#you don't understand i fell to my knees when i went to ao3 and all their fics were in chinese

[sunny374940]

I will teach you all I know

So here's a little story about Emmrich learning that his daughter is a mage.

Here it is on ao3

“FIRE!” Manfred was yelling excitedly from the living room. While this would not be an unusual occurrence in itself, the sound that followed made Emmrich's blood freeze. Ellie was screaming in fear and Emmrich was out of his study and down the stairs in mere seconds, skidding to a stop in front of his daughter. She was standing there, crying, and he fell down on his knees to examine her for any signs of injury, but blessedly there was nothing to be seen. So what was-

Ah. There was a burnt patch on the rug, Manfred must have stamped the fire out.

“Manfred?” he half asked, half admonished. He had directly forbidden any unsupervised magic inside the house and yet here they were.

“NOT MANFRED,” came the answer. Well, that mystery could wait, Emmrich decided, directing his attention back to Ellie. She was shaking, tears were still streaming down her face and she looked so terrified that Emmrich's heart almost broke at the sight. He drew her into an embrace, holding her tightly and stroking her hair until the tremors finally stopped. She squirmed in his arms and he let her go.

“Elanora, what happened? Are you alright?”

“It was an accident!” she wailed, on the verge of more tears. “I don't know what happened, it just started burning!” And then she was sobbing again and Emmrich picked her up to comfort her. She rested her head on his shoulder and his mind went back to the time when she was a baby, when he and Rook carried her through countless nights just like this. And now she was six years old and such a happy and clever child. Though not so happy at the moment, it seemed.

Emmrich looked at Manfred with a raised eyebrow.

“Manfred, could you please tell me what happened here?”

“SHE'S LIKE MANFRED! LIKE YOU!”

What? Like him? Surely not… “What do you mean?”

“MAGIC!” Manfred was clapping his hands in glee.

Emmrich gaped at him. She was a mage? She was a mage! Oh, but how he looked forward to teaching her! But that was for later, now he had a scared little girl in his arms who deserved an explanation.

“Ellie, would you come down for a bit?”

She sniffled but nodded against his shoulder and he settled her on the sofa and sat down next to her. He handed her a handkerchief and she blew her nose with a honk, giggling at the sound she produced. He rolled his eyes fondly. All was right in the world when his daughter was amused by bodily functions.

“Do you understand what happened?” he asked softly.

“Noo? But I didn't want to do it, I was playing dragons with Freddy and I was burning down a village and it was just pretend, but then the rug caught fire!” She was getting agitated again and Emmrich ran a hand down her back to help her calm down.

“I am not angry with you, my dear. You are showing the first signs of being able to use magic, though you are not yet able to control it.”

Her eyes lit up. “I'm gonna be a mage? Like you?”

“Yes, you are. But there is much studying ahead of you, if you wish to master it.”

She nodded seriously. “I can do it, daddy, don't worry.”

“Of that I have no doubt.”

Right then the front door opened, heralding Rook's return from the market. Ellie took off after him immediately.

“Dad, dad!” she yelled, running up to him and he caught her in a hug.

“Hey, little bug, how was your day?“

“I burned a hole in the rug and I'm gonna be a mage like daddy!” she said proudly, pointing at the rug in question. They walked back to Emmrich and Ellie plopped herself on the sofa, examining her hands hopefully for signs of more fire coming out of them.

“Oh. Okay?” Rook looked at Emmrich, more than a little confused.

“Rook, it is marvelous! She managed to produce flame all by herself. And at such a young age!”

“Wow, that's great! Well, not the rug, I mean. And she's gonna have the best teacher right at home.”

Rook said the last part with such conviction that Emmrich blushed a little at the words. Then Rook turned back to Ellie.

“Are you gonna be a necromancer like your daddy?”

“Nope. I wanna be cool like Neve and make ice knives!” She was animated now, making woosh-woosh noises, pretending to cast magic at an invisible opponent.

Emmrich sputtered at her comment and Rook's shoulders were shaking with quiet laughter.

“Excuse me, young lady, is commanding the dead not ‘cool’ enough for you?” he asked, pretending to be offended.She patted his hand consolingly.

“Neve can teach you to make ice too, if you want to be cool, you know.”

Rook was still snickering, but Emmrich pretended not to see.

“I shall remember that, then, should I ever wish to become cool like Neve and yourself,” he said haughtily, but there was laughter in his voice he couldn't quite hide.

He raised his gaze back to Rook, who was now watching him with a warm smile.

“So there are gonna be three mages in the house now? I'm beginning to feel a little outnumbered,” Rook chuckled, taking a hold of Emmrich's hand. “But I guess I'll manage, they're family, after all.”

Emmrich smiled back at him, still as hopelessly in love with his husband as he was when they first got together. Rook tugged at his hand to bring him closer and then he kissed him in belated greeting. Emmrich reciprocated happily, until-

“Daaaad!”

Rook drew away and looked at their daughter with a grin.

“Yeah, El?”

“Ew. Take yourselves elsewhere please,” she said in such a good imitation of Emmrich's voice that they both burst out laughing.

[samipekoe]

will you guys still like me if I go insane and crazy and bananas

[cielcreations]

A Demon's Claim (Part 1) - Team SITZ

Inspiration from Sirianna123 on AO3 and their story Demon AU - Electric Boogaloo.

Also, also, shipping obviously.

"Impy, Impy, Impy!" The succubus ran over, smiling as he hopped into the other's arms, "Impppppy~ They're holding another human auction~!"

The demon prince sighed, "Zedaph... You know I don't like those..."

"I know, but Tango and I just wanna check it out!" Zedaph smiled, "We don't have to buy any humans or anything like that, but can we please just check it out?"

"...Promise to just check it out?"

"Mhmm! Tango and I won't ask you to spend money, but pleeeeease? Just wanna go!"

Impulse hummed, "Fine..."

Zedaph cheered.

***

Tango and Zedaph hugged Impulse's arms tightly, thanking him over and over for letting them do this. The prince just smiled, kissing their foreheads. Human auctions were only held for rich demons and demon royalty, simply because humans were valuable but also very hard to catch with how much more careful they have become.

However, Impulse, the Prince of the Imps, the Prince of the First Ring, did not like these auctions. He wasn't a fan of humans, he didn't like them, he didn't understand what got his husbands so worked up about humans. However, he would do anything for his lovely husbands.

They got to the auction and were led to their seating. They waited for it to begin, Tango and Zed talking happily amongst themselves. After a few minutes, the light dimmed and the auctioneer walked out, welcoming everyone and explaining how the bids worked.

The first couple humans were okay. Nothing too special or to write home about, just basic looks. Some were nervous, some were confident, some were feisty.

Eventually, however, a beautiful avian walked onto the stage. Like all of the humans, he had chains on his wrists and ankles, his wings tied back in rope. His eyes were a vibrant blue, hair a dirty blonde. He wore a dirty and torn white tshirt that fell to his knees.

"Pretty..." Zed cooed, leaning forward.

"Mhmmm!" Tango nodded in agreement.

Impulse stared.

"We'll start the bid at $100,000!" 

Impulse studied the avian. His blue eyes were staring down at the floor, his hands were shaking. He looked nervous, blushing a bit as he brushed his hair behind his ear.

"750! We got 750 over here, 750 going once-"

"One million." Impulse called, raising his hand.

The room went quiet as Tango and Zed looked at the prince. The avian looked up at Impulse, blushed, and looked down again.

"ONE MILLION!" The auctioneer exclaimed, "One million, do we got a 1.1 mil?"

Impulse glared at the auctioneer, yellow eyes glowing.

The auctioneer seemed to gulp, "One million going once, going twice, SOLD!" He said far quicker than before.

The rope around the avian's wings was cut and the cuffs were removed. The man walked over to Impulse, the prince pulling the avian into his lap.

The avian blushed, "A-Ah... H-Hi...?"

Impulse looked over him, eyes glowing yellow, "Are you tired?"

The man blinked before he nodded, eyes half lidded, "A-A bit..."

"You look exhausted. Go ahead and sleep, okay?"

The avian nodded. Impulse pulled him into his chest, petting him until he fell asleep.

***

The dirty blonde's eyes slowly fluttered open. He blinked, looking around, wings fluttering a bit. He was in a large bed with black sheets, the room dimly lit. The avian yawned, I didn't think I was tired. But when our eyes met... He rubbed his eyes, wings fluffing up and stretching.

"Ah, you're awake!"

The man turned and gasped, seeing one of the three demons who jumped onto the bed, right next to him, "U-Um, hi-"

"Hello! My name is Zedaph, but you can call me Zed! I'm a succubus! You're sooooooo cute and pretty! I can't believe it!" He smiled brightly, "What's your name?! How are your wings so pretty?! How do you take care of them?! Can we help with them?!"

"U-Um-"

"OH! I almost forgot! So, Impy is my husband and so is Tango, but Impy is the prince of the first ring and that's how we were able to be there to see you and-"

"Zed, calm down!" The succubus gasped as another person hugged him from behind, "You were also told to wait so we didn't overwhelm the cutie!"

"Awww, but he's so cute! I couldn't stop!"

"You both just can't listen, can you?"

The three looked at the brunette demon, walking over and sitting on the other side of the avian. He gently took his chin in his hand, tilting his head up, "What's your name?"

"S-Solidarity..." The dirty blonde blushed.

The brunette nodded, "My name is Impulse. You met Zed because he has no control. And the one holding him is Tango, a flame demon. How are you feeling? Hungry? Cold? Too hot?"

"U-Um, I-I'm okay." Solidarity blushed darkly, confused.

"Are you sure? We can get you food."

Before he could answer, his stomach growled and he blushed darkly.

"I'll get you food." Impulse teased, chuckling a bit.

Tango moved to take Impulse's place as the prince left. The two demons just stared at Solidarity, happily talking with him. The dirty blonde just blushed, staring at the two as they smiled, called him cute and pretty, and then telling him how happy and excited they were for him to be here. Impulse got back and offered him the food, Solidarity beginning to eat.

"How are you feeling?" Impulse asked after the dirty blonde finished eating.

"U-Um, fine?" Solidarity said, "A-A bit confused, to be honest."

"Confused? Why?" Tango asked.

"W-Well, I'm just..." He blushed, "W-What do you plan t-to do to me?"

"Nothing much!" Zed reassured, "I mean, we want you to marry us!"

"HUH?!" "ZED!"

"Whaaaaat?! It's truuuuuue!" The succubus exclaimed.

The flame demon looked at Solidarity, "Sorry about him, he has no impulse control." He smiled softly, "We want you to be comfortable and feel safe."

"We do want you to marry us, but only after you have fallen in love with us naturally." Impulse reassured, "Do not feel pressured to do anything you don't want to do. You are not a prisoner, a maid, or anything along those lines. As far as anyone else knows, you are my fiancé and will be treated with respect."

Solidarity blushed, "B-But... why me?"

Impulse, Zed, and Tango looked at each other, then looked back at Solidarity.

"Do we need a reason? We thought you were pretty and didn't want the other demons to have you." Impulse chuckled, "However, I do need to do something."

"W-What is it?"

"I need to put a claim on you. It's just so other demons will back off and won't hurt you."

Solidarity blinked, "That's it?"

"Well..." Impulse bit his bottom lip, "It's going to hurt. I need to bite into your neck and you'll probably pass out from the pain."

The dirty blonde squeaked.

"O-Or, if you'd like-" Zed quickly interrupted, "-o-one of us can always be by your side for now, until you're ready!"

Tango nodded, "We don't want to make you scared or uncomfortable, so if you don't want to do this, you don't have to."

Solidarity hesitated, "C-Can... Can I think about it?"

"Of course." Impulse kissed his forehead, "Take your time."

[k-x-tana]

'I see you'

Pairings: Merida DunBroch & Hiccup Haddock Horrendous III (mostly platonic)

Word count: 5,424

Synopsis:

After reuniting with his mother during a crusade for magic, Hiccup is overwhelmed by the things that this event has awakened, however, he is not alone, a good friend comes to help him.

Or, where Merida and Hiccup tell each other parts of their lives that they hadn’t allowed themselves to share with anyone else.

(Most of this is just Hiccup and Merida telling each other how they viewed their stories)

Warnings: Abandonment issues, regret, insecurities.

Author's note:

Hi everyone! First of all, this is my first fanfic ever, I wrote this just to please my 9-year-old-self and she was obsessed with mericcup, but it has little to no romantic content, it's more of a character study, I needed to understand MY Hiccup, because I changed A LOT of the HTTYD plot, I really just stayed with the first movie, the rest it's just little bits of all of the other things, so keep that in mind. For me it's just the start on a slow burn but but you don't have to see it the same way.

Also, this is part of a RoTBTFD saga, and if you just like all of this people being friends, no shipp drama (not even the canon one), then the first book of said saga is for you, no shipps, just friends and bonding and a little bit of angst, after that, there willl be slowburn mericcup, so stay tuned! (The thing with Hiccup and Valka would be fixed eventually, it's in their nature to understand).

Thanks for reading!

Other places to read:

AO3 (english)

AO3 (spanish)

Wattpad (spanish)

That morning, Hiccup discovered that her mother had not been killed by a dragon, leaving no trace behind, but left Berk, she had seen how a dragon showed curiosity for her son, saw that dragons are not bloodthirsty beasts, she thought maybe there was something else behind all this ridiculous war, but if so, in the village they would never listen to her, they would probably throw her overboard; being the village chieftess would not gain her any privileges. So she left her son in the care of her husband, and left the only home she had ever known.

When Valka and Stoick reunited, she was sure he would hate her; but her husband simply took her face, wiped her tears and welcomed her back into the family; turns out that Vikings don’t usually stop to think about the past. Or, well, most Vikings.

At first Hiccup was happy, but as the day went on, he began to think about what it meant for his mother to be gone, everything plummeted when in his mind a short, simple and hurtful phrase echoed: "So, that’s why she left me".

That terrible idea did not come alone, it took many different forms, but so far it had not left him alone. Hiccup retained his emotions as much as he could, it wasn’t something he used to do, but this time he didn’t really know how to act, so he kept a slight smile all day and just watched her parents dance, love and tell how much they had missed each other. During the night everything exploded. In his insomnia, Hiccup was scheming so many ideas and questions that he thought he would ignite at any moment. Then he began to feel that he was short of air and that he had a big, heavy lump in his throat, he needed fresh air urgently, so he began to walk towards the exit, and he inadvertently started running; he only stopped outside the ice cave, then the air began to fill his lungs again, but it was not enough to continue to hold the cry and fell on his knees. Shortly after that, Toothless arrived, he brought a boot and a blanket, the dragon had accompanied him for many nights where it was only him, Toothless, the fire of the chimney and his silent tears, today he did not care to let out sobs or gasps, he was tired of being silent.

The pair of friends were huddled together, until the sound of the iron falling interrupted them.

-Hiccup? Oh my, are you hurt? Is everything okay?

It was Merida, her hair looked even more agitated than usual and she had an untied boot. What they heard was the girl’s huge sword that she had dropped to the ground as soon as she saw Hiccup hugging Toothless and rushed over to make sure they were okay.

-What are you doing up?

-I... couldn’t sleep and I heard you running away, I thought something would have attacked you, besides, I don’t know if your sense of direction is as bad as Corona’s and I didn’t want you to get lost here by yourself.

She finished scanning them and their agitated breathing began to stabilize, apparently no one had hurt them. However, she noticed his friend’s wet eyes and the dragon’s sad look.

-Oh Hiccup, do you need anything? I can give you some space, or listen to you or just stay with you without talking or-

-Stay. Please stay.

The boy wiped his face a little, sat on the edge of an overhanging rock and pointed the place to her. She sat and then turned to him:

-Do you... want to talk?

-I’m not sure, but I’d like to try.

-Whatever you need.

She smiled at him, and he returned the gesture. Toothless moved a little so that Merida could reach his head to scratch it. Hiccup took a deep breath:

-These days have left me exhausted, but today more than tired, I am... confused, I think, a little angry even. Meeting your mother after 20 years shouldn’t be so painful, I should be happy, all my life I was imagining what my life would have been like if she had been with me at Berk. I thought that would have made the days where I haven't met Toothless yet, well, easier. I never imagined there would be a life with her away from the island, and now I’m not sure what I would have preferred, or why I care so much to answer that question.

-How did you imagine your life with her before?

-Well... I don’t know, I think that more than having her with me, I needed someone to keep me company, anyone. I know it’s hard to believe, but I wasn’t always "Berk’s pride".

In the last sentence Hiccup made his voice deeper and bent his arms showing his thin biceps. "At least he still maintains his terrible sense of humor," she thought. Then the boy returned to his hunched pose, resting his elbows on his knees.

-I tried to fit in as much as I could with the other Vikings, to be strong and big like them, but as hard as I tried I could never, not quite. You know? For the last attack before we faced the red death, my father needed volunteers to go on an expedition to find the nest, and nobody wanted to go until he said that whoever stayed would have to take care of me. Of all the adults in the village, only Gobber, the old woman and a couple of farmers stayed on the island. Maybe they didn’t see me as a productive member of the community, and I was always screwing up, but they didn’t gave me a chance to prove otherwise either, they’re too stubborn to do something like that. Before I understood that dragons are not enemies, I was always to be equal to others, or not to get in the way. I was so lonely for so long.

Merida thought of her father, he taught her that she had potential, to develop it, she couldn't imagine what life could have been in the castle without him. However, the walls of the castle were very lonely as well, more so when her brothers were not yet born.

-And today, to see her, to know her a little... We are very similar, now I see that all of this-

He pointed at all of himself.

-Didn’t came out of nowhere. I think having her would have made me feel accompanied, understood. And the worst thing is that she saw Berk, she lived there, Gods! She was the head of the village! , she saw everything that was wrong about dragons, and she saw me, she knew I was not as strong as the rest because I came early to this world and almost died in the crib. Still, I don’t understand what made her think Berk was a good place to leave me all alone. And I know it’s unfair to say that, I had my father and Gobber, but being the Chief while grieving her, I wasn’t his only responsibility, since I was 7 he left me almost totally in charge of Gobber, and neither of them ever listens to me. I don’t understand how anyone can make that decision... But I’m willing to listen, maybe I don’t like what she'll say, but I think I need answers.

The boy turned to see his friend, and was surprised to see her gaze fixed on him, it seemed that she was about to release an arrow, one would think that that expression would be intimidating, but Hiccup had seen her frown the same way when Jack showed her the way, or when Rapunzel explained to her how they had solved the whole matter of her hair, the sun and the moon; she was simply paying attention to him, only that he had never seen her so determined (and so close). The boy felt the heat running down his face to his ears and looked down, he thanked for his tan skin and Odin who hid the sun so she wouldn't notice. Even now that he was used to being listened attentively by the entire village, he had never talked about that part of his life with anyone, not even Astrid, because it was not necessary, she had seen it with her own eyes.

-What about the blonde girl? I thought you and her... Well, you have a very strong connection, I thought she would have been with you since the beginning.

-You mean Astrid?

-She’s the only blonde girl in the group, Haddock, I doubt you can mistake her for Gobber.

The boy smiled slightly, she was right, and he really needed sleep.

-Oh, well, she became my friend thanks to Toothless, like everyone else, although our story is a little more complicated than that. I remember when we were barely 10 years old I used to go out and walk in the woods as far as I could, and once I got lost, that time I thought the rest of my life I would live among deer and rabbits, but she found me, told me "no Viking should be left behind", then took my hand, guided me through the forest showing me in detail what was the way back. By the time we saw the village again, she had my heart in her hands.

-You really are easy to impress, huh?

-Hey, that was the first time someone from the village care to help me. And the first time someone called me a 'Viking'.

-As you say, lover boy.

-Well, after that, it was about four years of absolutely nothing, at best she scolded me, saying that I had to take my place among others, take things seriously or try harder. Today I understand why she told me all those things, she was one of the few who had a little common sense, and it was always central to her the commitment to Berk and the community, without blind trust, of course. She was the first to trust me and Toothless, the first to know about him, and the first to support me in the fight against the red death. But it was only until that moment that she really saw me, that she regarded me as more than just another child in the village. And after the battle with the dragons ended, she... Well, she fell in love with me, and she didn’t know what to do with that, so she acted like nothing happened, and when I tried to get close to her, she would get me away, usually with hurtful words.

-How did you solve that? You look so close now...- She had the same eyes a kid has when the bedtime story gets too exciting.

-Actually, we fixed it because I exploded and asked for an explanation

-Did you have to explode to ask for an explanation?

-Huh, I guess so.

-And did you told each other how you felt?

-It sounds easier than it is, but yes, long story short we did. Now that we knew that we loved each other, it seemed pretty easy to fix everything, right? Well, we tried to be together for a while, but we realized that we wanted different things, she wanted to stay and I wanted to leave, and that what was good for us was just to support each other and that made our friendship even stronger, she would make sure I don't lose the floor and I would help her... Well, I’m not really sure, but she likes me a lot so I guess I have to do something right. She’s like my soul mate and she’s one of the most important people in my life.

-So you’re not together now?

-Nope, this guy is single. Why? You interested?

Hiccup arched an eyebrow and gave her a smirk. A very dumb one. Merida let out a chortle, although it really sounded far away from a normal laugh.

-Okay, I have experience with rejections, but you didn’t have to make fun of me like that.

Hiccup’s remark only made her laugh more, and instead of feeling offended, the laugh became contagious.

-I guess I have a bright future, I have found my mother, new friends, a mission, an opportunity to learn more about dragons... Maybe I didn’t get a girlfriend with a stunning Scottish accent, but whatever.

-If you keep making me laugh we’ll wake up the others.

-It seems that I touched a nerve.

-You have no idea.

-I could, if you'd like to tell me...

-I would like to, but I’m not sure this is the right timing, you are my priority right now.

There was silence for a moment, a warmer feeling in Hiccup's stomach.

-Gods, you have no idea how much I like to hear that.

Hiccup smiled at Merida, and this time she was the one who suddenly had her face as red as her hair. She didn’t thank anything nor anyone, she was well aware that even in the dark night her carmine face was evident.

-I’d like to say that to you more often, but if you’re going to get all sentimental every time I do, then I think I’ll keep it for special occasions only.

-Ha ha, how funny, even when you blush for my charms you take advantage of my vulnerability.

-You’re not as charming as you think, Haddock.

-Ouch, okay. Thanks for your consideration, but I think a distraction might help, let me listen to you for a while, would you?

Merida sighed, took her hands to her face, hoping the cold touch would help lower the temperature of her cheeks.

-Okay, I’ll tell you.

Hiccup got up, moving a little away from the edge, Toothless accompanied him and settled down so that the two friends could lie down on him and look at the stars. Merida understood and settled down on the side of Hiccup, arranged the blanket that Toothless had brought to cover them both.

-You see, a few years ago, my mother sent three letters to the lords of the allied houses, Macguffin, Dingwall and Macintosh. I had already reached the appropriate age to make the traditional games for the heirs of each house to fight for my hand in marriage.

-Wow, do they really do that in your village?

-I’ll get to that. And actually, we are a kingdom.

-Alright new-world girl, get on with your story.

-So, all my life I lived inside the castle, I only went out to ride Angus or for some lesson; I do not know how my mother expected me to be ready to marry when I had only had human contact with my family and the people who work in the castle; or maybe that’s the whole point. Anyway, back then, my mom and I had a terrible relationship, she wanted me to become this perfect princess, a symbol of righteousness and grace that is always at the service of all and whose life is limited to tending the castle and the lands. And I’ve never wanted that, I mean, now I understand why all the boring protocols I’ve been taught throughout my life are important, and why I'm important. But at the time my mother only thought that this was the only goal of my life and I thought that nothing that happened made sense.

-I think I would have thought the same as you.

-It was difficult not to do so when no one ever explains you the reason for something but force you to obey it.

-Touché.

-When the lords and their sons arrived, my mother explained the rules "Only the firstborn of each clan can compete for the hand of the princess of DunBroch", and well, I am the firstborn of my clan. And, according to tradition, the princess chooses the activity with which the clans compete.

-Let me guess, you chose archery

-Duh. Nonetheless, when I faced the clans to defend my hand I almost started a war. My mother was furious, we had a big fight and I thought that the only way to achieve what I wanted was by changing my mother so that the thought that bethrothing me to some lord was not necessary. I took Angus and I rode into the forest, we reached some very old stone steles, in my kingdom we say that those stones were placed by benevolent trolls, and that there they wrote instructions to control magic, as a symbol of peace between the men and the creatures of the forest. It’s a very important magic center. When I got there, the first thing I saw was a path of little blue fire-like creatures, what we call Will-o’-the-whisp, souls that decided to stay longer on earth to guide the living to their destiny. They took me to a witch’s cabin and I asked for an enchantment to change my mother, I wanted her to stop believing that marriage was a good idea, but when I came home and gave the enchantment to my mom, she turned into a bear. Once again I acted without knowing the consequences.

"Magic really is strong in DunBroch", he thought while trying to hide his amazed expression. At the same time, he remembered having an encounter with something very similar to this souls Merida described, but kept it to himself.

-Then I had to take her out of the castle, and try to find answers. Meanwhile, my mom and I had the opportunity to get to know each other a little better, she listened to me and I listened to her, or something like that, she was a bear, she couldn’t communicate with anything but gestures.

-That explains why it is so easy for you to understand Toothless.- he said, althoug he didn't mean it to be outloud. He scolded himself.

-You think so? Corona is also tactful with animals and this boy gets along very well with Jack.

She said as she scratched the dragon’s forehead, he seemed very comfortable and happy.- He relaxed a bit, he hadn't lied anyways.

-Yes, but you listen more calmly and do it more often, I think you are the only one who "converses" with him besides me. I would even say you're his second favorite, after me, of course.

Toothless turned a little to lick Merida’s face.

-Toothless, I told you that doesn’t come off! Stubborn, giant lizard. Wait, I have a handkerchief over here.

-Don’t worry, that's how you show affection, don’t you? oh, poor boy, the bad Viking mistreats you?

Toothless nodded, feigning a painful scream as Merida scratched his chin.

-Great, another rejection.

-What can I say?, everyone wants a little of me, you should get used to it.

-And here I thought that this trip would lead me to make more friends, not to lose those I already have.

-Do you want to keep listening to my story or are you going to keep feeling sorry for yourself?

-Please continue, at least I will know well who is leaving me alone in the world once more.

Merida rolled her eyes, but she contained laughter.

-Well, we went back to the witch’s cabin, and it turned out she left us a message, said we only had two days to undo the enchantment or my mother would become a bear forever, and just recited a couple of rhymes as a clue.

The girl cleared her throat a little and gave a more mystical tone to her voice:

-’Fate be changed, look inside. Mend the bond torn by pride.’

Hiccup felt chills, sometimes he forgets that Merida can have visions and recite prophecies, when the girl’s blue eyes became glassy, as if looking at something in the distance, while speaking in Gaelic.

-That was really creepy.

-I think you’re too soft.

-Oh come on, attacking me again. Better keep talking.

-As you wish. The point is that it didn’t really tell us anything, so we left, frustrated. Well, before that we made a couple of weird mixes with the jars the witch had left and almost destroyed the whole cabin.

-I think we should reconsider entrusting you with the spell...

-Haven’t you just say you wanted a chance to prove yourself despite your mistakes and-

-Okay, okay, I get it.

-Better. Then we were discouraged and nervous, but once again the will-o’-the-whisp guided us, this time towards the ruins of an old kingdom. That’s where I had my first vision. I touched a broken carved stone, and I saw a man become a bear in an ancient throne room. You see, my mother always told me the story of an ancient kingdom, the king divided the kingdom among his four sons before he died, but the elder was superb, and proclaimed himself the legitimate leader of all the land above his brothers, The war on those lands continued until my father and the lords united to defeat a common enemy. Remember when I told you how my father lost his leg?

-He was attacked by a bear called Mort

-Mor'du, but yes. It turned out that in all that time, the greedy son who faced his brothers became Mor'du, he wanted the strength of 10 men and asked the witch for the same enchantment as me. When I returned to the present and saw the broken stone, I understood what the witch told me: during the fight with my mother, I cut in half a tapestry that she was making, the whole family was in it, I sliced my sword right were my mother and I held hands. That tapestry had to be mended. Suddenly, in the shadows I saw a huge beast full of arrows that pierced his thick skin, a blind eye, and a black and ruffled fur that was advancing dangerously towards me. Without knowing it, we had entered Mor'du’s home. My mother and I ran and we managed to lose him. Now that we knew what to do, we went sneaking to the palace. Meanwhile, in the castle, things were getting tense, the lords wanted to know which clan I was going to marry. My father defended me every second...

Merida smiled slightly, remembering her father's courage.

-Before mending the tapestry we had to avoid a war, so I went to talk to the lords while my mother explained to me with signs what to say, and against all odds, my mother asked me to say to break with tradition and give me and the young heirs, the opportunity to follow our heart and find love in its time.

-That's hard to believe, amazing.

-I know, I wouldn't have expected it, I was honestly about to pick one of those three before my mother stopped me to give a precious speech about making our own decisions.

-Really? Which one were you going to choose?

Hiccup's eyes were mischievous. In less than a second, Merida’s face was boiling.

-It is not important.

-Oh, come on, I don’t even know them.

-Most likely you will.

-Even if I have the pleasure of meeting then, I promise not to tell anyone.

-Hiccup, I trust you, I’m not worried that you’ll tell them, I’m worried that you’ll know.

-All right, I won't insist further.

Until then she had not wanted to tell anyone, but Hiccup had entrusted her with a vulnerable part of his life. It wasn’t that she owed him anything, but she wanted things to be reciprocal, so she took a deep breath and let go:

-Macguffin, I would have chosen Macguffin.

Hiccup seemed surprised, but ventured to ask more.

-What is Macguffin like?

-Well, today I know he’s kind, altruistic, sensitive and a great friend, but at the time I would have chosen him more than anything because the other two guys didn’t show their best side, Macintosh had a terrifying outburst of anger when his shot wasn’t perfect, And Dingwall just looked distracted and you could tell miles away that he was only there to do a duty to his clan, at least Macguffin seemed interested in me and not in my title. Although if we’re strict, I should have been Lady Dingwall, he was the one who hit his the bullseye, even if it was mere coincidence.

-Merida Macguffin... It doesn’t sound so bad. They match.

The girl hid her face between her red curls, and spoke to Hiccup in a very faint voice.

-For Gods’ sake, Haddock.

The boy laughed.

-Come on, Merida, I’m just messing with you.

-I know...

-Why don’t you finish your story instead? I suppose you managed to break the spell.

The girl looked up at Hiccup, nodded and came out of her hiding.

-Fortunately, although it was not easy, the will-o'-the-wisp led me once again to the stones, they were about to kill my mother, I had to fight with my father, and if it was not enough trouble, Mor'du decided to go out to greet. My mother and the devil bear had a gruesome fight, but Mom got one of the stones to fall on him. When Mor'du stopped breathing, his soul came out of his body and gave us a little bow, before turning into a whisp himself; it seems he just needed someone to free him from the bear skin he got himself into. When it was all over, the sun began to shine, I hurried and covered my mother with the tapestry, begging the gods and fate not to be too late. And for a moment it was it, I saw my mother lose the white in her eyes and become just a creature of the forest, and I felt the weight of the world on me. I thought I had lost her forever, and it was my fault. There are still days when I have nightmares where I really lose her like that, where i loose her because I was selfish and stubborn.- He saw something in Merida, something he thougt impossible: fear, regret.

-That day, life gave me another chance, and my mother returned to her human form, just like my brothers. After all the fuss, my mother and I really changed, I took her lessons more seriously, and she was more patient with me. Now we both hear each other, and we understand each other, we’re closer than ever.- Merida was watching something beyond the sea in front o of them, her eyes full of love and pain at the same time. She was far from home.

-Despite everything, I wanted to learn more about magic, how to use it, stop it, and mold it as much as possible. So without telling my parents, I went to take lessons with the same witch who gave me the spell that time, I mean, she just gave me what I asked for, and I know some problems would have been avoided if she had explained in detail what was going to happen and how to undo the spell, but she’s the only one who knew magic in the whole kingdom, and being something so alive and so present in our lives, it seemed wrong not to know anything about it, even if in doing so, I hurt the relationship with my family... My parents didn’t want me to go near magic again, but being in DunBroch that’s impossible.

-I think I understand you, the dragons were also as present in our life as the sheep and we never stopped to think why they attacked us. We just took the war for granted.

-You know? The relic I’m trying to save on this mission belongs to one of the clans, blesses them with good harvests every day of the year, and we all rely heavily on those harvests during the winter, if I didn't have asked the witch for help, right now we wouldn’t know what to do, chaos would ensue and everyone in the kingdom would be dead by next spring. I honestly think we all make a great team, I’m sure we’re gonna make it. I know that even after we recover the magic of the relic, we have a lot ahead of us. You don’t know how grateful I am to everyone for helping us with this and trusting me.

Merida tried to hide a yawn, and failed. Hiccup sneered.

-Don’t you think I should have been the one bored by your story? Or doesn’t Her Majesty usually sleep late?

-My story was not boring, Haddock. And, just so you know, I sleep a lot, sometimes in the castle, it is necessary for my mother to take the triplets to bother me to get me out of bed. And between my unexpected insomnia, Toothless and this delicious blanket, I’m more comfortable than you’d expect to be out in the open at midnight.

Hiccup realized that he was also starting to feel heavy on his eyelids. Finally, he was resting.

-Sorry I woke you up and worried you, but i'm thankful that you did.

-Hey, we’re more than a team, okay? We’re friends. The day you need me and I’m not there for you is the day my heart stops beating, I promise.

He took a moment to see the stars shining on him, and then to Merida and the kind smile she had over him. There was something comfortable in her, and not just that, she was amazing in all kinds of aspects; he found himself mentally listing all of them.

-Well...- She looked nervious and her cheeks were light pink, maybe he stared at her a little too long- I think it's time for us to go back before we fall sleep here, don't you think?

-Yeah, sure, you're right.- He got up in a jump. -Let's go.- He extended his hand to help her get up, she took it.

-I'll take the blanket!- She said in a playful tone, and hurried to cover herself with the thick fabric.

-How considerate of you...- He looked at her like she was dressed in jewels and silk. Fortunately, Merida was already walking back and didn't noticed.

That morning Hiccup thought that he would have a broken heart for the rest of the trip at least, but as he saw her leave, he realized that he wasn't so sure anymore.

[jammie3132]

Sir Knight and Prince Charming, Ch. 3

So...I haven't posted here in a while (DUH) and it looks like a lot of things have changed. Since I'm pretty confused, I'm just going to post this here like this. What I am going to do is put the link to AO3 ( at the bottom) because I don't remember if I posted the first 2 chapters. My timeline is all whackadoodle and I'm going to need more time (and a lot of wine) to go through that mess. Wish me luck!

THURSDAY…EXACTLY 2 WEEKS LATER

Santana stared at the 3x5 cards on the push-pin board in her office, uncertain of what to do with this new clue.

**June Dolloway cancels B’s Showcase & Met Gala**

Granted, it couldn’t be helped. Her sister-in-law broke her hip and she was going to France to take care of her. But, since June and her bad directions/wrong number brought Sir Knight into the picture in the first place, anything June related had to be included on the Blaine Board.

But where?

Trouty was in Kentucky for the twins’ birthday which meant it fell on her shoulders to get some answers. Seriously, it did, and this time it wasn’t for fun like when she figured out Berry’s sleazy ex was a gigolo. Ok, yes, she originally thought drug dealer but tomato-tomato. What bugged her was it only took 3 hours to solve that mystery and 2 weeks later she was no closer to figuring out what caused the change in Blaine.

He hadn’t left the basement in over a week. In one way this was completely understandable. Afterall, the place was called Blaineland.

None of them (even those who lived there) had ever been in the basement. Mercedes constantly reminded the group the record label declared it off limits and she wasn’t going to piss them off. Then the Andersons bought the brownstone and wanted some pictures of the furnace.

Everyone was stunned by what they discovered but Blaine fell to his knees and sobbed like a baby. The whole thing was a state-of-the-art recording studio with a baby grand piano and 2 lounges, one being a home theater and concession stand with a movie theater popcorn machine!!!

This was all amazing but not leaving the basement included Blaine’s classes at NYADA. Yes, he arranged excused absences for earlier in the week because he didn’t know what his state of mind would be with Tuesday being the one-year anniversary of the shooting at McKinley.

You say school shooting and people are a bit more understanding.

Today was Thursday…no classes but he flat-out stated he wasn’t going to his Song Writing Workshop tomorrow.

Damn it! She’d fallen down a rabbit hole yet again. Stay focused, Lopez! Back to the beginning, or what Blond Chameleon (dork!) believed was the beginning.

**Sir Knight=Sebastian Smythe?**

This never felt quite right. Don’t get her wrong, her psychic Mexican-third eye was screaming the SOB was somehow involved.

The only thing she couldn’t get past was Blaine’s insistence his Knight in Shining Armor couldn’t possibly be Slushie Smurf. There’s a sadness behind the denials. A sadness Blaine’s expressive eyes couldn’t hide, at least to her. How come she seemed to be the only one who saw it?

Wasn’t Blaine supposed to be the oblivious one, not his best friend and boyfriend?

Hummel kept insisting whatever was happening was no big deal. The day after the Thursday from Hell, Blaine met with his song writing professor and it didn’t go well. In fact, it went so badly the professor told him if he didn’t fix his assignment by the due date, she’d have no other choice but to fail him.

**Song Writing Fail**

She pulled off the card and moved it to align with the Sir Knight card. This made more sense to why Blaine practically moved into a music studio.

Well, that and the fact his old room was now her office/temporary bedroom and his new room was part of the remodel.

But the meeting with the professor happened on Friday which meant it couldn’t be the catalyst for Blaine’s change. Too much crap happened the day before, especially some events she believed hadn’t been given enough attention due to their (*cough* Sam’s) Sir Knight focus.

**Kurt’s temper tantrum saying Blaine was responsible for his getting kicked off the photoshoot**

**Kurt talks to Chinese Food delivery guy, has a complete 180 attitude change and apologizes for earlier behavior**

**Kurt never explains what happened at Vogue or what caused the attitude change**

Rachel (accidently) mentioned something about Kurt having to sign a big NDA agreement for the photoshoot but, of course, didn’t know details. Did everyone at Vogue have to sign an NDA? If so, there was no way to get information there. But what about the delivery guy? What did he say to flip Hummel? Should she go try to talk to him?

Should she add all this to the board?

She was still deciding when her phone rang. Looking at the clock, she remembered Pamela had scheduled a call at this time. But from the ringtone alert it wasn’t her but her husband.

That’s weird

“Hello, Mr. Anderson.”

“Good morning, Santana. How are you?”

“Um, a little confused. I was expecting Pamela so we could finalize the schedule for tomorrow’s demolition and the start of the remodel on Monday.”

The Andersons hired her (temporarily) to handle Pamela’s ridiculous (and constantly growing) To Do List. Blaine and Sam had too much on their plates, especially when it was announced Sam had won the role of Mike in the Magic Mike Musical.

She still couldn’t believe she caught Rachel’s reaction to the news. It was even better when Artie put the video on a loop (with cut ins of Sam doing his body rolls) and set it to music…Pony, of course.

Anyway, one day after she went (verbally) Lima Heights on one of the contractors (who Blam believed was mobbed up) the temporary title went away. Now she’s the Andersons’ personal assistant/house manager and unofficial Blam babysitter.

It was the best job she’d ever had and not just because she’d been fired by both Yeast-I-Stat and the diner (long story). Charles calling had her worried. He must have picked that up from her tone. “Santana, everything’s fine. Plans changed and Pammy left for LA this morning to see Cooper. You’re doing a great job. Better than we dared to hope.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Wait… “When you say plans changed, does that mean the record label got the judge to void the sale of the brownstone?”

His laughter made it clear that wasn’t the case.

“Nope. Like I said all along, it’s not mine and Pammy’s fault the producer who was supposed to live there funneled 3 million dollars from the company to build a studio and no one noticed. And even though the paperwork isn’t completely finalized, enough of it has been. It also helped we purchased the place in cash, as is, expedited closing at the label’s insistence.”

“As is being the important part. Right?”

“Smart girl but the label being the party to insist on the fast closing didn’t hurt. The judge did admit my getting the contracts pushed through in less than 24 hours tied his hands. It usually takes around 30 days to close on a property.”

“Not your fault you’re good at your job…whatever it is. It was fun watching the people from the label heads explode when they realized how badly they screwed up. But, Mr. Anderson, you haven’t said what the change of plans are?”

“Turns out you are not the only one who believes I’m good at what I do. The parent company of the record label offered me a job running the non-talent portion of the label. You know, the boring stuff. I’m flying into NYC in the morning to listen to what they have to say. Since today is Thursday, can you tell Blaine I’m coming? Sam told me you’re now the gatekeeper for emergency contacts and I’ve learned my lesson about interrupting his Blaine Time.”

This is your job…this is your job…this is your job

You love your job…you love your job…you love your job

“Yes, of course I’ll tell Blaine. Do you want him to call you?”

“That’s not necessary. My appointment/interview is more of a business lunch so I’ll call him afterwards.” There was a pause, but she could feel he wasn’t finished. “Santana, tell me the truth, at least as much as you’re comfortable telling me without breaking Blaine’s…I mean…it’s just, how is he doing? Sam said the anniversary of the McKinley shooting hit them all harder than they realized it would. Then June Dolloway cancelled his Showcase…”

“You know why she did that. Right?”

“Oh, yes. My mother fell and broke her hip last year. My brothers and I all took turns caring for her so, as a son, I completely understand. As a father, I’m worried about the ramifications for my child.”

A father who gives a damn, even after all the crap that happened when his child came out as gay. Must be nice.

“I do know he has a meeting with Carmen Tibideaux at NYADA next week, but otherwise he really hasn’t said anything. Remember, he only found all this out yesterday.”

“He’s not talking to anyone? I know Sam’s in Kentucky but not even Kurt? And what about that new friend of his…the guy he calls Sir Knight?” WTF? How does he know? “Sam told me the two of you have been trying to find out who he is.”

I…AM…GOING…TO…KILL…HIM!!!!!

“You know Sam. No way his Superhero alter ego can pass up on a mystery.”

“He said maybe there was a tie in with the Warblers. Pammy says Blaine tried to keep his friendships with them even after what happened with his eye but after the steroids everything fell apart.”

That was new. Ok, maybe Sam wasn’t going to die. Plus, Charles was referring to the Warblers as a whole and not one particular Warbler who nearly blinded his son.

“We did think there might be a connection to the Warblers but don’t see how it would connect back to June.”

“June?”

“She gave Blaine the wrong number which turned out to be Sir Knight’s. But our research didn’t go anywhere because neither of us knew any of the Warblers’ full names.”

“Having those names is important?”

“Can’t cyberstalk someone if you don’t know their name.”

They did know the name Sebastian Smythe. Why hadn’t they just Googled the ass? What an epic fail.

She blames Sam, or even better, Blond Chameleon.

“True, but please try to not call your research cyberstalking. Let me get ahold of Pammy and see what she can do, if anything. And Santana, thanks for helping look after my boy. Something’s going on and I don’t want Blaine falling back into the depression he was in last year. Pammy and I still haven’t forgiven ourselves for not catching on sooner.”

After their goodbyes ended, she started to write down all the new information Charles gave her. Right when she pinned the last new 3x5 card to the Blaine Board, an email alert from Pamela popped up on her computer screen. In it was her log-in and password to the Dalton Parent Portal. She’d just gone online and confirmed it worked.

After all this time? Blaine left Dalton nearly 3 years ago. You’d think a fancy private school would have better cyber security. Reading further, Pamela explained alumni bios were listed by graduation year. No graduation, no listing, and yes, that included Blaine.

Again…so why did Pamela’s log-in and password work?

Bios would include the college the alumni currently attend. Since the majority of Dalton boys usually wound up in the Ivy League, at least one of Blaine’s old friends should be close to the NYC area.

The email also contained a list of names to concentrate on. She almost fell out her chair when she got to the final name.

Sebastian Smythe

Even with that mind-blowing development, she knew going through the Dalton site could take hours. She’d have plenty of time for research tomorrow when the kitchen and bathrooms were being ripped out. The best thing to do was to stick to her original plan to try to find the delivery guy from 2 weeks ago.

There was something she had to do before she left.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she was surprised to see Blaine at the theater’s concession stand and not in the studio.

At least he’s eating.

“Hey Hermit, it’s Blaine Day. Go to a park and sit under a tree like you usually do.”

“Hermit? Isn’t it Hobbit?”

“Not after this week.”

“Santana…”

“Hey, it’s your fucking life. Do what you want. I just thought you’d like to know your dad called and is going to be here tomorrow for a meeting. If you don’t want him asking more questions than he already will, get some sun on your face!” As she quickly planned a dramatic exit for emphasis, she calmed down long enough to suggest “Call Sir Knight, or text, whatever.”

“I can’t.”

WTF???!!!

“What the hell do you mean I can’t? You’ve been communicating with the guy non-stop for 2 weeks. I’m still in awe how you convinced Hummel to give you a pass on the whole Klaine texting is cheating bull-shit.”

“It’s not a big deal. We agreed to end our chats. He left the country for work, or his grandmother is sick, or both. I don’t know. He said he’s going to be extremely busy and knew I needed to focus on my Showcase, although, that’s not a problem anymore.”

“When? When did you guys break-up?”

“We didn’t break-up and does it really matter when it happened?”

“Blaine…”

“Santana, it’s not like we were friends. He was a wrong number.”

From the look on his face, she knew Blaine was lying. Even in that short amount of time, Sir Knight had become important to Prince Charming. “Call June and ask her what the hell’s going on. We all know that so-called wrong number wasn’t random.”

“She’s in France taking care of her sister-in-law. I’m not going to bother her with this. Sir Knight is gone, so you and Sam can stop your not-so secret mission to prove he was Sebastian which I told you wasn’t possible in the first place!”

3 HOURS LATER

She let herself into the brownstone and proceeded to her office, ignoring the overwhelming desire to go to the basement and check on Blaine. No way he’d gone to a park.

Even though it was barely 1PM, she decided to change into comfy clothes. The best perk of her new job was getting to move out of the loft and into the brownstone. She didn’t care if it was going to be under construction for the next month. Had to be less annoying than Hummel and Berry’s constant bitching. And it’s not like she couldn’t escape if she wanted. Blaineland was completely soundproof due to the studio and home theater.

Sitting back at her desk, she checked her messages. She had one from Sam but if she had a guess he wanted the breakdown of what happened with the delivery guy…Ray. She didn’t even bother to read what he sent and sent one of her own reminding him to spend time with his fucking family. He’d be back in a few days and they’d fix the Blaine Board then.

It wasn’t that she was pushing Blond Chameleon out, he’d just be laser focused on the Sir Knight/Prince Charming (non) break-up. She’s 100% certain Kurt’s Thursday from Hell behavior was the key to all this and her trip to Manhattan only reinforced her beliefs.

Everything went better than she hoped. Not only was Ray working, he remembered her as a friend of Kurt’s (his words…not hers). The first thing she asked was if he knew who sent the food to Blaine. He said he had an idea but was curious why, after 2 weeks, she came all this way to ask.

She had prepared for this.

Her story was that Blaine knew who sent the food but won’t tell anyone. He did say all of them knew/at least met the person from high school. It was beginning to drive them crazy so she and Blaine’s other friends, other than Kurt, turned it into a bet to see who could solve the mystery first. She pulled out a $100 bill…

Still had no idea how to put bribe money in the petty cash ledger but had a feeling the Andersons would be fine with it.

“I’m willing to pay for information.”

The flashing of money brought others over to “help”. They all agreed with Ray when he said, though he couldn’t confirm it, the food had to be sent by the talent or someone in their entourage. The reasoning being unless it was Isabelle Wright, who all agreed it wasn’t, the Vogue employees working the photoshoot couldn’t afford the dinner(s) sent to the brownstone.

And while the NDAs were no joke, and Vogue employees were extremely careful with what they said in public, each of her new buddies had overheard bits and pieces about that night.

It was to launch the new face of a famous fashion house, and the person being shot was a guy. Also, he was an unknown who’d been discovered when a model went AWOL at one of last season’s Fashion Week runway shows in Paris. A friend of a friend (something like that) called this guy and begged him to do it even though he wasn’t a model. The rest was history. One girl added she overheard there was something else going on with the guy, something bigger, like maybe an acting role.

She thanked everyone and pulled out two more $100 bills for them to split as they saw fit. Then she took Ray to the side and asked how much of this information Kurt had. He told her the one thing he told Kurt was the talent sent the food to Blaine, not that it was only a theory. Then he reminded her Kurt had to know a lot more than any of them but wasn’t saying anything due to the NDA.

Must be one hell of an NDA.

She put all this new info on 3x5s cards but after pinning them to the Blaine Board she found herself at a crossroads. Everything was ready for the contractors’ arrival in the morning. There were no more errands to run. She could go down and watch a movie.

Relax and clear her mind of all things Blaine Anderson.

Who was she kidding? The reason she’d allowed herself to get tangled in this web in the first place was so she didn’t have to clear her mind. If she did, she might have to start dealing with the fact Dani dumped her by leaving a letter at the diner for when she returned from Iowa. And how that bitch Brenda found it and convinced the staff to do a routine to Taylor Swift’s We Are Never Getting Back Together as she handed her Dani’s letter. And how she punched that bitch Brenda and had the choice of being fired or having the cops called.

And how in the letter Dani asked her to tell Kurt Elliot had gone to Nashville with her, completely blowing up Hummel’s band. While she could somewhat see Dani in Tennessee the Glitter Rock Vampire made zero sense.

And couldn’t she have asked Berry who still worked at the diner? Who knows, maybe she left a letter for Rachel asking her and that bitch Brenda did something with it. She managed to keep all her other evil plans secret from her then roommate.

Stop it! She needed a distraction and even though she scheduled her Dalton website research for tomorrow, it wouldn’t hurt to check out the one surprise name on Pamela’s list.

Getting on the site was ridiculously easy as was finding the alumni lists. Assuming Smythe graduated the same year as Blam (although she would’ve sworn Blaine was a Senior, not a Sophomore, when they met) she went to 2013. He wasn’t there. That didn’t make sense. Was he still at Dalton?

She put Smythe into the home page search engine and the only things that popped up were Warbler competition videos (the last being last year’s Sectionals) and articles about the LaCross team from the previous year. All mentions of Sebastian end there. Did he leave Dalton before he graduated? Oh crap! Did he have something to do with the steroids? Both Sam and Blaine said there was no proof he was and the Warbler who ratted them out never mentioned the former captain.

*Ding…Dong*

Oh, thank God! While she wanted a distraction, she could see getting lost in this rabbit hole for hours and she had an early wake-up time.

Reaching for the doorknob she prepared herself for Kurt and whatever drama he’d twisted into an emergency to get her to call Blaine for him. She was pleasantly surprised to instead find a beautiful woman with a radiant smile and a killer body.

Not the time Lopez

“May I help you?”

“Are you Santana?”

“Yes…and you are?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought Sam told you I’d be stopping by. My name is Annabelle and I’m one of his manager’s assistants. I’m here to pick up the packet he left so we can get his tax and union paperwork filed before he officially begins work on the musical.”

“He didn’t…wait, he sent me a text but I assumed it was for something else. You don’t look like a serial killer so if you want to come in while I check, you’re more than welcome. Warning though, there’s nowhere to sit because remodeling begins tomorrow.”

Annabelle smiled a smile Santana was trying really hard not to read into. “I’m definitely not a serial killer, although my primary client might disagree. I have threatened him with bodily harm on more than one occasion.”

“Sorry, sounds like a douche bag.”

“No, he’s not, more like an annoying little brother. But I’ll never tell him that.”

“Ok, now I can totally sympathize but at least you don’t get a 2 for 1 like I do with Blam. I’ll be right back.”

As she tried to not look at Santana’s ass as the beautiful woman went to what she assumed was a home office, Annabelle took in her surroundings. There was a rumor going around that one of the major music labels had millions of dollars embezzled by a producer to build a studio in the brownstone they bought for him. In addition, they didn’t find out until after they sold the place.

The guy who bought it was some sort of genius and had a judge agree anything attached to (even just screwed into the wall) the structure was included in the as is purchase price.

Since everyone in the NYC entertainment (not just music) industry thought the CEO of the label was an asshole they were celebrating still unknown man as a modern-day Robin Hood. And while the odds this being that particular brownstone were astronomical, she was still going to ask.

“I got ahold of Trouty. Yes, he did send a message, the one I ignored, so here you go.” Santana handed over an envelope, both women going out of their way not to touch the other’s hand. “He also said his manager wanted to know about the study system Blam developed back in high school to help his dyslexia.”

“You keep referring to Blam. Who is that?"

"Sam and his best friend. It’s like they have one mind so it’s easier to give them one name.”

“Would it be possible to get his number so I can talk to him on how to help Sam?”

“He’s in the studio in the basement. Maybe Hermit will actually leave it if he knows it’s to help Trouty.”

Hermit? Trouty? Annabelle only cared about one word “Studio? There’s a studio in the basement?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty sweet. We found it when the Andersons bought the place. Hold on, I’ll have to send a text. The whole level is soundproof.” Santana watched as Annabelle turned into a cartoon character with as wide as her eyes got and how far her jaw dropped. “Is something wrong?”

“Holy Shit! The rumors are true?”

“Rumors?”

“The brownstone with the studio!! How the guy who bought it screwed the label out of millions of dollars. He’s a fucking legend!”

“My dad didn’t screw anyone out of anything. It’s not his fault the label had such shitty bookkeeping.”

Annabelle turned around and went straight back to cartoon mode. She’d recognize that guy anywhere. “Blaine Fucking Anderson.”

“Excuse me. Who the hell are you to call me that?”

Santana was put off as well. Things had been going great until that moment. “Annabelle…”

It was Blaine’s turn to turn into a cartoon character. “Annabelle? Annabelle who works as an assistant to an entertainment manager?”

Their guest still wasn’t talking and had gone so far as to put her hand over her mouth. Santana quickly came to the conclusion she was the only one with no idea what was happening. “Blaine, why does Annabelle’s name and job matter?”

“Because Sir Knight had someone like you who took care of shit for him but she was his manager’s assistant and her name was Annabelle. Joey, the driver, knows where I live but he didn’t know my name.”

“Blaine, I’m sorry…”

“Are you here to spy on me under the pretense of taking care of Sam? There’s no reason. Sir Knight left the country and told me he’d be too busy to chat so it would be best if we stopped.” Then it dawned on him. “How do you know my name? Did you do some sort of research on me?”

Santana huffed and threw up her arms in frustration. “If she did and got your name, she’s much better than me and the Blond Chameleon. We still have no clue who Sir Knight is. How did you figure it out? Is it because the driver guy had Blainer’s address?”

Annabelle pulled back her hair, obviously a nervous habit, and shook her head. “You don’t understand. I could lose my job for the little bit I’ve already accidently said.” She looked away from Santana to Blaine and saw the same pained expression on his face that she saw on Sebastain’s when he left for Paris. Yes, he was worried about his Nana but she knew it was also for the loss of his Prince Charming.

She had no idea why he cut Blaine off when he needed his friend (love of his life) the most. He had an international phone plan. Screw it! The jerk needed her too much to have Benny fire her.

“Sir Knight knew you were Blaine Anderson the second you called him the first time. You obviously hadn’t changed your number in years.”

Blaine and Santana grabbed each other’s arms as a means to keep balance. It was a bad time not to have any furniture to hold on to. “I haven’t changed my number. The Ohio area code should have been the first clue” Blaine said as he tried to remember his first conversations with Sir Knight. “But he had changed phones recently to a private line.”

“Yes, and I set it up with only the 22 contacts he was allowed to keep. Evidently, he later deleted his parents and put you in himself…under the name Killer. It looks like you both figured it out but if you’re looking for confirmation…Sir Knight’s name is Sebastian Smythe.”

“Damn it! The Blond Chameleon is going to be an even bigger pain in the ass once he finds out he was right all along!”

AO3

[brainrotcharacters]

Real and Mine

Wade and Logan behind closed doors, sfw nightmare comfort. Gif credits to owner.

I wrote this just now no planning no nothing but my love for old men yaoi and my period. You better fucking enjoy it.

Cross posted on ao3.

"Fuck―" Wade coughed up blood, "Well, that's a jumpscare."

Logan's attention shifted to the deep claw marks across Wade's chest. Red blood practically poured out from the wounds, soaking the reds and blacks of his Deadpool suit. Logan lifted his fists, studying his bloodied adamantium claws.

"Logan," Wade's voice broke. His shoulders were trembling as he looked up at him, his eyes glassy and unfocused. "Please stop. This really fuckin' hurts."

He wasn't in control of his body. Logan took one slow step towards him, and another, and then there was that familiar tension at the base of his spine that meant he was about to maul an enemy.

Wade backed away, whimpering, his blood creating a trail on the ground. "Get away from me! Stop right there!"

An... enemy?

Logan swung―

And woke up. His chest rose and fell, and he could hear himself panting, but there was no oxygen. The world slowly refocused around him. The mattress and sheets under him was softer than the hospital beds or the steel tables he had been put on. There was a closed window to the far right. Nighttime, and the lights of the nearby apartment buildings, showed through.

Logan's tongue felt stuck to the roof of his mouth. He was in his room, in his shared apartment with Al and―

He rushed out of bed, pajamas shifting with each movement as he opened the door and made his way to Wade's room. One sniff indicated the old lady Al was in the kitchen doing cocaine. Logan wouldn't even dare get within five feet of that.

Wade was in bed, one foot up on the pillows and his head dangling off the other side. Motherfucker was snoring with his mouth open. The sheets were all messed up. Their new dog was lounging on one pillow that had fallen to the floor at some point, and raised her head at Logan's arrival.

Dropping to one knee, he opened a palm, and Mary Puppins made her way towards him. Though Logan still struggled to breathe properly, he found himself chuckling as he petted the hairless dog behind the ears. He left the door open behind him so she could go out.

Then, putting out his claws, Logan climbed into bed and stabbed Wade in the chest.

Wade choked on his spit as he woke up, and when he recognized him, started laughing. Laughing. "Are those adamantium claws or are you just happy to see me?"

Logan withdrew one fist to stab him again. Wade lazily lifted a hand to block his claws, yawning as the adamantium pierced through flesh and drew blood. "What time is it?"

Wade delivered a half-hearted upper cut into Logan's jaw that sent him crashing out of bed. Althea distantly scolded them to be quiet. Logan snarled, the sound more animal than human.

"What's the matter, peanut? Is the moon high in the sky tonight?" Wade cocked his head to the side. "Come on, use your words like a good boy."

He couldn't. Wade needed to understand that. The two of them understood each other, and that wasn't going to stop now. It couldn't. Logan lunged for Wade's right shoulder, watching his claws bury itself into joint and tendon before the world slipped out from under him.

Wade had given Logan his shoulder, but also judo flipped him in the process. He had pinned him to the bed, hand around his neck, and his legs squirming under Wade's weight. "Oh, this is familiar. Give us a smile, sweetie?" spots of Wade's blood dropped on Logan's face.

Logan managed to let out a choked gasp. In a heartbeat, the grip around his neck went away. Breathing became easier. The longer he stayed with Wade, breathing in and out was something he could do again.

Get away from me!

"No? You don't want to talk? That's fine." Wade swung a punch, and Logan welcomed the flash of white that stunned him for a moment. Something warm and smelling of metal dripped from his nose―blood. Only the real Wade could do that. "Man, we should have taken the radio off that Honda, huh? Maybe some tinkering, and it could be as good as new!"

He took four more punches before he put his fist under Wade's chin and released his claws. The tips of the adamantium emerged on the other side of Wade's head.

"Oh, so that's how you taste." When Wade opened his mouth, the claws are visible inside his throat. He smacked his lips thoughtfully, "With hints of my blood and tissue samples. Needs more salt."

Logan managed to plant both feet on Wade's torso, and kicked him off of bed. Wade crashed into a half-built dresser, groaning.

"Keep it the fuck down, will you!?" Al's voice was muffled, with no true concern in it. Wade yelled out an apology in response.

"Now, Logan. I'm sure we can talk about this like two reasonable, sane men." A flash of steel as Wade fished out a knife from under the floorboards. Before he finished his sentence, he lobbed it in an arc. Logan lazily lifted his claws to block the blade, listening to it fall to the floor.

Wade huffed, standing at his full height. "Talk dirty to me, Mustard. What's wrong?"

Logan's brows furrowed. His claws retracted, and he gestured for Wade to come to him.

Stumbling through the splintered pieces of the dresser, Wade hopped into bed, wrapping an arm around Logan's waist and nuzzling into his neck. Logan cringed, if only to keep up the appearance that he didn't enjoy it. After a while, his other arm snaked under Wade's shoulder, begrudgingly pulling him close. Wade said nothing.

"Wade..." Logan managed. Wade, what? Are you real? Are you the same son of a bitch that took me from my original universe? Did all that shit with the TVA and the Void actually happen? I had a nightmare about you? I had to make sure you were okay?

"Yeah...?" Wade said light-heartedly. "That is my name...?"

"Motherfucker." chuckled Logan, and Wade started giggling.

They let the comfortable silence settle. Then, Logan muttered. "Do I hurt you?"

He felt the muscles in Wade's face shift as he scowled. "What? Of course. What kind of stupid fucking question is that?"

Something inside his chest that felt suspiciously like his heart started to cave in on itself. As if he heard it, which he might actually have, Wade lifted his head and studied Logan's face. "Logan. Hey, eyes on me, bestie."

Logan looked at him. An open mind and an utterly powerful person was staring back at him. "Nightmare?" Wade asked.

He clenched his jaw. And nodded once.

Wade sighed through his nose, shifting positions in bed. "I fucking knew it. That defaults you to little spoon. Come on."

But Logan refused to release him, so they ended up with Wade's hands in Logan's hair, and their legs tangled around each other. When there was nothing but Wade's heartbeat and breathing pattern and a scent that smelled faintly of drugs, Logan murmured into his skin. "It was about you."

And Wade was correct in guessing that Logan had killed him, in his dream. Regenerative healing factor was a bitch of an ability to have, and when Logan attacked him to wake him up, that was him double checking to make sure Wade was still himself.

Then―"Did I have clothes on? Did you have clothes on?" A dramatic gasp. "Did you just admit you had a wet dream about me? Peanut..."

Logan released an exhausted breath, and Wade went quiet. Softer, he says, "I can take it. I've been taking it, Logan. Don't you fucking start being a coward now. Not after everything."

Real. He was real, and he was... "Is this your universe?"

"Our universe, motherfucker. Remember, the wiki page said you became the new anchor being here because of your selfless sacrifice? Well, is it counted as a sacrifice if you didn't go through with it, if we did it together? Hey, OP," Wade looked straight at me. "Fact check that for me, will ya? Thanks. Anyway."

Wade massaged Logan's scalp gently. "Don't talk if you don't wanna. Let's just sleep this off, peanut. But just so we're clear, if you ever wanna stick it in me while I'm in Planet Drool, do it. You have my consent."

"Shut the fuck up, Wade." Logan muttered, nuzzling deeper into Wade's neck.

A giggle. Wade started kissing and pecking Logan's hair, using his baby voice. "It must have been a vewy bad dweam that it bothered wittle Wolvie so much. Bad nightmare." Another peck on his head.

Resisting the purr that bubbled in the back of his throat, Logan held onto Wade tighter and let out another breath. In. Out. In. Out. Eventually, they both fell asleep.

It had been three in the morning.

I'm cooking (my first deadclaws oneshot)

[agentwhiskeysdarlin]

To Serve the King

Pairing: Aleksander Kirigan (The Darkling) x Fem!Reader

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: smutty smut times, semi public sex, oral (male receiving), unprotected sex (wrap it up), and well I think General Kirigan comes with his own warning

Word Count: 1,275

Summary: Reader sets out to help her new king relax and he is surprised at what he discovers when she does which leads to some steamy fun on his throne.

Author’s Notes: Well the picture above was posted and right after this idea came to mind. I was kind of glad that something I didn't have to follow any canon for came about first for this man. I am absolutely in love with him (are we surprised?) and I want to write more for him but I just finished the show yesterday and I am only on book two so far. I really hope everyone enjoys this because I enjoyed writing it a lot. Thanks as always to @clint-aww-no-barton​ for being my unofficial/official editor. Feedback is always welcome just don't be mean. If anyone that I put on this taglist want to be removed I will understand! I just went ahead and tagged anyone who I tagged with the Billy fic since its another Ben character. Enjoy!

ao3 link for story 

  He had won. His whole plan had fell into place and now he ruled. You had never left his side, no matter how hard your conscience berated you. You loved him and nothing would ever change that. Unfortunately for the both of you, being on top was not all either of you thought it would be. Having heard his latest meeting with the council had not gone well, you set out with a surprise to try and cheer him up and ease his stress.

You peered around the corner to make sure the throne room was empty. Your whole walk was spent praying to the Saints that no one would catch on to what you were hiding. He still sat in his throne, stress radiating off him, one hand over his face as he rubbed at his temple trying to find some relief. You could tell from your spot by the door that he was tense and it only made you smirk. You padded bare footed across the floor slowly never taking your eyes off him. One of his keftas was wrapped around your figure and you had to bunch it up in your hands on each side to keep from dirtying the precious fabric. 

  Finally he looked up and his eyes widened slightly at the sight in front of him. You only gave him a smile as you walked up the stairs. He moved so both feet were planted on the ground and you kept going until you were crawled up into his lap. A corner of his mouth lifted as a finger came up to brush a piece of your hair behind your ear.

“Well hello there. Who knew that kefta would look so ravishing on you. May have to get them to make you a matching one,” his eyes traced over you.

  “Well thank you,” you spoke softly, seductively.

  Your hands went around his neck and you began to play lightly with the hair at the nape of his neck before you finally brought your lips against his firmly. He let out a sigh, his body relaxing slightly and you scooted forward not leaving much room between you. His hands began to wander as he took you over, his tongue sliding into your mouth to assert his usual dominance and you surrendered knowing better than to resist. Finally his hands slid under the kefta before his movements suddenly stopped dead. His lips slowly fell from yours and he looked at you with shock and amusement.

  “Well my love I was not expecting to find nothing under my kefta,” he almost growled the last words and you smiled proudly.

  “I want to help you relax after such a horrid meeting,” you kept playing with his hair.

Without warning he reached forward and tore the kefta open and you jumped letting out a shocked little yelp. His tongue darting out to lick his lips as he took in your exposed form.

  “You came to serve your King? Then get to it,” he demanded with a curl of his lip, his eyes darkening to the point they almost matched the blackness that surrounded him.

  “Yes Sir,” you spoke the words submissively before crawling off his lap.

  You shrugged the kefta fully off and stepped out of it, before working to get his hardening cock out, dropping to your knees between his legs. You pumped a few times with your hand looking up at him to see his reaction. His hand reached out and laced in your hair before pulling slightly.

  “Come on my love don’t tease your King.”

  You were quick to take him into your mouth. Your hand taking care of what you couldn’t reach as you hollowed out your cheeks and sucked. Your tongue traced over his cock trying to make him feel as good as possible. You started to pull delicious noises from him as you sped up while gazing up at him through your lashes. Never once did you let up until he was pulling you away. You gave him a questioning look.

  “I need you wrapped around me my love,” he pulled you up to him and crashed his lips back to yours.

  His lips trailed across your cheek, to your chin, down your neck and leaving kisses in his wake over every last bit of skin he could reach. You closed your eyes just feeling him before he lifted you again so he could better slide into you. You let out another yelp and a giggle at the movement, before the feel of him deep inside pulled a moan from you. It never mattered how many times the two of you came together, he always filled you so perfectly, like the two of you were made for each other. You perched there for a second taking in the feeling.

  “Move.”

  You did as you were ordered and started to bounce on his cock. His hands took ahold of your hips roughly, sure to leave bruises. The sound of your moans and his name falling from your mouth echoed around you and you couldn’t care less if someone came to check. He tilted his head forward and pulled a nipple into his mouth sucking harshly and your hand flew into his hair, your hips faltering slightly. His grip tightened to hold you still while he adjusted slightly, before he started to drive his cock up into you. The noises that came from your mouth were some you had never heard come from yourself. He had never fucked you like this but Saints it was amazing.

  “I’m close,” you whimpered out.

  He reached down skillfully keeping hold of you with one arm and started to circle your clit before you came apart in his arms. Your body trembled and your head flew back in full ecstasy. He was soon to follow and with one last hard thrust as deep as he could go he emptied inside of you letting out a growl. The both of you panted and relaxed into one another for a few moments. Your forehead had fallen to his shoulder as you caught your breath and your wits. He finally lifted your head up gently, his hand on the back of your neck.

  “Thank you for this my love. It truly helped,” he gave you a soft smile before kissing you gently.

  “Of course. I have to keep my King relaxed,” you smirked.

  He pulled out of you and tucked himself back in his pants before standing. He placed you on the ground carefully making sure your knees would hold before he reached down to get the discarded kefta. He wrapped it around your shoulders before his hands came to your cheeks and he gave you one last kiss.

  “Your majesty,” Ivan suddenly called out and the two of you turned.

  “Yes Ivan?”

  “I apologize for um…intruding but we need you in the map room,” Ivan cleared his throat, his face turning so red it matched his kefta.

  “I’ll be there as soon as I escort my Queen back to our chambers.”

  “Yes sir.”

  With that Ivan left and as soon as the door closed the both burst out laughing. It was a rare sound coming from him but you were so happy you got to hear it.

  “I better go before he combusts.”

  “You go on I can get myself back to our room.”

  “You better be naked and waited for me when I get in there. I’m not done with you yet.”

  He pulled you to him again kissing you deeply. The two of you could never get enough of each other.

  “Yes my king.”

Taglist:  @all-art-is-quite-useless​ @whatevermonkey​ @whichdirection​ @pascalisthepunkest​ @all-hallows-evie​ @artsymaddie​ @vvpoisonous​ @not-too-tall-for-trick​ @audreyshepbvrn​ @noushbitesback​

[evilwriter37]

Trust Yourself

Rated: mature

Warnings: discussion of rape

Pairings: Dagur/Hiccup

Word Count: 1,135

Summary: Dagur and Hiccup are having their first go at consensual noncon, and Dagur stops before it can go anywhere, thinking he could hurt Hiccup.

A/N: Idea provided by @knowerofuselessfacts that one time he stole my brain cell.

Ao3 Link

Dagur laughed as he finished tying the ropes around Hiccup’s squirming body. Hiccup stopped struggling, panting. The struggle was all a ruse though, and Dagur knew that, but he was still excited by this.

It had been Hiccup's idea to act out a scene of Dagur taking him by force. Apparently, Hiccup fantasized about that, and wanted it in a way that would be safe. Now that they were friends, allies, and lovers, it could work.

Dagur took Hiccup by the hair, (he really did have great hair for pulling), pulled him off the bed, and shoved him onto his knees in front of him. Hiccup was beautiful to look at like this, naked, acting like he was subjugated, on his knees before him. This was what Dagur wanted.

He reached for his belt. This was what Dagur had always wanted.

He dropped his belt, but the action was not one of lust and seduction. It was one of fear. He recoiled, stumbling back. Hiccup looked up, at first thinking it was part of the act, but then worry entered his eyes.

"Dagur? Dagur, what is it?" He stood, came near Dagur, even with his hands bound behind his back with rope that wrapped around his abdomen.

"No, Hiccup, don't come near me!" Dagur cried. He fell to the floor, put a hand over his face.

What he'd always wanted. That wasn't a lie, was it? Dagur had wanted this from Hiccup when Hiccup hadn't, when they'd been enemies. Dagur had wanted to... had wanted to rape him.

"Why?" Hiccup asked. "Dagur, you have to tell me what's wrong." He was trying to get out of the ropes, and Dagur didn't trust himself to go near him and cut them off or untie them.

Dagur felt like crying. He'd wanted to do this to Hiccup without his consent. He'd wanted him so badly that his consent hadn't mattered to him. It mattered now though. That's what was important, right?

And yet he hated himself. He hated himself in this specific scenario. What if it became real? What if Hiccup told him to stop and he couldn't? It wasn't like this was the first time they'd ever had sex, but still. What if it was too close to what he'd wanted that he would make it that way? What if he hurt him?

"Hiccup, I don't want to hurt you," Dagur said quietly, still not looking at him. He pulled his knees up to his chest.

"But... you weren't going to hurt me," Hiccup said, sounding confused. "It's fake. It's all fake. You know that, right?"

Dagur looked up at Hiccup, absolutely stricken. "I-I do. But... There's a problem." He didn't know how to explain this to him.

"Could you untie me and explain?" Hiccup asked.

Dagur didn't want to come near him. What if he lost control? But Hiccup was trusting him. That's what was in his eyes: trust.

He nodded, forced himself to stand, and went behind Hiccup to begin untying the rope. Now wasn't the right time for this, apparently. He didn't know if there would be a right time to do this.

Hiccup rubbed at his wrists once the rope came off of him, then went and retrieved his clothes. He didn't seem that disappointed that this wasn't working out. He seemed more concerned about Dagur than anything else. He was touched by that.

"Okay, so, what is it?" Hiccup asked, sitting on the bed. Dagur just stood a few feet away, still not trusting himself to go near him.

"I... I don't know how to explain," Dagur told him.

"Why don't you come sit?" Hiccup asked. He patted the spot next to him.

"No, no. It's safer if I stay over here."

Hiccup tilted his head at him, clearly not understanding. "What do you mean?"

"Hiccup, I... I wanted to do that to you!" Dagur cried, throwing up his hands. "I wanted to... I wanted to have you without your consent all those years ago, and when I escaped from prison. I wanted you, and there was nothing you were going to do that would stop me."

Hiccup didn't look shocked by this. Not at all.

"Dagur, you weren't being subtle," Hiccup told him, standing. "I knew that already."

"And yet you still... you still wanted to act it out consensually?" Dagur questioned. "Why?"

"Because it's something I used to be afraid of from you," Hiccup said. "Because it's some fantasy that I wanted. It's a ridiculous fantasy, of course, and I was so ashamed by it, but I thought... well, I thought you could help with that." He was looking down at the floor now, rubbing his prosthetic over the wooden boards, face red.

"So you knew the whole time that I wanted to...?" Dagur couldn't finish.

"Yes."

"And there was a part of you that wanted it?"

Hiccup just nodded, looking ashamed.

"Hiccup, that's nothing to be ashamed of," Dagur said.

"Then why are you so scared? You're not going to hurt me, Dagur." He was looking at him now, his green eyes endearing.

"But what if I did?" Dagur took a step back as Hiccup took one forward. "What if you asked me to stop and I couldn't, because you were tied up all nice for me like how I wanted you before?"

Hiccup strode over so fast that Dagur couldn't step back. He took him by his upper arms. "Look, Dagur, it's okay. It's all okay. I trust you. I know you're not going to hurt me. It's time for you to trust yourself."

Dagur almost fought his way out of Hiccup's grip, but that thing about having to trust himself stopped him. Hiccup was right, wasn't he? Hiccup trusted him. He trusted him so much. So maybe it was time for him to trust himself. He wasn't going to lose it from seeing Hiccup tied up for him. He wasn't going to lose it because they were acting out something non consensual. It was fake. He'd never hurt Hiccup, and he knew that. He knew that in his soul.

"You're right," Dagur said with a sigh. He put his hand to his own chest. "I know I would never hurt you, Hiccup."

"And I know that too." Hiccup leaned in close. Their foreheads touched. "So, are you going to be okay?"

"I think so," Dagur breathed. His eyes flitted to Hiccup's pretty lips. Hiccup noticed, smiled, then tilted his head so they could kiss. Their noses brushed together and their lips met.

It was the best kiss Dagur had ever had. It was so full of trust, compassion, love. Dagur tried to return those feelings the best he could, because it was truly what he felt. He trusted Hiccup. Now, he just had to trust himself.

[mimisempai]

It's never too late to love 3

Summary:

Thor finds Mobius, will he persuade him to come with him to see Loki? We learn more on Mobius' story before the TVA. Will Loki listen to the truth from Frigga's mouth?

Notes:

I remind, to avoid confusion, that for the main story, it is Classic Loki and Mobius, which is not our Mobius. According to one of the theories of the fandom, that there are several timelines and therefore several TVA.

On AO3

Main post Thank you @rins-love-wins for all the amazing fanarts <3

Once out of the TVA, Thor pointed his hammer to the sky and called Heimdall who teleported him to Asgard.

After arriving in the realm, Thor ran along the Rainbow Bridge before diving straight into the lake.

When he reached the shore, he sighed with relief when he saw the figure of Mobius below the thousand-year-old willow tree planted at the water's edge.

His friend was kneeling on the ground in front of the willow.

It was obvious that he would be there.

Loki's favorite place on Asgard.

Mobius was doing what Thor had seen him do hundreds of times since Frigga had shown him the place twenty years ago.

He was stroking the letters of Loki's name that had been carved by his brother's innocent hand so long ago into the willow wood.

His heart sank as he saw the lonely figure of his friend.

A friend who was as dear to him as his own family.

Since that day Mobius had told Thor and Frigga his story.

Asgard - Twenty years ago

Mobius gasped, "I... I knew him, I knew Loki! We were happy!  I... I remember everything! Everything!" 

"Mother... What is he saying? I don't understand."  

His mother shook her head, "That's for Mobius to talk about, all I can tell you is that we can trust him completely." 

Thor looked at her confused and turned to Mobius who continued to cry, muttering nonsensical things, "I knew him... all those books... and my Mr. Rochester... Loki... we loved each other... why..." 

Frigga rushed to her knees in front of him and took his hands, "Mobius, vedden, you need to calm down, you need to give your mind time to reintegrate all these memories. I know it's hard, but it will be easier if you can calm down." 

As Mobius continued to mutter things that made no sense to them, Frigga helped him to lie down, and kneeling beside him took his hand and put her hand on his forehead, murmuring an incantation to calm him, repeating it over and over until he fell asleep. 

When the murmurs finally died down and Mobius fell asleep, Frigga let go of him and got up, dragging Thor, who had stayed there, out of the room. 

As soon as she came out, Frigga hugged her son and whispered, with a trembling voice, "Oh Thor, if what I have seen in Mobius' memory is true... if what I have understood from Mobius' words is true... then it is terrible. So... so sad. We really need to find Loki. Not only for him, but also for Mobius. Promise me." 

Thor didn't understand, but he had absolute trust in his mother so he replied, "We will. For them." 

Asgard - Nowadays

When he was close enough, Thor called softly, "Mobius."

Mobius looked up at him and exclaimed, "Thor, what are you doing here? You should be with Loki!"

Thor went to kneel down next to him and put his hand on Mobius' which was still resting on Loki's name carved into the wood before saying softly, "In the same way you should be there too."

Mobius shook his head, "You didn't see the disgust he had when he realized who I was. He... he only remembers Mobius from the TVA. He... he forgot all about m..."

He couldn't continue because his throat was too tight with emotion.

"Mobius... give him time, I'm sure mother will explain it to him and in the end everything will make sense. What I know and mother too, is that you must not be alone. We won't leave you alone. Do you know what mother said the day you got your memory back?"

Mobius shook his head and Thor continued, "We really need to find Loki. For him and for Mobius."

Mobius' eyes widened in surprise, "F-for me?! But... why?"

Thor looked at him tenderly, "Mobius, from the day Mother learned the truth of your connection to Loki, you were no longer a stranger, or a friend, or an acquaintance, you were recognized as a full member of this family. I know that even after twenty years you refuse to accept it, because you think you have no right to, but today, do you realize that you have fulfilled your oath. You've given us Loki back."

He put his hands on Mobius' shoulders and said fervently, "You and Loki were torn apart by a cruel fate, don't let those who did this to you win. You managed to fight for twenty years, don't give up now."

Mobius bowed his head and whispered, "I'm scared. I don’t want to be alone anymore."

Thor held him close, almost taking his breath away with the force of his embrace, "But you are not alone, mother and I will be with you, even in the event... but let's not think the worst now. Just know that we will never leave you alone."

Mobius tightened his arms around Thor as much as he could and whispered, "Okay... okay, I'll come with you."

Thor let go of him and watched him run his hand over the carved letters one last time before standing up.

Thor caught himself dreaming of the moment when he would see the reunited figures of his brother and Mobius in that place.

He hoped with all his heart that it would be in the near future

Asgard - Twenty years ago

"Loki's favorite place here is under an old willow tree by the lake isn't it?" 

Thor and Frigga were eating breakfast and turned together to Mobius who had just entered. 

Frigga stood up and came to support him, "Mobius! You need to take it easy." 

She helped him sit at the table with them, poured him a cup of tea and garnished a plate and pushed it in front of him. 

Mobius repeated, "This was his favorite place, wasn't it?" 

Frigga nodded and Thor asked, "How would you know?" 

Mobius replied softly, "He promised to take me there one day. He... he often told fondly that it was in this place that you taught him magic." 

Frigga, with tears in her eyes, whispered, "It's true." 

Thor shook his head and asked incredulously, "But... how...?" 

Mobius took a sip of tea and explained, "I don't know what the time is on Asgard, what year, but for me, my story is set in the late 1800s on Midgard as you call it. I was a bookseller and owner of a small bookshop in London, a city in England. I had a cat, called Mr. Rochester, I had some friends, but no family as I was an orphan. I lived a quiet and rather lonely life until one day, Loki came into my little shop." 

Frigga interrupted, "Is this a vision we shared?" 

Mobius nodded and took a sip of tea before resuming his tale. 

"Imagine my surprise when I heard the doorbell of my store ring and found myself with my arms full of books in front of an elegant and distinguished man. He wasn't the kind of customer that my humble little store welcomed. Then, when I asked him how I could help him, he said, 'I don't know what I'm looking for yet, but I think you can help me.' I asked him what kind of author he was looking for and we talked about literature. Later, Loki noticed my chess board and challenged me to beat him. As you can imagine, I lost. Although I didn't know I was dealing with the god of mischief that day." 

Mobius, although generally saddened by the memories of that lost past, could not help but smile fondly as he thought back to that day.  

"That's how our first meeting went. It was the first of many encounters that spanned over a year." 

Thor and Frigga, amazed, had thus learned that Loki and Mobius had become friends and then lovers. That they loved each other deeply and made plans for the future. Loki had told him about these incredible things such as the realms, Asgard and the Bifrost. He told Mobius that he was a prince and Mobius had refused to believe him until the day when Loki had used his magic in front of him.  

Then Mobius told them that one day Loki had gone away and had promised him that he would come back with a surprise three days later. He had even arranged to meet him in Mobius' store at a specific time, making him promise to be there. 

But Mobius' memory only went as far as the day after Loki left and then continued on to the TVA. 

"I still remember men in black,  hunters as we called them at the TVA, telling me they had to take me away because my presence might change the course of fate." 

After his story, Mobius took another large sip of tea and continued a little lower, "When I think that I worked all those years for the people who took everything from me, that I helped them do the same thing to so many other people. How…how could I ? How do I live with that?" 

It was Thor this time who intervened and put his large hand on Mobius' shoulder, "You realize you're a victim, right? Just as much as the others." 

"Yes, but I ran away! I left them all there!" 

Thor said to him gently, "Mobius, unlike me, you seem to be a rational person. So tell me what would have happened if you had stayed to help the others." 

Mobius stated reluctantly, "They would have captured me and I would have had my memory wiped." 

Thor nodded knowingly, "Exactly, instead you came here, knowing exactly what you were risking." 

Mobius became angry again, "And while they are all blinded, while people are arbitrarily exiled to who knows where, I take the time to rest here, when I should... you should have no sympathy for me." 

Frigga, seeing that he was becoming agitated, intervened, "Mobius, you deserve this compassion. You may not accept it, but that won't stop us from giving it to you. As for what you should do, you need to heal first and then we can act accordingly. Not before." 

"We?"  

Thor, who still had his hand on Mobius' shoulder, shook him a little and replied, "Of course, we! You don't think I'm going to let you go into this alone? Loki is my brother." 

Mobius let go for a moment, just for a moment, he wanted to bask in the support that was offered to him. Just a little. 

TVA - Medical wing - Loki's room

Frigga arranged the sheets around Loki, wiped the sweat from his forehead, then resumed her seat in the chair next to his bed, taking his hand back in hers.

"Mother..."

Loki opened his eyes and repeated with a slight smile on his lips, "Mother, you're here... it really wasn't a dream then?"

"No my son." said Frigga tenderly before pressing a lingering kiss to his forehead.

"Where... where is Thor?" asked Loki.

Frigga replied, "He went to look for someone who should be here. He should be back soon."

Loki seemed to realize something, "I... I don't know if I dreamed this part or not, but... it seems to me that you hugged this... this agent, this Mobius. Mother, you have to know that he's the one responsible for what happened to me, it's because of him that I-"

Frigga put a finger over his mouth and said softly, "I know that, my son, calm down. There are so many things you don't know. I am going to tell you a story and you will have to listen to me until the end. I'm going to tell you the story of a man whose courage and strength of character was equivalent to that of a god. The story of a man who has been working tirelessly for twenty years to make up for what he believes to be his mistakes, who has carried a relentless guilt for all that time. The story of a man who has spent the last twenty years looking for you. The story of a man who has put your life before his own all these years."

Asgard - A few days ago

Mobius, leaning against the thousand-year-old willow tree, heard the light footsteps behind him and turned around. 

Seeing that it was Frigga, he bowed and said with respect, "My queen." 

Two slender hands came to rest on his shoulders and made him sit up straight as Frigga said in a wistful voice, "Mobius, you have traveled the universes for nearly twenty years with Thor to seek out Loki, my son, you are at home here, you have your own retinue, you are recognized by all the people of Asgard, you even became a lord of Asgard. I consider you to be my son in the same way as Thor and Loki, will you never call me mother or at least Frigga?" 

Mobius grabbed the queen's hands and, holding them in his, he replied, his throat tight, "Although in my heart I consider you as such, I have no right to do so until I have returned your other son." 

He let go of the queen's hands and walked to the water's edge under Frigga's saddened gaze. 

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Lord Mobius! Messengers have just arrived in the throne room! They say they are from another universe!" 

Seeing that the Queen and Mobius did not react immediately, the young servant, breathless, continued, "That's... that's strange… One looks like you." the maid pointed to Mobius continued, "And the other like his highness, the Prince Loki." 

TVA - Medical wing - Loki's room

Frigga continued, "I'll start at the very beginning and tell you the story of Mobius, a humble bookseller who lived on Midgard in 1890 of their time, and whose fate crossed that of a god."

Mobius in Asgard under the willow tree - Loki's favorite place by @rins-love-wins

Hand of Mobius following the name of Loki engraved on the willow by @rins-love-wins

[lookforthefuture49]

Yo!

I got a fanfiction, finally. I don't expect it to be read much here, but here are the links to fanfiction.net and Ao3 pages for it respectively:

Ao3

Fanfiction.net

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13947355/1/Universal-Wars-aren-t-fun

Ok now I can paste it.

Enjoy <3

[Note: this story is only to be on Archive of Our Own/Fanfiction.net under the username DoubleKKookie and on Tumblr under the username Retrooutlaw. IF YOU SEE IT ANYWHERE ELSE, PLEASE SHOOT ME A PM! This is also kinda meant for funsies, obviously.]

Note note: half created by AI Dungeon. Yay for Ai Generated fanfiction lol

[Universal wars aren't fun//1//Battlegrounds]

Izuku's hair ruffled in the wind, the view of a crumbling city crossing his vision. It was odd, how one minute the world was peaceful, and the next an inter-dimensional war decided to happen. During this war of many universes, most of his world was ravaged. Izuku figured he would probably be safe, at least for now. His world might be a battleground, but he wasn't in the midst of the fight. He wouldn't hurt people from other worlds just because some of their worst villains wanted to attack other places. In fact, Izuku just wanted an excuse to help these new people, to stop their worlds from being ruined too. His plan was to travel between the worlds.

Except, all he got was a dazed sense of incompleteness as the world around him seemed to flicker. For a moment, it seemed as if he were home again visiting his mother over a break, excited to see what his friends did. He could feel a couple of tears form, but of happiness, of joy. However, just as quickly as this flicker came, it left, and he came to the realization he was just remembering the past, that he was still alone in the forest, and that seemed to worsen his sad state.

Izuku turned and took a few steps. He had to get moving, and he had to get moving now. He didn't quite know where he was going, but he knew it was far from his home. All he knew was that he had to keep moving, and find a new reason to fight. So, Izuku decided to just keep walking. He made his way through the forest, dodging branches and occasional bokoblins.

Bokoblins were odd, as he'd never seen them before the inter-universal war began. They hadn't even kinda existed in his world, but now he felt like he was fending the creatures off every other step. He never attacked them, but it seemed like he was constantly running from them, even if they were obviously weak.

This rural area he'd found himself in looked to be nearly untouched by the war. Still, there was this odd sense of unease, and Izuku felt like he was being watched. Like he was being watched every step of the way.

Fearful of this feeling of a watchful eye burning a hole into his back, he began to speed up, getting to the point of running. Running as far as he could, as fast as he could.

The more he ran, the faster he felt himself becoming. He couldn't tell what time of day it was, but he knew that it had to be night.

He ran for what felt like an eternity before stopping, legs buckling under him

He fell to the ground, trying not to cry out. He stood back up, deciding if he was going to be upset about a stupid war, he was gonna do it where it was safe, so he stumbled away from the wide open area he was in, and eventually found a flat-topped building, which he entered before reaching the roof and staring out at the more rural area he had found himself in. What modern building were there, such as this one, were overrun with vines and ivy.

He sat down on the roof and wrapped his arms around his knees, finally letting everything soak in. This situation was garbage. He'd been left behind by the civilians who escaped, he had no idea where his friends were, and he had no way of contacting any heroes or any of his peers to come to his aid.

Izuku didn't want to think about the possibility that they were all dead, but looking at the modern buildings being overtaken like this one, he couldn't help but think such a thing. If the entire town was this destroyed, how on earth could THEY be ok?

He didn't understand how something so bad could happen. How the world could ever go back to normal after what was happening right now, Izuku didn't know. But, all he could do now was try to help, and help he would. The moment he saw a portal open, it was his door to purpose, to other people, whoever they were.

He didn't care what world he stepped into. He didn't care if he died, he just wanted to make a difference. It was no longer about this world, about him, or any of the pro-heroes he once loved. Now, if it meant death, he'd stop this war. He decided right then and there he'd do it for his friends, for his family, for All Might, and for whoever he met on the other side of the portal he was adamant on finding.

He wouldn't fail. Lifting his arms from his legs, he rested his face against his knees and took a deep breath. He lifted his head up, staring to the sky.

"I promise, I'll save everyone. No matter what."

...

Izuku sat on that roof for several more minutes before deciding to resume his search. He stood up, left the roof, and began to walk again- until he heard something. Multiple people, a fair distance away behind him. Judging from what he was hearing of the conversation, they hadn't noticed him yet, and were rather focused on someone who sounded distressed and wanted to get away from them. He hid behind the building as the group of people came into sight, listening into their conversation closely.

"LET ME GO!" He heard peirce the air, and when he could see the group, he noted the man who yelled it was being dragged by the arms by two other people, and this man also looked.. unexplainably odd. His appearance didn't matter now, though. What was important was the predicament he was in.

"Would you just put me down already!?" He snapped again.

His supposed captors looked even angrier than they had initially.

"Our leader says that's not allowed, bucko." One of the two people holding him said. His voice was gruff and southern.

He had a goatee and his hair was slicked back. The other one was female, model-esque.

She had long, curly blonde hair, calm blue eyes and slick red lipstick, which was weird for someone to be wearing in this kind of situation.

"Our orders are very clear. Boss wants you."

"I DON'T KNOW WHO YOUR STUPID BOSS IS BUT I CAN ASSURE YOU-"

The southern-sounding captor pulled a lighter from his pocket, and with it lit, rammed it into the torso of the man. He let out a blood-curdling scream and then didn't say another word afterwards. he, nor his clothes, had caught on fire, oddly enough. The southern guy snarled at the man. Izuku wasn't entirely sure who was good or bad in this situation, but he was irked by the entire scene. The only hard part was deciphering if the one who was captured by these two was good or bad, as saving a villain in the midst of a crazy war would be pretty counter-productive. From the way this man's captors were talking, however, he figured he was either a hero like him, or just in the moral gray trying to stay out of things.

Taking a risk, he stepped out from the shadows...

"Stop!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. They turned to look at him, and their eyes went wide.

He pointed at the man. "You two! Release him right now!"

"What do you think you're doing?" The southern one hissed angrily. "This is none of your business, kid! Go back to where you came from!"

His eyes flicked to the man, who seemed to be either knocked out or unresponsive, as he hadn't even twitched when Izuku shouted in his general direction.

"I don't care! He's being mistreated! I won't stand for it!"

The model (At least, Izuku assumed she was a model) whisper-hissed something at her comrade, who just scowled and shook his head. The two started arguing in hushed voices, as the man they dragged here was now beginning to stir.

When he did open his eyes, fear was clear in them immediately, probably thinking the glare Izuku was directing at his enemies was for him. He calmed after a moment, however. The pair seemed bugged but opted to leave without the man now that they'd been found by someone else. (Maybe that's what they were arguing about) They dropped the man harshly, although he didn't seem to be bothered by this at all. He seemed more bothered by the burn mark just below his chest, which, while small, seemed to be quite painful. It was hard for Izuku to gauge what the man was feeling, though, since he looked dead. Not just figuratively, but quite literally rotten and dead. It was strange, but Izuku decided not to question it, for that wouldn't help either of their situations. He instead walked up to the man, hoping to maybe initiate a conversation.

"Hey, um..." Izuku wasn't really sure what to say to him. He didn't know his name, for one.

The other was that he looked like he'd been through hell and back. He had a multitude of scars, both old and new, on his face and body. They were either dark purple, black, or was a hole, which revealed an empty vessel underneath. In fact, his entire complexion was purple, which struck Izuku as off. Any normal person, quirk or not, definitely was not supposed to be dead and purple.

"Are you alright?" Izuku decided to start with. Simple enough.

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine." (That comment definitely didn't pan out, but Izuku didn't know his life. Maybe this was normal.) Izuku noted a prominent British accent, one he hadn't noticed while the man was shouting angrily, which was odd, because he probably should have. Taking a closer look at him, the strange man was thin, mangy, and also lacked hair. His pupils were glowing, which also really was strange, and the whites of his eyes were now, instead, pitch black. It was somewhat unsettling, but Izuku tried not to think much of it.

"What was all that about?"

"Frankly, I dunno. One minute everything was normal and I was sitting at home, and the next those two were dragging me along to their 'boss'." He replied.

"I tried to get away, but it wasn't exactly easy. I kinda miss having muscles." He said this in a very nonchalant way, shrugging. Evidently, this man was missing vital body parts, who knows how many, and he was acting like it was completely fine.

"I... see," Izuku said, though he wasn't sure what else to say.

"So, what about you, kid? What's your name?"

"Izuku. Call me Deku, please." He stuck out a hand.

"Michael." The other shook his hand, and Izuku noted that he felt no bones in his hand, like it wasn't solid. It was strange, completely empty. "Uhm, do you know what's been going on lately?"

Michael did not reply immediately. "I dunno, something about some war? It didn't seem to pertain to me until I was dragged into a different world entirely, but feel free to explain."

"All I'm really sure of right now is that there is an Inter-Universal War going on right now, and I want it to end. Mostly because it's left my home a wreck, and I don't want that to happen to anybody else's."

Michael nodded in understanding.

"I can appreciate your feelings on the matter."

...

"How long have you been here?"

"Probably only a little over 2 hours."

Izuku had given Michael the choice to stick with him or go off on his own, and, not knowing what else to do, he agreed. Now they walked aimlessly as Izuku tried to explain a bit about what his world used to be like, and just make small talk. Izuku had decided the moment Michael agreed to tag along that he would not question his purple complexion or the lack of internal structure. It seemed like it might be rude, or bring back bad memories if he said the wrong thing, and he didn't want to cause that.

"I see."

They continued in silence for about an hour, before Michael spoke up again.

"I think I prefer this place over my home, truth be told."

Izuku was a little surprised that he would say something so out of nowhere. "Why?" He asked.

"I could go on for days about the terrible things that happened there." Michael sighed. "I don't particularly like dwelling on the past, so I tried to block it out. But here, it's all right. Even the atmosphere feels less oppressive, even if it's obviously still chaotic here."

Izuku frowned. "That's a pretty deep feeling to come up with so suddenly.

"I've had plenty of time to think, and this is the only conclusion I've come to."

...

The night took a long time to come, and Izuku still could find no portals, nor salvation in another world. He would have to wait another day. The pair sat down, and Izuku found himself falling asleep quite quickly...

It seemed like only seconds had passed when he felt something pulling him back to reality. He opened his eyes, and saw that the sky was beginning to turn pink.

"Get up." Michael whispered.

Izuku squinted, kind of annoyed. "Why?" He whispered back.

"I hear a large group of people coming, and I don't want to risk anything."

"Alright." Izuku nodded.

He stood up, as quietly as he could, and stretched, yawning. He was about to head off when he heard the sounds of many feet marching nearby. They were getting closer every second. He halted said stretching, and opted to climb up a tree. Michael made an attempt to hide, slipping behind a tree, but he was pretty easy to spot if one simply looked a little.

Izuku looked down at the group of men, as they marched by. His only question was why they were marching along together like this, and here of all things. They almost looked like soldiers, marching along with random weapons in hand. They were of varying species, although Izuku did not pay mind to this. When they passed and were far enough, Izuku leaped down and gestured for Michael to follow him as they tailed the group to see where they were going.

"What is this?" He hissed. They were headed towards a large open area. The group marched on, keeping pace, until they were they were the size of ants in distance. Izuku looked out to the open, treeless plains ahead. It took a minute to click in his mind, and he realized as Michael caught up what the plains were.

They were in the midst of a battlefield.

That's a wrap :D

[pumpkinpie1111]

The Lost Being Found (Reggie x OC) Chapter 1 - Finally Free

The night Avalon Hayes meets Reggie Peters throws them both for a loop. Has she found someone that makes her feel the most seen in her whole life, that makes her realize that she does deserve love? Has he found someone that makes him feel like the most important, that gives him reason to believe that love isn’t doomed to fail?

I don't own Julie and the Phantoms, I just own the Hayes family and their storyline. This has been cross posted on my Ao3, wattpad, and fanfiction.net accounts all under doctorsgirl262. I have no beta, so we die like the boys ;)

I imagine Ava looking like Elle Fanning and Matt like Asher Angel.

Anway, without further ado, chapter 1:

“What do you think, Nana?” Ava asked, pulling a light pink dress with flowers on it that fell to her knees, holding it up to her body.

“It looks beautiful, Avalon. Maybe you’ll meet a cute boy tonight,” Peggy Hayes grinned, wiggling her eyebrows slightly as her granddaughter’s face grew red in indignation.

“Nana,” she whined.

“Or girl,” Peggy revised, grabbing Ava’s hairbrush from her side table and offering it to her. “Like I told you when you were younger, there are plenty of ghosts around to fall in love with.”

Ava shot her a half-hearted glare while taking the brush from her. “How were we supposed to know that you actually were seeing ghosts?”

“Well, you believe me now,” Peggy shrugged, ignoring her granddaughter’s look.

“I’m dead, Nana. Of course I believe you now,” she rolled her eyes, pinning two strands of hair to the back of her head before spinning around to show off the look.

“Beautiful,” Peggy smiled, silently wishing that she could take a picture of her granddaughter in all her beauty. “Now go before Matt messes with one of the performers.”

Ava’s happy smile quickly grew panicked, thinking about the last time her brother had been left alone with lots of musicians.

“Bye, Nana. Love you,” she tapped the table three times before poofing away from her bedroom.

She landed inside Eats & Beats, a local cafe where talent agents roamed around looking for their next up and coming star.

Her brother was nowhere in sight, which wasn’t a good thing, she thought to herself. She watched as a girl, dressed in all pink with a pink wig, walked in with an entourage of different colored girls, and groaned.

Ava had seen Carrie Wilson perform a handful of times at Eats & Beats, though typically, she had noticed, had been when someone around Carrie’s school performed there as well.

She had never been a fan of Dirty Candy, though she begrudgingly could admit that sometimes their songs weren’t so terrible.

She watched as Carrie went backstage, leaving her backup dancers to look around the cafe, none of them looked particularly happy to be there that late.

“Matthew Rhys Hayes!” she yelled, a little annoyed by the lack of her brother.

Had she been more attentive, she would have noticed three teenage boys whip their heads at her words, surprised to see someone yelling in the semi-quiet venue.

However, their shock was somewhat replaced with understanding as a taller lady walked through her, and the blonde girl didn’t seem to mind.

“Ava! I’ve been looking all over for you,” Matt exclaimed, panic clear as day as he ran towards her.

“Sure,” she nodded sarcastically, throwing her arm around his shoulder to rub at his hair.

“Aw, come on, sis. I didn’t do anything, you gotta believe me.”

She raised her eyebrows. “After last time? That poor guitarist ran out crying.”

“Scouts honor,” he said, raising his hand.

“You were never a scout, Matt.”

“I promise, I was just watching the previous band pack their things into their cars. They weren’t very gentle and I wanted to make sure the instruments would be okay.”

Ava’s face softened, grabbing his face and squeezing. “Aw, you’re so sweet. How was I blessed with such a caring brother?”

“Ava,” he groaned, but didn’t try fighting her. They both knew that he loved the attention she gave him.

“So, did I miss anyone good?” she asked, turning her attention towards the stage, watching as Dirty Candy walked backstage, excluding Carrie.

“No I-”

“Excuse me,” a voice tried to cut off Matt, but he continued talking. “The last band was the best so far, they played some covers of ‘Arctic Monkeys’.”

“Excuse me!” the voice said again, though this time Ava felt a hand go through her shoulder. She whipped around to see a teenage girl, maybe a little younger than she was, staring at her in shock.

“Oh my god,” the curly haired girl gasped. “Are you both ghosts?”

“Way to state the obvious,” Matt whispered, though grunted when Ava’s elbow flew into his waist.

“Wait, you look super familiar!” she exclaimed, taking a step closer to Ava and Matt for a closer look. She squinted, looking the two up and down.

“You… is Miss Peggy your grandma?”

“You know Nana?” Ava couldn’t help but ask, looking towards Matt unsure.

“I used to stop by her house when I was younger. My… my mom used to make cookies to take to her. But when my mom started getting sick, she stopped making them and I stopped going,” Julie trailed off, and a small frown grew on Ava’s face.

“I’m really sorry for your loss,” Ava told the girl, reading between the lines.

“You too.”

“Julie! Over here!” a girl with long box braids called out, standing in front of three boys that looked like they were about the same age as Ava.

Ava took a second to look over Julie, now that her attention wasn’t on the two ghosts. What stood out to her the most was the white microphone she was gripping tightly, though she didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m Matt, by the way,” he added, drawing Julie’s attention. “And this is my older sister Avalon.”

“But you can call me Ava, or A, or basically anything,” she grinned, which Julie returned.

“It’s nice to meet you two, but I have to go. I’m on after Dirty Candy,” she rolled her eyes, and a giggle burst through Ava’s lips.

“Oh, I think we’ll get along well.”

Matt shook his head slightly while giving Julie a thumbs up. “Good luck!”

“Thanks,” she grinned, before running towards her friend. “I’m coming, Flynn!”

The two siblings watched as Julie left, and they each took a moment to process what happened.

“You know, I thought it was weird when Nana was able to see us. But for Julie to see us, that’s simultaneously freaking out in a good and bad way,” Ava told him, unable to take her eyes off of Julie.

“Hey, at least we have a new friend now?” he tried to exclaim, but it came out as more of a question, making both of them wince.

“Maybe her friends can see us too,” Ava suggested, turning her attention to the three boys, already knowing that Flynn would have spotted the two of them already if she could have.

On Flynn’s right stood the tallest of the trio. Ava couldn’t tell if he was trying to go for a 90s look or if that was a popular style with the guys in 2020. The boy next to him was brunet, and while he was wearing a tank top like his other friend, he had a plaid shirt tied around his waist. The other tank topped boy reminded Ava of her brother, and she glanced back at Matt out of the corner of her eye.

She almost laughed when she realized that he was wearing almost the exact same outfit, just with a Nirvana t-shirt rather than a tank top.

“The one in the ‘rock and roll’ tank top kinda looks like a Chad,” Ava admitted, the hair really making the appearance.

“He’s nothing like my Chad, Chad Davenforth.”

“Were you watching High School Musical 2 again?”

“Maybe,” he mumbled.

“Next up, Dirty Candy,” the announcer spoke, cutting into their conversation. They gave each other a look, though slowly gave Carrie their attention.

“Hope you all came to have a great time!” Carrie exclaimed with a fake giggle.

As she put on a pair of sunglasses, Ava couldn’t help but wonder which song they’d perform today. As long as it wasn’t ‘Wow’, she’d be happy.

Whenever I walk in the room

All the focus on me

The way I talk, the way I move

They all want on my team

“I thought you didn’t like her?” Matt asked smuggly, and Ava turned to him, unaware that she had been dancing along to the music.

Not tryin' to brag, brag

But I'm flawless

I'm taking over your playlist

Ain't perfect but I can't miss, yeah

The party don't start 'til I walk in

While no one else seemed to notice, Ava and Matt were shocked to say the least when Julie's tall friend appeared behind Carrie looking confused.

After a moment of hesitation, he began following the backup dancers’ moves, and Ava was entertained to say the least.

“I think Julie’s friends might be ghosts,” Ava whispered to Matt.

He thought about it for a moment before nodding. “Her reaction to us being ghosts was mild at most. If I met a ghost I’d be freaking out.”

Ava’s eyes widened as she realized that he was right.

I'm stealing all the attention

Don't get me started on mentions, yeah

Carrie walked to the back of the stage, jumping through his body. He didn’t seem to mind though, dancing opposite of her with a huge smile.

Some might say I sound conceited

They don't get the shine that I get

Some get jealous

They can't help it

They wish they were me, oh

As he danced with Carrie, Ava tried to follow his lead, snapping her head to the side along with the music.

And when he poofed away, she couldn’t help but deflate sadly. He made the performance 100x times better, she decided.

I keep the party going all night, all night

I set the trends that you all like, all like

I make an entrance when I don't try, don't try

'Cause all I see is all eyes on me

I only lead, I never follow, follow

I never open 'cause it's my show, my show

Don't know if people think I'm shallow, shallow

But all I see is all eyes on me

She sat up straight as he popped back onto the stage, staring at Carrie with a smile. He followed her around the stage, performing off of her in a way that made Ava’s smile huge.

When I grow up, I wanna be me, be me

The way he snapped his hip to the side to the music had Ava following suit, and she aptly ignored her brother’s groan.

I'm my own goals, just talking honestly

Must have won the lottery

Ain't no one as hot as me

Stealing looks, it's robbery

Everywhere I go, all eyes on me

When he ran to the back of the group and jumped behind them all, Ava let out a big laugh, enjoying his performance greatly. This was no longer Dirty Candy’s performance, it was his.

I keep the party going all night, all night

I set the trends that you all like, all like

I make an entrance when I don't try, don't try

'Cause all I see is all eyes on me

I only lead, I never follow, follow

I never open 'cause it's my show, my show

Don't know if people think I'm shallow, shallow

But all I see is all eyes on me

When the music hit its final beat, the blond posed to the side with his hands in the air and a bright smile on his face.

“Yeah blond dude! You killed it!” Ava stood up and cheered, her smile matching his.

“Makin’ me blush,” he bounced around, addressing the crowd mainly, before poofing in front of Ava and Matt.

“Hi,” he told them, albeit awkwardly.

“You were amazing,” she gushed, throwing her hands up to emphasize her words.

“In the words of my sister, ‘You killed it’, dude,” Matt agreed with an equally excited smile, though nudged Ava.

“Thanks! I’m Alex,” he held out his hand.

Matt grabbed it first, missing the small smile that appeared on Ava’s face. “I’m Matt.”

“I’m Ava,” she waved.

“Sorry, I’m on next,” Alex said suddenly, looking over his shoulders. “It was great meeting you both.”

The two Hayes stood in silence for a moment before Ava threw her arm around Matt’s shoulder, pulling him closer. “Well he was cute.”

“Come on, Ava,” he sighed, resting his head on her shoulder as he waited for her to let go. She held up her hands as a sign of defeat and step back, letting him move out of her reach.

“Okay, it looks like we’re closing the night with one more group,” the announcer said, and an apology slipped out of Ava’s mouth. Normally they had more performances, and she was feeling pretty bad now about missing most of the night.

He waved her off with a smile. “You’ve seen the best of the performances so far.”

“Julie and the… Fat Ones,” the announcer said with a shrug.

Ava looked back at Julie who caught her eye and gave Ava a tight smile. She tried to smile back, but it slipped when she saw Carrie and her friend laugh at Julie.

Julie turned and gave her shaggy haired friend a look while Alex and her other friend looked at him expertated.

As Julie walked up to the stage, Ava caught her eye and sent her a little thumbs up, feeling Matt wrap his arm around her next to do the same thing.

“Hi,” she chuckled awkwardly. “It’s actually Julie and the Phantoms.”

Matt laughed. “Well, that’s an understatement.”

“Dork,” Ava laughed, watching as Julie steeled herself before placing her fingers over the keys.

An awkward silence fell over the cafe as Julie’s friend turned on a machine.

Hearts on fire

We're no liars

So we say what we wanna say

I'm awakened

No more faking

So we push all our fears away

Don't know if I'll make it 'cause I'm falling under

Close my eyes, and feel my chest beating like thunder

I wanna fly

Come alive

Watch me shine

As the boys poofed onto the stage, Ava and Matt could hear murmurs from the other views.

“I heard they’re a hologram band from Sweden,” a voice whispered behind her, and Ava raised her eyebrows.

“I won’t lie, I’m very confused right now,” she whispered to her brother, and he nodded slightly.

I got a spark in me

Hands up if you can see

And you're a part of me

Hands up if you're with me

Now 'til eternity

Hands up if you believe

Been so long, and now we're finally free

We're all bright now

What a sight now

Coming out like we're fireworks

Marching on proud

Turn it up loud

'Cause now we know what we're worth

Ava couldn’t take her eye’s off of the bassist and Alex. Everyone around them seemed to be watching Julie and the guitarist, but she was more intrigued by the others.

We know we can make it we're not falling under

Close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder

I wanna fly

Come alive

Watch me shine

I got a spark in me

Hands up if you can see

And you're a part of me

Hands up if you're with me

Now 'til eternity

Hands up if you believe

Been so long, and now we're finally free

I got a spark in me

Hands up if you can see

And you're a part of me

Hands up if you're with me

Now 'til eternity

Hands up if you believe

Been so long, and now we're finally free

Ava was in awe at the chemistry between Julie and their guitarist, watching as they sang to each other. If she had to bet, neither of them would have noticed the rest of their band or the audience.

I got a spark in me

(I got a spark in me)

And you're a part of me

(And you're a part of me)

Now 'til eternity

(Now 'til eternity)

Been so long, and now we're finally free

I got a spark in me

Hands up if you can see

And you're a part of me

Hands up if you're with me

Now 'til eternity

Hands up if you believe

Been so long, and now we're finally free (yeah, yeah, yeah)

I got a spark in me

Hands up if you can see

And you're a part of me

Hands up if you're with me

Now 'til eternity

Hands up if you believe

Been so long, and now we're finally free

Finally free

Yeah

After Julie sang the final line of the song, the four of them bowed, but the boys poofed away back to where they had been earlier, talking amongst themselves excitedly.

“Yeah, Julie! Amazing!” Ava called out to her, and Matt stood up, clapping widely.

“Thank you! We’re Julie and the Phantoms, tell your friends!”

Julie waved at the two as she ran down the stairs toward Flynn and the rest of the band. “See you two tomorrow!”

Neither Ava or Matt really thought about Julie’s words as they waved back at her before poofing back home for the night.

[linaselandbasil]

The pebble comparison instance

Ibrahim that didn't fit into the main fic, its uploaded to AO3 too, of you like to read there

Trigger warning: painkillers, manic episodes, a little bit ofmedical stuff

Kassvin....

All he had on him were bloodstained clothes and a backpack. As he was taken to the infirmary he kept saying things that didn't make any sense. Normal as far as concussions go.

'Yo, the grim reaper slid into my DMs!' Was Valkyons favourite, but he'll never tell that to anyone.

The healers suspected that it's from brain damage since this rambling hadnt stopped yet. It gets exponentially worse with the painkillers too.

Of course, Valkyon could understand him somewhat. A feat noone else could achieve thus far, and it seemed that Kassvin took a liking to him because of it.

He spent a lot of time with the amnesiac, he confessed to his friends that he feels bad for leaving the poor guy alone because he reminds Valkyon of someone who's no longer here. And he's the only person who can tell the difference between his regular rambling and the drug induced gibberish.

He spent a lot of time with Kass, even if it hurt him, even if Kassvin hurt him... They went on little adventures so he didn't stay cooped up in the infirmary for days, he hated being there. Always on edge and anxious about all those people he could recognise.

Kass barely remembers the last meal he had on some days...

The beach is his least favourite place to visit yet they always end up going there, Valky deemed they forest way too risky. 'no, you're going to wander off and I'll never find you again. I'm not going to let that happen!' his reasoning.

Beach it is, then.

"Me." Kass said, pointing at a small pebble in the sand. He has a habit to speak as oversimplified as possible, still hard to understand but what is Valkyon if not an expert at 'if few word gud why many word'.

"Me." Valkyon said, pointing at a bigger pebble right next to it. Kass cracked up at that, covering his nose. The amnesiac lost none of his quirky expressions, who knows why he felt that his nose should be covered when he laughs.

The warrior smiles, it's a nice moment of lucidity. The golden hour when all the pain is dulled but the nightmare hasn't started.

He's almost completely here..... Like a normal person who dosen't live on painkillers.

Kassvin fell to his knees trying to retrieve the stones, Val following him to the ground, perhaps a bit too worried.

Kass picked the smaller one up. "it's coz I'm short, inni?"

"Don't take it to heart." Valkyon picked the other pebble up, revealing that it was actually bigger under the sand than it seemed.

"The universe is trying to tell me something about you......." Kassvin said, snickering.

"Snitches get stitches, universe!" Val laughed too. "Mood." He pointed at the dried up corpse of a beached jellyfish. Dark jokes are both of their favorite.

Kassvin let out a hearty cackle, then his expression turned completely blank.

This usually marks the beginning of the nightmare. The painkillers have a major side effect, they cause these episodes where Kass isn't there at all. But no matter what he says, how much he yells or how many times he hits Valkyon, the warrior refuses to leave. Even if it hurts, he refuses to abandon Kassvin at the darkest hour.

As he looked into those deep green irises he saw something change. It seemed like the light of recognition flashed in his eyes.

"I remember." Valkyon was caught off guard, he was expecting a breakdown..."I think I remembered something...." But instead got a ray of hope that Kassvin will regain everything he's lost.

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Countdown': New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out!

"Countdown"

"I maybe got one eye but I'll kill you, Sarah!"

Chapter Summary: Time's running out for Yirina & Park as London is in danger of getting destroyed with the Greenlight asset by Sarah...

Link of the Picrew here!

To read it on AO3, click here!

Words : +4300

Taglist : @snowgoldwaylon , @clxudtea , @efingart

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London is in big danger now...Perseus...Bellamy & Sarah...their whole presence here was to find the Greenlight nuke that was hidden under the British parliament while the whole government is in town to blow it up, killing millions of civilians & bringing the United Kingdom to its knees in the Cold War. A project that I thought to be out since 1981, coming from the CIA, was still active despite the events surrounding it 3 years ago, a project that I & Zasha inadvertently brought out to Perseus and allowed him to try to blow up Europe with it...and now, I'm trying to get it down again...avoiding him to destroy London...

The only thing that was in me at the moment while Park was leading me to one of a car before getting in it and leave the sector rapidly with Price's quickly formed team...the only thing was just the anger of...having been mistreated, tortured by Bellamy & Sarah, my thoughts about the latter changing to be less friendly with her after the stab in the back she did to all of us. No words were coming out of my mouth as we were going away to join the British Parliament at the Palace of Westminster, Park focused on driving the car and following Price's team van in the streets of London.

She...Park wanted to know more about what happened to me down there in that cell but I stayed silent, away in my thoughts of getting Sarah, Bellamy, and anyone that's with them...what they deserve. I could see the distress in Park's eyes just by looking at her, she was worried, calmer than me despite the situation and I was understanding her on that part. She must have been deadly worried when she learned that I & Zasha got captured but now, I needed to stay focus, my eyes drifting around...

As we were driving to reach the parliament, my gaze fell on the mirror in front of me between me & Park, and by curiosity, I put the mirror in my direction to take a look at my left eye and...and just by looking at it...

"Fuck..." I muttered, discovering how much my eye was looking more like a mess and Zasha was right, my eyes weren't having the same color patterns. The right one was still blue while the left one...it became more very light blue going more into a white color, the vision of it still blurred. "Shouldn't have look at it," I thought to myself, putting my back against the seat.

"You'll be fine, Yiri," Park assured in a normal voice, her eyes staying on the road.

"I'm not sure of it," I said.

"Don't worry," She added, her voice taking a better tone, still sounding to reassure me at the moment.

"My eye is a mess, can't be sure that I don't need to worry about it," I told her, turning my head slightly to the right to look at her. "They injected me with their damn needle in the eye and they kept me awake with the product in the eye," I declared, sounding a bit angry in my voice. "Instead of letting me sleep, they put music in my ears to make sure that I suffer worse,"

"They...they did that?" She demanded.

"Yes," I whispered, my word causing her to clench her fists while having them on the steering wheel, holding it firmly.

"The same music?"

"No," I replied, having guessed that she was referring to a memory of me during our time in Verdansk. "It was different...Only You," I articulated, those two words staying in my mind and as if I could hear it in my ears.

"Only You?" She repeated.

"Can make...all this world...seem right," I started to say, remembering the song in my head before I stops myself by shaking my head. "Sorry, it's just that...I got it in my mind since...since..." I apologized but I cut myself up, the hours have passed since that happened. "A long time," I resumed.

"I'm sorry," Park whispered.

"It's not your fault...it's mine," I claimed in a clear voice, still feeling the blame for the event in the metro and that crash. "It's my fault if I got me & Zasha captured and...someone wounded...and another killed,"

"It's not..."

"No, just...don't, ain't helping," I cut her gently in her words even if she was trying to do her best to make me think of something else as I was looking outside, seeming to soon arrive at our destination. "I know that you want me to think of something else but not here," I told her straight about this. "Now, we just need to stop Sarah & Bellamy to destroy London," I muttered, my head going back into looking in front of me as Park was still looking confused about Sarah's name been mentioned despite after my revelations about it.

"Sarah Stone...I never thought that he got a sister," Park thought to herself, slightly turning her head around for a bit on her right.

"She's crazy, she's dressing in her brother's clothes for his legacy," I exclaimed, a vision of seeing her in that blue outfit with a green hood was disgusting to me. "She played everyone in here, she faked to be friends with us...just to get us in a better way,"

"I thought that she was a friend," Park remarked, me shaking my head at this.

"She played it," I repeated. "Manipulating the files to make sure that we believe that Harry was back from the dead and we bought it," I passed my hands through my face, avoiding touching my left eye at the moment. "She wants to avenge her brother by killing millions of citizens with the very thing that me...you, we swore to stop 3 years ago," I said clearly, Park turning her head with a little smile on it at me.

"We did," She grinned before she looked back at the front of her. "Here...the parliament," She pointed outside with her left hand towards the building at our right, seeing Big Ben's tower from afar. "And the government is here, looking at the security," She commented, seeing outside a lot of policemen and policewomen standing near the building.

"Price and his men are pulling over there," I said, seeing their blue van going to park itself on the right side of the road.

"We should join them, then," Park said before she decides to get the car behind the van a few meters from it.

We stopped the car right behind the van and just by looking at the palace and its surroundings from the car's inside, I was wondering how the CIA could have implemented a nuclear bomb right under the place that the British government is reuniting but that thought went away as Park was taking out from her pocket, an MI6 identification card on a necklace, putting it around her neck before we could go out of the car, going to join Price and his men near the van as some cops were coming to them.

"Excuse me but who are you?" A policeman with a bulletproof vest asked Price as we were arriving near the group. "You have some identifications?"

"We're with the SAS, sir," Price replied to him but the policeman was looking unconvinced with his colleagues behind him.

"Sure, sure, we believe you," The policeman scoffed, thinking that we were joking with him. "Get serious, let me see you all your papers," He demanded, sounding less funny of a sudden.

"Excuse me," Park finally stepped inside the group, going to face the policemen with me. "You don't think that's serious but it's bloody hell right," She affirmed, not happy that we were thought like that. "I'm with the MI6, there's a threat inside a building," She showed the policeman the palace behind him through the gates, her face getting along with her voice.

"How's that?" The policeman suddenly got his voice changed, worried, to be honest.

"A terrorist group entered the building & intend to blow up a nuclear bomb under it," I revealed directly, speaking up and going straight into the subject with the police, seeing in a second their eyes going wide at this.

"We need to enter that building and stop that threat, you have to let us in," Price declared, sounding assertive to the policeman that was looking terrified.

"Uhm...Uhm...sure, sure," He stuttered, his hand going to stretch a bit the collar of his vest. "What should we do? Alert the houses?" He suggested.

"No," I said clearly. "If the government is alerted of that threat, the terrorists could be aware of it & detonate the bomb," I suggested, knowing that it was a big risk to take if the government was aware that a nuke was beneath their feet.

"Good point," Price noted, nodding at me before he looked at Park. "If they're under the building, we should take them on two sides," He proposed.

"There's an entrance near a pier on the Thames, get your men with you to that entrance, it will surely cut them off in the case of an escape from them," Park ordered, pointing towards a direction as we start walking in a group to the portal separating us from entering the palace. "I'm going with Yirina inside the palace," She told them.

"Understood, let's go, everyone," Price agreed before he gestures to his men to follow him inside as the portal got opened by the cops, letting us enter and parting ways with Price's team.

"Uhm, miss, what should we do now?" The policeman's voice came behind us as we were directing ourselves towards the entrance of the palace.

"Alert the security about the threat but they can't alert the government," Park slightly turned around to face him, making her voice clear for him. "Stay here, we're taking care of this," She affirmed before we resumes our walk inside.

"Let's hope that we don't arrive too late," I confided to Park, taking a deep breath as we were arriving near the building, a bit of stress of going inside coming in me. "Not even changed," I commented in a low voice, looking at the state of my outfit that was filled with dirt.

"Let's hope," Park repeated in a low voice before we got in front of the door, some policeman guarding it.

It didn't take a few seconds to let the policemen open the door for us, even after Park showed them her MI6 credentials around her neck before we could step inside the building that was holding a very important reunion of the British government at the moment and it was sure that the stress was coming inside of me just to think of it and that the bomb under our feet could blow up at any moment if Sarah and her team already left the place to be doomed.

Since that Park was the one to know the place perfectly, I followed her around as my thoughts were overwhelming me during my walk behind Park...are we going to stop Sarah in time? That was the main question that came to my mind but...but...we need to stop her, we have to. She's going to nuke London for her revenge...just for her terrorist brother...just for someone...her brother...we have to stop her, everyone knows that and just by looking at Park's walk, she was thinking the same thing.

Then, after only a minute to walk through the building, we managed to arrive at a door that was leading to the underground of the building but we were surprised that the door was kept by two policemen that were very-well armed and protected than the others cops that we crossed paths with, the two looking rather...normal...

"Sorry, miss but this area is restricted to the public," One of the policemen addressed us, putting himself in front of the door as we were arriving near it.

"We're with the MI6, we need to get down, there's a security threat," Park announced, showing off her card to them.

"Sorry, but we can't let you here, it's a private zone," The other policeman in front of me said to her as I was getting suspicious of these guys, now looking different...and not British. "Besides, we got nothing of that sort from a security threat," He explained.

"Hey guys, the bomb is going to be on soon, you should get out," Suddenly, a voice over the radio that was belonging to the guy in front of me went on, a feeling of confusion taking over the two 'cops'...those guys were posing as cops...

"Cops...just fuckers..." I taunted them before I start to give the guy in front of me the first move by hitting him right in the teeth.

Park immediately reacted by also throwing a punch to the other guy face, launching ourselves to take care of these two 'cops' and thankfully, those two weren't in fact a big deal to neutralize, taking only at least 10 seconds to get them out and putting them on the ground before we decide to check them in quickly, seeing that they were Perseus agents undercover...that operation must have been prepared for days...and it's only the beginning for the moment...

"And now?" I demanded to Park after I got up from the guy I was checking.

"Now, it's time to get down but..." She started as her eyes were looking at the two 'cops' on the ground, and then, looking around. "We can't take the risk to let those two escape, there's no cop in here," She said as we were in a part of the building that wasn't having a lot of cops around.

"Meaning?" I narrowed my right eye at her.

"One of us goes down while...while the other stays here to get the two under control before the security gets them," She explained, chuckling for a bit as she put her hands on her pistol. "You stay here," She ordered, cocking her pistol.

"No," I stopped her, shaking my head at her. "I'm the one going down," I volunteered, getting in front of Park to stop her from going down and passing that door.

"Yiri, no...you...you're not..." Park tried to defend herself but I shook my head at this.

"Maybe that I can see with half of my vision, maybe that I should be healed but no...I'm going down," I claimed, taking out my M1911 from my jacket.

"I don't want to lose you," Park whispered in a low voice.

"Me too," I assured her with the same tone, checking up the mag of my M1911, 5 bullets remaining in it. "That's why I'm the one taking the risks,"

"You don't have to do that," Park asserted, putting her hands over my right shoulder to make me change my mind.

"It's my fault that Perseus is going to use Greenlight and..." I snorted, putting the mag back into the gun to load it, moving to face the door and open it. "I'm going," I announced before I start to walk away, not feeling Park's hand on my shoulder as she was seeming helpless to stop me to do what I needed to do.

The stairs that I was using to reach the underground was pretty old, looking like it was never fully maintained to a good shape and it's with cautiousness that I start to go down the stairs, taking care to not miss any steps and going slow in my moves, thinking that at any moments, I could be surprised by a Perseus agent right now and it made me keep my M1911 pointed right in front of me, a look of determination coming on my face.

Once that I reach the underground level, it was at this moment that I needed to be careful, extremely careful since that I can only see right with one eye and...no, it was too late to back down, Sarah needed to stop to detonate that nuke and destroying London. I started to walk in the only direction that was getting offered by me to take, staying aware of any noises that could come around me: the sounds of water flowing through some pipes, a little buzzing getting heard from afar...I stayed careful.

But the more I was advancing, the more the underground wasn't looking old enough, seeing some spotlight and crates around...getting soon accompanied by some noises that were certainly people speaking and it caused me to be silent in my footsteps as I was getting closer to those talks, and then, I put myself behind a crate, arriving near a big room looking like some sewers with in the middle of it...the bomb...and Sarah...only her...in the same clothes as her brother...

"How much time?" There was also a hooded soldier near her, standing up as she was sitting, doing something with the bomb.

"Not so long, we'll be away when it will explode," She replied in a sort of reassuring voice.

"Good to know," The hooded soldier affirmed, passing his hand through his face as Sarah got up but then, some clouds noises came from another hallway at their right. "What's that?" He asked.

"Must be the SAS, good," Sarah presumed as I was thinking the same thing, maybe that Price and his men had to fight to get here. "More useless people to die tonight," She remarked, and that...I don't know why but it provoked something that I couldn't control...rage...causing me to go out of cover, pointing my gun at the two.

"Not in my watch," I spoke up clearly to the two, taking the risk to do this like that.

"What the fuck?" The soldier cursed as he turns around, seeing me arrive in the middle of the room.

"Don't try anything," I ordered, staying at a safe distance from them and keeping the two under my control. "Hands up," I gestured with my M1911 up, seeing that the soldier complied first as Sarah was looking unimpressed.

"Grigoriev..." She smirked at my sight. "A pleasure to see you here, came to admire the show?"  She questioned, not ready to get her hands up at my command

"I'm here to stop you," I affirmed.

"Not sure that it will happen," She told me, staying stubborn and not complying as she got next to the soldier, his hands staying up. "I see...weak," She muttered by looking at the soldier before of a sudden, she got a blade out of her left sleeve...and start to stab to the neck, the soldier.

I could see that she was emotionless to the man that she was stabbing now, not stopping in her move as I was looking terrified at the scene I was watching in front of me...Sarah...literally stabbing one of her own men in front of me and continuing even if the guy was dead, making his blood flow like a fountain as she put him down on the ground before her eyes went to look at me, her face filled with the blood of the soldier.

"You're crazy," I said, lowering my gun at seeing her like that, a pool of blood forming on the ground.

"You don't know me well, Grigoriev," She stated, smirking at me with the blood on her face, passing her right hand on it. "Harry wasn't showing his full potential to the cause, I did what he couldn't do,"

"By destroying London?" I presumed.

"He was a bad man but never, he wanted to burn that city down to the ground," She told me, checking her hands full of blood. "Now, this city will burn...by me...Sarah Stone!"  She claimed loudly to me, getting her head up to form a disturbing smile with her lips.

"No, not with me," I admitted, my hands letting my M1911 go off on the ground.

"The pathetic little lost girl with one fewer eye...against me...in a fistfight?" She lamented my choices before breaking a laugh about this. "Going to be a pleasure to break each of your bones before I let you die here with that bomb,"

"I maybe got one eye but..." I started before I clench my fists, ready to stop her from doing her plans. "But I'll kill you,"

"Let's see that!" She said in a clear voice before we both starts to move in each other direction to get it done.

She was the first one to try a punch at me, throwing her right hand at me at full speed but I managed to avoid it at the last moment by moving myself back behind before she starts to get serious to put me down for good, causing me to stay on the defense for the moment by trying to block at my best the punches and kicks that she was giving me, either succeeding or failing to do so, slowly getting the advantage over me as I found myself blocked with my back against the wall behind me.

The blocks that I was doing to counter her wasn't working anymore as she started to get dirty on me, punching me faster and making me impossible to counter everything from her and hitting me in the chest and my left knee but by chance, I took a moment that she was taking a breath to get away from the wall, avoiding a punch directed to my face and causing her to hit the brick wall with her fist.

"Fuck, you bitch!" She shouted, holding her right wrist with her left hand before she turns her head around to look at me with rage. "You're hard to kill but not impossible," She commented, me catching my breath and trying to keep an eye on her.

"You messed up with me, you're deserving it," I taunted her, what she did to me was enough to make me reach my limit.

"Says the bitch who worked with my stupid brother for years," She exclaimed before she starts to turn around me in a circle at my left, she was trying to get out of my sight. "Man is so manipulative, remember?" She demanded in a normal voice as she was walking on her side faster to get away from me.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, confused as I was trying to keep her insight. "You...you manipulated your own..." I couldn't finish that I received a kick behind my right knee, causing me to fall for a bit on the ground.

"Yes," She replied behind me directly without having finished my question. "He wasn't...very sure...before her little sister came to see him straight," She commented, moving in front of me as I was trying to get up. "Helped him to kill some...useless people...including...a brother from...someone," She smirked at me as I start to think about...Park's brother, William.

"You didn't..." I tried to say before she put me down again on my knees, her hands over my shoulders.

"Oh yes, I did," She told me with a smile before she got at my level. "Made him believe that her pathetic brother hated him, made him murder people...bang, bang, boom," She mimicked before breaking out a laugh from her mouth. "So easy to break, Harry's mind was so easy to break," She taunted as I realizes with her words that... for a long time, she was the one who orchestrated William's death...and put the blame on Harry. "Since that, he thought that he was the boss...until you kill him and got me to get into his boots to make his legacy live,"

"No, you created a monster...and I'll kill you!" I then got myself into a rage and managing to get her hands off my shoulder before I decide to throw myself on her, right into her chest and getting her on the ground, and finding myself on top of her. "That's for Peter...for me...for Park...for everyone you killed!" I shouted loudly, at each punch I was giving to her face, mixing her blood with the soldier's one on her face.

I was giving all of my strength inside of these punches, doing all of my best to make sure that she wasn't going to get out of here alive before she got some nerves to hit me in the chest, stopping me to give her more pain than she deserves before moving her feet to kick me & push me away from her far behind her, making me land at a few meters from her, and then...I saw my M1911 near me...and...I had no choice to take it...

"AAAHH!" Sarah screamed, going to charge me over before I took the M1911 in my hands, and then, I pulled off the trigger, shooting two bullets at her, hitting right in the chest and in the right shoulder. The bullets caused her to stop in her run to look at the bullet holes in her body before falling on her knees as I got up from the ground, gun in my hand.

"That's for everyone," I muttered as I looked at her with desperation.

"You weren't pathetic after all," She said, still sounding stubborn. "Just...stupid...and lost," She proclaimed as I hold my M1911 by the cannon of it. "If not dying by that not-working nuke, the numbers will," She exclaimed before she spits some blood on my clothes, giving me nothing but disgust towards her.

"Just...fucking...die," I declared before I took a deep breath, and then, I decided to hold her by her hair to expose her throat before using my M1911 to throat chop her with a strength more powerful than my punches from before.

The strike made her cough out some blood from her mouth, trying to speak to me but it was mostly inaudible sounds coming out of her mouth as her eyes went wide at looking at me before she shut them down and I let her down, throwing her on the ground...it's like the...first time that...I'm using...to be violent like this to kill someone...I never did this but now...I felt...bad for doing this but also...I don't know, Sarah was a monster, she deserved a worse death but...why I'm violent...I'm not the monster that Perseus tried to create.

My eyes then went on the bomb that she was working on, leaving her to die painfully on the ground to take a look at the bomb that was in fact, not even armed...not working at all and a smile came on my face about it, seeming a bit happy before I start to fall on my knee, some tears coming out of my eyes, and then, falling on the ground on my back, completely exhausted by this day...seeing now only the light above the ceiling...as I could hear some people approaching...

It's with a smile that I closed my eyes, thinking about my friends...about my love...

[let-the-dream-begin]

A Place to Belong Chapter 24: Shadows

Chapter 23

Read on AO3

August 24th, 1747

The fields were just about ready to be harvested with September just around the corner. The barley stalks were nearly golden, the green gradually disappearing with each passing day. So, too, was Brianna changing gradually with each passing day. Her gaze grew sharper every day; sometimes Claire thought that her infant daughter could see right through her with those piercing blue eyes. Even though they were set inside chubby little cheeks, she could swear sometimes that it was Jamie looking right at her and not her daughter.

She was smiling all the time now, and laughing. God, that sound. Claire would never get enough of it. She often went far out of her way to do something that she knew would make her laugh, though she really didn’t have to whenever Kitty was around. At two-and-a-half, the little lass was cheeky as ever, learning more words to drive her parents mad every day. She was growing quite limber on her little legs, and was quite the troublemaker. Claire dreaded the day that Brianna became just as mobile and could join Katherine in her wee escapades.

Already they were getting into trouble together, with Kitty leading the way on foot and Brianna trailing behind on her hands and knees. Kitty hardly ever went anywhere without Brianna following, and Claire and Jenny had taken to calling Brianna “the little shadow,” or sgàil.

Today was one of those rare, gloriously sunny days, a perfect day for a picnic by the mill. Wee Jamie had become more and more insistent on helping in the fields, but seeing Maggie with the hoop and stick, ready to play, had made him rethink asking to help today. Jenny had admonished him, insisted that he had to finish the job he started, but Ian had waved her off.

“No need fer the lad to grow up so fast, aye?”

She’d relented, and now he and Maggie were running like little heathens with the hoop and their sticks, Kitty helplessly chasing them. Claire and Jenny were chatting over their mending, Brianna babbling to herself between them on the blanket with Lambert clutched in one of her fists. It wasn’t long before Kitty grew tired of being left out of Maggie and Jamie’s game, and she toddled over to the blanket.

“Banna!” she called as she got closer. “Come play, Banna!”

Claire looked down to see Brianna was looking at Kitty with rapt attention, Lambert hanging limply at her side.

“Go on, darling, go play with Kitty.” Claire set her mending aside and lifted Brianna from her middle, then set her on her hands and knees. “Go on, lovie.”

Brianna let out a little cooing noise and gave a wide, lopsided grin before crawling with impressive speed toward Kitty, who squealed with excitement at seeing her little shadow joining her in the field.

Claire chuckled to herself and shook her head. “You were right. We’re in for it with those two.”

Jenny smirked and glanced up from her mending. “Aye. Fer all we know Brianna could ha’ been a perfect wee angel, but now she’s met Kitty we’ll never know.”

Claire laughed. “I seem to recall you were nearly as much of a little devil as she is?”

“Och, no’ nearly so bad,” Jenny said defensively.

“Really? I suppose only a perfect angel would put insects in her brothers’ supper?”

“You try growin’ up wi’ two brothers, yer scale will shift dramatically,” Jenny said, laughing. Claire joined in the laughter as well. “Ye’ve told me ye never had a sister. Did ye ever have brothers?”

“Oh, no. I was an only child. I was five when I became an orphan.”

“Oh,” Jenny said thoughtfully. “That uncle ye speak of, he…”

“Raised me, yes,” Claire said. “I’ll forever be grateful to him. He treated me like his own daughter. But I can’t say I wasn’t ever lonely. For a companion my age.”

Jenny nodded in understanding. “Canna imagine my childhood wi’out Jamie and Willie.”

“That’s why I’m so glad that we’re here, with all of you.” Claire looked up at the squealing group of little ones before her. “Brianna deserves to have all that I never could.”

“She’ll never be lonely, that’s fer sure,” Jenny said wryly. “I’d wager she’ll be begging Kitty to leave her alone in two years time.”

Claire chuckled. “We’ll see about that.”

“Claire!” Jenny suddenly dropped her mending and began swatting at her shoulder.

“What on Earth?”

“Look!”

Claire looked up at the field and immediately dropped her own mending at the sight: 

“Banna stand-in’!”

“Dinna touch her, Kitty!” Jenny called, scrambling to her feet and helping Claire get up. They quickly and gingerly approached where Brianna was standing. Jenny lifted Kitty under her arms and deposited her out of the way despite her protests.

“Brianna!” Claire called. “Hello, darling! Come here! Walk to Mummy!”

Brianna’s face broke out into another adorable, crooked grin, and she flapped her hands a little, giggling incessantly at her mother.

“Don't you laugh at me,” Claire said, laughing out loud herself. “Come on, darling! Come here!”

The wee devil just laughed again, tossing her head back and causing her to land square on her little bum.

“Uh-oh! Banna fell down!”

Banna seemed completely unphased, however; she was still laughing her head off.

“You silly little thing…” Claire shook her head, quickly approaching where Brianna fell. “It’s alright, lovie, get back up, come on…” She took hold of Brianna’s little fists and got her back to her feet.

“That’s it, mo ghraidh!” Jenny said. “Come on, now!”

“Ready, baby? Ready to walk?” Claire kept a tight hold on her hands, crouching over her, and took a step. Brianna mimicked, taking a step with her. “Yes! That’s it! Good girl!”

Claire took a step with her other foot, and so did Brianna.

“That’s it, a sgàil! Keep going!”

Step after step they took together, until finally, Brianna wrenched her hands from Claire’s grip and closed the distance to her Auntie all by herself. Jenny laughed out loud as Brianna launched herself into her arms, and Claire cried out joyously.

“Banna walk-in’! Banna walk-in’!”

Claire rushed to Jenny’s side and took her baby in her arms, her cheeks sore from smiling. “That’s right, little girl! Brianna is walking!” She held her over her head, eliciting shrieking giggles from her, before returning her to her hip and planting a huge, wet kiss on her cheek. “Mummy is so proud of you, baby. Such a big girl!”

Did you see, Jamie? Did you see what your daughter just did...?

——

November 23rd, 1747

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…”

Claire sang softly in Brianna’s ear, bouncing her gently in her lap. Jenny put down the little cake Mrs. Crook had concocted on the table in front of them.

“Happy birthday dear Brianna, happy birthday to you.”

The candle stuck in the middle was certainly no birthday candle, but it would do.

“Alright, darling! Ready to blow?” Brianna simply looked around aimlessly, causing chuckles all around the room. Claire blew out the candle herself.

“Yay!” she crooned, clapping her hands. Brianna giggled and copied her, clumsily clapping her little hands. Light applause from the whole family filled the room, and Claire kissed Brianna’s cheek.

Claire had declared that Brianna was going to get as close to a twentieth-century first-birthday as she could, and she’d gotten a kick out of Jenny and Ian’s reactions when she’d explained it all to them, the cake, the candle, the song. Jenny had rolled her eyes and begrudgingly agreed, and Ian had seemed completely fascinated, eyes lit up like a little boy as he asked to hear more. They’d explained it all to Mrs. Crook by saying it was some tradition from the East that she and her uncle had adopted along their travels. 

The candle was removed, and Claire pulled the dish closer to Brianna. “Go on darling, have some.”

As Claire expected, Brianna dove her hands clumsily into the cake. For a moment she just played with it, apparently unaware that she was supposed to eat it. Claire laughed and brought a bit of it into her mouth, and Brianna immediately perked up and took the hint. She began shoving fistfuls of it into her own mouth, causing everyone to laugh.

“She likes yer cooking, Mrs. Crook!” wee Jamie exclaimed.

“Good thing!” Mrs. Crook said. She began setting out dishes of other little cakes, having made one for each member of the family.

One year old. It was unfathomable to Claire.

In one year, her little girl had grown from a helpless little bundle into a feisty wee girl. She was walking regularly now; she hadn’t used crawling to get around in almost a month. She was regularly eating bannocks and soft, cut-up fruits. Claire was hopeful she’d be weaned in the next couple of months.

In one year, she’d also had six seizures.

None had been as bad as that first one, and after the second one, everyone had been much more prepared. Claire was confident now that they hadn’t had any lasting effect on her development, that she’d be a perfectly normal little girl aside from the occasional seizure. She’d stopped living in complete fear and guilt, but it was always in the back of her mind, waiting to pounce and claw at her throat at any given moment.

As terrible as it sounded, with more practice, Claire handled each seizure better. She’d of course prefer if they stopped happening altogether, but if they were going to happen, she may as well learn how to handle them. A routine had been established, and it was the lifeline she clung to to keep her grounded while her baby was spasming and vomiting on the ground. She had no choice but to get used to it; at this point, it seemed they were looking at full blown epilepsy rather than neonatal seizures that stopped after a certain age.

And yet, through it all, Brianna thrived. She smiled, she laughed, she played with her cousins and the dogs, she learned, she grew. She belonged here, in this place, in this time. Watching her daughter flourish here for an entire year made Claire all the more certain of that fact.

And she looks more like him every day.

——

January 3rd, 1748

Another Hogmanay came and went, and Claire was doing her fair share of treating tenants with various stages of hangover or borderline alcohol poisoning.

“However many farming accidents I treated during harvest season is insignificant to the alcohol related incidents from Hogmanay,” she said wryly to Jenny as she plopped onto the sofa in the parlor. The girls were sitting in front of the fireplace with Luke and Bran, rubbing bellies and flapping ears. She’d just finished giving a man stitches after he’d fallen face first onto the floor, apparently still drunk. According to his wife, he hadn’t stopped drinking since the party.

Jenny didn’t answer, and Claire looked at her, worried. “Are you alright, Jenny?”

“Oh, aye, just fine,” she said, forcing a smile.

“Are you sure? You look a little peaked.” Claire felt her forehead for any fever.

“Och, perhaps I’m no better than all those drunks ye’ve been healing, aye?” She chuckled softly, and Claire smiled. “Ye’re enjoying all yer healing, aye?”

“Oh, of course,” Claire said quickly. “It’s an honor to help your tenants. And it’s wonderful to see how much they trust me.”

“They can tell ye’re a good woman underneath all that Englishness.” Jenny gave her a pat on the thigh, and Claire rolled her eyes.

Brianna’s giggle sounded just then, followed by an unmistakable sound.

“Dog!”

Jenny and Claire both whipped their heads up.

“That wasn’t -- ”

“No’ mine -- ”

“Did she just -- ”

“Aye, I think she did!”

Claire immediately jumped to her feet and fell to her knees on the rug in front of the fireplace. “What did you say, Brianna? Dog? Did you say dog?”

“Dog!” she cried again, burying her hands in Luke’s fur and beaming at Claire.

“Yes! That’s a dog!” Claire laughed joyously. “Clever girl, Brianna!”

Before any more celebration could take place, Jenny’s smile disappeared and she abruptly dashed from the room.

“Jenny?”

“Mam?” Maggie said.

“Stay here, Maggie, it’s alright.” Claire quickly got to her feet and followed Jenny out of the parlor. She followed the sound of retching, and found her bent over the back porch.

“Jenny…” Claire quickly ran to her, putting a soothing hand on her back. “Why didn’t you tell me you were feeling ill?”

She breathed deeply for several seconds, spitting the bitter flavor from her mouth. “Didna want to worry ye over something I wasna sure of.”

“What do you mean?”

Jenny looked up at her, face flushed with sickness and the bitter cold, smiling sheepishly. “I think I’m wi’ child, Claire.”

——

September 28th, 1748

Claire had had Fergus help her whittle some wood into something resembling the earliest stethoscope, which wouldn’t actually be invented for another hundred years. After several trials and errors, they finally figured it out, and Claire had been using it to monitor Jenny’s most recent pregnancy. It had been great fun to share this little scientific discovery with Fergus. For all he knew, they were inventing something brand new together. His genuine excitement was quite endearing. Even at his fourteen years of age, Claire could still see glimpses of that little boy that she’d fallen in love with.

Claire and Jenny were in the Laird’s room together for one of Jenny’s check-ups. She had the stethoscope pressed to her ear against Jenny’s swollen middle, listening carefully.

“The heartbeat is very strong,” Claire said, smiling. She put the wooden tube down and began to feel around, making sure of the position. Claire frowned slightly, feeling its head up top.

“Is it another breech baby?” Jenny said fretfully.

“I’m afraid it seems that way…though there is still time for it to move. I can see if palpating will help this time since your waters haven’t broken yet.” Claire felt around to get a grip on the baby, but she paused. If she wasn’t mistaken, she could feel its head at the bottom, in the correct position. Her brow furrowed. It could not have possibly moved that quickly. She felt up again, keeping one hand on the head.

Her eyes suddenly widened in astonishment. She immediately snatched the stethoscope again and pressed it into Jenny’s belly.

“What?” Jenny said worriedly.

“Shh!” Claire hushed her, listening very carefully through the wooden tube. Yes, certainly that was a heartbeat, right there. She then slid it around on Jenny’s large belly, keeping her ear firmly pressed into it, until she heard it again. Only it was not in the same place. Certainly the baby was not moving. There was only one other explanation.

“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ,” Claire breathed in amazement.

“What, Claire?” Jenny demanded.

“I think I hear two heartbeats, Jenny,” Claire said, her brows knitting in apprehension.

“Two?” Jenny looked bewildered. “How can the bairn possibly — ”

Claire bit her lip as she watched a wide range of emotions make their way across Jenny’s face. Bewilderment, realization, shock, terror.

“A Dhiah!” she exclaimed. “Two? Ye mean…”

“Twins,” Claire confirmed, nodding. “You’re going to give birth to twins, Jenny.”

Jenny’s mouth flapped uselessly, blinking repeatedly.

“Do you need some water?” Claire said.

Jenny nodded wordlessly, her mouth still hanging open. Claire quickly retrieved a glass and placed it in Jenny’s hands.

“Are you alright?”

“I…I dinna ken how I should feel,” Jenny said. “It’s…joyful, no doubt, but we…we could barely afford to feed one more mouth…and now wi’ two…”

“I can’t imagine how frightening that must be, with everything so uncertain…but you’ll manage. We’ll manage. We have for this long, haven’t we?” Claire took one of Jenny’s hands in both of hers.

Jenny nodded hesitantly. “Christ…will I be in labor for twice the normal amount of time?”

Claire laughed softly. “No, it doesn’t work quite like that, thank God.”

Jenny breathed a sigh of relief, crossing herself. “Dinna think I’d survive if it did.”

“Labor is the normal amount of time, whatever that is for you, and then you just have to push two separate babies. There’s usually a bit of a wait in between.”

Jenny nodded. “And ye’ll be there? Ye’ll help the midwife? God willing she shows up.”

“Of course I’ll be there.” Jenny squeezed her hand. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Not only because you’re my sister, but I’ve never seen the delivery of twins before. This will be quite educational for me.” Her eyes sparkled teasingly.

“Glad that my extra pains will be exciting fer ye.” Jenny rolled her eyes, but Claire could see the smile she was trying to suppress.

“You’ll be alright. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Claire pulled Jenny’s shift back down. “I’ll pull the second one out if I have to. Again.”

“Father help us.” Jenny threw a glance upward, crossing herself.

“Like I said, there’s still time for them to move around. So we can hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“I trust ye, Claire,” Jenny said firmly. “I trust ye wi’ my life and the lives of my bairns. So if ye say all will be well then I believe ye.”

Claire smiled warmly and gave Jenny’s hand a final squeeze. “Good."

——

On October ninth, Claire found herself tearing through the potato fields to find Ian, her face flushed with adrenaline and the autumn chill.

“Ian!” she called, running toward him. “The babies are here!”

He threw down his tools and rushed to meet her in the middle.

“Well?” he said, breathless and impatient. “Tell me!”

“Janet Claire Fraser Murray,” she said, the name that he and Jenny had decided for another lass.

“Ah, Janet Claire. Another wee daughter.” He beamed proudly.

“And…” she bit her lip, leading him to believe for just a moment that she’d say the second girl name they’d picked out. “Michael Brian Fraser Murray.”

Ian’s face immediately changed from quiet pride to explosive joy. He laughed, louder than Claire had ever seen him laugh. Claire squealed as he crushed her to him in a bear-hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning her.

“A Dhiah! Another son!” He placed her back down and kissed both of her cheeks. “Ye’ve made me mad wi’ joy, Claire!”

Claire laughed, steadying herself on Ian’s shoulders.

“Dinna mistake me, Claire. I love my lasses wi’ all my heart, and I’ll love Janet just as fiercely. But another son…!”

“Well, go on! Go meet them!”

Ian laughed again, sprinting toward the house.

That night, Claire cried.

At first, she had no idea why. She simply sat down on her bed and wept bitterly. She should have been happy. She had helped deliver two healthy, beautiful babies today, one of which was named after her. 

But the more she thought about it, the clearer it became.

Her mind kept returning to that moment she shared with Ian in the fields, the senseless joy on his face.

A proud father.

And then her mind would wander to the scene she’d walked into shortly after, Ian sitting on the bed beside Jenny, each of them cradling a baby, delirious with baby-fever induced happiness.

A mother sharing her children with their father for the first time.

In the moment, it was tender, beautiful, heartwarming.

Now it seemed cruel and unfair.

Why were we denied that, twice…?

Claire shed her bitter tears, clamping a hand over her mouth to stifle the screams that were demanding to be released from her throat.

Why did you take that away from me?

“Mummy!”

Claire gasped softly and hurriedly wiped her face clean of tears. Brianna had recently mastered crawling up the stairs and sliding down on her bum, and she was now pawing at the bedroom door. Claire had tried to get it in everyone’s head that she should not be on the stairs unsupervised lest she have a seizure and fall all the way down, but she’d evidently managed to avoid detection.

“Mummy!”

“Coming, darling.” She took one more brief moment to compose herself before rushing to the door. When she opened it, she immediately scooped the squealing toddler into her arms and kissed her all over her little face.

God, that laughter.

No matter the pain Claire was in, nothing mattered more than seeing to it that Brianna was safe and happy; seeing to it that she never saw the depth of her mother’s despair, that she was never touched by that darkness that threatened Claire at every turn.

[techni-kolor]

The Ice of the Isolated

Read on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27627518 

"Will you stop that?" Tim snapped, the insistent feeling of irritation finally levering past his tipping point at the, in all honesty annoying, sound of Jon's muttering. "It's not gonna get us out any faster, whether you recite the entire damn archives or not."

Jon glanced up, his dark eyes dull within the dim light.

"Sorry." He mumbled roughly.

There was silence for a handful of seconds. Broken only the faint creaking of the shelves around them, and the hiss of the ancient radiator echoing off the tiny walls of the document restoration room.

The room they were currently trapped in, and had been trapped in for the past two hours.

"Number 4487215, Statement of Drew Capris regarding his encounter with The Skinner. Statement begins: I wasn't a drinking type of bloke, in fact I–"

"Jon." Tim snapped again, cutting off the rapid, near insane sounding, mumbling. "What did I literally just say?"

Jon blinked heavily.

"Cut it out with the statements already, it's bad enough to be stuck here without listening to some poor sod's trauma come out of your mouth."

Tim leaned back against a shelving unit, watching Jon chew through the words.

His own jaw worked in a series of annoyed tics as the seconds ticked by and Jon remained unresponsive.

"At least tell me you still understand English." He finally muttered, just to break the thick silence.

Jon blinked again, strangely sluggish.

"Course– course, I understand Eng– Eng– English."

"Could've fooled me." Tim said, a scowl forming across his face at Jon's stutter. It had been near almost always present since he'd known him, and worse with anxiety and exhaustion. The only time these days it fully went away was when he was reading a statement, and Tim refused to examine the implications of that.

"I–" Jon stammered suddenly, "I– I, I don't feel well."

Tim glanced back down at him.

He was sat on the floor, his back leaned against a metal shelving unit, and his dark curls splayed out along the edges of the files. His face held the same pinched, terse look it always did and the twist to his mouth was the same, ever present, skeptical frown. His skin was possibly a shade paler than his dark complexion normally allowed, but nothing drastic.

"You look alright to me."

Jon's dark eyes tracked over his face, in a sluggish parody of his usual sharp glare.

"I don't– I feel– feel cold."

Tim huffed out a sharp chuckle. "Yeah, Jon. It's cold in here. That's not news."

"But it's– it's freezing."

Tim scowled. "Yeah, like I said. Cold in here. It's been cold for hours."

"I–" Jon broke off with a vicious shiver. "Statement of Katrina Smith, events occurring on the date of November 27, 2015. Statement begins: It was so, so dark. So dark I couldn't–"

"Not this again." Tim muttered.

–couldn't see anything, even my hand in front of my face. It was only a few days after my mum had passed away and–"

"Jon."

"–and she had left me a few of her possessions, not that she'd had much, but I'd gone to her old flat to pick them up and it was so–"

"Cut it out, Jon. We already talked about this."

"– so dark that I almost wished I'd brought a torch. But it was only half two in the afternoon, and midsummer as well. And I figured I'd just grab some books and go, only then–"

"Jon! For Christ's sake, stop it." Tim near shouted.

Jon's jaw snapped shut abruptly, and he slumped forward, almost like a tiny army figurine with its plastic parachute cut by an ambitious child. He hit his head on the metal shelf as he fell with a sick thud, and his entire body crumpled into a heap onto the carpeting.

"Jon." Tim couldn't stop the cry from being pulled from his lips.

"Fuck." He swore under his breath, and ignoring his own panic, immediately knelt beside Jon's prone form, rolling his tiny weight over to his front, and using one hand to smack at his cheek.

Louder, he said. "Jon, come on, wake up."

Jon remained dead to the world, his eyelids firmly shut, and his breath ghosting in shallow draws.

"Jon, come on, wake up. What the fuck just happened here?"

Jon gave no response.

"Come on, Jon, I take it back. You can recite all the spooky shit you want till we're out of here. Just wake the hell up."

Jon let out a rasping exhale, and his breath was cold as ice against Tim's fingers.

He jerked his hand back involuntarily at the freezing sensation.

"Jon, you're scaring me."

Jon's ice cold skin pressed against his knee, and his breath was near frosty as it ghosted into the air.

Tim lurched to his feet and slammed his hands against the door.

"Hey," He shouted, "Hey, anyone– is anyone there? We need help. Please, someone, you gotta help."

Tim jerked his gaze back towards Jon's still unconscious, and near frozen body.

"Anyone, please. We need help."

He slammed his palms against the heavy door again, and jostled the knob roughly.

It gave no more than a rattle and staunchly refused to give. The exact same at his first try, when they had first been trapped, hours ago.

"Someone, you gotta help us. We're trapped." He shouted again into the near silence.

He had tried screaming hours ago too, when they first realized the broken lock on the door had sealed them in.

Only to give up within minutes after no response. It had already been far past working hours, at that point, and there wasn't much chance of anyone being around, much less able to hear.

There was no telling how long it'd been since then, without either of their phones to track the time, but it had been at least hours if his own hunger, and Jon's rambling gave any indication.

A night stuck in document restoration had been far less than desired, with the tiny space crowded by metal shelves, and it's barely heated air to preserve the ink on some of the ancient documents, but it had been a grudging possibility.

Now it was terrifying.

"Fuck." Tim shouted and slammed his hands on the door open more, only succeeding to send a sharp sting through his palms.

"Jon, boss." He knelt back beside Jon's tiny frame. "You gotta wake up. We aren't getting out until morning, and I need to know if you're injured. Come on, buddy, you gotta wake up."

Jon remained eerily motionless, and Tim swore he could almost see tiny wisps of fog from between his parted lips.

Roughly, he shrugged off his jacket and laid it across Jon's chest, tucking the fabric loosely around his narrow shoulders and across his stomach.

It laid almost comically large on him, but it gave the appearance that he was just asleep instead of unconscious, and that he could wake up at any moment. Like one of the naps he'd taken in the stacks back in Research one time after a three day work binge that had ended in him being exhausted, but grinning with success.

Before the move to the archives.

Before all of this.

Tim shoved that thought away harshly, and knelt closer to Jon's shoulder, watching the faint rise and fall of his chest and the flicker of his eyes moving beneath the lids.

He'd sit there all night if he had to, amidst the oppressive stacks of the statements, and in the biting chill that drifted from the vents, and from Jon, if he had to, if only Jon would wake up.

[lady-wallace]

Whumptober Day 24: “You’re Not Making Any Sense” (Supernatural)

Day Twenty-Four: You’re Not Making Any Sense

Prompts Used: forced mutism

Fandom: Supernatural (Season 8)

Read on Ao3

Read on FF.net

~~~~~~~

There was nothing. Castiel was wrapped in darkness as it ate into him, forcing his compliance.

Well, he wasn't entirely alone. There was her.

"You will obey me, Castiel," Naomi said.

"I won't hurt Dean and Sam," he gritted out, throat raw from screaming.

"Don't be cute," Naomi snapped. "What I want is for you to eliminate them. Permanently. You'll kill them, Castiel."

He knew that, he had known that, she had been telling him that for—what was it now, days? He didn't even know anymore. There had been clones of Dean and sometimes Sam too, at first, and he'd slaughtered them even though it had hurt because he thought it would keep Naomi content. And it wasn't like they were the real thing.

He kept telling himself that.

But Naomi had known. How could she not? She was in his head. He had no secrets anymore. He had no sense of self.

He didn't belong to himself anymore, according to her. He belonged to Heaven.

He belonged to her.

He suddenly felt the restraints give and sank to the floor in a humiliatingly submissive pose at her feet. Naomi reached down and gripped his chin.

"Fine. I see you'll continue refusing until I am forced to punish you so much you cease to be useful to me. So instead of wasting my time, I'll make it simple. You'll be nothing more than what you should be. A vessel of intent."

Castiel looked up at her, mouth open in confusion, but she suddenly snapped her fingers and everything went black.

XXX

"Dude, I asked if you had ever heard of anything like this before."

Castiel blinked, shaking himself slightly. Had…had Naomi been in his head again? He was trying to find out, but, honestly it was getting harder to tell. Harder to tell what was real, and how much time slipped that he couldn't remember anymore.

"Cas, are you okay?" Sam asked him, and Castiel saw that his brow was furrowed.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "I was just thinking." He glanced at the research books. A hunt, that was right. "I think it sounds like a gorgon. You know, like from the Greek tales."

"Medusa?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Well, not exactly Medusa, but, similar. They actually paralyze their victims with venom, not their sight. The stories always got that wrong."

"Oh, wow," Sam said, glancing at the books.

"I guess that would explain the snakeskins at the scene," Dean said, shutting the book he was reading. "Okay then, let's go. You coming, Cas?"

The angel was torn. Should he come? It would be nice to just hunt again. And the Winchesters might need help. One of them was certain to get paralyzed, and it would be easier if he were there to heal them on the scene.

He stood, nodding. "Yes."

XXX

It was a disorienting feeling, being pulled from the heat of battle, back to the silence of Naomi's office in Heaven.

"What do you want?" he demanded of her, taking a step before angels came forward and grabbed his arms.

Naomi stood from her desk. "It's time we end this, Castiel."

Castiel struggled against the other angels as she approached him. "What do you mean?"

"I told you, Castiel, if you won't kill the Winchesters yourself, I will take matters into my own hands."

"No," Castiel growled, "Don't—!"

He was suddenly back, making him give a double-take as he looked around and failed to see the Winchesters. He didn't want to call out because he didn't know where the gorgon was.

He used his senses to search for them, and could feel them nearby.

Something moved through the old mine and Castiel carefully slid around a corner, pressing his back up against the wall.

He could sense the gorgon creeping through the rubble, hissing slightly. She was nearby.

"Cas?!" Dean's voice came softly, and Castiel glanced to the side, seeing him and Sam carefully picking through the mine. The gorgon perked up and slipped around another corner to hide.

"Where the hell could he have gone?" Dean grumbled. "I turned my back on him for one second." The worry in his voice was palpable. They were getting closer, and about to fall right into the gorgon's trap.

Castiel made to move out from his position and shout a warning to them before attacking the gorgon.

But that didn't happen.

He didn't make it one step before agony crashed through his body and he was suddenly in his head, back in the darkness. He looked around frantically, but something was covering his eyes. Not physically, but that was somehow worse. Somehow Naomi had made him blind.

"Castiel," she said, voice echoing in the darkness.

"What is this?" he whispered before something clenched in his throat and he choked. Pain ripped through his head and he collapsed to his knees with a gasp.

Naomi came toward him and gripped his hair, pulling his head up.

"That's right, you're just going to sit here and be a good, obedient angel while that creature does your work for you."

Castiel tried to protest but nothing came out of his mouth. He couldn't speak at all. He couldn't see, he struggled, but he was completely under Naomi's control and he couldn't seem to break out of it.

She smirked, all too satisfied as she crouched down to get into his face. "Don't worry, I will let you watch. After all, I suppose it would be cruel of me if you never knew how they died."

The veil was suddenly lifted and Castiel blinked in the dim light of the mine again. Sam and Dean were closer, creeping ever nearer to the gorgon lying in wait.

Castiel's back was pressed against the stone, out of sight, and without the ability to move closer, or move at all. Naomi had locked him down. He tried to shout with everything he had, but there was no sound. Only pain that ripped through his throat, blood pooling up into his mouth.

"Here," Dean said. "There's another room back here."

Sam followed him and that was when the gorgon struck…

Castiel forced himself back into his mind's eye. "Please!" he mouthed to Naomi.

She stared at him, impassive. "This was always going to be the outcome, Castiel. You should be glad that it wasn't by your hands. One day you may thank me for that mercy."

But it wasn't a mercy, and it was by his hands.

He glanced back toward the scene unfolding, horrified to see the gorgon jump out at the Winchesters and spit venom directly into Sam's face.

"Sammy!" Dean cried, and raised his brass blade. But the gorgon was fast and she backhanded the blade out of his grip before catching him around the throat.

Castiel tried to move, but he could barely twitch a muscle. He watched Dean go down, fury and desperation ripping through him.

He turned back inside to glower at Naomi who was still standing there. Something dripped down Castiel's face, and at first, he thought it was tears, but the tang of iron filled his nose, and he realized it was blood.

Naomi's face contorted into a snarl. "Castiel…do not defy me."

Castiel shifted his arm, then slowly rose. Naomi raised a hand.

"Don't try anything, you won't get far," she warned.

With a roar of defiance, Castiel forced himself upright, eyes and throat bleeding.

"This is my head," he gritted from between clenched teeth. "Get. Out!"

He slammed his hand into her chest and savored her shocked expression before she disappeared, thrown backward. Almost instantly, he felt as if the strings she had attached to him snapped.

He sagged, gasping, and blinked, once again back in the mine.

He saw the gorgon standing over Sam and Dean's prone bodies, hissing in pleasure. Castiel rushed in, raising his angel blade and slammed it into her back.

The monster hissed and spat, but eventually slumped to the ground, limp and dead.

Castiel dropped his blade and fell to his knees. He summoned his healing ability, terrified that any second Naomi would take control of him again.

He touched the brothers' foreheads, forcing the paralyzing venom from their bodies and they began stirring within a few seconds.

"Cas?" Dean murmured.

Castiel sat back on his heels, relief flooding through him. But there was something he had to do.

"I'm sorry," he said, and stood. "I need to leave."

He had to get as far away from them as possible before Naomi took control of him again.

"Wait, what?" Sam asked groggily as he sat up.

"I can't explain, but I have to go," Castiel said, standing.

Dean caught his arm. "Cas wait…what the hell happened to you?"

Castiel suddenly remembered the blood that was dripping down his cheeks, more on his lips. He reached up and wiped it away on a sleeve. "It's nothing."

"It's not nothing, are you hurt?" Dean demanded as Sam also frowned with concern.

Castiel pulled out of Dean's grip, growing desperate, feeling the second tick away. "You don't understand, I have to go!"

"Cas, come on, whatever is wrong, you can tell us," Sam coaxed. "And you shouldn't run off without your blade."

Castiel glanced at the blade on the ground, but couldn't pick it up. Not around them. He would rather leave himself defenseless. Sam and Dean stared at him as the younger Winchester held the blade out to him.

"Cas, come on, we know," Dean said. "we know something's up. But we can't help you unless you explain it."

Castiel looked between them, his blade, the blood staining his coat, the dead gorgon. It had all been too close and there would be more close calls.

But…maybe they could lock him down in the bunker. At least until they could find a way to make sure Naomi wouldn't take control of him again.

He sank to his knees, exhausted, throat tight and still sore. Something akin to a sob broke from him. Dean reached out and gripped his shoulder.

"Cas, you can tell us," he said.

Castiel looked up to meet both pairs of eyes. They were his family. He could trust them.

He took a shuddering breath and finally spoke. "There's something I've neglected to tell you, but you need to know…"

I know it ends a little abruptly, but I promise Cas tells the truth and Sam and Dean make sure he's taken care of ^_^