt get's in the back with her, not wanting to leave his sister's side. I look around for Lizzie and Josie and I find them still sitting where Lizzie walked off to before. I look at them and they look at me, all three sharing the knowing look.

I'm heading with Caroline and Bonnie to the grill to get some coffee and wait for news on Vicki, trying to see if us being here changes anything.

Me, Bonnie, and Caroline get to the grill and I use the 'new' phone Damon got me and attempted to text the twins, with a little help from Bonnie who thankfully didn't ask as to why I didn't know how to use the phone.

|| A little while later || At the Grill ||

Me, Bonnie, and Caroline all are still at the grill in silence, sipping on our drinks every now and then, when I see Lizzie and Josie walk in. They grab a table by us and I just stare at the and try to comunicate without words, when Bonnie speaks up, and snaps me out of my consentration.

"Are you sober yet?"

"No"

"Keep drinking. I gotta get you home. I gotta get Hope home. I gotta get me home."

"Why didn't he go for me? You know, how come the guys that I want never want me?"

"I'm not touching that." Bonnie says, Caroline looking at me.

"Oh, nope not talking about that." I quickly say, Caroline looking frustrated.

"I'm inappropriate. I always say the wrong thing. And Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even try! An he just picks her. And she's always the one that everyone picks, for everything. And I try so hard, and i'm never the one ."

"It's not a competition, Caroline." Bonnie and I say at the same time, both trying to help Caroline.

"Yeah, it is."

At that we all just go back to sitting in silence. A little while later Bonnie had to go, and I gollowed soon after meeting Josie outside.

"Hey Jo. Where's Lizzie?"

"She'll be out in a minute."

|| Lizzie's POV ||

I look over where Mom was sitting. I see her send a small-- Nevermind. A big smile towards Damon Salvatore. Before they could even start talking, I sat down at Mom's table.

"Caroline, just because you don't get all the guys, doesn't mean your a failure. It just means not everything is working out for you. And if a guy turns you down, then he's the one with a problem. Not you. Your one of the best people there is out there. And if they can't see that, screw them. Most guy's are douches anyway." I say before I walk off towards Jo and Hope.

That felt really good. I got to talk to her... A teenage mom. I got to help her, or at least attempt to help her as she has many times before for me a Jo. Let's just hope that, you know, me and Josie are still born...

#Hope Mikaelson #Elizabeth Saltzman #Josette Saltzman #Lizzie Saltzman #Josie Saltzman #Josie and Lizzie #Lizzie and Josie #Hope and Josie #Lizzie and Hope #Hope and Lizzie #Joise and Hope #Legacies Aren't Legacies Anymore #LALA #Legacies Aren't Legacies Anymore We Pulled A Barry Allen Bloody Hell

7 notes · View notes

longitudinalwaveme · 4 years ago

Text

A Pipe Dream

The Flash stars in: A Pipe Dream

Dramatis Personae

Wally West, the garrulous, impulsive, and friendly third Flash

Joan Garrick, Jay Garrick’s wife, who is patient, loving, and supportive of everyone

Iris Allen, Barry Allen’s wife, an inquisitive daredevil reporter

The Pied Piper, alias Hartley Rathaway, a Robin Hood-esque thief

The Top, alias Roscoe Dillon, an arrogant, elitist, and top-obsessed criminal

Weather Wizard, alias Mark Mardon, an overconfident, rather stupid robber

Heat Wave, alias Mick Rory, a dim, shockingly gentle pyromaniac

Script

Act I

(Joan and Iris are onstage)

Iris: So, how’s Jay?

Joan: He’s doing well enough, I suppose, but, to be honest, I’m a little worried about him. He keeps claiming that he’s retired from crime fighting, but every time I turn around, he’s wearing that silly hat of his and racing off to fight bank robbers or carjackers or giant, murderous, telepathic gorillas. It was one thing when he was fifty, but now he’s 99 years old, and the doctors say that his heart won’t be able to take much more of his running at super speed.

Iris: What does he say about that?

Joan: That (strikes a heroic pose) “ it will be a pleasure to die in the line of duty.”

Iris: (Laughs) That sounds just like Barry.

Joan: I know, and it’s not funny. Our husbands spend so much time saving everyone else that they never stop to worry about themselves.

Iris: I guess that’s true-but hey, that’s part of what we’re here for, to make sure our husbands take some “me time” occasionally.

Joan: In speaking of husbands, how’s Barry?

Iris: He’s not doing so well. He came down with the flu a few days ago, and I’ve been going crazy trying to keep him from leaving his bed so that he can go fight crime.

Joan: Oh, I’ve had that happen with Jay before. Once, when he had pneumonia, he heard about a shoplifting ring, and I had to call in Ted and Alan-you know them as Wildcat and the original Green Lantern-to physically restrain him so that he wouldn’t leave the house to go stop them.

Iris: Well, I haven’t had to resort to calling the Justice League to restrain Barry yet, so things could be worse.

Joan: You’re right. Things could be worse. We could be having to deal with two sick speedsters each. Or a sick Superman!

Iris: Man, that would be a nightmare. I have no idea how that Lois Lane woman does it.

Joan: Maybe Clark just doesn’t get sick. After all, he isn’t a human, so maybe our diseases don’t affect him and he’s as invulnerable to getting sick as he is to everything else.

Iris: Maybe so.

(Enter Wally)

Wally: Hi, Joan. Hi, Aunt Iris. (Sneezes) How are you?

Iris: Hi, Wally. We’re doing all right. How are you?

Wally: I’m fine, but Linda and the kids all have the flu (Sneezes) and the twins also both have strep. (Sneezes) It sure is lucky that I don’t get sick, or we’d have a real mess on our hands.

Iris: Um, Wally, are you sure you’re not sick?

Wally: Yeah, I’m sure. (Sneezes three times) I never get sick. I had perfect attendance all throughout school, and you can check my records if you don’t believe me.

Joan: Can you at least try to take it easy, Wally?

Wally: I can’t do that! Jay’s retired and Uncle Barry has the flu, and someone has to protect the city! Besides, I can’t deny my adoring fans the chance to see me because I have a few sniffles. (Sneezes) I’ll be fine!

Iris: (To Joan) Is there a single superhero in the entire world who actually rests when they get sick?

Joan: Speaking from experience, I don’t think there is.

Wally: I said that I’m fine! (Sneezes) So, do you want to get lunch? I’m starving!

Iris: Wally, it’s 8:00 in the morning!

Wally: Okay, so let’s get brunch!

Iris: But I just ate breakfast!

Wally: I don’t follow. (Sneezes) I just ate breakfast, too, and I’m already hungry again.

Joan: Wally, dear, you have to consume 980,000 calories per day just to survive, so you have to eat almost constantly. We simply don’t have the appetite or the metabolism to keep up with you.

Wally: Oh, right. I forget that fact a lot-especially (Sneezes) since my kids inherited my metabolism and have to (Sneezes) eat even more than I do.

Iris: It’s all right, Wally.

Wally: So, um, do you want to go to McDonalds with me (Sneezes) and watch me eat? With Linda and the kids all sick, I’ve been cooped up in the house for a week, and I’m going stir-crazy!

Iris: I suppose so. After all, with Barry sick, I haven’t been able to get out much, either.

Joan: I’ll go, too. After all, if you really are sick despite your claims, someone needs to keep an eye on you so that you don’t run yourself into the ground.

Wally: Great! I love you guys so much, and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into (Sneezes) 340 Big Macs! I love McDonalds food!

Iris: (Shakes head) Never change, Wally. Never change.

(Exit All)

Act II

(The Pied Piper is onstage, playing an instrument. Enter the Top)

Top: Top of the morning to you, Piper.

Piper: Oh, good, you were able to make it. Did you have any trouble getting here?

Top: No. There is not a person in this city who would dare inconvenience the Top.

Piper: What about our friends in the red pajamas?

Top: Don’t make me laugh, Piper. The old one is feeble and retired, the young one is impulsive and stupid, and the only one that poses a threat has the flu, and therefore cannot be on top of his game. They could not bother me if they tried. What of you, my friend? Are you still in tip- top shape, or has your life spun out of control?

Piper: I’m as fit as a fiddle, Roscoe. The Flashes have no reason to hunt down a peaceable man who steals money from drug lords and self-absorbed starlets and gives it to the poor. In fact, if I could only make them realize that the real villains are the members of the 1% who enrich themselves at the expense of the poor, we would be good friends.

Top: But I heard you were homeless?

Piper: I am.

Top: How, exactly, did that come to pass?

Piper: Well, after my last heist, I was going to buy an apartment for myself, but while I was on my way to buying it, I saw a very pregnant woman with two small children crying, and when I asked her what was wrong, she told me that she was trying to escape from her abusive boyfriend but that she had no money, and so I gave her the money and told her to use it to make a good life for herself and her children, and so I was unable to buy anything.

Top: You gave all of the money away?

Piper: Of course! They needed it more than I did.

Top: You, sir, are a fool. This is the fifth time that you have given up a permanent home to help some wretch-the fifth time!

Piper: Roscoe, you of all people should understand what it is like to be an outcast. How can you criticize my desire to help others that the world has forgotten?

Top: Because I am a genius, something that decidedly does not apply to the people for whom you constantly risk your freedom and your own safety.

Piper: Roscoe, my early life was spent in scandalous luxury, luxury that my parents took at the expense of the poor who helped build their empire. It’s only fair that I go without to help them now. (Pause) So, do you know if anyone else is coming to our little meeting?

Top: No. I do not concern myself with the behavior of lesser men like them.

(Enter Heat Wave)

Heat Wave: Hi, Piper! Hi, Top! Seeing you two really warms my heart! (Hugs Piper)

Piper: Mick, I love hugs, but…I….can’t….breathe!

Heat Wave: Oh, sorry. (Releases him)

Piper: Hi, Mick. How have you been?

Heat Wave: I’m okay. I was burning up with fever a couple days ago, but I’m all better now.

Piper: I’m glad to hear that. Do you know if any of the others are coming?

Heat Wave: Captain Cold won’t be here. He’s got a bad case of the chills , and besides, he’s still in prison, and so is Mirror Master. They say hi.

Piper: And what about Glider?

Top: My love is on vacation in the Bahamas. She won’t be able to come.

Piper: Wait. I thought you said that you didn’t know if anyone else could come!

Top: Did I? Oh. My apologies.

Piper: (To Heat Wave) Do you know if Digger is coming?

Heat Wave: He won’t be coming. He broke his leg and told me that he didn’t feel like messing with crutches when I brought him chocolate and flowers.

Piper: Okay, and what about Mardon?

Heat Wave: I don’t know. Last I heard, he was feeling a little under the weather.

(Enter Weather Wizard)

Wizard: Nope, I’m as right as rain!

Piper: Hi, Mark!

Wizard: Hi, Piper! Hey, Mick.

Heat Wave: How’ve you been? I heard you were sick.

Wizard: Nope. I’ve just been taking it easy.

Top: What a surprise.

Wizard: What’s that supposed to mean?

Top: It means that you are a lazy fool who hasn’t done a day’s work in his life.

Wizard: Am not! Why, I stole an entire tractor-trailer full of sports cars in an hour once!

Top: Yes, by sitting on your couch and allowing a tornado to detach the trailer from the cab of the truck and deliver the loot to your house.

Wizard: So? You can’t fault me for conserving energy!

Top: “Conserving energy”, my foot.

Wizard: What’s the matter, Top? Are you jealous of my power?

Top: No. I simply think it is wasted on a man who uses it only to commit petty thefts.

Wizard: (Raises weather wand) Petty? (Waves wand) I’ll show you petty! (Thunderclap)

Heat Wave: Whoa there, Mark, let’s not get hasty. I don’t want you to do something in the heat of the moment that you’ll regret-like destroying this building with all of us in it!

Piper: Mick’s right, Mark. It’s too dangerous to get into a fight here.

Wizard: (Lowers weather wand) Fine. But if you expect me to take his stupid comments forever, you’re chasing rainbows, Piper.

Piper: (to Top) Roscoe, please don’t antagonize Mark. You really don’t want him to make you face the music .

Top: I am not afraid of him, Piper.

Wizard: Well, you should be, because if you don’t start respecting me, our little truce will be nothing more than the calm before the storm!

Top: Whatever you say, Mardon. Whatever you say. (Pause) Shall we get down to business?

Heat Wave: Yeah, we should. Who has a plan for our next heist?

Piper: I do, actually, so if you don’t mind, I’ll be calling the tune on this job. You see, some friends of my parents are importing some very fine jewelery, and I think that those jewels will make for a tidy sum for the poor….

Act III

(Wally, Iris, and Joan are sitting at a table)

Wally: Boy, that was delicious! (Sneezes) I don’t care what Uncle Barry says-McDonalds has the best food in the world!

Joan: It isn’t exactly the healthiest food, you know.

Wally: Yeah, I know-but with the way I burn calories (Sneezes) , it isn’t going to hurt me any!

Iris: Um, I’m not sure that’s how it works, Wally.

Wally: Well, even if it isn’t, I’m young and it tastes good, so who cares?

Joan: I do, for one.

Iris: And so do I.

Wally: Good grief! When are you two (Sneezes) going to stop treating me like a little kid?

Iris: Wally, I watched you grow up. It’s going to take awhile for me to adjust-especially when you keep acting like a crazy teenager.

Wally: I don’t act like a crazy teenager! (Sneezes) I act like a crazy adult!

Joan: Wally, there isn’t much difference between a crazy teenager and a crazy adult.

Wally: Oh, yeah? (Sneezes) Prove it!

Joan: The Trickster.

Wally: Yeah, you’ve pretty much got me there. (Sneezes) Sorry I’m so annoying.

Joan: It’s all right. You’re not annoying most of the time, dear.

Iris: Just some of the time.

Wally: I love you guys. (Sneezes) So, what should we do next?

Iris: We could go shoe shopping. I’ve been needing a new pair of heels.

Wally: No! Not shoe shopping! Linda’s taken me on enough shoe shopping trips to last a lifetime! (Sneezes)

Iris: I was only kidding, Wally.

Wally: Good. Oooh, why don’t we get ice cream?

Joan: You can get ice cream. It probably isn’t a good idea for us to get it.

Wally: Yes! (Disappears, then returns with ice cream and cake)

Joan: Where did you get the cake from?

Wally: China. (Sneezes) They make everything there these days.

Iris: (Laughs) You ran all the way to China just to get cake?

Wally: Well, I was aiming for Hungary, but I overshot.

Joan: How did you overshoot Hungry? You have a full-time residency there.

Wally: Huh? (Pauses, then laughs) Oh, I get it! That’s hilarious, Joan!

Joan: Why thank you, Wally. I think you and your aunt are rubbing off on me.

Iris: I’m glad we decided to do this. Barry’s a dear, but when he gets sick, he can be a bit of a nightmare.

Wally: Wait, Uncle Barry can be a nightmare?

Iris: Believe it or not, yes. Now, he’s not rude or whiny, but he keeps trying to leave his bed and stop crimes instead of resting so that he can get well, and it’s very irritating to make him stay put, because he gives me these really sad puppy dog eyes when I tell him to stay at home.

Wally: Hah! I knew he (Sneezes) had a weakness besides punctuality!

Joan: All three of you have that weakness, Wally.

Wally: I do not! (His phone rings) Sorry. I need to take this. (Pulls out phone) Hello, Commissioner? The Rogues? What are they doing? Mmm-hmm. Uh-huh. All right. I’ll be there as soon as possible, Commish! (Sneezes) You’re welcome. Good-bye. (Puts away phone) Sorry, guys, I’ve gotta run! The Rogues are trying to steal some jewelry, and I need to stop them.

Iris: No problem, Wally. Go get them!

Joan: And be careful!

(Exit Wally)

Iris: You know, just once, I would like to have an outing that isn’t interrupted by criminals, the Rogues, telepathic gorillas, or aliens who want to take over the world.

Joan: I fully agree with you, Iris. (Pause) Would you like to go shoe shopping with me while he’s gone?

Iris: That sounds terrific, Joan.

Commercial Break!

Act IV

(Enter the Rogues, running)

Piper: (Yelling over his shoulder) Thank you for your generous donation to the poor, Mr. Englewood!

Top: Oh, that was terrific fun! I’m feeling on top of the world right now!

Heat Wave: You’re right, Top. There’s nothing like a nice heist with all of my bestest friends to give me those nice warm and fuzzy feelings.

Wizard: Tell me about it. I’m on cloud nine!

Top: What are you going to do with your money, Piper? I am going to buy a nice suit and some new tops for my collection.

Heat Wave: I’m going to buy some presents for all of my friends so that I can warm their hearts. I’m sure Captain Cold will love a new parka.

Top: I was not asking you, you imbecile.

Heat Wave: Oh. I’m sorry, Top.

Top: Just be sure it does not happen again.

Wizard: I’m going to buy me a new car so that I can finally get a girlfriend!

Top: That will never happen, Mark, and I was not asking you either.

Wizard: Well gee, thanks for destroying my ray of hope, Roscoe.

Top: Moron. (To Piper) Well, my friend? What are you going to do with your share of the loot?

Piper: I’m going to donate it to a charity for sick children. The cries of joy that will produce will be music to my ears.

Top: You are giving away your money again? (Pause) I do not believe you.

Piper: What’s so wrong about wanting to help people?

(Enter Wally)

Wally: Because you’re going about it all wrong, Piper.

Wizard: By the four seasons! It’s the Flash!

Top: Not to worry, Mardon. This one is a mere child. (To Wally) Spin.

Wally: Whoa! (Stumbles, but keeps his balance) You should become a ride at Disney World or something, Top, because you make me just as dizzy.

Heat Wave: It’s time for you to take the heat, Kid Flash! (Fires at Wally, who narrowly dodges)

Wally: No thanks!

Wizard: (Waves his wand) We’re too powerful for you to stop, Flash. Why don’t you take a rain check?

Wally: No way! Defeating a bunch of clowns like you will be a breeze!

Top: Perhaps. Then again, perhaps not. (Spins out of Wally’s way)

Heat Wave: This situation is too hot for you to handle, Flash! You should leave before you get hurt or something.

Wally: Get hurt by one of you? Yeah, right. (He sneezes, and Top grabs him from behind)

Top: You were saying?

Wizard: Nighty night, Flash. (Raises his wand, and Wally sneezes again, causing the wand to go flying out of his hand) My wand!

Wally: (Breaks free) Nice try, Mardon. (He handcuffs Wizard and Top to one another)

Heat Wave: Hey, nobody hurts my friends like that!

Wally: (Taps him on the shoulder) You need better friends. (Handcuffs him to a lamp)

Piper: Flash, I’m not going to fight you. I abhor violence, as a general rule, and I know as well as anyone that my musical hypnosis doesn’t work well on you. However, before you take me away, I want to ask you something. Mr. Englewood hardly needs more money, and everyone knows that his factories are some of the most hazardous in the country for his workers. Why is it so wrong that I take money from him and give it to children who are dying from preventable diseases because of lack of money? You can’t argue that he deserves it more than they do, and he’s wealthy enough that he won’t even miss the money we took from him. Can’t you at least let me give the money away before you take me to jail? Please?

Wally: Piper, if I’m being honest, part of me wants to let you, but here’s the thing. I can’t let you break the law in order to help people. I’m sorry.

Piper: That’s all right. You’re just doing what you were told is right. I can’t fault you for that.

(Wally handcuffs him)

Wally: A word of advice, Piper? If you really want to help the poor, and I think you do, I think you’ll find it more rewarding if you do it on the right side of the law.

(Exit Wally)

Wizard: Well, that was a bust.

Top: For once, Mardon, we agree about something.

Heat Wave: Hey, guys, look at the bright side! At least we’re all still together.

Wizard: True. Nobody can call us fair-weather friends!

Heat Wave: And you know what’s even better? When we go back to prison, we can see Captain Cold again!

Top: I’m thrilled.

Wizard: Aww, don’t be such a downer, Top. You should learn to see the silver lining.

Top: I hate you both.

Piper: (Aside) All I wanted was to give the poor justice. Why is that a crime? The idea of people like my parents helping the poor is just a pipe dream...isn’t it?

Act V

(Iris and Joan are onstage. Enter Wally)

Wally: Hi, Iris! Hi, Joan! (Sneezes)

Joan: Oh, hi, Wally. Are you all right?

Wally: I’m okay. (Sneezes) But I think you were right about me being sick. I just took my temperature, and I’m 114 degrees. (Sneezes)

Joan: 114? How are you still alive?

Wally: Because the baseline body temperature for speedsters is 107 degrees.

Joan: Oh, that’s right.

Iris: Were you able to stop the Rogues?

Wally: Yep! (Sneezes) They’re being transported back to prison now, and all the jewelry has been returned. (Sneezes)

Iris: So, what do you want to do now, Wally?

Wally: I want to go home and sleep. (Sneezes) Running around sick won’t help anything.

Iris: Yes! A hero finally sees reason!

Wally: (Sneezes) Oh, and one more thing? Would you mind (Sneezes) donating money to the Children’s Health Foundation? I have a certain….friend who would really appreciate it.

Joan: Of course we will, Wally.

Wally: Thanks. You two are the greatest! (Sneezes)

#flash #wally west #flash rogues #dc comics #fanfic

14 notes · View notes

cthomashoodstory · 4 years ago

Text

Best Years but Not in the Same Way (11)

Calum Hood x Reader (Saara Palvin)

Previous Part

Sorry my grammar is very bad

Masterlist

“Have you heard our second album, Sounds Good Feels Good?” Ashton asked you when you were on the road with him. You just shook your head. “Oh seriously? Oh miss, you were unfriended us and you didn’t even listen to our songs?”

You chuckled. “I mean I listened a bit of Hey Everybody but that’s it.”

“Connect your phone and play track 16.” You did what he asked you and you played track 16 named San Francisco.

I can still taste you like it was yesterday

Making plans to rule the world

You were more than I deserved

I see you running in the sand

Long hair blowing in the wind

Never thought that it would end

Leaves fall from the tallest trees

Even mountains crumble into the sea

Holding on to memories

And I can't let go

I wanna get back to where we started to the summer night

You know, you know, you know, you know we got it right

Yeah, wanna get back to San Francisco, in the fire light

You know, you know, you know, you know we had it right

Remember that weekend when we got out of town?

Drove into infinity

I held you 'til you fell asleep

Without you, the smell of your perfume

Reminds me of when we were free

I swear that it's still haunting me

“Is that from our trip in early 2015?” You asked him.

He nodded. “Yeah January 2015 and also August 2014. I remembered you called him Cali because we went to California.” “He wrote this song for you. Almost all the songs from that album is written by him for you.” He paused for a moment. “The day you and him had a fight, he went to the studio and cried. We didn’t know what happened and what to do at that time, days later he told us about the fight he had with you. That you didn’t want to see him?”

You sighed. “Yeah i mean he really... okay that was my fault.” You didn’t want to argued with him because it clearly your fault that day for snapped him being over protective to you.

“And remembered around Desember 2015 when you came to the studio and met us? He really begged Posner guy to set up a fake meeting so you two could meet. Even if only for brief time, he was so happy. And the sadness kept haunting him until he was close with Nia, he became a happy man.” “He never mention you again, even when you dated that Allen guy. Until the news said you engaged with Bieber, his heart was so broken. Even his ex girlfriend didn’t know what to do.”

You remain silenced and didn’t give any respond to him because it clearly your fault being this selfish, you pushed Calum too far away, you hurted his feeling over and over. But you really want to explain things so this case will be closed.

“There were so much things happened like i used to blamed you for what happened with Calum, we kinda disappointed at you for leaving behind our friendship, and Mike Posner tried to explained us what happened but now I’m so glad that you’re here, back to us like the old time. I don’t know what about his feeling right know, all i know he’s still in love with you, mark my words.”

You nodded. “I wish i could turn back the time and never done any shits that i did. And All I know that is I’m in love with him and he seems still have feelings for Nia. If it is the truth then I’m okay with that because thats what i deserve.”

You arrived at the studio at 7 A.M. because Luke called you nonstop to come quickly and he said it was emergency. You got up and bring your go bag that contains hygiene stuff, fresh clothes and make up because you decided to take a bath at studio.

“What’s the emergency?” You opened the studio door and you saw three of them smiling on their phone. Then they hide their phone when they realized you were inside the studio.

“Aye Miss B, good morning! What brings you here this early?” Michael came to you and gave you a cup of coffee.

“Actually i called her here because there’s something important and you guys need to know.” Luke and Ashton stood up and joined you and Michael. “It’s about Calum.”

You frowned. What happened with him?

“I just got called from Rena, Nia’s sister, that he’s stay over at Nia’s house. Just two of them.” Luke, Mike and Ashton looked at you. And you looked at them one by one. “I’m so sorry Saara but i think you should know this.”

You couldn’t process anything right now because you were in shocked. Your eyes were watery. “I think i wanna take a bath first.” You gave Mike the coffee he gave to you.

Then you walked to the bathroom. You were crying silently because you didn’t want to them hear your pain. After you finished shower, you came out freshly and you tried to be not sad.

“Let me take a nap first okay? It’s literally 7.30 and after that we continued the song we wrote okay?” They nodded in confusion and you took over the couch and closed your eyes.

You woke up and your head is a bit heavy. You sat down and you saw Calum is sit across you and nobody’s here except you two. “Hi.” He greeted you nervously.

“Hi?” You greeted him back. “What’s going on? Where all the people?”

“I want to explain you about yesterday.” He is now sit beside you. “Yesterday i was out with Nia just to pet our dog at park. We did nothing just walked around with Duke and Edgar. After that we went to her house and there was Rena and some of her friends but they left right after midnight and Nia offered me to stay for a night and i swear to God i sleep on couch with Duke you can ask him if he could answer.” He was so worry that you won’t believe what he said.

You chuckled but you couldn’t hide the pain in your heart. “Okay... but you could’ve just went home instead of sleepover there.” You said it with a very cool tone means that you werent angry towards him.

“I know i was so fool, B, please I’m so sorry don’t get it wrong there’s nothing between me and Nia.” You could hear the pain from his voice.

“You don’t have so say sorry,” you smiled. “I’m so glad you really telling me this. Because i knew it from Luke.”

“I love you.” And then Calum’s face is close to yours, and he put his hand to your face and he press his lips to yours. You were struck for a moment but you return his kiss and you slowly pulled away.

Then you both looked to each other awkwardly.

“I love you.” Calum said the magic words once again. You couldn’t help your face is burning right now.

And then you nodded. “I love you too.” “I’m in love with you, Cal. But... I’m not ready to start... a new relationship because of what happened in the past, I’ve failed twice and it really cost me everything, my life, my mental health. I hope you understand and also i do.. i do really want to be with you but can we do it slowly?”

“Being loved by you is more than enough for me.” You grinned and hold his hand

To be continued.

Next Part

#calum hood #calum thomas hood #calum hood imagine #calum hood fanfic #calum hood x reader #calum fanfic #calum fanfiction #calum fic #calum imagine #calum 5sos #calum 5 seconds of summer #5 seconds of summer #5sos #5sos imagine #ashton irwin #luke hemmings #michael clifford

6 notes · View notes

moodyvalentinestories · 5 years ago

Text

Direction – Six | Hunt x HWU MC (Danielle)

Summary: Viktor is the absolute worst kind of person again. Also, we get to see Hunt and Danielle at work and, oh shit, why is my former student so sexy?

Words: 1800+

Notes: You can kinda tell this was supposed to be two chapters, but they would have been way too short, so I combined them. Also, FUCK Viktor!, is all I'm gonna say.

❥ Previous Chapter: Five ❥ Moodyvalentine’s Masterlist

Montmartre stayed far longer than Thomas had expected – he was still there once they’d gone through one reading of the revised script and Thomas had sent everyone he didn’t need on set that day home, while everyone else had been sent to make-up and wardrobe.

“Will you be staying the entire day?” Thomas asked, walking up to him. “I’m not sure that’ll be what’s best for the production.”

“Oh, I was just about to leave,” Montmartre replied with a sly grin. “Just have to speak to your little Miss Allen for a moment and I’ll be off.”

Thomas narrowed his eyes. “Whatever for? She’s not the one you need to be worried about.”

“Is that a threat?” Montmartre asked, an eyebrow raised. “Because threatening me would be unwise.”

“Not a threat,” Thomas said, shaking his head. “I just don’t think it’s necessary—”

“That’ll be for me to decide,” Montmartre said and called one of the production assistants over. “Darling, would you find out where I can find Danielle for me?”

“She was just headed to make-up,” the young woman answered.

Montmartre turned back to Thomas. “I’ll be on my way, then. And remember what I told you – I’ve got my eye on you. Any funny business, and you’re done for.”

“Noted.”

It was rare for Danielle to be angry with Chris these days – their break-up had been the best decision either of them had ever made, and they were much better off as friends – but, right now, he was truly getting on her nerves. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t very well tell him that unless she wanted the make-up artist who was currently applying her lipstick to be immensely cross with her.

“I understand that you and Hunt have some less-than-ideal history, but I think you being an asshole isn’t going to make anything better,” Chris went on and Danielle badly wanted to roll her eyes.

She wasn’t the asshole, it was Hunt! He was the one who didn’t trust her, and he was the one who had been such an ass this morning! Then again, Chris didn’t know the half of it, so she couldn’t very well blame him for assuming she was the bad guy here.

“Can you at least try to be civil?”

Danielle huffed, then nodded – resulting in an exasperated sigh from the make-up artist.

“Could you be still for just a few more minutes? We’re almost done and—”

She was interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by Viktor popping his head in. “Could I speak to Danielle for a moment? In private, please.”

The make-up artist groaned. “I really can’t do my job around here, can I?”

“What was that?” Viktor asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Nothing, Mr Montmartre,” she said and motioned for the other people in the room to follow her out.

Once Viktor and Danielle were alone, he pulled up a chair and sat down right in front of her.

“What now?” Danielle asked. “You’ve got Hunt. Wasn’t that what you wanted?”

He nodded. “I do, and it was. But I don’t trust either of you, and I just want to make sure we’re clear on how this works.”

“Yeah, yeah. We finish this movie, we don’t cause any problems, you don’t publish the photos.”

Viktor pursed his lips. “Well, yes, but there are other things that I want.”

“Other… things?” Danielle asked, though the look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know.

He smirked. “You look awfully pretty in that dress, Danielle.”

A shudder ran down her spine. “T-thank you.” She cleared her throat. “I really think I should be getting my hair and make-up done, though. We wouldn’t want to get behind schedule.”

“Oh, we’re already behind schedule,” Viktor argued, stopping her from getting up by putting his hand on her shoulder to push her back down into the chair. “You’ll want to agree to anything I say, Danielle, or your precious Hunt will pay the price.” He moved his hand upwards to brush her cheek, and she had to stop herself from clenching her jaw. “I’ll see you soon.”

And with that, he left, and a few moments later, everyone else was back inside and getting to work again. She didn’t notice much of what was going on around her, however, as a plan was forming in her mind. A ludicrously stupid, dangerous plan – but a plan nonetheless. Danielle knew what she had to do to. And she was prepared to do it.

But, first things first, she had to get through this day of shooting.

Not long after Viktor’s departure her – and Chris’ – make-up was done, and they were sent back to the soundstage, where it became immediately clear to Danielle that filming with Hunt would be entirely different to filming with Phelps. He’d always had a million people around, while now the space seemed much emptier. Only she, Chris, and the other two actors that were needed for the scenes today were present, as well as minimal crew. It reminded her very much of when they’d filmed Centaurus Lost together – except, this time, they weren’t quite co-workers. This time, Hunt was essentially her boss, and she was just an actress. Still, the familiarity of it all was somewhat soothing.

“You seem less tense than earlier,” Chris remarked as they made their way to the set.

Danielle shrugged. “Just getting into the right mindset for work is all.”

“Right. I’m sure it’s got nothing to do with the fact that you just realised you missed working with Hunt.”

“I did not—” Chris shot her a look, and she rolled her eyes. “Fine. I do miss it, but I’m not working with him, anyway. He gets to boss me around this time.”

He raised an eyebrow. “If I recall correctly, you like being bossed around under the right circumstances.”

“Shut up!” Danielle blushed. “And it’s not like that.”

Chris chuckled. “If you say so. But, don’t forget, I’ve known you for quite a while now, and your kinks aren’t the only thing I’m privy to.”

Someone cleared their throat behind them, and Danielle’s blush deepened upon realising that it was Hunt.

“Hunt! We were just…er…”

He made a dismissive hand motion. “As interesting as your activities in the bedroom may be to the tabloids, I do not need – nor want – to hear about them.”

“Duly noted, Mr Hunt,” Chris said with a shit-eating grin that Danielle would have gladly slapped off his face. He inclined his head towards the set. “I take it you wanted to start with the scene in which Jack and Maeve finally meet face-to-face?”

Hunt nodded. “That was the idea. Now, take your marks, everyone, we don’t have all day.”

Thomas knew the moment Danielle walked on set that he would have to have a talk with the costume department. She looked stunning – of course she did – but there was much less fabric and a lot more exposed skin than he would have liked to see on her. Because, frankly, there was absolutely no reason for her to be wearing a glorified bathing suit made of some material that he assumed was meant to look like armour. He’d never had to fight armies of orcs before, but he was fairly certain that an experienced swordswoman – such as her character supposedly was – would not choose to do so in such a flimsy costume.

Unfortunately, there was no time today to change anything about it. Then again, there was only very little fighting going to be taking place in this scene, so perhaps there was a way to salvage it.

“One more moment,” Thomas told Danielle and Chris once they’d taken their places, then turned to the closest production assistant he could find. “You! I need some type of cloak for Maeve to wear, could you check with wardrobe if that’s possible?”

“Of course, Mr Hunt,” he said and walked off to radio someone.

“A cloak?” Danielle asked. “I’ve never worn a cloak in this scene before.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “Are you questioning me?”

“Yes, I am! I’ll be fighting Chris, and a cloak would only get in the way. Why would my character be wearing one?” She shook her head. “She would know this, seeing as she’s one of the most skilled swordfighters in all the land!”

“But she’s not expecting to have to fight, is she? No one has visited her cave since she has disappeared, and she’s secured it as much as she could – why would she be prepared for a fight?”

She huffed. “It still doesn’t make sense.”

“Danielle, you and I both know that your costume is ridiculous. If you have any better ideas, please do tell.”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and narrowed her eyes, then eventually sighed and nodded. “Well, I suppose a cave in the mountains could be quite cold… and Maeve would probably be wearing something to keep her from freezing to death.”

“Don’t forget that I’m the director here and you’re—” He stopped when he realised that she’d actually agreed with him and cleared his throat. “Yes, exactly. I’ll be talking to the costume designers about what to do with your costume and, next time, we shouldn’t have such a problem anymore.”

A short moment later, the production assistant returned with a black cloak and, after getting Thomas’ approval, gave it to Danielle. She put it on, then looked up, inclining her head. “Better?”

“It’ll do,” Thomas said. “Now, places, everyone!”

Chris, who had been watching them from behind the cave wall, returned to his position out of frame, and Danielle sat back down by the fire.

“And… action!”

It had been a long time since Thomas had last seen Danielle at work but, lord, she was still as captivating as ever. The moment the cameras started rolling, every trace of the person he knew had disappeared, and she had fully become Maeve, the cave-dwelling swordswoman from a fantastical land. And, he had to admit, her chemistry with Chris was incredible – but nothing could have prepared him for the moment her character began suspecting his of having been sent by the orc king and grabbed her sword.

Thomas had never seen her carry out a choreographed fight before, and he was surprised to see her do it so effortlessly – even with the added challenge of the fluttering cloak. She was mesmerising to watch as she attacked and parried and spun around, the black fabric hiding her costume revealing tantalising glimpses of her skin every so often. Eventually, Danielle had the point of her sword at Chris’ throat, forcing him down to kneel in front of her, and Thomas got the sudden urge to loosen his tie.

Get a grip, Thomas, he told himself. It’s not like being held at her sword’s point is such an enticing thought.

The shiver that ran down his spine at the idea, however, appeared to disagree.

Tags: @lilyoffandoms @trappedinfandoms @flyawayboo @oneemofungirl @alleksa16 @silversparrow02 @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @alj4890

#thomas hunt #professor hunt #hwu hunt #danielle

16 notes · View notes

saiilorstars · 5 years ago

Text

It Had To Be You

Ch.16: I’m Crazy For You // Story Masterlist

Fandom: The Flash

Pairings: Barry Allen x Original Female Character

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: Caitlin prompts Barry to start facing his thoughts regarding Belén. Some of those thoughts are actually feelings and Caitlin might have a way to make it so that Barry can come to a conclusion. If only either of them knew what plans Belén made for her dating life a while ago.

"Pay up!" Belén laughed and held her hand out to her older sister. "Hey, just remember that it was you who wanted to play Monopoly. I just wanted to watch a movie."

With a glare, Maritza handed the required cash over to Belén. "You are so cheating."

"See this is why I don't like playing games with you - you are a sad sore loser!"

Maritza gasped in offence while Belén counted her fake Monopoly cash. Suddenly, her cell phone went off. She picked it up beside her and took the call without even seeing the ID. "Yellow?" she said then blinked ghastly. "Oh my, that was such a dorky thing to say. Forget I ever said that please-"

While Maritza could not hear who was on the other line, she had a good idea who it might be judging by the sudden rapidness in Belén to leave the house. There went her tenth attempt to have a proper family night.

"Where are you going?" Maritza called but Belén was already halfway towards the door.

"I, uh, completely forgot I had to go help Caitlin with, uh...painting!"

"Painting?"

"And drinking!" Belén closed the door behind her, figuring that excuse could be valid. She rushed off the porch steps and ran down to the streets where, in a couple more seconds, she turned into nothing but vines and went towards her destination.

~ 0 ~

An upturned car under a livewire was the center of the needed appearance of the vigilantes. A couple was trapped inside, and neither could figure out how to get out of it. Outside there were several firemen arriving on the spot to help.

There was a tap on the passenger seat, and the woman glanced to see a woman in green smiling kindly from the other side. "Hang on, we're gonna get you out."

While Belén worked on her side, Barry stood on the other side intending on helping the man there out. Using his vibration methods, he was able to get the driver's door off its hinges and thus the man out as well. Meanwhile, Belén was using her thick vines to pull the door off its hinges. As Barry took the man out of the car and brought him towards the firemen, Belén reached in for the woman.

"You'll be okay now," Barry promised the young man who literally feared for his life.

Just as Barry glanced back towards the car to see how Belén was doing, a spark from the livewire managed to touch spilled gasoline on the ground. A great flame sprouted that quickly spread towards the car and immediately caused an explosion.

The man beside Barry nearly lost it thinking his girlfriend had been consumed by the flames. Barry was in a similar state thinking Belén had not been fast enough. In his mindset, he forgot who they were at the moment and where they were as he called out to her. "Bells!"

"You know, the whole point of having secret identities is so people won't know who you are," he heard a perfectly calm voice behind. When he turned around there stood his partner with a scared woman beside her, both untouched from the flames.

"Dana!" the rescued man called with great relief as his girlfriend ran to his side.

Barry wasted no time in coming up to Belén to inspect her for any noticeable injuries. When he saw nothing, he gave her great, big hug. Surprised, Belén just laughed.

"Thank you," the phrase from the saved man cut their moment short.

"You're welcome," Belén cheerfully waved them goodbye before taking off with Barry.

~ 0 ~

Once the two metas were back at STAR Labs, Cisco got to work on a mildly charred suit.

"Dude. That was insane," Cisco was still in awe over the recent incident. "I mean, that was just...wow! Although," he sobered a little then, "I'm having trouble understanding how you dirtied up my suit while Bells here came out without a single mark."

"Mm, that's because girls are neater," Belén called from the computer desk where she, Caitlin and Dr. Wells were.

Barry, who sat nearer Cisco, frowned. "That's not true for every guy."

"Yeah, it is. Look, my brother was a slob and he was a genius. My dad, same story. Cisco, I'm sorry but it's true as well. And you, Barry, are the same story. Don't forget I stayed in your old room for sometime. You're all slobs!"

Caitlin snickered from the side, while Barry and Cisco exchanged unamused looks.

"I think perhaps it's time to call it a day," Dr. Wells declared after a minute, eyeing them all with a slight smile. "Proper rest is what you all need."

As he left the room, Cisco came up with an alternative option. ""Better yet, what we all need is a proper drink. Who's up for a round?"

Barry got up and went up to his draped jacket left near his suit. "Oh, dude, it's... It's movie night with Joe. I can't. But I'll see you guys tomorrow, all right?"

"Yeah, I can't either," Caitlin shook her head, getting ready to leave as well.

"I'll go," volunteered Belén, having Cisco perk up instantly. "I don't feel like playing monopoly anymore. I could do with a drink."

"Excellent," Cisco pointed at her. "And I know your favorites!"

"I'm not drinking vodka, though!"

Silently, Barry watched them go back and forth about what drinks they would be buying. He couldn't understand it yet, but he didn't feel too ecstatic about the two going out...on their own. Why would they need to go out on their own anyways? Why couldn't they wait until they all went out as a group instead?

"Barry," Caitlin's call made him snap out of his thoughts. He looked at her with slight widened eyes. "Your phone is ringing," she pointed.

"Oh," he fished out his phone from his pocket and saw Joe's name on the ID. "It's Joe, I'm late. I should...go…" Caitlin smiled and nodded for him to leave, but as he left he kept throwing looks back at Belén and Cisco who were in deep conversation of where they were going.

Caitlin waited for the two to sort of end that conversation so she could get to something important before she too left. "Cisco?" she called and grabbed his attention. "Funny thing, I was looking for my tablet at your workstation, and I found this." She held up his tablet that was on an article of F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M.

Cisco blinked rapidly. "I can explain. I know you said we should stop looking for Ronnie, so I... didn't stop looking for Ronnie."

Belén giggled at his honesty.

Caitlin was in no mood to laugh at the moment. "Why?"

"Hartley. He said he knew what happened to Ronnie-"

"Oh, Hartley Rathaway, who is currently locked up in our super-villain basement jail for going psycho with sound waves?"

"Yeah, he's not a very reliable source," Belén apologetically looked to Cisco.

"He's made some poor choices. There's no argument there," Cisco nodded his head in agreement. "But I looked into what he was saying and…"

"Cisco," Caitlin interjected, "Ronnie's gone, and it's time for me to move on with my life,"

Cisco looked at her a moment before mumbling. "Doesn't seem like it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look, I'm not an expert on love, but I think in order to move on from Ronnie, you actually have to move on."

"And he means that in the nicest way possible," Belén added after an awkward pause, throwing Cisco a warning look to stop talking. He did, and with the nicest smile possible, Belén led him out of the room, leaving Caitlin to ponder on Cisco's last words.

~ 0 ~

Next morning, early morning, Iron Heights became the new spot for a CCPD crime scene. Barry inspected the lonesome cell that once belonged to a Clay Parker who, as of last night, had mysteriously made an escape without needing to unlock the cell door. There was no clue as to how he did it.

"Hey," Joe walked into the cell holding a small notepad in hand. "The security cameras in half the prison are shut down. Then Clay Parker, according to this data log, who was still locked in his cell, somehow vanishes."

"Not completely," Barry shook his head, coming to show Joe a small vial that seemed to contain black specs of some sort.

Joe eyed the vial. "What's that?"

"It's some kind of organic particulate residual. I found it on the floor in here, just outside the cell, out in the hallway. Trail led me all the way outside…" Barry stopped at the sight of his father walking in from the corridor. "Dad!"

Henry chuckled at his son as he was given a hug. "So... Word around here is, Parker pulled a Shawshank?"

Joe nodded. "Yep, and none of the other prisoners heard or saw anything."

"Well, they wouldn't talk to you about it."

"Leaves us with not a lot to go on," Barry sighed, though he could not feel an ounce sad about it when he had his father right in front of it.

"Well, if there's anyone who can figure out how Parker got out of here, it's you, Son," Henry smiled.

The guard that had brought Henry by rugged him by the arm. "Come on, Allen, let's go."

"Duty calls," Henry sarcastically told the other two.

Barry waved him goodbye then turned to Joe suspiciously. "So, my dad just happened to come by?"

"The guard owed me a favor," Joe shrugged.

"Thank you," Barry sighed, for once actually happy.

~ 0 ~

"Where are you going?" Belén asked Noah when she saw the young man leaving his desk to accompany two other of their colleagues.

"Working on the new escape case in Iron Heights," Noah studied Belén's reaction. "You...don't know about it?"

"I know about it but not that we were working on it," Belén clarified, rising from her chair to look at the other two colleagues behind Noah. "Why wasn't I asked to join?"

One of the colleagues, a middle aged man, gave her a scornful look. "We figured you wouldn't want to tell us anything you knew of."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Belén frowned.

The second colleague, a brunette woman, responded equally rude. "Since you don't want to let CC Picture News in on anything why bother to write with us?"

Belén blinked, but said nothing more. She knew exactly what they were talking about then. Noah gave her an apologetic look before following the other two away. A couple minutes later arrived Iris, who more or less assumed what had happened.

"I can't believe they're still holding my own kidnapping over my head," Belén plopped back on her chair. "I can't take more of this I swear."

Iris comfortingly patted her shoulder. "It'll blow over, you'll see."

Belén scoffed. "It's been weeks now, Iris, and they still won't give it up."

"Give what up?" Linda walked by and stopped at the sight of Belén. "What's happened to you?"

"They still think Belén is holding back on them with her kidnapping details," Iris explained, but Linda remained unfazed.

"Still?" she looked at Belén again. "Well, we are dealing with journalists. It's their job to hammer people down."

"But she says she does not know anything," Iris then spoke lower about the real problem. "She didn't actually meet the Flash."

Linda sighed, but she looked almost as disbelieving as the rest. "Well, maybe Belén is...you know, holding out. Which I Would totally understand considering the parahnas we have around here."

Belén looked up to Linda with a disappointed face. "Thanks, Linda, my mentor and she isn't on my side."

"Oh calm down," Linda playfully rolled her eyes. "I'll see what I can do, but you'll have to toughen up in the meantime and, you know, it wouldn't hurt to come up with a killer story for this week."

"There's no way to do that when they won't let me into the group anyways," Belén huffed as Linda walked away, letting her head drop into her desk. Iris came back and amusingly smiled at her friend while trying to cheer he up a little.

~ 0 ~

Figuring there was something overly odd in this case, Barry and Joe moved to STAR Labs for some help. They pulled up on a computer the evidence Barry had found in the cell.

"Not even Barry's cells move this fast. I've never seen anything like it," Caitlin remarked in awe.

"So Clay Parker is a meta-human?" Joe asked for some confirmation.

"Not so fast. The particulate residue Barry gathered at Iron Heights does contain Clay Parker's DNA, but also DNA of a woman," Dr. Wells revealed and made everyone look back at the screen to see for their selves.

"Run her DNA against the CCPD criminal database," instructed Barry. "See if you get a match."

Cisco typed for a moment before exclaiming, "Yahtzee!" and pulled up a profile of a young, dark-skinned, woman on the screen. "Her name's Shawna Baez. Mostly petty crimes, and this girl likes to party, apparently. Long list of disorderly conducts at local bars."

"So I'm guessing we find her, we find Clay Parker," Joe concluded.

"Yeah," Barry moved to leave with Joe.

Wells did the same with his team. "In the meantime, let's track these particulates and see how they work."

"I'll be right with you guys," Cisco called towards them, but after they left he moved in an entirely different direction...towards the pipeline.

~ 0 ~

Later that evening, Barry met Iris for some coffee before going home. He was pleasantly surprised to see Belén arriving with Iris. He realized he hadn't seen Belén all day since last night...when she went for drinks with Cisco. The mere thought put him in a mood he did not yet understand why.

"What's your smile about?" Iris greeted him with that.

"I saw my dad today. No glass, no phones. Just me and him, face-to-face," he shared delightfully. "Joe arranged it,"

Iris smiled softly. "That must have been amazing, Barry."

"Yeah. I really needed it."

"Were you there investigating the breakout?" Belén curiously wondered as she walked to their table with a to-go cup tray.

"Mm-hmm," it was then that Barry noticed something was off with her.

"That is a big story," she sighed, sliding Iris her cup. "That I am not a part of."

"Why not?"

Belén wondered if it was right to tell him considering it had a lot to do with him, well...most of it. Iris saw no problem in sharing for her.

"The editor and the writers think she's holding out on the deets of her kidnapping."

"Which I told them a gazillion times I'm not," Belén clarified meaningfully to him.

"But no one believes her," Iris finished for her. "They think she knows the Flash and is just hiding it. They want the story. Even Linda seems to doubt her."

"Yeah, but I'm okay with her - I know her," Belén waved that one off. "Plus, she would never do what the others are doing to me. She's a good colleague."

"Uh, hello?" Iris sarcastically waved at her.

"Along with Iris West," Belén added with a small smile. "And, I guess, Noah. But other than them I'm screwed. I really think I could lose my job if this keeps up."

"What can we do?" Barry quickly asked, but Belén knew what he really meant. What could he, as the Flash, do to help her?

"Nothing," Belén gave him a sharp look. She didn't want him to do anything on her behalf that could jeopardize his secret identity.

"I think what Linda said is true," Iris said, missing the exchange of looks. "I bet if Bells writes a killer story about this recent breakout in Iron Heights, this will blow over." Unfortunately, while Iris seemed sure, Belén failed to do the same.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin moved to the computer desk after seeing Belén and Barry coming in. She had found something interesting she needed to show them in case they came across either Shawna or Clay, or perhaps both.

"Little down, Bells?" Caitlin asked as she turned the computer on.

"Nothing to worry about," Belén discarded it, much more interested in what Caitlin had to show them.

"I was analyzing the particulates that Clay Parker and Shawna Baez left behind, and I found something very interesting," she began to explain. "When Clay's cells come into contact with Shawna's, they adopt her properties," she began biting her lip endlessly that both Belén and Barry had noticed in a snap.

Amused, Barry asked, "Something bothering you?"

Caitlin let go of her lip and looked at them. "Why would you ask that?"

Belén chuckled. "Because you're doing that biting your lower lip thing that you do when something's bothering you."

Caitlin cleared her throat and straightened up, looking positively offended. "Cisco basically said I don't have a life! And Bells was there as a witness."

The pointed finger her way made Belén chuckle. "He said it in the nicest way possible."

"There is no nice way to say that!"

"But, I mean," Barry awkwardly coughed, "You don't, do you?"

Caitlin frowned. "I do! I cook and I eat and I read and I help you guys-"

"So, what you're saying is, you do everything that has nothing to do with having a life."

This time, Belén smacked him on the arm. "And he means that in the nicest way possible."

Caitlin grumbled, crossing her arms. Barry chuckled. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not doing any better than you. My social life consists of running at superhuman speed and Netflix."

"I'm more or less the same," agreed Belén with a weary sigh. "The only good thing right now is me getting my practice on with the aerial dance team. Oh, and, Hulu is much better."

Caitlin was about to declare them all losers when the computer chimed an alert. "There's an armed robbery in progress. Two suspects, male and female in their 20s. Sounds like our meta-human Bonnie and Clyde are at it again."

"We should go," Belén started for her suit.

"How could you think Hulu is better than Netflix?" Barry still found time to ask about that as he followed her. "It has commercials!"

"Then pay you cheapskate!"

"It's free on Netflix!"

Caitlin smiled to herself while the two metas went back and forth. She was just glad they were able to get a move on despite ending on disagreeing sides.

~ 0 ~

Shawna and her recently freed boyfriend, Clay, were certainly in action stealing money from a bank truck. While Clay kept the driver and passenger of the truck occupied via gun point, Shawna grabbed two full bags of money and teleported to their getaway car. When she finished placing the bags in the trunk, she heard a wind pick up and looked around to see the Flash.

"Oh, I've read about you," she mused, putting her hands in her back pockets like it was a casual moment. "You're The Flash. I've heard you're real fast. Let's see if it's true." She teleported a distance behind Barry, calling out, "Catch me if you can."

Barry took the easy challenge and sped up behind her, easily grabbing her. "I can."

Shawna rolled her eyes and teleported again, this time appearing on a staircase landing of a construction building.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Barry groaned. Perhaps he could have instead taken up the task of getting Clay and the two civilians, but Belén had quickly volunteered to do so herself. So, he sped up to the landing but the moment he touched Shawna she teleported, and this time with him, to the second floor. Hanging awkwardly from the rails, Shawna smirked down at him.

"Not too many men can keep up with me," she waved and teleported near the car again.

"Then let's make it a ladies' fight," Belén had appeared beside her and flat out punched Shawna across the face. "I can disappear too, you know."

Shawna, clutching her cheek, got back up with a fury of danger. She teleported behind Belén and effectively kicked her on the back. She wished she had some sort of weapon to have a better defence.

Belén whirled around, angry herself. "Well!" She felt the other side of her powers absorb that anger to turn it into something else. You can't lose control, you can't, she told herself repeatedly. She flexed her hands and took in deep breaths in hopes of calming that side down.

She didn't get the chance to actually retaliate when she heard a ringing shot behind her. Halfway turning, Barry pushed her out of the way and the two rolled to a stop on the ground. Belén blinked rapidly out of shock and looked up at Barry. Their closeness factored in pretty fast for the two but their masks were enough to hide their red faces.

"Your arm..." Belén gasped when she saw the bullet embedded in Barry's right arm.

"What...?" he got off her and spotted the bullet in his arm. He'd barely felt the thing!

~ 0 ~

Caitlin was not an ounce happy treating a particular injury on Barry. "This is a bullet wound," she declared as if repeating it would make it more severe. "You're lucky it just barely grazed the skin."

Barry took her scolding silently, more or less bored. Meanwhile, Belén who stood on his side, looked more concern for the both of them. "I thought I knocked Clay out," she said once again, "I don't understand how he was up and ready to shoot me."

"We're thankful he didn't," Dr. Wells said, less concerned and less upset than both women.

"Barry, I'm sorry," Belén turned to him. "That is the last time you literally take a bullet for me, okay?" she blamed herself for being so focused on her powers. She missed the obvious - a man with a gun - and nearly caused her friend to get shot.

"It's no problem," Barry shrugged as he grabbed his jacket lying on the end of the bed. "I don't even feel anything."

"I owe you big time," Belén sighed, thinking of how long that list must be by now.

"It's fine, Bells," Barry said for the last time before going into their main discovery of the day. "Shawna Baez. She can teleport."

Caitlin blinked. "As in, 'Beam me up, Shawna'?"

Wells seemed much more excited as he laughed. "Yes, of course. Quantum entanglement. The ability to manipulate interconnected particles over an infinite distance. Or, as Einstein put it, 'spooky action at a distance'."

"Every time I got close, she'd disappear," Barry sighed. "It was like we were playing a game of…"

"Peek-a-boo!" Caitlin suddenly exclaimed, receiving odd looks from the trio. "Come on. Can't I name one?"

Belén smiled at her a moment then moved on. "How can we capture someone if we don't know where she's gonna be?"

"Everybody has limits," Wells reminded. "Now that we know Shawna's powers, we'll focus on those limits."

"That would be great," Belén sighed, now more determined than ever to capture Shawna.

"C'mon Bells," Cisco led her out the room. "Let's just get you home, yeah? It's all fine."

"Mhm," the woman gave a small nod as they left.

"I told her I was fine," Barry said after it was just him and Caitlin. "Why did she go off with Cisco again?"

Caitlin smiled to herself, something Barry caught, as she returned to the cortex. "Any particular reason why that's bothersome?"

"I didn't - no, I didn't mean it like that," Barry came walking after her. "I was just...I was just asking a question-"

Caitlin bumped into him when she turned around, surprising him in the process. "Really? So that face is just meant to be casual?"

"I - Caitlin!"

Caitlin chuckled as she went around the desk. "It looks like I'm the winning the bet after all."

"What bet?" Barry frowned at her.

She sheepishly smiled and pushed some of her hair behind her ears. "Well, don't get mad, but, um...Cisco, Dr. Wells and I made a bet about you and Belén."

"What?" Barry's frown further deepened and was mixed in with some offence. "How...this is a joke right? Right?"

Caitlin shook her head. "I thought it was a playful thing, you know. But I ended up winning. Three months and you're ready to ask her out!"

"Caitlin Snow I never thought you were capable of such a thing!" Barry turned away, mostly because his face was getting warm and red.

"I know," Caitlin said, but her laughter made her sound not that apologetic about it. "But if you ask me about it, I think you and Belén would make a nice couple."

"Caitlin..." Barry gave her a sideways glance, "I'm not...asking...no. I...I'm not."

"Why not?" Caitlin earnestly asked.

Barry gave a little smile, almost nervously laughing. "We're not actually doing this, right?"

"Doing what?"

"Talking about...this?"

"We don't have to," Caitlin raised her hands, showing him this was all up to him. "I just gave my opinion, but no one is forcing you to do anything you don't want to."

"Well, it's not that I wouldn't like to..." Barry swayed his head, really trying to ignore how warm his face felt. He had been admittedly thinking a little more about Belén than any other friend. In a very short time he discovered she was incredibly sweet, quirky and she definitely rambled a lot. He liked when she rambled a lot. "She's...she's my friend..." She was a really good friend...and perhaps that was the problem. There was a risk that maybe Belén didn't even see him that way and it would just end their friendship if he did anything beyond that. "What if I end up ruining it by actually asking her out?"

Caitlin warmly smiled. "Being scared is normal, especially if it is between friends. But I guess you just have to ask yourself if you really want to try things with Belén - do you think it's worth it?"

"I...I don't know," Barry felt terrible answering. "I've only just started thinking about this. I'm not sure about anything."

"Then just think about it," Caitlin said. "No rush at all."

"Yeah," Barry nodded, really intending on doing that. He bid her goodnight and returned home. He found the West residence completely empty. Joe and Iris must be still working. He found the kitchen empty and, unfortunately, empty of food as well. After a moment's pause, he pulled out his phone and dialed for Caitlin.

"Hello? Still need to talk?"

Barry playfully rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha, no. I just wanted to know what bars did Shawna go to again?"

"Uh, mostly south side dive bars. Why?"

"I was just gonna check 'em out. See if they fall into any old habits."

"That's a good idea...mind if I join you?"

"Sure!"

The two exchanged details of their first stop before hanging. Just as Caitlin was about to put her phone down she got another idea. Oh, she was being sneaky and she was never sneaky. Cisco might have been proud of her right there.

~ 0 ~

The bar Barry chose had a karaoke stand where literally anyone could get up on and unfortunately not everyone who went up had the right singing voice. He was having himself a drink, just for show considering he couldn't actually get drunk, while watching a man attempt to sing. He was on alert for Caitlin who was supposed to be coming in any moment now. So, when he saw not Caitlin but Belén crossing through the doors, nicely dressed, he nearly choked on his drink.

"Bells…?"

Belén seemed just as surprised as Barry was when she saw him. Still, she scurried through the bar towards Barry's table in a pair of black heeled shoes. "Barry, hi," she said rather breathlessly as she set her purse down.

"What are you...doing here?" Barry couldn't help giving her a look-over. She was dressed in an off-the-shoulder emerald blouse with short sleeves, tucked underneath a black leather skirt. Her lips were painted a deep red which were twisted into a smile. It was quite a sight.

"Caitlin called," Belén answered, never noticing that her appearance was being checked out. It's also why she missed Barry's face falling flat when she mentioned Caitlin's name,

Caitlin you sneak, Barry silently cursed.

Belén pushed back some of her curled hair after taking the seat next to Barry. "She was in a hurry but she said if I wanted to go out and since I wanted to get away from Maritza I said yes in a heartbeat. I guess she just forgot to mention you were here too."

"Is that a problem?" Barry asked, momentarily confused.

"No," Belén laughed. "Although now I'm self conscious of my clothing choices. I guess this is metahuman work time?"

"No, no, you look nice," Barry assured, and by the third look over Belén caught on and blushed.

"So tell me, what are we doing?" she cast a look towards the karaoke stand. "That looks...interesting..."

"Uh, well, so far just...listening," Barry pretended to flinch when the singing man didn't hit a high key the right way.

"Guys!" they heard Caitlin calling for them. She arrived wearing a tight, shiny black dress with her curled hair. With a beam she plopped down across them.

"Thanks for half explaining things to me," Belén mocked a scold.

"This is where Shawna Baez and Clay Parker used to hang out?" Caitlin looked around but discreetly smiled at Barry. There was no shame in pushing a little, she told herself after she made the call to Belén.

"It is, according to the files," Barry nodded.

"Is that what we're doing?" Belén said glumly as she looked down at her clothes. "Man, I could have worn jeans for this."

"I thought we could kill two birds with one stone," Caitlin shrugged.

"And what would that be?"

"Look for them and get ourselves back out there," Caitlin announced, startling the two. Yes, maybe she was pushing a little but it was fair game as long as she did not disclose anything both Barry and Belén had told her about them.

This surprised Belén, and for some reason she glanced at Barry. "You want to date?" she definitely did not mean to ask that in a disappointed manner. The words just came out of her mouth before she could even think.

Barry blinked, caught off guard by her question. "Uh - well, n-not...not e-exactly…"

"Oh, c'mon!" Caitlin ignored their awkward moment and reached for the drink Barry had been mindlessly drinking. "I'm pining for someone who bursts into flames and wants nothing to do with me, Belén's a bit traumatized from her last relationship and Barry's not gathered enough courage to ask someone out. We're kind of - for a lack of a better word - losers."

"Well, I mean, she's not wrong - wait, you want to ask someone out?" Belén had just processed all of Caitlin's words and now looked at Barry again.

"What? You're afraid of moving on from Carlton!" was Barry's genius response.

Caitlin buried her nose into the drink that wasn't even hers. She might have gotten a little carried away there. Whoops.

"Well, I think I'm justified," Belén said, mildly offended. "My last boyfriend kidnapped me. That's far worse than anything. Your petty fears are nothing. Girl's going to be lucky," she looked down at the table, processing the way she felt at the moment. She didn't want to say she was upset or anything just because Barry was thinking about asking someone out, but...yeah, she might be actually.

Caitlin had finished the glass in her hand and shifted on her chair to call a nearby waitress. ""Excuse me? I would like to start a tab."

"Oh, this cannot go well," Belén mumbled to Barry.

True to her word, Belén was witness to a different version of Caitlin...a much more drunk version of Caitlin. She and Barry tried stopping Caitlin at one point but she was adamant to keep going and to have some fun. Belén went up to the bar counter in an effort to get some water for Caitlin, but she had to wait for the bartender to get rid of other customers. Barry had volunteered first but for some reason the bartender seemed to ignore his calls. Still, Belén was taking an awful long time, so much that eventually Barry went over to check on her.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, taking a seat on the empty stool beside her.

"Long line," Belén gestured to the crowd at the end of the counter. "Um, where's Caitlin?"

"At the table," Barry pointed to...their empty table.

"Where is she!?" Belén straightened up, ready to jump off and go in search for their drunken friend.

There was a noise from the stage up ahead and next thing they knew, someone was calling for…

"Mr. Barry Allen! Come on down! Or up!" Caitlin giggled to herself, using the microphone to sustain herself.

Belén covered her mouth with her hand to hide her growing smile. She was wrong- this could possibly end well.

Barry, mortified with the extra attention he was now getting from the audience, repeatedly rejected the idea. "I'm not doing it…"

"Come up here with me!" Caitlin insisted, motioning with a hand for him to come over. "Oh, come show 'em what you got!"

Barry did a cutting motion across his neck, shaking his own head. "No...n-no…"

Caitlin refused to take a 'No' and called upon the audience to encourage him on. She was a relentless drunk by the looks of it. "Barry! Barry! Barry!"

Barry rubbed his face, thinking of an evil way to get back at Caitlin for all of this. He owed her a lot tonight! Suddenly, he heard a distinct voice joining the cheering crowd. He dropped his hand and glanced to his side to see Belén teasingly smiling his way, actively cheering.

"No, not you too…" he shook his head.

Belén laughed, gently pushing him forwards. "Go on, Barry!"

Caitlin raised a fist pump into the air when she saw him coming up to the stage. "Ooh, look at him go. He's so fast!" she slapped a finger to her lips and made an 'Oops' face as he stepped on.

Barry shook his head at her. "You know I'm not much of a singer. And you're not much of a drinker."

"We are gonna bring this place down!"

Barry could not see himself getting away from this situation anytime soon. "Okay, just…"

Belén made herself comfortable on her stool as the song 'Summer Nights' began playing. She was not surprised to hear Caitlin singing off key - it was rather amusing. She pulled out her phone in time to catch the singing session.

"Summer lovin', had me a blast…"

"Summer lovin' happened so fast, I met a girl, crazy for me…"

Belén was shocked to hear Barry's perfect singing voice. In comparison to Caitlin, it sounded like Barry had been practicing forever. She abandoned her teasing plans - sort of - and listened to the entire song.

When the song was over, she purposely cleared her throat loudly. "You're fast, you're a scientist and you can sing?" Barry responded in a light chuckle, not realizing Caitlin was lagging in catching up. "I'm starting to think you are the triple threat here."

"No...no," Barry sat down beside her, blushing red as she laughed.

"I'm so happy I can show this moment to everyone else tomorrow," Belén waved her phone in front of him, showing him the video of him and Caitlin singing.

Barry's eyes widened in alarm. "No!" Belén jerked her hand to her chest before he could snatch her phone away. "You are….evil!" Barry couldn't find the right words to express his horror.

"Mm, I think I was more...smart...or clever...no wait, that's the same thing," Belén tilted her head as she thought out loud. "I wonder what I would be like if I was evil?"

"You can't be evil," Barry flat out told her, almost laughing at the idea.

"What? Why?" Belén eyed Caitlin who was failing to show up because she had stopped at a random person's table. They would eventually have to go get her.

"Because you're too sweet to be evil."

Belén felt her face warm up at the comment, and so she smiled. "Aw, thank you."

"Guys! Look who I found!" Caitlin exclaimed, making them look over to see her walking with Noah and Linda.

"Hey!" Belén beamed at the sight of her two colleagues, missing the sort of disappointed look on Barry's face. "What are you guys doing here!?"

"Noah owed me a drink," Linda shrugged.

"For what?"

"My team losssst," the man glumly said, although there was something quite off about him.

"He's kinda drunk," Linda mocked a whisper tone as she explained.

"Ah," Belén eyed her indeed drunken co-worker with some amusement. "I think he and Caitlin are about to hit it off then."

"We were about to leave…" Linda grabbed Noah by the arm but the man shook her off and stumbled his way to the counter, howling towards the bartender to give him another round.

"Don't you dare, Stevie," Linda called to the bartender who was halfway down before she told him to go away.

"Guys," Caitlin's face had suddenly turned pale, and she placed a hand on her stomach, "I don't feel so well."

Both her friends could easily see she had finally reached her drinking limit. Barry nodded, half reluctant, towards Belén signifying he would take care of it. "C'mon, Cait," he quickly got up and hurried out the door, speeding away once they were outside before she would end up vomiting.

"Woah, where'd your friends go?" Noah laughed and took Barry's place beside Belén.

"Noah," Belén chuckled, placing an elbow on the counter to rest her cheek on her palm. "I think it's time for you to go home too."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go close the tab," Linda said, moving towards Stevie the bartender.

"I thought you said drinks were on Noah?" Belén glanced back.

"You really think I'm gonna let him pay right now?" Linda shook her head. "I do have honor, Belén."

Chuckling, Belén returned her attention to Noah, squealing when she saw him so close to her face. "Noah! You scared me!"

"I like your eyes, you have pretty eyes," he remarked without a car in the world.

Belén smiled. "And you have a freckle on your nose. We're all discovering new things about our friends tonight apparently," her smile widened as she thought of Barry and his apparent singing talent.

"What color are your eyes, Belén? Are they black?"

"No, they're brown. And sit back down before you fall!"

Noah ignored her and continued asking questions of her facial features. "Your cheeks are pink!"

"Because it's hot here! Now sit down-"

"You have straight teeth too!" Noah poked Belén's cheek which made her laugh.

"I should take a video of you and show it to you tomorrow," she thought out loud. "I'm just scoring videos tonight!"

"Belén, I like your lips too…"

"You're losing it, Noah. For real."

At this time, Barry had returned to the bar, after leaving Caitlin safely in her apartment. He saw Noah sitting in his place and quite close to Belén.

"Do you think...I could…" Noah's other fingers joined Belén's cheek then lowered near her jawline. Before Belén knew it, he had planted his lips over hers for a kiss.

A twinge of actual jealousy surged through Barry as he saw this literally feet away from them. Linda returned from paying the tab at the same time and had gasped in honest surprise when she saw them.

Belén pulled away as soon as she could. She was a bit disoriented for the first couple of seconds. She had no idea where that came from and she genuinely wasn't quite interested in having it repeat itself. Putting a hand over her mouth, she slid out of her stool. "Oh my God…"

"Glad to see you two are having fun," remarked Linda, arms crossed, as she walked up to them.

"H-he's drunk," Belén was still gathering herself from the moment, one hand in her hair. She met eyes with Barry, and instantly he could see her discomfort- which did put him in a less tensed stance. "Can we go home, please?"

He nodded. "Let's just get the tab closed, okay?"

Grateful, she grabbed her purse, intending on waiting for him in her spot. However, halfway passing by, Noah made an attempt to grab her arm, making Barry backtrack and practically yank Belén to his side.

"Goodnight," he spat to the drunken journalist, giving a somewhat lighter look at Linda.

"That was something I so did not expect," Belén confided in him after paying the tab and walking out of the bar. "And I...I didn't think I gave him signals to - oh my God, he's gonna think I gave him signals. Oh my God!"

"Bells, it's…" but Barry couldn't really find the right words to say at the moment. He was fighting the urge to go back and punch Noah. At the same time, he saw Belén feeling guilty, like this was her fault.

Belén sighed, speaking without receiving an ounce of comforting. "Can you drop me off at home please? I don't want to think about this."

"Of course," Barry nodded, hoping this would blow over by tomorrow.

Swooping in on Belén's porch was quick and easy. But, much like Caitlin had earlier, Belén was a bit rocky on her feet in the first couple of seconds after coming to a stop. Nearly losing her balance, she latched onto Barry's arms and he grabbed her tighter as well. She chuckled in her embarrassment and looked up, intending on apologizing but she realized how close they had gotten and immediately blushed. Barry too had stopped to look down at her, and for the first time thought about her as above what a 'friend' was to him.

For one, she seemed to easily fit between his arms. He could probably hold her and sway her for hours. Her hair was neatly curled over her shoulders, still looking as if they'd just been done minutes ago. Her blonde tips seemed to shine with the street lights. Even her deep chocolate eyes were looking different to him. For a minute, Barry remembered the last time he'd gotten the same feeling. Right after Oliver and Felicity had come to visit, at Jitters. He never figured out what made Belén seem so different to him that day but he did know that she had looked more pretty than usual. It was the same 'different' that made it harder for Barry to want to stop holding hands with Belén that day. Now that feeling was back and it was stronger.

Even the way Belén was smiling was different but this time Barry knew why. It was still the same soft smile she always had on for everyone, but tonight's smile was causing a swirl of feelings to start in the pit of his stomach. They were tantalizing. He wouldn't have to lean so much to touch her lips with his.

Belén was very aware that she had Barry's face just inches from her but unlike with Noah, she didn't feel uncomfortable. - actually, she felt quite a home. She felt safe. He has taken several bullets for you, she reminded herself. She knew there were moments where she would inevitably steal glances from Barry but who could blame her? He was cute, he was incredibly intelligent - she knew he was far too smart for his own good - and he was far too kind to people even when they didn't deserve it. All this Belén had decided a while ago but she kept it all in the deepest parts of her mind. She thought she had a good handle on it, but then came moments like these. She was too close to Barry and now she could see his perfect features.

Forget 'cute' he's hot, Belén blushed like mad when she thought that. Her eyes dropped from his gaze but that hadn't been the right choice because now she was realizing Barry's lips were right in front of hers. Maybe she could lean just a bit...

You can't! Belén remembered. She couldn't think about him like this. It was Barry, after all, and he deserved someone better. With that mindset, she pulled away, out of Barry's arms, to a safe distance from him. The abrupt action startled Barry but he kept himself in his spot. Belén offered him a small smile from where she stood. "I know it was unplanned, and perhaps not the ideal night out...but I had fun. I'll have to thank Caitlin for that tomorrow...if she can remember."

Barry gave a slight nod, unable to will himself to speed away just yet. Belén moved to unlock the front door, and before going inside, she turned around again, hand on the doorknob.

"You know, if what Caitlin said about you earlier was true...then I don't think you should be afraid of asking that girl out." Belén smiled, and for a split second Barry could swear it was a sad smile. "I think any girl would love to go out with a…" she paused and titled her head to the side, her eyes drifting up in thought, "...a fast-moving, signing scientist."

A smile broke across Barry's face, as well a surge of heat that rushed up to his face. "One could say the same thing about a fast-talking, passionate journalist who can dance in the air."

Belén chuckled, momentarily looking down to cover her own blush. During that moment she missed Barry almost making a move towards her but he stopped himself. He heard Caitlin's words about him all over again. Would he be willing to risk a friendship in the hopes of something more with Belén? Did he consider it worthwhile? Because after all, this was Bells, his fighting partner, his friend.

"Goodnight, Barry," Belén said softly, waving as she turned the doorknob and went inside.

Almost immediately, a deep exhale came out of Barry. His thoughts rearranged in that one second.

Ooh..but this was Bells...

A quirky girl who just happened to make him feel things he hadn't quite understood till then.

~ 0 ~

The next day, Belén came into work like nothing, thanking God she had not drank as much as Caitlin because she was sure a migraine would make things even worse. She was suffering, once again, at work because everyone refused to speak to her. Thinking she knew the Flash and was just being snobby by keeping all the details from them, they left her out of nearly every article being written for the week. If this kept up, Belén was 99.9% sure she would lose her job.

Hell, even Iris was being admitted into the group and she was barely a couple weeks old at the place. But, unlike the others, Iris was far kinder.

"I keep trying to tell them you've got nothing to hide," Iris sighed and crossed her arms, looking disappointed she was failing to help her friend. "But...they're all snobs."

"I learned that on my third day in my internship," Belén in a weak attempt to lighten the mood between them.

"But this is so unfair!"

"Yes, it quite is."

"Belén?" Noah was cautiously coming up to the desk, looking worse for wear. Belén imagined Caitlin looking something like him considering the amount of alcohol they drank last night. "Can we talk?"

Belén gave a small nod and motioned to Iris she'd only be a minute. Moving a safe distance from the desk, she crossed her arms and waited for Noah to begin what she knew must be related to last night.

"I just want to apologize for last night. I...I was so drunk and not right in the head," he clapped his hands together. "I don't want you to think I'm that kind of guy, because...because I'm not. I'm really sorry." He was sure Rayan would kill him if he ever found out what happened last night so Noah hoped to God Belén wouldn't tell her sister about it.

"Now that you got that out of your chest…" Belén started to softly laugh, much to Noah's surprise. "...go get yourself a headache pill because I bet your head is just killing you right now."

"What? You're...you're not mad?" Noah sounded doubtful, and with great reason too.

"I was never mad, because like you said, this wasn't you. I've done my share of bad things when I get drunk. Although I will admit to being caught off guard and a bit uncomfortable."

"I'm so sorry about that. Trust me, it will never happen again. I promise."

"I'm holding you to that," Belén pointed at him with a kind smile. "I think we work best as a writing team."

"Yeah, I think so too."

Belén gave him a last smile before returning to her desk where she was sure Iris was merely pretending she had not heard anything. The woman fiddled with some papers left behind on the desk.

"How much did you hear?" Belén decided to get straight to the point.

Iris dropped the papers and got to business. "Everything. What happened? Where did you go last night?"

"I was at a bar with Caitlin and Barry and we met up with Linda and Noah."

Iris stayed motionless for a couple seconds while Belén went around the desk to take a seat. "What...what were you, uh...what was the reason-"

"It was a friendly get-together, Iris, nothing more," Belén warned before Iris could finish.

Iris began to laugh mirthlessly and whirled around to face her friend. "N-n-n-no, the last time you were out with Barry, you came home with this goofy grin and-"

"Caitlin was there too," Belén reminded sharply.

Iris crossed her arms, now smirking. "Then why are you blushing?"

Belén clapped a hand to her cheek to feel the warmth she didn't realize she was giving off. "Am not." She was definitely not thinking about how close she'd been to Barry last night, nope.

"So are," Iris rolled her eyes. "You guys are slower than sloths."

"Iris...go away, please," Belén said in a hushed voice, preferring no one heard her. Iris shrugged and walked away, but Belén was sure this wasn't the last she would hear of this.

At the same moment, she heard her phone 'ding' on her desk. She didn't know if it was because of what Iris said, or perhaps of what happened last night, but she felt a jolt of nervousness when she read Barry's name written across. It was a simple text message with a simple question - why was she acting like a such a dork?

I'm heading to STAR Labs, do you want a pick up?

Belén smiled and immediately texted a response back.

Yes please! I want to share my video with the others!

Very soon, she got another text back.

...you suck. Be there in a bit.

Belén laughed to herself, acquiring some looks from co-workers passing by. Shyly, she put her phone down on the desk and started gathering her things together.

"Going out?" Noah called upon her, walking by with a file in hand.

"Uh, yes," Belén smiled sadly. "I don't think anybody here really cares if I skip out a couple hours before."

"Hey," Noah put a hand down over hers on the desk, "This will blow over okay? You'll see."

Belén tried to keep his optimism in her heart with a tight smile. "Put in a good word for me, though?"

Noah chuckled. "I will do that as much as I can."

There was a clearing of a throat from a distance. "You ready to go, Bells?" Barry stood there, attempting to hide his dislike as best as possible. He had seen them 'holding hands' from outside and he resisted the idea of speeding in and taking Belén without announcing himself. That was rude...apparently.

"Yes!" Belén exclaimed, then silently questioning herself if that had been too fast of a response. She pulled her hand from underneath Noah's and stood up from her chair, swiping her phone off the desk and dumping it into her bag. "Can you tell Iris I probably won't be back today?" she asked Noah.

"Don't worry," Noah smiled. "See you later," he told both Belén and Barry then walked off with his file.

"Soo…" Barry awkwardly began as they walked out, he letting her out first.

"He apologized," Belén turned to face him, figuring where his thoughts were at the moment. "And I forgave him. He was drunk, and he had no idea what was going on."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. Besides, both he and I agreed we didn't exactly want to go further than...friendship you know. We work fine as co-workers."

"Alright, c'mon. It's time to go see what Caitlin did to get up today."

"I suck apparently?" Belén arched an eyebrow before he could move them.

"Uuh…" Barry thought about a good response but came up with nothing. Instead, he sped them off for STAR Labs and hoped she would forget about it all.

Five minutes after they had gotten to the place, the elevator doors dinged open and out stepped Caitlin in thick black sunglasses clutching a water bottle like her life depended on it.

Holding the urge to laugh after glancing with Barry, Belén stepped forwards to greet her. "Hi there Caitlin-"

Caitlin flinched like Belén had just screamed at the top of her lungs. "So loud. Oh, ho-ho."

Barry stepped up beside Belén, and added, "Everything...okay?"

Caitlin sucked in a small breath. "Let's just say I envy your inability to get drunk. I don't remember much from last night."

She walked past them, heading for the cortex. Belén turned and walked beside her, leaving Barry to do the same. "Well, if you ever want to remember I think Bells has something that could help…" Barry sideways glanced at Belén.

Caitlin, confused, did the same and Belén pulled out her phone from her bag. She pulled up the video of Caitlin's and Barry's karaoke session and waved it at them, mimicking for them, "Summer lovin'..."

"Oh, God," Caitlin gasped in absolute horror. "That I do remember!"

Belén burst out laughing. She only stopped upon entering the cortex room where Cisco and Dr. Wells were, the latter with arms crossed at the former. It was easy to tell something was off.

"What's wrong?" Barry was the first to break the silence.

"Cisco... Has something he needs to tell you," Dr. Wells sarcastically said.

When all eyes turned on Cisco, he took a breath and declared, "Hartley's gone."

Belén gasped. "He escaped again!? How?"

Cisco shook his head and clarified. "I let him out." He took a moment to see how Caitlin was reacting but he was at a loss. "Are you mad? I can't tell with those glasses on."

Caitlin had remained perfectly still throughout the discussion, and for a good reason. "I'd like to yell and wave my arms, but I'm afraid I'd throw up."

"Why? What were you thinking?" Barry exclaimed, completely lost on this ridiculous idea of Cisco's. "You know how dangerous he is."

"Hartley said he knew what happened to Ronnie-"

"I told you to let it go," cut in Caitlin, removing her glasses. "I didn't want you looking into that for me."

"I wasn't doing it for you. I…" Cisco sighed, deciding to come clean once and for all, "I sealed Ronnie into the accelerator before it blew. He told me to wait two minutes, and I waited, but he didn't come back. And I can't stop thinking, 10, 20 seconds and... Ronnie wouldn't be like he is right now. I've wanted to tell you so many times. I'm so sorry."

Caitlin softened up as she went around desk towards him. "So you carried that around this whole time?" Cisco nodded silently. "Do you know what Ronnie would say if he was here? He would say that you did the right thing. It wasn't your fault. What happened that night wasn't anybody's fault. Come on. Don't we have a teleporter to catch?"

"Do we have progress on that by the way?" Belén asked once they had moved on.

"We do," Wells was happy to announce as he went up to the computers. He pulled up a tab of Shawna's cells that were flickering in and out. "Take a look at this. Now, this is the normal behavior of the particulate that Shawna left behind. Watch what happens when we remove light." The tab was exchanged for one of Shawna's cells in a neon green background that now had each cell motionless. "Shawna can only become entangled with something she can see. Take away her ability to do that…"

Barry realized, "She can't teleport."

"So, we just need to get her into a dark space," Caitlin commented and got to thinking. "How do we do that?"

Barry's phone began to vibrate and so he moved a distance to take the call while the others continued discussing.

"It's a valid question," Wells agreed.

"What...we can wait till night and fight her off in the dark?" Belén made faces as no other better ideas were being given at the moment. "Or...turn the lights off."

It was easy to tell something was completely wrong with Barry after he hung up his call. His face was pale and his eyes widened with distinctable fear.

"What's wrong?" Wells asked him instantly.

"M... My dad. He's been stabbed," he shuddered a breath just thinking about it. He was then ushered by the group to go see his father, but one of them - a tall ombre-blonde predicted an angry flare would soon rise and then something would then occur.

~ 0 ~

By the time Barry got the Iron Heights, Joe was already there with Henry, who was put to immediate rest after his injury. "Dad, what happened?"

"A rather stern reminder, I'd say, not to poke around Marcus Stockheimer's business," Henry was none too pleased that the only job he had, had been terminated so quick and easily.

"Dad, I told you to stop-"

Joe cleared his throat before Barry could finish. "Your dad called me with more intel. It helped us track down Clay and Shawna and arrest Stockheimer."

"I managed to screw up Marcus's big heist, too, so…"

Barry looked between the two men in disbelief. "You two kept working together, and you didn't tell me?"

"It isn't his fault. I did it to help you," Henry said before Barry would have a go at Joe. It didn't, however, ease things between him and his son.

"You getting stabbed and beaten is not helping me!"

Henry sighed, knowing Barry had a right to be upset with him. "Look, I... I... I don't get to feel useful very much in here. So if I can help you for a change, I'm gonna want to be there for you. Just like you've been there for me all these years."

Barry hated that he could, on a level, understand that. It was family, after all, that made people do crazy things sometimes.

"You said Marcus had a big heist coming up? Do you know anything else about it?" asked Joe.

"Dad, tell me who did this to you," Barry very much ordered. The anger inside him was flourishing just at the thought of the culprit thinking he could get away with stabbing his father.

Henry shook his head. "No, it doesn't matter, slugger."

Barry moved over to the side of his father's bed. "But you said you want to help me. So help me."

Henry saw that even though he wouldn't say a word, Barry would go on and find the answer himself. With another sigh, he answered, "One of Marcus's boys. Julius."

~ 0 ~

"I should have I bet on it," Belén sighed earnestly after Barry informed them all of how they would be getting some information on Shawna Baez. He'd gotten ahold of a specific inmate and extracted the needed information to get Shawna's location.

"Was that a joke?" Cisco sent her an odd look as she walked past them all ready in her suit.

"Of course…" but the way in which she assured him left him, well...not so sure.

Barry had stopped Shawna and her boyfriend underneath a tunnel and was having trouble keeping her from teleporting. In the car, Clay impatiently waited for Shawna to finish up fighting the metahuman. When Belén arrived, Shawna had just pushed off a construction worker off a machine. As Barry went to rescue the man, Shawna took opportunity and teleported back into the car with Clay.

"We have to get the lights!" Belén told the other speedster, looking up the light bulbs planted on the ceiling in a straight line. Who knew her idea of turning off the lights would become so relevant. She flinched as the car zoomed past her, but she didn't wait for an exact plan either. Thrusting both her hands upwards, she smashed the nearest light bulbs and swung forwards to continue smashing the next ones.

Seeing her plan, Barry sped forwards and passed Shawna's car to take a turn at the end. In a powerful blast, he smashed the front window and forced the car to an inevitable stop. Belén dropped beside the car and opened the car door to find a lonesome Shawna inside.

"...he left me," Shawna whispered, glancing at the now empty driver seat beside her.

"Men," Belén rolled her eyes, and as sorry as she felt for Shawna, she pulled out Shawna to bring her down to the pipeline. A bad relationship did not excuse crimes.

~ 0 ~

Shawna was placed into a cell in the pipeline, and as much as she tried teleporting out of it she would only reappear mere inches from her spot inside the cell. On the other side, which she could apparently not see, stood the rest of the team except Wells.

"Is there any way she can teleport out of this?" Barry curiously asked Cisco beside him.

"She's not looking at us," Belén commented from Cisco's other side, making a face, "So that's a clue…"

"It's one-way glass," Cisco answered the both of them. "It's mirrored on the inside. No one dangerous is ever gonna get out of this thing again."

Belén patted his arm, glad to see he was feeling a little better from his Hartley experience. "Next time don't let them out in the first place," she whispered with a teasing chuckle and walked away with him.

Meanwhile, Barry was going to have one last word with Shawna, at least to make her realize the reality she was now in. "Shawna. Clay left you. He's out there, and you're in here."

Shawna stopped teleporting, and looked to the side in utter disappointment. "You know what the crazy thing is? I still love him."

"Crazy is right," Caitlin made a face as she closed the pipeline down.

"Some people are worth being crazy for," Barry walked her pace back into the cortex.

Caitlin's smile widened in embarrassment. "Look, I'm sorry if I was a bit - well, a lot - of a drunken mess last night."

"Actually, it was pretty fun," admitted Barry.

"Even the part where Bells got a video she can now blackmail both of us with?"

Barry reluctantly gave a small nod. "Sort...of…"

Caitlin chuckled. "I'm also sorry for...pushing things a little too hard on you and Belén. I-it wasn't my place."

Barry took in a breath and motioned her not to continue. "Actually, I'm glad you talked to me and that you got us to the bar. It made me think and it made me realize...that maybe getting out there isn't such a bad idea."

Caitlin nodded her head. "If what Cisco says is true, that Ronnie merged with Martin Stein, then he's not alive anymore. Time for me to move on. Find someone new to be crazy about."

"Crazy thing is...I think I found someone I can be crazy for," Barry smiled to himself. "You think you and Cisco can help me out with a little something?"

Curious of what he had in mind, Caitlin nodded and paid close attention to what Barry was beginning to tell her.

~ 0 ~

"I don't even know why I'm going back there," Belén huffed like a child would, ignoring the laughter from Iris on one side and Linda on her other side while the three walked down the street.

"Because it's your job you worked for years now?" Linda tried to be funny but earned herself a small glare in return.

"I could be sleeping right now!"

"Oh shush!" Iris whacked Belén's arm, rolling her eyes. "And woman up - you are not going to let those co-workers intimidate you out of your own job because they don't believe you."

Belén said nothing more. She was resigned to yet another workday where people would give her dirty looks and scorn at her. All three women stumbled back when a strong force of wind hit them. Two out of the three were familiar with that 'wind', but only one was happy to see the other.

What is he planning? Belén wondered, admittedly concerned, as she turned the corner into an alleyway with Iris and Linda behind her.

As the Flash, Barry stood at the end of the alleyway. He was enjoying the look on Belén's face due because she had no idea what he was doing. "That's for you," he pointed towards a lone file left on top of a dumpster.

"That's the Flash," Linda gaped.

"Why are you here?" Belén could not help the tiny bit of anger in her tone - a concerned anger that Barry recognized. She was probably thinking how stupid it was for him to expose himself to yet another woman.

"I thought maybe you could help me out if you're willing," Barry shrugged oh-so-innocently it tugged a smile out of Belén. She got what he was trying to do.

"Oh, really?" she crossed her arms.

Iris moved behind them to pick up the file designated for Belén and skimmed a couple pages. "This is about the breakout at Iron Heights."

Linda snapped out of her stupor to check the file herself. "Belén do you know how big this is right now!?"

"Yeah, I do," Belén released a breath as she reached for the file herself, eyes still on Barry. "It's the story they're not letting me do right now."

"Why are you giving this to her?" Linda then asked him, no upset of his choice but overall curious. All in the meanwhile, none of them saw Iris discreetly pulling out her phone.

"Because she's an underestimated reporter and I want that to stop," Barry met gazes with Belén, the woman already flushing, "The world needs a woman like her putting the stories out there."

Belén had that look that said 'I'm gonna get you for this' with the widest smile ever. With a rather smug smile, Barry sped out of the alleyway.

"Oh my God, you have met him!" Linda exclaimed, still awed. Belén turned to her friend with a growing smile, taking Barry's plan with a small laugh. He would pull something like this.

~ 0 ~

That night in his lab, Barry got word of how his plan had gone. He'd heard it from Iris earlier and he did his job of pretending to be so surprised. Now he only had to wait for Belén to come see him. So he waited. He was working on a new case when he heard the familiar squeals nearing the lab. Barry jumped out of his chair though seeing how excited he was too, he took the few seconds to calm himself down.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Belén ran into the room and went straight for him. "Oh my Goooood!" she threw his arms around his neck and hugged him tight as ever. Pleasant with this sort of greeting, Barry hugged back. "I thank my lucky stars every night for meeting you," Belén whispered, dead serious yet enough to make Barry laugh.

"I take it all is well at work again?"

Belén pulled away slightly to look at him, eyes filled with suspicion yet happiness. "What the hell was that for, Barry Allen? You exposed yourself to Linda Park and you basically confirmed to them that I indeed I know you."

"And they told the others at work right?" Barry asked.

"Well, clearly!" Belén whacked his arm but ended up laughing. "You should have seen Larkin's face when I put my article together with what you gave me. And then when Linda started telling them how I got the story. Suddenly, I'm everyone's favorite now."

"Well, you're my favorite," Barry cheekily smiled, making her laugh.

"And you are my favorite!" she was so happy that she needed to give him another hug.

Barry forced himself to sober up enough in order to find some courage and ask her - as casually as possible - a question. When he pulled away, she was still smiling but more flushed now.

"Bells, you think...do you think we could...I don't know, go get a cup of coffee or...something…?" Yes, that had not been exactly how courageously he wanted to ask but at least the question had been put out there, or so he thought.

"Oh yeah, sure!" she exclaimed, misunderstanding the intention of the question. "We could get everyone down at Jitters and-"

"No, no," Barry gestured that he needed another moment. "I meant...um...do you, maybe, want to have coffee or lunch or...maybe dinner, I don't know...together?" he pointed between them. "Alone."

"Oooh…" Belén's smile faded and her hand gripped the strap of her bag. Her heart hammered under her chest. "...alone…" She looked to the side, so many things popping into her head yet she knew that one thing overrode them all, no matter how many butterflies those other ideas gave her. She couldn't be selfish, not to him.

And so, as much as it pained her, she gave her answer in one word.

“No.”

#barry allen #the flash #ocappreciation #ocapp #barry allen fics #the flash fics #barry allen imagines #barry allen fanfics #the flash imagines #the flash fanfics #caitlin snow #cisco ramon #iris west #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #fic: it had to be you

9 notes · View notes

honeypiehotchner · 6 years ago

Text

Trust -- part nine

Okay, apologies for the shit-show and information dump that was the last chapter. It gave me whiplash even as I was writing it, so apologies for doing that to y’all.

Here’s the soft chapter as promised (I promise it is soft toward the end, even though that isn’t how it starts out).

You sleep in 221B for the night.

You had completely fallen asleep a few minutes after Mycroft left, so deeply that you don’t recall John moving your legs so he could retreat to his own room. You also don’t remember John covering you with a blanket, but you woke up with one over your body.

Sherlock is nowhere to be found, no doubt probably having left early this morning to perform more tests at Barts. Still half-asleep, you feel your way into the kitchen, avoiding the cluttered kitchen table and searching out a mug.

John finds you in the middle of reaching for a mug from the very top shelf, stopping you with a hand on your shoulder.

“Go back to sleep,” he nearly laughs, because you’re stumbling around like you’re drunk. “I’ll make tea.”

“Thanks Johnny,” you mumble. You don’t make it as far as the couch, instead turning and curling into a ball in his chair. It’s comfier, in your opinion.

John – who is secretly pleased and amused that you called him Johnny – brings your tea to you some moments later. He sets it on the table by his chair, the noise waking you enough, so you sit up in his chair. But yet, you still keep your legs tucked underneath you. He’s always wondered why you try to make yourself smaller. Especially when you’re already tinier than most.

The warmth and sweetness of your tea has almost lulled you back to sleep when the thought occurs to you that John probably has things to do today.

“I think I’m gonna get some sleep in my flat now,” you say, which, not surprisingly at all, earns you a startled glance from John. “I miss my own bed. Is that odd?”

He smiles then, shaking his head. “Not at all.”

It’s not a feeling you’re used to having, but you’re glad for his reassurance. “Good,” you chuckle lightly. “Hey, where’s my phone?”

He reaches in his jacket pocket and fishes it out, handing it over to you. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Okay,” you nod, standing from his chair. “Where are you going?”

He stands with you, grabbing your now empty tea cup. “Probably to get some groceries…but I can stay here if you want me to.”

“No, no,” you wave his concern away. Judging by the way he’s dressed, he’s probably going to see Mary as well. “I’ll yell for Ms. Hudson if I need anything.” You know you won’t. But there’s nothing wrong with telling John you will.

“Or call me,” he repeats, giving you his serious look, one that lets you know he isn’t kidding with you, and that he means it. That he’s there for you if you need him.

“Okay,” you offer a smile. “Thank you, Johnny.”

The nickname slips out of your mouth again, and that same delighted smile stretches across your brother’s lips.

~~~

Sleep isn’t easy to come by again.

You started with lying in bed, keeping your eyes closed in hopes of eventually tricking your body into sleeping, but that wasn’t happening. All you could see was Allen’s body. Tony’s body. Both of their dead bodies.

After growing tired of the onslaught of memories, you picked up the current book you’re reading – or at least the last one you began. It’s the only one next to your mattress on the floor, so you assume it’s current.

But reading does nothing. Your mind wanders as the words on the page blur together, sometimes the entire page shifting out of focus. You grow frustrated with the blurry pages rather quickly.

You crawl from your bed and walk into the living area, sitting yourself up against the wall next to the record player. You stare at the empty room, thinking you really should invest in a chair at this point. At this point you think it’s almost ridiculous that you don’t have one. But you’ve spent so much time either out with John and Sherlock or upstairs in their flat, or even with Ms. Hudson. Despite this flat being your own now – being a place you should be able to call home – you spend more time out of it than you do in it.

And you have no earthly idea what that’s about. You settle on the main reason being company. You enjoy the company of Ms. Hudson, John, and Sherlock, and the texts of Molly.

At the mention of Molly’s texts, you retreat back into your bedroom in search of your phone. The last time you looked at the thing was…yesterday.

You shake your head at the thought, swiping your phone up from your mattress. You turn and sit down, moving to lie on your back while you check things.

You reply to a couple texts from Molly, thanking her for her kind words. Sherlock must’ve told her Allen was another friend of yours – or she must remember talking to him on the phone. Regardless, you tell her that her words are appreciated, and that you promise to venture outside this flat one day long enough to have lunch with her (or a sleepover, as she has suggested, but you’re wary because you’ve never been to a real one).

One text from John, asking if you need anything specific from the store. You tell him no. And then erase that to write ice cream. Oddly enough, ice cream has become a bit of a saving grace for you. Not that John is particularly fond of the idea, because he would much rather you eat something more substantial than ice cream. But after telling him once that ice cream was a luxury you never had as a kid, he stopped fighting you as much (though he still won’t let you have it for breakfast).

He texts back almost immediately with a picture of it already in the basket, causing you to smile. Then he texts again.

Why aren’t you sleeping?

You let out a sigh at his brotherly concern. You’re still not used to it, though you don’t know if you ever will be, but it does make you smile sometimes.

Can’t sleep.

You leave the message at that, hitting send.

And then, for whatever stupid reason, you decide to analyze the messages the unknown number sent you – though you think it’s safe to say that unknown number is Gidon. You change the contact name, feeling somewhat better after doing so. Putting a name to something is oddly reassuring.

It’s then that the last message, not the address, which is the last message you saw – but the last message sent to you. The time marked after you had found Allen’s body.

Watch what you say. He is always listening. –D

Watch what you say? You think. What did I say?

You lay there in your bed, your eyebrows furrowed at the ceiling as you try to remember. It takes you longer than you want to admit.

“Fine. Come to London if you want. But if your ass gets killed, don’t blame me.”

You gasp loudly, your hands abandoning your phone to make a home clasping over your mouth, the noise you made shocking even your own ears.

The sentences echo in your mind. The last words you ever said to Allen.

If your ass gets killed, don’t blame me.

Now there’s no other option. You are the one to blame. You absolutely are the one to blame for this.

You barely register your own movements as you sit up on the bed, searching for your trainers. You slip your feet into them, leaving your phone on the bed, and you exit your flat. You aren’t entirely sure where you’re even going until you end up on the roof of the building you live in.

You need to think. Or let yourself be completely numb, you aren’t sure yet. But regardless, you need to feel the wind in your hair. Your legs swinging over the edge. Your hands grasping the corner of the building’s structure. Your head tilting up toward the London sky, the sun hidden behind the clouds as always.

You close your eyes. And your body seems to go for option two.

~~~

John is in the checkout line when his phone begins buzzing with a phone call from Ms. Hudson. Thinking nothing of it, and that maybe she needs something, he picks up the call.

“Hello?”

“Oh, hi John! Do you know where Y/N is? I went to bring her tea, but her phone was on her bed and she’s not in your flat, either.”

He can’t see his face, but he’s certain all color has drained. You hadn’t replied when he texted you last, but he just assumed you were sleeping.

Forgetting whatever groceries he thought you needed, John rushes out of the store, telling Ms. Hudson he’ll be there as soon as he can.

No sooner than John gets in a cab is his phone buzzing again, this time with a message from Sherlock.

She’s on the roof.

John’s eyes widen, pausing for a moment to tell the driver where to take him before he replies to Sherlock’s text.

Sherlock doesn’t reply. You haven’t acknowledged Sherlock at all. He’s fairly certain you haven’t moved in the past hour and he even wonders for a brief moment if you’ve fallen asleep. But then he watches you take a deep, shuddering breath, and he lets out his own sigh of relief.

Sherlock uses the fire escapes to reach you on the roof, though he’s entirely certain you didn’t use them to get up here.

“I know that’s you Sherlock,” you don’t move as you address him, causing him to stop in his tracks. “I’m fine.”

“Why are you up here?”

“Thinking,” you breathe, tilting your head back. “It’s peaceful here.”

“John is coming,” Sherlock speaks slowly, not sure if you’re really as fine as you’re saying you are.

“Okay,” you reply, knowing he had to go shopping. You knew he’d be coming back.

Again, Sherlock realizes he isn’t very good with comforting other people. But he has that awful feeling in his chest, that absurd tugging on his heart, at the sight of you dangling your legs over the side of the building. He knows the thrill. He’s been on countless rooftops, let his toes hang over the edge, let the wind blow through his hair, but he doesn’t like the most recent memory he has – his fall. He assumes this tugging he feels in his chest is linked to that memory. But he can’t deny that he doesn’t want you to fall.

He does the only thing he can think of doing. Instead of trying to talk to you, trying to coax you back away from the ledge, he slowly walks over and sits next to you. He keeps a comfortable distance, but not far enough that he couldn’t stop you from falling if you decide to. He hopes you won’t.

“Are you okay?” He asks, because in this moment, it seems like something he should say.

“Yeah,” you answer, surprising him. He knows you’re not okay. You wouldn’t be on this roof if you were. “I’m okay now.” You open your eyes to look at the clouds. “I had to do some thinking.”

“On a roof?” He tilts his head. “Bit windy.”

You chuckle, surprising him further. “It is, isn’t it?”

There’s a pounding of footsteps behind you, urgent feet carrying someone up the fire escapes. It’s John, no doubt. You’ve gotten used to the sound of his footsteps after living with him for a while. It’s something you’ve had to pick up pretty quickly everywhere you go.

The urgency stops when he reaches the roof, his footsteps coming to a halt behind you and Sherlock.

The latter looks over his shoulder at John, nodding for him to come closer. John looks entirely skeptical, wanting to do nothing more than wrap an arm around your shoulders and drag you away from the ledge. But, when he heard you were on the roof, he hadn’t imagined you’d be sitting down. All he saw was Sherlock standing with his feet over the edge, but instead of Sherlock, it was you.

And then he rushes home to find this. You’re sitting on the roof, swinging your legs back and forth, with Sherlock next to you. The two of you who argue and annoy one another to no end – and John knows this for a fact because he’s heard it – are sitting peacefully next to each other on the roof.

Granted, the situation has probably forced the usual banter you two have to go away, and John sees that on Sherlock’s face. The man is as scared as John is, whether or not he wants to admit that, but John can see it all over his face. The sentiment.

“Hey Johnny,” you finally say, without even turning your head. You’re starting to like the nickname more and more as you use it.

“Hi Y/N,” you hear him reply. “Are you okay?”

Instead of answering him, because you already answered Sherlock, you say, “Do you remember what I told you that day at breakfast?”

John decides to go along with this, taking a few tentative steps forward. “What exactly do you mean?”

“I know I told you I don’t trust anyone…but I trusted them with my life.” You take a deep breath, hanging your head for a moment before lifting it again to gaze at the city. “Allen and I had a difficult relationship – I still think sometimes he didn’t really like me, but he saved me. He was probably the best father figure I could’ve ever asked for.

“And Tony…he was the best friend I could’ve ever asked for. I trusted them with my life, and they never let me down. Tony got me to the hospital after I was shot, and he stayed with me.

“All I can think about is how we trusted each other with our lives. And I let them down.”

You know both men are looking at you – Sherlock being the prominent one because you can see his face out of the corner of your eye – but you don’t turn to look at them. There are no tears falling from your eyes because you don’t deserve to cry.

“It’s not your fault, Y/N,” John speaks, taking another step or two closer. “Don’t blame yourself for this.”

“Do you remember the last thing I ever said to Allen?”

John stops moving, furrowing his eyebrows. “No…what?”

“If your ass gets killed, don’t blame me,” you repeat it for him with a sigh, shaking your head. “I told him not to blame me, but…he has every right to, if he is blaming me.”

“That doesn’t make any of this your fault,” John says again, firmer this time.

“Doesn’t it, though? The Congregation was none of my business. I was just being reckless, and I was honestly trying to get myself killed. But I didn’t. It just angered them and now…”

John takes a deep breath. He knows you’re going to blame yourself for this, no matter what he says. He is still going to try to change your mind, but he knows it will be difficult.

And as if he needed anything else to shock him, Sherlock begins speaking.

“There is something to be said about muddling in someone else’s business,” he mutters. “And trying to get yourself killed in the process. I have done the same, more times than I can recall.”

John clenches his fist in anticipation. If Sherlock says something stupid, he’s liable to hit the man.

“But there is always a chance to make it right. Yes, you may have angered Gidon and The Congregation, but the acts of human beings such as themselves are too unpredictable to waste time in taking accountability for their actions.” He pauses, turning his head to look at you. “No matter what you tell yourself, Y/N, the actions of Gidon Dietrichson and The Congregation are not your own; therefore you cannot take responsibility.”

The tension releases from John’s fist at Sherlock’s words.

Sherlock then slides back from the ledge, standing up and dusting off his trousers. You crane your neck to look at him, wondering where he’s going, to see his outstretched hand.

His words have had the few seconds needed to sink in, so without hesitation, you mirror his movements and slide back from the ledge. Gripping his soft hand – soft? – you use his grip to pull yourself up, letting him guide you away from the edge as he takes a few steps back, pulling you with.

You offer him a small smile, barely there, and for a second, you’re afraid you might hug him. But then you remember John is here, too, and probably has just worried himself to near-death, so you let go of Sherlock’s hand to wrap your arms around John’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” you murmur. “I should’ve called you.”

“It’s okay,” he replies, and you want to tell him it’s not, but he holds you tighter. “Just stay away from bloody rooftops, okay?”

“Okay,” you nod, pushing back from the hug. “Deal.”

“Good,” he smiles, gripping your shoulders, and you swear you see a few tears shining in his eyes. “Let’s get back inside.”

“Use the fire escape this time,” Sherlock says from behind you.

You turn to give him a teasing look. “Fine. I’ll go the normal way.”

He smirks, earning another confused look from John, but you ignore them both, walking ahead to go down the metal stairs.

~~~

You retreat into your flat to take a shower and change your clothes, promising John that you’ll come upstairs and have lunch with them – as long as Sherlock eats. And while Sherlock wasn’t planning to because he’s still consumed with the case, the look John gives him forces him to comply.

It’s strange how that works, Sherlock notices. He doesn’t eat when he’s thinking about a case, and yet, if it’s to set an example for you, that you do need to eat more than one meal and a cup of tea a day, then he’ll do it. He’ll eat if you eat, and vice versa.

He shakes his head to get the thoughts to go away. Just because he has to eat doesn’t mean he can’t think while John is out getting the food – since he had to abandon the groceries earlier.

This is where you find Sherlock when you head up the stairs to their flat, your hair wet from having washed it. But you’re much more comfortable now in a pair of leggings and a jumper John had bought you.

Sherlock has the fire lit – or John probably did it before he left, and you suspect the latter – so you curl up in John’s chair, grabbing the blanket to cover your legs.

Across from you, Sherlock opens his eyes when he hears you sitting down. You had planned to sit in silence with him, but after he acknowledges you, you feel it’s safe to ask the question that has been burning in your brain since you showered.

“Did you mean it?” You ask. “That human beings like Gidon are unpredictable?”

“Of course not,” he closes his eyes. “Human beings are hopelessly predictable. He and his followers are no exception.” He smirks then, opening his eyes to give you a sly look.

You smirk yourself, glad to know Sherlock doesn’t find Gidon intimidating. The idea of Gidon being unpredictable to a man like Sherlock Holmes frightened you the entire time you were trying to shower. It’s nice to have that assurance that while Gidon is clever, he’s not as clever as your Sherlock Holmes.

“You still shouldn’t blame yourself for his actions.”

“No, I know,” you nod, looking into the fire. You’ll try not to. You haven’t gotten very far. The shower didn’t help. “I got your overall message.”

“Good,” he nods, closing his eyes again.

You let a few moments go by, just looking into the fire, trying to let Sherlock have his moment to think.

“Sherlock?”

You hear him sigh. “Yes?”

“I’m bored.”

He moves his hands from their steeple to rub his eyes. “Then think.”

“I’d rather not do that right now.”

His eyes open then, and if you weren’t mistaken, you’d think there was an ounce of sympathy swimming there. But you’re reminded Sherlock doesn’t feel sentiment, and that thought leaves you.

“Do you want to play Cluedo?”

“Clue-what?”

He tilts his head. “Cluedo. You’ve never played Cluedo?”

“Of course I’ve never played Cluedo, what the hell is that?”

He smiles like a kid on Christmas morning – though you think it’s safe to say Sherlock wasn’t the kind of kid to do so – before practically leaping from his chair to find the game.

And this is where John finds the two of you, in the living room, in front of the fire, playing the stupid game that caused so many arguments between John and Sherlock that John swore off the game completely. And now Sherlock has roped you into it.

“What are you two doing?” John asks as he comes in with the takeaway, even though he knows exactly what you’re doing.

“Okay, but if the victim did it…how?”

“For God’s sake, Sherlock, for the last time, the victim can’t commit the murder!”

But John is too late in his exclamation because Sherlock has already explained his reasoning to you.

And you believe him.

“That’s brilliant,” you murmur, looking up at him. “What the hell? That’s brilliant!”

“I don’t know how you let him suck you into it,” John shakes his head, handing you your plate of food.

You gladly accept it, seeing he’s gotten food from your favorite restaurant, so you grin. “Thank you, Johnny.”

He smiles in return, glad to see you’re feeling at least a little better, though he is still wondering if you are going to crash. He tries not to think the worst, though, hoping you’re doing okay now because you see the people around you that are here for you.

“Do you have any other games?” You ask through a mouthful of food, then pausing when you realize Sherlock has nothing in his hands. “And you’re eating too, mister. Don’t think I forgot our deal.”

John smirks, heading back into the kitchen to grab Sherlock’s food. He hands the plate to the detective with possibly the smuggest smile Sherlock has ever seen on John’s face. Sherlock takes the plate almost angrily, knowing he has to eat because you’ve stopped taking bites of your own food.

Grumbling like a child, Sherlock begins to eat. You smirk, going back to your own lunch, and then he doesn’t seem to mind it as much. Something about your smile has him feeling that tug in his chest. He feels it so often now that he wonders how many times he’s felt it without realizing it.

John steps downstairs to bring Ms. Hudson her food, deciding to take his own with him and have lunch with her.

She smiles brightly when she sees him bringing down her food, and even more brightly when he sits with her at her table to eat with her.

“Where are Sherlock and Y/N?”

“Playing games,” John supplies, a little bit in confusion, which mirrors Ms. Hudson’s expression. “I know, me too. They were playing Cluedo when I walked in.”

“Oh, I thought you didn’t let him play that anymore?”

“Not with me,” John shrugs. “But he got Y/N interested in it.” He shakes his head. “And now they’re making sure the other eats,” he lowers his voice, knowing you both could probably hear him if you listened hard enough because his confusion has his volume rising. “I don’t know what’s going on, but he talked her off the roof earlier.”

“He did?”

John nods. “He was sitting with her when I got up there.”

“Well, that’s sweet of him,” she smiles, almost a little too happily, like she senses something John doesn’t. “I think it’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“I hope so,” John smiles, ignoring the feeling. It’s probably nothing.

#Trust #sherlock #sherlock holmes #sherlock x reader #sherlock holmes x reader #john watson #sibling!reader #half-sibling!reader #some sadness #soft

151 notes · View notes

alienduckpond · 6 years ago

Text

Getting Home - pt 1 - Arlo

I got ever so slightly distracted by My Time At Portia for a few weeks, and while playing I was left wondering just who was it that got you home when you fell asleep wherever at 3am.

And so this. It's already on ao3 if anyone reads it and thinks it's familiar

-~-

Arlo grumbled as he set the ancient alarm clock and climbed in bed. He’d got “distracted” during RPS with Sam, so it was his turn to check on the builders tonight, to make sure the reckless idiots actually got home and didn’t become bandirat food. Which meant a ridiculously early night and missing drinks and darts at the Round Table with Sam, Remy, Antoine, and Sonia.

But, he thought with a sigh, flicking the light off and flopping backwards into his pillow and letting his arm stretch across the bed, losing a little sleep occasionally was preferable to not going round and checking on them at all. Allowing something terrible to happen to one of the people he was sworn to protect when he could have prevented it would weigh heavily on his conscience.

Quarter to three in the morning found him riding away from Higgin’s workshop, shaking his head. Wang, Sweet and Allen had all been home. But then Wang was newly married, Sweet had a newborn and wasn’t working on anything more complicated than cooking pots, and Allen had always been the least likely to lose track of time and need rescuing. Higgins had been working his forges, but had held his hands up in defeat as soon as he’d seen Arlo approaching on Spacer and had walked himself into his home without argument. Which just left the newest builder in town.

Sarah was a strange one to be sure, he thought as he trotted through town. Always rushing around, taking on every odd job and favour everyone threw at her with a smile, as well as every commission she could get her hands on. Yet she always managed to get everything completed within two days of being asked. He could only think of three times in the year and a half she’d been here that had taken her longer than that, and those had only been delayed by a day because of festivals. She had a truly commendable work ethic.

But then that work ethic meant she was the person who needed taking home more often than not lately. Remy had found her curled up on Amber Island three days ago, slumped over on the roof of the cave entrance. Sam had found her a week before that by the duck pond, using an indignant Snaillob as a pillow. He could only hope that he’d go by her house and find all three of her llamas hitched in the stable.

But they weren’t. Of course they weren’t. Sherbert and Doofus were there, but her favourite Mr Fuzzybutt wasn’t. Meaning she probably wasn’t home. He hadn’t seen the llama waiting at any of the spots she sometimes forgot she’d left it at around Peach Plaza at any rate.

He groaned, and Spacer snorted as if in agreement. He urged his tired horse closer to the front of her house and dismounted, and tried her door. He was wholly unsurprised to find it unlocked, and when he let it swing inwards the lights were all on inside too.

He stepped in quietly, noting the dishes piled up next to the sink, the blueprints spread across her round table, cushions thrown artfully over her couch, and then... her neatly made and empty bed.

He rubbed at his eyes as he walked out of her house, closing the door behind him. He moved his hand to his temples as he walked over to her work table and looked at her orders stuck to the back, trying to determine where she might be. She was working on an order for six pulleys for the Research Centre it looked like, and a quick count of the pile of iron and wood by his feet, and the solitary jug of lubricant, left him pretty certain he’d find her somewhere in the rat maze she’d made of Abandoned Ruin two.

Oh joy.

He looked down at Sarah with a scowl. She was curled up in a ball, legs half buried by the sand that was slowly falling from the wall behind her and letting out a soft wheezing snore. If he wasn’t so mad at her, he’d be tempted to call her cute.

He crouched next to her and gently sat her up, slipping the jetpack off her so he’d be able to fly them out of the convoluted mess she’d made for herself down here. He’d marked passages on his way down, and had ended up at the same cavern six times all coming from different directions. He scooped her up in his arms, holding her close to his chest and trying to ignore the strange feeling in his gut when she murmured sleepily, snaking her arms round his shoulders and burying her face in his neck, and started the long walk back to the entrance.

He sighed quietly as he put her shoes next to her bed and stepped back, glancing at the clock illuminated in a shaft of moonlight. Four twenty five. He really needed to have a serious talk with her in the morning about being responsible, and keeping track of time and her surroundings, and not causing more work for the Civil Corp. But that was a future Arlo’s problem. Present Arlo was going back to his bed and napping before Paulie and Sam dragged him out for their early morning run.

-~-

Part 2 - Sam

#my time at portia #mtap #mtap arlo #mtap builder #fanfic

61 notes · View notes

nightlovechild · 6 years ago

Text

Bad Lair - Logan's Week. (Day 7: LAMPD)

I HAVE RISEN FROM THE DEAD! My muse came back and she has blessed me by staying with me!

Warnings: Lies, Deception, Spanking, Blow job, Hand job, 69ing, Deceit (His name is Dimitri)

Summary: Logan, spectacularly, loses a bet against Roman. The bet: Not lying for 72 hours. The catch: Dimitri's been keeping tabs the whole time.

“Logan, how much coffee have you had?” Patton asked shaking the almost empty tin.

“Sorry, what are were you saying Pat?” Logan tried to dismiss the question. Furiously collecting his papers from the table and his precious coffee mug.

“I asked how much coffee you’ve had?” Patton restated. He could have sworn he had Roman fill this yesterday. “Because either you or Virgil are pulling all nighters again.”

“Only on my third cup. If you are making more actually…” Logan was cut off by the tip of a wooden paddle under his chin guiding his mouth shut.

“Well, that makes a full set in my book.” Dimitri let the hiss blend out the s's in his loud statement. His intention to get Patton's attention clearly working.

“Hi Dee-honey, did you want breakfast? We’re going to have scrambled” Patton cracked on additional egg on the side of the bowl then threw it into the sink.“Wait! LOGAN RATIONALE SANDERS! Did you just lie to me?” The shock and outrage ringing in Patton’s voice as he whipped off his apron. Patton took a towering stance over Logan. His eyes flicking back on forth between Logan and Dee.

Dimitri couldn't help but think Patton was a little slow in the morning, but quick to get answers. It made his cock harden at the fire in Patton’s eyes.

Logan swallowed hard as the wooden paddle slid back to his Adam's apple. Why had he ever let Roman drag him into this bet? Who knew not lying was so burdensome.

~☆~

“You could not!” Roman barked a laugh in Logan’s face.

“FALSEHOOD! My interests are never to conceal the facts in any situation. But to enlighten the minds of all involved. Frankly, 72 hours of honesty would benefit you greatly.” Logan said as he leaned closer. His finger jabbing at Roman’s red sash.

“Respect others personal space, please. No touching unless you’ve been given consent” Patton reminded them as he came into the living room.

“I would if Roman showed respect for the scientific method. This show is inspired by the work of Paul Ekman, the world's foremost expert on facial expressions and detection of lies.” Logan continued on ramping up for a great speech.

“Radical honesty was just a ploy. So Chill L.The show is using to get away with shocking the viewers. To be honest, It gives me second hand embarrassment. So can we just finish it.” Virgil cringed deeper into Patton’s side while pulling his hood up.

“Edger Allen Foe is right. A character vowing to be honest a hundred percent of the time is there for comical relief.” Roman explained while grabbing a handful of popcorn. “Plus betting against me? Well all I can say is failure never suits you.”

A growl issued from Logan's throat that was usually reserved for scheduling conflicts found at 3am.

“Watching your reputation tarnish like the cheap metal you and your sword are forged out of will be my pleasure.To these terms, I do accept.” Logan stuck his hand out with such force, Roman was forced to step up.

Their handshake sent a wave through the mindscape.

~☆~

“Answer me Mister!” Patton demanded.

Logan had to think fast. Roman would never let him live this down for one moment if he didn’t get past Patton’s interrogation. Spying the time on clock on the wall, He only had 35 minutes left until the bet expired. It would have been simple to fool Patton but with the Master of lies being here. Logan would need to believe his words. Sitting up a bit straighter and adjusting his tie, Logan took a deep breath without the solid gleaming paddle sitting against his blushing skin.

“As I stated previously. I have only had three cups of coffee.” Logan stated clearly and with a precision that would have made Sherlock Holmes impressed.

“You’re lying! Right now!” Patton chided as the smirk on Dimitri’s face turn predatory.

“How? I mean.. Falsehood! “I have had three cups of coffee since sunrise.” Logan was falling apart as the wooden paddle traced down his body to his lap. The increasing pressure between his legs made Logan crack. “But I haven’t been to bed yet so I have technically imbibed 17 cups of coffee since you made the first pot yesterday.” Logan’s confession ending in panting as Dimitri lightly rubbed the paddle against Logan’s sore but hardening cock.

“See? Doesn’t that feel better? Lying never suits my toys.’ Dimitri cooed while grabbing the back of Logan’s collar and guiding him over to the back of the couch. “Hold this for me, won’t you?”

Logan bit his bottom lip as he put his palms flat. The paddle looking so innocent now in his own hands. Logan whimpered as Dimitri undid his belt then his zipper with practiced ease. Slowly yellow gloved fingers lowered his pants just below his ass.

“Patton you’re in for a treat today, if you want it. There is no need to feel bad if you say no. We,” Dimitri pinched the firm ass in front of him as he continued, “have a prearranged agreement that lying is a punishable offence, isn’t that right my toy?”

“Yes, Sir!” Logan answered shortly.

“So he’ll get that is coming to him either way. But if you say yes.” Dimitri took the paddle from Logan’s out held hands as pushed his chest to the back of the couch, presenting a tempting target for Patton.

“Well, you get the picture.”

Patton’s feelings twisted and turned. If this had been like one of his Saturday morning cartoons there would have been an angel on one shoulder and a little devil on the other. It was a simple misunderstanding the Angel would say. Maybe Logan hadn’t understood the promise he made to Patton weeks ago after their discussion about coffee consumption. How it has a nasty way of making Patton panicky. Caffeine has that effect on the heart, you know. The Devil just wondered how many strokes it would take to make Logan whimper Patton’s name all pretty like? Patton gripped the offered handle tight as the angel on his shoulder fainted and the devil chuckled.

“How many times have I told you nice boys don’t lie to their Daddies!” Patton let the paddle fall with a nice smack.

Logan jumped away from the strike but couldn’t go far as Patton’s other hand weighted against his lower back. The crack of the paddle against Logan’s ass and echoing moan couldn’t cover the joyous laughter of the Prince joining the scene.

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen! My sweet sweet pocket protector! Why didn’t you just come to me? Admit you couldn’t follow through with our bet and avoid all this humiliation? Sucking me off doesn’t seem like such a mighty command now does it?” Roman bounced on the balls of his feet as he stood next to Dimitri. Enjoying how the snake’s arms slithered around him holding his body close and out of the path of the swinging paddle.

“Bite me, writer’s-blockhead. This is your fault.” Logan bit out around a moan as another smack connected.

“Oh, No. We are not blaming the foolish prince for your actions. You lying to everyone was your own choice.” Dimitri scolded Logan as he stroked Roman through his soft pajama bottoms to quell any of the royal’s protests.

“You lied to all of us?” A gruff voice pulled their attention back to the stairs. Virgil stood on the landing hugging his open hoodie around his middle while rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“You got that straight, even though we’re gay, my fellow fibbing fatality. But, I have dibs to spank him next. You can go after I'm done with nerd-boy." Roman relished as he flexed his hands warming each digit up individually.

“Why do I have to go after you?” Virgil grimaced at Roman as Dimitri slipped past the quarrelsome boys.

Patton’s anger was a flash in the pan as Logan started whimpering, legs shaking. The fifth swing connected and Logan’s sweet voice uttered his name. Patton adjusted himself as Logan’s hand reached out to grip Patton’s pant leg.

“My sweet boy.” Patton’s words were comforting as he hugged the logical side to himself.

Gloved hands caressing their backs as Patton and Logan traded slow kisses. Humming as Dimitri joined in, lips pressing together in sets. Allowing the third to watch as the other two kiss, then they would exchange partners. Logan’s attention was slipping into the lust as he grinded against both of his dominants. But too quick to process his Sir was standing behind him tugging his pants and underwear down sharply. The elastic band made his cock snap back up, marking Patton’s tan slacks with precome as his cock bounced. Letting Logan step out of the material, Sir discarded the items.

Soft kisses to Patton's flushed cheeks, Dimitri took the paddle back. Holding it out to the other's. The royal and anxious side’s grabbing the handle at the same time. "I didn't think lying was so crucial to my day to day life." Logan admitted as Dimitri’s hands ran over his bare ass evaluating the level of pinkness. "Lo, you can't bake a cake with salt instead of sugar and wonder why it tastes bitter.” Patton guided Logan to the other side of the couch to sit them both down.

“But each cake gets a half teaspoon of salt to enhance all the other flavors though.” Dimitri purred as his fingers grasped the short hairs at the nape of Logan’s neck, his other hand moving Logan on to his hands and knees over Patton’s lap. “And Logan’s lying has greatly improved the outlook all of our morning, wouldn’t you agree my heart?” Dimitri’s voice was thick as he stroked the moral side’s obvious bulge. The responding moan was taken as a yes.

Flipping the paddle over in their argument, Roman and Virgil stalled as they stared at the cutout imprint that was suddenly carved into the cherry oak paddle; 'Falsehood'. "Who wants to make that legible across this pretty little lair's ass?" Deceit smirked thumb and forefinger gripping Logan's face tight.

“Me! ME! Everyone knows it’s beauty before the beast.” Roman said.

“Fat chance, Price Pig-head! I’m next!” Virgil bit back.

“I know! Why don’t we gauge it on the size of the lie told? Doesn’t that sound fun my toy?” Dimitri’s voice no longer hiding the giddiness of it all. Having all four of the side’s attention was a rare thing. The snake side was living his best life right now.

“Okay.” They agreed in unison. Turning to face Logan as a united force.

“Better not keep them waiting, my toy. It might turn out to be detrimental to your health if you do.” Dimitri knelt down giving Logan the stage.

Goosebumps crawled across Logan’s body as the chill of their glazes sunk in. This wasn’t going to be easy. Adjusting the weight on his shoulders by moving his hands, the soft couch cushions giving away in a way he wished the floor would. Jumping at the soft touch across his fluttering stomach. Patton tried his best to reassure the logical side. Looking over his shoulder, Patton mouthed the word, Breathe. Drawing the oxygen deep in his lungs and exhaling.

“I don’t know which one is worse. I didn’t enter the situations with the intention to deceive. But your mental states... My loves, you needed my words more than…” Roman’s bored yawning became louder and Virgil’s darken circles made him look possessed.

“I stole Roman’s idea after I informed him it was ridiculous and moronic. I wrote it into the budgeting plan journal that Thomas keeps so I could get it out of the mindscape, but when Thomas and Joan found it later they thanked me. I didn’t correct them or tell Roman.” Logan was cut off by the offended Princey noises as Roman successfully yanked the paddle away from Virgil. But Dimitri blocked the royal as he whispered for Roman to breathe.

“Your anger is justified but acting in anger is not, my dear. We play in a safe, sane and consensual way. Relax with me and let us hear the lies that were commissioned just for our dark and stormy night.” The snake wielded his control as easily as he always does.

“The longer you live the chances of dying alone increases... Dramatically. There’s a 1:68 chance you’ll die in a car crash. The sound outside of your window last night was the wolf from the horror book I have been reading. I let it out of the subconscious. No, I don’t know how to put it back. I shrunk your blanket after I spilled coffee on it, because I couldn’t ask Patton to wash it for me, because I wasn’t supposed to be drinking coffee at 3am in the morning.” Logan rushed out adopting Virgil’s ripped band-aid style of reveals.

The gales of laughter that tore out of Virgil surprised everyone, but most of all Logan. Once the fits of laughter faded, Virgil smiled wide showing his teeth.

“Roman you can have his ass. I want his mouth. I am finally going to get something good out of it.” Virgil’s voice rung deep, distortion dancing along the syllables.

“Play nice boys. Patton and I would hate to have to spread the punishments out to the rest of you.” Dimitri said as he released his grip on Roman. Winking with a smirk at the Moral side.

The royal sprang to his feet without another word. Standing to the backside of his conquest, he spun the paddle choosing the flat or carved side to start with, but then paused. “You really pissed me off with the slight to my swords valor, but this wasn’t a part of your original agreement. I need your consent Logan. Because I want my pound of flesh, but only if your willing to give it.” Roman stood like a king awaiting the logical side’s answer.

“You are so much more than I have ever given you credit for, Roman. I would be proud to be humbled by you and your newly acquired and thankfully blunter sword. I openly agree to this new arrangement.” Logan’s voice held fast as he sat up on his knees, looking Roman in the eyes.

Swooping in like only the prince can Logan was being held and kissed in a maddening pace. Then thrown forward just as fast. Landing back again on his hands and knees. The only difference was Patton was gone and Virgil sat on the arm of the couch.Virgil’s pants pulled down just enough to expose his hard cock, which he was stroking with a smirk that made Logan lick his lips.

The swing of the paddle drove Logan forward face first into Virgil’s lap. A cry of pain and pleasure ringing out as Roman brought the paddle down again. Soft fingers brushed Logan’s hair out of his face and caressed down to his temples, removing his glasses.

“Don’t want those getting broke, do we? My sweet easily manipulated genius.” Virgil slid the head of his cock along Logan’s lips, leaving a shiny pre-come lip gloss as he went. “I knew you were lying to me. I am the anthology of apprehension, the tracker of trepidation. I asked because I wanted to see if you loved me enough to lie.”

The crack of paddle rung through the room, Logan rocked forward and Virgil pushed his hips forward, forcing his cock into Logan’s wet mouth, “I love you too, Lo.”

Overwhelmed was a nice, but far off word for how Logan was feeling. Logan was fucking flying. His mind lost in the moment his cock throbbing between his legs as he pulled his legs together to push himself further down on Virgil’s cock. Virgil only letting Logan breathe when his eyes started to water. His ass burned intensely as Roman continued, having turned the paddle over to the carved side. Roman’s many hours of training shining in his follow through. As Logan could feel the lettering bite into his skin. Needing his actions to repair what his pride could have ruined Logan tried his best to please both with his sounds and body. Virgil’s deep dark moans became growls as Logan pressed his nose to Virgil’s groin. It made his slutty heart jump as much as his cock.

“Fucking love when our boys play so well together.” Dimitri sat back on the coffee table drawing Patton to his lap.

“Language!” Patton tried to sound authoritative, but failed as Dimitri magically clicked his clothes away. The soft worn yellow gloves working across Patton’s sensitive body.

“Ohh. Dee. T-that feels.” Patton melted back against the dark side’s body as the skilled hands worked all the tension out of his shoulders and thick thighs then playing with his soft stomach and hard nipples.

It was glorious. All the sights and sounds before him. Playing with his toy was great, but watching the others play with his toy while fondling the DILF of his wet dreams, Dimitri could have been stricken from the mindscape with a smile on face. But he wasn’t going anywhere. Not until they were all sticky and worn out.

“Let me see your handiwork there, Princey.” Dimitri called out while he let his hand slide down to Patton’s inner thigh. Humming as Logan’s bright red ass bore the word Falsehood over and over again. “That’s wonderful. Won’t be able to sit without thinking about you, us, all of this for days. Why don’t you give my toy a little pleasure for taking his punishment so well.”

“Can I fuck him?” Roman knelt behind Logan, gripping his hips and grinding hard against Logan’s swollen ass. The yelp turned into vibrations around Virgil’s cock, making Roman do it again, just to see Virgil’s eyes roll back in his head again.

“No. A bad toy doesn’t get that much pleasure. But you can use him anyway you need to get off. Being creative, think of something. Dimitri clicked the rest of Roman’s clothes away. The action made Patton moan at the sight Roman’s cock standing at attention.

“Fuck..Fuck F-fuck yes.” Virgil chanted as Logan continued sucking him down. Being able to truly focus without Roman’s punishing force. “I’m ...gonna…’M” Virgil’s words blending out into groans as Virgil spilled right there. Logan’s throat flexed around his cock taking every drop.

“Mine now!” Roman kissed Virgil as his pulling Logan off the other’s softening cock. Forcing Logan up onto his knees on then flat onto his back. The couch springs creaking as the prince straddled Logan’s head, but facing Logan’s body. Roman lowered himself once Logan’s hands greedily helped the prince’s cock into his mouth. Roman matched the logical side’s actions, deep-throating Logan in three strokes. Their hands wrapped around each other’s hips, helping each other thrust and move. Getting off as fast as they could manage. Virgil assisted by keep Roman’s hair out of his face as the prince went to work on their redeemed lair.

The sight of his boys 69ing right in front of his eyes with Virgil so sweetly looking after them. Adding in the feeling of Dimitri sharp teeth nibbling on his shoulder while the snake’s hands worked his cock in time with their thrusting hips. Patton come so hard, his semen arched high and splattered across Logan’s thigh and Roman’s arm.

“That’s it, come on them, such dirty sluts! Deserve to be marked for sucking each other off on the couch. F-ffuck yes grind against me, Pat. Keep doing that, right there” Dimitri’s mouth continued as he made a mess inside his underwear as Roman’s and Logan’s muffled moans peaked and went quiet. Panting and kissing carried on as everyone sat up with dopey smiles and realized how sticky they all were.

The living room slowly transformed from a den of iniquity to a place of soft blankets, sweet snacks and big glasses of water. Cleaned up and fresh pajamas on, everyone cuddled around the blushing brainiac. Making sure he was okay while they settled into to start on a new show.

Patton picked up the remote, pausing the show. “Wait, Dee you set at the beginning of this. It was a full set in your book. Does that mean Logan lied to you too?”

“Yeah. ‘No Sir, I only think about you when I get hard. The others never cross my mind.’” Dee mimicked Logan’s voice while pulling him close. “Such a bad lair.”

Logan tried to hide his face while they all started laughing.

#sanderssides/sm/ut/month #sanderssides/sm/ut/month2018 #logan's week #lampd #calmd #Day 7 #notsafeforsanders #I'M BACK BITCHES!!!!

55 notes · View notes

bohrapbois · 6 years ago

Text

Full Marks

CHAPTER 4

Description - Ben just so happens to fall head over heels for a Mysterious Man who loves baseball and cracking terrible jokes. Mysterious Man also turns out to be the father of one of Ben’s students.

Warnings - Full blown relationship Hardzello, with plenty of angst, fluff and future smut.

Word Count - 1,347

To say his day was grey was a bit of an exaggeration, but it was near to the truth for Ben. Seeing the Mazzello’s yesterday was all that Ben could think of, over and over again. He was happy for little Beth to have such a happy life, but it didn’t do anything for his aching heart.

It wasn’t common for Ben to fall for someone so easily, but everything about Joe was the type of guy he wanted - and he didn’t even know him! But going off of body language of those around Joe, Ben could tell he was a caring and funny guy.

That didn’t stop him from dragging his feet from the car park to the entrance of the school. Monday was hard for everyone involved, and Ben was going to blame the extra marking he had attempted in his misery yesterday if anyone asks why he seemed so drained. The brightness of the optimistic yellow walls soured Ben’s mood further, and he glared his way down the corridor and into his classroom. He cursed the smiling posters and practically threw his bag onto the floor, tugging the chair back so he could sit in it. He had a while until the students should be arriving, and whereas usually he’d be chugging down some coffees and stealing as many biscuits as he could, Ben instead crossed his arms on his desk and sulkily lay his head on them. He pouted to himself as he whallowed in more pity. Why was everyone else happy except for him? Why was everyone else granted eternal love whilst he only had the shadows? Why was-

“Good morning!” Someone was stood in the doorway, and when Ben recovered from nearly falling off his chair in shock, he saw it was Allen, who taught the first years. Not understanding how the man kept his sanity, Ben was in awe of his skills. The man seemed to really love his job, and would do as much as possible for the kids. Allen seemed to have the perfect life, and Ben only blinked up at the man. Whilst Allen was happily married, got a good house and an actual plan for his life, Ben had finished off two tubs of cheap ice cream last night.

“Hi,” Ben didn’t bother getting up - they were friends, no point in bothering with formalities - but did indicate for Allen to enter. He eyes the extra cup in Allen’s hand, and squealed when the fellow foreigner handed it to grateful hands. Allen was Irish, and had moved over to America in his mid-twenties and ended up staying. He had also been metaphorically adopted by the headmaster and had been teaching here a few years longer than Ben.

“Hard weekend?” Allen perched on the edge of the desk, just about missing the sparkly unicorn sticker Jessica Howard had stuck there for her favourite teacher. Ben grunted in answer, and took a few tentative sips of his coffee (made perfectly, Allen was a saint) before he used his words.

“You wouldn’t believe it, mate,” Ben was very aware that he was avoiding eye contact with Allen, but like hell was he going to show all his emotions this early in the morning.

“Well, I’m here if you need me,” Allen patted Ben on the shoulder, but understood that that particular conversation thread had ended there. So he changed the subject and the two made pointless chatter about the weather, Allen’s wife, their football teams back over the pond, and their plans for the upcoming teacher-parent evening.

“I’ll probably do it in my class,” Ben had long since finished his perfect coffee, but continued to play with the stained mug in his hand, “don’t see why I should go to another class and take away some space and privacy from someone else”.

Allen hummed, eyes not focusing on anything in particular as he sorted out his own plans, “yeah, I don’t really understand why Molly and Heather brought up the idea of sharing classes,” he shrugged, before checking his watch. “Right, love our chat, but gotta go”. Allen stood from Bens desk and grabbed both mugs, “don’t want the rascals to get access to an empty room”.

“Don’t know how you can handle the youngsters,” Ben sighs, stretching his back whilst also glancing at the cat face clock on his wall. Yep, five minutes until show time.

“Could say the same to you,” Allen chuckled and waved at Ben over his shoulder as he left the room.

Ben felt somewhat better, could see some colours between the shades of grey, but still very much whallowing in his own pity. Of course he fell for the hot guy with the hot partner. Rami was probably super successful as well, and could afford to take Joe around the world and give him lavish stuff. Ben could never. He could probably pay for plane tickets back home, but that’s about it.

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

The school day was as boring as ever. Instead of being his usual bubbly and excitable self, Ben had droned on to his students about topics none of them were interested about and had snapped unnecessarily at them if they picked on one another. A tension headache had long since settled behind Ben’s eye sockets and when the final bell rang, Ben just gestured to the class that they were dismissed before falling heavily back into his chair and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

He listened to the tiny footsteps of his students file out, and caught the tail ends of conversations, but when a small hand tapped at his elbow, Ben jumped back with a startled scream.

Below him stood a calm-as-could-be Beth Mazzello. “Hello,” she rocked up onto her toes and smiled up at her teacher.

Ben’s heart was still trying to escape his rib-cage, but he now knew he didn’t need to scream again or attack anything, “oh,” he pushed away from the corner he was trapped in, “hello Beth”.

“Hello,” she repeated, before shrugging off her bright pink, sparkly oversized backpack (all backpacks looked massive on kids her age) and it hit the floor with a heavy thud. The two remained silent as Beth unzipped and rummaged through her bag before she pulled something out triumphantly. She pushed the piece of paper into Ben’s hand and urged him to look at it.

It was pretty obvious that art wasn’t one of Beth’s strong suits. His eyes scanned over the messy pen squiggles and he was ashamed that he had to tilt his head slightly before realising what she had drawn him. A somewhat stick figure of her standing next to a somewhat stick figure of Frankie, both of them somehow smiling (could dogs smile like that?) under the pink sun as they stood on purple grass. “I LOEV FRANKY” was scribbled underneath, the letters curving to run down the page rather than across it by the end, seeming as the letters also increased in size further along the sentence.

Ben made a mental note to work on the students handwriting.

“Thank you!” Ben looked over the drawing again and smiled widely before ducking down, bending his knees so he was eye level with Beth, “Frankie loves you too”.

“When can-” Beth started asking when she’d get to see the dog again, but was cut off by a voice calling from her down the corridor. “Oh, that’s Rami! Got to go! Bye Sir!” And just like that, Beth grabbed her still open bag and sprinted down the hallway.

Although he tried, Ben couldn’t stop himself from hearing the happy and excited greeting between Beth and Rami, and by the sound of it, there was an inside joke as Beth squealed into laughter. Ben sighed, head falling forward heavy as he pushed himself back up to standing. He positioned himself away from the windows as he went around the classroom tidying up until he was sure that they had left, and only then did he grab the drawing again and give it another look.

Beth was a sweet girl.

Tag List

@benhardy-1 @hey-holtzy @watercolouredreams @ellie-hegeman @cyndagoaway @zaniath64 @kiraling88

#full marks #my work #my fic #hardzello #joe mazzello #ben hardy #queen cast

28 notes · View notes

jade4813 · 6 years ago

Text

A Lie, Told Often Enough, Chapter 9

Author Notes: Inspired by @fallinginloveinaflash‘s AU prompt. All credit for the idea goes entirely to her.

Title: A Lie, Told Often Enough

Rating: NC-17

Synopsis: Iris just landed her dream job at a PR firm and her first assignment is reforming the bad boy image of celebrity artist Barry Allen. He’s overly cocky and well-known for being a playboy, but Iris has never met a challenge she couldn’t handle.

Chapters: 9/?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Iris was deliciously sore when she woke up the next morning, and she smiled as she stretched, trying to work out the kinks in her muscles. She could still taste Barry on her lips, smell him on her skin, and she let her eyes drift closed as she savored the memory. She imagined it was his hand drifting across her stomach, down her hip, sliding between her thighs.

She kept telling herself that she would get him out of her system soon. Just one more good, hard fuck, and maybe she’d get over this strange addiction she seemed to have formed for him. One more time. One more night.

What would he do if she called him now and told him she needed him? If she whispered that she was wet and ready and had awoken with the need to have him inside her? Would he come to her, help her drive away the need that filled her?

Or would he think she was being clingy, wanting more from him than he wanted to give? Like so many other sad, sorry women he’d left in his wake as he was carried away by the brightly lit chaos that was show business. Would he feel sorry for her? Apologize for her mistake in holding on to a promise he’d never intended to make?

The thought was like a bucket of cold water, driving away the memory of his touch. Her eyes opened in more ways than one, she climbed out of bed and turned her attention to preparing for the day ahead.

Calling him to her would be breaking the rules, she reminded herself as she stepped into the shower. She couldn’t afford to forget that.

A couple hours later, she was sitting at her desk, trying to focus on work, when her phone chirped with an incoming message. “I saw Allen’s interview this morning. Good job. Keep this up, and we may get you back to work sooner than we thought.”

Frowning at Mason’s message, Iris did a quick search for the interview in question. Linda had called her afterwards to update her on the situation, but it hadn’t sounded like that big of a deal. If it got Mason’s attention, however, Iris thought she had better check it out.

As she clicked on the link and waited for it to load, she heard a knock on the door and jogged to answer it. Instead of Barry standing on the other side, however, she found Cisco. He smiled as he handed her a small package, explaining, “Barry said you were coming by the studio today and asked me to give this to you. I was in the area, so I thought I’d drop it off and save you a trip.”

“Oh,” she replied, a slight frown marring her brow. “He asked me to stop by to go over our next steps.”

Cisco’s laugh was wry and apologetic. “Yeah, I’m not surprised. The thing is, he’s in meetings all day, working on his upcoming tour. He always thinks he’ll get done a lot faster than he does, and it always takes all day. And that puts him in a bad mood, so he goes home to crash for a while.”

Iris laughed. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. Sounds like something he’d do. Thanks for the warning.”

“No problem,” Cisco replied with a cheery smile as he turned away. “If you come by tomorrow, he’ll be back to normal.”

“Isn’t that still grouchy?” she called after him.

He laughed and retorted over his shoulder, “Well, sure, but at least it’s the endearing kind of grouchy! You get used to it!”

With a chuckle and a shake of her head, Iris closed the door behind him and tore into the package, wondering what Barry had left for her. Her heart fell into her stomach when the key slid out of the envelope and into her palm.

Moving slowly, as if it was a vicious animal that might bite, Iris walked to her kitchen table and placed the key in the center of its empty surface. Leaning forward, she rested her chin on the back of her hand and stared at it, wondering what it might mean. It looked like a house key. For his place? Why was he giving her a key to his place? Because he had misread her intentions and felt obligated? Or because he wanted to provide his fuck buddy easy access?

She honestly didn’t know which would be worse.

Before she could decide on a course of action, her phone chirped again. When she saw Barry’s name on the screen, she bit her lip and pulled open the message. “Meeting’s running behind. Not sure when I’ll get out. Come by about 10 tonight instead? If I’m not home by then, kill me.”

Tilting her head to the side, Iris pondered his message, wondering if it had some sort of hidden meaning. Uncertain how to respond, she chose her words carefully as she typed out her message. “That’s okay. Cisco said you’re always later at these than you think you’re going to be, so I was prepared.”

Ellipses appeared at the bottom of the screen, and then he replied, “Traitor. He’s not supposed to tell on me like that!” Then, a moment later, “One of these days, they’ll believe me when I say I don’t care what kind of towels they stock backstage, and these meetings will get down to a manageable level.”

That didn’t seem to have any kind of hidden meaning, so she smiled and sent back, “Don’t you know? It is VERY IMPORTANT that you choose the right towels. Your ENTIRE CAREER depends on it!”

“Honey, I honestly couldn’t care less about the towels. Unless you promise I’m going to find you backstage in a towel and nothing else. Then I’d reconsider.”

Her breath caught in her throat, uncertain whether she should be turned on or alarmed by his message. After a minute, she rolled her eyes at herself and muttered, “Don’t be a coward, West. Ask him.” Her fingers trembling a little, she typed out her message. “Oh, Cisco dropped off a key. ??” So she was too scared to actually type out the question. “Sue me,” she muttered.

She could see those damn ellipses again and held her breath until the next text came through. “Oh, yeah. I was going to give you a head’s up about that, but it slipped my mind. Everyone on my team has a key to my place. My schedule can be unpredictable, and I don’t want you to have to wait in the car if I don’t get home on time. Or if I’ve worked too late the night before and oversleep. If we have an appointment and I don’t answer the door when you knock, you can let yourself in and send me a text that you’re waiting if I’m not there.”

Her breath left her in a whoosh, and she had to laugh at her foolishness. Of course. Remembering how Cisco had let himself in to Barry’s place during their dance and how she’d found Harry there the other day, it made perfect sense. She felt so silly about how completely she’d mentally missed the mark that she felt comfortable teasing him in response. “So I should only use the key during regular business hours?”

She smiled as she waited for his response and then chuckled when she saw his return text. “Unless you want to prove your point about the towel…”

Shaking her head, she slipped the phone in her pocket and turned back to her work. As she sat at her computer, her gaze drifted to her folder labeled Relationships. It contained all the information she’d compiled about Barry’s prior romances, which she used as research when planning her current strategy. Pulling it out of the stack of papers on her desk, she put it on top of the pile. It wouldn’t hurt to have it nearby for a while, a silent reminder of why she shouldn’t let herself read more into whatever this thing was between the two of them.

Iris knocked on Barry’s door that evening, shifting her weight back and forth with indecision when he didn’t answer. When she tried again and received a similar lack of response, she pulled the key out of her pocket with shaking fingers. Even though she knew it was a byproduct of his rather unpredictable lifestyle, it still felt strange to let herself into his place. Like she belonged there.

So it was with an excess of caution that she stuck her head into the front door and called out, “Hello? Barry? You here?” Receiving no response yet again, she sighed and let herself inside, closing the door behind her.

She was headed to the couch to wait for his return when curiosity overcame her. It was possibly her best chance to get more insight into the mind of Barry Allen, without him catching on to her curiosity. So instead of sitting down, she meandered through the living room, pausing to look at the photographs on the walls. There were a couple photos of Barry playing on stage; from his appearance, she thought they were likely taken early in his career. Most of the photos, however, were with his family. Iris paused and stared at the faces of the people she assumed to be his parents. With one fingertip, she traced the lines left by a lifetime of laughter in their faces and decided they looked kind. Perhaps she would enjoy meeting them, after all.

Then she moved on, letting her hand trail absently along the top of his television. After a moment’s pause, she headed towards the nearby hallway. She didn’t want to cross the line with her snooping, but surely he would understand if she used the restroom in his absence?

The problem was, she wasn’t sure which room led to the bathroom. Opening the first door she came across, she a coat closet. Behind the next door, she found an empty guest room. Iris closed the door firmly without giving in to temptation to investigate. At the end of the hall, she found two closed doors. She chose one at random and had opened it just a crack when she realized it led to the master bedroom.

Feeling guilty enough already, Iris started to close the door when she heard a sound inside. Curious, she paused and glanced into the darkened room. It was then that she realized Barry was stretched out on top of the covers, snoring gently.

Without stopping to second-guess her actions, Iris crept into the room and approached the bed. Though his body lay in shadow, the light from the hallway fell across his bed, illuminating his face.

There was something so gentle and pure about his face while he was sleeping. This wasn’t the face of a serial heartbreaker or one of the sexiest men alive. He looked peaceful and untroubled, a small smile lifting the corners of his mouth as he turned his face away from the light.

Unable to resist temptation, Iris reached out and trailed one gentle fingertip along the curve of his cheek. He didn’t move, so she bent and brushed a soft kiss against his forehead. She didn’t want to disturb him when he was sleeping so soundly, but she knew she would hold on to this memory, long after their peculiar arrangement had come to an end.

As she straightened to go, however, she felt a hand wrap around her wrist, holding her tight. She watched his eyes flutter open as his mouth curved into a lazy grin. “Hey, you,” he murmured, his voice roughened from sleep. “I wanted to stay up and wait for you.”

“I can tell,” she responded lightly, her voice amused. “It’s okay. We can talk tomorrow.”

“Mmmm…no, it’s okay. I can get up,” he argued, even as he dragged her into bed.

Iris laughed as he pulled her down next to him and tucked his cheek against the curve of her neck. “Well, you’re off to a great start!”

Barry’s breath was warm against her neck, making her shiver when he whispered something that sounded like, “My Iris.”

Her heart skipping a beat, Iris sucked in a sharp breath. “What?”

“Mmm?” Three seconds passed, and she wondered if he’d drifted off again when he mumbled, “I said I promise.”

She relaxed in his arms again. “I should go,” she suggested, though not entirely without regret.

He sighed, pressing a kiss on the sensitive skin beneath her ear. “God, you smell good,” he groaned. Then, in a whisper, he demanded, “You know, you could stay here with me tonight.”

Turning in his arms, she brushed back the lock of hair that had fallen across his forehead. She knew he was too sleepy to think clearly, so she tried not to take his words to heart as she dropped her gaze to his chest and responded in a lightly teasing tone, “And break one of the unspoken rules that define our relationship? I don’t dare.”

When she pulled her gaze back to his, she found him watching her silently. As though unable to keep still, he ran his hand along her side to her hip. He pulled her closer and then bowed his head to kiss the curve of her neck again. His lips trailed down her chest to the swell of her breasts over her shirt. Massaging her ass with one hand, he sucked slightly on the soft skin of her breast, just hard enough to leave a mark.

At her soft moan, Barry raised up and moved over her, pinning her down with the weight of his body. Meeting her eyes, he murmured, “Would that be so bad? To hell with the rules. Stay with me.”

Glancing away, Iris bit back a sigh. He spoke like someone with nothing to lose. But, then, she knew she was the only one of them who was risking everything. Gathering the threads of her composure, she forced a laugh and attempted a teasing tone when she asked, “And how many girls have you said that to?”

That got his attention, and he froze, his eyes wide as he looked down on her. She watched as one corner of his mouth curved up in an arrogant smirk. “Not that many. You’re the first woman I’ve ever met who will fuck me but won’t sleep with me,” he pointed out in a dry tone.

Iris struggled to keep her tone light as she chose her words carefully. “Well, I already said I’m not one of your groupies. At least this way, when I wake up in the morning alone, it’s all part of the plan. I don’t have to worry about you –” She broke off, pressing her lips together to stop the flow of words from leaving her mouth when she realized she’d been about to say, breaking my heart. Realizing she had to finish the sentence somehow, she concluded lamely, “um, worrying that I’m going to misinterpret things. Fucking each other is less messy than sleeping together, don’t you think?”

Barry’s eyes slid to the window, and she felt the movement of his body as he inhaled deeply. When he met her eyes again, his eyes were guarded, hiding his thoughts from her view. “Baby, who said anything about sleeping?” he drawled.

It was, in a sense, confirmation of what she had assumed. His suggestion that she stay had been thoughtless. The implication behind his words had been unintentionally implied by a man who promised nothing just as he risked nothing. It did not matter, she promised herself. He could not hurt her. He could not hurt her.

But part of her wondered if she should be concerned at how easily the thought he might break her heart. Was it already more at risk than she wanted to believe? Perhaps it was already too late, and she should leave now, before her heart really was at risk. But then Barry shifted, pressing against her, and all thought of leaving fled from her mind. Putting her misgivings aside, she lifted her hand to scrape her nails gently down his chest.

One more time. One more night.

Barry relaxed into her touch, but she could swear she saw a flash of sadness in his eyes. In a blink, it was gone, making her wonder if she’d imagined it. Bowing his head, he grabbed the front panel of her blouse in his teeth and tugged, slowly popping open the buttons. This was all it would ever be, she knew, but she swore to herself that this was all she wanted anyway.

To avoid acknowledging the sudden sorrow that weighed her down at the thought, Iris poured herself into him, into this moment together. When he reached for her, she arched to meet him. Their lips met, and she inhaled his breath, imagining she could hold it deep inside her. Like a talisman to ward off future pain.

Barry deftly helped her out of her clothes before quickly removing his own. And then he was leaning over her again. He explored her body with his hands, his lips, his tongue. He brought her to one shuddering climax after another, until it was all she could do to mindlessly chant his name.

But still he didn’t come inside her.

Frustrated and aching, wanting to feel him thrust into her, Iris pushed him off her and stumbled to her feet. “Water,” she mumbled. When she caught sight of the clock on the nightstand, she saw it was after midnight. “I need water.”

Shameless in her nudity, she left the bedroom and turned towards the bathroom – the only room she had not discovered during her earlier investigation. Throwing open the door, Iris flicked on the light before bending over the sink, drinking in mouthfuls of cold water as she plotted her revenge.

When she straightened, however, Barry was standing behind her. She smiled at his reflection in the mirror, his hair tousled from her fingers running through it a hundred times over the past hour. “Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” he asked her as their eyes met in the reflection.

Iris felt herself blush. It was an inexplicable reaction, considering that he had spent the last two hours exploring every inch of her body. “You might have mentioned it.” She reached for the light switch, but he grabbed her wrist.

“No,” he demanded, bringing her hand to her stomach. “I want to watch. I want you to watch.” With his hand covering hers, he nudged her head to the side so he could kiss her earlobe. After scraping it gently between his teeth, he whispered, “Show me how you touch yourself when I’m not there.”

Iris froze. Even with all the things they had done to each other, there still seemed to be something particularly wicked about his suggestion. He wanted to watch her as she touched herself? But his body was so warm and solid behind hers, and she closed her eyes, remembering the fantasy she’d had of him just that morning. Sucking in a deep breath, she started to move her hands slowly, caressing the soft skin of her stomach.

His hands moved with hers, covering hers completely. Everywhere she went to touch, he touched first. There was something particularly erotic about the realization, and she lifted her hand to her breasts, to stroke and tease her nipples.

“Open your eyes,” he breathed, and when she did, she saw his gaze was locked on her face in the reflection. “That’s it, baby.”

It had been her fantasy, and now Iris gave in to the reality of it. She watched his quick intake of breath as he helped her tease herself, felt him stiffen behind her when she moaned. Then she grabbed his other hand and brought it to her waist, sliding her own fingers beneath his. Slowly, tantalizing him and heightening her own anticipation, she slid her hand to the apex of her thighs.

Barry breathed a curse, pulling her back against him hard enough to momentarily hold her hands in place. Then she felt the slight tremor in his fingers as he relaxed the pressure. “Go on,” he groaned, pressing his erection into the small of her back. “Show me what you do next.”

Her eyes locked on his face, she teased the outer folds of her lips, drawing out the torture for them both as she murmured, “I imagine it’s you when I do this, you know. Your hands. Your lips. Your tongue.” At her words, he exhaled suddenly, and she took advantage of his surprise as she slid one finger inside her folds to stroke her clit. With a low moan, she bucked against his hand, pressing against him as his fingers, longer than hers, slid inside her.

“I’ll never be able to touch myself without thinking of this. Of you,” she panted as their hands moved together, pressing inside her, making her ache with need. “Come inside me, Barry. I need you.” Turning her head, she slid the hand on her breast out from under his and grabbed his hair, dragging his lips to hers, repeating her demand against his mouth. “I need you.”

Her words seemed to break something inside him, because he growled, “Damn it, Iris.” Releasing her breast, he pressed against her shoulder blades until she leaned forward to brace her weight against the mirror. “Don’t look away,” he ordered as he grabbed her hips and thrust inside her. “This is what you want, isn’t it? You want me to fuck you?”

She didn’t even have a chance to reply. He had teased her for so long, she came almost immediately when he thrust inside her, but Barry didn’t stop. He was merciless as he pounded into her, bringing her to orgasm again and again, bracing her hips in his hands when her knees buckled.

Finally, with a shout, he climaxed and collapsed against her back, almost taking the two of them to the floor when Iris’s legs proved too shaky to support them both. “Oh, Iris,” he breathed, pressing a kiss to her temple as he helped her find her footing. Then he opened his mouth as if to say something more, paused, and shook his head. Releasing her, he stepped back and turned away, leaving the room without a word.

Iris took a moment to catch her breath and followed him back into the bedroom, only to find him splayed out on the bed again, his arm thrown over his eyes. “Um…I should…I should go,” she said softly, breaking the silence between them as she bent to scoop up her clothing. Barry didn’t respond. Holding her clothes to her chest in a strangely self-conscious gesture, she tried again. “We should, uh, we should probably touch base tomorrow about our schedules. I have some ideas about what we should do next.”

At that, Barry lifted one shoulder off the mattress in a halfhearted shrug. “Sure,” he mumbled. “I agreed to do everything you say, remember? Just give me a call whenever. I’m free all afternoon.”

She nodded. This was what she wanted, sex with no pretense of emotion. So she couldn’t explain why she felt so hollow inside as she darted back to the restroom to get dressed before sneaking out his front door without so much as a goodbye.

On her way out to her car, she saw a flash of light, and her stomach sank. She knew she should be grateful for the paparazzi who had undoubtedly just taken her picture. This kind of press would only serve her purposes. Her relationship with Barry wasn’t real; it was never intended to be private. But as she dove into her car and pulled away, she wished it could have remained private, anyway.

She didn’t know how Barry lived like this. She wasn’t sure she could do it.

“Looks like things are getting interesting between you and Barry.” Iris wasn’t surprised to see the text from Linda the next day. “How late was it when you made your walk of shame, anyway?”

“Very funny, Lin. I was too wiped to drive, so I crashed in his guest room for a while. It was nothing.”

Any hope that her friend would accept her lie evaporated when she read the response. “Oh, yeah. I remember thinking you were definitely sporting some ‘slept in the guest room’ hair in your picture.”

Iris groaned. “Well, we wanted to make it look good for the cameras,” she lied again.

She didn’t delude herself into thinking Linda had bought her story, but she at least seemed willing to pretend for her sake, as she didn’t press the point. Unfortunately, her next text was hardly comforting, either.

“So, have you figured out how you’re going to end it when this is all over? The way things are going, it’ll be mission accomplished before long.”

Ignoring the sinking sensation in her stomach, she forced herself to type her response. “I haven’t finalized a plan yet, but I’m working on it. Any ideas?”

Several minutes passed before she received Linda’s response. “You’ll need to be the one to end it, you know. At least that’s what people will have to believe.”

The thought had occurred to her, though the prospect gave her no joy. She told herself fit was only because she dreaded what how her image would be eviscerated in the press when it happened.

But Linda wasn’t done. “And you’ll want to be thoughtful about who he’s seen dating next. It should be someone who helps reinforce his reformed image. If he’s willing to do it.” Iris stared at the text, reading it again and again. Rationally, she knew that there was wisdom in Linda’s advice. But the thought of watching Barry publicly engaged in a relationship with someone else after this was all over, even knowing that it would be no more real than her own relationship was…she couldn’t bear the thought.

Would he kiss that unnamed woman the way he kissed Iris? The thought made her want to cry.

“That’s not going to be a problem, is it? I mean, it’s not like you’ve fallen for him or anything,” Linda asked.

Grateful her friend wasn’t there to see the look on her face, she typed out her response. “No, of course not. It’s not a problem at all.”

“I’m not saying you owe me because that would be rude. I’m just saying that in fairy tales, what I am about to give you would warrant the promise of a princess’s firstborn child. And I think you should bear that in mind when Christmas rolls around this year.” Joanie said with a smug smile as she slid an envelope across the table at Iris.

“That good, huh?” she asked skeptically as she nudged her coffee cup out of the way so she could scoop it up, “You were able to get those movie premiere tickets for me?”

“Better.”

Iris had started to make a skeptical sound, but it broke off abruptly as she flipped open the lip of the envelope and saw what was inside. “Holy shit, Jo. How’d you manage this?” Pulling out the embossed invitation, she skimmed the elegant cursive text once and then again, unable to entirely believe her eyes. “This is…it’s an invitation to Walter Prescott’s birthday celebration tomorrow night. Everybody who’s anybody in Hollywood is going to be there. I’m pretty sure people have offered to pay millions for a ticket. And you’re giving me two?”

Narrowing her eyes in feigned suspicion, Iris asked, “Who did you have to kill for these? I’m not saying it wasn’t worth it. I just want to make sure I have my story straight when the police come knocking on my door.”

Joanie laughed. “No hit squads necessary…this time. Alex’s girlfriend somehow got her hands on a couple of tickets. I think her dad’s some sort of diplomat or something. They were planning to go, but then Alex got the flu. They offered the tickets to Kara, but you know she’d rather jump off a building than go to this kind of thing. So she gave them to me.”

“Jesus,” Iris breathed, putting the tickets safely in her purse. If Barry wanted to break into Hollywood, he was going to need connections. There was no better way to rub elbows with the right people than Walter Prescott’s annual birthday bacchanalia. “I – You’re right. I totally owe you my firstborn child.”

Her former sorority sister laughed. “I actually am not in the market for kids right now, so I’ll pass. But if you wanted to get me a berry mocha muffin, I wouldn’t turn it down.”

Iris stifled a yawn behind her fist as she reached for her glass of water. She would have expected that an event people were willing to pay millions to get into would be less…dull. Though she supposed the festivities hadn’t really gotten underway yet. She and Barry were seated at the birthday dinner at an upscale hotel in the heart of the city. After a few hours of dinner and dancing, the party would move to Prescott’s private estate, where the biggest and most important names in Hollywood would drink and party the night away.

She would have thought Barry would be enjoying the festivities, but he had been withdrawn all evening. He had barely said a word to her from the moment she showed up on his doorstep in a dress the color of champagne that had a slit nearly to her hip and hugged her every curve. Though he’d murmured a compliment and kissed her on the cheek after escorting her to the limo – for the benefit of the cameras, of course – he had been distant ever since.

Even now. She glanced at Barry out of her eye and saw that he was engrossed in conversation with the person on his other side. Quickly wiping the scowl off her face, she sighed. She couldn’t exactly fault his behavior. He wasn’t being rude – or even cold, per se. He made sure to engage with her enough to satisfy the cameras and ensure no inconvenient rumors would hit the headlines in the morning. But he was still…distant.

When he smiled at her, it didn’t reach his eyes. Every time he leaned down to murmur in her ear, she was painfully reminded that this was nothing more than an act. Of course, she’d always known that was true. But tonight, it felt true. And she didn’t know what she could do about it – or even if she should.

Bored, Iris found herself praying for the first time that her evening with Barry would end. She shot him a look out of the corner of her eye just when he turned to look down at her. When their eyes met, he threw her that same polished smile she’d seen all evening, pulled her into a one-armed embrace for the sake of the cameras, kissed her temple, and then turned his attention back to his previous conversation.

Iris clenched her teeth in reaction to the irritation she couldn’t let herself convey. Apparently, she was going to have to do something drastic to get his attention. She took a quick glance around to make sure the tablecloth was long enough to cover her movements and then reached for the line of her underwear under her dress. Shifting back and forth slowly, using conversation with the other couples at the table to cover her movements so as to not draw attention to what she was doing, she nudged her underwear down her hips.

Drawing her panties out from under her ass was the tricky part, and she feared for a second that Barry had caught on to what she was doing when he shot another glance her way. But, no, he paused only long enough to throw her another hollow smile, and then his attention wandered once more. Iris bit back a curse as she pretended to drop her napkin and used the motion of bending down to pick it up as cover to pull her panties down to her thighs.

After that, the task became infinitely easier. Rubbing her legs back and forth slowly, she slid her silky thong down her legs to her knees, where they hovered for a moment before falling easily to the ground. Iris carefully scooped up the tiny scrap of fabric with one foot, fighting back a devilish smile as she casually reached under the table to retrieve her underwear.

Then, when she was sure Barry was well and truly distracted, she slipped the thong, still warm from her body, into his hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as a slight frown of confusion flickered across his face. Then he jumped, slamming his knee against the underside of the table as realization sunk in. He spun to face her even as he muttered a sheepish apology for his clumsiness, but Iris met his wide-eye astonishment with feigned innocence.

Let him ignore her now.

Reaching for her hand under the table, Barry gave it a squeeze as he leaned in and pressed a kiss against her lips, playing to the audience. Nuzzling her ear, he whispered, “You know I’m going to get you back for that, right?”

Iris smiled. “I know you’ll try,” she dared him in return. He snorted and straightened, seemingly turning his attention back to his previous conversation. However, underneath the table, his fingers pushed the fold of her dress aside and tickled the skin just above her knee.

Iris bit back a smile as she accepted the glass of champagne placed before her by a passing waiter. Barry, however, shook his head at the offer. “Can’t stand the stuff,” he offered in explanation. All the while, his fingers traced a slow path up her leg to her hip, the folds of her skirt falling open under his touch.

He stroked her hip with the outside his fingers as he laughed at something someone else at the table said and leaned forward in a pretense of getting the waiter’s attention to order another drink. Iris caught her breath when he used the motion to cover his movements as he slid his hand over her thigh to her inner leg, stroking the soft skin there.

When Iris glanced over at him, she saw that he was watching her out of the corner of his eye. Reading his silent challenge, Iris slowly spread her thighs as she took a sip of her champagne.

Barry grinned, and Iris had to catch her breath when he slipped his fingers inside her. She was gratified to see that he was not entirely unaffected by what he was doing to her. When she put her hand on his thigh, he was so tense it was like touching corded steel. She shifted slightly in her seat, pressing against his hand, and watched a muscle jump in his jaw.

When she let her hand drift towards his inner thigh, however, he pulled his hand away to grab her wrist instead, holding her in place. Leaning in, he murmured in a gravelly undertone, “Not a good idea, Princess.”

Iris grinned and turned her attention to the woman sitting on her other side, picking up an earlier thread of conversation. But her momentary sense of victory was short-lived; she was just asking about her companion’s children when she felt Barry’s fingers enter her again. Surprised, she sucked in a sharp breath and jerked, biting back a moan just in time.

“I – I was crossing my legs and I hit my knee on the bar under the table,” she lied when her companion asked if she was okay. She wanted to murder Barry when she heard his soft snort of laughter next to her, even as he slid two fingers inside her and flicked her clit with the tip of his thumb. Iris had to grip the side of the table with both hands and focus on her breathing to keep from giving herself away.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” the older woman asked. “You look flushed.”

“I’m-I’m fine,” Iris panted. “It’s just a little warm in here. Anyway, you were saying? Something about –” She let her voice trail off since she couldn’t have said what her companion had been saying if her life depended on it.

Barry was ruthless, sliding his fingers in and out of her, tickling her inner walls. When Iris lifted her champagne glass to her mouth with one trembling hand, he leaned in and whispered, “I want to be inside of you right now.”

“We should dance,” Iris blurted, interrupting the older woman’s story about her oldest son’s girlfriend. Pushing away from the table, she twitched her dress back into place and stood, hoping her trembling legs weren’t noticeable. “Barry?”

His smile was entirely too smug as he followed her to his feet. “Of course,” he agreed, stepping slightly behind her to block the evidence of his arousal from view. “Lead the way.”

Iris stepped towards the dance floor, even as she scanned the room for the nearest exit. A dance had been a convenient excuse to get away from the table; what she really wanted was to get him alone. Finally spotting a door leading outside, she started to skirt the crowd until Barry grabbed her hand and gave it a tug, pulling her into his arms.

“I didn’t really want to dance,” she mumbled as his arm went around her, pulling her close.

“I know,” he whispered, nuzzling the side of her neck. “But if we just disappear, people will ask questions.”

Leaning in, she pressed against him, feeling the hard line of his erection through their clothing. “And if I take you inside me right here in the middle of all these people? Will they ask questions then?” His chuckle was pained, so she pressed her advantage.

Standing on her tiptoes, she whispered in his ear, “I can feel how hard you are. I want to take you into my hand. My mouth. Stroke you slowly. You’ve already felt how wet I am. I’m so ready for you to slide inside me and –”

“Let’s get some fresh air,” Barry blurted, spinning her around again and nudging her back towards the door. Stifling a laugh, Iris made her way to the exit, stopping only long enough for Barry to grab a half-empty bottle of champagne from a waiter as they passed.

“I thought you hated champagne?” she teased, her voice full of feigned innocence as he held it in front of his crotch, blocking his erection from view.

Barry just glowered at her out of the corner of his eye, directing her towards the line of limos by the curb, waiting to take the esteemed guests to the real party. “Come on,” he grunted.

“We’re supposed to head over to the Prescott Estate soon,” she reminded him as she climbed into the back seat.

Pausing only long enough to give the driver his directions, Barry followed. “Yeah? Well, we may be a little late.”

As the driver pulled away from the curb, Barry pushed Iris gently back against the seat and lifted her leg over his shoulder, letting the folds of the dress slide off her thigh to pool around her waist as she spread herself open for him. Massaging her calf, he stared down at her with a look of awe. “This is never going to get old.”

“Keep frustrating me like this, you’re not going to grow old,” she growled.

Barry laughed and lifted the bottle of champagne, carefully pouring it down her leg. Iris shivered as the bubbly liquid poured over her and then shuddered when he turned his head and licked the rivulets of alcohol off her warm skin. He moved the bottle over her knee and poured more champagne down her thigh, quickly following with his mouth.

“Oh, my god, Barry,” Iris breathed, wrapping her legs around him.

Iris’s breath was ragged as she snatched the bottle out of his hand. Pushing down the straps of her dress, she met his eyes in challenge as she tilted the bottle over her breasts. The liquid was cold as it ran over her nipples, but Barry’s breath was hot as he followed with his mouth.

Iris groaned, running her hands through his hair as he sucked her nipple between his teeth and flicked his tongue against the nub. He licked the underside of her breast, increasing suction to leave a mark just under its curve.

“More,” she breathed as he kissed his way down her chest to her stomach and then down to the open slit of her dress.

“You know what? You were right. I could get used to the taste of champagne, after all,” he joked, his mouth pressed against her skin. “But I like the taste of you even better.” Pushing her thighs wide, he ducked between her legs, running his tongue along her outer folds.

Iris sighed and arched her back, her hands fisted in his hair, holding him tightly to her. She moaned as his tongue teased her with smooth strokes. He scraped her with his teeth and thrust his tongue deep inside her until she was mindlessly panting his name. “Please. Barry, please.”

“Come for me,” he breathed, nipping her inner thigh with his teeth. Lifting one hand, he teased her breasts as he licked his way to her opening again. Pinching her nipple, he speared her again with his tongue, pressing hard against her clit.

Iris screamed as her orgasm washed over her, shuddering against his mouth. Before her shudders could subside, Barry lifted her off the seat, rotating to pull her down on top of him. In one swift move, she guided him to her entrance and sunk down on him, taking his cock deep inside of her.

Her breath catching in her throat, Iris rolled her hips against his in strong, steady strokes. He slid his hands under her ass and squeezed before slipping his long fingers between her thighs to tease her even as she rode him. With a soft hiss, Iris grabbed his wrists and lifted them to the back of the seat, pinning them on either side of his head. He had teased her long enough. This time, she was calling the shots.

Lifting herself off him, Iris fell to her knees in front of his seat. Barry groaned as she took him in her hand, running her fingers along his erection in steady strokes. Taking him into her mouth, she swirled her tongue around the tip of his penis, savoring the taste of their juices on his skin. Iris took him deep in her throat, pressing her tongue against the vein on the underside of his shaft.

Increasing suction, she hummed softly as she bobbed up and down on his shaft. “Iris – god, Iris,” he groaned, his fingers clenched into fists at his sides. She knew he was close to climax, but she didn’t stop. Instead, she cupped his balls in her hand, pressing her thumb against the base of his shaft as she sucked him as far into her mouth as she could, swallowing quickly as he came.

Iris swirled her tongue against the tip of his penis as she lifted herself off him and smiled as he pulled her on top of him once more. Guiding her lips down to his, he sucked her tongue into his mouth. She rocked against him until she felt him grow hard against her once more.

“Again?” she asked with a gasp.

“Baby, you’re gonna kill me,” he growled as he thrust inside her. She rode him hard and fast, her fingers digging into his shoulders as he brought her to orgasm once more. She pressed her mouth against his, swallowing his shout as he shuddered and came inside her, his arms tightening around her waist, holding her against him almost hard enough to take her breath away.

Iris collapsed on top of him, her head pressed against his shoulder as they fought for breath. Bracing herself for what she would see, she glanced down at the dress bunched around her waist, noticing with chagrin that it was irrevocably wrinkled and covered in champagne stains. Barry looked to be in a slightly better state, since his black tuxedo covered most of the damage, though his shirt would be completely unsalvageable.

“Oh, my god. I can’t possibly go to the party like this. What are we going to do?”

With a grin, Barry rested one palm on her leg. “Well, if we can’t go anywhere anyway…”

Iris laughed and shook her head. “Steady there, tiger. I didn’t promise away my firstborn child for you to skip this party. I have an idea. Call Harry and have him bring a white dress shirt to my place. I’m sure I find something else to wear. Though I’m not quire sure how we’ll explain it.”

Feigning a disappointed sigh, Barry pulled his phone out of his pocket. After glancing at the screen, he threw her a sheepish smile. “So, uh…is this a good time to mention that my parents just texted? They want us to come visit them this weekend.”

Iris looked down at the state of the both of them – covered in champagne, her dress in complete ruins where it pooled around her waist, the two of them completely exposed – and hid her face in her hands as she let out a disbelieving bark of laughter. “Of course they do. Oh my god.”

#a lie told often enough #barry allen #iris west #westallen #my fanfiction #fanfiction #rock star au

86 notes · View notes