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creatureofmystry · 3 years

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MLB x DC Universe Headcannons

I just love the idea of MLB and DC (expecially Batfam cuz Mari is such a Wayne) being in the same universe and crossing over. So one night, I just had an idea overload of different ways the Marinette would know the batfam/be a part of the DC universe. And if any of my shitty ideas somehow inspire or prompt you, then please be my guest. 😊 _

1) “Ladybugs of Past and Present”

Hippolyta, Wonder Woman’s mother, was once a previous holder of the ladybug miraculous. When Fu activated the miraculous and put them in circulation, Hippolyta could feel its magic waking back up. Knowing there must a reason for it to be out, she sent a message to her daughter. Diana searched, finding Marinette and Adrien as the present holders of the ladybug and cat miraculous. She vouched and brought them into the Young Justice program while they also made their own team, Project: Zodiac (or something like that).

[Sometime when Diana takes Marinette to meet Hippolyta]

“Great Hera, Tikki, you have not aged a day” -Hippolyta, cause she does know how to make joke.

“And I would say the same to you” -Tikki

“Mother, you can make a laugh?” -Wonder Woman, honestly a bit confused cause her mom have never not been serious before.

And Marinette is just speechless cause she’s starstruck meeting Wonder Woman’s mom AND a previous Ladybug holder.

2) “Rockstar Niece”

Jagged Stone is Marinette’s Sweet Uncle J. During the summers, Jagged Stone would take Mari with him on tour. HIs summer tours are throughout America, so Mari gets to sightsee the country. Jagged’s first tour that he gets to take Mari on (5-ish), he’s also booked for the annual (for whatever reason) Wayne Summer Gala. When Marinette meets the Waynes, they are so enamoured (Dick and Tim couldn’t help it) that they tell Jagged he’s always invited as a guest, Mari of course being added to the permanent guest list too. About 6 years later, Mari is practically adopted, spending the first half of her summers with Jagged, going to the Wayne Gala, then spending the rest of her summer with the Waynes. Overtime, she figured out the secrets of the family and was there to welcome Jason back from the dead (when that happens). Anyways, now 11(-ish?) Mari meets Damian and the two become good friends… after an… impressionable first meeting.

“Tch, let me guess, you’re another one of father’s adopted strays” -Dami

“YOU MUST BE DAMIAN!!! DICK TOLD ME ABOUT YOU!!” -Marinette, who just ignores what he said for a hug.

“hiiiiiiiiissssssss” -Dami, touchy with touch

“...” sprays water in his face since he decided to act like a cat.

“I say, Master Bruce, the children are getting along quite well” -Alfred

3) “Pen Pals”

Jon Kent and Marinette Dupain-Cheng are part of an international pen-pal program, starting when they were very young (maybe like 4 or 5-ish, super super young) where they told each other everything (Jon can’t just say that his older bro is a clone made from Superman and Lex Luthor’s DNA, or that his dad is Superman, or that his best friend is Robin, but yea. Lois and Clark probably proofread his stuff until he’s like 9) with pictures and everything. When they’re old enough to get phones & stuff, they call, text and vid-chat along with their letters (love without blood). When Mari is maybe 9-11 (somewhere around there) she starts flying over during the summers to hangout with Jon (and his friends and big brother). While there, she meets Kon, Bat fam, and Clark (some who she already knew, some who she didn’t) & lightly hints that she knows who all they are once she figures it out (it didn’t take her long to do so).

Now whenever she visits and is at Wayne Manor (Jon likes to have sleepovers practically every weekend) while they’re on patrol, Mari subtly messes with their minds (super subtle, they’re the world’s best detectives after all) until they finally look through the cams and see Mari giving them one of those smiles (those shit-grinning cause it’s just so hilarious how it’s gone on for so long) & and a playful wink.

[5 seconds later]

“Mari!” “Pixie-pop!” “Angel!” “Teacup!”

“Seriously, am I the only one with a normal nickname for her?” -Tim

“Ms. Marinette would like to inform you that ‘it took you long enough’” -Alfred (who so knows that the girl has been playing them since the third night she stayed at the Wayne’s)

“Where are my adoption papers?” -Bruce (who is seriously adopting any talented black-haired child)

4) “Mari and Mar’i”

When Mar’i is young, Dick and Kori take her with them to see Paris (btw, this would be during the winter). They’re strolling along through a park and lose track of Mar’i who finds Marinette (9-10 ish). Marinette comforts and distracts Mar’i while noticing the young(er) girl is Tameranian (her hair is very warm and she’s wearing significantly less layers than should be worn for a human of that age during the winter, plus that sun-kissed skin tone. She’s seen Kori in her fashion magazines (and, from time to time, on the news as an ambassador) so she easily make the connections). Dick and Kori finally spot Mar’i with Mari who introduces herself to them. Mar’i asks if she can see her “Auntinette” again and Marinette just goes “if your parents are okay with it.” Dick and Kori are totally cool with it (not many are willing to watch her and have the time to do it) so they ask Marinette if she can babysit Mar’i whenever (with good pay of course) if she’s up to it (cause she’s still pretty young). Marinette can’t say no to Mar’i’s babydoll eyes (and she’s so much easier compared to Manon, who’s only 2 rn), so of course, she says yes.

Now Marinette is Mar’is official babysitter and sees Mar’i often whenever her parents drop her off (using zeta tubes to quickly get to Paris and back). Marinette gets treated like an honorary Wayne (cause she’s the most responsible) and gets invited to their family stuff (w/ travel pay taken care of, of course). It doesn’t take her long to realize the fact that she babysits Bruce Wayne’s & BATMAN’S granddaughter, but of course, being the responsible one she is, keeps the secret… while also playing with them via Mar’i.

[One Day]

After Marinette leaves for her plane…

“Uncle Dami!”

“Yes, Spawn?”

“Auntinette said to tell you after she left that Robin’s sut needs a major upgrade & that you look like a traffic light… whatever that’s supposed to mean.”

[Another Day]

“Uncle Jay!”

“What’s up kid?’

“Auntinette said that to let you know that Red Hood doesn’t make any sense ‘cause Red Hood wears a helmet. Not a hood.”

[The next time]

“Uncle Tim!”

Yawn. “yea?”

“Auntie told me to give you this” (pulls out super caffeinated coffee) “and that Red Robin’s cowl is a menace to all things fashion”

[Again…]

“Daddy!”

“Yes, Starshine?”

“Auntienette said she’s proud of Nightwing’s costume ‘cause it’s one of the only in the batfam that isn’t an astro-city to the fashion society.”

5) “Marinette, the one who’s always getting chosen”

Before Mari became (becomes(?)) LB, she comes across a different powerful piece of jewelry, from a different order of guardians where her will of mind is not only her shield from being akumatized, but it is also what drives her powers. That’s right, Mari walks past a flea market and activates a GL ring. The guardians pick up on this activity and send Hal (it is his sector) to check it out. Hal finds the ring with Mari but it still needs the light of a GL to charge and fully work.

[During the explanation]

“Look, kid-”

“Marinette.”

“Look, kid, I just need to know why you have that ring.”

“You think I know? I was just walking through the market and all of a sudden, this possessed ring, if that’s even what this is, started following me, then zipped in front of my face til i held my hand up so it can put itself on my finger.”

“Kid-”

“It’s MARINETTE. Get it wrong one more time and you’ll see why I don’t need a possessed piece of alien jewelry.” -Marinette, making sure you get her name right. “Besides, if I stole it, I would remember. I’m a klepto” -Marinette, probably holding his ring too at this point.

Hal obviously doesn’t want the wrath of the Dupain-Chengs (just the kid Marinette scares him enough), so he tells the guardians that JL will take care of most of Mari’s training (once they get her a lamp for her ring, of course) & has her take part in training at Mt. Justice with the Young Justice team and special training with the Bats. Mari does all this under the guise of an international student exchange program for Mari to stay with the Waynes (not yet knowing that it’s the bat fam) and attends G.A. Mari doesn’t do much, but it takes her 24-36 hours to know who EVERYONE is.

[the next week after settling in]

“Hey, Mars,” -Dick, in his Nightwing gear

“Hey, Di-is the GREATEST SHOW!” -Mari, changing the subject(… not really)

“How long did it take you?”

“Not as long as the Kryptonians…” -Mari, going off into a tangent (still trying to change the subject”

[When Marinette meets Tikki]

Back in Paris:

“Sooo… I’m getting powerful jewelry that gives me powers and a suit, needs to be recharged, and comes from some Order of the Guardians? What’s the difference between you and my ring?” -Marinette, who at this point is very confused as to why she keeps getting picked on for this kind of stuff.

“One’s alien, one’s magic” -Tikki, hoping Mari will end it there & lowkey hates that the GL Corp. got to her first.

“They’re both non-human made energy sources” -Mari, cause once you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it all before.

“You can’t heal the Akuma without the miraculous, and there are more than just rings. Yours are earrings, there are hair clips, bracelets, necklaces and more” -Tikki, after having a minute to think

“Fine, only because you said they’re the only way to heal the, what was it again, akuma?”

6) “Their Unofficial Official Barista”

Part of Tim’s job as Co-CEO, is to make sure all the branches are running smoothly, sometimes that means he has to fly abroad to manually check in. Tim goes to Paris to check on the W.E. Paris branch. He goes to a nearby Patisserie (Tom and Sabine’s) to see a young Marinette (somewhere from 8-11) drawing in her sketchbook at the counter. She explains that her parents are at a catering event, but she’s there to man the little bakery. Tim asks for a super caffeinated coffee and Marinette makes it with ease, claiming it was on the house with how bad he looks (and how much sleep the man clearly needs). Tim begs for her knowledge and asks if she can teach his butler. Mari’s willing to show him the next time he comes, so he gets the whole fam to go (viz tubes so they don’t waste time) maybe a week later. Everyone gets their own drink (plus a free pastries) and Marinette teaches Alfred her coffee, but it’s just not the same so Tim, using the tubes, goes to get coffee from the girl whenever he can.

Mari is horrible at getting up on time (the life of an insomniac, never getting to sleep even if you want and then barely waking up on time) that she is up super early, makes Tim his coffee (plus a croissant) and tries to go back to sleep (making her inevitably late). Tim would walk up to the pick-up counter where his cup and to-go bag is while Marinette runs out of the house to get to school. Eventually, the rest of the Batfam (as well as the Laegue, TT, and YJ) frequent the place, slowly becoming (Dami too) Mari hides it, but she knew all the batfam the first day they came and she showed Alfred how to make the coffee. When the others start making more regular appearances, she learns the identities of YJ team, WW, GLs, and others. Obviously when LB and CN appear as heroes with HM as their villain, they immediately reach out to help. Because 1. Batfam clearly notices that it’s Mari and they sure as heck won’t let her deal with that by herself, and 2. The JL is worrying too much about their favorite barista (even though she’s not really one), especially with the Gigantitan scare. So, of course LB & CN (can’t make him bad everytime) get inducted into YJ.

[After Ladybug finishes defeating Gigantitan and detransforms]

“Bean! Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” -Tim, being an even more protective older brother than Dick, which shouldn’t be possible

“Yes, I promise. I’m fine” -Marinette, who just accepts the fact that she’s adopted an older brother (and his famliy)

“Tube over, we’ll have Alfred make sure” -Dick, already pulling out the medical supplies for Alfred.

“I-”

“You shouldn’t worry your brothers like that, Marinette. Now come over so Alfred can clear you,” -Bruce, who just happens to overhear the conversation

“I’m sorry, Miss Marinette, they are very adamant that you’re in pitch perfect health before going out again,” -Alfred, who’s not actually sorry

“Fine” -Marinette, accepting her fate of her adopted, protective family.

7) “Thicker Than the Blood We’ve Shed”

Why is Marinette so freakishly strong? Because she was trained to be. Before she could even talk, Mari was taught to be an assassin. She and Damian were frenemies, both competing for top spot as best in the League (of Assassins). They often spared together and became rivals who pushed each other (which sounds great in that context if you forget about the fact that they’re killing people and turning it into a competition). When Damian’s care is turned over to Batsy, Mari also comes along for the ride. She implements herself into Dami’s classes at G.A. & watches him from afar. (Damian, not being an idiot, of course knows all this and knows that it’s probably for Mari to give a report to Talia.) When he becomes Robin, Mari obviously knows, but waits to see if anything drastic would happen (his care was given to the Batfam, they had already expected this to happen.) She then heard word of the bounty Talia put on Damian’s head. Marinette knew there wouldn’t be much she could do to help, but she ave Dami a warning about the upcoming situation before fleeing the country.

From there she got to France, changed her name (it wasn’t originally Marinette, it was Shénqí, chinese for miraculous/magical (or something else if you want)), was adopted by Tom & Sabine, and left her time in the League in the past. When she received Tikki, she didn’t want to be a hero because she didn’t think she deserved it after her up-bringing. Eventually, she did become LB (being a trained assassin does help with lucky charms, considering she was taught how to kill with basically every and anything), and life was good for her. Then Rossi came.

[Gotham field trip]

While at Wayne Tower…

“How idiotic are they?” -Damian, who after reuniting with his long-lost sister-from-a-different-mister (yes, Marinette was able to convince him to say it once), can’t understand the stupidity she has to deal with.

“Are you Robin?” -Mari, who is too tired, so just goes straight into the analogy

“Yes.” -Obvious and simply is.

“Exactly” -Mari, who can’t even put a limit to the amount of thought the one brain cell the class shares doesn’t use. I mean please, the so-called “reporter” believed that the first cosplayer she saw was the actual LB when they don’t even have the same hair! And let’s not forget the origins arc, where LB’s first citizen save was Chloe.

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bechloeislegit · 3 years

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My Spy - Chapter 7

The Bellas stared in awe at the show DSM was putting on. Beca furrowed her brows as the set ended and the crowd went a bit crazy, clapping, yelling, and cheering.

"Do we clap?" Flo asked.

"If you want," Beca said, slowly clapping her hands.

The rest of the Bellas followed suit.

"Beca," Stacie said, getting their Captain's attention. "The set lasted longer than we thought. Maybe we should go so you can get to Starbucks to meet Chloe."

Beca pulled out her phone to check the time.

"You're right," Beca said, distractedly.

Beca noticed a text from Chloe and pulled it up. Her shoulders dropped and she turned to the Bellas.

"Chloe had to cancel," Beca said, disappointment in her voice.

"What?" Emily said. "Why?"

"She's got to leave town for something work-related," Beca said as tears stung her eyes. "At this rate, I may never get to see her again."

"Call her!" Ashley blurted.

"What?!" Beca asked.

"Ashley's right," Jessica said. "Better yet, FaceTime her. You'll get to see each other while you talk."

The other Bellas were nodding their heads.

"You think I should?"

"Yes," the collective voices practically scream at Beca.

"No!" one voice shouted to be heard over the others.

"Stacie?" Beca asked, looking over at the leggy Bella.

"This whole thing started with her choosing her job over you," Stacie said. "If you call her, you'll just be setting yourself up for more heartache down the road. Because she will always choose her job over you."

"You. . .you can't know that," Beca said.

"History has a habit of repeating itself, Beca," Stacie said. "We just have to remember that and learn from it."

"But, but," Beca stammered. "I'm still in love with her. I understand she has a job and will sometimes have to run off at the drop of a hat and I'm okay with that if it means we'll be together. Can't you understand that?"

"I can," Stacie said, smiling at Beca. "I just wanted to make sure you did."

Beca's jaw dropped as she stared at Stacie.

"What?" Emily said. "So, you were testing Beca?"

"Yes," Stacie said. "She sounded unsure if she should call Chloe. If she understood all that would entail, she wouldn't be asking us if she should, she would just do it."

"That's true," CR said. "Not a cool way to go about it though."

"It worked," Stacie said, shrugging.

"So, Beca," Jessica said. "To answer your original question, we all think you should definitely call or FaceTime Chloe."

The other Bellas nodded in agreement.

"Fine," Beca said, holding up her hands in surrender. "But, I'm going to wait and do it when we get back to Barden where I can have some privacy."

"Fair enough," CR said. "Let's go."

~~ My Spy ~~

Beca paced back and forth in her room, clutching her phone in her hand. Her mind kept replaying what Stacie said over and over, and she was starting to wonder if calling Chloe was such a good idea after all. There were still too many questions that needed answers.

Beca felt like she was back to square one when all this started. She definitely wanted answers to a few things.

"And I can only get those answers from Chloe," Beca thought.

Beca sighed and sat on the edge of her bed. Her mind is working overtime on the whole "should I or shouldn't I" question. Unfortunately, this question was one only she could answer.

Beca continued sitting and thinking when her phone rang. Looking at the caller ID she huffed and considered declining the call. She would have done just that but knew that she would just keep calling until Beca answered.

"What the fuck do you want, mom?" Beca asked, answering the call.

"Is that any way to talk to your mother?" Sarah asked.

"You're lucky I'm talking to you at all," Beca snapped back.

"Are you still mad about the whole thing with Chloe?" Sarah asked. "Get over it. It happened. Grow up and move on."

"Get over it? Grow up and move on?" Beca repeated. "Do you hear yourself right now? You lied to Chloe and didn't tell me about it. You laid the blame for everything that happened to dad on Chloe, instead of dad where it belongs. And, quite honestly, if it weren't for the fact that Chloe and I are trying to work things out, you and I wouldn't be talking at all."

"You're seeing Chloe?" Sarah asked.

"Um, not yet," Beca said hesitantly. "But, we're talking again. Or rather texting. And, I'm hoping it will lead to actually seeing her and telling her I still love her."

Sarah sighed into the phone and remained silent for a few minutes.

"Mom?" Beca asked when the silence became almost unbearable. "Are you still there?"

"I'm still here," Sarah said, inhaling deeply before saying, "Your father wants to see you."

"What?! Why?"

"He wants to explain how the authorities got it wrong about him," Sarah said.

"Can he also explain how the Prosecutors and the jury got it wrong, too? Evidence does not lie; people do."

"I believe you owe it to him to listen to what he has to say."

"I don't owe him anything," Beca said, her voice rising. "And, I'm not going to see him. Why are you even talking to him?"

"Because I believe him," Sarah said.

"Oh, right," Beca scoffed. "Because he would never lie to you."

"He's not the same man he was fifteen years ago."

"You're right," Beca said. "He's not. Fifteen years ago he wasn't a convicted drug smuggler and dealer. He was a lying, cheating adulterer."

"He's still your father," Sarah said coldly.

"Yeah, but only when it's convenient for him," Beca said and then a thought struck her. "Oh, my God, you still love him!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sarah said quietly.

"That's it, isn't it?" Beca asked. "You still love him. That's why you're defending him."

"We've been divorced for fifteen years."

"Do I need to remind you why you divorced him?" Beca asked.

"He apologized for all that," Sarah said.

"You are unbelievable," Beca said. "And I'm through with this conversation. I have more important people to talk to. Someone I actually want to talk to."

Beca ended the call before her mother could say anything more. She immediately pulled up Chloe's contact info and pressed call. The call went to voicemail so Beca left a message, asking Chloe to call her back.

"Now it's up to Chloe," Beca mumbled, putting her phone in her pocket.

~~ My Spy ~~

The jet to New York was full with several agents from Atlanta going along to help with the arrests. Chloe was sitting next to her Uncle Matt, the Director of her Unit. She had her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand as she looked out the window at the night sky.

"This is my last assignment," Chloe thinks to herself as she glances over at her Uncle Matt. "I just need to tell him and let him know I'm serious. I can't be running off to another assignment all the time if I want to be with Beca. And I really want to be with Beca."

Chloe sighed. "If I don't quit, I don't think Beca will wait around for me."

"Okay, team, we're about ten minutes out," Matt said, standing and looking around at the agents. "When we get there, we'll be heading straight to the New York office to go over the plans for tomorrow. Beale, have you heard anything from Kommissar?"

"Not yet, sir," Chloe said, looking up at him. "The last thing I got from her was that the shipment will be in New York and that's where I'm supposed to pick it up."

"Maybe the New York office has some more intel," Jason said. "By now they should have checked the manifests for shipments from Germany."

"I'm sure they have," Matt said, sitting back down next to Chloe. He leaned in to quietly ask, "Chloe, are okay? Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Yes, sir," Chloe said. "It's all good."

~~ My Spy ~~

Beca woke the next morning to find several texts from Chloe. She scrolled through to read them all.

[11:43 PM] I got your message but it's late so I'll call you tomorrow if that's okay

[11:48 PM] I want to talk to you but I'm going to be tied up most of tomorrow so it might be late when I call

[11:50 PM] I'd really like to see you

[11:50 PM] I miss you

[1:20 AM] I love you

"She still loves me," Beca mumbled as a tear came to her eye.

Beca ran a hand through her hair and wiped away the tear before sending a response. After pressing send, Beca got out of bed and made her way to the kitchen.

Stacie, Jessica, and Ashley all looked up when Beca entered.

"Good morning," Beca said.

"Hey, Beca," Jessica said. "Did you talk to Chloe?"

"Not yet," Beca said as she fixed herself a cup of tea. "I left a message last night for her to call me. And, this morning I woke up to several texts from her explaining that she would be busy most of the day and would call me later tonight."

Beca smiled as she sipped her tea.

"What's got you smiling?" Stacie asked. "The thought of finally talking to Chloe or something else?"

"It's nothing," Beca said.

"Doesn't look like nothing," Ashley said.

"Yeah, Beca," Stacie said. "What's up?"

"She texted that she misses me," Beca said. Her smile grew bigger as she added, "And that she still loves me."

"Beca!" Jessica squealed. "That's great news."

"No wonder you're smiling," Stacie said, chuckling. "I feel like I'm in the middle of one of those cheesy romcoms. I can't wait to see the ending when the girl gets the girl."

Beca chuckled. "Fingers crossed that it actually ends that way."

"It will," Jessica said adamantly. "You two are definitely soulmates and are meant to be together."

~~ My Spy ~~

"She still loves me," Chloe mumbled as she finished reading Beca's text.

A smile came to Chloe as she thought, "Maybe we'll get to be together sooner rather than later."

Chloe's 'work' phone pinged with a new text notification. She looked at the message and placed a call to her Uncle Matt.

"Hello, Chloe," Matt said, answering the call.

"The meeting with Kommissar is set for eleven this morning," Chloe said.

"That's perfect," Matt said. "It gives us more than enough time to get our men in place."

"I'll leave the hotel at ten-thirty," Chloe said. "Just to confirm the plan. I'll have my video glasses and wrist cuffs on so we can get both audio and visual on everything. I'll put my glasses up on my head to let the guys know when you should move in."

"That's it," Matt said. "Jason will arrest you, so make it look good."

"Roger that, sir," Chloe said. "Be careful out there, Uncle Matt. I have a feeling Kommissar and her team will not go down without a fight."

"Copy that," Matt said. "You do the same, Chloe."

"Yes, sir," Chloe said and ended the call.

~~ My Spy ~~

Chloe got out of her rental car and looked around. Kommissar was walking toward her, so Chloe waited by the car.

"Do you really need all these men with guns?" Chloe asked as Kommissar reached her.

"Yes," Kommissar responded. "This is a dangerous business we're in and we need to be ready for anything."

Chloe nodded. "I agree, but ten AK-47s is a bit much."

"Let's just get this done," Pieter said. "I don't like being out in the open like this."

"Lead the way," Chloe said.

Pieter and Kommissar started walking through a maze of shipping containers; Chloe followed behind them with the rest of Kommissar's group falling in behind her.

They finally stopped and Chloe did the same. She looked the container up and down and scanned all around to include the men to ensure everything was caught on camera.

Kommissar furrowed her brow and squinted her eyes at Chloe. "Where are your people? Surely, you aren't planning on moving all this by yourself."

"They're around," Chloe said, smiling. "Once everything is set, I'll have someone come unload everything into our trucks. Now, quit stalling, and let me see what you've got."

Kommissar looked over to Pieter and nodded her head. Pieter took a key out of his pocket and opened the lock on the container. He pulled open the door and Chloe nearly gasped at what was inside. There were pallets of drugs filling the container from top to bottom and side to side.

"Awesome," Chloe said, stepping forward as she pulled a knife and a small test tube out of her back pocket.

Chloe took one of the bundles and punched the knife into it. She took a finger and dipped it into the white powder slipping it into the test tube. She shook the tube and held it up as she watched to see if it would change color.

"Wow," Chloe said as the liquid turned a dark red. "Very nice."

Chloe took off her sunglasses and moved them to her head.

"There's the signal," Matt said into his headset. "Everyone move in!"

Several men moved from their hiding places.

"FBI!" voices called out.

Kommissar and Pieter stood for a moment, frozen in shock. Kommissar was the first to move. Chloe grabbed her arm to stop her.

"You set me up," Chloe screamed. "I should kill you for this."

"It wasn't me," Kommissar said.

"We gotta get out of here," Chloe said.

Chloe turned, pulling Kommissar by the arm; she stopped when she came face-to-face with Jason and several other FBI agents holding guns on them.

"Fuck," Chloe said, dropping Kommissar's arm. "My bosses aren't going to like this. I'm so dead."

Several gunshots rang out and Kommissar fell to the ground.

"What the Hell?" Chloe said, running over to kneel by Kommissar.

Chloe checked Kommissar's pulse and couldn't find one. She looked around and saw Pieter run between two of the shipping containers.

"He's getting away," Chloe yelled, jumping up to follow him.

"Stop! Put your hands up and drop to your knees," Jason shouted at Chloe while pointing his gun at her.

Chloe stopped and looked around again. She noticed several of the DSM members looking over at her. She raised her hands and dropped to her knees as instructed.

Jason moved to Chloe and handcuffed her. He then pulled her to a standing position.

"We've been trying to catch you for months," Jason snarled at Chloe so that the DSM members nearby could hear.

"I'll be out in less than two hours," Chloe shot back with a smirk.

Jason pulled Chloe toward a waiting police car and shoved her into the backseat. Jason got into the car with her and the car drove off. Once they were far enough away, Jason uncuffed Chloe.

"That was some scary shit," Jason said, running a hand through his hair. "I can't believe they took out Kommissar like that."

"I saw Pieter running away after Kommissar went down," Chloe said. "I think he shot her."

"I'm pretty sure he did," Jason said, pressing his earpiece to his ear to listen to chatter among the agents. "Our guys chased after him and cornered him. He shouted something about loyalty and then shot himself in the head."

"Oh, my God," Chloe said. "I knew they were extremists, but I wasn't expecting that."

"Surprised everyone," Jason said. "Looks like we're here."

Chloe and Jason get out of the car and hurried into the New York headquarters building. They went to the main office to settle in and wait for the others to return so they could be debriefed.

~~ My Spy ~~

The team had been debriefed and Unit Director Matt Collins was standing in front of his team. He looked around the room at them.

"You all did a great job today," Matt said, smiling at the group. "Take the next few days off and get some rest. We've got another big assignment coming up, but we'll discuss that later. For those who need to get back, the jet will be leaving for Atlanta at nine tonight."

Chloe perked up. She can get back to Atlanta tonight and still have time to call Beca.

"You're all dismissed," Matt said. "I'll see you all bright and early on Monday morning. Enjoy your time off."

The group gathered their belongings, murmuring thank yous as they left the conference room. Chloe held back for a moment.

"I'd like to talk with you before Monday," Chloe told Matt. "That is if you have some time."

"Is now good?" Matt asked. At Chloe's nod, he said, "Okay, then. Please take a seat."

Matt sat down and Chloe did the same. She looked at Matt and Matt looked back at her.

"I'm putting in my notice," Chloe said. "I'm quitting the agency."

"May I ask why?" Matt asked.

"I want a life," Chloe said. running a hand through her hair. "One where I can be with the person I love and not have to worry about my job interfering with it. I want to be with Beca. I still love her, Uncle Matt."

Matt sat back in his chair and looked at Chloe.

"Can I ask you to stay for one more assignment?" Matt asked. "Once you hear what it is, I think you'll want to be a part of it."

Chloe hated to admit it, but she was intrigued.

"What, um, what is the assignment?" Chloe asked.

"Does the name Fergus Hobart ring any bells with you?"

"Hobart? That name sounds familiar," Chloe said. She sat and thought for a moment. "Amy!"

"Amy?"

"Yes," Chloe said. "Fat Amy's last name is Hobart. They might be related."

"That's right," Matt said, pulling out a folder and opening it. "Amy's real name is Patricia Hobart. We think she changed it when she came to the U.S. to go to school. Her father is a known arms trafficker and Patricia is his only child. Patricia's mother died under suspicious circumstances and the Australian authorities believe Fergus killed her, but they haven't been able to prove it. That's where we come in. It is alleged that Fergus Hobart has been smuggling illegal firearms into the U.S. We've been asked to work with Australian authorities to get the evidence needed to arrest and convict him."

"Does Amy know all this about her father?"

"We don't know, but we're hoping that as a former Bella you would be the connection we need to find out."

"You're asking me to spy on my friends," Chloe said. "Or rather the people who used to be my friends."

"Essentially, yes," Matt said. "But, it will take some time to investigate Hobart before we can need to worry about how much his daughter knows. For all we know she could be helping him and school is not the only reason she's here. So, what do you say, Chloe? Are you going to help us bring down Fergus Hobart?"

"I'm in," Chloe said, standing and turning toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Matt asked.

"I need to go pack so I don't miss my ride back to Atlanta."

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

A/N: The next update will be set six months after Worlds. Most of the Bellas have graduated and Beca and Amy have moved to New York together.

#bechloe fanfiction #beca mitchell #chloe beale #bechloe #bechloeislegit

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flying-nightwing · 3 years

Text

Double Cross (Jason Todd)

Hi people! So this is my little project I was talking about. A sudden blurb of inspiration led me to this and uh. Here it is! Once again, this is super experimental so yeah idk about its potential. You’ll be the judge of that I guess

This time I worked on time jumps back and forth and perspectives, so let me know how it turned out!

Masterlist in bio/pinned!

Pairing: Jason Todd x gender neutral!reader

Word count: 6937

Warnings: swearing, uhhh idk it’s dc so you know what you’re into

-- 36 hours ago --

Your heart was beating hard against your ribcage as you flew down Washington DC's streets. Your motorcycle was burning under you, and you had a feeling you were on the clock to get off of this ticking time bomb before it exploded and brought you down with it. The bullet holes broke the black paint, decorating your bike in a way that flagged unwanted attention. About six blocks ago, unmarked cars had joined your fast paced parade across the city.

A terrible mistake, all of this was. That was certain.

You took a sharp right, your knee scraping on the asphalt on the way. An infernal noise came out of your bike, but you still willed it to accelerate on the straight alley. You shot back on the main roads like a bullet, swerving around the black police car that had tried to cut you off. But soon enough, you saw the blockade on the street in front of you. You could never jump it with your bike so in disarray, and there were no viable alleys to sneak into. You shut your eyes tight for a moment, then exhaled.

"I'm sorry Jason" You muttered to yourself. "But you left me no choice"

With a firm grip, you pressed the brakes and came to a stop a fair distance from the blockade. You turned off your bike and kicked the foot to hold it up, slowly getting off and pulling your hands up. Shouts erupted around you as the police mobilised themselves in tight formations, guns up and ready to shoot. With one hand up, you undid your tinted black helmet and let it fall to the ground.

"On your knees!" An officer shouted as he approached. "Keep your hands where I can see them"

You complied.

-- Now --

The white of the neons glaring down on you made your already tired eyes hurt, saturating your vision with a harsh and constant flash of light. You were left alone with a room temperature glass of water on your left and your own reflection on your right. You couldn’t hear them, but you knew they were there, observing you. Instead, all you could see was the dark bags under your eyes and your messy greasy hair.

You perked up when two men in suits came in by the door in front of you, thin files in their hands and calculating glances. They were nicely dressed, one with a gray suit and the other, black. Both suits were obviously tailored to them. They sat down in front of you and observed you before the one in the gray suit spoke. Dark hair, blue eyes, taller than the other, maybe around six feet.

“Good morning, Agent”

You only nodded, looking down to the table.

“My name is Agent Baker,” He said. “My colleague here is Agent Tanev. We will proceed to your debriefing”

“Sure” You nodded again.

Agent Baker set a recording device on the desk and turned it on. “Please tell us again why you are here today”

“I am--” You paused, clearing your throat. “I am here today to deliver crucial information on a wanted criminal in exchange for a pardon”

“Which wanted criminal should that be?”

“The Red Hood” You said, meeting his eyes. “I have names of associates, safe houses locations, frequent territories of operation as well as his specific m.o.”

“How come you know all of this?” He asked, his voice neutral. “No seasoned agent has ever managed to get this close to him, let alone a rookie. We want to know how you gained his trust, start from the beginning, spare no details. Leave nothing out”

“I met the Red Hood during operation 7381 in northern Lithuania” You began as Agent Tanev started to take notes. “I was in the back up team for the extraction of General Kradiev from a local opposant group. I wasn’t supposed to even see action, as it should have been simple enough against an untrained mob, but when is it ever…”

They had known you were coming. A whole grab and go operation had been compromised by the feeling of invincibility of the CIA, that looked down so much on whoever they went against that they never stopped to think that maybe--maybe--they were prepared.

So when the Alpha team stormed the country house where the General was supposed to be kept and found it empty, all action plans were thrown out the window. The Beta team was mobilised to close off all the roads surrounding the area and to search for the hostage. You were ordered to search a single decaying house in between two pine trees because the structure was so old, so nobody could have ever been hiding in its debris. However, as you were leaving, you heard whimpers coming from the cellar a few feet away from the foundations. Carefully, you made your way to the wooden doors on the ground, and after making sure your magazine was full and the safe of your semi automatic off, you kicked the doors open and raced down the stairs.

“Don’t move or I’ll blow your head off” You yelled, pointing your gun at the first person you saw. It was clearly a man, wearing a bright red helmet that shone under the single lightbulb hanging down from the ceiling. He slowly held up his hands, but he didn’t seem so bothered. Your eyes found another man next, tied to a chair and wearing a bag on his head. The military uniform was a dead giveaway of his identity, so you returned your full attention to the red helmet guy. “You’re going to back up and face the wall now”

“Or what?” He challenged. “You’ll ‘blow my head off’?”

“Shut up!” You barked, taking a step forward. Your firearm was ready to shoot. “Do as I fucking say”

“You’re CIA uh?” He changed the subject, looking down at your marked bulletproof vest and not listening to you. In fact, he didn’t seem worried at all by the situation he was in. “Should have known. You guys have never cared who lived or died. What fucking difference does it make, as long as they’re good pals with the good ol’ US of A right?”

“God would you just fucking shut up and back up” You were getting impatient, but also nervous. You were alone without backup, with a guy in a red helmet who was clearly taunting you, and you had never shot anyone before. It was your first oversea mission, and already it was fucking catastrophic.

“See, that’s the thing” He held a finger up. “You’re pointing a gun at me like I’m the bad guy, while you are trying to rescue the scum of humanity. You’re going to extract him, give him a nice long life on Florida’s golf courses with the taxpayers' money and wipe out from History the mass graves in the woods two miles away”

You remained silent.

“Oh, did you not know about the mass graves?” He asked rhetorically in a mocking tone. “Your friend here decided he wanted to test the new shipment of automatic weapons, because their bullets per minute capacity had been expanded. And what better targets than the group of students that opposed the american military presence in the country? The youngest was 16 and her name was Vera Beliskava. Isn’t that right, Kradiev?”

He pulled the hood from the general to reveal his bloodied and bruised face. He had been gagged and beaten, that was obvious. He looked at you, pleading.

“You’re the only one who saw” The man in red said, softer this time. “You don’t have to save that piece of trash. Just say your search came up empty and I’ll make him disappear from the Earth's face permanently without leaving so much as a trace. Nobody else will know, and you will go to sleep knowing you made the world a better place”

You took a breath, a million thoughts running into your head. Who was that guy? Why was he here? Why did he not attack you, while he clearly had a handgun strapped on his thigh? Could he be right about Kradiev? You knew he didn’t have the cleanest record concerning human rights, but mass graves?

“Beta team, report”

You both froze as your comm broke the silence. He gave you a challenging look as you were still debating. You wanted to do good, that’s why you went into the secret services. Being complicit in mass murder wasn’t something you signed up on.

“Nothing to report on the north road”

“Clear in the valley”

“Farmer’s house empty”

“No traffic on the south road”

You knew it was your turn now. Slowly, you reached for your comm, not breaking eye contact.

“Pinetree house’s clear” You spoke in a flat line, decided and direct as you lowered your gun. You shut down your comm and glanced at Kradiev, whose relief morphed into fear once again as your decision registered. You averted your eyes.

“You made the right choice”

“I hope so, or I’m dead” You mumbled. “I’m going back now. Don’t make me regret my decision”

“You won’t”

“So just to be clear,” Agent Baker frowned. “You just… Believed him? And you let General Kradiev in his hands?”

“When I left, I went to check, and the graves were there. Kradiev was guilty”

“That was not your decision to make” He pointed out.

“I know” You sighed. “That was my first mistake. I-- I lost it for a moment. He mentioned the graves and the victims and there were so many people the same age as them I could think about and I decided with my feelings rather than my judgement. And I’m paying the price today”

“Alright” He mumbled, passing a hand on his face like he was already done with this debriefing. “When did you cross paths with him again?”

“We were back in America” You continued. “By that time, I was no longer on training wheels. It was a little more than a year later, in Newport Oregon during operation 9004. We were busting a trans pacific drug dealer on the docks when we got unexpected company…”

You were running as well as you could through the maze of freight containers on the docks, trying to push back the pain of the bullet in your leg. You had drawn the fire of the hired gang so your colleagues could proceed, but things went down the drain when you were met with heavier fire than the briefing stated. Outnumbered and outran, you stopped in your tracks and closed your eyes, taking a deep breath. You wouldn’t go out as a coward, that was certain. If you went down, you’d take as many of them as you could with you.

You reopened your eyes and checked the magazine of your gun, letting it drop on the ground and pushing a full one in. You loaded and clicked the safe off, flexing your fingers on the handle as footsteps surrounded you. You spun around and pulled the trigger, but before the bullet even reached your target, two men dropped on his side.

You weren’t the only shooter.

Thinking it was backup from your team, you allowed yourself to back up against a container, trying to stop the bleeding. You were starting to feel light headed, but you still had a bit more fight in you. Soon enough, all hostiles were down, and you were in for a surprise. Instead of the black uniform of your colleagues, you looked up to a red bat, a leather jacket and a familiar red helmet. You squinted your eyes and let out a chuckle of disbelief.

“Do I even wanna know?” You asked.

“I owed you one” He shrugged. “You okay?”

You looked down to your leg, your pants soaked in blood that was already cooling, then back up again. “Peachy” You gave him a thumbs up. “You were right about Kradiev. He was a fucking trash bag”

“It’s often the case” He said as he rested his hands on his hips.

“You here for Hiko?”

“Yep” He nodded, then snorted derisively. “Any tips?”

Ever since Kradiev, you have developed a habit of researching your target better. Most of the time, it was a capture or an execution on site, so it didn’t matter the extent of their crimes. But there were moments when you were extracting the package without knowing what came next, and those times usually meant they’ll make them disappear under a new identity, without giving them any repercussion for their actions. This one, Hiko, was the later case, without any plan revealed for when you get him back. He was a known drug trafficker, but he was also rumored to smuggle people back and forth between Asia and North America through the docks he owned. The Red Hood’s appearance was well timed, to say the least.

“Sneak past the squad through the east” You panted. “If you can move on top of the containers without being seen or heard, you’ll cut them off with about two minutes to spare. Make sure you’re gone with Hiko when they bust through the door, or neither of us will ever find him again”

He paused, studying you. “Thanks…” He trailed off. “Why are you telling me this again?”

“Well, you said it yourself” You managed to smirk. “If I can go to sleep knowing I made the world a better place”

He didn’t answer with anything else but a quick nod before he climbed the containers and disappeared from your field of vision. You sighed, then reached for your comm. “Alpha 003 to central, I’m down and need medical attention, Northwest entry of the docks”

“So if I understand correctly, not only you let him go again,” Baker exhaled, looking bewildered. “But you told him how to get there first? You realize those are becoming serious crimes right?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t” You snapped, before recomposing yourself. Both agents had backed away just a little at your outburst. You sighed, running a hand through your hair. “Sorry. I’m just tired, it’s been a crazy last two days”

“Did he offer you any medical help then?” Baker returned on topic.

“No, I called the medics and I was extracted with the chopper” You replied. “I knew he was there for Hiko, not for me. It was a coincidence we crossed paths, and at that point I thought it was the last time I’d see him. I mean, what are the chances, right? But you see, that here was my second mistake”

“How so?”

“The CIA goes after threats to national security, but so does he, in his own way” You said, locking eyes with Baker. “The guy’s everywhere, even where we don’t go. And he’s at least three steps ahead of us at any turn. He has good funds, good intel and exceptional skills. You don’t find him, he finds you. And that’s what he did”

“He contacted you after the affair on the docks?” He raised an eyebrow.

“We could say that...”

You finished washing your tea cup when you heard a thud coming in from your living room. Slowly, you grabbed the gun hidden in your cupboard and held it up, quietly making your way to the next room. You rounded the corner and pointed your gun to the man standing with his back to you, registering his identity as he turned around. You must have been a sight in your baby pink pajama shorts and mismatching turquoise tank top, pointing your handgun to a man in a shiny red helmet.

You scoffed and lowered your gun, clicking the safe back on and putting the firearm on the lamp table. “Breaking and entering, really?”

“Wouldn’t be the worst crime I’ve committed” He shrugged, and you could just imagine him rolling his eyes, whoever he was under that helmet.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, crossing your arms against your chest. “How did you find me?”

“Like I find anyone” He answered like it was the simplest of evidence. You waited for him to continue, but he seemed to have no intention to reveal his methods. This time, you rolled your eyes. “And I’m here because I wanted to check on your leg”

“No you’re not” You snorted. He would have come months ago if it was about that, and even then, the little you knew about him told you he was not the kind to just check upon people who didn’t mean anything to him. “But I’m doing fine, thanks”

“You’re welcome” He nodded. “And you’re right. I need something from you”

“Well, go ahead, since you’re already in” You gestured at him to go on.

“Wait wait wait” Baker held his hand up. “He broke into your house and you just let him? You put your gun down and didn’t call anyone?”

“Yeah, that’s what I just said” You replied slowly.

“And it never occured to you that he was dangerous?”

You paused, thinking your answer over. “No, it didn’t. I mean, if he wanted to get rid of me, he would have done it on the docks where I was an easy target”

“Fair point” Tanev muttered under his breath, earning him a glare from Baker.

“Now do you want to know what happened or not?” You said, annoyed at the interruption.

“Please, go ahead”

He reached inside his jacket and handed you a file. You took it and opened it, staring at the picture and the description beside it. “This is Ian Markstrom, he has been suspected to kidnap young women, mostly tourists, to sell them on the sex trafficking market” He began. “Not only is he friends with your big bosses, but those who were brave enough to try and get him locked up never got anything to stick, and that was the best case scenario. The others either disappeared or ended up dead, so I’m assuming someone in this government does not want Markstrom to stop”

You nodded. “What can I do for you?”

“There’s a secret auction strictly reserved for the elite, Markstrom will sell his best teenagers there” He explained, a hint of disgust in his voice. “The CIA chief of operation received an invitation. I want to know what it says on the card”

“I’m not sure I’m good enough to reach anywhere near it” You mumbled. “But sure, I’ll try”

“No, I believe in you” He said, and he seemed pretty sure of himself. You raised an eyebrow to hide your surprise at his compliment. “What I’m wondering though, is why you’re not asking questions”

“Well, you are two in two so far about targeting the bad guy” You said after a moment. “You seem qualified to spot ‘em, and you’d be real twisted to to make up that scenario for a petty revenge, so I’m guessing you’re on the mark again”

“Huh. You might just be the only smart CIA agent I’ve ever met”

You snorted. “Well, the more it goes the more I’m questioning the integrity of my employer”

“You keep impressing me”

“With what I saw, I believe the bar was pretty low to start with”

“Keep talking like this and I might need a cold shower”

“You’re an ass, you know that?”

He let out a short bark of laughter. “If only you knew”

“I’ll do my best for the invitation” You brought him back on topic, closing the file and putting it beside your handgun. “How can I contact you if I get it?”

He paused, then took a step forward and grabbed your wrist. He fetched a pen from his jacket and wrote a number. “This is a burner phone, which I will destroy after this whole deal. Don’t try and trace me with that, it won’t end well for you”

“Yeah yeah” You rolled your eyes, pulling back your arm when he was done. You cleared your throat, trying to ignore his overwhelming proximity. “I gave you two fast passes just to trick you into seeking my help to finally bag you, I’m busted”

“Hey, listen” He backed up, holding his hand in surrender. “I make that threat to everyone. It’s only a disclosure thing, I didn’t doubt your motivation”

“To each their own I guess” You shrugged. “Alright. If this is all, please get out of my apartment”

“Oop, sure”

Baker blinked slowly. “And did you? Communicate him the details?”

“Yeah” You nodded. “I managed to get into the chief of operation’s office, break into his safe, memorize the date, time and place of the auction and communicate it to Red”

“Red?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Short for Red Hood” Tanev clarified, and judging by yet another glare from Baker, he wouldn’t speak anytime soon.

“He kept it on the quiet, but after that the chief of operation did seem a changed man” You smirked, before dropping it instantly. “And I didn’t hear anything from Markstrom, it was like he disappeared for good, which he most likely did. So I guess the Red Hood succeeded in taking him down”

“Jesus Christ” He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Why do I have the feeling it wasn’t the last law you broke?”

“Because it wasn’t”

“Are you going to make a habit out of dropping out of nowhere to ask me for favors?”

This time, you knew who had broken into your property without even looking. You put the keys into your car and turned the engine on, trying to warm yourself. The Red Hood pulled himself upright from your backseat, shaking his head.

“Your car is very comfortable,” He declared. “You have good taste”

“So that means yes”

“Back at it again with your superior deduction skills”

“What do you want?” You went straight to the point, but you were just a little amused. You could have a worst stalker.

“I’ve been thinking this through,” He began, moved his legs so he was properly seated on the backseat. “You are skilled and you’ve got balls of steel. I could use your help more often. A partnership, if you might”

“Why do I have the feeling it took a lot to admit that and reach out?”

“Because I don’t just trust people” He said plainly. “They disappoint me, among other things”

“So why me?”

“Like I said, skills and balls of steel” He repeated. “You went against the fucking CIA not once, not twice but thrice to do the right thing. That’s enough of a test of will for me. And besides, your job would be an advantage that is hard to turn away”

“Makes sense” You mumbled as you put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking spot. He buckled his belt like it was a reflex. “Will this partnership imply me shooting bad guys?”

“If that’s what you wish for” He shrugged, leaning forward in the space between the two front seats. “I won’t be the one to limit you”

“Okay, yeah” You nodded. “Where do we start?”

Baker was looking into nothing, processing your words. He shook his head slowly in disbelief before he met your glance. “I shouldn’t be surprised” He spoke after a moment. “But this is Everest high levels of stupid”

“At that time it did seem like a good idea”

“Yeah, might as well jump off of a bridge…” He trailed off, eying you suspiciously. “Did you do that too?”

“Well, if we consider the time when--”

“You know what, don’t tell me” He cut you off. “Please go on”

“Alright” You held your hands up in surrender. “So, where was I?”

You and the Red Hood operated on the field like a well oiled machine. Your expertise and contacts with the CIA helped him get into places way more easily than alone, and your somewhat reckless ways were compatible with his mode of operation. You knew who he was as well, you found out after he nonchalantly took off his helmet after a stakeout. You had not been prepared for what you saw then, when you were faced with what you could qualify with the most beautiful man you had ever seen.

“Hey, you okay?” He waved a hand in your face, making you snap out your daze. You blinked a few times, shaking it off.

“Yeah” You replied. “I just wasn’t expecting this”

“Expecting what?”

“I mean, the helmet did give disfiguration vibes… Obviously I was wrong”

“So you think I’m hot then?” He snorted derisively.

“I do”

His head did a whiplash. “Huh?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable” You backed away. “Sometimes my filter doesn’t work”

“No it’s--” He tried to find his words, then sighed. “I’m just not used to that, I guess”

“What’s the point of this?” Baker groaned, his head in his hands.

“It’s a turning point that brought me here today” You explained, turning your palm up briefly. “You asked for details, I’m giving you details”

“I kinda wanna know what went down, to be honest” Tanev added sheepishly.

“Tanev, I’m going to drive you through the mirror if you do not shut up”

“Jeez sorry” He mumbled.

“As I was saying”

That day was the moment things changed in your relationship. There was this tension that hadn’t been there before, the little brushes of hands when you were side by side, the staring at the other while they weren’t looking, the unspoken invitations to stay a moment longer after a mission for a cigarette and a good conversation. He was one of a kind, you had to give that to him. He was passionate, driven, smart in a way that told you he never really had it easy but always made it work somehow; the way he always thought of the less obvious way to do things, how even his messes seemed calculated.

It was raining in Chicago and the air was crisp. Your muscles ached from the fight in that warehouse against drug lords that enrolled kids in their schemes, that and from the unforgiving cold of January. You had one too many whiskeys back in that little studio flat he rented under a false name, and it led you straight to his bed. Trying to find warmth, trying to find a connection, it didn’t matter why, as long as you were as close as humanly possible to him.

And it didn’t stop there. The night after, and the night after that, always in his company past the business hours. Your chemistry translated way beyond the field, for you found him in a partner in more ways than one. You grew quickly to feel love for him, more than you had ever felt for anyone. The number of times you woke up naked and tangled with him--

“Okay I don’t need to know this-- I do NOT need to know this” Baker yelled. If he could have flipped shit from the table, you’re sure he would have.

“You told me to spare no details!” You argued. “This is a detail. I’m being as thorough as I can”

“You know what-- Forget it” He brushed his hand in the air aggressively. “Just get to the part we have interest in, for God’s sake please just skip to that”

“Okay, okay” You muttered, rolled your eyes. “It went well for the first months or so, it was great. Nothing to say on that front, I was happy and fulfilled in this new englobing partnership we had going on. That was my third mistake, to get into that kind of involvement with him. Because then, like all good things must come to an end, mine slowly began crumbling down in my hands”

“Okay” He sighed, half in relief. “Tell me more about that”

“Well, he started to show his true colors” You admitted, pulling your hands under the table. “Sometimes, he became something else. Something dark. And sometimes became most of the time, but I was too in love to see it. He became manipulative, controlling. He was everywhere, in everything I did. It’s like I didn’t even have control on my life anymore…”

“Where do you wanna eat?”

You looked away from the car window, your feet comfortably up on the dash. You took a deep breath and shrugged. “Dunno, where do you wanna eat?”

“Don’t really care” He shrugged too. “You decide”

“What about chipotle?”

“Sure” He nodded. “Chipotle sounds good”

Tanev shook his head sympathetically. “He wouldn’t even let you choose a restaurant?”

“Never” You looked down, sadness weighing your voice.

“I’m so sorry you had to live through that”

“Thank you”

“Alright, moving on” Baker broke the moment. “What happened next?”

“Next? Next came what comes every time in screwed up relationships” You answered, returning your hands on the table and crossing your fingers. “We burned like a meteorite as it tears through the atmosphere, falling to our demise to high velocity and taking everything in our wake”

“That was poetic” He pointed out sarcastically. “What the fuck does it mean?”

You raised an eyebrow. “We got dangerous for real, Agent Baker” You paused to take a reserved sip of the water. “If you thought I was reckless before, you’ll need to reevaluate your scale. I was in for real. I was his battle horse, his wildcard, his whatever that he needed to succeed. And I was good at it. The worst was, I didn’t even realize he used me as a smoke screen. He put me more and more often in fucked up situations that were way more dangerous for me than him, and I was naive enough to think it was love”

“No. This is not up for discussion”

You stared at him in disbelief. “You said you would let me choose--”

“I said I would let you choose, not let yourself get killed” He interrupted, slightly raising his voice. “This plan of yours is stupid dangerous. If it backfires, you are almost guaranteed of not making it out free, or alive for that matter. I’m not allowing you to take that risk. Not for me.”

“Again, ‘if’ being the keyword” You insisted, following him as he stomped out of the storage room. “I am capable of executing it flawlessly. I know I am, you’ve always told me I am”

He halted his steps, hesitantly turning to face you. His eyes softened as he sighed, taking your hand. “I know you can, it’s not about that” His voice was back down, even lower than his usual volume. “I can’t lose you. I won’t lose you for something I dragged you into in the first place, I would never forgive myself”

You closed your eyes and rested your forehead on his. “Okay” You finally said, nodding lightly. “We’ll find another way. Another plan. But we’re hitting that ball out of the park either way, I won’t let Preston get away with it”

He smiled. “Oh no, we won't indeed” He kissed the top of your head. “We’ll get him one way or another, I promise”

“I almost feel sorry for you now, Agent” Baker gulped. “I cannot begin to imagine what terrible things the Red Hood forced you to do under his manipulation. We however must continue this debriefing”

“Of course” You nodded quickly, breathing deeply. “So we planned our next move, but he wouldn’t tell me the final target. I found it weird, he always told me the targets. I don’t know, maybe he sensed I was trying to find a way out”

“And that plan was…”

“Yes” You didn’t have to let him finish his trailing thoughts, you knew what he was getting at. “So this brings us to 36 hours ago”

“Be as thorough as you can”

“So the Red Hood gave me those instructions to follow” You began. “I was to draw the attention of the authorities to me in a city wide chase. Now, I am rather good with a bike, that I won’t hide, but outrunning police and secret services? That was impossible. I still don’t know how they got there, but it saved me. He would have never dared to come into the melee to get me back, and risk getting caught”

“Was he not afraid you’d talk to us?” Baker asked. “That was a pretty big gamble”

“He thought I wouldn’t talk I guess, probably for the same reasons I stayed with him for all this time” You said, biting the inside of your cheek until it bled. You hated to think about these words. “Because I believed I loved him”

“I guess that wouldn’t be too far fetched” He hummed. “Wouldn’t be the first time we saw it happen”

You nodded, remaining silent. Baker made eye contact with Tanev, then looked into the reflecting glass. He took a deep breath and returned his attention to you.

“We are going to get you back to the holding cell while we process this information” He said. “But once we do that, you’ll be free, and with a new identity if you wish, as your agreement states”

“Thank you”

“Just one more thing before we wrap this debriefing” He leaned forward. “You must know his name"

“Of course”

“Then what is it?” He asked. “What is the Red Hood’s name?”

You looked down, taking a deep breath, then back again, locking eyes with Baker. Then, you spoke.

-- 36 hours later --

The sunset over the valley was gorgeous. The mixes of pink and orange on the yellowed sky was straight out of a fantasy world, and Jason couldn’t help but appreciate the scenery. It was soothing, like it could swallow up his anxiety at least for a minute or two. He leaned on the wooden ramp, the sightseeing roadside station seeming not so cheesy at the moment.

He only tore his eyes from the burning sun when he heard a motorcycle approach from behind. He pushed himself off the ramp and faced the sleek black bike--the lack of use on it showing him it was brand new--then, the driver with a black tinted visor.

You took off your helmet and smiled at Jason’s stern expression, whose eyes showed relief anyway. You turned off your bike and parked it, then got off and walked to him.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

You walked past him and leaned on the ramp he had been on moments ago, and he joined you. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered you one. He lit up both with his lighter, and you took a long draft before speaking.

“A simple ‘thank you’ would suffice” You smirked, bumping your shoulder to his. “I did save your sweet ass, after all”

“I thought we agreed not to do that” He glanced at you sideways. His annoyance was also mixed with playful disbelief, like he both wanted to throw you off the cliff you were admiring the view from and do celebratory shots with you.

“We did” You nodded, chuckling. “But circumstances changed. You weren’t out by the time I reached the monument, so I had to draw them away from you, or we would not be having this conversation. ”

“Still” He tilted his head to the side, before his head snapped in your direction. “Wait, did you call the secret services after yourself?”

You shrugged half heartedly. “Mayhaps” Your lips curved upward, while he shook his head. “I mean, it kinda was my fault too. I misplaced the bomb and it barely detonated. I had to flip to plan B, then they shot my bike. They had me surrounded, and my it was running low on life, so I skipped directly to plan fuck this”

“So you gave yourself up”

"Played the victim, pretended I wanted to exchange information on you for my freedom” You sighed, taking a drag of your cigarette. “None of which was relevant enough for them to even get close to you, worry not”

“They must have asked for a name” He hummed, now turning his full body toward you. “What did you tell them?”

“My grandpa’s name” You snorted. “He died two decades ago. Let me tell you, when they found out the last update on him was in the necrology of the 2001 Sunday paper, they were not happy campers”

“Then how did you get out?” He squinted his eyes.

“Oh, do not underestimate me, sweetheart” You grinned. “I’ve spent my whole career getting to know the buildings and the procedures for people like me. It was a piece of cake”

You were escorted out the interrogation room and into the small, yet cozy holding cell. You were on the clock, because the lies you’ve slipped into your story would unravel pretty quickly once they discovered that the name you gave them was a farce. Then, you wouldn’t be put in a minimal security room, but probably somewhere way less fun.

“Hey wait” You called after the guard before he could close the cell door behind you. He paused his actions, waiting for you to speak up. “This wasn’t there last time”

He frowned and took a few steps into the cell, trying to spot over your shoulder whatever you were talking about. When he didn’t see it, he got closer and closer until he was all the way into the cell. “What wasn’t there before?” He asked, annoyed.

You smiled. “You”

With a quick jab of your elbow behind his head, he fell down unconscious on the floor. You grabbed his keycard and exited the cell, locking the guard in. You winked at the camera on the upper left corner of the hallway and made your way down to the garages as the alarms blared through the whole building. That meant it entered lockdown, closing all the escape routes. But you had your own fool proof plan.

Agent Baker began swearing when the hallway was plunged into the red glow of the lockdown alert. It hadn’t taken long for him to figure out you had led them in circles, and he had appeared a fool in front of his colleagues when he proudly revealed the name of a long deceased old man instead of anything tangible. He had been on his way to your cell when he realized the depth of this foolery, understanding you had been stalling them for this opportunity.

“Sir, we are reporting engine noises in the garages”

“Fuck” Baker shouted, pushing the other man aside. Tanev was a step behind, his weapon drawn. They had stored your bike there, you must have gone back for it. “All units report to the garage, we’re having a break out. I repeat, all units to the garages”

They all flocked to the lower levels, ready to enforce the barrages at the doors and trap you with no exit. It was an excellent execution of emergency measures, but they definitely weren’t prepared for what came next. As they kicked the storage unit of your motorcycle, they came face to face with the bullet ridden bike with no driver in sight. Baker lowered his gun, squinting his eyes. Then, they widened comically as the dark smoke coming out of it and the strong smell of gasoline registered in his brain.

“Motherfucker” He spat. “Everybody out!”

Seconds later, it exploded.

“You’re unbelievable” Jason scoffed, shaking his head. However, he now had a full blown grin to match yours. “I gotta give it to you though, blowing up your bike as a distraction was smart. Balls of fucking steel”

“Of course it was!” You replied, then reached in your pocket for your phone. “And it’s not even the best part, look”

You unlocked your phone and passed it to him, showing him your most recent picture of the CIA’s chief of operation dead with a letter opener through his neck. His eyes widened. “You got Preston?”

You turned around from your position, now leaning back on the ramp with your elbows resting on it. “The bike opened a window big enough for me to get the target” You said, finishing your cigarette and disposing of it in the ash bin on your right. “And with all those idiots guarding an empty garage, t’was easy enough”

“After all this time, you’re still impressing me” He nodded, holding up his fist. “Good fucking job”

You bumped your fist sideway with his, laughing at his baffled expression. The sky was getting darker and darker by the minute, but the air was still warm. You could hear the crickets in the high grass, and the silence was a peaceful one. You could admit that you had cut it close this time, that this gamble could have very well turned to shit, so you just took a moment to let the pressure slip away from your muscles, at least for now. You had the time to smoke another cigarette before you spoke.

“So now what?” You hummed, looking up to the bright stars above your head. “Markstrom’s ring is no more, and I’m pretty sure I not only lost my job by pulling that stunt, but also bought myself a ticket on at least three intelligence services’ most wanted list”

“Well, that’s nothing a good ol’ fake death can’t fix” He shrugged. “But until we find the right moment for your tragic public demise, I’m sure we can manage to find on our own some domestic assholes to beat up. What do you say?”

You met eyes with him, then raised your eyebrows. “I say let’s get to it”

#jason todd #jason todd x reader #jason todd fic #red hood x reader #red hood x you #jason todd imagine #red hood #red hood imagine #dc #dcu #dc universe #dc imagine #dcu imagine #dc universe imagine #batfam #batfam imagine #imagine #jason todd x you #outlaws

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perseusjackson-jasongrace · 3 years

Text

Empires on the Horizon XVI

Jason is a CEO: Part XVI

okay wow it has been a hooottt minute since i’ve updated a multi-chap fic and an even hotter minute since i’ve updated this one. so here’s a recap:

jase and zoe broke up, because she is being forced by her father to marry someone else (who that may be is yet to be revealed). jason has finally had enough and at the insistence of his friends he packs up on a holiday to Panarea (in italy) where he is delightedly shocked to discover Percy Jackson is currently working, and oh no.....would you look at that......the hotel messed up their reservations and now they have to share the same room, and the same bed. lmao they’re dorks.

here’s how the last chapter ended:

“Let’s just stay together? We’re friends. We know each other, we trust each other, and it’ll be less hassle than trying to find a room for either of us.”

“But there’s only one bed?” His brain was short-circuiting.

It shut down altogether when the man before him smirked. “Well i can keep my hands to myself, if you promise to.”

“I-” What is stopping him from saying yes? Why should he say no?

“It’s totally okay if you don’t want to.” Percy’s expression was so gentle, and it turned every weathered rock in Jason to gemstone.

“Yes.” He said firmly. “Let’s share the room.”

It was only when they got back to the hotel did Jason realise they were still holding hands. He wondered if they’d find each other like that in their dreams too. They did.

masterlist; my links

Jason awoke to an arm slung over his waist and soft breaths fanning the bare skin of his back. Bright sunlight streamed through the windows, bringing with it the heat that was sure to get unbearable. He thought he’d feel uncomfortable with someone touching him in weather like this but Percy seemed to be cool, and gods did he look cute with his messy black curls, and brown skin that absorbed rays of light and turned it into magic.

They had promised each other that they’d keep to their sides of the bed and refrain from mauling one another in the night, but it seemed like they had gravitated together anyhow. And Percy was certainly a cuddler.

A knock sounded and with groaning realisation he saw the clock on the wall read ten am. They were out later than either of them had realised.

“Jackson,” He nudged the man gently, “I think you need to get up.”

A mumbled response sunk into his skin as soft lips brush against his back. Jason went completely still, the sensation running along his nerves like hot wires.

“You okay?” Another mumble filtered through his delirium.

“I’m fine,” He managed to choke out, “I think we need to get up though. Room service is already here.”

That sparked movement. Suddenly green eyes were wide open, and cheeks, streaked with the creases of the pillow, were red with panic. “What is the time?”

“It’s ten am,” He pointed to the clock.

“Fuck!” Percy practically leaped out of bed and slammed his shoulder into the door frame as he skidded into the bathroom.

Jason heard the shower go on, and an electric toothbrush whirr to life, and then he heard a multitude of curse words, a loud bang and some groans of pain.

“Er,” He should go in there and make sure his friend was still alive. “Jackson?” He stepped into the bathroom and was not at all prepared for the sight that greeted him.

There, tangled in his pants, toothpaste stains on his face, and the shower soaking the bathroom floor was Dr. Percy Jackson.

“Do you need help?”

“This is not how this morning was supposed to go,” The dark-haired man garbled, looking hopelessly at the mess he had created.

Jason hid a smile as he bent down to help tug Percy’s pants off him, “And how was the morning supposed to go.”

Green eyes clashed with his, the toothbrush still whirring in his mouth. “I was supposed to wake up early and order a buffet for breakfast and then as we stuffed ourselves-” he cut off, choking on the toothpaste.

Jason couldn’t hide his amusement, and burst out laughing at Percy’s subsequent glare. Standing up and tossing the pants in the wash basket, he offered his hand to his friend, who took it gratefully before heading to the sink to finish brushing his teeth.

“What were we going to do while we ate?” He asked, leaning against the basin, one leg crossed over the other.

“I was going to feed you maple-covered waffles and answer some emails, and you were going to read that book I know you brought.”

“Are we an old married couple in this scenario?” He quirked a brow, lips twitching.

Percy frowned, stripping off his underwear and stepping into the heat of the shower. “I’m just trying to start our future early.”

Jason watched those glorious back muscles ripple, as water streaked down, but he refused to follow its path, not daring to go lower than the small dip of that spine. He didn’t even know why he was still in the bathroom, why he was being such a creeper, but his feet were superglued to the floor. He couldn’t move even if a crowbar tried to pry him away.

“Are you not agreeing with my vision?” A muffled voice drifted around him.

He attempted to come back to reality but it was proving near impossible. “Uh no-” He stuttered, “I think it’s a solid plan.” His eyes traced the sharp angles of that jaw, and the strong-bridged nose, and black hair matted to beautiful brown skin. He was sure he was dreaming. There could be no other explanation for the surrealness of the moment.

“Jase?” Percy touched his arm gently, skin hot from the shower. “You okay?”

He startled into the world so fast he felt dizzy. Where on earth had he gone? To another dimension it seemed. “Oh gods i’m so sorry,” He groaned, dropping his face into his hands. “I just watched you shower like a complete pervert.”

His friend smirked, and then he was laughing. “Who says i didn’t enjoy it?”

The blush that raced across his skin was enough to dull rubies. He didn’t know where to look, or how to breathe, or what he was made of. He was simply an untied balloon barreling towards the nearest thorn bush. “You,” He managed to choke, “Are going to be the death of me doctor.”

“Good,” He heard the smirk like violins, “Maybe then I won't feel like I'm falling straight to the bottom of the ocean all by myself.”

Jason peeked through his fingers, watching as Percy finished up and flitted around the room, trying to still the heart that threatened to beat out his rib cage and into a drum set. It was an ache in his chest, how much he felt for this man. How much he wanted him.

“So i’m going to be in and out for the next few days but i’m going to work my butt off so i can have Thursday and Friday off. I’m sorry for being a terrible roommate but i don’t think i’ll make meals until then.” He could see the regret in the doctor’s eyes, turning that vibrant green a shade like dying leaves.

“No,” He shook his head, “Seriously it’s not a problem. You do what you have to.” He couldn’t believe his friend felt bad for leaving him, when they hadn’t even known they’d be here together. It said enough about Percy's character that Jason was trying very hard not to bundle the man up in blankets and kiss his cheeks until the guilt of the past stopped carving valleys between his brows. Instead he hugged him, accidentally letting his lips brush against Percy's neck, just above his collar as he pulled away. Accidentally. The squeeze at his waist let him know his accident was well received.

“Goodbye Jackson.” He smiled as he watched the doctor race down the hall. A ringed wave was the response before he disappeared around the corner.

Jason closed the door, leaning against it with an expression made from coffee foam and whipped cream. He couldn't imagine a morning as peaceful as that one, not in days, months, years? With a satisfied sigh he flopped back into bed, inhaling the ocean scent of Percy that lingered across the sheets like cool waters on a summer evening. The plan for the day was that there was no plan. Thalia had chosen well by booking this little place. He wouldn’t be distracted by touristy things ergo he couldn’t possibly do anything else but relax. So he snuggled into the pillows and stared at the ceiling and fell half asleep and listened to the wind and felt the heat creep across his skin and he just let himself be.

His thoughts were as wild as the tides and sometimes they spilled like ocean water across his cheeks. But then he’d drift off to a dream and wake up to the sound of people laughing and cars sputtering and footsteps stomping past his door and all of a sudden nothing felt too far away.

He was sad. He was sad enough to wonder if sadness was all he knew. His ex boyfriend, who he had loved like stars loved darkness, had broken down his dream and rebuilt it as a nightmare. He managed to wake up. His girlfriend, who he could have loved given time, had tied all the fraying parts of his heart to the wheel of a car and pressed accelerate. He managed to cut himself free. His girlfriend, who he had loved outright and bold, had danced him to the edge of a cliff and left him with one foot already going over. Had he managed to catch himself before reaching the bottom?

It was a question that kept him occupied through the day. Through the breakfast he ate slowly. Through the sleep he found restlessly when his mind wouldn’t focus on the book he’d brought. Through the very late lunch he gobbled down like his stomach would start a rebellion if it didn’t get it’s due. Through the golden sunset he sat at the window and watched.

But it was finally when he sunk to the floor of the shower, letting the water hit his back like welcome rain, that he had an answer; and with it the question of “What came next?” That answer, he knew, would come later. Clear and bright and ready to be grabbed with teeth and hands and love.

So he finished his shower, and changed into loose cotton pants and a shirt that he didn’t bother to button. A walk on the beach didn’t require formality.

The sand was soft on his feet, different to the way New York beaches felt. And the ocean was a richer blue, as if he were being introduced to colour for the first time and this was how water was supposed to look. He supposed places like this weren’t called paradise on earth for nothing. The last dregs of sunlight skittered across the water, as if playing with it. His fingers itched to paint the scene but with nothing but the sand at his fingertips he simply took in the view, and let his mind form the painting he couldn’t.

The air was cooler here, not as sticky, but that didn’t mean the heat wasn’t ever present, scorching the sand like coal hearths. His feet would be blistered if it weren’t so late into the evening. Any earlier and he may have been hopping around like a scared crab. The image was enough to make him giggle to himself. It’s a sound he misses, and one he loved enough to leave him smiling.

“Care to share, comedian?” A smooth voice called from behind him.

He turned around, whipped faster than the wind, to see Percy walking towards him, a grin on his handsome face.

“I was picturing myself as a scared crab.”

Dark eyebrows raised in confusion, before rich laughter burst into the air. Jason swore it turned the night into magic. “Maybe I should have left you in peace.” The doctor shook his head.

“Who says you’re disrupting it?” He tilted his head, before starting on his walk once more.

He didn’t see the look that crossed his friend’s face, like comfort turned to being.

“What did you do today?”

“Self reflection,” He said into the air, into the world, into himself. “How about you?”

“Oh you know, a little lab work here, a little analysis there.” Percy shrugged.

“Tell me more,” He prompted.

The look of surprise on his friend’s face made him want to throttle anyone who’s ever stopped this man from talking.

“You sure?” It was hesitant, it was heartbreaking.

“I can’t promise to understand everything so I may have questions but if you’re willing to indulge me I want to hear all about it.”

With a look that spoke of worlds beyond their comprehension Percy launched into a detailed play-by-play of his day. He answered every question with patience and sparkling eyes, and there were many questions. By the time they got back to their hotel the crescent moon was their only source of light in the inky blackness of the sky and his stomach was growling enough that he knew he couldn’t afford to snack for supper.

“Want to go to the restaurant for dinner?” He tilted his head to the opposite side of the lobby where grand doors opened and closed periodically.

“I uh,” His friend winced, “I have some work today so i’m going to head to the room.”

“Okay,” He shrugged smiling, “I’ll meet you up there later.”

“Uh yea,” Percy’s face held an expression he didn’t quite know how to interpret. “See you then.”

“Want me to bring something up for you?”

“No, no, don’t worry about me.” Black curls bounced as he shook his head.

They parted ways, Jason only slightly confused by the weird turn his friend’s mood took, and decided he’d bring back a chocolate brownie if nothing else.

As he sat down at a table, observing the grand balustrades and curtained windows he felt suddenly alone. It wasn’t a feeling he let himself be consumed by but just the fact that it was there had him reaching for his phone. With a few taps he was calling Leo, knowing it’d be early morning for them.

“Hello,” A cheery voice crackled through his earphone. It was enough to settle all the worried nerves hidden between his ribcage.

Their conversation was bright and energetic, Leo being a morning person; he even got a few grunts out of Annabeth, who was decidedly not. Everything was okay with his company and more importantly his friends were fine.

“I found a person we know here,” He mumbled, trying to keep his voice and excitement quiet.

“Who?” Leo was practically vibrating. Even Annabeth looked at the camera with blurry eyed curiosity.

“Uh Percy.” He scratched the back of his neck, shyness crawling across his skin.

“Oh,” His friend’s eyes widened. “What is he doing there?”

“Work,” This was fine. This was safe. Nobody was jumping to any conclusions.

“Are you sure you didn’t run away to get married?”

And there went all his hope of having reasonable friends. “No!” He hissed. “And besides I didn't run away, you guys forced me to go.”

“Well it’s done you good. I can finally see some colour in those pasty cheeks.” Brown eyes sparkled with mischief.

Before Jason could respond another call was interrupting. “Zoe Nightshade” flashed across the screen.

“Uh Leo,” He frowned at his phone. “I’ll call you back.”

“Everything okay?” He heard the worry like tv static.

“I hope so.” The furrow between his brows didn’t disappear.

And then he hung up on his best friend and answered the other call.

“Oh Jason,” Relief flooded in his ear like water in a drought. “Thank you for answering.” The smooth voice of his ex-girlfriend reached him.

“Zoe,” His nerves were bow-string taught. “What’s wrong? Why are you calling me?”

“I need your help.” She answered. She sounded desperate. “I can’t marry Octavian.”

Jason Grace nearly falls off the cliff.

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

Tags (if you want to be added/taken off the tag list just let me know. All my channels of communication are open):

@lesbian-peanuts

@leyontheway

@queen-of-demons-and-hell

@msdrpreist

@sparkythunderstorm

@nishlicious-01

@lucyisblue

@legendary-cupcake

@larrikin-is-a-himbo

#empires on the horizon #part 16 #pjjg fanfic #pjjg series #jercy #jercy fanfic #jason grace #percy jackson #grace #percy #jackson #jason #i loved searching for moodboard images for this one #i got to stare at muscles and hands for hooouurrrssss

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highonchocolate · 3 years

Text

Take Two: The Guardian in Gotham Chapter 7

First Previous Next Ao3

As Marinette made her way out of the room, Dick turned back to Jason and Tim, the two of them wearing identical frowns he knew were mirrored on his face. “That conversation was not normal at all. That stuff she said about the man being over 150 years old..I get the feeling she isn’t just a regular civilian after all.” Tim and Jason nodded in agreement. “Do you think she was talking about the Lazarus Pits?” Tim asked, pulling up his computer and beginning a new search on their guest. “That man she was talking about seemed to be her mentor, but I didn’t understand the last sentence she said. It wasn’t in any language I know.” “She sounded fuckin’ terrified after hearing whatever that friend of hers told her.” Jason inputted, leaning forward. “Maybe we can try to hear the other end of the conversation, maybe that will help.” Dick said, turning to Tim hopefully. “Yeah, okay, just give me like fifteen minutes. I have to find her phone on the Manor WiFi and go from there, since she took it with her and I can't just directly hack in.” Dick nodded. “Do we want to tell Bruce now, or wait until we’re sure nothing crazy is going on?” “Let’s wait, I don’t need the old man getting worked up, only for this to be a false alarm.” Jason sighed, hands fiddling absentmindedly at the empty space where his guns usually sat.

Noticing the movement, Dick laughed inwardly. ‘It’s like a little baby looking for his teddy bear!’ He wasn’t dumb enough to say it out loud though, he knew Jason would probably shoot him in the kneecaps if he dared to insinuate he used his guns as teddy bears.

“I got it.” Tim’s voice interrupted his train of thought, fingers flying over the keyboard as he pulled up the call. They leaned forward to hear as he pressed play.

---

Flopping down onto her bed, Marinette let out an exhausted sigh before grabbing her pillow and screaming into it. Tikki rushed to comfort her, flying up to her face and gently nudging her cheek. “It’s okay Marinette-” Her sentence was immediately cut off by another loud groan/wail. “Tikki! What am I supposed to do?! Talia probably knows the Miraculi are active in Paris! What if she targets Maman and Papa? Oh no I’m such an awful Guardian Tikki! I’m going to get everyone killed!”

She was interrupted by Wayzz, who flew over with a warm cup of tea balanced precariously on his paws. Since he couldn’t see over the top, he nearly crashed into Kaalki, who let out a little shriek and sped out of the way. Her lips twitched upwards at the sight, and she quickly grabbed the tea before it could fall.

“Marinette you’re not an awful Guardian! Nobody can figure out a Holder’s identity unless they catch them detransforming, or the Holder tells them. So your parents aren’t in any danger!” Tikki explained, nestling in her hair and reached down to pat her on the forehead reassuringly. “Well not in any more danger than usual, what with the Akuma attacks happening almost every other day.” The girl quipped. “But the League could still try and talk to us after an Akuma attack before we detransform. Or they could just follow us until we detransform, and then attack our families.” She rolled over in bed, letting out a yelp when she jostled her foot.

“Hey Roarr,” She called out. “Didn’t you say that the Order is more powerful than the League, even now?” The striped pink Kwami nodded in agreement. “Yes, Marinette. You are one of the strongest Guardians in history, and since your team is composed entirely of True Holders, the Order is definitely stronger than the League right now.” As she turned the information over in her mind, bits and pieces of a plan began to form. “Well, I could tell them I’m the Guardian...and maybe that will discourage them from trying to attack the rest of the team?” Before any of the Kwami could respond she sat up excitedly. “Oh I know! I’ll tell them I am the Guardian, and part of the Order. And warn them of the consequences that will occur if they try and attack any of us. And even if they do try, I can just transform and take them down using Mullo, Trixx, and Tikki!” She pumped a fist in the air proudly, before turning to the Kwami to see what they thought. Tikki and Wayzz looked like they were contemplating the idea, the rest of the Kwami were either vehemently shaking their heads, or nodding vigorously. Finally Tikki spoke up “I think...that would be alright, but only if they approach you first, okay?” Marinette nodded. “Of course! There is no way I’m actively going to look for ninja assassins!”

---

“Hey Chloé, what’s up?” Marinette’s voice crackled over the speaker. “Maribug! Fu’s completely lost it!” The other girl-Chloé shrieked over the phone. “Tone it down a bit, Chlo. What do you mean?” Marinette asked. “He won’t stop mumbling to himself, and at random times he’ll just stare at the wall blankly!” The girl answered, though at a much quieter volume. “Well, I think that behavior should be normal for a man that just had memories from over 150 years of his life erased.” Marinette responded in French.

At that, Jason reached over and paused the recording. “So their mentor is this ‘Fu’ guy, and he had his memories erased. That’s not normal Pit stuff. When I was dunked in, I still remembered everything, I just also wanted to kill everything I came across. Same with all the other fuckers that used it. Memory loss wasn’t a thing.” “Okay, so we can cross off the Pits, but that still doesn’t explain this dude being that old.” Tim agreed. “Let’s keep listening I guess.”

“No he says the Demon is coming!” At those words, the three of them tensed, but continued to listen. “Chloé,” Marinette spoke, “you need to tell me his exact words. Now.” Her voice hardened at the end, and the other girl immediately became serious. “It was mostly mumbling, and I couldn’t make out most of what he said, but I heard something about Al Guhl, and eternal life.” This time Dick was the one who hit the pause button. “How the fuck does she know about the League?!” Jason burst out, looking unsettled and angry. “I don’t know, but we might have to keep an eye on her.” Tim stated, looking worried at the idea of them hosting an assassin in their house. “Okay, let’s see if they say anything about being a part of the League.” Dick frowned, reaching over to press play.

“You’re absolutely sure he said that? You weren’t just hearing things?” Marinette asked, voice filled with barely-concealed panic. “Yeah, that's exactly what he said. Is something wrong?” Chloé responded, sounding worried. Marinette let out a strained laugh. She said something in another language, which caused the other to inhale sharply and let out a curse. “Yeah, we’re totally fucked.”

“Okay then, looks like she’s not a part of the League I guess.” Dick frowned. “Maybe the League is an enemy of hers? Sorry, theirs?” “Okay maybe, but what does anything in Paris have to do with the League?” Tim responded. “I don’t know, maybe we can ask the rest of the JL if they’ve heard anything from Paris, or France in general.” He said, standing up and stretching. “Why can’t our lives be fucking normal for once?!” Jason groaned as they headed to the Cave.

---

“HI everyone!” Lila sang as she entered the classroom on Monday. “You’ll never guess where I went this weekend!” Pausing, she waited expectantly for the excited exclamations of her classmates wondering where she went, who she met, and how many celebrities she had turned down because they wanted to date her. But when no one responded, she felt her smile turn cold.

Looking at Marinette’s empty chair, her mouth twisted into a smirk, ready to spin new tales of her exploits in foreign countries. Poisoned words, dripping in honey to hide their bitter taste, spilled from her lips. “Oh is Marinette still gone? I didn’t think she could get any worse, but now she’s skipping school as well?!” Faking sadness, she made her lower lip wobble; shoulders hunching in on herself in a false display of timidness. “I tried asking her for a second chance to prove myself since she hates me so much, but she slammed her door in my face and told me to get out!” Still, there was nothing but silence. She looked up, and saw her classmates huddled together around Adrien’s desk.

Gritting her teeth, she sauntered over to them, heels clicking against the hardwood floor. “Hey guys, what’s up?” She asked, voice sweetened to cover up the irritation. “Oh hey Lila!” Mylene looked up, noticing her presence. “What’s up?” She repeated, pushing back the frustration beginning to bleed into her tone. “Oh, well Marinette’s in America now!” Alya told her, nearly vibrating with excitement. “We don’t know where exactly, but maybe she’ll meet some celebrities while she’s there!” “Really?!” Lila exclaimed, forcing enthusiasm into her tone. “That’s so cool. You know, I went to America last month, and I met Lois Lane! She wanted me to intern for her, but I recommended you instead!” “Oh, that’s cool Lila. But aren’t you wondering where Marinette is?” Rose asked eagerly. She felt a white-hot bolt of anger flash through her veins. “Of course I am!” She lied, hatred welling up inside her. “Here, tell me more!”

As she sat down next to Alya and listened to her ramble, she couldn’t help the furious thoughts running through her mind. ‘I had finally gotten rid of her, and what does she do? Continue to hog all the attention even when she’s across the sea!’

This would not do. She needed to make sure they all forgot about Marinette. With a plan in mind, she plastered on a knife-edged smile and began to enact her scheme.

---

@laurcad123, @liquid-luck-00

#maribat #marinette dupain cheng #damian wayne #adrien agreste #chloe bourgeois #luka couffaine #kagami tsurugi #alfred pennyworth #bruce wayne #tim drake #jason todd #dick grayson #lila rossi #alya cesaire #lila salt #class salt

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batarella · 4 years

Text

I Don’t Hate You - Part 12 (Jason Todd x Reader)

the angst gets even worse from here, folks.

WORDS: 6303 WARNINGS: ALMOST SEX, VIOLENCE, MINOR CHARACTER DEATH, SO MUCH ANGST

Masterlist

I DON’T HATE YOU - MASTERLIST

-----

Then

“There’s no way I’m getting out of Jersey.”

“NYU? Come on, if you're taking a science course might as well go for the best.”

“New York’s just as shitty as Gotham. At least I grew up here.”

“If you’re staying in Gotham anyway, might as well take a course you’re actually interested in.”

You turned your head to the side, where Jason’s chin was resting on your shoulder. He shifted on the bed and let his legs on either sides of you fold up so you could hold the laptop better. “I’m not interested in any course, for your information.”

“You have to go to college, Y/N.”

You grunted, and you felt his arms around your waist tighten. “I can't believe you still hadn’t thought of this,” he said. “Some kids have their whole lives planned out all the way until they’re fifty.”

You hated it when he was so patronizing, but didn’t reject a kiss to your shoulder when he thought your attention was too far off into the laptop’s screen.

“Okay. All this is way too intimidating. What if I get the hang of it and decide I wanna proceed to medicine? I don’t want that.”

“You’re already hating the you five years from now. Chill out.”

“Ugh.” You scrolled through the list of universities nearby. “I’m not taking a sciences course.”

“Although I agree, Chemistry, Biology, and Physics are the highest marks in your record. It’d be much easier for you in the long run.”

“I don’t care. I hate it.” He snickered at your bitter annoyance when you shut the laptop close and set it aside on a chair near your bed. You then leaned against his chest and he immediately dug into your neck. “What about you?” you slightly pulled away. “What are you gonna take?”

Jason let out a long breathe out from his nostrils into the back of your hair. Tightly, you held his arms that were around you and craned your head to the side so you could look at him.

“What would you say if I took English Literature?”

“I think that’s amazing.” You tickled his cheek with your gentle finger. “Gotham U?”

“Yeah. It’s the only course I can think of that doesn’t exhaust me just thinking about it.”

You swung your thighs over to rest on his leg, and he started fiddling with the hem of your jeans, tracing your ankle. “You’ll do great.”

He smiled and kissed the corner of your mouth before pulling your head to rest on his cheek. “You know you’ll have to choose a course soon.”

“I know.” You looked down.

You weren’t one to look forward to college much. And it wasn’t because you had no plans at all. You just had no idea if you were to go out of the city, find a job somewhere that didn’t sound too repulsive or too much of a chore or go to college perhaps, but that felt way too much of a commitment to a future you had no idea about. What were you supposed to do?

If your grades had a say in it, science was the safest choice. Maybe even literature. But it mostly spiked all because of Jason’s help. What if you’d fail just as it was too late to turn back? You couldn’t afford for that to happen. And if anything, the only major drive was choosing a place where Jason wasn’t so far away.

Up until now, it seemed too early to make that kind of decision.

“What about music?”

You looked at him. “Funny.”

“I’m serious.”

“My dad will kill me.”

“Since when do you listen to your dad?”

Never. Never in your whole life did you listen to whatever he had to say. “Point taken.”

“You’re good at it. You’re amazing at writing songs. And your voice definitely guarantees you a spot.”

“I don’t know,” you settled deeper into his chest. “I never really thought of that.”

“Does the thought of spending the next few years of voice lessons repulse you that much?”

“You know for a fact that it won't just be voice lessons,” you scoffed.

“But does it though?”

You sighed and let your nose touch his jaw to give you that slight little push you always needed when you tried to figure shit out. “I guess not.”

“Well, you should give it a thought. Gotham College of the Arts looks promising.”

Looking up at him, you felt his arms shift, and you went along with him so you were now straddling his lap. He kissed you, gently at first before you felt his teeth nip at your tongue. “Also, it’s fifteen minutes away from Gotham U. Won't have to go so far just to see you.” He brushed a strand of your hair away from your cheeks.

Well, if he put it that way, maybe you will give this a shot.

You kissed him to relieve yourself of any more tiring contemplation about a future you regret never having planned out by the time you got out of middle school. You lightly swayed, letting him lean against the headboard. Soft. Subtle. Elusive. His lips were delicate, and so were his snaking hands that were crawling its way up your thighs. You giggled when he thumbed that sweet little spot in your groin he found out about months after you started dating.

You breathed harder, heavier, wrapping your arms tighter around his neck. He was leaning further into you to deepen his kisses. He was so warm… and when your hand wandered down his chest, Jason’s went under your shirt, making you jolt at his rough fingers tracing the sides of your waist. “You're so hot…” he whispered.

You smiled and dug into his lips again. Something was poking into your clothed cunt, and you accidentally bit into his lips too hard when he grinded against you. Jason hissed. “Ow!”

“Sorry!” you placed gentle kisses onto his lip, but he didn’t look too bothered. In fact, you felt him even harder beneath you.

His lips met your neck, and you could feel him wanting, desperate even, though there was that slightest bit of hesitation he tried hard not to show off. Probably afraid to mess up. But you welcomed him, moaning when he dug his teeth into your skin.

“Fuck…” Jason gripped on your hair, the back of your head, then with your heaving chest, he started biting into your collarbone, unsure of where to make you moan even louder. You found yourself starting for the hem of his shirt, pulling it up so you could touch the ripples of his muscles.

You were wet. You could feel it. You were biting your lip while you instinctively tried to push your legs together, but he was between them, and you couldn’t do much but lay there and take it all. Jason stopped, breathing just as heavily as you. And with your hands so gently holding his face, he looked straight into your eyes as he pulled on the back of his shirt and took it off.

He let you roam your hands around. Your warm, aching palms hovering over his lean muscles while you shamelessly bit your lip. He touched your forehead with his, feeling the way you were touching him. All over him. You brushed your palms against his pecs and jumped when he grinded up to you.

“Sorry…” he gulped. You shushed him instead and kissed him until he relaxed. Then you grinded against him, hard enough to make him audibly gasp. He let you roll your hips again, this time making you both moan into each other’s mouths.

Jason gave you a pleading look, asking if all this was okay. But it was without a word, and like him, you pulled back. Raising your shirt up and off your arms, your skin flushed the moment you saw him take his look all over you. Your bra-cladded breasts, your waist, your bare shoulders and how your hair laid so delicately against your skin. Jason looked up at you again, and you nodded at him.

You moaned at the first contact of his lips against your chest. Your tits, almost peeking out of your bra, were yearning for his tongue the more he placed kisses all over you. Then he pushed his weight against you, slowly flipping you over to let you lie down on the bed. You stared at him, kissed him hard, then moaned when he started going after your chest again.

His hands tried not to be so hard on your waist, but you could feel him wanting to dig into your skin, dig his nails into your flush. You felt his thighs part your legs and he situated himself comfortably on top of you. Then he grinded, again and again. Your hand went around his back and pulled him closer towards you.

Then he suddenly pulled away and hissed. You stopped, immediately backing off. Your heart was about to blow up and you instantly went to hold his head. “What’s wrong?”

“I-I’m-“ Jason flinched when he moved his back.

You quickly moved over to the other side of the bed, but Jason turned away which made him hiss even more.

“Jay, just let me look.”

“No-“

“What is going on?” you stammered, and when you stood up on the floor, pulling his hand away from covering his back, he stopped struggling.

You hadn’t seen it. Until now. This was recent. The largest bruise you’ve ever seen, spanning from his left shoulder all the way down to his lower back in several smaller circles. It was just by his shoulder blades where it was horribly blued and purpled, right where you were trailing your hands at just now. You placed your hand on it, but Jason inched away.

“What. Happened.”

“Nothing.”

He was looking away from you. Looking at the ground.

“Jason, you can't expect me to turn a blind eye on this again. What the hell is going on with you?” you insisted. You placed a hand on his shoulder, but he pushed it away.

He took his shirt back and slid his arms through the holes. “Workout.”

“Workout?!” you guffawed. “How stupid am I to you?”

He didn’t answer and moved over to lean against the headboard. “I hit my back against a pole. It’s no big deal.”

“No. Definitely not. That-“ you gestured to his back. “-was left by a fucking foot. Plenty of them!”

He crossed his arms and tried everything he could not to look at your face. You pulled on his arm, and just like last time, he pushed you away.

“I’m calling the police.”

“No.” He held your wrists, and with his strength you could never overpower, held it tight and took your phone away from you. “You’re not doing that.”

“Where did you get those?” You growled, frustratingly throwing his hands back towards him. “Tell me right fucking now.”

“I just got into another fight. What’s the big deal?”

You pulled on your hair. “You come home with different bruises every fucking week! Unless you're in some kind of fight club, I hardly believe you're that much of a thug-“

“Maybe I am-“

“You are insane!”

“So what?! I get into fights. All guys do.”

“No. No they fucking don’t,” you faked a laugh and covered your face with your palm.

“Did you get these from home?” your voice softened. “Tell me the truth. Please Jay. Are you being abused?”

“NO!”

“THEN WHAT IS IT!?”

“I TOLD YOU I GOT INTO A FIGHT!”

“THEN FOR FUCK’S SAKE, STOP PICKING FIGHTS-“

You were interrupted by his phone ringing in his pocket. You turned away, leaning against your desk and closing your eyes.

“Bruce?” he said into his phone. You heard deep murmuring, though you didn’t try so hard to listen in.

Not long after, Jason hung up. He stood up from your bed and picked up his jacket.

“I’m sorry. Bruce wants me -“

“You’re fucking kidding me,” you scoffed. “Does Bruce know? About that?”

Jason finally turned to you, standing on opposite sides of the bed. “He does. And we have a butler with medical training at home, so stop it.”

“OH,” you really wanted to laugh right now. “So now you think I’m being obnoxious!?”

“WHO SAID-“ he grunted, pulling on his own hair. “I never said that.”

“Yes you did!”

“I have to leave.”

You walked over to the door he’d just opened and slammed it shut with your palm. “We are not done here.”

“We are.”

You wanted to punch him. “What the fuck are you hiding from me, Jason?”

“Nothing.”

“You and I both know it’s not just the bruises. It takes you an hour tops to finish all our homework so where the fuck do you go to all night?”

He looked away from you, and you saw him purse his lips, steadying his breath.

“Fucking look at me-“

“I’m at home. Asleep. That’s it.”

“Or you're out with your friends? Having the kind of company you tell them not to squeal about to your girlfriend?”

“Okay. You’re insane. What makes you think I could-“

“Are you denying it?”

“Of course, I’m fucking denying it. That’s not what’s going on.”

“So there is something going on!?” you screamed. “If I find out you're hiding something, I swear to god-“

“You’ll what? Murder me in my sleep? Unless you forgot, I’m still not fucking afraid of you.”

“MAYBE YOU SHOULD BE!”

“MAYBE I WON'T.”

“FINE!”

“FINE!!”

You were shaking. Your hand specifically. And there was a painful sprout coming all the way from your chest to your neck. It was like something was biting into your organs from the inside, making your throat burn too much for you to say anything more.

His expression softened when he saw you fighting back tears.

“I have to go.” He slowly pulled you to the side, storming out of the door before you could stop him. You made sure Jason heard you throw the nearest breakable object to your side, hitting the walls of your room. He stepped out of your apartment, and by then, you were on the ground, wearing nothing but your fucking bra in a crying mess.

-----

Jason regretted everything the moment he stepped out the door.

He was a huge fucking moron to tell you off like that when you were just genuinely worried for him. You, someone who’s shown him a kind of love he’s never had with anyone else in his entire life. Maybe that was why he was shit at handling it all.

You just had another fight a week ago. He was terrible at this. No matter how much he loved you, there was no getting out of his demons’ hold.

He wanted to turn back, possibly get down on his knees and apologize immensely for everything he’d said. But another call from Bruce and not long after, the Batmobile was speeding through the streets. He cursed and ran all the way to his bike, speeding behind the car and slipping into an alley so he could quickly change.

He really fucking hated himself.

By then it was almost sundown, and when they reached Joker’s massively scaled robbery in a mall at Otisburg, they were so close to being too late. Batman crashed his car into the mall’s entrance and he jumped out, disarming five men at just a swipe of his arm.

Robin didn’t take too long to arrive. His bike stormed in from the second floor window, flying in so incomprehensibly quick that the goons couldn’t move out in time when his bike landed right on their bodies. And when it did, Robin pressed a button on his wrist, and the bike’s tires accelerated to it burned their flesh.

Fuck this world. Fuck everything in it. Everything deserved to be beaten down to the ground.

He couldn’t care less when he’d hear Batman’s scolds even from all the way across the mall’s lobby. Robin narrowly missed the bullets, snatching their guns right from their arms along with a kick right up against their chests. And with his weight placed directly on their ribs, Robin smashed their heads in with the butt of their guns. Repeatedly. They’d probably die from it. Who cares.

He was so much stronger when he wasn’t thinking too much about it.

Grappling up to the higher floors, he was instantly cornered by ten of Joker’s men. All with their stupid fucking clown masks and guns in their hands. He flipped over, rolled around to dodge the bullets. He threw batarangs one after the other and flung the heel of his boot right at any face he could reach. He blew up a store. He blocked the bullets with his cape and moved at the split second they had to reload. He smashed a head right into a concrete pillar so hard that it cracked upon its immense impact.

It had grown dark. Twenty. Maybe thirty men down on the ground. So far, his heat sensors detected they were still alive.

An elbow behind him, he grabbed a man’s arm, flung it over his back and slammed his body against the ground even when he was significantly larger than him. He placed his boot against his chest. Harder. Longer. And when he was struggling to get out, spitting at Robin’s face, he merely wiped it away before he crouched over to repeatedly hit the side of his face with his balled-up fist.

“Robin!”

He ignored that and kept going. Over and over until he felt his victim’s jaw shatter and he was lying close to lifelessness on the ground. He stopped, grabbed onto his collar and threw him onto the floor.

He barely noticed the aches on his back and how it was definitely going to take a toll on him eventually.

Darkness. Pure darkness. The demons were taking over. Just as they often did. And when they do, there was no stopping them. Not even him.

Another goon tried to shoot him, but he just walked straight at him, blocking everything with his cape, and took the gun by the muzzle with a single arm. The clown backed off, and with a single swipe, Robin smashed the gun right into his head.

The gun broke in half, and he threw it to the ground.

There was nothing in his mind at all. Not a storm. Not a single thought. Not a single word that told him to stop or think of something cleverer to put them down. There was nothing. His face blank, emotionless, Robin turned to a voice crying for help.

He walked over to the source, coming from a broken window. At four stories high, he saw one of Joker’s men hold onto the window pane for dear life.

He looked just as villainous as the rest of them. “Help me!” he cried out to Robin.

How many lives has he taken? How many families left broken? How many has he hurt?

Working for Joker, the answer to that would be far from pretty.

He was slipping, barely on his fingertips. A fall like that was surely going to kill him. But how many lives would be saved if it were?

His foot was just an inch away from his fingers. Just a step. A single step. And he’d fall.

But he stepped back, looking at the man straight in the eye.

And without a single flinch from him, the man slipped off the window pane by his slippery palms and dropped to his death.

When he got to the ground floor, now with GCPD officers taking over the place, he was immediately grabbed by the shoulder and hauled into the batmobile.

“My fucking bike-“

“Leave it,” Batman growled.

He got into the car and drove out before anything else were to be said.

The drive was silent. For the most part. And when they got to the cave, Jason threw his domino mask to the ground.

“Do that again, and you lose the suit.” Bruce stammered.

“Boo fucking hoo.”

“At least fifteen of them were a hit away from dropping dead. Care to explain that?”

“Isn’t that what we do? Incapacitate them but not actually take their lives to satisfy your fucking morals?”

“Don’t start with me, Jason.”

Jason turned to him on his tip toes to try standing him off. “You have no idea how long I’ve fucking wanted to do that!”

“Then you're admitting to not being capable of handling this responsibility. THIS is a responsibility, Jason.”

“THEY WORK FOR JOKER. DO YOU KNOW HOW VILE AND DISGUSTING A PERSON HAS TO BE TO WORK FOR HIM? THEY’RE ALL SERIAL KILLERS. RAPISTS. HOW ARE THEY STILL OUR FUCKING RESPONSIBILTY?!”

“You don’t get to kill. None of us do.”

Jason stomped his heavy boots onto the ground and started for the door. “You’re a madman, Bruce.”

“One dead. Fell from the fourth-floor window. You were there when it happened.”

He was so sure all the pent-up lava was going to burst out of him anytime soon and destroy everything in its path. He stopped walking, kept his eyes on the cold metal ground.

“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Did you kill him?” Bruce said. “I’m only going to ask you once.”

Jason turned around.

“No.”

The man slipped on his own, and Jason just happened to be there watching him fall. So no, he didn’t kill him. He just willingly let him die. There’s a difference, right?

He didn’t even care if there was.

“Jason-“

“Good night, Bruce.”

He slipped out of his suit and stormed into his room.

He pulled out his phone.

Jason: “Babe, you okay?”

Five hours later, you still hadn’t replied.

His desk chair had been broken in half by his bare hands by the time morning came.

-----

If your chicken nuggets were still alive, you’d have killed the bird ten times over just by the tip of your fork.

You didn’t even eat. Your hand practically had a mind of its own, impaling your food until it was in mushed up bits. You were silent. Far too silent. Your eyes were locked onto your food, but if you were to be asked, you’d have no idea what was going on. And you felt empty, your body hallowed out to the point where you were nothing but a set of skin, flesh, and bone with no sign of a soul left within you.

You hit the bottom of your tray hard enough to make a dent.

You heard Jason from across you sigh. “You gotta eat-“

Smashing the tip of your fork into the largest piece of nugget left intact, you gritted your teeth, stared at the ground with those deathly eyes and stuffed it into your mouth. You chewed so harshly at your food that you might have tasted your own blood.

Jason shook his head, taking his can of soda and emptied it out before he’d say anything more. And when he’d finished, you heard the can get crushed by his bare hands.

A hard swallow down his thick neck and a grunt out in frustration, and it only made your head boil even hotter.

You looked up at him, momentarily catching his eye, and without breaking your deathlike eye contact, you pierced your fork into your tray, hitting the bottom. Jason cocked his jaw to the side, giving you the same frown, but he said nothing and leaned over to rest his elbows on the table.

Again. And again. Your fork made so much dents in your tray that it’d barely be of any more use. This time, you were eating the food you’d mutilated.

Jason’s teeth were biting into his lip so much that at the nth time you smashed your tray, he felt a sharp sting in the back of his gums and a taste of bitter iron filling his tongue.

“Stop that.”

You smashed your fork again, flaring your nostrils at him and tensing all your muscles that you were just a second away from pouncing at him. Thankfully, you didn’t. You didn’t listen to him, either. You pierced your food with your fork and clenched your jaw the whole time you chewed.

He gave up and finished his own food, sliding his tray aside with a strong, frustrated push of his arm.

When your tray was empty, filled with dents, you threw your fork right on top of it and immediately stood up, grabbed your cup of iced coffee while sparing him a lasting glare before you turned away to your next class.

Jason sat there, alone, his mouth completely dry and his fists wanting to hit the next thing that comes his way.

Calm. Reserved. Not yet screaming at anyone on the way to your classroom. Although people instantly stood aside the moment they saw you walk down the hall with an explosive look on your face, you didn’t blow up just yet.

You reached your room, and just about you entered the doorway, Lana bumped right into you.

“Watch it-“

She looked up, saw it was you, and instantly bit her mouth. To make matters worse, your iced coffee slightly spilled on your shirt.

Your fists were clenched. Furthermore, and you’d blow. Your breaths were unsteady, your teeth baring. The look on your eye was enough to give fucking Medusa a run for her money. You gritted your teeth and stood silent, watching Lana start to say something, anything.

But she craned her head down and stood aside to let you walk in. And with your eyes keeping on her, you took your time making your way inside, walking so slowly that everyone kept silent at the sight of you.

You took a seat. And Lana took one four seats away from you.

Jerry the science teacher walked in, bed head still on probably from being asleep at the library, and placed all his stuff on the desk.

“Afternoon, everyone…”

You didn’t listen to a word he said. Your eyes were on the board, but you couldn’t recall a thing that was on it. You were relaxed on your chair, back arched down and your arms crossed.

Even at your worst, the world managed to go on like you weren’t in some kind of crisis at all. The sun continued to show up that morning as if it were mocking you that other people probably had one of their best days right now and you were stuck sulking without a choice. Of course, you technically did. Jason texted you once last night. Twice this morning. He sat with you at lunch despite you on the brink of choking him to death. You haven’t said anything to him so far. But you could tell he was trying. Terrible tries, to be honest. But it was there.

“Ms. Y/N.”

You didn’t move your head, or anything else, when you looked at Jerry.

“No drinks allowed in class. Throw that out the trash.”

Everyone was staring at you.

“I’m not done with it,” you grumbled.

“I don’t care. Pour it out and throw it away.”

The cup was about to explode in your hand just like that soda can did with Jason. You made sure they all heard you stomp on the ground when you stood up. And with such force you pushed the chair behind you.

Silence.

You turned over to Lana.

She wasn’t smiling, but she must have loved seeing you being called out like this. You just fucking knew it.

She was watching you like all the other kids. But the longer you stared, eyes narrowed at her, you notice her breathe hard and turn her attention away to the blank wall in front of her.

Nothing. You felt nothing. You wanted to feel something. Anything to take you out of this sad, sulking state.

“Fine,” you said.

And without even the slightest speck of shame, you slowly walked over to Lana, took out the cover of your ice coffee, stopped right in front of her-

“Y/N-“

You poured the cup right onto her head.

You heard gasps, oohs, and hisses. But even Jerry was speechless. Lana horrifyingly shrieked, eyes closed and jaw on the floor. Your face was blank, hips cocked to the side like you were casually doing it in some sink or a trash bin. And it took a long while. Longer than you should. The coffee spilled so slowly into her scalp that you wanted her to completely realize what was going on far before you were going to finish.

Her hair and face were drenched by the time you turned the cup over until it was completely upside down. All the ice fell to her head, and she gasped.

Silence again. And the expression you had on your face never faltered. Jaw to the side, arms crossed, you sighed with a high-pitched voice mimicking Lana’s.

You threw the cup in the trash, giving everyone slow glances as you made your way back into your seat. No one dared to speak up. No one moved from their desk. You raised your eyebrow at all of them, then you turned over to look at Jerry.

“Done.”

You sat down, and Lana screamed out of the classroom. Normally, you’d be smiling your face off by now.

But just like the rest of the day, that persistent frown never left. You didn’t feel any better. Nothing possibly could make you feel better.

You were lucky it was Jerry that was in charge. If it had been any other teacher who had just the slightest bit of energy left in them, they’d have taken you to the Vice Principal’s office. But today, you got off scot-free.

Looking out the window, ignoring all else that was going on, you wondered how Jason was handling all this.

-----

Now

You were barely ten minutes into your appointment, and already, you were getting to the ugly parts you struggled so hard to repeat. The therapist did a good job at convincing you there was no shame to it, though. You, on the other hand, were going to have to try much harder at convincing yourself.

“Did all this start with just the bruises?” she asked you.

There was a twist in your chest, something so violently twisting all your organs, your heart just being one of them, and it was gripping onto your rib cage, shaking them so vigorously you felt like you were about to fall out.

“No… I think… Well, it was the point where things actually felt like they started to change. Even though it didn’t feel that way at first.”

“How did it feel at first?”

You shrugged. “Like just an ordinary fight. Something all couples go through.”

The therapist took note of that. The pain just kept worsening the more you talked. Wasn’t she supposed to talk just as much? Give you advice? Let you have a different perspective of things?

Apparently not. She continued to ask. “Was it?”

You didn’t exactly have a solid answer. It was. And it wasn’t. You’ll just have to keep going.

“We dealt with it horribly. By ourselves. I did some cruel shit to lash it out. Things I’m no longer proud of. And he did, too.”

“Go on,” she said. And you tried to hold back a roll in your eyes.

“But if there was one thing I noticed, we never lashed out much on each other. Sure, we’d bicker and fight and scream every once in a while. But I never once thought of hurting him just for the sake of causing hurt.”

“But you hurt other people in the process…”

You nodded. “I said I’m not proud of it.”

“I’m seeing some progress in you. I see you regret the way you handled that fight. And you wish you could have done things differently.”

Like a sword riding right down your stomach. You gulped. “Yeah…”

“How would you have done it? Knowing what you do now?”

She had to be kidding. You basically had your answer memorized over the course of three years mourning and blaming yourself for everything that had happened.

“I wish I called him that night instead of ignoring his texts. I wish I gave him the chance to apologize. Maybe even apologize myself. I wish…” you breathed. “I wish I just accepted the truth he was telling me…”

“Frankly, he was in the wrong as well.”

“I don’t care if he was anymore…” you caught your breath, stopping your voice from cracking.

The therapist gave you a bit of time to collect yourself. You were gripping onto the couch. Perhaps a bit harder than you should.

“The fights… I wish we realized none of them was ever going to be worth it. Not when it means I was going to lose him…”

-----

Then

Well, at least you let him take you home.

And after his argument with Bruce, he didn’t care if he was going to get another scolding when he gets home. He’d stolen one of his cars, and he was driving it right now with you at the passenger seat. You had your knees pointed out the car door facing away from him. And each time he glances at you, he’d see your face in the reflection.

You were staring at the glass, face blank. You hadn’t talked all day. Barely a word out of you. He desperately wanted to say something. Anything. But he’d end up realizing his words were just going to make things so much worse.

And he should have thought more about bringing the car with him. There was traffic. Even when you weren’t so far from your house. It only made everything so much more silent and eerie than it already was.

He wasn’t going to turn on the radio or plug his phone in for some music. The silence was going to be better. And he was afraid he’ll miss a whisper out of you if you were too hesitant to say anything loud enough for him to actually hear.

Your fights never went on this long. It usually just ended a few hours after it happens and you’d have kissed and made up before the night comes to an end. And they were always light, even when it worried him, it never actually came to the point where visions of him walking away forever suddenly surged up his mind. It wasn’t much different from the bickering you always had the first time you met. When you hadn’t gotten along.

He didn’t realize he was smiling, thinking back at the times when you’d punch him for letting a book fall to your head, when he’d purposefully hit your back with the cart and you ended up chasing him down the aisle. When you used to scream at each other just to argue over where a book was supposed to be placed.

Jason licked his lips and smiled at those memories.

Then he turned to you. You were his now. Even when at times, it didn’t feel much like it. You were still his. But when he glanced at you, seeing you look so miserable looking out the window, it hit him like a bat to the face.

He reached your apartment, parked right beside the curb and unlocked the door.

You looked at him, no longer in frustration, but with sorrow, weariness. You were tired and he was, too.

“Thanks.”

That was the only thing you said to him all day. And right after that, you walked out the door, closing it behind you without slamming it like you’d expectedly do.

And even when he knew it was just for the day, that’s when the visions came up. You walking away. Possibly forever. Him losing you to his stubbornness. Even when it was just from the car, it all felt like you were walking away from his life entirely.

So he got out of the car and raced to you before you stepped into the door. “Wait-”

You stopped, turning around.

You tried to make your face as expressionless as you possibly could, but even you failed at that. You looked exhausted, not at all like you were at lunch. And he walked towards you. Surprisingly, you walked down the steps towards him as well.

His eyes on yours, shaking and unstable, he slowly stepped in front of you and pulled you to his chest as numbingly tight as he could. You were tense, unmoving, and he could feel you hesitate.

But unknown to him, a tear had fallen down the side of your cheek. You eventually fell into him and instantly you wrapped your arms around his waist, stuffing your face into his shoulder like he was to your neck.

You didn’t know how long you stayed in his arms. But even with the wind so strong, nothing blew you apart.

It wasn’t the same at all. The quarrelling, the disputes, it had evolved into something neither of you anticipated, though when it actually happened, it wasn’t much of a surprise. The cuts it made onto your flesh were so much deeper, when at first it barely made any cuts at all. You thought that was how it was supposed to be, something that brought you together. Your petty fights have always been something to look back to and smile at. Something cute.

But now…

What happens now?

What happens when those same exact fights progress into something you’d no longer easily forget?

What happens when the pettiness causes a wound not so quickly healed?

What happens when the back and forth, the disagreements, the bickering…

What happened when they stop being cute?

-----

I DON’T HATE YOU - MASTERLIST

-----

AT LEAST KEEP ME ALIVE UNTIL THE FINALE

Taglist: everyartistwas-firstanamateur @sarcasmismyfirstlove @damned-queen-of-gotham @idkmanicantenglish @wunderstell @birdy-bat-riya @get-loki@everyday-imfangirling @comic-nerd-dc @multifandoms916 @icequeen208@offendedfishnoises @egdolan @xemiefx @arkhamtoddler @elsenthal@mythicbitchx @supremehaunter @ burning-alive @lucy-roo roseangel013bf @ loxbbg reclusive-chicken-nuggethttp-cherries shadowsndaisiesriver9noble zphilophobiazannoylinglyaries @knightfall05x

#jason todd #jason todd x reader #jason todd smut #jason todd angst #red hood #robin #batarella #batarella fluff #batarella angst #i don't hate you series #i don't hate you #jason todd x reader series #jason todd reader insert #batarella series

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luci-in-trenchcoats · 4 years

Text

The Wedding Date (Part 2)

Summary: When the reader is in desperate need of a date to her sister’s wedding, she calls a service to fulfill the need and ends up meeting Dean Winchester…

Masterlist

Pairing: AU!Dean x reader

Word Count: 7,400ish

Warnings: language, family angst/drama, scary situation

_______

After your shower you changed into a short sleeve romper, a pretty deep green that reminded you of the forest outside. With a hum you wandered out to the bedroom, spotting Dean laying on the bed watching TV.

“How was exploring?” you asked.

“This place is huge. I wouldn’t mind going out on the lake at some point if that’s okay,” he said.

“For sure,” you said, bending over to throw your hair up in a messy bun. You fixed it a bit in the mirror in there, catching Dean watching you. “What?”

“You look like a model or something,” he said. You stared before bursting out laughing, Dean giving you a small smile. “It’s true.”

“Ten bucks my mom tells me I look like a boy,” you said, grabbing a spare hair tie and your bracelet from the nightstand, slipping them back on your wrist.

“You look like some preppy girl, definitely not a boy,” he said, watching you step into a pair of sandals and zip up the backs.

“Still,” you said, looking yourself over before you put on some lip balm. “Are you hungry? We can get something to eat.”

“Sure,” he said. “Should I change?”

“Wear whatever you want,” you said. He rolled off the bed and went over to his bag, grabbing a few things before he stepped inside the bathroom. You’d just finished with some mascara when the door opened. Dean stepped out in a pair of khaki shorts and a gray button down with the sleeves rolled up. He took out the Sperry’s from his bag and put them on his feet before he turned to you.

“This okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. You look like you fit in already,” you said.

“I’m used to hanging out with rich people. I get how they can be,” he said.

“If you need space just say your allergies are acting up. It can be our code word if they get to be too much for you,” you said.

“Okay. Don’t worry so much,” he said. You sighed and shoved your phone and room key in your pocket, grabbing a pair of sunglasses and waving him out ahead of you. You walked quietly down the hall together, most people arriving later in time for the party. You were nearly at the elevator when you heard a whistle.

“If it isn’t my baby sister,” said Jason, your oldest brother. He was fifteen years older and you were the definition of a kid sister. He ran over from his room and gave you a hug, picking you up off the ground. “Clean up all pretty, don’t you?”

“Too bad we can’t do anything about your face,” you said.

“You still need better insults,” he said, turning his attention to Dean. “Hi, sorry. Jason. I don’t get to see Y/N that much so we tend to make up for lost time. You are?”

“Dean Winchester and lucky enough to be seeing your beautiful sister,” said Dean, shaking hands with Jason. Your brother looked at Dean and then you, narrowing his eyes.

“What?” you asked.

“You got a boyfriend,” he said, a big smirk crossing his face. “Oh, I don’t think baby sis has ever had a-“

“Shut up,” you said, Jason snapping his jaw closed. “Dean, let's go to lunch and I don’t tell you everything about my dating life, Jason.”

“Yeah cause you don’t talk to me,” he said as you pulled Dean into the elevator, Jason following you inside.

“When am I supposed to talk to you? You’re a workaholic with a wife and two small kids,” you said.

“I can see you’re going to be exactly the way you always are at these. Well it’s Lauren’s wedding so please try to pretend like you don’t hate your family,” he said. “For our sake.”

“Can you try to pretend like you’re an adult and not jump down her throat for having a reasonable explanation of why she doesn’t talk to you a lot? If you were my brother, I don’t think I’d want to talk to you either,” said Dean.

“Watch your mouth, Winchester,” said Jason, grumpily trudging out ahead of you and Dean.

“Someone’s a little pissy,” said Dean. “He always like that?”

“What would you say if I told you that he’s who I get along with best out of my siblings?”

“I say I am so beginning to understand you not wanting to face this alone,” he said. You saw Jason pause for a moment, probably catching part of the conversation. You grabbed Dean’s hand and walked past him, feeling his stare on your back as you headed towards the dining area.

“Hey,” said Jason. You rolled your eyes and spun around, Jason taking a deep breath. “I know I’m busy a lot. You could call or text every once in a while is all I’m saying.”

“I stopped when you stopped answering. Forget it, Jason. It’s fine. We’ll see you at the dinner later,” you said. You pulled Dean along and through the open french doors, sighing as you found a table by the back window to sit at. He slid in across from you and stared at you, pursing his lip. “What?”

“He could call too,” he said. “I know a thing or two about non-responsive brothers. Sucks to be the only one that cares sometimes.”

“He’s just busy. He’s at a different place in life. It’s fine,” you said. A waiter brought over a pair of menus with a smile. “Order whatever you like, Dean. Can I get a slice of key lime pie and a bottle of beer?”

“I’ll have what she’s having,” said Dean. “Extra big piece.”

The guy grabbed the menus and Dean chuckled when he left.

“I’m really starting to like you, sweetheart,” he said. “Pie and beer. Not what I was expecting.”

“If I have another cobb salad I may vomit,” you said. “I am eating whatever the hell I want this week and I advise you do the same. The good booze will be out tonight so take advantage of that.”

“I’ll be sure to,” he said. You looked outside, catching sight of Jason walking out the back door over to a group of people sitting at a table. “Who’s that?”

“My siblings and their spouses aside from my brother, Brent. I don’t think him and his fiance are here yet. He’s seven years older than me. He’s next closest in age,” you said. “His wedding is in November. If my life is still a wreck, I may need to hire you again.”

“Pay me like this again and I’ll pay off that loan in no time,” he said. “You want to go sit with them?”

“Not really,” you said, looking across the room, spotting the waiter with your food. “I’ll have to face them by the end of the day. I’m okay with hiding until then.”

He was quiet as you got your drinks and dessert, Dean humming after his first bite. He gave a thumbs up and you smirked at the fact he got a bigger piece than normal as requested. You poked at yours for a moment, Dean snapping his fingers in front of your face.

“You okay? You looked out of it,” he said.

“Daydreaming,” you said. You took a bite and pushed your whip cream to the side, Dean quick to steal it for himself. “Do you like owning a garage?”

“Eh, I hate the bills but being your own boss isn’t too bad,” he said. “It’s a love hate relationship. It’s not what I thought I’d be doing to be honest.”

“Really? You said you went to college,” you said.

“I was going to do something else but my dad got sick. He’s fine now but he couldn’t run the garage anymore. I took his half of the garage and then the other guy retired right after we remodeled and expanded. It was crappy timing was all,” he said.

“What’d you want to be?” you asked.

“You’re gonna laugh at me,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“No, no, don’t apologize. It’s...I was dating this girl back then. She was a pastry chef. Incredible, like born with it kind of talent. She went to culinary school. She was going to New York City to work in a top restaurant and I was going to move out there with her and work for the New York Yankees as one of their athletic trainers.”

“Seriously? Wow, you must be good at baseball,” you said with a smirk, Dean putting on a shy smile. “Oh come on.”

“I got a scholarship for school. It’s how I could afford to go. It was a dream job, once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s been too many years now though and I haven’t picked up a bat in forever,” he said.

“What happened with the girl if that’s okay,” you said. He shrugged and sipped on his beer, nursing it a moment.

“She cheated on me the first week she was out there,” he said. “I was ‘holding her back’ and had been for a long time. Exactly what I needed to hear three days after my dad had a massive heart attack.”

“Sounds like a bitch.”

He chuckled and nodded his head.

“You got any shitty exes?” he asked.

“No. I’ve been on a lot of first dates, second dates, even the occasional third. Nothing ever stuck,” you said.

“Me either,” he said, knocking back the rest of his drink. “Not worth the aggravation, trust me.”

“You said your dad’s okay now, right?” you asked. He nodded and offered a quick smile.

“Yeah, he’s good. He can’t eat the way he used to and he has to workout now but my little brother is pretty good about keeping on him about that stuff,” said Dean.

“Just the one brother?”

“Yeah. I don’t have a whole pack like you,” he said. “Baby of the family must suck. They all seem a bit older.”

“They never include me in anything. I’m only in the wedding because my mom made Lauren. She’s always hated me,” you said.

“She’s your sister. I doubt she hates you,” he said.

“Remember how I said Jason is the nicest? I meant it,” you said.

“...Well if you want me to go protective asshole boyfriend, I am more than willing,” he said.

“Thanks, Dean. I’d rather try to keep the peace this week,” you said, eating your last bite. “Anything you want to do? You mentioned the lake?”

“Whatever’s good with you,” he said.

“Come on. We’ll take one of the canoes out,” you said. “You totally want more beer for the boat, right?”

“Woman after my own heart,” he teased.

“Give me ten minutes to put in an order and then we will be on our way.”

Dean excused himself to the restroom while you put in the drinks. You ducked in the bathroom for a moment, exiting to find Dean standing around in the lobby.

“You can swim right?” you asked.

“Yes, dork,” he said, throwing his arm over your shoulder. You almost made a comment but you saw your parents come down the stairs. You got out of there before they could catch up with you, heading straight outside as your siblings were all starting to get up.

“Hey, there’s Y/N. Now we’re just missing Brent,” said Lauren, plastering a fake smile on her face. She rushed over and gave you a hug, giving Dean a side eye. “Who’s this? I hope you paid him good!”

Your face felt hot as you stared at her, barely noticing Dean wrap an arm around your waist and give it a tight squeeze.

“Oh you can’t buy me, honey,” said Dean, giving her a smile back before he kissed your cheek. “Is this your oldest sister?”

She frowned and you bit down you smirk, Jason not bothering to hide his.

“I’m Lauren, Y/N’s middle sister,” she said. “You’re Y/N’s plus one?”

“I guess I am,” said Dean. “Sorry. Y/N and I had a horribly long drive and I promised her a little one on one time before you all take her away. I look forward to getting to know you all tonight though. Come on, sweetheart.”

Dean pulled you off of the patio and down a few steps to the path and it took everything in you not to look back.

“Too much?” he asked.

“Oh, I fucking loved that,” you said, Dean giving you a high five.

“No offense but your brothers and sisters are all like...incredibly passive aggressive towards you. It’s kinda weird to do that for no reason,” he said.

“They’ve all been that way since as far back as I can remember. I just don’t think they like me very much. The unplanned kid,” you said. “I think I threw a wrench in my parents lives and theirs.”

“You didn’t ask for that. What, they mad cause they have to share their trust fund? They can grow up,” he said.

“Well thank you but please do try to play nice with them, and my parents. It is Lauren’s wedding like Jason said.”

“Is that how they always get you to back down? Tell you it’s not your turn, it’s about someone else?”

You slowed your walk and bit your bottom lip.

“You’re very perceptive for a fake boyfriend,” you said.

“Hey, I gotta use that psychology minor for something,” he said.

“Business owner, baseball, psych...you’re a little enigma, aren’t you, Dean Winchester,” you said.

“Is that latin for adorable?” he said. You laughed, a big genuine one that had Dean throwing his arm over your shoulders. “You stick with me and you’re gonna survive this week just fine, sweetheart.”

“I sincerely hope I do,” you said. The path down to the docks went slowly, Dean taking his time to look around at the lake in front of you, the trees around, glancing at the different parts of the resort all around. “It’s an outdoor wedding as you can tell. They’re already decorating.”

“This place is really beautiful,” he said. “How much does a normal night in a place like this cost?”

“I think the lowest package is $600 a day per person. All inclusive,” you said. “Better room, better booze, more options, price goes up. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to make it more affordable.”

“Do you work here?” he asked. “You never really mentioned what you do.”

“I’m on the board, all us kids are. I don’t have a real job per say,” you said. “You probably think I’m even more of a spoiled brat, don’t you.”

“I never said that. If you don’t work, how do you fill your day?” he asked.

“Different things. Workout, do some of my own stuff like write or do resort stuff. I get lunch and then I volunteer at a few places in the afternoons,” you said. “Jason and my other older brother Dan and my oldest sister Aria, they all work in the family business. They run things with my parents. Lauren and Brent and me all kind of do more charity work I guess.”

“Well I think that’s a very good use of your time,” said Dean. “People who can afford to give back should.”

“I agree. It’s not like I’ll ever have a job here,” you said.

“What’d you want to be when you grew up?” he asked.

“A ghost,” you said. Dean laughed and grabbed your hand as you walked past a few workers on the path. “I’m serious!”

“I wanted to be a ghostbuster,” he said.

“Well that too of course,” you said.

“You wanted to fly around?” he asked.

“I saw that movie Casper as a kid. I don’t know. I’ve always been invisible to a degree with my family. It made sense at the time,” you said. “We should go over the schedule for the week probably.”

“Well I am going to show you off and make sure they see you,” he said. “You can count on it.”

“You’re not half bad for a fake boyfriend, Dean.”

“I could say the same,” he said, smiling as you finally made your way to the docks. “Now I think we should discuss our 4 wheeling trip, don’t you? Something fun to look forward to?”

“You think you can handle it?” you teased.

“Oh, I know I can,” he said, letting you guide him over to a canoe marked off for you. “Ladies first.”

You grabbed the aqua colored life jacket and pulled it on, letting Dean get the bright blue on himself.

“Here,” you said, tugging on the strap when he get tangled up. “If we’re gonna be drinking, better safe than sorry.”

“You’re the expert, not me,” he said. You left your phones on the dock before you helped Dean in the canoe, handing him a paddle before you took off. It was quieter on the water and you felt Dean’s gaze on your back as you started to slow. You spun around on your bottom and opened the cooler sat between you. “So where do you go riding?”

“See over that way?” you asked, pointing to the northern side of the lake. “It’s about a twenty minute drive. There’s a town over there and about ten minutes past that is the local riding trails. You ever ride before?”

“A few times in a field,” he said.

“Alex will loan you some gear to wear.”

“Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Weren’t we doing that already?” you said. “Shoot, Winchester.”

“Why don’t you make it past the third date?” he asked. “You could land whoever you want out there.”

“That’s very kind of you but normally by the third date is when they find out I come from this. It’s hard to trust a stranger when they look at you like you’re suddenly a bank account.”

“Not a one ever worked out?” he asked.

“This is taking a depressing turn, Dean,” you said.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. You have nothing to do with my shitty dating history,” you said.

“You’re not the only one with one,” he said, taking a beer out and cracking it open. “So what’s this dinner tonight? How do the fancy people do it?”

“It’s kind of this tradition. The family, my parents and the kids, we have a family dinner with just us before everyone else shows up,” you said. “It’s normally my least favorite event.”

“Well we should come up with some things to brag about, hm?”

Later That Evening

“Uh oh,” said Dean, ducking into the bathroom as you pouted in front of the mirror. “Someone looks grumpy.”

“I can’t do this. I paid you...what kind of freak am I? They’re gonna find out and-” you said, Dean putting both his hands on your shoulders.

“Relax. You’re in a bind and so am I. Think of it as two friends helping each other out, okay? It’s a dinner. You’ll survive,” he said.

“You look nice in your suit,” you said, smoothing out your dinner dress. “We should head down.”

You started to turn to leave but he caught your cheek and you turned back, Dean tilting his head.

“If you need to get out of there, I think maybe we have a codeword for you too. Say your stomach is bothering you?” he asked.

“You’re sweet,” you said with a nod. “Let’s face the music.”

“You look very beautiful,” he said, shoving his wallet in his pants pocket.

“Dean, when we’re alone, you don’t have to act like my boyfriend,” you said.

“Alright. I didn’t think I was,” he said. He slipped past you and tugged on his suit jacket, fixing it before you followed him out and down towards the stairs. He was cool and calm right up until you walked to the outdoor dining area, Dean swallowing but putting on a friendly face quickly.

“Y/N! We haven’t seen you all day,” said your mom as she gave you a hug. “Dean’s been keeping you busy it seems.”

“Yes, very,” you said. You looked around the table, spotting an open spot next to Dan. You took Dean’s hand and guided him over to sit, a glass of white wine quickly in front of you.

“Oh, sorry, I don’t like white,” said Dean to the server.

“We have whatever you could want,” said your dad.

“Whiskey on the rocks?” asked Dean.

“Double,” you said, holding up a finger. Lauren gave you a look but put a smile on her face.

“So I know Calvin and I are super excited to have everyone with us. We just wish his parents could have gotten in for the party tonight but I know all of you will make him feel right at home,” she said. “Oh and Dean too. I know we’re all dying to get to know Y/N’s little friend.”

“Oh it’s your guys day, week. Please feel free to take the spotlight off of me,” said Dean. “Congratulations.”

She seemed to ease up at that, some bread coming out along with your drinks. You were quiet, listening in somewhat, Dean being goofy and making you hide a laugh as he picked at the loaf in front of you.

“Dean,” said your dad, the table going silent. “How’d you two meet?”

“In a little coffee shop. It was almost like a movie or something. I fell for her right on the spot,” he said. “Of course she thought I was weird when I kept staring at her. It took a good half hour before she gave me a shot.”

“You asked her out?” asked Dan, Aria making a face at him. “No offense, Y/N. He’s kinda hot is all.”

Dean made a face before he turned to your parents. Your mom whacked Dan and you sighed.

“Hey, good for you. Most of us aren’t that lucky is all,” he said.

“What is that supposed to mean, Daniel?” said his wife, Greta.

“Nothing! We met at school. I think you’re hot too! Geez,” he said.

“Excuse him,” said your mom. “I for one think it’s wonderful that Y/N has found such a lovely young man. It’s about time.”

You gripped your thigh under the table, Dean’s hand finding yours and giving it a squeeze.

“I think we all deserve to find someone, no matter when that happens,” said Dean. “Right, sweetheart?”

“Yeah,” you said, getting a smile out of him.

“Y/N tells me the Y/L/N family normally has some fun activities during their weddings,” said Dean.

“Oh and you guys are gonna love what Calvin and I have planned,” said Lauren. “We-”

The string lights shut off and you saw the inside of the resort go dark, a generator kicking on to turn on part of the inside after a moment.

“Aiden,” said your dad as he came walking by past the kids table. “Can you please figure out how to get the power back on?”

“Of course,” he said, quickly heading inside. Dean pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight, other’s doing the same and quickly you had a decent amount of light. There was a little patter of feet as Jason’s two kids ran over to him.

“Girls, it’s just the power. It’s fine,” he said.

“No it was the monster,” said Abby, the oldest. She pointed off towards the woods and you rolled your eyes.

“Abby, there’s nothing there,” you said.

“Aunt Y/N yeah there was!” she said.

“Alright,” said Dean, knocking back the rest of his drink. “Time to go hunt some monsters. I’ll be right back girls.”

He stood up and you shook your head, Dean taking a walk down the path past the kids table and over towards the woods.

“I like him,” said Brent. “Nice ass too.”

“Brent,” said Lauren, rolling her eyes.

“Oh I agree,” said his fiance Peter. You watched Dean walk across the grass and over to the woods, holding up his phone. You swore you saw something in the dark trees but you were far away and it was nearly pitch black. “Did anyone else see that?”

“Uh huh,” you heard a few voices say as you got to your feet.

“Dean!” you called. “You can come back now!”

He took a few steps forward before a shot rang off and Dean’s phone fell to the ground.

“Everyone inside, now,” said your dad. You stared out in the dark, waiting for a flicker of the light to come back as there was rustling all around you.

“Inside,” growled Jason as he picked you up and quickly walked the two of you through the back door. Your dad locked it after you and you had enough common sense to plant your feet on the ground.

“Hey. Dean is still-”

“We don’t know what happened,” he said quietly. “I am not risking my children to find out.”

“Well he’s my friend and I’m the reject of the family so who cares? It could be a damn hunting accident for all we know,” you said. You put a hand on the lock and you felt Jason’s arm around you again. “I swear if you don’t stop doing-”

“Bring her up to our suite,” said your mom with a sigh. “Please everyone go to your rooms. Kids, meet in ours. We need to talk about this.”

You narrowed your eyes, watching in some strange synchronized way how everyone did as asked, Jason setting you down after a moment in favor of grabbing your arm and pulling you upstairs.

“What the hell is going on?” you asked. He shook his head and you followed your dad into your parents room, your siblings all filing in and settling around the room, your mom taking her time to return and lock the door shut after herself. You went over to the backdoor to look for Dean but this time you felt two pairs of hands on you pulling you back. Your older brothers walked you back to the couch and sat you down.

You looked around, no one looking you in the eye and you stood up.

“This is not helping. I am going-”

“Sit your ass down. I am done,” said your dad. You swallowed and sat back in your seat, your dad running his hands over his face. “It’s done. No more. You all knew this was a possibility and now it’s happening.”

“Uh, hi. Possibly shot boyfriend out in the yard and I have zero fucking clue what you are talking about,” you said.

“You know how you’re the baby,” said Lauren. “Like even Brent is quite a bit older.”

“Yes. There’s an age gap. I am aware, Lauren,” you said. She glanced to your parents, Jason leaning forward in his seat.

“You’re not my daughter,” said your dad.

“What?” you laughed. “You’re my dad.”

“I know I’m your dad, sweetie. It doesn’t mean I’m your father,” he said. You wiped the smile off your face, your mom closing her eyes. “Your mother had an affair. You were a result of it.”

“Oh,” you said, trying to wrap your head around that. “I...that’s not true. This is some really...lame prank...right?”

“Why do you think they didn’t like you?” asked Jason. You bit your bottom lip and he gave you a smile. “Proof of cheating. Proof of a marriage that was failing. Proof of a lack of love. You have always thought we hated you. We all know it.”

You swallowed and put your head in your hands, a shaky breath escaping you. There was a hand on your back and you sat up straight, taking a big gulp of air as tears formed in your eyes.

“Some people may have left a two year old unattended near a pool by herself and thought the problem would take care of itself,” said Jason, throwing a dirty look across the room to Aria, Dan and Lauren.

“Oh. Awesome,” you said, standing up and wrapping your arms around yourself.

“That was a fucking accident and you know it, Jason. I miscounted and thought she was ahead of us. It was a fucking mistake. That was before that whole night even happened,” said Aria.

“Well you’ve always been a bitch to her. You all have. I’m not perfect but I’m nearly fifteen years older than her and it was kinda hard to be around for the kid,” he said.

“Would you all just shut the fuck up,” you said. The room went silent as you walked back towards the window, spotting a light in the grass again. “There’s light in the yard.”

“You can’t go out there,” said your dad as you headed for the door.

“Why on earth would I want to stay with you people? You’ve all apparently lied to me my entire life. My own brothers and sisters have bullied me and made me feel so horrible about myself...why do you think I don’t talk to any of you? You’re all so condescending and look at me like I’m less than you. At least now I understand why,” you said.

“Y/N,” said your mom. She stood and shook her head, guiding you to sit next to her. “Your birth father is an incredibly dangerous man. Incredibly. We decided...after an incident occured when you were three, we told the children about him and made them swear to never tell you. To protect you. Maybe we never called them out on their behavior like we should have and maybe we are not the best parents in the world but everyone in this room has spent many, many years, protecting you.”

“Porecting me? You gave me an eating disorder when I was in highschool,” you said to Lauren. “You’re damn lucky I finally broke out of it in college. Dan, you broke my arm and never apologized. Aria, you made made me so nervous about relationships, I never even got laid until last year. Brent, you accused me of not liking the fact you were gay when I’m the one that told your fucking fiance that you guys would be so good for each other when I’ve known since I was twelve by the way. Jason...maybe you weren’t as bad but you left me alone to grow up in this. Do you all want to know the best part? Dean isn’t even my boyfriend. I hired him to pretend to be mine to get all of you people off my back when it turns out, that was never going to happen. You know and maybe I did hire him but he’s been my friend all day long and I’m going to go make sure he’s okay.”

You got up and left before any of them could stop you. You jogged down the stairs and into the lobby, looking around until you headed towards the backdoor.

A hand yanked you back and covered your mouth, warm lips brushing your ear.

“Sh. It’s me,” said Dean. “Be quiet.”

He dropped his hands away and laced your fingers together, jogging the two of you upstairs. You ducked into your own room, Dean shutting the door silently behind himself.

“What happened out there?” you asked.

“I saw a guy in the woods and he shot my phone so I hit the deck and ran. When the coast was clear, I headed back up here,” he said.

“You didn’t get your phone? We saw it moving around in the yard,” you said.

“It wasn’t me,” he said. You sat on the edge of the bed and Dean knelt down in front of you. “It’s just a bad person probably looking to rob the place or a really idiot hunter. It’ll be okay.”

“I don’t know. I just learned a whole bunch of family stuff and I’m so sorry I dragged you into this. I’ll pay you whatever you want. I-“

“Hey,” he said, cupping your cheeks. “Relax, sweetheart.”

“I’m sorry. This is-”

“I said relax. Take a deep breath,” he said. He did the motion and you followed him, Dean smiling after a few tries. “There we go. Better?”

“A little. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It was only a phone,” he said. The lights kicked back on fully and he immediately frowned. “Y/N. Don’t cry. I promise it’s okay.”

“It’s not you. My family knows about you. I just told them. First thing in the morning I’ll drive you home and try to fix this,” you said. There was a knock at the door and Dean got up slowly.

“Y/N? You in there?” asked Jason. Dean went over to the door and cracked it open a hair. “Oh. Hey. Y/N in there?”

“What do you need Jason?” asked Dean.

“Police are out front. They caught a couple of teenagers hunting illegally,” he said. “You probably want to talk to them.”

“I’ll be down in a minute,” said Dean. “By the way, now that everything’s out in the open and all...be nicer to your sister.”

“Yeah. I sort of got that part already,” he said. “Can I talk to her?”

You shook your head and Dean turned back to the door, giving Jason a look.

“Tell her...forget it. I’ll ask the kitchen to send up your guys dinner,” he said.

“Bottle of something very alcoholic would go a long way too,” said Dean. He shut the door and ran his hands over his face. “Y/N.”

“Yeah,” you said, staring at the floor.

“I’m going to go talk to the cops. Why don’t you take a soak in that jetted tub in there. We can have our own night, okay?” he asked. He rubbed a hand up and down your back and you turned your head towards him.

“Dean. They know I paid you. You don’t have to pretend anymore,” you said. “It’s okay. Really.”

“Maybe you paid me but you’re my friend now and you look like you had a hell of a night. I nearly got shot. So why don’t we do what friends do and have a little sleepover and get drunk. That sounds good to me,” he said.

“Thanks,” you said. You stood up and gathered some pajamas up before you headed into the bathroom, looking over your shoulder at him. He ran his hand over his face and you saw red on the back of his hand before he was on his feet and leaving.

After a few minutes you had the tub filled and got in the water, washing your face a few times. A part of you seriously considered driving home first thing in the morning and never speaking to any of them ever again. You had more questions than answers now though and you did love them, even if you didn’t really want to at the moment.

Then there was the whole dangerous father thing that had you on edge.

“Y/N?” said Dean, knocking on the door, making you jump. “Dinner’ll be up soon. I got us some dessert too.”

“I’ll be out in a minute.”

You let yourself soak a few more minutes before you got out and dried off. You changed and walked back into the bedroom to find Dean in his pajamas, sitting on the bed with a roll of gauze in his hand. He stared up at you as you pouted.

“What happened?” you asked, taking a seat next to him, gently taking his wrist.

“Cop said I probably got grazed,” he said. “I cleaned it downstairs. I didn’t want to put on the stupid bandage.”

“Well you should, even if it’s just for the night,” you said. You reached across his lap and picked the white roll up, careful of his hand as you wrapped it for him.

“Thanks,” he said quietly, settling his hands in his lap.

“I’m going to set the alarm for six. We can get on the road early,” you said. He raised an eyebrow at you, a soft look forming on his face. “Going home, Dean.”

“Don’t you still have a wedding?” he asked.

“I won’t make you stay. Tonight could have been so bad.”

“It was an accident. Barely an accident. I didn’t even press charges. I am fine, Y/N. I’m not running off and leaving you with these assholes on your own. You’re too nice to just ditch your sister’s wedding so I know you aren’t going anywhere so I guess I’m not either.”

“Your ex was such an idiot,” you said. Dean laughed and nodded his head.

“Yeah. I’m kinda glad things happened the way they did. I don’t think things would have worked out anyways,” he said. There was a knock at the door and a moment later Dean returned with a cart, some food and a bottle of the good scotch on top. “Well that looks expensive. Seems like your brother is trying to apologize.”

“Half-brother,” you said, standing and grabbing the bottle, pouring a triple for yourself, knocking most of it back in one go. You shivered as it burned down your throat, Dean blankly staring at you.

“Half-brother?”

“Oh, have I got a story for you.”

“Wow,” said Dean an hour later, the two of you picking at the last of the ice cream pie. “I mean wow.”

“Yeah,” you said, handing the bottle over to Dean for a refill. He took a long drink, shaking his head out.

“Do you really think they hated you?” he asked.

“No. But I don’t think they liked me. I don’t know if it’s because our mom cheated or I took a share of their trust fund money or they were supposedly always having to protect me. What kind of bullshit is that by the way? Protect me? Those assholes hurt me nearly my whole life,” you said.

“You don’t have the eating disorder anymore, right?” he asked, licking the whipped cream off his fork.

“No,” you said, Dean smiling back at you. “It was just in highschool and a bit of college. The more I was on my own, the easier it was to get better.”

“Good. You’re perfect the way you are,” he said.

“Let’s not go that far,” you said with a laugh as you rolled back on the bed, tilting your head back at him. “I think I’m kinda drunk.”

“Oh, I think that’s safe to say,” he said, taking another forkful of pie before he rolled right next to you. “At least you’re not the only one.”

“Do you like doing this?” you asked, Dean resting his chin on his hands. “Getting paid to be a date?”

“Not really. I mean, despite the nearly being shot, this is my favorite job I’ve had,” he said.

“How much is your loan?” you asked.

“Okay drunk girl, we’re not going there,” he said.

“I had to try,” you said.

“You really don’t.”

“S’not fair. You didn’t even want that job and you got stuck with it and then you got stuck with this other job and s’not fair, Dean. You should be able to do what you want and not worry and have a girlfriend and your weekends and nights back and it’s not fair you know? I just-”

“You’re drunk and you had a bad night. No way in Hell would I take your moeny, sweetheart. I appreciate the offer, I do, but it’s my bed and I gotta lie in it. You got your own,” he said.

“Well maybe I’m just tired of sleeping alone,” you said.

“What are we talking about anymore?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” you breathed out.

“Me either,” he said, propping himself up on his elbows. You reached across the bed and grabbed his hand, drawing shapes on his palm until he squeezed it shut around you. He pushed it away gently, quietly crawling over and looking down at you staring right back. “To be clear, I’m off the clock.”

“Okay,” you said.

He dipped his head low and kissed you, letting you cup his cheek as he very slowly broke away. He laid next to you, turning to face you, a tiny smile on your face. He returned it, closing his eyes after a moment.

“Why’d you kiss me?” you asked.

“I wanted to,” he said. “Was that okay?”

“It wasn’t not okay,” you said. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah. Just...I might do it again as a warning,” he said.

“Okay,” you said. He moved his bandaged hand up to your face and pushed a strand of hair aside. “Why do you want to kiss me, Dean?”

“Cause I like you,” he said. “You don’t treat me like meat or make me feel bad about the fact I do this. Out of all those people, out of all your strong brothers and brother in laws and all that, you’re the one that when you thought something happened to me, you tried to come help me. You’re cute and sarcastic and I like you.”

“You don’t think I’m pathetic?”

“No. I never have. You have trust issues and so do I. I think we have more in common than what you see at the surface.”

“People don’t talk like that in real life,” you said.

“I do. If I trust the other person.”

“Can we do the rest of this trip as friends? Not as a date for hire.”

“Yeah,” he said as you took his hand and ran your thumb over the back of it. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

You brought it up to your face and kissed it, Dean smiling.

“All better now,” he said. “You doing alright?”

“I don’t know,” you said. You jammed your face in his shoulder, Dean’s arm moving to wrap it around you. “I’m glad you’re here, Dean.”

“Me too, sweetheart.”

_______

A/N: Read the Final Part here!

#supernatural #spn #dean x reader #dean winchester #supernatural fanfiction #dean winchester x reader #dean spn #dean #winchester #dean spn au #au

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byima · 3 years

Text

California Dreaming pt 4

I shared this on AO3 half a month ago and I’m just getting around to cross posting for the tumblr folks and you can read the full story here.

Lunch was a boisterous event. They ate at, or commandeered depending on who was asked, an Italian restaurant in the city of Berkeley. Everyone was there; Frank, Hazel, Nico, Grover, Silena, Beckendorf, Travis, Connor, Katie, Rachel, Jason, Piper, and Leo. Remi was there too, and so was Annabeth’s dad and her stepmom and half-brothers, who were in town because of her own commencement which had been the day before, and so was Frank’s grandmother. The restaurant was cozy, it smelt heavenly; 70’s and 80’s music buzzed through the speakers, friendly staff flitted between tables. Their group was two tables strong, too loud, too rowdy and it was one of few times the whole commencement weekend that Annabeth felt overwhelmed but energized by that feeling, rather than drained.

“No Charlie, this is the perfect time! We can rent a van–”

“Yup, just picture it man, tearing down the roads, stopping wherever we want, camping out during the nights–”

Silena grimaced, and Charles laughed at her expression. She and Travis had been trying to convince Charles and Katie to take a west coast road trip: from northern California to Nevada, then Utah, then Arizona and then down to southern California.

“I’ll be down, if we do this without a single hotel stay.” From Charles. Who was next to Paul, who was next to Sally, who was across from Percy.

“Two hotel stays.” From Silena, next to Charles. She was in full negotiation mode.

Estelle, on Sally’s other side, ducked under the table to retrieve the errant crayon she’d been using to color her kid’s menu. Through the aged speakers, Dexys Midnight Runners chorused, ‘Too-ra loo-ra too-ra loo-rye-ayyyyyyy,’ and the space hummed with a spicy-herb/heavy-sauce fragrance and music and laughter and liveliness.

“Nah Silena, if we’re doing this, we’re doing this for real.” From Travis, a few seats to Percy’s right.

Grover, on Percy’s direct right, finally found the image on his mostly unused, worse-for-wear Nokia brick of a phone. He held up the battered screen to Percy’s face. “This is it. See the name on that wrapper? I need to find this place and try their samosas–”

“Explain to me how staying in a hotel would make this ‘not real’ Travis.”

He raised his slice of buttered bread to his mouth. “I’m just talking about getting the most experiential of experiences–”

“And I’m talking about having semi-regular shower access–” Silena leaned towards the Stoll brother sitting across from her to emphasize her point.

“And apparently the locals have nicknamed the San Francisco fog Karl.” A fun fact from Paul.

“Is that so?” Piper encouraged him with a broad grin.

She got an under the table kick from Annabeth for that one.

At the other table, Frank’s grandmother held her new smartphone for Leo to see.

“Don’t do it for me, show me how so I can do it myself.”

“Er, sorry, Grandma Zhang you just- you have to… here-”

“No, I said show me, and now you’ve done something else, Valdez!”

“I know, but I’m trying to show you how to go back without a back button,” Leo ran an agitated hand through his curls.

Travis leaned forward too, matching Silena’s energy, bitten bread slice brandished. “You’re weak. And I’ve outgrown you.”

Charles was laughing again. Hard. Like struggling to breathe belly laughing.

“Why is Beckendorf having a conniption?” Piper’s voice carried from the other end of the table.

Katie answered. “Travis is back to quoting The Incredible’s.”

Connor was losing it, too. “My man Beckendorf has caught every single one of them.”

“Name a better Disney movie–”

“I’ve already named one. Mulan. And– Travis, I’m serious, we’ll watch it tonight and it'll shut you right up-”

“Katie, Katie, Katie…” Travis shook his head in pity. “You can’t admit defeat, huh? I saw you last night, trying to act like you weren’t hyped during the family fight scenes-”

Silena smacked her hand impatiently on the table. “Travis, can you, for just one moment, stay with me? You were supposed to be on my side.”

“And I was. I am.” He leveled an accusatory finger at her face. “But you’re a wuss if you can’t survive one road trip without hotel amenities.”

“You’re full of shit, Trav.” Back to Katie, sitting between Grover and Travis.

There was a minor uproar.

“Hey hey hey, watch your mouth young lady there are children present–”

“Don’t forget the children–”

Connor and Travis. They are the uproar.

“Percy says that word a lot. So, I know it’s a bad word.” Estelle looked at her brother, then Connor, as she sold the former out.

There were a couple “oooo’s” from the friends gathered and Percy shook his head at the betrayal, hand on his chest because, alas, he’s Caesar, and Brutus has two pigtails and missing teeth.

Estelle, loving the reaction of the masses and her moment in the spotlight, added, “So does my mom.”

The entire table erupted in a chorus of “OOOOOOOO’S” and Paul looked at Sally, a little baffled and overwhelmed and amused because how else could he feel in such a setting?

“Sally Jackson, patron saint of motherhood–”

“Despite the utter disappointment that is her first born–”

“You’ve been called out, ma’am, how do you respond?”

Sally covered Estelle’s ears. “Fuck off. All of you.” A thespian response from the “saint” herself.

The large party collectively lost it, roaring laughter carried through the restaurant, other patrons looked around to spot the source of the ruckus.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Sally Jackson-Blofis–”

“She’s quick, she’s gritty, and she’s straight from New York City–”

“I think that’s us.” Grover’s eyes followed his nose, which picked up on the savory scent of freshly prepared food being brought near to them. A united cheer drew attention, once again, to the celebrating group.

“You guys are gonna get us kicked out before we can even take a bite.” Frank made accidental eye contact with a frowning restaurant-goer.

Waitstaff arrived at their tables with black trays laden with the steaming, heavenly smelling bounty.

The young woman who’d taken their orders earlier gestured to the guy accompanying her.

“Alright everyone, this is Gio, he’s gonna take over for me since my shift is ending.” There were some noises of disappointment and she playfully hushed the table of spirited demigods. She set a plate of spaghetti with meatballs in front of Estelle and a baked chicken parmesan dish in front of Sally, gently warning the child that her plate would be hot.

Gio waved hello before he started distributing ordered dish to orderer. “Nani told me we have some graduates here today…”

-----

“So Italians will actually eat it like… this.” Nico demonstrated to Jason.

“Like this?”

“Yeah…”

“Really?”

“Nah, I’m just fucking with you.”

Percy nodded at Annabeth’s dish. “How is it?”

“It’s so good. You wanna try?”

Annabeth was already twirling her fork into the pasta, and she speared a piece of shrimp on the end before raising the bite to Percy’s waiting mouth. His eyes rolled back and he made a low noise as he slowly chewed.

Her eyes danced. “I don’t think it was that good.”

He shook his head in disagreement. “Lemme have some of yours. And you can have some of my pizza.”

“I don’t want your pizza.”

“You do. This is what they mean when they talk about the best of both worlds.” Percy tried forking a portion of her food from her full plate to his and she stopped him, doing it herself before he made a mess of both of them with his clumsy portioning.

“And then I give you some of mine…”

Annabeth felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned from watching Percy lower a slice of his pizza (which was actually heavy with cheese and red sauce and phenomenal tasting) to look at her dad who was seated behind her at the table running parallel to theirs.

“How does it feel to be finally done? Both of you, graduated and diploma’d.”

Dr. Chase had been on cloud nine the whole weekend. His daughter had graduated from the best public university in the country. What else would you expect from the academia-loving dad? But the last five years had been pivotal for their relationship, too. When Annabeth looked at her father, really looked at him, she saw the sadness edging his expression. Because he knew, as she closed this chapter of her life, she would begin another, and he would lose her to the east coast. So she’s been gentle with him, and maybe with herself too this weekend.

“I took my last final on Friday, so it doesn’t feel real yet.”

She lowered her fork and looked to Percy for his response to see him shaking his head.

“Nah. I’ve been checked out for weeks now. Barely held on till the end.”

“He’s lying, dad. Percy’s been emotional all week.”

“I’m sorry to have missed the ceremony at your school.”

Percy had just taken a bite of his pizza and his eyes went wide when he realized Frederick was waiting for a reply from him.

Annabeth responded on his behalf. “Trust me, Dad. His ceremony was just like any other graduation ceremony. Too much sun, a boring speaker, and two seconds to cheer for the person you care about.”

“Dude, Annabeth gets it.” This was from Bobby, who was sitting across from his father. “Why did they have to do two graduations for you?”

“One was for everybody, which was like, over 6,000 people. And then the other was specifically for my department.”

It was a little hard to hear them over the clinking of silverware against ceramic dishes and Rachel and Remi’s loud debate over traditional versus digital art, so Annabeth turned in her chair to face her family.

“Nobody needs to come to our high school graduation if it's gonna be this much of a drag.” Matthew said this with resolve.

“I think you’ll feel differently about things when the time comes.” From her stepmom, Helen.

“This is how graduations and commencements work.” Frederick Chase picked up his fork to resume eating his pesto pasta dish. “You spend years working hard, pushing through to the finish, shouldering through challenges and all of life’s obstacles, and then the day comes–”

“Oooooo… And then the day comes…”

“Dun dun DUUUNN! Dad, you make it sound so dramatic.” Matthew and Bobby snickered.

“It is dramatic.” He waved his fork like a baton. “When you’re graduating, you are the star of the moment, the center of the universe, just temporarily, and all of us will do our best to show up for you in the biggest way we can.” His brown eyes twinkled and Annabeth felt herself blushing at the warmth focused on her. “We all will bear through ceremony after ceremony if that means we get to celebrate your accomplishment.”

Annabeth thought about the hug her dad had wrapped her in yesterday morning, long and tight, and the way that squeeze said a million things other than ‘congratulations.’ And Sally in the car earlier today…

“Trust me guys, you don’t wanna be the person with no family at your graduation.” Piper turned from her conversation with Connor to give her two-cents.

“You were that person?”

“Yup. Eighth grade promotion. Me and a disgruntled nanny. As if junior high wasn’t bad enough.”

“Gonna have to agree with McLean here,” Rachel chimed in.

“Not to be the girl who complains about having a big family–”

“I’m betting you’re about to be that girl who complains about having a big family–”

“–but there’s nothing like having your aunt screaming on the phone in the middle of your high school graduation, simultaneously cursing out and giving parking directions to your tardy cousin.” Remi offered with a shrug.

Rachel and Remi argued the pros and cons of large heavily involved families, versus small, absentee ones. Frank coaxed his grandmother into trying the “too expensive” Italian cuisine. Travis and Katie were trying to out-embarrass each other with old camp stories. There were a million conversations happening at once.

“Jason, can I get the parmesan?”

“I feel like you have room for one more meatball in your mouth, kiddo-”

“Connor, I’m starting to regret allowing you next to my daughter.”

Sally held a napkin before Estelle’s mouth and the girl reluctantly ejected three soggy meatballs.

“So we pretty much knew Hazel was lactose intolerant at that point-”

“Severely lactose intolerant-”

And a million memories, so many silly, significant snapshots; Annabeth found herself wishing she hadn’t left Percy’s camera under the driver's seat of the rental.

“I’m never doing anything or going anywhere with you that has anything to do with Italy.”

“So we’re doing it?! This road trip is happening?”

“Does anyone need some more water here?”

“Lemme have some of your Bolognese-”

Annabeth startled. She’d been playing with the simple pendant that hung just below her collarbones when she felt Percy’s hand touch the crease of her elbow.

He had red sauce on his chin. And food crumbs on his upper lip. And all he did was lower their joined hands beneath the table and ask.

“What's going on in there?”

She rubbed her thumb into the first knuckle of his middle finger, gray eyes still intently consuming the surrounding scene; then her eyes met his and she saw understanding.

She tried explaining anyway, “I don’t want to forget… I want to- to be in this moment, you know? Or… I just- I wish I could-”

She pressed her lips shut and smiled ruefully, a little embarrassed by her abysmal attempt at the English language.

“Yeah. Same.” He squeezed her hand. “Yeah.”

------

They were outside. In front of the antique looking benches that flanked the restaurant’s double door entryway. Annabeth was going to stay in Berkeley with her family for the rest of the afternoon and Percy would head back to New Rome with his family. For now, they stood together, waiting for Matthew and Bobby who were in the restroom, preventing the Chase’s departure.

Annabeth planted her hands on her lower back and stretched her spine. “You’re very… confident today.”

“Am I?”

“Mmhm.” She leaned closer to him. “It’s like you’re… aware that people are watching. All day, all of these eyes have been on you and you’ve been very okay with it.” Even now, she noticed, in his slacks and dress shoes and his light blue short sleeve button up, he was handsome, cleaned up and groomed and plain-as-day attractive and definitely drawing attention standing as they were, in view of all the passer-byers. Yet he was comfortable. Confident.

He shrugged, because he didn’t know how else to react to her keen observation. She read him so intimately.

She was still reading him, and she could see traces of that self consciousness that had been missing all day creep into his body language.

“Did I kill your mojo?”

If he’d been confident all day, then she’d been radiant all weekend. They’d spent the week, Monday through Friday, stressed, all over the place, sleeping odd hours and meeting up to study or cry (the tears were from Annabeth, Percy was a zombie at that point) just trying to get through finals week so they could actually graduate. And then the weekend had come and family had arrived and there were graduation ceremonies and baccalaureates and dinners with parents and dress shoes and dresses that made Percy want to carry Annabeth off to a beach and fucking frolic in the fucking sand. But he couldn’t, there wasn’t any time to frolic or marvel or drink to the last five years of their lives. So they bounced from ceremony to ceremony. And she’d been absolutely radiant throughout, walking across the stage during her graduation Saturday morning, receiving special honors from her department. Running toward him this Sunday morning, wrapping herself around him and confirming that he had in fact done this, he was in fact finished with school. He’s so grateful for her. In awe of her. He couldn’t imagine doing this without her. It was incredible to do this with her. She pierced his heart like a sweet note of his favorite song and he felt her in his bones. There was so much going on, and it was good, all of it was so good, and here she was, here he was, and he missed her. Annabeth Chase, mojo murderer.

“Yes.” He cupped her face and kissed her quickly, she didn't even have time to react. “No. Now I’m overthinking, like, everything though. Bobby is coming out.” He jerked his chin at something behind her. “I think your fam is ready to leave.”

She glanced back at them with a frown. “That was supposed to be a compliment, Jackson.”

“Your dad is looking at me like he wants to say something.” Percy insistently tugged her arm and turned her around. “Please go with them before he does.”

She pulled her arm free and walked backwards, pointing at him for emphasis as the space between them grows.

“Keep the confidence, okay? I’ll see you at dinner?”

He pointed back at her. "I'll see you at dinner."

#mypjofic #percy jackon and the olympians #percy and annabeth #percabeth #california dreaming #trying to motivate to myself to finish the last part #by looking at the most recent chapter #one more and done

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fishfingersandjellybabies · 4 years

Text

Shadows of the Neon Lights - fic

Characters: Jason Todd, Damian Wayne Summary: He didn’t know what was more surprising - that someone else had come after him, or that it was Jason Todd, of all people, trying to stop him from killing. A/N: For Patreon supporter Leydy! Happy birthday sweet human, and thank you for all your support and kindness! You’re amazing! This is obviously some time after the Teen Titans Annual 2 confrontation/after Ric and Alfred’s death.

He had the man right where he wanted. A wannabe serial killer who hadn’t found his stride yet, but already killed three sex workers. Each in a different way, so no one had found the connection yet.

But Damian had.

He’d followed him for days, and now he had him next to the dumpster behind the strip joint he was casing for his next victim.

The man was sniveling and crying. Begging for his life as Damian pressed the dagger against his throat.

Damian didn’t care. This bastard deserved it.

So he smiled, and pulled the knife back. Then spun it to grasp it in his fist, aimed it to plunge right into the man’s chest.

One less scumbag in the world.

But right as he began to drop his hand, a gunshot rang out, and the blade shattered in his fingers.

The man shrieked, and Damian jumped back with a curse. He glanced over as the Red Hood strolled out of the alleyway, dramatically blowing the smoke from his gun’s barrel.

“What’d he do?” Jason asked carefully, removing his helmet.

“Killed three women. Staking out a fourth.” Damian snapped. “But that doesn’t matter to you, he’s my ki-”

Jason’s gun went off again. The man jerked once, then collapsed to the ground, a hole between his eyebrows.

“Not your kill.” Jason hummed. “Robin doesn’t have kills.”

“In case you haven’t heard.” Damian drawled, kicking at the now-dead man’s leg as he stepped over him. “I’m not Robin anymore.”

“Yeah, B told me.” Jason shrugged, and that seemed to just make Damian more annoyed. “What’s up with that?”

Damian scoffed, crossed his arms and turned to look down the alley behind him. “Like you care.”

“I do, actually. You’re my kid brother, whether either of us like it or not.” Jason countered. “And even I’m not so stubborn as to ignore the fact that we’ve all been through a lot lately. It takes a toll.” Jason glanced down at him. “And no one’s checked in with you about it all, have they?”

Damian refused to look at him. “You said Father told you.”

“He did. But I don’t take his word for anything.” Jason smirked. “…I do believe him on the you not being Robin anymore, and also going on a killing spree thing, though.”

“It’s not a spree.” Damian hissed. “It’s what needs to be done.”

“But not by you.” Jason argued. “I thought Dickie got you off that path.”

Damian turned away from him completely now.

“…Ah. So Bruce was telling the truth.” Jason murmured. “This really is about what happened to Dick and Alfred.”

Damian didn’t answer. Stared down at the dead body.

“What happened wasn’t your fault.” Jason promised. Then he lowered his voice. “Especially not to Alfred.”

“I was there. I should have done something.” Damian whispered.

“You were tied up and unconscious.” Jason tried, stepping forward. “What were you supposed to do?”

“Fight back. Literally, anything.” Damian returned. “But what I didn’t do then, I’m doing now.”

“Killing them before they hurt too many, or anyone else.” Jason nodded. “In their honor, right?”

“I suppose.”

“You weren’t there for Dick’s situation.” Jason crossed his arms now too. Thoughtfully. “How were you supposed to stop that one?”

“Killed KGBeast when he became a known player.” Damian decided. “He would have been dead years ago, so unavailable to take the mission.”

“Sure, then someone else would have been asked to do it.” Jason sniffed. “And then they might have been a better shot.”

Damian didn’t respond to that. Didn’t move. Jason glanced him over, checked for any injuries or illness. Kid seemed fine at a glance. Just dirty, clothes starting to wear out. A few new holes that probably weren’t there when he started this little crusade.

Jason sighed.

“They wouldn’t want this for you, Damian.” Jason whispered. “Alfred or Dick.”

“Well, they’re not here to stop me, are they?” Damian snapped. His arms were still crossed, but now he seemed to bend in on himself. Hug himself.

“No, they’re not.” Jason agreed. “But I am.”

That made Damian turn around in surprise.

“And yes, before you whine about it, I’m fully aware it makes me a hypocrite.” Jason raised his hands in defense. “But we’ve lost enough this year. Excuse me if I’m not keen on adding you and your morality to that damn list.”

“…It’s what needs to be done.” Damian murmured sadly. “And Batman refuses to do it. That’s why, after all these years he’s been active, Gotham is still a hellhole. That’s why he loses those he claims to love time after time after damn time.”

Jason nodded. “Then I’ll do it. Not you.”

“I’m the most equipped to handle it!” Damian shouted now, stomping back at him. “I’ve been trained to do just this for my entire life!”

“And you shouldn’t have been!” Jason yelled back. “Talia should have protected you. Dick should have protected you better. Bruce should have talked to you about all this before he realized you’d already reached your fucking breaking point!”

“So then what else do you want me to do?!” Damian almost begged, tears welling up in his eyes. “Sit at home with the rest of you and grieve? Keep doing everything I was, like the only two people who ever cared about me weren’t ripped out of my life for no reason?!”

“I want you to slow down.” Jason said, tone instantly softer as he took hold of Damian’s shoulders. “I want you to let us take care of you.”

“Well I want to make sure no one goes through what we have.” Damian mumbled in return, the fight instantly leaving his system. “…What I have.”

“And I get that. I do.” He smiled and gestured to himself. “I mean, hello? I totally understand.” He let his smile drop. “But before we take care of everyone else, why don’t we try taking care of you first?” He paused for a second, squeezed Damian’s arms. “Why don’t we do it together?”

Damian just stared at him. “I can take care of myself.”

“Sure. Totally. So can I.” Jason winked. “But humour me. Just this once.”

Damian glanced down at Jason’s hands on his arms. “…You’re not going to let me go until I agree, will you?”

“You were taught better than to let your enemies get too close, remember?” Jason smiled.

Damian sighed and rolled his eyes. “Why do you care so much, Todd? What does it matter to you what I do?”

“Because as surprising as it may be, I don’t want you to end up like me.” Jason said honestly. A little too honestly for Damian’s taste. “You deserve better than… this.”

Damian looked him up and down. “…No I don’t.”

“A debate we can have later.” Jason laughed. “So, what do you say? Will you come home with me?”

Damian immediately jerked back in his hold, almost tripping over the dead body that Jason practically forgot was there. “No. No way.” He said immediately. “I am not going back to the manor.”

“Slow your roll, kiddo, you didn’t let me finish!” Jason called, reeling him back in. “You know I don’t live at the manor. When I say home, I mean come back to my home. A safehouse outside the city.”

Damian hesitated at that, eyeing Jason warily.

“I won’t even tell B that I found you, or that you’re with me.” Jason promised. “And I know you’re already itching to run. So at the very least, let me take you back to my place, get you a hot meal, a shower, and one decent night’s sleep. Then we’ll talk for real after that. Okay?”

Damian tilted his head, glancing up at the strip club in thought.

And it was a 50-50 chance that it would work. It could make the kid collapse in tears, or convince him to pull out that second knife Jason knew he had hidden on him and stab it into Jason’s throat. But he had to try. He had to.

“…It’s what Dick and Alfie would want you to do.”

To his surprise, Damian didn’t react immediately. Still kept his eyes upwards as he thought. Then, finally, he lowered his gaze to Jason. He blinked slowly, and Jason only now realized how tired the kid looked. Sad.

Lonely.

“Fine.” Damian said quietly after a moment. “I will take your food.”

Jason hadn’t realized his heart was tight with tension until it loosened at his words. He smiled and ruffled the kid’s hair as he stood, sliding his other hand down Damian’s arm until their fingers tangled together.

Damian didn’t even try to let go.

Jason glanced back at the dead man – who did deserve it, Damian wasn’t wrong about that – and made sure there was nothing around the body that would implicate Damian at least. When he saw nothing, he nodded and tugged the kid along behind him in the alleyway.

“Have any preference for dinner?”

“…Anything edible, I suppose.” Damian muttered thoughtfully. As if on cue, his stomach rumbled lightly. Jason smiled sympathetically.

“Well, that rules out anything I know how to cook.” Jason joked. He heard Damian snort a laugh behind him. That was as good a start as any. “So how about we find some nice, greasy takeout instead?”

Damian squeezed his hand, and Jason took that as silent gratitude. A thanks he was too embarrassed to admit. “That sounds perfect.”

#Damian Wayne #Jason Todd

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kumeko · 3 years

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A/N: For the @bat-famzine Bats and Birds zine! I wanted to write my fav trio, Stephanie, Tim, and Cassandra.

…

“Yep. Doing it here was the right choice,” Stephanie Brown confirmed, crossing her arms and nodding her head slowly as she surveyed the living room. A wide, expansive area, it was as big as the first floor of her house. Hell, the TV mounted on the wall was bigger than all the screens in her house combined. “No, it was the onlychoice.”

“Over-dramatic much?” Tim rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face said otherwise. Sitting in front of the TV in a mess of wires, he started connecting several game consoles to the TV. “Your house would have been fine.”

“It would have been only fine. Wayne Manor? Now that’s great.” With a snort, she gingerly picked up a free HDMI cord. “And you have what, five different consoles for us to play? In one night? And I’m the over dramatic one?”

“We could switch games part way,” Tim argued, untangling a controller. His tongue was stuck to the side, his brow furrowed as he concentrated on unravelling the messy pile in front of him. “I knew I shouldn’t have let Jason use these.”

“Is it possible to use…” Perched awkwardly on one of Bruce’s leather couches, Cassandra paused as she struggled to find the right word. Correcting herself, she continued, “to playa game in a night?”

“Depends on the game!” Delighted by the question, Tim immediately looked over his shoulder. “With the party type games—”

“Less talking, more doing!” Stephanie interrupted, before a huge spiel about time could occur. At the rate he talked, it’d be morning before they could play and Gotham probably couldn’t survive them taking two nights in a row off.

“Yes, yes,” Tim grumbled, puffing his cheeks as he hurried with set up.

Stephanie chuckled. Honestly, he was so ridiculous sometimes. Turning back to Cassandra, she winced. Cassandra didn’t look like she knew how to sit on a comfy couch, let alone relax, and maybe they should have done this earlier. She couldn’t even remember the last time Cassandra took time off. At the rate she was going, she’d turn into a mini-Batman. And they already had enough of that with Damian running around.

“What are you doing?”

Speak of the devil. Forcing a smile on her face, Stephanie turned around. “Heya, Damian.”

Damian gave her a pointed stare and she tried not to shiver. Sure, he was only ten, but in demon years, he’d be like sixty. Or was that dog years? At least there wasn’t bloodlust in his eyes. Or a weapon in his hands. “Don’t you have work to do?”

“Not tonight.” Stephanie grinned, hand on her hip. “We’re having a sleepover.”

Damian crossed his arms, raising an unimpressed brow. “So you’re slacking off.”

Part of her wondered if Bruce was rubbing off on him or vice versa. Her smile strained as she tried not to frown. “No, we’re taking a well-deserved break.”

“He doesn’t understand what that is,” Tim snipped, setting down the Switch. Finished untangling, he turned on the system and flipped on the T.V. When the screen stayed black, he frowned and fiddled with the controller. “Talk to him like you’d talk to a five-year-old.”

“I suppose she would have a lot of experience, dealing with you.” Damian casually strolled over to Tim.

Tim opened his mouth to argue, but there really was no going around that burn. It was almost impossible to get the last word with Damian; she would know. No, there was only one way this could end. Tim’s hand was already curled around a controller, his weapon of choice, and while Damian looked unarmed, she wouldn’t be surprised if he had at least ten knives hidden in his dress pants. Eyes darting from one boy to the other, Stephanie wasn’t sure if she should separate them before they stained the carpet with blood or run to the kitchen to get popcorn.

Damian pressed a button on the side of the screen and it flickered on. Lips curling into a smirk, he sneered, “Can’t even manage this much, Drake?” And just as suddenly as he had entered the room, he left.

“I hate that kid,” Tim muttered grumpily.

Stephanie patted his back consolingly. “I know. I know.”

-x-

“Jump!” Stephanie yelled, pressed up against Cassandra’s left side. When her friend gave her an owlish blink, she shouted, “X. HIT X.”

“Right.” Cassandra quickly pressed the right button, bouncing on her seat slightly. On the screen, Mario jumped to safety as a black bullet smashed into the wall beneath him. A narrow escape. Too narrow.

“Safe,” Stephanie sighed, slumping over and resting her head on Cassandra’s shoulder. Man, it was more stressful than she’d expected, watching Cassandra play. For someone who picked up every way to kill a man just by watching it once, she was an unexpectedly slow study on video game controls.

On Cassandra’s other side, Tim gave her a curious look. “Are there too many buttons to remember?”

“No, not that…” Cassandra stared at the little controller in her hands, her fingers lightly brushing over the various buttons. The tracking pad. Mario shuffled in spot, waiting to move. “I just want to do it myself.”

Stephanie looked up, eyebrow raised. “You mean, run through the forest fighting off bullets and bombs and weird turtle guys?”

“Yes.” Cassandra paused, then shook her head. “No. I want to…I want to jump. To run. To do that action. When you say ‘dodge’, I want to dodge.”

“Oh!” Tim hit his fist on his open palm, realization dawning on his face. “Is that why you keep bouncing in your seat?”

“Yes.” Cassandra nodded. “I tried to…keep it still.”

“Doing a terrible job of it.” Sitting up, Stephanie stroked her chin. “Oh, is it like when I play foosball and just want to tear out the sticks and force the guys to hit the ball?”

“Kinda.” Tim shot her a deadpan stare. “But that’s mainly because you’re bad at it.”

“…them’s fighting words.” Plucking the controller out of Cassandra’s hands, she brought up the home menu. Opening Smash, she turned to Tim with a challenging smirk. “Ready for a beat down?”

“Don’t go home crying,” Tim retorted, picking up the second controller. He pushed his hair back, out of his eyes, turning on his serious mode. “What was our score? 40 to 17?”

Gritting her teeth, she swiped a finger across her neck, execution-style.

-x-

“I’m sorry.” Cassandra wrung her hands apologetically, her cheeks red with embarrassment. She hung her head shamefully, her back hunched as they headed toward the kitchen.

“It’s fine!” Tim reassured quickly, patting her back awkwardly. “We can always get new controllers.”

Arms crossed behind her head, Stephanie looked over her shoulder at the pair. “I didn’t think you could break them like that.”

“It could happen to anyone.” Tim shot her a shut-up glare.

Stephanie had never taken a hint before and she wasn’t about to start now. “No, seriously. What kinda workout do you give your fingers? Those buttons look like they were hammeredin.”

Still a little flustered, Cassandra curled her fingers in and out. “Push ups. Finger bands. I use a lot of. Uh. Methods.”

Push-ups. Stephanie cocked her head, remembering their work-outs together. Remembering Cassandra’s finger push ups. An entire human body supported by a single finger. Her mouth made an ‘o’ shape. “Riiigghhht. Got it.”

“I could teach you,” Cassandra offered, looking more enthusiastic now. She curled her hand into a fist, punching the air ahead of them. “Just like before.”

“Uhhh….” Stephanie suppressed a shudder, remembering how their first time around as teacher-student had gone. Vomiting. Bruises. Bones that felt like they should have been broken but were miraculously not. Sure, she was better now: faster, quicker, stronger, all of that jazz. Part of her feared that would make Cassandra’s spartan training even worse, that she’ll kick it up a notch thinking she didn’t have to hold back now. “I’ll…think about it.”

“Chicken!” Tim teased, chuckling.

Cassandra turned to Tim hopefully. “To make up for the controller.”

He froze mid-laugh. Like a deer in the headlights, he was only able to blink and nod.

“Fraidy cat,” Stephanie muttered, rolling her eyes. Falling back to walk apace with Cassandra, she bumped shoulders with her. “Honestly, with the allowance you guys get, I bet Tim won’t even notice the controllers.” As they entered the kitchen, she leaned forward, shooting him a questioning look. “How much do you guys get again?”

“Finished with your games, are you?” A formal, clipped tone interrupted their discussion. Alfred Pennyworth stood in front of the counter, whisking briskly in a plastic bowl. “I am afraid you will have to wait a little longer for the waffles.”

“Alfred! You remembered!” Stephanie gave Alfred a side hug. He was even wearing the frilly apron she gave him last year. “It’s been so long since I had one of your waffles!” Excited, Stephanie pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat on it backwards. Resting her chin on the chair’s back, she grinned cheerfully. “Best food ever. This is why we had to do this here.”

“The curtain’s why we have to do this here,” Tim mocked, rolling his eyes as he sat next to her.

“Didn’t you ask for the waffles?” Cassandra asked. She stood next to Alfred, watching curiously as he stirred. “For Steph.”

Tim coloured at that, turning away when Stephanie gave him a questioning look. “Cass! You weren’t supposed to say that!”

“Ooohh?” Stephanie grinned, looping an arm around his shoulders. He covered his face, but she could see his ears and they were as red as a tomato. “Did someone miss me?”

“Vey much so, Miss Stephanie.” Alfred smiled kindly, cracking an egg and adding it to the batter. “I dare say the house had been too quiet with you gone. It is good to have you back.”

“Aww, Alfred.” Stephanie could feel her own face flushing now, her skin warm, and she blew him a kiss. “I missed you too.”

“I have to apologize, though, for the state your waffles are in.” Alfred wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, before folding it neatly and returning it to his pocket. “I had created a batch with blueberries earlier but Master Damian consumed them.”

“He ate them,” Stephanie replied flatly. Her hand curled into a fist and she looked up at the ceiling, in the direction of Damian’s room. That little punk. There was no way he wanted those waffles—they weren’t ‘elite’ enough for him. She narrowed her eyes. “He’s just messing with me.”

“That’s just…” Thinking about it a little more, Tim rubbed his neck. “He is. He definitely is.”

-x-

“We should do the party game,” Stephanie suggested, scrolling through Tim’s game list. It was simple enough—throwing a die and hoping to land on the right tile. Just like Monopoly! Most importantly, it sounded like something she could win. “Pure luck.”

“You’ll still lose.” Tim picked up an old Gamecube case. “Maybe Starfox. Or Sonic.”

“You trash talking me?” Stephanie glared at him. “I beat you before and I’ll beat you again.”

“That’s like one out of—Cass?” They watched as Cassandra re-entered the living room, calmly walking over to her bag. She gave them a short nod as she reached in and pulled out a rope. “Uh…what’s that for?”

“Damian,” Cassandra replied, her voice eerily flat. She coiled the rope around her arm and headed to the door.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Stephanie dropped the Switch and a frantic Tim dived to catch it. Quickly, she ran in front of Cassandra, her arms spread wide. “What are you doing?”

“Catching Damian,” Cassandra explained, as though it was the most natural thing.

“With a rope?” She tugged the rope, trying to pry it free. “What’d he do?”

Setting the Switch down carefully, Tim stood back and crossed his arms. “Did he attack you?”

“No.” Cassandra paused, an uncharacteristic frown on her face. “He…complimented me.”

“Huh? Damian Wayne? Mr. Snobby Brat himself?’ Stephanie tried and failed to keep her jaw from dropping. Sure, she highly suspected Damian would like Cassandra; with her assassin-like skills and taciturn behaviour, she was almost everything Damian wanted to be. It was still another thing to hear it. “Then why’re so angry?”

“…he insulted you.” Cassandra walked around her, pushing open the door.

They watched her leave, Tim giving a low whistle. “Three strikes, and he’s out.”

“Do you think we should, uh, follow?” Stephanie bit her cheek when it was clear Cassandra wasn’t coming back. “It might get...bloody.”

“Oh definitely.” Tim grinned, practically skipping out the door. “I only wish I had popcorn.”

-x-

“You know, it’s too bad Damian didn’t want to join us,” Stephanie sighed, selecting her car for the race. It was a hard choice between something purple and semi-good, and something ridiculous. She went with ridiculous. Baby Daisy in a Flame Ride.

“MMMFFFFF.”

Tim snickered, pressing start. “I know. I can almost hear him now, begging to join us.”

“MMMMMNNNNNFFFF.”

“I think he is cursing us.” Cassandra looked over her shoulder curiously at the strung-up Damian. Strung upside down like a turkey, his face was red as he continued to shout. Or tried to shout. The cloth muffled most of his words. Squinting, Cassandra tried to read his body language but even with her skills, it was an impossible task. “I think he is…angry.”

“I’m sure he is.” Stephanie nodded sagely, before gently turning Cassandra’s face toward the TV. It was just like her to miss the point; they were supposed to be ignoring the jerk. “We’re also in the middle of a race.”

Doubt colouring her expression, she looked uncertainly over her shoulder at Damian’s struggling form. He swung side to side, outraged. “Should we take him down?”

“That’s what got him there in the first place,” Tim quipped. He laughed when Damian growled. “I never knew how much I needed to hear that.”

“Me neither.” Stephanie sighed blissfully. “Should have done that ages ago.” Watching as Cassandra hesitantly selected Mario, she raised a brow. “Really? Him? He’s like, the most stereotypical choice.”

Cassandra stared at her like she was crazy. “How can the others drive? They do not have thumbs. Or a license.”

“It’s…part of the game.” Well, when it was put like that, Stephanie couldn’t really argue. Giant gorillas, toads, and babies; none of them made sense as drivers. “They’re not actually—well, they are actually gorillas but…um…cartoon gorillas? Real life doesn’t really mean anything to them.” When Cassandra still looked at her questioningly, she moaned and pressed ‘x’. “Look, let’s just start the game, okay? It’ll make sense later.”

Three matches later, Stephanie wasn’t sure if it made any more sense, but it certainly hadn’t stopped Cassandra from branching out and becoming a flower monster, an elf, and a turtle. Lying on the floor, she turned her hands left and right with her car, as though she were speeding down the track with it. Not that Stephanie was much better—honestly, there was just something about a racing game that made you want to veer with it. Sitting on Cassandra’s back, she gritted her teeth as Princess Peach slammed into a tunnel wall. “That’s cheating, Tim!”

“It’s in the rules, Steph!” Tim growled back, his hip bumping into her arm as he tried to keep Link on the tracks.

“Interference!” she shouted, hitting buttons wildly. One of them would make her go faster. Or shoot down Tim. Or burn down the racetrack. “You hit my arm.”

“And you spilled my drink!”

“MMMMMHHHHH.”

“See? Damian’s on my side!”

-x-

“Ah, Miss Stephanie.” Alfred exited the kitchen, a tray in his hands. Three glasses of pop sat on them, looking far more expensive than the coke she found in the supermarket. Even the chips she brought looked elevated in a ceramic bowl, and she wasn’t sure if that was Alfred’s magic or if it was just how expensive everything else was. “I was just bringing snacks.”

“You’re the best, Alfred.” Stephanie tried to take the tray from him but he smoothly stepped out of her reach. “Alfred?”

“Allow me to perform my duties.” Alfred smiled, lowering the tray in front of her. “Drink?”

“…alright, but I’ll bring the dishes back, ok?” With a grumble, she took a glass. “My mom would kill me if she found out I did nothing.”

“I’m sure we can find something for you to do.” Alfred approached the living room, peaking in. His eyebrow raised at the sight before him. “Is that Master Damian?”

“Yeah…” Stephanie admitted sheepishly. “We’ll untie him soon. Promise.”

“When you do, I would advise Master Timothy to hide his games. I do not imagine this has made Master Damian any fonder of them.” Alfred’s smile didn’t drop, amusement colouring face. “I am surprised you managed to catch him.”

“Cass, it was all her.” Stephanie shivered, not sure what would have happened if she hadn’t been around. Death. That was probably it.

“That would explain it.” Alfred chuckled softly, turning to her. He smiled fondly. “Truly, it is good to have you back.”

Something about how he said it made it all feel official. That she was finally home, after everything. Giving him a one-armed hug, she smiled. “Me too.”

#batfam #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #tim drake #damian wayne #alfred pennyworth #robin #batgirl #fanfic

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sun-summoning · 4 years

Text

Jason has an alternate plan for Dog in Red Hood #36

Jason takes it as a positive sign that Damian hasn’t pulled out a weapon. The brat has his hood drawn up and his arms crossed as he leans against his bike. His nose wrinkles, a sign of his distaste, and Jason rolls his eyes behind his mask because it’s not like anyone forced the brat to come here. He makes the mistake of voicing that thought, prompting Damian to scowl even fiercer than usual.

“You blackmailed me, you idiot!” He brandishes an accusing finger. “I will find those photos.”

“Sure you will,” Jason mocks. Polaroids were easier to hide from Damian that digital files he could hack, particularly polaroids of adorable little Robins doing adorable little things.

Damian’s hands fall back under his cape. “Why did you call me here?”

“I have your birthday present.”

“My birthday was exactly six months ago.”

“Belated then.” He shrugs. “Or early. Take your pick.”

Jason gestures for Damian to follow him to his car, which he does so with a heavy sigh. Dog is already pawing at the window begging to be let out to meet a new friend. Jason opens the door and the dog immediately jumps out to greet Damian. The brat shows Dog more affection in their first minute of knowing each other than Damian has shown Jason since they met years ago.

“His name is Dog.” Jason doesn’t miss Damian’s unimpressed stare. “As if Bat-Cow is the height of creativity!”

Damian pets Dog and hides his smile over Dog’s exuberant greeting licks.

“I’ve gotta leave Gotham—“

“Tt — you’re not even supposed to be in Gotham after killing Penguin!”

“—and I need someone to take care of him for now.”

Damian’s head snaps up. “It’s not a present if you intend to take him back, Todd.”

“Fine, Dog’s on loan. No birthday present for you.”

“I didn’t even ask for him!”

“You saying you don’t want him?”

“As if you’re not just doing this to annoy Father even more.”

“That is completely untrue and I am offended that you would even suggest that,” Jason barely denies. “He’d get along with Titus.” Everyone gets along with Titus. “And he’ll like the yard.”

“And what do I get?”

“The gift of Dog’s friendship, obviously.”

“No thanks.”

“My appreciation?”

“I’m already not telling everyone that Red Hood is back in Gotham, idiot.”

Honestly, Jason can just go back to his original plan of leaving Dog with Isabel, but her schedule isn’t ideal and he really does think Dog love playing with Titus everyday. And terrible as Damian might be with people, he’s actually really great with animals.

“Tell you what,” Jason begins, changing tactics. “This can be your first big boy job.” He throws an arm around Damian’s shoulder with little regard for personal space and/or safety. “You pet-sit for me and I get you a new weapon for every month Dog’s with you.”

The fact that Damian hasn’t stabbed him means he’s considering the deal. He looks up at Jason from where he’s positioned in a semi headlock, eyes certainly narrowed behind his mask and lips pursed in thought.

Finally, he nods. “I want a sword.”

“You have, like, twenty swords already.”

“I want a space sword.”

“I’m not even going to space!”

“Those are my terms, Todd.”

That brat.

With a deep sigh, Jason nods. He wraps his arm around Damian’s head a bit tighter, indulging in that instinct one has to squish something that’s adorable, like demon brothers who asked for new toys as payment. Jason can be a jerk about it and order some children’s toy sword as a joke, or he can put real effort into finding something worthwhile when he’s not in the middle of being tracked by some drone.

For now, he decides that this meeting has gone on too long. He’s been in Gotham for longer than he wanted and it’s probably past Damian’s bedtime.

“I can’t take Dog on my bike.”

Jason looks around as if he expects Dick or Bruce to come out and scold him for his next idea. “You want to trade?” Jason throws him his car keys. “I’d be better off with a bike right now.”

Damian cocks his head curiously. “Father wouldn’t approve of you giving me a car.”

“What do you think would annoy him more -- the car or the new dog?”

The corner of the brat’s lips twitches as he fights down a smirk. Jason guides Dog into the backseat while not at all snorting at Damian moving his seat forward to reach the pedals. Dog whimpers when Jason begins to walk away. He pauses by the window and gives Dog one last pat.

“He’s annoying, but I like him well enough. Don’t let him get into too much trouble. And don’t let him do anything stupid like get hurt or run away.”

“Tt — I know how to take care of a dog, Todd.”

Jason musses Damian’s hair before heading over to his new bike. “I was talking to Dog.”

#damian wayne #jason todd

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dream-a-little-bigger-x · 4 years

Text

Heathers | Sweet Pea

A/N: Second to last part! It’s almost the end of the rewrite of the Heathers episode, and I hope you’ve enjoyed it so far! :D

Act one - Act two - Act three - Act four - Act Five

Words: 3076

Pairing: Sweet Pea x Reader

Warnings: angst, cursing, sexual harassment

Act Five: Meant To Be Yours

Ever since we rehearsed Dead Girl Walking for the first time yesterday, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling I had when I was straddling Sweet Pea’s lap. Why – oh why – must he be so attractive and so good at singing? Never have I felt anything like this for a co-star in a play or musical. I hate feeling this weak and vulnerable for a boy. Thought I’d learned my lesson after Reggie, but I guess I didn’t. “Earth to Y/N,” Ella’s voice makes me snap out of my thoughts. “Hm, what?” I ask, my eyes darting from Ella to Margot and back. Both of them have knowing smirks on their faces. The three of us are sat at the cafeteria, eating our lunches. Only a few more hours until the very last rehearsal before we go through everything from beginning to end for the next rehearsals. “You’re so crazy about him,” Margot retorts and takes a bite from her sandwich. “I am not,” I shoot back, furrowing my eyebrows. “Hm, Ella, don’t you think it’s weird I didn’t have to say a name, and still, Y/N knew who I was talking about?” Margot is a great actress, but her sarcasm always seeps through in situations like this. “Yeah, that is weird. How could that be, Margot?” Ella taps her chin twice with her index finger and looks like she’s in deep thought with her brows furrowed and lips pursed. “I don’t know, Ella. Maybe because she’s so damn madly in love with the guy playing Jason Dean.” Margot and Ella both burst out laughing, and I can’t help but smile too. “Imagine having your own Jason Dean without the psychopathic part, and not doing anything about it,” Ella scoffs, shaking her head at me while picking at her salad. “I mean, honestly, Y/N, what’s holding you back?” I drop my sandwich on my tray and heave a deep sigh. “Is it the Serpent-thing? I thought you didn’t care about all that shit?” Margot adds, wanting to know too, why I didn’t take my chance and ask him out. “No…” I sigh again, “It’s… I… I don’t know, guys. I just think I’m scared. I mean, what if he doesn’t feel the same? He’s pretty much still in love with Josie McCoy even though she broke his heart in a thousand pieces. What’s Reggie going to do? Is it going to change the entire musical? Is it going to steer me away from my path straight to NYU?” I ramble all of the thoughts I’d been overthinking on my own the entire night last night. “Wow, girl, okay…” Margot seems a little taken aback by all the thoughts slipping out of my mouth. “Let’s break this down,” she says and glances to Ella for a second as if to check who’ll start. Ella does. “The only way to know if he feels the same, is to ask him.” She shrugs as if it’s that simple. “Are you sure he’s still in love with Josie? I mean, what you guys did in rehearsals during Dead Girl Walking, that was improv, which might mean he wanted to rip your shirt off the entire time,” Margot continues by tackling my second thought. “Who cares what Reggie’s going to do? He’s a dick, Y/N. Screw him,” Ella says, and Margot nods. “If you’re scared it’s going to change the musical, then wait until the musical’s over. The show’s next weekend if you can wait that long. But if it’s going to change the musical, he isn’t that great an actor, sweetie.” Margot presses her lips together in a painful grimace. “You still have this year and senior year to spend with him and if he loves you, he’ll understand you’ll have to work on musical theater to get into the college of your dreams. He’ll support you, run lines with you, sing songs with you. If the both of you want it enough, you’ll make it work.” I sigh again. They’re not wrong, but I’m not convinced yet. “Yeah, but what if he doesn’t want me like that?” My friends at the other side of the table groan simultaneously. “We’re not going to start this again, Y/N,” Margot says. “Just ask him,” Ella adds, exaggerating the articulation of the words. I open my mouth to say something else, but the bell ringing to signal the end of lunch interrupts me. “Let’s go, I’ve got biology and professor Phylum doesn’t like tardiness.” Margot and I nod, and the three of us leave the cafeteria together. On our way to our lockers, we bump into a bunch of jocks. Not Reggie nor Archie. But Ryan, Jake and Mason. All three with gross smirks on their faces. “Hey, Y/N,” Ryan greets in a deep voice. “Sorry, boys, we got to get to class,” I say, and we try to walk past them, but they block us from doing so. “Can you let us through, please?” I try to keep my voice steady, even though I’m starting to get scared. These three don’t have the cleanest record when it comes to interactions with women. “Ah, you can’t just leave,” Mason’s mouth curls up into a grin. “Not when you’re dressed like that,” Jake then goes. I look down to the Veronica skirt I’m wearing. Kevin told us to always wear something our characters would wear to really get into the mind of the person we’re supposed to play. “Dressed like what? This is what I always wear?” I glance at my friends, who are clearly as confused as I am. The three boys give each other a glance too before Mason goes on. “Yeah! And it’s torture!” Ryan almost yells in frustration. “How can you expect us to control ourselves when you look like that?” says Jake. This is going to be one of those conversations, isn’t it? “Back off, assholes,” Cheryl’s voice sounds from behind me. When I turn my head, I find Sweet Pea, Fangs, Toni and Cheryl standing behind me with their arms crossed. My eyes linger a little longer on the tall Serpent right behind me. He has an intimidating scowl on his face. “Oh, look the criminals are backing up the theater nerds now that they’re singing and dancing together like little fags.” Mason says with a chuckle and hitting his best bud, Jake, on his chest. Jake and Ryan both cackle obnoxiously. “What’s going on here, Bulldogs?” Reggie’s voice chimes in. For some reason, it only makes me tense up more. He goes to stand next to Ryan, looking at me first, then glancing at the Bulldogs. “Are they harassing you, Y/N?” I want to open my mouth to tell him it’s not that bad to avoid any fighting when Betty and Veronica chime in too. “Get over yourself, assholes, she’s not that into you,” Veronica tells them, her eyebrows furrowed. “Oh, come on, Reg!” Mason starts, “You’ve noticed she’s gotten hotter every damn day! She may not have been good enough for you back then, but right now, she’s good enough to get with me!” I raise my eyebrow at him. I can’t keep my mouth shut anymore. Not when he’s talking shit like that. “Now I’m good enough?” I ask, stepping forward. Reggie steps back to allow me more space. “Did it ever occur to you that I don’t care if I’m ‘good enough’ for a gross, misogynistic prick like you? I’m intelligent enough to know my worth doesn’t depend on a jock’s boner. You, however, are worth nothing. So, get your tiny dick out of here before I cut it off.” I’ve gotten closer with every word I’ve said to the point where I’m mere inches away from him. “You heard her, ass,” Archie then says, who’d joined too. “Get out of here!” Sweet Pea adds with his intimidating, low voice that sends shivers down my spine. “See you in hell, assholes!” Betty, Margot and I yell after them as they scurry away. “Thanks for backing me up, guys,” I say, glancing up to every single one of my co-stars. My eyes linger on Sweet Pea again, and he’s looking at me too. His scowl is replaced with a small smile and sparkles in his eyes, lighting up his eyes more. “That’s all good, Y/N,” Reggie says, and wraps an arm around me. I stiffen at the all-too-familiar feeling. “We’re all theater nerds now!” I wriggle myself loose from his grip with a chuckle. “Mess with Veronica, mess with the Heathers!” Cheryl chimes in. Her red lips are turned up into a wide, bright smile that takes away the nerves I just felt when Reggie placed his arm around me. “Let’s get to class now,” Margot then suggests, and we all nod in agreement. “Y/N,” Sweet Pea starts and holds me back by my arm while the others get to class. “Can we please rehearse some lines tonight after rehearsal?” The words feel like a punch in the stomach. I can’t be trusted alone with him. I’ll just forget about all of my worries and kiss him and then overthink it once again when it’s happened. I need to step back and pretend I’m not as in love with him as I am right now. For my own good. For my future. To save the musical.

“Let’s do Yo Girl and Meant to Be Yours back to back again. Make sure to go all-in today, kids!” Evelyn tells us with a grin on her face. Everyone that needs to be on stage goes to get ready. Cheryl, Archie and Reggie go to stand on the raised bit of the stage. They’re dead by now, so it’s their ghosts that are still haunting Veronica. Betty, Veronica and I stand on the lower bit to do our small conversation. “Martha Dumptruck took a belly flop off the Old Mill Bridge last night holding a suicide note,” Betty says with a chuckle. “Oh my God, is she dead?” I ask, eyes wide, pretending to be shocked by this news. Betty then replies, “Just some broken bones. Just another geek trying to imitate the popular people and failing miserably.” She rolls her eyes and walks off stage with Veronica in tow. “Yo girl, keep it together I knew you would come far Now you're truly a Heather Smell how gangsta you are,” Cheryl, Reggie and Archie sing together from ‘heaven’. “Martha, I’m so sorry,” I say, Veronica Sawyer’s barely holding it together. “Yo girl, feel a bit punchy? She's not looking so well Still, you've earned that red scrunchie Come join Heather in hell,” the dead characters sing again, and on walk our coach and the drama teacher who are playing my parents. “Where’ve you been?” Coach McLaren asks with furrowed eyebrows. He’s not the greatest actor. But it’ll do for a few lines. “We've been worried sick! Your friend JD stopped by. He told us everything,” miss Jacobs says her line. “Everything?” I ask. Miss Jacobs gives me a worried smile. “Your depression, your thoughts of suicide…” Coach McLaren goes. Miss Jacobs shows me a Moby Dick copy. “He even showed us your copy of Moby Dick!” “He’s got your handwriting down cold,” Cheryl chimes in sassily. “Please, honey, talk to us!” miss Jacobs pleads. At least her good acting balances out coach’s bad acting. I shake my head viciously. “No, you wouldn’t understand!” “Try me! I’ve experienced everything you’re going through!” miss Jacobs’ voice grows, and I back up. “Guess who's right down the block?” the dead kids sing behind us. “Your problems seem like life and death—” ‘mom’ chimes in. Then Cheryl, Reggie and Archie take their turn again, “Guess who’s climbing the stairs?” “I promise they’re not!” miss Jacobs says. “Guess who’s picking your lock?” “You don’t know what my world looks like!” I yell at my mother and run off stage. “Time’s up! Go say your prayers!” Mom and dad now walk off stage, and I go back on. The dead kids walk down the stairs on one side while I run up the ones on the other side. “Veronica's running on, running on fumes now Veronica's totally fried Veronica's gotta be trippin' on 'schrooms now, Thinking that she can hide Veronica's done for, there's no doubt now, Notify next of kin! Veronica's trying to keep him out now Too late! He got in!” Sweet Pea walks onto stage as if he’d just broken into my ‘bedroom”, and I’m hiding in the closet from him. “Knock! Knock! Sorry to come through the window. Dreadful etiquette, I know!” Sweet Pea’s voice makes my knees buckle. He sounds so angry, yet I know he isn’t. He looked happy just seconds ago. “Get out of my house!” I yell at him through the pretend door. “All is forgiven, baby! Come on and get dressed! You’re my date to the pep rally tonight!” I perk up at that with furrowed eyebrows in confusion. “What?! Why?!” “You chucked me out like I was trash, For that you should be dead— But! But! But! Then it hit me like a flash, What if high school went away instead' Those assholes are the key! They're keeping you away from me! They made you blind, messed up your mind But I can set you free!” When we were exploring the songs still, Ella, Margot and I were always dancing to this song. But now, I can’t seem to move a muscle. I’m not allowed to, but even if I was, I’m too enthralled by his voice and how perfect it sounds for the song. “You left me and I fell apart, I punched the wall and cried— Bam! Bam! Bam!” I jump a little when his voice grows louder. “Then I found you changed my heart and set loose all that truthful shit inside! And so I built a bomb Tonight our school is Vietnam! Let's guarantee they'll never see their senior prom!” The music slows down a little and his voice does too, getting a bit vulnerable. “I was meant to be yours! We were meant to be one! Don't give up on me now! Finish what we've begun! I was meant to be yours!” Then the music grows louder and harder, and his voice becomes angrier and more psychopathic than before. How do I only find out now how talented this boy is? “So when the high school gym goes boom with everyone inside— Pchw! Pchw! Pchw! In the rubble of their tomb We'll plant this note explaining why they died!” The other students walk up the stage too, surrounding JD in a half circle. “We, the students of Westerburg High Will die. Our burnt bodies may finally get through To you. Your society churns out slaves and blanks No thanks. Signed the Students of Westerburg High 'Goodbye.'” The students stay where they are, but Sweet Pea now sings on his own. “We'll watch the smoke poor out the doors. Bring marshmallows, We'll make s'mores! We can smile and cuddle while the fire roars!” Then, everyone sings back up vocals for Sweet Pea during the chorus, making it sound even more magical. However, I can only focus on Sweet Pea’s gorgeous voice. It’s making me fall more and more in love with the boy. Damn it. “I was meant to be yours! We were meant to be one! I can't make this alone! Finish what we've begun! You were meant to be mine! I am all that you need! You carved open my heart! Can't just leave me to bleed!” I begin to prepare my fake suicide by hanging up a fake noose and wrapping it around my neck. “Veronica, open the—open the door, please' Veronica, open the door. Veronica, can we not fight anymore' Please, can we not fight anymore' Veronica, sure, you're scared, I've been there. I can set you free! Veronica, don't make me come in there! I'm gonna count to three! “One! Two! Fuck it!” He opens the ‘door’ and finds his Veronica dead. The boy, overcome with emotions, kneels down next to me and begins crying. “Oh my God! 'No! 'Veronica'!” His voice sounds softer, but still equally as powerful. And it still sends chills down my spine. “Please don't leave me alone' You were all I could trust' I can't do this alone'” The others back him up again for the very last line, and goosebumps form on my arms. “Still I will if I must!” “Veronica?!” mom shouts as she walks up the stairs. Sweet Pea looks up in a panic and runs off stage. “I made you a snack! Veronica?!” Miss Jacobs walks up the stairs with a tray in her hands when she finds her daughter hung from the ceiling. A loud, shrill shriek comes from her body, making me snap my head up. “No, no, no!” I yell and run up to her. “No, it was a joke! No, mom, please! Look at me! I’m okay!” I grab her cheeks and makes her look at me. I wipe away her tears. “I’m fine. I’m fine!” “That’s not funny!” she yells back at me, sobbing violently. “And scene!” Kevin yells, and miss Jacobs and I get up. “You’re doing a great job, Y/N,” she tells me with a smile. Miss Jacobs has always been kind of my second mom. She’s my theater mom. She’s supporting me in my dreams to become a professional musical theater actress. The woman believes in me more than my own mother. “Thanks, mom,” I say with a wink and approach my friends on the side of the stage. “I have a problem,” I say in a panicked, but hushed voice. “What is it?” Margot asks, placing her round sunglasses on the top of her head. “I’m terribly and embarrassingly in love with Jason Dean,” I hope they get the code name for Sweet Pea as I don’t want to anyone to hear me say his actual name. The girls’ smiles widen. “Thank heaven’s she admits it!” they both exclaim loudly. I shush them immediately, frantically looking around if anyone’s heard them. Everyone else seems preoccupied with other things, and I sigh in relief. “I don’t know what to do though?” I whisper with a pained expression. “Help? Please?” “Let stoner chick and preppy kid take care of it!” Ella reassures me. Or at least tries to. I’m not sure if I am reassured.

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chameleonwritess · 4 years

Text

Feels Like Home (Ch3)

Myriad of Stars

Not-So-Secretly in Love

Feels Like Home (Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3)

Forever Starts Today (Epilogue)

Extras:

Infirmary Duties

Fandom: Percy Jackson

Pairing: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace

Winter is upon Camp Halfblood and Nico is panicking. What in Hades is he supposed to get his boyfriend for Christmas?

Word Count: 6300

Read the whole Myriad of Stars series on AO3

To put it simply, Nico was panicking. Will was due to return later that day and Cecil had very unpleasantly reminded him of a Christmas tradition just that morning. Considering all of Nico’s previous Christmases had been spent rather separated from the festivities, he had almost completely forgotten about it altogether.

“So, what are you getting Will for Christmas?” Cecil had asked casually as the two made their way to the canoe lake for a session with the Aphrodite and other Hermes kids.

Nico stopped walking.

“Dude, please tell me you remembered to get your boyfriend a gift,” Cecil said, noticing his shock at the statement.

“I, uh,” Nico began, wondering how he could phrase this without seeming like a terrible person, “I sort of forgot that people gave gifts?”

“You what? Nico it’s Christmas!” Cecil practically yelled.

“I’ve not exactly had the best experiences of Christmas over the years,” Nico snapped back as a means of defence, but as soon as he noticed Cecil stumble backwards at his abrupt tone, he relented. “I’m sorry. I’ve not really been around anyone else at Christmas before and now I have to get Will a gift or he’s going to think I’m a terrible boyfriend. What do you even give people on Christmas? How am I going to get something?”

“Do I hear relationship problems?” a girl’s chipper voice piped up from behind Cecil and a panicking Nico. Nico turned around to see Lacy and Mitchell from the Aphrodite cabin, also headed down to the canoe lake.

“Not really,” Nico huffed. He refused to resort to advice from the children of the goddess of love.

“Yes,” Cecil butted in, “Nico hasn’t got Will a Christmas present yet. He arrives back at Camp today.”

“Oh, that’s bad,” Lacy sighed.

“Not that bad,” Mitchell added helpfully, “Christmas is still a couple of weeks away.”

“I’m going to Camp Jupiter next week, though,” Nico pointed out, “I promised my sister. And Frank, Reyna, Piper and Jason.”

“Hey, maybe they can help you find something over there!” Lacy grinned cheerfully. Nico raised an eyebrow.

“Have you been to New Rome? It’s hardly a place I can find a Christmas gift.”

“I can always steal something for you,” Cecil added helpfully. Nico sent him a quick glare that shut him up in seconds.

“What sort of thing do I even get him?” Nico asked exasperatedly. Lacy and Mitchell looked at each other thoughtfully and before Nico knew it, he was spending the day floating on the canoe lake with Cecil, Lacy and Mitchell, deciding what he could possibly get Will for Christmas that wasn’t too expensive, too cheesy, something Will would dislike or something Nico would never get him.

“This is impossible!” Lacy huffed two hours later as the four made their way back to the Mess Hall, “why can’t I think of anything that’s just right?”

“What’s impossible?” an all too familiar voice asked from behind them. Nico spun around faster than lightning and before he could even consider what he was doing, his arms were thrown around Will Solace’s neck as his boyfriend picked him up and spun him around.

“You’re back,” Nico stated very obviously, not even attempting to hide the grin on his face at Will’s return.

“Miss me?” Will asked, leaning his face down towards Nico. Nico didn’t even bother to respond, taking Will’s actions as invitation enough to place his hands on either side of Will’s face and kiss him.

Will made a contented hum that had Nico’s heart skipping a beat before he drew back, keeping his hands firmly on Nico’s waist.

“‘I’ll take that as a yes,” Will smirked. Nico rolled his eyes when a short cough interrupted the moment between the two.

“Nico, if you wanna drop by our cabin later you can do. I guess you two probably want to… catch up,” Mitchell offered. Nico had the decency to at least blush red at the act of affection he’d so openly displayed in front of the others.

“Yeah, uh, sorry. I’ll probably drop by,” he said.

“Please go to the Hades cabin or something before you start making out, though. I don’t want to see my two bros swapping saliva again,” Cecil begged as an afterthought just as the three began to leave.

“Shut up, Cecil,” Nico huffed, his cheeks still glowing red. Cecil chuckled and waved.

“Have fun, lovebirds.”

“So do you want to heed Cecil’s advice, or-?” Will started, tilting his head endearingly with a mischievous smile gracing his lips. Nico looked at him properly for the first time since his return.

If Nico didn’t know better, he’d think Will had grown again which was completely unfair considering he already had several inches on Nico. His skin also seemed slightly less tanned than it had in the summer. Nico supposed the sun was out less at the moment, though, so it was only natural.

Will’s hair also seemed a bit longer, falling into his eyes a little more than it had in summer. Nico fought the urge to run his fingers through it. He could do that later. For now, he wanted nothing more than to indeed follow Cecil’s suggestion.

“Holy Hera, you’re infuriating,” Nico commented as Will continued to look down at Nico with a bemused expression, “now get to my cabin and kiss me, Solace.”

Will didn’t need telling twice. Nico supposed they could properly catch up with words later. Right now, all he wanted was to feel Will’s lips against his own again. He’d missed Will a lot, after all.

Nico didn’t remember to drop by the Aphrodite cabin later that evening. Lacy and Mitchell weren’t exactly surprised, though. They’d suspected Nico might have some more important catching up to do, after all.

Nico didn’t really want to go to New Rome. Especially now that Will was back, but a promise was a promise and he still really needed help on what to get Will for Christmas. Still, now he could wake up to blond hair tickling his face, curled up in Will’s arms in the Hades cabin again, Nico really didn’t want to leave for a week.

That’s why he did a very stupid thing.

“Will,” he said softly, poking Will’s cheek as an attempt to wake him. It was usually never difficult to get Will up in a morning, especially with his father being the sun god, but with it being winter, it was still too dark outside for Will to have received the memo that it was indeed morning.

“Ten more minutes,” Will groaned in response, rolling over to bury his face in the pillow. Nico resisted the urge to allow his boyfriend those ten more minutes purely because he was adorable in the morning and Nico could stare at him forever.

“Absolutely not,” Nico forced himself to say, “I need to ask you something.”

“If you want to get married, my answer’s yes,” Will mumbled into the pillow, still not getting up. Nico spluttered and pushed Will off the bed. He had definitely not been about to ask that. Now his heart was racing at a ridiculous pace and the only thought running through his head was an older Will in a tux.

“Nico!” Will complained as he fell onto the floor from Nico’s push.

“Don’t say stuff like that!” Nico justified. Will rolled his eyes and sat cross legged on the floor, staring up at Nico with a small pout. Nico had never been a morning person but whenever Will was around, he found himself growing to really love them. Not that Will would ever know.

“Do you want to go to Camp Jupiter with me tomorrow?” Nico finally asked. Will’s eyes lit up.

“Yes!” he grinned, “will it be decorated for Christmas? Oh, I’ll finally get to meet your sister properly.”

Nico chuckled at Will’s enthusiasm, ignoring the reprimands from his head that he had no chance of getting a Christmas gift for Will if Will was there.

Still, with Will’s excitement that the two would be together for a week longer than they’d thought, Nico couldn’t bring himself to regret the decision.

Camp Jupiter, just as Will had hoped, was decorated for Christmas. Nico couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Reyna sat in a throne decorated with tinsel, scowling at the snowflakes on the table next to a grinning Frank wearing a party hat from a cracker.

“Nico!” Hazel exclaimed as soon as she spotted him, throwing her arms around her older brother. Nico hugged her back, relieved that Hazel was still shorter than him. He was pretty sure she was the only person who was.

“Hey, Nico! Will!” another familiar voice called out. Piper and Jason had been sat with Hazel at Fifth Cohort’s table. Piper ran up to Nico and also threw her arms around him. Luckily for Nico, she hadn’t grown and was still about the same height as him.

The same could not be said for Jason who ruffled Nico’s hair affectionately before pulling him into a bone crushing hug.

“We missed you, man,” he said, “how’ve you been?”

Nico glanced back at Will and gave Jason a wry smile.

“Pretty good,” he said, “Camp rebuilding went well. We’re still working on new statues and cabins thanks to your stupid promise, though.”

Jason rubbed the back of his neck guiltily.

“Sorry,” he apologised, “you’re looking good from all the building, though!”

Nico heard Will clear his throat behind Nico before his hand intertwined with Nico’s own.

“Jealousy, thy name is Will,” Nico muttered, nudging his boyfriend with his hip.

“Shut up, di Angelo,” Will retorted, pushing Nico back.

“So,” Hazel cooed, “this is the elusive ‘Will Solace’ I’ve been hearing all about.”

“I wasn’t going to bring him,” Nico shrugged, “but he insisted.”

“That is not how it happened at all!” Will replied indignantly, “you asked me because you couldn’t bear being without me for a week.”

“Well someone’s developed an ego,” Nico retorted.

“Please,” Will rolled his eyes, “like you don’t get all soft for me in the morning.”

Nico noticed Hazel turn to Piper and Jason with a look of concern on her face. Piper just laughed.

“Don’t worry, they’re always like this. It’s adorable,” she said.

“Will’s helped Nico a lot. Loads more than the rest of us could,” Jason promised. Hazel turned back to her brother and smiled at him.

“Good,” she nodded, “I approve.”

“I don’t need your approval,” Nico grumbled but he was smiling all the same.

“I had to get my siblings’ approval!” Will complained. Nico snorted and turned to Will with a raised eyebrow.

“Kayla approved?” he asked. Will shrugged.

“Not quite. If I remember correctly, and I do, her exact words were ‘For Zeus’s sake, Will, if you don’t stop waxing poetry about Nico and snog him, I’ll snog him myself!’” he said. Nico snorted with laughter.

“You two need to come and sit at our table instead of just standing in the middle of nowhere,” Hazel decided.

“Yeah, quit flirting where everyone can see and save those eyes for the bedroom,” Piper rolled her eyes with a mischievous grin.

“Piper!” Will, Nico and Jason spluttered indignantly.

“Before you do sit down, though,” Jason added, “I think there’s a couple more people who might be interested in saying hello.”

Nico glanced up to the Praetor’s table where Reyna and Frank were looking in his direction with bemused smirks. Nico let a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth as he pulled Will’s hand in the direction of the Praetors.

He could already tell this would be the best Christmas of his life.

Nico’s trip to Camp Jupiter ended far too soon for his liking. Whilst it had been great to catch up with Hazel, Reyna, Frank, Piper and Jason, he knew he was running out of time to get a gift for Will, especially when Nico spent nearly every waking moment with him.

Lacy and Mitchell were not best pleased when Nico returned.

“Nico, it’s like you don’t want to get him anything,” Lacy huffed, “why did you take him with you?”

“You’re a child of Aphrodite, figure it out,” Nico muttered, his cheeks flushing pink. Mitchell patted him on the back which didn’t really feel all that comforting.

“It’s okay. Have you asked Chiron about going out into town? Maybe you could buy him something there,” he suggested.

“I’d spend hours wandering around not knowing what to do,” Nico pointed out, “plus after the trick I pulled with getting a ‘doctor’s note’ to sit with Will at mealtimes, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t let me go without Will.”

“Why don’t you ask his mom?” Lacy suggested. Nico shook his head. The thought of asking Naomi Solace what he should get for her son was far too embarrassing.

“Oh please,” a voice that had not previously been in the conversation drawled, “just ask Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. They arrived at Camp for Christmas yesterday and they always seem to have the answer to everything.”

Nico whipped his head around to find that the voice had belonged to Drew Tanaka. Nico had never really gotten on with Drew, not that he’d tried, and after Piper’s complaints he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Strangely, Drew’s advice didn’t seem all that bad.

“Um, thanks?” Nico responded awkwardly. Drew shrugged her shoulders and continued filing her nails.

“It’s no biggie,” she said, “I do have some idea about relationships. Percy’s at the Mess Hall if you want to catch him.”

Nico got to his feet.

“Thanks, Lacy, Mitchell. I think it might help to at least ask them,” he agreed. The two Aphrodite kids nodded and Nico made his way to the door.

“Oh, and Nico, sweetie?” Drew added. Nico turned hesitantly towards her again, “don’t break Will’s heart. Gods know we need some good things in our lives.”

Nico nodded his head.

“Right, I won’t.”

Drew’s usual tune was that you had to break a heart. Nico couldn’t help but wonder what exactly had brought about Drew’s change of mind but he wasn’t about to ask. He wondered if it had anything to do with the striped pink flag he’d noticed on her mirror. It looked like something he should recognise but couldn’t put a name to.

Pushing thoughts of the Aphrodite cabin out of his head, Nico approached the Big Three table, occupied only by Percy Jackson, just as Drew had promised.

Nico slid into the seat opposite him.

“How’s college going?” Nico asked. Percy grinned.

“Nico! Good to see you again,” he declared, “college is hard. I feel stupid. Reading just takes so long.”

Nico knew his struggle. Most demigods had dyslexia, Nico included, and reading English was often quite a nightmare.

“You’ve got Annabeth there, though. You can do anything,” Nico promised. Percy smiled.

“I suppose you’re right. How’ve you been?” he asked.

Nico sighed, “I actually came to ask your help on something,” he admitted. Percy leaned closer and raised an eyebrow, motioning for Nico to continue.

“I don’t know what to get Will for Christmas. I don’t want it to be some generic gift but I don’t want it to be too big of a deal because it’s just a Christmas gift and I can’t seem to think of anything in between,” Nico spluttered.

Percy didn’t respond immediately. Instead, his eyes darkened and his eyebrows furrowed. Nico knew why monsters shied away as soon as they met Percy. If the son of Hades hadn’t known him for as long as he had, the look Percy was giving him would have terrified him. Nico often thought Percy didn’t know how intimidating he could look when he was deep in thought.

His eyes represented a sea in more than just their colour. They could easily become dark and mysterious, a reflection of the terrors Percy himself had witnessed.

“How do you feel about sentimentality?” Percy finally responded, his expression changing in the blink of an eye.

“Oh, uh, it depends what you’re thinking,” Nico spluttered, having been lost in thought, himself.

“I mean, Will’s helped you to escape the ghosts of your past a lot, right?” Percy asked. Nico nodded. “What about something that showed him how grateful you were for that. Something that means a lot to you and your past.”

“I- don’t really know what you mean,” Nico shook his head in confusion.

“The Hades Statue,” Percy clarified at last. Nico looked at Percy with wide eyes. For a time, Nico had hated the statue. It had been the last gift his sister had ever given him but it was a reminder of the fact that Percy had broken his promise. Now Nico was older, he realised just how much Percy had been trying to tell him that Bianca might not have been safe.

Young Nico wouldn’t listen, though, and then he’d had his heart broken.

Sometimes Nico forgot how intelligent Percy was, especially because he was dating Annabeth. His intelligence wasn’t the same as Annabeth’s analytical, strategic intelligence, though- Percy’s intelligence was impulsive and, in a way Nico didn’t think Percy realised himself, manipulative.

Percy’s suggestion was actually incredible. Will had helped Nico talk about his feelings, something that if Nico had done at the time he found out about Bianca, would have saved a lot of hurt and heartbreak. Will had promised to always be there for Nico just as the statue was a reminder for Nico that Bianca was always watching over him, too, even in death.

Giving the statue to Will would be Nico’s way of telling Will that he truly trusted him. That he wasn’t going to ever leave Will behind. That he wanted Will in his life. Nico’s mind couldn’t help but flicker to the marriage comment Will had made about a week ago. Demigods often died young and many didn’t make it to marriage age. Nico supposed that this was his own sort of promise to Will of ’Til death us do part’, despite how young they both were.

Strangely, it wasn’t an idea that even scared Nico in the slightest.

“Thank you, Percy,” Nico smiled, “that’s actually a really good idea.”

Percy nodded, “glad I could help. Don’t tell Annabeth you came to me first, though- she’ll be salty for weeks.”

Nico grinned, “I suppose I’d better go and say hello to her, too.”

“Hey, Nico,” Percy stopped Nico from standing up by placing a hand on his shoulder, “it’s good to see you so happy.”

Nico nodded, “it’s good to see you alive and uninjured.”

With a small chuckle, Percy released Nico to go and find Annabeth.

Nico woke up to an empty cabin on Christmas morning (Will’s siblings had forced him to stay at his own cabin so they could open presents) and was surprised to find it feeling chillier than normal.

Nico sleepily dragged himself over to the log fire and started lighting a spark. Before he managed to get it started, though, there was a loud knock on his door. Nico grumbled to himself as he got to his feet and stumbled over to it, hoping it was at least Will.

Much to his disappointment, it was not, in fact, Will. Instead, Percy and Annabeth stood in his doorway.

“Merry Christmas, Nico!” Percy grinned. Annabeth stepped forwards and gave him a hug which Nico awkwardly returned.

“We brought you gifts. Can we come in?” Annabeth asked as she released Nico. Nico shrugged.

“Yeah, sure. Just let me get dressed. I only just got up,” he huffed, excusing himself to the bathroom whilst Percy and Annabeth disposed of their coats.

Nico only realised once he was in the bathroom getting dressed that their coats had been coated in white specs. It didn’t rain in camp unless Mr D and Chiron wanted it to. Nico wondered if perhaps Chiron had allowed it to snow purely because it was Christmas. If so, Nico was sort of looking forward to it. He didn’t really have any memory of snow from before.

When Nico returned, nothing looked different but Percy was smirking and looking as if he’d done something. Nico gave him a wary look as he perched down on his bed, opposite where Annabeth and Percy had sat. He supposed there was nothing he could do even if Percy was up to mischief.

“Here’s your present from me, Nico,” Annabeth announced, placing a cuboidal shaped parcel wrapped in penguin paper in Nico’s lap. He picked it up and smirked at Annabeth. It was so obviously a book.

When he opened it, he was surprised to find that it was a mathematics book.

“I know it seems a bit random,” Annabeth explained, “but I just thought since Percy and I are going to school now that if you ever wanted to do the same, you’d need to learn some basic math and English. Of course, you don’t have to go to school but if you wanted to, I’d be happy to help you study.”

Nico had never really considered going to school before. He’d always thought he’d just stay at Camp. Admittedly, Will’s stories of school and now Annabeth’s gift had him curious. Nico did sort of like the idea of learning new things.

“Thanks Annabeth,” he said, finding that he genuinely meant it, “that was a really thoughtful gift.”

“Mine’s a little more fun,” Percy added, handing Nico a more oddly shaped parcel, “Jason gave me the idea and I thought it was great.”

Nico warily accepted the parcel. Whatever Percy and Jason had conspired about together automatically made Nico apprehensive.

Still, he opened the parcel and was surprised to find a plush fall out. Not just any plush, though- it was an Umbreon plush. Nico snorted a small laugh at it.

“When I arrived at Camp Jupiter without memories, I’d been carrying around a panda pillow pet,” Percy launched into an explanation, “it really helped with the nightmares. I know it’s a bit silly but we all need something a little daft in our lives.”

Nico smiled down at the Umbreon. For some reason, the rings of yellow on its coat reminded him of Will.

“It’s really great, Percy. Thank you,” he replied. Percy smiled contentedly as Nico reached over onto his bedside table and grabbed the two parcels for Percy and Annabeth. He hadn’t bought Christmas gifts for many people but he’d already delivered most of them when in New Rome. Percy, Annabeth and Will were the only people he had gifts left for.

“I know it’s not much,” Nico shrugged, “but Merry Christmas or whatever.”

To his surprise, Annabeth grinned down at the owl patterned scarf and Percy was laughing at his pack of Blackjack sweets.

“Oh, Blackjack is gonna love these,” Percy giggled, “thanks, man.”

Nico shrugged again. He’d never been great at giving gifts but Annabeth and Percy didn’t seem too disappointed.

“This is really lovely,” Annabeth smiled, “I must say, considering your cabin interior design I didn’t trust your sense of style too much but you’ve redeemed yourself.”

“Don’t mention the cabin,” Nico rolled his eyes, huffing a laugh all the same. Percy and Annabeth looked into each other’s eyes for a second before they engulfed Nico in a hug.

“Have a good Christmas, Nico. We’ll see you later, yeah?” Percy checked. Nico nodded.

“Yeah. It’s snowing out there, right? I want to see what that’s like,” he admitted. Annabeth’s grey eyes sparkled.

“We’re having a snowball fight,” she declared.

“Woah, Wise Girl, I don’t want to die today,” Percy stuttered.

“Tough,” Annabeth smirked and before Nico could ask what was going on, Annabeth had grabbed Percy’s hand and dragged the two of them out of his cabin.

As the door was flung open, though, another face was revealed in the entrance.

“Do I even want to know?” Will Solace asked. Nico rolled his eyes and walked over to the door with a smile on his face.

“Probably not,” he admitted. Will was dressed in a large navy coat, his blond hair hidden by a ridiculous red bobble hat. Nico thought he looked adorable.

Nico was about to open his mouth to wish Will a Merry Christmas when Will’s eyes wandered up to the doorframe. Nico raised an eyebrow and lifted his gaze too, his mouth falling open when he noticed what was there.

A sprig of mistletoe was hanging from his doorframe.

“Wow, Nico, who knew the holiday spirit would turn you into such a flirt?” Will smirked. Nico furrowed his eyebrows.

“Wait, it wasn’t you who put it there?” he asked. Will shook his head.

“It wasn’t you either?” he asked. Nico shook his head when realisation dawned on him as to why Percy had looked so smug earlier.

“Jackson,” Nico hissed. Will laughed and stepped closer, wrapping an arm around Nico’s waist. His coat was cold from being outside and Nico shivered at the contact, not wearing more than a grey knitted jumper.

“I hope you don’t intend to ignore Christmas tradition,” Will whispered, his breath forming visible vapour right in front of Nico’s own mouth.

“Of course not,” Nico muttered, bringing his arms up to clutch the edge of the ruff on Will’s hood. He tugged the son of Apollo forward slightly and connected their lips, surprised at the warmth of Will’s considering the cold air around them.

Will gave a soft hum as he melted against Nico’s warmth, sending a warm trickle of affection through Nico’s own chest. Nico leaned up into the kiss when a whooping sound behind Will caused him to immediately pull back.

“Percy!” Nico yelled as he caught the sight of dark hair hidden behind one of the trees behind Nico’s cabin.

“Is that Annabeth’s phone in his hand?” Will murmured quietly to Nico. Nico glared at Percy before grabbing Will’s hand and tugging him into the cabin.

“I’m ignoring them. Get in here,” he ordered. Will chuckled and closed the door behind him.

“Wow, eager much,” he smirked. Nico glared at him too.

“Shut up before I kick you out, Solace. I just want to give you your Christmas present,” he rolled his eyes. Will chuckled again before peeling off his coat and hat, revealing a ridiculous Christmas jumper underneath, covered in cartoon reindeers. Nico snorted at the design.

“You’re such a dork,” he said.

“At least I don’t dress like the Grinch personally designed my Christmas jumper,” Will retorted. Nico furrowed his eyebrows.

“Who?”

“I forget you weren’t born in this generation. You’ve missed so much, di Angelo,” Will sighed, flopping down on Nico’s bed way more dramatically than was necessary.

“I doubt that,” Nico commented as he grabbed Will’s present and shuffled up to Will on his bed, hoping the son of Apollo would keep him warm. He’d grown quite cold thanks to the prolonged opening of his door, “Merry Christmas,” he added, handing the gift to Will.

Will looked at it curiously with a smile on his face. Nico wondered if Will could hear how loudly his heart was thumping against his chest. He didn’t think he’d ever been so nervous about giving someone a gift before.

“Nico,” Will gasped softly, “is this-“

“I know it’s probably a stupid idea,” Nico blushed, “but I wanted you to have it. You’ve helped me to move on from the darkness I carried with me after Bianca’s death so much and I wanted to give you something to show you how grateful I was for that. It’s a silly gift. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea after all-“

Nico was cut off from his fast ramble by a pair of warm lips briefly pressing against his. Nico noticed that Will had tears in his eyes when he drew away.

“I love it,” Will said, “and it isn’t silly or stupid or anything. I understand how important this statue is to you and the fact that you would give it me,” Will choked up for a second, “it means so much. Nico, I really love you.”

“I know,” Nico smiled as Will clutched the statue against his chest and buried his face in Nico’s neck. Nico could feel the dampness of Will’s tears against his neck. “I love you too.”

The two remained there for a moment or two, quietly enjoying the other’s company before Will sat up abruptly.

“I need to give you your gift,” he realised before thrusting a parcel towards Nico, “I don’t think I could ever top your gift but I tried.”

The present was quite bulky but didn’t feel overly heavy. Intrigued, Nico tore into the wrapping paper.

Inside the paper sat a black fur lined corduroy jacket. Nico smiled at it. It was just his kind of thing.

“Open it out,” Will leaned over to whisper in Nico’s ear. Nico heeded his advice and laughed out loud when he spotted the sun stitched onto the top pocket.

“I wanted to sew the patch slightly more to the right so that it would be closer to where your actual heart lies but Austin told me that was stupid and most people think the heart is further to the left anyway so you wouldn’t mind,” Will started to ramble. Nico laughed again and leaned his head on Will’s shoulder.

“You’re such a medical dork,” he snickered, “you really sewed this on yourself?”

Will nodded, “I’ve got the band-aids to prove it,” he said, wiggling his fingers to show Nico. Nico noticed that there were, indeed, three band-aids plastered over the ends of his fingers.

“I love it,” Nico said, “thank you.”

Will gave Nico a watery smile before swooping down and kissing him quickly yet again.

“What do you think about going outside and joining Percy and Annabeth’s snowball fight?” Will suggested. Nico’s eyes lit up at the suggestion.

“You’re on, Solace,” he smirked, tugging on his new jacket to race his boyfriend to the door.

When Nico returned to his cabin half an hour later, dripping wet with residual snow and dragging an equally as soaked Will into the Hades cabin with him, kissing him fiercely as soon as the door was closed, Nico couldn’t help but think that it had to be his best Christmas so far.

All the other campers that had returned for Christmas were back at school by the start of February. Will, however, had happily informed Nico that he was actually staying until March as the cold winds of late winter and early spring tended to bring about the most climbing wall and canoe lake injuries.

That’s when the disappearances started. Nico tried to ignore them- he could still sense their auras and knew they weren’t dead, but any attempts of searching for them had failed. Will was at least reassured to hear they were alive, even if Nico could tell he was blaming himself for somehow not being able to take care of them.

Nico didn’t know why Will felt the need to take responsibility for anything that could be slightly related to his healing so he advised the son of Apollo to take a day away from the infirmary to actually relax for once. He hadn’t quite expected their peaceful afternoon to be interrupted by Kayla knocking at the Hades cabin door.

“Will, are you in there?” she yelled. Nico rolled his eyes. Way to greet the owner of the cabin first.

“I’ll tell her to get lost,” Nico assured Will as he stood up from the bed they had been playing Pokémon on and opened the cabin door.

“Can’t it wait, Kayla? Will’s on his break from infirmary duties,” Nico asked. Kayla’s face looked exceptionally pale, though and the worried look in her eyes had Nico anxious that it really wasn’t something that could wait.

“I don’t think it can. There’s been… an incident,” she muttered, chewing her lip.

Nico turned around and shrugged his shoulders at Will who mustered a smile and came to join the pair at the door.

“Well, what am waiting for? Let’s see what’s happened now,” he said cheerily before turning to Nico. “I’ll be back soon,” he promised kissing Nico’s cheek. He turned around so that Kayla wouldn’t see his blush.

“Yeah, good luck,” Nico muttered as the two children of Apollo left his cabin.

It was about an hour until Will returned, bringing news Nico was certainly not ready for. Apollo was at Camp Half-Blood. And he was mortal.

When Will brought Nico to visit him, he also discovered that Apollo happened to be surrounded by a strong aura of death.

Nico voiced his concerns aloud and Will scolded him, elbowing him gently in the side.

“I apologise for my boyfriend,” he said as Nico’s cheeks flushed red. That was Will’s father and he had just announced they were dating to him like it was no big deal.

“Could you not,” Nico complained. Will’s grin only grew.

“Would you prefer ‘Special guy’ or ‘Significant Other’?” he teased. Nico huffed.

“Significant annoyance in your case,” he grumbled. He didn’t get chance to argue more as Chiron drew their attention back to the unfortunately more pressing issue. Apollo was at Camp Halfblood. Mortal. And apparently bound to some demigod named Meg who was already causing havoc. Nico suspected she’d fit in well.

Still, with the disappearances followed by Apollo’s arrival, Nico was getting slightly concerned about their safety. He really didn’t feel like fighting in another war, especially when he’d just started to settle into Camp.

When Will and Nico were excused from the conversation, Nico dragged Will to their favourite spot amongst the trees behind the Hades cabin.

“So,” he started, “your dad’s at Camp. How do you feel?”

Nico knew Will sometimes got mad at his father. Pretty much every halfblood got mad at their godly parent at least once a month and despite Nico’s frequent visits to the Underworld to see his father, he himself was no exception.

“Confused,” Will sighed, “scared. Slightly angry?”

“That’s understandable. I’d be furious if it were me. Your dad shows no sign of even being alive since summer and suddenly he shows up at Camp and begs for our help,” Nico agreed. Will nodded and placed his hand over Nico’s on the ground.

“I want to be really mad at Apollo. The thing is, I know I’m going to help him. I can’t not help him. He’s my father, after all and I just want to be able to heal everyone anyway,” Will exclaimed, an expression of frustration growing on his face, “I just want to tell him to help himself for once, though. When was he ever there for me when I needed his assistance? Where was he when I cried myself to sleep at night, wishing I had archery skill or musical ability or something other than lousy healing?”

“Hey,” Nico said softly, “your healing is anything but lousy and nearly everyone here at Camp owes you their life at least once. I know exactly why you’re mad but I also think we should help him, too. I mean, if the fate of the world ends up lying on Apollo in mortal form, we’re pretty much screwed.”

Will huffed a laugh and squeezed Nico’s hand a bit tighter.

“And for what it’s worth,” Nico continued, “I think you’re the strongest Apollo camper there is. You’re the best healer Camp has seen in years, you have one of the fiercest and yet most caring personalities I’ve ever known, your sword fighting has improved so much lately and I’m pretty sure I’ve literally seen you emit sunlight when sparring before now.”

“That last one’s a lie,” Will snorted, nudging his shoulder into Nico. Nico smirked back.

“Don’t believe me, then,” he shrugged, “don’t think you haven’t been blessed by Apollo, though. You really have. And if not, then I guess we can place responsibility for your personality on your mum.”

“She also takes credit for my ‘devilishly handsome looks’,” Will added with a grin. Nico rolled his eyes and laughed, leaning into Will’s side.

“She’s not wrong,” he commented. Will didn’t respond, simply smiling as he wrapped an arm around Nico’s back and leant against the tree behind him to support both of their weights.

“I feel like the world’s about to end again,” Nico admitted quietly. Apollo’s return had sent Nico into quiet panic since he first saw him.

“I know,” Will agreed, “but do you know what’s different this time?”

Nico shifted himself in Will’s grasp to look up at him.

“What?” he asked.

“We have each other,” Will said. Nico snorted a laugh.

“You’re so cheesy,” he complained.

“You love it,” Will shrugged, “Hey, even if I die, at least you can come visit me in the Underworld.”

“Don’t even joke about it,” Nico warned, “besides, it doesn’t work like that and you’re not going to die.”

“How can you be so sure?” Will teased, although Nico noted the slightly more serious undertone to it.

“Because,” Nico began, connecting his eyes with Will’s, “I’ll be there to fight and protect you.”

Nico was pretty sure if he hadn’t had a theory that Will emitted sunlight before then, the beaming smile that lit up Will’s face at his comment would have confirmed it.

“Good job I’ll always be there to heal you if you get injured,” Will promised quietly, sending a rush of warmth through Nico’s own face.

As Nico tilted his head up to slot their lips together, he couldn’t help but smile. Never had he imagined he might find someone that balanced him out as perfectly as Will Solace did.

For the first time, Nico held hope for just what his future would hold after the battle. With Will by his side, it couldn’t be anything but bright.

#my fanfic #solangelo #my writing #fanfic #percy jackson #nico di angelo #will solace #percy jackson fanfic #fanfiction #my fanfiction #myriad of stars

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thedarksideofriverdale · 4 years

Text

In Unity There is Strength

Chapter 15: The Banshee

Masterlist // Playlist // Character Guide // Face-Claim

A/N: I really can’t excuse my absence. School has bogged me down since it’s my final year at university, but some of my motivation has come back to continue this fic. I never realized how popular it had gotten, and it was never my Intention to keep you all hanging.

XXXX

Zara felt her body being shaken and heard what sounded like “Wake up,” but she was too sleepy to be sure. She cracked her eyes open, and the blurry shape of Kurtz came Into view. “What?” she muttered, closing her eyes again and nestling Into her pillow.

Meanwhile Kurtz was panicking, trying to awake Zara after hearing his emissary’s words. “…a red headed girl…” Who else could that be other than the banshee of the Red Circle. “Zara, wake up!” he shouted, shaking the girl harder now. “It’s urgent!”

After the third or fourth shake, Zara become more coherent and asked, “What’s going on? What’s urgent?” She sat up quickly, blinking as a slight wave of dizziness overcame her. Looking out the window, she sighed. “It’s the middle of the night, Kurtz. Couldn’t it have wait ’til morning?”

“No!” he yelled lowly, remembering Zara’s mother sleeping down the hall. “Your banshee friend is in danger.”

Zara looked up at him with worried eyes. “W-what do you mean? How do you know?”

“My emissary, he saw a vision. The next attack would be on a red headed girl. Do you know that many red heads in Riverdale, let alone those who were taken In by the Sisters?”

“Oh my god, Cheryl,” Zara whispered, getting up from her sleeping bag. Straightening out her shirt, she said, “We have to warn Archie!”

Leaving the house quickly, the two entered the car in the woods, and Kurtz sped down the empty 3 am streets of the town until Archie’s suburban home came Into sight. Zara unbuckled her seat belt quickly, but before she could open the door, Kurtz wrapped his hand around her other wrist. “Doesn’t Archie live with his father?” Kurtz asked, turning off the ignition. “I’ll climb up to Archie’s room-“

“Oh, that’s rich. You think Archie wants to see you right now?” Zara asked angrily. “There’s a thing called a cellphone, smart one,” she said, raising her phone up to her ear. “Archie, it’s me. Come outside, it’s urgent… Yes, I’ll explain.”

The pair In the car watched as the alpha climbed out of his bedroom window and jump down onto the side lawn. Then, he broke out into a run towards the car. Zara exited the car and went up to hug Archie, but stopped herself, remembering the events from two days ago. “Hey,�� she said meekly. “Uh, Kurtz found out something.”

“Did he now?” Archie replied, acid dripping from his tone. “Go ahead; what is it?”

“Your banshee’s life is In peril,” Kurtz chimed In as he stood near the car door, his elbows folded on top of the roof of the vehicle. “We came to warn you.”

“And, why should I believe anything you say?” Archie asked, crossing his arms across his chest. “It’s not like you want to help my pack, lone wolf.”

“I have a duty to make a new, sustainable pack In this town, and In order to do so, I have to play nice with the only other alpha here. Excuse me if I want peace for a change.”

Archie let out a dark chuckle. “Let’s say you are telling me the truth, why Cheryl? She’s one of the most powerful creatures in this world. Her magic is hard to come by, let alone able to be absorbed by dark powers.”

“I have no idea, Andrews. My emissary saw the vision; I’m just relaying it back to you, but if you’re too much of a thick-headed fool to understand-“

“Kurtz,” Zara said sternly before looking back at Archie. “It’s not that far fetched to see her on the hit list, seeing as she was admitted to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Maybe, our killer is getting bold.” She looked back at Kurtz, who was scanning the surroundings. “Regardless of what you think of him, even if his story is false, we still should protect Cheryl. She doesn’t even know the full extent of her powers; she’s practically defenseless.”

Archie looked at her pensively, which Zara understood. In all honesty, it was a wonder why he even agreed to see her after the events that transpired between the three of them. But, Zara hoped that, despite all of the bad blood, Archie would get passed that and understand that he needed to protect Cheryl.

Cheryl may be a friend, but she was an unique chess piece no other pack had on their side of the board. She was an emissary, but better. And, it was still a shock to most that she received those powers when she should’ve transformed Into a wolf when her brother Jason attacked her under the full moon and was subsequently shot by Hiram Lodge. She was unconscious for three days, and when Zara checked her wounds, none of them had healed. Cheryl was allowed to be a human despite her brush with lycanthropy, and she was gifted on top of that.

At first, she hated being able to find dead bodies around the town, namely because Hiram’s handy work with omegas was rather gruesome to see. But, she never backed down. Day by day, her powers grew, but they weren’t fully fleshed out for her to be able to protect herself during an attack from a magic-hungry dark wizard.

Archie’s expression was unreadable, but finally, he nodded. “Okay, I’ll call her. But, I still don’t trust him.”

“Neither do I,” Zara replied to which Kurtz winced slightly. “However, if she’s truly In danger-“

“I have to protect her, I know.” Archie pursed his lips while the line rang. “Yes, Cheryl, I realize you need your beauty sleep, but you’re In danger… Uh, I can’t exactly tell you how I know, just that you are… Please, Cheryl, try to understand. I’m coming over to yours In a bit. Stay safe until then. Use your senses.” He hung up and looked at Zara. “Well, let’s go. I definitely need you when she starts throwing a fit.”

XXXX

“Why is the circus rat here?” Cheryl promptly asked, looking at the three visitors. Kurtz snarled, but Zara put a hand on his wrist, and he calmed down. Archie noticed the exchange and clenched his jaw.

“Are you okay?” Zara asked, stepping into to the foyer of Thornhill.

“I’m fine. I have still yet not received an answer as to why you think I might be. Well?”

“Kurtz said-“

“Ah, so Kurtz said, and I’m just supposed to believe him. I’m meant to hate him after the stunt he pulled with Archie a mere days ago. But, I’m just supposed to take that you three are buddies again?” She cross her arms across her chest and tapped her foot impatiently.

“You don’t need to believe me, but rather in the supernatural. My emissary had a premonition, something akin to your powers. Trust in his ability as you trust in yours,” Kurtz replied, his commanding presence unwavering.

Cheryl glared at him before sighing. “Well, I assume we’re all staying up tonight? And, here I thought I would finally get a decent night’s sleep. But, this is Thornhill and-“ A crash from upstairs startled the group, and Archie held up a finger to his lips to keep the rest silent. He slowly ascended the stairs and went to the source of the noise. Zara looked at Kurtz and said, “Keep her safe.” She then followed Archie, but she knew Kurtz wanted to protest. When she entered the room, she fought hard not to vomit. On Cheryl’s bed laid Ethel Muggs, throat slit with her hands spread.

XXXX

“How could we have forgotten that Ethel was a viable option?” Betty said, frowning. She rested her head in her hands, elbows on a table at Pop’s. Jughead rubbed her back slowly as he shook his head.

Cheryl rolled her eyes. “It’s Ethel Muggs. She’s the most forgettable person in the school. It made way more sense that it could’ve been me. I mean, the monster broke in to my home! Clearly, he was trying to do something to me. Now, Daddy’s being Interrogated by the police, and he’s done nothing wrong.” She then looked at Zara. “I’m just glad that the three of you cleared out before the police suspected you.”

Zara nodded, furrowing her brows. “Ethel being planted in your house was obviously deliberate, and I think I might know why.” She cleared her throat as she folded her hands on top of the table. “Ethel’s father works with Hiram in his side job.”

“You mean-“ Betty started.

“That a member of Archie’s pack had a the dead body of a hunter’s daughter in it? Yeah, that’s exactly what she means,” Jughead finished. “Definitely not a coincidence.”

“Do you think V might try something?” Betty asked Zara, to which Zara replied with a shrug. “To be honest, I’m not too sure what Veronica Is capable of these days,” Zara whispered.

“But, this is enough motivation for the hunter’s council to deem our pack a threat. Before, it was just petty threats from Hiram. Now, it’s going to be a full blown war between us, the hunters, and the-“

“Siphon,” Zara said in realization. “I didn’t pay attention to this in Greendale as much as I should’ve, but one of the book in the Academy had a chapter on siphoning magic. People with true dark abilities can siphon magic from any supernatural creature.”

“How does this help us, though?” Betty asked, furrowing her brows. “We knew from the beginning that he took magic from the people he sacrificed. Why does knowing what he is add on to this information?”

“Because every supernatural creature has a weakness. It’s a means by which nature corrects the perversion. Every wizard has their own weaknesses, but siphons have the same. It was on the last page of that book.” Zara rammed the table forcefully, shocking the rest of the guests. “I have to call Sabrina. She’s the only one that can give us our weapon.”

XXXX

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artificialqueens · 4 years

Text

Hot as Hell and No A/C, Chapter 8 (Branjie) - Blackhighheels

Eight

Jose is completely lost in the beat of the music and his own movements, when suddenly the beat stops and the music is turned off.

”Hey!”

”Vanj’ it’s one am, I’d like to sleep for a bit, but my bedroom is right above the studio,” Jason points out and Jose is shocked when he hears what time it is.

”Sorry, mami, didn’t realise how late it is.”

”It’s ok. But why are you still here?”

”I don’t know. Can’t sleep, I guess.” Jose knows exactly why he can’t sleep, but he doesn’t really want to talk about it.

”How’s it going with Brock?” Jason addresses the elephant in the room anyway and sits down crosslegged on the floor.

”Child… nothing’s going. I think I should have stayed my ass home in L.A.” Jose sits down beside his friend.

”So you’re not back together?”

”The asshole’s not even really talking to me and when he does, he’s yelling, telling me to go the fuck home and leave him alone.” Jose mumbles, because the words are hard to get over the lips. He doesn’t want to say them. ”And we was never together.”

”But you want to be.”

”I don’t know,” Jose shrugs helplessly. ”I still can’t see how’d work.”

”Isn’t that why you here though? To get him back, or like, get ya man?”

”Nah, mami, that’s not why I’m here. I’m here ‘cause Miss Ada scared the shit out of me when she told me how bad things had got. I tried posting shit online, knowing he’d see it. I tried calling again, I texted… but the motherfucker never reacted. I was worried he’d hurt himself and jumped into the car, texted Ada I was on my way and came here. Just to be told to fucking leave him alone.” It’s good to get it off his chest, when he’s been keeping it all inside for the last five days.

”He still didn’t talk when you went to Dallas together?”

”Not a single word.” Jose shakes his head. ”He slept though.” He adds, but Jason just nods and shrugs a little, because he doesn’t understand the importance of that little detail.

Brock had fallen asleep in his car, his head turned in his direction, his fingers laced with Jose’s on the middle console. They had only been twenty minutes from home when Brock fell asleep and Jose kept driving. He drove around in the dark, not really knowing where he was going. At some point, when Brock slouched more and more in the seat, Jose turned off the road and into a field somewhere along the road. He parked on the gravel road, unbuckled his seatbelt and Brock’s and pulled him against him, when he basically fell into him. Brock didn’t even budge, he was so fast asleep. Jose thought long and hard as he held Brock in the car, the situation not too different from the last time Brock had slept in his arms on the couch in Jason’s guest apartment. But Brock felt different. Thinner, more tense, less tall in a way. Jose leaned his cheek against Brock’s head and felt needed. Brock’s a stubborn motherfucker, who refuses help, but he needs him, wether he wants to admit it or not.

Jose is still convinced of that two days later, but Brock’s behaviour is starting to wear him down. The hostility hurts like a bitch and every time Brock remains silent, ignores him or tells him to leave, Jose loses hope a little bit more. It’s not even about a love story anymore; it’s about a friendship, a gay man in need or just a person who needs help, plain and simple. If Jose didn’t love him as much, it wouldn’t hurt as badly.

”Well, you’re here now and I don’t think you drove all the way just to give up like this.” Jason gives him an encouraging smile.

”I don’t even know if it’s worth to keep fighting. I don’t even know for what? That he talks to me or gets fucking forced into some kind of weird ass friendship with me? If he don’t want me here, maybe I should just leave.”

”Jo, I’ve know him all my life and he’s never been anything but polite to everyone. Even if he hated someone’s guts, he was at least cordial and aloof. Now, if he’s like that upset you’re here and pushes you away that hard, that means something.” Jason wraps one arm around his shoulders and gives him a hug. ”I think you should stay here and wait until he can’t resist no more. I didn’t tell ya, because we kind of avoided the subject, but when you left, he was sobbing right outside that door and I had to bring him inside so people wouldn’t see him losing it. That’s not something a guy does who doesn’t feel anything for you.”

”Then he’s an even bigger dumb-ass than I thunk.” Jose sighs and places his head on Jason’s shoulder.

”That he is. But you wouldn’t be in love with him if he wasn’t.” Jose playfully punches Jason’s thigh and they both grin.

***

Brock is incredibly wary when he gets called to Jason’s dance studio to once more fix the faulty air-conditioning. He wishes Jason would just throw the damn thing out and get a new one, so he wouldn’t have to fix it very couple of weeks, especially now that Jose is back. Since Ada tricked him into driving to Dallas with Jose, he always suspects the Puerto-Rican to pop up somewhere and the two of them be pushed together again. It’s only been a couple of days since the trip, but he still hasn’t really recovered from it and keeps looking over his shoulder, metaphorically speaking.

When he’d woken up in the car hours after they were supposed to be home, he had awkwardly untangled from Jose and had asked him what they were doing parked in the open field. Jose told him that he didn’t want to wake him and then drove him home without so much as another word. He hadn’t got out of the car as Brock took out the bags and Jose was gone as soon as Brock closed the trunk. Since then he hasn’t seen him, which makes him feel even worse. He fears that Jose is gone, as much as he fears that he is still around.

Brock thinks that if he sees Jose again, he should maybe just explain himself. Jose hadn’t been as hostile when he got here at first. It was him, completely overwhelmed and always angry, who had been rude right from the start, without any reason. It was highly unfair, Brock knows that, but he’s not sure what the best plan of action is. He doesn’t know Jose well enough to figure out which way will be better: Talking to him and letting him know they should both go their separate ways, because it’s better for Jose in the long run, or just shutting him out and not discussing the issue with him. It’s made harder by the fact that Brock longs to talk to him, just to tell him about his days, what he’s done, what he’s seen, the fights he’s had with his father and the way the kitten he named Henry, is still following him around and is waiting for him every day when he gets home.

To his biggest surprise, it’s Jason who is waiting for him, while he can hear the blaring music from the dance studio.

”Don’t worry, it’s just Vanjie who is working on new choreo. He’ll be in there until the middle of the night and won’t bother you,” Jason tells him when he glances at the door of the room.

”He doesn’t bother me,” Brock shrugs and sets up the ladder he needs to climb up to the air conditioning device. He will take it down today, disassemble it completely and only put it back together when he knows exactly what is wrong, once and for all.

”Alright then, just close the door behind you when you leave, Jose will lock it once he’s done. Good night.” And with that Jason is gone.

It’s hard to concentrate when you know that the man you both love and fear is just behind the door, but somehow Brock manages to keep his mind on the job at hand.

”Oh, I didn’t think you’re still here. The banging stopped a while ago,” Jose’s voice makes him look up a long while later, when he’s just trying to rewire the whole unit. He sounds surprised, wary and already harsh.

”Fixing the electric doesn’t include banging,” Brock shrugs. Jose just nods and turns to leave. ”Hey, uhm, Jose?” Brock adds quickly, because he can’t bear to watch him walk away from him again.

”Mh?”

”I just… like…” Seeing the unnerved look on Jose’s face, Brock loses his courage. ”Forget it.”

”No, spit it out,” Jose comes back, arms crossed in front of his chest, chin raised.

”It’s… it’s not important.”

Jose huffs. ”Not important, huh? You’re such a fucking asshole. Just stop talking to me then.”

”Why are you being like this?” Brock asks, puts down the tools and stands up. He knows he has messed up, but Jose has never been plain out hostile before.

”Why am I… Bitch!” Jose turns red in the face, his arms uncross and his fists clench. ”You’re the most unfeeling and cruelest motherfucker I’ve ever come across! But I guess that’s how your fucked up family treats people and you no exception! What’s next? You gonna beat me up? Spit at me? You’ve fucking hurt me enough!” Jose is yelling now.

”I’ve never hurt you!” Brock yells back, because he is absolutely sure he’s never laid hands on Jose, hit him or harmed him otherwise.

”You’re fucking hurting me right now! Right here!” Suddenly there are tears in Jose’s eyes and that’s even worse than Jose’s anger. ”This shit right here, hurts so bad. You hot and cold, push me away just to start talking to me again. You say you my friend, then beg me to make love with you, just to ghost me. You’re so fucked up you don’t care about nothing but your own feelings and your own misery and your own fucked up life. You haven’t ask me once how I am. Not months ago, not now. Like the absolute idiot that I am, I come back here to help you and what do I get? Nothing but rudeness and silence.”

”I never asked you to come back! I wanted you to stay away from me, from this town, so you would be happy and won’t get hurt. I know I’m fucked up, that’s why I didn’t want to ruin your perfect life, in the perfect town far away from here.”

”What do you know about my life? Nothing, that’s what! If you’d asked even once, you’d know about my own fucked up family, the racism in the industry, the threats I get online ‘cause I’m gay. Your hillbilly ass don’t know nothing about how my ex cheated on me and then abused me, ‘cause you never fucking asked! Took me two long years to kick his ass out and now, just my fucking luck, when I finally made it through it all, I fall in love with a guy who doesn’t fucking want me and wastes away right in front of my eyes, because he’d rather be fucking unhappy than be himself. You used me for one night only and now you don’t give a shit about me or you wouldn’t hurt me like that.” Jose is yelling again. But he’s also crying, tears dripping off his nose, though he tries to stop them by wiping at his eyes every couple of seconds.

If Brock thought he felt horrible before, he’s learning now that nothing compares to watching the man you love break down in front of your eyes. He feels helpless, he feels sad, he feels Jose’s pain and he knows it’s all his fault. No one is allowed to hurt Jose, not even himself. He can’t stand seeing Jose cry.

Jose is sweaty from the training, but his skin is cool when Brock pulls him against him and holds him tightly. He feels Jose’s sobs against his chest and doesn’t really know what to do, other than hold him.

”I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Brock keeps repeating as he presses kiss after kiss to Jose’s damp forehead. ”Of course I care about you. I love you, too. And I’m so so sorry.” If Brock could take his pain, he’d do it gladly, even if he’d feel even worse.

”You better be,” Jose sniffs once he has calmed down a bit. ”Fuck, I missed you,” he says and adjusts his hold on Brock, wraps his arms around his waist and buries his face in Brock’s shoulder.

”I really am sorry, papi.”

When Jose looks up, their eyes meet and they both lean in simultaneously. Finally, after all these months, Brock feels Jose’s lips back on his. This kiss is sweeter than all those before. Brock knows what he feels for Jose is real and it’s not going away and this kiss isn’t just to say goodbye. With a heavy heart he stops, before the kiss can escalate even further, but keeps Jose close. ”Can we talk?”

”We better, before we continue this and things will get even more fucked up.” Jose agrees but doesn’t let go of him either. Instead he leans his forehead against Brock’s chest, seeking more physical contact.

”I just have to finish here first.” Brock wrinkles his forehead as he looks at the chaos of the still disassembled AC and runs his fingers through Jose’s sweaty hair.

”Leave it. We talk and Imma help you later, k?” He places a kiss to the middle of Brock’s chest before he stands back up straight.

”Ok.”

With that Jose takes his hands and leads him upstairs to his apartment.

***

”Did you bring Thackery again?” Brock asks as he gets dragged into the apartment.

”Yeah, bet the lazy fucker’s sleeping somewhere,” Jose nods, leans against the closed door and pulls Brock’s head down to kiss him again. It’s a lot more heated than any of their previous kisses. Brock is easily lured into the kiss and pushes Jose against the door. He holds him up, Jose’s legs slung around his waist as they kiss each other senseless, noses bumping, tongues battling and the occasional bite in between. After a while, Jose finds his common sense again and breaks the kiss, much to Brock’s disappointment. He doesn’t want to stop because this is the first time in months he doesn’t feel like shit.

”Fuuuuck, we was supposed to talk not make out,” Jose groans as the back of his head hits the door. There’s a small smile on his kiss-swollen lips.

”Then let’s do that.” Gently Brock lets him down and they sit down on the sofa.

”You wanna drink something?”

”No, not really. I’m too nervous.” There’s a sense of doom still hanging over his head. Jose’s acceptance of his apology and his enthusiastic kiss should give him hope that they will somehow find some common ground, but he doesn’t trust it. He never trusts anything good that happens to him, because it never lasts. Why would this thing with Jose be any different, when he can see absolutely no reason why he would want to be with him for longer than one night. He might think he loves him, but what about when his parents find out? What when he has no more place to live, no job, no car, no nothing. What will Jose think then, when at the same time he has his life sorted out in L.A. He doesn’t need his problems and Brock can’t understands why he has come back to dive head first back into them.

”Nervous? You didn’t get nervous when you ravished me against that door,” Jose points out.

”I didn’t….” The shit eating smirk on Jose’s face stops Brock’s protest. ”Idiot.” They smile at each other and it lightens the mood a bit.

Brock doesn’t really know where to start or how to explain himself. He wants Jose to be happy, but he’s not sure how to achieve it: By staying away or by being with him.

”What do ya want, Brock? What do you want from me?” Jose finally asks, his voice soft and quiet, maybe a little scared, but he keeps up the eye contact, which is unnerving.

”I… I know that you’re better off without me in the long run. None of what’s here in this town and with me is anything that will make you happy. I have nothing to offer you and I don’t know why you came back. That’s why I should push you away again, make you go back to L.A..”

”I didn’t ask what you think you should do, I asked what you want. You know, that’s different.”

Brock doesn’t have to think about it, he knows what he wants, even if he can’t have it. ”I want to be with you.” Jose smiles. ”But I shouldn’t because…” He is silenced with a kiss.

”I wanna be with you, too.” Now Brock is smiling, can’t help it when Jose looks at him like this, all cute and with all the love shining in his eyes. ”Now we just gotta figure out how we do that.”

”Do you really think we could make it work? Why do you want… me?” Brock is still doubtful. He’s never even allowed himself to hope that this could come true.

”It’ll work if we wanna make it work. We just gotta put the work in.” Jose is so sure about it, that his optimism is contagious. ”And I want you, ‘cause I don’t choose who I fall in love with, it just happens. And you’re funny and sweet and you don’t do me dirty, you have a good heart and love your family. You’re not a player nd you don’t give a shit about my fame. You don’t even really know anything about the people I work with. You no fame chaser and you care about me, Jose, not Vanjie. And it’s not a bad thing either that you hot as fuck.” Brock’s smile gets wider and he has to kiss him again. As they make out once more, Brock ends up lying on top of Jose, their legs tangled on the couch as they kiss and can’t stop. It’s a weird thing, considering that Brock went his whole adult life without being as helplessly subjected to his own primal urges; but around Jose he can’t help himself. For four long months he’s missed him and he’s denied himself even the hope of ever being with him again. And yet, here they are, helplessly and stupidly in love with one another.

”Before we gonna get down and real dirty, I have to take a shower. I’m all disgusting,” Jose mumbles in between kisses.

”You’re not disgusting.” To demonstrate it, he sucks and licks the skin beneath Jose’s ear, tasting the salty sweat.

”You can always join me in the shower, if ya know what I’m saying,” he grins up at him. When the words register with Brock, he basically jumps up and makes Jose laugh out loud. ”You such a dork.”

”Oh shut up and lead the way!” Brock laughs with him, his head already full of fantasies about Jose in the shower, his skin wet and the room full of steam as their bodies glide against each other.

It’s a bit awkward to get undressed in front of each other, while not undressing each other, Brock thinks. He’s never been one to play any kind of sports that needed locker rooms and community showers. He steals glances at Jose, who throws his sweaty clothes into the hamper, while Brock folds his carefully. He’ll need them later.

They climb into the tub and start kissing again as soon as Jose has turned on the water. It’s more fun than sexy, Brock finds, as he washes Jose’s hair and steals kisses while Jose keeps complaining about the suds running in his eyes. Brock styles his hair, so it’s sticking up, held up by the foam.

”What are you doing?” Jose asks him, still wiping at his eyes.

”Nothing,” Brock giggles and wipes Jose’s eyes with a towel. ”You look like a porcupine,” he finally points out.

Jose shakes his head. ”I should kick your bitch ass for all the shit you put me through. This,” he points to his hair, ”is just the top of the iceberg.”

”Tip of the iceberg, babe.” Jose gives him a death stare, which makes Brock laugh. ”I’m sorry.”

”It’s ok. You can make it up to me.”

Brock wraps his arms around Jose’s waist as he tips his head back and rinses out the shampoo. ”How?”

”Like this.” Jose pushes at his shoulders, so he goes down on his knees. If this is the penance Brock has to do, he does so gladly, Brock thinks, as he takes Jose’s half hard cock in his mouth.

He takes his time licking and blowing him. He moves his mouth down, sucks his balls and finally turns him around and does something he’s never had the urge to do before, and rims him. The sounds Jose makes above him are delicious and by the time he turns off the now cold water, they’re both fully hard.

Thackery is spread out across the bed when they make it into the bedroom, both still more wet than towelled dry. Jose picks the cat up, puts him in the hallway and closes the door.

”He’s a voyeur?” Brock smiles and sits down on the bed.

”No idea, but I’m not fucking with my cat in the room. That’s just sick. I’d feel like a perv,” Jose scrunches up his face in the cutest way and straddles Brock’s lap. ”Here we are again.”

”Mmh. Only you won’t leave tomorrow.” As soon as he’s spoken the words, it registers with him that he never actually asked. ”You won’t, right?”

”No, I won’t. Can’t leave you idiot alone for too long or you go nuts.” Jose looks at him with such tenderness that Brock lowers his eyes so he won’t start crying. ”We gonna make this work, I promise. Tomorrow we’ll come up with a plan. I like you too much to be ignored by you again. And by the weight you’ve lost, I’d say you weren’t doing too great either.”

”I missed you so much.” Brock admits and looks at him again. ”I love you.”

They let their bodies talk afterwards and neither lasts too long. They’ve been apart for too long and they are both exhausted. Jose gets up once more to let Thackery back into the room and then they fall asleep, naked and holding each other close.

***

Brock watches Jose as he wakes up. He’s barely opened his eyes when he’s already smiling sleepily because he sees him.

”Morning.”

”Good morning,” Brock replies and gives him a kiss.

”What time is it?” Jose rolls towards him and places his head on Brock’s chest.

”Shortly after six,” he replies after checking.

”Why you watching me awake so fucking early?” Jose’s eyes close again as he snuggles even closer, one leg now thrown across Brock’s. It’s true, he has been watching him for a while. It still feels like a dream to be here with Jose. Now that he has this again, the closeness and the feeling of being loved, he doesn’t really understand why he pushed Jose away in the first place. He’s changed since Jose’s first visit; a lot actually. He’s cried, he has talked about his feelings and his dreams. It seemed like talking about it provoked a change in how he lived and carried himself. He’s out to Ada and he’s ok with being gay. He doesn’t fear going to hell most days anymore, his sister made sure of it. For the first time ever he stood up to his parents, he set boundaries for his father and he started talking honestly with his mother. It all helped him feeling a bit less trapped and unhappy, but nothing compares to just being with Jose. He can’t lose him again and he knows there is one more step he has to take in order to achieve it. Thinking about it makes him nervous, but knowing that no matter the outcome, Ada and Jose will still be there afterwards, makes it a lot less scary.

Brock chuckles. ”Early? I usually get up at half past four. I should have been at work over an hour ago.”

”That’s sick. Torture. Abuse. Cruelty.” Brock knows he’ll go on and on, so he silences him with another kiss. ”You really here?” Jose opens his eyes and blinks at him.

”I should ask you that. I still can’t believe you came back,” Brock wraps both arms around him. ”Why did you come back?”

”Promise, you won’t get angry?”

”I can’t until I hear what you have to say.”

”No, you gotta promise first,” Jose stubbornly insists.

”Fine, I won’t get angry.” Brock agrees, but still rolls his eyes.

”Ada called me and told me you weren’t doing good. She asked me to talk to you, but, ya know, you wouldn’t pick up your phone. She also told me you stalking me on insta, and I tried to get a reaction from you with the last couple of posts, but you cold-hearted bitch didn’t give me one. So what’s a guy gotta do? I grabbed Thacks and drove my gay ass here, cause I didn’t want to have your sister call me again and beg me to do this and that.” Jose places a kiss in the middle of Brock’s chest. ”And I missed ya.”

”You know, no matter what we come up with about how to make this work, I think I really need some professional help at some point. I don’t know where or who or how to pay for it, but I can’t go on like this. It hurts Ada and it made me nearly lose you…I don’t wanna feel like crap anymore all the time.”

”I think that’s a good idea. There are some dope ass therapists in L.A., ya know?” Their eyes meet and Jose’s brown orbs say it all.

Still, Brock has to ask because he needs to hear him say it out loud. ”You really want me to come to L.A. with you?”

”Yes.” There’s no hesitation, not for a second. ”I love you, of course I want you with me.” Brock kisses him for the answer that makes his heart warm.

”What would I do there?”

”Therapy,” Jose smirks but then becomes serious again. ”And I dunno, whatever you wanna do. You could find a job as a handy man or work in retail, as a waiter… Whatever, I don’t care. You could also become my sex slave and just wait on me when I get home… naked. Or you could go back to school, get a degree. You wanna study photography, right? You could do that. You’re smart, you’ll figure it out.” Suddenly the possibilities seem endless, when just yesterday there were none.

”I wouldn’t want to be a burden and live off your money.”

”You’re not a burden, you my boyfriend.” The last part sounds more like a question than a statement and Brock knows he has to say something.

”I am.” He confirms and they both smile.

”And I know you not the type of guy who’d just bum around and let me pay the bills. I don’t mind paying for stuff until you’ve got it figured out. If, ya know, that’s what you want… coming to L.A. with me and all.” Brock thinks about it while he places random kisses on Jose’s skin, wherever he can reach.

”I think first I need to come out to my parents and see how that goes. If they accept me, us, then I’ll stay and run the farm. But if they’re not… I might have to take you up on the offer, because unless I’d like to share a room with Rachel, Jonathan and Ruthie, I won’t have anywhere to go.”

”If ya really wanna stay in town, I could talk to Jason. I bet he’d let you live here.”

”How would I pay for it? Without the work on the farm I have no income. Neither Dan nor Ada can pay me.”

”You sure about telling your parents? I don’t wanna force you into doing something you’ll regret. Once it’s out it’s out and I’d hate it if you only come to L.A. with me ‘cause you got no other choice.”

Brock slowly sits up and keeps Jose close until he’s fully upright. Then he pulls back, so he can look at him better. ”Coming with you sounds too good to be true and I’d never see it as my last resort. It’s a dream. In fact, I’d say let’s go right now, if things were different. But my parents are gonna lose the farm if I leave. They can’t do it on their own and the extension of the stable has caused them to be in significant debt. We’re only hanging on by a thread. As soon as I’m gone the bank will come in and foreclose it. But the land has been in my mother’s family for generations and I don’t wanna be the reason why it’s gone, you now? And then there are Dan’s medical bills… it’s a lot.” Jose nods and takes Brock’s hands. ”But after yesterday, last night, this morning…. I’ve been thinking and I can’t remember the last time I slept as well as I did last night and I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy as when I woke up this morning and you were there. I haven’t been happy in a long, long time. I can’t go back to how I was feeling just yesterday. It’s been hell and I know Ada is right and I need professional help, but like… you make it better. Being able to be myself makes it better. Even if you’re willing to hide around here and let me stay in the closet, I can’t do it. I’m done with it, Jose. I just… I can’t live a lie no more.”

”Then you shouldn’t.” Jose encourages him and kisses both of his hands, before he pulls and makes Brock fall on top of him, as he laughs.

”I have to get up and fix the AC.” Brock’s aware that the device is still lying on the grounds in parts.

”Forget about the fucking AC and fuck me instead,” Jose huffs as his hand wraps around Brock’s dick. Who is he to argue with his boyfriend’s wishes?

***

Afterwards Brock takes a quick shower while Jose makes coffee and feeds Thackery. They meet again in the kitchen, Jose only in sweatpants and Brock fully dressed, but it already feels like they’ve been apart for too long.

Brock has to touch him again and runs his hands over his chest as soon as he’s close enough. Jose lets him explore his upper body by touch and memorise him with his rough fingertips, he only bites his lower lip, his teeth digging into it.

Brock steps even closer, and watches Jose’s eyes fall shut and his breath hitch when he runs his fingers up Jose’s sides gently, stroke over his shoulders and make it to his chest. He places his hands there and feels Jose’s heart thumping away against his palms.

”You’re so gorgeous. Inside and out.” Jose opens his eyes again and looks straight into his.

Jose smiles, steals a kiss and cups his face with his hands. ”Right back at ya, babe.” Then he leans in again.

Their coffee is cold when they come up for air and Jose slides off the counter, a mischievous smile on his face. Brock wonders how long they will be like this and won’t able to keep their hands off each other.

”You gonna go down like this?” he asks Jose as they decide to go downstairs so he can finish his work while his boyfriend will keep him company.

”Why you got a problem? Don’t like the view?” Jose is such a fucking tease.

”I love the view a bit too much. You’ll just distract me and I’ll never fix that damn thing.”

”Fine,” he sighs dramatically and quickly grabs a shirt from the bedroom. ”Might be better to cover the hickey you left on me, fucking vampire.”

”You also got on here,” Brock places a kiss on Jose’s clavicle. ”And here,” another kiss on his neck follows, because it’s not like the loose shirt actually covers up anything.

”Stop, idiot or we going back to bed,” Jose giggles and they finally leave the apartment.

Jose is completely useless when it comes to tools or fixing things, Brock finds out, but it’s still more fun to work when he keeps babbling about whatever and Brock can steal a kiss every few minutes.

”You still not done?” Jason comes around the corned when Brock has just reassembled the AC again. ”Don’t tell me you’ve been here all night.” He looks truly shocked.

”I’ve been here all night,” Brock confirms, because it’s the truth after all.

”And what are you already doing up? You better haven’t touched anything! You can’t be trusted with tools.”

”I sure did touch some things… Wouldn’t call them tools,” Jose says with a shit-eating grin and Brock rolls his eyes before they both start laughing.

”No fucking way!” Jason exclaims, his mouth hanging open as he watches them. ”You bitches spent the night together again? There better not be the same drama as last time. No crying!” he points at Brock.

”There won’t be no tears. Imma make sure my boo’s happy,” Jose vows and leans in for another kiss, that Brock gladly gives him.

”You’re really doing this?” Jason sits down besides Jose, absolute disbelieve showing on his face.

”We are. I’m gonna come out to my parents later when I’m done here.”

”Oh… make sure first your dad’s not armed.” Jason isn’t really joking.

”He won’t hurt me. At least not physically.”

”You’re sure about that and you’re ready? I don’t know your family too well, but judging by the way they treat me, you better brace yourself.”

”I know,” Brock sits down on the other side of Jose and places his hand on his thigh. ”Ada already knows and she’s fine with it. Dan and Lily will probably hate me and my father hates me anyway, so not much will change. I just don’t know how my mother will react.”

”What are you gonna do afterwards?”

”If they throw me out I’ll go to L.A. with Jose. If they want me to stay, I’ll stay.”

”If he stays, ya better keep this apartment ready for me, cause I’m gonna spend a lot of time here,” Jose lets Jason know.

”Wow…. I didn’t see this coming. I mean, I never thought you’d come out to your family.”

”With Ada already knowing and now with Jose… I have to. I’m sick and tired of pretending.” Jose gives his hand a squeeze and their eyes meet for a second.

”Seeing you together now it’s not like you got a choice. One look at your dopey smiles and ‘love’ written all over your faces and everybody knows what’s going on. I’m just waiting for the violins to start in the background.”

”Can ya blame me? Look at him!” Jose screeches and makes them all laugh, as Brock pulls him in a playful sideways hold. ”Don’t kill me, babe, kiss me!” he puckers his lips and of course Brock gives in.

”I’m gonna get some coffee myself and then I wanna know how this happened.”

”You not getting them dirty details!”

”I don’t want’em!” Jason laughs as he walks away.

”I’m scared, now that Jason talked about your dad with guns and shit.” Jose becomes serious as soon as they are alone again. Just because he can, Brock pulls him in his lap.

”My dad is always talking about his guns and how he’ll shoot people and what a tough guy he is, but he’s always been an awful shot and since his heart attack he’s had trouble with his eyesight as well. Also, he’s drunk most of the time these days, so he’s aggressive, but hardly able to carry a gun, much less shoot with it. And he doesn’t do well with people that are stronger than him. Beating up his wife and kids is one thing, but he’d never even confront Jason or you, because he’s a fucking coward, gun or no gun.”

”Please, be careful anyway.”

”I will.” He gets a kiss for his answer.

”Imma be your get away driver, if needed.”

”With screeching tires and all?” Brock jokes to lighten the mood.

”Of course. Real gangsta style.” Jose nods his head up and down. This time it’s Brock who initiates the kiss. It’s like he’s suddenly addicted and can’t go without touching or kissing Jose for longer than a minute or two.

”Hey you two, knock it off! I’m paying ya to fix my AC not to give me a live sex show in the middle of my dance studio.” Jason is back with his coffee and busts them.

”We not doing anything!”

”Jo, that would be more believable if you didn’t still have ya hands under his shirt and down the back of his pants.”

Jose pouts as he’ still sitting in his lap, Brock and Jason are laughing, and for the moment everything is right in Brock’s world and he can forget for a second what he has to do later today.

TBC

#rpdr fanfiction #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #branjie #m/m au #slow burn #romance #smut #angst #hot as hell and no ac #blackhighheels #tw religion #tw internalized homophobia

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