#witch is Devastated when you just hand over your knife and let her kill you. emotionally vulnerable. clearly suffering

[voiceofthe]

would like to propose the idea that, similar to how most of the voices exist for the goal of keeping the protagonist safe, the smitten is there to keep the *princess* safe

[lovesanmotion]

yandere!fanboy!ateez reacts: their s/o getting into a dating scandal

💌 REQUESTS: open | I decided to post this even though only one had voted for this exhibit. Plus, I wanted to try my hand into writing this. This reaction post is dedicated to the anonymous who voted for exhibit B. 

Hongjoong:

News broke out today as Y/N and TXT’s Beomgyu are dating, followed by a statement confirmations from VS Media and Big Hit Entertainment. Furthermore, Dispatch released a series of photos of the new couple going on secret dates, supporting the confirmations that the two had been in fact been dating for a few months already. 

The news shocked the whole nation. Many fans congratulated the couple, but many others were upset by the news and have claimed that they have been ignoring their fans. Once of the many others who were upset was Hongjoong. He felt betrayed that you would dare that someone who doesn’t really love you and would only use your name and fame to be in the same level as you. He thinks this is a sick PR stunt and that it had to be over. But seeing as it was real, Hongjoong took it into the internet to create petitions such as removing Beomgyu from the group. His feelings would be so crushed that he wouldn’t look at your face or say your name in a long period of time. But the guilt of not loving you ate his insides that he couldn’t bare not giving you the special treatment he offers you. 

Once Y/N and Beomgyu released an apology letter for not letting the fans know about their relationship, he could only scoff and think that the apology is insincere and lacks emotion. He continues to leave abusive and hateful comments about the two until it reaches to the point that Y/N and Beomgyu had to break up. When the two broke up, Hongjoong felt never better. 

Seonghwa: 

As someone like Seonghwa who follows you around with his camera in hand, he already knew that you kept meeting with The Boyz’s Haknyeon multiple times. He didn’t believe that you two are just close friends. So he ran around starting rumours of you two dating on the internet, followed by a thread of pictures that he caught. And shortly afterwards, VS Media and Cre.Ker confirmed that Y/N and Haknyeon had been in fact dating. 

It made Seonghwa so sick that both fans support the couple. In his rage, he threw and trashed everything in his sight. Creating a chaos both in his mind and in his home. He thought that you were stupid for dating someone that isn’t him. Why Haknyeon when you have him? Seonghwa who knew you with his eyes closed and at the back of his hand. He thought he had you figured out, but outsmarted him. 

He couldn’t accept that the love of his life dating somebody else that he went on killing spree, killing Haknyeon’s fans before he could reach the idol himself. To Seonghwa, there is no other potential lover like him and him only. 

Yunho: 

He knows that Y/N is a big fan of Super Junior’s Eunhyuk. He is the idol that she looks up to and is the reason why she entered the entertainment industry. But when the news of Y/N and Eunhyuk broke out by Dispatch as the new year couple, it was definitely not a happy new year for Yunho. 

Yunho didn’t like how you would go home to someone else. It should be him that you would go home to. He expressed his distaste online by supporting hate comments on the couple, resharing and retweeting posts to garner further attention. He would leave hate comments not only to Eunhyuk but to Y/N as well. He felt so heartbroken that he couldn’t help but spat out derogatory messages to you. 

Day and night, Yunho continued to add flame to the fire until one day Y/N and Eunhyuk parted ways due to the pressure they felt in the public eye. When they broke up, Yunho threw a party at his home. 

Yeosang: 

Yeosang is someone who is just like Seonghwa, who invests his time and energy on Y/N. You are his world, without you, life is meaningless as it is only you that keeps the world together and functioning. Especially Yeosang. When he heard the love of his life dating her ‘Witch’ co star and leading man Treasure’s Hyunsuk, he laughed at the articles. Knowing too well that you would never say yes to someone who isn’t Yeosang. 

And when the news tablets released a statement that Y/N and Hyunsuk denied the accusations, he felt proud of himself. But that doesn’t mean he would go easy on you two as he read on the article that Hyunsuk fell for you while filming. 

San: 

We all know how celebrities post photos online and immediately delete it afterwards in a blink of an eye, right? The same situation happened to Y/N and EXO’s Sehun. Apparently, Y/N had posted a photo of Sehun cuddling on top of her in bed and deleted it afterwards. 

San didn’t like what he saw and broke his phone at the sight of someone else being too close and intimate with you. Let alone that it wasn’t him who was giving you that attention. That day, San came up with an ultimate plan to get rid of him even if both entertainments denied the speculation. 

On the day of EXO’s comeback stage, San had purposefully and successfully slipped a coffee drink to Sehun infused with clear chemicals. He was happy that the idol was brought to the hospital but cursed to himself as it was not enough to kill him. 

Mingi:

Recently, Mingi joined a groupchat with other “fans” who holds various informations about idols and would form groups to accomplish “tasks”. Mingi, along with the other so-called fans got into various fields of jobs such as airline, phone and credit card companies. In Mingi’s case, he got into a credit card company that had you as one of their top holder. 

So when he finally got a hold of your purchases, he was surprised to see that you had been shopping at a certain men’s fashion brand. Following it up, there were rumors of you and Seventeen’s Mingyu seeing each other. To Mingi’s rage, he exposed your credit card number along with the purchases that you made online and offline. His post analytics gathered eleven thousand impressions with thirty thousand interactions. Minutes later, a case was filed against him for violating contracts. 

But never was Mingi thrown into prison. His friendly groupchat paid upon him and cleared all his charges. Mingi still walks a free man until this date. 

Wooyoung: 

Wooyoung felt like he was stabbed in the back when the news of Y/N and Nuest’s Minhyun confirmed to be dating for months. How could he not see this? He would be so devastated that he will have no control on what he is doing. 

And since he has no control on what he is doing, he would take a knife and carve out the words “Don’t forget me Y/N. I only have you. I love you.” on his waist skin. Following it up, he continued to carve the words “Come back to me, Y/N” on the skin of his wrists. He would take pictures of his motive act and post it online. His post alone gathered international attention and led to the breakup of the couple, followed by an apology statement from Y/N herself. 

When Wooyoung read the apology, he didn’t hesitated to leave a private message on Y/N’s social media. “That’s okay. You’re stupid but I love you.” 

Jongho: 

He would be so devastated but at the same time furious as how you could give yourself away to someone else just like that. He didn’t like how the agencies confirmed the news of you and OnlyOneOf’s Yoojung dating. Much to his anger, he would rip out the pages of his merchandise of you and burn them. Taking pictures and then posting them online. 

But Jongho won’t stop there. He’s going to resort to the ultimatum. He would install a GPS tracker on your car and tamper your phone number so he would know all the messages you would send to anyone. Upon receiving them, he would send you anonymous text messages and belittle you how could be so careless and ignore the love your fans gives you. And by fans, he meant himself only. 

Due to severe online bullying, you are forced to part ways with Yoojung, release an apology statement to the public and decided to take on a hiatus from the public eye due to anxiety that you faced while dating. 

[fanficparker]

A GAME OF DIAMONDS AND HEARTS // H.O.

>> CHAPTER FOUR

“The life that you seek you shall never find. For when the Gods made man, They kept immortality to themselves.” - The Epic of Gilgamesh

(Frenemies to Lovers! Mob AU! ) Harrison Osterfield x Fem!OC

Word count: 2.47k words

Warning: Swearing, knives, anger issues, guns, handcuffs, kidnapping (kind of?), Harrison Osterfield (Yeah, that's a legit warning)

Synopsis: After the sudden death of his uncle and the eccentric multi-millionaire mafia king Lufian Clarke, Harrison Osterfield’s almost decent life is mostly devastated especially when half of what should be rightfully his fortune is transferred to their immediate rival for reasons he doesn’t know. What’s remaining is him trying to figure out how to deal with this collaboration of two rival corporations that don’t belong together and work on the side of the woman he never knew would ever be referred to as his partner in crime while they are dragged into a mess bigger than what they were trained to handle.

<< THREE [ MASTERLIST ] FIVE >>

Sandhya parked the car at the rear side of an autobody workshop next to a white pickup truck that resembled closer to junk than any actual mode of transportation. It was past ten when she pulled there, and the three people Harrison spotted in the shop were on their way to shut it down for the night's call. He had managed to keep a careful eye at what turns she took as the roads forked or what landmarks she crossed on her way, only to achieve practically nothing. He was a stranger to this place and she being the wicked witch she was, had driven in circles so many times that he was sure, she had managed to complicate the path for him in manners that his head failed to unravel.

"We are here, homies." She announced, yawning at the last part, tapping her palm over the dashboard, tugging the keys from the ignition and then pulling the hand brakes.

Kevin groaned, shuffling in his seat, eyes half-lidded, voice groggy with sleep. The women sitting beside him plucked off her earphones, shutting her laptop. Harrison, on the other hand, chose to inspect the unfamiliar surrounding in the comfort of the car, eyes sceptical and narrowing. He ignored the thud of car doors opening and closing only to be disturbed by a sharp noise of metal keys hitting the window on the other side.

He squirmed at the unpleasant sound and turned to look at the intruder as she leaned across from him, on the opposite side of the car, the neon signboard of the car workshop flashing red light over her face. She looked like an angel from hell.

"Are you moving out? Or should I rather lock you up here?"

Harrison tamped down the urge to roll his eyes and stepped precariously out of the car, rolling up his sleeves and buttoning them near his elbows. He followed the three people as they walk down a slope that connected to an underground parking lot. There were a few cars and motorbikes parked there, most seemed to be in a dire need of repair. It took him roughly two minutes to figure out that it was no underground parking. It was a whole ass hideout disguised on the front with unused motors. They walked into a narrow alleyway, passing through several closed doors of what he assumed were rooms to a living area attached to a kitchen. It wasn't well furnished but furnished enough for a stay. Gray unpainted walls, sofas, tables and chairs, fridge, microwave, a small but flattering shelf full of wine bottles and a CCTV monitor to the top corner that covered the outside of their hideout, all the necessities one needs to survive.

"Hey, we will need your phone and your watch." The other woman he didn't know the name of yet, matched his pace, her laptop tucked below her arm, her green hair shorter than his with a cool undercut to the sides. She looked equally chill and nerdy in her baggy checked shirt, a mixture foreign to him.

He paused on his way, casting her a scathing glare, a bored look wiping over his face the next instant, "And why would I give you that?"

"Because Holly needs to encrypt them," Sandhya replied for her, standing beside the taller girl.

"So that it isn't traceable." Holly reluctantly but quickly added. She was younger than them, probably around Harry's age. Harrison could feel an undercurrent of fear floating through her voice.

"Thank you very much, but..." Harrison replied, not missing a beat, shooting a bitter smile at Sandhya before facing Holly, uttering: "No," his lips forming a proper 'o' as he took a step away only to be stopped by Sandhya's hand grabbing his wrist.

"It's not a choice, Harrison." She asserted.

An order.

Something sour lathered at the back of his tongue. A vein in his forehead twisted. Anger? Resentment? Malice? You just name it. He felt all of them at once.

He jerked away from her grip, releasing his arm. When he turned to face Sandhya again, his entire aspect had changed. His shoulders were square and broad, posture imposing, features stone, eyes icicles. They exchanged a long, threatening glare, eyes never wavering. He took a step ahead, expecting her to step back but she didn't recoil, holding her ground. She had the sort of personality you associate stereotypes with: high cheekbones, tall stature, sharp features but she somehow managed to defy most of them. Without her heels and now wearing some flat running shoes, she barely reached his chin, there was something warm about the softness of her features hidden beneath her belligerent attitude. The little baby fat her genetics had blessed over her face, provided her preys with false hopes of mercy. Betrayal at its finest.

He looked down at her and she looked up at him, their shoes bumping, faces inches apart. Realisation ticks through her mind when she looked a second deeper into his eyes.

He was, perhaps, stalling.

Her neck snapped to the monitor embedded at the top corner of the living space.

Shit.

A car had stopped outside their hideout and two armed men emerged from the car, strolling towards the basement.

She identified one of the men. His men.

"Look ou--" She tried to yell but Harrison didn't allow even an ounce of air to escape from her lungs. He'd grabbed her shoulders swiftly, taking advantage of her diverted attention, squeezing her shoulder blades and twisting her body. Her back flushed against his chest.

Both Kevin and Holly grabbed their pistols, the clicking sound of safety pins dropping echoed in the enclosed space. They pointed the weapon at Harrison but he already had a pocket knife pointed at Sandhya's throat while his other arm was pressed beneath her neck, holding her still.

"Keep your guns down or this floor would bathe in her blood." He warned, poking the tip of the knife into her skin, eyes focused on the pistols.

Kevin and Holly hesitated, their eyes flickering at Sandhya's face. Something passed between their eyes, some sort of permission and they threw their guns down, sliding them away from their reach.

"Hands above your head, quick." Harrison added, "And place them on the wall, face the other side."

Holly and Kevin obeyed without questioning, pressing their palms to the walls, while Harrison bent to pick up their pistols, shoving them at the back of his pants, holding Sandhya on a chokehold.

"I'd warned about your men's involvement in Clarke's murder," she whimpered when he placed the blade near her skin again, getting to his feet, "Yet you let them trace our location," she somehow managed to finish the sentence.

"You speak a lot for someone millimetres apart from dying."

"You won't kill me." She said, gritting her teeth.

"Yeah, but I can hurt you," he whispered near her ear, "And we both know how much I'd like that." His warm breath fanned over her cheek as he dug the pointy edge of the blade to the pulsing side of her neck, pressing not enough to cut her but enough to terrify her.

"Arsehole." She muttered, sucking in a breath.

"Tell me something new." His lips twisted into a devilish grin as he dragged her outside, her loose hair tickling under his chin, his arms clenched so tightly around her that she was sure she would still feel them tomorrow.

"I am telling you..." She tried to breathe and speak.

"Sssh..." Harrison interrupted with a shush, the vibrations moving through her flesh, echoing through her bones.

She tried to ignore the effect of his voice on her spine, suppressing the chilling sensation. "We are on the same team," she whispered softly and carefully as if trying to lull a toddler into handling back their parents' important work files.

"Oh well, then I should be the one giving orders."

They walked to the front of the basement. She could spot the shadowy outline of the two men waiting.

She started trying to resist, wiggling her body in his grip.

"Hey, Hey! Behave. This blade won't spare. Don't blame me."

"Let go, Harrison. Your life is on the edge!" She wiggled harder.

Edge.

He couldn't stop but laugh at the irony in the metaphor she chose.

They reached his men and she stilled in his grip. A white man, she identified as Tom (as Harrison had previously pointed out) and the other man she didn't identify was black and taller than all of them, both standing like soldiers in front of her.

"This is Tom. And this is Tuwaine," he introduced his men.

"This could be dangerous for both of us." She was almost pleading now, eyes pooling with tears of irritation and of failure.

"We don't want to kill her," Tom said, passing Harrison a pair of handcuffs.

And here she thought she had the lead.

"Why do y'll keep telling me that?" Harrison groaned at Tom's advice. He had repeated it over, even Sandhya has said the same thing, twice.

"Do I look like a psychotic killer on a killing frenzy?" He grabbed her wrists, fastening the cuffs behind her back, gripping her upper arm. "I know well who and whom I am supposed to hurt, how and where." He clarified, gently pushing her to sit on the back seat of the car. She obeyed this time, having no choice.

"It's not easy to trust you," Tuwaine added.

Harrison nodded, trying to look offended, "Thanks Tuwaine, I needed that," getting into the car, along with her, keeping a good distance between them. He snorted when she swirled her neck to the other side, refusing to look at him.

Tom settled himself on the driver's seat and Tuwaine sat beside him as the car drove off.

***

The giant gates of the mansion she'd only seen from far away opened like butterfly's wings, welcoming the car where she sat as a hostage.

"Aren't you delighted seeing this place?" Harrison asked in a tone that was closer to mockery than curiosity.

She still refused to look at him yet could hear the smirk in his voice.

"The place you won in the lottery? Or shall I say, cheated--"

"Fuck off." She interrupted but he went on like a guide, ignoring the cuss—

"The second luxurious property in England, just next to the Buckingham Palace."

She chose to ignore too. The main doors to the estate were wide open. Two women came rushing out when the car came to a halt. One of them opened Sandhya's door, pulling her out, holding her forearm, the other pulled a pistol and a knife from her dress.

"Release her," Harrison said nonchalantly, tossing the keys of the cuffs to the first woman. She unlocked the metal and Sandhya pulled her hands from the woman's grip, rubbing her fingers around her wrists.

She walked in, eyes in the front as Harrison and the crew accompanied her.

"Take her to the guest suite." He said and the same woman nodded.

Before she could grip Sandhya's arm, she moved it away, rushing to Harrison, grabbing his shirt collars with both her hands.

"I'd planned everything so intricately and you... You just ruined it all." She spoke with clenched teeth, eyes glistening with emotionless tears. "Do you--Don't understand the gravity of the situation? We are literally playing with fire." She exhaled forcefully.

He chortled.

Playing with fire?

He had committed various mistakes today, more mistakes than he could recount, more mistakes than he could afford. He had let his emotions get the best of him. He had not inspected Clarke's body, then went to beat Dino's men without even being careful of the various other dangers he could cross paths with, then chose to accompany Sandhya alone, got into a life-threatening car chase, had a sniper pointed to his head.

On top of that, he had also failed to consider the disastrous change the mafia world would go through upon the King's death. Damn, he had already played with fire and it was enough for him.

With Clarke's death: The mafia world has never been so free and so trapped. So vulnerable yet so lethal.

Harrison had discovered that for himself. He fucking knew the gravity of the situation! And that's why he chose to take matters into his own hands. He could trust nobody. Especially her.

"You really need to stop with your habit of holding collars." He held her hand in his, thumbs tracing circles over the back.

She continued to search his face, dark eyes filled with disbelief.

"We will work my way. And..." his face hardened at the conjunction, his thumbs stopped their ministrations as he squeezed her hands tighter. "And when I find your involvement in Clarke's murder, I would not hesitate to put a bullet through your skull."

She snorted this time, pulling her hands back.

"This is what you concluded? This? After everything?" She burst out into a peal of bitter laughter, the one that twisted Harrison's gut.

Her eyes hardened again as she jabbed a finger into his chest.

The next words came out as an unchecked storm out of her mouth, "The life you want, you will never get." Her words were merely whispers but worked their way through his gut, burning his chest, crawling through every fibre of his body and she never seemed to stop.

"You'll never be the next Clarke, you'll never even be half of him. Maybe," she hiccupped, "Maybe, he knew that and that's why he chose me, he chose me over you because he knew how incongruous you were."

She took a step forward, her chest pressing against his, standing on her toes, directly meeting his eyes and raising her voice beyond the point of normalcy, "How you were an insult to his legacy!" Pausing to exhale, she continued, her voice back to low, "It was a pity that he gave you half of his kingdom. You didn't even deserve that. You'll never be him. You are nothing like him."

Harrison bit back his tongue, his icy eyes burning from the lack of blinking. The mansion was dead silent, no one had dared to speak or react. He clenched his fists tight, feeling his nails digging into his palms.

"Take her to the room." He instructed, voice barely above a few decibels. He didn't wait for his words to turn to actions, rather he turned on his feet, striding towards his room, jaws tensed, nerves popping through his burning flesh.

His footsteps echoed behind him.

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…TO BE CONTINUED…

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[ourloveisforthelovely]

In Love and Death Part 11

Harry Potter AU 

Link to Part 10 

Pairings: Regulus Black x Reader 

Rating: M

____

“YOU’RE ACTUALLY GOING?”

Tonks shrieked as you brushed your hair. Turning around, you quickly hushed her. It had been a week since you agreed to go see the healer. Today was the day of your appointment and you were a bundle of nerves. How you hadn’t broken down and told Tonks yet was still a mystery. You had agreed with Regulus to keep things hidden until “something” happened and it was killing you to not tell Tonks. The two of you shared everything. Now here you were almost ready to spill the beans at any moment. Regulus, on the other hand, was calm and reserved as he typically was.

“Yes, and I need you to keep your mouth closed. Regulus didn’t want me to say anything.”

Tonks looked offended.

“Where is the prince charming?”

“Still on a mission with his brother. I am beginning to get worried. He knows that my appointment is today...or at least he is supposed to. I need to leave in like five minutes and of course he isn’t here.”

Tonks glanced down at her watch. She was trying to see Regulus’ point of view in keeping things quiet. The reasonable side understood. He didn’t want to start more turmoil than necessary. The “best friend” side, however, was screaming RUDE!

“I can go with you if you would like. I know that I am not Regulus but I don’t want you really sitting in that clinic alone.”

You shook your head.

“Thanks but I would rather go alone if Regulus doesn’t turn up. It is going to be awkward enough.”

Tonks finally relented.

“True. I have to know what happens. I won’t tell Regulus that I know.”

You smiled as she held out her pinky for a pinky promise.

“Fine. I’ll let you know.”

Half an hour later, you sat in the healer’s exam room on your own. As much as you wanted to be annoyed with Regulus, you couldn’t be. This was part of how things would be with missions and you of all people knew that.

A knock on the door pulled you from your thoughts as a tired-looking old woman stepped in. She looked down at the filed folder in her hands.

“Ms. Rosier, correct?”

You nodded as she sat down and continued to read over the report in her hands.

“So, you are unable to get pregnant and are trying to?”

“True.”

You commented. Deep down you wanted to congratulate her on knowing how to read but your common sense reminded you that this old witch was here to help you.

“It looks like your problems are due to childhood trauma and abuse. Here drink this potion every morning for the next week and a half. It tastes like goblin piss but will work. I have fixed women with a lot of worse issues than what I am seeing with you. Drink your potion then have your husband work his magic.”

You almost snorted at that comment. Damn, you wished Regulus was here to hear that. You could see him blushing over that comment. The prudish side of him would be coming out in full force.

“He will love to hear that.”

You replied as you shoved the potion in your handbag. The witch chuckled.

“I don’t know many men who wouldn’t be thrilled with the prospect of getting laid. Come see me when you think that you’re pregnant and we shall see how things are looking.”

“That’s it?”

You asked, confused. The witch nodded.

“Did you expect me to start poking around down there?”

You shrugged.

“I was expecting more than this.”

The witch chuckled as she stood up. For the first time, the healer seemed to warm up. She reached out and patted your shoulder.

“You kids really are cute. Trust me, Ms. Rosier, this is going to be a lot easier than you expected.”

Stepping back into Grimmauld Place, you were still taking in everything that happened.

“Well?”

You were pulled from your thoughts as you stepped into the kitchen. Regulus sat at the table while Tonks, Remus, and Sirius were standing at the counter. Blinking, you tried to play innocent.

“Well, what?”

You replied. Regulus rolled his eyes as Tonks stepped in.

“Regulus told us where you were going today.”

“Yeah, the healer.”

Sirius came in. You breathed a breath of relief before sitting down at the table.

“I have a potion that she wants me to drink then you and I have some business to do.”

You smirked at the expression on Regulus’ face. He sat quietly waiting to hear some tale of events or get chewed out for missing the appointment but you casually took the tea that Tonks offered you as if nothing had happened.

“That’s it?”

Putting your teacup down you smiled again.

“You know that is the same reaction that I had. I was expecting her to be shoved between my legs looking at my lady bits but she looked over a chart, threw a potion at me, told me to have Regulus work his magic, then bidded me a nice farewell.”

Evan, who you hadn’t even noticed come into the room, froze at the “lady bits comment, spilled his tea, then turned and walked out without another word. Regulus made a mental note to be sure to torment Evan a bit later.

Regulus, himself, was taking in what you just said and blushed as the realization of what the healer said finally hit home.

“Maybe we should leave the two of you alone so you can work some magic.”

Sirius said, bursting into a fit of giggles at the embarrassed expression on your face. Regulus was shaking his head.

“Stay out of it, Sirius.”

Sirius poured a glass of fire whiskey with a smirk on his face.

“No need to be a prude, Reg. We have figured out that the two of you have sex. Some of us have been lucky to see the two of you with your tongues down each other’s throats.”

“Why are you watching, pervert?”

Regulus snapped before focusing his eyes on his older brother.

“At least when we have a child, it won’t have an older brother trying to sell it.”

Sirius didn’t look up as everyone in the room turned to look at him. He innocently looked down at his drink as you frowned.

“What are you talking about, Reggie?”

You asked. Regulus shrugged.

“Ask Sirius. It's his memory.”

Sirius finally looked up.

“I did not, oh wait, yes I did. He was so cute when mum and dad brought him home then he started screaming and taking up all of the attention.”

“I was a baby, you idiot.”

Regulus replied with a haughty frown. Sirius turned his attention back to you.

“So...anyway... I sold him to the old widow next door. Mum had to go get him back then I got the shit slapped out of me. So, Y/n, have you told Evan or Moody about the little plan that you two have cooked up?”

You had started to open the potion and looked up like a child who had their hand caught in the cookie jar.

“Well, no. I figured they could find out when it happens. It will be a lot less painful to deal with Moody after it happens. As far as Evan...he’s a smart boy...he’ll figure it out.”

Regulus’ eyes flickered back to you.

“He has an idea already. He heard you mentioning your lady bits and walked out.”

You stood up and went to the sink. How you missed Evan’s awkward and brief entrance was beyond you.

“One less thing to worry about.”

You downed the potion and automatically winced. Remus, who had been quietly listening from his place by the sink, met your gaze.

“Alright?”

You shook your head.

“Tastes horrible.”

You stood silently for a few minutes wondering if this was how Remus felt when he had to drink his “monthly” potion? If you, you felt sincerely awful for him.

“Well, I don’t feel any different.”

You commented. Tonks grinned up at you.

“It probably takes a bit to take effect. Might as well go work some magic.”

Regulus put down his drink and stood up.

“I’m out of here. Come find me when you need me, Y/n.”

A few hours later you stood helping Molly cook dinner. You had grown closer to the woman since everyone was held up in Grimmauld Place. At first, you thought there were too many people together but it actually wasn’t that bad. Molly had quickly become like the mother that you never had. She had been showing you how to do crafty little things that didn’t involve dark magic. You couldn’t help but smirking at the thought of how your grandmother and mother would be devastated that you didn’t have a Kreacher doing basic chores. Kreacher was enough of a basket case without asking him to do too much.

“Y/n, may I ask a question?”

You nodded as you finished cutting up a chicken. Molly put her knife down before turning.

“I overheard you talking about a certain potion.”

Molly had waited to bring the subject up when Regulus was out of the room in addition to every other man in the house. This was a conversation that she wanted to have without a bunch of “other ears.” Hermione sat at the table finishing up a salad. Molly was fine bringing this up around her.

You, meanwhile, put your own carving knife down.

“Yes, I went to see a healer about my not being able to get pregnant. She gave me a potion to try.”

Molly noticed how Hermione instantly stopped shredding the lettuce and started blinking. The young woman turned in her chair as Molly smiled.

“Are you sure that the two of you are ready for this? It's a big step.”

You were quiet for a moment before speaking. Were you ready...yes and no. You did wonderfully with Teddy but he wasn’t your child. What if you messed this kid up like your parents clearly did with you? Regulus’ childhood wasn’t much better. Two “damaged” people raising a child seemed like a bad idea.

“I know. It's really big but we both want it. I guess I will have to slow down a bit. That was Regulus’ one term and it makes sense. I’ve never liked the idea of being a housewife but maybe it won’t be so bad.”

“You don’t have to stop being an auror just because you are a mother. Tonks does a fine job at it.”

Molly commented.

“Had it been a few weeks ago I would agree with that comment but I was thinking about it...I thought about my childhood and Harry’s childhood...I don’t want my child growing up without parents. Molly, what if I’m a crappy mum? I didn’t have decent parents and neither did Regulus. What if this kid ends up as messed up as we are?”

Molly quickly reached out to cup your cheeks. She knew right away that it was time to go into “mum mode.”

“You will do just fine...both of you will. You’ve done great with Teddy. You also have a lot of support.”

Your worried expression eased up as Molly patted your shoulder.

“You have plenty of time to get ready. It will probably take some time for the potion to start working fully.”

Hermione meanwhile, finished up the salad before politely excusing herself. She had to warn Harry before the inevitable happened and found out in some horrible way.

Harry and Ron sat playing wizard chess when Hermione came into the room. Neither looked up at first. Hermione closed the door before turning back to her friends.

“I need to talk to the two of you.”

Harry’s eyes rolled up immediately noticing Hermione’s worried expression. He had grown used to being wary of that particular expression. When Hermione wore “that” look something was wrong.

“What’s wrong?”

Hermione sat down as both boys turned to face her. This conversation was not going to be easy. It didn’t matter how many times that Ron or Hermione told Harry to let go of whatever crush that he had on you; he hadn’t. Ron could have told Harry over and over that you were an adult now and had no interest in a younger man fifty times and Harry wouldn't care. Neither Ron nor Hermione could decide which crush was more damning…the crush on Cho or the one on yourself.

“Harry, I overheard Y/n and Mrs. Weasley talking. Y/n went to see a healer today.”

Harry frowned. You didn’t seem sick when he ran into you earlier that day. Granted, neither Harry nor yourself had really spoken since the spat over Regulus.

“Is she sick? What did Y/n say?”

Hermione took a breath before beginning to fiddle with the fabric of her jeans.

“Not that kind of healer, Harry. Regulus and Y/n are trying to have a baby.”

Harry’s mouth dropped while Ron looked confused.

“Why would they want to do that?”

Hermione shot Ron a glare.

“Ronald!”

Ron quickly recovered from his mistake and realized what Hermione was saying. He quickly turned to Harry who sat blinking. Harry sat motionless for a moment before jumping up to pace around the room.

“Why am I not surprised? Date someone for a short period then have a baby with them...makes perfect sense. Of course, she wants to make a family with him. Why wouldn’t she? Y/n won’t have to worry about him getting killed by some vindictive dark wizard or worry about…”

Ron quickly came in.

“Harry, I mean, she is a Slytherin like Regulus. Harry, what do you expect mate? Those two feed off of each other. Regulus is as sassy as Y/n, if not worse. Y/n will say something sassy and Regulus has the perfect back up comment. You won’t get far with trying to insult him.”

Harry sat down and took off his glasses to hold the bridge of his nose.

“That isn't what I meant, Ron but thanks for that. I’m going to get some air.”

Harry didn’t wait for Ron or Hermione to respond before storming out of the room. He was halfway down the stairs when he noticed Regulus sitting on the sofa in the small room off of the kitchen.

“I’ve got to be out of my mind.”

Harry muttered before walking in. Regulus didn’t look up from the book that his eyes were glued to. He didn’t even seem to notice Harry or care that the other boy was standing in front of him looking very upset.

“Regulus, I want to talk to you.”

Regulus didn’t lookup. He knew it was Harry without having to look at him.

“Um...okay.”

Harry opened and closed his hands a few times. It was taking all that he had not to lose his temper.

“I don’t think y/n needs a baby, it's too dangerous and you’re too old for her.”

Regulus finally looked up. He raised an eyebrow before smirking.

“Are you her father?”

Harry crossed his arms over his chest.

“No, he’s sitting in there looking confused.”

Regulus turned to look over his shoulder where Evan sat at the kitchen table muttering to himself... Rolling his eyes, Regulus turned back to Harry. It would be easy to hex the little fool for talking to him but you would also get mad at him. He didn’t feel like dealing with that at the moment. You being pissed at him wouldn’t get you underneath him anytime soon.

“Yeah, there he is. I guess I should only care about what he has to say but I don’t. Your opinion also matters little to me. I get that you’re chosen one but you're not god. Tell you what, I’ll consider your previous comment and put it in a filing cabinet in my brain. When I get the time and the desire to think about it...I will. Now run along and play in the street.”

Regulus went back to the book that he was reading as Harry’s furious expression intensified.

“You’re an ass.”

Regulus chuckled.

“Yeah. I’ve been told that. It's a real character flaw.”

“If Y/n gets injured by being with you...I’ll…”

Regulus looked up again.

“Alright, kid, I want you to listen to me. You care about her. I get it. There isn’t anything wrong with it but she’s my girlfriend and that won’t be changing. I’m sorry that you had all the bad shit in your life happen but, hey, crap storms happen. You don’t want me as your enemy. Now, as I said, run along and play.”

“Play?”

Harry snapped. Regulus nodded.

“Play...or whatever you kids call it nowadays.”

Before Harry could respond, you stepped into the room. You were immediately worried by the furious expression on Harry’s face and Regulus’ cool as a cucumber “this kid isn’t bothering me” demeanor.

“Reggie?”

Regulus looked up at you with a small smile. You weren't sure what you missed but had a feeling that whatever it was Harry was on the losing side.

“Yes, darling?”

“I need to talk to you.”

Regulus stood up without another word. He had a feeling where this “talk” was going and he didn’t mind in the slightest. He glanced over his shoulder at Harry before speaking once more.

“Hey, kid, watch out for cars when you are playing in the street.”

_______

@amelie-black

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[theheartsmistakes]

The Last Night Part IX

Lengthy Author’s Notes Warning: Hi everyone. I woke up this morning with an incredibly heavy heart. I contemplated postponing the next installment of The Last Night because my head just hasn’t been into writing this week surrounding the horrific death of George Floyd and the national uprising that it justly caused. My heart is burdened, my thoughts are racing, and I’m grieving for the black community around me. I just want to say that I stand with anyone who experiences or has experienced the daily and ongoing injustice of hatred or racism. I do not personally know what this is like. I will not pretend to understand. But I do know that it needs to end. And it ends with us. Enough is enough.

I want to be an author one day. That is my dream, my aspiration, my driving force. I don’t believe that I have a lot of power to enact change at the moment, but I hope one day I will have a voice that invokes empathy, respect, and awareness through my writing-- the same way Cassandra Clare has spoken out on issues of racism, homophobia, gender inequality, prejudice, intolerance, injustice, bullying, and other forms of hatred through her writing. 

This is probably my shortest chapter yet, but I hope it offers you a brief break from the harsh reality of what is going on. I promise to double my word count for the next installment. Be safe. Be brave. Be bold. And above all else, be kind whenever possible. If anyone needs anything, please do not hesitate to reach out. 

“People aren't born good or bad. Maybe they're born with tendencies either way, but its the way you live your life that matters.” ― Cassandra Clare, City of Glass

Part IX

A flash of light caught James’ eye from the witch light he held in his hands. While everyone else ran to Thomas and Alastair, James stepped away and walked over to the rain gutter where a sword lay in the gathered water. A sword that James would recognize anywhere.

He picked up Cortana, having only held it once before. A wave of fear washed over James. Wherever Cordelia was, she was without it. He could understand why Cordelia treasured it the way she did. It wasn’t just about birth right or ownership. The sword exuded strength and honor. A light blade, but perfectly balanced. She’d called it something else once, after she’d lost it in battle and James returned it to. He couldn’t remember the words she had used in her native tongue, but he remembered it meant ‘mouse’. He’d meant to ask her why she’d named it after such a small, inconsequential creature, but his mind had been on other things and the question eluded him. When he returned it to her again, he’d remember to ask her.

James was the last one to reach Alastair. He came to stop behind Thomas who already had his stele out and was carving quick lines into the skin on Alastair’s arm. Anna had her ear down to Alastair’s mouth, her face twisted in concentration. When she sat up again, James saw how ashen Alastair had become.

Anna started pulling at Alastair’s clothes, searching for the injury that produced the halo of blood around his shoulders and torso. With the tip of her knife, she sliced the buttons clean off of his shirt and ripped it open. Dark bruising formed around both sides of his rib cage, but there was no injury or blood to be seen.

“Where is it all coming from?” Anna demanded. “Quick, Kit, help me flip him over.”

“Are we sure it’s safe to move him?” asked Christopher whose glasses had slid down to the edge of his nose. “What if it’s a spinal injury?”

“Matthew stabilize his head,” said Anna, as she and Christopher started to tilt Alastair onto his side.

“Wait,” shouted Matthew. He pulled his hands out from beneath Alastair’s neck. The witchlight that burned in the street beside him illuminated the blood covering Matthew’s hands. “I think I found the source.”

Thomas cursed and started drawing irates at a quicker pace onto the now exposed skin of Alastair’s chest. The rune would burn bright for a moment before disappearing into his skin like a flame being submerged underwater with nothing left after except a pale white scar.

“We need to get him to the institute,” said Anna. “He’s lost too much blood and only the Silent Brother’s can help a head injury. Matthew, Christopher, help Tom—“

Before she could finish her sentence, Thomas had lifted Alastair into his arms, holding him close against his chest despite Alastair’s wet clothing and the blood. As Thomas stood, Anna and Christopher stood with him.

“Has he said anything?” James finally asked as he turned to follow them towards the car. “Did he see Lucie?”

“He’s been unconscious,” said Anna and stopped to snap at Matthew. “Come on. We’ll need you to drive us back.”

“Who's going to stay with James?” asked Matthew, as he stood up from the street.

“It’s all right,” said James. “I’ll be fine. Take them back to the Institute and alert my parents that Lucie has gone missing and that I suspect it has something to do with Belial.”

Matthew nodded and moved to follow the rest, but quickly turned back around to James. “The Belial? The demon-grandfather-no-one-speaks-of—“

“Do you know of another?”

“Matthew!” Anna yelled from the automobile.

Christopher now hung over the engine and was half submerged in the contraption.

Matthew quickly turned back to James and pressed his witchlight into his hand. “If it truly is him, be sure to kill the bastard this time.”

James nodded and watched his parabatai run back towards the car just as Anna turned over the engine. A burst of steam escaped the motor, but it rumbled with the same  life as it had before. James spoke a quiet prayer to the angel Raziel for Alastair. He’d known Shadowhunters to die from far less injuries than the ones Alastair had sustained and there was no saying how long he had been lying in the street alone.

As James looked down at the blood stain on the cobblestones, drifting in rivulets down the street towards the gutter, James felt his chest constrict. If they found Alastair in the state he was in, what condition would that leave Cordelia? Cordelia who fought her way out of Belial’s clutches and stabbed him in the chest. What should have been a devastating blow, and it was, but not enough to kill the demon. What sort of vengeful punishments would he do to her, not only because of what she did herself, but also because of James’ resistance.

James cursed. He should have known. What had he missed when he was investigating the different possibilities of who his grandfather could be? He’d spent countless hours in the library scouring over every piece of literature he could find on the princes of hell and while most authors spoke of the demons with almost admiration, as if the princes wrote their biographies themselves, not one article, not one page mentions how to properly kill a prince of hell.

While filled with uncertainty about many things, there was one thing that James knew for certain. Belial was merciless and he had Cordelia and possibly Lucie.

James looked to the sky and opened his hands out to his sides. The corners of the world were starting to turn a dark opaque blue with the rising sun as the stars began to disappear with the moon.

James raised his arms wider. “If it was my attention you wanted,” he said, quietly at first, “you have it. Let them go.”

An owl cooed from the roof of one of the buildings behind him, but otherwise, the world remained silent and still. But James could feel the presence of someone watching him, listening closely, unseen. There, but not there. Hidden behind a veil into another world. And he knew his audience.

“I’ll do anything you ask!” The words tore from James’ lungs. “Anything! Just let them go.”

Still no answer. No reply. Not even a chill underneath his skin.

“Belial!” James turned slowly in a circle. “You cannot have Lucie. You cannot have my sister, you bastard!”

Cortana rattled in James’ hand as a large flash of light and whip-like crack echoed in the silence of the empty street sending James a few steps backwards. He heard a thump and groan. He spun around to find a dark pile moving and shifting in the dull morning light.

James gripped Cortana in both hands and raised the blade to his shoulder as he slowly approached the intrusions when he saw the flash of crimson hair mixed with mousy brown curls.

“Cordelia.” A voice whimpered from the pile. “Cordelia, stay awake. You need to stay awake.”

“Lucie?” James slowly lowered Cortana.

Lucie looked over her shoulder at him. Her face was covered in soot and streaked with tears. James looked from her to Cordelia lying unconscious beneath his sister.

“James!” Lucie pushed herself unsteadily to her feet. “James where are the others? Where’s the car?”

James couldn’t tear his eyes away from Cordelia even as he answered Lucie’s questions. “Alastair is injured. They rushed him back to the Institute. Is she—?” He couldn’t bring himself to finish the question.

Lucie went back down to Cordelia. “She’s badly injured. I should have thought— all I could think about was getting her away from there and this was the last place I remember being. James, if we don’t get her back to the institute quickly, she will die. She will die and there will be no way to save her.”

James kneeled beside his sister and carefully lifted a limp, lifeless Cordelia into his arms. Her hair was tangled and covered in an orange sand. Dried black blood marked the corners of her mouth. Black veins ran underneath her skin. She was cold against him. The warmth that once radiated from her was waning like a flame consuming the last inch of a wick.

With her body held tight against his, he ran towards the carriage, grimacing at Martin’s body lying cold in the street. He used his shoulder to push open the door wider and carefully carried Cordelia into the cab.

Lucie followed in after him and sat on the bench with Cordelia’s head in her lap.

James took a moment to brush a strand of hair away from Cordelia’s cheek before he looked back to Lucie. “Do you have a stele?”

She shook her head. James reached into his weapons belt and drew his own. He pressed it into Lucie’s palm. “Start drawing runes on her. Healing, blood replenishing, strengthening, all of them. Hold tight to her.”

Fresh tears streamed from Lucie’s eyes as determination set into her expression and she started drawing runes into Cordelia’s skin: on her palm, her forearm, her collarbone, and anywhere else she could reach.

Lucie caught his hand before he could leave. “Hurry James,” she sobbed. “She can’t die.”

“She won’t,” said James darkly.

James stepped out from the carriage and closed the door security behind him. He climbed up onto the driver's seat and took the reins with a quick snap against the rump of the already agitated horse. The carriage jolted as he pulled hard on the left rein, leading the horse in a wide circle and back onto the correct side of the road.

The sun had begun to rise in the east, but the beautiful dawn was lost on James as if it existed in some far-off place, some other morning where James was not barreling through London with Cordelia inches from death in the carriage. Someplace where Cordelia was not cold and quiet no matter how much James bargained for her life. If she would live, he would give up anything. If she could only live, he would marry her. And not just for a day, a month, a year, but for as long as breath entered his lungs and left his body. He would love her and love her well. If only she would live.

(If you’re just joining us, here are the other parts)

Here is Part I

Here is Part II

Here is Part III

Here is Part IV

Here is Part V

Here is Part VI

Here is Part VII

Here is Part VIII

[dead-inside-mcgee]

The Dragon, the Duke, and the Priest - Chapter 1

Special thanks to @griffin-tortures-schneep for helping me right this and also for being all around a sexy sweetheart 

Summary:  A rumor started in the Kingdom of the Light that the queen was pregnant. When this rumor was confirmed, those of the Light were overjoyed. They were even more overjoyed when it was revealed to be twins.

Warning: Attempting murder, actual murder, Unsympathetic Patton, blood

There once were two kingdoms. One was known as the Kingdom of the Light, and the other known as the Kingdom of the Dragon. Though it was titled the Kingdom of the Darkness from those of the Light. Between them was a forest that was known by no name. It was just a large, old, and creepy forest. 

  Neither of these kingdoms like each other. The reason they do not get along was forgotten, but hate does not just disappear after a few generations.

  A rumor started in the Kingdom of the Light that the queen was pregnant. When this rumor was confirmed, those of the Light were overjoyed. They were even more overjoyed when it was revealed to be twins.

  None were more overjoyed than Patton Lyre, the kingdom’s priest and royal advisor. He happily helped the king care for the boys while the queen rested. 

  Three peaceful, endearing months passed, and it came time for Patton to bless the children. The blessing was an old tradition carried out by the priest to insure that the heir to the throne lived a long, prosperous life. 

  The blessing was typically a private thing, only viewed by the oldest parent and the priest. During this blessing, there was also a snake hiding under a pew, but of course neither of them were aware of that. 

  The blessing typically goes as follows:

  Step 1: The priest puts their dominant hand over the child’s heart. 

  Step 2: The priest chants the old blessing spell.

  Step 3: The parent states the traits they wish to see in the child.

  Step 4: The parent makes a small blood sacrifice, using a special knife. 

  Planning the blessing, Patton places a hand over each boys’ heart, chanting an old spell in a language very few know the origin of. 

  Before the priest could properly finish, he stumbled back in pain. The king catches him before he falls. 

  Patton stares at his hand in horror. It was covered in a dark mass that was eating away at his skin. He was rushed to the doctor and got his hand bandaged. The blessing was never completed. 

  That night the priest and the king fought for the first time in history. It was in the king’s private office where no one heard, except for a snake outside, by the window. 

  “Don’t you see! That child is a monster. His soul is full of darkness, he must be destroyed!” Patton screamed. He was holding the sacrificial knife that was banned for any use except blessing.

  “I’m not going to just stand there and let you kill a child! Maybe something went wrong with the blessing?” He argued.

  “Is that an accusation? My family has been doing blessings for hundreds of years, I did not mess up!” 

  “I wasn’t accusing you of anything! I’m just suggesting something could’ve gone wrong. This is the first time I’ve heard of two children being blessed at once. Perhaps that caused a problem.” 

  “You should not be defending it! If you let that child live, our kingdom will be destroyed!” Patton said and then proceeded to shove the king away and storm towards the door.

  The king grabbed his shoulders and, with more force than he intended, threw him into the wall hard enough to leave a crack. 

  “You have damned us all.” Patton said in a raspy voice. 

  “Get out of my castle!” The king screams. 

   Of course, as far as the general public was concerned, none of that ever happened. The bandage on Patton’s hand was due to an accident with one of the royal dogs, and the crack in the wall was just due to the king slipping and slamming into it. 

  Telling the public this was easier than explaining the incident with the blessing. People would be suspicious if they knew the blessing wasn’t complete. 

***

Thinking he was doing the right thing, Patton broke into the royal chambers a few nights later. The queen awoke to the sound of unfamiliar footsteps and screamed when she saw her child being held over the balcony railing. The child was far too peaceful considering the situation.

  The king jumped up, grabbed a sword, and charged for him as Patton tossed the baby over the balcony. The king hit him with enough force to break the wooden railing and sent both of them tumbling off to the ground. 

  They were found the next morning, the king with a sacrificial knife in his chest, and the priest with a sword in his head. 

  What the queen believed, and what the people heard was distorted from the truth. According to her, there was a third person trying to take the child, and the priest was only there to help. 

  There was indeed a third presence there, a snake hiding under the balcony unbeknownst to the incident. The child’s body was never found, having been caught by said snake, but he was proclaimed dead. 

  The kingdom was devastated by the news. A festival was held to celebrate the previous lives of the two fallen royals. Around the same time plans were made to build a statue of Patton, in his honor.

***

“...Around the same time plans were made to build a statue of Patton, in his honor.” The Dragon Witch, named Yrerth, finishes off the story and puts up the book she had written. The title of Dragon was similar to the title of King or Queen, just as Snake is similar to the title of Prince or Princess.

  “That was a dumb story,” Janus lied. He was the Dragon Witch’s son.

  “No it wasn’t!” Remus elbowed him gently. Despite being friends with Janus for many years, Remus still couldn’t tell when Janus was lying. 

  “This isn’t just a story, my dears. I was there, ten years ago, back when I was just a snake...” Yrerth remembers her past fondly. 

  “If this story is true, does that mean the prince is still alive!?” Remus asked, bouncing up and down. 

  “Of course he is! I saved his life myself! Would you like to meet him?” 

  The two children nod vigorously. 

  Yrerth holds a mirror up to Remus’s face. 

  “Is the prince trapped in the mirror?” Remus asks as he pokes the glass, “That would be pretty epic.” 

  “No, honey.” Yrerth pets his hair. “You’ll get it eventually, for now go out and play.” She offers. There was a playground near Yrerth’s house where other kids were playing tag.

  Remus hesitates, staring at the mirror before getting up and running outside. Janus got up to follow him, but Yrerth but and hand on his shoulder and pulled him aside to talk. 

  “Janus, my dearest. You’re getting older—” she pauses to kiss his forehead, “—and soon you’ll start training to take my place as dragon. I want you to enjoy your last free years to the fullest. Do you understand me?”

  Janus nods and Yrerth could tell he was lying. She sighs, gives him a pat on the head, and sends him outside.   

***

There is a tree growing in the forest between the two kingdoms. It is very large, but young and full of festering hate. It’s roots are deep and it drinks the life from those around it. 

  It is getting closer to both kingdoms and it wants blood. 

***

Remus is eighteen now. He stands on the border between the Kingdom of the Light and the forest. He struts into town, not caring about the looks he earns from regular citizens. He holds a giant, silver Morningstar that he lets drag on the ground, tearing up the nice stone roads. 

  He’s wearing an all black outfit with a lime green sash. The typical outfit for royalty in the Kingdom of the Dragon. He wasn’t royalty, but being a Duke was the next best thing. 

  Two guards stop him. “People like you are not allowed here. Leave immediately or we’ll have to use force,” they said... Or at least that’s what they were going to say. Remus had already knocked both of them out with the Morningstar before they even touched him. 

  Remus came across a large crowd of people standing outside the castle. This looks promising, he thought. 

  Up on a balcony far above the crowd was Prince, and soon to be King, Roman. Remus frowned, there’s no way he would be able to get his attention all the way down here. He also could not push through this crowd. Luckily Remus did not abide by the normal laws of physics. 

   He pulled a small bottle out of his pocket and chugged the substance inside. His whole body was engulfed in shadow, earning some gasps from the people around him. The next thing anyone knew was that Remus was now standing right in front of Roman.

  “Hey brother! Been awhile since we’ve talked. Now that I think about it, we’ve never talked! I’m Remus!” Remus held out his hand to shake. 

Roman dropped the crown he was holding and promptly passed out, which was a very rude way to greet your long lost brother.

[elizabethemerald]

The Puppet Master

AO3

The cell door slammed behind Katara as she walked in. 

“You’re crazy if you want to talk to that witch.” The guard said as they locked the door. 

“Thank you.” Katara said softly, not looking at him. 

“Are you here for another lesson Katara?”

She focused on the dark corner of the cell, where the scratchy voice came from. There laying in the dark, against the back wall, was an old woman, with long gray hair. 

“I just want to talk Hama.” Katara said, staying well back from the bars. 

The old water bender leaned forward into the light. She smiled at Katara. 

“And what would you like to talk about?”

Her smile seemed almost warm. Katara steeled herself, talking to Hama felt like talking to her Gran-gran, it made her feel safe, like she didn’t have to be on guard all the time. However dropping her guard around one of the most powerful waterbenders she had ever faced, and the only other bender capable of bloodbending, would be a mistake. 

“I want to understand.” Katara sat down on a stool near, but not too close, to the bars. 

“What’s to understand?” Hama said dismissively. “The Fire Nation tried to exterminate us. Imprisoned and tortured me for decades. I escaped and brought their war right back to them.”

“But the people you took didn’t have anything to do with the war!” Katara snapped. “Toph talked to them, you were taking random citizens!”

“What does it matter?” Hama crawled forward as close as her chains would allow. “They are Fire Nation! The same people who have been killing our people!”

Katara growled in frustration. “Spirits! I’ve already had this same argument with Jet. They were civilians! Kidnapping the baker’s boy isn’t going to end the war! You weren’t even targeting the Fire Nation army or generals!”

She found herself on her feet, breathing heavily. Hama remained silent. Seemingly lost in thought. Katara started to pace in front of the cell. 

“I want to end the war too! My mother was killed by the Fire Nation. Everyone I know has been hurt by the war. But at some point the world needs to return to balance. And we can’t end the war like this!”

“Is-” Hama hesitated. “Is your problem with my bloodbending, the victims I chose?”

Katara turned away, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“I don’t like the idea of bloodbending. I don’t want to impose my will on someone else.” She said, addressing the wall of the cell rather it’s occupant. “Sokka always tells me I care too much for others. Even the people of the Fire Nation. He always wants me to be more strategic, but I can’t do that. I can’t and won’t stand aside and let anyone get hurt if I can help it.”

“I am going to end this war.” Katara said turning back to Hama, staring her down. “I’ve seen too much of it’s devastation first hand to not want it to end. But I can’t agree with your methods.”

“Katara, you’ve fought firebenders before.” Hama said. It wasn’t a question. “If I targeted the military elite, just like you do, would you feel better about it.”

“I suppose so.” Katara said. “It still felt wrong to try and control you, even though it saved my friends.”

“If you studied bloodbending as I have, I’m sure you would fine some other ways to utilize it.”

Katara thought for a moment before speaking. “There really is no point in imprisoning you is there? If they put you in any regular prison you will water bend your way out. And in any specialty prison you could bloodbend out.”

Hama leaned towards the rail, a curious smile on her face.

“What are you thinking, Katara?”

Rather than answer, Katara pulled water from the air, slicing open the cell and parting Hama’s manacles. Hama stood, rubbing her wrists, then pulled up short. Katara had an ice knife inches from her face. 

“The only way stop you is to have another master waterbender near you. You won’t be able to control me, even during the full moon. And I can out bend you any other day. It’s the only way to keep you safe, and to keep others safe from you.”

“And where will you imprison me?” Hama said, eyeing her suspiciously. 

“I’m not going to. You’ve spent enough time in cages.” Katara said, her eye’s steely. “You’re going to come with us, help us end the war. And I’ll be there to keep you from killing any innocents. And if I even sense you trying to bloodbend either me or my friends I Will stop you.”

Katara glared at Hama for a few more moments. 

“Now come on. We need to get you away before the guards come back.” Katara turned away and began walking down the hall. As she did she muttered to herself quietly. “This is going to be hard to explain to the others.”

Some time later, off the coast of the Earth Kingdom. 

A ship of the Fire Nation Navy sailed under full steam. On board were weapons and soldiers, bound for the front lines. Over head the full moon shone down with a pale light. Katara carefully observed the ship from Appa’s back. The bison was hidden by a fog bank that Aang and Katara controlled. 

After a soldier walked past the railing on a patrol she fixed her mask over her face and nodded. A wave swooped up next to Appa taking Katara and another to the edge of the ship, where they could both jump onto the deck. Katara turned to Hama, who hadn’t bothered with a mask. 

“No unnecessary killing.” Katara ordered. 

Hama merely shrugged. 

“As you wish, Katara.” 

The two women snuck across the deck to the helm of the ship. Hama stopped when she caught sight of the helmsman. 

“I have him.” Hama whispered. 

“Do it.” 

Katara pulled more moisture from the air around them, thickening the fog bank. They were hidden from the view, though Hama still had a clear view of the helmsman. 

Hama began waving her arms back and forth as the pilot stiffened, twitching, helpless against her bloodbending. He grabbed the wheel of the vessel and began turning the ship hard to starboard. Katara braced herself as the ship tilted to the side, now running directly for the shore. 

A soldier standing at the bow saw the approaching shore and turned to call a warning. Katara reached out with a water whip, freezing him in place. She looked past him to see the rocks ahead. 

“Remember the plan. A glancing blow.” Katara said, turning back to Hama. 

The bloodbender ignored her, focusing on the helmsman for a moment. Just when Katara was preparing to have another water duel with her, Hama relaxed her grip on the sailor allowing him to try and correct. He was far too late to stop the crash, but he was able to minimize the impact. 

Katara and Hama were already running for the rail as the ship shuttered and the metal shrieked as the rocks, sharpened by Toph’s earthbending, pierced the hull. They both jumped free as Fire Nation soldiers were flung to the deck from the impact. They landed on the swell of a massive wave them flung them further into the air. Seemingly out of nowhere Appa swooped down to catch them both. 

“Now that was more excitement than I’ve had in decades!” Hama laughed to herself. 

Katara glanced at her before returning her attention to the ship and crew. The ship wouldn’t sail again, but it looked the crew would be able to get to shore without trouble. Another ship stopped meant another ship that wouldn’t be able to attack the resistance in the Earth Kingdom. 

After she felt assured that the mission was successful without any loss of life she turned back to Hama and smiled at her. She was rewarded by a warm smile in return. 

“Well done Katara.” Hama said to her, her smile wrinkling the corners of her eyes.

I've seen a lot of people talk about Hama and how she deserved better after everything she went through. So this is my take. My personal opinion is that Hama doesn't actually need a "redemption arc" the only person she really needs to redeem herself before is Katara. I feel like when she spends some more time with the Gaang, she might realize that maybe its a little extreme to ask and expect a 14 yo to murder. I think after a few missions with the Gaang, she meets up with Katara's dad to wreck Fire Nation ships. Also I've studied first aid and provided emergency medical care for most of my life, so the idea of using bloodbending in a positive life saving way is very interesting to me. Like being able to sense the blood in a person's body and tell when they are having a heart attack or stroke, and being able to bend the blood to save their life. Or performing surgery while a bloodbender keeps the blood flowing.

[so-langdon]

Innocence Meets Corruption - Michael Langdon x Fem! Reader (Final Part)

Summary: Michael has to deal with the witches when they show up and threaten to rid Y/N from Michael’s life for good.

Warnings: Violence, swearing, story-line change, fluff

Send in any story/imagine requests you have if you’d like! I’ll come out with something new next week hopefully! :))

Tagged!: @storminmytwistedmind , @kerouacsroad , @and-shes-not-even-pretty , @rocketgirl2410 

Walking through the corridors as carefully and quietly as she can, Y/N begins to hear voices speaking. She can’t quite make out what they’re saying, but she can hear that the voices are both familiar and unfamiliar. It confuses her when she figures out that some of the voices she’s hearing are from Mallory and Coco. She thought they were dead?

Hearing that the talking and commotion is settled at the main staircase entryway at the center of the Outpost, she takes a back stairway by her room. She hears the talking once more when downstairs, walking through a hallway that eventually leads to the main staircase. But she halts, freezing in place when she hears Michael.

“How can any of you defeat me -- when I’ve already won?” Michael speaks, drawing the attention of all the witches towards him as he stands at the top center of the staircase. “You haven’t won,” Cordelia calls back. “Perhaps you haven’t noticed the state of the world,” Michael smuggly says. “It’s almost as bad as your dinner jacket. But at least the world can be saved,” Myrtle says. “By you,” Michael inquires smoothly. “By all of us,” Cordelia states. “Hey -- Get the wax out of your ears, I’m here to watch,” Dinah says. “But I’m not,” Coco says, stepping forward. But stops once seeing Michael’s sinister expression looking towards her. “Just don’t let me die again, okay? It really sucked the first time,” Coco pleads, Cordelia putting a had out to halt Coco from further speaking or walking. “When I’m done, you’ll all wish you were still dead,” Michael states. “I always thought the world would end with fire and ice, not witches and warlocks,” Myrtle adds. “The seventh seal has been broken,” Michael starts, overlooking the witches with superiority. “Wormwood has fallen from the sky and turned the rivers to blood and fire. The bottomless pit has been opened and my swarms of locusts and scorpions have ravaged humanity -- The world has been remade in my father’s image.” “Darling,” Myrtle starts with a smile, “it seems daddy didn’t tell you the most important rule of bringing on the apocalypse: If you want to finish the job, the thing you have to do first is get rid of all the witches,” she says, nodding to all the girls. “Big mistake,” Coco adds in. “I could annihilate all of you in a second and the world would go on without missing a beat. You and all of your work will be forgotten in the rubble of the past,” Michael states. But then steps forward a step. “But I want to give you a future. Fall to your knees and accept me as your lord and savior,” he opens his arms, “and I will bring you to the table as my obedient subjects,” he offers, hands clasping behind his back. Cordelia laughs lightly, an almost sarcastic smile residing on her face. “Imbeciles,” the robotic Mead calls out. “Fall to your knees before the king!” “The only way we would sit at your table is if your decapitated head were the centerpiece,” Cordelia says. “Cordelia, you raised me from the dead so that you would have the power of voodoo on your side,” Dinah begins, stepping forward, looking at Cordelia as she looks over at her. “But if you know anything about who I am, you know that the only choice I’d pick -- would be the winner,” Dinah says as she steps towards Michael, bowing her head, Michael outstretching a hand for her. “You’re half right, Dinah,” a voice calls, grabbing Dinah’s attention to behind the witches.

As Marie Laveu steps into the room, drawing confusion from Dinah, and an explanation of how Marie has no heart for torture and a deal was made to exchange Marie’s soul for Dinah’s, Madison looks off to the side, sensing an unfamiliar presence. Not powerful like a witch, not evil like Michael. But more muted, more established. 

Madison steps off to the side, walking down a hallway to her left while Dinah suddenly cries out for her life over Marie hacking a knife into her neck.

“Out with the trash,” Marie flips her hair back. “Give Papa my regards,” Marie adds disgusted almost as the lot turn back towards Michael.

Michael looks at Mead, giving a nod to her. Mechanical whirring starts as Mead showcases a gun from her arm to shoot out at everyone, seconds away from killing the witches.

Cordelia acts fast and recites a spell immediately, causing Mead to suddenly jolt and shake, beginning to malfunction as a series of unfamiliar gibberish leaves her mouth. 

Michael slowly turns to Mead upon hearing, looking at her with confusion. “Ms. Mead?”

Mead combusts into pieces in the next moment, a mechanical fluid splattering the wall, stairs and Michael as she explodes. This causes Michael to stumble back and fall over the railing onto the left side of the staircase, landing on the floor harshly.

Michael gasps for air, the wind knocked out of him from the hard fall. He winces a bit, reaching a hand to under his back for comfort, ignoring the witches for a moment. As Mead’s robotic head speaks more nonsense and comes to a slow stop, he looks over at her, narrowing his eyes as his expression showcases anger from Mead’s destruction.

“Madison,” Cordelia speaks carefully, yet confused, drawing Michael’s attention as he looks over, momentarily distracted by the destruction of the robotic Mead. He sees how Madison holds Y/N in her arms tightly, Y/N fidgeting as she tries to break free. His eyes widen in devastation. 

“Who is this,” Myrtle asks just as confused and walking over. “I don’t know, I felt her presence lurking,” Madison rolls her eyes, holding onto her as Y/N tries pulling from her grasp. “That’s Y/N, she’s one of the members here,” Coco explains. Michael stands up, trying to remain calm, “Let her go. She is not part of this.”

Cordelia, the other witches and Y/N look over at Michael. Michael’s sudden words catch them all off guard as there was a noticeable difference in Michael’s behavior. The obvious sudden change in his attitude and expression no longer came off as superior, but fearful.

At this, Cordelia narrows her eyes.

“She has nothing to do with the world’s demise. Release her,” Michael demands. Looking back at Y/N, and back at Michael again, Cordelia analyzes the connection the two seem to have with one another. Y/N looks at Michael with panic and fright, trying to remain calm. “Michael,” she whispers. “What’s going on?” “I told you to stay back until I came to get you,” Michael tells her, voice prominently strained as he tries to keep himself together. “What should we do with her,” Madison asks, focusing on her Supreme. “What’s the plan now,” Marie waves her hand up, stepping back with everyone. “She’s your weakness,” Cordelia states, looking over at Michael, who narrows his eyes. “Mead was your final ally, even as a mechanical version,” she points out. “But this one,” Cordelia points to Y/N and steps over to her as she looks Y/N up and down. “She’s different.” “Get away from her,” Michael glares, body tensing.  Cordelia looks at Michael, pausing her movements but grins. “You aren’t going to do anything.” “You haven’t seen anything of me yet, you have no idea what I’m capable of,” Michael speaks harshly. “You’re right. I don’t,” Cordelia speaks. “I never knew someone as foul, vile and heinous as you could be capable of something so.. sweet,” she looks at Y/N. Y/N looks from Michael to Cordelia. “You know of him, don’t you? Who he is?” She asks. Y/N doesn’t say anything, unsure of what she should say. She only stares at the blonde with an indifferent expression.  “You do,” Cordelia smiles calmly, standing before her. “You know, about all of it. Who he is and what he’s done, and yet..” Cordelia narrows her eyes. “It doesn’t matter.” “Leave her alone, Cordelia,” Michael seethes. “I can feel the radiation of warmth; the fondness you have for each other,” Cordelia speaks, voice strained with confusion as she ignores Michael. “She has nothing to do with us,” Michael exclaims. “Leave her alone,” he demands again. “I never knew one simple bitch could get so under your skin,” Madison laughs as she looks at Michael. “You love him, don’t you,” Cordelia states rather than asks to Y/N, then looking over at Michael. Michael glares at Cordelia, then diverts his eyes to Y/N who looks over at him. “And you love her. I can feel it,” Cordelia adds, taking a step towards Michael. “As vile as you are, your attachment with her is somehow pure,” Cordelia shakes her head. “Delia?” Myrtle speaks. “You were able to find a way to bring back Mead,” Cordelia starts, shaking her head a bit. “I don’t know how, but you did. You recreated a replicate of her, having her by your side to see through your plans for this Outpost. But with her,” Cordelia points to Y/N. “Don’t,” Michael exclaims, suddenly fearful, the terror prominent in his voice, afraid of what Cordelia will say or do.  “I can assure you, I will make sure you never see her again in any way, shape or form,” Cordelia proclaims.

Michael glares again, angered by the threat. He feels the blood in him boiling over how Cordelia discusses Y/N’s life in such careless, dangerous terms. He can’t bare the idea, can’t bare the idea of losing her. He feels himself coming to know what mercy is.

“You were right when I said I don’t know what you’re capable of,” Cordelia starts again. “That included falling in love,” Cordelia speaks. “But I can take it away in an instant if you don’t make things right.”

Madison binds her hold on Y/N tighter as she tries to break free, telling her to stay still.

”Let her go, and quit threatening her,” Michael grits, seeing how Y/N is trying to break from but Madison keeps her hold tight.  ”You’re in no position to be giving orders, devil boy,” Marie crosses her arms. “I just want to know how the fucking antichrist can find love in this hell of a world, but I can’t even find good dick for one night?” Madison rolls her eyes. “Madison,” Myrtle glares. “Which is it going to be, Michael,” Cordelia asks, ignoring everyone else for the moment.

Michael continues to glare at Cordelia, but his face softens when he looks back at Y/N. He can’t bare any further thoughts of being without her. Only days ago did it seem like he could destroy and rid of all the witches in an instant without any consequences following him. But now, with Y/N, he’s losing his grasp on being in control and quickly. He would do anything to make sure she stays in his life, and he’s processing this easier than he thought.

”Well,” Cordelia snaps, becoming impatient and annoyed over Michael’s answer. “Yes,” Michael states. “Okay, yes.” Half the witches raise their eyes in shock, the others in confusion from how quickly Michael gave in and agreed. “I.. will do anything you want me to do,” Michael says in defeat. “Just don’t harm her. Please let her go.” ”What,” Marie calls out. “Are you fucking kidding me, we just had to get this asshole’s fucking girlfriend into play to stop all of this,” Madison calls out. “You’ll go back on your plan then,” Cordelia asks. “You will forget your future plans, and undo all of the damage?” “I’ll go back on my father, my destiny, this path.. I’ll change it all. I’ll do whatever, just don’t hurt her, please,” Michael states, no shame in his voice as he pleads for this mercy. Madison scoffs, rolling her eyes at seeing how much easier this would have been had they gotten involved in Michael’s relationship sooner. “You will restore the world, and you will not act on any future prophecies or destruction, do you understand me,” Cordelia glares. Michael hesitates but looks at Y/N again, the feeling he gets with her radiating through his being. He looks back at Cordelia, “Yes. I have grown tired of this path, of this destiny my father laid out for me,” Michael admits. “You have my word.” Cordelia begins to grin. “But only in exchange for Y/N,” Michael glares, “and you make sure we remain together in restoration, or I will take all of it back.” Cordelia’s grin transitions to a soft smile and looks over at Y/N.

Y/N looks back and forth from Michael, the witches and Cordelia, then beginning to feel a dizziness erupting in her mind. Her vision begins to cloud, her view of all sight fading out. Her breathing becomes heavier and shallow, her eyes squinting as she tries to see. She hears a series of voices talking, maybe chanting, including Michael’s, but their voices become distorted, a blaring silence overrunning any and all noise and vision. 

Y/N feels her hands falling to her sides as Madison lets go of her, but can sense Michael rushing over to her as she seems to be falling towards the floor. But as her vision fades out to darkness, she feels a protective warmth, a tenderness that she knows could only belong to Michael as the hold takes over her. 

And then, nothing.

~~~

Y/N snaps her eyes open, her body halting with a force that has her stumble back a step or two. She comes to a sudden consciousness with a start that has her heart racing, pounding against her chest and feeling a tremble flowing throughout her body. Y/N narrows her eyes as she regains her vision, looking around a moment as she takes in her surroundings. 

With a series of different buildings that are built close together along the pavement, hundreds of people it seems to be walking back and forth down the streets, the sun blazes down on her warmly. Plenty of laughter and talking occurs, people dressed freely, holding different drinks in their hands, wearing beaded jewels, and dancing along to music. 

“Hey, are you okay,” a voice asks. Y/N turns around, seeing her best friend standing before her. Y/N’s eyes widen, her jaw dropping. “What? Y/F/N?” “Yes?” “O-Oh my gosh!” Y/N steps over, wrapping her arms around her best friend, hugging onto her tightly. Y/F/N hugs her back, laughing a bit, “Are you alright?” “I can’t believe it’s you! I haven’t seen you in so long, I can’t -- I can’t believe,” Y/N laughs out, tears coming to her eyes. “What are you talking about?” Y/N pulls back from Y/F/N, “The bombs, the world..” she trails off, narrowing her eyes a second. She snaps her head to the side, looking around. She suddenly realizes the world is not destroyed. Not anymore at least. She spins slowly in a circle, turning around to look at everything. “Y/N?” Her best friend repeats confused. “What are you talking about? What bombs?” Y/N turns back to her friend and shakes her head. She brings her hands to her hand, feeling overwhelmed and confused with what’s happening. “What’s going on,” she whispers.  “Are you feeling okay?” “I--I don’t know,” Y/N breathes out. “Do you need some water? Is it too hot? What are you feeling?”

Y/N looks around again. The last eighteen months, the world had been dead, completely unlivable as the radiation and cannibalistic creatures plagued the world. But now, it was like it never happened, like the world had never been bombed or destroyed in the first place. She was just underground, in Outpost 3 with apparent witches and Michael and -- Michael.

Y/N looks at Y/F/N with wide eyes. “Where are we,” she gasps. Y/F/N narrows her eyes, “Uh, Bourbon Street?” “What,” Y/N exclaims. “Yeah, New Orleans. Remember?” Y/F/N raises her hand to Y/N’s forehead. “Are you feeling okay?” She asks again.

Y/N looks away, trying to figure out what just happened. Did she dream everything? Did she imagine everything, including Michael? Was she day-dreaming vividly or something? Why was she suddenly in New Orleans? What was going on?

“Hey, everyone’s waiting for us,” Y/F/N says, holding a finger up to a group of friends ahead in the crowd as they stand around waiting for the two.

Y/N looks over, seeing a group of her old friends. She smiles, laughing out, mixing with a cry as she sees her friends again, knowing that they’re alive and not dead like she thought once the world ended.

“Do you want to go back to the hotel maybe? Take a rest?” Y/N looks at Y/F/N and hesitates, but then nods. “Yeah, I think I need to take a minute. Um.. maybe the heat is getting to me?” Y/F/N nods. “Okay. You know how to get back?” “Yeah, I’ll find it,” Y/N assures.  “Address is in your email, just in case,” Y/F/N raises her eyes.  “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be fine,” Y/N waves off. Y/F/N nods. “Let me know when you get back. Rest up for partying tonight” she says smiling before the two separate and Y/N begins walking back towards the hotel.

Y/N doesn’t exactly remember or care to follow directions to the hotel as she just wants to walk around on her own for a bit to try and recollect her thoughts.

She ignores everyone that walks past her, ignoring her environment as she stays put in her own world, thinking about everything she can remember from her apparent day-dream, or whatever it was. Did she imagine it? What was everything that happened? Was she just losing it?

Y/N turns a corner at a street that seems to lead to a less crowded and more quiet road. Following the sidewalk, she sighs, bringing a hand back to her head again. Everything was so real, she couldn’t have made up everything in her mind. All the people she met, the things she felt, the things that happened, she couldn’t have made it all up on her own, right?

“Y/N?” A voice yells out. 

Y/N turns, eyes following the direction of the voice. A voice she seems to know too well. A voice she would know anywhere now.

When her eyes land on him, she steps back, chest hyperventilating a moment as she blinks and tries to make sense of everything. 

Michael, with the same confidence and captivating appeal that she’s always known him to have, runs over towards her. She can see his eyes are just as blue and piercing, his hair looking soft and blond as before, but shorter, more curly and tussled, stopping just before his ears. 

Y/N steps forward, transitioning into a run to meet him faster, running as Michael does until she rushes into him, wrapping her arms around Michael’s torso as his arms enclose around her body and he brings her into him tightly.

“Baby,” he sighs in relief, “I found you. You’re here, you’re here with me,” Michael whispers as he nuzzles his face into her neck.  “What’s going on,” Y/N whispers. “Are you real?” “Yes,” Michael says, and she can almost hear his grin. “I’m here, I’m yours. I’m real. All of it was.” “I-- I’m so confused,” Y/N says, voice strained. “Don’t be. I’m here. I have you. And I’ll never let anyone hurt you.” Y/N feels her heart flutter suddenly, smiling as she closes her eyes relieved, remembering back when Michael would say that to her in the Outpost.  “The world’s been restored,” Michael tells her.  “Restored?” Y/N questions, pulling back in Michael’s hold as she looks up at him. “Cordelia and I, we restored the world, remember?” Michael tells her as he looks at her, arms still holding around her waist. “No, I.. I’m still so confused. All I remember is, at the staircase, with everyone..” she trails off. She shakes her head, “How did.. How did any of this happen? The world actually ended then? The Outpost and everyone, Mead and the apples and--” “Yes,” Michael says softly, tightening his hold on her comfortingly “It did. But not anymore.” Y/N blinks at him, trying to process everything. “You’re still the antichrist, then?” “Yes and no. I have those abilities still,” Michael starts. “But, I took Cordelia’s offer of salvation when at the burning stakes, joined her coven to be better, to follow my own destiny, to be with you.” “But,” Y/N narrows her eyes, “your true father, all the darkness and how you were prophesied to--” “I know, I know,” Michael shushes gently. “I told you nothing was impossible. Including all of this.” Michael brings a hand up, cupping her cheek. “I don’t want that destiny anymore, to end the world. I didn’t know what my path or real destiny was until you.” Y/N flushes a bit. “You’re what I want. You’re my destiny.” Y/N smiles.  “Let’s go take a visit to Cordelia. You, the witches, me, we’ve all been thrown back in time. We could all use a few minutes to go over everything.” Y/N nods, cupping her hand over Michael’s hand over her cheek. “Okay. As long as you’re there.” “I will, I always will be. I refuse to let you go. I love you,” Michael smiles sweetly.

Y/N smiles more before leaning up and pressing her lips to Michael’s, igniting that blaze between them that truly balances one another out as Y/N’s innocence meets Michael’s corruption, for an eternity.

~

A/N: Ending is probably too anticlimactic, but I want happiness for everyone ok, sue mE. But I enjoyed writing this first lil series :’) Thanks for reading if you did!!

Please send in any requests if you’d like and have any! :))

[tempthornton]

The Chosen Child

The rocking ships lurched and moved in ways Son’Ispa was not ready for. The void entity inside of Temperance had been holding control do the young girl's body for almost three days. Three days where she had ridden with a man she knew but did not bear to think about long. Three days they brought her to a Kul’Tiran ship where her hands were healed and she was given the Captain’s quarters to rest.

Before this, she had been a prisoner, and again she felt like she was a prisoner for a different reason. Last twenty years Temperance and Son’Ispa had feared what was hunting them. The creature that would rip apart any adopted family they had, the thing that hunted them all around Kul’Tiras and now the thing that saved them.

‘He’s hardly a thing, he’s a man, even if his body is not really his own.’ Son muttered as she looked up at the lurching ceiling. Her body did not like the ocean, and a deeper part of her wanted to be deeper in the ocean. To a place where there weren’t any currents to thrash her around.

The moment Son’Ispa saw the Captain of the ship when he saved her from that witch's home, she knew. Twenty years she had been running for no reason, but yet for more reason than she had ever had. Being healed, and having several meals in her, she was counting down the moment when he would walk back in. When he came, she knew she would have to tell him something she dreaded.

The knock didn’t make her jump, she had been expecting it for long enough. Clearing her voice she called out. “Come in.”

For all the monsters in this world, he was a beautiful one. If she was not protecting Temperance, Son’ispa would be more relieved, but that’s not the world she lived in.

He had beautiful golden hair, bright eyes, and tanned skin from working out on the ship. His clothing was perfectly tailored, he had to be wealthy. It didn’t matter what the crew called him. Son knew what he was. He was a void entity, much like her, no, exactly like her. He was her other half. A pair who were sent to inhabit human bodies so they could sew chaos and confusion among the humans while more powerful entities did the things the heroes focused on. They were small pieces, but small pieces always meant the difference between success or failure.

“Pa’thay.” She said quietly watching him.

His smile was bright, and it hurt to look at. “So your memory is coming back now?”

It had come back the moment she had seen him. Like a jolt of electricity, it shocked the fog from her mind. The botched ritual that kept Temperance and her sharing the same body had almost made her forget, but now she couldn't, she wouldn't ever forget.

But she couldn’t do what they had planned. Not anymore.

Instead, she nodded. “I had forgotten everything.”

The other half of her sat on the edge of the bed that she had been rooted to for the last few minutes. The ship lurched and she reached out to steady herself.

“You’ll get your sea legs soon.” His voice carried not just warmth, but a joy to it, it broke her a little.

“We need to talk, something has, changed.” She looked at him, and her body wanted to relax. But it was not her body. “I am only a passenger for this body. I don’t own it.”

Her other half, Alexander, that’s what the crew had called him, shook his head. A hand came up to touch her. “Then we make sure this is your body. It was promised to you.”

“Promised when the child who owned it could be ushered to her next life without pain.” She pushed his hand away. “I love her.”

The silence was threatening like a knife in the dark. Son knew what she was saying was treason. If their Master found out she no longer wanted to do her job, she wouldn't die, there were worse things than death and she knew it now. Temperance and she would suffer, Alexander would suffer, that’s why she used to obey.

Alexander’s eyes seemed to forget to blink. His voice carrying more emotion than his face, like something didn’t sync up. Did he have a hard time figuring out how to be human? Son wondered what she would be like if she didn’t have Temperance figuring out how to man her body as well. “You love her?”

“She’s my daughter. I’ve been protecting her since I was put in this body. twenty years I’ve been protecting her form everything. She’s the last of her family Pa’thay.” She said his real name not caring to try to use the human one. “All of them were whipped out. I can’t, I can’t destroy the family that gave me a chance at life by killing her.”

His lips part and Son’Ispa waited for the devastation to hit him. How could he not be devastated? They waited for hundreds of years to be together and this time they couldn't, they would be separated because of a mishap of mortals. It wasn’t fair, but it was what they had.

“We can find you another body.” He offered.

“I want to protect her.” She reached out and took his hand. “I need this. Every time we’re together I get twenty-five, maybe thirty years. As soon as I have a child I die. We both know it. Us together murders any human body I’m in. I’ve never raised a child. Please. You know how much this hurts me.”

He should feel every pain she felt. That was the darker edge of being a soulmate, that is what the void twisted their blessing into. Others would feel joy, but they had a time limit, one they fought against, but they always failed. It was their cycle.

Pa’Thay reached out first holding his hand out to show he meant no harm. Then a warm hand touched her cheek. “We’ll be punished if he finds out?”

“I think our Master has bigger worries right now. Aren’t the Alliance and Horde hunting him down?” She said and she knew it was treason, but she had grown so much bolder when she had suffered along with Temperance. “I want him to win, to bring the dark empire back to its full glory, but Pa.” She got up and nearly tipped over with the lulling motion of the ship. Pa’Thay grabbed her arm and steadied her so she could sit up to face him better. “Tell me, what has stopped the people of Azeroth yet?”

There was silence again, the danger clinging to the room as it hung there between them. “Nothing.”

“Exactly. And, he’s so busy, he’s not going to notice the two of us not fulfilling our normal cycle.” She shook her head. “You know me. You know this is what I’ve always wanted.” She wrapped her arms around herself, giving the body a hug. “I want this. At least let me get her to a place where she’s happy, healthy, with people who will care for her. A husband, a wife, I don’t know what she’ll pick. But give me this. Give me this and I’ll find a new body and we can be together. You can pick the body too.”

Pa’Thay hadn’t blinked or made any expression during her plea and Son’Ispa knew he wouldn’t. that’s not how their kind worked. Instead, she took a deep breath, smelling him, feeling him in the energy in the air.

“If we make this work, if he won’t find out, we will need to be close. I want to meet the girl.”

“You need to apologize to her.” Son’Ispa snapped. “You scared her and I half to death with that hospital.”

But he didn’t look guilty, he smiled. “Did you like the gifts?”

The organs on the ground, the blood on the walls. Without her knowing the depth of what she was, it had been a place of horror. But now she saw it as it was. It was him showing he could care for her, protect her from those who had harmed her.

“They were wonderful, and I have no doubt you can keep us safe.” She finally reached out and touched his shoulder. “You can meet her, and you will apologize to her. Then, Ducky and I need to find a place to grow. She’s still learning her magic and after that witch... I don’t know who she will want to trust. It will be hard enough for her to trust you. You murdered everyone she thought she loved.” She held her hand up. “I know what you were doing, don’t say anything.”

Instead, he smiled a bit. “I missed you.”

She let out a small huff. “And you’re going to have to learn how to act more human. You are horrible.”

“You sound like my crew.” Pa’Thay lay back on the bed. “All of you telling me I’m not human enough.”

“Obviously you’re not.” She rolled her eyes but slowly lay back as well. She didn’t move in to hold him, even if she wanted to. This was not her body, and she loved Temperance too much to use the body in any way the protected girl world be offended by. 

“Can you take us back to Boralus?” She asked.

Pa’Thay looked back at her with a small smile. “Miss home?”

“I want Temperance to grow, and the only nice witches we met were there. I don’t know who we can trust. I know you will do anything to keep me safe. So you’ll do anything to keep her safe. Out of the world I trust you, but I don’t know who else I could trust.” She looked back over to him, his face perfect and Son felt like it was such a waste of a perfectly angelic face. Not when it would have to be alone for so much longer.

“Do you need anything, money, papers? The family who made the deal with me is very wealthy and they gave me this ship. I’m not without anything.” He looked down at her and her ragged-looking clothing. “Let me care for you. If this girl is your daughter...” He let out a breath and nodded. “I’m her father.”

“Temperance is going to love that.” She rested her head back down laughing. “Two void entities as parents...” But her laughter slowed letting the silence creep in. The danger was there, but she was at the center of it. She would attack anyone who hurt her daughter, and knowing her mate, that Pa’Thay was there no one would be able to imprison their chosen child again.

((Kinda excited to get Temperance to a place where she can find some character growth! Thanks to @caedera-mendenhall​ for making her realize she doesn’t want to be that kind of a witch. Now to see where she’s going to go from here... with her void family... I have a trope I love okay))

[tvdversefanfiction]

Canary Carnage

Fandoms: Arrowverse, DC Universe, TVDverse and The Originals

Chapter Ten: Lost Canaries

Warnings: I don’t own any of the rights, content or characters belonging to any of the DC content I use within the story along with not owning any rights, content or characters within The Vampire Diaries, Originals or Legacies.

18 Rating: Moderate/Graphic displays of violence, sexual innuendos, sexually charged scenes, SMUT, strong language and potentially triggering scenes.

Pairings: M/M, F/F, M/F.

Laurel Lance had returned to Earth Blood and New Orleans with her mother Dinah with the hopes of seeking redemption for her son from the future the only problem was she couldn’t find her secret son who believed she was his sister and that had her worried not to mention she couldn’t find her mother either not knowing her mother had been murdered by her son.

She was determined to find them both determined to have her family reunited one way or another but as the weeks passed by she began to fear the worst terrified her desperate pleas to Elijah Mikaelson had went unanswered horrified at the idea that both her mother and her son were already dead.

Of course she was only half right her mother Dinah Lance had been murdered but it was her son Lucas Lance who was the culprit although Klaus Mikaelson did help him cover his tracks before handing him over to the daughter of the demon Nyssa Al Ghul after some unsettling news about a Lazarus Pit.

Laurel was determined to learn the truth one way or another even if it meant declaring war on the Mikaelson’s, going head to head in battle was something the Black Canary was used to it was something she could handle but what Laurel Lance could never handle was the devastating truth just waiting to be uncovered.

“I’m not saying we sit around and do-nothing Laurel…I’m just saying we need to tackle this wisely.” Sara said to her older sister Laurel as the two sat at the bar counter in the bar of the New Orleans Voyage Hotel, each of them nursing a bottle of beer. “Especially considering you and Marcel botched the whole sleeping poison idea.”

“If I had known they would take Dinah and Lucas I’d have personally hand delivered the poison to them both!” Laurel snapped at her younger sister just before Klaus vamp sped into the bar, instantly making the two sisters rise to their feet, placing down their beers on the bar counter, both ready to take on the original hybrid.

“It’s not nice to go around throwing accusations especially at a new friend who is only trying to help.” Klaus told them both.

“How the hell did you get in here without being invited?” Sara furiously asked the immortal man.

“In case you forgot I got rather close to your brother before he decided to go on holiday.” Klaus replied to Sara with a sinister smirk, all to eager to mention his history with the girls’ brother. “Don’t get me wrong suddenly deciding to go off on holiday with your ex-girlfriend league assassin Nyssa Al Ghul just when your mother goes missing is a tad suspicious but I doubt he had time to slaughter her with all the packing he would have to do.”

“You seriously expect us to believe Nyssa and Lucas are on holiday together hell I don’t even believe she’s still on this earth.” Sara said making clear she didn’t believe a word Klaus was saying.

“Why would you even try cover your tracks?” Laurel asked, not quite trusting the original hybrid but not completely distrusting him either. “If you murdered the both of them why aren’t you showing up here boasting about it?”

“I always knew you were the smart sister Laurel.” Klaus complimented the Black Canary while throwing some shade at the White Canary at the same time. “If I had killed either of them, I’d be all to glad to gloat, but the truth is I’m innocent.”

“What the hell would Nyssa want with Lucas?” Sara demanded to know.

“She’s an assassin which makes her a worthy ally to him the boy isn’t stupid he’s clearly switched sides before we stuck in the knife.” Klaus answered her before letting out a reluctant sigh. “However, my brother Elijah seems to think we should stop this little war of ours…so I won’t make a move if you don’t.”

“You mean if you haven’t already.” Sara snapped at Klaus, believing with certainty that he killed their mother.

“You mother is probably just taking the time needed to get over the fact she’s been raising her grandson as a son for all these years.” Klaus revealed all too eagerly knowing it would force Laurel into revealing the rest of the truth to Sara.

On an earth with no Gotham, Star or Central City there was still an infamous island called Lian Yu the same island in which Oliver Queen and Sara Lance washed ashore before being swept up within the carnage of the league of assassins and Nyssa Al Ghul thought they was no better place to take Lucas Lance knowing he couldn’t just escape the remote island which was the perfect location for nobody to find them.

Nyssa felt immense guilt over her and her group of assassins murdering Sara even if their murder didn’t exactly stick and believed saving Lucas from the demon inside him following a bath in the Lazarus Pit hoping that by giving Sara her brother back it would somehow make up for their twisted past knowing it would be anything but an easy task.

“Here’s me thinking you were going to leave me down here for the rest of my life.” Lucas complained as he stood in his underground bunker cell with a power dampener collar around his neck, as Nyssa climbed down the bunker ladder to stand in front of the Red Canary’s cell.

“Infinity Island is one of many places that doesn’t exist on this Earth clearly there’s something special about Lian Yu on every Earth including this one.” Nyssa replied to him. “The only problem is if there’s no Infinity Island than there’s no Lazarus Pit of course there have been other Lazarus Pits, but I highly doubt they exist on this Earth.”

“Okay then I’ll just ask the question you want me to ask already. What the bloody hell is a Lazarus Pit?” Lucas asked the demon’s daughter, trying to hide his curiosity.

“After your mother came to the present from the future to deliver you to your grandparents at a later date many years later a future version of my father came to Infinity Island to deliver the news of where the undead child was which is the reason Ra’s Al Ghul took such special interest in Sara Lance and Oliver Queen in the first place.” Nyssa revealed to a stunned Lucas, who was still reeling from the fact Dinah Lance wasn’t his biological mother. “My father both in the present and the future is desperate to get you under his control for the same reason your real mother The Black Canary traveled back in time to hide you.”

“That can’t be possible Laurel’s my big sister there’s only like three years between us that’s biologically impossible not to mention one hell of a mind fuck.” Lucas replied, in complete disbelief of what Nyssa was telling him.

“Her future version was more than old enough to bare a child and she did…you.” Nyssa continued to inform the Red Canary. “Funnily enough my father in the future first believed you were special because you were the son of the Black Canary and the Green Arrow although after he kidnapped you, he truly learned just how special you were.”

“You seriously expect me to believe that my sister Laurel and her cheating ex Oliver are my parents?” Lucas scoffed at the demon’s daughter. “And people think I’m the crazy one.”

“Let’s go for a little walk I have a feeling the fresh air will probably go rather well with what I am to tell you next.” Nyssa said as she pulled out a key from her jacket pocket and unlocked Lucas’ cell door. “Of course, you can try to escape but I can ensure you only I can find the only way off this island Mr Lance.”

The thought of escaping Lian Yu was on Lucas Lance’s mind for sure but first he wanted to hear more about this story Nyssa was spinning about his own origins not fully believe the assassin but refusing to try to escape until after her story about him had ended just in case she was telling him the truth.

The Red Canary always wanted someone to believe he was special and now he had found that someone he quickly realized being special had already came with too much burden including being kidnapped by the demon’s daughter after killing the woman who raised him.

Laurel Lance was the type of woman who would always seek out the truth no matter what and so when her future son alongside her mother suddenly vanished of the face of Earth Blood she decided to seek out the wonder witch Davina Claire’s help to locate them both with a certain spell.

She may have believed Klaus hadn’t killed Lucas due to his reasoning being too strange to be a lie but she also believe he was hiding something and she needed to know why, why the original hybrid would cover for Lucas, why Lucas would suddenly disappear with Nyssa and why she couldn’t find her mother.

Laurel’s most recent alliance with Davina led to a failed poisoning attempt on the Mikaelson’s, Davina and Sara not getting the chance to even try poisoning the others before Laurel and Marcel botched things and so the Black Canary was hoping the New Orleans witch regent didn’t blame her too much, hoping even if she did she’d still help her in her search for answers.

“I’m sorry Laurel but I really don’t have time to be seen doing favors for you not while I try and work out what the hell the Mikaelson’s are planning in response to our rather failed attempt to take them out.” Davina told Laurel as they walked through the Lafayette Cemetery side by side. “I know Marcel’s safe considering his venom can literally kill them which means I need to protect myself and my witches and that’s where all my attention should be focused on.”

“I get this war with the witches and the vampires has been going on for centuries and I know Klaus is a formidable foe, but I really need this locating spell Davina I’m scared for my mother and Lucas.” Laurel replied to the young witch. “Somethings just not right and I can feel it…I know I fucked shit up and I’m really sorry for that Davina I really am but please don’t take it out on my family please help me.”

“Fine,” Davina said with a reluctant sigh as they both stopped walking. “It seems like I’m forever finding lost canaries for you…but I have come to think of you as something of a friend, so I’ll do it but you’re going to owe me!”

“Trust me I’ll help you with whatever Mikaelson plan you have next once I’ve got my family back in fact we’ll all help you better three canary cries than just one and Sara’s got that whole vamp/assassin thing going for her too so let’s not count out the White Canary.” Laurel mumbled as she thanked and hugged Davina, delighted to get the help she so badly needed in finding her son and her mother.

“You’re a great person Laurel and that’s very rare around here!” Davina admitted as she broke off her hug with the Black Canary. “I just hope wherever they maybe you’re not walking into some trap because nobody should ever trust Klaus Mikaelson.”

Davina was right just because she could magic up a location for Laurel didn’t mean that location was anywhere near safe for Laurel to go to but Laurel was more than willing to take the risk in order to have her family reunited once again not fully realizing that once she found Lucas Lance that she would discover a certain canary was lost forever.

Sara Lance was beyond furious, furious with her mother for lying to her all her life, furious with Laurel for not opening up to her, furious with Klaus for having something to do with her mother’s disappearance and furious at the thought that her first true love Nyssa Al Ghul was behind Lucas’ abrupt exit from New Orleans.

She couldn’t take out her anger on Laurel knowing her sister had only recently found out the truth and was clearly having trouble adjusting besides it would be hypocritical considering Sara hid the fact she was alive for many years and she couldn’t take it out on her missing brother/nephew and mother so she decided who best to take it out on.

Sara showed up in the compound dressed up in her White Canary suit while holding her bo-staff which she had soaked in Marcel’s venom having borrowed it intending to poison Klaus Mikaelson deciding it was time to go through with that particular plan even if anyone else had backed out.

“It wouldn’t be wise to anger my brother Niklaus he very rarely offers to back down against enemies especially those who have murdered our sister.” Elijah warned Sara after vamp speeding his way over to stand in front of her. “I’d advise you’d leave our home now before I decide to be less forgiving than my younger brother.”

“Here’s the thing he knows where my family is which means I’m not going anywhere until I get answers.” Sara replied to the noble original before hitting him with her staff straight across the face, his skin burning at the touch of the White Canary’s poisoned staff.

Sara continued to hit Elijah with her staff hitting him in the face once more before two more hits in the stomach and a singular hit below his feet causing the original to fall flat to the ground before she quickly pressed the staff harshly down on Elijah’s throat causing him to groan in pain as the poison continued to burn his body.

“The next hit I’ll make will be straight through the chest and even you can’t survive that.” Sara warned him while pressing the staff down harder onto Elijah’s throat. “You maybe a 1000-year-old vampire but I was trained by a 500-year-old assassin that plus the newfound vamp strength makes me much more of a weapon than when I was alive…now tell me where my brother is!”

“I have no idea.” Elijah managed to force out of himself before Sara quickly used her bo-staff to force Elijah’s head to the other side, snapping his neck and knocking him unconscious in the process as Klaus vamp sped into the compound to stand in front of Sara, who was more than ready to take down another original.

“I was convinced I was going to have to rush in and stop you killing my brother and yet you just put him to sleep for a little bit…why?” Klaus asked, confused to why the former league of assassin’s member was showing kindness.

“Yeah well my sister likes that one and the blonde-haired vamp but lucky for me she’s not so keen on you!” Sara informed Klaus as she slowly began walking towards the original hybrid, ready to take him out.

“Clearly being the nice guy gets you nowhere I keep telling my siblings, but they just don’t listen.” Klaus laughed at the White Canary. “Your ex took your brother/nephew to Lian Yu to help him with his little problem now if you would please leave these premises before I show you how natural the bad guy role comes to me.”

“Lian Yu…” Sara said in shock as she began backing away with Klaus. “I didn’t even know that place existed on this Earth…why would she take him there?”

“Because he murdered your mother.” Klaus wasted no time in revealing, watching as Sara face began to display her devastation before she vamp sped out of sight, clearly having heard enough from the original hybrid.

That time around Sara Lance believed Klaus’ words somehow knowing deep down it was true the minute he revealed the truth to her as she was left devastated to learn of her mother’s death and even more furious than before as she realized the man she believed to be her baby brother was the one responsible for it.

Klaus Mikaelson never intended to tell Sara the truth having previously helped cover it up due to his strange and ever growing bond with Lucas Lance but a part of him enjoyed hurting the White Canary he liked seeing the woman who murdered his sister in pain and in those brief moments he had found his revenge for Freya Mikaelson and Keelin Malraux’s deaths but straight after revealing the truth he began to feel something he rarely ever felt and that was guilt.

Nyssa al Ghul wanted nothing more than to help Lucas Lance expel or at least control the demon within him knowing she stood some chance at doing one or the other considering Lucas had been co-existing with the demon most of his life without even knowing anything about it but then again there was very little the Red Canary knew about his life.

Lucas had lived his entire life until very recently believing Dinah and Quentin Lance were his parents not his grandparents and thanks to his trip to Lian Yu had only just discovered that his eldest sister Laurel and her ex-boyfriend Oliver Queen were his biological parents and he was from the future.

Nyssa knew the information she was giving the Red Canary wasn’t easy for anyone to take it but she also knew she had to keep on revealing more secrets to him in order to convince him that he needed to stay with her and her small faction of the league of assassins until they figured out how to fix his killer rage knowing she would force his hand if the information wasn’t enough to make him do the right thing.

“So, my sister from the future is actually my birth mother and her deuchebag cheating ex is going to wind up getting her knocked up which means she takes him back.” Lucas scoffed as he and Nyssa walked through the woods within the island, his power dampening collar still attached to him. “And they have the nerve to say I’m the fool for men.”

“Soon after you are born in the future my father Ra’s Al Ghul kidnaps you and does the unthinkable…he made you the undead child.” Nyssa revealed with a great sense of shame on her face. “When your mother retrieved you, she put you in the past to protect you however a future version of my father eventually figured that out and made contact with my father in the present day.”

“My head is literally spiraling from all of this…I’ve just killed my…grandmother and you want to play a game of who do you think you are with me…how am I meant to believe any of this? What exactly did you father do and why is he so obsessed with me?” Lucas questioned the daughter’s demon, still reeling from Nyssa’s many reveals.

“As you have probably heard about the rumors of the Lazarus Pit many have sought it out to reclaimed a lost one and granted it does grant such acts but it also has some dire consequences…nobody knows this better than my father.” Nyssa admitted to the Red Canary. “My father is over 500 years old using the properties of the Lazarus Pit to sustain his life although each time it’s taken something from him making him less and less human…recently he unearthed a prophecy a little earlier than intended thanks to the future’s manipulation and this prophecy was that of the undead child.”

“You called me the undead child, what exactly did this prophecy say exactly?” Lucas wondered, as he began to believe the truth about his origins slowly, wanting to know more.

“I’m not entirely sure about the fine details of the prophecy but I do know it made the future version of my father want to raise you as his own and the past version want you permanently dead.” Nyssa informed him. “As for what my father does to you in the future when you were just a baby he immersed himself and you within the Lazarus Pit…you died once you came out of the pit very briefly and then you were reborn re-birthing a demon within you at the same time.”

“The Lazarus Pit brings people back to life sometimes just the body and not the soul how the hell is some demon attached to me?” Lucas asked once again, getting frustrated that the answers Nyssa Al Ghul was giving him only served to make him more confused.

“I’m sorry but that’s all the information I can give to you…until we visit limbo but for that I’m going to need you to come back to our Earth.” Nyssa explained to the Red Canary, hoping he was willing to help her with her mission.

“There’s a reason I ditched that world and haven’t exactly been eager to go back!” Lucas snapped at the demon’s daughter. “Under no circumstances am I going back.”

“Mr Lance…I have been more than patient with you even going as far as informing you of a truth everybody else has been keeping from you but let me make one thing clear we will remain on Lian Yu only until my colleagues return and then we’re heading back where we belong.” Nyssa snapped back at him, making it clear she wasn’t asking, she was demanding. “You’re either a threat to my father or an ally and if anyone is going to have you as some kind of weapon then it’s going to be me!”

Nyssa Al Ghul wanted to help Lucas Lance for Sara’s sake but she couldn’t refuse the fact she was curious to find out more about what made the Red Canary so special and knowing her father somewhat feared this undead child made him all the more fascinating.

Nyssa was going to help Lucas as much as she could it just so happened finding out the truth about him may just work to both of their advantages mainly because Nyssa Al Ghul was planning to dethrone her father and take his place.

Laurel Lance was more than grateful for Davina Claire casting a locating spell which revealed that Nyssa Al Ghul and Lucas Lance were on Lian Yu and decided to focus on going there to get him back instead of focusing on the fact that Davina was unable to locate her mother Dinah.

Laurel feared the worst behind Davina’s inability to find her mother Dinah Lance fearing it was confirmation her mother was dead but she had to be a mother right now and put her son first she had to find Lucas and find out why he was on Lian Yu knowing that island wasn’t exactly idealistic for the White Canary or the Green Arrow.

As Laurel packed her rucksack filling it with enough clothes for a round trip to Lian Yu and back within her hotel room in the New York Voyage Hotel, determined to rescue her son she found her quest taking an unexpected turn as a broken Sara walked into the room with tears in her eyes instantly making Laurel realize something terrible had just happened.

“Mum’s gone Laurel…” Sara cried, revealing what she had just learned to her older sister. “That’s what Klaus was hiding from us…that our mother’s gone.”

“I had a feeling that might have been the reason why Davina couldn’t find her, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself.” Laurel admitted with tears in her eyes. “I knew this sudden need of his for us to not be enemies was some plot, but I just didn’t want to accept that we’ve lost her again…this time forever…just like dad.”

“Laurel I don’t know how to tell you this…and I really wish I didn’t have to, but it was Lucas who killed our mum.” Sara reluctantly admitted to the Black Canary in between cries, as she struggled to come to terms with her mother’s death.

“No! Sara…he wouldn’t…he couldn’t…” Laurel replied as she attempted to deny the truth while her gut told her otherwise. “Lucas has committed some terrible acts, but he wouldn’t…Klaus must be lying.”

“I think we both know deep down he’s not…not this time.” Sara said as she walked over to her sister and gave her a hug, as the two women cried as they mourned the death of their mother while coming to terms with the truth of how they lost her.

Despite their complicated history Laurel Lance loved her mother deeply and hoped they could reconnect following years apart, but all that hope had just been taken away from her in that moment and with it all hopes for redeeming her son went with them.

Lucas Lance had killed many times and committed some unspeakable and evil acts as the Red Canary but the one line he had never crossed was killing a family member but that line had now been crossed and with it neither the Black Canary or White Canary could deny the fact that Lucas has to be stopped once and for all.

Klaus Mikaelson had found himself filled with guilt over betraying Lucas’ trust knowing it would lead to Laurel and Sara hunting them down in a bid to stop what they believed was a ruthless monster but Klaus knew there was a man within the monster because he had seen it for himself and he knew more than most that one could be both a man and monster for that’s exactly how he saw himself.

He couldn’t help but find himself growing more and more fond of Lucas and it was that fondness that drove the original hybrid to plot to do something he never normally did, clean up his own mess and in order to do that he had to find a way of convincing his siblings to help him stop Laurel and Sara from seeking revenge on Lucas.

“Absolutely bloody not!” Rebekah declared as she stood up from her chair at the dining table within the dining area at the compound, as Elijah, Hayley, Klaus and Kol continued to sit around the table. “I say if the Lance sisters have seen sense and want to kill their bastard brother then we don’t stand in the way.”

“Rebekah…” Elijah began to say.

“Of all the times you paraded me and made me feel foolish for my choice of partners and now you’re literally asking us to help you save some deranged canary whose own siblings want to see him dead.” Rebekah shouted at Klaus, while interrupting Elijah in the process.

“I guess I don’t have to worry about Lucas seeking round two from me then thanks to my brother soaking up my sloppy seconds.” Kol teased Klaus, looking rather amused with himself as the original hybrid rolled his eyes at his younger brother.

“Well I for one agree with Klaus…I can’t believe I’m agreeing with him, but I’d like to stop Laurel from doing something she might regret.” Hayley chimed in, as she stood up to face Rebekah. “She doesn’t deserve to have that on her conscious…nobody does.”

“When exactly did we start caring about Laurel bloody Lance so much?” Rebekah moaned to Hayley, before rolling her eyes and giving in. “I suppose I am somewhat fonder of her than her siblings.”

“I know Sara Lance killed our sister and for that I’ll never forgive her, but Laurel is a good person and this family have done something terrible things to good people maybe it’s time we turn the tables.” Elijah suggested as he too stood up form his chair to face Hayley and Rebekah, noticing Hayley smiling at his wise words, making him smile back at his former love.

“I’m in but mostly because I want to see it all go down, I can’t promise I’ll stop anything.” Kol somewhat agreed as he and Klaus stood up at the same time, all siblings now standing face to face with Hayley.

“Before we go into this canary filled battlefield there’s something about Laurel and Lucas that I should tell you all about.” Elijah revealed to the rest of them, instantly catching the awkward look on Klaus’ face which revealed his younger brother knew what Elijah was about to say next. “Laurel is Lucas’ mother.”

It was revelation both Klaus and Elijah had already discovered however until now Rebekah, Kol and Hayley had remained in the dark and now they had found out it had made them even more determined to do the right thing by the Lance’s for the first time after all Rebekah and Kol knew just as well as Klaus and Elijah what it was like to have their mother try to murder them and didn’t wish that on anyone.

Despite their protests and the bad blood between the Mikaelson’s and the Lance’s the two families were slowly beginning to grow more and more fonder of each other even if none of them would ever admit it.

[sexualsam]

Bittersweet

I wrote this and it kind of went in an off direction so I had to pull it back, please excuse if it gets a little messy. Don’t forget to send me requests.

Imagine Request:  Hey hey! Can I req. a Dean one-shot, where he is very nervous to propose to R ( who is his long-time best friend, a powerful natural witch, and BAMF huntress) because Amara is on the loose. The thing is: Sam is pining for R as well, though he knows he can never be with her as Dean is. That still doesn’t make him any less devastated when he hears about Dean’s wish to finally propose before it’s too late for him, but he still encourages his brother to take that step while he still can.

Word Count: 1283

It felt like someone had stabbed Sam through the heart and twisted the knife. Dean was finally going to do it, propose to the love of his life. You and Dean had been together for years, and you had loved him for longer. The only problem was that you were the girl of Sam’s dream too. The difference was, that it wasn’t mutual. The younger Winchester had loved you for years, but his brother had gotten to you first.

“Do you think she’ll like it?” Dean asked nervously, showing their mothers ring. He just smiled and nodded.

“Yeah.” He breathed, looking down at the sparkling diamond. Dean looked down at the ring then back over to Sam. He was ecstatic. He didn’t know about his little brother’s feelings towards you, and Sam planned to keep it that way.

“It’s beautiful.” Sam spoke louder, clearing his throat and pushing his chair out from the table.

“I’m gonna go shower.”

He left Dean in the kitchen, staring in awe at the gorgeous ring that would soon be yours, hopefully.

You stood in the bathroom, brushing your teeth and humming along to a random tune. Dean had come in earlier and asked you to put on something fancy because you guys were going out. Which was odd. You and he never went on dates, well not real ones anyway.

You were torn between two shoes, a red pumps with a silver heel and a black bootie. You found your way to Sam’s room. You knocked on the door and waited for a ‘come in’. When you finally got it you walked in and plopped down on the bed next to him.

“Which?” You asked, motioning to the two different shoes on your feet. He just looked over at you. God, you were gorgeous. The way you tucked your hair behind your ear, or the way you smiled at him when he finally gave you his opinion.

“The red? Really? You don’t think they look a little, well, slutty?” You asked. They were kind of tall, but they did made your legs look great.

“If you think they look slutty then why do you own them?” He asked, chuckling. You just smiled and shrugged. They were really pretty, just not your usual style. They were quite a far cry from your beat up combat boots.

You gave Sam a quick hug and thanks before leaving the room.

You met Dean in your guys’ room and smiled at him. Damn, he looked good.

“Wow.” You both said simultaneously. He smiled at you and reached out for your hand, which you gladly took; and he led you to the impala.

Dean was nervous, you could tell. He had let you pick the music and the whole ride to the dinner he had bounced his leg up and down. And on top of that he had made reservations for a restaurant that had nothing under 20 dollars.

After you guys had finished eating, Dean had ordered dessert. When the waiter came back with it he lightly touched your shoulder and you could see Dean tense up, not from jealousy but from nervousness. You gave him a small smile.

He set the dessert down on the table in front of you and you grabbed a spoon, getting ready to go to town. When you looked down at it your breath was taken away. There on the plate in nice cursive letters written in chocolate sauce said.

Will you marry me?

You looked up at Dean who was now holding an opened box with an absolutely stunning ring inside.

“Y/n. you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You make me a better person. When I first met you I was a broken mess who was sure that the light at the end of the tunnel was hellfire. But now, I have no idea what it is. I know it’s not heaven because heaven is right here with you. And I don’t know if we’ll even be alive by the end of this week so” He took a deep breath and dropped to the floor on one knee.

“Will you marry me?”

You were stunned and didn’t know what to say.

“Yes.” You breathed, tears forming in your eyes. You were beyond happy, you got to marry the love of your life. Cheers could be heard from tables around you guys as he slid the ring onto your finger.

“It’s beautiful.” Was all you could say, the way the light captured it took your breath away.

“It was my mom’s.” He smiled, staring at you. He watched as you stared at the ring and then back to him.

“I love y-“ You were cut off as glass shattered all around you. The windows had exploded behind you. Dean looked over at you, giving you an ‘are you okay’ look, and you nodded.

“Oh Dean.” You heard a familiar voice say. You looked up from your bloody hands to reveal Amara. She was waltzing through the tables, looking for you guys. Dean grabbed your hand and you slid underneath a nearby booth. You heard screams of terror as she made her way through the restaurant, killing people as she walked.

You couldn’t take it anymore, hearing her murder innocent people. You knew you were no match for her but you could at least distract her while Dean helped people out of the restaurant.

You took off your heels and looked over to Dean who was looking around before he caught your gaze.

“Get these people out of here. I love you.” You didn’t give him a chance to respond as you slid out from underneath the booth.

“Hey bitch!” You screamed, getting her attention. Amara looked over to you, smirking.

“Y/n. Nice ring” She said menacingly. You waved your hand at her, throwing her against the wall with your magic. You didn’t give her an opportunity to react as you picked her up again and held her in the air. Your magic flared with your emotions so when you were angry, so you had a chance to win.

You looked around briefly, seeing Dean usher people out of the back exit. Bad mistake. She took this as an opportunity to break free from your hold. You could feel the crushing weight of her power on your throat as she choked you.

“Amara!” Dean yelled. She turned around towards him dropping you from her invisible grasp and she looked over to Dean, smiling.

“You say we have some kind of connection, well if you care about me at all, let Y/n go.” He spoke shakily. Dean and you were worse than Dean and Sam. Monsters knew you were his weak spot, and so did Amara. She looked over at you for a second and you felt yourself being able to breathe again.

You didn’t listen to what Dean and Amara were saying, instead you searched for your gun, a knife, anything that would do anything to her. You looked over to the table where you and Dean had been hiding. Your heels.

You held out your hand and drifted the heel towards you. You looked down at the shoe, saying a quick chant over them before making your way over to God’s sister.  

Dean watched as you scrambled to get up, high heel in hand and he gave a subtle confused look. Amara didn’t notice as you snuck up behind her. With one swift motion you plunged the shoe deeply into her neck. She didn’t even give a chance to attack because within seconds she became a heaping pile of dust on the floor.

The spell wouldn’t last forever, just long enough for you and Dean to go back to the bunker and tell Sam everything that had happened, including your new ring. You knew he would be beyond happy for you.

[marshmallow-phd]

Fighting Instinct

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Supernatural, Wolf Au

Pairing: Jongdae x Reader

Summary: He went out of his way to ignore you. You saw his kindness towards everyone else, but he showed you only irritation. And you couldn’t blame him, considering your first meeting. However, little do you know that he’s hiding a dark world, one that you’re pulled into against your will….

Warning: none

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I 15 I Final

**

You ran. It was stupid, but it’s what you did, not really seeing any other options. You ran to your bedroom, slamming the door closed and locking it before running for the window. The clasp on the window was rusted from lack of use, making you work hard to shove the damn thing open. Just before you could start climbing out of it, Eun Na’s face appeared before yours.

“Boo!”

She laughed maniacally as you scrambled back. Her two goons yanked you up by your arms, holding you in place while Eun Na stepped back inside.

“Running from witches?” she scoffed. “Not a very smart move. I mean, did you actually think you’d get away?”

“Just leave me alone!” you screamed, the force ripping at your throat. “How can any of this be worth it?”

The smirk disappeared from her face before you could blink. She stepped up so she was nearly toe to toe with you. Her voice lowered to a menacing tone, sending a shiver down your spine.

“You have no idea how worth it all of this is.”

Her eyes left you, motioning with her eyes for the ones holding you to move out. When you got back to the living room one of them let go of you, heading to Jongdae and throwing him over his shoulder. A hand covered your mouth, only a cloth separating your skins. You fought against the hold, trying not to breath in the chemical you knew the cloth was soaked in. It took longer than you’d imagined, but eventually you lost the fight and consciousness.

**

After waking up in the middle of the forest again, you were really considering the thought of never seeing another tree for the rest of you life. This time, though, you weren’t scared. You were angry. Angry that you were once again in this position and that really this was all your fault. You were the one who wanted to stay in your vulnerable apartment instead of surrounded by the safety of the pack. If you hadn’t asked to stay in the city, you wouldn’t be here in this position.

Now, you were lying down on a ritualistic slab of rock, your wrists chained above your head, making escape impossible. Looking around, you seemed mostly alone in a meadow, save for Jongdae, who was so chained down to his own concrete column he couldn’t even save himself. You pulled at your restrains that were digging into your skin, rattling the metal against the rock. The noise seemed to wake Jongdae from his unconsciousness.

“(y/n)?”

You tried to sit up, but your ankles were also locked down, keeping you from changing positions.

“I’m okay,” you reassured him, adding to yourself, “for now.”

Jongdae growled, wiggling back and forth to loosen his restraints. It was pointless. As strong as he was, there were at least five layers of brand new chains wrapped around him, keeping him firmly against the column

“Oh, goody, you’re awake.”

Eun Na, along with her with her coven, emerged from the trees. They were back in those black robes. Out of desperation, you pulled at the chains again and again. A useless effort, but one you couldn’t quite stop until Eun Na was right next to you and she put her hand on your wrists, stopping the movement gently. A strange gesture considering the circumstances.

“Get away from her!” Jongdae roared. He went ignored.

Eun Na’s eyes were nearly unreadable when she looked down at you, but what you could catch was a sadness. You prayed that there was enough of a conscience in her to change her mind at the last minute and let you go, however miniscule that hope was. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the vial that held the potion that was supposed to keep you alive.

“Did you enjoy my little gift I sent to you?” she mused. At sympathy was gone from her gaze, the evil smirk had taken over. “Considering you didn’t use this little protection spell when you had the chance, I’m assuming so.”

“You really wanted me dead that much?” you whimpered, your voice catching just for a second in your throat.

“It wasn’t about killing you,” she corrected, putting the vial back in her pocket. “It was simply about making sure you stayed unmarked. See, as soon as you were marked, you’d be useless to us, protected by the same magic that protects all werewolves from us. And thus we wouldn’t be able to use you to break that protection. That’s all I cared about. When I caught wind that the two of you might actually be coming together as mates, I couldn’t take the risk of you being marked before I could get to you again.”

Taking a deep breath, you closed your eyes, fighting the tears that were building up in your eyes. You were so sick of crying, so sick of being in this position. But this was the explosion you predicted to Jongdae during your argument just a few days ago. You just hadn’t expected it to come this soon.

“Just tell me why, Eun Na,” you whispered. “Why you are so hell bent on breaking the treaty and killing the pack?”

Jongdae had told you about the treaty Junmyeon’s great-great-grandfather had made with the coven head during his time. They all simply wanted peace in the town they called home and so they agreed to live without fighting, to no longer harm the other and their families. It’d lasted generations and now it was being torn apart.

Eun Na lowered down so her eyes were mere inches from yours. “My sister.”

Your jaw dropped. “Y-your sister?”

She’d never told you about having any siblings. You always assumed that she was an only child. Then again, she never divulged any information about her family. It was mind boggling as you thought back, realizing how little Eun Na talked about herself, never really giving you details about her life beyond the classroom.

“Eun Bi,” she mumbled. “My baby sister.” She straightened up, her eyes settled down, looking at nothing in particular. “She was such a bright light. Not an evil bone in her body. I was so scared when she went off to college because I wouldn’t be there to protect her. She wanted to do something on her own without me hovering over her so she took off to a distant university. I should have been there to protect her.”

Eun Na looked off to the tree line, pausing to keep herself together before continuing.

“When I discovered she was dating a werewolf, I tried to warn her that she would get hurt. But she didn’t listen. And she sounded so happy on the phone that I couldn’t keep arguing with her. And then that bastard found his mate. He dropped my sister without thinking twice about it, simply telling her sorry. She was devastated. She couldn’t think straight. She went to go plead with him and he lost his temper when she started talking about how his mate ruined them.”

Her fingers were digging into the rock, her nails scraping against it as her grip tightened on the edge. “He shifted and attacked her, clawing her face and neck down to her collar bone. She’s lucky she still has her sight, but now she’ll be scarred for the rest of her life. And even after that, she still declared that she loved him, that she wanted him. So, she tried to break the mate bond between them to get him back. She didn’t know that one of them needed to be a willing participant in the spell, so she failed. But the coven she’d joined found out about it and had her expelled from the order. She can never join another coven, never have another family to accept her. All in the name of love for a mongrel.”

A fire was now raging in Eun Na’s eyes, making you feel the heat from where you were. She grabbed your chin, her fingers squeezing your jaw with a fierceness you’d never experienced from her before.

“That is why I am doing this. That is why I am willing to do whatever it takes to eradicate those stupid dogs from the face of this earth. For my sister’s sake.”

“But it wasn’t someone from this pack, was it?” You hoped it wasn’t. None of the mated wolves had mentioned anything about an Eun Bi or accidentally attacking someone out of anger.

“No,” Eun Na answered between clenched teeth. “Eun Bi was going to school in a coastal town. But it doesn’t matter. Once I’m powerful enough to destroy this pack, I’ll continue to wipe out each wolf I come in contact with until I make it to his pack. I’ll save him and his mate for last.”

“You’re insane,” you concluded.

Eun Na pursed his lips, contemplating your comment. “No. I’m just willing to do anything for my family. Now, it’s time to say goodbye, (y/n). Because once the ritual is done and poor Jongdae here has watched you die, he’ll be the next one to go.”

“You crazy bitch!” Jongdae screamed. “Don’t you dare touch a single hair on her head!”

Eun Na barely acknowledged him over her shoulder. “Ha. I don’t think you’re exactly in a position to be making threats.”

“No, but I am.”

Junmyeon emerged from the trees along with the pack.

Eun Na pulled a knife out of her robe, pressing it against your neck.

“Take one more step and I’ll cut her throat,” she warned.

“No, you won’t,” Junmyeon countered. “You need her, you won’t just kill her outright.”

Eun Na’s determined face flickered for a moment from being caught in her bluff. She turned to her coven.

“Now!”

The one you remembered from the bonfire, Tonya, was closest to the pack and threw a powder into the air, making the boys scramble back. As soon as the powder reached the grass, a wall of fire sprung up, separating the two groups, keeping you and Jongdae on the wrong side.

Eun Na began chanting, putting all her concentration on you and spreading what you recognized as wolfsbane ash around you on the slab. You stared past her, keeping your eyes on the pack. You watched them all transform into their wolf selves, ready for battle as pieces of fabric sprayed everywhere. Bravely, they all jumped through the wall of flames, chasing after the coven members that were scrambling to keep Eun Na protected as she completed the spell.

Three of the wolves went to Jongdae, clawing at the chains and breaking them little by little. Soon, he was free and immediately ran towards you. All the wolves flanked him, attacking any human that dared to try and stop him and block his way to you.

Jongdae tackled Eun Na before she could finish, pinning her to the ground.

“It’s time to end this,” he growled, lifting his hand back behind his head as his claws grew to deadly talons. He was going to kill her. As much as you wanted to be free from her wrath, you didn’t want her death on your conscience.

“Jongdae, no!” you screamed.

He stopped before he could swing, his eyes flickering back and forth between you and Eun Na. Instead of killing her, he swung at the chains holding your wrists hostage, freeing you.

You sat up as the white wolf you recognized as Sehun ran towards the three of you, stepping on Eun Na to keep her down as Jongdae scrambled up to you.

There was only way to end all this without death being involved. At least, without Eun Na’s death.

“Jongdae,” you choked as he pulled you into his arms, tears spilling out of both your eyes and his.

“It’s okay,” he murmured, rubbing your back soothingly. “You’re safe.”

You shook head, staying in the comfort of his embrace. “No. I won’t be until as long as I remain like this.”

Stiffening, Jongdae pulled back. “What do you mean?”

“You need to mark me,” you declared, getting the solution out before you changed your mind. “Right now. That’s the only way this can end.”

He shook his head violently. “No, (y/n). You said it yourself that you didn’t want to take that risk. We don’t know if it’ll work.”

“I’m willing to take that risk now,” you urged. There wasn’t time to argue about this. The rest of the pack was still fighting the coven, trying to avoid the fire that was building up around them. The only way for them to give up, for you to live in peace with your new family, was to make yourself useless to them. Just like Eun Na said. “Please, Jongdae. I have to do this.”

“It’s not supposed to go this way,” he growled, cupping your face in his hands. “Not like this.”

“Jongdae.”

Seeing the desperate plea in your eyes, he finally nodded. “Okay.”

He went back to Eun Na, taking the potion from her as she struggled under Sehun’s weight. As soon as the vial was in your hands, you broke the seal and tipped the glass against your lips, trying not gag as the liquid trickled down your throat.

With a shaky hand, Jongdae pulled your shirt away from your shoulder, exposing the skin. He looked you in the eye one last time. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” you whispered.

His fangs grew in his mouth and, as he squeezed his eyes shut, bit down on the space where your neck and shoulder met. The feeling of his teeth sinking into your flesh and tearing it apart was a pain you’d never experienced before. You let out a scream, the only outlet you could think of to ease the pain.

“No!” Eun Na screamed.

As Jongdae pulled away, he watched you as your eyelids flickered, struggling to stay open.

“(y/n)? (y/n)!”

You felt yourself weaken until finally, you went limp.

[rosieclark]

Don’t leave me

This is something I’ve been working on in spurts. In summery, it’s every plangsty idea that has ever popped into my mind all bundled together with a little bow on top. Also available on Ao3 for your enjoyment. 

Big thanks to Mads (@madileto) for beta reading!

“Promise me something?”

Lance nuzzled the top of her head the familiar scent of her lavender shampoo filling his lungs. “Anything.”

Pidge burrowed further into his arms. “You’ll never leave me right?”

Lance pulled back so he could look into her eyes. “Pidge, you don’t need to worry about that. I’ll never leave you.”

She smiled and brought her lips up to meet his. “I know. Just checking.”

He kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her again. Embracing her warmth, he sighed contently. He was happy.

Lance was having a bad day. It had started out okay, but had quickly gone down hill. He got his butt kicked in training by Keith, spilled food goo all over his new pants and couldn’t for the life of him get his bayard to work.

To top it all off, he had a huge fight with Katie. He closed his eyes, mentally cursing at the memory.

“I’m sorry if I’m being distant, but I’m so close to finding them Lance! I can feel it!”

Lance rubbed his forehead. “Like you were ‘so close’ last month? No offence Katie, but every time you say that, you end up no closer to the truth.”

“Lance, their my family. I can’t abandon them.”

“And I’m your boyfriend!” Lance shouted. “Doesn't that count for anything?”

Pidge stopped typing. She looked at Lance, her eyes wide and sorrowful.

“Of course it does. You mean everything to me. I see a future with you when we return to earth.

Lance kept his expression neutral. Even though her words warmed his heart, he was still ticked off about being ignored for weeks at a time.

“At least I’ll have a family to return to when we get back.”

Almost immediately after he said it, Lance regretted his words. Hurt flashed across Pidge’s face within seconds. He saw her eyes dim a little, and could sense her walls building up. She was shutting him out.

He reached out to her only for her to flinch away.

“Katie, please.”

She turned to face away from him, her shoulders trembling. “At least I know my place on the team and in my family. I’m the brains, the tech savvy. I’m also the paladin of the green lion, and only daughter to Colleen and Sam Holt. I know they love me, because there’s only one of me. You on the other hand,” she snorted. “You have no place. Not on the team, not in your large family. You’ll never know if your mom loves you, or loves the older brother she sees in you.”

Lance felt like a knife had stabbed him in the heart. He staggered back, his body shaking at her words. She knew his weaknesses and had lashed out, hitting her target with deadly precision. He looked up to see her big amber eyes staring up at him, a mix of regret and horror shining in them.

“Lance, I didn’t mea-”

“It doesn’t matter what you meant. What’s done is done.” He knew his tone was cold, but he couldn’t help it. Without saying another word, he whirled around and marched out the door.

Lance groaned, cursing his own stupidity. If he hadn’t left, they would have talked out their problems and probably could have been snuggling by now. Instead he had run away like a coward.

Settling in Blue, Lance opened the hanger door and flew out. He needed some time to think.

“Lance, come in.”

“Lance, do you copy?”

“Buddy, where are you?”

“Lance, this is Shiro. Come back now, that’s an order.”

Opening his eyes, Lance listened to the constant stream of his teams worried voices over the coms.

“Guys, I’m here, relax.” He soothed. “What's the big deal anyways?”

There was silence on all other lines before Keith spoke up.

“You better get back here as soon as possible, or so help me, I will kill you myself.”

Lance frowned at Keith's harsh words. “Jeez, hold your horses. I’m on my way.” He turned off his com and patted Blues dashboard. “Let’s go home girl.”

As he exited his lion, Lance was met with a very, very angry Keith.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” He seethed through clenched teeth. He grabbed Lance’s collar and shook him.

“What was I thinking? What are you thinking?” Lance pulled away, suddenly angry at the attack. “I just needed some time to think! You have no right to talk to me about needing alone time.”

“At least I tell the team were I am. You just decide to get up, and take four days in space?”

Four days. It had felt like a few hours. Quiznack. His confidence dissipated. “I lost track of time?” He offered with a sheepish smile.

“You lost track of time? For four days, we have been trying to coax Pidge out of her room. For four days, I’ve had to listen to her sob endlessly. She hasn’t eaten, she hasn’t drank anything, I don’t think she’s showered or used the bathroom! You have been MIA for four quiznacking days and all you can say is you “lost track of time?”” Keith shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

Lance felt the regret weigh heavy in his stomach. He ran out of the room, ignoring the shouts of protest from his team. He needed to see her.

Standing outside her door, his heart sank even further as he listened to Katie cry. He never wanted to hear her in pain, much less be the cause of it.

With the wave of his hand the door opened, revealing a dark room. A small figure lay curled up in the corner. Her shoulders trembled.

“Hey.” Lance waved even though she couldn’t see him. “I’m sorry for everything I said.”

Pidge whirled around, her eyes wide. “You’re back.”

Lance grinned. “Happy to see me?”

She frowned and turned away.

He sighed. “Look Pidge, I know I said some pretty harsh things to you that I’m not proud of.” He took a step towards her. ”I will always support your ambitions to find your family no matter what. I love you. Please forgive me?”

Lance didn’t know what he was expecting. He wanted Katie to run into his arms and forgive him, but he didn’t think that was a reasonable outcome. What he didn’t expect was for her to stand up and look at him, fury seeping off every pore in her body. He actually took a step back.

“You think this is about what you said?” Her voice was dangerously low. “I forgave you for what you said a long time ago. No Lance, this is about something much bigger.”

“I don’t know what yo-”

“I thought you left me!” Pidge screamed.

The silence that followed was deafening. Lance froze, and stared at her, small and trembling. His heart clenched. He hadn’t meant to hurt her.

“I thought you left me.” She repeated, quieter now. “Sooner or later, you’re going to find someone prettier, or smarter, or funnier than me, and leave. Just like my dad. Just like Matt. Just like Rover.”

“Pidge, ple-” He reached out a hand, but she was already moving out the door.

“No Lance. I need to be alone right now.”

“Quizanck, why am I so weak?”

Pidge stood outside Lance’s door a mere three hours after their second fight. Yes, she was still mad, but they needed to talk out their feelings. Just before she was about to enter, her com lit up.

“Hello?”

“Paladin of green, this is Zarkons witch. I have a proposition to make.”

Pidge’s blood ran cold. Haggar.

“I want nothing to do with you.” She moved to turn the signal off.

“Even if it concerns the safety of your brother and father?”

Her hand paused. Haggar had Matt and her dad. She couldn’t let them get hurt.

“What do you want?”

“I want the lions.”

“That’s impossible. I can’t do that.”

“Need I remind you Katie, that I hold both your brother and your father in my possession. The only thing keeping them alive is your obedience.”

Pidge’s heart sank. She had no leverage in this situation.

“Anything else. Please don’t hurt them?”

There was a pause and then a chuckle. “I wish to destroy Voltron from the inside out. I believe you have gotten quite close with the current red paladin, am I correct?”

Lance

Pidge felt the dread creeping up her spine. She tried to answer but no words came out.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes. I need you to destroy him. Break off your relationship. Make him hate you.”

The communicator shook in Pidge’s hand. Break up with Lance or have her brother and father killed. She sank to her knees as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I can’t.” She managed to choke out.

“You better.” Haggar's voice was everything cruel in the world. “Lest you never want to see your brother again.”

The line went dead, leaving Pidge to her thoughts. Lance would understand. He had to. She could fix this, all she needed was time.

Lance looked up as Pidge entered his room. He immediately smiled and opened his arms for a hug.

“Hey Pidge, what’s up?”

His grin drooped a little when she walked past him, ignoring his welcoming arms, and stared out the window.

“Still mad at me?”

“Lance, I’m done.”

He put his arms down and let out a nervous chuckle. “Don’t even joke about that Pidgey. I know I broke the promise, but I swear it will never happen again. Please.”

“It’s not a joke. I don’t want to be with you anymore.” She turned to face him, her eyes cold and emotionless.

Lance took a step back, clutching at his chest.

“Why? Was it what I said? Because I’m sorry!” He wished his voice sounded stronger, but it trembled.

Pidge sighed as if he was boring her. “It’s not either of those things. I need to be with someone who understands me on an intellectual level.”

That stung more than he wanted to admit. He always knew Pidge was smart, brilliant even. He never thought she thought of him as dumb.

“So what, you’re just going to leave me? Leave us?”

“Yes.”

The answer was simple yet devastating. Lance felt his sadness turn to rage.

“Then leave.” He spat. “I don’t want to be in the same room as you for longer than necessary.”

Pidge gave him a curt nod, and walked to the door. Instead of leaving, she turned.

“I’m leaving on a solo mission to find my family. I won’t be around for a while.” Then she left, the door closing behind her with a soft hiss.  

As soon as she was gone, he fell to his knees, sobbing. He was never good enough for her. He would never be good enough for her. But that didn’t mean he had to stop fighting.

Not for her, for himself. She had left him broken, but he would come back stronger.

Lance swore to himself that he wouldn’t give Pidge the satisfaction of seeing him weak. He would be strong.

Being alone for six weeks in space was not her ideal vacation, but it was better then nothing. Getting Shiro to agree to let her go on this mission solo had been a doozy. He had wanted to take Keith, but she had refused. She needed to do this alone.

Saying goodbye to the team was hard, but they knew she would be back. Eventually. She had estimated the journey to the cruiser and back would take roughly a month. Unfortunately, she had run into some setbacks. This lead to two months in space, with her just being about to see the Galra cruiser.

The one thing her extended time in solitude had granted her was the ability to think. Think about her family, earth, and Haggar. Think about exactly what she was going to do to the witch when she found her. Haggar had made a mistake. Pidge now knew the location of her brother and father. She would play puppet to her wicked schemes no longer.

Thinking was great, until she thought about the one thing she didn’t want to. Lance. Their last conversation had been unagreeable, and it was a jerk move on her part to leave right after. All she needed to do was find her family and explain everything to Lance. Then hopefully he would at least forgive her. Maybe even give her a second chance.

Getting into the cruiser would be easy. Getting out would be hard. Haggar must have her family in the lower prison cells. All Pidge had to do was dock outside the ship, sneak through one of the disposal chutes, and hack the systems for a distraction. Piece of cake.

“Quiznack.” Pidge swore as she opened the last cell in the prison to reveal a scared Arusian. They had to be here. She had searched every damn cell in this ship, so where were they?

“Looking for someone?” Haggar's voice sent shivers down her spine. Pidge turned to face her.

“Where are they?” She stared at the witch, her hands trembling slightly.

“Where are they?” She repeated again. “You said they were here. You said you had them!”

Haggar chuckled, low and cold. “My dear Katie, I lied.”

The last word hit her like a punch to the gut. Haggar never had her family. She had manipulated Pidge to do her bidding without having any leverage.

“No.” It was barely more than a whisper. “No, it’s not possible.”

“But it is you foolish girl.” The witch sneered, her eyes glowing yellow under her hood.

A dam of rage burst inside of Pidge. “You bitch!” She screamed, shooting her bayard at Haggar. “You fucking bitch!”

Haggar easily avoided her attacks, shooting a blast of electricity at the green paladin. Pidge dodged it, and continued to ruthlessly attack her.

Haggar shot at her again, this time hitting her target. Pidge let out a whimper as she crashed against the back wall. Pain flashed through her arm and she gritted her teeth. Slowly, she got up and fired her bayard again. Haggar let out an amused laugh.

“You’re a persistent one aren’t you?”

Pidge didn’t respond, sweat beginning to form on her brow. Her arm felt as though it was on fire and every sense of her was telling her to stop, but she didn’t. She couldn’t.

“Unfortunately, I have places to be and people who require my attention.” She opened her hand and shot lightning, catching Pidge as she tried to retreat.

The green paladin screamed and writhed in pain. When she finally felt like she couldn’t take it anymore, Haggar stopped. She bent over the Pidge and whispered into her ear.

“Make no mistake girl, I’m not as cruel as you think. I’m simply playing a game to stay alive. I know what it’s like to lose your family, so I suggest you leave before any guards find you.”

Pidge’s mouth was too dry to speak. As she watched Haggar disappear, Pidge tried to stand up. Every bone in her body resisted, but she pushed through.

How she had made it to her lion was still a mystery. What she did know was pain, exhaustion and disappointment. With trembling hands, she set course for the castle, before the darkness consumed her.

“All paladins to the bridge please. I repeat, all paladins to the bridge.”

Lance cursed Shiro's timing as he got off Allura.

“Sorry babe, we’re going to have to wait.” He said with a wink.

She giggled. “For you Lance, I’d wait another ten thousand years.”

“Sap.” He pecked her on the cheek before grabbing her hand and heading to the bridge.

“What is it Shiro?” Hunk asked, apron still on. “I was in the middle of trying out a new souffle recipe.”

“Pidge is back. Our scanners picked up the green lion outside the castle.”

Lance joined the others, running to the docking hanger. As the green lion landed, Lance was feeling nervous. His last encounter with Pidge had been less than pleasant, so seeing her again held mixed feelings. How would she react to him and Allura? Would they still be friends?

Those feelings quickly turned to dread as no Pidge appeared.

“Somethings wrong.”

Shiro had read all their minds. Quickly, they made their way to the lion. Keith climbed in through its mouth. There was a moment of tense silence before he yelled.

“Coran, ready a pod! Everyone, clear the way.”

Lance felt his heart drop. A couple seconds later, Keith emerged holding a bleeding, burned and bruised Pidge.

Hunk barfed. Shiro swore. Allura started to cry and Lance held her comfortingly. His own eyes started to water as Keith passed them.

Her armour was nothing but shreds. Blood oozed from a gash on her head, and her right arm hung limply beside her, the shoulder obviously dislocated. Lance shivered as he saw the burns. He knew them well. They all did.

Haggar was going to pay.

He gritted his teeth and stepped away from Allura. Fists clenched, as he stormed to his lion.

“Lance, where are you going?!” Shiro’s voice boomed from the other side of the hanger.

“I’m going to make that witch pay!” He shouted back, breaking into a sprint. He made it about four steps before strong arms yanked him back. Lance fought against Hunk with all his strength but to no avail.

“No you’re not.” Shiro was in front of him. “I know you’re worried about Pidge. We all are. But now is not the time for revenge. Now is the time to stay by her side, supporting and helping her.”

He put his hand on Lance’s shoulder. “We will make Haggar pay, I promise. Just not today.”

Keith returned, pale and shaken. “She didn’t respond well to the pod. Coran thinks it’s because of the large quantities of dark Altean magic she was exposed to. We have her stabilized, but it’s going to be a long road to recovery.”

Shiro nodded. “Can we see her?”

“I was actually going to ask Allura to clean her up a bit before.” Keith blushed a bit, looking at Lance's’ girlfriend. “You know, wash her and change her clothes?”

“Of course.” The princess rushed out the doors, her hair flowing behind her.

The paladins had created a system. They took one hour shifts watching their green counterpart. It was Hunks turn, and the others were gathered around the dinner table. None of them had any appetite. They sat in silence.

“It’s been three weeks!” Lance exclaimed, punching the table. “It’s time to act!”

“Guys!” Hunk burst into the room causing all the paladins to stand up.

“What happened?” Shiro asked, brow creased.

“Is she okay?” Keith questioned.

Lance looked like he was about to run to the medical bay. “Is Katie-”

Hunk shook his head and grinned. “She’s awake!”

Pidge opened her eyes as her door slid open to reveal Shrio, Coran, Allura, Keith and Hunk. She smiled at them warmly.

“Hey guys.”

Shiro gently hugged her, trying not to touch any of her wounds. “We really missed you Pidge.”

“Wasn’t the same castle without you.”

There were murmurs of agreement throughout the group. Pidge felt her heart warm slightly. She was finally home. Allura waved shyly.

“It’s so nice not to be the only girl on the team Pidge! And I’m sure Lance will be far mo-”

“Lance?” Pidge frowned, looking for a pair of familiar eyes in the room. She found none.

The room went silent as the others shifted uncomfortably looking for the blue paladin. She closed her eyes again. He wasn’t coming. Not that she expected him to, but it would have been nice to see him again. She needed to tell him about Haggar.

Coran cleared his throat. “So nice to see you awake number five. I think we’ll let you get some rest now.” As they herded out of her room, Hunk stayed behind.

“Can I stay? I really missed my best bud.”

Pidge let out a throaty laugh. “I’d like that.”

“Lance and Allura?” Pidge snorted. “Jeez Hunk, I thought I was the one who hit my head!”

Hunk’s face stayed neutral. “It’s not a joke Pidge.”

It’s not a joke. Her exact words to Lance when she broke things off. Her heart sank.

She cleared her throat. “Well, I guess I’m happy for him. He’s moved on.” I haven’t.

They were silent for a moment before Hunk stood up, patting her shoulder.

“You should get some rest. I’ll be back later with dinner.”

“Thanks.” She winced as she lay back down.

“Anything.”

The door hissed shut, and Pidge let the tears flow. She had left him, and in turn he had left her.

Karma sucked.

Pidge laughed. “So let me get this straight. Lance asked you out in Altean?”

“Yes! I’m pretty sure he said ‘will you elephant the baby’, but I got the message.”

The girls giggled in unison. Pidge took Alluras hand.

“I’m really happy for you, you know that?”

Allura squeezed back. “I know. Thank you Pidge.”

She smiled, thinking about Lance. He hadn’t visited her at all. Maybe it was for the best. He probably hated her. Her heart tightened at the thought.

“He doesn’t hate you, you know that right?” Allura’s concerned eyes were staring at her. Pidge smiled back.

“I wouldn’t be so sure. I was pretty ruthless.”

Allura shook her head. “Pidge, you are still his best friend. You’re still so important to him.”

“Important huh? Not important enough to visit I guess. It’s been four weeks Allura, I get the message loud and clear.” She scoffed.

Pidge turned her eyes downward, picking at some invisible lint on the sheets. She felt Allura stand up.

“Try to sleep Pidge.”

She smiled back. “I’ll try. Thanks for everything.”

The princess looked at her one last time before turning off the lights and heading to Lance’s room. That boy had some explaining to do.

“Lance?”

He looked up, his fingers pausing their trail through Alluras hair. “Mhm?”

“You told me you went to see her.”

Lance sighed. He knew Allura meant well, but he was going to scream if someone else told him to go see Pidge. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair.

“I know.”

“So you lied to me?”

“I just need some more time.”

“More time? It’s been four weeks Lance. She’s so small Lance.” Allura looked at him, her voice softer. “So while you’re ‘taking your time’, Pidge is stuck in pain wondering if you hate her. You haven’t visited her once Lance. She’s been through so much. I don’t think she can lose another friend.”

Guilt filled Lance’s gut. He rolled out of bed and pulled on a shirt.

“Where are you going?”

“To see a friend.”

“You know she’s probably sleeping right?”

Lance shrugged. “Pidge never sleeps.”

The door slid open revealing a very messy room. Lance smiled to himself. The day Pidge cleaned her room would be the day pigs fly.

“That was fast Keith.” Her voice was coming from the bed. “Ready for some Killbot Phantom?”

Lance felt his blood boil. “May I ask why you’re playing our game with the mullet emo?”

Pidge looked at him and rolled on her side, closing her eyes. “Go away. I’m sleeping.”

“Pidge, don’t do this.” He pleaded with her.

The lump on the bed remained silent. He made his way over to her, careful not to step on anything. As he got closer, he could see she was shaking. No, crying.

Silent sobs racked her small frame. Lance felt the guilt that had been building up in his chest boil over.

“I’m so sorry. I meant to visit, I was just being stupid. I want, no I need you as a friend. I want to play video games with you and steal cows from space malls. Don’t leave me.” Not again, he added silently in his head.

Pidge opened her eyes. “Don’t apologize Lance. You have nothing to be sorry for. I treated you like a jerk, and I’m paying the price.”

“No, I’ve been the jerk. Please don’t think you’re anything less than my best friend.” And only my friend, he thought to himself bitterly.

She looked up at him and wiped her tears away. “Friends?”

He cracked a smile. “Friends.” Lance conformed. “Are you up for some Killboy Phantom?”

“Is that even a question?” She cocked an eyebrow.

He was already grabbing the controllers.

Lance looked up as Allura entered his room. He smiled, opening his arms for a hug. “Hey babe, I was just headed out to see Pidge. Is everything all right?”

She stayed by the door, looking down at her feet. He felt his heart sink.

“No.”

“No what?” He knew the answer. He just wanted to hear her say it.

She finally looked at him, eyes filled with unshed tears. “Lance, I can’t do this anymore.”

No.

Not again.

“Please Allura, give me another chance.” He was practically begging on his knees. “I promise I can be better!”

The princess wiped her eyes and smiled. “Lance, this isn’t about anything you did.”

“Then why.”

“Because this was a fling. That’s it. We both knew it wouldn’t last, so-” her voice broke. “So I think it’s best we end it sooner rather than later.”

“Allura, I already lost Pidge. I can’t lose you too.”

“And I can’t stand by and watch you fall in love with another woman. You’ve been visiting her non-stop for three weeks Lance. I’ve hardly seen you around.” She wrapped her arms around him, and he savored her warmth. In his heart he knew they were never meant to be, but it stung anyways.

“But I moved on.” He sighed. “I thought I moved on!”

“I think,” she whispered in his ear. “I think that’s the problem. You never really did. She’s still with you no matter how hard you try to get rid of her. And I think you’re with her too.”

She pulled back, holding him at arm's length, offering him a watery smile. “I know love when I see it Lance. I saw it when my mother and father would look at each other. I see it in Hunk’s eyes when he looks at Shay. And I see it in your eyes whenever you see her. Not me, her.”

Lance let out a teary laugh. “I’ve fallen pretty hard haven’t I.”

“Go get her. If you don’t someone else will, and you’ll live the rest of your life wishing you had seized the moment.”

With a pat on the shoulder Allura walked away. Lance sank to his knees. She had been right about one thing. His feelings for Pidge had never left. The only problem with confessing his undying love was that she definitely didn’t feel the same way. She had made that clear when she walked away. He wasn’t about to be the dog crawling back to his master. If Allura was right, she would have to come to him.

Sitting back down he decided he would have some alone time. He needed to think.

Pidge looked at the clock. Lance had made a routine of visiting her every evening for video games and cookies. She sighed as she tapped her foot. He was late.

It hurt being with him as a friend. She wanted nothing more then to wrap herself in his arms and relish in his body heat. Unfortunately that was a “girl friend only” perk.

What was taking him so long? Sighing, she sat on the bed, waiting.

He never came.

“If you keep frowning, you’re going to get wrinkles.”

Lance ran his hands over his face as he watched Pidge and Liam talk. As much as he wanted to join the conversation, he knew they were blabbing about some advanced alien space tech that he wouldn’t be able to follow. Instead, he turned to Hunk.

“I’m not frowning. I’m perfectly happy.” He tried to grin, but it came out as a grimace. Hunk sighed, patting him on the shoulder.

“There there my little lover boy.” He smiled. “Liam will be gone soon.”

Sure. Liam and his little group of rebel allies had docked on the castle a few days ago to restock and refuel. Coincidentally, they also brought some incripeted Galra code that was taken from a prison they recently raided. Pidge was decoding it now to see if it contained any information about her family.

Lance wouldn’t have minded the extra company if it wasn’t for one, little detail. Liam had taken quite the fancy to Pidge. His Pidge. Now a days, the rebel fighter was hardly seen without her. He was always carrying her around when she got too tired to walk, and making sure her injuries were well tended. They spent long hours together pouring over Galra code and talking about Olkarion. Lance didn’t like the way he looked at his Pidge. When he had confronted her about his worries, she had shrugged him off. Apparently Liam was a “nice guy” with “strong morals.”

To make matters worse, Pidge had been ignoring him. Sure, after the break up with Allura Lance skipped a few of their gaming sessions, but he still valued her company. He hadn’t meant to push her away, it just happened. And now he was paying for it.

“I don’t care Hunk!” He called over his shoulder before leaving.

If he had looked back, he would have seen Pidge’s look of longing. Longing for someone just out of reach.

Liam the lame finally left two days later. A week after that, Pidge had burst in with the coordinates to another Galra prison. She asked Shiro if they could go as a team and liberate the prisoners. After much debate about whether or not Pidge was battle ready, Shiro reluctantly agreed. Thus, Lance found himself standing in the oddest prison he had ever seen.

“So I get the whole “cement walls and no windows” thing, but where are the people?” His voice boomed off the bare walls.

The only thing inside the room was a large computer. It had instantly claimed Pidge’s attention, the small paladin tossing her helmet to the side and plugging her wrist port in.

Now that he was thinking about it, there had been almost no Galra to fight. No one had stood their way as they marched into the unlocked prison. A prison they received the coordinates for from a sketchy group of rebels who had docked on their ship. No rebel group before had ever done that. Come to think of it, no rebel group had ever found them.

Realization hit Lance like a punch to the gut.

Oh quiznack. Oh fucking quizanck.

It was a trap. Everything had been set up.

“Get out!” Lance yelled at his team. “Its a set up!”

Hunk, Allura, Shiro and Keith ran out the doors without hesitation, Lance following behind. He looked around for a familiar green helmet.

“Where is Pidge?”

Team voltron searched for their missing green paladin outside the chamber.

“She's still inside.” Hunk breathed, the realization hitting them all like a ton of bricks.

“Quiznack!” Lance swore, running back through the metal doors. Shiro called after him but he paid no attention.

Pidge was where he left her, downloading info from the Galra computer. Her helmet lay forgotten beside her.

“Pidge, we have to go.” Lance tried to pull her up, but she shook her head.

“Lance, this is the one shot I have at finding my family left. I’m not leaving until I get everything.”

“This is not up for debate. We are leaving now. I promise we will find your dad and Matt, but there are other ways.”

“I’ve tried all the other ways. They don’t work.” Her eyes dropped to the floor. “Just go back to the hanger, and I’ll join you in a tic.”

The reassuring smile she put on her face almost made Lance listen to her. He shook his head and grabbed her shoulders.

“I’m not leaving you again.”

Pidge looked up at him, her honey eyes huge. Her chin trembled slightly.

“Lance, I-”

Whatever she was going to say was cut off by an alarm, and the metal doors slamming shut. A faint hiss followed, making Pidge and Lance exchange worried glances.

Gas.

Pidge put her helmet on, and Lance was about to do the same when he realized he had left it in the hanger. Quiznack.

“Lance, where’s your helmet?” Pidge’s voice was laced with worry.

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and chuckled. “Funny story, I might have left it with the rest of the team?”

They both knew it would be impossible to get to it. It would be impossible for them to escape with the resources they had with them. The walls and doors were too thick, and the only possible means of escape was a small air vent on the ceiling. Pidge swore, and moved to take her helmet off. Lance stopped her, holding her wrists.

“Don’t.” He was dead serious. “I need to know you’ll be okay.”

After a moment, Pidge dropped her hands reluctantly. Lance began coughing. She looked at him with concern, but he waved her off.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

She glared. “You are not fine. You are dying.”

“Don’t sugarcoat it will ya?” He tried to joke.

“Lance, you can’t die on me.” Her voice quavered slightly. “You can’t die because I still love you.”

His heart stopped. She loved him? That was impossible.

“You made it very clear that you wanted nothing to do with me when you broke up with me.” He stated, not allowing himself to dare to hope.

“I was being blackmailed by Haggar. She wanted to destroy the team from the inside out. If I didn’t tell her, she would kill Matt and dad. And when I called her bluff, and broke off the communication, I was too late. You and Allura were already happy.”

Lance’s vision was going blurry, either from tears or lack of oxygen. “Pidge, I had no idea.”

“I know.” Her smile was sad. “I hope you’ll be able to forgive me someday.”

He looked her firmly in the eyes. “Pidge, none of that was your fault. I already forgive you.”

Her shoulders shook with sobs, and she shook her head.

“Not for that. For this.”

Lance opened his mouth to ask, but he was cut off by a sudden pain in the back of the head. He sank to his knees. Pidge stood over him. He watched as she took her helmet off and knelt before him. He tried to protest as she kissed his forehead and placed her helmet on his head, but his mind was too fuzzy.

Then, the darkness engulfed him.

The soft beep of a monitor lulled him back into consciousness. Groaning, he pushed himself into a sitting position.

He was in a white room, arm attached to a monitor and lying on a thin cot. He was in a hospital room.

“Lance!” Hunk engulfed him in a hug. “You’re awake!”

“Hey buddy.” Lance smiled.

Shiro, Keith and Allura were grinning at him around the room. Lance looked at his leader.

“What happened?”

“After the door shut, we thought we’d lost you. But then the Mariots showed up. Their advanced tech opened the door, and allowed us to reach you. They brought us back to their base, and have been caring for you ever sense.”

Lance frowned. “Where’s Pidge? Is she okay? Last I remember is-”

He looked up, dread settling in his gut. Around him, his teammates gave him sympathetic glances. Keith cleared his throat.

“Lance, by the time we got in it was too late. The poison had already reached her heart. Without a helmet, she didn’t stand a chance.” He looked down. “I’m sorry.”

I’m sorry

Lance felt his world tilt. She had sacrificed herself to save him. It was all his fault. They had promised to never leave each other, but here he was, alone.

“No.” He shook his head. “She’s still alive.”

All he got was small head shakes. Lance began to shake. Hot tears fell down his cheeks, and he felt the comforting arms of his fellow paladins surround him. As always, they would get through this loss as a team. A unit. Together.

Bright light blinded her as she opened her eyes. As she tried to sit up, people wearing surgical masks pushed her down, clamping her wrists and ankles to the cold metal of the table. She tried to scream, but her throat was too dry.

“Welcome back Paladin of Green.” The masked figure closest to her snapped on some gloves. “We had quite the adventure retracting the poison from your heart.”

Pidge began to struggle as they came closer, scalpel in hand. “Lance! Help! Please!” She managed to croak. A hand covered her mouth.

“Be aware that no one knows you are still alive. No one is coming for you. So I’d recommend you do exactly as I say. We wouldn’t want something... tragic to happen to… let’s say the blue paladin now would we?”

Her eyes went wide, but she immediately stopped struggling.

“Good girl.”

Cold gloved fingers touched her forehead and she winced as the scalpel dug into her skin.

“Let’s see if the brain of the famed green paladin is worth talking about. Don’t worry, this won’t hurt a bit.”

Cold fear cut into Pidge like a knife, but she stayed still. To her credit, she lasted twenty tics before she started screaming.

At least Lance would be safe.

[stusbunker]

Questions: What If?

A Supernatural Fan-fiction

Featuring: Sam Winchester x Female Reader

Setting: Season 10

Entry: Erica’s 30th Fluffy Birthday Challenge

Prompt: #16. If Tomorrow Never Comes- Garth Brooks

Chapter 4 of my Questions Series

A/N: Happy Birthday Erica @ericaprice2008! Thanks for letting a new SPN blog in on the fun. This developed into a series because there isn't enough fluff in the Winchesters' lives and I am now a sap. I think it is readable as a stand alone fic if you don’t want to read it all. This segment includes regular show violence, swearing, and monsters. Lyrics in italics. xoxo Stu

The case had taken its toll on her and Dean, leaving Sam to drive the Impala back to the Bunker. The passing headlights grew fewer as the late night hours bled into the early morning mists. Something had broken open inside him when Y/N was taunting the witch, the way she refused to back down. Her words ran through his mind like a bad radio jingle.

“I’ve no one left to lose, Elphaba. Give me your best shot!”

She couldn’t have meant it? After everything they had endured together, breaking free of Gadreel, losing Dean to the demon inside him and getting him cured and home. Hadn’t that made her one of them? Weren’t they hers to lose? Wasn’t she his? No, thought Sam. She wasn’t and he’d been a fool to pretend she felt more than friendship towards him. If her words meant anything, it was that he was, somehow, still naive.

He tucked the keys in his jeans pocket and bent over to open the passenger side door. The very few times Dean let him drive; she sat shotgun. Her face scrunching in the dim lights of the garage.

“Hmmm, don’t wanna move,” she whined, Sam couldn’t help but smile at her childlike pout.

“Come on Sleepy, your bed’s waiting,” Sam draped her arm around his shoulders, scooping her up at the knees.

“Yessss, score,” Y/N murmured into his neck without even opening an eye. He knew he was only carrying her for selfish reasons, but if both parties benefited it couldn’t be a total loss, right? She smelled of incense and her body lotion, the smoke lingering on her hair. He breathed her in before setting her casually on to her unmade bed.

“Thanks, Samwise,” she whispered before wrestling out of her jacket.

“‘Night, doll,” he replied too low for her to hear. Switching off her light as he gently closed the bedroom door.

*

The next day Sam found Y/N dancing around the kitchen, doing something that appeared to be cooking but bordered on chaos. She was blaring an old country song and two stepping as she fried potatoes. He waited against the door frame, not wanting to break her revelry. His stomach growled with the cooking oil in the air, his chest tightening with each easy sway of her head as she hollered along to the music.

“Oh, I’ve got friends- in looooooooow, places!” She finished, spinning to dump the first batch on some paper towels.

Sam tried to bite back his laughter, giving her a snarky slow clap as she realized he was there.

“Har-har, Winchester. Don’t act like it’s not true.” She stuck her tongue out at him and plopped the plate of potatoes on to the table. There was something baking in the oven and just as the second set of potatoes hit the fryer, she started to slice up a cantaloupe.

“Do I smell breakfast?!” Dean sauntered in, running his hand over his bed head. “Y/N? No, wait, scratch that, I’m not even going to ask.” Dean downplayed his surprise and grabbed his designated coffee mug.

The hunters quickly settled in for a shared meal, not eating over their laptops with research, not grabbing whatever fast food they could find. It was easy domesticity and Sam couldn’t help but savor it. Dean killed the mood when he began teasing Y/N on her pick of radio station, but she held her ground arguing that in the kitchen, “Chef picks the music and the rest should be chewing with their mouths closed.”

The day went on like any other, taking turns scrolling for cases, squabbling over the general chores that kept the bunker livable and occasional bantering. It was a rare good day. Y/N called it an early night, claiming she had a show she wanted to catch up on.

Dean gave her a salute-like wave as she slinked back down the hall in her pajama pants and slippers. Sam had mumbled a good night, trying to keep his eyes from following every move she made.

“Dude, what is with you?!” Dean tossed a bottle cap across the table at his painfully obvious brother.

“Nothing,” Sam stared back at the screen with his brow pinched.

Dean’s eyebrows shot up, he shook his head and went back to reading. He drained his beer and turned in for the night. Leaving Sam to stew over his longing ache in solitude.

*

Two days later

Y/N loaded their bags into the trunk as Dean checked the oil. Sam was the last one out of the Bunker, hands full of coffees for the road. They had a half day’s drive ahead and were working out their strategy for interviews.

“Why don’t we take the parents while Dean goes and talks to the coroner?” Y/N asked leaning over the back seat to see Sam’s phone and the map of the town.

“Uh, why don’t I go to the coroner? Dean could probably sucker a pastry out of the vic’s mother.”

Dean looked over at Sam confused, yet impressed. “Look at you having my back.”

Sam shrugged, “Just don’t want to deal with hangry Dean later if this takes awhile.”

She shifted back into her seat, missing Dean’s gaze in the rear view mirror. He did not need this, whatever this was that was going on between Sammy and her. He held his tongue, worked the case and got some cheesecake. All in all not a bad day on the road. He didn’t like being the levelheaded one, but Sam was leaving him no option.

*

She swung at the shifter with Sam’s face. Her shorter arms forced her closer to the monster than she would have liked. Its eyes danced as it easily dodged her blade. Its lips curled viciously as it saw her tire, “running out of adrenaline there little huntress?”

“Why? Need a break?” She huffed and flipped the knife between her fingers.

“Sam’s going to be so devastated when he sees what I do to you,” the creature taunted.

“Yeah, well, if I were you; I would be worrying more about what I am going to do to you,” she wasn’t taking the bate.

The face she knew like the back of her hand made a look of mock revelation, “Oh, you don’t know do you?” It kept her circling in the condemned house, the furniture littering their paths as they each tried to get the upper hand.

“Yeah, Sam is fairly private, isn’t he?” The shifter tossed over a desk, forcing her to lose her balance. She hopped out of the way only to topple over the dingy sofa. It sprang above her, pinning her against the faded cushions.

“He thinks about you, like this, squirming underneath him, out of breath and eyes burst open with want.” She recoiled as the beast trailed Sam’s perfect nose up her jaw.

“Shut up, mutant!” She spat into its face, giving her the opening she needed, she rolled hard against the shifter, freeing her knife hand and slashing at its cheek. It growled in pain and outrage. She tried to scramble away as voices called from the back of the house.

“Sam!” She cried, the shifter stood, pulling her to its chest, holding her head at a neck snapping angle between Sam’s strong arms.

“Sam!” It mocked back. “Save me! Oh, princess, this is going to be a gruesome ending to your little ‘will they, won’t they’ saga.”

“Let her go, Sparky!” Dean’s icy voice barked as he aimed his gun at his brother’s face.

Sam’s face pinched as he saw her being held in such a way by his hands. “It’s going to be alright, Y/N.”

“Sam, I’m scared,” she played it up, giving the monster the dramatics it obviously craved.

“I know you are, I’m right here.”

“Seriously? One minute you’re threatening me and then lover boy shows up and you turn in to a sniveling mess! Woman up!” The shifter complained. “And you, Dean, mister tough guy, if you were going to shoot me you--” The shot rang out across the room. One silver bullet to the head from Sam’s gun.

“I hate when they bestow their judgement upon us, fucking monologues,” Y/N stretched her neck and stepped away from the corpse.

“Alright?” Dean asked, checking that the monster stayed down with an extra stab of his knife to its heart.

“Yeah, took you long enough.”

Sam approached her nervously, not sure how much she would want to be near him after someone with his face had just man-handled her. “Sorry, got a little tied up,” he held up his wrists to show her the chaffing from his bindings.

“Always knew you were a kinky bastard,” Dean muttered. “Let’s torch the imposter before we have to explain another one of your dead bodies.”

Dean dragged the body by the feet as Y/N and Sam cleared a path through the creaking house. “Are you hurt?” Sam’s voice dropped as she rubbed her lower back.

“Nothing a hot bath won’t fix.” she shrugged. “Also, you suck.”

Sam laughed, thinking she was referring to shifter-him. When her face remained serious, panic crept up his back. “What did he say?”

“I’m pretty sure it was a ‘she’, but anyway let’s just say I don’t like being lied to Winchester.” Her face was a stone mask, her eyes burning into him as the sourness of guilt flooded his stomach.

“Guys! Let’s go!” Dean called from the back lot. The moment was broken, she looked away and Sam swallowed all explanation.

*

The ride home was one of utter silence, broken only by the radio or Dean complaining about the lack of stations. Sam stared out into the night and Y/N curled up with her earbuds and her latest podcast. Dean was going to have to say something, but he was not in the mood tonight. He’d let Baby bring them home in one piece first, give everyone some space.

The next day

When she wasn’t hiding in her room with the door locked, Y/N had been short with each of them all day. Dean coaxed her out with coffee and a grocery run, letting the fresh air ease the mood before poking the bear.

“That shifter got under you skin, huh? It’s always tough when they look like somebody you care about.” Dean asked as he pulled into the parking space. She looked at him like he had something on his face, amused yet trying to politely listen.

“What?”

“Are you trying to have a heart-to-heart with me?” she sighed, rolling her eyes as Dean huffed.

“Whatever,” he slammed the driver door and let her push the cart. She kept him in check in the bakery, only letting him buy two pies for the week. They picked over the produce, knowing Sam would bitch if they got the wrong stuff. They approached the check out line joking with each other, the old cashier beaming at them.

“Aren’t you two sweet?” The lady’s tag read Francine.

“Thanks, Franny, but she’s my sister.” Dean continued to flirt with the clerk as Y/N got the bags back into the cart.

“You two drive safe!” The smitten lady waved, Dean having made her day.

“Sister, huh?” Y/N bumped Dean with her shoulder as they fitted the bags carefully on the floor of the backseat, not wanting to pop the trunk in a busy parking lot.

“Yeah, I mean, would you prefer sister-in-law?” Dean gave her a look.

“Don’t, Dean. Just, not right now,” her voice fell and he knew he had hit a nerve.

“That’s what this is about? What the hell did that shifter say?!” Dean refused to start the car until she gave the unsavory details, his knuckles white against the wheel at times. She couldn’t look him in the eye, but her voice gave her away.

“So you’re pissed because Sam hasn’t told you how he feels?” Dean guessed, half certain he was keeping up.

“Is that how he feels?” Y/N challenged, watching Dean’s face as he realized he had walked right into that.

“You’re going to have to ask him that.” Dean exhaled as she accepted his complete bullshit response. “But, and this is a big but, would it be a bad thing if he did?”

Y/N mulled over that question, just giving Dean a tortured look as he finally pulled back into traffic.

*

She helped Dean sort the groceries, before snagging a bag of Krunchers and disappearing back into her room for the night. Dean approached Sam with a beer and a stern look.

“You have got to talk to her, man. Whatever is going on between you two? I’m done. I had my Dr. Phil moment and now it’s on you.” Dean raised his bottle in a toasting motion and slumped into his usual spot at the library table.

“What’d she say?” Sam asked, lips tightening and leaning forward.

“Nuh-uh, man,” Dean gave his brother an incredulous look. “I like my parts where they are thank you very much.”

After a few minutes of heavy silence, Dean broke, “Come on! You don’t pansy out like this, go tell her.” Dean scrolled on his computer, trying to move past the awkwardness.

“Tell her what?” Sam asked, tisking, failing horribly at hiding his emotions.

Dean cleared his throat and looked Sam straight in the eye. “You’ve been trying to lie to me since you were four, Sam. You’re still terrible at it. Especially when it comes to this crap.”

Dean wasn’t having it, not anymore. Sam’s mouth curled down with his embarrassment, he scratched the back of his head in chagrin.

“I don’t know, man. I just keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Sam sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“Look, I’m not Mister-Happy-Endings-- But if I’ve learned ANYTHING is that you take the good things as they come. Guys like us, it doesn’t happen too often.” Dean’s hand was palm up like it was an offer, eyes wide, hoping that Sam would stop overthinking for once.

Sam’s lips were tight, listening to Dean as if in conflict. He should have made an argument, but wanted Dean to be right. Sam needed her in his life, for however long she would stay. Could he risk losing her by admitting how he felt?

An hour later

Sam lingered outside of her bedroom door, his chest rising with calming breaths that weren’t helping. She was blasting her music again, but something like a sob resonated below the melody. Sam’s worry overtook his fear and he knocked.

“Go away!” she snapped.

“Y/N? Everything alright?” Sam’s voice was rougher than he meant it, but he had to nearly scream to make it over the song.

“Just leave me alone,” she growled back.

“Not gonna happen.” Sam tucked his hair behind his ears and pressed his head to the door.

“Stubborn sonofabitch,” he heard her say, soon the door swung open, causing him to catch himself on the door jam. “What?!” Her eyes were red and her hair was matted, and Sam couldn’t stop staring at her.

And the thought crosses my mind If I never wake up in the morning Would she ever doubt the way I feel About her in my heart

If tomorrow never comes-

She just glared at him, shaking the door with the hand she didn’t have balled on her hip. “I love you.”

“What?!” She shouted, his voice lost in the old Garth Brooks’ song. She spun to turn the dial to a conversational level. Sam scrunched his nose and cleared his throat as she turned back around, the loose sides of her robe swaying with the motion. “Sorry, what did you say?”

Her features had turned curious, her arms crossed over her chest. He ducked his head down and stepped closer to her. “I love you.”

“What?” She asked again, eyes glistening as her head tilted to see him better.

He chuckled, “Third times a charm, huh? I love you, Y/N. I just thought you should know. I don’t know what that shifter said was running through my head, but I shouldn’t have hid this from you, for so long.”

Sam smiled shyly down at her now. His eyes hooded in anticipation and an inkling of hope. She reached up and brushed his hair back, a soft smile curling her luscious lips. He closed his eyes at the softness of her palm, relishing in the closeness. “I love you, too, Sam.” Her voice cracked, but the richness returned as she finished, “but you still suck.”

He outright laughed now, a deep chortle, as his hands snaked around her waist. “May I?” he asked as he angled his face just above hers. She answered by diving in, taking his waiting lips in a hungry kiss. He melted against her and forgot everything that had been keeping him from this bliss.

Next Chapter: Where?

@dontshootmespence @madlu45 @because-imma-lady-assface

[anotherramblingfangirl]

“She of Sidhe”:

I decided to try write something based on a couple of the posts I did that were in turn based off of @zenxenophilia faeformers!

This is a testament here as to how when I say “I’ll just do a drabble”, it’s never as short as intended. 

All the same, I hope those who read enjoy!

“Well, hello there.” The thing that looked like a woman but wasn’t a woman spoke first, eyes surveying over lazily, like a cat considering whether it was worth pouncing on a mouse.

“I was not expecting any guests.” She leaned forward in her chair, hands resting on her chin.

One of the afore mentioned guests, felt a glint of sweat rolling down his face as he surveyed the place.

Nobody knew he was here. They couldn’t. Not with what he carried with him.

But that only meant that if something happened, that if the dark creature broke free and attacked, nobody would be able to happen him.

Fortunately, all that bound it here seemed to be attacked.

He would only be in any danger if he did not watch his words.

“What brings you to my humble abode?” A predatory smile.

 “I…I.” He gulped, shuffling the sleeping baby in his arms.

He had to do this, for her. Or she would never last even her first year in this place.

“My daughter…”

“Your daughter?” Was said incredulously, a peel of laugher let off.

“I can smell you both from here mortal. Smell and sense your delicious lives, and she is not your daughter.”

It was then that the man nearly lost her footing, for in the blink of an eye the sidhe had gone from sitting on her chair to mere inches away from him, sending him reeling backwards in a panic.

“Let me see her th-“ A yowl then as it thudded off something invisible, hands grasping it’s face in pain.

“You can’t threaten me here. Not in this place. You can do nothing!” He spoke up, voice wavering as he did something brave.

Laughter was not the response that he expected.

Dark laughter, growing louder and louder, distorting until it sounded like many, many voices at once, coming from just one mouth alone.

He wondered if those were the voices of those lives it had eaten.

Eaten, before Marissa had caught it.

 Marissa sheaved the blade in her sleeve, held in place by a series of leather straps

Sheaved the blade and then reached for two branches collected from a rowan tree and tucked one within each boot.

She would need all the protection she could get to catch this thing.

Then it was the matter of making her way to the home of the leanan sidhe and the husband it was slowly murdering.

Marissa scowled as she did so, becoming quickly aware that she was being watched.

She could see them.

From fluttery little glowy things dotting about to larger creatures, who lurked in the shadows.

She had always been able to see them even when nobody else could, something which has resulted in her unfortunately, incessantly, being bothered by the sordid lot of them.

Always having to get involved in their fae nonsense.

Ugh.

At least it had a practical use.

You had to take whatever footing you could if you wanted any chance at keeping any humans safe from the fae, never mind an entire village.

However, this sight especially concerned her.

Because with how many were nearby now, how many were watching…it’s like they knew what was about to happen.

And if they knew…then could-?

Marissa swore and hurried her steps.

“I can do nothing. Oh, but that isn’t quite true is it? If I was powerless you wouldn’t be here, sweating away. You’re desperate. You want something from me. Something for that…daughter of yours.”

It was back again, leaning as close as it could to the edge of its prison, trying for a glimpse at his sleeping child.

He has her twisted away as far as he could, refusing to let it have that glimpse.

“You don’t look human, I know you don’t. I want to know how you seem to.”

“Glamour. You want the infant glamoured.”

“She isn’t safe, not without it. They’ll kill her.”

“Oh certainly.  It’s why I find the whole business with changelings a rather nasty affair. Sending our own children off to fend for themselves against your kind who would burn us what chance they get.” The life drinker’s face turned quite foul at that, a seething hatred clear in its voice.

He couldn’t tell if it was sincere, but it affected him deeply all the same.

Affected him as he looked down at his sweet little fuzzy girl with her itsy horns, horns that had gashed his hand when she had tried to play by headbutting it.

As he felt through the blankets her tiny wings shift, as she seemed to dream of flying.

Innocent as to what would happen if she ever did.

 “And if they do, if they burn her, then that of her blood will know and burn every mortal here and curse the lands until not even weeds will grow. Until not even insects will be able to bear maggots to crawl your rotting corpses.”

The man couldn’t bring himself to speak for a moment, couldn’t bring himself to look away from his daughter either.

Not about the spoken fate of the village, no, still on the thought of his beloved child being burned like a witch.

But then he finally asked a question.

Then that of her blood-

“You know her blood, you know where she came from?” He didn’t want to give her up. It would kill him to do so. But if it meant she could be safe-

“I told you I could sense both of your lives. before you even opened that door, they were there just for me.”

    The door opened just about the moment that Marissa knocked, a blond, sullen looking woman at the doorway.

At least, she looked like that at a glance. But the human knew that if she looked close and concentrated hard enough, she would see something quite different.

Like she had before.

 “Mary! Hello? I wasn’t expecting any guests now. Not with…not with how my husband is.” Alice choked up at that point, burying her face as if the news that her target was dying somehow devastated her.

And her hunter played along, as if she did not know any different.

Just in case her fears were wrong and the Leanan Sidhe did not already know what her intentions were.

“I heard the news. Word travels fast.”

Word of a man suddenly drawn into near solitude by his new wife, of a man just as suddenly overcome with a sudden artistic vigour, one so intense that it was literally killing him.

“I’d like to visit Sam. See how he’s doing.”

Not a single lie in that statement for any fae to detect.

Alice sniffed

“I don’t want you to catch anything but…” She sniffled again, wiping a tear dripping from her eye.

“Samuel!” She called. “Samuel you have a guest! It’s Mary. Would you like me to let her in?”

A grunt was all that came back, but still his wife beckoned forwards taking it as a yes, stepping away from blocking the doorway.

And at the view given by that, Marissa harshly sucked in air through her teeth as she fought back a gasp.

It had gotten even worse since she had last been here.

Scrawls were all over the wall, all over the floors, furniture rearranged into rudimentary sculptures…everything was chaos.

And Sam himself was in the middle of it, with what looked like a knife in his hand, scraping away at the floor to carve even more art.

He just about looked like a ghost.

Eyes hollowed in with dark shadows shrouding them further and skin that looked like it hadn’t seen the sun in years.

“Sam?” She moved in slowly.

He grunted.

“It’s me. Mary.”

Please don’t correct her, please don’t correct her, please don’t correct her-

But he didn’t say anything at all.

No.

He was too far gone for that.

“He’s getting worse.” Alice warbled. “The doctors don’t know what’s wrong and no medicine is working. He’s just…wasting away.”

It was then that Marissa felt a vice like force as Alice hugged her from behind, burrowing it’s face into her shoulder, warbling continuing but this time she couldn’t tell what on Earth was being said.

She tried to shake the woman off, politely objecting and trying not to show her unease.

Was it part of the devastated wife act or a trap?

The grip tightening suggested strongly the latter.

She objected again, much more firmly as a final warning, now trying to access one of her hidden blades.

The grip tightened further.

And then she started to feel dizzy.

“You didn’t think you could outwit me, did you? That I’d just roll over and die like one of the lesser beasts you’ve dealt with? No, you’re in my house now Mary. My land.” Dozens of voices whispered into her ear as a dark creature raised its head.

“Not that Mary’s your real name, although the other mortals seem to accept it enough. A nickname, perhaps? I wonder what your true one is. Marianne? No? Mar-”

The villagers knew to go by any name given about her, knowing full well by know what she did, even if they didn’t quite understand.

Marissa meanwhile gave up trying to yank the blade out, it blocked from descending by the Alice’s arms.

She needed something, and she needed something now because otherwise, if this thing knew her name and used it…then she was already dead.

“What’s going on?” Sam said drowsily, as if in a dream.

All the while Marissa had to fight the fog that was now descending down upon her, to stay alert enough to grab any opportunity she could to get out of this grip.

“Marlene’s just feeling poorly darling.”

“Her name’s not Marl-“

And the intention that statement drew was all the distraction she needed.

She lifted her boot instead, yanked the rowan branch out of it and stabbed.

The sidhe howled, dropping her and clawing to remove it from her leg as Marissa removed a pouch from her belt and charged.

She pulled the string and shoved the rowan berries straight into her mouth.

Alice would not be able to say anything any time soon with that.

The shriek intensified along with a distinct burning smell, and Marissa was sent flying across the room, thwacking against the wall with a crunch.

She hit the ground with a roll, before meeting the eyes of the panting creature.

The disguise was completely gone now, she didn’t even have to try see through it, it eroded away by the rowan.

The fae could not use any magic with those in her system.

Not enough of a dampener to be able to kill her, but enough so that she could defeat her.

Meaning time to go on to the next part of this.

Marissa drew her blade and sprinted out the door, leaving behind a howling monster and a babbling victim of it.

Come chase me you murdering bastard

Don’t let me get away

Come chase me and see what a mere mortal can do

   “So, to answer your question- certainly.”

Oh, she knew exactly where the little sprog came from, even if she couldn’t get a good look at it.

A mighty shame.

She always had liked children.

“You don’t?” However, she wasn’t entirely inclined to believe the man trying to insinuate ignorance about the situation.

He was far too alive for that, surely.

And doing what he had was hardly something anyone, even powerful fae, could do by accident. Or on purpose at that, she would have thought.

“No! I found her!” He protested.

And strangely enough…that didn’t seem to be a lie.

“You…found her. Just like that?”

  Sure enough, when she was so close to making her way to the first trap set, the sidhe found her.

Although strangely enough, all the others who had been watching before had vanished.

Perhaps even they did not want to risk getting on the bad side of a life drinker.

And they actually had the option not to.

She on the other hand, did not.

And for that she now had burning talons, tearing into her back.

Marissa screamed in agony, whirling wildly to hit the thing and make it stop.

It caught her wrist and without a word at all broke it like a twig, sending the iron blade it held flying.

Her yells meanwhile, brought fellow villagers to their windows, peering out to see what was going on this time.

But not one stepped out to try help her.

It was lucky for her then that she had more than one blade, even if she did manage to only slightly slash her assailant.

That was still enough for it to loosen its grip and this time when it went to hit her again she was able to dodge.

The creature let off another snarl and lunged, but it was a beast that fought typically by use of dark magics, not brute force, and so unused to this method and without the advantage of coming from behind, it missed once more.

Unfortunately, though, Marissa missed the next blow she tried to land too, it going wild, the throbbing pain in her back proving to be one hell of a distraction.

Neither could land a solid hit on the other it seemed.

But surely enough, the fight kept pushing her back.

Back, to exactly where she wanted to be.

 The mortal really had apparently done exactly that.

Accidentally found an unseelie heir in the woods and just taken her home.

She doubted her Lord would be pleased about that.

Although…the fact that this man before her was carrying his child in the heart of a human settlement and still alive…he surely could not know.

Never would he willingly permit such a transgression, such a personal transgression at that, to occur.

Oh, she really had found herself in quite an embroiling situation, hadn’t she?

Finally.

An opportunity had handed itself on a platter.

 Finally, the opportunity arrived, Marissa had reached the propped-up sack.

She dropped down, grimacing as talons lightly grazed her faces, and sliced it open, sending grains spilling out of it.

The fairy stared in horror at the increasing mess, unhinged jaw opening and shutting and the edges of her darkened eyes twitching uneasily, before dropping down herself, moving to start counting.

Marissa gave the bag a kick for good measure, allowing even more to spill out and causing Alice to wail, before resuming her run for the next part.

Confident she’d bought herself the precious time needed to pull it off.

   “If you’re going to just play games and not tell me anything then…then we’re done! You hurt people and I want no more to do with you than I have to.” Was oh so bravely demanded.

“Or, can you do it? Can you help my daughter?”

“I can. My magic’s bound here but I know where you can get what you need to brew up a glamour.” She spoke in a voice best described as utterly bored.

He had only a moment to feel relief at that.

 “But not for free.”

This was something he’d particularly dreading.

Wicked folk like them never gave anything for free, it was to be expected, but he feared what was to be asked for.

“Knowledge for knowledge mortal. It’s only fair. Or will you forsake your precious child because you don’t want to answer a question?”

The baby let out a cry then and he realised he’d been holding her tighter and tighter the whole time, now waking her up.

“I’d do anything for her.” He answered honestly, as he hurriedly tried to console her. Making reassuring sounds and gently rocking her, in a vain attempt to get her to fall back asleep.

His distraction at that meant he did not see the expression that response got him, but he swore he could feel it. 

Feel that look burning into him

“Anything?”

 Marissa was barely able to do anything at all, never mind run by the time she reached her home, breathing ragged and her face and back soaked with blood.

Blood, drip, drip, dripping onto the floor leaving an undeniable trail of red behind her to follow.

She wiped her hair away from her face, bloodied hand leaving a steak across that too as she did.

Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out - get it together Faireborn. 

Especially as it was not long now.

Not long until the leanan sidhe was dealt with, so that it could never harm any humans again.

Not long until she could then go to the village doctor.

She just needed to wait a bit longer.

That was all.

…Although, as she took one last look around, knowing all the meticulous preparations she'd made to this place, she did have to think

...She was going to miss her home.

Even with the red stains all over it now.

Perhaps she should try treat that herself- ?

No. She had no idea what she was doing with things like that. 

Nor did she have enough time.

The grain would only hold the sidhe back so long, after all.

She would see her here soon enough.

 “Then let me see her. I can’t know how strong a glamour she needs if I don’t see her.”

A reluctant presentation was then given, although he refused to actually hand her over. She would just have to be looked at from afar.

The baby herself grumpily objected meanwhile, not understanding why she was suddenly being held out and not cuddled.

“She has wings too. Under the blanket.” He added on, thinking that probably relevant.

“It’s certainly a hard glamour you’ll need then. Not just a visual one.” The fae cooed at his daughter while answering, waggling its fingers at her.

“And what do I need to make that?” 

The assessment made, he once more retracted his daughter immediately.

 "Ah, ah." A finger wagged at him this time as it straightened itself back up.

"You've to answer my question first. Answer it fully and honestly without any games. Then I give you my answer."

"I don't know how to get you out of here. So you cannot ask me anything about that." Was warned and he could only thank all the stars that he didn't.

"I promise. I will not use my question to ask a way to escape. Or about how to harm anybody. You have my solemn word."

"Swear it by your true name." He'd seen Marissa hold fae to their word this way before, often to force them to leave the village.

He knew how it hand to done.

"I swear by my True Name."

...That...that was surprisingly easy?

"Then you have my word."

"Do you swear that by your true name?"

The point of no return.

"I do."

"Then tell me...what is that exactly?"

His blood turned to ice.

"What is what?" He hemmed.

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm asking for here. And I think you know the repercussions if you don't give it to me."

What he thought is that he might have just walked into a horrible trap.

 The inhuman howl, warped by a throat burned by poison, sounded out through the night, echoing into it over and over.

The grain's were counted and the hunt was back on.

Marissa gritted her teeth as she stood firm, staring at the door.

She refused to jump as claws broke through it, just as she refused to jump when it was ripped off of it's hinges entirely.

Instead she stared the transformed beast that ripped it off down.

Even as it charged.

She should have known not to charge.

The mortal did not seem to fear her.

She stood resolute, firm, not even flinching as she made her way through the house.

In hindsight, she blamed the rowan. The rowan, forced upon her, making it feel like her very insides were falling to pieces.

That's why she made the mistake.

That's why she was not more careful.

That's how the mortal was able to trap her.

Something that would not happen again, once she got out.

That's what she told herself, as the years trapped in the hunter's cabin ticked on by.

She would get her chance eventually. This would not last.

Especially not know, when she could sense others coming near her door.

A fae and a mortal, but it was not Marissa and her new Thundercracker, a pitiful excuse of a fae who followed the mortal around like a dog. With a dog too, at that.

No. Even they had not visited her for quite some time and now was no exception.

These people were new.

And they would be her salvation.

 Just as thought, the trap had proven to be Marissa's salvation.

The deed was done.

Screaming and howling and shrieking the thing banged and clawed and flung against the barrier, no matter how many times it was pushed back by it.

“Didn’t think you could outwit me, did you Alice? You’re in my home now.”

The sounds only intensified in response to that and Marissa skirted around the barrier as they did, clutching her ears as she made her way back outside the house.

Careful eyes on it the entire time, just in case.

And then, once cleared of it, she let out a weary sigh, as she kept on walking.

Villagers were exiting their houses now, seemingly having picked up on the fight now been ended and edging closer and closer towards her.

Villagers who were now safe.

Because it was over.

Another fae crisis averted.

…For now, at least.

Something else would eventually pop up. The fae always did.

And then it would be something else after that.

On and on until one day she didn’t win.

But today wasn’t that day.

Today, was a day of victory.

Humans had triumphed over the evil haunting their town.

Humans had won.

Something, as she was headed off towards the village doctor, to be immensely thankful for.

 "Thank you for your co-operation Doctor Sumdac. I think we're going to have a nice arrangement, you and I, going forth. Don't you?"

[mafiabosstsuna]

Can i a request tsuna/hibari/yamamoto/xanus/giotto fall for a girl who is mute and they found out that she is a mermaid, who one safe their lives? I am so devasted that you guys will go...

((There is a limit on asks so we will be booting out one of our boys from the prompt; this time it’s Yamamoto - Admin Nana))

Tsuna: 

There was no storm and yet the ocean moved as if one was approaching. A dreadful raging sea with waves rising as high as mountains, and if you listened you could hear the whispers in the lofty, foaming crests of the ocean. Something was calling, groaning and shrieking. Yet the skies looked clear, with dark blues and soft clouds you could not describe.

So why did the sea wail as if in pain? Why did it move so angrily?

You could see what they could not, even as everyone else called to hurry back to the safety of the cabin you looked out to the ocean. You heard the danger, the pleads of the ocean, and yet that did not change the fact your face was ashen and that your lips were trembling; hearing everything that their mortal ears could not hear.

A warm hand clasped your clammy one, causing you to jump and sharply turn to stare into glowing orange eyes. “Come on,” He said, securely keeping you close to him, making sure the waters were behind him and you in front, believing greatly that you feared the water. But that was to be expected, for the waters held a secret you could never tell.

A secret that stole your voice, your peace even, and left an empty throat and pain piercing your feet like glass in flesh. For out there was home, out there was the price you had paid to stay with Tsuna, and even now it raged that one of its own had left the seas, had left for a human man who could never know the truth; whispering that out on the lands was danger everywhere, to return and become one with the sea again.

The skies became darker and the storm became real as time moved on, everyone safely in the hard walls of the cabin, some flummoxed by the sudden weather change, and others taking the opportunity to bring out games and plenty of blankets. The hours passed in laughter, ignoring the howling of the winds, the loud claps of the ocean dragging as closely as it could on the sandbank. When everyone slept you did not, your eyes kept on the door, listening, waiting.

Then you stood, carefully twisting out of the warm familiar arms of Tsuna who slept on, moving over sleeping bodies and snoring companions. The door clicked softly behind you and the sand moved through your toes as you made your way back down towards the ocean, the storm calming slightly, cooing, beckoning, before wailing when you stopped just meters away.

It could not reach you here. But it was not the ocean who you were worried about at this moment. It was the unknown man who spoke up, “Did you know… a mermaid has no soul?”

The ocean hissed and seemed to still as you turned your head just the slightest to see the figure sitting on a high rock.

“They have no soul and thus cannot love, and cannot feel pain.” His figure rose like a shadow, dressed in heavy black that tried to blend with the darkness, but you could see his outline as you could easily hear the ocean and its words. You frowned at the man and turned your head back towards the waters, uncaring of the fact you had seen a weapon underneath his sleeves, had heard the clacking of metal underneath his clothes and seen the wary smile on his face.

“They do not go to any sort of heavenly place, though it is said they can obtain a soul through another means.” He continued accusingly, “… would you cut out his heart to have one of your own?”

If you could, you would tell him he was an idiot.

Mermaids may not shed tears, may not feel perfect humanly sorrow, but they could care greatly. And you care for Tsuna so much more than this man could ever fathom, more than that moment when you had first seen him fall into the depths of the ocean, his very being calling to you like a faraway song.

He had fallen, you remembered, the deep reds so similar to the own inside your flesh washing away into the waters when he fell, yet it was not his own. He was not hurt but he had been drowning, and you had saved him when there was no need to.

How many had drowned in the waters, how many had ignored it? He would have been another and yet the colour of his eyes drew you in, the warmth of his body heating the waters around him like fire calling to you so much stronger than the embrace of the ocean itself… you had to save him.

And when he looked at you through the darkness of the waters, squinting as he struggled to stay awake, he would only see the glow of your eyes, not the pointed ears or the scales littering oddly on your flesh. He would not see the gills at your ribs nor feel the webs on your hands. He was falling to sleep and you pulled him back onto the boat carefully, hiding away from the shouting human people on the boat searching for him.

You had no reason to go back to that same waters he had been on with his companions, had no reason to break through the surface of the water and become disappointed when there was no sign of him, but you did.

You had no reason to go to that sea witch, allowing her to cut out your voice even as she warned you of the other mermaid that had once given much to be on the same surface. Yet you did, and you feared in the deepest crevices of your heart as you swam towards land, coughing, choking on the waters that had once been like air… that you would end up like that mermaid, that mermaid who resided now as sea foam, who had cared so much for a human man that had thought her nothing more than a dumb child slave, and died so he may live.

Perhaps Tsuna had not recognized you either as the one to keep him from drowning, and perhaps you had been aided by a different human, a human who saw from different eyes and whose blood was mixed heavily with the moon. But you were not like that other mermaid, and for that, you could have cried with relief. For Tsuna cared for you in a way only a human could, and you cared deeply the only way a mermaid could.

Maybe it is love, you thought. It could be and just that thought – that what you felt for him was just as sure as the thing they all called love – made you warm inside.

Cold metal pressed against your head, and you glanced at the man with a frown.

He was glaring at you.

So… he was aiming to kill you then.

The waters had been shrieking for ages now, whispering of a human man that did not like the sea and the mermaids within, whose eyes were wild with darkness and deceit, who could and would not see the truth.

Your eyes narrowed further, eyeing the man shrewdly.

Did he care so little of the one standing before him now, shaking from the cold of the night, you who stood before him, ready to cry if you could; did not even care of the tightness in your shoulders from fear.

What monster would fear death as you?

“Make this easy for the both of us.” He whispered, not noticing the way your eyes darted just a little to the left and back again.

“Yes, make this very easy for the both of us.”

The unknown man jerked in surprise at the new voice, spinning around only to end up slumping heavily to the ground with a choked scream. The bullet had pierced into his lungs, but Tsuna didn’t particularly care, even less as he stomped his foot onto the trembling hand with the gun. His smile was unkind… and slowly, as if an afterthought, you turned away just as the trigger was pulled.

Hibari:

Human people could not live under the water. One can only ever visit as a dead man. But while Kyoya could not die, the other man could. With that thought you burst forward, darting as a fish would through water, fast and furious, toppling him and yourself over the bridge towards the deep dark waters below.

The man fought against your strength, struggling to escape. He could not and realized as you turned his face sharply to you, staring into the glowing eyes of an angry creature, that he had made a mistake in dismissing the mute next to Kyoya.

Your face contorted in a silent shriek, and the man paled, his scream being fervently swallowed up by the waters you dragged him towards.

Water rose high from the impact, and you felt the strong knife of the water sinking into your skin, contorting your human body back into a mermaid.

It burned like nothing else but you did not let up your hold on the unknown assailant, not even when he turned his gun and tried to fire, only for it to explode between the both of you. Your skin tearing, and your voice, which had once been lost above on land, was returned to fill the waters with the bubbling sound of pain.

Your fingers clawed at the man’s flesh in response, jerking the trembling man closer with a hiss.

Blood seeped from your wounds, yet the man was no better. In fact, he was drowning, having tried to breathe in when the gun exploded, tearing at his arm and chest heavily. His eyes wildly looked back at you, and you could see it there, the realization that he would die here prominent in the glassy depths.

I will die here, those eyes seemed to say.

And he would, you thought, stubbornly holding onto the man until his thrashing suddenly stopped, his limbs sluggishly moving with the current.

You pulled his head back and stared into dead eyes. He sank downwards when you released him, his body disappearing into the darkness.

Your tail thrashed and you darted upwards, past the mess of red floating about the water, and broke through the surface.

You breathed deeply, and glanced around, careful to keep your hair close to you like a curtain, hiding away the soft scales on your shoulders and cheekbones, and the ever more prominent points of your ears.

You were right underneath the bridge, and you could hear panicked movements above. In fact, you could hear Kyoya snarling, demanding to be able to go down until – you winced, watching as a screaming human was flung into the waters instead.

You quickly went back under, searching for a much safer place to crawl back onto land and dry off. It would be a while, after all, until the spell reassembled itself and turned the tail back into human flesh.

Further behind the crowd screamed, but you did not look back, slowly dragging your body up onto a quiet, rocky bank outside of view from others.

Your tail was heavier on land without the aid of water, and your arms strained to keep you crawling away from the waters trying to urge you back in.

With a heavy puff of air, you dropped unceremoniously to the ground, gingerly turning and eyeing the flesh that had been torn from the explosion of the gun. It looked sort of interesting, wrapping around the front and just barely grazing your gills; flesh peeling away to reveal dark pink muscle underneath.

You lightly dragged a nail at the edges of the flayed skin and flinched, the pain sharp and expected, but luckily no longer bleeding as heavily as it had underneath the water.

You sighed.

Now how would you explain to Kyoya that you had drowned the man that had tried to kill him? He didn’t even know this wasn’t the first man to have been killed by you. In fact, if not counting the ones you had dragged down into the waters during storms, this was the third time you had killed a man while on land, and two of them was to save him from misguided humans who didn’t take kindly to Kyoya.

You sighed, wondering what it was about the man that brought disaster like clownfish to anemones.

A surprised hitch of breath caused you to turn sharply with a hiss to the intruder, ready to attack only to find it was Kyoya who had climbed over the rocks. He was staring at you in surprise, eyeing the long glossy scales of your tail with disbelief.

“What…”

You smiled sheepishly, curling away from him, moving inch by inch towards the edge and closer to the waters.

When he blinked, you quickly dragged your body into the water, only making it halfway in before Kyoya slammed his entire body straight against your back, pinning you with surprising strength that you had not expected.

“You,” He hissed, yanking at your hair and bending you back enough to glare into your eyes, “have some explaining to do.”

Xanxus:

You laughed silently and danced with the thought of death in your heart. Of men who thought you so simple, but even though you couldn’t speak that did not mean you could not hear, could not see, could not fight.

It was not the first time, after all, that you had killed a man, and it would not be the last.

Many times you had dragged drowning men further down into the ocean, watching as their faces purpled, struggling to not breathe in the salty water.

Men who had not expected that trying to drown you, even, would lead to your skin shifting away from the human form bestowed upon you, turning webbed hands upon them so sharply that the claws of your fingernails sunk deeply into their flesh like hooks.

You remembered very clearly the most significant death when another had tried to take away your prey.

Though Xanxus was no longer prey to you, he had been in the beginning.

A human person whose body warmed the air around him, and whose eyes burned deeper than any of the flowers below the ocean floors. He had been yours to try and drag down into the depths of the water, so close that you could hear the soft rumbling of his chest as he slept.

Then some upstart had moved in upon Xanxus, and you had violently broken the flooring, pulling the other human into the deep waters before she could scream; savouring the fear on her face as you sneered at her, breaking her and tearing her apart until almost nothing even remotely human of her was left.

The blood had risen and swarmed the deck.

You remembered that very well.

Xanxus had looked down with sleepy red eyes, grumbled and then turned on his heel back towards land. He hadn’t screamed as other humans would when seeing another human die so suddenly, blood gushing and overcoming the blue of the waters; hadn’t even paled like others who only could imagine what gruesome end had become of the human caught by your hands.

It was no real surprise when curiosity led you straight to the sea witch, stumbling then after onto land and making your way shakily into the human world without a voice and feet burning.

When you had seen him again… Xanxus had not disappointed.

He was an interesting sort of human.

And so, he lived, your heart strangely widening open with care for him. With things, you hadn’t ever felt before.

Thus, when that first scent of ash hit your nose you reacted, quickly turning away from the merriment of dancing and music galore to gaze out upon the starry sky and the deep lake.

Close, you thought, so very close.

The scent of something burning and then –

You threw a chair in the way of the bullet, startling Xanxus who had just moved into view.

Screams and panic soon enveloped the crowd, but red eyes simply narrowed and Xanxus snarled, realizing someone had tried to attack him during a neutral ball.

You tore through the crowd, barely hearing his shout and soon after cursing; instead, following the scent of ash and fading fire, stumbling down a small bank towards where the scent was strongest.

There in the darkness was an unassuming man whose feverish eyes spun to you, turning the gun sharply and firing again. The bullet stretched through the flesh of your calf even as your body shot straight at him, tackling him into the dark waters.

“Dammit!” The man cursed, jerking away from the claws of webbed hands trying to drag him into the waters; watching as what was human flesh began to spring up with scales, round ears becoming pointed, and smooth trembling legs melding together into a thick scaly tail that thrashed against the water violently.

An angry mermaid was trying to drown him, baring its teeth at him.

“Fuck…!” With straining forearms, he kicked you further out into the lake, causing you to yelp and sink immediately.

Piercing the surface of the waters had been given no second thought, only that you wanted that man drowned and to be eaten by the fish below. But the man was no longer to be found, and if you strained your ears, you could hear him having run off from the area, further into the darkness of the forest like a loud stumbling baby deer.

Tail kicking angrily, you let loose a piercing shriek of rage that your prey had escaped onto land.

Not yet.

Your nails dug into the dirt, pulling yourself out of the water with a determined hiss. He wouldn’t be getting away, not yet. Not. Yet. The thought ran through your head like a deranged prayer, forcing your arms to strain in taking your full weight through the dirt and onto the patchy grass.

It would be a while until your human legs returned, but it didn’t mean you couldn’t try and follow the bumbling human’s trail… He was making it so easy with the broken branches and the stampeded grass.

You were certain you had even cut him too since you could smell the blood in the air.

A sudden gunshot and what seemed to be the light of a fire pierced through the darkness, stopping you cold on the spot. You eyed the distance, sniffing the air experimentally before making an odd click of your tongue.

Xanxus had killed him, you realized, and from the closeness of the sound and light, he wasn’t far away. You carefully turned around, not wanting him to find you in this state. Who knew what he would do, humans, after all, were such fickle things.

A leather boot smacked against flesh, and you startled, pinned by the familiar scent of gunpowder, and wood, and burning bonfire that was uniquely Xanxus.

Xanxus watched you struggle, but he did not let up. Only demanding a single thing, “Where do you think you’re going?”

Giotto:

“I know what you want.” The sea-witch had said, “It is very stupid of you, but you shall have your way, and it will bring you to sorrow.”

You had not known what the witch had meant then, not even when your tongue could no longer be used to speak or when your feet sent sharp pain through your legs (of knives and glass in your flesh) whenever you walked. None of that had mattered as long as you could be next to the man your heart longed for.

And certainly, it had brought you to him, never able to speak a word of the wonders of the ocean below nor the reasons why you had been upon that beach as naked as a newborn human babe.

But it had not deterred you.

You just did not realize that having human legs could come with more than just the physical prop and pains. It had been like a spell, twisting straight down the muscle and flesh of your legs until you were in front of the assault, taking the brunt of the hit instead of Giotto.

The pain of wooden spears cutting into your flesh, the storm that had broken the ship and thrown Giotto overboard, mild in comparison to what you felt now.

In fact, that memory of pushing through the pain, of keeping your trembling arms around the unconscious man as you swam towards safety, felt more like a fond memory.

Yet the hurt of the bullet was strangely being overlapped by a much greater pain, of hot burning white fire being poured onto your legs. So intense was it that you did not hear the enraged scream, did not hear the struggle of bodies, nor heard or even saw Giotto killing the other man, eyes wild with anger as his hands burned with the fire of the likes you had never seen before.

Instead, your eyes were trained on your legs, watching as they once more became the familiar tail the ocean had gifted to you at birth. It seemed that the human imitation of legs hadn’t lasted long, the spell ceasing the moment the metal ball had lodged itself into your side, disrupting the magic placed upon you.

Well… this was not what you had expected.

You were almost certain that nothing could cause the sea witches spells to falter even the slightest. Perhaps humans held more resistance against magic than you had expected.

“A… a mermaid?”

You turned your gaze to Giotto, blinking blearily through the pain that made you tremble and left you ashen in the face.

A tiny whine made its way out of your throat, and you wondered if it was too late to try and drag yourself two miles towards the ocean if you weren’t certain (from the glimmer in his eyes) that Giotto wouldn’t try and tie you up into a net before you could escape.